What It Means to be Fandom

The year was 1994, and I was 16.

Me, early 1994

I was “old enough to drive,” which humorously enough was the slogan for ArmadilloCon 16 that year. I’ve written about my experiences at my first convention before, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I took a good look back at the past 23 years of my life in fandom. (Completely fitting for a Flashback Friday!)

See, fandom has this history and sadly, this reputation that isn’t always a positive one. With the rise of tabletop games, shows like Gam...