I am rereading Henry Jenkin’s Textual Poacher (after all, going back to one’s roots is not an unusual habit around this time of the year) and I stumbled upon this statement:
There are, of course, many different type of fans – rock fans, sport fans, movie buffs, opera enthusiasts etc. (…). I focus on only one of these fan cultures here – an amorphous but still identifiable grouping of enthusiasts of film and television which calls itself “media fandom”.
Henry Jenkins. 1992. Textual Proachers. New York: Routledge
I’m sure we don’t identify the transformative part of fandom by the subject of their fannishness, rather by their mode of fannishness. I wouldn’t want to dismiss all the rock or sports RPF fics I sometimes catch sight of. So what is special about Star Trek or Supernatural? Do you experience your fannishness differently in relation to, say, your favourite music group and to your favourite TV show? If you do, share your story with us.