End of the Year Fandom Meme
Dec. 31st, 2025 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452It is that time again, just in time before the new year rings in.
Which TV shows did you start watching in 2025?
Yellowjackets, Cold Case, The West Wing, The Next Prince, Returned Master/The General's Youngest Son, 4 Minutes, When Destiny Brings The Demon, A/B/O Desire, Bad and Crazy, Alice In Borderland, The Double, Kill To Love, Whispers of Fate, Bon Appetit Your Majesty, Genie Make A Wish, Marry My Husband, Fangs of Fortune, Pit Babe S2
Which TV shows did you let go of in 2025?
The Legend of Vox Machina. I appreciate the animated show and I'm happy that Matt and the rest of the cast got to create something that they longed to create, but I'm not entirely happy with the direction changes being done to the story. I might come back to it later once my feelings about the whole thing have settled, but otherwise I kind of noped out from it this year.
Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't in 2025? Why?
Goddess Bless You From Death, Only You, ClaireBell. The main reason being that I didn't have enough time, but it's something I'll be rectifying soon.
Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2026?
I don't know all what is premiering next year, so it'll just be a waiting game and see what pops up. However, I am looking forward to checking out the Thai BL Knot whenever that happens, because I cannot get enough Omegaverse dramas being released.
Which TV show impressed you least in 2025?
When looking back on it, the third campaign of Critical Role had an interesting concept that should have worked for a grand finale that the previous two campaigns had been building off of but unfortunately it just didn't stick that landing for me. From how certain things were handled and how it wrapped up, it was quite a letdown for me. Same with The Legend of Vox Machina, since they deviated from the first campaign quite a bit to the point where I'm not liking the changes and direction they've gone with the story.
The second season of The Last Of Us was unfortunately not as strong as the first season, it was rather forgettable and it made a lot of questionable decisions and changes to the narrative of the story that doesn't make much sense.
Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2026 unless things significantly improve?
I'm not entirely sure, since a lot of the shows I watch are one-and-dones (Asian dramas) or take too damn long to return in between seasons. With that being said, The Last Of Us isn't nearly on the top of my list of things to watch as it had been. Much of the story has yet to be told, so I'll wait it out until we get it in full, but I don't have that much confidence especially upon learning that the key people involved with the game who worked on the first season didn't work on the second season and most likely won't be involved in the third season either.
Which TV shows do you think you’ll never let go of no matter how crappy they get?
Same answer as last year: I don't even know anymore.
Your main fandom of the year?
Yellowjackets, A/B/O Desire, The Next Prince, and the surprise comeback interest in Supernatural.
Your favorite film you watched this year?
V/H/S/Beyond, V/H/S/Halloween, Satan's School For Girls (1973), Satan's School For Girls (2000), Escape Room, and Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
Your favorite book read this year?
N/A
Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
The entirety of the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack, specifically "Golden", "What It Sounds Like", and "Your Idol". I haven't even watched the movie itself yet but there is no denying that the songs are absolute bops, and I love how even a lot of kpop idols have gotten onto this trend of covering the songs as well.
"GALA" by XG.
Your favorite TV show(s) of the year?
A/B/O Desire, The Next Prince, and Yellowjackets
Your favorite online fandom community of the year?
The one I curated for myself. :)
Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
A/B/O Desire for continuing the bring Omegaverse to my screen in the most delicious way possible.
Your fandom that made an unexpected comeback this year?
I've gotten back into some older fandoms, which isn't really a shocking thing since I never stepped away from my older fandoms they just tend to be on the back burner as newer fandom interests take precedent, but revisiting those older fandoms makes me appreciate why I loved them in the first place, flaws and all. However, with that being said, there were two specific ones that did make an unexpected return to my interest.
First is Supernatural, a show that I stopped watching very early on during its run for various reasons (mainly toxic fandom experiences and my own personal frustrations with the show at the time) and only had kept in my periphery over the years due to those I follow talking about it, and somehow this year I ended up just going "fuck it" and sort of returned to blogging about it, specifically that for my love of Castiel and Dean/Castiel (as well as Misha Collins and Jensen/Misha). What sparked this sudden unexpected comeback? Well, aside from the fact that the show has been over for some years now, the fandom side of things have kind of shifted from when I last was involved with it in a more positive way. At least in the circles I'm in, there is less ship/character bashing and more examining the show in an introspective kind of way. I guess it's that time and distance away from the show/fandom that after it ended I've been able to reengage myself with the fandom again.
Game Grumps is the second comeback that I didn't expect to have this year, and yet it snuck up on me. I stopped watching them years ago for no specific reason, probably I was just distracted with other things, which happens with YouTube channels every now and then. This year I ended up just randomly watching a compilation of clips someone made and I just went down the rabbit hole of watching not only fanmade compilation videos but going back to their channel(s) and watching what I had missed.
Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
In a general sense, the way fandom has opted into this "haterism" mentality has severely disappointed me in a very exhausted kind of way. It feels very immature the way most are approaching it, and perhaps it's because some are younger and so this is their ~edgy phase of their online personas in fandom spaces by proudly proclaiming that they're a hater of something, I don't know. To keep this from turning into a long rant, I will just say that this mentality is just toxic negativity that has turned people into becoming bullies often disguised with a progressive hat. It's disappointing because it discourages not only honest discussions and critiques of something in a constructive manner but also just allowing people to have fun.
When it comes to specific fandoms, what happened with the fallout between Disney and Doctor Who was pretty disappointing. Just the handling of how things went down, how it was pretty much doomed from the start, how people ended up pointing fingers at the actor for not being the "perfect ambassador" for Doctor Who (whatever the hell that means, I still don't understand), it's just an unfortunate mess that didn't need to happen and it wasted so much time, resources, and talent in the process. In the end, I feel mostly bad for the actors, mainly Ncuti Gatwa who barely got enough screentime as the Doctor.
As mentioned, the third campaign of Critical Role was a letdown. It's disappointing because there are some good elements there especially in the beginning and a lot of great individual moments throughout the campaign, but overall it just didn't stick the landing for me.
Your fandom boyfriend(s) of the year?
Sima Jiao (When Destiny Brings The Demon), Chishiya Shuntaro (Alice In Borderland), Shen Wenlang (A/B/O Desire), Ryu Soo-yeol (Bad and Crazy), Castiel (Supernatural), Luo Yunxi, Lee Dong-wook, Hou Minghao
Your fandom girlfriend(s) of the year?
Tyranny (Critical Role, C4) (and really, just Whitney Moore in general), Lottie Matthews (Yellowjackets), Kuina Hikari (Alice In Borderland)
Your biggest squee moment of the year?
XG not only concluding their first world tour but also getting to perform at Coachella and making their first American televised performance on The Voice, it makes me really happy for them with how far they've gotten. I remember having just discovered them last year and in a way it feels like everything is moving fast, but they've all been training for years before their debut and this is just gradual natural progression of all that hard work. They've been steadily busy throughout this year while also making new music and will be releasing their first studio album in 2026. I'm just so proud of them all.
A/B/O Desire, and just the mere existence of these Omegaverse BL dramas at all. Bless.
The Next Prince was an utter delight, it also pushed a lot of tropey buttons and was such a blessing of a drama to watch. I got really hooked on it.
Additionally, I do like that transmigration dramas have become more popular this year, and like a lot of them in a fun and interesting way. Like, When Destiny Brings The Demon had such a fun concept that was intermingled with drama and featured a very self-aware protagonist, the kdrama Marry My Husband was a nice slow-burn revenge story, Bon Appetit, Your Majesty was a surprise going back in time to ancient Korea where the protagonist falls in love with a real life historical tyrant and sorta changes a bit of history. I don't know, I like these transmigration/isekai kinds of stories, and when they're done right it's really good and I think I watched some really good ones this year.
The most missed of your old fandoms?
Aside from what I've already answered previous years which still remains true, I want to reiterate that by giving an addendum that I miss when fandom was truly underground and not for monetization. The fact that fandom has become a place where people, mainly younger people but definitely has bled into those my age and even older, think that they need to make money off of their hobby. That it's something to "consume" rather than simply enjoy for the fun of it. Furthermore, fandom isn't activism nor is it a morality contest for competing on who is the most progressive. That, in my opinion, has taken the fun and whimsy out of fandom communities where people are outright afraid of being shamed and bullied for liking and/or creating something for a piece of media they enjoy. While fandom back in the day wasn't sunshine and roses and also had these kinds of issues, it wasn't on a grand scale as this as it was more or less self-contained on individual spaces like journals and forums instead of being put on blast on social media for millions to see and misinterpret.
I don't know, I guess I just miss when fandom was its own community separate from the masses, again the fourth wall needs to be brought back up and for people to just mind their own fucking business.
The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I don't know at the moment.
Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
XG's first studio album is to be released, which I'm really hyped about and I cannot wait for what else they have in store musically. I'm curious about the third Dune movie. Also, there is a historical Chinese movie, Ruan Xiaoxian, starring Chen Mingqi in the titular role that, while it premiered this year at individual showings, I'm wondering if it will be available to view online sometime next year because I'm very curious about it especially after watching the trailer.
Which TV shows did you start watching in 2025?
Yellowjackets, Cold Case, The West Wing, The Next Prince, Returned Master/The General's Youngest Son, 4 Minutes, When Destiny Brings The Demon, A/B/O Desire, Bad and Crazy, Alice In Borderland, The Double, Kill To Love, Whispers of Fate, Bon Appetit Your Majesty, Genie Make A Wish, Marry My Husband, Fangs of Fortune, Pit Babe S2
Which TV shows did you let go of in 2025?
The Legend of Vox Machina. I appreciate the animated show and I'm happy that Matt and the rest of the cast got to create something that they longed to create, but I'm not entirely happy with the direction changes being done to the story. I might come back to it later once my feelings about the whole thing have settled, but otherwise I kind of noped out from it this year.
Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't in 2025? Why?
Goddess Bless You From Death, Only You, ClaireBell. The main reason being that I didn't have enough time, but it's something I'll be rectifying soon.
Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2026?
I don't know all what is premiering next year, so it'll just be a waiting game and see what pops up. However, I am looking forward to checking out the Thai BL Knot whenever that happens, because I cannot get enough Omegaverse dramas being released.
Which TV show impressed you least in 2025?
When looking back on it, the third campaign of Critical Role had an interesting concept that should have worked for a grand finale that the previous two campaigns had been building off of but unfortunately it just didn't stick that landing for me. From how certain things were handled and how it wrapped up, it was quite a letdown for me. Same with The Legend of Vox Machina, since they deviated from the first campaign quite a bit to the point where I'm not liking the changes and direction they've gone with the story.
The second season of The Last Of Us was unfortunately not as strong as the first season, it was rather forgettable and it made a lot of questionable decisions and changes to the narrative of the story that doesn't make much sense.
Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2026 unless things significantly improve?
I'm not entirely sure, since a lot of the shows I watch are one-and-dones (Asian dramas) or take too damn long to return in between seasons. With that being said, The Last Of Us isn't nearly on the top of my list of things to watch as it had been. Much of the story has yet to be told, so I'll wait it out until we get it in full, but I don't have that much confidence especially upon learning that the key people involved with the game who worked on the first season didn't work on the second season and most likely won't be involved in the third season either.
Which TV shows do you think you’ll never let go of no matter how crappy they get?
Same answer as last year: I don't even know anymore.
Your main fandom of the year?
Yellowjackets, A/B/O Desire, The Next Prince, and the surprise comeback interest in Supernatural.
Your favorite film you watched this year?
V/H/S/Beyond, V/H/S/Halloween, Satan's School For Girls (1973), Satan's School For Girls (2000), Escape Room, and Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
Your favorite book read this year?
N/A
Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
The entirety of the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack, specifically "Golden", "What It Sounds Like", and "Your Idol". I haven't even watched the movie itself yet but there is no denying that the songs are absolute bops, and I love how even a lot of kpop idols have gotten onto this trend of covering the songs as well.
"GALA" by XG.
Your favorite TV show(s) of the year?
A/B/O Desire, The Next Prince, and Yellowjackets
Your favorite online fandom community of the year?
The one I curated for myself. :)
Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
A/B/O Desire for continuing the bring Omegaverse to my screen in the most delicious way possible.
Your fandom that made an unexpected comeback this year?
I've gotten back into some older fandoms, which isn't really a shocking thing since I never stepped away from my older fandoms they just tend to be on the back burner as newer fandom interests take precedent, but revisiting those older fandoms makes me appreciate why I loved them in the first place, flaws and all. However, with that being said, there were two specific ones that did make an unexpected return to my interest.
First is Supernatural, a show that I stopped watching very early on during its run for various reasons (mainly toxic fandom experiences and my own personal frustrations with the show at the time) and only had kept in my periphery over the years due to those I follow talking about it, and somehow this year I ended up just going "fuck it" and sort of returned to blogging about it, specifically that for my love of Castiel and Dean/Castiel (as well as Misha Collins and Jensen/Misha). What sparked this sudden unexpected comeback? Well, aside from the fact that the show has been over for some years now, the fandom side of things have kind of shifted from when I last was involved with it in a more positive way. At least in the circles I'm in, there is less ship/character bashing and more examining the show in an introspective kind of way. I guess it's that time and distance away from the show/fandom that after it ended I've been able to reengage myself with the fandom again.
Game Grumps is the second comeback that I didn't expect to have this year, and yet it snuck up on me. I stopped watching them years ago for no specific reason, probably I was just distracted with other things, which happens with YouTube channels every now and then. This year I ended up just randomly watching a compilation of clips someone made and I just went down the rabbit hole of watching not only fanmade compilation videos but going back to their channel(s) and watching what I had missed.
Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
In a general sense, the way fandom has opted into this "haterism" mentality has severely disappointed me in a very exhausted kind of way. It feels very immature the way most are approaching it, and perhaps it's because some are younger and so this is their ~edgy phase of their online personas in fandom spaces by proudly proclaiming that they're a hater of something, I don't know. To keep this from turning into a long rant, I will just say that this mentality is just toxic negativity that has turned people into becoming bullies often disguised with a progressive hat. It's disappointing because it discourages not only honest discussions and critiques of something in a constructive manner but also just allowing people to have fun.
When it comes to specific fandoms, what happened with the fallout between Disney and Doctor Who was pretty disappointing. Just the handling of how things went down, how it was pretty much doomed from the start, how people ended up pointing fingers at the actor for not being the "perfect ambassador" for Doctor Who (whatever the hell that means, I still don't understand), it's just an unfortunate mess that didn't need to happen and it wasted so much time, resources, and talent in the process. In the end, I feel mostly bad for the actors, mainly Ncuti Gatwa who barely got enough screentime as the Doctor.
As mentioned, the third campaign of Critical Role was a letdown. It's disappointing because there are some good elements there especially in the beginning and a lot of great individual moments throughout the campaign, but overall it just didn't stick the landing for me.
Your fandom boyfriend(s) of the year?
Sima Jiao (When Destiny Brings The Demon), Chishiya Shuntaro (Alice In Borderland), Shen Wenlang (A/B/O Desire), Ryu Soo-yeol (Bad and Crazy), Castiel (Supernatural), Luo Yunxi, Lee Dong-wook, Hou Minghao
Your fandom girlfriend(s) of the year?
Tyranny (Critical Role, C4) (and really, just Whitney Moore in general), Lottie Matthews (Yellowjackets), Kuina Hikari (Alice In Borderland)
Your biggest squee moment of the year?
XG not only concluding their first world tour but also getting to perform at Coachella and making their first American televised performance on The Voice, it makes me really happy for them with how far they've gotten. I remember having just discovered them last year and in a way it feels like everything is moving fast, but they've all been training for years before their debut and this is just gradual natural progression of all that hard work. They've been steadily busy throughout this year while also making new music and will be releasing their first studio album in 2026. I'm just so proud of them all.
A/B/O Desire, and just the mere existence of these Omegaverse BL dramas at all. Bless.
The Next Prince was an utter delight, it also pushed a lot of tropey buttons and was such a blessing of a drama to watch. I got really hooked on it.
Additionally, I do like that transmigration dramas have become more popular this year, and like a lot of them in a fun and interesting way. Like, When Destiny Brings The Demon had such a fun concept that was intermingled with drama and featured a very self-aware protagonist, the kdrama Marry My Husband was a nice slow-burn revenge story, Bon Appetit, Your Majesty was a surprise going back in time to ancient Korea where the protagonist falls in love with a real life historical tyrant and sorta changes a bit of history. I don't know, I like these transmigration/isekai kinds of stories, and when they're done right it's really good and I think I watched some really good ones this year.
The most missed of your old fandoms?
Aside from what I've already answered previous years which still remains true, I want to reiterate that by giving an addendum that I miss when fandom was truly underground and not for monetization. The fact that fandom has become a place where people, mainly younger people but definitely has bled into those my age and even older, think that they need to make money off of their hobby. That it's something to "consume" rather than simply enjoy for the fun of it. Furthermore, fandom isn't activism nor is it a morality contest for competing on who is the most progressive. That, in my opinion, has taken the fun and whimsy out of fandom communities where people are outright afraid of being shamed and bullied for liking and/or creating something for a piece of media they enjoy. While fandom back in the day wasn't sunshine and roses and also had these kinds of issues, it wasn't on a grand scale as this as it was more or less self-contained on individual spaces like journals and forums instead of being put on blast on social media for millions to see and misinterpret.
I don't know, I guess I just miss when fandom was its own community separate from the masses, again the fourth wall needs to be brought back up and for people to just mind their own fucking business.
The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I don't know at the moment.
Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
XG's first studio album is to be released, which I'm really hyped about and I cannot wait for what else they have in store musically. I'm curious about the third Dune movie. Also, there is a historical Chinese movie, Ruan Xiaoxian, starring Chen Mingqi in the titular role that, while it premiered this year at individual showings, I'm wondering if it will be available to view online sometime next year because I'm very curious about it especially after watching the trailer.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-01 11:24 am (UTC)The one I curated for myself. :)
Love that answer!
g, I don't know. To keep this from turning into a long rant, I will just say that this mentality is just toxic negativity that has turned people into becoming bullies often disguised with a progressive hat. It's disappointing because it discourages not only honest discussions and critiques of something in a constructive manner but also just allowing people to have fun.
I concur.
I miss when fandom was truly underground and not for monetization. The fact that fandom has become a place where people, mainly younger people but definitely has bled into those my age and even older, think that they need to make money off of their hobby. That it's something to "consume" rather than simply enjoy for the fun of it
I agree with this much, as you know. (I've talked about YouTube before. While OTOH I'm glad creators have a way of earning money, I kind of miss when YouTube was made for fun, and enjoy the few channels where creators actually do seem to just be one or two dorks having fun without any hopes for profit.)
ETA: Conversely, the reason I keep going to YouTube and podcasts - despite often finding both frustrating, especially the latter - is because I miss meta, which is also in limited supply.
Although, are people also trying to monetize fanfic and fanart? I haven't seen any of that, but I'm also not in that many fandoms. I can see it being a thing on TikTok?
I don't know, I guess I just miss when fandom was its own community separate from the masses, again the fourth wall needs to be brought back up and for people to just mind their own fucking business.
Same.