Fandom Can Be A Lot Like High School — Here's How To Avoid The Bad Stuff
Finding a supportive fandom — a group of people who love what you love — is a great experience. But some fan communities can be toxic, so here are a few tips for kids looking for fan connections.
Supportive fandoms can be like "the best parts of high school." Here's how to avoid the bad
The first thing Kristen Lopez remembers being a fan of is Disney, specifically the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
"I remember celebrating my birthday ... and we all went and saw it, full disclosure, I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 16 times in theaters to the point that I could memorize swaths of this movie," she says. "I look back on it now and I was like, 'god we were nerds,' but there was a lot of fun to it ... it was a feeling of understanding and camaraderie with my friends, they definitely understood and didn't look down on me."
Growing up disabled, Lopez says places like
