Fandom Fandom: When Canon Gets It Wrong

In today’s world where there are fandoms thousands of people large literally dedicated to one blade of grass on someone’s lawn, it shouldn’t be surprising that occasionally people will become semi-obsessive over other fans’ art or stories. Sometimes, however, the passion of these small communities begins to grow so fervent that it actually equals or outweighs their love for the original source, resulting in a rare and almost bizarre event we’re going to call fandom fandom. Enter prime example Emma Lord (alias Nine Miles To Go), author of the hit Spider-Man fanfiction Perpendicular, who one day discovered this “strange phenomenon” happening to her by complete accident. First, a little background. There’s something to be said for the corner of the Spider-Man fandom dedicated to the adoration/occasional worship of one Mary Jane Watson— and that something is that we get a lot of flack for our favorite. In the wake of The Amazing Spider-Man movies there’s been an even sharper uptick in the MJ-related hatred flooding our Tumblr tags as new audiences latch onto the films’ portrayal of Gwen Stacy and reject anything remotely related to her “rival” (because it’s not like these two ladies actually shared a close and meaningful friendship outside of dating Peter Parker or anything—and don’t even get me started on Felicia). Look at all that ferocious animosity and complete lack of female friendship! [divider type=”space_thin”] What sets Perpendicular (and to some extent its spiritual suc…