Fan migration
From Fan History Wiki
Fen are people too. They have a wide variety of different tastes. They also have different peer groups, different interests. These things change over time and fannish migration happens. In some cases, a person may stay with a fandom for fourty years, as is the case with some Man from UNCLE. In other cases, a person may move from one fandom to another, bringing with them their fannish practices and terminology. A number of such migrations have occurred over the years.
One such case involves Star Trek fen. By 1980, a number of Trek fen had migrated to, among other fan fiction communities, the Battlestar Galactica, Blake’s 7, Dark Shadows, Star Wars, Doctor Who, The Professionals fan fiction communities. (Langley, Verba) Things they brought with them included m/m pairings, f/f pairings, convention and fanzine practices, and the term Mary Sue.
By 1988, the Star Trek fandom was being migrated to by some new fans like Whovians, who brought with them the Drabble. These migrating Doctor Who fen also impacted the Star Wars fandom.
By 1999, people from the Gundam Wing fandom had migrated to the Star Wars fandom. They brought with them several new terms to their new fandom. Among the terms they brought with them was chan.
