Something other than "feral"--anything other than feral. "Miscellaneous" comes to mind, or "unsorted."
But "feral" seems like a bad idea to me, not least because it's already freighted with nasty connotations just from general use. On top of that, it seems to be a term that originates out of academic study of fandom, and I think that imposing something that even sort of looks academic onto minority fandoms (also a problematic term!) is just a bad political decision all around. Miscellaneous/unsorted aren't much better, to be sure, but "feral" is just a bad idea.
I mean, sheesh, I am technically a feral fan, by the Fanlore definition you cite, and that puts my hackles up in a major way--even though I'm an academic, too, and can see the logic of the description and definition.
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pardon my intrusion, but...
But "feral" seems like a bad idea to me, not least because it's already freighted with nasty connotations just from general use. On top of that, it seems to be a term that originates out of academic study of fandom, and I think that imposing something that even sort of looks academic onto minority fandoms (also a problematic term!) is just a bad political decision all around. Miscellaneous/unsorted aren't much better, to be sure, but "feral" is just a bad idea.
I mean, sheesh, I am technically a feral fan, by the Fanlore definition you cite, and that puts my hackles up in a major way--even though I'm an academic, too, and can see the logic of the description and definition.