A ‘true’ Outlander fan simply doesn’t exist!

Fandom isn’t a competition. It’s time to get rid of the term “true” fan, because a “true” Outlander fan just doesn’t exist!

“You’re not a true Outlander fan if you haven’t…” This is a statement I hear a lot, usually accompanied by something like “read all the books” or “remembered every single detail of a particular book” or even when remembering something incorrectly. It’s time to stop. Fandom isn’t a competition and there’s no just thing as a “true” fan.

It grinds my gears within every single fandom I’m a part of. There’s this need to one-up everyone else. And I sadly see it a lot among Sassenachs — albeit more in the past than now that Outlander is on Netflix U.S. It seems there’s more tolerance for show-first fans because of the arrival on the biggest streaming service.

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But it’s still annoying to see people claim that they’re a “true” fan because they’ve read every book and watched every show. Everyone’s situations are different. Like the show trying to adapt the books, we all have limited time. Some more than others.

Diana Gabaldon’s books are large and it takes two or more days to get through many of them. “The Fiery Cross” is 55 hours on Audible, just to give you an idea. While some people may have plenty of time on their hands, we can’t expect everyone to be in the same situation.

Plus, not everyone wants to read the books. Or they may have read the first book and not gained the same enjoyment from it as everyone else. There’s nothing wrong with that. If we all had the same opinions, the world would be a boring place. There’d be no place for discussions if everyone agreed with each other!

A fan is a fan is a fan. I can’t put it any simpler than that.

Can we please stop making fandom a competition? It makes being part of the Outlander fandom a toxic place and there’s enough toxicity in the world. Being a fan of a show or book series is supposed to be enjoyable.

Were you a book or show fan first? What do you love about Sassenachs around the world? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander Season 5 is currently filming. Book 9 is slated for a later 2019 release.