Tag: fandom

mcmanatea:

Just because someone doesn’t mention mental illness on their blog
does not mean they have not experienced disordered mental states.

Just because someone doesn’t mention sexuality on their blog does not mean they are heterosexual.

Just because someone doesn’t mention gender on their blog does not mean that they are cis-gendered.

Just because someone doesn’t mention disability on their blog does not mean they are abled.

Just because someone doesn’t mention race on their blog does not mean they are white.

Erasure
of people’s mental illness/gender/sexuality/disability/race by a person
in a privileged position is more often done out of ignorance than
malice.

Exploitation or appropriation of people’s mental
illness/gender/sexuality/disability/race in a fandom work is likewise done more often
out of ignorance than malice.

Not every single person on Tumblr is
well-versed in appropriately sensitive language. Even people who
consider themselves part of a marginalized group can forget or misstep.
No one is perfect 100% of the time.

However, portrayal of mental
illness/gender/sexuality/disability/race in a fandom work is often the
result of someone trying to work through their own thoughts and feelings
regarding the same. Before you leave comments based on your
assumption of someone’s status regarding any of the above, please keep in mind that you are only seeing the facets of this person that they are comfortable sharing publicly, and you can do a great deal of damage with careless words. For someone who has dealt with mental
illness or
disability, accusations of using it for the sake of entertainment can
trigger them and send them into a spiral. For someone who has dealt with
confusion and ostracization due to their gender or sexuality, attacking
them based on their presumed cis-het status can make them feel
invisible all over again. If you honestly think it’s wrong for someone
to portray a character as a different race, there really isn’t any
explanation besides bigotry, and you’re probably a jerk.

Fandom

can be a wonderful and mostly-safe place for people to explore different
themes and real-life issues. But when you spew anonymous hatred because

you assume that a content creator is not part of a particular group and
is exploiting the identity or struggles of that group, you can be doing
untold harm. This is especially true if you yourself have experienced
discrimination of any kind! Instead of hurting someone out of simple
ignorance, you are attacking them with full knowledge of how personally
devastating it can be to be misunderstood and shunned. Not only that,
but you have now put them in the position of either accepting your
vitriol without complaint, or revealing personal details in order to
defend themselves. Being a member of a marginalized group does not grant
you the right to demand that information from anyone.

If you disagree
with something that someone else has created, open a dialogue with them!
Send an ask, let them know what’s bothering you! But don’t do so by
being accusatory and nasty. If something honestly makes you so angry
that you are incapable of being civil, walk away until that feeling
passes and you can be respectful. There’s no guarantee that everyone
will listen to you, but at least you will have presented your case
without behaving like a bully.

TL;DR: Nobody owes
you a personal disclaimer that includes all of the reasons they have a
right to create certain content. If you disagree with something that
someone has created, talk to them without being an asshole about it.

alkjira:

Denethor: Is there a captain here who still has the courage to do his lord’s will?

Faramir: You wish now that our places had been exchanged… that I had died and Boromir had lived. 

Denethor: 

unlike u i have the spine to tell ppl when i hate them so they know and can fix their behavior

yubiwamonogatari:

You know one thing I’ve really become aware of recently is that I am now a certified Adult In Fandom ™. This is weird to me, because I grew up in fandom spaces. I was on deviantart, LJ, Gaia Online, Tumblr, FF.net, and Ao3. My whole teenagerhood and young adulthood has been influenced by fandom spaces.

But beyond that, it’s been influenced by how people have interacted with me – especially when I was between 13-18. I’ve had my fair share of adults who’ve been – in hindsight – creepy, even if I didn’t realise it at the time. When I was 15 I internet-dated a girl much older than me. I was very close friends with some guys who were in their 20s. I had one older woman (with a child and husband) convince me to send her money. I’ve even had a teacher exchange very questionable emails with me.

Of course, I’ve also had experiences with adults in fandom who’ve treated me wonderfully. Who’ve been mature, and responsible. Men and women much older than me who’ve been aware of my age, and who’d acted appropriately in the face of it.

These are the sorts of adults I want to be in fandom. These are the adults who made fandom a safe space, who made me feel comfortable and welcome. Who understood I was young, and that I needed to be treated as such. They found appropriate ways to interact with me, and were great sources of comfort to me.

These are the sort of adults all adults in fandom should be aware of. You have a responsibility and a duty to behave and interact appropriately online. Even if someone presents as mature, you just have to always be aware of their age and be aware of how you might be putting them in a vulnerable position, or behaving inappropriately.

Don’t be the adult someone’s going to look back on in 5 years and think “yikes, that person was totally inappropriate and made me feel uncomfortable.” Be the adult younger members can come to and know you’ll behave responsibly. 

Be the adult you’d want to know when you were younger.

emsiecat:

backgroundelf:

luthicn:

the tolkien fandom is dying and so am i

The Tolkien fandom shall not die!

Bloggers of tumblr, of fandom, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the Tolkien fandom fails, when we no longer make fanart or fanfiction, and break all bonds of mutuals; but it is not this day! An hour of doubt, and no new media, when the Age of Tolkien comes crashing down; but it is not this day! This day we post! By all that you hold dear on this good internet, I bid you stand, Tolkien Fandom of Tumblr!

Nicely put my friend.

Folks this fandom has been going since the 1930’s, sure they didn’t have the social network advantages we do, but it was still there.

Point is, people will drift in and out, and new content will lessen now there’s no new media to draw inspiration from, but there’s no way we’re dying!

Personally, I’m not gonna sit here and despair if new fan art and fanfic are posted less, I’m just gonna take that as a sign to do my damnedest to post more myself. Even if it only ever gets one like or comment, just to know that someone out there us still with me in this wonderful fandom and still wants to see my stuff is more than enough for me.

You think the posts are less now? Do something about it then, we beg of you! Draw fan art, write that fic you’ve had in your head for months, even if you think it’s ooc or you can only draw stick people. Write us meta or head canons, reblog the hell out of stuff from 2012 or earlier!

Instead of decreeing the fandom is languishing, take up creative arms and fight!

baggvinshield:

Hey just a reminder to everyone in fandom spaces (this applies to life in general but I feel like it sometimes gets muddied in fandom): you’re not obligated to interact with anyone who makes you uncomfortable. You’re NOT obligated to interact in any way with anyone who makes you uncomfortable for any reason. Unfollow, block, ignore – whatever you need to do to keep feeling safe and happy.

The Three Laws of Fandom

darthstitch:

notreadytosettle:

ozhawkauthor:

If you wish to take part in any fandom, you need to accept and respect these three laws.

If you aren’t able to do that, then you need to realise that your actions are making fandom unsafe for creators. That you are stifling creativity.

Like vaccination, fandom only works if everyone respects these rules. Creators need to be free to make their fanart, fanfics and all other content without fear of being harassed or concern-trolled for their creative choices, no matter whether you happen to like that content or not.

The First Law of Fandom

Don’t Like; Don’t Read (DL;DR)

It is up to you what you see online. It is not anyone else’s place to tell you what you should or should not consume in terms of content; it is not up to anyone else to police the internet so that you do not see things you do not like. At the same time, it is not up to YOU to police fandom to protect yourself or anyone else, real or hypothetical.

There are tools out there to help protect you if you have triggers or squicks. Learn to use them, and to take care of your own mental health. If you are consuming fan-made content and you find that you are disliking it – STOP.

The Second Law of Fandom

Your Kink Is Not My Kink (YKINMK)

Simply put, this means that everyone likes different things. It’s not up to you to determine what creators are allowed to create. It’s not up to you to police fandom. 

If you don’t like something, you can post meta about it or create contrarian content yourself, seek to convert other fans to your way of thinking.  

But you have no right to say to any creator “I do not like this, therefore you should not create it. Nobody should like this. It should not exist.”

It’s not up to you to decide what other people are allowed to like or not like, to create or not to create. That’s censorship. Don’t do it.

The Third Law of Fandom

Ship And Let Ship (SALS)

Much (though not all) fandom is about shipping. There are as many possible ships as there are fans, maybe more. You may have an OTP (One True Pairing), you may have a NOTP, that pairing that makes you want to barf at the very thought of its existence.

It’s not up to you to police ships or to determine what other people are allowed to ship. Just because you find that one particular ship problematic or disgusting, does not mean that other people are not allowed to explore its possibilities in their fanworks.

You are free to create contrarian content, to write meta about why a particular ship is repulsive, to discuss it endlessly on your private blog with like-minded persons.

It is not appropriate to harass creators about their ships, it is not appropriate to demand they do not create any more fanworks about those ships, or that they create fanwork only in a manner that you deem appropriate.

These three laws add up to the following:

You are not paying for fanworks content, and you have no rights to it other than to choose to consume it, or not consume it. If you do choose to consume it, do not then attack the creator if it wasn’t to your taste. That’s the height of bad manners.

Be courteous in fandom. It makes the whole experience better for all of us.

Yup.

Slaps onto blog.

penguinfaery:

wintry-mix:

adriofthedead:

egorseksualno-racelett:

tokyosketch:

how can you be so fucking lucky though? 

you write shitty fanfiction and get the chance to turn it into a book 

and then you get a fucking movie on top of it

why can’t this happen to me 

my fanfics are also shitty and cater to the fantasy of many women 

only difference is that i don’t romanticise domestic abuse

every fanfiction-author out there.

If only it was “luck”

Great fandom history at that link, and analysis of some specific dynamics in the Twilight fandom’s relationship to canon.

Also has links, is you go down, as to why older fandom people tend to hate Cassandra Claire/City Of Bones.