Tag: fandoms

dadrielle:

dduane:

janenx01:

marthawells:

neonperri:

scribblemoose:

suzvoy:

amelialourdes:

klaineandbiscuits:

therearecertainshadesoflimelight:

tresa-cho:

krytella:

playerprophet:

“why are you in fandom when you’re 20+”

because we built this kingdom, motherfuckers, with the trekkie zine housewives before us. 

So here’s a story. One Fourth of July I was walking down the street and ran into a BNF who I’d met a couple of times at a slash-centric con. It turned out she lived in the same building as one of my boyfriends at the time, which was nearby, so she invited me to stop by. She had a small group of friends there, and one of them was an older woman with short, white hair.

“How old are you?” she asked.

I told her my age, probably about 28 at the time.

“I’ve been reading fanfiction longer than you’ve been alive,” she said.

Here’s another story. A couple of years ago at GeekGirlCon they had an “elders speak” panel. It included some women who had organized Star Trek cons in the 70s and 80s. So, first off, we really have always been here, this is a kind of geekiness that has always belonged to women. And they talked about women doing fandom back then secretly, about having to ask their husbands for money so they could travel to meet other fans. And two of the women on this panel were a couple who’d met each other in fandom.

One of the main reasons I go to slash cons is to connect with my foremothers in fandom. A lot of them aren’t on Tumblr or Twitter, some never even really got into LiveJournal. But they’re still here, doing their thing, having Fourth of July parties and emailing with their friends about fandom. Our elders are our history, our proof that we have always been here, that “media fandom” (fandom of Western TV and movies) is our house that we built with our hands.

respect your fandom mothers and grandmothers you ungrateful little buggers

It’s just hilarious to me that kids on here think that your interests fundamentally change as you get older. Your responsibilities change and, hopefully, you start looking at things and evaluating with more life experience….which, btw, is why a lot of the over 30 people here side eye the shit out of you guys many days. Because lived experience and life experience makes you see things in a different light…even fictional stuff. But you don’t just all of a sudden turn 30 and become this boring person who has no interest anymore in all the nerd things and fandom you liked at 15 or 20 or 25. You are the same person. You still need an outlet for your interests and you still crave those safe spaces to geek out the same way you do as a kid. We’ve always been here. Other women came before us.

FYI In 1993, the most popular Superman website was run by a woman named Zoomway. She was a life long Superman fan who started the site after Lois and Clark hit the air and she had thousands of women (many of whom were older btw) who followed her site. She wasn’t some 20 year old kid. She was a grown woman with life experience decades older than most of you who was writing feminist commentary about Superman and attending fan expos before any of you were born. I was only a kid when I first starting reading her writing and she was the one who introduced me to Superman fandom. She died of cancer a few years ago and her loss was deeply felt.

Women older than you built literally every iconic fandom you post about on here.

I need the community I’ve found within my fandom more now at 43 than I ever needed it at ages 18 or 20.
The more life wears on me, the more I live and love and lose, the more I treasure this space of flails and joy and analysis over episode ephemera, shared with a chorus of voices flung far and wide around the world, small sections of which have become friends, shining lights who I look for whenever I log on. 

I joined fandoms when I was 18 and I’ve never looked back.

Been in fandom 20+ years and counting ❤

(also, omg ZOOMWAY)

First fandom 40 years ago. Still here. Squee is for life, not just for kids.

Fandom for 23 years, and I still smile at the memory of Zoomway and her absolute awesomeness.

Stumbled on my first Star Wars fanzine about 36-37 years ago.

I wrote Star Trek fanfic for the first time in 1978.

We’ve been here all along and we’re not going anywhere.

I wrote my first Trek fanfic just after ST:TOS premiered. I didn’t even know that fanfic was what I was doing: didn’t even know the genre had a name. Later on, when I was in nursing school, I came to know the women in New York who were in the process of organizing those first Trek conventions of the 70s. I worked some of those cons and made friendships there that last to this day. The people who ran private presses dedicated to K/S slashzines and presided over dealers’ tables piled high with them are now pro writers and editors with worldwide reputations… and they are still fans.

Which is as it should be. Fandom isn’t something you need to grow out of to prove your adulthood (or justify it to others). And it’s their own insecurities that people trying to push that position on others are running from. So fuck that noise. Long-term fannish lives are the original Slow Burn story… and it’s one we’ll still be writing for years to come.

All of this is super true and important but I’m just aghast that I’ve been so disconnected from superman fandom the past few years that I missed that zoomway had died, oh my god, I’m upset.

Still side-eyeing the kids, but you’re good and don’t forget it. 

Hi doc, got myself into some bl drama over that list scene how could it be romantic? how do so many see what is not even in the show? Clark is still grieving Lexa its been just a few weeks maybe since she died how is it she is in love with bellvue? they think she’s been in love all along i’m like HOW? when? what are you watching? so frustrating.

I know this is hard, but a person is allowed to have their fantasies and it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else.  So long as they are not harming anyone else, it’s best to leave them be. We can enjoy our headcanons and, believe it or not, not all beIIarke fans are toxic Clexa haters (and vice versa).

Where we get wrapped up in ‘drama’ is the socio-political context of the show’s queerbaiting, and failure to address this or engage with the fans they harmed, the homophobic taunting of the ‘blrokes’ and how this show’s content became toxic to many over it. 

If someone is deliberately sharing so-called ‘beIIarke’ content with you to taunt you, I suggest you do not engage, just block. Blacklist content from the show.  At this point, I’m fairly certain they’re baiting whatever audience they have left and you don’t have to fall into it. Take care of you. 🙂

The Real Problem with Tinhatting

olderthannetfic:

I remember when the Domlijah tinhat websites full of “evidence” first appeared. I wasn’t very familiar with RPF fandoms or with tinhatting, and I thought: “Wow, that evidence does look kind of suspicious.” It was only years later, when I saw the exact same “evidence” in every other tinhat fandom and realized that it will always look the same. Yes, Larry too. Yes, Johnlock too. Yes, J2… err… too.

But you know what? If you’re having fun, who cares?

The actual problem with tinhatting isn’t that you’re wrong or that it’s silly to think that actors are sending secret messages with their shirt colors. The actual problem is that tinhats end up disappointed, frustrated, furious, crushed.

Some groups, like TJLC, are known for treating other fans horribly or for harassing the people who make the media they like. That’s awful. Stop that.

But even when tinhats are perfectly nice, they’re still setting themselves up for heartbreak when the canon or the celebrities’ real lives fail to live up to the fantasy. Eventually, no matter how awesome your canon and the people who make it are, they will let you down.

Don’t invest so much of your soul in being proven right that you can’t handle being proven wrong.

yesbothways:

shatterpath:

dinovia-grant:

superkartoffel:

Why are some people who ship Lena and Kara so vicious to supercat shippers? I don’t understand that at all. Is it because we were here first? Is it because our favourite character left the show and we’re left vulnerable and heartbroken and make easy targets? There is so much hate coming from that direction it’s absolutely baffling (and I don’t even set foot into the supercat tag anymore, because they tag their hate, but it still reaches me). 

Like… they’re both non-canon f/f ships. Why all these attacks on the ship that carried pretty much the majority of season one? Why are people so… angry?

Did the actress who plays Lena bring a specifically cruel kind of fandom with her (I don’t know where she’s from)? What’s going on?

Like… I come from the J/7 days, and I was good friends with Janeway/Torres and Janeway/Kes (and Janeway/prehensileplant) folks.

I second this.  I don’t understand the vitriol. 

Neither ship is ever going to become canon.  It doesn’t matter which one you ship, but because of the hate and the childishness I have seen from some of the Lena/Kara shippers, I will never read or write for that ship.  It has turned me off the character completely (an unintended but understandable consequence of these actions).

It’s unnecessary division in a world we’re already fighting to keep together. 

Just ship and let ship. 

I ship Supercat.  I will always ship Supercat. 

I won’t read or write for Lena/Kara, but those that do are free to ship them, write for them, read them to their heart’s content.

What I will do, though, is stand up to hate.  There’s enough of that in the world at large; why does it have to be in our ships, too?

See, this is just messed up. There is indeed enough vitriol in the world. What happened to fandom spaces being safe and fun?

And, yes, I pulled a jerk move and lost a pal, though not by either of these pairings. (Squick/almost trigger or no, I should have kept my mouth shut) Trust me, it’s not worth it, people.

Oh, wow.  I haven’t seen this yet.  But I am not overly surprised.  (And I was already really sad for the folks who were shipping Kara and Jimmy.)  I think it maybe has something to do with a lot of shippers being young.  Or perhaps it has something to do with a lot of shippers being young in terms of their interpersonal and political ethics.  We certainly ARE NOT living during a strong wave of feminism.  We’re living in an era of backlash against feminism.  One thing about this time period that freaks me out the most is how lesbianism often takes forms that simply aren’t feminist.  Like, how can you say you love women, then basically treat women the way that men treat women?  How can something so incredibly threatening to patriarchy become so apolitical?  The most respectful fandom I’ve ever been a part of was the Xena fandom, and I think that was because it had a lot of older feminists and older lesbians in it, and they diligently talked to members of the fandom about how to treat other shippers and basically gave clear guidelines on solidarity.  Hopefully, folks can cycle some posts about how folks can say whatever they want, but they shouldn’t tag those posts with “Supercat.”  That’s plain meanness.  

Interesting.  I’ve not seen this, either, though we’ve noted (small) divisions in the Clexa fandom, as well (though what divided many of them is better known).  I think  @yesbothways has the gist of it: we’re not living in a strong feminist period.  With the UK/US elections revealing unsettling truths at how deep racism and misogyny and homophobia go in our collective cultures, it is definitely time that a new movement sparked itself and wakes those who are sinking in grooves worn deep by running in unfettered circles.  

What do you think about people getting upset over trashverse? Saying things like making the lesbian abusive isn’t something that’s needed considering that’s how lesbians are always seen. And the same with torturing a bisexual considering the bisexual is always getting tortured these days

entirelytookeen:

I think there’s this function on Xkit called “blacklist,” and it’s very easy to use on tumblr once installed. 

I’m not sure I follow the logic, though. The toxic stereotype I know is that lesbians are predatory – towards straight women and more generally towards younger girls, since the divisive tactic used to isolate younger queer individuals from their greater communities was to spread the belief that same-sex desire = pedophilia. (“Predatory” in the sense of pushing their sexual interest on those who don’t share it or “taint” otherwise blameless straight women by “making them gay.”) I’m not familiar with “the lesbian is abusive” a trope; the opposite, actually. I’m only familiar with the (specious) argument that Lexa is abusive. As I’ve talked about, one of the personal appeals of the trash verse is that it proves how far you have to warp the character and canon events to achieve anything close to that standard. 

Regardless, I don’t agree with the idea that all representation has to be positive. There are lesbians who are abusive to their partners, and certainly a look at the surveys done on the health and well-being of bisexuals will prove there’s a lot of suffering in that community. When we do our own writing and creative work, should we abstain from drawing on our own experiences or observations? Just because they’re not the “best” face to put on an under-represented group? That’s a good way to create propaganda, but there are more stories out there than “perfectly balanced, healthy-minded, mature individual meets same.” I don’t see myself in that story, or many of the people I’ve loved. The whole point is to be able to find ourselves in the narrative after being written out of it for so long – not to make sure everyone else has the best impression of us because of it. 

The danger of toxic stereotypes is twofold: one, when they’re the only representation available, and two, when the characters are reduced to those stereotypes unthinkingly. (As in: “well, the character is [x], so of course they’ll do [y].”) There are absolute bunches of Clexa stories which don’t play with the potential darkness of this world or investigate the extremes of those characters’ psyches. Compared to most fandoms, Clexa fic is especially heavy on the sweetness and light. And one reason I enjoy the trash verse is because I think it takes a lot of care in examining what could put these characters in this scenario, and what could push them to these acts and emotions. It’s also very honest about what it’s portraying. I’m much more disturbed reading a fanfic which is supposed to be about a happy and healthy relationship, but where I can clearly see the codependency or emotional abuse which is meant to be read as entertaining relationship angst. 

That’s not meant to read as an argument that people should like this story. (Or dislike others.) If we all wanted the same thing out of our fictions, fanfic wouldn’t exist in the first place. If someone is uncomfortable with stories or headcanons that explore certain extremes, that’s fine. But claiming there’s no way to thoughtfully explore those extremes, or that one person’s exploration is automatically damaging to the entire group, and all because of the identity of the characters or the writer involved… That’s not angling for better representation, that’s respectability politics. 

Read this. Please.

its unfair for you to think that im not entitled to be upset about eliza’s photo because i am. elycia is very important to me and i don’t think its ok for you not to think that is valid. its also not okay for her to be posting photos in bed with a man when she knows we couldn’t post photos with a woman if we wanted to. its insensitive and if she really understood the life her fans have she wouldn’t so things like this. alycia would never do something like that.

clarke-kom-titkru:

geryonwoods:

I’ve been staring at this message for about ten minutes because I keep thinking my brain is playing a trick on me and I didn’t read what I just think I read.

1. Eliza isn’t Clarke. Elycia isn’t real. Actors aren’t their characters. Actors have no obligations to their fans.

2. Reread #1 for as long as you need to until you get it. Once you do, reread it again a few more times just to be sure.

3. Eliza isn’t to blame if you feel unsafe in posting a picture with your girlfriend and she certainly shouldn’t censor herself and her happiness because of that. What kind of unrealistic thought process is this?

4. Why is Alycia held to a different standard than Eliza??? Alycia is a Straight White Girl who has been dating a human trashcan for like 7 years and is completely dismissive of her fans and what happened after Lexa’s death…but you love her and she can do no wrong. Let me repeat myself here: actors aren’t their characters. Alycia isn’t Lexa. If there is someone this fandom should be bending over backwards for 100% of the time it’s Eliza Taylor. Furthermore we have NO IDEA if Eliza is straight. What if she was bi? You know what you would be? Biphobic as fuck.

What the fuck kind of twisted, stupid, deluded anon is this. I have never in my life seen such selfish, small minded bullshit.

Anyway.
I love Eliza Taylor and I hope this guy gives her infinite orgasms.

I’m deeply disturbed reading this sort of thing – seems like people make assumptions about BOTH of them.  All of it is awful.  

You only know the characters they play.  You don’t know the people.  No amount of convention-going, interviews or Instagram posts will tell you the truth.  Not even a part of it.  You are being given a version of them, the one they want you to know.  It’s the good side, obviously.  The rest is private, as it should be.

Enjoy and be fans of what they do, but don’t presume to know who they really are or how they really feel or think or what they believe in.  It’s wrong from one end to the other.  

Everything outside of their work is just gossip and indulging in it is what helps create ‘discourse’ like this (and tends to lead to invasions of privacy and other ugliness that no one needs).  They are not required to share their lives with us. We have no right to demand that they do or that they be what we want them to be. Either of them.

Their work is what we become fans of, the characters they play – confusing the two is dangerous.  Be safe, be kind, be fair.  

Current state of the Clexa fandom / post-307 movement and where we could go next?

lextopias:

hellalez:

Folks have come to me seeking my opinion on several occasions lately, so here goes:

I have said from the beginning that working with other fandoms, str8 allies, and industry professionals is key. We will never achieve our goals as fans on our own. Any type of us-them mentality, especially regarding other LGBTQ-centric fandoms and media allies, will lead to our demise.

I didn’t fully understand the Layne/Ben thing a week or so ago, for instance. I certainly saw Layne’s point, but the whole thing felt out of left field and ultimately counterproductive. Tbf there’s probably a context that I was not privy to. In sum, they are both important and have important contributions to make to the movement. Neither should be demonized or alienated. We can’t afford to lose them.

Meanwhile there are several prominent but divisive entities within the fandom itself who seem more interested in a personal / small group power agenda than actually helping the movement. That is fatal. There is no room for personal agendas here.

The LGBTFDB / LGBTVDB split is a good example. It’s a classic philosophical difference of fostering change from the outside vs inside (the inside being the “system” aka the TV industry in this case). In fact, both groups could be working in tandem if LGBTV weren’t so paranoid that LGBTF is somehow trying to commandeer the movement, as if that were possible. I attribute part of this to poor outreach on the part of LGBTF. The dialogue there just failed from the outset. Not sure why. But from my perspective, it was like watching a slow-motion social media car wreck.

On the fan side, part of the problem is also that we lack a longitudinal view of how movements can function. At least in the US, there has been no effective model for consensus-based work in 20-30 years. Most young fans have only ever seen division and internal nitpicking in the larger political/cultural arena. There are just no current models for effective consensus-based movements. We need to dig into history for that.

Likewise some fans seem actively interested in inciting drama within the movement rather than having us accomplish anything. Like drama either for pure entertainment or – much more insidious – the kind of petty bullshit that plagues the entire millennial left right now: tearing each other apart over (relatively) minor differences in opinion or philosophy and quibbling over arbitrary semantic differences.

The insistence that everybody has to agree on every little thing is just unrealistic. We need to focus on our common interests, aka the larger issues at stake. Again, historically speaking, we older folks have let our political culture devolve into a bunch of talking heads sniping at one another and jockeying for power, so our generation at large is partly culpable in terms of the example we’ve set, or rather not set.

All this combined with people’s kneejerk internet emotional reactions and the compulsion to “call someone out” over any conceivable “offense” often leads to ranting, division, hurt feelings, and on a larger scale, ultimately alienating potential allies from our fandom / the larger movement. There are several loose cannons who seem especially adept at this type of alienation, and some have pretty large followings. Sadly those are exactly the type people who won’t step off for a minute and give others a voice, despite their continual insistence that they’re being silenced.

We as a movement were at our best when we were articulating our case in a rational manner to a wide audience, sometimes through allies like Mo Ryan & Ben, sometimes through direct outreach to the press, and I think stuff like the billboards is a great impulse. Those were very effective in terms of visibility.

We are also at our best when we manage to keep a sense of humor even in the face of such a daunting, serious underlying problem (I.e., institutionalized discrimination / homophobia in the media and culture at large). Yes, it is possible to be effective and still keep a sense of humor.

I won’t even get into the whole ship wars bullshit. It wouldn’t exist if people didn’t respond to the bait from the hateful wing of the “those” fans – seriously, their idiotic opinions deserve zero attention. Engaging in this in any manner makes our whole fandom seem petty and stupid. What if a group incited a ship war, and the other group just didn’t show up? No ship war.

Twitter trends and polls are basically exhausted at this point, or will be by the end of the summer with the end of the current TV cycle. We need to get back to wider goals.

Several fans have approached me about my opinion, so here it is:

We need to get a solid, unified message out there through as many channels as possible.

In order to do this, and instead of quibbling over nothing, we need to remember that we are all fighting for the same 2-3 things:

1) that the public learns about and understands the danger of BYG for real LGBTQ people’s lives, and that this trope intersects for POC in especially devastating ways,

2) that the industry understands that they are under scrutiny and absolutely must take responsibility when representing a vulnerable, persecuted largely young population, and

3) more generally, we have to convey the message that homophobia & ignorance still dominate, and that individuals, professionals, and the collective tendencies of the larger media landscape can counter those destructive narratives and can actually save real people’s lives.

We can continue to make Lexa’s death mean something by having real impact. But we have to adopt a “blood must not have blood” philosophy amongst ourselves and unify in order to do that.

Lots of good sense being made in this post. Thanks fro writing!!!