Tag: RIGHT HERE

There’s a reason why Moana was neck-to-neck with Frozen’s record at the box office, Hidden Figures made more at the box office than Rogue One, and Ms. Marvel, Monstress and the upcoming America are bringing more fans to comics.

There’s incredible power in not only seeing yourself reflected in media, but seeing that representation done right as well. It reminds you that your experiences are worth being treated with respect, that there are more choices open to you than you might think, and that you can be seen as a whole person, not just through the flattened lens of white supremacy. Luke Cage broke Netflix because so many people were watching the series, after all (and yet frustratingly, predictably, Marvel decided to ignore every lesson from Luke Cage’s success in making Iron Fist but that’s a rant for another day).

Escapism isn’t truly escapism when you keep finding the same microaggressions, erasure, and stereotypes in the stories you love and are trying to escape into, and we ignore this truth at our peril because it’s never “just a story.

“Finding Yourself in Fandom” by Michi Trota (Uncanny Magazine)

“…because it’s never ‘just a story’.”

*standing ovation*

(via medievalpoc)

I wanted to say thank you for being open about being an ‘older’ fan and very passionate in your fandom, while also reinforcing that it is okay for younger fans to feel uncomfortable with adults in their spaces. As a fan in their late 20s it’s validating to see some kick ass fanfic from you, and I also think talks about boundaries are super important and something I wish I had when I was younger. So thank you for being you! (PS magpies are pretty great)

entirelytookeen:

Thank you for sending this ask, I really appreciate it. I know from a certain perspective I can seem a little… prescriptive? But like I’ve said: I’ve been the younger fan, and the much-younger fan. In 99% of those experiences, especially with older fans, have been… you know, there’s really no word for people who are generous with their lives and their attention in that way. Especially in setting the example of how to not lose your sense of joy and wonder about fannish things, and by fannish things I mean, essentially, stories. Though the dude who insisted I “swap” for his first-row ticket for at least a few songs, because it was my very first Bowie show, I guess that was fannish, too*. People can be angels.   

But there’s always the 1% of experiences – either happening to me, or happening to my friends – which make you realize the potential for that dynamic to be exploited in the worst ways. Not only don’t I want to contribute to it, I also want acknowledge that happens and it’s not acceptable**. 

Though I became a hell of a lot more relaxed about my own participation after 3×07. If some straight dude in his forties has the fucking nerve to say this story ends in death, again, I figure I’m allowed to come in with a counterpoint (no matter how minor). 

And I just really love telling stories. So, yeah – thank you. 

*he was 30-40 years older than me and very, very gay. (total groupie, had seen upwards of 100 shows and once personally gifted Bowie with soap on a rope.) I had literally met him a few hours before the show, and it’s still one of the nicest things anyone has done for me. 

**looking back I realize that, in my personal experience, it only ever involved guys with much younger girls, but it’s still a valid fucking issue. 

‘how to not lose your sense of joy and wonder about fannish things, and by fannish things I mean, essentially, stories.’

We might not be able to stay young, but no one said we had to grow old.