maybe it’s only because it’s sunday night and i’m feeling slightly mushy, but i’m thinking about the sheer amount of creation that goes on in every fandom i have ever been part of, and just???
we have as fangirls created an entire dialect (anyone who’s spent any time on tumblr can speak it/recognize it, and it’s very distinctive and expressive and the way it compensates for being a text-based medium without inflections/facial expressions and the other things that usually go into a language are endlessly fascinating for me). we come up with off the cuff headcanons. we write vast volumes of insightful and sophisticated media critiques/meta pieces/theories and speculations (and sometimes put more thought and care into it than the actual writers, alas). we get so much meaning out of every look/line/scene. it’s astonishing. we liveblog, we flail, we cry, we enjoy (and bewail) the experience without holding back, and spend so much genuine energy on the Very Real Need for Those Idiots to Just Kiss, and i love it.
we spontaneously and easily create full-length stories that are often better than many published books, or just a snippet to support or flesh out a single piece of narrative/spoilers. we interact and encourage and inspire each other in constantly flexible and fun ways in doing it. we eagerly and happily consume these stories and create more from them in turn.
we spend hours on edits, or gifsets, or drawings or sketches or digital paintings, or other beautiful pieces of art, and the talent is just amazing. simply because we love something and want to make something pretty. after all, all this creation is happening for free, in ordinary people’s off-hours. nobody’s an expert, nobody’s getting paid for it. everyone can participate. yes, there’s the whole question of fandom culture and its problems/issues, but that’s beside the point in terms of what fandom itself is.
see, this is why i am suspicious of any author/creator who proclaims to hate and/or dislike/not encourage fanworks. yes, some of it is creepy and strange and that goes with the territory. but honestly i think that ignoring or discounting the sheer amount of passion with which people love stories, and want to be part of their creation in imaginative mediums, is a mistake.
and because of all this creation, we talk to each other. we become friends. i have people i met here who i text all day every day about my life, regular things, non-fandom stuff (although there is certainly lots of that as well). i count on those people to be there and to support me and to turn to when i need someone to talk to (and try in return to be the same for them).
the world is stupid, the world is dumb, the world is scary. we need more creation. we need more connection. we need more of whatever this energy is that drives us to question and explore and care and make shit and enjoy it together and to tell a new and better story as a result. we need to move it beyond tumblr, sure – but i also think it’s a hell of a start.
so yes. this isn’t anything that hasn’t been said before, obviously, but it struck me tonight for some reason, and i wanted to say something.
i love you guys. keep being awesome.
This. ❤️
