Do you ever think you'll stop drawing fanart? No offense it just seems like the kind of thing you're supposed to grow out of. I'm just curious what your plans/goals are since it isn't exactly an art form that people take seriously.
Ah, fanart. Also known asĀ the art that girls make.
Sad, immature girls no one takes seriously. Girls who are taught that itās shameful to be excited or passionate about anything, that itās pathetic to gush about what attracts them, that itās wrong to be a geek, that they should feel embarrassed about having a crush, that theyāre not allowed to gaze or stare or wish or desire. Girls who need to grow out of it.
Thatās the art you mean, right?
Because in my experience, when grown men make it, nobody calls it fanart. They just call it art. And everyone takes it very seriously.
Itās interesting though ā the culture of shame surrounding adult women and fandom. Even within fandom itās heavily internalized: unsurprisingly, mind, given that fandom is largely comprised by young girls and, unfortunately, our culture runs on ensuring young girls internalize *all* messages no matter how toxic. But hereās another way of thinking about it.
Sports is a fandom. It requires zealous attention to āseasons,ā knowledge of details considered obscure to those not involved in that fandom, unbelievable amounts of merchandise, and even āfanficā in the form of fantasy teams. But this is a masculine-coded fandom. And as such, itās encouraged - built into our economy! Have you *seen* Dish networkās āultimate fanā advertisements, which literally base selling of a product around the normalization of all consuming (male) obsession? Or the very existence of sports bars, built around the link between fans and community enjoyment and analysis. Sport fandom is so ingrained in our culture that major events are treated like holidays (my gym closes for the Super Bowl) ā and can you imagine being laughed at for admitting you didnāt know the difference between Supernatural and The X Files the way you might if you admit you donāt know the rules of football vs baseball, or basketball?
āFandomā is not childish but we live in a culture that commodified womenās time in such away that their hobbies have to be āfrivolous,ā because āmatureā womenās interests are supposed to be marriage, family, and overall care taking: things that allow others to continue their own special interests, while leaving women without a space of their own.
So think about what youāre actually saying when you call someone ātoo oldā for fandom. Because youāre suggesting they are ātoo oldā for a consuming hobby, and I challenge you to answer ā what do you think they should be doing instead?
#I love the fact Iām āweirdā for writing fic but some guy painting a team logo on his beer belly is normal
[x] [x]
This whole modern approach is also seriously undermining just how important fanfiction is - from a historical standpoint.
The concept of fanfiction formed and forged the earliest stages of literature in Europe. Because the majority of authors in France, Germany and Great Britain looked at that funky little Celtic dude Arthur and thought āhey, heās neat. I wanna write about himā.
The entire concept of a book outside of religious purposes was born out of fanfiction in my country.
There is no āfirst canonā for Arthur where he came as the prince of Camelot, with his sidekicks Lancelot and Merlin and his endgame love interest Gwen.
Arthur was some random hunter when he started out.
Someoneās fanfiction made him a prince.
Someone elseās fanfiction gave him a round table.
Someone elseās fanfiction gave him Merlin at his side.
Someone elseās fanfiction gave him Morgana, gave him Gwen, gave him his swords.
And, to this day, we still write Arthurian fanfiction. Literally last year there was a movie adaptation that is, by all intends and purposes, fanfiction, because it wasnāt even close to a literal adaptation of the source material (The Kid Who Would Be King). Heck, BBCās Merlin, itself an Arthurian fanfiction, remains one of the biggest fandoms that people today write for on AO3.
You were a joke in the middle ages if you tried to write your own stuff. Whoās interested in your stuff? You were only a respected author if you wrote fanfiction. The most famous medieval German authors are famous because they wrote fanfiction about some knightly OCs they created who served on Arthurās court. That is the literary legacy of the middle ages. Arthurian fanfiction.
Yet somewhere along the way, this concept of āI find x story/element cool and want to elaborate on it more, shift the focus onto an aspect of this original source materialā has gotten this āeh, itās fanfictionā connotation and lost respect.
Even though this very concept is still being used - even outside of the actual medium of fanfiction - and it is still being used for the very same purpose it was used for in medieval times. Original movies often donāt get as much recognition as adaptations of existing source material that the audience is familiar with. People see a movie about a character theyāre familiar with and seem more inclined to buy a ticket to see the 10th new interpretation of Batman or Superman or Snow White. How are these new interpretations of familiar source material that usually add to the lore, reinterpret characterizations and dynamics, any different from fanfiction?
But heaven forbid we call The Dark Knight Nolanās Batman fanfiction. No, fanfiction is that silly thing that we canāt take seriously, but that new Joker movie, that however is high-end art.
SO IMPORTANT
This. Fanfiction is variations on an existing theme, simultaneously making use of and satisfying peopleās existing love for a story that theyāre happy to consume more of, and cultivating the synergy between an existing story/mythos and a new author who, in interacting with characters theyād never have created themselves, creates something that neither they nor any of the storyās previous tellers could have made all by themselves.
Fanfiction is the new whole being greater than the sum of its parts, and fanfiction is the story being made limitless, retelling by retelling, and it is wonderful.
Itās also worth noting that Batman himself only came into being because of The Scarlet Pimpernel, a series of books about an extravagantly rich foppish playboy by day, daring hero in disguise by night (I mean, loosely. He also fopped by night and heroed by day, but you get my drift). Written by a woman no less.
Batman is a transformative work with a modernised crime-fighting SP but also borrowing strongly from earlier comic books, and yet it is seen as definitive.
Coming back here to say that I think the derision for fanart also has some of its roots in our capitalist hellscape.
Itās the age oldĀ āIf thing not make you money, why you care about thing?ā thatās so prevalent in the system. Of course some people do make money with their fanart, but I think that is still part of the scorn.Ā
Itās supposed to be something you do not just for fun, but for practice, people like this think. Once youāre good at it, you can drop it and make money by focusing on your OCs and original work!
**smashes reblog**
Couldnāt agree more. Fan art and fic are absolutely valid. We really need to stop putting an age limit on fun as well!
Funnily enough, my Mum sent me this just today. It was in the front of the Doctor Who book sheād just purchased. (My Mumās in her 70btwā¦ tell her sheās too old for fandom, I dare youā¦)
Fandom, fanart, and fanfiction is for everyone.Ā No, it isnāt something youĀ āhaveā to grow out of.Ā If it brings you joy, then who cares?
Always reblog
