#fandom meta

[sighed-the-snake]

Hey guys, Tumblr now has a feature where if you click the three dots on the upper right, it will tell you the date something was posted. Things don't float in timelessness anymore. Maybe check the date before correcting someone on old information.

[fairydares]

The fact that a certain, common kind of person in fandom thinks there's any valid argument for unsolicited (and unwanted) criticism on fan content is, in itself, a tell. In general, unsolicited criticism is bad—or, at the very least, misguided—because the agenda of the "advice" giver in the first place is to try to control or change the other person, rather than to try to understand them. That doesn't really change just because we happen to be talking about writing, or art, or fandom, or any combination of those things. Criticism is a part of art, but artists only need so much of it to grow, and it's reasonable to assume that they might only want it from people whose opinions/perspectives align with theirs in certain ways rather than from strangers online.

For the people struggling to grasp this truth about unsolicited criticism in general, there's not much to be done. They have to realize it for themselves when someone finally explains it to them in a way that makes sense to them, or enough people walk away from them/start leaving them out of the loop.

For the people who do grasp that in general, but suddenly turn into the insufferable "I'm just honest!" guy when it comes to a specific space/hobby, the ass is out, I fear. Both cheeks. To this person, people in fandom are the equivalent of kids who Naruto run in the hallway and should expect to have their head dunked in a toilet. Any suggestion this might be bad is met with Entitlement Tantrums because they're bullies, and beyond any internalized mistreatment, it isn't any deeper or more enlightened or more interesting than that.

Hopefully someone else can find freedom in this realization like I did.

[purple-crimson]

Is fandom culture something most people "grow out of"?

That is to say, does the majority of fannish teenagers and young adults stop being fannish when they grow older, and I don't notice it because I am still fannish?

Okay, the question might be provocative and I too hate the term "growing out of" but sadly it seems like it fits in the case I am describing.

When I was in middle then highschool, I had a few friends who were really into fandoms. If we were in the same fandom, we would create our own OCs, roleplay, exchange fan theories, read each other's fanfictions, etc. If we were not in the same fandoms, we would still hear each other talking about our blorbos, making fanart (for those who could draw), cheer each other on etc.

Now that we are all students at different places, we talk less, but I still manage to contact them from time to time. Some of these friends are still into fandoms (one of them has even become an open cosplayer who does conventions and contests). Some others... Are far less into it than they used to be? For example, yesterday one of them asked me what I do in my free time and I answered writing fanfiction, but they just went "ah ok" while their former self would have at the very least asked me what fandom I am writing for. And in general, I found that this second category of friends is less likely to get enthused about characters like they used to be (they've stopped posting edits of their current favs and talking about fandom for example and I don't even know what they are into at the moment). Which, to me, feels quite sad, since from my point of view they have lost a source of joy in life.

So... Have they "grown out" of fandom culture or are they hiding what they were previously more public about (within their friends groups)? Why have we lost the fun dynamic we used to have?

So, what are your thoughts on this? Do most people stop getting interested in fandom past a certain age? If that's the case, I think we should cherish even more that fact that we still have our fandom "elders" who keep making fics and creating art no matter their age and the social conventions!

The only thing I've noticed that could differentiate these friends is that those who have not "grown out of" fandom seem to be mostly my autistic and trans friends. As an autistic and trans person, I do feel the need to express myself in fandom and the need for escapism, so maybe it is not just a correlation. However, the friends who are no longer "fannish" are also queer even if not trans (though some of them used to think they were trans), so I would assume they could have stayed drawn to fandom too, since a lot of queer cis people are also out there making or enjoying art and fics! Not to mention cishet fans do exist too.

[the-bar-sinister]

unenforceable shipping boundary:

you're not allowed to ship that

actually enforceable shipping boundaries:

I will not interact with material about that ship

if you ship that I won't interact with you

if you ship that I will block you

The same applies whether you are a creator, or a member of fandom. You cannot stop people from shipping something, all you can do is change how you interact with people/do not interact with them.

[blueinkedfrost]

Fictional Trope Meaning - Evil Father

This is a trope I use and like reading a lot. What can it mean?

It's a reflection of the person's awful relationship with their actual father.

It's the opposite of the person's great relationship with their actual father, because they like fiction removed from their experience.

It's a commentary on patriarchy.

It's an easy source of drama, especially in a patriarchal setting (like most Earth cultures). Since fathers are generally men, they are more powerful, so this conflict automatically gives you a powerful oppressor.

It's a good way to get a young protagonist out the door and into adventure. People with a great family life are more reluctant to leave, but if their household is awful to them that's the perfect narrative reason for them to go outside and kickstart the plot.

It's a desire to avoid misogynistic tropes. Mothers who treat other people badly exist in real life and obviously it's OK to write stories reflecting that, but because our culture has a misogyny problem it can be difficult to write fictional Evil Mothers without those tropes. That leaves the male parent as the selected option for the bad guy.

It's prejudice against men. Generally, our culture has a misogyny problem, but sexism hurts men as well and a narrative that men are inherently bad and abusive just isn't true or fair.

It's a metaphor for social oppression, translated into a personal analogy.

It's a metaphor for growing into independence, where a child learns to live apart from their parents. It's just more dramatic if the parting of ways is a heroic saga of good versus evil as opposed to moving interstate for a job as an accountant.

My father and grandfather are both incredible people that I love dearly, so I'm probably in the #2 bucket!

With regard to #6, I'll shout out to @coutelier because I really like his characterisation for Tenya and her abusive mother.

[dragoneyemysteries]

writing gen fic is so frustrating sometimes because it is almost a guarantee whatever you write won't get as many hits/kudos/comments/etc. as a similar fic that involves shipping. Sometimes it feels like there's no space in fandom for people who don't interact with the media through a shipping lens.

(For example: I have two Legend of Zelda fics I wrote. One is a gen fic, and one is a ship fic. They were both published around the same time and they both have relatively equivalent word and chapter counts. They're both fluff with a hint of angst, both are themed around made up holidays, and both were written for gift exchanges. Despite all these similarities, the ship fic has almost 3 times as many hits and kudos as the gen fic. )

[martypantone]

It’s actually so fucking funny that I used to be deep in the Hannibal fandom and bought like, teacups and fancy knives and Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses as seen on Margot Verger…And now I am a hockey blogger who buys jerseys and sour raisins and shirts with holes in them as seen on Trevor Zegras.

[gingerpolyglot]

I'm really fascinated by the difference between portmanteau ship names (Spirk, Sterek, Merthur, Drarry) and title ship names (Captain Swan, Super Corp, First Prince, Ineffable Husbands) and i wonder if there's a pattern to which fandoms/ships default to which schéma, or if when fandoms include a mix (such as Drarry vs WolfStar) if there's a pattern there

So far my only hypothesis is dependent on the characters having some kind of nicknames/title, but I'm sure there are plenty of cases that disprove that.

Thoughts?