Don't Worry about YOUR "Place" in a Fandom...
Okay, I’m still not checking messages nor posting currently, that shall resume on Friday. I just popped in again to share this message because it may be something someone needs to hear ASAP.
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Fandoms: the perfect opportunity to engage with other fans of something, and share your work or see theirs. Heck, they’re even the perfect place to make some new friends and get feedback on improving your abilities, should you be a content creator. However, they can also be the perfect place for discouragement or even, in the more toxic ones, harassment. It’s, unfortunately, the proverbial “double edged sword” that comes with a community of fans for something: you can either find yourself a well-renowned or at least welcomed individual, or you can find yourself overlooked or full-on attacked as one of the “black sheep.”
Sometimes, it can be more of an issue with the fandom itself. Billie Bust Up’s has an issue with policing fan-produced content– to the point where actual kids/minors will get mobbed –and I’ve seen them go as far as accusing “pedophilia” or “homophobia,” on the claims of fighting “proshipping” or “erasure.” Then, we have the infamous Steven Universe incident of a minor feeling inclined to take her own life, as the fanbase decided her “fatphobic” over a fanart piece that drew Rose Quartz “skinnier than she’s supposed to be.” I don’t think I need to say anything else they’ve done to emphasize “issues with the fandom itself,” but be assured that the suicide attempt failed and that user is still alive.
Other times of the “double edged sword,” and I hate to say it, but the “issue” is actually you: it not being a “toxic” fanbase of unreasonable members in these specific cases, but you and your actions being why you find yourself in a disfavorable position. You may behave in a way that no one finds “attractive” nor “appealing,” like if you have a tendency to act out or constantly “sympathy-reel” for attention– yourself or what you make. Believe me, it’ll often be more your behavior than your actual work that’ll earn the ire of more reasonable fandom members: the only time the more reasonable will hate you over pictures or writing, is when you’re actually using your talents to attack others (ex: “hate art”) or if you’re using everyone’s favorite characters for… sinister purposes (ex: actual grooming material).
Even if you don’t make such content, but normal content meant to be enjoyed by fellow fans, you can still feel some manner of grief within your community from it. Sometimes, it can be more direct: the bullies of the fandom finding your work/style “offensive” enough to attack, or the rabid fans of some bigger fandom member claiming “idea stealing” and otherwise. Clearly, they don’t fall under the “reasonable members” umbrella…
Other times, your content can result in your misery more indirectly: the realization that there’s nothing “special” about what you make or offer, especially easier in a smaller fandom of less “competition” (for lack of a better word). Before you start crying that I’m being mean, recall that “special” doesn’t specifically mean “good” nor “enjoyable”: it’s a term referring to uniquity, something that would really grab others’ interest and attention– something they couldn’t come across anywhere else. I mean, why focus on all these gray rocks on the road, when I can look at this shiny, rainbow-painted one? So yeah, your offered content just might not be “special” enough to earn a majority of attention, sorry to say.
What’s that: “Why bother anymore then, if no one else likes me or what I make…?” Umm… Did you forget why you joined a fandom and made content of that franchise in the first place?? It’s because you loved the series it’s based on, right? Why should others determine whether you continue making content or continue consuming whatever the official people behind it make? What’s that: “What’s the point of sharing, if the target audience wouldn’t want anything to do with it or me?”
Look, even if an entire fandom somehow turned against you, blocked you, whatever, you can still post things! No matter how small, you’re bound to still have some fellow fans who would love what you make. What about the people who aren’t part of the fandom? Heck, even people who generally don’t like the franchise in question may like what you, specifically, have done with it! Don’t get a swollen head, now, even if they may like your take on a character in fanfiction better or prefer your artstyle to the actual show’s/game’s/etc’s.
Just… You are in an age where people can finally share whatever they want to make, why are you letting yourself waste the opportunity because people are unreasonably cruel or you’re not some “big name”? Stop worrying about whatever “place” you may have in your fandom, and just create and share! Don’t hold yourself back from making great things, because of something that’s really just superficial in the long run…
