Tag: fandom

Fandom Etiquette

fixomnia-scribble:

memorizingthedigitsofpi:

I’ve been around for a really long time in various fandoms, and no one ever writes this stuff down. I’ll start. Please add to the list. We can’t expect people to follow “rules” they don’t know exist. 

written with the help of @unbreakablejemmasimmons

Fanart

  • if you like something, reblog it. Help the artist get their work out there in front of more people. Share the joy that it brought you. 
  • if you want more of it, support it. This can be via commissions, reblogs, recommending the artist to other people, shouting in the tags, or sending the artist asks/messages. 
  • if you hate it, keep scrolling. Keep the hate in a message window with a friend, not in the artist’s notes. 
  • if you want to use it, ask permission. Artwork is beautiful and you want to show it off. But please ask the artist before you throw it into your header or your icon. 
  • if you use it, give credit. And not just a post where you say “Do you like my new icon? X made it!”. Put it in your blog description, that way when someone rolls around your blog three months from now, they also know where your icon/header came from. 

Fanfic

  • if you like something, reblog it. Help the author get their work out there in front of more people. Share the joy that it brought you.
  • if you want more of it, support it. Kudos are fine, but if you want more of the thing you like, you should comment. Subscribe to the story or the author. Send them a message about how much you like what they wrote. 
  • if you read it, kudos it. Or give it a thumbs up. And this is just if you managed to get all the way to the end. If you finished the story and you actually liked it? Comment and reblog. 
  • don’t demand content. Be patient. Stories take time. You can encourage without being demanding. Show your love for what’s there without telling them to post more often. 
  • be gentle with criticism. Some people want it and some people run away from it. If you don’t know what type of person the author is, it’s best not to go there. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything.”

Fandom

  • ship and let ship. You love your ship and other people love theirs. No one needs to “win” when we’re all going to end up in tears anyway. 
  • if you hate it, stay out of the tag. This has two meanings: 1) don’t deliberately put hateful commentary in a tag and 2) if you  hate a tag, don’t go and read through that tag just to make yourself angry
  • if someone makes you something, appreciate it. Read and comment the fic. Like and reblog the artwork. Pimp it out and tell them how much you loved it. It’s a gift, treat it like one. 
  • if it’s a gift, put some effort into it. You signed up for that exchange three months ago and now it’s a week before you have to send the gift and you don’t have the time or the inclination to do the thing. Well too bad. Someone out there has been working hard in your gift, so you should do the same for them. 
  • none of us are “better” than anyone else. We’re all trash for our particular show/film/book/ship/artist/what-have-you. My fave is no better than yours and yours is no better than mine. 
  • actors are not their characters. They are people. Treat them like people. 

*gently slams the reblog button*

Not on my own account, but writers I know have been on the receiving end of more unwarranted and plain rude crap than usual lately…

I don’t read that stuff. I haven’t read any of the novels. I don’t know anything about that world. That’s a different world than my world.

George Lucas

Genuinely friendly reminder: your fic is not any more or less legitimate for expanded universe content/adherence. 

If the EU is your thing: cool, bring in whatever you want!

If you don’t have time for it/don’t care but like checking Wookieepedia: nice! Enjoy yourself!

If you just feel obligated: you aren’t! Do like George and imagine what you like!

SW fandom: seriously, create whatever world makes you happy.

(via anghraine)

State of The Fandom

guljerry:

guljerry:

I woke up out of a dead sleep thinking about this fandom (Star Trek) and one specific phrase that most in the fandom know very well. It’s one of the most iconic phrases from the franchise and is at the heart of what Star Trek is: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

This is not just meant as a statement that people exist in infinite diversity, in infinite combinations, but it means that this is good.

I’ve always kind of thought that the majority of Trekkies are probably such die hard fans not only because we love the characters and stories but also because the main theme and message of Star Trek rings true to what a lot of us believe, or give us a better future to strive for.

And yet I see horrible, ridiculous, childish, intolerant and disgusting things taking place in this fandom constantly. Things that fly in the face of Star Trek’s core message.

It’s possible I have held this fandom to higher standards than others given this message and maybe I was wrong to have done so.

I see or have been subjected to harassment over liking certain characters, or ships, or having certain headcanons–bullying, threats of violence, even death threats–literally over other fans enjoying things within the same fucking fandom. I have seen “Trekkies” being aphobes, homophobes, transphobes, ableist, sexist, racist, and generally disgusting to each other. I see “Trekkies” being hateful to other Trekkies over complete bullshit.

If you can’t even appreciate the diversity in liking FICTIONAL things then I have a difficult time believing that you are truly ‘woke’ and accepting of even greater diversity in real life. 

If you are in this fandom to gather up minions and keep them in your sphere of influence with fear tactics and bullying, so that you and they may bully others who you don’t like for petty and arbitrary reasons, you’re not a Trekkie. You’re a toxic disease to this fandom and you are a blight on what Star Trek stands for and you need to step out of your pathetic little power trip and re-examine the message of the thing you claim to love so much and think about your own life and actions.

I’m not sure, however, that the people who create such toxicity and abuse within our fandom really do understand or appreciate Star Trek’s message. I am more likely to believe that they are simply doing the same thing a lot of ultra-Conservative Right Wing “Christians” do when they use Christianity to uphold their nasty little version of ‘the truth’ which is usually that they are holy and pure and everyone else is sinful scum. That’s called using something as a smokescreen.

Stop using the thing I love as a smokescreen to uphold your own misplaced sanctimony so you can abuse others.

Re-evaluate yourself and realize what you are doing and work to be better or get out of our fandom. Star Trek is not about your brand of hate and harassment and I am quite tired of it.

For those of you who are tired too I would ask that you reblog this post.

Don’t be afraid to speak or support the truth. If too many are afraid to speak up and reassert what we want this fandom to be for us and for newcomers and for the future then we will continue to watch it slip away into this nasty place. If you’ve been a target of these types of people reblog. Don’t be afraid. If these types of people have used you or bullied you into harassing others in the past and you have left that toxic influence (good on you): reblog. If you want to show that you do not support this behavior in our fandom, reblog. If you know that we can do better and deserve better than this then reblog.

We will not see a decrease in this toxicity if the people who do not want it to spread and grow are too afraid to stand against it.

If you want to fight for something then fight for the right thing not for petty things that some fandom ringleader has decided you should stand for.

Fight for a future of tolerance and better treatment of each other in this fandom where we can enjoy our fandom again, where we can be proud of it, where we don’t see good people deleting and leaving because they can’t cope or have grown so weary of certain groups of people harassing them. If we stand by and do nothing then we are contributing to the poisoning of our fandom.

Solidarity. Support. Remember who we are as Trekkies – and what kind of message we want our fandom to stand for.

LLAP, friends.

Reblog for night crowd.

sanitywaitwhatsanityy:

We all have that one fandom. That fandom that saved us. That fandom that taught us to be who we are today. That fandom who gave us hope when we had none. That fandom that was there for us when no one else was. Those characters who’s lives changed our own. The characters who helped us accept who we are. Those stories which taught us about bravery, friendship, determination and love, more then any text book could. We all have that fandom. That fandom who’s characters and stories inspired us. Inspired us to be better. Inspired us to create. Inspired us to live. Do not let anyone tell you that fandom is meaningless or silly or stupid or immature. Because fandoms save us.

lynati:

solarrow:

preludeinz:

randomslasher:

I get antsy when I haven’t produced content in awhile. I worry I’ll be forgotten. I feel like I have to keep buying my place in fandom with stuff like art and writing. Which makes it hard to produce content because that’s a lot of pressure to put on my creativity muses. So I sit here worrying instead. 

Bleh. 

HOLY SHIT THIS IS SUCH A MOOD

To everyone in the fandom who has been posting this the last few days: You are not obligated to continuously produce content. You are valued within this community by others, no matter what. I promise you that. You will not be forgotten. Don’t feel pressured. Do things in your own time. You are awesome. You are talented and you are welcome here always.

Constant creation – and the demanding of constant creation – is the fastest way to burn a creator out. Take your breaks. Go play a video game, read a new series, take some classes in something utterly related to your usual creative or work fields. GO OUT DANCING! 

And don’t make creators anxious or guilty about it when they do.

Fandom PSA – on Anti Behavior

ladyvean:

redrobokitty:

I’m finally addressing what needs to be said given the behavior of fandom over the last few weeks. It took me a while because I wasn’t entirely sure what to say that didn’t have me go off on a tangent with my point hiding like a needle in a haystack.

I’ve been seeing a lot of horrific actions from fandom lately, but what’s even worse is that a lot more well-meaning fans are getting sucked into anti rhetoric because they are terrified of being wrong and becoming a potential target. That’s insidious.

Accusing people of something as strong as pedophilia because their ship has an age gap is not social justice. Sending people disgusting images of gore and child pornography because you deem their ship immoral is not social justice. Creating block lists of “problematic” blogs because you don’t agree with their content is not social justice 

AND ALL THESE ACTIONS DO IS TURN PEOPLE INTO TARGETS AND CREATE MORE VICTIMS VIA MOB RULE.

It’s disgusting and such actions aren’t fooling anyone. Because this isn’t about protecting fandom and survivors, this is about dictating fandom behavior to feed their own inflated sense of self-righteousness. This is the reason we call these people “antis”. Their motivation lies entirely with disliking a certain ship or content creator, and using social justice buzzwords that Tumblr thrives on in order to spread fear and discourse. 

Trust me, I’ve been in fandom longer than a fraction of you have even been alive. Morally policing fandom has NEVER ended well. NEVER. All it does is just create victims, and once one innocent person is driven away, the mob then turns its teeth on another, and the vicious cycle continues until the entire fandom just falls apart. It probably stems from a form of jealousy, a narcissistic need to have fandom enjoy things the way they do, and if they can’t have their fun then no one can. Then again, I’m not really here to rationalize such irrational actions. 

So for those who find themselves caught in the middle and unsure what to do, I’m going to ask that if you see this kind of “anti” behavior to please recognize it for what it is: just someone who is using buzzwords to wave around their superior sense of morality and nothing more. Like, seriously, what kind of person sees an event that specifically talks about dedicating a week filled with nothing but positivity for fandom and they immediately start tearing it down? What kind of person makes callout posts and block lists that call for fandom to rally against a single individual just because they don’t agree with said individual’s content? What kind of person thinks it’s okay to slander and accuse others of heavy crimes like pedophilia just because a certain ship is in competition with their own? 

Such sanctimonious behavior isn’t unique to fandom, either. As a parent, I see this shit all the time in the, erm, “mom fandom” I guess we can call it. I’ve seen people accused of child abuse for using formula instead of breastfeeding. For letting their kids watch more than an hour of TV per day. For not feeding their kids organic food straight out of the dirt. Ridiculous? Yes, and this whole “anti” behavior is ranked right up there on that ridiculous level. And both these groups of people are coming from the same exact sanctimonious place. So you’re damn right I don’t buy into anti rhetoric about how they are just “looking out for fandom”. Bullshit. And that bullshit is the same everywhere. 

Nobody here is saying you can’t be uncomfortable with things, of course not. But there are a lot of things in this world that you are going to be exposed to that you don’t like, that make you uncomfortable, that will trigger you. There are only two healthy ways of dealing with this: 

One, you can engage that person in a conversation, explain your stance, and then listen to their response. No, this isn’t tone-policing. You don’t know anyone’s story or their motivations. Nothing in this world gives you the right to be abusive to another human being that sits behind your screen. 

Two, simply don’t give that person your support anymore. Unfollow, block, and move on with your life. Don’t turn someone into a target of abuse. Don’t create a victim.

THIS APPLIES TO ALL FANDOMS

clairelutra:

seeing some nasty anti-lurker posts going around rn and just

this is your friendly daily reminder that i appreciate you no matter how you choose to interact or not interact with me/my fics

  • if you wanna drop a kudos or a like? *fingerguns* my dude, you are the bomb
  • if you commented/reviewed/reblogged with nice tags? tbh you have restored my health and unknowingly added 100-1k+ words to the next fic draft, just like that.
  • if you drew fanart/wrote fic/etc inspired by my fic? the above, plus anything you want, any request you send is now at the very tippy top of my list of my priority list, i guarantee you. (i’d offer you my firstborn, but i like to offer things i actually have the ability to provide.)

but at the same time:

  • got to the end of my fic and didn’t feel much like dropping kudos? sorry dude, i feel that. tastes don’t always match up! i hope whatever you find next suits you better 🙂
  • lurking and worried about who’ll see you online if you click ‘like’? been there, done that. i hope your lurking is restful ♥
  • clicked on my fic but wasn’t hooked? again, tastes don’t always match up! i’ve definitely been there and done that. what kind of person would i be if i held that against you?
  • binge-reading an entire archive of X type of fic to the point where you forgot to click the button because you were so busy clicking ‘next’? been there, done that. when the fever strikes, it strikes. i hope you find exactly what you’re looking for 😀
  • wanna comment but just too tired? bitch, s a m e. squee and cry and analyze and relish in your fannish glee in peace and please don’t feel bad for not having the energy to put yourself out like that. we’ve all been there at some point, promise. :’)
  • using a link to my story to get on the archive/ffn but actually don’t have any interest in reading it at all? *bows* it was my honor to be a stepping stone
  • any other reason you didn’t leave any sort of feedback? it’s okay, it’s good, i promise you that you haven’t hurt my feelings. people read fic for all sorts of reasons, and sometimes that reason doesn’t involve clicking a button or dropping a few words, and that’s okay.

do i want feedback? of course! i’m not going to lie and say it’s not my lifeblood. i’m a writer. i live for validation (quite literally—fanfiction kept me from hitting rock bottom during some of the worst times of my life).

but if you’re not up for it, for whatever reason, that validation doesn’t have to come from you. it can come from someone with more spoons, who’s in a better place, who’s more outgoing, who enjoyed the fic more, anything.

the fan experience is supposed to be fun for everyone. i want validation, yes, but never at the expense of yours.