Fandom Culture - Tumblr Posts

Here's another favorite fandom thing: when a mediocre artist posts art related to a fandom and the fans like and reblog and say encouraging things. I love that so much.

there's an idea i had about the 2 types of readers that I've been thinking a lot about. maybe this is already a thing, plz lmk

there are readers that want the entire story just handed to them. all of the character development, the plot, everything. they don't want to have to think about any of it, they want it all in the book. no cliffhangers, no vague backstory. these readers don't read books for the feeling of the words, they probably don't read poetry, there ought to be a point to what they read. and once this kind of reader finishes a book, they kinda move on. they may think about the plot or foreshadowing or whatever, but it's all review of the book, nothing is added to the book at this point, they just review what they know. one of my sisters is this kind of reader.

then there is the other kind. this kind reads a book and then thinks about potential scenes that a character could have, or the way he might have reacted to hearing that news, or how these characters might act when reunited. this kind of reader is the fanfic writer, the one that adds to a story after they finished the canon story. this kind is the kind that can enjoy books with very bland characters because these readers can place themselves in the characters place and give the character their own personal traits, or the reader can simply fill in the character traits or background, etc; they don't need the character to be fully formed because they will personalize the character. these readers can be entertained by anything because they are actually creating their own entertainment, they just need something to jumpstart the process.

I guess this applies to movies and shows as well as books, but I haven't really thought through the implications

is there a phrase for something being super in character? like a character does something that's so like them? I feel like there's a phrase but i can't think of it

joining a series fandom after the majority of it has been released sucks because you don't get to live theories and reactions and you risk spoilers, but it's also really nice because you don't have to worry so much about cliffhangers. You can go straight into the next book or season or movie without thinking about it for a year

I was thinking about value judgements and remembered someone took issue with me over this post so here I am again to say, "mediocre" doesn't have to refer to value. I'm a mediocre artist. I don't have much natural skill, I don't have much practice, my work really could be accomplished by a 12. But I have value. My work has value to some people. Being mediocre is not about the value. And that's what I love so much, how artists without so so much skill can share their work and other people in any given fandom will show up and support them, how people don't need to be the best in their medium to be appreciated.

Here's another favorite fandom thing: when a mediocre artist posts art related to a fandom and the fans like and reblog and say encouraging things. I love that so much.

This is a bit unrelated and I'm sorry to derail your post, but this feeling is so valid and I want to talk about it.

I can't say how many times my opinion of a piece of media or character or ship shifted negatively due to the fans. As a preteen/early teen, I read all of the Keeper of the Lost Cities books, I was on that side of Pinterest and I was on fandom, but I got so so tired of the fans that I dropped it altogether. The fans were so aggressive with their opinions I started getting anxious every time I looked at anything related to the fandom. And that's not an uncommon experience, for me or for fandoms. So many fandoms have this problem, where fans get so caught up in their opinions they refuse to participate in friendly dialogue and instead opt to get aggressive and insulting. And personally, I'm sick of it. I avoid most fandoms now. I don't join fandoms, I just consume the media privately and don't engage. And though there's nothing wrong with not being involved in a fandom, I think it's terrible that anyone should be made to feel as though they can't join in or that there is some kind of risk involved with participating in a fandom and having an opinion of their own about any given part of it.

If fandoms are communities that come together over shared enjoyment of a piece of media, why are people being mistreated, insulted, and made to feel unwelcome?

The Percabeth community SUCKS

Okay, I’m going to share something about this. The Percabeth fans suck.. especially when I post stuff that isn’t related to the ship. Anytime I talk about even something else, they unfollow me or block me. I posted a Valgrace piece and they unfollowed me. It makes me so mad considering I always have to talk about and share Percabeth art. I really wish I didn’t actually start drawing Percabeth because that ship is so overrated and overused. I do love it but I hate the fans of the ship.. I can’t even do anything. I can’t talk about my ocs or other ships.. it always has to be Percabeth this and Percabeth that.. Percabeth Percabeth Percabeth Percabeth Percabeth Percabeth Percabeth.

In some fandoms, every fic has to be a fix it fic

TikTokers are such pussies when it comes to ships. “B-but they’re not canon 🥺🥺🥺😭😭😖😖” honey back in my day we shipped characters from entirely different medias uphill both ways in the snow

Sometimes it's so hard to choose only one aesthetic.

But you don't have to choose.

Go to the cemetery, by yourself, for no reason, and look for statues of weeping angels. Laugh to yourself, thinking of the doctor, and talk to the ghosts. Talk to them, tell them about your favourite companion, tell them where you would like to go if time and space were yours to explore. They have been lonely for a long time, many of them haven't seen anyone in years, and any story will enchant them.

Wear warm cashmere jumpers and long coats, run around the city, as if you were chasing something you can't quite name. Always keep a map with you, even if you never have to check it because you know this place better than yourself.

Always bring a planner with you, fill it with theories about BBC Sherlock and write down the deadlines of every new assignment. Cover it in writing, to the point where you can't tell one thing from the the other.

Find someone with whom you can always be honest. Describe the darkest parts of you soul to them knowing that they won't judge you. Listen to them talk about serial killers. Discuss queerbaiting in '90s literature and modern TV shows. And when you'll break down crying, as you realize you can't save this world, let them hold your hands.

Fill your head with stories, look for connections between popular culture and old myths. And when you will have achieved all of this, start writing.

And remember, always remember, that you do not need a story to validate you. You're already exceptional.

We had superwholock. I feel like we need a fandom word for people who are really into the canon Sherlock Holmes/A.J. Raffles/ Jeeves and Wooster/ Hercule Poirot genre.

reblog if your inbox is always open for new members of the fandom who may be a little shy or intimidated. doesn’t matter whether or not you’re a “popular blog”; everyone here is equal and if you’re reading this as a new person/someone considering entering the fandom, we will not turn you away!!!! talk to us!! make friends!! i more than understand being shy but trust me this fandom is chill come join us in this hellhole

That feeling when I see the sun rising outside my window and I realise that I've once again spent the entire night reading Johnlock fanfiction and/or the original Sherlock Holmes stories once again.

Had to share this here because you're right and you should say it. It's incredible how many people came out of the woodwork as soon as AO3 was down and suddenly had no compunctions at all about screaming how much they love and need fanfic--on the AO3 twitter. Is it so much harder to do in the comment section?

At this point I don't care anymore if people call me entitled or think I'm out of line. If fanfic is so meaningful to you that you cannot go half an hour without, let alone 24h, then you can get over yourself long enough to write a fucking comment. No excuses.

"writing comments is hard and scary" yeah well GUESS WHAT so is writing fanfics. fandom as a community is dying, because it is instead treated as a COMMODITY, a CONSUMER PRODUCT. We're not asking for much. We're asking for a CONNECTION. We don't want to sell, we want to share.

You've shown your hand. You've admitted you cannot live without us. Now ACT LIKE IT. Go write a fucking comment.

I simply adore getting into new fandoms (or returning after many years) and learning the unique culture and tropes and pairings. it’s so fascinating and I want to understand all the history and where all the quirks came from

nukapedia, the official fallout wiki on Fandom Corp, has a culture that encourages doxxing and harassment by members of its official discord server. there is a high chance that the person doing this is a staff member who was recently banned for going on a racist rant, whose behavior alongside the overall culture of the server nearly drove a transgender admin who has been with the wiki for over a decade to resign. fuck them.

@ nukapedia please collect your man

@ nukapedia please collect your man

I don't know if it's just me but it seems like we are replacing character dynamics and exclusively using romantic ones which compromises the relationships characters could have including/excluding their love interests

Lmao you’re an adult, you shouldn’t be using the word squick. Use trigger. Use your grown up adult words to explain how you feel instead of leaning on a cutesy uwu term that no one outside of tumblr uses. It’s embarrassing.

Idek if this is serious or ironic honestly

white people go like “is anyone going to redesign this nonhuman evil character as a poc?” and not wait for an answer

no but how much audacity and sheer entitlement do you have to have to tell people they need to stop posting their darkfic and porn fic and any other fic you don’t like to ao3 so you can have a safe space when ao3 was literally created as a safe space for writers to post their content without fear of it being randomly wiped out by pro-censorship assholes with an agenda like what has happened to plenty of other fic archives before?

“but a lot of us see ao3 as a safe space to get away from that kind of nasty content” - lol you can see the middle of a busy interstate as a safe space all you want too but that doesn’t mean that you get to walk into the road and scream at all the cars going by that they’re the ones infringing on your safe space either

ao3 is not, has never been, and will never be a site meant for nothing but children’s stories. you can “see it” like that as much as you want but there’s a difference between fiction and reality and that view of what ao3 is like is as fictional as the stories posted on it.