So I made a tweet about how Maciej Ceglowski (aka Pinboard guy) should consult with fandom on how to build a new fandom platform inclusive of not just text, but images and multimedia.
And then Maciej DMed me and said if fandom (I realize this does not include all parts of fandom) can get a consensus spec of what this platform should consist of, he’ll see what we can do. I have split the document into requirements and nice to haves. I know I’m not going to get everything, but hopefully this is a good enough start to get the ball rolling.
I would trust this man with this project, and give him money for it to boot
Tag: fandom
do you read fanfiction?
(second to last gif should be ‘and you know if I can be a muse to anybody, I’m more than happy)
NOW? Can we please stop pushing fan fiction at him and the other actors? They know its out there. They know it isn’t for them. Let it go.
Let he who is without problematic faves cast the first stone.
Jesus, probably. (via anotherwellkeptsecret)
Could be a thing
Hey there all you beautiful crazy beings. I unfollowed a bunch of you because in your excitement you forgot to tag.
A lot.
Many times.
I can totally understand the mania of a new tidbit or outrage or whatever grabbing your soul and you need to reblog or post about it. However, I also respect my want and need to not see that material for whatever reason. I don’t need to justify to you why I need it and you don’t have to tag but I won’t be following you even though that means I will miss you and your other brilliant or fannish stuff.
Unpopular Ship?
Unknown ship:
Trying to get other people to ship your ship:
Ship remains non-canon?
Ship remains non-canon part 2:
You ALMOST Ship something:
Someone ships something you don’t ship?
Someone insults your ship:
Ship becomes canon:
What is the conclusion? Jack Sparrow is a Shipper.
No, Jack Sparrow is the entity of “shipping”.
When someone shoots your ship down:
that’s CAPTAIN* Jack Sparrow to you
The ALMOST ship is my everything
unnecessary sex scenes in movies
unnecessary sex scenes in tv shows
unnecessary sex scenes in fanfic
If you don’t like a work by a fanfic author, that’s okay.
If you find the subject matter in a fanfic is not to your taste, that’s okay.
If I personally read something and find I don’t like it for any reason, I simply close the tab and move on with my life.
And, full disclosure: I do this often! There’s a lot of stuff out there that is Just Not For Me. There are some fics out there that are wildly popular that I just personally don’t get their mass appeal, and there are some fics out there that I feel are absolute hidden gems and I will recommend them often.
That being said, the one thing I never, ever, ever do is publicly disparage another author’s writing or narrative choices or their work as a whole. Even if I think their writing style is not to my liking, or I feel they they make spelling and grammar errors that are distracting, even if I think the sex is badly written, or the plot is boring, or if I think they have written the characters in a way I disagree with. If they don’t ask for concrit, I don’t give it. I don’t give any criticism unsolicited.
It really, really is disappointing and upsetting when I see folks, especially people who are writers themselves, publicly trashing other authors’ works on tumblr and/or leaving shitty comments on their AO3 chapters. I have had this happen to me before and it really does not feel good. Even if it’s just a “I didn’t care for this fic”, the fact that someone took the time out of their day to tell me so was unnecessary and upsetting. What is the purpose, I wonder, of telling someone something like that?
Fanfic authors write things for you for no money, for your entertainment. They write for fun and enjoyment and to share their enthusiasm about a fandom with others. Writing is hard work, y’all! It is truly a labour of love and I will never shit on any author that puts pieces out there and tries their best even if I don’t care for it. Not everyone is going to produce works that are specifically to everyone’s aesthetic tastes, avoiding everyone’s specific squicks or triggers. Nor should they.
Yeah, fandom is not your safe space, sure, but – we don’t have to treat one another poorly, either. Be kind to one another, friends.
Once again I disagree.
Yes, fandom is a gift economy and you wouldn’t tell your metaphorical grandma you don’t like the hand-knitted sweater she just gave you for the holidays but you know what? Authors are not my grandma. They’ve written a story and shared it on the internet because they want it to be read. If they don’t want critique they can put that in the notes. Plenty of those out there in the world on ff.net and ao3 and I respect that by not leaving comments on those stories but you don’t get to tell me how I use my own space, ie this tumblr or my dreamwidth or my lj or my fb or my twitter or anyplace else I have my own space and voice.
And there is a HUGE difference between me saying ‘this is not for me’ which by the way is nice and saying ‘this story sucked and here is why’. I used to sell books and people felt so guilty for bringing a book back that I had sold to them because they got part way through it and they just didn’t connect with the story.
Guess what? There is no social contract around what you like or don’t like. There is no social contract (or there shouldn’t be) in saying you don’t find something to your taste. All of fandom is not my friend. I wouldn’t even know how to define fandom.
Yes, it is hard work – that you CHOSE to undertake. I say this as an author, a photographer, as an artisan. You don’t owe me anything for the work I do.
Saying ‘I don’t like it’ is not ‘shitting on someone’s work’. It’s saying you don’t like it. It is not a personal judgement of the author. It is a judgement of the work. Stop conflating the two, please.
And I’m not even getting into the fact that critique is actually okay too. Because, it is.
I don’t know how I feel about authors who write constant unhappiness for their characters.
It doesn’t have to be happiness and rainbows all the time, because obviously there will be no conflict if constant happiness. But, Jesus, there needs to be some hope.
I hope you don’t mind if I
jump in and say: I can’t stand it.The problem, in my opinion,
is that these kind of stories – the ones where the heroes never seem to catch a
break –now fall under the blanket term of “gritty realism”.In the past couple of years “gritty realism” has become a really
popular theme, not just in books, but across all media. At first it was great
and refreshing, especially when it was done well. But now, it’s so overdone
that it’s become its own cliché. It has somehow evolved from stories that reflected
the true dark side of humanity and how sometimes there are no happy endings, to
stories that literally put characters through hell only to put them in even
worse hell after they climb out of it, with absolutely no hope, no future,
nothing going for them. That is not the same thing and the fact that we are
sold these super depressing stories sold under the terms of “gritty realism” is
kind of bullshit.It’s one thing when things look bleak and it seems like there’s
no way out, that is fantastic in terms of suspense and heart-string pulling.
But if that’s all the book is then what the hell are they fighting for? What is
the point of all their pain? I know that life isn’t all sunshine and
butterflies, but let’s be honest it’s not all hell-fire and pain either. I as a
reader want to know that there’s hope for these characters however little. I
want a fucking payoff for their pain. Even if they don’t get their happy
ending, I want their pain to mean something. I don’t want to ride a
roller-coaster that only goes down. I have quit books, movies, and shows
because as a very empathetic person the situations and the hopelessness of
their lives have made me feel depressed.So I’d
like these creators selling their sadomasochism as “gritty realism” to fucking
stop.#literary tragedy porn#I hate this trend so much#fuck your gritty realism#my wish for happiness is not unrealistic at all#thank you very much
You know what – no. Just no.
I’m not usually on the public bandwagon about this but – damnit. Write what you want. If right now that’s what you need to write because that’s how you get over the futility of your own life – DO IT. Work that shit out on those characters. That’s what it is there for.
Will I read it? Probably not. My limit for it is damn low. I need that happy ending but guess what? YOU AREN’T WRITING IT FOR ME. YOU ARE WRITING IT FOR YOU.
[Insert – yes, I know fanfiction is a gift economy and the audience and blah blah blah rant here.]
Seriously. Write whatever the heck you want to write. If you are drawn to the bleakest of the bleak dystopia and deathfic and watching the stars burn out at the end of the universe (hello Douglas Adams) then write that.
the three generations of fanfic:
livejournal, fanfiction.net and ao3
which one were you?I guess I’m pre-generation or something. Before all these three, at the dawn of our kind, there were yahoo mailing lists and individual sites (R.I.P. Geocities.)
same. the history of fanfiction does not start with any of these three sites. It doesn’t even start with its predecessors.
I’m a generation or two before this and I’m just in my early 30s.
pre-internet; pre-word-processors:
fanzines in print, dutifully typed by loving fingers, caressed on the bus to school or work, photocopied for tuppence a page at the town library, sealed with a kiss in precious brown envelopes, posted with care and lickable stamps, conveyed by the romantic rhythm of the nightmail train to eager recipients, read by torchlight under the blankets.
Play by Mail (not email) RPing and print fanzines.
I’m waiting for someone to talk about how they used to have to hike 100 miles barefoot in the snow and fight off a sabre-tooth tiger so they could read fanfiction painted on cave walls in ochre pigments.
And then there’d be some miserable bastard standing outside the cave yelling “Your reed boat is not canon”
What I really hate about younger people in fandom asking older fangirls why they’re “still” in fandom is that it’s the outcome of a misogynistic lack of representation for older women to be seen as people who have fun and fuck off.We never ask dude fans the same question. We have all kinds of cultural narratives of dude’s fucking off, playing videogames well into their 40s. And even when these narratives aren’t 100% sympathetic (ie: the perpetual manchild), there’s always this sort of exasperation around it like, what can you do? Boys will be boys.
But when women age into fandom, there’s a whole lotta confusion around her very existence. When a younger fan wants to know why I’m here, in this space, they seem genuinely confused and uncomfortable. Because what are our archetypes for older woman: wife, mother, cougar even. Not womanchild. Not fuckoff. Not fangirl.
Men are allowed seemingly childish pursuits but women better get in the kitchen and start scrapbooking.
Tumblr Exodus 