Fandom Problems - Blog Posts

guys do we need to have the "sam wilson is not [insert romantic interest]'s therapist" talk again 😕? Because I'm seeing many fics about sam comforting bucky but almost none the other way around. Especially with karli literally dying in his arms yall the opportunities are there you just don't want to take them atp 😭 (btw if anyone could reccomend some authors that write sam being taken care of that would be much appreciated)

Lil vent

Something people never want to talk about is how bad the hate for bkdk gets to the point where shippers feel like they have to pretend they support other ships—especially Izuocha—just to avoid harassment. Like, do you realize how messed up that is? Imagine not being able to openly talk about your favorite ship without getting dogpiled, blocked, or called slurs, unless you throw in a “btw I also support Izuocha!” as a shield. That’s not normal fandom behavior, and it doesn’t happen at this scale with almost any other ship.

Bkdk shippers are constantly told they’re delusional, toxic, fetishizing, or “forcing a queer narrative,” and then when someone claps back with “if you’re homophobic just say so,” everyone loses their mind like that’s the worst thing that’s been said. Meanwhile, people have literally had to delete accounts, private their art, or stop talking about the ship at all just to feel safe online.

So no—it’s not that bkdk shippers “can’t handle disagreement.” It’s that they’ve had to build walls and disclaimers around themselves because the level of hate isn’t just “I don’t like this ship,” it’s targeted. And if you’re ignoring that reality and only focusing on one sentence in a post that calls out toxic fandom behavior, maybe take a step back and think about who’s really ruining the fun here.

I'm sure whether you are a writer or a fan of other creative work, you can relate to this! I hope you enjoyed this week's installment of 'Slices of Gremlin'! I am going to continue updating every Tuesday, and if you would like to support the comic and get early access, you can sign up to be a member of the 'Little Creature Club' on Ko-Fi!

Don't you fucking love it when you go to lay down for bed and you get bombarded with fic ideas that you will never end up using? I got no sleep because I kept thinking about a Phineas and Ferb/ Animaniacs/ Pinky and the Brain crossover. Help me.

Most of the ppl who are anti/dislike Salvis and salash be like: i don't like this ship bc for me it doesn't make sense/is toxic. But i'll not harass u if you like it, just dni with me

Most of the ppl who are anti/dislike larrysher be like: "i hope you don't have siblings, you're weird. Lol", "that's gross asf", "if you ship it, you should kill yourself" (haha, harass)

Emphasis on "almost" because I don't know what everyone in the world is like (obviously), and I'm also not counting the old fandom in the post. Also, this is just the majority of the people I see (all of them tbh). Btw, all the things written in the second paragraph are actually things I heard lol

Today I found a video on Tik Tok of someone using a very well done fanart of Sal from here on Tumblr (and probably on Pinterest too) to exude hatred towards other people in the fandom because of the ships and opinions. I know this fandom was never the greatest saint, but I feel like it used to be better than this. I also know that I'm not exactly a saint on this subject either, but the difference is that today I'm trying to change, but that's still a bad thing, yk?

I don't know, I just feel bad because this fandom was supposed to be a place where I felt good and comfortable (even because SF is my favorite and comforting game) and seeing that nowadays this fandom is like this makes me feel bad. Idk, maybe i'm just too sensitive

Help! I've fallen down a fandom rabbit hole and I can't get up!

Literally though, I've been completely useless the past couple weeks🤦‍♀️

I don't have fictional crushes, I have fictional "children". I see a character that most people would simp for and I mentally adopt them. Most of the time these characters are WAY older than me (sometimes several centuries) but do I care? Of course not don't make me laugh! I see a character in need of love and support, a damaged and hurt bean and I say MINE! I have done this more times than I can remember and if I did tally up my many fictional kids I'd have enough for a substantial orphanage. I have taken the meaning of mom friend to whole new level.

self-gatekeeping, where I'm like 'I haven't been into this long enough/haven't seen all of this/don't know the people behind this -what if it's actually problematic', so I refuse to wear merch, or show fanart

I wanna contribute to fandom/s, but I don't wanna be involved with fandom/s, do you see my problem?

it’s annoying when you’re in a fandom but none of your friends are in it so you just suffer by yourself

and that’s why luffy is aroace

someone seeing a character who has no outward sexual or romantic interest in other characters has a right to see that character as aromantic and/or asexual. fandom is meant to be fun, and honestly I’m sick and tired of asexual and aromantic headcanons being mocked and ridiculed because “there’s no way x is ace” or “they’re gay and that’s it” or “stop that’s cringe”

we have as much of a right to see ourselves in characters as any other member of the lgbtqa community.

tags from tofixtheshadows: #I keep saying that fandoms will always flatten characters into shallow versions of themselves#because they will just sort of skim the surface of the media and let their expectations fill in the blanks#which are usually easy stereotypes#and this will inevitably hit marginalized characters harder; particularly people of color#and these stereotypes will more often be benevolent for the white characters#and more unfair towards the nonwhite ones

the problem of fandom reducing characters who are women and/or people of colour to sexist/racist stereotypes is definitely aggravated by the fact that a lot of fans simply do not pay very much attention to these characters in the first place then subconsciously paper over the gaps in their perception with things they’ve been culturally conditioned to believe are true about people in the same category as said character

Many transformative works fandoms start with the assumption that they are part of an aggrieved minority that's the target of unjust persecution, given:

- homophobia at large in the wider world (many polls indicate that fandom has a larger-than-average percentage of queer people);

- misogyny at large in the wider world (most polls over the years indicate that fandom is majority female);

- regressive conservatism across the board regarding (but not limited to) media content.

And in the wider world: yes, transformative works fans are a minority, and often each individual has trauma, baggage, &/or a history of being marginalized and oppressed, if not outright harmed, in "real world" spaces.

However, within the communities of fanspace, I have rarely seen any subsect of fandom acknowledge that it is the dominant force within that fanspace in a responsible way beyond the occasional fundraiser (that benefits third party charities and not marginalized individuals within the fandom) or campaigns to get continuations of their preferred media or for their ships to get canonized (which is, ultimately, self-serving).

Instead, we get:

- defensive posturing every time even the mildest thoughtful critique of their favorite ships/characters/fandoms enters their awareness;

- widespread harassment campaigns framed as "victims" just "fighting back" against "oppression" (when the "oppressors" have fewer numbers, smaller reach/social capital/etc within that space);

- a very Americanized blend of "staunch individualism" (where one's own actions should be judged on their own and not as part of a wider pattern across fandom(s)) and "White Girlboss Choice Feminism" (where "if a (white) woman chooses to do something, it is inherently progressive for her to do it, without regard for her positionally or impact within an intersectional framework").

And so on.

What would "responsible ways" of acknowledging one's power within fanspace look like, you may ask?

- donating directly to and signal boosting mutual aid links, especially for fans of marginalized identities;

- taking hard public stances against bigotry of ALL kinds within the ranks of your fellow fans, by sharing information about bad actors, deplatforming and disengaging with bad actors even if they make fanwork you enjoy, and protecting/standing up for targets of harassment outside your fandom coterie(s);

- openness to thoughtful critique of your circle within fanspace (rather than being defensive and assuming victimhood by default) and sharing same, encouraging both yourself and others to learn and improve;

- actively taking steps to read/share/create fanwork (which includes meta, media analysis, etc) that embraces/uplifts a diversity of perspectives beyond your own.

If we can't be responsible with our social power *within the spaces where we do hold that power,* we're no better than those regressive white nerdbros complaining about "woke invasions" of "our spaces" - when the reality is, nerds won the culture war and have way more social capital than some John Hughes-style archetypes of the Bullied Nerd.

We can be better than them. Our fanspaces can be better than that. Let's work together to make that happen.

“With fandom the kind of racism that you most commonly see isn’t things like racial slurs and hate speech and white hoods. What you really see is a constant communal prioritization of white people and white characters, even when there are non-white characters in major roles. This is a trend across almost all fandoms.”

— Holly Quinn in Episode 22A of Fansplaining

sometimes you can tell when somebody who likes a ship just likes one of the characters and is simply using the other half as a vaguely ooc vehicle to make content for their fave which is whatever. not against the law. until the other half theyre using as a vehicle is YOUR fave. and then you want to explode them with your mind

Stitch's Media Mix

What Fandom Racism Looks Like: The Problem With Preferences

Outside of the fandoms for Japanese media (anime and manga primarily) or the powerhouse Korean pop music Real Person Fiction (RPF) fandoms,

Stitch lays it out thoroughly, as usual, so there's no commentary I could add that would be better than just quoting what she says. I definitely recommend reading the whole thing, but here are a couple excerpts to give you an idea of the gist.

Excerpt 1:

Let’s return to the myth of preference. In fandom, as with online dating, folks think “preference” is a neutral word that shields them from the mere potential of having to interrogate why they seem to “prefer” white people as their faves. The thing is that this “preference” for white dudes isn’t all that neutral. A “preference” for white men is tied into centuries of racist propaganda that portrays whiteness as an ideal to the point where even people of color have trouble finding themselves or other people of color attractive.

[...]

Of course, that translates to fandom because fandom isn’t born in a vacuum. We don’t leave our ingrained prejudices in “the real world” when we log on to Tumblr or go for a scroll on the AO3. In fact, because many people in fandom curate their timelines to only show them their like-minded faves, they’re more likely to surround themselves with fans who think like they do and fanworks that reinforce the validity of their interests.

Excerpt 2:

Fantasies are just that – fantasies. On their own and in our heads, they can’t directly hurt people, and they provide the pleasure of partaking in the forbidden or the denied. For many people – especially marginalized people in unsafe or unhealthy positions in their daily lives – fantasies are all they have, and that’s important. However, in fandom spaces, fantasies don’t stay in people’s head, and they’re never on their own no matter what nonsense we fed about fandom and fiction not influencing/being influenced by reality. These fantasies come loaded with expectations, prior knowledge, stereotypes, trauma, politics, and a whole bunch of other stuff from the person fantasizing as well as other people who are aware of the fantasy. They get turned into fanworks that get thousands of views and hundreds of readers. After all, nothing we do or like or create is formed in a vacuum. In fandom spaces, fantasies that either exclude people of color entirely or reformat them as stereotypes for easy consumption (erotic and otherwise), are harmful because they are put forward without any awareness to a potential audience of thousands.