Controversial opinion, but ur allowed to like things that suck
Like, sometimes there are just shows or books that are so goddamn awful for any number of reasons… But ya still like ‘em somehow, and that’s fine
It’s not required to write a 20+ page essay defending why you enjoy something shitty, you can just… Enjoy shitty things
Not all content is made equally and you’re allowed to like things that are far from perfect
Like, just, “This show sucks, but I like it anyway” is a totally valid response
another controversial opinion: you don’t actually have to agree with people that the thing you like sucks. like yeah lots of things suck and the thing you like might suck too. taste is subjective. what sucks for some people might be just fine for you. if someone demands that you acknowledge that they think the thing you like sucks, you can just straight up ignore the fuck out of them.
‘i like it’ is a complete sentence. it doesn’t need an ‘anyway’ at the end or a ‘but’ at the start. and you’re not on the hook for anyone else’s bad time, either.
i literally cannot comprehend the people who act like shipping is some kind of crusade or moral obligation. like if you ask them why they ship something they say “oh it’s groundbreaking representation” or some shit instead of talking about how they like the way the characters interact.
obviously representation is important but nobody is going to give you a medal for only shipping wholesome healthy all-natural 100% organic gmo-free pure pairings, you’re allowed to just…have fun. sometimes you just want two characters to kiss. you’re not a bad person for not writing a thousand-page thesis mathematically proving that your otp will end oppression across the globe
hell, sometimes i ship characters i don’t want to kiss, but it occurs to me that if they did, it would be a truly entertaining disaster. 😀
“We as a fandom have to talk about-” No. No we don’t. You can talk about it if you want to. That’s fine, if that’s how you fandom then go for it. I hope it works out for you because I want you to enjoy your fandom experience. But if I’m in fandom for reasons that’s counter to, then I have no obligation to talk about it. I don’t have to talk about anything except what I want to.
“Okay but you have to talk about your fave’s flaws-” No! No I don’t! I have to be able to acknowledge those flaws when they come up. I have to be able to admit that my character has flaws, and accept when others talk about those flaws. But I don’t have to talk about them if I don’t want to. If I want to only focus on the better aspects of my fave, even if that means just shallowly talking about how hot they are, I can. That’s my choice, that’s how I’ve decided to enjoy them.
Fandom is meant to be fun. Fandom is meant to be a hobby. I don’t have to talk about any aspect of my favorite story or ship or character or writer or anything if I don’t want to. You know what’s not fun? Having to talk about the ways my favorite thing is bad every time I want to talk about it. Having to point out my favorite thing’s flaws instead of the things that makes me enjoy it. Having to disclaim before I get to sing something’s praises because “yeah I know it’s shit BUT”. No. I can know something is bad without needing to talk about it.
I was talking to someone today about writing, and I was surprised by how amazed they were by writers’ ability to create a story. They couldn’t understand how JKR was able to create the world of Harry Potter–how she came up a world so far removed from our reality.
It made me realize something; not everyone can come up with worlds on a whimsy. Not everyone can create characters that they grow so fond of that they’re like real people in their eyes. Not everyone has gone through the experience of a character derailing their story and swearing it wasn’t them typing those words in that document. Not everyone can just envision a story and then just write it.
I’ve been making stories since I was a small child–it’s something so ingrained in me that to imagine not being able to write (no matter how much I agonize over writing woes) is such a foreign concept to me. Writers, cherish your ability to create stories. Because not everyone can create stories. Because there isn’t anyone in the world who can write the stories you are writing. Because you don’t know when or where there might be a person in the world who needs to hear your story.
Out of all my posts to hit 5k, I’m glad it was this one. All my fellow writers out there are amazing, and don’t ever be afraid to express yourself through writing! I support every single of you guys ❤
This made me emotional. Sometimes I don’t feel like a good enough writer, but things like this really help put it into perspective. To all my fellow writers, we are amazing!
As someone who is so utterly convinced that everything they write is bad, I needed this so much… yeah. Yeah, we’re awesome.
At surface level, this is concerning because they are awesome stories, and everyone’s life is made a little better when they find an awesome story.
On more serious levels, fandom is a wacky place, full of people doing wacky, occasionally damaging things to each other. Some of that has evolved, but some of it is the same as it ever was. History rocks because you can learn from the mistakes of others, and maybe hurt people a little less in the future. Fandom being a giant, convoluted web of passion, some history that could use sharing goes missed.
The two stories linked are from early 2000s Harry Potter fandom. The Ms. Scribe Story is a tale of one person’s aggressive use of sockpuppets to work their way up fandom hierarchy. The Cassandra Claire Debacle is about how the top name in that fandom hierarchy is a plagiarist.
They’re prime examples of fandom being fandom in intensely negative
ways. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a brand of fandom toxicity that isn’t on display in some way within these write-ups, and while that is admittedly sort of depressing, having things to point at that make you stop and think, “Wait, I’ve seen this before, this is not a thing I want to be part of,” can keep you out of some of the deeper fandom pitfalls.
They are also deeply fascinating reads. If you haven’t explored them before, or only know the summary versions, give them a shot.
I still have a moment of distinct disbelief every time I see one of Cassie Claire’s published works in a bookstore.
Oh gods so do I
It’s WEIRD
Apparently she lives somewhere around Western Massachusetts, because when the movie came out I saw notes attached to posters for it in our local multiplex saying “by a local author!”.
I had the sudden, wild urge to stand in the centre of the lobby and go “LET ME TELL YOU A THING OR TWO ABOUT THIS LOCAL AUTHOR”
full offense but none of you would have ever survived fanfiction.net in 2009
bold of you to assume I was not forged in that dark crucible
i wonder what the shipping differences are between english speaking and japanese speaking fandoms for boku no hero academia/my hero academy
bc i know for kuroko no basuke, english speaking fandom was all over aomine/kagami and aomine/kise while japanese speaking fandom loved kuroko/kise
could someone who knows about japanese speaking fandom for bnha please tell me what, if any, differences in shipping there are between the two groups of fandom for bnha?
just moving along like everyone else 