001: Tumblr, Fandom, and Fan-Entitlement (hint: fans aren't entitled to anything)

[useyourlove]

My poor LJ was abandoned around April because I had been very involved with multiple fandoms and had just finished off writing my Master's Paper (which was fandom intensive.) I ended up just shoving all of my energy into one or two things and disappearing off into Tumblr because I had more active friends there

Comments

[spuffy_noelle]

I completely agree with you about Boardwalk Empire. This year has been PHENOMENAL. Every episode is amazing and shocking and I'm literally left with my mouth hanging open because the writing is that terrific. I, myself, love Owen and IDK what this person could possibly be talking about, but hey to each their own wrong opinion ;)

[useyourlove]

YOU LIKE BOARDWALK *CLINGS* God, it's so amazing this season. I just can't handle the way people behave sometimes. The thing with Tumblr is one of my friends pointed me in the direction of the person in question because my friend herself was just stewing in the other person's opinions because she couldn't find any others. So this one warped opinion was actually warping the opinions of a large number of other people because this one person was like a fandom nexus sort of.

Meanwhile I'm like "BOARDWALK, YOU ARE SO AMAZIIIIIIIIIIIIIING" about this entire season. I guess that's what I get for not making gifs and having no Boardwalk followers? I dunno, the whole social structure of Tumblr is just ridiculous, baffling, and fascinating to me.

[spuffy_noelle]

I don't have a Tumblr (I know, shocking right?), but I'm glad I didn't see the post in question. Boardwalk is sheer lunacy this season in the best way possible.

[useyourlove]

At this point I wish I could just quit Tumblr but I'm too addicted to all the pretty graphics and gifs, and I've got too many friends who don't use any other service. It's sort of like how I keep my Facebook just because that's the only way some people have to contact me, except with Facebook I don't log in ever and I sit on Tumblr all day refreshing like a crack addict.

Very very good

[anonymous]

You should post this on Tumblr. It'll be fun! ~xoxo Dany

Re: Very very good

[useyourlove]

Haha, Dany, very funny.

"Oo, let's unleash a Tumblr shitstorm," although it would be a very good demonstration of the things I outlined--particularly if I posted it in the main tags.

Re: Very very good

[anonymous]

do it under a side blog. it'll be in the nature of an observational experiment. ~dany

Re: Very very good

[useyourlove]

Except I wrote it as part of a challenge to actually post shit on my LJ again, so it's ridiculous for me to go and cross-post it to Tumblr and I WON'T DO IT, DANY, I WON'T.

[light_frost]

I agree, and, once again, I applaud your clarity and intelligence! And that is all I have to say.

[useyourlove]

<3!!

[kl_shipper1]

And example #2 is why despite loving Supernatural, I've never really gotten into the fandom. I feel like I'd spend more time being annoyed at people than actually appreciating the show (at least online). That, and I've never gotten the appeal of Wincest besides the whole two hot guys thing... although I am on board with you about liking Dean & Castiel just the way the show gives them to us!

Sometimes I just feel like these people can't possibly be watching the same show as us, you know? But it does make me more grateful that the fandoms/corners of fandom I've been in have never had that level of hate/whining/general craziness, so maybe there's one bright side to this...

[useyourlove]

I had the misfortune of being exposed to a really terrible side of SPN fandom right at the beginning of my love for the show so it quickly became "I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH but I HATE THIS FANDOM EVEN MORE." Ick. I mean, I see where people read the Wincest into it, but I just don't understand it beyond the hot guys either. (I had a friend who doesn't shit anything posit that the appeal of Wincest must be the smokin' hate sex. Which sounds legit to me, but most of the fandom doesn't read Wincest as destructive as it would have to actually be, because THEY DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THE CHARACTERS.)

Agh, anyway, yeah. I'm really grateful for the corners of fandoms that I've found that are amazing (like the K/L folks here on LJ, who I've completely fallen out of touch with, curse me). But I'm dead certain people aren't actually watching these shows, they're more picking out actors, attaching names, and them using them in their playhouse of porn or fluff or whatever other wishful thinking fic they want to read/write. It's when they try and

[crazyfoolstiney]

People get so caught up in shipping that it's all they see, regardless of canon.
I mean I ship. Shiat, I've have the SAME ship for 12 years when it was just the A-Team tv show but I can separate the two because I was a fan long before I shipped.
I had someone tell me the other day that "Face does whatever Hannibal tells him because he loves him that much." Really? I'm sorry did we SEE the same movie? Because we're first introduced to Face via him in a stack of tires about to be set ON FIRE because he went against Hannibal and got himself in big trouble. But they want it to be different so their ship is more canon so they ignore all of the things that point out otherwise. My ship? Nowhere near canon, never would be but I still have fun because it's not serious end of the world business for me.
And I totally agree I think it is look at this hot actor let's smoosh them together with this one BECAUSE I SAY SO.

[useyourlove]

I always hate to comment on other people's enjoyment of media because whatever floats their boat as long as it doesn't effect me. But oftentimes, with some of these fics it does effect other people, because it's often the fans who take canon so out of whack that are the most vocal and angry when that canon doesn't fit the one in their mind. It's fine to have those ideas, but it's not fine to throw a temper tantrum at the creators when the shit in your head doesn't happen on the screen because you warped it all out of context to begin with.

Ah, shipping. It is both a joy and a curse, and probably the most polarizing thing that can happen to any fandom, short of season-arc breaks (like S1-5 of BtVS or 1-5 of SPN where the planned arc has played out, but they keep going with the show.)

[crazyfoolstiney]

Ah, Supernatural. The fandom is why I've only ever stayed on the sidelines and not waded fully in. My main fandom is so tiny (and still full of problems) that when I first started flitting around the various SPN things I was just shocked at the viciousness and embarrassing behavior exhibited.
I ship the hell out of Dean and Castiel but you're right, making it into a weird, fluffy "I love you Pookie." relationship would be the most awful, mind numbingly out of character thing they could do.

I've always wanted to write a paper on misogyny and fandom and being around the Supernatural fandom has only exacerbated that desire. I have never seen such nasty, vileness thrown at other women before. And not just the fictional ones on the show but any women who seem to be a "threat" at getting close to the cast. It's kind of frightening.

[useyourlove]

I never even wanted to watch SPN because of the way the fandom behaves--so rather than helping the show I'm dead convinced that their behavior hurts it on a larger scale. It's weird because, from their behavior, I've always had the impression that the only people who watch it are adolescent females riddled with hormones, but I've found most of the most disgusting fans are in the 25-30 range and I've also found that there is a significant male fanbase (I've got like five male followers on Tumblr who follow me just because of my Supernatural posts--and I don't even make that many.) It's just that their voices are silenced and their opinions are worthless to the fandom at large because they don't scream that the show should turn into schmoop or that x,y, or z characters are all fucking each other in between scenes (or the actors, jfc, the RPF for this fandom is the creepiest shit I've ever seen. And that's fine, whatever, but then the fandom shoves it in the actor's faces. They tweet their fic and fan art etc. to Misha et al and at cons

[crazyfoolstiney]

Fans who don't draw a line between writing fan fiction and reality freak me out. I don't understand what the compunction is to let the actors know "Hey I write this about your character...or you." I just *shudder* I would crawl into the biggest hole and pull all the dirt over myself if for some bizarre reason actors knew what I wrote.

I actually did start writing it before I began watching SPN because I saw a particular A-Team story that Hannibal treating the ONE female character in the most vile, juvenile, pissy jealous way I've ever seen in a story. I was just in shock. NOW after SPN I've got even more.
I saw a couple months ago where Daneel defended her breasts to these "fans" not to mention her death threats that got so bad that Misha took to his Twitter and slapped at people. I mean seriously? WHAT THE HELL?!
I want to bundle up all these women (fictional and real) and let them know we're not all insane.

[useyourlove]

Uuuuuuugh I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAAAAAAND. Do they expect somehow that these women will divorce said actors, and that the actor will then fall madly in love with them and marry them because they are ooooh so much more ~worthy~? I DON'T UNDERSTAND. It's ridiculous that anyone needs to defend their breasts. Especially someone who's not even in the limelight, she's just married to one of the lead actors in a semi-popular television show.

This fandom makes me embarrassed to even say how much I like the show, and I like the show a lot, but I'm always afraid that my love for it will become interpreted as "oh jesus, here comes another one of those psychos. Hide everything."