listen, there's a reason my fandom tag has always been 'fandom is my boyfriend'

[lirazel]

I feel like I've been whiny about fandom lately. I do think there are a lot of negative things about fandom, both new things and long-existing problems. But I still love it. I'm not going anywhere. So this is a happier post talking about good fandom things!

So here are some things I love about current fandom:

+ Actually, media is more diverse and that's a good thing! Can you imagine a movie like Prey being made 15 years ago? Or KinnPorsche being such a big deal in English-speaking fandom? Would not have happened!

I still have occasional experiences where I feel like a specific canon is trying too hard instead of letting diversity arise from...like...human experiences, but that's a very, very small price to pay for the fact that shows and movies and books feature and star more kinds of people than they used to. This is good. Period.

[There needs to be a lot more progress on this front re: black and African/diaspora stories, but that's another issue.]

+ Along those same lines: way more canon queer stuff. What a relief.

+ The growing space for non-English-language fandoms! I remember when I first started watching Kdramas so many years ago, it was just a lonely experience! It was harder to find ways to watch things if they weren't on, like, Dramafever and there was no discussion of them happening in the English-speaking spaces I was aware of. And omg, trying to find kpop subs in 2012? And the video quality? Wow.

Again, some cultures have benefited more from this than others (non-English European, Asian and to some extent Latinx exports are exploding; African and indigenous ones are still lagging behind), and I hope that will change soon, but progress absolutely has been made.

I really feel that my fandom "faith tradition" is Western media fandom (I still think of those Kirk/Spock fans in the 60s making their 'zines as my fannish ancestors), but I love getting to explore stories from all over the world and have other people to talk about them with!

+ I'm also heartened by seeing more people post in more languages on AO3. I can't read any of their stories, but I'm so glad they're there! People were always writing fanfic in Thai or Finnish or whatever, but they were doing it in different places on the internet. Now those of us in the dominant Anglophone spaces are seeing more stuff in other languages and being forced to remember that, hey, fandom isn't just for us, and I think that is a good thing.

+ There is way, way more space to talk about the ways that our stories are shaped by colonization/sexism/homophobia/other negative forces. Sometimes I don't like the way these conversations go (you do not have to come up with a moral justification for why you find that ship squicky! Just say that it's squicky! You are not morally superior for finding it so!). But gosh. I remember when RaceFail '09 happened. Things are different now. In mostly good ways.

+ Are there more exchanges now? It feels like there are more exchanges now. Or maybe I'm just more aware of the range of them out there? Either way, they are a great joy.

+ Gifsets are fun. There is no greater joy than watching a significant Hand Moment between your OTP over and over on a beautifully high-res loop!

+ You know what else is fun? Tumblr shitposts. Sooooo much fun.

+ I still think of DW as a fannish space even though I mostly don't use it to talk about specific fandoms. My DW friends are scattered widely across so very many fandoms (or no fandoms at all), and we mostly talk about our lives or what books we're reading or whatever. And yet it still feels shaped by a fannish perspective on the world in a way that I can't put a finger on. And I love that. I love DW. I love y'all. My life has been better since I came back to DW.

+ The existence of AO3. Do I have quibbles (some fairly substantial) with it? Do I think that consolidating fanfiction in one place has some real downsides, too? Yes. But in general I think it's an extraordinary achievement, and I'm glad it's there.

+ Fanart is getting better. I cannot justify this feeling, but I really think it is! I see a greater variety of gorgeous fanart now than I did back in the early late 90s/2000s.

I am sure I'll think of other things later and come back to update this, but it's a good start for the moment!

Comments

[regshoe]

Aww, yay for all these things! I totally agree about enjoying the 'fannish perspective' in diverse discussions across topics on Dreamwidth, especially.

[lirazel]

The way we talk about stories and power is so, so different than it used to be!

[ruuger]

+ Along those same lines: way more canon queer stuff. What a relief.
Yeah, I wrote a Jurassic Park Alan/Billy fic for Yuletide last year and realised that the previous time I'd written that fic was in 2006 for the Slash Weddings Meme - which now seems so bizarre that only 15 years ago we had challenges to support gay ships when today pretty much every TV show and movie has canon LGBT characters...

And yet it still feels shaped by a fannish perspective on the world in a way that I can't put a finger on. And I love that. I love DW.
Hear, hear! I haven't been posting here very actively recently (weirdly, I'm currently most active on Discord of all places...), but DW just feels like my fannish home in a way that other fannish spaces don't.

[lirazel]

It really is a very huge change!

Yeah, DW is home. *happy sigh*

[sophia_sol]

agreed on all points! there may be plenty of issues in fandom, but it is ultimately and overall something I engage in because it adds so much good to my life, joy and beauty and mind-expansion and connection and fascinating and comfort.

[lirazel]

but it is ultimately and overall something I engage in because it adds so much good to my life, joy and beauty and mind-expansion and connection and fascinating and comfort.

Same same same!

[chestnut_pod]

What a heartwarming post! An especially loud "hear hear" for Dreamwidth.

[lirazel]

<3<3<3

[adore]

And yet it still feels shaped by a fannish perspective on the world in a way that I can't put a finger on. And I love that. I love DW. I love y'all. My life has been better since I came back to DW.

YES! *drowns in a puddle of hearts* Partly I think it's because fannish people hang out here, even if they're mostly talking about non-fannish things. Most of them are fannish about something and even if they don't talk about it, it shows.

[lirazel]

Partly I think it's because fannish people hang out here, even if they're mostly talking about non-fannish things. Most of them are fannish about something and even if they don't talk about it, it shows.

Yes, exactly!

[dirty_diana]

Aw, yay fandom! Yes to the diversity of options! Sometimes I have feelings about the fannish landscape as it relates to the content era of very casual consumption too, but the flip side is that there's so much stuff for me personally to consume and that's great.

I think there are definitely more exchanges now. It's overwhelming but also great. There's something for everyone!

Fanart, like vids, is probably reflecting the technological changes that have happened. Also fabulous, yay progress.

[lirazel]

Sometimes I have feelings about the fannish landscape as it relates to the content era of very casual consumption too, but the flip side is that there's so much stuff for me personally to consume and that's great.

Haha, yes! I've never had so much fic to read as I have these last few years in CQL fandom!

Fanart, like vids, is probably reflecting the technological changes that have happened.

I actually don't think vids are better now in general? Certainly the definition is better, but not the quality of the editing. Perhaps this it's just that I'm not seeing the really good fanvids anymore the way I was on LJ?

[dirty_diana]

I mainly meant that they've evolved stylistically due to tech, for example the dialogue usage and the many visual effects are influenced by how easily you can do that now. It's also way cheaper/simpler for people to get into. Better/worse is of course in the eye of the beholder, and if you don't like the modern styles that would affect your opinion! There's also many more of them to wade through to find the gems. But I think there are quite a few people currently vidding more or less in the old-timey lj style (for example me) who weren't vidding much in the days when you needed to spend more money on a slower process, so I do think overall an upwards trade. Streaming video is pretty cool too.

[lirazel]

Ah, yes, I can't imagine how much easier it is for the average person to get into vidding now as opposed to even ten years ago!

I think there are quite a few people currently vidding more or less in the old-timey lj style (for example me) who weren't vidding much in the days when you needed to spend more money on a slower process, so I do think overall an upwards trade. Streaming video is pretty cool too.

Indeed!

[goodbyebird]

This is indeed a good list! And so so important to keep in mind that yes, we are making progress.

(If someone ever wants to hypnotize me, all they need do is run a pretty gif on a loop in front of me *g*)

[lirazel]

We are! I am thankful for the progress!

(A really good gif is a true work of art!)

[vriddy]

Actually, media is more diverse and that's a good thing!

I've been really enjoying that as well. I'm not familiar with your examples, but I watched Eternals recently and it was such a pleasure on this point -- there is a ton of diversity, on various levels, and it's never the point, it's not commented on, it just is. I loved that aspect so much.

[elperian]

I am coming at posts out of order so - to my sensibilities, you have not been whiny at all! And this post was a fun journey!

Actually, media is more diverse and that's a good thing!

I'll go back and watch a show or movie from the '00s and just think "thank goodness we've come so far on casting." Not perfect, but damn, the difference! Now, as you say, to move beyond diversity in casting to diversity in the focus of the story. I think Prey (trailers!) is in line with that too.

Exchanges are a great joy! I remember there being a ton back in the day, but it could be fandom-corner-dependent.

HANDSSSS!!!! IN GIFSSSS!!!!

[lirazel]

I'll go back and watch a show or movie from the '00s and just think "thank goodness we've come so far on casting." Not perfect, but damn, the difference! Now, as you say, to move beyond diversity in casting to diversity in the focus of the story.

Yes exactly!!!