#fandom conspiracy board

[moodlesmain]

Hi. Look at this.

I just spent two days straight making a digital conspiracy board trying to piece together my favourite genre that isn't really a genre and more just a very particular niche which doesn't really have a name.

If you want to look I reccomend downloading and zooming in on the image to read everything LMAO, I want to try and convert it to a page on my neocities at some point so its easier to view but for now you guys just get a big ol' jpeg. You're welcome :)

[inkyarcturus]

Is this what yall imagine I look like whenever I post one of my rambling thoughts on here? Because this is what I feel like whenever I write them out.

[crowtrobotx]

so does anyone else constantly imagine Karl ranting about Miranda with the full body twitches à la Mr. Crocker hollering "FAIRY GODPARENTS" or are you normal

[keefechambers]

KELVIN GEMSTONE & KEEFE CHAMBERS in THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES SEASON 2

"You didn't have to make it weird." "Yes, he did."

[fenkko]

cant believe i reached 30 tags in prev post rambling about homestuck i didnt even know there was a limit

[the-gt-fairy]

Day 26: Tangled

--

A meeting between two of my ocs, Nina (left) and Midori (right)

I don't actually do a whole lot with my ocs, they're mostly just placeholders for various scenarios

[hollow-dweller]

Talk Shop Tuesday: as someone who is involved in a lot of fandoms (and has seen a lot of horrors), has there been a significant shift in how fandom is today compared to the “good old days” as much as people say?

there are. SO MANY.

to start and to be entirely clear, there is no good old days of fandom. there are things i miss about fandom tendencies of the past, which i'll get into, but as many many many marginalized fans have and will continue to say, Ye Ol' Fandom was as much if not more of a cesspit of racism, misogyny, and queerphobia as it is today. because fandom platforms were more diversified, they were also more gatekept--and i mean actually gatekept, not just "people are mean about this thing i like" gatekept. to an extent this was necessary--fandom itself was much more culturally stigmatized, and existed largely in a legal gray area, so fandom spaces needed to be semi-closed communities for their own protection. however, if you were a fan who tried to bring up systemic fannish issues--such as racism--you could and would be kicked out of whatever fannish space you were in, and there would very rarely be other places to turn.

also as a caveat: this is not anywhere CLOSE to a comprehensive view of the changes in fandom nor the myriad factors that contribute to those changes. fandom is a cultural ecosystem existing within a broader cultural ecosystem, and the ways those things interact with and inform one another are literally innumerable. anyone who claims they know the One Thing That Ruined Fandom is oversimplifying the issue. anyone claiming they know the Twenty Things That Ruined Fandom is oversimplifying the issue. fandom is a living system, and living systems exist in a constant state of change.

but broadly speaking, i think there are two major changes that have informed The State of Fandom.

Consolidation of Fandom Platforms

as mentioned, fandom used to exist as a variety of closed or semi-closed forum spaces, blogs, archives, and other websites, each dedicated to its own fandom or, more often, subsets of a particular fandom. authors/artists had their own sites, particular ships had their own sites, fic had its own sites, art had its own sites, discussion/meta had its own sites, and any or all of these could be hosted in any combination across any number of websites depending on the fandom. some of this was the result of the structure of the early internet, and some of it was, as mentioned above, a function of necessity.

as the internet evolved and fandom platforms became consolidated, this necessarily changed fandom norms and behaviours. the way we write fic is different because of the advent and dominance of ao3, the way we construct meta is different because of the nature of sites like reddit and tumblr, the way we build community is different because of sites like discord, etc. notably, most of the changes we've seen are not created by social media or mass fandom platforms, but rather enhanced by them. ship wank, whether masquerading as legitimate analysis or not, has always been a cornerstone of fandom--it like all things is simply much more accessible to people now than it used to be. the subdivision of fandoms into different subgroups, even within a ship or media, has also always been a thing--people form friend groups with like-minded people and that's normal, actually. the types of conversations and conflicts fandom has have not changed that much--just the places and manner in which we engage with them.

modern fandom platforms are both more accessible and more comprehensive than they ever have been--so fans can more easily than ever be exposed to different corners or subsets of fandom. but also. fans can more easily than ever be exposed to different corners or subsets of fandom.

The Scarcity of Long Running Media and the Dissolution of the Monoculture

the type of media that fandom now orients itself around has changed drastically as a result of changes in the broader media landscape, and this also changes fandom norms and behaviour. it is increasingly more rare for a fandom to develop over the course of years, because long-running serialized (or even episodic) narratives are becoming less common. tv shows especially are released with vanishingly short promotion cycles, and with less and less certainty of continuation. creators have to therefore hedge their bets--the binge model means there is no room to pivot mid-season if things aren't working out, and the lack of certainty around renewal means that seasons have to be relatively close-ended in order to try to deliver a satisfying experience. similar trends affect book publishing--we are seeing fewer and fewer multi-part series being released, and fewer books dominating cultural discussion in the way blockbuster series of the past have.

thinking of cornerstone megafandoms of the past (and present), we tended to see a couple essential elements that contributed to both fandom engagement and sustained fandom activity: they were released over a longer period of time, and they took up a larger portion of the dominant cultural landscape. the Harry Potter books were released over a period of ten years and were, of course, a huge cultural moment. Twilight was released over a shorter period of time, but was similarly a cornerstone of the monoculture, enhanced by the immediate and almost-eclipsing (heh) release of its movie counterparts. The X-Files was released over the course of, again, a decade, and they will be releasing new Star Treks until the mountains crumble into the sea and the stars turn to dust. these fandoms all have greater and lesser degrees of longevity and output, but they and fandoms like them all had the benefit of time and cultural dominance in order to enable the development of the fandom.

this is not universal (nothing i'm saying is universal), but fandoms nowadays tend to be a lot shorter-lived and migratory simply because they have less material to work with and less time in which to work with it. Voltron, as one example, was a megafandom that developed rapidly and burned out quickly, and while it had a decent amount of material, its eight seasons were released over the course of two and a half years. fannish momentum can only be sustained on so much material for a certain period of time, and fannish investment is necessarily going to be curtailed if fans live in uncertainty about the continuation of their favourite media.

this also is reflected in the type of fanworks that we see proliferating. while AUs were not absent from Ye Old Fandom, i do think they were a lot less common/prominent. the longer release cycles and difference in structure between releases (open-ended finales as motivation to hook viewers into the next installment that they knew/were pretty certain was going to happen vs close-ended finales that hedge bets if a series is cancelled) led to a lot more speculative fanworks set within the canon, imagining what was going to happen next. a famous example is of course the HP fandom's Three Year Summer--the period of three years between the release of the fourth and fifth Harry Potter books that was intensely productive for that fandom. fanworks in that period were famously long and plotty canon divergence/canon speculation works branching from the return of Voldemort in book four, and that tendency towards long and plotty canon-based or canon-adjacent fanworks persists within the HP fandom to this day.

fandoms nowadays do tend more towards works that are stripped from their canon contexts (the infamous coffee shop au, media fusion aus, modern setting aus, no powers aus), and while these works did exist in Ye Old Fandom, they were both more rare and their reach was more limited.

Some Kind of Conclusion Because This Is An Essay Now I Guess

to present a synthesis scenario: a particular trope is generated and popularized by one fandom. due to its presence on consolidated platform sites, it becomes ubiquitous within that fandom, spawning further derivatives, copycats, reimaginings, and variations. as people migrate from fandom to fandom, both as a result of the media landscape itself and the ease of doing so on social media/multi-fandom sites, the trope or AU spreads to other fandoms, and is again further transformed by those fandoms. this continues ad infinitum.

this pattern is not limited to tropes in fanworks--it is applicable to every element of fandom, from discourse to meta to creative works to behavioural norms. the state of modern fandom is interconnected to the platforms on which fandom is hosted and the media on which it is based. no longer is the one common unifying element of fandom the source media--the unifying element is fandom itself. this is why we see, for example, people stating they get involved in fandoms for media they have no experience with--they do not know the source text, but they know fandom.

i could literally go on and on--i didn't even touch on things like the destruction of the fandom fourth wall, or the relationship to the practice of filing off the serial numbers, or the existence of BNFs (actual BNFs not people like you seek who just Have Friends and Make Things), or the connection to nostalgia, or the relationship to commentary and analysis-based fandom outlets such as rewatch podcasts, or-

there are literally so many elements here. i could talk about this forever. i probably will be talking about this forever. please god someone let me out of here HELP-

[raayllum]

gotta say one of the most validating things as a speculative meta writer isn't necessarily introducing a possibility to people that they enjoy (although yes, that is an undoubtedly fun process!) but seeing people reach the same conclusions/predictions of their own accord

[vampirismadvocate]

sometimes I worry my haha funny fandom posts/interests come off as me not critically engaging with media/lacking media literacy, when for me fandom is an indulgence that doesn’t necessarily need to be academic.

I still love analyzing these books/movies/shows in a more “serious” way, but sometimes I just wanna see my blorbos kiss.

[kanyniablue]

also while i'm on the fandom thought-train: is andre (blond liberty spikes raver in the drug tent/church dance club) a narc

because he seems like a narc

(spoiler-y evidence gathered below)

-he's significantly older than the other anodic dance music group (skill check points out that he's balding & if you ask his age he says he's "not twenty")

-constantly sucks up to harry like he doesn't want to get on his bad side (because he is himself an undercover cop who doesn't want to complicate his operation?)

-just breezily reveals that yes it's going to actually be a drug lab & yes they'll stop now officer since you asked so nicely--wants to throw you, fellow/rival officer, off his operation

-can't dance

-seriously, he's starting a club for anodic music--a dance club for anodic music--and he can't dance? ඞ

-talks like...that

-kim never directly interacts with him (that i've seen)--possibly he'd recognize another juvenile division undercover officer if he did???

[agerefandom]

Top 10: Tumblr vs. AO3

Just felt like doing some statistics with my work!! Comparing AO3 popular fics vs. tumblr popular fics and seeing what I found out: thought other people might be interested as well! Ramblings about patterns and causes are under the ‘read more’ :P 

AO3 (by kudos): 

Class Outing: BNHA, regressor!Izuku (1247 kudos) 

Only Heaven I’ll Be Sent To: Resident Evil, regressor!reader, caregiver!Lady Dimitrescu (759 kudos) 

Cold Palms, Warm Heart: Twilight, regressor!reader, caregivers!Alice and Jasper (573 kudos) 

The Doctor’s Office: Twilight, regressor!reader, caregiver!Carlisle (403 kudos) 

Kitchen Friends: Marvel, regressor!reader, caregiver!Steve and Bucky (336 kudos) 

Sound and Silence: BNHA, regressor!Aizawa, cg!Hizashi (321 kudos)

Restrained: Death Note, regressor!Light, caregiver!L (309 kudos)

A Story For Sans: regressor!Sans, caregiver!Papyrus (278 kudos) 

Home Sweet Home: caregivers!Carlisle and Esme, regressor!Cullens (273 kudos) 

To Weather The Storm: caregiver!Tamaki, regressor!Haruhi (238 kudos) 

Tumblr (fics only): 

Class Outing (167 notes) 

Cold Palms, Warm Heart (159 notes)

The Playtime Solution: Sanders Sides, regressor!Logan (159 notes)

The Doctor’s Office (150 notes) 

Sugary Sweet: Twilight, regressor!reader, cg!Jasper and Alice (150 notes) 

Kitchen Friends (125 notes) 

Only Heaven I’ll Be Sent To (116 notes)

What Family Is: Harry Potter, regressor!reader, cg!Remus and Sirius (116 notes) 

Just Plane Overwhelmed: Sanders Sides, regressor!Virgil (111 notes) 

Golden Slumbers: Harry Potter, regressor!reader and Harry, cg!Fred (110 notes) 

Overall Tumblr Top 10:

Caregiver Valerie Frizzle headcanons & moodboard (409 notes)

Writing Prompts 2019 / 2022 (290/365 notes)

Caregivers Tiana and Naveen headcanons (244 notes)

Caregiver Jack Skellington moodboard (229 notes)

Caregiver Morticia Addams moodboard (224 notes)

Regressor Wybie Moodboard (205 notes)

Caregiver Bruno Madrigal headcanons (201 notes)

Caregiver Jack Skellington headcanons (191 notes)

Caregivers Sundrop and Moondrop headcanons (189 notes)

Caregiver Belle headcanons (182 notes)

This was really interesting!! 

Re: overall tumblr top 10: I think it’s funny that my throwaway moodboards are often some of the most popular content on my blog. Things I’m just like ‘ooh I gotta make this’ are mixed in with requests, I think that’s interesting! Ms. Frizzle just blowing away the competition, that’s amazing and I love it. Nothing is even close to how popular she is, and she deserves it. Jack Skellington coming onto the list twice? Come through king, I would love to write a full fic in Halloweentown sometime. 

Generally, the more ‘alternative’ characters seem to get a lot more attention on my blog: The Pumpkin King, Morticia, Wybie, Sundrop and Moondrop... Tiana and Naveen really snuck up there though! 

Moving onto the more direct fic comparison: 

....well this made me realize that I never published my Sanders Sides fics from this blog on AO3, whoops 

Setting that aside, fics with angst and plot tend to do better on AO3, while fluffy stories do better on tumblr: Sugary Sweet doesn’t even hit my top 10 on AO3 and it’s one of the fluffiest fics I’ve ever written, coming in at #5 on the tumblr list 

On the other hand, Only Heaven I’ll Be Sent To is by far one of my best performing fics on AO3, but comes in at number 6 (tied with another fic) on tumblr, probably because it features a lot of action and gore alongside the fluffy agere elements, same for Restrained showing up on the AO3 top but not tumblr’s. 

My Harry Potter fics do way better on tumblr, which is interesting? Maybe Harry Potter fans are still reading their fics on independent forums? Or Harry Potter folks on AO3 don’t cross over much with the agere crowd. (Or maybe they’re just overloaded with /reader fics) I haven’t been actually into the HP community since around 2011 so I’m not sure what’s up there. 

Big shoutout to Class Outing for dominating the top of both lists: BNHA is such a big fandom that it makes sense, and I wrote that fic on @agere-fandom-time, which I think got more interaction than this blog: it seems like people are more comfortable interacting with a group-run blog, rather than an individual writer. Or maybe that’s a natural consequence of more writers putting out more consistent content, letting the blog get bigger. I’m not sure! Either way, even if I’m not into BNHA anymore, I feel like it’s a good piece of my writing, so I’m happy for it to be my top spot. 

[eyeshields]

Sign-ups for the ES21 Winter Gift Exchange have closed; thanks to everyone who signed up! I'll be working on gift assignments over the next couple days and will send them out via DM when I'm done.

[seapiglet]

she was 19 not 20 you fucking stupid lying terf eat shit

okay well this is clearly about the gaiman accusations and you seem to have a real bee in your bonnet over something I've said, given that you felt the need to send not one but three(!) variations of this

(and once again, I am LITERALLY TRANS so the terf thing isn't going to work here)

so, firstly, at no point have I even mentioned the ages of the women involved, beyond calling them young so I'm guessing that in your fury you might have sent this to the wrong person

however! let's continue

secondly,

you know how companies will price something at 3.99 because they know consumers will look at it and think "3.99? that's 3 dollars!" instead of sensibly registering that it's actually 4

and everybody walks around the store completely certain their superior brain won't interpret it that way? and yet...

here you are, making sure I know that one of the women neil gaiman (allegedly) sexually assaulted was TWENTY and NOT nineteen!! as if there's some appreciable difference between the two when it comes to appropriate conduct between a 60+ year old famous, influential man and the young woman he hired to work in his house

because of course a 19 year old is young! there's a ONE in front of the nine! it's got the word "teen" in it! but a 20 year old? well that's an adult who can make her own choices, thank you and, frankly, it's infantilising to suggest there may be some kind of power imbalance there

you am very smarmt ⭐

[jazzzzzzhands]

Just wanted to pop in and say I adore seeing your art still after all these years! I love how colorful everything you make is!! Keep up the great work 😊💙💙

OOHH AWAAAA!! Holding up one of my oldest fans to everyone! I can't believe you followed me all the way from the KG fandom truly. All the way from DA too! Those silly little frogs are still very funny to me Thank you, thank you for sticking around!!

you know i loved this bastard

[ticktockteapot]

Me with my Mad T Party: Looking Glass Legends AU. . . I got the basic outline stuffs. The plot twists, emotional character arcs, relationships, different settings (Underland,wonderland,Disneyland,Times Realm, Dream Dimension, Las Vegas) BUT PUTTING ALL THESE IDEAS IN ORDER TO MAKE SENSE IS STOPPING ME FROM ACTUALLY HAVING ANYTHING TO POST 😭😭😭😭

Do yourself a favor and just write everything out of order. That's legit what's stopping me from updating my WIPs because the back of my head is demanding it has to be consecutively written in order or else it won't make sense.

....which is kind of dumb because when I came up with the plotlines they were from scenes right in the middle lol

[mindovermuses]

Dear Critical Role Production Team,

You are sitting on a veritable GOLD MINE of content that should be part of your Beacon exclusive lineup, like yesterday.

After a pretty much perfect 4-Sided Dive, starring ultimate fangirls and voices of so many in the fandom- Aabria Iyengar & Aimee Carrero- the gears started slowly churning away in my head.

Give these ladies a monthly podcast! Call it "Critical Tea" and, with the assistance of the beautiful and ever-present Dani Carr (filling in for Cadeucus as Tea Master), they can bring on various guests and gush about everything that drives the fandom wild. Bonus points if you have Cadeucus voice overs for tea related stuff.

Collect fan-submitted questions, theories, and art for the show. Give them a big conspiracy board with red yarn so they can discuss everything.

They can keep track of random things. Is Vax still an orb? How much party gold do they think Chetney actually still has in his possession? Campaign couple/shipping vibe checks using a different unit of rating each episode based on some joke earlier in the podcast. Bonus points if they pull two party members randomly from a tea kettle and rate their current opinions on the possible shipping between them.

Think of the merch possibilities. Representing the tea company you've licensed with, if they'd like to be a sponsor for specific episodes.

We need to spill the Critical Tea.

Throw a big old disclaimer about nothing in the show being canon, the ladies just want to gush about whatever moments in Critical Role history need fangirled over with whatever cast member, former guest star, or famous friend wants to join them at the couches for Critical Tea. Oh, and Omar cameos.

As proof of concept, please note the following, attached screenshots:

Yours faithfully,

-a fan