[ SECRET POST #2988 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2988 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 050 secrets from Secret Submission Post #427.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 2 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fingalsanteater]

I hate the way a certain segment of the fandom took up arms, declaring fandom was a space that "outsiders" weren't allowed in, but at the same time, I get it. Fandom has been this dirty secret, niche community that is often spoke of with derision and laughed at (remember all those panels where they read fic and laughed at the idea if people writing about Sherlock and Watson, etc. having sex?) by those not involved. So, when a discussion of fandom becomes curriculum in a university, requiring perceived outsiders to invade a space we've created for specific people who will understand (those in the fandom), I totally get the reaction and backlash directed at the teachers and students involved. It sucks that we can't be more welcoming, but when you are used to being mocked and having to explain your hobby, I get it.

[(Anonymous)]

As far as I understand it, the students behind this course are in the hobby themselves. One of them at least writes their own fanfic.

And they still decided stomping all over fanfic spaces like this was a good idea.

[fingalsanteater]

I don't even get the whole critique thing anyway. Like, the overall fandom etiquette is "positive feedback only, unless critique requested." Fic is for fun. I don't want some jackass analyzing some shit I fucking wrote for fun on a Sunday afternoon unless I ask for it. And they were only reading one or two chapters in fandoms they might not be a part off. If I show up to the fucking Deathnote fandom and read a few chapters of a fic, then leave a review analyzing the writing, people are going to say I'm an asshole. Rightfully so. Sure, we put ourselves out there when we post our fic, but we also have an code of conduct that we follow regarding others fic. I mean, if I showed up to a football game wearing the other team's colors and khaki pants on the designated jean day (or whatever), people should call me out for violating their unspoken rules, just as people called out the participants in the class for violating fandom rules.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

Exactly this.

And it wouldn't leave such a bad taste for me if not for the fact that the people behind this class claimed it was for the love of fandom and fanfic and fannish things that they did this.

If it was someone who was totally clueless about the conventions of fanfic in the first place, then okay, whatever, just ignore them. But for someone who supposedly understands and loves the culture to think this was a good idea? To think that writers waking up to vicious reviews from people who start their comments off with "I am not familiar with anything about this thing you've written, but..." was going to go down well and not cause the shitstorm it did?

They KNEW the rules they were violating with this ridiculous idea and did it anyway.

I think it's pretty telling that one of the organizers has deleted her own fanfic account. Can't take the unsolicited hate she cheerfully sent others to dish out, who'd have thought it?

[(Anonymous)]

That's not the overall fandom rule. It's not the rule in a lot of the parts of fandom where critique is welcomed and expected unless someone says otherwise. It's not the rule in the parts where there's no particular preference unless stated. It's the rule in certain corners of fandom, among certain groups of fans.

Three fans in a room'll get you eight opinions, the idea of there being pan-fandom "rules" is just laughable.

[(Anonymous)]

Corners of fandom where critique is not only welcome but expected are few and far between. Or do you think that everyone who says "critique welcome!!!!" in the A/N mean it? Because they really, really don't.

[(Anonymous)]

I wouldn't say that, IME.

As for the "crit welcome" folks... I know they don't, which is a) bloody depressing and b) a huge point against all the people who are on the 'how rude!' side of this argument, who keep insisting that if people want crit, they'll ask for it, and you should only give it if they say they want it.

Which leaves people with the choice of:
A) leave crit on a fic with no "crit welcome" and risk getting screamed at for not knowing it was unwelcome
B) leave crit on fic with a "crit welcome" and risk getting screamed at for not knowing they didn't really mean it
C) never leave crit

Guess how many people choose C?

The next time we do the "comment culture is dead!" wank, remember this.

[(Anonymous)]

lmao...

[(Anonymous)]

Or variant of B, getting screamed at because you didn't give the right kind of crit!

[fingalsanteater]

Not true. Current overall fandom etiquette is "positive feedback only," I promise. Yeah, in some circles, concrit may be welcome, but the current trend really is positive feedback over concrit or negative feedback. You leave kudos or you don't, you leave a positive comment if you really liked the fic. You don't nitpick grammar or concrit unless asked. Older fic writers might still ascribe to the "concrit welcome" rule that used to be more ubiquitous, but times have changed.

[(Anonymous)]

I really, honestly believe there is no such thing as "overall" fandom ANYthing.

[(Anonymous)]

There really, really isn't.

[(Anonymous)]

That's just not true. I get criticized for my choice of pairings (e.g., let me tell you about the persistent Fraser/RayV troll out there), for things I've explicitly warned against in the summary. I get the loopiest comments and backhanded compliments/complaints from "regular" fans who feel free to say whatever they want.

When it comes to fanfic, there is no protective wall between the author and the fan. That's just the way it is.

[fingalsanteater]

I get weird comments all the time too, but that doesn't mean there is still not a trend toward positive commenting and kudos only, especially in the big Tumblr fandoms (Superwholock, HP, MCU, LOTR, etc.).

[(Anonymous)]

No, it's not.

Fandom as a whole is extremely big and just because the places you hang around are like that doesn't mean there aren't many other places where thing are different.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I guess I'm officially old now. I liked getting concrit, back in the good old days... but yes, admittedly, I don't get much now. Especially since even some writers who claim they want concrit throw a fit if they get it. This is why we can't have nice things.

[fingalsanteater]

I do like concrit too, but yeah, it's not as popular to offer now, especially with the ease of the kudos and like system. The only time I get concrit now is if I ask a beta to specifically crit some thing.

[(Anonymous)]

This.

Many of my fandoms welcome concrit. In fact people who leave concrit are considered better than those that leave just praise and some authors even complain about the getting to much "shallow praise"/lack of concrit.

[(Anonymous)]

Slash fandom in particular has always been organized around the principle "No one must ever find out what we are doing." That's changing now, and it really baffles some older fans. FIRST-generation slashers were just amazingly paranoid. http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Purple_Pages

[fingalsanteater]

Yeah. I read one write-up of the situation that read like it was written by someone who had been in fandom a long time and still ascribed to the "must keep it a secret" mentality.

[(Anonymous)]

Jesus, that reminds me very much of the way BL fans are in Japan. If a Japanese fujoshi saw a yaoi paddle she'd faint, I swear. There's internet arguments on Japanese fansites about whether or not it's appropriate to read BL manga on the train... not even like erotic stuff, just fluffy BL. Many people put these little paper covers on it to hide the book, and many think it's inappropriate to be reading that stuff on the train altogether. You buy BL manga at specialty stores and carry it home in opaque black plastic bags and read it in private.

I think most fujoshi don't even tell their boyfriends about their hobbies, though that would depend on their age. The code of secrecy goes deep in Japan, man.

Though you could say that about otaku things in general. In Canada I often see people wear their cosplay on the bus on the way to a con, for example. In Japan they get changed at the con and then change back before they leave. You don't even wear anime T-shirts in public - they are con-wear only. Oh, Japan, why so much shame?

[(Anonymous)]

tbh it's a good rule not to wear anime t-shirts in public no matter where you live