Snowflake Challenge Day 15

[meridian_rose]

Day 15

In your own space, write a love letter to Fandom in general, to a particular fandom, to a trope, a relationship, a character, or to your flist/circle/followers. Share your love and squee as loud as you want to.


Dear fandom

You've been such an important part of my life for so long. I've seen so many changes, many good, some bad. You've helped me develop as a writer. You've given me so many hours of entertainment via fanworks. You've let me make friends, even if they don't always stick around.

I hope the good things and good friends stay. I hope the not so good things lessen. I hope some of the things I miss – more nuanced discussion and thoughtful meta on a platform designed to handle those things – come back.

I hope we can continue to show how much good fandom has done and can do – some of the stories shared during the Snowflake Challenge about fandom experiences have been truly moving. Media can save a life. Friends made through fandom can support it.

The lack of community feeling I've seen happen, that comments have become fewer and even nonexistent in some cases, the shipping wars and sexuality policing with its bisexual and asexual erasure, the idea on who it's okay to ship...I've thought about quitting, more in the last year than in all the years previously, and I've been in fandom when it was zines, not AO3 pages. But I'm still here because I can still find the joy sometimes and I can't quit the good over the bad. I'm finding more places to connect with like-minded people and that helps.

The Snowflake Challenge has reminded me of how much good there is in fandom, and within people. It's been a truly moving experience to be involved in this year.

Thank you to everyone who supports fanwork creators, everyone who has participating in the challenge this year, and to those behind sites like AO3 who make connections possible and protect and preserve fanworks.

Comments

[spikedluv]

Touching letter. Thanks for sharing it. ♥

[meridian_rose]

Thank you!

[silveradept]

Fandom can be difficult sometimes. We're glad that there's still enough good to outweigh the difficult. And would very much like for there to be more spaces for long discussion and thoughtful commentary.

[meridian_rose]

True! And oh for nuanced conversations instead of the vitriol that tumblr in particular seems so good at!