Save The Best For Last

Adult Skuld/X because time passed, fun to design, and also please give Isa and ESPECIALLY Lea more friends that aren't kids 😭

-Please do not reupload, edit, or use without proper credit or linking back. Ask first please.-

Many transformative works fandoms start with the assumption that they are part of an aggrieved minority that's the target of unjust persecution, given:

- homophobia at large in the wider world (many polls indicate that fandom has a larger-than-average percentage of queer people);

- misogyny at large in the wider world (most polls over the years indicate that fandom is majority female);

- regressive conservatism across the board regarding (but not limited to) media content.

And in the wider world: yes, transformative works fans are a minority, and often each individual has trauma, baggage, &/or a history of being marginalized and oppressed, if not outright harmed, in "real world" spaces.

However, within the communities of fanspace, I have rarely seen any subsect of fandom acknowledge that it is the dominant force within that fanspace in a responsible way beyond the occasional fundraiser (that benefits third party charities and not marginalized individuals within the fandom) or campaigns to get continuations of their preferred media or for their ships to get canonized (which is, ultimately, self-serving).

Instead, we get:

- defensive posturing every time even the mildest thoughtful critique of their favorite ships/characters/fandoms enters their awareness;

- widespread harassment campaigns framed as "victims" just "fighting back" against "oppression" (when the "oppressors" have fewer numbers, smaller reach/social capital/etc within that space);

- a very Americanized blend of "staunch individualism" (where one's own actions should be judged on their own and not as part of a wider pattern across fandom(s)) and "White Girlboss Choice Feminism" (where "if a (white) woman chooses to do something, it is inherently progressive for her to do it, without regard for her positionally or impact within an intersectional framework").

And so on.

What would "responsible ways" of acknowledging one's power within fanspace look like, you may ask?

- donating directly to and signal boosting mutual aid links, especially for fans of marginalized identities;

- taking hard public stances against bigotry of ALL kinds within the ranks of your fellow fans, by sharing information about bad actors, deplatforming and disengaging with bad actors even if they make fanwork you enjoy, and protecting/standing up for targets of harassment outside your fandom coterie(s);

- openness to thoughtful critique of your circle within fanspace (rather than being defensive and assuming victimhood by default) and sharing same, encouraging both yourself and others to learn and improve;

- actively taking steps to read/share/create fanwork (which includes meta, media analysis, etc) that embraces/uplifts a diversity of perspectives beyond your own.

If we can't be responsible with our social power *within the spaces where we do hold that power,* we're no better than those regressive white nerdbros complaining about "woke invasions" of "our spaces" - when the reality is, nerds won the culture war and have way more social capital than some John Hughes-style archetypes of the Bullied Nerd.

We can be better than them. Our fanspaces can be better than that. Let's work together to make that happen.

This tweet lives rent-free in my head now. Hands-down the best comment about the relationship between art and artist.

the thing about the “oh of course fandom gravitates towards pretty white boys & ignores female characters and characters of color and especially female characters of color, it’s the creators’ fault because they don’t give those characters any depth/plot relevance!!!” argument is that it’s just….. not true. sure there are lots of shows where that happens but there are also LOTS where it doesn’t and fandoms still behave exactly the same. it doesn’t matter how prominently the creators place women of color, because you all will still fight to ignore them at any cost in favor of white men. despite what you might think from looking at tumblr, prominent & complex main characters of color exist–& in tons of popular shows!–and yet the fandoms are consistently, overwhelmingly saturated with white characters because FANDOMS ARE RACIST, and it’s frankly annoying as hell for you guys to try and blame that exclusively on the creators. own up to that shit.

so I saw this trend like 84 yrs ago (yes I’m that late)

Sarazanmai Anthology promotional art by Migi

Possibly the greatest struggle in fandom is trying to talk about racism in either canon or as a general fandom trend and then immediately having your inbox filled with denial that exists in any form anywhere and also getting repeated personal attacks against you for daring to so much as mention that racism is still happening. It’s all good and well until you mention racism is an issue, and then it’s like the entirety of Tumblr turns into Fox News.

after seeing misguided assumptions like the above littered in the sheith tags, i decided to impulsively conduct a survey. it’s a fun experiment to test the hypothesis: "Are Sheith Shippers Cis Straight White Women?"

bear in mind the pool was 300 responses, ergo do not wholly reflect anything, but there are apparent patterns which arise from the results. some data is expected to be skewed, as the respondents were not required to sign-in so as to maintain anonymity. the same respondent could have responded more than once to this survey

the survey’s questions/instructions were the following:

Do you ship Sheith?

Select the age range you fall under: 

Have you created and/or are creating fanart and/or fanfiction for this ship?

Do you ship other people with Keith or Shiro? (i.e. Are you a multishipper?)

Are you cis(gender)?

Are you straight?

Are you white? (If you are white-passing, you are NOT white)

Do you dislike Lance as a character? (This is a common assumption made about Sheith shippers)

Cont. from the above question: If you picked "yes" or "neutral/apathetic", please briefly explain. Character bashing is not permitted.

Do you think Sheith Fandom has a colorism problem?

Do you think Klance Fandom has a colorism problem?

Do you think VLD Fandom as a whole has a colorism problem?

Do you think you are treated unfairly within fandom because you ship Sheith?

Cont. from above question: If you picked "yes", please briefly explain/share your experiences. All responses are anonymous.

the results more or less poked holes through the hypothesis

the choices were “Yes”/“No”. 283 out of 300 respondents chose “Yes” and were directed to the second portion of the survey. 17 out of 300 respondents chose “No” and were directed to the submission page

the choices were “Under 15″/“15 - 17″/“18 - 20″/“21 - 29″/"Over 29″. 160 out of 283 respondents chose “21 - 29″  73 out of 283 respondents chose “18 - 20″ 25 out of 283 respondents chose “15 - 17″ 20 out of 283 respondents chose “Over 29″ 5 out of 283 respondents chose “Under 15″ 

the choices were “Yes”/“No”. 170 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 113 out of 283 respondents chose “No”  i was curious about whether or not a sheith shipper was also a content creator

the choices were “Yes”/“No”. 185 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 98 out of 283 respondents chose “No” i was curious about whether or not a sheith shipper was also a multishipper

the choices were “Yes”/“No”/“Questioning”. 159 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 90 out of 283 respondents chose “No”  34 out of 283 respondents chose “Questioning”

the choices were “Yes”/“No”/“Questioning”. 228 out of 283 respondents chose “No” 28 out of 283 respondents chose “Questioning” 27 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 

the choices were “Yes”/“No”. 151 out of 283 respondents chose “No” 132 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 

the choices were “Yes”/“No”/“Neutral/Apathetic about him”. 185 out of 283 respondents chose “No” 69 out of 283 respondents chose “Neutral/Apathetic about him” 29 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes”

Free Responses

the choices were “Yes”/“No”. 256 out of 283 respondents chose “No” 27 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 

the choices were “Yes”/“No”. 163 out of 283 respondents chose “No” 120 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 

the choices were “Yes”/“No”. 142 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 141 out of 283 respondents chose “No” 

the choices were “Yes”/“No”. 150 out of 283 respondents chose “Yes” 133 out of 283 respondents chose “No”

Free responses

my conclusions? don’t assume anything about someone based on their shipping preferences. ship wars should not condone ostracization and hostility

thank you for responding! i was pleasantly surprised by the turnout. the most illuminating part of this survey, personally speaking, was the free responses. if you have the time, please look through those. i deeply appreciate the ones who shared their experiences; it can’t have been easy disclosing them (cw for emotional manipulation, bullying, harassment, mentions of csa and racism)

please remain respectful in the comments/tags, and don’t hesitate to share constructive feedback and thoughts regarding the results.

you can contact me using the following avenues: https://twitter.com/aomine_ebooks | https://curiouscat.me/aomine_ebooks

this post by @writing-is-a-martial-art x revolutionary girl utena