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Jul. 11th, 2023 11:22Ao3 is down, which is annoying and a little worrisome, but not a huge huge deal? I guess I grew up in the age where stuff like this....happened sometimes? I remember LJ had a separate hosting for a page that just confirmed if LJ was up or not so if LJ went down, that page wouldn't be affected. (I prefer that to the modern "just have a twitter account" method because twitter is a big 'ol mess right now, but I suppose that wasn't totally anticipated.) So I'm just used to this happening sometimes, and I know Ao3 is committed to getting back online so I'm not terribly worried. (I will once again note to myself to download all the fic I want to save forever because one day Ao3 won't get back up. Note to self! Take care of this!)
HOWEVER.
The thing that really got me today is that this? Is being reported? In the NEWS?
I? Hate this?
I recognize that faction becoming more mainstream means more people have access and knowledge of it and that's a good thing, it gives more people access and joy and that's a good thing. But I hate this so much. For a few, overlapping reasons.
I mean, I don't want to say I liked fanfiction more when it was more obscure because that's definitely cringe hipster, etc. But you know what? I DID! I liked it better when the consumers of fanfiction were like a club, a community maybe. Instead of how it's starting to feel now like a commodity. I find the line now is between people who read fanfiction and fan creators (writers, podficcers, etc.) and I dunno, I want to share fanfic with other people who want to talk about this stuff with me, with that community, not with people who treat it like...like a product for them to consume. Maybe the whole point of fandom to me was the messy weird creative culture of it and as the numbers seem to skew wildly, I just...don't enjoy it the same way anymore. I know people talk about how fandom culture was just as toxic in the old days, and yeah, sure, but it worked better for the weird trash wiring of my own brain better back then, I guess.
And FURTHERMORE, it's opening us up to stuff like this Archive of Our Own is down so if you were in the middle of a 100,000 word anime fanfic you can go touch grass or something equally unexciting. The judgement and condescension! I hate it! So much! It was always there, but I guess I didn't mind it when it was more underground because subcultures being misunderstood is whatever. But now the writer self identifies as someone who uses AO3 and we still get the judgement!
I bet Sarah Z. is goin to make a video ugh ugh save me now.
HOWEVER.
The thing that really got me today is that this? Is being reported? In the NEWS?
I? Hate this?
I recognize that faction becoming more mainstream means more people have access and knowledge of it and that's a good thing, it gives more people access and joy and that's a good thing. But I hate this so much. For a few, overlapping reasons.
I mean, I don't want to say I liked fanfiction more when it was more obscure because that's definitely cringe hipster, etc. But you know what? I DID! I liked it better when the consumers of fanfiction were like a club, a community maybe. Instead of how it's starting to feel now like a commodity. I find the line now is between people who read fanfiction and fan creators (writers, podficcers, etc.) and I dunno, I want to share fanfic with other people who want to talk about this stuff with me, with that community, not with people who treat it like...like a product for them to consume. Maybe the whole point of fandom to me was the messy weird creative culture of it and as the numbers seem to skew wildly, I just...don't enjoy it the same way anymore. I know people talk about how fandom culture was just as toxic in the old days, and yeah, sure, but it worked better for the weird trash wiring of my own brain better back then, I guess.
And FURTHERMORE, it's opening us up to stuff like this Archive of Our Own is down so if you were in the middle of a 100,000 word anime fanfic you can go touch grass or something equally unexciting. The judgement and condescension! I hate it! So much! It was always there, but I guess I didn't mind it when it was more underground because subcultures being misunderstood is whatever. But now the writer self identifies as someone who uses AO3 and we still get the judgement!
I bet Sarah Z. is goin to make a video ugh ugh save me now.
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