001: Tumblr, Fandom, and Fan-Entitlement (hint: fans aren't entitled to anything)

[useyourlove]

My poor LJ was abandoned around April because I had been very involved with multiple fandoms and had just finished off writing my Master's Paper (which was fandom intensive.) I ended up just shoving all of my energy into one or two things and disappearing off into Tumblr because I had more active friends there

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[useyourlove]

I never even wanted to watch SPN because of the way the fandom behaves--so rather than helping the show I'm dead convinced that their behavior hurts it on a larger scale. It's weird because, from their behavior, I've always had the impression that the only people who watch it are adolescent females riddled with hormones, but I've found most of the most disgusting fans are in the 25-30 range and I've also found that there is a significant male fanbase (I've got like five male followers on Tumblr who follow me just because of my Supernatural posts--and I don't even make that many.) It's just that their voices are silenced and their opinions are worthless to the fandom at large because they don't scream that the show should turn into schmoop or that x,y, or z characters are all fucking each other in between scenes (or the actors, jfc, the RPF for this fandom is the creepiest shit I've ever seen. And that's fine, whatever, but then the fandom shoves it in the actor's faces. They tweet their fic and fan art etc. to Misha et al and at cons the only people who they end up talking to are the crazy people so adamant about their porn and their views on the show that they muscle their way to the front of lines and discuss it at length with the actors who are like "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh wtf NO." That leads fandom at large to the impression that "THEY'RE ALL HOMOPHOBES" and I'm like "no, if you listen to them in real constructive interviews, Jensen and Misha in particular are all about Dean and Cas and their relationship--they just don't want porn featuring themselves shoved in their faces 24/7.)

/rant (I'm consistently and constantly embarrassed by the SPN fandom and their behavior.)

The Supernatural fandom would be a PERFEEECT case study for a paper like that. They not only chase off all the female characters on the show (which is mostly super-insane fans screaming the loudest) they also harass the actors' wives to within an inch of their lives. As I understand it, Daneel Ackles is a particular target of some really vicious Supernatural fans, and the only reason Misha's wife Victoria manages to keep out of the line of fire is because, well, Misha is Misha and he shares everything he has in a really wonderful accessible way (Misha is like my patron saint because, poor man, I'm only glad he's personally crazy enough to handle most of this disgusting fandom.) And poor Gen! Jfc, she was on the show and that's like people are double-gross to her because they can't separate the character from the actress.

[crazyfoolstiney]

Fans who don't draw a line between writing fan fiction and reality freak me out. I don't understand what the compunction is to let the actors know "Hey I write this about your character...or you." I just *shudder* I would crawl into the biggest hole and pull all the dirt over myself if for some bizarre reason actors knew what I wrote.

I actually did start writing it before I began watching SPN because I saw a particular A-Team story that Hannibal treating the ONE female character in the most vile, juvenile, pissy jealous way I've ever seen in a story. I was just in shock. NOW after SPN I've got even more.
I saw a couple months ago where Daneel defended her breasts to these "fans" not to mention her death threats that got so bad that Misha took to his Twitter and slapped at people. I mean seriously? WHAT THE HELL?!
I want to bundle up all these women (fictional and real) and let them know we're not all insane.

[useyourlove]

Uuuuuuugh I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAAAAAAND. Do they expect somehow that these women will divorce said actors, and that the actor will then fall madly in love with them and marry them because they are ooooh so much more ~worthy~? I DON'T UNDERSTAND. It's ridiculous that anyone needs to defend their breasts. Especially someone who's not even in the limelight, she's just married to one of the lead actors in a semi-popular television show.

This fandom makes me embarrassed to even say how much I like the show, and I like the show a lot, but I'm always afraid that my love for it will become interpreted as "oh jesus, here comes another one of those psychos. Hide everything."

[crazyfoolstiney]

I'm not quite sure what the reasoning is but the actions are disgusting. I mean I have loved actors but I've always been more about the shows, movies, what have you more than real people.

I have a friend who jumped ship on the SPN fandom because of the way people acted and when she saw me getting into it she was just like, "Dude, be careful. You have no idea." And me coming from a tiny assed fandom... she was more than right.

[useyourlove]

The BBC Sherlock fandom is the same way. They are crazy, and the different crazy factions like to run back and forth and spew hatred at each other. Meanwhile I'm like "yeah, the show is good, but you all just ruined it for me by being complete assholes. Thanks!"

There's wanting to talk about the stories you love and share them with other people who love them, and then there's delusion.

I love Supernatural--the show that they have given me in it's entirety--with all my heart. But I honestly think I hate the fandom more than I love the show. (Luckily, in this case, it's easy for me to separate the two. With Sherlock I just gave up on it all.)

[crazyfoolstiney]

I honestly think that's why I'm so rooted where I am fandom wise. Every time I venture out into a big one, something's all scary and WTF that I just come scurrying back.