Category: Fandom

[Stitch Talks ish] Episode 9: Stitch Wraps Up One Hell of A Year

Stitch

Transcript

0:00
Welcome to episode nine of Stitch Talks Ish: Stitch Wraps Up One Hell of a Year.

0:12
For this end of the year wrap up, we’ll be going over questions that I received from friends, and followers on social media. Some of them are from anonymous contributors; others are from people who I know because I- they attach their name. And across this, you’ll get a better understanding of what I’ve been up to in 2020, and what my vibes are at the end of the year. So stick around— lots of good questions coming up.

0:47
[Musical Interlude]

0:47
Our first question is from an anon: because of the very nature of Kpop a bunch of stuff about it isn’t an English. How do you handle that? Who do you go to for trustworthy translation? And is there stuff academic fan official, you would like access to that you can’t get?

1:15
So first, I do panic a bit, sometimes, when I’m looking for something time sensitive and I can’t find any reliable translator; because usually things like academic papers, or maybe critical articles, don’t get translations from the fan translators. But when it comes to, like, BTS, as a really good example, I utilize fan translators like Wisha. Her account is really good.

1:54
If it’s something small, I do have friends who I don’t mind asking. And, you know, they’ve been like, “I don’t want to see you post something that’s absolutely incorrect. So if you need help, like, reach out.” So I have friends who, who read Korean or who can understand it, like, listening to it possible— You know, some of them are Korean, and so I’ll ask them for help.

2:20
I also look to see, if possible, if the author of the post would be able to provide anything, because sometimes, with academic papers, there may be other versions. So, like, I look to see what they have going on.

2:37
And then, haha, when it comes to the stuff I would like access to that I can’t get: So if you’ve been paying attention across— well since 2019, really— but largely across 2020 I’ve been really just in love with Myoung-Sun Song’s Hanguk Hip Hop. She wrote a two volume book (like two books… that’s how that works) about hip hop in Korean, and I want it desperately— desperately. And there is no English translation. I don’t know if it’s something she intends to translate, or have translated, in the future.

Read More »

Meme-ing For a Reason #1 – Is This A Reason Not To Care?

Stitch

I love making memes about fandom and my experiences in fandom. Have a meme.

The “Is this a pigeon” meme with the a thirteen year old weeb mistreating people over shipping as the butterfly and adults in fandom gesturing at the weeb-butterfly and going, “is this a reason not to care about an unrelated conversation about racism in fandom?

I think it’s really funny (but like in a morbid way) when I see someone using a twitter user as an example of how bad all “antis” are (where anti can mean anything from someone harassing someone over ships to someone that dislikes a character or trope to… someone writing about racism in fandom) and that “antis” need to handle this person because there’s apparently a hive mind afoot…

And I then click through to go block and report the person because it’s my thing and then the “anti” in question is like a thirteen year old weeb shouting about a ship from a show they shouldn’t be watching in the first damn place.

Read More »

Thread Collection: When Talking Heads Need to STFU (6/5/2020)

Stitch

This was originally posted on June 5, 2020 and in that version I did use he/him pronouns for Juwon Park by mistake and have corrected my pronoun usage here.

Look at this antiblack ass

Also, this is a thing these Korean bloggers (her and TK Park aren’t the only ones) do repeatedly when people are talking about antiblackness: they bring up violence against migrants and women in Korea. But only ever to dismiss antiblackness.

Never organically.

Read More »

Parasocial Patreon Post Bonus

Stitch
https://soundcloud.com/zina-marie-772368491/parasocial-patreon-post-bonus/s-mZFLYAn59oF

The recording this is from on Patreon (out 12/10) is uh… 20 minutes long and this is kind of a segue away from the thing I was actually focusing on and therefore not super relevant. But I wrote and recorded it so… here it goes anyway.

Transcript

In Haeryun Kang’s NPR piece “’Hitman’ Bang Si-hyuk, The Brand-New Billionaire Behind BTS”, there are two parts that stand out to me when it comes to thinking of how people misunderstand and, to an extent, misrepresent, the parasocial relationship as it exists between idol and fans. 

Read More »

Thread Collection: Escapism Would Be Great (1/18/2019)

Stitch

Originally posted as a thread on Twitter January 18, 2019.

I saw a tweet that I’m… not gonna touch but:

Escapism in fic and fandom is great, but as a Black person, I find it impossible to escape into fandoms and fanworks that treat Black people (fictional and real) as burdens to be left on the side of the road and complained about.

I’d love for fandom to be a space where I can leave isms behind and just focus on the squee but as a Black person?

FANDOM WON’T LET ME.

Read More »

Introducing Reverie: The Album: An Interview With Creator Eva Marie

Stitch

Today I have the absolute honor of talking with Eva Marie, the creator of Reverie: The Album, a work of fannish love that’s currently taking backers over on Kickstarter! I absolutely adore Eva Marie as a creator, a fellow fan, and someone who makes absolutely gorgeous music so if you’re looking for a new and cool opportunity to get fannish, check out our interview and then go head on over to her Kickstarter to become a backer!

Stitch: Eva Marie! Would you mind introducing yourself for my readers?

Eva Marie: Hi everyone, thanks for having me! I’m Eva, a singer-songwriter and composer in my mid-20s. I listen to almost every genre of music, but my specialty is R&B pop with hip hop vibes. When I’m not working, I’m watching anime, golden age Disney films, or old cartoons. I’ve been in online fandom since I was 14 years old. Over ten years later, I’m still a huge nerd! Nice to meet you.

Read More »

[Flashback Friday] My Original Fandom Racism Bingo

Stitch1 Comment

This was originally posted on my Tumblr in 2018 shortly before the Black Panther film came out and three years into my time running Stitch’s Media Mix!

This is totally for funsies thanks to a darling pal on twitter, so here’s me trying my hand at a type of fandom racism bingo.

The different bingo bits read (in no particular order):

  • “You’re the real racist”
  • Sizekink featuring Big Black Cocks
  • “I’m Black and I don’t think this is racist”
  • Slavefic
  • “I don’t know why, but I just don’t like [Black character]”
  • “[Minor white character] is just… more interesting than [Black character]”
  • Uppity
  • “I’m not racist, but – ”
  • Black character as convenient wingman for white slash ship
  • “I’d like [White character] even if they were Black”
  • Civil Rights Movement replaced by Mutant/Omega rights
  • “darkwashing/blackwashing”
  • “What if [Black character] was evil/died?”
  • White ruler of Wakanda
  • Black character exists only to do emotional labor
  • “You’re why people don’t like to write/draw Black characters in fandom.”

This lowkey makes me want to do a “fandom racism drinking game” too but I think we’d all die of alcohol poisoning within a few minutes of scrolling through ao3.

2020 Index:

Read More »

Fleeting Frustrations #12 – Fandom Coverage Fails

Stitch

I’m no stranger to having deeply critical views on a fandom in a moment when said fandom is publicly Going Through It on Main.

After all, I made a point of poking hard at Rey/Kylo fandom’s embarrassing public death throes and how it poured tons of hatred in John Boyega as a result of not getting catered to with a happy ending for their Pasty Prince Charming.

However, there’s a difference between me roasting a racist fandom that continues to dismiss and harass Black people they think are “opposite” to its goals on my small website… and someone randomly using their platform on a massive site like The Mary Sue to launch a dismissive and condescending attack at a fandom trying to make sense of a Bad Ending.

Read More »

When Transformative Fandom Passes The Buck On Representation In Fandom

Stitch12 Comments

“Well if there were more well-written characters of color, I’d focus on them,” is a recurring excuse for the way content is unfairly weighted towards white characters in Western media fandoms.

I have heard it used for over a decade and it’s an excuse used to successfully argue that the thing stopping them from caring about Black/brown people in their shows is… quality and quantity.

Back when we were hearing the first rumblings of rumors for Pacific Rim Uprising’s John Boyega connection, my friend Holly over at DiverseHighFantasy posted on Tumblr that:

The PacRim fandom is already chanting for no romance in 2, but wait till they see whiteguy Jaeger Tech #3 and whiteguy cafeteria server in a 2 second shot together.

The post on Tumblr currently has over fourteen thousand notes and considering how from the jump people were insulting Holly, accusing her of “a homophobic microaggression”, saying “let women like things”… .it probably hasn’t gotten much better. From John Boyega’s interviews and how he talked about why he wanted to be a producer – this film was his production company’s first outing – we knew that the film was going to probably have a diverse cast of characters.

Read More »

[Stitch Answers Feedback] How Are You Mad About RaceFail 09 Coverage in 2020?

Stitch2 Comments

Just now (like at 9:49PM) I got a comment moderation email from D_Moze’s comment on Why White Supremacy Can No Longer Provide Cover for White Academics by Robin Anne Reid that read:

I was there for Racefail ’09 and every word you say is a filthy lie. Racefail was a couple of grifters and anklebiting anonymous trolls attacking established authors with false accusations of racism, and people like you — people who’ve never contributed a thing but hatred — made bank off of it. Shame on you.

And I since I don’t want to have Robin subject to replying to this nonsense – and I didn’t approve the comment anyway – I decided to take one for the team and reply briefly to this “feedback” so you could see that you were seen… and found frustrating.

D_Moze… In case you missed it, we are in the middle of a pandemic, seeing racist upheaval everywhere, the US still doesn’t have another president called officially, and some of us are poor because of a bunch of those things.

I can’t believe that this is what you decided to do with your time!

Read More »

[Image Post + Essay] On Performative Anti-Racism

Stitch

Originally posted on Patreon July 29, 2020

Source: On Korean Artists Using Their Platforms to Say that Black Lives Matter

If you’re on social media, I’m sure you’ve seen people show their support of Black Lives Matter as a movement while making it clear that they don’t give a damn about Black people in “their” spaces. 

The folks in fandom with #BLM in their bios or in their display names who tweet snide and shitty things about Black people in their fandoms. The folks who use their – or their celebrity or political favorite’s – donation to charity to say that they care more about Black people than… Black people do. Fans, businesses, and celebrities known for literally making Black people stress out from how they talk about us all were performing anti-racism and professing to be ready to unlearn antiblackness.

Even SM Entertainment got into the swing of things when they released a statement in June about how they were “new to the conversation” (despite hiring Black people to dance, write, record demos, etc for them for decades). 

But it’s all been incredibly performative.

Read More »

[Stitch Talks Ish] Episode 8B: Map of the Soul ON:E – Day Two Reaction

Stitch

Transcript

0:01
So, we’re on episode 8B of Stitch Talks Ish. This is the second part of my virtual concert experience, recapping the second night of BTS’s Map of the Soul ON:E performance. If you were unsure, this is the concert that effectively takes the place of the concert I was supposed to see in May.

0:27
Heartbreaking, isn’t it? We’ve all lost lots of opportunities across this pandemic and not getting to see a concert sucks, but it’s not the worst thing that could have happened, or that even has actually happened, to me and my family— so far.

0:43
But, it was another really great night of paying attention to BTS, and kind of checking out of what was going on in the world around me. So, if you’re ready for another post concert recap, here’s the recording I made right after the concert ended on the 12th. I believe, no, the 11th of October.

1:47 -[musical interlude]

Read More »

Ships ‘n Shit: Lotor/Allura

Stitch2 Comments

Voltron Legendary Defender did all of us dirty.

All of us.

No matter what you actually shipped, chances are that it did not end the way that you wanted it to. In my case, as a serial multishipper, the last half of the series was basically just a constant barrage of “yeah your ship ain’t happening” that didn’t even let up in the final episode. Between the nonsense from the fandom where a huge chunk believed firmly that shipping anything other than their ship was pretty much a sin and another chunk of the fandom went on to be the incredibly icky pro-shipper “anything goes except critical thinking” folks… I get the creators’ response to an extent. Doesn’t mean I like it though.

(A lot of being in the VLD fandom and watching the show as someone who for once wasn’t  a weirdo was feeling like we were being punished for the weird shit that other people did??)

Anyway, one of the ships that I found myself interested in specifically because of a) they were pretty and I’m shallow and b) it had potential to be subversive and sexy (in fandom, not the show… a children’s cartoon) was Lotor and Allura. So in this installment of Ships ‘n Shit, we’re going to talk about Lotura, a little ship that should’ve…

Read More »