No thoughts, fully head empty except for the fact that…
I INTERVIEWED ZENDAYA FOR TEEN VOGUE OH MY GOD I LOVE HER
Tag: Teen Vogue
Stitch @ Teen Vogue – Two Pieces!
D&D Renaissance Could Usher in More Accessibility, Inclusivity in TTRPG Fandom
Tabletop RPG games have always brought people together through collaborative storytelling and the way that players work in groups to defeat bosses. Prior to 2020, they were a way for people to connect with each other and have fun, whether it was as part of an active campaign with local friends or by joining the fandom for a streaming show hosted by celebrities. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, how we engage with these games and the fandoms for long-running campaigns has shifted to accommodate the ways that the world has changed, and how we’ve changed as a result. This means that many people are seeing and challenging how these fandoms and canons work for the first time, with streamers, podcasters, and a newer generation of fans coming together to make these spaces more accessible than they were in the past.
Black TikTokers Stand Against Dance Theft in Refusal to Choreo “Thot Shit”
So much of global pop culture couldn’t exist without the contributions of Black Americans — especially TikTok, where some Black TikTokers took a stand this week by refusing to make dances to Megan Thee Stallion’s new song “Thot Sh*t.”
From streetwear trends to most of modern music, Black Americans are responsible for the development of what people across the world think of when it comes to pop culture. However, Black creators are often left behind once trends pick up speed; non-Black creators – especially young, white people – get the credit and media attention for things they didn’t create.
Normally, I’d write a whole huge thing about backstory and what inspired me in my work! However, I’m about to go start my little slice of weekend early (I have work to do tomorrow I think) and do some self care in the form of MOST OF THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS MOVIES.
So for now, I leave you with my gratitude.
I would like to thank Join The Party’s Eric Silver and Amanda McLoughlin for speaking with me for the D&D article – I learned so much from them and our conversation was delightful. Then, I would like to thank Dr. Matthew D. Morrison and Erick Louis for their insight in the TikTok piece. Their contributions were incredibly valuable for laying out the situation and I am honored to have cited them/their words in my piece.
Thank you all for reading, sharing, and engaging in good faith with my work. Please keep at it!!
July’s gonna have more good stuff too! I hope you’re excited!
Stitch @ Teen Vogue: LGBTQ+ Fans: We’re Here, Queer, and Remaking Fandom in Our Own Image
Fandom is incredibly queer. Its origins as a space for LGBTQ+ people are well-documented, and we see that today, too. Fandom is often an online-offline queer community, supporting fans who may or may not see themselves in actual source material, but who can gather together and feel seen by each other.
This month, we’re celebrating Pride by talking about queer histories and communities within different, largely English-language, fandoms and how these spaces have allowed us to be ourselves on main in a major way.
The first of June’s two Fan Service columns is a celebration of queer fandom. If you have somehow missed it before: I am queer.
What that means is always complex to explain because queerness is hard to define and I love being indefinable. But I’ve been here and queer for a hot minute and fandom is one of the things that helped me understand and express what I was experiencing. (It’s also where I got my first girlfriend about a decade ago! Shout out to M, who deserves The World Forever, and who first liked my Batman fic and then really liked me!)
I wanted to write this piece to celebrate one of the best things about online fandoms: that this is a great space for queer fans to figure out who we are and to build communities/relationship. Even if you don’t actually use that label for yourself – I do, obviously, but you can mentally replace it with something else that works better for you – you’re still part of something amazing and I wanted you all to know that you are loved. We’re moving along the path paved by an incredible legacy of older queer fans that I am proud to claim and be a part of. I’m truly happy that I can be in these fandom spaces with y’all.
Happy Pride, Pumpkins!
If you in the mood to get goopy, head on over to Teen Vogue for “LGBTQ+ Fans: We’re Here, Queer, and Remaking Fandom in Our Own Image” and don’t forget to share the link on your own social media if you’re interested!
Stitch @ Teen Vogue: Kelly Marie Tran on “Raya,” Internet Harassment, and Fandom
Raya’s key traits are present in Kelly, too, even though the context is different. Kelly, who has faced more than her fair share of trolls and racist critics, is an actor who continues to push forward in the face of adversity and negativity. While she’s gotten to see the positive impact of her presence in these films and how a new generation of usually underrepresented fans have embraced her, she’s also been subject to a long and very public harassment campaign from a certain faction of the Star Wars fandom.
Who’s got two thumbs and interviewed Kelly Marie Tran just in time for Raya’s home release and as a very fitting end to this year’s API Month?
THIS STITCH!
Stitch @ Teen Vogue: On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity
Another negative example is the way that parasocial relationships can develop for people who aren’t actually celebrities thanks to the increasingly blurred line between creator and consumer. Anyone with a platform is someone who other people may develop a parasocial relationship with. Even I have been the object of other people’s parasocial relationships. I have my own fans (and anti-fans) that think they know me and have developed their own relationships with other people online over their perceived relationships with me or based on the content I have created! It’s incredible… and also occasionally terrifying to realize that people have created connections between you and them that do not actually exist and are reacting to you (sometimes very negatively) because of that.
As someone who’s careened through different celebrity fandoms over a lifetime in fandom, I love talking about parasocial relationships. I feel like I’ve always been in at least one, honestly!
The four people on the cover image for this piece – comedian John Mulaney, BTS leader RM, actress Zendaya, and Japanese rockstar Miyavi – are all people I’ve had some level of parasocial engagement with. In Miyavi’s case, I’ve been parasocial-ly interested in him for 16 years, over half of my life. I follow him and his wife Melody (whose music I did love back in the day) on Instagram and when they announced that they had a son back in February, I think I crowed about that kid like he was one of my friends’ kids.
Parasocial relationships, at their base are pretty neutral. It’s the behavior that fans bring to the table – and, sometimes celebrities actually – that shapes it to be positive or negative.
I chose the quote I did, about how people who aren’t celebrities can be subject to parasocial relationships, because it’s something that affects me to this day. As I showed in my latest WFRLL piece, a lot of strangers on the internet are deeply attached to negative parasocial relationships with me and they do use that (and their racism, obviously) to excuse the frankly horrifying way they talk to and about me, heaping on racist abuse because… they think they know me and that I deserve their (mis) treatment.
But then, as someone primarily in a celebrity-oriented fandom (BTS’ ARMY), I’m seeing positive aspects of the parasocial relationship every time I sign onto my account. Every time one of “our” guys posts a selfie, updates us on Weverse, or does… pretty much anything… we all come together to shout in glee and unpack together. That part is pretty good.
Ready to learn more about how parasocial relationships are largely neutral up until fans do something to change that? Check out “On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity” @ Teen Vogue!
Stitch @ Teen Vogue: How Ableism Can Manifest in Fandom—and How to End It
At this point across fandoms, we largely recognize that framing fandom as only for “crazy fangirls” is harmful and incorrect. We push back at outside writers who insist upon the phrase, because it’s a narrative that is ableist and misogynistic, and on top of that, erases the presence of people who aren’t women in fandom. However, it’s important that we all work on looking critically about how we handle ableism within fandom as well.
I love growth. It’s super important to me regardless of what areas I’m growing in. Every year is a new version of my best self because I’m constantly growing and leveling up as a person so 2021!Stitch is going to be a better version of 2020!Stitch and both are just incredible when compared to me in 2009. One of the ways I’ve always struggled privately is with using ableist language. (I don’t do fanworks that often anymore, but I’ve always made sure to write responsibly as a content creator, utilizing some of the very resources I share in the piece.)
There are so many things that don’t ping as ableist even though, when you pull back and think about it… they’re pretty obvious. Trying to figure out the best ways to convey frustration with someone without hurting them or others who may see it – because you don’t know who will see your tweets and misfires hit the innocent often – is something I have been working on for a while. Sometimes I slip. But I always course correct and educate myself. Because that’s really all you can do.
That, and do better!
For a jumping off point, check out “How Ableism Can Manifest in Fandom—and How to End It” over at Teen Vogue!
Stitch @ Teen Vogue: What “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” Teaches Us About Fandom Misogynoir
Fans identifying with characters and applying their understanding of social justice-oriented issues to them isn’t inherently a bad thing. But there’s a catch: fandom’s activism and desire to push back against problematic portrayals (or endings) tends to work on behalf of white characters (like Lexa and Castiel, and now Bucky) at the direct expense of Black and brown characters.
If there’s one thing I’m really good at, it’s talking about misogynoir in fandom. (I have an entire mini-series about it here actually!) Fandom has always been primed to believe the worst of Black women – be they characters, fans, or even the performers themselves. What we’ve been seeing since Friday when episode four dropped, is a solid example of misogynoir in fandom and how it’s often done in defense of a white male character.
I love me some Bucky, but the way his standom has been acting about Black characters and now, specifically about Ayo and somehow Shuri) since the start of the show has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Because this is the fandom pattern: come up with a valid complaint (in this case, the ableism they clocked in the one scene) and then use it to do something super invalid… dismiss and dump on a Black female character.
Ready to read more about this latest round of misogynoir in fandom? Go check out “What “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” Teaches Us About Fandom Misogynoir” now!
Stitch @ Teen Vogue: Lil Nas X Is Using Stan Twitter Tactics to Defend “Montero.” He Shouldn’t Have To
The thing is, Lil Nas X cut his teeth on stan Twitter as the user who used to run the popular Nicki Minaj stan account @nasmaraj. From his time as that BNF, he’s learned how to use fandom practices commonly linked with the “bad” parts of stan Twitter for good. From the moment that Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” dropped, he and his fanbase have been utilizing stan Twitter fandom tactics to come for haters’ throats and poke holes in their blatantly homophobic arguments — while roasting them until they’re well done, of course.
I’m a huge fan of Lil Nas X and his brand of being VERY ONLINE appeals to me intensely. “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” is such a fantastic song and the music video is one of the best I’ve seen in ages – and I watch a ton of music videos. The backlash Lil Nas X has been weathering – which invokes the Satanic Panic older Millenials and Gen X-ers remember from back in the day and pulls in homophobia and antiblackness – is horrible. Lil Nas X and his fanbase have been hitting back, but my gosh they really shouldn’t have to!
Go read Lil Nas X Is Using Stan Twitter Tactics to Defend “Montero.” He Shouldn’t Have To on Teen Vogue
Stitch @ Teen Vogue: How Do We Define Fandom? Moving Beyond the Transformative vs. Curatorial Binary
In the latest installment of Fan Service, we’re dipping our toes into defining fandom. This is both an educational attempt and a clarifying one that shows different types/definitions of fandom and points out fandoms that don’t fall fully within the transformative/curatorial binary as well as what Fan Service specifically will cover across its run.
Fan Service is really supposed to be a starting point that helps readers and fans incorporate new ways of thinking into their fandom spaces and communities. I’m looking forward to seeing how people incorporate the understandings they’ve gained from this and the other installments in the column into their fandom-ing.
Please share the link with interested folks on social media! I’m still locked on main (because of course, the people on my ass and harassing me aren’t going to stop anytime soon) so I can’t rely on shares through that account. You can also share the tweet below from the site account!
I appreciate your support and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the column!
❤
Stitch @ Teen Vogue: Meghan Markle’s Critics Are Using Internet Troll Tactics to Perpetuate Misogynoir
I’ve been a Meghan Markle fan from the Suits days and she’s the only reason I even remotely cared about Prince Harry.
Watching the British press, public, and the royal family go after her from the moment that she and Harry announced their relationship has been horrible. It is also unsurprising because this is the reality for Black women (and queer femmes who don’t ID as women). We get slandered, harassed, mistreated, lied on, and blamed for genuinely awful things that we didn’t actually do.
It’s racist harassment, but it’s also trolling. The people doing this don’t see themselves as racists, villains, or even bullies. They’re having fun harming Meghan and they have fun harming other Black people. But because none of them lay hands on the people they’re harming – and some of them have convinced themselves that they’re doing a necessary duty by harassing Black people for years.
No idea what tonight’s interview will bring Meghan and Harry or the viewing audience, but I hope it’s juicy.
Stitch in Teen Vogue: Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia” Plays Oppression Olympics — But Nobody Wins
What Ginny & Georgia gets right: the mother-daughter relationship, dealing with trauma (poorly, as a person), how tough it is to be the new girl in town, the MYSTERIES.
What Ginny & Georgia gets wrong: the racism. It literally does not know how to handle the thing it manages to build most of its series around.
If you saw the video of Hunter and Ginny’s exchange going across Twitter and were uncomfortable with the nonsense on display, check out my article to see how this is just part of a pattern across the series.
And then come shout with me.
Fan Service #3 – On Racebending and Seeing Yourself in Fandom
In my latest Fan Service column for Teen Vogue, I got downright celebratory! We’re talking about seeing yourself in fandom and how fans have made fandom a place where they can see themselves – give or take a few issues of representation that do crop up.
Please feel free to share the link with interested folks as I can’t hype it up on Twitter the way I usually would since I’m still locked on main because of harassment over the last column (and my general existence, they really don’t like that)!
Anyway: I’m looking forward to continuing to bring y’all quality commentary on media and fandom in March’s installments of Fan Service!
I hope y’all enjoy this one!
Fan Service #2 @ Teen Vogue: On Fanfiction, Fandom, and Why Criticism Is Healthy
Head on over to Teen Vogue to read my latest Fan Service installment “On Fanfiction, Fandom, and Why Criticism Is Healthy” where I look at the ways that fandom’s instinctive pushback against criticism affects fans in fandom – not just external critics who maybe don’t “get” nuances of fandom cultures.
It’s not censorship or bullying to point out that there are issues in different fandom spaces that require some updated approaches. For example: “Don’t Like, Don’t Read” and “Your Kink Is Not My Kink” are phrases used in fandom to let people know that they should take care of themselves by not reading content they find objectionable based on a matter of different taste. But neither of those phrases are good responses when fans come up against bigotry in fanworks. Telling someone to “just ignore” transmisogyny, ableism, or open antiblackness in fanfiction isn’t just unhelpful; it’s unkind.
I love critique as a mode of expression and meta fandom works are among my favorite outside of well… literally anything to do with Omegaverse. February’s first column was born out of a deep desire to get people thinking critically about why fandom isn’t down with criticism even from people inside of it. Not every critique of fandom is in bad faith or an attempt at censorship/controlling the average fan and assuming they all are – especially when marginalized people are talking about things in fandom that harm us on purpose or accidentally – isn’t a good way to go about things.
Anyway, please go check out the latest installment of Fan Service and feel free to share the piece with interested friends and fans!
On Fanfiction, Fandom, and Why Criticism Is Healthy
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