Can I just say how much I appreciate the fact you don't stray much from the movies?

It's just so refreshing to see a fic that is built on a clear, unbiased and simple canon base. This way, as you demonstrated, a writer not only has the ability to further explore the main themes and ideas introduced in the source material, but they can also go ahead and naturally develop their own by branching out on those fundamentals. They can offer their perspective by using the source material to their advantage, instead of working against it or even worse, trying to include all contradicting canon aspects. Part of writing a fic is kind of like offering your input in a conversation/disagreement. You have to listen carefully to what the other person is saying in order to form your answer...If you're listening to a thousand different people who are all saying a different thing (in this case, The clone wars, legends, novels, comics ect), you won't be able to give an answer that makes sense, much less give a structured and stable opinion.

I love how you were like "I know star wars is entering an era of a shit ton of spin off content with seemingly no end and most star wars fans know shit like who chewie lost his virginity to and what the kessel run is but screw this. The movies and maybe some late night wiki research is enough."

And you were right.

It's so funny, because I feel like I do ultimately stray pretty far from the movies. Not in terms of events I guess, but especially the prequels, I reject some of the underlying assumptions of what is said on screen and just treat it like fallible people strongly asserting opinions that no one calls them on. See: everything I ever assert about the Force/Anakin's "destiny."

I do think it helped me to stick with limited material. And it wasn't even because I saw all of this new SW content coming. I've mentioned this before, but when I started writing Don't Look Back (when it was just Like Fire and I naively believed I was gonna be done in 200k words, lol, rip past me) I hesitated a lot because as far as I was concerned, I wasn't a Star Wars Fan.

I'd watched the OT and PT multiple times. I knew that novels and games and cartoons existed, I knew people had consumed them all. I had been reading some SW fic because @mylongsufferingroommate had been sending me stuff they were enjoying and I was having fun with it. But like, I would never have called myself a Fan. I got goaded into writing this fic by people who knew me too well and really wanted a political thriller. I wouldn't have called them Star Wars Fans either.

Limiting myself to the six movies I had watched was a preemptive defense mechanism against a fan base I wasn't sure would want to accept me. My thin skin is my own problem, but every time I think about writing in a new fandom the same sort of nerves take me: what if my fanon is "wrong" and people are mean?

I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you so much to everyone who gave me a chance and encouraged me and were excited and shared that excitement.

And please, for the love of all the sky and stars DON'T GATEKEEP FANDOMS.

Don't tell people their canon is too big (@blue-sunshine-mauve-morning and @chancecraz have amazing fics that are much more compliant than mine to the broader canon, as a quick example), and definitely don't tell people their canon is too small. Walk away if you aren't enjoying something. Give compliments when you like something that is unique in a fandom you're familiar with. Be patient with people, be kind.

I could easily have given this story up if people hadn't been patient with me. I got comments as early as my first chapter from people who were angry with a single thing that I said and felt the need to tell me I was wrong. I could have left. I could have stopped.

I'm glad I didn't. But I wonder how many other people have.

Since @arttrampbelle wants to be an immature and a toxic gatekeeper instead of having a genuine and reasonable discussion with another Mortal Kombat Shang Tsung Fanatic, I will say my peace. Instead of gatekeeping and demanding everyone's opinion's is wrong, how about just listening and understand that that Shang is a very young Shang with a complete different backstory, and not the one we know? It's okay if people like MK1 Shang Tsung. I do, and this is coming for someone that LOVES OG/Merge timeline (and writes as him only.) And I have a lot of gripes as to how things turned out in MK1, but once again some of it makes sense because of the story (others don't). That doesn't make me any less than as a fan.

It just makes me understanding. And being toxic, borderline fanatic, almost insane is what scares new fans away. That is not okay. I want Mortal Kombat to thrive. You know why? Because I LOVE Mortal Kombat. Always have. Always will. Though I do prefer Cary (obsessed with the movie as a kid and had a huge crush). And trust me, I am a crazy fangirl, but I would never, never tear other people down because they like something and try to gatekeep the fanbase. It's not right.

Please do better.

PS: His last name is not Tsung. It's Shang. The family name comes first, then the given name. He's Chinese. It's how it works. So your 'children' for Tsung is named incorrect. But what does a Chinese person know?

So.. I've been in the creepypasta Fandom for years.. Honestly, I love it sm BUT when I'm scrolling through my tumblr, and suddenly I see AN ESSAY on why we need to look at the pastas more "realistic" it pisses me off cause

1. THEY ARE LITERALLY FICTIONAL idc that "an irl serial killer wouldn't be like that" like uhm okay? And..?

2. Let ppl enjoy a Fandom with headcannons or whatever. Maybe toby is a sweet boy who likes waffles WE DONT KNOW THEM PERSONALLY

Tbh, I think we should let people enjoy what they like and just let them express that joy because, uhm. Yes.

(Thank u sorry)

I NEED TO SEE THE CONTENT OF THE LITA BOXSET

STOP GATEKEEPING THIS PLEASEEE

I NEED MY PRAPAISKY AND PAYURAIN

I NEED LOVE IN THE AIR CONTENT

AAGAUSVSIISWGSYUSUDHHSH

Does anyone know any andteam writers?? 👉👈🥹

boo exclusionists, boo get real problems, boo

So I saw a post that kind of made me want to post this.

I feel like there’s a lot of gatekeeping in the J&H fandom. I’ve see a lot of posts like “you’re wrong if you like TGS” “you’re not valid in the fandom if you interpret the duality differently” “we don’t stan if you think Jekyll is cis.”

It feels really toxic, imo. I interpret the story differently than others, and that’s fine. A lot of the story is really open ended and up for interpretation. Specifically with the second point with the duality, I’ve seen hate on the “Jekyll has OCD” interpretation on here in the past, and like? Why?

While that’s personally the interpretation I choose to agree with, that’s not what I’m talking about in this post. There’s really no need to hate on seeing the book differently. As with most other fandoms, you’re not looking at the big picture. There’s a group of people who enjoy the same media as you, and you’re really just going to trash their opinions?

I dunno. I don’t really have a solid point I’m getting at. It just pisses me off. I have a lot of opinions about the book that I’m afraid to share, and I’m sure tons of others do too.

Please be nice y’all. It’s not like Stevenson is coming back from the grave to confirm any interpretation is right.

Gatekeepers and Fakers

 Friendly reminder:

If you're having a hard time accessing something you need, because you have to prove to someone that you "really" need it, that is NOT the fault of "fakers" or "casual users."

It's the fault of gatekeepers.

The solution is not to "better weed out fakers" or judge "casual users." It's for individuals to be allowed the autonomy to determine their own needs and choices. Place the blame appropriately.

I hesitate to call myself disabled because I have a invisible disability that isn’t super severe and doesn’t cause me physical pain.

I hesitate to call myself autistic because I don’t have a official diagnosis.

I hesitate to call myself a person with adhd and anxiety because I might be misdiagnosed.

I hesitate to call myself traumatized because it doesn’t keep me up at night.

I hesitate to call myself a abuse victim because I was young and it was not a common dynamic.

I should not hesitate to call myself these things.

I should not hesitate to label myself as things that I am because I don’t have it “bad enough” or because I am not the textbook example.

I deserve help as much as anyone else, my experiences are as valid as anyone else.

Society needs to stop making me feel unworthy of help because I don’t have it “bad enough”.

This invisible line of when pain is deserving of help needs to go away.

Anyone who has had similar experiences, you are valid, you are deserving of care, your experiences matter, and you should not have to hesitate to reach out for help. You are as deserving as anyone else.

sometimes i remember my gatekeeping, girlbossing and gaslighting actually has a bad impact on the communities i enjoy.

You ARE “ace enough” 👏🏽

using tumblr more has made me see just how gatekeepy reddit can be. you can't like anything without being told why you're wrong for liking it

"I've been in the fandom for X number of years, so I think everyone should write characters this way —"

Stop, shut up, no one cares

"You should be ashamed of liking/writing/drawing X ship because it's gross/problematic/I don't see it —"

Again, shut up, NO ONE CARES

You don't have to like new fans who mess up your shiny fandom, you don't have to like certain ships that don’t rock your boat, you don't have to like the way people write or draw your favorite character, or if they don’t see your character the same way you do. I have ships I hate with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns and I have characters I love where I legit cringe when I see discourse about them because it's exactly the opposite of the way I see that character.

But you know what I don't do? I don't post about it and I don't make it someone else's problem, and do you know why?? Because I am not the fucking end-all be-all gatekeeper of fandom or ships or characters or anything else, and EVERY SINGLE PERSON can ship what they want, write or draw what they want, and fandom how they want.

If you don't like it, the block and unfollow buttons exist, and so does the "exclude tags" feature on AO3.