#awkward.

Beyond that, viewing the people who make fanworks as 'content creators' is also having horrific effects on fandom ecosystems. The idea that a fic author is, in any way, the same as an 'Influencer' is rotting people's brains and by proxy, it's rotting fandom as a whole.

I recently heard the term 'Big Name Fan' and it made me want to eat glass. Fandom is NOT, and should not, be viewed as a hierarchy!!!!

No fan is better than another. Your AO3 stats, or follow count, or whatever other metric people obsess over... Do Not Determine Your Worth. I do not think an author with 200 fics and an author with 1 fic should be treated any differently within a fandom.

Fandom, at its foundation, should be about building community. It's about connecting with other people who loved the same media as you.

The minute 'influencer' culture seeped into fandom, it began to separate people via a popularity contest. It created a version of 'celebrity' within the fandom itself and I, for one, hate that.

I miss when fandom was the equivalent of everyone sitting around the playground at recess, trading gif sets and fanart and vids and fic with one another. Didn't matter whether you'd been in the fandom for years or whether you just started watching the show.

Now, there's this added layer of whose fic has the most hits, or whose fanart gets reblogged the most, or who has more followers, or even whose social media post gets liked by a cast member.

Do I like anyone ? Like, you mean as in workplace friends or like, someone I fancy ?

I mean, I haven’t really,, If, if I had to choose ?

Like, like out of the areas of the the institute, like research, Human Resources, and the archives, if I had to say which department was exactly more, er, attractive, then, uh, I mean, well— the archives. I mean, not to say that the others aren’t attractive either, I just mean,,

Well, like, overall, the staff there’s pretty nice ? Martin’s pretty sweet and, hah, we’re going for drinks later. Sasha also has been a warm welcome, like, real warm. It’s really sweet. Tim I haven’t really— I mean, there was those asks I sent, but we haven’t met face to face. I have caught glances though, and, well, I mean, yeah. Yeah, he’s quite the looker. Oh, and Mr. Sims is,, I only talked once, and it was when Tim was— he’s nice. His voice is,, nice.

They’re all really,, like, if I had to choose exactly what department would be attractive, or that’d I fancy, then probably the archives. But, like, I wouldn’t go and ask them out. I mean, I just joined, and just because they’re quite the lookers doesn’t mean I would just, just go up and,, Not that I exactly would want to— I mean, I would ! They’re pretty, hah, you know, but I- I just. Like, eurgh. Just because they’re attractive doesn’t mean I would just— even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t. Not that I want to ! I mean—

,,,