#fandom aunties

To all of the generous wordspinners whose visions and fixits and passions and drop-dead hilarious dialogue has been such a a monumentally great part of my life for the past...twenty five years. There are too many of you to name, and some of you are no longer active, but know that you are SO appreciated, and I wish you all kinds of inspirations that coincide with days off, and all the beverages of your choice to keep the wheels clacking.

Scribble on, maniacs.

As we've all endlessly observed, there's a wide range of ages on Tumblr and in our fandoms.  It's no secret that the demographics are weighted towards the under-20 category, but there are plenty of us around who are, shall we say, more seasoned.

One of the things I've most enjoyed doing on Le Tumble is being a "fandom aunt," i.e. one who dispenses counsel and life advice without any of the heavy-handed parental expectations.  I'm no expert, I just have twenty-odd years of mileage on many of you.  And I'm not the only one who enjoys serving this role.  Some fans do TMI Tuesdays, some talk people through romantic crises, some are just there with a sympathetic ear.  But having lots of Askbox answers on one's blog can get unwieldy, and some followers don't like it, and it can get to be a lot for one person.

So a few other older fans and I have gotten together, and we are launching A New Endeavor!  Introducing...

http://fandomaunties.tumblr.com

The Fandom Aunties Are:

Lori (madlori)

Mazarin221b

tzikeh

Gerty (billiethepoet)

Anna (annathemoony)

There is a bio for each Auntie posted on the new blog.  It's worth a few moments to read them, as one Auntie might be more qualified to answer your question than the others.  All of us have done a fair amount of question-answering about love, sex, jobs, college, writing, money and just how one navigates life.  We're not professionals (not at advice-giving, anyway), we're just women who've done the whole school/college/adulthood thing, and endured the ups and downs that go with it all.

How Does It Work?

You submit your question to the Fandom Aunties Askbox.  Unless you direct your question to a specific Auntie, it'll be answered by whoever gets to it first (although other Aunties may weigh in later if they have something to add).  If you want one particular Auntie to answer your question, please say so.  Unless you ask for your question to be answered privately, all answers will be posted to the Aunties blog.

Questions, I Bet You Haz Them

Can I still ask questions on an Auntie's personal blog?  Of course!  This isn't meant to do away with anyone's private question-answering.

Can I reblog an answer to my own Tumblr?  Sure, or you could also link to it.

Will you post stuff besides questions and answers?  We've no specific plans to do so, but you never know.

Do I have to be in the Sherlock fandom to ask?  Of course not!  We don't fandom discriminate.

Will there be TMI Tuesdays?  Maybe.  We're still working out the details.

Can I be an Auntie?  We're going to stick with the lineup we have now for the time being, but depending on the response, we may find ourselves wanting (or needing) more Aunties.

We hope that this will be fun and convenient, and helpful too.  We all love sharing our experiences and whatever wisdom we've managed to accrue, and all of us want to do what we can to help our young (or otherwise) Tumblr friends through what is for many of you a time of great change and growth.  If nothing else, we're good listeners!