#I feel so dead from drawing so many valentine's stuff for different fandoms | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wheel-of-fish · 5 years

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the fandom is so dead now :(

I’ve spent the entire day thinking about how to respond to this. I know I’m much less active myself, for various reasons relating mostly to my own mental health, and that many others are as well.

I ended up talking to a bunch of content creators, and here’s a rundown of what came up:

People are tired.

People are burned out.

People are distracted by work/school/life.

People/content decreased with the December nsfw purge.

There’s a reliance on too specific/too few people to carry the fandom.

People are using Discord more for discussion.

Attempts to revive activity are being ignored or criticized.

Fandom drama is cyclical and people are waiting for the most recent bout of unpleasantness to blow over.

Other people are still upset about/put off by the recent rash of anon hate, bullying, snarking, etc.

People are afraid to post for fear of further anon hate/criticism.

Creators are getting too little feedback on/interaction with their content.

Conversely, people are uncomfortable with the ongoing trend of comment/fandom culture that is aggressively rooted in guilt, shame, and/or ableism.

I don’t have ready solutions for any of these, nor do I deny contributing to some of them with my own inactivity.

That said, it was also argued that the tags are still lively and the fandom is absolutely alive and well if you’re looking in the right places. And that’s absolutely true. Even though I’m much less active now, I can tell you that:

@timebird84 hosts frequent drawing and writing challenges and continues to produce amazing 3D content.

@soignante posts writing prompts based on audio clips.

@another-chorus-girl and @phantomofthetrashcan and @jeremystollemyheart and @therosenpants and I host streams every week, on different days and at different times, with varying adaptations and casts.

@rjdaae organizes the fandom Secret Santa and valentines every single year, and has recently launched @musicboxesoftheopera and @phantomabilia for PotO merchandise.

@littlelonghairedoutlaw is currently hosting a rarepair fanfiction contest.

@roadtophantom is covering the Phantom world tour in incredible detail.

@marleneoftheopera regularly posts cast and production updates and photos.

@operafantomet continues to post and discuss costume gorgeousness and cast photos.

@glassprism is a friendly walking encyclopedia about the musical and has been exceedingly generous in sharing audio/video content.

@phantomoftheparadise002 is out here giving us Phantom of the Paradise content all day, every day.

@kwat01 has been doing an amazing job of finding and promoting amazing art from creators old and new.

@smokeyloki and @pippa-writes are giving life to the Cherik-loving corner of the fandom.

@lordjazor and @tallestsilver are still being generally ridiculous and adorable with their voiceover/video/cosplay stuff.

And I’m sure I’m forgetting/missing lots and lots of people but, most importantly, there are still tons of content creators who would absolutely love more interaction with their posts.

People go through various levels of involvement in fandom, and we can’t rely on the same people and/or the same amounts of content and support to be there at all times. If you’re not seeing the kinds of activity or content you’d like to see, it’s ok to take initiative!

Please also feel free to use this as an opportunity to reblog with self-promotion, creator promotion, etc. :)

#Anonymous #(in)box five #phandom

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