#the og tweet had a lot of engagement how have i not seen it make the rounds here

[crapmagak]

Engage Drip Marketing: Sigurd

Sigurd has arrived in jp, and with him, a crumb of new info.

It sure is cool to see Sigurd in a mainline game that’ll be released in the west. And they put so much effort into his model too. Almost like they plan to reuse it for a later project or something. Hmm…

His intro tweet goes…

The Emblem Sigurd, known as the "Emblem of the Holy War", is an upright knight that has inherited the blood of a Crusader.

And his cutscene tweet…

A conversation between the Emblem Sigurd and Alear. You can tell he's strong from his personality.

Sigurd: "I care for you like I would my child. From here on out, let's fight and walk forward together."

Alear: "Thanks for your words. When we fight together, I feel our hearts are connected strongly, Sigurd."

Damn, they’re really leaning into Sigurd’s whole dad stitch. Still, it is nice to see this character in a more voiced role. It does make me wonder though if he’ll have supports with more than just Alear. Considering he’s been shown off a lot as Alfred’s emblem, and Celica’s been shown off as Celine’s, it’d be weird if they didn’t at least have supports as well. It’d be cool if each emblem characters had their own small pool of char’s they got supports with, and considering bond points are a mechanic with emblems, it does seem likely.

As for his combat clip…

The Emblem Sigurd has high mobility, allowing characters who equip his ring to move further than usual. They can move a bit after attacking as well, so you can do things like hide in a thicket.

So, if Marth gives avoid, and Celica gives magic, then it seems like Sigurd gives movement and canto. Seems like a fitting buff from the og horse lord. Makes me curious about what else we’ll get. I can see Ike giving strength, maybe Lyn gives attack speed, and Lucina accuracy since she has a bow… 

In terms of Clan, we can see that he’s level 3, confirming this map takes place before the Firenesse castle/ fort map our mage had his crit clip in. We also see him equipping Sigurd’s ring, though I am curious if the two can engage. We’ve seen Sigurd engaged with Alfred and Louis so far. Likewise, we’ve seen Marth with Alear, Celica with Celine, Micaiah with Clan, and Roy with a swordsman. This makes me think it’s still gonna be you can only engage with a shared weapon type. For variety's sake, this will probably include both weapons the emblem wields. So, Sigurd can engage with spear and sword users, and Byleth can engage with sword and gauntlet users, that kind of thing.

It is curious we got a character on a Wednesday, though. Hopefully this means we’ll get another tomorrow or friday, but I won’t get my hopes up. Next week though, I’m curious if we’ll get Etie, the ax fighter, or if we’ll just move on to characters from another country. 

Outside of that, there’s also the elephant in the room. As part of the leaks for this game, before we even got screenshots, one detail that stood out was that we’d be getting a Genealogy of the Holy War remake after Engage. I’m inclined to believe, and I am curious to how the game will be changed for a modern age. The inclusion of supports for the romance system seems obvious enough. I also hope castle towns are expanded upon in the same way towns were in echoes. I’m also excited for the remixes of all the old music. What I’m most curious about is how they’ll visually represent the map, and the characters. These maps are famously huge, not just in tile size, but scope. You put all twelve of them together, and you have most of the world map complete. Are they gonna go total war and have these 3d models tower above the land, or will they use the shorthand of sprites like the original did. Personally, I hope for the return of sprite, but only time will tell.

#fire emblem engage #fire emblem #sigurd #genealogy of the holy war

[turbotrout]

thank you @bracas for bringing this thread to my attention

#the og tweet had a lot of engagement how have i not seen it make the rounds here #matthew macfadyen #troutfishing #if you make fun of the person who made these works of ART it means you are a coward unequipped to deal with the depths of human love #or people* this might be more than one person is capable of #Succession

[uhhhhhhokay]

My Unpopular Opinions of 2018

This is messy, a bit mean, and full of my mad/irritated feelings. You’ve been warned. No slipping into my asks as an anon to fight with me because I’ve posted this on my account. These are my opinions and I’ve already said that they aren’t that nice to some shows

1) Charmed and Black Lightning are the only good CW shows and it has the best lesbian rep of 2018 (and Rosa from b99 would be the best bisexual rep)

2) Melanie Scrofano/Wynonna Earp is the best part of Wynonna Earp. Honestly lately the rest of the characters for me have either awful or boring or funny but given nothing to do

3) Also even though she’s the main actress, Melanie is somehow the most underrated actress/character in the show. She’s disregarded by so many fans, either in favor of Wayhaught or Doc, and the show treats her like shit by constantly putting her with Doc

4) Descendants fans who pit Dove Cameron and China Anne McClain against each other in the hopes of making the other seem superior are doing absolutely nothing for their careers and are contributing to the unnecessary comparison between successful women

5) Also I don’t care if you don’t like Dove Cameron, but hating her for that Mal/Harry comment she made months ago is so fucking ridiculous. She’s a girl in love who also loves her character, god forbid she make her own headcanons for it, and it wasn’t like she was asking for it to happen (and no she wasn’t disregarding Mal’s current relationship Ben because she was talking about Mal and Harry being exes god damnit) 

6) I can’t believe i have to say this in 2018 BUT STOP WITH THE INCEST STORYLINES! IT AIN’T CREATIVE OR SURPRISING BITCHES JUST GROSS

7) ALSO STOP SHIPPING INCEST GOD PLEASE STOP

8) Timothee Chamalet or whatever his name is, isn’t that great. Like he’s fine I guess but like....Have you seen other actors? I mean, there’s Fady Elsayed, Jack Black, Jordan Renzo, Greg Austin (rip Class), and so many more actors that are, in my opinon, significantly more talented

9) Letterkenny and Galavant are the best comedies out there

10) Riverdale is shit for erasing Jughead’s asexuality and queerbaiting fans at the beginning with Beronica 

11) I’ve said this before, but people disliking Cole Sprouse because of the abuse allegation against him is incredibly valid. 

12) Mike Flanagan, Jordan Peele, and Kate Siegel are the only people I trust to write some bone chilling horror stories 

13) The Haunting of Hill House is better than American Horror Story and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrine combined 

Now it’s time to get serious.....

14) I have no respect and cannot get along with people who talk about how ugly people are 

15) The hellsite is shit for so many reasons but some of its worst qualities are when people take a situation and make it black and white, have zero sympathy or empathy for other people, and twist peoples words and put in meanings that were never there

16) I also hate how how people only care about mental illness when it doesn’t come to their jokes or memes. For example, mental health has been talked about a lot in regards to Ariana Grande, which is good, but once her engagement with Pete Davidson ended, no one hesitated to attack him in almost every way possible even though the man has been very outspoken about his depression. I don’t know shit about Pete Davidson but I’ve seen him relentlessly be attacked and have his depression and suicidal thoughts be joked about. 

17) Stanning is a fucked up culture that we need to leave behind in 2018. There are some celebrities who have a lot of projects that I love and I admire their talent, but the concept of stanning either includes an unhealthy amount of devotion to a celebrity or it erases them as a human being and reduces them down to objects. In some cases, both of these are true. It’s a sick thing for both fans and the celebrities. If a celebrity does something wrong, call them out, and if they don’t listen, well forget it or move on. Cancelling them as if they can be thrown in the garbage and disposed of promotes negativity and hatred, which is doesn’t solve anything, and it can inhibit any growth from that celebrity. They are human and will inevitably fuck up. It’s the only way to learn and grow. 

18) This is about Wynonna Earp but it’s a serious post. I’ve made my thoughts about this show abundantly clear but there is one thing I haven’t talked about at all and that’s the racism in the show and in the fanbase. Disclaimer: I am white. This show hasn’t treated any of their poc or black characters well. The latest example would be the treatment of Dolls and Kate. The last two seasons Doc has had two women of color as his love interests, and both of these characters have been treated as objects to make Wynonna jealous. There is also the lack of story and villainization of these women. There is also the major lack of story with Dolls, which most likely led to Shamier Anderson’s decision to leave. I won’t get into anymore, this is how I’ve always viewed these poor storylines, but I will say this: white fans of Wynonna Earp, we do not get a say on how black viewers should feel about any of these storylines. White lesbians, you would be livid is Waverly or Nicole were killed, and rightfully so. Black people or people of color probably felt the rage you would’ve felt if you lost one of those characters when Dolls was killed off. Telling people to get over it is cruel. If people want to stop watching, that is their right. We have no place in telling them how they should feel about the treatment of their representation. 

19) I made this post a while ago but it holds true: https://uhhhhhhokay.tumblr.com/post/179314393735/shows-with-good-lgbt-rep

20) Everyone needs a break from social media. I know that for some people, it really helps because we have friends on here that we can talk to, but it also has so many negative effects. The real world is nothing like this toxic website. You should take breaks from it every once in a while. You need to get hobbies. You need some other past time than this website. The majority of people on this site aren’t good and everyone should take a breather from it. I take breaks from this site on a regular basis and when I do it feels so fucking good. 

21) Random but The Lodgers is the worst movie ever and it’s an even worse horror movie. Would not recommend. Unless you feel like roasting something for an hour and a half. The only good part about watching that movie was that I watched it with my roommate who I am good friends with and we laughed our asses off and made fun of it so much. It is truly awful. Even though I had a blast roasting it, I will never get that time of my life back. 

22) The Last Jedi does not deserve that 91% on rotten tomatoes. Just like how The Lodgers deserves far less than 56%.

23) Time to get serious again. I get that a lot of us wished that the shows we loved were real, but they aren’t. That’s a fact that everyone needs to realize and accept. To me, hating an actor for their character’s actions is just as fucked up as stanning. They aren’t their character. They are not responsible for the shit their characters pull. They are carrying out the story written for them. As for writers, sometimes the writers do not support their characters actions either. Just because the character is evil or mean or whatever does not always mean that the people who work behind the curtain support that. 

24) Shipping real people and harassing them is sooo inappropriate and messed up. I shouldn’t really have to explain this one but too many people on this site don’t seem to grasp it. I mean, didn’t Harry Styles say a while ago that all the smutty fanfics, tweets, and fanarts about him and his bandmates effect his friendships with him? Him reacting that way is not homophobic, btw. It is him reacting naturally to people fetishizing and sexualizing him and his friends. These are real people. Their relationship, sexuality, and god just so much of their lives is none of our business. They don’t owe us any information about their personal lives. We don’t own them. They are their own people, which also means that they make their own mistakes. 

25) Random again, but original Charmed fans put their show too high of a pedestal. I never got really into show. I tried it, think I watched half of the first season, and I did a little research on it and I was in the fanbase for a hot sec but it was very short. From my research, it seems to me, that for a feminist show, the cast (except Shannon Doherty) was the opposite behind the scenes. I know you can’t help who you don’t like but you can control how you talk about someone, especially to the public, and from what I’ve seen there’s been more negative comments from them about their castmates than positive. I don’t think anyone will know the whole story but to me the feud between the og’s leading ladies has always very catty to me, and it’s gotten even worse with the remake. You can be protective of your show without being rude. You don’t have to support the remake, and you can do that without being rude either. By the way, this is more directed towards Holly Marie Combs, who I believe has been the most outspoken about being against it. Three young actresses are doing the job they love and they were given a chance to be the new charmed ones for a new generation. There is no reason to be so negative about it. It looks even more immature when you see the cast of the original Sabrina who gleefully gave their support to the new cast. 

26) Adults please stop thinking every show is for you. it’s not. Some shows are for kids, some shows are for teenagers, and some shows are for you. If you enjoy the show that’s directed towards a younger audience then that’s great. If you don’t enjoy it, then that’s fine too. What is not fine is you acting like that show was meant for you and tearing it apart and bullying people of that directed age group online. I can’t believe the amount of times I’ve seen some 19-40 year old dipshit on the internet go and bully a 15 year old only because they said they loved a show. That is not only sick and immature but it’s uncalled for. 

27) Also 15 year olds or younger, do not use your age as an excuse to be mean either. You might be young and you will definitely make huge mistakes, but there’s is nothing to justify you telling someone to kill themselves or insulting them just because they don’t like your favorite character or something. You might not be as experienced as some adults, but you’re old enough to know what the fuck you’re doing and how wrong it is. Don’t be cruel and blame it on you being young and stupid. You maybe young and all of us will always be a bit stupid, but that does not excuse your behavior. And @ older people who do that shit too, your older age and power does not excuse your cruelty either. Nothing excuses telling someone to kill themselves. Ever. Especially if it’s over a goddamn tv show. 

28) Can Ryan Murphy please just make one tv show and stick with it until it ends? He has so many great concepts but because he wants to do all of them at once they all go downhill after one season. 

29) On the same but different note, fuck Ryan Murphy for having Violet and Tate get back together. My girl deserves better than a serial killer/rapist that also got her mom killed because he impregnated her with the anti christ. Fuck that.

I never intended this to be so long lol no one will read this

30) The Hormone Monster is literally a metaphor for hormones. Stop twisting it into pedophilia. That show is so sex positive and is so much better than most of the sex ed that we got. 

31) Let’s leave monster fucking behind please

32) Puzzles are a treat to do

33) Funko pops are cute but they make a lot of dumbass decisions regarding which ones to make (like I saw pops of that new nutcracker movie a while before it was released like maybe wait and see how it does first????)

34) Also lets stop thinking of ships/shows as a way to up yourself as more progressive or whatever. We all have our trash shows and ships, stop acting like a saint. Just because someone has a trash ship, does not mean they are lesser than you. 

35) Fanbases are usually always trash. This didn’t change at all in 2018. 

36) Class’s first season was significantly better than Torchwoods first season. You guys are just mean. 

37) While I adore Class, Patrick Ness’s dialogue was really YIKES sometimes (the Charlie April deleted scene nearly killed me). Overall it was good though because it was the closest depiction of how teens speak.

38) Also any teen drama show that has a teen speak seriously in a hashtag should burn in hell (if a hashtag is used in dialogue as joke then it’s fine because it’s funny)

39) An actor being on a show you don’t like does not warrant hate

40) It’s been two years since Class but still, fuck the dw fans who were/are so mean to the class actors, especially Vivian Oparah and Sophie Hopkins. 

I think that’s it.

#40 points long #bbc class

[ethelbertpaul444-blog]

All The Times The Vanderpump Rules Cast Cheated Betches

In Los Angeles, there are a few things that are abundant. Sunshine, Botox, and crooks. It’s the ground of crushed hopes and illusions and beautiful people. Or actually, super skilled plastic surgeons. If the crazies on Vanderpump Rules taught us anything, it’s that somebodies are trash and confidence no one. I don’t know why any of them bother being in relationships or getting married–did you guys know you can just sleep with whoever you require and not even lie to anyone? It’s called being single. Try it. Anyway, here are all the times the Vanderpump Rules em> shoot chiselled on their significant others.

Stassi

Stassi, the chin-implanted OG Queen of SUR, was a scapegoat of one of the biggest cheating scandals on world TV, thanks to her douchebag sweetheart at the time, Jax. His chiselling was so bad that it mars her perhaps emotional liaison she was having with complete sleaze Frank, another SUR lackey. Frank went on to share and attempt to sell a video of Stassi masturbating. What gems.

Jax

The original tycoon of f* cking up. Who hasn’t Jax slept with? After intensely rejecting misleading, we found that Jax did impregnate a bottle busines waitress in Vegas while he was with Stassi. Crazily enough, that wasn’t even the biggest scandal of the season . Because that’s when we found out that Jax likewise slept with Kristen, Stassi’s best friend, and Jax’s best friend’s girlfriend. Yikes. But guess what people? Jax learns nothing. He then advances to frisk both Carmen and Tiffany. Then Tiffany journals him an magnificent paid-for trip-up to San Diego, where he sleeps with a rando there. Then he starts dating Brittany, which he lies about to Lala and says he wants to f* ck her( which I’m gonna go ahead and announce CHEATING ), and then he sleeps with fellow SUR employee Faith. And Brittany forgives him. And let’s be real, from what we’ve seen in season six, he isn’t even nice to Brittany. Jax, you’re super lucky you’re engaged to person as dumb sweet as Brittany because I would have castrated you .

Tom Sandoval

I don’t know how Sandoval gets away with so much. He is pretty much as slutty as Jax, but he’s so charming everyone time immediately forgives him. After Jax cheated with a bottle assistance waitress in Vegas, Sandoval did the same accurate stuff to Kristen right after. Then we found out he likewise misled on her with Ariana. They say they just kissed, which is still cheating, but leaved this guy’s track record, I will call bullsh* t on that. He can sleep with a rando waitress but not total babe Ariana who he apparently had sorrows for? Not buying it. I make, Kristen’s cheating was so much worse, it reached Sandoval look like the good guy here. When he starts dating Ariana, the trashiest litter West Hollywood has ever seen waltzes into SUR to claim that Sandoval slept with her in Miami. We’ll never know if Sandoval really hooked up with Miami Girl, but either way, he’s not an angel.

Tom Schwartz

Ah, Schwartzy. This adult baby has no business being married, specially due to the fact that he tends to get blackout liquor, sleep make out with randos, pour guzzles on beings, then contend he doesn’t remember anything. Let me tell you, Schwartz, if you move a drink on me, it’ll be the last circumstance you’ll ever do. Kristen claimed that Schwartz chiselled on Katie with two different girls, one has become a love of Tiffany’s who claims to have slept with him. Then Schwartz made out with one of Scheana’s friends. Then we find out that Tom again made out with a rando on a guy’s trip. IDK, I’m not a advocate, but when these countless cheating accusations come up, some of which he admitted to, I’m gonna say he did it. Good fluke with the marriage, though.

Katie

While we’re on the topic of Katie, considering she simply follows around Schwartz and cries, it seems like she’d have no other term for cheating. Nonetheless, according to Scheana, Katie apparently” motorboated some guy’s dick” wayyy back in season three. I don’t think this is a thing, but all the chaps were jumping all over her about it. Except for Schwartz, who in typical Schwartzy fashion DGAF. Did Katie cheat? I entail, I feel like this event happened, but it’s so weird, I’m not sure if it’s cheating. Sorry, Bubba.

Ariana

We know Ariana misled with Sandoval while he was with Kristen, but I don’t think we’ve heard nothing about Ariana chiselling on him. Awarded, she predominantly follows him around weeping. Ariana, you used to be so cool. Don’t let a human do this to you.

Scheana

Scheana’s biggest claim to fame isn’t her tragic singing career or Dead-Tooth-Gate, but the fact that she was one of Eddie Cibrian’s girlfriends while he was still married to Brandi Glanville. Dream large-hearted, daughter. She emphatically knew he was married with kids, so I do blame her for her involvement in this. She then proceeded to cry about how Brandi didn’t like her, even though she apologized. Like, Scheana. That’s fair. You f* cked the woman’s husband–one regret isn’t gonna unexpectedly start you besties. That’s not how the world manipulates. Too, I’ll take a pinot grigio.

Kristen

Ah, Kristen. SUR’s resident psychopath. This is going to take a while. Let’s see. Kristen slept with Jax while dating his best friend Sandoval, and then proceeded to lie about it forever. Recently, James tweeted accusations that Kristen was a “lunatic” who” misleads around “. Like, are you astounded? Kristen perhaps cheats on Carter with Brittany( we’ll get at that later ). Then( again, maybe) “feel like i m cheating on” Carter with James in Mexico. So has Kristen certainly changed? I’ll let you all decide.

James

James and Kristen may secretly be soulmates, because oh my GOD, is this follower junk. I don’t even feel comfortable calling him a human. He’s also an adult baby. With crazy looks. James “feel like i m cheating on” Kristen with both Lala( who thought he was single) and Jenna, which he lied about to her face, and then announced they were” surely boning” in his interview. He also slept with Lala’s work friend while pursuing her, as confirmed by disgusting bite commemorates all over him. Then he cheats on his current lover, Raquel, with two onetime SUR works. Next, James has a suspicious rapport with his BFF Logan, who is obviously in love with him, and patently being led on. And to top it off, James perhaps misleads with Kristen, which we know thanks to some smoking pond floaties. Run, Raquel, flow. Also. Does he remind anyone else of one of the Muppets?

Lala

Before Lala was with Her Man, she used the main victims of being cheated with but she has yet to cheat on anyone to our knowledge. To is equitable, both Jax and James told her the latter are single when they engaged her, so she really isn’t to blame for any of that. Lala also told Katie when Schwartz make out with her friend. Who would have thought that Lala is the only one who truly GAF about Girl Code? Nonetheless, it soon came out when Lala started dating Her Man, Randall Emmett, that he had a bride and kids. It’s unclear if they were separated when he began his affair with Lala, but somehow I disbelieve it. He has now been divorced his wife and he and Lala are engaged.

Brittany

In a v surprising spin, after being chiselled on and verbally abused by outraging scrap boyfriend, Jax, Brittany is rumored to have cheated on Jax with none other than Kristen . em> As LVP employs it, Jax accompanies in on Kristen” chowing down on Kentucky muffin “. In a style, I kind of think it’s entertaining, but also, Brittany, c’mon, “theres lots” of sizzling dykes in LA, you can totally do better. Brittany and Kristen disavow it happened, but like, that is a super creepy concept for Jax to make up. Even if it’s Jax.

LVP

Oh come on, LVP and Ken are total affair purposes and I would die if either of them ever cheated. Nonetheless, I also wouldn’t be surprised if they were secretly swingers. But LVP is faithful to our knowledge, although she does umpire all the cheating gossips and theatre with her foolish organization. What would we do without her phenomenal one-liners?

Idols: Getty Images; Giphy( 12 ) em>

Read more: https :// betches.com/? p= 35324

[shantelemile]

The Untraditional Culture: Fandoms

A fan is the shortened term for fanatic. The word fanatic was associated with people who were, “insanely but divinely inspired” with temples and sacred places. The word’s meaning has shifted to, “marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion”and has entered our pop culture and everyday lives. “Fandom is a sociocultural phenomenon largely associated with capitalist societies, electronic media, mass culture and public performance.” (Duffett, Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture). A fandom is a group that expresses their love and dedication to something in a creative form of art (fan fiction, drawings, cosplay, etc.). Fans are allowed to creatively express their love without being judged.

A fandom can be considered a culture because it follows the definition of what a culture is, “Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the social realities around them.” (Lederach, Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation Across Cultures.). A culture is something taught and passed down through generations. Fandoms are establishing knowledge pertaining to the object being liked and the code of conduct within a fandom. They are also growing in size which can classify it as an actual culture.

Being a part of fandom is like an echo chamber, it becomes a space where ideas and beliefs are reinforced because it is closed off to outside opinions. Mark Duffett uses the example of Rupert Till’s experience at the Free Nelson Mandela concert in London. He states, “Rupert Till’s pleasure seems to spring unbidden from his experience of a live performance and yet it likely represents the culmination of an extended engagement with Sting’s recorded and broadcast music. Till is in a leisure environment surrounded by like-minded people, at an event that could resonate with his value system.” Till was able to feel a strong connection to this concert and the people around him because they had a common interest and they were able to reflect these interests to the public.

Just liking something is not enough to consider yourself a part of a fandom or a fan, there are steps to the process. There are three key stages of the fandom initiation according to John Fiske discussed in the book Media Studies: Key Issues and Debates: 1. The Semiotic Productivity: Do you feel empowered when you see that thing on TV? 2. Enunciative Productivity: Do you talk about the thing outside and proudly own their merchandise (posters, shirts, CDs etc.)? 3. The Textual Productivity: Do you write about your thing of interest and share it? When you can answer yes to all of these things, you are considered to be a part of a fandom.

Fandoms are popular, one of a kind, and grow in size every day. The question is what makes fandoms so appealing to the public. Since being a part of a fandom means you are entering a culture, John Jenkins brakes down what fan culture really means. He stated that there are five characteristics of fan culture: 1. When watching whatever it is on TV, you feel as though you are right there in the crowd even though you are not. 2. When you become a fan you have to understand all the inside jokes, you read and do whatever everyone else in the fandom is doing. 3. You can and will call radio stations to request a song or TV shows to gain attention or express your displeasure to whatever it is you like. 4. A fandom culture develops their own style and traditions. 5. A fandom is like a getaway from reality. (Media Studies: Key Issues and Debates). In a fandom, fans refuse to succumb to the social norms of the regular world, so they are able to express themselves freely there.

Even though within a fandom you are given unlimited freedom, the freedom and behavior are seen as crazy to people outside of the fandom. Like the definition stated earlier, a fan is a crazed person who would go to great lengths for the thing they love. People in a fandom would see this as dedication and an undying love whereas others would see it as being a lunatic. This is especially true for fandoms surrounding musical artists, celebrities, and television shows. The downfalls of having a fandom is the consumption of time and the stalker like behavior that people engage in. Being in a fandom requires spending a lot of time online and in communities to create new content for the fandom. There has to be new fanfictions, art works, and having to constantly be up to date with whatever is going on with the artist/celebrity, so it becomes very time consuming.

Fans are [sometimes] borderline psychotic. The term “stan” means when you obsess over a celebrity in an extremely overzealous way. It is derived from the Eminem song Stan (2000) which tells the story of an obsessive fan who is being ignored by his idol and kills his family and himself after he continuously gets overlooked. The musical group, One Direction, their fans would pay people to get information about which airport or hotel to stalk or harass them for a picture or try to talk to them. They would sometimes leak this information online and hordes of people would gather in these places making it dangerous.

Aimee Wilson, a 20-year-old that left the One Direction fandom believes leaving the fandom was the best choice for her. “There were people who were actually mean on Twitter. Other fans would dismiss them just saying that they were just protecting the One Direction members, but no it was bullying. Some of the Directioners would act like they owned the members and would tweet them non-stop demanding that they follow them or to do something. I remember they even made up this thing where they wanted two of the members to date each other and they found ‘evidence’ of their relationship. Some people would cut themselves because they were so sad they weren’t being noticed. I couldn’t even. As I got older I realized it’s not that serious, you can enjoy an artist and their music without being crazy.”

The good thing about having fandoms is that it has proven to benefit companies because they are making money from these fans. Dedicated fans will buy merchandise with the musical group(s) faces on it or anything referencing/promoting them. At concerts, they have multiple booths that have t-shirts, mugs, CDs, posters, and light sticks. Buying the concert ticket is the first way the companies that manage singers make money, then selling merchandise on the side is another way. Having fandoms also helps add hype to the company and the musical group. Simon Cowell is known for discovering the One Direction members on The X Factor UK and managed them under his record label, Syco Music. One Direction became the world’s biggest boyband during their six-year reign. Their success has been nothing but great for the founder and the company. This would not be possible without the fandom that demanded and supported the music they released. The use of social media sites like Twitter allowed the people who are in charge of the group to directly see the public’s response to the group and what they should incorporate or change.

The internet is aiding in shaping the identities of those in a fandom. Fandoms have a hierarchy system which determines who has power and who is popular. The number of followers you have indicates who’s the “leader” of the fandom. The more followers you have the more influence you have within the fandom, people are more likely to turn to you for information about the artists and what you say will be taken more seriously than other people. The PBS documentary Generation Like, Ceili the super Hunger Games fan, dedicated a lot of her time to getting more spark points and earning a higher level. The higher the level she had the more people would see her posts, and she would be able to enter the list of the top Hunger Games fan. Fandoms have helped reinforce this system in our society, fans want the high levels and followers to show off to the public so that their love is known within the fandom and not questioned.

Melanie Sanchez, a 19-year-old fan has been a fan of One Direction since their debut on The X Factor. She is still supporting them even though they are on an indefinite hiatus. “I liked the music that the boys put out, that’s why I liked them. But then I followed them on Twitter just to see what they’d tweet about and I don’t know when, but I entered the fandom. I kept posting memes and talked about how much I loved the boys and I gained a lot of followers over time, like 10,000. I would post something and if it didn’t get enough likes I’d delete it- I didn’t want to be lame.” When asked about the people in the fandom she said, “The community was filled with girls my age (at the time I was like 13-14). We cried, screamed, and laughed over these boys who didn’t know us personally. We all understood each other. We were all Directioners. I made friends online and we planned and met up in person in the city. It was the best time of my life.”

Within the fandom’s hierarchy system there are the OGs (Original Gangsters: people who’ve been around for a long time). They are constantly nitpicking and weeding out the fake fans. Since a fandom is its own culture, to just one day say; “Oh, I’m going to stan this thing” will not sit well with other people, especially the OGs within that fandom. That’s almost like culture appropriation to them. You are just wearing the name of the fandom for show, you have no idea what it is truly about. To test the loyalty and authenticity of fans in the fandom they might ask questions to test your knowledge and ask you about certain milestones. Some OGs base how long you have been interested in that specific thing to determine your fan status. Because fans treasure the artist and the fandom so much they do not want it to be disrupted by anyone who does not share the same feelings as them.

Fandoms are also shaping our gender roles/stereotypes. Gender roles have been instilled in society since the beginning of time, so it is only natural that they travel into our communities. In the Bible, 1 Timothy 2: 12-13 it states, “And I do permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first then Eve.” According to the Bible, men were born to be natural leaders and with leadership comes strength and authority. When men stray from these characteristics it raises criticism and some concerns towards their sexuality. For example, in the movie Grease (1978), the character Danny Zuko was a badass with a leather jacket, had a gang, a sweet ride, and girls swooned over him. In the Summer Loving scene of the film, he exaggerates what happened over the summer making everything more sexual than what it was. He makes Sandy change because he is embarrassed to be seen in public with her. Scenes like this have been translated and repeated throughout Hollywood, we see a repeat of similar characters like Danny, so it became the norm for men to act like him.

However, the children’s television show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010) is changing this long running gender stereotype of men. The show has a fan club of grown men who call themselves bronies.The show’s intended audience is children and airs on a children’s tv show network. The show has gained an unintended audience of males and these men are seen as weirdos to the public because the shows target audience is little kids. Yet, it does not say anywhere that children and their parents or males cannot bond over the shows storyline or the lessons it teaches at the end. The grown men who watch this show are most likely enjoying the experience that the show has to offer them. These men are not living up to the gender roles set up by characters like Danny Zuko. The scenes that have constantly been on replay in Hollywood have been disrupted by a children’s show about ponies. Because this is out of the social norm the public is perceiving this as something bad, a taboo. The bronies are facing a problem similar to those of actors in the film Chocolate Babies. In this film the group of friends were HIV positive and they always received the shorter end of the stick. They were mistreated by the government and they had to form a group of their own to get the support and love they deserved. The bronies are being ostracized for liking a children’s show and they find comfort within one another because they understand the situation they are facing with the public.

Nashaun, a 22-year-old African American father who is not a part of a fandom stated, “People can like whatever they want. It’s just that it’s weird to want to be in something for little kids, it makes me wonder if they got other motives in mind. Why would I want grown men associating with my kid? Something doesn’t add up there.”

There are many cultures around the world that are not accepted or understood, and fandoms are falling into that category. Humans are conditioned to repel what they do not know. Our automatic responses to the unknown are fear and to destroy it. The behavior and the craze that comes along with fandoms cannot be processed by people outside of it. The One Direction fandom and the My Little Pony fandom are only some of the many fandoms out there and they carry many controversies. Even though they have these negative connotations surrounding them people still flock to these fandoms because of the community they provide. If you never had a place to fit in in the real world, you can most likely find your spot within a fandom. The judgement free zone is something we don’t see a lot in everyday life. I think this is the biggest factor as to why fandoms are appealing to more and more people.

Works Cited

Chocolate Babies (n.d). Retrieved April 21, 2018.

https://vimeo.com/62632619

Devereux, Eoin. (2007). Media studies: Key issues and debates. London, UK: Routledge.

Duffett, M. (2015). Understanding fandom: An introduction to the study of media fan culture. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Generation Like (n.d.). Retrieved April 21, 2018, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/generation-like/

Lederach, J. P. (2008). Preparing for peace: Conflict transformation across cultures. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University.

PBSoffbook. (2012, September 06). Can Fandom Change Society? Retrieved April 23, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Zum7azNIQ

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