When I say a story hurts it's a compliment

[schneefink]

Favorite quote of the day:

"Isn't fandom economy a weird thing? I can rub my hands with glee and say yesssss, I have caused these people pain, it was so mutually satisfying."

hansbekhart, in the comments to their excellent fic The Dead Forest, which is about Steve waking up in the future.

Sums it up pretty well. Similar things happen with books and movies, but in fandom you have much more immediate feedback. You have authors being called terrible monsters in comments and being proud of it, lately there's a lot of fans calling themselves trash for whatever reason, and if you're not familiar with the culture it may seem a bit weird. Fandom's the best.

Comments

[out_there]

I'm not a fan of the trash term. It seems to have slipped over from tumblr to AO3 but it rubs me the wrong way. I prefer fandom to feel a little more of an unapologetic and shamefree space. But YMMV.

[schneefink]

I don't like it very much either. I first saw it used in the Hydra Trash Party, but I see it more and more often. The weird thing is, I can't figure out if people use it to admit that they feel ashamed, or to almost sort of celebrate that they like these things, and in a way, that they would usually feel ashamed of. Probably a combination of both?

[out_there]

Probably a combination of both?

Probably both but it kind of eeks me out anyway. I understand reclaiming terms but I don't see the need to start calling yourself trash.

(Really, I think this is where I slip into bitter old fandom queen mode and grumble about the young fen of today...)