giefu

I've been doing some thinking in the wake of certain things: the ignorance of some Hetalia fans that we all saw over the weekend and and finishing Supernatural season 2 (and the subsequent viewing of this), mainly, and how both of these things made me think about how I was actually ashamed to think of myself as a fan of things that sometimes raise some very tricky and difficult questions. What right have I got to be a part of this? What right have I got to enjoy something that marginalises and trivialises real, hurtful issues?

So these twisty feelings have continued for a while, and then I read pyrrhiccomedy 's post about being proud of your fandom, and then I watched Glorious, which is about owning problematic stories and rewriting them to give those female characters the stories that the canon didn't give them, and well I came to the very unoriginal conclusion that I should stop feeling ashamed. Fandom has actually given me a hell of a lot. The fact that I'm here, right now, writing this post on a journal filled with my own fic and art, to amazing people that I would never otherwise have met speaks volumes about just how much of an impact fandom (and Hetalia fandom in particular) has had on me. I've written more, learned more, and grown more as a person because of it.

Well, very nice bandit, but where is this all leading?

I posted this because I wanted to give you all an apology. To me, this blog is my conduit to fandom, and I've realised that 'fandom' means all of you. And what lunatic wouldn't want to identify themselves with you lot? You're all awesome. I'm sorry I've been reluctant to do that. I will never be ashamed again.