Fannish identity & communication style

[extrapenguin]

I haven't actually been doing sunshine_challenge, but I did clean up my sticky post and add my friending policy there. I've also meant to give some Guardian fic recs for a bit. Today's post, however, is mostly inspired by sewn's post on fannish identity.

Like sewn, I, too, am Finnish, but came to Anglophone fandom instead of FinFanFun. (I basically exclusively read English-language obscure sci-fi, which has zero fic fandom in Finnish. At least on the Anglophone internet, I can connect with the one other person who's read the book and wants to chat fic.) Nevertheless, I'm Finnish. On the internet, one of my primary identities is "not American". I wish I could make people grok that I don't want to have to give a fuck about the US issue du jour, but alas, that is hard.

But the reason I'm writing this slightly incoherent post is communication styles. I watch people do that squeesplosion/cutesy communication and I just ... can't. I can sort of follow, but if I tried to mimic it, I'd cringe so hard my brain would escape through my ears. I'm most at home in content-first, dry-humor communication styles, and that's what my posts and comments reflect.

So. I'm direct and get to the point if I have one. I don't habitually shroud my opinions in a veil of caveats and insecurity. And I'm much happier amongst oldskool types than the modern fandom youth of today, communication style -wise. (And I am very grateful that Guardian fandom is mostly people for whom 15 is a distant memory rather than present reality!)

Comments

[phyrry]

There's a demarcation between "capable of forming coherent sentences" and "not capable of typing" for me, so if I were to try and express the flailing, it'd be *after* the emotions calmed down and I'd be faking it post facto.

My two emotional states are 'numb' and 'distressed' so a lot of flailing just seems performative to me. (Yay mental illness goggles! /s) Sometimes I can perform it, sometimes I don't have the energy it takes to do so. Either way is kinda uncomfortable and I would rather be talking about the canon or headcanons. (However, I can certainly appreciate the aesthetic appeal of various scenes, just... not the same way as most people, apparently.)

[extrapenguin]

You can perform it? That's already better than me. *g* (Sad neuroatypicality high-five!) The best I can do is "Oh wow this was amazing!" which doesn't even count. I agree that I'd rather be talking about something rather than doing the flail thing.

not the same way as most people
Are you still talking about the flailing (i.e. showing one's appreciation) or experiencing the appreciation?

[phyrry]

Sometimes. Unfortunately acting out emotions I don't feel is a required skill for life around my mother. My success rate is ... moderate.

Are you still talking about the flailing (i.e. showing one's appreciation) or experiencing the appreciation?
Experiencing the appreciation. I don't experience sexual attraction at all, so a lot of fanservice that most people flail about just leaves me disturbed or confused, or I end up finding other things to enjoy about it (like emotional intimacy or character studies in smut).

[extrapenguin]

Urgh, sympathies. Having to act out emotions sucks.

a lot of fanservice that most people flail about just leaves me disturbed or confused, or I end up finding other things to enjoy about it
Nodnod. As someone who's almost exclusively attracted to women, I can sympathize about the whole "I suppose this is fanservice, but I do not find it in the least appealing" thing.