sylviaviridian ([info]sylviaviridian) wrote,
@ 2007-10-04 13:45:00
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A nice fangirl
I was going through my old sent emails for no particular reason, and I ran across a 'I am a nice Christian' pledge that I'd sent to my mom once and asked her to spread the word.

Today, I've edited it for fandom.

Spread the word if you feel like it.

I, insert your name, am a nice fan.

I accept that fandom is a way for people of many different backgrounds to connect over things they love, and that I can help them discover it more fully.

I am in no way perfect and have faults and make mistakes just like everyone else.

I am better than no one and am merely a human, just like everyone else.

I will not shove my beliefs down other's throats.

I will not make my friendship exclusive to other fans of my OTP(s).

I will be nice and polite to anyone, whether they prefer het, slash, femmeslash, gen, or all of the above.

I will not tell people who they can and cannot ship, for it is none of my damned business.

I will not tell people to what to do with their stories or characters and yell at them for making their own choice, even if I do believe very strongly against it.

I will listen to what others have to say and accept that they do not believe in what I believe so that I may learn why they believe what they believe, as well as tell them why I believe what I believe.

I will not hate someone because they ship a pairing that conflicts with mine.

I will not tell people that my ship is better than theirs.

I will not force someone to listen endlessly to my ranting about a ship.

I will not discommunicate myself from anyone that does not follow my own personal fanon.

I will not, under any circumstances, tell someone they are going to hell because they don't believe in what I believe.

I will be open minded and accepting and refuse to conform to the stereotype that just because I am a member of fandom, I will not accept anyone for who they are and what they believe.

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[info]meowzy_chan
2007-10-04 09:42 pm UTC (link)
That is so cool.

I wish I could say I could do the same things, but I'd break one of those pledges for sure, even if it were by accident.

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[info]sylviaviridian
2007-10-04 09:55 pm UTC (link)
That's the beauty of it, see the second line? You're allowed to make mistakes, we all do.

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[info]cybersky
2007-10-04 10:00 pm UTC (link)
Now those are sentiments that any fandom pacifist should approve of. :3

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[info]sylviaviridian
2007-10-04 10:09 pm UTC (link)
I wish I could, like, make people sign it before letting them into fandom. Not that I think it would help - the fanbrats would sign because 'LOL what? I wasn't listening', and the only people who would really be deterred by it are the reasonable ones who are too easily intimidated - but still...

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[info]cruxis
2007-10-04 10:36 pm UTC (link)
Hear, hear! Where do I sign? XD

I think half my FList is proof of that -- a lot of people (and when I say a lot, I mean 95%) who may have the same fandoms as me don't ship anything that I ship. XD Good on you, I'll be linking this. ;D

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[info]sylviaviridian
2007-10-04 10:45 pm UTC (link)
Thank you! It would be awesome if it ended up becoming a meme or something. There's enough elitism going around, let's spread a bit of tolerance to smooth it out.

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[info]floriatosca
2007-10-05 03:09 am UTC (link)
A-men. Rules to live by.

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[info]pretentioustfu
2007-10-05 03:36 am UTC (link)
It's cool, and I totally agree with the concepts there (and props for not adding "I will never disagree with someone else" or "I will keep in mind that this is only the internet", since both of those are things I could never truly assent to).

That said, I'm not signing off on it for one reason. I want to reserve the right to avoid being subject to others' interpretations of some of the stuff here. For example, I used to know at least one person who believed that my simply talking about writing Wolfwood/Vash was forcing her to ship it. I've also met people who believe that writing slash or yaoi is somehow oppressing their rights to have a yaoi-free fandom.

Signing off on something like this, as wonderful as it is, is the equivalent of putting yourself in a position of defenselessness. If someone goes off on you, for example, that they hate yaoi and your posts on it annoy them, you have to stop writing it rather than tell them to go read something else and leave you alone, and I'm not comfortable with peace at the cost of bowing to the loudest screamers.

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[info]sylviaviridian
2007-10-05 04:18 am UTC (link)
Fair enough. I'm mostly proposing it as a reminder to people to be tolerant, but your objections are both true and reasonable, and I certainly don't want to advocate doormat-ishness among the nicer members of fandom. This was just a format-conversion of something that was already out there...a bit tongue-in-cheek, even, since it's essentially treating fandom like a religion.

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[info]pretentioustfu
2007-10-05 04:25 am UTC (link)
*nods* And it's a pretty cool sentiment, and one a lot of people could use. ^_^

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