Greetings, fellow CS Charity Registry bunnies. Today is the day that a lot of us have been waiting for, so I hope you are all ready to celebrate accordingly!
Just to update you on our progress on this auspicious day, the total raised at the time of writing (at current exchange rates) by donations to Colin and Jen’s charities, other charities close to the hearts of individual CSers, and sponsorship support to CSers taking part in charity events is…
$2,816.35 !
and still rising…
Thank you to everyone has donated so far to make a difference around the world and those who are organising events and carrying out their own work in the community to bring hope to those that need it.
If you have made a donation to any charity (apart from SOSAD) but haven’t let us know, please use the Submit page so that we can log it and keep our records as accurate as possible. If you’re organising an event or doing something charitable closer to home, we want to hear about that too! We will keep your submission private if you tick the box asking us to do so.
You still have until May 14th to make your contribution, large or small, monetary or otherwise so let’s keep up the good work!
Please consider reblogging our posts to support this venture and increase awareness and if you have Twitter, then please spread the word by retweeting this tweet.
We hope that you all enjoy tonight’s episode and thank you all for your amazing support! You are all bright, shining stars.
xoxo
This may have brought happy tears to my eyes. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed in any way to this project – I am so proud of this fandom today.
I’m so proud of this fandom and the response to this little project!!!
The big day is upon us! That’s right, on May 7th, Captain Swan will finally be heading down the aisle, and what better way to celebrate this fantastic ship than with fellow friends and shippers together? We were invited after all…
Get dressed up, bake fancy cupcakes, crack open that bottle of good rum (if you’re old enough), decorate your room, invite your friends over and have a little party together – whatever you feel like doing in recognition of the big day! Want to send the happy couple well wishes in the form of a video? Why not!!
HERE COMES THE FUN PART!
Take to TWITTER or INSTAGRAM (why not go all out and do both?) and post a picture or video message of how you’re choosing to celebrate. IT’S THAT EASY!!
FOR TWITTER
Simply copy and paste this message into the box with your attached image or video:
Congratulations to Emma & Killian! @OnceABC @AdamHorowitzLA @colinodonoghue1 @jenmorrisonlive #CaptainSwanWedding #OnceUponAMusical #OUAT
FOR INSTAGRAM
Simply copy and paste this message into the box when posting your image or video:
Congratulations to Emma & Killian! @onceabcofficial @colinodonoghue1 @jenmorrisonlive #CaptainSwanWedding #OnceUponAMusical #OUAT
Let’s show the cast, ABC, and the world just how much we love these two on their special day, but more importantly, let’s have fun together as a fandom!!
We want to spread the word about this fandom effort as much as possible, so please feel free to copy and paste the available images above with the information on them to Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook!
you know what i love best about the captain swan fandom? the fanfiction and fanart. we’re a talented group of fuckers with incredibly supportive shipmates.
for me, the best fanfiction fills in the little holes and gaps left by uneven, clumsy writing from the source. it covers and rewrites the inevitably errant characterization that happens when you have an entire room full of people with different viewpoints and intentions writing it.
if only one person was writing once upon a time, the characterization would be more consistent. but in this case we have an entire group of people who are bringing vastly different life experiences and agendas to the table; it makes for shabby and questionable writing a lot of the time. it’s kind of like if you put 15 people in charge of thanksgiving dinner all at the same time. at least five of them are going to fuck up the turkey; one will insist that a good brining requires this much salt while another says the salt should be kosher and also add wine; yet another person doesn’t want to brine at all and while they’ll allow it, they’re also going to be jamming their grandmother’s family recipe for cornbread stuffing right up the bird’s carcass despite the fact that brining eliminates the need for stuffing in the first place. one person will insist on a bed of onions. another will want three sprigs of rosemary knowing full well that three of the dinner guests are allergic. one wanted to fry it in the first place, and will relentlessly tell everyone this loudly the entire dinner.
the end product is a turkey that is edible as long as you smother it in gravy, but it’s too dry and no one’s really happy with how it turned out. you think to yourself “hey, at least i have all these side dishes,” and some of them will even be incredible. you’ll give some a cursory and begruding try, but they won’t be to your taste. you look forward to the pie and you know it’ll be great, but then aunt cecile comes up and puts a giant dollop of her bourbon whipped cream on top and ruins it because she always, always uses too much bourbon. but, it’s thanksgiving. you smile through dinner and vow that you’re going to do it way better on your own when it’s your turn.
that’s fanfiction for me. i’m the asshole sitting at thanksgiving dinner making a mental list of how i would do everything so much better. and you know what? sometimes i do. but in this convoluted metaphor’s case, it’s more like i’m throwing a giant superbowl party and inviting you all to bring appetizers on your own so that each of us can sample a little bit of what we all have to offer rather than trying to get all of us to make the same exact end product.
in captain swan fanfiction land? we have the same thing the writers have–a large pool of different people with different viewpoints, experiences, and agendas–but we really love these characters, man. we like to paint them the way we see them in a loving way. i don’t really feel like the show writers love the characters. and that’s okay. at the end of the day, they are there to create a product that makes money so that they can continue to be employed and churn out more product.
so that’s why i love fanfiction so much. we ain’t gettin’ paid except in kudos and the occasional run-on tags. we do it for love of the thing.
so like, let’s keep lovin’ up on the thing as long as we’re gonna be mad at the show writers. let’s love captain swan and also the fanfictions and fanarts created by this insanely talented group of content creators. who’s with me?
or light of all lights by @ripplestitchskein. that’s a great one, and she’s recently and rightly realized it’s gotta be longer than originally anticipated. thank god.
@acrobat-ellenever disappoints, and while i have yet to start harbor in the tempest, i know it’s going to slay me. because she does that.
want some good smut? go to @startswithhope‘s smut tag. and i always do a happy lil jig whenever i see a @killians-dimples fic on my dash. or @unfolded73! and i’m looking forward to what @caprelloidea is about to throw down. gah, there are so many good writers in this fucking fandom, it kills me!
and they do just what i love them to do: write really good captain swan stories. sometimes they’re filling in the giant, gaping holes left by the show writers; sometimes their imaginations take me away to worlds i never knew i needed. point is, they love captain swan as much as i do, and i will always be thankful for that.
i am absolutely not telling anyone not to be disappointed, i am not telling anyone how to feel. i’m not even telling you to be more positive or to wait and see, because honestly, that would be dismissive and rude, especially when i’ve been rolling my eyes @ show a lot lately.
i’m simply saying that no matter what, i’m gonna keep supporting the amazing and free fanfiction generated by my talented shipmates. you guys offer the excellent and often smutty solace that i require to make it through yet another clumsily-written episode.
thank you for that.
and hey, feel free to add your own fic recs to this. i can always use another rec to get me through another sunday.
also in case it wasn’t obvious, the thanksgiving pie that i’m looking forward to enjoying is the cs wedding. i just hope aunt cecile don’t come along and plop a giant, overly bourbonned blob of whipped cream on top of it.
I may want to strangle the show at times, but I am with you, I love this fandom with my whole heart.
How about we start a lil happy chain?
Reblog and add something about the CS fandom that you love.
I’ll start:
The CS fandom has given me so much, from amazing friends to a creative outlet to just a lovely place to hang out with sweet peeps and flail over shit I love. It’s my happy lil home on the internet.
This is such a great initiative! I love the CS fandom so much – I’ve learnt a lot from all of you. You people are so incredibly talented, and so bright, you’ve become my go to place if I want to relax. I’ve met incredible people here, that have become real friends to me!
I joined the fandom after Tallahassee aired, and not only has it become the fandom I’ve stayed in the longest, but I have met so many wonderful people here who have helped me through some of the most difficult personal times, like my best friend illness and passing, as well my dad’s; and, even when sometimes it can be a bit stressful, being in this fandom, united in our love for this wonderful and epic love story, has for sure being one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life. I’ve learned a lot from all of you as well, and to all of you that have been there for me when I’ve needed it, and all of you wonderful artists and writers who gift us with your amazing talent: I LOVE YOU LOTS OK?
I love this fandom. I love being part of this fandom. I love Emma Swan and Killian Jones and I love their love and their story and their leather jackets and their everything.
This is for all the CSers who got into the fandom after the “Captain Swan” ship name caught on. You lucky people! You weren’t around to witness all the failed ship name attempts by fans and media:
Hooked Swan (a nice one, actually)
SwanHook (quite decent, too)
Knightly Hookers (too complicated) (the reason for this is that before Ugly Duckings -a name that JMo herself proposed-, the Emma fans called themselves White Knights)
Hemma (wtf!!)
Sook (what is this i can’t even)
Hookma (I don’t even have a comment ready for this one)
Killemma (seriously… how did people have the gut to actually suggest this?!)
We are seriously so lucky with Captain Swan, in every aspect!
I think Imzy has really good potential to be a really incredible place for fandom. I have limited experience with message boards (I was committed lurker on TWoP in the late 90s/early 2000s), so I don’t really know how power structures play out on moderated message boards.
We just started this thing and we’re trying to figure it out and set up some ground rules – that’s why Lena’s there 😉 If it becomes really popular we’ll have to decide on policies for handling tricky situations, and do our best to communicate clearly.
In terms of cliques…there are tons of cliques in Tumblr imo. I’m sure cliques will form on Imzy if it takes off, but like I said, I think they exist here too. Obviously all the mods are people I’m friends with because I started the group, and the people who asked to join are people who know me, so it probably feels cliquey to some already. I’m not really sure how to combat that, except to reassure everyone that this community is intended for the whole CS fandom, not just people we’re friends with.
I feel like all 6 of us are pretty open people. Many of us cross fandom boundaries here on Tumblr, so I think we’re reasonably well placed to create an atmosphere of respect and inclusion.
We want
the space to be safe for all fans who enjoy CS, and that includes fans
of other characters/ships who like CS. So, for example, people who want to trash other parts of the fandom or
other characters will have to create spaces their own communities for
that. Constructive discussions and criticism are welcome, and
there are tags for that. But I don’t want the CS community to be a place
for routine trashing of other characters, fans, or actors. I hope that others
will start communities for other characters/ships with a similar
spirit.
I think the fact that there are mods is a strength of the platform. Tumblr can get really ugly, with tag invasions, anon hate, bullying, rude hijacks, gatekeeping, Antis stirring up trouble, ship wars etc. I think the CS Imzy community can be a place that can be free of those types of things. We aren’t going to allow things to spin out of control, and we won’t allow the CS community to be a negative space. We will ban any Antis who might turn up, and we will do our best to ensure that things stay constructive. I think all the mods are open to suggestions on how to build this thing and how to deal with potential conflicts. Hopefully we can do so in a way that is fair.
I want the CS Imzy community to be a place to flail about CS, and to have some of the kinds of character discussions that are hard to have on Tumblr. People really hesitate to have back-and-forth debates/discussions on Tumblr, especially where there is some disagreement. There’s all the etiquette about hijacking, and the platform itself doesn’t lend itself to that really well, because adding comments on a reblog in a back-and-forth means filling up everyone’s dash with your exchange. Plus a lot of people don’t particularly like those types of exchanges, so you risk upsetting people. I think Imzy could be a really good place for those types of discussions.
You can tailor your experience on Imzy to block out those types of things if it’s not something you want to see. The tagging system there is different, people who make a post can only select from the “approved” tags that the mods create. You can opt to filter out certain tags. So if you don’t want to see critical discussions of the show, or spoilers, you can filter those out based on the tags we created for that content.
And the mods are ready and willing to add tags if people want to be able to filter out certain things. It’s really early days so I don’t know how this will all play out, but my personal goal is to make the community a safe space, and I will do everything I can to make that so. The Imzy staff is also really responsive to suggestions. The platform is in beta mode, so any CSers who join up can help shape the platform itself, which is pretty cool imo.
So, this is a really long answer! But basically I think Imzy has the potential to have two features that could be pretty unique:
A safe space to flail where we have to power to ban Antis
A safe space to engage in discussions/debates about our faves (and where people who are only interested in #1 can block out #2).
If anyone wants to join you can do so by following the link below (or the CS/ER community where I am also a mod). The mods need to “approve” your request before you can fully sign up. We’re approving everyone who applies.
From my past experience in other fandoms and fan forums, I always saw them as a literal debate table, you know? Tumblr is a completely different animal because it’s your blog and then you happen to have access to a community with other people who also have blogs, but having debates or constructive discussions in this platform is not really easy or feasible for a number or reasons, mainly because as Odette already pointed out, you start clogging everyone’s dashes with a discussion and maybe 10 or 20 of your followers don’t want to see discussions, they just want to see art or fic, hence you lose followers or even get an anon asking you to stop or tag it so they can blacklist it.
A forum/message board is basically made to have discussions, it has a group of moderators and you have a platform that works like a debate table, you present your arguments on whatever it is you want to discuss and then the other party does the same, and the moderators are there to let you know when any of you is getting off topic or to remind you to keep it civil and not insult each other. I do see your point about cliques, but also as Odette said, those already and most certainly exist here, I personally feel like Imzy can be an additional platform for fandom, there you can have more in-depth discussions and not feel as self-conscious of having those especially when it’s two different POVs wanting to do a debate.
With regards of disagreements between the mods and the members on how any given issue was handled, I personally would be open to have a private discussion with anyone if they felt I was being unfair in issuing a warning to them or any other moderating problems, if that helps @tnlph 🙂
Below the cut is a list of about a hundred beautiful, wonderful shipmates who have taken the time from their day to leave feedback, recommend a fic, or a work of art. I searched through dozens of posts, and hundreds of reblogs to find people who had taken the extra step to be kind in their tags and posts.
Many of these people have been very active in encouraging everyone to be the best version of themselves they can be! You wouldn’t believe the kind words many people leave. It’s truly inspiring. These people deserve all the hugs and snuggles and fluff they can fit in their beautiful hearts.
I also jotted down the blogs who left very simple, short compliments on a work, because that type of feedback is valid too! It’s not only valid, but also so appreciated, and so important to keeping the fandom alive.
Of course, I couldn’t find and tag everyone, which is why I’m simply calling it a bouquet. Because there is a massive field of Middlemists out there of wonderful shipmates who have encouraged us writers, artists, gifers to be the best we can be. So to those Middlemists who aren’t tagged, please know that we are abundantly appreciative of everything you do as well.
To those of you who don’t really leave feedback, let this encourage you! The exchange of feedback creates friendships, encourages, brings hope, and inspires happiness and success within a fandom! All it takes is 5 seconds!
Take a second to read through the list, and follow some new people! I love you all very dearly! Thank you so much everything you’ve done for this fandom. It always goes noticed and appreciated!
This is so so so beautiful, and I can think of so many more names to add to it! People!! We have a really amazing fandom!! Go out there and love each other and spread the smiles. If something someone wrote made your day, tell them. There is little that can compare to the feeling of tag or comment flails, I promise.
Cheers, to an amazing support group of fandom and shipmates.
I find this incredibly ironic coming from you, Sarah, who supports I don’t even know how many writers with your lovely reblogs and flailing, but I will take it, so thank YOU.
I do try my best to read and reblog as many fic as I can, there’s always so much out there too and most of it extremely good, we have so many wonderful talented writers and artists in this fandom!
cshappybeginning 