i feel like I keep seeing people (who very obviously read fic/take part in fandom) criticizing and mocking any sort of serious discussion about fan culture and its importance, and treating creative content based on fandoms as something less than but you can't have it both ways when you treat fic as less than or not "real writing," when you regurgitate everything about the status quo and how it's something only silly teen girls do and god forbid an adult (woman, usually) partake in something lighthearted and fun