the wealth disparity and fandom
fandom really is the hobby of the privileged. unless you're the sort who takes it Very Seriously, it is the perfect way to while away the hours without having to venture out of the house or make any major life changes. hell, it's easy to be a "big fan" via consumerism, making fanworks a distant second in shows of how much you love a work or character. after all, what's more impressive; a few thousand words of fic, or a shelf PACKED with your fave's merch?
this extends to fanworks in a way too. making fanart is an inherently costly exercise if you want to do it the "right" way: drawing tablets and software are expensive, and an education in art can elevate your art above others. that said, the former tends to take far greater precedence; i've seen art education become more accessible over time, which is always a boon. what isn't is the incredibly high cost of entry for artists, and this expectation that artists always produce "content." what a rort.
commissions encapsulate this as well... fans who commission lots of art of their ships or characters tend to get a lot of notoriety, despite it being something inherently massively expensive. it's especially pronounced in yume communities, i've found, but general fandom can get so territorial over ships, and commissions tend to be another weapon some use to knock others down, or bolster themselves up. it's silly. it's the pinnacle of privileged people finding something to whinge about that's completely detached from reality, but where it becomes harmful is when the artists who need these commissions to survive are suddenly finding themselves having to court these rich fans in these pointless fan wars, and if they happen to make art of the "wrong" ship? ahhh... it can get messy fast.
fanfic is one of the more interesting displays of wealth in my opinion, in that it's the classic "old money" versus "new money" disparity. those who have the time to write lots of fic are generally either very well off, or having to center all their free time around fic writing. fic fans can be utterly demanding that authors provide them work that totals hours of time for free, but never commission those same authors because of the sheer devaluation of written work compared to visual fanart. those who do take commissions often undervalue themselves hugely because there's simply such a small market for fic, writing for below minimum wage just to make money on the side, like how fanart used to be in some circles before the "charge what you're worth!" arguments spread across the internet (which is a good thing!)
but, most tellingly, fic betrays one's education and literacy like nothing else will. writing fic well is often taken for granted until people try it themselves; the expectations literacy-wise are far higher than in published texts, i find, especially given there's usually no editor or beta behind most authors. poor grammar can be used as a stick to beat authors with, and one stray typo can be bad enough to make some close out of a fic entirely; that's before getting into the american vs british english debates, and how to properly format your fic!
still, being able to convey your ideas effectively without your audience noticing you're employing literary devices is the name of the game, and one that often goes unnoticed unless you've received a good education. some commenters and pundits will complain some fics read stilted, or feel inauthentic; what they don't realize is they're often complaining about literacy issues, but lack the literacy to understand themselves. good fic is often the domain of the well-educated or those driven to understand how language works... it's not a shock such a strong culture of classism and pretension has arisen around fanfiction, to the point where generative ai has pulled specifically from sites like the archive of our own for their datasets (leading to the proliferation of em dashes across the internet, often being used how one might use a semicolon or en dash... these aren't things taught in school, generally, but they're noticeably common in fanfic writing)
and that's not even getting into travel... truly, this is the reason i made this post. affording international travel is a pipe dream for me, but seeing fans chatter away about visiting japan to buy all the doujin for their ship they can't get online, or go to a certain convention where all their friends will be, or, hell, going to official events overseas where they can get exclusive merch that proves they are a True Fan! irks me in ways i can't describe. cosplay is an inherently expensive hobby even when you're doing aliexpress outfits, and con tickets knock your budget around if you're not made of money, especially if your fandom has representation in the artist's alley. most people can't afford the cost of living... so why are so many people online able to afford to shoot over the ocean and buy their way to being the number one fan of their blorbo?
it's because fandom is the domain of the privileged at heart. if you are wealthy in time, it provides the perfect escape; if you are wealthy in money, no amount of fandom is impossible for you, and you will be rewarded for your privilege. fandom doesn't truly celebrate the art unless you're in certain pockets; often, it's a big cult of consumerism, one that people can't help but buy into so they'll fit in, to the point where the wealth disparity doesn't seem to exist on the surface because everyone's conforming in some way or another. look further, though, and none of the fandom bigs are big because they're particularly insightful or providing a new outlook on these games; it's because they have enough time, money, or both to establish how much of a fan they are, and if you don't match up, tough luck!
youtubers who talk about their fandom need time or money to work through all that editing and recording with the right equipment. fanartists need time and money for all that equipment and skill. fanfic writers need time, but money certainly helps set them apart from the rabble. those meme posters need time to make their memes and check the cultural currents, and money if they want to truly commit to the bit, a la burning those limited plushies because of a fandom in-joke, or crushing that scale figurine under the wheels of their car for the bit. the self-proclaimed champions of ships and characters need time to create their fanworks to proliferate their fandom tags, or money to get someone else to do it for them. fangame makers need time and money to make their damn games. modders need time to mod and money if they intend to make a living out of their work... not that that's entirely above board.
my controversial take here is actually that "day one, pre-ordering no matter what" fans have immense privilege to be able to drop money on every piece of media their fandom drops. fans of video game companies specifically amaze me for this reason... they'll complain about every new release, yet are still pre-ordering, playing, and posting by day one, with no regard for spoilers. hell, they'll even have the nerve to say you should be buying day one too if you don't want spoilers! immense privilege when games are getting more expensive by the day, all because game companies know their fandoms will buy anything with their name on it.
so what's all this to say?
take the time to appreciate the smaller fish in fandom. challenge consumerism everywhere in your life, but especially in these niche communities where it's considered a requirement to be recognized. spot elitism... and stop elitism. none of this is worth going broke over, especially when these characters aren't real, and all roads lead back to corporations exploiting their workers and fans in the name of growth.
and, for god's sake, you don't need to own every doujin that features your blorbo to be considered the number one fan of them, especially when your game came out in 1999. there are doujin that will be lost media! doujin you won't like! hell, are you going to read all of them regularly? why own tens to hundreds of doujin when you can get a few you really, really love, and not buy out suruga-ya every time they restock?
... actually, that's a good point. support archival wherever you can, and don't fall prey to the capitalist ideal that owning something equates to that being part of your identity. send!