The wonderful thing about getting into a new show, book, movie, or anything with a following, is the fandom surrounding it. You meet some amazing, supportive people who you have something instantly in common with: your love for that series or movie. I myself have made lifelong friends through our shared interests. The passionate conversations we can all get into when expressing our love for characters or pairings (ships) can be enlightening, and allow us to understand different perspectives.
Unfortunately, within each fandom, there is also a stream of negativity. When differing opinions can be too much, then that negativity is unleashed upon fellow fans, actors, writers, crew, and so on. Over a year ago, I encountered such hatred against an actor that I truly admire and respect. I realized then, that I could choose to be one of two people. Someone who just witnesses the hate and does nothing, or someone who takes a stand against it and becomes proactive.
I chose the latter.
THE STORY
That prompted an initiative that I started called Project Positivity. I decided to drown out the negativity, with positivity. Instead of battling and arguing with people who spread hate, I strove to bring together the positive people in the fandom. I am so proud to say it was a massive success. I received entries from over 100 people, from several different countries, using the platform of tumblr. There were several parts to this project and all of them were compiled into a scrapbook that I was fortunate enough to gift to the actor himself. After this, I have done a couple other Positivity Projects, as I find it is a wonderful way to celebrate a fandom, and overpower any toxicity within it.
Over that year, I have worked to make graphics, merchandise, and done several positivity projects by mailing postcards and other things (i.e mugs, hats, comic books, etc) to spread the love. My friends and family have been extremely supportive and encouraged me to sell my graphics. It is only recently that I have had the confidence to do so.
I have started this project as an ongoing initiative to keep spreading positivity in every fandom that I can reach. There is always going to be hate and negativity, but no one, no fan, actor, producer, author, etc should ever feel that level of toxicity thrust upon them. I hope that with this, I can spread some happiness to each fandom, whether I reach out to them or they reach out to me.
This means that I am accepting requests for any character and/or ship from any fandom! So if you have any you would like me to make, feel free to contact me at any time.
Furthermore, I am not doing this for profit or any personal gain. 75% of the profits will be donated to charity to demonstrate just what a collective community of a fandom can achieve when we all stand strong together.
So together, let’s spread positivity….
ONE WORD AT A TIME