User blog:Jpearson/Editor Stories: How Fenn Breaks the Bias at Fandom

Happy International Women’s Day! We’re excited to kick off the first feature of a series that spotlights women editors on Fandom who break the bias. We’ll explore how these changemakers are taking a leadership role in their community, creating inclusive spaces for others, and explaining what “break the bias” means to them.

Meet Fenn
Meet Fenn aka Legendary Super Saiyan Fennekin. Her pronouns are she/her and she serves as an admin on quite a few wikis. We’re fans of her use of southern idioms, commitment to breaking the bias by … as well as her genuine love for the community. Fenn has a diverse list of fandoms, enjoys baking, and is also a YouTuber! Read on to learn more about Fenn, her journey to editing, and her contributions.

Questions and Answers
1. What are your fandoms?

Fenn: A whole lot of nerdy things, such as Star Wars, Marvel, etc., as well as enjoying the NFL and NHL. I am also a huge fan of Anime, Manga, and Video Games.

2. How long have you been on Fandom?

Fenn: October 10, 2019, was the date I made an account and posted on the Boku no Hero Academia Wiki. But I had been visiting FANDOM since 2014-2015 with the Animal Crossing Wiki and Metal Gear Solid Wiki, even commenting anonymously on articles a few years after.

3. What specifically drew you to Fandom, and how did you get started editing?

Fenn: What initially drew me to FANDOM was to view the encyclopedia so I could discover more about the series’ I love (And find all of those stinking dog tags in Metal Gear Solid 2). However, what got me to join the communities was nothing short of divine intervention. I would often write English Covers to Japanese songs. I was working on Boku no Hero Academia’s second opening theme, “Peace Sign”, when Google decided to translate the Kanji on the page, without asking permission first (as it always had). I found the translation and felt I should find some way to share it on-site so others could also get a kick out of it. Couldn’t comment on an article anonymously, so I stumbled into the Discussion Posts. Made my account as a one-time use sort of thing, but found myself sticking around because the art users made was amazing. Made some friends and ventured across many Wikis for my favorite series’. God works in mysterious ways, and I know He had Google translate those lyrics for me. :)

4. What wikis do you contribute to and what do you love most about those communities?

Fenn: The Wikis I contribute to most are the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Wiki (Admin), Dragon Ball Wiki (Social Admin), Weebipedia (Co-Founder and Bureaucrat), Yakuza Wiki (Poster and Editor), AmericanFootballPlace (Poster and Editor), and the Yakuza Fanon Wiki (Adopted it last year, and have been trying to get site rules and important pages added in my free time). What I love most about the communities is the creativity and support they all have. Whether it be fan art, fan fiction, wiki customization and layout, image and video edits they share, or the way they work to make their own communities unique and unlike any other. It is all so inspiring and enjoyable to see how much passion and love they have for their favorite series’. And the support they give one another is as if they all knew each other in real life. Everyone can connect through games, anime, music, television, sports, and books they all love. Working together to build their encyclopedias, cracking jokes in discussions, and just all around being a friend to someone. No matter how shy someone might be, what they have experienced in life, how they look, or where they are from, there is always a community who will welcome them with open arms and help them with their editing and social journey in FANDOM.

5. How did you become inspired to take on a leadership role in your community(ies)?

Fenn: The very first leadership role I ever got was when I started Weebipedia, which was more or less that I just wanted to make a Wiki where everyone could write about their favorite manga, anime, Japanese video games, Japanese music, etc.

What inspired me to take on a leadership role in an established wiki was when I saw a User in the discussions being bullied badly over something they were upset about. Something really rough had been happening to them in real life, and they would occasionally talk about their problem in the Wikis discussions. There were no active discussion moderators at the time, and the wiki would often get hit with random off-topic posts and some not so good things, but then people began to bully others and targeted this User over the terrible thing that had been happening in their life, making fun of him. When it hit that point, I applied on an Admin’s wall for a Discussion Moderator role. I had only been on the Wiki for about 2 months, so I thought that I would not be hired at the time, but I hoped it would at least peak the Admin’s interest in what had been going on in the discussion posts. Well, he ended up giving me a moderator role, which rippled into a mini-surge of users wanting to stand up for what was right. 2 others were hired within the next 24 hours after I was given rights, and we tried our best to clean things up. We were all fresh blood, so we found ourselves stumbling on how to properly approach moderation and tripping over each other when it came to uniform protocols, but luckily the Wiki cleaned up and we managed to get our act together. LOL!

6. What is your favorite thing about being an admin/mod/editor on Fandom?

Fenn: Being able to help people and give them someone to talk to. Being able to be a User who, when others see me, know they’re in safe hands, and they can rely on me to help them, regardless of my Admin/Moderator status. I see an Admin/Moderator role as a simple User who has extra tools to keep people safe, and more responsible. It makes my day when I am able to help a User who was nervous to ask for help when they saw I had roles on a Wiki, and walk away knowing that I’m not as scary as they thought. XD

7. What contribution(s) to Fandom are you most proud of?

Fenn: This is actually a tough question. All positive contributions I am happy about, big or small. But, I think one of the contributions that have made me the happiest is the clean-up of the JoJo Wiki. It was a pretty bad place, honestly, and due to the toxicity of it, a lot of JoJo fans I knew wouldn’t really go there because of the constant drama. People were breaking both local guidelines and also terms of use, being especially aggressive toward the folks who didn’t want the Wiki to be so bad. I and some folks worked to clean up the site, but it wasn’t easy. I was very new to being a global moderator and made a few mistakes, but with the support of the local team that had been recently hired, we made it through! Now the Wiki is far better, cleaner, happier, funner, and all-around more enjoyable! I am very proud of our past and current mod team, and all they do. A lot of them have ingenious ideas and are extremely awesome and enthusiastic at their work; they teach me new things every day! Now, hopefully, every visitor can enjoy the Wiki the way they see best. LOL! I honestly could not do half of what I do across the network had it not been for my bros, Ya Boi King Kai and Garfield TC. The two of them have taught me so much and supported me no matter what. They’re truly amazing individuals.

'''8. Our theme for WHM this year is “break the bias” which highlights the importance of challenging biases and misconceptions to create a more inclusive and gender-equal world. What does breaking the bias personally mean to you?'''

Fenn: What it personally means to me is “Be yourself, be individual, and don’t worry over peeps who try to get ya down. Just live your best life and rock what you got.” It seems like in this age, everyone is always broken down into a category or sub-category, and even put themselves in those categories, and that just seems wrong to me. It makes me happy when I see people just do what they know is right and do what they enjoy, regardless of what’s popular, or what others say, think, or do. Everyone has their own liberties and freedoms to make their own choices. Some choices could be good, some bad, some could save you, some could harm you. But ultimately, your choices are your own, not someone else’s choices, and not mainstream society's choices. Your own choices. Whether you agree with someone or disagree, you should always strive to keep the common courtesy of respect, even if they do not give you that same courtesy. No one has to let their gender, skin color, or anything of the sort tie them down as a victim. Anyone can be a victor and overcome inequality.

9. How do you “break the bias” in your real life and on Fandom?

Fenn: How I usually find myself breaking the bias is actually almost always related to the stuff I like, be it series’, sports, etc. A lot of times, people are in for quite a shock when they learn I am fond of things such as football, hockey, and other things often considered as more “boyish.” On my YouTube channel, I tend to create content related to series’ that are not so girly, though I enjoy sometimes putting a bit of a girly spin on it. For example, voice dubbing female variations of male characters, such as Goro Majima, Solid Snake, etc. On FANDOM, I tend to float around Wikis for Shonen Anime and male-oriented Video Games, such as Dragon Ball and Yakuza, which has surprised many of my friends when they learned I’m female. XD

10. What are some of your favorite female characters that “break the bias” and why do they personally resonate with you?

Fenn: Pop culture really does a great job at representing female characters, and I have so many favorites, to be honest. There are honestly so many to pick from. I would say my top 3 who break the bias, as well as resonate with me, would be Kaoru Sayama (Yakuza), Kale (Dragon Ball Super), and The Boss (Metal Gear Solid).

Break the Bias
To create a more inclusive and gender-equal world, challenging biases and misconceptions is what breaking the bias is all about. Thanks to Fenn for sharing her journey on fandom and breaking the bias to support others in the community!

Check out our takeaways from Fenn’s interview:

Takeaway #1: Just like Tyler Joseph from 21 Pilots said, “Anyone, from anywhere, can do anything.” Anyone can do what they want when they work hard enough for their dreams. No one should let anything stop them from doing what they want.

Takeaway #2: “Be yourself, be individual, and don’t worry over peeps who try to get ya down. Just live your best life and rock what you got.”

Takeaway #3: “Whether you agree with someone or disagree, you should always strive to keep the common courtesy of respect, even if they do not give you that same courtesy.”

We’re interested to learn more about our editors! Breaking the bias can be done in many ways. How are you breaking the bias on the Fandom platform? Do you know someone creating spaces so others can learn and grow within the community? Share in the comments!