Editor Stories: Bridging Borders Through Fandom with Taxcymus

Hey everyone!

The celebration continues as we share more from our incredible creators on the Fandom platform for Hispanic Heritage Month! You've heard from about the power of representation from Fearless Diva, and even learned more about JazieCult's journey on Fandom. Today, we have another editor story that you will truly enjoy. Taxcymus is a Fandom Star and has bridge the borders of the Fandom platform for years. They've forged bonds with fellow editors and created a community and culture enriched with passion, information, and support. Read on to learn more about Taxcy's journey and their message to the Fandom community for Hispanic Heritage Month!

When I came to Fandom I came with clear intentions of adding information about a video game that I knew a lot about and there was still a lot left to add. I never thought about the wonderful world I would discover behind a wiki, nor did I imagine I would be part of it. I went by the nickname Taxcy Marsopas1, but I'm better known as Taxcymus, and I'm Hispanic; Mexican before a passport, Latinx before a statistic, but Hispanic for love and much more.

The Internet is the place where borders are broken, and it was something I learned as I advanced in my career in these parts. Off the screen we were Mexican, Colombian, Argentinian, Spanish...but here, what is the relevance of our origin? It's not the first thing they ask you when you arrive, they usually ask you how you got to the wiki and what you like about the video game, series, movie, anime, etc. Here, we get together to edit for the love of what we like and because it is the language we speak. This is how I met Hispanicity: a group of users where we come together for the passion of editing and allowing our language partners to find information in our language, where we can leave our grain of sand.

But how much is a grain of sand compared to a beach or desert full of sand? It's just nothing. It will fade or be forgotten. When I arrived I admired many editors for their contributions, and even today, I talk about them as if they had been titans; They were just editors as casual as me. Why let what many built be lost in the recesses of the internet?

At some point, I stopped editing on my main wiki and moved on to other wikis (all in Spanish!). I went through Steven Universe Wiki, Map Games Wiki, Creepypasta Wiki, Polandball Wiki, Monster Legends Wiki, Cuphead Wiki....In each place I visited, the rules of the game changed. Some were more demanding than others in the content; others gave priority to having galleries comparable to a museum, while some preferred to do dynamics and games, thus attracting fans of their topics. Of everything I saw, what I enjoy most is having fun with the community. Each wiki had its own culture, an identity. And when you talk to so many, from so many places, what unites us all? Edit and...our language and heritage.

My friends and I, perhaps as a "game", built our own cause: for a united Hispanic community, for a common block. Our game was a manifesto. At that time, Hispanic wikis were isolated from each other: each to their own. We found the problems that plagued Hispanics: distrust between ourselves and the language border with English; A lot of technical knowledge (design, SEO, programming, web advertising) is in English, and not all Hispanics speak or know the language 100%. It was the priority as a group: to be translators for those who required the most help and to bring the news to "Hispanicity." When we least expected it, we had already left our grains of sand. Many of these users learned and began to develop new models for designing, coding, and other techniques to promote their wikis. Among us we began to share ideas, knowledge and carry them out in our wikis.

After that, it occurred to us to do dynamics to entertain ourselves and get to know each other: we called one of those events "WikiOlimpiadas". We thought that together we could have fun and get to know each other more. Those events helped a lot to meet users of other wikis, and make friends. Editing is fun but it's more fun to build your wiki with friends. This is how we gradually edited the different wikis of our friends, and gradually, of others who joined. Everyone could contribute!

8 years have been this great journey that I have called "Hispanic Fandom". Many of those who accompanied me have already retired: I still remember ZerphetuS helping me with the design of a chat, TheNozomi giving details to the design of the Steven Universe Wiki, Aokmine designing the Polandball Hispana Wiki logo, which we still use! I also can't forget the times that Unai01 advised me on branding and editing, the nights of talks with Tono555 about how to deal with trolls and how not? To Unai and Tono welcoming me to admin of Central Hispana. I learned from them, while growing up with new peers. I was inspired by BranDaniMB's design work, learned from Adnet88's moderation skills, how to create a category tree with DiaperedPony's writing, how far dedication to a wiki can go with LightWatcher, and how King Mememes managed to organize a team huge against vandals inside and outside your wiki. And just as they helped and taught me, I was also able to give back their support to those who came: I remember an enthusiastic GreenWithin learning to guide a community, Haobo12 inviting me to write a Youtubepedia 10th anniversary message, DarkGames asking me how to organize its users, I don't forget Supeika's conversations about what to do to improve our wikis, the times I talked with Jazie about our projects and how to create a minimalist design with Aexhell... The list doesn't end!

Hispanic Heritage Month is a month to celebrate, to feel proud of our roots, but more importantly, remember all the Hispanics who contributed their grain of sand to turn "Hispanidad" into an immense beach. I am happy that many of us have participated in this great project known as "wikis" and my greatest wish for all Hispanics is that they always grow together, ensuring not only the well-being of our wikis, but also building bonds of friendship that transcend physical and cultural borders. even virtual. And for those who are not part of Hispanicism, they will always be welcome to our great community, sometimes a simple greeting can start a long friendship and why not? be the beginning of the future of a new project. ¡Que viva la Hispanidad por hoy y por siempre!

La hispanidad, al servicio de la comunidad.

Thank you Taxcymus for taking the time to share your story and be a true leader and friend throughout the community. We're honored to celebrate you, your accomplishments, and amplify your voice throughout the month!

Stay tuned for a special blog as we conclude our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration!