#this might get me harassed by a certain fandom but you know what they already harassed me 2 times before third times the charm!

[jjinx1998]

xxtc-96xx Callout post

To start I want you to know I didn't want things to have to come to this but after recent developments and discussions from others I cannot ignore what's been going on for years now. This is a problem revolving around the user @xxtc-96xx , the comic Endertale, and the Undertale fandom. I will try to explain what I know and offer proof when I can, but there might be some sloppiness as this is my first real post on Tumblr. If there is any technical issues about this post, please let me know so I can fix it.

Let me start from the beginning. I have been a long time fan of xxtc-96xx since about 2016 (I will refer to them as TC to make it easier). I have enjoyed looking at the art they create for many years, mainly the ones revolving around Endertale.

Endertale is a fan comic that TC made of the game Undertale. It's a very decent story with a pleasant art style. I would recommend it but I cannot and I will get to why. You see TC has suffered from something that just about any creator can relate to, burnout. The most recent comic page being posted in 2021 though there was already a hiatus established before that.

While they made it long clear that they needed to go on break for personal reasons, people wanted to ask for when they will continue it. Some of them calm and reasonable and other's were very much not nice. TC answered them honestly at first.

Then it started to devolve into troll responses or just not answering.

Not just on Tumblr but people kept asking on Deviantart as well. In fact people are still asking today in 2024. It has gotten so frequent that TC felt it necessary to change their profile header to this:

And it has stayed that way for so long I lost track of when it started. To be fair, even I found the frequent questions to be overwhelming and they just like every artist who makes stuff for free is entitled to take a break from their work. However this post isn't a complaint about how long it takes to finish a comic, it's about something that started because of the wait.

See, their original reason to take a break was because they were too busy with personal matters for them to commit to an actual comic. But as their history up to today has shown that's no longer a valid excuse. As time went on they started to show an interest in the Pokemon fandom. specifically the pokemon known as Mewtwo. To make a long story short, what started as small doodles grew into a whole bunch of fancomics and animations. To compare, they have drawn nearly four times as many Pokemon drawings compared to Undertale. Now, it is perfectly fair and acceptable to find an interest in a different fandom. And while I personally prefer Undertale over Pokemon I completely supported their decision to focus on other fandoms and enjoyed what they made. I also understood their issues with the fandom at the time, some people were rather aggressive, rude, or demanding the comic to be completed, a comic that's completely free that they make no profit out of. I even recall one point they tried to unsuccessfully drag a different content creator into this issue as if it would somehow work.

However I started to notice they had a warped perception on the fandom. Rather than blame the few people that harassed them online with constant asks, they believed that the entire fandom as a whole is to blame as declared it all toxic. Something they insist on repeating to all their fans and making them believe their opinion as fact.

Now for the record I am very aware of how toxic this fandom was and can be at times. I was around since the beginning and have seen just about every drama that has come. From the fans harassing you for not doing the pacifist route in the first time playing, people arguing if either Frisk or Chara is a really bad person, arguing over Frisk's and Chara's gender, is genocide the right choice, is Toriel the bad guy or Asgore, and a controversy revolving around a certain creator of the au Glitchtale (the last one TC coincidentally emulates their "Delay work for one week for every ask" and finds it amusing). I know this fandom is not the best but I love it all the same, it's as much a part of my life as it is for TC. I know I am not perfect at showing my interest for Undertale, as this image of a private ask shows.

Or this time I made a obviously joke ask and apparently I didn't realize a lot of people don't understand sarcasm.

Or when I tried to ask this sincere and nonaggressive question, one of the few times TC isn't putting up some kind of attitude.

Or this other ask from me.

At the end of the day this is just a comic. No one has any right to demand them to continue it or make death threats, this is completely unacceptable. However, at the same time this doesn't mean the creator should dehumanize the entire fandom or punish the few that are being respectful. They wait and what do they get, people mocking them and bullying them. That's what I realized in the past week when I engaged in the comments of a few posts. TC allow their fans to bully the fandom.

I tried to be as calm and reasonable as I can and yet I get called out as a toxic fan. And in the end did TC scold everyone else, no, they basically told me to shut up. I overestimated the fans intelligence and if they could handle basic logic, read the comments for yourself to see my point. As someone with Asperger and anger issues, it's a god given miracle I am still trying to maintain my composure within this insanity that has been going on for years. I have spoken with several content creators who asked to remain anonymous about this entire fiasco and we have similar conclusions about TC.

TC has been through a lot of painful and hurtful comments over the years that they did not deserve in the slightest. They are entitled to do whatever they want with their comic and works. Saying a fandom is or isn't toxic is unhelpful as you fundamentally miss the mark on how fandom culture works. As a creator, it is not right to hang this hiatus over people's heads and string them along. TC does not respect their Undertale fans in the slightest and mocks those who is still waiting. They indirectly encourage their other fans to bully and dehumanize the rest.

I held back on making a comment about all this for two reasons. One, TC's fandom terrifies me. They are complete smug hypocrites who spend way too much time on the internet that they don't realize that if they use their words in real life they will get punched in the face for it. Two, despite everything I still believe that TC can change. I like to believe the best in everyone and that there is hope that maybe this time TC will realize they have become the very thing they hate. That hope has faded to cinders. I'm done with TC, my only concern is the people remaining to wait for the comic.

To everyone who is waiting for Endertale and/or following TC because you like their Undertale stuff, leave them and never come back. They do not respect you, they look down on you, they laugh watching you wait, you deserve better than them. Even if they do finish the comic eventually it will not be made out of love or passion.

DO NOT harass and bully them because of my words. I will not tolerate any attempt to do so.

My final words are for TC if they even decide to read this:

TC, I know we are not friends, you made that clear long ago but I was hoping we could've been. You were a huge inspiration for me in the past and was what pushed me to attempt learning about art. I looked up to you and tried to support you when you were feeling down. You are no longer that person.

You do not have the right to condemn an entire fandom as toxic and declare it as a fact of life. It's people like you that keep the fandoms so divided to this day. It's because of people like you I am scared for my life if I ever mention Undertale in public. Your fixation on the sins of the past prevents us from moving forward. I do not excuse what happened but the past is in the past, get over it and grow up, you are an adult so act like it.

You say you don't owe us any comic or works, well at the same time if you want to mistreat the fandom I care about then I or anybody don't owe you any respect yet I did for nearly five years.

Why? Because I cared about how this all made you feel. What do you see when you look at me, another obsessed toxic fan who should keep their mouth shut or a PERSON with their own thoughts feelings and beliefs?

One of your problems is that you think nothing ever seems to be your fault, just the fans who keep asking. Well maybe they wouldn't have asked if you didn't leave them hanging for almost five years. To me, it no longer matters if you finish Endertale or not.

Maybe you still think it isn't your fault, then that makes me the idiot for hoping you can be better. You hurt me, really hurt me. I don't think I can ever trust someone like you again.

Do you know what I really want?

Your apology. I want you to make a genuine apology to me and the fandom at your actions over the years. I won't block you because being the idiot I am I hope my words mean something to you and you'll want to chat.

But until you wise up ask yourself this familiar question,

Do you really think you are above consequences?

#Endertale #Undertale #call out post #toxicity #cw: vent #undertale comic #long post

[let-them-fight]

can we stop doing this trope

#tumblr #politics #media #fiction #tropes #social justice #like soooooo much of the popular media I see big on this website does this. like #marvel #mcu #atla #tlok #the legend of korra #avatar #rwby #bioshock #the clone wars #dc #dc comics #<- just to name a few #this might get me harassed by a certain fandom but you know what they already harassed me 2 times before third times the charm!

[cookinguptales]

I will say, though, that sometimes you try to talk yourself out of your feelings for a long time and then you talk to someone outside of the situation and they're like "what the fuck" and you're like OH okay I have a right to feel weird and bad and stressed out.

I guess it's easy to feel stupid because you actually are affected when people are actively trying to affect you, especially when it's something like writing on the internet, which is just... always going to get harassment. Like when I say I've gotten messages about how people like me should be euthanized in the past over tumblr posts. :')

So you're like "oh, random shitty people is just something that everyone deals with, I should shut up and stop being a baby about it" and then you actually show the messages you're getting to someone and they're like ???? what????

Like I shared my inbox with my hairstylist when we were chatting a few days ago, and he was like ???? This man is not in fandom, so when he saw the kind of shit I was getting over not liking a finale of a tv show, he was shocked. Which... was kind of gratifying. It made me feel less crazy. lmao

Kind of reminds me of when I wrote this really personal essay about disability a few years ago and it won a contest. The people running the contest gave me uhhh quite a bit of money and asked me to keep writing for their site for more money. Like when I tell you I was literally on IRL conference calls with these people asking me why I stopped writing for them.

And I was finally like "...well, there's this feature on your site where you can tag other users in your essays, and after I won people kept writing their own essays about how much I didn't deserve to win, about how "lucky" I was to have a sob story that was attractive to the judges, about how whiny I was, people questioning my disability, etc. And since they tagged me, this was filling my email inbox and it really stressed me out. But if you look at the actual comments on the story, you don't see any of that. So it was kind of invisible harassment."

And the rep was horrified. She had never even considered that someone might use the feature like that. She was like WE'LL INVESTIGATE THIS and I was like. sure, okay. But getting that taste of the spotlight was already enough to make me peace out for good, tbh. Even though I knew that a lot of it was just sour grapes because they wanted to win themselves, and I knew that a lot of what they were saying wasn't valid, the sheer force of the animosity against me was overwhelming.

Like... it's not a crime to have your feelings hurt when someone is actively trying to hurt your feelings. It's natural, I guess, even if you feel kind of stupid about it.

I guess it's kind of wild to me that we just take it for granted that anyone who speaks up is gonna get yelled at online. Any prominent writer or activist you see is probably getting daily cruelty, if not outright death threats. And you just -- you have to have such a certain temperament to deal with all that. And I don't have it. I get easily overwhelmed and stressed when people are mad at me and I know it's not ideal but it is who I am. I joke about it, but I really kind of do feel like a small nervous dog sometimes.

And I wonder, sometimes, how many great voices we never hear from because of this expectation of harassment. Someone says something, gets some shitty trolly comment, then goes back in their hole and never talks again. Or they see the way other people get treated and they never speak up in the first place.

idk, I don't mean to be a martyr about this and I'm sure other people are getting the kinds of messages I am but like. God, it is so weird and disheartening to realize that a few people have been sending you nasty messages for literally months when you block an anon from your inbox and you see what else disappears. There are people who are so mad at me that they've sent me angry messages for months. Because I don't have the same opinions they do about a tv show.

It kind of makes you want to never talk about anything ever again. :(

#just me #I've actually been literally stalked twice because of fandom #one much worse than the other #so maybe I'm just extra sensitive #but man it does not feel good #I Do Not Wish To Be Observed #but I do want people to read the things I write #a terrible conundrum lmao #it just all gets so weirdly personal so fast

[dearweirdme]

Hi i'm the same anon that talked to you about jk not seeming like a good bf.

Thank you for your answer but I think i may not explained my idea well, I didn't mean it like he should try to look a certain way in his relationship with tae bc I understand the closeting, what I say it's that based in some of his actions he in a personal level to me, doesn't look like a good bf and not even as a good friend (for the ones who don't want to believe that they are together) and that's bc he chooses to do things that at large harm tae and I know some of you don't think he 'feeds' jokers , that may not have been the correct word for what I want to say but he must know how the fandom reacts to anything jkook and how they twist it for their fantasies (and yes sometimes they themselves do feed the fantasy but lately not as much as some ppl think)

And I know they know bc tae definitely knows, we all have see him react to jkookery before and I suspect that tae even knows that he is massively hated by these shippers and that might be some of the reasons he doesn't mention jk like before and it's very careful and if tae knows there's no way that jk who very clearly shares a life with him and it's constantly in soc media doesn't know too, they all know and yet he is still does things that will have the same ppl who hate on his partner or friend content and happy.

So tae has to limit himself when it's about him and be hyperaware bc he will be hated and harassed but the others can do whatever they want even when it will result in the same ppl who hate on his bandmate feeling braver and affirmed, why does tae have to be aware of repercussions of such a simple thing like him talking about jk and the others don't?

I even suspect that jk isn't saying anything about tae's release rn even though he is in social media commenting stuff and liking things bc it will attract the negative attention of #those fans to tae when this is such an important moment of his career but in this scenario it means that jk is aware of the hate tae receives and that a lot of it come from these shippers and he still isn't being careful of the repercussions.

I also don't think is casual that the jkookery ramped up during Jm's debut where jjks were targeting jm harshly and during jk's were it was expected as they did that they would retaliate, even jokers were leaving jk... and pjms were instigating the hate towards jk even getting hit tweets talking bad about him of up to 5k likes, even before his debut they were harassing scooter Braun on Instagram, my guess it's that jkook are wanting to show their closeness to their fans to try to attenuate the insane hatred and competition their fans have and that is potentially dangerous for them. I mean jjks really made a mess during jm's debut and pjms were doing hashtags, trying to get blinks on their side and even planning something for jk's ikingayo and jokers were leaving jk and shading him all along. If not for that shirtless live a lot would have left and it happened just before his ikingayo so my opinion is that jkook are protecting themselves but where does this leave tae? For them to protect themselves they choose to make happy and brave the same ppl who harass his bandmate? Knowing they will twist every little thing for their fantasies? Idk I just find a lot of things unfair, and if that's the case I think is very dangerous to allow a group of very sick delusional ppl to fester without any measure to shut down their delusions, they are already rabid and next time that they have to acknowledge Tk's intimacy they will have a meltdown that will harm tae and spike the hate towards him as it usually happens but worse bc they are feeling in heaven rn and when reality hits they will be mad and we know who will be the target, i mean nothing has happened with tk and they won't stop targeting

This turned so long sorry if it's all over the place I hope you understand

Hi again anon!

No, I did understand you the first time. I was trying to convey that we cannot really say anything about what kind of boyfriend/friend Jk is, because we don't see that part of his/their lives. We don't know if Jk makes a bath for Tae every night, or if he brings him breakfast in bed, or how he supports him during hard times (though I think we've seen hints of it, that you might not have picked up on). You are basing your thoughts on Jk as a boyfriend on what you do see, and that is just not representative of their private lives imo. If he can't show his relationship in public, and if we don't see much of their private lives... then how are we able to qualify his boyfriendyness?

You think Jk feeds shippers, I don't. I think he does engage in fanservice, and maybe that is what makes you think he feeds shippers. But, Jk engages in fanservice with all members, even Tae. His close bond with Jimin does make the lines blurry, I agree... but I don't think it is Jk's intention to make Jkkrs hold on to their believes. Think of what the alternative would be. For instance, you probably look at the Jimin live he did and the instance of him asking Jimin to do a live together a week or so ago as feeding shippers. I think Jk just loves Jimin (platonically) and therefore wants to do these things. It's not premeditated, he sees Jimin online... and thinks "there's my friend, I want to react." . He does not think, 'yes, this is a moment Jkkrs will like". He's allowed to freely interact with his friend the way he chooses. Their friendship should not be under the influence of shippers. If he were to consider shippers in everything he does, all spontaneity will be lost.

I think you presume that vminkook haven't talked about these things. Those three men are in a weird position. Neither ship can be denied (assuming Tae and Jk are in fact together). Tae and Jimin get strong hate from the other ship's side, while being close friends. Jk is always in the middle and is being seen as a bad boyfriend by both sides. It's not a nice situation. But, you are forgetting that these men have known each other closely, as best friends, for more than ten years. Jimin has seen Jk and Tae fall in love. He has seen how hard it has been. He has supported them through it. Tae and Jk have seen what this meant for Jimin as well. I am sure they have talked about how to deal with this. I think they have decided to let their friendship come first, which means that Jk and Jimin do not have to hold back on their interactions. Tae knows what fanservice is and he knows that Jimin is not actually a risk to him. Jimin isn't going to steal Jk. Did Tae have trouble dealing with Jikook interactions, yes.. at times he did. We have seen jealousy and moments that made it clear Tae did not like what he saw. I think the problem in those moments was that he was unable to just tell them in the moment "hey, that's my man". And probably some times his tolerance for Jkk interactions was high, and sometimes it was low.

From our side things look very different than they do from members' side. We only see what it's shown. And since the company has favoured Jkk moments over Tkk moments, that is what we see a lot. It feels unbalanced. But for the members, this is probably completely different. They have seen each other every day for hours at a time. They know what the real balance is like. So they don't judge situations the same as we do. I have talked about the Taekook stare from the vminkook live recently. That to me is very telling about how fandom and members differ in judging situations.

It's a tricky situation anon and there's really no easy way out of it for them. I think that's why Jk said recently it's better not to adress these sensitive topics, because it will be mayhem if they ever do. It's not great for any of them, including Jk, because he get's hate himself and he has to stand by and watch his bf and his best friend get hate because of it.

#taekook #ship analysis #there's much more to say about this #i'm just glad they choose friendship over other things

[fereldanwench]

As I've been watching folks come forward with stories about bullying and gatekeeping in the Cyberpunk fandom, and watching other folks who are kind of on the sidelines (like me) chime in with their takes, I've been debating if there is any value to me speaking up outside of tags in reblogs from other folks.

To be honest, I'm still a little unsure if there is: I'm not directly involved in any of this, I feel like some of what I have to say has already been said, and I feel like I might be inserting myself into something I could more or less let pass by me. But I have a lot of friends who have been directly affected by this, and a common sentiment seems to be "Thank you for sharing. You're not alone."

So maybe my two cents can also help alleviate someone's pain or sense of isolation.

In spite of the current climate, I have actually found Cyberpunk on the whole to be one of the most chill fandoms I've ever been a part of. (Granted, weathering the Dragon Age fandom circa 2013-2015 might cloud my judgment a little here.) Although to be real: I'm also probably lucky that my blorbo of choice wasn't ~*claimed*~ by anyone, which has allowed me to create and vibe in peace.

But I will say when I "joined" last summer/fall, when I was basically a loner doing my thing, before I even knew most of my CP friends or any cliques or spilled tea, I got Bad Vibes™️ from certain parties pretty quickly. I generally prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes at the expense of ignoring my gut instincts, but eventually, I felt like first impressions were accurate and I have maintained my distance.

I've participated in online fandom communities for over 20 years--While every fandom will have its unique flavor of drama, you eventually start to spot the troublemakers from a mile away. People who can't share their toys but still expect to be a part of a broader community, people who surround themselves with yes-men, people who crave validation to an unhealthy extent, people who insist their friends like and dislike the same community members they do, people who prey on other fans who are susceptible to manipulation, etc.

I felt relatively safe from all this behavior: I know what I like and what I'm about, I'm confident in my niche, and I met some really cool people I'm happy and honored to call my friends now. But I noticed over the past few months that almost every single one of them had a story about being wronged one way or another by this particular group. I also noticed that in spite of the hold this group seemed to have over fandom, a lot of people, directly affected or not, seemed to share a lot of the same concerns I had just weeks into the fandom. But everyone was afraid to say anything.

And I think to some extent, for good reason: callout posts and going public about ~*fandom drama*~ is a whole ass thing. They can often make things worse, they can often further divide a community, they almost always put the person doing the calling out under a microscope. Victims will have their valid concerns and legitimate experiences with harassment be dismissed as "clout chasing" or "just being jealous" while the perpetrators often just double-down on their behavior. It's scary and can feel futile to speak up and disrupt the status quo, even if the status quo sucks.

People will also be told "this should be handled privately." I do think a lot of things can and should be resolved privately, and I generally advocate this as a first step over going directly to callout posts. However, this requires both parties to have an investment in reaching some kind of reconciliation--I get the sense that this point has long passed. (Incidentally, it also requires being able to talk to someone privately, which can't be done if you block 80% of the community. It's pretty disingenuous of a person to say "this should have been handled privately" if they've removed that as an option.)

The exact goal of a callout post can also be muddied. Toxic in its own way, even. Yes, sometimes it is absolutely about trying to run people out of fandom. I can't honestly say I've never thought "this community would be better off without so-and-so." I have. I've probably said it, too. But at my core, I also genuinely believe in people having an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and be better. I don't think people who have been wronged need to stick around for that personal journey and I think a part of that journey might require taking a step back from a community, but I do understand the discomfort of witnessing (or experiencing) what feels like mass ostracization and retribution.

But in this particular situation, I think the greatest takeaway is that people who felt isolated are realizing they are not. The fact that so many people have come forward to share experiences that have been burdening them for months I think speaks volumes to the damage that has been done here. I also think trying to reduce this hurt and trauma to "clout chasing" or "being jealous" is not only reductive but perpetuates this harm.

And the last thing I'm going to say about this is really more criticism of CDPR than the fandom, but I feel it's still relevant since the two are rather entwined at this point.

Since witnessing the way David Gaider's behavior with fans contributed to a lot of wank in the Dragon Age fandom ten years ago, I have felt very strongly that it's important for the well-being of both parties to maintain a certain distance.

This isn't to say that they shouldn't interact at all or that there shouldn't any kind of community outreach--I have personally done some very cool things, like going to E3 (back when that was still a thing), as a result of an excellent community program from another franchise--But devs not on the community side (who are probably better equipped to handle things like the effects of parasocial relationships) can really run the risk of disrupting the already fragile ecosystem of a fandom, even with the best of intentions. I believe that has happened to an extent here as well, and I would just caution devs and fans alike about respecting the need for some boundaries.

I don't really have a clever little summation for this, so I'm just going to end with a screenshot of my Duolingo lesson for today being far too relevant because I honestly got a good laugh out of it:

#t: wench.txt

[megaderping]

Late Night Fandom Frustrations

Honestly, sometimes I worry about how aggressive parts of the Undertale and Deltarune fandoms on tumblr and twitter can be in terms of like.... just general fandom climate surrounding certain characters or views on things. Obviously, it’s hardly a problem exclusive to UT/DR, but it still bugs me a lot. Mostly in terms of more innocuous things like just enjoying characters like Asgore or Berdly, some people will get really up in arms about it. The moment someone casually mentions liking Asgore, you get the same people jumping in and going “he killed kids” like the fans of the character don’t already know that...? It is possible to like a character, while acknowledging their flaws, and it bothers me because it feels like there are weird double standards at play at times. Because Asriel gets all this love and positivity, but he also at one point actively killed people (albeit it wasn’t his first choice when he became Flowey and he only started doing this when he was unable to make meaningful connections and got bored and curious, and he is a very complex and tragic character). But I’ve had friends get harassed and literally stalked for just... drawing cute Asgore art and being told it’s “woobifying him”. And I’ve seen people on twitter just try to talk about Asgore get jumped by people repeatedly tearing into the character and it’s just... it’s okay to dislike Asgore, but it’s just rude to go into a space where someone just wants to have a chill discussion and start spewing flames. And, obviously, it goes both ways. I’ve seen people who like, say, Berdly heckle and pester people who have expressed they don’t like him, aren’t interested in debating it, and just want to left alone. And I think if someone makes clear boundaries, that’s not up for debate. And bashing another character just to elevate a fav isn’t good either- e.g. the “Toriel is just as bad as Asgore” crowd. But also like... another issue I have is the way some people get really aggressive about certain choices or interpretations being the only valid ones. I’ve mentioned it before, but Frisk being Toriel’s child is a big one- the choice is in the game, it’s very sweet, and it leads to a nice resolution with Toriel and brings things full circle, but Toby also included places to go. Calling Toriel mom is an option, and a valid player choice, but so is not calling her mom. Folks can accept neutral routes and no mercy and stuff, so why is it that this one specific choice is held as the only one that matters?

When people push it as the only valid canon and anything contrary is Wrong, it just bothers me because this is a game full of so many choices and routes. A pacifist run can have you be kind to everyone, or you can be rude the entire time and still get the pacifist ending, along with everything in between. And it’s just confusing to me why when so many other choices and routes are acknowledged, Frisk being Toriel’s kid is treated as ironclad rather than just a preference. Places to go opens up a lot of really interesting mysteries- like where Frisk WOULD go, what sort of unfinished business they might have, and why they would come to Ebott.

It’d just be nice if more people in the fandom were open to that, y’know? Or at least acknowledged that however much it IS a popular choice, not everyone has to make that choice or have it be canon to their content. Likewise, a fanwork doesn’t have to treat Frisk as siblings or even friends with Chara or Asriel. It can be cute! But I also think, like not forgiving Asriel, there’s room for Frisk not wanting to build that kind of familial bond.

But it’s not just that. I see it to a lesser extent with things like Gaster interpretations due to the popularization of the years of collective fan lore. If someone wanted to make a Gaster that doesn’t resemble Mystery Man, I feel like it’d get a lot of unfair backlash, and that’s really sad. Likewise, I think the choice not to forgive Asriel is a valid one that isn’t explored that often (but if fanworks do explore it, I’d be curious to see!)

Just... blarg. Sometimes it feels like there’s too much of a push toward only one way of engaging with Undertale’s story and characters.* * No, I do not agree with using he or she for canon they/them characters. I won’t harass people over it, but I personally do not like it, and I consider that different from actual, in-game choices, before anyone tries to argue that here. But at the end of the day, I think it’s good to just... be chill with each other. If someone is being toxic or gross, then yeah, block and stuff, but sometimes people just have different favs or prefer different in-game choices and that’s not the end of the world.

#dorkvents #undertale #discourse

[sheep-sorbet]

crawling out of the woodwork, covered in dust hewwo

sorry to anyone who has wondered where i've been, if that's been anyone at all

i fell out of making art for kingdom hearts, and i was tempted to make this huge post with receipts to explain why, but instead i think it will be easier to just say this: fandom zines suck, and a mod that ran the ienzo/zexion zine i was in harassed me into basically just giving up and not making any art of him or posting about him.

the experience i had in that zine was bad enough that i had to make this decision: from now on, i will not participate in fandom zines run by other people. i love making and helping with zines so this really upsets me, and i hope to get back into the zine scene soon. maybe self-published is the way to go for me, im not sure. i am not even sure i can return to the zine scene at all because the deadline stress is too much for me, personally.

i've also become hesitant to participate in fandom events at all anymore. the exception has been the TWEWY secret santa that's happened the last 2 decembers, and that's because i am comfortable enough with the mod and people involved that i know im not going to be like. Harassed. lol

i lost my drive to create KH stuff at all because interacting with it, and especially making stuff about ienzo, who is my favorite, would have opened me up to furthered harassment, and i just didn't want to deal with it. due to the nature of working on the zine and being sent a copy of it, it's very possible the person who harassed me could make a lot of trouble for me if i say anything at all, which is why i just Haven't until now. they have my name and previous address, which i gave to them before the harassment started. i was required to give it to them to be compensated even slightly for my work. so this being potentially used against me, for what amounts to expressing my own opinions on my own blog, made me hesitant to say anything or involve myself further in the fandom.

all i did was say the very normal and lukewarm opinion of "it makes me uncomfortable when people want to see someone fuck their adoptive parent figures, and i don't want people like that following me", and said mod ended up DMing me to chastise me about it. im not going to name that mod or share the screenshots openly, because that would be taken by them as 'harassment', ironically, and i just would like to move on.

that, combined with a lot of things going on IRL, has made posting difficult for me. tbh, i've barely drawn anything since june of last year. Thank u to everyone who has still enjoyed my art that is already up, and to all the other ienzo/zexion enjoyers who like my art and are understanding. i miss kh and i hope i'll find the drive to be into it again soon. until then, the main things i've been into lately have been (N)TWEWY, omori, and hunter x hunter, so you might see stuff about that if and when i ever get my shit set back up.

i debated just not posting this and acting like it didn't happen. but not saying anything at all would be dishonest, and more importantly, i think people should be aware of the fact that fandom zines are not always a fun experience, and can actually be very stressful and exhausting for very little reward. i want to caution people before joining fandom events to vet the people running it a little bit if possible. you can't control who gets accepted to the zine, but you can control the people whose zines you sign up for. and if it sucks hit the bricks, which i did not do and should have lol

sometimes, you join a zine and put a lot of love and work into it, all you get out of it is being overworked and harassed. and then not all the finished pieces you made for the zine even ends up in it 🙃 did i mention you have to pay to get copies of the merch you yourself designed?

for the sake of my own sanity and to avoid certain people's ire im not gonna tag this in the main tags, and im also going to turn reblogs off. this is just an informational post about where i've been, what's been happening with me, and why it's hard for me to make stuff about ienzo right now. please just take it as such and don't be mean to anyone, regardless of what happened. if anyone is really burning for details i might be open to answering in DMs, but more than anything, i just want to get this out of my system (˚ ; - ; )👍

i hope i can go back to being the "funny ienzo guy" soon. until then i will continue to be the "funny emo boys in general" guy

#sheep speak #i would like to avoid shipping discourse also on this post #because frankly a lot of it boils down to everyone involved using victims of abuse as fandom wank and that's unacceptable to me #i will not call myself either prosh-p or ant/i because neither word describes my stance #of 'you can not separate art from politics and you must consider the harm of your work #and you also need to learn the difference between things that are wrong and things that make you uncomfortable because they are not 1:1' #aka you need to understand nuance as well as consider other people when you say and do things #and think about what kind of behavior and actions your art endorses

[linklethehistorian]

Since I’ve seen a fair bit of discourse around this in the past few years, let me just put this out there in no uncertain terms: if someone shipping something turns you off from that ship, that’s a you problem and in no way the other person’s responsibility.

Now, I’m not talking about someone being so obsessed with their ship that they start being a dick to you or others who ship different ships, because they believe that their ship is the only real or true one.

I’m not talking about when a large portion of the fandom ships something and that same sub-fandom of shippers are largely assholes of some variety, whether or not it actually has to do with their ship.

While I personally don’t get the idea that such a thing could make you no longer like something you loved, that is still valid and you are never required to keep liking or loving a ship for any reason, so long as you respect that others do.

What I am talking about specifically in this post is someone shipping their favorite ship completely harmlessly — by which I mean, never harassing anyone, never intentionally making it anyone else’s problem, never telling anyone else what to ship or not ship or anything else obnoxious like that — but doing so to the point where it is all they seem to post/reblog/like, etc.

If such a person being extremely active in their shipping bothers you to the point where you lose interest in the ship when you previously enjoyed it, then the problem is not them. It is you.

“But it’s unhealthy to make shipping your whole life!!!”

To that, I have three things to say.

First of all, no matter how many posts you’ve read on their blog(s), you do not know what their actual real life is like or what goes on in their head; it could very well be that you’re only seeing a small portion of their actual interests because that is simply the only thing they’re interested in sharing about themselves online. They may even have other accounts they don’t advertise that surround other things.

But secondly, even if you somehow did know for certain that this was their entire life and all they did…so what? No matter how ‘unhealthy’ you may think it is, what other people do with their lives and center their lives around is not your business or within your right to try to control — not unless they’re harming others directly by doing it. (And no, you being offended by their shipping does not count. You have the option to block them, or simply ignore their posts and keep scrolling.)

Which brings me to my third point…they’re not harming anyone in what they’re doing. As a matter of fact, by sitting there all day on their own personal account posting about things they love in their own spaces, not bothering nor being deterred by anyone else, they’re actually already being a far better member of the fandom than a great deal of the people who don’t only post about one thing — including you.

Unlike you, they’re spending their days enjoying things and focusing on that which they love, while ignoring the outside noise and the critics and the haters and anyone else whose posts might otherwise be offending them or deterring them from shipping their favorite ship.

Unlike you, they’re minding their own business and not trying to control other people’s shipping habits.

Unlike you, they probably know how the block button works, or at least how to look away from things they don’t like.

If you don’t want to ship something because of someone like them, then don’t ship it. But also, don’t act like it’s their fault or their problem for minding their own business, doing their own thing, in their own spaces.

You made the decision not to ship something anymore. That’s all it is.

#linklethehistorian #my thoughts #thoughts #non fandom #nonfandom #fandom #I’m tired of the “oh this person was such a rabid fan that they killed my interest in the ship” #first of all “rabid fan” nowadays has the connotation that someone is being actively harmful and intentionally rude to others #a person who is minding their own business but being enthusiastic about their ship is not a “rabid fan” #and most importantly no that person did not kill your interest in the ship #you did #you looked at that person and decided “this turns me off from that ship” and proceeded not to like it anymore #that is a valid decision as no one needs a reason to stop being interested in something #but it is not someone else’s fault for being more enthusiastic than you’d like #the world doesn’t revolve around you and your preferences

[my-mt-heart]

(This is mostly addressed to various commenters and anons, not actually MT, just to be clear I'm not trying to yell at you!)

I'm usually a fandom lurker, but man, some of y'all are infantilizing Mel and Angela as powerless damsels in distress and it is... yikes.

If AMC screwed Mel over, it WILL leak. There is no world where her agency lets AMC paint her as a demanding, inconsistent leading lady who quit an announced show, post-contract, for something as vague as she "needed a break."

It's obvious that "needed a break" isn't the whole story, but it's also 100% in keeping with Mel's history to stay quiet and vague about her personal life. I really hope I'm wrong, but my bet is a medical situation for her or someone close to her. It would explain why AMC is talking about Carol's return but with zero concrete details, and it explains why they aren't burning bridges with Mel after she blew up an announced project (which is a big fucking deal and does not actually happen often on this level of production).

On that note, you all are nuts if you think AMC would burn that development money, piss off fans who were excited about the spinoff, and make vast changes in location and story (plus probably scrambling to get other talent and crew on board) so late in the game just to save Norman a few transatlantic flights. Sure, Norman would have the clout to demand a specific location during contract negotiations. The period of time where he had enough power to make demands like that was long gone by the time Mel left the project. (And yes, this 100% would have been addressed before signing or announcing anything, he and Mel are union so AMC is on the hook for significant travel, housing, and other compensation if it makes them film outside of LA or NY.)

The cringiest part of all of this is when people try to make Angela Kang out as a hapless victim of the big, bad lead actor and/or studio. It's easy for the fandom to see the actors every week and think they make the entire show, but the industry looks at Angela and sees a potential Shonda Rhimes. She 100% had more power over the spinoff's story and location than Norman. He could not have forced her out any more than she could have forced him out.

Anyway. I'm not going to try to pull industry credentials since no one will believe the random internet stranger anyway, but I had to get this off my chest. I think maybe we're all so heartbroken that we *feel* like an injustice has been done, and some people found a way to see it as an injustice. I really thought it was just going to be a couple of the rabid Diane Kruger haters, but man, it seems like everyone has gone nuts with speculation, harassing the cast and crew "demanding answers." It's bumming me out almost as much as the spinoff changes, honestly.

(I will also start with the disclaimer that none of my responses are spewing anger at you directly)

1.Could be an eventual possibility? Most actors/actresses who get screwed over don't come out and say so until much later, right? Unless she signed something that prevents her from doing so or if new terms are going to be arranged (i.e. Carol returning at some point). I guess it depends on what we're thinking in terms of being screwed over. Just because it isn't an explicit or conscious effort doesn't mean it isn't happening. Also, maybe she won't be the leak herself. For example, and I'm not saying I do, but one could count some of the crew gossip as a leak despite certain embellishments.

2. I hope you're wrong too. One because I obviously don't want Melissa/her loved ones to be suffering any physical ailment, but also...though AMC might not be saying anything definitive, NR literally is. He's saying in interviews that Daryl and Carol will "definitely" come back together. Obviously that's above his paygrade and I don't take it as gospel, but if he already "definitely" knows that's not possible for MMB, I would find his insistence otherwise troubling. It sets her up to "blow things up" again for fans and it makes him look like a bad friend who’s only using her to take the heat off himself.

3. I think we're in agreement that Norman did not push Mel out due to demanding a location change. Like you said, none of that would have been decided last minute anyway, though for reasons I'll explain below, it's worth mentioning that Europe couldn't have been the original plan when they first signed on whenever that happened or when it was first announced back in 2020.

4. Are people holding Norman accountable for Angela's exit too? I haven't seen that anywhere. You're right that Angela has far more power over story and location than the actors, but she does not outrank Gimple or anyone at AMC. If she did, the Caryl spinoff would have remained a lighthearted (presumably cross country) road show instead of morphing into outrunning variant walkers in France. You will never convince me that’s what Angela wanted her show to become. 

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like what you're responding to mainly is some people's perception of Norman's responsibility in all this. For me and many other Carylers, the injustice is institutional. For one thing, the announcement of the Caryl spinoff may have been a dream come true in and of itself, but what really sparked excitement was the idea of that lighthearted road show because it promised light at the end of the tunnel for two characters who have had long, grueling journeys. We talked about it for two years, getting our hopes up. Little did we know the concept we all loved was being changed. 

AMC and co. may pretend that Europe was always the plan, but absolutely nothing about it lines up with what was initially said in interviews about the project or even what was implied onscreen. However early on after the announcement and press junkets, it changed. To something that in fact does not honor their emotional arc or even fit into the canon of the walking dead that we know. Yes, fine, [insert business reason here]. But as someone who is both in the industry and a big fan of the show/characters, that doesn't reduce the feeling of being strung along, lied to, and robbed of a story I was looking forward to, nor should it.

But even bigger than that, Caryl Abroad took all the hard work, thought, and care that a female showrunner put into developing what was supposed to be her show and put it in the hands of someone who consciously or not wants a male driven story to maintain a male audience. As for Angela's and Mel's exits, everything is speculative, but how can you not speculate when there are so many different narratives being put out there -- location, break, creative decision -- instead of one consistent explanation, however it needs to be phrased to give Melissa the privacy she's entitled to.

Chalk it up to misdirected anger/heartbreak if you want, but the way I see it, it ought to be acknowledged how bad it looks to not only lose two extremely vital women on the project, but to then replace them with two men. To then put all the responsibility on the women everywhere in the media and to do so without any sincere show of compassion or understanding i.e. "We know this was a really difficult decision for her, we love working with her, we're sorry we won't be able to this time around, but we understand why she needs this time." To then manipulate the fans into thinking it was our fault for expecting the road show we were promised. To jump to the defense of their male star after YEARS of ignoring the hate Melissa and other women received. 

I am deeply sorry for all the stress Norman, Melissa, and Angela have been put under for all of this and I would never demand answers to anything personal I'm not entitled to. But I am not sorry for having questions or believing in the possibility that a studio could make terrible decisions resulting in their actors, EPs, and fans getting screwed over (again, to whatever degree).

#caryl #caryl deserved better #carol peletier #carol peletier deserved better #melissa mcbride #melissa mcbride deserved better #darylneedscarol #daryl dixon deserved better #angela kang #angela kang deserved better

[quartings]

Just a little negativity under the cut :(

It's already hard struggling to find a job out of college during this current climate. It's even tougher doing so while seeing tons of my more talented friends doing better in life than I am. And it's even more tough to keep going while said better friends are still harassed by their parents for not being good enough.

Like damn, I've spent years beating myself up wishing I could be at least half as good as your child. If you hate your children this much sir/ma'am, you might as well come over to my place and personally kill me for the sake of consistency, no? They're still not good enough for you, so what does that say about me? Of course, they won't do it because (certain) parents love other kids and only want to hate their own, for whatever reason.

To put into better context how I'm feeling, many longtime followers here would know about my Pokespe content. And don't get me wrong, I love making it, but it still makes me sad that such a good series still doesn't have nearly as much animated fan content as it should.

But it feels like I've only gotten this far because I'm the only one in my friend group who's decided to make Pokespe stuff. If any of my other friends realized how good the series is, how much more the fanbase deserves, and decided to make content for it, it would immediately blow my stuff out of the water. It would be so easy for them to do it, to help people who need it much better than I ever could. And I would be so happy if they did. Because not only would it be great for the fandom, it also means I can finally stop pushing myself with this charade and let go, now that my friends have finally made me redundant in every possible aspect.

It's mostly exhausting because even if I succeed at something, it's not because I'm good at it, it's just because my friends and other talented people just happened not to try doing that today.

#q speaks #negativity

[acourtofthought]

I'm honestly scared of the next book lol not bc its going to be bad or anything but bc of the ship war that is going to happen after!! Like I'm 100% with the fact that gwynriel and elucien are endgame bc Sarah loves to write retellings. And gwynriel is the retelling of Lancelot, Guinevere and Elaine... (I'm still not sure what elucien might be tho) And it make sense tbh and e/riels are just trying to ignore that fact and harass anyone who doesn't ship theirs...

And like I said it's going to be so bad bc its already bad and the disrespect ppl show toward each other is scary like we're fighting over fictional characters and not real situation or ppl and how many times I've seen these kind of behaviour from e/riels is concerning bc I feel like I'm already getting mentally tired and burned out and I'm scared I won't be able to even read the next books if I stay in this fandom bc its such unhealthy place!!

Yep... sorry I had to rant somewhere

ps: also about that retelling, from what I read I know that Guinevere fells in love with Lancelot when he saves her from a life or death situation and she falls in love with him ever since also him with her. But he's already married to Elaine and they have a son too apparently but still he has an fair with Guinevere... which I hope sjm doesn't go that far lmao nothing with cheating pls

ps.2: this is so messy, its midnight and I have an exam tomorrow and my mind is a mix of everything lmao idk how you will respond to this haha

I hope your exam goes well (went well?)!! I think your concern is valid and it's probably something we're all worried about. People have invested a lot of time and money into the ships they're hoping to be endgame and that is going to come with a lot of disappointment if things don't turn out the way some thought (understandable). But....there is a lot of negative behavior in the fandom without confirmation of anything so are things going to be worse once there is? As for your worry about the affair and cheating that occurs in the Lancelot fairytale, I do remember SJM once saying that the fairytales she samples from are a "fairytale-light" version. And I think that's pretty obvious concerning the fairytales she's previously used as inspiration are kind of unrecognizable. Like, there are some very loose details but that can be pointed out but I have never seen her force the story to fit only within the parameters of a certain fairytale. If that were the case, Feyre's father would have been kidnapped in book one, she would have gone to rescue him then eventually been the one to tame Tamlin's "beast" form. Instead she and Tamlin made one another worse while together and Feyre ended up having her own beast form. But I would say that if the fandom is ruining your experience with the series, it's never a bad idea to give yourself a mental health break from it all then come back to us when the next one is released! Or...if all you need is to occasionally vent to me in order to reboot your tolerance for the fandom, you can do that as well 😁

I hope you were able to get a good nights rest before your test!

[sharonisthebettercarter]

hayley atwell is *really* somethin' else

so... something just hit me that's actually pretty fucking disturbing, and it's one of those things that, y'know, you feel is there, know in the back of your mind somewhere as something that is just kinda true by default, but once you become fully aware and CONSCIOUS of it

it definitely can't go away

the woman, that i just referred in this title. many people are aware of what she did, if not, here's a detailed list:

(1) Lucky Number 13 on Tumblr

if you don't feel like following the link, basically it boils down to hayley manipulating and encouraging her fans to promote hatred, bullying, harassment, all in peggy's name to help no one but herself, and harm a good chunk of the fandom as well as emily vancamp

HOWEVER, that's a bit beside the point right now.

it's not hard to come across diehards. stans, fanbois, whatever you wanna call them... but there's a frequent pattern with the way hers *specifically* are

the speech patterns are simple, there are spelling errors, certain things about defenses for her that are RIFE with YOUTH, that tell you outright, 'the person who made this is NOT a mature adult'

and you could argue, sure it might be trolls, just people who don't care about spelling (obviously, i'm not too careful with punctuation and shit), or even just adults who never fucking matured (that is ALWAYS an option!)

but the reality is that a majority of her fans, back then to now... were young girls to preteens to teens, and some boys who had crushes

that much is understandable, and some people who are adults currently were just never made aware of what she was doing

but it also makes you realize that these young fans are the most prone, most easily influenced, and most likely to not recognize the difference between reality and fiction, and jump at the chance of telling someone to hurt themselves if hayley outright gives the go ahead, which she did *amazingly* through her actions

and actions definitely spoke much louder than any words or reason in this scenario

even the ways in which other fans are attacked, it's not by someone who truly understands what they are doing. and no one who is of sane and sound mind that isn't a *child* pulls that kinda crap

so what does this mean?

it means we had, have, a fully grown adult woman, now pushing 40, who sat there, encouraged bullying, hatred, harassment, and worse.

among children...

and it hit me... and it fucking HURTS, because i already thought this lady was a monster, but this just makes it all so much fucking worse

because KIDS aren't gonna realize the harm they can end up doing, they're just following what someone they idealized told them to do, or signaled was 'okay' or even 'right'. but this fully, adult grown woman, outright LIED to, manipulated, and USED CHILDREN to cause HARM

and it reminds me a whole lot of some of the shit stormfront said on 'the boys'

'anger sells'

'you don't need 50 million people to love you, you need 5 million people fucking pissed'

'you have fans, i have soldiers'

how exactly is this supposed to be processed, because i'll be honest, i'm having a bit of trouble

i want to cry, i want to throw up, i want to scream because this is DISGUSTING, and it was already bad before but i still had some hope that *maybe* she would one day get the fuck over herself, apologize to emily and fans, and things would get just a little itty bit better

because i'm a fucking fool who always *wants* to HOPE

i don't think this woman has a moral compass

if she was willing to use KIDS as a means to an end and cause REAL harm... she deserves to be called out on it, and i won't stoop to her level and promote bullying and harm, but more people do need to know about what she did and stop supporting her

we all deserved a better peggy carter, or at LEAST one that wasn't willing to manipulate CHILDREN to cause so much HARM, and never utter a fucking word on the damage they did, that SHE caused.

#psa #hayley atwell #manipulation #bullying #suicide baiting #emily vancamp #peggy carter #sharon carter #agent 13 #disturbing #slutshaming #misogyny #epiphany #this is important #please #spread the word #painful truth

[mywitchcultblr]

I'm not participating in fandom harassment over ship or whatever

I'm going to say it boo, I get it that you might not like certain fanfic or fan art. It's totally your rights to have an opinion. I have things that I don't like such as child/adult, incest and zoo (but not even once I'm harassing people over these stuff. I simply wouldn't look at them)

But... If you are sending hate and doing harassment especially with your friends; causing mental and emotional damage or even doxxing people in the hope to expose the 'bad' content creator over their fanfic and fanart ( especially if the content are made for private space/blog and not released to the public ) to their family and workplaces, even to the point of getting these people fired and losing income

Or maybe you like a ship and others don't like it and you harassing the people who don't like?

I don't think you are the good guys here, why are you acting like medieval templars?

I live by: Don't like? Then Don't read. I don't put the label pro or anti upon myself because the discourse has become a dangerous bloodsport and those labels doesn't fit me. But I know first hand the people who suffered from this fandom crusading because they made dark fanworks ( not even adult/child stuff it's just dark )

Disliking or liking a ship or fandom stuff are not valid reasons to ruin people's life. Also don't harass production people on Twitter like: Actors

Example; You can get angry and make analysis about let's say lore and have a debate about fandom, but don't tell GRRM to kill himself

You are not overthrowing corrupt government or taking down the GOP party, you are just harassing people and yelling on the internet.

For whatever reasoning, once you caused such harm? You are not Obi-Wan Kenobi, you don't have the high ground. Even if you think you are good. You are not Anders or any revolutionaries

I made a meme about 'hey don't ship this incest ship' once ( it because anon wouldn't stop hounding me to do art for this ship so I got annoyed) but I didn't harass anyone nor I ever said more about such topic. I already have too much stress and drama in my life...

Also don't you dare to call me a pedo over this, I know some terminally online people might have an idea that if you are not supporting fandom harassment then they are a pedo, which is a reach. I'm not consuming nor making child/adult or incest stuff either. Go look at my blog

Some people like me just don't like to see toxicity ruining people's life and fandom space.

I don't care what your groups: pro, anti, neutral etc etc. I do disagree with fandom harassment, doxxing and those flimsy doc. Calling out people who are being actively dangerous and abusive or bigoted? With concrete evidence and not just private conversation taking out of context for crusade material? Sure.

But other than that perhaps people need to go back to the ancient and sacred fandom code of:

Don't like, Don't read.

The war that I can get behind is to topple oppressive government/people not fandom

#harassment #anti harrassment #fandom harassment #fandom #toxicity #bullying #anti vs pro #pro ship #anti ship #i dont give a shit #memes

[takaraphoenix]

5, 6, and 9 for the ask game

Thanks for playing! :)

5. Do you have a favorite character “type?” What do your favorite characters have in common?

"He's snarky and sassy but oh he only uses it to hide his pain because he's canonically gone through Some Real Traumatic Shit". Gets me absolutely every single time. Kuroba Kaito, Spike, Jace Herondale, Tony Stark, Jack Frost. I'm aware of the theme.

6. What is a fandom you’re in that you’re embarrassed by, if any?

Kay since I already answered the PJO fandom, mmmh... Let's take one of the past.

I used to be in the V0ltron fandom, shipping K/ance and I can tell you, there's a special kind of embarrassment in sharing a ship with the local antis.

You know how the worst people in a fandom usually unite behind one character/ship (the ship usually featuring the character), so this character/ship just... generally get a stale aftertaste because they remind you of the bad people who go around harassing and bullying others in the fandom? Most fandoms nowadays have those.

And it was just a very, very different and new kind of embarrassing to genuinely love this ship that is also loved by the worst people in the fandom, because when interacting with fics/fanart, you always gotta wonder "oh no is this A Nice Person, or do they too anonymously send hate and death threats to shippers of Other Ships?".

9. Worst fandom experience?

Oh, Teen Wolf for sure!

I remember being delighted that even years after the fact, there's still a moderately active fandom on tumblr! So when I rewatched the show, I decided to spam some commentary along the way.

Made me run into the most unpleasant people (a certain defense squad that shall not be named so I shall not gain their attention again because I could do without that).

It also earned me my first death threats and rape threats - and those, I kid you not, for saying "hey, this ship that is literally canon isn't so bad to watch!", I didn't even claim it had become my OTP I simply dared to state that it was more enjoyable during this rewatch than it had been during others. A canon ship. A ship that is literally canon and you have to sit through watching anyway. But that statement really got me a lot of hate-mail that lasted a while and I'd like to say that active Stalia shippers are genuinely braver than any US marine, I mean hot damn that was a bizarre experience.

It's not all bad, the Sterek fandom remains beautiful and amazing, but holy shit I had not expected all of that and it really might be the worst fandom experience I've ever had, crossing paths with those other sub-fandoms.

Fandom Ask Game

#uuuh I opt out of tagging #I'm sorry y'all #but I REALLY don't need the attention :D" #Fandom Ask Game #send me asks

[mothheart]

This is about your post abt orphaning works on ao3 I know its old but it spoke to me and I feel rge need to say something about it but don't wanna reblog it cuz reasons

Anyway the weird sense of entitlement a decent amount of fic readers (not a majority, but still definitely a substantial percent) have towards fic writers and their works has frankly turned me off posting fics publicly in any way

"bUt iT's aN aRcHiVe"

sometimes things get taken out of archives.

I of course understand being sad that a fic someone likes got removed, but *demanding* people don't delete their works and orphan them instead is fucking audacious in my opinion

hi! yes!! thank you!!! very very glad someone agrees with that so much. didn't think anyone would even see me whining about it but uh. yeah. that entitlement, huh?

like. not a lot else to say lest I go on a tangent and never shut the fuck up but. orphaning is definitely not The One Solution. losing access completely to my work that I am already incredibly anxious about leaving up for more people to see is not appealing!! I'm not going to cause myself discomfort for the sake of theoretical people who might be sad they can't read those fics anymore. being disappointed is fine. harassing authors for what they choose to do with their own works is not.

something something past shitty fandom experiences made me afraid to leave certain things and ocs of mine in public view. insinuating that someone should lose the rights to their own work as soon as they choose to share it with the world is, uh. strange!

#not sure if you actually follow me or not but 🙏🙏 very glad someone else agrees/feels the same frustrations i do #about an uncomfortable portion of fic readers sense of entitlement lol #miles rambles

[yurissweettooth]

I would try to not get too worried about people posting "don't do that" about fandom. In the end, the statement "you can just block it if you don't like that!" goes both ways, and if someone is allowed to say "normalize mischaracterization" (which makes the series-absolutists mad) then series-absolutists are allowed to say "man it annoys the shit out of me when people mischaracterize x characters" (which makes the other side mad) In the end both sides need to go "oh this isn't for me", block and move on. It's just people talking on the internet about what they like or what bugs them and shouldn't ever be treated as more than that. But yeah it's mean if someone quotes someone else's post to say what they're doing is wrong lol just make your own post so you aren't getting that person involved at that point

Hi! ^^ So I should state that I actually 100% agree with what you are saying here and this is actually the stance I already had, so perhaps I should have clarified better in my original post 😅 [Also, I feel like tone indicators can get kinda confusing so I'll just say that I mean this in a very neutral/explanatory way with no negative feelings! I just feel like I should have worded my initial post better so I'll clarify a little here ^^] So my original post/vent was not about people simply saying they dislike a thing (even in that post I specified that I do not like/enjoy similar things and find plenty of takes that annoy me all the time and there are plenty of ways people engage in fandom that I simply do not understand or enjoy) but I was referring more to the mean-spirited posts that are belittling, shaming, and reducing people who are just trying to have fun down to people who are idiots with no reading comprehension and fake love for a series. Posts that accrue thousands of responses of people chiming in about how stupid, annoying, etc. said people are, naming and shaming people, etc. etc. And if it were simply just the posts alone I'd just block and ignore (as I try to do anyway) but it is also the fact that the same sentiments are being/have been directly targeted at me and others who I care for and probably plenty of other people as well. I would like to have fun on my own time and not be berated and told to "kys" because I HC a character a certain way. It is tiresome to be have wild assumptions made about my beliefs and morality because I examined both sides of a morally grey character or enjoyed a character even though they have done wrong and I don't align with them. It is annoying to draw a silly little doodle for fun or write a crackfic and have someone rip it apart because I am "reducing a character down to a single trope" (<-literally the intention of shitposts that are not meant to be taken seriously, not a reflection of my genuine thoughts or interpretation). I do not like when I post something innocuous and someone who thinks it's stupid and annoying reblogs it which gets a chorus of other people telling me how stupid and annoying it is when I was doing something for fun and sharing it for others who might enjoy it too. I know this is the internet, I know it has been full of assholes since the beginning of time and will be forever, but I do not think it is unfair or unreasonable to wish that people could be kinder to others even if that may never happen. I also thin it's fair to wish that people would not act as though they are morally superior because they enjoy fiction in a way others, name and shame people doing innocuous things they don't like leading to harassment, or reduce others down to ableist remarks. The latter is doubly problematic because there are MANY neurodivergent people in fandom who very well might have issues understanding the text and should 100% be allowed to exist peacefully and have fun anyway but are often subjected to bullying and ridicule as it is.

I think saying "hey, let's make it more acceptable for people to engage in fandom however they want to so long as it's fun for you and not hurting anyway" is very different than retweeting someone's post to thousands of people to tell them they are a fake fan because they wanted to have fun without backlash.

Same goes for the other way around too. I'm never going to say someone doing something innocent like stating their opinions or frustrations is wrong or bad for doing so, so long as they aren't bullying or belittling or being ableist about it or actively supporting people who are.

I just wanted to make sure I clarified that I never said nor do I believe that people cannot hold the opinion that things in fandom are annoying because I do not believe that. 😅 I just think that we shouldn't be assholes to/about people just because of that though.

#sorry this is long and rambly and probably riddled with typos. i am very sleepy tired 😴 hope this made even a lick of sense! 😅 #also very very sorry if i misread/misunderstood your post in any way! I did want to clarify this anyway for others though! #I FEEL LIKE I PROBABLY DID SO VERY SORRY IF THAT'S THE CASE #Speaking of people who cannot always interpret things properly lol #jun answers #jun rambles #fandom critical #tw suicide bait mention