Tag Archives: on fandom

In regards to your reblog about popular tumblr blogs. There have also been deeply unsettling instances that are like online lynchings. Where a blogger just says “btw, I’ve talked on private with that blog and it turns out they are a p*******e. y’all know what to do.” And then days later, even though there aren’t any concrete proofs or it was just an exaggeration, that person ends up deleting their blog. Imagine holding that much authority that you ruin part of someone’s life.

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[this post, OP is @pazithigallifreya]

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Yep, it IS deeply unsettling to think about how someone’s life could be ruined over a false accusation. There’s something intoxicating about saying you’ve found a monster and want to rally ppl to your cause to go destroy it. That’s been around since long before the internet and will go on in whatever form of communication people have available, whether the monster is a real one or not.

“btw, I’ve talked on private with that blog and it turns out they are a p*******e. y’all know what to do.” 

^I feel terrible saying this, but I couldn’t trust this person at face value. Maybe if it was a very close friend, but even then, I wouldn’t mobilize ppl online to attack the accused person. I’m not a police officer, I would probably tell that victim to go to the police. The police have the tools to find the accused, the time and training to build the evidence properly and legally.

Keep in mind, too, that tweets/chats/etc. can be digitally manipulated, like this tweet (although it could be real for all I know, but I would hope not):

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Then there’s the thornier matter of people who ARE guilty of offenses, from the small to the large. There are abusers out there who trawl for prey. There are also people who wrote something in the past that they may have apologized for and definitely deeply regret. 

I’ve certainly made mistakes and written cruel things I would take back if I could. I can’t apologize enough or genuinely enough for how I’ve hurt people. 

[Imagine holding that much authority that you ruin part of someone’s life.]

…And so often they end up with a rabble ready to crucify anyone who doesn’t do as they are told, and that’s when I really run for the hills…


^I’m of the belief that no individual online should have that kind of power, this is why we have a legal system which determines guilt and punishments fairly. No judicial system is perfect but it has to be better than some stranger online telling a mob to pick up torches and pitchforks to attack another stranger online. 

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i-want-my-iwtv:

pazithigallifreya:

There’s this… phenomenon… I’ve witnessed in several fandoms, where a particular blog gets really popular within a fandom.

And suddenly that blog will start getting people literally asking them for permission to hold certain opinions. I don’t mean someone just asking “hey can I get your feelings/opinions on this subject” but “is it okay if I think/do xyz?” like some child asking their parent if they can go somewhere.

Worse, is when these blogs start taking these questions seriously and feeding them answers. Like they suddenly start believing that they truly have this authority. I mean it’s bad enough when people do this and the blogger is just like “well I have my own opinion but don’t ask me” but when they start to actually act like they can tell other people what they are “allowed” to do.

This I the creepiest fucking thing on tumblr I swear.

Why would you give some random stranger on the internet that much power over your mind? Why would you be so afraid of forming your own opinions that you have to ask someone else to give you opinions to hold?

And so often they end up with a rabble ready to crucify anyone who doesn’t do as they are told, and that’s when I really run for the hills…

It probably looks a little egotistical to reblog this post, as someone who relates to having the “particular blog gets really popular within a fandom,” but I deeply agree with this post from both sides. It has been suggested to me privately that my opinions hold sway over people and I have a responsibility to answer a certain way so that the other fans aren’t led astray, that they are so gullible that they take my every word as fact. I sincerely hope that this is not the case.

I refuse this responsibility bc that’s not the kind of blog I want to have. I don’t want anyone taking my opinions as an authority, or the Law of the Land or whatever… *~popularity~* shouldn’t give me any more authority than anyone else! 

Please don’t feel like you have to literally ask anyone for permission to hold certain opinions. I’m happy to share my ideas, but they are only my ideas. I’m a random stranger on the internet! I love my followers, the interactions we’ve had, the messages you’ve sent me publicly and privately over the past few years have kept my blog alive, and I can’t thank you enough for that ❤ 

But! If I can just paraphrase from the above, Do not give some random stranger on the internet that much power over your mind! Don’t be so afraid of forming your own opinions that you have to ask someone else to give you opinions to hold! 

Please do not become part of some random stranger on the internet’s rabble ready to crucify anyone who doesn’t do as they are told! 

Shipping a Problematic™ ship

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acnara:

The first time you get hate because ´you can´t ship that

The second time 

And then it happens again

And again

Do you hate X character? Or do you have a weird real-life fetish? Do you want that kind of relationship for YOURSELF?

Ugh I hate when people Romanticize™ …

You DO realize you are basically supporting ABUSE RIGHT?

But how… 

You are disgusting

People like you are the reason-

And, in the end, you keep shipping despite the hate

And creating amazing and complicated work 

Because you rock

So don´t let hate get to you, and keep shipping whatever you want. Bless you.

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sandersstudies:

A Fandom Opinion

A fandom that supports and encourages its members is a really great thing, (and I think this fandom does a wonderful job of it) but assuming that a fandom or any individual within it is required to do those things can be dangerous. A fandom and its members are not required to be your friends, your therapists, your fans, your critics, or your punching bags.

I almost said “some people may be triggered if they are expected to be” or “expecting this is bad for some people’s mental health,”

But really, that’s not the point.

If you just aren’t COMFORTABLE being somebody’s friend in the fandom,

If you just don’t WANT to be a problem-solver for people in your inbox,

If it is FRUSTRATING to be expected to reblog everyone’s art and writing,

That’s enough.

You don’t have to be neurodivergent or mentally ill or triggered or anything else to say “no” to interacting with asks, messages, or posts. Nobody should guilt you or force you into participating in discourse or other fandom member’s personal lives.

If you want to do these things, that’s wonderful of you. That’s great. You’re doing something awesome for the fandom. But you’re also allowed to just be here to have fun. Participation in a fandom requires nothing else.

Vi’s Guide to Dealing With Antis

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who-gives-a-ship:

So you’re a fanartist/fanfic writer who has recently gotten some hate for your content. Not about whether or not you draw good, I can’t help you with that, about how a stranger thinks you’re a bad person for your ships. You try to avoid discourse whenever possible because that’s what fans with common sense do, but suddenly discourse is thrown onto your doorstep like a half-drowned cat that has definitely tasted human flesh before. The last thing you want to do is get mixed up in a big argument or somehow become the next Tumblr pariah. What should you do?

1) Don’t Respond

It’s really tempting to clap back with some clever insult, but that’s not a good idea if you want to avoid an argument. It’s fine to just delete an ask or ignore a mean reblog. In fact, it’s probably more of an insult than actually responding with something. Antis want attention and it’s a real power move to deny them the spotlight.

2) Block

Blocking may seem like a drastic measure to some people, but it’s just a part of social media. If you dislike someone, you don’t have to talk to them. There’s plenty of other people in the world who aren’t assholes. Don’t be afraid to block the ones who are.

3) Take a Breath

There are 7.6 billion people on the planet. It doesn’t matter very much if one person hates you. Some people think the earth is flat and Queen Elizabeth is a lizard creature. People can be wrong. You’re not a bad person for your ships. What you explore in fiction doesn’t define your morality.

4) Talk to Someone Who Cares About You

I mean someone who actually cares about you. A parent, a close friend, a pet, it doesn’t really matter who, just that they actually care about you. These are the people who matter in your life. Not strangers on the internet who know exactly nothing about you, not some fandom hivemind that polices your morality, people who really care. They know you aren’t a bad person. They know you would never support terrible crimes or harm real people. You can tell them about the hate you got if that helps, I’m sure they’ll find it ridiculous.

5) Don’t Stop Creating

There’s no better way to spite antis than to make more art. Keep drawing your problematic otp, keep writing your darkfics, show them that their hate has done absolutely nothing to stop you. If you get more hate, start at step 1 again. Remember, anons can be ip blocked from your desktop inbox. If someone threatens your safety, report it to Tumblr and don’t be afraid to pursue legal action if it escalates. Death threats are not protected speech in the US and are considered a serious crime. But most of the time it won’t come to that. If you don’t engage with antis, eventually they’ll get bored and leave you alone.

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lopoddityart:

me: destroy cringe culture. it’s mean-spirited to dismiss someone’s harmless interests as “cancerous” or “cringe-y”.  don’t shit on people just to feel better about yourself.

inevitably, some dingdong: ummmmmm but criticism? is necessary for artists to get better?? 🙂 however will they grow if i don’t personally shame them?? it’s freedom of speech sweetie 🙂 grow a thicker skin :))

Hello! I’m hoping you are well. I just want to say I love your blunt/possitive posts about fiction not being reality, personal responsibility, authors’ responsibility if it even applies…just all of it. Really, major kudos to you for being so blunt!

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Aw thank you! Yes, I am doing well. Hope you’re doing well, too. I took a decent break from tumblr, and now I’m getting back into the swing of things, there are fanworks to reblog here ❤ and I have my own fic ideas percolating.

(I’m sorry that this response got kind of long, there are things in here I’ve expressed before, and some I may not have, or haven’t mentioned in awhile, and I kind of want to have these things out there for ppl to see where I’m coming from.)

Your message really means a lot, bc I feel like, if I have any responsibility to the fandom as a somewhat popular blog, that I have to stand up for shippers and creators of fanworks. Fanworks are the lifeblood of the fandom, both for the creators and the consumers. Fanworks are made for free (or on commission) by smaller creators who need the encouragement more. Being smaller and more accessible, they’re also easy & more responsive targets for harassment than the published creators 😛

And so when you see it from that perspective, you can understand that when I reblog those fiction =/= reality, pro-shipping, and anti anti posts, it’s coming from a place of good intention. I identify with those easy targets who are criticized for their creation/consumption of published works and fanworks. I was bullied for pretty superficial reasons in my formative years, not an unusual amount/degree of bullying, but it hurt. “Oh, but words can’t hurt you!” <– this is pretty insensitive, and I shouldn’t have to convince anyone that bullying is painful, but there are those who would compare injuries and say that being bullied was less suffering compared to other things (like abuse, PTSD, mental illness, etc.), and therefore invalid. Should we be comparing injuries to validate ownership to fiction? I don’t know, but the bullying was real to me and it hurt. 

And this part of the story is my own attachment to canon (and, later, fandom), before I was even aware of others. Do we sever our attachment to something bc smne else says that their connection to it is more valid? I feel like fandom is limitless, it’s big enough for all of us.

Media/Fiction was an escape from reality for me. It was a place I could find inspiration, could see characters beaten down (by antagonists and/or their own faults) and rise up again and again, in so many variations! Even the same plot points can yield different emotions when told in different ways, and/or involving different characters. Characters refusing to lay down and submit to their obstacles/antagonists was inspiring and helped me rebuild the self-confidence the bullies had crushed. 

So that was my story, as valid as any. I love stories of how ppl got into VC (or any fandoms/media really!), and there are so many. I don’t think that any reason is more valid than any other. 

  • There are those who saw themselves reflected in the fact that there are queer/LGBT+ characters, that they existed and had depth and could love and be loved in return. 
  • Someone told me that they shared a love of history with their father, especially of Rome. The father passed away when the person was young, and so they loved the historical explorations in canon, it seemed to bring them closer to that lost parent. In fact, the act of pointing out historical inaccuracies in canon was enjoyable to this person.
  • There are those who passionately adore Armand, for all his beauty, strength, and sass, the fact that he is a survivor of so much tragedy. “We must be beautiful, powerful, and without regret.”
  • There are those who love the quiet and dignified manner of Louis and how he burns everything down handles situations. 
  • There are those who live for the ~purple prose~ and ~wealth porn~, in the loving descriptions of luxury, the declarations of love and 3 pages of describing how pretty a character is.
  • … etc. etc.

^And fanworks based on the media consumed may relate to the fans’ reasons for getting into that fandom in the first place. I like to think my memes and fanfic show the same refusal to quit that I valued so much in the characters when I read canon. I would think that other writers/artists/etc. would say smtg similar, that their fanworks are their way of engaging with canon, whether it’s to have more of what they enjoy about it, fix and/or explore a character/ship/situation, or take the characters into different situations (like AU) and see how they might fare within changed parameters. Ppl analyze canon and critique it, comparing it to other fiction/non-fiction to lay out their ideas. Ppl might want to dress like the characters and act like them in cosplay! So many ways to engage with canon. And then you have comments on works and works inspired by fanworks and that’s p. much the definition of fandom, to my mind.

HOWEVER.

In my zeal for reblogging posts (and writing my own) about defending shippers and creators/consumers of published media and fanworks, I can be too blunt, and unintentionally injure others. I trust ppl to inform me privately if a post goes over the line in that regard, and I have responded by editing/deleting posts. This blog isn’t sacred, editing/deleting a post is not a sign of weakness, but of curating it to better serve my needs and those who come to it for whatever reason. 

Bc my blog really is at its core about entertainment and encouragement/sharing of fanworks.

It’s hard for me to sit in silence about attacks on shippers and creators/consumers of published media and fanworks

when I feel like if I don’t speak up, silence is tacit agreement when ppl state, “Don’t draw/write/talk about X bc it is harmful to Y” I understand that some ppl do have real triggers and some fictional characters/ships are painful to them, but on the other hand, is it fair to restrict everyone else who wants to explore those characters/ships? 

We have to find ways to coexist, and that may mean everyone taking on some responsibility for their fandom experience and extending respect towards others. Someone asked me to tag a certain ship, and now I do, so that they can block it. I can’t tag every possible thing, but within reason, I will add tags on request.

I don’t believe in censorship when it comes to fiction, for many reasons, there are blogs out there who are much more eloquent than I am in their defense of it. I don’t have their rhetoric. But I feel like I need to defend those who are easy targets for bullying (as I had been).

^^^With all that said, I think it would be best for me to refrain from too much of this type of posting so as not to trample others. Instead, I want to focus on encouraging fanworks, reblogging posts about writing/art and advice about that.  

(If you are looking for more blogs that defend fanfiction, I can recommend more to you privately, or in a separate post.) 

A Note on Reblogging (Your Own Fic/Art/Stuff/Etc.)

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robotsandfrippary:

tarysande:

Look, here’s the deal with tumblr: it moves fast. A lot of people follow enough blogs that scrolling through one’s entire dash is impossible. I remember the days when I could wake up in the morning and scroll back to the last post I saw before bed. Sweet, summer child.

Here’s the other deal with tumblr: I see so much anxiety about reblogging one’s own stuff, be it art; analysis; fanfiction; hell, personal posts and replies. I have (and continue to feel deeply) that anxiety. Every time, my inner critic and I go through the same song and dance.

Critic: You look like you’re begging for notes/replies/reblogs. People will think you’re needy/full of yourself/have to be the center of attention. You already have a few notes, why do you need more? Other people have it worst than you. Ugh, you’re just clogging the dashes of your followers. If they wanted to read it, they’d have read it already.

Me: *ball of anxiety* You’re right. Wait, no you’re not. Wait, maybe you are. Wait, no—

I’d say it’s 50/50, even now, that I’ll reblog myself. 

And you know what? Fuck that. 

  • Not everyone can get through their dash in a sitting.
  • Timezones are a thing.
  • Work hours are a thing, also affected by timezones.
  • Life away from tumblr is a thing (what??? I know).

There are so many reasons a person might not see your fic/art/stuff the first time. Reblog it the next day. Reblog it a week from now. Hell, set up a schedule or a queue and have it reblog itself three months from now. Go back through old fics and reblog the ones you really liked; I guarantee you have followers who are new enough to have never seen it or who would like to reread it.

Be proud of the work you do.

Oh yeah, I felt that resistance from here.

Say it again. Out loud. Write it on a post-it note and stick it where you’ll see it.

Be proud of the work you do.

You wrote/made it for a reason. And yeah, part of that reason was probably to share it with other fans. Otherwise, why post at all? I know. Man, I get it. I’m cringing even writing that. The fucked-up “don’t show off” mentality runs deep, right?

Fuck that, too.

If you have followers who unfollow you because you’re reposting your stuff (and this is hard to prove, remember; maybe they quit tumblr, maybe their interests diverged from yours, whatever), who cares? Let them go. For everyone who leaves you, many will stay. And many will be happy to see that thing they missed because of work, life, sleeping. Especially if you follow a few points of tumblr/dash etiquette:

  • Use cuts/read mores for anything longer than a few hundred words (I tend to cut at about 400-500 words, though if something’s under about 700 I might leave it).
  • Reblog at reasonable intervals (day/evening, next day reblog, etc. Hourly might be a bit much ;D).
  • Use tags so people can filter appropriately.

Be proud of the work you do.

(Write it down. Yes, you. <3)

it’s honestly helpful for those of us that can’t check tumblr at work if you DO reblog your stuff.  If you’re an artist, i’m following you because i want to see your art and I don’t want to miss it.  But I’m at work all day and I can’t check tumblr for obvious reasons.  

Dude, just reblog that shit.  I want to see your shit.  That’s what I’m here for.  You inspire me and I don’t want to miss that.