A goodbye from fandom.
I said this on Twitter, but I am not going to write for the eremika fandom again. Trigger warnings about harassment, pedophilia and more, to come.
Back on April, 2022, out of the blue a big account of the fandom (they had 4k followers; I had barely 150) “outed” me as what they called “a proshipper”. They were blaming writers in the fandom who wrote EM having sex underage, telling them pedophiles. I had not written anything of the sort, but they still felt entitled to label me as such because I read fics of Levi/Mikasa. I had been in fandoms for longer than they had been born, probably, so I was baffled that this was a problem: Because, at the end of the day, proshipper or not, I was reading stories of fictional characters. But if we take a moment to consider that the difference between fiction and reality doesn’t exist, it still baffled me, because I had never written anything underage, nor Rivamika: No, I was a pedophile because I was reading it.
This lack of media-literacy surprised me to the point of beginning to study more about it. I read this article by Viet Thanh Nguyen which said that books in USA libraries are getting cancelled because of “racism” or “homophobia”, books that were written decades ago. You should read the article, but it fully comprises my view that we need to create a critical mass, and we won’t create it if we ban those types of readings. But even if we do read it: does it mean that we share the same morals as the story? Does it even mean that the writer shares the same morals as the story they are writing?
After the tweet, I was being massively unfollowed on Twitter, blocked. Some mutuals even responded to that tweet, saying “Blocking her now”. I tried to argue with that person that I was not reading a fic in which Levi and Mikasa were related, nor underage: they didn’t even debated with me, they insulted me. I blocked them. I got an ask on Tumblr asking what had happened, and I explained my POV. They went to my Tumblr (somehow they found me), screenshot it and shared in their Twitter for everyone to see.
I had an anxiety attack, and for some days, I was deciding whether to end RJ at (just) chapter 2. Because I loved the story I was creating, I decided to pull through. When I came back on Twitter after a month out, nobody remembered me: it was like I had never done anything, I gained the same followers that once unfollowed me. I was… There, again. But I was not the same, in real life: I didn’t know what to share, how to share it. I was afraid of bookmarking something on AO3. Tumblr felt safer, so I went there (thank god). I didn’t know how to answer when people commented, about this fic, pearls such as I was an homophobic, a racist, Grisha was out of character and I was a devil to write Grisha that way. I didn’t find these comments like well-written debate in my inbox: I found it as tweets, without quoting me, of course. I began to wonder whether I was a good writer, until I decided that maybe it wasn’t the right audience to begin with. So, saddened, I wrapped my mind about stopping writing for the Eremika fandom (because, yes, it is the eremika fandom) after Rotten Judgement was finished.
Since then, I have been harassed in my inbox during months. First, for writing Erejeankasa. Comments and comments everyday, telling me that I’m a horrible writer, that I’m boring, that what I do is garbage. Then, spamming hate all over my fics, again, saying that I’m a pedophilic and garbage myself (to their credit, I have now written a Levi/Mikasa fic, in which they are actors and over 30, but alright). The thing is that this is not only a matter of myself.
Lots of my friends and colleagues here have been harassed constantly over what they write. The haters compare them to other well-known writers in the fandom: they advocate for the “purity” of Mikasa (but have no problem in Eren being a manwhore), for the “purity” of the fandom, for “only writing Eremika”. If you don’t, you’re just a “false fan”. They have their fights and sides, but let me tell you: probably one 1% of people will find a teenager attractive after reading a fic, but probably more than 80% of harassed people over the internet will feel bad, triggered and anxious about it.
I know this is (mostly) a Twitter thing: I know we’re prompted to have discourse, to argue our views, to fight for our canon couples or not… in fictional characters. This is the cursive I want to throw in here: that in being so “woke” and fighting for the “injustice” in your little bubble, you’re really not being better than an alt-right defending their stance with yelling and hating. In being so woke, you really act and think like a fascist. Because, in the end, there is a true anti-intellectual belief in the fandom: you are not to put your own views on things that are set. Do not make us think more than the original work. And for now, intellectualism (in Mill’s sense of reflection, and understanding of others, of putting yourself in others' shoes) is the true root of democracy. And the EM fandom is anything but democratic. It reeks of a one distinctive trait of oligarchy, said by Socrates: "one assumes the status of a highest good".
But, in my mind, doing good would not only mean asking the readers to defend their authors; it would mean stopping authors from blasting harmful or harassing opinions on other authors (sometimes, smaller authors than themselves); it would mean that they would understand that while someone can feel triggered by some views, anyone is free to express and write about whatever they want, as long as they, as humans, don’t fight for wrongness; that the moral in fiction doesn’t equal the moral in the author and vice versa. It’s not only to answer hateful tweets towards creators: it’s to pinpoint the tweets of that mutual you always see bashing on other ships or tweets out of the blue, just for fun, or because they really think they will make a change.
It is to signal that we, as a society, are being deactivated at our response in true, real-life problems, thanks to the arguments in social media. That while we can all share and spread help when something big happens, and social media gives us the means to spread awareness, throwing hate to authors who’ve written fictional stories about fictional characters and that you don’t like it doesn’t equal justice, but cyberbullying.
However, I will not be here to fight for it. Differently to the majority of the people who has not uttered a single constructive criticism to my fics, but have found the time to comment, put up bashful tweets (without mentioning me) and without reading the story, I do have a life outside the internet. I have beautiful friends, family, and writing—because I will never, ever not write—to which I want to dedicate my energy. If you care about this fandom, stop spreading hate and negativity of all kind. Remember that you can think you fight for freedom and justice, and end up being a Jaegerist.
I still have an EM oneshot I was writing, but I lost motivation to. I don’t know if I’ll ever keep on writing it, but if I do, you will most likely find it in here. As for Rotten Judgement and I did not live until today, you will still find them here. As for Instead, they said: it is hidden, as it has been for some months, because I want to turn it into an original story. Whether you’ll find it reuploaded in some months, who can’t stay. I am happy to delve into other ships and fandoms for now. Writing two years in these conditions has completely drained me. I urge you to think of all the creators whose works you cannot find anymore, whose Twitter and media got deleted, who put up letters of goodbye to the fandom, and rather than crying about this loss, I urge you to protect the writers we still have. I will keep reading the stories I enjoy, so this is not totally goodbye.
For now, relieved that I’ve finished but angry that this is how I’ve finished, always yours,
Hera.
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Look.
I don’t care if you’re not from the UK, not so crazy about the royal family or if you hate the monarch, but can you PLEASE not disrespect Queen Elizabeth at LEAST for the first month of her passing.
I’ve been seeing tweets on people celebrating and I find really inconsiderate about the other people that are mourning over her, and this is coming from a Brit who doesn’t give a shit about the royal family.
I don’t follow them, nor I can memorise everyone in the royal family tree, but what I do know is respecting the death. YOU wouldn’t like it if someone goes like “YES SHE’S FINALLY DEAD” to your celebrity mom, grandma or any other relatives.
If you have nothing nice to say, please for the love of god keep your mouth shut and keep it to yourself to tell your little friends privately.
I know I’m going to get harassed just for making this post, but I feel like this has to be said. I don’t want to see any disrespect whilst people grieving over her. Please just fuck off with your day and let people live.
Peace.
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Hua Cheng essentially cockblocking himself for possibly all of eternity will literally never not be the funniest thing MXTX ever wrote.
Xie Lian was pretty much completely in love with him the second he saw those lanterns (and completely oblivious about it) and then we get the wonderful first kiss underwater moment and Xie Lian is basically drawing hearts around Hua Cheng every time he sees him. While like quietly dying cause he literally has no idea what to do with it. Like at this point he doesn’t even really understand that he is head over heels totally gone for this man.
Until Hua Cheng is like I have a beloved I just haven’t won them over yet. Which he thinks is perfectly reasonable because his self esteem is the worst and he doesn’t understand how he could have won Xie Lian over yet. (He’s only on step 22 of his Marrying Dianxia 3000 step Master Plan ((that he debates throwing out on a regular basis because he doesn’t deserve to even dream about wanting Xie Lian)). So course he’s like yeah I have this wonderful noble beautiful beloved I just haven’t won them over yet wink wink nudge nudge.
But Xie Lian is like oh of course obviously I don’t deserve nice things and fuck I actually wanted him so badly I’m actually in love with him and now I will resign myself to never being happy for his sake. (Their combined self esteem is truly a so low it’s a hole in the ground which is hilarious because they think the other person is to good for them and unattainable forever because they literally have the same neurosis.) So he starts boxing up his feelings forever constantly wanting Hua Cheng and feeling guilty about it and literally dying inside because he wants Hua Cheng like he’s never wanted anyone.
Like essentially books 3 and 5 only happen because Hua Cheng has now cursed them both by saying he has a beloved because Xie Lian believes he isn’t wanted and therefore any nice thing Hua Cheng does is just him being nice and not Hua Cheng pulling out steps 23-34 of his plan thinking he still hasn’t won Xie Lian over. (He has he so has but he shot himself in the foot so badly it’s painful to read).
Like thank the Gods Hua Cheng is so unhinged and created the cave of 10000 Gods cause Xie Lian would literally be at his own wedding to Hua Cheng still convinced he wanted someone else and this was in fact a thing they were doing to solve a case together otherwise.
Like he needed something that unhinged to put 2 and 2 together otherwise he never would have caught on he’s Hua Cheng’s beloved. Meanwhile Hua cheng is like 🥺 he’s going to think I’m a weirdo now and I’m only on step 50 of the plan 🥺 like the two of them wouldn’t have been fucking nasty 2 books ago if he just kept his mouth shut and didn’t cockblock himself so violently.
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What progress at home has biden enacted? What policies of his show that he is making progress that prove he is actually different than trump?
I like to pretend I have faith in humanity, so I'll answer as if you're asking this in good faith.
Biden's DEA has lifted restrictions on telehealth prescriptions to make appointments and assistance more accessible.
He put a funding package into place to help unhoused people get access to mental and physical healthcare, as well as short-term and long-term housing.
He has attempted and is still attempting to get student debt relief through - this was blocked by Republican judges appointed by Trump, but he's still working on it.
Infrastructure repair - his administration has budgeted funds to actually fix some severely-damaged and frequently-traveled bridges.
Trying to expand access to healthcare to include undocumented immigrants who came to the USA as children (Dreamers) under the Affordable Care Act. Support for Navigator programs and outreach has also been increased.
He has vetoed Republican-led bills that were attempting to overturn environmental protections - one that would have forbidden investment fund managers to consider climate change in their portfolios (I have two degrees in accounting and this is actually huge), and another that would have overturned restrictions on agricultural runoff into our waterways.
He and his administration worked for ages to get rail workers paid sick days.
This is just some of what he's been doing. Meanwhile, Trump and other Republicans want to criminalize the lives of LGBT people like you and me. They want to eliminate no-fault divorce and force births that will kill parents or devastate them financially. They have stated flat out that they want to install a military dictatorship in the USA. They attempted to put that in motion on January 6th, 2021. They failed once. They will do better next time.
One party wants to house the homeless and expand social safety nets, while the other one wants to criminalize homelessness. One of them wants a future in which I might be able to vote to change how much of a war machine my country is, while the other one wants to eliminate my ability to vote entirely. Those are not the same. Those literally are opposites.
At the end of the day, all you and I can do is choose to do the least amount of harm possible. You and I cannot choose to do no harm. This is the USA, we sell war, you and I cannot choose to do no harm. I wish we could, my god do I wish we could, but that is not an option. So we grieve for the harm we couldn't eliminate and work to minimize the harm that is done. Despite all the crap they support, Democrats are the minimum amount of harm right now. Acting like they aren't is exactly what brought us to an election where our options are a future where we are either wading in blood or drowning in it.
Not voting for Biden will not help Palestine. Not voting for Biden will guarantee a Republican president who will make the situation in Palestine WORSE. AND it'll hurt a lot of other places as well, both at home and abroad, because Republicans are about business and the USA is in the business of war! And I would very much like that to change someday! I would very much like to someday be able to choose to do no harm! And I know what I have to do to try for that future, so what are YOU going to do? There is no standing off to the side in this. If you aren't helping pull, you're the dead weight we're pulling. Are you going to dig your feet into the mud and blood and drown us there? Or are you going to get the fuck off your ass, grit your teeth, and help us pull free?
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