#fans on twitter and tumblr and reddit are all toxic but in different ways

[colordrifter]

.

#was on f1 tumblr and hoo boy i am not this level of fan #gonna go back to just watching races and shouting with my brother and sharing memes #fans on twitter and tumblr and reddit are all toxic but in different ways #but maybe it's me i never understood why people are so serious about sports and take every last thing to heart all the time #like yes i understand fannish passion and cheering for your team/driver etc but pls understand not everyone thinks like you #or has your level of unhinged obsession #and also pls look up your sources or find a modicum of info re: how the sport works before sprouting off #sweets speaks #lol that was a lot

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

Fandom For Dummies: A totally objective and 100% correct ranking of the different ASOIAF fan communities

Nobody asked for it, but here’s my unwanted ranking of the largest ASOIAF communities on the internet:

7. X (the website formally known as twitter)

This is a cesspool; easily has the worst takes imaginable and it doesn’t help that’s it’s mostly like two fandoms at the forefront of this. Show watchers blend into book readers and this causes so many bad takes on every character. People talk big mad about characters, until you realize that they have never read a single chapter for said character and are basically just spewing whatever nonsense oomf told them to. Fights are petty and uninteresting, not to mention just how unhinged HOTD twitter stans are. Back in my day things weren’t this bad. But the last few seasons of GOT made everything 1000x worse.

6. Tiktok

I went back and forth with this one but I think it should be near the bottom. Tiktok is basically just twitter lite. People are not as unhinged on tiktok as they are on twitter, but they still bring their nonsense stan wars which means that it’s super rare to find good asoiaf content because everything is basically wrapped up around “how do I make my fave look good by making everyone else look bad?” People who have never read the books also never hesitate to give their bad takes. Tiktok is also notorious for straight up stealing stuff from Reddit and tumblr, and then wrapping it all up with the stan twitter logic - which is a proven recipe for disaster. Don’t expect to find particularly gripping analysis on tiktok that you haven’t seen anywhere else. Shoutout to that one account that posts lore videos though - they’re single-handedly hard carrying that godforsaken app.

5. Quora

It might be an unpopular opinion to rank this anywhere other than last, but I put it above twitter and tiktok because you can actually find good analysis here and there. However, Quora is also a massive echo chamber that enables the worst circle jerks imaginable (we’re all familiar with that famous poster who acts like Dany literally murdered their entire family, aren’t we?). Quora was shockingly bad way back when I joined this fandom and nearly a decade later, it’s still terrible. But this ain’t special to the asoiaf community. Quora as a platform is intensely toxic. For being a cesspit of hate, it gets a near bottom ranking but still manages to rank above twitter for actually sticking to book content every now and then. Also, there’s usually not a whole lot of shipping wars which is a major plus!

4. Reddit

I’ve also gone back and forth with this one because it could rank higher or lower depending on the time of day. But it’s been a hot minute since passable content came out of Reddit, which explains why it isn’t any higher than fourth. This is a site that is capable of great good, and also great evil. Some cool theories have come out of it (e.g., the Night Lamp theory), but the downside is that this happens once in every five blue moons. Most of the time, Reddit is one giant circle jerk of whatever is the opinion of the day. Think Tyrion is the devil incarnate? Well you’re in luck, because so does literally everyone else. The makings of Reddit’s core demographic also means that female characters are more likely than not to get lambasted for every little thing (e.g., Cersei getting victim blamed for the abuse she suffers). Sure you could find good analysis, but it will be right alongside the most shockingly bad take on any given character that you’ve ever seen (just ask any Arya stan). A majority of redditors also employ the most surface level analysis of any character which lends to the bad takes, but this isn’t anything new considering that tiktok and twitter do the same thing but worse. Major plus though, little to no shipping! Which means that we get to avoid fighting about which teenage girl gets to shag Jon Snow. For having elements of both the good and the bad, Reddit is firmly middle of the pack. But shoutout to r/darkwingsdankmemes for single-handedly hard carrying the asoiaf Reddit communities. Y’all are doing the lord’s work (though it’s not like the bar is that hard to clear to begin with).

🥉 YouTube

Ok, woah YouTube in the top three?! Yes, hear me out. YouTube is really good at presenting out new theories, especially pertaining to the magic side which often gets overlooked everywhere else. In fact, I’d argue that it’s the second best place to get any sort of discussion on the magic side of asoiaf without falling into some bizarre stan war echo chamber. YouTube also doesn’t have the shipping wars that you find everywhere else, which makes the fan experience a lot more fun. Now a major downside is that a lot of analysis on there is either borderline crack on wheels or the most surface level reading imaginable. Some creators also push a lot of hate towards certain characters (we all know who they are). But still, it’s not the cesspit that Reddit is and you’ll be able to find interesting stuff everyday. It’s like tiktok, if people actually tried to think for themselves and analyze the books outside of an echo chamber. When you learn to filter out the bad faith arguments, YouTube has great content, especially if you’re a new fan and are trying to learn about the lore or get some explanation on popular fan theories. Shoutout to AltShiftX (for when they stick to presenting out basic lore), CivilizationEx, Radio Westeros (though they started out on westeros.org), and many more for the work that they do. Tiktok wishes they were you!

🥈 Tumblr

Tumblr is a GREAT place for fandom engagement! Ok let’s start with the bad: shipping culture. This has almost completely ruined the fan experience. Especially for ships that are not yet even cannon (yeah don’t all gasp at once). Either you think Sansa (a 13 yr old girl!!) is the devil incarnate or you think Dany (a 16 yr old!!) needs to be strung up by her toes. Every now and then, poor Arya will catch some strays. This also means that you’ll find a lot of bad faith “analysis” for the anti-ship characters. And to make things worse, Jon is in the middle of this and so every group is guilty of either misconstruing or vastly misinterpreting his character to further whatever their agenda is. Now onto the good. For all the flak tumblr gets, it’s given us some of the best character analysis you could find in greater asoiaf fandom. There are so many incredible asoiaf blogs and even the shippers post great content. There also a variety of good stuff which allows you to curate your fan experience. You’re a Theon stan? Great! There are a bunch of wonderful Theon posters on here. A Stannis stan? Fear not, you’re in good company! There’s something for everyone and you can stay in your own cute little stan bubble, which can’t be said for the other communities. Tumblr also has great artists and gif makers too, which you won’t find anywhere else (well, maybe the editors on tiktok). Something that keeps tumblr in the higher ranks is that there’s something new everyday. This site, for all its faults, has managed to stay active and keep things fresh after all these years. But the shipping wars man…that’s what’s stopping us from being the best. Let’s #MAKETUMBLRGREATAGAIN2024!

And the best ASOIAF fan community is 🥁 🥁…..

🥇 Westeros.org

Yes, Westeros.org is still the best asoiaf fan forum after nearly two decades. To this day, the best asoiaf analyses have come from this forum. The reread projects, in particular, are top of the class: The pawn to player threads which single handedly changed how we discuss Sansa Stark (+ the same people did the Arya reread projects); the learning to lead reread project which was a cool joint project by Jon and Dany fans; the Jon and Tyrion reread threads, the best of them all, which were spearheaded by the forum’s top posters; the moments of foreshadowing threads; the ‘can’t believe I missed that’ threads, the heresy threads for off the wall magic theorizing; the over 150 RLJ threads…the list goes on and on. Westeros.org has been the backbone of asoiaf fan discussion for years and years. Also, some of the funniest posts ever made (e.g., the ‘Sandor and Gregor Clegane are brothers’ theory) have come from that site. Does this forum have its faults? Absolutely. Just as all the others do. I’ve been around long enough to see the tides turn on which female character needs to be hurled right down to hell. Way back then it was Sansa and Catelyn, then came the huge anti-Dany circlejerk (which is still there tbh), and now it’s Arya who’s satan incarnate. Another ding against this forum is that is has not managed to keep it relevance after all these years; Tumblr has been much better on that front. Westeros.org lost its best contributors as the show overtook the books and is now a husk of what it once was. BUT, you’ll still find good discussion from the ten people who still log on everyday. This site actually focuses on book content, as there’s a dedicated book only forum. It’s also the best place to find extensive discussion on the different magical elements in ASOIAF. So instead of arguing about who is or isn’t Azor Ahai, which is frankly so 2014, posters on Westeros.org will actually spearhead some pretty out there analysis on the different magical elements. They’re not afraid to go against the grain, which is how we got the heresy threads - an entire subforum that encourages readers to think outside the box, which you won’t always see on tumblr or other sites. Westeros.org is not what it used to be but once Winds is out, I’m sure it will be returned to its former glory.

Didn’t include other sites like Tower of the Hand (which was pretty decent back in the day), Winteriscoming.net, and many others because they’re just not as big. Anyway, I’m 100% correct. GRRM himself told me so 😤

#asoiaf #fandom analysis #believe it or not this post came to me in a dream

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

Same anon as before and thank you so much for your fast and super detailed reply! It explains a lot, especially the bit about scoring. I had no idea shoma’s technique was so controversial ( I just think he’s beautiful on ice and I love the way he moves, and that’s enough for me ^^;)

Can’t believe ppl think his family buy his scores though, is his family *that* wealthy? ( I mean they’re obviously well off, but).

I’m also well aware of the controversy around his words and I personally think it’s a steaming pile of bullshit. I hate current internet culture where you just need to say something stupid ( if it was him at all) once and you’re cancelled forever. smh. I can’t believe people still bring that up. Especially given that it happened in a very dark period of his life, I can only imagine how Shoma was feeling in that period :/ anyways, I’m really happy to see him in a much better place now 🥰

I’m so grateful for his YouTube channel too, it really gave me so much insight into his personality and I find him super endearing. I want to sit his haters in front of those videos and make them watch all of them u.u

Anyways, I guess I will just stay away from the toxic fan communities from now on ^^; do you have any recommendations for places (beyond tumblr) that are good for Shoma fans?

Thank you again <3

No need to thank, glad I could help. I'd rather answer such things quickly if I see them as I don't like to have them in my inbox. Better tick off the uncomfortable questions...

___

Yes Shoma's technique is controversial, but Shoma is far from the only skater with technique issues on the contrary many skaters have technical issues. Shoma only gets more hate because he wins and because skaters with the "right" technique don't "benefit in scoring" from their technique being better.

___

Anyone in this sport is from rather wealthy families. I don't know any skater who isn't "well off" however I do think that Shoma's family can be called rich. (there are fans who look for the prices of the stuff they have at home as what you can see on the puppy YT channel and they own loads of exclusive and expensive stuff)

Shoma buying his scores is big fat bs. There is no proof or any words of any official that ever pointed to this direction. It was just made up and spread by haters. Ppl who believe such bs are ppl who don't know how scoring works and can't properly evaluate Shoma's skills in this sport. I don't say that money can't have influence in scoring but any money cannot help Shoma land quads and develop the skill that he has. He was praised for his skating skills back in juniors when he wasn't even able to land 3A or quads and experts found it rather sad that such a talented guy would probably never win titles without the high scoring elements but as we know things turned out differently. In scoring consistency and reputation is key. Shoma may not always be clean but he can still deliver better than most other competitors and his results are pretty consistent. Shoma managed to stay one of the top skaters throughout his complete senior career, that's something that doesn't happen this often.

___

The only advice I have is to curate your own social media spaces. Hate can be anywhere. Block ppl on platforms who hate on Shoma, there is no use to argue with them. Then any social media platform can be a nice space.

I only use Tumblr and Twitter, but I know that Reddit for example is also quite nice for Shoma fans. Goldenskate forum has a Shoma fan fest section and there will only be talk about Shoma and hate isn't tolerated and will be deleted. (I know there can be drama in other general threads on other skating topics but as I don't use it I can't tell for sure)

Tumblr is mostly a safe space for Shoma fans, but as Twitter could crash at any day I see many Twitter users get back here and I can only hope they're not bringing the toxicity with them. But tbf I think it's easier to avoid hate on Tumblr as you need to tag words to make them show up in the search. You can also just stay with those you follow and you won't see any hate at all. (and thank goodness the confession block is gone) (and also because you can't see the number of followers you won't know who is "popular" around here and how blogs are connected and you can like whatever you want and it won't show up in recommendations)

There is one space for Shoma fans I can wholeheartedly recommend and use quite frequently but you should send me a PM that I can invite you to it as it's a little group of Shoma fans who created their own space.

#shoma #replies

[badedramay]

Low key so embarrassed at times to be a Pakistani when it comes to fandoms. I — for better or for worse — have been in several different fandoms that span the world, yo. MCU, Harry Potter, K dramas, J dramas, K-pop, Turkish dramas, Bridgerton, anime… literally everything.

I have never seen this mentality of fans trying to dictate who an actor can or cannot work with, and I thought I had seen pretty much everything. I mean when youre as big of a BTS fan as me, you legit think you’ve seen it all when it comes to toxicity, but once again pakistan unpleasantly surprises me.

Plus, with pretty much zero exception to this rule, it is always the female in the situation who is blamed for working with an actor which is their job, regardless of if the female is part of the hit pairing or the kebab mein haddi. The Maya and wahaj thing is recent, but it was the exact same with sajal and Ahad. Fawad and Mahira. Ayeza and Imran Abbas for a while. To some extent, mawra and Ameer Gillani, and the two leads from fairy tale whose names i can’t ever remember.

Where does this come from in pakistan? What is it about our culture that makes people think this is acceptable? Can you tell me if you’ve seen it anywhere else aside from Pakistanis? I legit don’t even see Indian/hardcore Bollywood fans say this type of stuff about their faves. A part of me is wondering if it’s the same subset of people who think telling an actor their clothing is acceptable or not is saying these things and that’s where the entitlement comes from, but I don’t want to falsely accuse the deen of something if there’s another cause.

ps you should check out “the glory” K drama on Netflix. I think you’d like it.

one word: misogyny.

it's a misogynist society and a frustrated society. there's no welfare for the people. economy is shit. the political state of the country is shit. there's literally no security of future here. things get progressively worse and worse for the people who are living here on monthly wages, God only knows how the people surviving on daily wages are faring. no one is having it "good" here except for a very very VERY select few. and there's no way of showing that frustration for many people. social media gives people an anonymity to channel their frustrations in different ways. kisi deewar pe toh sar phodna hi hai.

btw, I disagree that Pakistani fandoms are so worse of the lot. this story is the same everywhere. the only reason why it looks bigger here is because compared to other fandoms, by quantity, Pakistani fandom is smaller. it's like a small town where everyone knows everyone. there's no escaping the trash at the side of the road cuz everyone is using the same road to travel. while other fandoms like kpop for instances can still allow fans the make their own safe circles away from the negativity and still manage to enjoy the feel of a large community. itna toh main likh ke de sakti hoon that by no comparison is Pakistani fandom worse than the stuff kpop fans, specifically armies, pull out. it's all about where you are getting your news from.

twitter is just ONE of the platforms where fandoms exist. before the monopoly of social media came into place, we had multiple platforms which housed fandoms. idk if you have interacted with fandoms at different places. for me, the tumblr fandom culture largely shaped how i interact with the media (a mix of meta analysis+edits). the twitter side of fandom interacts with media different. Indiaforums had a very different way of interacting with media. soompi and dramabeans were where I went for kdrama side of fandom. we also have reddit which is a completely different beast. and these are just English speaking platforms. the local Korean/Chinese/Japanese platforms which remain the biggest and most influential communities for the East Asian media content have a culture that outsiders simply cannot understand no matter how good the translating account is.

so yeah, yes Pakistani fandoms have problem. but which fandom doesn't? the general rule of "mute and block and be vigilant in maintaining a timeline that caters to only your interest!" applies here as well as to every fandom ever. ignore the shit takes and the negativity the best you can; they only exist to sour your personal good time here.

(i LOVEEEEEEEEEE The Glory. i showed my love for it decently enough on twt back when both the parts dropped)

#type: opinion #fandoms

[transphilza]

for those who weren’t sure if they wanted to watch the tro vid or not here is a bit about it and my thoughts!

as a person very much into mcyt (obviously) everything tro says has… kinda been said a million times already, particularly on tumblr where we are quite distant from the hellhole of drama that happens on twitter and reddit. so like, if you already know about dream and his past controversies then i don’t find that this video offers any further insight that hasn’t already been discussed by people like us. tro simply gives a good outlook on why dream and the community is so polarizing and the cycle of outrage and division (a cycle which is spurred by stans, antis, and dream himself in relatively equal parts)

as for the video itself, tro has always been good at being nuanced and unbiased and i think this video tracks with that. the criticisms are valid and the majority of the video is a well put together explanation of the different aspects that have made him so polarizing, which is very interesting. it is critical of dream, of course, and if you already are aware of such criticisms and their nuance and don’t enjoy seeing them then the video isn’t really necessary to watch

the jist of it is: tro acknowledges both that dream can and should have done better in his responses to past situations (true) and that he enables toxic stans unintentionally (true) but also reflects that people way over-interpret and over-dramatize things dream says (true). it’s nuance that we as mcyt fans have discussed ad nauseum and i would assume already have a decent understanding of

he raises the question of manipulation/calculation (which of all the things about dream is one that i’m quickest to defend lol, i’ll criticize the man but that guy is just so not the evil mastermind people make him out to be) but seemed to agree that dream is just naturally impulsive, provocative, and occasionally thoughtless. which is true, and once again, something we all already know.

a good quote is “dream never really did anything overly offensive, he just pissed people off and then didn’t really address why he’d pissed people off.” <- like pretty much

tro could give him a little more leeway for sure. and i do think dream has grown more than he was given credit for. but this is a critique video so i get it

overall it’s a decent video, tro never misses. but obviously people in our sphere of the internet have already discussed pretty much everything he says. for me, it was beating a dead horse, lol, even though tro was very eloquent as usual as he did so

#and i adore dream ^^^ just in case anyone is unfamiliar with my blog #long post #tro #cw discourse #dream critical #<-just in case!! #a lot of dt mains seem to be very upset? i don’t think tro was unfair at all though #a little snippy at parts but that’s just how he is sometimes. he isn’t mindlessly critical #tro brings up antis points and so i get why people get upset. bc it’s stuff we’ve heard before #but do realize tro is just trying to explain the most common point of view. which is negative

[high-on-copium]

Let’s talk about MCC17 and Buildmart

lk I rarely post anything on Tumblr, hell, the last time i posted anything here was months ago, but I feel like I want to have a discussion about the whole Buildmart discourse. 

Personally, I don’t think either Dream or Sapnap is wrong for hating Buildmart. They have their rights to hate a game and I am pretty sure all CC’s have a game they dislike as well. The problem with Dream and Sapnap speaking publicly about Buildmart is because of their large fanbase. 

Now I know not everyone on the dtwt is toxic, but a lot of them are. Neither Dream or Sapnap calls out their toxic stans, that why when they spoke out about something, there’s discourse. This happen during MCC 14 as well. When Sapnap and Dream spoke about Hbomb and Scott possibly cheating, both of them got a lot of death threats and homophobic comments thrown at them. 

Sapnap saying things like “People who likes buildmart are a pussy” is also very distasteful. It only adds on the toxicity for his fanbase and make him look bad. I think him calling people who enjoys buildmart names is not a good thing  and is a bit irresponsible of him to do, and H, rightfully so calls him out on that.

A problem I have with this whole drama is because it overshadows Orange’s win. When I look at reddit, tumblr, or twitter, I don’t see much people being happy for Orange’s win, I see so many people just arguing about Buildmart. The way people word their arguments feels like they’re saying that Orange’s win is purely because of Buildmart, especially since it’s one of their better games. It feels like a lot of people are saying that their win is undeserved. This causes some outrage from Orange’s supporters and fans, especially since they were all so excited and happy from the two 1st wins, a 3 times win, and a 4 times win. It feels like this whole argument is destined for hermittwt and dsmptwt to fight against eachother.  

Do I think Buildmart can be improve? Oh yea, 100%. Alltho I personally enjoys Buildmart and think it’s a fun game, I do see a lot of flaws in it, and anyone has the rights to critic it. But I don’t think it should be removed. Buildmart’s charm is that its a game that values team coordination and communication. It’s a chance of non PVP players to shine. To excel on Buildmart, it doesn’t require you to be a builder or to be creative, it requires you to talk with your teammates. If a teammate is being quiet, ask them, talk to them. If you think memorizing is a bit of an issue for you, maybe try a different role, like being a floater. There are many ways to improve on Buildmart. 

In conclusion, I feel like Sapnap and Dream, should called their fans out about this. They can’t control their fans, sure, but they can call them out. They should watch what they’re saying more carefully next time. They’re not wrong for having these opinions and frustrations, they have their rights to feel how they want to feel, and us as a fanbase can’t change how a content creator thinks. We can also have our own opinions and critics for MCC’s minigames, but we should not attack anyone for it. And also, please just be happy that orange won? even if you weren’t rooting for them, its annoying to see “cyan should have won” UNDER ORANGE’S CONGRATULATION POST. What you are doing is literally asking for a fight. 

#mcc #mcc17 #mcc 17 orange ocelots #mcyt #hermitblr #hermitcraft #dreamsmp #dsmpblr #build mart

[tobi-smp]

Regarding your tags on the post about the misuse of trauma-dumping--I don't disagree with you, but what are your thoughts about the accusation of abuse apologism--or worse, threats of abuse itself--sent to people who do like Dream, including other abuse survivors? Isn't that also silencing, just in the other direction? It just seems like a messy situation overall, with shit behavior on all sides.

context: [Link]

I'm gonna be real with you anon, these two things are not comparable for very important reasons.

the situation with dream and tommy is what it is because they presented an abusive relationship with enough authenticity and nuance that people who've experienced these things in real life have been able to see their experiences reflected back and represented in a way that they haven't seen before in popular media. I've seen my c-ptsd in tommy in ways that I just Haven't seen in movies or tv.

[Links that go into more detail: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4 and summaries of dream's treatment and affect on tommy in all of the exile streams under "A Comprehensive Analysis of the Exile arc": Link]

"trauma dumping" as a term isn't exactly rigidly defined, but it's essentially the practice of suddenly oversharing about trauma at random in a way that can be toxic to the people around you. this means going into detail about something horrific that you've experienced without giving someone time or space to consent to seeing that information, which can be triggering or draining. it seems more appropriate (to me) to define it as a pattern of behavior, rather than a one-off, but it can be useful in talking about isolated interactions anyhow.

what people are accusing of being "trauma dumping" is what I've already done in this post, mentioning the fact that you have trauma at all and how it affects your relationship with this piece of media. this is blatantly misusing the term specifically to shame people out of speaking up about why it can be harmful to other fans who are survivors to make light of the canonical abuse (or worse, which I won't get into).

it's a silencing tactic because it's essentially weaponizing someone's trauma against them through what's more or less a lie so that the accuser doesn't Have to acknowledge what's already in the text of the story they're consuming and talking about.

the problem with abuse apologia in the fandom can't be summed up with "people have started blatantly misusing a term seemingly at random to try to get what they want."

this is going to sound harsh but anyone can spread abuse apologia whether they mean to or not, whether they themselves are a trauma survivor or not. in the same way that being lgbt+ doesn't stop people from being able to spread queerphobia or ideas that contribute or stem from queerphobia.

the problem is not in that people Like dream, it's that there are people who actively excuse his actions or actively try to blame those actions on tommy. people who say and Believe that tommy "got what he deserved," people who try to argue that tommy Provoked dream, who say that dream was only doing what he had to because tommy was Clearly the cause of everyone's problems on the server (which is, of course, the logic that dream used to justify his own abuse and attempted murder), etc.

these are all real things that I see Frequently and Have Seen for months. not just in fringe sections of the fandom but front and center on twitter, youtube, reddit, and of course floating around here on tumblr. and I've personally seen much worse, but I won't be getting into that right now.

of course people should make the distinction between apologia spread for a fictional character and apologia spread about real people (or people you personally know) because it Is absolutely different. but it's important to point out regardless of whether it's fictional or not because it's being posted publicly where people who Do see themselves and their trauma in tommy can see it and be hurt by it.

tommy provoked dream by being annoying and argumentative in the prison? and what if someone has a loud personality and has been punished for it by their abuser? how do you think They'd feel if someone looks at behavior that reflects them and say that the person who got hurt deserved to be because of that?

it's not the same because it's true. a Lot of the things said about tommy and his experiences are extremely uncomfortable and hurtful to read from the perspective of someone who can relate to his situation. which is problematic when his "situation" is canonical trauma and abuse. and its important to point out that the things being said mirror real life abuse apologia because the things being said are reaching and hurting real life abuse survivors.

pointing out that your words can have an impact on traumatized people because the subject matter you're talking about already deals with themes of trauma and abuse is not a silencing tactic Because It Is The Truth. if someone pointing out the reality of a situation makes your argument fall apart (to the point that you have to try to deflect through lying) then maybe there's something wrong with your argument.

there's nothing wrong with Liking dream, I like dream's character, the problem is when you try to paint him as justified or in the right when it comes to tommy (or tubbo, or ranboo, or wilbur, or-). I don't think people are right when they try to call people outright abusers over blockman discourse, but I can also say that that's just something that I haven't seen. I absolutely believe that it happens (discourse just is that way) but I mean that I don't think that it's common in the same way that the abuse apologia is, or even the misuse of the term "trauma dumping."

so comparing the two situations and calling them The Same just feels, Gross.

#dream smp #tommyinnit #dreamwastaken #dream critical #c!dream critical #discourse #abuse mention #exile arc #meta #long post #ask to tag

[cosmicjoke]

I swear, AoT fandom is the most toxic fandom I've ever been a part of. It's truly cursed. Not to be snobby, but I feel like the reason for this is that most of the fandom is kids, while AoT is definitely for a more mature audience. Not so much because of the gore and violence, but because of the topics covered in it. I'm pretty sure most 12 year olds don't have enough critical thinking and reading comprehension to make sense of this series. To be honest, the same goes for many adults, as well.

There's so much to talk about, yet they choose to focus on petty hate, non-existent ships, bullshit takes to prove these ships canon or justify things that can't be justified. Most of these takes are so utterly stupid, I can't believe people seriously discuss them.

I mean, I get that everyone's free to HC whatever they want, but it's not ok to force their HCs down people's throat. There's a difference between fanon and canon, and they don't seem to see it.

I try to not interact with the fandom outside of the bubble I created on Tumblr, but sometimes it happens anyway. All the more I appreciate you and a few other amazing blogs for being so smart, rational and providing us with the fan content SnK deserves.

Yeah, I agree completely. The themes of SnK are sophisticated, and presented in a sophisticated manner. Children wouldn't have the reading comprehension level to get what they're actually looking at, I don't think. Even young adults, as I see a lot of 18/19 year olds who miss the point entirely. And some people are just purposefully obtuse when it comes to this story, belligerently sticking to their ignorant takes just so they can lord their supposed moral and intellectual superiority over others. You know they're not too smart though, since they're so woefully unaware of the way they're advertising their own foolishness.

I'm like you, as I try to avoid interacting with most of the fandom. I don't go on twitter, or facebook, or reddit, or any of the other platforms, but even when you stick to one platform like tumblr, you still encounter idiots.

I'm glad I can provide you and hopefully a few others with worthwhile content, anyway, haha. I try. It's nice to know there are intelligent SnK fans floating around, like you. It's always a pleasure to talk to fans who don't have their heads up their asses, lol.

#shingeki no kyojin

[checkmatein3moves]

Hello! What are the RO's favorite social media platforms (and why)?

considering i've only partially thought about the specifics of popular social media in oracle (so far all i have is that the main one, scry, is like if you combined the connection aspect of linkedin, the nosy aspect of facebook, the forum aspect of reddit and like, the vapid news aspect of any tabloid) then for this i'll just do what they would like if they used social media in this time and universe

hebe: mainly on art twitter. posts her art on tumblr too but prefers the exposure of twitter. gets into her fair share of arguments over people reposting without credit and blatantly misinterpreting her favourite characters. complains about the toxic people but likes commissioning other artists to support them and deep diving into constructive criticisms. uses facebook solely to share pictures of her brother's dogs or to shade her sister. posts on instagram with windo and MC a lot, has an aesthetic theme

windo: goes on reddit but specifically the redditships/tifu/aita realm, occasionally the nosleep type subreddits. gets sucked in. sometimes posts in them so people can laugh at the stupid things he's done, e.g. TIFU by offering to hang a priceless painting for a friend. decided to improvise when i realised i didn't know what i was doing. gives advice on the relationship posts. knows there's a lot of fake posts but operates on the suspension of disbelief to connect with strangers. also has an instagram w/ a mixture of goofy, friendship and fashion posts, and a work twitter to give commentary on political articles

sailor: a finsta to scroll meme instagrams. they actually laugh out loud at some of the bad jokes they come across. doesn't have tiktok so they can sit on their high horse in disdain for it but has seen millions in the reels tab anyway. never posts or comments, just likes. they send the MC memes but not through dms or anything, literally will get up and show them irl if they find something they think they'd laugh at like a cat bringing you a dead mouse. don't really do public social media profiles because they value their privacy.

jelly: their finsta that they just post bullshit on. they have like 3 followers and all their posts are like a slew of every thought that pops into their head at 2am. their celebrity crushes, things that made them laugh for 5 mins for no reason, their take on soulmates, on fictional characters, nostalgia posts, dog pics, them listening to one direction, 5 selfies in a row of different angles, drunk posts. their public social medias are all very put together and well curated tho. pretty pics and makeup #ads on insta. eloquent linkedin. no facebook

twenty: barely uses any. dislikes seeing too many opinions that he didn't ask for. had a phase where he used to troll scammers (and sometimes just random people to be a menace) on habbo hotel. wouldn't admit it but he likes taking uquizzes. what kind of emo are u. what horror movie trope would u be. what colour would u be. 9/10 he’s not even happy about the results but he just goes :/ and moves onto the next one. has seen like 5 total tiktoks and only knows what a tiktoker is because jelly has explained it

noir: doomscrolls on various sites, mostly twitter and douban. hates these sites with a passion but continues to consume all the depressing content anyway as just one of many shitty habits. had a sadboy tumblr (because OF COURSE HE DID) in his teens that is semi-common knowledge but old enough news that it’s not really something people bring up to tease him about. black and white big gifs with text, angsty textposts, classics like that. pretends to care about his linkedin but god if it’s not the most boring thing ever to him. posts view pics on insta 

honey: honestly probably normal twitter. her dn is just honey and her @ is something generic and she shares her opinions on condiments and mundane things like that. not really interested in discourse or fandom spaces and is not the most up to date in meme culture. she’s busy a lot, so she doesn’t have much time to spend online. watches those calming asmr baking videos on youtube. in her teens i think she would’ve been a fan of acoustic cover channels. had a facebook when she was younger but deactivated it because she never used it

jareth: his secret letterboxd. actually reviews movies impartially and passionately. nobody would ever guess it was him. not a mega popular account, but pretty credible. likes to take advantage of the fact he’s not taken too seriously by certain demographics, so he shares his more comprehensive opinions anonymously. gets genuinely irritated by most troll reviews. some are funny enough to let slide. he had a wattpad once but NOBODY knows nor will they ever know because he would die of embarrassment if that came out. sometimes says annoying shit on twitter but nothing too controversial or topical

ludo: it’s not really a social media but like......ebay. he can scroll ebay for hours whether he’s window shopping or actually wants to buy something. likes to look in the antique section especially. the habit started because he grew up with barely any money and used to curiously browse the kind of obscure stuff rich collectors liked to buy, but by the time he had income of his own (albeit not that much) he’d kind of convinced himself that he understood why people wanted this junk. now it’s like an addiction. he also has a twitter that’s more clued into memes and references but is still pretty mundane. 

monty: her instagram is very well curated. meticulous, even, with selfies, fashion, meals, more ‘relatable’ backstage pictures, etc. it’s definitely a little too perfect but she’s proud of her aesthetic eye, and her public image isn’t fake so much as presented in a way that she gets to keep her personal things to herself. is the kind of celebrity to do instagram lives just to make her fans happy. made a youtube channel due to popular demand but doesn’t really have a clear plan for it, so it’s mostly just q&a where she talks about her favourite characters, funny set anecdotes and her met gala looks. jareth appears on it sometimes to talk about their drama greenwood creek and he suggests meme reviews and things like that

#full cast #insight #now why is this so long. idk

[jade-marie]

Ok so on the prospect of “anti” tagging I have some thoughts.

This got long, not gonna lie.

Which content is considered anti?

This whole anti thing is a very subjective concept. I’ve seen a lot of talk over the last few days about “negativity” when, to me, negativity is when you’re just talking shit for the sake of talking shit, not when you’re making valid criticisms. Pointing out flaws in the writing or plot holes or racism isn’t being negative and this mindset that everyone has to be positive all the time is fucking toxic. It makes other people feel like shit when they aren’t enjoying an episode or storyline and simply want to share their experience.

And what content are people supposed to tag? Because I don’t see anybody requesting an anti-Dean tag or anti-Manny Montana when we’re all collectively roasting him for getting a stupid tattoo on his neck. But god forbid anyone critiques Beth’s character flaws. Heavens no - the misogyny!! So where exactly is the line being drawn? Does everyone have to tag content that isn’t singing Beth‘s/the show’s praises or are we allowed to make valid criticisms?  Are we allowed to say that we didn’t enjoy an episode?  Is this simply being reserved for people who mindlessly bash the show with no valid reason for what they’re saying? And while we’re on the topic - you might find criticisms of particular characters/storylines offensive, somehow. You might find that it impacts your viewing experience. Other people might find praise of particular characters/storylines equally as frustrating. When I see people praising Beth, sometimes it makes me want to stab my fucking eyes out, quite frankly. Soooo are we going to start tagging “positive” content as well?🙃

Silencing POC within fandom

It’s not lost on me, the timing of all this discussion. The fact of the matter is, the content people have an issue with right now is predominantly criticism of Beth, a lot of which is rooted in criticism of the racist writing on the show and the white feminism that she represents. A lot of this criticism is coming from POC viewers. So the second they have to start tagging their posts as “anti-Beth” so everyone can blacklist them, they no longer have a voice.

At the end of the day, this is a predominantly white female fandom and it’s very easy for the show to be viewed through that particular lens. So when you have POC fans finally speaking up and criticising the way Beth‘s handled by the writing, the way Rio is fetishised, the way racist tropes and stereotypes are utilised and they’re immediately branded “negative” - that really doesn’t set a good precedent. Because now you’re telling people that by making valid criticisms and speaking about the way their viewing experience is being impacted, they’re somehow ruining other peoples’ experience. It’s bordering on micro-aggressions, at this point.

Fandom is a communal space

Is it? Is it really? Because from where I sit half of this apparent community have fucking blocked each other anyway. Tumblr, in particular, is not a communal space. People have their own blogs and they post what they want to post. If you don’t like what they post, you don’t have to follow them, it’s really simple. In comparison, a platform like reddit is actually communal. People have to go into a shared space in order to voice their opinion, they have live episode discussions, they have post-episode discussions, yet nobody tries to police each other’s opinion there. People tag their spoilers but that’s it. If someone posts an opinion you don’t agree with, you simply move past it like a fucking adult. 

If you go on Twitter and you look through the good girls tag, you’re going to see a shit ton of stuff you don’t agree with and guess what? You just scroll past it. Because despite what people try to convince themselves, there is nothing communal about fandom unless you create your own community. If you join one of the good girls Facebook groups (again, communal in a way that tumblr isn’t) you’re going to see opinions you don’t like and once again, you just scroll the fuck past. And please don’t start talking about community when people are still too scared to actually voice their opinions because they think no one will like them or they’ll get hate. When people are literally leaving because they’re afraid that their “negativity” is going to bring everyone else down. When people are still punitively unfollowing/blocking/blacklisting and making shady fucking tags about each other for having a differing opinion about a work of fiction, how exactly can you even begin to talk about communal space?

If you want to start talking about community and manners, maybe take on board the criticisms people are making, recognise the issues being raised, stop punishing people for having different opinions and stop being so fucking selfish. On the other hand, you could decide to stop preaching community and everyone can post whatever the fuck they want, if you don’t like what you see, don’t follow them.

P.S if someone critiquing a show or talking about the issues they have with it makes you enjoy it less, maybe that’s because you didn’t like it that much to begin with. 

#idc if I sound like a bitch #this shit is getting tiresome #I feel like ranty jade could be back for good #good girls nbc

[lostinmcyt]

here's the thing though, there are /some/ people who call themselves dream apologists who do excuse abuse. just like there are /some/ other people in the fandom who excuse torture, and say he deserves it. here's what i've noticed though, there are more c!dream sympathists who are Like That on twitter and reddit (eugh, reddit), and there are more c!tommy apologists who are Like That on tumblr. (though there are always some on any platform) i've seen so many bad faith, horrible takes on twitter from every side (i know i sound a little centrist here). and i have genuinely encountered people on twitter, with large followings who said "oh dream didn't abuse tommy, their relationship was just toxic" and no one came in and corrected them. my point is, firstly we need to stop judging "apologists" by the outliers, or by their bad apples. BUT i also think, if we're gonna view it as sides, both sides need to start taking a little accountability, and also call people out people in their /own/ group when they genuinely do spout victim-blaming rhetoric, instead of no-true-scotsmaning them out. 'cause i've been tryna do that best i can, if i do encounter it. and i know the response to the survey was a bit disappointing from my side, i know how shitty it feels when people don't, 1. get the point of ur character and 2. echo a lot of victim-blaming sentiments, even if the character itself isn't real, because the things they say are real, and sound so eerily familiar. i genuinely cannot be on dream smp twitter for that reason. - cube (once again back in ur inbox with a long-winded opinion :P)

okay now that i'm off work-

yeah shitty as it is I have also seen some people who say they're c!Dream apologists who do say that c!Dream did absolutely nothing wrong or that c!tommy deserved the exile treatment or whatever with their whole chest (notably only in form of twt screenshots posted here either by antis going 'SEE THEY'RE ALL ABUSE APOLOGISTS' or by us going 'yo what the actual FUCK', but then again, i have my dash curated to avoid shitty people so i'm not saying no one like this exists on tumblr) - and i 100% agree that in the true spirit of this fandom discussing moral conundrums on a daily basis they should be told that hey, actually, how about you maybe reconsider.

with the c!tommy apologists who say the torture is okay - well if you're a c!dream fan and try to discuss that point you get called abuse apologist in return because Exile is the only arc that matters and we cannot discuss anything else ever and the cycle continues xD so a lot of us gave up lmao and now we just ask people to tag appropriately and stare in horror otherwise

but this is touching on what I said - difference in the definition of what a c!dream apologist is. cause you know, i go by 'i acknowledge his faults but i'm going to look into his character deeper to try and understand where they came from as well as i don't believe he's irredemable because god damn everyone deserves a chance to get better' definition which is i think the most popular angle at least in my corner of dsmpblr. the people i talked about earlier would not be c!dream apologists by this definition, they'd be what i like to call, 'wrong' /lh

idk man, it's the generalization that gets me, and also the fact that people will go out of their way to show up in your asks or your notes or in general tags even and say 'yeah if you like this character/if you're an apologist you're actually abusive to people in real life' hen it couldn't be further from the truth but they don't know that nor do they care to stop and think about the fact that maybe they're wrong-

and people of this fandom only seem to go this far in c!dream/c!dream fans case, i don't think people go out their way to go to c!q fans and yell at them about torture or yknow to go to c!sam fans and yell about prison reforms (if they do, guys, i'm so sorry /srs) AND ALSO some one them will be like 'you're an abuser /j' like????????? hello??????????????? show me where the joke is.

sorry for how rambly i am my brain is melting from the heat you have no idea how much effort it took to reply lol

#tw abuse mention #tw abuse apologism #not really but mentioned #discourse #fandom critical #negative #tw negative #neg #long post #lostanons #cubeanon #c!dream negative #torture mention #Edited because I remember readmore is a Thing bshsgshah fuck I'm Tired

[do-not-eat-the-dove]

I need to write this, I need to write this because I am so fucking angry. I am so, so fucking angry, and every problematic shipper I want you to read this. Read it, all the way through, because if you don’t then you are ignoring children you might have harmed.

Tw’s for: beastiality mention, sexual abuse mention, paedophilia mention, typical darkfic trigger warnings in essential

When I was nine, I moved into the Aphmau fandom. Earlier than that, I was an avid reader of Harry potter. Earlier than that, I was into stampy cat and iballisticsquid and skydoesminecraft. I have been in fandoms earlier than my body can remember, and I started in on wattpad when I was very, very young. Just writing, only writing. I had a vague understanding of what sex and smut was as a child, because of unmoderated youtube thumbnails. I ran into sexual themes online, because that is what a child does okay? I will admit that I knew about sex as a child if only barely.

As a kid in fandom, you don't know how to moderate things. As a literal fucking elementary schooler who doesn’t know how to differentiate “Their” “They’re” and “There”, you do not know the difference between right and wrong. You do not understand what an 18+ warning is, and you don’t know what the fuck a dead dove is and why anyone would want to eat it in the first place. You do not understand, and i think that this is something that problematic content creators expect of literal fucking children, and i also think that it is extremely irrational and condescending for you to do so.

When I was a bit older, maybe twelve/thirteen, I found ao3. I found twitter, tumblr, bnha and anime. I was excited because it was a community, so I became super involved as fast as I could. I had still not hit puberty yet. I hadn’t even learned the pythagorean theorem yet. I didn’t entirely understand variables and I had no clue that washing your face was basic hygiene. I am bringing this up to display to you that I. WAS. A. CHILD. A kid. Five years ago at this point I still had trouble jump-roping. I was a kid who had average decision-making skills for their age and who found the idea of boys gross, crushes were based on who was fastest in gym class.

I let go of tumblr because I couldn’t grasp what on earth it was supposed to be used for and how it was supposed to be used, I posted shitty depressed memes on reddit because I thought I was edgy. And then I got involved in fandom twitter.

Me, my friends, we recommended each other cute ship threads and discussed Notps and did “toxic fandom stuff” because we were children who still celebrated valentines day with sweet-tarts and holographic paper cards. I still knew jack shit about sex and relationships because as a child sex education is just “this is a penis, this is a vagina, this is how you don’t get pregnant, any questions?” 

So when one day, i decide to type “BNHA” into the search bar of twitter, intent on finding cute things to share with my online friends and instead am greeted with a picture of a character raping another character, I don’t know exactly what to do.

Let me repeat that; I looked up JUST the word “BNHA”. Just that. Nothing else. 

And I, a child, who has no decision making skills, clicks on the post. Because it makes me feel funny, and children are curious.

As a middle schooler. As a child who had the average physical and mental capacity to resist impulse, aka none, as someone who used Uwu and OwO unironically, who thought spelling “as” with a Z made me quirky and fun, discovered a main-tagged post of a character being nsfwed in a sexual assault.

From here, I explored. What you people don’t get is that is what children do. That is what children DO. And you, in all your wonderful wise ways, decide that it is on ME. On someone who had no understanding of what this was, to be the adult and say “I do not think this is right.” You, the thirty year old woman who maintags, are saying that to me, who was a twelve year old. 

I think the most traumatic thing I read during that time was an aged-down character, who went from fifteen to five, being sexually abused and pimped out by his mother and forced to have sexual contact with dogs.

Today, I suffer from intense intrusive thoughts that I do not think I need to be diagnosed for, because constantly wondering if you’re going to be sexually assaulted by every single man you come in contact with, having to shoo away evil disgusting thoughts that have made you involuntarily gag and nearly vomit, having to deal with these awful things in my brain is proof enough. Today, I have such a deep-rooted fear of sex and men and relationships that despite me being entirely Heterosexual, wanting children in the future, having these ideas of a family, I feel incapable. 

Today, I saw a fic saying that it was my own fault if I found their problematic fic, and today I raged for every child that is going to be messed up by people who choose to blameshift just because they want to use maintags. 

As fandom spaces get younger, and the fan age range grows bigger I have noticed a distinct uptick in who is reading and consuming fan content on social media. I know eleven year olds, ten year olds, I have met a nine year old child who messaged like they were twenty. All of these children read fanfiction of characters that they adore, and click on fics that include those characters because they adore them.

I’m going to share another experience that I’ve had with sex and sexual abuse that was self-inflicted, but normalized by the content that I had consumed. As a child, a thirteen year old, I messaged adult men. I went on omegle text chat, I found forums for sexual roleplay, I talked to probably a dozen adults in sexual manners without them knowing or realizing. Even a few women, and I am completely certain this experience is going to scar me until the day that I fucking pass. It makes me feel empty inside, but you know what? Your fics normalized that for me. I read a tweet from an adult, someone much older than me, who talked about having gone into adult spaces as a child. They did the same thing as me. It is a trend, but while I recognize that I was too young to know what I was seeing, reading, hearing from people who were older than me and therefore authority figures, they blamed themself. And that is the most heartbreaking fucking thing.

When you maintag. When you use a main tag, that a child who does not know how to filter out scrolls down on, and they decide that this will be an okay thing for them to consume because adults know better, will you look them in the eyes and tell them the fear of things they don’t understand and haven’t even been introduced to yet is their fault? Will you tell them that ao3 is an adult site for adults and it’s their fault for being stupid enough to read it? Will you tell them that the images that will play in their minds for years until they’re desensitized and so so scared that they’re now a bad person because of it, will you tell them that it was their fault for clicking on it when they were seven, eight, nine? 

Frankly, I do not give a shit about what you write. If it is in rpf and you still push it i will think you are a bad person, but other than that I could never care less. But I do care what you tag, because If you write the word bnha on twitter with an image of a young child's favorite character being sexually brutalised? If you maintag a fic where someone is starved till they are nearly dead, infantilised, sexually abused during all of it, and leave it out in the open on a site you know has children, in a fandom you know is targeted towards kids. If your tags leave a child open for attack, harm, mental scarring? I care, because I will not let another child be blamed for something they themselves did not fully understand the weight of.

#fandom #anti anti #problematic authors #problematic shipping #ao3 #archive of our own #tw #tumblr #fanfic #fandom space #I have never talked about these experiences with anyone but if there is a time to talk about it it is now.

[charmedseoull]

The Aftermath of Fanfiction Authors with Reba Interview

Before You Read the Interview

I contacted Reba after she posted a Reddit thread titled “When a fic becomes too popular and the author deletes their account and/or work. Explained.” on a throwaway account. We discussed details of the interview during December over email, then started the interview in January. This interview is not associated with a project and is its own independent work. Reba has chosen to remain anonymous.

She provides insight on potential reasons to why fanfiction authors abandon their work from the perspective of a fanfiction reader. She also answered general fandom questions and questions about herself so readers could understand her background.

Charmedseoul is a BTS-focused anonymous historian who documents fandom history using Fanlore. If you would like to be interviewed to help document perspectives in fandom, please contact her on Twitter @charmedseoul or on Tumblr @charmedseoull.

Parts of this interview have been edited with links to Fanlore and Wikipedia pages for understanding. Any information in [brackets] serves for further clarity for readers and elaboration of information.

Now presenting the interview with Reba, long-time fanfiction reader and participant in fandom:

When did you first join fandom culture?

I joined fandom culture in 2014. I feel like fandoms really peaked during this time. [Presence of SuperWhoLock and other Tumblr specific fandoms.]

What fandoms are you in? How have your experiences in them been?

I will be honest and say fandom culture isn’t for me- so I can’t say I’m active in any fandoms (I’m just a silent consumer) but growing up I was a fan of music artists mostly; Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande… I loved the IT 2017 movie adaptation for a long time (I still do), and early 2020 is when I got into BLACKPINK, then BTS. My experience with all of these has been good, and maybe that’s because I don’t see any of the drama and arguments online- but I don’t regret any of my past interests because they all made me happy at one point in time.

What do you like about fandoms?

 What I like about fandoms is how happy it can make an individual; getting excited for a new music video, smiling at behind the scenes photos… it can bring someone a little joy if they are having a bad day.

What do you dislike about fandoms?

I don’t like stan culture at all; fandom drama, arguing on twitter with strangers to defend an artist who doesn’t even know you… it all seems toxic. While I'm sure healthy stanning does exist, I don't think it's easy to achieve at all.

How long have you been an ARMY? What are your opinions about the fandom? How has your experience in the fandom been? 

I became an ARMY in early 2020 when Map of the Soul: 7 was released, so only a year. I really do like the fandom; ARMY is the only fandom I’ve seen where there are so many fans worldwide of all different ages, and that just shows how BTS and their music really is for everyone. There is so much BTS content that there’s never a dull day, so my experience in the fandom has been enjoyable!

Did you ever leave ARMY and take a break then come back?

 I’ve never left ARMY, that being said, I’m a newbie and haven’t been here for long.

When did you first start reading fanfiction? 

I have been exposed to fanfiction since 2014, but I wasn’t in any fandom back then and started reading fanfiction in 2017.

What do you think the purpose behind fanfiction is?

 We mostly read for entertainment but there is definitely a purpose to fanfiction, as for all art. Fanfiction is a great thing for both reader and writers, it can be an outlet for many people, a way to experience things that you don't have a chance to experience in your own life. It also can be a good base ground for people who want to start writing, or for someone who finds reading huge paperback novels difficult. Fanfiction is so easily accessible, you can pull up a story to read or share your work at the press of a button.

As you’ve read fanfiction over the years, do you feel like anything about fanfiction has changed?

Yes! Fanfiction is taken a lot more seriously now, people who write fanfiction treat it like an actual novel with plotting and editing- the quality of fanfiction in general is a lot better. Fandom ships have also changed; when I was a teenager Harry Styles fanfictions were crazy popular, now the fanfics that seem to be more popular are BTS! So that just shows when music evolves, pretty much everything else does too.

As a reader, how do you view authors?

I'm always amazed by fanfic authors because they practically write whole novels for free. Writing can be such a personal thing, and it does take talent; there is a story the author wants to convey, and when a story is told in a beautiful way, it leaves a lasting impact on the reader. I’m sure that must be a euphoric feeling for the author- it means they told their story, and they did it well.

Do you think many other readers share the same view as you?

No, not at all. There are readers out there who don’t really think about the time and effort authors put into their stories. I’ve seen readers expect so much, and criticise something so little. It’s sad- people should be able to write whatever they want, writing is supposed to encourage creativity. Authors shouldn’t have to fear backlash for doing just that. Being creative. 

Why do you think so many authors delete/orphan their work after it gains popularity?

When a story gains popularity- it attracts good and bad attention alike. Unfortunately the negative affects us a lot more, it’s just human nature. While authors do put their work out there, I don’t think they are ever prepared for their stories to become so popular. I am sure it is overwhelming and that’s why authors feel the need to distance themselves from it all and delete/orphan their work.

What stories prompted you to start thinking about why authors delete/orphan their works? 

I read a story called mixtape (IT movie) and I was around long enough to see chapters be uploaded each week. I also saw the struggles the author went through when their fanfic began to rise in popularity, which eventually led to the story being completely deleted from the internet. So I thought this could have been a one-off since I hadn’t read many fanfictions. I then moved onto BTS fanfiction and decided to read the most talked about ones first, only to see a lot of them were by orphaned accounts (so not just a one-off occurrence!). House of Cards by sugamins was the one that got me thinking, I thought “why would somebody not want to be associated with this amazing writing?!” That’s when I began to do some research and stumbled across your interview with the author!

How do you think backlash for a work harms an authors mental health? 

An immense amount of feedback, positive or negative, can take a toll on one person. A lot of authors can be reserved people and they write because they are passionate, as an outlet or just a hobby. So when their work does receive backlash it can be very upsetting- it could make them doubt their reasons and capabilities and affect an author so much they might stop writing all together.

How do you think some authors manage their mental health and not delete a work? 

This is a hard question because everyone deals with backlash differently. I know some authors who are not bothered by backlash and they choose to ignore it and move on with their day, and then there are other authors who are more anxious and have to put a lot of measures in place to protect their mental health; from your interview with sugamins they explain how they didn’t want to destroy their work, just distance themselves from it, so that’s always an option.

Taking time away from social media and getting enough rest, it is important to not neglect your well-being. Finding a way to cope when you feel low; animals tend to ground me and improve my mental health- they are loving and don’t judge you for who you are. Maybe you cope by talking with friends, or listening to your favourite song. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it helps. 

At what point with mental health do you think authors start to consider deletion/orphaning?

I think an author starts to consider deleting/orphaning their work when it completely consumes them. It is not healthy to be fixated on something that is no longer bringing you happiness, you need to let it go. If you are an author reading this, just know you are not your feedback, it doesn’t define your existence, okay? Fanfiction should add to your life, not take away from it. 

Why do you think some readers invade an authors privacy?

Sometimes, people care more about the author than the work they have created. So when a fanfic has deeply touched a reader and helped them through so much, they want to reach out in any way and tell them so- this can be invasive if the reader is not careful about their approach.

How do you think authors manage this privacy invasion?

Stopping it before it happens; not using your real name, having a separate account for writing, don’t link social media accounts in your works etc. If privacy has already been compromised and a reader is making the author uncomfortable, then disabling comments on their works, making a new social media or changing their accounts to private would be smart. Just knowing how to keep safe online.

At what point with privacy invasion do you think authors start to consider deletion/orphaning?

When you are at risk of being doxed. I think when readers are going as far as finding authors’ personal accounts and messaging their friends- anything along those lines is scary and the reader is going from a supporter to an intrusive stranger real fast.

Why do you think anonymity is important for fanfiction writing?

When your full name is attached to everything you do, people have a very easy way to get back to you. This is why authors keep an anonymous profile, and it is important readers respect that.  Most authors don’t want their family, friends, employer etc to see that sort of stuff. It is completely okay to remain professional and keep fanfiction writing separate from personal life.

Do you think fanfiction writing should stay free? Do you think authors should be paid for their work? 

I do think fanfiction writing should stay free on the sites they originate from (AO3 for example). However, if the author wants to take their work elsewhere to earn money then I don’t see an issue in that. I am glad you mention copyright law with fanfiction in particular because the author of mixtape (the fanfiction I mentioned earlier) tried to self publish their work while keeping canon names, the author tried to justify it as a parody work and everyone was so concerned that they reported the book until it got removed. I have seen stories on Wattpad become published books to purchase, however, the names had been changed to original characters- I think this seems like a much more logical move to avoid any legal repercussions.

As a reader, how has an author’s work connected with you personally? 

I have had works connect with me on a personal level, one in particular is Somebody To Love by LOVERVMINS (orphaned). My standards are impossibly high after reading that fanfic and I don’t think I will ever come across something so beautiful again. Somebody To Love is a taekook fic that was uploaded to AO3 in 2019, the author ended up deleting all their works but thankfully left this particular story up. I was immediately captured by the incredible writing and unique plot; the story of two lovers who were never meant for each other, but destiny found its way anyway… I apologise in advance for how long this summary (with spoilers) is, but I think my thoughts are proof of how this story has connected with me so much!

(Spoilers for Somebody to Love by LOVERVMINS. Please feel free to scroll to the next bolded question to avoid spoilers.)

In this story, Taehyung is a successful lawyer while Jungkook is just a student, despite the difference in status and wealth, they are intrigued by one another from the very start. After meeting Taehyung, Jungkook is left feeling confused about himself, the internalised homophobia is strong to begin with but as the chapters progress Jungkook goes from someone who is afraid of society and what people may think, to strong and outspoken. Taehyung plays a fundamental part in this, because if Jungkook were to never meet Taehyung, he wouldn’t have realised who he really was, he wouldn’t have been brave enough to discover his sexuality and fall in love in a time where it was so unaccepting. Taehyung is bold and confident on the surface, giving little regard for anybody other than himself, but his concern for others soon changes after he meets Jungkook, he becomes a better man. He could have had his heart desires- but Taehyung was no longer selfish from those few months he spent with Jungkook, so he stayed with his wife to be a good father.

Taehyung makes Jungkook promise him he will find somebody to love (hence the title), and he does, Jungkook finds somebody to love and he is happy- Taehyung finds this out when they unexpectedly meet a few years later, this is the final time Jungkook and Taehyung see each other… but knowing Jungkook is happy, leaves Taehyung happy.

There are different kinds of love, some last forever, and some just for a chapter of your life. It is clear Jungkook was Taehyung’s forever. And I don’t think Jungkook’s love for Taehyung ever went away, he just found another kind of love like he had promised. Jungkook had to live his life; he couldn’t wait for Taehyung, to leave his marriage in the unforeseeable future, or watch him raise his kids from afar, this shows that even if society were accepting, their circumstances were too far gone- if only they met sooner, or in another life. It makes you imagine a world where they could have been together, it makes you think beyond the story even when it’s ended.

It has been a month or two since I read LOVERVMINS work, and I still feel a pang in my chest every time I think of Taehyung’s letter for Jungkook in the epilogue.

Why do you think others think they have the right to know an authors personal information?

I think in this day and age, everything about a person is on show, so people just expect that sort of information from you. Authors appreciate feedback- but they don't know the reader, their family or what they do for fun. Vice versa. You only see a small glimpse into the authors life, and the stuff you see is what they feel comfortable enough to show. That should be enough.

Do you consider writing an art form?

  I do consider writing an art form. Writing is like painting an image in the readers mind. I think it is better than visual art because when you are reading a story, not everyone is going to envision the exact same thing, it is up to the imagination. I think that is what makes it so beautiful- we all collectively love a story, yet, we somehow interpret it differently.

Why do you think Archive of Our Own is the ideal platform for fanfiction writing?

I think Archive of Our Own is ideal for fanfiction writing because they give you many options with your work so you are comfortable- it is easy to remove comments, delete an account, or orphan works while keeping your account etc. It is important authors get control of what happens to their work if they want to leave and go in a different direction.

Do you think other fanfiction writing platforms like Fanfiction.net and Wattpad are ideal or lacking?

I think Wattpad is ideal for younger audiences; it’s more visual with book covers and the layout in general is more appealing, I also feel like the stories on there are targeted for pre-teens. When I first got into fanfiction, I did start on Wattpad because it was easier to navigate. I look back now though and do think it is lacking in terms of quality, a lot of the stories are written for shock value and don’t really make much sense because of that. It is hard to find a story on Wattpad that ticks all the boxes (but not impossible). Wattpad also had a breach with data last summer and everyone’s emails got pwned so that made a lot of people move to AO3. I have never used Fanfiction.net so unfortunately I can’t speak for that one. Overall, AO3 has much more content, you can find a story with ease once you know how to use the site.

How has fanfiction writing affected the people in your personal life?

How did you find out that your sister is writing fanfiction?

My sister wrote a Harry Styles fanfic in 2014 which gathered around half a million reads on Wattpad, she got comments from people telling her how much her fanfic has impacted their lives pretty much every day. My sister and I are close and we share the same friends, I noticed when we would have sleepovers she was always on her phone and never paid attention to the movies we were watching. I think all the numbers did affect her for a moment and it wasn’t until my sister started her exams that she realised she had to put her concentration into those to pass, that’s how she came to the decision to delete the story. I asked her recently if she regrets deleting it and she told me she doesn’t at all, she now looks back and doesn’t think her writing was good back then. So I think that shows authors do know what they’re doing and what is best for them in the long run. 

My sister had a one direction fan account on Instagram that had 100k+ followers (insane!), she was always open with her interests and I found out she started writing fanfiction through that account.

What personal reasons do you think authors have for deleting/orphaning works?

The list is endless; maybe the author wrote the story in a bad time in their life and they want to delete it because it reminds them of that time, they could have left the fandom, or they simply do not like their story anymore- they grew up and know they can do so much better. It is okay for an author to grow apart from their work, it shows they are growing as a person too.

Why do you think authors get backlash from writing dark themes?

I think authors receive backlash from writing dark themes because it can be triggering for some and can bring up unpleasant memories.

What do you think are the responsibilities of an author when writing dark themes?

 A safe bet would be to tag anything relating to abuse (physical, emotional, etc), mental illness (eating disorders, self harm, suicide, etc), graphic violence and rape/sexual assault. That’s what comes to mind. And if a trigger occurs only in a certain chapter, then having an additional warning in the chapter notes would be helpful.  

What do you think are the responsibilities of a reader when reading dark themes?

If dark subjects are included in the tags, don’t read the story if it could trigger you. It is as simple as that. People decide to read the fanfic then get mad at the author for triggering them. I am not trying to insult anybody who has triggers, maybe they read a story and their specific trigger was never mentioned in the additional tags… this is what the ‘chose not to archive warnings’ box is for, with this option, it is handled in AO3’s FAQ that major tags are not necessary. In shirt, this means there may be triggering content in the fic that is not disclosed by the author. Plus, there is usually a pop up banner before you click on a story which reads ‘this work could have adult content. if you proceed you have agreed that you are willing to see such content’. There are so many warnings, you can’t miss them. It is a case of reading at your own risk, you can��t blame the author if you do not like the result.

Do you think authors are facing too much pressure from readers about what themes they write?

I do think authors face unnecessary pressure with the themes they write; they are put on such a pedestal that when they write something that isn’t what the audience want, they receive a lot of negative criticism. Authors, no matter what themes you are writing, there is no need to worry if you are writing for yourself and putting out the content you set out to create.

Why do you think authors write dark themes?

 Dark themes are simply an exploration of difficult emotions along with unpleasant events or consequences. Authors write dark themes because it serves a narrative purpose. And authors don’t have to be ‘dark’ people or experience all of these unsettling things to write such content. 

Why do you think readers read dark themes?

Dark themes are not for everyone, I personally don’t think there are enough dark works out there. I read dark themes because it interests me more, I want to know how the characters are going to cope with the consequences, or heal from the trauma. Other readers might prefer dark themes for the graphic content, this is fine too. Fictional violence is not real- we all know this, so there is no reason to be terrified. 

Why do you think so many authors want to have their work get popular?

 People may disagree, but I think it has a lot to do with validation. Subconsciously, authors want people to like their work- a rise in popularity means readers are seeing the authors work, and hopefully taking enjoyment from it. This isn’t a bad thing as long as you realise validation does not equal self-worth. There are people out there who write and do not gain much attention, but that doesn’t stop them from posting their work anyway.

Do you think a work’s popularity is important?

I personally don’t. I read a range of fanfictions- some are super popular, others are not. It is the content I am more interested in, not how many hits/views it has.  

Should we judge authors for deleting/orphaning their work?

Not at all! I am sure authors have thought long and hard before coming to their decision.

How should we view situations where authors delete/orphan their work? 

For a reader, it can be upsetting when authors delete/orphan their work, especially if there is no possibility of reading that story again. However, we need to show compassion and view the situation from the authors perspective; gaining popularity on a fanfic isn't as pleasant as it might seem, it is much more complicated than that. A lot of feedback, both good and bad, can be overwhelming. Mental health is important, and if that means distancing yourself from something so popular, then it must be done. Privacy can be compromised, people in your real life might find out you write these stories and not be accepting, or readers become invasive which is a scary situation to be in. And a mixture of personal reasons, people are allowed to grow and change and want to distance themselves from things they are no longer proud of. 

What do you think authors should be aware of in case their work does get popular?

This is a good question… I think authors need to be aware that with good feedback, also comes bad feedback. You cannot please every single person on this earth, but that is not your job- so do not take it personally. 

Do you have any last messages to readers of this interview?

 I want to thank you in particular, Charm. This interview is probably the coolest thing I’ll ever get to do for the BTS fandom and I’m so grateful that our paths crossed so we could create this interview together. You are such a kind soul and it has been a pleasure from start to finish. 

For the authors reading this interview; I am just a reader, but I do understand how it can be hard for you to continue on when you are going through so many struggles readers don’t get to see. Just know you are appreciated, and you are supported no matter what you decide to do with your works in the future. Having popular works shouldn’t feel like a burden, there are blessings hidden in there- you have made readers feel a rollercoaster of emotions with your talent, you are able to engage with readers around the world, and you have created a beautiful story from nothing… you did that! 

For the silent readers like myself: let the authors of your favourite work know how much you loved it (in a respectful way) before it is too late! I so wish I had the chance to tell the author of Somebody To Love how their story broke my heart then healed it again. Treasure the fanfictions you love because they very well could be gone tomorrow!

Thank you for reading this interview. Further below are reminders and information about this interview and Charmedseoul’s Fanlore projects.

Reba has chosen to remain anonymous. No social media or information about her will be released publicly.

This interview was conducted through email from January 31, 2021 to February 1, 2021 with Reba’s consent and protections under Fanlore’s Identity Protection policies and the posting website’s privacy policies. Unauthorized reposting of this interview is forbidden. 

Due to the casual nature of this interview, repost of this interview is strictly prohibited. Linking and sharing is appreciated. Translation and unauthorized repost of this interview is forbidden.

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them.

#bts #bangtan sonyeondan #fandom #fandom meta #fandom interview #fandom interviews #fanlore #charmedseoul #charmedseoul interviews #fanfiction #fanfiction author #fanfic #fanfiction meta #fanfic meta

[whenrockwasyoung19]

It’s Time to Talk about a Bespectacled Elephant in the Room

I’ve been in the Beatles fandom for 8 and a half years. I have had a Beatles blog for the entirety of those 8 and a half years, and I have watched as discourse about these four men evolve. The discourse inside and outside the fandom has become so toxic that I don’t think I can engage with it in the same way that I could before. Let me explain. 

When I entered this fandom 8 and a half years ago, it was in 2012, quite an infamous year in tumblr history. That was the pique of “”cringey”” fandom culture. The Beatles fandom was as steeped in fandom culture as any other fandom. I know this because I was part of two of the top of fandoms at the time, Doctor Who and Sherlock. Believe me, I have seen cringe. 

The fandom at the time was totally aware of the John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s flaws as individuals, but most fans tended to simply enjoy Beatles fandom as if it were the 60s. Some might call it ignorant bliss. If you asked me at the time, I’d have said it was self-aware ignorant bliss--if that even makes sense. At the time, there wasn’t a person with a Beatles icon who hadn’t heard the line “John Lennon beat his wife.” Everyone knew it, but everyone also knew the real story, and so everyone just made peace with it. As a result, people didn’t think about every bad thing the Beatles ever did on a daily basis. It was more like a once-a-month kind of thing. Otherwise, fandom discourse was quite fun and relaxed. There were no shipping wars, no one fought over who was the best Beatle, everyone gushed over the Beatles wives, and we all just had fun with fics and fan art. 

Of course, in this period, people engaged in conversations about one bespectacled Beatles problematic behavior. These conversations usually came from outside of the fandom. It was usually randos coming into the tags or into someone’s ask box and ranting about John Lennon’s violent behavior. Some of it came from within the fandom. Some people really didn’t like John and gave others shit if they listed John as their favorite Beatle. A lot of the discourse boiled down to: ‘hey, I see you like John Lennon. You should know that he beat his wife. And now that you know that, you should feel bad about ever liking him in the first place.’ And the response was often, ‘Actually, John Lennon didn’t beat his wife. They weren’t even married at the time. And also he didn’t beat her, he slapped her once in the face, and then never did it again.’ No one’s minds were changed. The fans had made their peace, and the antis came off as cynical and pretentious. 

When Dashcon happened, and Tumblr took a hard look at its cringey fandom culture, the Beatles fandom evolved as well. The fandom became, frankly, less fun. It no longer felt like a group of people who found the Beatles decades after the 60s and were fangirling like it was 1965. There was still some of that left, but a lot of it kind of faded. So, most fandom interactions were reblogging pictures of the Beatles from the 60s and various interview clips and quotes. But the barrage of antis never really went away, and the response didn’t evolve. 

Then, the advent of cancel culture came on. I always waited for the Beatles to get, like, officially canceled, but I also felt they were uncancel-able at the same time. Let me explain. I have been a Beatles fan primarily in an online space, rarely engaging with fans in real life. But I have met fans who are life-long Beatles fans, people who are a lot older than us and who’s fandom isn’t tied to the internet. They don’t give a shit about any of our discourse. They may or may not have heard it before, but they seem totally indifferent to all of it. I’m sure most of them have never heard ‘Mclennon’ before. These are the people that flock to see Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in concert (and pay astronomical prices for it). These are the people who go to record shops and buy vinyl. These are the people I run into at flea markets who buy up all the Beatles merch before I can even arrive (true story). So, the Beatles will never be canceled because there will always be people who love the Beatles and don’t engage with online discourse. Rarely said, but thank god for Gen-X. 

As cancel culture took over the internet, fandoms changed. It’s not as noticeable in fandoms without problematic favs. For instance, I’m also steeped in the Tom Holland fandom, and that boy is a little angel who has done no wrong. No one has discourse about the unproblematic boy who plays an equally unproblematic character. But in fandoms with ‘problematic favs’ the mood has shifted. I’m also in the Taron Egerton fandom. Taron Egerton, for those who only follow me for my Beatles stuff, is a genuinely sweet and kind person who has had zero scandals in his six year career. There were some rumblings when he was cast as Elton John, and some people took issue with the fact that he’s a straight man playing a gay man. This discourse seemed to die quickly as a whole lot of straight people played gay people in that same year (Olivia Coleman as queer Queen Anne, Emma Stone as her queer lover, Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury). Why jump on this boy who at the time was still technically on the rise. He’s not exactly the same target as someone like Scarlett Johansson who has her pick of roles. Taron doesn’t have quite that some power in Hollywood, and I think most people made peace with the fact that this was a big role for him, and it’s not really fair to take that away from him. So, all in all, the closest thing to a scandal was something that died pretty much on arrival. 

That was until this summer when everything changed. When George Floyd was murdered, celebrities flocked to social media to mourn his loss. Taron’s social media account was silent. For weeks, Taron said nothing about Black Lives Matter or Floyd’s death. This caused outrage in the fandom. Many raced to defend him, starting a hashtage #IstandwithTaron. Others sought to tear him down and anyone who supported him. The kind of mania this one incident caused tore through an otherwise peaceful fandom. What I saw was two sides in a total panic. The antis were people who once had faith that Taron was a good person and were now questioning that. Andthe defenders were people who desperately wanted him to be a good person and were afraid that he wasn’t. In essence, both sides could feel Taron about to get canceled. The defenders wanted to stop it, the antis wanted to ride that wave. 

What this long drawn out Taron example is meant to convey: is that cancel culture has put fandoms on edge. One’s fav has to be perfect, otherwise it can jeopardize the existence of the entire fandom. I’ll admit, I was afraid that I’d be some kind of pariah for standing by Taron through all of this. My actions were to basically reason with the antis but still defend Taron. I defend him mostly because I felt that his silence was the result of a needed social media absence and that trying to shame him back onto social media was an invasion of privacy. But I was genuinely afraid that he would get canceled, and the fun of the Taron fandom would be lost. 

In the Beatles fandom, it often feels like the Beatles, mainly John, have already been canceled. I see this coming from two different sources: antis from outside of the fandom and antis within the fandom. The outside antis are just the same as the ones from 2012. These are people who like to drop in that John Lennon beat his wife, posting this in the tag (which violates an ancient tumblr real by the way--no hate in the tags). 

The antis outside the fandom speak to a larger anti-John Lennon sentiment online. I see references to John Lennon ‘beating his wife’  on Tiktok and twitter. The tone of anti-John Lennon posts has shifted. Before, it felt like the antis were being smug but also argumentative. They wanted to have a conversation about this bit of info they read on Reddit with no context. Now, “John Lennon beating his wife” is practically a meme. It’s a running joke online that John Lennon was a wife beater. I can’t look on my instagram explore page because every so often a John Lennon beats his wife meme will pop up amongst the other, normal, memes.

This change in discourse suggests that the internet has just accepted this as fact now. I should note that back in 2012, it seemed as if few people knew this fact. The fandom knew it, and these random antis knew it, but few others did. Now, because of how common these memes are, it seems to be widespread knowledge.

Consequently, the Beatles fandom, who used to ward off attacks from antis, seems to have given in. I recently saw a post from a Beatles blog (had the URL and icon and everything) that confessed they felt guilty for listening to the Beatles, and I’ve seen similar sentiments expressed in the fandom. People tend to put disclaimers in posts about John or even all four that John is an ‘awful man.’ It seems like the self-aware ignorant bliss has completely gone away. Occasionally, I still see posts joyously talking about Mclennon or reblogs of old photos from the 60s. But the culture has shifted. 

Online, it no longer feels comfortable to be a Beatles fan. It feels like you have to own up to 8 decades of mistakes by four men you’ve never met. And, I should note, this is kind of how it feels to be a fan of anything right now. Taron is not canceled today, but he could be tomorrow. It’s this pervasive feeling of guilt that the person you’re supporting may or definitely has or is doing something wrong.

I’ll admit this uncomfortable feeling has expanded into other parts of my fandom life. I listen to their music, and I feel elated--the way I always have. Then, I get these intrusive thoughts which sound like all the worst parts of Twitter combined. It wasn’t always like this. Back in 2012, when I knew almost nothing about them, I saw them as four young men who were full of happiness, love for another, and talent. Back then, listening to their music was exciting and joyous. Sometimes, I fear that I can never feel that way again. Next year, when I finally go to Liverpool, will I be filled with excitement or guilt? 

I say all this for a few reasons. One, I love John Lennon. I appreciate all the good he did for the world not just as a musician and an artist but also his advocacy and charity work. I love him, and a part of me will always love him, but observing the change in discourse has enlightened me as a historian. Part of my job is to observe people’s legacies, and John’s is perhaps the most interesting legacy I’ve ever observed. When he died, he was hailed as a saint. But tall poppy syndrome set in, and the antis started. This culture grew and grew to the point where it seems to, at least among the younger generation, taken over the sainthood. 

But as a historian and a fan, I have never seen the saint or the devil. I’ve only seen the man, the incredibly flawed man. The thing that these antis never understand is that John Lennon was painfully aware of his own flaws to the point where it made him all the more self-destructive. In essence, his past mistakes caused him to make additional mistakes. But John, aware of his own flaws, always tried to change and was often successful. I’ve talked about this before, but John demonstrated that he was capable of being a good person, like properly so, again and again. After he struck Cynthia, he never hit her again. His shortcomings as a father to Julian weren’t repeated with Sean. He worked on his drinking, his drug addiction, and his anger, trying to overcome those demons till the day he died. By all accounts, the John Lennon that died in 1980 is not the John Lennon who struck Cynthia Powell at school. That John Lennon was living a cleaner, healthier life. He was a better father to both his sons by that point, and was trying to repair his relationship with Julian. He was a good husband to Yoko and saw himself living a long and happy life. 

John Lennon cannot and should not be boiled down to just his flaws. It’s one thing as a fan to acknowledge that John is a flawed human being (news flash: they all are), but he is also much bigger than that. 

So once again, why am I writing this long, rambling post, once again talking about John Lennon’s virtues? Because if I can’t engage with healthy discourse about the Beatles and John Lennon, then I can’t engage with discourse on the topic at all. So, I probably will post less Beatles stuff because I find it hard to go through the tags or even my dash (well, I can’t really go through my dash anymore for other reasons I’m not going to get into right now). If any of my followers have noticed a lot of Taron posts lately, it’s not just because I love Taron, it’s because Taron’s  tag is pretty much the only location on tumblr I feel 100% comfortable in. Any foray into John or the Beatles tags becomes uncomfortable and guilt-ridden quickly. 

So, I probably will post less about the Beatles until I can find a blog or a tag that doesn’t give me bad vibes. My fandom will likely outgrow tumblr and the internet. I have a ton of Beatles books; maybe I’ll rely on those. I am doing official scholarly research on them now. Maybe that will be my outlet. I’m sorry if I post less about them now, but it’s really for my own well-being. 

#John lennon #the beatles

[disasterhumans]

Hi there! Um, I’m sorry to bother you but I hope it’s okay to ask - I’ve been a CR fan for a really long time but I’ve always been too nervous to interract with the community, but I’d really like to start! What I want to ask is what’s the best way or place to do this? Where do the kind critters hang out between shows (EU so no love watching for me!). I know there’s a reddit but reddit isn’t always the greatest for not men so I’m a but nervous of it. Thank you!!! Have a great day!!!

Hi Anon! I’m not 100% sure how helpful I’ll be, because I will fully admit to kind of falling head first into this fandom. But here’s some assorted thoughts/suggestions:

Critters definitely hang out on tumblr between episodes, but that manifests itself in a lot of different ways--some people really love theories and speculation, others like analyzing moments from the most recent episode, some people will take fic prompts, etc. If you’re looking for more back and forth/discussion post episode tumblr might not be exactly what you’re looking for, but I definitely do get into conversations both in reblogs/replies and through messaging here, so it really depends on how you prefer to use tumblr

I don’t have specific advice about reddit, as I don’t venture onto it very often (I’ve poked my head in once or twice to look for discussions about a specific thing that wasn’t really getting talked about over on tumblr, but it’s been months since then.) Generally the impression that I’ve gotten is that the more toxic elements of the fandom as a whole gather and fester there. But that’s certainly not all of what’s happening over there, so if other critters have reddit-related advice to offer, please chip in!

I also don’t know much about the twitter side of the fandom, but that is another place where people congregate and share art and talk about recent episodes.

I know you can’t watch live--but that doesn’t mean you can’t liveblog! Plenty of people liveblog/livetweet their reactions to the show when they watch later in the week. As far as tumblr goes, it seems like being active in the tag is a good way to start talking to other critters.

If you’re a content creator--create content! Most of the critters I interact with frequently are meta writers who share favorite characters in common with me or who tend to enjoy analyzing similar moments. From observation it also seems like a lot fic writers in the community are close.

If you’re not a content creator--engage with other people’s content! Do you really like a meta post? Reply or reblog with your thoughts, or add them in the tags (I definitely read the tags on my posts--and even if I don’t always respond to them, I typically remember the person). I understand being shy, and I imagine that’s why this question was sent anonymously, but follow up asks to posts sent off anon is also a good way to for rapport.

Is there a character or ship or aspect of the fandom that you feel particularly strongly about? Poke around and see if there’s a discord server for it! I know there’s a general Critical Role server, and I’ve also seen links to one for Fjorester, Widojest, and Beau/jester (and I think I also saw a Clayleb one this week). I’m not overly familiar with any of the Discord servers, but the impression that I get is that they’re a good space for people who prefer chatting with other people to posting publicly (or people who enjoy doing both).

That’s what I’ve got to offer from the top of my head, if other critters have advice/thoughts to contribute, please chip in!

#critical role #critters #Anonymous

[battlestar-royco]

D fans have a double standard when it comes to Sansa and that’s the tea. Every time D achieves something they compare her to Sansa even though they’re completely different people. I frequent Twitter, Tumblr, Insta, and Reddit and I’ve never seen Stansas being nasty to D until later seasons (which I fully blame on D&D). (1/2)

(2/2) Meanwhile, D stans always been nasty to Sansa from the very beginning and conveniently forgot every good things that Sansa did, and even if they remember, they remember it in a bad light. So, while there are a few good D Stans, I don’t believe that D stans are more “openly critical” or smt while Stansa’s are “nasty,” if that is what the other Anon is implying.

To be completely fair to Danielle stans, it’s not just them who hate Sansa, and some of them do like both characters. And before s6, Danielles were probably more likely to be indifferent to Sansa, but the T/yrion and general Lannister fandoms (and probably a minority of the Arya fandom) were more likely to hate Sansa. I think a lot of Sansa fans pre-s6 felt the same indifference toward Danielle, and that may be because in my perception these two characters simply attract different fans. IMO, what compels people to like Sansa (her resistance narrative, her kindness despite suffering, her femininity, etc) is rarely the same as what compels people to like Danielle (her sense of justice, her political navigation, her dragon and prophecy lore, etc). All this said, I’ve been in this fandom for five years now and in my experience everyone outside of the Sansa fandom either is neutral or hateful toward Sansa while the opposite can be said of Danielle. This has been exacerbated by the show’s writing for two main reasons. 1. Often the things that are meant to make Danielle morally ambiguous in the books (taking over Meereen, hating and trying to change Meereenese culture, using her handmaids in sketchy ways, being a white savior etc) are often erased or twisted to make her look good in the show. On the other hand, Sansa’s hostage arc in the books is meant to exemplify the toxicity and corruption of the Lannisters, how Westerosi society exploits women, and the strength in empathy and silent resistance. But her show character has been completely watered down from the very beginning because they so fundamentally misunderstood her arc that they decided to discard the “weak” Sansa and insert a new one halfway through. So a lot of the show fandom is infused with viewers who don’t have the full story. 2. The rise of J0nsa and J0nerys.

The thing that sucks is I feel like both the Sansa and Danielle fandoms were unexpectedly and involuntarily catapulted into this nonsensical feud ever since around season 6. I absolutely hate that we’ve come to this point in the fandom where liking one automatically means you dislike the other, and a few bad eggs constantly put down one or the other when both characters often have either nothing to do with each other or they could accomplish a lot more by working together. The true takeaway for me is that we should all just stop taking D&D’s shitty fanfic seriously because they really have no idea how to write women or how to interpret/translate the themes Martin put in both Sansa and Danielle’s stories. The way they and the fandoms have been turned against one another by two talentless men is more important and annoying to me than anything else in this entire situation. The drama is so contrived and ridiculous and it’s unfair to both the characters and their fans because it is making people act batshit for no reason.

#sansa stark #anti got