But Babe You Love Being Gaslit

But babe you love being gaslit

OKAY I'VE SEEN A FEW THINGS ABOUT C!TOMMY'S ADDICTION TO INVISIBILITY POTIONS BUT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT C!TUBBO BEING ADDICTED TO DRUGS AS WELL?? Both of these kids GREW UP in a drug van. They grew up in a place built on self destruction and addiction. They find different ways of dealing with shit, different kinds of drugs (Tommy invisibility potions because, as someone else said, he wants to disappear, and Tubbo pufferfish, because he's been fed poison in colourful spurts his entire life), but it all comes back to the same root. Wilbur. The one who showed them that was a great place to start.

this might just be because i'm a bit older than your average mcyt fan, but it makes me kind of sad to see all these younger fans scramble to wipe their mcyt fanworks off the internet the second a content creator is revealed to have done something awful.

don't get it twisted, I'm a big believer in rescinding financial support to ccs you no longer agree with or admire by unsubscribing, deciding not to buy merch, or refusing to give them ad revenue by watching their content. if you don't feel comfortable giving someone money, don't give them your money. material support isn't what i'm talking about here - I'm talking about fanfic, fansongs, fanart. yknow, content that fans create for themselves and each other, stuff that's not for ccs.

in the past year (and especially the past week, obviously) i've seen tons of mcyt fans saying they're planning to delete their art (or that they already have deleted) because they don't want their work to be associated with content creators who behaved badly, and that they want "a fresh start." I've seen fan writers say the same thing about their fics. and like, this is fine, do what you want with your stuff, but i'll be honest...it does make me sad that so many younger fans seemingly have been made to feel such a high degree of responsibility for ccs that they're unable to enjoy fandom (a thing that is FOR US! FOR YOU!) or take any measure of pride in their past fanworks.

again, at the end of the day you should do what you want with your own shit. but what i will say is, if what you want to do with your work is delete it, at least think first about why you're considering the nuclear option. you aren't responsible for a cc's behavior, and that goes for literally anyone who's ever had a hand in making anything you like: books, movies, games, anything. you shouldn't be made to feel ashamed of having created fan content for a piece of media that a shitty person was involved in making. straight up, this kind of shame isn't something i believe should exist in fandom, because it's parasocial in the same way that positive emotions towards media/creators can be parasocial.

and also, as someone who's been involved in fandom for a long time, i can say with confidence that creators will keep disappointing you like this. there are shitty people out there. if you're searching for a piece of media with zero shitty people ever involved in the project, you will not find it. i'm not saying this to normalize shitty behavior on the part of creators, I'm saying this to emphasize that bearing the shame and guilt of every creator to this degree is not sustainable or healthy (and it's not how fandom used to operate, but that's a conversation for another day, perhaps.)

i understand why so many folks are considering deleting their fanworks, and if that's you...think about it before you do it. that's all i'm asking. you don't want to create a habit of divesting yourself of all evidence of having been passionate about art created by someone who sucks, because if you do get into that habit, then your chances of ever truly enjoying a fandom again are, unfortunately, pretty slim.

Sure are, thank you for noticing.

*visible distress* I won... but at what cost? I CAN'T BOOP ANYMOOORE

My L’manburg

I heard there was a special place

Where men could go and emancipate

The brutality

And tyranny

Of their rulers

I'VE BEEN BOOPING SO MUCH I'VE BECOME AWARE OF HOW LOUD MY BUTTONS CLICK AND OUT OF SHEER STUPIDITY I WENT TO MUTE MY CLICKING NOISE