Don't Try To Censor Other People To Make Your Own Self Comfortable - Tumblr Posts

tags via @pinetreelady  #fandom wank#fandom is my fandom#don't like? don't read#the back button is your friend#there's lots of stuff in fandom that doesn't appeal to me personally#but that doesn't mean it ain't valid#that means I read what I want to#and don't read the things I don't want to#that's me exerting my freedom of choice#the troll almost wrecked this fandom 2-3 years ago#but seriously please do not bully people#please don't bring those tactics back#P L E A S E

Prompts, Fandom, and the Taboo

I’m seeing noise in the sidgeno tag how prompts given by the sidgeno angst fest are “not appropriate”. Some prompts are simply unfortunate circumstances and some are dark situations unacceptable in real life, including a noncon relationship.

I’m going to open this with I am just some rando. I’m not part of angst fest, i love fluff, I read pretty much all fic posted in the SidGeno tag unless it hits my particular squicks.  I remember cheesewithmy, the troll, and the absolutely vile harassment that kicked off, so lets get this out of the way first: 

Don’t fucking go on anon and harass people, don’t tell others to harass them. That is never ok. No matter how much you disagree with them. Yes, even if you think they’re doing bad things. In doing so, you’re crossing a line. I don’t know it’s happening, but I know Tumblr and statistically someone is gonna.

That being said, have some background reading.  I really, really think reading the full text is important and not just my pull-quotes. Other people have said this better than me, because this has been a discussion for a long, long, long time:

On taboo themes in fiction

One of my huge problems with a blanket condemnation of “people who write non-con” or “people who write underage sex,” is the assumption that there’s only one reason that a sexually explicit scene could possibly exist in a piece of fiction: to arouse the reader and uncomplicatedly celebrate whatever sexual activity is taking place. 

and

Forget about the author. The metric should be whether the created object, in its context and totality, reinforces oppression. And it should be a metric for two-way CRITIQUE, not blanket censorship, for heaven’s sake!

On AO3 As An Uncensored Platform

On The Subject of Noncon Fanworks: Thoughts of a Reader, Writer, Survivor (CW: non-graphic description of irl CSA, etc)

It is not possible to have these kinds of conversations in an environment where people are hurling baseless accusations of pedophilia and “rape apology” against individuals who create noncon fanworks. In fact, the veritable witch-hunt that certain elements of fandom wage against the producers of this content actively hurts both the survivors who create these kind of content and the survivors who strive to avoid it.

This being established, my thoughts:

You cannot judge a fic by the prompt. Context and execution matters. One prompt can result in both “torture porn” and in thoughtful execution of emotional catharsis.

Do I think some of angst fests prompts qualify as darkfic? Yes, but I would hope those would be addressed in their AO3s tags. “Darkfic is fan fiction that deals with intentionally disturbing material, such as physical and emotional violence. The main characters may be the victims of the violence, the perpetrators, or both.“ That doesn’t mean the fic should’t exist.

What someone else writes isn’t on you. It doesn’t reflect on you, or the fandom. We are not a collective. Blocking, muting, just not clicking and using ao3 savior are all your friend.

If you feel more content warning is appropriate to help you avoid the content you don’t wish to see, that is reasonable. Saying content shouldn’t be created because it is Wrong, is not.