Fandom Discourse - Tumblr Posts - Page 2

i just want to.. enjoy things but fandom culture has made pretty much everything stressful

like every character is hated or loved by someone, and all those opinions have started coloring the way i see different content

and some of that is good! there are definitely problematic characters and being aware of that is extremely important

and i’m asking for some of it because i follow a couple of the “anti” tags that i kind of agree with

i guess it’s just bumming me out a little that i can’t just relax and enjoy a lot of shows or movies anymore

I don’t normally write/talk about stuff like this on my accounts, but I just wanted to say (with all of the Linked Universe ‘drama’ at the moment):

Writers, we love all the amazing things you write, the explorations into characters we love and all the hijinks, fluff and angsty moments that you throw at us! Personally, some of my favourite fics have inspired things in my own zelda/lu story. Also, you guys make me wanna write my own fics!

Artists, we love all the gorgeous pieces you do, as well as the adorable sketches you make as well! All the little details in your art are amazing and just, I want to eat all of your art styles cuz damn guys, it’s gorgeous!!

There’s also a ton of people in the Linked Universe Discord, as well as here on Tumblr, who come up with some of the best headcanons, incorrect quotes and similar things. I love finding new ones that I haven’t heard before. I especially adore all the angst-y ones, like damn, stop pulling at my tear ducts, I’m already crying!

In general - thank you to everyone who creates in this fandom (and all other fandoms but you get what I mean). You guys don’t get enough love (like, I wanna give like or kudos way more than once a fic all the time) and you all put so much hard work into your art and/or writing. Many pieces of art and writing have actually made me cry and/or made my day better, so please keep creating!!

I hope all of you reading this have a great day, and please be kind to each other.

On Fandom Behavior

I’m steaming mad at the moment over some bullshit, so I’m going to make something absolutely clear here.

If you harass, demean or spread rumors about people due to shipping or other fandom drama, my content is NOT for you!  I’m not on your side!

A dear friend of mine was dealing with a creepy misogynist who left graphic gore comments on her fics and harassed her (keeping vague to not incur further harassment on her).  This creep then sends asks falsely accusing her of various things to multiple “fandom police” type blogs, and without even a moment’s hesitation they posted baseless, false claims about someone dealing with harassment.  Not one ounce of critical thinking, just spreading rumors from an anonymous ask anyone could have sent.  And now a group of weaselly assholes are taking fragments of writing out of context to mock her on top of everything else.

I could honestly care less about the morality of fictional characters kissing, but I care deeply about the rampant harassment and purity policing I’ve seen rotting fandoms from the inside out.  This is hurting real people, and enabling some real monsters that will do far more harm than the words on your screen.  Just know that if you participate in this callout bullshit and petty drama I personally dislike you and prefer if you just stay away.  I also will not post any callout posts sent to me so don’t bother, I’m not going to join a telephone game featuring someone’s reputation.  

Log the fuck off and re-evaluate your goddamn existence if you think sending threats or slandering someone is acceptable over fiction.

I feel like I’ve seen this idea floating around that the way someone interprets a piece of media has to be serious and deeply analytical, and that things like “shipping” are trivial and disrespect the art of the original piece of work. I want to come out and say that I believe you can deeply enjoy a piece of work and analyze its complexities while ALSO being silly about it. Blorbofication of characters can exist in the same space as character analysis, they don’t have to be mutually exclusive. It’s important to remember that characters are *tools* and not people, and they are tools that you are free to use and modify how you’d like. A misinterpretation of a character does not erase the original intent of how they’re written.

not a fan of how recently "found family" has become a synonym for "adoption"

what people think pro ship means: dangerous people who want to harm children in real life and/or think taboo subjects in real life are justified

what pro ship actually is about: the belief that people are allowed to enjoy fictional thing however they want, as long as it's fictional and no one in real life gets harmed or harassed in any way, and as long as they tag their trigger warnings properly.

most pro ship folks I've come across are just "hey, you like this fucked up thing that is fictional? okay, cool. you do you, man. I myself don't even like this thing that you like, but hey, it's not real. and I trust that you know the difference between fiction and reality, so you do you. if it ever gets too much for me, I will just block or mute you and move on with my life, but that doesn't mean I think you're a horrible person in real life because of the fictional thing you like, it just means I'd rather not see or engage with this thing that can make me uncomfortable. I still want you to have fun doing what you love, and I still think you're cool as fuck. love and respect, dude"

meanwhile most anti ship I've seen are like "omg you like this fictional thing where fictional children are harmed??! Red Flag Red Flag. put this gross piece of shit behind bars immediately!!!"

and I'm just ????? I don't normally engage in fandom wars, but I think, as long as you don't harass anyone in real life and as long as no one in real life is in danger or is harmed, how you enjoy fictional things is none of my business. and I'm not gonna make any "call out post" where I encourage my followers to harass you because you like fucked up fictional things that I personally don't like or believe is wrong either.

I mean, from personal experience, I was exposed against my will to thing I didn't want to see from anti's screenshot of fanart or fanfic where they encourage their followers to harass this person whose fanart or fanfic, that was screenshot and spread by them, was originally tagged properly with all the trigger warnings so that people who didn't want to see it wouldn't get exposed to it. until anti screenshot it and flaunted it around in the name of being morally superior while also, at the same time, advocated for the witch hunt against someone who just wanted to mind their own business. so... the irony. lol

fandoms used to be more peaceful before Fandom Police starts their witch hunting, but it's a good thing we can just block these people and keep on enjoying our blorbos however we want to enjoy them.

and I'll always encourage every artist to write whatever they want, draw whatever they want. don't let people who think they're "morally superior" tell you you can't make art this way or that way. my best advice would be to block and ignore and keep on creating what you want. they may be loud, but at the end of the day they're just noises and they're not worth your attention x