#Fandom spaces have changed and are becoming more and more toxic

[princessofghosts-posts]

Fandom Spaces

I noted that in the last years fandom spaces become extremely toxic. I've been in a lot of fandom since I was a child,and to this day still do,so I know there has always been toxicity,but in recent years it seems to have increased. And I'm not talking only about the Percy Jackson fandom (this is probably the last toxic one I'm in) but in general.

I do have a strong opinion,especially on controversional takes or that just doesn't follow the majority,so I'm aware that some people,on whatever platform,can easily criticize me or go against my opinion. That's fair. They have their own opinion too and can say what they want about it. I understand that but it doesn't mean that I will change mine. And this is fine too. But the hate you can get for it is insane.

Fandom etiquette and rules/moral codes are literally dead. Like,extremely dead.

I'm aware that every fandom is different,and since I'm in a lot of different types it can get messy,but the moral code is almost the same,or extremely similar,for all of them. I felt like the decline happened during the Covid years,when the "normal people" entered fandoms spaces,the same spaces they thought weird all their lives,and everything else flew out of the window.

The way I saw so many people that threw shit about anime,manga,animated movie and fantasy books because "those are for children" and k-pop (or asian/japanase things in general) because "they are all chinese" all of their life,and bullied others because they liked them,do a total 180 on those same product is insane.

Wdym you want to watch animes when only a couple of weeks ago you were talking shit about them? Wdym today you like k-pop when you were talking shit about the genre yesterday? Wdym you love reading books when you always talked about how superior movie are? Wdym you like reading fanfics when you always ranted how weird they were? Wdym you've been a fan since Day 1,but you don't know almost anything about it/them? Like...what?

It was so strange for me because those are always been "niche things" that most western people don't vibe with,and the Covid made those same people part of it,and I think Fandoms in general kinda got screwed over it.

A couple of months back I saw a trend of people,on Tik Tok,where they put their type of personality,Hogwarts's house,CHB's cabins and their aesthetic in general. And most of those people didn't even knew what PJO was. I know a couple of people that had always shitted on PJO/HoO because they always thought that HP was better (the whole "Percy vs Harry" conflict is stupid because Percy is immune to magic anyway,and they would never fight since they are pretty similar),and after they read PJO and did 180. Which is good for them,because they are finally appreciating it,but it's so weird because now they think they know better than me. And this is only for the people I know,there are probably more.

And this isn't only for PJO,but other fandoms too. "Normal people" converted into fake fans or fans that think they are superior (because now they are part of the fandom),are probably the worst interaction I had. And I don't really want to blame them because not all of them are negative,but I noted that the fandom culture shifted during those years,and when it become more and more mainstream. And now it's full of hate.

Yesterday I felt like I was in the trenches because my fav boy-group performed at Coachella,and fans of another artist were dragging them down. I couldn't even open Tik Tok or X that the hype and happiness I felt was replaced with toxicity of other people hating on them over a misinformation (from both parts). Bro,the first principle of Fandom Etiquette,for everything and for whatever/whoever you follow,literally is: if you don't like something/someone don't read/watch/listen and focus on what you like without hating ; leave alone other people in their own bubble if you want to break it,and don't try to start shit over nothing. And it will probably go on for a while,since next week there is another performance and I JUST KNOW that this shit is going to continue.

Maybe it's also my fault for interacting on Platforms that aren't really healthy (not that Reddit is better-) and surrounding myself with more negativity than positivity,but this is insane. I've been into Fandoms all of my life and those years have been so full of hate and different from the others. Idk if it's just me,or the fandom spaces that I'm in are more toxic that the other,or the people that I know/met that act in this way,but I felt this shift.

We need to normalize again online manners towards things we like and dislike,and how to actually interact with them without being disrespectful. If you don't like something go on with your fucking life and don't drag it down,and don't even act like you are a big fan of it if you were never interested in it and are new to it.

[shelleysmary]

lots of fans have made valid points and written well-thought-out posts about the trop ai drama, so i'm not gonna rehash them, but i do want to bring up something that no one seems to be talking about and it's the impulse that leads people to plug these things into ai generators in the first place.

fandom over the last year especially has become increasingly toxic to the point that actual billion-dollar corporations are afraid it. the result is subpar, pandering films, books, and television shows that break no new ground, recycle old tropes, and sacrifice story integrity to avoid catching heat from the loudest, most entitled people in the room. i'm calling this an issue of entitlement first and foremost because the idea that the audience should have any say over a non-crowd-created media project is preposterous. deciding that the cons outweigh the pros of watching something and choosing to walk away without making a fuss is a lost discipline now because everyone with an internet connection and a social media account believes that their vision reigns supreme. "how dare this show downplay my favorite ship! they were supposed to kiss! that was the whole point! the absence of this one thing i had on my wishlist is a crime against me personally!" so they turn to ai and click some buttons and now these gifs exist and are being circulated with an air of "i've righted a wrong." worse, the use of ai in this way is being conflated with the creation of fanworks???

there are reasons why i don't believe the ai saurondiel kiss is on the same raft as, say, making them kiss in a drawing or a published fanfic, but my main concern is with the spirit behind each. fanworks are made in homage to the source material, even the fix-it fics. there is an acknowledgment, a separation even, between the television show and the fanwork. this separation is necessary and i would say even integral to the nature of fan creation, while ai closes that gap until it no longer exists. the elimination of space between creator and audience also happens on social media, when disgruntled fans who have taken umbrage with a fictional character or creative decision directly harass the writers or the actors involved. more and more, fans are demanding to be in the rooms, in the minds, and to exert control over the people who tell their stories, and it has only ever worked to our collective detriment. now i'm not saying that if you liked and shared the saurondiel ai kiss that you're the same as the internet trolls who harass (mostly) women and people of color online. but i'm begging you to do some self-reflection and ask yourself why you feel entitled to seeing what you want on your screen.

what has changed in the last few years that would make you dissatisfied with, say, reading someone's fic or making your own drawing? is it a matter of "the tool is there, so why not use it?" is it "i believe it should have happened and it didn't and i feel cheated?" or maybe there's been a pattern you've noticed in your recent media "consumption" (god, i hate that word) where, unless a show or television series goes the exact way you want it to, it feels like you've been defrauded somehow? i'm not being facetious. i'm inviting you to notice that what you're feeling is probably discomfort, disappointment, maybe even cognitive dissonance because you imagined it going one way, and now you're at a loss because it didn't. you built it up in your head, you had something to look forward to, you were convinced that it would happen, it was exciting and you were so eager to get to that point, and then.... and then...

we've all been there. and it sucks. but i also want to remind you of how important it is to preserve the separation. this space is ours. the writer's room, the filming set, the editing room, those spaces are theirs. the actors' likenesses are theirs. thinking beyond trop, the separation is how we get creative works that challenge us politically, emotionally, that make us uncomfortable and tell us important truths. writers shouldn't have to - and shouldn't FULL STOP - do what we want them to do. sometimes that means knowing when to walk away, when to say "i no longer enjoy this show, i will no longer support it" or "i will continue to watch but pretend things went differently," the latter of which has been the spark that has moved so many online fans to draw, paint, write, or sew. it's a type of creation that allows "canon" and "fanon" to exist parallel to one another. moreover, the effort it takes to make anything with your own two hands, with your own time, and with your own energy increases your appreciation for the creative impulse. films and books and television stop being "products" for your "consumption" because you're aware of what goes into them, and it becomes easier to look at things you don't like or disagree with and say, "you know what, i'm gonna pass," or "not in my headcanon."

oh, and by the way plugging things into an ai generator? is theft. the same way that it's generally frowned upon for people to use ai to, say, write the rest of an unfinished fic without the express permission of the fanwork creator, using the actors' likenesses to make them kiss goes against everything the actors' union fought for last year. i'll also add that it's incredibly creepy. almost all of us are in agreement that intimacy coordinators are a good thing because they act - again! - as a separation between what's "real" and what isn't, the same way going on ao3 and reading a fic that very clearly says on the tin that it's a fanfic, unaffiliated with the official ip, is a separation. it's another beast entirely to normalize fan-use of ai, to say you support creatives, support actors, support unions, and then do this in your personal life. i repeat the question: what impulse leads anyone to believe that this is okay other than a feeling of misplaced ownership?

tl;dr: ai nonsense does not belong in fandom spaces. (in my home state of california, it is illegal to use digital replicas of an actor's voice or likeness in place of their actual services without their informed consent [which, in spirit, is what you're doing by using ai to make your gifs]). we all just need to mind our own business and go back to writing our fix-it fics and complaining to our friends in relative peace. if you're finding it impossible to do so, ask yourself why. remember that fanart is our longstanding tradition. stop outsourcing it to an unregulated technology just because your two faves didn't kiss.

[blanketforcas]

🚩Cult and cultlike/toxic behavior: red flags in fandom 🚩

A non-exhaustive list inspired by my 10+ years of experience in fandom, both personal and second-hand. By sharing this, I hope to make other people more aware and able to protect themselves in the future. No fandom space or friend group is worth your mental health.

They claim they have secret information and use that to lure you in

They might either lovebomb you at first or make you (feel like you have to) prove your worth

The leader(s) of the group might not feel super approachable, at least not without fear of saying the wrong thing

They seem to create or point out a divide in fandom you’d never noticed before. Likely this divide isn’t actually there in wider fandom, or the need for it is wholly unnecessary.

They create an us vs them (outsiders) situation. Their group has the most knowledge and expertise, if others critique them it’s simply cause they must’ve heard false rumors. They are always the ones who are “misunderstood”.

Questioning statements from leaders/people with high regard in the group, is not without risk. You can get dogpiled, your intelligence put into question and gaslit about your own words and feelings.

You see discussions happen and get more heated, and at the end of that discussion the person on the receiving end of the things mentioned above ^ starts apologizing profusely and/or believes they are indeed stupid. However, if this person does keep defending their stance, they might get bullied or kicked out of the server/group chat

Too much emphasis on Being Right/having the correct take or theory – it may seem it has a higher priority than empathy and tactful communication

You need to have an opinion (their opinion), because silence equals condoning or agreeing with the “other side”

Bad-faith interpretations of posts/statements from someone considered part of the "out-group". You feel in your gut that something is off and they're misrepresenting it, but you find yourself wanting to agree anyway cause it fits the narrative the group subscribes to and going against that is generally not welcomed.

Everything is a moral issue. When everything is made out to be a high-stakes issue or reflective of everyone as a person, it's easier for the leader(s) to manipulate you.

You find yourself excusing people’s behavior because you agree with their point. The way they bring their argument forward and the tone they use, become subordinate to finding out the truthTM

There is such a thing as The TruthTM in every theory, discussion or analysis

If you don't Get It, it's cause you haven't "worked on yourself enough". Or it's cause you're not trying hard enough, or you haven't done enough reading, or you have blind spots only they can see.

There is a lot of conspiratorial thinking – maybe actors are trying to send us secret messages, maybe there is a Whole Lot You Don’t Know But We Do, Trust Us, maybe this or that person in fandom has tried to attack us and are planning a bigger attack,…

You barely/don’t have fandom friends outside of this group and if you do, you tend to intentionally (whether subconsciously or not) hide your experience from them. They wouldn’t understand the way they talk, they wouldn’t understand the way it works etc

They want to know a lot of your personal information. - might only happen once you get into higher ranks

You might get (more and more) specific “tasks”, it starts becoming a part-time job instead of a hobby/fun space to hang out with friends

Of course, these red flags are not always immediately visible let alone advertised when you join a group chat/discord server/twitter or tumblr bubble. They can also be nonexistent at first and show up later. Here are some general ways to stay vigilant:

Periodically check in with your values, if they might be changing & how you feel about that.

Keep an eye on the way people (and yourself) are being treated. Is it kind? Is it fair? Do you feel on edge all the time when you’re having conversations? Is your body more tense when you’re in this online space or when certain people are around? Be honest with yourself here.

Ask yourself: Is this space becoming my only coping mechanism? Am I spending too much time here? There’s no shame in spending a lot of time on things you enjoy, but do check in with yourself sometimes whether you are actually still having fun and if you are taking things too seriously or parasocialising a lot.

There's a lot of fun to be had in fandom and a lot of good that comes out of it - don't forget that. Keep seeking that. It's why we're here!

[capricornsicle]

I've kind of been getting back into teen wolf recently and I've been noticing more than I used to just how anti Scott a bunch of people are. like, why?! what did he ever do to you?! people will include every other character including fucking Peter and they'll still exclude Scott or hate on him for no reason. idk it's just crazy to me

what did he ever do to you?!

Main character, own show, not white.

Long answer:

I've also taken a break from Teen Wolf fandom (and Tumblr) for a while, and it's really cemented in my mind just how much of Scott hate and Scott dislike and how much of the obsession with other characters instead by way of stripping them of their canon personalities and actions and confidently stating that they are actually the Scott McCall of the story in every way is just repackaged racism.

Honeslty, I got into Teen Wolf after reading some Sterek fic I was recommended. For someone with no knowledge of the show past maybe a couple episodes I'd seen years ago, I thought it was pretty good. Then I started watching the show and started being active on Tumblr, and despite being brown myself and being fairly used to fandom racism already, I saw so much about how Scott was naïve and dumb that I started believing it. The vast majority of the fandom space being dominated by Sterek content which already often relies on dropping Scott from main character to at best a supporting character and at worst an antagonist to a romance and by content that did include Scott painting him as an idiot, coupled with not having finished the show yet and not getting to see just how much Scott grows up and some of his best moments where you realize how smart and strong he is, had me putting some embarrassingly wrong takes out there on the internet.

I have since changed my tune. 2 consecutive years of anonymous (purely on a technicality, because we all know who it is) hate mail specifically orchestrated to alienate me from fans who do like Scott (primarily by outright lying about users like @princeescaluswords, @liliaeth, and @spikeface, if you remember that series of asks I apologize for my lack of critical reasoning skills at the time) and to brute force argue in the worst faith possible until I accepted their outlandish statements as logical bases for a debate will do that to a person. Also, I finished the show. I'm curious how many people active in fandom have never actually seen past season 3b or season 4, since so much of Scott hate is centered around the events of season 5 and so many people say egregiously wrong things about those events as fact to prove that Scott is a bad friend or a bad leader or what have you.

This fandom is an interesting place. The entire environment is so steeped in anti-Scott sentiment that was created by, like, 5 specific people who are for some reason treated as logical and reasonable actors and respected in fandom, and in deeply delusional fanon that has become a fandom unto itself in the years it's had to brew. Sterek remains popular because it's an easy story to like for a lot of people who spend a lot of time online and in fandom spaces: a (white) guy who's kind of a loser, feels physically and socially powerless, but is creative and snarky and uses the powers of sarcasm and quirkiness to draw the attention of a more powerful, more experienced, more confident, rock-hard-abs (white) man who's hopelessly enamored despite being entirely unattainable in real life. So the Sterek fandom remains active, and inhabits the husk of the thing that used to be the Teen Wolf fandom before the Teen Wolf fans got tired of being pushed out of their own space and went on to other fandoms that are better house-trained. Or a few of us still linger and stubbornly remain in the fandom of things we like, even though a lot of great TV shows and movies and books and games have godawful and deeply toxic and racist fandom spaces.

Racism in the Teen Wolf fandom is like learning what the Wilhelm Scream is. Once you can recognize it you suddenly realize it's everywhere. The fandom relies on passing around the same deeply racist interpretations of events and is fueled by the same hate to keep itself alive. Sterek becomes less interesting when you're not fighting fans of the actual show to prove it exists, or fighting the main character who's in the way of the interpretation of Stiles as the mother of the ensemble cast because he's obviously so much smarter and wiser than them and Derek as the primary love interest and the authoritarian but loving father. Realistically Scott would probably be surprised if Stiles and Derek started dating, but he'd be supportive of his friends. He wasn't happy with Allison dating Isaac, but he was supportive of their relationship because it was making people he cared about happy. There's no version of events where he wouldn't be completely supportive of his best friend being in a relationship with someone who he's come to see as part of his family. Especially when that someone is a person who he's helped to become a better one and right the wrongs he's done, even against Scott himself.

Scott is a bastion of kindness and forgiveness and a prime example of how treating people like they're people, even when they're bad people, is the distinction between a person and a monster. But that's not as inspiring for people who see themselves as Stiles and find Derek attractive as seeing him as an obstacle, especially when the fandom is an echo chamber of Scott's apparent wrongdoings against them and their relationship that are all just words to cover up a vicious jealousy that Scott is the main character because the path to being the better person isn't proving you're better than everyone else, it's by knowing that you are just as human as everyone else and recognizing that treating people like they are capable of being good is a wildly successful method of bettering them. But that's hard, and nihilism and snark are easy.

Scott hate is just racism. I've been wrong before, in fact most things I've learned have come from being wrong about them first, and I'd be delighted to be wrong about this, but it's been a long wait to find the Teen Wolf fan who hates Scott for a reason that is true and unrelated to him not being white. Fortunately being racist isn't an incurable disease. It's something that can be unlearned and something that people can practice recognizing and walking away from. Maybe part of me coming back to this blog and this fandom after a relaxing hiatus is my continued belief, especially in the face of recent world events, that people can change. In my years of being in this fandom, I've seen a lot of bullshit, a lot of racism, a lot of racist bullshit, and some of the most purposefully bigoted people I've ever encountered. They know who they are. But I've also seen enough people change their minds about Scott and breathe fresh life into the very small Teen Wolf part of the Teen Wolf fandom that sometimes it's a pretty fun place to be in. Racism can be unlearned. On a fandom level and on a much larger scale.

And I really like Scott. I think deliberately choosing kindness when you're surrounded by violence and compliance is admirable, and I think popular culture could use more role models like that. The fact that he looks like me when still in 2025 so few of the heroes do is an added bonus.

[ginnyruin]

i'm sorry but the nurchie "art" is clearly AI generated??? can we please stop sharing and praising shit that some algorithm spat out without ever asking the original creators whose work it steals and regurgitates for their permission

- sincerely, a pissed-off artist

Hello,

I’m going to set the record straight, and I’d suggest you read carefully before making any more baseless accusations. Nurchie is an actual artist—a trained one, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in digital art and two-dimensional studies (drawing and painting) from a prestigious university. She has 16 years of professional design/digital art experience, and a publicly documented portfolio going back well before AI art even existed.

go look at her earliest work on Deviantart and you'll see how precisely detailed she draws hands, fingers, and clothing. Everything, really.

If you had bothered to do any homework, you’d see that her work reflects thousands of hours of dedicated practice and the expertise of a seasoned digital artist.

Calling her work AI generated is BEYOND insulting. it’s lazy, dismissive, and downright disrespectful to a person who has spent years honing her craft.

She doesn’t ask for clout, she doesn’t do commissions, she doesn't have a patreon or Kofi. She only made a Twitter years ago because I asked her to share her talent with the world or she wouldn't even bother.

This tendency to label any polished work as “AI” just shows ignorance, plain and simple. Real artists deserve better than to have their skills lumped in with AI machine-generated content by people who can’t tell the difference.

Each of her digital paintings takes anywhere from 30-80+ hours. For Altered State specifically, she's been working on all these art pieces for months while I've been on a posting hiatus. Her incredible work keeps me inspired; I would have literally quit ages ago. We go back and forth on details from the writing in the fic and I see these changes she makes in real time.

She paints in her limited free time for these niche fandoms because she loves the stories and wants to support the writers in it. In a world where fandom is becoming increasingly commodified, she is a rare gem.

I didn't even want to bother Nurchie with this silly comment of yours, but she's such a good sport she just laughed at the idea that anyone could accuse her art of being AI generated. She uses a combo of adobe CC suite and clip studio to draw.

nurchie messaged me this, and I asked for her permission to share it: [I just think they are probably some struggling artist, upset that they feel replaced by soulless AI and are lashing out any time they think they see it. I'm sympathetic to their feelings, and understand the annoyance. I've been battling the improper usage of it in my workplace. AI is not AI but just a data collection tool, and I completely agree that the human eye could never be replaced by it.]

yeah, she's the most chill, sweetest person ever, too. So maybe think twice before throwing around accusations you clearly can’t back up. You're trying to hurt a real artist.

-sincerely,

A writer who knows a real artist

https://www.deviantart.com/nurchie/gallery

edit: also accusations like this drive away real fanartists. Why should they bother sharing their work if their talent and skill are being dismissed as some algorithm's output? it's toxic. fandom spaces will be flooded with AI-generated content in the future because all the true artists will have left.

[chaifootsteps]

had some fanartists/writers who I won't name but who I've lost significant respect for since they're happy to reply to/agree with the worst of the fandom's attack dogs who've openly talked about wanting to hurt people over disagreements of opinion (and that's plural because more than one of them has spoken about wanting to silence critics) in threads where they defend the show's writing

I don't understand why the people who still like the show and appear to be much more chill don't distance themselves from the ones who are being vicious fandom police. they're making themselves look just as bad by ignoring everything the stans are doing - I don't see how it's possible for them not to have seen it if they follow these types. I understand if they've ever been harassed in fandom there's an impulse to flock together but still, some standards about who they consider friends shouldn't be too hard?

and the sad thing is I'm barely even surprised to see it. I've noticed in other fandoms when one ship dominates, fans will care more about having the strength of large numbers than curating their spaces to screen their toxic shipmates out

the only other thing that makes sense to me is they're aware, consciously or not, that they'll get eaten alive if they so much as give a mild "hey - maybe don't talk about wanting to hurt people you don't like?"

and so they don't and nothing changes

It's an ugly, vicious, dangerous cycle. It really does become more dangerous the longer it goes on.

[sweetshelluvaau]

You know, at this point I'm wholeheartedly convinced that fanart/fanfiction/fan any content is what's keeping Hellaverse alive because when fan content has better writing and portrayals of these characters than the actual shows and canon themselves you kinda know you fucked up.

I'm not necessarily talking about fanon either, I've been writing within the Hellaverse RPC (roleplay community) here for almost a year now and seeing how people take these characters, deconstruct them and flesh them out with their own spin on things regardless if these are just small little add ons to already established lore or drastic changes, the share creativity coming from these writers and the muns I've befriended make me wish we had a show(s) that was made with as much love and care than those who do enjoy Hellaverse in some shape or form.

It also helps that half of that RPC is as critical and salty as I am. Birds of a feather flock together.

Don't get me wrong, the Hellaverse fandom as a whole is a cesspool of toxicity and horrible people, there are bad eggs within the RPC as well trust me, but one of the reasons why I am still in some of these spaces (critical and small groups with friends) is because I enjoy the creativity that comes out of those who do have passion and care for these shows and what they could have been suppose to what they ended up being...

Idk I feel like despite how cynical and jaded I've become and stopped watching Helluva Boss all together outside of the shorts that interest me, I like to look on the more positive parts of the fandom and community even how much the Stans and toxic fans extremely outnumber them...

[twig-tea]

Spoiler-free Pitch for Oppan (Ossan no pantsu ga nandatte ii janai ka)

Thanks to @isaksbestpillow generously creating subtitles for this show we have access to arguably the best family drama of the year, and what has become one of my favourite series of all time.

The premise is essentially: Makoto, a 'traditional' family man in his 50s who feels alienated from his wife and two kids, decides to learn to 'update' his beliefs with the help of a young gay man who befriends him.

There are so many pitfalls and ways this premise could go wrong, and the show falls into none of them. Daichi, the gay character that befriends Makoto, has a boyfriend, and they both have their own arcs. The friendship is two-way, and they both benefit from the relationship. Makoto's wife, son, and daughter all also have arcs, and we get to understand and love all of these characters. Nobody is in this show exclusively as a foil for Makoto; everyone gets to be their own person. The show is careful to not only show multiple experiences of gay characters, but also to chastise people in the show for making assumptions, as those can be hurtful, even when well-intentioned. And yes, while it isn't the focus of the show, we do get to see some of Daichi and Madoka's romance.

This show is so well-written, each episode is satisfying and builds on the previous one. The journey to improvement is not a straight line but a spiral, and Oppan depicts that so well. The mistakes Makoto makes are believable and realistic. And the way Makoto's relationships improve in every aspect of his life as he works on himself is gradual, realistically depicted, and so, so satisfying to watch. Trust is earned, and we see him slowly earn trust over time as he changes his behaviour. We also see the damage his past behaviour has wrought, and see him reconcile himself to that.

One of the best things this show does is viscerally illustrate how harmful upholding societal stigma and judgment is to those you love, and to yourself. Makoto's toxic masculinity, homophobia, amatonormativity, and judgment of anything he deems as "silly" or "abmnormal" hold his family back from connecting with him, and hold himself back from experiencing joy. Themes include (but are not limited to) sexuality, gender presentation, idol fandom, BL fandom, makeup, fashion, and workplace culture. And it isn't just familial relationships this show cares about; it touches on friendships, romantic, sibling, parental, and coworker relationships.

The lesson at the core of Makoto's journey is that genuine connection with others is how we heal and find joy, and that we can only have that genuine connection if we're able to make space for others to be themselves in our presence through kindness. And it's that core that makes this show so powerful, and made me cry (with happiness, catharsis, and relief) so many times. I genuinely feel like it healed something in me to watch this show.

Even putting all of that aside, this show is funny, and genuinely satisfying as a story arc. There's Carlos, the family dog who always seems to know what's going on and nudges Makoto when he needs it. Makoto's actor, Harada Taizo, makes some incredible faces. There are hilarious cut-aways mid-scene, usually when someone is getting too intense with their fansquee. The family dynamic, especially the sibling behaviour between Moe and Kakeru, is so hilariously familiar. It's not a chore to watch this show; it manages to be kind and healing and also fun.

Anyway. If that's not enough of a pitch for you, I've written about all of the 11 episodes individually, including outlining where and how each made me cry: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 . And I'm not the only one; if you want more company while watching, @bengiyo, @lurkingshan @mikuni14 and @mynamisnotthepoint wrote a bunch about this show too mostly broken out by episode.

And to relive the magic, @avorbl, @theside-b and @my-rose-tinted-glasses created some gorgeous gifs!

Siiri has instructions on her blog, but if you need help watching this show, feel free to DM me or send an ask.

[aroaceleovaldez]

You've talked about the pjo fandom's lack of fandom infrastructure a lot, what I want to ask is: why do you think the pjo fandom has so little?

I've seen other much smaller fandoms that have just developed infrastructure as the years go on but pjo feels like it's stayed quite stagnant in that regard. I would've thought that with pjo being so big there'd be a lot more than there is. Did we have a lot then we lost it along the way or did we just not develop it that much?

We definitely used to have way more! In my infrastructure list there's a LOT of old infrastructure blogs from back in the day. There's definitely more than what's on that list, but a lot of those blogs have been deactivated or otherwise lost. I've also talked a bit like [here] about some of the old stuff the fandom used to regularly have, like events that no longer run, common tag games and other community habits, etc. We also used to have more zines and other collaborative projects. These just don't happen nearly as often in our community anymore, because the people running them stopped being able to and nobody was able to pick them up and they were forgotten.

I mostly attribute this change to new fandom attitudes and the loss of community. Back in the day I feel like one of the most influential things to the fandom environment was how a lot of younger fans often looked to big-name-fans for how they should behave and navigate fandom spaces. A lot of people are familiar with the old "big 3" fanartists of the day - Viria, Burdge, and Minuiko - but what a lot of people don't remember is they used to trade art back and forth all the time! And with other artists/fans in the community! They were all just genuinely friends and so much collaboration happened between them! That's how we got a lot of the old big AUs and concepts in the fandom because people loved sharing those and collaborating. And because a lot of young folks often mirror the people they look up to in communities, younger fans were mimicking that behavior and there was a lot of exchange and communication and community happening in the fandom at the time. That behavior was demonstrated, replicated, and encouraged!

And young fans mirroring BNFs they look up to is still absolutely a thing! You can see this all the time if you just take a quick glance at fanart - how many character designs are clearly influenced from large artists in the fandom? Insert every Piper with Velinxi heart-shaped cowlicks here. But because there's a lot of ideas now about curating online presences as if it's a business (or literally turning it into a business) or outputting "content" we see a lot less of people - particularly larger fans in the community - vocally interacting with other fans. Everything feels very sanitized and polished and impersonal. There's way less exchange between fans now, or at least way less vocally.

And this is also pushed by general "new/passive fandom" culture as i generally refer to it, where there's so much more emphasis on consumption and "content" versus community (and again, that idea of curating socials like a business/brand). When everything kind of shifted with the like 2016-2018 adult content bans and everybody was moving around between platforms, folks lost a lot of means of learning about fandom history and their communities and how those communities looked. A lot of fans - including now older fans - have never known that fandom is supposed to be a community, and so now we have the older fans in the community with this very content-oriented presentation of fandom that is how fandom is generally advertised in mainstream media, because that's how they learned about it and how new fans are learning about it. They have no easy means to learn fandom history and nobody to mirror appropriate social fandom behavior from (which is also what i attribute to why so many fandoms have become "more toxic" or rude in recent years - especially with quarantine meaning a lot of young folks lost irl means of learning to mirror appropriate social behavior).

In smaller and newer fandoms, communities form easier and if they're the groundwork for the fandom it will persist and self-perpetuate most of the time. In general if a fandom is able to maintain that community aspect, it usually does just fine! (As per usual I point to the furry fandom as a great example of an older fandom with good infrastructure and community.) This is why I like to harp on about building community and reinstating these types of environments and blogs and such, and generally discussing the fandom's history as much as I can and remember it. People can't fix problems they don't understand or things they don't know about, so making that information as accessible as possible and encouraging these things is important.

[wisdomseulogy]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Part 2: How puritan culture, misogyny, and homophobia are affecting fandom spaces and fanfiction.

During difficult times, people will desire harsh rules to make them feel safer or to make them feel morally jus and accepted. But what is ‘morally just’ when it comes to fanfiction? Why do people read controversial things? What is puritan culture and how does it relate to misogyny and homophobia? 

This is the second part of my series about fanfiction and fandom culture and how it relates to what is going on in society at the moment. This will be a lot more polarizing than the first part in this series, but I hope it will be a good read even if you don’t agree with everything I say. This is an opinion piece based on my personal lived experience which may not match up with everyone else’s lived experience. 

Originally, I was going to combine my discussion on puritan culture and commercialization, but with the growing amount of hate that authors are getting on AO3 these days, I feel it imperative to speak at length about puritan culture by itself. I will include commercialization in my next part of the series!

This is also the only part of the series that will include 18+ themes.

Lastly, thank you so much to everyone that read and interacted with part 1! It really makes my day to see that people are actually reading this!

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Fandom spaces have changed and evolved so much over a relatively short period of time. With the prevalence of social media today, fandom spaces have also become very toxic microcosm of society. That is not to say that toxicity has never existed in fandom spaces, but I would argue it is worse now more than ever.

There are a lot of different reasons for this. You have the fact that fear and anger drives engagement and thus money for people on apps like TikTok, (which I will be talking about in the next part of this series) and you also have the rise in misogyny and homophobia in America as the country turns more and more conservative with each passing day. 

(I am an American and a lot of my opinions come from being in America. Though, these issues can be present in many different countries and social circles, I am just specifying America since that is what I know personally)

But how did we get here as a community and what can we do to stop the rise of misogyny and homophobia in fandom spaces (specifically relating to fanfiction)? 

The first step is understanding the history and what has brought us here. I started attending cons and reading fanfiction in 2008, so I saw a lot of this firsthand. 

Before AO3 was made, people would post fanfictions on places like fanfiction.net, livejournal, Quizazz (Quotev), Wattpad, etc. But there started to be issues when people began posting sexual related fanfiction content (smut, lemons etc.). Fanfiction.net and livejournal infamously purged anything on their websites that they didn’t agree with that was of a sexual nature.

People's fics were being deleted left and right and there was nowhere for people to post their fics without fear that it might be taken down. And on top of that, the original creators of the works that fics were based off of weren’t happy with people writing fanfiction using their characters and plot.

Anne Rice, who wrote The Vampire Chronicles, infamously was so against people making fanfiction with her characters that she sought out legal action against the fanfiction creators. But, the saving grace of fanfiction is that it cannot be monetized and the authors are not making any money off of the fics they are posting.

(However, this is becoming a hot issue with people printing out and selling copies of fanfiction on places like Etsy. But again, that will be in the next part of the series.)

People who are discovering fanfiction after 2015 are more likely to not know this history, because AO3 was created so that fanfiction writers would not have to deal with any legal action or purging of their fics. It is quite literally a utopia for fanfictions authors and fan creators to be able to post their stuff without fear of any real sort of repercussions. 

However, with how America is moving more towards a conservative political stance as a whole, this liberty is being threatened. Especially with the KOSA bill which would allow complete internet censorship by the US government on anything they deem to possibly be bad. It is framed in a way to try and protect children, but it is, at its core, a complete government ability to censor the internet. This would include fanfiction. 

And you might have already seen that AO3 is preemptively taking precautions in case something like this happens. 

But why is fanfiction important and why do we need to fight to allow it to stay uncensored?

Fanfiction is one of the last non-monetizable forms of art. You cannot make money on it and the people who write and create fanfiction are doing it not for money but out of love and appreciation for the characters or the storyline. 

In a world where everything is commercialized, the last place that capitalism has yet to reach is fanfiction. It is a reprieve from a society and world that demands that things only have worth if they are monetarily valuable. Fanfiction is the last line of defense we have against late stage capitalism and censorship.

The beauty of AO3 is that nothing on there is censored. It is a kaleidoscope of the human condition. The good, the bad, and the ugly all combined into one place. The reality of what people have to deal with on a regular basis written through the lens of pre-established characters and plot. Or sometimes original work.

But with the rise of conservatism and puritan culture, fanfiction readers and writers are being attacked by virtue signalers in support of a ‘morality’ that is targeted against women and LGBTQ+ people. 

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From this point on, I will be discussing things that people may not be comfortable with. This is the only part of the series that will include 18+ language. Read at your own discretion.

I will not be giving any literary example of these: (i.e. writing out scenarios, quoting direct examples, or going into any graphic description), but these words will be mentioned in a general sense:

Kinks/fetishization

Breeding kink

BDSM

Sexual Assault

Rape/Non-Con

Omegaverse

Yaoi/Yuri

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In part 1, I talked lightly about how what we enjoy can be a reflection of ourselves and that we can use fanfiction to better understand ourselves and the world around us. But when we start talking about kinks, people are a lot less perceptive to understanding why someone might be interested in something.

The fact of the matter is that scientifically, we do not know why people enjoy certain kinks. There are most likely multiple factors going on at once which could include societal constructs/expectations, fearful/traumatic experiences (perceived or actualized), brain development, along with other environmental factors. But, there is no concrete answer as to why someone would develop one kink over another. Which means that saying anyone who has (insert kink here) is a terrible person, is not necessarily correct.

Though there are many theories on why someone may develop a kink, there is a general consensus that to an extent (depending on who you ask), any given person has little over their kinks.

But, I will explore the theory that, to some extent, kinks can come from fears or pain. There is a very thin line between what someone fears and what kinks that person may have. People who fear getting pregnant may have a breeding kink, people that fear being sexually assaulted may have a rape/non-con kink, someone who fears being helpless or hurt may have BDSM kink, etc. I could go on forever with how fear can relate to sexual desire, but I am sure you get the idea.

(Though this is just one aspect of how a kink could be formed, this is not true for everyone.)

In the same way nightmares can help our brain to prepare and react to future bad situations, kinks can help people to experience something fearful in a safe and consensual way. And that is important to understand when critiquing people who read fics with certain tags that may be considered bad. 

In an interesting way, the reader is consenting to reading the piece of writing in the same way the writer is consenting by writing it. Since you can always stop reading and you can always stop writing. The power is in your hands.

This is important for understanding why someone may read certain pieces of media. Without any context, someone may think that people who read something like rape/non-con are supporting that act and thus are terrible people. But if you think about the fact that fanfiction is mainly written by women and LGBTQ+ people, groups of people who historically have to deal with the very real threat of sexual assault on a daily basis, it stands to wonder how much of a kink, like this, comes from fear (whether actualized as they have experienced it, or internalized where they know they are at risk). 

Reading and writing is a very healthy way to work through complex thoughts and emotions. And fanfiction in particular is very helpful for this since it is easier to project your feelings on things you did not create. Something that is not the writer's creation, yet able to convey the writer's thoughts and feelings in a way that is harder to achieve in original work. In this way, even though a reader insert is meant to represent the reader, it creates a version of the reader that does not exist in reality and thus not held down by reality and only held down by the fictional world/work they are inserted into. Thus a figurative chimera of humanity and fiction. An existence outside of trauma and expectations.

AO3 has such an extensive tagging and filtering system, it is very easy to not have to read something that may be triggering. When attacking authors for their tag usage, the possible real outcome is that authors of things that can be triggering to many people will not attribute the proper tags to their fics and thus people who would have been able to easily avoid that content may be bombarded by it. 

It is important to know that just because a piece of media (like a fanfiction) has something horrific in it, that does not mean the author or the reader is glorifying this thing and thus wanting that thing to happen to them or others. In the same way that just because a character is the main character of a piece of media, does not mean that the character is instantly a good person and what they do is good. There is a lot of nuance to whether a character is good or bad and a character can be a combination of both. 

Of course, I could talk at length about how the rise of puritan culture is relative to the lack of media literacy taught or understood in school and how this all goes back to covid and politics. But since I am focusing directly on the effects of puritan culture in fanfiction/fandom, I will leave that for another time. However, it is important to understand that these concepts  (i.e. just because a horrible thing is written doesn’t mean the author is justifying that thing) should be taught in schools.

We exist inside of the context of all of our lived experiences. Much of which we have no control over. We have no control over where or how we are born, who our parents are, and where we live in early childhood and possibly beyond. We have no control over how our brain perceives the world or even how our brain develops. We use thoughts and decisions to feel like we have control, but those decisions were probably already made for us by either environmental factors/corporations/politics/brain and subconscious development. 

Many people do not realize that they have a lot of internalized misogyny and homophobia. That is because it is so ingrained into society, our brains interpret it as an absolute or a fact of life without questioning how we came to those conclusions or who is pushing those narratives. 

This does not only affect women and LGBTQ+ people. The fandom puritans will go after anyone who they disagree with and bully them into oblivion. But, I will be focusing on my own personal experience as a woman in fandom spaces. However, this is not to discredit what other people might be experiencing or have gone through. This is a much larger issue and is indicative of society itself. Once a person or people are deemed as a ‘witch’ (someone the fandom puritans don’t agree with), the puritans will be sharpening their metaphorical pitchforks and lighting their torches in hopes of seeing demise and hurt.

(This also correlates with the rise of apathy and lack of empathy.)

At the end of the day, each person has had different life experiences and will enjoy different things. And we will probably never know exactly why we enjoy certain things, as scientifically we are not certain, and so there needs to be a lot more grace and decorum when it comes to kink shaming or shaming in general.

Fandom spaces were safe havens for people to be themselves, but when things are uncertain, people will desire harsh codes and morals to feel safe. To feel that they are good or that they are right. And for someone to be good, someone else must be bad. And when justice is not always achievable, people will take it upon themselves to be the bringer of ‘justice’. But justice for who? That is the most important question when it comes to wondering what fandom puritans get from enacting their harsh moral codes on strangers.

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“There is simultaneously an epidemic of hypersexualization and puritan culture and both are targeted against women” (I saw this in the comment section of a TikTok video).

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In the rise of puritan culture, there is also a rise in policing what people can and can’t read based on their biological sex or sexual identity. I have seen lots of videos of people saying afab people cannot and should not read yaoi. I have seen people on tumblr asking creators if they are allowed to read their yaoi fics since they are afab. 

I have also seen people say that the omegaverse is blatant fetishization and anyone who reads it is an evil fetishizer. 

(For those that don’t know, a kink is anything unconventional that is used, performed, or desired in a sexual way. A fetish relies more heavily on a certain object, body part, or situation. Neither of these are inherently bad. But the word fetish has a lot more negative connotation to it than kink. The real issue is objectification and oppression.)

But policing what people can read is not the right route to go about things since it usually ends up hurting women and LGBTQ+ people more disproportionately. You are also making a lot of assumptions of these people's intentions which may be false or blatantly wrong and only work to further an agenda that restricts the sexual autonomy of women and LGBTQ+ people while acting as if you are trying to help them.

When a fandom puritan imagines a sort of proverbial reader for content they deem as bad, they are projecting everything they dislike onto a person that does not exist. These projections are an extension of societal expectations and societal expectations are not inherently correct. They are created and formed as a way to control as many people as possible. Under the guise that the more control we have over others, the less uncertainty there is. But that is not true. And these expectations are harsher to women and the LGBTQ+ community, people who have had a harder timer speaking up for themselves in society and history as a whole.

When we police what someone can and can't like sexually, we are removing or altering their bodily or sexual autonomy. (Their ability to use their body as they like). Cis male characters have always had sexual agency in media. They are allowed to be with who they like and do as they please. And they are even rewarded for doing so. Teaching that the more people a man is able to ‘conquer’ (take the sexual autonomy from), the more worth that man has as a person and in society as a whole. 

(But this also teaches men that without someone else they cannot have self worth. I will be talking about that in a different manifesto later where I break down the male loneliness epidemic and how society is sabotaging men for profit and political gain and that is leading to a rise in conservative values and misogyny.)

Women have internalized this: men are allowed to have sexual autonomy, women are not. Men are allowed to have sex as they please, while women are taught that every time they have sex with a different person, some part of themselves is fundamentally broken. 

Wanting to explore sexual desires and agency with characters that already have a precedent of sexual agency is very common. Though, you may not have heard it described in that way.

I argue that yaoi/omegaverse when it is written by women for women is where the reader and writer are exploring sexual desire and agency in a way where they are ‘allowed to’. Men are allowed to have sexual desire and to act in sexual ways, while women are not allowed those same privileges. A woman is only allowed to fit into one of two archetypes: the whore or the virgin. The over sexualized or the prude. 

But that is not indicative of the real lived experience.

(When it comes to LGBTQ+ people they are rarely given the option of the virgin archetype and instead are only hypersexualized (which is also a form of control and lack of sexual agency))

On one hand, yaoi/yuri is representative of an actual lived experience for a lot of people. And those stories provide voices and outlets for LGBTQ+ people to be seen and understood. To see themselves in the reflection of the characters eyes. To see themselves seeing themselves.

But I argue that yaoi/yuri or the omegaverse can also be feminist literature. (I use the term feminist broadly as encompassing both women and LGBTQ+ people and the struggle against the patriarchy and a society that is actively working against them. And feminist literature, in this sense, is literature that is by the oppressed for the oppressed against an oppressor (i.e. the patriarchy) I know not everyone will agree with this, but this is my personal definition here.)

(If you do not know what the omegaverse is, the most basic way of understanding it is that in the omegaverse, omegas can get pregnant no matter their primary gender (male, female, etc.) and alphas can impregnate no matter their primary gender. In this way, primary gender like male and female do not matter as much as your secondary gender does (alpha, beta, omega). However, betas are regular people so a male beta can only impregnate and a female beta can only get pregnant.)

Because the primary gender in the omegaverse is not important, there is a lot of commentary on what gender is and how society shapes people. 

While writing an omegaverse story, I got to asking myself what an omega is. Since an omega seems to be everything that society deems as feminine or womanly (submission, gentleness, etc.) but in the body of (usually) a man. And an alpha is the embodiment of everything society deems and manly or attributes to men (like aggression, domination, etc.). In this way, alphas and omegas are at the most extreme ends of masculine and feminine standards. Does this come from a desire to see a man go through the most extreme standards of what it means to be a woman in society and still be accepted? Because even if a woman is able to achieve the absolute pinnacle of what it means to be a woman, they will still be hated.

An omega is allowed to be both the virgin and the whore simultaneously. They are allowed to have intense sexual desire (i.e. heats) while also being allowed to not want intimacy. Being allowed to desire an alpha while also being scared of alphas. Oppressed yet holding power. 

One of the things I noticed a lot when reading yaoi/omegaverse is the proclivity of rape. At first I was very turned off by it. Why was sexual assault so normalized in yaoi? Is it a negative side-effect of hypersexualization or is it the literary embodiment of an internalized fear of rape and the desire to see a character come out fine? It is very rare for sexual assault to be treated seriously in yaoi/omegaverse if it is between the main couple. This is a reflection of the very real reality of how sexual assault is treated in the countries where these authors are from (including the US). 

Does it come from a desire to see something realistic in a male dominated world where the aggressor is given less than a slap on the wrist for sexual assault while the victim is blamed and can be herald as a murder if victim desired to abort a child born of rape? Is the writer trying to imagine a world where they are okay and actually benefiting from an experienced trauma? There are many possibilities, and I do not know the answers. I am just theorizing how I imagine some of these tropes come about. But this is important for understanding that just because someone reads or writes something, does not mean they are actively supporting that thing.

But instead of there being a distinctive right or wrong, everything boils down to how something is perceived. What context does the piece of media exist in? In the same way The Handmaid’s Tale is a piece of literature that actively explores the role of women in a patriarchal society and is not supporting the patriarchal society itself that is presented in the story.

When someone exists in a world with a lot of internalized misogyny and homophobia, they may read stuff like yaoi/yuri/omegaverse and not see that these texts are actively working against the narrative of the patriarchy and the societal oppressors. They may not realize that their hate of its mere existence is political. (I say mere existence since not everyone will enjoy reading it, obviously, but to hate it for purely existing is political. And it ties back to misogyny and homophobia as these are literary tropes that are mainly enjoyed by women and LGBTQ+ people)

Yaoi/yuri/omegaverse is feminist literature. It is observing the world through the lens of someone who challenges the very structure of society. Challenges the very politics that conservatism and puritanism is trying to push. It is creating a world where the ‘other’ can flourish. Where the outcast is seen and allowed agency. 

But the main pushers of conservatism and puritanism in fandom culture are not who you would expect, which makes it quite a difficult issue to combat. It is women and queer people working against the interests of other women and queer people. The oppressed policing the oppressed for the interests of the oppressor. 

(Though, I would like to point out a tidbit that people rarely acknowledge, which is that we do not gain the ability to think critically about our opinions and the world around us until late adolescence or early adulthood. Though it is different for each person. And thus until a certain age, we are just echoing the thoughts and opinions of others. This can be a reason as to why this is happening.)

In early fanfic culture, it was very common for an author to write “don't like? Don't read” which is something we should continue to live by today. Not everything is created for you. Not everything is meant to cater to you. Not everyone has had the same life experiences as you or the same desires, hopes, or dreams. 

But since fanfiction has entered the mainstream and people are finding it for the first time, they do not know the decorum that comes with reading fanfiction. Fanfiction is not censored or made for profit the same way a published book is. There is no editor or CEO with a prerogative that is reading over the fic and deciding whether it can be published and make money in the current political climate. 

Fanfiction is human made and reflects humanity in a way that anything monetized cannot. It shows the good, the bad, the fears, the desires, the hope, the fluff and the angst. A celebration of life while also being a eulogy to that life. 

The world watching itself be watched. 

When we focus on morality and what being morally good is, we lose sight of what it means to be human. No one is 100% morally just. It is something that no one can reach because it is not something that exists in society. But the easiest way to control a group of people, is to make them start fighting themselves. And it also comes from a desire to be loved. Equating that if you are morally just then others will like you and you will be loved and accepted for who you are.

And as the fandom puritan lights the witch on fire, they turn around and search for acceptance for their actions in the eyes of their peers. The burn of their desire to be loved heating their back as they address the crowd. That same desire to be loved killing the witch.

But humans were not meant to be perfect, and holding ourselves and others up to standards that inherently support patriarchy and societal and government control, will only end badly. Instead of using fanfiction as a way to be upset with the world, use it as a way to understand and love yourself.

Find what you enjoy reading and read it. Find yourself in the reflection of the characters eyes as they smile and cry. 

In a world that profits and is sustained on self-hatred, self-love is a political statement. 

Read what you want to read and move on. And when it comes time, protect fanfiction as one of the last non-monetizable artform.

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I honestly am not even sure if this makes sense. It took me so long to finish because I kept writing and rewriting it. Adding parts and taking other parts out. If you want me to expand on something or think I didn’t explain a concept well enough, please let me know! I am genuinely doing this for fun and enjoy it. :)

Also thank you so much to anyone who made it this far! This one is a lot more polarizing, but I did my best to explain it in a way that was as little polarizing as possible. 

In the next part of the series I will talk about commercialization and capitalism as it relates to the world and specifically to fandom spaces. I will expand on the idea that our opinions and ideals are given to us by corporations or politicians in order to further the narrative. And also that fear and hate drives engagement and people who make money on places like TikTok are more likely to fear-monger (whether intentionally or not) in order to get more money. 

If there is anything else you want me to touch on in this series please let me know! Otherwise, after commercialization it will be fanfiction throughout history and then a call to action and how we can use these concepts to create a better future. 

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

I will say that in addition to toxic positively in fandom spaces there is a counterpart to it that I have repeatedly noticed. This was more immediately apparent in some spaces that I'm in like Magic, where it's fairly common to see people who complain about virtually everything under the sun, even in ways that are contradictory. It's something I've called "Communally Enforced Dissent" because it is usually a result of a desire to keep opinions about something...low. But maybe this is toxic negatively in the same vein.

I will admit to a rather bad habit of mine as of late: when I disagree with someone about something, I will actually usually some time later check in on them, usually popping onto their blog, to see if something has changed. I think that what motivates this is the desire to see people as...individuals who are not necessarily so invested in their opinions that they become obstinate: they are capable of engaging with a topic and its dialogue.

Like, for example, I think the most salient critique of Mon3tr's design is that it could be less cute. This is not necessarily a critique I find to be that important, but I can understand where its coming from. I can disagree but like nod my head that I think it is a salient critique. So I was curious on the opinions of a couple of individuals who I won't name here for the sake of not like causing trouble now that some time has passed.

Have their opinions on Mon3tr changed, now that there has been quite a bit of fandom discussion about the ways in which Mon3tr reads as very transgender, especially from many of the transfem bloggers in the community? As one of them put it, art should be debated and discussed. Are they doing that?

Well no. As far as I can tell, they've not even bothered to discuss the topic at all since then. That sentence I brought up was complaining about going onto the Arknights subreddit (L O fucking L sorry but I also lurk that subreddit and shit is dire) and getting downvoted for criticism, and it highlighted that these people don't...actually want discussion. Like if you want to talk about, for example and not an opinion attributed to any of the people I'm talking about, Integrated Strategies being a bad game mode, I can understand the frustration when you run up against the fact that Integrated Strategies is very popular.

I don't think it's a bad game mode. I do think it has problems, there have been design choices both in the past and recently that are concerning. IS5 in particular I think is not a very well designed version and I vastly prefer IS4. But if your goal is not to actually have discussion but batter me down until I agree with you, that's not actually a discussion.

I will say, and quite publicly, that there are reasons for disliking Mon3tr's design that are quite revealing of internalized misogyny. I do not think they are legitimate complaints and are actually people being very weird about women. But when it comes to like, the direction of the game and the story or about specific plot beats I can see there being a lot to discuss. I have a post constantly brewing in the back of my mind about Kal'tsit and how...well resurrection isn't an inherently bad plot beat. But I haven't made it because I'm primarily waiting on the content that either doesn't exist yet or is untranslated.

If you want Mon3tr to be more monstrous, I will disagree with you: I think that her character design is well supported all things considered. But I think that is a critique that is reasonable even if we disagree. Discussion doesn't result in everyone coming to a consensus with each other you know. :)

[karenandhenwilson]

I think I figured out, at least for myself, why the 9-1-1 fandom and part of the Buddie-or-Bust side of it feels so much more toxic than ever before when I know for a fact, those demanding Buddie has to become canon and who are looking for any tiny clue to be able to say it will become canon have always been this toxic. (I mean, with the exception of some people who came into the show because with Buck being bi the show was suddenly not queerbaiting anymore--lol, it hurts even just writing this as if it were really true--and then became die-hard Buddie fans or at least pretend to be to garner enough followers and clicks to make money out of fandom. But I'm not talking about them here.)

Before Bucktommy, there was no real opposition for them in the fandom. Buck and Eddie both had other LI and those had their fans (I know for a fact there are still people now shipping Buck with Taylor or Buck with Marisol or Eddie with Shannon). But those were very few fans and they created their own little spaces in fandom places and were barely noticeable. So the Buddie-or-Bust fans were able to mostly ignore them. And there have of course also been some small fanon ships for Eddie and Buck with other people, but those are barely noticed either.

But Bucktommy? That got huge in practically an instant. Because so many people were excited for bi story line with an established character and one in Buck's circumstances (not even Buck himself). And the Bucktommy fans were loud about their support of this new canon ship. So Buddie-or-Bust fans suddenly felt threatened and became much louder in their hate for anything not Buddie. Because now, for some reason, the fans of the other ship seem to be a threat to them. And also, for the first time for any of the LI of Eddie or Buck, they made an honest effort to set up Tommy and the relationship with him as something long-term. Which the Buddie-or-Bust fans recognize just as much as the Bucktommy fans, and so they try even harder to find fault in every single thing.

And that did change something in the behavior of the die-hard Buddie fans. At times, I've been neck-deep in Ana bashing, in Shannon bashing, in Taylor bashing, in Chimney bashing, in Abby bashing, in Maddie bashing. Because I enjoy a good bashing at times. It can be very cathartic. But you know what I've never seen there? I've never seen any of those characters being called derogatory names. Or their fans being called derogatory names and, in most cases, their fans didn't retaliate to the bashing either. (Though, at least for Chimney fans they sometimes very viciously go against people even just mentioning they don't like him and it came up a couple of times that Chimney fans found derogatory names for those bashing Chimney because that group of fans also seems to be unable to avoid content bashing their fav and instead sought it out deliberately to complaint about it.)

I can't even count anymore how many derogatory names I've seen for Tommy or Bucktommy or Bucktommy fans. They seem to come up with a new name every other day. And they enjoy trumping each other in their creations and using those names to get around the boundaries others try to set for themselves by filtering out the already known names.

And I already see people coming at me with "Oh, but Bucktommy fans started it by calling us BoBs." and just: No. Once more, you get an F in reading comprehension. It's always been made very clear that BoBs stood for Buddie-or-Bust and I personally don't see anything derogatory here but also, it's always been made very clear it's a specific subset of Buddie fans who behave poorly to separate them from the Buddie fans who don't care about Bucktommy. Because those people using that term are very well aware that there are really just a couple of very loud bad apples in the Buddie side of fandom and the rest of the Buddie fans don't deserve to be lumped in with them. While, on the other hand, all Bucktommy fans are always called names as a whole.

And I think their biggest problem is not even necessarily the "threat" they perceive Bucktommy to be to their own ship, though that's clearly a big part still. Otherwise, they wouldn't come after authors and artists and other fans who once shipped and created for Buddie and are now creating for Bucktommy. And otherwise, they wouldn't tag so many Buddie fics as Bucktommy, too, in some kind of strange hope to convince Bucktommy fans to ship Buddie again. (Without noticing that all they are accomplishing is to make everyone annoyed at them. And yes, that includes those Buddie fans who don't care for Bucktommy at all because they need to curate the Buddie tag very carefully now, too.)

I think their biggest problem is this belief that their ship is only valid if it's canon.

Which is so strange. Fandom has always mostly been about ships that are very much not canon. And no one ever expected their ships to become canon in the past, as far as I know. (Except if it was promoted and then didn't happen. Looking at Sterek here.) Canon ships barely get any attention. I mean, look at all the 9-1-1 ships that are canon, including Tarlos, and how little content there is for any of them, and also how little engagement there is for this content compared to Buddie. That's always been a trend in fandom, that's not new with 9-1-1.

It's not only strange, I also think it's honestly sad for these fans. Because they have deliberately set themselves up to be disappointed and dig that hole of disappointment ever deeper. Even if Buddie should ever go canon, which I honestly don't think will happen, it won't be at all what they expect. And they'll either leave the fandom or turn on the ship they were so toxically addicted to before.

[norel-ravenclaw]

Into My Web

- Part 1 -

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Featured characters: Zestial x gn reader, Alastor

Rating: sfw

Word count: 1300

Description: A soul out of time, you arrive in Hell and make friends with Alastor, who introduces you to the oldest Overlord in the Pride ring - Zestial.

WARNINGS: | gender neutral reader | mentions of murder and brief gore | the plague! no?! yes!! | am I delighted to use my old English knowledge from years of bible study to write for a deeply impure hell show? fuck yes I am -> will used instead of wilt throughout, iykyk |

A walk through the sketchiest part of town means little with the Radio Demon on your arm. Or so you thought, until even he suddenly becomes tense.

A stranger steps into your path, denizens and low ranking overlords fleeing in terror from the glimpse of virulent green flashing beneath his cloak. Tall and slender, a mysterious aura of a sort of passive menace emanating from him.

When he speaks, his low voice and old English pique your curiosity. “Good morrow, Alastor.”

“Ah! Zestial, what a pleasure to see you again.”

The demons incline their heads in a gesture of elegant politeness lost to older eras, stark contrast to the chaos their combined presence is creating on the street.

“Likewise.” Six fathomless eyes emitting a faint neon glow fix on you in a distinctly predatory appraisement. “And who might this creature be who hast gained thine attention?”

Alastor’s smile takes on even more of a strained tint. “Of course.” He introduces you politely, then adding, “And this is Zestial Morde, the most ancient overlord in the Pride ring.”

Having somewhat of an old fashioned personality is what made Alastor choose your company over the other residents of the hotel in the first place, so it’s no difficulty leaning into that here. You dip your head and half bow while still holding Alasor’s arm. “A pleasure to meet you, sir.”

Zestial hums low in his throat. “What year didst thou die, sinner?”

“This year, sir.”

Alastor gestures animatedly with his cane. “Why only just recently! They arrived in quite the state, which I was most pleased to have the privilege of witnessing~”

You resist the urge to roll your eyes, biting your cheek at the memory.

Zestial’s eyes narrow in interest. “I am most intrigued. Thou must relay to me the story.”

Alastor glances further up the road. “Alas, I have a meeting in a few minutes on behalf of the princess, but I’m certain my friend would love to entertain you.”

“Excellent.” Moving with quick grace, Zestial moves to your side and captures your arm. “Do convey my well wishes to Carmilla.”

“But of course.” Alastor bows to the both of you with a flourish before leaving you alone with… a demon even he seems wary of.

His presence at your side dwarfs you, hiding you from the meagre light of the hellish sky in his shadow. “Come, I will make thee a drink.”

“If you like.”

You pointedly ignore the scattering demons as he leads you to a warehouse-like building, bowing gallantly for you to enter the elevator first. Once inside, the scenery changes as dramatically as you could imagine.

Heavy stone and sconces mimicking torches line the walls of the opulent space. Dark green velvet curtains, ancient looking Persian rugs, and moth eaten tapestries transform a simple office into a medieval palace.

One of the tapestries catches your eye, your feet stopping as the faded scene captures your attention.

A dark haired man in a green cape holds a long sword in one hand, and a scale overflowing with gold coins in the other. At his feet is a slain dragon in a pool of toxic green blood. The heroic scene is overlaid a classic four square shield-shaped crest, its faint contrast symbols nearly lost to time beneath a layer of deeply ingrained soot, the bottom corner burned away completely as though it was barely rescued from a fire.

Zestial stops with you, making a small sound of surprise. “Ah, my hearaldric portrait… Mm, not even Carmilla has ever asked about these.”

“It sounds as though you are friends with her?”

“Just so. She died in the Spanish old west, a powerful figure already. One of the few to arrive in hell with child.” He trails off in front of another tapestry, this one in an even worse state than the first.

A simple artist’s rendition of a noble family stares somberly from the ancient weave. A young looking woman holds a baby with a tall man behind her. To each side are knights in different regalia.

“…There is something in thy nature that nearly reminds me of her. Though in truth I hardly knew her before the plague arrived.” His monstrous eyes consider you with a melancholic look before he ushers you down the hall. “Forgive mine ramblings, how uncouth,” he half mutters.

“Not at all. If anything, I’d love to hear your stories.” You chuckle wryly. “There’s sure to be more interesting than mine.”

He flicks on the light in the parlour, allowing you a brief glimpse of the smile on his lips. “Well, perhaps I shall accept thine offer. But first, coffee or tea?”

“Tea is fine, thank you.”

He sets to work at the bar while you settle in a well-worn armchair. This room is decorated with weapons and skulls, clearly where he usually entertains, (see: intimidate).

You watch as he uses his power to heat the teapot, then brings the cups over.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Of course. Now, pray tell me the tale of thy arrival.” He smirks knowingly.

You laugh and rub the back of your neck. “Ah, well… When I first, er, manifested here, two cannibals immediately attacked me. I still hardly know how I managed to fight them, much less win. I stole their clothes and… took one of their arms as a makeshift weapon. Alastor found me trying to catch my breath after running all the way from there to the hotel.”

Zestial laughs heartily. “Ah, I see why the fiend wast amused. I am impressed by thy strength and reason in the midst of unfathomable new circumstances.”

You blink in surprise at his easy praise, saluting you with a raised teacup. You smile bashfully and return the gesture. “…Thank you.”

“Tell me, dost thou posses Sinner Powers, by chance?”

The blood drains from your face. Shit… Of all your talents, lying is not one of them.

The air suddenly grows cold as the demon sets down his teacup. You hardly manage to do the same before he is leaning over you threateningly.

You sink back into the chair, not wanting to meet his eye. “…It’s hardly anything that could be exploited.”

A long clawed finger comes to your chin, deceptively gentle as he lifts your face to look at him. “Thou will show me.”

In the quiet room, your panicked heartbeat is the only thing that can be heard. His many green eyes pin you to the spot, his dark face the only place of reprieve in your line of sight as his outstretched arms reveal the full neon display of his inner cloak.

He stares you down patiently, his power and threat made even more intimidating with his silence. The absoluteness of his authority and inevitably of your compliance a certainty in both your minds.

Unable to look away, you raise a hand and show him a small ball of power coalescing on your trembling palm.

He removes his hand from your chin to tease at it with his claws. “Good. Mm, it seems thy power is not strong. But that can be changed. Thou will return here every week to train. In return for my assistance, you will-”

A visceral emotion rips through you, and you push a hand against his chest. “I’m not going to become a soldier for you! I didn’t survive all this just to fight someone else’s battles!”

He reflexively traps your hand against his chest, his narrowed eyes searching you as he keeps you pinned. “Mm, such fire~”

Your heart clenches painfully as he leans closer, terrified of what he will do. Practically holding your breath as his own caresses your neck… soon followed by his claws.

“Thou will choose to stand by me, in the end. Mark mine words. Thy fire shall be in my hands.” You gasp as his hand trails down your collarbone over your chest. “And so shall thy heart.”

His low voice in your ear makes you shiver, and he chuckles. “Already thou hast willingly walked into mine web, my dear~ Do not look at me with such fear. Mine is precisely the poison you crave, is it not?”

Link to part 2

Thank you for reading! I am motivated by interaction, so if you want more content from me, please let me know!

[thetevinterspy]

When I was little, people said I had too many opinions. Some thought I’d grow up to be a lawyer, but instead, I became someone who’s just outspoken on the internet. And now, it’s your problem, because here I am, sharing my unsolicited thoughts in blog form.

Today, news broke—though not directly from her—that Dragon Age: Veilguard game director Corrine Busche is leaving BioWare. The official announcement came later, but by the time I saw it, the story had already been circulating for a while. I found myself wondering about the timing since Edmonton’s in a different time zone, but eventually, the news was confirmed. It got me thinking—about the Dragon Age team, BioWare as a whole, and the strange dynamics of the gaming industry.

From the outside, it all seems incredibly stressful. The fan ecosystem surrounding these games is, to put it mildly, unique. Developers are treated almost like celebrities by certain parts of the fandom, but they don’t actually have the status or protection that comes with being a public figure. Meanwhile, EA and BioWare often seem to adopt a say-nothing approach, rarely stepping in to defend developers when things get heated or personal.

From an outside perspective—especially coming from a business and PR background—the payoff for game developers doesn’t seem to justify the stress and anxiety they endure. I’m sure there are countless reasons why unions aren’t common in the industry, but what I see is creative developers increasingly unable—or unwilling—to interact with fans due to our own bad behavior as a community and lack of protection and defense by those above them. Studios, in my opinion, need to do far more to protect their teams from crunch, burnout, and the toxicity of “fans” that has become all too common in this space.

But you know who I think holds the biggest responsibility to do better? Games “journalists” and creators who leap at any chance to rage-bait for clicks and views, amplifying hateful rhetoric without concern for the consequences. And the studios themselves, who then sit by and do nothing while their developers endure harassment. Someone at EA should be going through video after video, tweet after tweet, cataloging the hate, death threats, racism, and misogyny that Dragon Age developers, creators, and fans have faced—and responding with lawsuits where necessary. Ignoring it only emboldens the worst corners of the internet.

If BioWare wants to avoid this with Mass Effect, they need to overhaul their social media and PR strategies well before the game launches. Otherwise, we’ll see the same toxic cycle repeat itself. Until then, it falls on creators and prominent fans to push back against harmful “journalism” and hateful campaigns—to protect not only the IP we love but also the people who make it possible.

Now, I have no idea if any of this played a role in why Corrine left, but I do know that I couldn’t have endured what she likely faced over the last two or three years. She’s far from the only developer on the Dragon Age team to be on the receiving end of relentless criticism and harassment, much of it fueled by so-called “journalistic” hit pieces that embolden fans to run their mouths. It’s disgusting behavior.

And this issue isn’t limited to BioWare. The entire gaming industry needs more respected, responsible news outlets—and studios need to take far stronger action to combat threats and harassment. Ignoring the problem isn’t a solution, and it’s long past time for real change.

To Corinne and any other devs that have left BioWare since Veilguard: I see you. We see you. Thank you. Take care of yourselves. 💜

[super-hero-confessions]

This is more of an observation than anything else, I’m not saying this to be mean to anyone or having a haha moment but more people need to speak up about how fandom spaces are being treated.

Fandom is supposed to be fun, a safe space for people to have discussions and share art or thoughts with people who share their passion yet now more than ever it has become deathly toxic to the point people are having to make private discord spaces because of it or are leaving something they love entirely. This is not okay. It’s not okay to spew hate at people over ships or anything else, it’s not okay to call writers and artists despicable names to the point they are deactivating their socials and ending their comic runs because of fan behavior. It’s deeply disturbing to see the way some of you, not even some as it’s a growing problem within certain fandoms, are treating other people. I’m not saying this sarcastically, I’m being serious when I say if a fictional character being shipped with someone other than their canon s/o is making you so irrationally angry that you feel the need to make disgusting comments under posts that aren’t harming anyone, you should take a step back or seek therapy. There are clear attachment issues going on here if you feel such despair over made up people.

Also for the newer comic fans popping up I want to emphasise that what happens in one run doesn’t mean it will be consistent in another. Your ships will be torn apart, put somewhere else and maybe come back together at another point, this is the way it’s always been. It’s not serious enough to be crying over or hating on other fans or writers, editors etc. Marvel, DC and such do not care about the characters, the era of that is long gone, it’s all about money now, being critical is always encouraged but come at people correctly. You are speaking to real life humans, agree or disagree all you like but you have no right in calling people terrible names or bullying anyone ever. The second you need to spew things like predator or groomer or that someone is misogynistic because the ship you like isn’t front and centre is the second your opinion is no longer valid. That’s not okay, you should be called out for that particularly by the others in the fandom you are in and when that part of the fandom doesn’t speak up and instead encourages you, others in the community will ostracise you. It’s all well and good saying you don’t claim them or you aren’t like them but how are others supposed to know that when the majority of that side of the fandom is behaving this way? Call people out for being shitty, you don’t have to be mean, a simple “hey, that’s not okay and we don’t accept that in this fandom space.” would do. More and more creators are moving on because of the treatment they are getting, soon enough the fandom will be dead and the same people who caused it will be whinging about not having any art or fics to read and that’s not including the professional creators who are being abused. Fandom space is about supporting one another, you don’t have to like everything and that’s okay but to actively go out of your way to be hateful to another person who is sharing something they love and doing no harm to anyone is not normal, you are the issue here. Do better.

It’s nice to have this confession space to air thoughts and grievances as it keeps people from harassing content creators because of your personal dislikes so also be mindful in how you treat the blog owners too. This is also a fandom space, these people are kind enough to have this space open for us so please keep it respectful for them too. Real life people should be more important than fiction characters or celebrities that we don’t personally know playing a brief role that will change when they retire etc. As I previously stated, if you feel such anger over other peoples opinions and ships you need to step back and get in touch with reality or talk to someone who can help you will whatever is triggering this response in you.

[virtualflowerbatathlete]

Might delete later!

Saw a post circulating that speculated about how toxic the PJO fandom is going to become during season 3. And I agree, 1000%. But can I give some advice as someone who has been in SO MANY fandoms over the course of about 10 years now?

Block. People.

Me engaging with fandom is my escape from the world, my happy time. So if someone threatens that escape, I block them. Admittedly, I have blocked some people over very petty stuff, stuff that has ZERO CONSEQUENCE in the real world. Post about it what you love, and block the hate. My dash is so much better for it, and I avoid the stupid discourse and assholes because of this.

Now, to be clear, you should absolutely speak up about racism, homophobia, sexism, etc. in fandom space. The Percy Jackson fandom has issues with all of these, racism especially, and we should be doing what we can to make it a better place. But sometimes, that means blocking people who refuse to change. Eliminate them from the space entirely. A lot of times it’s people who are looking to get a reaction, and it’s so much more infuriating to them to block them than to engage.

If you see someone younger who maybe doesn’t know better, you can gently try to explain why their actions are wrong. But if they refuse to change, block them. And also, you don’t owe anyone your time. If you don’t feel like explaining to someone why something they said is racist/sexist/homophobic, that’s totally fine! Especially when you’re from said minority group, it’s so exhausting to be constantly educating ignorant people. It’s not your responsibility to do so unless you get paid to. Fandom is meant to be fun, so don’t be afraid to just not bother and block them! Do it!

We constantly forget how powerful just ignoring someone is. When I was bullied in high school for being gay, ignoring them is what eventually got them to stop. (To be clear, I was never in physical danger, so I understand how that might be easy for me to say lmao) You know how horrible it feels when you make a joke and no one laughs? That’s the whole idea behind ignoring someone! Don’t engage, drown out the negative posts with positive ones. Do it!

And this is very personal to me; is this the absolute correct way to do fandom? Eh. I don’t know. But for my own mental health and overall fandom experience, it does WONDERS.