#TIKTOK CENSORSHIP CULTURE IS A FUCKING CURSE

[plaguedocboi]

I just saw someone censor the word Death in a screenshot on Instagram

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Before we start this: I’m Nonbinary, female presenting and into girls. I call myself a lesbian cause it’s less words. I come from this perspective when I discuss things.

Secondly: I do make references to fics I have read. I try to keep them vague but I’m a grown up and can admit you might see a fic you know. Or maybe you wrote it. I’m not going to spread it around.

Thirdly: some of this is technical help and writing advice. You don’t need to follow it but it’s helpful.

Alright, so we begin.

Things That Diminish/Damage How Good Your Fic is

- Whenever people are writing curse words and instead of writing them they go like f*ck or whatver? That instantly downgrades the quality. That one fic I mentioned that was 10/10 but became a 5.5/10? Yeah. That’s why. It instantly takes some one out of the mindset and is just jarring. I know in todays culture and with TikTok censoring works like fuck or shit is the norm. However it is terrible writing. Don’t do it, it’s awful. If you do not feel comfortable enough to write them I can think of several ways to get around it. (He said a word that his mother would wash his mouth out with soap for./The amount of cursing could make a sailor blush.) If you still don’t feel comfy… get out of the fandom. No seriously. If you do not feel comfy with writing cursing or work around that aren’t censorship, drop your writing and leave. They are quite literally just words with social stigma attached.

-Similar, if you don’t feel comfortable writing slurs or discuss illegal activities. This might be more controversial but for me, I find that people who want to have stuff like homophobia or transphobia or heavy discrimination and don’t use the words… it falls flat for me. It just does. Yes those words are disgusting and writing them may make you feel the need to shower. However, it comes to again the fact censorship and blocking out words is just… dumb. It’s really dumb and looks ugly in a story. Again I was reading an amazing fic, who censored a slur. Look I get being uncomfy again, but there are work around rather then doing that. (He continued his sentence with a word that made the room go silent and breaths stop.) As well you cheapen the experience your characters go through. How is a reader supposed to feel when you won’t go through with your writing?

-To long to get to the plot. This is really common with AU fics, such as fics where Izuku has a Quirk. People really want to expand on the backstory for this change, and it's understandable. What's not is when it takes 10+ chapters of his childhood. I have lost count of how many fics I just drop because it's chapter 10, and we are still age eight for Izuku. It's to damn long. If you feel that it's needed, then make it it's own fic. Don't combine it with the canon changes, becuase I promise you: a lot of us readers want to focus on the changes to the plot we know.

There are exceptions to the above. They're RARE though, and in my experience really what they do is expand upon All Might's training. Think about books, few if any would go into detail on the main character's backstory. At most, you're looking at perhaps 3 chapters before the plot-plot starts. Or at least the introduction to it.

-To long fics. I'm not talking word count. What I'm talking is a fic 100+ chapters without stopping. It's daunting, and honestly it feels... hmm... I think the word best used here is it feels unprepared. I also honestly think people are scared of splitting up their stories for some reason, which makes no sense. Series are beloved for a reason! Having them all in one story just makes most of us mentally check out of the fic, feeling exhausted, rather then invested.

-Stutters where it;s "l-l-like t-th-this'. You just ruined your own fic. I have no patience to read the damn thing now. It looks terrible, it's hard to read and honestly? Half the time it's with a character you just want to woobify (Izuku is the primary target of this.) I actually want them PUNCHED seeing this.

Trying to seem edgy/cool/woke

-I am so freaking sick of how many fics take 'Quirkless Discrimination' and ramp it up to RIDICULOUS levels. Like oh my god, my brain melts every time I read a fic where Izuku gets denied everything, gets emancipated at fourteen, has his parents beat him and make him sleep on the floor, the list goes on. Yes, horrific child abuse happens. Horrific tales of discrimination happens. But you're going to look me in the eyes and tell me that none of this isn't just you trying to be edgy? This is just... torture porn. A level of discrimination against Izuku is understandable. One thing I've found annoying about the source material is how we get told of the discrimination but recieve no actual evidence or proof. But again: some of ya'll go way to far to be edgy.

-Similarly, the Commission fics. Yes, they're corrupt. Yes they probably cover up shady shit. Yes, they raised Hawks as a weapon. But again, the level of drama ya'll include makes my eyes bleed. 'They run orphanages to create villains', 'they force heroes to work overtime', 'they would try and murder Izuku if he went as a Quirkless hero'. It again approaches the level of: to bleak, stopped caring. I think a fic would be way more interesting if a Quirkless Izuku gets roped into a Young Heroes program and blackmailed because the Commission wants to control him.

-Disclaimer again: I'm NB. But one thing that really annoys me is the amount of neopronouns introduced in a fic... only for them to never be used. And honestly, some are plain dumb. I am honestly curious if people try to use 'book/bookself/booked' as actual pronouns because I'll be honest: that just... doesn't work. But yet I have seen it included in fics. And again: no one ends up using them. Pronouns are tricky, I won't deny it. I use they/them, but accept she because I've been raised as a woman and thus experience the world as it as well. Some people use multiple but default to one. It's all valid. But it's REALLY obvious that ya'll are just trying to be woke or whatever when there's six pronouns like 'book' or 'vamp' or 'pup' but NONE are ever used. (I also have complicated feelings reguarding pup thanks to the comments I've heard comparing NB people to animals but that's just me)

-I said it before, and I'll admit there are actual exceptions but like... dude, the amount of times I get exhausted with a fic because everyone is trans is high. Again, exceptions are around, but the majority I find tend to have the vibes of 'I am so cool and edgy by having everyone trans even if nothing changes in the fic and everyone acts the exact same'. That is NOT making people trans, that's just wanting a pat on the back.

-Said it before... any fic where Bakugou is 'a sad baby uwu because Izuku took his advice' is an instant no because you just gave him man pain. "I'll be a hero for you," and then he's fucking canon? Nah, that's him deciding Izuku is a rallying cry, not him actually seeing his own faults.

This is just transphobic/homophobic/sexist

-Any gay fic where you make the female love interest a bitch. (I like to have actual onesided feelings and a nasty fall out but like... wow. Just fucking WOW. More so when you mix in shit like 'Uraraka is a gold digger after Bakugou so she'll try to break up BakuDeku uwu'. Dude if you want her to be a gold digger, Yaoyorozu is RIGHT THERE)

-I said this before but I notice that a lot of harem fics tend to have a bisexual Izuku but an all female harem. Look, yes preferences exist in real life. But fanfic is NOT REAL LIFE. You doing that is just a giant ass sign you're not okay with Izuku dating a guy even if you make him bisexual, which is pretty homophobic to me, no matter how many gay ships you slip in (which all get maybe like a second of screen time compared to the heterosexual ships). More so when you go for 1B girls. You have to basically make them OCs to have it work. No hate to OC/Canon ships, but like.... dude. I don't care if you didn't mean it like that, it is pretty fucking homophobic, because it isn't a real life person choosing it. It's you writing it.

-Said it before, but the amount of people writing NB Izuku fics which changes nothing but pronouns for Izuku and then going on about how making Izuku a girl isn't the same and it's way to much of a difference... transphobia much? You LITERALLY genderbent Izuku.

-Plus, again: I see way more transgirl Izuku being straight up fetishization where she dates all of the class 1A girls (dude we can tell what you're doing) compared to transguy Izuku. (It exists but it's rarer). A lot of NB fics (with exceptions again) as well give me sexist vibes by having it pretty apparent they consider it no different then canon Izuku but act as if him being a girl is to far. It's just sexism and transphobia then.

-Having one of the characters in a mlm pairing be super feminine. Do these people exist? Yes. But wow. Ya'll are leaning hard into heteronormativity dudes.

-Making the canon arospec character actually interested in romance while making the canonly heterosexual character aro/ace to explain why she's so cruel and so focused on a boy character. Hey, guess what that is? AROPHOBIA.

-Fics where Izuku is only friends with guys despite canonly being friends with girls, and we basically sideline all the female characters.

Bad Genderbends (With a focus on Male to Female)

-The majority of my fics/ideas are genderbends. Mostly cis!Female!Izuku cause I have fun exploring her life but like... as soon as I read a fic where nothing changes. At all, and everything is exactly the same as it is for canon Izuku? Out. That's an actually terrible fic, I am out, gone. Bye-bye. PEOPLE ARE NOT SOCIALIZED THE SAME. NO I DON'T CARE YOU ARE ALL ABOUT EQUALITY. Girls are not treated the same as guys.

-Completely abandoning the canon personality. Yeah, I know, the above, but just because socialization changes people doesn't mean you can completely change a character. Izuku as Izumi can still be a giant nerd who is super into working out, mutters up a storm and loves to watch hero fights. She can also love pink, gossip about boys and giggle over magazines. You can combine them. Again, I think this is related to sexism in a way due to the amount of people who seem unable to just... see that while the world does treat girls and guys different, they aren't in fact different?

-The fics where the assholes are right. You're just homophobic. Somewhat the same as the top, when people just turn a character into a girl without acknowledging the differences or the fact somethings would be the same to pair up characters they normally don't cause it's gay.

These Tropes are Overdone or Suck

-Bakugou faces consequences but it's a slap on the wrist, and he changes NOTHING about himself, but oh everything is okay and he dates Izuku/Ochako/Whoever.

-Izuku takes Bakugou's advice but it's blamed solely on All Might and Bakugou's actions are ignored and they become best friends/start dating! Or he takes Bakugou's advice and gets a Quirk, so everything is okay!

-Abusive Mitsuki is why Bakugou how he is. I only read 1 fic where this was actually treated like it should be. 'Cool motive, still murder'. Just because you have a shitty upbringing doesn't mean you can get away with assault and abuse.

-All Might bashing where they take his character and put it in a blender while claiming things are canon. No, I am serious. I have said someone say it's canon All Might overworked Izuku on purpose. Meanwhile canonly, Izuku decided to ignore his plan to work on his own time. All Might did agree to adjust the plan but like, holy shit. Or the ones where they act like it's canon he despises all Quirkless people/mutation Quirked people. Meanwhile he's the uncle to Melissa and has nothing but good things to say about heroes with mutations. There is ONE type of All Might being an Idiot I like, and it's where he's just a very stubborn old man set in his ways who doesn't see what he's doing is wrong. That makes sense. Not All Might murdering Izuku for knowing about OFA. He's a shit teacher who doesn't know when things are to far but wow. Nice character assassination there.

-Iida bashing cause he's a rule following nerd who hit Izuku while Ochako, who left Izuku alone in a mall so he got attacked by a villain and gets jealous of other girls, is an innocent pure angel. No seriously- both of these people are literally the same. It's just that people hate Iida for some reason? Meanwhile he's a dork who gets excited about beef stew, loves his family enough to kill for them, is the guy willing to help his friend come back to UA and while he did hit Izuku, it was in a situation where Iida was emotional and worried for his friend after he was permanently injured by Stain for doing something similar to Izuku.

-Aizawa bashing where they also take his character and shoot it out back. The guy who is terrified of people ending up like his friend ignoring outright abuse of their Quirks, willingly letting Izuku be beaten by classmates, refusing to read the files, brushing off students DYING, and trying to force students to stay in the hero course because he can't be wrong? Wow. Just make an OC and call it a day.

-Izuku has an OP Quirk that makes him a ladies man and he is so awesome and I can't finish it holy shit no.

-Inko is 100% a plot device and not really a character but DAMN ya'll need to chill out with the abusive Inko fics. Her systematically beating him and starving him and shit is just... WOW. Give me neglectful Inko who ends up abandoning him. Same amount of screentime as canon. Or give me my own blend, where she is a helicopter parent who is convinced she knows the right path for Izuku and gets angry enough to ignore him if he doesn't listen.

-Toga gets adopted by Inko and has a weird ass relationship with Izuku.

-Wooby Hawks fics when in reality this guy is a predator who can and will fuck you up, and I 100% think he's some level of yandere about those he considers 'his'.

-If I had a penny for the amount of times Dabi gets redeemed and it's the blandest shit on earth, I'd be rolling in money. Give me drama if you want him redeemed.

-Anything where Endeavour wasn't that bad/misunderstood. Though also, in general I find fics where he's actually a terrible hero dumb to. He's number two out of how many? Man is a shit person, but a good hero.

[medicinemane]

I truly wish to, if not to death, at the very least beat someone badly over the censorship culture that's really taken root these past few years

In this case I'm not even exactly blaming the people doing it, so much as youtube since they demonitize stuff, but... hate it

Just saw a thumbnail where it was talking about old timey medicine or whatever, and it had a word that took me a hot fucking minute to figure out what it was cause it was blurred out in part

It was cocaine

Just fucking say coke, just fucking let people say coke. It's like when people talk about serious topics and are having to blur out words from articles, or don't actually say the word like... if I fucking go into a video with a serious premise, well that's what I'm in for, and I'd rather we just fucking talk about it

Dancing around it frankly feels disrespectful

Not to mention how both people subtitling things in a clip for instance, and the captions themselves write "f**k" and it's like... you bitch ass motherfucker, the person said fuck... write it as it's said. It's up to people using captions if they want to watch someone who says stuff like that, but I can't fucking stand people who don't transcribe things as they're written

I mean, we're not even touching tiktok bullshit here. Unalive? What bullshit. They're dead or they're not, they're murdered or they aren't. Like I'm not saying anything new, I think pretty much everyone here hates it just as much as I do, I just... I gotta complain, I gotta say this isn't normal or healthy

You want to curate your space to be profanity free, that's great. Or like, I've seen youtubers who've said that they choose not to curse in recordings, and I respect that. I respect having media that by choice makes a conscious effort not to swear, and I respect people who choose to select that when they're picking what they want

The two things I don't respect are first off, saying you don't like profanity but then watching something with a lot of swearing that's bleeped out. Like fuck me, just admit you're titillated by the naughty words. You know they said fuck when you here f--k just as surely as if you'd hear the whole thing. You enjoy it or you don't, but you can't have it both ways. Bleeping is for when things accidentally slip, not something you throw over people saying fuck casually (captions are the same)

Second thing I don't respect is trying to sanitize the whole damn internet. Fuck off, I'm all for the kids having kiddy corner, I'm all for there being places for people who don't like profanity

The rest of us though, fuck off and leave us alone