#fandom norms and etiquette

[theydjarin]

@ people posting x Reader content, why can’t you put your stories behind a readmore or just fucking use ao3 like the rest of us pleaseeeeeee

[gilbirda]

Another fandom PSA - Bookmarks

Hello everyone, I am back with yet another informative post, since I've observed some behavior that could get out of control real fast.

Again, the point is never about shaming those who have done this, but to inform and warn about how disheartening these things can be; and what can you do to avoid hurting anyone in the future.

Let's talk about bookmarks.

Looks easy enough to add a bookmark, just type some notes — maybe to remind future you what the fic was about, maybe some random thoughts of the fic, maybe the chapter where you left of — add some tags if you are that organized and slap the bookmark to a Collection if you have that.

But I want to bring attention to this little guy:

If you are going to leave a hurtful message, at least have the decency to not leave it where the author will see it.

Authors can and will see the bookmarks! I can only speak for myself but I do check the bookmarks because sometimes people get creative and have funny Notes, or their tags are hilarious.

But, sometimes, we wonder if y'all know authors can see the bookmarks, unless you set it as a Private Bookmark.

What do I mean with hurtful bookmarks? Well:

*gestures vaguely towards these*

Granted, not all are rancid takes, but some truly give weird vibes? As in, it feels like people doesn't know authors can see their Notes and bookmarks?

You can have an opinion about the story, that's completely valid, but the option of setting it to Private Bookmark is right there.

So, as a rule of thumb, if you wouldn't like someone telling your words to your face then have the courtesy of not doing the same for someone else.

Mark it as Private if you'd rather not let the author see your Notes.

For more information about Bookmarks, AO3 provides a FAQ page.

[curiositysavesthecat]

*This poll was submitted to us and we simply posted it so people could vote and discuss their opinions on the matter. If you’d like for us to ask the internet a question for you, feel free to drop the poll of your choice in our inbox and we’ll post them anonymously (for more info, please check our pinned post).

[nthflower]

I kinda hate fandom culture tbh. Like fun kind of it is fun like edits or weeks about characters or fun silly headcanons or polls but some people act like it has strict rules and etiquette like just enjoy things.

[origamiplushie]

the first day of the current just leave a comment fest brought me back to the first fanfic I remember ever reading which was an mlp fic hosted on fimfiction.net and boy let me tell you it is sooo jarring when you stumble upon divergent evolution in fandom spaces.

Like I have been primarily using AO3 for like 8-9 years? now and I've been using tumblr since like 2013 or something. and currently the generalconsensus is that comments should be thankful that the author decided to share their work, encouraging and overall positive. and they definetely should not offer unsolicited concrit.

and then I go to reread that fic that I still think was generally very good and well written, leave a sweet comment on how much this fic influenced my life and how much I liked it then and like it now and decide to see what the other comments have to say.

dear fellow AO3 users let me tell you it was a culture shock. the worst for me was the person who had found this fic with more than 16 chapters, 60k+ words and had made the choice to hateread the entire thing, leaving a comment on each and every chapter with what they had hated about it. and this was not an old comment from 2012 when times were different, this person had read the fic in 2019!

and even if the other comments weren't as directly hateful as this person's, they were still incredibly rude by AO3 standards. for example most of the resent comments on the author's profile(you can comment directly on profile's on fimfiction) were whiny messages just saying 'hey why aren't you posting' and 'hey i think this fic is really funny, when are we getting another chapter?' and 'yeah you said you're life had gotten busy but why are you still busy'.

I felt honestly sorry for this poor author, but from looking around at other fics on the site this seems to just be the norm there. so maybe this is just me accidentaly wandering outside my social media bubble and the author is happy every time they get a comment hoping to see more writing from them soon?

[hua-fei-hua]

something something, "thoughts on a community vs. a service (and which one do we want ao3 to be, really?)" that i do Not have time to unpack rn but are starting to germinate and marinate in me brain

[theminecraftbee]

I'm really glad to have found the Hermitcraft fandom here on Tumblr, I've been a long time fan and it's awesome to discover all this great fanart and content and stuff. Any must-follow MCYT/Hermitcraft/Minecraft blogs?

oh gosh, welcome! in general i am BAD about remembering who i follow and who i don't; a great way to find who you want to follow might be to just go through the #hermitcraft tag and follow people you find funny, or, heck, if i reblog a lot of art from a certain artist you like (or not a lot, like one art even), go follow them!

while we're here, a few additional general etiquette rules (keeping in mind that like, this is tumblr, trying to claim ANYTHING is a whole-community norm is basically impossible i am claiming a norm from my specific circle of guys): do not crosstag, only tag things that are actually in your post. don't use the 'minecraft' tag, that tag is for people who like the actual game. (i mean, you can use it if you are posting about minecraft, but not if you're posting about the youtubers). it's generally considered rude to put your crit in the main tags, especially without tagging 'discourse' somewhere so it can be filtered. shipping should generally have a 'hermitshipping' tag on it for filtering purposes as well, but if something is tagged hermitshipping and you're mad about it just like, block them, they did the important part.

the hermits i know of on tumblr (could be more, idk): @/joehills @/pearlescentmoo @/falsesymmetry @/therealdocm77 (not actually active but has the account) @/geminitayyt. cleo also had an account but it is no longer active. also @/inthelittlewood is here and like very active, as is @/askzloyxp and @/quinnhills. as a general etiquette rule, just... act like they're perfectly ordinary tumblr users and continue your business as usual! and don't send them weird asks or anything.

off the top of my head, a few blogs i like, an EXTREMELY non-exhaustive list, find your own guys out there as well you won't regret it! like, you will find the experience you like best just going out there and looking for it yourself! i've absolutely missed a bunch of guys i love, let alone guys you would love! this is like 10 million percent non-exhaustive, i follow 1,570 blogs apparently, many of which aren't hermitcraft or mcyt related, but many of which are, so i just sorta. went for it. and when i was having trouble remembering if a name was a repeat that's when i stopped. so. non-exhaustive list:

@nightshadeowl, @jestroer, @astronomodome, @kingtheghast, @floweroflaurelin, @roenais, @silverskye13, @wasyago, @rusty-courage, @art-by-fate, @silverskye13, @redstonedust, @betweenlands, @sixteenth-days, @judas-iscaryot, @terracottakore, @cherrifire, @antimony-medusa, @hybbart, @made-nondescript, @luigra, @cuteiemonster, @mawofthemagnetar, @potionofinstantdamage, @concorp, @spiderziege, @salemoleander, @bc-jpeg, @magicalmanhattanproject, @simplydm, @12u3ie, @mishapen-dear, @lunarblazes, @girltimeswithscar, @kishdoodles, @quaranmine, @shadeswift99, @bdoubleowo, @quicksandblock, @beacon-lamp, @kikunai, @sideblague, @applestruda, @ingapotejtoo, @belmarzi, @strifetxt

anyway FEEL FREE TO PROMO GUYS OR YOURSELF ON THIS POST TOO! from what i understand we may be getting some new guys sometime soon here from the twitter lands? so it may be helpful to have that for anyone who's looking for new guys to follow!

and most of all: WELCOME!!!

[kiisaes]

tell us about vld 👁️

(only if u want to)

i'll spare you a truly unhinged ranting for perhaps another time (even though this is gonna be long anyway) but tldr: vld is a show that could have been really good if it just stuck to its direction from the first two seasons!!! and also if its crew didn't accidentally breed the worst possible fandom ever!!!

it had a really good identity at the start— its characters were entertaining, its art and animation were charming if anything, the VAs were genuinely excellent picks and in terms of story it was simple (considering it's a kids show) but effective. the first two seasons focused on one-off, character-driven episodes that gave room for a lot of character writing, team bonding, and tone establishment. i believe that the reason why vld shipping was already so aggressive since s1 — without crew interference — was because the character writing was like, actually good. good enough where people could take their starting characterizations + team dynamic and run wild with it

vld was never going to be an enlightening, mature, groundbreaking show about anything super deep; it's a Y7 show about robot lions in space. but i'm sure most ppl going into vld didn't expect a piece of art, they just wanted to have fun with an atla-adjacent show, or they watched previous voltron iterations. and for what it was, it was very successful at the start! and one of the more popular netflix originals at its time!

but then vld tried taking itself more seriously in s3, and changed its primary storytelling method. now the episodes weren't usually problem-of-the-week, but each episode's plot had to feed into the next episode in line. which would've been fine, if the crew planned ahead and kept track of its characters and plot

but since the lion switch was also conveniently during this season (which inevitably implied switches in character arcs), keeping track of everything suddenly got way harder. also, the lion switch was ass. breaking my silence: that shit made no sense. why didn't they make allura the black paladin??? why do all those mental gymnastics with moving keith from red to black and lance from blue to red just to give allura blue, which was a lion that didn't even really fit her??? (i know the reason was cuz dotf did this lion placement, but is vld dotf? are the characters archetypes the same? no? i didn't think so!!!)

anyway because of the new serialized storytelling format, vld had to follow this really serious, high-stakes, even occasionally dark narrative to keep viewers engaged, and it just .. wasn't the same? like not only are characters' arcs dropping like flies, we're introducing new characters with barely any development or even personality, and it's not even that fun to watch anymore. what happened to my silly guys. what happened to goofin off in the castle. what happened to episode-long missions. this is not avatar. if i wanted to watch avatar i would just watch avatar.

and! in later seasons i think the crew caught on to how fans loveddd the episodic narratives in s1 and 2, so they tried bringing back one-off lighthearted episodes (dnd episode, game show episode, clear day episode, etc.) in an attempt to relive the old glory— and they were fun to watch on their own, sure, but were completely detached from the rest of the story atp. literally the only reason why i even remember these episodes is because they weren't a part of the narrative's incomprehensible sludge

don't even get me started on how the crew hated its audience. don't get me started on the ship bait, the weird canon queerbait situation(s), the irresponsible encouragement of parasocial fan relationships with VAs, artists, creators, you name it. it's how we got one of The worst fandoms in recent history. it's how vld was one of the newer fandoms that started an whole new era of fandom etiquette — namely, disregarding all previous fandom norms in favor of the most childish, pearl-clutching, moral-panicky discourse you'd find daily, and consequently you wouldn't EVER dare bring up to a normal person who exists in the real world.

the crew hated its audience so much, it essentially punished its fans by shutting down all fan theories, purposefully writing AROUND plot twists THEY SET UP, leaving a really messy and plot-hole-filled final script. they especially hated the shippers so much that they shut down BOTH main camps — klance and sheith — for canon allurance, a truly horrible way to end both their character arcs since neither character gets all that satisfying of a conclusion (lance becomes a farmer, allura fucking dies)

this is already long enough but i hope this gives you a general idea :') i have so many emotions about vld. someday i'll make the retrospective video essay of my dreams. this was my nonstop fixation for two straight years. i wasted two years on this shit.

also this show's 8 seasons were released all in a span of 2 and a half years.

[is-on-its-way]

Dana Katherine Scully is a horse girl

A thesis...

The xf fandom has a general consensus Fox Mulder is a bit crazy. A maniac is how its been described. A lesser discussed idea is that although Fox Mulder is completely unhinged in such a pure BDE, knows the norms of society and doesn't give any shits kind of way, Dana Scully is also not quite completely "typical". She just looks very sane comparatively when next to her partner.

Placed in any other situation or with regular FBI partners, she's kind of a weirdo too. For me, she effervesces horse girl energy. Good, funny, weird, horse girl energy.

What is horse girl energy? You might ask. I found an excellent summation in a lovely article on Mashable.

Big dick energy and horse girl energy are innately opposite vibes -- if big dick energy is chaotic good, horse girl energy is lawful neutral. If you have big dick energy, you're probably kind of weird because you don't give a shit about what people think of you -- you set the social norms. If you have horse girl energy, you're probably kind of weird because you're blissfully unaware of social norms.

I could probably write an essay about Mulder's BDE didn't fully evolve until he met Scully and she believed in him. All others opinions of him fell away and he wasn't so bothered by everyone calling him spooky anymore. But for right now, this is about Scully.

I am obviously not talking about cliche horse girl attributes. That they talk about nothing but horses, they wear their riding pants or boots outside of the barn or anything overtly obvious.

Im talking about pure personality and vibes.

Im talking about the cool girl essence. The eccentricity and the slight obliviousness to social etiquette. The way they can be confident and serious without worrying if they're offending anyone. The way they can be completely standoffish until someone makes their way past that barrier and then they are the kindest warmest people you know. The headstrong way about them. Of the fact they, having dealt with 2000 pound animals since they were basically toddlers, take no shit from anyone, especially men. And yes, perhaps are a little bit crazy too.

So maybe her parents let her muck out stalls in exchange for riding privileges at the local barn in Annapolis or something as a kid but yeah, thats my canon and Im sticking to it.

Anyway Mulder and Scully were made for each other. La di da.

Bonus picture of GA being a literal horse girl with very good form. lol

[olderthannetfic]

If I plan for a ship to become a thing in the story 60 chapters in (it's 70), it's not the main focus and it's mostly going to built up to as a friendship prior, should I tag it? I feel like people who want to read about the ship are going to be disappointed by it if they click on the thing and there's 0% ship content. And while I don't know a ton about tagging etiquette, I feel like false advertising is definitely in bad taste. At the same time, if people want to avoid that ship, not tagging it seems like a dick move. You're much more knowledgeable about these things than most - what's the correct move, here?

--

I would typically tag it since the friendship is featured and the romance is endgame. People who ship a thing not as hatesex will typically see the progression of the friendship as part of the shippy vibes, not as a separate thing.

But it does depend on the fandom, the ship, and the tone and content of the fic.

If this thing is basically gen casefic with an "Oh yeah, they got married in the background" tacked onto it, I might stick a mention of the ship in the additional tags, depending on the norms in that fandom.

I would not worry about people avoiding the ship so much. I'd focus more on the people who would want to read this fic and what they'd find useful in the tags.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

It’s funny that ‘tiger moms’ are viewed as such a default thing when they’re very much tied to the whole ‘China just came out of the century of humiliation, the civil war, the cultural revolution, life sucks but if you work hard you can get a better life’; it’s why it’s so common in diaspora/immigrant families. If you’re rich, chinese parents tend to be pretty lax as long as you’re not an absolute embarrassment.

Also the stuff people are complaining about in mxtx writing is funny because like most of that is just normal cn writing stuff. Truly people need to watch more cdramas than cql

It's so tiring to see this as some major default when it's very much a generational thing. And why die on this hill of normalizing fictional abusive adults with this take when the novel is reiterating the exact opposite

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

And as you said this is all very common material in cdramas or any other cmedia. There are entire warnings about CP materials and only featuring said canon CP's for such things because the fans do not pay to see side pairs they want the canon ones and what is expected. Just look at the mess of romance gatchas and the uproar if devs even hint of a side character with a main from a CP. As well as the reason as to why the Untamed got what it got and had been an out of the norm production the fans fought to get.

For all the complaints of tags, web novels have those in order for readers to find what they want and don't want for original publications. You get what you get upfront and if you want love triangles, side ships it will be upfront with that, if you bother to look yourself and I dunno... bother to navigate a novel site yourself for once?

But ahhhh so many rants with some of this and the supposed fandom etiquette that just is not the same as the western sphere and shouldn't have to be because it's not from that base to begin with and authors shouldn't have to cater to American fanbase expectations.

[augustwarneld]

Have you ever wondered why writing advice is so often about reading?

Have you ever heard that you "must read to write?" Let's talk about disciplinary literacy/ why and how reading makes your writing better!

Disciplinary literacy is the ability to read, write, and communicate in the language of a specific discipline (which is really just a very fancy way of referring to a subject you probably studied in university or college. think math, science, English, etc.). A discipline is a lot like a fandom: there are unwritten rules for interacting, community norms, and specific language people within a fandom all know and use easily.

Everybody who is a fan of something has had the experience of a complete noob coming in and behaving Wrong. Just watching the show or loving the sport isn't really enough to become a member of a fandom to people who have never been in one before! They have to be taught the etiquette for interacting with other fans and creating their own fan content BY other fans! Similarly, schoolchildren need explicit instruction in HOW to read, write, and communicate within the subjects they are taught in school - that is, how to become literate in them!

So, how does ANY of this connect to writing advice? Well, when we read, we read for a reason - whether that's for information, pleasure, research, or anything you can imagine. But when we, as writers, read anything, we aren't just reading, because we are never just reading! When we read, we are also learning about reading. Our brains constantly make new associations, and when we take in new information, our brain builds up new connections. So when you read a good book, your brain isn't just saying "Wow, what an awesome book! I wish I could write that good :(", your brain is ACTIVELY taking in those words and learning about what makes good writing.

When teachers teach disciplinary literacy, their ultimate aim is for their students to take on the roles of a master in their subject area - they don't want their history students to think like historians, they want them to BE little historians! When writers say that you must read in order to write, this is, essentially, what they are trying to teach you! By reading good writing, your brain is soaking up a ton of information and filing it in that same file in your brain where every bit of knowledge about writing your English teacher ever taught you still is! Reading is teaching your brain about what constitutes good writing - knowledge that you, subconsciously, then use when writing your own works!

Next time you decide to pick up a book or fic when you just feel too burnt out to write anymore, don't feel bad! You are actively learning and improving on your own writing when you read.

If you want to learn more about disciplinary literacy, check out this podcast with Shea Kherkoff where she talks about it! Transcript available here.

[omegawolverine]

oh!!! if u have any deadpool fic recs, i will gladly take them :] i have yet to delve into that part of the fandom

i def do but they're all spideypool or team red...if that's ur cup of tea then i def got u

edit:

the list is short but these are mostly chaptered so i hope that makes up for it TvT i think a lot of my bookmarks from my big spideypool hyperfixation were deleted unfortunately...anyways!

poolverine, terrible bdsm etiquette, canon typical hate fucking and violence. if u don't wanna see wade get physically injured (like not to spoil but it involves putting out cigars on his skin) for sexy purposes then this is NOT for u. also very unsanitary in general so if that's also not ur thing id pass this one

looooong series about spideypool meeting danny phantom and then becoming his sort of support system/dad like figures on accident...idk it's fun but also angsty, i haven't finished it but it's fantastic so far

pretty typical spideypool fic so there isn't rly any warnings outside the norm, tho based on the tag "avengers family" i think this is probably an age gap fic so idk how u feel about that 🤷‍♀️

soooo spideypool, 44 chapters.......anyways, i haven't read this in a loooong time so my warnings might be off, but the only thing that comes to mind is past SA

[blood-orange-juice]

It surprises me so much when people with tiny fandom blogs warn that they won't be available for the next day or apologize for not answering the same day.

Is it the new etiquette norm or a personal preference?

I don't think anyone except my boss and my romantic partner can expect to get that from me. Not even my colleagues (they can come to my office and poke me in person though, so it's not really a problem).

[sandumilfshou]

Meta analysis/hypothesis on what is influencing the rise of anti culture

FAIRLY LONG POST.

I feel like antis (as most commonly minors) are stuck in this vicious cycle that has been perpetuated by internet culture over the last 20 years without having the advantage of the early internet etiquette/warnings/safety education that we as millennials and older got.

Kids these days are pretty much online from birth. The internet encourages people to post their thoughts and opinions at all times, often without much thought, and this norm is perpetuated pretty strongly through sites like Twitter and TikTok. So they're posting all of their thoughts and feelings and opinions left right and centre, often without privacy settings turned on, usually on social media sites where anyone can see these posts. And because the internet is a panopticon, unless you are on a private or hidden account, everyone is also able to post their own opinion about your opinion. It's easier than ever before for someone to discuss, argue, reject, and attack other people's opinions. And it's human nature to double down and defend your position instead of coming to an agreement or neutral ground (or god forbid change your mind), especially when tone is difficult to get across via text, and even so when people are often automatically argumentative and aggressive in their initial response (I have been guilty of this many a time).

This is all tied up in what I think for minors is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the internet is. It isn't a safe space, it isn't sanitized for your comfort, and it isn't censored or controlled much outside of strictly R18 sites other than literal illegal content being reported. But there seems to be this view among minors and antis that by default the internet should be safe for them to navigate, and they should not be able to stumble across, access, or engage with adult content (not even necessarily NSFW stuff either). So when they see this, they're shocked and appalled that it exists where they can see it, and because of the above, have been encouraged by the nature of the internet to post their very strong, often underdeveloped and shallow, opinion about it! They do not understand that the internet is the wild fucking west and outside of strictly under 13 sites and parental controls put on them, that it is your individual responsibility to curate your OWN safe space on the internet. Be liberal with the block button! Make use of mute functions! Set your shit to private so people who don't know you can't interact with your posts!

But they don't do this, because they were never taught about the dangers of the internet like we were. I remember when you should never give out ANY personal information about yourself, not even your first name, hell even saying the country you were from was often frowned against. We were taught that the internet is dangerous and you are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Now kids are putting out their name, their age, their country, all of their mental illnesses and neurodivergences and triggers all over the place! (It doesn't help that so many social media sites are encouraging linking your identity on other sites as 'verification', making it very impossible to be anonymous or fully under pseudonyms anymore.) So they think the internet is a safe and fun place to spend their time and encountering any content they dislike is free real estate to have a very loud opinion on, and are conditioned to double down on this when questioned.

This leads to two things that have become pretty rampant recently:

A lack of understanding of basic fandom culture and etiquette

The rise of puritanist views from LGBT+ youth on sexual deviance / morality / kink, and the encouragement of broad censorship.

Cancel culture is so fucking rampant these days. Kids especially are terrified to be cancelled or called out, especially since cyberbullying is so fucking common now. For kids this is often tied up in their real life school interactions, but it is rapidly becoming normal to consider your online identity and interactions just as real and valid as your physical, everyday interactions. Internet friendships are just as strong - or even stronger - as those you have in real life at school, or work, or sports clubs. It's known that people spend more time on the internet now than ever, so more and more of our time and mental energy and space is taking place in the virtual sphere. Being involved in something that negatively affects you like cyberbullying, or being cancelled or called out, or even just labeled as 'problematic' is so much bigger now, and it's not as easy to "just log off" or "just turn off your phone" as it used to be, because SO MUCH of our identity is caught up in online spaces now.

There's this dichotomy where we are encouraged to post all of our thoughts and opinions on the internet where anyone can see them, but cancel culture is also making people - especially kids - terrified to make mistakes or withhold opinions for fear of being labeled 'problematic' or 'siding with xyz if you don't post an opinion that disagrees with it'. There's a hyperawareness of what could be considered problematic behaviour, this strong need to be performatively moral, even if it means throwing someone else under the bus to prove that you're unproblematic!

This all links back to my previous two points. It means that common historical fandom etiquette - things like "don't like, don't read", the term "squick", "YKINMK - your kink is not my kink (and that's okay)" have all but disappeared from lexicon and culture. Where in the past we used to scroll past things we didn't like, kids now feel the need to call it out to prove themselves morally superior and unproblematic. They don't care that most of the time the space is NOT FOR THEM, they ignore all of the 🔞emojis and "MDNI" warnings, because of this fundamental misunderstanding that the internet is not always by default going to be palatable for them. Internet culture has destroyed any sense of 'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it' which used to be more normal (though that didn't mean people still didn't label every fic with NO FLAMES PLZ!!!11!)

Because of this lack of 'fandom etiquette', because of this misunderstanding of how the internet works and historically has been, because of this instinctive reaction to immediately disapprove of and attack content they viscerally dislike, instead of ignoring it, this is giving rise to puritanist views and talking points amongst LGBT+ youth, minors, and antis. They are literal minors who are literally not even relevant to these conversations and concepts, as most of them are R18, inserting themselves where they aren't wanted into discussions on and posts about things that they consider sexually deviant or immoral. Because they are CHILDREN. Of COURSE they don't like this content!

I'm not a psychologist, but I wonder if developmental phases are playing a part here. Like, when you learn to differentiate concrete and abstract thinking, the ability to understand nuance and separate fiction from reality. A lot of these antis are literally too young to be able to understand some of these conversations, but don't understand this, and don't understand why they should not be involving themselves in these R18 areas that are clearly designated NOT FOR THEM, because "it's on the internet and I can find it easily, so therefore it's applicable and valid for me to have an opinion on this!"

And all of this culminates into what we are seeing now as the anti phenomenon. So TL;DR -

The internet is a panopticon. Everything you post can be viewed by everyone. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is encouraged to voice those opinions. Opinions now must always be morally superior and unproblematic, or you risk being cancelled.

Minors are coming across content on sites they are on that is not relevant to them, and ignore R18 warnings and MDNIs to insert themselves into these spaces to give their opinion, because they have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the internet is and how it works, due to a lack of internet safety.

This means that common fandom culture/etiquette is being lost, and all of this is giving rise to youth parroting what they don't realise are puritan talking points and arguments against sexual deviance, morality, kink, and encouraging censorship. Which may or may not be exacerbated by the psychological developmental phases they are going through, which could be affecting their ability to understand abstract concepts and nuance, such as separating fictional morality and real life morality when it comes to taboo/dark/kink concepts in fan spaces.

(BTW many of my talking points above are thanks to @rainystudios' amazing academic papers which should definitely be checked out by anyone interested in this.)

[birbmonster]

Part 1 of screaming msm headcanons into the endless void of chaos and fandoms that is tumblr

Gonna have to explain this best as I can

Anyways, this one is about the basics of modern monster society

Firstly, all monsters are species, expect for Legendaries and Celestials. Wil touch more on those guys in a different one prob.

However, the epic variants of some species, like Kaynas, are so rare that there’s often only one existing at a time. Each species has anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand individuals, with the amounts of rares varying between species.

Like the monster handlers said that one time, the islands are waaaay bigger than they appear in-game. Most monsters on each island live in the castle, and inside it’s like a luxurious hotel/apartment building, with rooms of various sizes for everyone and various public spaces. However, a few might live outside the castle in other buildings, usually when there’s no room left for them.

They don’t sing all the time. They actually only do the song once or twice a day depending on the island, and also depending on the island is the time they do it. For example, Cold Island prefers to do it the moment the sun sets, Plant Island in the middle of the day when it’s warm and sunny, ect, just whatever time fits the vibe of the song.

Monsterlings do go to school. They learn the usual stuff, math, writing, history, but there’s also a lot of emphasis put on learning about as many species as possible.

There’s no defined ‘ruler’ of any of the islands as of right now (expect tribal, wait a second). Desciscions are made as a community and when an island-specific tradition, social norm, or law pops up or can end up staying for hundreds of years completely unchanged, until everyone just forgets why it’s even there in the first place.

The only expection to this is Tribal Island, which always has a chief that’s usually voted on.

There were, however, relatively short periods on history where islands did have leaders. For example, Fire Haven was ruled by a Kayna named Dawn when it was first founded after the cataclysm, and Magical Sanctum might’ve had some sort of Enchantling ruler at one point.

The monster world is generally super peaceful, with far fewer historical records of things like wars happening.

There is an economy in existence. Round, gold coins are used as the main currency, while the Pocket Dimension Islands (Magical Sanctum and Ethereal Island) use Shards.

All monsters are able to speak to each other and are fully sentient. They age at about the same rate as humans, though actual lifespan may be anywhere from 60-100 years depending on the species.

There’s no such thing as having a biological sex. Monsterlings are simply referred to with they/them pronouns until they’re old enough to figure it out. But there’s sometimes… questionable… parents who try to decide for their kids. Not cool 😤

As for breeding, it works quite similar to how it does in-game, with inter species cross-breeding creating children of a new species with the right elements.

However, though it’s not shown in-game, sometimes the breeding structure may malfunction and create direct hybrids, which look like an actual blend of their parents species. But these are a VERY, and I mean VERY rare happening, so there’s no way a hybrid could go under the radar anywhere.

And lastly, a bit about etiquette: when your talking to someone, and you need to say their name, but don’t know it yet because you just met them, it’s best to just replace it with species name, and they’ll usually just tell you. It’s considered a bit rude to ask “what are you?” and similar enquiries about someone’s species.

That’s all for now, I need sleep