#most of these are the most popular fics of that ship- but now they're approved by me which makes them autmatically better

[hollis-art]

Your taste in fics seems amazing. For the life of me I can't find any star trek fanfictions. Care to share some of your favorites? I would love to hear it :3

heck yeah! sure!

I always save the ones I really like right after I read them, but I can't seem to find the DaForge one I was talking about.

The descriptions I will put after the recs are how I described them to remind myself what they were about (I don't think they help though, because I can't remember them that well,,,) Either way, I'm sure the actual description of the fics are better than the ones I put !!

Data/Geordi:

Flowers- by astraa (hauntedpunk) General data is trying to understand his emotions, he grows flowers and he talks to spot

no emotion that's worth having- orcamermaid Teen and Up data is trying to understand his emotions and how love works. geordi is helping (REALLY CUTE)

every dream i have is sweeter- orcamermaid General, Community (TV) crossover TROY AND ABED GEORDI AND DATA AU???? WHAT! ITS SO CUTE SO GOOD HKJDSAHGDSKJGHDSKJ THEMMMMM

Expectation- justabrain General geordi and data's relationship seen by outsiders, very cute, wedding at the end

all the everything that ever was- squilf Teen and Up picard and Q are soulmates, riker was told not to tell anyone about it (he failed) data and la forge are soulmates too !!! in the background but its still there

Garak/Bashir:

pouring just a hint- susiecarter Teen and Up garak always drinks from bashir's cup before giving it to him, and bashir assumed it was just a quirk of his, but it is actually a cardassian sign of love and trust :)

The 50/50 Consensus- TheoMiller General julian notices that garak is lonlier and stuff is too bright for him so that all gets changed :)

Designs and Alterations- AuroraNova, ConceptaDecency Teen and Up garak has been giving julian coupons, it took a while for him to realize that no one else has been getting them

Balloon Buddies- almaasi General garak and bashir get turned into animals, very silly

The Cupid Computer- almaasi Teen and Up bashir is feeling lonely, so he took a quiz that takes up personal information to show you who your best match/soulmate is

Tell Me You Love Me (Or Tell Me a Lie)- almaasi Teen and Up garak gets a message that he's due to be sent home, (to die, literally or symolically) so he tells jullian his deepest secrets as tradition

Quark/Odo:

your accent mixing with mine- spacebubble Teen and Up the universal language translator is down, odo realizes that quark has his accent when pronouncing words. they kiss

More Forsaken Than Usual- NervousAsexual General instead of being stuck in the elevator with lwaxana troi, odo is stuck with quark

Breathe- Paratale General odo is upset, quark helps him learn how to cry

play it again- nepetrel Teen and Up ((this one is better without knowing the twist, but this involves time travel and kissing :) ))

Conflicts with Interest- katiemariie Teen and Up quark and odo bicker. they're in an established relationship, im putting this here because i really like the fluidity they gave to odo

put down your sword and crown- spacebubble Teen and Up quark is drunk so odo tries to figure out why

Spock/Kirk:

Ten Things I (Love) About You- ItinerantAvthor General this is based on a merther fic of the same premise. spock accidently finds a list that kirk made about him, but there is a space torn out of the top. "10 things i ___e about spock". spock thinks that the logical conclusion is that the word is 'hate'. he proceeds to try his best to not do any of the things listed :) this is the fic that got me into star trek, actually

The prominence of a simple word- Exploding_Space General kirk just keeps calling spock 'sweetheart'

Science Blues- museaway Teen and Up mccoy and spock body swap on accident. they don't tell kirk.

Textual Beginnings- iknewaman Teen and Up wrong number fic!!! Academy era!! kirk finds spock's number on the bathroom wall and decides to text it, its really cute

Of Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves- Se7en_devils Teen and Up spock goes to a cafe that kirk works at, kirk keeps flirting with him and using words of different dialects to do it because he learned that spock is a language professor. very adorable

Letters From Across the Universe- Starlighter_Varda General spock and kirk are pen pals from across the universe. temporary character death (sorta) cried over this, very good. there's a cat named leonard, love him

Something Smart to Do- kianspo Mature (i don't remember what's mature about it. i don't think it was anything bad, if it was, i wouldn't have saved it, or i would've made a note of it) all of the times kirk and spock are 'married' for a mission. very adorable

Miscommunication- sinestrated Teen and Up kirk gets his brain all goofed up, making him call people by whatever nickname he thinks of them by. he tries to avoid spock, knowing full well the word was going to be something sweet (it was)

Pirates, Spies, and Bedtime Stories- lallyloo General spock and kirk get into a transporter accident that turns them 5 years old. mccoy takes care of them

ok i think that's all of the ones I have written down!! (for now) i hope this helps!! :) they're all ship fics because i honestly find star trek kind of boring if you don't watch it for them,,,

[angelinthefire]

for the fic writing ask: 1 2 3 7 19

deep fic writer asks

what's the fic youre most proud of?

Right now it's gotta be Ignite your bones. It's definitely the fic I was the most careful with, and spent the most time thinking about, and refining. And the thing I'm proud of about it is that I've gotten exactly the reaction out of readers that I set out to get. Dean-kills-Sam is a risky premise, as is, I feel, not having a trajectory that's focused on healing, but still winding up some place that's "happy". There are a lot of fics that are about recovery and healing, and I understand the appeal, but I just don't think Dean and Cas are capable of "fixing" each other. But I think that's a narrative that some readers have come to expect. To end with: Dean and Cas are in no way healthy, but they're able to be unhealthy in a less damaging way -- and then people like it -- that's really satisfying.

I do also want to mention Forget your perfect offering, because I'm proud of it for a reason that does not seem to have resonated with many readers. Which is the treatment of Heaven in a philosophical sense. Picking at its threads but not unraveling it. Respecting the fact that Heaven is the angels' home, but really getting into its inconsistencies at the same time. I put a lot of my worldview into it, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

2. what's a fic that took you to an emotional/dark/hard place?

Ignite your bones, easily. Especially the first half. There's an aspect of writing that's kind of comparable to method acting, putting yourself in the character's perspective and connecting it up with personal experience to understand how to communicate what they're going through. Going through that process with one depressing scene after another kind of sucked and was not fun. I write about Dean's depression quite a bit, like that's a big aspect of the character to me. But he was spinning his wheels so much in this fic, and he got so low. It was just not a good place to be in. If I was not looking forward to the ending so much, I could not have written it.

3. what fic are you emotionally attached to?

I answered this here, but I just thought of a better answer. Fire (which I posted on AO3 in 2013, but I first wrote and posted it on lj in 2006), an angsty Giles/Jenny from BtVS one-shot, is the first thing I ever wrote where I felt like I was really ~doing something~ with a motif, the first time I felt really ~writerly~. So that one's special to me.

7. how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

It impacts me immensely. I have written more words of fic since Nov 5, 2022 than ever before in my life. And that's only partially due the inspiration of the source material. Up to that point, for the most part, I was mainly focused on BtVS fic, and mostly Giles/Jenny. Which is not the most popular ship. And there are some very lovely people in that fandom, and I did get wonderful feedback, that means a lot to me, and I feel bad for abandoning a Giles/Jenny WIP when destiel went canon, and I do intend to finish it at some point. But just the size of the destiel fandom means that I get so many more hits of dopamine from positive feedback, it does drive me to write more to keep that going. Basically, everything I do needs to win me the praise and approval of my peers or else I wither and die.

19. If you could write an ideal fic, what would it include?

For me, it would be something that hews as close to canon as reasonably possible (I do prefer canon divergent to 100% canon compliant), including having the same tone and structure as the show. It would be a casefic (something I have generally never been able to write). But the emotional story would be a continuous thread throughout. It would be about Dean and Cas getting together. But it would happen so natually that it could replace what actually happened on the show in my mind.

ETA: rereading this, it sounds like a boring answer, and maybe it is. Maybe I'm just incredibly basic. But the key thing is that it's able to make you feel like you just watched an episode. Rather than feel like you just read a good story.

Thanks for asking!

[thefudge]

Hi! Been a fan of you for a very, very long time now, and I can't help but wondering what with the most recent puritanism wave ruining so many fandoms, have you received any hate? If so, how do you deal with it? Any advice for us putting up with it but refusing to stop writing just because strangers on the internet don't approve of it? Frankly, I admire how you keep writing for yourself despite all the toxicity going around lately especially now that I have seen so many accounts being attacked so viciously over what they ship or like to write about

long-time fan ahh! <3 so glad you're here

so, i think for me it's a combo of getting lucky and doing my best to ignore it. it helps that i wasn't on twitter for a long time, because lots of call-outs and aggressive puritan behavior have been happening over there more than on tumblr (at least recently). i do have a fic-related twitter now but it's pretty lowkey. so i think i've just flown under the radar, even though i have a solid readership.

there's also the fact that i write for so many fandoms and that might help disperse my presence. i've noticed that ppl who write exclusively for 2-3 fandoms (especially very popular ones) get more attacks, but i could be wrong.

that being said, ignoring it and doing your thing is probably the best way to go about it, which is what i try to do. i've seen folks say they're going to delete their fics or stop writing altogether and while i respect that choice, because we all have to take care of ourselves, i feel like doing that just plays into the bullies' hands. this hobby brings us joy and it brings other people joy. we shouldn't deprive ourselves (and others) of that. you said it best: "writing for yourself". that's an important element. this is a very personal, accessible, totally gratuitous way of making art and we just have to remember that as we carry on. i get sometimes wanting to walk away from it. especially if someone is being genuinely harassed, staying off-line for a while might be necessary. we have to keep ourselves safe first. but i naively hope stories will prevail, meaning that a lot of these boring, sanctimonious bullies will hopefully fade away and what will remain is our passion for writing and reading stories.

[prowerprojects]

Heh, welcome to why I've always been so selective of Tails content in this fandom. I remember the early 2000s days of the fandom where he was either killed off to either enrage Sonic to hype up some new villain or replace him with a "better" partner. {Be it someone's OC or other popular characters like Shadow or Blaze} Or, due to accusations of being useless/not cool, he rarely used in anything meaningful. He's just cute and that's it. (With Tailsmo for flavor.)

Then Colors-Forces happened; I don't think I need to explain to this one, but no doubt this caused a shift in how he was viewed. (And the dynamic with Sonic.)

Stuff has somewhat chilled since then, but it feels like a 180 was done. (Like, fans are quick to bring out the knifes if you speak ill of their bond, and due to recent media like the movies and Prime, this probably the most Tails' character has been deeply and widely discussed, but now we're in this weird limbo were people want a more independent and active Tails, but won't let Sonic "let go of his hand" and protect him at all cost. People understand they're partners, but won't grasp they're equals. They cover the other's flaws, they take care of each other. That's since the day they met.) I like a "blue hedgehog takes care of a [smart] baby fox" story as much as the next person, but do you think that said baby fox never tried to pull his own weight? Never tried to return the favor to this blue hedgehog; who respects his skills [and his tails] and comes to him when he can't figure something out or the best and quickest solution? That they don't think twice on throwing themselves in danger for one another? That's what's so fun about this dynamic. It evolves, but it's ultimately the same premise.

TL:DR Depending on how fanon Tails is written more or often not gives away what kind of Sonic to expect and the dynamic that comes with it. Am I seeing two individuals with their own thoughts and beliefs bounce off each other? Or is one being heavily guided by a figurative leash by the other? ( I'm scared depending on how Nine's story ends, if it's going to cause yet another shift of how Tails gets looked and portrayed and his relationship with Sonic. Cause I'm still seeing some miss the point on why Nine is the way he is and is not a more "complete/developed" Tails. Latching on to him for stuff Tails has done before in games and other adaptions. {And I'm speaking as a Nine fan. Yeah, he's more independent and self-sufficient, but not a healthy way.})

Sigh

I don't even have anything to add, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this weird two-way thing with Tails. Fans want him to get character development and be independent, because it's good for his character arc, and this is what makes sense, but in their hearts what they really want is for Tails to be the little baby brother that Sonic tucks in every night and gives him funny kisses and checks for monsters under his bed; who exists solely to show how great of a big brother Sonic is, sacrificing so much of his freedom and taking on so much responsibility to raise a child, can you believe this? (Not saying you can't be independent and still get affection and help from your family, note the word "solely") (And if Sonic doesn't need to keep an eye on Tails because Tails is such a helpless baby, then it's because if he's left without supervision for 5 seconds, he starts killing people and destroying cities and Sonic needs to keep him in check)

And yeah, I get it, fandom, we're all having fun, I also think jokes about Tails being a little unhinged are funny, and I enjoy the brotherly fluff between Sonic and Tails, but I wish it wasn't all that he got reduced to (Especially in fics where the focus is one Sonic + some other character who isn't Tails. If it's a shipping fic there's often a plot where Sonic's partner would have to babysit Tails (never mind he lives by himself in canon) and bond with him, to kind of "get approval from Sonic's family".) But it's hard to talk about these kinds of things. Like when you criticize the way people portray characters in a ship, you could say "don't reduce them to just a generic love interest, remember that they're a character with a full personality also", and people understand what you mean, but how could you say "don't reduce this character to just a little brother type"? They are brothers after all, we just want to make them act like real brothers do/s

Yep, I've seen way to many people being like "Nine is what I always wanted Tails to be". And it's like. Ok. So you just hate Tails then. Let me guess, is Shadow your favourite character? I also like Nine, he's a great character, probably the best written one in the show, but he's not "cool", he doesn't represent "Tails reaching his full potential" or anything like that. He's deeply hurt and kind of pitiful honestly. Tails becoming more like him would be a regression if anything because he'd already overcome a similar (maybe just not as... prolonged) situation before. But I don't think this is what the show is building up to, Tails (in the show) is portrayed to be a pretty competent person already, just the one who is willing to put aside his issues because he doesn't want to risk creating any kind of conflict in his relationship with Sonic (in contrast to Nine who doesn't have as much history with Sonic and is willing to tell him exactly when and how he fucks up), and it's Sonic who needs to change his attitude. But we'll see how it goes. (I wouldn't want their relationship to turn into "long-suffering Tails holds his dumbass older brother on a child leash otherwise he'll run off and do something stupid" in popular conciousness either)

[just-antithings]

"you can only tag 4 characters on ff.net" you know what I'm just gonna put all this in bullet points

*now* you can tag 4 characters. used to be 2. they refuse to raise the limit further because "no matter how many characters there are only 4 of them can possibly be major"

now you can mark character tags as a pairing. before you couldn't do that. does that fic tagged with naruto and sasuke mean they're gonna fuck or that they're fighting over an oc? it's a mystery

speaking of pairings, ever wonder why we all started writing, like, "harryxdraco"? because ff.net banned / in summaries. along with a bunch of other characters. banned them in the story proper as well so unless you know the workarounds your formatting is fucked

on the topic of summaries, the allowed length is ridiculously small. almost every story summary I've ever seen is cut off

looking back I think I can put together why so many 00s fandoms favored the idiosyncratic style of ship names. definitely made searching easier

also you couldn't request character tags at all until there were at least 500 fics in a fandom. then someone had to manually send a character list to the site admins and wait for approval. I recall one of my fandoms getting past 1000 and still no character tags, though IDK if that's because they weren't requested or weren't approved

then there's the completion tag. that didn't use to exist either. about the only workaround was to waste valuable summary space to add a giant **NOW COMPLETE** message, though not everyone bothered to do that

neither pairing tags nor completion tags were applied retroactively (which tbf would have been a lot of work) but they were both added too late in the site's history to be of real use

crossovers! you could tag any work as a crossover, but unless it was one of the most popular (ie teen titans x young justice or sailor moon x ranma*, and yes I know they look like ship names) there was no way to tag whatever you had crossed it over with. and a work posted in a crossover category didn't show up in the main pages for either work

c2 communities (which functioned as basically themed rec lists) were about the only workaround for actually finding fics based on what you wanted, but a) like everything else useful, they were introduced far too late to be of much usage and b) each user was allowed to curate ONE and only one community. there was a supposed justification for that but I called it BS even then

also of course there were the purges. sometimes for no reason. I feel like this is the one bit of ff.net crap that people tend to remember

*this used to be obscenely popular. google 'fuku fic'

so as a fandom old (remember when every fandom had its own tiny fic archives? I don't miss that) I am so incredibly glad that we now have sites that keep up with the times and don't go out of their way to make everything more annoying (this is isn't even an exhaustive list, it's just all the grievances I could personally recall)

but yeah, thank goodness for ao3

yeah seriously I still use fanfic.net out of nostalgia (it’s where I first started posting my works) and bc certain fandoms tend to be more active on there, but ao3 is far superior

[motorcyclegirlfriends]

Sense the SDCC thing, I've been seeing a lot of art and fics that are dragging Kara/Supergirl. Like I get that some people are upset at the actors but the characters have nothing to do with any of this. I started watching the show because I read the comics when I was a kid, I just loved Supergirl as a hero. It's really kind of upsetting. They're treating a character like shit because they don't like something the person who portrays them did.

So this is a long dissection of the current Supergirl fan behavior, but if you’ve been wondering what the hell is going on, you might be interested in reading these concepts.

I understand why you’re upset. I am too, because Kara is such a wonderful character. I don’t think I’ve ever liked a character as much as her.

But there are two things you should realize when seeing this:

1. They never really cared about Kara to being with. Your loved Kara-focused content isn’t changing or leaving, because these people were not making the Kara content. They were likely initially making Supercorp Lena-focused content.

2. It’s not even about her.

I think what a lot of people who are newly joining this SDCC homophobia discussion are missing is that a lot of the most vicious backlash is not from people who are uniquely upset over this issue (though there are certainly people who are- and understandably) but from people who have had consistently overzealous reactions of hate toward actors and characters alike, save their fave (pretty much Katie Mcgrath/Lena Luthor).

On tumblr, and very noticeably in this fandom, there are sections of fans who seem to genuinely enjoy hating things. It’s a sport.

They’re having fun sending the most hurtful things they can think of to actors, and are the quickest to begin making vicious memes and jokes surrounding a negative event, before there has been a consensus within the community of how bad the “sin” was.

The “punishment” begins before the jury is out, and trying to defend those in the situation feels like trying to put a bullet back into a gun after it’s been fired. 

(Maybe it’s more like stepping in front of a bullet, because once these few have decided that the target is guilty, they won’t stop, and anyone who disagrees with them is guilty, too. Blogs and actors alike.)

This is partially why my discussion of the SDCC event had a “are they homophobic” slant (other then that I believe the nature of the event itself- if it was homophobic- hinges on the feeling behind the words, unlike most other instances of homophobia. It’s complicated and some people understandably disagree so far, but it’s really how I see it and I’ll be talking more about it a little later in different posts).

People started calling Melissa and Jeremy homophobic right away. Started targeting Kara as a character. Started “spite shipping” Lena and Reign. 

Or alternative to these options- immediately fan re-casted Kara as someone else to still be able to ship Supercorp. 

From where I stand, if you can so easily let go of this characterization of Kara, you never really cared about her as a character to begin with. If you don’t know that this was The™ person to play Kara Danvers, you’re likely more invested in the role she plays for Lena than for her as herself. 

And regardless of gender, I am uninterested in ships in which one character exists for the sake of another. (Lena existing purely for the sake of Kara’s development squicks me, too)

Recasting a woc as Kara doesn’t sit well with me either, for that reason. It’s a similar concept to how Maggie must exist as her own complex and valued person, apart from Alex, because she is a character of color.

I can’t really read the minds of these people, and I guess I could be wrong, but it’s hard for me to imagine actual Kara fans recasting her in this way.

Essentially, a lot of these people, or at least a very vocal minority, are so quick to accept that something horrible has happened because they want an excuse to hate them. 

They like it. 

Maybe it’s because they’re upset with the way society is and want someone to suffer for it. Maybe it’s because they have unresolved anger in their lives. 

But as it stands, it appears as if these people are using moral rightness and social activism as an excuse to be as mean as they want.

And like @youngbloodbuzz said in the link above, you start to look at their past behaviors in a new light. Were they genuinely upset at characters? Actors? Did they really feel like a travesty was occurring? That someone needed protecting?

Or were they just looking for reasons to call someone a “stupid cunt”?

It’s like they’re genuinely thinking, “It’s okay for me to make fun of someone’s physical appearance, call them intense names, make memes about how horrible they are innately, and send them death threats because they said something problematic once that a lot of people will hear.”

Sometimes they’ll call it “coping”, and maybe some people truly believe that makes it okay. But coping mechanisms are not above reproach.

If I hurt someone because I’m upset about something- even if I hurt someone because they did something wrong- it doesn’t erase the fact that I hurt them. We are still responsible to how we react to bad situations. We are still responsible for not reacting in an overly inflated way. 

Sometimes people will focus on how those that they’re attacking have more of a responsibility to be good people. That they are but mere bloggers, screaming into the void. They can’t possibly be accountable for how they behave. 

“I’m tired of talking about how bad the fans are, we should be focusing on what they did wrong!”

It creates an atmosphere in which an honest mistake from a well known person is much more crucifiable than the purposeful cruelty of the fans. We’re discouraged from criticizing popular blogs because the person they’re attacking has a wider audience and larger consequences for mistakes, as if popular bloggers don’t reach and influence thousands of people and as if we aren’t allowed to shape the way our own community functions.

Meanwhile, people who genuinely value morality and social activism fall prey to this thinking. They’ll even join in on the action, because they think it’s a moral act. 

Rebellion, somehow. Righteous fire. 

It’s a twisted mindset that spreads because people are afraid to be on the wrong side of morality.

Even people who really think the reaction is “too far” are quiet about it because they agree with the fact that what the offending celebrity did was wrong, and see that the level of vitriol for them now is overwhelming.

This is how I imagine that people who believe Melissa and Jeremy’s words to be homophobic but who do not think a couple of mistakes makes someone pure evil are relating to the current tumblr dialogue: 

“Wow this thing was homophobic!”

“Huh, yeah, I agree. Maybe not intentionally, but yeah.”

“That means this person is homophobic!”

“Uh, well, not sure I’d go that far-”

“Oh and look at this other somewhat problematic thing they did a while ago”

“Hmm well that’s bad, but not everyone outside of social activism gets that that’s a bad thing, so I can see-”

“Wow did you hear that this person also has an opinion about the show that I disagree with! What the fuck is wrong with them?”

“Oh. Well I actually agree with them in that situation but-”

“Omg they think that their character is like this! Do they know them at all??? What kind of terrible actor doesn’t know their character?”

“Well that’s a pretty common way that people are reading this character. Just because you-”

“Here’s some conjecture about their personal life that I imagine happened that paints them in a bad light.”

“Well, you don’t know that, but either way you shouldn’t be diving into their personal-”

“Oh and here’s a totally real story from an anon about someone they know who knew this person in the past and says they were a jerk at this one point-”

And it becomes too much. If you don’t really love the actor, really love their character, you either extract yourself from the group or you ignore the opinions you disagree with. 

It becomes quite clear that these people want to feel this way and won’t be changing any time soon.

And the more there seems to be a consensus about the issue, the less willing people are to speak out, for fear of rejection.

The Spiral of Silence theory is a good way to explain it:

To avoid isolation, people tend to refrain from publicly stating their views on controversial matters when they perceive that doing so would attract criticism, scorn, laughter, or other signs of disapproval. 

Conversely, those who sense that their opinions will meet with approval tend to voice them fearlessly and at times vociferously. 

Indeed, speaking out in such a way tends to enhance the threat of isolation faced by supporters of the opposing position, reinforcing their sense of being alone. 

Thus a spiraling process begins, the dominant camp becoming ever louder and more self-confident while the other camp becomes increasingly silent.

Importantly, the spiral of silence occurs only in connection with controversial issues that have a strong moral component. What triggers a person’s fear of isolation is the belief that others will consider him or her not merely mistaken but morally bad. Accordingly, issues that lack a moral component or on which there is general consensus leave no room for a spiral of silence.

Additionally, I believe that if someone does speak out against the (perceived) majority, it is most likely to be someone who is very strongly opposing of it.

A person who believes “It isn’t homophobic at all! They are innocent!” is more likely to voice their disagreements than “Okay I agree with your assessment of the situation but I think maybe we’re being too harsh…”

So the “minority”- who could technically very well be the quiet majority (people with middle-ground opinions just don’t get as many followers)- stays quiet. 

They might even change their minds to agree with the “majority”, over time. 

Believing that the mindset of the group that you belong to is wrong is psychologically uncomfortable, so it is not uncommon for someone to try to adjust their thinking to fit those they feel connected to.

So, eventually, the only people who are speaking at all are those “majorities” who hate these people. Or those who act like they do for notes.

And then this thinking escalates amongst those still talking about it (remember: because it’s fun for them and they want to milk it for as long as possible) and it quickly translates to hating their character, once they’ve temporarily run out of material to be angry with the actor for.

So, back to your concern, how long until, “it’s hard to look at Melissa as Kara right now, because of how I fear she might feel about gay people” becomes something like “Mon-El is abusive, but Kara can choke so whatever” ?

(And on that note, one should consider how much they really wanted to protect Kara Danvers’ characterization from Mon-El’s influence, and how much was just a part of their hate-hobby.)

Maybe it won’t go that far. I hope it doesn’t. I hope people come to their senses about this.

But it’s escalated even since yesterday, when I started making this post. The language being used to describe Melissa when she is speaking normally, about normal things that some people have a difference of opinion on, is abhorrent. 

So if you’re just trying to enjoy fandom in a peaceful and creative way, I encourage you to watch how the people you interact with react when something negative happens.

Are they disheartened? Crushed? Are they considering leaving the show and it’s fandom? Writing serious essays about how they’re hurt?

…Or do they come alive?

Are they incredibly angry, and then making jokes immediately? Memes and edits and creative content more so than they do on a peaceful day? Do you get the sense that they aren’t going anywhere, for a long time, even though they don’t seem to enjoy anything about the show?

Then you might be better off unfollowing them.

Of course, not everyone who makes a joke about negative things is thus enjoying it. It makes people feel better to make light of situations as well as to express anger, and doing so doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re drama-seeking.

And sometimes people slip into the mob more than they would like to have, retrospectively. Say cruel things that they regret later. 

It happens, and tumblr can be a persuasive and pervasive place. 

If you follow someone who initially reblogs some slightly overly hateful things, but who then backs off after the first wave, they probably aren’t the kind of person who is fueled by anger. 

I’ve seen a lot of people I considered to be level-headed get wrapped up in overly aggressive, black and white thinking during the initial reaction to events.

But then sometimes, a couple of weeks later, they’ll post a tentative “Anyone else still wanna kinda like this thing, even though we said it was bad before?” and they’ll get enough approval via reblogs to feel like it’s okay to go back to normal.

Some blogs quietly sort themselves out, in the end.

And if you’re one of those people who goes overboard occasionally, I get it. 

You’re hurt and you didn’t realize that the basis for the fan reaction that you were involved in was morally shallow. That the people you were supporting were not righteously furious, but using righteousness as an excuse to be furious.

But remember the message here: people make mistakes. It’s the patterns that really tell you who they are.

And I think we can be better. Have better patterns, as a group.

In the end, I encourage you to point out when a reaction is too harsh, toward anyone. Even if it’s difficult. Even if you agree that what the person did was pretty bad.

Agreeing that “black and white thinking” is bad can feel like you’re lowering your standards for morality. But I promise, you can still value the things that you value and loathe the things that go against it, without condemning someone’s entire personhood based on a mistake or a handful of mistakes regarding those things.

Even big mistakes.

People are complicated. We are all made up of really good things and really bad things.

It’s easy to believe that someone is wholly bad when they screw up.

The hard part, the part that will ultimately ground you and help you mature, is realizing that someone can have some really bad parts within them and still be good people. (I encourage you to remember that when thinking about yourself, as well.)

The trick is recognizing the difference between when people are making honest mistakes that unintentionally hurt people, and when they’re willfully behaving a certain way because they want to hurt people (or don’t care that they will). 

And further, between when people are lashing out because they’re hurt and when people are inventing hurt to be able to lash out.

These distinctions will help you realize who you can guide or trust to work their issues out on their own when they slip up, and who you should distance yourself from.

Some very vocal portions of the fandom are, unfortunately, the latter.