#And the leaks mishap and my dislike for salt aside the fandom can be so fun and sweet

[xhanisai]

I think one problem I've had in fandoms, especially the ML one is how mean girls cliquey "friendship" groups can be. Artists in particular.

"Friends" that force you to follow their ideals and headcanons and beliefs and yell at you for following or being friends with people they don't like. "Friends" that look down on other artists and people because of a skills difference or shipping or favourite characters. "Friends" that try to cosy up with you because you have a big following and won't hesitate to make you feel like shit.

From my experience in the fandom (and I've been here from the beginning, once being just a lurker), other than rampant cyberbullying, catty behaviour and dumb idiots trying to force their purity culture, there really shouldn't be a reason to force your friends follow who you say they should follow. That they should like what you say they should like. This is so disgustingly controlling and insane. (And of course, I understand there are exceptions but I'm talking about people putting down others for dumb shit).

So what I'm trying to say is to think critically, don't fall for peer pressure and don't let the "popular" people make you do things you don't want to do. You can have contrasting opinions and like different things and hate different things and still be friends or be civil. It isn't that hard.