#i didn't REALLY get into online fandom until rep

[rebekahgaveup]

This is also just extra emotional for me because 1989 was my first concert ever, the first CD for an album I've ever owned, my first introductions to fandom... it's literally where it all began for me

[obsessivelollipoplalala]

I remember fics booming during long Sherlock hiatuses back in the day.

True, but tumblr was still extremely popular at this point. Not saying it's dead now, but the porn ban definitely had an impact. I also think the outrage at the writers (insane and idiotic as it was) kept it in the mainstream. Back in the 2010s my mom knew about the drama surrounding Moffatt/Gatiss and the queerbaiting allegations. She didn't even watch the show, she heard about it on Pinterest of all things. Hell, the only reason I watched the show was bc I saw a thread here in like 2013.

We have a few people who are mad at the ending of go2, but it's nothing compared to the hubbub around things like Sherlock or SPN. The internet thrives on discourse, so it's not as interesting to others outside the fandom.

There's also the matter of internet etiquette and how, over the years, fans have come to expect consistent content and pay authors little to no mind. But that is a whole 'nother can of worms. I expect the go2 fics will become more popular over time, and I hope the lack of engagement isn't too discouraging bc I do really enjoy what I've read so far.

Hmmm. Yeah, this reminds me of what I talked about like last week or so with all of the tumblr polls I've seen asking how long people have been on here saying that the vast majority of users have been here for at least a decade. Sherlock's prime definitely lined up with tumblr's prime (I only watched it because an irl friend was blogging about it on here lol). I didn't come here until 2013 and was pretty blissfully unaware of the discourse for about a year, but I have heard from other fans that the online fan situation around that show started to get nuts right after s2 in 2012. Outrage does drive engagement, whatever that may look like. I think the ending of Sherlock s2 was perfect material for fanfiction with everyone wanting to know how Sherlock survived the Fall and how John would react upon his return, too. There were soooo many Post-Reichenbach fics, it was an entire genre. And then with s3, there was a flood of fix-it fics with people's anger over Mary, and exploration of her villainy.

You're right, gomens s2 doesn't have that same effect because it's pretty obvious that this is being written like a classic love story and everything is going to be resolved in the third act. There's no mainstream backlash. The only people who are angry about it, from what I've seen, are people who apparently don't know how basic storytelling works and are really pissed at Aziraphale (that's another reason why people might not be reading fics tbh), and those big mad over the kiss because, "it's ruins ace rep" and blah blah blah. But those people are in the clear minority. Some people may not feel the need to read fic because they trust all will be well in the next season and they just have to wait. Basically, the source material satisfies them enough that they're not seeking out fic in the same way they were after s1's homoerotic ambiguity.

You're totally right that fans have gotten worse to content creators in recent years. They want a constant stream of free fic and art without having to, god forbid, hit a heart button or kudos button. I've been in fandom spaces for a long time and that's definitely worsened over time, although I'm lucky that some fans have been nice enough about my gomens fics to make art/translations/etc. But that's for my s1 stuff and I know that's certainly not the case for everyone's fics. I hope the lack of engagement isn't too discouraging, too, but I completely understand if it is for some people.

[logicalstansadvice]

Perhaps that’s why I see mean words being said to a rich white guy as overblown.

// As a WOC it never crossed my mind to say such a thing. Mean words and mean actions will still be mean either way. But it's possible I'm biast because I'm rich too and my best friend who is also rich but white, was gang raped a few months ago and the assholes who did it used the "she's a white rich girl" excuse to justify what they did. Like that made it less wrong. Funny thing: they were also white.

But pls tell me how being white and rich is gonna help her recover in any way from the trauma of being a virgin and having her first time being screwed by 6 assholes while out jogging, and also getting covid in the process.

And I apologize if I'm hurting anyone's feelings but I fail to see how using various "labels" as an excuse for hurting people is gonna help this goddamn planet. The way people are behaving today is worst than animals, yet they claim to be so enlightened.

I guess my point is, stop using excuses to justify doing bad things. If you're gonna kill someone they're still gonna be dead, regardless of their race or wealth or social status. Same goes with rape, bullying, harrassment and other traumas.

Anon 2: I would be bullied at work until I had a breakdown and had to be treated for three months in a clinic with strong medication. I am still in therapy today because of this. But I should probably give up therapy because my skin is white and then bullying is not really that serious.

Anon 3: You're a white girl pretending to be a woc. Sorry, but I recognise the "rich white guy" speech in this fandom. Only hurt little white brats use it.

Anon 4: --- If you were really bullied anon you'd have some sympathy and for sure you wouldn't be sending in something like this, basically saying the shitshow in this fandom is just "not nice". That's the understatement of the century and anyone who was bullied would recognize this and call it out, not minimize it. And yeah, I was actually bullied and I can tell you that what those fuckers are doing is actually bullying.

Anon 5: /// Again with the white rich excuse! This is always being used by his deranged fans. He's white, he's rich so we can fuck him up. Coincidentally, it is mainly stated by his white fans. I don't think I ever saw a POC saying that it's ok to harm him because he's white and rich. And that says smth!

Anon 6: / Sorry you were bullied anon, but your ask is bs, no offence. Stalking someone, doxxing him and ruining his rep and trying to get him fired definetly counts as bullying, if not more. Also, what's with the rich white thing?

First of all, he worked for his money, they didn't fall in his lap. Secondly, if someone is rich that doesn't mean it's ok to treat them badly. Lots of rich people got rich working their ass off. Do you think they deserve to be treated as crap just because people are jealous?

And how does his skin colour fall into the picture? I keep seeing these days comments like "oh she's a white girl not gonna cry cause she got hurt" or "he's a white guy so he got beaten up big deal".

Hurting people is wrong regardless of their skin colour. And if you're against racism that's great, but that doesn't mean you have to try and minimize various crimes just by saying "the victims were white, so what". Cause then your kinda the same as those you're fighting against.

Anon 7: // Greeeat! Another moron defending this fandom's fucked up behavior and deaming it as only "not nice", lmao. Guess what anon, I was bullied too and I can confirm this is bullying also, not just "not nice". And I'm gonna go ahead and assume you are full of shit in regards to your bullying considering your attitude towards it.

Anon 8: // So you think being doxxed, stalked, have your friends, family and gf also stalked, be harrassed online and in front of your house, be bodyshamed, have your rep ruined by false rumours and your career threatened, receive death threats and rape threats, is just "not nice"? If all of that is just "not nice" for you, then my advice anon is to go seek help. Because your definition of "not nice" seems to include almost everything aside from murder.

Anon 9: ///// From the arrow thingy you used I see you are the same anon who claimed to be bullied. So anon 1 and anon 2 are the same ones, mods! Anon, there is a diff between youtube channels were people scream in the void, and having people come to your sm profile or to your door to spew hate. So spare me the pro hate speech.

Anon 10: The anon with the bullying and the one with the hate youtube channels are the same person. They use the same arrow emoji, I've never seen it used before. And they have the same narrative of "there is nothing wrong with hate".

Anon 11: // This anon is the same as the one with "I was bullied bla bla". Look at the arrow with which he starts his ask! It's the first time I see this type of emoticon here and I'm sure it's the same person. Go get your marbles checked anon! We are not pro hate here! I don't care if there are hate blogs and hate youtube channels. That doesn't mean I have to agree with your stupid shit asks.

💄

[flashbacksandechoes-13]

2 days until Lover

reputation: "New Year's Day"

I didn't get around to filming a full cover this time but here's a part of the (in my opinion) best song on rep 💕

Just like 1988 rep will always have a special place in my heart because, despite loving Taylor since I had been about 10, I only really started getting involved in the online fandom during the social media blackout. Rep era was when I started my instagram account, got involved in all the craziness and met some absolutely wonderful people and I'm so so happy about all of that ❤️

[kari-izumi]

In over 15 years of online fan, the Adam Discourse is the first and only thing I've ever had to blacklist on any media site, and I say this as someone who has watched Ichiruki drama unfold going back to LJ, posted on a message board where ship wars got so bad that to this day--13 years after the finale--admins get nervous when certain episodes are brought up, and was a card carrying member of goddamn GAFF aka the /b/ of fan writer community.

This was....so very tiresome. I think if I had felt like more people were coming at this in good faith, I would be less pissed off about this. After all, there's no fewer than five articles after each new progressively worse season of OItNB discussing how they exploit issues concerning PoC and Riverdale has been a clusterfuck on that score from day one (accidental incest is cool, but asexuals?).

But it wasn't good faith for most, and we all know why. And rather than be happy that the man who has cheated death so many time and still comes out of all his trauma as a great leader who is so proud of his paladins when they unlock abilities he never did is getting a second shot at life--they choose to spread lies and disinformation to people outside the fandom. People who, without context, spread even more disinformation and eventually we all get labeled as lunatics.

It wasn't about Adam.

It wasn't even about Shiro.

I really, truly did not grasp how stressful fandom discourse could be for people until this. I kept a side blog out of courtesy to my muturals who found it all triggering but in-show stuff...god, Tapir I assume you'll never read this since I assumed you stopped interacting over it, but I owe you and iced-blood the BIGGEST apology for tagging you both on that Kaiba post a few months ago. Even though it was nowhere near this level of insanity, I literally could not grasp how deeply this stuff cuts when you hear the same arguments and you have been fighiting an uphill battle, especially for as long as Kaiba discourse has been A Thing(tm) you've both had to defend yourselves over. Truly, I understand it to the core of my being, and if nothing else good has come out of this seasons's big VLD shitshow, at least be far more sensitive to that.

With that having poured out:

I'm not going to give two shits crying over a character who appeared on screen for exactly 1 minute and 14 seconds because a bunch of bitch babies misread the entire fucking purposes of his existance because of an entirely different ship they cared about. He wasn't our rep, and the gall some of you had to reach out to the Shaladins you spent two years slandering and doxxing and running off because you didn't get Klance Shiro with Adam is something well outside of even Anne Shirley's creative imagination.

Die mad about it, kiddos. 🙃

All of my thoughts on post-season 7 voltron fandom summarized in one picture

Like seriously I saw a comment whining about this fucker on a BUBBLINE video it’s not even the same show for fuck’s sake. At least be decent and keep your salt to the vld fandom.

Also why people are stanning a character who only appeared for a minute during a breakup scene with Shiro (the character we’ve known for six seasons and we’re supposed to root for) is beyond me. Oh wait I know why 🙃