#i joined the tumblr fandom in 2014 so i can't speak for before that but. yeah

[wanderingcas]

suddenly feeling so nostalgic for supernatural fandom pre-2016

[shannarous]

I only got in the SasuSaku fandom in October 2014, when the manga was nearly done.

Was the land of Iron arc a difficult time for the SasuSaku fandom?

I can only imagine how bad and nasty the bashing of the antis must have been.......

While I've been in the fandom since 2006, I only joined Tumblr in 2014 as well, so I admit I can't speak for what was going on here at that time. BUT I was active on other sites (mostly German) and there I experienced the bashing too. Maybe a little less intense, but I was there.

From my experience the bashing has always been on a constantly high level throughout the years and arcs. I got used to it, so it was bearable. But... if you joined in 2014, you probably were there when Gaiden came out, right? Tbh that was by far the worst fandom experience I ever had, worse than any other Naruto arc. I was so happy SasuSaku became canon in 2014, was looking forward to some sweet Next Gen fluff, and then Kishi dropped this bomb of a first Gaiden chapter. I was shattered after reading it, ngl. And then the antis jumped at us from everywhere, it was so nasty. You probably know what I'm talking about.

It got to a point where I couldn't sleep in the night before a new Gaiden chapter was released. I felt sick, didn't dare reading them. Until it was all resolved in the last chapters, thankfully... but it was a long and wild ride until then and I don't want to experience it again.

Thinking back I feel a bit stupid for becoming this sick over some fictional characters, and I may have hopelessly overreacted, but that's just how much this ship means to me.

[tiddyanderson]

In 2000, I lost my grandfather to suicide. In 2012, I lost my great grandmother after years of her suffering from Alzheimer's. In 2014, I lost my grandmother to COPD after she kicked breast cancer's ass years before. In 2015, I lost my uncle to suicide. In 2016, I lost my father to suicide. In 2016 I became extremely depressed and suicidal. The only thing that kept me going? Gillian Anderson. In 2015 my dad and I were looking through Netflix to find a show to watch. He saw The X-Files and said he thought I would like it because I've always been interested in occult/paranormal/supernatural things. We started watching it together and I was hooked. After he died TXF was the only thing I would watch. The more I watched it, the more I became interested in Gillian. I eventually watched The Fall and Hannibal and something in me told me that I liked women. I can't explain the feeling but kind of like what Scully said, it was like a switch had been flicked. I just knew I was attracted to women. I joined Tumblr and got into the X-Files/Gillian fandom and I felt welcomed. I felt happy. Many times between 2016-2018 I considered comitting suicide. I had everything worked out but before I went through with it there was something in the back of my mind that kept speaking to me. "If you die now, you'll never get to see Gillian in something new." "If you die now, you'll never be able to meet Gillian." "If you die now, she'll never know what she means to you." For some reason, those thoughts kept me going. In 2018 I started medication for my depression. I got a job. I met the guy that is now my boyfriend. In 2019 I met Gillian. I didn't work up the courage to tell her that I appreciated her or that she had helped me in one way or another. But, I asked her a question that was really important to me. It seems silly but I love Fleetwood Mac and I love Gillian. So, the best thing I could come up with was, "Can I ask you a question?" She considered for a moment and said "Sure." I immediately blurted "What's your favorite Fleetwood Mac album?" She responded with "Oh! Rumours!" After that I took my autograph and was off. This post doesn't really have a well thought out ending other than the fact that I love Gillian, I appreciate her beyond words, and if not for her, I really don't know where I would be. Probably dead haha. Either way, to the woman that's saved me multiple times without even knowing it, happy birthday. I hope your day is as incredible as you are 💙

[thatghiacciofucker]

Some random thoughts about the western Vocaloid scene

Hello! This is my first time I’m writing in Tumblr! Hope you like this.

I've been a Vocaloid fan for over a decade. I've seen the community grow over the years, and therefore, how many producers have joined the scene, left the community, or unfortunately passed away.

While the Japanese side of Vocaloid is more universally known, I want to focus on the western side.

There are few documented songs made by non-japanese musicians before the Vocaloid Boom, and one of the few ones was Tears of an Angel by Mike Oldfield, who is famous for his groundbreaking album called Tubular Bells.

After that, Vocaloid started to gain a lot of attention, and young aspiring musicians from all over the world felt inspired to make music with this software. Most of them were minors that were still experimenting with programs like FL Studio or Ableton. Of course, the music sounded amateurish, but you could sense the passion that those kids added to their songs.

Sadly, for some years, the producers got stuck. They were trying to emulate the eerie and creepy aesthetics that several Japanese Vocaloid producers have delivered over the years.

It didn't felt inspired at all. It felt lazy, bland, and boring. It felt like they were trying too hard to be edgy. Several popular songs didn't transmit anything to me at all, because the other older and bigger side of the fandom has been doing the same thing over the years. They tried to emulate so hard to be like Hachi or Machigerita, they tried so hard to appeal to the fandom, that they forgot about making something that differenced them from others, or better said, something that differenced him from the Japanese Vocaloid musicians.

This also affected Vocaloid's image to several aspiring musicians that weren't anime fans or didn't like anime at all, since they related Vocaloid with anime due to the fans and its newbie musicians. The fact that they even noticed those problems says a lot.

Even though my criticism towards the English-speaking Vocaloid community and its producers is strong, I can't hate them. They have done a lot for this community, and also made our fanbase well-known overseas over the years; in fact, 2014 was the most crucial year for the western fanbase thanks to two songs.

Sad Machine by Porter Robbinson got released on May 13, 2014, gaining a lot of attention from both Vocaloid fans and electronic music ones. It gained millions of plays on both Youtube and Soundcloud (being the 1st English Vocaloid song with more than a million views on this site). Vocaloid was starting to get more mainstream in the west.

After that, a well-known duo called CIRCRUSH conformed by Crusher-P and Circus-P gave us probably the most important song from the western Vocaloid fandom, called ECHO.

ECHO's video was released on October 7th in the same year. The vague lyrics and the weird, yet captivating video inspired hundreds of fans making covers with other voicebanks, fanarts, dance covers, etc.

It is, by far, one of the most iconic Vocaloid songs out there. This song has been a massive contribution to us, to the point it was featured in some well-known rhythm games, like Jubeat or REFLECT BEAT plus. It was also the first American Vocaloid song in the Hall of Legend on Nicovideo. It even got a novel in 2015 that also has an English translation! And a famous artist made the cover!

Those songs are iconic, no matter if you like them or not. They have achieved several things that I have never dreamed of from this part of the fandom.

It is beautiful to think about how much the Vocaloid community has changed over the years. It is also very nostalgic since several important sites like VocaloidOtaku closed years ago.

[jungkook97]

i've been thinking about this for the longest time and i think it's that time when i come clean.

i appreciate all the supportive messages that i got telling me to ignore and keep doing me, but i'm going to be honest, i don't know if it's worth it for me anymore. i love bigbang. i've been a fan for almost 7 years (next week will officially be my vip anniversary). i spent my high school years listening to them and it persisted until now. before i did anything on tumblr and twitter, i used to write fics on asianfanfics and gd was my muse. i really loved him for the longest, and it persisted when i joined tumblr in 2011 (you wouldn't see this bc i went back and deleted lmao). i didn't start gifing until 2013 and joined fckyeahgd in the same year. i created fybb in summer 2014, vip-net in may 2015. since then, i've done a photobook project and film for their 10th anniversary, a livestream event, giveaways, made gifsets and provided download links. i didn't mind doing all of this while managing other group blogs i was a part of bc i love it. i love doing smth that was worthwhile and what i perceive is beneficial. i provided download links bc i know finding shit in decent quality can be a struggle to gif, these projects bc i know how heartwarming it feels to be a part of something and express how you feel about the boys, access to the vlives+ because capitalism sucks and people can't afford to spend money on what i perceived should've been free, i created an updates blog bc there wasn't officially one, etc.

i've never done any of these things to gain popularity or relevance; a lot of times i'm genuinely shocked when people who i really admire for several years become mutuals with me and say that they're very appreciative of the work that i do. i'm always appreciative of people passing by and saying thank you and ngl, i sometimes don't even grasp that i've done a lot and people see me often because i hardly ever think abt that.

and with that, i think that's why i think it's time. besides being a part of the subbing team, going to their concerts, and translate, i've done almost everything that you can do as a fan. i've definitely learned so much in these past several years and you know, it was a great experience. although yeah, i've encountered many who only stayed mutuals or were cordial because i gave them what they wanted, and there were a lot of fucked up things that i had to deal with especially this past year (the stories i could tell abt the things i dealt with lmao), but overall, i wouldn't have traded it for anything else. i probably wouldn't do 95% of the stuff i do for bigbang. i made so many wonderful friends, some of whom i would honestly do anything for. i wouldn't be as aggressive about calling out and speaking out about the societal issues in our fandom had it not been someone who told me in depth as to why some of the things bb does is an issue. i've inadvertently established my belief about inclusiveness and being a better ally to marginalized people because of them, and i probably wouldn't have been this passionate about politics and even my career path rn if it weren't for bigbang. they mean that much to me.

idk where i'm going with this tbh, but it's time for me to turn in my vip card, indefinitely. i've removed myself from all bigbang related blogs and will be no longer be answering questions regarding bigbang unless i want to. i've mentioned this a few times before, but this time, i'm no longer contributing anything as a vip besides a rogue gifset of them once in a blue moon. i will casually support them whenever they come back and during their solos. besides that aspect, this blog will still be multifandom, and pretty much the same. the only difference is that i will be changing my url too bc i do want to pull the blog on topford.

i think it's time for this katie to go. it hurts a lot, but im really doing this for myself. it's for my mental health and for me to start a new chapter. i hope that other vips will step up to the plate in my place and do not get weary with the hiatus and stay patient. i hope the fandom overall does change in a more progressive direction, and that i did smth worthwhile in that aspect (or so i hope). i will always call myself a vip, and i will never deny it. thank you for sticking by vip me. now onto the multifandom me.