#its kind of bizarre

[foxstens]

i really don't know were the writing inspiration came from, not just today but this year in general

because i have been into aftg since 2016 but the last and only time i ever wrote fic was like 12 years ago

[jeonseoguu]

same type of stand, same type of soul..?

also tumblr formatting is wack PLS DONT WATCH THIS HORIZONTALLY

[ashleyloob]

I randomly got dragged to Mormon church and met the illustrator for A Series of Unfortunate Events who is apparently a bishop at the church, and now we are Instagram mutuals. today was so bizarre

[welcometogrouchland]

Disgustingly messy and crusty sketch dump but I couldn't get my own terrible theory out of my head and ended up making a bunch of sketches about it. Also at the end a bonus dickbats and Damian doodle bc I was reading an issue of their Batman and Robin run (IDs in Alt)

[spenglerstwinkie]

COME AND GET ME OUT OF HERE‼️

[valtsv]

*types any question containing the word "empathy" into a search engine*

like half the results: are YOU an EMPATH??? EMPATHS are a SPECIAL ULTRA RARE SHINY POKEMON GROUP OF PEOPLE they are like MYSTICAL PERFECT FAIRY ELVES they are the BEST most MORALLY PURE beings on the planet they basically have MIND READING SUPERPOWERS and they are also SUPER OPPRESSED by SELFISH GREEDY ORDINARY PEOPLE who DRAIN THEM like VAMPIRES with their NEGATIVE ENERGY. if you are an empath you are guaranteed to get into HEAVEN 😇 but if you are not you are BASICALLY THE DEVIL!!! 😈🔥😈🔥😈🔥

[buwheal]

Damn, Spam, did the cake taste that bad? - bad joke. Sorry you're havin' a rough day. We're here if you need to talk, or if you just need a distraction.

[millenari]

whatever the hell is going on here

[greensaplinggrace]

I’m thinking of making a version of this post with some examples of the manipulative posts explained above, because at this point it might be better to see all of the variations of speech people will use to create certain tones within fandom. but for now, I want to bring up a bit about how cult tactics work.

people don’t operate on a constant level of analysis and data-checking. they rely on easy ways to gain information and form fast conclusions. if you’re not learned in recognizing subtle forms of data and emotional control, then it is incredibly easy to absorb false information or false dichotomies without realizing it. this is a skill often learned in literature classes, as recognizing the way words are often couched to create an emotional response is one of the core aspects of the field.

this is especially relevant to engaging with news, but also applies to fiction, advertising, and any personal interaction with others. in spaces where people group together because of a common ideal, the issue of cult manipulation is even more prevalent, because much thought control relies on a foundational principle to exploit, and a desire to remain accepted amongst one’s peers. furthermore, it often relies on isolation, or a sense of "us vs them", which many groups fall into naturally.

fandom, as you can see, is just as susceptible to cult tactics because of this. I have seen fandom infighting on two occasions devolve into cult practices, one was ship based, and the other was morality based. on both occasions, there were accounts afterwards from people who got scammed, who got abused, and who got emotionally manipulated by the leaders of these cults.

as such, I think it's important for people engaging in fandom to avoid generalizing statements and isolation. I think it's important for them to engage more with the source material than with metas. and I think it's important for them to be wary of a lot of the language used in meta, critical, or callout posts that directly undermine one's ability to trust themself, gather reliable and factual information, and gauge the morality of a real world situation as opposed to a fictional one.

in the above post, I broke down how misinformation can be used to manipulate a certain mindset within fandom through the creation of false dichotomies and a reliance on thought and information control, as well as emotional control. which eventually and often leads into behavioral control in fandom spaces, through the threat of exile and moral branding.

the BITE model is one of the most reliable forms of identifying this kind of manipulation that I've seen. below is an image that most succinctly describes it (although further research reveals more about the complexities and it's impact overall):

fandom discourse can seem benign - and if often is (most of it is just ego stroking and fandom wank, to be quite honest) - but sometimes people will take extra steps to form insular communities in fandom that begin to show these signs, and the posts that start to show up in tags as a result are pretty indicative of this type of phenomena taking place.

in a ya fandom where the population of younger people is pretty high, this seems especially insidious.

I saw people say Darkling is a r*pist and I'm scared of liking him now. Is he really?

no lol. and I suggest you get out of the discourse circles while you still can. they'll be telling you the darkling wanted genocide next, or that he deliberately planned genya's fate from the start.

this fandom has some of the most rampant misinformation campaigns I've probably ever seen. in other fandoms, the discourse is simply arguments that get out of hand. it is only shadow and bone which seems to attract people who will straight up lie about these things.

I don't know if it's because they believe it (maybe they haven't read the books or maybe they're bad at media literacy or maybe they even have trouble separating reality from fiction), or if it's because they like to control what happens in this fandom (the people here act like any post they don't like or that doesn't fit the 'acceptable parameters' is an attack on morals everywhere. there's a lot of thought control that happens in the general discourse tags), or if it's because they don't want to be outcast from the 'acceptable' side of the fandom.

but I recommend taking a step back and remembering a few things:

a) this is fiction. none of it is real.

b) it is ya fiction and attracts a generally younger audience

c) trust in your own interpretation of the text, and don't rely on other people's moral crisis and danger spiraling posts to guide your beliefs.

d) there is a lot of heavy handed 'think of the children' 'we just want what's best for you' manipulation going on in these tags, but you are not inherently immoral for disagreeing with them. don't trust the slogan.

e) block liberally and blacklist every tag you need to. antis will make you think they have your best interests in mind, but they are just as prone to harassing and gaslighting people as any other extreme loud minority discourse group in fandom.

and f) every part of fandom has a bad side. no side is actually better or worse than the other. no side actually sends more hate. no side actually has worse people. no side actually has more victims of abuse or more diversity or more experienced professionals. it's all relative. they're going to speak from their own experiences, which will always skew towards their own biased interactions with the fandom. that's just how it works anywhere.

[dawnsies]

he's semi-joking

i love when kakyoin is a little shit lol

[whos-hotter-jjba]

Hottest JJBA Outfit Bracket - Rerun of Round 1 Match 13

[six-demon-bag]

this is for all of you who saw two (2) seconds of the thunderbolts* trailer, where john walker is sitting next to his healthy, safe baby in a crib looking at his phone and decided that means he's a neglectful awful parent

[jeonseoguu]

johnny and felix outfit swap?? 🙏🙏

saw the jam mv and went JOJO REFERENCE ⁉️⁉️🫵🫵🫵

[widowshill]

literature on dark shadows will really look at a massive ensemble cast and say um actually the only characters that matter are barnabas quentin and angelique <3

[wellnoe]

reading a book that is very interesting in its quantitative analysis but is so weird in its tone!! the place the author chooses to insert emotionality is bizarre and his treatment of mortality of the be all end all of suffering is equally so.

[bunabi]

I cant believe players think Lae'zel is ugly

If her nose was lower she'd be your average safe conventionally attractive female companion

Am I losing my mind