#sunk cost babyyyyyyy

[blog-name-idk]

Here I GOOOO! (Also no shade @gothroughthelookingglass I just love man(go)splaining things and I am very much aware that you probably don't need this pedantic level of detail but I have had coffee and ADHD meds for work so WHEEEEEEEeee!

This presentation will have two main sections:

Etymology of \chaibts and @americanobts

The Story

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Etymology

Let's start with straight facts.

\chaibts:

The nomenclature of this blog derives from the "chai", a word meaning "tea" in various languages and is often most commonly associated with masala chai, a tea blend originating in India.(1)

"Tea" is a slang term for gossip/insider information, for example: "I'm gonna spill the tea on Tesla's unethical business practices."(2)

So, we can can infer that the alleged intent of this blog is to "call out" problematic members of the BTS fanfiction community on Tumblr.

americanobts:

A riff off of the title of \chaibts! Continuing the caffeinated beverage theme (as an americano is essentially espresso diluted with hot water), plus our very own Min Yoongi's beverage of choice is an iced americano!(3)

Which... well... I realize the asker knows all of most of this considering their "this doesn't have to do with drinks right?" but I wanted reasons to use citations.

Based on the riff, it's reasonable to conclude that this is a response/account made to counteract a lot of the negative impact the tea blog has had on the community.

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The Story of Good vs. Evil

That's obviously an exaggeration but it's a catchy section header. And also this is the meat of this post and mostly my opinions/conclusions.

@americanobts was created as an initiative to spread more kindness and love in our Tumblr community! It's very new (as of... yesterday 30May2023?) and is a blog where users can post anonymous shout outs to blogs they like, whether it's the content or the person behind it. In my opinion, it's a welcome breath of fresh air and a nice reminder of why I'm here to begin with - to write fic and simp with my delulu brethren.

Whether it was the intent or not (though I think we can safely assume it played a part), it is also a way to push back against a lot of the hate and toxicity that has been permeating the BTS Tumblr fanfic community lately. (Which, if we can all just take a step back and read that sentence and realize how ridiculous it is...)

There will always be trolls and angry people who hide behind their anonymity - there's no refuting that. Some people are just very sad. I think the biggest issue with \chaibts is that it gives these voices a platform to yell whatever they want about whoever they want and broadcast it publicly. Without the tea blog allowing these anonymous asks, hateful comments would only be able to be sent to CCs directly (which, while still shitty, is at least private if the CC chooses not to post it). To air grievances publicly in a post that would see the light of day (unlike us Tumblr gremlins who never go outside), they would need to either out themselves or make a whole burner blog.

While there have been times where legitimate issues have been posted on \chaibts, a lot of people send anons that just complain/pile on hate and aren't actually productive in terms of encouraging learning/growth. It's like searching for one piece of hay in a very exhausting, hurtful needle stack. A lot of the takes on there feel very entitled and lack any amount of nuance/room for growth and some of them are downright hypocritical. Whether right or wrong, good or bad, they make a LOT of assumptions about real, breathing people based on the very minimal amount of personality they are allowed to see online.

And because authors get called out by blog name, a lot of them end up getting a lot of unwarranted hate in their own anons because from the guise of anonymity, people say things they would never dream of saying to someone in person.

Er.... this ended up getting a lot longer and more serious than I intended, especially because I prefer to be as unserious as possible on Tumblr. But issues like this can really ruin what is often a safe space and refuge for a lot of people, and that's why I think @americanobts is such a lovely idea. A lot of creators who were NEVER targeted or named by the tea blog had already been expressing discomfort with the current State Of The Union here, and a little bit of kindness goes a long way towards reminding us that the end of the day we came here and started these blogs because they make us happy.

And if someone threatens that safe space for you? Block 'em, because they're not worth it.

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Citations:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/tea-slang-meaning-origin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_UT8x8dUXc

😍💜💐