#there absolutely are malicious people on the internet who ARE gonna look in the notes

[modernsuperhero]

[welcometocapitalism]

im worried that my previous ask is way too aggressive and might make you feel defensive and thats not helpful at all so i just want to explain that im so angry because it breaks my heart to see other people being violently harassed into submission just for saying something that isnt a popular opinion. you are quite literally being gaslit by a bunch of strangers who desperately dont want to have to think that hard about the material consequences of their own behaviors.

they are simplifying the issue in order to make you look unreasonable so that they can completely dismiss your opinion while giving you no way to defend yourself without making yourself look worse. its manipulative and coercive and vile. they have tricked you into condemning your own behavior and reinforcing that self doubt that THEY planted in you in the first place.

they are convincing you that you have to police yourself otherwise they will do it for you and they arent going to be nice about it.

they intentionally misunderstood what you were saying so that they could ignore the point you were making and thus avoid taking responsibility for their personal role in our capitalist society.

they are operating on this us vs them mindset of "good people" vs "bad people" and they think that they are a "good person" and that you are trying to maliciously assert that theyre actually a "bad person." its fascist behavior. they dont want to acknowledge their place in the web of life because then they have to be more careful about how they act and they simply do not want to. they think its their god given right to not have to do anything thats difficult and reflecting on how you are influenced by the oppressive systems you live in is not just difficult but uncomfortable!

you are forcing people to confront some very very uncomfortable truths about themselves and they are reacting the only way they know how: by lashing out at the people around them.

it is a reflection on THEM not YOU. their reaction doesnt say anything about you or the opinion you stated and everything about the experiences and expectations and knowledge that inform the way they think about the world around them.

i just dont feel comfortable standing by and watching this happen to someone else. so i dont know what it means to you but, i completely agree with your original point and i am more than happy to defend it if you dont feel comfortable doing so. i know how scary it can be to face down a mob of people who you know might turn to violence if you dont comply and i know most people dont find it as easy to take harassment as i do. i am more than willing to fight the fight if you cant.

idk just. be kinder to yourself. you cant let these people get to you. i knows it so fucking hard. its so so fucking hard. but you dont have to do it alone.

i hope youre okay.

hey fren, I've seen it all but I'm sorry I'm not gonna respond to all that, I'm very thankful for your kind thoughts and words but it's kinda a bit much 😅

just know we're on the very same track about the whole thing. It's absolutely hilarious what some people wrote to me about an already reworded opinion on pillows, and i can genuinely just laugh about that

this entire thread turned so badly into satire with so many layers that it could almost be considered an artistic expression. after all, this is the internet, which was kinda the original ordeal of the post, and I took it and made it 1000% funnier by writing too quickly and then people came and made it 10000% funnier by becoming embarrassingly entrenched in some random ass online discourse

I like to half jokingly call this kind of behavior 'internet sickness', since as you also noted you can find this kind of behavior all over the internet. people see an entire universe full of people that seemingly get the attention they don't, but humans are fueled with attention, so sometimes you see someone do literally anything for that tiny tad of attention, even if they don't mean it. this may sound familiar from the way I word my posts sometimes, because as I made clear as day, I'm not better than that sometimes.

Admittedly, I also suppose not all of the angry asks and comments would have been so hostile if tumblr would show late reposts with their comments on an original post more clearly, which isn't so easy. This is why I pinned yet another polarizing post about it with a comment about the situation 🤭 some people would rather click to start another shitstorm than click to find out there's no reason for them to freak out. But often in the internet people don't freak out of hostility, but because they realize (but refuse to accept) they identify with something about the cause in some way, so that would be a positive thing I suppose. It's up to each of us individually to grow from that.

i don't get hard feelings about these people, and genuinely as a former Twitter user I'm kinda used to it. it's just an annoyance at some point, but I suppose it's also the attention I was looking for 💁

After all, I get to post this lyrical masterpiece once more in a well fitting context

[thedreadvampy]

I just think. that "they", while it is a pronoun that some people prefer for individual use, is also a pronoun which has always been used for when you don't know what pronoun is appropriate for someone. like. that is a major part of what it's for.

"they" can absolutely be misgendering when somebody knows that you use a different pronoun, or could reasonably expected to assume that. and the persistent they/themming of trans people in preference to using gendered pronouns is fucked.

however

I just think there's maybe space for some nuance when it comes to using they/them as a "don't know" pronoun. and I also think that this connects up with the fact that the internet is simultaneously very personal and very impersonal. because I keep seeing people go "how dare you call me they when my pronouns are Literally In My Bio" about strangers using they/them about the OP of a post they've reblogged. and like. idk about you but I do not look at the blog of every person whose post I reblog (or tbh any). I read the post I respond to the post I move on.

it's an uncomfortable truth about the internet that a LOT of online interactions are drive-by and anything that isn't in the body of a post will not be part of someone's experience. and that sucks tbh because you can't really control what happens once a post moves out of your immediate sphere. which is stressful and frustrating.

however.

it is. to me. quite weird that people react as if things like using neutral pronouns or not quite getting the context of a post or stepping over a boundary not stated in the post are malicious or deliberate actions. literally you can say "btw my pronouns are X" when it's important to you but it isn't an act of malice to Not Know Who You Are.

if you are gonna tell me you check the bios of every post you casually respond to or talk about or mention in tags I Do Not Believe You. that is so much additional steps. so why do you expect others to?

like I just think we need to be realistic about the degree of control we actually have over other's behaviour. people will not have read your dni before reblogging without comment something that came up on their dash. people do not check your bio before referring to you and they/them is the most reasonable pronoun to use if you don't know someone's pronouns. people are not required to preemptively trigger tag for you when you've never interacted with them.

people do not know who you are and they aren't Not Knowing Who You Are at you, you don't know who most of them are either. it sucks. I say speaking from I've practically abandoned Twitter this week bc my notes are out of control with people making the same three comments I've repeatedly tried to head off. but ultimately it's not Being Done At You. it's just a factor of being on a site with uncontrollable reblog chains. it's totally fair to be annoyed at it but it's not. actually a reasonable expectation that people will only reblog or comment on any post after doing 5-10 minutes of background reading about you. it's not how the site is designed. the site is designed to encourage instant gratification, reblogging from chains, skimming through stuff, and interacting with hundreds of people a day. your information is just not that important or memorable, sorry to say.

(this isn't to say that it's ok to keep using they/them when they've told you what their correct pronouns are, or that it's ok to keep crossing a boundary once you've had it directly pointed out to you. nor is it in my opinion fair to have an indepth interaction and back-and-forth with someone without at some point checking out their bio and clearly headlined boundaries. it's just that I do think a lot of people on here act like it's a deliberate act of aggression to not know who they are IMMEDIATELY IN THE FIRST INSTANCE and I do not. think that's a reasonable expectation of how social media interactions work, yk?)

[a-crimson-lion]

I Need To Stop Reading Into Things…😂

Yet again for @kiricookie .

[Check out this post first.]

So… we’re here again. Lord forgive me, I’m back on my bulls***.

Okay, jokes aside, I really should stop doing these things, but I am a stubborn individual. Plus, I wanna see how our notes compare, and try to have more civil discussions on the internet than I see on average. I’d reblog, but again, your post is already long as is (not incredibly long, but still), and I’d rather not occupy dashboard space more than I need to.

Alright, I think I’ve said my piece. Let’s talk about your post…

Oof. Starting right in the heart of the issue, really.

I am aware that Izuku is… incredibly likeable. I am aware that some of his issues, while perceived by some as noble, are heavily problematic and probably need to get sorted out before the boy gets a close audience with death. I am also aware that some of his habits are less than courteous in some circumstances, though like you said, Izuku has the benefit of having no malicious intent when it comes to these actions, even if they can come off as annoying.

Now, regarding Katsuki’s snail pace development… I get what you’re trying to say, but that doesn’t make it come off as any less frustrating...

As much as I want to believe that Katsuki’s upbringing in society is what’s stunted his growth so badly, I wish the narrative was more willing to show it. All we’ve gotten of Katsuki’s past are flashbacks from Izuku, remarks during the visit to the Bakugo household, and the “raised with violence” line from the Remedial Course arc. Now this understandably paints a pretty terrible picture, but uh… what has Katsuki done to try to fix it? How has Katsuki tried to demonstrate that his upbringing wasn’t justified? Why is he imitating the behaviors he supposedly despises, that supposedly keep him held back, instead of trying to find a workaround? I’ve only seen a few growth/redemption arcs of antagonistic characters, but even if the arcs took long, there was always an ultimate reason for doing so. And Katsuki doesn’t have that. At least, not yet.

It’s been implicitly established that Katsuki’s growth will be the mother of all slowburns. I’ve mentioned it in this old post of mine, but this is doing Katsuki no favors, at least for me. Now don’t get me wrong, I love myself a flawed character, but there’s only so much I can stomach before a flawed character becomes less “flawed” and more “asshole.” I personally believe that his true growth doesn’t get started until “Deku vs. Kacchan 2” (Episode 61), but if we really wanna consider that “Bakugo’s Start Line” (Episode 8) is his… well, start line, then that only makes it worse. Because again, his character arc is, as we’ve established, slow. But the fact that it’s slow enough for several other character arcs to transpire (Shoto, Tenya), as well as slow enough to allow “background characters” some significant development and return to relevancy (Eijiro, Hitoshi), I start wanting to stop holding my breath for his arc’s supposedly inevitable conclusion. Now I know you personally consider the suspense a positive, but it’s the opposite for me. I’d chalk it up to impatience, but again, MULTIPLE character arcs have transpired, and a few have been far more believably gradual compared to Katsuki’s.

While it is impressive that Katsuki was willing to pour out his feelings to Izuku, I’d like to argue that it wasn’t as… well, sentimental. Remember that society and Izuku’s peers before UA regarded him as the lowest of the low. The weakest, the most worthless. “The pebble in the path.” Considering that Katsuki lost the Training Exercise AND technically got outsmarted by Izuku, who was considered this until VERY RECENTLY, I’d imagine that’d be one hell of a blow to his ego. It is still significant that he’s willing to talk to Izuku about this, but it’s not exactly because he’s humbling himself. It’s because he’s begrudgingly admitting that he’s not the best, and it’s been well established that he HATES not being the absolute best. And I don’t know about you, but suddenly getting your high expectations crushed after years of nothing but “positive reinforcement” should not be made as big of a deal as it is here. I’m not saying to get over it, because you’ll never get over it, you have to live with it and learn from it, but don’t make it seem like it’s the end of the world and a half like Katsuki did in that scene. Plus, didn’t he essentially reaffirm that he was going to do what he planned to do from the start of his tenure at UA? I mean, good on him for his dedication, but you’d think the guy would want to take a step back and actually try to learn from others if they were so impressive.

Now, the DC Superhero franchise falls in and out from my radar at times, but I don’t think Katsuki and Batman are a good comparison for the point you're trying to make. Yes they both use violence, and yes they’re both intimidating, but for entirely different reasons. Batman uses fear tactics because he finds them efficient; I don’t know what they’re doing with his character nowadays, but from what I can gather in his earlier incarnations, Batman’s not out for blood. Vengeace, sure, but he doesn’t waste time getting there beating the snot out of his enemies. He takes care of them, sends them off, and keeps on trucking. Before they tried making him even more edgy, he didn’t kill and he kept away from firearms because he was well aware of any issues he had. He may not be a goodie two-shoes like most heroes, but he does show definitive empathy in some of his earlier incarnations. Remember, Batman was the kid who lost his parents to injustice. That was his entire reason for taking up the cowl, for becoming more than Bruce Wayne. In the Justice League Unlimited Episode “Epilogue,” he has the option to kill Ace, a teen villain with dangerously growing psychic powers. He doesn’t do that. He takes the seat next to Ace as she begins to die. He offers his support as Ace has to confront the terrifying realization that she is dying. He’s helping another scared kid, because he knows what it’s like.

That’s heroism. That’s Batman.

Katsuki’s motivations and actions aren’t as sympathetic. Him lashing out isn’t for anything strategical; early on in the series and even after his “Start Line,” up until the Endeavor Agency Arc, I believe, Katsuki’s sole motivations are victory and bloodlust. Even if it seems like he’s growing more chivalrous with his resolve, he backslides so many times back into the angry loudmouth trope its hard to want to keep hope, because if he can backslide multiple times before, what’s to stop him from backsliding again? It ruins the suspense for some people. And people are intimidated by Katsuki, but that’s because he’s borderline unhinged. I’d be scared s***less too if a pyrokinetic powerhouse was gunning on me with his eyes glowing like the fires of Hell as he radiated killing intent (an exaggeration, but still). I have yet to see Katsuki use this intimidation “tactic” of his beyond the fact that he appears to be enjoying it, either.

Alright, enough of that, let’s analyze that penultimate question: why hate Katsuki? If you asked me early on, I would say that yes, I don’t like him because he hurts Izuku. But as I’ve continued looking throughout the series, I now say that I don’t like him because, contrary to what he says, virtually everything is handed to him. Most of the time, its people mistaking his battle thirst as chivalrous determination, whether it be against a villain or just a standard opponent. He never tries to make himself any more “likeable,” and while Class 1-A is quick to call him out for this in the USJ Arc, by the Sports Festival they’re all flocking to him, and I have yet to understand any proper reasoning for this. It’s less like Katsuki proving there’s more to him than meets the eye and earning the respect of his peers, and more so that people latch on to the abstract concept of Katsuki’s coolness and strength, and he just begrudgingly tolerates them from there.

I mean, Eijiro was wholeheartedly against Katsuki’s actions during the Battle Trial, yet by the USJ the difference is night and day, and it doesn’t help that he’s interpreting Katsuki’s desire to beat up villains as “faith in his classmates.” Shoto was abused by Endeavor, so the fact that he can’t at least draw some comparisons between Katsuki and his sperm donor is slightly concerning, and while I want to chalk it up to his stunted social skills, I feel like Hori and/or his editors trying to shove in a friendship to increase their overall likeability (especially Katsuki’s) is more likely. Don’t even get me started on the hoops they jump through in the Joint Training Arc. Not even gonna touch that…

Okay, finally made it to the last paragraph. So, here’s something about me you may or may not like: I don’t like people dying, good or bad. Unless their actions are comparable to that of Satan, or at least close, then they shouldn’t get the axe. Why?

Because a dead person can’t change… and a dead person can’t suffer.

Believe me, even though I’ve fallen off the bandwagon a long time ago, I want Katsuki to change for the better. And he can’t do that if he’s dead. The manga’s most recent arc has been hella frustrating because of that, and no spoilers, but the two deaths that did occur did not leave me in high spirits. Hawks, Shigaraki, you both are on thin f***ing ice I swear. So no, lucky for you, I do NOT want to see Katsuki dead just because he happens to be an ass. What I wanna see is proper repercussions that go beyond being a villain hostage and having everyone else’s potential trauma downplayed for the sake of giving Katsuki more sympathy points.

Also, I’m well aware Katsuki’s death would absolutely ruin Izuku. I am also well aware that it is one of the few concrete facts I hate with nearly every fiber of my body. Not because of what it says about Izuku…

...but because I am sick and tired of Katsuki continuing to be the arrogant s*** he is, whether it be his genuine feelings or merely a front. I am sick of the fact that for as smart and aware that someone like him is, he still insists on trying to act like a badass when there is no need or overall expectation to do so. I am sick that he continues to decide to put himself and others in jeopardy, all for the purpose of maintaining his ego. I am sick that he gets all this support, all this help, and yet his development is still worse than a snail’s pace, and the narrative continues to keep letting him off with love taps and leaving him unfairly unprepared for the kill shot.

...maybe Katsuki deserves to get better. But is this really the best way to do it? Really?

Thanks for listening. Hope you got something from all of that.

-Crimson Lion (24 August 2020)

[batbabycollectorninjafan]

Dr Disrespect Resumes Streaming To Over 400,000 Viewers And Plenty Of Questions

Image: YouTube / Dr Disrespect

In June, Twitch permanently banned one of its biggest stars, Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, with no public indication as to why. Today, Beahm streamed for the first time since getting the big, purple boot from Twitch—now on YouTube. He was met by hundreds of thousands of concurrent viewers. And questions.

Beahm announced his return yesterday, leaving his YouTube channel on a “live” splash screen for nearly 24 hours and allowing fans to spend money to join his “Champion’s Club,” which is what he used to call his Twitch subscribers. Many did. As soon as Beahm began streaming for real this afternoon, over 400,000 concurrent viewers showed up to gawk at his much-hyped return. Less than half an hour in, that number hit just over 500,000 before slumping into a slow decline. Numerous viewers gave Beahm money. Around 30 minutes into the stream, he said the Champion’s Club already had “over 15 million” members. When in character, Beahm has a habit of substituting “thousand” with “million,” so it’s likely that over 15,000 people have already signed up for a $5 per month subscription. Unsurprisingly, big streaming returns remain a lucrative business.

Beahm began the stream by saying that he had no big plans and was taking an unscripted approach. However, he did address the elephant that’s going to follow him into any room he walks into for the foreseeable future. In response to questions about his Twitch ban, he reiterated what he claimed during an obviously orchestrated publicity tour of various press outlets last month.

“In regards to the ban, there’s a lot of people who want to know what happened,” he said during the stream. “Guess what: I want you to look me in my fucking eyes when I say this; I really want you to look me in my eyes when I say this. We still have no idea. We have no idea. ‘Yeah, right dude, I’m not buying that one.’ Bunch of phonies. We have no idea. And I’m gonna tell you this right now: As far as I’m concerned, we didn’t do anything to warrant a ban, let alone how they ended up banning us. No communication before. No reaching out. Boom. Done.”

He went on to acknowledge that people are “anxious” for an answer, but also attributed that anxiety to a “small percentage” instead of, you know, the entire internet. “You know what they want: something bad to happen out of it,” he said. “Let’s not beat around the bush.”

G/O Media may get a commission

As he said this, many viewers in chat typed messages like “WE WANT ANSWERS,” while others called them haters, said they didn’t care, and welcomed Beahm back.

Twitch clearly does not want this information in the hands of the public and has, so far, prevented that from happening, despite sustained efforts on the part of Kotaku and other journalists, as well as a veritable stampede of rabidly curious internet denizens.

Beahm noted, however, that there’s still quite a bit going on in the background: “Last thing I’m gonna say about it: And I have to be intelligent about all of this, because you’re talking about a heavy contract, lots of money,” he said, referencing his previous deal with Twitch. “So let the legal professionals do what they need to do. That’s it. Period.”

He went on to describe the ban as “a speed bump,” but “now we’re back on the road.”

Beahm’s big comeback does not mean he’s in the clear. While some have taken his Twitch ban to be part of a publicity stunt, the fact remains that an enormous streaming platform doesn’t just tear up a multimillion dollar contract with one of its biggest earners for no reason. When he first got banned, sources told Kotaku and others that Twitch abruptly ended its relationship with Beahm over something very “serious.” In the time since, Kotaku has spoken to numerous sources in and around Twitch and has learned that even most Twitch employees do not know why Beahm got exiled from the Amazon-owned streaming platform. Several have described the company’s approach to this information as a “lockdown” limited to a handful of top people. Even Twitch’s partnerships team, which is often involved in these sorts of matters, got bypassed, sources told Kotaku. Twitch clearly does not want this information in the hands of the public and has, so far, prevented that from happening, despite sustained efforts on the part of Kotaku and other journalists, as well as a veritable stampede of rabidly curious internet denizens.

In the absence of further information and thanks to Beahm’s savvy manipulation of that vacuum, fans have rallied to his side, assuming that Twitch acted maliciously and their favorite streamer is innocent of wrongdoing. It’s an easy judgement to make; Twitch is notoriously inconsistent, prone to a lack of transparency, and bad at communicating. Sponsors like Mountain Dew Game Fuel continue to work with Beahm, which further paints Twitch as an outlier. This is an expected outcome when corporate secrets collide with the modern, personality-driven internet. Even if something smells extremely fishy, fans and companies aren’t gonna drop a beloved, lucrative star until circumstance leaves them with absolutely no other choice.

At this point, Beahm is operating on YouTube independently. He is not signed to any sort of partnership deal or contract a la the one he had with Twitch. The Verge says he intends to stream on Facebook and his own website, as well.

At one point during today’s stream, Beahm semi-joked about how expensive the houses and cars that he owns are. “For a second there, I thought I was in trouble,” he said, referencing questions about his career following his Twitch ban. For the time being, however, he’s trying to treat this as business as usual. During today’s stream, he got caught up on recent gaming events: Rogue Company, Fall Guys, and Halo Infinite, among others. Then he played Call of Duty: Warzone. He also claimed that he’s starting a production company. He talked trash. He boasted and bragged. He flexed. He yelled. It was standard Dr Disrespect, the sort of thing he could have easily done on Twitch if he hadn’t been kicked to the curb a couple months ago.

But he was. And hardly anybody knows why. No matter how hard he tries to swerve, pivot, and reboot his career, that will continue to hang over his head—at least, for the time being.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that Beahm’s stream topped out at just under 500,000 concurrent viewers when it actually managed just over 500,000.

[paradox-media]

Fandom and its Mentality

If you’re a fan of anything in 2020, chances are you know what a fandom is. You know the ones, their twitter handles will include their faves name in some way shape or form, followed by a colour or a body part and their icons will never be a picture of themselves, (myself included – mines a picture of Oscar Isaac right now.) They’re usually everywhere on your feed whether you follow any of them or not and will probably tell you to “STAN LOONA” under your tweets for no reason. Not every fan is the same though, there are casual ones out there that just lurk in the distant shadows and simply buy their merchandise and go. It’s not inherently a bad thing to be either type of these fans, but there is definitely a stigma that surrounds fandom and fans alike.

If you’ve picked this magazine up, the chances are that you like K-pop or are at least interested in some way and if not then hi, welcome, it’s a bit of a mess in here. But fandom isn’t just for K-pop fans, if you’ve been around on the internet for the last few years you’ll have seen the Star Wars fandom explode in popularity with the release of the new trilogy and subsequently The Mandalorian to match – those who ship ‘Reylo’ and those who don’t (FinnPoe for life – looking at you, Disney, give Oscar Isaac what he wants).

The concept is the same, though, and most of the time it’s two sides of the same coin and you either think that fandom and fans are okay or you think they’re crazy and honestly I can see both sides. Let people enjoy what they want! If someone wants to create an account that solely features pictures of Jonghyun from SHINee every single day then do it – so long as you’re not being disrespectful then you post those pictures. I’ll probably follow you myself if you do. The issue lies when people begin to forget who they are and are being consumed by their fandom and thing that they enjoy, and those who become rude towards those who are or aren’t fans are usually singled out pretty quickly.

“You haven’t streamed this song enough you’re not a true fan,” “You don’t own all of their albums? Fake fan,” “Ew you like x group? Flops.” Can’t we just let people enjoy whatever artist they like in their own time? Surely we can, right? There are people out there that can’t afford to buy every single album from every single group that they like and that’s okay! Monetary value doesn’t equate to how much or how little you like and enjoy someone’s work. Of course you’re going to have people out there who don’t like the same groups or even genres as you, and if you think that maybe they’ll like a song absolutely tell them about it, but don’t be rude.

Telling someone to “STAN LOONA” underneath a tweet about something serious like politics, bereavement or bad news is just going to make larger communities hate not only your fandom but also the group you stan as a result. We’re working hard enough as it is to remove stigmas revolving around K-pop as a genre and the fans and you’re not exactly helping, I’m just saying. All people are ‘gonna think is “wow, ‘gonna stay as far away from that as possible” and, congratulations, you’ve helped to give your fandom a bad name.

When asked “What do you think of fandoms and their mentality?” one fan had this to say: “Fandoms can be positive in many ways – online fandoms can create friendships, make people feel that their passions and interests are relevant and important and are often fun and safe spaces. However, they can also create a negative mentality – fandoms fight [between themselves] and wherever there is any sort of online presence there will be jealousy, bullying and a means of competition.” B, 20, South London. Another fan had a similar opinion: “Fandom spaces can be extremely powerful. Fandom creates a network of people all with one thing in common wherein everyone can feel supported in their love for that one thing. This support and understanding can create spaces for people to share things about themselves, [the] things they create and form friendships.

I think the problem within fandoms, such as obsession, jealousy and malicious behaviour all come from a place of insecurity; a place where people think they are owed something else – be it attention, love or recognition – from others within the fandom, other existing fandoms or even the thing they celebrate in the first place.” L, 20, South London.

On a more serious note, these spaces online are extremely important to those who may not be able to get out and socialise as much as they would like. Different disabilities, social anxiety or financial issues are just a few examples of obstacles that may stop someone from going out to socialise and social media helps these people to connect with others. Now when this magazine is released, we’ll hopefully be through the worst of the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) virus that’s been sweeping through the country (thanks, Boris.) And as shitty as its been with pasta and toilet roll being sold out in your local Sainabury’s, social distancing during this pandemic has only proven just how vital social media can become when faced with the inability to go outside and socialise face to face. Despite all of the negative connotations that mainstream popular media likes to portray of social media and online friendships, they can be extremely helpful and positive.

I mean come on now, we’re not living in the early noughties anymore, it’s very very unlikely that the person on the other end of the conversation is not who they say they are (please still be careful though – you truly never do know.)

Music and pop culture fandoms are not the only ones to exist online – technically if you’re a football fan you’re a part of a fandom as unusual as that sounds (those unhealthy stereotypes of young teenage girls being the only ones in fandoms really shows). It’s not quite the same, I’m sure there isn’t a Archive Of Our Own account out there dedicated to Jurgen Klopp but never say never, that’s a niche that probably doesn’t need to be filled but would be funny as fuck if it was.

Regardless of what you think about fandoms and whether or not you believe in the stereotypes you have to admit – they’re pretty fucking cool. Millions of people brought together under one shared interest, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation or ethnicity in THIS economy? That’s pretty special. Count me in.