#when i heard zar deleted all their fics i was like. yeah

[rewritingcanon]

i just want to add to this a little (everything op said is completely valid and real, btw), just on the point of how creators for the marauders fandom are either specifically praised or shunned. it is insane the amount of criticism i’ve seen on works (mostly fanfics as i interact with them the most) that are bashing a fic or EVEN THE AUTHOR because they aren’t characterising someone to their liking.

this is real for the hp fandom in general, but seeing as its so normalised (at least i see it personally more often) in the marauders fandom, its just a whole other layer of out of touch.

characters from the marauders era have very little canon evidence on them, save from a select few. some of your favs are only mentioned a few times in the series, some only once. so there literally is no ‘right way’ to characterise them (and even if there was, its fanfic, which deviates from canon inherently, so its not even that big of a deal if your personal version of them was canon).

there’s this joke going around in the marauders fandom, where they call popular and well-loved fics ‘canon.’ there begins a whole sub fandom off that one fic, as if its actually canon. its a joke but i think people have actually internalised it and started judging other works to a certain standard that has become multiplied across the fandom. i dont want to name names of fics, but i’ve seen people comment on others work that this gives them *insert popular marauders fic* vibes. it can be taken well by some, but others may just find it incredibly disheartening, because it is to an extent. which is why, as op said, its so hard for smaller marauder creators to be interacted with.

this fandom can be really egotistical at times tbh. now that zar has stepped back from the fandom, people are more worried about not being able to read their fics anymore, rather then their well-being (i've literally seen people BEGGING on tiktok for docs of their writing,,, they literally took down their fics because they were not comfortable with people reading them anymore (you are crossing boundaries, people!),,, get a grip).

known fandom authors / fanart artists are put on a pedestal and treated like a celebrity and like they hold the almighty truth. you do realize that these people that give you content through your devices are people too, right? they go grocery shopping and they listen to music and they go to sleep the same way that you do, and just because they happened to blow up on xyz platform does not give anyone the right to cross their boundaries and ask things from them literally just because.

and don't get me wrong, i love it that people enjoy reading and looking at fanart and whatnot, but it's important that the creator feels the same way, because you can't have an enjoyable fandom experience if people constantly ask things for you and criticize your work to bits. you don't like the way someone wrote a certain character or a certain scene or anything else? do it yourself, or look for something that has specifically what you are looking for. stop demanding things from artists, and don't pressure them into doing things they don't want to. you have to realize that these people create content for free and put it out for people to enjoy. for free. and yet people are still ungrateful and hateful of content they paid nothing to see.

a thing that fandoms in general seem to not grasp is that content creators likely create content the way they see it and the way they like it, because they like it. if you don't like it, it's that easy to click off instead of sending hate mail and of demanding a certain thing be written / drawn the way you see it. and it's one thing to request something, and one thing to demand / pressure someone into something.

recently, so many people are driven away / taking a break from this fandom for this exact reason. popular content creators are praised to the point that the people who consume their art seem to believe that they are not human anymore, and unpopular content creators are driven away because nobody engages with their creations. don't get me wrong, engage with whatever you want, but it's disheartening, seeing people be acclaimed while nobody interacts with you.

(also, @sunshinemarauders did a thesis on the subject of harassment and this kind of behavior in fandom, and the rates are absolutely alarming. for more insight on their research, you can check their account to see the data and the conclusions.)

like previously mentioned, fandom is supposed to be an enjoyable experience and some people are ruining the fun of other people. stop it. please realize that your actions have consequences.