i miss when i could say i love undertale without feeling obligatory amounts of stigma and shame. i really wish it didn’t become another “fandom” thing, just a game that stands on its own merits similar to OFF

ponett:

ahahaha oh man you have no idea, do you? off also had its own big obnoxious fandom on tumblr back in like, 2012. it was HUGE on this site for a few months. it shared a lot of similarities with the undertale fandom, in fact, just on a smaller scale

listen. fandoms are bad. all of them. there is no such thing as a large fandom that doesn’t have a ton of obnoxious, overzealous fans. but feeling shame because a game you like has some annoying fans or some dumb matpat videos or whatever? that’s all on you buddy. this is coming from someone who still loves my little pony: friendship is magic in a world where the brony fandom is a thing

also, shit like this really grinds me gears because it’s fucking KILLER for indie creators like toby fox. undertale hardly has any sort of marketing budget and only became popular thanks to word of mouth (and the fact that toby already had a decent following online from his homestuck music). games like undertale live and die by the fans. turning on a piece of media and disavowing it just because it has “cringey” fans that the creator has no control over? that has a real impact on indie creators

knock that shit off. don’t be embarrassed to love the stuff you love. you should be happy to see such a great game by an independent creator find an audience. you should be happy that it’s done well for toby. don’t wish for the artists you love to languish in obscurity just so you can keep feeling cool for knowing about them

Cringe culture is the cringiest thing frankly. Embrace positivity for the things you care about, especially for the things you claim to love and want to support. What you say matters to indie properties as much as what you pay for imo (needless to say, if you want to support a particular property you should do both)

hey, here is a super fun thing everyone should do it!!

landofsomethingsomething:

purplepurpleunicornsparkle:

Don’t act like dicks towards real women in an attempt defend the honour of fictional women.

reminder that content creators in fandom are overwhelmingly statistically likely to be queer women and attacking real people for engaging with fictional works in ways you don’t identify with, enjoy or want to see is probably not the best way to support & encourage queer women, narratives & media.

lift up what you like. create the content you want to see and encourage others who are creating that content. a supportive environment and collaborative fandom is so much more diverse, productive, interesting and pleasant to exist in than one where ppl become afraid to publicly post their fanworks due to relentless negativity and purity policing.

we all deserve content that we relate to, but no one is entitled to receive Their Thing from any one specific creator. so many artists and writers accept requests and commissions. if you arent satisfied by the representation Your Thing has in the fandom, create or encourage/support its creation. negativity wont result in more of Your Thing!

fandom is something that is ultimately born out of a place of love – love for a thing that inspires us to pour hours upon hours of energy into discussion, into art, into fiction, into community projects. it’s something that connects people who otherwise would never meet and can result in lifelong bonds. fandom literally changes people’s lives. i would have never met my wife without it. i would have never met my best friends. I wouldn’t be living where I am now, I wouldn’t have the job I have now, my life has been shaped by the connections I made in various fandoms throughout the years.

you can do so much good out here. don’t be the reason fandom changes someone’s life for the worse when you have the power to empower, encourage and support – again, overwhelmingly queer women – instead.

thanks 4 reading.

“Fake news” – fandom edition

dendritic-trees:

buckyballbearing:

In 2k17, a lot of us have pledged to be more cautious about ‘fake news’ posts on Facebook

I propose we extend that concern to fandom

There’s a very low bar on this site (or any site) for people to post whatever tf they want, and a very high incentive to post fake receipts to win arguments

(Or at the least, misleading “receipts” such as “Artist XYZ is a bad person” because they drew a picture of bad things happening to completely fictional characters)

So this year, if you see a callout post:

Look for signs of bias. I have the sneaking suspicion that “XYZ-is-bad.tumblr.com” is not an objective source.

Be wary of unsourced accusations. “Person A is a homophobe!” is a statement, not evidence. Look for original sources. Did Person A post “I hate gay people” on their blog? Or did they draw fanart of an unpopular het pairing?

Look for context. Check out Person A’s blog to see if you have the whole picture. Did Person A pick a fight out of nowhere, or was that viral post made in response to an anon harassing them?

Ask “what real person was hurt”. Writing a fanfic is not the same as committing a crime in real life. If Person B claims that Person A is a real-life “abuser” because they shipped two (100% fictional!) characters, Person B is out of line.

Consider ulterior motives. Did Person A recently open a Patreon and receive a slew of hateful messages about ‘selling out’? Did Person B have an argument about characterization with their co-author and then suddenly “reveal” a list of unsourced accusations? Who stands to gain if someone else is driven out of fandom by angry anons?

Long story short, I don’t believe everyone in fandom is evil – nor that every accusation is unfounded. I do believe that unfortunately, in this modern ‘post-truth’ world, we are all going to have to get much better at fact checking and source validity…both in fandom and in real life.

I love this.

One little thing I find helps with this is to remember:

A thing that makes you feel bad, is not necessarily a thing that is bad.

So, you know, people shipping your NOTP, or having headcanons that contradict yours or writing fic on topics that make you frightened or uncomfortable is actually upsetting. And you can totally be upset about it.

But it doesn’t actually follow, necessarily, that the person upsetting you, is actually doing something wrong. They might be. Its possible. But its more likely you need to add some tags to your blacklist and put it from your mind.