Don't Be A Dick - Blog Posts

So I was on a chess "competition" at school today. And, just to clear it up immediately, I'm not really that amazing at chess, okay? But I know the rules, I know what to do, okay? I know how to play. And this one girl whose friend I was playing against was so f*cking full of her self. And she started to help her friend play. She literally was whispering to her friend what to do, how to move and everything. I was so mad. The professor warned her to stop helping her friend, but she didn't stop. She was so f*ucking smug. However... I whipped both of their smirks off in like 3 minutes by winning so yeah.

A few more things:

- If you don’t like something, keep it to yourself or your private group chats. You may feel the urge to critique someone’s art, review someone’s fanfics or disagree with how a character is portrayed in creative fanworks, but unless the creator states otherwise, any criticism - even constructive - is unsolicited and rude.

It is encouraged that we consume media critically - media literacy is important if we want meaningful thoughts-nurturing conversations. That being said, we don’t criticize creators of non-monetized fanworks for depicting topics deemed “problematic”. Fandom and its creative force are not to be held to the same standards as published authors and studios behind the piece of media that birthed them.

- You don’t have to like a ship and you are well within your right to critique it, but do not under any circumstances post a critcism of a ship under the ship tag. That’s what anti-ship tags are for.

The Three Laws of Fandom

If you wish to take part in any fandom, you need to accept and respect these three laws.

If you aren’t able to do that, then you need to realise that your actions are making fandom unsafe for creators. That you are stifling creativity.

Like vaccination, fandom only works if everyone respects these rules. Creators need to be free to make their fanart, fanfics and all other content without fear of being harassed or concern-trolled for their creative choices, no matter whether you happen to like that content or not.

The First Law of Fandom

Don’t Like; Don’t Read (DL;DR)

It is up to you what you see online. It is not anyone else’s place to tell you what you should or should not consume in terms of content; it is not up to anyone else to police the internet so that you do not see things you do not like. At the same time, it is not up to YOU to police fandom to protect yourself or anyone else, real or hypothetical.

There are tools out there to help protect you if you have triggers or squicks. Learn to use them, and to take care of your own mental health. If you are consuming fan-made content and you find that you are disliking it - STOP.

The Second Law of Fandom

Your Kink Is Not My Kink (YKINMK)

Simply put, this means that everyone likes different things. It’s not up to you to determine what creators are allowed to create. It’s not up to you to police fandom. 

If you don’t like something, you can post meta about it or create contrarian content yourself, seek to convert other fans to your way of thinking.  

But you have no right to say to any creator “I do not like this, therefore you should not create it. Nobody should like this. It should not exist.”

It’s not up to you to decide what other people are allowed to like or not like, to create or not to create. That’s censorship. Don’t do it.

The Third Law of Fandom

Ship And Let Ship (SALS)

Much (though not all) fandom is about shipping. There are as many possible ships as there are fans, maybe more. You may have an OTP (One True Pairing), you may have a NOTP, that pairing that makes you want to barf at the very thought of its existence.

It’s not up to you to police ships or to determine what other people are allowed to ship. Just because you find that one particular ship problematic or disgusting, does not mean that other people are not allowed to explore its possibilities in their fanworks.

You are free to create contrarian content, to write meta about why a particular ship is repulsive, to discuss it endlessly on your private blog with like-minded persons.

It is not appropriate to harass creators about their ships, it is not appropriate to demand they do not create any more fanworks about those ships, or that they create fanwork only in a manner that you deem appropriate.

These three laws add up to the following:

You are not paying for fanworks content, and you have no rights to it other than to choose to consume it, or not consume it. If you do choose to consume it, do not then attack the creator if it wasn’t to your taste. That’s the height of bad manners.

Be courteous in fandom. It makes the whole experience better for all of us.

If you like this offensive dickhead, you know you are a dickhead, too.

Your fragile male whiteness is disgusting.

We shouldn’t have to beg for basic human decency

If you're an adult and you're bullying a minor then you're embarrassing I'm sorry. Though every single bully is embarrassing no matter the age.

I just deleted a post, because the original person who asked the question I replied to was 13 and I figured the likelihood of well-meaning people bullying them was just too high, and they had their learning experience.

(Don't do that. Don't send hate messages. Don't bully.)

when you're having a bad hair day and it's a monday so you gotta face the hoes

( be nice i am aware that i am not very attractive lol )

Off the record, I’ve had something on my mind recently.

I’m a small fan of Star Wars, K? Like, it’s not my most favorite thing ever, but I watched the original three movies enough when I was younger to have an amount of emotional investment in it. But I’ve never once actually interacted with its fandom.

And you know what? Honestly? I’m kind of glad I hadn’t.

Because I look at its fandom now, with the newer sequels coming out, the launch of the new EA game ‘Fallen Order’ in less than a month...and most of the people I’ve seen are absolutely frothing at the mouth. And it’s honestly so ridiculous, especially since this has been happening since the freaking Prequels.

That’s not to say that every fan is like that. I’ve also seen a fair share of fans out there who, like myself, want to enjoy this franchise for what it is. But the flip side of that is, there are even MORE fans who carry that mindset, and decide to boycott whatever doesn’t meet their own personal standards. So lemme be upfront with y’all out there who carry that ‘it’s not for me so I’m gonna ruin it for everyone else because you all have to hate it too’ mindset;

The world does NOT revolve around you. Cause honestly? ‘Fallen Order’ looks s i c k in my opinion and I genuinely hope it turns out to be as good as it seems. ‘The Rise Of Skywalker’, while it might not turn out to be the best film ever, still gives me goosebumps.

So there. I’ve just incurred the wrath of the SW fandom by saying those sentences together. And I don’t really care tbh. I’m getting far too tired of drama to care about what other people say.

Just let people enjoy things man. Me personally? I’m not as big of a fan of the sequel movies as I’d like, but that’s FINE. Because that doesn’t mean I hate them, that doesn’t mean I’m going to boycott anyone who DOES like or love the movies. Yes, please do think critically of what you’re watching, but there’s a fine line between ‘critical thinking’ and just ‘frothing at the mouth blind hate’ and ‘making up s*** just to rally people to my cause’. Think critically. That doesn’t mean ‘hate this thing’, it means taking a NEUTRAL stance to look at both sides of an argument, and coming to your own conclusions.

Let people enjoy the Sequels if they do. Let people enjoy the Prequels if they do. Let people enjoy the games if they do. Just let people bloody enjoy things and don’t throw fits at them when the disagree with you. This doesn’t even have to apply solely to Star Wars, with ANYTHING out there. As long as they’re not hurting other people, just let others enjoy things. Just be a kind person ok?...don’t be a bloody dick.