blocking tip: you don't have to wait to have a negative interaction with someone to block them. you can block them without ever interacting with them. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone being rude to someone else and preemptively blocked them
Hi hey hello. I wanted to share a small life update, partly to explain my recent difficulty with posting or being active online.
The past months of my life (around eight I think?) have not been easy or calm, even though from the outside it may have seemed that things were slowly stabilizing. It has been a period of intense health-related and emotional challenges, including increased anxiety, the return of difficult memories, and changes in my medication, which have also had a significant impact on my hormonal health.
This time has been very demanding for me â both physically and mentally. At moments, it left me feeling lost and questioning the sense of my efforts, especially when, despite trying, I could not see the results I hoped for. There were times when I wondered whether it would be easier to simply give up and step away from everything. It has also influenced how I see my own abilities and my relationships with others.
Recent experiences in interpersonal relationships, especially on a social and friendly level, have been difficult and have somewhat shaken my sense of trust and the authenticity of the connections I hoped to build. I am not sharing this as a complaint, but rather as an honest description of where I am and what I am currently going through.
I hope my situation is at least partly understandable. Right now, I am focusing on regaining balance and gradually rebuilding stability so that I can return to my previous level of functioning. I would be grateful for a little patience and understanding during this time.âš
back when my brother was like a half way through KCD1, I'd regularly ask him where he is, to not spoil anything by accident
which usually worked fine, except for one occassion
at the time, when he was running around Sassau and doing investigation there, I mentioned something about meeting a guy, who'll say a bit more about what's going on - to which my brother went with the funniest quote he could've:
'what info? that ƻwirek has a thing going on with Muchomorek?'
first of all - that's a reference to the Polish translation of Shrek; second of all - to the unfamiliar, Ć»wirek (KĆemĂlek) and Muchomorek (VochomĆŻrka) are characters from Czechoslovak cartoon PohĂĄdky z mechu a kapradĂ and they look like this:
so I couldn't help myself and said:
'well, kind of'
my brother stood there quiet for a moment, gears in his head turning, finally he asked:
'...are the villains a gay couple?'
at that point my isterik shipping ass couldn't do much more than just confirm, not my fault he's too clever for his own good sometimes đ
.
.
.
also please, enjoy this little drawing made to honor my brother's unintended moment of brilliance:
(yes, I've shown it to him, he was delighted â€ïž)
I have a bone to pick with you, submas fandom. As a blankshipper, as a nsfw/kink artist, and as a fellow human being.
I will preface that this might be kind of poor timing on my part, but this draft has been sitting in my docs for about two weeks and if things are up in flames I may as well say my piece as well. This has nothing to do with the dumpster fire that is happening in the corner of this fandom right now. I wonât get into detail about my feelings on that, except that Iâm very mad about it :)Â
I also do not plan on entertaining bullshit; if you message or reply to me in bad faith, I will not respond. If you and I are not on the same page of âfictional depictions of dark and taboo subjects should be allowed to exist in the worldâ then you will not like what I have to say, and I invite you to block me right now, for both our sakes.
This is a vent, but it is also addressed to the people in this fandom who consider themselves neutral or anti-harrassment, because yâall are the ones who might actually listen. I would be thankful if you are able to read this through to the end.
Iâm frustrated with some of you. Iâve tried to temper my frustration while editing this because I think a lot of it is just obliviousness, but I apologize in advance if my frustration comes through in how I write this.
To be blunt, as someone who is still fairly new to submas fandom, I am disheartened and kind of disgusted with how normalized and insidious the contempt towards blankshippers is within the submas fandom. Whether you like it or not, blankshippers ARE part of submas fandom. Blankshippers, particularly in Eastern fandoms, continue to help build and maintain the fandom. We draw art, we write fic, and yes, sometimes we even create works that have nothing to do with shipping. I think to deny that, whether you personally like the ship or not, is ignorant.
And yet, English-speaking submas fandom has normalized bullying people over a ship and over kink content. The obsessive stalking and harassment that has been on full display the last few months is the most obvious example, but I think itâs easy for most people to point at these more extreme instances and say âThis is not what we stand for; we do not condone this; this is Bad Behaviour.â
Itâs the quieter aspects of it that feel largely unaddressed. Itâs the words that jump out at you during an average scroll through the submas tag on tumblr, or that you might see from someone you just recently followed on twitter. Itâs a death-by-a-thousand-cuts situation; itâs not the sole action of one person, but the accumulated small actions of many.
Itâs the sort of thing that keeps me from pressing the follow button, even if I like the work someone posts. Itâs the sort of thing that makes me scroll past a piece of art I like without making a comment, even though I really would like to. I donât even bother entertaining the idea of signing up for group events or projects in the EN space, because Iâve seen them fall apart over shipcourse time and time again. I have to consciously weigh if itâs worth the risk of receiving a scathing reply to my earnest compliment. I have to decide if it's worth following someone whose art I enjoy, but might end up catching strays in their casual posts and comments. I have to decide if my very presence might be offensive to every new person I might want to quietly follow. I have to decide if I want to bear the burden of knowing that commenting on someoneâs work might get them in trouble.
Itâs the casual âkill blankshippersâ in twitter replies that goes uncontested. Itâs the obnoxious âNot blankshipping! Donât you dare get it twisted!â disclaimers on selfcest art (as if blankshippers arenât aware of selfcest shipping from the JP side of fandom? We know how to tell the twins apart â so who is that disclaimer really for?). Itâs tagging fics on ao3 with âblankshippers DNIâ in an attempt to exclude us from even interacting with gen/platonic works. Itâs casually calling the ship âgrossâ, or insisting that you âdonât approve of itâ as an unnecessary side note to your criticism of harassment campaigns.
(And I have to ask; do you still enjoy art by popular Japanese shippers? Do you make an exception for people who have reached a certain threshold of skill, who have a style you like, who might feel more distanced due to a language barrier? If so, why is that, I wonder?)
Itâs insidious and moreover, itâs isolating. This fandom treats us like weâre a freakish spectacle, or like weâre crazed sexual deviants who are trying to insert our ship into every piece of fanart we come across. We are treated like one ship we enjoy defines our entire personalities. We are treated like everything we create â shippy or not â is tainted.
And yes, some blankshippers might be obnoxious because every fandom has obnoxious people. You can block those people. I block those people. But most of us are just regular human beings with jobs and hobbies who enjoy multiple interpretations of the twins and are just as happy enjoying platonic art and fic of them as we are enjoying shippy art of them.
Blankshippers can do everything ârightâ â make a separate account for shipping content, tag appropriately, avoid mentioning the ship in non-shipper spaces â and we are still treated with contempt casually and out in the open, and expected to just take it without being upset or angry about it.
Well, I am angry. Itâs exhausting, and frankly itâs fucked up that itâs gotten to a point where treating half of the fandom as undesirables is seen as normal. (It was illuminating, by the way, to hear someone outside of submas fandom describe the treatment of blankshipping as "one of the most hostile they'd come across in a fandom space" when I vaguely brought up the ship, but that's for another post.) Whether you mean to or not, the widespread attitude towards blankshippers in this fandom divides us and isolates us from each other, and we spend more time spinning our wheels on this stupid, meaningless shipcourse instead of creating things and inspiring each other.
The consequences of alienating a subset of creatives in your fandom may not be immediately obvious, but it has already created a hostile environment for everyone â not just the blankshippers, but for everyone. The surveillance, the hyper-vigilance, the accusations; no one benefits from this. I saw it in the fandom I was previously in, and it created an incredibly high turnover rate; people would average about three months before moving on. I lasted about a year but I eventually got sick of it, too. I think thatâs the kind of fandom we are trending towards if this kind of behaviour continues.
I also want to emphasize that this is not an issue of establishing boundaries to me. I think itâs your god-given right to block any and all blankshippers you come across if you donât want to risk ever seeing it on your feed. I think itâs absolutely fair to ask people not to tag your art with a ship name if it wasnât created with that intent. I think if a blankshipper oversteps your boundaries, you have every right to correct them or block them. Hell, if you want to be mean in a private discord or group chat, I donât fucking care, as long as I donât have to see it.
The casual flippance and disgust towards shippers is unnecessary, and it doesnât go unnoticed. Is it that hard to stand in defence of someone being treated unfairly without passing a moral judgement on their shipping preferences? Are you defending blankshippers at all, or just the people being mistaken for them?
It sucked when a bunch of non-shippers were accused of being blankshippers on tumblr, right? It sucks when people pester you with questions about whether youâre a shipper when youâre clearly not, with the insinuation that thatâs a bad thing, that that makes you a bad person. In other words, it kinda sucks to be a blankshipper, right?
I have very little sympathy if youâre doing or saying these things performatively, or if youâre worried about your internet clout; look at the way you are actually talking about people and treating people. At the end of the day, you can make whatever comments you want in your space, but I think you should be aware that we can and do see them, and you should be aware of the effect it has.
If you truly consider yourself neutral and anti-harassment, then I sincerely ask for you to just consider what it might be like to be a blankshipper in this fandom. I ask you to defend us from unjustified harassment, not in spite of our ship, but because our ship should be allowed to exist; I ask you to defend us because we are people in the same community, loving the same characters.
And to the people in this fandom that do speak out on our behalf, when a lot of us feel as though we canât without the risk of attracting more negative attention, please know that we appreciate you so much, even if youâve never seen us say it publicly. I can assure you that your kindness and understanding also doesnât go unnoticed.
I love blankshipping fandom. The majority of people rallying behind this ship have been nothing but kind and welcoming, passionate and eager to share art and fic and fandom history with a newbie like me. I do truly think this is the most welcomed Iâve felt to a fandom in a while. But theyâre also exhausted and wary, because theyâve been burned so many fucking times. Thereâs a lot of blankshippers that want to be able to interact with more of the fandom without the scrutiny and the judgement, but the fandom has largely offered hostility in return.
I love blankshipping fandom, but I donât know that I can say I love submas fandom with the same confidence.
<short and tired personal text about the drama.finalthefinal.png>
First things first:
âđą I won't be looking up any of these drama/call-out posts anymore or commenting on them.
I was (again) being naive on Twitter and trying to have a civil conversation but they had already decided I'm something I'm not. So why do I even try? Just because I won't accept any wild claims without any proof? I'm not even allowed to defend myself.
I was considering to write here about the most loudest person who is against me but I'm not going to do that. If he really wants to have some closure he should come to me and have a talk but since he has blocked me I'm respecting his own space. I won't approach him if they don't me want to.
But since he has clearly stated that I'm a groomer I have to say this: That grooming accusation is absolutely ridiculous. I even cut ties with him because we were just too different and the friendship wasn't really there - it was better for both of us to move on. He's mad at me for other reasons but it is more related to the fact that I didn't tell I was a blankshipper. But that's not grooming. So please don't just throw that word so easily - it's a very serious accusation.
I won't give any anons more attention what they're craving. I'm not giving them anymore material to twist my words. They have already decided that I'm a bad person so there's no point to use my energy to explain myself. Imagine being in a courtroom and the judge is immediately sentencing you without hearing your side - that kind of situation I'm in. I just feel like I'm here just to entertain them - they don't even see me as a person.
One more thing: I'm sorry that people got offended about the stuff in my nsfw blog - I really didn't mean any harm. Those texts and arts were only supposed to be for people who agreed on my pinned post - considering problematic stuff, dark fiction and humor. I made a mistake and got too carried away/comfortable - but I won't do the same mistake again.
I also want to apologize if I sounded like I wanted to belittle victims claims. I should've refrained from commenting the whole case at all because I wasn't the one part of the whole thing and I don't understand all the things that are part of the whole deal. So I shouldn't have commented that.
I know some people can take this as an excuse, but I've been overly stressed for a long time so I'm sure I can sound defensive because of that and make very poor decisions. My intention wasn't bad but I'm still sorry if I made anyone feel like their emotions aren't valid. I made a mistake on that part.
Please be kind. I never stop trying even if I make mistakes. đ I'm tired now but it'll get better.
I edited this like 3 times so I can finally leave this thing behind-- I hope I didn't forget anything. This is hopefully the last message from me relating to this case.
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