More thoughts related to this post https://www.tumblr.com/russenoire/817100123494612992/also-not-all-beginning-fanfic-writers-are-young
Sometimes I feel like adding onto a reblog will cause things to get lost.
Every point made in that post is exactly how I feel.
I am so sick and tired of cutting back my words to be "good". To be "normal" to be "like everyone else in a fandom" becuase I fear what would happen if I was truly myself.
I am 35. I am turning 36 in a few months. I adore Teru and Shigeo and mob psycho 100. I love this show with all my heart because it helped me, as a 30 something year old, find something inside me I had lost.
I love terumob so much. They bring me joy, sadness, ideas. I love exploring them in AUs and cannon. I just adore their dynamic so much.
I love my ageswap au with my soul. It's a atory of loosing something you love and finding it again in the most unlikely of places.
And I love this fandom that has given me some of the best friends I've ever had
And yet there are times.... many times... where this culture can feel cruel. And judgemental.
I once saw a post on twitter where someone, in all seriousness, asked if they can still ship terumob when they turn 18 (because teru and shigeo are 14 in canon). And I’m over here, at 35 thinking “What the fuck….”
….why did you feel that you were not “allowed” to ship something as you grew? This is no fault of the poster, they are asking because the culture made them feel like they had to.
Who said? Who dictates these rules? Why are some so obsessed with infantualization of the characters? It is a beautiful fandom, but also has so many gatekeepers and judgemental individuals. How can a show and story about accepting everyone, including their dirty and unsavory sides, be twisted into “you can only ship X, Y or Z” or “you can’t write that horror fic, they are 14! It's torture porn now" Etc etc
I see so many tweets about the fandom is dying. Could it be becuase new fans are afraid to post, becuase of the fear of persecution? That they will say or do, or god forbid LIKE some art that may or may not be drawn by some "problematic"?
No wonder no one wants to write anymore. Or share their art.
I am not trying to start an argument. But I have seen time and time again, fans who have disengaged with the fandom due to its toxic culture. I have met others who are scared to even post their fanfics or art because they fear someone calling them out, canceling them. Even I have felt this need to keep to myself. I love to engage and run fandom events, but then I think “if I get too loud, someone is going to get mad about my age or what I write or who I am”
"If I engage too much someone is bound to find something