Asking as someone who just doesn't know, do you have any suggestions to identify Russian artists in fandom spheres? I want to stop supporting them
hullo hullo o/ thank you for a very relatable ask
unfortunately, i don't have some "one fit all" solution for this, but there are some methods, each a bit more time consuming than the last
Check their blog. See "ru" in there? Become sus. If it's stated first, i just block and move on to not waste my time. if it's stated later on - up to you; i'd block still, but if you have time/nerves/energy you can dig deeper and see if it's just a language someone knows or ruzzian who doesn't want to be called out
2. Check if there are links to other soc.med or other things. Most of the time, you'll either see places somewhere: x, bluesky, insta, wherever. Youtube is a good test if they have it, you can check the country there. If it's not stated, become sus and check the oldest videos. See/hear ru? Block.
3. Speaking of links you may see. See boosty? Block. It's ru parteon, in essense.
4. Same for vk aka vkontakte. Ru attempt of facebook, afaik. Block.
5. Same for yandex email. Block and move on.
6. Another more niche thing is ficbook. Aka "ru try to steal ao3 as well". Block and move on.
7. Check if there are things in pinned posts. Maybe they mention where they are from (people are insane like that nowadays because internet security knowledge is shit), and it can be useful. See a geographic name, check where it is. Ru? Block and move on
8. This one requires some time (and why i usually am so hesitant to like any new artists without checking and cross checking them...) but you can also check their art. Especially older art. They might have ru text in the art itself that you can spot and use to identify them, altho I understand that reading cursive can be challenging
This one is easier for me, as I know the language, but if you are relying only on google translate, check a few times as it loves lumping other languages into ru for some reason. ы, э (not є) and ё can be telling, tho - but again, they are used in other languages too, and it's better to double check if you're not sure.
9. If you see a combination of "Z" *and* russian language, congratulatons, you found a genocide supporter as Z is how ru soldiers mark themselves. Consider it nazi's swastika if you will, they're the same.
10. This one is more of an observation than a rule, but if you see someone who is a fan of Pathologic (or "Мор. Утопия" in ru) become suspicious. In my experience, 7 times out of 10, they do turn out to be ru. But this is more of a personal experience
Addendum to points 3-6: duckduckgo/google/search by other method of your preference their nickname. People usually reuse those, and you can see same people in vk or on boosty. If you're afraid of unrightfully blocking someone with the same nickname, you can try opening those and check if the same art/pfp/posts are there. I usually just block. But maybe you'll have more energy than me.
Those are all that I can think of from the top of my head, but if I'll find/remember any more, I'll make sure to add them. And if any of my fellow Ukrainians would like to add their own methods or observations, feel free to do so!
