About False Moralism and Changes
We have a story to tell. It is long, but maybe it will explain some things. It's about a group that started small and slowly grew, bringing together fans of a show that, among other attractions, has a strong female protagonist, who stands out for the intelligence and self-confidence. Another important element of the show is the chemistry between the main couple, which goes far beyond the cameras.
Well, like us, many people were interested (and still are) in talking about Outlander and, especially, about the actors in this story and so they began to follow what we had to say, always trying to keep the good humor.
This happened just before the January 2018 hurricane that shook a lot of people. In response, we began to gather receipts and theories that circulated in the fandom years ago, because we realized that many didnāt know, especially those who had just discovered the show.
As it was difficult to talk about everything SC and Outlander related only by SM, we started a blog (later a website), without having any structure for it. We just did it! We posted what we knew there, including a weekly follow-up of the two, showing that there was a lot more than any official narrative or RP tried to prove and that no one was crazy to think otherwise.
We started investigating and creating content about it. Not that it was anything new, the difference was that we shared our analyzes and discoveries outside Tumblr or secret groups where the information was almost restricted.
Many people liked it, including Tumblr itself, and we were asked to translate these posts. So we did, tripling the number of hours worked (volunteer work).
At one point, with the amount of information we gathered, we decided to create a website on a paid platform and with that came the maintenance costs of the website (which was out of our pocket), so we decided to create a group of supporters, people who liked what we were doing, and were willing to help us to keep going. They support us and we give them exclusive information. A fair trade.
As is done in other countries, including the United States through Patreon, it is very common in Brazil that independent sites and blogs, which produce regular content, create groups for this purpose. It's not any kind of crime.
And no, we did not get rich with this. Far from it! The amount charged is low, almost symbolic and most of it is used to pay for costs related to our pages, surveys, and promotions we have already made for supporters and those who follow us.
What we have gained most from this group, and never expected, was the community of SISters from various parts of the country, who are now scheduling a national meeting, bringing them all together because of the bonds that were created. But this is something that for those who spend the day talking badly about other people on SM will never understand.
If Outlander's fandom succeeds in being toxic and, ironically, sexist, Tumblr is the realm of it all. Of course, there are a lot of good people here, too, but they get swallowed up in a sea of āānegativity. People who claim to be fans (or who donāt even call themselves that way anymore), but live off bad talk about the show, the production, the cast and especially the protagonists. Oh, of course, especially the woman.
Why follow something or someone you hate? What is the pleasure of spreading hate? If you canāt live in a world with different opinions or thoughts, wouldnāt it be easier to ignore? Or if the actors are despicable people, wouldnāt it be more honest to leave them behind? What keeps these people going? The fear of losing followers, the happiness in criticizing or the desire to one day prove they were right?
Itās curious to realize that anyone who does this has commented, shared or made insinuations here or on other SM (many still do) about the same things that we talk about. They also follow their daily lives, as well as those who admire both, but most only see that this can be considered some kind of invasion of privacy when the other does it.
For us itās perfectly natural that two charismatic people who respect each other so much, who show so much affection for one another, even when they must hide it, and who seem to be genuinely good (which is not to say that they are perfect, no one is, and it is okay to disagree with some statements) arouse the attention of so many people, even more so in a world where all this seems increasingly rare or when there are so many stories told about them.
We also think that the way of expressing this interest will not be the same, either by differences of personality, realities or culture, and we try not to judge diverse opinions and behaviors, as long as they are respectful. We can not say the same in the opposite sense.
From our part, the only thing we regret was giving vent to the theories around SamCait at the very beginning (especially that of pregnancy), even though we warned that they were just that: theories circulating in fandom so that whoever was coming could know how they came about.
In addition, we do not engage in bad speech or lying about anyone, everything we choose to share is public facts or information that can be found on the Internet, we do not share any content that is really compromising and we even corrected a recent story that, yes, could be very compromising by the initial narrative around the photo. "Ah, but what about the coffee photos?"
First of all, those were not our pictures to post. Second, we only shared it after the owner decided to post them. She wanted you all to know. It would be at least strange to not talk about it after they were all over the networks and we had access to the photos weeks before because she shared them with us. But the most important thing was that we knew that they would only be relevant (and they are) to whoever is a shipper. For all the others, for the official narrative, it is only two friends who went to have coffee.
The part where it made clear from where they were returning to or the story behind it would go completely beat or treated as a lie, as it happened. It was predictable because it has occurred many times. Even my neighbor's dog knows. And let us not be hypocritical in denying that everyone was happy to see those photos, the general reaction soon after publication shows this.
So we ignore much of what is said, in an environment in which criticizing is the favorite sport. But some things get boring or just donāt add up to it like reading constantly that we are taking money from the fandom. Gets old, boring and itās just not true. So we made a decision: we will leave Tumblr for good.
We will continue to ship and create content for those interested (in our others SMs). And yes, now we will also sell products inspired by the show (with our shipper's phrases) for those who live in Brazil since we have received this suggestion several times precisely because of the shortage of Outlander products there.
How long will this last? We donāt know. But God forbid a group of fans that are doing exactly what many others already do: sell Outlander products. Canāt say we are surprised, this is an expected reaction when even fanfic writers are attacked in this fandom. Certainly, those who donāt create anything and spends much of its time speaking ill of everything that surrounds the show, but still donāt abandon it, Ā is in fact, those who have noble feelings.
By the way, we've also created a book club to read The Fiery Cross and weāre doing an outlander marathon (S1 to S4), with commented episodes, to help get through the Droughtlander. No interest in talking about that, huh? Ok, also expected.
We still want the truth and we will always show the truth. We do this weekly. Our commitment has not changed. But to do this we donāt have to offend them, hate them or compromise them in a real way. The decision to end the narrative should not be ours or anyone else's but theirs. We just donāt want any fans to be embarrassed or have doubts about themselves because they see the obvious.
Having clarified all this, we would like to also thank the support we had here, after all, there werenāt only stones!Ā
Thank you! Truly.
For those who are asking, here are our SM:
šŗSIS Brazil šŗ
š Website:Ā www.sisbrazil.comĀ /Ā Ā šwww.sisbrazil.com.brĀ
šĀ Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SISBrazil
š Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sis_brazil
š Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sis_brazil š YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/sis_brazil
š Group for SHIPPERS ONLY (have to answer all 3 questions to go in, it's in English too)): http://m.facebook.com/groups/387599595009153?ref=share Ā
šFacebook Outlander group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Outlander.Claire.Jamie/
