Fan Bloggin’
Let people enjoy things.
For some that means they want to break down the thing they love into tiny morsels to chew on and analyze with their friends. For others it means they furiously create a work of art to encompass their feelings. Writers will leap away and weave a web of fiction to push our imaginations into shapes we had not previously known. There are fans known for things, and their words become weighted and heavy against the unknowns within a fandom. There are those who want to share their love for a thing, but are met with silence or worse when they express themselves. There is a toxicity that is fed and responds to the commands of those with nothing to contribute but ego: the single funniest joke in all of fandom is that one particular fan is a BETTER fan than another person. “Fake fan!” they cry, as though someone is some sort of spy embedded to supplant legitimacy. Honestly. Who the fuck cares? Let people enjoy things. Their enjoyment of a thing does not harm you, does you no injury, so long as no extension of wills are crossed to say, “Correct” them, or insult them, or tell them to go kill themselves because they ship one thing and you ship another. Fan wars are one of the biggest wastes of time you can engage in on this website, the other is complaining to staff about things. I have noticed very dear friends encounter struggles with the weight of their words, as though with every post they are pressed into recording fandom gospel and it is soul-crushing and entirely unfair. Do not expect anyone to appreciate the pedestal you’ve placed them on or that they are obligated in any way to you to remain there. These are people, just people, being fans. And to those people who are struggling, I’m telling you: Your insight cannot reach every heart and mind, but it does not lessen its value. That there are people out there who only speak to argue, only write to inflict pain on others, and lie at the ready for anyone who they deem to be WRONG on the internet....some will say it’s sad. That they are pitiable. They’re assholes, plain and simple. They are responsible for their actions, but YOU are not responsible for THEM, nor are you required to carry the weight of their feelings into consideration while you attempt to enjoy your own hobby. At least, in the SnK fandom, we’re coming up on the cataclysmic blows that we know will end our series. Some will leave. And it’s very seductive to slip into our baser desires to hurl your anger at real life people who have nothing to do with the choices of fictional characters. Your faves, my faves, our faves, are going to die at the hands of other faves. I agree with @hilow in that I’m just not interested in watching the fanworld burn *again*. Enjoy the fiction for what it is. Be angry if you are angry, write about it in anger, but do not direct that anger at anyone outside of the fiction itself. The only individual responsible is the actual author, and without him you wouldn’t be here in the first place. We’ve known from the beginning it’s going to suck.
In the meantime, carry on and be excellent to each other. We’ve grown so very serious.
