TW: Mentions of NSFW, non-con, incest, etc. but nothing graphic.
Since the Cinderella boy fandom is growing bigger, I need everyone to, once again, remember the basic fandom etiquettes :
→ If a fanfiction or fanart depicts something problematic, taboo, distasteful or even something very disgusting, such as incest, rape, pedophilia, etc. it does not mean that the author or artist endorses their work. A person's work cannot define their personality, not even if said problematic work is romanticised/sexualized or not.
→ Do not leave unsolicited criticism about the writing or art style of fanfiction or fanart. If the person has not asked for constructive criticism, then criticizing their work will come off as rude or unwelcome. Yes, there are people who are okay receiving constructive criticism, but that doesn't mean that everyone is okay with it. Fandom is a place to enjoy, and if you do not like their work, then you are free to leave.
→ Do not harass, or dox a person because they have different opinions on a character/ship. If someone likes something that you don't, then you can block or mute them. It does not matter if the character or ship can be considered "problematic" or not, nobody deserves to be harassed because of fictional characters. This also goes for NSFW writers and fan artists. Even if the fictional characters are minors, there will always be NSFW of them, whether you like it or not.
→ If you think that a fanfic author, or artist, has mischaracterized a character, keep it to yourself. You cannot just go into someone's inbox and start complaining about how they messed up the personality of a fictional character. Yes, of course you're allowed to be a bit annoyed at the person, but do not criticize their characterizations unless they have asked for it. At the end of the day, these fanfictions and fanarts are about fictional people, but the ones who are engaging in fandom work are real people.
→ Even if you think a person has used AI, unless it is mentioned, you cannot accuse someone of such a thing. There are many people in the fandom whose first language is not English (I'm one of them, in fact) and telling someone that their work sounds "robotic" or "unnatural" will not help build their confidence or "improve" their language skills. If anything, it will only make the person feel attacked.
→ Yes, fanfics can be better than professional writing. No, that does not mean that fanfics are always supposed to be better than professional writing. Fanfictions and fanarts are done for fun, but that doesn't mean that the person has to be "good" at it. You don't like the writing style of an author? Then just don't read it. This also goes for fanarts, just because you don't like someone's art style doesn't mean you're allowed to criticize it.
→ It is completely okay to not like a theory or headcanon. What isn't okay is saying that people who like the theory or headcanon do not "understand the character", "are only doing it for fetish reasons", etc. If you're in a fandom, then you will come across things you do not like. It's best you do not interact with it.
Y'all still missing some fandom rules, apparently.
Yes, we need to bring back KINKTOMATO, Don't Like Don't Read, Squick, etc.
Apparently some of us ALSO forgot "Don't post your hate in the standard tag." If your post is anti something, It does not go in the regular tag for that thing. I don't give a shit how much exposure you want for it. It doesn't belong in the regular tag. Stop being fucking asshats to people who like a thing because you have beef with it. You look like a petty, petulant child.
fuck your hate, keep it in the anti tag like a goddamn respectful person.
Never trust a fandom where there's no salt about the series to be found or where stans bitch about the existence of salt/harass and insult people who are critical of the thing they like and insist that the general tags should only include #positivity.
It is always going to be a fandom rife with bigotry and/or the most shallow interpretations of the source media
struggling to articulate my thoughts on the way i interact w/ phm fandom and fandom as a whole but i accidentally upset someone yesterday b/c our understandings weren't aligned about this so it feels important i try to do so.
i grew up around fandom, but i'm also an english lit major who wants to remain in academia and this is the first time i've been actively involved in a fandom in several years, and i think i tend to approach media largely as a critic first and a fan second. the difference between the two, as far as i can tell, is that as a critic, i like taking apart a work to see how the different elements are furthering its themes and the way those do and don't serve the text. as a fan, i largely treat the characters as autonomous and enjoy extracting as much as i can about their behaviors/desires/etc from the text in order to create further imaginings of them that are grounded in the text. (this is obviously a reductive binary because i can apply death of the author in a critical framework but whatevs let's go with it.)
as a critic, my opinions on phm are... mixed. i'm bad at giving media numerical ratings but if i had to both the book and the movie would be a solid three stars i think. this is not entirely the fault of andy weir—i'm not a science person, and i tend not to like hard sci-fi simply because i'm not all that interested in speculative science. what i am interested in are the political and moral elements. i enjoyed the flashback narrative a lot more than the main story largely because i was most interested in the questions that arose from the character of eva stratt and her relationship to grace—questions about the importance of individual rights vs. the good of humanity, about the difference between willing to lay down your own life for a cause and being willing to lay down someone else's. at its best, i think the book was willing to in the tension of those questions with no easy answer. however, i also don't think the book is... all that well written. i found the dialogue super clunky and indistinguishable between characters. i think the first-person narration was strong when grace was thinking through scientific problems (which again i don't care about so this is partly a me thing) but otherwise a little awkward and stilted. i felt very detached from all the emotional beats. i thought the movie was better in this regard—every character was written to have a distinct voice and beautifully acted, and i cried my eyes out. however, i also thought the movie was less willing to engage with moral complexity than the book and felt frustratingly saccharine at times.
so my involvement in the phm fandom evolved out of my critical opinion of phm. i'm fascinated by eva stratt and everything she represents, and i love seeing the way her character is expanded on in fandom. but the way i interact with with fandom is necessarily colored by the way i view phm as a critic and i don't want that to negatively impact the community i want to be a part of as a fan.
i've learned not to offhandedly mention aspects of phm that i hate on in otherwise fannish posts. i would love any other advice/rules of fandom etiquette people can offer! think i'm gonna pin this if i can figure out how
tldr; i'm trying not to mix my critical opinions of phm with my involvement in fandom but if you never want to see any criticisms of phm i'm probably not someone you should follow :(. oh and while i'm at it, if you're only here for gracerocky i'm also probably not worth the follow, i don't think i'll ever be posting any gracerocky content :(. much love to y'all though, y'all are d1 freaks
I honestly hate how fandoms treat new gens (not dps you guys are lovely) like im sorry for not being born earlier. I don’t give a shit how long you’ve been in the fandom doesn’t mean you can’t treat newer people with respect and enjoy the thing you both love.
Unless something is MORALLY WRONG (shotacon/lolicon/glorifying violence/violent acts, that kinda thing) it’s a “Don’t like don’t read” scenario!!!
“Yume shipping is weird!!!” Why are you in Yume shipping space???
“Self inserts are weird!!!” Why are you in self insert spaces???
“Headcannons are weird!!!” WHY ARE YOU HERE??? OMG LEAVE!!
Im so sick of people in fandom spaces not grasping rules at 25 that I understood far too young at like 9 years old AND THIS GOES ESPECIALLY FOR THAT GUY THAT TRIED TO PLAY ON AO3!!!! AND TRIPLE FOR THAT GIRL I SAW ON MF TIKTOK YELLING ABT SELF SHIPPING!!!
LITERALLY YELLING ABOUT YUMESHIPPERS
FUCK BRUH
If you’re new to fandom and still on my rant post here’s some guidelines (FEEL FREE TO ADD IF I MISS ANYTHING!!)
This is a cow farm! You’re gonna have cows outside!
Shipping? NORMAL!
Roleplay? Normal!
Yume shipping? Normal!
Cross fandom ships? Normal!
Alternate universe? Normal!
Self inserts? Normal!
Ocs? Normal!
Fanfics? Normal!
Headcannons? Normal!!!
When to make a fuss
Is someone shipping a minor with an adult? Make a fuss!
Is someone glorifying violence? Make a fuss!
Is someone glorifying abuse? Make a fuss!
Is someone being bigoted? Make a fuss!
When to block: literally at all, whenever you want.
If you don’t like the ship? BLOCK!
don’t want to make a fuss? Report+Block!
Don’t like a headcannon? Block!
Don’t like how someone’s portraying ur blorbo? BLOCK!
Some unspoken rules of fandom communities on Tumblr (aka fandom etiquette) for people new to Tumblr.
If you post AI on your blog, prepare to be blocked by a TON of people. Why? AI shits on artists. The majority of people on Tumblr respect artists. If you share AI art on your blog, a lot of people are going to block you, which is probably not what you want. So don't post AI! (Same goes for reblogging AI shit).
Do not steal art from artists. Reposting art is usually frowned upon and if you wish to do this without people getting mad at you, credit the artist by name and link. For example, "This is drawn by Bob on Instagram - link to instagram here"
If the artist if already on Tumblr, just reblog their work, don't repost it!
Do not redraw art from fanartists without their permission first! And if you do get permission, credit the original artist in your post, if not, people will think you are a thief and you will once again get blocked by fandom regulars. (redrawing official art from the fandom you're in is usually ok and a great way to learn. Learn to differentiate official art from fanart.)
Pinterest is the den of thieves. Great for finding a ton of lovely artworks with no way to get back to the original artist. Do not follow their example. That's not what anyone wants Tumblr to be. If you've got 50 fanarts saved on your pc and wish to share them with tumblr while you don't know the original artists? Then don't. That's the answer. Don't share art if you don't know who the artist is. Or learn to reverse image search.
Tagging is a way to communicate with the fandom about what you post on your blog without it afterwards showing up in reblogs. You can tag with character names, fandom names, ship names, and also personal tags such as "my fic" or "my art" - so that people checking your post can verify that it's made by you and not just stolen from someone else. Use tags to clarify if art or fic is yours when you post it.
Posting fanfic recommendations is usually a good way to make friends and earn yourself respect if you're not very creative yourself. Drawing fanarts or making edits for said fanfics will earn you god-status. Answering asks or posting meta or headcanons are other things you can do if you're not very creative otherwise.
Be careful sharing gifs and edits that you did not make yourself, even in-between your essays. Once again, it is technically theft, though I think most people view it as a lighter form of theft than art-theft. Crediting is still usually appreciated. Sadly a lot of photoshoppers accept this type of theft as part of the deal.
No matter which rule you broke in the past, you can always learn to do better. When in doubt, ask around in the fandom what you should do with a specific thing you want to post. Making a mistake does not get you kicked out of the fandom necessarily, so don't sweat it, just do better.
Even if you try to be a perfect fan, you will at some point break a little fandom etiquette here and there. You might reblog an AI art by accident... Share an image that was edited without you realizing it... Use someone else's gif without credit... It's ok. We all make mistakes. As long as you respect the fandom in 99% of your posts, nobody's going to cancel you for that.
