#fandom wank

[the-bar-sinister]

They would not go on cute dates and raise children, they would punch each other in the throat and have bad sex on the couch.

[saedynee]

tumblr has its faults yeah but i gotta say. our posts about the ao3 outage seem to be mostly "WAAAUGHHH NOOOOOOO (thank you ao3 volunteers) MY BEDTIME STORIESSSS!!! NOOOOOO (thank you for working so hard to get the website back otw volunteers) AUGGGOUAGHHHUUUU I MISS MY STORIESSSSS!!!!!!". but on twitter there's folks throwing horrifying insults at ao3 right to their face. which. what the fuck

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

saw this being debated and just wanted to talk about it too.

"is it rude if I politely ask a writer if they use ai or chatgpt on their works because I'm almost certain they do?"

yes, it is rude. no matter how polite you are being when you ask them this.

you say you are almost certain. so you are not absolutely certain.

unless you are absolutely, undoubtedly certain — with actual proof — that their writing is ai generated, never ever ask an artist if their work is ai generated.

I know several writers who would stop writing and delete all of their works if they were ever accused of using ai. so it doesn't matter if you are polite when you ask them this, you are suggesting that their works are ai generated, that they didn't create the works they could have spent hours, days, weeks, months or years working on.

ai and chatgpt are trained on real humans' works, they are trained to mimic the way real humans write. so if you say a genuine writer's work "looks ai", I'm gonna have to ask you what you think ai was trained on.

a writer whose English isn't their first language may also write in a way that "looks ai" to some, if they write in English and have to rely on translator.

using em dash isn't a sign of ai. I do it all the time. my fellow writers all love em dash.

having long paragraphs with "overly described scenes" isn't a sign of ai. I do it all the time, and so do my fellow writers.

all the "ai signs" are actually just what most writers actually do. they get mistaken for "ai signs" because sometimes the way writers write or describe a scene in a fanfic or an original work is different than the way people talk or text. because they're writing a fic and describing a scene, not chatting with a friend. the way I talk is different than the way I write my fics.

if you suspect a work was ai generated, but are not 100% sure, you can always just stop reading said work without saying anything.

if someone does use ai to write, they will either a.) deny and continue using ai to write or b.) admit because they see nothing wrong with it and continue using ai to write.

if a genuine writer was wrongly accused of using ai, they may stop writing altogether.

asking a writer if they use ai or chatgpt to write will always do more harm than good. witch hunting will always do more harm than good.

you are not "fighting against ai" by throwing around such accusations. you are harming genuine writers and artists.

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

You know what I really miss?

The concept of the NOTP as a larger part of fandom etiquette. No moralizing tirades, no condescending screeds about media literacy, no trying to equate shipping or not shipping something with being better than someone else. Just...oh, that ship? Nah, that's a NOTP for me.

[antikate]

If you see someone with a really bad fandom take, I’m begging you to open your emails and write a strongly worded missive to your local government official about something bad happening in your community or country.

If you’re in Canada you could email a rep about concerns about Elon musk interfering in our next federal election.

If you’re in the US the list is endless.

If you’re in the UK you could email about trans health care.

If you’re in Australia, what about dental care in Medicare?

If you’re in Europe, look into some EU initiatives of particular concern. Perhaps something to do with nature and biodiversity? Idk

Just today I emailed my local mla about coal mining in the Rocky Mountains and tomorrow I’m going to pick something else and do it again

[apcqlypse]

mfs will complain fandom is "dying" and then bully and harass and police fic writers and fan artists

[azure-arsonist]

Our fandom forbearers did NOT suffer through Anne Rice, strikethrough, and other bullshit for fucking ACOTAR and Harry Potter fans to fucking ruin it for all of us by selling fanfiction. I am not losing novel length yaoi epics because some of you don't know how to act in fannish spaces and yes I do blame the booktokification of fanfic but I also blame those of you that treat fandom like content to consume and not a community to engage with.

[001x456]

you’re as much of a fan of your comfort show / movie / blorbo as any other fan, even if you don’t have a “big and popular account” or if you’ve never written a fic or made a fan art about the fandom you’re in.

you’re as much of a fan of your comfort show / movie / blorbo as any other fan, even if you don’t talk about said comfort show / movie / blorbo online or to anybody and just quietly take comfort from them in private.

don’t let today’s popularity contest make you feel less valid than other people in the fandom. because fandom is never about “popularity” or “going viral”. it’s about the comfort and joy you get from enjoying what brings you comfort and joy.