CCs learn what boundaries are. Challenge level: impossible
I’m all for people having boundaries and I do not play about respecting boundaries. As long as they’re actually boundaries.
Boundaries aren’t lists of things you can and cannot do, they are guidelines you give someone you have any sort of relationship with detailing things you will and will not tolerate. It is “if you do this, I will block you.” It’s not “you are not allowed to do this.” And it is ESPECIALLY not “if you do this, 'I have my little birds in all forests and if I hear about repeated offenses then, like, I'll send people after them.'” (21:05 on Pyro's stream, idk how to clip things properly)
That’s fucking weird and an abuse of power.
CCs learn how to block tags and people. Challenge level: impossible
Blocking things is how you curate your internet experience. You refuse to block things and instead force people to stop posting things? You are being entitled. Being brought the solution of blocking tags and responding with "Nah, fucking- none. I've made my position very clear. It's not seeing it that's the problem. It's knowing about it and knowing that it's happening." Is fucking entitled and blatant censorship of your community. (44:40 in their stream)
And I swear to god if I see any more people saying that is entitled to ship characters in fandom spaces, I’m going to lose my mind. So close to deleting twitter.
CCs learn that censoring their fans in fan spaces and creating a breeding ground for harassment isn’t okay. CCs learn to get the fuck out of spaces not made for them. CCs learn that it is parasocial to constantly interact with, seek out, and be involved in fan spaces. Challenge level: FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE.
Characters are objects. Even your self insert. They are not real. You cannot control what other people do with them. Characters are the equivalent to dolls. You're going to go into someone else's house and tell them how to play with their dolls? Not only tell them how to play, but harass them when they don't play how you want?
I haven't even mentioned the fact that they want ongoing fics to be discontinued, said he will continue flirting with people "as a joke," the insinuation that queer interpretations are only okay if it's for laughs, and said not to harass people while saying he was going to send people after anyone who publicly ships his characters. The level of entitlement and gross misunderstanding of how fandom works is astounding.
If you're going to say that shipping is against your boundaries for you characters, stop fucking queerbaiting. Because that's exactly what this is. Characters are flirting and creators are gaining engagement and monetary incentive. That's the textbook definition of queerbaiting. And before anyone says "real people can't queerbait," remind yourself that Pyro primarily does roleplay content and go watch VSMP and The Flight SMP again.
I don’t even really engage with Pyro’s content or ships. I've only ever shipped firelocke and occasionally majorscythe and those aren't even my otp. And I’ve never engaged with Maddy’s content. I’m just upset on principle. This is DSMP behavior, guys.
Fandom rules under the guise of boundaries is a weaponization of the term boundary and that isn’t okay. It leads to harassment, censorship, and abandonment of the community. It also leads to intense watering down of the term. The term that is incredibly useful, specifically for people who have experienced abuse. Using it to control what strangers on the internet do is gross.
Sorry if any of this sounds rude or offensive or insensitive or whatever. I’m in a sort of moral panic (potential OCD shit) and just need to get my thoughts out. This will probably get deleted.
Small edit with something to add: in the stream from 28/6 Pyro is asked to clarify not to harass people (8:02 timestamp) and instead of saying a general “don’t harass people” they specify to not harass people for things “in the past.” Implying that harassing people who still ship his characters are fine to harass. This might be a little nitpick, but I think it’s pretty telling of their overall mindset.
