Hi, so I've decided to call myself Ship Anon because that's all I've really talked about here. I just wanted to vent on here to you, because I don't really want to talk to people I know irl about Hazbin Hotel. I've been around in the fringes of the fandom since the pilot first came out. Like every fandom HH had its issues. There were definitely people who did not know how to act properly, but it feels like it has gotten so much worse lately.
It's become so normal for me to try to look up tags for RadioDust and having to scroll through posts stating how much they hate this ship. How much this ship shouldn't exist. How people who ship it are delusional. How we should just accept reality and get over it. It feels like a competition every day to see how many people each post can get to say "Oh I hate that ship too!". It feels like a competition on who can say the most outlandish thing in order to try and get the attention of the more widely known people in the fandom. In order to get a like or a comment from them. It doesn't feel like the tags of our own ship are safe anymore, because people will deliberately tag that ship in order to hate on it. A ship that used to bring so much comfort to me now brings me pain. They are slowly making me feel dirty for loving it.
The worst part is I'm not the only one who feels like this. There are so many people posting about how it feels like the fandom is eating itself away. One was just made today that had a lot of traction, and so many people tried to voice how much they cared and felt for the OP. But it felt so fake. It felt completely and utterly fake. Because I know some of these people turned around and started talking bad about a ship they don't like not to long after. When the Shay document first was posted some of these same people were commenting how it was clearly fake. People talking about how the document was made by the "haters" in order to defame Viv. They refuse to acknowledge how badly things have gotten.
People can try to defend Viv all they want and say she can't control what her fans do, but she can control what she likes and endorses. She's shown that sometimes if you say something out there enough she might comment of like your post. She needs to understand that the fandom will emulate what she does. As the fandom gets bigger the more of these voices come out. The more I feel smaller and smaller. The more I start to question if I wanna keep looking in as they tear apart something I cared about. Thankfully there are so many amazing artists and people who care about this ship. I try to stay positive and seek out the content they make. I try and protect still small little bubble I have left. I just hope when the next season comes out it doesn't get completely shattered.
You're most certainly not dirty and I'm so sorry this is happening. It shouldn't be like this at all, but as sad as it is to say it, Viv seems to thrive in it.
Just know that these people aren't worth your time and stress. Sometimes carving out little fandom nooks and curling up safe in them is the best thing to do. Find like-minded friends, create what you like, and have fun, because that's what fandom should be.