Seeing more than a few people giving themselves and their friends pats on the back for “staying out of fandom drama” and making lists of “drama-free” people to follow.
The “drama” in the Dragon Age fandom right now is not a fucking ship war or some frivolous shit like that. The “drama” lately (and in general around this fandom) is distinctly and almost entirely about racism - the abuse of canon characters of colour, and the constant marginalization and exclusion of people of colour and their works from the fandom.
So no, you don’t get to be proud of staying out of it, because if you’re not seeing the backlash against that racist behavior, then you are part of the problem - you and people you follow, sitting over in a self-made sea of whiteness, boosting and consuming only the work of other white people.
I understand the desire for fandom to be a happy wonderful place where you don’t have to deal with negativity and “drama” but that is not an option for creators of colour and that is precisely the problem. While you sit in blissful ignorance and comfort, people who want to enjoy fandom just as much as you do simply cannot, because everywhere they turn, there are white people in digital blackface, abusing and exploiting characters of colour in their artwork and writing, telling writers to stop writing about their race, their traumas, and their experiences.
And yes, it is exhausting to see it come up day after day after day. But if you think it’s tiring for you, sitting high up on your white high horse, imagine how much worse it would be if the fandom was targeting people like you? If it wasn’t just “drama” to you but you felt personally attacked, pushed away, excluded, and demonized simply for wanting to participate in the fandom, to create OCs that look like you, and to write from your own life experience and have your own place in the fandom?
Because that is exactly what is happening to real people, every day. They are leaving the fandom, not as a flounce but as protection. Fandom is no longer an escapist pleasure for them, and leaving it is a method of self-care.
But yeah, you sit over in your comfy corner without any “drama” and pretend like that makes you superior. Pretend like you’re protecting the fandom when all you’re doing is protecting the white fandom. Tell yourself you just want to have fun with it and that there’s nothing wrong with that, while other people in the fandom who belong here just as much as you do are not allowed to have a single “drama-free” day, while white fandom perpetuates this ugly shit over and over and over with no end in sight, while it is accepted and normalized by the fandom to a point that it can be labelled “drama” and not stomped out the moment it arises. Tell yourself you just don’t want all that “negativity” when ignoring what’s going on is simply not possible for a great many people.
You already are part of the “drama.” You are part of the culture that has allowed it to flourish. You feed it, nurture it, help it grow every day, by your willful ignorance and your silence. You are not “drama-free.” You’re just quietly racist.
And you can get the fuck off my dash.
((Now this text of course misses some important points and the problem runs much deeper but all I want you to think about is that hate is never the answer. Rather spread positivity, speak up if you see someone suffering, lend a hand to those who cannot feel at home in this fandom and please, please always be considerate of your own actions, for ignorance and accidental racism/inequity hurts people just as much. Since everyone, no matter of skin color, age, heritage, religion, gender or sexuality has exactly the same rights to feel welcome, comfortable and happy in any fandom <3 ))
