Angst fics can help people come to terms with their own grief, begin healing, or give people that good cry that they need.
Smut fics can help people affirm and accept their sexuality. It can help them explore their sexuality in a safe way. They can also just be fun, and having fun is a drastically undervalued way to improve your mental health.
Dark fics can help people face their fears or process their trauma. It can make them feel safer and more secure. It can help them find their courage.
Fluff fics can give people rest and respite and comfort. It can give them hope that soft places exist and that maybe there is one out there for them. It can bring up their mood, which, if they have depression, can be a life saver.
And every fic people write makes someone feel less alone.
Point being, just because a particular thing doesn’t serve you, doesn’t mean it lacks value.
This is not to say that we have to consume all fic uncritically. Of course not. It is just to say that entire “genres” aren’t trash or lacking value just because they don’t serve you.
I wonder where the break happened that such wide swaths of younger fans don’t grasp fandom things that used to be unspoken understandings. That fic readers are expected to know fiction from reality, that views expressed in fic are not necessarily those of the author, that the labels, tags and warnings on various kinkfics are also the indication that they were created for titillation and not much more, please use responsibly as per all pornography. The ‘problem’ isn’t that so-called ‘problematic’ fic exists but that some of the audience is being stupid, irresponsible, at worst criminal, at best not old enough to be in the audience to begin with. And that’s on the consumer, not the author who told you via labels, tags, ratings, warnings and venues what their fic was about and what it was for.
So many anti friend groups are just straight up cults and it’s genuinely terrifying to see and be part of.
If you’re scared of your friends for whatever reason, it you’re scared of liking being in a specific fandom or liking a specific ship because you think you’ll lose all your friends over it, if your friend group is essentially built on the idea that you’re all good and everyone else is bad, if your friends use social ostracization and online stalking and harassment campaigns as threats and weapons, if your friends use fear and moral panic to keep people in line… . .
Please get out of there. This isn’t even about shipping or fandom or whatever, it’s about staying safe and not getting sucked into a literal cult. Cut them off, block them on all your social media, remake accounts if you need to, and make new friends who don’t leave you feeling like you’re walking on eggshells around them. Just stay safe.
Having to reblog the right call outs, memes, and discourse at the right time, or come under suspicion or attack yourself? Getting scolded or called out for delay in responding to messages, even if you were away from your computer? New friends must be vetted by powerful members of the group? Private discussions may be screenshotted and shared at any time? Behavior control.
Extensive block lists with social consequences if your friends find you still follow any of those people? Mainstream books or news sources with conflicting opinions dismissed as “problematic” or out of touch? Information control.
Being expected to adopt the newest language, positions and targets without explanation even if they rapidly change? Any concerns or objections dismissed as evidence of incurable stupidity at best, unforgivable moral corruption at worst? Lumping wide varieties of info and theory together in simple good and evil categories? Thought control.
Effusive praise for complying with group demands, including and especially behavior that may make you uncomfortable, like bullying others? Seeing your friends send dissenters death threats? “Hot and cold” treatment, favoritism, competition for attention by powerful or BNF members of the group? Guilt trips about spending time and attention elsewhere? Emotion control.
The antis in the notes are a good example of another cult tactic I experienced: trying to smear anyone who leaves their cult as a pedophile. When I was in a friend group with antis, anyone and everyone outside the group was a pedophile, a molestor, a predator, evil, etc. and if you left then by God they’d make sure everyone in the fandom knew you were also all of the above buzzwords. And in the same way, antis still in the cult that is being an anti yell “you’re pro-pedophilia if you disagree with us!” at the OP without providing a single way in which they’re not a cult.
And that’s because they can’t prove it. At the end of the day, they can’t say, “we’re not a cult and here’s three reasons why” because they just don’t have ammunition. If a group can’t give you a reason why they’re not a cult beyond “cults are bad and we’re good” or “we can’t be a cult, we’re against __”, it’s definitely a cult.
I remember being an anti and being constantly worried my friends would read something into whatever piece of media I’d watched/read lately. They could find evil in anything; whether it was Disney’s Tangled or Romeo and Juliet, everything was secretly pedophilia and you might have to denounce it any day now. Any admission of liking a thing could and would be used against you. My liking emo bands was used as proof against me at one point, as if crushing on men over a decade (or two) my senior was a sign of sexual deviancy. Having a Neopets account was “proof of pedophilic intent” according to them.
And as with all Evangelical conservative groups/traditional religious cults/secular cults that use group shaming, I was expected to repent of the sin of it all, denounce Disney and Shakespeare and Fallout Boy and Neopets as if I’d done some unspeakable crime by watching/reading/listening to the wrong thing.
I did not repent, and they attacked immediately. Everything ever said to them in confidence was used against me in public. The flood of suicide baiting was everywhere, as were graphic rape threats and death threats. One specific death threat was five thousand words long and the same person would painstakingly put it in my inbox one ask at a time. “We’re normal people,” this person specifically often said. “‘Anti’ just means normal person,” he would say on the same blog he was using to tell me how he wanted to carve me open and rearrange my organs while I was still alive. “I’m normal,” he would say while detailing what he wanted to do with my corpse after he’d killed me. “I’m protecting kids.”
This was also the same year antis tried to convince a woman to kill herself because she had her first initial + surname as her Twitter handle and her Twitter handle happened to share the name of a ship antis didn’t like/thought was pedophilia/thought was evil? IDK I didn’t watch the show, all I know is her initial + surname of Lance had people asking her if she wanted to fuck kids and telling her they’d beat her to death in the streets if they saw her.
“Normal” people will not fantasize about rearranging your organs because you liked a movie they didn’t like. “Normal” people will not threaten to murder a woman they’ve never met because her initials somehow equal support for pedophilia. “Normal” people would not believe someone’s initials are code for support of anything, because that’s just not a thing that makes sense.
Antis, Q-Anon, it’s all the same: “We’re normal! We fight pedophiles! We only hurt you because you deserve to be hurt!” Q-Anon thinks Wayfair furniture sells children in their cabinets, antis think initials are code for pedophilia, and asking how either of those things makes sense is not allowed, you just have to nod and accept it on faith no matter how outlandish the claim is.
If the only reason you don’t walk away from a group of “friends” or dare disagree with their strange, nonsensical opinions is fear of the mob turning on you, they’re not normal, they’re a cult.
If you feel like you have to show up on a post that’s just, “guys, if your friend group is toxic and cult-y, walk away and protect yourself,” and argue with that, bc not doing so makes you a “bad person” in the eyes of your friend group, or could get you in trouble… You need that post.
A list of warning signs for cult grooming is not controversial. Ever.
Introducing Tumblr Tips—supporting the creators you love, your way.
Ever wanted to leave a small tip on a post that made your day? Or a blog that always makes you laugh? Or celebrate one of your favorite creatives?
Well today, you’re in luck. Tumblr now has a tip jar.
This opt-in feature will allow you to gift a little something to support your favorite content creators. It’s a win-win: creatives can make a little money from their work, while supporters can tip posts they love in fun, playful ways. And it’s here after much popular demand.
So, how does it work?
It could not be simpler. Select the “Tip” tab on the post that you want to tip, then choose an amount. You can send a message with your gift, and see other users who have sent tips on the same post—unless you send a tip anonymously, like some sort of superhero. Once finished, take a moment to imagine creators basking in the warm glow of appreciation, or a tinkling sound as your gift lands in their jar.
Tumblr tip jar is available to all US users from today. Not in the US? No problem—it will be extended to all users soon. Tumblr will not receive any portion of these payments, though third-party payment services may charge a fee. Payment processing will go through Stripe. To find out everything you need to know about how to accept and receive tips, head over to Support, who will be happy to help.
What are you waiting for? Why not send some tipping love to your favorite blogs and creators? After all, you know what they say—get busy tippin’, or get busy tryin’.
Hey so, this sounds very cool and all but to all the creators out there : ABSOLUTELY DO NOT MONETIZE YOUR FANWORKS. This includes but is not limited to:
-Art (digital, traditional, any kind of medium. Even pictures of your fanmade All Might or Captain America plushies!)
-Writing ! While it may be tempting to monetize your hard work, if it’s fan content DO NOT MONETIZE IT!
Why? Because this is how you break copyright infringement. AO3 has a massive amount of lawyers to protect everyone, but its only working so far because people are not making money off their fanfictions. It goes the same way with fanarts. You do not want Disney coming after you because you put a tip jar on your Moana fanart. You do not want to give any big franchise a reason to sue you into oblivion for the peanuts you’ll be making on tumblr.
PLEASE DO MONETIZE YOUR ORIGINAL CONTENT! I think that this is a good way moving forward to give creators a chance to make money with their hard work, but remember that copyright infringement will bite you in the ass if it can and since Tumblr isn’t making any money with this, don’t expect them to help you if you break them rules.
For the people worried about ‘giving tumblr your personal infos’ , please, take a deep breath and relax. You’re not giving them to Tumblr, you’re giving them to a third party called STRIPE, which is a reliable, trustworthy third party. I’ve been using Stripe for a couple of years for commissions and clients who don’t have Paypal. It’s an international alternative with many currencies / credit card options. It is safe to use.
But again, please be careful about which posts you want to monetize and make sure you’re not infringing on anyone’s copyrights!
i think leaving feedback on fics is kind of like the whole “shopping cart theory”
the shopping cart theory holds that one of the best tests of moral character and one’s capacity to self-govern is whether they return the shopping cart they used to a cart corral or if they leave it sitting out in the middle of the parking lot.
it’s universally agreed upon that returning your cart is the right thing to do, but there is no one that will force you to do it. there is no one watching you to shame you if you don’t do it. there is also no glory for you if you choose to do the universally accepted right thing. it is a pure and simple choice you make over whether you’ll do the right thing without any promise of praise if you do it or any threat of punishment or shame if you don’t.
reblogging or leaving feedback on a fic feels similar to me. everyone agrees that it’s good and right to support writers, but there is no one forcing you to do so. you can read all the fic you want without leaving a single trace you were ever there, if you so choose. there’s no one looking over your shoulder and judging you if you don’t, either - the choice between leaving feedback for a writer or not, after you’ve consumed and enjoyed their work, is entirely your choice.
are you someone who leaves your shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot or are you someone who returns their cart to the cart corral?
if you are interested in leaving feedback on fics but aren’t sure how, there are some great resources on how to most easily do that HERE,HERE,HERE, and HERE! these posts apply to both tumblr and ao3 and have great tips on how to start if you are looking for some ideas.
i’m just gonna go ahead and say that y’all antis are using the words ‘pedophile’ or ‘pedophilia’ way too much, especially in places where they don’t belong. calling someone who is going out of their way to write about an adult, be it through aging up or following time skips, is a waste of time because not only is the author writing about lines on paper and pixels on a screen, but they’re clearly opposing the entire definition of a pedophile. a pedophile is someone who wants to have intercourse with children, so do your fucking research before accusing someone of something so disgusting over something fictional. do better.
