My Content
About a month ago, someone on Tumblr shared my private Patreon content.
Instead of apologizing for violating my clear boundaries, they made it about fandom drama. They did not say sorry. Yet, they knew they were violating my boundaries, stomping right over them, and I have proof of that:
They have since deleted this post.
I was frustrated by the sharing of my content, but I became upset when this person decided to pretend they were protecting me from “backlash." Let me make this clear: Seeing someone’s boundary, knowingly crossing it, and not admitting you’re wrong is bad behavior. And in the fandom interaction between a consumer and creator, it means you have become entitled.
The icing on cake? This person wasn’t even a patron. Yeah.
When you tell a story, a small fraction of people who consume it will become entitled. They think they know more about the content, about how the content should be created and published, or that they know more than the creator. They believe they know more than the others in fandom. In their minds, they justify why their experience with the content means more and is worth more and therefore they are entitled to authority.
And often times, entitled people believe that the current stewards of a story are lacking in some way, and seek to steer the ship themselves. This is sometimes done by crossing a personal boundary. You might believe that a story has gone off the rails or it’s not being presented in the best way. That’s fine. We all have these thoughts. But you become entitled, the moment you cross a boundary, when your feeling towards a piece of media takes precedent over anyone else’s and you act on it.
We all have consumed media that makes us feel very real emotions and speaks to our life experiences. You only become guilty of entitlement when you believe your emotions are more important than the creators or the creative team or other fans. The decision to (a) disengage from a piece of media or (b) make your own, are far better options. If you can’t consider those options, ask yourself why.
For the most part, I don’t get much of this entitlement and ignore it when I do. But this case was especially brazen. So a note to this person who shared my content: Your attempt at semi-formal writing does not excuse you from the bad thing you did. Circuitous speech can’t hide the fact that you crossed my boundaries. This is my content and my work. You do not get to decide how, when, or with whom I share my work, ever….And this entire comic is free.
