Consistency Is Vastly Overrated!

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

Little Menaces - Bug Tea Party - Bloom

But from what I’m understanding a creator posted a boundary about something they’re uncomfortable with and you’re just deciding to ignore it?? If so, that’s actually insanely disrespectful. If not, is there possibly something more clarifying to say?

I’m actually glad you asked! This is probably the last post I’m going to be making on this subject, but let me provide you with a comparison that might make things easier to understand.

This is a bit like someone you know saying; “Hey, people listening to rap music makes me uncomfortable, can you please stop?”

And it’s like… what? I mean, I can… not play it out loud when I know you’re around. A bit of a weird request to make, but if it’s really that bad, then I don’t mind making accommodations.

And they reply with; “No. The fact that people listen to it all makes me uncomfortable. I want you to stop listening to it entirely. It’s against my boundaries.”

Which like… that isn’t a boundary. A boundary is something that dictates how people interact with YOU. Like, I can’t even listen to it in my OWN privacy? How the hell does that affect you in any way, shape, or form? That isn’t a boundary, it’s an attempt to control my personal agency and interests. I don’t even have to LIKE rap music very much for this to be a problem.

Then they say; “If I catch you or anyone else in this community listening to or creating rap music, then I will be sending people to harass and excommunicate you from this space.”

like… ??? I’m sorry, but that’s absurd. You do realize how that’s entirely absurd and unreasonable, right? In a community that is known for loving and thrives off of it? It is not our job to coddle your internet experience- if something is triggering or makes you uncomfortable then it is your responsibility to avoid those things. I am not shoving these things in your face, and at this point you’re only going to find it if you are actively looking for it.

This doesn’t even begin to address the issue of queer-baiting and internalized homophobia of the matter. A fan space ultimately belongs to the fans, first and foremost. If there is something that makes you uncomfortable, then you don’t have to interact with it at all. When you share a creation, you forfeit control over how people perceive and interpret those things, that’s just the nature of art and performance. If you truly cannot handle the way people interact with the things you make, then perhaps this is not a career you are fully equipped to handle.

Also sometimes it’s unavoidable. I don’t particularly like ships and don’t really engage with many by the community, with the exception of a few, yet I constantly see them. Often times there’s no way to filter them out on platforms such as yt, tumblr, pintrest and twitter. I agree that on fanfic sights you can filter tags out but again just the knowledge it exists is to much sometimes.

Also I think people need to get more used to creating things for you. It’s not like pyros gonna walk into your home and see that you have a fanart or two on your phone, just as long as you don’t post it, I don’t really see any issue in continuing to create fan works.

Another thing I’ve noticed is I don’t think this would be as big as an issue it is if Scott x pyro wasn’t such a popular ship. Boundaries change and since he was fine with it in the beginning it’s really popular now, way more popular than it would have been if he wasnt comfortable with the ship during Vsmp. I think a lot of people complaining about this just want to keep their favorite ship, which is fair, but it’s not like you have to get rid of it completely you just can’t post about it anymore. I think we need to normalize just talking to you friends about ships and not thousands of people online.

It’s not even particularly the focus on majorscythe that is much of an issue really, considering the ban was on shipping ANY of his characters in general, I believe. There are certainly less popular ships that are still affected, though I have trouble understanding why one might be more ‘damaging’ than the others. Shipping is a very community driven activity, which is probably why you might see it a lot in fan spaces, which are not something inherently FOR the creators.

Yes, it’s something we can do in private! In fact, that’s what many people have chosen to do from here on out- but I just don’t think it’s something people should be… harassed for posting publicly? The thought that it might make someone uncomfortable even if ‘they know it’s happening’ seems a little ridiculous, when you consider that’s just how being perceived can work in general? To repeat something I said to someone else, if you worry what other people might be thinking about you at every second of every day, it’s only going to make you miserable- and that’s no one’s fault but your own. That’s even going out on a limb and saying we’re even shipping real people to begin with, which we aren’t.

It’s very easy for some people to say to just drop it, just in case- but that is woefully neglectful to a number of people I know that it has become incredibly important to. It might sound silly to some, after all it’s just internet shipping, right? But I mean… it isn’t hurting anyone. You don’t have to like it to think people should still be allowed to do it, really. That’s the just the freedom that comes with interacting with stories and fiction on the internet.