#1 SCAREDYHUSBATS SHIPPER

If Pyro doesn't want to see shipping content of him, that's totally fine. Don't be tagging him in whatever ship art or fanfiction you make of him. Don't be asking questions or mentioning shipping in his Twitch chat or whatever.

But at the same time, some people who are making shipping content are being called slurs and sent rape threats and explicit content. And that's obviously not okay. If you are a person who sent threats to others, seriously just block me. I don't want to be involved with you.

From what I've heard, Pyro is asking people to report who's creating shipping content. I am unsure whether this is true or not, and I'm unsure whether he means to tell him or some mod when shipping content is being made and posted, or to report the post to TikTok or Tumblr or YouTube or whatever site the content is on. I have yet to verify whether Pyro actually asked people that. I haven't seen a screenshot of that, or a recording of him saying that. This is just what I've heard, and what other people on Tumblr have said.

I don't think people should be harassed or witch hunted for any of this. Don't harass Pyro. Don't harass the creators of shipping content. Don't harass fans who are against shipping content.

I think Pyro's best option is to just not actively look for shipping content involving him or his characters, but to just block any creators of shipping content that he happens to come across. For example, the majority of the DSMP fandom who made art or wrote fanfiction would simply ask that their works weren't shared with or shown to content creators. That could be done in this situation. Im also pretty sure that Legundo has a "legundo dni" tag for anyone who doesn't want him to see their fandom-related Tumblr posts. Pyro could easily do something like that, or just block all shipping related tags.

Idk. There's a lot of options, but as shipping is such a large part of fandoms, I don't personally think it should be outright banned. I'm not going to continue to make shipping content regarding him, but by no means am I telling others to stop as well.

All of this is just really sad to see. This specific corner of MCYT is becoming incredibly divided with the controversy and allegations regarding Avid, and now the boundaries being put in place by Pyro. And do not take this out of context and claim that I'm saying that Pyro shouldn't have boundaries, because he absolutely should. I just don't believe all of this is being handled properly and in the way it should be.

I already wrote a post about how the Vampires SMP story stimulated a writing muse for me that I thought I might never get back. I've done a lot of soul searching about fanfic as a creative outlet compared to more socially respected art forms. I've decided I don't want to try to live in the hell of professional publishing, but I still struggle with what to say to my peers when they ask what I write, and the answer is that I write novels set in a world of gay vampires based in Minecraft that they've never heard of. I am proud of this work. It's the best I've ever written. I think it can be appealing outside this niche fandom. I just don't know how to have that conversation.

I'm also discovering that I like writing fanfiction better than completely original settings. Fanfic is filled with story hooks and ideas in canon that each of us can play with and take in different directions. I love looking at VSMP fics and seeing what Abolish's org is or who Louis is.

It never occurred to me in all that soul searching that the community I write in might take my work away from me.

Then the AvidMC bomb dropped. It's done irreparable damage to VSMP fandom in general, and my novels feature his character. But the drive to eliminate the character came from the fans, and it was accepted that fan creators would make their own decision about what to do with their art. The character is not the creator. The creator is gone. My work is now tainted by bad associations with a creator I don't support, but it's my art that is very important to me. I'm still writing it, and I've weathered the storm with enough readers that I don't feel like I'm shouting into the void.

Today, I found myself holding my 15yo daughter while she cried. She has written one chapter of long-form VSMP fanfic with a plot that includes v!Majorscythe. VSMP inspired her to the most ambitious fiction she's attempted to date, and now she's faced with giving it up

This can't be what we want for the fandom

Unlike the last crisis, Jack Pyroscythe and Maddie Milkberry are not manipulative dirtbags using lies to damage and control other creators. From everything I've seen, they look like very good people. Pyroscythe's a great storyteller. I'm less familiar with Milkberry's work. There seems to be some real, heartfelt trauma at the center of this boundary change. My heart goes out to them. I want to support them. I don't want them to suffer.

But I think we need to have a serious discussion about what is appropriate for creator boundaries. Before now, romantic fan works involving Pyroscythe's characters were endorsed and even encouraged by the creator. His situation has changed, but ours has not. Animatics can take weeks or months to finish. Long form fanfic can take years.

There are very few fandoms where creators could expect what Pyro and Maddie are expecting. I submit that it is crossing a line that should not be crossed. I am a devoted reader of some unfinished v!Pyro long-form romance fics that have been in process since the SMP concluded. I don't know what the authors are going to do with this new boundary. I'll be honest -- I support them in continuing to write. I will read them if I'm the only reader left, and I would continue to write my stories if it were me.

Our art is ours. It is inspired by works by these content creators, but it is not owned by them. As a fan community, we need to be able to create without the fear that a creator will suddenly tell us we can't have it anymore.

Fandom is an ecosystem. Content creators create. We fans get excited and make inspired art and share it with each other. That generates buzz and more attention on the work of creators. We want the ecosystem to be healthy, and for that to be true, fan activities must also be respected. Our feelings don't stop when a creator does an about face, no matter how understandable the creator's situation is.

I'm left wondering if this is a safe fandom to engage with at all. I don't think MCYT wants that for its fans.