Iâve been around for a really long time in various fandoms, and no one ever writes this stuff down. Iâll start. Please add to the list. We canât expect people to follow ârulesâ they donât know exist.Â
written with the help of @unbreakablejemmasimmons
if you like something, reblog it. Help the artist get their work out there in front of more people. Share the joy that it brought you.Â
if you want more of it, support it. This can be via commissions, reblogs, recommending the artist to other people, shouting in the tags, or sending the artist asks/messages.Â
if you hate it, keep scrolling. Keep the hate in a message window with a friend, not in the artistâs notes.Â
if you want to use it, ask permission. Artwork is beautiful and you want to show it off. But please ask the artist before you throw it into your header or your icon.Â
if you use it, give credit. And not just a post where you say âDo you like my new icon? X made it!â. Put it in your blog description, that way when someone rolls around your blog three months from now, they also know where your icon/header came from.Â
if you appreciate it, donât repost it. Reblog the artistâs post instead of making one of your own. Let them see all of the excited tags in the reblogs and replies or commentary that people add on. If you come across something on a google image search, try to trace it back to the owner. If someone tells you who the artist is, credit them - but also try to find and reblog their original post.
if you like something, reblog it. Help the author get their work out there in front of more people. Share the joy that it brought you.
if you want more of it, support it. Kudos are great, but if you want more of the thing you like, you should comment. Subscribe to the story or the author. Send them a message about how much you like what they wrote.Â
if you read it, kudos it. Or give it a thumbs up. If you want the author to write more things like that, let them know - even if you canât comment!Â
donât demand content. Be patient. Stories take time. You can encourage without being demanding. Show your love for whatâs there without telling them to post more often.Â
be gentle with criticism. Some people want it and some people run away from it. If you donât know what type of person the author is, itâs best not to go there. âIf you canât say something nice, donât say anything.â
ship and let ship. You love your ship and other people love theirs. No one needs to âwinâ when weâre all going to end up in tears anyway.Â
if you hate it, stay out of the tag. This has two meanings: 1) donât deliberately put hateful commentary in a tag and 2) if you hate a tag, donât go and read through that tag just to make yourself angry
if someone makes you something, appreciate it. Read and comment the fic. Like and reblog the artwork. Pimp it out and tell them how much you loved it. Itâs a gift, treat it like one.Â
if itâs a gift, put some effort into it. You signed up for that exchange three months ago and now itâs a week before you have to send the gift and you donât have the time or the inclination to do the thing. Well too bad. Someone out there has been working hard in your gift, so you should do the same for them.Â
none of us are âbetterâ than anyone else. Weâre all trash for our particular show/film/book/ship/artist/what-have-you. My fave is no better than yours and yours is no better than mine.Â
actors are not their characters. They are people. Treat them like people.Â