i really do love you as a writer but you really, really need to work on your skills of taking criticism and reflecting rather than defaulting to “ew antis”. I don’t like them either but like… c’mon. like you have great takes! you really do! but oh my lord using FASCISM in fanfic discourse…. your privilege is showing. You are THIRTY. pleaseeeeee look at actual fascist history — fanfic is not so big or important that fascism is a valid term to use in the same way we see censorship of literature like banned books in the U.S.!
i really just hope you take a moment to really think rather than letting your ego talk all the time. it’s kind of exhausting to read dog shit take after another when you’re a really articulate person.
I ordinarily wouldn't respond to anon hate like this, and I want to be clear that if you send anything else like this, I will block you. however, I did want to respond to this interesting assumption that I hold the views that I do because I'm privileged. I am going to kindly point out to you that I am mainland chinese diaspora. my first memorable experience with censorship was at a government level when I was a child, and to this day it's something that my family has to navigate. additionally, I have directly experienced mainstream & social media censorship as someone who has been heavily involved in political organizing work in the west. now we are at an inflection point in the western world where governments and corporations are mandating censorship in a top-down fashion, in such a way that I can't help but see the parallels to my experience as mainland chinese diaspora. across all my spheres of life - western politics, mainland chinese news, and terminally online fandom discourse - I see similarities in the arguments that people make against transgressive media.
do you think that political movements such as fascism are born in a vacuum? do you think that conservatism is something that uniquely affects politicians and boomers, but people who are on this website are magically immune to it? do you think there is absolutely zero relationship between fandom trends toward censorship in the online world and larger political trends toward censorship in the offline world? people who are pro-censorship love to make the argument that fiction must necessarily affect reality without exception; well, why not consider that reality affects reality? that is to say - the reality of the world we live in also affects the reality of this microcosm we write in, and vice versa.
lastly, while I have always made it clear that antis don't have a place on this blog, it has never been said as a point blank insult ("ew, antis"). I have always strived to give coherent arguments and rational explanations about my stance on censorship and creative expression when asked about these topics. this is because I was actually anti-leaning many years ago. I arrived at my current position after years of reflection - not after "taking a moment to think rather than letting your ego talk all the time". I would invite you to try to also slow down and reflect rather than insulting strangers on the internet as soon as they post an opinion you disagree with.
on a related note, I know for a fact that my writing blog is a gateway into dark content for a lot of people, and they may or may not be struggling with feelings of shame as they engage with it meaningfully for the first time. so while it tires me that antis consistently harass me for choosing to write the things I do, I have always strived to reply to questions thoughtfully and civilly for the people who are sincerely trying to figure out where they land on this very complex question. if you find yourself insulted anyway, that's not due to a lack of thinking on my part.
