#fandom ethics

Creators do not owe anyone content. Do not ask writers when they will update.

If an author did not ask for [negative] criticism , do not give criticism.

Read the tags carefully before reading a fanfic.

If you ignored the tags and were upset, that is your responsibility, not the creator’s.

Disliking a ship does NOT give you the right to attack people who enjoy it.

Do not tell authors or shippers that their ship is “disgusting,” “wrong,” or “shouldn’t exist.” Shipping fictional characters is not a moral failing.

No one is obligated to justify why they ship two fictional characters.

Headcanons are PERSONAL interpretations, not universal truth.

Dark themes in fiction do not equal real life beliefs or intentions.

Leaving kudos or short positive comments genuinely matters.

Not every fanwork is made for you, and that is okay.

Scrolling past content you dislike is better than engaging negatively

Enjoying a fandom later than others does not make someone less of a fan.

I'm talking ESPECIALLY on friends to lovers.

Also- let me tell you- DID YOU KNOW that human emotions and relationships are COMPLEX and can be interpreted differently?

STOP MAKING PUBLIC CONTENT!

If you can't handle what you're fandom does, you shouldn't be making public content in the first place. If you want to create content but don't like fandom, leave your content for yourself.

Not only would your fandom be presumably insufferable to you, YOU would be insufferable to your fandom!

"How my fandom would mischaracterize my OCs😒" don't make your content public then.

"My fandom loves a character I don't want them to like!😫" don't make your content public then.

I've stumbled upon a post the other day. I can't remember exactly how it went but someone basically proposed that one of the mclaren interns should "take one for the team" and make mclaren invite the heated rivalry actors to the race in canada.

yk, because all of the "bottom eyes" thing. and that they should meet Oscar.

so I may as well be overreacting here (please tell me if I am) but what happened to "fandom stuff should - and for rpf needs - to stay in fandom spaces"??

maybe this was a joke and I didn't get it (possible). but wouldn't this, like, be the worst thing they could do? as in, exposing Oscar to that kind of rpf? I know they won't. that's not the point.

edit: I hope they won't.

because it just feels wrong to even think about this.

as much as I love and live in fandoms and fanfics and art... I think we need to remember once in a while that those are actual people and that we need to do what we can to not let our fandom stuff reach them.

So sick of the many, many “takes” that write Dick as a bad brother or “persistent” brother to create a make believe fantasy where Jason was completely sane in the league and the best brother ever to a perfectly normal and untraumatized Damain. And somehow Tim is a replacement and too cold to be a good brother and Bruce is too “apologetic”.

Like genuinely…what?

Since when is someone-Tim-being lovable a bad thing?

And Dick? Persistent? Sorry, his persistence only applies to one person and that’s Bruce. No one else is that special enough to get that side of him. Except Donna.

And Bruce feeling guilty for the death of a child is somehow bad behavior. He felt responsible because he took in a child and the child died under his watch. Regardless of the fact that he didn’t contribute to it AND did his best, Bruce is going to feel bad about it but it’s sooooooo OOC if he were to accept the actions of another that go against his morals. Killing? He would lock everyone up for that. That is the ENTIRE premise of Under the Red Hood - did you like miss that somehow when you read it or - for real - when you didn’t read it?

What is up with these posts?

Why does everyone in the Batfam HAVE TO BE BAD for Jason to be good.

Not to mention! These posts always hyperfixate on make believe flaws of each character but pretend Jason didn’t go through a trauma that caused terrible actions and pains for him and others.

OR they pretend Jason is the only one to have went through trauma and the others’ individual ones are over exaggerated or they’re disregarded because Jason’s has to feel the worst so the others can be villainized.

Why are there so many of these crappy posts?!

Like I don’t get it. Why does everyone have to look bad so your singular batfamily member - and be real, it’s ALWAYS JASON - can look good?

WHY?

Why do people write posts hating Tim or Dick or Bruce? They’re great people! They’re fantastic characters! They’re lovely, beautiful, pained, kind, and whole! They’re wonderful.

Why not include Steph or Cass? Because their trauma is worse than his so including them means he won’t be THE wee baby victim?

What the actual fuck?

Not even playing the worst trauma game, it’s not fun to read. It kills the mood! The intent of these posts are so obvious - “drag every character through the filth but mine”.

This doesn’t contribute to positive fandom culture, it creates a toxic echo chamber!

STOP THIS CLOWNERY

praise shouldn't be followed by comparison, it just makes the compliment backhanded and rude.

everyone is allowed their own preferences, and people can criticize stories in private settings, but something that isn't cool is disparaging fanfictions in public settings

that includes comparisons.

everyone currently is raving about the new popular byler fanfic- and that's well deserved!! I absolutely loved it, it was PHENOMENAL

but I've been sad seeing all of these comments saying "it's so much better than [insert fanfic name]"

do you all forget that the authors who wrote those fanfics you're putting down are most likely here? they're present in the community too!! and fandom spaces should be safe for people to share their passion projects without being put down.

I know I've talked a lot about fanfiction etiquette, but it needs to be said again because I just keep seeing these backhanded comments that are infuriating. it's rude.

imagine it like this: you get two presents, how would you react?

would you be thankful and accept both because, yippee! two presents!

or, would you say, "thank you! I love present 1!! it's so much better than present 2!" meanwhile the person who gave you present 2 is now sad because they tried really hard to give you a present you would like.

comparisons hurt.

once again, you can praise a fanfiction without putting another one down!!!

fanfictions are FREE and are made in author's spare time. they time and effort, and yet authors don't ask for anything in return! fanfictions are not products, they're gifts.

it's rude to give criticism if it wasn't asked for, it's rude to rank fanfics because once again that's comparing them, and it's really rude to bash them online

authors are people too

feelings can get hurt, and stories can be taken down or straight up abandoned. I've seen people stress over a lack of fanfics these days, or an uptick in abandoned works. do you want to know why that's happening?

it's because people are being rude and expectant of something they didn't pay for. it's capitalism! let's keep that mindset out of fandom spaces and be kind, okay?

I know this post might sound harsh but it needs to be said. if you're new to fandom spaces, please read up on fandom etiquette.

be kind and remember that we're all people.

we're not just text on the screen. we have hearts that can be hurt, and minds that will remember your words.

fanfictions deserve praise

just don't give that praise at the cost of another fanfic