This is a vent post.
I saw this post about wanting to bring back the energy and vibes and community that was in the 2016 era of the UTMV community. And at first I was elated. I joined the fandom in 2017 and I look back fondly on the community I found myself in. Lots of fanfic comments. Lots of RP Roleplays. Lots of Askblog activity and in-character answers and all these wonderful things.
Yes, there were toxic and mean things too. There always are. But I never really found myself in any of it. I only remember the fun and the joy.
And I initially reblogged that post excitedly responding to it. And I went to the blog to see if they posted anything else good.
And I saw their DNI. "Proship DNI".
Their pinned post literally said to me "hey disclaimer just so you know 'i dont support harassment', but if you (also) dont support harassment, if you enjoy shipping, if you think censorship is bad, then don't talk to me because I think youre a terrible person and deserve being harassed."
And they wonder why the 2016 era of UTMV died.
I would have loved to interact. I would have loved to gush about AUs and fanworks and art. But that person left a big sign saying they think I deserve hate for enjoying fiction and that they dont want to talk to me.
Like. Bro. That is kinda the reason youre not getting 2016 UTMV back. You dont wanna associate with "nasty proship" people. Who uh. sorta made UTMV. UTMV (and lets face it, fandom in general) was built on the backs of Proshippers. (although that is sort of an anachronistic statement -- the idea of "proshipping" is new because it was the default, expected political stance. it wasnt "proship vs anti", it was "everyone (aka proship) vs trolls and haters (aka anti)") Then a bunch of haters started being nasty to frans and papyra and fontcest shippers, and puritanical rhetoric ripped apart what was left of the fandom after art theft and the tumblr purge drove the artists away.
The fandom isnt going to knit itself back together unless we foster a community mindset, which we can only do if we all agree to ship-and-let-ship. Block and mute tags you dont like, learn to recognize when an AU isnt for you, and dont play in tags you dont actually like.
But like, just because I like the color Green doesnt mean I cant appreciate Blue or Red. You can hate Green all you want but alienating Green likers is just going to make it harder to live in a society where nobody is making you like Green.
I dunno I just feel like its not fair to ask for a community effort and simultaneously condemn the very people who would have been part of your community for not being good enough for you. It's mean spirited. It's rude. It's cruel.
I want 2017 UTMV back. I would be more than happy to get to see 2016 UTMV with my own eyes. But it isnt coming back, because it takes people to make a community and nobody wants to make a community welcoming and safe.
