fandom etiquette as a whole died when people who didn’t grow up on fandoms became stans during lockdown, yes, but why am i seeing people openly mocking fics on twitter. why am i seeing screenshots of fics with captions like “bro what is this 😭.” why am i seeing people mock fic writers for not knowing how sports or theater or college or any other organization operates in the real world.
“college is absolutely nothing like this” “why are we writing four people on the team scoring a hat trick in one game” “so tech work is nothing like this, hope that helps!”
if you don’t like a fic, and if you can’t suspend your belief enough to enjoy a fic that exaggerates or ignores real-world orgs, you don’t have to read it. you don’t have to screenshot it and put it on blast for twitter. you don’t have to post a link to it in the replies. the back button is literally there on your phone. it’s not giving baby’s first fandom anymore, it’s giving entitled asshole and it isn’t as cute as you think it is.
People forget that fandom isn't consumerist. It's community driven.
These fic writers don't OWE you anything. They get literally nothing but community feedback out of their work. So tell me, if they don't get any feedback on a work they pour genuine hours, days, MONTHS of their time into, what is their insentive to keep going? Right, there is none.
They aren't getting paid. They aren't getting famous. They aren't getting ANYTHING out of it, other than words of encouragement and community. You take away that encouragement and community, you take away their catalyst. Therefore, you don't get your fanworks.
Stop being selfish, and engage with your community.
