i'm yogscast trash

Actually 9 now.

Yogscast fans are not cattle. We are not property of the Yogscast, and we are not employed by them.

Hiding content where Yogscast members can’t see it is a favor to them, not a duty.

The Yogscast has no cause to threaten repercussions on those do not fulfill this voluntary favor.

If the Yogscast does bring repercussions, it is reasonable for the fans to react in kind with boycotts and public complaint.

A large percentage of Yogscast fans are underage. The Yogscast should acknowledge that and behave with the sensitivity expected of adults interacting with children.

It is irresponsible and unacceptable to bring attention to a 16-year-old girl and accuse her of writing pornography.

It is unacceptable to read a child’s full name live without confirming that it is either a) a pen name or b) the child, or better the guardian, has given permission.

The Yogscast are public figures. Even if they do not qualify on the basis of their ranking on YouTube, they have participated in public controversy on multiple occasions and have their own means of access to the media. Claims that they are “operating out of their bedrooms” are unsubstantiated.

Yogscast members are subject to public criticism.

They have the resources and the means to avoid seeing things they don’t like on the internet.

Despite claims to the contrary, each member represents the network as a whole. The Yogscast is not a special exception to this. As employees and members of the whole, each is subject to the criticism brought onto the whole by any individual. Members are free to quit their jobs if they do not feel the Yogscast represents them anymore.

"Yogsmut" and "Yogslash" are rarely brought into public spaces because of the aforementioned unwritten favor. There is blatantly, obviously no actual malice intended in the creation of this type of content.

The effort made on Dec. 16 to seek out and read “Yogslash” content invalidates claims that the Yogscast do not want to see this type of content. They must intentionally look for it, which they do, in order to make themselves uncomfortable.

Neither side has any means to stop the other, but the meaning is clear. It’s “not nice” for Yogscast fans to write porn and make an effort to publish it in public, which they are allowed to do, but they do not do. It’s “not nice” for the Yogscast to terrorize young fans using their resources, which they are allowed to do, and which they just did. Just because the Yogscast has a bigger megaphone to shout through does not mean their feelings are somehow more important than the real people they just terrorized. Young, practicing authors deleted and locked down their blogs in fear of being shamed by irresponsible public figures.

The stereotype of Tumblr being all about “feels” comes from the way posts here are not prioritized by popularity. Personal opinion, or “drama,” rises to the top, but on reddit it is shunted down in favor of popular sentiment. /r/Yogscast selects for those who enjoy the show the most. By listening only to the most positive posts written by their biggest fans and invalidating the variety of thought on Tumblr, the Yogscast has grown soft on its own hugbox. Repeatedly discarding popular sentiment on Tumblr is discarding the thoughts of all but the most die-hard fans.

Yogscast fan fiction writers know that the fiction may make you uncomfortable, and that you don’t want it "in my face in the general Yogscast tag." Which is why tags like #yogfic and #yogslash were created, and why older authors will take the time to message new ones who don’t understand the tagging system to let them know “hey keep your fics here so that the Yogs don’t get uncomfortable when you post them.”

That’s (1) to encourage the creativity, which even Yogscast members have endorsed, and (2) to organize the system so that you don’t have to read them if you don’t want to. 

And places like Fanfiction.net, Archive of Our Own, etc.? They’re literally only fan fiction sites, so if you find any posted on there it’s because you’re searching for them.

Fanfiction writers put our works into public spaces. That’s absolutely right, because how else are we meant to share what we’ve written with other members of the fandom? And putting our works onto the internet does come with an implicit assumption that whoever’s character/etc. we’re writing about may find it, and may read it, despite all of our best efforts to keep it relatively separate.

That is enough of a deterrent to keep some people from writing, especially for a fandom where the people we’re writing about are more active than in others, like Harry Potter. I don’t think JK Rowling goes looking for fanfiction.

HOWEVER, in no way, shape, or form, does posting a fanfiction on the internet come with the implicit assumption that it will be read to 35,000 plus people on a livestream. 

Last night on the stream, the same exact thing happened that happened with Caitlin Moran at the Season 3 Sherlock Q&A - using fanfiction for cheap laughs and public humiliation. The author in that instance was mortified - we create with the intent that people will see, read, enjoy (or not), but in any instance, not that thousands of people will be read it, with the only intent being to humiliate the writer and the fanfiction community in general.

We get it. You’re uncomfortable with fanfiction, and you are absolutely entitled to that opinion. We post on sites like AO3 and Tumblr with specific tags so you don’t have to see it.

And as for the terms of service, I’ve read over them now, and I see nothing that suggests that by posting on these websites we’re consenting to public readings of our works with the intent to publicly humiliate fanfiction writers. I do, however, see a clause in Tumblr’s Community Guidelines and TOS that prevents against infringing on copyrights. Considering the fact that works of fiction are both original (i.e., story creators come up with their own ideas, etc.) and fixed (i.e., written down), writers have a copyright interest in their intellectual property.

drink some water

take a few deep breaths

stretch

and don’t forget to

eat, if you haven’t already

sleep, if you need to

take your medication, if you have any

please remember that you’re important and loved, ok, you’re amazing

sloth man

g money