[ SECRET POST #7018 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #7018 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/30ed458f338f.png

Transcript by OP

[fscom]

I find it more and more difficult to have neutral conversations with fans. If I defend their thing, I must also be a fan (I'm not). If I criticize their thing, I must be an hater (I'm not). People can discuss the merits and flaws of a thing without feeling strongly about it. People can defend the right of something to exist on principle without being personally invested.

Some days it feels like the internet runs purely on feels now.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, people throw around the words hater and anti so much now that they have virtually lost all meaning.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm noticing more and more how frequently you have to ask people "can you show me where someone said what you're claiming they said?" when they come in swinging with wild accusations and projections.

Of course they can never show you, because nobody said the thing they're claiming they said.

[(Anonymous)]

Yep. Happens a lot here, too. I'm not sure if it's people who genuinely can't read, or people blinded by their fandom baggage that they see opposition everywhere, or bad faith trolls.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, it does. Someone will say something critical, and they get a response that completely inflates and twists what they say. It's so weird. I guess maybe sometimes it's someone trolling and trying to get a rise out of people, but I know some people definitely do that sincerely. They see something they don't like or don't agree with, and immediately challenge it as being wrong or bad, rather than it just being something they disagree about.

[(Anonymous)]

We do have a resident bad-faith troll who likes to read stuff into comments, and then just claim they are super literal or good at pattern recognition if they are called on their bullshit.

[(Anonymous)]

I think there's probably more than one but yes.

[(Anonymous)]

For sure.

Like if I talk about the things a story, that people seem to universally hate, did well I get treated like I’m some looser deranged defender. When bad media can have good bits of writing in the mess.

And on the flip side if I crit an aspect of something that’s decent but I feel it didn’t do as well in one or a few areas, suddenly I’m some rabid hater or anti because I have a mix of opinions. It’s so weird and juvenile on either end.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, the second one drives me INSANE. Like, I love my favorite video game to death, but there are some things it didn't do as well as it could/should have and I like to talk about those things because they're directly related to my favorite character. I still love the game overall and can and do rec it to everyone, but that doesn't mean I think it's perfect and without flaws!

[(Anonymous)]

Methinks no one is teaching literary criticism anymore.

[(Anonymous)]

I couldn't agree more. Fewer and fewer people seem to understand nuance and shades of gray and mixed feelings. Everything seems so tribalized (is that the right term?) where you have to be fully on board. A lot of fans seem to expect that you have to LOVE 100% of something or someone and if you only love 99% of it and have 1% you don't like, it means you're a hater or an anti. Why can't I enjoy some aspects of this show, but find other aspects unappealing? Why can't I enjoy some of this person's work, but find some of it lacking? It doesn't mean I hate that show/person or that I think people who love the things I don't like are wrong. It just means we have differing opinions. It's really frustrating.

OMG yes

[(Anonymous)]

In my fandom (perhaps because it is centered on children's media. Like, they market little boys' bedding and pajamas with these characters) I see this to a maddening degree. A popular series with in the larger franchise has sacred cow status in the fandom.

The creators are former fans, which may play into some of the parasociality. Far too often, I see fans of the series jump to assuming that critiquing how the creators write the characters or handle their arcs means they want the creators to get fired. There's also general guilt-by-association, strawmanning, Goomba fallacy, etc, to lump normal critics in with a handful of serial harassers. (e.g., "Fans like you say you don't support harassment, then turn around and send the writers death threats". "Oh, you dislike how this character is characterized under the new writers? I guess you would rather this character stay a [flanderized interpretation] like how the old ones wrote them?")

I appreciate good meta, and have been wanting to write some myself about this series, and be less of a people pleaser in general. But I see how frequently reasonable critique, that isn't padded out with fluff, turns into mud-slinging on platforms like Twitter and Tumblr. Even if it's on Dreamwidth, only linked on a small social media platform (think Bluesky/Mastodon size) where likely few other people will see it, I'm a little anxious. The way other people view me is important to me. I want to set a good example, and I feel bad for the fans on big platforms who get smeared because of their views.