Listen here, peeps.

Fandom should ALWAYS be a positive experience.

Of course, there's the occasional conflict, but it should be enjoyable and uplifting.

If anyone (or a group of people) jeopardises that positivity, it's a collective responsibility to hold them accountable.

One person (or a few) shouldn't be allowed to ruin it for everyone else.

The culprits are usually very skilled at manipulation, quick to turn things in their favour.

But when it's a big number of people having negative experiences with only one, that should tell you something.

There is no narrative. There is no agenda. That person is a bad influence, and should be dealt with.

And this could be true to any fandom, because I've seen this play out multiple times in my many years on the internet.

Some people are just eager to go on a power trip.

Acting like you own a fandom space is empowering - and these people usually compensate for the lack of something else in their lives.

But that still doesn't give them an excuse to be awful to others - and only be nice to those who don't see through their antics.

You could be known for being kind, welcoming, and knowledgeable in a fandom. You can share your information in a way that doesn't belittle those who don't (yet) have it.

Being known for being divisive, abrasive and intimidating is a conscious choice.

It's always a choice to be awful. Don't be that person. And to repeat my original point, if someone is that person, they don't get to ruin the experience for a whole lot of others.

To those people: I'm sorry if someone hurt you in the past, but this is not the way to process it.

If, in any fandom, there's that one name everyone warns to be cautious about, chances are high they have a history of conflict and harming others.

And there's also a high chance many people have a personal history to share about them. Listen to those people.

If the accusations are fabricated, those stories either will be similar or highly unreliable. But if everyone has a different story, and can recount multiple occasions of bad behaviour even as a bystander, it's real.

No matter how much that person tries to play the victim.

We must not give these people a pass, especially if they've been long known for discouraging people to engage. It's difficult. But we have to.

It's not going to be easy & it's not going to be kind, but they've been anything but kind to people around them. Anything but positive.

Speak up, protect others, and be vigilant.

A special end note for Mythical Beasts: don't let anyone distort the meaning of BYMB.

(Addendum: I recognise my hypocrisy in that I recently distanced myself from the Mythical fandom - not independent from what this thread is about. But it still angers me that the status quo is the same and many of whom I consider my friends are actively suffering because of it.)