Just a thing that's been on my mind lately due to certain drama that's been going on in the fandom.

I need you all to remember that fandom by nature is self indulgent. You consume entertainment like books, video games, films, and TV shows because they make you happy.

Engaging in fandom is a way for you to express your emotions toward that piece of entertainment. Expression can be done in various ways; making art, writing, theorizing, making headcanons, and merely just consuming these, is a form of expression.

You sharing this with other fans who do the same thing makes you a community. A fandom. And as always when you connect with other people, there are bound to be disagreements, arguments, and clashing of ideas. It's up to you how you handle it when it happens.

Because IT WILL HAPPEN. Not everyone is going to have the same opinions as you and that's okay. That's a fact of life. You can either agree to disagree and go on with your day, ignore the concepts, or you can argue about it and fight for your opinion.

The latter being the thing that starts discourse and "drama". And honestly, I'm so tired of saying it, but if you can't stop thinking that your opinions are the only ones that matter, then you shouldn't be in a fandom. That's an incredibly toxic and selfish mindset.

Are there ways to engage in fandom while avoiding discourse? Of course there is. If there's certain content that bothers you, you can mute the words associated with it or block content creators that make them. It's NOT THAT HARD.

This applies to ships, AUs, NSFW content, top/bottom discourse, etc. Stop picking fights over pixels.

Fandom is a place where people should be allowed to express themselves how they like. You have no right to take that away from anyone.

You may be wondering why I have so much to say about this. My thesis in college was about toxicity in fandoms. I had to observe toxic fandoms and ask people why certain fandoms were deemed toxic. And honestly, I wish I wrote it with the knowledge and maturity that I have now.

With all that being said! IF I EVER CATCH ANY OF YOU BULLYING OTHER PEOPLE OVER A SHIP OR WHO TOPS AND WHO BOTTOMS, I WILL CRAWL INTO YOUR BEDROOM AND STARE AT YOU WHILE YOU SLEEP :)