Tumblr cliques, oh how I loathe thee
Nov. 11th, 2014 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauren3210So, most of you know I'm involved in the Supernatural fandom, and more specifically, with the Destiel shipping side of fandom. I've been involved for a while, reading fics, reccing them, looking for fanvids, making friends who also ship the ship (and those who don't) and want to discuss all of the things. The Tumblr side of things though, I've only been involved with for the last 18 months or so, once a friend finally got fed up with me complaining that I didn't know what it was and set up a blog for me. And do you know what I've noticed? This fandom is absolutely filled with horrible people. I mean, I always knew that tension ran kind of high between the separate ships (Destiel vs. Wincest is a Big Thing in fandom). One of my favourite TV reviewers actually put off reviewing the series just because he knew how rabid the fanbase was and knew he would get flamed for whatever opinion he put forth. But until Tumblr, I'd never really known the extent to which this went.
There have been some truly nasty things happen within this particular fandom. Most recently, a group of fans decided to accuse another fan on the other side of the shipping fence of making death threats to the actors, getting this particular fan thrown out of a con she was attending, for which she had prepaid an obscene amount of money. Others tweet horrible things to the actors themselves (and even their wives for goodness sake), and it can get pretty terrible and make you wish you weren't involved at all. But to be honest, none of these things affect me personally. I don't go to cons, I don't shout my opinions from the rooftops, and I don't pay any attention to the actors outside of what they bring to the screen, so for the most part, I'm left pretty much alone in my happy little bubble of shipping the ship and crying over how perfect they would be.
However, I have found a group of people on the Tumblr side of Destiel shipping fandom, that really piss me off. Because they're the insidious, passive agressive type, and they all gather in a group and belittle everyone else (in a passive agressive way) who don't think the way they do. They even have a tag for fuck's sake; #the rational thinkers club. Like anybody who thinks differently to them is obviously irrational and it kind of makes me want to break into their houses and steal all of their left shoes. The absolute worst part of it for me, is that they're a group of 'meta writers'. And I put that in quote marks because what they write isn't actually meta. Here, let me give you an example:
Castiel wears a tan trenchcoat and a shirt and blue tie, with the top two buttons undone. It's been his outfit since the moment he turned up on our screens. In one episode last season, a female bit character (who couldn't be with the male character because of ~~reasons~~) was wearing a cream coat and a blouse with the top two buttons undone. And so some genius decided to 'meta' this two second scene which ended with them shouting "IF YOU DON'T THINK THIS PARALLELS CAS/DEAN THEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU YOU'RE JUST DUMB" and then tagged with #the rational thinkers club.
Like, what? HOW is that rational? What that is, is fucking stupid, and not what meta is about. And they keep doing this; taking ridiculous moments to 'prove' that the ship is going to become canon, and shouting down anyone else who has a different opinion, and also not taking into account the actual text and tone of the show. I mean, I'm a shipper too, and I would be over the fucking moon if this ship was to be made canon, and I'm happy they're so happy because they think it is. But it makes me want to throw things when they act like they're the ones with the inside knowledge because they've freeze framed on a moment in a bar where Cas and Dean were sitting perpendicular to each other and the labels on their beers were pointing the same way and also Dean had a blue pin on his lapel that obviously is meant to signify his love of the colour of Cas's eyes and ohmygod shut upppppp.
Because I have news for you, oh wise rational thinkers club. The term 'meta' is short for metatextual analysis, so if you're ignoring the text in order to do your analysis, then you're doing it wrong.
End rant.
There have been some truly nasty things happen within this particular fandom. Most recently, a group of fans decided to accuse another fan on the other side of the shipping fence of making death threats to the actors, getting this particular fan thrown out of a con she was attending, for which she had prepaid an obscene amount of money. Others tweet horrible things to the actors themselves (and even their wives for goodness sake), and it can get pretty terrible and make you wish you weren't involved at all. But to be honest, none of these things affect me personally. I don't go to cons, I don't shout my opinions from the rooftops, and I don't pay any attention to the actors outside of what they bring to the screen, so for the most part, I'm left pretty much alone in my happy little bubble of shipping the ship and crying over how perfect they would be.
However, I have found a group of people on the Tumblr side of Destiel shipping fandom, that really piss me off. Because they're the insidious, passive agressive type, and they all gather in a group and belittle everyone else (in a passive agressive way) who don't think the way they do. They even have a tag for fuck's sake; #the rational thinkers club. Like anybody who thinks differently to them is obviously irrational and it kind of makes me want to break into their houses and steal all of their left shoes. The absolute worst part of it for me, is that they're a group of 'meta writers'. And I put that in quote marks because what they write isn't actually meta. Here, let me give you an example:
Castiel wears a tan trenchcoat and a shirt and blue tie, with the top two buttons undone. It's been his outfit since the moment he turned up on our screens. In one episode last season, a female bit character (who couldn't be with the male character because of ~~reasons~~) was wearing a cream coat and a blouse with the top two buttons undone. And so some genius decided to 'meta' this two second scene which ended with them shouting "IF YOU DON'T THINK THIS PARALLELS CAS/DEAN THEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU YOU'RE JUST DUMB" and then tagged with #the rational thinkers club.
Like, what? HOW is that rational? What that is, is fucking stupid, and not what meta is about. And they keep doing this; taking ridiculous moments to 'prove' that the ship is going to become canon, and shouting down anyone else who has a different opinion, and also not taking into account the actual text and tone of the show. I mean, I'm a shipper too, and I would be over the fucking moon if this ship was to be made canon, and I'm happy they're so happy because they think it is. But it makes me want to throw things when they act like they're the ones with the inside knowledge because they've freeze framed on a moment in a bar where Cas and Dean were sitting perpendicular to each other and the labels on their beers were pointing the same way and also Dean had a blue pin on his lapel that obviously is meant to signify his love of the colour of Cas's eyes and ohmygod shut upppppp.
Because I have news for you, oh wise rational thinkers club. The term 'meta' is short for metatextual analysis, so if you're ignoring the text in order to do your analysis, then you're doing it wrong.
End rant.
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(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-11 10:27 pm (UTC)And yeah, I agree, what they are saying doesn't sound like meta.
On Wincest: I just can't get over the actor who plays not-Dean in that pairing used to be on Gilmore Girls (and his name was Dean on that show, hehehh). And I personally find him unattractive. So I'd most likely than not ship Destiel if I were in that fandom. But brothercest is hot like woah, so there is that appeal for Wincest... but still. That actor. I can't xD
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-12 09:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-12 03:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-11 10:40 pm (UTC)Crap like this is why I am glad I am not really involved in any fandom. I saw enough idiocy during my X-Files fandom days. Apparently, that was mild compared to what goes on today!
These days, I watch my shows, I look at pretty pics/vids, I generally stay away from fan fiction and I stay away from lunatic fans like these.
I admit it's a bit more lonely to enjoy a fandom in this way. I wish I had some (sane!) fans to enjoy things with. I miss the days of a lot of activity of various kinds.
But LJ is dead in general, I can't figure out how to comment on Tumblr for anything, (I guess I'm officially "old"), and the freaks just seem to be getting freakier. There are some seriously disturbed people out there, and they all seem to congregate on the internet.
Real life is stressful enough. Fandom was supposed to be an escape from that!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-12 09:46 am (UTC)I know there are other shows that have awful infighting in their fandoms (I used to be a mod for a forum for The Vampire Diaries, and woah boy, the things that went on there!), but Supernatural just really makes me so cross! I mean, neither pairing is ever going to happen, so why bother with all the fights? It just doesn't make sense to me.
But you know, I watch a lot of tv shows and I read a lot of stuff, so if you ever fancy having a sane conversation with another fan, come look for me, I'm sure we can find something we both like to talk about!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-12 03:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-11 10:56 pm (UTC)I think it's the worst on tumblr, though. It's like this cycle of enablement. One well known person exhibits terrible behaviour and sets the standard. Their followers think it's acceptable, so it spreads.
Anyway, I'm tired and braindead so I won't say more. I'm sorry you have to witness that kind of thing. It really sucks and makes you wonder about people in general. It's also embarrassing.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-12 09:52 am (UTC)And you're right, it does make me wonder about people in general; who the hell taught them that this kind of behaviour is okay? Just, sometimes I really wish I didn't have to live on this planet tbh LOL