Author vs Fandom - Accountability & Entitlement (Patreon)

Hahaha... May not have been my brightest idea, you know? To deal with and tackle heavier topics during a Quarantine that has been keeping me down and procrastinating? To poke at an active Wasp's Nest so to say? But also, fuck it. You guys voted, and I am committed to keep this train rolling.

And particularly, I feel like there are some things that really need to be said, regarding the relationship between an Author and the Fandom of the content they create. Some things which I have already talked about at large, and some others that I have commented upon, but not necessarily gone in-depth. Yes, today, my friends, I'm going to be rambling about Fandom Shit, Drama, Discourse, Entitlement, Power Disparity and other such FUN topics.

Hope you are all ready, because I am definitely not.

Hello there. That is me, Wakraya. And today I am going to speak as both a Fan of things, but also, as an Author and creator of content myself. If you're reading this in the future? For context, a lot of what I am going to be talking about is in reference to the response of the Fandom to HS^2 Content coming out, and particularly, about the response of the Fandom to the Yiffany Longstocking debacle. For those of you unaware of what's going on in the Homestuck-verse, since I am aware I tend to write quite Homestuck-centric Essays, recently it was found out that two characters had had an affair, and had a secret child behind a third's back. Ah, Classic.

Of course, there was a lot of Discourse and drama spawning from beloved characters having to deal with this. Accusations of OOC-ness, hurt at beloved relationships being hurt, the contrivance and non-sensical nature of such a sudden and apparently random reveal. This was, also, paired with a Bonus Update that confirmed the authors weren't just aware of the Fandom Response this would cause, but knowingly accepted it. So what we have are Authors that are handling beloved characters in way a lot of the Fans seem to not accept or enjoy, and a Fandom that is full of vitriol and ready to blow up at a moment's notice when things start going South.

Not the healthiest relationship ever since the Epilogues came out. Breaking the Illusion of a Happily Ever After with more mature and dark content that got many upset, it's not difficult to see why there's a lot of vocal people against Post-Canon content. But at the same time, despite the harshness of what we got and the general sense of unease and distaste? People continue to engage with the content, in bad faith. And that's what I am going to be tackling. Is this cycle of hatred constructive in the slightest or justified? Are the Authors fucking with the Fandom because they HATE them?

Well let me spoil that my takes on both of these questions is a no, because keeping the tension for an article or Essay is kind of silly and clickbaity. And so, let me elaborate, on Authors, and Fans.

At first glance, it's easy to agree with Fandom Reaction against Authors. The overall sense of discontent is justified, after all, right? Canon ended, perhaps there were still unanswered questions, things we didn't know all the story about. And then suddenly, there's a sequel, a continuation, which proves to be controversial and split the Fandom. Vocal detractors about how the new content has ruined the characters, breaking the illusion of endless possibility the 'Ending' provided, and following a new continuity that for a lot of people makes no sense and is 'artificially extending the life' of Canon.

Not exactly an uncommon take, either, huh?

I am talking about Homestuck and the Epilogues, but unsatisfying sequels that mess with the characters are a tale as old as Time. Rejection by the Fans of part of Canon, making their own stories, the sense that they KNOW these characters better, because they care about them, and the Authors evidently don't, considering the bullshit they're being put through.

I am not going to speak for every piece of Media out there, since there's obviously a lot of these sequels driven by a board of executives rather than people with vision. But I am going to speak for Homestuck^2. 

The WhatPumpkin Team, as I have talked about at large, is a majoritarily Queer group of Writers, Artists, etc, who are also fans of Homestuck. They're a small, indie team working off of Patreon Donations and game sales, and trying to juggle a variety of projects to feed a ravenous Fandom with Stuff. And they have a creative vision! If they truly wanted to Milk Homestuck for more Content and Money, wouldn't it be easier to push for easy, fluffy, slice-of-life things instead of actually risking it with the more controversial updates they have been pushing? And they are Fans of the content, as well, so why would they want to Spite the Fans and hurt them and their characters, intentionally? They'd be hurting themselves in the process, wouldn't they?

The most hateful of Fans will tell you that the WP Team and Hussie aren't fans, and are deliberately both trying to cash in on controversy, and fuck over the people that 'really' enjoyed Homestuck. And that is bullshit, but we'll get to it in a bit. Homestuck has always been driven by a desire for exploration, showcasing new things, exploring different avenues. Twists and turns, there's always been controversial content, and there's been a visible evolution in the content, slowly becoming more progressive, culminating in this handing of the 'Keys to the Kingdom' to a small group of Queer fans. It is in this Exploration that so many of the arguments against the Epilogues fall flat.

Because they are tough, and difficult, and they hurt a lot of characters. But to think the Authors want the Characters to go through awful shit because they want to fuck with the Fandom doesn't make any sense. There's so much Bad in the Epilogues. But there's nothing Wrong in them. Bad things happen. People fuck up. People turn bad. There's Evil and Distasteful Shit, but at its core, they're a story about fucked-up adults in a fucked-up world trying to get by. It's bitter. But it's not evil like some people have literally accused them of being. 

They did hurt people though, didn't they? The Authors wrote something that made a lot of people feel really bad! They SHOULD be held accountable about this! Shouldn't they?

Of course they should, right? People with HS as an Hyperfixation, suddenly having their whole world coming down on them! People who heavily relate to characters, seeing them develop in the worst of ways! An irredeemable piece of media, written to spite them specifically, to hurt them, and it succeeded, it hurt them, so why not retaliate? Why not insult the content? Why not insult the Authors? Why not send them Death Threats?

... Wait what?

This heated train of thought is what many believe is a righteous and good response to Canon Content they dislike. It hurt people, so of course, they're entitled to hurt those who created it, specially because the Authors continue to show such a vitriol towards the Fandom themselves, right?

Not quite.

Homestuck was always a dark story. But never to the level of the Epilogues. Presented in the format of an AO3 Fanfiction, they marked themselves as Mature, and had a long list of Content Warnings about all the fucked up stuff within. There were a bunch of joke Content Warnings, as a reference to how AO3 Works and how many upload their content- So people use this to justify having read them as 'unreliable' and 'just for fun' and believe that they weren't going to be that fucked up. But all of the content warnings were truthful and actually things the content touched upon.

Furthermore, as bad as a lot of stuff that happened in the Epilogues was... It wasn't all bad? There was positive and interesting exploration of Gender. There was intriguing talk about what 'Canon' means, about Authors and Characters. There was a hopeful silver lining to both Meat and Candy Timelines, the spark of hope of pushing onwards even when everything has seemed lost for so long, and fighting for what you believe in.

But not only do few people talk about these positive things, many of them outright twist them into something else. The Exploration of Gender? Invalid. Transphobic. Made even worse by LGBT Relationships showcased to split up or be in bad situations. The Intriguing Meta? Stupid, pretentious, nonsense, words MEAN things you idiot. The Hopeful Silver Lining? WHAT Silver lining? Everything is SO bad, there's NO way it would EVER get better!

Alright. Fine. People are entitled to their opinions after all. People can dislike, hate something, just because they don't jell with it. So, a dark and contrived story, making people angry? That is not surprising in the least. What I DO find baffling, however, is that these people don't just leave. You'd think if something was making you THIS upset, you would stop interacting with it. However, these same accusations, come every single time there's an update. Every single time something happens. It becomes less a distaste for the content, and an outright contempt that it even DARES to exist in the first place. It hones a hyper-critical, pessimistic and vitriolic train of thought. The good is just okay because it is "trying to redeem the bad that already happened." The bad is worse, because "it's all bad, all the time." They hate it, but continue to comment about how much they hate it, and going down toxic spirals with no end in sight. "HS^2 is Trash but-" "I hate this but-" Every single time something is posted, needing to justify themselves, needing to state continuously that hey, I am part of the people that hate this, and is constantly saying how horrible it is! Don't come after me to tell me how bad it is, I know, after all! And the worst of it, the comments of "The ride never ends", once almost cute and innocent, now twisted into the idea that we're all trapped and being force-fed something awful by evil people, unable to avert our eyes.

People got hurt. But is that the Authors' fault? And even if it is their fault, is it their Responsibility? People got hurt. But is that a reason to hurt other people back? Where does this tug of war between Author and Fandom end? Where does the dislike become excessive? Where does messing with the Fandom go too far?

And so after so much rambling, we come to the point of this Essay. Authors, exploring avenues they want to go through, even if they are painful, ending up hurting Fans. Hurt fans, twisting these negative feelings into something worse, attacking other people... How far can both groups go? How far should both groups be allowed to go?

As an Author, I understand the desire to explore dark things, to reflect your life experience on characters you're working with, to push a point of view. And sometimes you end up hurting characters. You have to take into account that people will be hurt by bad things happening to characters, particularly when you're dealing with characters as popular as these. But to hold yourself back from a creative vision, or from expressing your life experience, because some people may feel bad about it, doesn't that go against the very point of Creating? What you Create doesn't HAVE to evoke good feelings. You can want to evoke bad feelings, and ideally, with Content Warnings, you can accomplish this and warn people who can't handle this content about what's ahead, so they can turn back and go. Could the Tags have had 'less jokes' to drive the point home that they were serious? Could some serious topics be handled with more tact? Maybe they could. But having expressed the more mature tone, showcased what was going to be in the content, and sticking to their guns, even if you dislike the direction they took with the content, does that make them evil? No, of course not. That just means they created divisive content, that is not going to be enjoyed by everyone. And as such, there's going to be people left behind in the process, people who just do not like the new content anymore. And that's okay.

As a Fan, I understand wanting characters you love be happy. The pain of seeing someone you relate to turn evil, or die, or be cast aside by the narrative. But there's a difference between disliking what's going on, and what I have seen happening. If you stop enjoying the current content of something you have been following, the logical course of action would be to stop interacting with it. It's not always easy, I know. Hyperfixation, nostalgia, they are powerful things. But is that the Author's fault? Not everything has to be a Moral Crusade. You can dislike things, and you can STOP interacting with things when you start getting upset or dislike the direction they are taking with it. You can not justify WHY you dislike it and just move on. But these are heated and often irrational feelings, which end up making the 'justification' for distaste outright misread of Authorial Intent, assumption of ill will, and negative spirals to go nowhere. If you truly feel like you're being forced by the Authors to consume this content, and are suffering because if it, seek help, that is not Healthy, nor something you should be feeling, but it is also ENTIRELY on you. Does that mean you cannot complain about things, ever? No, of course you can! But consider whether your hatred and distaste is doing anything constructive. Are you venting? Or are you only getting angrier? Because all I'm seeing is people forcing themselves to go through something they hate, and constantly reminding themselves how bad it is. Are you actually telling the Authors on how to objectively improve the way they tell a story? Or are you only stating your opinion and preference, disregarding that of other Fans and of the Authors?

Many Fans say that Authors hold a power over the Fans. They can make them Feel Bad if things don't go the way they want things to go. And you know what? They can. That is. The point of art. The point of creating something. To make the people seeing your art experience something, and that something doesn't always have to be good, and creating art that makes people feel bad things isn't a bad thing, either. And if you cannot handle the emotional whiplash, you're allowed to dislike things, specially if it's untagged and unexpected. But going on a crusade to twist your hurt feelings into an objective fact that the thing that hurt you is Evil and Should Not Exist, and the Authors Should Be Considered To Be Evil and Fired and Not Allowed Near The Content Anymore... That's a very... Puritan censorship response.

Fans are, often, the ones that hold the power. Their reaction is what drives Authors to continue, their love for the content what inspires them to keep going. And they, too, have the power to stop consuming media if they believe they aren't going to be enjoying things. The WhatPumpkin Team loves Homestuck, and loves the Fans. Say what you want, this is a fact. This is a Team that knew they were doing something controversial and solidifying identities and headcanons on certain characters, and wanted to push the idea that they are doing their own specific take on the canon content, and that all other visions of it are valid, and should have the same validity as this official content. This is a Team that created a side-game where we, the Audience, the Fans, are the Protagonists, and shows us fighting back against the unfairness and one-sidedness of the Authors, and realizing we have the power to change canon, before creating an official Timeline where the Kids can grow up together and not deal with the trauma of SBURB. Of course they tease Fans and their Response, this is Homestuck. Of course they may seem distant and mean, arguments over the Internet quickly devolve into screaming and they get insults and death threats from angry fans, they're fucking tired. But they are, ultimately, both Fans, and people who do enjoy the Fandom Response, when it is warranted, and sane. And this? This is just not sane anymore.

As such, we come to the end. The point of all of this, what I'm talking about, what I want to showcase, is that the relationship between Author and Fan is different than what I've seen a lot of people talking about. People making content often do so because they're bringing in their experiences and views into a work. You don't have to like this, and that you don't like or agree with it doesn't make them wrong and entitle you to try and change it. In the same way, Authors hold no power over you, if you don't like what's going on, you're allowed to just walk away, and if you can't, you need to work on developing better habits of consuming media and using social media to discuss said media. I am not saying that you need to trust that the Authors will actually pull through and have a vision that satisfies you, I am not saying that the content will get better for you, particularly, and I am not saying that things couldn't have been done better in several ways.

But I am saying that if you're not enjoying the content, you don't need to look for reasons to twist bad feelings into an overblown crusade against small teams of people working on something they love, and making fans who do enjoy this new content uncomfortable.

This Essay is a bit of a mess, in all fairness. There's a lot of heated feelings in me too. And I don't want to come across in saying that THIS take of mine IS objective, either. This is simply what I believe, and what I believe, too, would be healthier for everyone. I ended up rambling a lot and having to bring it all together in the end. And despite this focusing on Homestuck stuff and its Fandom, specifically? This goes for every Fandom out there:

Stop Hate-watching. Stop Hate-consuming media. Before starting to go overly critical and vitriolic about any sort of media, ask yourself, if you're misreading the intent of the authors intentionally to try and justify your bad feelings, and whether talking about how much you dislike said media is doing anything positive for you.

The Media you consume doesn't control you. And if it does, you need to seek ways to fix this and help this. Fiction you dislike, even controversial fiction touching sensitive topics in ways you don't like, is allowed to exist, and it is up to you to curate your experience to make sure you're not exposed to that which harms you.

And of course this doesn't mean there AREN'T harmful pieces of media that should be hated. If someone's intent is to spread fascist propaganda obviously FUCK whatever it is they are doing. But that is they keyword. Intent. If an Author has good intentions and is spreading a positive message, or if an Author is venting and talking about bad personal experiences, then dislike and hatred are a matter of taste and opinion.

So why torture yourself going through something you dislike? Just so you can keep disliking it?

Please all of you: Be safe, be kind, curate your lives, online and offline, and try to keep an open mind about whether something you dislike is such just because you dislike it, or because there is really something inherently wrong about it. As always, there's nuance and context to everything.

Don't bandwagon on hatred and feed spirals of toxicity. 

And as usual, thanks for reading, and see you all!