cupcake_goth | Fandom stuff

Over the past few months on Twitter there has been an upswing of Hannibal “fans” who are targeting and harassing fanwork creators because those creators produce art and fic around themes that make these “fans” (known as antis) uncomfortable. Because fanworks for a show labeled “for mature audiences” that’s about serial killers, manipulation, and cannibalism should have a fandom that is 100% safe for minors, with nothing that even hints at dark themes, isn’t that obvious?

Why yes, the antis are all minors. And any work of fanfic or fan art that has dark or taboo themes is BAD and GROSS and CRIMINAL and will encourage and normalize BAD, GROSS, CRIMINAL things. Congrats kids, you have reinvented the “heavy metal/horror movies/comic books/D&D is EVIL” wheel, because they clearly don’t understand the difference between fiction and reality. Or that they’re responsible for how they interact with fanworks, because things are tagged with warnings so people can avoid the things they don’t like.

HOWEVER. Bryan Fuller, the Hannibal show creator, is a fervent fanworks supporter. We joke that he’s the biggest Will/Hannibal shipper in the fandom, but he is. He backs fan merchandise Kickstarters and promotes them. He buys fan art. He buys porn fan art. He’s on Twitter and enthusiastically comments on fan art there.

The antis started going after him. And he smacked them down. Repeatedly. He defended fanworks, the fan community, and told these pearl-clutching children that they need to learn the difference between fiction and reality. He shouldn’t have needed to do any of that, but he did, and we Fannibals are damn lucky to have him.

no subject

Wait, what?!? *Minors* are objecting to stuff with killers and cannibals in it?! Things have changed- when I was a teen, we *wanted* stuff with adult themes.

Date: 2020-10-10 05:28 am (UTC)

cupcake_goth

The show having killers and cannibals is fine. But fanworks must not have Teh Sex. Of any kind, ideally, just characters holding hands and blushing. And even that is fetishizing children if one of the characters is shorter than the other. <— an actual comment I saw with my own eyes.

Date: 2020-10-10 06:48 am (UTC)

cofax7

what happened to fanworks being at least a little transgressive? A friend of mine got banned from a tumblr fic exchange because although she signed up for a gen assignment, on her DW she sometimes talked about a (het, not-incest) ship that the fest organizers disapproved of. Apparently they felt her preferred ship (which she was not going to write for the exchange!) had too wide an age gap and therefore she was bad and wrong.

I am confused, and actually kind of happy not to be particularly active in fandom right now...

Date: 2020-10-10 09:52 am (UTC)

shadowhive

I really don’t understand antis, but especially in this case, they shouldn’t be watching Hannibal in the first place yet here they are (and the way some of them talk you’d think it was a completely different show)

I love that Bryan is defending and supporting fan works so strongly, it makes me glad to see it

Date: 2020-10-10 02:26 pm (UTC)

mdtsk

I'd like to correct you on one thing: not all antis are minors. I've seen plenty of adult antis as well.

But yeah, antis are awful, and they're one of the main reasons why I've left fandom almost entirely. (I still follow a few folks, but I don't engage more than I have to.) I'm glad there are folks standing up to them though.

Date: 2020-10-10 07:48 pm (UTC)

You're right, there are swathes of adult antis, too. (I was on the fringes of Sherlock fandom, so I watched in horror as that went down in flames.) But for whatever reason, the majority of the antis on Hannibal twitter are minors who throw tantrums about "Why Isn't This Fandom Safe For Young Teens?" simultaneously with "Why Are All The Adults Blocking Meeeee?" With a side helping of "Ew, Ladies Over 30, Shouldn't You Be Looking After Your Children And Doing Taxes".

Date: 2020-10-11 04:42 am (UTC)

silverusagi

"Ew, Ladies Over 30, Shouldn't You Be Looking After Your Children And Doing Taxes"

It's also bizarre to me that people think that liking something is something you're going to grow out of? Am I into all the stuff I was into as a teenager? No. Am I into something else the way I was into things as a teenager? Absolutely.

My experience with fandom is that the fandoms change, but the desire to Do Things, Read Things, and Make Things is just part of who I am.

Date: 2020-10-13 12:09 am (UTC)

ouranophobe

It's also bizarre to me that people think that liking something is something you're going to grow out of?

... didn't you know? At your Lastday, you're supposed to pitch up to the Sleepshop, at which all of your interests are replaced by Real Housewives, Kenny G, boxed wine, and full-time devotion to whatever young people you encounter.

Date: 2020-10-11 04:38 am (UTC)

I saw his tweets in reply to someone, though I really had no idea what was going on at the time. I suppose I am not "in" Hannibal fandom anymore. I scroll through Tumblr for pretty pictures, but I'm kind of done with Discourse.

That said, this whole fandom purity movement that is happening in general is just bizarre to me. Fandom needs to be a safe space? For minors? Since when?! Geez, I'm from the days of "this site is 18+ only, by clicking to read the fics on this site, you confirm that you are 18." And I clicked anyway, lol! But all this is especially bad on a site like Twitter or Tumblr, which is unlocked and open for anyone, to expect all work posted to cater to you and what you think is correct. I feel like people who have grown up with an unrestricted internet are the ones who WANT restrictions, because they never existed on an internet where things were taken down or removed. They never had to fight for anything. (not that I personally fought for anything, but you know what I mean)

And Bryan Fuller is a treasure.

Date: 2020-10-11 03:30 pm (UTC)

melworks

Twitter is full of garbage people anyway. I used to use it to promote my writing when I was self-publishing, but overall, these days its just such a shitshow that I generally avoid engaging with anyone over there. If you're into fandom, have you checked out Archive Of Our Own? I'm not sure what the Hannibal comm is like over there, but it's got to be better than the crowd on Twitter.