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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.
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.