A Blog About Everything.

cloudyobsession:

I know I haven’t done anything on Tumblr in like, the past month.  I’ve been super busy and exhausted and I still haven’t caught up with myself completely yet.  Bear with me, I’ll be back around more often soon, I promise.  In the meantime, I’d like to address all the Homestucks at the moment, if I could:

Guys, I want to talk to you about something for a little bit.

I wants that us all to keep it real about………………………………….

CROSS-FANDOM RELATIONS

Now, I’ve always felt that a lot of the general attitude towards the HS fandom from other groups, sometimes at cons and most of the time on the internet, has been pretty disproportionately negative, and I can never really figure it out.  My experiences within the MSPA fandom have been largely positive, I’ve met some really cool people within it and the only negative thing I can say about it is some people take it a bit /too/ far (I know I’m one to talk, I have an obsession with the series that borders on dangerous) which can be a bit off-putting, but at the end of the day, whatever, people do what makes them happy, and are free to do it.  Every group has it’s weirdos (I’m a furry, I know this fact pretty damn well), but after having a very long discussion about some con-goer friends of mine who tend to make cracks at the series and the fandom about /why/ their view of it is so negative, they brought up some points that are plenty valid.  The main issue I have is a lot of these things aren’t really things I see happening very much, especially not to the degree they claim, but as a member of the fandom myself, I already come with an inherent bias.  The fandom weirdos aren’t the issue here, it really just comes down to the fact that a big portion of how “outsiders” treat us hinges on how we treat “outsiders,” so I want to bring a few of these points to light:

TO AN OUTSIDER, EVERY MEMBER OF THE FANDOM IS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GROUP. Is that necessarily fair?  No.  Just because one Homestuck might be a douchebag doesn’t mean that all Homestucks are douchebags, but anyone who’s worked a retail job has probably gone through a section on customer relations that talks about how every employee is a representative of the entity as a whole.  It’s true.  If someone deals with one shitty employee at a Meijer or something, that doesn’t mean that every employee at Meijer is shitty, it’s likely an isolated incident, but generally, a person’s opinions of a large entity is the sum of their experiences with said entity, and bad experiences will always permeate the good, and the more negative experiences (regardless of if they’re isolated incidents) someone has that relates to an entity, their negative opinion of said entity grows at roughly an exponential rate (I know you can’t quantify feelings and rationality, but I’m trying to make things as easy to understand as I can).  That’s the way people work.  So let’s all do our part to make sure that while representing the group, we treat others outside the group with the same respect that’s due to all people and not be douchebags, and there’s some ways we can do that:

NOT EVERYONE HAS TO BE A MEMBER OF THE FANDOM.  Or a fan at all.  I know I’m guilty of this to a degree, and it’s certainly with the best intentions.  I love the series and I would love it if everyone had the same experiences with it that I do.  I want everyone to have as great a time with it as I do.  But everyone else is not me, and just because I think something is the greatest thing ever doesn’t mean that everyone else will.  I’m not saying to stop encouraging people who haven’t read it to do so, certainly continue with that.  Whenever you get involved with something you like, you naturally want to spread it around to your friends.  But don’t be pushy, don’t try and force it on people.  If someone just doesn’t want to read it, then that’s not only their choice, that’s their right.  It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with them, maybe the format isn’t their cup of tea, maybe they don’t want to spend that much time on something, or whatever.  Furthermore, just because someone has read it and couldn’t get into it doesn’t mean that they didn’t give it a chance.  Yes, I know how much it sucks to hear someone couldn’t get past Act 1 because I’m sure most of us know how much the series just keeps getting better and better as it goes, and I’m sure as fans of the series, all of you feel the same way I do in that you want people around you to have the same awesome experience with the series, but again, everyone is different.  If someone can’t get into it, then whatever!  It’s not their thing, and that’s perfectly cool.  It doesn’t mean they just can’t appreciate it or whatever, it’s just not their thing.  I’m sure all of us have been exposed to something popular that they couldn’t get into at some point or another, and have felt how off-putting it is to have someone try and push it on you or make you feel lesser because it’s just not your thing.  It doesn’t make you want to get into it any less, it only makes you resent it.  So let’s all do our part to make sure no one resents the fandom because of stuff like this.

RESPECT OTHER FANDOMS. This is mostly just a rehash of the first point, but it’s worth mentioning on it’s own, because one of the biggest points cited in the discussion I mentioned was that they found the MSPA fandom’s attitude towards other fandoms was what put them off from it.  I’m not entirely sure where things like this come from because I haven’t ever seen much of it even before I considered myself a member of the fandom, but enough people brought it up that it’s worth mentioning.  Even if MSPA or specifically Homestuck is your favourite seires ever, it doesn’t mean that any other series (and it’s respective fandom) is lesser.  Group mentality is great, and uniting people over a common interest can create some really awesome and close-knit communities, but mob mentality is not.  It’s not us against every other group, and just because someone doesn’t want to be a part of our fandom doesn’t mean that they’re insulting us or that we’re any better than them because of it.  I think part of this results from the fact that the fandom itself has become so huge over the past years, and it’s resulted in this idea that we’re in competition with other fandoms for dominance.  We don’t have to be the dominant fandom, we should be happy with the cool group of people that we have and this really awesome thing we all share with each other.  And we’re not in competition with other fandoms, if anything, all fandom members should be uniting over the fact that they’re part of a fandom in the first place!  On a related note, I know to this end some might say that it was the mistreatment of the MSPA fandom /first/ from other fandoms that lead to a rise in this mentality, but c’mon guys, two wrongs don’t make a right, that’s kindergarten stuff.

NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE ABOUT HOMESTUCK, ESPECIALLY WHEN NON-HOMESTUCKS ARE INVOLVED.  A friend of mine (who is just about one of the sweetest people I know, so it really stung on a personal level to see her have such a negative view of the the fandom) brought up an experience that even to me seemed so inconsiderate that at that point, it made it just a little bit harder to defend the fandom at large.  She said that in her local anime club, all they ever seem to talk about is Homestuck, and all the videos they ever show are HS fan videos and flashes and stuff.  Now, it’d be one thing if everyone in the club was on board with it, because then everyone would be enjoying themselves.  But what she said was that if anyone who wasn’t into the series asked if they could shift focus back to Eastern culture and media, they’d be ignored and the HS fans would continue.  Now, I know for a fact that a good portion of the fandom are /not/ inconsiderate douchebags, but if she is to be believed (and I certainly trust her), then those particular fans /were/ being inconsiderate douchebags.  I know that a lot of Homestucks are /really/ into Homestuck.  And that’s great!  And when you’re around other fans and wanna talk about it, even better.  It’s fun to disucss something you’re really into with others who are really into it.  But that doesn’t mean that non-Homestucks should get shoved out of the way in favor of it.  It goes back to not forcing the fandom on people.  Being excluded sucks, and no one should ever have to feel like they’re being excluded because members of our fandom can’t just turn of HS mode for the sake of being considerate for a little while.  There are plenty of other things to talk about besides Homestuck.  If I can find eight hours worth of conversation topics with one of my coworkers with whom I have almost /nothing/ in common, you guys can find some other things to talk about that aren’t HS discussions.  I believe in you.  ESPECIALLY in a situation above when the group is supposed to be meeting over a subject that MSPA has almost nothing to do with entirely.  I know it’s fun to for Homestucks to “take over” something and make it HS-related, but if not everyone is on board with it, then you’ll end up excluding people, and that’s not cool.

BASIC CONVENTION ETTIQUITE:

Some easy topics for how Homestucks can improve relations with other con-goers:

IF YOU HAVE BODY PAINT, BE CONSCIOUS OF IT.  Some Homestuck cosplayers that have body paint or make-up are probably not experts on it, and may not know how to seal it or what they should use so it doesn’t rub off on everything, and it’s not necessarily the cosplayer’s fault for not knowing any better, but just be wary of it.  If you have makeup that rubs off on everything, make sure you avoid bumping into people and be mindful of physical contact so that you don’t get gray all over someone’s white lolita dress or something.

BE MINDFUL OF LARGE HORNS.  This one is self-explanatory and it holds for any large prop or costume piece.  No one likes to get bopped in the face, so just be careful.

IF YOU TRAVEL IN GROUPS, BE COURTEOUS OF OTHERS.  A few friends mentioned that at Ohayocon, a lot of large groups of HS cosplayers would often bump into or shove others in the hallways and wouldn’t even stop to apologize.  Come on guys, that’s basic common courtesy, just be mindful and respectful.

JUST BECAUSE A FANDOM IS LARGER DOESN’T MAKE IT BETTER.  Everyone at a con deserves access to the same functions and should be met with the same respect, regardless of how big their group is.  If you’re at a convention and there is an official Homestuck photoshoot, be mindful of the time and the area.  Don’t show up early or run late if it cuts into another group’s shoot, and do your absolute best to keep within the area allotted.  If there isn’t an official photoshoot and you’re trying to organize one, make sure you pick an area and time that aren’t alredy occupied, and again, be mindful of the space and when other groups are going to make use of it.  Even if you have a Homestuck shoot as 200 people and another shoot has 10, they deserve the time and space just as much as we do.  This also goes for general meetups, make sure to plan for times and areas that are unoccupied, and if they are to be occupied at some point, be mindful of when and where.

DON’T BE OBNOXIOUS.  I know that cons have been host to incredibly large groups of MSPA fans over the last year or so, and large groups tend to get loud and raucous.  Just be mindful of your group’s overall noise level and rowdiness and make sure you’re not bothering other people.

WE DO NOT NEED TO MAKE EVERY CON MSPA-CON.  I would love to see an MSPA con happen, but until then as the fandom continues to congregate at anime and other general geekery conventions, just be aware that those cons cover a very broad range of media, and are nowhere near exclusively MSPA, so don’t treat them like they are.  We don’t need to dominate the conventions, we need to co-exist!  Congoers should be uniting and with each other, con families shouldn’t consist entirely of one interest group, they should cover entirety of the amazingly diverse range of subjects you see represented at every con.

BEING AN INTERNET TROLL IS NOT ACTUALLY COOL.  Now this one does baffle me, because I’ve never really seen MSPA fandom members glorify trolling in the general internet sense, but I’ve heard from the group I was discussing this with that MSPA fans acting like internet trolls is part of what puts them off, so it’s also worth mentioning.  The trolls in Homestuck evolved out of /parodies/ of internet troll archetypes, they do not exist to show how cool it is to be an internet troll or whatever.  Being a random douchebag to people for no reason is immature, saying outrageously offensive things to someone just to merit a reaction is even more immature.

IN GENERAL, BE KIND, COURTEOUS, CIVIL, AND COOL.  If someone has a problem with the Homestuck fandom and addresses it in an abrasive way, that doesn’t make it okay to be abrasive right back.  If someone is just generally insulting your fandoms, it doesn’t give you license to insult theirs.  Just be nice and show respect to everyone, regardless of their fandom associations, and make sure you’re doing your best to resolve problems and not create them (and be as civil about it as you can).  Treat everyone like an individual, not a sum of the groups they associate with, let everyone like what they like and not like what they don’t, and hopefully one day we can all get along ^^ 

I apologize if this is rambling and isn’t really fun to read, or for any spelling or grammar mistakes.  I didn’t proofread, I wanted to get this off as soon as I could.  If you read this far, I commend you.  If what I’ve said jives with you, then feel free to reblog ‘til your heart’s content. 

This. Thanks man!

windytier:

blimpcat:

smithcrysaloneasmechgetsbooty:

serket-8r8ker:

intelligentdreamer:

theshufflinspy:

intelligentdreamer:

Oh no. I can see this might become a very popular idea. xD

LETS DO IT!

Imma buy me some orange ribbons

DID I START SOMETHING HERE?

I THINK I MAY OF STARTED SOMETHING HERE.

Mmm yes orange

YES

It should be like a gradient red>orange>yellow ribbon (horns) or somethin..

BUT ORANGE WORKS. I’m so doing this.

sigh orange

i was hoping for green

but fine

I’m going to do this at Ohayocon this weekend.

(via felicianoeclair)