Dear SPN Writers: Hellers Do NOT Speak For the Fandom.
It seems like all their screaming and tantruming has led y’all to believe that they are a bigger or more influential group than they are, but this fandom is huge and it is full of all kinds of people: Wincest shippers, Megstiel shippers, Sastiel shippers, non-shippers – and all of us watch the show for what it is. Sometimes we like it, sometimes we hate it, sometimes we’re meh about it. When we don’t like choices y’all make, we complain about them amongst ourselves and move on, because we know that, like it or not, they are YOUR choices to make, not ours. That’s why you don’t hear from us, so apparently you don’t know that we exist and vastly outnumber the Hellers. You keep giving fan service to a small, entitled group who you hear only because they shout the loudest, and they do not deserve it. (I mean, seriously, if you’re taking requests, can I have Meg back? Isn’t the kid who sits calmly supposed to be the one who gets a reward? Kidding-not-kidding.) In all seriousness, please stop giving in to them. It only makes their behavior worse and in turn makes the whole experience less enjoyable for the rest of us. We were here before them, watching and enjoying the actual show as opposed to searching for moments to take out of context and edit into our own imaginary romcom, and we will be here after them. Let them go. We don’t need them. There really aren’t as many of them as their hissy fits make it seem – when they message y’all their demands, half the accounts are fake ones made to artificially inflate their numbers. The majority of the fandom does not want what they want. We want an epic saga of brotherly love with a side of hunting monsters. That’s what we came here for and that’s what we’ll stay for after the Hellers stomp their way out of the fandom when you finally break it to them that they can’t have what they want. Please, we beg you, just be honest with them, and let them leave if they’re really serious about their threats. The real fans will still be here.
This is a repost of an older story I wrote. I changed it up a bit.
I just wanted you to remember, You Are Not Alone 🙂
Sam had been grumpy for three days in a row. Dean tried to cheer him up, bought him his
favorite salads, even made him some of that nasty smoothie stuff he seems to
enjoy. But Sam was dismissive and
irritated. He snapped back at Dean with
everything he said.
“Hey, Sam, whadda ya say we head out tonight to that theater
in town and –“
“Not interested Dean,” he interrupted. “I’ve still got that headache.” He continued
sipping on his whiskey, and staring past Dean at the wall.
Dean frowned.
Something was definitely off.
“Sam, what’s going on, you’ve been moping around for 3 days,
something happen?”
“Maybe Dean. I don’t
want to talk about it.” He stood up and poured himself another drink. Ignoring his brother, he walked past him, not
bothering to make eye contact and shuffled down the hall to his room. Dean stood alone in the kitchen, unsure of
what to do. In the distance, he heard
Sam’s door close.
He’d seen his brother down before. He’d seen him angry and sad, but this
behavior was unusual, and Dean didn’t even know what started this.
~~
Sam woke up terrified. His heart was
pounding and his mind was racing. He
knew he had to get out of bed, but he couldn’t.
He had a list of things to do today and wasn’t sure how he was going to
get any of them done.
After about ten minutes of tossing and turning, he finally
got up. He went into the kitchen to get
some water. It was very early, still
dark, and Dean was still asleep. His
hands were shaking and he could feel the sweat starting to drip down his
temples. He tried to take some deep breaths, but it wasn’t working.
“I’m ok,” he said aloud.
“This will pass, it’s not real, I’m ok.”
Sam was used to his anxiety attacks by now. Ever since he escaped from the cage, and long
after he stopped seeing Lucifer, he continued to have them. They came randomly,
with no reason whatsoever. Sam still
wasn’t sure what his triggers were.
He felt ashamed and worthless while they were
happening. Like everything he had ever
done was wrong. Like his whole life was
nothing but a pile of mistakes. He truly
hated himself during these attacks.
But he knew it would pass. He knew Dean was in the other
room, and that if he really needed him, he just needed to ask. He knew it was temporary and that the
feelings would be gone soon. He let the anxiety wash over him. Pushing through was the best for him. He sat on the floor of the kitchen and cried.
“I’m going to keep fighting this. I’m ok.
I’m not alone anymore, I’m alive.
I will keep fighting. Always.”
When Dean woke up an hour or so later, Sam was sitting at
the table, waiting with two cups of coffee.
For those of you going through this for the first time: everything will be okay. Fandom always survives stuff like this. We’re good at it.
I know there’s lots of advice posts out there. This isn’t an advice post. I’m just going to tell you why it’ll be okay.
So far, on every commercial platform fandom has called home, there has come a tipping point when we leave. There have been a few scares on Tumblr before, but I didn’t think that we’d reached the tipping point back then. I do think so now. Given the way I’ve seen fandom leave platforms before, yes, this is the real thing. It won’t happen all at once, but in waves. You can afford to wait, but start thinking about it so you’re not taken by surprise when you reach your limit.
Take note of those advice posts that are going around, and especially of the things the BNFs in your fandom are planning – people will tend to follow them in clusters, so that’s a good place to start. But even if you leave it all to the last minute in the hope it won’t happen, and then realise you need to leave after all, it will still be okay.
We are fans, and the internet has always been our playpen. We all have multiple social media accounts, many with the same handle. We can find each other again. It won’t be the same. Of course it won’t. Tumblr fandom is different from Livejournal, is different from GeoCities. But it will still be fandom, it will still be good, and you will still find people you like, including some of those currently in your fannish circle.
We have the advantage of the OTW now too – this kind of thing is exactly why we built it. It’s our safe harbour, no matter what, because we own it.
Once you decide to leave Tumblr, it won’t be as scary as you think. You’ll recognise people’s handles. You’ve probably already done this without realising it – remember the people you used to share a fandom with, but no longer do? Their handles are still seared into your brain, and you’ll always feel that pang of nostalgia when you see them again.
It’s just the same when fandom migrates.
Some people will disappear, and you never will find them again. But mostly, you will still see the same handles, having the same conversations, sharing love for the same favourites, just in new places. You will find them on Dreamwidth, Pillowfort, Instagram, Twitter, Google docs, discord, fanfic.net, Wattpad, Deviant Art, YouTube, Vimeo, and so on. Most importantly, you’ll find them on Fanlore and AO3, because they are run by the OTW and we own it.
Fans and fandom will still be here long after Tumblr is full of rolling tumblrweeds.
We’re good at this.
No matter where we end up, you will find your people again.
Karate, SPN Demonic Octopus Guardian 