khfandommods | Survival Guide To Being A Problematic Content Creator/Appreciator On Social Media ™

First and foremost, you don't want to engage anyone who's coming at you with hate, but you also do not want to alienate or summarily dismiss people who have genuine concerns. This can be a difficult balance to strike, especially if you're low on giveadamn, so here are a few tips to dealing with harassment and some of the other more toxic aspects of the current fandom atmosphere (For the sake of brevity and clarity, we will be using the term 'anti', which yes, we know, isn't really especially apt or accurate, but it's easier than writing out Person Who Hates Fun And Doesn't Understand What Fiction Means.):

The Fandom Survival Guide For People Who Just Wanna Have A Good Time™

If you see an anti or anti-leaning post, instead of engaging, make another post that supports that same ship. A simple little headcanon, a screencap from canon, or even just a 'this ship/character makes me happy because' is all it really takes--it helps the ship or character tag not be filled with hate and therefore helps the shippers feel less like they're alone.

If someone engages with your post questioning the content you're creating or consuming, and they're being polite and seem sincere, give them the benefit of the doubt. If you have the energy to acknowledge, say it's okay for them to be uncomfortable, and ask them if they'd prefer you to use tags. It's not always a good idea to rebut, as it may make you appear defensive, but there's nothing bad about offering to tag your content.

DON'T engage with haters. DON'T engage with antis. If you get hate in your inbox or on a post, ignore it (trust me, the thought of a very angry anti hunched over their laptop refreshing your blog over and over again waiting for you to get mad about it will be satisfaction plenty). If someone reblogs your stuff and adds ridicule, hate, or threats, block and report them for harassment. If you see them attacking your friends or other fans, it's a much better choice to send support to the other people being targeted than to engage the bullies. They thrive on the attention and it only eggs them on, no matter what you say or how sound your defense is.

Turn off anon Asks, moderate comments on your fics, and BLOCK AND REPORT. Feels a little like giving up, sure, but believe me when I say that you can't win against these people; you won't change their one-track minds, so you might as well keep yourself safe and sane, and prevent them from engaging with you further. Mod Cam can share a list of blogs to block to get you started, if you're concerned.

Support content creators. Respond to targeted ships' art with kind words, make sure to leave a kind comment to writers, send random nice messages to people whose work you like, reblog instead of just liking a post, and so on. Support your community in any way you can! This makes people feel like they're part of a community that has their back, like they're not alone in their fight, and even if they get harassed, they'll know the harassers are a minority and they have a place they can still feel safe and appreciated.

Above all, we here at KH Fandom Events want everyone in this community to know that your fictional preferences have absolutely no bearing on your values, ideals, or worth as a person. Appreciating 'problematic' ships, characters, and situations doesn't make you a bad person any more than liking Tarantino films means you have a garage full of bodies and think heroin is fun. It's just fiction, and while it's true fiction doesn't exist in a vacuum, the demographic that video game fanart and fanfiction on the internet reaches is so comparatively negligible that it's absurd the way these puritanical prudes would police it. So long as you're not going out and actively harming real living breathing children or promoting making out with everyone at the family reunion, we say Ship and Let Ship.