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this is getting some notes again so i had to confront the fact that this post was just over 9 years ago, but not only that, judging by the timestamps on here, it will have been ten years since the lion body incident occurred in april of 2026… i wonder where zack99xx is today… feels like only yesterday.
also, i noticed that i never actually clarified in this post. but sarabi was not a roleplay blog. at all. it was just lion king art and gifs. this person just asked me if i would pounce on them and i just thought it would be funny to play along. i had never spoken to them before. lol
i probably should not have responded when they immediately launched into attempting erotic RP but the siren song of the still imo hilarious ‘im married and i have a son’ line was too funny for me to pass up. i did block them immediately after that and they remade to message me over and over again through asks, fan mail (RIP feature) and messages, so i password protected the blog for a long time.
just a little BTS, nearly a decade later, on some deep parakeet lore
Basic Fandom Etiquette Everyone Needs to Remember:
Creators do not owe anyone content. Do not ask writers when they will update.
If an author did not ask for criticism , do not give criticism.
Read the tags carefully before reading a fanfic.
If you ignored the tags and were upset, that is your responsibility, not the creator’s.
Disliking a ship does NOT give you the right to attack people who enjoy it.
Do not tell authors or shippers that their ship is “disgusting,” “wrong,” or “shouldn’t exist.” Shipping fictional characters is not a moral failing.
No one is obligated to justify why they ship two fictional characters.
Headcanons are PERSONAL interpretations, not universal truth.
Dark themes in fiction do not equal real life beliefs or intentions.
Leaving kudos or short positive comments genuinely matters.
Not every fanwork is made for you, and that is okay.
Scrolling past content you dislike is better than engaging negatively
Enjoying a fandom later than others does not make someone less of a fan.
Disliking a fanfic does not entitle you to announce that to its creator. Sending hate comments to authors is NEVER justified, even if you disliked the work.
@ previous tag, I just wanted to share my own thoughts on this, as a reader and a writer myself, I don’t think it’s “weird” if an author doesn’t respond back to a comment they got.
because authors don’t owe anyone anything. and them not responding for whatever reason (not knowing what to say? feeling like a simply “thank you so much” sounds too cliche and repetitive when it’s used to respond to several people? being too tired from life outside of fandom space? feeling overwhelmed? all of these are what I have experienced as a writer who tries to respond to comment I received) does not mean they don’t appreciate the support people have shown them.
sometimes I can’t respond to comments I received on my works, for the reasons I have previously stated, but that does not mean I don’t read and appreciate each and every single one of them.
and as a reader who comments on works I love, I never expect the authors to respond to my comments. sure, it’s great if they do. but the point of me commenting on their works is only to let them know I love what they wrote and I appreciate them for sharing these works with me. they don’t have to respond to me. because, as a writer, I totally understand responding to comments can be very overwhelming too.
my point is that comments are always deeply appreciated, but yeah, as a writer and a reader/commenter, the main purpose of comments is to let the authors know we love and appreciate them and their works. not for them to always respond.
the point of fandom should not be “straining yourself to interact with every single person who interacts with you”, the point of fandom should just be that it’s fun, it’s a source of comfort and self-care.
so in my opinion, “interacting with other people in the fandom” is not the whole point of fandom, not to me, at least. having fun and engaging in fandom space/activities on your own terms is the point.
arcane season 2 was artistically beautiful and thematically cheap. every interesting and meaningful thing it did with its characters (even in season 2 act 2) was reduced to romanticized bullshit, utterly divorced from its season 1 roots. it’s so bad it can be considered pro-status quo propaganda (and i do mean that). good ships aside (and i do mean the caitivi, jayvik, timebomb holy triad), this season squats and shits on every zaunite character in the show. not just their zaunite-ness, but how it literally shaped who they were as characters.
