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I teased wanting to write about the direction of the fandom last post, so here I am fulfilling my past self's promise. Let me be clear about this post. I will be talking about my perspective on new fan, or newgens as I've seen them called, but the true focus of this post is actually on people who are leaving the fandom.

I will start this off optimistically. I like the newgen fans, as people have been calling them. I think having fresh blood in the fandom is how you keep the fire of fandoms going for years and years and years. Plus, more people who like what I like? That's a win.

When it comes to old fans, there's a bit of a split. Most of them are still chugging along, eyes alight with joy at all the new up and coming things in store for the fandom. I notice the happiest people who are doing what they've always done, keeping their joy in a tiny corner of the room, like a group of people huddled around the fireplace. It's small, cozy, niche. You won't know these people by name unless you're friends with them. I'm friends with a lot of really cool, amazing, talented people who you would never see reaching fandom acclaim. I've seen art that made me smile for days. I've read roleplays whose characters could make me sob. I've seen homesmut that would give you the weirdest boner. But, of course, this wouldn't reach your ears, your eyes.

That said, I have also noticed a few friends of mine are drifting away from Homestuck as a property. Now, you could chalk this up to naturally drifting away from an interest, but that doesn't make as much sense given how many new things seem to be coming up for the fandom. I've seen this in people who agree with my assertion that Homestuck can change your brain chemistry. I think that, for some people, this is actually a case of serious burn out.

Burn out does serious damage to people. Once you've burn out on something, it's hard to come back to. What burns people out? A lot of stuff. Stupid arguments over things that don't matter. Who cares if Jade is ableist for using the R word? While I think that would make an interesting essay, if you go to a Jade lover's blog just to point out everything problematic with their fave, you're barking up the wrong tree. Don't go to someone who only draws Arasol to complain about Sollux being a bipolar stereotype. Like, this is just common courtsey? Block and move on if you don't like the content someone posts. You see what I mean? Intentionally exposing yourself to stuff that makes you upset is only going to burn YOU out.

The more you like evil or "problematic" characters, the more you deal with this. Who cares if you like Caliborn even though he's an awful, punchable, misogynist? He's also incredibly funny as a character. Some people like "bad" characters because of the good stuff, of which there is in most characters.

The more popular you are, the more you have to deal with this too. I don't get any anon hate and such because I'm a fandom nobody. I know people, multiple people, NICE PEOPLE, who've received entire harassment campaigns for nothing more than enjoying themselves. They've been less burnt out and more burnt by the fandom, so I don't blame those people for wanting to move past Homestuck.

I don't want to burn myself out like that. I'm going to continue to enjoy Homestuck until it stops being fun for me. If it ever does stop being fun, I'm going to stop, drop, and roll out. So what's that mean for me? I'm going to keep creating. Checking out various niches within the fandom, finding joy where I can, keeping the flame of the fandom alive for as long as I can.

So where does that leave us? Accepting that some fans will be bullied out of fandom and doing our best to hide in our little corners of the internet to enjoy ourselves?

Fuck no.

Look, I don't think I'm going to make a huge difference in the world, but I think that doing what we can to support the people who are being bullied is important. Whether that is financially supporting creatives, emotionally supporting friends, or curating spaces to be more inclusive than exclusive. Remember, you need to be intolerant of the intolerant and kick those who ruin the vibe for everyone else.

This isn't some big proclaimation that I'll be a perfect example of this, but I really do think a shift towards community building over community dividing would make our fandom a better experience for everyone.

Just do what you can, where you can. It'll help.