The game isn’t worth the candle.
This blog will no longer be updated. So that this doesn’t become fodder for the rumour mill, I should clarify that nobody’s bullied me or anything like that. I just hate watching it happen to other people. I’m sick of the atmosphere here. There are lots of good things about Tumblr, but I don’t want to socialise here any more. And I’m old and tired enough to know that you don’t have to hang out in circles that make your heart sink and your stomach clench on a regular basis.
Getting out of the VC fandom isn’t enough - and anyway, how would I do that? Most of my friends here are people I met through the fandom, and you’re all great. If I hang out on my dash I’m just going to get sucked into keeping the account active, and then I’ll start engaging with the fandom again, and I’ve seen too many cycles of this same shit go round in the past year to think anything will change no matter what I or anyone else say.
It’s ironic that we all roll our eyes when Anne Rice uses the phrase “gangster bullies” to describe people who write negative reviews, because the description beautifully fits the small group of people who’ve decided to run/ruin VC fandom on Tumblr. For a long time now I’ve been using Tumblr Savior to to avoid posts by these people, but I don’t want to invest time in an ever-lengthening blacklist any longer. There’s something very wrong with having to do that just to navigate a fandom this small.
I do understand why people stay despite being as upset by this stuff as I am. It’s hard to walk away from a fandom you’ve helped build and grow. But I don’t know where you get the energy, and I don’t want to spend mine here.
Asks are off (because I really don’t want to start a conversation with this post; it’s not going to change anything), sideblogs will be maintained with the usual alternating bursts of neglect and diligence, and as I’ve said many times, I’m easy to get in touch with in other places, so this is not goodbye unless you want it to be.