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Hey Pandas, What Fandom Have You Been A Part Of But Aren’t Anymore? Why? (Closed)
We've all had movies, shows, comics, video games, etc that we've loved. We've loved them so much, we joined a fandom on twitter, tumblr, deviantart, and more!
But what happens when that fandom becomes too much, or too toxic, or you stop being friends with someone who used to like it with you?
What fandoms have you been in, but aren't any longer? And why?
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Monster High, I was a huge fan when I was younger but then I grew up and then I got rid of all my dolls except for 2. Monster High is getting another reboot and I might rejoin the fandom.
Backstreet Boys...need i say more?
Oof. I remember in the 90s, when there was the "fight" between NSYNC and Backstreet Boys fans. I was more of a Weird Al kind of gal.
Nintendo fandoms.. people in those fandoms acted weird.. also some parts of the South Park fandom that I won’t even get into.. if you find the right people in the fandom you’re in.. everything will be OK, hopefully.
Not to mention a fake friend I had in one of the fandoms I was in gaslight me.. it’s been almost nine months and I still don’t forgive them. I’m on YT now doing what I love most now.
I had a "friend" in the Undertale fandom just up and block me one day because I said I didn't know who another artist was. I guess I offended them somehow, or I dunno, but I haven't heard from them since. Yeah, the Nintendo fans are weird. I love my switch, but I don't bother watching any of the directs anymore. Same with Hollow Knight. It's so toxic.
When I was younger I was in the Uglydolls fandom. What turned me off in an INSTANT was a fanfic about one of the characters…
Oh god…
PISSING THEMSELVES.
I WISH I WAS JOKING
Ah, you've gotta love when the fetishes start showing up in the children's media. I've had that happen in the wild west days of the internet in the early 2000s. I wanna say it was with Yu-Gi-Oh @w@
I used to be really into the Avatar fandom, and I mostly stopped because I got into the Five Nights at Freddy’s Fandom. I am unable to escape the FNAF fandom, I am trapped in the lore.
Same, haha. I've been in the FNAF fandom since the first game came out, but I took a break for a while until Security Breach came out. It's nice to be back in it, honestly.
Transformers. I used to be a part of the Transformers fandom back from about 2009-2014. I was mostly into "Animated" and the "More Than Meets the Eye" comics. My experience came from Tumblr, usually, which back in the early 2010's was kind of the place to be. (It's still up and running, and popular even after the "nsfw ban" years ago).
I think what really ruined it for me was the inability to make your own characters without someone immediately judging their design, or saying a fembot was "sexualized" because she wasn't boxy-enough-looking, or the fact that no one would accept anything outside of their own headcanon. It became really toxic, especially with the More Than Meets the Eye fans, not even to mention the shipping wars with certain characters. I went from really enjoying the series to just going on the tag less and less, to finally not drawing for the fandom anymore. The fans ruined it.
The Gravity Falls fandom
Okay don't get me wrong I still ADORE this show I'm just not active in the fandom anymore. Most of the main characters of the show are kids between the ages of ten and thirteen and adults who are mostly their families. Which makes the amount of ship and NSFW fanfiction and fanart all the more disgusting.
Aside from that far too many people were trying to redeem Pacifica because "her parents don't like her" and "but she had a crush on Dipper". And I was bullied really really badly throughout my childhood, and some of my bullies fell into the same category as her. You know the type, they don't beat you up but they can turn an entire classroom against you until even your friends are calling you names and stealing your stuff. When you confront them they just shrug you off and say "you're just jealous of me because I'm living such a great life and you are garbage and always will be." Her redemption arc was absolutely nothing compared to what people like her put their victims through.
The amount of "if they bully you they're jelous or they like you" and the sexy tsundre and the "bully falls in love with their victim" tropes need to die and fast. Bullying is not okay and nothing good ever comes of it. It's really hurtful for victims of bullying to see those things in the media, especially when it turns out your tormenters have no "tragic backstory" they just see you're different, it confuses them and want to scare/beat it out of you.
i was a big Rick and Morty fan until i saw how the fandom was acting. plus one of the seasons (4, i think) seemed to pander to the crazier fans, especially the Reddit ones who idolized Rick. i still enjoy it, but i’ve backed off a bit since they kinda ruined for me. and i no longer call myself a “fan”
I had a coworker years ago that did nothing but quote lines from the show, and it ruined me wanting to watch it. This was the time when GameStop actually advertised it on the in-store TV (I was a manager), so I couldn't escape it even when my coworker wasn't there. Then there was the thing going around that only "intellectuals" watched Rick and Morty, and it just went down hill from there, so I get what you're saying.
Fams and Sargints. (Youtubers: OmargoshTV, The Fam, Moe Sargi, and the others they associate with). Idgaf if one of their toxic cult fan members rakes this comment across the coals, tars and feathers me and calls me out to one of the youtuber crews to be shamed. This is exactly how the fandom community rolls and I'm glad I'm not a part of it anymore.
The fandom seems nice and welcoming at first but then it you get to see how snarky and gossipy everyone is, despite claiming positivity only allowed.
It's all drama, who said what about who, look what this person said.
This person made a constructive criticism or pointed out some mundane thing? Hater. Shame them, fams. This person said haunted urbex content creators fake their videos? Hater. Cancel them, fams.
I watch the drama channels about Amberlynn and Chantal, etc. It's a rabbit hole I fell into about 3 years ago, and I can't escape it. Those who had genuine criticism and called them out for what they're doing to themselves no longer participate in the conversation, and I find that no one is willing to step on anyone's toes anymore.
I'm a HUGE Aliens and Predator fan (movies, comics, books, etc). Plus I've read a ton of fan fiction. All combined, Yaut'ja is kind of its own language, as little as there is out there on a whole. I also write fan fiction in this category.
When my Mom died 4 years ago though it really derailed my enjoyment in... just about everything, really. Which is understandable, but I'm still struggling to get back to where I used to be. I don't think it helps that as a comfort/coping mechanism, while I was with her in the hospital in endless waiting rooms as she had procedures, I'd read fan fiction on my phone.
After she died, my brain made the unfortunate connection. I've gotten better! I keep working on it but it's just not the same anymore.
I've had to force myself not to interact with things I really love during a down/depressive period so I don't associate that awesome thing with something sad/tragic/etc. So I totally get where you're coming from. It loses some of its spark.
Doctor Who. I used to love it. But halfway through Peter Capaldi I just couldn't do it anymore. It was the same aliens and problems in a different order. They had lost creativity. I had started the downward spiral when Clara came about, but something about Capaldi just finished it.
I had stopped watching probably toward the middle of Matt Smith's run. I liked him as the Doctor well enough, but I was getting fatigued by the same stories over and over. It feels as though the writers are too afraid to venture outside Daleks, Angels, and rehashes of aliens we've seen before.
The new Nancy drew show on the CW it was super good but then it turned into super natural sh!t and now it's kinda weird but I still like it. I think they cancelled it tho... I can't remember.
Tell me if they did or didn't if you know
Star Wars.
I was into it (not over the top or anything but could follow storylines pretty well). Then after Mando on Disney Plus (which was phenomenal) I just started to feel like I had to make a choice between Star Wars universe and following all that or Marvel. I just chose marvel cuz I feel like I knew more about it.
I’ll still watch the Star Wars movies (Unpopular Opinion: but Sequel series is prolly my fav) but with all the tv shows coming out in both Marvel and Star Wars universes I’m more into Marvel and am phased out of the Star Wars Fandom.
MASK from Kenner. Found them more fun than Transformer, He-Man or GI Joe. Wish they would put them on the market again. The original ones are still easy to get, but prices are mostly too high for fairly good conditions.
Should have kept and stored mine over 30 years ago....stupid me.
Oof, that's how I was with my Transformers. They hold their value EXTREMELY well, even the newer figures. But you have to sit on them for almost a decade to make it worth even investing.
Harry Potter was my absolute favorite series in the world when i was very young and was kind of my gateway into fandom. Sadly, after i learned that JK Rowling is, you know, awful, I just couldn’t appreciate the books the way I used to. I still love some of the characters and will gladly talk about HP with a friend, but I can’t call myself part of the fandom anymore.
I have learned to separate people from things. Some authors are really.. interesting.. but I still love their books. Totally understand your feelings though.
The SCP foundation. I was engrossed into it until I realised that my brother hated me constantly talking about it and I stopped.
I remember when SCP first started out. I was really into it--still kinda am--but they've retconned a bunch of the information about the individual SCPs, I suppose so it could be monetized. They changed aspects of my fav, SCP-049, and I'm not happy with all of it, but it is what it is. And some SCP are just kind of silly or too OP.
FNAF. I still really love it, but I basically had to quit cause of my parents. Also MHA. I absolutely love MHA and things related to it. Unless it's like really weird ships or something. I've kinda gotten out of that phase bc I moved and I can't really talk about it with anyone anymore.
I still really like sanders sides but I don't participate in the fandom nearly as much as I did because 1. It was just constant remrom discourse and 2. Irl people almost always think it's cringy