Represent Your Fandom Well

Okay, so we all have our interests, right?

Right.

And we should have the right to show our interest in those things, right?

Right.

So because we have that right, we should also be allowed to act however we want, including putting down people for their differing interests, lack of interest in our interests, or to act like our interest is better than the person in question's?



For real though. Do you know how many times I feel ashamed for being a part of a few fandoms I'm in? Too many. Know how many each of those times I felt shame for my fandom is because of somebody else acting to rude/mean/condescending/etc. to somebody else who either doesn't like it or just doesn't have an interest in it? Every single one of them.
I mean, seriously. You don't get to shove what you like in somebody else's face and then act offended because they don't agree. You're not responsible for introducing them to something, and you are NOT the one whose job it is to "show them the light" about your interest. If they have the inclination to check it out, then they will check it out. They definitely won't want to check out ANYTHING when you A) shove it down their throat B) foam at the mouth about how much you love [insert thing here] C) demonstrate a terrible attitude. They'll correlate your condescending nature/rudeness/etc. with the thing you were trying to show them, and they'll assume everybody who likes that thing acts exactly that way.
So, in essence, you're creating a stereotype that doesn't need to exist.

For example, I see a lot of people hate on Hetalia because some scumbags who happen to like Hetalia start going around and bashing other fandoms and shunning those who simply have no interest in Hetalia or anime in general. And I look at these people like:



Because of you, you're making Hetalia [or whatever it is] look bad by bashing people who don't like it for whatever reason.
Just be nice to people. It's really not that hard.
Even if they're not nice back. True, there's a limit to how much you can take before giving up on being nice, but you still shouldn't be mean to them.

JUST BE NICE, M'KAY

kthxbye