kapitan5o:

sirussly:

hp-rp-confessions:

I used to be part of the community but left after I saw how much of class system it actually is. Unless you get noticed by a bigger blog, no one cares for you. It’s gotten to the point where people idolize an rp’er so much that they refuse to see they have faults. I get that we are all nerds dressing up but it isn’t fair when the playing field isn’t equal (like bigger blogs putting out ko-fis and patreons asking for money) it’s all fun and games until your being bashed for speaking out about very problematic things in the community. Why should we have to keep quiet about obvious problems in the community (like RPers who are a lot older playing on minors sexual requests instead of not engaging/calling them out or fake apologies about things that have upset others) this used to be a fun community but it’s not anymore.

(( OOC: I’m going to address this particular post for a minute. Because I’ve seen many of them that voice similar opinions over the past number of weeks and months, and I don’t want to appear as though I’m ignoring something clearly a fairly sizeable group have an issue with.

I won’t pretend I’m not aware that these types of ‘confessions’ aren’t in some way directed at me. I understand I have a large following in this community. I also completely understand that for those with fewer followers, it can be very demotivating to have people not pay attention to your content or you as an individual. Unfortunately with the social platform that we operate on, it does take a lot of time and effort to build a substantial following. 

What I don’t like about this viewpoint is the general bitterness towards those with a larger following, and how this is used as fuel to make unfounded complaints or accusations against certain bloggers. Firstly: if you happen to be noticed by a larger blog, people don’t then “care” about you just because that blog has deemed you “worthy” – you have been exposed to a larger audience, and therefore you gain more traction as a content creator.

Of course idolising certain individuals is not healthy and I don’t encourage it at all. Not only are you disappointed when we fail to meet your heightened expectations, but it affects us poorly too… because clearly, we stop being seen as real people with real feelings. It’s why I often make posts about not investing too strongly into the presentation of myself that I put online, and ask you to remember that I am a normal individual with many flaws who make mistakes, as any human does.

Now you can disagree with me if you like, but in my opinion the blogs that have created ko-fi and patreon accounts (including myself) are individuals that arguably spend A LOT of time, effort and money on creating content for this community. I’m talking months upon months of planning, writing, filming and editing for complex projects… which takes up a huge amount of our time, and are produced for your enjoyment, for free. The ko-fi and patreon accounts are there if you voluntarily want to show your appreciation for us doing this. No one is obligated to donate any money, ever.

Tumblr is one of the few large platforms for content creators out there that DOESN’T provide some sort of revenue stream for its creators. We love this platform for its liberal mentality and engaged fandoms, and we would like to support it for those reasons. However, when the level of work we put into our blogs alongside the followings we have would result in financial or even potential career opportunities on most other platforms… it becomes difficult to weigh up the pros and cons. 

Additionally, no one is telling anyone to keep quiet about problematic aspects of this community. In fact, recently there’s been a lot of open discussion over problematic behaviour in the community. To address the particular issue raised above – please understand, there is no way for a blogger to know whether an anonymous ask with a sexual undertone has been sent by a minor or not… nor is it the bloggers job to investigate every ask received to ensure that he person sending it is of age. Also, there is a huge difference between a minor sending a sexual ask on anon, which is then responded to, and a blogger actively rp-ing in a nsfw manner with another rp-er who is known to be a minor. Obviously, this is inappropriate, but it is absolutely not something myself of any of my friends has ever knowingly done. It is not the responsibility of the blogger to know where every ask in their inbox is coming from… that responsibility lies on the person following. NSFW asks are tagged as such, and if you are underage, do not engage.

As for “fake apologies”… if I have ever made a genuine mistake or said something that someone has taken offence to or been upset by, my apologies are always going to be sincere. However, if people are offended by something because of miscommunication or misinterpretation, my objective is going to be to correct that first. This is the internet, where all of our communication occurs across a screen, so it is only natural that some things are misconstrued. It’s why we have to be very careful with the words and language that we use.

The HP RP community has exploded massively. I was here a couple years ago in the early stages, and to think there are now hundreds of us is crazy to me. So yes, it is much harder to be noticed in this environment, I know that. I’m not at all saying you shouldn’t feel disappointed when you receive little-to-no interaction. But that is exactly why I created the HP RP Script Swap, to give smaller blogs the opportunity to promote themselves, and it’s why I track all the #hp rp tags and try to reblog new content that I like as often as I can. However, it is not the responsibility of larger blogs to promote everyone! This is for FUN, and we will – like everyone else is allowed to – reblog what we find fun and engaging because we want to, not out of some misplaced sense of obligation. 

Please remember that this community is not just a safe space for you guys, but for me as well. So whilst I’ve mostly been able to ignore the negative posts that have been directed at me and others in my position… lately the level of negativity is getting to me a little.

If you have concerns about the community that involve me in some way, and if you think I can help alleviate any of them, I would far rather you come to me directly. I promise I won’t take offence. But please think twice before anonymously sending your unfiltered negative thoughts to a confessions blog, because unfortunately they almost always end up being sent to me anyway.

I enjoy this blog just as much as I did back when I had a couple hundred followers – and I had that number of followers for a very long time. So this type of attitude doesn’t make me want to stop what I’m doing, because my motivation for being here has only ever been for my own enjoyment, not the level of attention I receive. But please remember that there’s a person behind this blog and other blogs like mine, and we’re working really hard to make high-quality content for FREE for our audience – you. I hope you understand that. ))

First of all – amen to every single thing Jess just said.

And second of all, people who leave asks and confessions about followers and kofi/patreon I have two more questions for you (beware for this is a chaotic stream of consciousness):

Ask yourself – why are you so bitter about kofi and patreon accounts?

No one is taking their content away from you, no one is issuing an ultimatum that if you don’t donate 1 dollar a month then you can no longer talk to the creator or enjoy what they do with rping or videos or illustration and fanfiction. All of this qualifies as art and entertainment which everyone in the world is used to pay for and yet here it is free, for everyone to enjoy, for everyone to take a part in. For years creators on every platform imaginable have been putting out content for free and it is still this way BECAUSE there are things like kofi and patreon, because they allow people to support creators they like and let them continue doing what they do best. “Patreon exists because when creators are paid they can create more amazing things: things that inspire us, teach us, challenge us, things that make us laugh.”

So why does the concept of someone being able to invest in a wig for a new character/make more videos that would help someone/grab a coffee after a long night of writing the next chapter of your favorite fanfic makes you feel bad? Because to me this sounds like the inability to feel happy for other people’s success. (and as I say success I laugh at myself because really I’m sitting here with the smallest man bun on my head, eating instant noodles and saving up every ruble to have a chance to see arin at least once during summer – the definition of success is what i am) Where is this bitterness even coming from? Listen, in the grand scheme of things, do you really think we get much out of this? Swimming in pools of money? Having a bigger following on tumblr isn’t the same as being popular on youtube where it means actual real life success. Most of us are young people trying to scrape enough for rent or food or student loans, some of us are freelancers and freelancers always need at least 3 types of income or they just won’t make enough to cover living costs. Is it really that big of a problem that there are ways to financially support creators of content you like and enjoy on a daily basis? You do it subconsciously for youtubers and instagram bloggers because they get financial support from advertisements and sponsorships so just by following them you become part of an audience that makes it possible for companies to approach them with paid projects. So why has having a kofi account become a way of shaming someone into thinking they’re not worthy? Or that they’re asking for too much? When literally no one is saying that you have to give back anything at all and you are welcome to stay and still have fun with every single creator on this platform.

And my second question is – why are you even here?

When I found the hp rp community thanks to TT’s marauders youtube video I felt like I finally found a community that would accept me. I’ve always been too much of a “special snowflake” with my “non-traditional” sexual and romantic orientation, with my gender dysphoria, I could never relate, could never fit it. And here I was, surrounded by people who were all over the gender spectrum, every orientation you could imagine, open-minded and creative and kind. This is why I wanted to be a part of it. Because it made me feel safe and accepted. Which doesn’t ever happen in the real world. So why are you here? To get a thousand followers? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Then what? Do you really think a number can make you happy? This community is a way to form meaningful relationships with people from all over the world who have the same interests and values, to create content you love in a safe space. If your blog ends up blowing up – great, I’m happy for you! If you end up getting some coin out of these shenanigans – awesome, you go dude! But ultimately we’re here to have fun and find friends and if this isn’t your main prerogative then I don’t know what to tell you.