Cringemageddon

Seven Fandom Moments the Internet Pretends to Forget About

As people, it is inevitable that we'll grow into new phases of life. And we'll continue growing until we swing back around and must revisit our past selves. For some that will be fun memories of playing outside, family vacations and maybe even the blossoming of first romances. But for others, those of us who live in fear, all that lays ahead is a forgotten avalanche of compulsive fangirling, angst and blossoming romance with fictional men. This is that avalanche, this is that cringe, this is nine fandom moments the internet pretends to forget about.

Twilight Mania

When identifying who is responsible for the practices and rituals that are now viewed as common in fandom, no other name but “Twilight” comes to mind. While “Star Trek” is responsible for the birth of this behavior, and “Harry Potter” is responsible for spreading it, but the fans of Twilight were the ones who perfected the modern “crazy fangirl.”

They were the first group to stop traffic to stalk actors from the airport to their hotels. The first to cling to the idea of retelling moments of the original stories from the love interest perspective. And most importantly, they were the first to make the “teen paranormal” genre look tantalizing to investors. You don’t get “Hunger Games” without Twilight fans publicly going buck wild every time Edward moans or Bella looks confused. Twilight is mother, Twilight is love, Twilight is life. Time to move to Forks.

Sonichu

We often have conversations about removing the art from the artist, but phenomenon like Sonichu adds a chicken or the egg element to the arena. Starting in 2004, and lasting up until 2019, the comic explores the adventures of the titular Sonichu, a hybrid of Sonic and Pikachu who must protect the residence of Station Square from the Perfect Chaos Monster and other evil.

However, its fanbase is less invested in the story itself, but rather the author behind it: Christine Weston Chandler, better known as Chris Chan. For almost 20 years she has been studied, questioned, poked, prodded, doxed, coerced and enamored by a group who calls themselves “Christorians.” Christorians have been around long enough to be praised, receive backlash, rise from the backlash and then be lambasted again. To on lookers, it is genuinely unclear if the Chris Chan situation is a group of internet knights fighting against a harmful predator, or if a trans woman has been experiencing mass hate for the crimes of liking cartoon creatures. Either way, if you recognize the name, you’ve definitely spent too much time on the internet.

My Immortal

Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way is most likely the most favorite self-insert that will ever exist. Even if you don’t know who she is, you’ve probably heard the name. She comes from the Fanfiction. net darling “My Immortal,” a reimagining of Harry Potter where everyone is a now a vampire and madly in love with Ms. Raven Way (and yes, her last name is taken from My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way).

Perhaps the largest allure to her story is that to this day no one knows who she’s a self-insert of. Archaeologist have scoured the depths of the internet, and there have been a few theories, but no concrete proven authors. All we have is a name: Tara Gilesbie. A name that truly will forever be memorialized in the Emo Fangirl Hall of Fame.

Perhaps the largest allure to her story is that to this day no one knows who she’s a self-insert of. Archaeologist have scoured the depths of the internet, and there have been a few theories, but no concrete proven authors. All we have is a name: Tara Gilesbie. A name that truly will forever be memorialized in the Emo Fangirl Hall of Fame.

The Yaoi Boom

In the 2000s fandom and fan spaces was one of the safest regions of the internet for queer folk. Most members either identified as queer themselves or as allies, and actively wanted LGBT rep in their media. And though this was obviously true of the 2010s as well, the fervor and passion went from a light boil to hibachi grill very quickly. Enter stage left: Yaoi. Yaoi is Japanese media centered around gay anime boys marketed to and made by women and girls. From 2008 to 2015, there was no part of Beyonce’s internet you could go to escape the Yaoi.

Harry Potter Shipping Wars

There has never been an internet war as great as the HP Shipping Wars of 2001-2007. To the North was Sugar Quill, a Yahoo fansite that had iron clad rules against shipping non canon ships and writing anything above a PG-13 rating. And to the South was Fiction Alley, started by a then unknown Cassandra Clare, who would go on to write The “Mortal Instuments” series.

There were doxxings, there was tons of hateful language and at one point Clare entered her Karen bag and called the cops for no reason. The aftermath somewhat ruined the relationship between Griffydor Towers and Sugar Quil as they felt Sugar Quill did nothing to help. The girls were tethered. It would take a year almost three years for trust between the factions to be rebuilt. Said trust coincided with downfall of famed lair Ms Scribe, which literally could be and has been a 10 page research paper in and off itself.

Wattpad

Wattpad. The place where dreams go to bloom, and smut goes to thrive. What started as an ernest desire to give a voice to young writers and fans of literature, quickly turned into the breeding ground for all halfback ideas. Usually centering around romance. Wattpad in no doubt was responsible for a lot of late-night epiphanies, and none of which was stranger than the One Direction Purge Universe. The trend started as the classic “MY PARENTS SOLD ME TO ONE DIRECTION!” imagines, but following the announcement of the 2013 film, it transformed into “MY PARENTS SOLD ME TO ONE DIRECTION DURING THE PURGE!!”

Another notable trend were imagines. Also occasionally referred to as one shots, Imagines are best identified as the tequila shots of the fanfic world. To be clear, these aren’t long-spanding adventures that have to age like wine, or plots that completely rework the characters you know and love like a blended cocktail. Its quick, to the point, and meant to make you tingly inside. For example: “Imagine you are waiting in line at Starbucks and as a joke you tell the cashier your name is Matty B, but then when they call to pick up the order the REAL Matty B picks it up and winks at you.” Oh my God, do you remember Matty B?

Deviant Art

If Wattpad is where smut goes to thrive, then Deviant Art is where trash goes to prosper. Similar to Wattpad, there are some genuinely talented artists who use it more as a designed link to hold all of their portfolio. But there’s a larger subset that uses it as an excuse to visualize any ship, fetish or morbid interest they can conjure. If you have ever thought “no, there’s no way that exists,” trust, there is definitely someone who drew that and posted it in 2005. And it looks even worse than you imagined.

WRITTEN BY DJ SHAW

ILLUSTRATION BY EVIAN LE