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let's talk about "popufurs" shall we?
11 years ago
Welcome! This is where I write things and stuff!
Tl;dr at the bottom. :) longer than I expected sorry!
Well I don't know many people who other would call popular but I am noticing a trend in how people treat them. So I'm going to talk a bit about it.
First "popufurs" are simply people who others like for a specific skill. Some like their suit and character some people like their art, others like their suit making ability or dancing. There are reasons these people are popular.
Popular people are still people. This means unless you have commissioned, traded, or bought something from them they owe you nothing. Yep nothing nada zip. They don't have to give you anything or even talk to you if they don't want to.
As a person they have every right to ignore someone they wish not to interact with. Everyone needs to understand this. If they only talk to others they know or maybe even a few they don't you have no right to a reply as they don't owe you one.
If you're super nice to someone that doesn't mean they owe you anything either. Even if you say something nice to a person every day for years they still don't even owe you a reply let alone art or anything else.
As a person I reserve the right to choose who I interact with. No one owes you interaction unless money or trade or something of the like is involved and even then it depends. If someone knows you like murrsuits and refuses to make you a suit that is also within their rights. If they know your a bad customer to others they can also refuse to talk or deal with you.
Think about this. The more you complain that no one answers you the more "interaction blacklists" you end up on. I don't know about others but I have a list of usernames from various sites that are on my blacklist for simply being rude, whiney, or bad customers to others. For instance say you made a super sexist or racist remark on twitter and you have fa linked in your profile there's a pretty big chance I've blocked you on both sites because I dont want to interact with a person with these views although I usually don't block people who simply disagree with me. These are people I see no point in interacting with that will be worth the time. I would rather spend my time talking to people I like talkjng to. (If you complain about popufurs a ton chances are your on this list for many others).
Tl;dr
Even if your nice no one HAS to do anything for you popular or not. Nope they don't even have to acknowledge you exist if they don't want to. Is that rude sometimes? It can be but no one owes you anything unless you have made an agreement with them(commissions, trades and the like). No one even owes you a reply if they don't feel like talking to you.
Its fine to talk about stuff like this and no one is going to take away your free speech, just know the conciquenses of what you say. Word travels pretty fast in communities like this and you can be blacklisted for simply being rude.
Hope this all makes sense as I'm writing from my half-useless smart phone as my computer is being fixed by our friend the wizard. Xp thanks for reading all of this or some of it or whatever you got through! I feel like this is common and that bothers me. Feel free to chat about your views on this.
Well I don't know many people who other would call popular but I am noticing a trend in how people treat them. So I'm going to talk a bit about it.
First "popufurs" are simply people who others like for a specific skill. Some like their suit and character some people like their art, others like their suit making ability or dancing. There are reasons these people are popular.
Popular people are still people. This means unless you have commissioned, traded, or bought something from them they owe you nothing. Yep nothing nada zip. They don't have to give you anything or even talk to you if they don't want to.
As a person they have every right to ignore someone they wish not to interact with. Everyone needs to understand this. If they only talk to others they know or maybe even a few they don't you have no right to a reply as they don't owe you one.
If you're super nice to someone that doesn't mean they owe you anything either. Even if you say something nice to a person every day for years they still don't even owe you a reply let alone art or anything else.
As a person I reserve the right to choose who I interact with. No one owes you interaction unless money or trade or something of the like is involved and even then it depends. If someone knows you like murrsuits and refuses to make you a suit that is also within their rights. If they know your a bad customer to others they can also refuse to talk or deal with you.
Think about this. The more you complain that no one answers you the more "interaction blacklists" you end up on. I don't know about others but I have a list of usernames from various sites that are on my blacklist for simply being rude, whiney, or bad customers to others. For instance say you made a super sexist or racist remark on twitter and you have fa linked in your profile there's a pretty big chance I've blocked you on both sites because I dont want to interact with a person with these views although I usually don't block people who simply disagree with me. These are people I see no point in interacting with that will be worth the time. I would rather spend my time talking to people I like talkjng to. (If you complain about popufurs a ton chances are your on this list for many others).
Tl;dr
Even if your nice no one HAS to do anything for you popular or not. Nope they don't even have to acknowledge you exist if they don't want to. Is that rude sometimes? It can be but no one owes you anything unless you have made an agreement with them(commissions, trades and the like). No one even owes you a reply if they don't feel like talking to you.
Its fine to talk about stuff like this and no one is going to take away your free speech, just know the conciquenses of what you say. Word travels pretty fast in communities like this and you can be blacklisted for simply being rude.
Hope this all makes sense as I'm writing from my half-useless smart phone as my computer is being fixed by our friend the wizard. Xp thanks for reading all of this or some of it or whatever you got through! I feel like this is common and that bothers me. Feel free to chat about your views on this.
I agree that popular and iconic figures owe you nothing. They don't HAVE to be nice, they don't HAVE to take pictures with you, and they don't even have to be polite. But they also don't have to be popular. and they don't have to have people who admire them either. But they do. Some of them didn't ask for it and stand out for how they do things differently be it dancing, comedy, their suit design, or what have you. But there is a moment where they need to be crystal clear about their opinion on this sudden celebrity.
Some popular figures handle the public attention well. like Lana Del Rey is known for being more than kind and thoughtful to her fans. Emma Watson is known for being polite as well within reason (If someone gets annoying or stops her at a bad time I think she usually apologizes and keeps walking or calls a guard)
Some don't.
Whether they care about their reputation or not is going to determine how they treat people around them. People with popularity thrust on them and who don't like the attention can be seen as rude, egotistical and think they can get away with it and still be liked, giving them the reputation of just in general being a douchebag, or unkind. Not exactly a rep you want floating around in as you mentioned, a close knit community like this. But the fact that some of them get away with it and are still popular and well known bothers me. I agree with what you say about them not owing anybody, but people are going to take things personally no matter what you do. Better to leave a positive experience behind you than a cold shoulder. It's common human decency. And I don't think they should be exempt from that, especially when in a public setting like a convention where people PAY to be in the vicinity of these popular suiters and all the others. They PAY to have fun, and positive experiences. You can ruin someones day by ignoring them, or not apologizing when you have to leave suddenly. It's a heavy responsibility to be well known.
It just scares me to hear someone who thinks these people have a right to forego common sense in terms of normal, polite human interaction and that they are above the general niceties of social interaction with others, and that people who are on the receiving end of a negative interaction have absolutely no right to complain. It's like saying a celebrity is above the law.
You're essentially saying "Oh, they brushed you off? Get over it. They're popufur. They don't owe you shit." try telling that to a 14 year old with a history of self harm and abuse who is in tears because her favorite fursuiter that got her through all the tough times completely ignored her and walked away instead of staying for a picture. You have NO idea who you're hurting or being rude to when you don't simply say 'sorry but I have to go, I'll be back here at (this time) if you'd like to see me again!' or just a simple "sorry".
Yes, popular fursuiters are people too, but people are people too.
I'm not saying this is true for every interaction. There are definitely creepers and annoying persons who deserve to be ignored, brushed off, and in general avoided and deserve to be on blacklists. But just because those sorts of people exist doesn't give anyone the right to 'blanket ban' any people who approach them at cons.
I can't control how all fursuiters act, all I can control is myself, and I always go out of my way to be polite and kind to ANYONE who approaches me, whether I know them or not. I don't consider myself a popular suiter, but I know I have a bit of notoriety and I am noticing it more and more at cons now and I am responding the only way I personally know how. With kindness and graciousness. And yet I still have managed to develop a bit of a reputation as a hypocrite and apparently a racist? When I have done nothing to warrant those titles. So you could argue and say that No matter how you act within a fandom, if someone becomes jealous or has any reason at all to dislike you or disagrees with your actions they can blacklist you to everyone else.
There's almost no way to distinguish the lies from facts unless you hear it from the person IN PERSON. and always remember there are two sides to every story.
Ok, I'm done. I apologize again for the wall of text but I simply had to voice my own opinion on the matter. Again I mean absolutely no disrespect and I applaud you on your courage for speaking up and addressing the issue.
A person who is terrible will eventually fall out of popularity no matter what. It takes longer for some.
Common decency is the tricky part, there's deciding to be impolite and just plain not having the time to. I'm not even remotely popular and even I choose not to interact with every person who decides to try and interact with me. Yes people should be polite and people are allowed to be put off when someone is rude to them but the person has a choice to interact or not and sometimes it's too much and the person doesn't want any interaction.
Just because soneone is more popular doesn't make it ok to bother and belittle them. They did not go to the con to be bothered by people they don't know (for the most part) they went to have fun with their friends. It is not up to a person you don't even know to make your con experience great or terrible. People need to rely on themselves and their friends more and random furs they admire and who are admired by many much much less.
People are not popular to be around for others to interact with they are popular for a skill. No one should care so much about a stranger with a cool skill.
I welcome debate and I'm glad you voiced your opinion but you missed the points I made. As a person I have no obligation to do anything for anyone else. Politeness says I should say hi to people and be nice but if I am overwhelmed I have every right to say sorry I can't right now or simply walk away. Even people who are popular have this right and people need to see that. People need to realize its not personal and stop slamming "popufurs" for being human and not wanting to spend every moment talking to strangers who don't know them personally and only know them as thier skill.