So I’m not completely sure but I think you can pinpoint the disappearance to the month following Dashcon. Like, the entire year prior, things were going fucking insane; The DW 50th anniversary, Sherlock returned after a hiatus, Dean became a demon or something I don’t remember. Point is, the fans were worse than ever. 

And then Dashcon happened: All those people got together for a nightmarish event in the ball pit (for anyone who doesn’t know what Dashcon was, look it up and read any of the news articles about it. I promise, you will not be disappointed). 

Now, I wasn’t too active on tumblr at that point because of school reasons, but I remember finding out that the new season of Supernatural had aired on TV, and I saw NOTHING about it on tumblr. Not a single post on my dash. It was a miracle, but I was so confused. How had the whole fandom just vanished like that? I still don’t know for sure, but it was very shortly after the Dashcon incident. 

Then Doctor Who returned. New doctor and a new companion. Same scenario. Nobody said anything online. I was still big into DW so that was kind of a bummer but it was still astounding.

I went back online more readily and started realizing that fandoms, as I had known them, were essentially dead after that summer. It was like everybody simultaneously realized how toxic those communities were after they all got together in person and proved themselves to be a disgusting bunch.

It was the fastest and most unsettling jump in internet culture I’d ever seen. Overnight it became an embarrassment to admit that you were in a popular fandom. All because of fucking

“Superwholock died as a result of Dashcon” is the most fascinating theory I’ve heard in a while amazing

(And you know, seasonal rot and kids getting older and all that but s t i l l)

Actually, I think it was a part of a process I call “The Tumblr Cycle of Hate.” The steps of the Tumblr Cycle of Hate are as followed:

1. A thing begins to get attention on tumblr; people recommend the thing to their internet friends.

2. The thing gets very popular; most people are blogging about the thing.

3. The thing becomes a cornerstone of Tumblr Culture.

4. The thing becomes massively popular. Hot Topic sells T-shirts. You can buy posters of the thing at Walmart.

5. Members of the tumblr community decide that they don’t like the thing (or that people who like the thing are annoying).

6. People start writing posts against the thing or fans of the thing, usually deeming the thing “problematic.”

7. More people dislike the thing than like the thing; liking the thing becomes very unfashionable. People are mocked for liking the thing.

8. People stop blogging about the thing. It is dead on tumblr.

This cycle is a little bit toxic and gross, especially because (most of the time!!) the people who like the thing are young teenagers who just want to have fun and be a part of the community. So yes, I’m utterly embarrassed when I look back at my SuperWhoLock years, but I don’t really regret it, because I had fun, yknow? Like, I was 15. It was alright.

Anyway, the Tumblr Cycle of Hate has affected SuperWhoLock, John Green… Steven Universe is on its way down, and I’m guessing that Hamilton will be next, considering how popular it’s become “in the real world.” And it’s fine; this happens in every aspect of media, and, like, SuperWhoLock WAS a train wreck. But still. I’m not a fan of the Cycle of Hate.

Oh, Hamilton has already been infected. I’m starting to see a rise in hate for it. Steven Universe is further down that path, it’ll be dead soon too.