People are probably getting sick of hearing me repeat this by now. After all, I've emphasized it so many times already in the past few months. But the IZ fandom REALLY sickens me. I swear to God. What the fucking hell happened to the fandom, you guys? Things were never this way before. There was so much less hate in the past. I remember I used to enjoy signing on here and looking at all the wonderful IZ art. It's not like that any longer though.

I'm not part of the fandom anymore. In fact, I left it about a month back. Yet I still come across the cruelties of newer users. People who think it's alright to spread hate. Some people may think I'm that way myself, but honestly, all I've ever done is defend the people who mean the most to me on here. I've met my closest friends through the fandom. But the fandom has changed since then. It deteriorates a little more each and every day, and I can't help but mourn that fact.

I honestly don't understand why people can't just be more open-minded in this fandom though. Constantly, I see people fighting over even the smallest of issues. Pairings usually cause the upmost disruption in the fandom. But why the fuck can't people just respect the differing interests of other users? I mean, seriously? Did we not all share a similar love of the show itself? That's what brought us all here to begin with. So what if different users enjoy different pairings? I've always loved ALL the pairings and can't understand why people who can support one pairing but not another have to go out of their way to flame artist's for their differing interests.

Even people who aren't into pairings at all seem to have this heir about them, as though they think they're better than every other fan because they don't ship Jhonen's characters. But honestly, it's just closed-mindedness when users can't mind their own damn business and let artists draw what they want.

I draw/write for myself now. That's the way things were back when I first started out here, and that's the way I want things to be again. But other users on this site. Ugh...I just don't understand HOW there could be so many closed-minded IZ fans out there. You'd think humans would have evolved past leaving flaming comments on other people's art by now. But no. It continues, and I literally see this happening like clockwork every single fucking day.

Yes, people are entitled to their opinions. I'm not saying their not. But why voice an opinion in such a negative fashion? Why purposefully find works that you hate just so you can flame them? Some people claim they come across those works by "accident," but honestly, how hard is it for people to just NOT leave an insulting comment on the work? Certainly we've all got better things we could be doing with our time.

It honestly kills me on the inside that the fandom for my favorite show had to go so downhill. And I know people probably hate hearing me complain about it. But writing journals like this is just another way of coping with the fact that something I used to love is now something I hate. No. I don't hate the show itself. I never could. But the people who think they're entitled to spreading their opinions around through hate comments/groups/art/etc. They're the ones whom I truly hate. They ruin everything for everyone because they're selfish and can't accept the fact that the show doesn't revolve around them.

So many of my friends can no longer even ENJOY IZ because of other people basically telling them they're not entitled to enjoy it the way they want. Well, let me ask you this, spreaders of hate. What makes you so special? What makes you think you have any right to enjoy the show the way you want yet tell other artists they CAN'T?

I apologize for the rant, you guys. I really do. But this is just how I feel regarding the fandom. There's nothing but hate and division left amongst IZ fans, and it just disgusts me, to be perfectly honest. It disgusts me that the days I used to enjoy are over. It disgusts me that the more open-minded fans who USED to exist in the fandom have left. And more than anything else, it disgusts me that some of my closest friends can't even bring themselves to enjoy IZ any longer because of these closed-minded bastards.

Obviously, it's harder for me to detatch myself from IZ altogether because it's been a part of my life since the very first day it AIRED on TV. I've been a fan since 8th grade and still love watching the show whenever possible. But it just saddens me when newer fans of the show are driven away because of the hate of the fandom. They deserve to enjoy the IZ universe to it's fullest and shouldn't have to be subjected to the rude comments of people who only care to gain popularity through doing art for the show. If people really love and respect the show, its characters, and the UNIVERSE they exist in, then kindly stop spreading the hate already and ignore what you don't like about another person's interpretation of it. It's really not that fucking hard to do. Never will I understand the mindset behind people who purposefully go looking for trouble on this site. I look at art, comment on it/fave it if I like it, and ignore it if I don't like it. It's as simple as that. No point going out of your way to comment on something you DON'T like.