How to Build a Spoiler-Proof Bubble

[vampthenewblack]

vamp's guide to avoiding spoilers, 4th wall fuckery, and/or conspiracy-theory-esque speculation

 

thraceadams woke me with a semi-panicked tweet this morning. It's not so much the spoilers themselves that are getting to her, but the reactions that are a bit much. I totally get that, it's actually a large part of why I bubble. @AbyNormal22 requested bubble tips as well, so here goes!

 

Unfollow EVERYONE

Kidding! OMG, I can hear the screams of terror from here.

 

Twitter

The short answer is 'hide in your mentions and never venture out for any reason'. That can be a little scary for some, though.

Make a 'safe' list of the non-fandom people you follow and replace your timeline with it. DO NOT put 4th wall accounts (actors, official accounts etc) on this list! They're the worst offenders of spoilers and hype. For this exact reason, make sure you've turned off the 'what's happening on twitter' emails in your Twitter settings or MTV will send the fuckers straight to you.

Get an app that allows you to remove the main timeline completely. Tweetdeck and Hootsuite do the job for desktop and Android. For iThings, I have no frickin clue, sorry.

Filters are an option, but the set up is intensive. You're looking at filtering not only the fandom, but every single character name, actor name, big bad (problematic when you don't know it yet and don't want to know it), plus all the abbreviations, smooshes, and countless other things you won't think of till it's too late. Not for the faint of heart or the occasional blocking of reaction insanity.

Tumblr

If your Savior Fu is strong, and you trust other fans to tag their shit (ahahahahah...ahahah...huh...nope), you can blacklist all the things. Mostly I'm just going to tell you to stay the fuck away from your dash, though.

If you have non-fandom tumblrs that you absolutely must see, check them on the web or set up an rss reader.

Comms

If they don't have an enforced spoiler policy, don't even go there.

If you're invested in a community, however, it's worth saying something. Be a squeaky wheel and request a spoiler policy. Most LJ/DW comms should respect this common fandom courtesy as they tend to be a little more old school (as opposed to tumblr which doesn't remember what life was like before streaming video).

AO3

Weirdly bad for spoilers, new things pop up in tags and summaries before episodes even air. There is was¹ a userscript available to filter out specified terms, but you have to know what to filter for, and if you know, then you've already been spoilered.

Best to maintain a good TBR during the non-spoiler months so you can still read when it's not safe to ficdive.

¹ The userscripts site has apparently been down for some time now. At least one replacement exists, but as yet none of the AO3 scripts have been uploaded yet.

Will Power

Don't go on twitter because you're lonely. Don't peek at tumblr because you're bored or want to ogle Dylan's ass. You'll regret it, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself. Distract yourself with other things. I write and hang out on filofax blogs, but I'm sure you'll find your own methods ;)

Be Annoying

It'll take time, but if you constantly throw around bitchy comments regarding spoilers and your hatred of them, you'll eventually be known as that crazy spoiler-bubble person and unless someone decides to be a complete and utter dick, people will learn to refrain from sending the stuff straight to you.

Post-Ep Social Media Insanity

If spoilers don't bother you but the conspiracy theories and related madness does, stay off all the things after an episode or trailer. Le Gasp! No, seriously. Just don't look at your timeline or dash for a couple of hours, a day or so. It won't kill you and I promise you won't miss anything important.

---

I'm going to watch along this coming season (delayed by about half a day to allow me to download the ep). I won't be as susceptible to spoilers as the last few seasons, but I'm still staying in a full bubble.

I like being able to deconstruct in my own head first, before I'm influenced by tiny seeds that blow up on the internet and become bigger than they really are.

Annnnnd once again I've proved that I'm a crazy person. *drags Thrace into the bubble*

Comments

[ms_bitch_to_you]

This is excellent! Tumblr is the devil! I hate it with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Willpower I need to work on lol

/makes sticky note to rearrange columns on tweetdeck

Thank you so much :)

[vampthenewblack]

Tumblr IS the devil! And you're welcome. I kept looking at this and thinking but isn't this all obvious stuff? Truthfully, though, it took me 3 seasons to realise most of it. I hope it'll help!

[chemm80]

I'm not particularly a spoilerphobe, but they usually don't enhance my enjoyment of a show. (At best they give me time to get used to something I know I'm going to hate, which is a depressing situation in itself.) However *peers at reply thread* I do feel drawn to other people who hate Tumblr. :) And also this:

I like being able to deconstruct in my own head first, before I'm influenced by tiny seeds that blow up on the internet and become bigger than they really are.

I'm too, too susceptible to the opinions of others before I have time to form my own.

[vampthenewblack]

Yeah, I find those seeds take root far too easily, and then I'm stuck with something that almost feels canon, but isn't.

And there should totally be a club for tumblr haters ;)

[thraceadams]

UGH I suck at willpower :((((

Yes, the very last thing the Post-Ep Social Media Insanity is where I am, I don't mind the spoilers per se, the official ones like trailers, stuff from MTV, etc, what I DON'T like is all the speculation that surrounds it (like stuff that happened during 3b - OMG Tyler H has hair on his chest, does that mean he's killed off? - *rolls eyes*) that got massively annoying after a while.

and then there's all the people that say "I'm not going to watch this season because I'm still pissed off about the last one" ok, well then why are you still talking about it? MOVE ON. Let the rest of us enjoy it.

These are GREAT TIPS!! Thank you so much! And I will try to follow some of them, to alleviate the angst I've been feeling. It has helped to filter and unfollow some known pot stirrers on my feed. And frankly, with the kid out of school, I'm not really on Twitter all that much right now. I don't even have time to write/edit let alone f**k around on Twitter or Tumblr LOL. As for Tumblr I only go there when I'm linked to pretty posts LOL, and I rarely look at my dashboard. Because I pretty much don't like Tumblr.

I also never troll AO3, I only read recs or things I'm subscribed to, so that's easy. And I don't visit any comms, not enough time. So I guess Twitter is my big problem area LOL. I could put the word out that I don't want to see/discuss/rehash/ the show etc that might help.

And I'm with you, I like to deconstruct it in my own head, or with my friend Battle, that I chat with while we watch together LOL.

Thanks bb. *gets dragged into bubble with you*

[vampthenewblack]

Was THAT what all the chest hair stuff was about? People are weird, the things they'll read into completely irrelevant stuff *shakes head* I mean, it's all part of being a fan, I guess, and different levels of obsession. Still weird O.O

And! And 'fans' that bitch constantly about the source... WHAT THE HELL. Why are they even here? Whether it's queerbaiting or it's gotten too dark or whateverthehell they're bitching about this week. Shove. Off. It is what it is and if you don't like it don't watch it and get out of the way of those who do. I really think that bugs me most of all.

Anyway, while you're hiding from all the insanity, throw a tweet my way and we'll have a bubble party :D

[thraceadams]

YES there was some video of him answering questions & you could see he had chest hair and the fandom FREAKED OUT thinking that meant he was dead because his chest hair had grown back. That's the kind of crap that BUGS the crap out of me LOL. Watching his interview, even hearing him coyly say "if Derek survives" doesn't bother me because I KNOW the actors are supposed to say s**t like that, but to have everyone freaking out over his damn chest hair?

And YES OMG YES the fans that are like "I'm not watching Season 4, it's gonna suck, blah blah blah" well then don't fucking watch it, stop complaining about not watching it, and just MOVE ON. You're ruining it for the rest of us >:(

I will definitely throw tweets your way. (And I've put the word out that I don't want to be linked to doom and gloom from the ppl that habitually link me to it...so *fingers crossed*)

[vampthenewblack]

Soooooo glad I avoid all the interviews and stuff AND tumblr. Makes life so much simpler. I'm quite happy to let things unfold on the screen in front of me, I've got no need to find out what's going to happen before it happens. I actually find it quite difficult to understand why anyone would, and sometimes wonder if it makes me less of a fan than the rest of fandom ;) Or perhaps, even though it's the main fandom I write in, it's definitely not the only media source I consume, and that's why I'm happy to wait.

Yay you for telling people you don't want the links! *glows with pride*

[thraceadams]

Read a Jeff Davis interview today, DID NOT read the twitter explosion surrounding it (altho I did read a few of the comments - most of which were positive - color me SHOCKED - and then they got negative so I stopped LOL). having the child home from school and frankly being too tired to f**k around on Twitter has helped IMMENSELY because what little time I have I HAVE to spend catching up on email, writing, and editing. So I guess that's a good thing, yanno? Less time for me to get buried in other ppl's angst.

And I think ppl got the hint because I haven't been linked to anything so far :D

[vampthenewblack]

Yeah, I know that feeling. School holidays all my fandom things have to get squished into the evening, when hardly anyone else is online :)

[thraceadams]

YES this is me...all my time is squished into the evening...except here everyone is online so it's not very productive /o\

[vampthenewblack]

Aha! So true. I'm not very writing productive in the evenings though, I'm always watching some TV show or another lol

[thraceadams]

ha ha SAME HERe plus by the evening I'm exhausted and couldn't plot something out to save my life /o\