I thought it would be good to say something publicly about the Act of Grace Con
I am the one who organised a panel about social media censorship and the resulting rise of purity policing in fan spaces - Fuck the (Fandom) Police
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Ironically, there were complaints about my topic when the schedule was announced and we were removed straight away. We scrambled to get a new panel topic together but were told yesterday that my friend Ringa (who has been doing SO much for the fandom lately) would need to step down altogether
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I have decided not to have anything to do with the Con now. I AM planning on doing our original topic as OFMFF podcast ep. Even if you don't like my anti-censorship views, I hope you will tune in anyway with an open mind 💜
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I'm sorry this was handled so poorly. I know from doing some organization for other events that weighty topics like this can be a challenge to manage - but no matter what, there needs to be open and honest communication and thoughtful decision making, not just reacting.
Yes, I'm sure they didn't expect complaints (maybe we are naive, i didn't either) and weren't sure how to manage it. I did try to be understanding and helpful but I can't stand for excluding someone at the last minute like that
Feb 4, 2026 05:06Sadly, there are people who will jump straight to assuming the worst and most negative interpretation of any given thing, and be very loud about it. Fandom police in action, indeed.
And aside from that, sometimes organizers have to make hard calls about what to accept/not accept based on -
- capacity to deal with the ramifications, and so on. But it's something you gotta be proactive, not reactive, about (learned that the hard way myself!) and communicate openly and take responsibility, and give the benefit of the doubt.
