322. When Do Fandoms Turn ‘Toxic’?

That’s how it starts. The fever. The rage. The feeling of powerlessness. That turns good fans … toxic. How does this toxification happen? Or does it happen? Maybe it’s all the fault of big corporations. Or social media. Or foreign adversaries poisoning the discourse. In either case, we need discernment to sort honest criticism from harshest cynicism. Episode sponsors 1. Enclave Publishing: Worlds Collide by Clint Hall [https://lorehaven.com/sponsors/oasis-family-media] 2. Above the Circle of Earth (softcover) by E. Stephen Burnett [https://lorehaven.com/sponsors/above-the-circle-of-earth/] 3. Iffy Eats Monsters for Breakfast by Bryan Timothy Mitchell [https://lorehaven.com/sponsors/bryan-timothy-mitchell/] 4. Lorehaven Guild: July 2026 book quest for The Silver Chair [https://lorehaven.com/book-quests/the-silver-chair/] Mission update * New at Lorehaven, Daniel Whyte IV’s Onscreen article: Supergirl Strives to Be Good, but Struggles to Save a Disempowered Movie [https://lorehaven.com/supergirl-strives-to-be-good-but-struggles-to-save-a-disempowered-movie/]. * Reviews are currently on hiatus, but we have over 380 of those [https://lorehaven.com/reviews]! * Subscribe free [https://lorehaven.com/subscribe] to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild [https://lorehaven.com/lorehaven-guild/]. Critics are writing off famous fantasies, and we concede their demise. We also believe in an Author who surprises us with epic resurrection. Listen to episode 307. 1. They don’t—some of this is legit criticism. * Quick snack from the Concession Stand. We’ve talked about this. * Big corporations selling bad storytelling have blamed “toxic fans.” * Disney tried this against fans who disliked Star Wars TV shows. * They maybe learned their lesson and didn’t try it with Snow White. * And even the current DC regime didn’t do that much with Supergirl. * In this case, studios may be driven to these scripts by leftist media. * In fact, look for some media pundits to do this against Andy Serkis [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07y400jlngo]. * But the fans may just be saying, “That’s not for me.” Loudly. * Often the fans have legitimate reasons for loudly rejecti