Fandom Flounce - Fanlore

A fandom flounce is a dramatic exit from a community, mailing list, or a fandom (or even fandom in general), usually happening in the wake of a kerfuffle, a flame war or in response to undesired/negative feedback. A flounce usually takes the form of an announcement to never write again, to delete/f-lock all fanworks etc.

It may be a reaction out of genuine hurt sometimes, but more often is also a drama ploy to garner sympathy and messages of support that beg the fan not to leave, with other fans declaring that they loved their fanfic, unlike the rude, hurtful previous commenters and so on.

A threat of a fandom flounce can also be an effective strategy to stop or derail a conversation, shifting the focus away from the original topic, which may have been uncomfortable (for example a discussion of racist elements showing in a fanwork) to focus on soothing the upset fan with an outpouring of sympathy to prevent them from leaving, or alternatively mocking the overreaction of flounces and such, but in either case the discussion will devolve into more general wank away from the original topic.

In some respects the fandom flounce can be seen as the milder, saner cousin of the online pseuicide, only one that does not necessarily involve sockpuppets.

Some fans have been known to flounce repeatedly, or to employ it as their usual method of leaving a fandom.