#don’t get me started on the weirdly racist and homophobic fans

[pasteilian]

I think some fans and fandoms have the worst time letting go of the idea that something they love has to tell the same story, point for point, over and over again with no variation of creativity. And if it doesn't stay within this path, it's automatically considered bad.

It's especially weird with TMNT because this franchise has never stuck to the same old, same old in every iteration. It's always something new and unique to that story, while still having story beats that you can recognize from the other versions. So fans being upset that the turtles don't stay the same is wild to me. They've never stayed the same, and that's what makes TMNT so fun.

[dirtyrottenraskel]

my take on yueki's personalities

yue 

notes / personality

cocky (but also like understated confidence - r e g a l af) 

kind of a nerd

maybe a little entitled, and a little bratty and suki loves to indulge her or to rile her up depending on her mood

books

seems soft but made of steel

strong sense of duty

socially intelligent - can be manipulative and suki (the dork) thinks it is so hot 

aloof queen bee typa beat

supportive, both in ur day to day and in going after your big moral life goals 

deep water - steady and powerful, often underestimated

untold depths, private yet surprisingly nurturing - master of deflecting away from herself

political nerd - well read, and when she has someone she trusts not to take advantage of her, she goes OFF 

distrusting of most people, has been used and ignored and underestimated her whole life

patient - homegirl knows how to play the long game

excellent at pai sho / chess 

she and suki have epic battles of wits - dif types of strategy but both are really into it and get a little too competitive (multiple board games have had to be replaced over the years)

loves travel bc wasn’t allowed to much, esp when she was sick 

was super repressed growing up - never let her be herself or really have any sort of independence

used to sneak out and wander around in rebellion and casually sabotage plans and decisions she didn’t agree with 

introverted, many opinions but keeps them to herself, discreet but well spoken

weaponizes secrets and information - doesn’t often use it but...she could

definitlyyyyy worries and overthinks and re-evaluates - worries ab social politics a lot

obsessive about picking things - wants it to be perfect

shes growing into her confidence as a leader

prefers quite intimate places

incredibly romantic

classic lit

planner for the future - visionary

kind / sweet / gentle - yes, but that’s also her “front” to a degree (seriously, i feel like she gets painted as so sweet and submissive and one dimensional by the fandom a lot of times and it freakin kills me)

INFJ-T (The Advocate) ((yes this is from 16p which i know is not super accurate but u can still catch her overall vibes from it ya know)

Creative/insightful/principled/compassionate/altruistic

sensitive/reluctant to open up/perfectionist/prone to burnout/not a fan of the ordinary

friendships / relationships

(<> indicates that they’re one of her best friends)

sokka - puppy love crushes, laugh ab it now, get into deep late night talks about responsibilities and leading, water tribe culture, prank wars (no one believes sokka when he says yue is a mean prank master (expect suki comes to see it in action lol))

katara - <> badass women friendship, totally would go to matches and protests together, tough girl shit, waterbending practice/duels - start of cautious, but then get rough in a good way bc they trust each other, they do water tribe food adventures together

toph - indulges her chaos, bonding over stupid royal upbringings, odd yet weirdly endearing pair

zuko - both sort of standoffish gay royals, but once they come to see that they are friends - take up similar spaces though, so only hang out in a group or rarely by themselves, they do hang out at like political parties and stuff when they get more comfortable together

aang - <> he has an impressive world view, yue is super studied and well read, so she and aang nerd out over past cultures together, and also their peace keeping nature, they have tea together often - usually after she and katara wipe the floor w/ each other

clothing / aesthetic:

blues and pale colors

classy and understated wealth

like those cute feminine button down shirts

dresses

like cold weather classy

complicated braids

sort of soft girl aesthetic?

pleated skirts !!!

i feel like she would wear ethically sourced fur (i don’t wear fur but idk how to get it in an ethical way - maybe it’s just fake??)

knit sweaters and skinny jeans and heeled ankle boots

light academia !!!

hella funky earrings - to mark her native pride and also cuz gay

from my readings, tattoos have a lot of cultural significance for Inuit women, and so i feel like yue would totally have some (when she comes of age ofc) 

suki

notes / personality 

extroverted 

also very strategic 

more spontaneous tho - will totally calculate the odds in a spilt second in her head and then just go for it

like still a careful planner, but willing to say fuck it, yolo if it seems right 

reflects on her mistakes, but more in like a healthy way - unless it was a leadership mistake, then it eats her up inside - worries more ab keeping her girls safe and making the right call

likes lively places

total bashful romantic

manages the present and the short term - realist

loves to do lists 

a little punch happy - loves to make violent threats, but also does it out of excitement and she’s just a really physical person tbh

steady, can come off as stubborn and abrasive but she really just wants what’s best for everyone she loves

harsh on herself and worries about her girls a lot 

always ends up in the oddest situations 

totally would kick someone’s ass for being racist/sexist/homophobic/etc 

dedicated to her training and her regime 

not a great cook, but she can manage 

would drink monsters 

has a weird relationship with femininity - took her awhile to reconcile strength and toughness and being assertive and aggressive with also wanting to feel pretty and feminine and embracing being a girl and how those things can coincide and amplify each other

abandonment issues - parents absent/dead 

was imprisoned - obvi she had several almost successful escape attempts, but she got really close to breaking 

was incredibly independent really early, grew up really fast and tries to make up for that now by sometimes being reckless 

tough/assertive/woman of action 

dry sense of humor/sarcastic - not good at nickname/pun humor tho

practical/dedicated/strong-willed/direct/honest/reliable/loyal/patient

stubborn/judgmental/difficult to relax/difficulty expressing emotions/too selfless 

friendships / relationships

(<> indicates that they’re one of her best friends)

sokka - <>  man they’re like platonic soulmates - she beat him up, and now they spar all the time, totally funny and crack jokes all the time, go skating together, they do shitty art together, and then show their lovers after zuko and yue come back from their high society mixers, broke her out of prison, m/f friendship !!! 

katara - also sparring buddies (suki will throw down at any literally moment (and tbh so will katara)), not close but will hang in a group - go to each other for advice 

toph - <> listen these two wreak havoc together, they help each other out a lot, i feel like they’re shopping buddies (similar enough style to frequent the same shops) toph knows suki won’t judge her for wanting to feel pretty and suki knows toph will be honest, they are both blunt sarcastic assholes and get along like a house on fire 

zuko - <> shows zuko how to like,,,enjoy things (and how to let go of some of that pressure to be always right and the adult and in charge bc they were raised with so much responsibility on their shoulders even tho they were just kids)? she is also super protective of him (once she trusts him), one of the only ppl who can match suki fully in hand to hand combat, both do the Disappointed Parent Look when the group falls into chaos, but by themselves, the two of them end up in hijinks

aang- suki enjoys his optimism and they’re just chill bros, they love exploring abandoned placed together 

clothing / aesthetic

sporty and skater mixed 

ripped jeans, crewnecks, vans 

green and yellow and dark red 

gym clothes/athleisure - lifting style gym clothes - cut off t-shirts and bike shorts

skirts too, likes to play into femininity

she’s a gold jewelry kinda girl - but stuff that won’t hinder her movements 

necklaces that end in the hollow of her throat & occasionally rings

definitely cuffs all of her jeans (it’s just bisexual culture ya know)

so many crop tops - some came like that, some were more of a diy project

yueki’s relationship!!!

nerd/jock solidarity 

feel the burden of responsibility and the weight on their shoulders 

they create a safe space between them, full of trust and warmth and vulnerability 

yue will read suki sappy passages from poetry books while suki polishes her fans 

they slow dance in the kitchen a lot 

they get good at ordering takeout - and they have some weird decision making process that only they understand - bc neither of them are great cooks 

yue would feel jealous of suki and sokka, if it weren’t for how stupid in love sokka was with zuko and yue can see that suki really only has eyes for her 

yue is taller than suki and it amuses her to no end to pick suki up and carry her away from a fight (we all know suki could get away if she wanted to, but when ur hot tall sexy gf throws u over her shoulder,,,,,,u don’t complain)

joke they’ve adopted kataang and zukka, bc they’re all dummies, but in reality every last one of them is stupid LMAO 

they love to do each other’s hair and it’s like super intimate and really cute 

sometimes it’s these epic elaborate hairstyles and then at other times, they try to see how many ponytails they can fit on suki’s head and how many little braid yue can do 

they travel EVERYWHERE 

since yue is royalty and suki is her body guard,,,, well i mean, they totally have to see these kingdoms they are doing trade deals with in person 

it helps that they're friends with a lot of them 

they stay over in everything from camping so they can stargaze to ritzy hotels with hot tubs in the bathroom 

yue gives suki rocks she finds on all their travels and suki lines them up on their mantle around the pictures of them in increasingly weird locations 

suki loves guarding yue’s meetings bc she gets to watch her absolutely rip a new one into misogynistic old men and it never fails to bring her joy 

While yue doesn’t love getting attacked, the ruthless efficiency suki defends her with is like,,,,,stupid attractive 

[thecatsaesthetics]

Anne Boleyn 2021 Review

Okay, so I want to start this off by saying I am a day late and a dollar short. I know that. Who wants my, over thousand-word, essay on this... but I've gonna give it to you. So please keep reading and leave me comments with your thoughts about this show.

So I will start this off with the positives:

I think Jodie Turner-Smith was excellently cast as Anne Boleyn. Jodie has a remarkable range as an actress. Especially since this version of Anne Boleyn, she is both victim and villain Jodie was able to pull it off flawlessly. She jumped from being a heartbroken wife to manipulating Henry VIII very well. Two scenes that really highlight this are:

The one after her miscarriage and Henry riding off; showed Anne’s desperation and sorrow very well. “Won’t you say goodbye to your wife?” was a heartbreaking line and I very nearly lost it when she collapsed.

The second was in the next episode where she manipulated herself back into his “good graces” by proposing Cromwell had been double-crossing him. This didn’t come across as villainous to me, it came across as a woman in a struggle for survival. Playing the game to keep her station after miscarriage.

I will say this about the show Jodie carried it on her back. She made Anne very sympathetic but highlight that she had this temper that harmed her. However, unlike Claire Foy’s Anne Boleyn I never felt this Anne was unlikable. She came across as someone struggling to survive. The scene with Mary after she learns of potentially Mary being reinstated in the line of succession also highlighted this. The whole "The King never likes to be without me for long" was a lie given he had left her but it was to puff up her station. Reminding Norfolk that she helped his daughter marry the King's son. Forcing Chapuys to kiss her hand. These weren't just power moves, they were survival moves.

This Anne was similar to Natalie Dormer’s Anne in season 2 of the Tudor and Geneviève Bujold in Anne of a Thousand Days. I enjoyed how Jodie both made the performance utterly her own but also obviously drew inspiration from the others.

Moving on,

Another positive was George and Anne’s relationship. I did like how touching their scenes were. The final meeting between George and Anne was heartbreaking.

The horse symbolism, while oddly ripped off from The Tudor’s swan symbolism what I liked. Also, the clock from King Francis implying the “Her time is up” I truly enjoyed. I am just a sucker for symbolism

The Norris Comment

I LOVED THIS. I loved how not only it was said, Anne being flirtatious and joking but the immediate drop. This was the moment Anne truly screwed up. I loved how Norris reacted and the reactions of everyone in the room. This comment is oddly overlooked by most productions of Anne Boleyn or Henry VIII. From what I have read it was an incredibly important comment that was made by Anne. This in combination with her final miscarriage left her in a dangerous position.

Now to a more mixed feeling:

Henry and Anne’s relationship:

On the one hand, I liked it, it showed they were still into each other a lot. This is unlike The Tudors where Henry VIII weirdly loses all sexual interest in Anne (but somehow still expects her to have a baby). Most productions show Anne and Henry’s marriage crumbling the second she has Elizabeth which just isn’t true. I also liked how the miscarriage alone didn’t cause Anne’s downfall, which is usually how it’s done.

That being said the physical violence… Henry VIII was a lot of things but he really wasn’t a physically violent guy himself. He’d execute you but he was a coward about it. I think the one notable time Henry got physically violent with a wife is when he ordered a sword after discovering Katherine Howard’s prior “relationships” and people thought he was angry enough to execute her himself. Even with Jane Seymour, he seems more degrading of her at times than physically violent. Emotional violence was more Henry’s style.

I do understand that they were trying to show the relationship as chaotic, volatile, and unhealthy. However, I just didn’t think it was necessary to add physical violence to do this.

Now with the petty:

The costumes… were so god damn ugly. Just as a side note before we pass from the positives to the true negatives. I just don’t understand what goes through the minds of costume designers. Jodie is a beautiful actress and they put her in the ugliest of clothing.

I mean I have seen worse costumes. They weren't as bad as The White Princess or Wolf Hall. But I would put them alongside The White Queen honestly.

I don't think costumes must be accurate, but I want them to be pretty at least. If you aren't going to make them accurate can we at least have something interesting to look at?

The Negatives:

Jane Boleyn: Ummm I don’t know what to say other than this is fucking dumb. I mean I guess we should be glad there was no physical violence between George and Jane this time around. Other than that I don’t get it. We literally are three mins into episode one and they have Anne call Jane a “spiteful little bitch” why? Because she’s upset her husband is cheating on her? Like Anne is upset her husband is cheating on her? Why wouldn’t Anne sympathize with Jane if that were the case? Even if they wanted to make Jane Boleyn evil they did a bad job. Am I not supposed to have sympathy with the wife getting cheated on?

Also, Dan Jones should have his degree ripped from him. Dan Jones is an actual historian who is an executive producer on this show and he allowed them to have Jane be brought as a witness to Anne’s trial.

On that note let’s move to the Jousting Head Injury thing. Again Dan Jones should have his degree ripped from him. This event did not happen, at least not like this. You can watch Claire Ridgeway’s video on this but the historical records do not support Henry VIII being unconscious at all after this fall. And it was funny they had Chapuys heavily involved in these scenes since he never even wrote about this event. You’d think if it was that important he would have.

That gross miscarriage scene… for all that is holy I do not understand why we are getting these intense miscarriage scenes. The camera was literally between Jodie’s legs at one point. It was so nasty. The sounds… I just can’t. I won’t go into it further but I’d rather have Natalie’s Dormer’s implied miscarriages with just some bleeding then this shit any day.

Now before I tactical the racism I want to say the final episode was probably the weakest one. Anne’s trial… I hated it. I hated Anne speech it was way too much Feminism™. I would have rather had her execution speech or her confession with Crammer. I do get why they only chose to have one of these in the episode, it would totally over crowd the episode. That being said… not only was the directing weird in this scene the speech they wrote just was subpar at best.

The Racism:

Okay, I am going to try my best to tactical the racism in the show. Now I am white and I don’t want to say I should be speaking over ANYONE. Plenty of black Tudor fans have written this better than me.

However, two plot points on this show really struck me as racist.

Jane Seymour: the odd predator behavior Anne has around Jane Seymour. It must be noted that the age gap looks apparent on the screen. Jane’s actress is 25 and Jodie is 34. Jane looked like an innocent schoolgirl and the aggressive scenes with Anne made these seem incredibly predatory. In ALL other productions, I’ve seen this is never how Anne and Jane come across.

The weird kiss between them was both racist and homophobic. I think they said it was about Anne wanting to see the “appeal”. Again it just made her look predator. The worst scene was when she was circling Jane as she spoke a hymn. Honestly, they made Jodie look like a fucking shark in that scene. It was so nasty.

The second and less talked about was Anne and Kingston. I don’t get why nobody is talking about that disturbing scene where Kingston physically pushes Anne onto the bed and holds her there. It was utterly disturbing, and quite frankly I am shocked anyone found that appropriate. You cannot separate Anne being portrayed by Jodie, a black woman, and having a white man grip her head down on a bed saying “She’s only a woman” as an insult. It was incredibly disturbing.

Also in general having Kingston treats Anne so awful… when all other productions of Anne Boleyn have Kingston treat her remarkably well. Racism is implied here. Why in every other production Anne's ladies are kind and gentle to her, and Kingston is moved by her, but when it's Jodie he's physically brutalizing her?

I think there were obviously other incidents, including all the shit with George and Jane but I don’t feel that equipped to handle them. I just wanted to bring these two to light.

Overall:

Jodie was amazing, carried the show on her back. That’s kind of it. It was very subpar. For a show that claims in the beginning inspired by “The Truth… and lies,�� it seems more inspired by lies than by any sort of truth.

I mean did we need another Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn TV show. Probably not. Which makes me feel sad. Jodie was so good. She truly pulls off regal. I want to see her in more period dramas. But other than that… 5.5 stars maybe?

[chocopvffz]

My Problems with Fandom

It’s been a while since I’ve kinda just let out my thoughts and feelings on this stale hell site. It’s just now more than ever I’m having the weirdest realizations while I’m participating in any Fanbase. This topic may piss ppl off. But to that, I say fuck it, I’m gonna do it.

Around 2 years ago I took a backseat to actively participating in fandom. So I’d be more of an onlooker rather than someone who contributed. Just reblogging stuff rather than making my own content. Usually in fandom, things are said in the heat of the moment, with little thought and more emotions. Taking a step back I started to realize that while that’s fine in and of itself, You’re entitled to what you like and what’s interesting to you, but I’ve realized that people kinda settle for the bare minimum. Especially now that representation for marginalized groups is becoming the norm. Which is great, but there are still problems that plague us as a community.

I just finished watching Unicorn of War’s video on RWBY, and they delved into the absolutely garbage writing that surrounded The White Fang subplot. I highly recommend you watch the video, it’s about the bad representation of minority oppression and how it relates to RWBY as a whole. While this post doesn’t stem from that in particular. what did was though is how UoW confessed that they were guilty of completely ignoring how harmful the writing was for pocs, as well as downright silencing and downplaying poc that had a problem with the writing. Unicorn of War is not racist, the fact that they realized the type of systemic racism they’ve been inadvertently spreading is so harmful is a a step in the right direction. Here is where the problem lies. UoW said that they were a perpetrator of this because they were to focused on the representation the show did give the fans. They said that they lumped all of the genuine criticism of the problems with homophobes and bigots because they didn’t want to hear any of the criticism at all. RWBY has some pretty shit representation in ever field. UoW said that they were settling for the stuff they did get because they get so little, and their whiteness blinded them to listening and trying to understand why so man poc had an issue with the show.

Basically what I’m trying to say is that, a lot of the time In Fandom, ppl would rather settle for what they do have and what caters to them, rather than criticize a product of its faults and ask for more.

I’ve been scared to talk about She-Ra because the fandom is pretty scary. I liked the show. To me it wasn’t anything special. But it was a fine show, and I can’t wait for what the crew does next. But here’s where a lot of the issues come from for me. There are some problems both w/ the show, and the representation. Catra and Adora have been queercoded up until the very end where it does get revealed that they are in fact lesbians. Which is great and all but at the end of the day. They kiss at the very end of the last episode, nothing was explicit before then. But the thing is that Catra is an abusive manipulative person, that kinda just gets a pat on the back, and all is forgiven when she realizes she’s alone(both in the fandom and the show). I mean glimmer got more hate than Catra. The point I’m trying to make is that I’ve seen way to many ppl ignore the fact that they side stepped the development of Catra and Adora, and kinda get mad at the ppl that criticize that we could have gotten better rep. For a lot of the fans, at least from what I’ve seen, yall are okay with the problems the show has as long as you get some form of rep. Which is valid, but when that complacency spills over into silencing ppl with criticisms. This usually happens when someone has had another experience with the show where the thing that represents them isnt done as well. it rubs me the wrong way. Someone could see Catra’s behavior, liken her to a toxic person they knew, criticize how the show kinda ignores that. I can bet that some ppl would tell this person that they’re wrong, because she ended up where she did at the end.

This brings me to my last example, during my watch of Infinity Train, I started getting a little bit more involved in the fandom; reblogging, commenting. During the show I noticed a small amount (larger than I would have liked) making passive aggressive remarks toward Grace (the only black girl and protagonist of the season). They were all in regard to her having a redmeption arc. At first I was kinda in denial. Like most ppl are immediately after suffering an injustice, cuz despite her being an awful person at first. She gets better. And there are so little black women that are protagonists. I felt represented. But then I’d see ppl demeaning her in order to make her friend Simon (basically the antagonist) more sympathetic. Mind you he’s white. And after the show ended I had a weird encounter. There were many posts about how enthralling it was that Grace, a black women, telling Simon, a white man, that his problems were his own, and she doesn’t have to be the one to fix them. Most of the ppl that made these posts were woc. The show isn’t about race, but the fact that the character is black resonated with a lot of ppl.

Under ever single one of these posts, I saw multiple people, getting weirdly angry at them. Like “this has nothing to do with race, why are you bringing it up here.” Which I guess is fair, but no one says it as much to ppl when the post is about sexuality. So getting fed up, I responded to one of these ppl explaining how odd it is that the characters that get really popular are always of the same archetype. White Sad Boys, it’s the same with ships. Instead of critiquing the show or anything I wanted to call attention to subconscious biases in fandom. The person accuses me of calling them racist, tells me that race isn’t an issue in fandom, and tried to gaslight me into thinking that what I was talking about doesnt apply to how ppl choose who their favorite character is.

This issue here isn’t about the race, or the actual content in the show. It was about the person telling me that the empowerment I and other woc experienced while watching infinity train s3, doesn’t exist and we shouldn’t criticize ppl putting her down in order to uplift the antagonist.

Which leads back to the point I’m trying to make. So many ppl in fandom settle for whats there instead of trying to make things more representative of everyone. Representation can always get better, we just have to stop fighting ppl that give constructive criticism to the things we like.

And I’m completely guilty of this too, that’s why I took a step back. I don’t like silencing ppl when they try to criticize something that resonates with me. So I try to sit back and let them tell me what can be done better based on their experiences. I’m still struggling. I’m pretty sure I was ultra defensive with the person telling me that race doesn’t matter.

This happens a lot more with white ppl than it does with people of color. And this isn’t a dig on any white person at all. It’s just that white have a vastly different experience than a poc. A white LGBT person is going to have a completely different experience than a black lgbt person. Just like a cishet white person is going to have from a poc cishet person. And since we have different experiences, there are aspects of my life you won’t understand and vice versa. An abuse survivor is going to be more equip to tell us what works better than other things in a story that tackles those subjects. You see what I mean.

I just want everyone to take a step back and consider the criticism that is being made. And try to understand why this person may see it that way.

TLDR; We need to stop silencing marginalized ppl just because they criticize things we relate to, especially when it pertains to their experiences. It’s settling for the bare minimum when we deserve better. Just because we’ve got a gay character doesnt mean the show is perfect. It happens way more than we think. Especially now more than ever.

Sorry this is so long, and full of typos. I just needed to rant.

[overwatch]

Can I be childish for a moment and just ask if it’s irrational that I’m a little mad at the Overwatch fandom? Like they’ve slandered the hell out of Soldier 76 since pretty much the game was released, and now he’s gay he’s a sudden icon and nothing is wrong with him? Idk. It just unsettles me I guess that being gay suddenly makes his entire MO change? I’m super stoked he’s LGBT now and I love the representation! I’m just a bit sad over how that seems to be the ONLY reason he’s liked now?

Is itirrational, as well as childish, to feel apprehensive over how people treatedyou for having a liking on soldier76 before, back when it was deemed uncool tolike “a boring het, racist and homophobic white” man?

No.

Is itirrational, as well as childish, to feel apprehensive over people likingsoldier76 because he is gay “now”?...

Yes, exceptit’s not irrational and you have every right to feel apprehensive about it - Theactual debate is rooted to my first paragraph on how Soldier76 was read asbefore by the majority of the tumblr community (yes I’m coming for your wigs) andhow his fans were clearly delusional, and just about all of the the usualtumblr anthropology lingo attributes to white “slice of bread” men that don’tfit the stereotypical yaoi ships everyone loves to fetishize.

But Zee, clearly you don’t expect us to believepeople would hate anon you about liking soldier76 who was a huge racisthomophobe. Except peopledid message me that even though Soldier76 was never homophobic, or racist. Yet,wasn’t that the recurring theme? A lot of white people on tumblr seem to loveto hate white characters because that’s woke as heck and that’s how you endracism, right? If you’re white and yousay you hate white characters in front of a mirror three times on a Friday nightyou are not racist forever and you have a free pass to fetishize Genji andevery east-Asian male character you weirdly obsess about, right?

There seemsto be an accepted long tradition within tumblr communities of scrutinizinginterracial couples in fanwork too and dissecting it down to racialdiscrimination based only on the fact that one of the characters is white. Thekeyword here is fan – fan portrayal should not in any way affect the way acharacter or in this case a ship is perceived but most people can’t seem to separate fan work from the real source.Reaper76, Pharmercy, Mchanzo are only a few examples of ships that are oftenregarded as racist and/or problematic based on the fact that someone made badfan content about them.

Althoughother ships have equally racist and other dubious themes in fanwork you don’thear about how transphobic it is, for example, to simply like Genji, despitethe extensive collection of trans-fetishization he’s subjected to in AO3 andyou don’t get called a racist for liking McCree despite a lot of latino/mixedMcCree fan content reducing him to a very detrimental stereotype of latino men.

As I see ityou have two choices here: you either claim a whole character/ship to be problematicbecause you found a piece of fan work that you deem to be/is problematic andharass everyone who posts or even mentions that ship ever again and thy shallburn on the stake for your sins witch, or you can message the person whocreated the fan work directly and explain the thought process of why and howthey can improve their work and posteriorly themselves because we need to startthinking globally and the many consequences of bad representation/portrayal.But expecting everyone to be part of the “woke” movement is a littleunrealistic given that we’re all very different people from different cultureswith different backgrounds – some people never even had contact with thecultures they try to portray on their work and most probably are not even fullyadults; obviously that doesn’t make it ok to publish certain things, but iftheir work is based on innocent unawareness then the least you can do is try toeducate them, unless of course that’s not your job and it’s so much easier tosend anon hate messages to people who talk about the ship and/or character.

I’ll saythis though: if you don’t like a ship, for whatever reason it is, you haveevery right to unfollow and tag to hide the content – heck, maybe the ship ISbad? (I will not get in what makes a ship bad but I’m obviously referring topeople who enjoy seeing, say, a minor and an adult together) but if you’regoing to harass someone who posts about or simply reblogs about a ship youthink it’s problematic for the reasons I mentioned previously then you’re agoblin who abuses the anon feature way too much.

With thatsaid, to everyone who made bad racist content despite being an adult who shouldknow better by now: fuck you.

The subjectof debate isn’t about it being bad to like and support gay soldier76 because he’sgay “now” – no, the way I see it, it’s the least those people can do. Theactual subject of debate is people slandering a character for nothing else thangetting a white hetero piñata to kick so everybody knows how not racist andhomophobic they are and using deceptive claims such as framing it around problematicfan content that has nothing to do with the actual character and/or ship.

So how dowe go from here? Should we just forget everything and move on and let peopleappreciate a character because he’s gay? Yes, why not? If actual homophobicpeople are going to hate soldier76 because he’s gay then why can’t the oppositesimultaneously happen as well? Obviously a character should not be built aroundhis sexuality – Hey, Glee – but it’s definitely not wrong to start appreciatinga character more because of it and honestly I feel people are way more intoSoldier76 being a soldier who sacrificed his relationship in order to giveVincent the happy life soldier76 knew he couldn’t provide, and the happy lifehe thought Vincent deserved. To me that character arc was a side of soldier76most people didn’t seem to be even aware of but then again, with the few lorehints we get here and there I’m not expecting everyone to figure it outdirectly.

It’s ok tolike a character because he’s gay, and it’s equally ok to feel frustrated thateveryone who used to mock you for liking the macho corn eating bread Morrison isnow on the hype gay train but let’s just be glad and thankful there is a trainand that we’re not riding it alone anymore, right?

[aikainkauna]

Movie meeeehm

Thanks to @nitrateglow for these!

1: A movie you enjoyed as a kid that you don't now

-Probs some comedy I'd find awfully sexist/racist/homophobic etc. now. But of course, I can't recall a specific one, probs because the experience is so deeply squicky and traumatic. Oh, wait, I know. I adored The Great Mouse Detective as a kid, but have heard so many "bleh" comments about it later that I don't want to ruin it by rewatching it as an adult. Why take a happy, cherished, pure and joyous memory away, especially as there are so few of those in my life anyway in proportion to the bad memories?

2: A movie you disliked as a kid that you like/love now

-Not a movie, but I was literally too fucking terrified to watch Doctor Who as a kid on cable, because the Tom Baker repeats they were showing terrified me with the title sequence alone. That empty stare and howling, diddly-duming music were enough to give me nightmares. So I only got into Who in my late teens!

3: Your favorite movie as a kid

-Define "kid." I went through several. I loved the Disney Robin Hood, of course, and at puberty, Wayne's World (yes) and The Princess Bride were my own cult movies, before I had anyone to fangirl them with. Ah, the pre-Internet era.

4: An actor/actress it took you time to warm up to

I remember being weirdly terrified and disturbed by Jeremy Brett as a kid, but then I felt the same about Bowie, and... well. Clearly it was my baby self not knowing WTF to do with all this stirring, restless energy that later turned out to be my skinnyandrogynousbisexualguy orientation thingy. And while I'd first seen Caligari and Casablanca as a teen in the early 90s, I wasn't ready for Connie until he pounced me in 2012. I would not have "got" him the same way and as hard until I was a grown-up, with a wide variety of experiences from many areas of life and a boatload of books/learning behind me. Just... no way.

5: A director it took you time to warm up to

-If anything, I've cooled off various directors I was impressed by when younger. So much of the auteur stuff gets wanky and self-imposing, in this Arrogant Artist Guy "look at my GENIUS big VISION and also insecurity about my penis size" kind of way. I like directors who can be warm and have fun and who show some real humanity (not wanky anvilly/kitchen sink-y sort of "humanity" either). Maybe Branagh? I found him a bit annoying as a kid, but now fap all over his stuff because now I'm old enough to Get It. He is the best kind of fanboy director; his geekiness is catching. Listening to his Thor commentary was a real eye-opener into my realising just how massive a nerd he is, and in a good, "one of us" kind of way.

6: Top five favorite soundtracks of your favorite movie composer

-There isn't just one! But Clint Mansell and Debbie Wiseman turn to gold everything they touch. Debbie especially is hugely unknown still, but she has this most amazing, swellingly Romantic music full of sweeping emotion that I just can't rec her enough. Do check her out; she'll give you goosebumps.

7: Three movies that defined your teen/childhood years

-I think I mentioned those already! But as a teenager, Bram Stoker's Dracula, La Reine Margot and Heavenly Creatures were formative. There were others I obsessed about way more than those, but they weren't as influential--it's more like they were massaging buttons I already had.

8: Sci-fi or westerns?

-Blake's 7! AKA "The Dirty Dozen in Space."

9: Are there any movies you own more than one copy of?

-Ahhahaha. AAAHHAHAHAHA! Of The Thief of Bagdad, I own: The Criterion clusterfuck with the awful clumsy cover someone had their 5-year-old draw, the Nordic DVD, the German Blu-Ray because I live on the edge (what with those Veidt Eye Closeups in HD being a hazard to any uterus) and at least three different digital copies. Because I'm me. I also own two digital copies and one DVD of Casablanca, three digital and one DVD of A Woman's Face and don't get me started on the British telefantasy I have on both DVD and VHS. I have spare copies of both the Caligari Masters of Cinema release and the ITV DVD of The Spy In Black, so I guess I should throw them at somebody.

10: Physical media or streaming?

-Neither. Video files firmly saved onto and run from my hard drive. Fuck streaming with its choppiness (ruins the viewing experience for me) and physical media are usually beyond my budget (unless I save up for a Connie DVD). Besides, I rip my favourite movie discs onto my HD anyway. I want to be able to gif that shit, dammit!

11: Are there any movies you watch on special occasions every year (Christmas, Halloween, birthdays, your mother's aunt's wedding anniversary, etc.)

-Used to do Nightmare Before Christmas on Halloween, but not any more. I still attempt ToB every Christmas. And I used to do All Through The Night with wine on my birthday, but as I can't tolerate alcohol anymore, the experience of Watching ATTN Drunk is no more. Someone start a Halloween tradition with me where we watch either The Student of Prague or Eerie Tales (or both) every year?

12: What movie do you most associate with your best friend(s)?

-Gosh, so few have stayed, so it's more like "movie that reminds you of a broken friendship," yay...?! I've learned to try and not associate movies with people that way any more, because it's more painful than it's worth. Connie is my best friend. He's like Krishna that way.

13: Name a movie adaptation you thought was better than or equal to its source material.

-LOTR put in more facial features and characterisation than Tolkien ever did, and did the tales far less fucking tediously. Imagine if you'd had to sit and watch hobbits walking through the countryside for 6 hours with barely anything happening?! Yeah...

14: What genres do your favorite movies tend to be?

-Historical, fantasy, Gothic Romantic, just Romantic stuff on the whole. More old than new movies these days. Why watch shitty modern chick flicks when I have far better characterisation and far less narrowly defined female lives in old-timey "women's pictures?" And guys who actually fucking shaved, dressed in clothes that were tailored for them instead of rented and saggy, whose bodily expressions weren't frozen for fear of "fagginess," and who weren't pumped full of 'roids.

15: Are you a fan of period dramas and if so, what era do you enjoy best?

-Yes. I love me some costume dramas, but I am seriously picky about them--most post-90s ones have been fucking awful and tend to feature shitty costumes and unkempt hair that would've sent real historical people to Bedlam, wobblycam from hell, vomit-inducingly excessive modernisation to be "edgy", and that one painfully skeletal bint they shove into every period drama ever these days, so it's... slim pickings for a history nerd, these days. There aren't many good ones set in the 17th century/Baroque era, which I love the most: the two Baroque dramas I wholeheartedly love are both series. (The Devil's Whore and By The Sword Divided.) The Angeliques and Musketeer adaptations are riddled with flaws, but there are some glowing bits within. As for The Golden Age of Islam... bloody hell, there really aren't that many good ones out there, are there?! ToB and Jodhaa Akbar and Disney's Aladdin, obviously. La Reine Margot isn't "my" period but it's great, as is Dangerous Liaisons (also not my period)--those are so fucking perfect. And the Connie period dramas, well... I think of them as primarily "silent movies" or "old movies," actually. Of those, The Student of Prague, ToB and The Wandering Jew are the best "costume" ones, IMHO. (I'd probs enjoy Lucrezia Borgia and Carlos and Elisabeth way more, were the copies we have not so smudgy.)

16: Name a movie you love that you would recommend to just about everyone.

-Ah, but we know there are always cynical cunts out there who'd give even Casablanca two stars, so what's the point? I'd still recommend it, though. And The Lion King, I guess.

17: Name a movie you love that you consider an acquired taste.

-Honestly, I'm thinking of telly rather than movies again. You will pry my cherished copy of The Time Monster from my cold, dead hands. Does The Devil of Winterborne count as a movie or TV? That's how far back my love for Mark Gatiss goes. Um... Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood makes me fucking cry with laughter (the comedic timing is what does it. *beat* "Ain't dat some shit!"). Of Connie's oeuvre, yes, I know Bella Donna is rubbish, but Connie and Mary are SIZZLING and horny and juicy and it's Valid as a BDSM porn movie. And the novel is actually good.

18: Name a film you like directed by/starring a filmmaker/actor you normally don't care for.

-Not so much actor/director, but I did *not* expect to love Thor as much as I did, because I expected a dumb popcorn movie but got great adventure cinema with a touch of Shakespeare instead. I really am not the right audience for regular Marvel features at all, before or after. Fuck Marvel up its dumb macho Republican ass. But Thor is fucking beautiful and operatic and poetic and majestic and Pagan and shit. Branagh knows what I like.

19: Name a movie that blew your mind.

-A Woman's Face (1941). Because. Holy. Fuck. How can I keep on finding yet more details in it six years after first watching it, having watched it countless times by now?! And obvs all the other stuff, like the shockingly good female POV, amazing and complex woman protagonist, amazing writing, amazing ensemble cast, amazing direction, amazing lighting, amazing evil Torsten Slinkypussy Barring and The. Goddamn. Attic. Scene.

20: What genre mash-up would you most love to see that either hasn't been done yet or hasn't been done enough?

-Feminist-savvy historical romance with fantasy elements and hot explicit sex that's not shit. Basically, like the stuff you see in my fics, but better paced and woven into coherent adventure movies.

21: The coolest movie you've ever seen

-Too, too many. But Bogie was the coolest. And Claude Rains had the best acting skills. And Conrad Veidt was Conrad motherfucking Veidt. So what with those three mountains of coolness all converging under the Moroccan sky, I'm sure it's safe to say "Casablanca."

[surveysonfleek]

1065.

Names, I need your names? no.

What is your favorite thing to do while drinking? honestly just sit around with friends, listen to music, eat and smoke lol.

Describe the worst party experience you’ve ever had? oh god, let’s not go there. long story short i ended up crying in the club.

What’s the best and worst trip you’ve had (drugs, not travel, lmao)? best was the molly at coachella. it wasn’t too over the top and sitting on the bus on the way back to our hotel was weirdly one of the best feelings in the world. world was after tomorrowland where we walked the streets of boom looking for a way to get back to our hotel which was 40 minutes away. whatever we had was definitely laced with something else.

What is the most unique or uncommon thing about you? this question is better suited for people i know to answer about me. i have no idea.

What happened the last time you were in a fight with someone? yesterday i had a mini argument with my boyfriend. it was over in five minutes, he just wasn’t listening to me.

Have you ever been in a physical fight? Who started it? no.

What is the most stupidly dangerous thing you’ve done, like something small but really dumb? speed i guess? cutting lanes without looking. i don’t do it often, but i have before oops.

When you are feeling your lowest, who do you turn to for help? i keep things to myself most of the time. if i need to vent i’ll talk to my boyfriend.

What is something you do very differently from others? think i guess.

What is something you do that’s unhealthy? Are you trying to change it? not watching what i’ve been eating lately. yes i need to change it up.

What do you wish was different about your community/neighborhood? i love my neighbourhood, i just wish it was closer to the city.

Do you like to do any type of volunteering? If so, have you/do you volunteer? i haven’t in ages.

Where was the last place you walked? Do you enjoy walking with no real purpose? to my car. i hate walking unless i’m traveling tbh.

Is a backpacking trip something you think you would enjoy? Why/why not? no. i couldn’t imagine staying in hostels and not having a huge variety of clothes packed.

Other than moving out as an adult, what’s the longest you’ve been away from home? 6 weeks, euro trip.

What’s the closest you’ve ever been to death? there hasn’t really been a time.

Have you ever told another person that you wish they would die? What’s the worst thing you’ve said to someone else? no way. idk, when i’m angry i don’t think before i speak. the worst thing is probably saying i didn’t love someone anymore to their face even though it wasn’t true.

What is the longest you’ve gone without food? Water? Going outside? i’ll drink water everyday no matter what. probably about a day for food. going outside... maybe a week that one time i was really sick.

What kind of video games are your favorite, and what are you playing now? What made you pick up that game specifically? i love gta, watch dogs and the sims. not playing anything right now, nothing new has caught my eye.

What was the last new thing you learned? no clue.

What kinds of things turn you on? the scent of my boyfriend haha.

What is your favorite type of kiss/way of kissing? a short make out sesh with a bit of tongue.

What is your favorite body part to have someone touch/etc? can never say no to a shoulder massage.

Favorite form of affection in general/not sexual/etc? hugs.

If you could change or add something to your physical form, what would it be? (even horns, tails, wings, eyes, etc!) don’t think i’d add anything. i’d get rid of stuff though.

What is something you are attracted to that other people normally aren’t? no idea.

When was the last time you felt like something really changed you in some way? i’m not sure. i’m still in the process of changing.

What kind of a relationship do you have with religion? a non existent one right now.

Do you get along with people who are especially religious? Why/why not? yeah i do. i’ll get along with anyone of any religion, as long as they’re not shoving their beliefs down my throat.

Describe a date idea you would enjoy? a weekend getaway in wine country. 

Are you romantic or not so much? What is romance to you? not so much.

What was the last thing you ate? a sandwich.

What do you think about anime? not a fan.

What do you think about Tumblr in general? Good site, bad site, hell site? What you make of it? i used to love it but got over it. i never use my main tumblr anymore, just this one.

What is your Love Language? lol never did a test or whatever it is.

Where do you score on that Kinsey scale thing? no idea.

Are your chakras aligned/underactive/overactive? no idea.

What was the last thing you received and last thing you sent in the mail? last thing i received was a wedding invitation. the last thing i sent were these shoes i bought online that didn’t fit me.

What was the last chore you did? washed the dishes.

If you could have a free personal chef or a housecleaner, which would you prefer? personal chef. i like cleaning.

What is something you’re struggling with right now, if anything? motivation.

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? hmm bacon and eggs i guess.

Do you have any routines you like to follow? Are you someone who enjoys routines? yep. i have many routines.

How would you describe your school experience? Enjoyable, not, etc? it was fine. not good, not bad.

What types of people do you have trouble getting along with? anyone who’s sexist, racist, homophobic or just plain out rude and doesn’t treat anyone with respect.

What is it that draws you to your passions (like if it’s writing, singing, etc)? i just love doing it.

When do you feel the most happy and fulfilled? when i’m traveling.

What was the last thing to break your heart? not sure.

What was the last thing that got unexpectedly better? work today. i got out early.

What is your favorite alcoholic drink? a dark and stormy.

Do you like absinthe? never tried it. 

What day of the week is your favorite? it changes every week. maybe saturday though.

What was the last thing you celebrated? my mum’s birthday.

What is a song for your mood right now? nothing.

And just what IS your mood? i’m super sleepy but need to stay awake since i have night shift tomorrow.

[lol-jackles]

Why do you think jensen attracts such vile AAs as fans? There must be something to the fact that most Sam girls are calmer and and genuine as opposed to these crazy AAs

.

I’m putting these 2 Asks in the same post.

Look where their fans original sprung from: Jensen’s fans started in the Soap Opera fandom.  Because of the Soap’s serial longevity, their fans are one of the first set of fans to believe that the characters are “theirs,” rather than belonging to the writers, actors, directors, or producers. (eventually sports fans and comic book and movie franchise fans caught up with the soap fans’ sense of entitlements).  The Soap fans’ sense of ownership happens for a couple of reasons, one being that soap production schedules allow the industry to respond relatively quickly to fan complaints and concerns, giving fans a sense that their opinions can make a real difference.  So one can see why Jensen’s soap fans that followed him to Dark Angel and then to Supernatural honestly believed they can influence SPN’s showrunners to switch the SPN mytharc from Sam to Dean through tirelessly clicking on spam polls believing it will raise Jensen’s profile, and constant harrassment and bashing campaigns against Sam and his fans.  Ackles Army members that used to run “Mytharc4Dean” accounts campaigned for years and years to change the show’s formula mytharc from Sam to Dean.

The biggest reason why Sam girls are chill is because the show is already centered around Sam.  Then you have Jared’s original fans who came from the Gilmore Girls fandom where the sense of character ownership is much less intense and fans don’t feel they have the power to change things.  So Jared’s fans seem more chill because they don’t believe they have the power to control TPTB.  It’s probably the main reason why they don’t bother with internet spam polls, other than knowing that those are just clickbait honey-traps and not real polls.  

For Jensen’s non-soap fans, I like to compare them with the Nico Di Angelo fans in the Percy Jackson fandom.  These fans are weirdly obsessed with Nico because he’s canonically gay and that makes tweenage straight girls want to ship him with every human being possible. Meanwhile, they ignore characters that have more depth and personality.  Not coincidentally Jensen is the “fandom’s bicycle”, his fans ship him with every male actor, as long as the other dude is older, poorer, and less talented than him.  They want to believe that Jensen is so amazing looking that EVERYBODY is gay for Jensen, especially straight dudes (because tweenage straight girls have no idea how sexuality actually works) and they are super pissed that the attractive, younger, more talented Jared upend that narrative fantasy.   Interestingly one of Nico’s fatal flaw is holding grudges, a similar trait held by Dean Winchester, which if you notice is also a common trait with the AAs. They still piss and moan about the ONE fan who praised Jared during his J2 panel at Chicon  SEVEN years ago.

Jensen does get criticized, mostly by the Destiel minions for not playing along with their shipping fantasy and calls him homophobic.  It’s like if you say “Beyonce isn’t attractive to me”, her super fans usually attack you with, “It’s not personal preference, you’re just racist!”  

Jared girls don’t care enough about Jensen to love or criticize him so they mostly leave him alone, which from the AAs’ point of view the Jared girls’ indifference is much worse than hate because they’re ignoring him!  If Jared girls attack Misha it’s mostly due to his fans who are deluded enough to think that their petitions to CW to fire Jared from the show in order to get the ship that 99% of the viewers don’t know exist canonized.  Misha’s minion fangirls picked up their we-can-influence-showrunners attitude from the original AAs of the soap opera fandom.  Or Jared girls think Misha has a weird fixation on Jared and even wants to steal his job. The Jared girls are not completely wrong about Misha, but not for reasons they think.