#guess I'm going to have to either consume fan content or make my own and god knows it's going to

[fluidfox123]

There are many things wrong with me and having dreams about my obsession and pacing uncontrollably when I'm not able to consume content on said obsession is definitely one of them

[practicalsolarpunk]

is material consumption ok if it's for hobbies?

I want to start by thanking you for asking this question. It's an important one, and it leads to an idea that we don't really address much on practicalsolarpunk. But we definitely should discuss it more, and this is a good place to start. This may or may not be what you want to hear, anon, but I hope this helps a little bit. (Long post ahead.)

When I started this blog, most of the solarpunk content I could find was aesthetic, fiction, and political action. All of those are very important! Political action and resistance is how we will actually make changes on a systemic level. Aesthetic and fiction content are essential because it lets us imagine a better future, and it's impossible to create a future we can't imagine. But what I wanted was a blog of small things I could do right now or soon to reduce my consumption in general, learn new things, opt out in tiny ways, and make both the world and my own life a little better. This blog is about little things (and sometimes slightly bigger things) that we can do as individuals. Composting, gardening, foraging, and building community may make your life and the lives of those around you better, but they won't change the exploitative and destructive foundations of capitalist society.

practicalsolarpunk is not the definitive guide to solarpunk. It's not even the end goal. In my view, solarpunk has three interlocking aspects: Individual actions towards making a better future, building communities to make a better future together, and political action and resistance to move societal structures and systems towards a better future. On this blog, we mainly focus on individual actions and a little bit of community-building. Individual actions are great, but they can only go so far.

Coming back to your main concept, consumption: It's easy to come to the conclusion that consumption is bad, evil, wrong, destroying the environment, etc. If you hang out in solarpunk spaces, you've probably heard the "There is no ethical consumption under capitalism." And that's true - it is impossible to find anything created under capitalism that is not somehow exploiting the environment or people. However, consumption is required to survive. Eating food is consumption. Wearing clothes is consumption. Living indoors is consumption. Using any method of transportation besides walking is consumption. Even outside of capitalist systems, we must consume to live.

We are prone to black-and-white thinking. We want to sort things into "entirely good" and "entirely bad." When we have those boxes, we can do all of the things that make us good and none of the things that make us bad. It seems especially important to know what's good and what's bad to do when the future and the fate of the world are at stake. But in reality, almost nothing is fully good or fully bad. Everything is somewhere on the spectrum in between.

My guess is you want permission to buy things for your hobbies. (That's my guess because I have wanted the same thing - I hoped permission from someone who knew more than me about what was going on would help me feel less guilty about consuming.) And the reality is that I cannot give you that permission. There are reasonable arguments for either side. Material consumption for hobbies is good because hobbies are great for mental health and you can't change the world if your mental health is terrible. Material consumption for hobbies is bad because even though the consumption reduced is small it can build up to a greater effect over time.

Overconsumption is destroying the planet. We must consume to survive. There is no way to consume ethically under capitalism. All three of these statements are true. That means there is no "right" answer to your question. You can only make a decision based on your values, your needs, and your knowledge. I know what my choice would be in your situation, but I can't say what the best choice is for you.

I'm a huge fan of Maya Angelou's quote,: "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." Make the best decision you can with the information you have. If and when you get more information, you may need to reevaluate it. Perfection is impossible. Even when the stakes seem terrifyingly high, your best is good enough.

And one final note, because this question has reminded me a lot of myself and I don't want you to fall into the same trap I once did: Don't let guilt dictate this decision. Guilt tells you that you're doing the wrong things, you're not doing the right things, and you're definitely not doing enough. It says that making yourself happy is a moral failing, that it's wrong to do things just for fun while people are suffering and the world is burning, and that you are partially to blame for the state of the world because you chose to consume. Guilt is a liar, and you will destroy yourself before you ever do enough or sacrifice enough to satisfy it.

Ultimately, solarpunk is about creating a better future for people. A future where humans are extinct might save the environment from human overconsumption, but that's not a solarpunk future. Excessive material consumption isn't solarpunk, but denying yourself consumption that would improve your life isn't solarpunk either.

- Mod J

[this-acuteneurosis]

Can I just say how much I appreciate the fact you don't stray much from the movies?

It's just so refreshing to see a fic that is built on a clear, unbiased and simple canon base. This way, as you demonstrated, a writer not only has the ability to further explore the main themes and ideas introduced in the source material, but they can also go ahead and naturally develop their own by branching out on those fundamentals. They can offer their perspective by using the source material to their advantage, instead of working against it or even worse, trying to include all contradicting canon aspects. Part of writing a fic is kind of like offering your input in a conversation/disagreement. You have to listen carefully to what the other person is saying in order to form your answer...If you're listening to a thousand different people who are all saying a different thing (in this case, The clone wars, legends, novels, comics ect), you won't be able to give an answer that makes sense, much less give a structured and stable opinion.

I love how you were like "I know star wars is entering an era of a shit ton of spin off content with seemingly no end and most star wars fans know shit like who chewie lost his virginity to and what the kessel run is but screw this. The movies and maybe some late night wiki research is enough."

And you were right.

It's so funny, because I feel like I do ultimately stray pretty far from the movies. Not in terms of events I guess, but especially the prequels, I reject some of the underlying assumptions of what is said on screen and just treat it like fallible people strongly asserting opinions that no one calls them on. See: everything I ever assert about the Force/Anakin's "destiny."

I do think it helped me to stick with limited material. And it wasn't even because I saw all of this new SW content coming. I've mentioned this before, but when I started writing Don't Look Back (when it was just Like Fire and I naively believed I was gonna be done in 200k words, lol, rip past me) I hesitated a lot because as far as I was concerned, I wasn't a Star Wars Fan.

I'd watched the OT and PT multiple times. I knew that novels and games and cartoons existed, I knew people had consumed them all. I had been reading some SW fic because @mylongsufferingroommate had been sending me stuff they were enjoying and I was having fun with it. But like, I would never have called myself a Fan. I got goaded into writing this fic by people who knew me too well and really wanted a political thriller. I wouldn't have called them Star Wars Fans either.

Limiting myself to the six movies I had watched was a preemptive defense mechanism against a fan base I wasn't sure would want to accept me. My thin skin is my own problem, but every time I think about writing in a new fandom the same sort of nerves take me: what if my fanon is "wrong" and people are mean?

I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you so much to everyone who gave me a chance and encouraged me and were excited and shared that excitement.

And please, for the love of all the sky and stars DON'T GATEKEEP FANDOMS.

Don't tell people their canon is too big (@blue-sunshine-mauve-morning and @chancecraz have amazing fics that are much more compliant than mine to the broader canon, as a quick example), and definitely don't tell people their canon is too small. Walk away if you aren't enjoying something. Give compliments when you like something that is unique in a fandom you're familiar with. Be patient with people, be kind.

I could easily have given this story up if people hadn't been patient with me. I got comments as early as my first chapter from people who were angry with a single thing that I said and felt the need to tell me I was wrong. I could have left. I could have stopped.

I'm glad I didn't. But I wonder how many other people have.

[genuflectx]

I've been thinking a lot again about being an artist online since I've been taking a break from things, and about the eternal struggle between wanting art to be seen vs. wanting art to satisfy you without external validation. Mostly because negative thoughts remind me of when I stopped posting on my old SFW account, specifically the DeviantART.

A handful of years ago, not too long after leaving college, I got frustrated with the lack of results I was seeing on my SFW account despite the increased efforts placed towards my art. I felt bitter, and missed the old DA days of having a small but vocal community of artists who interacted with each other. I got so frustrated that I posted a journal asking if anybody would even notice if I just stopped, and when nobody replied (despite the 200+ watchers) I felt so discouraged I hid the large majority of my work and did just that. Stop. Of course, I was still active as Genuflect making NSFW art, but I had been on my SFW pseudonym for I'm guessing about 8-9 years at that point. So that stung.

Sometimes I think about if a similar thing might happen with "Genuflect." Art online is a game of who can post the most frequently, be the most personable, be the most relatable. When you stop, you fade out of the memory of people who have a world of other "content" to consume. It's just how things are. I've forgotten plenty of artists who disappeared off the face of the internet, only to remember them when I see I'm still following them years later. I always wonder what happened to them, if they're alive, if they moved accounts, if they just gave up.

Anyways. "Parasocial" goes both ways, I think, where artists can put too much stake into the opinions/attention of fans who they... don't really know. Does it hurt when familiar names disappear? Or when you take a break and they hop over to somebody else then just never come back? Yeah, but... it's not as if you really knew them, you never had a conversation, never did art exchanges, never roleplayed or hung out or mutually hype each other up. They're just... little numbers that give you a bit of validation for your hard work. Not friends. Isn't that what parasocial means?

But that is easier thought than practiced, it's still going to feel bad when you think nobody really cares if you stop or disappear online. I didn't know those 200 people watching me on my SFW DA in any personal capacity, but it still hurt like a bitch when not a one wanted me to stay. Because really... 8-9 years online and not one liked the art enough to leave a comment saying "wait, no, don't go?" Youch!!

I guess flipping the hurt feelings around into positives is the only way to go, if you want to find more satisfaction in creation without the opinions of strangers. That the opinions of friends/family is ultimately more valuable, that learning new things is fun and worthwhile on its own, that if nobody cares if you disappear then nobody really cares if your art ends up being "shit," either, so go wild. It removes a lot of pressure to try and think that way instead, while still acknowledging the hurt feelings are natural, especially in the modern online landscape.

One of the most treasured accounts I have is my VRC account, full of silly pictures with friends and little WIPs of 3D art and avatars. Know how many followers it has? 8. And it's the one that makes me smile the most. Being a nobody, or being forgettable, isn't so bad.

[bishiglomper]

ahaha. ha..

I just had a FNAF Moon nightmare. First person and everything. Which is really freaking weird

Because i do not consume FNAF content. Ive seen the nephew put on some clips and i see fanart occasionally from like TWO people I follow but OTHER THAN THAT... I do not seek FNAF content. I don't know jack shit about that guy XD

But I was on some roof pavillion. At night. Well lit by the moon I guess. With some kind of friend. Who was romantically interested in Moon and knew how to handle him. He showed up kind of unexpectedly and I had to be super careful on how i acted otherwise he was gonna kill me.

So I guess in true monsterfucker fashion, I turned it into one of those romantic rpgs but if i didnt get a favorable reaction he wouldn't dump me i'd just be murdered I guess. (I did this in another murdery monster dream.....😅)

One of the things was i had to keep my gaze down. Either closed or as unobtrusive as possible. I could stare at my hands. It was very first person pov. I dont remember much of the conversation but most of it was led by my friend person.

He wasnt thrilled a stranger was up there unexpectedly so he was hovery in a very murdery but seeing where this goes sort of way.

At one point I was really scared so i just started humming a song. At first the friend warned me to stop (like, nope, he doesnt like that, hes moving in-) ..but then told me to keep going. So I guess he liked it or his curiosity was piqued

I was almost home free and the friend (who i couldn't see, they were at my back the whole time) was like "give us a kiss"

And he like. Licked my shoulder or something odd like that. And then i saw that he was offering up 'cheek' so I pecked him obediently. Without looking.

And that was supposed to signify the end of the visit and the friend disappeared and i try to make my way across the roof... But i sense moon behind me, sneaking up. So i pause. I see his shadow move up against mine-

So I said, still facing empty roof "...can i have another kiss?" Which made him pause.

"....I dont think you could keep up with me. (and something i couldnt hear)" I askes him to repeat, 'cause. Yknow. Deaf. I can barely perceive his voice in the first place.

"........

.....I dont think you could keep up with me. ...i was born dead."

"....oh. I dont know what that does to a person." *twiddles thumbs shyly*

(REMEMBER IM TRYING TO SURVIVE HERE FOLKS 😂 Also I think the hard of hearing part was my brain running AI software and it was struggling to find something to work with lmao. It felt like a bad AI'd Twilight moment...)

Unfortunately (?) This is where plot ends because thats when i start having asthma IRL and start breathing out of my mouth, and I'm lying on my good ear so the accoustics of hearing my own raspy breathing freaked me out of the dream and into consciousness.

Where i find my cat laying OUTSIDE MY DOORWAY ONCE AGAIN. As opposed to the edge of my bed. Where i can see him. 😭

But yeah. That shit was freaky. I'd like to unsubscribe, please. 👆

Also something is making an occassional scratching noise, it think it might be the fan rattling in the next room but there goes any hope of sleeping after this 🫠

[mwolf0epsilon]

First off, before everyone comes after my butt with their "No Fun Allowed" and "Cringe" signs, this is in no way something to be taken as gospel or insightful. It's not a prophetic enforcement of canon. It's literally a theory done for fun, and to try to piece the Bendy Crack up Comics into the general and messy lore of the BatIM franchise. 

Most of you get this and don't need a big wordy warning about fanon interpretation, but a lot of peculiar people tend to show up in my ask box hoping to start a fuss over my headcanons and AU ideas, so I thought to be nice and leave a polite and diplomatic "Kindly Fuck Off" sign at the door for them.

With that said, there will be mild spoilers, carry on of your own volition, down below under the cut that will definitely show up because Tumblr mobile is a functional app that's never given me trouble!!!

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[[MORE]]

The Bendy Franchise has an established issue with cohesion in its lore. We all know what I'm talking about, we all have reservations about canonical character discrepancies (game vs novel vs guidebook) and we all have been racking our brains with a few holes in the timeline, as well as how BatDR (which is neither prequel nor sequel) will fit into this, since it's connected to BatDS and that's an established prequel to BatIM.

Granted I myself am missing a lot of pieces, having to scrounge around for info since I can't really get any of the reading material myself and rely heavily on @british-hero (who owns the novel plus got her copy of the comics yesterday), a very incomplete wikie, and analysis and theories from SuperHorrorBro's Bendy videos.

Heck, I also rely on a lot of gameplay footage, because BatIM has a bit of subtle storytelling through visual design of its levels, and hints of how certain characters work through a few game mechanics.

Through this mishmash of collecting puzzle pieces for the greater picture I even have a few notes on my phone to piece together certain events in established dates, something which comes very in handy for this theory since it talks about two particular characters, the Projectionist and Brute Boris (and I guess Twisted Alice to some extent but it's more of a note on some interesting thoughts I have of her).

Without further ado, here's what this theory is all about: Why did Norman become the Projectionist, and why did Twisted Alice turn Buddy Boris into Brute Boris?

If you think about it, there's only two creatures in the studio that really seem out of place in the world of BatIM, and that's Prophet Sammy and the Projectionist. Neither are inherently similar to any of the cartoon characters, nor are they considered to be Lost Ones. They're certainly not Searchers, but while we know Sammy is unique because his method of transformation was different, we never got an explanation for Norman's. It could be that it's a process similar to BatDR's new enemy type that's larger and seems to have bits and bobs stuck to it, but then those big guys seem like the equivalent to Swollen Searchers for the Lost Ones. The Projectionist doesn't really fit the puzzle.

Or at least he didn't.

With the introduction of the Crack up Comics collection, we get three new characters that were definitely designed in the same manner that the Butcher Gang was. Beginning with a corrupt monster forms and then giving way to perfect and pristine rubberhose toon forms.

I'm talking about Miss Twisted, the Brute, and Cameraman.

The villainous trio from the Souper Boris comic strip.

To us it's obvious the artists created them in parallel to Twisted Alice, Brute Boris and the Projectionist, but to the actual canon this actually has a bit of an impact on the Projectionist's existence.

Why, you ask? Because those characters were introduced between 1936 and 1940.

Bendy Crack up Comics table of contents, showcasing the publishing dates of the strips.

For anyone who doesn't know (either from not paying attention to the Joey Drew Studios channel audio logs, or from not owning the books) the Ink Machine wasn't conceptualized or installed until 1942/1943. Putting that into perspective, the only other thing that happened in Joey Drew Studios in 1940, was the conceptualization of Bendyland (which is likely the origin of the idea for the Ink Machine itself).

This means that Cameraman existed well before the Projectionist ever came to be, and that made me think about another thing: The Ink's apparent sentience.

I'll be frank, the Ink is very hard nut to crack. I consider it a form of alchemized entity, others consider it pure black magic, and I'm pretty sure Joey Drew himself had no idea what he was dealing with when he began using it. The fact of the matter is that the Ink is alive and that it has its own agenda. One that coincides with Joey's, out of mutual interest.

In the novels it seems to want to be free, but it can't exactly do that as a formless liquid, so it tries to body-snatch people (ex: Sammy and Buddy's grandpa).

When Joey tries to use it to give life to Bendy through nothing more than using the Ink and a template (likely a character model sheet) the Ink tries to follow the model but immediately becomes a distorted humanoid version of it (which honestly rings so many fucking alarm bells on its own). Things… Escalate there on out, with Joey trying to perfect the method and only managing to succeed through Daniel Lewek (and many other nameless Boris Clones), Allison Pendle and Thomas Connor.

An important thing to take from this, however, is that by trying to perfect this method Joey not only taught the Ink to reshape things into viable referenced material, but that he had to have lost control of just how many souls were being pumped through the Ink Machine for him to monitor and keep up.

Sammy started killing people when he completely turned, and it didn't seem to take long for him to cut down people in likely both the music and art departments. At this point he had no self-restraint and was completely wrapped around inky fingers and Joey's lies. 

Norman is one such potential victim, and Dot and Buddy even passed by his ink-wrapped body while fleeing.

Now, the thing about trying to follow a specific guide and not having the actual means to make it exactly the same thing, is an easy enough notion to get (as shows like "Nailed It", and years of trying to perfect visual style mimicry, have taught me).

The Ink likely had the template it needed (maybe a printed copy of Souper Boris that got thrown around in the chaos), the insight of what Norman's role in the studio was, the amount of mass it needed to consume and transform his dead body, but not exactly the right sort of… Centerpiece for it...

Cameraman using his lens to light up his path.

But what's a projector besides a bigger fancier camera? Both blink, both take film, same thing right? The ink doesn't see the difference and just stitches together this humanoid bootleg cameraman with the pieces it finds that are similar enough.

Mechanical blinky head? Check.

Strange round disc near the belly? There's a speaker. That's round! Check.

Film? There we go, a nice big round reel full of film in it, let's put it near the head, that's how it works right? Check.

Lastly, no Joey to actually direct this artistic recreation of a one-off character. The Ink did it all by itself while he was off getting his hand broken by a rightfully upset Buddy Boris.

If you look at it objectively it makes sense that being the projectionist tasked with not only recording and maintaining the projectors themselves, that the entity in the Ink would pick Cameraman as a template for Norman's transformed self.

It also makes sense that the Projectionist is so off-putting in the studio. He's almost perfect, but not quite because there just weren't the right materials. He's stuck in between Twisted Alice and the Butcher Gang clones as another failed recreation.

Moving on to the next question on why Twisted Alice turn Buddy Boris into Brute Boris, when she hadn't done the same to any of the other Boris Clones.

It's hard to say really, but I think it all comes down to who Twisted Alice really is. It's very likely that, as Susie Campbell, she would have knowledge of the comic strips. A few were most likely made into cartoon shorts even (which isn't an unusual assumption to make), and maybe Susie voiced a few background characters for said shorts.

Susie may have lost her role as Alice, but before Joey came to her with his proposition for the "special project" it's very likely that she remained in the studio, forced to do the voices of characters that weren't noteworthy or that she felt completely disconnected from (talking chairs and singing hens really don't become beloved fan-favourites) . Maybe if the Souper Boris story was made into a short, she might have voiced Miss Twisted (which honestly would be personally insulting considering she once had the role of the main heroine).

Point is, Susie knows her lore, and that translates to Twisted Alice's repertoire of insightful knowledge on the abominations lurking around the studio.

She never did turn other Boris clones into brutish lackeys because at the time she didn't need to. But it doesn't mean she hadn't considered it. Henry's disruptive behaviour is just what she needed to put that plan into motion.

There was already a "Cameraman" walking about, one that could easily rip apart anything it came across, so acquiring the means to recreate the "Brute" would have been benefiting from her point of view. The Projectionist doesn't take orders and can't be reasoned with, so if she could make something just as strong that took her orders she could, theoretically, be safe from most terrors in the studio. If that didn't work, she would still likely send others to their death by simply sending them down to Level 14, or maybe lure the Projectionist to them herself (just because he doesn't take orders doesn't mean she can't use him to achieve her end goals).

Miss Twisted, the Brute and Cameraman in their evil swamp lair.

But why Buddy Boris specifically? Why couldn't she have used any of the bodies laying around? Freshness most likely. Rigor mortis is probably still a thing, even for living cartoons. Easier to work a fresh dead body than a bunch of stiff wolves.

That's at least why I think Brute Boris is a thing. Susie's knowledge of most Bendy cartoon/comic strip characters, taking inspiration from the Projectionist's presence, and honestly a very twisted sense of humor and irony. In her quest to become a Perfect Alice, the heroine of the show, she ended up becoming just as antagonistic (although more sadistic) as Miss Twisted, a Bendy comic strip villainess.

[petracore101]

i saw your post, and i feel kinda the same? i don't know if i will keep watching rwby either. penny's death hurt so bad, i don't understand why they would do all that to her. and now a bunch of people are saying it was good, but it felt like such a betrayal. i don't know what to do. i still love the characters and i don't want to lose them. but i'm sorry to dump this on you. i guess i'm just wondering if you are completely done with rwby? do you still like it at all? or did this ruin it?

Hey anon, no need to apologize. It absolutely sucks to feel betrayed by something you loved and trusted, but I’m glad you were able to express that hurt. And if you want to talk about it, my messages are open 💜

As for your question, no, I don’t think this has ruined it, not completely anyway. I’m still sussing out how I feel about everything, and I won’t be watching any new eps, or rewatching these last couple volumes. But when all’s said and done, I think I will still be able to enjoy the first 6, at least. For all their flaws, I do still love their heart. And I don’t think that’s going to change. So I’ll still engage with them, I think. I just don’t really want to be active in fan spaces, beyond maybe drawing some art from time to time.

I don’t know where you’re at exactly, but I will say that you shouldn’t hesitate to take the parts of a thing that are good for you, and leave the rest behind. You don’t have to engage with the fandom or with all the content provided- if any aspect of it just doesn’t sit right with you, then you have no obligation to consume it or support it. You can still make your own art, your own fic, your own stories and worlds if you aren’t getting anything good from the one they’re telling anymore. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The right level of engagement is the one where you can best enjoy the content you consume and grow from it.

And really, if you need someone to talk to, let me know. 💜

[itsclydebitches]

How do you feel about derivative art? I'm guessing you approve since you're big into fanfics. Is art that's derivative as good as original art? Could a well made video critique of a film be better then the film? Or a fanmade rewrite be better then the original book? And yes I know nothing "original" exist, but that's not the same thing as art that is obviously derivative. And the big question. Should artist be allowed to make money off derivative art?

For me it’s an all around “Yes.” I’ve read fics leagues better than published novels. I’ve seen fanvids far better than films. Granted, when you get into the subject of visual media you run into things like finances and access to technology. Anyone can craft a story with words, but only a few have the budget and tools required to re-create the sort of Blockbuster films we’ve grown used to. But why in the world would that very specific style be the only “good” art out there? Obviously it’s not. If anything, we value limitations in our art. Six second vines shot on cell phones are adored and can lead to lucrative careers. Films like the Blair Witch Project want to mimic an armature cinematography, like these people really were just shooting what they could while running for their lives. Amateur does not in any way equal lesser. To say nothing of the fact that fans have shown time and time again that a passion for the material and a huge amount of work ethic is more than enough. As the recent Loki logo abomination attests, all the money and resources in the world doesn’t guarantee taste---or success. Outsiders to fandom love to criticize the “horrible” fics they found when they dove into AO3 for all of ten minutes, but fail to acknowledge that you’re just as likely to find a terrible book when you pull one randomly off of B&N’s shelves. If derivative art is somehow lesser than we need to re-evaluate the comics industry. And every formulaic western, rom-com, police procedural. And every great author (there are a LOT) who wrote “classics” based off of other’s characters and worlds. Art is art. Mainstream art is in no way superior to fan art, no matter how much people still want to convince us of that. 

The money question is, admittedly, waaaaaay more complicated. For me though it’s still a “Yes” simply because of how fandom functions. That is, we need the canon. Even if it becomes outdated, or is considered offensive, or is absolutely terrible compared to what the fandom has now produced, people will STILL consume that material (and more importantly buy it) in order to get access to all the good fan stuff. I’ve simply never bought into the argument that derivative works are a threat to the livelihood of the original piece because they depend on that piece. All my friends are in a fun discord for TV Show X. They’re producing all these fics I want to read. I’ve heard that Show X is actually pretty bad, but I’m going to watch it anyway because that provides me with the context that produced all this other stuff. It’s the foundation, the blueprints, the golden ticket to get inside the fandom. Will every fan do this? No, some do bypass the canon and just dive right in, but the majority of them will. Meaning that rather than posing a threat to the original author’s livelihood as most people assume, fanworks help keep mainstream content alive. Adding a price to that doesn’t change anything. If someone offers me a fic for free I’m gonna tackle the canon book first. If someone offers me a fic for $10... I’m still gonna tackle the canon book first. Either way the author gets paid and are likely to get more if fans use their work as an entry point into the fandom. “I wouldn’t have read/watched your stuff at all, if it weren’t for the fact that I want to read the stories my friend is now producing.” Giving that friend some rent money is the least we can do. 

(There are obviously other arguments against making money off of derivative works, two of which boil down to “It’s against the law”---which funnily enough we create and control and can change if perspectives change---and “They’re my creations and I don’t want you messing with them, let alone making money off them.” I’ve got a lot of feelings regarding that one and in an effort to save a bit of space I’ll boil it down to a very unkind response: Too bad. Transformation is at the heart of human interaction with art. If you didn’t want that you shouldn’t have given it to the public in the first place. Authors don’t get to police how fans interact with their work: “I love it when you take the time to write me glowing reviews! .... oh, but not when you write another story. Please continue making awesome fan posters that promote my work! ... but not one with those two characters kissing ew.” Authors don’t get to dictate how fans interact with the art they’ve put out there; how much of it is active and in what ways.) 

We also have to consider that we’re already in a world where those lines are irrevocably blurred. Why does E.L. James or Anna Todd get to make a fortune off of their barely changed fics? Why do artists get to sell their fanart but fic writers are still largely terrified of lawsuits? Fans are already making money off their work---always have, really---and I doubt that’s something we can reverse. Whether or not it continues to grow is the real question. 

Personally, I wouldn’t want to see derivative works commercialized, not because fans don’t deserve to earn money for their labor (we do), but just because that would irrevocably change fandom dynamics. We’re a gift economy and we’re built on that. Fandom has always been about progressive acts: be it writing about queer identities, providing accessibility accommodations decades before mainstream art did, or (and this is the kicker) helping to level out class differences. Meaning, mainstream art is often for the rich and the elite. Broadway shows are insanely expensive and impossible for most to get to. Movies prices have skyrocketed. Every company is creating their own streaming service, requiring that you pay three or four $20+ monthly subscriptions instead of just the one. It’s all about money and fandom is one of the few places where we still exchange art for praise and more art, rather than a paycheck. Fic is free. Fanvids are free. You guys want a cute drawing of this couple? All you have to do is send in a prompt ask and I’ll draw it! Sure, I’d also love it if you paid for a commission, but I’m going to keep creating free drawings on the side. When was the last time we saw a mainstream author go, “Please continue to buy my last story, but in the meantime here’s a free novel I’m putting up on my website. Hope you enjoy!” I mean yes, we do get things for free (especially when it comes to many games, apps, and some short stories), but not like in fandom. There’s a culture of giving that I never want to lose. Are we already doing commissions and con sales? Yes. Do we often ask for donations and payment? Yes. Should we be able to continue doing so without fear of legal action? I think so. But I don’t want a general sense of “I should be allowed to earn money off of this” get turned into “Well if I can earn money off of this why wouldn’t I?” I never want our work to exist fully behind a wall where the key in is your credit card number. Fandom is unique in its, “I made this thing because I wanted to and I shared it with you because I wanted to do that too, no strings attached” and that, I think, is worth protecting. 

[sunflowercherrypeaches]

Buckle up it's rant time

Reddit used to be my go to for Harry Styles content before I discovered this place, y'know, just over there it's just discussions about the albums, which songs we like best, occasional fan art and photos of him etc. Yesterday I posted the birthday cake my partner and children made me to here and to the Harry subreddit. It was tongue in cheek, my partner is not keen at all on Harry's music, and jokingly teases me because it's the first time in years I've been this into a fandom. Emphasis on joking, we both understand that I love his music, and other than that this is just a silly celebrity crush. Everyone has them, it doesn't affect our relationship (10 years, two kids, going strong, we have our moments but generally it's great) in any way. If anything it's improved it because thanks to Harry, his music and his whole ethos, and honestly to you guys on here as well, I've become a more open person, more comfortable in my own skin, more confident.

My kids know I like Harry's music, they talked about what kind of birthday cake I would like, my three year old daughter suggested Peppa pig because that's her favourite, but they decided I'd prefer Harry. It was cute and it was a nice gesture and honestly a bit of an in joke, hence the baby Harries all over it (I started kicking Harry last November, wasn't a baby Harry kind of girl).

Anyway, I know there's a lot of gross subreddits out there, I've never really interacted or engaged with them, I've definitely never been dragged by them, until yesterday. Someone came across my cake post and posted it to r/consumeproduct. 

Take a look at their wonderful comments: 

Comments like 'Degenerate is probably a homosexual' just SHOWS you what kind of people these are. To imply that anyone gay is a degenerate is just disgusting bigotry, and to not understand that people of any sexual orientation can refer to their significant other as their partner… is just dumb as fuck. Partner… we've been together 10 years, we have two children together, boyfriend doesn't really cut it but we're not engaged or married so husband isn't right either. Is partner a British thing? Does it mean something else in other nations? What?

Apparently he's a cuck and a simp for allowing me to have a celebrity crush. Or maaaaybe we're just secure enough in our relationship that we know that celebrity crushes don't mean anything. Yes I spend some of my free time reblogging Harry content, I guess if you just look at my Tumblr or Reddit you might assume it's all-consuming but it's not. People have lives outside of these websites. I like a lot of things that are not Harry Styles. The fact that I choose to use this site or that site solely based on that topic does not negate the rest of my hobbies or life. The fact that I draw his face and share the picture doesn't mean I don't draw anything else. The fact that I listen to his music and discuss it, does not mean I don't ever listen to anything else. It just means there's a community of people in that place that I like sharing and discussing that particular thing with. There are other communities that I share other things with. Me being a bit self aware and making jokes about being obsessed or being enabled, doesn't mean I'm actually obsessed or being enabled. 

But really, I couldn't care less about them dragging me for fancying a celebrity. We like and look up to people we respect. I have literally no qualms about fancying Harry fucking Styles. I couldn't really care less about them dragging me for any of it, I actually think it's hilarious reading their assumptions about my life based off a picture of cake.

What bothers me is the whole subreddit. It's gone past the point of mocking consumerism and now just mocks people for enjoying literally anything. You want to own a nice house one day? Fuck you consumer bitch. You like music, movies, pop culture of any kind? Fuck you consumer bitch. You like recording yourself playing guitar and posting it for others to see? Fuck you musical consumer bitch. You like porn? Super fuck you consumer bitch. You like a toothbrush with a rainbow on it? Fuck you LGBT+ consumer bitch. 

These are ACTUAL things they are dragging people for. 

Why are people so filled with hate that they can't even stand that other people enjoy things? What kind of lives do they live that they apparently like nothing other than spouting hate about the things other people LIKE? Simply things that other people get enjoyment from. It's completely laughable.

I feel bad for them that they feel so superior that they apparently can't get any enjoyment from music, books, movies...

Sure consumerism and capitalism are bad but not everything we consume is bad. People discussing and sharing their favourite artists, characters, things you hope to have or achieve etc isn't the same as tweeting about how much you love that big brand of cola. But also if you love that big brand of cola, you do you. People are allowed to like what they like. Sure, you're allowed an opinion of that if you really need to have one, but why? What do you gain from shitting on things that others enjoy? 

I can't say this loud enough, but:

TPWK

[onceuponamirror]

hi! A while ago you mentioned how you subscribe to the belief that your personal experience should be priorized above than objective "truth". I just find that super interesting (esp. when it comes to shipping and our engagement with the media we consume) and I wonder if you could expand on that, bc I'm currently taking a class that touches very heavily on the subject =)

i’d be happy to! but i should clarify that it’s incredibly subjective and really, really depends on circumstance. feel like it would go without saying, but i was referring to storytelling and narrative. just want to emphasize that, because objective truth vs experience is more complicated in the real world, especially vis-a-vis racial/gender prejudice/bias. and that’s a whole other conversation.

(occasionally it also can work in terms of actual interpersonal relationships and communication, but, i digress)

anyway. in high school i read a book called “the things we carried” by tim o’brien, which is a war/anti-war collection of short stories. in the chapters, he would take you through a war experience, presented as a memory, and at the end of the chapter, he would sometimes reveal if it was actually a “true” recollection. at first i was annoyed, but then i realized what he was saying was:

fiction can be relative. the experience you personally had interpreting something isn’t. because you felt it, you made it real, for yourself. that’s the skinny. it’s what i feel the entire point of storytelling is—what matters is whether you’re moved by the content, whether you experience things alongside the characters, and sometimes no matter the cost, even if it’s a lie to your reader. 

it’s sort of a parallel of death of the author, which is the theory that the creator’s intentions and motivations are moot once they’re received by an audience; that each person’s personal history informs the way they absorb/react to text. this happens in either circumstance.

the difference is that sometimes a content creator is upset by different interpretations by the audience, whereas someone like o’brien did it deliberately to best tell his story; sometimes something was better explained by a dream-like metaphor that didn’t actually happen smack dab in the middle of a “nonfiction” book. so in the case of it being deliberate, it’s in the service of the story; it’s the unreliable narrator. 

(ironically, i guess the main difference is the definition of death of the author itself lmao—does it matter what was intentional? philosof etc) 

as it applies to fandom—and here’s where the two theories kind of blend up a lot—i feel like it shows up most in arguments of “canon” and shipping wars. does it matter if x ship never comes to fruition, was never planned, never even in the writing, but two actors had some chemistry or there was a moment in the direction, etc? the whole notion of fandom is that the content has a hand off to the fans, which somehow leads to a lot of elitism and false hierarchies over who then “gets” the most content. 

but those who are unrepresented or uninspired by the canon often seek to create their own out those tiny moments, and that’s what makes their experience outweigh the “truth” of the story. it changes shape and form by those who want to relate to something else, and what those people experience/feel is absolutely no less than what is felt by those getting “canon” content. 

it’s funny tho because—and this is just like, my personal brand of nerdy, i’m going off topic slightly—historically, stories have been changing hands and taking new forms and branching off one another for…forever, basically. i mentioned this in a recent post, but cinderella, for example, has roots in both ancient greece and 9th century china. things like the silk road and the roman empire traded a lot of stories around, and in many ways, the content gets owned by whoever is told it. each person brings their own personal experiences and culture to the story they share, which informs the next, and the next, etc. 

the concept of death of the author has existed for centuries (PLEASE read this historian explain how there were legit king arthur fanfics in the 1500s—the traveling bard was a thing because each storyteller had their own version, and came to town with a new but familiar fan fave. that’s why shakespeare as an “original” bard is hilarious)—but it’s only in modern times that the stigma appeared.

(i would guess partially because the ability to directly engage back with the author/actor/etc has changed and blurred the lines. we all have role models who have had impacts on our lives through the work they put out but what a person means to someone doesn’t entitle them to “content,” because a real person’s life isn’t…..content. it’s their life. i think you prob know what i’m referring to.)

(i’m also NOT talking about plagiarism, which is something totally different and is straight up theft of direct text, etc. “you know it when you see it��) 

tl;dr, 

so in terms of storytelling, “objective truth” loses to “personal experience” because truth is a narrative relative. in a story, regardless of what, say, i-the-author am expressing for myself, what you-the-reader feel makes it real for you. 

then an audience inherits whatever story they’ve been told. how the individual interprets it and retell it is the birth of another. 

fandom/fanfic are new phenomena only in the sense of their accessibility of scale, but that they’re basically, basically iterations of the oral tradition that have existed as long as language has. the nature of storytelling is that it changes hands and becomes someone else’s story that they expand upon and modify. and again, and on, and forever. 

anyway. that was rambly and possibly not very clear. hope it answered your question! i’d love to hear what you’re discussing in your class! 

[hoshiyoshis]

Hey, its gonna be okay. There are lots of moments in life where our pasions just arent as intense as before or even disapear for a little while, but that doesnt mean you should feel bad/angered with your self over it. Try to give this a breake, focus on other things even if it is only a week or two, because the more you drawn onto this feeling the harder its gonna be on you.

Also, you dont need to apologise to people for following you, you are doing you best🌸💖

ive kinda left this one in my inbox all day bc i dont know what to really say to it, ig? like. obviously i want to start with the fact that i appreciate u took time out of ur day to say something nice to someone whos struggling bc it genuinely means a lot to me that u did that!!

idk take some ramblings of a struggling artist or w/e u wanna call me. 'depressed bitch' also works lmao

i guess i just... always feel like i'm not doing enough as a creator. like as a fan idc abt making content, but i like making things. i think just... stuff comes back around like darl+ing did, or like HOT did, and i just kinda watch everyone else make pretty much every single thing ever and i sit there and im like... well, what do i do? what can i do? everyone's always going to make things better than me to begin with.

it's not like drawing or writing where i'm the only person who can create a thing that way. its taking the exact same content as other people do and just... doing it, but always doing it worse because other people have done this enough times that it looks easy to them even though i know its not. some people probably have their stuff automated so that they can churn content out quickly.

i guess i'll always feel like... not good enough. and i think that's always where my passion dies out. and if i'm honest, i think i notice it the most in caratblr out of anything else. it always feels weirdly competitive. gif the mv first. make your sets for the new gose episode and get them posted as fast as you can but also make them look good. there's a new fancam? there will be gifsets already uploaded before you even view the first few seconds of it.

and it's not that i would ever ask another creator to slow down because if they're genuinely enjoying making their content then go for it? have fun? i just wish people consumed content better. if you aren't a "big name" then you aren't going to get notes. sometimes it feels like if you aren't a part of closed network that you aren't going to get anything either. or maybe people just... don't want to reblog things.

i don't know. i just notice it the most in caratblr compared to the other groups i made gifs for. i think that's honestly why i really prefer making content for groups like treasure or golcha? its just... more comfortable. i don't feel like i'm constantly competing with other people to produce something for them.

i make a gifset of hyunsuk and i feel at home with getting reblogs from my mutuals and seeing people be nice in the notes. i make that skz + red set and i see some ppl being super nice and calling it pretty/stunning or pointing out the way felix looks in one of the gifs.

which isnt to say caratblr isnt nice. i think abt the sweet tags i get usually from my mutuals, sometimes from ppl outside that circle, too. but idk, i just notice an imbalance more of reblogs to likes more often there. i compare myself to other creators who get hundreds of notes which is probably my own damn fault for comparing so much.

and i think that just... genuinely impacts my enjoyment of things. sometimes im like "oh maybe it'll be fun to gif the new mv haha" or something and then i remember oh, right, im not talented enough for that. other people are going to do it and do it better every single time so why should i try?

also lmao its just hard to be on tumblr in general when stuff like this happens. logic says "take a break for a few days" but i just... i dont want to. i like being here. i like interacting with my mutuals. i just know i'm going to sit there and feel fucking awful though if i try to scroll through my dash. and if i take a break for too long, then it feels like im falling even further behind. i already have to take a fucking extra semester to finish my schooling, i feel even more pathetic falling behind in a hobby that i actually like.

its stupid. sometimes i feel like i don't deserve to be here and to be a fan if i let so much stupid shit like that bother me. i know i don't have to create content to be a fan, but i just... i like doing it. its just hard to not lose all motivation again and wonder why i even bother being here and listening when i can't give them my all in return.

[coralsgrimes]

You're definitely looking too much on that, and at the same time, Ben's correct. If the content is something that doesn't fit your tastes, don't consume it then; easy as that. And before you say anything, of course I do agree that constructive criticism should be accepted, but you people can't even do that (If you know what constructive criticism really means, "boy's singing is shite x.x" doesn't count as one, unfortunately.)

Hmmmmm no :c it's too common pattern of his. Boy just keeps the positive shite and it's impossible to only see and do positive things. With the stupid necklaces, conveniently pretending like his fuck ups never happened and the claptrap he does not believe in anymore and well the overall bullshittery he sells... Yeee I'm going with myself, again on this one, unfortunately 😘😘

Also like how the fuck people are supposed to know if they like something if they don't try it first? I tried to be serious about our boy but ye can't do that 🙊 oh and some of his twitter fans shit on his music hard (love some of their posts xd almost like I made them myself lol) and then post a pic of him with I lov u Benjamin u the lov of me life. Guess which tweets of theirs he will leave his lil like on xdd yeee boy only sees the stuff he wants to see x.x

AND WHO IS YOU PEOPLE? Do ye mean the not REAL fans? Me personally Immma not a constructive critic of Benny's music anymore. Never said I'm the one doing it or anyone here does. I tried for a while but boys REAL fans were not happy with that either :c

Funnily enough I only sticked to the garbage lyrics cuz it's been MONTHS and beside the insta snippets for the two mvs, I never listened to any of Benny's original songs. Ye can say that generic music is not my taste and I don't like it. Benny's music falls into the unimaginative and I heard this before category (from what I heard). Followed by the fact that said artist had little to none credit in making the actual music, I'd say criticizing it is pointless. Boy's singing from all the covers I was unlucky enough to hear... Well I don't like it either. He does not have singing voice naturally, nothing impressive or unique in his singing style (and oh them faces x.x) so boy could use serious vocal coaching but all he sees is his fans praising his angel voice so it's been YEARS and he never improved a tad bit. The high notes are an overkill for sure lol The lyrics tho. The lyrics are when boy could shine but instead it's what brings him down. Will skip the fake opening himself up with the music cause at this point we all know it's all lies. The lyrics he claims are authentic Benny but they are as generic as everything else. They are so infantile, and I don't know how to even call it differently, but they are just simply weak, boring and embarrassing, given that boy is a lover of words. They are just bad, as bad film is bad. I've been reading through the lyrics and my first thought was how a grown man can sing them songs without getting embarrassed cuz it feels like early 2010s Disney popstar lyrics. And then you realize the grown ass man was the one to write them in the first place. Sooooo yep, I don't like his shite singing and the garbage lyrics. See no point in being constructive about ma bullshit anymore and using the word shite instead of ‘below average music that he had to pay to produce on his own cuz everyone could say it was bad and did not want to take part in the flop’ is way faster to type and better for ma comedy 🙊🧚🏻‍♀️

Ooo omg speaking of. In the interview boy mentioned how no one wanted his wannabe music but when he succeeded (he did not btw, the music flopped so bad that even I got sad for him) they were like hi! let us introduce ourselves. But like Benny??? Where are they? Where are the music people who wanted to jump onto yer nonexistent hype train? Cuz I can't see anyone doing so... All I can see is the tons of folks that Benny always forgets to credit for their work, so maybe that's who he meant?

Sorry for the rant :c I'm getting very fucking aggressive, like real aggressive, when boy's music is brought to the table :c it's just so bad ye guy 🥲

[thekillingmoonmoon]

🦋 here before I make an attempt to go to bed!

As a literature major I could go on forever about the significance of any damn literary symbol I see and butterflies are no exception 😤 it doesn't help that my Gaelic roots call me to find good or bad omens in nature.

And I could definitely use some therapy myself after reading TR; the immense grief I feel alongside the characters hasn't been this bad since I watched 91 days a few years back, and it forces me to wonder just how I've been able to somewhat steadily cope with all the grief I've endured in recent years.

Having a soft spot for that mutual care and affection between two partners is absolutely valid and if anything I fully endorse those kinds of dynamics! In the case of Ran I can absolutely feel that tender care for the reader oozing from his soul in both the way he verbally and physically interacts with us. (And I am absolutely tired of tragic love stories myself tbh)

Alas, I am both excited and nervous for Dahlia given the angsty components of it, and oh dear. I imagine it must be very awkward for the Haitanis to have to be in the same room knowing what beasts lurk within in the form of Ran's underlying affection for his brother's girlfriend

As for faves, my heart lies with Inui, Ran and Wakasa. Absolute worst? In all honesty Taiju is on thin bloody ice right now. I know he's an awful man but there's something about him I can't quite discern. As for guilty pleasures, Hanma is one whom I have quite the liking for but I will deny it to my grave. Maybe I just have a thing for guys who wear round glasses? Zeno Robinson's portrayal of him in the dub is no help either, it's simply brilliant.

Thus, my thoughts of Ran and Rindou are ones that I must dwell on before bed. Until then, very much love to you!

🦋

hello sweet 🦋, I hope you had a good rest! I am responding right as I am about to sleep😌

Another Lit Major! I feel like I'm gathering together a secret society of literature nerds 🌚I completely get you with regard to reading everything as an omen or a symbol, sometimes it gets a bit difficult to turn off when you're consuming media but I guess it comes with the territory.

I also have Gaelic connections😳 apparently one of my ancestors was a highwayman🤨 but that's not fully confirmed

TR is truly an emotional journey. Like, the first arc or so feels so light (bar Baji ofc, but we don't get to know him well enough to truly grieve him) but wow does it escalate quickly👀

the problem is, I read TR in one night. like four hours hunched over my tablet like some manga gremlin and just sniffling my way through the last few arcs (Tenjiku arc WHY?) so I really went through all the stages of grief in a short period of time.

a lot of the fics for TR are very dark and sad and I totally understand that this is how many people process their feelings about content and that it's a very healthy and valid way to deal with emotions. but if we don't get a happy ending for TR, I still want to create the opportunities for happy endings within that universe? maybe it's sappy and unrealistic, but it is also a manga about a timeleaper and a kid who can take down people in a pair of flip-flops.

rose red!Ran is such a sap, I love him. just this devilish gentleman rogue who would offer up everything for those he loves, including his own happiness, which is why he stood aside and watched Rindou and Reader be happy together. But now Rindou has made his (empty) bed, and must lie in it (alone). because he hurt reader, whether intentionally or not, and even though Rindou is Ran's beloved baby brother, Ran's love for Reader and his devotion to her happiness seems to have taken precedence 🙃 I will address how Rindou felt about Ran's not so subtle feelings for reader and how he dealt with them (spoiler alert, he played ostrich) so don't fear! (although I am full of fear, lol)

You have excellent taste, my friend. Top tier pretty boys with excellent hair (I'm personally a fan of Black Dragon! Wakasa's unruly mop of silver hair, very 90s, very soft) and I just know that all three of your boys are so sweet and tender with their lovers, and snarky/solemn assholes with everyone else - which is goals, really.

hmm.. Taiju. taiju taiju taiju. if you've been here a while you've probably realised that I use a lot of religious/spiritual metaphors around, and that I'm a strong campaigner for religious guilt as a kink. and Taiju just ticks all my horrible man boxes, oh dear. my worst is Kisaki. like man, just get that she's not into you. try dating someone else. get a hobby that doesn't involve revenge over a woman's freedom. like he's so clever??? he could be so successful in something not illegal or horrible??? idk, it's clear that he isn't using his braincells to think about his life choices.

and of course Hanma is the best worst guilty pleasure. like he's so unhinged. he'd be such a terrible partner, but my god would he be loyal. he would destroy everything for you, and laugh whilst doing it. I do think it would be very difficult to earn his loyalty and affection, esp now after Kisaki's [redaction]. he's finally felt emotional pain, proof of his humanity, and it would take one hell of an individual to worm their way into his heart. but a relationship with him would be wild. like, off the wall, screaming with joy in the early hours kind of wild.

hmm I should not ramble

I hope you had sweet dreams about the lovely Haitani brothers💕 what's your favourite Haitani era?

my thoughts tonight are of Takeomi, as per usual, and his stupid 90s grunge boy haircut from the Black Dragons era😅

lots of love to you💕 and good morning when you read this!

[greenpanda-djg]

Why I'm peeved about current LGBTQ+ Rep. Written by a little gay!

Okay, first off, not happy with the LGBT rep in current media [2021] As I have consumed media since I was a kid and I know better.

So when I give crticisms about it, I'm not saying "Ew stinky lgbt-" Like I'm some strawmen for your argument you wish.

It means I want better.

Since LGBT stuff in media had to be SUBTLE it was conveyed through queer-coding, aka. SUBTEXT.

But now movie writers have caught on and use that as an excuse to bring in lgbt audiences and keep it hetero enough for world wide audiences as in. [aka queer-BAITING]

Having their cake and eat it too but guess what? I expect better. I expect MORE.

I want Subtext into TEXT. SInce now we can demand they make it more obvious and stop being vaugue.

Even worse when older movies have better representation than current movies, for example.

Billy Elliot [2000]

This movie was ahead of it's time with real world problems [such as margaret thatcher removing the mines] Along with a boy wanting to do ballet [Breaking gender norms than ballet isn't a girl sport, it's a sport end off] Having a young child being a carer, and a family that was not so supportive then being supportive in their own way ANNDD.

Wearing a dress and getting a boyfriend when they're older. Remember this was 2000!

Then we have Love, Simon [2018]

Which great film we need more like this but BETTER. I mean take away the whole gay thing and make it a hetero chick flick. The only thing we get is that Simons friends are a bunch of A-holes who blamed simon for his problems and that the outside world didn't really have anything else going on and the school was pretty chill with Simon being out [I mean jeez it could've been worse y'know]

So with these in mind when they said Loki was Bi? What do you think I expected???

Him dancing with another man while drunk [in that scene] admiting he had no preference he liked Captain America and Black Widow, or anything to either SHOW he was bi or talk into detail about his escapades in asgard but what do we get?

We get this...which is FINE I'm all for it YAY!

But compared to Billy Eliot, Love, Simon, One day at a time, Doctor who [When Jack harkness kissed nine]

So Bi-Loki. love it, actually happy since I'm bi myself I loved the visuals of making the background pink purple blue.

But this is scraps, compared to media I have seen/listed above.

I'm not raining on anyones parade.

But disney are doing stuff like this making it vaugue so they can have their cake and eat it too, not to mention cruella with their first gay disney character was isolated in scenes to make it easier to crop out for international release.

And disney pride, others online have stated that because they sell rainbow merch doesn't change the fact that they have discrimination against LGBT in the work space.

So here's my rant.

I'd rather have NO queer content, than watered down scraps or vaugue shit like this when they can make it much more obvious.

Or worse yet, when someone says they won't do a movie because they'd change a canon gay character into a heterosexual one I agree with them walking away.

esp since I've been told since ever that kirk/spock in star trek were a canon couple but because they were already pushing it with politics/poc cast/etc they couldn't do anything else.

And now we have william shatner saying kirk is straight and having fans agreeing with him.

Since fans agree with jensen ackles saying Dean is bi for Cas since he's the actor he should know better right?

So since William shatner is the actor and played kirk longer he defiently knows everything about this character.

So watered down gay characters will then be argued that "We're changing them, when that's not canon because of sick fetishing fantasies."

- I'm not making this up people online are saying this.

Lgbt is no where NEAR it's goal of being equel, just having a character being vaugue bi isn't enough,

To even HAVE queer content needs to be written well, and need a quantity for every hetero chick flick/romance stories since 1891.

So for every love story we need a quantity to MATCH that to even begin to being equel. And since I can only think of a few good number of lgbt shows on one hand thats no where NEAR enough.

So i am so SORRY that I want more better content than fucking Queer force, and this table scraps when I know they can do better.

But no assume that just because I don't like how something is conveyed that I'm a negative homophobe who wants to shut down lgbt content when I just want better shit because I've SEEN better.

[mittensmorgul]

My boyfriend admitted yesterday after finally watching 13.1 that Dean and Cas DO love each other. He has no doubt in his mind that if Cas were female, Destiel would have happened. BUT he sees Dean as straight and doesn't believe anything could happen with Cas in Jimmy's body. I told him that this is heteronormative bi erasure and that as a bisexual, I find it offensive that he makes that assumption. What if these sorts of casual viewer opinions keep Destiel from ever happening? I'm losing hope.

Hi there! And congrats to your boyfriend for seeing the love there. :D

First off, no offense to straight dudes, but the straight dude I’ve been married to for 20 years has absolutely no sense of bifi. Or gaydar. I mean, if he sees two dudes kissing at Pride he’d pick up on it (and there are a few famous people who came out that he wasn’t surprised at all about– George Michael, Rob Halford, he was shocked that anyone was shocked…), but when it comes to closeted bisexuals who deliberately do not want to be detected, especially the way Dean performs dudebro heterosexuality as well as Dean does especially in early seasons, he just has no clue.

*insert that gif of Sam telling Dean he’s overcompensating*

The things about Dean that have been screamingly obvious because I relate to them from personal experience just don’t register to a straight dude who has never once questioned his sexuality (like Sam, for instance). To a person who has experienced it first-hand, a lot of Dean’s behavior reads as signal flares as bright as day. If it were only used for the occasional joke, or rare random things that didn’t fit into a much larger pattern, or if it were just enough to make me sit up and notice once or twice a season, I’d assume it was just a coincidence. But… it’s not a rare random occurrence. It’s something we see in nearly every episode, more and more blatantly as the seasons progress.

I tell everyone to read this:

http://destielhiseyesopened.tumblr.com/post/102023741956/slash-and-subtext-series

It’s a lot to read, yes, but it’s incredibly thorough and the sort of thing your neck will be sore from nodding along in agreement the entire time. :P

As for whether or not the show will go there, which NONE of us can say for sure, the one thing I can say for sure is that it will not be casual viewer opinions that will influence Dabb’s storytelling. He’s said it multiple times, that he’s going to tell this story his way, whatever that might mean in the end. Dude’s not telling. I mean, look at him:

So while it’s great to have hope, because we DESERVE representation in blatant and clear terms, there is no guarantee that we will actually GET it. I mean, that is a very real possibility. It’s why I personally don’t watch the show with any expectation for ANYTHING, you know? Then every new hint that they are taking this somewhere is a pleasant surprise. For me, watching from the standpoint that I EXPECT a certain outcome is just not an enjoyable way to live. It’s just too much to stress about.

And as I’ve said over and over again, just like Dabb, I personally couldn’t give a flying fuck with the mysterious “general audience” sees when they watch the show. I watch because of what *I* see in the show, because I like analyzing the story, writing meta (with the friendly reminder that “meta” has exactly zero to do with predicting the future of the story… that’s speculation, and aside from being able to read obvious twists and turns in near-future plot points, or understanding general character development arcs and where they could potentially be headed in vague general ways, I DO NOT ENJOY SPECULATION, especially when it involves the sort of detail that a lot of more casual fans seem to expect of meta writers. I AM TIRED OF FOLKS HAVING THE IMPRESSION THAT SPECULATION AND POSITIVITY FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SERIES AND CHARACTERS IS “”””META”””” BECAUSE IT ABSOLUTELY IS NOT.

Sorry for yelling, I needed to put that out there. Comments of “I love your meta!” when referring to headcanons and speculation about endgame destiel is just… missing the entire point. The meta is the long academic character analysis, the comparisons with the current arc to past canon, the examination of episodes THAT ARE ALREADY PART OF CANON. Looking to the future to make guesses about what COULD happen in the future is SPECULATION. NOT META.

I’m so tired of people who do not understand that giving meta writers hate and dismissing EVERYTHING we’ve written because a “prediction” didn’t come true on the show exactly as someone wrote it… A guess of what will happen in the future that doesn’t quite pan out doesn’t invalidate all the ACTUAL meta we’ve all written over the years. Because just like pr is not showrunning, speculation isn’t meta.

*even when the speculation is attached to the bottom of a really long meta post. The speculation bit isn’t the tl;dr of the post. it’s the interesting and fun little bonus bit after you’ve consumed the factual part of the analysis. It’s the little blop of whipped cream on top of the pie that is the actual important content. It’s mostly decorative and just a bit of fun.*

Thanks, this has been a meta writer PSA.)

The point of all that is that none of us have a crystal ball, none of us have some secret insider information into Andrew Dabb’s brain. Despite the fact that we’ve been watching his storytelling over the last 8+ years (yes, he’s been writing for the show since s4, and has written more episodes of Supernatural than any other writer, so we have A LOT of history to look over, not to mention all of s12 and the back ~third~ at least of s11 after he silently took over the showrunning from Carver to look at when trying to understand his pet themes and how he writes), the best we can do is make educated guesses.

I’m not basing my hope for canon on some ability to read the future, I’m basing it on MY ability to look at the entirety of extant canon and be objectively logical about where the story started, where the story is NOW, and as far as individual character development arcs based on having watched them all evolve over twelve plus seasons already…

Well, let’s just say that for *me,* I can see the characters have been on a logical emotional progression over the course of the entire series (that would be the “meta” part of things). As new canon unfolds, and characters continue to develop and interpersonal storylines continue to evolve… here’s a metaphor. The writers are walking the characters down a long hallway with loads of doorways open to potential future development arcs. As they walk past each doorway and don’t veer off course, it’s like they’re closing off logical possibilities to detour into alternate routes. They’re slamming and locking those doors up forever. The closer we get to the end of canon (in whatever nebulous future that the series will reach its end, and NONE of us know when that will be right now), the fewer doorways are left to walk past, and the less logical any detour from what looks (again, from reading the meta and looking back at the entirety of past canon) like the steady progression of development would be.

Does that make sense? I mean, they’re writing themselves into a corner (or into the end of the hallway where there’s only going to be one last exit door to walk through). But again, as long as there’s still hallway ahead of us, they could take an “easier” route or just decide to stop walking altogether and just sort of set up camp at their current point in character development. It wouldn’t really be sensible for the STORY as it stands right now for them to do either of these things, because if they start backtracking looking for a different door the entire narrative falls apart. Whatever they do, they must keep writing forward.

*stops and scrolls up and cries a lil bit at how much I wrote*

Point is, we just don’t know. I’m hopeful, I feel like we DESERVE to be seen and this love story absolutely DESERVES canon acknowledgement for what it is, and that every sign in past canon and every sign the writers are continuing to carry on down this hallway is pointing to it happening at some distant point in the future… but as of right now none of us have any idea what that eventual resolution will look like. What even is canon?

I mean, your boyfriend said he sees that Dean and Cas love each other. Is that canon? What would “qualify” as being legitimately canon? I love @bluestar86′s spec post about how easy it would be to make Dean’s bisexuality textually canon, but I have no idea if we’d ever get an episode stating it so blatantly. We might, though. We did have Dean asking a gay married couple what it was like settling down with another hunter…

The point is, even trying to speculate on what will happen in the future– especially something so unknowable and distant as “endgame,” is honestly impossible. We have no idea what will happen in canon between now and then in specific terms. In the meantime, I’m perfectly content to point and flail at what is actually happening in canon right now and paying exactly zero attention to what “casual viewers” think they’re watching.

I know exactly what I’m watching, and I love it.

Will they ever make it undeniably obvious and clear in canon? I mean, it is undeniably obvious and clear to *me* but everyone has their own personal biases and wishes and checklists of things they feel must happen, and no matter if the series ends with Dean and Cas getting married there will still always be people who deny it was “enough” to make their relationship obvious, you know? I just… don’t have the energy to deal with that level of denialism. It just stresses me out to worry about what “endgame” might look like specifically when as far as we know, “endgame” isn’t even on the table yet.

So by all means, if you can, take that small step back and try and enjoy the continuing story, and don’t put too much stock in anyone’s opinion of what may or may not happen in the future. But most of all, don’t put much much stock in what random straight dudes in the general audience think. Because Andrew Dabb doesn’t. :P

Wow okay that turned into a treatise…