Aw thank you! Yes, I am doing well. Hope you’re doing well, too. I took a decent break from tumblr, and now I’m getting back into the swing of things, there are fanworks to reblog here ❤ and I have my own fic ideas percolating.
(I’m sorry that this response got kind of long, there are things in here I’ve expressed before, and some I may not have, or haven’t mentioned in awhile, and I kind of want to have these things out there for ppl to see where I’m coming from.)
Your message really means a lot, bc I feel like, if I have any responsibility to the fandom as a somewhat popular blog, that I have to stand up for shippers and creators of fanworks. Fanworks are the lifeblood of the fandom, both for the creators and the consumers. Fanworks are made for free (or on commission) by smaller creators who need the encouragement more. Being smaller and more accessible, they’re also easy & more responsive targets for harassment than the published creators 😛
And so when you see it from that perspective, you can understand that when I reblog those fiction =/= reality, pro-shipping, and anti anti posts, it’s coming from a place of good intention. I identify with those easy targets who are criticized for their creation/consumption of published works and fanworks. I was bullied for pretty superficial reasons in my formative years, not an unusual amount/degree of bullying, but it hurt. “Oh, but words can’t hurt you!” <– this is pretty insensitive, and I shouldn’t have to convince anyone that bullying is painful, but there are those who would compare injuries and say that being bullied was less suffering compared to other things (like abuse, PTSD, mental illness, etc.), and therefore invalid. Should we be comparing injuries to validate ownership to fiction? I don’t know, but the bullying was real to me and it hurt.
And this part of the story is my own attachment to canon (and, later, fandom), before I was even aware of others. Do we sever our attachment to something bc smne else says that their connection to it is more valid? I feel like fandom is limitless, it’s big enough for all of us.
Media/Fiction was an escape from reality for me. It was a place I could find inspiration, could see characters beaten down (by antagonists and/or their own faults) and rise up again and again, in so many variations! Even the same plot points can yield different emotions when told in different ways, and/or involving different characters. Characters refusing to lay down and submit to their obstacles/antagonists was inspiring and helped me rebuild the self-confidence the bullies had crushed.
So that was my story, as valid as any. I love stories of how ppl got into VC (or any fandoms/media really!), and there are so many. I don’t think that any reason is more valid than any other.
There are those who saw themselves reflected in the fact that there are queer/LGBT+ characters, that they existed and had depth and could love and be loved in return.
Someone told me that they shared a love of history with their father, especially of Rome. The father passed away when the person was young, and so they loved the historical explorations in canon, it seemed to bring them closer to that lost parent. In fact, the act of pointing out historical inaccuracies in canon was enjoyable to this person.
There are those who passionately adore Armand, for all his beauty, strength, and sass, the fact that he is a survivor of so much tragedy. “We must be beautiful, powerful, and without regret.”
There are those who love the quiet and dignified manner of Louis and how he burns everything down handles situations.
There are those who live for the ~purple prose~ and ~wealth porn~, in the loving descriptions of luxury, the declarations of love and 3 pages of describing how pretty a character is.
… etc. etc.
^And fanworks based on the media consumed may relate to the fans’ reasons for getting into that fandom in the first place. I like to think my memes and fanfic show the same refusal to quit that I valued so much in the characters when I read canon. I would think that other writers/artists/etc. would say smtg similar, that their fanworks are their way of engaging with canon, whether it’s to have more of what they enjoy about it, fix and/or explore a character/ship/situation, or take the characters into different situations (like AU) and see how they might fare within changed parameters. Ppl analyze canon and critique it, comparing it to other fiction/non-fiction to lay out their ideas. Ppl might want to dress like the characters and act like them in cosplay! So many ways to engage with canon. And then you have comments on works and works inspired by fanworks and that’s p. much the definition of fandom, to my mind.
HOWEVER.
In my zeal for reblogging posts (and writing my own) about defending shippers and creators/consumers of published media and fanworks, I can be too blunt, and unintentionally injure others. I trust ppl to inform me privately if a post goes over the line in that regard, and I have responded by editing/deleting posts. This blog isn’t sacred, editing/deleting a post is not a sign of weakness, but of curating it to better serve my needs and those who come to it for whatever reason.
Bc my blog really is at its core about entertainment and encouragement/sharing of fanworks.
It’s hard for me to sit in silence about attacks on shippers and creators/consumers of published media and fanworks
when I feel like if I don’t speak up, silence is tacit agreement when ppl state, “Don’t draw/write/talk about X bc it is harmful to Y” I understand that some ppl do have real triggers and some fictional characters/ships are painful to them, but on the other hand, is it fair to restrict everyone else who wants to explore those characters/ships?
We have to find ways to coexist, and that may mean everyone taking on some responsibility for their fandom experience and extending respect towards others. Someone asked me to tag a certain ship, and now I do, so that they can block it. I can’t tag every possible thing, but within reason, I will add tags on request.
I don’t believe in censorship when it comes to fiction, for many reasons, there are blogs out there who are much more eloquent than I am in their defense of it. I don’t have their rhetoric. But I feel like I need to defend those who are easy targets for bullying (as I had been).
^^^With all that said, I think it would be best for me to refrain from too much of this type of posting so as not to trample others. Instead, I want to focus on encouraging fanworks, reblogging posts about writing/art and advice about that.
(If you are looking for more blogs that defend fanfiction, I can recommend more to you privately, or in a separate post.)
I took my meds too close to bedtime again and I need you all to know the dream I had last night involved Robin Williams becoming the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. Not, a character portrayed by Robin Williams, just Robin Williams as himself running around Hogwarts doing wandless magic and being as loud and big as possible because and I quote before I forget:
“Listen, children, I’m not saying all this bad shit that is happening isn’t scary and you shouldn’t be concerned–because you should!–but I’m telling you this now for free. Life is a boggart, it’s the biggest boggart of them all. You never know what it’s going to look like one moment to the next. And sometimes you just gotta laugh. It’s okay to laugh. It’s part of the grieving process. You need to grieve before you can heal. But it’s okay to laugh while you’re doing it.”
I didn’t wake up right after that, some more stuff happened in a hazy sort of way as the dream began to dissolve into conciousness, but I remember him yelling Expecto Patronum as he punched a Death Eater in the face. Because sometimes, evidently, you have to make your own happy memories.
It usually has a lot to do with liking the characters and thinking that despite anything or everything they would be good together. Sometimes it could be because of character design and aesthetic for ships like Jelsa.
They don’t exist in the same universe but there is something appealing about these two meeting and making a connection based on their individual personalities and their experiences.
Then there are ships where people literally just want the characters to fuck or use them for a kink. When I think about a ship that seems to be mostly about kink then I usually think about a ship like Kylux for example.
It’s a lot of hate fucking from what I’ve seen which is fine, Do you and yes I could be misinterpreting why people ship this but based on the art it feels very smut fueled. Kink ships are fine because it’s a safe exploration of your sexuality without involving yourself or any real people. It’s honestly the safest place in the world because you can always walk away.
Then some ships are about the relationship they could have or already have. Think something some established in canon and just taking it to a more romantic angle. Think the really good friends trope that evolves into something more. Think characters that would take very little to picture them dating.
Usually I think a series like Free! Because these two just have such a good relationship it doesn’t take any stretch of the imagination to picture them dating. Hell even Sheith fits this trope because they do have an amazing relationship and it really wouldn’t be difficult to imagine. Honestly I doubt Sheith shippers even considered the age gap until antis brought it up. I always thought Shiro looked 21 and Keith looks 18/19 and honestly because it’s fiction it doesn’t matter what the writers say. You can make them mer people and take them out of space because fiction has no limits.
Shipping is and always has been about the possibility of what the relationship could be like. For example Reylo is a ship about the possibility, How would Rey and Kylo look if he had switched sides and joined the resistance? What would have changed had Rey become the Dark Queen. Could these broken characters heal each other? Reylo has posed questions since it’s inception in Force Awakens.
Reylo shippers seem to enjoy a bit of drama and they like those what ifs. Some people just like to imagine every possibility for characters that are so opposite and yet so similar. The enemies to lovers ship is popular because it’s interesting as hell and again fiction is the safest place to explore that.
Then you have shippers who ship because they like a sweet love story. Team Fluff if you will and they sometimes chill with the friendship shippers. These characters care about each other in canon and they would without a doubt have a good relationship that maybe people should want for themselves. I’d say FinnRey fits that boat perfectly because they would without a doubt have a good relationship.
There could be some drama and comedy but it’s fairly straight forward. Some people even like these ships for the self insert aspect of it. Rey for as much as I love her tends to become a voice box for the fans at times and honestly she was written as a Star Wars fan so it makes sense that it’s easy to project yourself into a character already kinda like yourself.
Shipping honestly is supposed to be fun. A lot of people multi ship and for each ship they have it usually just comes down to them liking the characters. Very few people go looking for age gaps or any of that “problematic” shit antis are screaming about. They mostly just ship because they like the characters. Usually the age and even the canon relationship is incidental. That’s why we have fanfiction. Say those characters are related but what if they weren’t? What if Finn stayed a stormtrooper and met Rey in the interrogation room? What if they were dating? What would that look like?
The idea of policing probably the most harmless thing online is strange to me. Why would anyone care if that person likes these characters together? A lot of the time it’s really not that deep. The 20 year olds on this site still shipping teenagers don’t have any insidious desire to fuck teens. They probably have been shipping since they were teens and happen to like the characters.
Any way this was my long ass post on why I think people ship. Feel free to add to it and say why you ship.
As an actor, I endeavor to find the reason in the unreasonable. Because no one thinks they are being unreasonable or unrealistic or demanding or behaving madly. We all see ourselves as being justified.
tbh i love being corny and able to celebrate love im so bored of glamourising negativity theres nothing cool about apathy i fight so hard every day to be better than that finding beauty in small things is what keeps u going
You have to learn how to say no without you feeling like you’re being mean. Setting boundaries is how you see who does and doesn’t respect you, your time, or your emotional well-being. Anyone who sees your boundaries and thinks your being mean or tries to push that boundaries is not a person you owe your time or attention.
Tha Last Sitting: Marilyn Monroe photographed by Bert Stern for Vogue, 1962
Diana Vreeland, the editor-in-chief of Vogue at that time, kept Marilyn’s scar in the original picture. She used to say: “I think there’s nothing duller than a smooth, perfect-skinned woman. A woman is beautiful by her scars.”"
I-want-my-IWTV 