Dont Mind Me Just Confused

Kirk is remembering the feeling of the brainwiper. He is starting to spiral. He looks over at Spock, and the "cold, emotionless" Spock looks genuinely concerned.

I'm here. I see you. How can I help you? What do you need?

But just that one gentle, loving, concerned look from Spock, is enough to make Kirk feel safe again. He starts acting normal again. He smiles, ever so slightly. He gives an order.

KIRK: Take us out of orbit, Mister Spock. Ahead warp factor one.

This time, the supposedly "emotionless" Spock, literally smiles, ever so slightly, back at Kirk. He does that little lip-pursing thing he does when he's trying really hard not to smile for real.

Why is Kirk giving the order to Spock? That's an order for the helmsman. It's almost as if, to Kirk, Spock is the only other person in the room.

And the flirty, sparkly bedroom eyes Spock makes during "Warp factor one"?

Come on, let's gay flirt our way out of this place. I'll help you forget the tortures of this planet ever existed. We're together. All is right with the galaxy.

SPOCK: Acknowledged, Captain. Warp factor one.

just spent twenty minutes scrolling the tag and giggling

[SPIRK LAP DOODLE]

Doctor Who (Steven Moffat specifically)

Sherlock (Steven Moffat specifically)

Actually Steven Moffat is basically just this sentiment given human form.

A version of this happened with The Magicians, tbh. Though instead of expectation: men, reality: women it was expectation: smug nihilists, reality: mentally ill queer folks.

Arguably Game of Thrones.

If we broaden it outside of television…I think Star Wars falls into this, at least the sequel trilogy. Maybe the MCU as well. And I can’t help but think of every band that’s ever complained that their fanbase is mostly women. 5 Seconds of Summer comes immediately to mind.

In general, most white male creators seem to have this massively entitled mindset where they want–and think they deserve–the time, attention, and enthusiasm that creative fandom (i.e. the side of fandom more dominated by women) is known for.

They want our eyes for ratings, our word-of-mouth for free publicity, our metas for social media buzz, and our spending power for merch and cons. But they don’t want us. And they don’t really want the responsibility of telling a story to a thoughtful, engaged audience, regardless of that audience’s demographic makeup. They just want to be praised for whatever schlock they cough up.

Mind you it is perfectly possible to make the switch in marketing, but execs would rather throw it all out than have something that doesn’t perform well with male viewers. For example the Rey merch was not expected to be popular, for some reason, there had to be public outcry to get merch of one of the main 3 protagonists. A PROTAGONIST. The fact that she wasn’t a huge part of the 1st launch says a lot already.

And what happened when female fans got too invested in the Sequel Trilogy? The entire writers room didn’t necessarily lash out, but they sure forgot how to behave.

Young Justice

Paul Dini: Superhero cartoon execs don’t want largely female audiences

#WhereIsRey (initial)

#WhereIsRey (ongoing)

Simply, they’re trying to assert a particular worldview via fiction, and upon getting confronted with something else, begin foot stamping. It’s not just men wanting male attention and gatekeeping. It’s that the fiction in the first place was an attempt to curate dominance and whoopsie! they miscalculated.

I’d also love to hear your thoughts, as I literally wrote it for communities like ours to read, so, thanks.

and it kinda just looks like rural Nebraska