Fandom!

I never thought I’d see the day that a ship’s ending disappointed me more than Destiel, but HERE WE FUCKING ARE.

As a queer person canon Byler would have made me feel so seen, so represented. It would have made many of the Bylers feel this way, with the added benefit of making the casual viewer question how they view relationships in media, their subconscious heteronormativity being challenged.

BUT NO. WE DON’T GET THAT, AND NOW SOME PEOPLE THINK THEY WERE RIGHT TO CALL US DELUSIONAL FOR ANALYSING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN WILL AND MIKE THROUGH A QUEER LENS.

IF THE DUFFER BROTHERS AND OTHER WRITERS THINK THEY HAVE DONE A GOOD JOB OF REPRESENTING US LGBTQ+ FOLK, THEN THEY ARE THE DELUSIONAL ONES!!

You know that even the smallest interactions are like cocaine to fic writers right? You understand how important a string of emoji hearts left behind on chapter at three am is right?? Right????

We are an independent fandom research project whose goal is to perform a large-scale survey of AO3 users, asking questions about demographics, preferences and behaviours.

The survey is now running 1 Jan - 1 Feb 2024. Take part at https://forms.gle/2kt5J17ipzcAbnFY9

If you are interested in following along with the project, this is the place to do it! We will be making official announcements on our progress here, including any requests for public feedback.

NOTP: the opposite of an OTP (One True Pairing). It is a ship a fan strongly dislikes. The word is a portmanteau of ‘no’ and ‘OTP’ and thus is not a contraction of any particular phrase.

Squick: anything that is a deep-seated, visceral turn-off. Squicks may be shared by many fans or be specific to one; one person’s kink may be another person’s squick.

YKINMKATO, or kink-tomato: Your Kink Is Not My Kink, And That’s Okay: used to indicate support for fannish diversity and to distinguish between disapproval or kink shaming and simply having different taste.

DLDR: Don’t Like, Don’t Read: a phrase used to warn against complaints about an aspect of fic or meta. A “live and let live” philosophy of fandom, which places the responsability for avoiding content one doesn’t want to see on the side of the fanwork consumer, rather that on the creator’s.

SALS: Ship And Let Ship: similar to the above specifically about shipping tastes.

YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary: a phrase used to acknowledge that any given individual’s personal opinion on the topic at hand may differ due to their own tastes, standards, values, experiences, etc.

As the OP points out, all of these crucially imply no moral judgment of what they’re designing.

"In a stunning and unprecedented decision, the Colorado Supreme Court removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he isn’t an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”"

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