Title

Everyone is going through shit. And it doesn't make it okay for them to treat others badly, but it also sometimes makes it difficult for them to recognize that they're treating you badly, like the person on the phone with 9-11 who no longer realizes that he's telling the operator about his day and not answering questions. When your friend of ten years who has a new boyfriend suddenly starts being a massive bitch to you about your weight maybe she's just being a cunt, or maybe she's internalized some bullshit. You don't have to take that, but you Can go "Hey, what the fuck?" And that is often more helpful than you realize. It is easy to assume that someone who does something cruel is acting with intent, but especially in cases where someone's behavior changed in a short span of time, they aren't, any more than the person who is convinced the beanbag chair is going to fix them.

And one could argue that conceptualizing how the characters would react to different circumstances than those presented in the source material is a form of engagement and character analysis.

Sure, it’s not always done well or in good faith, but that’s the reality of fandom.

Oh no this person over here likes fanfic AUs where 'nothing tragic happens actually' and this other person likes AUs where the characters get put through the 'angst and tragedy meat grinder' on repeat. The funniest thing to me is that usually the juciest head canons and character analayses come up when these two types of fandom peeps get together and yap. It's the heads and tails of character analyses in my opinion.

But my point is: Fandom is not a one size fits all situation. Because unless you pull shit like 'it's not that deep' or 'I don't think politics belong in stories', your personal take on any piece of art is unique to you and valid. Everyone reacts to a story differently, because our own experiences and feelings shape how we interact with it. No two fans are 100 percent the same in how, why, and in what capacity they enjoy a piece of media.

What I've noticed about fans in general is that how they interact with a story, who they latch onto, and what aspects/desires/flaws/relationships they engage with most, reflects not the media, but THE FAN. Like minded fans will get together to discuss their stuff. And what they enjoy often tells me a lot about them.

A fan who likes an AU where nothing sad happens isn't participating in fandom wrong. They are exploring the parts of the characters that are special to them. They ask what if this bad thing didn't ruin their plans and they got their peaceful life? A question so many of ask about our own real lives. Hell media often likes to shove the what ifs in our faces, how many shows and books give us a taste of what if x thing never happened?

And my final point: Any time we as a society engage in 'oh I don't like how that person is existing in the world(not harming anyone, just existing differently from you.) That is a problem. The whole reason humanity is in the current messes it is, is because we wrongfully assign morality to discomfort or dislike. It's why bigotry is so pervasive. Because the people promoting the problems are the people who usually have the most discomfort with people who are different than them. But they know attacking someone harmless isn't viable so apply morality to it.

You are the one having a crash out over "policing fandoms" or whatever.

Fuck me for using tumblr as it is made to be used and using a post chain to make a point.

Great dialogue can come from radical emotional honesty. But in most real conversations, people

dodge questions

answer indirectly

lie (badly)

change the subject

crack jokes to avoid serious answers

lie (convincingly)

say half of what they mean

tell the truth but get so anxious/angry/defensive others now think they're lying

If your dialogue feels unnatural, it might be because everyone is saying exactly what they think, or articulating their thoughts too well. Try letting characters hide things instead.

people don’t always speak in full sentences,

slang can change depending on age range, demographic, etc. &

here are a few other "secret" dashboards:

Posts from your "crushes"

"What you missed" (will be empty if you already visit Tumblr every day)

"Trending"

nope! i hovered over the link and this popped up on the bottom of the browser. here's all the links in order:

https://www.tumblr.com/timeline/blog_subscriptions

https://www.tumblr.com/timeline/crushes

https://www.tumblr.com/timeline/what_you_missed

https://www.tumblr.com/timeline/trending

By definition you can't accidentally queerbait. Queerbaiting is specifically using a same sex pair from the show to market the show to queer audiences with no intention of ever following through on a romantic relationship.

There is officially licensed Destiel merch signed off on by Kripke. Teen Wolf had a commercial with the actors for Derek and Stiles draped over each other talking about being "on a ship." Both shows actively used scenes between them as marketing while actively mocking fans for wanting them together. Sherlock has multiple characters refer to Johnlock as a couple, including characters we're supposed to believe are never wrong about human behavior and pushed those scenes in marketing. Then they acted insulted when fans saw them as a couple.

That's queerbaiting.

Done on accident it would just be queer subtext. Done because they had no other choice due to censorship is queer coding.

The specific meaning of the word is really starting to get lost and it's a pretty important one to keep accurate. It describes a very specific phenomenon that was done repeatedly and maliciously for decades and is meant to examine that specifically.