#callopea

she's gonna fuck that old man

But I find it fascinating that with the Chetney/Deanna moodboard that I posted today (over here), several of the reactions and responses from people in the tags are lols and keysmashes and otherwise laughing at it. They're wheezing, it's sending them, in all caps asking WHO DID THIS, like the whole thing is some big joke -

But it's not funny? I didn't make this to be humorous. I didn't treat a single second of making this fanwork as a joke, nor did I include any specific pictures for the purpose of making people laugh. In fact, I was deliberately very earnest about it! Choosing a quote that suggested longing and lingering feelings well after a relationship had run its course. Choosing images that highlighted where Chetney and Deanna used to be in their lives when they first got together, and where they are now; one of them having lived so much life, the other having been abruptly taken from it and just as abruptly returned much too late.

And it's that same thread running through this fandom of (some) people absolutely refusing to take Chetney seriously as a character. He can't do anything without it being joke. He can't say anything without it being ridiculous. He can't possibly be a genuine target of romantic or sexual attraction, because have you seen him? It's exhausting that the same few people are actually looking at how complex of a character he is and how much genuine wisdom and sadness there is in his character alongside the humour, while the majority of the fandom plugs their ears and laughs.

Hell, one of my absolute favourite moments in this campaign so far is from episode 27 - the Chetney and Fearne watch scene. And everyone treated it as a funny moment, even the cast! But I saw it as very genuine and very sweet and considerate - yes, including the "tone-deaf" bit at the end.