#social commentary

Something you need to remember is that journalistic photographers are still artists at heart. When you are providing a source of information that is to be seen as "the truth" you are going to frame things to look a certain way.

You will publish the ones that look like what you want. The framing of Luigi Mangione's transportation is incredibly evocative of paintings of Jesus being arrested. It also (not so) coincidentally is often the framing of a hero being captured for the greater good.

This is ON PURPOSE. Do not discredit the artist by calling it a mistake. This was on purpose. The artist supports him and is framing him as a hero.

Okay, in the midst of writing my fic, I've gone and done a thing that might make me go hurl later: I wrote an extensive blog piece on my site about reader engagement, AO3, and comment culture.

As someone who used to be an editor, a writing consultant, a writing TA, an employee in a Writing Center, and a fanfic writer for the last 15 years now, I'm really passionate about this conversation, not so much because I'm experiencing entitlement from readers (my readers have actually been some of the kindest humans I've met), but because I've detected a growing problem with fandom culture that's gone largely unexamined (no spoilers here, you'll have to read the post).

But I also share a few hella vulnerable and painful stories I didn't realize I had blocked from my memory, as a writer. I'll be honest, as a hella private, autistic introvert who prefers intimate convos over posts, this was a MAJOR step out of my comfort zone.

But I feel so much has been missed in this conversation. So many hurts and feelings completely misunderstood, so I hope this post resonates with someone. That was the goal.

Here is a brief excerpt:

Ultimately, we've found ourselves in a living nightmare [in fandom culture], and we don't know how to wake up from it. We know something is terribly wrong, but we can't put our finger on what exactly. We don't know why this is happening and, what's worse, we don't know who to blame. Is it us? Is it because we haven't done enough, or asked enough, or promoted enough? Or, is it you, the reader? Is it because you haven't commented enough, or appreciated enough, or engaged enough? We don't know. All we know is that we hate this and we hate feeling like this. We want to experience something different but we don't know how to get it...