booklovingturtle

[booklovingturtle]

THIS!!!!! Thank you for acknowledging the mistakes and for taking actions to respond to your community’s feedback.

I’m sorry that people were not always kind or respectful in sharing their concerns, but your willingness to apologize and course-correct shows that you care about your audience (even if it’s just from a financial/business POV)

Again as a longtime fan I truly do hope that you are able to bounce back quickly from this. I honestly do want you to be successful as a company and as content creators and as artists so I hope that enough of the community continues to support this next step in your careers.

Also, PS, now that I see that it is an optional program…I am much more willing to subscribe to a streaming platform. I’m not in a place financially where I can do that but as soon as I finish grad school I will most likely subscribe so long as it is a justifiable amount of quality content.

An Update

[booklovingturtle]

Okay I have more thoughts to share I’ve been super invested in reading their comments EVERYWHERE

You prob shouldn’t say Steven Lim is an evil greedy puppet master…Shane and Ryan are grown adults. The THREE of them have been content creators for years now…I truly don’t think this would have happened if all three weren’t on board. Stop acting like Steven is some weird villain. The hate directed at him as if he’s the sole runner of all things watcher is crazy

Yes we need to pay artists what they’re worth…content creators deserve to be paid adequately, but that doesn’t negate the financial concerns people have outside of Watcher’s existence. Fans aren’t being “anti-artist” by saying they can’t afford this so that’s just a weird oversimplification. Not everyone has $6 to spend on this and that doesn’t make them anti-art or anti-creativity

I understand why some are saying this decision feels “out of character” for them but it’s also an important reminder that we truly don’t know these men as people. We know them as personas and content characters and yes we love them but we don’t KNOW them to be able to say this goes against their moral/ethical standards

I have my doubts about this too…I don’t plan on subscribing…but other people’s jobs are affected by this so maybe don’t pray on their downfall??? I’m heart broken I can’t watch their stuff anymore but that doesn’t mean I hope their channel dies that’s so sad

“$6 isn’t a lot of money”…well yeah for some people it isn’t (and as I said earlier for some it is). But they aren’t fazing in the new model in so we have no way of knowing whether or not $6 is a justifiable price for what’s to come. Not everyone has $6 and those who do may not be in a position to spend it on the small amount of content from watcher they enjoy. Those who do have $6 and simply don’t want to spend it on the new platform aren’t in the wrong for choosing what they want to spend their on

We’re Leaving YouTube

#watcher #ryan bergara #shane madej #steven lim #ghost files #mystery files #top 5 beatdown #puppet history #for your amusement #worth it #buzzfeed unsolved #buzzfeed true crime

[booklovingturtle]

Professionally, I’m happy for them taking steps to support their careers in whatever way they need. I wish them the best! I hope they get what they need out of this adventure to support themselves and their loyal team members. This couldn’t have been an easy decision to make and knowing how much effort they put into Watcher as a company I’m sure that they didn’t take this change lightly.

Personally, I’m devastated that I can’t keep watching these creators who I’ve loved for years. It lowkey feels like the end of a friendship (yeah yeah parasocial relationships or whatever ik ik but I’m a 25yr old teenage girl who’s watched their content since the buzzfeed days). Like dang not even SOME of their series will be available? I’m not gonna bother watching the first episode of a season of a series knowing that I won’t get to see the rest. I hope they’re successful but I also hope they change their minds about how much content to give the rest of their audience.

We’re Leaving YouTube

[booklovingturtle]

IM SORRY WHAT HUH????

I’m uncovering new layers of this fandom everyday like wdym ppl are calling Aang those awful things????

I truly don’t understand how people argue that Zutara “condones” colonization or genocide or anything like that

I wonder if people who feel that easy full considered Iroh & Zuko’s entire place in the ATLA canon universe

Now I get it you don’t like Zutara bc you don’t feel like Katara would never be able to move past what the Fire Nation + S1/2 Zuko did to her enough to be romantically involved with him

(even if I personally disagree with that take. I feel as though she truly healed and forgave him for his faults and also learned and acknowledged that she cannot blame him for the actions of others even if he’s from their Nation…but I 10000% understand the argument made against my interpretation of their dynamic at the end of OG show)

But to argue that anyone who ships Zutara is condoning mass murder is honestly kinda beyond me I don’t get it

and I truthfully don’t like not getting things so if anyone does feel this way and could explain it to me to like breakdown why you feel that way I would sincerely appreciate it

Even if I don’t agree I would like to understand your perspective

[booklovingturtle]

I truly don’t understand how people argue that Zutara “condones” colonization or genocide or anything like that

I wonder if people who feel that way fully considered Iroh & Zuko’s entire place in the ATLA canon universe

Now I get it you don’t like Zutara bc you don’t feel like Katara would ever be able to move past what the Fire Nation + S1/2 Zuko did to her enough to be romantically involved with him

(even if I personally disagree with that take. I feel as though she truly healed and forgave him for his faults and also learned and acknowledged that she cannot blame him for the actions of others even if he’s from their Nation…but I 10000% understand the argument made against my interpretation of their dynamic at the end of OG show)

But to argue that anyone who ships Zutara is condoning mass murder is honestly kinda beyond me I don’t get it

and I truthfully don’t like not getting things so if anyone does feel this way and could explain it to me to like breakdown why you feel that way I would sincerely appreciate it

Even if I don’t agree I would like to understand your perspective

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #prince zuko #katara #fire nation #water tribe #southern water tribe #fire bending #fire bender #water bending #water bender #uncle iroh #atla iroh #iroh

[booklovingturtle]

people are way too comfortable being dismissive of children and teenagers. if a toddler comes up to you and starts explaining skibidi toilet lore or if a 13 year old asks you if you want to hear about their mha ocs you have to listen with utmost sincerity or at least pretend to. this is the only way you will get into heaven.

[booklovingturtle]

Wha-what is this

And why does it draw me in so fervently

Why does it pull at my mind body and soul

Why am I so obsessed with these ridiculous games these boys play

It’s always cringe and I can never get enough

It will never be enough for me

SOMETHING BIG IS COMING.

[booklovingturtle]

Most of the other women in fiction when the love interest is a bad man: its okay, i can fix him. Ill change him <3

Inej Ghafa: no one can change this mf. If he loves me, he'll change himself

[booklovingturtle]

Girl what are you doing showing up to netherfield with your hem 6 inches deep in mud you want me so bad or what

[booklovingturtle]

elizabeth: *roasts mr. darcy*

mr. darcy:

[booklovingturtle]

[booklovingturtle]

The Ember in the Ashes series absolutely deserves as much attention as all the most popular fantasy books. Those books are so beautifully written and carry such important messages. I’ve never read a book that’s felt so fanciful but still felt so relevant to this world.

[booklovingturtle]

Percy in public: *hates his fame and hates getting attention or being treated like he's special*

Percy at home when he doesn't want to do the dishes: Remember that time I saved the whole world?

Annabeth: It's still your turn to do the dishes.

Percy: Remember how I almost died? For everyone?

Annabeth: Dishes. Or you won't like the consequences.

Percy: I think I'll be alright. I did kill Kronos after all.

Annabeth: I have powers he knew not. I can make you sleep on the couch.

Percy: ...

Percy: I've just had an idea. I think I'll go do the dishes.

Grover: The Hero of Olympus everyone.

[booklovingturtle]

like father, like son 🦆

characters by @cassandraclare 🫶

[booklovingturtle]

(genderbend) i just keep drawing the same thing over and over . Whatever

[booklovingturtle]

(Let me clarify by saying that writers/readers typically have not broken traditional media beauty standards to include dark-skinned men of color in their fetishization. It is terrible that dark skinned men of color are still not considered to be “attractive” and that is an entire separate issue which I am not addressing in this post. They are not the specific group that I am seeing portrayed this way.)

In particular, I am seeing a crazy amount of “tan” or “bronzed” or “sun-kissed” or “golden” male love interests with black/brown curly/wavy hair which are clearly POC-coded or flat out written to be (at least half) of a named minority group.

In almost every single instance that I’m seeing fan art or books about these characters, they are overly sexualized and depicted as purely objects for female pleasure.

I strongly believe in sexual liberation and for people to have the freedom to do what they want with their bodies.

However, I do find it interesting and sad that in pursuit of that, readers are now actively contributing to dangerous narratives about men of color being hypersexual, macho, and/or possessive men instead of being portrayed as multidimensional, layered characters that are still desirable/loveable/attractive.

I anticipate that some people might argue that romantasy is “not all that deep” or that it’s not supposed to be a reflection of real life. I counter that argument with the understanding that the unconscious biases we perpetuate through media have real life consequences for the people that fall into these minority groups.

If you have engaged with any of my content on this blog, you know that I’m a lover of fantasy and do not shy away from a bit of smut, however I also think that it is important that we critically analyze specific trends, and ask ourselves why certain things are normalized and if they are safe or harmful for real life groups of people.

I don’t say this to “cancel” or “call out” any one particular author, fan artist, or content creator that enjoys this brand of books. I don’t think there is any one particular person who is to “blame” for this phenomenon (at least in terms of pop culture TODAY). I don’t want people who enjoy these books to feel like I’m calling them bad people or anything like that because that’s absolutely not what I’m saying.

I just hope that people can just be mindful of how their unconscious biases do impact minority groups and that even though it’s fiction that doesn’t mean there isn’t a larger issue that needs to be addressed in media and our culture as a whole.

“Spicy” romantasy BookTok is not ready to have a conversation about the way they fetishize men of color in their writing & in fanart it’s actually something that needs to be studied and dismantled

#men of color #poc #people of color #western culture #american culture #unconscious bias #implicit bias #micro aggressions #media analysis #critical thinking

[booklovingturtle]

“Spicy” romantasy BookTok is not ready to have a conversation about the way they fetishize men of color in their writing & in fanart it’s actually something that needs to be studied and dismantled

#booktok #booktube #romantasy #romance #fantasy #spicy books #books #fandom culture #controversial #smut books #smut fanart #spicy fantasy #spicy romance #new adult books #new adult