#I have not seen ONE trans or nb fan say that you HAVE to think she or harry expressing himself is a certain way | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

qqueenofhades · 2 years

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Feel free not to answer this because I feel like it’s a really heavy and rather personal and emotional thing, but you’re also one of the people whose opinion I respect the most and who I think would be able to offer a lot of help with this, and I think it might help some other people too, if it’s not too pretentious to say that. It’s definitely too pretentious, isn’t it.

For context, I’m a cis female lesbian, which is… both a good thing and also the stem of these problems.

First of all, queer people travel in packs, we all know that. It’s amazing, and somehow, most of my friends and I found each other even before any of us came out. It’s the unconscious gaydar, I guess. And more recently, a lot of my friends are coming out as different flavors of trans and nb, and in some ways, it feels like I’m the ONLY person who feels completely comfortable with their birth gender.

God it sounds really bad when I put it that way, and I know it kinda is. I barely know how to describe it, but in some ways, it feels like I’m almost the odd one left out, when most of my friends have that bonding experience and this new struggle they have to deal with, and I’m not able to help them out and be there for them in a way that I was when it was just sexuality in question (and believe me, that took me forever to figure out, and I imagine it’s much the same for gender). And. I dunno. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m one of the ONLY cis people in my friend group, and I feel almost guilty for that? Online there’s all the stuff about “oh it’s the cis people” and like, that’s me, I’m one of the people in question, and how some people act, it’s almost as though I’m not queer enough or something, like being lesbian isn’t enough to actually make me queer and that I have to be some flavor of trans as well. And I know that’s horrible to think, it’s an awful mindset to have, but it’s kinda how I feel. And to clarify, this is absolutely not my friend’s faults, they’re not saying or doing anything at all to imply what I’ve just said, it’s entirely my own fault and that of the internet.

Anyway, I’ll just leave that there for you, because I don’t have a resolution for it, that’s the problem.

My second problem is kinda similar. My two best friends are both enby aroace. One of them is a sex-repulsed ace, and we share a lot of same fandoms and things that we enjoy. They’re a S&B fan, for one, and a while back I sent them WDMTTPL because I figured they’d like it because it’s fantastically written and I love it so much. This is nothing personal to do with you, I’d like to clarify that. Anyway, they got to the first E rated scene and quit and refused to read the rest of it. That’s totally okay, that’s fine, they have every right not to enjoy the same stuff as me. Another thing we both like is Phantom of the Opera, have you seen that? There are two songs, one in the original and one in the (admittedly a shitshow with a good soundtrack) sequel, that yeah, they’re kinda about sex, but they’re still very nice songs. My friend calls the one in the sequel (the song being Beneath a Moonless Sky) as ALW’s E-rated sex fantasy song. It’s… not terribly explicit, in my opinion, but like I said, of course we have different opinions, and that’s okay. But they hate the song so much and whenever it comes up on a playlist or something that we’re listening to together, they always go and skip it. With that musical as a whole, Love Never Dies, it’s a shitshow like I said and it has horrible writing and I really just ignore all of the plot in favor of enjoying some of the few good songs in it. And because of how much they hate that song, which I think has fantastic music regardless of content, I almost feel guilty for liking it and for being a sex-positive person myself. It’s not like my friend saying “I don’t like this and so no one should like this” but in some ways it feels almost like that’s what they’re saying. It’s absolutely not their fault, but it feels like the same thing again. I feel guilty for being straight and not “queer” enough, I feel guilty for being a person who enjoys sex versus an aroace friend who really doesn’t, and then I feel guilty for feeling guilty about things I shouldn’t feel bad about.

The third one isn’t really along the same vein as the first one, but I think it’s one that does put me in the wrong and that I’m very conflicted about.

One of my friends is very openly poly and was ranting to us the other day about some thinly veiled homophobic (and specifically polyphobic) comments one of her professors made, and how for an essay in that class she’s writing about how poly marriage should be allowed and was asking for our opinions and stuff. Personally, I think it’s absolutely okay, I wouldn’t even be opposed to a poly relationship myself. However, eventually they got on the topic of the poly relationship of the variety where one person is married to two different people without those other two people being married together, but consensual between all three. And… something rubs me the wrong way about that. Something feels very inherently unequal and unfair about someone in a relationship with two other people without those people being together, ESPECIALLY if we’re talking marriage. And then I proceed to feel horrible about that, because who am I to judge what kind of love is okay, what kind of poly marriage should be allowed and what shouldn’t? Isn’t that just as bad as, say, telling a bi person in a relationship with a person of the opposite gender that they’re actually just straight? I still don’t feel like being in two seperate relationships at once can be fair or healthy, even if it IS consensual, but I feel horrible for almost gatekeeping something like that, and for getting into a heated debate with the friend in question about it. She also had a boyfriend at the time, and according to her, she said he’d be perfectly okay if she was to have a relationship with a different person beside him at the same time. And then I felt horribly petty, because they broke up like a week after my friend said all of that to the rest of us and that breakup may or may not have been related.

Anyway I have no good way of wrapping this up, I feel like it’s just been one big rant, and I know it’s very very personal and heavy, but you really are someone whose opinion I respect and would really appreciate hearing. You don’t have to answer this ask, because I know it’s a lot, but either way, thank you so much for taking the time to read this anyway.

Welp. Okay. First off, I am very honored that you trust me to talk about this to you, respect my opinion, and are interested in hearing my thoughts. For context, I am also a cis lesbian, and I suspect that I am somewhat-to-significantly older than you (10-15 years). So this is coming from a queer person in their thirties (not in their teens or twenties) and while I have plenty to say here, I'll start with this:

Basically, this ask is an encapsulation of everything that rubs me the wrong way about the online youth culture that has grown up on social media and calls itself "queer" and "progressive" while also uh, not being those things at all and often just being American Protestant evangelical purity culture. I hasten to stress that this is not your fault in any way, and nothing about what you have said is going to make me point a finger and go BAD QUEER PERSON! Instead, I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for you and the guilt and stress that you're enduring and putting yourself through, when you really, really don't have to. I promise. Because if you just changed a few names and descriptions, you could be telling me how unhappy you feel in a religious fundamentalist cult! And that breaks my heart. Because:

You constantly feel guilty about whether you're "enough" for the overall authority/presumed "right way" to be a queer person, and constantly think that you have to do "more" to justify your inclusion;

You hang out with people and in shared social spaces that consciously or unconsciously reinforce the idea that you're "doing it wrong";

You worry constantly about whether being an ordinary human person with a sex drive makes you "unclean," "filthy," "evil," "lesser", etc etc;

You worry that you're in the wrong for expressing any opinion that might run against the prevailing wisdom, no matter what that opinion is or how you arrived at it;

You also worry that this is all "your fault" for not being good enough, and that if you continue to not be good enough, it will reflect on you as a personal sin and lead to your exclusion from the group, and that will be all your fault and nobody else's;

And on and on.

Anyway: as I said, this is flat-out conservative evangelical Protestantism with the names changed, and that's what makes me so averse to the so-called progressive purity/anti culture that has taken so much root in youth queer spaces. This isn't your fault or even that of your friends', it's just a result of what all of you have learned by osmosis and think is the only way to Be Acceptably Queer. And that is hogwash. It is total nonsense. It is absolutely not true. If you're hanging out in places or with people that are constantly feeding and reinforcing this message, whether implicitly or explicitly, then you DO need to find new places, healthier places, with maybe some older queer people who aren't as beholden to the niche culture of Performative Internet Wokeness as the younger terminally-online generation. Because it is a niche culture, it is very small, it is not at all representative of the lives and experiences of queer people all around the world, and you absolutely do not need to let it dictate your thoughts and behavior to the point of making you feel this way about yourself (or even at all). Because listen here:

I am holding your face in my hands, I am looking you in the eye, I am telling you from the bottom of my queer cis lesbian ace-spec old gay adult heart: I LOVE YOU, BABY GAY. YOU IS KIND. YOU IS SMART. YOU IS IMPORTANT. AND AIN'T NOBODY, NOBODY AT ALL, GOT THE RIGHT TO TELL YOU OTHERWISE OR MAKE YOU FEEL BAD FOR BEING BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.

Okay? Got it? I mean it. I am aggressively loving on you right now, in a healthy, boundaries-appropriate way, and telling you that IT IS OKAY. You are queer just the way you are. You're not a secret straight. You don't have to add an endless list of uber-specific micro-labels or nuances or explanations. You're you. You're queer. That's it, end of story, nobody can say otherwise. If people try to make you feel bad about it or shame you or imply that you're not enough, THAT IS THEIR FAULT and you can and should feel justified in calling them out on it. You don't need to torment yourself with guilt over having opinions, or liking sex, or ANY OF IT. Humans are humans! Humans (for the most part) like sex! Sex is a normal and natural and beautiful thing! Queer sex is beautiful! Het sex is beautiful! You can enjoy both or any or all of those things while also critiquing the sexified/commodified/heteronormative/repressive culture in which we exist! Our culture has been so messed up and fucked over (literally) when it comes to sex that once again, we've looped all the way back around to "I am a More Morally Pure Person if I Personally Reject Sex and This is a Totally Progressive Viewpoint" and like. As I said above, I am strongly ace-spec. I tend to enjoy reading about sex or having sexy headcanons more than I'm interested in actually pursuing it in the real world. But that doesn't make me better or worse than anyone else, and I have zero objections to them doing what makes them happy.

So enjoy E-rated fic. Enjoy E-rated songs. Enjoy sex if you like sex, in fiction, real life, or wherever. DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, BABY, OKAY? If you know that some of your friends don't like what you like, you don't have to share those things with them or rely solely on their approval/validation (and as I said, if you're hanging out in places or with people that only make you feel bad about who you are and what you like, it's time to re-evaluate that time and how it's spent). Go out in your community, meet older queer people, volunteer in queer spaces, do whatever you would like to make you feel more connected to the real-life community with a broader variety of perspectives. But also, you don't have to do these things to be considered queer. You don't have to Earn Your Place Via Hard Work (oh hello again, Protestant Ethic!) You just have to be you. That is enough.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#anonymous #ask #ain't nobody make the baby gays feel bad on my watch #long post

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twopoppies · 1 year

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Hi, Gina! This is not directed to you, but I've seen that you get asks about this every once in a while. Am I the only one who finds it a bit uncomfortable when people so unabashedly discuss and speculate Harry's gender? Sexuality is a different thing, but according to me gender is a whole different ballgame. Coming to terms with your own gender identity is a long and difficult process and surely not one anyone would want to go through publicly. Why does it matter if Harry is cis/trans/nb or anywhere else on the spectrum? That doesn't change a single thing, does it? I get that people speculate his sexuality because that changes a whole lot in terms of his life, but even then his exact label is none of anyone's business, and his gender most definitely isn't. I saw some people speculating a few days ago, that maybe he was going through a transition and that according to me definitely crosses the line!! It's things like these, that when they sometimes catch a tabloid's attention, make us look stupid!

I like the way you tackle these asks, but I feel that there has been way too much conversation about this. Also, I hope these people realise how regressive it is to doubt Harry's gender identity because he dresses a certain way or carries himself a certain way!! I personally think that this topic should be contained till a few respectful she/her jokes!!

Hi sugar. Well, there’s a whole lot to tackle in this ask and I’m really not the best person to unravel it for you because I’m cis and anything I know, I’ve learned from listening to trans people in this fandom.

But, from what I’ve understood from the ones I know, or who I follow, or who I’ve seen on my dash, is that they’ve recognized certain signaling/coding from Harry that feels very familiar to their own gender journeys. So they’ve floated the possibility that H may be trans (as an umbrella term that encompasses genders such as non-binary, gender fluid, gender queer, agender etc etc). None of them have ever insisted that he is any particular gender. But all of them have said that there’s nothing wrong with discussing gender, as there’s nothing to be ashamed of in not being cis.

I’m confused by your assertion that his sexuality would affect his life in a big way, but his gender wouldn’t. That seems really off-base to me. It also seems like something that would differ from person to person.

I agree with you that the public isn’t entitled to know his labels. At the same time, he’s the one who’s putting this information out there that fans are noticing. If it was something he wanted to keep very private and didn’t want people to know, I think he’d behave much differently. But, as you say, his gender identity can’t be determined by his clothing or the way he moves his body. But those are ways in which some people express their gender. So it’s a really nuanced conversation that I’m really not equipped to moderate.

The bottom line is, I am following the lead of the trans people around me, both in fandom and in my own life. They’re obviously not all going to agree, just as not every queer person is going to agree on topics of sexuality. I’m also looking to Harry, and those closest to him, to see how they respond and react to the subject both as a general topic, and as it pertains to him.

I hope that was somewhat articulate. It’s a big topic that I’m not fully comfortable exploring publicly, as it doesn’t feel like my place.

#harry’s gender

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chemiicalformula · 2 years

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Ok bc of your doctor jekyll and mr hyde post I am now extremely curious. What's your favorite interpretation of the original story?

ah! hello anon!! sorry i took a while, i usually don't get asks and this honestly made me very happy!!! 🧪 buckle up because you've just opened the flood gates

(also i use commas like my life depends on it, so my apologies in advance for run-ons)

so, let's see, my favorite interpretation of the strange case of... , that's a bit of a tough one seeing as i like quite a few i've seen around and also my own, sort of, which is...

essentially, what i got was henry jekyll and edward hyde are both henry jekyll. one man, two bodies ; not two men, one body/head/mind, you get me? i don't exactly enjoy how media has turned them into a "split personality" symbol when that's not what the original story was about, and i also don't really enjoy how people try to write off henry as some sort of saint when he was simply going incognito mode by mixing a potion and disguising himself so he could try and just live life until it unfortunately took a turn for the worst

and with that said, i feel i must address that when it comes to the movies (although i absolutely love fredric march's performance as the doctor and mister hyde in the 1931 film) i really hate that most of them try to:

A. make him appear far younger and more innocent/naive than he is because come on, he's written as a large, fifty year old man who is a bit (well actually a lot) unhinged and selfish but knows how to act like he's not (and i love him for it)

B. have him be engaged to marry a woman (most times the daughter of sir danvers carew when that's the dude he literally murdered like huh???) when i'm a firm believer (as a bisexual nb man) in henry jekyll being someone who was forced to hide his sexuality because of the strict victorian society he lives in, so he just never marries and goes on about his life alone out of shame with a hint of fear

C. try to pass it off as some sort of intrusive thoughts or split personality thing because it's not either, and finally

D. don't add in utterson or hastie because!!! come on man, they were in the story too! and poole, and enfield because some of their dialogue made me giggle for no reason (in all honesty, i find a lot of the book very humorous but maybe that's just because i love the characters and feel a strong connection to the premise given personal reasons)

now, i do love hearing theories; one big example is utterson thinking hyde was some sort of secret lover or even more outrageous (a long lost son??!) who's planning to blackmail jekyll. it's really funny to me in a dark comedy sort of way because it's such a huge leap to make seeing as gabriel is one of his best friends, yet he came to that kind of conclusion so quickly after henry said edward hyde was someone of interest to him, but given the time period and the customs, it's not surprising to understand why he could be thinking that (plus i don't think jekyll running down the stairs after waking up as hyde in his hilariously oversized clothes or filling hyde's townhouse with expensive stuff made it any better)

"i can't pretend i shall ever like him." GABRIEL, DEAR SIR, THAT'S JUST JEKYLL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!! and it's so funny!!

i also love the interpretations by everyone who says they head canon henry jekyll/edward hyde as being on the spectrum or/and that he's trans, because hell yeah dude, as someone who is both, i will give all of you a high-five for being so rad and so cool

i feel like there's more i could say but i've rambled so much already and i apologize for that, but thank you once again for the ask and feel free to message me if you ever want to talk about more (anyone for that matter can do so because i really want to engage with more fans!!) 💉

bonus : for reading this far, here's a silly drawing

#the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #gothic lit #gothic literature #anonymous ask #mineart

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the-apostates-martyr · 1 year

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Has the VC fandom always used the word "girlie" to self-describe fans or is it more Tumblr-specific nonsense? It's time to stop! It's annoying, non-inclusive, cliquey rubbish.

It's 100% a Tumblr thing and extremely new. And I feel a way about it. I think it's grown out of other memes, like "me and the girls facing the horrors" or "girls shouldn't work girls should be in fluffy beds surrounded by good books.". Harmless and cute, those aren't anything to poke at, but then you get into the trends of calling their grown men favs their baby girls or girl bosses which starts getting gross imo. And not because there's anything wrong with men being femme or that being called a girl is an insult. That's not it.

I think for a lot of people it's just a cute fun in joke with their friend group like oh me and the girlies on our bullshit again! But it honestly just has a really gross twinge to it IMO when it's used to describe the fandom of m/m ships. Like I just get so majorly skeeved out when I see someone talk about "all the Louis/Armand girlies sending me the good smut anons today!" (Example drawn from things seen and is not a quote from any one user and it not meant to call any user out). Like........stop that. Not only is everyone here not a girl and it's gross to assume all the other fans are girls but it's especially gross to assume it of a fandom comprised of gay and bi and queer male cast almost in entirety. Like. It makes it feel like a commodity, something to consume. Making gay male pairings all about its "girlies" fandom is so many red flags to me. You're excluding, by default, the exact kind of fans who are most closely linked to this story and these characters because sorry, queer male stories are not Store Brand Queer. I would feel so gross going into a lesbian love story fandom and saying like, oh yeah me and all the Velma/Daphne boys sending the good smut today!" It's gross.

To be clear I do not and have never had an issue with women reading gay content or creating gay content. I'm here for it. But once you start rallying up as though this is *for* the "girlies" it makes it feel like queer men are something for you to consume. And that's not to even get started on how many seem to only like these men when they become as much unlike men as possible. Make them smaller, make them petite, call their chest their titties, only share women's lingerie as fashion inspo. The girlies not only sound like they want to consume mlm content as a product but have to sanitize it to make it as unmasculine as possible. As though there's something wrong with the very manhood they're supposedly drawn to.

So like. I'm probably not making friends with this. Again I don't think most girls using this mean anything malicious by it but I invite anyone to think about it. To think about how many trans men or trans masc NB people are in this fandom who wouldn't like to see groups collectively called girlies or see men referred to as baby girl. Y'all even Anne had a complicated relationship with gender. Yes this series was written by someone who identified in part as a woman and has spoken to the queer community at large, to anyone who has felt ostracized, but it shows queer men in same sex relationships at the forefront so please keep that in mind.

Thanks.

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catgirl-catboy · 1 year

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Well as a person who is into psychology in a degree, I can see Tenko as a abuse victim.

Her masters teachings is commonly used technic by abusers, isolating and giving false informations to the person who they groom and it is very tragic..

And I love how she actually... caring despite the misguided logic she had, I love her and feel very bad for her you know?

And according to me love hotels are despite being dubious, actually really shows some characters needs or.. some darker aspects in their psychology.

P.s: Ryoma one, Korekiyo one and Tenko one specifically.

And the brother line is really suspicious.. All of the characters have some freudian aspect in their relationships and this is deeply fucked up (My mind went for ishimondo for minute)

And yes, lesbian Tenko is a valid headcanon but I hate how they treat bisexual Tenko headcanon like this is being a lesbophobe, lots of my life experiences were related to me being into girls and I still can say it is not being a lesbophobia it is deciphering or analysing the freudian slip she had.

Anyways for the bi tenko hc sake, do you ship her with any men and one question again do you have any controversial sexuality or gender hc? They are quite fun ngl

I'm studying to be a comp-sci major, but its a lot harder than I thought it would be. ;-;

For the ships, that depends on who you ask. I ship her with Gonta, but I also hc Gonta as NB or Genderqueer like myself. (his relation to gender norms is interesting to me, and I feel like letting go of the ideal of masculinity he holds dear would be healthy for him.)

Of course, people just see the canon Gonta and think me lesbophobic because they don't understand my vision.

Like, if someone headcanons Bi Tenko and is lebophobic, that's on the person and not the headcanon. (though like, wouldn't that hypothetical lesbophobe not want her to be queer at all? Damn strawmen)

The Gay Kokichi headcanon purists are honestly even more annoying though. Yes, he confessed to Shuichi. That makes him into men. But he also did quite a lot of flirting with Himiko and Miu. Honestly, if you want to stick as close to canon as possible (and be boring) Bi Kokichi makes the most sense.

Speaking of Kokichi, how do some people pretend that Saiouma love hotel is canon and the rest are bullshit. I'm sorry, at that point just call it a headcanon.

For controversial headcanons... uh how about the big mommy of headcanons discoursed about through the end of time. I am a fan of the trans Chihiro hc. That being said, I really dislike how most fans that share the hc with me act, and how ignorant they are about Japanese gender norms. It isn't problematic to analyze the text on a surface level.

Also I forgot to mention in my last post, but I also hc almost everyone as autistic, mainly as projection but also because the current system seems geared to people with special interests. Everyone, but Taka and Tenko especially.

Tell me about your problematic hcs! Honestly, this fandom hasn't seen an actually problematic hc in years, it needs it.

(Honestly, I prefer the Sapphic label to the Lesbian label simply because of how my genderqueer ass doesn't neatly fit into the box vaguely defined as female. I am exclusively attracted to ladies, which makes this whole erasure thing an extra layer of stupid.)

As for freud, I don't want to accuse anyone of anything here, but it is very possible Kodaka has an incest kink. You do not include it to such a degree on accident. That isn't a whoopsie! Of course, he could be writing to work out his trauma, so its none of my business.

#ask tag

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kiwitio · 5 months

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Okay so rant/Ted talk number 2?

I am not sure how to beginn this, but for starters, i do not support or tolerate bullying of any kind.

I do not understand the nerve people have to bully and harrass someone into commiting, for being in the Lgbtq+ community, as example.

In this post expecily I want to talk about a Tiktok/Tweet (don't quote me on this, I am not enteierly sure) from a Mother and the disgusting comments under it.

So, some may have seen that Corei, a only 14 year old Trans-man, got harrassed and targeted into taking his own life, sadly succsesfully. His Mother tweeted about this, stating to protect Transgender Kids.

Now the nerve some people have to go into the comments and comment shit like 'womp womp' 'Super Proud' 'Skill Issue' 'just turn it off' etc.

It is absoloutly not your right to comment shit like that under a griefing Mother's post. I am deeply ashamed of what this and the younger Generation has evolved into.

One person that commented on this Video, I am extreamly mad at is someone that is a Technoblade fan. Having a Techno Pfp and writting 'Womp womp' under the said Video. Not only did Technoblade support Trans, and the whole Lgbtq+ Community, but he would be so dissapointed from someone bein so inconsiderate and making Fun of someone who just commited.

Someone being Trans, Gay, Bi, NB- being Happy, does not hurt you in anyway, but just because your bored and can't deal with your own problems, you go out and waste your time making other people feel miserable.

I do not wish death, or any tradgedy on anyone, but I hope, people like that someday feel the pain of their Child, Sibling, Friend and what not, being Miserable cuz they got attacked and bullyied by people like them.

I am deeply concerned for our Future, if people like that, somehow take over in our goverment, where they have absoloutly no place with a mindset like that.

I have a lot more to say, but I'm gonna wrap this up now.

So if you ever think about Interacting with my account and being such an awful person, you can go fuck off, to put it simply.

I do not support any kind of bullying or Harassment, and will defend the person being bullied.

Learn fucking basic respect.

Thank you for reading.

Fly High Corei 🕊

#real talk #protect trans kids #protect trans youth #protect trans lives #anti bullying #lgbtq community

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suspiciousnargles · 2 years

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Hi! I'm *not* sending this to inquire about updates or anything like that. I just wanted to say, in case you still check this inbox, that Dirty Blood is one of my favorite fics ever and I re-read it regularly, and I'm really glad you wrote as much of it as you did. As an nb transmasc person myself I have such disdain for JK which has definitely complicated my relationship with HP, but Remus as a character has always been important to me and I project a lot of transmasc feelings onto his transformations. Works like yours that also had queer rep gave me a /lot/ of closure and relief and just... really helped me.

So this ask is to say: thank you for writing it. I hope you're well and writing things that bring you joy. If HP is not one of those things anymore - well, man, that's understandable and valid for ANY fandom no matter what, but given the supreme shithead terflord behind HP, infinitely moreso here. I wish you well regardless but just wanted to say thank you again for writing so much of that fic, it means a lot to me.

What a lovely message, thank you! I am endlessly flattered to know anyone read my stuff once, much less re-read it.

I think one of the things that upsets me most about the whole situation is that you are far from the first trans person I've encountered who found comfort in the world of Harry Potter and the fandom surrounding it. The fandom is so big and has so many niche sub-categories, that it was really a way for a whole generation of people to connect with each other and bond and grow and learn more about ourselves through these stories and characters.

Which is why it's so hard to just let it go like I've seen people (who seem to have never been emotionally attached to HP) say we have to do at this point. I hate so much that something that brought comfort and support and community to trans folk has been fucked over and tainted in this way by the creator. We all deserve a safe place to just be creative and have fun. And it's so much harder to have fun with it now.

As far as queer rep in Dirty Blood, I'm glad it went over well! I was still in denial about a lot of my own shit by the time I last updated it, but I'm still pretty happy with it. I'm glad that the way I wrote it resonated with you. I also can totally see how Remus would be of particular comfort, and I hope he continues to help you. I think Remus would be pleased to know he could provide comfort to you in that way.

I have gone back to writing after a very long break, though not necessarily Dirty Blood. I play with the next chapter every now and again, still working out kinks, it still doesn't totally feel ready. If I do update again, I don't want to just post one chapter and disappear again, I would ideally like to have a few chapters ready to go.

I have so much that I wanted to do with this story, and I'm still proud of the work I did, I just often find myself unsure how to reconcile my anger at JKR with my love for the community and the Marauders specifically. Is it defiant and a reclaiming of the work to keep working on fan content while making it clear that I do not agree with her, or is it just a stubborn refusal to let go of something that gave her a platform to be this terrible? I go back and forth.

The fact is that Harry Potter will always be important to me. It is the reason I got into writing, it is the reason I really tried to improve as an artist, it is the reason I connected with friends I've had for years. So, I don't want to rule out ever updating Dirty Blood. But oh boy, my feelings sure are mixed and weird!

Thank you again for taking the time to write this. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are doing well.

#asks #tera babbles

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whatdostarsdo · 2 years

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Ok I’m gonna talk about Star Trek discovery for a minute cuz I have things to say now that I’ve finished season 4. The TLDR is that I think the show really has improved during seasons 3 and 4 and there were many things i enjoyed, including the level of diversity and their treatment of mental health in particular, but the earlier seasons had a lot of issues that made the show difficult to enjoy. Because of the length of time it has taken for disco to find its stride in comparison to many of the other new treks, it has ended up my least favorite despite having many aspects that i do genuinely enjoy.

Things I really love about this show, and Seasons 3 and 4 in particular:

1. It is the single most diverse Star Trek show since ds9 and goes out of its way to do justice to its characters

-There are SO many people of color on this show and I love it so much. First black woman as captain, black woman as the president of united earth, black romances, characters of different nationalities and backgrounds on the bridge and throughout the show! Also we have Georgiou, the only good part of the early seasons.

-Queer characters! And so many of them! Disco has, in canon: two gay men, a lesbian, a trans guy, and a non-binary character (and the trans guy and nb are in a relationship!!! And are teenagers!) This is not even mentioning the many side characters in queer relationships, and queer coded characters. No other trek Ever has had this many queer characters at a time and this was in fact the first time I ever saw a non-binary character on tv.

-The aliens! Apart from DS9 and some of the cartoons, Disco has taken the most chances with its alien characters, and has many of them on the bridge at a given time. While many of them are still human-lite, disco has certainly done a lot with makeup, costuming, and CGI that is frankly very impressive.

2. Realistic and frankly groundbreaking treatment of physical and mental health issues for trek

-I actually really enjoy the treatment of mental health as serious and the recognition of the impact that the events of the show have on the crew. They execute it all in a way that makes sense and also I haven’t seen in many live action shows in this much depth, and certainly not in trek

-In specific they all have so much PTSD and that’s recognized and taken seriously??? Like YES recognize the effect your plots have on the crew literally no other trek does this! In old trek you have to employ a lot of suspension of disbelief sometimes to get past the events of one episode not having a profound effect on the characters and in discovery it just... does. And they deal with that. It’s great. They develop the importance of therapy and support systems and that’s actually really new for trek and i appreciate it

-I actually really like how this show lends a lot of its time to focusing on the emotional implications of tragedy and I think it’s something discovery does really well!

-as a sidenote, we also see several characters with mobility aids in a much more realistic way than has been done in trek before, which is a breath of fresh air.

3. There’s actually some pretty good lore in there for old fans -we know now Why Klingons Change Appearance between TOS and TNG -we now have seen Trill (albiet future trill) which is very exciting -All the references to Quarks being a franchise is very fun for any DS9 fan

-They gave us some spock lore which is neat and showed us more of vulcan

Things I do not like about this show:

1. The first two seasons… they were bad

-most trek, especially legacy trek, tends to have a kind of bad first season. This is true basically every other trek excepting ds9 and enterprise (and only because enterprise suffered from 9/11 happening in the middle of the second season). For discovery, this was a big problem, especially because it was the first of the “new trek” series, and therefore was relying a LOT on the hype of old series to get watched.

-the main source of this problem was the fact that it was marketed as a show that would bring with it spock lore. The problem is, apart from delivering Spock lore the show had no clue what it wanted to be, and that shows in the writing of the episodes and the one-note characters as well.

-the second big part of this was the fact that they set it pre-TOS. Because their main audience at that point was old fans, trying to place a new shiny ship so unlike the original enterprise into the era before the enterprise was a relatively poor decision. Nostalgia for the original series prevented discovery’s style from being appreciated so long as it was in that time period

-also, they just straight up kept switching captains and doing that will they/won’t they with Micheal being captain. This was deeply frustrating and for the longest time made the show pretty hard to watch because of the way this was executed.

These problems were luckily resolved with later seasons, and their decision to bring discovery into the future. By separating themselves from the era of TOS they were actually able to write for discovery without that comparison being present, and give us interesting storylines and characters that we now love!

2. major pacing problems through the entire shows run

-this is the only problem that genuinely continues to plague season 4, and is the cause of most of the other problems with the show. It has certainly improved in season 4 compared to other seasons, but it also is still very much an issue.

-short seasons, too many characters, and too many plotlines are the main offenders here. If they had longer seasons, they may be able to deliver on all of their plotlines. If they had less plotlines, they might get by with their shorter seasons. If they had or even focused on less characters, they would not have to focus on so many plotlines. You do not need a C,D,E, and F plot in your episode I promise.

-this leads to issues like the characters on the show not feeling very well developed, such as Grey’s only storyline revolving around his trans-ness after he got de-ghosted and immediately leaving, or them not knowing what to do with Tilly after Micheal got promoted to captain. Too many characters means a lot of one-note characters, and a lot of storylines being rushed. Even the main characters suffer from this because at times it feels like they are having the same problems over and over and not dealing with them at all.

-it also feels to a very dizzying feeling while watching the episodes. Constantly jumping from one storyline to the next doesn’t give a person much time to digest the information they’re being given of any given one. Too many storylines make the episodes very busy, and the more busy the harder it can be to follow and watch.

-also their constant jumping leads to many of the queer characters being blink-or-you’ll-miss-it. So many of those moments happen so fast and with so little relevance to the main plot that they could easily be cut out and no one would notice. This is why I’m so insistent that the show Isn’t A Queer Show- because despite its many queer characters, they are all side characters who aren’t given much concrete screen time or development.

This problem gets my goat because it is a Very Easy Fix: just do less things! More time for character moments or moments of rest would greatly benefit the show, and actually has greatly benefited the show in season 4. Star Trek lends itself well to character driven stories and I’m glad to see disco slowly embracing them, but it still has a ways to go.

3. Some Very Questionable representation decisions

-why did they kill and unkill both of their gay characters in the first few seasons? It felt like a bit of a mean twist on bury your gays that I did not appreciate at all.

-while there are a wealth of characters of color on this show, many of them are at some point criminals or “bad guys”. Even with those characters that they end up turning around into “good guys”, it ends up feeling the same way as unkilling gay characters does. While now in season 4 there may be enough “good” characters of color to excuse one or two “bad”, that was not really the case for most of the shows run, and it still makes my eye twitch. I appreciate writing nuanced characters, but not villainizing characters of color, and discovery has been known to walk that line too much for my liking. I personally stopped watching Disco for a while mid season 2, catching up to season 3 after I heard the news about Adira Tal. I’m really glad now that I did, because the show really found its stride during season 4, but I still consider it my least favorite of the new treks because it still has many problems to work out. It’s getting there though, and I have plenty of hope for that future!

#star trek #star trek discovery #I like the show!#But I do have many Critisisms as well #and i think thats fair #It's doing good stuff!#but it needs work to be a better TV show i think

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emptypools · 4 years

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did i really just see someone say "he's a good ally isnt that enough" abt people calling gerard nb on twitter.... twitter where everyone insists literally everyone is gay....... thats a lot of words for "im transphobic"

edit: do not repost this anywhere ty

#b4 anyone comes at me ig its fine to be upset abt ppl putting a label on him but like #im BEGGING YOU do not call him cis!!!#thats just as bad and VERY likely erasure of someone who has made it clear they have a complex gender identity-#that is not theorizing that is literally stated facts #and the fact that some ppl will base 95% of their personality off calling mcr gay but r uncomfortable with TRANS people saying gerards tran #makes it PAINFULLY obvious that u r just more uncomfortable with the trans identity!#i have seen so many casual mcr fans talk abt gerard being nb and treated it like a fact and never saw it as obsessive fana being tinhatters #and i know that most of these ppl r the same ones ive had conversations with abt Why Theyre Uncomfortable With Theorists Abt Real Life Ppl #so UMMMMMM basically yeah think abt that next time u get mad

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hualian-blessing · 3 years

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why mcyttwt does not think some (if not most) of the time when it comes to mcc

if i post this in twitter, i’d surely get hated upon but someones gotta have to say this one day. also this does not target to mcytblr!!! this rant is more of towards mcyttwt!!!

remember how mcyt was so chill before all of this shit? how we would watch our favorite minecraters when the community was so small? or how mcc was an event that both ccs and fans can have some fun and entertainment once per month? and that was only last year too. now look at the new generation of mcyt fans and see why some of the old fans dont really associate the new ones.

as a fan of the old gen mcytbers like DanTDM, SkyDoesMinecraft, Aphmau and CaptainSparklez. heck im a fan of pewds’ minecraft series before dream or tommy or ranboo or the new gen of mcyt ccs blew up (a year before them if im correct), and we dont see drama or bad shit all the time when it comes to their content.

now compare that to the new gen where every single fucking day, a bored fan or anti would post shit drama in twitter where some of the people from twitter moved to tumblr just to not get a headache from the batshit craziness mcyttwt brought forth. and it just snapped more when the mccp21 rolled in.

heres some of my takes about the mccp21 issue:

1) “there’s a lack of representation of lgbtq+ in the teams!!!”

heres something to tell yall about that. scott doesnt have a fucking choice. scott smajor has told time and time again, WEEKS before the announcement of teams, that there are certain requirements and limitations to mccp21 thus there will be difficulty in choosing whos entering or whos not. limitations and requirements such as it will be streamed on youtube or how streamers with twitch contracts aren’t allowed to stream or (god bless scott’s good heart) scott not allowing some of the lgbtq+ streamers in joining the special event due to wanting them to have a chance to stream and experience their first mcc (so to those who said that ranboo should have been in mccp21, shut up ‘cuz scott wanted genderman to have fun streaming his first mcc but cant due to ranboo being a well-known twitch streamer). to those who complained that ant and velvet should be in the mcc, stop being selfish and do some actual research on why scott didn’t include them. a simple question to those two’s fans would answer that they can’t make it due to them camping for a week which within those days is the mccp21. they’re having time to themselves, not wasting it on a minecraft championship.

take in the consideration that, oh i dont know, not a lot of lgbtq+ ccs applied to the event? its not a free invite championship (in fact, mcc has always been like that), it’s an applied with the sufficient and correct requirements kind of event. the artist who created the icons from the previous mcc for the teams said that scott let in some of the new ccs in last minutes due to lack of applicants not meeting the requirements thus not having custom artworks for the teams if they want to announce the teams in time.

2.) “there’s no lesbians or trans in the teams >:(((”

sadly enough, there’s not much of the players from the lgbtq+ community but to say there’s no trans people in mccp21 is utterly false. by definition, trans mean denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex. other genders such as non-binary, genderfluid, androgyne, bigender, gender expansive all fall under trans. you define yourself with the gender you personally chose and comfy with from you birth gender. so saying there’s no trans in the teams when there are players from the event like eret or sqaishey who are nb and genderfluid respectively are there to also represent not only the sexuality but also the gender identity of others??? like c’mon, please make sense mcyttwt.

also, while its sad to not see lesbians, please know that lgbtq+ doesn’t strictly be defined by lesbians. ffs, lgbtq+ literally means Lesbians Gays Bisexuals Transgenders and Questioning (or Queer but im not too sure about that one) which means that there are still other representatives for the community in the event.

3) “technoblade is in the event?!!! WHAT THE FUCK, HES A HOMOPHOBE/LESBIPHOBE-”

utter clowns, toxic twitter users are. do you really think that scott smajor, an openly gay man, would let a supposed “homophobe/lesbiphobe” in an event that focuses in supporting the lgbtq+ community? do you hear yourself? do you even do research where the joke he made was when he was the same age as me and it was based on a historical article back in WW2? or how he passionately supports the community especially the lesbians because a lesbian couple complimented him to which kickstart his confidence? the man willingly went to this mcc event despite being flamed a lot in twitter because he (and everyone) knows that his chat, his fans and supporters, are literal millionaires. if you saw a stream from foolish where he auctioned canonical characters for funs, a techno fan donated thousand of dollars to get technoblade, and that’s only one fan, now imagine a hundreds of thousands of them.

like it or not, technoblade has always been open about his support to the community, especially that majority of his fanbase are from the same community that mcyttwt allegedly swore that technoblade hates.

4) “since this mccp21 is pointless because theres no dteam, quackity, punz or (insert cc name), let’s have a watch party of the previous mccs to spite mccp21!!!” “let’s hope (insert cc name) stream on the 26th so mccp21 doesnt have the same amount of viewership like before!!!” “where are (insert cc name)??? gosh, this mcc is so boring without them!!!”

shut up shut up shut up shut up shut the actual fuck up. are you really seriously hearing yourself? are you willing and proudly boycotting a once in a year special event that is seriously needed by the lgbtq+ community? are you that cruel and selfish to sacrifice a project that helped tons of people just for your sick entertainment and desires? are you that evil to stop others from enjoying and donating to the trevor project? are you that inconsiderate of other ccs that aren’t part of dsmp and calling them boring? and for what? because your favorite cishet streamer isn’t there? oh booofuckinghoo! you’re so fucking petty to even post about this kind of tweets in public.

(edit: did yall honestly thought that without your favorite streamers that the mcc is not worth watching because they aren't there? well let me tell you, im a ranboo fan. ive watched him when he first entered the dsmp and watched him spinning in his unicorn chair for 5 minutes. the boo community waited for so many months for genderman to join mcc yet we didn't even do that kind of disgusting action and behavior every time he isn't in mcc. 8 months. that's how long ive watched him. ive waited 8 months for him to be in the event yet i still watch other povs like tommy's, puffy's, wilbur's, and etc., because it's fun and entertaining to watch them despite the beloved not participating in the games.

if you're that spoiled to not even watch mcc because (insert cc whose not part of mccp21 name here) isn't part of the roster then you most likely have a one dimensional humor because there will always be someone more funny and entertaining than them. i like dsmp don't get me wrong, but i found parrot's school smp funnier than dsmp yet you don't see me insulting both series, do you? learn to keep yourself if you're calling ccs as boring or dull or not entertaining enough due to not having the same big platform as the dsmp members.)

you don’t deserve to call yourself a fan if you’re doing this kinds of actions. in fact, people like you should be kicked out from the mcyt community because your kind of people are the reason why we look so bad from the outside. your toxic and self-entitled to these content creators are the reason why famous ccs like sbi, purpled, tubbo and almost ranboo left twitter/implied strict rules to their subtwts. you drove out an entire friend group that tons of fans found comfort in from the platform and you still have the audacity to this kind of shit? honestly, just leave before you give me a headache.

what im sayin’ is that mcyttwt is one of the worst, if not THE worst, subtwts out of the other subtwts in twitter. having no actual research or evidences or spreading false information is common in twitter where you would have to take what they said with a micro size grain of salt. mcyttwt already ruined the fun and spirit of mcc during its comeback in mcc14 due to the glitch and beta testing shit (ey i still stand for the ranboo beta testing but i know that will be worthless since theres hints of him joining soon in mcc15). if you’re still in mcyttwt, i suggest to get out of there while you still can. we’ll never know if there’s a bigger shitstorm than this in the mcyttwt that may happen in the future.

edit! hi bella again, ive been told by a polite and cool user that not all people from mcyttwt are toxic and/or cruel. im going to clear something up here. ive written this during the heat of the announcement of mccp21 teams. so there's a lot of complains and/or entitled people in the app (you can even see it in my previous post too if you want evidences!) that gave off mostly negative vibes towards the event.

ive seen the cool ones who actually took the consideration for scott's side and the criticism of the lack of representation of other communities within the lgbtq+ umbrella (ive even share some parts of it above so im also a bit upset to the lack of numbers in the community). and some of them are correct about recruiting lgbtq+ creators in youtube but! like i said, it's an applied event and not invitational one, so its up to that content creator if they want to join or not. the amount of cishet in the roster are just those who want to support the cause and/or backups/stand-ins in case scott and noxcrew can't find enough ccs in time!

just wanna clear this up because mcyttwt these days are covered by really cringe fans (ive noticed a pattern of them mostly new ones but there are still awesome new fans (like my irl friend who just joined this year) within the community) that covered the good ones where they enjoy, have fun and share some neat ideas and thoughts to the community within the platform!

when i said to get out of the mcyttwt while you still can, i meant to get out of there to avoid drama (that is really small contrast those who really need to address the issue) and take a break from it. it's still your choice if you want to be surround by it or not or if you want to come back to the app. all im saying is to buckle up for the shitstorm cuz this is not the last time that the twitter side of mcyt will cause negativity to the community.

#mccp21 #technoblade #twitter #twitter discourse #mcc discourse #mcyttwt #minecraft championships #fuck off tw #twitter sucks jfc #noxcrew

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kdinjenzen · 3 years

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What do you think about flashback fan content regarding May? I know that she didn’t transition until she got to Mantle, so any Atlas era content would be pre-trans. I also know that’s a very sensitive subject. Do you think an official style guide or something to that effect would be beneficial, or might that do more harm than good?

I have spent the last three hours just pouring over this, everything written after THIS paragraph was done over the course of that three hour time period. I spent... a LOT of time thinking about this, actually. But before I talk about May specifically, I felt it important to talk about my thoughts on the handling of trans folks in content overall. Anywhooo... enjoy my rambling.

So my overall thoughts on any trans content that deals with anything involving pre-transition should be at least LOOKED AT by trans folks before being posted or published.

Stories about any group of people should HAVE that group of people INVOLVED in the creation of said story in some way, shape, or form.

And as a trans person I think it’s important to have trans stories and content that deals with various aspects of being trans AND ALSO to just have trans content that allows trans characters to exist without having their entire story in the content to be about being trans.

That said...

LONG POST INCOMING!

As for May? I feel... complicated about it. Not “bad”, just... complicated.

May is very personal to me in a lot of ways.

Overall though from what I’ve seen people have been pretty mindful about it and as long as people are being MINDFUL about it I’m okay.

(Going to just note again that if you’re cis and want to create content about pre-transition May to possibly reach out to trans/nb/gnc members of the RWBY community to at least get some input.)

No one has, in any fan created content that I’ve seen at least, tried to give May a deadname that I’ve seen.

(This is also me asking everyone to please not assign May a deadname, no one wants that.)

Most folks I’ve seen call her “Marigold” for her pre-transition era fan content, and some folks also just use gender neutral pronouns for pre-transition May.

(That said, May’s pronouns after coming out are SPECIFICALLY She/Her. So keep that in mind.)

As far as a style guide for fanart?

(Mind you this is just my thoughts)

If we’re talking Atlas Academy Era May? They have, arguably, the most “neutral” looking uniforms, it’s very just... “uniform” when compared to Beacon. Though there still is the “skirt” vs “pants” look on display.

But... as far as an Atlas Military Era May... and I really cannot believe I’m saying this...

I’m thankful that the Atlas Military has such a “strict standard” for their attire. Everything adheres to a specific set of guidelines from the generic military to the more prominent specific roles.

Yeah no, thanking the Atlas Military for anything feels gross and wrong. Everyone should ditch the Atlas Military and join our Girl Gang.

Heck, take a look at May’s most direct skill level & age ranged Atlesian peers - The Ace Ops & Winter!

Nothing about these tailor made specialist uniforms say “gender” in any way despite the fact that each one is obviously specifically made for each person and their unique style and skill sets.

EVERYONE GETS PANTS OR SHORTS! EVERYONE GETS A VEST OR JACKET! VERY FEW FRILLS BUT YOU CAN HAVE A SMALL PERSONAL TOUCH! THE COLORS ARE WHITE WITH BLUE AND A SMIDGE OF RED AND BLACK!

The most unique things about this group are their hairstyles, and let’s just take a look from left to right:

Harriet’s hair is extremely short with a bleached fringe styled upward.

Vine’s hair is simply buzzed.

Winter’s hair has always been “military woman with long hair” - tight bun at first and then tight ponytail.

(Winter with her hair down from V7 still gives me very big feelings.)

Marrow’s hair is longish too, not as long as Winter’s, but definitely long. He has his done up in a tight bun as well!

And Elm who’s ALSO got the longish, but again not as long as Winter’s, hair style that’s done up in a tight ponytail.

So that leads me to believe that if May’s Atlesian peers are dressed this way and can have their hair how they’d like (so long as it is done up in a way to not be a disadvantage on the battle field) - then an Atlas Military Era May would be able to do the same.

Feels like Atlas Military Era May’s style would fall somewhere between Winter’s and Marrow’s looks in both uniform and hairstyle.

...

That was a long post but to circle it all back around I’d say to just be mindful about stuff and I think you’ll be fine.

Also to the folks who’ve been drawing and writing Atlas Era May as already out and transitioning? Keep doin that! It’s super cute and I really enjoy it!

I definitely feel like a lot of people are apprehensive on making any kind of May content in general because she’s a canon trans character and many folks just don’t want to be seen as disrespectful so they end up just... not including her at all. And that’s not even getting into the subject of shipping content.

Overall I’d love to see people get over that fear, ask questions, and actually create more May fan-content.

#average-monster #kdin #ask me anything #kdin jenzen #kdinjenzen #ama #rwby #may marigold

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wolfstar-in-color · 3 years

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June Creator Spotlight: BigBlackDog

Hello, colorful cuties, and welcome to our first creator spotlight!!

Each month, we will highlight a different creator in our lovely fandom who features diverse characterizations. We will invite you to get to know them better through questions and answers, Fandom Discourse(tm), and a featured prompt created by our guest!!!

For our first spotlight, we are more than pleased to highlight the incredible work of bigblackdog!!! See a little snippet of this wonderful interview below, along with bigblackdog’s prompt! Look below the cut for our complete interview. Don’t forget to share and interact with this post, and if you have anyone you’d like to recommend for a spotlight, shoot us an ask! You can find our first guest’s Tumblr here.

“I've experienced ups and downs in the wolfstar fandom. It often feels like the wolfstar fandom is willing to engage in discussion about every political issue but race. And the few people who are trying to talk about race consistently encounter this silence.”

bigblackdog’s prompt: I want to see more latino characters who are not impoverished or criminalized. Give me a joyful latino/e remus!

Hello, I'm bigblackdog! I'm almost 30, and I've been active in fandom on various platforms for about seven years now. I'm latina/e and live in the u.s. with a small white dog.

Q: How did you start creating in the fandom? What did you wish to bring into the fandom?

A: Like a lot of fans I started with self insert fic as a middle schooler. Sometimes the practice of self-insert gets ragged on in fandom, as if you're not doing real character work, but I think it's really cool. And if you're an under represented identity in the traditional western canon of literature, self insert is a radical practice. Making space for yourself in a story that refuses or ignores your identities is a radical act. And that's what i want to bring to fandom-- disruption and self care.

Q: What things about s/r as characters or in their relationship inspire you to create around them?

A: Wolfstar was the first queer ship I was introduced to. I wasn't someone who arrived in fandom with my own robust queer reading skills, I needed other queers to hold my hand and introduce me to queer ships and how to find them and build them. My interest in r/s was simply a clinging to queerness I wasn't finding in other places. I really think it could have been any characters, as long as they were queer.

Q: What things would you like to highlight about the Wolfstar fandom and your experience in it?

A: I've experienced ups and downs in the wolfstar fandom. It often feels like the wolfstar fandom is willing to engage in discussion about every political issue but race. And the few people who are trying to talk about race consistently encounter this silence. It's hard not to feel bitter. But i've also met some amazing people and overall feel that fans really are trying their best to be welcoming and inclusive.

Q: What type of content do you wish you saw more in the fandom?

A: I want to see more discourse that aims at amplifying underrepresented voices like wolfstar-in-color. I want to see more fans of color joyfully and irreverently writing themselves into the magical world!

Q: What is your favourite wolfstar fancontent (fic/fanart/gifset/etc) and how does it inspire you?

A: I love dontthinkonithermione's rp. Not only does she do an amazing nerdy know it all Hermione, she envisions Black characters in every corner of the hp world. Have you seen her Hogwarts p.e. professor rps? i love the space she creates for herself, and the joy she does it with.

Q: Which of your own identities inform your creative processes? How has that process been for you?

A: I started out in fandom really trying to feel out the nooks and crannies of being queer. As i've spent more time in fandom and become more confident in my queerness I've started looking closer at some of my other identities-- Latina, mixed, adhd-- and how i can squeeze them into the hp world. For a long time it was hard, especially with being Latine and mixed, to envision how that identity could belong in a 90s British boarding school in the Scottish wilderness. I also really struggled with the feeling that i would get "diversity" wrong. I’ve also struggled with feeling like I have to write diversity because i'm an underrepresented voice. Brown people are often pressured to do the work of educating white people about racism and in fandom spaces that often means pressure to write the reality of racism instead of the fantasy that white writers get to play with. And sometimes i just want to write a pwp without worrying about the revolution, you know? But i really love fandom for its refusal to play by the rules of capitalism and canon, eventually i started to feel like putting more of myself into my writing was another rule i could break.

Q: What advice do you have for other content creators with diverse backgrounds in the fandom? What would you say to people that might feel they don’t have the “right” history/experience/characteristics to participate in the creation of content related to Wolfstar?

First, there's a lot of content on tumblr that aims to silence your voice, learn how to recognize the difference between cancel culture and encouragement. Sometimes content that seems well meaning still presents writing diversity as a list of black and white rules (and virtue signaling) instead of encouragement for underrepresented voices to share their own messy experience. Set those rules gently aside. Second, fandom is built on the idea that the author isn't the only person who gets to play. we all get to play. It doesn't always feel like we were invited, but the great thing about fandom is there is no barrier to entry, no prior experience or publishing hoops to jump through. This is our playground too. If canon is dead then why can't our stories be brown and queer and neurodivergent? Third, find your people. i've found that having just one other person to talk about race with has made the whole space feel more welcoming.

Q: How could we build a more diverse fandom?

A: We have to stop prioritizing white and cis male voices. We recognize that policing irl is a problem inextricable from whiteness and maleness, but we don't see that fandom policing online is also a problem deeply embedded in whiteness and maleness. White and cis male people frequently use their discomfort with difficult topics to change the subject from a critical discussion to one that prioritizes their white and/or male feelings. The same thing happens online when personal discomfort is used to cancel or undermine content that's challenging to a white or male voice. White and cis male voices are used to having their needs met above others. And we still cater to that in fandom spaces when we privilege 'fetishization' discourse over racial discourse. When we lift up bipoc and women/trans/nb voices and the issues they're concerned with we'll make fandom a more welcoming place for underrepresented voices.

Q: What’s your favourite thing to modify in Sirius’s or Remus’s characterizations to bring new perspectives to them?

A: It really depends on the story i'm writing and what issue i'm trying to figure out. Sometimes i need Sirius to be Adhd to come to terms with my brain, sometimes i need two brown boys to fall in love and be happy against all odds.

Q: What does diversity mean to you? What does that encompass in fannish spaces?

A: This is a hard question! I tend to think of diversity as those voices that are disenfranchised or pushed to the margins. And fannish spaces have all the same hierarchies and blind spots as other spaces. In fannish spaces there's the idea that you can curate your experience to some extent, but for marginalized voices, at least in my experience, no matter how much you curate the marginalization is still there.

Q: What are your ideas about the notions of culture and ethnicity? How do you relate to those notions?

A: There was a time in my life where relating to my ethnicity was largely a process of recognizing larger systems of oppression and how they worked against my various identities. And for a while it was a really helpful way to frame my experiences. Now I feel a little less attached to ethnicity as like, a monolithic concept threaded through my whole life and more attached to the small things that I enjoy about my ethnicity and culture-- making a really good pot of beans, for example.

Q: Leave us with a quote or work of art that always inspires you.

A: "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." Audre Lorde

#creator spotlight #bigblackdog #bigblackdogfic #wolfstar #fandom #diversity

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catboygretzky · 3 years

Text

Right, so a few weeks ago I talked about transphobia on hockey tumblr, which is a topic that’s very important to me as a trans man, but I’ve also noticed that no one really talks about another topic that is also important to me, which is homophobia on hockey tumblr.

I’m going to preface this by saying this is from the POV of a trans mlm. I won’t speak on the experiences a wlw or queer nb person goes through in fandom, because I don’t have that knowledge, and I don’t want to act like I do. I’m a queer man, and that’s the lens I’m using. I’m also saying this about hockey tumblr, but it can be applied to every fandom.

Before I begin, I should make note: a lot of folks don’t realise they’re being homophobic, which is a huge reason this conversation needs to be had. It’s important to remember that no queer person owes you this conversation, though, so don’t just assume your queer friends want to ‘teach you’ things that you can easily google.

So.

Queer people in any space that is predominantly cishet will automatically experience that space differently. That’s just a fact, because queer people experience things differently to cishet people. Plain and simple. If I read a post, or see a gifset, I will automatically view it in a different way; not necessarily in a better way, not necessarily in a worse way. Just a different way.

Another indisputable fact: homophobia exists, and it exists in fandom. Every fandom, including hockey tumblr. Again, plain and simple.

And another indisputable fact, hockeyblr is mostly cis(het) females, whose experiences will always be different to mine and other queer people.

A lot of people on hockey tumblr think ‘oh, this is a safe space away from the dudebro hockey fans that yell slurs’, which yes! I’d rather be here than on twitter any day of the week! But hockey tumblr isn’t the ‘safe haven’ for queer people that y’all try to say it is. Maybe I’m not getting called slurs (I mean, I am getting called slurs), but that doesn’t make it a 100% safe space.

My attraction to men will always be treated differently than a cishet female’s attraction to men. Even if you don’t mean to, my attraction will always be seen as more sexual and - I’m quoting - ‘creepy’. ‘It’s creepy that you’re attracted to a straight man’. Even if someone doesn’t mean to, my attraction will always be seen as more sexual and on occasion - too many occasions - borderline if not overtly predatory.

Another huge part of the hockey fandom is RPF, which is a very very polarizing issue that I will only touch on objectively. If your reason for hating RPF is ‘it’s creepy to ship real people’, that’s valid. But if your reason goes past that, into the 'making this person gay is gross', I hate to break it to you… That's homophobia!

There's also rampant fetishization of slash ships, as well as the idea that queer ships are automatically going to be seen as needing a higher rating, which again. Most people don't realise they're doing it. That fits into the 'queer love and attraction is seen as inherently more sexual that cishet love and attraction' that I mentioned above. A fic with a cishet couple making out will most likely be rated G; the same with a queer couple will most likely be rated T. That’s something most people don’t think about or don’t consider when a queer person mentions homophobia in fandom.

As always, I’ve started to ramble a little.

To sum up: a queer person’s attraction is not automatically more sexual or predatory than a cishet’s. If someone’s reason for not liking same gender ships is that it’s ‘gross’ or ‘creepy’ or ‘impossible that they’re queer’ - that’s homophobia. Fetishizing slash ships is homophobia. You’re not immune to homophobia because you’re marginalised, too.

Also, if cishets could please stop joking about how someone’s a ‘twink’ or how someone is ‘obviously a bottom’ I would appreciate that! Those aren’t your jokes to make, nor can you even fathom what you mean!

Feel free to reblog.

#nhl #hockey #change hockey culture #long post #homophobia #homophobia in fandom #hockey rpf #rpf #alex rambles #ok to rb

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