#exposure to art is important yall

[femme-dor]

“They don’t make music like they used to back in…” people are incredibly boring, stuck in the past with their same Top 20 oldies on repeat. It’s one thing to be a fan of a certain music era but there are a million new songs out there in various languages, genres, styles, etc. to discover that they’d probably enjoy but it’s easier for them to reject exposure & convince themselves that any music after a certain era is “bad” because nostalgia is a comfort blanket they can’t bare to part with.

#rant #I play radio at my job and… #Look boomers I can only stand oldies for so long #lemme listen to Kendrick or Willow #Lemme listen to Black Indie artists #I’m so fucking tired of Prince and SILK SONIC #I get it this was the Kickback music in your 20’s #but so many years passed with new sound coming out #and you still can’t let go of that vibe #damn #if not for Spotify introducing me to new shit #that could’ve easily been me down the road #exposure to art is important yall #music #thoughts #oldies #new sound #Spotify

[gigidragonbbxxx]

a personal struggle + an education

this is all just gigi's opinions + thoughts

Reader, I'm struggling with empathy right now.

Don't worry, I'm not suffering from a personality pathology, I promise I am quite sympathetic and empathetic. It's just battling the feeling of wanting to be kind but also seeing a major problem and knowing I need to get it off my chest.

Let me give it to yall straight (with tweaked/paraphrased details to protect privacy and not to out anyone):

I saw a favorite loass coach/twt account/subliminal creator make fun of an "old timey" English sentence either from Neville Goddard or Edward Art. They proceeded to say that they "hate" it and "why can't they just say it simpler". and then someone else commented "they're talking bullshit fr".

The convo thread on twt devolved into an echo chamber that essentially boiled down to the old fool's adage "If I don't understand it, it must be stupid and not worth it."

This really triggered me because

The phrase quoted was not that hard to understand.

It was clear these women were not educated

Why am I judging or mad at people for their ignorance? (this is why I kept quiet on twt and went here to vent. I acknowledge that two things can be true, I can be kind and still be honest.)

I was and currently am still wrestling with these things within me.

On one hand I don't want to judge. I want to be inclusive and welcoming and supportive.

On the other hand - yall don't look educated, yall wind up looking dumb.

I'll say a harsh truth yall and you can go argue with a damn wall but I know I'm right: stupidity is not cute.

My Hot Take (not so hot when you think about it)

The Law of Assumption rewards those who feed their mind with knowledge

Before you argue with me, think about it. Seriously.

I don't want to seem ableist if someone suffers from dyslexia or if someone struggles in school. It's totally okay to have different paths to learning. The importance is still obtaining the information. You can read or listen to the audiobook, etc. The paths to knowledge are varied but in the end the result is the same - THE KNOWING.

The "old timey" sentence that the creator complained about COULD BE READ BY NINTH GRADERS BECAUSE OF SHAKESPEARE EXPOSURE.

That's why I was exasperated. They were complaining about English (the only language in which they are fluent) that is regularly taught to 14 year olds.

Guys. Stand up. Please stand the fuck up.

Who in this world is gonna take you seriously without BASIC COMPETENCY in literature or math?

Lemme roast some of yall if you want to disagree:

Yall wanna be master manifesters and claim to understand the double slit experiment but can't even name the fundamental laws of science or explain them.

Yall wanna be successful in your businesses and don't know how to calculate your profits.

Yall wanna be seen as intellectuals who "understand" more than the majority of the population and yall can't even fucking read Descartes or Shakespeare.

Yall wanna be content creators and don't know how to proofread.

One time I bought an affirmation tape that came with a pdf with all the affirmations listed. The tape itself was excellent but the pdf was riddled with errors! It makes me sad because something that can help change your life, like a sleep tape to saturate, "cheapens" in its authenticity at the price of minor errors. Sigh.

Let me tell you that 100% you can be successful in this world just by going to the end and claiming it.

BUT YOU LOSE A LOT OF TREASURE BY NOT GIVING YOURSELF THE TOOLS TO DIG FOR IT.

THERE IS SO MUCH FOUNDATIONAL INFORMATION WITHIN THESE "OLD TIMEY" TEXTS.

and if you don't like any of it and just wanna watch sammy ingram and manifest like that THEN GO AHEAD BUT DONT CLAIM TO NOT UNDERSTAND A SENTENCE AND THEN CALL IT BULLSHIT.

just be honest and own it!

be honest that you don't wanna read, that you don't wanna be academic and that's 100% okay and you're still beautiful and worth everything but

do not put down the value of what is being said just because you don't understand it

That's why I am frustrated, reader.

I am educated enough to recognize when someone's ignorance is just that - ignorance.

But I am human enough to be annoyed.

So please give yourselves some grace and take the time to appreciate knowledge. Without the knowledge of the law of assumption, we wouldn't all be here interacting with one another.

xx, gigi

p.s. for those of you who are more familiar with reading the Bible via the law of assumption lens - I beg you to think of Solomon. He was asked by God what he would like and Solomon chose wisdom over material things. Why is that? Because through wisdom comes the ability to know how to obtain all one's desires. Food for thought.

#gigiwrites #loassblog #law of assumption #loass #loassumption #manifestation #affirm and persist #affirmations #neville goddard #self concept #manifesting #edward art #master manifestor #law of assumption blog #robotic affirming #subliminal #subliminals #knowledge #wisdom #intelligence #learning #learn #fulfillment

[simpingforthisonedeer]

Tutorial on how I do my moodboards💕

For @kray-dragon, @lyranova & @jovialnoise and anyone else who’d find this helpful

Bonus: How to recolor certain colors in an image

Reblogs are appreciated 👉👈💕

PicsArt

PicsArt

The filters on this app are paid but one of its most useful features are in Effects -> scroll all the way down to Colors where you can replace the colors of an image(one of the best features😩), colorize, and hue.

LiveCollage

It’s where I put my images into a collage. They have a lot of formats but my favorite is the standard 3x3 with 9 images. I always do 9. And in the edit section, lower the space between the border and the images to close the gap. And they also have AMAZING filters😩😩 I like their filters the most😎

It’s where I put my images into a collage. They have a lot of formats but my favorite is the standard 3x3 with 9 images. I always do 9. And they also have AMAZING filters😩😩 I like their filters the most😎

Photos

Well, the iPhone photos also have good editing options. I use it for their basic filters which work really well tbh. I like their warm and black and white filters. In fact, I used the dramatic warmth filter for the Julius moodboard. But I use it the most for exposure, brilliance, black point, warmth, coolness, tint etc etc. it’s just convenient but you could also use the Lightroom app for all that.

Lightroom

My photography friends make images and presets for me so that’s why I use this app but android users can use it for the features I use in the iPhone photos app.

Palette Cam

NOW THIS APP it’s literally the best for saving palettes of any images and it has nooooo ads at all but it’s only on ios so I’d recommend “Pigments” for android. The one I use is so freaking good tho😩😩

IbisPaint X

I use it to redraw certain things like for example, for the fuego & solara moodboard, in the image with the man holding up the woman, the man had shorter hair which fuego does not have so I went on ibis paint and did this

See? it’s super cool and helpful to retouch images like that!

CapCut

It’s a super easy app for editing videos and stuff and I just included that as bonus if yall needed recommendations for video editing too hehe it has super complex features that would make your edits look out of this world if you know how to use them properly.

————————

Ok enough chitchat let me tell you how I do it😎

So there are two different character moodboards I do. Solo character and ships.

For both solo characters and ships, I always have two quotes which I place in the middle row, left and right.

The quotes ofc have to be related to the character or the vibe of the ship

Then I have at least one hand picture in the board bc uhhh hands are my thing😅👉👈

For the solo characters the center picture is always an icon of their character, or the main motif.

The Julius moodboard has a starburst art in the middle of it and the overarching theme is stifled divinity so it’s like an explosion or a reveal of his power.

While Yami, William, and Yuno boards are their icons.

The rest of the pictures on the board are their vibes. Royalty vibes and crowns for Julius and Yuno. Soft vibes like birdhouse, bird and his beautiful smile for William. Yami’s culture and his propensity for smoking in his board etc.

For my BC moodboards, I also include one image that’s their magic. Like Julius: clock; Yami: the moon and his katana; Yuno: hand with wind magic and Bell’s wing; William: tree.

For the ship moodboards, I try to have at least two hand pictures but it always doesn’t work out. I also include at the very least, two human pictures or silhouettes either together or apart. And the rest are also the motifs, vibes, and maybe even a photographically representation of a situation the ship went through together.

The most important thing in a mood board is

‼️PLACEMENT‼️

THIS IS SO FREAKING IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE IT LOOKS GOOD

Uniformity is important(at least in a 3x3 where it’s possible but if it’s another format, that’s a whole nother talk BUT EVEN THEN ITS IMPORTANT)

Look at these!

The cross is all dark and the corners are light

The X is all light while the edges of the cross are all dark.

It looks more pleasing to the eye!! You can’t have random placement of the pictures inside the formation too.

In the Yuno moodboard, in the cross, the top and bottom are royalty themed while the horizontal line are the quotes.

Same with William’s. Top and bottom are the golden dawn and it’s castle. The diagonal connecting the birdhouse and the bird are well, connected, bc yk birds.

I cannot STRESS how important placement is. Please please please place them where they would look neat.

Now let’s talk filters.

You can you any app that you like😎 I use Filto, PicsArt and most often, LiveCollage.

For my dark moodboards, I first make em all black and white and then I colorize them in PicsArt with the Colorize effect all the way down in the colors category effects.

Since the colorize tool is very intense by default, you have to increase the fade on the slider given and lower it down a bit to make it more subtle but at the same time give it a filter.

I’m learning how to make two toned filters and presets so give be some time for that but yee

Colors of the filters are important for the vibes of each character.

For example, while yuno’s color is light green, I chose viridian for the filter color bc of his cool attitude.

Filters are easy game but let me teach you how to recolor certain parts of an image

Go to PicsArt -> effects -> scroll all the way down to colors -> color replace

I can change this orange hair, into pink hair.

It’s very cool😎

I hope this helps and I’d love to make more tutorials in the future🥰🥰🥰

#tutorial #my moodboards #long post #I hope you guys like it🙈🙈🙈

[joonkorre]

@drarrymicrofic prompt: remake

not gonna say much on this. yall should find out what's going on yourselves :D. ao3

“What do you think, Mr. Malfoy?”

Draco doesn’t need to think; he’s done enough of that in the past two months, since the day he opened his front door to see the strange woman’s sharp smile. But he thinks anyway, one last time before he answers.

He’d have to leave the wizarding world behind. Of course, it doesn’t have to be that drastic. However, if he doesn’t want his frequent disappearances to catch the Ministry’s attention, then it’s best to withdraw into the Muggle world altogether, as far from its control as possible. Mother has Aunt Andy, Teddy, and friends from her book club now, she’ll be fine with him visiting only a few days each year.

Other than that, there are no downsides. He has nothing to lose except maybe his life somewhere down the line, but everybody dies at some point, don’t they?

He lifts his gaze to the buzzing light on the ceiling, its shine cold and apathetic. To the mahogany bookcase, filled with tomes upon tomes full of ancient rites and rituals, of creatures considered ‘cryptid’ even to wizardkind. To the bookend that is shaped like a crow, which flaps its wings when its beak is tapped five times, unlocking the hidden safe behind the bookcase. The safe that stores all the actual research and data he’s collected, jealously and fearfully hoarded.

He doesn’t know everything, but he knows enough. He knows enough to be aware that the lore Pansy snorted at when he first mentioned them, the creatures Mother dismissed as another of her bored rich son’s new obsessions, are the same ones Unspeakable Granger narrowed her eyes at when she walked past his table in the canteen and caught a glimpse of his notes. He had a feeling then that he shouldn’t even make any indication that he was interested in these things, which was proven to be correct when Ministry personnel started loitering outside his office more after that day.

He doesn’t know everything, but he knows his findings are not safe in anyone’s hands but his. The Ministry still repeats its tendency to care more about itself than the common people. The Department of Mystery, practically its own entity due to how even the Minister is forbidden from accessing most of its files, has motivations he can’t comprehend, which means motivations he can’t predict. There is no way to know if his colleagues are truly interested in “that old wife’s tale, that Bigfoot, Cthulhu shite Malfoy’s into” or will report him to those who know how to deal with him, to Unspeakable Granger, to the Department of Mysteries. His findings are not safe in anyone’s hand but his.

But if he says ‘yes,’ they are.

Draco dips his quill in the ink bottle the woman—“Dr. Stewart,” she’s introduced, calm and sure—provided him and signs his name on the contract and its related documents. No hint of anything other than indifference is shown on her face, and he wonders how many others before him has she recruited.

Once his thumbprint has been collected, the last step of the process, he Vanishes the ink on his finger. Dr. Stewart raises a brow but says nothing more. She stands up, holding out a hand.

“Welcome, Dr. Malfoy. The SCP Foundation is glad to have you with us.”

Shaking her hand, Draco feels something slide into place at his new title. He smiles politely, heart thundering in his chest.

“Have you worked with wizards before, Dr. Stewart?” Draco asks as he starts packing the valuables at his work desk into his briefcase. Dr. Steward has come to the Ministry by Floo, and though she seemed a bit disconcerted after stepping out of the Ministry Public Floo #13, she didn’t hesitate to follow him to his office. Thus, seeing her reaction to a simple Vanishing spell has certainly been a bit strange.

Dr. Steward gathers the documents to secure in a folder.

“My colleagues have—some of them have Muggleborn and Halfblood relatives—but not me personally,” she answers. “My apologies, I still need to get used to seeing magic in… this way. Ironically, we have more luck with magic users from other dimensions than from our own, especially with what happened in recent history.”

The Second Wizarding War ended barely a decade ago. Its victims, both people and nature, still bleed. “I can see why you aren’t very keen on interacting with us up-close these days,” Draco nods, careful.

“Precisely,” Dr. Stewart says. “So, believe it when I say you’re the exception.”

Draco stiffens. “Thank you. I’m sorry, it’s still a bit hard to, ah, believe that.”

“You are the exception,” she says. “We need professionals in the occult, especially those who dabbled in the Dark Arts along with other types of magic. Not many wizards of your kind in Great Britain remember the Original Gods and Old Magic, but you have that link, whether it be through honest religious belief or just intensive research.”

She crosses her legs. “We’ve had our eyes on you for a while, Dr. Malfoy. We need someone who’s willing to look for the oddity in the mundane, and when our people heard rumours of the infamous Malfoy heir having a—highly accurate, by the way—fixation on conspiracy theories and cryptozoology, visiting various parts of the world in pursuit of those ‘tall tales,’ we knew we need your intellect.”

Draco doesn’t quite know what to say. He was sure everybody thought him unhinged; even Luna seemed off around him these days instead of enthusiastically rallying after his theories like she usually would, gradually gravitating toward Granger whenever they’re in the same room.

“Our goals are different; the SCP Foundation wants to keep humanity safe and alive, you want knowledge and just knowledge. But I hope you find yourself in your element while working with us, finally having access to all the information you’ve been working so hard to find out.”

She tilts her head just so, and Draco can tell she knows he likes what he’s hearing. His thirst consumes him, makes him risk, makes him sin. He has to go insane to stay sane. Despite the small price of most likely dying from working with dangerous anomalies at the Foundation no matter how pretty Dr. Stewart advertises it, every cell in his body sings at the chance to know what is lurking beyond the folds of reality.

He thinks of Mother, of Aunt Andy, of little Teddy, of Pansy, of Blaise. The vision of them killed, maimed, snapped from existence because he didn’t do anything to help makes his gut twist, his throat parched. He’d kill himself from the guilt, a well-casted Sectumsempra. He decides.

His goal is no different than the Foundation’s from now on, and he has no qualms about that. With this opportunity, he is free at last, free to do the work he knows is important, to help and change without outside interference.

He is reborn.

Draco’s back straightens, and he moves his wand this way and that, orchestrating a cacophony of tomes and devices to levitate from the heavy bookshelves to the duffle bag he brought along.

“Dr. Malfoy, did I not tell you where you’ll be stationed?”

Draco halts the objects’ action mid-air, staring at Dr. Stewart.

“I was under the impression that I am to be working at Site-91,” he says, “in Yorkshire?”

“As I thought, I forgot something,” Dr. Stewart sighs, the first sign of human imperfection leaking through. She searches through her briefcase, long nails clicking through the files. “Sit down, please, and there’s no need to pack up your belongings.”

Sending the objects back to their original places, Draco takes his seat, brows furrowed. He toys with his wand, a tick he hasn’t been able to be rid of ever since Potter’s returned his wand after years of what seemed to be perpetual emptiness without it.

“There we go,” Dr. Stewart says and flips open a thick, stapled stack of paper. “You are to stay here for the duration of your first assignment. Count yourself lucky, starting work right away.”

“Stay here? But—”

“There is an anomalous individual working here,” she says, hard lines etched on her face. “You will act like you’ve not changed your career and continue to ‘work’ in the Ministry. Because of your proximity, we expect you to gather as much information as possible about him. You can use any method, as long as you stay alive and well to report back to us and receive your salary. Not to worry, we will assist you as this individual is, like most of what we deal with, deadly when pushed.”

She slides the file toward him and settles back against her chair. Draco is admittedly no less surprised than before.

“Wake up and get ready by 6 AM this Saturday, for we’ll come to get you at your house and go to Site-91. There are other information and protocols you need to know, and you’ll also get the equipment suited for this assignment,” Dr. Stewart adds.

Draco has a few questions, but from the way she ends with a close-mouthed smile, he reckons any at all would be regarded as idiotic. Well, at least she told him something.

With a slight sigh, he opens the file. The peculiar layouts and code words fly past him—he’d have to ask for a manual of some kind, Muggle science-y terminology has never been his best suit. However.

“What,” he breathes, leaning close to the file, eyes wide, “what is he—what is—”

However, there are two words he can’t mistake, no matter how sleep-deprived he is or how blind. A name, in fact.

“What is Harry Potter doing in this file?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Dr. Stewart asks, lacing her fingers on her lap. “Think. His lifelong exposure with the Dark Arts and artifacts, how volatile and explosive his power is, and most importantly, how dangerous he is even to the brightest magic users. There’s a reason why we don’t meddle with your kind. You already have the means available to contain certain anomalies, but Potter is different, and we have to step in this time.”

Draco stares at her, then at the name in the file, at the picture attached, slack-jawed.

“The oddity in the mundane, Dr. Malfoy,” Dr. Stewart leans forward, a knowing look on her face. Draco's legs feel like wooden trunks, sunken into the ground. "Get used to it, and get focused. Because if left unchecked, Harry Potter might very well get powerful enough to become a reality bender."

#drarrymicrofic #prompt: remake #harry potter #draco malfoy #scp au #scp foundation #i've been binging scp content in the past week and i think i know enough to write a short fic #i've always liked the trope of draco being in the muggle world #but what if that muggle world is just as extraordinary as the wizarding world? #where do the boundaries between the two get blurred in the scp universe? #kinda realized my kink for leaving a lot of unanswered questions in my work #ever since i got into the scp universe it's not difficult for me to conclude that harry would be considered an anomaly #and draco being a researcher at the foundation gets me giddy #draco being an academic of any kind gets me giddy #joonkorre writes

[splendidcas]

My Supernatural Fandom Research Paper

A/N: this is the draft of my 17 page research paper on the fandom that I am doing for my communications college class! I still have work to do on my results section but it’s almost done! once the final draft is complete, I will be presenting my research at my college’s student symposium! I want to thank all of you who helped me with my research, it means so much!! <33

ALSO feel free to skip the Literature Review; it’s not about SPN, just scholarly literature! 

I also included some screenshots of tweets and posts from the cast that are in my actual paper. tada :) hope yall like it! 

Finally, THIS PAPER IS 17 PAGES LONG SO FAR (in my Pages application). so yeah, feel free to skim or read as much or as little as you like. I just wanted to thank you all again for your help. Love you all <3

the rest is under the cut!

Abstract

This research paper explores the uniqueness of the hit television show Supernatural on The CW, which has been ongoing since 2005, and its fandom. Fans of the show have been labeled as “die-hard” and the cast has engaged in an ongoing relationship with the fandom for the past fourteen years and counting. This paper investigates what about the show and the fandom makes it so unique, as well as what the impact of such a relationship is.

Introduction

Five years ago my mother introduced me to the hit television show Supernatural, and I was instantly hooked. Since then I have participated in fan-created content, made many friends in the fandom, and have been to three Supernatural conventions so far. Through being such an active member of the fandom, I gained extensive knowledge on the show, its cast, and fellow fans. I realized what a unique show and fandom this was, and I began to question what the impact of that would be.

According to dictionary.com, a fandom is “the fans of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc., regarded collectively as a community or subculture.”  Fandoms can also form around TV shows, movies, books, video games, and more. Although many of them share similarities, every fandom is different, and the Supernatural fandom in particular very much stands out from the rest. In fact, they’re not just a fandom; the cast and fans call themselves the “Supernatural Family” due to their close relationship. “Both aca-fans and mainstream media have recognized the increasingly reciprocal relationship between fans and producers, facilitated by internet technologies and social media” (Fandom at the Crossroads, 2). This relationship is certainly unique; for the past 14 years and counting it has led to episodes dedicated to the fans, fan conventions where the fans and cast meet and interact, charity campaigns, scavenger hunts, and more. Needless to say, the cast and fans have been engaged in a constant conversation that has greatly impacted the lives of all who are involved.

Since social media took off, fandom culture has grown significantly and has become an important part of the individual’s lives. For example, fandoms are an example of participatory culture, which “involves fans acting not only as consumers but also as producers and creators of some form of creative media” (Grinnell College). Fans creating art and fiction, also simply known as fan art and fan fiction, are examples of such creative media. Fans are not just fans anymore. They’re no longer simply reading or watching their favorite media; they are becoming a part of the fictional worlds themselves, adding to them by creating their own versions of canons in the worlds. The Supernatural fans are no exception to this; there are currently 328,391 works of Supernatural fan fiction on the fan fiction website Archive of Our Own alone (archiveofourown.org). There are countless works of fan fiction on Tumblr and Wattpad as well. Many fans even bring their fan art to the cast at Supernatural conventions where they can get cast members to sign them.

The relationship between Supernatural fans and cast members is important to note because not only are the fans immersing themselves into the fictional world, engaging with the cast, and dedicating a good chunk of their lives to the show, but also because it has been ongoing since 2005. Jensen Ackles, one of the main actors on the show since the beginning, has even hinted that the show will “keep going for several more years” (TV Guide). This begs the question: What is it about the show that has created such die-hard fans? In addition, what is the impact of such a reciprocal relationship? To conduct such research I plan to use the Uses & Gratifications theory create a survey for Supernatural fans. By using the Uses & Grats theory and conducting a survey I hope to discover what the impact of the relationship between Supernatural fans and the cast members has been, as well as why Supernatural acts as a breeding ground for die-hard fans.

Uses and Gratifications in Fandoms

Elihu Katz provided the foundation for the Uses and Gratifications theory with his work, “Uses and Gratifications Research.” He explains that the theory “begins by specifying needs and then attempts to trace the extent to which they are gratified by the media or other sources” (Katz). In other words, people have needs that need to be met, and they seek to meet and gratify those needs in different medias.  In his work he also provides five basic assumptions of the theory. First, audience members are active, and second, “much initiative in linking need gratification and media choice lies with the audience member” (Katz). In other words, people choose what media to consume; they do not passively wait around for media to find and affect them. Third, different media compete with one another to provide gratification and satisfaction. Fourth, people are self-aware and recognize the needs they seek to be met and can report on them. Fifth, “value judgements about the cultural significance of mass communication should be suspended while audience orientation are explored on their own terms” (Katz). In other words, different medias affect people differently, and judgements toward that concept should not be made.

In the McGraw-Hill textbook A First Look at Communication Theory, Emory A. Griffin does a great job at explaining Katz’ work in simpler terms. He goes on to explain the typology of Uses and Gratifications, or the categories of reasons one might consume a particular type of media. Such categories include: passing time, companionship, escape, enjoyment, social interaction, relaxation, information, and excitement.

Other scholars have chosen to take Uses & Gratifications even further by combining it with other factors and theories. By doing this, it becomes easier to get more specific in terms of why audience members choose the media they do. For example, Roger Cooper and Tang Tang in their article “Predicting Audience Exposure to Television in Today’s Media Environment” combined seven structural variables with Uses & Grats and turned it into a model of audience exposure. Such variables include internet, audience availability, the cost of multi-channel service, age, instrumental motivations, and gender (Cooper, Tang). In other words, these variables influence and affect what a person is going to choose to watch, read and engage with. A woman who is 25 years old might not be watching the same thing as a 75-year-old man because of the age difference, gender difference, or because perhaps they cannot afford a multi-channel service while the elder can. Scholars Gildasio Dos Santos, Michael Kotowski and Jake Hardwood expand on the gender variable in their article “Television and Gratification: The Role of Sex in Predicting Media Uses and Gratifications and Television Programs.” Gender plays more of an important role in the uses and gratifications of a media than one might think. The article cites research that found that women have a “greater tendency than men to have an empathetic and accommodating attitude towards situations in which characters struggle with an issue” (Dos Santos, Kotowski, Harwood, 9). Therefore one can draw the conclusion that women are more drawn to certain genres of television and certain television shows than men. Given that the Supernatural fandom is mostly women, this is an interesting aspect to note in my research.

Another possible variable in why someone chooses a certain media is race. Jessica R. Abrams discusses in her article “African Americans’ Television Activity” the reasons why African Americans select certain television programs and what they may get out of it in contrast to caucasians. Results found that caucasians and African Americans had different gratifications for selecting television.

Uses & Grats is deeply psychological, and it is important to note research about the psychological aspects of the theory. Alan M. Rubin argues in his article “The Uses-and-Gratifications Perspective of Media Effects” that dependency on media is a big factor in  consuming certain medias. He says, “Dependency on a particular medium results from the motives we have to communicate, the strategies we use to obtain gratifications, and the restricted availability of functional alternatives.” Any of these factors may result in a dependency on media. If someone doesn’t have any other alternative to communicate or receive a certain gratification, they resort to depending on a media to get it (Rubin). Continuing with the psychological perspective of Uses & Grats, authors Mark Galauner, Michael Beatty, Jill Red and David Atkin did a study combining the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism to see if there were any connections between them. The article discusses research conducted that found that “ extraversion and psychotics both appear to reject most of the ‘traditionally identified’ television viewing motivations” and that neuroticism “represents the strongest predictor of media use” (Atkin, Beatty, Galauner, Red). In other words, those who showed extraversion and/or psychoticism were less likely to engage in television use than those who showed neuroticism.

One model that has been combined with the Uses & Grats theory is the MAIN model, which stands for modality, agency, interactivity, and navigability. Scholars Chamil Rathnayake and Jenifer Winter used the MAIN model to conduct research on 383 college students and social media use. They explain that the MAIN model argues that “distinctive gratifications can emerge from new media affordances.” Modality is the way the media is presented, agency recognizes the ability of users to be able to contribute to media, interactivity relates to the interaction with and on a medium, and navigability is “the affordance that allows user movement through the medium” (Rathnayake and Winter, 374). Shyam Sundar and Anthony Limperos also use the MAIN model to find out if new technologies bring out new gratifications in consumers. Technology itself is a gratification, and the article found that more and newer technologies bring about more gratifications.

An extremely important aspect of the Uses & Grats theory is parasocial relationships, or an “ongoing, one-sided bond with a media figure” (ThoughtCo). Parasocial relationships are important because they are a driving force of why many engage with a certain media over and over again. Scholars Sarah Erickson, Kristen Harrison and Sonya Dal Cin wrote a journal article which explores romantic parasocial relationships that adolescents in particular have, called ARPA. Although APRA is largely ignored by scholars, the authors argue that they have a great impact on the lives of adolescents. To discover just what the impact of those relationships might be, scholars Riva Tukachinsky and Sybilla M. Dorros did a research study and found that APRAs created an idealized relationship that led to disappointment in real-life relationships. A journal article by Bradley J. Bond argues that parasocial relationships are even more important among adolescents who are members of the LGBTQ+ community. Such members may experience trouble forming real-life bond as well as expressing themselves to others. This is perhaps why they form such strong and continuous parasocial bonds with certain characters. One study by Jhih-Syuan Lin, Kuan-Ju Chen and Yongjun Sung in “Understanding the Nature, Uses and Gratifications of Social Television” found that when an audience is attached to a character, they become attached and loyal to the program. When audiences are loyal to a program, they then inadvertently become loyal to the television network.

One example of using a Uses & Grats approach to parasocial relationships is Alan M. Rubin discussing the parasocial relationships between talk radio hosts and listeners. He also discusses the impact of the relationship, as well as what the attraction and motivation of the listeners are. Rubin found that parasocial interaction with a talk radio host “should lead to greater talk radio exposure, should lead to increased information acquisition, [and] should positively predict perceptions of attitudinal and behavioral effects in line with a host’s expressed opinions” (Rubin, 640).

Scholars Darrin Brown, Sharon Lauricella, Aziz Douai, and Arshia Zaidi used a Uses & Grats approach to discover what it is about crime dramas that attract so many viewers, similar to what I would like to do with the Supernatural fandom. They fond that “frequency of viewing crime dramas was a statistically significant predictor for only full gratification and curiosity/information” (Brown, Douai, Lauricella, Zaidi, 1). Using this theory can reveal just how impactful media is; it affects the way we perceive real-life events as well as real-life relationships.

Method

In order to conduct my research with the Uses & Gratifications theory, I will be conducting a survey to gather the data necessary to discover the impact, uniqueness and perseverance of the Supernatural fandom. To discover this, many questions must be asked and answers must be sorted into categories, thus a survey makes for the easiest and most sensible method. I will be using SurveyMonkey to conduct my survey and will post it to Tumblr for several reasons. First, a very large portion of the Supernatural fandom engages with each other and with Supernatural content on the blogging website. Second, Supernatural fans on Tumblr are very willing to participate in surveys that have to do with the show, as I have discovered in the past with previous surveys. Third, as I have experienced in my 8+ years on Tumblr, it seems to have an extremely diverse group of users, and by posting my survey there I hope to gain more diversity in my sample.

My survey will first begin with a series of closed-ended questions, including age, gender (male, female, non-binary, or other), ethnicity, and sexuality. I want to include such questions because they give me reassurance that I am getting a diverse sample, and also because the answers to these questions could have an impact on the reasons they watch Supernatural and engage with the fandom. My survey will then move to open-ended questions. I realize open-ended questions may cause participants to stray, however I feel comfortable asking open-ended questions because the fans are generally very willing to participate in anything Supernatural-related, even surveys. I also feel I will get the most helpful responses through open-ended questions. I will begin with asking perhaps the most important question: “Why do you watch Supernatural?” After gathering answers to this question specifically, I will categorize them based on the answers I receive. The next open-ended questions include: “Why did you get involved in the SPN fandom?”, “Do you participate in any fan-created content (fan art, fan fiction, etc.)?”, “Have you ever been to a convention? If yes, briefly describe why and what your experience was like”, “Has Supernatural and the fandom impacted your life? If yes, briefly explain how”, and “What do you think makes Supernatural and its fandom so unique from the rest?”.

Results

After posting my survey to Tumblr and letting it run for the course of about 24 hours, I received a total of 515 respondents, though that number varies slightly among the survey questions.

My survey found that out of 508 respondents, 39.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24. 25.8% of respondents were between 25 and 35, 22.2% were under 18, 8.3% were between 35 and 45, 3.0% were between 44 and 55, and 0.98% were 55 or older. These results show that, while the majority of fans are younger, Supernatural attracts fans of all ages.

Next, out of 513 respondents, 92.4% answered that they identified as female. 2.34% identified as male, 4.5% identified as non-binary, and 0.8% identified as other. This clearly shows that the vast majority of the fandom identifies as female. This is interesting to note and can lead to many suppositions as to why this might be.

513 respondents answered the question about their ethnicity. 81.3% of respondents were white or caucasian. 13.1% were Hispanic or Latino, 4.5% were Asian or Asian American, 3.3% answered that they were another race, 1.2% were Black or African American, 1.8% were American Indian or Alaska Native, and 1% were Native Hawaiian or another Pacific Islander. 

Out of 513 respondents, 39.8% identified as heterosexual. 37.4% identified as bisexual, 8.6% identified as other, 7.8% identified as asexual. 2.9% identified as gay or lesbian, and 3.7% said they preferred not to say. These results show that the majority of fans were either heterosexual or bisexual, but there were also many fans who varied among the spectrum of sexuality.

The next question I asked respondents was the first open-ended question of the survey, asking “Why do you watch Supernatural?” and it received 514 responses. Based on the answers I received, I created eight categories of Uses and Gratifications that most respondents said got from the show. The categories were: Actors, Characters, Community, Escapism, Hope. Attractiveness of Actors, Humor, Mythology, Storyline About Family. The most popular answer for as to why they watch Supernatural, which was given by 45.5% of respondents, fell under the Characters category. Many said that over the years they had grown attached to the characters. One respondent said, “I love the characters like my own kids.” Many also responded that they loved the relationships between the characters on the show and watching them interact.

The second most popular response fell under the Mythology category, with 27% of respondents. The show involves stories about monsters, lore, angels, demons, God himself, Satan himself, and more. Many respondents seemed to find that concept extremely intriguing because not many other shows go into depth with mythology like Supernatural does.

The third most popular response, with 22% of respondents, fell under the Storyline About Family category. Several respondents said that they enjoyed that the main storyline of the show was about family because there weren’t many other shows like that. One respondent said they felt like the characters were their family now, too. Another respondent answered, “It [Supernatural] taught me more about love, friendship, and family more than anything or anyone else in my life.” Someone else also said, “It [the show] just feels like home.” Based on these answers, I have concluded that the familial storyline is one major reason as to why the show has grown so popular; it seems to have provided a family to viewers as well.

9.5% of respondents answered that the show gave them hope, falling under the Hope category. Here are some quotes from several respondents to show this and give insight as to why this is: “It [the show] makes me believe in myself again,” “These two brothers fighting against everything makes me know I can fight whatever I’m going through and overcome it,” and “I watch Supernatural because it is, in almost a way, perfect. It’s people learning to live with their demons. It’s people trying to make the world a better place. It’s finding family and love and acceptance, and a place to belong. It’s about never giving up. It’s about carrying on.” For the remaining categories, 16.9% said they watched for the actors, falling under the Actors category. 12.7% said they watched the show as a form of Escapism, 7.8% fell under the Community category, meaning they watch because they have found a community within the show and its fandom, 7.4% fell under the Humor category, and finally, 6.2% fell under the Attractiveness of Actors category, meaning they watched the show because they found the actors good-looking. Based on these results, there are many reasons as to why people watch Supernatural. However it it seems that it is mostly because it is about a family who battles demons, both literal and metaphorical, and the show has provided fantastic, lovable characters played by equally lovable actors through that storyline.

The next open-ended question I asked was “Why did you decide to get involved with the Supernatural fandom?” This question received 514 respondents, and I broke the responses down into 10 categories: More Content,  Actors/Charity, Boredom, Community, Fanfiction/Fanart, Inclusion/Acceptance, Frequent Postings, Enjoyment of Show, Recommendation, Support, and Same Interests. The More Content category means that fans joined the fandom as a way to get more content for the show, whether that be through fan-created content, discussion of the show, gifs, and more. The Actors/Charity category means that respondents got involved with the fandom because of the actors and/or the charities they created. The Boredom category is for those fans who got involved with the fandom simply because they had nothing else to do. The Community category was for those who joined because they wanted to be a part of a new community and to make new friends. The Fanfiction/Fanart category means that respondents saw the fan-created content and decided to join in themselves. The Inclusion/Acceptance category, as well as the Support category, were for the fans who joined based off of the reputation that the fandom has for being accepting, welcoming, and supportive. The category of Frequent Postings means that respondents said they got involved because Supernatural and the fandom’s posts “kept popping up everywhere on Instagram and Tumblr,” as many respondents said, so they decided to give it a try themselves. Enjoyment of Show was for respondents who got involved with the fandom simply because they liked the show. The Recommendation category means that respondents got involved based off of a recommendation to do so from a family member or friend. Finally, the Same Interests category was for respondents who said that they joined the fandom in order to discuss the show with people who had the same interests as them.

The most popular response, with 18.9% of respondents, was Same Interests. As one respondent put it, “I loved the idea of being part of a community of people who are so passionate about a show.” Next, the categories of Frequent Postings and Community tied with 14.4%. For Frequent Postings, one respondent said, “I just wanted to understand all the references on Tumblr.” It seems that, based on the responses, the fandom took over a large part of Tumblr, leaving little room for non-fans to escape. For the Community category, many joined because they had heard about the fandom and wanted to be a part of a community of people with a “reputation for being a brilliant fandom to be a part of,” as one respondent put it. Another respondent said they had “never felt a part of anything in [their] life until the show and the fandom came along.” The next most popular category was Fanfiction/Fanart, with 14.2% of respondents. The remaining categories were Recommendation with 10.9%, 9.9% with Enjoyment of Show, 8.8% with Inclusion/Acceptance, 7.4% with Actors/Charity, 6% with More Content, 5.5% with Support, and 2.3% with Boredom. Based on these results, it can be concluded that fans got involved with the fandom for a wide variety of reasons, but mostly because they wanted to meet and talk to people who shared similar interests.

The following question I asked was, “Do you participate in any fan-created content (fan art, fan fiction, etc.)? If so, please describe your participation.” The fandom is so widespread, and I wanted to know how many were participating in fan-created content because that shows what an impact Supernatural has had on its fans’ lives. As said before, they are not simply watching the television show and moving on with their lives. Instead, they create their own canons within the Supernatural world. This question had 505 respondents and answers were divided into 4 categories: Creator, meaning they themselves create content, Consumer, meaning they do not create themselves but consume the content created by others, Both Create and Enjoy, and No, for those who did not participate in any fan-created content. The majority of respondents were Creators, with 30.3%. 28.9% were Consumers, 17% fell under Both Create and Enjoy, and 16.4% said No. Based on these results, one can conclude that the vast majority of the fandom is participating in some way, shape or form in fan-created content. What this means is that they are letting the show take up a larger portion of their lives than they would if they only simply watched the show and then left it alone. It also means that the majority of fans are creating for/because of/based off of the show, which is significant because they may be enhancing their own creativity and skills just because of a television show.

I also asked participants if they had ever been to a Supernatural convention. These conventions are expensive and the price goes up every year, so I assumed many people would answer No. However I wanted to ask anyway for the fans that had been to a convention in order to get a sense of what the experience was like for them. 85% of respondents said they had never been to a Supernatural convention, and the vast majority of them said they wanted to if they could afford it. 15.5% said they had, and almost every single one of those respondents answered that it was a very positive experience. Many of these respondents also said they had been to multiple conventions. One respondent said, “I have been to MinnCon and it was AMAZING!! Meeting them [the cast], listening to stories, taking pictures with them [the cast]…it was heaven.” Another respondent said, “I met a lot of great people from all around the world.” Another respondent also said, “Rich and Rob [cast members] put on an amazing show for us, Louden Swain [the cast band] rocked the concert, and all of the actors are just so fun and funny you can’t help but have an amazing time.” One respondent even said it was the best experience they’ve ever had. These answers are important to note because, based off of them, it can be concluded that Supernatural is greatly impacting and changing lives. Fans are saving up money to go to expensive conventions in order to be able to interact with the cast in a more intimate way that not many other fandoms do. For example, one person said they went to a meet and greet with Jensen Ackles, and they said they “got to tell him how much [they] appreciate him to his face.”

The following question I asked respondents was, “Has Supernatural and the fandom impacted your life? If so, briefly explain how.” Out of 510 respondents, only 37 of them said that they had not been impacted, meaning that 92% of respondents had been impacted and in a positive way. Many mentioned Jared Padalecki, another main character of the show, and his charity campaign Always Keep Fighting that he ran in 2015 in an effort to bring awareness to mental health, as he suffers from depression himself. 

Above is a screenshot of a Facebook post Jared made back in 2015 when the campaign was still running. Those who mentioned Jared and the campaign said that the campaign improved their mental health and has given them hope on a daily basis. Some said that it, the show, and the fandom saved their lives. One respondent said, “Someone that I hold very near and dear to my heart is Jared. I 100% believe that if it weren’t for him, his character Sam, and the Always Keep Fighting campaign, I wouldn’t be here today.” Below are several more quotes from other respondents that show what an amazing impact the show, its actors, and the fandom have made on the lives of fans:

“It’s made me feel welcome when I’ve felt like an outcast. It’s given me focus when I felt untethered. It’s given me a family when I’ve felt alone. For those reasons and so many more, I owe Supernatural and its fandom so much. More than I can say.”

“The actors have impacted me a lot with what they’ve done for the world and that they talk about things not everyone else does. It makes me feel accepted, and I don’t get that often.”

“The characters have flaws and the series shows the it’s okay to be different or not alright, but it’s always important to get help…this show makes me want to keep fighting.”

In addition, below is a tweet made in 2018 by Misha Collins, the third main character of the show.

The final question I asked respondents was the open-ended question, “What do you think makes the Supernatural fandom so unique?” Although I did not categorize these answers or look at all of them because there were 510 long responses, many respondents said similar things. One answer many provided was the fact that the show has been around for so long and yet still has such active, passionate members. As one respondent put it, “It has survived for over ten years and still has a following. Most other fandoms lose steam or just die in that amount of time. But even during weaker seasons, the fandom lives on…” Another popular answer for this question was the fact that it is more than a fandom, it is more like a family composed of not only fans but cast members as well. A respondent said, “What makes Supernatural and its fandom so unique from others is that we are a tightly-knitted family that was started by people who just wanted to do some good in the world. Supernatural is so unique because the characters we see on screen…are real, kind, selfless people…We see that the actors who play those characters we look up to possess those same virtues and qualities. What makes people so dedicated to Supernatural and its fandom is the fact that nothing is fake, even if you take away the movie magic. The fandom has built itself into something more: a family.” Below are several more quotes from different respondents discussing the Supernatural Family phenomenon:

“I think that it’s a fandom for people who find themselves lost, and together we’ve made a home for ourselves. We help each other learn and grow into better people. Other fandoms don’t seem to be as much of a family as we do and I think that’s what makes us special.”

“This show is special because of how much interaction we have with all the actors; they are constantly saying how much they love the fandom and family.”

“The fandom feels more like a family than a group of strangers fawning over the same thing (a very, VERY huge family, of course) and we’ve all bonded deeply over the years while seeing these characters we love suffer time and time again and yet always emerge more or less intact and ready to keep fighting.”

“When we are at our best, we operate like a family. The actors will ask fans one on one how they’re doing and if they’re okay. Friends who were strangers before the show have saved each other’s lives. We keep hope alive for each other when we don’t have any.”

“We accept everyone as is. We are voca, about mental health. We are supportive of each other. We are a family. Not a fandom.”

All of these quotes by respondents and the cast members show how significant and positive the impact of the show and the relationship between the fans and actors have been on so many, especially in terms of mental health. All of these are proof that the Supernatural fandom is not just a fandom: it’s the Supernatural Family, and it will continue for years to come.

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tagging those who were interested: @mrscasnovak @dammitsammy @unisaursarethebest @ezilyamuzed @tardis-impala-bakerst-221 @supernatural-bellawinchester @iammsamy

#supernatural #spn #spn family #supernatural family #spn fandom #shannons college adventures

[disegnidipizzo]

Talkspot

Looking backwards, at barely 2 months ago's art, im shocked at 2 things: 1)- how much it has improved and how ive been able to figure out my current style and 2)- the amount of exposure it got.

Since switching from mainly cookie run (and also rather sporadic uploads coughs) to the official homestuck phase, in which im also uploading more finished pieces and also more often and idk it just kinda works.

BUT the most important thing is not that.

The most important thing is everyone that follows, likes and rbs has stuck with me and enjoys the content i can provide.

Its a small audience for now, but i appreciate every single one of yalls! And i promise to keep pumping out more stuff!

#not art #just felt as if i should say this #small audience? no problem bc its an audience im willing to make more stuff for

[uncleanakin]

after reblogging so many posts about reblogging artwork, i was gonna apologize in the tags about spamming yall’s dashes with non sw content

but then i was like you know what? im not sorry

tbh the only thing im sorry about in this situation is that all my fellow creators don’t get enough appreciation and respect when they put their time, effort, and hearts into their works. they put so much of themselves into their work and yet barely anyone shares their work by reblogging

“but that’s not important,” a self-centered, entitled person might say, “they’re not entitled to reblogs just bc they created some art”

that is correct. no one’s really entitled to reblogs.

but what about this? everyone is entitled to food, and water, and basic necessities. each person deserves that. how do you know that the artist you’re not reblogging from depends on the money made from commissions to support themselves?

“but not every artist does commissions! if they did commissions then yeah i’d reblog to spread the word” the self-centered one may argue

that is also correct. not every artist does commissions.

but tell me, are you really going to check each blog to see if the op does commissions and would benefit from the exposure? are you really going to do that???

no, you won’t.

so then just reblog it anyway in case they do. i could say a lot more on this (thank you @skysilencer for inspiring me to write this. asdfs im so upset at the anons you’ve been getting) but i’m super tired so imma head to bed.just, reblog art yall. that includes fanvids, edits, fics, and everything else. we artists put so much effort into creating out work to share with YOU. it’s about time you spend a little effort to share the good we’ve created with other people.

#reyna's ramblings #thank you and goodnight #my eyes are so dry #i havent done my hwk yet