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Remove the White Supremacists

Dear Tumblr @staff, 

In light of the recent white supremacist terror attacks worldwide: 

We, the Tumblr community (your community), implore you to change your previously passive policy against white supremacy and white nationalist extremist ideologies. 

Every major news station, social expert, and experts on extremist ideologies have identified that these extremist ideologies are spread and grown on online platforms: specifically social platforms. They have identified the major ways that communities can confront these violent extremist views; the biggest one being for social media groups to actually start removing user accounts that post and spread extremist white nationalist dog whistles, memes, and rhetoric.

Your users are begging for your help in stemming the rising tide of xenophobic violence. As has become evident by the recent terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, these ideologies don’t begin with violence, but with strategically spouted rhetoric and hate speech that riles up others who are vulnerable to being persuaded by their subtle methods. 

Please.  If you support the safety of your users.  If you support the Muslim Community. If you support the Jewish Community.  If you support People of Color.  If you support your users regardless of color or religious background. 

Then it’s time to start taking a proactive stance against extremist white supremacist and nationalist ideologies and remove them. 

The signatures and reblogs below should serve to show you how strongly your userbase feels about this. We all stand for a world without Hate. Do you?

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If you’re European, in a couple of weeks you will be denied any and all access to fandom contents on Tumblr and everywhere else on the internet. Here’s why.

On June, 20th the JURI of European Parliament approved of the articles 11 and 13 of the new Copyright Law. These articles are also known as the “Link Tax” and the “Censorship Machines” articles.

Articles 13 in particular forces every internet platform to filter all the contents we upload online, ending once and for all the fandom culture. Which means you won’t be able to upload any type of fandom works like fan arts, fan fictions, gif sets from your favourite films and series, edits, because it’s all copyrighted material. And you won’t also be able to share, enjoy or download other’s contents, because the use of links will be completely restricted.

But not everything’s lost yet. There’s another round of voting scheduled for the early days of July.

What you can do now to save our internet, is to share these informations with all of your family members and friends, and to ask to your MEP (the members of the European Parliament from your country) to vote NO at the next round, to vote against articles 11 and 13.

Here you can find more news and all the details to contact your MEP:

https://saveyourinternet.eu

Also, sign and share this petition:

https://www.change.org/p/european-parliament-stop-the-censorship-machinery-save-the-internet?recruiter=50668942&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

We have just a couple of weeks to stop this complete madness, don’t let them dictating the way we enjoy our internet.

#SaveYourInternet now!

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Married ❤

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While many people think fanfiction is about inserting sex into texts (like Tolkien’s) where it doesn’t belong, Brancher sees it differently: “I was desperate to read about sex that included great friendship; I was repurposing Tolkien’s text in order to do that. It wasn’t that friendship needed to be sexualized, it was that erotica needed to be … friendship-ized.” Many fanfiction writers write about sex in conjunction with beloved texts and characters not because they think those texts are incomplete, but because they’re looking for stories where sex is profound and meaningful. This is part of what makes fan fiction different from pornography: unlike pornography, fanfic features characters we already care deeply about, and who tend to already have long-standing and complex relationships with each other. It’s a genre of sexual subjectification: the very opposite of objectification. It’s benefits with friendship.

Francesca Coppa, “Introduction to The Dwarf’s Tale,” The Fanfiction Reader (via rembrandtswife)

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Sam has never stated his own sexual orientation

When Dean makes a gay joke about Sam he doesn’t deny it or get defensive

When people mistake Sam and Dean for gay couple it’s clear his concern is “we’re brothers,” not that people think he’s gay

When Bobby makes a deal with Crowley, the first question that pops into Sam’s mind is “Did you kiss him?”

Sam uses gender neutral terms when talking about past relationships

Sam and Brady’s relationship is described as “they have history”

Crowley refers to Brady as Sam’s “demon lover”

Sam has summoned 2 male crossroads demons, the only time he got a female is when he wanted to talk to a specific one summoned by Dean

Sam’s only problem with the concept of Destiel is people are not shipping him with Cas

Sam shipped himself romantically with Cas and created a ship name without any prompting

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11x19 “The Chitters” Flashbacks of Purgatory

I found it pretty brilliant that exactly one season after we last had a major callback to purgatory (10x19 “The Werther Project”) and how that experience shaped Dean and determined so much of his story onwards with connecting with his id and taking on the MoC, we got another episode bringing us back to the moment this story was set up for Dean.

This entire attack was heavily reminiscent of Dean’s and Benny’s first meeting in purgatory. What I find extremely interesting and concerning about this here however is that Dean when wrestling that Chitter thing, in a way you could say he was wrestling with a possible future parallel of himself when controlled by a third party.

In any case I found it deeply unsettling seeing the Chitter wore the colours that for a better part of two seasons now have been connected to the MoC and the Darkness arc.

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2 year anniversary of the most difficult drawing I ever did! Now I’m too mentally fucked up to try anything similar again but I’m still proud of it, and I’m glad it’s with someone who appreciates it and whom I love so so so so much, the lovely @msbutterflywithtattoos who just had birthday yesterday! <3 Happy Birthday again babe, love you <3 

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The Romance Arc (Destiel)

So, I know we always say it, but the other day I was finally fed up enough - or weird enough - to decide I’d make a list. And, guys, this is going to be a long-ass post, so if you haven’t got time, here is the tl;dr version: if we look at the love tropes most commonly used to build an onscreen relationship, Dean and Cas score an eye-watering 61/91 - that’s a 67% total.

Now, to put that in perspective - in order to build a romance arc, you’ve got five obligatory stages (meeting each other, falling in love, becoming a couple, a period of conflict, a resolution) and each of these stages will include at least one common trope, more or less hidden according to the kind of media and the author’s intent and sophistication. tvtropes lists a total of 91 tropes, but no love story will ever use them all. That would be ridiculous - either a parody or complete insanity. Think of a story where our lovers were destined to be together and also promised to each other as children and also the reincarnation of past lovers; where they meet by spilling coffee on each other and then she goes on to lose her handkerchief and he picks it up and runs after her to give it back but - whoa - now she’s been attacked by pirates and the hero wants to save her but his king is ordering him not to and oh no, what will he do? That sounds like overkill, right? And it totally is: a story with too many tropes is a ridiculous, unrealistic, unwatchable mess. To give you a better idea of what I mean, if look at those 91 tropes tvtropes lists as possible steps to build a romance arc, Dirty Dancing, one of the most romantic movies ever made, only scores 19 points; 10 Things I Hate about You, another big favourite of mine and an absolute ALL the love, ALL the feels story, scores 16 points. And Jane the Virgin, an actual soap-opera parody on the CW complete with sudden rain and snow to highlight special kisses, scores even lower: 13 points.

Meanwhile, normal friendships between men like Sam and Frodo’s in the Lord of the Rings trilogy or Ted and Marshall’s in How I Met Your Mother score a grand total of zero points - so, yes, it’s perfectly possible to write a non-romantic male friendship even when that friendship is a dramatic I’ll walk with you to the very edge of the Earth and then carry you up the slopes of a dangerous volcano and finally die with you sort of thing. Because, funnily enough, you can be friends with somebody and be ready to die for them without actually having a sexual interest in them. 

(Johnlock scores 29 points.)

(Wincest, 4.)

Something you could be wondering at this point is, why tropes though? Why are tropes a thing, and why does it matter how many tropes Supernatural chooses to use between Dean and Cas? And, look, I’m sure someone else could say it better, but essentially tropes are the bones of a story. Every single story you see out there, from the Odyssey to Torchwood/Gossip Girl crossovers to coffeshop AUs is built out of the same building blocks. There are, like, seven possible plots and about two dozen kinds of characters and maybe two hundred common tropes - and that’s it. Try tagging any classic novel with AO3 tags and you’ll see what I mean. 

[This story is Jules Verne’s fanfiction of an Edgar Allan Poe novel, and, yeah.]

Now, since it’s only possible to build a story in a limited number of ways, the problem all authors face is to find an original way to make it work. Some will use tropes religiously, either because they can’t think of anything different or because they hope a tried-and-tested formula will appeal to readers (see every romance novel under the sun; also most thrillers). Others will make fun of tradition by throwing the tropes back in your face (one of my favourite takes of this is Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle). And others will manage to bullshit you so thoroughly and completely you won’t notice the tropes are there until it’s too late - those are the stories where you’re truly surprised and shocked by events and you sit up in bed like a fool gasping out loud and you only stop reading because you need to tell someone asap, You won’t believe what just happened. A good example of this is the ending of the first season of Game of Thrones - we were all so convinced Ned Stark was the hero, filming people who hadn’t read the books as they watched him die became something of a hobby; and many became convinced George RR Martin was this all-powerful deity without any rules (not true: he’s a good writer, however, and he managed to convince most of us Ned was the hero when in reality he was the ‘Dumbledore’ figure - and therefore his death makes perfect sense).

And if we’re talking about Destiel - as I explained in the very first meta I wrote for this fandom (though at the time I hadn’t even realized I was part of a fandom, and didn’t know what a meta even was), I didn’t start to ‘ship’ Dean and Cas out of nefarious reasons, or tedium, or a desire to write smutty fanfiction. In fact, I still don’t consider myself a shipper in any way. I am not particularly interested in romance, and I never go out of my way to see who may be suited for whom. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong in doing that - just that it’s something I don’t do. If I started to see Destiel and to write about it, it’s because to me (and, apparently, to a lot of other people), it was clear that there was something there; that that was how the story was built. And if I started to look at it more closely, it was simply because my expectations as a viewer were disappointed, and the relationship of trust between author and reader was - for me - crumbling into nothingness. 

And, look, I won’t lie: I was angry and upset by the implications - that there was something wrong with me - that I was trying to force a sexual relationship on two friends just because. That, as a woman, I couldn’t enjoy a story without making it all about the romance. No, I am a huge book nerd, and I like writing stories, and I mostly analyse stuff for a living and I also sort of have eyes? - so, to me, it was clear I was being lied to, and at that moment, I was left in an uncomfortably ambiguous position which will sound familiar to many of you - I was furious at the show, but at the same time I was still in love with the characters (so very much in love). This was a frustrating feeling which presented me with two equally unappealing options - to keep watching and not expect anything, or to walk away. In the end, I tried a third way, which I suspect many of you have chosen as well: I was too invested in these characters to abandon them, but I also wanted this story to be an honest story, so I started complementing it with ‘viewing supports’. I started to read (and write) fanfiction. I looked for fanvideos, fanart and gifs. And, most of all, I fell into the habit of reading (and writing) metas after every episode to make sure what I was seeing was actually there. Because, well, for me - that’s why I write metas about Supernatural when I don’t write metas of other shows I enjoy much more: because most of the time Supernatural is more focused on not telling a story than it is in telling one, which means what we are left with what is a half story where our characters have their own secret life offscreen and many lines of dialogue could mean anything. Ironically enough, Supernatural has become like its hero and POV character, Dean Winchester: a con and a liar and a charmer who tries to be liked by everyone. 

(And let’s not forget the swings both ways thing).

As for the other question - are we crazy? - I’m hoping this post will help clearing things up: no, we are not crazy. The reason we see a romance unfolding is because the relationship between Dean and Cas is written to fit a romance arc - and does fit a romance arc by 67%.

[Longer analysis under the cut.]

Keep reading

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trying to hide your fanfiction like

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*heart breaks*

I just have a lot of feelings about these. Look at the progression..

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The way Dean shallows hard in the third gif...

It makes me indescribably happy when Sam says ‘Castiel.’ He’s such a cutie. Dean and Cas are so fucking stupid and Sam knows it and he just wants his parents…I mean Dean & Cas to be happy.

It’s like when a kid sees his potential step-mom/dad and really wants to make a good impression before the mom/dad fucks it up. He’s always so conscientious and polite and wanting Cas to stay and it just makes me cry a million tears. 

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I feel so called out because it's true.

I used to be at the edge of my seat for every new episode. My friends and I would meet to see the latest episode the day it came out (okay next day, I'm in Germany). Then we used to sit and talk about all the details, search tumblr for everyone's opinions and meta pieces. I had to watch it shortly after it came out or else I couldn't use tumblr because it was full of spoilers and gif sets and thoughts about the last episode. Now I barely see anything. Haven't heard much from the last two seasons and I'm somewhere in season 11 and I don't have to be careful about spoilers but I'm also fairly sure that there just isn't something to spoil. No surprises. Someone dies? Oh, they're gonna be back soon for sure. End of the world.. Yadda yadda. Someone is possessed and won't act like themselves or act like another character. Shocking!! Now he acts like an asshole!! But actually he's loving and kind! Coming back he will hate himself soo much for not being himself. Now he must pay by sacrificing himself. BUT OH NO! Family won't let him. Because he is still loving and kind. See what will happen next season!

ok here’s the thing

Supernatural isn’t a Good Show anymore. I think we all know that, even if we love it. it’s been a while since they did anything groundbreaking or even particularly interesting. I don’t know about everyone else, but I still watch it because a) I love Dean Winchester, b) I love complaining on this blog, and c) habit. it’s not GOOD. it’s BARELY watchable, most of the time. it hasn’t been compelling in a while - sometimes it has the potential to be, or we get an episode that smashes it (though that’s very unlikely now that Edlund’s finally jumped ship), but as a show it’s been a long time since it was a gripping drama asking big questions about good and evil, free will, nature vs nurture.

it gets renewed every year because it’s stumbled across a formula that works. they hooked us for 5 seasons with The Story, and then they fed us barely-thought out garbage for the next 7 years. they got a huge, loyal fan base incredibly invested in two loveable, layered characters (three, if you count Castiel), and that was enough to keep most of us coming back for the duration. I mean - I’ll keep watching until they cancel it. I’m in it forever. I’m PART of the PROBLEM. and this is about to… go someplace

SO THEY HAVE A FORMULA. IT WORKS. they don’t want to mess with that formula, because they want to keep getting renewed and making them dolla dolla bills. I get it. IT’S A BUSINESS. shows that Go Their Own Way (think Hannibal) get cancelled in their stunning, glorious prime, and their comparably tiny fan base is devastated but, y'know, whatever, it wasn’t making any money, so. I get that they don’t want to shake things up or do anything radical in case it backfires and they get cancelled and everyone’s out of a job. BUT I AM LOOKING AT THIS FROM THE POV OF SOMEONE WHO LOVES STORIES AND LOVES GRIPPING DRAMA AND LOVES BIG QUESTIONS, AND IT MAKES ME SO MAD THAT THEY WON’T CONFIRM THAT DEAN’S QUEER AND THAT “DESTIEL” ISN’T SOMETHING THE SHOW’S “DOING”, BECAUSE LITERALLY WHAT ELSE DO THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM? GOD FORBID THEY DO ANYTHING RISKY OR GROUNDBREAKING! LIKE CONGRATS, YOUR SHOW KEEPS GETTING RENEWED, BUT IT’S A SHALLOW PIECE OF SHIT THAT A 13-YEAR-OLD DOING THEIR FIRST NANOWRIMO COULD CHURN OUT WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT! YOU AREN’T EVEN TRYING TO BE COMPELLING! YOUR CHARACTERS ARE IN A DEVELOPMENT RUT! YOU HAVEN’T EVEN TOUCHED ON ANYTHING CHALLENGING FOR YEARS! YOU RETURN EVERYTHING TO THE STATUS QUO AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY SEASON! I COULD SKIP A YEAR OF THIS SHOW AND BE ABLE TO WORK OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON IN HALF AN EPISODE!!! IT’S TRASH!!!!! WHAT KIND OF LEGACY DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE BEHIND, SUPERNATURAL??? BORING AS FUCK AND LOW KEY EMBARRASSING PROCEDURAL ABOUT MONSTERS OR WHATEVER??? I FUCKING HOPE SO BECAUSE YOUR CHANCE OF MAKING A MARK AS ANYTHING OTHER THAN SHITTY CW DRAMA IS LYING IN TATTERS BACK IN 2011!!!!! YOU USED TO BE CULT!!!!! YOU USED TO BE CULT!!!!!!!!!!!

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POOR JARED :D

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So…Jensen notices that Mish has been working out & Jared ships Cockles as much as we do…I’m dead!!!

o(>ω<)o [x]

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HERE’S JENSEN OBJECTIFYING MISHA WITH THE TERM “HOT”, AND JARED JUDGING HIM FOR IT

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Matts face tho