#and that one was beloved

[mistystarshine]

Whenever a female character is widely hated, put the blame on misogyny. However, a good chunk of fans of specific works (with certain exceptions) are teen girls and women. Is it a case of internalized misogyny, then?

Somewhat, yes, but it's also a matter of attraction.

A great deal of fandom is shipping, and people tend to be more drawn to ships that they are attracted to. No, it's not the be-all end-all, yes, you can love characters and ships that you don't find attractive and dislike ones that you do, but it adds a MASSIVE boost. You are more likely to consider ships when you find one or more of the characters attractive. You are less likely if you do not.

I'll use myself as an example.

I don't give a shit about m/m pairings unless they have strong canonical chemistry that appeals to me (or it's a REALLY well written fic) because I'm a lesbian. It is harder to make them appeal to me because I don't get the attraction boost. I will read Adamsapple fics (with a note that I am picky about characterization) because I find the dynamic compelling. I don't mind Huskerdust, but have never once sought it out. Alastor is the major ship-launcher in this fandom, but I have not and will not read any fics that dedicate a significant amount of time toward Alastor shipping (or read Alastor-centric fics in general) because I can't comprehend how people find him hot and I find what we saw of him in canon deeply boring, so there is absolutely no appeal. M/F is honestly largely the same. Constrastingly, although I obviously gravitate toward things I already ship, I will give almost any f/f ship a shot if the fic seems well written. (With another note that I am picky about characterization.) Why? Because there is additional appeal there to make me willing to give the author the time to convince me.

(This is without even getting into smut, and I don't think I need to explain the importance of attraction there. All of the M/M or M/F smut that I've written was as a gift to a friend or because the narrative demanded it. And guess what? The f/f I've written (on a burner account that ya'll will never see) was way better.)

The majority of fandom is women. The majority of women are attracted to men. So guess what? Attractive male characters and m/m pairings get most of the attention. And guess what else? Female characters often get in the way of m/m ships, which provokes hate. Especially around younger fans who might not be experienced enough with narratives to be able to get a female love interest out of the way without demonizing them.

If you want me to say that female characters just aren't as well-written as men, it's not going to happen. There are PLENTY of male characters who are flat as cardboard yet get tons of adoring fans and fandom doing the work to flesh them out to hell and back. Just look at Hux in the Star Wars fandom. There are plenty of extremely well-written female characters who are ignored in favor of the most prominent bland hot man. And yeah, it's because they're hot. And maybe it's a bit of misogyny too, but... from what I've seen, a lot of attention comes from attraction, and when it comes to female characters, much of the hate comes from ship wars that people don't want to admit are ship wars. Plain and simple.

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

bumblebees first day out of sublevel 50

[cloudberrytroll]

The signs of time

[anundyingfidelity]

me and the logan hoes 😭

[stargirl230]

you’re my hero!

bnha doomed yuri was not on my 2024 bingo card

(no reposts; reblogs appreciated)

[keferon]

Transformers One spoilers⤵️

I HAD TO DRAW HIM PERFORMING A VILLAIN SONG ahahaham I had to. of course~

Look. One day I'll get tired of animating the shots of every character spinning dramatically. But certainly not this time ahahah

Song: Don't mess with me by Temposhark Soft: ToonSquid

[bioethicists]

every time a new SA allegation of a favored celeb arises, i'm reminded of the absolutely soul-crushing experience of the depp/heard trial in which i learned that dozens of ppl i loved + respected + trusted were also willing to engage in the basest form of misogyny if the woman Seemed Crazy Enough. there was a horrifying 2ish weeks on this website + much longer irl where i genuinely felt unsafe voicing my discomfort as i relived something eerily reminiscent of the aftermath of my own assaults playing out on screen, commented on by true crime youtubers like it was a red sox game.

it happens time + time again with every new allegation + it's truly the most agonizing + exhausting part of being a survivor. i am begging you all to consider that survivors are watching you engage with this stuff like theater + it erodes our trust in all of you + compounds our grief.

[normalfem]

Actually girlhood is being obsessed with a specific historical tragedy when you were like 9

[avi-mation]

Try not to think about Roomies’ unique quirks in showing affection.

How Etho is bit awkward in showing it but craves physical touch, discovers that forehead touches work for him. And both Cleo and Grian recognise it and put an effort to reciprocate it.

How Grian wants to do things to show his appreciation for his team, it coming out with him bringing trinkets or spending quality time with his loved ones. How both Cleo and Etho accept his need to feel wanted and make sure to always have some physical reminder from their beloved avian.

How Cleo likes to see her boys happy. How sometimes to make it happen, they would manhandle them in the most playful way, with some extra forehead kisses to sweeten the deal.

Now try not to think about it

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The squad of all time has arrived on scene.

[yallstar]

pulling sqq into the pool seemed like good revenge at the time. (regrets were had.)

[sanjiaftersex]

being a sanji fan is an intense experience because it takes you like 200 episodes to finally understand why sanji's eyes turned lifeless for a flickering moment at those words

[foundfamilywhump]

being aromantic and into whump is like. shoutout to whump for being a great opportunity to engage with stories about intimacy and vulnerability and powerful emotion and physical interactions with other people and intense relationships that are not presumptively based in romance. what would i do without you.

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

AND BUMBLEBEE !!!!!!!!

[arttsuka]

@wolfythewitch 's gravity fowls au, again...

Mcducket with Tate (when he was an egg)

Stan would sell 'mystery eggs' and it would just be rocks or something

[votaeto]

brother’s visit🔥🎩👒