#obviously it's because those are fanfics and there's less censorship then disney but at the same time... canon felt a little weak

[sambuckylovebot]

lowkey i wish the power broker episode of tfatws was extended somehow into two different parts. sebastian made bucky visibly be more withdrawn and darker with his body language (mainly his eyes, i wish i knew how he does it) and i feel like it could've created a meaningful conversation between him and sam where they actually talked about how hard playing the winter soldier was for him instead of relying on the subtext we were being given. because it's one thing to be able to appreciate seeing guys (especially superheroes) asking each other if they're okay instead of not trying to acknowledge their feelings at all, but the other part of me feels like it wasn't even worth it because bucky was clearly going through something serious that he kept unspoken throughout the entire power broker episode and through a little bit of episode four and sam getting him to talk about it on screen would've been perfect to make them get closer. it left me with unanswered questions like what was bucky feeling about the stuff zemo said about him? how did he feel after everyone in the bar looked at him like he was dangerous again? how does he feel about sam at this point in the show and him being the only person who doesn't treat bucky like he's going to break?

like there are so many cool plotlines this show introduced that deserved to be explored more than they were on screen, but this one should've been treated like a way bigger deal because of how monumental it was for bucky's character to be faced with this challenge again after trying to combat himself for thinking there was still some of the winter soldier inside of him.

[colorisbyshe]

wrt queercoding&actual gay rep: I get what you mean, but honestly, that’s doing a huge disservice to the indie LGBT content creators out there. Some people don’t look for LGBT content made by and for LGBT people because it is easier to wait for Disney’s crumbs. I’m not coming for you btw. I have also put on the clown shoes. But my life as a fan has become a lot easier now that I go out of my way to find LGBT media. The fandoms are smaller, which means less people to talk with, but it’s alright.

I mean, yeah, that’s why I said you should endeavor to seek out actual (and not baited/coded) content from LGBT people... but I do think we should all acknowledge

a. finding that content isn’t always easy

b. that content isn’t always good in terms of quality (especially because it’s become a trend to publish books that read like fanfic AND with the rise of self publishing, though those can be good things, as well)

and c. that content... isn’t always good in terms of morality, either

Nor is it guaranteed to handle any other identities besides LGBT well (if it’s even handling LGBT content well in the first place, because, yes, I have seen LGBT creators fuck that up, too)

It’s sort of like the fanfiction vs books debate where there’s a massive space of overlap where the best fanfiction can be better than the worst published literature. So saying one is definitely better than the other (when indeed they may be consumed for very different purposes) misses the mark. Obviously, one should try to read more (GOOD) published literature than shit on the internet, but acting like it’s inherently better to ONLY consume published lit removes flattens a nuanced topic.

Likewise, sometimes gaybait shit is just like junk food. It fills you up, even if it isn’t healthy to ONLY have that. It’s nutrient-low, calorie-dense snacks. Which can have a place in a healthy diet.

Especially when some “By and For LGBT” work ends up nutrient-low in its own way.

I don’t htink attaching morality to these things (on their own, without getting into things like fan entitlement/engagement and things like that) is like... productive?

If someone really wants to watch an anime about gay skateboarders, sometimes, settling for the gaybait is better than waiting for someone to maybe recommend them a YA book where one character is gay and another one skateboards in a b plot narrative that is forgotten halfway through.

Yes, supporting LGBT creators who are competently creating work is essential but... do both?

My point about fan entitlement was about people harassing and bemoaning “gaybait” that was AT MOST accidental subtext and then refusing to seek out content that actually has gay content. About adding intentionality to accidental homoerotic tension and getting angry about it and then doing nothing about it.

And about criticizing creators who gaybait and then throw in mean spirited no homos so they can both capture an LGBT audience and placate a cishet one.

Not about saynig the only ethical consumption of LGBT content comes from LGBT creators, especially since that ignores the existence and VALUE of gay coding and censorship within the industries (which in turn does still make it harder to self promote as indie artists) and closeted creators.

This conversation needs nuance and I know... I know we already know that nuance.

Liek we all reblog gifs of movies made by cishet men about LGBT people (The Handmiaden, BRokeback Mountain, Moonlight). We all consume a lot of content not even knowing who the creators are (until they get exposed or get annoying on twitter).

So... idk man. Yeah, ideally, we are consuming By LGBT for LGBT content but sometimes... the content you want from LGBT creators just doesn’t exist. And sometimes it’s just accidental subtext in a random ass show that never even knew gay peopel exist until you found them.

Until y’all can find me By LGBT For LGBT content about childhood best friends who are separated by war and then separated again by one being frozen in ice and hte other being forced to become a murderer via brainwashing and then the frozen one spends years chasing the murderer because he still believes in him... I’m gonna say......

Let’s just admit all of this content can have value and make you feel good, its just the value might come from different things... and that this isn’t zero sum game.

You can consume LGBT content by/for LGBT people and consume bait AND consume accidental subtext AND criticize the creators in all three of these spheres for different or even the same reasons

This is overly long can you tell I’m avoiding packing

[jautaudoumei]

im sick of seeing that stupid ass ao3xchina discourse but here are some thots as a chinese person who’s been looking into this and reading comments from china based netizens:

lgbt works, no matter how you see it, including the ones written by self-acclaimed and detested fujoshis, have led to serious consequences w/the chinese government arresting said people. i do not/have not researched consequences this has had on lgbt activists and actual lgbt ppl, but i do know that plenty of lgbt media made by lgbt ppl that deals with serious conversations have also been censored and prevented from being publicly released. ao3, in a sense, however your opinions on the site, was a place for lgbt fiction written by lgbt ppl and yes, fujoshis, were allowed to flourish. a complete condemnation of ao3 (in this respect) would include a condemnation of lgbt fetishizers, yes, but also lgbt ppl writing fiction depicting themselves for other lgbt ppl or whoever would enjoy the material. it’s astounding to me that many ppl are just framing this as “lmao fandom freaks mad that their sicko p/dophilia ridden website is banned, as it should have been years ago”. that in itself is such a shallowly tumblr way of looking at things. but obviously this situation isn’t black & white and there are problems but I think the main problem rn that we should ALL be focusing on is not about whether or not the site is blocked, but at the intense hatred and backlash directed at the chinese actor, who plays an lgbt character in a well-known wuxia lgbt webseries, who was blamed for this incident. // Read More// 

I have not seen the post in whole that kickstarted this, but I do NOT think it’s appropriate to equate the chinese government to nazism or say “how else can they cope with coronavirus”. i think these statements say enough for themselves, and these are likely the same ppl who say shit like ‘china is why disney isn’t giving us gay characters’. however, i disagree with a lot of leftists on here who say that china is the most socialist country in the world rn. i HIGHLY disagree with that and my opinion is that it is just as capitalist as the US and working its way into even more of that. i also have a theory that their censorship laws are working in tandem with providing large chinese conglomerates like tencent etc monopoly over one of the largest consumer populations in the world. but im derailing here.

the problem with the ao3 discourse is that the fic in problem was a RPF (real person fic), and depicted said chinese actor as a sex worker and trans. if this were a fictional character, then there would be no argument here. the problem is that this is the icky category of real life people. i have NO idea if this fic was originally written in chinese or english. if it were chinese, then that’s just a problem about the ethics of RPF. If it were in english, it would be the ethics AND adds a layer of “were they treating this actor, a chinese man, as a commodity?” it really is an unfortunate trend where east asian ppl in general are seen as less than human, an entertainment toy to be tossed around, but this attitude is too prevalent to ignore. in that respect, i do not blame the fans of said actor for being angry and reporting this to the government. judging from the chinese comments, it seems like (excuse the dumbass fandom lingo) a war between “stans” of this actor and “shippers” who wanted him together with his co-actor in the lgbt webseries they made their debut in. THAT was, apparently, the heart of the problem. the sex worker & trans stuff just came on top of it.

because of this, chinese fans turned their attention onto him and have been nonstop raining down hate and threats at him even now. he’s trending in china BECAUSE of this, and i find this behaviour sickening and should be addressed instead of what’s going back and forth with the community here rn about “lol sicko fanfic site” vs. “but how will they cope?!?!” argument that has no right fucking answer.

i don’t know why i wrote this rant and at this length that nobody will read but honestly i am sick of seeing ppl discourse about china and chinese people here between disney, the coronavirus and now this. it’s obvious y’all have sinophobia from your own racism or the latest red scare that’s been going around that you need to get checked, but i really fucking hate both of those opposing posts about ao3xfanfic going around. it’s really really obvious that no one on tumblr can talk about china and chinese media without 1) being eurocentric about lgbt issues in china and 2) being xenophobic and racist. it really doesn’t help that there are a lot of american/canadian-chinese who display self-hating attitudes toward chinese people that you guys keep platforming and promoting since it’s “woke”. also, it’s clear that pseudo-politics has broken all of people’s brains to thinking there is always a right and wrong answer. some of this shit is nuanced, and no it’s not centrist in this case to say that there is literally no right side to be on in the ao3xchina discourse. i hate that people were clowns enough about this whole thing that i had to write this, and i don’t even log into tumblr that often anymore and i still had to witness these posts.