#okay but. we do know for a fact that john was bi that's not speculation it's just information we have

[asurrogateblog]

I genuinely need to shut the fuck up. yesterday my mom called me and midway through our conversation she tells me out of the blue "today I read an article about rock stars you didn't know were queer but none of the beatles were on it :( "

[bethanydelleman]

Jane Austen Charted #15

How Wealthy are the Jane Austen Heroines?

(This turned into a long post)

Women in Jane Austen’s novels have two kinds of wealth, fortunes which seem to be guaranteed to already accompany them into marriage, like Emma’s 30k or Elinor & Marianne Dashwoods’ 1k which they have already received from their uncle, and then eventual inheritance, like Elizabeth’s 1k that she will receive after the death of both of her parents. Here are the sums:

And the explanation of each amount:

Anne Elliot’s amount is disputed because of how the text is worded, she is either getting 10,000 or 1/3 of that amount. Here is the quote: who could give his daughter at present but a small part of the share of ten thousand pounds which must be hers hereafter. (Ch 24) It will be paid upon her father’s death.

As to the amount, I usually think it’s 1/3 of 10k. Knowing Sir Walter’s character, and that his wife was not a trade heiress but the daughter of a country gentleman, I think Lady Elliot’s dowry being ten thousand, and Sir Walter never adding to it seems pretty likely. He probably assumed that his children would marry well based on beauty and rank alone.

As for Emma, we don’t know what is going to happen to Hartfield. The fact that John Knightley has a job and isn’t just living off Isabella’s fortune until they inherit makes me think it might be going to Emma (as opposed to how Mary and Charles Musgrove are living), but that is speculation and may also be based in a difference in personality. It is equally possible that the plan was for Spinster Emma to live there with John and Isabella. Also, Emma is counting on her sister’s eldest son to inherit Donwell, not Hartfield, which is another clue that it’s going to Emma, not Isabella.

It seems to me that the best marriage prospects would be those who have a fortune now, not when their parents die. Certainly with men, those who are the most eligible have already come into their fortunes. 

Also, the Dashwoods and Anne Elliot are in a far safer financial position if their remaining parent dies, as they have a decent, though not large income on their own. The three Dashwood sisters could continue to live at Barton cottage and maintain themselves if they worked together.

So how do the heroines compare to other ladies:

The richest two women are Anne de Bourgh, who will inherit Rosings, and Sophia Grey, the future Mrs. Willoughby. Given that Mrs. Jennings, who is from trade, knows Sophia’s relations, we can assume that Sophia is a trade heiress. Depending on what Emma Woodhouse receives when her father dies, she may be as wealthy as both of them.

From the novels, the breakdown of fortune attractiveness:

Nothing - Nothing is bad. However, I have a strong suspicion that this can mean actually nothing or something like Jane Fairfax with a few hundred pounds. Lucy Steele and Isabella Thorpe probably have actually nothing, but I doubt Mary Crawford when she says her friend who married a peer actually had zero pounds to her name. Miss Ross probably had nothing in comparison to Mary.

£1000 - Pretty much as bad as nothing. This isn’t enough for someone to maintain themselves in gentility. The Bennet sisters could pool their money and maybe be okay with their combined £250.

£3000 - Interesting that so many heroines have this amount. It seems like it’s a decent, but not great dowry. Respectable.

£10,000 - This number comes up A LOT in Jane Austen’s novels. We are told in Mansfield Park: Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park... her uncle, the lawyer, himself, allowed her to be at least three thousand pounds short of any equitable claim to it. From this statement and context from the other novels, 10k seems like the basic “good” fortune. Minimum entry to expect an eldest son match.

£20,000 - This is a big fortune, go after a Mr. Darcy or a Tom Bertram the future baronet kind of money. I don’t get the impression that either Caroline Bingley or Mary Crawford are supposed to be seen as delusional for thinking they can marry where they aim for. It’s more about the guy not liking them than unrealistic expectations. 

£30,000 + Filthy rich

Also, I really wish we knew more fortune numbers! What did Lady Middleton and Mrs. Palmer have? What was an acceptable dowry for a Miss Bertram? (my guess is at least 10k) What did Charlotte Lucas have? (I suspect not much better than Elizabeth, if not worse) 

[a-froger-epic]

In regards to what @trixie-bobwhite said, I agree with them completely, but that isn’t really the reason people dislike Mary. Most of us know that she wasn’t in control of Jim, Joe and Phoebe being evicted so prematurely. Most of our grievances lie with her homophobic attitude, her obsession with Freddie, her refusing to give the GL boys their possessions, the incident with the cats, the cruel comments she allegedly made to Jim and the victim complex she seems to have adopted over the years. All of which was completely within her control.

According to Freddie’s own mother and his friends, it was very much Mary who cut herself off from them, so I don’t buy this idea that she genuinely felt like she’d been abandoned and it was all some misunderstanding. I agree with Thor; she never liked any of Freddie’s friends, so felt no need to keep in touch with them. Which is, you know, fine. But don’t go crying to the press, claiming they’ve “abandoned” you, when that clearly wasn’t the case. I think Mary is a lot smarter than the naive victim she and other people try to paint her as and I will never be able to sympathise with her, regardless of her difficult past or whatever. I think she’s manipulative and will always find a way to blame someone else. I’ve had enough experience with people like that in real life to know a red flag when I see one.

As for whether she wanted Freddie’s fortune or not…who knows? The way she worded it in the 2013 interview was almost as if Freddie had pressured her into it, which I personally felt was just another “look, I was the only person he could trust, he really wanted me to have it,” flex. If she really didn’t want it, I’m sure Freddie would have understood and it could have gone to a trust like she claims she suggested. But again, who knows. Just speculation on my side.

The reason why the pro-Jim side of the fandom is so vocal about the matter is because no one else is. Mary is revered as an angel in the fandom and never called out for her actions, while Jim is demonised on all social media platforms and in published biographies. If Mary was held accountable, we wouldn’t need to constantly bring up the shit she’s done. I wish I could say “it was what it was” and leave it at that, but it’s not that easy when we still have Mary fans harassing anyone who doesn’t see her as a God.

Sorry for the rant. I’m not having a dig at anyone who might sympathise or like Mary. I just feel like some people misunderstand why we don’t like her and might think we’re being unreasonable.

Look, personally, I honestly don't spend a lot of time outside of this small pocket of fandom. The Mary-Stan islands, the "true" Freddie Fan caves and the Barbara Valentin Valleys are all distant lands to me that I hear about but have never really visited. The Freddie-was-bi-brigade marches through here occasionally and I huff and tut at them, but really I quite enjoy the fact that where the RPF part of fandom and the tumblr Queen fandom is concerned, it seems to me that on the whole there's no doubt Jim was Freddie's partner and they loved each other very much, that Freddie was gay and Mary wasn't, in fact, the love of his life.

Yes, I'm aware those things are still widely disbelieved in other parts of the fandom and there's literal wars raging, and I guess sometimes it spills over onto tumblr, too. I understand, therefor, why there's some very strong sentiments about Mary.

However, just like I don't like to be made to feel as though I'm not "a real Freddie fan" unless I actively agree with xyz opinion about him, I also don't think anyone who has some sympathy for Mary or doesn't outright dislike her is automatically a "Mary simp". I do understand why people don't like Mary, I've read about the things you list above. I also can't say I like Mary, but I don't dislike her either. I don't feel like I really know a lot about her that isn't very open to interpretation. And yeah, I have some sympathy for her. I have some sympathy for Paul Prenter too, just by the way. And I've sometimes seen his and Mary's name censored with an asterisk, which for me personally is... just a step too far. It would be a step too far even with Bill Reid, imo, who was certifiably such a dick so much of the time and still, I'll maintain, he was also human and I can't say that I hate him. He was a guy. He had issues. Freddie dated him and if it was anyone's place to hate him then it was Freddie's.

Anyway, on all sides I've seen anons come out with some very strong words and feelings, that's so often the case with anons. Sometimes you'd think Paul Prenter stabbed Freddie and sold his organs on the black market, Jim cackled maniacally while he crushed every bone in his body, John Deacon sat at home burning Freddie voodoo dolls while Freddie was dying because he hates gay people so much and Mary strangled all his cats with her bare hands. I'm just not here for the extremes. 😂

I don't think anyone is unreasonable for disliking Mary. I see where you're coming from. I get it.

Meanwhile, I'm going to hold my more neutral course here, and I hope that's okay with you all, too.

[spnfanficpond]

Pond Diving - emilyshurley

Welcome to today’s Pond Diving Spotlight! We hope that you enjoy this little insight to our members and perhaps even find some useful tips for your own writing. Happy reading!

Want to volunteer, send us an ask! We’re looking forward to learning more about all of you! Not sure what PD is, you can learn more here.

Name: Emily

Age: 21

Location: India

URL: @emilyshurley​

Why did you choose your URL: Okay this is embarrassing. I was trying to sign up for AO3, so I did a quick Google search for two things, what's the name of Dean's daughter? Emma, and Chuck's last name, Shurley

I accidentally typed Emma as Emily and that's it. 

There was a very real chance that my url would have been emmashurley. Thoughts on that one? Maybe I'll change it someday. 

What inspired you to become a writer: Being an only child who wasn't allowed to watch tv for more than 2 hours. And not having friends, that also had something to do with it. 

How long have you been writing: Fanfiction? 4 years (was on Wattpad before this). In general? 12 years, I guess... I remember showing my first short story to my english teacher in 6th class. 

What do you do when you are not writing i.e. Job/Hobbies etc? Cooking, eating what I made. I don't get to cook often so I enjoy it when I can. Other than that, college takes up most of my time. Currently getting my bachelor's degree in science. It's my last year, will probably get master's in zoology next. 

How long have you been in the SPN Fandom? 4 years

Are you in any other fandoms and do you write for them? Way too freaking many. But I write for marvel and I'm thinking of re-posting the very first vampire diaries fanfic I wrote. But are people still into vampires?

Do you do any writing outside of fanfiction? If so, tell us about it? Mostly journalling, but I occasionally take part in writing competitions and things.

Favorite published author: Amish Tripathi (He mainly writes Hindu mythological fantasy? If that's anyone's jam here)

Have you ever read a book that made an impact on your life? Which one and why?: Leap of faith by Danielle Steel. Not for any reason other than the fact that it was the first novel I ever read. My grandfather was reading it, and I told him I wanted to read something too so he gave it to me. 

Favorite genre of fanfic (smut, angst, fluff, crack, rpf, etc):Platonic fluff!!!! Give me all the fics of best friends being adorable. 

Favorite piece of your own writing: Once upon a Winchester. But I gave myself so little canon to work with that I think I'll continue it after the show ends. I have to know the ending to continue it. 

Most underrated fic you have written: Letters to no one. For any marvel fans, it's a two part fic in Natasha's POV, just some letters she thought no one will ever read. 

Story of yours that you’d most like to see turned into a movie/tv show: Project Latrodectus, again marvel. I kinda feel bad for mentioning my marvel fics so much but I'm pulling influences from the story of Eklavya in Mahabharata, which is a Hindu epic so complex that I won't attempt to explain it here. 

Favorite Tumblr Writer(s): Ahh that's a tough one. I love so many people. At this point, mentioning Myin ( @myinconnelly1 ) feels like cheating because another who has ever looked at my posts can tell she's my favourite human. So I'll try not to mention her further. 

Otherwise, Beka ( @impala-dreamer), Kate ( @katehuntington​ ), @katymacsupernatural and other hoomans I can't remember because I have been away from Tumblr for a while. 

Favorite Fic from another writer: Blood and Honey by @kittenofdoomage. And the proposal by @katymacsupernatural

Favorite character to write: Marvel: Natasha Romanoff, Supernatural: I have never written Charlie but I'd love to. 

Favorite Pairing to write: So they are platonic ships but Dean and Charlie, the boys and Garth and Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. 

Least favorite character to write (and why): Easily John Winchester. I don't know, my brain just can't process his character. Like no matter how many times I try, John just sounds off. 

Do you have anyone you consider a mentor? Irl, my grandfather. On tumblr, Myin. I know, I know I said I won't mention her but Myin is my support system here. No matter what goes on in my brain, no idea is too crazy for her. 

Do you have any aspirations involving your writing? To make people feel less alone because I think that feels like shit. My goal moving forward is to write more Indian reader and LGBTQ reader fics because I think not many people in the fandom (that I know of) are writing those fics. 

How many work-in-progress stories do you have: Four, all of them are series. Technically 2 are my ongoing ones. And one is an MCU x SPN crossover that's taking a while to plan. 

What are you currently working on? Nothing focusing on college these days. But will write random one shots here and there.

“Pond Diving” - All About The Writing

What/who has had the biggest influence on your writing? My inability to write romance. No joke, I don't feel like I write it well. So I tend to write general fics and crack fics.

Best writing advice you've been given: Someone recommended the book, writing down the bones, to me a while ago. In the very first chapter it says, use a cheap notebook (so you don't feel guilty about 'bad writing') and a fast writing pen. 

Since most of my non fanfic writings are done by hand I like that advice.

Biggest obstacle you’ve faced in your writing: Procrastination. I'm the creator of my one misery here. I push stuff till the last moment then complain about being too busy to do anything. 

What aspects of writing do you find difficult when you write fanfiction?Smut. I can't. I don't know I like to say I don't feel comfortable writing it but the truth is I just think I'd put people off. Which is not the intended outcome. 

Is there anything you want to write but are afraid to (and why): More LGBTQ+ characters/reader inserts. Why? Say for example, even though I'm bi, but my version of bisexual Dean might not be something other people would relate to and I'm scared of accidentally offending someone. 

What inspires/motivates you to write: What if scenarios. I love speculating and coming up with the context behind what we see on screen. Like an idea that I'll one day use is, what was Sam going when Dean was in hell or purgatory. Sure in one case he hit a dog and met a girl but how? 

So I want to write more general fics or like filler between the scenes we see on the screen. 

How do you deal with self doubt: By talking to people, knowing I'm not alone in this helps. And sending fics to friends before I post them. 

How do you deal with writer's block: Play the sims. What I mean is take a break, do something completely different for a while. 

Do you plan/outline your story before you start: I don't, for one shots. For series I have to have an ending or else I'll lose interest very quickly. 

Do you have any weird writing habits: Would you consider writing/planning things on paper before writing it on the computer weird? 

Have you ever received hateful comments on your fic and how do you deal with it? I did. My very first fic on Tumblr. It was a Tony Stark x Indian!Reader fic and someone messaged me saying most content media is written for an American/Western audience. And that Tony Stark would never actually do for someone who's Indian because well Indian characters aren't primarily present in the MUC. So no one wants to read it. 

What I did about it? I deleted the fic and every backup I had of it. Because in my head they were right. All Indian get is Bruce Banner doing charity work for "all the poor Indians".

It wasn't until recently that I started talking to @desisamslut that I realised that people actually want to read about reader inserts that are like them. I mean it's called a reader insert for a reason how could I not see it?

Conversely: what’s been some of your favorite feedback on your fanfic?When someone made a mood board for my Black Widow fanfiction. 

If you could give one piece of advice to a new and/or struggling writer, what would it be? Hang in there, no matter how uncommon you think what you want to write about is, you'll find an audience. I mentioned @desisamslut in another answer, the first thing she told me was she has never seen an indian reader fic, so she felt happy when she read the one I wrote recently. 

[kreekey]

I'm obsessed with your blog and your art! You're extremely talented! And I love your view on John and Paul because yessss 100000% they had lives outside of each other and other important relationships. That's one thing I find confusing about mclennon. But I still like parts of it. I'm not sure if it actually happened but I do think there was tension. Do you think there was a romantic tension or any opinions on it

Oh wow, I’m glad you like my blog and art!! Thank you so much I got a dumb grin on my face. And I didn’t think someone would come to ask me for my opinion on that stuff, haha 😅 but it’s really nice! 

And I love your view on John and Paul because yessss 100000% they had lives outside of each other and other important relationships

I’m so glad someone shares my sort of feelings on this 😭💕💕

So in my view, I don’t know if there was romantic tension! I can see why people think so because sometimes they would say stuff like this: 

“PAUL: It’s like, uh, “We have to get back.” “We’re on our way home.”

JOHN: Yeah.

PAUL: There’s a story. There’s another one – ‘Don’t Let Me Down’. “Oh darling, I’ll never let you down.” Like we’re doing—

JOHN: Yeah. It’s like you and me are lovers.

PAUL: [reserved] Yeah. [pause]

JOHN: We’ll just have to camp it up for those two.

PAUL: Yeah. Well, I’ll be wearing my skirt for the show, anyway.”

[From the Get Back sessions]

But honestly? I think there was brotherly love, some sort of obvious connection, but I don’t think they were in love in the romantic sense. I think they longed for each other in 1969/1970, but because they were friends for so long--and such close friends--who were going through a not-so-clean breakup. You’d want that relationship back in the way it used to be. There were only four people in the world who could really relate to The Beatle experience, and two who knew what it was like to be Lennon/McCartney, right? So it was losing a friend, an immensely valuable one, one they had for so long and were so familiar with. And they said stuff like that to express how they really understood each other (hard thing to express...) or to respond to how the media portrayed them. But you can understand your friends without being in a romantic relationship with them. It would be difficult or impossible to fully explain their relationship because we’re outsiders, but I wouldn’t jump to ‘they were lovers’. Being great friends is still a beautiful story, I appreciate that. Sometimes I think the word ‘friend’ doesn’t fully encapsulate their dynamic, but I still think ‘lovers’ is something completely different. But anyway, that’s just what I think personally. Impossible to tell anything for sure haha.

Tangent: I know some of y’all say the ship was possible because John was bi or at least bi-curious. And yeah I believe he was bisexual/fluid in his sexuality, but being bi doesn’t mean you’re in love with your friends haha. I have a close (same gender) friend who’s pan and people at school will be like “are you in a relationship?” even thought we’ve said no and it’s kinda uncomfortable. Possibility doesn’t mean it... happened. I don’t think it can be used as evidence for him and Paul in particular, or else you can say it about any man John knew... Also, I believe Yoko when she said John never really entered a relationship with a man as he never found the right one because John literally said that, albeit in a lighthearted manner. (Extra tangent: I saw someone write that John would’ve come out as bisexual but the in the 1970s they didn’t have the word for it/John wasn’t aware of bisexuality. Whoever you were, you kinda undermine the fact John definitely ran in the scene where bi and other sexual orientations were relatively out. Here he jokes about hoping his baby to be bisexual lol. Anyway...)

I think my main opinion on the McLennon ship is that it’s nearly all speculation and interpretation, so it’s hard to discuss it. And I think some of the people who say it’s true want it to be true more than they want the truth (whatever it is), so much so that they’ll look past things that contradict it or will stretch their interpretations so far as to make it look like they were in love in the romantic sense. Sometimes people will post pictures of them looking at each other out of context or something as ‘proof’ of McLennon but it honestly makes me think of it as a parody. And I can see why shippers like it--it would be a gorgeous story and they had a great dynamic!! But I really don’t feel comfortable with people who claim it was 100% true. Because Paul has denied it openly and very clearly multiple times before. And he would know, I think. Plus other’s who write about John’s heterosexuality (like Cynthia for example). But, John can’t really respond. It feels nearly disrespectful and presumptuous to say you know about the lives of these two people if you didn’t actually know them, y’know? Especially because that, in particular, is such a personal issue. Sensational, even. And it’s also something to insert into biographies and to claim and a way to sell copies--I’m not saying that every author who claims it is being disingenuous, but I question people like Goldman. Because some of the people who support it will bring up straight false information to back it up. My basic view is that it’s fine to ship it as long as you don’t try to say you are certain in its reality. I don’t think the information is known to be able to say it’s certain. 

Also, another one of my opinions related to ‘McLennon’ is that some of the fandom share made up quotes or stories as ‘proof’ for it. Support your ship, sure, but separate fiction from reality! These are real people. For example, I’ve seen this one posted a few times:

“Cynthia Lennon is a goddess, you know. Paul is a god. Aren’t I lucky to have such a religion?”

X

Not necessarily McLennon, but John calls Paul his religion. This is from an alternate history book called Walkin' Blues-Beatles At The Crossroads: An Alternate History Of The Beatles Novel (Jackie Lane). I also posted this one and asked if anyone knew the source for it:

“One night he was so drunk that I had to drag him away from the pub and bring him in a park to vomit. When he finished, he was upset so we sat on a bench. Still drunk and hesitant, he pointed his finger at a star straight above our heads and he said: ‘That is the star my mother dedicated to me and it has always been mine. But from now on it will be yours too, if you want. Its name is Mary Julia and every time you will at it in any situation, any moment, you will know that I’m there near to you and laughing about how queer you are. I will always be there, I promise, I will look at you from Mary Julia. And even the contrary because it’s our star, just ours, a star that belongs to two idiots that strum and that every night lie on a bench full of alcohol.’ I was flabbergasted and together we started to laugh. Some years later I looked at that star and I cried for the whole night. His laugh near me wasn’t enough to make me stop. But I realised that he kept his promise and it was beautiful.” [-- Paul]

X

Some people told me they were pretty sure it was from a fanfiction. Y’all, I wrote fanfiction too. I wrote a epistolary-like piece of fiction once. If someone shared it as a real quote I’d be fucking mortified lol. (Also, when I posted it asking for a source some people in the tags were like “I don’t care if it’s fake that’s beautiful” and I’m like how do you not?? That blurs the line between reality and fantasy and that’s terrible because they were live people like you and me at a point...)

Uhm I think those are my takes. Thank you anon for the ask!! Sort of an excuse to share all my thoughts that I figured no one cared for 😂😂 And I get people will disagree and that’s okay!! If you think there was tension, etc I can see why! In the end there were only two people out there that can really answer that.