#ship artists

[altn0g]

best friends

[heyhanibee]

clocked

[sixofclovers]

theyre fighting a god in the morning

[lunatykmode]

More Sonic Prime redraws

[punk-junkie69]

Staring lovingly at his gigantic wife

[lilyminer]

Ok full disclosure I’m going to be talking about fan to fan grievance style discourse. I know when I talk discourse I usually mean debating about the media at hand with other fans so wanted to warn everyone off the bat. That being said this is very general, I’m not calling anyone in particular out, I’m voicing annoyance, hopefully communicating a perspective not often discussed, not trying to start a fight.

I am a fandom member who adores reading good, thoughtful analysis about the media I enjoy. It can be even more fun then engaging with the media itself to me, I have a lot of respect for the people who can bring out parts of a text I’ve not considered before and effectively communicate what they mean.

However I keep bumping up against this strange superiority complex in a frankly absurd amount of these analysts which makes engaging in fandom feel a lot more divided then it should reasonably be in my opinion.

In a distractingly large portion of the analysis I read, especially here on tumblr, I see a consistent trend of analysts belittling and demeaning shippers completely unprompted. And I don’t know these people, maybe they’ve had negative experiences with shippers I don’t know about, but it largely seems to be baseless bullying towards fellow fandom members. I know, for instance a fanwriter would never antagonize all fanartists in a similar way. There’s just this anger directed towards fans who enjoy shipping from people who seem sure they’re engaging in the media in a better, smarter way than the shippers.

And it’s upsetting that people would put other fans into such restrictive boxes as if when you ship characters visibly, writing fics and drawing ship art, that means you’re automatically barred from thinking critically or deeply about the media or the characters you’re shipping.

I understand frustrations with mischaracterization or aggressive shipping discourse, but as someone who enjoys both shipping and analysis I’m just so frustrated by being called out by my fellow analysis lovers as someone who “could never understand their genius” to exaggerate the general attitude I frequently see.

I, and I know so many other shippers, use exploring specific romantic relationships as a means to understand the characters better. To get in their heads, expose them to new situations, explore how they interact with other characters. I find it really annoying when people box in all shipping as “horny nonsense”, cuz like, yeah, sometimes it is horny nonsense, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but that’s far from the only appeal. Sometimes the best character analysis available in a fandom ends up being a multi tens of thousands of words long ship-based fic. And I promise you I am thorough when it comes to hunting for character analysis. It doesn’t have to be your thing, not at all, but why are we still perpetuating the idea that sexual content renders the rest of the text unimportant?

Just please, don’t toss your fellow community members into demeaning little boxes. All you’re doing is pushing people away from your work, people with their own unique perspectives which has just as much potential to provide meaningful fan commentary as your own.

[doe-drawz]

Wish you were here , in honor of season 2

[galaxylover06]

Their name is Barry and they can't escape the digital cir

[rittzart]

a fat fluffy femme and her scrawny little butch <3

[iamespecter]

my brain: You're hating your art style again aren't you me: That's literally your fault my brain: Yeah well lucky for you I know how you can deal with it me: How my brain: Practice cloth wrinkling and lighting using a different brush me: Aight...

my brain: But also draw Caine hot me: Wh

what

[mythbringer-mayhem]

Everyday Arguments - Rose-Tinted Comic

[beebeedibapbeediboop]

Local goth working at a Graveyard finds the ultimate goth gf a vampire

[sour-macaron]

Matching pfps for you and your doomed girlfriend 🩷💜

[milfzatannaz]

watched wicked and I think glinda and elphaba should get gay married

[lunatykmode]

Sonadow Prime Season 2 + 3