#so rarely is the girl one in a het ship allowed to be the most dysfunctional one

[talkingbl]

GMMTV's Gen 2 problem

I am not impressed that GMMTV just commenced representation of BounPrem. Why? Because their priorities recently have looked a lot like this:

Gen 2 (or maybe stylized Gen Z? still thinking of a name for them...)

Pillars & Pillar-adjacents

Personalities (think Godji, Nicky, Jennie)

LYKN

Girls & Basement dwellers

Rookies

And I hate it.

IMO, Gen 2 is far too overexposed for the sheer lack of talent in their group. I mean out of all of them they only have, who? Fourth? JimmySea on a good day? And honestly, Gen 3 is already starting to debut in roles but they don't seem to get content that'll be widely received. And a lot of the potentially interesting stories (that inevitably get ruined by poor direction/writing) are being funneled to Gen 2 instead of elsewhere, where they belong... I don't mind JimmySea (and to a lesser extent GemFourth) getting good stuff but stop just allowing PondPhuwin, ForceBook, and JoongDunk to do whatever tf they want and start giving Gen 3 & basement dwellers something to do!

Pillars and pillar-adjacents are doing everything I want them to do (OffGun never unemployed, TayNew remarried, KristSingto look to be on the horizon). I mean, we do need to have a serious conversation about letting OffGun take a very long break...but that's a conversation for another time. Plus, GMMTV has turned around and given EarthMix a Japanese remake when they know they've been having problems with Japanese distributors...seems dumb to me.

The personalities will always be employed and, honestly, I rarely watch their content unless my faves are guesting. I like Jennie in a lot of the stuff she's been in. Plus, I feel like their content doesn't require too many resources, so I don't think it's a huge concern to have the personalities continue to stay booked.

But where things get interesting to me is how GMMTV seems to be pouring a lot into making Project Alpha guys into actors... Like P'Tha if you don't let those boys be tpop idols and stop shoving every remotely soft looking boy into a ship!! Nothing is worse than an "actor" who really wants to be a singer istg!!

And this leads me to another issue I have and that is how only like 5 out of: Mook, View, June, Jan, Ciize, Tu, Neen, Namtan, Pod, Thor, AJ, JJ, Luke, Sing, Pluem, Joss, etc., can get work at a time. Like I know they do het and ensemble stuff at times but it really feels like they don't get the stuff with the juicy marketing budgets.

Then there's the poor rookies. And I'm not talking new to the company like Sky and Inn. I'm talking about the ones who've been signed for at least a year now and only have, at most, support roles under their belts. These are the Javas and Indys of the world. Sometimes I forget they're even represented by GMMTV the way they haven't had a chance to showcase any talent.

And then there's all the new male talent who rightfully got lead roles basically immediately. Sky's in a homoerotic het drama with Nani. Inn and Great are practically having sex onscreen by GMMTV standards. Perth was basically assigned to a ship before he even signed with GMMTV... I have a feeling these guys will continue to get more and more roles thrown at them based on the success of their previous dramas, their acting skills, and the hype for their current/future ones dramas.

All this makes me wonder where on earth former Wabi Sabi artists fit in? As for Santa, I don't think we'll have to worry about him because I have a feeling he'll either be a basement dweller, get mostly het roles, or be paired with a LYKN member so he can finally breathe the same air as a functioning idol. Same with Yacht--except he'll almost certainly be sent to the basement for not having the GMMTV vibe (I'll explain on another post). But if GMMTV wants to cast BounPrem together, I feel like they'd have to carve out a space for them that they'd usually give to FirstKhao and pillar-adjacents like EarthMix. Maybe GMMTV can do that but it just doesn't seem like their bandwidth his large enough, nor their story selection good enough to do right by BounPrem. I hope I'm wrong but that would require GMMTV to care more about all of their artists rather than just Gen 2.

For Reference, when I say Gen 2, Pillars, Gen 3, Rookies, Basement Dwellers, these are the folks I'm talking about -

Pillars & Pillar-Adjacents:

TayNew OffGun KristSingto EarthMix Win

Gen 2 is anyone with a lightstick that participated in LOL that's not a pillar:

PondPhuwin JoongDunk GeminiFourth ForceBook JimmySea PerthChimon FirstKhao Ohm Pawat Nanon

Gen 3 is still forming but I'm including everyone who has appeared in multiple BLs but not in an established ship and joined the company within the last 3 years; everyone who just got their first ship and lead role; and everyone who recently joined the company who looks as if they're being prepared to star in a bl. NOTE: I'm not including Inn because I feel like he's more pillar-adjacent due to his age, his talent, and the fact that I don't think GreatInn will go on beyond Wandee Goodday.

Mark Pakin Ohm Thipakorn AouBoom SeaKeen WinnySatang LYKN (particularly Lego & William) Java Ryu Chokun Fluke Aungpao

Basement Dwellers include folks who have been at the company for 3+ years who have either been apart of several BL ships or who have mentioned wanting to star in a BL or who get fancasted in lead roles but never get the work:

Pod Guy Gawin* Joss* Luke Drake AJ JJ

[wazzuppy]

wanted to elaborate a little more and add on to this post, so, yahoo! no clue if this will make any sense because (as usual) i'm tired and in physical pain, but hopefully at least someone will understand what i'm trying to say.

i forgot misako, mostly because she only serves as a love interest for about two seasons and then it's never mentioned again. but she still falls into the same category of "only here to fill a role and rarely gets the opportunity to define herself outside of that"

again: i LIKE all of these characters. i enjoy all of them and i'm only so frustrated because i want better for them. they all genuinely have a lot of potential.

not all of these characters are equal in how well written they are. vania, akita, and pixal are all solid, for the the most part. but regardless, they're all severely underutilized and underdeveloped (which is especially infuriating in pixal's case because she's the only other woman who could be considered part of the main cast).

no, vania and cole are not canon. however, with the framing and the animation of their initial interaction, i find it hard to believe that were absolutely no romantic undertones intended. mostly because ninjago has done that exact scene of "pretty woman exists and makes the man smile" with ALL of its canon pairings. not to mention both jay and lloyd make comments about them potentially being into each other. i dont personally interpret the two of them as anything more than friends, nor do some of the writers accoring to doc wyatt, but if they were trying to make it strictly platonic then they really fumbled it.

and now the big one i wanted to talk about: geo. he's the most subject to change out of everyone listed, because dragons rising is still ongoing and it still hasn't been technically confirmed that he's intended to be a love interest for cole (why does cole keep having all the most complicated to discuss ships?). but the romantic coding, just like with vania and cole, is still there. even if it never goes anywhere, i can't just ignore it. so that's why i decided to include him. now, do i think geo will get more screentime? yes. do i think it'll be anything substantial? maybe. he already has the potential for a character arc outside of cole-- that being his (possible) geckle/munce heritage-- and if they decide to do anything with that than he'll already be leagues above most of the girls. but if is the key word there. and personally? i don't know if i can fully trust dragons rising to pay off that potential. not because i don't think it's capable, but because i don't know if it'll care to. love interests are so rarely allowed to exist without their partner, especially in a series aimed at young boys like ninjago is, and considering the series' track record i'm hesitant to say anything for certain. there is also the uncomfortable intersectionality of this being the first secondary love interest character who may be allowed to have a character away from their partner, and it's a man. that wouldn't be so bad if there were any well done female love interests, but there really aren't. not in the supporting cast, anyways (akita gets close, but her romance with lloyd is so out of nowhere that i don't feel good calling its inclusion well done). but at the same time however, having a queer love interest with that kind of story arc would be huge. it's arguably in an even shakier state than good het fem love interests, with the only show i can think of off the top of my head that does this being the owl house with amity. that's where things get more complicated, because while new types of representation is great, it's hard for me to find it completely sincere if your still struggling so much with another, much more common type of rep.

so, the conclusion? i don't know. like i said, dragons rising is still ongoing and it all depends on where the writers take things from here. over the years and especially with dr coming out, ninjago's writing with its female characters has gotten much better. and it still is much better than a lot of other shows when it comes to this type of stuff. so, i'm more optimistic that good things will be coming than i would be for other shows, and even more than i'd be for ninjago just a couple of seasons ago. seabound and dragons rising have proven that theyre able to handle this well, but they still need to keep it up.

anyways im tired goodnight forever

i don't often like to criticize or complain about ninjago (just bc doing that with my special interests makes me sad), but jesus christ, i am so so tired of the continuous pattern of ninjago introducing a new character just so they can be a love interest. at the very least, nya allowed to be something outside of her romance with the jay, but that's still only 1/7. meanwhile pixal only gets to exist without zane sometimes; akita and harumi (in crystalized) have their romances tacked on for little to no reason; and skylor, vania, and geo don't have enough screen time or strong writing for me to consider them actual people.

and that sucks because i LIKE all those characters and i like some of the ships their involved in, but it's also just,,, SO fucking frustrating as an aromantic person to see characters only be created so they can date another one and do nothing else. especially since most of them are one-off female characters and there's a good chance of never seeing again ever, meaning not only do i, as a woman, lose part of my representation, but that i STILL can't fully relate to them because all of them are/were intended to pair up with other characters.

anyways. sorry for the rant. ninjago is definitely not the worst offender when it comes to this trend, but its still something i think about a lot because the series is so special to me. i guess i just felt like getting it out of my system

[nostalgia-tblr]

fucking ALSO there's the thing where loki completely supports sylvie on her mad quest until like literally the last fucking moment where he goes "hang on this is a shit plan let's maybe not?" which to be fair to her is also the exact point at which you'd expect a loki to betray you to get all the power for themselves. and yeah the 'chuck him through a time-door whatsit' thing is a betrayal but she had a sword at his throat like one minute before that and she still went with the not killing him option which is pretty good going for how fucked in the head she is.

[wangxianficrecs]

You guys, we get a beautiful canonical gay ship, which - how rare it even is? and y'all are already making up scenarios how to include wq into the ship? I guess this is why we can't have nice things. Why not just watch like 99% of other show that contain a het ship if you want one so bad? Poor wq being the scapegoat to ppl's unrealistic characterization is not only utterly OOC for her and Wangxian but also disrespectful to their canonical characterizations.

I think one of the best parts of fandom and fanfiction is that... it’s about people matching together characters who MESH, for whatever of a myriad of reasons, with a complete disregard for gender.  In our current media culture, most often the characters with the best chemistry/histories/etc. are male because our current culture doesn’t even bother fleshing out female characters beyond that of sexual objects.

So, the question is:  am I reading fanfiction because it is GAY, or am I reading it because it is explores the relationship and chemistry between the two characters that most intrigue me?

For me personally, the answer is both.  (I am not a fan of het sex, generally, because I am female, I am asexual, and I am uninterested in self-insert.)  The story in question explores two incredibly damaged people in a bleakly hopeless situation who are doing their damnedest just to keep from drowning... and in a dark moment, they find a way to draw comfort from each other.  Frankly... their genders don’t matter to me?  Would it be any different if Wen Qing were trans?  Would that make it more okay?  If it were always-a-girl-wwx?  What if it were Fourth Uncle?  Wen Ning?  Granny?  The story is simply about two human beings in a terribly unhappy place.  They are not in love, their relationship has no future, they are both very aware of that fact.  It is up to the author to make this pairing into something that I find believable and relatable.  In this particular case, the author did.

But listen, just like I told the other anon:  THE INSTANT you realize a fic is going somewhere that makes you feel uncomfortable, angry, attacked, negative in any way... leave it.  This is a very important life skill.

Some people want to look into corners that other people don’t.  That is okay.  It is the exact same okayness that allows you to peek into the concept of two people having a romantic homosexual relationship instead of a bro-ship.

Fanfiction, as I see it, is inclusive.  It’s not gay-only.  It’s a banquet, and you’re allowed to walk around with an infinitely big plate, loading anything you want onto it and avoiding the things you dislike.  Your dislike of a dish, however, doesn’t invalidate it for others.

Evaluate yourself.  Are you completely invested in your OTP?  Does it hurt to consider them with anyone else?  THIS IS FINE.  You can be that way.  (I usually am, actually, it’s VERY rare for me to accept anything else, and it usually has to sneak up on me unexpectedly.  Which is why this blog is 95% wangxian.)  Know yourself, understand your boundaries, and do not be ashamed of guarding them.  Just understand that other people may be or want something different, and that’s fine, too.

AO3 is not megalithic public media.  It’s not Hollywood, it’s not Simon&Schuster.  It is not an economic machine, and it doesn’t have the same influence over ALL of culture as CW, HBO or I-don’t-even-know-what-else-is-out-there.  I think that people are having a real problem lately with this distinction.  YES, demand that Hollywood, etc. stop portraying het-only couples, and DO demand that they watch every line of dialogue for racism/sexism/etc.  They shape our culture and make billions while doing it.  AO3, however, is where people come to hide.  It is VERY private.  No one makes money.  Each person who creates is doing so, on their own, from their own living rooms.  There is no $100M budget, nor is there a team of 1k people involved in a creation.  It is an entirely different thing.  If you don’t like what this one, single, unique, individual person is saying, then move along.  They are not beholden to you, nor you to them.

[pure-eleganza]

Dress Up! Time Princess First Thoughts

So I have been playing this game for about a week(ish) and I would like to share some of my first thoughts, it is kind of long as I have a lot to say about the game. Please note that I am not an expert on the game, nor am I literate in any way shape or form, so some parts may not make the most sense but stick with it lmao.

     Starting with a brief introduction to the game, dutp is a game that is loosely similar to lnduq, as at it’s core it is a dress up game that has heavy story elements. Where the two games branch off from each other is the story aspect itself, as lnduq has you following a single protagonist throughout a linear story, and in dutp you are the protagonist playing multiple different characters throughout a branching story that changes depending on your actions. Another notable difference of course is the graphics, as lnduq uses 2d graphics and dutp opts for 3d graphics.

Pros:

Interesting story lines that genuinely change based on what you choose to do. Each of the main story lines have multiple different main endings, and a plethora of bad endings. Some may find that annoying, but I personally enjoy a game that lets me do the wrong thing, and it pushes me to find the right answer.

Fun little spin off stories that only serve the purpose of fleshing out the pre-existing world, or give some backstory to some of the characters. So far we only have side stories for the Marie Antoinette story, but it is entirely in the realm of possibility that we will get more down the line.

 The characters are all very enjoyable, and there wasn’t a time in the stories where I felt that a character was annoying (that wasn’t intended to be so) or taking up space, and even as the whole lesbian that I am the het ships didn’t ever seem annoying, and there are enough pretty girls to tide me over (although that is very personal)

 The graphics are very pretty, and the devs do a good job in making the clothing and hair items look pretty, even if they are simple 1-2 star items. Almost every item in the game is versatile and can be used in many different ways, and clipping is a very rare and not a prevalent issue.

You can customize the protagonist herself in many different ways, including skin color, eye color, and face shape. This allows a new space for immersion, because you can make your protagonist look more like you.

This is a point that may change over time, but the game is very generous with how it gives out it’s items. While you can buy their in game currency, it (so far) does not seem like a necessity, and you can easily get anything you need to get done by just coasting on what you earn in game.

There is a shared closet feature wherein if your friend has an item you need for a stage in their shared closet, you can temporarily buy and borrow that item for a day for a one-time use in a stage. While that seems like a bad deal, it can really be beneficial if you just need one item to complete a stage with a perfect score

Cons:

Crafting items in this game is like pulling teeth, it is long, tedious, and requires a certain level of planning beforehand depending on what you want to craft. Sometimes things required for a level require a crazy amount of materials to craft, and you can only focus on one thing at a time. On that note, it does have to be mentioned that it is incredibly satisfying to complete your goal, and once you have an item you can use it forever, even if you lose the copy you have of it.

The rewards for completing most sets are laughable at best and insulting at worst, so it really isn’t worth it to try and complete a set if you are only going after it for what it will give you when you complete it.

The game can be punishing when it comes to getting a perfect score on most later stages of a story (which is necessary for obtaining patterns for other stages and story tickets for unlocking more stories) and it often takes you numerous attempts and sifting through unskippable stories to try the stage a few times, which can get irritating 

Closing this little review, I would truly recommend this game if you play Love Nikki, as it is similar at it’s core but is a different experience. The stories you read are a lot of fun, and the clothing is fun and versatile. On the flip side, if you aren’t the most patient and like moving quickly, this game may not be the best fit for you, as going through and trying to get everything you want/need is a time consuming and often tedious task.

[echodrops]

Why Do Certain Ships Become So Popular? (And Why Should Writers Rethink When They Do?) - Part 2

<- Start back at part 1 or you’re going to be very confused!

This time my victim of choice example is Klance (and Allurance and Lotura too).

In a previous post, I established the premise that shippers focus their efforts and attention on ships between characters who exhibit the most compelling dynamism, the greatest amount of emotional energy--good feelings or bad--that directly relates to one or more of the characters’ growth arcs... or the two characters whose emotional interactions most significantly affect a story’s main plot.

This idea (that shippers are looking for strong, dynamic emotional interactions that are directly tied to plot) feeds directly into my second premise: part of the popularity of slash ships comes from the fact that, very often, the strongest and most plot-relevant emotional events don’t occur between male characters and female characters, but between male protagonists and other male characters--due to a combination of 1) a much smaller number of female characters, 2) a majority of writers for anime/manga and American shows being male; 3) under-developed or poorly written female characters, and 4) the tendency to situate males in the hero, sidekick, and villain positions, increasing the chance that their actions will have greater importance in the story’s main plot.

In short, writers can unintentionally cause fans to prefer non-canon slash ships by writing more dynamic, better developed, and more plot-relevant interactions between their male leads than between the main character and his designated female love interest.  

Now hang on. Before you get all up in arms, yes, I’m perfectly aware there are plenty of other reasons slash ships are popular, including:

A huge desire among LGBT+ fans for positive representation

The fact that m/m interactions appeal to straight women/others the same way w/w interactions are sexy to straight men/others

The tendency of shows, particularly from Japan, to deliberately queer-bait

The fact that many women vicariously ship male characters together because it allows them to imagine a relationship of “genuine equals,” particularly in areas where women feel they are still not treated equally to men

The tendency for “pair the spares” to result in m/m ships simply due to a lower number of available female characters

And so on

This isn’t written to negate any of those reasons or to imply that they aren’t major factors in the popularity of slash ships, not at all, but it has always, always struck me as reductive when I hear things like “Slash ships are only popular because girls think two dudes together is hot” (the fetish argument) or “Girls will ship any two good-looking male characters together regardless of canon. They just hate het ships” (the fetish argument with a side dish of misogyny).

In particular, this last one--an argument I’ve heard from a lot of male fandom members (but of course not all)--has always gotten under my skin, because it implies that girls who ship aren’t capable of critically analyzing the media we consume and identifying characters who have meaningful interactions and interesting potential. That we, unlike those viewers who adhere to the canon (typically heterosexual) relationships, are somehow reading these stories wrong, blind to “real” romance (namely the one between the male hero and his best girl/waifu), and/or misusing male characters with zero regard for their personalities--worse, this argument also implies that female fans deliberately hate or under-appreciate oh-so-perfectly written female characters whose romantic subplots are totally natural and not at all an unfortunate side effect of their position as the token chick on the team...

At its best, the statement: “Girls will ship any two good-looking male characters” is demeaning in its dismissal of a majority of slash shippers and their ability to read characters. At its worse, it’s this exact dismissal that continues to allow so many (primarily male) authors to write under-developed, unimportant, token female love interests: “It’s the girls [or the slash shippers] who are weird; there’s nothing wrong with the way we’re doing things.”

But guess what happens when well-written female characters whose actions are central to a story’s main plot are introduced and highlighted? Guess what happens when the emotional energy between a female lead and her male counterpart is the most compelling and dynamic in the series?

The (often canon) het ship suddenly--somehow--magically becomes well-liked by fans!

Zutara and Kataang vastly out-strip any slash Avatar pairings in popularity. Noragami’s Yatori commands a staggering following in the fandom. Is there anyone in their right mind who thinks Alucard/Integra wasn’t the best pairing to end Hellsing with? No one debates whether or not Ahiru and Fakir from Princess Tutu are true love. In Doctor Who, Rose and the Doctor reign so far supreme in the fandom that none of the other ships even need to exist though I actually prefer River. Terra and Aqua from Kingdom Hearts beat out every other Terra or Aqua ship by a mile (and this is in a series notorious for hating and under-shipping its female characters). Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun has no problem juggling three very well-accepted het ships--even while having a scene in which two male characters sit down and draw a gay manga together. Ain’t nobody suggesting Mr. Bates and Anna from Downton Abbey should be with anyone else, right? And this is just in the handful of shows I personally have time to watch. Anyone who reads or watches a series with well-written female characters can play this exact same game!

The obvious conclusion? Female fans are perfectly willing to ship heterosexual pairings--if they’re well-written.

It’s the same story all over again: when the real emotional energy, the dynamic core, the most plot-relevant interactions occur between a male and female character, they too can become the fan-preferred couple. (Shocking!)

Yes, yes, I hear you saying “B-But wait, sometimes the m/m ship is more popular even though the het love interest is well-written!” or “Sometimes girls ship guy characters who have never even met!” or “So what you’re saying is female fans wouldn’t ship slash if there were better het options available?”

1) Don’t get me wrong--there are certainly always exceptions. I’m pointing out a trend, not a rule. Sometimes a fandom has a separate, specific reason for elevating a non-canon slash ship above a well-written canon het ship. (Someone who is actually in the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom might be able to explain why Ed/Roy is more popular than Roy/Riza, probably?) And in situations where a slash ship and a het ship in a series both have equally strong emotional energy, my bet is that the slash ship will always come out on top because it gets the added benefit of people liking LGBT+ rep and straight girls (and anyone else) who just think m/m is hot.

2) Crack ships definitely do exist. But usually when a crack ship actually manages to become popular, it’s because fans have recognized the potential for a strong emotional energy between two characters. If the two characters could reasonably have strong tension because of similarities, differences, or other elements of their characters, then crack ships are still following the trend of aligning with emotional energy, even if that energy is only anticipated at the moment.

3) I definitely don’t mean to suggest that slash ships are shoddy seconds to fans who would “naturally” prefer het ships if good het ships were available. What I’m suggesting is only that it’s no surprise slash ships are so extremely and consistently popular across so many fandoms, because in terms of plot relevance, depth of writing, and meaningful interactions with each other, male characters so rarely have any real competition. A desire for LGBT+ representation and people living out power or equality fantasies through slash are certainly motivating factors and good and worthy reasons to write slash. But one unfortunate contributor to the popularity of slash ships is that male characters continue to occupy a place of privilege in modern narratives. Our heroes remain overwhelmingly male. Our sidekick/lancer/buddy characters remain overwhelmingly male. Our villain characters remain overwhelmingly male. That is to say: male characters continue to dominate all the most “plot relevant” roles in our narratives, and so long as male leads continue to be placed in roles where their most compelling emotional interactions and greatest sources of character growth are other male characters, slash ships will continue to dominate fandoms’ online presences.

(Hilarious: the dude bros who complain about the number of slash ships in their favorite series are often the very same ones supporting and becoming the writers whose shallow portrayals of female characters further bolster the popularity of said slash ships in the first place...)

Okay, I’ve made you wait long enough.

What does all of this have to do with Voltron?

Well, you’ve probably figured that part out already, actually.

If we consider the “emotional energy” and tension among Voltron’s main characters, there’s absolutely no question who is at the core, where the most plot relevant and meaningful emotional interactions have occurred, where the “heart” of the story is, in essence...

Hint: It’s Keith.

(Just a heads up: I’m going to use Klance as the example because it’s the most popular Voltron pairing according to the numbers, but any Sheith fan worth their salt could obviously very, very easily apply these ideas one-for-one to that ship, because clearly Shiro’s interactions with Keith are some of the most emotionally tense and compelling in the entire Voltron series--they are a consistent core of feeling energy for the show which naturally leads many people to support this ship. A large part of the reason that this post is tagged Sheith is because I am absolutely inviting Sheith shippers to use the theory and lens in this essay to analyze Sheith--using this idea to analyze Sheith will reveal a lot of intense emotional energy to discuss and validate that ship. I’m very tempted to put this paragraph in all caps or something so the Sheith shippers will actually read it and stop badgering me...)

Keith (and his relation with other characters) is the core of Voltron’s main plot, both in that he is positioned as the leader/the hero/the protagonist, and because, obviously, almost all of the series’ emotional high points (with the exception of “Crystal Venom” and Pidge’s search for Matt) somehow feature him. 

Keith isn’t just central in the main plot though; he’s also central in the individual arcs of two other characters: Lance and Shiro. He’s a motivating and driving factor in both of these characters’ stories and change throughout the series, affecting their actions, attitudes, and self-worth, and so it should come as absolutely no surprise that Sheith and Klance are the series’ most popular ships.

But since Klance is the most popular pairing, the person I really want to talk about is Lance.

You can say a lot of things about Lance and the raging debates that occurred over whether or not Lance is a straight loverboy trope or not, but I don’t think any viewer of Voltron would deny that, if we consider the main cast members (Team Voltron plus Lotor), the core of Lance’s emotional energy and tension is Keith. His interactions with Keith--not even in a romantic sense, simply in a storytelling sense--are more important and dynamic than his on-screen interactions with any other main character.

From his laser focus on Keith at Garrison that caused him to invent a rivalry (this word is basically just a synonym for “emotional energy” at this point):

To comedic banter:

To the infamous bonding moment:

To a fledgling “right hand man” partnership:

To Lance’s insecurities:

The story of Voltron itself continuously reiterates that Lance’s interactions with Keith are more dynamic, more intense (even if we’re talking about “Rawr, I hate you, we’re rivals!” emotions instead of lovey-dovey stuff), and more plot relevant than Lance’s interactions with other characters in the series. Lance’s emotional arc is irrevocably centered on Keith until very, very late in the series.

More importantly: Lance’s motivation and personal plot line as a whole are centered on Keith. At it’s most basic, Lance’s character arc seems like it was supposed to center on Lance’s sense of self-worth--despite acting confident, Lance was actually insecure about his ability to help save the universe. Theoretically, his narrative should have focused on him becoming confident about his place on the team and his value as both a friend and fellow paladin to the other main characters. His arc should have been (and I guess theoretically still is? It’s just not... ever given much attention?) about him overcoming his insecurity by learning to recognize his own unique talents and discovering the things that only he can do to help Team Voltron succeed. (Hell, the entire Allurance thing could have been framed as “She’s completely out of my league” ---> “Whoa, originally I was putting Allura on a pedestal but actually she’s as much a member of this team as me--we’re in this together, side-by-side.”)

Whether or not the semi-incoherent narrative of Voltron actually delivered on this promise is iffy, but the set up in season 1-3ish is all there and all Keith:

At Garrison, Lance viewed Keith as a road block in his quest to becoming a fighter class student. Keith’s achievements and talent became a measuring stick for Lance’s own capabilities. He imagined a rivalry to make himself feel better/less insecure. His drive not to lose out to Keith is what dragged Hunk and Pidge along to Shiro’s rescue and ultimately led to the discovery of the Blue Lion. Lance comparing himself unfavorably to Keith as a paladin and pilot contributed to (mostly) one-sided animosity throughout the early seasons that gave way to a scene of Lance attempting to step down from the team because he didn’t see himself worthy of the position in comparison to Keith:

The logical conclusion that I think most fans would draw from these many scenes is that, as part of Lance’s overall character growth across the whole series, he needed to have a moment in which he recognized that he isn’t--and has never been--inferior to Keith.

Ultimately, the first five seasons continually reiterate the idea that, in terms of interactions, energy, and dynamic character growth, the most important main character in Lance’s story (other than Lance) is Keith.

Keith’s interactions with Lance are directly and immediately tied to Lance’s individual character arc/growth, and Keith is definitely the focus of Lance’s most meaningful emotional tension throughout seasons 1-5 at least.

Which means it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Klance is the most popular Lance ship, particularly when you set it side-by-side with the (increasingly canon) Allurance.

I just want to make this abundantly clear before I begin: I have absolutely nothing against Allurance shippers and, until it was done so poorly in season 5-6 (and potentially 7, I still haven’t even finished that one), I actually was okay with the possibility of Allurance being endgame because I thought there was potential for it to be done well. After what we’ve been given, I actually feel the Allurance shippers have been horribly shortchanged by the show’s real writing, and that I can’t personally support the ship the way it’s being written, but that’s not the fault of the characters themselves or anything inherently “wrong” with the ship. So please don’t take the rest of what I say here as ship hate--this is just observations from a literary analysis standpoint.

What has prevented Lance and Allura from gaining significant traction with the fans despite the fact that it’s edging close to canon territory if it isn’t canon already?

Well, one problem might be that Lance’s emotional energy has no bearing on Allura’s individual character development--and Allura’s emotional peaks have no bearing on Lance’s personal arc either (at least as far as it was established in early seasons and then left essentially unresolved).

Allura’s arc has, throughout the course of the show, centered on her ability to defeat her family’s foes, her grief for her lost people and planet, and her desire to follow in her father’s footsteps as a leader and in the Altean traditions as well. None of this has much of anything to do with Lance. Her growth as a character occurs--with the exception of the single shining scene on Naxela--completely independently of Lance. She lets her father’s memory go on her own in “Crystal Venom.” She faces Zarkon head-to-head by herself after rescuing Shiro. It’s Shiro who stops her from over-working herself to aid the coalition, not Lance. It’s Keith’s whose Galra blood forces her to re-examine and overcome some of her universal hatred for the Galra. It’s Lotor who helps her reach Oriande, and her own ingenuity that allows her to tame the White Lion and learn the secrets of Altean alchemy.

With the exception of the scene on Naxela where it was specifically Lance’s speech that motivated Allura to save the day, virtually all of her most charged emotions occurred elsewhere and with other characters, and there’s nothing in her personal goals--to be a strong leader, to revive her culture, to save the universe--that is intrinsically tied with Lance. He can encourage and aid her in those pursuits, but so can Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran. The role of fellow paladin and supporting ally isn’t unique to Lance. His interactions with her don’t fill a niche that drives her personal plot lines outside of the romance subplot.

And the same thing is true in reverse.

We get this nice scene of Allura encouraging Lance and helping him work on his insecurity... And then it is promptly never mentioned again. (Where did the sword go, guys? Where???) Lance gives up Blue to Allura and she’s almost immediately gifted at piloting the Blue Lion, while Lance is shown struggling with Red (once more in Keith’s shadow) and still hadn’t, as of the end of season 6, seemed to have mastered it to the same extent as Keith. It’s Keith, Laika (an alien dog--not Allura guys, an alien dog) and the SPACE MICE that Lance expresses his insecurities to, and it’s Coran who is there for Lance’s touching scene expressing his longing to return to Earth. Lance’s personal arc about growing into the paladin role and becoming a selfless person who puts the team before his own desire for glory once again occurs independently of Allura, with little to no interaction, and even fewer emotional high points between them, in the entire first half of the show.

For both of these characters, their “real emotional energy”--their tension both positive and negative--occurs with other characters. The “believability” and energy of this ship is diminished by the fact that it simply isn’t the most well-written of character pairs in the series. The romance subplot isn’t organically tied to either of their personal plot lines, and the depth of their one-on-one interactions pales in comparison to their, particularly Lance’s, interactions with other characters.

But huh... would you look at that... When a potential romantic interest came along whose interactions with Allura were both directly tied to her personal arc, her central character motivations, and her emotional high points...

Isn’t it amazing how well it was received by the fandom--despite the fact that no one was really sure whether Lotor was evil or not? Now of course, I’m not going to ignore the fact that Lotura was probably helped along by leaving Keith, Lance, and Shiro free to ship elsewhere, but I don’t think the actual chemistry in the series’ writing itself should be ignored.

There was significantly, significantly more tension and nuance to Allura and Lotor’s interactions that any of Allura’s interactions with any of the other main cast, and their interactions operated not just in a romantic capacity, but also as a vehicle for Allura’s personal character growth:

The push and pull of these two characters and their scenes together sparked change in both of them, which augmented and increased the quality of their romantic arc while also furthering both of their own individual goals as characters.

The story painted them as equals with mutual interests, a shared interest in Altean culture, both victims (at least initially) of their parents’ war, both distrusting but ultimately lonely people who were longing for connection to, in Allura’s case, what had been lost, and in Lotor’s case, what he theoretically had never been able to have (except the writers did him dirty so jk).

I just don’t think there are many people who would argue that Allurance--or Allura’s interactions with any other male character--have been written with near as much depth, engagement, and integration with her motivations as Lotor and Allura’s were. Their plot literally got more screen time one-on-one in a single seven episode season than Allura and Lance did in the 43+ other episodes...

And for the the short time that it lasted, this pairing was embraced by many fans. I might be biased because I immediately went out and followed every Lotura blog I could find, but to me it seems like it was well-liked and generally well-regarded among shippers until the colony reveal (and by many still after). I was very excited by the writing of this ship and definitely wanted something meaningful to come out of it. Part of the fandom’s immense outrage at Lotor’s reveal was, I think, linked to the fact that this ship had been so convincingly written into the series before it.

This, to me, is a perfect example of a situation in which the emotional exchange between two characters exceeds the strength and depth of their interactions with others, leading to immediate adoption and approval as a ship by the fandom. Where the real energy is, there are the shippers.

PHEW! Let me take a deep breath and come up for air. There’s a lot going on here, but boiling it down to the basic point I’m trying to make, and which I’ll address in a lot more depth in the third and final part of this: the way that a story is written profoundly affects what ships will or will not become popular with fans. Shipping isn’t an unpredictable beast that grows completely independently of its source material. The ways writers craft interactions between their characters--and the places where they invest the most and infuse the most life--are powerful tools that impact how fans view and come to love seeing characters both separately and in romantic relationships.

To that end, while there are numerous reasons slash ships are popular and continue to grow in popularity, one reason that should be considered seriously by all creative writers--fanfiction authors or aspiring original novelists--is the notion that shipping often aligns with the core of a story’s or character’s emotional energy, the pairs with the highest tension, the electric pulse of the story’s most meaningful moments. Non-canon ships of any sexuality swell to mega-popularity when fans perceive more depth and significance in the interactions of characters outside the canon pair, when the emotional work of the story is happening somewhere outside the intentional romantic plot line. Sometimes this is fine. But more often, this is a bad sign for creators--a sign that you’ve fumbled in the writing of your main romantic leads.

As writers, questions we rarely ask ourselves but often should are: “Where is the core of the tension in my story? Whose interactions are deepest and most central to the development of my main character?”

In other words: Where is the real emotional energy in my story?

In part 3 I’m going to provide one more excellent case-in-point, and then close out with a discussion of some take-aways for writers from all this that might help strengthen your romantic subplots, whatever your genre or whoever your characters.

Go on to Part 3 ->

[sarahnevra]

A Long Ramble (with some TMI, sorry) about gender and me

So... after reading a post on a different site (not gonna link it, its drama is honestly unrelated and is very much Not My Business to meddle in) my brain did its usual hop skip and jump over 50 different points to come to a realization that... I’m not really sure what it means?

A huge portion of my active OCs at this point are men or some flavor of nonbinary. I still have women on my roster, but they’re largely background/side anymore or very, very inactive. And a lot of my guy OCs are VERY FUCKING GAY or in monogamous relationships where they have chosen to be with a male partner and practice that monogamy without women involved.

On one hand, I worry a lot that this could be construed as me fetishizing gay men. Which I’m trying actively not to do. I know the reputation fujoshi get, and the rabid “women are a threat to my m/m ship!!!1!” mentality I see in some fandoms is... frankly disturbing. I very actively do not engage in that and when I ship established male characters I simply abide by “do not interact if you don’t like” as far as other ships (het or otherwise) go and I actively avoid engaging in any sort of real person/actor shipping specifically to keep from creeping on people I could genuinely hurt through my direct actions.

But... y’all. I make guys. I ship my guys. My guys have a LOT of sex. Like, a lot. I’m finding that I do this with my personal OCs because I just... don’t relate to my gender most of the time. I do not relate to being a woman in many ways. I understand the struggles because I am treated as a woman by society, I have rare days where I feel very happily girly, but the vast majority of the time I just get a blank. I can look in a mirror and say “girl” and I get... nothing. No positive or affirmative feeling towards the statement. No major negative most of the time. Just... nothing.

And when I do perform western traditional femininity it’s... not because I’m trying to be girly. I have a big swishy skirt because it’s fucking comfortable, y’know? I have a couple of dresses in my closet because I think they’re cute and because I like how they feel when I put them on, not because I think I’m beautiful in them. I have makeup but I rarely use it; my favorite stuff is garish, weird lipstick colors that I can only get away with when I go out because I’m a fat girl and nobody gives a shit what I do anyway unless they’re actively shitting on me for other reasons to begin with.

I do not feel related to my body except in negative ways most of the time. I am FAT. I am not attractive by any stretch of the imagination. I have many habits and preferences that are decidedly unfeminine and if I wasn’t 80% invisible by society’s standards I know I would catch hell for a lot of it.

(TMI to follow, period talk) The time of the month that most reminds me that I am born with woman parts makes me HATE MY BODY. Violently. I have literally had to ask my husband to talk me away from stabbing myself because I hate how this makes me feel. I hate the pain, I hate the massive mood swings and violent food cravings, I hate the migraines, I hate the horrendous gastrointestinal distress it causes, I hate feeling DISGUSTING the entire time, I hate not being able to sleep without utterly exhausting myself. I am on multiple hormonal forms of birth control just to get this to a manageable level and it is somewhat working, I only have a period once every couple months now, but I still violently hate my own body when it comes on. The implant and pills now allow me to have a few days of strong PMS, the week of the event, and a few days of post instead of a week or more of wicked PMS, a week or more on the rag with full raging symptoms, and a full week or more of harsh symptoms after the bleeding actually ends. You read that right, I was basically non-functional in society outside my home before I got on something that stopped me having regular periods. 3-4 weeks out of the month I was fucked. It’s marginally better now but only because I’m on extra medication that might, y’know, put me at major risk of depression and anxiety (oh wait, i already have those and it’s impossible to tell without having a shrink whether this is making it worse or not) and weight gain, among other things.

(Still TMI, this one’s about sex) On top of all that, I don’t masturbate in any kind of healthy way. I get a vague craving to get off, I turn on a large vibrator, hold it in place, and I’m done when it finishes. That’s it. I don’t know what to DO with my body. I can’t stand touching it, I barely even know what it looks like, and what I imagine makes me feel sick. The few times I’ve been in the mood for my husband to be with me over the past decade it’s been because I want to give him something, not because I wanted pleasure. And, y’all? The last time was more than three years ago. The dom I was with during college... eh. I performed for him. It was... okay, sort of? I got off. But I usually felt weird after and I’ve come to realize I was not in a good place for that, I was exhausting myself trying to give something to him that I just didn’t have. I do not want my body touched anymore. I do not want to touch. I hate my body and how it feels and what it does to me and I can’t stand the idea of somebody else touching it either. I cannot relate to my own body or pleasure and I can barely, on some good days, relate to feminine pleasure. And even THAT is using alien biology!

Okay, TMI done.

Overall, I don’t know what I am or what I should do and I worry that I’m inadvertently hurting someone because most of the way I relate to a character right now is by trying to act through them as a man. And some of my boys are SOFT BOYS, believe me, but they’re still BOYS. And I feel like I need that. But I don’t know what it means.

[tight-pants]

In Defense of Harry Styles: Why Het Harries and Larries are BOTH Problematic

I have to say a few things in defense of Harry Styles (and Louis).  First of all, my unpopular, but logical, take on things:

Larry was real.  Everyone else in the room can see it.

Larry broke up.  At some point before the band broke up went on “hiatus.”  If you are going to use your powers of observation to conclude that they were together, you have to also use it to realize that they are no longer together.  The number of break-up songs they have each written both on MITAM and in their solo careers is staggering.

Sadly, this may have played a key factor in the hiatus, but that is just speculation.

Harry has more or less screamed from a mountaintop that he is into both men and women, yet his sexuality is constantly under attack.

Harry sucks at lying, which is why he was never allowed to address Larry, but which is also why you should believe him before any other source of information.

While Louis may be in a forced closet, he may not be.  His choice in management and to be with Eleanor (in whatever manner they may be together) was his own.  He is a grown man, not the ignorant child that originally signed with Modest.

Louis and Harry seem to not be on speaking terms cause they probably are rarely in contact now, thus all the songs they keep writing about no longer speaking to their exes.

This morning Harry was seen wearing his rumored girlfriend’s PJ top at a time that he thought he would be seen by no one, so do with that what you will, but to call everything a “stunt” is getting old.  He didn’t think anyone would see him in that.  He might actually, *gasp* be dating someone.

Why het Harries are problematic (all obvious):

They choose to flat out ignore everything Harry has ever said about his sexuality.

They perpetuate the “Harry is a womanizer” narrative that he has tried to shake from a young age.

They are cruel and homophobic towards other fans, blatantly ignoring Harry’s messages of acceptance and to treat people with kindness.

Why Larries are problematic:

While Larry was obvious at a point, it is not anymore for good reason: it is probably no longer a thing.  To “ship” two REAL people that likely had a real, but tragic, relationship is really, quite gross.  To admire how they were is something different entirely.  They were cute and sweet and had something quite beautiful.

To constantly speculate “who topped” is so incredibly disrespectful that I cannot believe it is such a widely speculated thing.  That is one of the most private things in the world that I am sure most of their closest friends wouldn’t even know about.

To tag them, their family and their possible significant others in Larry stuff, comment on their posts that “Larry is real” or “Louis tops” or whatever has to be incredibly painful and hard for them, especially if they were together and are no longer together.

No part of it is funny.  The story of Larry is a sad one, even though the love was beautiful to witness.

Regardless of how Freddie came into this world, he is here.  To attack the existence of a child or his family is repugnant.

They often try to project labels on Harry that he’s stated he clearly does not apply to himself.

Why Harry has already told you everything you are going to know:

He’s been screaming he has no gender preference since Day 1 / Harry is NOT in the closet

His use of gender-neutral pronouns/terms when describing an ideal partner

“Not that important”

“The boys AND the girls are in. I mess around with THEM.”

Stated he does not label his sexuality

“We are all a little bit gay.”

These are not the words of someone that is closeted or ashamed.

Do you really think he would choose another management team that would keep him silenced?

Do you really think a management team that is keeping him closeted would allow him to dance on stage with rainbow flags, sing about liking boys, and say all the gay stuff he says on stage?

In conclusion: Harry is not in the closet.  He is out.  He doesn’t label himself.  He likes both men and women to some degree.

He will never discuss his relationships with the world

Anytime he is even seen with a girl (or guy - ex: Xander), he and his friend/significant other are attacked.

He has stated that he does not see the staged paparazzi pics as part of a relationship.

Conclusion: Unless he gets married or is having a child, you are likely not going to hear from his mouth who he is dating, be it man or woman.

Why this ALL needs to stop:

If Louis and Harry were together and are no longer together, then constantly shipping them as a married couple has to be incredibly painful.

Imagine having a relationship so obviously close and special as theirs, losing that, and having to have it shoved in your face every day for the rest of your lives.  Just imagine it.

There was probably a point in time where they appreciated the fandom’s support, but for years now they seem incredibly uncomfortable at the mention of Larry.  

It is disrespectful to their families, friends and possible love interests.

Labelling Harry as “gay” or “straight” and fighting over it is the exact opposite of what Harry wants.  He wants everyone to be kind to each other.  He doesn’t understand the obsession with someone else’s sexuality.  He has shouted from the mountaintop what he identifies as (or rather, how he doesn’t identify) and no one is listening or respecting him.

True fans would support Harry and Louis in their music and all their life choices, even if those choices are to be with people other than each other.  Even if those choices are to be out of each other’s lives.  Even if those choices don’t make any sense to us.  Especially if those choices were to ask for privacy.

If Harry is happy, then be happy for him.  He deserves the world.  Louis too.

[takaraphoenix]

Odd question but what do you think of the “fujoshi” community? Harmless fun or harmful fetishization?

Oh, oh I’m getting a headache just reading that question…

No, it is not fetisihzation that is utter bullshit. No it is not harmful, that is even more bullshit.

The people accusing fujoshi of fetishization do the exact same thing. They write the exact same stories and draw the exact same fanarts about the exact same gays. But because the creators in one case are females, they are the devil and they are fetishizing.

By every definition of the word, I am a fujoshi too - a female fan of mlm ships. Yaoi or shounen-ai, if you wish to continue using Japanese terms.

What fujoshi discourse boils down to is a group of people being misogynistic crybabies and not allowing females to have genuine interests.

The term “CIShet woman” is thrown around like a slur in this discourse - disregarding that not all fujoshi are CIS or het. I, for my part, am a lesbian. It’s literally only about those people’s hatred for women, really.

Because the exact same content is totally fine if it is made by a gay man.

They don’t even realize how ridiculous that is.

If we would ever only get representation if it gets written by a person from the group in question, we would literally barely get anything.

Most gay stories were written by straight men and women. Most stories involving characters of color used to be written by white writers. Someone has to pave the way - and it is the group that is most “accepted” to do the job. In the case of writing for Hollywood, those would be the white men. Does that mean we have no right to see movies about women or characters of color or non-straights? No, no it does not.

As a lesbian, I can still enjoy Willow and Tara as a lesbian couple on Buffy even though they were written by a CIShet man. I still get to enjoy Elena’s coming out story on One Day at a Time even though the show was not written by a lesbian.

So if you, as a gay man, can not accept seeing a mlm couple written by a woman, then the problem is not the woman who invests her time into writing this, it is with you.

Especially since we are talking fandom here.

We’re not even talking Hollywood. We’re talking about authors on AO3 and fanarts on DeviantArt and on here. We’re talking about fans, people who love something and dedicate their own time into creating something for free, something that you and everybody else gets to enjoy without getting any form of payment for it.

So instead of being grateful for the content, those people insult, belittle, bully and even threaten the creators.

THAT IS WHAT IS HARMFUL.

A woman creating art or stories is and can by definition not be harmful, because it is fiction about fictional characters and it is on the internet where you can just avoid it if you do not agree with it.

But those people who made this into a “discourse”, they are the ones being harmful because they mistreat people who do something they enjoy.

People crying that “Those women enjoying what I am enjoying and what is clearly aimed only at me because it represents me, they are ruining the thing for me!!!” are the exact same type of whiny babies as the men who started crying this exact same sentence when women started showing interest in nerd culture - you all do remember that, right? The uproar against female fans in the MCU and DC and Star Wars and Star Trek culture because how dare women show any interest in these things that “belong” to men. All this shit about “fake nerd girls” that female fans of those shows and movies have to put up with, just for being female and interested in this thing.

Women aren’t allowed to have interests.

That is literally what this boils down to.

95% of canonically gay anime and manga were written by fujoshi - most of the things those antis consume was created by fujoshi.

The most ridiculous thing I ever saw on the topic was an anti making a post that fujoshi aren’t allowed to go and see Love, Simon because it is not meant for them, it is meant for gays.

It is not.

I, as a lesbian, wish to see this movie about a gay teen romance, because heaven knows I won’t get my lesbian teen romance any time soon on this big scale.

And the wildest part? Love, Simon was literally written by a fujoshi. By the very thing they hate - the CIShet white woman. The very kind of person they want to forbid from seeing this movie. That is the author of the book.

It’s a ridiculous double-standard and it baffles me that so many people on this hellsite don’t seem to grasp that.

Representation only matters if it is written by the minority represented and no one else aside from said minority is allowed to enjoy this.

That is literally like saying white people and non-black POC aren’t allowed to watch Black Planther or make fan content to it because it solemnly belongs to black people? Aren’t allowed to see Coco because it is clearly only aimed at Latinx people…? Oh yes, it is very clearly created for this group of people and from everything I’ve seen on this site, they’re the ones who get the most enjoyment out of it and out of the representation it brought with it - but that… that doesn’t mean that no one else is allowed to enjoy this.

I saw Coco five times by now and I’m white as fuck and I highly doubt that Latinx people in the fandom will give me shit for writing fanfiction for it, or accuse me of “fetishizing” their culture just because I’d write fanfiction for this movie. Which I am, literally working on a fic for that, hence the example.

Just because something is aimed at a certain group does not mean only they can enjoy it.

It’s a ridiculous concept of double standard that is being used in the fujoshi discourse.

I’m a woman, but I’m still allowed to consume media aimed at men - holy shit, aren’t we literally trying to break gender norms these days, like, seriously?

I’m a lesbian, but I’m still allowed to consume media featuring straights and gays and bisexuals and everything else under the rainbow. It’s not like I am only allowed to watch lesbian shows… because then I would literally have nothing to watch.

I’m white, but I’m still allowed to consume media featuring and focusing on characters of color. Because holy shit, I also don’t want the all-white casts anymore, it’s intensely stale and boring and outdated?? We are literally glad that we finally broke this kind of writing when it comes to representation in this aspect, so how could you want to revert back in the case of representing sexualities…?

If everyone is only allowed to consume media that focuses on representation of themselves, then you are really living in the stone-ages. They do know that this led to Hollywood and TV shows being predominantly white and male, right?

Fujoshi are female fans creating content for other fans.

Fujoshi discourse is overgrown babies crying about women having interests, using bogus claims like “Stop fetishizing ME!!!”.

No one is fetishizing you, unless you are a male celebrity and reading RPF about yourself. Those are literally the only people who can cry out about personally being fetishized. Celebrities who are being directly lusted after and have smut written about them.

Someone writing about something that includes part of your identity does not and will never personally fetishize you.

Hentai anime about big boobed girls? Does not personally fetishize me just because I’m a busty girl. It’s gross as fuck and I don’t like it, but I can just avoid it and I don’t feel personally victimized by its existence.

That is fetishization though. Women with waists that should break under the laws of physique and boobs trice the size of their heads. That is fetishizing women.

If fujoshi would be fetishizing gays, then they would be with such emphasis of their glorious cocks and mighty balls or some shit.

Essentially 50% of the things fujoshi create are soft. Fanfiction, fanart, doujinshi - fluff, about cuddling, two characters holding each other, that 50k slow-burn coffee shop AU you read last month.

Writing about a healthy, slow relationship is not and never will be “fetishization” - and it sure as heck will never be fetishization of you personally, because it isn’t about you.

Now to get back to a point I mentioned earlier.

Not every fujoshi is CIShet. For me, personally, writing about mlm relationships and reading about them was dealing with my own homosexuality - because we don’t get female gay love.

I could walk into any bookstore and thanks to Japanese fujoshi authors, I could just buy a manga about two teenage boys, discovering their sexuality and dealing with it. No sex involved. Not a single manga I own written by a fujoshi is even yaoi. Sex doesn’t have to be in it. Like I said, most content is impossibly soft and fluffy in nature.

And it helped me come to terms with my own sexuality, with the fact that it is possible to not be straight.

It’s harder to write about wlw ships than it is to write about mlm ships by sheer math alone.

Look, say, at the Avengers - you had one female character and five male characters in that lead team. There wasn’t even an option to write about a wlw ship, while you have ten possible mlm ships. So, what are you supposed to write about as a woman? Natasha masturbating for 20k words, or what? Because I, as a woman, am not allowed to write about men…?

Look at the Voltron fandom, where you have five male characters and two female… but oh my, one of the females is literally 15 while the other is an ancient alien; not the kind of ship I sail, so again no wlw ship to write about, but just as many mlm options as in the above mentioned.

And that is a pattern.

Franchises - anime, manga, cartoon, TV shows, movies, books - are dominated by male characters. Most lead characters are male. They are more fleshed out, better developed than the rare female characters.

Even nowadays, the male characters are still mostly more dynamic and more interesting than the females, because the females are either the Mother Character, the mere bland Love Interest who doesn’t get developed beyond being a love interest to the male lead, or the Badass Female whose only real trade is that she can kick ass, but real personality mostly still comes short.

So yeah, it’s virtually not a surprise that fanfiction authors - male and female alike - mostly latch onto mlm ships and write and draw about them, because there are statistically speaking more male characters in fandom and more mlm options than wlw options.

And if you forbid women from being interested in male characters and their relationships, if you forbid women from participating in fandom, if you forbid women from creating for the things they love…

There would be no fandoms.

Literally.

Fanfiction started because women wanted to see Spock and Kirk fuck. While there are many male creators by now, fandom has always been rather dominated by women, who created and set the path.

So we are good enough to put you where you are now, but now we are forbidden from participating in the very thing we created? Literally, the thing we created - because most of your boyslove manga and anime were created by fujoshi. So you are allowed to consume that but you do not allow the people who are like the author to also enjoy it…? Really?

And then there is also still that accusation that, somehow, “we” evil CIShet women get off to fetishizing “you” poor gay men.

I’m ace. I don’t get off to the smut I write. I write the sex scenes because they are part of the relationship, just as I write the wooing and getting together. It ain’t about “getting off”. It’s about the enjoyment of writing.

And while I, personally, don’t identify as a fujoshi because I don’t like the term, others do - and others have a right to. Just like I would never call myself a stan of anything, because I don’t like the term - but by definition I most likely do stan a lot of characters and shows and things.

I think a big problem is that fujoshi, translated, means “rotten woman” and somehow the butthurt crybabies who feel personally victimized by fujoshi see that as meaning something bad.

Yes, the words rotten woman do not exactly scream “Oh, this is a nice thing!”, but those people don’t even bother looking up the meaning - because words have meanings, connotations attached to them. And meanings change. Just because something seems to “say” one thing if you do a literal translation of it does not necessarily mean that the word also means the same thing that said literal translation offers. That is not how language works.

And at its very core, all that fujoshi means is “female fan of mlm”. The term itself was coined during times where liking gays and being gay was even more scandalous than today. You were rotten if you liked gays, a disgusting, rotten person - and yet still those women weren’t stopped. They created.

They created things that future generations got to enjoy. They created a pathway.

And if people today want to call themselves fujoshi because they identify with the term, then absolutely no one has a right to judge them, has the right to assign a different meaning to that term.

How do we, today in this day and age where we are all about claiming our own identity, have people out there who think they can dictate the identity and interests of others?

How is the gay community so rotten that there are people not allowing women to have an interest and condemning them for the label they chose for themselves…?

That is the disgusting and harmful part of the fujoshi discourse, really.

[greeblingyaoza]

I might get shit for this, but I’m going to express my opinion here anyways. In regards to headcanons involving Ling’s sexuality/gender identity. This gets kind of long, and is also me analyzing why I feel a certain way about these things and whether I should think differently... Also some of my feelings/opinions may be problematic. 

I dislike headcanons for Ling being gay (as in 100% gay, ONLY interested in guys), a trans-woman, and even a trans-man. 

Before I go on, I will say that I’m not saying people shouldn’t have these headcanons. Have whatever headcanons you like. However, I’m only expressing my personal opinions on them, and I have nothing against someone who has these headcanons. 

My reason for disliking gay Ling headcanons: If Ling was gay, that would destroy the Lingfan ship, one of few ships I genuinely care about. It also destroys my self-ship with him, since I’m a heterosexual girl who has a huge crush on him. I know he’s not real, and I don’t own him, and can never be with him anyways, so him being gay would really change nothing for me. It would just mean I couldn’t self-ship with him without erasing his sexuality, so I’d likely have to force myself to get over him. 

Reason for disliking trans-girl Ling headcanons: Again, I’m a straight girl with a crush on him, so it doesn’t work for me at all. Also, I don’t exactly get the point of the headcanon because he obviously considers himself male, so hc-ing him as a trans-male would make more sense. I get people like to project onto their favorite charactesr, so if someone is a trans-girl, they want their favorite male characters to be trans-girls as well. But I feel like it would make more sense to headcanon the already female characters as trans women. 

Reason for disliking trans-male Ling headcanons: Okay, this is what I might really get shit for. I’ll be honest. I’m not sure if I’d be willing to date a trans-guy. Well, if I’d be willing to date ANYONE to even begin with (I’m only interested in fictional characters) I feel like I probably have a preference for cis guys. I know that’s considered transphobic. Because this implies I wouldn’t see him as a man. I do consider trans people as the gender they identify as. Let me get that straight. But I’m not sure if I could date someone trans due to anatomical reasons. I know that’s probably awful. I don’t know if this makes me a bad person or not. I like to think that it’s okay to have preferences as long as you aren’t shaming people for not fitting their preferences. Like....I rarely ever shave my legs. I realize a lot of guys don’t like that. I think they’re allowed to have a preference for shaven legs...but I would take issue if they put me down for not shaving my legs. I know that’s not the same as gender identity, but, that’s just how I feel about it. I’ll just say it, I prefer cis Ling. Also while I don’t consider fictional characters confirmed straight until proven otherwise, in my mind, I think of characters as cis unless proven otherwise by the creator. I never have trans headcanons. But this is also because I’m a cis person who doesn’t need representation. 

Would Ling being any of these above things be good rep? Yeah, sure. However, if I had the choice between...Ling becomes canonically gay and trans and people are happy for the representation, OR Ling is cishet and I get to continue shipping myself with him and shipping him with a girl, I’d choose for him to be cishet. Because I’m a selfish person. 

The headcanons I’m cool with for Ling is...straight Ling, bi/pan Ling, asexual Ling, cis Ling...that’s about it. Because those would still work with what I personally want. 

Non-binary Ling? Eh....it’s okay I guess. Aromantic Ling? Ehhhh...I’m not really aro or ace (though I may be demisexual at the most, because other than someone I feel very strongly for, I’m kind of put off by sex and sexual things)....but I’m definitely not aromantic so...wouldn’t really work for me. 

I’m cool with bi Ling because I 100% ship him with Lan Fan and I casually ship him with Greed on the side, but I’m not as serious about it. But that’s it. And if I ship him with Greed, I prefer him to have feelings for Lan Fan as well. Like I can’t see Lingfan not being a thing, but this is also because I’m suuuppper biased. 

And there’s on more thing...Poly Ling. I have mixed feelings on that. I don’t believe I’m polyamorous. I’ve never been in a relationship in my life, but I definitely would prefer a relationship between me and the one person I love, and I wouldn’t be comfy with them dating other people if they ended up being poly. However, I currently have romantic feelings for both Greed and Ling. Normally my feelings only focus on one character at a time, so this situation is a bit unusual. I feel like if they were real, I’d be willing to try to be in a relationship with them both, as long as they were cool with it, and I’d even be okay if they were together as well. I also can enjoy LingGreedFan as an ot3 even though poly ships aren’t really my thing. However, bring anyone else into the mix? Nope. Can’t do it. However, would this relationship work if they weren’t poly? Would me wanting to be with both of them make me poly? 

Thing is I could also see Greed being polyamorous. I mean we see him with two women at one point in the manga. I could do some reaching and say that maybe he was filling the lonely void in his heart with multiple sexual partners just like he was with other things, such as money and desire for world domination, and that post-Greed-admitting-to-only-wanting-friends would be totally willing to settle for a monogamous relationship with the right person. But of course, let’s say he was real...I would never be able to handle a relationship with him or Ling if they wanted to date other people as well. If they wouldn’t be happy in a monogamous relationship, I’d just let them go. Same with anyone I would happen to have feelings for. Some people may say it’s abusive/toxic to not let your poly partner date other people if they want to...so best thing to do would be to not date a poly person myself. 

I think the thing about the poly headcanons is that I still have this idea ingrained into me that monogamous relationships >>> everything else. I grew up with the idea is that it’s taboo and wanting to be with a lot of people or sleep with a lot of people is inherently bad. Which I know is wrong...poly relationships can be just as valid. And if people want to sleep with a lot of people, that’s not a crime as long as it’s consensual and honest. I guess I just can’t relate, so it makes it harder for me to be completely open to it. 

Also I do tend to ship mostly het ships. Which may be bad? Idk. But I think the reason for that is that I usually don’t give two hecks about a ship unless it 1) involves a character I have a crush on and 2) involves another character with the previous character that I can project onto and imagine myself in the place of. And since I’m a heterosexual girl...well...naturally my preferred ships end up being het. 

Also, this is the same reason that leads to me feeling uncomfortable about Edl/ing. But why is it that I’m okay with greed x ling but not Ling x Ed? I think the reason is...I have a crush on both Ling and Greed, so I can get behind it. Ed...I don’t have any attraction to, nor can I self-project onto him, so it doesn’t work at all. It makes me kind of sad, because that ship is getting so popular lately (probably more popular than Lingfan, which makes me feel...somewhat salty...I mean just the number of new edl/ing posts on the daily compared to the lower number of lingfan seems to show that edl/ing is more popular now. (sometimes I worry that it’s because people think Lingfan is bad/problematic/unhealthy and shouldn’t be shipped :/ ) I mean a lot of people are just sick of het stuff, so maybe that’s why so few people seem to care about my otp anymore...I guess that’s valid. Again, can’t relate. Sometimes it makes me sad. Sometimes I try to force myself to like the ship. Sometimes I see art that’s objectively good and cute and I would have shared it...had it been Lingfan instead. I feel bad about not sharing it. I feel hateful. Sometimes I get angry whenever I see the ship. OR people talking about how great it is...and how “canon” it is, like I just don’t see it. If someone wants to try to convince me why it’s good, they can. I’m open to hearing other opinions, but I just prefer them as friends only. 

I know that’s so immature. I really dislike all these headcanons and that one ship because it gets in the way of MY ship and MY romantic feelings. Which is stupid because...none of these headcanons, mine nor theirs, are canon. Lingfan isn’t canon, no matter the implications. Greed x Ling...not canon. The ship I can’t get into...also not canon, therefore it’s not really threatening me at all??

Okay so, if anyone wants to give my constructive criticism on this and say that some of my feelings here are problematic and harmful to others, you can. I’m willing to have civil discussions on the matter. 

Also another thing, is I realize I’m probably unhealthily obsessed with my fictional crushes, and I need to seek professional help for it, along with my many other issues. It’s not healthy that I feel so saddened by a ship involving my fictional crush that I feel like it invalidates all my feelings and headcanons and essentially ruins my whole day, and leads me to not be able to focus on anything else. 

Sometimes I HATE having romantic feelings at all, because this is how I get, with every single character I fall for, every single time. 

[brigdh]

Yuletide recs, for fandoms A-M! I have just barely gotten this in before author reveals, and clearly still have half the alphabet to get through. Ah, well. First off, my own gift!! Water Lens Benjamin January, gen, 2.4k, Teen. “The good widow couldn't dump you in the fast section of the river, apparently,” January said. “It had to be the mud.” “If she'd only panicked five minutes earlier,” Rose agreed with a sigh. “We were on the bridge then – although given the state of that particular river I wouldn't necessarily put money on it being that much cleaner.” All my all favorite story tropes are here: bathing together and playing with hair and the OT3 and Rose doing science and there’s even a mystery to solve in here too! It is wonderful and I love it and everyone should give the mystery author more kudos. And here are my other favorites: so come home 12 Dancing Princesses fairy tale, gen, 21.5k, G. A detective is called to a space station to solve the mystery of whether--and how--twelve astronauts are accessing the surface of a forbidden planet. A very well-written sci-fi murder mystery, with great worldbuilding and characters. Recruits American Gods, Mr Wednesday and Mad Sweeney, 4.2k, G. The Norse god of battle and a mad Irish king walk into a bar. This is not a joke, my son: except in a sense, it is. They are Old Gods, it’s the New World, and the game must be kept going. Really great backstory on the gods in WWI. The Locust And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side - James Tiptree Jr., 2.2k, Mature. Letter of Fr. Francisco Nadal to Fr. Bartolomeo Strozzi, 1588. The original short story is about the horrifying effects on humanity of alien sexuality; this fic translates it into Imperial Spain and makes the different cultural setting really work. Because everyone needs some terror on Christmas! And on the seventh... Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian, Jack/Stephen, 11k, G. This decision might be considered the luckiest, as standing near Jack meant that Stephen was not alone in his fall overboard. Or it might be considered the unluckiest, as standing near Jack meant that Stephen was foremost in the splinters' path, when the ranging shot abruptly found its range. Desert island fic with H/C, angst, kissing in the ocean, and new species of birds. AKA, everything good in fic. And for that riches where is my deserving? Benjamin January mysteries, Ben/Rose/Hannibal, 1.8k, Teen. If Ben was honest with himself, he suspected that one day Hannibal might simply vanish from their lives. He desperately hoped that this was not the day. Delicious Hannibal whump plus the OT3! What more could anyone want out of the tiny fandom of my heart? Family Gathering Books of the Raksura, Moon-focused, 2.8k, G. After some of Jade and Moon's first clutch are confirmed to be Royal Aeriat, Pearl wants the fledgelings brought to her bower. Ember thinks Moon should be there too. Really adorable baby-fic, with some lovely Pearl characterization. Home Books of the Raksura, Consolation gen, 4.1k, G. It turned out that living like people instead of monsters required all sorts of skills and tools. Cleaning required soap, and some inkling of how to apply it. Consolation’s flight, having been raised by monsters, not people, had none of the requisite skills. This is the post-canon fic about how Consolation learns to be a person that was my greatest wish for Christmas, and it's everything I could have hoped for. Mordre, She Wroot Canterbury Tales, Wife of Bath-focused, 8k, G. At least one pilgrim will not make it to Canterbury. Yes, you ABSOLUTELY DO need the Wife of Bath solving murders in your life. Just trust me on this. Underworlds: The Life and Afterlife of Richard Upton Pickman Cthulhu mythos, gen, 3.7k, G. Explore the life, works and enduring influence of Richard Upton Pickman, a controversial artist of the early 20th century. This exhibition includes several paintings never before displayed in public, including all of Pickman's graphic, unsettling "horrors" currently remaining in North America. The Boston Globe called Underworlds "stomach-turning food for thought"— but decide for yourself! Young children may find Pickman's paintings frightening; parents are advised to consider carefully before allowing them to proceed. This program serves as a guide to the exhibit. Audio versions for your mobile phone are available at the Parrington museum website. Such a well-done pastiche of a museum guide to a series of horrifying paintings. What Is Begotten The Eagle of the Ninth, Marcus/Esca, 7.5k, Teen. Esca learns the Latin word by accident, from Stephanos of all people. Soul-mate. A soulmate AU with an absolutely lovely take on the canon. Of Devils and Other Fine Things Fallen London, The Wistful Deviless/Zee-Captain, 1.1k, G. Wooing a devil can only end in tears. Really fantastic interpretation of what a relationship with a devil really means. head above water Gattaca, Jerome-focused, 1.2k, G. “Do you know,” Jerome’s mother asks his coach, “how Jerome first started swimming? Did he ever tell you that story?” Absolutely wonderful backstory for Jerome. Suspect Gattaca, Anton Freeman-focused, 1.8k, G. Five things Anton thought upon seeing Vincent was a suspect for murder (and one thing he said). Lovely character study on a minor part of the movie, this feel so right. Attempt #534: The One With The Bees The Good Place, Chidi/Eleanor, 8k, Explicit. “Eleanor!” Chidi looks even more upset as he blurts out, “The universe doesn’t want us to have sex, okay?” Eleanor chokes. “I’m sorry, what?” In which Eleanor and Chidi repeatedly try – and fail – to have sex. Totally hilarious, and also hot. Care and Feeding of Your Janet The Good Place, Janet-focused, 1.2k, Teen. Please read this guide carefully before activating your Janet. So, so, so funny. Operation: Seduce Michael The Good Place, Michael/Everyone, 2.3k, Teen. If at first you don't succeed, send a different cockroach. Really hilarious fic about the plan to seduce Michael, with pitch-perfect character voices and humor just like the show's. so slip your hand inside of my glove The Handmaiden, Hideko/Sook-hee, 2.6k, Teen. Hideko lets Sook-hee teach her how to distinguish sapphire from spinel and obediently bites the gold Sook-hee brings back to her. Hideko and Sook-hee, after. A post-canon fic that is beautiful and just perfection. Who's Got Who The Hateful Eight, Chris Mannix/Marquis Warren, 6.7k, Explicit. Warren makes inventive use of Mannix's sheriff star. And, for that matter, inventive use of Mannix. He thinks that will be the end of it. You know, as much as love Hateful Eight, I never expected to begin shipping Mannix/Warren. What can I say but that this fandom has some damn good writers? And they know their porn; good lord this one is hot. As Ice in the Desert Historical RPF, Richard I "The Lionheart" of England/Saladin, 2.3k, Teen. Saladin visits Richard's sickbed with fruit, and a question in his eyes. Gorgeously written, really some of the most beautiful descriptions I've read in quite a while. Two people on the opposite sides of the Crusades in a moment of peace. all the nameless that keeps us rising despite IT, Stan/Richie/Beverly, 4k, Teen. When Stan went over to Richie’s house after dinner to tutor him for their math test tomorrow he thought he knew exactly what he was signing up for. Beautiful depiction of loss and love and a game of spin-the-bottle. Epilogue Jane Eyre, Jane-focused, 3.4k, Mature. Not everything, Jane learns early on, is real. Deeply creepy alternative interpretation of the canon. I love this possibility. How Else Would Sailing Ships Ever Have Navigated? Jeeves, Madeline Bassett/Honoria Glossop, 2.3k, G. “Do you think,” Madeline said to Honoria as the more impressive parts of nature gradually crept up upon them, “that all daffodils are the daughters of sunlight?” Absolutely adorable fic for some minor characters with a pitch-perfect tone for the canon. the worlds that spin beyond our atmosphere Jupiter Ascending, Jupiter/Caine, 7.8k, Teen. When Jupiter woke up, there was a small metal sphere on the pillow beside her. She blinked at it, because it certainly had not been there when she had gone to bed the night before. Then Aunt Nino began to stir and grumble as she too woke up and Jupiter snatched up the sphere, lobbing it hastily into her half-packed suitcase on her way to go and make the coffee. In which Jupiter is propositioned by a space travel agency (but fancier!) and introduces Caine to her family. Gorgeous worldbuilding and wonderful expansion of the canon. I love the descriptions of other planets in here. Damsel King Arthur (2017), Arthur/The Mage, 3k, Teen. In which there's a girl, a dragon, and a castle, and Arthur resolves not to let the truth get in the way of a good story. Totally hilarious and a great fit with the canon. Those parts, which maids keep unespy'd Kushiel's Legacy, Phedre/Joscelin, 1.9k, Explicit. There are few things Phedre has never done. There's one she's never done with Joscelin. Wonderful hot and sweet fic. Het anal, which is rare to see in fanfiction, but so very well-done here. Midwinter Queen The Lion in Winter, Henry/Eleanor, 1.6k, G. Christmas at Chinon, 1183. Conversation gambits keep the Christmas fires burning. Cynical and regretful and funny and heavy, this story does a better job of capturing the voice of the canon than almost any I've read. By Degrees Mansfield Park, Mary Crawford/Fanny Price, 16.6k, Mature. Her conscience had been disturbed, and she could no longer dislike Mary Crawford enough to be safe from her, if such a thing had ever been possible at all. Really excellent slow-burn for one of my favorite Austen ships, and the Fanny characterization is just ideal. Canada Gold Mean Girls, Regina George/Janis Ian, 3.9k, Teen. Regina joined the CIA to catch bad guys. Unfortunately, this time, that meant she had to work with Janis. Yeah, so it turns out that the thing that's been missing from my life is Mean Girls f/f rival spies future-fic. I am so, so glad that this story exists because it's amazing.

[gnostic-heretic]

If you could ship Lithuania with anyone else other than Poland, and vice versa, who would you ship them with?

Interesting question anon! 

i’m not really a multishipper when it comes to my otp but i can say… anything (with some exceptions like polh.un) well written or drawn enough can easily interest me! here are some choice ships in enjoy on my own terms and conditions.i’m assuming both romantic and platonic ships are what you’re asking for!

with liet:-lietbela, but only occasionally, aka when liet is a hopeless nerd with a crush on stunning, intimidating, beautiful natalya who doesn’t really reciprocate or care. also, in an au fic i’m working on i’m writing them as exes.-i have to say that while romantic rusliet is one of my no-no-notps i do enjoy analysing their relationship and the way they interact with each other. i do think as someone who went through an emotionally manipulative/abusive undefined sort of relationship but also sort of not that this kind of thing can be explored, in fiction, with sensibility and realism and it can make for something interesting to read. this is why when someone tells me they like rusliet/lietrus i don’t shun them for it- i do think there are ways to explore those things without romanticizing them, and i’ve seen people who have an interesting take on it. however many average rusliet shippers tend to ignore this and instead go straight for abusive gay twilight bonanza or r**e/torture/gore p^rn which i am v much… no. just no.-speaking of which, i can’t see liet and prussia together romantically at all, but it’s so funny to me how much liet resents him lol. someone write a liet+prussia fic which is literally just liet being rude to prussia and possibly kicking him in the nuts and i’ll love the shit out of you forever-platonically, i think liet and hungary would make for great friends, although the link/connection between them would be feliks! they’re both closer to him than they are to each other.-IN GENERAL, i don’t see liet as a very romantically charged person. i can’t imagine him getting crushes/infatuations very easily, much less falling in love. in over 1000 years of life he’s probably been in love once and had two or three crushes, that’s just how he is. once he does get a crush or fall in love with someone, though, he is extremely loyal and dedicated to the person. sorry! i know you all are probably bored out of your brains with my interpretation of my strange addiction low budget anime man so let’s move on

with poland:-north italy/poland! cute cute cute. both platonically and sort of romantically as well. i can really see it! i think these two would make for a really sweet and cheerful couple. -i can see poland as having a big crush on france. to be honest, but who doesn’t, or at very least who didn’t back in the middle ages. ;) -strictly PLATONIC poland and hungary like HOLY SHIT! bestest best friends duo in the whole world! po,lhun shippers do not interact-STRICTLY PLATONIC poland and ukraine as friends…, holy moly! they’d make such a cute friends duo imo! -in the same way i want more content of liet beating up prussia i’d love to see more of poland being a sarcastic rude b.tch to russia because that’s the content i enjoy. imagine. THE SHADE. like watching an episode of real housewives of new york, but WORSE. -i think that’s all? when it comes to poland, i think he would be so unlike liet- get infatuated really quickly/easily, but it takes time for him to actually get serious about his feelings/it rarely happens, so most of his crushes last one week at most and then he’s over it. plus he is super shy so he tends to bottle up rather than confess.  also i’m sorry but my exception to the above rule of “give me good fanwork and i dig it” is literally  any… ANY het ship with poland (this includes nyo!poland sry*) like… feel free to have your opinions and whatnot but i see him as being a gay man. so whenever i see people shipping him with girls romantically i’m almost like LOL. doesn’t help that 99% of the time said people are homophobic af about it (see: UWU he is a real menz not a gay!!11one no nasty homosexuality buttsecsx allowed here!!!one)  haha oh well. /SALT

*regarding nyo!po: it makes sense to me (again: to me) since i see fel so strongly as a gnc gay man that nyo!po would likewise be a gnc gay girl… idk what to say, i am probably the lone wolf in this whole fandom who thinks this! shrug! but yeah i don’t like… when people ship nyo!po in het ships or portray her as a straight girl because it reeks of “I don’t like that this character is a feminine gay man, oh look now he’s a straight girl, issue fixed”

this is probably way more in depth than anyone wanted to!sorry for being an opinionated gay!

[the-condesce-did-nothing-wrong]

The Toxic State of the Homestuck Fandom (Mainly the Femslash Fandom)

Y'know, I feel like the Grimdorks Uprising is a representation of everything toxic in the Homestuck community, and it especially shows just how toxic the Femslash fandom is.

I’m not trying to resurrect a discourse here, but I am using it as an example. There’s a lot of things that showed me just how entitled, aggressive, and straight up petty the HS femslash fandom can be.

Now, disclaimer before I get started. This is very much about the extremist femslash fans who feel the need to:

1. Shit on any ship that isn’t Femslash (mostly het) because it’s not Femslash.
 2. Express Blatant Biphobia and refuse to acknowledge or outright bash Bisexual headcanons. See: constantly claiming Roxy or Terezi are Lesbians despite clearly being Bisexual and getting angry with people who headcanon Rose as Bisexual. 
 3. The rampant Misandry. I get that you’re not going to focus on men, but repeatedly bashing male character or stating they’re all incompetent while the girls are all perfect competent badasses is fucking gross. Stop it.
 4. Bully and harass fans of ships because the ships in question are ‘bad’, either because of subjective tastes or because it violates the tumblr shipping principles, mainly the ‘Don’t ship characters outside of their sexuality (unless they’re straight)’ rule. 5. Adding to the above: Spamming the tags of said ships either with passive-aggressive art or just accusing everyone who likes the ship of Then getting mad that the shippers are upset and/or retaliating, as if you didn’t just; oh, I don’t know, accuse people of being hateful or inherently awful people just because they like a ship with different characteristics from yours. 6. Acting incredibly entitled to female characters. 7. This cancer, which is a combination of the first three.

I’m certainly not trying to say that all Femslash fans are like this. In fact, I see several Femslash fans who are actually respectful, nice, and generally just cool people. But the toxic and extremist parts of the fandom is hard to ignore. It gets to the point where I’ve pretty much experienced Pavlovian conditioning to avoid nearly every Femslash fan I come across because I’ve associated them with this toxic behavior.

But what I really want to stress here that your community isn’t doomed. I mean, the more forgiving part of me even believes this Toxicity is a side effect of this hellsite we use. Not saying that the toxic aspects of the fandom is excusable, but it just explains where they may come from and why. Calling out this behavior is the first step to making sure it’s healthy and generally non-toxic to everyone involved, even to people outside the community. When you let this type of behavior go unchecked, sooner or later you’re going to have some problems. Ex: Voltron Fandom. Or, fuck, the DDADDS fandom. That game hasn’t been out a week (As of when this post was made) and look what this hellsite did to the fandom.

To Clarify one last time before I get started: It’s the Femslash extremists I have a problem with, not the lesbians or the Femslashers in general.

Now, I believe this Uprising has it’s origins in a post (That I cannot find right now, nor would want to because I don’t want the OP to be harassed) where someone basically said ‘Grimdorks works better for Jaderose because they’re both dorks who went grimdark’. I don’t think it really blew up, mostly because the last time I remembering seeing it had… maybe less then 50 notes? So the only explanation I have is that the creator or the people who interacted with the post agreed and shared it with other Homestuck fans on forums, tumblr, or discord.

Pretty harmless in and of itself, since everyone knew the ship name belonged to Johnrose (As the reasoning behind it was John and Rose were dorks and Rose went Grimdark) and it was mostly just a joke/fun little introspection by someone.

I don’t know what happened in the days leading up to the Uprising, but I imagine it went something like this (Note: Since this is me theorizing; I could always be wrong, so PLEASE understand that when reading this):

1. Some people are talking about Jaderose or just ship names in general, and someone brings up how Grimdorks would fit Jaderose. 2. Some people agree, and some point out that Johnrose is already called Grimdorks. 3. There may or may not be some people in this discussion who hate Johnrose. Perhaps they just find it boring, maybe they just don’t see it, maybe they dislike it because they feel it erases Rose’s relationship with Kanaya or her sexuality, and maybe it could be all of the above. 4. Someone with any of the reasons listed or not listed above could have suggested taking the Grimdorks ship name for Jaderose. 5. People agree, they start discussing it, and some people or just one person decides to make a blog to spearhead the Uprising. 6. Blogs similar to the original crop up. 7. Grimdorks fan wakes up and sees a random Jaderose post on their dash thanks to Tag tracker. 8. ??? 9. Shitstorm.

So, first off: I think what this best shows is this bizarre sense of entitlement Femslash extremists have. I mean seriously, the idea that you can just ‘reclaim’ a ship name that’s about 5+ years old is pretty damn entitled. You’re kind of implying that it’s stolen, even though it was possibly made by Johnrose shippers and it was certainly made for them. If anything, Jaderose shippers were the ones trying to steal it, even though they have the arguably superior stand ship name ‘Guns n Roses’.

Next is the general hypocrisy of the discourse.

Now, we can argue about Rose’s sexuality until the cows come home, but one other reason I see being touted around for why you can’t ship Johnrose is ‘Rose is married’. The main problem I have with this is how these people say this… then turn a blind eye to any other ship that includes Rose. Hell, they might even multiship Rose. I’m not saying you’re not allowed to multiship, but when you say ‘Rose is Married’ against a ship that includes Rose, then ignore another ship that includes her, how do you not see the hypocrisy? This is especially jarring since the Grimdorks Uprising was done by Jaderose shippers, or at the very least people were using Jaderose as the ‘face’ of the Uprising, so to speak.

Next up is some of the more… uh, Biphobic stuff in the uprising. Now, I understand that Rose’s sexuality is kind of vague. I mean, sure, it’s entirely in character for Rose to have been flirting with Dave ironically. But can you really blame some people for having trouble sifting through Rose’s lavender maze of irony and Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness? Even Kanaya had trouble understanding this snarky broad.

Regardless, telling people thay can’t Headcanon Rose as Bisexual because it’s ‘Erasing Lesbians’ is um… kinda… I dunno, sketchy? I mean assuming you’re not just saying it’s because lesbians untainted by men are rare, what part of ‘Bisexual’ is scary to you? It’s not like saying Rose would enjoy kissing boys is going to degrade her canon love for Kanaya. Or, hell, even that she would do so while in a committed relationship with Kanaya. So… I guess it’s just down to preference? There’s always going to be headcanons you don’t like, but I suppose the best thing to do is just leave these people to their own devices. :V

And finally, the pettiness and aggression of the whole thing.

When you look at this whole discourse, it’s just petty. You’re trying to take a ship name and claim it for a different ship, and you’re just being a giant asshole on top of that. I know it was a stupid thing to get up in arms about, but really, with all the factors I listed above, it’s a little difficult not to get annoyed. Especially when you combine it with shit like this, it’s just icing on the cake of shitty behavior! Seriously, how else is a Johnrose fan supposed to take people spamming their tag with an irrelevant ship and accusing them of being an inherently awful people just for shipping as anything other than aggressive?

Even worse, when people start calling them out for it, these people have the gall to play victim and hide behind their labels as if it justifies this behavior! Or, even worse, try to make it one big joke. Sorry, but bullying is bullying, no matter what reasoning or intentions you have behind it.

Now that we’ve reached the end, I’m sure at one of you is wondering how to fix the fandom. The most simplest solution I have?

1. Don’t partake in behavior such as the six points listed above 2. Actively discourage such behavior 3. Understand that you do not run the fandom 4. Understand that you no say in how a person wants to enjoy Homestuck 5. Understand that shipping has no bearing on canon or a person’s beliefs and morality. 6. Understand that you have the responsibility to blacklist, block and distance yourself from ships you don’t like 7. Only step in when you believe a fan is hurting others, such as harassment or bullying.

[popsicle86]

Ultimates Write Up Part 2: Liz and Natalia's panel

Ok so it was many months ago now (June seems so long ago!), but these notes have been sat on my phone waiting for me up find time to share them. The first question the girls were asked was what they would like to send explored for their character in the upcoming season: Natalia would like to explore yoyo's relationship with her father and Lil would like a web series exploring the downtime the agents get (she basically said she wants some domestic Fitzsimmons). Natalia went into a tangent about how she is impressed by the dialogue Fitzsimmons do, with all its complicated words. She said she had to tone up her Mexican accent for this role aftet years of learning to tone it down. They were both asked about filming action scenes, and they both discussed how silly they feel filming action scenes, especially those against green screen. Next came a question about strong female role models and their importance- lil says that the best thing about the show is that gender is not seen as important, and that's why she loved wonderwoman. She takes a lot of inspiration from her Grandmother was a doctor who set up her own gp practice in England at a time when most doctors were male. Natalia has 2 aunts who are very strong women and fight Mexican gender roles and she feels it is Important for to remove lines of division within society. The next question was if they could each give their character one piece of advice to take into S5 what would it be? Lil would tell Simmons it will all be ok in the end, Fitzsimmons will always come back to each other. And Natalia would advise Yoyo to chill a bit and think before she speaks, as she can be quite hot headed. The next question was abiut Simmons increasing medical role in the show, and whether Simmons actually has medical training. Lil feels Simmons was forced into it by moving into the field, as her knowledge of areas such as biology meant she was able to do so. She then reminisced about john hannah's protestic head, which she had to stab in the eye, and it lying in the make up trailer looking creepy and weird. The same person (who was cosplaying as Simmons, wave if you're her) mentions bobbi simmons is het a crack ship. Lil didnt know what this meant and found the term funny. Her personal favourite bobbi Simmons scene is the one in the quinjet after bobbi saves her from Hydra. Someone then asks as Lil is from Sheffield, can she settle an argument about chips ans gravy being a thing. Lil mentions mushy peas (British tradition eaten usually with fish and chips) and that Brett is freaked out by them. They then talked about the last supper scene at the end of S4 and they each got to choose their own meal. Lil chose fish and chips, but ahe regretted that after hours of filming once they had gone cold. Natalia chose jalapeño poppers for her last meal, and says as she is in England had fish, chips and gravy for breakfast that day. Lil was asked about all the emotional scenes she has to film. She said they are her favourite scenes to film, but they can affect her mood after a long say of filming them. They were both asked out of all the things that have happened what has caused their character the most trauma? Natalia said yoyo was most impacted by the story at the end of season 4 with Mack having a child and not remembering her. However it allowed Natalia the chance to explore a side of yoyo she hadn't come across before then. Lil says Maveth changed Simmons the most. I asked Liz to confirm where Simmons is from, as Coulson mentions Sheffield but on screen records state her as a Devonshire native. She requested Simmons be from Sheffield at the start of S3 when she knew they were going to mention her parents. Lil talked about being a youth theatre kid from Yorkshire and she still feels she is on a journey in terms of her career and that she feels teachers are the true super heroes. Natalia then said as long as we are doing what we are passionate about we are doing the best we can. When asked about Simmons romantic history, Liz says she thinks Simmons wasplayer in uni. Lots of one night stands. She based this on the deleted scene from Seeds. He was cut from the edit but the actor that serves the drink that Daisy refers to is Lil's current boyfriend. When asked about chemistry with other actors they both talked about the importance of being in the moment and feeling what works with give and take. Natalia: a stick has chemistry with Henry. Question asked about giving the finger to bodyshaming in the media. Liz sees any reaction as not real, as those people don't know her, so she chooses not to let it affect her. Instead she feels sorry for the person that wants to take women and send them love them instead. Importance of positive thinking. And to sometimes just say fuck it. Natalia then supported that by saying people treat others as they treat themselves. Next question was do you prefer kissing Iain our stabbing him? She said kissing scenes are weird because they are good friends and Iain is friends with ber boyfriend. Lil and her boyfriend played a prank on iain after Fitzsimmons first kiss and Lil's boyfriend pretended he was not happy about it to wind Iain up. However the stabbing wasn't weird. Natalia was askes if yoyo had a baby what super power what would it have: same super power as Yoyo so baby could torment Mack. Natalia thinks Yo-yo would make short work of Trumps wall, and she thinks there is scope for a political episode of shield but in terms of the framework arc it enabled discussion of the importance of using the marvel prism to examine social commentary. Lil was asked about the chemistry between herself and B J Britt. Liz says simmons def fancied him & there was a spark, but she was meant to be with Fitz. Natalia was asked about joining an already established cast and she said it was shocking & wonderful joining people who turned out to be coolest, especially the women of shield being friendly and not being competetive, which is apparently rare in Hollywood. On her first day on set she said how Liz and Chloe cane running up to her, so excited to talk about her playing Yoyo, only for her to tell them she hadn't realised she was as the producers had been trying to keep it quiet. You could tell the genuine friendship and affection that the two girls had and it made the panel lovely. I've got a random one with bits from other actors to add at a later time, but I hope you enjoyed my run down of the panel as they were both lovely!

[echodrops]

Can we still send ships? Midotsuyu, Kiribaku, Kataang, Zutara, JoxLaurie (don’t know the ship name, little women)

Whoa, there are a lot here, so I’ll just write a little about each one.

MidoTsuyu:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

I quite like Tsuyu and her character. It’s refreshing to see a somewhat blunt female character who speaks her mind, is responsible, level-headed, and great in a crisis. She’s not only cute in her design but also in her reactions to other characters–her straightforward manner of making friends is very endearing to me. Even though she rarely gets as much of the spotlight as she deserves, I think that she and Midoriya could be a fine ship! In particular, I appreciate that if this ship was the main het ship, there probably wouldn’t be a lot beating around the bush and awkward romantic tension such as exists between Izuku and Ochako–Tsuyu seems like the type who would come clean about her feelings fairly quickly. Ha ha, it would honestly be pretty cute to see Midoriya completely flustered by having a girl confess to him–he’d probably melt into a puddle from the heat of his own blush.

I think this ship has a lot of potential and should get more attention from fans–maybe Horikoshi should spend a little more time giving Tsuyu some ship tease with other characters! I’m kind of partial to Ochako/Tsuyu myself.

KiriBaku:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

There are some ships where you just have to ask yourself what the creator’s intent was. Like do you think Horikoshi intended for the fans to like seeing Bakugou and Kirishima together as much as we do? Do you think he sees all the fanarts and asks himself “What have I done?!” or, deep down, do you think that sometimes manga and animation artists create these characters just KNOWING that fans are going to ship them, and secretly embracing that fan reaction, even if they don’t ever actually plan on making the pair canon in actual material? Sometimes when I look at KiriBaku, I just get the feeling that Horikoshi knew what he was doing when he started drawing the two of them together.

I love that Kirishima has zero fear of Bakugou’s threats and crappy attitude, and that he also won’t just allow Bakugou to trample over others. He’s such a good kid whose gentle chiding and constant corrections seem to be improving Bakugou’s mannerisms and helping Bakugou to make genuine friends (however grudging Bakugou seems to be about it lol). Kirishima makes Bakugou a better person just by being around him! But it’s also true in reverse–I don’t know if Bakugou’s really deliberately trying to cheer Kirishima up or just stating what’s on his mind because he’s honest, but Bakugou’s supporting words have been massive motivators for Kirishima, whose greatest weakness has always been his internal feelings of inferiority.

A good, mutually supportive and beneficial ship. A+.

Kataang:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

Ten years ago I was not the mature adult I am today, and although I myself was never an active part of the ship war between Zutara and Kataang, I definitely read every single piece of back-and-forth drama between these two ships that I could get my hands on and was vocally on the Zutara side. To be honest, I recall hating Kataang with a burning passion back then. I just disliked everything about it, from the stereotype schoolgirl/schoolboy crush vibe it radiated to the irritating “clingy jealous girl“ scenes that got handed to Katara… Not to mention that, personally, I’ve always found it a bit odd when girls date younger men–I’m sure this is just ingrained societal stereotypes coming out, but… ha ha, is it bad of me to say that I’ve always found men to be less mature than girls? Dating a guy who is your own age can turn into a babysitting gig if he hasn’t got his shit together… Dating a younger guy might be even worse. XD

I felt like a lot of chemistry between these characters was kind of arbitrary… Almost like “Katara has never met any young men who weren’t from her tribe before but now she met someone new and ooh, he’s so cool and different as the Avatar!” There wasn’t anything wrong with Aang–he was sweet and fun and strong. But I could never see what particularly would have attracted someone to him romantically; his vibe and attitude were so explicitly childish through the first half of the story that I never quite got a “romantic” vibe and it kind of made me, as a nearly twenty-year-old viewer, a little uncomfortable to even try to imagine a twelve-year-old in a romantic light. I feel like a lot of the Kataang shippers might have been on the younger end, and therefore more likely to see Aang as a reflection of themselves?

In any case, as a more responsible adult, I definitely have learned my lessons on shipping and letting others ship–if Kataang is your cup of tea, more power to you guys! I was never my ship, but I can respect other people’s love for it.

Zutara:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

Obviously if you’re not a Kataang shipper, you’re a Zutara shipper. I don’t make the rules, just abide by them. Zutara was my bread and butter for as long as Avatar was on TV. I remember calling my friend up on the good old house phone with a cord I had to stretch to the max just to see the TV and talk at the same time, wailing about all the ship tease scenes for this ship. I still remember the heartbreak I felt when watching the ending of the last season and knowing that Kataang was incoming. I remember grumbling through every Zuko/Mai scene wondering why in the hell the creators hated Zuko so much they’d throw him together with someone so ambivalent as Mai…

I love red/blue, fire/water, opposites-in-balance ships, always have and always will. I love the imagery, I love their motifs, I love the personalities that come along with these kind of elementally-aligned characters; I love the weight and automatic tension coding two characters with these colors or other opposite features brings and how creators can bank on these archetypes to add additional depth to character interactions–there’s just something very tidy and pleasing about color-coded ships.

Not to mention all the other wonderful aspects of this ship. I really wanted to see this one in canon. Alas…

Jo/Laurie:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

LOOK MAN. I might not have read Little Women since elementary school but you do not forget the perfection that is Jo and Laurie, the most perfect ship that never was. Screw you Louisa May Alcott, I’ll never forgive you.

I feel like, when you’re young and you read books, there’s that moment where you come across your first “real” romance, the first relationship where you go from seeing relationships as “blech, something for adults” to “this is why all the adults make such a big deal out of getting married because THEY’RE IN LOVE”–in some ways, what we read or see depicted to us through media early on in life becomes our lens for viewing and judging later relationships, and having Little Women as an early example of romance has definitely had a profound effect on my tastes and definitions of romance throughout the years, I feel.

Jo and Laurie had no right to never get together. It actually feels cruel, thinking about it in retrospect. How could their destiny be denied so coldly?! I’m getting sad just thinking about this lol.

Jo and Laurie were each other’s best friends, the absolute picture of “kindred spirits”–they understood each other, delighted in each other’s wit, and supported each other through the doubts and drama. There was an air about them that they existed in a world all their own, that they were just two very different people from all the other characters, who saw eye-to-eye in a way that others couldn’t touch and who brought out the best–and sometimes worst–in each other in a very vivid and human way.

They felt real, lovable, enjoyable, and made for each other.

And then it never happened. I’m going to leave my dissatisfied fan letter on Alcott’s grave, dammit.

[vorpalgirl]

@izandai actually that WAS the reason she, Alison Bechdel, an open lesbian, brought it up in her comic named “Dykes To Watch Out For”. It was, reportedly, a result of a conversation with a friend of hers who was also a wlw. They were firmly part of the LGBT community, and in this case it was a critique that was part of Intersectional Feminism. I mean don’t get me wrong, the Test is useful for measuring a Bare Minimum level of female interaction/rep too. Something can be useful for/critique more than one thing, imagine that! But it was ALSO about erasure of wlw being so thorough in mainstream culture that you almost never got anything even close to it. Especially because, as you point out: “ far too often a woman is only seen as worth including in a movie as a love interest for the male protagonist “ Key words are “love interest for the male” protagonist. She’s not allowed to have interactions with other women, god forbid romantic or sexual ones! Nope, her romantic and sexual orientations must be firmly straight, and her life must revolve around a man’s!  And as noted in the comic...even in mainstream movies where this isn’t the case, what you get is still something like “the two women talk about the monster” - notice how they both look dejected after noting that that’s all that happens there?

Again: this is something INTERSECTIONAL. It impacts straight women too, because it’s forcing them into sexist narratives. But it impacts wlw even MORE, because it’s communicating that BECAUSE a woman’s main worth is as a love interest for a man - specifically a man - that there is, by inference, no such thing as lesbian or bisexual women characters, no possibility even left remotely open for her to have a relationship of that sort with another female character, at all, ever.

And you know what? That’s a fair point! Hell, even if Bechdel hadn’t been trying to make a subtle point about wlw erasure (which she was), it would be a fair extrapolation! Indeed, there’s evidence of the impact of this pattern AND what happens when you subvert it, in fanfiction narratives. LGBT+ people you see, are often drawn to creating and consuming fanfic and fanart in PART because the community surrounding it is less shy of ~queer~ narratives and relationships. But guess what the most common non-het ships are, regardless of whether the writer is Part of the Alphabet Soup or not? DING DING! Male/male pairings! Why?  Because in a cast of mostly men (which as the Bechdel Test points out, is sadly default in our culture), let alone where the men get the most development and interactions (which is again, what the Bechdel Test points out), those are the characters most easily imaginable as pairing up romantically or sexually with EACH OTHER. Shockingly, if the characters barely interact, it’s a lot less common for people to pair them, while characters (mostly men) who get a lot of interaction with each other, are easier for people to pair up and imagine “chemistry” between.

But we do see femslash (female/female pairings) quite commonly...in fandoms like Xena: Warrior Princess, Supergirl, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Wynonna Earp, or Sailor Moon, which DO all pass the hell out of the Bechdel Test, and, fun fact, are EXTREMELY popular with wlw.

And I know you’re gonna say (if you’re familiar with all those) that “well, but those all have actual lesbian or bi women in them, don’t they?”  YEAH THEY DO, WHY DO THINK WLW LATCH ONTO THEM But here’s the thing: 1.) Sailor Moon fandom has tons of femslash with female characters who AREN’T explicitly “lesbian”! Including Sailor Moon herself, who’s canonically and famously in a het relationship with Tuxedo Mask! She’s commonly paired with the Inner Guardians in particular, especially Sailor Mars/Rei Hino, BECAUSE OF THE INTERACTIONS THEY HAVE which are seen as having Chemistry - something not uncommon to spot between pairs of male characters in canon vs fandom, but REALLY RARE among female ones, because most shows, ding ding! Don’t even pass the Bechdel Test enough to have girls talk about, like, shoes, let alone their hopes, dreams and feelings. But, you might argue:  “Ah, but there’s still A LESBIAN PAIR in there...” (which is true; Haruka and Michiru aka Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, are lesbians, who even fit the classic Butch and Femme dynamic and in uncensored versions are canonically a couple) "So,” I can hear you trying to argue. “Maybe wlw are already drawn to it and more likely to have Ship Goggles on?” Which would be an understandable conclusion,  but  BUT 2.) WITCH, Winx Club, and a few other Magical Girl type shows, many of which do not feature openly lesbian or bi characters at all, ALSO get a fair amount of femslash written about them, with characters who were never “intended” to be bi or lesbian!  In other words, it’s not unique to shows with actual wlw in them like Sailor Moon, because it’s entirely about whether female characters are in sufficient quantity with sufficient quality of interaction, to IMAGINE maybe possibly hypothetically they could pair up.

So no, it’s not “wrong” to use the Bechdel Test to gauge “just” the Level of Female Erasure/Stereotyping For Male Interest.  Sure. It functions that way pretty easily. But it’s definitely wrong to ignore that it also very obviously functions as a test of wlw erasure. I mean, just to really drive the point home: you pretty much can’t have lesbian or wlw-pairing narratives WITHOUT passing the Bechdel Test first - how else are you going to pair up two female characters romantically or sexually without having them pass at least the majority of the Bechdel Test?? (I mean, you could hypothetically have a story where nobody has a name at all, which would technically break half of the first part of the test, but aside from that...you’d still need two female characters, who have interactions that are not all revolving around a dude! So, point still stands)  Making at least most of the Bechdel Test an inherent prerequisite not just for “developed female characters who are characters in their own right independent of men", but also for  wlw-friendly narratives and most especially, actual sapphic love stories, which literally could not happen in a story where no part of the Bechdel Test gets passed. 

In other words, you can’t separate wlw erasure from the Bechdel Test, because wlw erasure is EPITOMIZED by how hard it is to even find media that so much as does that bare minimum that would be required for wlw rep or even subtext to exist.

So tldr, yes, Alison Bechdel meant it as an intersectional feminist critique of wlw erasure in media, but even if she hadn’t, it works extremely well to point out how thorough that erasure is in most media.

Critique devices can be useful in more than one context.

The Bechdel Test

Alison Bechdel’s original 1985 Dykes To Watch Out For strip that became known as “The Bechdel Test.”