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most of
my interpretations of fictional characters is going to relate to my identity as trans butch lesbian, my relationship with my femme, my identity as a stone, etc.
i don't care what gender/sexuality you see the characters in my writing as (i can't Force people to see these characters as lesbians and i'm not interested in discoursing about the 'validity' of masculine lesbian identities), but they are
written with lesbianism in mind; writing is an important part of how i express myself! if you can rock with that ily! i hope you enjoy my headcanons/fics!
fandom and social justice
art in all of its infinite forms of expression (games, animation, comics, movies, tv, literature, etc) is an extremely human means of expression... which is what i love about it! and that's why understanding, analyzing, and critiquing the art is so important! i'm going to kind of use this section as a way of trying to articulate how i feel about a lot of discussions that frequent fandom spaces and how i personally see them. all of these topics deserve way more space than i'm able to give them here, so please consider this is a
massive condensement of my thoughts on these nuanced topics!
"dark themes" and art as a political tool
i enjoy angst, gray morality and conflict; it's part of good storytelling! i believe there is absolutely a time and a place for exploration of "intense themes" like rape, pedophilia, incest, racism, or abuse, but i do
not believe in portraying them in ways that are "erotically [or otherwise] titilating" to the viewer. likewise, i believe that kinks do not exist in a vacuum, and
every human creation (yes, even fandom stuff) is subject to bias, conscious and unconscious. furthermore, all art is political - art as a whole, no matter the medium, is influenced by the politics of its time, creator (knowingly and unknowingly), and the society it was created in! belonging to one opppressed demographic does not absolve someone from perpetuating harmful stereotypes or rhetoric about another one (or even the one(s) we belong to).
an example of this is how a lot of popular "yaoi tropes" are based in misogyny (and homophobia, lol)... some more obviously than others. for example, i deeply resent framing submission, being penetrated, bottoming, etc as "lesser-than/inherently degrading" compared to topping, penetrating, domming, etc and i don't think it's a subversive - or even interesting - way of portraying fictional chracters or sexual relationships whatsoever. i'm also extremely frustrated by woman characters getting horribly mistreated (brutalized, misogynistically characterized, etc) to bolster a relationship between two men. if you ever want to see how much people of all kinds hate women, go ahead and take a look at how people speak about ada wong or excella gionne from resident evil for taking romantic/sexual interest in leon kennedy or albert wesker (respectively)!
just because you are queer yourself does not mean you can't perpetuate harmful racist, misogynsitic, lgbt+phobic rhetoric with your interpretations!
"does fiction affect reality?"
YES! propaganda? fiction affecting reality. your desire for representation in fictional settings? fiction affecting reality. what about the impacts of movies like
birth of a nation (
source), or
jaws (
source)? fiction affecting reality!!!!! "i just choose not to let fiction affect me like that" that's impossible! bias exists everywhere, in everything we do. this does not mean that we are Literally doomed to imitate every single thing we see, but to understand just
how capable of influence human beings are, especially on views of prejudice, racism, misogyny, lgbt+phobia, and the intersection of such.
- for example, you obviously aren't going to run out and kill somebody because you did it on grand theft auto, but you might think of [woman] sex workers - an oppressed class of people (often specifically women of color) in need of protection from rape, racism, and so on - as vapid and/or deserving of harm because grand theft auto has framed them that way. even though these games have been credited to occasionally satirize aspects of popular american culture, it doesn't prevent people from misinterpreting it as such and taking it as a direct endorsement of the behavior, a line that rockstar notoriously dances on in order to ensure profitability from progressives and bigots alike.
- this is not only a failure of the viewer, but can also be a failure of the creator (in this case, failure to distinguish "satire/criticism" from endorsement in how grand theft auto portrays marginalized groups). do you see what i mean? "influence" is not always direct or obvious. it's subtle, insidious, and intentionally hard to identify. which is why analytical vigilance is a must-have skill!
"oh so all art has to be productive/morally righteous/feminist/etc?!" no, not at all... i don't think a "truly perfect" piece of media even exists tbh! we must be honest about identifying flawed themes, designs, etc in the things we love. imo, you look worse "defending" that stuff than you do just being like "yup, that's definitely there and it is in poor taste/an objective flaw of the media/character/etc"! i also don't think it's a bad thing to do some research, have some compassion, and be open to serious discussion about the things you like, how you like them, etc!
this is also why examination of the "text" (movies, literature, games, etc) is so important: these themes aren't just present in the fandom's interpretations, but in the source material too. it's a
good thing to be thoughtful of how things are portrayed, and what they are trying (again, intentionally or not. intention matters, but it's not everything!) to communicate!
on villains (and loving them)
i am a villain
enjoyer, but not a villain
condoner; thinking analytically about them is what makes me enjoy them. i absolutely believe that villains can retain their status as such
without "headcanons" of fetishized [sexual, racial, pedophilic] violence towards women, children, and people of color for the erotic gratification of the reader. also going to toss out that defining incest, pedophilia, sexual abuse, race play, etc as "taboo subjects" is simply not correct:
in a white supremacist society (one in which we are all living right now!), these subjects are actually celebrated, excused, and normalized on a daily basis. so... not very taboo at all, really! i also don't think that piling on these "dark headcanons" for the sake of shock value is good analysis either.
- i'll use one of my favorite characters as an example for this: fans avoid discussion of albert wesker (or any re villain)'s ties to colonialism and eugenics like the plague, but gleefully write/draw rape fetish content of him brutalizing women(/and men, misogynistically, lol) from the franchise and claim it's "good character analysis". how can you write thoughtfully about any of these topics when you ignore key aspects of his character and are only interested in sexual assault as it pertains to your personal fetish for it? how can you claim to be "studying his character" when you refuse to acknowledge his ties to subjects that you don't care about [because you can't figure out how to fetishize it], like white supremacy, despite their influence on his character? using him as a "taboo fetish vector" is not "analysis"!
that being said, though he did not sexually harm anyone in the canon, i do think one could make a connection between the [sexually, racially, across-class, etc] predatory nature of white supremacy [against marginalized groups] and use this in an interpretation of him. but i don't think it's effective to do so as a means of masturbatory "isn't this so hot?!" material as opposed to genuine character study and respect for the weight (and victims) of such topics.
a dysfunctional, doomed relationship can be such without the torture of minority groups for the viewer's pleasure! likewise, these themes can and should be portrayed in media, but must be done so
thoughtfully and not for the sake of "ao3 shipbrained fandomisms". sometimes we have to put down our shipping and lgbt+ headcanons and discuss certain subjects, characters, and themes seriously!
proshipping and "everything is valid" sentiment
this is a thread by a twitter user that summarizes some of my feelings on "proshipping" and why i'm against it. i find the entire subculture to be an extremely anti-intellectual (and generally hostile) space that winds up perpetuating rape culture, racism, misogyny, and conservative talking points more than combating them. i also heavily disagree with a lot of popular "proship sentiment" (the concept of "fandom cops" existing, "fiction doesn't affect reality", "fandom is supposed to be an escape, free from criticism!", etc). i highly recommend checking out
this series of articles on several of these "hot button issues" from the perspective of a black person in fandom! i also have
a tag on my tumblr that features lots of good fandom critique posts from different users that i am in agreement with!
i always want to extend compassion and support to the artistic interpretations of traumatic experiences, but i don't believe that something being done as a means of coping makes it indisputably "valid". i believe in varied experiences, complex layers of trauma and encourage the careful and safe unpacking of it, but this can also be done privately; people love to say "what i do behind closed doors is none of your business!" Very True! but your
Extremely Public ao3/twitter/tumblr accounts (and people's comment sections/reply spaces/mentions!) are
not closed doors! "you can't tell me how to cope!" Also True, i can't Make you do anything. i'm just a stranger on the internet! however, i do believe in considering that harmful coping mechanisms exist. you're not a bad person for falling prey to them of course, and recovery is never a linear path!, but there are objectively some that are more condusive to healing and progress than others, and some that i do not bleive need be shared with the general public at large. i also don't think people need to disclose their trauma to be able to critically discuss how these topics are handled, either. again, a subject of infinite nuance that can go on way longer than what i can afford here, but as always, it's most rewarding to look inward and to be sensitive to others around you... even if it may "mildly inconvenience you" to do so!
critique and being a "hater"
all of this to say, i believe that
analysis is adoration! you should do all these things i'm talking about because you should
want to think deeply about the stuff you love, right? like, otherwise, what is the point?! it bums me out that people think that analysis is some kind of chore instead of something people do for fun! i don't think it's "being a hater" to deeply ponder the things we love!
