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Genuine question but why are some actors allowed to get away with gay baiting while some aren’t? Is it just stan culture and biases?

Oof, that’s a question! Umm, in general or with me? Personally, I’m usually pretty mild about that kind of thing and don’t really ascribe…bad faith intentions in that way, I guess? I feel like it’s part of their job to sell a nice picture and if they make fans happy on the way, as m/f costar romances did, I don’t really see the issue. And that’s if it seems played up at all and not just a genuine good friendship from the start. And the same can be said for a lot of other fans, I’ve never seen a fandom where everyone thinks the same about everything BUT, okay, there can be a majority consensus at a certain point, and I guess that does come down to the big influential fans and as you said, the culture and bias within that fandom. 

I guess if you really want to get into it, it depends what stage the ship and actor friendship is at. If you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about, that’s still very much on its upward trajectory, the same place other ships/friendships were at some previous point in time. People being happy with something for now doesn’t mean they always will be. 

Even the actors you think who didn’t “get away with it” probably were, at some point. As long as things are all right with the ship/fandom, people will generally be happy and tolerant of whatever kind of “baiting” or “pandering” or whatever you want to call it, but I think one of two things happens and the mood turns. Either the ship has a bad end or the actors’ friendship dissolves (publicly, at least) and suddenly fans feel used and manipulated, and embarrassed for it. The more personal and emotional investment there was and the more abrupt the turn, the worse they feel, and that frustration’s gotta go somewhere.

A bunch of factors go into it, smaller fandoms will never really reach the point where they become their own self-contained content and engagement engines, so it’s harder to be as all in for them, which decreases the final disappointment. The further we get, the less inevitable the ship/friendship destruction I mentioned above seems, we’re getting some happy endings now and actors don’t seem to feel the same awkwardness and pressure about being shipped (although it still VERY much depends on the individual). Big name fans encouraging good behavior and moderation around the actors can help from things running away. More ships going on at once stops people from pinning all their hopes on the one. A lot of things. I suppose, at the end of it, fans judge how sincere the actors were, and bad ends tend to color everything that came before, but as long as everything’s all right, the fans are happy with it.

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The year-end fandometric reviews always remind me how disconnected I am from most of tumblr. The top show for 2018 was Supernatural? And not a single f/f ship in the top ten ships this time.

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The year-end fandometric reviews always remind me how disconnected I am from most of tumblr. The top show for 2018 was Supernatural? And not a single f/f ship in the top ten ships this time.

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eviesbfdylan:

tips on leaving comments on fic

1. thank the author for writing and sharing. examples:

  • thanks so much for writing this! i’ve always wanted to see character-x and character-x in this trope 🙂
  • show-x has been on hiatus for a few months now, and i’m so glad to be able to revisit my fav characters even without new episodes, so thanks!
  • this was such a great read, thanks so much for sharing!

2. let the author know specifics about their fic in relation to the source material that you enjoyed:

  • was their characterization on point?
  • if it’s an au, did it still feel like it was in keeping with the tone of the source material?
  • did they nail down what it is about a ship that you like so much?**
  • is their interpretation of the source material really cool?**
  • things to look out for: when an author gives time and consideration to rarepairs, femslash, minor/side characters, non-white characters that have been screwed over in canon, women characters that are demonized in fandom
  • did they write something that you always wanted to see in canon?
  • did they write something you never want to see in canon, but that you find interesting anyway?

3. let the author know what it is about their writing you enjoyed

  • things that are difficult to pull off in writing: action scenes, being funny, dialogue that isn’t cumbersome or overly self aware, sex — if the author does any of these in a way you like, let them know
  • was the language really beautiful? any metaphors that stood out to you? any sentences you really liked?**

4. going above and beyond

  • if the author is open to being contacted on tumblr or twitter or wherever else: liveblog their fic, add their fic to curated rec lists and @ them, start a convo with them about their fic**
  • if you find out they write original fiction after you’ve already read their fic, read that too and comment on it
  • if you like the stuff they write for a fandom you share and they also write for another fandom you’re not a part of, check out their other fic and let them know you’re reading their work even though you’re not a part of that fandom
  • if it’s a multi chapter fic: comment on more than one chapter, ask questions about where the story is going, encourage them to keep writing (examples: can’t wait to read more, so excited to see what’s next, i’m always so excited to read whenever you update, i’ve been looking forward to your update all week (remember this is encouragement, not shaming them for not updating) etc.), leave a comment that lets them know you’re paying attention (like if they reference something from a previous chapter)
  • offer to beta
  • create illustrations or a mix based on their fic; or write an actual review of their fic

5. additional cute things you can do/things to keep in mind:

  • is this the author’s first fic for the fandom? if it is, welcome them!
  • did someone rec the fic to you? let the author know
  • is english not your first language? that’s awesome! leave a comment in your first language, or in any other language you speak**
  • let the author know if you’ve read and liked any other of their fic**
  • if you read the fic more than once or return to it often, leave more than one comment, or let the author know you like re-reading it**
  • read the fic with a friend and have a convo with them (about what you liked) in the comments

6. really quick and simple comments like “this was so cute!” or “i loved this” or “this made me cry wtf” are also really awesome 🙂

**things that are starred are things i love a lot

Posted on

eviesbfdylan:

tips on leaving comments on fic

1. thank the author for writing and sharing. examples:

  • thanks so much for writing this! i’ve always wanted to see character-x and character-x in this trope 🙂
  • show-x has been on hiatus for a few months now, and i’m so glad to be able to revisit my fav characters even without new episodes, so thanks!
  • this was such a great read, thanks so much for sharing!

2. let the author know specifics about their fic in relation to the source material that you enjoyed:

  • was their characterization on point?
  • if it’s an au, did it still feel like it was in keeping with the tone of the source material?
  • did they nail down what it is about a ship that you like so much?**
  • is their interpretation of the source material really cool?**
  • things to look out for: when an author gives time and consideration to rarepairs, femslash, minor/side characters, non-white characters that have been screwed over in canon, women characters that are demonized in fandom
  • did they write something that you always wanted to see in canon?
  • did they write something you never want to see in canon, but that you find interesting anyway?

3. let the author know what it is about their writing you enjoyed

  • things that are difficult to pull off in writing: action scenes, being funny, dialogue that isn’t cumbersome or overly self aware, sex — if the author does any of these in a way you like, let them know
  • was the language really beautiful? any metaphors that stood out to you? any sentences you really liked?**

4. going above and beyond

  • if the author is open to being contacted on tumblr or twitter or wherever else: liveblog their fic, add their fic to curated rec lists and @ them, start a convo with them about their fic**
  • if you find out they write original fiction after you’ve already read their fic, read that too and comment on it
  • if you like the stuff they write for a fandom you share and they also write for another fandom you’re not a part of, check out their other fic and let them know you’re reading their work even though you’re not a part of that fandom
  • if it’s a multi chapter fic: comment on more than one chapter, ask questions about where the story is going, encourage them to keep writing (examples: can’t wait to read more, so excited to see what’s next, i’m always so excited to read whenever you update, i’ve been looking forward to your update all week (remember this is encouragement, not shaming them for not updating) etc.), leave a comment that lets them know you’re paying attention (like if they reference something from a previous chapter)
  • offer to beta
  • create illustrations or a mix based on their fic; or write an actual review of their fic

5. additional cute things you can do/things to keep in mind:

  • is this the author’s first fic for the fandom? if it is, welcome them!
  • did someone rec the fic to you? let the author know
  • is english not your first language? that’s awesome! leave a comment in your first language, or in any other language you speak**
  • let the author know if you’ve read and liked any other of their fic**
  • if you read the fic more than once or return to it often, leave more than one comment, or let the author know you like re-reading it**
  • read the fic with a friend and have a convo with them (about what you liked) in the comments

6. really quick and simple comments like “this was so cute!” or “i loved this” or “this made me cry wtf” are also really awesome 🙂

**things that are starred are things i love a lot

Posted on

Okay so I have a question in regards to Adena and her hijab. I am seeing some discourse in the muslim community about how she is not representing hijabi women correctly in that she is showing way too much skin, that skin mainly being her belly. Can you please give this person here, who has NO clue what the parameters are when choosing to wear a hijab, amd how I can ask it be better repped? Because I am all for representation being done, and being done as correctly as possible as need be.

Oh, huh. Okay, first, I’m going to answer this just from my perspective. I don’t speak for all of us, what goes for me might not go for other hijabis. (And yes, they don’t speak for all of us either, but it’s always better to err on the side of listening when people have concerns.)

You must already know that not all Muslim women are hijabis, right, some very devout women don’t wear a hijab, and in some cultures/families it’s practically mandatory, such that it doesn’t speak to the individual women’s choices. (And let’s just leave out the other coverings in this discussion.)

But, when you choose to wear it, as many of us do and as Adena does, then you’re choosing a certain level of covering (modesty). And yeah, it’s pretty unlikely that a hijabi would show a lot of skin.

I…didn’t really notice that as an issue, though? I guess because…we’re all so different, and even among the acceptable levels of covering, there’s still such a wide range of what people wear. I only wear full sleeves, I wear a hijab that comes down over my chest, I wear long loose kameez with shalwar or loose slack. But not all hijabis do that. Am I going to judge somebody for showing some of their arms? For wearing shirts or t-shirts? For wearing hijabs that are only wrapped around head and neck?

And then dress seems such a small part of it. She has tattoos, which aren’t super favorably looked upon in Islam. And there are Muslims, some hijabis, some not, who drink, who don’t keep to halal, who don’t pray, don’t fast, don’t pay zakat. My cousin got caught drinking and was practically disowned (for like a night, then his mom let him back in the house). I just don’t focus on that kind of thing anymore, not for other people.

And I guess when it comes to representation, I look at it in a different way? To me, representation is about visibility, intention, and reception. Something is being put up for people to see, why is it being put up, and what the takeaway is.

There are always two audiences for media representation, the group represented and the rest of the audience that uses it to form their opinions about that group. While this issue may have decreased the way people in the first group could identify with Adena as rep, at least for some, I don’t think there was any damaging message sent out? Nor was it really framed as how all hijabi lesbians behaved. So it wasn’t really bad representation to me. It wasn’t hurtful or a harmful stereotype.

Is it perfect representation? No, it could always be improved, and if there are hijabi lesbians who keenly feel this as a lack of care about them, then I hope it does get addressed. To me, intention matters because there’s a difference if creators are thinking of their audience vs want diversity cred, and with good intentions future improvement is possible. I hope it does get a chance to improve.

Posted on

Okay so I have a question in regards to Adena and her hijab. I am seeing some discourse in the muslim community about how she is not representing hijabi women correctly in that she is showing way too much skin, that skin mainly being her belly. Can you please give this person here, who has NO clue what the parameters are when choosing to wear a hijab, amd how I can ask it be better repped? Because I am all for representation being done, and being done as correctly as possible as need be.

Oh, huh. Okay, first, I’m going to answer this just from my perspective. I don’t speak for all of us, what goes for me might not go for other hijabis. (And yes, they don’t speak for all of us either, but it’s always better to err on the side of listening when people have concerns.)

You must already know that not all Muslim women are hijabis, right, some very devout women don’t wear a hijab, and in some cultures/families it’s practically mandatory, such that it doesn’t speak to the individual women’s choices. (And let’s just leave out the other coverings in this discussion.)

But, when you choose to wear it, as many of us do and as Adena does, then you’re choosing a certain level of covering (modesty). And yeah, it’s pretty unlikely that a hijabi would show a lot of skin.

I…didn’t really notice that as an issue, though? I guess because…we’re all so different, and even among the acceptable levels of covering, there’s still such a wide range of what people wear. I only wear full sleeves, I wear a hijab that comes down over my chest, I wear long loose kameez with shalwar or loose slack. But not all hijabis do that. Am I going to judge somebody for showing some of their arms? For wearing shirts or t-shirts? For wearing hijabs that are only wrapped around head and neck?

And then dress seems such a small part of it. She has tattoos, which aren’t super favorably looked upon in Islam. And there are Muslims, some hijabis, some not, who drink, who don’t keep to halal, who don’t pray, don’t fast, don’t pay zakat. My cousin got caught drinking and was practically disowned (for like a night, then his mom let him back in the house). I just don’t focus on that kind of thing anymore, not for other people.

And I guess when it comes to representation, I look at it in a different way? To me, representation is about visibility, intention, and reception. Something is being put up for people to see, why is it being put up, and what the takeaway is.

There are always two audiences for media representation, the group represented and the rest of the audience that uses it to form their opinions about that group. While this issue may have decreased the way people in the first group could identify with Adena as rep, at least for some, I don’t think there was any damaging message sent out? Nor was it really framed as how all hijabi lesbians behaved. So it wasn’t really bad representation to me. It wasn’t hurtful or a harmful stereotype.

Is it perfect representation? No, it could always be improved, and if there are hijabi lesbians who keenly feel this as a lack of care about them, then I hope it does get addressed. To me, intention matters because there’s a difference if creators are thinking of their audience vs want diversity cred, and with good intentions future improvement is possible. I hope it does get a chance to improve.