#especially when his fans are eager to hate crime people and only hold themselves back because they would face social consequences

[awkward-teabag]

After every (American) election, there's always a bunch of posts going around exposing psyops or pointing out how there were posts on this site designed to get people to not vote blue.

And in the lead up to every (American) election, there's a bunch of posts being reblogged that are clearly either psyops or manipulative posts that tell people it's perfectly okay for them not to vote at all.

Like, there's history going back years on this hellsite where the alt-right intentionally tried to undermine or indoctrinate people so they get/stay in power. History a lot of y'all know of or were even there for and saw go down in real time.

But sure, be uncritical of what you reblog, don't bother looking at the source website, or just put things out there without caveats or nuance.

#i know media literacy is trash these days #and that there's intentional misinformation/no information about elections #but i've seen people who have reblogged things about psyops in the past who both reblog and support current ones #but unlike other social media sites you can reblog a post but then stick nuance in the tags #you can be critical of something while also gritting your teeth and supporting it because the alternative is worse #you can (and should) also be critical of the systems that lead to that in the first place #throwing your hands up and saying there's no point and you aren't going to bother #and it's fine if others do the same #is just giving up and saying it's too hard for you and you don't care about the harm that comes to others #the canadian system is different (though first past the post tries to make it the same) #but you can bet i'd vote for trudeau even though fuck him and his racist ass #if the alternative was pp because while trudeau sucks for many reasons #pp is fucking terrifying to me as a disabled queer person #and i'm lucky in that i'm white and canadian and can pass as cishet so i'd be spared the worst of it #others would not be so lucky #especially when his fans are eager to hate crime people and only hold themselves back because they would face social consequences #also learn what is private criticism you keep to yourself or talk to friends about #and what is okay to talk about publicly #some things you don't fucking say when it will be taken as permission for antipathy or approval by fascists

[silyabeeodess]

FusionFall Headcanons: The Gangreen Gang

Initially just had Ace on the list, but since they’re all in the game now, I might as well cover the whole group.  The Gangreen Gang’s shift away from crime to music began with their performance in Townsville’s Battle of the Bands as 4evRGreen (Issue #37 of the Powerpuff Girls comic series).  The amount of praise they received--despite their criminal history and loss to the PPG’s own band in the contest--was surprising, encouraging them to keep pursuing music on the side over time.  Now, while they still haven’t fully given up on the occasional small-time crimes, they’ve devoted themselves to their work as one of the most popular bands in their genre.  

The boy band pop style from when they were 4evRGreen wasn’t really their thing: It was just what they thought would be the most well-received at the time since their goal was to get the key to the city.  Although it did bring them a lot of attention, they still developed their own thing with their rock music.  

They decided to just keep their group’s regular name for their band rather than change it.  Part of it was just personal tastes, but their agent at Harada-Bridges Studios also thought it was better since they could keep their “rebel image” as a type of backstory for the band to go off of for the sake of publicity.  There was no hiding who they were from the people of Townsville anyway, so--rather than try to bury their criminal identities--they embraced them as a part of what made them who they are now.

Ace is the band’s lead singer and bassist.  His more charismatic nature means that he’s often also still the leader/voice for their group, only now it’s less about trying to talk his way out of a bad situation or trick people and more-so when dealing with the public/media attention. 

He’s still has aquaphobia, but not as bad as he used to.  He developed it from a near-drowning experience as a kid and works to undo it so that fear doesn’t hold him back and no one can use it against him. 

He stays in touch with the members of Gorillaz every now and then.  They’ve tried convincing him to rejoin their band, but he says he like being where he is with his gang. They’re on good terms.  

Whenever the gang does fall back to petty crime, he’s usually still the one to instigate it.  It’s like a bad habit for him at this point, something he falls to if he’s stressed. Belladonna has to be the one to hold him back, acting as the group’s voice of reason.   

He’s less of a coward than he used to be.  He won’t stick his neck out for too many people--even the rest of the guys are pretty much on their own most of the time if they get themselves into trouble--but he’d take a bullet for Belladonna.  If anyone hurt her, well... Let’s just say they better not go alone into any dark alleys.    

Snake is the band’s guitarist and sometimes a back-up vocalist.  Apart from Ace and ‘Lil Arturo, he gets the most attention from the band’s female fans--which he really enjoys.  Even still, he’s never had a girlfriend and would fumble in a relationship, so he tends to keep his distance aside from dates that rarely have follow-ups out of nerves. He tries to mimic Ace’s confidence, but tends to just come across as cute for trying.  

He’s still not the brightest, pretty oblivious to others and what’s going on around him--although it’s far from on purpose. 

He still looks up to Ace and their friendship has gotten better since they’ve been in the band.  Ace doesn’t bully him as much, at least physically: He’s still the target of mocking/teasing, it’s just less mean-spirited.    

Out of all the band members, Snake is the one that gets along with any of their groupies/stagehands the most.  He’s made a number of friends among them and often chats with them just as much as with the rest of the gang.

He thinks he’s funny: Most of the time though, he’s not.  Really, you’re just going to get a bunch of dad jokes and bad puns from him at best.  

‘Lil Arturo is the band’s drummer, able to conquer any rapid beat and show off impressive improv skills.  As the youngest and smallest member, he gets a lot of attention for being a “cutie.” However, his personality is far from that.  Even though he likes looking good and proud of his appearance, he’s actually pretty laid-back and brutally honest about himself and things he thinks/wants: He’s less likely to try to win people over compared to the others.

Part of the pride in his appearance means that, while the others would rather dress casual and hate having to wear anything stuffy, he’ll gladly put on a suit if the situation calls for it.  He’s also responsible for the idea behind the group’s line of jackets. 

He still keeps ‘Maria,’ his comb from his father, on him at all times. However, his dad actually isn’t the best person: His criminal behavior is what led to Arturo copying that behavior from a very young age, him going to prison and leaving Arturo with just his mother to raise him.  Arturo nevertheless still respected his father for a long time and still loves him, but is gradually coming to terms with the fact that he wasn’t a good role model for him.

Arturo is really smart and actually keeps up with anything going on in Townsville’s underground world more than even Ace does.  He’s got a lot of connections, which helps the group stay on top of any news or fishy business that may be going on.  It’s not always accurate, but it does help--especially whenever the band is forced to get involved in the war effort.

Grubber can act as both a main and backup vocalist.  It may seem strange for him to have to take on that role since he rarely speaks in anything more than gibberish, but his impressive vocal range from doing impressions actually adds a unique element to the group’s heavier music leaning more on screamo, or if they ever need a vocal percussionist.  And he really gets into it, providing a ton of energy for the both band and audience when he’s onstage.  The trick is getting him to reign some of that back...

Despite their overall popularity, no one really understands Grubber outside of the rest of the Gangreen Gang.  He continues to struggle with other people outside of their group, and is widely considered the “wild man” by the bulk of people as his identity among them.  It doesn’t really seem to bother him much though.

He’s still good at cards.  Never challenge him to a game of poker.  Ever.

Big Billy plays the keyboard, and it took him quite a while to learn.  He wasn’t dexterous enough for the strings, didn’t have the voice to join in the vocals, and didn’t have the agility or linear coordination for the drums.  At the start, he was actually really worried he’d be resigned to backstage and eventually left behind by the other Gangreen Gang members.  So when he found an instrument that could at least modestly suit him, he put in a ton of effort to master it.  They don’t include the keyboard in every song and he’s not the best, but he’s happy with the skill and continues to practice regularly.  

To the masses, Billy’s definitely taken on a gentle giant role--which he was kinda destined to fill.  He’s pretty bashful when receiving praise and the most likely to let criticism get to him.  He likes meeting fans and can be a hugger.    

He may not be the smartest, but he works the hardest.  He’s usually the last one out the door when the group practices and still sometimes works with a tutor where he struggles.

He’s kind of like a kid when they receive fan mail, always eager to read it as soon as he can.  When an album or music video drops, he’ll keep checking the comments for a number of days to see what the responses were.  The rest of the gang sometimes have to intervene whenever it distracts him.  

Belladonna shares the role of guitarist with Snake, switching with him between the lead and rhythm positions.  She also sometimes sings either lead or backup, typically in duets with Ace in a manner similar to some of Skillet’s music.  

When she started dating Ace, she faced some ire from some of his fangirls, but didn’t let it get to her much.  Besides, she had a few disappointed fans of her own.  They were definitely the buzz of attention for a while though, so she mostly just kept her head down and tried not to bring too much attention to herself.  She doesn’t let the vultures in media have anything to use against her.  

Despite her punk look, she’s a really sweet person and easy to approach.  If the band ever does get involved in any public efforts or anything involving the war, it’s usually her idea.  She’s also typically got the band’s agent backing her up--although at this point Ace is more quick to give it a chance because of her.

If the rest of the Gangreen Gang get themselves into trouble from time to time, she’s the one who can ground them before they take things too far.  She has a strong moral compass.   

#fusionfall #fusionfall retro #headcanons #belladonna #ace #'lil arturo #big billy #grubber #snake #gangreen gang #ppg #the powerpuff girls #video games

[teencorpse]

Best Friend

Sweet Pea x Reader

Requested by: @caitmcneill

Song inspo: Best Friend - Rex Orange County Summary: Sweet Pea and y/n have been best friends forever and tbh the cutest couple ever, but some people at Riverdale High could disagree.

a/n: oki doki here’s my first request yay!! I hope you like it, sorry if it’s not quite what you wanted, I had an idea and thought the simple stuff was super cute and makes a relationship strong. (p.s. requests are open, so feel free to give me something to write!)

(gif creds @always-klaus-forever-kol)

The teenage serpents were overjoyed when news that Southside High was being shut down. Aside from the prejudice that came with it, most were excited about finally getting an education. People would often think that just because they were hoodrats and gang members, that they couldn’t care less about school. It’s easy to say that my boyfriend Sweet Pea, was the most enthusiastic about the news. We’ve been friends since the beginning of our time. There’s countless pictures of us together in only diapers, covered in food, or him pulling on my hair which resulted in a very upset toddler me. Since then we’ve had our own fan club, rooting for us to end up together. From our parents, to random people on the street, to our best friends. Until one night at our very first high school dance. He had been my date since we were both going alone, and it only made sense. It wasn’t until a slow song came on, and we both had no idea what to do. It took me about thirteen years for me to realize how undeniably cute my best friend was. I wasn’t sure if he felt the same way, but there was only one way to find out. I stood up on my tippy toes to place a very quick, nervous kiss on his lips. Still avoiding his eyes, I looked literally everywhere else, until I felt him kiss me again. As two fourteen year olds, it was just as awkward as it sounds, but since then we’ve been inseparable. Our parents weren’t surprised when we announced that we were finally dating. His parents won the bet that was going on between the two pairs. Go figure.

Fangs and Sweet Pea bounded through the graffiti littered doors of Southside High. Their boyish excitement nothing but contained as they showed their eagerness. Toni and I followed behind, snickering at their antics. Sweet Pea turned around, opening his arms out wide for me. I walked into his warm embrace before he swung me around until he was holding me bridal style. I let out a string of laughter, seeing him this happy made me happy.

“This is it baby! We’re outta this place!” He shouted, walking down the stairs.

“Good riddance, you filthy cesspool!” I yelled, my head falling back, still in Pea’s arms.

We laughed and joked around for awhile with a couple other serpents. I wasn’t a part of the gang, but we were all still extremely close friends, and we all looked out for one another.

When the announcement got out which school’s Southside’s former attendees were going to, relief but also a small tinge of anxiety resided in my friends and I. Tensions were already high between the Serpents and Bulldogs. Archie had basically broken his bread with his small rivalry with the Serpents via Jughead, but the same thing couldn’t have been said for his friends. Archie and his girlfriend Veronica (according to Jughead) Had set up a registration desk for all new incoming students, but Reggie Mantle and Cheryl Blossom had other plans.

“Listen up, ragamuffins! I will not allow Riverdale High’s above average GPA to suffer because of classrooms that are over crowded with… Underachievers,” The redhead began. I stole a look at Sweet pea, seeing him already growing frustrated. “So please, do us all a favor and find some other school to deface with your hardscrapple ways.” The lovely, and welcome hello from Riverdale High’s resident popular girl did not settle with Toni, as she stepped forward.

“Why don’t you come over here and say that to my face?” Toni challenged. The crowds got closer together, ready to pull back members of their respective parties if they got too close.

“Okay guys, everyone, can we just put our Northside-Southside differences apart and start over? A new slate?” Archie suggested. He was trying to subdue the fire that was slowly building in everyone of us.

“You don't speak for the Bulldogs, Andrews,” Reggie added “And need I remind you, these greaser-snakes showed up at your place trying to kick your ass.” Reggie stepped forward, trying to intimidate the group of serpents. His tactic was working because Sweet Pea pushed through crowd ready to ignite a new flame.

“Happy to finish what was started” Pea said sarcastically before Jughead pulled him back. I grabbed his hand, pulling him back towards me. My other hand reached up and started rubbing his back slowly, calming him down.

I wasn’t sure how it worked or why, but we found the fastest way to cool him off was just by rubbing his back. He took in a few quick breaths before returning to the group, not wanting to start too much trouble on the first day.

“Seriously y/n… Just think long term” Veronica said. Over the past couple weeks we had grown more accustomed to each other, having a lot of classes together and a mutual friendship through Jughead. “All I’m saying is that the whole bad boy thing is going to be out of style pretty soon” She added. I tried to my fullest capability to keep from snorting some kind of ruthless response. Sure my boyfriend wasn’t perfect, but at least he isn't illegally buying guns to take down a serial killer.

“Veronica… I understand your concern, but I love Sweet Pea with all the love I could possibly have, and I really do not give one single shit if, and when the bad boy trend is over.” I said, restraining myself. I know she didn’t mean to be rude, but she has a really bad way of hiding it.

“I think what V is trying to say is that she doesn’t want to see you get hurt. I’ve known Jug and his dad, and I’ve seen the inconsistencies and violence they go through” Betty added.

“Not to mention word is getting around that a Serpent and Midge were… y’know” Veronica suggested, raising her eyebrows.

Is she…?

I waved my hands in front of my face, trying to dispel their accusations. “Are you accusing my boyfriend of one, cheating on me,” I numbered on my fingers “and two, murdering Midge?” I whisper yelled, obviously offended. They just looked at eachother, not wanting to confirm their suspicions.

I just gave them a disappointed and heart broken look before walking into the classroom behind me. Their accusations stung, knowing that they could believe Sweet Pea would actually cheat on his girlfriend, and then murder his side chick. Sure he looked rough, and maybe grew up on the wrong tracks but he would never, ever do something as petty and juvenile as cheating, let alone murder.

The room was filled with serpents as they crowded around the desks. Jughead was at the front of the classroom talking about ghoulies coming back and having it out for the Serpents. It wasn’t hard to find Sweet Pea. He was leaning against one of the desks, arms crossed. I made my way over to him turning around to settle in between his legs, his arms wrapping around my waist. Jug kept talking about how the Serpents needed to be careful and prepare themselves for the ghoulies, until the door burst open, revealing a pack of Bulldogs. Pea immediately stiffened up, lightly shoving me behind him.

“Which one of you reptiles was doing Midge Klump?” Reggie demanded. The feud between him and Pea was an ongoing on battle, both refusing to surrender. “I’m guessing it was you, Sweet Pea.” He moved closer to the rogue Bulldog, pulling Jughead out of the way. My ears perked up, keeping a close eye on my boyfriend. Word sure got around fast. Archie was trying to get Reggie to back down, but to no use. If I know one thing, it’s to never get in between two boys fighting. Especially with one who actually knows how to fight.

“You ass. I didn’t even know Midge” He kept inching forwarded, trying to intimidate Reggie. “But yeah, I get why she wouldn’t want fleas from you mangy Bulldogs.” Two things Pea hated was being accused of infidelity, and a crime he didn’t commit based on his background.

And Reggie just did both.

Reggie was the first to make a move, initiating the fight. But as quick as it began, it was over. Both being pulled apart from each other once again. The Bulldogs dragged Reggie out of the room, leaving Archie behind. Veronica and Betty had joined making sure their boyfriends were okay once they gained word that a fight started. Pea shrugged Jughead off of him as he made his way back to where I stood, waiting for him. Archie and Jughead argued about Archies friends actions. Jughead offended that they infiltrated the one safe space they had on campus, and immediately claiming one of his own killed Midge. Archie wasn’t defending Reggies motive, but he wasn’t fighting it either.

“You’re just going to let them talk to us like that? To me? Accuse me of killing some girl I never even knew existed until a couple days ago?” Pea questioned. I started rubbing small circles on his back while his voice rose an octave. “You know damn well I would never even think about another girl like that! To do that to y/n?” He looked down at me, hurt.

I got a couple concerned looks from Archie, Veronica, and Betty while he went off. They were worried he was going to blow his top.

“Just let him get it out” I said softly, continuing to rub his back. It was easier and safer for him to get his anger and frustration out this way. Toni and fangs flashed some supportive smiles our way, watching Sweet Pea cool down. Eventually he sat down next to me in a huff, finally over his rant. He slung an arm around my shoulder and placed a chaste kiss to my head. I rested my head on his shoulder, still silently comforting him. This was our routine whenever one of us would get riled up. It was our thing, and it’s what makes us so perfect for each other.

“Hey, y/n!” I heard someone calling my name as I exited the school doors. I turned around to see Veronica rushing towards me. “I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I saw the way Sweet Pea reacted to what Reggie had to say, and how you two work so well together” She said genuinely. “I know I overstepped by accusing your boyfriend of y’know…” I let out a small chuckle.

“It’s fine V, I forgive you.” I laughed again.

“Oh thank God, I didn’t want to be responsible for breaking up Riverdale’s newest -second- most cutest couple” She joked. “Speaking of which,” She had a devilish look on her face “Double date tonight?” She asked with a hopeful smile.

I giggled a little, looking at my tree of a boyfriend goofing off with his friends in the parking lot.

“We’ll see”

#sweet pea #sweet pea x reader #sweet pea imagine #jordan connor #archie andrews #jughead jones #veronica lodge #betty cooper #reggie mantle #midge klump #toni topaz #fangs fogarty #sweet pea fanfic #sweet pea fluff #rlverhale #riverdale #rlverhale's masterlist #masterlist

[thedogsled]

Hi guys. I’m going to cautiously title this ‘About Zimbio, Destiel, my personal struggle with the idea of wlw vs. mlm, and why what we achieved in the vote today says a lot about our magnificent fandom’. 

This is a reminder in advance that I make generalizations but I don’t mean any harm by them. I’m happy to discuss this topic and capitulate on some things, because my experience of shows is extremely limited right now (unless I want to watch them in French). Just like Dean I say ‘we’ a lot but please assume sometimes I mean ‘I’, I by no means make any claim to speak for all of the following groups at any point: bisexuals, mlm shippers, wlw shippers, television executives, social media marketers, the mainstream audience, destiel shippers--etc, etc, you get the drift.) If any of the following upsets you, please let me know, it’s not my intent to cause any harm, only reassure my friends that they did a good job.

I promised I was going to write a post on this, because I’ve seen just a little mumbling and unhappiness that Destiel didn’t make it through in the semis. I get it, it’s only natural that it’s going to lead to some hurt feelings, but I wanted to really put across to you all why I say I was proud of us for our semi-final performance, rather than you just take it for granted.

We are an old fandom. Thirteen years is a long time; it makes Supernatural the longest single run fantasy/sci fi series on American TV (and I mean I think it’s unfair to compare it to non American shows like Doctor Who anyway just on pure numbers, especially since Who has gone through thirteen fourteen? fifteen? are we counting radio drama? actors in the lead role; it’s like a different show every time.) So. It’s had a superb run. Fantasy/sci fi shows are typically considered to be niche, not massive hits (comparatively speaking; SPN isn’t Grey’s Anatomy or NCIS I’ll grant). But what networks are finally waking up to is the power of the fandom of those ‘niche’ shows, dedicated viewing power which can grow a network’s brand, particularly online, and networks are eager to wrangle that.

This modern era of television is fandom’s era of television. Netflix are promoting gamification of television watching (even for kids) as well as choose your own adventure style TV. Binging and rewatching box sets is a whole thing now, not just the domain of the “geek”, and shows which can convince people to stick around and watch something instead of moving on when they run out of material--they’re the ones gaining success, while traditional shows slip further and further as they fail to capture new demographics. We’re making strong social media contracts with the creators and actors of our shows, and making it clear to them - in a way that is increasingly being recognized for the opportunity it represents - that there must be give and take with modern audiences, especially if you seek gratification through social media. (I read a great article I reblogged that called it the ‘Brandom’ effect.)

It’s wonderful, and it’s terrifying, because both fans and creators don’t know what to do with it. They can give fans too much power and the show goes off the rails, or deny it to them entirely, and earn only vitriol. Some shows rub their power right in the face of their fans and increasingly they pay for it. Some showrunners are outright incapable of talking to their fans at all without being respectful (I’m looking at you The 100), and some fans are ghastly, aggressive and outright disrespectful in pursuing what they want (it is a different thing showing joy over your ship as it is to dox actors and send their wives hate mail). Some showrunners, instead, are more embracing of their fans, like the Earpers, and if you want an idea of how actors should be engaging with fans, check out David Haydn Jones’ twitter. That man is a saint. It’s a delicate game of mutual respect, and occasional drama, and intent is the name of the game: do you have good intent, is it honest? People crave honesty on the internet where everything and everyone is fake--and that honestly is a tough thing to achieve when studios are too heavily concentrating on their bottom line.

So, this is a changing landscape, like I said, and people are struggling with new marketing techniques, trying to find their place in the world, running into walls when they realize that in fact they don’t understand their queer audience members. When something works, shows are very quick to jump right into it, almost relieved to have evidence that if they do X thing, their fans won’t all jump ship in horror, but here’s the thing, networks are in a lot of ways far slower to respond than shows. If you want to do something, you have to prove to the person holding the purse strings that it’s a profitable endeavor. Producers are set in their ways, especially old school producers, not realizing how quickly the landscape is changing, and writers are fighting against that all the time, because they’re often a lot more in touch with the creative fandoms they’re trying to inspire. Many have come from fandoms themselves. Queer writers should mean more queer storylines, right? But it means fighting money men to make it happen. Oftentimes that leads to the whole ‘one queer ship is enough’ standpoint, and when it comes down to it, those money men are more likely to put stock in safe investments, in proven investments. Consequently, wlw is flourishing because it draws in audiences without losing them. It’s arguably less risky to make Alex Danvers gay than Castiel. It’s more PC, accepted by wider audiences, groundwork laid by Dark Angel and Buffy in my own recent memory. When good results come from featuring those kinds of ships, they appear increasingly on TV, and it’s AWESOME. There were 16 wlw ships in Zimbio March Madness, and 11 of them got through all the way to 8vs8. There were only 2 mlm ships in 8vs8, and 3 het ships. Internet fandom, passionate and social and dedicated? It speaks, and it says ‘More LGBT rep please’.

We’re in a transitional period. Changes are coming, but when you look at the big mlm ships of the last few years, you can see the uphill climb that’s still ahead of us. I spoke with our Hannigram and Johnlock friends last year about what their experience with this was like. (I haven’t spoken to Sterek folks, but I know there’s disappointment from that front too). Johnlock shippers are largely furious about how explicitly the finale no-homoed their ship when there was absolutely no reason to. Having watched the finale myself, I feel like they really went hard against shippers explicitly. Hannigram suffered too. I haven’t finished S3 even now, but what I recall of the conversation went like this: they’re together, but there was a kiss that didn’t make it to air, and then the show was cancelled. In any case, what I’m saying right here is that this is part of a pattern, a theme I’m struggling with, where mlm fans are dispirited and disappointed and feeling disrespected by the very mainstream shows they’re watching.

(Which isn’t, I’ll quickly note, that I’m saying the same isn’t true of wlw audiences. The last two ships in Zimbio this year are non canon ships, and the fans of both have been hurt by the shows they watch, but they still keep coming back and watching the show. Swanqueen is ending, but the pair have been consistently mirrored - dark and light - with the emotional journey of the show largely being made over the shared custody? I don’t know, they changed it every week while I was watching it of Emma’s son. Supercorp is clearly full of eye sex thanks to the actress’ chemistry (and McGrath is so gorgeous she’d have chemistry with a brick wall) and yet has been outright mocked by the show’s cast. If that sounds familiar to Destiel fans, I almost want to say that Supercorp have it worse; just as with Swanqueen, they’re often told simply to shut up because there's already wlw rep on the show.)

But where shows are willing to go there now, diminished risk is the key, especially as resale value of shows reflects multiple, competitive platforms constantly needing to purchase content to fill their airspace. Naked women, women kissing and women having sex - bisexual women who are explicitly still available to men - that sells, but as far as I can tell networks are struggling to sell the same narrative about mlm. Maybe that’s my perspective only, maybe that’s me watching the wrong shows (and not at all because I don’t enjoy looking at women’s bodies, I do, but variety is the spice of life) Look at the outright surprise last year when GOT gave us a beautiful, pus covered, full screen dick. GOT, of course, which is insulated because it is a Number One performer. I present to you, in terms of dicks on screen, American Gods, then. Neil Gaiman is my hero, selling the network on the premise that they could have his great stories if only they were willing to gleefully integrate peen on every episode. Or so I’m told. There’s a lot on my ‘to watch’ list that I haven’t got around to yet. I will tell you, of course, that mlm is out there, Evak were voted out against Supercorp in the quarter finals) but on a big show like Supernatural that risk is exceptional. That’s why when we talk about Destiel ‘going canon’, we make the shockingly ambitious request of them HOLDING HANDS, or mutually saying ‘I love you’, and sometimes feel like expecting anything more, like a kiss, or god forbid a sex scene, is too much to ask. Why? When lesbians and bisexual women are presented on TV, kisses and sex scenes are a matter of course. In Alex’ coming out, in Thirteen’s coming out in House, Angela’s coming out in Bones - huge ensemble shows where main characters, all women, have come out and kissed (and returned to male partners in the case of the later two). (I should point out I am talking about genre “mainstream” shows in general, not for example Queer as Folk, where the primary aim is to explore sexuality, not fight dragons or solve crimes)

Now in addition to this problem, an issue that I’ve seen for years is that from inside the fandom world we are made to feel as though we are somehow obscene or inferior for shipping mlm ships, a projection that comes from the way mainstream folks will react to you if they happen to discover you drawing dudes together. Sometimes we hide our online selves from the real world out of shame that has only built over the years, where it’s considered that supporting mlm ships instead of wlw ships makes you fetishistic, or objectifying of gay men. I’ve seen it in fanfiction spaces and in rp spaces on dw and lj that shipping wlw has been raised to a point of being considered ‘more pure’. If you ‘claim’, they say, to be a queer woman, you should wholly be supporting wlw ships. When I started hearing this dialogue I was THIRTEEN. This was before Willow/Tara. There were just less wlw ships on tv, and there were less female characters whose autonomy didn’t depend on men, or portray them as being fragile, the weakness of their gender or whatever. There were standout female characters in my youth, absolutely, but they were all independent (mostly) straight women: Kathyrn Janeway, Sam Carter, Clarice Starling, Dana Scully. They kicked out against the system, the world they lived in, intelligent and defiant ladies I still idolize. Nowadays, though those wlw ships are available, and populated by so many beautiful, powerful, progressive female characters - and yes miraculously even strong female characters who still embrace their own womanhood. In contrast  mlm ships are not keeping up because, in some way, I think that the ‘impurity’ of shipping mlm has stuck. I struggle to think of even straight non toxic male role models, nevermind male role models who are in engaging, romantic relationships with the same sex. This stagnation of masculinity (apart from the rise of the geek hero which often, as in the case of TBBT, doesn’t break away from inbuilt misogyny) troubles me immensely. (I’m not saying all male characters are awful, incidentally, but it’s not a positive message to outright expose the flaws of toxic masculinity without offering understanding, lessons, and growth. But that’s another essay.)

Trust me, I’m not saying everyone feels that TV is being stacked against mlm, but as a bisexual I really feel fractured by the whole thing. I feel like I’m supposed to loathe myself for shipping mlm, particularly when that mlm ship is ‘two white guys’. The fact that I as a woman enjoy male and female bodies is irrelevant, because one desire is pure, and one desire is fetishism. There is no balance. I’m allowed to be titilated by members of my own gender kissing each other and only that and heterosexuality. As a bisexual who is currently leaning toward wlw myself (sexuality existing on a sliding scale imo), it is the power imbalance in heterosexual couples which puts me off. It’s painfully true to life. I have a particular loathing for Booth and Brennan from Bones, for example, where his toxic masculinity is unilaterally forgiven because it’s true love, while Bones, once independent and stubborn herself, is increasingly nudged further out of character in order to forgive him his trespasses. But when I ship mlm, or write fanfic of my favorite couples, any power I give them is not based on their gender. The same I imagine is true of wlw. (An unfortunate consequence of this is people project it onto real life, where power inequality and abuse can exist regardless of make believe ‘purity’, and consequently people end up believing that something is wrong with them rather than their relationship, similar issues as people face when they imagine marriage is the goal, and everything else is happily ever after, because Disney told them so. In which case I advise you to rewatch Mary Poppins.)

During voting, I was reticent to address why voting for Destiel over the other ships was important to me. It was personal. (Of course anyone could have sent me an ask if they were curious). But why I was voting didn’t matter. It was enough that I was voting for the couple I love, whose relationship my blog is devoted to, and whose love story I hope is resolved. But there is more to it than that. What’s important, I guess, is how I feel about Dean. My reading of him is of a bisexual, still in the closet - perhaps even to himself - in his thirties. He made it out of high school, but that’s it, because he dropped out of higher education for family commitments. He likes rock music and classic cars. He loves pie, and dumb medical TV dramas, and cowboy hats, and riding rodeo bulls and chatting to strangers. He struggles with voicing his true self with people who know him, and might judge him in a way he will never come back from. Dean is basically me. I am all those things. And in this case, he’s in love with a genderfluid (has been both male and female) guardian angel whose love for Dean explicitly and singularly, has been described as a profound bond, and the greatest love story ever told. Castiel’s love for Dean, his willingness to do anything for him, is all I think any of us want from a romantic partner. And yes, we all find different things in our ships, and presumably other people connect with Destiel for reasons that aren’t the same as my own, but that’s okay. My reasons are my reasons.

And yet I am still thrown into that emotional disconnect: that because this couple is an mlm couple I’m wrong to ship it, that I would be better putting my energy into watching shows I don’t necessarily enjoy as much so I can find my representation in more respectable (or potentially less queerbaity) fandoms. That Supernatural isn’t good enough because I’ve been repeatedly told by people inside and outside the fandom that it isn’t good enough. I’ve got to tell you I agree that it struggles with being progressive. While season 3 of Grey’s Anatomy was showing the struggles of a pre-op mtf woman and her wife in an ep that made me actually cry for the dysphoria represented, on the other channel SPN had just got done killing a token ‘woman with an off screen girlfriend’ character. By season 11, we’ve had two gay male couples, both holding hands and leaning into each other to express their relationship. SPN is slow. Nobody in the world would deny that. 

But to be quite honest, also, finding representation doesn’t have to mean ‘a ship’, it can just be a well written bisexual woman with a badge, and you aren’t restrained to just one rep either! In fact, the more the better. I find myself particularly starved for that rep, especially since - having been fetishized for my bisexuality irl before - I see painful reflections of that on television. That’s obviously going to be related to bad writing and TV’s particular way of objectifying women in general, too, but when a woman (say Angela Montenegro from Bones) has a two episodes storyline where she makes out with another insanely attractive actress, the music rising, lit with soft shades, the camera focused in on their mouth--before the plot is forgotten entirely, it is incredibly difficult not to see that as objectification and not bisexual solidarity. I want more mlm on TV because I want more bisexuals of both genders on TV, and because of the harmful insinuation in mainstream thought that a guy who comes out as bi late has somehow been lying to himself and was gay all along, while women who are bi are just exploring their sexuality and somehow more up for it. Those views need to be constantly, constantly challenged, because, honestly, people believe them. (Probably not me or you, but it’s out there).

(As an aside: mainstream is also harsh toward female writers who write mlm stories. There have understandably, as a result, been female writers who chose male pseudonyms to pen their gay romance novels. I first experienced this to a lesser extent back in Gundam Wing fandom, because if you were a ‘male’ author it legitimized you and people would read your stories in preference to those penned by girls. Back then it was a numbers game. The prejudice does remain. Audiences are sometimes outright cold to female authors who pen mlm stories! You need only look at the conversation about boycotting Love, Simon because it was written by a straight woman to appreciate just how deeply we’ve built this disconnect, as though to write something the author must always write from personal experience. If that’s the case, I feel terrible for Thomas Harris and Jeff Lindsay, and JK Rowling (who speaks about choosing her moniker because it was genderless) must certainly have had an exciting childhood, what with all the magic and dragons. 

As a result I think we (or at least I) have internalized some harmful things about who has the right to interpret themselves in stories told about men, or male protagonists. And in lashing back at girls who for years have been doing just that, considering it to be lesser if I find a role model in Dean instead of Angela, we have harmed the integrity of mlm fans themselves, who increasingly struggle under a burden of self imposed guilt. It is reflecting back poorly on mlm performances, even as wlw stories flourish. In this raising the pedestal of wlw purity, the ‘ethical’ alternative, we dismiss what people can learn about themselves from male role models too, something that we instead encourage if it’s a teenage boy finding a role model in Elsa. My closeted bi self loving Dean Winchester harms nobody, but I am still made to feel lesser for doing so, even if sometimes that feeling is ridiculously self imposed. Hell, maybe I’m alone in this feeling and the rest of this is bullshit, but that’s why I said ‘I vs we’ was definitely a part of this commentary.

In any case, this is what I think this means to the Zimbio vote: As wlw rep has been increasing, mlm has been facing a disappointing deficit. Those once big fandom movers ‘Superwholock’, the Hannigrams, the Sterek shippers--have fractured and splintered off. Destiel has come in waves but it’s still somehow here, without its original opponents from back in the day. It’s here, even with setbacks after season 8 and 10 that had fans breaking away from Supernatural entirely. Optimism now reflects optimism felt before, but let’s face it Castiel was killed permanently at one point, and Bob Singer said outright, even just a few years ago, that Destiel and social media stuff just didn’t come up in the writing room (pr is not showrunning, etc). People are hugely entitled to struggle with optimism for non canon mlm ships because history repeats itself. Add into that feelings like I described above, and the struggle is real. It can sometimes feel like you’re fandom’s three legged, one eyed donkey.

Add to that how old Destiel is. Every fandom coming into existence now, every ship built around, comes into contact with Destiel at some point. If you type ‘queerbaiting’ into Wikipedia, our ship is cited. In Google, we come up first. Thanks to antis (and some genuinely bad behavior from bad apple shippers over the years) we’ve earned a reputation, and it moves before us into every ship interaction we have. Because of that, we can appear both intimidating and as something to be avoided, because ‘what if you meet a crazy one’? You’d think seniority would be a good thing, but few people see us as a ship that’s been there and done that, as they do Swanqueen. We aren’t the ship that can perhaps offer advice on things going on in whippersnapper fandoms based on our experiences, as it would be in an ideal world. We’re not a ship to be aligned with, and because of this odd perception of wlw vs. mlm, there was simply never any potential that support for Supercorp wasn’t going to skyrocket. It was a fight against ‘That monolithic mlm ship that just won’t stop’, as it were, because here we still are hanging onto threads hoping our ship will go canon, and based on past evidence, the fall of other mlm ships, and only looking in from the outside, that seems like wishful thinking.

So we were unlikely to gain allies from heartbroken mlm fandoms. We were unlikely to find allies in wlw fandoms. It’s sad, of course, because for all the talk of representation in media, the desire to express a balance and cheerlead for mlm, imo an obvious representation underdog, simply doesn’t ever come up. Our friends and relatives roll our eyes at us if we talk about Destiel because we get that ridiculous light in our eyes when we do. Ultimately, that meant that Destiel was on its own. It had to unify. It had to pour its passion into voting and be a family again. It’s been knocked out in previous years - honestly based on what I’ve heard it’s been a disaster - but THIS YEAR we pulled out all the stops. That was all us. Despite antivoting, Destiel shippers - and only Destiel shippers - fought and fought - thousands of votes after thousands of votes, as we made small leads only to slip three times further. We didn’t stop. We were there and fighting right up until the end. And it may just have been a silly online poll, but I think it really goes to show what we can do when we put our hearts into it. We more than doubled the amount of votes cast in the previous round, over the exact same time scale, even though Supercorp fought back with everything they had, all the vibrancy of being a fresh, shunned ship determined to prove themselves, using social media strategy and unity to bring in votes from wherever they could get them. They fought well. They were wiley and smart, and so passionate; passionate like I thought I’d forgotten how to be.

And we kept fighting. We were in the semis, with twice as many votes more than Swanqueen, and we fought tooth and nail and almost got there, slipping just in the last half hour.

I have to believe that that’s because some people in the Destiel family have hope. I know we’ve drawn in a lot of new and returning shippers recently, I’ve seen you following me and starting out in meta writing yourselves, joining Destiel exchanges for the first time, sharing your first codas. The DCBB and Pinefest have had ENORMOUS turnouts. We are, despite all odds, growing as a ship again. 

I really hope that we can overcome the shame that has somehow been drummed into us for shipping mlm. I hope that we can all, whether we ship wlw, mlm, het or poly or whatever peeps are doing these days, make sure not to raise one as an ideal over the others, because it’s not in the spirit of family, of fandom. It is never ‘us against them’, it’s never a case of moral or ethical superiority, definitely not even in everyday parlance and least of all in a shipping popularity contest.

And maybe despite the risk, we’ll get an ‘I love you’, some hand holding. Hell, maybe even a kiss (Supernatural never even gave us a kiss between Jesse and Cesar, though, so I have my doubts.) But God if that wouldn’t pave the way for better deconstruction of toxic masculinity on genre TV, more presence of bisexual men and gay men on genre TV, and more men kissing and open expression of sexuality on genre TV. 

So here’s my final word. Maybe the bunnies will kiss. Maybe they’ll even do what bunnies do, who knows? And maybe next year we’ll win it.

I hope I didn’t step on any toes with this post. I felt like these words needed to come out of me, though, so here they are. Thank God there’s no more Zimbio until next year, right? Please refer back to my first paragraph for disclaimers. Thanks, though, if you read this far.

#zimbio #destiel #bisexuality #as i was writing this i was like wow i have issues #it felt good to talk about them #please feel free to disregard #shipping #multishipping #woes #personal #my bed is calling me #looooong post #dean is bisexual #what that means to me