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cryinglittlepeople · 10 months

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SPECIAL INTEREST : ENGAGED

I have many ocs, but most are atmospheric filler for my shinigami!Karin AU fic. I do have a number that are actually fleshed out;

I believe I mentioned Yuutsu earlier? Buff goth with the zanpakutou that gores folks. She has a mean streak but has a soft spot for femmes, courtesy of her wife. I feel like she'd end up very quietly listening to Olive talk about music & just walk off if Olive's moody.

Kokona Honda is Yuutsu's manic pixie wife from gobantai. She wants to be everyone's friend. I think Kokona be wounded if Olive snapped at her because she's a gentle soul, but she's dogged in her attempts to befriend people whether they like it or not. Kokona is also interested in fashion, so I think they'd at least have something to talk about.

Mae Izumi is a very intelligent botanist from juuniibantai. I don't think she's mean, but she is very creepy since her motif is based on carnivorous flowers. She's very... monotonous. I don't think she'd dislike Olive, but she wouldn't go out of her way to talk to or interact with Olive in any meaningful fashion because they have nothing in common.

Ryuuji Kawashima is a seated officer in nanabantai. He's very principled but ends up being the butt of many jokes since he's kinda dumb. He likes everyone as long as they're not like... entirely malevolent. I assume Olive is some kinda queer & wouldn't be interested in him, but he wouldn't mind going dancing with her if she wanted to go as friends.

Nakei Yokinada is an officer in kyuubantai (later promoted to a seated position in gobantai) who's just... really tired. All the time. But, like, refuses to take a break or take care of himself in any meaningful fashion because he's paranoid that something will happen if he steps away from doing Literally Everyone's Job (& usually ends up being right.) I think he would dislike Olive because she'd be... so much. & he's so tired.

Chousuke Watanabe is an officer in niibantai, & a retainer of the Shihouin clan (the way the Feng family is). He's got the Sympathetic Backstory, but it doesn't matter because he's a raging jackass. I imagine Olive would eviscerate him without a second thought & honestly, it's the Least Olive deserves for having to breathe the same air as him!

YEH you've talked abt Yuutsu! Olive would be a total brat to her which is funny bc Yuutsu could pick her up and dunk her like a basketball I'm sure.

Kokona sounds so sweet!! I think Olive would generally like her bc she has a protective streak when it comes to the more quiet, shy girls. She'd probably enjoy dressing Kokona up, to a point where Kokona would want to go home but Olive wouldn't let her get a word in edgewise.

OH, OLIVE WOULD ADORE MAE. She'd find Mae's love of carnivorous plants soooooo cute and quaint. Show her again how it eats a fly! Again!! And Mae being quiet is perfect, leaves plenty of room for Olive to literally never stop talking.

FIRST OF ALL, yes Olive is incredibly queer. And i'm sorry to say she'd severely take advantage of Ryuuji. Get him to do her chores for her, and other tasks. And she'll only go anywhere with him as long as he's paying, of course.

OH, a GUY who think he's BETTER THAN HER?? SET PHASERS TO KILL. She will blow smoke right into his face every time he comes near. Just regular smoke, not her shikai, but still. Very disrespectful. She also steps on his feet every time she passes him.

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rios-mozzasticks · 2 years

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Karin is a rosboy, acorsexual, cupioquoiromantic, and uranic. He uses he/they/love/valentine/she pronouns.

(Ship: Sasuke, Suigetsu (P))

Suigetsu is genderfaun, multisexual, and on the aromantic spectrum. Splash uses he/she/they/water/splash/tide/current/ripple/wave/swim/liquid + any other water related neos.

(Ship: Karin (P), Sasuke)

Jugo is transmasc, animalcoric, greysexual, demiromantic, and queer. He uses he/rage/bun/tweet/nature/chirp/flower pronouns.

(Ship: Kimimaro)

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thestuckylibrary · 7 years

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The straight writers + mlm fic thing. I'm totally bummed that sounded like a dig at cis straight fans for being into + supportng m/m ships. Why s it bad for us to support slash ships just cause we're straight? LGBTQ writers matter + we need more of them, y'all! just why does our work mean less when we're here for and supprt those LGBTQ people and writiers? an I'm writing for everyone y'all, not just straight gals. We should support each other equally + not put others down dude

No one is putting you down, or saying you shouldn’t support or create content for slash ships. We’re just saying as fans writing about queer people, specifically mlm, we shouldn’t treat straightness and cisness as neutral or the simple fact that we are writing slash as allyship. We’re talking about queer issues, specifically mlm issues in fandom, and by sending an ask like this you are placing yourself in the role of a victim, which you are not. While I’m not mlm, I am queer. disclaimer that I’m not mlm I’m just a queer woman whos trying to show some solidarity. I’m not an authority by any means, I’m just riled and trying to put forth opinions Ive seen mlm give and you know, not hide from the fact that fandom isn’t perfect. but do note that I’m a cis, albeit queer, woman writing this, not mlm.

We’re not saying your work is less or that you shouldn’t be here, we’re just saying, hey maybe engage with what you’re writing a little more critically and don’t act as though your writing is for everyone unless you are actively listening to mlm about problems that show up when women, particularly straight cis women, write about mlm.

As usual I could not keep it brief for the life of me so I put most of my queer rage under the cut

Ok so first off you have the whole side of fandom (once again, not mlm, but women, in my experience mostly cis straight women) that like calls bucky their “sad gay baby” or “smol sad gay” and calls m/m erotic fic things along the lines of “filthy sinful gay smut”. I can totally understand why this makes mlm uncomfortable, I mean like who wants their non heterosexuality to be the defining trait that makes them appealing to straight people, who would want their love to be routinely called sinful and filthy by a community that claims to love them? Seriously guys take a step back and think about how it would feel to have someone talk about you like that.

I read a huge wonderful post by a bunch of mlm in fandom a while ago and I’ll sum up a little of it here. Basically it’s absolutely wonderful to have a huge community devoted to create content about lgbt+ characters. It’s amazing to have a space where people can come together and create content where queer people get happy endings and we can explore all sorts of themes all with lgbt characters. But since slash has a huge number of women, cishet or lgbt+, writing about lgbt+ men, stuff can get a not great.

For example, its really, really common to see top/bottom debates among fans. It’s one thing for mlm to identify as a top or bottom, it’s a whole other for women to sit there and debate which character fits in which static role. The whole thing reeks of deciding whos the “man” and whos the “woman” all to appease (usually and I am speaking from experience, not statistics or anything) straight cis women. We used to have a mod here who was a sex therapist and she talked a lot about how top/bottom debates are a really stereotypical way to look at queer mens relationships and as they are now its basically all about perceived gender roles and fetishization which like, is one of those things that should be putting up a red flag. She also talked a bit about how statistically it’s pretty likely that most gay couples don’t even really have penetrative sex and stick to mostly oral, intercural and hand stuff. And I’ve seen like so many mlm say that the whole top/bottom debate in fandom is homophobic as fuck time and time again and people just keep on going. Randos (especailly straight people) debating whos penetrating and whos being penetrated in a gay relationship as static roles is really. hoo. yikes. You also see things like only trans writers writing trans men who top, which speaks volumes. While what you read and write is up to you, it’s a good idea to look at why these trends happen and how they happen and what they do.

You also see a lot, like A LOT of unsafe sex practices because they’re “not hot otherwise” Just to start, me, a bi ace woman, cringes when I’m reading a fic and someone just shoves their dick into an asshole with like only some kissing as warm up. No. If you did that in real life, it would straight up just be painful and cause anal tearing. Also: rimming with no cleaning first? Like ok if you really think its hot to plunge a tongue into a dirty asshole, go for it but like, really? It takes literally one sentences to add in like “oh hey I did an enema and cleaned up before you got here” before delving into sex. It takes one sentence to do the same for lube oh my god seriously unlubed anal sex no matter the gender is just gonna lead to either 1. dick or toy stuck in asshole, 2. severe anal tearing, 3. both and even more delicate skin and tissue related injuries. While I’m on it if you are a vagina owner, or a penis owner or somewhere in between and are interested in playing with genitals, you should be using lube if you aren’t already. lube is your friend.

While it’s not content creators duty to make sure people know how to have safe sex, it’s pretty troubling that unsafe m/m sex is looked at as being “hot” in a very particular way. From what I understand, proper prep is a vital, vital part of gay sex and woman saying fics that show proper prep aren’t “”hot”” and fics that don’t show it are, that speaks to a broader problem.

Anyways this is me, a womans thoughts on the matter synthesized from reading a bunch of posts by mlm discussing the way them and stories about them are treated in fandom and it’s honestly better to just like, read their opinions. I tried my best here but I am still a woman and therefore don’t fully understand mlm experience (not that there is a single mlm experience)

Please do continue writing and creating and reading and making headcannons! No one is saying you shouldn’t be here or you shouldn’t wrote m/m! All that’s being asked is for women, especially straight women who read and write and create m/m fanworks, to engage with it mindfully and like, at least make your best effort to not to fetishize mlm, to treat them as people rather than objects, which I really don’t think is asking too much.

Further reading

here

here (same post but with different topics discussed)

here

Feel free to add more links of mlm taking about these issues cause I know i’m long winded but I don’t want to talk over mlm!

#qworduse #karins queer rage #fandom wank #mod karin #Anonymous

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passionate-reply · 3 years

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This time on Great Albums, I talk about an album that actually isn’t older than I am for a change! Enter the spooky, haunted forest of The Knife with me, and find out why it was Pitchfork’s Album of the Year in 2006! Full transcript after the break.

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’ll be tackling an album that’s more recent than anything I’ve done on Great Albums before, but it’s still old enough to start being considered a classic: The Knife’s Silent Shout, released in 2006, and hence seeing its fifteenth birthday in 2021. Silent Shout is a bit special to me, insofar as it was an album I loved as a teenager, back when it was still pretty new, and it was probably the first album I really fell in love with that wasn’t significantly older than I was. I was quite surprised when I eventually learned just how beloved Silent Shout is among music aficionados. This album has been lauded in critical circles, recommended as a “patrician” essential, and even considered one of the greatest electronic albums of all time! So, what’s the fuss about?

Before Silent Shout, The Knife were significantly closer to a conventional electronic pop duo. Their biggest claim to fame was the track “Heartbeats,” which scored some exposure after a cover of it was featured in a TV ad.

Music: “Heartbeats”

I like to think that “Heartbeats” contains the seeds of what’s great about Silent Shout, with its grinding synth backing and vocalist Karin Dreijer’s affecting wail. But its indie-pop brightness is something distinctively absent from their follow-up. Contrary to what might’ve been expected from an up-and-coming pop act, the sibling duo hunkered down in the studio and set about making something stranger and more exotic. On the technical front, they stripped the production down to its bare essentials, using just digital rhythms and two synthesisers to achieve everything we hear on the album. Stylistically, they took their sound into moody, atmospheric territory, imbuing it with this eerie, claustrophobic ambiance. It’s the musical equivalent of Frankenstein emerging from Mary Shelley’s mind, while the dreary “Year Without a Summer” had poisoned the world around her.

Music: “Silent Shout”

The title track here is also the opener, and introduces us to the frightful world of Silent Shout without mercy. This track is dominated by a powerful contrast of sound: low, thrumming bass, and these quick, but delicate and meandering synth arpeggios, carrying a distinctively Scandinavian flair. This bewitching synthesis of musical ideas makes sense in light of the diverse influences of the two siblings who made up The Knife: Instrumentalist Olaf Dreijer was strongly influenced by dance styles like house, trance, and progressive techno, as well as ambient electronic music, whereas vocalist Karin Dreijer was interested in guitar-based popular music, as well as the distinctive folk traditions of their native Sweden. Not unlike the Pet Shop Boys, they’ve got a wide gap between their influences, but that only serves to intensify the uniqueness of their work, which strikes listeners in a way the constituent musical parts of its heritage never could. Perhaps the most significant sonic feature of the album, though, is the extreme electronic distortions of Karin Dreijer’s voice.

Music: “One Hit”

If raw and everymannish vocals make music feel more in line with our everyday reality, the shocking and monstrous ones on *Silent Shout* render it a truly otherworldly work of art. While many people are quick to decry the “fakeness” of electronically mediated vocals--despite the fact that all art is, of course, artificial--I think Silent Shout proves, more boldly than anything else, just how uniquely powerful this musical tool can be in the right hands. Once you get past the sheer sonic force of the vocals, and their peculiar, skin-crawling timbres, you’ll find that most of the lyrical subject matter is actually painfully quotidian. “One Hit,” for instance, is told from the perspective of an all-too-normal “monster”: a domestic abuser, extracting and enforcing femininity and domestic servitude through the force of violence, dealing in “one hit, one kiss.” Sex, gender, and exploitation based upon them are among the album’s most central themes, and expressed harrowingly on tracks like “Na Na Na”:

Music: “Na Na Na”

Perhaps moreso than any other track on the album, “Na Na Na” is rendered borderline incomprehensible by vocal treatment--a trait magnified by its obviously meaningless title and chorus. But “Na Na Na” does have real lyrics, which tell the story of a life mediated by reproductive anatomy, defined by the rhythm of menstruation, coming from within, and the constant fear of sexual violence from without. It’s a tale of hidden anxiety, and experiences that go unseen and unspoken despite how common they are, making the haze of inscrutability laid over them all the more poignant. It’s clear that these issues are of high importance to Karin Dreijer, who has publicly described themself as “genderqueer,” despite both members of the band being remarkably sparing with all personal details. In another of the most striking vocal performances on the album, “We Share Our Mother’s Health,” Dreijer even gets to sing a duet with themself, and embody two distinct characters at once.

Music: “We Share Our Mother’s Health”

“We Share Our Mother’s Health” can be read in the light of gender and sex dynamics, as well, particularly if you’re willing to read its twin narrators as representations of masculinity and femininity. Personally, though, I think that’s a bit too easy, and really, a bit too cisnormative. I think the album is more interesting if we embrace the fundamental uncertainty of identity, and the transgressive queerness of it all. That said, I prefer to think of “We Share Our Mother’s Health” as a piece about capitalism--the endless toiling and scrounging for more material comfort and security, and the emptiness left behind when that proves to be no pathway towards true happiness. Besides, it’s not like sexism and the class struggle don’t feed off of each other in the end. This track’s sense of cacophony, with voices nearly battling to drown each other out, shows its more strident, aggressive, and downright angry side, which it delivers as powerfully as it does those moody atmospheres.

Silent Shout is the perfect title for this album, given its emphasis on voicing internal and private laments that go unheard--and voicing them with this terrifying sense of primal scream catharsis. While I initially wasn’t overly fond of the album art, it’s grown on me a bit now that I’ve seen it blown up to a larger size. This central disc shape is certainly evocative of a record or a CD, and its industrial-looking lattice structure, with a mottled, grimey-looking texture, helps conjure the impression of machine-age ennui.

I think a lot of the enduring appeal of Silent Shout is its sense of mystery. A lot of that mystery is deliberately crafted iconoclasm, and part of the art--while promoting the album, The Knife were photographed wearing sinister, elaborate beaked “plague doctor” masks, and their live performances from this period shrouded the band in darkness to obfuscate their appearances. They’ve refused to accept awards for their music or attend award ceremonies, including one memorable incident in which they sent costumed representatives of feminist organisation Guerrilla Girls in their stead. After Silent Shout, the duo created an opera based on Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species in 2009, and released one more studio album in 2013: Shaking the Habitual.

Music: “A Tooth For an Eye”

Shaking the Habitual received mixed reviews, and so far, has proven to be the siblings’ final work together, though they remain active as musicians independently, with Karin Dreijer recording under the moniker “Fever Ray.” Part of the great myth of Silent Shout is the fact that nothing else in their discography really quite approaches its specific sound, and sharp precision of conceptual focus. It’s like the album is tailor made to stand perfectly alone, outside of context, perhaps even outside of genre.

For many of us, this great legend of lightning-in-a-bottle genius is infinitely alluring. But I’ve never really bought into it too thoroughly myself. I obviously adore Silent Shout, and I think it’s a Great Album. But, unlike many people who have showered it with praise, often claiming that they don’t enjoy “electronic music” overall, I’ve always been interested in a lot of heavy, angry, creepy synthesiser-based music, and so I never thought too much of listening to this and liking it. People praise Silent Shout for being unlike anything else, but I think it sounds like a lot of post-industrial dark wave, like Attrition or Chris & Cosey, and its themes of feminist rage feel like a strong parallel to that of more recent stars of noise music such as Pharmakon and Lingua Ignota. But that’s not to devalue what Silent Shout does achieve! I think it *is* a unique album...in the way that a bat is a unique animal. Much as bats are not the only creatures who fly, but stand out for having developed that ability despite their mammalian heritage, Silent Shout doesn’t actually take direct inspiration from the earlier music it sounds the most like. It ended up there through the aforementioned eldritch alchemy, combining trance and folk and Kate Bush to get something new. That’s still something worth celebrating! Silent Shout needn’t be a perfect enigma to be a stirring masterpiece of an album.

My overall top track on Silent Shout, which I bet will be a popular choice, is “Forest Families.” It’s equal parts bleak and strangely anthemic, defined by both the unease of adapting to a plainer and harsher existence, outside the bounds of society, as well as the release that music itself provides to so many of us as we seek comfort. Since music is so important to me, I’m a real sucker for music about the importance of music, and it feels particularly well-placed on an album that’s a cathartic listen in so many ways. That about wraps this one up; thank you for watching!

Music: “Forest Families”

#music #great albums #album review #album reviews #the knife #fever ray #silent shout

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thestuckylibrary · 7 years

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Okay, I tried really really hard not to comment but the most recent post on the authorship debate got on my admittedly thin nerves. Because fuck yes, the way things are being written (and I really hope that it's "internet misinterpretation") does come across as "if you're cis, you have no right to write m/m stories as you won't get them right." I've seen the same argument in the professional writing community and it's just as painful to read and deal with there as in fandom.

Well if you actually read my response in the last post you would realize the whole point is we’re literally just asking cis straight people to maybe make a bit more of an effort to treat us queers like people instead of objects to be arranged for your pleasure. Also to stop assuming that by talking about problems we’re saying that you specifically are a bad person and not welcome.

All we’re asking is to be mindful when writing about people whos experience you don’t share! It’s not that big of a request! This is not us trying to say you shouldn’t be here! We’re just asking for you to actually listen to us when we say you’re doing something harmful! I’m not saying you will get it wrong or that you’re a big bad evil cishet,who shouldn’t be here. I’m literally just asking people who aren’t mlm (including myself in this), especially people who aren’t lgbt+, to listen if a queer person, specifically an mlm, says something is harmful in a m/m fandom. Please actually read my response in the last one with your empathy goggles on instead of your thin nerve goggles and maybe you’ll get through the internet interpretation you came up with.

I thought I was more than civil in the last post, I know I’ve been less so here, I thought i went to extreme pains to make sure I was placating the cis straight people reading it so they would actually get the message, but now I’m Tired and Angry and it’s not fair to the other mods for me to have this discussion here, it just isn’t. I

f you really want to get into this message me @samthebirdbae. I’m ready.

#totally ok to reblog this #mod karin #karins queer rage #qworduse

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thestuckylibrary · 7 years

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hey have a question about that whole "straight cis women writing about mlm" topic. so I am a straight cis female and I want to get into writing stucky, but I was wondering, what else would show up as a red flag? Like, what would automatically make you assume, "yep, the author is definitely straight"? Anything I write will have them as switching if it comes to that, and proper prep, ofc, but I also want to be aware of other things that might slip my mind when writing mlm if that makes sense? Ty!

My biggest advice to you is to ask yourself if you’re playing into stereotypes. Keep an eye out for writing one character in an m/m pairing hypermasculine and the other hyperfeminine. Check that you’re treating your characters like people rather than objects. It’s less so things that make me go, huh this straight author is not disguising themselves adequately and more so things that make me go, huh this author sees mlm as a kink for themselves, not as people- this author is Straight. You feel me?

Basically just ask yourself if you’re treating your characters as people rather than objects. Find a sensitivity reader if you think you need one! Examine your own internalized prejudices! You’re moving in the right direction here by asking questions and by being worried! Try and try again! write your heart out! Research your heart out! Go forth self examine and learn!

#mod karin #karins queer rage #Anonymous

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thestuckylibrary · 7 years

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Hey my name's Alex I use he/him pronouns and I'm gay. While I do obsess over mlm relationships it's more because there's so little of them and I think there's potential for said ships, and while it's great cishet women write it, I think your post and the ones linked are spot on. I've been reading fic for 5 years and only seen one with prep. One. O n e. I've seen a few mlm writers, a few of which were trans, but most are women. 1/2

Which is not to say women can't write it. I've read some fucking incredible fic by women that, at least to me (who has ocd and obsesses bout if I fall into the problematic bracket before realising Im mlm) are pretty close to reality and don't make it into a fetish. By speaking out we're not saying women should not write any of it at all, we're just saying please don't view us as sex toys you can use for yourself. We r people behind the screens just as you are. Treat us with respect. Please. 2/2

Yeah man! people just want respect! Be kind to each other!

#karins queer rage #Anonymous

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thestuckylibrary · 7 years

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Hi! As an avid fic reader, there is something that has always bothered me about a lot of fan-fiction I have read in the Stucky fandom or the marvel fandom in general. There is almost always a level of casual sexism against the female characters, for example, in many fics the female characters are referred to as "girls" despite being grown fucking women also is it necessary to talk about how beautiful Natasha or Peggy are in every single fic? Aren't we reducing them to their beauty?

This is actually an incredibly complicated issue. Yes, there definitely is a fair amount of casual sexism in stucky fanfic and in fanfic in general. But on the other hand, compared to general fiction and the world at large, there is significantly less sexism. I’d also point out that the majority of transformative fandom is female identifying, queer, or both, this makes fanfics relationship with sexism a lot more complicated. Internalized misogyny is incredibly hard to sort out and be aware of, because it’s your own internal monologue and in the case of many fanfic authors, your own internal monologue as a woman and (in most cases) a feminist.

The specific examples you pulled are tricky ones, cause on one hand, yeah theres certainly an element of sexism in there, but on the other hand there also isn’t necessarily a bad wicked thing. In most stucky fics, the narration is third person pov through either steve or bucky, and in the case of two men born in the 1910′s calling grown women girls would absolutely be a part of their vernacular. It’s absolutely sexist, but I’d argue that it’s a strongly internalized attitude and language pattern both of them would absolutely have problems recognizing and or getting rid of. So even if it’s not a carefully thought out choice from the author, it serves as interesting characterization. Also since the majority of fic authors are women, the relationship with using girls isn’t as simple, for one thing it is a part of common english to use women and girls interchangeably and it’s not something that’s closely examined by all women all the time. Also, I think theres as aspect of it’s usage that is reclaiming it in a way. I mean girls isn’t a slur by any means but it’s not free of negative meaning, and by referring to wonderful characters as girls it in some ways seeks to remove those negative connotations- by presenting to the reader a group of people who the reader admires and saying some of them are girls and thats great, it does something meaningful for a woman reading. Using the word girl/s isn’t always something bad, especially when women are using it.

As for calling them beautiful all the time, I’d argue that 9/10 times theres absolutely nothing inherently sexist about mentioning their beauty. I mean it is objectively true, mcu’s female characters are beautiful. Now the reason behind all of them being gorgeous is pretty sinister, hollywood has an insanely toxic and sexist beauty standard and the fact that female characters in movies have to be beautiful in the same way is a whole other barrel of fish and we’re talking about fanfic, we’re dealing with characters who have a appearance and personality not 100% set by the author of a fic. Honestly, I’ve read thousands of Stucky fics and I think I’ve read a handful where women were actively reduced to their beauty. I mean when was the last time you read a novel by a cishet man? It’s absolutely horrifying, the way they treat women is disgusting, and fic is so much better.

Most of the time in fic, beauty is just one aspect of their character, for example Peggy’s strength and steely determination usually follow any mention of her beauty and Natasha’s dry humour and keen intelligence usually follow any mention of hers. On the other hand yeah, you get a lot of Bucky dancing with a beautiful nameless woman who only appears as an object of desire and jealousy and yeah, thats a problem. But I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all to mention a woman’s beauty provided shes being not shown as important only because she’s beautiful.

I’d also argue that the vast majority of sexism in fanfic isn’t calling female characters girls or referring to their beauty, its demonizing or ignoring female characters who are “in the way” of a m/m ship. I see this happen a LOT with Sharon in particular, but also Peggy and Natasha. You don’t see the female character who is canonically with one half of a m/m ship is a controlling, violently jealous, homophobic monster plotline often anymore, but it does still come up. More common is the female character who is canonically with one half of a m/m ship is a endlessly pure, patient, supportive and unconditionally understanding prop who exists only to step graciously out of the way of the m/m pairing. I see that all the damn time and it bothers me.

Female characters tend to not be as developed in canon and because of that often also remain underdeveloped in fanfic and also tend in both canon and fic to be there only to support the male characters not existing outside that context. That or the fact that f/f ships are incredibly neglected. I mean theres like one f/f fic for every like seven m/m fics. Part of that is the fact that there are so many less women than men in fiction. Part of that is on us for just not writing wlw and favouring mlm or m/f ships. I have really complicated feelings about this as a queer woman, I mean I‘m running a ship blog about two men. I could be putting my time into natsharon, cartinelli or claire temple/misty knight, but I’m here instead. I worked through lots of internalized homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and aphobia while reading m/m fics, not f/f and I spend so much more time and energy on m/m ships. I mean here I am, a wlw and here I am investing almost all my leisure time on men. I mean I love it in this fandom and it’s absolutely my choice to be here but part of me wonders what it would be like if I had gone through that process with a f/f ship instead and what it would be like to invest this time on women. I wonder what it would be like to be in mcu fandom if our source material treated it’s female characters better and had more of them.

You also see barely any not white, disabled, unattractive or poor women in fic, but once again part of that is a distinct lack of diversity within the source material. But you know what, I do not see many fics with Helen Cho or Claire Temple in them at all, let alone as developed characters.

Anyways sexism in fandom is a lot more complicated than it initially appears. Nothing is ideologically pure, even fanfic, but due to the nature of fanfic being written by people who you can easily contact in the sometimes caustic forum of tumblr I think it’s incredibly important to be gentle with authors who violate what you individually see as correct. Much of tumblr’s atmosphere of callout culture has a very black and white view of what justice is and what is correct, when in reality theres a lot of layers to this, it’s not a simple black and white dichotomy. People are at different places in their journeys, theres a lot of reasons why authors write things the way they do that you might not be aware of, broad sweeping statements saying x is always bad are a real dicey area to step into (and yes, I see the irony in saying that)

So while fandom certainly needs to take a closer look at our own internalized misogyny (and racism and ableism and audism and so on), I think theres much more to be gained from larger conversations, self reflection and making an active effort to be kinder to women than there is from things like carefully abstaining from words like girls.

#karins queer rage #is also feminist rage #i just want people to be kinder to each other #be kinder to women #be kinder to queer folk #be kinder to yourself #qworduse #Anonymous

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thestuckylibrary · 7 years

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I'm a gay 34 year old man with a demanding job and ive never posted before. My bf and I read slash fic for fun, relaxation, and HEAs. Tumblr ain't real life, folks. Honestly, I get way more offended by poor grammar (it's breathe for the verb and breath for the noun, kids!) than I do about straight ladies inadequately writing gay sex. As a devout reader of het romance (vintage Harlequins!) there's not a lot of sexual accuracy there, either. I get your point but I'm not nit-picking my free hobby.

Thats all cool man! Honestly you don’t have to like be super politically engaged all the time, especially in what you’re doing to unwind, it does get exhausting. Not everyones gonna be upset by the things that upset others, I’m glad you’re having a good time with fandom! Honestly, Vintage harlequins are the best, I uses to work at a library and they just had stacks and stacks of them, it was great.

I started posting about this stuff here cause I really just want people to make an effort to be kinder to each other, especially in a fandom space since lots of us do come here to relax and have fun. Im solidly of the opinion that you can talk about problems in a thing you enjoy and still fully enjoy it, but not everyones always interested in reading the more political posts I do sometimes make. And thats ok! You can 100% be here for fun. I do always tag them #karins queer rage cause I know not everyones up for it.

Thanks for writing in, it’s always good to hear from other perspectives!

#not everyones super upset by microagressions and stereotypes #but that doesn't mean we shouldnt listen to the people who are #but it also takes a lot of energy to deal with this kind of thing so don't feel bad if you're nor up for it #mod karin #qworduse #Anonymous

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thestuckylibrary · 8 years

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Civil War was basically ever Stucky fangirl's dream come true :D

We’ve had several people write in after seeing cacw like: i swear I’ve read that fic before guys no joke

edit:

I was wrong to be passive here as a LGBTQIA+ person. agreeing with heteronormativity and saying its representation and Counts and that subtext is the dream isn’t a good thing for me to be doing but i don’t have enough energy to construct a good argument thats also educational at the moment so for now refer to the karin’s q*eer rage tag for a tiny parcel of explanation as to why the lgbtqia+ community deserves better than we’re getting

update:

ok it is now afternoon because i was up til 3:30am and slept a lot. Now that I’ve been writing for a few hours it’s time for Karins’ Opinion.

I’d like to start off my saying that I did enjoy Civil War and there is room for a q*eer reading of it But no matter how much I liked it that doesn’t change the fact that Civil War is up to it’s eyeballs in heteronormativity and features some pretty gross q*eerbaiting, especially in the press discussing it.

Fans interpreting characters as lgbt+ is something lgbt+ people do because we don’t have representation in media that is accurate to our existence. The reason why bury your gays and the tortured gay are such common tropes is because straights at large have no idea how to write lgbt+ characters as actual people and more them that, they don’t want to. LGBTQIA+ people are not seen as actual people by society, we are routinely presented as stereotypes unworthy of being a rounded character. Straight is thought of as “normal” as the default. Straight is presented as the default, as what is normal, which is disgusting. Lgbt+ people are not shown as worthy of being actual people, this is incredibly damaging. Heteronormativity tells lgbt+ people every single day of their lives that we are not normal. That we can only exist on straight, cis people’s terms. It makes it incredibly difficult to accept yourself when every aspect of society is telling you that being lgbt+ makes you unworthy.

Lgbt+ readings allow for us to see ourselves represented as full people in a way we just aren’t in mainstream media. BUT it is not actually representation. For all canonical intents and purposes at this point, every single character in MCU is straight and cisgendered. We are seeing subtext because we are looking for any scrap of positive representation of ourselves. Subtext is nice, it does give us something but what it is giving us is scraps. Telling stucky shippers explicitly that we will like a movie because we are shipping a lgbt+ pairing is q*eerbaiting. Saying it’s a love story and then backtracking to say it’s a platonic love story is absolutely q*eerbaiting. It’s telling us to be happy we’re being thought of at all while simultaneously telling us that theres no was that it could ever actually happen, that it’s foolish for us to think that we could actually be represented.

That whole movie is so brimming with overt heterosexuality its just. yikes. @disney execs @marvel you didn’t need to do that. Nearly every moment Steve and Bucky have has this overtone of “we are Straight Men”. They talk about a shared memory in which the audience is assured that Steve and Bucky’s day at the beach was a strictly platonic affair when Steve brings up Dot. Bucky nods approvingly when Steve and Sharon share a “icky” kiss. (while I’m at it, it was so sexist to establish sharon as important to the narrative and then disappear her the second she kissed steve. that says that her only purpose is love interest, which is super gross) You can bet your ass those scenes were put in so straight/cis and lgbt+ audiences alike received the message that these characters who are complex and whole, are not lgbt+. They are not lgbt+. It’s a love story but they are not lgbt+. Bi/pan sexuality is not considered an option in the presentation of these characters and is often completely ignored in discussions of them outside fan spaces. I have a strong impression from how the way the russos talked about the film before and after mainstream media caught wind of a lgbt+ readings; steps were taken to make sure that a lgbt+ reading was not obvious and to the world at large, not there. Especially after that Chris Evans interview where he mentioned scenes between steve and bucky being cut. All of this was done to maintain heteronormative standards, to enforce the idea that straight cis narratives are the only ones that matter, that lgbt+ people are not normal. This treatment of a lgbt+ reading that was never anything more than subtext as something that needs to be squashed is disgusting. It makes me furious.

We quite likely have a movie that had it’s lgbt+ subtext cut down drastically. Subtext is already not text. It is not a part of the actual films. Subtext is a pretty raw deal when you get right down to it. It gives lgbt+ audiences a glimpse of people like us shown not as a joke or as someone in pain due to who they are. It shows lgbt+ people as exactly that, actual people with flaws and strengths and a whole life and narrative that doesn’t revolve around being lgbt+. But it doesn’t actually give us that. What it actually gives us (unless it actually becomes canon which is rare) is the message that we are not actually deserving of textual representation. It’s still telling straight cis people’s stories while dangling a carrot in front of our faces. It’s telling us lgbt+ people that it’s ridiculous to think that stories about us should to be told.

All of this talk about subtext being the dream strongly reinforces heteronormativity. It’s telling us to shut up and accept that we’re quote unquote not normal and that our narratives should be kept quiet. Characters with lgbt+ subtext attached to them being treated as something that is representation is just so wrong. Treating it as representation is a fucking slap in the face. It’s being told that a vital part of my identity is not good enough to warrant being a part of a rounded character, to be something that’s normal and good. This stuff matters, it really does. The complete lack of lgbt+ representation in mainstream media and the bigotry that emerges when it shows up hurts people and supports a system of violence. Make no mistake, refusing to show rounded characters as lgbt+ perpetuates violence. It contributes to systemic dehumanization of lgbt+ people. It tells society loud and clear that lgbt+ is not normal.

As a lgbt+ stevebucky shipper, Civil War was definitely not a dream come true. What would be a dream come true is both of them actually canonically being lgbt+. Imagine how amazing that would be. Characters that have been set up for several films as complex individuals, as heroes turning out to also be lgbt+. And their whole narrative didn’t revolve around that fact. And they actually kissed. And the problems with it coming from the whole breaking international law and having been a brainwashed assassin rather than it being *gasp* lgbt+. Having a canonical lgbt+ relationship that is treated as just as worthy as a straight one. LGBTQIA+ people actually present in the movie. That is the dream.

Instead of rich, developed, flawed, undeniably human characters in a wildly successful movie series happening to be canonically lgbt+, we got Captain America: Straight People Fighting.

I’m so exhausted at having to fight for my humanity and worthiness.

#ca:cw #karins queer rage

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thestuckylibrary · 8 years

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I just have to say this to someone - I'm so nervous about ca:cw. That the Russos will kill any attempt of Stucky, so to speak. I feel like they've modified things lately towards the (oh so frustrating) brotherly love? I'm just really nervous.

I’m not sure you should be. On one hand I know that I’d love to see the complete and utter destruction of a heteronormative mould and get some actual, real queer superheroes. It is highly unlikely that we’ll get that in cacw. As important as I think it is, I don’t think we’ll be seeing any actual queerness in mcu for a few years. I’m thinking that we’re going to get something quite similar to catws in cacw; no actual romance, but also leaving no doubt as to the intensity and depth of Steve and Bucky’s relationship. Assuming that the narrative sticks to the same obvious love between them, wether people read it as platonic or romantic, there is still going to be room for a queer reading no matter what. Everything that we’re being told from promotions so far is pointing to cacw being highly psychologically and emotionally driven. To make Steve and Bucky’s relationship less intense, less ambiguous would undermine the impact of the story, so I don’t think the Russos would do that.

I also kind of suspect that a few things could have happened. They could have either realized independently or had it pointed out to them that they have been queerbaiting to a point and are trying to negate that. That’s probably a bit of a stretch to be honest but I can believe the best in people sometimes. By saying that stucky shippers will love it and so on they have been raising hope (most likely futile) that there will be tangible lgbt+ existence in cacw. See, like I just proved my own point; even though I’m like 99% sure there will be no actual queerness in the film I’m still saying mostly and 99%. As I said in the last chunk, it’s extremely likely that there will be plenty of room for lgbt+ readings of cacw, but no actual solid lgbt+ romance. Or any romance, if interviews are to be trusted. When I hear the Russos say brotherly love, I think the real message is that there won’t be canonically lgbt+, not that there won’t be the same room for a queer reading that the previous movies have. I mean the fact that lgbt+ people aren’t given room in a big international movie makes me furious, but I’ve already been over that and that’s not what I’m trying to convince you.

If they’re giving interviews outside a con environment, the conversation isn’t going to be directly with fans either, it’s gonna have different questions and different answers. Also disney could be breathing down their necks being like, hey man keep it faMILY FRIENDLY. They could be sick of people asking them to talk about a romance they don’t even see as being there, they could be sick of having to defend their creative liberty. They could be not able so say much more than brotherly love without giving away something, gay or not. It could be literally anything, any combination of factors that are making us hear the “they’re brothers” line more often. The simplest answer is that they didn’t direct it as romance and they’re not advertising it as such.

I’m gonna stop my wild speculation and close with this: I desperately want lgbt+ representation in a big, widely loved international franchise. It would make such a difference and I’m furious in general about the fact that it’s not happening, but I do think that cacw will be as gay as it is allowed to be under the context it’s being created in. Unless the Russos surprise me and either greatly impress me, giving us an actual queer superhero or greatly disappoint me and make Steve and Bucky less close, which would undermine the story. I think we’re gonna have the same level of lgbt+ subtext as we got in catws.

#karins queer rage #well i kept a lid on the anger this time #thestuckylibrary asks #wild specualtion #Anonymous

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