#no commentary because I totally understand where you're coming from and your perspective is important

[thisweekinfandomhistory]

thanks for all your work on the pod, it's so lovely to hear you all talk about fandom history, as fans.

a convo with someone non-fannish last night (about the history of otw) made me realize how hard it can be for non-fans to move beyond their preconceived ideas of fandom so as to even entertain the possibility that we can learn something from a fannish bit of history... that some things that fan communities have worked for or meaningfully struggled with are also broad cultural and societal issues (like control over content on an internet of privately owned servers), and just like most other instances of struggle, there's something to be learned. it's not aaaall just idk horny top bottom sock puppet bnf drama. im not trying to put fandom on an unwarranted pedestal for it's masterful handling of any social or cultural anything. i just appreciate where y'all are coming from and the convo you're trying to have

umm this is mainly fanmail/rant, but uh an asky bit: it'd be cool if y'all eventually featured perspectives from other geographies or lived exp - do you think that's in the cards?

Thank you for writing! Yes, we totally think that fandom history is real history -- it's material history, it's pop culture history, it's women's history, it's queer history, it's folk history, and it's a history of the internet. It's important commentary on evolving ideas of social justice, sexuality and sexual mores, and whether there were enough beds!

Fandom isn't perfect, nor is it a perfect sample set for a study on any of those things, but it IS an important and thriving subculture that deserves to be taken seriously. We're nerds, but we're not nothing! :P

And even the instances of crazy wank are important for what they have to say about other areas of life, and that's usually WHY the wank gets/got so crazy -- it's not actually about a Hamilton cannibal mermaid fic, it's about the idea of who has the right to tell which stories at that moment in the mid-2010s and the limitations of online anonymity. You know? (But of course, it was also about a Hamilton cannibal mermaid fic.)

As for your question: the current answer is that we'd love to start to incorporate that, but we haven't decided how yet. We don't want it to accidentally turn into a situation of like, "Hey, person of color, do a bunch of triggering research and then come educate the white folks about Racefail '09," because that's not right or fair. It's using people of color (for example) as a way to avoid having to face uncomfortable truths about fannish culture and history, and that's the opposite of what we want to be doing. People of marginalizations we don't share don't exist to educate us about their own innate humanity, yk?

At the same time, we understand that we're not necessarily the right people to make commentary on some events, or that our perspectives are necessarily limited on those events. So we would love to start working with guests or primary source interviews, even, at some point! But we haven't decided the best way to do that.

If you have any ideas, let us know! Thank you again for writing, we get so excited whenever we have an Ask! :D

#asks #fandom #fandom history

[heroes-never-discourse]

Want an ace perspective on RPF and “let people be just friends” stuff?

I’ve got a platonic life partner. Everyone thinks we’re lovers. It feels like my identity is being invalidated. Like…the dysphoria I get when people think I’m cis. I’m being erased, and nothing I can say will make them believe me. They’ll “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” me, try to prove I’m lying, or accuse me of not trusting them. It’s awful. And then I’ll see the same behavior online.

To be clear: fictional shipping has never bugged me, except if the person is demanding their HC be canon and saying aros are homophobic for platonic-shipping. I might get a little depressed if I can’t find ANY friends fic, but that’s what my keyboard is for. However, as you have commented before, people “ship” real life people, too. Around the time my partner and I moved in together, I suddenly noticed every time a historical blog said close friends were actually lovers. Whereas before I either thought it was cool or didn’t think much about it, now it gave me an uncomfortable feeling. I worried that if I became a historical figure, I’d be “shipped” like that, too. (I also had this concern about being trans. I haven’t seen any historical examples of trans men. Everyone says “they just dressed as men to avoid misogyny.” I worry that everything about who I am will be erased.) I started wondering how many of the historical figures were actually just friends, and how many were lovers.

Gay people are erased from history. I’m very sure that a lot of historical figures that we suspect were lovers, were actually lovers. The “shipping” of anyone who was close to their same gender is a clear reaction to the homophobic erasure throughout history. I don’t have a problem with that. But I wonder if there’s room for other identities. Take Sappho, for instance. There are people who debate if she was bi or a lesbian. I’ve seen many people get very angry when someone takes one side or the other. (I guess my issue there is with the classic “your headcanons are not canon” shtick. So much of her art was destroyed. It’s a miracle we know who she was at all.)

For myself, I hate RPF with a passion, because I live in an RPF. I worry that the real people being written about will see it and feel violated, like I feel. The ones that use dead people are at least tolerable, because those people aren’t around to see it. (Unless it’s like the time an author wrote about a humiliating moment with their dying aunt, saying “she would hate for anyone to see her like this.” My religion respects the dead’s wishes, and that was…I don’t read anything by that author. I won’t ever.)

I won’t make any moral declarations, because obviously, my feelings are very involved in this. This perspective is solely based my feelings. But I wanted you to know where I was coming from.

(submitted by anon)

#anonymous online #no commentary because I totally understand where you're coming from and your perspective is important #thank you for sharing! #submission

[adrianfridge]

Notable Apologies by Scott McCall

I recently read a post in which someone acknowledged that Scott tries to learn from his mistakes but because he never apologizes for them he’s not actually a hero... So I delved into transcripts of Teen Wolf to figure out if that’s actually the case.

(Disclaimer: I am a Stiles fan. Any negative commentary in his direction is made with love. Both Stiles and Scott are flawed, which makes them interesting, complex characters.)

~SPOILERS AHEAD~

--

01x01 - The Pilot

In this episode, Scott gets bitten and is kind of dumb about how much of a threat he is to other people...

Stiles: You gotta hear this. "The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse." All right? I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does. You gotta cancel this date. I'm gonna call her right now.

Scott: What are you doing?

Stiles: I'm canceling the date.

Scott: No, give it to me!

Scott: I'm sorry. I - I gotta go get ready for that party. I'm sorry.

At first glance, Scott is blatantly ignoring Stiles’s warning. But we need to understand that Scott is a 16-year-old who's grown up as an outcast, and this is his chance to finally have a life. It’s entirely reasonable that he’d be willing to take a dumb risk for the sake having fun he’s never had before.

But as Stiles predicted, everything goes to shit...

Allison: So what happened? You left me stranded at the party.

Scott: Yeah, I - I know, I know. I'm really sorry, I am. But - You're gonna have to trust that I had a really good reason.

Scott is only beginning to learn to take responsibility for his actions, and here we see the start of a person who needs a good reason to do something rash.

--

01x06 - Heart Monitor

The fact that Stiles gets fed up with Scott and Allison’s romance is inevitable, and Scott’s really sorry about it...

Scott: No, no, no, but it's not always true, because literally every time I'm kissing her or - or touching her -

Stiles: No, that's not the same. When you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know? You're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?

Scott: Yeah. Sorry.

And it’s not like Stiles isn’t a little shit about it...

Scott: No, no, no, really. I think I'm totally in love with her.

Stiles: And that's beautiful. Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out, please? Because you obviously can't be around her all the time.

Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry. So what do I do?

Stiles: I don't know. Yet.

Scott: Oh, no. You're getting an idea, aren't you?

Stiles: Yeah.

Scott: Is this idea gonna get me in trouble?

Stiles: Maybe.

Scott: Is this idea gonna cause me physical pain?

Stiles: Yeah, definitely. Come on.

So let’s agree that Stiles is not entirely suffering from Scott’s romantic distractions, okay?

In general, Stiles is a troll who’s very good at getting Scott into trouble for the lols...

Stiles: Hey, hey. Listen to me. You're calling the Alpha. All right? Be a man. Be a werewolf, not a teen wolf. Be a werewolf. Do it.

Derek: I'm gonna kill both of you. What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?

Scott: Sorry. I didn't know it would be that loud.

Stiles: Yeah, it was loud. And it was AWESOME.

Scott and Stiles are both 16-year-olds who’ve never had to deal with the supernatural or with a lot of life-and-death situations. They're basically reacting to how actual teenagers would when abruptly thrust into a whole new reality, a mix of horny and stupid.

As a side note, I’d like to bring up the “Kuleshov Effect.” It’s a technique in cinematography in which the juxtaposition of shots creates meaning to the viewer. “In his experiment, Kuleshov cut an actor with shots of three different subjects: a hot plate of soup, a girl in a coffin, and a pretty woman lying in a couch. The footage of the actor was the same expressionless gaze. Yet the audience raved his performance, saying first he looked hungry, then sad, then lustful.”

I say this because Scott is not obsessed with Allison. His infatuation is real, but his motivations are not driven by her. If we think in terms of the Kuleshov Effect, there are plenty of instances when we cut from Scott being dopey about Allison to him needing to do werewolf business. 

In fact, after Allison breaks up with Scott, her necklace becomes a plot point in 01x09 - Wolf's Bane...

Stiles: Why don't you just ask her if you can borrow it?

Scott: How?

Stiles: It's easy. You just say, "Hey, Allison, can I borrow your necklace to see if there's anything on it or in it that can lead me to an Alpha werewolf that I need to kill in order to get back together with you?"

Scott: You're not helping.

Stiles: Why don't you just talk to her.

Scott: She won't talk to me... What if she, like, only takes it off in the shower or something?

Stiles: That's why you ease - that's why you ease back into it, okay? Get back on the good side, remind her of the good times. And then you ask for the necklace... You're thinking about her in the shower, aren't you?

Scott: Yeah.

Stiles: All right, stay focused, okay? Get the necklace, get the Alpha, get cured, get Allison. In that order. Got it?

Scott: Get the necklace.

Notice how Scott is being a horny teen but he’s focusing on the importance of necklace and not that it’ll get him back with Allison. 

Scott, not knowing what else to do, uses Stiles’s suggestion (“remind her of the good times”) when trying to get Allison’s attention...

Scott: I know. I'll shut up. I just, um - I have some stuff on my phone that I wanted to send you. I thought you might like it.

Allison: Okay.

[...]

Allison: Why did you send me those? Are you trying to make me feel even worse for breaking up with you?

Scott: No. I thought you would like them. I - I thought they would remind you of us.

Allison: Are you trying to hurt me - Get back at me?

Scott: No.

Allison: Please don't talk to me. Okay? I need more time to get to just friends. Okay? Please.

Scott has the excuse of wanting Allison, but Allison is not the center of his world, it just feels that way. Scott would much rather respect her need for space, and he has no plans or intentions to pursue her until Derek’s need for the necklace and Stiles’s pushing him to try and get “back” with her. (FYI: Stiles’s plan “B” is to just steal the necklace, which just makes things more awkward between Scott and Allison.) 

--

02x12 – Masterplan

Here’s a BIG controversial moment for Scott. In the final battle with Gerard, Scott forces Derek to bite Gerard in order to put his secret plan into motion. Many people see this moment as Scott violating Derek’s bodily autonomy, and I admit there is a rapey vibe to it...

Derek: Scott, don't. You know that he's gonna kill me right after. He'll be an Alpha.

Gerard: That's true. But I think he already knows that, don't you, Scott? He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison. Do this small task for me, and they can be together. You are the only piece that doesn't fit, Derek. And in case you haven't learned yet, there is just no competing with young love.

Derek: Scott, don't! Don't!

Scott: I'm sorry. But I have to.

Gerard very poignantly makes Scott appear selfish in his motivations while calling Derek just a pawn. And the Kuleshov Effect is in full force here. Due to Gerard’s words and the cut from Scott’s face to Allison, we, as the audience, start to believe Scott is doing this for her.

It’s only after the bite that we find out Scott’s not doing this out of misplaced love, and while it’s true that Scott never formally apologizes to Derek after the incident, he’s apologetic as it happens. He’s desperate with so many lives on the line, and he knows that if he doesn’t do it, Gerard would just use the kanima to force the bite anyway. Derek probably understands Scott’s difficult decision in hindsight, which is why there’s no grudge. Both he and Scott were put into a compromising position by Gerard. And, really, there’s no easy way to bring up such a painful moment in the future without reopening old wounds. 

--

05x09 - Lies of Omission

Fast forward to the next BIG controversial moment for Scott, in which he fights with Stiles over the death of Donovan...

Stiles: You think I had a choice? 

Scott: There's always a choice. 

Stiles: Yeah, well, I can't do what you can, Scott. I know you wouldn't have done it. You probably would've just figured something out, right? 

Scott: I'd try. 

Stiles: Yeah, because you're Scott McCall! You're the true Alpha! Guess what? All of us can't be true Alphas. Some of us have to make mistakes. Some of us have to get our hands a little bloody sometimes. Some of us are human!

Here’s the thing, though, earlier in the same episode there’s an important line where Scott says: “You came back looking for an Alpha. I guess I'm sorry that you found me.”

Scott understands that he’s fallible. He also understands that Stiles can do better...

Scott: So, you had to kill him? 

Stiles: Scott, he was going to kill my dad. 

Scott: But the way that it happened... There's a point when it's... It's not self-defense anymore! 

Stiles: What are you even talking about? I didn't have a choice, Scott! You don't even believe me, do you? 

Scott: I want to.

Let’s look at this from Scott’s perspective. Scott asks why Stiles killed Donovan, and Stiles’s response is “he was going to kill my dad.” That isn’t a self-defense response, which is why Scott is wary. In Scott’s mind, self-defense would be if Donovan was in the process of trying to kill Stiles’s dad. The way Stiles frames it, he killed Donovan as a precaution, and that’s an active choice to kill. We, as the audience, know how the death actually occurs, but Stiles is making it really difficult for Scott to understand his motivations.

Scott is trying to understand, and Stiles is making it difficult by holding back information. They’re both very fallible.

In 05x11 - The Last Chimera, Stiles’s upset about his father being injured, and when Scott comes around -- also injured -- Stiles throws punches to let out his rage at Scott trusting Theo.

Stiles: Where the hell were you!? 

[fight sequence]

Scott: Your dad's not the only one who got hurt. 

Stiles: Oh, you'll heal. 

Scott: I'm not talking about me.

Scott knows he hurt Stiles, and it’s the first instance since their falling out that Stiles realizes his best friend is on his side again.

--

So, overall, while Scott’s apologies aren’t ideal, he does make an effort to acknowledge he’s in the wrong. And, I mean, Scott is supposed to be seventeen. I don’t get why he’s being put through the grinder for being imperfect. He’s already exceptionally mature for even trying to take responsibility for his actions. So, in my opinion, Scott is a hero-in-progress.

#teen wolf #Scott McCall #Stiles Stilinski #Sciles #teen wolf meta