K Tempest Tumbles
I have a non-Tumblr blog and that's where the majority of my long-form posts go. This blog is for my more fannish activities, link sharing, and squeeness.
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Doctor Who “stained glass” prints by Mandie Manzano
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High-speed photographs of ink mixing with water by Alberto Seveso
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Ravens! Via yukadelavega: Raven smootchies.
Source: Canislupuscorax & DeeOtter
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Meet: Kerream Jones
Although the term “Starving Artist” does not apply to the Painter, Kerream Jones, the hunger of the...
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by Priscilla.
When people complain that Sherlolly shippers are too “bitchy,” “smug” or “overly defensive,” I’d like them to refer back to this post. And understand that this shit happens ALL.THE.TIME.
Some Johnlock shippers just need to get off their high horses and acknowledge and understand that their precious ship is not the only fucking ship in the fandom.
We may be small, but Sherlolly. is. a. ship. too. And we have all rights to tag our stuff in the Sherlock tag.
Personally, I don’t feel much for Sherlolly. But it is as much a ship as Johnlock is and it deserves to be treated as such. Fan art is art, whatever or whoever you draw/paint whatever. So the statement that Johnlock is the only “proper” ship in the fandom in just rubbish, even though I’m an enthusiastic Johnlock shipper myself. Respect all fandoms please, that’s what everyone should understand.
That was unnecessarily sassy.
I like it.
But seriously, let’s all just stay out of the Sherlock tag and stick to Sherlolly/Johnlock so this shit doesn’t happen.
I ship both and I think people (on both sides!) are going crazy over a really small thing. It’s okay to ship something different, and if you don’t like a certain ship just leave it-and it’s shippers-alone.
(Guys, why has this been such a big problem in the fandom? It’s outrageous.)
Sorry, but what are you calling a small thing? I give no bothers if someone ships Johnlock. I’m used to it in this fandom. The issue is about being respectful to people who have done nothing wrong, like posting a correctly tagged picture.
Sending someone a hateful anon because they posted a ship the anon dislikes is way out of line, and it isn’t overreacting to get pissed about that.
I’ve never seen a Sherlolly shipper attack someone for posting Johnlock art. You will see sometimes debates about what is and isn’t canon, I realize, but everyone’s allowed to ship what they like and post what art they enjoy.
Anon had to say it on anon cos I think anon knows how freakin not right that statement was.
This is why I hate Sherlock fandom.
destiel-sherlocked-the-tardis:
So the season 3 premiere is JUNE 3, 2013.
Is this real? Because if not I will find you and I will skin you.
If this is not true I will bathe in the blood of you and your kin.
Might want to clarify here…
Season 3 of Teen Wolf...
WHEN SEASON 3 OF A SHOW COMES OUT, MAKE IT OBVIOUS WHICH ONE IT IS, OTHERWISE YOU MAKE THE SHERLOCK FANDOM UPSET AND WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT TURNS OUT.
Yeah so. OP totally tagged it for Teen Wolf. OP’s blog is 99% Teen Wolf. OP is in no way obligated cater to you. You probably don’t even follow them.
#GOT MY HOPES UP #ASSHOLE #THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS (via destiel-sherlocked-the-tardis)
Wow, calling the OP an asshole when it was your mistake for not checking the OP’s well tagged post to begin with. Very classy, very nice.
Contrary to popular belief, not everyone likes Sherlock and behavior like this from the Sherlock fans (reading the reblogs of this made me LIVID) can lead people to actively dislike it.
So play nice and stop blaming the OP who isn’t even IN YOUR FANDOM and ISN’T TALKING ABOUT YOUR SHOW.
OP actually got ANON HATE over her post, that is ABSURD. Can none of pointlessly angry rebloggers read tags?
people have actually aggressively sent anon hate to the OP and demanded her to apologize even if it was an ‘honest mistake’
claaaaaassy
Sherlock fandom, we needto have a talk. I think y’all are itching to be banned fromt he Internet and all polite society for a good 6 months, at least. What the HELL is wrong with y’all?
Irene Adler is exceptional to modern audiences because she was exceptional to Holmes himself. He refers to her as “The Woman,” because to Holmes — described as a “chivalrous” misogynist in the novels — she transcended and “eclipsed” the rest of her sex. To us, she briefly eclipses Holmes, since she sees through him at one point in her story and fools him at another. Although she only features in one story, “A Scandal In Bohemia,” she is probably remembered by readers of the Sherlock Holmes adventures more than any other character except Watson and Moriarty.
It’s no wonder, then, that her character tends to be included in any modern Sherlock Holmes franchise. She’s appeared in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films, and she’s turned up in the episode of the Sherlock TV series entitled, “A Scandal in Belgravia.” Modern creators translate this exceptionalism into something more sensational and action-packed than Doyle ever wrote, but in most modern stories, Irene Adler’s character is far more old-fashioned than she was in Doyle’s day.
What’s the first tip-off scene, in both modern versions? When she takes off her clothes in front of Holmes to rattle him into making a mistake. This is very much in the “feminine wiles” vein, which looks great on camera, but doesn’t make too much sense. The original Irene was far more progressive and canny. She knows the best way to throw Holmes off — and it’s not sex.
Read the whole thing, it’s right on the money. Love this.
This one is for you Sherlock Holmes fans.
In weather such as this, few people come calling. The streets are deserted, not just in Marylebone but throughout the city. Although an inconvenience for many, it is a respite for those like myself, a woman of a certain age whose pleasure it is to sit by the hearth with a cup of tea and a good book, safe and secure from the elements raging outside.
For others, however, it is an unbearable confinement. Such is the case with my upstairs lodger. For two days I have heard him pacing incessantly across his rooms, back and forth, up and down, muttering and cursing. He has lived in my house for a score of years, and I can tell from the dull sound of his tread that his usually keen spirit is chafing against the involuntary inaction occasioned by the storm.
After I took up his breakfast this morning, I was granted a brief reprieve, but within the hour his pacing ceased and he began to play his violin. Not a melody, merely the sound of a bow being swept across loosely tuned strings. The noise is dreadful. I try to ignore it and go about my chores, dusting the shelves and airing the linens, but the infernal, funereal wailing and screeching is worse than the howling of the wind.
He is, perhaps, the worst tenant in all of London. His malodorous chemical experiments have left stains on each rug in his rooms, he is prone to insomnia, and the drapes on every window reek of his strong tobacco. Although, to his credit, his payments are princely, his rents promptly paid, and in his dealings with me he has always been unfailingly polite.
Benedict Cumberbatch explaining why, during his school Nativity as Joseph, he pushed Mary off the stage.
(via charlottemuchh)
Everyone’s all like… that’s so funny and hysterical and ohhh isn’t he adorable. And I’m like… wow. You’re kind of a cunt.
(via spastasmagoria)
Have I wanted to push people off of places before?? Frequently. Have I controlled the urge and not caused bodily harm to another person? Always.
(via ohhhvienna)
Every time I read another quote from him I’m like… what a posh asshole. Seriously.
(via spastasmagoria)
He and Freeman both deserve to be sent to the naughty chair and not let up until the world ends. Maybe not even then.
(via deducecanoe)
coldbitterness submits:
The Martin Freeman interview with racist and homophobic comments is here. (Mod note: I added highlights below)
“When I moved up here this woman I know said, ‘Ooh! There are a lot of whiteys up there’, and I said, ‘I love white people; I’ve no problem with them at all.”
The idea was that I was going to complain because there weren’t enough blues dances out here; not enough ragga around. But I’m not bothered by it.
“Multiculturalism hasn’t and doesn’t help, because rightly or wrongly it polarises people so much,” he continues.
“Racism is one thing ? and I don’t agree with that in any form ? but noticing that there are differences is normal and fine and to be encouraged.
“We’ve reached a state now where it’s, ‘You shouldn’t notice. Why are you noticing he’s got a bomb and has a beard and is Muslim and wants to kill your family?”
“There is no country in the world like this. If all of a sudden all the traffic wardens in Ghana were Welsh, they’d really notice and might not love it? We give ourselves a hard time in this country in a sort of mea culpa way. But if we were that racist, people wouldn’t come. Very simple.”
(Later in the article)
He hasn’t always been a mod purist. “I did have a hip-hop period,” he admits. “I dressed a bit like that in 1990, but after a while I thought, ‘Nah, back to the white Levi’s.’
“I really liked hip-hop until the gangsta rap took over. I come from a time when not every rap record was ‘nigga’ this and ‘nigga’ that; an earlier socially and morally conscious hip-hop sensibility, when it was, ‘Don’t call people nigga’.”
“But now it’s nigga, nigga, nigga, and it’s not funny or interesting politically, artistically or socially. I really don’t like it.”
At this point the conversation switches to the youth of today.
(Later still)
“Talking of which… ‘The funny thing about the acting business is that there are more poofs in it than you can have hot dinners thrown at you,’” he says.
“But no one is out. It’s not so bad here, but in Hollywood ? Jesus Christ. Why don’t they just admit it? No one cares if they’re gay or not. I certainly don’t.
In this so-called liberal industry, no one has the guts to come out because of “the box office”, but someone has to be the first in the firing line.
“Without the suffragettes a lot of women would have thought, ‘Why should we have the vote?’ And I think that the same argument exists today. People should stand up and be counted.”
People were praising his comments about how closeted gay actors should come out (because allegedly it shows how accepting he is?) but as a straight man he really should not be 1. using homophobic slurs or 2. trying to dictate how and when LGBT people come out.
People also tried to claim that because it’s the Daily Mail it must be out of context, but there is no other context for statements like “We’ve reached a state now where it’s, ‘You shouldn’t notice. Why are you noticing he’s got a bomb and has a beard and is Muslim and wants to kill your family?’”
Mod note: That wasn’t Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism/writing by any means, but REGARDLESS, what a fucking mess. Seriously, wtf?
I tried to like you, Marty. I tried.
But what the fuck is this shit? Why are you okay with tossing “nigga” around like it’s 1843, and telling Black folks what’s okay to do in/with their own culture? How hard is it to censor yourself on something that has nothing to do with you?
Really. Would it really have been so hard to just say, “I used to like hip-hop until it got a little too intense for my taste.” Is it seriously necessary to go to those extremes? I mean, that’s five fucking times in 2 sentences.
FIVE FUCKING TIMES
And “multiculturalism doesn’t help”… doesn’t help who? The people whose culture is dominant worldwide? No shit. I guess when you’re part of that culture, it’s easy to believe that it doesn’t work. After all, you’re not part of the culture that has to assimilate and give up trying to connect to where they come from. You’re part of the culture that invades and takes over and wrecks everybody’s shit and wonders why they’re mad later on.
I tried, man. I tried.
But fuck this guy.
I will still enjoy the characters he plays, but the next person who crosses my dash talking about how the actor is such a great guy is getting blocked.
Martin, what the fuck? What the actual fuck?
Just stop.
Stop.
WOW. Okay then… I may have to skip the Hobbit. This is sooo typical liberal nonsense where he’s parroting some things he heard about diversity from somewhere but this his privileged bullshit kicks in and just… gah.
1) This is why I wish celebrities would stand there and look pretty and not open their mouths.
2) Why I hate the whole cult of celebrity. Especially on Tumblr. OMG WHAT IS YOUR FACE and all that bullshit. You are going to worship this person because of a role they played that you liked. You’re going to follow everything they do, not because you admire their work as an actor, but because you’ve elevated them to some status they can’t possibly hope to fulfill. And then… when they say or do indefensible things, you will blindly defend them, getting angry and hateful and violent with anyone who stands up and say… no, what he/she said/did is NOT ok.
3) Why? Because they’re pretty. If some random asshole said the same exact things on Tumblr, the social justice bloggers would annihilate him in five minutes and we would all move on with our lives. But since they’re pretty, and played that one character we really connected with that one time, they get a free pass on life. Because they’re famous and cool and important, and therefore nothing they do can be wrong—or at least it’s excusable and defendable… even when it’s really not.
4) BUT OMG HE IS PERFECT AND HIS FACE IS PERFECT AND HE IS SO GORGEOUS AND HIS WIFE IS PERFECT AND HIS KIDS ARE PERFECT, WHAT IS LIFE. *sigh* No. He’s not. He’s a person. And there’re decent people and there’re shitty people and there’re nice people and there’re people who don’t really have the comprehension skills to do more than parrot back a series of opinions that sound vaguely right to them about society.
5) I appreciate his work. Before you start flaming me, don’t say I am some kind of hater or that I hate the fandom or I hate… whatever. In fact, I have enjoyed his work in every movie I’ve ever seen him in. Largely, he was the best thing in HHGTTG. He makes it bearable to watch despite the presence of She Who Must Not Be Named. Wild Target was fucking hysterical on so many levels. It’s possible no one will appreciate his John Watson as much as I do. That said… that’s his work. That’s his JOB. He gets up, he goes there, and he does it, and he gets paid for it. He’s not fucking magic because he’s an actor. His opinion is not automatically more valuable, or more precious, or more defendable… or even more EXCUSABLE because you have decided to worship his pretty face, and have decided that everything he does MUST be perfect because of some roles he’s played.
AGRHHHH. LIFE. THINGS.
Everything above is true.
Every now and then I put a toe into the kind of headspace where I could totally obsess over an actor or actress I really love or crush on because of a movie or TV show. I read a few interviews or I look for some pictures, but it never lasts long. Mainly because I just don’t have time to obsess over celebrities. Also because they so often disappoint for some reason.
I could have gone my whole life not knowing that Martin Freeman has these super problematic thoughts. Now whenever I see him in a show or in a movie I’ll just be thinking: he’s super gross. I don’t want to be thinking or caring about that. But everywhere celebs go there’s someone sticking a recording device at them and asking them questions and then we get the mess above.
And the pattern spastasmagoaria spelled out happens and all the fangirls are there to whine “you took him out of context!” or “That’s not what he meant!” or “what he said isn’t so bad because one time I was bullied by one person and that means racism doesn’t exist” or any other stupid and silly thing they do. Look at what happens any time someone vaguely criticizes Michael Fassbender. Even intelligent, feminist women of my acquaintance have said to me “Oh, but she accused another boyfriend of something so she can’t be trusted” and I’m just like: all done with you fangirls. All done.
I think the overarching problem is that fandom as a culture does not help people to step the fuck back and have some damn perspective about these things. It’s why we get those SPN freaks having a goddamn meltdown because the wife of whoever got pregnant and it destroyed their carefully constructed fantasy about the actors gay sex lives. It’s why there’s a fucking Hiddlesworth tag on Tumblr filled with RPF that I’m convinced some people actually believe in like whoa.
Fandom. We need to do better.
And what I mean by that is all of you out there who DO have perspective and are NOT wildly and blindly obsessed need to come collect your cousins. Especially when they rear their heads to defend this kind of shit up here coming out of Freeman’s mouth.
(via deducecanoe)
Reason #435 why we love Steven Moffat
Ugh, why is he so gross?
because he looooves you, Tempest.
You’re right. He only says these things to get my attention and make me mad at him, because then he knows I’m thinking of him. :D Story of my life, creeper boys always want all of my attention.
(via deducecanoe)
It is completely true, isn’t it? They are all just fanfictions, really.
This is beautiful and perfect
(via alexandraerin)
I am not begrudging women like Olivia Munn or Felicia Day, or Zooey Deschenel their beauty, or their success. I am not saying that they’re shit because they’re beautiful. I am not putting them down because they’re beautiful, or a little quirky or nerdy.
What I am opposed to is the idea that they are the Gold Standard of females in fandom. That people (mostly men, some women) hold them up as how to do being a nerd girl “right.” I’m tired of hearing “All that and brains too!” or “all that, and she plays Skyrim!”
I’m tired of my friends, and other perfectly worth-while human beings being degraded and either explicitly or implicitly put-down for just being who we are. Because we found a community where it is OK to be quirky and nerdy and overly enthusiastic about the things we enjoy, and now we’re being told we’re not good enough nerds, either.
I have been in fandom a long time. Certain fandoms, like Doctor Who fandom I had to claw myself a foothold in. I entered when the new series hit, and older male friends dismissed the sudden influx of women as only liking it because they shipped Doctor/Rose, or because David Tennant was hot (I personally have no opinion on his appearance). Because THE THINGS THAT GIRLS LIKE ARE NOT AS GOOD OR VALUABLE AS THE THINGS BOYS LIKE, SIMPLY BECAUSE GIRLS LIKE THEM.
Clarification and example: Bronies. Fucking bronies. You ruin everything you touch. You’re like Midas but for destroying nice fandom things. Not the nice, kind, respectful dudes. You’re ok. But there’s a huge segment of male My Little Pony fandom who feels that we should be THANKING them for liking My Little Pony, because if a BOY can like it, that proves that it’s WORTHY. THAT is an example of the things girls like not being seen as valuable, until a guy also likes them too. Then we guess it is ok.
No. Just because “male” is the default and everything is designed to appeal to males (most movies if they want to turn a profit need to appeal heavily to the Spike TV audience, just an example—or look at any cover of any DC comics in the last couple of years and the spine- breaking achievements of the cheesecake super heroines on the covers) that does not mean that anything that is not male is inherently lesser. My Little Pony is not elevated by men enjoying it to being something worthy of male attention. That means that My Little Pony is a GOOD CARTOON SHOW. Have you SEEN the episodes with John Delancy? HOLY SHIT. All the Star Trek, and all the Star Wars feels… with a FUCKING DRAGON. It is pure fucking gold.
I’ve sort of become a Big Name Fan in Doctor Who fandom (through circumstances I still don’t fully understand). I am finally allowed to sit at the big-kids table (sorta) during various discussions. Some of old guard just accept that I rant about and have a different perspective on things such as the Doctor’s Sexuality (largely accepted to be asexual up until the new series and the influx of shippers). I have only had one jackass confront me with open hostility from the audience on a panel I was on with two other people regarding my opinions of Torchwood (Cyberwoman is the best 50 minutes of television in the history of ever and I will defend that, and the metal bikini with my last breath).
My opinions have gotten me sort of… typecast in some ways at conventions and with what I’m asked to contribute to books. I’m a girl, I like talking about shipping… so I get asked to talk about it. A lot. No one wants to talk about the cinimatic masterpiece of Cyberwoman or why Superman Returns is utterly fucking brilliant (Bryan Singer convinced a studio to make is crackfic babyfic pastiche amalgam bastard-child into a 3D movie. WAY cooler than podfic, IMHO). Though, thank you to the six dudes who indulged me Thursday night for like six hours at Gally on my drunken rant about how no one in the DCU is completely straight except for maybe Barry Allen. You guys were real troopers. That said, you tell me you are having a shipping panel and I will be there with bells on. So don’t stop asking me. Just, y’know… maybe give me a forum to talk about my how Lisa’s cyber-conversion MAKES TOTAL FUCKING SENSE once in a while too. That’s all I’m saying.
There are other fandoms I have never really found acceptance in. I am still unclear after DC’s most recent fuckery why i keep coming back to DC Comics’ characters, because I am pretty sure I am in an abusive relationship with the publisher of some kind. They meet like 13 of the 15 criteria for abusive relationships including destroying my property because the value of their books goes down as soon as I drive them off the lot (that was a joke, people).
I have been going to comic book conventions off and on for oh… fifteen or so years. The first couple I went to, I was a dutiful little nerd-girl and wore my Batman shirt, to announce my nerdiness, and when I tried to talk to vendors, they would answer my question TO the male friend who came with me just to hang out (who didn’t know anything about comics).
I have been told explicitly in the way men talk to me about other women at conventions that they don’t see me AS A WOMAN. Even though I identify as a woman, I introduce myself as a woman and I present as a woman. I am not “another one of the guys” until I start talking about how Batman and Superman really need to just get it on and release the sexual tension, and Lois Lane agrees with me.
Nor am I someone for a guy to whine to about how their girlfriends/wives do not understand their obsessions. Nor am I someone to whine to about how such and such pretty girl will not pay attention to you. Nor do I want to hear about how they are SO PERFECT because they’re SO HOT in that Zoe jumpsuit, and could I be your wingman. I WILL NOT BE YOUR WINGMAN.
I have watched men fifteen or twenty years older perv on young cosplayers in ways that made me, and the girls they were perving on GROSSLY uncomfortable. And they’re just expressing the deep-seeded misogyny both in our society, and in fandom. Why dress like Leela unless you WANT to be perved on, after all. Your cosplay isn’t about YOU and what you’re trying to express, or what sense of empowerment you feel by pretending to be a savage warrior aboard the TARDIS for a day—your cosplay is about the men around you, and their ideas of how you should dress and behave, and what your dress entitles them to do.
I have heard men at conventions (and some women—you are not exempt from bodysnarking) OPENLY mocking all the girls dressed as Amy Pond. OPENLY mocking the ones they considered too heavy to be Amy Pond and implying they should be ashamed of themselves for not being the exact same body type as Karen Gillan, who I am sure is 90% leg and 10% hair. They’re saying those girls (and some dudes, in a couple of cases) can’t dress like a character they love because of how they look.
In all honesty, I do a lot of listening at conventions. I often sit in the lobby and just listen to the conversations going on around me. I hear what’s important to people. I lurk on a lot of forums. You learn a lot when you listen. And when people think you’re invisible. I know what fandom values. I know that the nerd girl was finally starting to make some headway. We were being seen as a viable contribution to fandom.
Things like Chicks Dig Time Lords, Whedonistas and Chicks Dig Comics had actually gained acceptance and notoriety. The opinions and experiences of the women in those books (full disclosure: two of those include my opinions) were actually being taken seriously. While our perspectives might have been a bit different than some male fans, and our experiences different, our basic love for the source material was the same, and that was being made known.
But I think in some ways, The Felicia Days of the world can set back that acceptance a bit. Again: I do not begrudge her her good looks. I know she is a real and true fan with some very serious love for gaming and other fannish activities. She’s going to be applauded for that. Because she’s the “right” face of female fandom. She’s pretty and young and nerdy and just a touch awkward, which reads as quirky when you’re of a certain size and shape. And she and others like her are going to get attention for doing it “right.” For being attractive and female and nerdy.
The rest of us will be left behind AGAIN, after we’d just spent SO MUCH time catching up to the guys. They finally accept that women ARE reading comics (well, DC and Marvel’s heads dont, but… another rant for another time), ARE into Doctor Who for reasons other than a spouse dragging us into the fold, or because David Tennant is hot. Please ask me my opinion on the Hall of Souvenir Toilets, which I have reasoned to exist in the TARDIS for reasons that sound totally logical once you hear them. I think. Maybe. Or my opinion of Moffat’s loose relationship with, um… physics and science and other important things. You want someone to be a continuity fascist? I am your person. My brain THRIVES on continuity and internal story-telling logic/world-building consistency. And these things don’t make me unique among women. Cos I can unfuckify River Song’s timeline, explain the inherent flaws and still insist that John Watson is the bastard offspring of River Song and Jack Harkness (I HAVE CITATIONS).
Women in fandom are not fucking unicorns. At a lot of conventions, we’re reaching gender parity with guys. I actually had to wait for a restroom stall at the local comic book convention this winter. That is the first time in the history of ever. NO JOKE. I have NEVER WAITED IN LINE FOR A BATHROOM STALL AT A COMIC BOOK CONVENTION MY ENTIRE LIFE UNTIL 2012.
We’re there, and we’re present. We all look different. We have different interests in fandom. It is just as valid for a girl who wants to ship Doctor/Rose well past the point the rest of us have moved on as a boy who wants to memorize every director of every episode of Doctor Who from 1963 onward. There are guys that build Daleks, and girls who sit in the lobby and knit for the entire convention. We come in all shapes and sizes. From the girl dressed as Leela that I mentioned earlier (real person, yo) to someone with weight or mobility issues. We’re all still women and we’re all still fans. We all still have nerdy pursuits that shouldn’t be any less valid than the Days or the Munns of the world just because we’re not pretty. We shouldn’t be less, or the runners-up at being worth your time because you don’t want to bang us upon meeting us.
I have not even broached the fuckery of Sherlock Holmes fandom in the last twenty years of my life. Stuff went bad in the late 90s, it might have been me, it might have been them… let’s just say… being a YOUNG woman did not help. Being 19 or 20 and female did not win me any friends. I was basically told to go sit in the corner and shut up. And I wasn’t even especially talkative to begin with—I was inclined to listen to my elders, but when it got a little condescending and *pat you on the head, there’s a good girl* I got a little fed up. I had one friend who was a real actual BSI who took me seriously and that’s what kept me from disconnecting from that fandom permanently. I regret having lost contact with him.
I know there’s a ”get off my lawn” element toward the sudden influx of young female fans into the Sherlock Holmes fandom via BBC’s Sherlock series. They’re frustrated that the girls think Cumberbatch is dreamy, and that they’re giggly and silly and draw Watson as a hedgehog over and over. Not all the traditional SH fans, mind you. But I hear the same whining from some of them that I heard from classic Doctor Who fans when the show returned and it was girls and giggly and heart-shaped eyes and shipping all over the place. That’s fine. This kind of fan is vastly different than what they’re used to. In fact, I get kind of frustrated with the younger ones sometimes. I’m like… YOU’RE NOT PLAYING THE GREAT GAME RIGHT. GET OFF MY LAWN. But then I have to step back and catch my breath, because these girls, whether a lot of people like it or not, are the future in fandom.
There was an article written in 2010 (will haveta find proper citation) about the aging population at scion meetings and get-togethers. It broached the topic of how to get more fans involved. And then Sherlock was delivered like from on-high and suddenly you have twelve year old girls reading MUSG and LIKING IT. They get a lot of flack because of their tendency to ship John and Sherlock like holy burning. But, uh… I shipped it since 11th grade when I read The Picture of Dorian Grey and was like… oh. OHHH. OHHHH that’s how this shit worked in the 19th century.
Anyways, getting back to something two points ago—like it or not, these girls are the future of your fandom. Not all of them, but a handful of dedicated young women are going to read the ACD canon and either show up at your scion meeting (and wonder why you’re all so stuffy, even as you’re begging her to get off your goddamned lawn) or, more likely, she’s going to form an organization that suits her needs, where she isn’t ridiculed for her insistence that Mary Morstan was a willing beard (I HAVE CITATIONS) and where they play the Great Game HER way. If scions aren’t a little kinder to new fans, ESPECIALLY female fans, they may find themselves dying off from attrition in twenty or thirty years. Just sayin.
So this got a little ranty. And took a lot of twists and turns. But I think my original point about not discounting nerd-girls who do not look like the Gold Standard Nerd-Girls like Zooey Deschenel, Felicia Day and Olivia Munn is part of the larger issue of discounting nerd-girls in general. If our only credibility as being a viable nerd is tied to our appearance, and the Days and the Munns are used as the Gold Standard, fandoms are going to miss a lot of valuable contributions, and I think without young female fans, Doctor Who fandom was in trouble of dying of attrition, and Sherlock Holmes fandom was looking about to go the same way.
Ok, so don’t treat us like human beings, and stop holding us to unrealistic standards because it could save your fandom. Or because women actually do fucking read comics. Do it because we’re human beings, entitled to respect, no matter what shape or size we are. Don’t discount us having something to contribute, or being good friends because we’re “all that,” but not “beauty too.”
Maybe stop defining who is a “real” fan by whether you think their likes and dislikes are too girly. Maybe, for those of us who don’t get the +5 pretty girl bonus that turns all of our weird like and behaviors and attitudes and habits into something quirky and cute, try to see us as human beings, instead of adorable little fans with legs that look pretty in tights.
Alright. So there’re actually multiple issues tied up in here that all resolve back to the way we view women and their worth both in the “real world” and in fandom. But hopefully you get my point. We’re not toys. We’re not non-gendered, non-sexual creatures you permit to exist in fandom simply because we’re not bangable, or cute, or quirky, or whatever. We’re here, and we ship Captain Jack with anything, including that toaster, if it can consent to late-night shenanigans in the Torchwood Hub.
As you can tell… I’ve got a good twenty or twenty-five years of animosity built up, and it’s all kind of come spewing out in this epic blog post. Um… sorry. Sorta.
And in closing: Cyberwoman is the only episode of Torchwood Series 1 worth watching. Repeatedly. I have seen it over 130 times now. I encourage you to do the same.
*also, this is not behind a cut because I have been using tumblr for like two years and I still can’t successfully work the cut thing consistently. I honestly am afraid of losing the post, which has happened to me a couple of times, so, no cut for you.
The only thing she’s wrong about is Cyberwoman, which is a terrible episode and I know this because I’ve watched it enough for one lifetime. Gross.
