Kaitlyn or Kai | 23 | She/Her They/Them | Panromantic-Asexual Girlflux | Taken by @astorinx | Artist, Writer, and Photographer
| Art Blog: @cuz-im-an-artist
[video description: a short clip showing a large metal sphere in the center of a shallow pool of dark liquid. the same dark liquid is pouring over the sphere, coating it, while windshield wipers installed onto the sphere attempt to wipe it away, only for more liquid to immediately fall and cover the clean spots. end video description.]
i’m not “lazy” i’m just a fragile victorian maiden. i can only handle 1-2 mildly taxing activities a day before i have to put myself down for a nap until dinner
I desperately need to go to the seaside for 6 months for my health.
How do I tell people that sometimes if you turn your shipping brain off you can interact with media better
Like I hate to say it but if you can’t engage with any media without descending into full-on fandom-style shipping at the expense of the themes, characterization, non-romantic relationships, and general content of the work. You might need to take a step back from shipping and maybe fandom in general. (Also to the people in the notes of this post who are acting like I said shipping in general is terrible: What this post is saying is that if you interact with all media exclusively through a shipping lens you miss a lot of stuff. I’m not saying don’t ship things, I’m saying use your critical thinking skills.)
“There’s more to media than romantic relationships” should not be a take which causes so much anger, and yet
I would extend this beyond shipping.
If you can’t engage with a villain without headcanoning redemption arcs
If you can’t see an older male character interact with younger characters without turning them into a dad
If you can’t see a group of friends without turning them into Found Family trope
If you cannot engage with media without defaulting to fandom tropes and memes, then you should take a step back from fandom.
Not even saying this in a “touch grass” kind of way (okay maybe a lil…). I’d say the same thing to people who’s literary analysis always relies on Jungian Archetypes, or who need to find a class analysis for every story.
Anytime you find yourself interacting with every story through the same lens, you need to refocus. Because that’s how you misinterpret stories.