Nurturing and Encouraging Free Expression in Fandom

Nurturing creativity and free expression for Black women and other WOC in fandom.

[botanyshitposts]

so was anybody gonna talk about the new ecology paper proposing Ethiopian wolves as potential pollinators of native nectar-rich flower inflorescences positioned on stalks conveniently within wolf enjoying height AND that it includes photos of said wolves doing said unconfirmed alleged pollination (delightful) AND that it has observational evidence suggesting some wolves do like 1 flower and are done and other wolves just get really into it and spend upwards of an hour going between 20 and 30 flowers for up to 4-5 minutes per cluster just utterly going at it, lost in the nectar sauce? because I cannot BELIEVE I haven’t seen something on this webbed site about it yet. it just has everything this site enjoys

[botanyshitposts]

Canids as pollinators? Nectar foraging by Ethiopian wolves may contribute to the pollination of Kniphofia foliosa - Sandra Lai, Don-Jean Léandri-Breton, Adrien Lesaffre, Abdi Samune, Jorgelina Marino, Claudio Sillero-Zubiri, November 2024

[mrcmxwll]

horsebreath87

[sqrrlbot]

The actual physical relief I feel right now … I’m relaxing parts of my neck that have been tense for 3 years now and I feel like I’m breathing fresh air for the first time in all my life?? I’m finally free, we’re all finally free!

Like, I’ll always love the show we should have had: the one starring Nicole Beharie as Abbie Mills, with her sidekick Ichabod Crane and featuring Orlando Jones, Amandla Stenberg, John Cho and Lyndie Greenwood - the one that was the X-Files for the new millennium and lived on for 10 seasons and 2 movies and lived up to every bit of it’s potential. But that show died a long time ago, probably long before Abbie Mills did, and now finally it can be buried. Along with my hopes and dreams and faith in TV writers not to be fucking assholes. RIP. 

[chiazu]

Hey, remember all those white people who thought Sleepy Hollow would be a big hit without Nicole Beharie?

[the-wonderful-jinx]

A Toast To The SH Fandom

To my guys, gals, and nonbinary pals in the Sleepy Hollow fandom, it has been the most delightful honor being shady and freaky among you all these past few years!

[defendingabbieforjustalilbit]

so i heard that there was a Sleepy Hollow is over party and decided to dust off defending Abbie for just a few hours while i gloat.

[melonatures]

Westallen Kiss | ao3 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] |

7. Can’t Hardly Wait/My So Called Life Kiss [episode] [videos] 

“Hey, you’re that kid, right?”

“Huh?”

Barry was at his locker, one knee propped against the frame and holding up his backpack so he could stuff the books he needed for his next class into it. The hallway was bustling around him, loud with students calling out to one another and locker doors banging shut. He wasn’t really paying attention to the person talking to him. He had to get to his next class on time—it didn’t matter how bright Mr. Patterson thought he was, if he was late again it would be a deduction from his final grade.

“You’re that Iris kid, right?”

Keep reading

[dontperishyet]

Why ya need to shut up about "shitty fanfic"

Do you know all those posts out here about being supportive of young artists and being careful with how you talk to them about their art? Or just appreciating fanart in general and not being a total asshole?

That doesn’t exist for fanfic writers.

I am so freaking tired of seeing posts talking about “what a pain it is to rake through shitty fanfic” and memes about “shitty fanfic existing in abundance” , “shitty fanfic being the only fics that update regularly”, “popular pairings having a ton of fanfic but only a few good ones”, and all this crappy attitude towards fanfics that may not be that eloquent or fandom famous.

Don’t be an asshole. Everyone needs to start somewhere. Maybe in a few years these writers will improve and make much better fanfic. Even if they don’t, they are doing something they love and should not be freaking criticized for it. Keep your ranting and opinions about “shitty fanfic” to yourself. You’re making a majority of fanfic writers feel self-conscious, unmotivated, and even more unappreciated.

Days like ‘fanfic writer appreciation day’ are super nice, but ultimately fall short unless we fix this horrid attitude fandoms have towards fanfic. 

[siderealscribblings]

Young authors don’t get the breaks that young artists do. New artists will post a sketch and get boatloads of encouragement. New authors will most likely either get ignored or get hatemail (both have happened to me when I was 14). Everyone writes “shitty fanfic” when they start out. But if you shit on artists when they’re going through their “shitty fanfic” stage then all you’re ever going to get is “shitty fanfic” because young authors won’t stick around long enough to get better

[defendingabbieforjustalilbit]

i just received a virus from one of you gif sets. in sept 2013 an abbie set of pics where it says Below The Cut. my computer is frozen until i can get it to fix it.

Hey that is awful, I'm so sorry about that. I don't actually make gif sets I just reblog them. That said I'll delete that when I get home, and see if I can contact the OP.Thanks for letting me know and please keep me updated on what happens. One thing I know sometimes helps with viruses is if you can restore to an earlier point.

[theartofdreaming1]

September Fic Rec

I’ve decided to post my fic recommendations monthly now; so here’s this month’s batch of awesome ffs I’ve read in the past four weeks :)

by @iriswestthings:

Stars on the Ceiling (Part 2. Westallen college roomates AU!!! It’s super cute and funny and awesome :)

by @journalistiriswest:

kind of an flashpoint AU (a little bittersweet but amazing)

by @withaflashoflove:

Less Words, More Kisses (Iris’s perspective regarding Barry’s kissing skills. Cuuute.)

by @speedforcelesbian :

Westallen cuteness (+ ice cream. Adorable.)

by irissswests at AO3:

Hanging By A Moment (”Barry gets a little beat up after going up against a meta human and finds himself at Iris’ apartment and she makes it all better.” Sweet and flirty. Whoo.)

by @grittyreboot:

Central City By Way Of Georgia (”AU: In the bloody wake of the American Civil War, 1st lieutenant Bartholemew H. Allen returns to the South to search for his lost love, a union spy turned ghost writer with a traumatic past. Can they reassemble the pieces of their broken lives? Or are there too many years and too many heartaches standing between them now?” In Progress. Beautifully written.)

by @gnimaerd:

So Much, So Suddenly (”Post Run-Away Dinosaur episode tag, what should have happened between Barry and Iris that evening after visiting his mother’s grave, after Barry has a chance to process Iris’s confession and his own mortality.“ Simple, but super cute moment)

by minachandler at AO3:

safe place ( “The three times Barry held back when telling Iris about another world, and the one time he didn’t.” It’s written like a script; usually, I don’t like that form of writing too much, but these scenes are so beautiful and awesome, I didn’t mind at all :)

Enjoy!

[frontpagewoman]

Nicole Beharie at the Women in Media panel during Brave Summit 2016 at Georgetown Univ.

[withaflashoflove]

Fanfic Writers’ Appreciation Day

A big part of the reason that I joined this fandom was the fanfic writers and the stories I read. I never realized how much dedication and effort went into these fics when reading them, but now that I’m on the other side, I definitely have more appreciation for that and for those who write, for those who spend hours perfecting their crafts and for those who post these stories for an audience to see, who suppress whatever nerves and reservations they may have and brace themselves for potentially negative reviews and little kudos/comments/reactions, who wear their heart of their sleeves for the sake of bringing art into the world.

The writers take to heart these characters; they play off their characterizations, work to craft a story that stays true to what’s canon, often research various things to incorporate into the story so they get all the details right, so they don’t miss a beat, read and reread and proofread and edit and do it all again over and over to make sure that what they’re giving is nothing shy of perfection.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Westallen writers are the best. This community is so supportive, with writers constantly reblogging each other’s fics, with comments and shoutouts and little pick-me-ups that go a long way. And I think this community of writers does such a wonderful job of validating that, of being so welcome and open to new writers, of giving credit where credit is due to those who paved the way, and of helping when help is needed.

So all in all, thanks to all the writers in this fandom. Thanks for doing what you do. For taking the criticism in stride. For putting your heart into these stories. For respecting the characters and their progressions. For constantly pushing for better. For trusting others with something so personal, trusting that it’ll be well-received, that your work will be well-received, that your labor will be taken into consideration, and that you’ll be acknowledged for your art.

This fandom wouldn’t be the same without you <3

[redgarnets-roundmyneck]

Daily reminder that Abbie Mills is the American dream.

[violethuntress]

wow I can’t even tell if this is meant to be inspiring or, given what they did to her, depressing af

[audreynical2]

Sigh… Yeah. It’s kind of both. 😕

[defendingabbieforjustalilbit]

I Knew I’d Lose You

And the thing that makes me mad, Is the one thing that I had,

I knew, I knew, I'd lose you....  You'll always be special to me, Special to me, to me. But they say it will work out fine. Was it all a waste of time.

'Cause I knew, I knew, I'd lose you. You'll always be special to me, Special to me, to me.

For reasons, I was looking at my earliest posts on this blog and they all acknowledge one thing that we wouldn’t have Abbie Mills for long and it got me to thinking about this Cranberries song from the 90′s.

x,x,x

Those post were made before Sleepy Hollow was on the air for even a month and that’s literally exactly what happened. 

[blacklgbtdeservetolive]

We Want This Trend To Be Inclusive.

Black People 

Black LGBT 

PoC  

LGBT PoC

LGBT

Allies should boost and support those trending. 

Every minority group shares oppression and discrimination. 

We welcome any and all tweets that talk about personal experiences with discrimination. 

We welcome any and all tweets about what media representation means to you. 

We welcome any and all tweets about real life discriminatory experiences and its intersection with media representation. 

We welcome any and all tweets about how “everybody but us” describes your feelings towards lack of democracy, your freedom, your equality, and your happiness. 

Art imitates life. 

Life imitates art. 

While we want this trend to be inclusive, we also want one major thing to be kept in mind. 

This account started because OITNB killed Poussey Washington. They said they killed Poussey to teach white people a lesson about police brutality. We chose the imagery in our poster to underline the specific pain and fears that Black and Black LGBT people experience everyday of their life. 

As a Black LGBT account, this trend will have tweets about police brutality, experiences with the police, experiences that are unique to us, what Poussey meant to us and why representation matters to us. Please keep this in mind as you tweet and support those who tweet about their experience. 

[iamabbiemills]

[mekyasgetahun-deactivated201811]

FOX: Abbie Mills’ distant cousin is white!!! Ain’t that a AMAZING and a surprise?!!

Fans:

[defendingabbieforjustalilbit]

Is this really happening?????