GayMess @viciouspumpkinwolf - Tumblr Blog

incorrectpezberryquotes

Santana: I can be mean to Brody if you want me to be

Rachel: Oh no it's fine Santana, there's no need.

Santana: It's okay Berry, I was already planning on being mean to him anyways

incorrectpezberryquotes

Rachel: I'm a person who likes to apologize when I know I'm wrong

Santana: I don't think I've ever heard you say apologize for anything

Rachel: That's beacuse I'm never wrong :)

veeaziel

every day i am percieved™️

biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist

There is a reason for this though!

The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate–neurochemical signaling (I hope I’m using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)…people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply.

significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady “return on investment”–and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don’t have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual “low batteries” in that regard.

that doesn’t mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value–only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low “upfront cost.” which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers–they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).

the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that–combined with the shorter average length of fics–means that fan fics very quickly start “rewarding” the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that’s not a bad thing! and maybe it’s something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.

Fanfic, as a genre, has been uniquely helpful and accessible to many neurodivergent readers who would otherwise struggle to immerse themselves in stories. I’m glad so many of you have found a way to love and enjoy reading again! The important thing is that you are spending time inside stories you love–the way those stories are published or presented to the world is just one detail.

biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist

*holds your hand* no, we’re ALL bitches

k-eke

Be careful princess 🌸

grotusrinocerose

heatandapathy

I just love that multiple people not only though “the black one is a princess and those are her bodyguards” but also came to the conclusion “they’re also, obviously, samurai.”

thelostswede

blueartistic813

TONIGHT

lakeffectqueer-deactivated20240

TONIGHT

Tonight!!!

TONIGHT

T O N I G H T !

I will trust a thousand out-of-touch left-leaning southerners who don't know every piece of correct terminology before I trust one weird "feminist/LGBTQ+ ally" dude who couches his bigotry in pseudo-progressive language

weaver-z

60-year-old former hippie I met in Arkansas: I don't really know much about the whole deal, but I get it. I mean, you like ladies, and I like ladies, and some people like dudes. People should just leave fags and dykes alone, it's common sense.

Me: Hell yeah brother

Closet-reactionary liberal college student I met last year: Of course I love and respect the queer and trans community! However, one can argue that the early gay community's... casual attitude toward sex was a disastrous political and social mist--

Me: I'm going to throw you into traffic