Sleeping with your eyes open

The Untamed, Supernatural, Star Trek, The Fast and the Furious, Torchwood, Sherlock, Veronica Mars, LOTR, La femme Nikita, Marvel

[dankmemeuniversity]

[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.” these stories are only “easy” to read in the sense that the effort we put into them is rewarded in a timely manner. 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. The fact that you find joy in the process of reading (or listening!) to stories–that is what matters.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

tags: but for readers who also want to get back into reading traditionally published fiction, i recommend starting with short stories! short stories have a lot of the benefits that fan fics do. the storyline progresses and climaxes more quickly. there’s not as much room so the writer has to deliver the meaning of the story in fewer words (which is really helpful if you’re struggling to enjoy longer fiction that takes too long to ‘pay off’). plus it’s less of an investment and commitment than full-length novels. and if you read anthologies you can just skip a story–or multiple stories–until you find one you vibe with (easier to skip a short story in a collection than a chapter in a novel). re-reading books you read years ago is also a good way to start getting back into longer fiction! look for things that let you skim or skip parts when the pacing is too slow. also consider a book series, with the same characters and/or story structure (especially helpful if they can be read out of published order, like with many detective novels). basically, stories are easier to get settled into when your brain knows what to expect. (another reason fanfiction is so useful: the tagging system) 

concept: reading you do in your leisure time SHOULD NOT FEEL LIKE A CHORE. if it feels like a chore that means you should find a different story. probably in a different format, genre, etc. you can always come back to a story later, but if you aren’t in the frame of mind where you can enjoy it–then honestly what is the point? if you aren’t reading this for a class or for information you need to know, then just…read something else in the mean time. read something that works for you in your current mental state. there is no shame in that, and it is so much better than the alternative of forcing yourself through a book you chose to read for fun and enjoyment. the important thing is that you are finding stories you can enjoy right now–in whatever genre or format–and you get to be proud of yourself for doing that.

[vicholas]

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but it has become a big conspiracy theory among teens in Tiktok the idea that Helen Keller was fraud that didn’t exist, and the main argument to back this is “how could someone be both blind and deaf and still be successful and write books”. That’s plain ableism. This entire thing is just deeply ableist and the fact that an ableist conspiracy theory like this can spread so easily among kids is just scary. 

Conspiracy theories, misinformation, fake news and bigotry are not a generational thing! It’s not a “boomer” thing, this is something that happens among all generations.

[zagirad]

I had a book about famous heroes when I was a child, and Helen Keller was my favourite! (Unfortunately, OJ Simpson was also there, I think the book was old...)

[anxietyproblem]

[villainousorigins]

the rest of that would be “no good”

“All worries, no good”

[demolitioned]

keep forgetting how dark supernatural used to be !! i couldn’t see anything for the first 3 seasons !!

[finaledenialist]

well, since the lamp was introduced only in season 4, this is understandable

[fckyeahnetart]

’woman wiring an early ibm computer’

Berenice Abbott Documenting Science series (1938-58)

[zagirad]

Women in STEM

[pumpkan]

Me: waiting for any form of public transport

Rain: starts

Some deep dark part of my brain that never forgot the first night vale episode: 👀🕐🚌🌧🌧🕐🕐🚌🌧

[zagirad]

Every single time!!

[cottoncandyofterror]

Supernatural had the opportunity to do something great. To send a message of love and validation to a whole community. Not only to the part of the community that liked their show, but to all of us. But instead they decided to pander to the people, who never had to fight for their representation.

I support #TheySilencedYou, #TheySilencedThem and #TheyWillNeverSilenceUs and I'm in awe of all of you. Of your eloquence, passion, coordination and decisiveness. And I feel like your message goes beyond this particular TV show and the CW.

It's about protesting a pattern of disrespect towards otherness in Mainstream Media. It's about demanding meaningful, unmistakably queer representation, that enables discourse and furthers understanding in a heterogenic Audience. It's about asking Networks to not only hire diverse staff but to also give them the freedom to tell their stories the way they want to. It's about telling creators to own up to the inherent messages they leave us with in the end.

And that's inspiring and should be celebrated.

Stories matter.

[kalelraejepsen-deactivated20231]

spn is actually short for español

[princesshamlet-deactivated20210]

spñ

[zagirad]

[hermywolf]

[lordgolden]

I AM DYING HAHAHA THANK YOU

[zagirad]

As a Spanish person, today has been a weird day.

[meatmandean]

https://twitter.com/crowleybeans/status/1329897649814777860?s=21 someone has started a trevor project campaign for angry spn fans to donate in and has asked for people to share on tumblr

thats a sweet idea. here’s the link for anyone who is interested in donating

[the-very-touch-of-you-corrupts]

to clarify for anyone who’s confused, people are donating to the Trevor Project, a non-profit organization that fights LGBTQ+ youth suicide, in Dean and Cas’s names.

People are leaving comments like “I leave this donation to honour and in memory of Dean Winchester, Castiel and all the LGBTQ+ characters the writers did dirty. You’ll live on in my heart forever.” -Mel

and

“Channeling our anger into doing positive is what Castiel and Misha would have wanted. That to me is the Supernatural legacy.” -Anon

[jkateel-archive]

They've raised over $10k so far. It's amazing.

[lets-steal-an-archive]

closing in on $11k

[drsilverfish]

It’s at $26k now - what a good...

[you-keep-those]

ok buzzfeed kinda snapped with this one

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ewolfe67/supernatural-the-last-great-american-bury-your-ga-3upi6rwsxy

[wayward-writers]

Alright, this project now has an official Tumblr.

A group of fans on Discord are currently working on a full rewrite of Supernatural. The working name for the project is Superior Natural because literally anything we make will be better than whatever that ending was. It starts from Season 1 and fixes plot holes, weird story decisions, issues with diversity and representation, and of course the series finale.

The general fandom is involved in the writing this time - the Discord has 90+ members at the moment and we're planning on conducting polls on Tumblr to gather opinions on what fans want to see and get popular approval for any major changes that we make.

If you want to be involved, join the Discord (link in bio). It doesn't matter what you can do, if you think you can help out even a little bit you'd be useful to the project. Even if you don't think you have any creative talents at all you can still join to chat and give feedback on our decisions.

Finally, if you're interested please reblog this. Rewriting a 15 season show is a big project and we need as much help as we can get.

[destielwentcanonomg]

REBLOG

[pisceanpizza]

Yesssss

[nyctosaurid]

am I misremembering this or is the arthur conan doyle estate absolutely off the hinges over what little control they have over sherlock holmes and ready to pull the trigger on anyone who writes the character as gay or as a nice person

[nyctosaurid]

ok so this is weirder than I thought

sherlock holmes apparently has kind of a complicated copyright situation; it’s in the public domain most places but because of the US’s very long copyright (thanks disney) some of the stories from the tail end of the canon are not in the public domain, at least in the US.

and the ACD estate goes HARD on this. guns blazing on everything from star trek parodies to this year’s netflix movie Enola Holmes, alleging that the character traits they give sherlock holmes are only present in the copyrighted material ( the last 10 stories out of about 60)

Delightfully, like most claims, it’s available online so we can see exactly what traits sherlock holmes is banned from having:

having medical knowledge

using new technology

liking dogs

respecting women (”In the Copyrighted Story “The Lion’s Mane,” Conan Doyle creates new character attributes for Holmes, placing a woman at the center of the story and having Holmes react with warmth and emotion to her—quite unlike Holmes’s (…) aversion to women in public domain stories.”)

caring about watson (”Springer also copies Sherlock Holmes’s warm friendship with Watson from the Copyrighted Stories (…) Nowhere in the public domain stories does Holmes express such emotion about the well-being of his companion John Watson. This friendship was not created by Springer in the Enola Holmes Mysteries. It was created in the Copyrighted Stories and copied by Springer.”)

being… nice… in general (”The Springer novels make extensive infringing use of Conan Doyle’s transformation of Holmes from cold and critical to warm, respectful, and kind in his relationships”)

HAVING FEELINGS??? (”Holmes’s new ability to express feeling results in a complex series of original creative elements Conan Doyle expressed in the Copyrighted Stories.”)

through a quick google search it would appear this also extends to sherlock holmes being written as gay, because it ”isn’t true to the spirit of the books”  but mostly because andrea plunket is kind of grossed out by gay people

EXCEPT apparently andrea plunket isn’t actually a member of the estate and is only pretending to be after she sued for the rights in a divorce years ago and failed to get them; now she goes around falsely representation them and keeping the gays out of sherlock holmes. She’s even threatened to sue the BBC to keep them from “making any more sherlocks” (a plural i will absolutely be using in my daily life from now on)

Unfortunately the main citations to this story (through legitimate sources) are lost to time, and the story of andrea only remains told through the hushed whispers of “johnlock conspiracy” blogs 

[nyctosaurid]

important add on to this

[elfwreck]

Copyright expiration dates for Sherlock Holmes

They’re desperately filing lawsuits NOW NOW NOW because in another couple of years it becomes impossible. And while, if the statute of limitations allows, they could file in 2023 for copyright that was infringed in 2020, the case is much weaker, since there’s no further ability for the estate to exclusively exploit the works.

That’s just over two years until ALL OF SHERLOCK HOLMES is in the public domain. Start of 2023, and the ACD estate’s job is over. (I mean. They get another three years of trying to squeeze money out of his other works, but there’s no rush to republish and make movies from those.)

The Enola Holmes case is further complicated by the works that entered the public domain last year and this year - if they’re complaining about the Netflix show instead of the books, they’ll need to separate out which elements they claim are STILL copyrighted and didn’t show up until the very last few stories. They might be able to go after the book versions for anything that’s not in the final 10 stories, but that muddies their case, and it’s for a lot less money - they were not super-bestsellers.

Counter-arguments may include “some of those traits showed up before the final ten stories.” I haven’t read much original SH so don’t know the details of personality shifts. The claim is that Doyle was strongly affected by WWI, including deaths of people dear to him, and Sherlock’s personality changed after that point. Which could be true. However, if those changes started to be visible in the 2 stories published in 1921 and 1922, then they were in the public domain.

[prontaentrega]

Whys a dead wife so common as a backstory for male heroes when divorce exists and its 10000% funnier

[impatentpending]

my wife divorced me for a villain >>> a villain killed my wife

[sansadaynes]

[rumpledspinster]

Even better is my wife divorced me for my nemesis but turned out to be a bigger villain than my nemesis so now me and my former nemesis are buds and develope a lifelong friendship.

[zagirad]

Male writers scared of writing women.