this is why i implore every (indie, especially) creator to never fucking listen to tumblr fans about the following:

posts that start w/ “GIVE ME A SHOW WITH _________” posts that start w/ “Why do we never see _______ in tv/books/etc”

This is because these people don’t actually know what the fuck they want and what makes an actually good fictional fucking story.

dark tumblr has made it so that having a fucking story conflict, or character flaws w/ marginalized characters is now fucking problematic

if you try to abide by the ~tumblr checklist~ of things ‘THEY’ want to see in stories, you will have a collapsed, unbaked bread loaf story

characters shouldn’t be perfect because not everything is a fucking 100k slowburn coffeeshop au, okay. CONFLICT in a story is GOOD.

i’d rather have imperfect, messy queer characters of color than try to live by tumblr kid’s definition of morally correct storytelling LMAO

Tumblr kids have forgotten what fiction actually is at the same time that they’ve gotten a loose grasp on the definition of problematic

so now we’re in a weird/awful zone where the basic elements and beats of a story are being confused for PROBLEMATIC STORYTELLING

'what that character just did was PROBLEMATIC’ I- YES, GOOD. THAT WAS A PLOT POINT, BETH. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A ~PROBLEM~

Anyways its really fucking weird b/c all of this vitriol and hounding about a piece of media is landing mostly on queer women & qwoc/qpoc

so the ppl that are supposedly MOST HARMED by the problematic things these fans point out in the work, are actually harmed by the fans

so r u rlly fighting 4 queer women by running queer women off of the fucking earth when their story didn’t itch your fucking scratch? lmao

i want yall to know that i’m saying all this as someone who DOES have problems w/ how Black femmes on SU were introduced (sugilite/sardonyx)

but SOMEHOW i managed not to run anyone off of the internet about it, what a feat

whatever. if u hold queer women to jump hurdles of perfection that are 4x higher than all of ur fave yt actors in ur blog description,

fucking beat it, tbh.

I’m also a queer Black woman comic, who, along w/ some friends, DOES HAVE issues w/ the black-coded femmes on SU

The tumblr kid I am talking about specifically? Is ALSO the tumblr kid that I was when I was 15.

When I was 15, I followed dozens of 'receipt blogs’ for independent artists/creators, which documented any and all fuckups of folks who

were usually marginalized. Many queer women/QWOC. It was weirdly acceptable for us to be 4x as critical of marginalized creators than their

yt male counterparts. Marginalized creators were/are also much easier to personally target w/ your grievances. So that’s what we did.

So now, as someone who is a QWOC, who is already struggling just to be seen as acceptable in mainstream, I find this mindset toxic.

There is SO MUCH. SO MUCH PROBLEMATIC MEDIA AND STORYTELLING IN THE MAINSTREAM ALREADY, LOL. You do not have to look hard.

So when I log on tumblr and see folks dragging marginalized/indie creators THROUGH THE MUD for hiccups? I see myself. Young & scared.

I was HYPER-CRITICAL of media created by folks who looked like me. Marvel could fuck up any which way and I wouldn’t bat an eye.

Everyday there was a new indie artist or creator, many queer or qwoc, who was 'cast out of the club’. Reasons ranged from:

-Used improper terms (doesnt matter if they apologized later) -Said something fucked up 5 yrs prior -Was otherwise unaware of new discourse

These are things, mind you, that were never used to question/critique the creators & companies of large properties. Properties w/ BIG IMPACT

So as I grew older, I started to wonder two things:

1) If we are truly attempting to spread awareness and improve media representation, why are we attacking from the bottom to the top?

Why are we accosting queer women, women of color, MARGINALIZED FOLKS who have INTERNALIZED so much shit against ourselves and others,

Before anyone else? Why do we tweet at these folks w/ the least resources/team members/EDITORS and the LEAST AMOUNT OF CHANCES before

we even think about how marginalized creators are fighting everyday just to function w/in a fucked up industry we couldn’t ENTER before now?

Why are we checking the politics and purity of the oppressed before even acknowledging

the flippant and indulgent fuckery of those who’ve been in power and influenced the entertainment industry for generations? The OPPRESSORS?

And 2) Why, even when we, as marginalized folks, who’ve gotten our chance to deliver content that NORMALIZES our very existence,

when we attempt to create stories that don’t just say that 'being a queer black kid is a-okay’, but stories that show our MESSY SIDE,

that show our own fuckups and misconceptions and prejudices and tragedies and fallouts,

why are those attempts CATEGORIZED AS PROBLEMATIC OR WRONG? Why can’t we be messy? Why can’t we show others our mess?

Why do we reach to find reasons and historical justification for why PLOT POINTS WE DIDN’T AGREE WITH are now politically harmful?

I’m a queer black woman WRITING queer black women that are going to do things that politically, I DON’T AGREE WITH.

I am not ENDORSING the behavior. If all of my characters never mess up or do anything disagreeable, I DON’T HAVE A STORY LMAO

When I wrote my webcomic & had Sarah tell Jack, her boyfriend, A RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC, “At least I didn’t ruin my family’s live with vodka”,

I DID NOT SUPPORT OR ENDORSE HER CHOICE OF WORDS. SHE’S A QUEER BLACK WOMAN BUT SHE CAN STILL BE SLOPPY AND FUCKED UP TO FOLKS.

All I want is for the 15-yr-olds that were like me to know the difference between:

Critiquing Problematic Content & Justifying Dislike of Content With Political Reaches. Not everything you hate is inherently problematic.

Attempting to keep my media choices 100% aligned with my ever-evolving politics was/is a futile battle.

I can’t do it. I can’t keep up w/ receipts. I can’t banish stories that have meant everything to me when a creator says something Meh.

It was literally killing my creative spirit. I can not and will not last like that.

i would like to view my dried tears then so maybe ill know why tf im always crying