pigcatapult:

pigcatapult:

You’ve heard of competing access needs. Now consider:

Competing representation needs.

But no, seriously. This is one of the biggest things that pits people against each other in fandom spaces.

You’ve got people who need stories where men get to have completely platonic deep friendships with other men, need stories where men can be affectionate and support each other emotionally without it having to be romance. You’ve also got people who need stories about men being romantic with men. Both of these are valid. Whether either is canon doesn’t really matter because transformative works are allowed to be transformative and transformative works are works in their own right. It’s right there in the name.

But because there can only be One True Fanon, instead of acknowledging that different people have different needs and taking a live-and-let-live approach, you usually end up with both groups fighting to throw the other one under the bus first for trying to “steal” their representation.

Please no Oppression Olympics clowning on this post. Everyone needs stories. It’s an immutable part of the human condition.