Media Consumption - Tumblr Posts

just a reminder - do NOT boycott streaming services or not watch new things. the unions have not called for one for a reason. for one, it affects residual payments, which as minimal as those currently are, actors are still getting them during this time, and for two, studios will use lack of viewership as an excuse to cancel shows because you are showing them there is no demand. it deeply affects the industry the writers and actors stand to come back to once the strike is over

Do you guys remember how kidnap fantasies were popular on wattpad because young girls and queer teens were both made to feel shame at the thought of their own sexualities, so the fantasy of being kidnapped totally against their will was a way for them to engage with a romantic or sexual fantasy without feeling morally in the wrong for doing so? Added bonus that the fantasy involved being whisked away from repressive environments like home or school, right?

Finding out that Bram Stoker was in a sexless marriage and that scholars believe that he very likely was closeted gay puts the entire book into perspective as to WHY it reads EXACTLY like a self insert wattpad Dracula kidnap fic:

“I TOTALLY love my wife and would never do anything that an upstanding Good Straight Working Man wouldn’t do but oh nooo, big strong man with broad back and strong enough arms to carry me back to bed like a princess trapped me and claimed me as his, completely against my will 👉👈 But he protects me against the bad evil sexual women (who I assure you, I am TOTALLY sexually attracted to, as any straight man with a choice would be) but trust me, I do NOT want ANY of this. What’s that? The Count is not capable of feeling love? Would be a shame if I had the special ability to change tha-”

it's always i watch tv shows on 1.5 speed and sex scenes should be eliminated if they do not directly impact the plot and endless algorithmic stream of short form video content and asmr video while somebody reads out reddit aita posts for you and show cancelled after one season because it didn't immediately become a viral sensation and 2 minute songs optimised for tiktok virality and ipad toddlers and increasingly abysmal theatre and concert etiquette and how dare you make me wait for part 2 of this instagram reel storytime and memes with a lifespan of 48 hours and i have to bring my phone into the cinema because how can you expect me to focus for the entire run of oppenheimer and it's never how was the slow intentional focused consumption of media. the slow intentional focused consumption of media looks lovely

perhaps the most insidious part of the idea that activities as diverse as reading books, going to theater and live music, and scrolling through reels or tiktoks all can fit neatly under the umbrella of “content consumption” is the fact that that’s EXACTLY what the people at the top WANT you to think as they try to stop paying the people who make the art you love a living wage partially on the basis of devaluing it as undefined interchangeable slop that you undiscerningly imbibe with no care for the conditions under which it was made. you LET them devalue your time, taste, and passion when you consent to the idea that all content is the same

hyperfixating on old media sucks because in order to engage with the community you must risk spoilers. I NEED to see memes. I NEED to see peoples' takes. or my hyperfixation will die a sad and lonely death and I don't want that!!!

switching between 3 different forms of media every 10 minutes when I get a hankering for slightly different vibes

hello! please remember that representation will not magically solve all problems in media!

a well-written straight interracial ship is more revolutionary than your average white man gay ship

TW: Dopamine chasing, Toxic Friendships, Codependency

I have always been one to chase hapiness highs. By no means is this the most negative part of my personality, nor a particularly uncommon one, but it does lead to some side effects. For one thing I can not sit down and fully immerse myself in media as the happy feelings would take to long to develop so I dive head first into the fandom instead. And ill stay in the fandom for a while , consuming every once of media I can about it until I inevitably loose intrest and stop caring about it all together and start the cycle again. Not the best cycle admittedly, but far from the worst. However the inbetween of losing intrest in one peice of media and latching on to another one is the worst. I will drift aimlessly with nothing to do, as if hollow , drained entirely. The color seeps out from my world and I am left yearning for something to reintroduce it, to get back to my high. The real trouble is when this attitude effects my relationships with people. I will find someone and talk to them and then my thoughts get consumed by them and they will be all I talk about, all I care about. I will distance myself from the others around me in order to get more of my new subject of intrest. And then the high will fade and I want nothing to do with them, but they are still atached to me. I will grow to resent them for taking up my time as if I was not the one to start the relationship. I can tell they have grown to rely on me for their hapiness much as I had done to them. I will try to reignite some amount of intrest but come up dry, and in doing so grow to despise them entirerly. Once the codependency ends It seems more and more like a chore to talk with them. And eventually I leave their life as suddenly as I entered it leaving them being confused and hurt because se despite my explanations they don’t understand my way of thinking- how could they? Their perception of me is clean and glossy because I‘m adept at showing that to everyone, at hiding how I truly am. And thus the cycle starts again, with me convincing myself that this time it will be different - that I can learn to stay.

You’re a silly little cat

I’m sure you’re glad you are

For human life is boring

And humans can’t get far

I’m sure cats have their problems

I’m sure that much is true

But cats problems are their own

Humans will blame you

You’re a silly little cat

Quite carefree and spoiled indeed

Not to worry of such trivial things

No warnings you must heed

A friendly cat, you are

Always snuggling, licking, purring

But I’m addicted to my phone now

And the lines are quickly blurring

They validate me, don’t they?

They make me feel okay

But now I’m a silly little human

With a light box for a brain

You’re a silly cat

Who’s waking me up again.

(Wrote this because my media devouring has been very unhealthy and big lately)