#Sometimes they're extraordinarily gay

[weirdlynotspecific]

The pure joy on Spock's face is fucking everything. Get someone who looks at you the way Spock looks at Jim in this scene.

[mandatory-blog-stop-asking]

spoilers for great ace attorney i want to talk about sholmes

I really think there is something so beautiful about how incredibly hard Mikotoba matches Sholmes's freak.

I know people say in retrospect that Sholmes and Yujin's performance at the SS Grouse establishes beyond a shadow of doubt that Sholmes was simply testing Ryunosuke and Susato in every previous Dance of Deduction, but I think that ignores an important part of Sherlock in canon *and* Herlock in TGAA-- the character is extraordinarily awkward around people.

While Herlock is a lot more charismatic and boisterous than Sherlock ever was, it's still the case that no one else is in his speed-- not because it's fast, not because it's slow, but because he works different. He talks at people as much as people talk at him and there is a genuine disconnect between other characters and him that is usually played for laughs, but that makes characters startled when they actually see exactly what he means every once in a while, because they realize how far out he usually is from where they're standing.

Even Iris, his daughter, can't always tell what's on his mind or explain his behavior perfectly. His mood swings, ideas, plans and ultimately social life is entirely his, and no one else's. And he does it like a pro, but it is still a profoundly lonely experience.

So when Mikotoba comes back to Britain and they get to do the Holmes & Watson bit like they used to, it's staggering how in sync they both are. Yes, Sholmes doesn't always make himself understood by Mikotoba, but Mikotoba treats him like no one else treats him-- they're finishing each other sentences, they trust each other completely, they are dancing around these cases and it's the most fun they've never had with anyone else.

It's the kind of nuance that I think fandom sometimes doesn't grasp super well when the subject is relationships: let's not get it twisted, it is TGAA canon that Iris read Mikotoba's old notes and went on to dramatize them as the most homosexual relationship in British magazines at the turn of the century, there is a lot there, they're obviously more intimate than friends usually are. But it's literally more profound than simply them being gay for each other, they have no one else in their lives who they can be these people with.

Even if Sholmes was 100% committed to treating the legal duo as equals, Ryunosuke is still a stick in the mud, Susato is still a fangirl, even Kazuma is too focused on himself and his mission to really give him what he wants. To Dance with them he had to use training wheels and change the dynamic; what will they do if I'm wrong? How will this go if I push this way? And, yeah, he was alright with it, it was just another moment in his life where people around him don't quite get him, and he took advantage of it, but...

Like, shit, I think it says something enormous that tap dancing is Mikotoba's instrument, and only really comes in when he's around, and it compliments Herlock so well. He can't have this anywhere else. No more games, yeah, because they're on the clock and there's a lot at stake, but no more games because finally he can just be himself, with someone who's not gonna think he's weird or too much or not enough.

I'm sure they'd make a great couple, that goes without saying, but they make such perfect soulmates that it really got me emotional to see them solving a mystery together. Sherlock's aloofness is not an act and Mikotoba sometimes has just as much difficulty dealing with his whims as everyone else, but they match each other's freak perfectly, and that kind of connection is iron clad on a Gilgamesh-and-Enkidu-first-story-ever-told level for us. That shit is so rare and I think the writers did a phenomenal job in illustrating it.

As a guy who keeps writing about people feeling complete after suffering a lot to get there, it really got to me that to truly feel complete, all Herlock needs is for his best friend to visit him and indulge him in his interests.

[waitmyturtles]

Your weekly weekend Old GMMTVC Challenge update -- let's battle, honeys!

1) I've been fighting with Tumblr's new web editor all weekend, so hopefully there will be no glitches, but my review of Gay OK Bangkok, Seasons 1 and 2, drops tomorrow (Monday) morning. I jacked up my list and order of reviews to put this one out (...pun intended, you'll see why) before the premiere of Only Friends this weekend (see what I did there!). Gay OK Bangkok was written by P'Aof Noppharnach and directed by Jojo Tichakorn all the way back in 2016/17, and Jojo himself has referred to GOKB when talking about Only Friends on Twitter. So, to YouTube I went to do my research, and I HIGHLY recommend in my review tomorrow that you do, too!

2) Speaking of jacking my list up, I've added a few pre-television-BL movies to the list after hours of fabulous conversation with the inimitable @bengiyo and others. Next week, I'll review 2007's The Love of Siam, one of the very first films from Thailand that explored queer love in the slightest positive way. Sometime between now and the next 14 days, I'll also drop a review of 2014's My Bromance, starring Fluke Teerapat and Fluke Natouch. For approximately a nanosecond, I considered putting both movies into one review, but I watched My Bromance on Friday night, and just -- I ain't gonna do that to LoS.

I fell in love with LoS, even while the ending is controversial, and I'm planning to approach my review with an intersectional lens towards the history of how mass media has habitually treated queer characters before the rise of BLs across Asia; as compared to broader Asian media, and our general tolerance for suffering and non-happy endings. The Love of Siam captured a LOT for me about understanding who I am as an Asian, and what I expect out of media from Asia, while also digging into my understanding about continental perspectives on queerness. LoS, filmmaking-wise, was extraordinarily well-done, and I cannot wait to sharpen my pencils and get into it.

I took on My Bromance to understand where the Flukes stood between that movie and where they're at in their careers now -- Fluke Teerapat as a successful screenwriter (My Ride, La Pluie), and Fluke Natouch as a seriously well-regarded actor (Until We Meet Again, Make A Wish). I also wanted to get a better grip on common yaoi stereotypes before the rise of television BLs in Thailand. Welp -- My Bromance did just that, HA. Yiiiiiiii. I'll have to have a little tipple by my side while I write that review! But it's important to have on the list, nonetheless.

3) All of these movies mean that I've bumped some television content from the queue. After My Bromance, my awaited Manner of Death review will come out, with my loving homage to my rewatch of A Tale of Thousand Stars after that. Sometime this week, I'm gonna get started on Lovely Writer -- back to Tee Bundit, oh gawd -- and from then on, it's go go go to Nadao Bangkok, Last Twilight in Phuket, and I Promised You The Moon. AND Be My Favorite ends this week, AND Only Friends premieres this weekend, AND Dangerous Romance premieres next week. The riches! The blessings! THE LACK OF TIME, HA, but who cares, we're going down, down, baby!

[auztim69]

Bames interprets 🥺🥺🥺

Ok sooo since I’ve already basically info dumped all the actual lore I have for these 2 I’m just going to spend this whole post listing off random hcs n stuff so yay :33 

I think they both have like rlly stupid, corny, sappy pet names for eachother. I think we’ve talked about something like this in the past b4 but I kinda wanna expand on it more. Like the shit they call each other is so unserious, James unironically calls B pookie,,,,,,,, n like B will call him stuff like, “sugar, honey, baby, sweetie, darlin’, love of my life,” but like all at once in one continuous string of words, like, is he stupid?[SILLY] N they will do this to a nauseous amount. To the point where like if 1 of them is doing something n the other walks n or smth, they will both more than likely just get so distracted by the other’s mere presents that they just completely forget abt whatever they were doing b4. They just that gay ig, smh, me when I’m such gay that I forgor abt my surroundings, just bc I’m that gay[VSILLY] 

If B wakes up b4 James does n she refuses 2 get up, he’ll like threaten 2 cook breakfast bc he’s shit at cooking n like 9/10 times it works bc B has legitimately stared kitchen fires trying to cook in the past,,,, B also has like a rlly low flavor tolerance, n I don't just mean like spice I mean like ALL FLAVORS. Like, eating a burger would make him feel sick. This is what eating nothing but granola and almond water for upwards of 50 years will do 2 a mf, smh 😔🙏. The 70’s mind could never truly comprehend the modern fast food industry.

B carries James around bridal style at random intervals, just cuz he’s that light weight. It do kinda stem from this underlying need he has to protect the people close to him as much as possible, but also just cuz it’s funny. Like James does complain about it sometimes, but it’s done jokingly most of the time. I also think both of them r just rlly physically clingy, like they r always holding hands or cuddling in some capacity. Idk it’s a trauma thing. Like James does it bc of the whole, y'know, not being loved as a child thing, and B does it bc of backrooms mind-fuck, anyone could die at any moment, mental shenanigans. They're just like super touch starved, borderline codependent at times, like, go 2 therapy PLZ,,,,, 

B legitimately HATES horror movies, like cannot physically stand 2 watch them and can’t comprehend y anyone would want 2 either. Unluckily 4 him tho, James [n Hashley] does not feel the same way. They rlly like 2 watch horror movies n stuff just 2 make fun of them, but they gotta be extra abt it they can't just pick like “normal” horror movies, they gotta put on some freak shit like Tusk or Splice,,,B is evidently NOT a fan of this…

James snores rlly fucking loudly. 2 the point where it just starts 2 sound like white noise after a while. B don’t gaf tho cuz he’s like an extraordinarily heavy sleeper. Like, aside from all the backrooms trauma n paranoia, that’s 1 of the main reasons y he sleeps with 1 eye open, bc it is like cominally hard to wake this man up otherwise. Like. U gotta full on shake him,,, 

James is the only person B is comfortable with seeing most of his scars. He’s fine with, like, Hashley seeing more minor scarage like his hand and parts of his lower leg, but nothing past that. I think that like around their house there r just. like. Random drawers with shirts n stuff in them so that B can just slip 1 on whenever if need be 4 like if they get like a knock on the door from someone, bc B usually sleeps shirtless[gay/VSILLY] 

B is rlly good at putting on fake accents me thinks. Like,,,he kinda hates the way he sounds normally, so, it’s sorta just a skill he developed over time to just. sound like whatever. Impersions 2,,, like if he’s listened 2 someone talk 4 long enough, he can. like. almost perfectly replicate their voice. Like if he’s in a rlly petty mood or smth he’ll do it 2 James cuz he knows it pisses him off

Ok that’s all 4 now I may add more later <33

[squishmallow36]

hii . might be a strange question but can u explain the appeal of detz to me. like, i have a req i may or may not do but i just. dont really get it? and i dont want to just draw ship art with no flavor. and ur also the fedex guy i think. thank you :)

Wait /I'm/ the fedex guy? I mean to me @/kamikothe1and0nly is the fedex guy but sure. Why not? I definitely have a lot of thoughts about them (my one single brain cell is almost constantly microwaving them), I just sometimes forget that people are aware that I exist. I apologize in advance if this gets long.

You might want to scroll through @/askdetz as well, although there's a story on there that's been going on since I want to say March? so reverse chronological might not be your friend but yeah. Good source right there. @/kale-of-the-forbidden-cities also has a fedex mermaid au so that might be another source if this post is insufficient.

For me, I think the reason I first got into it was because I liked the name. Ship it like fedex is just absolutely iconic. And also I project onto Dex. A lot. I used to have an obsession with finding 7-up trucks when I was younger so I think it was meant to be but that's up for debate.

Canonically, we see Dex and Fitz going from--I don't like to call them enemies because it was certainly one-sided on Dex's side. He was sooo mad. For reasons. Probably gay ones but he isn't aware of that. but sort of enemies--to friends. These scenes are just about the only things in the books I remember some days and we don't even get to see the one in neverseen where they agree to be friends. Nevertheless, a "enemies" to friends to lovers arc definitely is something that Is fun to play with in fics. Also this might be the aromanticism talking, but that kind of arc does require a certain amount of slowburn and I need that to believe anything.

Dex and Fitz are also foils of each other, especially in the first few books. While Fitz is perfect, Dex is the imperfect son of a bad match, and that contrast is just so, so fun.

But it's not just a case of opposites attract. Just like how kam works, they've got a whole bunch in common. We know that Fitz is the top of his class, so he is more than likely a giant nerd. We also know that Dex is a technopath (and I project onto him) so he's also more than likely a giant nerd. While they have different skill sets--I assign Dex all the stem stuff and Fitz the history and english stuff--they're absolutely going to be listening to each other infodumping about the new thing they learned this week and the listening one doesn't understand any of it. Adore that for them.

They're also angry little assholes in canon despite what fanon wants to do to Dex. Anger (especially at society) is a trait that I enjoy in my blorbos.

It's also very easy to write them to be extraordinarily oblivious to everything. And that's always fun. Fitz is going to be oblivious (even to his own feelings) as a requirement to participate in society and Dex isn't going to believe that Fitzroy Vacker knows that he exists.

And then as the brant guy I'm sure you understand how society making a relationship difficult is a fun concept and Fedex has that too. Them dating would be an automatic bad match and the fact that Fitz has to carry around his family's legacy is something I think about. A lot. Probably too much.

If you have any more specific questions just let me know. I may be forced to paint today so it might be a couple of hours before I see anything but I will answer any questions. Eventually.

Tldr: they're my idiots, your honor :)

[streussal]

Louis de Pointe du Lac

This is for the tv version because the show took over my brain in ways the books never did (also it's been a while since I've read any of them)

Louis ships: Lestat: I mean obviously. To quote A Softer World, "Sometimes when two people love each other, it's really unfortunate" (link)

Daniel: The framing device of the show! Daniel met Louis when he was 20, was nearly killed by him, and then Louis sends him a letter 49 years later he flies across the world to go meet him. Completely insane. The young Daniel version is fun (70s Louis seems batshit in a completely different way than 2020s or 1910s Louis), but the old man version of Louis/Daniel really gets me. Louis started off looking older than Daniel (33 to 20) to looking much younger (33 to 69). They're both such bitches to each other. Louis basically negging Daniel ("you've grown old") but also keeping up with his career and teasing him about his sexuality ("we met in a gay bar didn't we Daniel", feeding in front of him, describes how RashidArmand tastes). Daniel insisting to himself and Louis that he's just there for the story but also making some extraordinarily questionable journalistic choices (for a story that will not be believed anyway) and cruel comments in order to get a sense of control over the situation. Also, as confirmed by Eric Bogosian himself, he wants to kiss Louis (link). Also they are both massive hypocrites so there's self-recognition, which they both hate.

Armand: Armand was roleplaying for basically the whole season so we don't have a clear vision of what exactly the tv version is like yet, but I'm still into it. The promo clips and posters are very sexy. Also the fact that they pretended he was a human for so long in front of Daniel is VERY funny. I am also really enjoying the Louis/Armand fic! Just not sure how much of that dynamic will end up making sense with s2.

Louis/Daniel/Armand: Note that this is Louis-centric for me, since we don't know what the Armand/Daniel dynamic is in this version of canon. A lot of people have been speculating that Daniel has had memories erased, and that may be true, but I don't know if I agree that a whole relationship with Armand happened in the past. But they are both definitely into Louis and he deserves threesomes.

Jonah: He is handsome and seems like a decent person. And they had pretty good chemistry.

Bonus crossover ship: Spike from the Buffyverse. Specifically with 70s Louis. They should be friends with benefits. (Ignore worldbuilding problems, this is some situation where they meet between universes or something)

[tyrannuspitch]

objection your honour this propaganda is NOT fair representation of snowbaz!! yeah the cover is okay but the CONTENTS of the book are capable of turning a teenage brain inside out (source: it happened to me.) thankfully as tumblr user tyrannuspitch i consider myself qualified to remedy this situation.

the basic concept of carry on is that it starts out as a parody, as the most cliché young adult fantasy book you can imagine, with every melodramatic speech and villainous flourish dialled up to eleven... and then it slowly but surely makes the inevitable gay fanfiction of its central homoerotic rivalry canon. my reaction the first time i read it was literally: "this shouldn't work. this shouldn't be allowed to be good." and yet it IS!

it's a Story About Stories. it's a love letter to the genre and a brutal genre deconstruction at the same time. it's intensely meta and genre-aware, but not in a cynical or undermining way - in an intensely compassionate one. it's both honest and EARNEST, both funny and genuinely heartbreaking, and these things are never in tension with each other - they flow into each other naturally as how people in extraordinarily terrible circumstances cope.

"doomed by the narrative" this, "doomed by the narrative" that, and yet none of you guys seem to care that tyrannus basilton grimm-pitch has been aware that he is the villain(tm) and he's going to have to be murdered so the happily ever after(tm) can happen since he was eleven years old...

it is [ao3 voice] a slowburn enemies-to-lovers arc, and again - it's executed so well. the hero (simon) and the villain (baz) are two young figureheads for opposing factions in their magical society, currently in a kind of cold civil war, always on the verge of tipping over into an actual war. they can't be in the same room starting a fight, and they've tried to kill each other multiple times. and. they're roommates. they are child soldiers on opposite sides of a war, and they had to grow up in the same bedroom. the intimacy! the yearning! the tragedy! you sleep next to this boy every night and you know what his shampoo smells like. and one day he's going to kill you!

THE LOVE TRIANGLE. of course there's a love triangle. but it's an m/m/f love triangle, and at least one of the boys is gay, so how can this be? the answer is that it's an intricate web of closet cases and increasingly desperate attempts at denial. and it's both genuinely interesting and incredibly fun. you've heard of lavender marriages, now get ready for: lavender infidelity!

vampirism as queerness. god, have i really not mentioned the vampires yet? well. of course, we all know that vampires are gay because they're sexy, sinister outsiders - but i think what this book does particularly well is setting up vampires as a legitimately unjustly persecuted group, and fear of vampires as a irrational and deeply damaging stigma. you do have to work for this one a little bit, but it's absolutely in there. simon showing compassion towards baz's internalised vampirephobia is key to the central turning point of the book!

this is a child soldier story. both simon and baz are used as weapons and pawns by their own families from a very young age. that means the story has to hold onto three simultaneous truths: firstly, that sometimes your parent is a terrible person, and you love them anyway. secondly: that even if do you love your parent, sometimes they're such a terrible person that you'll have to kill them if you ever want to escape. thirdly: that violence takes an immense toll on people, especially children, and forcing them to commit it is itself a form of abuse. so, yes, you can kill your abuser and be justified in it. but it's still a tragedy, because you never should have had to.

on a lighter note... the oft-screenshotted wikipedia page's table of contents reads as follows:

finally, i leave you with one of the songs from my playlist which i think most definitively captures the vibe(tm): sleep alone (bat for lashes)

thank you, and good night.

ROUND 1: POLL #46

ROUND 1 POLLS [HERE]

PROPAGANDA BELOW

Simon Snow/Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Grimm-Pitch:

SnowBaz looking awesome

[SPOILERS]

Ren Amamiya/Goro Akechi:

They're rivals but obsessed with each other. Goro tries to kill Akira and fails, but not before he spills his guts and tragic backstory. Akira is the only person to make Goro question his worldview and start on the path to become a better person. They mirror each other perfectly, since they're both fighting for justice and a better world, but in different ways. SPOILERS: When Akira thinks Goro has died, he carries around Goro's glove as a reminder of their promise to be rivals and constantly oppose each other.

[thatpinkbetch]

I'm going to answer it this way, because I'm actually not a fan of some of those, and I've heard this is the way to do it if you don't want it ending up in the tag or the search I think? If i censor any of the ship names it's not out of malice! I simply don't want any of this to end up in front of eyes that just want to enjoy their ships 💖💖💖 if there is anyone who doesn't want to see opinions against t*d*d*ku, k*r*b*ku, or even iz**ch*ka, please don't read any further! Oh my goodness i hope this is all legible...

Anyways, hello!! Thank you so much for the ask!! I love talking about my opinion avkvmsocnaocjsoxks it also makes me really happy you like my blog 🥺🥺🥺 (I hope this answer doesn't ruin that avskvneognsocjs)

I'll start out by confirming that I'm not a multishipper. It makes me excited to see how the act of shipping itself can make others happy, but it's just not that way for me. I actually never read fanfic until I got into bnha (bkdk is just that powerful 😁😁) I'm actually...a little serious when i ship, or when i enjoy media, i analyze pretty heavily, so also, if that doesn't sound like anyone's cup of tea, i would once again recommend to stop reading and enjoy your day please!

I love analyzing characters and storylines and dynamics, but i will admit, I'm not a fan of most of the ships - not romantically. I think all the characters have interesting relationships to each other, all of the kids are great friends, and I love bonds and friendships so much 🥺🥺🥺

Those first two are perhaps the biggest, at least they definitely were the biggest when I first entered. Once i caught up, I didn't really understand the enthusiasm, but people have fun shipping, so that's nice! I think of those two as easy ships, if that makes sense? They're pretty simple, and easy to digest.

I personally am not a fan of romantic t*d*d*ku for a very specific reason; it feels weird to me for Todo to immediately fall in love with the first person who's ever shown him kindness (since his mother of course). Todo had never had any friends, nor any want for friends, obviously because of the abuse he faced as a child. Mido was his first exploration at a life outside of his father, a life he got to make for himself, it just doesn't feel right to me that he should immediately think "oh, is this romantic love? Is this the one and only for me?" Well, perhaps a teenager might think that way, but i don't think that's actually how he feels deep down, and I'm sure that's something a lot of us have to learn as we grow (I've definitely struggled with my own understanding of romance for the past 8 years). I think he still is trying to learn how to socialize and to make friends and to be a friend (and he's doing SUCH a good job!) But to immediately plunge into romance, which can be complicated, i don't think that would be right for him. I hope that makes sense! I know they're a very cute ship, which makes for fun! But again, I can be a little serious when i ship...

K*r*b*ku kind of falls into similar territory for me? Baku definitely had friends growing up, but he's seemed to always have trouble understanding his feelings and where he stands with others, causing trust issues. Kiri is really the first person he knew where he stood with, a person for him to be comfortable with and feel on equal ground, which i think is such a huge and positive role in his life, and i don't necessarily think that it needs to be romantic - for both of these, i think these relationships are incredibly important, to everyone involved, and making them romantic doesn't make them any more important!! In fact, i feel like them as friends actually can offer a more complex, interesting, and human dynamic between these characters, as sometimes people simply default to romance and then end up pushing for the same old tropes and ignore all the intricacies Horikoshi includes in his writing.

Again, I love Mido's friendship with Todo, and I love Baku's friendship with Kiri. I think these relationships are incredibly important, and friends are incredibly important. People who ship them are having fun, which is so lovely, and i hope they continue to have fun! I hope you personally find more fics about them that make you smile and brighten your day 💖💖💖

Iz**ch*ka is a little difficult, because they certainly are cute, separately and together. I thought they were cutest before Ura was told about her potential crush on Mido, when she was simply a source of bubbly energy and positivity that helped Mido open up and feel comfortable around other people. I feel though that, romantically, it's extraordinarily one-sided, and at this point, i have to wonder if they really are "end goal." End goal for shounen, of course, is hardly ever explicit ahzovndlfjsoxo but i feel like a better storyline for Horikoshi to take would be for Ura to realize that she's been confused, and these feelings haven't really been a positive experience for her. I've definitely gone through things like that as a teenager. Now, the ship can be very cute! They're basically the same person, and they're cute and bubbly! But again, it simply isn't for me.

I think Momjirou is very cute!! Of course, as a lesbian, i sense strong lesbian vibes from Momo, and strong bi vibes from Jirou, and I also saw the ship potential ever since the USJ attack - which i think, so did everyone else ahaovndofjsojfsk they're best friends without a doubt, though i have to say, i really like Kamijirou. She just makes him so soft, and he's so in awe of her, and she thinks he's so funny, I love how supportive he is of her, especially since she can be really insecure 🥺🥺🥺

I also think Ura and Tsu are very cute but another easy ship, and i kind of really like Ochamina 🥺 they're both pink and space themed, they're bubbly and energetic and kick ass, and i think they'd be super cute...

I saved todobaku for last, because, you know what they say, best for last! 😇😇😇

I've said it before, but if there was no Mido (impossible obviously, and i would never want that) then todobaku is where my heart would lie. Baku has never really been shown chasing after anyone except for Mido...and Todo, which really gets at my heart. There's a grudging respect there - very, very grudging ahakckdkfjskdk which i find very appealing! Todo is very important to Baku and he has also been able to show Baku some things about himself that he needed to question and reevaluate. Meanwhile, Todo puts up with exactly 0% of Baku's shit, which i find absolutely hilarious. It's funny to me how Baku wishes to intimidate Todo as he does everyone else, and Todo simply does not care. And Baku wants to be mad, and ends up mad that he can't be mad since Todo is a strong and worthy opponent. They just have such an interesting chemistry, there's so much friction, so much tension, and I enjoy it, particularly since they clearly should be friends, would be great friends, want to be friends, but Baku simply won't get over it 😂😂 I do prefer them as friends, but friends that are incredibly close, two people that understand each other on almost a telepathic level, two people that give each other shit while also refusing to take the other's shit.

I do agree that many people in this fandom seem to think their ship stands on some moral high ground? It could be a disconnect from the previous generations of fandom, or it could also be the growing mentality on this site that everything needs to be a battle of moral superiority, and also that what you like is part of your personality, and if someone doesn't like what you like, then they don't like you or that they think you're factually incorrect. I personally have stopped going into the bn/ha tag simply because I don't enjoy, well, many things i find there, and I'm happy with those that i follow. I've definitely seen hatred and invalidation for both LGBT ships and m|w ships, neither of which I'm comfortable with. I definitely don't go off tumblr for fandom stuff because there's practically no acceptance for any same gender ships, or any queer headcanoning, which, I'll be honest, makes me scared, as i am a very anxious person avdkvndkfje i do think it should be noted that we should be as accepting of cishet ships as we are of queer ships - no debate on this one - but again, you are right when you say that many cishet headcanons have been used to invalidate LGBT voices, and any and all allies must always be aware of this! It is much more often that queer voices are silenced, that queer ships are ridiculed, that queer shippers aren't allowed to enjoy or see themselves. And to anybody that doesn't want to be an ally... Whelp ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what are you doing here ajxkvmdogjdicjsicjsodj I'm gay

I haven't really read much of anything recently, let alone other ships, platonic or otherwise, because energy has been low for me for a long time. I wish i could participate more and support all my friends and other fans, but it's been a bit of a struggle 😣😣😣 I'm so sorry! Something that I can do is make posts and analyses and metas, as those are quick and make me excited, so I'm always happy to respond to asks like these! (I say as i take two hours to write this response...)

I hope people have been taking care of themselves and remember that tumblr is really good at letting you cater to your own interests! I hope if you've made it to the end of this response that you enjoyed it, and you're not mad at me ahsovjekgjsocjwodkso if you are, that's fine, I'm sorry, I probably am really bad at social/internet etiquette and such that help you filter 😣😣

To any who are curious, you cannot change my mind ahdogmdocjdidk thank you to whoever sent this ask!!! A lot of this is a bunch of rambling I've always wanted to talk about but was frankly too scared to post! I hope I made sense and answered everything you were asking!! Please have a good day/night/life!!! 💖💖💖💖💖

[glacialtimeframe]

More poorly structured thoughts on Scott's last couple of posts on the internet culture wars:

I feel like Scott is trying to develop some sort of Turchin style theory of internet culture wars, and I find it weirdly abstract and disconnected from real world events. The model Scott seems be proposing is purely cyclical, in a way that seems totally independent of actual politics on the ground.

Like, all the discussion of trans issues ignores a couple of very simple causal factors explaining trans related internet trends: the timing of anti trans legislation being passed or pushed for by Republicans in the US, and the high profile coming out of Caitlyn Jenner. That explains the spikes and declines much better, with the peaks in 2015 and now.

It's certainly a much better explanation than this:

Like, the Toast stopped being active in 2016! That's a long time ago in internet land. I don't think the narrative from this commenter squares with Scott's narrative

And, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has internet experiences which doesn't match this comment at all. I've never seen any online feminist group explicitly ban or discourage talking about experiences unique to cis women! Like, what ARE these feminist groups!

Is "groups that focus on cis women's issues" code for TERF groups? It..kinda sounds like it. Where is this person looking?!

Mainstream online feminism to me seems pretty comfortable talking about both cis and trans women's issues. It's not like talking about abortions or contraception is taboo in feminist spaces - far from it (and rightly so!).

I've talked about this before but I also really dislike this implicit framing of the dominant model of left wing discourse as a generic activist block engaged in a signalling battle to be the most virtuous. Like, that's definitely something that happens, don't get me wrong. But it's a second order effect. But what about the first order effect of people (not usually full time activists!) responding to people who need help and against bad government policy?!

I'd argue the direction of activist effort (from both pro activists and laypeople) is dictated far more by need and real world events than it is by signalling games or organised strategy. That's ascribing too much agency to an amorphous ever-changing blob of people.

And there's this argument which.....

I'd argue this proves way too much, in the sense that it's just a slippery slope argument applied to any kind of progressive change. Like, you can make this argument about anything! And yes sure sometimes it makes sense to be wary of slippery slope effects, but at the same time if you apply this argument indiscriminately you end up with generic reactionary conservatism.

There are good reasons to think the changes to language motivated by trans and gender diverse people have a natural upper limit in the same way that there is a natural upper limit to the changes to societal norms motivated by gay marriage. Sure, society might be open to Polyamory but there is an extraordinarily low chance society accelerates to widespread acceptance of bestiality, for example. It's just too uncommon a preference (to say nothing of the harm to animals).

In the same way there are good upper bound reasons to be sceptical trans inclusive language will become compulsory for everyone outside of the relatively narrow contexts where it makes sense. For most people going about their daily lives it won't make a scrap of difference if they refer to their reproductive functions in an inclusive way day in and day out. There's no reason for leftist activists to push for enforcing inclusive language in private speech, too. There's just no benefit there to trans/GD people whatsoever, and a massive risk of backlash.

And, you know, if people face a bit more pressure to use inclusive language in a public context, is that so bad? It's like a conservative reaction from 10 years ago to gay marriage or gay antidiscrimination laws: "but then I might have to acknowledge a gay union is equal to a straight one in a public context" or ""but then I can't discriminate against gays in the workplace." Well, yes you might be constrained in public! But will you be at risk of being forced to engage in gay acts at home/in private against your consent? No! And there's no reason for leftist activists to lobby for this - it actively makes the world worse.

People having to change their behaviour in the public domain isn't inherently a bad thing. It's a step further to mandate private usage and actions but we haven't seen the slightest desire by leftist groups to push in that direction and rightly so.

Ugh anyway rant over I just feel like Scott has become a lot more uncritically conservative lately and it's getting to me.

Edit: I guess the other thing that was bugging me about this slippery slope argument is that it's barely an argument at all - it's a feeling as stated explicitly by Scott. And you know, that's fine, conservatives (and Scott!) are allowed to feel afraid of social movements. But at the same time if you're a political commentator (and especially if your whole project is a self described rationalist one!) I do feel like you have an obligation to critically interrogate those feelings and work out if they're actually reasonable fears to have!

Otherwise you risk making the world worse, not better.

[colorisbyshe]

About celebs lobbying for causes/doing some cool activism: Do you think it's fair to ask that of celebs? Does it comes with the job and they owe it to us? Personally, I ask of celebs to be decent people because I try to be one myself and of the people around me, it's not a "celebs only" thing for me. Besides, they're rich, they can spare a few bucks and some lip-service to seem woke. Win/win?

Ehh, I think it’s a lot more complicated than that. Like, as individuals, no one person owes anyone anything. This is especially true when we have minority people in the spotlight--like a gay artist doesn’t owe anyone gay activism just because they’re famous and we can’t use them as “representation” or whatever. Real people are not representation nor it fair to only let them exist as political entities which is dehumanizing.

So, in that sense, no, no one in any context owes anyone activism. Unless your job is activism, it’s no one’s job to provide activism.

Like, it’s not the oppressed’s job to end oppression and nor should we want every oppressor to make it their job to end oppression because... I don’t trust like that. I don’t trust Taylor Swift, who grew up so extraordinarily wealthy that her parents literally spent millions of dollars moving to another state just to fuel their teenage daughter’s music career, to provide a proper framework to attack capitalism or whatever, especially when she has a loooong list of Bullshit she’s pulled including victimizing black people and other women.

I don’t want ever frame activism as something “owed” in the sense that I expect everyone to start sharing their opinions on everything and to rally for that because... a lot of people have bad opinions. Or good/well intentioned opinions with no skills in actualizing them or without realizing the potential fall out. This is how we get bullshit like #HeForShe or white rich kids traveling to third world countries to vlog and “show the world what real poverty looks like!” or whatever.

But I do think that if you have massive wealth and a massive platform, the moral “right” decision is to use that to back up people who actually do know what the fuck is going on. And by that I mean--when wealthy celebrities use their power for “good,” I think that is the only morally right and DECENT thing to do, therefore it does not deserve praise because it is the baseline of “good.”

Just like a cishet person telling of their friend for using the word f*g is just being a decently good human being, not an extraordinarily good human being. The wealthy donating hundreds of thousands of dollars it the moral equivalent of  a “normal” person giving $5 to charity or a pack of socks and tampons to the local homeless shelter.

So in that sense, I think everyone in the world “owes” the world human decency and the bar for “decency” does change with your amount of privilege. Decency is not activism. So, I expect celebrities to donate time and money to kind of more basic “good” work (ie supporting homeless shelters, education) but I don’t expect them to come up with activist frameworks or to provide political insight nor do I think that would even be particularly beneficial.

Like I previously talked about--it’s like when fans got Harry Styles to speak out about “Black Lives Matter,” he ended up giving a speech that became, “Black Lives Matter and so do all the lives of my fans,” where he TECHNICALLY “spread the message” and understood that we need to SPECIFICALLY say that black lives matter just as much as any other lives but he still managed to all lives matter it because he didn’t want to leave out any of his fans.

Activism, when treated like it is “owed” to someone, often gets bungled by people who don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about and they end up outside of their lane.

Decency, when treated like it’s “owed” to someone, is more likely to just result in a net good and is harder to fuck up.

TL;DR: I expect all people to be decent and do good work and the bar for “decency” is higher the more privilege you have. My entire point in my conversation about Taylor Swift’s recent work is that “decency” is not praiseworthy; it is the lowest bar for what can be considered good. When there are rare celebrities using their privilege (or sometimes even their lack thereof) to start real dialogues like Olivia Munn, Laverne Cox, Terry Crews, and they only receive shit for it, we should not be praising people like Taylor Swift for saying “Don’t vote for literal fascists.”

Activism is praiseworthy. Decency is not activism. Decency is just being normal and kind.