#big thoughts abt sexyman discourse

[truckfreaks]

this is honestly kind of hilarious to me bc even if WTNV is 2012 and UT was 2015, Cecil was never in the sexyman camp - and he definitely could have been, because i posit that while most ppl say tumblr sexyman antics began with the onceler, i'd argue it actually began even earlier than that.

if we REALLY wanted to talk "heritage sexyman throwdown", i feel like we'd be remiss not to mention the absolute chokehold dr. who, supernatural, and sherlock had on ppl. and those *definitely* suffered from the sexyman treatment (skinny white man angst, endless AUs, no holds barred in-fighting, OTP wars, problematic shipping... you name it.) i mean it, that shit was the BLUEPRINT for modern fandom fuckery. i'd seen ppl threaten other ppls lives simply bc someone said boo about benedict cumberbatch's flat ass.

and even if it didn't explode until 2011ish, i'd say fwiw homestuck deserves a spot in honorable mentions too, cause baby, gamzee makara crawled so every awful characterization of human!bill cipher could run. i get *why* it isn't included (they're canonically kids) but back then you couldn't escape the deluge of gamzee content, nor the swathes of sweaty teenagers who would buy Rockin' Rye on their parents credit card in time for the big local convention for extra cosplay points.

and this is no hate on any of these communities, tbh, bc again, i'm arguing we wouldn't have the ironic sexyman landscape we have today if it weren't for these worlds colliding.

i am glad we are past that point because for the most part, i really feel like most Fandom Toleraters are chill these days enough not to repeat the mistakes of our past. but you gotta remember where you came from to know where you're headed, yknow? so, uh, cautionary tale or not, i'm happy to see people debating this stuff civilly across the board, rather than how it used to be. tumblr really grew up in a big way from my perspective over the last 13ish years, and i love what this place is now.

the funniest thing to me about this whole tumblr sexyman debate is that it's being presented as like "tumblr veterans" who love cecil vs. these new young interlopers who love sans when like

but

girls, girls. you're both elderly.