#looking at the artist’s wikipedia page like...gay?

[xf-cases-solved]

S1E14: Gender Bender

Case: In what is arguably one of the most "why did you write this??" plots so far, our dynamic duo (per Mulder's request, I might add) investigate the deaths of five victims who appear to have, like... been fucked to death? Or something?

Actually I have to interrupt my own summary here, bc I just looked up the Wikipedia page (yes, bc I was trying to remember the state, shut up), and Glen Morgan is apparently quoted as saying he wanted "an episode with more of a sexy edge." How that ended up being this particular episode, I cannot say. That is an X-File in and of itself.

But I digress. People are dying of mb really high levels of pheromones caused by super mind-blowing sex. Sure. Also no one is sure if this killer is male or female. (They somehow manage to not even entertain the idea that any of the victims might have been gay, which I thought was an impressive feat of elephant avoidance.)

ANYWAY. Their investigation leads them to Massachusetts, where a bunch of sci-fi not-Amish people are chilling out doing not-Amish people things. Stuff kind of just snowballs from there. Mulder jumps down into the not-Amish people's ritual cellar with no backup and then proceeds to reprimand Scully for being reckless; Scully (for the first, but unfortunately not last time) almost bangs someone bc she is being manipulated due to some supernatural phenomenon; I laugh A LOT alone in my work office bc I had forgotten the stupid twist ending; and Nicholas Lea is a starving artist who has to take the roles he's offered if he ever wants to be bumped up to recurring character status. Sigh. Hustling the club scene used to be so simple...

Does someone die in the cold open: Yes. He is fucked to death. Or something.

Does Mulder present a slideshow: Yes! Of dead people! Who were fucked to death! Or something!

Does the evidence survive the investigation: The evidence doesn't even stay on this planet.

Whodunit: A horny alien cosplaying as a gender fluid Amish person. No, seriously.

Convictions: Zip.

Did they solve it: No. This is my very first explicit no with no qualifiers. They 1. did not figure out the cause of death definitively, 2. did not apprehend the suspect, 3. lost literally all of their evidence, and 4. the government wasn't even hiding anything this time, they just got outsmarted by some horny aliens and were left with nothing. In fact, I bet they actually know less now than when they started. Failure from top to bottom, guys, good work.

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: Anxiously clenching your butthole while crossing your fingers and praying that your faves don't say anything TOO problematic. Are you educated in the systematic inequalities facing minorities in the world? Are you aware of how socially accepted language and behaviors have evolved over time to become more inclusive and less prejudiced? Do you also happen to be watching a show that was made pre-21st century, and "oh god, are they doing an episode that revolves around *gender*? Oh Christ. Oh no. Oh God"? Never fear! Anxiously clenching your butthole while crossing your fingers and praying that your faves don't say anything TOO problematic is here!

*This product is versatile, and can also be used in a variety of situations, including, but not limited to: Seeing your favorite celebrity's name trending online and not being sure why; introducing your trans friend to your socially conservative grandma; or being forced to listen to your boss's opinions on "woke culture" after your coworker casually mentioned seeing a black person in a new TV show.

Get clenchin'!

***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 6 (streak ended. brutally)

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, it's me" phone calls: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 4

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 5

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 4 (upped it another half point, bc i don't thiiiink the guy coercing her intended to put her life in danger. he just ("just") wanted to sexually assault her, but also apparently fucking those guys kills you, so. another toss up)

Total Number of Sexually Charged, Uncomfortably intimate, and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 8 (for an episode that was meant to have a "sexy edge," it was deeply unhorny all around, even between our good good coworkers. they should have brought back that horny fire expert from episode 12 to bring up the heat, pun not intended)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 1

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 5

Total Number of Times People Making Out in a Car Are Hurt or Killed: 2 (when i made that stat, part of me was like "mb i am misremembering how often that happens, and it won't even come up that much," and then it happened in the very next episode)

Total Number of Nosebleeds: 4

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Tasted/Sniffed/Touched Something Questionable Without Following Proper Safety Procedures: 2 (don't touch and sniff the weird alien goo wall??? i know for a FACT you keep rubber gloves in your pocket)

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 1

Total Number of Times Someone Says "I Want to Believe": 2

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 2

Total Number of Maggie Scully Sightings: 1

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: still 0, but like, uh... definitely the closest we've come so far

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 4 ½ (yeah i couldn't even pretend that i paid attention)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 2 (i didn't need to, but i did read the wikipedia page anyway just out of pure curiosity, bc why did they write that episode? i mean like, i was entertained, which ig makes it a win, but also just... why?)

[trans-girl-uchiha-itachi]

the edo period bakufu (tokugawa shogunate government) was super obsessed with keeping everyone In Their Place per the class structure (which is where the sumptuary laws came from; can't have the merchant classes running around looking like samurai!) and thus did Not want prostitutes working as kabuki actors (or vice versa). thus the law that women were not allowed to be kabuki actors, as a result of which kabuki theater created the onnagata role:

In order to assimilate the patterns of female behavior they enacted on stage, many onnagata lived and dressed as women both on stage and off [...] So influential were they that women often patterned their behavior and dress styles after those of celebrated female impersonators. [...] [B]oth homosexual and heterosexual liaisons between [Kabuki] actors and their fans were common.

-- Art of Edo Japan: The Artist and the City 1615-1868

living as a woman off-stage as well, you say? you mean there's a defined (and pretty high-status! kabuki actors made BANK!) societal role that permits AMAB people to dress and live as women? how fascinating and definitely not trans of gender at all

(also, according to the wikipedia page on onnagata, the bakufu eventually also banned onnagata roles, which had the extremely predictable result of making all kabuki theater romances gay. good job bakufu)

from what i can tell, the sumptuary laws seem to have been honored mainly in the breach, so: shoutout to the bakufu for 1) being more or less ineffectual at regulating Pop Culture, except for 2) inadvertently inventing drag queens and then making everything gay

[braxiatel]

Goodtimeswithscar is a sexyman and I will prove it to you

If you are still on the fence I encourage you to look at the sexypedia - a wikipedia dedicated to tumblr sexymen - and checking out their tropes page. Scar meets 35/62 on a list where recent winner of the tumblr sexyman poll Cecil Palmer of WTNW fame only has 8 listed on his character page!

35!

Scar is Textbook, and if you need proof I have gone through all the tropes and explained why they apply to him!

VOTE SCAR!

4th Wall Blurring: This one is arguable due to the nature of the medium but I’ll include it

Animal Theming: See: animal hybrid headcanons and designs. Cat Scar, panda Scar, hyena Scar, avian Scar - they’re everywhere!

Angst: That cactus ring… magic mountain. need I say more? This boy has angst. 

Bait: *gestures at the shirtless skins*

Capitalist: she sells sea shells on the sea shore but the value of these shells will fall due to the laws of supply and demand no one wants to buy shells cause there’s loads on the sand step one you must create a sense of scarcity 

Chaoslord: HotGuy! [snipes you for no good reason]

Criminal: shells will sell much better if the people think they’re rare you see bear with me take as many shells as you can find and hide them on an island stockpile them high until they’re rarer than the price of diamond

Con Artist: step two gotta make the people think that they want them really fucking want them hit ‘em like Bronson influencers product placement if you haven’t got a shell then you’re just a fucking waste man

Dealmaker: three it’s monopoly invest inside some property start a corporation make a logo do it properly shells must sell that will be your new philosophy swallow all your morals they’re a poor man’s quality

Distinctive Voice: I do not need to make any arguments here. Have you heard him???

Quotable Catchphrase(s): well hello there, scarred for life, “a-ma-zing”, etc.

Distinctive Laugh: I think I autism stole Scar’s laughter (whoops) so I’m giving him this one too, but also that gigle is just very good and we all know it, right?

Dominating: from the trope description: “Characters who assert their power over others. Could be through manipulation, magic, smugness, or force of personality.” Yes. 

Duality: Convex did not put their whole entire vexussies into that possession storyline for us to forget about it. 

Egotistical: This one is arguable and a question of characterisation, but I think that we can all agree that on some levels, yes. 

Eldritch: From the trope description: “Since the typical sexyman is a tall mostly human looking pale twink, in a vast majority of the cases the eldritch is a heavy implication lying just under the surface.” Hello? Vex Scar?? 

Gay: See subsection: 

LGBTQ+ Coded: That cactus ring. Mumbo “eye candy” Jumbo. The season 7 mayoral race. Concorp. His jolly rancher arc. This man has so many boyfriends. 

Girlboss: listen I think a lot of characters who aren’t traditional girlbosses get called so, but with Scar I think it’s accurate okay. Did Scar utilize girl power effectively when he and Cub were blatant war profetiers during the season 6 civil war? yes. Absolutely. Girlboss. 

Glowing Neon: vex blue anyone?

Hot-headed: Don’t let his calm exterior fool you. Remember. Scar when someone steals his horse: *sets their whole entire house on fire*. 

Intelligence: yes but also see subsection

Smartdumb: Okay listen. Scar is Smart. Scar is very smart. And I specifically have to make sure you know I am talking character only here because cc!Scar seems to me to be a Very intelligent person with a wide field of knowledge. But uhm. c!Scar dies so much and so often in ways that are completely unavoidable. He does silly things without thinking of the consequences. I have seen enough people calling him a himbo (beloathed term) enough times that I do not need to argue this point. He is smart but also babygirl Why are you like this.

Johnlocked: “When two characters are shipped extensively by fans despite the pairing not necessarily being canon (or even present) in the original work.” it started out with a cactus ring how did it end up like this, it was only a cactus ring, it was only a cactus ring

Knifemurder: Hotguy! [snipes you a second time] 

Magnificent Bastard: This Is The Whole Point. Scar oozes charisma even when he is the villain and that’s why he is so beloved. He is smart, he is stylish, he is charming, even while he is killng you. This is the point. 

Marked Canon/Fanon Divergence: “Sexymen with a large gap between how they are in the original work (Canon) and how they are commonly portrayed in fanworks (Fanon)” see : the fake crystals vs Scar actually having magic, the abs being painted on vs shirtless Scar everywhere, etc.

Monster Features: vex scar vex scar vex scar

Nonhuman: like the vex thing is literally canon it’s not fanon those cons sure did vex 

Pale Twink: We could have done many things with this collection of blocks people, and yet my dash is full of shirtless twinks/twunks every day ending with a y. Curious. 

Perpetual Smiler: Okay listen this is partially the nature of the medium but also 1) that is a distinctive smile and 2) have you see the fanworks? 

Power: This man tried to sell fake magic crystals and we all just decided he can do magic. He was an elf once and now fae/elf Scar headcanons are everywhere. 

Scars: I- I’m not explaining myself here. yes??? 

Tall: I can think of one, maybe two portrayals of Scar that have made him short. 

Theme Song: four expand, expand, expand clear forest make land fresh blood on hands five why just shells why limit yourself she sells seashells sell oil as well six guns sell stocks sell diamonds sell rocks sell water to a fish sell the time to a clock seven press on the gas take your foot off the brakes then run to be the president of the united states eight big smile mate big wave that's great now the truth is overrated tell lies out the gate nine polarise the people controversy is the game it don't matter if they hate you if they all say your name ten the world is yours step out on a stage to a round of applause uou're a liar a cheat a devil a whore and you sell seashells on the seashore

Unkempt: so those rugged life series Scars, huh? 

Villain: Scar has been the villain several times and has a Long list of crimes to his name

Technically Antagonist: see 3rd life

Villain Protagonist: unreliable narrator Scar my beloved. I love how he just *does terrible things edited to make him look like he’s just a silly little guy having some harmless fun*

Well-Dressed: Hmmm I wonder why waggon/tycoon Scar routinely wins every Scar skin poll. Also he has enough outfits to include these sub categories too: 

Suitguy: “Characters who typically wear formalwear, specifically suits. Often includes waistcoats, top hats, bowties, and pinstripes. Other neckwear may also be worn.” Again. The tycoon skin really lives rent free in all out minds, huh?

Long Coat/Cape/Robe/Etc: bathrobe wizard Scar my beloved but also do you know how many thirst trap last life Scars I’ve seen?? 

White Twink Humanization: He is made out of blocks in canon. We did not need to make him like this and yet we did. 

White Hair: last life Scar beloved by many <3

VOTE SCAR!

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those who are not aware, I have decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s Queer Cinema Syllabus and have officially started Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class. The films in Unit 2 are: The Way He Looks (2014), Being 17 (2016), Naz and Maalik (2015), The Obituary of Tunde Johnson (2019), Margarita With a Straw (2014), My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Brother to Brother (2004), and Beautiful Thing (1996)

Today I will be writing about

Brother to Brother (2004) dir. Rodney Evans

[Run Time- 1:31, Available- Amazon, Netflix, Language: English”

Summary: “A drama that looks back on the Harlem Renaissance from the perspective of an elderly, black writer who meets a gay teenager in a New York homeless shelter.” from IMDB

Cast: * Anthony Mackie as Perry * Roger Robinson as Bruce 

___

God. You know what. I am really fucking glad that I decided to do this project. Because there are so many beautiful pieces of art out there that I never knew existed and it has been such a treat to experience them now. 

I don’t know if y’all know this about me, but I am an absolute slut for beautiful prose, and this film is just plastered scene to scene with wonderful words. This film is poetry. Which makes sense because it centers heavily around Richard Bruce Nuget, and other famous authors and artists of the Harlem Renaissance: Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Wallace Thurman. This film is woven through with their words, their lives, their experiences. It was just…

It’s a reminder for me that I have a lot more reading to do. 

Because, I’ll be honest, I haven’t read any of their work. I think in high school we were asked to read Their Eyes Were Watching God in my American Literature class, but we were asked to do so as an optional reading over a school break, so no one did it. 

Brother to Brother just so beautifully unpacked the multiple layers of oppression that come from being Black and queer. There are so many conversations in this film about how Black gay men have historically been harmed by white communities for being Black, and by Black communities for being gay. This is not a film where much happens, the forward progression does not really exist. Instead the audience is taken on a journey through the past, to the life and times of the Harlem Renaissance. 

I loved everything about this film. I loved that the memories were told in black and white, that they rooted us in the time. That Perry and Bruce could stand in a corner watching the scene unfold, imaging, remembering the life that existed in Harlem. That they could stand in this broken down home, abandoned and falling to pieces, and remember when it was real, and habitable. 

A decent amount of this film takes place in the former home that Bruce lived in when he and the other famous writers were all living together in Harlem. In 2004, the house is in ruins, condemned, wood rotting, dust everywhere. And there is a moment near the end of the film where Perry sees a door beyond the stairway for the first time and he asks “what’s this door?” and Bruce responds “That was Langston’s room,” and I was just…struck by this weight. This is a film set, I know this, and yet I was just hit with the force of understanding that there are doors all over the world that important people, influential famous historical people slept behind. 

And that includes the closet door.

Bruce Nuget was important for many reasons, but in case you don’t know anything about him, as I did not until like three hours ago, Bruce Nuget was one of the few publicly out gay men of the time. I cannot find much on his Wikipedia page about how he lived, but in Brother to Brother, Bruce is presented as a homeless man. Which, accurate to his actual life or not, was a very important detail for me. Because I have worked with unhoused people in the past, and they are people society so frequently disregards, and there are many assumptions placed on unhoused folk about their contributions to society. Homeless people are so frequently referred to and regarded as net negatives to society, and yet, I know people who are unhoused who graduated from fucking MIT, and who worked as nurses, and how are putting themselves through school right now. And please do not get me wrong here, homeless folk who do not have those types of accolades ascribed to them are just as important and vital to society and their community. 

But to have this prominent, famous writer, painter, artist be unhoused both, in my mind, acts as a metaphor for the destruction that was wrought upon his life as he lost his friends one by one, and as the Harlem Renaissance disappeared in to the Great Depression. And it also serves as a reminder that fame and notoriety do not protect Black gay men. Perry says to Bruce something like “I can’t believe you’re homeless, a respected author of the Harlem Renaissance” and Bruce responds with “I was sleeping in hallways and rooftops then, what’s the difference now? Respected? You couldn’t write about being gay then.” 

Queer people, queer culture, has always been driven and supported by the unhoused, by sex workers, by trans women of color. It is important that Bruce be homeless in this film. It is important for us to see how our society fails its citizens, especially intentionally. 

As a white person myself, I am not certain I have a place to discuss in depth and detail the commentary in Brother to Brother around homophobia in the Black community that is constantly being referred to. So I’ll let the film speak for itself here: 

“James Baldwin wasn’t tolerated. I mean, he was basically silenced because him being gay as a threat to the major leaders of the civil rights movement.” || “I didn’t even know James Baldwin was gay” ||“We’re talking about activism and political struggle, not what people do with their sex organs. If you like to take it up the ass- The majority of people at the time didn’t care that Baldwin was gay, That’s completely beside the point”  || “This class is about Black political struggle” || “And what I have to say has nothing to do with that?” 

“That anger you feel about white people is how brothers feel about me being gay” || “You know if you got in to any trouble, they still got your back.”

“I know about white men and black men, and I’ve been menaced by both.” || “That’s right, and the psychic distance between love and hate is the same as the physical distance between a smile and a sneer”

And since this syllabus is technically a build up towards BL, I want to mention briefly that some of these statements remind me a lot of the messages in The Eclipse. Because The Eclipse discusses as part of its main thesis that in order to keep the status quo, you can weaponize oppressed groups against their own people, or against other oppressed groups as a means of survival. Chadok is a gay man, and his authoritarianism is driven from trying to remain in a position of power. Akk is a gay teen, and he is being manipulated and brainwashed by a gay man in to enacting terrible deeds against other gay teens. 

Similarly, Brother to Brother says: “blacks and queers were the vices that needed to be cleaned up to get the country back up on its feet,” which to me serves to unite Black people and queer people in a common struggle. 

I also drew a parallel between the messages in Brother to Brother and the way that I have been engaging and discussing Only Friends, in a scene where Nuget, Hurston, Hughes, Thurman are discussing starting their literary magazine Fire!! comes the line: 

“They have been so busy justifying their presence in a hostile, racist environment that they’ve ceased to be human beings. With the new magazine we will cease to look for respectability in the white person’s eyes. We will express the beauty and ugliness of our individual selves for ourselves. If anything is deemed disturbing or pornographic, then so much the better” 

And it instantly made me think of the conversations I have been having around queerness and respectability politics/respectable promiscuity in Only Friends. I was thinking about my essays on queer culture, cruising, tearooms, etc. when I was watching a young Bruce Nuget get arrested for engaging in sex in a public bathroom. I was thinking about the Steven Barker photo I added to this post and the photobook it came from, when I was watching Wallace Thurman taking nude photos at a house party. I think Brother to Brother just so seamlessly integrates the realities of queer life in to its story. 

For me, this is one of those “everyone should watch it” types of films. It was beautiful the whole way through. 

For/By/About

Gay Trifecta!

Again, the for is a little tenuous, because I always feel like the race, disability, or class element in this unit’s films is what is supposed to be highlighted. But this is a story of a Black gay man learning from a Black gay man. And those two things are absolutely and inextricably linked. The way this film discusses homophobia, the way queerness is included and referenced, just feels like it is speaking to queer people. 

Favorite Moment

This is really difficult. I think my favorite scene is this moment where Bruce is talking with a bartender friend of his about recognizing someone you barely know. He gives this beautiful line:

“...Their entire past and future flashes right before your eyes. And your heart starts beating faster, cause you know how hard their life’s gonna be. And it just tears you up inside. I just listened and stared at him. And I wanted to hold him. And I looked down at my hand and thought to myself, “Where’d this come from?” You ever think like that? Like, “What’s the hot piece of ass doing trapped in this old man’s body?””

Because there are a few other moments in this film where Bruce is thinking about the past, and he is always and constantly looking at himself as a young man. It is just this wonderful visual representation of adulthood, of aging, and of maintaining a spirit that burns forever young and passionate. And it is especially wonderful to watch, knowing that some of Bruce’s friends died so young. Knowing that by the time we meet Bruce in the present he is the only one remaining. 

Favorite Quote

“I think Langston really taught me about kindness. Zora taught me how to listen, and Wally, he showed me how to use words like weapons and how to have fun with them. Actually, maybe I taught him that.” 

This line is said by Bruce to Perry, and it is, for me, just an absolutely beautiful reminder that history lives right beside us. That these massively important, influential people, were just that…people. They were friends, they learned from each other, they partied, they fought, and they left this world some truly beautiful words. 

Score 

10/10

[pillarsalt]

Wikipedia anon here, i feel SO embarrassed for misremembering so much about that article. the concept of the cotton cieling and the reminder of the sheer amount of institutions/resources that have been taken over by tims/tras makes me so upset i didn't want to recheck the article again, even though i should have. (it was some time ago i saw the rb of your comic and did my first check, then saw your comic again and remembered about doing so, to clarify. yes i'm an absolute mess i apologize)

i appreciate you so much for not only getting what i was trying (and failing lmao) to explain but also looking into and linking the talk page because JFC!!! so sharing differing opinions for a topic (with cited sources!!) on wikipedia is a no-no, but it's totally fine when you and your friends retroactively decide pro-topic views make you look bad and so you delete the entire article and rewrite the definition of said topic to be about generically "being left out of spaces :.-(" instead of being honest about it being homophobic, rapist rhetoric (which is the reason you're trying to hide it in the first place) hoooooooly SHIT

if genderism ever blows over (with how long it's stuck around for, and with no one being willing to talk about objective/legal concerns like the WPATH files and Maya Forestater, let alone even have a conversation with a GC person, at this point i'm not hopeful...) everyone who contributed to the widescale abuse and trauma of women (especially lesbians), girls, gay men, gnc people, and tip (medicalized or not) could spend the rest of their lives begging for forgiveness and it wouldn't be anywhere near enough. not that i'm expecting them to do that, of course. it's not even blown over yet and we can see from the cotton ceiling article that they'll absolutely try to just gaslight everyone and pretend it never happened (and if it did, it wasn't that bad, and if it was bad it was your fault for not doing your research, etc etc)

ANYWAY i'd rather end on something positive, so thank you again for sharing your wonderful art on here!! seeing there's a talented, feminist female artist who's into pokemon and mlp but hasn't bought into trans ideology is so healing for me. hope you have a lovely day!!! :) :) :)

I wouldn't be embarrassed, I mean the article's not completely empty but it's obviously been stripped down to next to nothing compared to what it used to contain, and half the cited sources aren't really relevant at all. They briefly mention the MTF porn actor who coined the term but failed to mention the scores of other popular MTFs who were vehement proponents of the rhetoric (Riley J Dennis is the first one that comes to mind). And yeah that dude in the discussion page saying he's going to be watching the page and reverting any edits he doesn't like, isn't that very wikipedia illegal? I don't edit wikipedia but I'm fairly certain that camping on an article to make sure your edits aren't edited is not allowed.

It's definitely been a trend with "progressives" to flip the script on anything they've done and can see was wrong in retrospect, claiming "no actually YOU said this, not me." It's a very good reason to keep things documented, and I have huge respect for people who keep the receipts so we can hold people accountable for the harmful bullshit they've spread around. (Speaking of which, I think now is a good time to remind everyone that Eli Erlick is a rapist, another interesting fact that has been unsuccessfully scrubbed from the internet.)

Thanks for your wonderful words as well :) Have a great day too!

[hadesoftheladies]

So I’ve been working on an epic fantasy series for the past four years, and this JK Rowling thing has honestly made it real for me.

I’m trying to break into a male/white-dominated genre as a black, feminist woman. Whatever few advantages I do have (my voice, perspective and style being unique as an East African for example, or getting special spotlight from liberals who want to “celebrate poc authors” just because they’re poc) are thrown into complete uncertainty because of my beliefs.

For one, I’m a radical feminist. So I’ve already pissed off white liberals and white conservatives, which, let’s be honest, are the largest contributors and consumers to and in the fantasy sphere. Looking at what’s happening to Rowling and even Chimamamanda, I have no confidence people will be normal about my beliefs. For example, everytime I criticize gender, even online, white liberals accuse me of being pro-colonialism and imperialism, despite me literally growing up in a neocolonial state, having a national independence the same age as my dad, and having grandmothers and grandfathers who were slaves, and the children of people thrown into concentration camps. I’m talked over by white liberals and the moment they can successfully label me a terf, I’m successfully censored as a small artist and critic of oppressive systems. They are so willing to put down pocs that don’t agree with every little thought because their anti-racism has been solely performative.

And I am a feminist, which is high on the list of “most likely to piss off white man.” The increase of anti-woman propaganda, the increase of violence in that propaganda, the virtual and social “witch-hunting and burning”, the insane vitriol spewing from the mouths of men who only wanted a socially acceptable target to spill all their hate on: Brie Larson, Amber Heard, Joanne Rowling, and all sorts of female artists and professionals.

And what about my gay/lesbian/bisexual/transsexual characters and complex egalitarian/matriarchal societies? My books would be banned by my own government to the jubilation and relief of its majority Christian and Muslim population. In East Africa, homophobia is on the up and up. So what I’m looking at is virtually no support.

Unless I keep quiet about everything I believe about the world and myself. But how do you do that? How do you tell yourself “I’ll set aside the very urgent activism that needs to be done for the sake of profit?” How do you feign silence on the oppressed communities and the mistreatment of their humanity? For profit? It would be like cutting off my arm.

But I can’t not make my art. And I can’t not give it. And I can’t not live my life according to what I believe. I am passionate about justice and social change as I am passionate about my craft. How can I give either of them up?

Anyway, I’m gonna do it. Of course. Sales be damned. I doubt I’ll go with a pseudonym, because my books are mine, and my ethnic name is a rarity and victory in itself in the genre. I can’t give that up. I’ll have to be strategic but I have to live my life independent of the world’s regression. How else am I supposed to create a sanctuary for myself and other’s like me? I cannot wait for oppressors to grow a conscience.

Nevertheless, I’m gonna have a lot of banned books and in just my 20s! The amount of censorship will render me a literature outlaw all over the world! :)))) If I ever get a Wikipedia page, it’s going to be hella exciting and one helluva cautionary tale.

[katal0gue]

I disagree w that post about how we shouldn't be looking at Taylor Swift as a queer icon when there are so many actually bi and gay women in pop because all the women cited sing different kinds of pop than Taylor Swift. Taylor sings narrative songs and is influenced by country and the fact that she's a traditionally feminine country girl is part of the fun of a queer reading. You can't just copy and paste that experience to lady gaga even if you respect her as a successful queer woman in music (and she literally does get tons of recognition as a queer icon). Literally do let people enjoy things especially when it is honestly a way more rigorous and creative intellectual exercise than you looking at the personal life section on a bunch of Wikipedia pages lmao. I'm not even a swiftie, out of all the artists in that post I'm Def more of a kesha and Janelle monae girl, but like I love swifties they're so fun and they work so hard

[buffyfan145]

Finished reading a great book and pictured Joseph Quinn as the leading male character!!! LOL :D I read and loved the historical romance novel “An Indiscreet Princess” about Princess Louise, one of Queen Victoria’s daughters who was the first in the royal family to be allowed to become an actual sculptor/painter and attend a public art university, and her romantic relationship with her young art teacher/sculptor Joseph Edgar Bohem and the way the author describes him with his dark curly hair, a cut stubbled jaw line, being tall, and having these intense eyes that not only did I picture Joseph as him but looking up the real guy I could actually see Joseph playing him if they ever made a movie. It actually reminds me of how Joseph looked as Enjolras in “Les Mis” and of course the name being Joseph Edgar (which Eddie is a nickname for but this guy actually answered to and was called by both names). LOL Also that Louise had to immediately sketch him after meeting and the way he could make everyone like him and sometimes had this mischievous look in his eyes. LOL  Joseph Edgar did have blue eyes but that changes so much with book to film adaptations and Joseph fits everything else lookwise, and there’s even scenes were Joseph Edgar’s real personality comes out, especially showing Louise his art studio that actually reminded me of Eddie Munson. LOL :)

There’s also some steamy and swoonwothy scenes too. Plus the fact that they were together for 22 years till he died even though the class differences, the royal family which he also worked for with commissions though a few of her siblings and friends actually helped them see each other, and them both being married (His in name only and before he met Louise and his wife being ok with him being with someone else as they couldn’t divorce; hers being arranged after they met but John’s long been speculated to have been gay and also was ok with her relationship with Joseph Edgar). Though were some sad scenes as Louise found out she couldn’t have children due to having scarlet fever as a child and she desperately wanted to have one with Joseph Edgar (the scandal that would’ve caused though), but he already did have kids and helped her to accept they couldn’t. Then their separation when she and John went to Canada for government duties for a few years. Also loved all the butterfly metaphors and the art they made for each other with the hidden meanings. A lot of this finally came to light over the past couple of decades due to letters to and from their friends/family, Joseph Edgar leaving in his will that so much of his writings and some art be destroyed after his death, and modern historians looking at it all in a different light and of course that one of the actual posed photographs of him is with Louise (the pic on his Wikipedia page LOL). 

I love watching all royal family movies and shows, especially like this since it’s from the Victorian era, and since this actually is similar to Queen Victoria’s own relationships with first Lord M, then her husband Prince Albert, and then John Brown after that (not to mention Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley who are also one of my absolute favorite historical couples) and Louise inheriting both her parents’ artistic abilities and being able to be an artist (which I love all forms of the arts not only being a writer but I had an internship at my city’s art museum in college), that I can easily see this being adapted. For Louise I kept thinking of her as Margaret Qualley but not sure if she can do a British accent since she’s American, but she really looks like her. I’m also going to do a full fancast in a separate post as this would have a lot of actors in it.

Also for us Joseph fans even though Joseph Edgar died unexpectedly of a suspected heart attack, which oddly enough Louise was there when he passed, this book stopped a few years before it with Louise’s greatest artistic achievement (the unveiling of the statue of Queen Victoria that is still at Kensington Palace and Joseph Edgar was there at the ceremony along with all her family) so it actually ends happily and if they adapt it likely would only be shown on a title card after the movie where it tells what happened to them afterwards.  Again I just loved it and can totally see this being a movie and Joseph has to play him. :)

[factrequests]

Request Rules

WHO i will do requests for:

i will do requests for famous artists, politicians, athletes, public figures, television and film stars, online entertainers... anyone who is famous, or publicly associated with someone who is famous. my primary measure of this is if they have a Wikipedia page, however i will also accept it if you can point me to a known public affiliation with a band/sports team/television show/etc. (for example: brian schechter doesn't have a wiki page, but if you specify him as "my chemical romance's manager, brian schechter" i can do the request!)

if there are multiple people with the same name and you aren't specific enough i will simply post the ask and let you know what kind of clarification is needed. (IE: a request for a "jarvis johnson" stimboard would be answered with a request to resubmit with the specification of the youtuber or the texas politician.)

for online entertainers who do not have a wikipedia page, i will also accept being pointed to an online presence with more than 50K followers. (you will have to specify the website. so, i can't do just "eddy burback", but if you say "eddy burback from youtube" i'll know where to look.)

i will not do requests for specific named people who are primarily known to the general public as murderers, war criminals, or sex offenders, or victims of the above.

i am NOT factoring in callouts and allegations: if an otherwise-famous person is alleged to be one of the above, i will still do the request. however, if someone who originally became famous for one thing later had allegations or convictions OVERSHADOW that fame (IE: bill cosby, oj simpson) i will not do the request. i also won't do the request if it feels like bait (IE i'd do a shane dawson request, but if you ask for a shane dawson stimboard with cats i am not doing that.)

this is a very messy topic i am aware; i will be using my own discretion. you can absolutely send an ask if you're not sure! i will still do anonymous requests for these people. so, for example, while i won't do requests for "armin meiwes," i will do requests for "an anonymous gay cannibal."

CONTENT rules:

i will do things based on dark content, such as incest ships, age gap ships, etc. i will do things with nsfw themes. however, i will NOT do those for requests of IRL current minors.

all NSFW requests will be tagged "minors DNI" and i will expect minors following me to block that tag. i can't force you to, obviously, but i WILL block minors who interact with those posts.

i will do pride themed requests, but i will not do pride requests for transIDs, system origins, or harmful paraphilias. i will do MOGAI requests, though! i'll also do national/cultural pride requests.

REQUESTING rules:

-see the WHO section for rules on how to specify an individual -if you're requesting a ship, specify BOTH of them properly, especially if they're from different groups. i would also like to know the ship name if there is one. -for icons and banners, please specify the size or aspect ratio, or the platform you intend to use them for. -for lockscreens, homescreens, and wallpapers, please specify the aspect ratio. -for moodboards and stimboards, please please PLEASE specify colors or themes for me to work with, or what kind of stims. i'm not in the fandom for literally every person on earth so if you ask for just a "jungkook stimboard" and don't tell me what else you want to see i will most likely discard the request!!! -please send no more than 2 requests at the same time- ideally, wait until i've done your requests before you send more.

[kvothes]

went looking for the portrait in this post because i thought it was really lovely—lina gröger, painted by her foster father friedrich carl gröger, 1815

[writing-with-smut]

Here's a story I wrote. now out on ao3 and wattpad. the link is to the ao3 version to read the rest. enjoy :)

“Tell me again why I should help you with your homework?”  

“Because,” Lance whined as he set his books on the library table. “I have an art project with some kid in my class and I'm too focused  on that to do my English assignment.” 

Pidge rolled her eyes as she went back to typing on her computer. It wasn't unusual for pidge and lance to hang out in the library. Sometimes hunk would come and study with them while listening to lance bitch about his assignments. Pidge would continue to ignore him while Hunk gave some kind of advice on studying that would ultimately get ignored. It was  Mostly his English ones.  It was his bitching about another person that piqued Pidge’s interest. 

“What’s her name?

“Him. and keith? He looks like some 2005 emo with a mullet.” Lance visibly cringed as he described keith. Pidge suppressed a laugh, shaking her head. 

“A 2005 emo? With a mullet no less. Other than his appearance, is there anything else bothering you?”  

“He’s an acrylic artist while I work with watercolour and charcoal. He makes it look soOoO easy, but it's not and I hate him for it. Our project is to paint the other titanic style. I'm going to die pidge, DIE” 

Pidge rolled her eyes again, her thesis almost finished. “Its called gay panicking, and you’re going to be fine. Do the project, then forget about him. This Keith guy seems like a nice kid. Maybe you should, oh i don't know, be friends with him?” 

“Who are we being friends with?” Hunk set his backpack on the floor next to his chair. “Sorry i'm late, culinary 3 was taking longer than expected to clean up today” 

Lance’s head fell to the table with a thud, groaning. 

“He’s having boy troubles. His partner in art is hot apparently.”

“I never said keith was hot”

“Keith Kogane?” Lance nodded.  Hunk thought back to his economics class.

“He sits one row down and to the left of me. Nice dude. Sometimes I can see the wikipedia page open on his laptop and it's always some cryptid.”  

“Even better. Ugh, i'm going to jump in front of a bus” 

Pidge  packed up Her belongings, giving Lance a sympathetic look. Hunk clapped lance on the back. “ I know Keith, he’s my co-host. Anyway, Good luck. And don't die yet! We want a full report tomorrow!” 

All Lance gave back was a thumbs up as he packed up his belongings. “psh, I have to go over right now to talk about our project. That bus is looking like a pretty good choice right now” 

They all laughed as he walked out of the library. Their goodbyes echoing in lanced brain as he walked through the long corridors to the dorm rooms. Keith had given Lance his room number earlier in class, so that Lance could come over and they could discuss the best way to go about their project. 

“Stupid fucking acrylics” lance muttered as he gathered the courage to knock on keith’s door. 

Now, the college was one that had dorm rooms built into the college itself. It had four stories, and the shape it made was rather obscure. The freshmen have the bottom floor, the first floor with most of the drama majors and  auditorium for the theatre majors to put on plays. The sophmores have the second floor, and so on. There were two libraries. One in the north wing and the other in the southeast wing. Keith’s dorm room was in one of the farthest hallways, making Lance's trip a nerve racking experience as he thought of every bad possible outcome that could happen. But as he was standing in front of Keith's door now, his mind went blank. His fist rapped on the wood softly, hands clammy as they gripped his bookbag strap and fidgeted with it. 

“Hello?” Keith’s head popped around the door as he opened it, eyebrows stitched together in confusion. He had forgotten that lance would be coming over. His hair was tied back and he was wearing black glasses that framed his face nicely. 

Lance was having a hard time breathing. The window behind Keith had the curtains pulled back. The setting sun cast a rainbow of colour behind him, and lance? Lance was wide eyed  and very aware of the sleep marks that littered Keith's cheek. 

“Uh- what?”

“Hi! You wanted to talk earlier about our art project?” lance fumbled over his words as he spoke.  “ I can come back later if you’re busy-”

“No! No, it's fine. I just took a small nap. Please, do come in” Keith stepped to the side, flashing a small smile towards lance. Lance returned the smile as he walked past. The dorm was the same as his, except there were way more posters on Keith's wall and, wait, was that a cryptid case connected with red string? 

As Lance looked through each case taped to the wall, Keith moved to the mini fridge. “Are you thirsty?” 

“Hm? Oh, no. i'm good, thank you though. So about our project…” lance sat in the ugly green chair that every dorm was provided with, getting the instructions out of his bag. The teacher had provided a list of Do’s and Don'ts for the students to follow. Some included, and were not limited to: Don’t stick anything in the clay, Do use colour, Don’t imprint your body onto a canvas/clay/piece of work. It should have been self explained, but most people wouldn't even read the directions.  

“I was thinking that maybe we should get to know each other more since, well, we’ll be practically naked in front of the other for this project” Keith sat on the other chair, sipping his coke. He nodded, setting it down on the stand beside him. 

“Okay then. I'm Keith, I like cryptids. I have my own blog. Sometimes I go down into the broadcasting room and talk on this show a friend of mine had created. My brother works here, and I hate my roommate. “ pursing his lips, Keith gestured for Lance to go. “Oh, and i have one of the only walk in closets on campus” 

“You- what? No way. Show me.” 

“Show you?”

“Yeah,” Lance shrugged. “I wanna see it. There’s no way that you have the only  walk-in closet on the Garrison institute campus. I call bullshit” 

Keith stood abruptly from his chair, he grabbed lance by the wrist and pulled him to the closet. Stumbling to catch up, lance followed. The room was noticeably bigger than most dorms that lance had been in before. The door to the closet was an eggshell white, and when Keith opened it and turned on the lights, Lance's jaw fell open. 

“See? Told you so”

Lance wasn't listening as he walked into the closet, looking at the shelving. 

“I’ve never seen one built like this. It isn't bad though.” 

The door to the dorm opened. A male voice and a female voice were arguing. It seemed to lance like it was playful arguing, but Keith's face said otherwise. 

“Fuck, that’s my roommate and his girlfriend. I'm avoiding him right now, so we’re just gonna stay in here for a bit” Keith closed the door to the closet, then moved to sit on the floor. 

“What did he do to piss you off enough to stay in a fucking closet?”

“He’s been a huge dick for the past two weeks. It’s nothing but arguing, him bringing his girlfriend over and kicking me out. And then he spilt coffee all over a midterm paper I had finished and did nothing about it. Oh, and lets not forget the time he brought another girl over to makeout with while he’s still dating his girlfriend” Keith huffed out, crossing his arms over his chest. Lance sat next to him. 

“That’s not bad. At least your roommate isn't your friend's brother. Who, by the way, is a walking shitpost. He makes all kinds of meme references in the cringiest ways. Plus he’s super hot, so it's distracting whenever he-”

“You like guys?” The question was mumble. It wasn't a mean question, or even a teasing one, but one of general interest. 

“Yeah, of course. Im bisexual. Usually i lean towards girls, but there's been a few guys that caught my eye.'' Lance sent a playful wink Keith's way. His toothy grin housing that he was teasing. 

“Jesus, lotor. There’s no need to be upset. I said I'd be at the library and I was. What’s the fucking problem?”

“What’s the problem? You were studying with some guy, Allura,  and kept flirting with him! That's the problem”

Keith sighed, pulling his knees to his chest. His eyes travelled around the room until they landed on lance. Many things stood out to keith; like the freckles that littered Lance's cheeks, or the mole near his hairline behind his ear. He was an attractive guy, Keith knew that much. He was gay for god’s sake! But he hasn't told anyone but his brother.  He protested at first when he was paired up with Lance, and he wouldn't be upset if Lance had complained too. But now that Keith was seeing him up close? He didn't mind as much. 

“Do they fight like this all the time?” 

“Yeah” 

Lance frowned. 

“How do you handle that?” 

Keith sighed, looking up at Lance's face. His eyes were stationed on keith. 

“I dont. It sucks, but i can't do anything about it other than drowning it out with music or podcasts”

A crash sounded from the main dorm, and the arguing continued to grow. Lance noticed Keith wincing at it, and decided to do something. 

His hands cupped Keith's face, kissing him softly on the lips. Keith’s eyes widened in shock, but began to close as he leaned into the kiss. As their gentle kiss grew heated, both males manoeuvred themselves; Keith laying on his back, fingers gripping the back of Lance's neck as his tongue mapped out his mouth. Lance straddled Keith's legs, one knee in between. His fingers gripping soft hips. Pulling at Keith's shirt to take it off. Keith obliged as he pulled at lance’s too. 

Grinding up onto Lance's thigh, Keith whined at the loss of Lance's mouth on his. His whining turned to whimpers as lance sucked marks onto his neck, kissing and biting at any part he could touch. Fingers dipping into the waistband of his pants as lance tried to pry open the button without looking.  

“What are we doing?” Keith said between moans, arching into lance’s lips that had trailed down Keith's chest. 

“This-” a kiss to Keith's collarbone. 

“Is-” a kiss to Keith's left shoulder.

“called-” then to his right. 

“A Distraction.” trailing his tongue back up to Keith's lips, he kissed them gently. Reassuring Keith that he wasn't going to do anything he didn't want to. 

“Tell me you want me to stop, and I will.” Keith shook his head, his eyes looking into lance’s. 

“Don't stop. Please, i-,” Keith blushed, turning his face away from lance’s gaze. “Ugh, fucking hell. I need you.”

[lilnasxvevo]

Today my friend was looking up a historical figure on Wikipedia whose name I can no longer remember, and when he saw that the first sentence of the dude’s page had literally eight descriptors for the dude after his name (“So and so was a something something somethingist somethingist something something somethingest something who”) and he said something that I think is brilliant:

“Wikipedia should just have a sidebar of important adjectives and stuff that you need to know about someone”

[helmarok]

Y'know what? I like you *sends you a nice ask to counteract all the hate you get because you're cool and have a massive brain*

1) Honestly, transfemme James is one of my favourite interpretations of them! Like... look at them and try to tell me they're cis. I personally headcanon they're genderfluid with he/they pronouns, but she/they James is such a godtier headcanon I love her

2) Ngl, I feel like all the people saying James is gay and thus can't be with Jessie are just Woke 90s Kidz who watched Indigo League when they were young and make FaceBook posts about how much Ash sucks. Obviously James being gay or Jessie being a lesbian aren't bad headcanons, but getting upset over someone else seeing them both being bi/pan/ply/omni and shipping them romantically together isn't very cash money of these folks. The only bad Rocketshipping is cishet Rocketshipping /hj

3) If I'm being honest, you should make James (and by extension Jessie) even more LGBT than they already are!

4) Being a bit more serious for a second, as a femme lesbian whose fat and has hairy arms, seeing you draw Jessie like that and still portray her as being kind of feminine means the world to me. I rarely see hairy or fat women portrayed in such a positive way (much less femme woman), but seeing one of my favourite characters of all time with those characteristics makes me incredibly happy!

In conclusion, you're a fantastic artist with stellar headcanons and you don't deserve all this hate you get

AAAAAGAGHHHHHHHHJHHJH&38364&4$4&5 THANKYOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

i try to go for that a lot im glad you like my art! i really want other people to see the characters looking different from usually and feel good about it, cuz thats a feeling thats hard to get when fandoms are just a white, skinny, cishet mess.

I ALSO AGREE WITH YOURE HCS FOR JAMES TOO!!! i hc them to be genderfluid as well, though i usually just keep it broad when talking about them by just saying transfem or nonbinary cuz the amount of labels that mf has needs its own wikipedia page... thats why its weird to see the woke assholes being like "it's homophobic to draw james with jessie when james is gay" my guy theyre licherally nonbinary and bisexual but ok 🙄 and dont even get me started on how a weird chunk of rocket fans or generally anyone who likes them thinks jessie is like... cishet i guess. i hc to be cis, but as for the het part????? if you dont see the history she has with cassidy or wendy the Juice Girl, you're just straight up STUPID. jessie loves women and is proud of it and if the writers had balls, she'd go crazy over some fucking rich chicks in canon and you know it

its also a very rare case i see people draw women with body hair, even when they are a progressive artist or whatever. as though hair is the one exception? artists who draw fat women and woc and all that seem to either avoid or forget that many women have body hair and arent shaved clean every waking moment... anyways little rant over, its just really nice to draw jessie being fat and hairy and still just jessie. none of those things makes a difference on attractiveness or femininity, like shes still very much a woman and a beautiful one at that

so thank you for this, anon 😭 at first my heart dropped when i saw the notif cuz i was wondering what hate i was gonna get this time, and this made my week to get something nice for once 🥺💖

[allstarsmash]

whats in my browser: louie is insane edition

11 simple rhymes to help you remember how dale earnhardt died

crouton.net

starman.net’s earthbound walkthru

video of an old choir concert

trying to find a song by googling the lyric “for the life of me i cannot remember” (i found the song btw it’s the freshmen by the verve pipe)

why does my phone keep restarting

a tweet an internet friend sent me about mirror dimensions

the megaman wiki (open to thetis’ page)

a google drive with every episode of whatever happened to robot jones?

the team fortress 2 wiki (open to pyro’s page)

aggie.io

“songs to get your medical license taken away to”

the history of the baseball walkup song

sheet music for the intro to rolling down the street in my katamari

ukulele tabs to intervention by arcade fire

how to remove blood stains from fabric

my deviantart

a website about weird gene names

“does knuckles work here”

a site for watching movies/tv with people

the “security system TAKES CONTROL OF SQUIDWARD’S HOUSE” copypasta

the fucking sonic adventure don’t play track 01 creepypasta

lost media wiki

the sonic wiki (open to tangle’s page)

“‘stop killing people’ um… im literally neurodivergent & also a minor???” (really funny when i have this open next to the page of any possible neurodivergent minor sonic character)

pixel art crochet

sonic mania spriter’s resource

wikipedia guide to werewolves in pop culture

otamatone

r/identifythisfont “what’s the classic tiktok captions font??”

rodin m on fontworks

r/fonts “where can i find a font similar to rodin m?”

the ICD-10

a guide to the ICD

fantasynamegenerators

minecraft death messages (forgot what this was for?)

the human-animal hybrid prohibition act of 2009

“kid in sunglasses dancing”

the most extreme BPMs in dance music

a store with cool paper/notebooks

the twit account of an artist i really like

toki pona in 76 lessons

monty python and the holy grail in toki pona

toki pona dictionary

tails is not gay

goggles i was looking at for cosplay purposes

the undertale wiki (open to the page for butterscotch pie)

a guide to finding 2000s scene clothes

r/icebergcharts

walkthru of trauma center: under the knife

“100 greatest power metal songs”

walkthru of bowser’s inside story

readallcomics (open to issue 28 of sonic idw)

xbox themes and gamer pictures

“Gamer Trying to Name Child After Video Game Character Without Spouse Figuring It Out”

it’s just a ps4

aidn.jp’s gif editor

the rhythm doctor wiki (open to cole brew’s page)

the “i can’t believe we’re both goth and trans!” meme

I Am Forcibly Removed From The Premises

the sonic frontiers announcement video with the sonic and tails vtuber models. sorry

walkthru of sonic 3’s carnival night zone

tiermaker (open to a sonic vocal tracks tier list)

the lyrics to hacker by death grips

I Was Just About To Consume This Delicious Banana

the “steve is drowning” “this ain’t about him” meme

get this party started by pink

“wikipedia editor jacket”

lyrics to edge of seventeen (hehe) by stevie nicks

robotomy

the yetee’s rhythm doctor merch

a sonic adventure walkthru

the tmbg merch store

life grips

“styling long curly hair for guys”

the chao island wiki (open to how to plant seeds)

“if i miss this jumpshot i’ll kill myself”

spreadsheet with every emerald location for knuckles and rouge in sa2

aggie.io, again

a sonic adventure 2 walkthru

“bearer of the curse meme”

“SHINJI CHAIR MEME” (yes in all caps)

elitesonicfan’s merch site

sheet music for gusty garden galaxy

a polecat

vinny’s terminal 7 rant

r/redditwritesseinfeld

“GNC QUOI”

bulbapedia (open to delphox)

a fucking spamton plush

wikipedia’s page on age appropriateness and rating systems

sticker mule

sheet music for white ball by miracle musical

buzzly.art (i’m waiting on that open registration)

“tweet like sonic and his friends are real”

the tvtropes page about time loops

the lyrics to open your heart by crush 40

art of kyo vocaloid for the favorite character bingo

the lyrics to fukkireta

“person standing side to camera” (for art ref)

crow wings

jhariah

and, finally, the lyrics to lose yourself by eminem

[sometipsygnostalgic]

When'd you get into Adventure Time the first time, and how'd it happen? Been thinking of giving it a watch (especially after all the good stuff that's been said of Obsidian and, admittedly, all the stuff I've seen you post and reblog), and it got me curious

This is like my favourite story, and it is the only good one I remember from being a teenager (life from back then has been super foggy since I moved out of my mum's but it is all good now):

When I was 15 I made a new friend who wanted to write a comic about Teen Titans with me as the artist, TT being my second-favourite childhood show after DBZ.

I started bingewatching Teen Titans because I now had a computer and was able to do so. I learnt about the voice actors.

Starfire was played by Hynden Walch. I learnt that Hynden's latest role was Princess Bubblegum on Adventure Time. I checked it out on wikipedia. It seemed kind of cartoony for me.

One thing that caught my eye is when the wikipedia page said PB "may have had a past relationship" with Marceline, the vampire girl with the really pretty hair. I was confused by this, and rationalised it to myself as they must have had a history as friends or enemies. It didn't say what kind of relationship and I thought there was no chance of it meaning "romantic".

For the time being, I didn't look into AT further.

A couple months pass. After several months of tension, I get a text while in school telling me that my dad was breaking up with his fiance, and I would need to move back into my mother's place immediately. This was smack bang when I was about to start my GCSE exams - the timing couldn't be worse. My mother's house is a shit hive and I went between having a tiny box room to myself or sharing a messy bedroom with my sister and mother. There were no standards for hygeine and there wasn't a stable supply of food.

I decide to finish my binge watch of Teen Titans. I spend all day doing this every day. I rewatched it once I was done. It was what I did to cope.

At the same time, my Teen Titans comic friend confides in me. She tells me she thinks she might be a lesbian, and she is scared her parents will reject her. I sympathise deeply. At the time, I was waist deep in the closet to the point I couldnt accept certain things about myself either, but having a friend come out to me made me reconsider LGBT matters.

I looked on deviantart and saw some art for "RaeStar". I thought it was wrong to ship them (I shipped RobStar hardcore) but, well, the art was so cute. Their interactions were healthy and sweet. It was nice. This became my low key first gay ship.

Then, I start bingeing RebelTaxi's Teen Titans video reviews.

Once I am dry on Teen Titans content, I see RebelTaxi did a review on Fionna and Cake, and on Ryan North's Issue #2 of the Adventure Time comic.

The first video, Fionna and Cake, was appealing to me. The show had an amazing art style, and a decent sense of humor. I loved that they did something for the fans, making a genderbent fanfic episode based on popular fan characters. It was unprecedented and very post modern.

....But it was the SECOND video that made me take a very sudden interest in the show.

RebelTaxi was referring to a scene with PB and Marcy in the bottom of the Lich's bag. There is a joke where Marcy turns into a tentacle monster. RebelTaxi always makes hentai jokes when tentacle monsters are involved, but he interpreted this scene as referencing the characters' "lesbian undertones".

...Wait, WHAT? Hynden Walch's character and the pretty vampire have Lesbian Undertones?!?! Haven't I heard this somewhere before?!?!

A quick google search of "Adventure Time Lesbian Undertones" later, I discover the Mathematical! Controversy - how an episode with some incredible songwriting seemed to imply they had been girlfriends in the past who have residual feelings for each other. A podcast had been made by the producers fangirling about this possibility, but it was taken down, and the director fired. Nobody had outright said the subtext was not there, but they said they didn't want the podcast to sound like word of god. There had been a lot of upset in the gay community over this. Oh, by the way, there's a gay community of cartoon fans who really ship PB/Marcy.

With a combination of everything, from how my friend had just come out to me and was struggling with homophobia, to how I was a Hynden Walch fan, to how the show had already impressed me with what little I'd seen, I became IMMEDIATELY invested in finding out as much as possible about these potential LGBT characters and their relationship.

So I checked out a ton of Adventure Time videos on youtube. I checked the vids that had Marceline's backstory in, vids with funny moments from PB and all the other characters, I checked Deviantart for fanart where I made my first engagements with the fandom's gay community, I checked the Wiki talk pages to get ALL of the discourse. It changed who I was basically overnight.

I decided Adventure Time was a fun show with clever writing, and absolutely worth my attention. During the break for exams, I binge watched it all day, and then I would cram for my GCSEs between midnight and 3am on the day of the exam. I was addicted!

When I caught up, Goliad aired. This was the first ep to come out with me being in the fandom.

At the time, even though Hynden had drawn me to the show, Marceline was the character I was most invested in. She had the amazing backstory and music and character design. PB was fun, but there was relatively nothing to her character.

Oh boy, that ALL CHANGED with Goliad! People were intensely debating what the episode was saying about her. Is she a good person, a bad person? Why was she so troubled in the episode's opening, and why was Goliad corrupted?

Discourse only escalated with Princess Cookie. The top post on the wikia was "Is Princess Bubblegum evil?"

Thinking about her character was so interesting for me. These two episodes made me realise PB was a character with her own internal battles, who was struggling with the responsibility to do what was right for her people vs what is the Right Thing, with her own psychological wellbeing caught in the middle. My interpretation of Goliad was that PB was a naturally neutral person who had decided to be good, whereas Goliad had been corrupted by Jake's anger, and this contrasted with Finn who was a pure good person. The Princess Cookie episode reinforced my ideas, because she was doing something that was neither objectively good or bad but was a result of her own morality, and it went against Jake's morality. The idea of the "good guys" having such different values was so engaging, and they managed to come around at the end, with baby-snaps being submitted to rehabilitation.

Princess Cookie was also the first episode where PB was shown to be an adult while a currently adult character was a child. Either candy people age quickly, or - more likely - Pb is keeping her age a mystery. After thinking about this, I opened up a page on the wiki forums saying "Is Princess Bubblegum Old?"

This is what sealed my position in the fandom. I became a well known regular of the community after that, on Wikia and then Tumblr. It was my first fandom. So many good memories of theories, debates, analysis and fanart, the satisfaction of my theories being confirmed in season 5 onwards.

The most important thing to me, about engaging with the AT community, was how those initial interactions around the LGBT content were the groundwork for me being comfortable coming out of the closet. If it wasn’t for that, if it wasn’t for speaking specifically to Thisfreemind and Illeity about how gay relationships are perfectly fine and healthy for kids to see, and no less clean than straight relationships, I might be a person with far more conservative views today, and I might have fallen out with several of my closeted friends over internalized homophobia.  

I would have also probably failed high school. My grades improved drastically over the next year, because my online community life had made me happier.  It was comfort and stability during a difficult couple of years. 

[piduai]

this has been on my mind for a while, i feel like at this point women mangaka are generally just better people than their male peers. id love to hear some manga ud recommend by women, or even counterpoints, but series like Dungeon Meshi and Full Metal Alchemist (among others) handle almost every concept way better and with more tact, from writing complex stories and compelling characters, to treating women like people and not literal naked rubber dolls colored in and posed like p*rn

you are so correct and right and speak the truth. female mangaka are superior. the only thing i’d say women don’t do inherently better is technical skill, there’s a ton of men who are very artistically talented, but arts such as drawing and music are sexless because they come from within and aren’t influenced by external factors such as upbringing and culture like storytelling is. everything else though is done better by women.

the problem with female mangaka is that they’re gatekept in the industry big time. if you google ‘top selling manga of all time’ and go to the wikipedia page, there’s only one woman (kimetsu no yaiba) and she’s hiding behind a male pen name just like arakawa hiromi did when fma was publishing. neither of these are a coincidence. women are generally discouraged from pursuing writing, and if they do so they’re supposed to be kept to female-catering genres such as shoujo, josei and BL, which are all much less mainstream, aka much less known and much less money making, than shounen. women having to go behind male-sounding pen names just so men don’t feel emasculated when consuming their stories has been a thing since forever across many different cultures. misogyny is universal.

however since i personally am more into grittier stuff and i love gratuitous violence and other Mature Themes i just naturally gravitate more towards manime with all its faults. my favorite genre overall is comedy though and women ARE much funnier and wittier and more clever. female mangaka also typically avoid drawing gore, which i guess is cultural but a shame.

i’m not a manga person, i prefer watching anime, so i compiled a list of my favorite anime based on manga written by women a while ago. i am VERY picky and nitpicky and very, very difficult to please so keep in mind that the list is not comprehensive in the slightest, it’s just things that i personally liked. there’s tons of non-shoujo stuff written by women that generally have a good reputation (ao no exorcist, gangsta, kuroshitsuji, noragami, d gray man, magi, xxxholic etc etc etc) that didn’t stand out to me at all so again, short as it may be the list isn’t comprehensive in the slightest, i’m sure that people who are more easily entertained than me could come up with much more names. anyway everything else is copy-pasted, i know you know of fmab but it needs to be included because fmab is my favorite series of all times:

anime based on manga created by female writers that is in fact not heterosexual shoujo/BL garbage and i liked (bc i saw a post talking about female mangakas and all of the examples were in fact heterosexual shoujo/BL garbage that i unfortunately do not like and my anime opinions are super important obviously):

fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood (adventure/action) any comments on why fmab is the best product the anime industry has ever put on the market that will not be outranked ever is tired at this point. fmab is a masterpiece through and through. most of the cast including the mcs is male tho, which is sad

saraiya goyou (historical/drama) if fmab didn’t exist it would have been the best title out there. the word masterpiece was invented solely to have a concept to describe it. the ost makes up about 40% of its greatness and was also written by a woman. too bad all the characters are also dudes

acca: 13ku kansatsuka (drama/political) not quite as good as saraiya goyou but from ono natsume as well. pleasant is the word to describe it. relaxing. most of the cast is male.

dorohedoro (horror/gore/comedy) the best title since like 2006. everything about it is great. i don’t have a single criticism and that’s rare. the cast is actually balanced and the Female Characters™ all 3 of them are like, written like people and are also queens

hachimitsu to clover (slice of life) saddest shit i’ve seen in my whole life in a colorful packaging. heterosexual as hell but not in an obnoxious way. cast seems diverse but it’s predominantly male

3gatsu no lion (drama) from the same great umino chica who is a master at writing uncomfortable truths and playing on emotions. she’s great truly, her character crafting is genuine but it gets under your skin, it’s filled with melancholy. 3gatsu is actually better than hachimitsu to clover but 1) i have history with the former so i like it better and 2) it was produced by shaft which is a sin in itself. they did a great job and all, i just hate the studio. has 3 speaking female characters in total but all 3 are great.

hoozuki no reitetsu (comedy) it’s hilarious it’s fresh it’s pretty it’s original it’s creative it’s clever. i love everything about it. the whole cast is male with like 2 exceptions and a rabbit (best girl).

saiunkoku monogatari (historical) i know it LOOKS like heterosexual shoujo garbage but it in fact isn’t. fits the reverse harem trope solely because everyone is in love with mc, but there’s next to no actual romance in it. unironically a feminist power fantasy. i’m still shooketh at how incredibly pleasant it turned out to be. the mc is a young girl but the rest of the cast is almost exclusively male.

arakawa under the bridge (comedy) surprisingly… by shaft again. maybe i am prejudiced. anyway, hilarious to a fault. is technically centered around a str8 romance but it’s not too invasive so whatever. cast is pretty balanced and the women are written smartly.

saint oniisan (comedy) THE funniest thing i’ve ever watched, or nearly. it’s just great. same author as above. cast exclusively male

doukyuusei (gay romance) which i refuse to categorize as BL simply because it’s not BL. it’s a good gay story, arguably the best one yet. cast is exclusively male but i mean lmao

gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun (comedy) straight to A FAULT but funny nevertheless. is, technically, heterosexual shoujo garbage. but SOME heterosexual shoujo garbage can stay i guess. cast is balanced, there’s still more male characters tho

gokusen (comedy/action) which i don’t remember much about except kumiko being best girl and me liking it. if i remember liking it it means it was good overall just not memorable. cast is exclusively male except mc.

kaleido star (sports) which is the ONLY good, or like decent, or like watchable sports anime, the rest don’t exist. not based on a manga but the writer is a woman which is strongly felt through and through. good story about perseverance and will and optimism and competition. cast is predominantly female and all of them are wonderfully written

michiko to hatchin (adventure) again no manga but main writer is the woman known for creating the skating BL people pretend isn’t BL. michiko to hatchin is way better than the skating BL, but i’m just a humble girl. tons of sexy sexy i could have lived without but otherwise good shit. cast predominantly female.

mushishi (mystery/fantasy) mushishi is just unique. it has similar vibes to saraiya goyou and natsume sure, but ultimately it’s one of its kind. it has what ghibli wants. again no criticism about it at all except that it’s SO chill that binging it is super tiring. cast is predominantly male but it has few reoccurring characters so who cares.

natsume yuujinchou (mystery/fantasy) again similar to mushishi but less grim. chill story, the definition of wholesome unproblematic etc whatever kids are into these days. cast predominantly male but not memorable in the slightest

petshop of horrors (horror) watched it a million years ago so don’t remember shit but i do remember liking it. cast is probably predominantly male

sakamoto desu ga (comedy) well THE actual funniest thing i’ve ever watched, it licherally had me in tears, i watched the new episodes like 3 times on the days they came out, including watching them on tv in real time at like 3 am or whenever it aired in shinya. just really really funny. cast predominantly male.