#so tired of tumblr discourse making people second guess themselves

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 304: The Council of OFA

Previously on BnHA: Hawks and Best Jeanist were all, “what up Todofam, we are here to apply for the positions of ‘son #4’ and ‘weird uncle’, respectively,” and then proceeded to insert themselves into the family drama without waiting for an answer. Hawks briefed Endeavor on the nation’s current status of “totally fucked”, promised to help him sort that out, and then asked him about OFA. Endeavor was all, “oh do you mean One For All, the mysterious thing that my intern Deku was apparently being targeted for?” and then we cut away, presumably before Endeavor could clarify that it never occurred to him to follow up on that, and Hawks was all “no of course not, why would it occur to anyone other than me to follow up on any of this super weird and ominously important shit.” Anyway so meanwhile Bakugou was all “LET ME SCREAM AT DEKU UNTIL HE WAKES UP” and the other kids were all “NO”, and then the chapter ended with All Might being all “I wonder what the vestige!me is currently chatting with Deku about.”

Today on BnHA: Deku drops in on the Vestiges, who are all “sup Deku, how do you like our fancy chairs.” OFA II and III are all “if you need us we’ll just be standing here silently in the corner pretending to be invisible and sparking endless discourse with our mere existence.” OFA IV is all “and now I will explain to you in a very convoluted way that you being quirkless was actually a good thing, since it means that you are probably not going to suddenly drop dead at the age of twenty. But also you’re probably going to be the last user of OFA for that very same reason.” Deku is all “that is wild. I’m just gonna stand here and stare at my hand.” Nana is all “so now that that’s settled could you please do me a small favor and kill my grandson for me”, because having just one topic to discourse about this week WASN’T ENOUGH, apparently. Thanks so much Horikoshi.

(ETA: okay so just a note before I start, this week’s RHA translation was a huge mess, so I followed up this chapter by reading a couple of other translations. the main one I’m using for reference is the one by @hanashimas​, whose weekly posts I highly recommend. anyway so you’ll see a couple of ETAs in this post in places where the initial translation was off.)

how many layers of bandages did they wrap this poor kid’s fucking hand in omg

jesus Deku. are you holding onto a bouquet of flowers under that thing?? or a tennis racket??

omg yes, finally

is he reading these names off a teleprompter lol. and if so, what has Jeanist ever done to slight you, Deku? “god bless Kacchan and Aizawa-sensei and Todoroki-kun and everyone else in the whole wide world... except for Best Jeanist. fuck that guy.” actually this joke would be funnier if half of tumblr didn’t legit feel that way lol but anyway

OH MY GOD

I NEED TO HAVE A TALK TOO. ABOUT, OH, EVERYTHING

I got immediate KHR vibes from ALL OF THIS. this is seriously such a Vongola aesthetic. “let’s use the luxuriously cushioned chairs with the seat backs that are ten feet high, and arrange all of the handsome ghost people in a big circle” like come on

that said there are also some slight LoTR vibes as well. “bring forth the ring, Deku”

I like how Six is sitting there with his feet drawn up all casual, but with his arms inexplicably sticking STRAIGHT OUT IN FRONT OF HIM and dangling over his knees like he’s doing some sort of zombie walk

apparently the Fourth wasn’t a big fan of shoes huh

interesting that All Might is the only one who’s still faint/indistinct, and and that Two and Three are fully visible

(ETA: the rest of my speculation about Two and Three has been moved into a separate post, the better to focus on the shit that’s actually happening in this chapter lol.)

and lastly, interesting that all of them are talking now, except for All Might (and I guess the Second and Third as well). to the best of my knowledge Deku hasn’t unlocked the Sixth’s quirk yet, so I guess the quirks don’t really have anything to do with it

oh and it looks like Deku’s mouth is still covered. I guess that’s convenient for the vestiges since we all know it’s hard to stop Deku once he gets going. but on the other hand it’s very inconvenient for people like me who wanted to see some interaction. alas

so First says that OFA’s power has grown a lot in the last four months (i.e. since Deku unlocked Blackwhip), and now the vestiges can communicate with each other as well as Deku

so even when Deku’s not around they can all just chill with each other. this is such a weird thing to me lol. like it’s cool, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also strange as hell to know that you’ve got eight other people hanging out in your head spying on everything you do and having conversations with each other about it. it would be like if Dark Shadow had someone to hang out with other than Tokoyami. good thing you weren’t triplets, Tokoyami

First says that it’s become easier for the vestiges to interact with Deku ever since TomurAFO barged into the OFA Domain back at Jakku. huh

(ETA: apparently this is because AFO forcibly pulled out OFA’s power when he was trying to steal the quirk, so I guess that makes sense.)

okay thank you Banjou for addressing this concern which I initially brought up as a joke, but which was apparently real enough for you to reassure Deku about

“don’t worry, even though we’re awake and hanging out inside of you at all times, we’re definitely not secretly watching and making fun of every single thing you do” hmmmmm

(ETA: “not that you could do anything about it even if we were, since you’re probably going to be the last OFA holder ever!” I don’t trust anything this asshole says lmao.)

OH SHIT??

YESSS DEKU now you can hold them accountable for all of their bullshit! because I do not doubt that there will be bullshit lol but let’s see how that goes

oh damn

well okay then. you didn’t have to stand up and walk over to him and loom all threateningly like that but okay sir

this guy has kind of a Kimimaro vibe to him. remember? that bone-growing guy from Naruto? except I’m pretty sure he had eyebrows. and wasn’t twenty feet tall. speaking of which, that explains the chairs

why are you wearing only 3/5ths of a shirt

lol what

someone’s gonna have to explain this to me. is he just redundant or something lol, or is he strangely poetical or what

(ETA: apparently HE’S MAKING A PUN omg. I immediately gained +10 love for him lol. also it flows a lot better in Japanese. this is one of the things Caleb is usually good at, so we’ll see what he does with the wordplay.)

omg the hermit theory is true!!

“I’M NOT WEIRD, IT’S SOCIETY WHICH IS WEIRD.” lol whatever you say buddy. also love how Banjou tried to give him a big hearty slap on the back but Hermit Boy was not having it lmao

IS HE TRYING TO CAPTURE HIM WITH BLACKWHIP

AND ACTUALLY, NO, SIR, AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE ARE NOT AWARE. SO SPILL!!

?!!?

okay my first response was LOL ARE YOU SERIOUS, THAT’S THE BIG SECRET!? -- and then it hit me what the significance of “died from old age... AT AGE FORTY” meant. at which point it was like “!!!!!” and then “OH, SHIT”

(ETA: there’s also an Iida joke here somewhere but I’m just too tired to make it.)

oh my god oh my god

did he somehow get a copy of the coroner’s report or something? like how does he even know that he died from “old age” as opposed to any number of other natural causes? ??

but anyway. so this is the quirk singularity coming into play then I guess. but then how come All Might is still alive and ticking?

(ETA: so this is one example of where this week’s translation is a mess lol. apparently the Fourth explains here that he didn’t know what the fuck he died from until All Might researched it. and it turns out there actually was an autopsy lol so there you go.)

so Fourth says he held OFA for eighteen years, and since he knew he would never be strong enough to defeat AFO on his own he basically just spent all his time punching rocks in the woods and training to power the quirk up

oh shit

is he implying that his body literally fell apart?? like that’s how he got the scars on his face? -- IS THAT WHAT KEEPS HAPPENING TO TOMURA, THEN. oh shit

DUDE

so you’re telling me that this quirk actively shortens the lifespan of anyone who uses it?? and my little boy here has had it now for a year already?? fuck me, I have immediately have a TON of thoughts about all this but let me save it until he’s done with his explanation

THANK YOU, DEKU

right?? how come All Might didn’t die then. even after he got injured. please don’t tell me he actually is dying still and is just being slow about it because I SWEAR TO GOD

what does this mean??

so what you’re trying to say is you all have NO FUCKING IDEA how long Deku’s gonna be able to hold this quirk before he SUDDENLY DROPS DEAD?! five generations ago this dude was able to hold it for eighteen years, and then four generations later All Might was able to hold it for thirty-odd years or so, and now Deku has it and you all have no clue which way it’s gonna go? actually this makes it sound like it really wasn’t OFA that killed the Fourth at all and you guys are just really bad at forming hypotheses. but since you’re making a big plot point out of it I guess it must be true

and don’t think I didn’t notice the part where you said you didn’t have OFA very long and then “died while fighting”, Firsto. I want to hear more about that. specifically who you passed the quirk onto before your death

and yes, if we are agreeing that OFA was the cause of the Fourth’s death, then the conclusion on this next page is the natural one to draw

so that’s a bit of a relief then, because Deku is quirkless too. so it means he won’t be able to hold OFA forever (and will probably have to find another quirkless person to pass it on to), but at least he won’t be randomly dying out of the blue next Tuesday or something

oh my god now he’s talking about OFA and AFO and user consciousnesses and all sorts of good theory stuff but it’s so much exposition. you’re really gonna make me read all this lol

wait what. why would All Might being quirkless have anything to do with the presence of his vestige in OFA Outer Space Party Land

but Deku is also quirkless and he’s clearly visible and chatting with you guys. so what gives. like how much of this is verified fact and how much of it is you guys just shrugging and making stuff up lol

SERIOUSLY, GUYS

BUT DEKU IS ALSO -- you know what, never mind sob. none of this shit makes any sense but whatever

(ETA: seriously, this all seems like an awful lot of speculation on their part. for Deku’s sake I sure hope they’re right.)

FSSKDJFLSKLKJLKJL ALL MIGHT IS FIFTY-FIVE?!

lol that’s a full ten years past my closest estimate, wow. but this pretty much confirms his age now at last! or at least confirms it within a couple of years, because we know All Might and Nana met when he was in middle school, and he presumably had the quirk by the time he took the U.A. entrance exam. so yeah. gonna go with fifty-five

so they think that because All Might was quirkless, OFA was better able to adapt to his body and became his true quirk, as opposed to being an extra quirk that stacked on top of the one he already had and overwhelmed him. ties in back to the whole “AFO used to bend people to his will by forcing quirks on them” thing, as well as the “Noumus are all mindless because of the strain of having multiple quirks”

Two and Three are really ruining the serious vibe of this scene here lol

they look like they’re doing the counting for hide and seek

and is this Deku talking now? I was about to get mad at First for implying that quirkless people are somehow freaks, as opposed to “normal” people jdslk

so in other words, don’t go giving it to your best friend all casually for shits and giggles, Deku. even if it would make a really cool climax for a movie. well shit. maybe that’s why they were so quick to nope back into Deku’s body afterward

so First says that because quirkless people are becoming rarer and rarer, the fact that All Might just happened to stumble upon Deku is “nothing short of a miracle.” which, yeah, that was definitely a stroke of luck there. being quirkless saved his life. but being quirkless is also part of why he was chosen in the first place, and we’ve always known that much

“in other words, kiddo...”

looks like there was some hurried clone stamp usage going on here lol. but props to RHA as always for putting this scan out so fast, especially given how exposition-heavy this week’s chapter has been

“anyways, that was the main topic” ARE YOU SERIOUS. there are like ten other topics imma need you all to get to here, people

(ETA: seems like this is a mistranslation; the line should actually read something more along the lines of “and now for the main topic.”)

FFFFFFFFF

“ENJOY YOUR CLIFFHANGER THIS WEEK.” dskfalkjlkjwlgkjl you really went and dumped this discourse on us yet again. fucking...

(ETA: forgot to mention, but as several people mentioned, this seems to be another mistranslation -- rather than asking Deku to kill Tomura as though it’s doing her a personal favor, Nana is asking “will you be able to do it.” in other words more of an “are you capable of doing it” type of thing. which is a very reasonable question to ask given that Deku is, well, Deku.)

anyways, and the answer is obviously going to be “no” of course. this isn’t going to end any differently than when the previous Avatars all told Aang to kill Ozai. but I guess it means we’re in for a fun conversation next week

so Nana looks pretty grim here though (nothing at all like the person who once taught All Might the importance of saving people with a smile), and I’m wondering if this means she believes that her grandson is already beyond saving. as in killing him would be a mercy, as opposed to him continuing to live with AFO bending his mind and body to his will. except if that is the case, I think she’s underestimating Tomura’s own will. and definitely underestimating Deku’s will to save

and also, just... I’m so fucking sick of AFO screwing the Shimura family over, honestly. this is exactly what he wanted. well fuck you, guy. you don’t get to have what you want. go out there and save Tomura, Deku. for his sake and for Nana’s. give them some hope. do your thing, boy. can’t wait for your big speech all about it next chapter lol

[janiedean]

Hi! I'm the Plato anon for before. First of, thank you so much for your offer, but I think I managed on me own. Second, could you elaborate on the "analysing as YA" vs "analysing as an adult" approach? I assumed that "discourse people" on this website generally don't go beyond "antagonist is bad because they are against the hero!" out of ignorance/lack of interest except to score Internet Fame Points, not that it was due a specific mindest. I also don't really read YA (except Tiffany Aching)

TIFFANY ACHING!! T_T ANON LET ME HUG YOU it’s like the only YA I actually liked in my entire life apart from nick hornby’s one book but that wasn’t typical lmao

THAT SAID, well your discourse people point is pretty much part of it but since I’m here and I can rant have the entire thing I was too tired to hash yesterday ;) so, in order:

first thing, we need to establish that ya books and **adult** books generally have different target audiences which is fine and good because obviously if you want to write a thing you’ll do that for An Audience That You Have In Mind; this doesn’t mean that adults can’t read ya or that teenagers can’t read **adult books** because everyone can read what they want (and personally for one I never cared for ya in my entire life not even when I was the target audience), but it simply means that some books are meant to be liked by one category first and eventual others later and they need to be talked about in that specific context first and everything else later - then there might be books that are aimed for kids/young readers or sold like that or that can be read on more than one level which can be appreciated for different things later in time (for example I read huck finn at sixteen and I absolutely loved it but it was a book that here is seen as good reading material also for eight year olds, and at eight I wouldn’t have liked it for the reasons I did at sixteen, and if I read it now I would still like it, while a bunch of the books for kids I read when I was seven is stuff I enjoyed then but forgot now and probably was good for that age but didn’t stick with me);

second thing, that means that when I discuss a young adult book aimed at teenagers I will never hold it to the standards I would hold a book aimed at a general adult audience, especially if it’s the kind of ya like dunno as stated the vampire diaries aimed at teenage girls which is obviously the kind where you have the fantasy world with the hot dark guy who swoons the high schooler protagonist off her feet etc because that stuff is basic teenage girl fantasy 101 and like... I’ll expect a bunch of romance tropes, the usual push and pull, the guy eventually being into her, the protagonist being someone a fourteen year-old can see herself in, probably a few sexual elements thrown here and there and so on, because that’s the shit marketed at fourteen year-olds who want to read that and like... it’s really not that deep. I can’t ask the vampire diaries to be moby dick because it’s not meant to be. or, if I read percy j/ackson - which is another thing I have zero interest in but I know about because I see tweets from the author - I expect to have a bunch of teens coming into their own coming from different backgrounds because the author wants to represent properly a lot of categories so most of his readers can have someone they can see themselves in and like if a thirteen year-old who suspects being lgbt or whatever sees themselves in the gay kid from per/cy jackson guess what that’s what that book is for, so I won’t judge it on like... being a faithful representation of greek myths or how good the style is or whatever, because even if to me it’s not top notch writing or has a plot idc about it has to be for teenagers and pre-teens, not for me, a thirty year old who again didn’t even like pre-teen aimed literature when she was a pre-teen;

third, I can extra clarify it using the damned hp discourse, as in: when I say I’m tired of people not reading anything else or reading everything like hp, it means that they read it when they were growing up/were teens and it was aimed at them which is fine, but then twenty fucking years later when the people in question are way beyond their twenties (guys I’m almost 32 and I remember when the first one came out come on) when talking about any single piece of media in existence (movies, comics, other books) use hp characters/situations as the terms of paragon - like guys I had to read sn/ape comparisons with theon and ky/lo ren on the basis that THEY’RE GREY CHARACTERS as if sn/ape is the only grey character that ever existed, people keep on talking about vold/emort as the only bad guy that ever existed and so on, and like... you can’t talk about, idk, asoiaf or any book aimed at an adult audience like you’d talk about hp, because at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if I read comparisons between sn/ape and ivan karamazov and I think I don’t need to specify how completely nonsensical that would be;

now, with all of this explained, what I mean is: ya in general - which is not a fault per se of the genre since it’s aimed at teens and pre-teens - tends to have... very fixed narrative schemes depending on which teens it’s addressing - like, stuff like tvd or twilight is obviously the romance teenage girl fantasy where you have the girl fighting to be with the dark beautiful supernatural creature in question, per/cy jackson is more like I’ll give you a bunch of relatable characters having cool adventures against bad guys with the occasional redemption so we can see that people are redeemable but you still have right vs wrong, hp is sort of like that in the sense you get relatable-ish protagonist with relatable friends growing up throughout the entire thing and fighting on the good side vs the evil side including the usual death of the mentor plus people who seemed bad actually not being bad™ except that PJ has more povs and better rep from what I gather but that’s not the point so it’s basically the growing up journey for the young protagonist(s) the kid sees themselves in, then there’s stuff like hunger games where you actually have the dystopian worldbuilding just written to be enjoyable by younger people who don’t want to get too depressed (and ngl I haven’t read the books but I’ve seen the first two movies and guys the way everyone ignores the classist commentary in thg to discuss the love triangle is... a staple of the problem tbh) but still try to introduce deeper themes and have more nuanced characters and at the same time are still written to be enjoyed maybe by the more adult side of the target, and at the same time I can’t say that thg is the same as 1984 when it comes to target audience because 1984 doesn’t make the ugly dystopian themes more accessible using the love story/teenage protagonist etc;

at this point the problem is: if you only ever read ya and nothing else in your life (which is what a lot of people here do - guys again when I got here in 2011 if people didn’t discuss hp they discussed john gr/een, the only *adult*-aimed book I see discussed on tumblr is asoiaf... because of got X°DDD) then you end up seeing every other piece of literature expecting what you do out of a young adult and then you expect adult literature out of young adults/ya to approach certain implications the way an adult novel would, which is... frankly ridiculous;

specific examples: I see blogs which are principally about like ya fantasy books ie acotar or shadow/hunters or whatever shitting on grrm because AAAAH HE’S PROBLEMATIC/MISOGYNIST/HE HAS VIOLENCE AND RAPE IN THE BOOKS BLAH BLAH and like... spoilers: if I wrote a fantasy series aimed at fourteen year-olds who want their fantasy romance with the hot dark guy who is maybe a tiny bit problematic but turns their leaf for them I would hold back on blood and violence, if I wrote a fantasy for adults where I want to be realistic about misogyny I will not, and the fact that grrm gets judged on what happens and not how he writes it (and again, saying that a guy who has 1/3rd of his pov characters female except that it’s actually 50/50 because there are no throwaway povs except for mel while guys have a lot more of them and all the female povs have narrative weight [and mel has it before she gets one] and all of them have a different personality and he also has the same trope [brienne and arya] in two people with wildly different personalities and needs which is basically a goddamned miracle is a misogynist because there’s misogyny in his fantasy world is ridiculous imvho) which is.... exactly expecting of asoiaf what you’d expect out of acotar, when grrm and acotar’s writer write for wildly different audiences. now, if I had read acotar at 15 and asoiaf at 15 I’d have had no doubt re asoiaf being more my thing because again the subgenre acotar goes for is not my thing because I never related to that fantasy while brienne is my rep, but in general a 14yo girl who likes the acotar-like stuff will not care for grrm.... which is normal because grrm writes for adults of both genders, not teenage girls (I mean teenage boys also have their own subgenres for which the same rules are valid), and someone who likes percy jackson (aimed at both genders but like... pre-teens early teens) who doesn’t gaf for grrm won’t because it’s not aimed at them unless they like grrm for other reasons ie idk they realize that they relate to jon snow idk but you see my point, so like tldr that’s what I mean with if you only read ya you’ll expect adult writers to handle their themes like ya writers would and like... sorry but if I write stuff for adults I won’t feel the need to specify that the bad guy is B A D with neon lights because an adult should grasp that from the narrative, I don’t need to make sure it’s obvious bc it’s aimed at kids;

reverse: when I see people saying ‘the vampire diaries is problematic because it’s about people who are a hundred years old preying on teenage girls so we need to stop teenage girls from reading that kind of thing because it makes them think it’s okay to go with someone that much older than them’, we’re at the opposite problem in the sense that you’re asking a young adult novel what you would ask of AN ADULT NOVEL when there’s no point in it. like, a teenage girl knows perfectly that damon salvatore doesn’t exist and vampires don’t exist and werewolves don’t exist - the entire point of tvd is that she gets to fawn over the hot supernatural dude who changes for the better thanks to the female protagonist she most likely sees herself in and she gets to have a few nice fantasies about that which is like... normal for people who are developing their sexualities, most people wouldn’t actually want damon salvatore the way he’s exactly in canon irl because they know it’s a fantasy and so it should stay. like, sorry but as someone who watched the show because ian somerhalder is hot in her twenties and tried the first book and gave it up at page 30 because I couldn’t do it, I can 100% assure anyone that the biggest issues with tvd books are that the writing is really fucking bad (for my standards at least), with the tvd show that from S4 the writing spiraled downwards and no one wanted the magical vampire pregnancy witch twins ridiculousness, but none of the content actually was shit that anyone would take seriously like that and I wouldn’t expect tvd to approach that subject realistically. if I read a vampire book aimed at adults who actually wants to write such a relationship as creepy WELL YES OF COURSE I’D EXPECT IT TO BE OBVIOUS ABOUT IT BEING CREEPY, but if it’s aimed at freaking teenagers... it’s a fantasy and not really that deep, take it for what it is and let teenage girls enjoy thinking about smooching damon salvatore (or stefan or whoever) without assuming they need to be protected from Horrible Vampire Fiction™, same as no one goes bitching about unrealistic sex scenes in serialized romance books because people read them because they’re unrealistic and escapism, not because they expect nobel prize worthy exploration of themes from them;

now, ^^^^^^ would not happen if people actually read variedly and studied some decent lit analysis in school - but like, after I had to read I think at some point that of mice and men is ableist... THAT’S the damned point - with ya you can take a lot of the plot at face value, with adult lit you can’t and you have to see motivation beyond the action of the characters and you can’t do that if you only read books aimed at pre-teens/teenagers where obviously that’s... more spelled out than it would be in a book aimed at an adult audience;

that by the way also means wildly missing actual adult themes discussion in ya, because again, I haven’t read thg but from the two movies I’ve seen it’s fucking obvious that the whole thing is an anti us-classism commentary from how the districts are built to how the games are rigged to pretty much everything in the worldbuilding, but all the discourse I see on tumblr is about either the love triangle or katniss being miscast or president snow being a jerk and whatever else, but I never once saw anyone saying ‘heeeeey the people in katniss’ district are an in your face metaphor of poor people in the us of a belonging to certain categories while the first few districts are absolutely the 1% and the entire point of it is that she wants to tell you A CLASSIST SOCIETY IS BAD AND WILL LEAD TO REVOLUTIONS’, which to me was... like, glaring, it was literally what 90% of the entire thing was about and no one ever discusses it in a fandom-wide sense (I mean... I saw a bunch of hg posts back when the movies came out, I never saw this brought out), which... is a problem because it means that the moment people are put in front of a ya product that actually tackles that kind of issue.... they go and worry about the love triangle (which seemed to me the excuse to draw the people in the story) not about the social commentary, and like, maybe a twelve year-old won’t catch on the social commentary, a twenty-year old especially from the us should, and I don’t see that happening;

and sorry but that is because if you only engage with content aimed at a younger audience than your target first you assume that every piece of literature should be consumable/readable/enjoyable by a younger audience (and sorry but no, some of us don’t want to write stuff making sure teenagers like it) and then ask of actual ya media to cater to their *adult* needs and not to the needs of the target audience because wow obviously if you’re 25 you won’t want out of literature what you wanted at fourteen;

and this also is valid for children’s media because again, I’m cutting it short, but adults watching st/even universe and sending people death threats because they don’t agree with their opinion of a cartoon aimed at an audience that’s at moooostttt eight years old is a thing that shouldn’t even fucking exist, and if you think steven/universe is that important at an adult age you need to re-assess your priorities;

tldr: adults should not expect media aimed at kids/teens to cater to their interests and shouldn’t analyze it the way they’d analyze a piece of media aimed at an adult audience and should not presume that every piece of media should have the scope/schemes of medias aimed at kids/teens because some of us don’t want to read that.

now, I’ll leave you with a nice short anecdote which hopefully will further clarify what I mean and add to another point which would be, kids and teens don’t give a fuck about what you, an adult, do: when everyone was in a frenzy about my little pony back in 2013 or so I had to see a ton of posts like ‘AAAAAH MEN/BOYS WHO ARE INTO MLP ARE STEALING THE SHOW FROM YOUNG GIRLS HOW DARE THEY ENJOY IT WE NEED TO KICK THEM OUT’ with added people saying that a ten year old male kid who tried to kill himself bc his friends bullied him bc he liked mlp deserved it and the likes, my only thought was that... when I was 8-10 in elementary school and was actually the target for cartoons and stuff, sailor moon was the rage between all girls my age me included, we’d spend recess playing pretend (and I’d get stuck playing sailor mars bc no one wanted her, sad) and our hugest first world problem in existence was that we needed technically a mamoru and of course no self-respecting boy in elementary school would have admitted under death threats to watching sailor moon because it was a girls’ thing (aaaaah gender roles in the early-mid 90s, how fun) so everyone despaired because ofc no one wanted to play mamoru... and the few times any guy actually showed up like HEEEEY I WANNA DO IT BUT PLEASE DON’T TELL MY FRIENDS I LIKE SAILOR MOON we’d all be like OMG YOU’RE OUR NEW FAVORITE PERSON PLEASE YOUR SECRET IS SAFE because we couldn’t believe we found the magical boy™ who wanted to do it, and if anyone had told us that the kid in question was stealing sailor moon from us we’d have laughed in their face.

like.

kids don’t ask of media what you, an adult do, and it’s unfair of you, an adult, to ask children’s/ya media to cater to your damned interests, which are amply catered to by the tons of adult literature around which also forces you to push on your views and read more challenging things and to not read/watch stuff at face value, which is why I would really appreciate it if the amount of 20yo people on here who I consider adults engaged with more adult media and let themselves be challenged instead of just going back to ya/kids’ things, which are good for teens and kids and can be enjoyed by everyone but should not be the only goddamned genre you measure all other literature against because then you get people saying that lolita is pro-pedo when it’s exactly the goddamned contrary, but if you think that pov character = protagonist = good guy (which is... staple kids/ya stuff for obvious reasons) then you decide that humbert humbert is someone you’re supposed to root for. too bad that you’re not and the author was an actual csa victim so it’s a completely ridiculous reading that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t read lolita the way you read hp.

... okay, I’m done, sorry for how long this was, I hope it cleared things for good xD

[missjukebox8bit]

And now for my Top 10 Tumblr Posts of 2019!

1). 3,659 notes - 02 January 2019

Me: Hi Tumblr, how’s your day been?

Tumblr: EVERYBODY’S PISSED BECAUSE A SHITPOSTING ELDRITCH HORROR GOT PAID TO EAT CRAYONS

Me: (sipping tea) so its been a pretty average day all things considered

Ah yes, my number one post of this year was one I made at the very beginning of the year! and was also about the first major discourse of the year. I remember this, I made this post and went to bed, and then it suddenly had thousands of notes and I got my first Tumblr hate! Ah, good memories ^_^

I haven’t been following the Gaud situation since then so i dunno what my stance is on them right now, but this post was never really meant to be pro-Gaud or anti-Gaud, more just a statement on how controversies that sound this bizarre out of context could only happen on Tumblr

2). 882 notes - 27 October 2019

is this real life

I have always loved Homstar Runner as a kid

and i recently began loving anime

so the day that anime and Homestar Runner met

was the day I realized anything is possible

3). 717 notes - 03 November 2019

Some people: PENNY COMING BACK GOOD AS NEW AND REMEMBERING EVERYTHING CHEAPENS THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF VOLUME 3! NOW ALL THE PAIN AND SUFFERING WAS FOR NOTHING!

Pyrrha, who is definitely still dead and probably isn’t coming back ever again:

When Penny came back in RWBY everyone was like “they’re undoing everything bad that happened in Volume 3!” but like... guys

did you forget Pyrrha

HOW COULD YOU FORGET PYRRHA

luckily a bunch of people shared my sentiment

4). 535 notes - 25 November 2019

Seven years of the RWBY fandom making “Weiss you useless lesbian” memes and one volume has made the foundation of our oldest joke crumble to the ground due to the revelation that Yang was the useless lesbian all along

Look I love Bumbleby but “Yang you useless lesbian” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, ya know?

5). 463 notes - 12 November 2019

hey guys you know how PM Seymour has repeatedly said he doesn’t care how lewd people think Cyana is and he’s really tired of us all telling him about it

now this might sound crazy, but maybe

just maybe

we should all stop telling him about it

Ooh yay more discourse posts!

All the stuff that happened with P.M. Seymour last month was really disheartening, he’s a great guy who makes great content and does not deserve all the inappropriate comments he gets

I hope things turn out better for him in 2020! Love you, PM ^_^

6). 290 notes - 12 May 2019

@mars-the-4th-planet​ asked: So whats the deal with projared, pbg, etc?

oh boy **cracks knuckles**

more discourse! yayyyyyyyyyy!

I’m not copy-pasting this whole thing because it is very long so just click the link if you wanna see. It was funny because at the time i was trying to avoid the whole ProJared drama, but then my good friend mars asked me about it so I was like “WHELP, TIME TO UNLOAD ALL THE INSANITY THAT IS THIS CONTROVERSY”

Man was that in May? That feels like so long ago

This year has been long

7). 283 notes - 15 September 2019

I feel like we don’t talk enough about the time the McElroy’s threw a tarantula parade

I regret not having elaborated more on just how ridiculous this tarantula parade was

So a guy calls into MBMBaM and asks the brothers to convince his wife to let them get a pet tarantula

So they decide to throw a parade with an actual marching band playing “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and a float where they crowned themselves King of the Ranchos

man i aspire to be that level of extra

AND SHE STILL DIDN’T LET THEM GET A TARANTULA

8). 279 notes - 08 November 2019

Me: Hey Tumblr? Can I see the posts from this blog I willingly followed?

Tumblr: Hmm…

Tumblr: Let me think.

Tumblr: …

Tumblr: Nah

This is a situation we all can relate to. A few of the responses to this post made it much funnier than my original, if you’ve seen this around you’ve probably seen it with @remusthedukeofdeodorant​‘s or @rafa-starkiller​‘s additions, thanks for spreading my post! And making it better!

9). 209 notes - 09 November 2019

Ironwood: What did Ozpin say about the relic? Did it have any questions left?

Ruby:

I’m glad so many of my RWBY posts this volume are getting notoriety! The second I saw this episode I immediately knew someone needed to make this meme. And if no one else would, then I will!

10). 198 notes - 09 August 2019

Hey so does anyone else think Joey Claire, Jake’s canonical daughter in Hiveswap who was raised by Roxy as a babysitter

kinda looks like Roxy and Jake’s baby that Caliborn made Dirk draw

ah yes this observation that i believe was actually made by my friend @standardkarma135​, i just made the post first before them. And man was it a crazy thing to realize

Was that intentional?

Did Hussie intend this to be the way things go

I mean knowing him it could definitely be intentional, I wouldn’t put it past him

Well that’s my Top 10 posts on Tumblr so far this year! I guess the moral this year was

But I’m glad there were a few non-drama posts in there like my RWBY and Homestuck stuff! Thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged my posts this year, and especially thank you to all my mutuals and everyone I follow that make such amazing posts that keep me coming back to this website! Let’s hope that 2020 is better for all of us!

Created by TumblrTop10

[void-official]

“Micro-identities/’Mogai/ya’ll literally just be making shit up now” OK. i’m sorry im stuck on this and this is the last i’ll talk about it today bc fuck it. I’m gonna be Real for a second. And it’s going to be awkward, and it’s going to be long, and I’m gonna Lose Follower bc defending micro-labels is Cringe. Whatever. I get it. go ahead and unfollow. The rest of you who actually care. and in the spirit of Pride Month, as someone who feels like they’re almost never allowed to express Pride in who I am? Here we go.

I’m bi. Most of you can probably tell, im not exactly subtle about it.

I’m bi. But

my actual interest in dating or having sex with Anyone has been pretty much negligible for my entire life. I just don’t Care. I never have. Dating and sex seem like a hassle to me and I don’t feel like i’m particularly missing out by not taking part in them. It doesn’t negate my enjoyment of peoples bodies necessarily, nor does it mean I never get crushes on people it just means at the end of the day, my desire to go out there and find people to have sex with and/or date has always been like. really really low. Even if the opportunity was there. And i’ve come to terms with this. I accept this about myself.

There is actually a great deal of overlap between bi and ace identity. all those ‘weird little terms’ like ‘demisexual’ you guys hate so much were originally created for people like me, who feel like they are fundamentally not allowed to call themselves something straightforward like ‘bi’ (or straight/gay/lesbian) without people inevitably screaming at them for Doing It Wrong. So they can describe how they feel in a brief word, instead of having to go through the pains of explaining the complex relationship they have with sexual attraction to every fucking person who asks what their sexuality is.

saying ‘well you should just be able to say bi and leave it at that’ doesn’t actually account for the experiences i have when i Just Say i’m Bi. Even me Just Saying ‘im bi’ i’ve always gotta deal with harassment from people whoget weirdly agressive about -why- i’m not out there fucking or dating the people i claim im attracted to. Am I a prude? a Tease? Just an ‘Acey’ lying for brownie points? Am I Actually Just Traumatized? (They ask in a really aggressive condescending way, like thats actually how you should talk to someone you think is potentially traumatized) But by the standards of this discourse, i’m not allowed to call myself ace either, because then people are going to yell at me that if I experience the tiniest smidgen of sexual attraction or romantic inclination sometimes, or post pictures of sexy video game characters, clearly i cant be that either  I literally can’t win. there is not a thing I can call myself that won’t earn me the ire of LGBT people on tumblr who think they know me and what i should call myself better than I do. And believe me i hate talking about this More than you do. I’d rather just shut up and let people Assume i’m whatever they want me to be sometimes but then mutuals i thought i trusted will inevitably openly make fun of the people who outwardly call themselves demisexual or whatever microlabel is trendy to shit on currently, and usually i bite my tongue cause at the end of the day its Just Words, right? I don’t even use that word, right? Its just words and some words can be interchangeable and not everyone knows what they mean which can feel alienating and unnecessary to people who don’t understand them. I -get- why people ‘cringe’ when they see like 10 terms they don’t understand in someones bio. why do you think i don’t even list anything about my sexuality in mine other than my pronouns?

but I always remember like. just bc that label isnt For Me, it doesn’t mean there might be someone in a similar position to me who doesnt feel comfortable just calling themeslves bi, and prefers the label ‘demisexual biromantic’ who feels like that phrase puts them in a place of peace and contentment, and I wouldn’t argue with them about it. Bc thats their fucking choice. Them being happy with who they are takes priority over my personal opinions of the language they use. same with gender nonconforming people who dont want call themselves trans or nonbinary. Thats fucking Fine. I’m not telling you to have to use the same words as me if you don’t feel like they’re necessary or accurate. I literally don’t give a rats ass what words you use to identify yourself so long as they’re not being used to hurt other people. I just want to be able to have Words, for myself, that describe how I feel, that don’t result in people treating my entire identity like some shitty discourse Meme. And right now I have none. No matter what I call myself, people choose tell me it’s not accurate, or its too complicated.

As for all these shitty fucking posts about people ‘forcing’ young people to take up labels. This. This doesn’t actually happen? (OK I won’t say it doesn’t happen ever on an individual level? but that its not something enforced or encouraged by any group as a practice, and that distinction is necessary, bc saying it happens on a large scale literally implies predatory intentions from a massive group of people instead of members of the group behaving poorly as individuals)

Demisexual people as a whole have literally never told me i had to call myself demi just bc my sense of how i experience attraction might be similar to theirs. Ace people as a whole don’t usually tell people whose lack of sexual attraction is caused by trauma or who havent developed enough to experience sexual attraction that they -have- to call themselves ace. Most Bi or Pan people are fine with the fact that their labels have a lot of overlap and that the line between these things can be murky, they arent actually constantly ready to tear each others throats out over whose terminology is correct. All of this shit is made up by hateful people, or people taking a few examples of poor behavior out of context as an excuse to shit on everyone else, and well meaning people keep falling for it bc it -seems- helpful to be. reactive. I guess? to people you’re constantly told are hurtful to the causes of marginalized people. but im telling you. its not true. literally nobody forces you to call yourself any of these words, they just Exist out there in case you want them, and if you think thats somehow a threat to other peoples identities or to Minors just like, conceptually, for existing, for being Too Specific, im sorry but what other word is there for your reaction than phobic? If an individual derails a conversation about Y to be like “You didn’t include _X_” or tries to force their views on a minor who hasn’t developed a stable sense of identity yet, that is an Individual behaving in an inappropriate manner, not an invitation for you to throw the whole group under the bus. I hate to tell you but if you’re using examples of individuals on tumblr who say stupid shit, everyone on tumblr says stupid shit and butts in conversationally where they’re not welcome. Universally. It’s how tumblr is formatted. Trust me, I have like 4 viral posts going right now.

i’m just tired of it at this point. im not cool with people who stretch to make fun of micro-labels all the time and think they’re being woke allies or w/e to the ‘real LGBTs’.  Even if a lot of the time I personally don’t care for all the labels and wouldn’t choose them for myself, I still feel like If you can’t treat people like individuals and assess their character on a case by case basis, i don’t trust you. I don’t like people who stereotype and LGBT people are not immune to this behavior. Like i don’t say it often but it fucking hurts, and it hurts other people I’m close to who I know have similar complicated identities and struggle coming up w/words to describe themselves that the whole of tumblr LGBT+ will approve of and agree with (clearly an impossibility because there are still people who don’t want bi and trans to even be in there). I might tolerate the constant jokes and not block on principle of knowing not everyone has ingested and thought about this discourse in the same way I have, and im a big tough adult, ultimately i can take it. but inside i know no matter what i call myself, if i were earnest with some of you about how i feel I’d probably be just another ‘special snowflake Delusional mogai creep’ to you, and i can’t deny that fucking hurts to think about. I try not to talk about it openly bc it embarrasses me, bc i dont think my sexuality should have to be battle ground for discourse for people who are supposed to be on my side. But there it is. I think most of this discourse is Trash, and clearly not for the reason most people on here say its trash, not bc theres ‘too many specific words, y’all just be Making Shit Up’ but because so many of you are more caught up in the words than the substance of the arguments or the needs of people whose experiences might have a lot of overlap with yours regardless of what word they’re using to describe it.

Anyway. happy pride to LGBTQA+ people who still dont really feel pride in themselves or their identity. I’d say you’re valid, but you don’t need my validation or anyone elses to understand that you’re a person deserving of respect and compassion. You exist as who you are, and you have to come to terms with who that is, regardless of whether or not you feel like you’re accepted for it. if not pride then, settle for confidence in who you are.

[turtlethor-blog]

@jacquesooo remember when you said I wouldn’t do it?? Well, I’m going to but in headcanon format bc yall are too much of a mess for me to write without commentary LMAO. I haven’t used tumblr in so long, you should thank me. 

Anyway here’s your indulgent love simon au, imma blast 

also how come you don’t have a ship name, im lowkey salty

First of all, Jacqueline’s obviously-yes-obviously-not Simon and Luisa’s gonna be Bram, they just have to switch personalities (GET IT B/C SIMON WAS JACQUE((LINE))S)

Anyway, we know the story, Jacqueline sees luisa’s tumblr, she becomes Whipped™, she admires the blogger from afar as you do

But HECC she doesn’t know that this bitch is gonna become her bitch soon enough b/c look ma they go to the sAMe sCHoOL 

And at the same school, they hate each other b/c Jacqueline’s a lil overachieving freshman piece of shit & luisa’s a loud ass mexican that’s sick & tired of everything

10 dollars that jacqueline’s group talks smack about luisa’s tall ass in jacqueline’s language class (”she wears ripped jeans all the time, it makes her seem taller, s o   W h Y”)

bonus if luisa does the same tbh (mexican people are so mean, the fuck)

Jacqueline opens up Luisa's tumblr (not knowing it’s irl luisa, you goddamn slow cabALLo), she’s in the ask box, and look she’s typing out her feelings on anon b/c she’s a disaster gay but she’s trying!! 

Guess what, the ask goes through (”your ask has been received :)”)

Jacqueline screams for the next week or so b/c Luisa replies but luisa should make her scream someway else soon enough u know? 👀

So you know, she’ll just keep sending anons b/c she can and she sucks

On the other hand, Jacqueline tells tumblr!Luisa a funny story that there’s a school!Luisa at her school and “holYYyy god she’s so annoying, and she looks like you from your selfies but you’re prettier b/c school!Luisa looks like an orc dw dw” (omg fdsafdfsg)

And tumblr!Luisa tells Jacqueline “there’s a different Jacqueline at my school tOO and she’s so stuck up and she’s so short and i know you are too but it’s okay, you’re better than the irl Jacqueline i k N o W”

Jacqueline sweetie i know you say Luisa’s dense but you’re McSlow and she’s McDense (even in this au)

You guys talk about mango discourse and Luisa’s drinking habits (as in water not alcohol sdffdsf) and that applies in this au too

Plus I’ll never forget when Jacqueline called Luisa “50 shades of puta”

No emails, just anons with the panda sign off

Just slow slow burn in the form of two slow gays b/c they know they live in the same area but they won’t tell each other where 

you’re probs wondering: who tf is martin here?? easy, themselves

?? why??? BECAUSE JACQUELINE WON’T TELL LUISA SHE’S GAY FOR HER AND LUISA’S TOO LUISA TO COME OUT 

but for angst reasons let’s say for some reason they connect two and two because a Martin has told them :0

and Jacqueline realizes the Luisa she hated at school b/c she was too tall and too annoying was the same Luisa she was sending anons to

and Luisa realizes the Jacqueline at school that was constantly sideyeing her and giving her attitude was the same Jacqueline that told her ily and goodnight everyday

Honey you know they both aren’t functional as it is, this would destroy their brains and hearts

Idk what the hell would be going in Luisa’s life but Jacqueline’s fuckboy friends find out 

You know that scene in love simon where Simon’s friends get mad at him but he holds it together until he realizes he lost Blue, and that’s when he starts bawling?

That would be jacqueline

are we sure that this is an au anymore wtf

BUT jacqueline is stubborn as hell and she won’t talk to luisa online and at school no more (so in a sense she’s also like bram 🤔)

and it hurts her like hell b/c it shows, she’s not enjoying going out or playing lacrosse no more b/c she loves luisa sm so like,,, wyd pretending you don’t

So this lil shit gets love sick and thinks about kissing luisa on top of a ferris wheel or you know just,,, gay in general

But you know whats even gayer than a ferris wheel?? STARGAZING

god bless tumblr friends

they set them up somehow, it’s an awkward car ride to the hills, but when they get there the stars were so bright and jacqueline automatically points out which constellation was which like it was second nature

luisa thinks she’s a dork

jacqueline thinks she’s a lot more interesting than every star in the sky

but she’s also vehemently aware of the hand holding hers (gay)

they’re cuddled at the back open trunk with a warm blanket and speaking so damn softly to each other (gayer)

and they say “i love you” a couple dozen times and they kiss and everything feels fuzzy & warm & sweet (gAYEST)

like lemme paint a picture for yall: they have the same weighted blanket draped on their shoulders and they’re kissing so softly b/c they were so scared of losing each other and jacquelines fingertips are dragging themselves under luisa’s shirt even tho she knows full well luisa’s ticklish

it’s such a fuzzy & warm feeling to be kissing someone you know full well is your soulmate, just saying

and it feels even greater knowing you’ll never lose each again

probs how bram & simon felt, but just saying, gay it up even more, yall

they don’t leave beside each other for a very long time

the next day they go buy iced coffee together 

[pissedofflesbian-blog]

In Response To “Queer” Discourse: Not Using a Slur To Refer To Ourselves Isn’t a Privilege

So tonight I read this post and I am completely shocked. I tried to reply on the post, but Tumblr fucked up, which is a blessing because I am able to write this post in a more clear and coherent manner. 

What this post will be is a breakdown of the issues I commonly see discourse about reclaiming the word “queer”, specifically amongst pro-”queer” people. I believe that these arguments often make a few very big mistakes, and I’m here to correct them.

I don’t expect anyone to read the whole thing, but if you’re going to reply to this, you better have read it. And while I am trying to write in the most “professional” manner, I’m just an angry girl at a computer late at night, so if I make any mistakes, just think about what I probably meant and go with that, because this bitch is tired. 

1) The most important thing to remember about people who refuse to reclaim the word “queer” is that there is a reason for this. 

First of all, it is still commonly used as a slur in MANY places. 

Second, the word originally has very negative definitions. Weird, strange, odd, spoiled, sick. This is why it was used as a slur in the first place. 

Third, countless people in our community (even the young ones) have directly experienced violence involving this word.

Let’s use my personal history with this word as an example. I accidentally came out when I was 11, and a family member verbally abused me for years using this word. When I got older and tried to defend myself, he physically attacked me. I have PTSD because of this, and being directly referred to a “queer” or being called “a queer” can and has triggered flashbacks of this event. 

I am just one of many with a story like this. 

2) They imply or state that cis lesbians and gay men have it easier than or are privileged over cis bisexuals.

This is 100% false. It completely ignores the complex issues that both gay and bisexual people face.

Bisexual people face a specific struggle for not only being attracted to the same gender, but being attracted to multiple genders. 

Gay people face a specific struggle for not only being attracted to the same gender, but being attracted to the same gender to the exclusion of others.

A quick way to demonstrate this is a look at how people often react to bi and gay people coming out. Bi people hear a lot of, “pick a side”, “you’re selfish”, “you’re confused”. Gay people hear, “but if you’ve never been with the opposite gender how do you know?”, “you’re being close-minded for only being with one gender”*, and things like that. We both get the standard, “oh that’s gross”, “oh you’re a sinner” bullshit. (*Yes gay people do get told that.). 

There are specific struggles for being bisexual and being gay, and instead of making shit up, we should be supporting each other for the issues the others face, and supporting each other for our shared experiences. 

2.5 A lot of people seem to think that being a gay man and being a lesbian are the same. 

They are not. Lesbians have a very specific struggle as being: a) women, b) attracted to women, and c) not attracted to men. Our position as women who are not interested in men means we face a different sort of violence and oppression as gay men. Yes, we have many shared experiences, but we are not the same. 

3) They assume that all people who are uncomfortable with the word are “privileged” cis gays and bisexuals, and that everyone who reclaims it is less privileged and has a more complicated identity.

It’s worth again noting that I am writing this in direct response to another post. Here are some quotes from OP and a commenter:

“Saying “I’m gay/lesbian/bi” is pretty simple. Just about everyone knows what you mean, and you quickly establish yourself as a member of a community. Saying “I’m a trans nonbinary bi woman who’s celibate due to dysphoria and possibly on the ace spectrum”… not so much. You’re lucky to find anyone who understands even half of that, and explaining it requires revealing a ton of personal information. The appeal of “queer” is being able to identify yourself without profiling yourself. It’s welcoming and functional terminology to those who do not have the luxury of simplified language and occupy complicated identities. *That’s* why people use it - there are currently not alternatives to express the same sentiment.”

and

“There’s another dimension that always, always gets overlooked in contemporary discussions about the word “queer:” class. The last paragraph here reminds me of a old quote: “rich lesbians are ‘sapphic,’ poor lesbians are ‘dykes’.” Bourgeois gays and lesbians already had “the luxury of language” to describe themselves - normalized through struggle, thanks to groups like the Gay Liberation Front. Everyone else, from poor gays and lesbians to bi and trans people and so on, had no such language. These people were the ones for whom social/economic assimilation was not an option.”

I do understand, and almost completely agree with OP. The commenter... not so much. 

First of all, almost everyone I have met in real life spaces who uses the word queer is a cis gay or bisexual person. I’m not saying that my experience is universal, I’m just making an observation. Similarly, I have met many people with more complicated identities (bi trans people, ace gay men, nonbinary people) who do not use the word. And, I’m an ace lesbian... people find that hard to understand. Doesn’t mean I want to use that word.

Second... Oh lord. The implication that if you are a gay or lesbian who does not use the q word, you are probably upper class. This is just wrong. I don’t know how to else to state it. Maybe it’s right somewhere, but I can guarantee it’s wrong for a majority of places in the world.

First of all, I am a lesbian who is by no means rich or bourgeois. I am a poor girl who has struggled her entire life and lived in very poor neighbourhoods. Off the top of my head, I can think of a bisexual women, a gay man, and a trans gay man I know from similar areas that do not use the word queer. 

Second, many of cis gay and bisexual people I’ve met who use the word queer are ones who went to private schools, are supported by their parents, and are otherwise upper to upper middle class. 

Then there’s the implication that rich communities are more educated or accepting of our identities... Many upper class families are incredibly religious. Many upper class families are insistent on “traditional families”. These families often cut off their children who come out, and this can force their children into... guess what... the poor classes where social assimilation is apparently so much harder (but where they often find acceptance, because many lower class families are accepting and loving and educated.) I just don’t think that kind of distinction should be made when we’re talking about this word.

4) We’re not taking anything away from you while asking for you to keep your language respectful. 

Time and time again, I see people acting as though those who do not use the q word are somehow oppressing them. 

Nobody is saying that you shouldn’t use it for yourself. Nobody is saying that you can’t use it in your groups. 

We are simply asking that you do not refer to us as “queer”. This means not directly calling us queer, and not referring to us as a part of the “queer community”. Is our comfort in our own spaces worth less than you saving a few syllables? Is our comfort worth less than a word?

And people who say queer is a slur? Say that because it is. It was, and it still is. Don’t go on a huge rant about how we’re calling your identity a slur, or we’re forcing you to feel oppressed by it, or whatever. The whole point of reclaiming a slur is that... it IS a slur. When you use that word to refer to yourselves, you cannot ignore the history associated with it. The fact that many ID with it in spite of and BECAUSE it is a slur. They’re making it there’s. That’s what reclamation is. That’s where the power comes from. Don’t go tell me that me saying it’s a slur is incorrect. That’s just ignorant. 

In summary: Stop making shit up and over-thinking the issue surrounding this word. Stop acting like people who don’t use the q slur are privileged. We don’t avoid it because of our class or our specific labels. We avoid it because it does NOT empower us like it does you. We avoid it because many of us have trauma associated with it. My PTSD isn’t a privileged, you idiots. 

Go learn how to think critically and stop making up bullshit discourse and bringing other issues into this discussion because you lack the respect to be sensitive when referring to others in this community.

[cyborg-squid]

Ramblings #5

Ramblings #5: No discourse sir, it’s Christmas

to be honest i hope no one really reads this one because it’s content is probably indicative of a substantial character flaw in me. ive said before, i mainly make these for me to talk about what’s on my mind and it’s mostly just stream of consciousness, jumping from one thought to the next. that being said, the likes i get on these are nice because they do signal that someone actually read it. but don’t feel obligated to like or even read these, they’re for my own benefit.

honestly all Discourse (by that i mean that which pertains to fictional/entertainment content) is so Nasty, at least online. there’s no way to just have a civil conversation with someone about the merits and/or faults of a piece of media without it turning into an argument, though some of this may be due to it being online, since it’s harder to portray certain emotions in text ( i had thought out a proper end to this sentence but forgot it halfway though). less and less of it are valid critiscisms or discussion, instead it’s all salt and bitterness. and, like, we all consume content for, y’know, entertainment. to enjoy it. most of us want a positive experience from it. but now it’s really hard to tell whether someone actually likes the thing they’re discourse-ing about or not. i know it’s possible to critiscize things and still like them, and i am a BIG fuckin hypocrite because i never feel more alive (exaggeration) then when i’m tearing into something i enjoy. 

and, like, a lot of us are SJWs here? and that’s kind of what we do, point out offensive and problematic content? but the line has been blurred, and people getting really mad and salty over simple, common flaws in media. just because Dragon Age: Inquisition had a disappointing “resolution” to the Mage-Templar conflict doesn’t automatically mean it’s problematic and belongs in the garbage. and it’s all a big callout competition, to deem content and other bloggers problematic and by casting them down you’re more righteous and morally enlightened than everyone else. I believe things should mainly be critiscized (on a moral basis) if it is hurting anyone. And none of this accomplishes anything, really. Nothing changes through this. I know along with a lot of us being SJWs, we’re nerds/geeks as well and we consume a lot of content and that’s where we notice a lot of stuff, but aren’t, y’know, real life issues and stuff happening offline a bit more important than fiction. like, i know it’s still really important, but just take a second to think about whether it is hurting anyone and whether it really matters to anyone but you. 

Newsflash: everything, every piece of content is problematic in some way, shape or form. what really matters is intent, intensity/scale, bias, and people’s tolerance’s toward it, and probably some other metrics that aren’t springing to mind right now. intent is whether offensive content is “whoops, i made a mistake/messed up and did something bad” (specific example: griffin accidentally invoking the ‘Bury Your Gays’ rope with Hurley and Sloane) VS deliberately offensive humor like family guy or south park. intensity is between like a book not having a lot of lgbt characters or youtuber saying the r-word VS like the rape scenes in the GoT show or a creator’s content being influenced by problematic ideologies. bias is, essentially, the fact that cis/het/white/male creators tend to make characters like themselves. while, for the most part, they might not mean any harm by it, it may be reflective of a somewhat narrow world view and still is something that ought to be remedied. tolerance is an individuals personal tolerance for offensive. a gay person is more likely to be more offended by someone using the f-slur than a straight person would be. people who aren’t cis/het/white/male tend to notice lack of diversity and representation more than people who are cis/het/white/male. Ya gotta know there’s a line, though it’s on a case by case basis though. 

and honestly, judge and consume content based on your tolerances (and tastes as well). when critscizing someone for liking/enjoying something that’s either A) legitimately offensive or B) something you find offensive, take a second to realize that they, most likely, have had different life experiences than you and have different tolerances and tastes. now obviously deliberately enjoying offensive content because it’s offensive is a problem, but enjoying something despite them is alright. and most people will know if something they like is problematic or not, hopefully recognizing it on their own and it’s not really necessary to inform them of it. and people mostly call out problematic content in an effort to get people to stop enjoying of it. better would be to warn people of it, so people with lower tolerances or people who could be triggered or otherwise hurt by it can avoid it if they so choose. and you are also free to judge those who do consume problematic content. it could be indicative of all sort of moral flaws, but for the most part they’re just people with different tolerances and tastes than you. It’s all right to be offended/hurt by problematic content, but being offended/hurt just because someone likes something that’s deemed problematic..is weird. I mean, if they’re quoting offensive lines or being majorly negatively influenced by it, sure, because that may actually hurt you or others. But otherwise, if someone just liking and enjoying something you don’t offends/hurts you, you need to sit down and have a good ol think. You can judge them, and unfollow and/or block if you need to, but I’m tired of seeing people get bullied just for liking something that others don’t. Defend yourself by stopping observing it if it hurts you, and feel free to warn other that might be hurt, but don’t be mean to other people. 

NOTE: Apparently people make a lot of posts like this trying defend themselves for liking things that go beyond simply being problematic, like trying to defend themselves for liking incest or pedophilia. This isn’t like that. To be completely honest, I’m trying to defend myself for liking Funhaus and Attack on Titan and the cosmere.

i get really worried in all this stuff that i’m starting to sound like an Anti-SJW and i’m not. i want to change Social Justice culture on tumblr, and the best way to do that is from the inside. but i guess this post is kinda selfish, in that i kinda made it to defend myself, cause i don’t want to be attacked for liking things. i’m not even very popular on tumblr, so this worry is very unfounded and unlikely, but for some reason it still concerns me. honestly, there’s not really any sort of moral high ground i can take, i just want to save myself/my online presence. 

I lost total control of this post. I didn’t mean to talk about offensive/problematic content and call out culture, I wanted to talk about people being salty assholes about everything, whether it’s about something problematic or something that’s not to their tastes or just isn’t exactly what they want or isn’t up to their impossibly high standards. but i forgot. 

honestly, i’m a selfish, lecherous, hypocritical, un-empathetic person who cares only for himself and what he likes. and i guess you all should know that. nobody’s perfect, me especially. and if you decide to stick with me and actually follow me, thanks. and if you disagree, that’s fine as well. you’re probably a better person than me if you do. wait shit now if someone did actually agree with me and then saw me insult myself for this then it seems like i’m insulting them by association i’m sorry. 

normally i’m not this self-deprecating. well, time for the pendulum to swing back to narcissism now. 

god i hope no one reads this but probably some part of me hopes someone does because i probably desire attention and validation cause otherwise why else would i actually be posting this online for people to see instead of just writing it in a journal. 

this sounds like me having a fucking pity party for myself, goddamnit. sorry, don’t feel obligated to like or view this just because i’m a sad, selfish asshole. 

[motorcyclegirlfriends]

[main body of post text] **please do not add anything to this post i made it for myself** [end of post] wow that was exhausting. im so tired. i need to go lie down oh wait. no i don’t. because that took 15 seconds. but I suppose it also means you’d have to understand tumblr is a public space and you need to take some personal responsibility to communicate with people who might see your post away from your blog and then what would you have to whinge about lol

I’m offended that you think I can’t be worn down in 15 seconds, because reading your message accomplished just that, in record time. My, my. 

This reveals, to me, an incredible misinterpretation of my intentions, so let me clarify.

I do not post anything here just for myself. I want people to add things to it. I love comments of many different kinds. Comments that add new ideas to compliment the original, comments that take a deeper look, even comments that disagree with the opinions of the original post, because that facilitates a discussion.

In fact, the post you are responding to, in which I put out an opinion on how we should interact on this website, was not just for myself. It wasn’t even just for people who have experienced similar redirects on their posts. It was for everyone in this fandom, because I think the separation of enjoyment and unrelated discourse would really help everyone feel better. 

So, “please do not add anything to this post i made it for myself” would not only be inaccurate, it would be insufficient. 

You also seem to think that I’m not taking responsibility for shaping the way my blog and posts are interacted with, when in fact, I care less about that and more about the fandom on large and the attempt to stay positive and cooperative. The post you’re responding to wasn’t meant to be a vague post showing annoyed I am about something someone said on one of my posts. I’m not mad at the blogs that changed the topic in the least. What I wrote was a genuine proposal on how we all might have a better fandom experience. 

And even if I wrote something more accurate on each post about how I want people to stay on topic, it’d A. be like really ugly looking on the post and B. limit discussion a bit more than I really want to. What has been happening has become kind of a pattern, but I don’t want people to not comment slight changes of topic for fear that the op wouldn’t approve. I just wanted it to be on everyone’s mind. An active choice on the commenter’s part as they go throughout all of their commenting.

And you know, I wanted it to help the people who changed the topic of my post, too. I think it’s good for people who have feelings of dissent to, while having another space to express their feelings, also have a place to just enjoy things. Did you miss the part about constant discourse of upsetting issues causing you to be worn down and less effective? Hypervigilance is damaging, in the end.

And god, I don’t think it was wrong for them to change the topic. I don’t want anyone who has changed a topic on one of my posts to feel guilty or interpret that post as angry. I just think it begins to darken the fandom over time if the changes in topic themselves are of a negative mood, and I think it can make the original poster kinda sad tbh.

Imagine that you had painted a picture of a tree and presented it to your friends because you were proud of it and because you liked the colors you’d used. 

A couple of your friends go “Oh, that’s really nice!” or “I like the mood of this one” “I like the colors you used, are they from your new water paints?” “How do those paints compare to the ones you had before?” “The contrasting colors remind me of this one painter...” and such things, that while not always exactly on topic and not always compliments or anything, are relevant and make you feel connected, make you feel like you have successfully completed a Human Contact Experience™.

But then you continue showing your tree painting to your other friends, and one person says “You know, that reminds me of this new statistic that came out on how many trees companies chop down in a year.”

And then another friend, who barely glances at your painting adds, “Oh, yeah, I heard that. It’s horrible what they’re doing!”

And then it all turns into an impassioned discussion about saving the forests as more and more of the friends you haven’t shown your painting to yet join in. And you’re just left standing there, awkwardly holding up your painting of a tree that no one is looking at anymore.

Now imagine that this is a conversation that has already happened many times before.

Now imagine that these things have been upsetting you, too, because you love trees. Imagine that that’s specifically why you painted the tree, to celebrate the good things about trees because you love them so much.

It’s disheartening. Especially when you were kind of secretly hoping to make everyone feel better about trees (I think I lost the metaphor right around here...).

Now, even if you don’t agree with this idea, I don’t think it’s wrong for me to discuss the importance of how we communicate. If this were a forum page, would you fault someone for saying, “Hey, in general, if we could stick to the topic of each thread, that’d be great”? 

But suppose I commend your ability to see an attemptedly positive post about a technique we should all use to cooperate (one that starts off with a “Super” pun, I mean, come on now) and interpret it as a Fine “Whinge”™.

I guess I’m not used to posts that have gotten only like 18 notes earning a disagreeing (and pretty rude, bruh) anon. I mean, if you’re gonna disagree insultingly, at least reblog with your comment and give me a note.