#stupid gay people .stupid stupid gay people

[not-gray-politics]

It's been a while but I do want to address this, because forgive me if I'm misinterpreting this, but let me ask you something: I'm transmasc. (Genderfluid with a masc lean). I don't bring this up often here, but I grew up in a misogynistic cult, where i was taught the most rancid aspects of purity culture and had my autonomy taken away from me for roughly 20 years. I didn't get to cut my hair or wear pants for the first time until about 2 years ago. Even now, regardless of if i bind or cut my hair extra short or wear masc clothes, I don't pass as a man. Queer, but not a man. Most transmascs I've met also don't pass as cis, hrt and surgery are pretty damn hard to get in this economy. Some of them don't even care about passing! It's a very individual thing.

Tell me- How have I, by being masc, benefitted from the patriarchy? How am I privileged for being male?When I'm a man, what do I get out of it?

A non-conclusive list of people that I wouldn't say get the full extent of "male privilege" and/or "protection from consequences":

Transmascs who don't pass

Gay men who don't align with cultural expectations of masculinity

Poc whose culture or expression doesn't align with white standards of masculinity

Transmascs who pass but grew up being viewed/treated as women

Transmascs whose identity is fluid or nuanced (bigender, genderfluid, genderqueer, nonbinary men, etc.) And not limited to one part of the binary

Gnc men

Masc lesbians

Fat men

Intersex men

Trans women who pass as male but haven't come out yet

Anyone with more than one the above identities that overlap with eachother

Do some of them still get some amount of privilege? Sure, maybe. I'm not denying that male privilege exists! I've experienced the worst parts of the patriarchy firsthand! But when you assume that all provilege is equally applicable, and that all privileged individuals have yet to challenge or confront their privilege, that all of them are simply terrible or stupid or dangerous without exception.... not only are you, again, reinforcing the binary in a way that's harmful, as I've already explained; you're excluding a massive part of the queer community, and you're refusing a space for victims of the patriarchy to discuss what they've gone through or bring solidarity to the cause. Men can be victims of this shit too. A lot of men go through relentless harassment and assault for being men """wrong""", and they deserve a place in our community too. They don't deserve to be lumped in with their harassers and assaulters or excluded purely on the basis of "men are icky".

I understand if someone personally doesn't want to interact with men due to their own personal trauma, but framing the idea of gender seperationism as morally correct or proclaiming yourself a "proud misandrist" like the people I originally referred to often do, is an entirely different issue and should be called out when we see it.

Hey I'm just gonna say it. A lot of you in the sapphic community have "terfs dni" in your bio while repeating terf rhetoric that keeps trans men in the closet and bi women ashamed. And you need to reflect on that.

There is no "men are inherently biologically bad" argument you can make that doesn't lend itself to terf rhetoric and misogyny. Adding a "but like, trans girls don't count ☆" or "except the gays ♡" or "except my transmasc boyfriend [I'm going to subtly or unsubtly imply he doesn't count as a real man whether I realize it or not]" does not suddenly make it a progressive argument. [Especially you fuckers who adapt it to mean "actually all trans women are good and pure and innocent and all trans men are dirty evil misogynists just like cis men". You are doing active damage to the trans community. You are not an ally. You're doing toxic gender roles. Fuck off.]

Bioessentialism will never serve the queer community. I don't care if you make minor adaptations to it to make it seem nicer and less bigoted. It will always serve to harm trans people, divide people into a binary, and maintain misogynistic ideas that men are inherently evil and therefore can't be held responsible for their actions, that women have to take the responsibility for "protecting themselves" instead of believing that men can and should change so that no one needs protecting.

It's a lack of belief in feminism's ability to meaningfully change or solve anything and I'm tired of everyone acting like it's not.

[konoharfts]

“…When I’m with you the world makes sense, but when we are apart I see clearly that your world is not one from which one can escape..”

Heard the “Dear Arthur” Red Dead clip and thought of my rancher Gai and outlaw Kakashi from the Cowboy AU so uhhhhh now y’all have this 🤷‍♀️

Anyways, enjoy the sad gay cowboys, they took years off my life 🙃

^^ full comic

Yeah so basically my concept was that Kakashi and Gai met each-other at a bar, got into some shenanigans (lots of stupid challenges and flirting ), and yadda yadda thy start seeing eachother on the down-low.

At first the whole Kakashi being an outlaw thing doesn’t really matter to Gai. The tales of his dangerous and illegal adventures are exciting and it’s definitely not horrifying when he comes to the Maito ranch with blood oozing out of a barely patched wound. It’s endearing that he trusts Gai enough to help stitch him up on the kitchen table.

And it’s not like Kakashi likes doing illegal activities… he just has people he needs to protect, people who he’s completely loyal to, and sometimes those people need him to back them up while they do illegal activities. 🤷‍♀️

But, you know how it goes, suddenly it starts to catch up. Suddenly the grey gets murky and someone takes it a step too far and now your boyfriend is being actively hunted by law enforcement 🤷‍♀️ Suddenly those stories become concerning, and you wonder if the next time he stumbles through your door with an injury he got god knows where will be that final nail. Suddenly you don’t want to ask how he got it.

(^^ by you I mean Gai, buuut you get the idea)

So yeah.. Gai knows full well well that Kakashi’s loyal to his crew to a fault. He knows that no matter how good life is when Kakashi’s around - how good KAKASHI’S life is when they’re together - Kakashi will never abandon his comrades…. And Gai’s whole life is on that ranch…

So now the only time Gai sees Kakashi is on the various wanted posters that circulate (though they could never quite get his eyes just right) and the only time Kakahshi sees Gai is the few times he has a nice dream (instead of a nightmare)

Yeah anyways you guys see the vision right? I don’t even have that strong of a plot idea I just get my heart ripped out every time I hear that RDR2 scene and I figured Cowboy AU KakaGai kinda fits so 🤷‍♀️

If anyone read that I will serenade you sofly 🫶🎶🎷🐛

[beatlblog]

#my mans was ready to do his and his trepanning#he would've been dead or arresred by like 25 if paul didn't have impulse control (via @pauls1967moustache)

#deserves more praise for his John-handling abilities (via @exhausted-think-bucket)

#only crime was extending his micromanaging to george (via @melllotune)

#i didn't choose the dogboy john life the dogboy john life chose me (via @eveepe)

#get that bitch an enclosure 😭😭😭 (via @loureeddyke)

#john is such a feral dog he need to be put on leash#who was it again that described him as a dog with rabies 😭#yoko and paul are actually v similar#micromanaged john’s life#while also sorta using him for achieving their target#im not saying that its a bad thing btw#reminds me of john’s be my baby cover#‘we’ll make them turn their head every place we go’ (via @lennon666)

#sighing the deepest sigh#he should have just been a leather pup (via @themagicalmysticalboy)

#the thing is#John doesn’t just let anyone ‘control’ or ‘manage’ him#quite the opposite#when yoko did it he became a walking skeleton who got on heroin#Paul was really the only one to have done it that I’ll agree was good for him#but Jesus fucking Christ can we pls as a fandom stop acting like paul is perfect with no flaws ?#it’s actually a bit concerning how many people flirt with the idea that John was nothing without him#and never forget that they are BOTH insane#Paul fortunately for him#knew how to handle and control his shit better (via @lennonsfag)

#Hamburg beatles would beat early Beatles (63-65) up (via @fearlessechoes)

#so fed up with beatles posting#but with the operation I’m running on this blog it seems like lying by omission to leave some gay stupid shit like this out#pride is OVER (for the beatles specifically) (via @iamsigningmylifeaway)

#what the fuuuuuck#John Lennon literally Paul’s bitch#who said that (via @80yearoldmanmoodboard)

#should have micromanaged even harder (via @protovulcans)

#he needed to be muzzled fr (via @spinnach)

#¿perdón? qué??????????????????? (via @biatels)

#John should have had a legal guardian#and I think for comedic reasons it should have been just a random guy named Steve (via @paulic)

#the way that this is Also Nashby. (via @lookoutjoe)

#prev in many ways nash and mccartney are the same person (via @tweeterwilbury)

#100% true#he had zero real world skills#just like gillian anderson btw (via @delinquentchoirboy)

#turns out John was putting himself on the leash already#wonder what kind of ‘show’ he put on#oh to have been a fly on the wall of that bar#J&P engaging in public petplay in the year of our lord 1960 (via @oneofthebeautifulpeople)

#being a beatles fan is being the“well actually...” person always (via @friends2go)

#they shouldve brought this back in 1969. that wouldve solved everything i think#beatles#also that john put the leash on himself and gave it to paul...... ok (via @unusable)

#yeah but was he a kitten or a puppy that’s the important question (via @austinedition)

#omg bastian was right (via @demon-donkey)

#and not even that worked (via @paulpropaganda)

#of course they'd do this in germany (via @normalbrothers)

#every new thing i learn about the beatles has me shaking my head like excuse me he did what#head in hands (via @angelontheatrain)

for me it tends to be I FUCKING KNEW IT

sorry but john lennon did indeed need to be micromanaged and people need to stop scorning paul for doing it like the second there were too many enablers around he started doing heroin

[moleshow]

Dear Sub-Human Filth, I'm appealing to all of you stupid idiots to vote Democrat in 2018. That is if you have the basic education enough to read a ballot, anyway. I understand the majority of you racist rednecks can't even read this post, though. But those who can, please pass my message on to the rest of your inbred family. We Democrats are morally, culturally and intellectually superior to you in every way. I will qualify myself by noting that I have a Liberal Arts degree from a college, which you obviously have never been to, if you even know what one is. I also have a black friend. I have been told by several professors that everything you hold dear is terrible. Therefore you, personally, are also terrible. I don't know you, but I know that you're racist. I also know that you hate gay people and still get scared during lightning storms. The religion which you hold closely, greatly believe in, and which brings you comfort--you are wrong because I'm smarter than you and I'm telling you so. It is one of the many reasons why you are stupid and I'm better than you. You see, us Democrats want a system which helps everyone in the world. Our system is designed around love and kindness to everyone. If you don't agree, I hate you. It's not too late to change. If you knew your history, which of course you don't, you'll remember a time in America when Indians were dragged away from their homes and forced to assimilate into white society. Well, we want to change that kind of behaviour (sorry for my spelling, as I'm not from your country) by making sure you go to college and have a small apartment in a big, busy coastal city, where you belong. That will help you rid yourselves of your backward, incorrect culture and way of thinking. We'll do everything we can to make sure you agree with us and say all the right things and not be brainwashed against thinking the same way we do. All of you stupid, backward, redneck, racist, homophobic, uneducated yokels need to realize we're trying to build a classless society where we all get to live in harmony with each other, where we're all equal. If you only understood that you wouldn't be so much worse of a person than I am. So please vote Democrat. Help me help you, you worthless motherfuckers

[random-autie-fangirl]

I wrote this thing complaining about some Krusie shippers tendency to misgender Kris ages ago, after seeing something really annoying and shitty on the Krusie discord.

To be honest, as much as I love Krusie, I can only really like it anymore unless Kris is portrayed as explicity non-binary.

Like when people use they/them pronouns for Kris, give them an enby flag pin or even make a little caption on their post saying krusie's gay or something, i'm just like!!! hell yeah! But like when there isnt those little gender signifers for Kris, I kinda feel the need to through their blog to check that the poster actually accepts Kris as non-binary.

Because looking at the Krusie posts made by people who think Kris is a boy, they're often really OOC, with Kris being a stereotypical boring self insert straight guy and Susie being a stereotypical uwu blushy tsundere or it's weirdly sexualized (they're teenagers, guys) or it bashes Noelle (often in quite a lesbophobic way) or Kris is portrayed as super masculine and Susie is portrayed as hyper feminine in a way that evidently neither of them are in canon.

Of course I'm opposed on a more technical level too, Krusie just can't simply be straight, because Kris just is not and can not be a boy, but there's every other shit thing that comes with it just to add to the stupidity, and now I can't trust any Krusie fic or art unless I unambiguously know the creator portrays Krusie as queer.

Because the thing is the queer Krusie is not only near on always properly respectful and actually in character, it's funny and plausible and cute and shows that they actually have real chemistry and work well together (platonically or romantically of course) when portrayed as they really are in canon, dumb rebellious adorable teen gremlins that would probably see committing petty crimes and eating moss together as the height of romance. Not to mention that it's always hard to tell if Kris is crushing on Susie or just thinks really highly of her but like we do know Susie literally seems to be Kris's favourite person in the world right now (And honestly quite a bit of Krusie content portrays it as something that toes the line between platonic and romantic, which is especially cool) and it just pains me that the actual, queer, canonical Krusie is often really really good but it's just always overshowed by the absolute trashfire dungheap that is Straight Krusie(tm).

[canisbrutus]

PLEAAAAASEEEE DUMP ABOUT OLSENWIIIICCKKKKK🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

your wish is my command i adore these stupid faggots

Kirby & Trent 🍰🎬

inhalesssssss

these two are incredibly bonded despite everything.

but they damn sure didnt get off on a good start.

following my personal timeline trent had just broken things off with cornelius. and neither of them were particularly closeted or reserved about their faggotry.

so for a good minute kirby didnt even want to be seen talking to his gay ass at all in case it gave him a Reputation.

by some miracle they started talking, or rather, hurling insults at eachother thanks to trent spilling punch on kirby at the jock's halloween party.

the jocks love hosting shitass parties for a number of stupid reasons, you see. and trent likes getting wasted.

after a rough encounter at the punch bowl the two continued taunting eachother every time they made eye contact.

for entirety of one whole week, at least. then trent decided 'hey he's kinda cute when he's angry'

and so began the incredibly arduous task of: flirting with kirby until he stops yelling slurs (and throwing hands).

thankfully this Also took about a week and they moved onto just mumbling slurs inbetween smooches because of how insanely, well, sexually frustrated they were.

these teens are fucking insane but thats just how bullworth is.

trent then worked up the nerve to ask him on an actual date, kirby begrudgingly agreed, jimmy busted them while getting on pinky's good side, aaand trent got his ear chewed off for it.

they fought about kirby's whole internalized homophobia at this time cause he damn sure wasnt the only faggot in school.

(and it was really getting under trent's skin because he was practically hatecrimed out of his last relationship)

they weren't technically boyfriends at that point due to kirby's insistence. but it felt like a breakup all the same.

they got back together at the jock's christmas party though. something something 7 minutes in heaven i dont know and i dont want to particularly put much thought into that.

point being shit was messy for a hot minute but trent showed kirby things about himself he could Not ignore.

so he wanted to try again with him. and this time he chilled out on practically Hating the guy he was macking on.

trent also cooled it with how, well, Bold he could be. actually made an effort to not embarrass kirby in public and whatnot.

things had to be lowkey in order to not be harassed of course.

but trent's mere presence was enough to turn kirby's ears pink sometimes.

in the bleachers, across the cafeteria, walking down the street, etc.

and god help him when they're paired up in class.

kirby loved the rush all the same though. and trent just found him fuckin incredible if i'm frank.

trent spoke highly of him to his friends, and sometimes just outright dragged them to see kirby on the field or in the arcade absolutely killing it on DDR.

they were much more forward in private of course, even if kirby was incredibly slow to open up about most of his interests and genuine self.

trent helped with that from the start; showing him how to be authentic and happy with himself.

same as all actors allow others to Reflect on their performances.

and over time kirby started to see through trent's own act.

grounded him, tried keeping him sober, etc.

if he had to keep it real and face his own reality, well, so did trent.

and honestly kirby wasnt a fan of the concept of getting shitfaced in general. didnt smoke, seldom drank, didnt huff anything.

that being said trent and him Did bake some edibles once or twice.

split one, went to the movies again, trent got shushed by old people several times because he wouldnt stop rambling.

now That was a fun time.

experimenting with formatting, hope this isnt Awful to read thru lol. also fun fact i hate spotify but i hate youtube links more.

[hc masterpost]

[uncleasriel]

I think this illustrates something about the reactionary mind.

The underlying macho bullshit of that old stupid canard about "Hard Men make Good Time, Good Times make Soft Men, Soft Men make Bad Times, Bad Times make Hard Men" is at play here: the assumption is that being able care about your gender or race or disability or class or any other intersectional trait is just something only Decadent Soft People think about because they're too idle and not doing the work of Real People (tm) like backbreaking manual labour or soldiering or other from of Being Professionally Manly And Tough.

In addition to this premise being utterly ahistorical dogshit (too often used by militarist, authoritarian and fascistic pigfuckers to rationalize why they need to take control to make us big and tough again), it's also pathetically oversimplified and fucking factually incorrect. Crossdressing and drag performances were popular among World War 2 troops, and you'd be a fool to consider that this didn't have an impact on folks coming out. Even those that remained closeted were still able to serve defending their country (and all which that entails), and were defended by their comrades when petty bureaucrats tried to use edge-case bullshit to try and deny them what they were owed as veterans.

I pick out the gender stuff because it's the one that most readily pisses off the C.H.U.D.s (don't get girly gay things all over my fantasies!) but things like disability or race or class also factor in just as much. The 1944 Disability Employment Act in Britain was born out of similar conditions, as those getting bodily mutilated in the war were no longer able to serve in the front lines but still could pursue work that could aid in the war effort.

I frame so much of this through 20th century military history because that is what has defined the shape of so much of our adventure fiction, even 80 years after the fact. World War 2 adventure fiction, pulp adventure novels, historical fiction (I'm looking at Robert E. Howard in particular here)... all of it trickles down into the Fantasy Genre as we know it today, especially in the foundational bones of Magic: the Gathering. A lot of the imitators of those works have emerged over the years, and many of them carry on the same thematic assumptions of the genre that thanosisking unwittingly raises in their initial question: why would women/blacks/gays/cripples/etc even fit into those worlds, they're not there in the source material!?

I believe this is just a by-product of folks like OP who don't look at the source fiction and history underlying it in any more than a cursory way. For folks with limited understandings the topic, including themes the ones discussed seem forced. I would encourage these folks to read some Imaro stories or a Jirel of Jhoiry tale - there's a lot more to the genre that actively explores all manner of odd or atypical stories than just the derivatives that have trickled through the corporate publishing houses of the 1990s and onward. I strongly suggest they subscribe to Strange Studies of Strange Stories, and its predecessor H.P. Podcraft - the Weird Tale has a dozen of literary descendants, and they have a much richer history than folks know.

It's fair to quibble about how well some writers handle these themes - folks inexperienced with understanding intersectional matters can be clumsy, and the fact that writing for a corporate entity owned by Hasbro (which has to toe a very particular line called "don't do things that will make shareholders uncomfortable.") But simply barking "there's Forced Woke Diversity In My Wizard Card Game" is the bleating of a black sheep who is best ignored.

With all of the threats to the worlds like Tarkir or Mirrodin or the War of the Spark, wouldn't it be prudent to NOT include anything about race/gender/identity? Nobody was worried about their own gender during WWII because they were worried about survival. I feel it cheapens the threats that characters like Bolas or the Eldrazi present when you stick identity politics like Daretti or Ashiok because those characters seem more occupied with identity than with saving the day.

If you think no one was worried about their gender in World War II, that simply means you’re unaware of history. People will literally put in concentration camps and killed because of it.

[faerie-remuslupinsversion]

Look okay. I don’t believe that anyone should shame anyone else for headcanons. Especially in some fandoms. All this shit is made up. We get to do all the race, sexuality and gender fuckery we want. We can kill canon if we want. Seperate ourselves from the witch that inspired us. We can do anything. Bullying real actual people for their personal ideas is fucking wild. I don’t believe every head canon I see, I believe some things are wrong. And if I do. I scroll. I block the person, I move on. I ignore it.

Even people who have preached of fandom etiquette have done this. Honestly, I personally see some characters as gay too. Does that mean other people can’t headcanon them as bi or with women? No. Let people have their fun. It’s a made up fandom with made up stories. And in my opinion. Everything can be good if written right. Might be used to showcase a characters self discovery of gender or sexuality, might help them come to a realisation.

I think that people can change characters from canon, I think they can seperate agreeing with what the character does and thinking they are interesting.

Also one the other end of this spectrum. You can give characters who were barely mentioned in canon stories. That’s what we do here. Saying “but these three lines that we have here from an extremely biased source who hadn’t talked to this person in years before they died so you can’t give them a redemption arc” ISNT really that solid a ground for harassment. If you have that opinion and you see a post you disagree with. Just scroll, block the user, you have free will. Use your free will to be a person who respects other people.

Fandom is not supposed to be a place for people to start unwanted arguments. It’s a place to relax and have fun. Make up silly stories about silly blorbos. This is just for fun. Be nice to each-other!!! I’m pretty new to tumblr but shaming anyone for what they like is weird. We’re all just cringe kids on a stupid gay app. Can’t we be nice to each-other at least?

[waihtie]

I need one of two fanfics

(Or both, write your little hearts out)

1. Someone who knows Dean well and/or for a long time (not Sam, bc I have this theory) either a) learns that Dean and Cas have figured their shit out or b) hears Dean admit to finding some dude attractive.

And this person's all like "Wow, you finally figured it out"

And Dean's all confused

And they're like, "Yeah, I've been waiting for you to figure out that you're into dudes"

And Dean's still confused. "So, you thought, I was acting all bisexual, but had no idea I wasn't straight? Like what, I thought I was flirting with men in a straight way?"

Or he's like "What are you talking about? I knew I was into guys the same time I knew I was into girls. I had my first kiss with either at 15."

Just make him all flabbergasted that this person thought that this was something Dean wasn't only hiding, but also had no idea about.

Or

2. Dean and Cas finally figure their shit out, and Cas is all like "I thought we could never be since you aren't into men romantically or sexually"

And Dean's all confused

"Dude, we've been best friends for [insert number] years, and you always thought I was straight? What about all those guys in the movies I made you watch who I was super into?"

"I figured you were just admiring them"

"Yeah Cas, gay admiration"

The only issue with this one is that I hate it when people infantilize Cas. He not stupid, he's just not always aware of modern day social norms. You'd have to write it just right.

Anyway, just a little thought I had, bc most bi!dean fics have 1. The whole "Oh, you finally figured it out" moment, or 2. Cas assuming Dean is straight, and it would be fun to see a spin on either of those.

That theory I linked earlier

[pynkhues]

Another fanfic writer got ran out of the fandom this weekend because of a 'guilty by association' harassment campaign. She wrote fic of Loustat switching and having a very Canonverse relationship, and a teenager started insulting her writing and inciting harassment by others until she quit writing. The allegation was she was mutuals with someone else who was assumed to be racist, which is flimsy enough, but the real reason was obviously that she wrote popular, beloved fics that did not subscribe to the Hypermasculine Daddy Lestat and Hyperfeminine Housewife Louis Fanon.

This fandom is a horrible place and I am so glad you're still with us and haven't let these people bully you into silence, Sophie. It's so awful.

I'm really, really sorry to hear that, anon. Can I ask who the author is? I'd like to have a look and maybe send them a message or a comment if I can. Hopefully they might be a bit like me though and come back after giving themselves some time and buffer.

It's all pretty hideous behaviour though, and mm - - okay, you know. It's been a few weeks since it all went down with me now, and I've had a lot of people reach out very kindly in DMs, and also had to have y'know, I guess I'd say offbeat, haha, and awkward and heavy conversations with people in my real life, both personally and professionally (although I will say it's kind of been a relief, and half my family has already turned it into a running joke. My mum, who was the first person I told, watched Disclaimer after I recommended it to her, and she keeps texting me photos of the Kevin Kline stalker character with 'your erotic fanfiction haters' and asking me if I'm sure I didn't kill somebody's son, lmao), but I've been thinking about it all a lot, and - - yeah.

Look, this is going to sound off topic, but bear with me for a minute, alright? Over the last two weeks, purely by coincidence, I listened to the Behind the Bastards episodes on Rush Limbaugh. I love that podcast in general, and those two episodes are fascinating, and really worth listening to if you're at all interested in the media landscape's pivot to the right in the last few years. They really explore who he is as a person, his ascent in radio, how he managed that ascent, and the space he created in media which would after him be filled by Fox News, Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan,et al.

One of the ways that he did this was by being loud, but also presenting himself as trustworthy, and really the only person anyone needed to listen to. He was a smart guy, anyway, anyone could hear that, and if people listened to him, they'd be smart too. One of the first majorly successful runs of this was his campaign against the show Murphy Brown, which is about a woman who is a single mother and a lawyer, successful, bright, and who interacts with a lot of gay people in different capacities in her every day life. Murphy Brown is famous for being one of the first shows to normalise both successful single motherhood, and LGBTQI+ people as varied members of our communities.

Now, Limbaugh positioned the show as offensive, and anyone who liked it as morally wrong, but more than that, he positioned his opinion as the only right one, and he would actively tell people not only to not watch the show, but to not engage with anyone who might have an opinion of it that wasn't his own. He did this by telling people they would be stupid, or 'missing something' if they didn't follow his obvious intellect, that they didn't need to think about it themselves, because he would do the thinking for them, Smart Person That He Was.

And so I'm like, y'know, listening to the podcast on my commute to work, and I just kind of think - - huh. Because it's kind of familiar, right? And I got thinking about how all those people were reblogging my 'vile anti black post' and telling all their followers to block me, thus trying to control their followers ability to see my posts, and presumably the posts of others, since they seem to do that a bit, and then I noticed that those same people trying to ensure everyone blocked me.....didn't block me themselves. And it suddenly just clicked into place.

Fascist rhetoric has come to fandom. Per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

In simplest terms, fascism refers to a specific way of organizing a society: under fascism, a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people in that society, and allows no dissent or disagreement. 

Fascism is more than just political, it's a philosphy and a mindset. Rush Limbaugh was a media figure, and he was a fascist, and interestingly - importantly - he did not believe in most of what he said. What he wanted was power, success, control, an audience, and to dictate the rhetoric in the media landscape because that granted him that power, success, control, and audience.

And look, I'm not saying these people attacking others with different opinions in the fandom are fascists, but they're using a fascist playbook. Their criticisms, harassment campaigns, threats to dox, actual doxxing, threats to not only involve but criminally endanger children (which I have since learnt my nephews were not the first target of - someone in this fandom who I won't name reached out to tell me they'd similarly threatened to send things to her children) (also I've seen posts that the people who initially were vocally strawmanning my arguments wouldn't do that, and sure, maybe they wouldn't, but all I can say is that if I knew members of my own corner of the fandom were threatening to find and send porn to any minor, let alone children as young as 7, I would be loudly and outspokenly condemning it), and attempts to suppress anything they don't agree with, is fascist behaviour.

They are allowing no dissent, no disagreement, and actively interfering with people's real lives to achieve that.

I don't think this will make any difference to them, I think some might not know what they're doing, but I think a lot do at this point, and I guess what I want to do in this post is just to share what I personally think that it is, and I guess - - mm, not offer words of advice exactly, but perhaps offer some gentle encouragement. I'd encourage anyone in this fandom - hell, everyone in life right now, given the state of things - to approach anyone who tells you there is only one way to create, only one way to enjoy something, or interpret something, or only a select group of people that you should listen to, with caution at the very least.

Fandom - again, hell, community - has always, to me, been about encouraging others to explore and engage with it on their own terms. Diversity of opinion is good, it's healthy, different takes on characters should be exciting, different iterations in fanart and fanfiction is a celebration of the fact that we bring our own stories to, well, stories, and anyone telling you who you should or shouldn't engage with without having a healthy, equal conversation about why you shouldn't engage with them, should be given respectful, reasonable doubt.

Anyway, I'm sure this'll piss people off again, but y'know, I don't really care about them at this point. I think their behaviour is ugly, antithetical to what fandom has always been about, and frankly, I think it's antisocial. I do care about you guys though, and I don't know. I hope this perhaps sheds a little bit of light for you in the same way that I felt it shed a little bit of light for me, or at least makes you think a little bit more broadly about what this desire to control is a part of, and how to engage (or rather, not) with it. But more than anything, I hope that author's okay, and that they've made friends in this fandom like I have who can offer their support.

[forestdeath1]

I think this isn’t about skirts, painted nails or long hair (why is that “too feminine” btw? These are just things — they don’t perform femininity on their own. People are assigning an inherent quality to objects when in reality, it’s the person who performs femininity or anything else and that performance isn’t dependent on skirts — tho a skirt can be part of it)

This is about effeminophobia/effeminomisia/femmephobia. And it’s about this character’s personality. Sirius’s clothes are irrelevant when so many people completely rewrite his character, his core, turning him into a whiny, pathetic clown. Why is it that in the fandom “femininity” often comes bundled with stupidity, helplessness and submission, while masculinity equals dominance — when that’s exactly the rigid binary that we’re criticising?

Moreover people can be seen as masculine even if they look feminine. Their appearance doesn’t erase their masculinity (and vice versa). More than that femininity itself shouldn’t only be defined as the opposite of masculinity. There are multiple ways to code femininity. Just as there are multiple ways to code masculinity. And mix it. Or erase it all. Whatever.

I’m not denying that some people genuinely believe that “a man in a skirt is gross” and it means that Sirius shouldn’t wear one — that’s absolutely ridiculous and deserves criticism (and obv personal preferences are fine. Everyone has their own tastes when it comes to attraction — that’s fine. As long as they’re not dictating what others can do)

But most of the criticism isn’t even about his appearance in the first place.

The real question is — why does Sirius in the fandom automatically become an incompetent joke of a person the moment he’s put in a skirt? Just look at the “incorrect marauders quotes”. Why does a “too feminine gay” man instantly get reduced to a whiny, infantile, clueless stereotype, when canonically, he is objectively one of the smartest and most psychologically strong and resilient people in the series?

Does anyone actually think that’s ok?

Or is it just… oh. Effeminomisia/phobia at work? (It’s not about you, OP, it’s about the fandom).

nooooo way dude you hate when men are too feminine? in the fandom for books written by Notorious Transmisogynist? that’s so brave of you to say wow who else is speaking up about the horrible crime of men wearing skirts these days

[wintrrliqht]

Like hello?? Acting like she’s not a whole women herself.. these people are so confused 😭

“what is she doing there” what is bro buying” “why would paige be in the bra section” UHHHHH WHY TF ELSE??? damn yall are fuckin stupid. I hate that yall associate masc gay women with men because why is it such a fucking big deal that she is in the bra section???

[celestialworlds]

why i think the mindflayer/vecna is an allegory for queerness & shame in stranger things, and why i think will getting possessed in season 2 marked his awareness of not liking mike platonically

sorry if any of this seems jumbled! i have adhd and i was literally playing catchup with my own brain while writing this!

to preface this: horror is a genre that is inherently tied to queerness. horror subverts expectations, uses societal fears to tap into our psyche, while also using subtext and symbolism to give the story deeper meaning. symbolism in horror IS NOT just visual cues, they are experiences that characters have, conversations etc! subtext is VERY important!

commonly used symbolism:

mirrors - duality

shadows/darkness - subconscious/unconscious fears

monsters - represents societal fears and personal fears of the era the show/film is set in

ill also preface this with a parallel: freddy kreuger.

one of the characters is gay (jesse) & in love with his best friend (grady). in one of the scenes where freddy is using jesse's body (!!!) he says it feels like "something is trying to get inside my body." this happens after jesse kisses his girlfriend, and is immediately grossed out. the more freddy uses his body, the more in tune he is with the fact that he's gay, and is more aware of his own heteronormativity.

now! we know will gets possessed in s2 ep8. the beginning, until this episode, is will essentially trying to "get back to normal." (he cant, not when he's plagued with visions and memories) he spends the entire season with mike. mike comforts him, essentially attached to his side the entire time. HOWEVER. mike is still looking for el, and does talk about her directly to will in this season. we dont really see what will thinks about el, but we can make inferences based on his season 3 attitude, that he wasn't her biggest fan.

another thing that's worth pointing out about season 2: when the mindflayer originally enters will's body, mike had been looking for will.

afterwards, in will's conversation with joyce he says "i felt it EVERYWHERE." this part is more interpretation, but that seems recurrent with shame.

pivoting, with vecna i personally think he's a physical embodiment of that shame, and that fear that will continued to feel after season 2&3 (hence: "so stupid" after he fights with mike in season 3) it's also important to note that stranger things is set smack dab in the middle of the hiv/aids crisis. so not only is vecna an amalgamation of wills fears, hes also representative of societies fears and stigma towards gay men at the time.

will's whole s4 arc was essentially about his feelings and mike. feeling different. i feel like theyre setting s5 up to still have that same ... possession almost, because he thinks his love is unrequited. this is under the assumption will gets possessed again in season 5.

itd make a lot of sense considering will is the main character of season 5 and his whole arc is coming into his own, which means standing up for himself instead of being passive. will was bullied a lot for being queer, to flip that on its head would be symbolic by itself. it would make even more sense if el/will/mike are the ones who have the most important parts of ending everything. these are the 3 people he's closest to (apart from his mother and jonathan, obviously), the people he cares most about.

so, i wouldnt be completely surprised if mike ends up returning will's feelings, and helps him end things. el, his mom, and jonathan are CRUCIAL to this, however. he needs support from these 3 people. he has jonathan's already. we just need el, mike, and his mom. if they can defeat the mindflayer like this, the mindflayer then kills vecna. because theyre one in the same. the only difference would be that the mindflayer is free, which means will's shame, his fear, would be as well.

[star-lights-up]

OKAY OKAY but. Cherik AU idea. Modern au.

So you know those driverless cars that you can get a service to? They're actually fairly reliable, and they drive pretty well... sometimes better than the other people. I've taken one once with a friend who had the service, and it was actually cool once I stopped freaking out about being in a car with no driver. Anyway, there's this one flaw... someone can stand in front of the vehicle, and the vehicle will not move. It can't move, because it would hit the person. So you're effectively trapped. I saw an instagram reel about how this woman was getting harassed by this guy who wouldn't move away from the car until she gave him her number. Awful stuff like that.

So for some reason my brain went cherik au. Neither of them are the harasser dw.

So charles is a drag queen who works at this drag club run by a friend of his. It's on a relatively un-busy street. Anyway, he's coming out of work early one day for... some reason, i'm too lazy to think of one, and he's still wearing his makeup and has a skirt on and stuff, and these two dudes start kinda harassing him while he's waiting for his car.

The car comes after a minute or so and he expects it to be alright, he gets in and is ready to leave, but then the dudes start standing in front of the car, and the car can't leave. He leans out the window and tells them to fuck off, they're in the road.

It's getting to the point where it's been a stupid amount of time and he's considering calling the cops when this third dude walks up and starts yelling at the other guys. They laugh it off at first, pointing at charles and being like, look at him, he's ridiculous, we're just having a bit of fun, and then the other guy is like. threatening them very harshly, and he's quite tall, and eventually they turn tail and leave. The new guy does a quick thumbsup-thumbsdown-you-okay? hand signal at charles through the windshield, then gets out of the way when he smiles and said he was okay. The car begins driving off.

And then the idea is that charles is like wow that guy was handsome. And then at work the next day there's this new drag queen, I've spent an ungodly amount of time thinking of dragneto's drag name but i'm not going to share any of them here because at this point it's just stupid. Anyways, Charles is like oh my god most spectacular drag queen EVER but doesn't recognize her as erik. Erik assumes he knew the whole time. misunderstandings ensue.

Also all the other x men are gay in this. like more so than usual. Highlight reel, we've got:

alex and darwin (who i think own the drag club) (charles is working there until he gets on his feet again after his mother cut him off)

raven and irene, ororo and jean, emma and moira, (our lovely lesbians.)

scott and logan (they fight a lot)

wade (the pansexual nightmare that nobody knows what to do with he's just chaotically there)

angel and sean (they're dating but they're both bi and kind of function like gay best friends.

aro/ace hank (who's just chilling and watching the drama unfold.)

[octo-blobs]

hi i cant remember what notes are but here we go.

for many a reason i very deeply resonate with the found family aspect of 8path and have spent a lot of time daydreaming about it - so a Hefty Chunk of what i've taken from it includes projection and indulgent headcanoning. i loved english literature at school so i like to think my analysis skills have aided me in keeping the characters i ship in a recognisably canon-compliant state, but because i'm just stubbornly gay i stop caring whether it makes sense to then add copious amounts of romance on top. ~anyway~.

alfion. i originally didn't like alfyn! my first experience of him was the english dub and i found his sonic-like mannerisms annoying. after experiencing the game in full, however, and becoming very attached to therion, i figured that he was a great asset to those who needed a soft-hearted-strongman. i love what the narrative offers regarding how it shapes these characters and would make a seriously long post about analysing every character i talk about here If People Cared -- for now, though, i'll try to keep it short. (NARRATOR VOICE: he did not keep it short.)

i just love the foils between alfyn and therion. therion, whose heart stutters and bleeds the truth of his loneliness; a man who lives in the shadows only to yearn for the love that light holds. alfyn, who from his trauma took the lesson of embracing life with open arms; a man who would rather unintentionally shepherd in evil than to deny a second chance. they embody such a deep sense of hurt/comfort whilst also curating a casual, warm and boyish sense of true friendship together.

therion benefits so deeply from all 7 of his playable companions, and in alfyn's case, i think it's deeply tied to his free-falling honesty. not only does alfyn portray his values strongly - he also does utterly risk-intensive and sometimes borderline stupid things because he believes in his chosen role as a force for change. his story arc seems to show him doubling down on these decisions, and there are several points at which therion's existence as a societal menace and ~bad person~ can be seen as relevant to them. whether or not you should help a no-good thief; whether or not a person is evil because of their past and circumstances that changed the trajectory of their life; where you should draw the line and what you should punish; whether you should give up on a person who nobody else can seem to help. to me, alfyn seems to decide that he'll be somewhat of an objective and benevolent (as much as a human with a strong protective complex can be) shepherd to the weak and forsaken, taking consequences of his actions as a workplace risk instead of a curse to his worth. therion, however ... this man is mired in shame and has no sense of self-worth that doesn't come down to spiteful pride in the abilities that darius praised & his self-preserving spite. he gave his heart to someone and he thinks, for the most part, that he need not ever get past the pain it caused him, lest it make him weak all over again. because being weak hurt - being powerless hurt. and being chucked off a cliff by someone you would've burned the world with... *really* hurt.

from therion's standpoint he is seen by others as undeserving and, for the longest time, i don't think it matters to him whether or not that assessment is true. his way of compartmentalising the way society treats him is to do what he needs for survival regardless, because there are a hundred more evil things than he himself is capable of - as, iirc, an orphan, and a pauper - but i don't think this leads to an appreciation for his worth. it's so tarnished by darius, the fallout of which probably confirmed pre-conceived notions such as 'don't trust anyone', 'always account for yourself and forsake others before they forsake you', 'the whole world is more likely to turn you in than to hold your hand'. honestly, i see in therion such overflowing yearning that he doesn't *fully* live by these notions - he can't cut himself off from the love he longs for because he's not the kind of no-good scoundrel he thinks he belongs with. whereas darius and plenty of other criminals ingame sow cruelty and are cutthroat with their relationships, therion seems to be capable of empathising with a broader spectrum of people (as seen, to me, by his ability to sympathise with cordelia & thus the untouchable bourgeoise he so loathes). alfyn's open-minded worldview allows therion to be present in the life of a thoroughly kind person without either feeling threatened or like he's in disguise. from there, he's able to observe the light he's yearned for and, in time, this could blossom into a love that finally grants him security.

god i could talk about them forever, but i also have a headcanon that i've held close to me for a few years now. based on the map and where therion's attempted murder takes place, i've ruminated on the idea that therion could have ended up getting medical treatment in clearbrook. after tumbling down the jagged, steep lines of bolderfall's mountainside, he could have broken his fall as the terrain blushed green with grass and trees and underbrush. dry from the desert sun and on the brink of death, a near sightless therion dragged himself towards the sounds of rushing water. the current dragged his limbs - some broken, others just weak and covered in wounds - further down the river. as therion and alfyn were both younger, i wonder if zeph would have lead the treatment that therion received once he was pulled from the bubbling waters and rushed onto the medieval equivalent of an operating table. the immediate question is, "wouldn't they recognise each other once they met in the future?" - and i don't think therion would want himself to be known, treated or kept in such a generous home. most apothecaries are paid in-universe - a service therion was beyond sure he couldn't pay for. to me, therion is apprehensive about returning to clearbrook on his travels but *needs*, for whatever narrative reason, to pass through and receive apothecary aid. alfyn recognises the white hair and skittish tendencies, recalling little other than a patient who picked from zeph's coinpurse and ran. for the longest time, he never brings up that he belives - knows - that person was therion. he wrestles with it, deciding that he indeed wants to see just what kind of person therion is, which eventually leads him to discover that he was right to trust & nurture him.

the therion i depict always has a snarled lip from a lasting scar, cleft from the incident, and i headcanon him suffering from lasting conditions, both physically and mentally, that actually alfyn would be able to treat or provide relief from - continuing the proof that he can and will be taken care of here; that there's no reason to be afraid; that he can scratch and protest all he likes, but he's in the hands of a man whose whole purpose (and joyfully so) is to make sure he has a space to heal.

god lmao i love them so much. i also see them both as trans but i also see a good portion of the casts of both 8path 1&2 as trans so it barely feels relevant. i just think its neat.

h'aanirose. primh'aan. it's a very similar story, though their personalities, goals and lives are led in very different manners to alfyn and therion. i certainly think there's a lot to add about lesbianism here, such as comparing primrose's relationships with women to those she has with men, as well as h'aanit's portrayal as a warrior woman and a blushing knight in the face of her alluring lady, but i probably wom't go into all of it.

primrose and yusufa was an extremely formative relationship. it, unfortunately, mirrored the one with her father and left her losing another deeply important person to murder. the kind of rage that rumbles in primrose's heart and thunders out into bursts of arcane shadow is not to be underestimated, in part because it left her so vulnerable to the puppeteering of simeon. in her eyes, she lost everyone she loved - and then, suddenly, in a way that made her once again feel like a child, she un-lost one of those people. forming a deep and lasting connection must be tough for her after the events of the game and thus i think the a certain travel banter line from the end of her story is representative of even more yearning than it seems on the surface. to h'aanit she suggests they could travel together in future, even commenting that she could protect h'aanit herself. to which, of course, the incredibly muscular pseudo-viking with axe-wielding biceps and a giant snow leopard says, 'dost thou not mean *i* coulde protecten *thee*?' i find this so incredibly cute. of course there's a huge aspect of prim's banter where she alludes to her physique & intimately informed commentary on men, which leads her to praise h'aanit for choosing neither of the 'two kinds of men' in chapter 2. however, the power of yuri in my heart takes this subtext and runs with it - when i talk about the deeper yearning of this interaction, what i'm referring to is the fact that the game gives us an insight into her thoughts and has her, like a stumbling shy lovebird, question why she didn't just outright admit she likes h'aanit's company. it's one of my favourite little things in the entire game because primrose has lived so much of her life as someone that she didn't want to be, but *had* to be in order to approach the truth and get closure for her grief. i think she knows that there's an aimless and unknowable path before her, and her old skills kick in. before she can simply ask for h'aanit to join her on this daunting endeavour, she finds herself trying to sweeten her words & make herself seem appealing as a companion. (seeing as prim can allure any gender, it highlights that alluring isn't just used in a sexual manner - though frequently that's how she's received by men & has more success playing into that across the board). i think this scene is emblematic of the effect h'aanit has on her, and i love gobbling it up.

primrose feels comfortable in letting h'aanit know that she feels safe with her very automatically, even when she's shy about asking for her company. h'aanit, to me, would make a lovely candidate for a person that primrose can deeply love & is less likely to lose to a cruel deception or death; i think the way in which h'aanit fends for herself is appealing in this manner. in turn, the sweet way in which they can exchange life lessons creates a foundation of support, which is both fantastic in a world where the men* in their lives are falling short of the roles they might otherwise occupy and a foundation for love that appreciates their strengths without regretting their weaknesses. (*z'aanta as a drunken & lighthearted mentor often scolded by his apprentice; primrose's lack of a present father figure or protector; the way h'aanit's story champions the presence of strong and/or skilled women; primrose chapter 1 villain who icr the name of cause he sucked; simeon as an older man in young primrose's life who preyed on her innocence and love for him). etc etc.

h'aanit is a learner. she may not start out with experience, and further on she finds herself flustered at several points when it comes to the mannerisms of cityfolk, but she's capable of understanding the wider picture. i think this is aided by the way in which she sees herself in the cycle of life, protecting the forest by stepping into it only where it can undo the superfluous presence of man. she doesn't get too involved in the habits of others unless they threaten the forest - an example is with therion and the way she just flat-out judges his nimble fingers, only to do nothing about it other than sass him out in ye olde. she is patient to see how things pan out, and can respect others enough to see where their actions will take them before stepping in. then, when she steps in, she is both graceful and noble, making her an incredibly romantic figure imo. i have, many a time, also thought about the way h'aanit is predominantly a melee (aside from summoning) fighter, with an emphasis on strategic timing for her skills, and prim is almost entirely a support. throughout the trauma and troubles that primrose faced prior to meeting any of the cast, she was unable to access enough power or knowledge to push forward and instead played a waiting game. i think it delights her to know that she can stand beside her battering ram of a girlfriend and fuel her, achieving her goals not through manipulation or abuse but through their shared vision.

my hands feel a bit numb from typing all of this out on my phone, which i didn't need to do but did anyways because it's very easy to fixate on these characters. i feel like i have a thousand things to say, all of them obsessive and excited because of an adoration for the character writing in these games. i love squeezing it for all of the gay stuff and i will never stop.

honourable ship mentions that i will go into detail about if anyone asks, *particularly* those for 8path2 - olberus, olberus but with erhardt too for yaoi reasons, throné x temenos t4t, throné x agnea (postgame +several years), knightlight, a polyamorous amalgamation of the above 8path2 characters (with the exception of temenos not being into women in my hc)... god. help. theres always more but im tired and now i want to replay the games. thank you op for my life

if you read this you get a gold star

I miss octopath yapping with people so uh yknow what! We’re gonna play a game!!

Explain in the notes what y’all’s favorite ships are and why you like them!!!

Only rules are

1) do not explain why everyone should think your ship is canon, as that is not the point of this post 2) do not put any other ships down bc that is also not the point of this post 3) ALL games are included (yes including cotc) 4) ANY SHIPS ARE ALLOWED!!! GO NUTS!!!!

[cosmoport]

oops all buges

and stupid gay people . i guess .