#yes this is incredibly niche discourse

[thresholdbb]

Every time I see the Fair Haven episodes, I wonder when exactly the village is supposed to be. Everywhere online claims Fair Haven is a 19th century program, but my limited knowledge of historical fashion always tries to place them at least at the turn of the century, probably around 1910s

They're all in tweed and daytime fashion being working class folk, plus more rural areas tend to run behind in fashion trends

Anyone more knowledgeable than me in this area have any insight?

[wwillywonka]

two for you, if you like!

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

hiii thank you so much for the ask!

🪐 - i definitely have a hard time being positive so i'm always grateful to have an excuse to tell my brain to rewrite itself for a while lol.

1. made a new friend recently and we've been hanging out a lot! i've been pretty lonely post-college, and this person and i not only have so many overlapping interests but also happen to be the same ethnicity, and i genuinely don't know how we never managed to meet before this, especially considering they grew up in the next town over. it's been wonderful. we went to a record store yesterday, and i was perusing the soundtrack cds, and my friend goes, "omg i see something. how did you miss it???" and it was the fucking charlie and the chocolate factory broadway soundtrack. my beloathed. and yes i bought it. we also spent the entire car ride talking about mcspirk. really good.

2. i might be (maybe) getting a full time position (hopefully)! i don't want to jinx it, but i've been doing part time work for a bit now and it's finally looking like it might turn into something more! i'm tentatively excited.

3. overall, i am once again just so grateful for all my friends (both online and especially off) in fandom spaces and having the ability to share my love for these stories with others. the star trek fandom especially has been such a welcoming and loving place, and after years of pretty much only being obsessed with very niche things, it's been such a breath of fresh air. kissing you all, mwah!

🍬 - oh god, completely different vibe. i tend to steer clear of fandom discourse unless i feel like a story reaaally messed up (aka the way racism was handled in the newest season of doctor who...), so i don't really like to bash on characters specifically because i know what it's like to be on the receiving end of someone's hatred for your fav. most of my opinions tend to be unpopular anyway a) because my favourite characters are always the morally grey ones who i like precisely because they're controversial, and b) because so many people on this site don't understand nuance. it's just... so frustrating when people can't see beyond their need for a ship to be canon/a ship is the only reason they're interested in the story. arcane, for example, is not only incredibly nuanced, detailed, and, yes, full of morally grey characters, it exists to raise questions about politics and history that intentionally are not meant to be solved in 18 episodes because humanity has been trying to answer them for thousands of years! i agree that the writing felt rushed, but what people can't seem to grasp is that just because a story doesn't answer every one of life's questions doesn't mean it's a bad story. aaaahhh. anyway, sorry for the rant, that didn't really answer your question.

i'll say this: (arcane spoilers!!!)

i think jinx dying was a perfect way to end the story. i literally predicted way back when i first watched s1 that one of the sisters was going to die. i thought vi was going to kill jinx to be honest. it wasn't a cheap ending or a cop out; in the same way silco had to die in order for the story to move forward and for change to occur, the same goes for jinx. the cycles!!! they only end when we find the will to walk away!!!! that line has stuck with me since the finale premiered because it's so goddamn true. what if the people trying so hard to force the world into their own empire just... stopped. why can't they see that it doesn't fucking matter, that all that matters is loving one another and making sure we're all okay. like aaaahhh. change is necessary for us to move on and stop having the same arguments we've been having for thousands of years.

that being said, i don't think runeterra is going to necessarily be a better place post-jinx's death, especially because it keeps caitlyn in a respected position of power and i reaallllyyy hate how much the show makes you sympathise with her. i really don't like her... or vi... aaannnddd that's all i'll say about that because this is not an invitation for people to start yelling at me lol.

anyway!! thanks for the ask and sorry for turning it into an arcane rant lmao

[clare-with-no-i]

hi clare!!!! very random (I’m clearly having a wild NYE), but if you don’t mind, I’m super curious about your opinions re: sarah koenig and true crime journalists. I saw you posted about it a while back on clarewashere (I would have submitted this ask there but that blog didn’t have an ask option!). I have always hated true crime podcasts but I know you’re super educated on the criminal justice system and I would love to hear your perspective

totally feel free to ignore this :) cheers! hope you’re having a lovely NYE!!

hi beloved! thank you for the question! also yeah I have my asks off on that blog because one time someone sent me anon hate on there but didn't realize it was my main and that I'm, yknow, me, which was really hilarious lol. anyway.

soooo god I have myriad problems with the true crime genre. it pretty much does everything possible wrong when dealing with conversations around policing, criminalization, and incarceration, and yes I even mean the 'sensitive' true crime people and not just the YouTubers who do makeup while talking about, like, Ted Bundy or whatever it is they discuss.

true crime as a genre and phenomenon sensationalizes crime, creates an unrealistic culture of fear based on wildly standout incidents of violence, and reinforces false ideas that a) police in this country solve crimes, which they don't, FBI statistics on homicide clearance rate give a (very optimistic!) estimation that about 54% of homicides are being solved per annum; b) kidnapping, murder, other violent crimes are a significant portion of the prison population, which they absolutely are not; c) that white people are just as likely to experience violent crime as people of color, which they aren't at all. the airtime that these incredibly niche, outlying stories get overwhelms real conversations about the carceral state in America (prison gerrymandering! over-policing minority neighborhoods! stop and frisk! civil asset forfeiture!), and they also strengthen this insane mythos that there is a hard line between perpetrators of crime and victims of crime, which, no, there absolutely is not. an overwhelming majority of incarcerated persons have themselves been victims of some form of crime. crime is born from poverty, from underfunded school systems, from homelessness, from lack of healthcare, from feeding drugs into Black communities and then arresting drug users. it is a function of the structural racism and classism that permeate the American reality. it's not just joe criminal waking up one day and grabbing an axe. like yes of course that happens, and it is terrible when it does, but to only report on that/make it a feature of a media subculture is frightening.

and people might say, oh, well, what's the harm? it's just a youtube video!!! but the popularity of narratives like those spread by true crime pods/videos is, and let me make this clear, exactly what tough-on-crime lobbyists and legislators want. how do you think laws like "Three Strikes You're Out" get passed? the popular consciousness gets swept into a moral panic about violent crime and looks to expand the prison system as a means of harm reduction.

and to anticipate another counterpoint: when people are like, but it's spreading awareness!!! ok…awareness of…ongoing police investigations? great. and which investigations in particular? whose stories get told, and whose get ignored? I remember seeing some dumbass take that true crime pods 'spread awareness about domestic violence.' cool. and what structural solutions are we positing? what resources to possible victims are we providing? what funding toward shelters, toward civil legal funds, is being allotted from the earnings? yeah I thought so.

outside of its larger effects on its consumers' understanding of criminalization, true crime is so gross on a human level: these are real people's stories. these are real families of victims who have to watch their loved ones' deaths get discourse-ified and mangled on the internet like it's the latest episode of fucking Game of Thrones. Netflix and other streaming services have created scripted TV shows and films based on real human suffering without ever checking with the families or getting approval. and, honestly, even those scant YouTubers who get families' approvals, I still think it's sketchy as fuck. like, you're still profiting off of this, if not financially, then with it being your entire career just sitting in your house telling the stories of other people's trauma for clicks. yikes?

also, sooo many true crime fanatics are feral weirdos. sorry to say it. there is no goddamn reason why people should be dressing up like Gabby Petito or her murderer for Halloween. there is no reason rando white women should be making "if I go missing" folders with, like, locks of their hair and vials of their spit in them. there is no reason to create conspiracy theories around victims of domestic violence and act like they're actually manipulating the world and/or their abuser. there is no reason that lawyers on fucking TikTok should be making weeks-long series on a domestic abuse trial filled with meme audios and funky freeze-frames. it's weirdo behavior!! I'm not sure at what point we all got desensitized to the idea that people are entitled to privacy and respect when dealing with the objectively hardest times in their lives, but Jesus Christ !!!

to wrap up, my gripe with Sarah Koenig is that she's a hack lmao. Serial not only garbled most of its content wrt the Adnan Sayed trial, but it also stole from Rabia O'Chaudry's investigation of the trial, and left key significant pieces of his bungled defense out. and then SK claimed credit for getting him out of prison. blech. she's also the final boss of all true crime journos because true crime podcasting absolutely took off after Serial, much to my chagrin.

there we have it, this was a dissertation, sorry to anyone who actually reads this, it's such a rant lmao. thank you again for asking <3 as a known haver of opinions it's always a pleasure to be asked about said opinions

[teacherintransition]

“A good Cuban cigar closes the doors to the vulgarities of the world.” — Franz Liszt

…but it opens the door to peaceful reflection, stimulating conversation and a unique camaraderie.

My wife is so proud of me. Not for the writing and art commissions …well, yes those things, I hope, but particularly for an act of incredible will and determination. I ..yes, me …Brent Rich, your favorite teacher in transition, have not smoked a cigar in five weeks; and it f****** sucks. This state I find myself is not for the reason you might think. Perhaps you’re thinking I’m doing this for my health? Oh, nay, silly rabbit; well maybe a wee bit. Back in Tha Haem an Abode O’ Tha Rich Fowk in Nacogdoches, where we were from mid October to the end of December, I was visiting the finest cigar lounge and establishment one could imagine on an almost daily basis. (Insert Gratuitous commercial plug …here… The Nacogdoches Cigar Company…incredible cigars and amazing people)

I did not visit the aforementioned landmark primarily for the taste, pleasure and enjoyment of their fine tobacco products …I did. The overriding motivation for my perhaps too often visits to the cigar lounge was the friendship and delightful conversation to be had there. Yes my friends… I succumbed to peer pressure. Not in the teenage form of if you don’t jump off this bridge in nothing but your Chuck Taylors you’re just not cool; but for another similar reason: socialization. Allow me to explain.

When one retires, as I’ve mentioned ad infinitum, one’s social interactions are dramatically reduced. Upon reflection, one discovers that most of these interactions were all chit chatty, (I HATE CHIT CHAT) work related, meaningless dribble. No offense former colleagues, it’s just that in ye olde public school work environment, it’s difficult to converse freely and be your self. I’m in post employment retirement, I’m not settling for chit chat. I enjoyed the occasional cigar, but would not touch cigarettes; yes, there is a significant health difference says the man who was smoking 8-10 cigars a week. It was not until our local cigar lounge opened that I became “a regular.”

Quiet, solitary reflection and introspection are valuable pursuits when living the life, but meaningful social interactions are a must. I’m not a church guy, so that ain’t happening. I don’t play golf often to accumulate golf buddies, and since the 2018 closing of the revered pub, The Liberty Bell, (excuse me while I genuflect) there’s no public house to frequent. What’s a guy to do? At our cigar lounge, I’ve found my niche.

When a group of wise, slight aged, sophisticated gentlemen get together with fine cigars the world trembles at the searing logic of the razor sharp wit brought forth in a conversation of such men. I exaggerate …a little. Hours are spent discussing politics, sports, music, travel etcetera …etcetera …etcetera. Usually all of this high minded discourse is accompanied by a fine whiskey/whisky and close friendships are formed. Yeah, it’s a thing.

In Alexandria, I had the Pineville Cigar Club; in Granbury, I had the Granbury Cigar Company to substitute for our lounge in Nacogdoches. In Round Rock, amid all of restaurants, bars, museums, I’ve yet to find a conveniently located lounge that doesn’t request that one smokes outside on a patio. Outside? It’s been f******* cold and we are not barbarians. I’ve met some art folks at the local gallery and have a few old friends from back in the day that live in the area; but for the most part, my socialization has been stunted. But hey, at least I know that there is no addiction to tobacco. An addiction to friends, good talk and a quality social circle …yeah I’m hooked.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Let’s talk: The importance of curating your space and the cyclical life of ships

by Admin 1

From anon: Hi! I'm a new Army/vminie (4 months) and I have a (maybe dumb) question... When I joined, I saw so many j*/k*okers analysing every small moment between jk and jm and these ppl were everywhere and I couldn't avoid seeing j*/k*ok ship content. However, the past two weeks or so it seems to have shifted and suddenly I see t*e/k*ok ship content everywhere. I wonder, is this shifting a normal occurence? And how do I get rid of these ship contents in spaces that are supposed to be free of these 2 ships

Having been around for quite some time, I’ve come to think of the big ships as something very akin to extremely sensitive seismometers. Instead of detecting even the smallest movement or noise in relation to earthquakes or volcanic activity, these ship seismometers react to any and all activity (as in any kind of “moments” or what they perceive as such) in very “volatile” manners, for a lack of better words.

What do I mean by that?

Like you said, there was a long phase after Dynamite came out where the mood had shifted toward J*k*ok because we got more content in which we could see those two interact, even if later on we also got content from the same sets and time in which both members involved were seen interacting with other members, but that didn’t matter. So, obviously, shippers took this as grand sign, the seismometer drawing numbers like ones you’d get when you have an extreme earthquake, but in this case it was a positive thing. Every new “moment” or anything they perceived as such caused big reactions, loud enough to even reach far beyond their space and instead was heard also in general ARMY spaces or those of other shippers etc. But, there’s also the opposite effect, as in, volatile reactions, or big reactions, when there are several pieces of content one after the other where said ship doesn’t interact or doesn’t have any “moments”. In cases like that euphoria quickly shifts into “insecurity” (though they would never admit to that) and worry, occasionally also defensiveness and attacks.

Imagine a scenario like this: lets say we get five Bangtan B*mbs. The first one has main ship A interact, the next one doesn’t have either of the two ships, the third one was has main ship B interact, as well as in video four and five. 

Those who were happy with the first video will be casual/neutral about the second one, but as they get the third, fourth and fifth, the seismometer for them inevitably turns from extremely positive to extremely negative. While for B it’s the exact opposite, going from negative to extremely positive with YT and sns exploding with announcements of “B ships is back” or “B are in love after all, BH has freed them” or anything along those lines.

What I’m trying to say is that yes, this is normal. The big ships and their shippers lead a very cyclical life, which also means they never quite “disappear” either. They are always there, waiting, and then jump on any piece of a moment they get with big reactions, and in the time where they have nothing, chances are the toxic part of their community will go into attack mode instead, like that will change anything at all. We’ve seen other ships come and go, nearly disappear just to have some kind of revival months or even years later, or “new” ships win the favor of the masses. There are also a few ships that have steadily existed for most of the past eight years without any volatile shifts or changes, but those are generally the quieter ones ignored or actively campaigned against/discredited ones by the big ships and their shippers. 

Hyung line ships are generally seen as more “niche”/overlooked, or just some background extras for fanfics or something ML shippers enjoy since the aren’t an active “threat”, like Namjoon x Yoongi or Yoongi x Hobi which have been around forever and I don’t think I’ve ever really seen (or heard about) anyone have fights about them or even fights between those two camps, since most shippers have an almost laser like focus on the maknaes and especially JK.

The funny thing in all of this, if you can even call it that, is that none of it really depends on the members themselves. In all this time they haven’t changed their behavior much at all, their bonds haven’t drastically or dramatically changed, and certain members didn’t magically go from “hating” each other to suddenly becoming couples over night or vise versa. It’s all shipper interpretations, theories and conspiracies being layered on top of what people see on screen to make things more “interesting”, even if that means actively going against what the members have said themselves and who the members are, as in their personalities but also in relation to each other.

And this brings me to my next point, the importance of curating your own space.

Here it’s important to know what kind of a TL or ARMY sns experience do you want. Do you want to just focus on your bias with a side of OT7 with gifs and pictures and nothing else? Do you want to have more of an eye on how BTS is doing on the charts? Have more discourse and discussions on the TL you can follow or actively participate in? Or do you want a mix of it all?

Personally I’m very picky in who I follow and what kind of content I add to my TL by following an account. Generally I think it’s important to check every account you consider following to make sure they aren’t one of the following things: akgae, manti, solo stan, toxic shipper, or a victimizing sheep. While I do follow a number of ship centric accounts, because I like seeing vmin and namjin on my TL, I find it extremely important to follow several trustworthy ARMY translators as well as a number of non-ship centric ARMY accounts that just focus on Bangtan as a whole.

The block button is your friend. I know it might seem drastic or mean to just block random people, but in the long run you will be thankful for it since it will keep toxic content away from your space, regardless if toxic in a solo stan sense or a ship one. If you’re on twt you can also mute certain words and # so they don’t show up on your TL either, make use of that if you feel a need for it. Eventually though the algorithm learns what you gravitate toward, and if you follow a well curated number of accounts, the things you don’t want to see simply won’t appear where you can see them.

On YT, as far as I’m aware, in the recommended section you can mark videos you don’t like as not being interested in them and even mark whole channels as something you don’t want to have recommended to you. Since I don’t watch any ship related videos, I never get any recommended to me despite watching BTS videos (though I mostly stick to their official accounts and wherever else they performed).

It’s important to create a space in which you just see the content you want, but still pay attention to not just bury yourself in a ship bubble since that can be a slippers slope and you might end up accidentally turning yourself toxic on accident, too sure of your thoughts and end up growing resentful moments where a member of your ship interacts with someone else in the group. That’s when you know you’ve gone several steps to far, since above all else, we are ARMY before we are vminnies or namjinists or anything else. We can love our chosen duo, we can love our bias(es), but we should always listen to what the members have to say and trust them. After all Tae (and the other members) has asked us several times to love all seven, so that’s what I do. They are all incredibly lovable, and their bonds with each other all precious and wonderful in their own ways and worthy of appreciation, so I don’t understand those who feel hatred against any of them.

Curate your space but always keep a healthy mix of general ARMY and ship content, if you are someone who partakes in shiperverse activities, and stay as far away as possible from manipulative YT videos and accounts with toxic narratives and motives. 

From anon: hey! read your new post re: curating your own space. don't know if you'll answer this, but is there any "must follow" accounts on twt (for translations, vmin, and bts in general) that you can recommend? I'm new to the site and made an account for bangtan only, but there's just so much going on there that it can get confusing. Also found out that there are many troll accs, fake 'nice' accs, too much drama accs etc that can give you a bad experience.

Here’s a large selection of translators and a smaller selection of other accounts that I think are worth following, especially BTSChartData. Also, whatever you do, don’t follow the BTS ARMY twt account with 4M+ followers or however many they might have at this point.

I’d also be very weary of member specific fanbases and chart accounts since they are known as perfect breeding grounds for solos, akgae and mantis, unfortunately, and some have been exposed for being akgae themselves.

[bereft-of-frogs]

Hi, hope you don't mind me asking this, but I saw a post about your two fandoms, and I just wanted to ask, do you think there is the same arguments across both fandoms just in a slightly different context, or do you think a lot of discourse is specific to the fandom itself? Do you think it's inevitable that in large fandoms, discourse occurs? I'm only in one so I genuinely don't know. Thanks.

Hi! This is a really interesting question.

I think the base elements of discourse will always be present in a fandom that grows sufficiently large. allow me to postulate a few categories of universal discourse:

- the various iterations of purity culture, whether it’s ‘how dare you find the villain character compelling!’, or ‘this content is too violent/sexual won’t you think about the hypothetical children’! No amount of tagging your work 18+ will save you from the crime of hypothetically traumatizing imaginary children. the P word will probably be thrown around (you know what I mean)

- there will be the ship wars, with the added recent development of desperately looking for ways the other person you don’t ship your fav with is morally bad, overusing terms like gaslight/abuse/manipulation/etc, so as to paint your rival ship and all its shippers as ‘problematic’ and morally in the wrong, character bashing, etc

- the people who seem to actually hate about 90% of the canon but stick around for the fanworks and just constantly rag on canon as it’s released and think anyone (also with an added ‘...and this is why it’s morally wrong!’ for the same reasons as above ship wars)

- the people who aren’t in the fandom at all but sort of flit around the edges just to flaunt how much smarter they are than the people who actually like it. these people just want to pride themselves on not liking something that is popular, and are incredibly annoying about it.

But I feel like each big fandom I’ve participated in has had at least one unique discourse element. Les Misérables has the war against the untagged Modern AUs. Star Wars has the, sigh, ‘the Jedi were secretly the actual bad guys all along and you’re a bad person for liking them’ discourse I refuse to ever participate in again. I don’t think any fandom has achieved the levels of cult recruitment that Harry Potter has. (What is it, 5 cults now?) I’m sure there’s some mess going on in Lord of the Rings somewhere, but I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid it.

Marvel I think is interesting because it’s so large that there are multiple factions, all with unique points that people argue about. Even in compared to Star Wars, which is also large and with many factions. But I think also the difference might have to do with time scale: MCU discourse has really only had 10 years to cram it all it, while SW has developed over the last 40. There’s been a higher concentration of course, with the recent Disney acquisition and all the problems that entailed (lol yes understatement of the decade), but I think because it’s all been so stretched out we only see one significant cycle of discourse at a time, whereas in the MCU they’re all happening at once. Constantly. Which can get exhausting.

I think my personal position in the two fandoms discourse is interesting. I have the general Star Wars discourse ban that dates from when the sequel trilogy anti stuff was getting really bad, and I found myself stuck in a sort of weird position on it...but since then I think I’ve found myself a niche where the discourse is more minimal and easier to avoid, excepting that one big sticking point that I refuse to discuss because the sides are so entrenched it’s useless and also frequently gets to a point that’s just fundamentally upsetting to me, so I just don’t do it. I have had some issues trying to avoid character bashing of some of my favs, because it’s gotten sort of bad lately and spilled over into the AO3 summaries/tags which I really hate...but then I just go back to doing whatever I want and not really caring about what anyone else thinks lol.

I don’t know why I feel more comfortable publicly commenting on MCU discourse. I think maybe I’ve just been more consistently participating in it over the last few years. I don’t know. I also just find it really interesting to break down sometimes, like when I made that post about the fandom and conspiratorial thinking, and if we were headed towards something like TJLC. It is an utter mess right now (like seriously especially the Loki side of the fandom, good god what a dumpster on fire we’re all hanging out in) - which also means it’s a lot harder to avoid, so I think maybe my coping mechanism here is to set an emotional distance by commentating and unpacking it, whereas with SW it’s just utter avoidance.

So yeah, the tldr: yes, I think once any fandom or piece of media gets sufficiently large and popular there will be certain points of discourse that inevitably crop up, and it’s interesting because one can be in multiple fandoms and have completely different responses to and ways of dealing with discourse.

Thanks for the ask! It was thought-provoking. (and apologies for the delay in answering!)

[tonyglowheart]

I think the other thing is...

people are saying “cql is a fantastic adaptation/most valid adaptation” when...I think they’re not really commenting on how CQL adapted MDZS? Because... I actually think, if we’re REALLY going to talk about the integrity of adaptations and such... I think CQL did quite poorly in preserving MDZS’s central themes &  even a lot of central characterization, and again yes it’s bc of censorship, but it quite neutered a lot of what makes MDZS punchy & instead makes it palatable for a more “mainstream” kind of consumption.

Actually, imo the most valid adaptation of MDZS is the audio drama, lmao, bc it stays so true to it while refining it, and fleshes it out well & with the blessing of the creator so that we can almost take the extras/extra bits as quite canon (or at least being descended from Word of God)

I mean, listen. In terms of “how well does the live action drama commodify & commercialize a niche genre for a niche audience for mainstream consumption now that corporations figured out that queer audience money is money too and fans/fandom can be quite lucrative,” I think it does a fantastic job. And I don’t think CQL is *badly* made, I think some of the changes they made make sense for the media and work to tighten the story to wrap it in a neat lil bow and fit it neatly into 50 episodes the way you want a constructed tv series to be.

But as an adaptation of MDZS... I really don’t think it’s as successful as the donghua or manhua (Audio drama is off the table in the running bc imo as an adaption it truly is god-tier, but I understand how the lack of visuals makes it challenging for some ppl as a first-media)

Anyway another half-baked idea I have on what is really maddening to me on this discourse is... we... have similar/parallel conversations in Western fandoms abt Western media? How, like, they’re not really out to help us or give us what we want, they’ll give us enough to get our money but like they still want us to not exist or have any kind of voice lol. Similar things in Western media. Think of the blink-and-you-miss-it “representation” presented as groundbreaking and earthshattering and “we did it kids we solved homophobia,” or the straight actors/actresses who play queer characters and get lauded for being so brave, etc. 

In the case of CQL, I do rather think that like the casting director and Lin Hai and the director of the series, and like individual staff members, do have a lot of love for the novel. But ultimately, all of the fan-catering we get with interviews & bts and stuff is a game that... Tencent/NSMGroup/whomever play to ride that balance of “please them enough to get their money while pretending they as ppl don’t exist.” And yeah, they’ve managed to quite successfully ride the curve this time, and ironically it’s by completely ignoring the elephant in the room and tiptoeing around it. Much like how corporations treat queer audiences in terms of hearing their voices.

*caveat yes I am pissed by certain lines of Discourse so I’m like. reacting kind of strongly on this. I mean like... listen I don’t think CQL is bad. But as an adaptation.... I think it leaves many things wanting. And like.. if it’s your favorite adaptation that’s fine! if you think it’s the most perfect adaptation whatever! you’re allowed to think what you want! I just... idk think some of the justifications ppl give are a little bit backwards and end up disrespectful to the original, and YES I am incredibly sensitive about this lmfao, but also the post I’m vaguing here does explicitly go “oh mdzs reads like a straight woman’s fantasy” and passes moral judgment lmao. 

[cinema-tv-etc]

‘Bridgerton’ Isn’t Bad Austen — It’s An Entirely Different Genre

Critics and viewers have dinged the show for being a cliché-ridden period piece or a sloppy historical drama. But it’s neither: It’s Regency romance, and it’s spectacular.

By Claire Fallon

I was deep in a Regency romance binge a few years ago when I pitched a highly self-interested piece to my editor: an investigation into why this didn’t exist onscreen.

This was a creature apart from the Jane Austen adaptations and sedate period pieces I already enjoyed, or sexy but bloody cable costume dramas. A Regency romance is set in a fantasy version of British high society in the early 19th century, and the central action revolves around the courtship between a woman (often a well-bred beauty) and a man (often a rakish peer). They consummate their attraction in improbably acrobatic sexual encounters, and then they live happily ever after.

In the post-2016 election malaise, these novels became my anxiety palliative of choice. They piled up next to my bed and in my e-reader. But sometimes I wanted more, wanted to see the gossamer petticoats and lingering glances and gently unfastened bodices. The piece I pitched never materialized, but the object of my longing did. On Christmas Day 2020, Shondaland’s “Bridgerton” arrived on Netflix.

What ensued was both somewhat exhilarating — getting to see my Regency escapism come to life — and unnerving. My private indulgence, one generally viewed with dismissiveness if not contempt by non-romance readers, had become the target of a full-blown cultural discourse. “Bridgerton” was met with valid and vital critiques, especially over its treatment of consent, but also ones that made me wince: that it was formulaic, predictable, vapid, historically inaccurate, best suited for teens.

Many of the critiques, understandably, seemed rooted in unfamiliarity with the genre’s conventions, or in the expectation that “Bridgerton,” which is based on a series of books by Julia Quinn, would resemble a “Pride and Prejudice” remake. “You don’t get it!” I wanted to shout. “That’s not what this is!” The historical romance has finally gone mainstream — and that means a whole new audience is learning how to read a genre so long relegated to the margins. Sometimes that can be a bumpy ride.

With its bounty of sherbet-hued satin gowns, scandal rags full of malicious gossip, unblinkingly earnest romance, and on-screen lovemaking, “Bridgerton” seems to defy easy categorization for many critics, journalists and viewers — and even Regé-Jean Page, who stars as the smoldering Duke of Hastings.

“It’s a little bit of Jane Austen meets ‘Gossip Girl’ with maybe ‘49 Shades [of Grey’],” he told The Wrap in a December interview. Critics and viewers, at their wits’ ends trying to make sense of this sexy, gossipy, frothy Regency costume drama, also tried to characterize it in terms of beloved on-screen classics: “Pride and Prejudice,” “Downton Abbey,” and, yes, “Gossip Girl.” These comparisons convey some bafflement, an uncertainty about how to categorize a show that isn’t really a realist historical drama, nor an edgy satire, nor a campy soap.

Though it’s true that Austen was the inspiration behind the whole subgenre — the first Regency romance novelist, Georgette Heyer, was emulating Austen’s work — it has evolved into a well-established genre with its own tropes, conventions and standards.

“There’s a way that those kinds of incredibly popular adaptations of Austen will make you, I think, expect that you’re watching a certain kind of thing, and romance novels are not trying to do the same thing at all,” critic Aaron Bady said in a phone conversation. “If you go in watching ‘Bridgerton’ and say, ‘I think I’m watching Jane Austen,’ you’re going to be disappointed. It feels a little Jane Austen-y, but it doesn’t work like a Jane Austen novel.”

Nor is period romance merely a form of realist period fiction. In her review of the show, Patricia Matthew, an associate professor of English at Montclair State University, placed it in a long artistic tradition of Black women depicted in Regency settings. But ultimately, she said in a phone interview, “Nobody’s reading Julia Quinn because they’re looking for disquisitions on historical precedent.”

Bursting though a romance novel may be with carefully researched, period-accurate details about Vauxhall entertainments, Almack’s vouchers or ribboned chemises, these novels really aren’t about the Regency era, or at least not primarily.

“Historical romance does a different kind of work than historical fiction,” Sarah MacLean, a popular historical romance author, told me during a phone call. “The work of the romance novel is not to tell the story of the past. It is to hold a mirror to the present.”

By building a love story between the primary couple, one that is guaranteed to end “happily ever after” or “happy for now,” a romance novel not only provides escapism and the heart-pounding rush of vicarious passion, but a space in which to explore how romantic relationships can and should be, and how women can find fulfillment and happiness. And that means these stories have little to do with how the marriage market of Regency high society actually functioned; they’re about what readers — predominantly women — want to see in their lives today.

“The appeal of the time period for readers is very much about being able to distance readers from certain kinds of social issues and then reframe them as a reflection of society now,” MacLean explained. In the 1970s, novels typically featured brooding alpha males who took what they wanted sexually ― a narrative device, MacLean argued, for the fictional heroines of the time to have plenty of sex without being seen as loose and deserving of punishment. Historical romance novels today often feature heroes and heroines having what seem like rather anachronistically tender exchanges about consent.

Ella Dawson, a sex and culture critic, sees period romance as a way to provide a balm — an experience in which violence and trauma are, if not absent, superseded by a reassurance of ultimate well-being — while also walking readers through more thorny questions.

“Romance as a genre is really interested in consent, in diversity representation, in political issues,” she said. “Romances are so infused with these issues that I [am] really passionate about, and they explore it through this really fun, romantic, swoony, but still very intellectual, thoughtful, accessible lens.”

As odd as it felt to see a straightforward romance adaptation dissected as if it were a failed attempt at matching Jane Austen, it makes sense. Because the genre is generally regarded with such disdain in mainstream culture, it occupies a rather marginalized niche. A non-romance reader is unlikely to have a firm grasp of many things about the genre, outside of well-worn jokes about throbbing members and Fabio’s flowing hair, and though romance is among the bestselling genres in the book industry, it’s rarely adapted for TV or film.

Why has this omission persisted for so long? “I can’t imagine that it isn’t a huge amount [due to] patriarchy, in the sense that for the same reason it gets disdained on the page, it gets disdained on the screen,” said MacLean. To this day, the people deciding which films and shows to finance are almost entirely men. Shonda Rhimes is that rare exception — a woman with creative control over a TV empire, and a fan of the Quinn series.

Practical obstacles to adapting romance also pop up. A novel stuffed with sex scenes and building toward a tidy happy ending may be tricky to adapt for network TV, which needs to keep things a bit cleaner — and keep the narrative drama going indefinitely.

And it’s not just the network TV standards and the tidy endings. The heightened reality and bodice-unclasping of the genre, Matthew said, rely on an intimacy between the reader and the page that’s difficult to translate to the screen.

“I think the plot lines are bananas. I think they’re so extreme that they strain credulity,” she said, laughing. “You have to believe that a sane man, an adult, would say, ‘Oh, I’m just not going to have children so I can spite my father.’ It only works if it’s you with a glass of wine, kind of throwing yourself over to the world of romance.” It’s awkward to sit with someone else, knowing they’re watching the same melodramatic story unfold, partaking in a pleasure that feels somewhat private, if not embarrassing. “We all have these fan worlds that when they’re exposed to other people that aren’t a part of that world we might feel protective of, or feel bashful,” she said.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bridgerton-netflix-romance-genre_n_60086fd5c5b6ffcab969dafa?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[ted-like-the-talk]

Discourse time (my opinions n stuff that I will fight to defend)

Heccin long text post, sorry...

Gender is innate, it has nothing to do with society, it has nothing to do with gender roles, it is not a choice.

Nobody should medically transition if they do not experience dysphoria. If you want to transition solely because you dislike sexual attention from people, want to go against gender roles, or feel uncomfortable with your physical body because of sexual harassment or assault just don't.

More people should be more critical of the possibility that they may have dysphoria because it could be body dismorphic disorder or another disorder that makes you feel uncomfortable with your body, a disorder that causes you to dissociate, or you could just be gender non conforming.

Don't say you're trans if you don't want to put effort in to pass. I'm not saying that if you look so much like your assigned gender at birth that you cannot pass, don't want to medically transition because of health risks, cannot bind, take hormones, or have surgery because of issues that could put you in danger you should not call yourself trans. If you have a desire to put in effort to pass to make yourself feel comfortable you are trans.

Non-binary people are completely valid as long as they have dysphoria, I personally have dysphoria about not having both sets of genitalia so I know that at least that form of non-binary dysphoria exists. I also believe that non-binary people can have only social dysphoria about being seen as either binary gender.

Otherkinity and therianthropy are valid as heck! The part of your brain that controls your sense of self can get messed up or whatever (there aren't really any studies on it but I do believe that otherkinity can be associated with mental illness that affects your sense of self), you can believe your soul in connected to another entity for spiritual reasons, or you could just use the alternative identity as a form of escapism much like age regression.

Age regression is also incredibly valid :)

Kinks are fine as long as you act upon your urges safely between consenting adults and don't impose them on unwilling people.

Asexuality should be allowed into the LGBT community because they can't control having no sexual attraction and it relates to sexuality.

I don't think demisexuality should be allowed in the LGBT community though because like, a huge amount of people are like that and I'm pretty sure that it is at least somewhat a choice and you don't choose to be in the LGBT community.

Making your disabilities, mental or physical, part of your identity is valid, you don't have to pretend to be like the majority of the population and suppress your disabilities or disorders, you have every right to feel proud of and/or educate others on your disabilities!!

Also, trying to be 'normal' is very valid, I personally don't talk much about my chronic pain, poor hearing, the fact that I'm trans, or my mental disorders with people I'm not very close with because I don't want to feel pitied or different and if others do that as well they're very valid!

Self diagnosis isn't a good thing. If you're too poor to afford insurance or otherwise cannot get diagnosed I believe that you shouldn't claim that you have a disorder that you may not have and should instead talk about the symptoms on their own or specifically state, when talking about your mental illness, that is self diagnosed and you do not for sure have that disorder.

Asking people's pronouns can cause dysphoria for some people and I believe you should call them by the pronouns associated with the gender they look most like and let them correct you. I know some people may be too shy or anxious to correct you but if they look uncomfortable with the pronouns you call them you can ask "Do you not go by those pronouns?"

Being gnc or occasionally cross-dressing as a hobby is super valid whether you're trans or not, you don't have to conform completely to the gender you are in your head.

Conforming to your gender is also valid as long as you are being civil and not prejudiced or bigoted towards others for not conforming to gender roles.

I believe that being overweight is not necessarily a choice, many people have slower metabolisms, higher appetites, or thyroid conditions where they need to put a lot of extra effort into staying thin than other people and body positivity is very important but I believe that being within an average weight is healthiest and if you are unhealthily overweight you should put more effort into staying thin even though it is very hard.

There is nothing wrong with having preferences for gender, sex, or appearance as long as you're not a dick about it. People are allowed to be attracted to only be attracted to one type of genitalia, the pheromones produced by the sex they are attracted to, the way the gender they are attracted to behaves, the secondary sex characteristics of the gender they prefer, or only be attracted to the looks they find attractive.

Being in the LGBT community should be normalized but not glorified. Being bi or homosexual is not better than being heterosexual; being trans is not better than being cis. I don't think cishets should have as much of a say as members of the LGBT community on the rights of those is the LGBT community but being a majority should not be demonized. It is absolutely fine to be born with the gender or sexuality that is most common. Nobody should be considered less of a human being for something they can't control.

Cis people should also be able to be proud of being the gender they are. I think it's totally fair to take pride in being a man just for being a man, or think that girls are awesome and powerful and you're glad to be one. Pride shouldn't be exclusive to the LGBT community.

Straight pride is also valid as long as you don't think bi and homosexuals are less than you. Yes, you didn't face oppression but anyone should be allowed to be proud of what they were born with as long as they don't think other people are worth less. It's like taking pride in your physical strength yet also acknowledging that your friend who is not athletic but is smart should be proud of who they are as well and is just as good as you. Maybe that was a bad analogy but you get what I'm saying, right?

I also think that having popular interests or hobbies isn't a bad thing, it's completely fine to conform to what everyone else is doing, things are popular because they are generally appealing and it's fine to be 'basic.'

Having weird or niche interests or hobbies is just as valid as having popular ones, as long as you enjoy something that doesn't harm others and is not done in an explicit attempt to harm yourself. (Doing dangerous activities like skydiving, surfing, or rock climbing without the explicit intention of harming yourself is fine.)

Ehhhh.... Another long text post cause my mind races like a hundred miles a minute and I need to put my thoughts out of my head and share them with people.

Also if you agree or disagree with any of these statements just refer to the paragraph number to make things easy; like "I disagree with 5 because..."

[nomadicism]

Am I the only one that swears the more I think about VLD, the more and more I think it sucked balls, especially in the later seasons? It comes off like the EPs and writers were making shit up as they went along after s3. It has a lot of confusing plotlines and characters that add nothing to the story, being tonally inconsistent. That's not even going into the times it tries to be edgy and fails, becoming super problematic. Hell, even the action is lackluster after s6.

Hi Anon!

Sorry I sat on this for a bit—but as you sent this Ask prior to that last Let’s Voltron interview with the show-runners—you can now bask in validation knowing that you were right. They really did make it up as they went along!

Despite my salt and criticism, I don’t think that VLD sucks balls in the most compartmentalized-and-objective sense. I didn’t like S6-S8 but I’d still buy Sincline, Atlas, and MFE fighter toys if they were put out.

Like my purple son here, I have no shame.

But yes, the more I think about it—especially when I watch shows like Legend of the Galactic Heroes—I see more problems and weird issues that never should have been, but maybe that will open doors to more serious examination of media, and push Western Animation to do better while figuring out their demographics sooner when planning a show.

Who was VLD really for anyway?

DW and the show-runners messed up their hype, and promised/baited what they were never going to deliver. They rode ATLA’s coat-tails for no good reason. They started off incredibly strong with great creativity and inspired a lot of people. They revealed the gaping abyss of story-telling diversity and complexity that is Western Animation.

Wide demographics of people from 15 to 50+ love animation and want to watch something beautiful, engaging, and tightly written. Deep or not deep, that part is less important. Adults especially want to have more options than simply/minimally animated “not for kids” comedies, or the occasional “mature drama series” that—excluding Castlevania—are usually not well done if it didn’t come from Japan. Adults also have a need for fantastic escapism, which was the sense that many of us got from S1-S2, and that Y7-FV rating gave the appearance of safe escapism. If we want tragedy, we can turn on the news. Western Animation is failing to deliver that.

What I’m saying is, that VLD caught our attention and it was never meant for us in the first place. That’s why it sucks balls in the subjective-and-personal sense.

VLD’s true demographic (the “loved it all”) enjoyed it and want more, and they were never paying much attention to the hype, or interacting with fandom to begin with. Ironically, that demographic ended up not being boys aged 9-12. Who knew? (I did point that out in my post about media fragmentation, but damn if I didn’t give DW more credit/faith than they deserved)

The “loved it all” demographic for VLD are a combination of casual viewership (the type to not get seriously invested and interact with fandom), and those middle-aged white dudes who still buy the toys but aren’t hard core mecha fans so they weren’t annoyed by the reduction of mecha action in favor of character drama (if one wants to call it that). No shade meant at the latter group, it is what it is, and the former group can be just as diverse as the invested fandom, we just don’t hear about them because they either don’t interact with fandom, or they focus on niche-and-casual parts of fandom. I’ve got friends from all over the multiple representation demographics who enjoyed it and didn’t see the problems that the rest of us saw, but they were never invested enough to begin with. VLD is just something fun, pretty, and simple for them to enjoy. Good for them, and I really do mean that.

But those problems Anon, especially those that resulted from what you described in your Ask, are also problems that everyone disagrees over what they are, with only a few points of agreement. Everyone who’s upset has a different “canon is cancelled” point in the series. For some that’s end of S2, for others that’s S5, or S6, or when Allura dies in the end. ‘Tis the stuff of discourse and all that.

If I was a content creator, I’d be confused about how to appeal and please the engaged-and-invested part of VLD fandom. It’s easier when you slice off a piece, like [insert ship here] fanfiction and coffee shop AUs. You’ll find your slice of the wider audience who want that. But writing for everyone? Hell no.

Despite our collective fandom disagreements, it’d be hard to deny just how powerfully so many people were motivated to create art, writing, merch, and cosplay within such a short period of time. That’s my only positive take-away from VLD.

As for everything else…

All canon is a lie, the author is dead, and our search for meaning and total understanding will remain elusive.

Save us Jean Baudrillard, you’re our only hope!

I look forward to years of sociologist PhD dissertations, Media Theory books, and mass media philosophers that deconstruct VLD and fandom to examine and critique the intersection of Western Animation and media diversity. One could construct an entire degree program around the show and all its aspects and still not cover everything. That’s something I guess.

[harrysdimples]

sooo...it’s the legend @btapants’ birthday and me and my main partner in crime daria @britneytshirt both came up with this idea and whipped up a lil somethin somethin for celine to read! we just want you to know how loved you are celine and how you influence us all to be better people! we all love you and had a few things to say :)

@bidonnas (aka mik):  i followed celine like ages ago bc i was looking for more harries to follow and she seemed so sweet and, like, a Quality™ blog and we've been mutuals for ages as well and we like sent each other asks for like ask games and tagged each other in tag games but we didn't start talking more until the first gc in like march of this year and i do not regret a single thing of entering that gc bc i got to meet my birlfriend, now my bife. we've just gotten closer over the past 6 months of being in so many different groupchats with each other and i love everything about her. she's funny, she's kind and sweet, and she loves mamma mia. i mean, who could ask for more?? fjdkgksdljkfg celine deserves the whole world and all the love in the world and i love her so so so much!!!!

@guccifloralsuits (aka violet):  Celine, you already know it but literally love you tons, you make my experience as a harrie stan so much brighter :) I'll always remember the #funkirk days and times we've been throught - from the discourse days to the crazy concerts & I can't wait to see what this next year for you & us brings! You're so easy to talk to and fun to share this experience with! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALL MY LOVE TO YOU 💖

@annaonvinyl (aka essie): Celine, Celine... I believe we've been mutuals not for that long and i do remember checking my notifications and seeing that she followed me i kid you not when i say i nearly had a moment because i would constantly see her posts and people talking so nicely about her. i can now understand why people kept saying sweet things about Celine, i mean she's amazing! if you aren't following her please do me a favour, go to her blog and press that follow, just... do it. celine is so sweet and funny, her blog is the perfect mix of aesthetic and relatable and not to mention she's so freaking stunning? i mean... have you seen her? model material, i'm telling you. so in conclusion what i want to say is celine is gorgeous and so nice and i love her! tanti auguri bella! spero che tu abbia un bel anno davanti a te e tutto il meglio vada per te! goditi la giornata e sorridi molto (scusa il mio italiano arrugginito)

@signofthebis (aka petra): Happy birthday, Celine! ❤❤❤ You know why I followed you. Because of the tags you wrote under my bta pants gifset. And I knew in that moment... this is a person that gets it and I need her in my life. And then I was lucky enough to get into the biconic gc you started and I got to get to know you and wow? You're amazing. You're so funny and incredible and just... I stan forever??? You're truly a queen. ❤❤❤❤ One day your selfies are gonna kill me because you're that gorgeous. And honestly? What a way to go. So Celine, I hope you're having a wonderful day and may your life be filled with only the best of luck, may it be full of love and kindness because that's what you're giving to us and you deserve the same it in return. Ily ❤

@flowerfeasts (aka dani): I followed celine like a year ago because i used to see all my faves tagging her on my dash, so i thought she was very important and cool and i remember waiting like a few weeks to follow her cause i somehow thought that would increase the chances of her following me back? lmao anyway, i still think she is very cool and i LOVE her fashion sense and she is a libra! that means she is awesome

@harryandcats (aka lejla): CELINE MY ANGELBOO!!!! I’m sooo bad with words and tbh?? there’s not enough words to describe how much u mean to me anyway smh you’re one of the sweetest, funniest and smartest (let’s just not mention your posts and the things you say something BDJDNDNDB) and loveliest people I know!! you’re also so silly sometimes but in a very cute and endearing way bdndn I could talk to you about literally anything, be it something deep or something random like poptarts bxjdndn speaking of poptarts we truly gotta meet someday and you’ll have to buy me lots of things and in return you’ll get the biggest hug of your life!!!! sounds like a plan if you ask me anYWAY I lov u with my whole heart, you’re my love, my life, my wife, my gf, my bitch, my boo, but most importantly: my dumbass ✌🏻😔 I hope you have the loveliest day!!!! Happy Birthday, Celine!! 💗🌈💕

@harrysnotechanges (aka kristyna):  Celine 💕💕 you are so funny and such a kind and generous person (not to mention gorgeous, ugh it’s not fair). I’m pretty sure I first started following you because of your url (I mean how much more iconic could you get,,, and I couldn’t agree more, the bta pants were the best pants Harry has ever worn tbh) and I stayed because you’re just an amazing human being. Ily 💕💕💕 Happy birthday!

@gettingdizzy (aka sav): I LOVE CELINE she is super kind and funny and like a little sister to me!! talking to her always makes my day better :) im not even sure why i started following her we probably got put in a gc together or something but im so glad i did!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ILY

@nofoookingway (aka jess): Oh boy, lil Celine. The cutest bean I’ve ever seen. I know we don’t speak anymore bc I’m trash and got too overdramatic about a stupid lil thing, but I’m so glad that we still follow each other and I see you on my dash every day. Your posts never go without a typo, even if it’s just the tags, and that’s probably my favorite thing about you. You’re so expressive and so weird in the best of ways. I’m pretty sure you’re starting uni (if you’re not smack me), but I know you’re going to kill it. It’s hard af, and it’s gonna suck. You’re gonna hate it sometimes, but believe me when I say I know you can do it and that you will have a blast once you find your niche. If I can do it, you sure as hell can. I wholeheartedly believe that. Anyways, I hope your birthday is just as fun and amazing as you are. ilysm 💛💛

@leesh (aka leesh lol): HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i hope u have the absolute best birthday ever bc it’s what she deserves and i hope harry makes an appearance again looking absolutely fabulous bc it’s also what she deserves (maybe wearing the bta pants? yes i’m putting it into existence!!!!). i honestly can’t rmbr how or why i started following you, maybe it was a gc or maybe i just liked ur blog, i have a terrible memory, but i am SO GLAD whatever the reason I DID. i love seeing ur posts on my dash and i love seeing what you’ve got to say and i also love talking to u in gc’s and stuff. ur a cool gal and i’m glad we had a chance to become mutuals and pals. again i hope u have the best way day ever and get spoilt rotten. i love u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 💖✨

@kiwiintro (aka kayla):  Happy Birthday Celine Bean! I hope it's amazing I love u and you're so iconic and amazing and ur an actual Meme™️ sometimes anyways again I hope your birthday is amazing and have fun being 1(one) year older ❤

@harryftvans (aka teresa): celine my dearest witch princess and gentle air spirit happiest of birthday wishes to you!!! someone’s getting old lol anyway I wish u all the best and hope you have a great day and that a lot of other great days will follow because u only deserve happiness and love and ~good vibes~ in your life!! stay ur amazing self, you’re always so chill and laid back (which is nice in this hectic world gksndn) and even when you pull a zayn on us at the end of the day you’re always there for us, being supportive and it’s always a delight to talk to you and hear stories from you!!! great britain is blessed to have you for the next couple of months/years (hope u have a nice time at uni I believe in u) so yea enjoy your day hope it’s filled with lots of love and hugs!! i’m glad you’ve been brought into the world and i’m glad we were out in the same group chat I couldn’t imagine my days without u, love you v much💕

@pinkflaredpants (aka iris): No offence but it's been a whole ass year since we first heard medicine and still no fuckin studio version of sott.

@britneytshirt (aka daria): celine, remember the day we became mutuals? it’s definitely been a year(+) now, can you believe it’s been that long? i followed u not really expecting to be followed back and u followed me about .02 seconds later and honestly i was a lil shocked. so i put my insecurities aside and decided to text u and u said u just saw my url and liked it and followed me. like?! *harry voice* craziness right? anyway, i like to think of u as a little present from life. when we started talking i was very lonely and literally cried myself to sleep every other night and having a friend, you, to talk to made me realise nothing is ever that bad and in a way... gave me hope? you mean so much to me. you’re always fun to talk to, u always have the funniest things to say. and most importantly, i know i can always count on u for whatever, you’ll be there to listen to me. so thank u. i’m so grateful i have a celine in my life. i love u

me (aka moi): so....celine, where do I even start? from those very first few months when I joined this fandom in september last year we were close friends. we started our first conversation about old 1d memes and the rest is history. I don’t think there’s been a time in the last year or so where I haven’t spoken to you, and I really couldn’t imagine my life without you in it. I look forward every day to chatting with you in the gc and i’m always just in awe of how accepting, loving, caring and truly inspiring you are as a person. I love hearing you speak italian in the rare voice messages you send, and especially your selfies (I will hold the belief that you should be a model to the grave I think tbh). you inspired me to love myself for who i am and we’ve grown as friends into something I never thought i’d reach. i’m never going to be able to fully articulate the weight you hold in my life or the impact you’ve had on me, and i’m bad at expressing my feelings anyway, but I just wanted you to know how LOVED you are, by me, and from everyone here. I can’t wait to eventually meet you once you’re settled over here and I can’t wait for the memories and shows we’ll make in the future. thank you for being you, and please never stop being your amazing self 💕

[psalm40speakstome]

Here’s my salty and unedited rambles from The 100 😬

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Four.

Nope I can see where this is going and no do not bring in this attractive man when Hope is all alone and scared to have him be that corpse she found later…I know that is where this is going and I DO NOT APPROVE

Memori is still cute

Can’t decide if I am cringing because this season is just not good…or if I’m cringing because of internet discourse and empathy for the actors having to play stuff they didn’t like….

I’m bored….

Dev deserved better and I deserved the small comfort his face in more episodes would have brought in this season of “why the heck am I watching this!”

Uggghhhhhh

I like this guy helping Octavia..Levitt(spelling?)

Wow this season is just to much for me on so many levels of aaaaaahhhh!

Still love John Murphy

John Murphy defender of children! I approve

John and Emori couples goals.

Yessssss! Indra leader of WonKru

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Six.

I still love a Mom knowing her child so the Dioyaza (spelling?) and Hope scene is nice.

Well I have decided to start skipping because this season is hard enough without watching every second of new characters etc…but it’s so hard to give myself permission

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Seven.

Hoooollllldddd up are we alreayd starting anti Bellamy rhetoric when he isn’t even back on screen yet…

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Ten.

This seasons is crap except for like two things and both those things are John Murphy and Emori

John Murphy defender of children is a vibe I didn’t know I needed.

John Murphy really is one of the only good things about this season.

John Murphy helping Maddie through a panic attack.

Uggh I hate this…Indra better win…also where is Gaia?! And she better not be dead.

Indra did not win and got knocked out after like two hits?? That ridiculous this women is a warrior don’t tell me two hits and she’s down…rude

John Murphy using his coachroch skills to save others.

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Eleven

Maybe I can’t see it properly but it looks like that “cliff” Bellamy can’t climb is just a few feet from a perfectly serviceable corner niche he could climb up?

Why are the climbing the hardest part?

This is just ridiculous writing…

Bellamy Blake is not that incapable nor that stupid.

“I’m not afraid” aww there’s a bit of my character I love.

Yes sure ever nature show ever would tell you to definitely start a fire for warmth where the snow is still blowing in and there’s a huge cave entrance. *eye roll*

Okay maybe the fire is farther in then I thought…still directly in the air flow from outside it looks like….but maybe I’m also just getting increasingly salty as this goes on.

So you are telling me Bellamy Blake saw some glowy lights and almost converted to this cult? Not possible.

So now they’re climbing straight up a rock face when Bellamy couldn’t climb like 10 feet earlier…?

So now we have Bellamy doing exactly what Bellamy would have always done(pull the other guy up) because he is the heart…but it’s like a big moment for this dribble that said he shouldn’t prioritize others lives…yep that isn’t weird, contradictory and nonsensical at all.

#sarcasm

Wow.. wow…I hated that even more then I thought I would.

How could they do this to his character…it makes no sense and is so incredibly insulting I can’t even…

Bellamy Blake would have never betrayed everyone he loves and cares about so easily. NEVER.

And if this episode was supposed to be brain washing(because that’s what it is) that would never have been enough to brainwash Bellamy Blake. He’s faced so much worse…he would not have caved that easily and turned on his friends and family like that.

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Twelve

Indra is also one of the only redeeming things in this season.

That lip quiver when he massacred the people…saving the one who isn’t dead. She is amazing.

Not that I want to get to invested here but I could ship Hope and Jordan

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Thirteen

“Bellamy never said that” the fact that John Murphy is still cracking me up in this situation

Don’t you dare have this person who isn’t Bellamy say his “do better” line.

So Clarke shoots him and doesn’t even grab the book? That makes perfect sense. *eye roll*

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Fourteen

Well at least Gaia is alive.

I will never be over the fact that they gave us a reunion of them…on a green earth….without Bellamy..

Unacceptable.

Not saying it wasn’t well acted and I don’t feel…I did…but the sheer horror of this is atrocious and unnecessary.

Always here for a Mom and daughter moment

Indra and Gaia

Oh so apparently I was right to ship Jordan and Hope. Go me

Murphy and Emori running towards each other with all their might as the ceiling crashes down.

They really are truly so beautiful

The 100. Season Seven. Episode Sixteen.

Wow that was truly hideous.

I am flummoxed and annoyed…

But still love these characters and actors and look forward to processing this so that I can remember the good bits…

It’s like they put every plot I’ve didn’t like about other SciFi shows and threw them in a foul stew.

If Battlestar Galactica, Lost and The Ascended plots from SG-1 had a really ugly and badly written baby it would be season seven of The 100.

[unsettlingshortstories]

The Furnished Room

O. Henry (1904)

Restless, shifting, fugacious as time itself is a certain vast bulk of the population of the red brick district of the lower West Side. Homeless, they have a hundred homes. They flit from furnished room to furnished room, transients forever - transients in abode, transients in heart and mind. They sing "Home, Sweet Home" in ragtime; they carry their lares et penates in a bandbox; their vine is entwined about a picture hat; a rubber plant is their fig tree.

    Hence the houses of this district, having had a thousand dwellers, should have a thousand tales to tell, mostly dull ones, no doubt; but it would be strange if there could not be found a ghost or two in the wake of all these vagrant guests.

    One evening after dark a young man prowled among these crumbling red mansions, ringing their bells. At the twelfth he rested his lean hand baggage upon the step and wiped the dust from his hatband and forehead. The bell sounded faint and far away in some remote, hollow depths.

    To the door of this, the twelfth house whose bell he had rung, came a housekeeper who made him think of an unwholesome, surfeited worm that had eaten its nut to a hollow shell and now sought to fill the vacancy with edible lodgers.

    He asked if there was a room to let.

    "Come in," said the housekeeper. Her voice came from her throat; her throat seemed lined with fur. "I have the third-floor-back, vacant since a week back. Should you wish to look at it?"

    The young man followed her up the stairs. A faint light from no particular source mitigated the shadows of the halls. They trod noiselessly upon a stair carpet that its own loom would have forsworn. It seemed to have become vegetable; to have degenerated in that rank, sunless air to lush lichen or spreading moss that grew in patches to the staircase and was viscid under the foot like organic matter. At each turn of the stairs were vacant niches in the wall. Perhaps plants had once been set within them. If so, they had died in that foul and tainted air. It may be that statues of the saints had stood there, but it was not difficult to conceive that imps and devils had dragged them forth in the darkness and down to the unholy depths of some furnished pit below.

    "This is the room," said the housekeeper, from her furry throat. "It's a nice room. It ain't often vacant. I had some most elegant people in it last summer - no trouble at all, and paid in advance to the minute. The water's at the end of the hall. Sprowls and Mooney kept it three months. They done a vaudeville sketch. Miss B'retta Sprowls - you may have heard of her - oh, that was just the stage names - right there over the dresser is where the marriage certificate hung, framed. The gas is here, and you see there is plenty of closet room. It's a room everybody likes. It never stays idle long."

    "Do you have many theatrical people rooming here?" asked the young man.

    "They comes and goes. A good proportion of my lodgers is connected with the theaters. Yes, sir, this is the theatrical district. Actor people never stays long anywhere. I get my share. Yes, they comes and they goes."

    He engaged the room, paying for a week in advance. He was tired, he said, and would take possession at once. He counted out the money. The room had been made ready, she said, even to towels and water. As the housekeeper moved away he put, for the thousandth time, the question that he carried at the end of his tongue.

    "A young girl - Miss Vashner - Miss Eloise Vashner - do you remember such a one among your lodgers? She would be singing on the stage, most likely. A fair girl, of medium height and slender, with reddish gold hair and a dark mole near her left eyebrow."

    "No, I don't remember the name. Them stage people has names they change as often as their rooms. No, I don't call that one to mind."

    No. Always no. Five months of ceaseless interrogation and the inevitable negative. So much time spent by day in questioning managers, agents, schools and choruses; by night among the audiences of theaters from all-star casts down to music halls so low that he dreaded to find what he most hoped for. He who had loved her best had tried to find her. He was sure that since her disappearance from home this great, water-girt city held her somewhere, but it was like a monstrous quicksand, shifting its particles constantly, with no foundation, its upper granules of today buried tomorrow in ooze and slime.

    The furnished room received its latest guest with a first glow of pseudo hospitality, a hectic, haggard, perfunctory welcome like the specious smile of a demirep. The sophistical comfort came in reflected gleams from the decayed furniture, the ragged brocade upholstery of a couch and two chairs, a foot-wide cheap pier glass between the two windows, from one or two gilt picture frames and a brass bedstead in a corner.

    The guest reclined, inert, upon a chair, while the room, confused in speech as though it were an apartment in Babel, tried to discourse to him of its divers tenantry.

    A polychromatic rug like some brilliant-fowered, rectangular, tropical islet lay surrounded by a billowy sea of soiled matting. Upon the gay-papered wall were those pictures that pursue the homeless one from house to house - The Huguenot Lovers, The First Quarrel, The Wedding Breakfast, Psyche at the Fountain. The mantel's chastely severe outline was ingloriously veiled behind some pert drapery drawn rakishly askew like the sashes of the Amazonian ballet. Upon it was some desolate flotsam cast aside by the room's marooned when a lucky sail had borne them to a fresh port - a trifling vase or two, pictures of actresses, a medicine bottle, some stray cards out of a deck. One by one, as the characters of a cryptograph became explicit, the little signs left by the furnished room's procession of guests developed a significance. The threadbare space in the rug in front of the dresser told that lovely women had marched in the throng. The tiny fingerprints on the wall spoke of little prisoners trying to feel their way to sun and air. A splattered stain, raying like the shadow of a bursting bomb, witnessed where a hurled glass or bottle had splintered with its contents against the wall. Across the pier glass had been scrawled with a diamond in staggering letters the name Marie. It seemed that the succession of dwellers in the furnished room had turned in fury - perhaps tempted beyond forbearance by its garish coldness - and wreaked upon it their passions. The furniture was chipped and bruised; the couch, distorted by bursting springs, seemed a horrible monster that had been slain during the stress of some grotesque convulsion. Some more potent upheaval had cloven a great slice from the marble mantel. Each plank in the floor owned its particular cant and shriek as from a separate and individual agony. It seemed incredible that all this malice and injury had been wrought upon the room by those who had called it for a time their home; and yet it may have been the cheated home instinct surviving blindly, the resentful rage at false household gods that had kindled their wrath. A hut that is our own we can sweep and adorn and cherish.

    The young tenant in the chair allowed these thoughts to file, softshod; through his mind, while there drifted into the room furnished sounds and furnished scents. He heard in one room a tittering and incontinent, slack laughter; in others the monologue of a scold, the rattling of dice, a lullaby, and one crying dully; above him a banjo tinkled with spirit. Doors banged somewhere; the elevated trains roared intermittently; a cat yowled miserably upon a back fence. And he breathed the breath of the house - a dank savor rather than a smell - a cold, musty effluvium as from underground vaults mingled with the reeking exhalations of linoleum and mildewed and rotten woodwork.

    Then suddenly, as he rested there, the room was filled with the strong, sweet odor of mignonette. It came as upon a single buffet of wind with such sureness and fragrance and emphasis that it almost seemed a living visitant. And the man cried aloud, "What, dear?" as if he had been called, and sprang up and faced about. The rich odor clung to him and wrapped him around. He reached out his arms for it, all his senses for the time confused and commingled. How could one be peremptorily called by an odor? Surely it must have been a sound. But was it not the sound that had touched, that had caressed him?

    "She has been in this room," he cried, and he sprang to wrest from it a token, for he knew he would recognize the smallest thing that had belonged to her or that she had touched. This enveloping scent of mignonette, the odor that she had loved and made her own - whence came it?

    The room had been but carelessly set in order. Scattered upon the flimsy dresser scarf were half a dozen hairpins - those discreet, indistinguishable friends of womankind, feminine of gender, infinite of mood and uncommunicative of tense. These he ignored, conscious of their triumphant lack of identity. Ransacking the drawers of the dresser he came upon a discarded, tiny, ragged handkerchief. He pressed it to his face. It was racy and insolent with heliotrope; he hurled it to the floor. In another drawer he found odd buttons, a theater program, a pawnbroker's card, two lost marshmallows, a book on the divination of dreams. In the last was a woman's black satin hair bow, which halted him, poised between ice and fire. But the black satin hair bow also is femininity's demure, impersonal common ornament and tells no tales.

    And then he traversed the room like a hound on the scent, skimming the walls, considering the corners of the bulging matting on his hands and knees, rummaging mantel and tables, the curtains and hangings, the drunken cabinet in the corner, for a visible sign, unable to perceive that she was there beside, around, against, within, above him, clinging to him, wooing him, calling him so poignantly through the finer senses that even his grosser ones became cognizant of the call. Once again he answered loudly, "Yes, dear!" and turned, wild-eyed, to gaze on vacancy, for he could not yet discern form and color and love and outstretched arms in the odor of mignonette. Oh, God! Whence that odor, and since when have odors had a voice to call! Thus he groped.

    He burrowed in crevices and corners, and found corks and cigarettes. These he passed in passive contempt. But once he found in a fold of the matting a half-smoked cigar, and this he ground beneath his heel with a green and trenchant oath. He sifted the room, from end to end. He found dreary and ignoble small records of many a peripatetic tenant; but of her whom he sought, and who may have lodged there, and whose spirit seemed to hover there, he found no trace.

    And then he thought of the housekeeper.

    He ran from the haunted room downstairs and to a door that showed a crack of light. She came out to his knock. He smothered his excitement as best he could.

    "Will you tell me, madam," he besought her, "who occupied the room I have before I came"

    "Yes, sir. I can tell you again. Twas Sprowls and Mooney, as I said. Miss B'retta Sprowls it was in the theaters, but Missis Mooney she was. My house is well known for respectability. The marriage certificate hung, framed, on a nail over--"

    "What kind of a lady was Miss Sprowls - in looks, I mean?"

    "Why, black-haired, sir, short, and stout, with a comical face. They left a week ago Tuesday."

    "And before they occupied it?"

    "Why, there was a single gentleman connected with the draying business. He left owing me a week. Before him was Missis Crowder and her two children, that stayed four months; and back of them was old Mr. Doyle, whose sons paid for him. He kept the room six months. That goes back a year, sir, and further I do not remember."

    He thanked her and crept back to his room. The room was dead. The essence that had vivified it was gone. The perfume of mignonette had departed. In its place was the old, stale odor of moldy house furniture, of atmosphere in storage.

    The ebbing of his hope drained his faith. He sat staring at the yellow, singing gaslight. Soon he walked to the bed and began to tear the sheets into strips. With the blade of his knife he drove them tightly into every crevice around windows and door. When all was snug and taut he turned out the light, turned the gas full on again and laid himself gratefully upon the bed.

It was Mrs. McCool's night to go with the can for beer. So she fetched it and sat with Mrs. Purdy in one of those subterranean retreats where housekeepers forgather and the worm dieth seldom.

    "I rented out my third-floor-back this evening," said Mrs. Purdy, across a fine circle of foam. "A young man took it. He went up to bed two hours ago."

    "Now, did ye, Mrs. Purdy, ma'am?" said Mrs. McCool, with intense admiration. "You do be a wonder for rentin' rooms of that kind. And did ye tell him, then?" she concluded in a husky whisper laden with mystery.

    "Rooms," said Mrs. Purdy, in her furriest tones, "are furnished for to rent. I did not tell him, Mrs. McCool."

    "'Tis right ye are, ma'am; 'tis by renting rooms we kape alive. Ye have the rale sense for business, ma'am. There be many people will rayjict the rentin' of a room if they be tould a suicide has been after dyin' in the bed of it."

    "As you say, we has our living to be making," remarked Mrs. Purdy. "Yis, ma'am; 'tis true. 'Tis just one wake ago this day I helped ye lay out the third-floor-back. A pretty slip of a colleen she was to be killin' herself wid the gas - a swate little face she had, Mrs. Purdy, ma'am."

    "She'd a-been called handsome, as you say," said Mrs. Purdy, assenting but critical, "but for that mole she had a-growin' by her left eyebrow. Do fill up your glass again, Mrs. McCool."

[thunderfcknroad]

niche hcs pls: les amis + opinions on avocado, les amis + best pranks they've pulled, les amis + go-to karaoke songs

Enjolras: 1. Worships it. His vegan millennial ass is a slut for anything avocado. 2. Doesn’t really go in for pranks. The only time he tried he replaced Courf’s regular hairspray with coloured hairspray but Courf loved it so that didn’t work. 3. Kiss - Prince. He knows the effect he has on people

Combeferre: 1. Doesn’t mind it. Prefers jam on his toast though. 2. Once covered Courf’s entire room in tin foil. It was carnage. 3. Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley

Courfeyrac: 1. Despises it with his entire soul. 2. Once replaced Jehan’s entire wardrobe with boring clothes. Found Jehan staring blankly at the open wardrobe door whispering “I should never have quit LSD”. 3. I will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

Grantaire: 1. Grantaire hasn’t seen an avocado in 60 years and they intend to keep it that way. 2. Re-organised Combeferre’s bookshelf so it was alphabetical by title instead of author. They didn’t think it would be such a big deal… oh BOY they were wrong. 3. I Am What I Am - LA Cage Aux Folles

Joly: 1. its fine. Mostly eats it out of spite bc of the millennial discourse. 2. makes some mean MEAN toothpaste oreos. 3. Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves

Bossuet: 1. Loves the stuff. guac on everything. 2. all his attempts just end up getting himself hurt so he has placed a self proclaimed ban on himself. Honourably the others never prank him either. 3. Heroes - David Bowie.

Jehan: 1. Avocado toast is the perfect post yoga snack. 2. They told everyone they are a terrible liar so they just always tell the truth. The thing is…. theyre actually an incredible liar and this prank is still ongoing. No one ever knows if they are lying or not. They love it. 3. That don’t impress me much - Shania Twain

Bahorel: 1. it’s fine. 2. wrote a really formal letter to Combeferre from the organisation he’s a part of that keeps track of moths (this is a real thing btw) satying that 3 species of moths had gone extinct. The reason this worked so well is that the punchline was that there’d actually been a brand new species of moth discovered and watching his rollercoaster of emotions was  a GIFT. 3. My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion

Feuilly: 1. doesn’t understand the concept of avocado toast but digs guacamole. 2. made cupcakes filled with mayonnaise once. he has not been forgiven. 3. Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell

+

Marius: 1. He likes it he thinks… 2. Marius is still planning his best prank. marius is trying. 3. Stand By Me - Ben E King

Cosette: 1. Yes she loves it! anything avocado is inherently good and pure.2. She once convinced Courfeyrac and Combeferre that their flat was haunted for a solid week. 3: Grace Kelly - Mika

Eponine: 1. Nope. Nooooo. nah. 2. placebo’d R into thinking they were high once by giving them oregano to smoke instead of weed. to be fair though they were pretty drunk at the time its not surprising they didn’t notice. 3. Valerie - Amy Winehouse

Musichetta: 1. Yes! 2. She really sucks at coming up with pranks but everyone seems convinced she’d be really good so they never prank her. It’s working out pretty well for her so far… 3. Born This Way - Lady Gaga

[tastegoal5-blog]

Katie Rauth on reclaiming the fat gaze for fat gays

New Artblog Contributor Sarah Kim chats with ubiquitous performance and mixed media artist Katie Rauth about her current Leeway-supported project on radical fat politics. Settle in for a great conversation about humor, visibility and the subversive potential of material excess!

You may recognize Katie Rauth from her hyper queen (cis-woman) drag persona, Lezzie McGuire. Or perhaps you’ve attended an installment or two of Wavelengths— the performance series that she organizes and curates featuring experimental drag performers. Now this self-described queer fat femme elitist and art babe is a 2018 recipient of the Leeway Foundation’s Art and Change Grant. I spoke with the West Philadelphia-based Rauth about her Leeway project, which began this summer with public forums on fat phobia and fat liberation and will include a forthcoming collaboratively-written video and performance project.

Sarah Kim: What drew you to performing as a hyperqueen?

Katie Rauth: So the first work I made about drag was a huge critique because I started out with this Second Wave feminist view that drag takes stereotypes of femininity and misrepresents what it is to be a woman. Once I got into performing drag, my world view of what drag is inclusive of expanded. I was leaning into these tropes of femininity and blowing them up — using drag as a vehicle to explore and press up against high-femme invisibility within the queer community. Recently though, all I have been thinking about is radical fat politics and how to incorporate that into my art practice.

Katie Rauth, Performance and Mixed Media Artist. All images courtesy of Sarah Kim

SK: In fact, you received a 2018 Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant for a project on radical fat politics. What inspired that project?

KR: There’s really a gap in activist and political discourse around fatphobia and how it truly affects everyone. Even the the most progressive people are still very fatphobic and don’t see an issue with it.

I want to find an entry point to this conversation for people who have never really talked about radical fat politics or never heard that framework before, and have it still be relatable content for fat queers — specifically fat femme queers. Most of the time it’s thought of as body positivity, which really is a watered-down version of fat positivity. It’s the accessible version that de-centers fat people and fat oppression and centers thin and straight-sized people finding a way to love themselves. You know, there’s a lot of thin and straight-sized people who don’t love their bodies and themselves because of fatphobia. Attacking that root issue is how we all can gain.

SK: Why did you choose video as the primary medium for your project?

KR: I originally came to this project because Legally Blonde is one of my favorite movies in the entire world. There’s that one scene of Elle Woods’s Harvard video essay, and it kind of stuck with me that I wanted to recreate, redefine and rework that (in my mind) iconic piece of cinema (laugh). With this project I’m using influences both from that movie and from But I’m a Cheerleader — another late 90s/early 2000s, femme-centric, camp classic.

I’m not necessarily recreating scenes from these films, which are really nostalgic for me; I’m mostly taking aesthetic influences and noticing the way they frame and set up jokes. There are some cinematic tropes that I’m really interested in, like the “getting-ready” montage. These women hit their alarm clock in the morning, and then you see them wake up and go to the bathroom and brush their teeth, then put on their make-up and pick out their outfit. This is something that you see in so many movies and it’s actually called “lipstick and load,” which comes from “lock and load” — a trope in action movies when people are strapping their guns into their holsters and pulling their boots on. It’s this femme version of it, which I think is really incredible—like gearing up for the day, putting on your warpaint, finding the way you want to present yourself to the world. I definitely want my own version of a “lipstick and load.”

SK: Can you talk about the role of humor in your work?

KR: Yeah. I’m working with the idea of camp, which is rooted in queer humor, but is often defined by gay men. Everybody says, “Oh camp, you’re doing stuff like John Waters.” If you’re looking at camp from a historical standpoint, then yes, but my goal is to define queer-centric, trans-centric and women-centric places within camp.

I recently read Mikaella Clements’s incredible article about dyke-camp, which finds a place for lesbian humor within camp. So I’m pairing camp with glamor, which is an institution traditionally defined by thin white women, to start a conversation. While I’m drawn to these modes of expression because I personally find joy in them, I think that people can also better understand conversations when they’re framed in an almost light-hearted or humorous way.

SK: Humor can ease people into difficult issues but it’s also something that fat people are often pigeon-holed into. Melissa McCarthy is a noteworthy example.

KR: First about the fat-funny trope. With Melissa McCarthy, the punchlines are either built around her fatness or they’re funnier because they’re coming from a fat woman. But the physicality of fatness…the oppression that fat people face is not funny. The direction that I’m going in right now kind of takes the piss out of thin people and straight-sized people.

Back in June after I got the grant, I did this outreach group. Because I only have my own experiences, I wanted to create space for other fat queers to tell their stories, and for me to hear what they feel comfortable making jokes about and what they feel is off limits. It ended up being sort of a brainstorming session for my writing that intermingled their advice for me and their own experiences. We hit on this issue of exercising and fitness culture; yoga culture is just in general very weird to me, and there’s a lot of jokes to pull out of that. Most of my humor comes from conversations I have with other fat people, because if you don’t laugh you’re going to cry. But that’s what fat positivity is: it’s finding joy in fatness.

SK: How do you reconcile drawing so many of your narratives from early 2000s pop culture (which is hyper-capitalist and hyper-commercial) with a radical fat activism that opposes the “body positivity” movement’s capitalist undertones?

KR: Pop culture is something I’ve always really identified with. There’s this idea that pop culture is vapid or is a guilty pleasure. I’d like to push back on that because pop culture is so important in how it shapes how we view ourselves and how we view the world. You can really enjoy something that’s kind of fucked up, as long as you’re having the conversation about why it’s fucked up. People have to draw lines for themselves.

SK: Since so many cultural attitudes towards fat people are restrictive —”You can’t eat this or wear that because you’re too fat” — can an excess of materialism actually be subversive?

KR: It comes back to this idea of gluttony. I’m drawing parallels between “don’t eat too much” and “don’t consume too much,” and pushing back against both. Right now we’re seeing a lot of activism against oppression used to sell us things — specifically Dove’s campaigns, of “this is what a real body looks like.” It’s just garbage to use that language to talk about bodies because we all have real bodies. Why not use these modes that the media uses to sell us stuff and sell some good shit, sell fat liberation?

SK: Even while pop culture performs body positivity, the art world remains extremely fatphobic. How do you feel you, your work, and fatness are positioned within the art world?

KR: In any public position that you hold as a fat person, you’re being scrutinized and tokenized. As fat lib comes more into the mainstream, people try to get brownie points for including fat artists or spotlighting them. Because it’s my community, I know a few fat artists who are doing some incredible things, but none of them have gained notoriety in a larger sense. Shug McDaniels is a queer, trans, fat photographer that travels all over and does really incredible intimate photography of fat people. Shona McAndrew is doing paintings and large scale representational sculptures. Wit Lopez in Philly is a fat black disabled trans performance artist. Their work focuses on the intersection of all their identities and often, they center other fat people of color in their work, which is notable because how often do we see these things? Jamal Lewis, who most recently was on the new FX series Pose, is a documentarian and academic and is talking a lot about blackness, fatness and queerness, and is also a fat trans person of color. Lopez and Lewis are making work about their existence, but their existence is more than just their fatness. They’re making work about the intersection of their identities. So there are people out there, but their work is mostly celebrated in niche communities.

Katie Rauth, Performance and Mixed Media Artist

SK: As a white, cis woman drawing from white-centric films, how do you achieve your goal of making work that is as inclusive as possible?

KR: I can’t pretend to know other identities and experiences. This is part of the reason I had roundtable discussions with other fat people. During those, I was definitely confronting my own racism in centering my perspective as a white person. We were talking about fat sex and fat sexuality, which is something that you never see portrayed. I was talking about how I felt empowered by experiencing fat nudity because my body has always been desexualized because of my fatness. Then a woman of color in the room spoke about finding power in her modesty, because her fatness was looked at as sexual from a young age and produced trauma for her. Culturally, whiteness and thinness as beauty standards are so tied together, but that’s not so much the case in specifically black and brown communities. I thought I was being counter-cultural by being fat and scantily clad, but she feels empowered by covering up her body, and that’s valid.

I can’t write these experiences — I need to find people who have lived these experiences to write them. That means shifting things around to pay people to help me. It’s emotional work so I need to make sure that they are compensated for it.

SK: Who is your Change Partner for the Leeway project, and how are they connected to the broader community?

KR: Melissa Krechmer is my Change Partner, and she runs what we call “fat group.” It’s a specifically queer, fat-positive process group at the Walnut Psychotherapy Center I’ve been going to since April of 2017. She is a licensed clinical social worker who does therapy specializing in body image; as a queer fat woman, this is what she lives as well. I have never been part of a space like this before. Every Tuesday it’s a room full of fat queer people, and I can’t tell you how powerful that experience is to have a truly safe space to come every week and talk about issues throughout our week.

SK: What do you think a fat inclusive world would look like?

KR: Oh my god — chairs without arms! Dining out is a horrible, dehumanizing experience for so many fat people. Even making sure your chairs are stable enough — I’ve had chairs break on me on at least two or three occasions. At a certain point, I just started laughing it off, because what else can you do? But it’s a mortifying experience — the crack of a chair is so traumatizing to a lot of fat people.

For events: saying how many stairs, or what the accessibility is. There’s a huge intersection between fatphobia and ableism; I actually can’t go on a long hike or ride my bike all the way to Port Richmond. We all have different abilities, and the energy it might take you to carry your body ten blocks is half of what it takes my body. It’s hard because we’re so used to finding ways to navigate the world we live in and trying to find survival tactics.

Often I feel excluded intentionally because, as a fat person, my patronage is not wanted. My existence is seen as an epidemic.

SK: How would you define ‘fatness,’ as opposed to its common synonyms like ‘overweight,’ or ‘large?’

KR: It’s hard to give a solid definition for fatness, but there are categories of fatness that directly correlate to privilege. Small fats have the most privilege; most people would say, “oh, you’re not fat, you’re beautiful.” They typically have an easier time finding fashionable and affordable clothing in their size and physically navigating the world while medium fats, which is how I self identify, face more difficulty with both. Then Superfats, who have the least amount of privilege, are the most often targeted and denigrated for health issues.

I’m not upset by the term ‘large,’ because I am large and I’m fine with it. ‘Overweight’ signifies that there’s a normal weight, and fat lib is trying to break that idea. ‘Obese,’ medicalizes and dehumanizes; Roxane Gay writes about the term ‘morbidly obese’ in her book Hunger. ‘Curvy’ or ‘fluffy’ are ways for people to talk about their fatness that is not embarrassing because so many people still think of ‘fat’ as a bad word. Radical fatness reclaims the term ‘fat’ as a signifier rather than a slur. It’s not immoral. Radical fatness takes the morality of bodies out of the question. A thin body is not good, a fat body is not bad. Bodies are bodies. So many of these terms we use for fatness either have negative or positive connotations.The funniest one is ‘queen-sized.’ It’s a synonym for ‘plus-sized’ when they don’t want to say ‘plus-sized’ because of that idea of excess. I’ll take it though … I’m a queen.

Source: https://www.theartblog.org/2018/09/katie-rauth-on-reclaiming-the-fat-gaze-for-fat-gays/

[kathypetermen-blog]

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