#there was also a lot of me being afraid of fetishizing mlm

[hrghhhhhhhhh]

Do you think it's simply too risky to have a male couple in an fps game? Cause Soldier76 also only has an off-screen ex similar to the only gay character in Apex while a trans woman or a bisexual woman with a girlfriend (all accepted things by straight male gamers!) are core parts of the game. The only thing the main target group really, and i mean REALLY cannot stand is seeing two gay men, let alone playing one who banters about it. Gibraltar never even mentions it. Probably not a coincidence.

While i think that apex historically launched with an nb person on the cast, and built gibs storyline with his ex boyfriend preloaded I dont think that theyre afraid of the "backlash". i think they listen very closely to the people theyre trying to represent. I do think that its not a 0% impact of the Gamers TM getting mad, but i realy dont think that, as a studio, they really give a shit. I think theyre mostly worried bout making unrealistic representation, and letting down people who REALLY care.

Im a pan cis white woman, so i am NOTTTTT qualified to speak on fetishization of wlw and trans women. However its never come across to me as their intent to dangle things to entice Gamer men. Like, thinking of other games that have a much more fanservice cast, like League, like gatchyas, ect I am thankful that i dont see apex being like that. Again, I'm totally not infallible here, and would love some other perspectives.

IDK, while i don't think they're 'intimidated' into not showcasing a romantic male relationship, i do think they suffer from chronic "most of the population" syndrome, with straight being the default. It shows with a lot of their cast being undeclared, andn the ones that ARE are like hyperflirty? In the same vein of trying for Good Rep, i personally dont think a characters's sexuality needs to be "proven" by putting them in a relationship. I have some chip on my shoulder about the bi woman and pan man being (suddenly) sent to the monogamy zone. Thats a personal gripe tho.

in conclusion, I'd love to see a mlm couple!!!! while i agree there seems to be a lack of intent in making one front facing, i dont think theyre doing it maliciously or out of cowardice. just. Too Default to Consider it? ? ? its not RIGHT, but its the more likely explaination. Maybe that is some underlying homophobia, but im not their therapist akjghaskjh

These have been so fun to answer i apprec the brain stretches

#ty for askin' #i hope this doesnt sound downtalky

[grrrldemolition]

A Question About MLM Representation

Writer here!

So, obviously, queer representation is a very hot topic nowadays, which is absolutely amazing! I love that more and more shows, films, & books are willing to highlight queer characters. & even though we are still battling tired tropes such as 'bury your gays', I think we're making a lot of progress.

In my own work, I often highlight sapphic romances (wlw, nblw, etc), as they are something I identify with. However, I never want my work to be exclusionary towards anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community. I remember what it was like having hardly any representation, and I would hate to play into that for other queer people. I believe we should all be able to see ourselves in the media we consume because there is a place for everyone here.

That being said, I need some advice!

One of my closest friends is a gay man and he has often expressed to me that much of the representation available to him is not "good" representation, and he usually has to settle for Wattpad & AO3 (we've all been there, right?) I've asked him to elaborate on what he thinks is missing, but he says that he isn't sure. Of course, I can sympathize with this (The 100, Killing Eve, OITNB, Lost Girl-- to name a few). But, I like to think of myself as a problem solver, so, of course, my mind jumps to, "Well, I'm a writer. I could write something for him." The only problem is that I'm afraid to get it wrong because of my perspective as a person who is not attracted to men, nor has ever experienced a romance with a man. For example, I personally thought Heartstopper was a cute, enjoyable show, but I've seen people criticize it for being "unrealistically positive". Another example, Call Me By Your Name, which I haven't personally watched (sorry!), seems to be extremely popular, but I've heard many people say that it's a very problematic film. Many of these reviews are also convoluted by straight women who fetishize mlm relationships, so it's difficult to conclude what audiences want.

TLDR: I'd like to write a gay romance for one of my close friends, but am not sure how to go about it because I am not a person attracted to men.

So, my question to any gay men or non-women attracted to men is: In terms of gay rep, what do you want to see from movies, shows, or books? What are you absolutely tired of seeing? What are key parts of your romances that are often overlooked by/not included in mainstream media?

/gen

#mlm #lgbtq #lgbtqia #queer #queer representation #lgbtqia representation #lgbtq representation #mlm representation #writing tips #writing advice

[imnotfinebutimfine]

the fact that i used to angst and be all hhhnnnnnnngggggggg i wish i was a boy so that i could like boys.  since i am a girl i am lesbian. and i didn’t find a single thing wrong with that way of thinking

#no #i'd totally be a gay guy #had full convos with people where i was like no i think if i was born a guy id' still be gay #and they were like you don't think you'd like women? #and thought that was totally hinged of me #there was also a lot of me being afraid of fetishizing mlm #which was obviously a problem but like #you're not fetishizing them idiot THAT'S YOU #and i totally didn't even let myself feel attracted to men #until i came to peace with my gender and started IDing as one #and like. i genuinely feel attraction to people now it's so wild #i thought i might have been ace there for a minute #no i was just stupid #NOT saying that as a blanket statement about being ace. i fr love yall so much #im just a dumbass #what else is news

[nothorses]

1. I know there's no quiz or whatever to know if you're trans, but right now I identify as transmasc mlm, and it makes me feel happy and comfortable and more confident than I have in a long time, but I'm very scared of coming out and then ending up detransitioning. I'm not rushing into transition at All and won't be able to even start talking about it with a professional for another year or so. But how do I know that it's not just like internalized misogyny or some kind of weird fetish thing?

2. i also have ocd so i tend to (you guessed it!) obsess over things, and im afraid i just ended up getting obsessed with the idea of being trans and view it as the solution to my problems (even though I don't). But I’m also terrified of NOT being trans, bcuz I can’t see myself living as a woman. Do you have any advice to make my mind chill out, lol? all of this shit is so complicated and i just want to live my life!! thank u in advance lmfao

That is such a mood, tbh. I often fear that maybe I’m making The Wrong Choice now that I’m on T- despite the fact that I get euphoric every time I notice a new change, that I look forward to each injection day, and that most of my discomfort comes pretty obviously from being in an “awkward middle stage” and having that noticed than, like, actual discomfort with how my body is changing.

It’s pretty common, I think. Trans folks often talk about the positives, the euphoria, and the life-saving necessity of transition- and we should, because those things are here and they’re important. Society fixates on how scary and bad and irreversible transition “must be”, so we counter that with unbridled joy & positivity.

But it can feel isolating, when you start to feel the doubt and uncertainty. If transphobes are telling us that trans people are making Irreversible Decisions and we will come to regret these later, and trans people are telling you that no, we NEVER regret these decisions, we NEVER experience doubt... Where does that leave us when we do, in fact, doubt ourselves?

The fact of the matter is that doubt is just... normal. It’s human. I’d wager it’s a lot common for us to doubt ourselves than to not, and there are a lot more trans people who doubt ourselves than trans people who never, ever do. That doesn’t make either group wrong or “less trans”, or less in need of transition & transition resources. It just means people are different. We process in different ways, we understand ourselves in different ways, and we trust ourselves in different ways. That’s normal.

There’s no good way to know “for sure” if you’re making the right decision, but I like to stop and consider the stuff I know:

When I think about having a body that feels masculine, I get scared, because that’s unfamiliar and strange. I don’t know what that’s like, or how I will feel, exactly, once I’m there. But I also feel hope, and joy, and I feel like it’s the inevitable next step in my journey. Like if I don’t take it, I’ll just be... stuck.

When I think about staying the way I am, I feel exclusively fear. I’ve been managing this long, and it’s familiar, and that’s nice- but I know what I want, now. I know how bad it is. If I have to stay trapped like this forever, I don’t know what I’ll do. And if I never get the chance to live as the person I feel like I really am, I know I’ll regret it.

It’s okay to doubt yourself; it means you’re human, and it means you’re taking care to consider your choices and how right they are for you. Take some time to remind yourself of the reasons you’re doing this, to reconsider what you know and how you feel, and allow yourself to trust that you’re making the right choices for the right reasons. If you have to do that twenty times a day, that’s fine. Maybe they’ll become familiar enough, in time, that you don’t have to do it so often.

And like, that’s just my advice, from my personal experiences. It’s okay if it doesn’t work for you- we’re all different, with different needs! Seek out more resources and perspectives and talk to a professional, if you need to & you can.

#trans #transgender #transition #ftm #transmasc #not horses #once again apologies for the ftm tag #it's just widely-used by more than just binary trans guys #and a helpful resource #Anonymous

[callmefitz]

ty for the boost on my tags vent <33 i still do feel like it’s uncomfortable much older adults write rupert & amir smut but i’m too scared to talk abt it on tumblr bc of what happened in the discord ): i rlly like making ttp content and i don’t wanna be exiled from the community or anything bc one person wants to get off on teenagers lol

you’re welcome! I love making ttp content and ttp memes too, and I have been silent on my discomfort with some aspects of the discord server/fandom overall for similar reasons. The Two Princes podcast is far from perfect, but one of the main reasons I fell in love with it was because of the main theme on how queer love is intrinsically good and powerful. I’ve made many a post discussing the nuances in the writing for both rumir and jecily and how many of the themes for both mirror the important foundational values every healthy relationship requires. I love the idea that these two kids can throw away the propaganda they’ve been fed and expectations on their shoulders and choose love. I was also incredibly impressed with the fact that such a blatantly queer podcast was greenlit with the target audience being children. If there had been something like this when I was in middle school, I would feel a lot more secure in my identity today. But I digress.

The argument has been had on tumblr a thousand times over on the intersection between adult content and children’s media, and I really don’t care to get into it again. But, as a minor, there have been some works in the fandom that have made me uncomfortable. It’s not that adult content was made for certain characters, it was the framing of such content and the syntax associated was very reminiscent of fetishized mlm content. In addition, there are certain circles of the fandom that are very adult-dominated, and, because of that, I have kept my distance from due to the language used in discussing relationships in the show. Of course, this is the Internet, and I have no authority to police the content others make. Yet, it has made me uncomfortable.

Because the fan base for this podcast is so small, and the sizes of such adult-dominated spaces are so large, I’ve been afraid to voice my concerns regarding the blatant sexualition and feminization of certain characters for adult pleasure. But, if this fandom were to ever gain a bigger following and include more minors, it’s a concern that needs addressing now. I have no urge to engage in tumblr drama with anyone about what I’ve discussed. But to pretend that it doesn’t exist will only serve to exclude future fans, queer or not.

In short, I’m glad you raised the concerns in your vent tag, because it’s made me feel less alone in having this issues with the fandom. I’m glad someone agrees that there is content that needs to be addressed.

#the two princes #the two princes podcast #prince rupert #prince amir #rumir #ttp podcast #I might as well throw this in the main tag because it needs to be seen. whatever. #thanks for making the first post though. you’re 100% right and someone had to say it #and I really don’t care if I lose followers because if this because it needs to be said. there is some very borderline #if not BLATANTLY fetishized content for this podcast #and whether or not the source material is aimed at children has nothing to do with it but doesn’t help #such content is inappropriate in any setting

[squiddcakes]

I just wanted to clarify really quick that I'm not mad at Jess for the shift in content or the hiatuses or discontinuing things she didn't have time for, didn't like, or were unsuccessful. There's a lot of ~things~ that are hard to catch up on without following her closely these last 5 years.

(sorry if you were already aware of this stuff but I didn't want to assume)

There's kawaii~chan being named,,, kawaii~chan, queerbaiting Garrance, fetishizing mlm (screaming at Max and Ross to kiss, calling them her ship when they're,,, her friends?), the huge age gap between Aph and Aaron in pdh (this is more of an issue with Jason because that's when he got together with Jess but still 💀), the whole deal with Ian, and most damning imo, the whole controversy with her employees leaving en mass, saying stuff like it wasn't a good work environment or they didn't feel valued by her, and then saying that they were afraid of a lawsuit if they said more.

(once again sorry if you were aware of this and I know this is a lot to send but these are the things that make me feel iffy about Jess as a person and leave the sourest of tastes in my mouth, I can try to find sources if you want but yeah)

Oh no don’t worry dude, it’s ok for you to clarify since I didn’t really make all these things clear in my earlier posts.

But yes despite me leaving her channel quite early I have been keeping up with her for the past few years and I am fully aware of all of these things that she had done. These are the areas that really make me heavily disappointed and even mad at Jess and sometimes Jason for their actions. They’ve done a lot of shitty and questionable things over the years that I finally realized once I was older, and these things just truly put the nail in the coffin for me. I agree, it also just leaves a very sour taste in my mouth whenever I think about it, and it’s super disheartening to think treats her characters, and even more importantly her friends and workers like this.

#rant #asks #squid answers #aphmau

[senjuhashirama]

Basics:

Timeline is here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SwC5gfyUcA-YI74pq8puohWa_9OQi1CvML-l6_0fJ1I/edit?usp=sharing

I’m canon-compliant, so everything from manga. I am able to change timeline for verses and go with your verse in RP. 

Toka is a close cousin, her mother is a sister of Butsuma.

The Senju mother left the family, she is still alive somewhere, probably happy.

Hashirama has 6 children with Mito in canon-compliant version. Hashirama loves them.

Hashirama is somehow fond of Mito and loves her. He’s also very, very indecisive and he’s not sure what he wants most of the time. 

He is confused and he emotionally moves very, very slowly. 

No arranged marriage HashiMito fanon happened. (It’s borderline grooming and I don’t want that on this blog) 

Hashirama’s oldest son is the father of Tsunade.

Hashirama’s necklace comes from his cousin who had crystal release. Ask Hashirama about her.

Hashirama is goofy, but it’s usually because he dreads being like his father. He’s funny, but not overly.

He somehow falls in love quite easily with women.

Hashirama is not very touchy-feely, he is somehow reserved in showing affection through words. Reserved with other people, but always gentle, warm and soft.

He is also not very sexual human being. He's on an ace spectrum (note: mainly because I personally feel like the fetishization in Naruto fandom is seriously so bad and I don't want to be part of that.)

Hashirama acts differently than he thinks or would like to often, so he’s harder to read for characters who don’t know him well. There is a big disrepancy between his actions and words and his inner feelings. Even if he is in love, he has hard time showing it. 

He drinks alcohol and gambles. A lot. He likes to have fun and he will drink with anyone. 

Important headcanon posts:

Long, many questions post - angsty, sums it up

Two parts Hashirama in Senju clan here (1) and here (2)

Hashirama’s mother + shorter Senju mother 

Senju clan hierarchy headcanons

Hashirama’s mokuton skills

Hashirama’s Medical skills 

Alcoholism (tw addiction)

Hashirama’s mental health issues 

Butsuma’s death 

What happened in Founders era + Tobirama being Hokage

Hashirama’s marriage to Mito (long) 

Senju Clan in Konoha (Integration)

Hashirama’s Sage Mode or Hashirama’s Sage Mode short version

Mito and Kyuubi (tw: abortion)

Statues at the Valley of the End: Creation (long)

Hashirama’s children

Hashirama’s parenting

Hashirama not crying

Hashirama’s death

For more headcanons posts https://senjuhashirama.tumblr.com/tagged/headcanons

Some notes:

Try not to call him Hashi, he’s Hashirama uwu he can take it, but it’s not his name (unless you’re on phone or in hurry, then call him Hashi it’s fine)

I don’t headcanon Hashirama as purposely manipulative. I don’t read the manga that way, it just doesn’t ping me (plus, it mostly pings Madara fans and I’m not really one). Although it’s probably a one way to look at it, I don’t headcanon it, but don’t be afraid to call him out on that if your character feels that way. Or on anon, but try to make it sound like a roleplay so I can distinguish between rp and some personal feelings (sometimes it’s hard)  

Go to ASK and send a message. I’ve been roleplaying Hashirama for 7 years, so things that were blank I tried to fill, together with friends.

HashiMada problem: 

 Is Hashirama attracted to Madara? 55 %... well, he's not crazy about him and it depends on universe and how I vibe with each Madara, I need chemistry and sometimes I just don’t feel it, or I feel like the ship is fetishy. I have a big problem with people fetishizing HashiMada on this website (and on other websites too). And sometimes it makes me detest HashiMada as a ship, because of really problematic behavior here. That’s why I became very picky about shipping and especially mlm shipping. 

#headcanons #i don't want this to show in hashirama tag #but it wil #not a regular post #this is for my page

[boy-above]

ngl as a trans person i look back on when i first started liking saiouma bc its kinda funny. when i was younger i always liked the mlm ships/canon romances in media, and since i was a straight girl i was afraid bc i didn't wanna be onnea those creepy fetish ppl. turns out i liked guys alright, but i wasnt a girl 💀 years later im now like.,, "ohhhhh thats why"

yeah same! that seems to be a pretty common experience among trans mlm. gay ships always really resonated with me and i was also afraid i would be considered a f/joshi. i've related to and resonated with gay ships in media for like half my life but it was only around when i was 19/20 that i actually accepted i was a man and also gay.

this is an unrelated tangent because i like talking abt my trans experiences lol. but another semi common experience with gay trans men is not realizing you like men because when you think about being with a man, you imagine yourself as the girl in the situation, and you don't like that. the thought of being a man's "wife" or "girlfriend" etc sounds upsetting. but then after you realize you're a man, the dynamic you imagine would be completely different and sounds a lot more favorable. so it's a unique experience, that was especially complicated for me by the fact that i'm aspec.

anyway tho, saiouma good. i relate to both of them v hard and project myself onto them super hard AJDJDJ but also i feel like it's not a coincidence that they're also very good candidates for trans headcanons. i always love male characters with pretty faces and in kokichi's case having a round little baby face and being short, cause they remind me of myself lol. like "hey this male character is short and has a soft face like me and everyone treats him like a boy!" it's comforting lol. love is stored in the trans headcanons

#ask the marshmallow #anonymous

[molusca]

I know the fetishization problem with t*y but I’m confused about you mentioning black people? Do you mind explaining that sorry

Sorry same anon as before I have another question and I hit ask too early

I’m also not sure why t*y explaining her feelings is an issue bc I thought it was her explaining why she dismissed the initial concerns bc that was a big critique of her behavior? I don’t think it’s super unreasonable especially bc she acknowledged that that was a problem

I don’t want to sound like I’m arguing bc I’m not I’m just trying to understand

ur fine babe dw

people pointed out that t*ylor is a white american and she never talks about issues going on there, while she has a huge fanbase with lots of americans. she could be helping bring awareness to a lot of issues since she has so many people listening to her. and theres one specific case, back in december i think a black man was executed and well, everyone was talking about it, including people t*ylor follow. not only she never talked about it, she thought it was a good moment to talk about keith hate. the black person who pointed this out said they were very hurt that in a moment like that she was talking about a character getting hate (im not sure what she said that day, i dont follow her and im not gonna try to find out), but they never said anything back then because they were afraid of being attacked since she is so famous in the fandom. of course we cant always know everything thats going on, but the thing is that she could help because of her large following, but she never ever talks about world issues. she follows people who were talking about the execution and she was active while everything was happening.

regarding her feelings, well, it derails the point. she was hurt because of anon hate, and i dont follow her so im not aware of the things people said to her those months, and yes people saying things like “ur writing is bad and boring” is wrong but that was not happening in this moment. she understood that the way she reacted was wrong and the case was valid concern here, and thats good, like you said she gets it. however, it ends there. her apology was like “im sorry that i hurt mlm, i received some anon hate and that sucks, so im out of the fandom”. she doesnt adress the criticism she received, she mostly explain the anon hate she received.

and then, like you probably are tired of me saying this, people dont know whats going on and get everything wrong. her replies are full of women saying she did nothing wrong and defending her but why? this apology is not for them. its not their place to say if t*ylor is wrong or not, but she doesnt correct anyone. she focused on the hate for no reason she get, and that ended up becoming the point of the whole thing, and makes people more defensive of her. since she doesnt adress the initial concern regarding her portrayal of mlm, i dont even know if she truly gets why people were uncomfortable. and im not the only one who had a problem if the way she apologized and worded it, other people also felt it wasnt genuine.

everyone rushed to tell her its fine and she did nothing wrong and are worried about her feelings, while the feelings of people who were bothered by her content are dismissed as hate and bullying. and she is doing nothing to correct people or to make mlm be listened more or. anything really. she could have at least rt the critics mlm made or something idk. not sure if its better for her to say something again and try to do better or if its better for her to just let this die bc im afraid if she keeps talking she is only making things worse. idk. i hope this clarifies

(also let me add here, i almost forgot. of course people know t*ylor isnt the only one doing this. i dont even know why this time people listened and actually talked about the issue. instead of saying a specific person is receiveing hate, we should be open to let this discuss go on you know? people know she is not the only one, both with black issues and bad portrayal of mlm, it just happened that someone said it to her and then people on twitter for some reason looked at it and listened)

#im gonna derail the point a bit in the tags #and this might make me a shit person but #at some point u gotta realize u arent gonna please everyone #so the way some hateful messages once in a while brings her down... #like sorry girl but #does she realize how big she is? #most people wouldnt dream of being relevant in a fandom like she is #she gets so much support and love with everything she creates #if a few hate brings her down like that #im sorry but thats more of a she problem you know? #im not saying she cant be hurt by it #of course it hurts #im saying that the support she gets is so fucking big #people love her so much they are willing to attack everyone who dares say anything to her #and she doesnt say anything about this too :) #thats why people are so afraid of dealing with stuff like this #she is huge and has support of almost everyone #and she is letting everyone attack and blame people who had valid criticism #what about the anon hate those people are getting? #people who dont have not even near the support she has? #sorry for saying this im just mad because i have to see my friends get attacked everytime they dare say valid criticism #while she is a huge influence in the fandom and acts as if they are the problem #anon

[houseplant-central]

Yuri Katsuki does a better, more nuanced job of the "clumsy girl" trope than any female character I've ever seen

I will start this off by saying that I DO NOT think the 2016 anime about figure skating "Yuri!!! On Ice" is in any way "good cinema". It's 90% fanservice, fetishization of mlm relationships, and one 16 year old antagonist/ comic relief character being way over-sexualized (Plisetsky, where are your parents?)*.

It has some problems to say the least and I'm certainly not here to hype it up as an example of good writing or an example of good representation.

HOWEVER, Yuri Katsuki's character (the main character of the show) does an interesting thing by very closely conforming to what I would describe as the stereotype of the "clumsy girl".

My childhood and teen years were FULL of "makeover stories". Of narratives in which a nerdy, clumsy, bookish girl gets a makeover by the popular kids, gets contacts instead of glasses, and suddenly becomes a member of this societal elite, escaping former bullying. From the music video for "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry, to (the classic) Mean Girls, to the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, to the Heather's Musical (although Heather's pokes a bit of fun at this trope and how popularity might not work out for you), narratives about a dorky girl who suddenly gets swept up by somebody popular and "taught" how to "be" popular permeated my youth.

Besides just giving my entire generation the incorrect impression that glasses had to be taken off in order of the makeover to be complete, these stories had the strange reverse effect of appealing to girls who felt like they were the "before" of the makeover. If Bella Swan, self described as "too clumsy to play badminton without sustaining an injury" and "too awkward to have friends" could be swept off her feet by the hottest vampire in town because he saw something in her, then there was hope for the rest of us. This sort of idea of "potential" untapped permeates the genre, because the clumsy girl was always pretty, she just needed to take off her glasses, put on some makeup, and gain some self-confidence.

The concept of "untapped potential" is also quite prevalent in the world of sports anime. Again, this makes sense, since a story about a winning athlete just continuing to win would be boring, so naturally works within this genre often start with the athlete at their lowest, and then follow them on their journey to a comeback or newfound fame. The mentor character who gives the athlete life-changing advice is also a staple, and it's easy to see how that mentor character might be similar to Regina George holding the makeup brush in "Mean Girls".

However, the creators of "Yuri on Ice" seemed to want their (questionably fetishizing) romance to over conform to the genre standards so they drop-kicked the mentor character archetype out the window and had Yuri's dreamy coach do much more makeover-ing than athlete-training. Some of this rests at the intersection of the fact that the sport of choice in the series is figure-skating, where your image matters quite a lot, and Viktor being implied to be in love with our fair protagonist Yuri**, but neither of these aspects fully explain how well the writers made this sports anime series fit into the "makeover" genre instead of the "sports anime" genre.

But back to Yuri Katsuki himself. In the first episode, we see him crying in a bathroom. We learn that he has serious issues with self-confidence in his sport and his personal life, and that this materializes in insecurity about his weight. Episode one Yuri fits nearly every aspect of the "clumsy girl" trope: he's socially awkward, quiet, and... well, clumsy. He narrates a lot of the first episode with his own voice, saying he's "a dime a dozen skater" and "totally awkward", a kind of self-narration reminiscent of Bella Swan. While the other characters are dressed in modern clothes, Yuri's in an oversized, comfortable sweater, and has a generally very outdated wardrobe. He doesn't seem to care about how the world perceives him, (or more likely won't make an effort because he's afraid of rejection). Were he a female character, this is what I would call the "not like other girls" trope. We immediately elevate him to a pedestal as the viewers because he's relatable, and in comparison, the other characters seem to be trying too hard. While this is not as prevalent in male characters from the time (because the other male characters surrounding them are rarely well dressed except for maybe one jock the viewers are supposed to hate), it's hard to find a piece of media between 2014 and 2016 with a female lead without this opposition of "main character can't dress but all other female characters are well dressed, clearly they're try-hards." (Ironic, because that main character is about to be well dressed after their makeover, but I digress).

(Yes, this is an issue that's been in media for a long time and will be for a long time still, and yes there are plenty of good examples of stories where the male main character is just "not like other boys" and has to compete in a world where the other boys are all well dressed, but cases of writers doing this to their female characters SKYROCKETED in the few years while I was a younger teen and it was slightly ridiculous).

Anyways, Yuri is insecure and undressed. But he has a heart of gold! Who can help?

Enter mentor character Viktor (who is.... very naked for some reason. Mitsurou Kubo, was that really necessary to subject my eyeballs to?). Viktor is the epitome of high class. He's good-looking, rich, and successful at his sport, and we're told that Yuri has personally idolized him for a long time. While not exactly a Regina George, he does present his offer to help Yuri in a way that implies that Yuri would be a fool not to accept his help; he's the best of the best and he knows it, he's used to hearing it.

Over the next few episodes Yuri is basically forced into a position acting outside his comfort zone preforming a figure skating routine called "Eros". There's a weird but somewhat comedic moment where a frazzled Yuri, hard-pressed to explain what the concept of eros means to him, says that eros means his favourite food, pork katsudon. While comedic, it is to me the very epitome of "clumsy girl": while other female characters might be alluring in their experience, the clumsy girl is appealing to the love interest and appealing to the male gaze because she doesn't "get it", she's not tangled up in the politics of sex like many female characters are written to be, she's different. (I could talk for hours about how problematic this aspect of the "clumsy girl" trope is, the implication that childishness/ lack of experience is attractive is so gross, but I will spare you).

As a whole, this fanservicy nonsense is fairly par for the course, but it's two aspects of the journey to completing the "Eros" program that interests me. We see him eventually go to his friend, who is a dance teacher, and ask her for help on how to move more femininely. This in part is a nod towards his future realization of his sexuality (or not, depending on whether you watched it before or after they retconed his and Viktor's relationship). But as his dance teacher friend shows him how to move with confidence, he fulfills one of the first steps of getting the clumsy girl makeover: somebody shows him how to move in a "sexy" way, and he is miraculously no longer clumsy. The other thing about this figure skating program is his literal makeover: as Regina George had given to Katy before them, Viktor gives Yuri one of his old outfits, which symbolizes the high-class and success that he's supposedly preparing Yuri for. Yuri switches his glasses for contacts (an iconic aspect of the trope), slicks back his hair, and is suddenly more confident.  

As the show progresses Yuri gains more confidence, symbolized not just by his body language but also by his clothing and presentation. He meets a fan of his and has a character changing moment when he realizes that he has a fan who idolizes him like he once idolized Viktor. This realization of new societal power is often a turning point for the clumsy girl finally feeling like she has self-worth, and indeed, Yuri immediately ties a new sense of self-worth to the knowledge that he has fans.

After quite a lot of figure skating animation, fanservice, and a weird subplot about a poodle, Yuri finds a sense of self-worth in the life he's building for himself as a member of "high society" and leader in his sport, no longer relying on outside validation. This, I think is the part that differs from other clumsy girl stories.

Why is this interesting? I think because I'm so very used to seeing female characters get shallow character development in the form of taking their glasses off, letting their hair down, and suddenly being hot, and male characters getting character development in the form of working out in a montage to the eye of the tiger and then getting hot. Despite Yuri basically only doing what female characters often do to become "popular" and no longer nerdy, his character development feels genuine, fuller, and less shallow. For him, his new look genuinely ties to internal character development, whereas in media with women it's usually all about the looks, and the assumption that a changed style must equal a changed character.

Bella Swan from Twilight, Katy from Mean Girls, and Veronica from Heathers all experienced a makeover and new look and implied character development because of a rise in social status (whether they asked for it or not), but ultimately all of them realized the popularity was not what was important to them and they went back to how they "looked" before to symbolize their identity and values shifting back to what they were at the beginning. Yuri ends the series in the fanciest suit we've seen him in yet, dancing with Viktor and excited about the prospects his new high-society life will present him with. His transformation into being self-confident is genuine, and his changing appearance was just a reflection of that internal transformation. Ultimately, I think this plotline is what the original genre of "clumsy girl gets makeover was aiming for", because it is what's most appealing to the viewer: genuine growth and happiness. But all the female "clumsy girl" stories I've seen fell flat of that in one way or another, leading me to very much dislike the trope until "Yuri on Ice" quite accidentally did a good job of it.

* to anyone who's seen this show: yes, I do know what is implied to have happened to Yurio's parents. I'm just a) quoting that vine where the kid goes "wouldn't you like to know, weatherboy" and the reporter goes "where are your parents?" and b) I'm mad that this over-sexualization of Yurio (even within the plot of the series) is something that happens relentlessly to young female characters who've "carved out a place for themselves in an adult world" and also apparently happens to effeminate (implied to be queer) male characters who have done the same thing, and that's not cool either.

**For the sake of my sanity I'll say implied, because though they kiss onscreen, there is apparently much room for debate. The original Japanese cut had them exchange engagement rings near the end of the series, but then both the Japnese version and the English dubbed version ended up having them show off their rings and say "look at our friendship rings". (Ah yes, because I love wearing a matching gold band on my left ring finger with my buddy to show the world what good homies we are (/sarcasm.))

As an interesting aside, in an Uno reverse card moment, the "clumsy girl" trope was made for the male gaze (proof: any trope that talks that much about women putting on less clothing and suddenly becoming hot is 1000% for the male gaze), and was accidentally latched onto by teenage girls. Yuri on Ice was made for the teenage girl gaze (proof: the fetishization of queer men, the pre-existing "boy love" genre that's so popular it has a name), and accidentally fell into the trope of the "clumsy girl".

[overdramatics]

i think fan content created by cishets who fetishize queer relationships has had a huge impact on a lot of the current community, at least online. i say this because it affected me a lot too; when i was 14 i didn't realize that all those popular gay ships weren't by actual sgl people but by cishet people, so i bought into it. the terminology and “representation” the used and created had a big impact on the way i viewed queer relationships as well as the terminology i used. maybe the most direct example of this is that phrase we’ve all heard- “you're such a bottom/they’re such a bottom.” I’m going to assume that we all know why this doesn't make sense since it has been deconstructed many times so i wont explain why ~being a bottom~ is in no way a personality trait or something you can tell about a person just by the way they look/act since this is information you can easily access by a quick search if you’re unaware.

throughout any fandom within the past several years (i would say 10 years but that does feel like a stretch, somewhere between 5 and 10) you can find a multitude of cishet girls taking any short and/or feminine guy character or real life person and calling them a bottom. taking any two skinny white men (fictional or real) and instantly shipping them, not because there is real chemistry or they genuinely care about good representation but for obvious reasons that... aren't those things. young teenagers who are entering online fandom spaces having recently started coming to terms with their sexuality/romantic orientation haven't quite gotten to the point where they can be critical of online spaces or the content they interact with and who that content is created by. all they see is a place where gay relationships aren't treated as disgusting, so they practically instantly embrace these spaces*. again, at this point they basically cant be critical of the media they consume and the contexts its created under, so they end up getting so much of their “representation” from cishet content creators (especially since it can be difficult to know that the content you’re consuming is a fetishized version of queerness created by cishet people if you dont know what good rep looks like or the identities of the creators you follow).

i am not the right person to go in depth in this aspect of it (I’m white, tme, and nblm), but it needs to be noted that fetishized content and its creators are often very white, which is why mlmoc/nblmoc are rarely seen in these spaces, they’re erased and if recognized its often only through harmful stereotypes. also it needs to be noted that wlw/nblw and trans fem people are vilified in these spaces while (white) mlm/nblm and trans mascs are infantalized and fetishized.

hopefully its started to get better recently, but i don't know since I’m largely removed from fandom spaces. the only “fandom” I’m in is mcr and even then i follow very few creators and they are all in some way lgbtq+ and I’m pretty sure many are poc. so idk the current state of fandoms abroad bc i mainly follow blogs who are critical of this kind of thing. i do hope that fandoms across the internet have become more critical of the content produced within them and of the creators producing content. I think the best way to solve this issue is to help young queer people entering fandom spaces know what the red flags of infantalizing/fetishizing queer relationships looks like and point them towards good lgbtq+ creators as well as creators of color.

the reason that this is such an issue, beyond people annoyingly calling every feminine and/or short man a bottom or every white gay man they see a twink, is that it erases decades of queer culture and allows cishets to define our language. im sure it especially impacts black queer history as well (eg; white lesbians calling themselves “studs” when that is a black exclusive term). and dont get me wrong, im not specifically blaming young teens who simply dont know better for this issue existing. and, since im afraid that some terf or exclusionist hopping on this post, when i say cishet i am not reffering to trans fems or ace/aro people “”””polluting the community””””” so dont start with that, i am talking about the issues that come with predominately white cisgender heterosexual people fetishizing and infantalizing mlm/nblm while erasing queer terms and history that have existed for decades and vilifying wlw/nblw, trans fems, poc, and people who are more than one of those.

TL;DR: unfortunately very young people are impressionable and not critical of the communities and content they interact with, this has caused a shift in (mainly) online queer spaces.

*as a clarification, when i refer to “spaces”/”these spaces” throughout this post i am talking about fandoms, or certain corners of fandoms, that are mainly comprised of white cishet people where most of the content and the center of focus is shipping two male characters (or real people), most of the time they are white, skinny, actually straight (not mlm/nblm), and if not already fitting into male+female gender roles they get put into those roles (there is one feminine one and one masculine one). for examples, think of destiel and like any band ever (ryden, petekey, frerard, etc.)

#tw homophobia #tw racism #tw discourse #tw transmisogyny #tw transphobia #gay #trans #bi #lesbian #mlm #nblm #wlw #nblw #queer #fandom #long post

[shanascarlett]

Thoughts on Hasbro Universe after Revolution

Im big fan of G.I. Joe/Transformers. But when I heard that there are more than 2 franhises in one universe, it blew my mind. So I decided to check out them. One of them I heard when I was kid.

Revolution was big. For some it was epic, other think it was mess. I understand why ppl love and hate it. Personally I love it. There’s conflict and how heroes unite against evil. It was the beggining of massive universe. So, how it turned out?

To be fair.... not so good.

Its my own opinion. You can disagree with me. If you love aftermath of Revolution, thats fine. I just want to tell about the conclusion of Hasbro Comic Book Universe.

Optimus Prime.

I think the writer put a lot of his view on life: disappointment on every religion. I really didnt like how he made that Optimus Prime is always wrong. Even when he listens and he does what he was asked to do, ppl still angry at him. “You should listened to me!” and “You shouldn’t listen to me!”. I love that they put Joes, but here’s the big issue: OOC of Mainframe and Flint with his daughter look similar the same age.

Remember when Trasnformers had the mystery of their religion and mythology? Mix of Sci-Fi and Cosmic Fantasy. Yeah, forget about that. It was all Shockwave’s evil plan. Another big disappointment for me.

I like how they described the ghost of Bumblebee, but Shockwave being one of 13 Primes looks very... confusion to me. 

Lost Light

Lost Light deserves to be called a weak sequel. Remember when in MTMTE was magic mystery, adventure, gore and development of characters and relationships? Here I found nothing. New characters for me are not interesting. And yes about them being “trans”. Im not transphobic and sorry if my opion might hurt you or offend. I just dont see transgenders in Transformers.  I dont see transformers suffering of gender dysphoria. Hell, I doubt they suffer of homophobia, bc they are totally fine with mlm and wlw. If you dont know, hetero relationships are for the population of Earth. And Transformers managed told that they can love each other, but their love is not like Earth’s bc they dont have to have sex to create life. They have strong emotion connection to each other.

Speaking about love. I love Chromedome/Rewind love story bc it was developed. We saw the birth of connection, loss, pain, reunion, fear and happiness. Same with Cyclonus and Tailgate. To be fair I dont ship the last two as romantic couple, but as platonic couple. For me they dont have that emotional connection like Chrome/Rewind but they care each other. In Lost Light nothing. You just accept that a lot characters are couple to each other. Why and how? Just accept it. This is why I dont feel emotional connection to Lug and Anode. To be fair I thought they are friend and Lug looks a lot like a boy. If they’d develop her more better, I think I’d like her. The whole Lost Light is just comics of couples. I was thinking when they’re gonna do the Orgy like in Ancient Rome.

Also here’s another disappointment in religion. Everything was lie. As I told earlier - I didnt like it. I’d rather to rewatch TFP, Bayverse or G1. BC I felt emptiness. MTMTE is masterpiece.

G.I. Joe

Where do I begin? Was written by socialist who doesnt know anything about military, ruined Quick Kick who was nice and gentle, made Scarlett an idiot, turned charasmatic Shipwreck into fat vegan, new characters have no backstory or reasons why they joined to Joes. Also: huge hypocricy. Scarlett says that G.I. Joe is now international team, but they refuse to work with USA. I get it they tried to turn G.I. Joe into Overwatch, but OW was working with every country. Including USA, where they had one of their headquarters. American G.I. Joe was more progressive bc they were helping every country who had deal with Cobra or any threat. They even teamed up with Russian soldiers.

The huge disappointment was no explanation about Snake Eyes rebirth (and no love story of Snake/Scarlett) and Quick Kick being an ass. Just check G.I. Joe ARAH show. There Quick Kick was nice. I miss that one....

The only good stuff was about Rock n’ Roll nightmares and guilt for shooting Grand Slam, grumpy Grand Slam and Doc being half-alien. Thats alll.

Revolutionaries

It was a bit better bc its literally crossover with conflict and backstories. Here they at least tried to make story interesting. And brought a lot interesting references. Especially to 90s: KLAW, Slaugther and even to original Action Force.

M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand

At 1st they tried but then it all felt down. I wouldnt call it horrible. You can check out 1st issues. I can say that only villains were interesting. While main heroes...  here’s the problem.

Original Matt Trekker was an engineer, millionaire, helped ppl and white. Why the last important? BC in reboot he became boring black guy who seeks vengeance for his father death and the main bad guy is white man. Im not racist bc I like how it was done in Spawn, but it wasnt so obvious who is the bad guy who just wants to take over the world. I get it you hate Trump. He is a clown.

Also original Trekker raises his son alone. So he is widowed. It could play in reboot: lost all, but tries to keep his son safe. So much potential for drama of lonely father. But we got what we got. I just go to rewatch Spawn animated series.

If they wanted “diverse” why they didnt put more poc characters from MASK? You know there are actual canon black man and indian man? Even native american man?

ROM

It was boring. 1st issues were interesting and brutal bc of alien invansion. You wouldnt know who is the enemy and who is the friend. But drama...

Whole Rom’s drama was about losing his humanity. At 1st we see him as cold-hearted alien. Then they all forget about it. Original Rom from Marvel was losing his humanity until he met brave girl Brandy who made him to remember his loss of homeplanet and love of his life. He was afraid to be alone and to be complete machine. And yes, in reboot his old girlfriend is alive. But I felt nothing with this. I prefer to read original comics bc I felt sorry for Rom.

Micronauts: Wrath of Karza

It was boring. The only thing I can remember is Larissa being Baron Karza’s daughter. I dont compare reboot with original series bc I havent read yet. I liked the new one bc of Baron Karza and his wife (and their fetish).

First Strike

Hoo- boy. It was bad. Preety bad. Not bc villains tried to destroy Cybertron. Not bc TF thought its gonna be war of humans and TF. No, it all was good. The main villain is Joe Colton who wants to destroy Cybertron to save Earth. And that he was bad from the beginning. His motivation sounds like Miles Mayhem from M.A.S.K.. That shock effect of surprise villain doesnt work here. It looks like disrespect to Joe fans. They managed to ruin Scarlett’s character who was turned into G.I. Joe not bc she was the best. She was in Joes bc she didnt do 50 push-ups. If you dont know, G.I. Joe is elite guard where they take the best men and women bc they do a lot dangerous work. So the whole story arc is full disrespect to Joe fan. I dont know about you, but I was offended by that.

Was there smth good? Team up of villains and the easter egg of Visionaries.

Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor

I almost forget about the plot bc it was boring. Rom was rude like every commander (yeah, for someone “losing humanity”). New character was boring. So everythng was boring. Even Autobots didint save the situation.

Rom & the Micronauts

Well, they at least tried with characters development. I really liked how characters interact with each other. But the whole story was “meh”

Scarlett's Strike Force

It was very short and cancelled. BC that writer Sitterson wrote offensive tweet about Nine Eleven. I get it what he was trying to do: to make comics based on cartoon G.I. Joe. This is why Quick Kick and Spirit fight against Storm Shadow. Personally I thought it was racist bc “only asian fight agains asian”. And Storm Shadow has the worst redesign I’ve ever seen. Theres nothing to talk about the comics bc its unfinished and cancelled. So theres nothing.

Transformers vs. Visionaries

This comic had potential. But the ending ruined it. The story is about colonization to save living race. But it will kill another nation. Its interesting theme. And how they managed? Nothing. For some reason everyone in peace and safe. The ending is just weird. I think writer didint know how to end that conflict so she wrote “everyone safe and in peace. Colonization is bad”. Not the ending is the problem. Main characters: Leoric and Virulina redesigned very strong. Leoric looks like total different character (why not to create new character? He looks good). And Virulina looks like student from art-school, not the villain. The redesigned I like are Cryotek and Arzon. And the art was very good.

The last 2 ones I havent finished yet. I can tell this: TAAO isnt look so bad, but I’m ready for disapointing ending, like TF Unicron.

In conclusion:

I dont tell that it was done horrible. Its just explains why IDW decided to reboot TF and G.I. Joe. Low sales. BC I’ve noticed a lot easter eggs in those comics for future story plots. I think they’d made it good if IDW would give them chance.

If you love them, thats fine. I’ll enjoy my own version of Hasbro Universe.

#review #opinion #transformers #g.i. joe #gijoe #mask #m.a.s.k. #rom #rom the spaceknight #micronauts #visionaries #comics #idw #hasbro #hasbro universe

[actual-lich-queen]

For tmi tues: What’s your favorite part about drawing and your favorite part about writing? Also, will there me smut scenes in QoC?? 😏

Drawing I like the beginning part where I’m putting rough shapes on the page to get the feeling of what I’m creating. And the part where I’m roughing it it. And doing final details. I just really like all of it. Making something that didn’t exist before.

Writing I love the part where you get into a really good flow and you just bang out scene after scene. When everything is suddenly in sync and you’re less writing and more a conduit for a story to be born.

Maybe! I’m not afraid of smut. I did erotic poetry before fanfics. And a porn comic.  My only concern is that since Ayla and Sammens’ sexualities don’t align with my own, writing it in a way that doesn’t become fetishistic. I’ve been trying to do some research, but so far most of the things I’ve found written about it have generally been “mlm in fanfic is highly fetishized” and “people who criticize mlm fanfic writers which are largely women are misogynistic” which, as you can imagine, is not very helpful. Like, I can find a lot about writing people of color, even entire tumblrs dedicated to being better at writing poc, but nothing on writing better lgbtqa+. If I can’t figure it out, just brace yourselves for a lot of fluff and fade-to-blacks 😂

TMI Tuesday

#tmi tuesday #on writing #queen of cups #about me

[animentality]

I get this strong feeling sometimes that women on this site are afraid that liking kinky sex will make them anti feminist because they have submission fantasies, and it's damn stupid.

Human beings like losing control in controlled environments.

Additionally, some people get a kick out of performing gender roles, or playing off of the "basis" of human behaviors.

You're raised with this belief in what being male looks like, or is acted.

Even gay men who wish to express femininity or masculinity can still have beliefs in what "male" looks like.

That's kind of the idea.

Human beings like categories and rules to keep a lawless universe in check, within human parameters of understanding.

So going back to societal roles in sexual foreplay?

I mean not everyone's gonna have "progressive" sex lmao.

Kinky s and m roleplay where you pretend you're a dog or some shit, lmao, it's fine. Everyone has weird things that get their genitals moist.

It's really just odd for me to see because a lot of the time I see women and young girls on this site using mlm relationships to explore their "sexually deviant" sides and it's like.

Having both sexual participants be male negates any female involvement, and thus any guilt from the female reader/ writer.

So it lets girls and women write any fucked up scenario they want.

And that's alright, except for the times when said women ignore real mlm or trans people in favor of pushing their heteronormative centric views on their "sexy" gays.

Because you can have deeply mortifying sexual urges and needs, but when you start fetishizing real life groups of people who have high rates of suicide and are at risk for being killed in multiple countries, and are not always protected from discrimination?

I mean at that point you're pushing this firm line between actually giving a shit and just working through your own personal demons with your own gender.

And I find people who do that to be extremely...controversial.

Because on the one hand, I think people can't control their sexual thoughts, and if you find someone who's into the same thing as you are, then great. No kink shaming from me, you wear that furry dog suit and piss on your boyfriend, dude, whatever helps you enjoy your short time on Earth. Just so long as you don't hurt anyone else.

But on the other hand, there's this area where you're clearly struggling with your own gender identity.

Specifically, women who think they're progressive and woke cuz they ship gay men together, but who seem to be suffering under the age old male idea(l) that women don't have sex drives or aren't allowed to be sexual DEVIANTS.

And that area is where it gets messy because I see female content creators bashing on their own gender out of this sense that they CAN push social norms in terms of gay men being in love and having crazy sex but also NOT pushing any social norms...

By having women be virginal and pure and incapable of being involved in sexual plots.

Or they're ornamental and only there as accessories to the male story...

Which...

Sounds...

Familiar doesn't it?

[strangerthanjonathan]

You actually made me think about the characters instead of focusing on the supernatural plot(i do that a lot without noticing), i like you. Thank you. Also, i have to ask: how do you feel about billy/steve outnumbering jonathan/steve on AO3? (I'm kinda not okay. Very 'wtf' tbh)

I think about the characters far more than the plot. I get into shows that have supernatural/fictional things going on and then just attach my way into the characters. It’s the reason I can step back and critique the show as a whole, because I’m not specifically attached to the plot, I’m attached to the characters because I have identity problems and caring about characters and adopting personality traits from characters is kind of a thing I do to cope with my life.

I’m so very glad that you like me, I really do appreciate it because I don’t hear it all too often irl. 

Below the cut is an anti-Billy rant, don’t like, don’t read!

At first the whole Billy/Steve thing really bothered me because I was examining myself and wondering if I was being jealous or overreacting to a pairing simply because I didn’t like the pairing. I’ve come to realize that I’m not wrong in disliking Billy, I’m allowed to hate characters, and I’m allowed to find flaws in characters. My core problem with the Billy/Steve fans is simply that it’s about fetishizing. And not just straight girls, anyone can fetishize mlm relationships. If you look at Billy/Steve fics, a lot of them are smut fics and a lot of them focus on the sexual aspects of the relationship. 

This is merely because these people are only interested in two hot guys having a relationship, it’s at the core of it, no matter how much they argue. If Dacre hadn’t been casted as Billy (or any hot guy), this wouldn’t even be a ship. It’s a heated debate and at first I made posts about how liking Billy was disgusting and I couldn’t believe people sympathize with him…

But I’ve come to terms with the fact that people will always do things like that, that aren’t exactly right (though they will immediately charge in to say it’s just fiction and this and that) and that I won’t like that. I think the thing to remember is that you should do what makes you comfortable, and if that involves blocking Billy Hargrove stans and Billy/Steve shippers then do so because that’s exactly what I do.

Billy is abusive and scary and the idea that Steve would be with him is just ludicrous so I honestly couldn’t care less about them having more fics than Stonathan simply because I don’t desire to be part of a ship fandom that sexualizes and disrespects mlm relationships. And those fics that don’t really focus on sexual aspects are really just scary in general, because it makes me almost afraid for those people…  There’s a lot about that side of the fandom that just freaks me out, seeing their posts and stumbling upon their blogs gives me this anxiety…

I’ve been on the bad end of emotional abuse, which is minor compared to what some people have suffered so I’m not going to go around acting like a victim. But seeing someone be able to get away with things and get called adorable and cute and sweet and soft when in reality they’re an abuser, it makes me nauseous and honestly a little angry. 

#donnysasks