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qqueenofhades · 2 days

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Can I request a further rant on Alice Albinia's The Britannias please?

Anonymous asked: 'Further rant available upon request' here is my official request.

Aha. You are both prompt and accommodating. And it is my lunch break, so let's do this!

For context, this is the book in question:

This book was recently published, comes highly reviewed and (as I said) has apparently already been longlisted for some prestigious nonfiction writing/women's prizes. I got it from the library the other day and started reading it; I'm about 150 pages in. It has given me an increasing Itch to the point where lo, yes, here I am on Tumblr about to compose a Statement. This may be because of what the book blurb states upfront as its focus and goals:

Trespassing into the past to understand the present, The Britannias uncovers an enduring and subversive mythology of islands ruled by women. Albinia finds female independence woven through Roman colonial reports and Welsh medieval poetry, Restoration utopias and island folk songs. These neglected epics offer fierce feminist countercurrents to mainstream narratives of British identity and shed new light on women's status in the body politic today.

Okay... well. Basically, she wants to write a history of Britain as focused on its islands, which in itself is a perfectly valid thing to do. As she states in the introduction, focusing on the history of a place through its physically and geographically marginalized locations, its relation to the "mainland," the constructions of power and identity, how one resists and influences the other, is all a very interesting thing to do. It's just how she does it that gives me a twitch. Her clearly stated goal is to find a "hidden women's history" wherein these "fierce feminist countercurrents" are allowed to inform and eventually subvert a totally androcentric and oblivious mainstream British history that has apparently prevailed largely unchallenged ever since antiquity, and where the Male Process of History deliberately destroyed and excluded all female contributions. She is somehow, apparently, the first one to notice this and/or put it together.

Now I'll be honest, the Secret Magical Women trope also gives me a twitch wherever it appears, whether in saccharinely self-important historical or fantasy-historical fiction or in this case, attempted historical nonfiction. Albinia's thesis also seems, essentially, directly lifted from Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon fantasy series in the 1980s: the pagan Celtic/British tribes were egalitarian, proto-democratic, female-led and/or female-centric, and the conquering Romans/Christians/Saxons were all virulently misogynist, masculine, authoritarian, and determined to stamp out this wherever it appeared. I have only gotten up to about the year 1000 (it goes chronologically), so I can't speak to what rationales Albinia comes up with for the later centuries, but let me just say: Hmm. It says a lot about the overall style of this book that I read the first 10 pages and then immediately picked up my phone to check Wikipedia and see if she was a TERF. As far as I can tell, fortunately, she isn't, but it does give me the same binary gender-essentialist vibe (men are from Mars, women are from Venus), and yikes. Basically, there are a lot of things going on here, and all of them are Not Good when it comes to the actual practice and investigation of premodern women's history:

First, while Albinia cites a few research articles (via endnotes) and translations of primary sources (thus far, mostly Roman and early medieval) we know nothing about her qualifications for using these sources, how she is comparing and analyzing them, whether they should in fact be taken at face value, whether anyone else has written on these topics (spoiler alert: yes), or why we are supposed to buy her narrative of this Hidden Female History of Britain. For example: she includes several passages from Roman writers discussing (reported) actions or (reported) mythologies of British women or British female-associated places. These are presented as uncritical and general fact, or something which we should apparently assume was really happening as described, even when she (occasionally, and shallowly) points to the issue of using exterior and non-contemporary male writers from far away. Her analysis also does not touch at all on the potential metatextual or political impulses these Roman male writers might have for presenting a freshly conquered imperial territory as corruptly or unacceptably feminine, and whether this correlated at all to an overall real-world practice or belief. Yes, as far as we can tell, the ancient Celts were in some ways more "feminist" than the Romans, in that Roman public culture was deliberately and exclusively masculine and patriarchal and any civic participation by women in other societies would thus appear as more than usual. But that is a whole can of worms for many reasons, none of which are highlighted or dealt with here. (Like... are we even going to talk about how the "Roman standard" for society was itself re-created by the Renaissance and how that shapes Western historical views, or...?)

As I said above, the book completely brushes aside any of the previous existing scholarship on these topics (done, you know, by actual historians) and presents it as Albinia discovering these issues or formulating these arguments for the first time. She does mention a few other people whose work she relies on or who are informing her hypothesis, but several times thus far, this is from the 1920s or some other clearly outdated argument. Nobody in the field is still treating arguments made in the 1920s as au courant, and while I can't say for certain, it reads as her being more able to access older or public-domain work (since more up-to-date publications require institutional access or paying for copies) and doing the equivalent of the people on Wikipedia who cite the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia for everything: they can get that text for free, so that's what they refer to. Now obviously, we all support uncovering feminist strands of history, doing feminist history, challenging heteronormative or patriarchal narratives, etc. But also, we support doing it well and making some reference to the complexity of it!!!!

Likewise, Albinia is a white British woman whose previous books are based on her time living and traveling in India and Pakistan (both of which are, uh, previously British colonies). I have not read them, so I can't speak to how she treats it, but there's certainly an element of exoticizing them here, and while she does make passing reference to the British Empire's effect on those places, she does a sort of weird inverse here. She obviously knows about the basic facts of empire and colonization, but there's a notable amount of time dedicated to portraying ancient/Celtic Britain as the helpless victim of constantly brutal Roman colonization (she makes a few very brief and offhand references to cultural miscegenation and how this process unfolded in ways apart from violence, but they are clearly secondary to her main thesis of this as a masculine rape analogy). She is very clear about mourning for this "sacred divine [female] Britain" which was then destroyed by the unrelentingly violent and misogynist forces of Roman (cultural/military) and Christian (religious) colonization, and as I said, that is straight up Marion Zimmer Bradley. I haven't gotten past said first 150 pages, but I'm not terribly confident that her historical analysis improves much in the centuries to follow.

The book does have some bright spots: it's well written, it's engaging, she includes some colorful and interesting sociological vignettes about life on the margins of modern Britain, and there are certainly some things she's mentioned that I would like to look into in more depth. But yet again, this is being presented as an Authoritative or Revelatory History deserving of recognition and prizes, when there are real historians who have done so much of this work and in so much better ways. There is very little nuance to her thesis, no context or analysis or critique provided for her sources (yet again: why are we supposed to take Roman men as an authority on British women and why is she presenting them as obvious empirical fact while critiquing all other elements of their system/society?) and some squicky assumptions around gender and empire that really would need to be drawn out and examined in more detail. The Secret Magical [Pagan] Women Erased In History By Brutal Men gimmick is one that got a lot of traction with Philippa Gregory (sidenote: bookstore websites really need to stop recommending me Philippa Gregory for Women's History Month before I do crimes), and has been exasperatingly hard to eradicate ever since. Just to name one, we need to talk a lot more about the gender politics of medieval Christianity, any of the work done on this topic already, or anything else that would complicate her argument beyond the simplistic black-and-white state in which it currently exists. There are plenty of historians who would like to do that! Why don't you give some of THEM a call?!?!

Anyway. There is probably more I could say (and might), but I will leave it here for now. Thank you for the indulgence, etc.

#silver-dream89 #anonymous #ask #history #women in history #ancient history #medieval history #british history

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notaplaceofhonour · 2 days

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Understanding Alex Jones’s place in the Bush-era anti-war scene would do the left a lot of good in understanding (and not repeating) similar mistakes that the current anti-war scene is making today.

For those who aren’t old enough to remember, there was actually a time when Alex Jones had a decent amount of goodwill on the far left. He was obviously always a lunatic conspiracy theorist, and most everyday people saw him as such, but there was a significant enough portion of the anti-war left that liked him, that actually promoted InfoWars, appeared on AJ’s show, and linked arms with him at anti-war protests.

Without the momentum that his Bush-era popularity gave him, Jones would not have become a recognizable or relevant media figure like he did. The model InfoWars pioneered, which helped pave the way for the entire far right griftosphere that sprang up around it—from Breitbart to OAN & the Epoch Times to the sea of smaller Q-fluencers—owes its success in part to this diagonal reach across political lines. The extreme right wing conspiracy theory platform that has all but consumed the GOP would not have been able to gain nearly as much of a foothold if it were not for the years of work InfoWars & outlets like it did to normalize it in the Bush years.

Obviously I am not going so far as to say “The Left Is Solely Responsible For Alex Jones™️”. But much of the anti-war/anti-government left absolutely participated in helping him rise to prominence. They were willing to jump in bed with Jones without paying attention to his work or else were willing to turn a blind eye to who Jones was, all because he was saying things that were convenient to their cause. It didn’t matter that he was a rightwing or grade-A bigot; he opposed the US government & the war.

And I’m fully aware that there’s a common refrain among a lot of that “I used to listen to InfoWars” section of the left that would push back against this and say, “well, yeah, Jones is obviously a fascist now, but back then he wasn’t like that; he was kooky back then, sure, but the pre-Sandy Hook, pre-Gay Frogs Jones wasn’t nearly as bigoted or rightwing as the ‘Hillary For Prison’ Trump-era Jones became”.

To that I say, no, that’s bullshit. If you actually go back and listen to his show from back then… holy shit. He was homophobic as fuck. He was racist as fuck. The entire NWO/Globalist framework that he hangs all his other conspiracy theories on is built around antisemitic tropes from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion he regularly hosted & promoted explicit antisemites like his pastor Texe Marrs, who openly espoused that Jews (often named as such) controlled the world politically, financially, and religiously through Zionism, a global banking cartel, and Communism. In some ways, Jones was even more transparent then than he is now.

“Okay, but what does this have to do with the current anti-war movement?” I hear you say. “I never fell for Alex Jones; I’ve always hated that guy.”

To begin with, you should be on the lookout for the internal biases and lack of vetting that lead the left to tolerate Jones in the first place, whether you think you’re liable to or not (arguably, it is all that much more important when you think you aren’t, because you are never more susceptible than when you think you aren’t). But unfortunately much of the anti-war left of today has been making the same mistake, just with different people and organizations.

Take for instance Jackson Hinkle, a tradcath & self-described “MAGA Communist”, who has gotten a lot of traction with the leftwing anti-Zionist crowd (and I would be remiss not to mention, has also been a guest on InfoWars). Or take another AJ, the media outlet Al Jazeera, which says a lot of things that are attractive to the left out one side of its mouth while spewing a bunch of rightwing theocratic garbage out the other, much like Bush-era InfoWars did. Take PSL/ANSWER (Pro-Putin Pro-Assad Pro-Xi atrocity denialists & conspiracy theorists) are one of the most common fixtures of the current protest movement, regularly advertised as organizers by other prominent organizations like JVP & SJP. A lot of people on the left have been embracing figures and organizations that espouse Khazar Theory, Deicide, Media Control, and Blood Libels not at all dissimilar to the accusations you could hear from Jones and his pastor friend Texe Marrs, with the same figleaf of “anti-Zionism” that Marrs frequently used himself.

Whether by sheer ignorance or willfully turning a blind eye, the left keeps making the same mistake of tolerating & even embracing figures & organizations with similarly noxious politics & conspiracy thinking now that was made with Bush-era InfoWars. We need to do better. We need to learn from the past so we can stop repeating its mistakes.

#antisemitism #i/p #anti-Alex Jones #jumblr

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neet-elite · 6 hours

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↳ EVENT 26. M!Whitney (Hybrids & Incest)

Pairing: M!Whitney / CowHybrid!F!Reader Genre: Smut 18+ WC: 2,516 Warnings: hybrid, hint of a/b/o?, heats, stepcest, pseudo incest, degradation, name calling, tit play, lots of nipple sucking, milk drinking, blowjob, creampie Prompt(s): 02 — hybrid(s) + 07 — incest Event Masterlist: CLICK HERE!!

A/N: words cannot describe how excited i am to be indulging in hybrid content... for as much as i love it, i very rarely write it... but its so much fun, isn't it? a/b/o content is probably top of my list of fanfic tropes, and paired with incest too ??!! ur spoiling me <3 although it's only a hint of abo relating to the whole "heat" concept but yknow... ty for this good time!

You always were a handful, weren't you?

From the moment you entered his life, honestly. Look, Whitney, meet your new baby sister! Remember, you have to look after her as her older brother! And, well, all he really heard was: new victim. He could immediately tell that you were gonna be trouble. Big round cheeks for him to pinch at in private, seeking his (mis)guidance whenever possible. You almost make it too easy for him to bully you, right? As if you want him to coax those cute fat tears from your pretty little doe eyes with harsh words, pouting up at him so sweetly as he berates you for God knows what now.

So he's not surprised to hear of your adventures when you arrive home from an extended stay on the farm. Worried he was, frantically searching for his favourite victim high and low, but he'd never indulge you in such details even when you hobble home to his heavy arms. The whole... Cow transformation had caught him off guard in the beginning, but he's grown used to it by now. Even thinks you're cute sometimes, which is fucking annoying. Offering you a mere brief hug and a venomous scolding— fuckin' idiot, fuckin' deserve it for wanderin'.

But, oh... Today is a different kind of trouble, right baby? Staring up at him from between his wide open legs, suckling plenty of pre from his red hot tip, cock pulsing in your delicate hold as another shaky sigh escapes him. Only you could have him feeling so out of his depth, watching you with his head tilted in curiosity as you display such insatiable want for your big brother. It's not that he dislikes it, no, far fucking from it. He's just curious, thinking with his cock when you gently start to stroke him up and down too. His gaze settling on your exposed chest, fat with milk tits just begging to have his mouth around them, fuck. He's thirsty just by glancing at them, cock twitching against your lips as you smear precum like you would lipgloss— only you suit his colour best, don't you think?

Heat, you'd moaned at him earlier today. Sugary dulcet tones piquing his interest, something about the farm, tits fatter thanks to the transformation you underwent during your disappearance. He hadn't even made an attempt to understand how or why; too busy drooling over your new lewd appearance to give a single fuck about the reasoning. If you were his favourite thing before, you're certainly even more fucked when it comes to his obsessions now, flicking at your cute little cow ear just to feel the vibrations from your whine travel down his cock. God, he wants to fuck that little throat forever. Gag your whiny tone with his balls resting against your chin, hear you choke on how cute you are right now, thighs squeezing together before he's even had a chance to properly touch you. It's only fair, right? You've effectively asked him to milk you, so he deserves to be milked too, right? And who is he to deny some slut his cock, even if you are his little sister. Doesn't that just make the whole act of filling you up even hotter? Tapping his tip against your lips once or twice before you instinctively open up your little maw, allowing him to easily slip inside with a satisfied groan.

"Fuckin' slut—" He almost growls down at you, your animalistic display rubbing off on him as you moo softly against his cock, swirling your tongue around his tip well enough to have him sitting more upright on his bed. Fuuuuck, it's like your transformation has turned you lewder, an inherently erotic object of affection for him to push around. Because you're asking for it, aren't you? Ears pinned, tail swishing nervously—infuriatingly adorable, if he may add—politely asking for big brother to take care of you now that you're home. And he'd be a liar if he said he wasn't completely in love with how eagerly submissive you are before him, relying on him to make you feel better, pleading for his rough treatment every time you moo softly in appreciation for his dirty words. "Gross," He says, or calls you, he's not really in the right headspace to make the correct determination himself. And even then he's talking about himself too, the way his balls ache to empty inside of you— doesn't matter which hole, he aims to fill em all up eventually. Secretly thanking... What was his name again? Remy? Doesn't fucking matter now, whoever the fuck turned you into such a slutty little beast, slurping all over his fat fucking cock just to get your puffy little cunt all wet for him deserves his thanks. Thanks for giving him the opportunity to pester you from above, a low moan crawling up his throat at the way you slobber all over him; fuck, like you intrinsically know that he likes it all sloppy. "Messy little moo, C'mon, slut— Look at me when you suck me off."

A mistake, he knows it the moment you adhere to his harsh words. Batting your eyelashes up at him, lips tight around the meat of his cock, rosy red cheeks causing his heart to stutter. His tone betrays him, too. Though by the looks of things, your eyes rolled all the way as his tip touches the back of your throat, gagging on the amount of precum your tongue sucks out of him, you're barely fucking there mentally to notice just how much he's enjoying playing with his little sister, huh? The haze of lust in your eyes gently communicating with him, turning his own pupils heart shaped at the way you so eagerly and easily suck his cock. Gag reflex? Gone, a likely result of your supposed heat. He'd only caught glimpses of the effects you tried to tell him because you became so needy so fast, pawing at his fat bulge enough to convince him into letting his cock spring free. And thank fuck he did, running a hand through his hair in sheer pleasure from how much you drool over him. "Are y'enjoying yourself?" He taunts from above, but his words are a little breathy, a pitch higher than normal when you flick your tongue in all the right places. God, it'd be embarrassing to be this close already if not for the fact that you're no better, making big brother feel so good, aren't you? Do you get off on that? Little cunt pulsing at the thought of making big brother cum down your tight little throat, expertly stroking your hand up and down the length left unattended by your pretty little mouth. Fuck he's so in love with the sight of your furrowed brows, his hips bucking once or twice against your face to showcase exactly how good baby sisters lips have big brother feeling.

Which is why he has to push you away so suddenly, hiding behind the guise of more bullying as he tuts at your whines of disapproval, patting his lap for you to pathetically crawl up into— shit, the wobbling your doing is so endearing it almost hurts. Cock throbbing under your soaked slit; he's not doing this to punish you. Rather, he's doing this because he feels like he's gonna die if he's not inside of you soon, playing the role of stern big brother just to make sure you feel all better again. And you better fucking thank him once this heat or whatever is done with, letting you absentmindedly give his cock a quick slippery pussy job until he's decided enough is enough.

"Sit on it, slut." He orders you around, but he's soft with it. A gentleness to his tone that isn't usually there, even offering you a half smirk when you whine so cutely for him. "Promise t'help, y'just gotta sit on it. Let big brother do all the work for you, okay?" a sigh escapes him, growing increasingly frustrated at the amount of stimulation your angel cunt offers him without being inside; he's so close to cumming it's disgusting. The thought alone of fucking his little sister is a turn on enough, never mind to be lining his fat cock up to your hole enough for you to be able to catch on it.

And then it all happens so fast, your skin hot to the touch as you sink down on his length in one fell swoop, his jaw taut as his teeth grind together in sheer awe— you're so unbelievably tight that it feels almost unfair when a needy whine escapes his lips too. Sounds of pleasure soon buried against your neck when you thoughtlessly start to bounce in his lap, as if driven only by primal need to receive his seed. Which is fucking hot, right? To be getting fucked by his baby sister, simply used for his cock like how he's used to many other sluts before. And in a way, he's using you too. Needing to cum more than ever, some part of him deep down does honestly want to help you, too. But God, you just don't stop. Clinging to his neck, arms wrapped tight to press your tits against him— of which he immediately puts space between again so that he can grab at one of them, his other hand supporting your weight at the small of your back despite how often his grip slips in enjoyment.

They've become so fat, y'know? Bouncing up and down with your frantic movements, even more so when he feels the weight of them. Downright fucking hypnotised by your puffy nipples, tongue already lolling out at just the thought of swallowing around them. And so he does, as if magnetised to your tit, dropping his head a little lower and lifting a nipple to his lips, immediately lapping at your sensitive bud while you happily ride his cock like a good girl.

And the sound, fuck, the high pitched mewl his tongue flicks out of you— it has him seeing black from how hard his eyes roll to the back of his skull. Such a simple touch, but that heat of yours has got you feeling extra sensitive right baby? So soft and pliable on top of him, do you even know what you're doing right now? Riding your big brother so well, the squeeze of your cunt around his fat cock prompting more pre out to stain your insides as his, his head growing cloudy the more time he spends pressing his face to your tits, suckling on your pretty little nipple so obscenely; the sound of his slurping surely head throughout the household, fuck, especially when he squeezes at your tit a little more and something hits his tongue.

The taste is sweet, like sugar. Because of course it is. It's you. His cute, cow-like, dick riding, little sister. Of course your milk just has to taste perfect too, his gaze narrowing in horny frustration from how suited to his tastes you really are, literally. Popping off in a daze to squeeze again, just to watch the milky substance squirt out and hit his face. Filthy slut, if he'd have known your cow tits were so full of milk like this, he'd have sucked it all out of you by now. Jealousy burning in his tummy at the thought of being left out, making his feelings known by reattaching to you nipple and really sucking now, intent on emptying you of your milk reserves in a greedy display of ownership. Allowing his hips to fuck up into you in tandem thrusts, his eyes squeezed tightly shut in response to your moaned mooing— it's stupid just how much that dumb little sound turns him on. Makes his cock all twitchy, his balls all achy just from having you act pretty on his lap.

And he can only hope that this isn't a one time thing, pussy drunk as your insides squirm around him in a way he knows must mean you're close. He's fucked enough sluts to know by now that when your thighs start to tremble by his own, you're almost there. Keeping your tit in his mouth, but dropping both of his hands to your ass, holding on to your cheeks to spread them a little; sluts like you always like that, right? To have him manhandling you into position, aiding your bounces with every suck of your tit, nipping on your sensitive bud just a little to stimulate some more if that creamy milk to drip onto his tongue, your cunt choking his cock from how tight you get at his greedy grabbing.

Another moo quickly tumbles from your lips, an urgent sounding one, a cute one, he thinks. But he's got no time to praise you for riding big brother so well, not enough brain power to even think about the ramifications of helping you in such an immoral way— not when you slam your ass down on his lap and start to grind your orgasm out. Rubbing that puffy little clit against his groin, circling your hips atop his cock in such a fashion that he soon follows suit. Pumping a fat load into your little hole, still attached to your nipple, heavily exhaling through his nose, he seethes against you. Writhing under you with pitiful humps inside of your tight cunt, buried balls deep to feel every eager pulse of your insides squirming around him as you cream his cock; he's never felt so fucking good before when filling a slut up. Begrudgingly popping off of your abused nipple only to latch onto the other, being sure to give them both equal attention in his efforts to help you— no matter how much you might whine for him to stop. Your pretty tits are so full, he's constantly swallowing down some of the sweet liquid...

No, baby, you asked for big brothers help, so let big brother help you, he'd like to say. But he's too busy filling you up, milking himself as he milks you, just like he promised. Wrapping his arms around you even tighter even when he's spent, balls emptied inside of you as he pulls you further on top of him. No longer on the edge of his bed, but rather, cuddling on top of it. Nibbling and sucking and licking on your nipple, because he's drunk on your milky taste. He's not even really helping you at this point, just selfishly taking what he wants from you because he's your big brother, and he can do whatever the fuck he wants when you're in this state, right? And as the younger sibling, you have to do what he says. Morals aside, you don't seem to mind the way he can't leave you alone when your cunt continues to try and suck his cock in further anyway, begging for some more of his milk.

And he'll give you some more, once he's had a fill of yours.

#500 event!#dol smut #degrees of lewdity smut #whitney the bully #whitney the bully smut

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herembers · 2 years

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Hmmmm reaching a moment in this romance novel where the love interest isn’t groveling enough for my liking 🤨

#it’s SO GOOD so far lots of good tropes #I would marry the heroine in a heartbeat #her man tho?#i love the snarky banter but…sir you’ve realized the error of your ways #time to GROVEL

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not-poignant · 4 months

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Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance? What makes them better? I did not mean anything negative, and I know everyone have their own like and dislike but I want to know your thoughts....

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/ danmei) romances better than western MLM romances?

Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance?

Because I had no choice for many years.

Because that choice was taken away from me by a homophobic, transphobic, queerphobic, acephobic society. So all the romances I read had to be heterosexual, all the romances I watched had to be heterosexual, all the romances I heard of had to be heterosexual.

Because I'm not heterosexual.

Because I never saw myself represented in any stories ever, for over about 20 years (queer stuff existed, but where I was situated in Perth, Western Australia, meant that I was not seeing it).

Because I was force-fed allonormative, heteronormative, heterosexual tropes, bullshit, toxicity, misogyny, patriarchal culture, rape culture and more, and because everyone assumed that was normal, which made me feel isolated, marginalised, alone, and bereft, and cut me out of knowing what a life could look like for myself, and made relationships harder, when you don't have the words or stories to latch onto.

People like me couldn't even be erased out of the media, we hardly existed in the media, and if we did, almost never under our real identities, and almost always having to pretend to be something we weren't, for many people who hated us, or wished we were dead, or simply didn't care about us at all.

So, when I finally got a choice, I made a choice.

And I do not want to read heterosexual content anymore, unless it's queer (like T4T). The only place I actually willingly consume heterosexual romantic content these days is like 80s and 90s and early 00s romantic comedies. It's the only thing I allow through my filter, because so many of them have a really strong bent of hurt/comfort in them, and it's rare to find movies that have this in general.

But yeah otherwise het is just not a thing I look for in fiction. Literally a squick. Literally reminds me of 20 years of oppression in the mass media. It's not inherently bad, it just wasn't good for me personally, to never have a choice.

So I made one :D And my life has been so much better for it. I'm never going back.

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/ danmei) romances better than western MLM romances?

It's just better for me, anon! I find a lot of western published m/m (so not like m/m fanfiction which I still read) often feels stifled and too short for me, and the characterisation doesn't get as deep as I want it to get. I often can feel the rigidity of the novel structure on authors who are trying to rapid release, and the depth I'm looking for is rarely there. Sometimes that's what people want! Sometimes they don't know there's other options!

Sometimes that's true of some BL manga/manhua/manhwa etc. as well. Tbh it's probably true of a lot of it! Serial format doesn't always allow for depth either. But I find the visual format easier to read as well. If I reread western m/m it's almost always fanfiction. And tbh, I'm sure some amazing m/m was published last year, I just get tired of having to wade through it all to find something I like. It got to the point where I was reading like 60+ titles just to find one average read, and I gave up.

The recommendation systems for BL tend to be better and more on point for me, I find most people who recommend published m/m to me generally always miss the mark (which isn't their fault - I'm particular, there's a reason I write what I write - because I can't find it to read!!), but close friends like @morbidlizard who recommend BL to me almost always hit the mark!

I don't actually read much danmei, but mostly because I haven't had time to really sink my teeth into it. Aside from MXTX, I haven't explored much further.

But yeah, hope that helps! :D

#asks and answers #personal #can't even put inadvertent recs on this #honestly 'rapid release' was kind of the death of it being easy to find a lot of good #m/m fiction being published #it's still out there it's just way more 'needle in a haystack'-y than it used to be #also there's way more fandom tropes like hurt/comfort etc. in manhwa and manga in particular #so it speaks a language i prefer #like Define the Relationship has SO many moments of hurt/comfort #just over and over again #i find published novel-format m/m just really kind of misses the mark on this #and honestly i include my own stuff in that #the novel format isn't super friendly to it #compared to the serial format #i'm sure that's not true across the board #it's just true 'so far'

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