#and a lot of respectability politics

[starlooove]

I feel like ppl ignore hobie is a BLACK punk and it’s so tiring

#white ppl be racially aware for 5 seconds challenge. #like sure hobie would steal or whatever but I need you think about why ur so excited to say this #and those posts where it’s like hobie and miles go to the mall and hobie steals something from each store #like no actually blk punks don’t put other blk ppl in danger bc stealing is ‘fun’ #that’s actually something blk ppl have been talking to their yt delinquent friends Abt for a long ass time #and like. I feel like a lot of y’all treat hobie being a punk as like. a hobby first and foremost #and that’s what it might be to you but like pls read a hobie comic or talk to a blk punk irl #not to be shady or whatever but things like being a punk is about being nice or hopepunk aesthetically comes from a lot of gentrification #and a lot of respectability politics #that’s a general statement bc my opinion on all of that is very divided and like. all over the place #but in general if ur a white punk and excited Abt hobie thats great and ily but pls remember he’s not you #he’s not supposed to be you #you can relate but pushing the things you have the privilege to do onto him is like. weird for blk punks who see themselves in him #and it’s not that deep to me cause I’m personally avoiding hobie content till y’all get over him like y’all did with Kat 🤞🏾 #but it’s very annoying to see and it kinda worries me bc how do u see blk punks irl #and this is about hobie but there’s a similar thing with miles g. and miles #like these are black children first #can y’all stop calling miles g. a fucking thug and being stereotypical asf

[simplenefelibata]

as much as i love sam knowing about destiel before dean does, there's something about "i mean yeah my brother and his angel best friend are really weird about each other, live together, co-parent a kid, nearly kill themselves every time the other is gone, stand too close and stare at the other's mouth while they talk, but i mean to each their own i guess??" that's so special to me

#it's just so funny #and when it finally clics he's like #OH #that... explains a lot actually #he's so committed to believe dean's heterosexual act #and you know what i respect sam for it #if the dude says he's straight then it doesn't matter he stares at men lusting! he's STRAIGHT. #i'm sam btw #i had a friend who told me for 6 months he was straights while he performed in my face Telephone by Lady Gaga #and also knew the entire loona lore #but he said he was STRAIGHT okay #i had the audacity (or the politeness ig) to act surprised when he came out #i'm rambling #sorry #destiel #dean winchester #castiel #supernatural #spn #casdean #sam winchester

[ozymandien]

oh him? he's just a monk. no he doesn't harbor deep desires of greatness don't worry about it

#zhu my little bug (literally) #he's a praying mantis a cricket a cockroach... #i love her #AND HE HAS DIMPLES #i imagine she's the type to stare a lot at people. and it elicits an interesting reaction in them #with this polite yet knowing almost-smile and her piercing wide eyes #also i know she's described as ugly in the books and i respect that. but i want her to be just a bit alluring in a fucked up way. like #now. this took sooo long. for absolutely no reason #i redid it like 10000 times and still didn't feel 100% satisfied but today i decided to set it free #i hope you guys like it anyway! #:) #zhu chongba #zhu yuanzhang #she who became the sun #he who drowned the world #the radiant emperor #shelley parker chan #fanart #myart

[wodania]

🐅 for Sansa!

(lesbian with comphet aha)

Uuhhhhhh there’s also a lot for this one I adore the starklings. these ones might be controversial I know Arya and Sansa are heavily debated character on Tumblr but as a lover of both I’m gonna go for it.

Sansa is very much a people pleaser which is a symptom of her growing up in a society where women are expected to be perfect wives and mothers. She’s a child whose been forced to play the role of an adult bride at the end of the day, and I feel like a lot of people are very harsh on her without realizing that she is literally a child. I do think she’s quite similar to the quieter, more diplomatic Ned, while Arya takes after the independent, strong-willed Catelyn, but that doesn’t mean that Sansa doesn’t try to appeal to her mother. Her calling Jon her bastard brother is her doing just that. Her and Arya are a reversed version of me and my little sister (me being more like Arya and my sister being more like Sansa) so I very much have many MANY feelings about these characters and I can’t put them all down but hopefully this makes sense 😭😭😭 basically I think a lot of Sansa’s behaviour is a defense mechanism and symptom of being brought up in an unhealthy society and that she’s a child who deserves sympathy in her story. She’s smart and she’s a people pleaser and she’s scared and she’s a little girl who is being preyed upon by almost every man in her life from her betrotheds attack dog to her mothers childhood companion!!! She is a child!!!!

#my asks #I could also talk a lot about my interpretation of her as a white passing native but that’d go on for WAYYY too long #a little girl forced to marry into a family that sees her as an intruder #who is forced to adhere to standards of femininity that are harmful and predatory #whose connection of her faith and culture (lady) is killed as an omen to the horror that is to come #who is seen as a political object worth lusting over by the politicians and adults around her #who is not treated as her own person deserving of respect by even those who claim to support her

[secretmellowblog]

@breadvidence recently wrote a great bit of Les Mis meta where they pointed out how Jean Valjean’s “compliments” to Javert in Montreuil-sur-Mer really are just..... conciliatory flattery, and don't reflect his real feelings about Javert at all. And that's a great point, and something I wish more people explored! Lines like "you are a good man and I esteem you" aren't Jean Valjean's earnest feelings towards Javert. Instead they’re examples of the way Jean Valjean often retreats into excessive deferential politeness to authority as a survival strategy. As I mentioned in another recent post— Jean Valjean is a genuinely kind person, but he’s also someone who often has literally no choice but to act overly polite to authorities/the police, because if he’s not polite enough they might start to find him suspicious. If he doesn't lick their boots enough, they might start investigating him. He's instinctively deferential out of fear of violence. He's flattering out of fear. He's polite "at gunpoint." He's polite to cops the way you're polite to an armed police officer who pulls you over.

And Jean Valjean's polite tranquil behavior towards Javert during Javert's "resignation"— saying things like “you are a good man and I esteem you, I want you to keep your job” and etc etc— is later explicitly confirmed to be at least somewhat of a calculated tactical decision Jean Valjean made out of terror:

He was carried away, at first, by the instinct of self-preservation; he rallied all his ideas in haste, stifled his emotions, took into consideration Javert’s presence, that great danger, postponed all decision with the firmness of terror, shook off thought as to what he had to do, and resumed his calmness as a warrior picks up his buckler.

I love the phrase "he resumed his calmness as a warrior picks up his buckler"-- it's such a great way of summarizing how Jean Valjean's ability to have polite conversations even when he's breaking down internally has been such a useful defense mechanism for him. I also love the contrast between the excessively polite way Jean Valjean talks to Javert when he’s acting out of terror/self-preservation….vs the more honest way he talks about Javert when he’s alone during Tempest in a Skull:

“That Javert, who has been annoying me so long; that terrible instinct which seemed to have divined me, which had divined me—good God! and which followed me everywhere; that frightful hunting-dog, always making a point at me, is thrown off the scent, engaged elsewhere, absolutely turned from the trail: henceforth he is satisfied; he will leave me in peace; he has his Jean Valjean. Who knows? it is even probable that he will wish to leave town! And all this has been brought about without any aid from me, and I count for nothing in it!”

It's just extremely funny. The contrast between “you are a good man and I esteem you” vs “that Javert, who has been annoying me so long” <3 The contrast between “you are an honest man” vs “that frightful hunting dog” <3 The contrast between “I want you to keep your job” vs Jean Valjean fantasizing enthusiastically about how hopefully Javert will leave town and never ever annoy him again. <3

It makes the “Punish Me, Monsieur le Maire” stuff even funnier. Jean Valjean is dissociating out of panic and saying whatever polite platitudes he thinks will flatter Javert....but those polite platitudes keep making Javert spiral further into long-winded deranged rants about how he dESPISES this kindness and it enRAGES him, as Jean Valjean just sits there very politely & quietly losing his mind. It’s peak comedy really.

I feel like Jean Valjean’s deeply weird thing with Javert often gets flattened in different directions, when people interpret it. Either Jean Valjean is an all-forgiving all-loving angel who thinks Javert did nothing wrong, and all of his flattery is sincere expressions of admiration—- or Jean Valjean is (like in the BBC version) the kind of violent pitiless person who would angrily order Javert to kill himself. It's rare for writers to get anything resembling the hilariously baffling ambiguous Weirdness of his relationship with Javert in the book. I think it's because adaptations often don't grasp the idea that a genuinely kind compassionate character can also (underneath it all) still be deeply tormented, broken, and angry-- and that their anger doesn't mean they're any less kind, or any less capable of pity and mercy.

#is this coherent? #who knows #les mis #jean valjean #people might take this as me being anti valvert or whatever. but it is the opposite. it is a valvert post #this is Thee dynamic #the comedic potential #the hijinks that could ensue #also a tangentially related thing: #I think the thing that often puts me off a lot of valvert fics #is that I think most writers believe 'jean valjean being excessively kind to javert' would be a sign their relationship had *improved* #whereas to me its like #almost the opposite in a way? #I think maybe you would know Jean Valjean actually had a healthier dynamic with Javert #if he was comfortable enough to be angry with him or upset with him #without needing to be afraid that he'd suffer consequences for not being excessively respectful/deferential/ polite #and thats my hot take #like comment and subscribe! -dabs #read 'Annoyances' by secretmellowblog on Ao3

[theprideful]

hope y’all know that when you say shit like “aro/ace is a white people thing” and “white people made up being nonbinary” you’re erasing queer people of color who ID with those labels and who have fought to be acknowledged and respected because of how white-centered queerness is. it’s especially ahistorical to ignore that the gender binary is a tool of white supremacy and that many african, indigenous, native american, etc communities were what we call nonbinary (two-spirit for native americans) long before white people came along (colonization). stop acting like queer people of color who ID with lesser known identities don’t exist because that only serves to keep white people at the forefront of queerness and lgbt politics.

check out #nonbinaryisntwhite on twitter (or this post), and yasmin benoit’s “this is what asexual looks like” (link 2) (link 3)

#if you think asexuality or aromanticism or nonbinarity is ‘made up’ or ‘only for white people’ just do some fuckin research #and you’ll find that our communities are a lot more varied and diverse than you give us credit for #racism in lgbt spaces can take on many forms #it isn’t just calling black gays slurs and pushing them out of our communities #it’s also acting like they just don’t even exist #it’s erasure and i’m sick of it #it also sucks to hear from poc because respectability politics will get you nowhere #‘oh that’s a white people problem #WE’RE not like that’ #that just throws the qpoc you don’t want to acknowledge under the bus #it does serious harm #racist AND queerphobic #text post #aphobia #racism #enbyphobia #lgbt #lgbtq #whitewashing #transphobia #ace #asexual #aro #aromantic #aroace #nonbinary

[presdestigatto]

the contrast between lance/seb’s and sebchal’s social media pr videos always gets me because charles is constantly looking at sebastian like he’s the second coming of christ, meanwhile lance has the biggest “peacefully minding my own business” aura i’ve ever seen

#this isn’t to say that one is more real or genuine or better than the other just that i find it funny #how it illuminates how #frankly abnormal charles was (and still is) about seb #like contrary to whatever we write in rpfland i dont find charles particularly passive or demure at all #except for how in those years he was always deferring to seb and letting seb take the lead #like when they were doing the german video and charles just repeated what seb told him word for word no hesitation? #ofc he is a good child who respects his elders but he really let seb get away with a lot #sometimes people say out of pocket things to him and he gets that dead fish look in his eyes even tho he’s v polite about it #but #he would let seb poke fun at him with the biggest smile the silliest giggles #🐝🆑 #this is an expansion of what i posted a month ago about charles’ dignity’s disappearing act but it still holds #anyth w my emoji sebchal tag is not meant to be taken seriously and are just my silly little musings

[compacflt]

hi!! very excited about your next batch! but i was wondering if you ever think of posting some of the (wonderful) female!mav scenes you wrote (the question mark on my computer decided to stop working but this is indeed a question)

have a great weekend!!

yeah sure! again— this isn’t finished and never will be finished, I posted the reasons below. But here are a bunch of snippets from the fem!mav/lesbian charliemav AU from this summer. Would love to hear your thoughts, because politically it gave me some pause! lol.

1. On how mav survives (the central motif of the one-shot is Mav cutting her hair with scissors which is why the emphasis here)

2. On ice (straight icemav will never work because fundamentally ice is a misogynistic cunt)

3. on sex with girly girls (one of life’s greatest pleasures)

ehhh you get the picture of what’s under the cut

4. on charliemav

5. on charlie

7. The end (post Layton mission [mav proving herself by saving ice’s life] and the end of TG86, Mav gearing up to cut her hair again in Charlie’s house)

and here, copy-pasted, were the tags i planned to affix to the charliemav one-shot, which I think explain also why I stopped writing it—maverick is insanely out of character here!

“some discussion of issues that would affect a female pilot in the 1980s in this one: SA, sexism, etc. u have been warned / i would love to talk to anyone about the politics of this one cause hoo boy i had to think about it / it’s a little personal to me too / i wouldn’t necessarily say i struggle with my gender identity but i do have a really complicated relationship with it / i think this mav is incredibly out of character / it turns out mav’s thoughtless overperformance of masculinity is so ingrained into his character that / if you make it intentional he/she turns into an entirely different character. / i often struggle with writing maverick way way too bitter (there’s something very gentle about tgm mav I struggle replicating) / & this is a VERY bitter & cynical & calculating mav as well. she has to be. But i fear i lose some of mav’s original character in the cynicism. 🤷🏽‍♀️ / that’s why i struggle writing AUs—you lose so much of the original characters who are DEFINED by the stories they’re from / if that makes sense. / i think a female maverick isn’t maverick. / you might as well be writing original fiction at that point. / this 1 shot is pretty much just original fiction. / idk would love to hear ppls thoughts on the fandom philosophy behind AUs / something i would love to think about more / top gun fanfiction / charlotte charlie Blackwood / pete maverick mitchell / Tom iceman kazansky/ nick goose bradshaw / genderbent top gun / charliemav / in this universe mav and Charlie break up and mav gets back together with Penny according to the tgm timeline btw / TGM mav might as well be a lesbian like nothing really has to change in the script at all. / post 2010 tom cruise just gives lesbian. no change necessary / soundtrack for this one is ‘I have a woman inside my soul’ by yoko ono”

I also stopped writing this one because I could not for the life of me figure out how to write goose, canonically a sexist just like mav and ice. made things difficult and a little awkward

#pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #charlotte charlie blackwood #top gun #asks #oh boy lesbian charliemav though. whoa. 🥰 #would’ve been great if I could’ve pulled it off 🥲 #basically the plot of this one was maverick dealing first & foremost with her femininity #she’s not trans BUT she hates womanhood. if that makes sense. because womanhood makes people discount her #as a pilot in the manly manly naval aviator program. #her womanhood functions the same as ‘fatherly dishonor’ in the original movie. makes people discount her/him as a pilot. #so she toxically replicates the behaviors of the men around her to make her less attractive to them and less of a target #but then with the Layton mission she proves herself #and actually bests iceman (who is super butthurt about it bc woman beat him but they maintain respect) #and Charlie encourages mav to start growing her hair out etc. engaging more with her femininity now she’s proven herself. #politically a little weird! #not butch by choice i guess? which felt anachronistic if that makes sense #but fun nonetheless #charliemav #I have never seen GI Jane but this seems a lot like that based on my limited knowledge of it tbh #think i relate to mav too much in this one. #I’d like to be taken seriously as a Writer not a woman writer. so i write about men to be taken seriously as a Writer not as a woman writer #feels a lot like mav in this one

[a-dragons-journal]

Y'know, I really do need people to realize that "polite" and "respectful" are not actually synonyms. You can, in fact, be very polite and exceedingly disrespectful at the same time.

This applies to many things, but for example: I keep having anti-endo people pop up in the server I moderate for. They are typically very civil and nice and amount to "oh, is this server pro-endo? sorry, I didn't realize that, I'll leave the conversation," which is very polite of them (and which I do appreciate as a moderator, genuinely).

This does not actually make the "fakeclaiming or at minimum telling people they're wrong about their own experiences" thing that is inherent to being anti-endo any less disrespectful.

They often do not seem to understand this, being surprised or upset when people are upset in response to their statements and saying things like "but I didn't do anything wrong" and "I'm being polite/respectful".

I honestly do not how to explain any better that saying "I know your experiences better than you do" (or whatever other disrespectful thing applies to a given situation) politely is no more respectful than saying it rudely. It just makes you less of a pain in the ass to talk to.

#kff also do this a lot. this is why i say that 'kff but respectful of otherkin' is an oxymoron #'polite' 'nice' and 'respectful' mean three different things #they're all good things that people should generally strive to be. but being the first two without the third is not enough #rani talks #promise i'm not vaguing any one person this has happened a bunch of times recently in a couple different spaces i'm in #and i'm like. does this need to be said? i think it does #which is kind of irritating in and of itself but what are you gonna do

[bitterscampi]

internet critics tm getting so mad about black mirror doing supernatural themes in their episodes like girl. any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic! also maybe you should consider that the core conceit of black mirror is really “our contemporary unease with the modern world” and not necessarily ‘instagram bad’

#also I thought mazey days was pretty decent (although SUPER in your face even for bm) and demon 79 was great #though I think bc demon 79 went SO heavy on the political commentary you really needed to be british to appreciate it fully #like everyone who has experienced racism and esp indian diaspora can likely relate to a lot of the racism in the episode but a lot of it #was just so specific to the turn into thatcherite uk #also the demon in the guise of the guy from boney m. oh my god #black mirror spoilers #I guess? #people who just didn’t like the episodes I respect. because that’s just personal taste & yeah bm is uh. not the most subtle of dramas #but the internet critics being like ‘bm is out of touch!’ is just SO funny because yeah they were out of sync with ‘really modern concerns’ #like… two seasons ago? #the fact they only just got to stuff about deepfakes and ai is pretty telling lol

[rezhood]

I would make a post about how Sandra OConnor is rolling in her grave, but she is literally still alive. The first woman who ever served on the US Supreme Court is still alive. The Judge who cast the deciding vote in multiple abortion based cases (all which upheld Roe v Wade) is literally still alive. She could still be on the court right now, dementia be damned, because she is still alive but chose to retire. The MOTHER who legalized abortion is still alive. The white Christian Republican woman who voted in favor of upholding Roe against the wishes of her party, her religious leaders, and Ronald Reagan who nominated her thinking she was anti abortion… is still alive right now.

It wasn’t long ago at all. I don’t know whether to say it’s sad how fast the world forgets, or how terrible it is Christianity still makes laws in the US, or how terrifying it is to watch these powerful and ignorant people take away peoples freedoms like it’s nothing. I don’t know what will happen if RvW is actually overturned, I just think it’s awful how quickly progress can be undone by a couple of bitch ass judges. Sandra Day OConnor voted against her personal beliefs because she had empathy for those who had to chose and understood what it meant to sit on the Supreme Court. I wish the current Christian justices were half as good, morally and at their jobs.

#Also so help me god if anyone tries to claim I’m some sort of Sandra oconnor stan over this I will find you and stick my middle finger #up your nose and into your brain #so this is my official certified press statement that I do not agree with every decision Sandra oconnor made #she is definitely an interesting woman tho #and she is the only reason abortion was legalized because Regan wanted a anti abortion judge for a nomination and he chose wrong lmao #sandra day o'connor #scotus #roe v wade #abortion #supreme court #usa politics #USA #edit: I changed the thing for clarification my b #this was intended as a vent post I didn’t put a lot of time into proof reading cause didn’t think anyone would see it #also I assumed that most Americans have a good idea who SDO is and apparently that is very wrong (yikes) #also misspelt Reagan which might be embarrassing if I had any respect for him

[fatuismooches]

NONO PLEASE SPEAK YOUR NEUVILLETTE THOUGHTS MORE we can just pretend he's a harbinger idc 😭 he really has us all in a chokehold huh?

😭😭 I CANT. So here we have some of Teyvat's most evil and morally gray people... and then a pookie old dragon man <3

In all seriousness Neuvillette became one of my favs so quickly, like everything abt him is so perfect and comforting. I am a sucker for characters who seem serious and stern on the outside but are softies inside. And how emotional he is?? How much and how long has the poor baby been crying like this? 😭 He needs a hug really bad, it ain't even gotta be from me, ANYONE DO IT PLEASE.

#smooches talks #like neuvillette checks all of my boxes man #just think: polite. kind. genuine. sweet. probably funny in his own way. no doubt would treat you with the utmost respect. i can go on #stunningly handsome. rich. teaching him “human” things. kind of guy who would listen u ramble on for hours. lets u cuddle him a lot. #if we see him cry in a future archon quest on screen i will simply cease to exist.

[bijoumikhawal]

I keep forgetting to share this, but I found this article by Razan Idris really illuminating on some of the issues I have with other Egyptians and how we discuss Egyptology, and Egyptian identity from ancient to modern. Especially appreciated the mention of tahsin al-nasal.

#cipher talk #actually egyptian tag #Masr #I do get why Egyptians are Gung ho about a connection to ancient Egypt- its something Westerners are still fascinated by and by claiming it #It can feel like you're gaining respect in their eyes #I think it's overall had a pretty negative impact though especially as it influenced an adoption of race science #Like as a Copt I personally don't focus on it- I'll admit I don't focus on a lot of things other Copts do #My focus is usually more about the political reality of Copts and our development as a culture that began under the Roman Empire #And like. Art history and clothes and to an extent language

[friendofthecrows]

Plural character who is both a lesbian and a gay man but only sometimes bisexual

#this would be one of the most relatable experiences of all time #I've been looking at a lot of plural polls lately and the notes where people describe their systems #and man I'm just thinking you can get so funky with queer rep if you have no respectability politics concerns #Especially!! With neurodivergent and/or mentally ill characters #You can have lesbian vampires but they're both in the same human body #You can do ANYTHING #I'd eat that shit up #hal rambles

[random-blep]

Thinking of language in genshin being like the nation's language and then to use everywhere it's common so thinking like that I think

Diluc- fluent in Mondstadts language and Common. Is fairly skilled in at least a little of each of the other nations languages. Shneznayan being like his 3rd most fluent language. And I like to think he knows a little Khaenri'ahn cause I like to think he learned it from Kaeya as kids

Kaeya- is fluent on Mond and Common and he's a little out of practice but Khaenri'ahn too. Being adopted by the Ragnvindrs he had to at least get the basics in other nations languages cause like for Diluc it's important in business to know it.

Thoma- he's fluent in Mond, Common, and Inazuman. I like to think Thoma is proud of his heritage from both sides of his family and he likes to embrace both cultures. Though now that he lives in Inazuma it's really hard to keep up with what's going on in Mond, but he's still hoping to one day share Mond with the people he loves in Inazuma and share Inazuma with the people he loves in Mond.

Kazuha- as a wanderer he is knowledgeable of basics to a good about of languages. Inazuman and Common were his first, possibly followed by some Liyue and Mond. Though common is probably what he ends up using most.

Heizou- funnily enough although he is a smart man I can't see him knowing anything beyond Inazuman and Common cause I just don't see him ever really leaving inazuma all that much or ever

Harbingers in general - I think the harbingers all have some fluency in most languages (a lot of them are old okay). So in order of fluency I guess it would be their home nation, common, probably Shneznayan (if that's not their home nation) , then in order probably from the countries they're most around and down. Example: Scaramouche- Inazuman, common, Shneznayan, Sumeru , etc

#genshin impact #genshin impact headcanons #i think kids learn their nations language first and then common when theyre s little older #i like to think people who live in areas without a lot of travelers that need common arent as skilled in it or dont really ever use it #if you live in rich business families like Diluc and Kaeya did they had to learn other languages cause i think it would be more polite #like if you did business and tried conversing in their language like common is okay but its more respectful if you know their language #but it's a cultural thing i bet #anyways diluc learning Khaenri'ahn is based off my hc that when kaeya came to mond he wasnt fluent in mond or common really at all #i dont feel like doing a lot if these at a time in sorry #kaeya alberich #diluc ragnvindr #thoma #kaedehara kazuha #shikanoin heizou

[time-slink]

ren mentioning that he saw people comparing his shirt to the trans flag and deciding to keep it on for the month,,, aww :,)

#shush slinky #was NOT expecting him to even bring it up #but like honestly i love ren + how openly supportive he is #and like. if im understanding the political climate of south africa right #which i might not be #he wouldve had to fight through a lot of internal prejudice to get to this point #and i really respect him