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asherlockstudy · 8 months

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did you watch the last GME? what are ur thoughts

I did.

Once more I am so conflicted over it. I feel a warm and fuzzy - not necessarily pleasant - sensation, like a mix of being embarrassed and mildly inebriated. And I don’t think this is entirely spontaneous. I think they passed it on to me. But it certainly doesn’t help that my day otherwise sucked. I did laugh throughout it, so there's that.

GME 3 SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

I won’t linger too much on my negative feelings because I have talked about this before and it hasn’t changed the third time. But I can’t help but stress once more that it was evident again that some of their boundaries were getting crossed, Link in the suckling (but if my perception is of any worth, I think he was also uncomfortable in the milk pumping one but he was deflecting by acting cool). Rhett was uncomfortable throughout whenever Link started talking for too long or too freely, as usual. But it was bad enough that Link expressed it openly that his boundaries were crossed and again, I don’t like this being the case and also I don’t understand why the fuck they keep doing it (or maybe I do…?) since they are not okay with it even after freaking practices.

I enjoyed the crew’s presence, mostly because their presence comes as such a stark contrast with that of Rhett and Link’s. It was almost relieving seeing them having fun, laughing, being silly before returning to the lingering vague anxiety of what Rhett and Link will have to do or choose to say next. What a highlight Emily’s accident was! I hope she doesn’t feel bad about it. And the one thing I enjoy about GME somehow the most is that nobody among them seems genuinely made for that type of content. But their persistence of going back at it again and again makes it very amusing to me.

A lot of the content was too prepared and practiced, which kinda turned me off, even though I respect the reasoning behind it. Even Link’s personal story towards the beginning was prepared and practiced since they threw the graphic of “we are still good” before Link remembered to say it. Which brings me again to all my questions of “why going to certain places” since you have practiced so much and apparently know what the various situations you’d get into would be in advance.

The bullying of the commentators was hilarious - it was the comedic highlight of the show for me. I also loved Link shaming Rhett’s butt. Did he say “your ass is the laughing stock of asses?” Or something like that. Oh boy 😄

Me during the mooning: oh they actually have better asses than they clai- *sees the chocolate asses* …. Never mind. (Don’t come at me for this!!!!!!!!!)

It was a good choice that they weren’t…. as inebriated as the previous year. Imagine if they were. Clearly intentional that they weren’t. I know some people complained they were a little more reserved but I believe it was ultimately a wise choice.

However, Link’s mild intoxication made him so lovely. And wasn’t he especially loving to Rhett? He kept touching him, on the shoulders, almost stroking him. He was smiling so tenderly to him. He was so appreciative, so full of love in his words. (How beautiful that part of Rhett being the funniest guy he knows and not being threatened by him was!) Even though part of it, like before the stun cane, was strategic, I am convinced he was being genuine, just more open. More real. Surely not a side Link shows in front of others often but I think it might be a bit like that when they are alone, because there have been implications in many occasions that Link is sweeter, more sensitive, more affectionate, more fragile than he lets on publicly. The most intriguing one was Rhett though, because his face was a rollercoaster. His expression often dropped when Link talked a little too much or at the expectation of Link talking too much. But when he was not worried, he looked at Link with a variation of this (stealing screenshot from @jula483):

I honestly haven’t seen a purer look of affection in one’s face, even if it was within the context of all of Link’s ass hair getting pulled out simultaneously.

That game titled as "your parents forcing you to go to law school" or something? Remember it? Link raised a middle finger at that moment. I think there was a recipient there, Rhett's dad.

It was odd how much Rhett did not want to answer the question about the effects of age on his body. He really was like “Oh you want me to give a real answer about it?” and then never answered, which passed under everyone’s radar, including Link who answered normally. What was the real answer Rhett did not want to give? Infrequent hard-ons? I am not sure it was sexual because this was something he could easily skip and talk about non-sexual effects that happen to everybody, just like Link did. I once again made a bad thought and… I am sorry. Lately, I am a little alarmed by how much they make jokes about Rhett dying first (they always did but it’s become more frequent) and by some insinuations they have made that they even had little arguments about Rhett taking proper care of his diet (the bacon discussion if you can recall) Rhett did say he was diagnosed with high cholesterol, plus all the OURA rings he has. High cholesterol is not anything unusual and I believe they make a bigger deal of this than it should be. I wonder if they are hiding something more there too. That part on Ear Biscuits when Link said he was building a social circle in order to not “go under” once Rhett passes left a bad aftertaste to me. His eyes water almost every time aging and death are mentioned. And Rhett saying in Last Meals that the only thing he is worried about was how Link will handle his death? Why has this shit become a pattern, guys? You are young, hopefully you still have many decades before you. High cholesterol is not the end of the world. Jeez. Hope there’s not more there.

I am dying to know what it was about Lily coming home that Link wanted to talk about its reason so bad but couldn’t. Was it professional… about a special project or personal? Because if it’s personal, I can once again only connect it to all the other personal things Link is dying to talk about but can’t, or Rhett won’t let him. I guess if it was about Lily, he would say it? Who knows. It was curious though.

Link assuming the question was about whether Rhett and Link have caught each other having sex WHILE having sex with each other without a second thought. I very much doubt it was entirely accidental or not thought out at all. Don't tell me they practiced everything except getting to know the questions they will have to answer. I believe Link feigned misinterpreting it in order to pass the message that this thought comes naturally first to him without question, for reasons. Rhett calling him out on his mind going there and naming him "tumblr" was neither teasing exactly nor startlement at all. He was simply abdicating himself of this. He left Link alone on this. He did damage control by making Link the butt of the joke. It is very similar to Rhett's notoriously slipping and saying they were thinking about being in a relationship with one girl at the same time and Link doing damage control by mocking Rhett that that was what he was dreaming. It's the same thing, except Rhett slipped while I believe Link said that on purpose.

Okay, let’s go to the elephant in the room and the only thing that essentially matters in this whole project. Yeah I saw some people “entertain” the idea and bloody “happy wake up”, folks. I am talking about Link’s attempt to come out. To be fair, it was more than an attempt. And I am very calm about it because a) I have been expecting it for months now, as I have explained and b) Link did allude to it a few weeks ago during a GME promo. This is a fact that kills the speculation that “oh Link always says things he does not realise how they sound” and all that crap. A couple of weeks ago or something, while promoting GME, Link said that there might be an “emotional speech” by him that year and that it was a reason we should watch and support it. During the GME itself, there was a recurring reference to the possibility of Link eventually giving an emotional speech, with Rhett becoming very explicitly more and more opposed to it as time passed. Furthermore, in the GMM of Friday, Link was more loving and affectionate than typical, and because I watched it before GME, I suspected that Link had calculated in advance that by that time (post GME) he would be able to act more freely. Based on how things unfolded, it was evident that Link had already made his intention clear to Rhett and apparently the crew, which means the crew indeed knows a lot, if not everything. Rhett was definitely unhappy about it but Link promised he would keep it strictly about himself and Rhett did not have the power or right to prevent him from doing that. As the day actually came, Link was unsure whether he was ready enough to actually do it. It was unclear whether he would go through with this and Rhett hoped until the last moment that Link would eventually chicken out. The plan was for Link to allude to it in the aftershow mostly but because of his anxiety, instead of taking the initiative and starting the big talk, Link just blabbed it out at a point in the main show when he was countering Rhett in a relatively “light” moment. By countering Rhett exactly in the moment he was saying “he was not gay and not being gay was cool”, the impact of his statement was washed out by the act of countering a poorly phrased sentence but also taking advantage in a moment when his own statement would have the least consequences for Rhett since Rhett had just stated he’s not gay. Just like he had promised he wouldn’t involve Rhett in this.

In any case, everyone can try as hard as they want to “not assume” and to “not take out of context”, however Link’s statement was perfectly clear. He mildly scolded Rhett for misspeaking like “not being gay is cool” because “he was on a journey of his own regarding the exploration of himself and his identity” or however exactly he phrased it and “it took a lot of courage to do it”. Yeah, there are no alternative explanations. Whoever needs to deal with this will have to deal with this.

After that, Rhett became progressively more negative in the idea of Link saying more, so plainly that… well… he was downright verbalising it lol He told him to give up on his intentions for an emotional speech, he told him that “whatever it is, keep it to yourself”, he told him “maybe say it to your Uber driver on your way home but not here”. Like, how much clearer should they make all this? I honestly don’t think at this point if people keep acting like it never happened, it will be beneficial for Link. I think it might even feel invalidating, nullifying. He wants to come out, it’s Rhett that won’t let him.

But hey I don’t mean Rhett is a bad guy because his motive is not to oppress or torture Link. Rhett is simply highly aware of all the things that can go wrong in their situation and he’s got a point about that. Besides that, Link might have promised to keep this strictly about himself and not include Rhett, however I think Rhett knows that this is UNREALISTIC. If one of them comes out as attracted to men, and one 99% did already… essentially, people will eventually take it for granted for the other guy as well. Of course, “it doesn’t mean that just because he is attracted to men he is attracted to Rhett and blah blah blah” but honestly… if that’s your argument, listen to yourself. It’s possible, because all possibilities exist but it is the most IMPROBABLE possibility ever. What was the onset of Link’s sexuality exploration? A show? An actor? A friend he meets once a month and low-key doesn’t even care about? Or maybe the guy he has attached to his hip since childhood, shared girlfriends with, shared beds with, shared studies with and shared a living with? The guy he acts rabid for and the guy he teared up because he kissed through plexiglass and the guy he keeps getting on homo scenarios, initially accidentally and now “for the views”? The guy he abandoned his religion with? Besides, if you take into consideration both the coming out and then all the "Rhett is the funniest guy I know, I love him, my best friend etc" musings, it's not hard to put two and two together.

And here’s the thing; none of this is one-sided. Link did all this WITH Rhett, not for or due to Rhett. WITH. So Rhett knows that everyone with common sense and a good understanding of statistics will be able to tell that:

Link comes out as non-straight >>> Link loves Rhett >>> it is mutual >>> Rhett is not straight either.

Rhett did try to overcorrect the situation so much. I am not gay. It’s cool not being gay. I mean, it’s okay not being gay. My wife this, I did that to my wife. Fucking a vagina just hits differently. I ate out my wife. THANKS FOR SAYING I AM THE CUNNILINGUS CHAMPION.

The most Rhett implied was that apparently he could “make it work for science???” or something like that, even though he is not attracted to men. I found it interesting how this seems to agree with my speculations on how their relationship started - with Link coming out to him and probably tricking him into a purely “friends with benefits - no feelings attached” situation which Rhett hopelessly thought would be an easy peasy arrangement for his sex positive self - only for it to blow up on his face. All these can be perceived through the allegory of “We Dug A Medium sized Hole” but on other projects as well. It could even still be how Rhett genuinely feels - that Link is his exception in the rule, romantically at least. In any case, Rhett knows it’s a slippery slope. And he’s not ready for it at all. But we will see how Sextember goes. Is it going to be overcorrecting or will Link push through it a little more?

Their scripted videos show that there is an intention towards pushing, however Rhett or even both of them pull back whenever it threatens to become more serious. Link wasn’t bummed one bit at Rhett for preventing him to disclose more. I think a part of him was relieved from the pressure when Rhett took charge to instruct him to not go on with it.

Rhett was so painfully aware of everything. The aftershow was literally delayed because he had locked himself in the toilet checking reactions to the show. His personality is not at all ideal for so risky moves and it explains his dread apart from the factual very real dread of shooing away half the viewers and thus half the income, let alone half the family. You know, this is ultimately why I dislike GME. I suspected it but I think now I understand because they basically admitted it on the show themselves. GME, much like their scripted videos, is conditioning of the viewers. An evaluation of how much their viewers are eager to take. Making them used to it. They did these things and then asked the viewers whether it was not too much or too much. What’s the point of this? Your viewers paid for adult content (although that exceeded a typical No-porn/ no-sex mature show), why do you ask them if they can take it or not? They plainly admitted that they were taking this feedback into account. “We draw conclusions from it!” Yeah, they draw conclusions about how far they can go. Is their audience ready for an “what if we told you it’s all true”? Are their viewers willing to consider such imagery might be a real thing between them?

Ultimately though, they are not okay with being like that in front of viewers. Link was frustrated, not because what happened was gross, but because it put him in such a vulnerable position. What happened yesterday doesn’t differ much from a soft only fans situation, I will repeat. There was sexual stimulation of one friend to another. And secret lover. In front of thousands paying for it. Not everyone is made for this. Most people aren’t made for this actually. I am adamant that it is not healthy for them in specific and it would be much healthier to eventually decide whether they would like to keep their truth secret but safe forever or come out bravely knowing they might be sacrificing a lot of very important stuff in their lives but at least finally finding some inner peace. This thing now is slow burn torture without ever achieving closure. This is the reason I speak badly about GME. It is not comedy. It is comedy rooted in a very difficult, a bad situation that involves suffering. People have said before that I make this a bigger deal than it is. You are entitled to your opinion but from my side I also don’t think you are right.

Okay, I screwed this up. I said this wouldn’t be as negative. I am sorry. But whoever comes to my blog for my thoughts on this knows my feelings about it more or less. I can not gloss over it. They are real people. Their situation is real and it is a hard one. I believe they don’t know how to handle it. I don’t pretend to know better, I am just sensing the way they are taking might not be a good way. I wish the best for them, no matter what their choice is. When someone intoxicated tells you after the show he himself hosted that everything is a blur and that they don’t know how to feel about it and that they aren’t happy but they are happy for you being happy with it and that they aren’t willing to rewatch any of this, if that’s not a red flag the size of an elephant I don’t know what is.

#rhink #rhett and link #gme #gme 3 #gme3 #randl #r&l #negativity #brace yourselves for this #mythical #tw negativity #tw cholesterol #tw health mention #tw diet mention #anon #ask

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