brooklynstrangler

[brooklynstrangler]

My lineup in Persona 5 is almost always the original four (Joker/Skull/Mona/Panther) because they're obviously the best four, to the point where I'm literally confused when people act like there are strategic reasons for including other party members.

[brooklynstrangler]

Every time I show an older person my mp3 player and wired earbuds they say something like "wow, technology really is cyclical," and in this instance I completely disagree. I got an mp3 player not because I consider it an advancement, but because I don't like my smartphone being so advanced that it dominates my life. I don't consider this the next stage of technological progress, I'm deliberately regressing.

[brooklynstrangler]

Hot take: the reason Spider-Man is trapped in his origin story is because his origin story is the best part. Him becoming Spider-Man is by far the most interesting and compelling thing you can do with the character. Spider-Man is arguably less centered around "What can we do with this one character's story?" and more so "How can we alter and switch around the parts of this one event to make as many interesting variations on the same story as possible?"

[brooklynstrangler]

I will fight for the rights of trans men to identify with the lesbian community but one aspect of the discourse I've always found strange is the reliance on history and tradition as a justification. I always hear "There were trans men lesbians at Stonewall" and "transmasc lesbians have always existed, read queer history" as if something simply being the case for a long time explains it logically. If someone thinks transmasc lesbians are illogical in 2025, they're also going to think it was illogical in 1969, and if it is logical in 2025, then why would you rely on history?

Like, I thought most of us were autistic. Since when did autistic people accept "This is the way we've always done things, don't ask questions about it" was a valid argument????

[brooklynstrangler]

An inherent problem with "watching a good person slowly turn bad" stories is that the writers want them to be as believable as possible and the easiest way to do that is to put some really dark behavior in their past so it's a fairly smooth transition... but like... that defeats the whole "good person turning bad" idea.

[brooklynstrangler]

Queer Tumblr sometimes feels like a relentless barrage of takes that are completely reasonable and correct and yet are still exhausting to read day-in and day-out

"being a chainboy is valid actually" sure. yeah. can I see more posts about tundra man now

[brooklynstrangler]

I've heard of it happening colloquially between gay men, as in using feminine terms to describe a man who identifies with he/him, but I don't think I've seen anyone say "I am a gay man, I use she/her pronouns." At least not primarily she/her.

I have completely accepted that the spectrum of gender and sexuality is asymmetrical, but that asymmetry still fascinates me.

He/him lesbians are valid, but how come I never see anyone identify as a gay man and use she/her pronouns?

Why is there a label for "lesbian" that somewhat ascends gender but not a word for "gay man" that does the same?

"Trans man" and "transmasc" are different labels, but why have I never seen someone say "I'm transfem, I'm not a trans woman"?

[brooklynstrangler]

I have completely accepted that the spectrum of gender and sexuality is asymmetrical, but that asymmetry still fascinates me.

He/him lesbians are valid, but how come I never see anyone identify as a gay man and use she/her pronouns?

Why is there a label for "lesbian" that somewhat ascends gender but not a word for "gay man" that does the same?

"Trans man" and "transmasc" are different labels, but why have I never seen someone say "I'm transfem, I'm not a trans woman"?

[brooklynstrangler]

The best thing about the Shovel Knight games is that 1 and 2 have stories that are purposefully simple and silly and even when they have touching moments it's not really taking itself that seriously and then 3 and 4 are actual Shakespeare material

[brooklynstrangler]

Not to be unwoke but im glad we didn't get Mega Man Powered Up 2 because I was never a fan of literally anything it brought to the table. The gameplay, story, music, everything was a downgrade

[brooklynstrangler]

I respect that there is a historical reason for the letters in LGBT being the way they are but I'm autistic and it is one of my base instincts to look at things and say "I could organize that better"

[brooklynstrangler]

Oh by the way Rickrolling's definition has expanded and I hate it

Getting Rickrolled is when someone specifically tricks you into clicking the link to Never Gonna Give You Up by pretending it's something else. Getting Rickrolled is not when someone plays the song around you, or when the song appears in a movie or TV show, or when someone sends you a non-YouTube link that redirects to it. Getting Rickrolled is not when someone just plays the first couple seconds of Never Gonna Give You Up in their YouTube video. And for fuck's sake, getting Rickrolled is not when someone sends you an image with a hidden frame from the Never Gonna Give You Up video.

There is an actual craft to Rickrolling people, and it all involves getting people to click a link without thinking about it, but that has been significantly watered down.

[brooklynstrangler]

There are good trans woman television characters but they're almost always in serious dramas that are about being trans or LGBT+.

Where's the casual trans woman representation? Where's the sitcom with a cast of several characters, one of whom is trans? Where it's explored occasionally but most episodes don't mention it?

I want to see that character on TV and I will write her if I have to.

[brooklynstrangler]

my opinion on applying anti-men statements to trans men is that it's funny. Accusing them of mansplaining, saying their hobbies are weird cause they're a man and it's only normal when women do that, going out of your way to exclude them from women's events - that will never not be funny to me, I'm sorry.

[brooklynstrangler]

"Why are trans women so stereotypical?"

Or other such questions like "Why do trans women always wear skirts and thigh highs and never jeans? Women wear jeans," or "Why do trans women always wear make-up? Make-up isn't essential to being a woman, do they really think it is?"

The answer you've probably heard most often is that we have to conform to these standards or else doctors won't give us medicine, we might have horrible things said or done to us by strangers, and even supposedly trans-supportive people will inevitably accuse us of "Not really trying."

But also consider: for some trans women, not all, experiencing gender euphoria isn't just about doing what women can do, it's about doing what men can't do. It's not about our ability to be put into the category of "woman," it's the inability to be put in the "man" box. Trans women, at least early in their social transition when clothing is only way they can modify their appearance, prefer skirts and thigh highs because they're specifically things that prevent people from interpreting you as a man. Whereas with jeans, yes women wear jeans, but so do men. It's a very gender-neutral clothing item. So if you're early in your transition especially, you're going to gravitate away from things like that.

Does this sometimes result in early trans women wearing over-the-top feminine outfits and leaning hard into stereotypes? Yes. Do we love and support these trans women regardless? Also yes.

[brooklynstrangler]

I'm sorry but as a trans woman I don't like being boxed into a lot of "trans girl culture." My social media algorithms seem to think my ideal life is being adopted into a polycule of puppygirls named April or Madeline who all wear Amazon basics skirts and spin around and say "skirt go spinny" when all I really want is to kick back with cis girls named like Makayla or Chloe and sip girly drinks and offer snarky insight about boys and one of us forgot to bring a hair tie but it's okay cause I have a ton in my purse.

No hate to transfem culture, obviously. That's just not what I want.

[brooklynstrangler]

extremely risky but also extremely funny litmus test for women to see if a guy is weird or not: say "oh, I'm a lesbian, you're the exception though, you're the one guy I find hot."

Various possible reactions:

"Hey, that's cool, sexuality is fluid, none of us understand it" - chill

"Fuck yeah I've always fantasized about being with a lesbian" - ew no get out of here you made it weird

"It's okay you can say you're bisexual" - depends on how condescending the tone is tbh but heart is in the right place

"Oh... so you're going to be thinking about girls the whole night, huh... I guess I should just leave..." yeah maybe

"That's funny, the one guy I find hot is [male celebrity]" well they get the concept at least

"That's funny, the one guy I find hot is [friend / person I know]" now you get to do the slightly condescending bisexual acceptance speech, how fortuitous

"I'm going to kill you" - frowned upon