quantifiableme

[quantifiableme]

This also ins't to say you can *only have an opinion on being homeless if you are homeless*, or that you can *only be a wrapper if you are from this super specific part of Los Angeles*. (I'm not French, Champagne drinks the same)

But I do think its important to *acknowlege* that, when new people join the conversation, then it becomes a *new conversation*. Like a split in a tree diagram.

Eminem comparing his experiences growing up in a trailer park, to the experiences of Dr. Dre growing up within gang culture in black communities in a *valid* and *interesting* conversation to have. However, Eminem also knows not to start having an opinion of the Kendrick/Drake beef because he's from fucking Missouri.

(If you read the tags and saw my anime rant) Then it also totally fine for Western/(but lets be real) American studios to adopt an anime style in the work. Its a good style, I love it. However, I don't want to see Invincible on Crunchyroll anytime soon because that's not the same shit. Both have an efficient animation style, cool fight sequences, and an overarching storyline. However, because of American laws about what is allowed to be considers "Family Friendly Programing", Invincible is going to go overkill on its adults themes and blood and guts and shit because it has to make it clear that "This is not Spiderman" or else it gets canceled. Anime does not have this problem, and thus can have blood and guts and still ultimately still be about 'the power of friendship'.

this has been said before, but i'm saying it in my own way

but there is art and there is Art.

'art' (lowercase) is the physical creation you are making. Eh, maybe not physical. Maybe its a fanfic on a Google Doc, but it for colloquialability's sake, lets say its physical. It's the painting you paint, its the poem you write, its the 100,000 word smut fic you've taken a break from for the last four years but will get back to eventually.

'art''s (lowercase) only job is to be made and to be finished. it has no morals. it has no goals. it is the process of having a thought in your brain, and putting that on paper. (Or a .doc file, or maybe you orally speak it, it don't matter you get my point.)

Art (Uppercase) is the conversation around the peice you have made. How do people feel about it? Who likes it? Who hates it? Do they think is vulgar, or do they think its beautiful? Why do they think that?

Art also has no morals, but the conversation around if your art (lowercase) is moral or not is itself Art (uppercase). The answer can be agreed upon by a large audience, ('Twilight is a bad movie.') and that answer can change if given time. ('Twilight was a fun movie.'). The answer doesn't matter as much as the *conversation around getting to the answer* does, and that conversation and how it changes overtime is Art.

art is something personal and private, between the artist and the paper.

Art is public, and changes depending on who is in the conversation, how they feel about the conversation, and their personal relationship to the art. Sometimes, people get so into Art that they make art about Art, that in turn only existed because of the original work of art.

(For example, your grandma made a pie. (pie = art) Every talking about how good the pie is (Art). You try to make a pie. (art inspired by art). Your pie is gross, and people eat the pie because they love you, but will admit your grandma's pie is better because she's just been making pies longer than you. (Art) You ask your grandma for the recipe, and practice making a new pie. (art inspired by Art))

[quantifiableme]

people love to find progressive ways to say we should all be arranged into separate groups and try our hardest to not relate to one another

[quantifiableme]

i hope luigi mangione is proven innocent & gets to sue a ton of companies for slander and win & i hope he gets enough money to rebuild his life and get any help for his chronic pain that he needs & i hope he’s able to disappear from the public eye entirely if that’s what he wants

[quantifiableme]

Elaborating.

An artist makes a work of art. People have opinions on it, making it Art. The artist listens to the conversation, and makes another piece of art in response to the conversation. New conversation emerges. A *DIFFERENT* artist, listening to the new conversation, makes their own work of art and begins a NEW new conversation.

Sometimes, and this important to know, you are not allowed to be in the conversation.

Not in a 'red rope, no enter' kind of way. More like a "This college class requires a pre-requisite that you *know the language*, or else you and everyone else in this class is just gonna suffer."

SOMETIMES, this looks like asking someone not to join an advance nuclear physics class because they have never taken a science class, and we can't keep stopping what we're doing to explain to you what an atom is or else this is going to take us 10x longer and we gotta send some astronauts to space on Friday.

SOMETIMES this looks like asking people who have never been homeless to stop offering solutions to not being homeless, because "Yes, we can all agree that on paper, they need to get a job. But as someone who knows that most job applications require a place of residence, which is why they *don't have jobs*." Then we can hop and skip over some more obvious vocab and get to the root of the problem faster.

and SOMETIMES this looks like asking people who grew up in majority white suburban communities/other non-American countries not be regarded as "The Greatest Rapper of all Time", because a lot of American rap culture was built off of NWA and gang culture in Los Angeles that they have no association with.

Because sometimes you are in an Advanced Nuclear Physics class, and you want to be rewarded for getting on a table and saying "2+2=4". Like yeah, good job little buddy, but we're trying to get these astronaughts to the moon and we got bigger fish to fry than congratulating you on knowing basic math.

this has been said before, but i'm saying it in my own way

but there is art and there is Art.

'art' (lowercase) is the physical creation you are making. Eh, maybe not physical. Maybe its a fanfic on a Google Doc, but it for colloquialability's sake, lets say its physical. It's the painting you paint, its the poem you write, its the 100,000 word smut fic you've taken a break from for the last four years but will get back to eventually.

'art''s (lowercase) only job is to be made and to be finished. it has no morals. it has no goals. it is the process of having a thought in your brain, and putting that on paper. (Or a .doc file, or maybe you orally speak it, it don't matter you get my point.)

Art (Uppercase) is the conversation around the peice you have made. How do people feel about it? Who likes it? Who hates it? Do they think is vulgar, or do they think its beautiful? Why do they think that?

Art also has no morals, but the conversation around if your art (lowercase) is moral or not is itself Art (uppercase). The answer can be agreed upon by a large audience, ('Twilight is a bad movie.') and that answer can change if given time. ('Twilight was a fun movie.'). The answer doesn't matter as much as the *conversation around getting to the answer* does, and that conversation and how it changes overtime is Art.

art is something personal and private, between the artist and the paper.

Art is public, and changes depending on who is in the conversation, how they feel about the conversation, and their personal relationship to the art. Sometimes, people get so into Art that they make art about Art, that in turn only existed because of the original work of art.

(For example, your grandma made a pie. (pie = art) Every talking about how good the pie is (Art). You try to make a pie. (art inspired by art). Your pie is gross, and people eat the pie because they love you, but will admit your grandma's pie is better because she's just been making pies longer than you. (Art) You ask your grandma for the recipe, and practice making a new pie. (art inspired by Art))

[quantifiableme]

this has been said before, but i'm saying it in my own way

but there is art and there is Art.

'art' (lowercase) is the physical creation you are making. Eh, maybe not physical. Maybe its a fanfic on a Google Doc, but it for colloquialability's sake, lets say its physical. It's the painting you paint, its the poem you write, its the 100,000 word smut fic you've taken a break from for the last four years but will get back to eventually.

'art''s (lowercase) only job is to be made and to be finished. it has no morals. it has no goals. it is the process of having a thought in your brain, and putting that on paper. (Or a .doc file, or maybe you orally speak it, it don't matter you get my point.)

Art (Uppercase) is the conversation around the peice you have made. How do people feel about it? Who likes it? Who hates it? Do they think is vulgar, or do they think its beautiful? Why do they think that?

Art also has no morals, but the conversation around if your art (lowercase) is moral or not is itself Art (uppercase). The answer can be agreed upon by a large audience, ('Twilight is a bad movie.') and that answer can change if given time. ('Twilight was a fun movie.'). The answer doesn't matter as much as the *conversation around getting to the answer* does, and that conversation and how it changes overtime is Art.

art is something personal and private, between the artist and the paper.

Art is public, and changes depending on who is in the conversation, how they feel about the conversation, and their personal relationship to the art. Sometimes, people get so into Art that they make art about Art, that in turn only existed because of the original work of art.

(For example, your grandma made a pie. (pie = art) Every talking about how good the pie is (Art). You try to make a pie. (art inspired by art). Your pie is gross, and people eat the pie because they love you, but will admit your grandma's pie is better because she's just been making pies longer than you. (Art) You ask your grandma for the recipe, and practice making a new pie. (art inspired by Art))

[quantifiableme]

So I made a post earlier about how we should stop trying to police "Who is allowed to like yaoi/BL ships". One specific point I made was on "liking the same amount of wlw sihps and mlm ships." This is my elaboration on that topic.

Yaoi and Yuri are different genres of fiction. They are both subcultures of the Romance genre, so while they both play a lot of the same broad-strokes, saying someone should like both is the equivalent of saying someone should like Sci-Fi and High-Fantasy stories the same because they are both subs-cultures within the Fantasy Genre. Do some people like sci-fi and high-fantasy? Sure. Does this make them a more morally righteous person than the dude (gender-neutral) that only wants to read Lord of the Rings? No. Just makes them like different stories.

But how are Yaoi and Yuri different?

To put it simply: gender. One is a story about two boys falling in love, then other is about two girls. There shouldn't be any difference beyond that, right?

WRONG.

The core moral of every Romance story is about *identity*. That is what makes it such a great vehicle to discuss queerness, especially in terms of gender performance, expectations from loved ones, and self-actualization. Love triangles are never just about which guy is hotter; the suitors each offer a different life style dynamic for the protagonist. (Usually it boils down to Comfort vs. Passion, and I have great examples of her choosing either.)

In a Queer Romance, the choice is typically between stability and individuality. Will the protagonist choose to act within their expected framework of their gender, or will they be true to themselves and be with the person they love? At its core, this is not too different between wlw and mlm ships. However, how these expectations are placed on the protagonist are/should be played differently because of gender performance.

Male gender performance is the elephant in the room; we don't talk about it, but we all know what it is and why it is there. To be a man, let alone The Ultimate Man, is the reward for your behavior. In a romance setting, the male protagonist has everything a typical man could want; rippling biceps, a height above 6", and a woefully tragic responsibility to take care of his family. He has goals and dreams, but he sacrifices it all because he has to take care of his mother. What. A. Hunk.

(Sasaki to Miyano is a play on parody of BL tropes, but Sasaki is still basically the tallest character in the manga.)

(Its a bit of a hot debate to call Blue Flag a Yaoi, but for the sake of the argument it describes everything I will be explaining perfectly.)

(I include Love, Simon because it perfectly shows what Simon is afraid of loosing if he comes out: his dynamic with his family.)

In this dynamic, his biggest challenge is falling in love with someone of the same gender. His counter part is more noticeably queer than he is in some capacity; he is physically smaller, he is more sensitive/has a stronger desire to act on his queerness, or maybe he has the ability/wants to follow his more selfish desire than the protagonist does. Just like in any romantic genre, the significant other is personification of the lesson the protagonist must learn. If the protagonist must give up their masculine gender performance, then that means their significant other must already be doing that.

Blue Flag offers the interesting perspective of what it looks like when the other half *can't preform the masculine gender performance*. Taichi would love to be Touma, with his height and ease with people. However, Taichi is instead short and unatheletic. This option has been taken away from him.

If Simon's biggest anxiety is loosing his white, WASP typical family dynamic, then it is a good narrative foil that his significant other is a black, Jewish kid from a recently divorced family. Also, the actor for Blue is an out queer person, who is visibly smaller than the actor for Simon.

By accepting his queerness, the Protagonist also must refuse his masculine gender performance. This action does come with the risk of violence.

Homophobic Sister Arc

this isn't the scene I wanted to show, but if you've read Blue Flag you know what scene I wanted to show

Getting a call his significant other is dead/was murdered.

Decking out your friends for insulting your secret boyfriend.

(This one ends up being a sweet scene, but there is a reason they mention Simon's Dad is *noticeably larger than Simon*, and was also a former college athlete. The threat of violence is there, regardless of it is acted upon. )

To give up the protection of being in a masculine role is almost always the threat of, or the actualization of, violence. Protagonist can't come out because his Dad would kill him. He would be ostracized from his family, he would be murdered in the street by other men. This is inherently more compelling to most audiences for a lot of reasons, but mainly because practically every culture craves violence as entertainment. (But thats a different post...)

So MLM queer entertainment already satisfies most of what the average Romance-genre fanatic craves:

-a decision of choice with great risk (of loosing masculinity),

-a romantic relationship with another, visually/emotionally different character who symbolizes the lesson to be learned (being queer)

-and a subtle threat of violence throughout the story (on account of rejecting masculinity)

WLW stories cannot play these exact beats and feel authentic because WLW stories are about women. In treating it the same without any changes leaves the stories...

-Without a sense of choice/decision

(Korra has no risk of loosing her masculinity for being with Assami. She also looses no sense of feminity.)

-Without an interesting dynamic

(Santana has nothing to learn about her own queerness based off of Brittany's. In fact, there isn't really anything either character can learn from the other. Their only real challenge is being in a queer relationship.)

-Without a sense of risk

(Unlike in the original Batman the Animated Series where this ship began, there is no stakes in the characters being together. In the original, the two being together has the risk of insulting The Joker, who could come after them. Ivy also weaponizes her sexual nature to gain protection from powerful men in Gotham, which she would loose her leverage for if she was in a sapphic relationship.

In the show, both Harley and Ivy and under no threats from anyone in Gotham, and thus do not require protection. Joker doesn't even care Harley is in another relationship. Points for feminism, but it does take away the conflict of why the two can't be together.)

Female gender performance is much more complex. What "defines a woman" is much more subjective than what defines a man. Male gender performance is the elephant in the room; we don't talk about it, but we all know what it is. There is a clear way to reject it, and a violent occurrence if you do. Female gender performance moves more fluidly through different cultures, different wealth classes, and even from person to person. Basically, male gender performance is a points system-- divide your income by the number of family members dependent on you, multiply it by your height and you will get your Man Score (TM). Female gender performance is a more like a weighted scale: If you have too many rocks on one side, make sure to balance it out on the other. You can have big boobs, but if they are too big, make sure you have a quieter voice. If you have no boobs, buy this new shampoo to have extra shiny hair. The goal of masculinity is be validated for your efforts. The goal of femininity is to keep balancing the scale.

So if a romance story requires

-a decision of choice with great risk (of loosing femininity),

-a romantic relationship with another, visually/emotionally different character who symbolizes the lesson to be learned (being queer)

-and a subtle threat of violence throughout the story (on account of rejecting femininity)

Then the narrative must take the time to define *exactly* what femininity is within its world, and what they stand to loose by forsaking it. Here, I am going to mention some good wlw ships to proove my point.

HAPPIEST SEASON (2020)

Harper's sense of femininity is her parent's validation. This is set up EXTREMELY WELL, (her father's political campaign, Harper's sisters and how they are treated by their parents, etc.) which is important because it is the reason behind all of Harper's actions the rest of the movie.

Abby, Harper's lesbian partner, is a perfect foil to Harper's parent's idea of femininity. Harper is the party host; she is eloquent, and speaks loudly enough to be clear, but not enough to draw attention to herself. Abby is EXTREMELY socially awkward, and either mumbles everything she says, or trips over herself and causes a scene. Harper dresses in expensive fabrics in muted colors, where as Abby dresses in loose fitting, comfortable suits that are bright, high-contast colors.

Even their hair; Harper's virgin, brown chestnut hair is striking against Abby's untoned bleached blonde look. It is symbolic in of itself. Harper is who she is based on what her parent's have given her from birth (Virgin, unbleached hair), and Abby is who she is based on the decisions she has made in her life. (Dying her hair noticeably blonde.)

Clear Definition of Femininity[X]

Compelling SO the reflects the moral lesson of the story [X]

Sense of Risk [X]

THE GUY SHE WAS INTERESTED IN WASN'T ACTUALLY A GUY AT ALL (2023)

This is a manga and probably my favorite piece of Yuri fiction of all time.

Aya's definition of femininity is established from the beginning. It comes naturally to her; she has beautiful hair, perfect make-up, and popular friends. A bunch of guys have a crush on her, but she finds no enjoyment in any of it. Her femininity is defined by how easily it comes to her, heighten by the fact that she doesn't even truly care for any of it. Her indifference towards boys, beauty, and pop music is what makes her the Ideal Woman (TM)

When she falls for a local record shop employee, on account of their more alternative, punky-style, it is shown that Aya desires a more alternative lifestyle. She likes rock music, and wishes she had friends that liked it too. When it turns out said employee isn't a boy, but instead her female classmate, Mitsuki, Aya is more embarrassed that she has revealed so much of herself to her crush already without knowing it. In this sense, Aya has lost her ability to be indifferent to Mitsuki, because Mitsuki has always known Aya finds her attractive. It is the couple's ability to be vulnerable with each other that sparks their romance. They both like to talk about their favorite bands, wear the clothes they prefer, and their decision to openly appreciate the other is the risk their relationship requires.

Clear Definition of Femininity[X]

Compelling SO the reflects the moral lesson of the story [X]

Sense of Risk [X]

THE OWL HOUSE 2020

Absolutely flawless.

I think the main thing compelling about Luz and Amity's dynamic as that the two are very very different from each other, which makes their relationship more compelling. Amity is high-strung, and values being the best at everything. (Feminity defined by Parent's Validation/Perfection). Luz is very clumsy and easy going, which constantly caused conflicts to Amity's way of thinking.

Their relationship also reflects the core message of the show; Wanting to be understood. Luz has no expectation for how relationships work because she's never had any friends, which makes her crave intimacy even more. Amity has been shamed out of her interests by her family, and sees her individuality as something shameful, which creates trigger responses whenever Luz tries to get closer. Their inherit dynamic makes for interesting conflict, specifically revolving around the show's core theme. The two must learn from each other how to open up, how to set boundries, and how to communicate in a way the other can clearly understand. It is a romance that is engaging, compelling, and most importantly (*cough cough* Korrasami) PLOT RELEVANT.

Clear Definition of Femininity the Character's Values [X]

(ope, switching it up. almost like i'm trying to make a point about the romance genre as a wholeeeeeee)

Compelling SO the reflects the moral lesson of the story [X] [X]

Sense of Risk Sense of Choice that Reflects the Core Messaging of the Story [X]

(ope,switchingitupalmostlikei'mtryingtomakeapointabouttHEROMANCEGENREASAWHOOOOOLE)

Anyway I kinda lost the thread here, but my main point was that Yaoi and Yuri are inherently different genres. And genres that in which Yaoi benefits from already existing ideas of masculine gender performance, and how the romance genre already works. Yuri works do not benefit from the romance structure inherently, and require more leg work to make an engaging story.

It certainly can be done, and has been done well. However, as we see the development of Yuri narratives, we may also begin to see the two genres separate from each other even more so. For one, how you define the differences between the characters will be different (What defines a "visibly queer" gay man, and a "visibly queer" lesbian are going to be different. No more "big one/little one", but there might be more "she wears shorts skirts/she wears tee shirts") The protagonist's internal struggles need to be more clearly defined. What is the thing they stand to loose by being in the relationship? How will their role in their family dynamic change by being a queer woman vs. being a straight woman?

And most interesting: How can we write a queer romance that doesn't include an undertone threat of violence? If we have a fully female cast, would there still be a threat of death for the female characters? What would create that sense of conflict instead?

We are officially in the age of Well Written Yuri, and to do that we must acknowledge Lazily Written Yaoi Disguised as Yuri.

[quantifiableme]

just cuz i'm seeing it again on my dash, but

1.) fujoshi women (women who read BL manga and mlm ships/fandoms) are a subculture of media, and thus do not deserve recognition in LGBTQA+ spaces, in the same way furries don't.

This doesn't mean fujoshi's cannot be apart of the LGBTQA+ community. But if they are, it will be because of their identity as a bisexual, transgender, asexual, or even as an ally. (Same with furries.)

2.) Having a queer ship in a fandom does not automatically guarantee you access to LGBTQA+ spaces as an ally. You must show more effort for the community by attending protests, doing outreach, or just generally being a safe space for your LGBTQA+ friends.

and finally, and most importantly,

3.) Liking something as a form of media HAS NO MORALITY. What you find sexually stimulating, or even just plain fun, HAS NO MORALITY. If it is fictional characters, and no one is getting hurt, then DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.

So for all the people trying to police mlm ships as

-"You can only like mlm ships if you are a gay man."

-"You can only like mlm ships if you are a transman."

-"You can only like mlm ships if you like the same number of wlw ships" (imma make a seperate post on this one to get some feelings out)

or whatever the case, then you are the type of person that will police how people enjoy FICTIONAL WORK in the COMFORT OF THEIR OWN HOME. And that makes you a WEIRD PERSON.

And if it still bothers you, remember this.

Straight women liking mlm ships in fandom is 1.) fetishization, 2.) weird af, 3.) fucking harmless, and 4.) GOING TO HAPPEN REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU POLICE IT. This shit has been happening since (minimum) Sherlock Holmes and Watson were first printed on paper. Let it goooooo

[quantifiableme]

[quantifiableme]

made a lil thing on my sisters ipad

[quantifiableme]

EVERYBODY SAY IT TOGETHER! Bisexual people live in a place of privilege because they are able to pass in society (especially ones in heterosexual relationships) and this should be acknowledged by bisexual people before attempting to speak for the community as a whole! AND Bisexual erasure is a real problem within the queer community, and people should not be uninvited from the community because of the person they are choosing to love at the present moment in time! If we make bisexual people feel un-welcomed in the community, then we will loose numbers and the LGBTQ+ movement will appear smaller than it actually is, which only hurts the cause!

[quantifiableme]

*jingling keys in front of elon musk* elon they were always gonna use you as the fall boy you need to do something alarming and crazy to get back at Trump jingle jingle oooh you wanna physically harm him so bad jingle jingle elon musk you could totally get away with doing something insane to the president btw jingle jingle

[quantifiableme]

the person who realised you could rearrange the letters in gossip girl to read “go piss girl” truly one of the great minds of our generation, madam your legacy

[quantifiableme]

PhD. Pretty Huge Dialogue-sections-in-yaoi-fanfiction

[quantifiableme]

pride month?? there's nothing for kyokao to be proud of

[quantifiableme]

the gentrification of the weird girl

[quantifiableme]

This goes so hard for no reason holy shit

[quantifiableme]

me in the club yesterday *refreshing ao3 for this update*

If this were a love story, perhaps Kyoya would have prepared a speech. A heartfelt confession. Love love lovey-dove love! Just the mere thought of you makes my heart go pitter patter. Or perhaps he wouldn't need a speech. Maybe in those fairytales he could never ascribe to, a convenient hoist on to a white horse against the backdrop of a sunset is enough to redeem all bad decisions.  Drivel like that makes it look so easy.

Chapter 11 of Okay, Cupid! is out now! And it's (hopefully) what you've all been waiting for.