#by the way this isn't political tone policing

[ghostie000]

you really do have to be some level of unnecessarily fucking rude to be an active poster on this site huh

[tinydefector]

Prowl over

Prowl x human

Word count:2.5k

Warnings: classic paying for fines with sex, (man in uniform) sex, smut, fingering, oral, G/T, sex on car/ sex with car(XD) valveplug.

Take on the classic paying a fien with fucking a police officer, haven't seen anything like this for Prowl so thought why not.

Prowl masterlist

If anyone makes art of this please tag me cause I'd love to see it.

_____________________

The sound of an engine roars through the long desert road, the stars above flicker and sparkle under in the cloudless sky. The car races down the old highway, over the speed limit more than the driver cared to check. They hum along to music, as their arm hangs out the window tapping against the side of the door. The driver's carefree demeanour abruptly shatters when the flashing red and blue lights catch their attention, in the rear vision mirror. A muttered curse escapes their lips, a frustrated exclamation at the unfortunate timing of encountering law enforcement in such remote areas. "Oh fuck me, why is it only on roads like this pigs fly, never out here any other time" they mumble. 

The presence of the police car ruins their mood in an instant.

They finally find a decent enough area to pull over and slam their head back into their seat and groan out loud at their stupidity, taking a deep breath as they try to read themself for dealing with law enforcement this late at night. It's only when they catch the number plate that they realise it isn't a real cop, the smaller little insignia on the bonnet also reflects the red and blue lights. A mix of relief and curiosity washes over them as they watch Prowl's holoform emerge from the police car and approach them. They can't help but wonder what he was doing out here this late, normally he would be back at the Ark at this time of night.  

Prowl maintains a professional demeanour as he approaches the driver door. "Good evening, licence and registration please" he greets them in a firm yet polite tone, his eyes focused on a note pad but in truth it was his way of masking as he ran scans on their number plate. Prowl's attention moves to the driver. Their eyes flicker to him as they shoot him a nerve smile. "On the Prowl I see" they state with a slight laugh. 

 Prowl's optics narrow slightly as the driver's words reach his audials, a flicker of recognition crossing his face. He lets out a groan of annoyance as a stern and annoyed expression crosses his face, His voice takes on a colder tone as he addresses them, his words laced with a hint of passive-aggression.

"What are you doing out here?" Prowl says, his voice dripping with a mix of familiarity and disdain. "Speeding like that on these roads, you're lucky I happened to be on patrol today. " Prowl's optics scan the surroundings once more, ensuring that no other potential law enforcement were around. He then focuses his attention back on the driver, his gaze unwavering. “Sorry I was just trying to get home Prowl” they try to defend. 

"You know the rules. Speeding is a dangerous and reckless act that puts not only yourself but others at risk." He reaches into his pocket and retrieves a ticket book, flipping it open with a practised motion. "I'm afraid you'll be receiving a fine." Prowl's tone remains stern as he proceeds to document their information. "Oh come on Prowl! Don't be a hard ass!. No one ever comes out on these roads other than Autobots or you know Human allies and no one this late, I'm sorry I am but I'm just trying to get home!" They hiss out in annoyance. Prowl's brow narrowed further, his patience wearing thin. He takes a step closer, leaning against the window. "Let me remind you that it is my duty to enforce the law and maintain order on these roads, regardless of who you think should or shouldn't be here."

Prowl's holoforms eyes bore into the,, his voice growing colder. "Speeding is a violation, plain and simple. It endangers everyone.". They lean out their window meeting him almost face to face. "Prowl please I can't get this fine I need my licence, i can't afford a fine" they state desperately. "You should have thought about the consequences before you decided to break the law," Prowl responds, his tone less harsh than before. 

"Prowl I flat broke, I don't get paid to come out to autobot headquarters, I'm there as a volunteer, please I can't afford a ticket, anything else please" They beg. Prowl's optics narrow, as they continue to plead for leniency. "Step out of the vehicle,” Prowl commands, his voice commanding obedience. They are led to the boot of the car where they are handcuffed and Prowl does a quick search of them, then lets out a small grumble of words at him but he pays them no mind. Just as quickly as his holoform was there it disappears into thin air; the sound of gears, metal and scrapping is the only warning they have before two large servos grab their  hips. They gasp slightly as Prowl sits them up on the roof of their car moving back around the side. "You're an ass you know " they mumble as he makes them look up at him. 

Prowl's optics flicker with a mix of annoyance and amusement as they mutter their discontent. "You should have thought about the consequences before breaking the law," he states, his grip on their hips tightening ever so slightly as he moves closer standing between their spread legs. "Consider this a lesson in accountability," he adds, his voice carrying a note of satisfaction. He leans in closer, his voice low and husky as he responds to their plea. "You enjoy being a pest, don't you?" he murmurs, a hint of amusement lacing his words. Prowl's grinding against them slowly,  servos gripping their  thighs harder holding them in place against the roof of the car. His name falls from their lips as they look up at his optics. 

A faint smirk tugs at the corners of his lips. "Say it again," he commands. they bite their lip and lean back against the roof of the car, Another moan leaves them before an idea crosses their mind, a twinkle of mischief in their eyes. "Oh officer Prowl, I'm so sorry for speeding, please I don't have the money can I pay this fine Another way?" They ask in fake desperation only to moan as he nips at their neck. "Fuck prowl" they yelp as they squirm under him. 

Prowl's continue to nip and suck marks into their throat. teasing them as punishment, his voice laced with a hint of amusement. "Oh, how convenient. Suddenly you're sorry for speeding," he hums against their throat, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Prowl's grip tightens on their thighs, hiking them higher up his hip plating. "You think a few moans and pleas will get you out of this?" he questions, He leans in closer, his voice low and seductive as he whispers in their ear. "You just want me to fuck you, is that it?" he whispers, his words sending shivers down their spine as a loud whine leaves them making Prowl chuckle at their desperation. 

 

"Yes, Please Prowl" they call out breathlessly and sincerely. Their eyes focus on his faceplate "God you're hot when you get all Cop" they state under their breath, Prowl's audios catch the driver's breathless plea, he lets out a soft chuckle at their desperation. 

  "Flattery won't get you out of the fine," he responds smugly as he watches how flustered they get under his touch. "Prowl I don't even care about the fine anymore, please you're killing me here" they whine as they grind back against his interface panel. "Fuck Prowl please" They whimper pathetically. A smirk tugs at the corners of Prowl's lips. "You want it so badly, don't you?" he murmurs, his voice low and husky in their ear, the static filtering over the top of it has them whining as they try to grind back against him.

The sound of ripping fabric has them gasping as Prowl servos tear through their pants.   throwing the ruined fabric onto the ground. "Prowl! That my only set!" They cry out in a panic as they wiggle and struggle in the hand cuffs. his voice tinged with a hint of annoyance . "How unfortunate," he retorts. His servos continue their slow descent, tracing over the newly exposed skin as be indulged in how soft it is in his grasp. "You should have thought about that before," he remarks, a smug satisfaction crosses his face.

 

They don't get a chance to try and argue more before Prowl's digits are moving against their sex stroking and teasing before he dips one into their tight heat. They gasp, Moan and quiver against the car roof from each touch. "You owe me a new set" they manage to stutter out, as they rock against his servo, adjusting to the size of his digits as they relax against the car roof. Prowl raises an optic as he shakes his head before leaning down to press his glossa into them, working them open with both his mouth and digits.  His voice drips with a passive-aggressive remark, "You think you can make demands now? How amusing" . Prowl's response. They cry out as he presses his glossa deeper into them, his other servo dragging them back as they try to squirm away. 

 

As the cuffs dig into their back, the driver arches and whines, their arms partially numb from the restraints. Prowl watches his digits disappear into their tightness. Spreading their thighs wider. Prowl's spike throbs mercilessly within his panel, aching to be released . "You want my spike?" Prowl taunts, his voice dripping with amusement at their despair. "You'll have to beg a little harder than that," A small sob leaves them as Prowl digits sink back into them, he enjoys each little sound and movement of their body against his. "Prowl please fuck me, please need you, please" they call out breathlessly,  only to gasp as he captures their lips in a hungry kiss. he pulls his digits out.. "You want me? You want me to frag you?" he murmurs, desire in his voice as he continues to press little kisses to their lips.

 

"Yes, yes please " They whimper sweetly against his lips. Prowl feels a surge of satisfaction, their plea for him growing more desperate. With a deliberate motion, Prowl's interface panel snaps back, freeing his spike from its confines. A low growl of pleasure escapes his vocalizer in a static filled buzz, his spike throbs and pulsating with anticipation between their thighs. 

They bite their lip as Prowl teases the tip Against their sex, pressing in enough only to pull away and repeat again.  Whimpers and whines leave them as they watch. "Please mister police officer, I promise I won't speed again, I really don't have the money to pay this fine, could I pay with my body?" They coo in a playful tone, still biting their lip. Prowl's optics narrow slightly as he continues to tease the tip of his spike against them. 

A hint of amusement flickers across Prowl's face as they plead with him in a playful manner, offering their body as payment for the fine. His tone is laced with a fake mix of restraint and curiosity as he holds back an eye roll at their dramatics. "Is that so?" he replies, his voice low and measured. "You're willing to offer your body in exchange for the fine? Quite a proposition," Prowl's optics lock onto theirs, his gaze intense as he considers their request, taking the time to mull it over in his processor with a hum. 

 

They gasp loudly as Prowl slowly presses his spike into them, sweet little moans leave them as he rolls his hips pressing his spike deeper into them with each thrust. "Mmmm you don't seem to mind my offer, somebody likes to play favourites with autobot allies " they call back teasingly only to gasp at a rough thrust from Prowl. “behave” he mumbles, With each thrust, Prowl rolls his hips, driving his spike deeper into the driver's tight opening, eliciting more moans from them. "Don't mistake this for favouritism," he growls, his tone filled with a touch of aggression. He knew it was true he was playing favourites but he didn't want to be called out on it. 

 

Their eyes flicker down to watch as Prowl's length disappears and reappears with each thrust, he hikes Their legs up more before picking up pace grinding his spike into them.  "Mmmm whatever you say handsome, I'm your favourite little criminal, " they tease playfully as another moan falls from them. A low growl escapes Prowl's vocalizer as he continues to move with increasing intensity, "Oh, you think you're my favourite little criminal, do you?" he grunts, his voice laced with a hint of dominance . "Well, let's just say you've certainly caught my attention" . Prowl's movements become more urgent, his thrusts growing harder and faster . 

As he continues his forceful thrusts, pleasure courses through both their bodies, causing them to gasp and cry out in ecstasy when he presses into them just the right way. Prowl relishes in the tight clench of their walls around his spike, each little response to his actions bringing him immense satisfaction as he shuts them up. He watches with delight as their words are replaced by babble pleasure. Leaning closer, his voice dripping with a mix of authority and desire, Prowl whispers in their ear. "You wanted to tease, my little criminal? I hope you're ready for the consequences of your actions," he growls, his voice low and seductive . Prowl's thrusts become even more forceful, his movements calculated the car under them rocks with each thrust and the sound of his gears grinding and creaking echoes into the desert air.

They clench as if trying to milk him of transfluid and cry out as their orgasm hits, tears run down their cheek. With a snarl of raw desire, Prowl continues to rut into them, his movements becoming more urgent with each time they arches and grind back against Prowl. One of his servos brushes tears away from their cheeks as he captures them in another kiss.

With each powerful thrust, Prowl is closer to the peak of pleasure, their bodies moving in perfect rhythm. Prowl's own overload follows, his transfluid spilling into them, as a static snarl leaves his vocalivers as he slumps over their panting form. He holds them close as he resets his systems taking time to let everything reset before his optics focus In on them. They both stay still, taking time to recover as Prowl's expression softens as he traces their faces. Their pants go into lazy breaths as they lay against the car roof just watching him before they finally speak. "Do I still have to pay the fine?" They inquire softly as they clench around him again. Prowl's optics flicker with a mix of annoyance and amusement as them. “You're a pain in my aft” he grumbles with another kiss. 

“can you please take these cuffs off, they are digging into my back too much” they call out as he hums in contemplation again. “Prowl don't be a dick, please”  

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[pretty-weird-ideas]

IWTV Twitter and the so-called "Fake Black Fans" Invasion

Something that I've been seeing a lot after it gained traction on Max is white fans condescendingly talking down to Black fans, some of whom have been in this fandom longer than they have, and acting as if they don't know what they are talking about because of their critique including a concept or subtext they wish to ignore. I want to repeat that this doesn't happen in the same amounts to white fans who make analyses or memes, it seems to uniquely be Black fans speaking AAVE or with Black pfps (visibly black bc of this) being bombed in the comments for having valid opinions.

I reached about the fifth tweet of white women going onto posts of Black people (particularly older women on Black Twitter) talking about IWTV and saying "You don't know what you're talking about, read the source material/finish the show" or entirely saying that "You don't understand fandom culture". Prompting those Black people to respond curtly that they, in fact, have read the source material, finished the show long before they have, and have been a fandom elder since before they even rolled into town. I witnessed someone doing BABY talk to a 30-year-old Black woman who was talking about episode 5, with "Well you see, it's not my fault you can't read". And when the woman professed anger back, she was the one blocked.

I witnessed this backhanded shit FIVE TIMES over the course of this week. With different white women doing the job of whitesplaining fandom culture and Anne Rice to random Black fans who already know unprompted with a level of passive aggressiveness and annoyance that only comes with doing it repeatedly. I must assure you (white people who are doing this) nobody asked, you can put down your task and stop pretending like you are doing something Sisyphean. You are not legally required to explain and describe IWTV poorly while getting into screaming matches with far more educated Black fans on Twitter and Tumblr.

People are acting as if there's a rising population of Black fans who are "Fake Fans" and must be stopped, lest they start up the freaky discourse. OOHHH NOOOO! Whatever are we to do then???? And therefore it is completely normal and a civic duty to blast Black fans in the comments of everything that they say about the show or the books.

I've been seeing people unironically football tackle reaction posts of the show with paragraphs worth of text that is inflammatory and backhanded. This is even more apparent when the poster is visibly black or uses AAVE. The association is that Black people who use AAVE or memes obviously are uneducated, lack media literacy, and cannot consume content the way that "White" fans do.

It is an attempt to tone police Black fans away from creating new topics of discussion or creating/expanding the fandom space with the growing watcher-base. It always has to happen in their chosen language, on their time, in the places they can reach us and yell some more. They are very discomforted when Black fans have pockets in fandom where they can't be outnumbered and they do in fact control discourse in a way that isn't productive to respectability. (As much as I am a big fan of big words and rambling, that is somewhat what is expected in this fandom as a Black person to be considered "respectable" and I'm not willing to ignore or shy away from that).

This is also hand in hand with my previous thoughts about fans' dog-whistling about media becoming accessible/mainstream and how "Others" will ruin it and outnumber them. I noticed that in the IWTV fandom, it seems like white fans believe that the "Others" is just Black Twitter in general. Not just "Twitter" but specifically Black people who don't fit into their narrow respectability politics.

I hate to tell you all this, but Black fandom culture is still fandom culture, and Black people do in fact read and write. I should not be seeing a pattern of random white fans going into the comments of Black people who mention IWTV and automatically assuming that they have no clue what they're talking about.

Like clockwork, exactly as when the show came out, racist white book fans started up the discourse of "The Black people are going to ruin fandom with their racism discourse and spit on Anne Rice!" and then when that time passed, the show reaches Max, and here they go barking again.... We really need to get a muzzle.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/751445319499317248/httpsolderthannetfictumblrcompost75113540651

She did not "basically write fanfic about Unit 731", and that's exactly the weird sort of game of telephone that led to her being relentlessly harassed by people who had not even read the book (there were claims that it was set in WWII, because the 'Unit 731 fanfic' lie was spread so far that people only heard that and decided to jump on the bandwagon) and decided she deserved to be publicly eviscerated for it.

From what the author has actually said about her inspirations for the book, she started writing it years before she found out that the ghost stories she was told as a child by her grandfather (who lived through the occupation) were about a real, specific atrocity, rather than just broadly about colonization--which makes sense considering the only part that seems directly inspired by Unit 731 is revealed near the end of the book and is the major twist that ultimately carves the scales from the MCs eyes with respect to the enemy prince in question.

Also, she didn't 'whitewash' the Japanese, and that kind of claim is really galling because would it actually have been better if she'd based the Evil Empire on Japan instead? Would that really have gotten people off her back? (And in fact I can very easily understand why someone whose family lived through such a brutal occupation would want to get some distance in a story that is partially processing those feelings and experiences by not modeling the Evil Empire directly after the country that brutalized her own; especially since a significant portion of the story involves the main character having very complicated feelings for the prince of the Evil Empire.)

If you want to talk about the writing not being great or your belief that the author didn't achieve what she set out to, that's fine, although I gather from this ask that you haven't actually read the book, which is at minimum a prerequisite to talk with authority about how any given topic or plot point is or isn't handled. I, personally, think it's incredibly tone-deaf to police how someone else writes about their own cultural heritage and family history with oppression and colonization, and that is very much how so much of this criticism comes across, especially considering how much of it is from people who fully admit to not at the least reading the book to form their own opinions about it. And for some reason, this form of criticism seems to be aimed disproportionately at authors of color, who are given much less grace and freedom to be just kinda mid or handle things poorly than white authors.

(Just as an example, I've never seen anyone call Avatar: the Last Airbender 'basically CCP fanfic' even though the fantasy prison where political dissidents/troublemakers are tossed to be tortured/brainwashed into compliance in Ba Sing Se is literally named Lake Laogai, after the Chinese political prisons/labor camps.)

--

Yeah, that last part is the crux of it, isn't it? People need a little room to work on their craft. More marginalized creators, indie creators, and people working on media with smaller audiences are afforded less. White dudes making TV shows are afforded a whole lot. Seems like it would be fairer the other way around!

[spacechild-glitchypix]

A lot of people are making a lot of public statements considering this is a situation that has pretty much nothing to do with them.

Look, I'm usually one to be pretty civil on conversations like this in public because I generally feel like people are less likely to listen when you're angry and shouting but I'm also acutely aware that none of you are really paying any attention. You're glossing over statements, you're intentionally reading Rose's statements and apologies in bad faith. If you aren't going to have the good graces to truly listen to either Kab or Rose then, respectfully, back away. You're not contributing anything positive to the conversation, you're talking in circles about points already being addressed and claiming they aren't because the answer doesn't suit your narrative

You can think Rose's comments made in the privacy of his own server are unprofessional until the cows come home but, frankly, his professionalism isn't any of your concern unless you're employing him. And, as for the biphobia comments, I'll speak as someone who was literally in those discord screenshots.

The stuff said in Marshie's post is true but, on a larger scale, this was a common discussion in this server. It wasn't started by Rose, it certainly didn't end with Rose, this was an entire server of queer people who were just sick of the heteronormative way some people would develop their MCs. And if you took that as a personal attack then I apologise but I can't help you with your own feelings. We never expected this to reach public eyes, none of us would've actually said this to a person's face about their own MCs. We're not bullies, our words were posted in a public setting without our permission, the fact you people seemed to have missed that (or even claimed that we apparently weren't private enough because somehow we were supposed to just know one of our members was leaking screenshots of our conversations which is a stance I have seen at least one person take) is honestly very telling.

No one should be expected to be 100% polite or civil in their own spaces (this also includes Rose's blog, before one of you fires blossoming-attorney's post at me), we're allowed to have areas where we can speak our own grievance with friends and be hyperbolic without having to worry about people taking our works out of that space to be put completely on blast to the public. Have none of you people ever complained about a boss before???

But more importantly than that, I just think the level of tone-policing and dogpiling and harassment being leveled at one of my friends over a racist smear campaign is fucking appalling. I don't care if you do not think this is racist because race wasn't brought up, if this wasn't racism then why is Rose the only person you people have thought to go after. Why is he the only person that was named, why did no one try to find anyone else in those screenshots.

This fandom is, quite frankly, a racist cesspit, the people who started this harassment campaign by publiclly posting this bullshit on a throwaway reddit account are scum, the people who pushed it without any sort of critical thinking should be deeply ashamed of themselves and every major artist in the community making a statement as to their stance on this whole ordeal needs to back off

This community has destroyed an incredibly important space where me and many others made a number of good friends for nearly a year over the adrenaline rush of jumping on a bandwagon. You've hurt one of my good friends and tried to get him fired from his job to further a racist smear campaign because you didn't like that he's an outspoken black person.

I hope you're fucking proud of yourselves

[julienbakerstreet]

Gender, Marriage, and Queer Subtext in My Dearly Beloved Detective

Me? Sapphic-truthing a Soviet Sherlock Holmes adaptation? Yes obviously and you will be too at the end of this.

First of all, I love this movie. It's absurd and silly but I love the way it deals with gender politics. The premise (that the literary character Sherlock Holmes became so popular that an unspecified group decided to form a detective agency at 221B to help everyone who came asking for Sherlock Holmes, and then hired two women to fill the roles because their last names were already Holmes and Watson) requires you to suspend your disbelief (did Shirley Holmes take up violin to be more like her literary counterpart? Why did they insist upon hiring people with the correct last names but not the correct genders? Why do they turn 221B's sitting room into a museum that implies Sherlock Holmes is a real man before introducing clients to Shirley?) but it's so worth watching.

The plot of the movie revolves around sexism. From the opening scene, we see a client doubt Holmes’s skills. "Do you really think I will entrust my case to you? Sorry, Miss, this is not as easy as cooking porridge," he says. To him, a woman's domain is restricted to domestic tasks. In response, Holmes lets loose a string of deductions, including one that a male detective could not have made. "Only a woman can sense a light scent of French perfume in burned coal," she says. One of the reasons I'm very passionate about adapting/reading Holmes as a member of marginalized groups is because people in marginalized communities have knowledge that outsiders aren't necessarily aware of that would be a boon to Holmes's detective work. Elementary had episodes where Sherlock's past as an addict or Joan's experiences as a Chinese woman were crucial to solving the case. Queer interpretations of Holmes often give him insight into a criminalized queer Victorian underworld that aids his work. MDBD shows how Holmes's gender (or, more accurately, the way she is treated because of her gender) hinders her, but it also demonstrates how it can be an advantage in her work. ACD Holmes says that his irregulars are valuable because they can go places and hear things that he never could, and the same is true of women, who were/are often overlooked.

But the main plot of the movie isn't about men underestimating Holmes and Watson. It's about men being intimidated, emasculated, and jealous of them. Scotland Yard is humiliated that a woman is showing them up at every turn and getting the credit in the papers. Early in canon, the police are frequently dismissive and envious of Holmes, and I love how MDBD imagines how the tone of these interactions would change if Holmes was a woman. The police view Holmes's success as a slippery slope to female equality: "If a woman detective can make a joke out of Scotland Yard, anything can happen in England." "This will end with a minister in a skirt," one says- a meta-reference to Margaret Thatcher being England's PM when MDBD came out.

Scotland Yard officials dig into Shirley's past to try and get dirt on her. Before she was a detective, she worked in a law office and had once been a brilliant student. The only black mark on her record that they can find is that she's never been married. "As a professional she's perfect, but as a woman..." a Yarder says, making it clear that to be a professional and a woman are two separate things. This is echoed in the line "She's not a woman, she's a rival." It's clear that the professional respect they have for her can only exist if they desexualize her. "A woman, charming, beautiful, powerful, wealthy. And despite all that, she's unmarried... it's extremely suspicious." Both of the men in this scene are also unmarried, but they only find it inherently suspicious for Shirley.

Later on in the film, the chief inspector tells his assistant that they should comfort Shirley and Jane after they shut down their agency. “Perhaps I should marry her… And you can marry Watson,” he says. He’s envisioning a future in which he publicly humiliates Shirley and then marries her to comfort her. In his mind, marriage- even to the man who schemed to embarrass her in front of the press and end her detective career- is automatically something Shirley would want and be comforted by. It’s beyond the realm of imagination to him that she’s unmarried by choice.

It's unclear how old Shirley is supposed to be, but the actress who played Holmes, Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vasilyeva, was 40 when the movie was released. The characters don't view her as too old to be desirable, they only comment on the fact that she's so incredible and has gone this long without getting married. In fact, a subplot of the movie involves a former client of Shirley's traveling to England from Spain because he's in love with her. Shirley doesn't reciprocate, going so far as to learn Spanish to tell him to leave her alone more effectively. "If there is one man who truly thrills me, it's Sherlock Holmes and no one else," Shirley says. Because Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character in this universe, she's saying that her career as a detective is what drives her. It's refreshing to see a middle-aged woman who the narrative treats as desirable without making it central to her plot or personality. I appreciate how the movie doesn’t soften Shirley’s personality from ACD Holmes’s- she can be just as abrasive, impatient, and cold while maintaining ACD Holmes’s capacity for emotion.

The Scotland Yard officials decide to set up a fake crime, get Shirley to investigate, let her believe that she's solved it, and publically humiliate her by revealing the hoax and saying "That's what happens when women become detectives." This scheme is an admission that they know that Holmes is more skilled than they are and they know they can't beat her fairly. The way they attempt to humiliate her indicates that they do respect her, even as they resent her for it. I've always loved that ACD Holmes critiques how self-interested the police and the justice system can be, and MDBD picks up on that theme. The men at Scotland Yard resent Shirley so much that they're willing to compromise their ability to solve crime and help people just so a woman isn't seen as more competent than they are.

Another detail I love is that throughout the movie, Jane is shown as a full partner to Shirley. Shirley trusts her to make deductions and investigate crime scenes. When Shirley is practicing her marksmanship or her martial arts, so is Jane. Jane is a little younger and implied to be less experienced, but she's not a Watson who's just along for the ride. Their partnership is very important to both of them, and Shirley reacts with distress when her Watson announces her engagement, similar to how Holmes reacts to Watson's engagement in The Sign of the Four. Unlike ACD Holmes, she criticizes Jane's choice, convincing her to call it off.

Shirley and Jane spend a full 10 minutes of the movie in drag. They wear men's evening wear and mustaches, disguising themselves to go undercover in a gentleman's club. While in drag, Shirley flirts with a flower seller outside of the club. Jane, following her lead, quickly flirts with another flower seller. They aren't being observed, and this has no relation to the investigation. Shirley expresses no interest in men throughout the movie, but she uses male dress to flirt with women.

Inside the club, the men sing a song about how "there's no one more stupid than a married man," "no one is smarter than an old bachelor," and "our hearts are closed to girls." These men get to be proud to be bachelors, a stark contrast to how view Shirley's lack of a husband is viewed as a suspicious defect. The men even bemoan how "for years the world was groaning and suffering under women's oppression." Shirley and Jane have been facing sexist treatment the entire movie, yet these men are so convinced that women are the ones oppressing them.

After Holmes and Watson leave the club, Watson cries because she was scared of being found out, and Holmes coldly tells her that she needs to practice acting as a man "so the lowest sailor would take us for his mates." Evidently, they frequently need to present as male for their investigations, because men aren't always willing to be open with two ladies. She tells Watson (the more feminine of the pair) that her skin and hands are too soft and they need to stop using cosmetics. She even encourages Jane to use sandpaper to make her hands rougher. Jane balks at this and Shirley asks if she wants to be a good detective. "Let me be a bad one, but I will remain a woman," Jane says, still wearing a mustache and suit. "I'm a woman and I will stay one!" She chastises Holmes for attempting to control her personal life and derogatorily calls her "Mister Holmes." Shirley's gender non-conformity is part of her, and she can't fathom why Jane doesn't want to live like she does. Jane is comfortable defying gender norms by working as a detective, but Shirley's devotion to her work at the expense of her femininity is too much for Jane to accept. Despite being Holmes's partner, Jane projects the same gendered disapproval that Scotland Yard does. Whatever else Shirley is, she's a failed woman first in their eyes. In anger, Jane calls up her ex-fiance and declares that she will marry him to spite Shirley, even as Shirley tells her to stop. Marriage is, for Jane, a repudiation of her partnership with Shirley and the noncomformist lifestyle they lived together.

Towards the end, Shirley and Jane talk to a woman (going by the alias "Rosita") who is part of the plot by Scotland Yard to embarrass Shirley. The Yard used her incarcerated husband to coerce her. Shirley sees through this and appeals to her "woman to woman.” "Love to your husband is a great feeling, but love to the truth is greater," she says. Rosita asks if Holmes and Watson have ever been married, implying that they cannot understand her reasoning because they're single. It’s that understanding and alteration of priorities that is assumed to come with marriage for a woman that Jane is leaving Shirley for.

The plot's resolution was a little disappointing. Shirley's Spanish suitor holds the chief inspector hostage until he agrees to... have all of Scotland Yard perform an elaborate and choreographed apology song to Shirley? It's weird. She's unimpressed and looks uncomfortable with the whole display. For all the ways this movie highlights Holmes's intelligence and capability, it's odd that the resolution to the police wanting to embarrass Holmes for being a competent woman is the man who harassed Holmes the entire movie and ignored her when she told him to leave her alone forcing the men of Scotland Yard to play nice with Shirley and Jane. I would have preferred to watch Holmes and Watson teach them a lesson on their own terms, which would have thematically been more in line with the rest of the movie.

Later, the chief tells Shirley he's ashamed of how he behaved and wants to end the rivalry and be friends, but even this apology is halfhearted. There never was a rivalry between them- he was just resentful of her success, even though it helped him.

The movie ends with Jane, freshly married, running into Shirley. She kisses Shirley on the cheek and gives her half of her wedding bouquet before Shirley kisses her (rather deeply and for longer than I'd consider strictly friendly) on the mouth. Shirley twirls in delight before walking off, but Jane runs after her and they say goodbye one more time. Jane goes back to her husband and embraces him before looking back at Shirley. Shirley walks away, caressing the cheek Jane kissed and wiping away her tears, still holding half of her partner's wedding bouquet.

To me, this movie ultimately reads like a bittersweet love story between Shirley and Jane. Jane is a good detective, but she can't bring herself to betray social convention to the degree required to be great. Holmes doesn’t understand why Watson’s femininity and social position as a lady is important to her. ACD Holmes being upset at losing his partner when Watson gets married has been explored so many times through both queer and straight lenses, but marriage for a man and a woman in Victorian England was very different. A married man had much more agency and separate identity than a married woman, and Shirley is very aware of how marriage would affect Jane's freedom to do their work. I like to think that they continue their partnership and eventually get together (possibly when Jane realizes that Shirley was right to advise her against marrying a gambler) because they have a very sweet and domestic relationship.

As always, all my love to @spiritcc for making this and other Russian adaptations accessible to English speakers!

[kojoty]

It's obviously a complex question and discussion and I'm certainly admitting to a level of blue-state privilege wherein my vote really only matters in so far as working towards getting funding for a third party, like green; not to mention the privilege of, being in such a blue swaddled state, my rights are not immediately at stake-- so I am including myself in this but.

I really, really, really, really wish people in blue states like Cali, new York, Illinois, etc-- heart of dem territory and the places where your rights are NOT at contest-- would sometimes shut the fuck up and listen to the extremely valid worries and fears and pleas of people in deep red states. I think saying 'it doesn't matter who is in office, they're basically two sides of the same coin', while true ideologically in the grand leftist scheme, it also does betray a certain level of handwaving to millions of Americans where who is in office DOES matter.

And I know this is the anti colonialism website, and so we don't really want to talk about domestic issues as much as foreign policies-- completely understandable given the current global conflict-- but consider America is a vile colonial project, that which we do to our domestic underclasses IS a colonial issue as well.

I am not going to say 'go vote!' because who am I, Hillary Clinton? But I guess I am trying to say... It is really frustrating as someone who does a lot of on-the-ground community resource work in his fairly privileged area and see how the difference in economic status between a democratic and a republican president really matters, and then come on here and see the ever present leftist issue of taking ideology over material. I cannot imagine the landscape of on the ground resource work in more impoverished areas.

(most Marxists in this website really obfuscate how much material work they actually do, and are, in fact, often pontificating on ideological castles in the sky, but that's another post)

The tldr here really is: the amount of deep red state southerners who are telling you with crystal clarity that someone like Harris in office is magnitudes safer than someone like Trump in office, and urging people in states where it matters to vote....... I mean. You don't have to listen to them (even though I think you should hear their perspective), but the least you could do is not completely ignore and shun the very real realities of millions of Americans who are with good reason scared shitless that one nominee will keep the liberal hegemony (also vile-- don't take this as me condoning it), and the other will systematically make their very existence illegal. That isn't to say it can't still happen-- roe v wade-- under a dem, but. You... You do realize that it does actually matter to some people in certain states whether the pres is red or blue, right? And that yes it sucks that we have to play by American rules to keep some folks safe but.

Idk. The amount of 'leftists' on this site who paradoxically care far more about their ideological purity than the actual people who need actual material work done is... Well, that's not my leftism tbh. The amount of condescension I see levied at people daily on here. It's not just a bad look. It's Imo betraying to me that your politics are more about signpostibg and being right than actual community and human care and connection . And it happens! Ideology is a tantalizing thing. I have to constantly divorce myself from it and reintegrate into the ground. But you can't make policy out of air. You can make policy out of soil. You have to remind yourself of the faces and the beating hearts your ideology is addressing. Even if you're RIGHT are you giving the infoemation in a way that actually cares?

Idk. I don't wanna tone police. But there's a very deep seated and real classism and privilege issue within the online left that is...... Distasteful to say the least. Idc if you go vote. But the least you could do is not bully people who are more scared for policy changes that will actively affect them. It is not betraying fear and outrage at what is happening outside of these borders-- the atrocity in Gaza-- to also be scared of your own living conditions. One can balance both.

[being-of-rain]

My girlfriend wants to watch through all of Classic Who (and yes I did make sure they knew how ambitious that was,) so when I stayed with her last month we watched the first three stories! Not even the extremely '60s gender politics has put her off, that's dedication. Next time we watch we'll be up to some missing episodes, so we'll see how we go with those.

I enjoyed revisiting the first few episodes that set up so many things for the rest of the show. The first human companions, the Tardis becoming a police box for the first time, the Doctor learning not to be a massive bitch. I always love that the Doctor gets his name from Ian... but I'm always amused that Ian seemingly makes it up by accident. The first utterance of the word in the show is Ian saying to Barbara "He's a doctor, isn't he?" and I really want to know where he got that from. Did that come from one of the Time Lords or is this the most momentous case of misremembering in science fiction?

I still think the first two episodes in particular of The Daleks are really fantastic. On my way home I listened to what I think are the only two pieces of Dr Who EU that act as a sequel to The Daleks more than any other Dalek story: the David Bradley audio Return to Skaro, and (weirdly maybe) The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield Volume 1. Well, maybe you could say that the Benny set (specifically The Lights of Skaro) is about all Dalek stories as much as the first one, but I like it a whole lot more than Return to Skaro and was looking for an excuse to relisten anyway.

It felt appropriate watching The Edge of Destruction soon after 73 Yards came out, as a reminder that Doctor Who has always got to have weird bizarre little episodes as part of its ecosystem. As always, Edge of Destruction made me think about how its a great concept that really feels let down by some of the the acting, directing, and writing. It kind of made me think... would it be cool if it was remade today? Not as a proper Doctor Who episode, just take the script (or most of it) and start from scratch. Commit to the weird and sinister '60s sci-fi aesthetic, make a new Tardis set, make sure the cast and crew are on the same page about the tone and vibes. It's just an idea that I'm convinced could be really cool, though it'll never exist outside my head.

[lacunasbalustrade]

my parents' situation has escalated in the time I haven't been here properly, I'll summarize:

I had to call the police because my mother, a grown woman of 47, thirty years older than me, and my father, a grown man of 50, decided to attack my younger brother for sassing them.

He's got a tone issue. He's always had a tone issue. But apart from that, he's obedient, much more than a normal child, good in his studies despite a slight disability that makes it hard for him to read, and takes care of our younger siblings.

this grown couple decided they needed to beat him to teach him a lesson. he hid in the bathroom. I had to hold my mother back and literally block my father's way. when I first tried to call the police, he took my phone and locked it in a room.

It's happened in the past. Same thing, but with my older brother, who is decidedly more troublesome, but also definitely not delinquent status.

it's been a few days since then. the police arriving stopped them from contemplating more violence - also, I managed to make them give allowance and transport to school by threatening to file charges. but some changes have been made. all of us older kids have to cook our own meals, sleep at 9.30 pm, and adhere to random rules they've decided to put into place without prior notification. furthermore, my mother has been throwing away the gifts we gave her in the past.

it's not the rules I hate adhering to - in fact, it's a bit of relief since I no longer have to depend on their constantly fluctuating schedule. It's the awful reason behind them - our parents wanting to alienate us from them and make everything a business transaction. it's the frostiness and polite greetings and designated responsibilities purposely planned to make us bear the weight of their lack of affection.

it's the way my mother refuses to talk about anything that's happened. she says she can't manage it emotionally. so i can hold back my parents from attacking my siblings and research laws and scholarships to get out of this place and she can't bring herself to have a mature, reasonable conversation. any disagreement is seen as disrespect, arguing with her.

we have five kids in this family. the older kids take care of two of the youngers. we don't go out after school, don't take any extracurriculars other than the school mandated ones, don't take tuition because we know family expenses are tight, don't even have friends we spend time with on a daily basis.

my mother's parents kicked her out of the house once she got married and played favourites, preferring her brothers to her. my father's mother was promiscuous during her marriage, is a Buddhist who forces her view of religion on others - think making everyone eat vegetables - and his father was abusive.

It's not that I don't know they've gone through pain. But pain isn't an excuse for them to pass on their life trauma. My mother bought a couple of clocks after the argument. They make the same sound as the clocks her parents have at their house. Ding-dong. Think creepy school bell.

I'm researching full-ride scholarships overseas. If worst comes to worst I'll take a government bond scholarship. I'm also thinking about setting up my own debit card since I'm over 16, and starting to work part time - which I've wanted to do, but which they've never let me.

I'm not injured by this, per se, because I still love them, even though they definitely don't love me. But my self worth does not hinge on whether they love me or not, and I want to, moving forward, find a source of income and work harder at my studies and extracurricular activities, plus creative pursuits, so I have a better portfolio that I can use to get myself into a scholarship.

They didn't actually have enough money to pay in full for my university/college anyway. Instead of relying on them, I'd really like to broaden my horizons in a foreign country, take subjects I'm interested in, and see how far I can go without them to hold me down and shut me up.

[itmeblog]

POLITICS INTO THE VOID TIME

In the event that you've not been pretty obsessed with how American politics have been going since Kamala became the Democratic nominee (there's been good and bad, that I'm aware of) the tone of the campaign has completely changed.

Because Kamala's team has decided that Trump isn't threatening, all powerful, and scary, (though the ads I've seen have sort of been using old language) they have decided that he's weird and he's a creep.

These were made 11 days apart:

As a kid who grew up being called weird (and occasionally a creep) this is hilarious. It's just playground bullying.

Dems really said, we tried being the bigger person, it wasn't working out.

And Trump's policies and desires are actually weird. A proposed porn ban is weird. Trying to put librarians in jail is weird, policing people's bodies is creep behavior.

As a former weird kid, the way to overcome this sort of bullying is not to assert that you aren't weird or god forbid shout "I'm cool" (the more you say it, the less true it is), it's to embrace that you're weird and accept that not everyone is going to like you, and that you'll probably never have a seat at the cool table.

But and I cannot express this enough Trump wants to be cool. His whole thing is, being edgy, and dangerous, and "being brave enough to say what people are afraid to say". And when you get someone who is "being brave enough to say what normal people are afraid to say" and shoot back with "they don't say that because it's fucking weird"... where does he go from there?

It's a depowering move. They are depowering Trump.

When you were a kid talking passionately about something that interested you and someone said "that's weird (derogatory)" it probably made you feel really small. That kid stole the power you were wielding in said conversation.

So the question is, can Trump proudly and convincingly assert "I'm weird. I’m a weirdo. I don't fit in. And I don't want to fit in. Have you ever seen me without this stupid hat on? That's weird." (GOD HIS CHATGPT AND PLAGIARIZED SPEECHES HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO THE FUNNIEST THING IN THE WORLD)

Is he ready to go full edgelord in the public eye?? I'm sure he'll still have followers, edgelords have a weird sort of power in this era of internet, but they are also indisputably cringe.

Like I'm not sure this will achieve anything other than being ridiculously entertaining (and thus catching the eye in headlines and reports). But,my family read one of the new releases and went oh right this whole thing is weird as fuck and it felt nice to get some kind of public acknowledgment that this is not normal.

So far the right has been struggling against couch fucking allegations, them saying that adults without kids should have less of a voice in voting (weird thing to say, but if you're polling badly with youngsters and need to maintain power~~), that Kamala is a crazy childless cat lady (Whoops accidentally alienated some of their base there, some people simply cannot have children, really shouldn't insinuate they are less than because of it. Not to mention that their own policies are making more everyday in mostly red states as complications with getting abortions for non-viable fetuses are leaving many people sterile. I'm not even going to go on with the fact that many people, like myself, simply don't want kids and that's reason enough. Also she does have step children), and the rumor that Trump wasn't really shot (as they finally removed the bandage to reveal... nothing, head wounds heal really fast but going from that giant plaster to nothing is doing a bit of a number in the rumor mill).

Basically they had Joe! THEY SPENT THE WHOLE RNC INSULTING HIM. THAT WAS THEIR WHOLE PLAN!! He was old, he was white. The inherit ableism/ageism of sleepy Joe and old Joe, and infirm Joe, were within "acceptable parameters". It was easy and safe to rib him.

They are struggling to find something on Kamala that doesn't come across as racist or sexist. Because they're polling poorly with Black Americans and they are down in the polls for women. Can't call her sleepy or lazy. Can't call her old (she's younger) can't call her stupid, can't call her infirm. Can't insinuate she's too emotional (have you met Trump??)

They probably could get her on a few policies but the 2025 project is looming large behind them.

I am foaming at the mouth trying to get to the next debate. But Trump is doing his best to weasel out of it. I am heartbroken! I miss the anytime, anywhere promise of yore.

[spidereticas]

Okay I both love and hate that you picked this one because it's the concept I'm probably the most excited about, but also the one I’ve done the least amount of work on so far lol

Basically I wanted to write something that digs a little into the fact that Hobie is almost certainly very anti-cop, but dating Miles, whose dad is, of course, a cop. Miles obviously has a very real anarchist spirit to him (also hello, Uncle Aaron!) but I imagine he's also probably internalized some ideas that Hobie may not necessarily agree with (consider for instance, the question of whether the institution of policing can be reformed or if it is fundamentally corrupt). So I thought it would be interesting to explore that as a point of tension for them to navigate through.

The starting point in my head is Hobie getting arrested on Earth-138 during a political demonstration, and maybe initially not telling Miles about it, and Miles maybe feeling some type of way about Hobie not telling him. And that would be the catalyst for them to finally kind of talk about all this stuff. Here's a little snippet of a possible conversation:

"Alright, say you join a group that's doing some bad shit, because you wanna try and make it better from the inside," Hobie says. "But it's going real slow, yeah? So slow, that the whole time you're in there, they're still going out and doing terrible shit and you're letting them. So what's that really mean then?" A tilt of the head, a raised eyebrow. "Did you actually change anything? Or did they change you?"

"But isn't that basically what you did when you joined Spider Society?" Miles points out. "Tried to change it from the inside?"

"No," Hobie says flatly, crossing his arms. "I joined up to help one person. Two people, once you came along, Brooklyn. Soon as I did that, if you'll recall, I fucking quit."

And yeah okay, Miles thinks, that is pretty much how that all went down.

"Look," Hobie continues, tone a little more gentle now. "My Captain Stacy? Yeah, man's had good intentions too. I had a bit of sympathy for him. But the police were still shit. And they were shit right up until he died."

[samanthahirr]

Office Hours

Office Hours

In today's installment of "Stories Sam Isn't Writing," I bring you the opening meet cute of a non-MI6 get-together AU, in which private detective James Bond tries to recruit Imperial College professor "Q" Boothroyd to provide technical assistance on his cases.

Bond worked his way up through the Met and achieved the rank of DCI on the murder task force before his habit of following his instincts led him to step on some very important political toes. Bond’s superiors made it clear that the writing was on the wall for him. Rather than face demotion to the Traffic Division or, god forbid, Transport, Bond resigned from the police force and parlayed his investigatory skills into a successful new career as a private detective.

A couple years after his forced retirement, Bond lands his biggest case yet—tracking down the whereabouts of a wealthy recluse who may or may not have been removed from her home under duress. But he quickly hits a snag. The key evidence appears to be on the encrypted security recordings from the purported victim’s home surveillance system. He can’t decrypt it on his own, and it’s far too sensitive to take to a private vendor. Time to call in a favor. He rings up his former partner Bill Tanner to request a little off-the-books use of the Met’s crime lab. For the sake of his career, Tanner must reluctantly decline. But he does tip Bond to the new computer systems consultant the task force has been tapping for the past year, a professor at Imperial College. 

Wonderful. Bond loves spending time with stuffy, pompous academics. But at least this one comes pre-vetted by the Met. And it’s the best Tanner can do for him.

Bond talks his way into the university’s buildings by introducing himself as DCI Bond, a bluff that works far too well on these trusting civilians. In the second building he accesses, he finds the door to Professor Boothroyd’s office in the middle of a long hall. The bench just outside the professor’s door is crammed with four students, each more visually appealing than the last. Bond smiles charmingly at them, but they pay him no attention. He tells himself he doesn’t feel slighted.

He raps loudly on the office door, and when it cracks open, the four students stand in unison, each calling for the professor’s attention in tones of voice that don’t sound desperate so much as eager. 

Bond pushes inside, past the lanky, fluffy-haired student on the other side of the door. Unfortunately, the office appears empty, with no sign of the professor. 

“Can I help you?” the student asks, closing the door behind Bond.

“No,” Bond says shortly, then amends, “yes, if you can tell me where the professor is.”

“I’m Professor Boothroyd.”

Bond is tempted to call him a liar, but his instincts don’t support the assumption. On second glance, the man does seem to have a few years on the young people lined up outside. Behind the hipster stubble and chunky glasses, there are definite smile lines around bright green eyes. Bond recalculates and changes tack smoothly. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m DCI Bond, and I’m here on official bus—”

“No you’re not.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“If you were with the Met, you would have showed me your badge already.”

Bond considers bluffing again…and then deflates with a sigh. “Tanner warned you about me?”

“No, rather the opposite, which is another tell—his people always text ahead. I’ve worked with enough law enforcement personnel to know their protocols, and you’re not following them. So who are you, how do you know Tanner, why are you impersonating a detective, and why are you looking for me?”

Since becoming a private detective, Bond has grown accustomed to back-stabbing clients, ulterior motives, and a cesspool of petty deceptions. In a campus full of trusting fools, the professor’s clear-eyed suspicion is something of a reassurance. 

Coming off the back foot takes some doing, but Bond lays his cards on the table and survives Professor Boothroyd’s interrogation. After a moment of narrow-eyed deliberation, Boothroyd even agrees to examine Bond’s files…once Tanner vouches for Bond’s story—no offense intended. Bond smirks approvingly. By the time Bond secures his agreement, the professor seems to have warmed to him considerably, relaxing into an affable, vivacious demeanor and a smile that holds Bond’s attention more than usually happens without a low-cut blouse or skinny-legged trousers involved.

As Bond exits the small office, the hopeful gaggle of students rise again, each clamoring to get the professor’s attention first. And judging by the low-cut tops and skinny jeans on display, they’re angling for more than just tutoring help. Bond casts a glance back into the office, to the slim, magnetic figure of the popular young professor, and he thinks the students don’t have an entirely bad idea there.

Next time he visits campus, Bond will be sure to wear his best leather jacket. 

And a tighter pair of jeans.

[rollercoasterwords]

I don’t have anyone else to ask, so here I am. What do you think about the term “boy lesbian” ? I just saw a TikTok where a person said they were a boy lesbian not a woman lesbian? I got the same vibe from that as when a lot of people on TikTok tried to say identifying as lesbian was excluding an it should be called non men loving non men?

well my short answer is that i think boy lesbians are cool + sexy + i wish they would all come over 2 my house so we could kiss w tongue <3 however i am sensing from ur message that this is perhaps a concept that u are a bit wary or skeptical about (? might be reading tone incorrectly but that is the vibe i'm getting lol) so i will put a longer answer under the cut:

so i feel like what you're asking when you say "what do you think about this" is essentially "do you think people should be able to call themselves 'boy lesbians'" which. is a source of online discourse that i typically try to avoid because i think discourse about who's "allowed" to identify a certain way in the queer community is basically pointless and does more harm than good. like, at the end of the day, there's really no use in policing who's "allowed" to call themselves what, because people can literally identify themselves however they want and you can't control that, because identity is an inherently personal and subjective experience. and so anytime people do start trying to strictly police identity + draw clear boundaries around who's "allowed" to use which labels, usually the result is just alienating and ostracizing other queer people who we should be in community with, as we share overlapping political struggles.

but. looking specifically at the term "boy lesbian" (and terms like it). i know a lot of people immediately get up in arms going "the whole point of lesbian is that there's NO BOYS!!!!!" but. personally i do not think that's true. every label currently used by the queer community is historically and contextually specific; most labels like 'gay' 'lesbian' and 'trans' are umbrella terms that include broad and varied communities of people who do not all share exactly the same identities or experiences. and the label 'lesbian' as an umbrella term has not always been used + conceptualized historically the way it's used today; it has also not always been 'exclusively women who aren't attracted to men' or whatever other definition people try to claim. many lesbians, especially gender nonconforming lesbians, have complex + nuanced + fraught relationships to gender + womanhood, and there has specifically always been a lot of overlap in (using today's terms) transmasculine and lesbian communities. leslie feinberg's stone butch blues comes immediately to mind as one example of lesbian experience that does not align simply or perfectly with womanhood and is much more nebulously transmasculine. at the end of the day, it's impossible to draw strict definitional boundaries around umbrella terms like "lesbian," because to do so will always inevitably fail to account for certain people who do identify with the term--and what right does anyone have to tell someone else that their personal experience of identity isn't "allowed?"

like - defining lesbianism as either centered around womanhood or positioned against manhood both inevitably devolve into gender essentialism. if you say "lesbians are women who love women," that requires you to provide a strict definition of "woman," something that is essentially impossible without resorting to gender essentialism. if you say "lesbians are nonmen who love nonmen," then you run into the same problem with defining "men." this is because both "men" and "women" are also historically + contextually specific umbrella terms used to define social categories of people, and not some sort of pre-existing inherent natural identities.

so then you might be saying--but wait a second, if all these labels are so fluid and nonspecific and personally defined, then what's the use of labeling anything!!! aren't you just saying that none of it means anything?!

no, not at all! what i'm saying here is that trying to draw strict boundaries around labels that have to do with gender + sexuality is at best pointless and at worst harmful, because gender and sexuality are inherently personal experiences and you can't police someone's own sense of self, nor should you try to. but there are three areas where labels are useful and do matter:

1 - personal value

labels are useful for individuals trying to understand themselves and how they relate to the world. people can find comfort or joy or simple understanding by labeling themselves in relation to the world around them; this sense of labeling is deeply personal and up to each individual in terms of how/to what extent they want to partake in it

2 - community

umbrella terms like "woman" "lesbian" "man" "trans" etc are all useful in socially specific contexts for identifying shared experiences + building community. if i say to someone "i'm a lesbian," and they say "oh i'm a lesbian too," i'm not going to assume that we have the exact same experiences of gender + sexuality that fit some made-up set of rules, but i am going to recognize that this person has certain experiences which overlap with my own, and we can build a community around those experiences. this is the way that basically any label works in a social context--if i say "i'm american" and someone else says "oh me too," i wouldn't just assume that we've had the exact same "american" experiences, because america is a vast country with a huge diversity of people + lifestyles + environments etc etc, y'know? social labels like these are useful for identifying broad overlap in experiences, but because they encompass such broad groups of people it's silly to try and make strict rules about who's "allowed" in the group--especially if your goal is to build community

3 - identifying + naming political struggles + oppression

this follows along the same lines as point 2 -- basically, most queer labels function as umbrella terms meant to bring together people of varied experiences + backgrounds who share common sites of oppression + common political struggles. like, historically, this has been the center of queer community-building--the fact that we are all being oppressed by the same people in overlapping ways. when i tell you "i'm a lesbian," that sentence does not tell you all that much about my own, individual, personal experience of gender. but it does tell you a lot about how i am politically positioned in the world and the kinds of political struggles i might face, and that's what makes that label so socially meaningful. like, the purpose of these labels is not to give everybody insight to the nuances of personal identity; it's to build community + identify our shared struggles with each other.

and i think one reason this discourse gets so heated in online spaces is that people get really angry about the idea of, like, "well what if someone calls themself a lesbian to infiltrate lesbian spaces!!!" which. i mean a lot of that fearmongering is rooted in transphobia quite honestly, but. at the end of the day, if someone is identifying themself as a lesbian, i'm going to assume that they have a good personal reason for doing so, and what matters to me will be knowing that we share a political struggle. i trust that if i encounter someone who's just trolling and "pretending" to be a lesbian or whatever i'll be able to recognize it and just....choose not to interact with that person. but honestly i don't even really think that actually happens--like i said, i think a lot of the fear that drives people to try and create strict definitional boundaries around the term "lesbian" is rooted in transphobia.

and i think something else driving a lot of this online discourse surrounding queer labels is like....this emphasis on identity labels as primarily a personal identifier rather than identity labels as primarily a community-building tool. like, there seems to be an emphasis particularly in online spaces + amongst certain groups of queer people to really want to micromanage identity + create specific rules + definition for each label so that, like, you're getting as much personal information as possible about someone who tells you that label, because you know they're following these detailed rules. but like. a) you truly are not entitled to personal information about anyone's individual experience of gender and/or sexuality and b) that's not the point of these labels!!!!! like i promise you it is so much more important to just accept that these are umbrella terms with nebulous boundaries so that you can take a step back and evaluate the social context in which they're being used in order to then build community. it is okay if there aren't strict rules and definitions! what matters more is being able to look at a specific contexts + the way a broad term can be applied differently in those specific contexts.

anyway. last thing i will say to this whole point is that i personally am someone who identifies to a certain extent with terms like boy lesbian or boydyke, in that my own sense of gender is much more centered around dyke than it is womanhood and i don't necessarily experience lesbianism as something centered around women/womanhood. my lesbianism feels more closely tied to gendernonconformity, genderqueerness, and overlaps a lot with experiences i've heard transmasculine people speak about. but lesbianism is still central to my identity, as i am politically positioned in society as a lesbian and it is the best umbrella term to give people a sense of my identity at a glance, and thus generally the best term for me to position myself within queer spaces + to seek out community. so i understand on a personal level why people might identify as a 'boy lesbian,' and hopefully from this personal anecdote you can understand why someone might too! if u have any questions or anything feel free to shoot me another message; i'm trying to cover a lot of ground in this response so i didn't fully expand on like. every single point bc that would have taken forever lol

[firespirited]

Found on NBC is very bingeable and promises a bunch of really interesting things: it's written, acted and produced by two black women, it has a diverse cast who are played by talented actors with well lit skin tones. It's the stories of missing people who the police don't bother with because of their minority status and the private firm who hunts them down, working outside the law as police can't be trusted. The twist in the pilot implies we're getting a psychological drama, not just a procedural.

It's also some of the worst victim blaming I've seen outside of Blue Bloods or a Tyler Perry piece.

-The writing is ham-fisted, they feed you the clues three times, no plot holds up to scrutiny once the episode is over.

-It's toothless. The 14 rating is surprising, this is barely PG. They're unwilling to commit to anything morally grey or complex. Watching the two lead actors give it their utmost then realize they're not going to get anything juicy like Hannibal but NCIS: LA instead is a journey to be sure.

-It's really bad copaganda with a diversity wrapper badly slapped on top. Each and every victim is a perfect little angel who is worthy and deserving of being found, they only end up in bad situations through tragic accidents. The police are just bad because a cartoon villain runs the station. Our good cop is a very good man. Our heroine is a stoic super badass whose spirit was never broken by abuse, who never compromised. She's also either very smart or very stupid depending on what the plot needs: nothing in between, no layers.

Here's an example of the callousness of the writing:

"Missing while homeless" makes a point of not using the word homeless because 'unhoused' is more respectful - they deserve dignity, they can even be artists and kind souls! Then it used a homeless woman's rape as a throwaway plot point for her companion to be suicidal despite him having depression and stating he wanted to harm himself on a set date for years. One of the team spots the predator to the homeless camp by his nice nails. Our homeless woman has perfect brows (painted to modern trends), teeth and skin. They drive off into the sunset with magic money he had all along at the end, she doesn't have to deal with the criminal justice system, her attacker is going to jail with the power of deus ex. The man isn't suicidal any more.

Our competent, poised, heroine is undone by her pesky emotions: a puppet in her abuser's hands. Her emotions are pure though, she's not getting any kicks from this, she saves lives, it's a noble goal, she's a noble woman. Sure would be sick and nasty if she actually felt anything vengeful or enjoyed the control of this personal prison setup. No, we're repeatedly told this is a complex woman with agency, only for the plot to turn her into a silly little girl several times every episode.

The suicide prevention hotline at the end was a band-aid on the bullet hole that was the way a woman's assault was used as plot fodder and then dropped, the mischaracterization of suicidal ideation and depression - coming very close to showing a death by suicide on screen and I'm not joking, almost every character talked about the "nice place" they'd chosen to die by suicide back when they were suicidal. Impressively wrong on multiple levels: great job.

----------------------

Found on NBC proves you don't need to hire a writer's room of hetero middle-aged white dudes to create "Respectability Politics: missing person's edition" when middle class church and wellness ladies are willing to spit on their own. It doesn't even have the intellectual honesty of a bodice ripper. It'll get 5+ seasons of defanged teasing.

[bluenet13]

Chenford + I've never been in a serious relationship

You're the One I Was Meant to Find

Tim and Lucy run across Vanessa on a day out.

Thanks for the prompt anon, hope you like it!

AO3

Lucy and Tim walked through the busy farmer's market, with Kojo happily leading the way. The sun was shining, and the fresh produce aroma filled the air as they talked excitedly about their plans for the rest of the day. Lucy was completely caught up in their conversation, not even considering the possibility of running into anyone they knew.

However, her heart sank when she heard her mother's familiar voice calling out to her. She turned to see Vanessa making her way through the crowd, a broad smile on her face.

"Oh no," Lucy muttered under her breath, passing Kojo's leash to Tim and stepping in front of him.

"Lucy, it's so good to see you!" Vanessa exclaimed, giving her daughter a warm hug. "I've missed having you around the house. How have you been?"

"I've been well, mom," Lucy said, putting on a polite smile. "Just busy with work."

"Work," Vanessa repeated, her tone turning flat. "Are you still running around the city with a gun, pretending to be a cop?"

Lucy stiffened as she caught a glimpse of Tim out of the corner of her eye. Though he was trying to keep his emotions in check, it was clear that he was struggling to contain his anger. Tension was etched in the tight line of his lips and his fists were clenched at his sides. Wanting to protect him from her mother's scrutiny, Lucy took another step forward and declared, "Yes, mom, I'm still a police officer. It's my job, and you know that."

Her mother's smile faded as she studied Lucy, disappointment evident in her voice. "I had hoped you would have come to your senses since the last time we spoke," she stated. "I still don't understand why you had to choose such a dangerous job."

Lucy sighed, bracing herself for the familiar argument. This was a conversation they had had many times, and it always ended the same way. "I understand that you don't approve, but being a police officer is what I was meant to do. It's fulfilling to me, and it makes me happy."

Her mother snorted. "You could have had a successful career in any number of fields. You could have been a talented psychologist, a doctor, or a lawyer."

Tim had been silently observing the conversation, but he snorted at the lawyer comment, deciding it was time to step in. Taking a step forward, he stood beside Lucy, offering his support. "Your daughter is a successful officer, Mrs. Chen. I would think you would be proud of her accomplishments."

"Who are you?" Vanessa questioned, ignoring his words, and eyeing him with suspicion.

Lucy felt a wave of apprehension wash over her as her mother's gaze shifted to Tim. She had hoped to avoid this particular introduction, but it seemed there was no escaping it now. Vanessa's eyes were locked on him, and Tim was openly glaring at her now.

"This is Tim, my boyfriend," she said softly, hoping against hope that her mom would be nice to him.

Her mother's expression shifted, from confusion to shock to recognition, her eyes widening with surprise. "Tim? As in your former training officer, and now boss, or just an unfortunate coincidence with the name?"

Lucy tried to look away, hoping to conceal the truth from her mother. But when she heard the familiar 'tsk, tsk' of Vanessa's tongue, she knew she hadn't been successful.

"I knew the LAPD couldn't be trusted but letting their officers date their superiors? Isn't that a conflict of interest?" Vanessa asked, her eyes downcast.

Lucy huffed and rolled her eyes. "Isn't that a bit hypocritical coming from you? And Tim is not my boss anymore, we do know how to follow the rules."

Vanessa's eyes flashed with annoyance, and she waved her hand dismissively, redirecting the conversation back to her daughter. "Another cop? Lucy, what were you thinking?"

Lucy felt a flash of anger and a surge of defensiveness. She was used to her mother's disapproval, but she hated that Tim had to suffer through it too. "Mom, you don't even know him," she countered, gripping Tim's hand. "Tim is a great person and an amazing cop."

"Save it," Vanessa cut her off, not wanting to hear any more. "I thought you would have learned after Jackson, but now this. What will happen when something happens to Tim too?"

Lucy winced as if physically struck and felt tears welling up in her eyes. She knew her mother could be harsh, but this was outright cruel.

"That's enough," Tim stepped in, tone respectful but firm. "With all due respect, Mrs. Chen, I understand your concerns, but I love Lucy and I'll do everything in my power to keep her safe, even if that means protecting her from her own family."

"I love you, Lucy, and I only want what's best for you," Vanessa said to her daughter, then turned to address Tim. "And if you really love her as you say, I'm surprised you're okay with her risking her life every day. But what can I expect from another cop? But I won't worry. I know my daughter's track record with men. This won't last."

Tim bit his tongue and tightened his grip on Lucy's hand, leading her towards the exit of the market, with Kojo following close behind.

"If you ever come to your senses, call me," Vanessa called after them, but Tim and Lucy did not respond.

The tension of the encounter with Vanessa lingered in the air as they walked back to Tim's truck, but neither of them spoke until they were halfway to his house. "Thanks for having my back," Lucy whispered, rubbing his thigh, hoping the gesture would say what her words couldn't.

"That's what I'm here for," Tim replied, voice filled with warmth and understanding. He took advantage of a red light to lean over and kiss her cheek, his thumb gently wiping away a tear that had escaped her eye. "I'll always be here for you. And to be clear, I know how good of a cop you are, and I am proud of you."

Lucy smiled and squeezed Tim's hand, feeling a rush of gratitude towards her boyfriend, and a sense of peace settled in her chest despite the heartbreak of her mother's constant disapproval.

-x-x-x-

Later that night, Tim and Lucy were cuddled on the couch watching a show when he remembered Vanessa's comments from earlier that day. He hit pause on the stream and turned to face her.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Tim said, his tone gentle.

Lucy hummed and snuggled closer to him, one hand hanging off the couch and petting Kojo, while the other lay on Tim's chest.

"What did your mom mean when she said that this wouldn't last?" Tim asked, his voice a bit hesitant. He hated to bring up their encounter with Vanessa, but the words had been bothering him all day.

Lucy sighed and sat up, cross-legged on the couch. "My only semi-serious relationship was in college. We moved in together, but he ended up cheating on me with my best friend." She grabbed Tim's hand and started playing with his fingers as she spoke. "You could say that created some trust issues...at least until I went on a date with a serial killer and learned what real trust issues are." She laughed self-deprecatingly, but the smile faded from her face.

Tim squeezed her hand and leaned in to kiss her temple, silently encouraging her to continue.

Lucy shook her head, pushing those memories to the back of her mind, and looked back at Tim. "You've met all the people I've dated since college, and none of those relationships lasted. That's what my mom meant."

"Oh, that's it? I thought she meant some deep, dark secret," Tim said, relieved. "None of my last relationships have lasted either." He shrugged, his expression stoic, as usual.

"Tim, you were married for years. You settled down," Lucy pointed out, taking a deep breath. "But I've never been in a serious relationship before."

"And we both know how that ended," Tim said, with a dark chuckle. "But I have to believe that past relationships aren't an indicator of future success. Otherwise, we'd be doomed to fail."

"So, you don't mind?" Lucy questioned, looking at Tim with a mix of apprehension and hope.

"Mind what? That you haven't dated anyone seriously before?" At her nod, Tim smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Of course not, I'm actually flattered. It means we can experience many firsts together."

Lucy snuggled into his arms and buried her face against his chest. "You're right," she said, but her voice was sad.

"What's wrong?" Tim wondered, gently running his fingers through her hair. "Is it your mom?"

"No, it's nothing," Lucy tried to brush it off, but Tim made a sound that indicated he wasn't convinced. "It's just something you said."

"Care to remind me?" Tim asked, trying to recall what he might have said that would trouble Lucy now.

"What you said about our firsts together," Lucy replied in a quiet voice.

Tim's gaze softened and he lifted her chin so she could look him in the eyes. "I never did paintball with Isabel or visited that Vietnamese restaurant you love in Santa Monica. We also never co-parented a dog and she could never get me to try sushi. We have a lifetime of new experiences ahead of us, Luce. And I can't wait."

"Thank you," Lucy whispered and then playfully pushed Tim down onto the couch, plopping herself on top of him. "You always know what to say."

"It's part of my job description," Tim joked, pulling away and cupping Lucy's face. He kissed her softly and then more passionately as the love they felt for each other deepened with the experiences of the day.

[bopinion]

2024 / 07

Aperçu of the Week:

"Time isn't the main thing. It#s the only thing."

(Miles Davis, American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer - and among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of music)

Bad News of the Week:

Sometimes things get rough in the political business. Sometimes you get pelted with eggs, as the unification chancellor Helmut Kohl once did in the East. Or with a bag of paint, as happened to Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. Or even end up in a wheelchair like Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, who was stabbed. However, all these incidents - as tragic as they are - are isolated cases. In which an individual perpetrator, often with a psychological problem that was not diagnosed in time, commits an individual act. It is certainly not possible to speak of a systemic problem. This seems to be changing in Germany.

The increasing aggression against the Greens is becoming more and more frightening. The platform of this party has always had a tendency to polarize. After all, they want to achieve fundamental change. And unlike The Left, which also wants this, they are regularly involved in governments. And stand out more in the context of the otherwise dominant "Keep it up..." - keyword "prohibition party". Of course you can be against it, comment on it on social media, take it to the streets and demonstrate. But please do so in a civilized manner, as it has to be in a democratic society.

Unfortunately, this discourse has not been civilized in recent weeks. It started when the Green Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, was prevented from leaving a car ferry by angry farmers. There was a scuffle with the police, and the public prosecutor's office is now investigating on charges of coercion. And now a Green Party rally - on the traditional "Political Ash Wednesday" - had to be canceled at the last minute. Again because of angry farmers blocking roads. This time, several police officers were injured, cars were demolished and fires were lit. Even Interior Minister Nancy Faeser from the rival Social Democrats considers this to be unacceptable, calling it a "brutalization and poisoning of the discourse". She is quite simply right.

Good News of the Week:

Once a year, the Munich Security Conference MSC, the world's most important security policy meeting, takes place in Munich. It is characterized not only by the official conference programme, but also by the various meetings that take place behind the scenes. One pleasing example: Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at war for years. Under the mediation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, both heads of government have now met in Munich. And then actually announced that they wanted to resolve their conflicts peacefully.

The primary topic was, of course, the Gaza war with a tendency towards a full-size Middle East conflict. The tone towards Israel is becoming harsher. At the MSC, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called for a Palestinian state to end the "vicious circle". And is even receiving support from China: this is the only way to achieve peaceful coexistence in the region, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was also present. It is fitting that French President Emmanuel Macron announced after a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Paris a few days ago that he does not want to close his mind to the recognition of a Palestinian state: "We owe this to the Palestinians, whose expectations have been trampled on for too long."

Naturally, the Ukraine war was also in focus. President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for further support at the security conference. There is a lack of long-range weapons. Kremlin leader Putin must not succeed in turning the next few years into a catastrophe. And the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who has just died in a Siberian prison camp in an as yet unexplained manner, is a victim of Vladimir Putin, just like Ukraine, says Selensky. Shortly beforehand, he had signed a security agreement with Germany, which provides the most military aid to Ukraine after the USA.

Other remarkable things also happened in Munich. For example, US Vice President Kamala Harris reaffirmed that the USA is firmly rooted in NATO. Out of responsibility, but also out of self-interest. Donald Trump's current statements on the subject obviously make this statement seem necessary. "Take him at his word, take him seriously. He means what he says," said former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was also present in Munich.

And finally, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned: "What happens today in Ukraine could happen tomorrow in Taiwan." China's Foreign Minister Wang nonchalantly replied that "Taiwan (remains) part of Chinese territory and the Taiwan issue (is) an internal Chinese matter." Overall, I find it gratifying that even in these times, people are still talking. You get the impression that diplomacy and negotiations are not yet at an end.

Personal happy moment of the week and other categories...

I'm sorry: this week (which piece was published quite late anyway) left me no time to deal with "lighter topics". Next week!

Post Scriptum

It has become apparent: Donald Jessica Trump has been convicted of fraud in court in New York City. The fine amounts to a total of 463.9 million dollars. Many assume that he does not have this in cash. And therefore has to take out a loan or borrow against real estate. Curiously, this fits in with the proceedings - because they were about how Trump manipulated property values in order to obtain cheaper loans. This will now work neither for this personal loan, which he now needs, nor for future deals. That undoubtedly hurts him.

Another decision by Judge Arthur Engoron will hurt him even more. He not only stripped Trump of the management of his own company, but also banned him from doing business in the state of New York for three years, Donald Jr. and Eric for two years and the top managers Weisselberg and McConney for life. In short: the entire top management of the Trump Organization no longer has any say. Engoron transferred their supervision to retired judge Barbara Jones, who thus effectively became Trump's superior.

In Europe, we can only shake our heads at how a legally convicted fraudster and sexual offender can stay in the political business. In Germany, for example, several top politicians have already had to give up their careers because of incorrect citations in their doctoral theses. "He's been a fraud his whole life," commented author Tony Schwartz, who ghostwrote Trump's manifesto "The Art of the Deal". "Today it's just become official." Now it just needs to have a deterrent effect on his voter base. Dreaming will probably still be allowed...