#classic tumblr dot com moment

[samnotsammy12]

someone please please please tell me how to block tags I just got unprompted Wincest on my dash 🤢

[rainia]

sometimes I’ll be watching Foolish and he’ll make these comments that seem to come out of nowhere and everyone in the call will giggle Foolish included, but like I relate so hard because I too will just say random shit and any thought when I’m at home and my siblings are so accustomed to it they don’t even notice and it’s like. I get it man.

[electric-friend]

he’s gonna start mornings today with a tune about cattle rustling???

[purplekoop]

Random Overwatch take ramble time: Sigma.

Sigma is a weird character to get a grasp on, because it's not exactly clear how... aware he is. His origin story video seems to spell out that the incident caused him to completely lose it, and Sombra in Code of Violence says, quote: "A bad experiment fractured his mind. He's just trying to remember how the pieces fit together." In this story, he seems completely oblivious to anything around him, including a violent break-in on the facility he was held in and the fact he was dragged out on an airship. There's no details in the story as to how he reacted to this, so the implication would be... he didn't react to it. He just went along with it.

And yet in game he's... seemingly fine? A bit eccentric sure, he'll often spout a seemingly random question or thought, but he definitely seems aware of his surroundings, as he's able to notice and recognize people and hold natural conversations, aside from his signature unique ponderings. His most recent new interaction with Lifeweaver in particular is extremely coherent, and it's the one time so far we've really seen Sigma act concerned for anyone... even himself, frankly.

Worth noting that this disparity between how we see him pre and post Talon may be deliberate. It's quite possible (if not probable) that between his isolated containment and the "current day" of in-game, his initial gravitic brain scrambling may have recovered. To go off of Sombra's word, maybe in the time between the incident and his time with Talon, he's started to put the pieces of his mind back together.

The most striking part though is that he seems to flip between calm and aloof one moment, then deliberately and mercilessly violent the next. Now, granted, part of this is because he's a character in a PvP game, there's plenty of examples of that in Overwatch's cast alone (Mei being a somewhat infamous example of contrast between character and gameplay), but with Sigma it seems like a very deliberate part of his character. He goes from tender, inquisitive grandpa to violent terrifying supervillain at a moment's notice.

In fact, it's somewhat implied he's not even aware of the extent of his actions, but it's really hard to decipher, especially when the actual PvP gameplay (y'know, our most thorough source of reference) isn't even canon. Sometimes after a team kill he'll say something like "Huh? Where did everybody go?", which can be interpreted a number of ways, and again, comes from the dubious source that is PvP dialogue, but it does seem to imply him being not fully aware of what's going on is part of his character.

And... yeah okay, obligatory messy subject when talking about Sigma's characterization: his condition being analogous to mental illness.

I'm not well-researched enough to go into specifics, but it's very clear that Sigma is meant to be experiencing something akin to some kind of mental illness, obviously with the one main difference being the more fantastical nature of its source and effects. He doesn't seem aware of his surroundings or his actions, he flips moods from passivity to violence sporadically, and most "yikes!" of all, one of his debut skins had him in the classic serial killer insane asylum outfit. That one is... yeah that one's just icky, I'm sorry. Overwatch does that thing a lot where they get fantastical with real world issues (most notably having one of the more "whatever" robo-racism stories), and while most of the time it's done in a way that's pretty inoffensive and disconnected from reality... that skin is just disappointing. Legitimately the most embarrassing part of the game as far as I'm concerned.

But I think it'd be a disservice to the character to limit a reading of him to just that depressing note, so here's my take (and reason for making this post in the first place):

Sigma isn't insane. In fact, a lot of his "odd" behavior isn't even because of his unique condition.

He's... to be blunt (and predictable on Tumblr Dot Com), Neurodivergent.

I know, that's not a much more flattering reading than mental illness, but hear me out.

I think it's safe to assume that Siebren was always inquisitive and far-thinking. He's a scientist after all, he had to have some ambition to try and do his experiment. So his random hypotheticals he spouts out aren't madness... they're unfiltered. His seemingly bizarre views on reality and his wonky perception are just... what he considers to be important or unimportant.

In fact, he kind of spells it out himself.

The incident didn't change him: It freed him.

As a scientist, he probably had to maintain a veil of professionalism and seriousness that he just doesn't have to now that he has his powers. Shoot, based on how he casually brings up meeting The Iris (the literal deity of Zenyatta's beliefs), it's quite possible that the incident was more of an enlightenment than a transformation. He saw past the conventional limitations of reality... and society.

he acts the way he does because he's realized it doesn't matter, he can do what he wants because he's met a god and has gravity powers.

Now, I'm not saying he doesn't also have a fantastical mental illness, but instead that there's layers to him. He's "weird" on his own, and that's just been unfiltered.

Personally speaking (as someone who's not officially diagnosed autistic but very very heavily expects it based on... well reasons that might be self-evident, among others), I feel like this is a more interesting and potentially just more accurate way of reading the character than just "old man who went insane because of space magic". I find myself randomly thinking of out-of-nowhere ponderings about life and the universe and everything, but I've grown up learning that most people look at you funny if you say them out loud. Plus, I'm definitely prone to big swings of anger that feel out of nowhere over small things, and whatever funky part of my brain to contribute that to is very much undetermined as of now.

So for me, I realized Sigma is kind of just... the power fantasy of someone who recognizes the greater scope of things and has a passionate curiosity to learn, and doesn't have to worry about the rules of society or even physics. It makes more sense and feels more meaningful to read him not as mindless, but... free. Free to be curious and not care how other people view him.

So. Yeah, long, somewhat rambly post that touched some complicated subjects, in a way that's probably not as articulated as I would like, but oh well, rather would get it out imperfectly than not at all. Lately I've been thinking about Sigma's seemingly wonky characterization, and then figured out an answer to the question of how to interpret his behavior in a way that both made sense and was more compelling than an initial glance reading.

(can you tell I've recently realized I think kinda like the funny floaty gravity science man, I think I didn't clarify that enough earlier)

But hopefully I've made something vaguely resembling a convincing argument for how this character is compelling and relatable in a way that isn't problematic and icky, I didn't wanna dwell on that stuff but it felt important to bring up.

[wrylywriting]

saying crazy unhinged things about bridgerton under the cut bc what ELSE is tumblr dot COM for!!!

Not that Bridgerton was ever ever ever a perfect show by any means, but like s3 part 2 being so lackluster is just like upsetting me bc I really don't think I had the highest expectations in the world. I was ready for it to be a little cringe. I was ready for the classic Bridgerton antics that don't make sense. What I was not ready for was... it to not really be a lot about Colin and Penelope!

Obviously like I have a bias so perhaps the average viewer would not see it this way, but I was so optimistic with how part 1 ended! And aside from a few key moments, so many things felt like they didn't make sense in the end. And I think what is most frustrating is that they could have been fixed so easily! They could have given Colin a real plot and perspective! They could have given their relationship more! They could have made it feel like... this was actually about the main couple this season was about!

idk man. I think as a plus size woman who just loves romance as a genre so much who doesn't see myself in roles like Penelope pretty much ever, I had a lot riding on this season in a personal way. One piece of media cannot BE everything I want it to be and I know that, which is the crux of the issue of lack of representation across all fields obviously. I'm still happy it exists in this form at all, but it's just a tough pill to swallow sometimes! I just don't think the season was fully handled with the full weight and knowledge of what it would mean to some people (but it's rare that things are! I know I'm not alone in this regard, I feel like I sound so whiny and entitled rn lol)

Anyway... when someone makes a cut of season 3 that removes all the random side quests these other characters were on, send it my way.

[thegreatyin]

Bingo for Laios Touden

i love laios. i love how he's supposedly the classic white bread fantasy protagonist except he's actually absolutely insane and his autism swag is probably powerful enough to kill god. i spent the second half of episode 17 feeling violent in his defense. he's everything he is the moment he is the tonight and the tonight is the night and call me also the night the way i would put people to sleep permanently via murder in his honor. literally rip to everyone else but i would sit down and listen to his 20 hour dissertation on monster lore. i would be there. i would be taking notes. o7 laios touden dunmeshi you would've done numbers on tumblr dot com

[manofmanymons]

I have concluded, based on an incredibly small sample size, that Ryo x Minoru is not too weird to talk about on tumblr dot com, and that at least one other human being on the face of home, planet earth, not only tolerates but ships it as well.

So I'm gonna be annoying about them for a minute!

I think they're cute as hell! I constantly think about the fact that in non truthful routes, Ryo takes Minoru's teasing to mean that he hates him, but in the truthful route he knows Minoru's antics are his way of cheering him up! + Minoru getting embarrassed about getting called out for it is silly and adorable!

I totally hc that over time they do just have a very specific dynamic with each other that only they understand. Minoru bullies Ryo and Ryo calls him a dick but really that's just their version of "hey how ya doin" "alright"

If Minoru's not messing with him, Ryo will check in and make sure he's okay. If Ryo is ever quiet and doesn't snap back, Minoru will check to see if he's okay.

Except the catch is that literally none of their friends have picked up on this. They all just think "why does Minoru always single out Ryo to pick on" and "Wow Ryo really can't stand Minoru, can he?"

They're genuinely considering talking to those two about their behavior and getting to the bottom of why they hate each other in hopes of getting them to get along better, only for them to rock up to the next friend hangout like "so we're dating now."

Everyone has the most overexaggerated sitcom-esque "WHAT" moment. Except Miu and Kaito who gave up on understanding other human beings so long ago that nothing can surprise them anymore and they're just like "oh cool congrats." Saki is surprised at first but very quickly is like "ohhhh that's why Ryo never shuts up about Minoru." She thought he was just complaining about him a lot but no that idiot had a crush the WHOLE time.

Oh oh oh hc that like on the first day or so of camp, when they first becoming friends, Minoru and Takuma were just talkin about boy stuff, and at some point they got on the topic of like "What's your type?" And Minoru with 0 hesitation was like "definitely a hot girl who's calm and gentle and would want a guy like me to take care of her" while picturing some classic comic book damsel in distress (delusional teen boy moment).

And now finally, FINALLY Takuma can make fun of Minoru for something. Minoru goes too far sharing an embarrassing thing Takuma did at school and Takuma just interrupts him like HEY WANT ME TO TELL YOUR BOYFRIEND WHAT YOU SAID YOUR IDEAL SIGNIFICANT OTHER WOULD BE

And it shuts him right up ksksnf

Minoru is the only person other than Saki that knows that Ryo only actually means "leave me alone" about 20% of the time, and the rest of the time that just means "I'm not feeling great but don't want to/don't know how to talk about it" and will do the OPPOSITE of leaving him alone (coming over to keep him company).

MINORU BEFRIENDING RYO'S DAD BY MAKING DAD JOKES. RYO IS SUFFERING KSJSKDN

Boyfriend who doesn't talk much x boyfriend who won't shut the fuck up beloved dynamic

Once in a rare while Minoru gets a little overwhelming for Ryo to deal with, but he never takes it personally. He knows his bf loves him, he can just only take so much LOUD at a time. He has other friends he can hand out with while Ryo is in recharge mode.

...Minoru taking advantage of no longer being a single pringle to torment his friends with the "no bitches" meme. The first time Ryo is the one to send it in chat, everyone is like "NOOOO THE MINORUFICATION OF OUR BELOVED RYO HAS FINALLY HAPPENED, IT'S RYOVER."

Bc that's how youths today talk, I believe. /hj

Ryo...surprisingly sappy. Minoru thinking he'd have to remind him of their anniversary only to show up at his place and immediately have flowers shoved in his face. RIP Saki and Shuuji for being the main victims of Ryo talking about Minoru for an hour. The bastard can pretend to be totally normal about his bf in front of the others, but those two know the truth. He is very strategic about NOT telling Takuma jackshit. Both because he's a respectful little lad and knows that there are some things no one wants to know about their best friend, and because he doesn't trust Takuma not to share any cheesy thing he might say with Minoru.

Minoru, surprisingly, also doesn't tell Takuma too much in the way of his love life. School life, home life, fandom life, sure. Love life? Absolutely not. Too much of a "that's not the kinda thing guys talk about" guy.

Famous last sentiments before Takuma becomes an annoying guy who won't shut up about his own bf 24/7 but that's beside the point

I think neither of them would be big on pda. They both get embarrassed too easy. Even then they're dating Ryo still calls Minoru a jerk. Minoru increases the frequency of which he obnoxiously calls Ryo "senpai." They are both, however, allergic to petnames.

Minoru tried saying "sweetie" once at Takuma's behest, and Ryo made him swear to NEVER do that again.

..despite being too embarrassed to hold his hand or kiss him in public, Minoru WILL make random excuses to touch his bf. Stupid things like "your headband was crooked" or "there was an eyelash on your face."

I don't have a good conclusion to this post, just know that I think about them a lot.

[still-single]

Records I Am Glad to Have Found in 2023: Part 1

Instead of rufflin' whatever (feather) maybe it's better that there's just a place where I can tell you that my life is better for having found these records and having them within reach. Maybe you might wanna reach for them as well. Up to you! Maybe feel fortunate that I want to engage with Tumblr at all, but the 16 or so accounts who said (anonymously) that they miss my review content may get a kick out of all this, and see where my head's at now.

New records, not-new records, things I bought, things that were sent to me, things I bartered for. Fair play.

First up, this Beau Wanzer record that I wrote up a while back. I feel exactly the same about it. It's new as of January and there aren't many releases out there like it at the moment. Undead, shufflin' Beau hours. One of my favorite DJs and electronic musicians in Chicago, he really does not seem to walk any path other than his own.

Al B. Sure! - In Effect Mode LP (Uptown/Warner Bros., 1988)

Growing up in my early teens, two songs from Al B. Sure!'s debut album were more or less inescapable: the masterful slow jam "Nite and Day," and the more uptempo quasi-diss track "Off On Your Own (Girl)." I never owned the record (why would I, this always seemed like a "why buy the cow" situation), and it never seemed to turn up used, something I better understand now.

This thing is great! It's short, mindful of our time and Al's. Side 1 contains four slow jams (the Nite! side), kicking off with the classic "Nite and Day" (so much rooftop glare and World Trade Center fixation in the vid) and cascading down into the whisper/falsetto/snap percussion ballad "Oooh This Love Is So" (kinda like an older brother NKOTB slow jam, really well arranged, FM synths cresting over top with some tasteful guitar buried underneath). His take on Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" is doctor's office soft, but works where the Fugees' take doesn't, as Al seems to know there's no improving on the original, and he's lucky just to put it in his framework. "Naturally Mine" is like the shadowy flipside to the majesty of the opener, and doesn't come close, but also doesn't need to; the Teddy Riley guitar work does a lot on its own.

Side 2 (the Day! side) turns on the lights for some more uptempo New Jack Swing template jams. Opener "Rescue Me" sounds like two songs that were somehow merged into one, but that may just be the tonal difference between the intro and verse structure.

"Off On Your Own (Girl)" is neatly, nearly perfect, with quiet, pressurized syncopation, Al's bellyache storytellin' (sits by the phone a lot, it seems), and a delivery, particularly in the chorus, which says so much more than the title states. I'm particularly enamored of his switching between judgmental sing-speak/orchestra hit stress and his bracing falsetto. On the stremf! He even throws us a Slick Rick impression in a bridge. Last two tracks seem interchangeable but that's fine; you don't serve surf after the turf, even if you're coming in hot with bass pounds.

Uptown is generally a welcome sign of quality for this time and place; from Al to Heavy D., Guy to Jodeci. Andre knew what was up. Cool cat logo too.

Honestly there are probably other Al jams worth seeking out, and of course his performance in New Jack City when he fingers Ice-T as a narc with those Bert eyebrows of his. Most people don't hit this sort of success right out of the gate, and that's the needle he threads so effortlessly here.

Ron Morelli – Heart Stopper 2xLP (L.I.E.S., 2023)

Ron was one of the first people I met when I moved to NYC in 2000, and for a while I was regularly having lunch with him, Steve Roche, Adam Paterson, and Matt Smith at the Uptown Juice Bar in lower Manhattan, when we were all working in some sort of office and/or dot-com capacity, going to ABC No Rio and the like. I'd fall in and out of that orbit for a while over the next 6-7 years, as bands formed and broke up, people worked up their DJ chops, etc. At some point Ron moved down to Philly and was grinding in a more formal club DJ capacity before coming back to NYC and starting L.I.E.S., living in the trap, and working at A-1 in the East Village. It wasn't easy, even in that orbit, to find the L.I.E.S. releases, but the quality was always there.

I fell off a bit due to life and the like, missed a lot of Ron's Hospital output (as well as a lot of later L.I.E.S., again due to life stuff; the last one I gripped from the initial run was Florian Kupfer's Lifetrax), and last I knew he had relocated to Paris. Living in Chicago has given me more of an opportunity to interface with house music as it happened, with proximity to the records and DJs in clubs, to where it started to click with me. Heart Stopper retains this same sort of focus, drilling down on the repetition and stress/release of the foundational cuts of the initial era. My fave here is "Tangled Trap of Love," a big nod to Master C & J's "Face It," but I've found myself putting this record on and letting it roll to the close more often than most I've favored this year. Didn't make it to the Podlasie Club back in May, but I did appreciate this (paywalled) interview in the First Floor Substack, the guy I remember so well playing stoically to the bozos up front, dialing down style to the horizon where it meets substance and accepting nothing less.

(Doug Mosurock)

[frootyrooties]

right, i’m remembering my tumblr timeline now.

so, if i remember correctly, i started this blog in September 2010 (last i checked). i was most active from 2010-2011. looking back at my tumblr activity at the time, it appears as tho i wasn’t as active on here as i thought. i started to use tumblr less frequently beginning 2012 (the year i graduated high school). i was completely inactive the second half of 2012 as i had joined the military. 2013, i came back for a very very brief while then disappeared, and again inactive for most of 2014 as i was busy between work and college. 2015 i came back but again, it was very brief and i was only posting sporadically. i was inactive from 2015-early 2022. i partied way too much during my long hiatus and forgot about tumblr (sorry). 2021 marked the year that my interest for classic rock was reignited. i was part of an america (the band) fan group on instagram from 2021-2022 and my obsession for classic rock bands and solo musicians was once again rekindled and it’s only gotten worse since. i came back late 2022 by accident, and i say this bc i didn’t think i still remembered my login on here. by some miracle, i was able to login and i can remember my heart leaping. two of my happiest moments happened during August 2022: discovering 10cc, the band who has changed my life, and a newfound appreciation for tumblr dot com.

let’s just say, this was one of those “happy accidents” :))

[hergan416]

Fucking making Dorian Gray about Yugioh because why the fuck not. It's my blog I do what I want. Welcome to tumblr dot com.

This is long as hell and kind of convoluted. Click read more if you want to hear my rambling thoughts about about queer coding, language, and censorship, within the context of comparing the classic work of late 1800s literature The Picture of Dorian Gray, a work credited with loosening the grip of the pervasive and stifling Victorian morals, written by Oscar Wilde, who was famously tried for gross indecency because he was gay and this was considered a threat to society, and the 4kids dub version of Yugioh, first aired on children's television networks in the early 00s over a century later, and famously censored to make regular facts of life, such as death, more terrifying in order to make the show "suitable for children" and "suitable for network TV."

Ok. So. It's chapter two. Dorian Gray has just objected to being called "boy," to which Lord Henry says something like "you know you want it."

Specifically on p. 104-105

"And I don't allow anyone to call me a silly boy." [...] "And you know you have been a little silly, Mr. Gray, and that you don't really mind being called a boy." "I should have minded very much this morning, Lord Henry." "Ah! this morning! You have lived since then."

The significance of this objection, according to the annotations, is that to call another man a "boy" "was frequently understood as a veiled announcement of homosexual or homosocial desire." (p 105) The annotations provide Lord Alfred Douglas' nickname "Bosie" as evidence. (Lord Alfred Douglas was Oscar Wilde's lover, and his father is the one who's charges eventually put Oscar Wilde in jail.)

Lord Henry is, quite frankly, being quite creepy here. "I don't want this." "Oh but you do." 🤮 [If I had a quarter for every time I had a conversation that went like that...]

Even before the 1891 book version, Lord Henry can't really be seen as a good influence on Dorian Gray. At best he is an amoral influence, as he's said himself, but it's quite clear from his own thoughts that he doesn't really believe that. (Earlier: "Lord Henry watched him[Dorian Gray], with his sad smile. He knew the precise psychological moment when to say nothing." p. 97) He's been screwing with Dorian the whole time. And sure, there is language to assert that the ideas that Lord Henry espouses (which are many, and quite contradictory) merely awaken something already within Dorian Gray, it is still clear that Lord Henry is meaning to be manipulative.

This is further evidenced by annotation number 22 on page 97.

Lord Henry brings a combination of intellectual detachment and pleasure to the task of influencing Dorian that is positively Mephistophelian in its connotations. Later, he will refer to Dorian as his "own creation." Lord Henry knows that there are moral consequences to the advice he gives Dorian, but he finds "an exquisite pleasure in playing on the lad's unconscious egotism." There has been much critical speculation about what motivates the combination of pleasure and detachment -- about whether it is a sublimated expression of erotic desire, whether it has a purely philosophic or pedagogic basis, or whether it is a sign of Lord Henry's own moral corruption.

It is clear, however, from all the context of the annotations and the words on the page themselves, at least, that Lord Henry makes Dorian Gray uncomfortable, and likely made the audience uncomfortable as well.

Especially when the rationality for the discussion above harkens back to the Cleveland Street Scandal of 1889, which was still very much in the public consciousness. (Wilde's manuscript was published in Lippencott's magazine in July of 1890.) The link is to wikipedia, because I'm only going to allude to the social impact of the scandal here. Go ahead and read it if you want more information.

Anyway, this brings me to Yugioh, and the (Dub portrayal) of this man:

I'm going to have to take a few steps back because I want to talk about Pegasus as queer coded villain, because I think that flipping from the Cleveland Street Scandal to the character of Maximilian Pegasus is not super obvious.

Disclaimer, this is obviously all opinion. While I'm relying heavily on scholarly annotations regarding Dorian Gray, with Yugioh I can't even claim to have a very informed opinion outside of being in fandom and watching it with my eyes. Also, I lived during its historical context. But, I've never taken a media studies or GWSS class.

That being said... to me, Pegasus' queer coding all comes down to his voice and his vocal tics. Here:

To me, the more obvious way that Pegasus is queer coded is the sing-songy lilt in his voice, which is not dissimilar to the stereotypical valley girl speech that was often assigned to gay men by bullies at my school in popular culture at the time. This could be written off as an English language interpretation of a vocal tic... especially since he has a vocal tic in the original Japanese that would be hard to translate and also sounds sort of similar.

I do not know enough about Japanese culture to comment on whether this verbal tic from the original anime had any queer connotations whatsoever. I can't even say that the creative choices made by 4kids were a bad way to represent Pegasus' Japanese actor's voice in English, and I certainly can't speak to their intent regarding the perception of Pegasus' character. I can only say what connotations I as a viewer brought with me to this creative choice.

Regardless, Yugioh was being aired in the United States divorced from its original context, and heavily censored. So, if the audience has a connotation about the way Pegasus talks.... the audience has this connotation. The resources to look for why this choice might have been made weren't meant to be available to US viewers in the 00s. I had them right after my viewing because I didn't watch Yugioh until I was an adult, sometime around 2015.

Back to the lilt. Obviously Pegasus isn't meant to be gay in the "falls in love with other guys" sense. The story gives him a female love interest, who dies. This motivates him to get the Millennium Eye and "become evil" because it's a 00s era kid's show and we only get extremely cut and dry morality, so characters are usually either good or evil. (Please ignore Kaiba here, I understand he's allowed to toe the line of being antagonistic without being evil, but most other characters do not get this treatment.)

Instead, Pegasus is meant to come off as creepy towards the teens on the show. He's already doing a LOT of bad shit, like say kidnapping Yugi's Grandpa, kidnapping Mokuba, and holding Kaiba Corp hostage. But this needs to be hammed up even further.

This is where predatory stereotypes come in. Specifically, I want to connect Pegasus' verbal tic of calling Yugi "Yugi-boy" and Kaiba "Kaiba-boy" to the predatory stereotypes that began with the Cleveland Street Scandal.

Ok. See the connotations of the word "boy" in the 1890s above. Sure, it is less recognizable that this language is meant to imply homosexuality today, but Pegasus' words still come off predatory and creepy in a modern sense. Add in the already threatening visuals, and some creepy music, and you know this is a guy you want to stay away from.

When finding clips for the above video, I never heard him use this pattern of speech on Mokuba, an actual boy. He only uses the phrase on the teenagers who are defying his will. This honestly makes the choice in language more threatening to me, because it's not simply something he says of other people. It something he says to specific people at the very least as a way to unnerve them.

Even if the Cleveland Street Scandal wasn't something in the public consciousness a tad over a century later, the same "gay man after teen boys" stereotype still permeated media and culture.

This was an era where tragedies like Brokeback Mountain were considered revolutionary positive portrayals of gay people in media. If your audience was meant to feel sorry for or empathize with gay characters, you were doing good by them, no matter how much the character suffered. Obviously, to be gay was to suffer. That's what made Brokeback a good portrayal.

More commonly, however, queerness was the butt of a joke, and lumped in with jokes about Michael Jackson or Catholic priests and molestation (source, once again: school bullies). These were people you stayed away from. And I feel that 4kids was drawing on this stereotype in their portrayal of Pegasus.

Still with me? Cool.

At this point, I believe I've demonstrated why I see shared character traits between Pegasus and Lord Henry, that these traits are primarily things the audience would view as predatory, and that these traits would be seen as predatory for similar reasons.

Ok. So let's talk about censorship.

If you haven't been following these posts, and you've made it here, holy shit congratulations. Reward yourself. I'm verbose AF.

And, I'll note that I'm reading The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray, which is an annotated and illustrated edition of Oscar Wilde's typescript that he sent to Lippencott's magazine. I've mentioned Lippencott's already, in contrast to the 1981 book. Most people who read The Picture of Dorian Gray, read the 1891 book that Oscar WIlde re-worked after extreme negative backlash to the Lippencott's magazine version, both for its homosexual allusions, but also for the way that Dorian Gray treats women and for his promiscuous heterosexual life. Better modern printings of the novel will include both the Lippencott's version and the book, so that readers can see the differences. But it took until 2011 for Wilde's original typescript to be reprinted, which is what I've checked out from the library and have been reacting to. [Check out the "#liveblogging the uncensored picture of dorian gray" for my other posts.]

Anyway, the reason the typescript is important is because Lippencott's had already censored a fair amount of the manuscript, and Wilde would not have been able to review these changes before the magazine was published. Because of the magazine publishing culture at the time, it would have been highly unusually for a magazine to go back to the original author and get an ok to edit their work. So the typescript is the closest we have to a version of the novel that Wilde would have written and published were there no societal pressure whatsoever. It is, as the title claims, uncensored.

I assume my audience is more familiar with the history of 4kids as a company and its use of censorship to make foreign animation palatable to the post-9/11 US parent in the midst of what essentially amounted to a moral panic.

In spite of both media being censored in order to protect impressionable people (the cause of the uproar over the Lippencott's version, as well as the raison-d'etre for 4kids removing death, alcohol/drugs, foreign foods and foreign names from any anime they touched), both characters retain this malignant queerness in the final versions of their respective media.

The chapter that I'm reading right now only has one textual change listed. It is to make Basil seem less homoerotic, like most of the changes in the first chapter had been. Nothing was done between the parts of the typescript that I quoted and Lippencott's, nor Lippencott's and the 1891 book. From my understanding of the general and textual introductions, the 1891 book overall actually drew on Lord Henry more and is more explicit about his negative influence on Dorian Gray.

4Kids was famous for censorship, but seemingly went out of their way to make Pegasus a queer-coded villain, despite this explicitly not fitting with his redemption arc and backstory. While this could be a consequence of trying to translate a verbal tic, if this interpretation was considered problematic, it would not have made it past their censors. 4Kids historically chose censorship over accuracy with much smaller things.

While homosexuality was/is considered bad for society and bad for young people, portraying it was never "bad" if it was clear the media was treating the homosexual character as a "bad person." That didn't change for over 100 years.

[crushsung]

♬♬♬

send in a ‘♬‘ and the mun will share a song that they love & why they love it.

basically just stealing songs from my alice playlist for this. because i might as well make this about her. here we go.

headspace by sharon van etten - this song is about intimacy to me. like yes, it is about sex, i'm pretty sure. but i feel like it's more about seeking something deeper through sex. (example, the lines: "i wanted to feel ageless / i wanted to be here") there's a desperation to it, with how repetitive the chorus is. this song is about seeing yourself through someone else's eyes during moment of intimacy and vulnerability, desperately trying to make sense of your identity through someone else. (does this make sense? no? okay, hope this helps.) also it's the song that i find the second most influential to what alice's music sounds like in my head. the first of which is in fact our next song.

(cue transition music)

partner in crime by lucy dacus (spotify singles version) - this is less what alice's music sounds like and more like what her lyrics are, i guess? it's very much about yearning, particularly at a young age, and wanting something that might you might not be ready/mature enough for. the lyrics really paint the scene cinematically, it almost feels like the narrator is naively romanticizing their own situation. that's something that's heavily featured in alice's lyrics because she was writing at such a young age. (example, the lines: "do you love me, do you love me not" almost suggest a childishness.) she was romanticizing her situations while they were happening to her, she still romanticizes her situations on reflection because it's easier than admitting they were traumatic or negative in any way.

glory box by portishead - literally The Song Of All Time, in my opinion. i imagine alice did a cover of this at some point and that lives in my mind rent free. this song is also about sex, i guess. i mean, it is and it isn't. correction: i think it's about a sexual dynamic, with the woman in the relationship trying to gain some agency and ownership over her body. which again, is another recurring theme here at crushsung dot tumblr dot com. anyways, this song is sort of considered a feminist anthem, which i suppose it is if you want to interpret it that way. but in the case where we are applying this song to alice, i think it's less about like "women deserve bodily autonomy and authority in a relationship with a man" and more about like "i will not let anyone else take my body away from me". classic trauma response. i probably have more to say about this song both as its own piece and in relation to alice, but this post is getting way too long.

[doctorwhomhc]

MHC #?30 The Liquorice Allsorts of "Cut Bits"

CUTBITS:

Welcome to Mostly Harmless Cutaway Question Mark Three Zero featuring Sean, Josh, Caleb and Eric. Join us as we take a peak behind the curtain to some fun moments caught between episodes. We discuss a potential future guest for the show, the libations we enjoy (or no longer enjoy) while recording, Sean's thoughts on Pokerface, and a variety of other topics. 

WARNING:

This discussion contains miscellaneous K-9 and Company, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, Sherlock, Class, new WHO, and/or classic SPOILERS pertaining to Doctor Who. If you are 100% spoilerphobic to new & classic episodes not yet seen, do NOT complain to us. This episode is MOSTLY HARMLESS & contains EXPLICIT ideas, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout.

 DISCLAIMER:

This Cutbit was recorded Feb. 16th, 2023.

COMING SOON: MHC #?31!

  DON'T PANIC

  Host/Producer: Eric @BullittWHO Email: EscoWHO ~at~ gmail ~dot~com ProgNeg: prognosisnegative.libsyn.com

Co-host: Josh @whomeJZ Email: whomeJZ ~at~ yahoo ~dot~com The High Council: dwhighcouncil.libsyn.com

Co-hostess: Cat @fancyfembot Email: fancyfembot ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Sci-Fi Party Line: scifipartyline.com

Co-Host/Producer: Caleb @CalebAlexader Podcast: https://thenoviceelitists.podbean.com/ Podcast: https://tnebendingtheelements.podbean.com/

Mostly Harmless Cutaway @DoctorWhoMHC Email: DoctorWhoMHC ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Website: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/MHC Tumblr: doctorwhomhc.tumblr.com  Facebook: facebook.com/DoctorWhoMHC 

Art: H.B. Lockwood @hayleyglyphs Legal: Sean H. @tardistavern Iconoclast: Katrina G. @xanister PR: Kyle A. @FunctionalNerd Comptroller: Chris B. @dubbayoo R&D: Erik S. @sjcAustenite Morale: Erika E. @HollyGoDarkly Eponymous opening by Emily K. @emilyooo MHCTheme created by E.A. Escamilla

Check out this episode!

[maingel]

that post that’s like ‘anti friend groups are like cults! o_O’ your corny fandom drama isn’t nearly as bad as a cult.  cringe

[faustandfurious]

2021 READING ROUNDUP

I’m not making this into an ask game, but rather a template you can fill out with the literature you read this year

EDIT: You can put the same book for several different prompts if it fits, for those who read fewer than 50 books in total, and if you don’t have a book to fit a particular prompt, you just leave it blank

Number of books read

A book originally published in a non-English language

A poem

A non-fiction book

A book under 150 pages

A book over 700 pages

A book nobody is talking about on Tumblr dot com

A book that made you go feral

A book that pleasantly surprised you

A book with a canon ship you actually liked

A book written by an author who is dead

Another poem

A sentence/quote that made you feel emotions

A source of serotonin

A book you’d reread right this moment

A book that reminded you of a song, and the song of which it reminded you

A book you immediately wanted to read/write fanfiction about

A book where you related to the protagonist

A book you enjoyed despite the protagonist being an absolute piece of shit

A fact you learned from a fiction book

A book that took you ages to read

A book with a poor little meow meow

A short-story

A book with religious imagery/themes

A book about revenge

A book with queer representation

A book that was published this year

A book you picked because the cover looked nice

A book where the story is told non-linearly

A memoir or biography

A book with a revolution

A book with horror elements

A book world you wish you could live in for a week

Four books that feel like each of the four seasons

A book with a bittersweet ending

A newspaper/magazine/website article you’d recommend

Two unconnected books that seem strangely similar

A book that draws inspiration from a literary classic

A book that feels like it was written for you

A book you wish you’d had time to read, but which will have to wait until 2022

A book with an insufferable fandom

A book where you prefer the antagonist to the protagonist

A book you found unsettling

A standalone novel

The first book in a series

A sequel

A book with an interesting sibling dynamic

A play

A book where the protagonist is at least bilingual

A book with a beautiful friendship

[jensonsbuttons]

top 5 sebson moments, off you go

oh god okay all right well this has only taken me 7 1/2 hours to answer Considering you said i have to be different with these since i already did a top 5 sebson moments one time...i will do my best. god knows there's enough moments to go around though so we’re fine. its going under the read more though cause this got LONG

1. "cheeky" - taking our number one spot this time is this classic moment between the two. i- i mean you already know how uh that whole moment went down when we watched that race so i'll keep this quick but thats one hell of a compliment jenson

2. canada gp interview 2019 - hello modern sebson. there is so much to unpack from one interview. its informative about seb and quali, there's banter, nostalgia. it's got it all. plus, seb in the very beginning just very quietly going "hi jenson :D" can really cure your depression, water the crops, the whole nine yards.

3. the look of love - listen...this man (jenson) has two books published. in both of them he has many pictures. in both of them he has....generic titles and captions for the pictures. except for the only picture of seb he has in the books. he includes this picture and titles it “the look of love.” now, is he being sarcastic with it since seb looks kinda like he wants to murder jenson? probably. but its still cute and it warms my heart to think that thats what he chooses to put in the book (along with numerous other compliments, mentioning their helmet swap, they’ve always had a good relationship, etc.)

(also hi to a really cute pic of lewis and jenson you don’t see him calling it the look of love though)

4. mirror, mirror on the wall - anytime they mirror each other i lose a year of life. there are a few instances here on tumblr dot com so i’ll link here and here and here for those moments.

5. You construct intricate rituals... - *blows whistle* five minutes for unnecessary physical contact. these two are ALWAYS within 2 inches of each other. like no they have not heard of personal space and no! they will not separate! (no this isn’t a moment its a series of them shhh)

anyway happy pride month to whatever is going on between these two

[dreamhot]

Sorry im a new fan,, whats happening on nov 5?

nov 5th 2020 was just a very active day on tumblr dot com (in general, not just for mcytblr). the american elections seemed endless, vote counts were taking forever, a few states flipped sides... there was a rumour about putin stepping down, destiel was made canon, something important in bnha happened i think, and like. idk it was a LOT all at once and the dash was EXPLODING with posts and jokes about it. it was a classic tumblr moment i had never seen my dash so singularly unified in the chaos