#douchebags come into other people's spaces to troll anyway

[incarnateirony]

You and I have had our differences, but I wanted to say thank you for being a positive safe space for Dean/Castiel/Jensen/Misha/Destiel. Too many places I’ve been apart of that are supposed to be safe spaces (namely Profound Bond, but other discords and private gc’s) delight in tearing down Destiel or reaching for the worst possible intentions of everything that Misha or Jensen say.

And this, my friends, is why the mods of spnscripthunt screech "cult" about the fact that I establish basic boundaries and expected social codes of civil behavior in my server. PB... wants to try, but all it resorts to is rigid overmodding of topics. Like how dare you squii also about Alex in this Mishalex picture in the Misha room, DELETED, TAKE THAT HERESY TO THE ALEX CHANNEL jesus, jan. calm down. So then nobody can have organic convos and 2po and dotp and those folks FROM scripthunt run around shitting in the corners and dragging people to DMs to shove propaganda down their throat when they aren't salting in any semi viable channel.

Yeah. I know. I. Fucking. Know. It's miserable out there for people that like. Have eyes and ears and just want to enjoy the content. This place is overflowing with entitled shitlords that think antifanning is the only true fanning, that their lies about creatives can supercede who they are as people, EVERYTHING.

I don't care about ~differences to be honest. Hell, a few people that left in the *literal server coup to try to delete my server* have, once they basically apologized and recognized where and how it got out of pocket, come back. I just care about like. Emotional expense bullshit. Because yes, guys, I'm sorry, even the best of you, just be exposure to this deranged ass psychosocial bubble, have developed really bad habits. You're human. Exposure happens. Normalization happens. So odds are if I ever went off, it was less about what you said, than how you said it.

The other nonnie for example REALLY DOES THINK THEY WERE BEING GENUINE. They didn't compute, because how NORMALIZED it is here, how 1. asking a repetitive question on anon is itself an energy investment request in expectant tone from a literal faceless douchebag i can't hold conversation with or know as a person and 2. attaching their own presupposition that I might somehow be Overdoing It even though they ADMITTED they didn't have context.

Like. Don't. If you're gonna ask me shit, put aside your foregone conclusions fucking first. That's the entire problem with this place. That's the plot of the show. And yes it's a metanarrative, and when you are literally aware of that, watching those shenanigans clog up your anon box or try to slip into your server makes you want to like. Rip off your own arm and chew on it. STAHP. omG

So yeah. Unless you like killed a puppy or something anon, regardless of the differences, check out the server. If we had a conflict, under the respect of understanding it's still a space I maintain those conversational boundaries on for a mix of respect and community environment, that's fine. Shelter's still open for the sane.

We have basic debate rules. It's not that we don't allow debate. In fact, the server itself is premised *in* debate. But that debate is literal debate, and designed to end cyclones of indefensible misinformation, appeals to nonsense invisible majorities, concern trolling or halfass shutdowns. Which, again is why the spnscripthunt people shit their pants, because 2po and co's tactics don't work there. Because that's not how reality works when your entitlement goes down the toilet. So anyway. Drop in if you need, w/e.

But btw the above notes about the points of "people who think they're genuine, and even the best of you do this"--these statements are worth taking away from here well beyond my blog, like how you engage creatives and the angles you ask THEM questions from. I can promise most if not all are as tired as I am of it. Because we're always told what it is, even when people ~ask. And after about 6 years of getting talked over by the people that think they're asking you questions, putting the burden on YOU to unpack THEIR bullshit BEFORE you can even answer the ACTUAL QUESTION, like. I'm tired. But imagine how pissed, say, Robbie or Bobo are. Or Jensen.

I'm literally just asking people to be more considerate of other people's perspectives, communication methods, and emotional energy before springing in. Basically start being more critical of how we treat people and how much we expect, and how much those expectations are shaped by lack of context inside our own heads, much of which can often be found for themselves.

Opening that door can be scary. But rather than arguing if someone else is sure they already went through the door or not (I promise, we are sure, even if you're not), figure out why you're not sure there's a door when you're looking right at it, and what YOU need to ask YOURSELF to open it too.

Because yeah. I'm not subtle about how deep the misinfo about these authors is. So maybe start there. Start unpacking that shit and trying to look it up. Then, if you struggle, ask for help. And once YOU are doing the hard work of inspecting the origins of YOUR perspectives and challenging YOURSELF, whether you realize it or not, the asks you send for help will drop those challenges you hurl at others to break down your bad viewpoints. Because you're already working on it. Which is good. (And the plot.)

Then it won't be "Hey, are you SUREEEEEEEE Bobo intended it the whole time?" it'll be "I saw some tweets of his that seemed important but I'm not sure of the context, can you help?" And suddenly, you guys are a lot less casually hostile and frankly, obnoxious.

[bogleech]

People aren’t gonna like hearing this but the practice of boycotting internet spaces genuinely only makes them worse, and then everything wrong with them spills out into the rest of our culture anyway. The people who avoid reddit or twitter or facebook or anything because of their toxicity probably outnumber the toxic users a hundred to one. If even just my own tumblr follower count went over to 4chan to post exclusively positive and nice things it would easily bury all the notorious bullshit. If you can find a use for a free public website, just use it. No amount of user boycott will actually hurt any of them so people may as well exploit their utility for better purposes while they exist, rather than constantly shrinking and hiding from the trolls and creeps. It’s your house too.

[cyb-by-lang]

A Letter

A small folded piece of paper, found folded in the back of a specific photo album soon after October Tenth. Warnings for crude language, mentions of death and suicide, and some possible S&S spoilers. For CYB’s 5th anniversary.

Huh. I wasn’t expecting to write this, but Tomoko-chan is asleep, so might as well take advantage of this. Just catch her tomorrow if she falls over or something, alright?

(The paper crinkles here, specifically near the edges of the top right corner, almost as if the hand writing the following words had creased it.)

Hey, Kei. Hisako here.

I know we’ve only talked a few times, but I hope you know me — well, both Tomoko-chan and I — to at least distinguish between my handwriting and hers. Of course, this is all in English so no other nosy ninja or some other douchebag can find this. Or read it. I hope.

Darn Japanese and using Engrish.

If you need to, then seal this up in a dark place, or even burn it, so that no one can take this away from you. I want only you to read this. You don’t have to tell Tomoko-chan about this — this whole letter-ramble shit thing is really between you and me. It’s up to you if you want to talk about me or not.

Anyways. Before I get all philosophical and dark on you.

You’ve done great, kid. 5 stars out of 5 for defying Kishimoto’s bullshit that is Canon. You’ve come a long way from that lanky, sleepy girl who came into the cafe one afternoon. Even if I haven’t seen you around as long as Tomoko-chan has.  You’ve become a great ninja, you survived Kannabi, and you were able to keep Obito in Konoha. Sure, Isobu is going to be a hard shell to crack when it comes to knowing him, but I know you. You can do it. Tomoko-chan just left the first steps for you, with her music, I guess. He didn’t seem to lash out, thankfully.

I trust you. Hell. I have a lot of faith in you, kid. Really. With all the heart a Nobody can have. And screw Xehanort and his lies about a Nobody being unable to have hearts. We can still feel. We can still act.

I’m not Roxas. I don’t have a Keyblade, or magic, or anything really physically useful in my disposal beyond chakra. The Dreamer and Id are both gone now in exchange for Isobu, and I’m not going to pretend I understand or know what’s going on.

But you’re going to be okay.

Even when the Tenth passes. You’ve proven yourself over and over again, whether in training or in that one weird Chunin Exams match with Gai. What? You thought I wasn’t going to jab at you? Hah. You underestimate the power of “trolling.” :p

Still, whenever Tomoko-chan says, “Daisuki,” she always means it, y’know? She and I both mean it. You have a front seat in our hearts, and that’s not going away ever.

You’re a Special Jounin now. Judai-ji — Dad actually beams about you sometimes, about how you’ve come so far, but he worries. Mom does too.

Being a ninja means risking your life. Risking death again and again. We all know that.

And, I guess I’m writing this so that, just in case, if I ever do disappear like my counterparts did for you, I can tell you from beyond whatever grave there is to keep your chin up.

Don’t try to purposefully die. Or commit suicide, or just recklessly risk your hide for a village that might just be using you. Or I will seriously rise from said grave and yell at you at the top of my lungs for whatever vocal cords are worth. Kick your ass even, if I have to go that far. I have the Ultima Keyblade embedded in my memory for good reason.

You’re not just a simple piece in a story, Kei. You’re not just some little icky bit of trash. You’re not just any other ninja.

You’re Gekkō Keisuke, the ninja reincarnation who has family and friends that want you to stay.

Tomoko-chan wants you to stay. To live. Because, if you’re gone, she might —

(There are some suspicious splotches here, almost as if water hit the paper for a mere moment. The indentations aren’t deep, however, as if the writer wiped the water away before it could sink in.)

I don’t want to think about what might come after I’m gone. Fuck, it’s just painful to think about that. (There is a small hole here, as if the pencil tore through the paper while writing.) And I did not mean to do that. Whatever.

I just wish I could see everything, from you and Tomoko-chan becoming adults, you possibly making Jounin — hell, even having students of your own. I wish I could live with you both until the inevitable, natural end. But life doesn’t always work that way. Your old counterparts might as well be proof of that.

So, here I am. Defying any kind of fateful “death” bullshit and writing this, so you can remember this.

You’re going to be okay, kid. Even if the missions drag on, even when you’re far away from home, even when you’re on the other side of the goddamn world, pick up that Wayfinder you have strapped to your arm, alright?

Remember. You have Tomoko-chan, your family, your team. You’re not alone. You’ll never be alone, or so whatever God helps me. Never forget that.

And, if you need a reminder of the old world, ring Tomoko-chan up at the piano. She still misses you every now and then when you head out of the cafe. Piano is a wonderful distraction. Maybe you can pick up an ocarina, so that Lugia can fly again. That’s an idea.

Heh. I guess I’m running out of space on this thing. Have to leave a few last words then.

Thank you, Kei. For doing what you have done. A ninja’s work is ugly, but I know you’ve protected my charge more than I have in the physical world. And a Nobody just can’t help but be grateful.

Don’t forget your roots. Don’t forget the little people.

Don’t think you’re wrestling Canon alone. You’ll never, ever be fucking alone, you hear? I am completely willing to bitch-slap you from beyond whatever Afterlife there is if it means drilling that message into your head.

And hey. Just take care of Tomoko-chan for me when I’m gone, alright?

Kick Uchiha Madara’s ass, or break any other Canon villain’s legs for me.

You can do it. Just believe in yourself.

I believe in you.

Love,

Hisako

[homeiswherethestuckis]

I had this davekat soulmate au that I thought about writing for a little bit, but honestly I probably won’t, so here’s a vague plot outline I had:

(Under the cut because as per usual, it got pretty long. Sorry mobile users)

When you turn thirteen, the name of your soulmate and your first impression of them when you see them IN PERSON is tattooed across your shoulders (this posed slight issues for people who already knew each other before the tattoo showed up and even more with photos and the internet becoming a thing).  Some people have no soulmate, some people have more than one.  Trolls, being trolls and having the whole quadrant system thing going, generally have somewhere between three to five names.  Matesprits are on the same place as human’s soulmates, Moirail’s wrap around the wrist of the dominant hand (the one that would generally be used to shoosh with) Kismesis on the ankle (to kick ass) and the names of the couple they auspistize for on either shoulder blade (for no reason, I just couldn’ t think of a big enough space).  The auspistice(? I don’t know how to spell) is the one that’s usually left off, so the majority of trolls end up with three names.  Now here’s where stuff happens:

Karkat has one name.  It’s tiny and it’s on his hip.  He has no real idea why he only has the one name but he’s honestly relieved to have one at all because at least he’s not that unlovable.  He spends a lot of his free time wondering what his soulmate’s like and why his first impression upon meeting them is summed up in a name and a single word.  Dave Strider: Douchebag.

Dave also has one name, scrawled right across his collarbone, and honestly he’s so glad when he realizes it’s a troll because that will make things so much easier on him.  Dave doesn’t want a soulmate, and he plans on getting his soulmate tattoo removed once he’s old enough and has the proper funds for it.  He  would rather be with someone who genuinely wants him in their life because he’s himself and not because “fate” or whatever forced him on this other person and now they feel obligated to deal with him for the rest of their life and then they both end up together but completely miserable and bitter like all those soulmates you hear about in the news or those murder documentaries (yeah there’s like five or six soulmate couples per one bad one that are totally happy and still love each other even in old age, but Dave’s not willing to take that risk).  He doesn’ t think he’d like his soulmate very much, anyway, especially not when his first impression is Karkat Vantas: Bitter Megaphone

Anyway they meet online through some mutual friends and they honestly despise each other.  Can’t have both of them in the same chat without it turning into an all out text war.  This whole time they never exchange names.  When they reach high school, Dave moves to the same town that John lives in (this is incidentally where Karkat lives) John makes Karkat come with him to meet Dave because they sort of know each other, and it’s not until John actually introduces them that they realize they’re soulmates (John hasn’t seen either of their tattoos, so he has no idea).  Cue freakout. 

Karkat still thinks he can make this whole soulmate thing work.  Sure, he doesn’t like Dave that much right now, but first impressions aren’t everything and he barely knows the guy.  Maybe he’ll like him better once they get to know each other and he learns more than just the fact that he’s kind of an asshole on the internet. This only strengthens Dave’s resolve against having a soulmate, even more so when he notices Karkat trying to get closer to him and trying not to show how annoyed Dave makes him.  He hates it and he just wants it to stop.  So after about a month, Dave finally gets up the courage to tell Karkat about how he doesn’t want a soulmate and that he plans on getting his tattoo removed as soon as he possibly can.  Before Karkat can say anything about it, Dave adds that Karkat should be totally fine with it, since he’s a troll and has two or three other soulmates.  It’s not like losing one is a big deal.  Karkat’s so used to lying about how many soulmates he has that he automatically agrees with what Dave says.  Dave’s satisfied that he’s gotten his point across, so he leaves.  Karkat just sits there, completely devastated and in shock over what just happened.  They both avoid being alone together or talking to each other for the remainder of high school.

Jump a couple years into the future!!!  Dave has a totally sick apartment but his dumbass roommate just up and left and Dave can’t afford to pay rent by himself.  He asks around and complains to his friends and finds out that Karkat got kicked out of a troll’s only complex for reasons he didn’t want to talk about.  Dave hasn’t been on good terms with Karkat, but he’s desperate so he contacts him.  Karkat, also desperate, agrees.  So they become roommates.

They try to stay out of each other’s business, and it works for a little while, but since they have the same friends who come over to visit, they end up hanging out together more often.  They get on each other’s nerves a lot at first, but after awhile it’s not as bad.  Dave realizes he doesn’t dislike Karkat as much as he thought he did the first time he accidentally makes him laugh, and Karkat lets go of his feelings of anger towards Dave rejecting him when he hears Dave give an in depth and well articulated reasoning as to why he’s against soulmates as a general concept.  They start getting along.  They do normal room mate stuff together, like buying groceries and watching movies together.  Basic stuff.  Everybody thinks it’s weird because all their friends know they’re soulmates, but neither of them really care.  They both date other people, but neither get anywhere farther than a fifth date.  (Dave’s just never really feeling it and Karkat keeps accidentally being involved with people meeting their soulmate while he’s on a date with them???  It’s so weird and a recurring theme for him and he hates it). 

Then the worst thing happens: they start falling in love.  It hits Dave first, it dawns on him slowly with every nice thing Karkat does for him just because he can, like making him food when he’s had a long day or leaving reminders where Dave will see them when he has important stuff to do or waking up after falling asleep on the couch with a blanket wrapped around him.  Then it all comes down on him at once when he actually talks to Karkat about the whole soulmate thing and he realizes their views aren’t so different, after all.  But the more he thinks about it, the less happy he is about this sudden realization because of what he did before and all of the time Karkat spent having to get over his soulmate just outright rejecting him.  It wouldn’t be fair to try and tell him that he loves him now.  It’s later for Karkat, but the way it happens is basically the same.  Dave is good to him, and he doesn’t give a damn about his blood color of the fact that he only has one name on his body and it’s in a place a name shouldn’t even be.  His movie commentary is hilarious and sometimes he picks up books at the library he thinks Karkat might like.  Dave brings him coffee on late nights when he’s trying to study or has to finish work and can’t seem to keep his eyes open for much longer.  They go out of ice cream whenever Karkat’s experience a particularly bad breakup and Dave always finds a way to lift his mood with a dumb story about something he did when he was younger.  Karkat acknowledges to himself that he would have realized he was in love with Dave sooner if it weren’t for the fact that he was in denial about it.  He tries to suppress it the best he can, but the more time he spends with Dave, the more futile this pursuit seems.  He starts looking for apartments.

Dave and Karkat try to act like normal, both of them trying their hardest not to let the other know how they feel about them.  It works but it makes every interaction extremely uncomfortable.  Dave keeps telling people that he has no feelings for Karkat and he still plans on getting his soulmate tattoo removed.  Everybody rolls their eyes, except Karkat, who believes him.  Nobody asks Karkat what his opinion is, because most people can tell just from how he looks at Dave when he’s not paying attention.  Their friends come over to the apartment less when they’re both there because it was funny before, but now it kind of hurts to watch.

Dave’s birthday rolls around, and there’s a big party.  It’s lots of fun, there’s cake and presents and everybody’s there.  When they all go home Karkat makes Dave sit on the couch next to him and gives him his present.  It’s a check for all the money Dave needs to get his tattoo removed.  Karkat explains that he knows how important that is to Dave and he’ s more than happy to help because really all he wants is for Dave to be happy.  He also tells him that he’ll move out so Dave doesn’t have to be held down by a soulmate he doesn’t want and hey, maybe he’ll find someone to be with easier. Finding someone shouldn’t be too hard for Dave because he’s such a great guy, he loves him so much, and anyway Karkat already has a place lined up so it doesn’t matter if Dave says no or not- Karkat doesn’t notice his own slip up, but Dave definitely does and makes an even worse slip up of his own while trying to figure out what to do.  He kisses Karkat.  Karkat doesn’t react the way Dave thought he would, he doesn’t kiss back or anything, he just freezes.  Dave pulls away, and Karkat leaves to go to his room down the hall.  Dave follows him, there’s a brief interaction in the hallway that’s both extremely awkward and charged with literal years of unspoken tension that leads to the most embarrassing and uncomfortable (slightly nsfw so I refuse to write it down) thing that’s ever happened to either of them.

In the Aftermath of this, everything is still awkward, but it’s a lot less tense than before.  They discuss their feelings and what this means for them now.  Karkat decides he’s not going to move out, and Dave is still getting his soulmate tattoo removed because even though Karkat is his soulmate, it’s not the reason he wants to be with him.  He’s really not sure if that makes sense.  Karkat shrugs and says even if it doesn’t, he sort of gets it.  Their first date consists of a game of laser tag, eating ice cream while walking around and holding hands, and then going home and watching lame movies together on Dave’s bed until they fall asleep.  A week after Dave gets his tattoo removed, they tell their friends that they’re a thing.  Everyone pretends to be surprised.  The End.

[wbwest]

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/07/21/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-72117/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 7/21/17

I haven’t been doing such a great job with my movie tally for 2017. We’re more than halfway through the year, and I’ve barely watched anything. Well, I kinda made up for that last weekend, as I caught Keeping Up With The Joneses on HBO. This is one of those movies that came and went, and might find a fan base on TV, but will probably just be forgotten. If it should be remembered for anything, it’s that it features both Gal Gadot and Isla Fisher in lingerie. That’s about all it’s got going for it. What’s it about? Well, Isla Fisher and Zack Galifianakis star as a milquetoast suburbanite couple who become suspicious of their new neighbors, Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot. So, they’re pushed out of their comfort zone when they find out Hamm and Gadot are spies, and they get wrapped up in their latest mission. This is the kind of movie I would’ve killed a chunk of a Saturday afternoon on had it aired on Fox 5, but I can understand why nobody went to see it in theaters. Folks loved Don Draper, but for whatever reason, they have no desire to help along Jon Hamm’s movie career. And this was pre-Wonder Woman Gadot, so there was no heat on her yet. It doesn’t suck, but it’s got no Wow Factor either. Once it hits FX, it might be a good way to waste away a rainy Sunday afternoon.

I finally got around to watching The Nice Guys, too. I’d tried a few months ago, but I only got as far as the Ryan Gosling fully clothed in the bathtub scene, where I went, “What the eff am I watching?” I wasn’t ready for the absurd that night, but I was ready now. Like everyone had told me, it was really good. I still have trouble with heist/mystery films because my brain doesn’t work as fast as the film, so sometimes I have to reflect back on the thing when it’s over just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Ryan Gosling is a private investigator who teams up with local tough guy Russell Crowe to track down a missing girl. Sure, there’s some stuff about porn, and the Detroit auto lobby, but that’s the gist of the movie. It’s got a precocious kid, a cool 70s aesthetic, and titties. Can’t really hate on any of that. Anyway, I could see this as one of those movies I drop everything to watch whenever I see that it’s on. If you haven’t seen it, definitely check it out.

My new favorite reality show debuted this week on Bravo, called A Night With My Ex. It’s just what the title says: a former couple spends the night together to see if the spark is still there and/or to reopen old wounds. In the premiere, 28 year old virgin Rachel is reunited to smarmy douchebag ex-boyfriend Fabian. They dated for four years, but he cheated on her with a sexy Tinkerbell at a Halloween party because he had a major case of blue balls. When the show starts, you don’t think Fabian is really that bad of a guy. He knows he made a mistake, and he even plans to propose to Rachel because he wants her in his life forever. But things go south quickly. He chastises her for scraping her plate with her fork as she eats, and he tries to make her give him a handjob once they’re in bed. All the while, she’s trying to actually apologize for basically pushing him to cheat by withholding sex, but he never lets her get a word out before saying/doing something stupid. Finally she declares that she deserves better than him, and basically laughs in his face when he proposes. That was some damn good television! If anything, I’d say the show is too short at 30 minutes, but they only spend one night together, and not the whole weekend, so I guess that’s all they could edit together. It’s a lot like MTV’s old show, The X Effect, only the couple’s current partners aren’t spying on the date like they were in that show. Anyway, it’s only been one episode, but I count me in for the next nine!

In TV news, it was announced that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have lined up their post-GoT project, Confederate, which is an alternate history series set prior to the United States’ 3rd Civil War. Well, this rang some alarm bells for some folks, as you can’t really get into the Confederacy and Civil War without dealing with slavery. And folks weren’t really happy about these White showrunners making what some considered to be “slavery fanfic”. What hasn’t been covered extensively, though, is that the project is really just coasting on the fact that the GoT showrunners are attached, but they’re not the only ones involved. Husband-wife team of Malcolm Spellman and Nichelle Tramble Spellman , who are Black, will be partners on the show along with Benioff and Weiss. Plus, the show it’s so deep in its infancy that there aren’t even character names or an outline yet. It was originally developed as a two-hour movie, but they decided it could be fleshed out and taken to television. There’s basically nothing on paper for it yet, though, so there’s not much for folks to be upset about at this stage other than mere speculation. The Spellmans acknowledge the criticism, but say that they’d rather it had followed the premiere of the show instead of starting now, as it’s being announced. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that this criticism will go into shaping the show going forward, so we may never get what they originally intended to put out.

We got a new trailer for Marvel’s Inhumans. Still looks like garbage. I’ve loved Iwan Rheon since Misfits, but I can’t follow him here. This just looks so bad. Look, I’m gonna watch it, but I really don’t see how there’s any damn way I’m paying for an IMAX ticket to see it in theaters.

We also got a new teaser for The Defenders, which teases the Punisher series at the end. People are going nuts online about this thing because it’s narrated by Stan Lee, but I actually think he’s tonally wrong for this clip. When I think of Stan, I think of his marquee, larger than life characters – NOT the street-level vigilantes. I almost feel like it would’ve been better narrated by Bendis or Brubaker, but they don’t have the recognition factor that Stan has. I get that. Still, it just feels like a hollow waste of a cameo.

 Things You Might Have Missed This Week

The good Lord answered my prayers, as Chris Hardwick and Comedy Central have “mutually decided” to end @midnight. I won’t miss his smarmy face or those stupid hashtag games.

I guess the third time’s the charm, as Paige Davis will start her 3rd hosting stint on Trading Spaces when it returns to TLC later this year

Ed Sheeran was on Game of Thrones this week, and I guess some folks didn’t like that. I dunno. I kinda couldn’t care less about Sheeran or GoT, but folks were hatin’!

Meanwhile, it was reported that Lena Dunham will join American Horror Story for season 7, and folks lost their shit about that, too. Apparently she’ll only be in one episode, but that was enough for some folks to claim they weren’t gonna watch anymore.

Transformers: Titans Return will debut in November as an animated micro series on the Go90 app, featuring the voices of Green Ranger Jason David Frank and the original Rodimus Prime himself, Judd Nelson.

MTV is in talks to reboot Teen Wolf before this iteration’s final season has even concluded. Slow it down!

Sega broke up with Archie Comics over Twitter, thereby ending the Sonic The Hedgehog comic after 24 years of publication

Seacrest IN! Ryan Seacrest has officially signed on to host ABC’s revival of American Idol. I feel like I’ve written this sentence 3 times in the past already, but now it’s for real for real.

Coming as no real surprise since The Vampire Diaries ended, The CW announced that its spinoff, The Originals, will end after its upcoming season.

In an odd choice, the directors of the original Catfish documentary (the movie, not the show) are in talks talks to helm a Mega Man film that will be produced by Masi Oka of Heroes fame.

Words with Friends is being developed into a television game show. Ya know, so it’s basically the Scrabble game show being rebooted.

Meanwhile on Black Twitter, R. Kelly is allegedly running a sex cult, Usher paid a woman $1.1 million for her to keep quiet about the fact that he gave her herpes, and Kevin Hart allegedly got caught cheating on his pregnant wife. I’m just waiting for some crazy Steve Harvey news to round out the week.

At San Diego Comic Con, MGM announced Stargate Origins, which appears to be a prequel webseries that will run on the Stargate Command website this fall.

Shazam! will be the next DC film to go into production, following Justice League and Aquaman, but it’s unclear if Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will co-star as Black Adam.

There might soon be a new Cutco salesman on the block, as OJ Simpson has been granted parole from the armed robbery that landed him in prison nine years ago. The Juice is almost loose!

I love those weeks when the West Week Ever recipient presents itself early in the week, ’cause it’s pretty much smooth sailing after that. This was one of those weeks, as history was made across the pond. The Doctor Who franchise is over 50 years old, but every time the Doctor regenerates (a clever in-story mechanism for recasting the actor), he just turns into another White dude. That’s pretty much been the unending pattern since 1966, when the first regeneration occurred. Folks have been saying it’s time for a change, and they were hoping we’d either end up with a Doctor of color (with The IT Crowd‘s Richard Ayoade coming up in a lot of the discussions) or a woman Doctor. Well, half of them got their wish, as Attack the Block‘s Jodie Whittaker was announced as the 13th Doctor. And, as you’re probably not surprised, folks lost their shit.

We’re always taught the the Brits are so proper and upstanding, but the comments sections of several sites proved that they can troll with the best of them. At the end of the day, it’s a bunch of folks who are afraid of change. A friend of mine, however, did point out that the victors in these circumstances also tend to trigger the backlash against themselves. For example, it would be one thing if this was seen as a bold move forward for a progressive franchise. The problem, however, is that some people take it too far, and get on the “I’m savoring these fanboy tears” soapbox, making it about something that it really didn’t need to devolve into. Sometimes the winners can suck just as much as the losers in these scenarios. This can be seen as a “win” for some without it being a “loss” for someone else. How about framing it as a win for everyone? Nah, the internet doesn’t really work like that.

I have never gotten into the Doctor Who franchise because it just seems so daunting. Sure, folks claim you really only have to start with the Eccleston season, but when I get into something, I go ALL IN. To me, that’s like telling someone they can start Star Trek with The Next Generation (which I’d probably do, since I hate The Original Series, even though I’d still feel like I was cheating them out of an experience). I feel like I’d have to watch all 54 years of the show, which is impossible because those seasons ain’t streaming anywhere, and a good chunk of them have been lost to time. It’s a franchise that cannot be wholly consumed! I hate mysteries that can’t be solved. Still, I can respect a longstanding institution, and I understand when change is a big deal. It’ll be interesting to see how fans take to the new Doctor, but the one thing to remember is that she’ll probably do it for 2 years, and then regenerate into another old White guy (the Doctor role has the retention rate of a community college). So, everyone gets their wish! I am kinda curious about the next season, though, as rumor has it Kris Marshall (Colin: God of Sex from Love Actually) is going to be the Doctor’s next companion. I loved that dude!

Anyway, I know which side of history I want to be on, and it’ll be interesting to see this all play out. The way the franchise works, we won’t see her until the Christmas special, and then won’t see her again until late 2018 at the earliest. So, folks have got some time to get used to the idea. Still, I think it goes without saying that Jodie Whittaker had the West Week Ever.

[nirah10]

From Jill,

A Christian cousin of mine who is a ‘heterosexual awareness activist’ (yes, he actually calls himself that)   shared the following extract from a blog post of a gay male bartender, who goes unnamed in his blog. (Yes, my homophobic cousin spends his free him trolling gay bloggers and then flaming them.)

Now my cousin claimed this bartender was heterophonic and according to my cousin’s rant was ‘bashing on straight people and traditional marriage and shaming any straight woman who dared to be happy about marrying a man.’

I personally think my cousin is insane and reading into things. But as a lesbian sometimes I may be a bit of a bias judge.

I remember ages ago a debate on here about heterophobia potentially actually existing and of problems with creating LGTB only streets and communities.

So below is the extract my cousin posted.

Do you think my cousin is right? Or is the bartender being reasonable?

I think the bartender is being reasonable. Although to be fair I feel a bit jilted by bachelorette parties. I was at a gay night club a while ago and a pretty young girl started dancing with me. We started making out and she started giggling. I broke off the kiss and saw another girl filming it. Turns out she was straight and had been dared at the bachlorlette party to make out a lesbian. So yeah. I felt humiliated and like they were making light of my sexuality. And thought I never met him, I kinda get where this bartender is coming from.

Does that make both him and I hetrophobic?

So here is what my cousin shared, which was written by a bartender:

‘In Australia same sex couples can’t get married yet. Homophobia continues to be a problem with same-sex couples still risking getting dirty looks and lewd comments by some members of the public. The saturation of heterosexual culture and straight couples  can also make you feel alien, isolated and lonely.

So there is a reason LGTB people want safe spaces like Gay Bars; not just for hooking up and dating but also to be in a space that you know is free of homophobia and full of people who get you, and  get the feeling of being an alien sometimes and are there embrace the chance to be together and feel like part of a community. Community spirit is important and we are stronger together. With LTGB suicide so high, having a space where you are surrounded by people who know what you are going through is important and after a hard day, say after a flight with homophobic relatives, walking into the pub can be like a breath of fresh air and the sense of community and not being alone is mood altering to the extreme.

In other words, I love where I work. I am a bartender at a LGTBQ pub. And despite working there forty-eight hours a week (six nights a week, with 5pm starts and 1 am finishes) I can’t get enough of it. While I work nights, sometimes I will even go to the pub for lunch with friends and I don’t mind it at all. I love the community, the locals and the atmosphere and am honestly one of the people who love going to work.

Sometimes we even get straight people coming into the bar, and they are more than welcome to. A lot of the time straight friends will come as a show of support to help their friend who may be questioning their sexuality or just recently come out and have never been to a LGTB pub before and don’t have any LGTB friends.

I also love when parents will come in with their LGTB kids, the mum and dad will sit eating lunch with their young adult kid to show they are learning, adapting and supportive of their child’s sexuality.

There is only one problematic thing about some of the heterosexual guests (only some, the majority are lovely, supportive and very respectful) and that is hen’s nights/bachelorette parties, one or two of which seem to find their way to the pub every weekend.

We are obviously happy that they are getting married.

But to celebrate getting married in a pub that caters  to LGTB people who legally can’t get married is a bit insensitive.

For example, more than half of our customers as in loving, committed and long-term relationships and  if they could would have been married years ago. And so to come in to a LGTB safe space and remind a lot of the couples who are trying to enjoy a peaceful Friday night that they can’t get married yet is a touch insensitive.

Another problem with bachelorette parties is the lewd comments and sometimes even attempting groping. Women like to let loose and have fun on their friend’s last night of freedom. But if you want to flirt with men, go to a straight club or a strip show as lewd comments and groping makes many of the men feel awkward and like they are pieces of meat. LGTB spaces are a space for gay men where they can be open about their sexuality and so to come into the pub for that peace of mind and then to be suddenly hit on by partying women can be uncomfortable.  If you want to get down and party with someone at a gay club ladies, I’m sure some of our lovely lesbians will be willing to oblige you on the dance floor.’

I will share that blog post but I won’t share what my cousin wrote as it was ugly and contained offensive and foul language.

So what is your opinion on the bartender’s opinion?

Dear Jill,

It’s a very interesting and a very complex topic to discuss. It’s the kind of thing that I’m sure could be a conversation that lasted hours, but I’ll try to keep my response fairly simple. Please keep in mind that this is all simply my opinion, born from what limited knowledge and experience I have.

1) I have met people who are clearly heterophobic, so I would definitely say that it’s real. It’s quite rare but it’s out there. I have met a few people who just make little remarks about “breeders” being gross, making faces at straight couples, or not respecting a straight person refusing their advances because “everyone’s a little bit gay”. But then there are some, like one woman in particular that I used to see semi-regularly and even stayed in my home (a relative of an old roommate) who was extremely rude and could actually get violent because she disliked heterosexuals so much. She was very confrontational and had a blind hatred for anyone that wasn’t obviously gay.

2) In my opinion, as tempting as it is to create communities and safe places for certain types of people, I believe it is ultimately volunteered segregation and I think it doesn’t help things in the long run. This is, of course, an opinion and one that I am quite open about because I’ve not had many discussions with people who have spent large amounts of time in such communities. My main reason for this belief is because of what I see happening in my own country between the First Nations people and pretty much everyone else, or with the Chinese communities in some of the big cities. There are reservations for First Nations people to live in so that they can be with their own people and live in their own culture--a lovely idea. I’m not going to debate all the pros and cons and he-said-she-saids of it, because it is a sensitive subject, but I can tell you that that segregation leads to tension, hatred, and a lack of empathy from both sides. It creates an Us and Them mentality and divides us both mentally and physically based on nothing other than our races. My boyfriend has been verbally attacked and called a traitor by other First Nations people (yes, he is First Nations himself) because he disagrees with the idea of living on a reservation. In bigger cities, the same thing is sometimes seen with the China Town areas. I fully understand the desire to be surrounded by people just like you in order to feel comfortable, but I’ve never seen isolation lead to anything good.

3) That all being said, I give Australia more leeway with this particular situation because there is not yet real equality for the LGBT community. In Canada, we have equality and it’s quite rare to see open homophobia (at least in my province anyway-- I can’t speak for the whole country). Here, I think creating LGBT exclusive communities or bars would only serve to needlessly deepen a divide that has been slowly disappearing over the years. In countries or areas where homophobia is still common and there are not yet laws in place to give the same protections and rights to LGBT people and everyone else, I think the need for safe places is very understandable and I support it.

4) Sure, it’s insensitive to celebrate a marriage around people who can’t get married yet, but I really think that making a fuss about it isn’t going to help. If you want straight allies, you don’t make them by ruining something beautiful for them because you can’t have it too. Instead of getting mad that I can’t get married too (which is something that particular person can’t change for me), I would just try to be happy that they’ve found someone to love. Isn’t that what’s it’s supposed to be about anyway? Worry about hatred and discrimination, not someone just being thoughtlessly insensitive or else people stop listening to what you have to say.

5) I don’t really think what this bartender is talking about is necessarily an LGBT problem. Bachelorette parties go to straight bars and get out of hand too. I used to work in a Chinese restaurant and experienced a bachelorette party come through that were rowdy, inappropriately sexual for a family restaurant, and harassed the male staff and other customers. I’ve seen women be too pushy with their advances (married, gay, simply not interested, etc) and disrespectful of men’s right to their own body in many different situations as well. While the events discussed in the article occurred in a gay bar, I think it’s more of a problem with the double-standards our society has created regarding women’s sexual behaviour (primarily that it doesn’t count as sexual assault if a woman does it and women sexually assaulting people is considered “funny”) and people just being douchebags in general. It’s the kind of thing that pops up everywhere and it just so happens that this particular bar that experiences it is one for LGBT people (though the woman who wanted video of her making out with another woman was clearly LGBT targeted).

Finally, I suppose I do agree with the bartender, just with a couple of footnotes added in. I think safe places for LGBT people in Australia are appropriate as equality and acceptance has not yet been established. Celebrating a marriage in a gay bar is definitely insensitive, but I think getting upset about it will hurt the cause more than help it. And I absolutely agree that the behaviour described is incredibly offensive and inappropriate, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a gay club problem so much as it is people who would probably be just as offensive and inappropriate if they went somewhere else. Douchebags are gonna be douchebags no matter where they are.

[incarnateirony]

Thoughts.

So I finally watched Good Omens. First of all I know some people were waiting for me to like, do breakdowns on the use of lore, sigils and whatnot -- I’m sure I’ll poke at it eventually, but so much of it reads of typicality, alongside strong artistic liberty, that when it comes to actual sigils there’s very few and I’ll need a good screen of them.

But that isn’t about that. This is actually about Good Omens and the audience response to queer content and queer coded content. I’m going to warn you, some of this shit is going to incense the fuck out of woke tumblr. It’s going to be a lot of hard pills to swallow, mostly in regards to parts of the LGBT community -- of which I’m a part -- moving around our own goal posts, inconsistencies in the placements of our goalposts, and the impacts of het culture. If you come into my mentions screaming away at me expect an ignore or a block.

No, this isn’t anti-Azri/Crow. It’s very pro Azri/Crow. And yes, I’m going to drag other fandoms I’m in, into it. But I’m also gonna drag general discussion into it.

First I’m going to source a link to a recent set of tweets someone made that I consider very insightful (x) and then highlight a bulk of it.

“When we call something queerbaiting, we're essentially saying: "source material X doesn't count as real or valid queer representation." Here is a thread on why we need to be cognizant about which real-life queer people & stories we're erasing when we expand our use of that term. First: actual queerbaiting, in which art-creators hint at queer representation in order to attract viewers and then insist their art was 100% hetero all along, sucks a lot. I am not advocating getting rid of the term. Nor am I saying it's not valid to feel jerked around when a show uses the promise of a specific queer relationship on their publicity circuit, and then doesn't follow through on it in the actual source. (Or follows through only to write out a character, a la #TheMagicians) However: when we narrow our definition of "real and valid queer representation" until the ONLY thing that counts as queer rep is on-screen queer *romance* or on-screen queer *sex*, we are telling a significant portion of the real-life queer community that they don't count. When we use the "queerbaiting" label to describe a millennia-long, loving asexual same-gender relationship (aka #GoodOmens) we are telling asexuals in loving life-long relationships that they don't count as queer. We are also telling sexual queers whose primary, life-organizing relationships are queerplatonic (me, this is me) that their queerness is defined only by who they fuck, not by who they choose to build a life with. I want a space where ALL kinds of queer stories get told: romances yes, but also stories of queer friendship; queer mentorship; queer animosity; queer competition and cooperation; queer found family; queer provocation and queer mistakes. None of that happens if we tell everyone whose queer content doesn't fit into the narrow box "Lead A & Lead B kiss and/or fuck onscreen" (even if A&B make a life together; even if A&B kiss & fuck other same-sex people) that their art is exploitative & doesn't count as queer rep. “ 

Why am I choosing to highlight this while implicatively mentioning my adjacent fandoms? Well, because blogs I follow that either haphazardly dismiss, say, Destiel as valid until (personally met goalpost, generally when arguing with the hetnorm or anti community wanting a kiss) are all on the Azriphale-Crowley bandwagon.

And let me say, I adore the Azriphale-Crowley bandwagon. I’m ON that bandwagon. Holy shit am I on that wagon, but we need to inspect our dialogue for people who are on one but not the other.

We can say, for example, “Well, Neil Gaiman and the actors have been supportive! So THAT’S why it’s fine!” I mean -- aren’t people always banging on about post-affirmation not being enough, or just vague support being enough, or this-or-that not being enough? Like people don’t flame Rowling over that? I mean, even if we handwave away that Neil Gaiman had literally uncontested authorship instead of 203492 hands in the author and ownership pot top-to-bottom which the average show doesn’t have -- which gives the liberty to say whatever the fuck he wants because it is wholly his product and under his contract and design -- do you notice that it’s actually a very, very small audience crowing about that? And rarely if ever the same ones that do about other pairings that could be considered similar? Like we haven’t gotten those moments from authors in other shows (Robbie Thompson “Destiel isn’t canon?” comes to mind) that we yell queerbait at then and decide isn’t enough. Because someone else moved a goalpost out.

Ah-- but they’re... confirmed asexual and agender and immortal! Okay... and... so is, for example, if we’re going to tilt this way, Castiel. And ace people can have queer relationships with bi or yes, even straight people. Mindblowing, I know, but that’s it, that’s reality.

So why on gods green earth am I seeing this disparity between blogs about the same content, banging on at different volumes of what we expect?

It’s something I’ve written about before, the loudest example being my Problem With DreamHunter post. Before any DreamHunter fans pick up the pitchforks, don’t worry. It, also, is in support of DreamHunter, but simply addresses the cultural problem in there not being a problem with DreamHunter. The blend of intersectional issue disparity between MLM and WLW, and also the simple fact that the fandom wasn’t positioned to have antis or rival ships screaming at it: het culture and shipping culture.

I’ve banged on about this before: in our race for representation, we often trample over content that’s perfectly good and valid and great in many ways, because we want to be able to win an argument against an asshole, we want to be able to bludgeon the gay so inarguably into somebody’s brain that they yield to the might of it, or at least, we imagine it reaches that point. Anti-shipping culture can be so loud that even slow burn het pairings that kiss will have antis explaining their way around it (eg, Mulder and Scully, off the top of my head). Anti queer culture will talk down men or women even making out on screen as experimentation. This cycle will continue.

So again, let me state: Good Omens is a masterpiece. I am utterly enthralled by it, but it does leave me sitting flummoxed about the uneven bars we put out there as marker posts based on trying to race to the finish of arguments.

I’m sure some hack job that doesn’t know how to rub brain cells together beyond “it’s straight” and, beneath the surface, “I don’t like it so I’m going to piss and moan about more expansive methods of thought than hard niching the complexity of human relations” is going to roll in here, thinking yelling “Jensen Ackles thinks it’s straight!” in supreme reductionism of things like authorship, be it intent OR death of the author, or whatever else is out there in this medium -- I’m sure they’ll show up, make the same repetitive ass of themselves as always, and roll on, completely missing the point that I’m not obligated to your arbitrary bullshit, and that nobody is. 

I don’t HAVE to point out every single time a dickhat on a loop yells that, that Jensen Ackles himself spoke of the intangibility of the deepness of their connection with Castiel as an angel, and that a cishet dude from texas probably doesn’t understand the finest details of LGBT identity complexity despite being an ally while fumbling over talking about the difficulty of putting a label on it. I don’t have to explain that the actor doesn’t actually get to determine that. Viewership or author, take your pick. I don’t have to explain the “it’s never happening and wasn’t intended” never came from the authors every time some bumblefuck says it -- that it came from one account with a blurb that said he doesn’t speak for that writing room whatsoever. I don’t have to review the times that Jensen Ackles has almost verbatim mirrored the Good Omens creatives about the beauty of it being you being able to make your own interpretation even if it wasn’t his, and encouraging that. I don’t fucking have to, you entitled sniveling shits.

And no, it’s by no means about, say, Dean and Cas. It’s just about the dialogues I’m tired of seeing tilt unevenly even between typically well grounded and centered people. 

So anyway Azriphale and Crowley are EternityMates and that’s the fucking tea. Call it queerplat or call it queerromantic I can see either, even if I do tilt towards the former. Destiel is queerromantic and you can fight me. Come at me. Except nobody really will over Good Omens, just Supernatural, because like magic, Good Omens isn’t geared for a fuckton of other bloated ships or antis who hate either of them by structure alone. And that, itself, is a point to be made, too.

And before some doodlefuck trolls along, no, there’s no such thing as incestromantic. Spare us the time and block me now if your knee jerk counter-troll is going to be subtextually along those lines, because I promise you’ll just get blocked when you try to roll into town with it. Since the Supernatural fandom seems to house corners of douchebags that don’t know how to control their primitive douchebag impulses and they do come into address in this post.

Moral of the story: Stop listening to homophobes, antis, or people with agendas. Listen to the content and what has actually been said. On all sides. 

If you consider, for example, 

the Ineffible Husbands canon with no admission of anything beyond friendship, with the hets loudly banging one scene over with “well the others are ace or whatever” as your reason (fair), a few lunches, basic dedication and a few well placed songs, and a few supportive notes from the general creatives,

But the Hunter Husbands not canon with talked-around love yous and need yous, intentional deletion of Castiel’s agender ace aspects, in spite of there being no evident banging or kissing in the show that hasn’t been a highlight of a problem since like season what six?; talk arounds of their meals together, infinite longer and classic romantic crafted dedication, innumerable well placed songs and yes, a few supportive notes from the creatives that are buried by yourself or others beneath intentionally obfuscated arguments and spun context,

You are, whether you want to gullet it or not, part of the moving goalpost problem. Whether it’s you running to meet a phobe or an anti, or just being coded into it by the screaming around you, there is no world in which one is representation and the other is not. It’s just fuckin’ not. 

It’s not.

I don’t care what you yell and scream because it’s popular in your circles. It’s fuckin’ not. 

It’s not.

Either both are rep or neither are rep. Personally, I adore both of them, and anyone that has a problem with that can eat me.

Good Omens is not a goddamn motherfucking breakthrough in representation. It’s the same very valid very real form of queer coding half this site screams at because someone got loud enough to scream about it early on, generally inspired by antis riding their ass, just it’s the first and second lead instead of second and third lead, and there’s no ‘rival’ in first and second leads as being intentionally dragged into vaguery. It’s. Fucking. Not. It’s literally. The same. Fucking. Level.

Now, I HAVE been banging on that it’s the level our content SHOULD be acceptable at (well, almost; frankly I’d consider Destiel better, as the show’s overall intimacy threshold is far lower while Good Omens has parallel overtness to the coupling in the actual canon, meaning Good Omens’ playing field, for fair treatment, would be indebted to matching volume -- not saying sex since ace but louder admissions and engagements that are just as clear.)

Unpopular? Good, I don’t care. I’m tired of people screaming about completely conflicting crap.

It’s where we SHOULD be taking ownership of our content. So if there’s any breakthrough, it’s the LGBT community themselves having some sort of spark of awareness that they can and should be able to own content at that volume, largely because the fandom isn’t swamped by asshats on the other side all yelling for their own crappy agendas clogging up your heads. There’s a few queerbait shouters. And you laugh them off, by and large, and accept it as canon and rep. Funny how that works without antis up your ass.

Sincerely,

A tired queer and newborn Crowley stan.