#fucking discourse

[canichangemyblogname]

You are all fucking forgetting that a fan literally paid real-world money to a tumblr blog to get that poll up in “retaliation” for others saying that this fan’s favorite blorbo went to the DJ Khalid school of misogyny. The poll was not submitted in good faith. The poll was submitted as a means of arguing that morality is stored in the pussy eating, and to show that their character is winning this asinine, goofy, and incredibly chronically online morality contest.

And this has ultimately led to what I said in my first post in this thread: fans concluding that gay men not having sex with women is further evidence of their lack of morality. Which is, obviously, the homophobic issue here.

The 911 fandom currently, during the month of June no less: “This gay man doesn’t give women head because he’s a bad person and hates women.”

Or—oh, I dunno—maybe he’s just fucking gay?

[jacki-daytona]

It wasn’t even puppyplay and if it WAS - fuck off with the kink shaming you horrible cunts.

Tommy Kinard is no predator you fucking weirdos, he’s a dork who thinks his bf looks cute in a stupid party hat. Cope. I beg.

Bestie-boo-hoos take this shit elsewhere, the adults in the room are talking rn.

Edit: don’t hide in the tags bestie, I see you. Thanks for rb-ing

Edit2.0: my friends who are REAL PEOPLE and ME who is a REAL PEOPLE are offended by the blatant homophobia being directed at a cute fun scene. Take a lap or go to bed

[etz-ashashiyot]

Happy freedom weekend to all who celebrate!

[crabussy]

"dolphins are completely evil" I actually don't think we should assign human morality to animals with no concept of law or civilisation with an intelligence roughly equating to that of a toddler

[cloudboundcritters]

"we need more weird queers!!"

you start parroting TERF talking points the milisecond someone says they are a lesboy or gaygirl

you cry when mspec lesbians/gays exist

you refuse to use neopronouns or it/its, even when those are a persons only set of pronouns

you expect a-specs to experience attraction in some way (yes, that includes platonic attraction)

you exclude intersex people

you can't even accept furries.

[canichangemyblogname]

lol. LMFAO even.

(All the notes are incredibly civil, this just breaks the perception that Buddie is the majority opinion.)

[canichangemyblogname]

I am going to start maiming.

Ball culture is NOT the same thing as ballroom dancing classes, you fucking weirdos. House Ballroom (aka: Ball Culture or the Ballroom Scene)—which evolved from Drag Balls—is NOT “ballroom dancing.” I— hmm

Also, if a man dances, that doesn’t make him fucking gay. It’s not “gay” to dance.

[transsexula]

As a trans man, I've been followed into the men's bathroom. I've had coworkers stalk me in the bathroom and report back to my manager. I've been harassed in men's bathrooms. I've been harassed in women's bathrooms (before I came out). I've almost been assaulted in public bathrooms.

"Men's bathrooms aren't policed like women's bathrooms" is straight up a fucking lie. Using the bathroom as a PASSING trans man is unsafe. Can't piss standing up? Ever heard a cis man loudly comment about you pissing sitting down in a public restroom?

Again, bathroom bills may SEEM targeted, but it hurts us all. Trying to force trans men into women's bathrooms, to cut them off from men's restrooms- it does a lot of the same shit it does to trans women.

Except now no one wants to consider this. At most even other trans guys will make the joke "oh so you want a big hairy buff trans man going to the women's shitter?" No. Actually. They WANT more of a reason to beat me into the tile floor. These laws are used to make that easy to sweep under the rug.

[canichangemyblogname]

“A dedicated shipping culture will emerge among the fandom of a piece of popular media when the project in question creates two originally or virtually single characters who interact regularly but who ARE NOT together in canon because ‘shipping,’ at its core, is the desire of a fandom two see two characters who aren’t together in canon get together in the canon. In fact, these two characters NEVER getting together is a condition for a sustained shipping culture to emerge. The characters must also both be male and white, and at least one (but usually both) must be straight in canon. These two men must also be conventionally attractive; the ‘eye candy’ of the project. And they must usually, but not always, have a revolving door of girlfriends. Because while the ‘woman of the week’ is intended to be an audience stand-in, all this trope serves to accomplish is give rise to the theory these men—who are closer with each other than any woman they’ve touched—must be gay for each other, based in part on an old stereotype which holds the only reason a man bad with women is because he’s secretly gay.”

Unfortunately, “impossibly sexy biker stripper-turned-firefighter who butts heads with the rule following uptight preacher’s son (actually the fire captain’s son)” sounds like exactly the kind of setup Tim Minear would do to bait the lowest common denominator of slash fans.

[puirell]

feels like a good time to bring this back

[darishima]

made a chart of the straw hats' skin tones with the colors being screencapped directly from the episodes, to show how much they've lightened. this is more than just an "artstyle change" or "design evolution" or "just the timeskip" this is blatant racism/colorism. it's fucking ridiculous and i don't understand how toei is continuously getting away with it please reblog btw, i think this is something people should see

[stolenkissesdiaz]

tommy calling buck ‘evan’ during their entire relationship and the first, and only time, he calls him buck is after he breaks up with him. eddie calling buck ‘evan’ only once and it was when he gave buck his goddamn son. the only time tommy called him buck was before leaving and the only time eddie called him evan was when he gave buck proof of him and chris staying. of them wanting buck. of them keeping buck. id say “which could meaning nothing!” but it actually means everything.

[canichangemyblogname]

As I’ve said:

What the fuck does “off-screen gay stuff” even fucking mean besides “the author’s personal fan fantasies”? And “on-screen gay stuff”???

911 fans are never beating the homophobia accusation. On-screen gay stuff? That is 100% shorthand for faggotry. It’s giving “i am feel uncomfor when we are not about me” because—surprise!—queer representation doesn’t cater to fan fantasies. Grow the fuck up.

Y’all (3rd person general) have honest to fuck actualized m/m queer representation on your screen. But only among 911 fans can the two men who are canonically pining for a long-term relationship with each other *and* fucking be somehow less of a realistic and legitimate relationship than fucking fan fiction. There is an actual, canonical m/m couple in this show you homophobic fucks.

This is ridiculous and offensive and hardly passes for journalism.

on screen gay stuff….

[alexs-life-is-a-bit]

some of you need to wake up and realize, the government does not want to make life difficult for us. they want us GONE. "these laws aren't fair and are leaving out ____ group" they don't care. they dont care about our discomfort, they dont care about accidentally harming other groups. they want to make things so bad that people stop transitioning. they want to make it so difficult for us that we slowly lessen, and lessen, until there's so few of us that they can completely wipe us out. DO NOT GIVE IN. PLANT YOUR FEET DEEPER. we need more trans people now than ever. do not divide yourself from the community, please please please keep pushing. don't give up. that is exactly what they want. stop pitting aginst your own community. please. we need to work together.

[badantitakes]

antis: our community actually cares about victims

Anti community when they see a victim who copes in a different way:

Yet these people still want to call themselves normal? Sure.... sure....

[canichangemyblogname]

Actually, no. The shippers in the 911 fandom who primarily complain about Tommy and his past don't actually care about Tommy's past or his actions that contributed to the previous toxic workplace environment and harassment at the 118. Not everything is about a fucking ship, believe it or not, yet the only time they bring up his behavior is in relation to shipping. And because the only time they bring up a valid critique of Tommy's character is during shipping "discourse," I'm convinced it's not brought forth in good faith. Finding a way to tie everything to a ship—especially things like racism and misogyny—is cheap and tasteless. Not everything is about "shipping;" shut up about the shipping.

I don't think they actually want to discuss how white queers contribute to the marginalization of others, including other queer people, by weaponizing the patriarchy and/or white supremacy in their favor because so many of them are fellow white queers themselves. They don't care about how Tommy inadvertently, because of his past, provides a realistic portrayal of how white queers divide or hurt the larger community because of an inability to find solidarity with people of a different background, culture, or race (especially if it would "inconvenience" them or if it does not directly benefit them, like Chim saving Tommy's life). White people would rather choose misery and isolation over standing with or up for non-white people. White people are generally not willing to put in the work to build community; they'd rather contribute to the system or fly under the radar to avoid being shunned by the structures they, and the Ol' Boys Club, benefit from, like white supremacy or the patriarchy. Most white queers would rather be complaisant, complacent, and complicit. It's the white queer's adherence to oppressive systems that divide the community, not people's calls to tear those systems down. And it's only the white queer who can change their perspective on this.

Tommy only has himself to blame for his jealousy and alienation from a supportive and familial community, and only he can take the steps to ameliorate the situation. Tommy was an absolute fucking dick to Chim and Hen, and that has had long-term consequences on his life. Only he can correct for his behavior. He contributed to a toxic work environment, referring to Chim as a Chinese takeout delivery man, actively participating in Chim's hazing, and telling Chim that he did not like the man (mostly because he didn't know him). He would later call Hen "bitchy," and the men of the 118 would leave the "domestic work" to her as they did Chim, actively contributing to her hazing. He did not (verbally) stand up for her, iced her out, and also contributed to a homophobic work culture that made same-sex attraction the butt of jokes. He contributed to this toxic culture to fly under the radar, and that directly hurt people he should have extended a hand to.

Unfortunately for most of the fandom, this is, ultimately, a show that loves stories about redemption and resolution. And there is actual, explicit (meaning, non-subtextual) evidence that Tommy has put in some work to remedy what he did and who he was (including being able to 1.] own up to his past actions, 2.] understand how he hurt others, 3.] recognize why he did what he did and how that it is an explanation, not an excuse, and 4.] begin to make amends or rectify the situation, like reporting Gerrard and changing his mind about Hen and Chim). Hen and Chim would not have invited him for drinks regularly if they thought he was "irredeemable." The 118 would not have thrown him a going away party if they disliked him. Chim would not call in favors from Tommy on more than one occasion or even describe him as "so cool" if they weren't—well—cool. Eddie wouldn't enjoy ring-side fights and basketball games with Tommy if he didn't enjoy the man's company. Tommy also clearly refers to the type of man he was in the past tense, implying change over time. It can be argued that he has not put in enough work, but that's not what's being argued. We're getting bad faith arguments that Hen, Chim, and Eddie hate Tommy or bad faith arguments where Tommy's past actions are only brought forth as some sort of "gotcha" when a fan prefers canon representation over homophobic fan fiction tropes. You don't have to like Tommy, but making up non-textual reasons to dislike him is absurd.

Tommy, as a character in a narrative, provides a lesson for the general audience (GA), the majority of whom are white. It's not just important to see queer people on screen; it's important to see white people learn and change and admit they were wrong. It's also important that the show—well—shows the GA that whiteness and man-ness affect people's perception, position, and treatment. Tommy isn't just a gay man; he is a white gay man, and this has had a direct impact on how he navigates the world and how the world interacts with him. Gerrard treats men like Sal and Tommy differently than men like Chim or women like Hen, and staying in Gerrard's good graces—like the good graces of oppressive power structures—requires one to conform to a very narrow definition of a "real man," like being straight, white, palatable (like... not kinky, not risqué, not queer, all the things the fandom seems to actually hate Tommy for), and not helping oust regressive figures from positions of authority for the way they treat your coworkers. The audience got to see how Tommy went from being the prodigal son to being openly mocked by men like Gerrard. And it's important to show the GA that someone can and will be happier if they go against the grain and that admiration from men like Gerrard means very little in the grand scheme. Tommy is happier now after having been "rebuked" by men like Gerrard than he was when he strove for their praise and acceptance.

It's also important to show that men like Gerrard and his beliefs belong in the past, even though they exist in the present. This is a network TV show. A non-zero number of men like Gerrard catch this show weekly. It is still important to show that Gerrard is not the "type" of man anyone should aspire to be. His beliefs and actions are not commendable, and the show is very heavy-handed about this. The show is going to once again compare Gerrard ("bad captain") and Bobby ("good captain") to show how Bobby has created a good legacy at the 118. It began this parallel with Bobby Begins Again, continued to reinforce Bobby's good legacy in Buck's coma arc, and then revisited how Bobby has had a positive influence on the lives of the 118 in his season 7 montage. Now, the show is going to compare and contrast him and Gerrard to reinforce how important Bobby is to those around him. The show will also continue its inadvertent parallels between Buck and Tommy, showing how Buck is a different man under similar circumstances because he has had good influences (re: Bobby, Hen, and Chim) in his life. Buck and Eddie's relationship was shaping up to be very similar to Tommy and Chim's relationship: oppositional because of one-sided disregard and dislike, but it didn't because they had a good influence: Bobby (given the rather... fucked timeline, Tommy was likely newer to the 118 when Chim joined and, like Buck, his hostility and posturing were also likely influenced by insecurity and a desire to secure his position at the table).

Most unfortunately for many, the show is also going to show how Tommy has changed due to the same influences (re: Bobby, Hen, and Chim). They wouldn't have re-introduced both Tommy and Gerrard and mentioned their dynamic on more than one occasion if they weren't going to do something with that. Season 7 set up Tommy's upcoming arc very nicely. He knows the man he was, he knows the man who shaped him into that, and he knows how and why that was wrong. We'll get Tommy confronting his obvious daddy issues, jealousy, and desire for community (and why he didn't get a family-like dynamic at the 118, re: Gerrard *and* Tommy's own behavior). Tommy has been explicit about this, literally telling Buck that he envies the relationship the people at the 118 have and mentioning that he was not a good person, and this played a part in why he didn't have the same rapport.

9-1-1 is not a perfect show, but it does reflect some of the positive changes of our time. It's important to see representations of comp-het—like Buck, Tommy, and Michael—and how it negatively impacts people's character or relationships, and then how they—the character—can amend that. It's important to see stories that depict how silence is complicity and how refusing to be silent—as Hen refused to be—makes change and changes minds. It's important that the show reminds the audience that Hen is a black lesbian and that this has impacted how people see her and treat her, but that she is just as capable, if not more so. This includes men like Chim. Because I see nearly none of the people who "critique" Tommy in the name of "shipping" ever bring up how Chim has leaned on the patriarchy for support and a position at the table. He may have been the kindest to Hen, but he was by no means normal about women. And it is important to see how non-white men benefit from the patriarchy even as they are victimized by white supremacy. It's also important that the show shows the GA that non-white men are not affected by white supremacy equally, as Michael and Harry have had discussions about blackness and police brutality, a conversation that Chim is never going to have to have with his children, but that doesn't mean that Chim won't have to one day have a discussion with Jee-Yun about how and why some people treat her differently.

But the fandom approaches everything in a very... Catholic way. They don't approach this from the view that people can change and should be pushed to change; rather, they shun people like they've been marked by original sin. The structures we live under have deeply affected each and every one of our worldviews. "You are not immune to the propaganda" includes your personal philosophies and ideologies as well as the things you were taught since you were a child, consciously and "subconsciously." But, people would rather condemn everyone else as "irredeemable" than look critically at their own behavior out of fear of being "one of the bad ones." They'd rather *not* accept the fact that everyone has learning and changing to do as that would reflect upon them, too. This leads to being very resistant to being told that you're mistaken, you've hurt others, or that your behavior and beliefs contribute to repressive, dangerous, or toxic ideas (and we've seen a lot of that; y'all do not create safe online spaces). This leads to a lack of personal change as well as a lack of change at the interpersonal level because rather than teach or challenge, they stick up their nose and turn the other way. "Their barbaric bigotry; my enlightened neglect."

So, really, they've learned nothing from a character like Tommy.