What Is Happening Today

It’s uncanny how similar Trump is acting like Hitler. People are now doing the Nazi salute. They’re drawing the symbol. The KKK was seen in Kentucky asking people to join them. ICE has been ripping families apart. Companies have pulled back Diversity Initiatives. We’re no longer part of WHO and there won’t be any communication from the CDC at least until February 1st. We’re being censored and the news can’t be trusted. Thousands of Americans didn’t know there were protests against Trump yesterday outside the U.S. Quotes from The Handmaid’s Tale and Anne Frank have been compared to what’s going on right now.

According to The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Studies and Prevention the U.S. has officially been given a red flag alert for Genocide.

I’m exhausted but I will never stop being angry.

i have never, in my life, ever been moved like this by a show. i have never cried like this over a show. but that’s because this really is more than a show. this was reality for the thousands, millions of queer folk who came before us. it reminds us: we should always remember to celebrate those that made it possible for us simply to be able to exist and live and love freely. to be.

i honestly couldn’t think of many better ways to pay homage to those queer lives, especially the ones lost, who fought bravely even in the face of death than telling their stories like this; exactly as they were. intricate, raw and real. giving another voice to all that love. the fight might not be over yet, but their contributions have left a lasting impact on this world. telling these stories isn’t just necessary, it’s crucial.

i can’t thank the writers, actors and absolutely everyone else involved in creating fellow travelers enough for bringing this vital, beautiful, poignant, devastating and endlessly meaningful, impactful, important story to life. thank you thank you thank you

1st Year in This Corner of Tumblr: (Some of) My Fav Reads (so far)

This list was supposed to be a part of a very simple round-up but then I got stuck on a plane with some time to kill and decided to expand it with a commentary. It's the festive season after all, let's spread gratitude. I limited myself to 10 pieces, each by a different author in no particular order.

#1 Asian Honorifics & BL - a quick & dirty guide, with examples by @absolutebl

After the revelation of December '22 that brought me here, I spent the better part of January educating myself on Asian BLs. Honestly, where better to start than this master post. In particular, I want to mention the Asian honorifics guide, without which I would be so so lost. Thanks for maintaining the BL syllabus P'ABL!

#2 BL and it’s Shoujo grandma by @nieves-de-sugui

Now digging deeper, this piece along with any follow-ups like A Quick History of BL is straight-up fascinating. I am quite familiar with the evolution of genres in music but never knew how literary genres are building off each other. And it all has been happening not so long ago!

#3 The Eighth Sense and Missing Pieces by @ranchthoughts

Oh, the times when T8S was airing were wild. The post Ranch wrote seems almost academic and I love it for that. Apart from the obvious logical arguments on the topic, it encapsulates the joy of collective experience where everyone can chime in. Every voice and take is valid and you can source your friends like a reputable scientific magazine - now that's just too cool.

#4 This isn't about Wang by @respectthepetty

We all know and love the author for colour analysis but my favourite of RTP's posts is the 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us meta. After watching the series, I desperately needed someone to unpack it for me. It was such a blessing to have those key moments and analogies broken down and explained in words. I yelled yass! after every paragraph. I do not want to go into details (spoilers!), but the bridge metaphor is still fresh in my mind.

#5 Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: I Told Sunset About You (ITSAY) Edition by @waitmyturtles

If there was a Spotify wrapped but for reading meta Turtles would be my number one artist, that's for sure. And I still haven't read half of the stuff she made for the GMMTV challenge. The sheer amount of words she produces is shocking. How does she write so much? so cleverly? while being so busy? The ITSAY piece gave me so much context on Phuket's communities, their history and the setting in which the story is told. It enriched my experience twofold.

#6 The Knowing: Being Queer in BL by @bengiyo

Now this one, this one is very precious to me. After reading the piece and looking through the collection of characters presented there I realised that I've always been drawn to the characters that experience the Knowing. Or at least since I watched C.R.A.Z.Y. all those (16!) years ago. The need to fit in but feeling distinctly different was always something I empathised with a lot. Maybe that's actually why queer stories tend to move me so much. So thank you Ben for my 'oh' moment.

#7 Moonlight Chicken is For the Queers by @wen-kexing-apologist

MLC is my favourite series of this year for various more or less objective reasons and one of them is tackled in this text. No other trope in any drama gets me more than found family / friendship group that suffers together through thick and thin. The way WKX presents these themes through a queer and very personal lens is deeply moving, and honestly, a privilege to read.

#8 To My Star - Music by @iguessitsjustme

I have a thing for music in general, and above all else, I love discovering new songs and genres. And if it's through dramas? Even better. But I could never dissect the whole soundtrack the way Rae does. Everything clicked when I read the post on To My Star music. It was delightful to revisit the series and catch all the references with a new set of ears, so to speak. I also recommend the Old Fashion Cupcake analysis which was the final push for me to watch the show.

#9 10 Things I Love About 3 Will Be Free by @lurkingshan

I would watch an absolute garbage of a series if Shan pitched it to me. I love it when she writes in the list/short paragraphs format, where each part has excellently laid out arguments. It's always such an easy and insightful read! The piece mentioned sold me on 3 Will Be Free and I am VERY grateful. My second fav out of Shan's pitches would be this kdrama recommendation list because she made it based on my parameters *blush*.

#10 The Biting Spectrum: Ranking QL Chomps from Cute to Sexy to Feral by @sorry-bonebag & Office BLs Ranked by Their Ability to Maintain the Veneer of Appropriate Workplace Behaviour by @itsanidiom

Ok, so most of the posts mentioned before were on a serious note so let's finish up with something that just made me cry with laughter. Both of these rankings are the only ones that matter this year. I love how half of fandom content is essays on important topics and the other half is just unhinged analysis, wild theories and snarky comments ♡

Obviously, what I mentioned is only a small and very biased sample so I want to reiterate - big thanks to all the writers out there for giving me so much to read and think about. You made my year better!

this too shall pass this too shall pass this too shall pass this too shall pass this too shall pass this too shall pass this too shall pass this too shall pass

armand's mask slipping

was it worth it, Kim?

"A-Cheng, come over here."

fantasy story: but we grew complacent, indulgent, arrogant, spoiled by this era of prosperity and splendour, and in our short-sighted greed and vanity, we ended it. me at 15: I hate this stupid trope. People aren't going to just turn stupid and ruin everything just because things have been "too good" for "too long". Why does this author think that people are inherently stupid and evil? people on social media in 2024: I'm not going to vaccinate my dogs or my children because polio, measels and rabies are so rare they're not a real threat anyway uwu me at 30: Ah. I see.

I graduated high school in 99.

There was a student at our school named Wayne.

Wayne was gay. It was obvious. He was unable to stay in the closet even if he wanted to. To make matters worse, he was also Black. From a bullying standpoint, that was not a great combo. Both Black and white students made fun of him relentlessly. He was ostracized from the only community that may have given him protection. Only us theater kids stuck up for him, but not to significant effect.

Wayne was bullied so much that at one point he finally snapped and attacked his bullies with a lunch tray. I was actually seated in perfect line of sight and just sat there chewing my soggy fries in stunned silence. It didn't even seem real as I was witnessing it. The image of him wailing on his main bully as the food on his tray flew off is permanently logged into my long term memory.

The bully he attacked had blood all over his face and went straight to the nurse. Other than superficial cuts, he was not injured.

Before the attack, Wayne went to teachers for help. He went to guidance counselors for help. He went to the principals for help.

He did all of the things you were supposed to do. No one helped him. They wagged a finger at the bullies and warned them to stop.

Wayne's lunch tray melee was the only thing that worked. His bullies stayed far away from him. But a week later Wayne was expelled and the bullies were given no punishment.

So... no.

No one in my school talked about being trans.

Because the only way to survive being openly queer was to bash people with a lunch tray.

Cody rolls over in the middle of the night a couple days after he exchanged his vows with Obi-Wan and asks “since we’re married now that makes me Anakin’s step dad right?”

And Obi-Wan’s like “yeah”

And Cody thanks him and that’s the end of the conversation.

2 days later Anakin proposes some idiotically batshit insane plan. Cody looks him in the eyes and tells him he’s grounded