Thorns

Even more queer youtube essays! I gave up on a lot of these, which is definitely more a function of having seen so many and wanting to be Done than a sign of the quality actually dropping.

BUT NOW I AM DONE. Watching (parts of) all these videos was a worthwhile experience, and I did actually find some new youtubers I like, but I am still glad to be finished.

Part 1

Part 2

 

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I've been going through the Your New Favourite Youtubers list by Kat that hbomberguy linked to in a recent video, in an effort to support good queer youtube essayists. It's been interesting enough I thought I'd write some short reviews for anyone who finds the sheer number of videos overwhelming.

I used rich text so I could cut and paste the links, which has made the formatting a MESS, sorry.

Part 2

Part 3

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Or: You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Post Is about You

About the original essay, and the point of all this

I came across the idea of reparative reading on Tumblr and was immediately taken with it. As described in this article:

A reparative reading seeks out what might be nourishing or healing in a work of art, even if the work is flawed. Importantly, a reparative reading also tends to consider what might be nourishing or healing in a work of art for someone who isn’t the reader.

Unfortunately all the discussion I could find was either unhelpfully vague, or in the form of (very positive) reactions to the writings of the creator of the term, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Specifically, to her 2003 essay collection Touching Feeling and the essay "Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; or, You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Essay Is about You".

Just as I was deciding if I really wanted to pay $25 US for a book I probably wouldn't be able to understand, I came across the original version of the essay, created in 1997 as the introduction to a book of queer readings, and offered online for free by the publisher: Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; or, You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Introduction Is about You.

I found a online version of the 2003 version of the essay, from a brief skim it's basically identical, minus the parts about the book of essays it used to be an introduction to.

Anyway! I started reading and it was interesting but I started getting overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar terms and concepts, and so I'm going to try summarise it as I go like I did with confusing academic papers during my Phd. Which may or may or not end up helpful for anyone else but will hopefully at least help me!

I was going to do this as one post but then looked at how long it had gotten for just the first 7 pages of 35 and went AH. OK THEN. TIME FOR A MASTERLIST.
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Dream Boy And The Poison Fans (Transcript) The connection between Xiao Zhan, the actor who played the lead in The Untamed, the AO3 getting banned in China, and the related back-and-forth of fan-groups attacking each other. ffa has some folk who blame him/his management a lot more for what happened (and some who fiercely disagree), I am way too ignorant about China to weigh in but it's all very interesting.

Beyond Authenticity: the Spectre of Han Hegemony On the simplistic discussions around Mulan.

China bars media coverage of Disney's 'Mulan' after Xinjiang backlash.

To me it feels like a lot of Western companies have this overly simplistic, and often racist, idea of what it means to Appeal to Chinese Sensibilities, and end up alienating everyone. I've been getting into Chinese web-novels lately (specifically The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, the m/m fantasy novel that was adapted into the Untamed) and even just from that can tell the situation over there with censorship and social attitudes is really complex.

I know I’m late The author of 'Love, Simon' talks about how being put in the 'problematic straight person profiting from queer experiences' box made it incredibly difficult and painful to navigate figuring out and being open about her bisexuality. 'Own Voices' is all well and good but people apply it in overly rigid ways that end up hurting marginalised writers who don't fit the narrow expectations on Diverse Writing.

The Story is a Spell. The Story is a Curse.
It matters who writes us.

Shock and Care: an essay about art, politics and responsibility

Otaku Blog And Proud
A Japanese woman's complex feelings on Japanese media.

Slash and sex scenes

MM Romance Readership Survey: Results

(Really wishing dreamwidth had a queue/delayed posting right now)