she/her Quackity (3+ years)

REALLY interesting perspective of how men making gay jokes and couple jokes isn't necessarily about repressed desire but instead a form of jockeying for social position and dominance. Told from the perspective of discussing about Love Island, but this is also very applicable to minecrafters especially.

One example that strikes me immediately is President Poundcake, and his occasional form of gross out sexual humor, and the concept of this type of thing as establishing a niche of dominance when you can't necessarily compete in other areas. This is of course very relevant to the fact that he's surrounded by some of the best of the best in terms of runners, and so even though he's a very talented runner himself to establish, like, a sense of dominance in something he then relies on this sense of being the most intense in the sort of gay chicken of it all. Sexual virility (getting/having bitches) as a sign of male dominance is pretty common, but because of both via lack of reality (they are speedrunners) & lack of social respectability for talking about women like that in the community, instead the desire to Mog (and I am using this term in it's proper sense) sexually is instead sublimated into these more socially acceptable expressions of """homosexuality""" without ever challenging the implicit power structures involved.

Something very relevant to the shipbaiting of many MCYT is the concept of seeking to position a male rival as a potential conquest instead, thereby lowering his status and increasing your own. Unlike the creator above, I think this is often not "calculated" but instinctual social maneuvering that people don't necessarily realize they're doing this. Like, an explicit framing of these relationships in these competitive terms would make them more difficult to maintain and therefore there's a sort of willful ignorance sometimes of the jockeying for position that's going on.

#Waffling #Migraine

The thing about Brogan is that he means the things he says sincerely, but he is always changing & evolving the things he believes; the charm largely lies in the fact that even when he's on an arc where he's decided to have terrible opinions, he really does seem to care about both people as a whole and like, goodness in the universe as a concept (And his friends and people he's in community with, but that's lowkey I feel the entire studio #ProSocial).

Brogan is also important because beyond being the driving force of HST, he’s also the sincere thematic embodiment of it. Jreg, for the most part (except for maybe whatever the Thoth arc is/was) is an extremely static force throughout the show whereas Brogan is constantly changing and evolving in bizarre ways. He is also mentally ill in a specific and bizarre way, it's just hard to notice most of the time because it shows more over time (except for the substance abuse stuff which is pretty obvious first blush whenever brought up).

The other appeal is the Jregan of it all like their bromance (Brogmance) is truly the most charming things about the podcast. They are yin and yang, especially in the sense of the tao ☯️ where each contains eachothers essence and when you look at it too closely, you see that ultimately they are one. I kept trying to make comparisons differentiating them for you but they kept fusing back into the same I'm sorry they have always wanted to vore one another and fuse themselves and they basically have. You will see.

Part one of LBing before I take a break to watch Love Island

-5 minutes in. As a hater. Unfortunately the vibes are fantastic.