Internet, answer me a thing

[sholio]

What does "soft" mean, in the slangy sense that it's used on Tumblr? Sometimes capitalized, sometimes not. I've picked up a sense that it's used to indicate the opposite of edgy, basically, with a sort of vaguely fetishy connotation? a little like "sweet" in Lolita subculture? but ... idk, so tell me, internets.

Comments

[jennaria]

That was the impression I had as well - sort of a word-cluster with 'cute', 'smol,' 'pure' (as used on Tumblr).

[versaphile]

Agreed. in this context, it's akin to snuggly, emotionally gentle/sensitive, etc.

[sholio]

Looks like that's the general consensus. *adds to store of tumblr slang knowledge* Thanks!

[sholio]

ahhhh, that is a really good point about clustering with those words - thanks!

[muccamukk]

I had a comment on one of my fic about that, in Spanish, and my impression it was sort of the feeling of being engulfed and blissed out.

[sholio]

As per comments below, it seems to be more like "snuggly and gentle/sensitive," in general, but I can see how it could drift into that as well. I wonder if the language makes a difference.

[madripoor_rose]

Hmm, the only place I recall running into it was someone talking about soft post apocalypse fic...emphasizing relearning crafts, community building, etc. So I'd take it to mean the opposite of grim-gritty.

[sholio]

Yeah, "opposite of grimdark" was my basic read on it. From the comments it looks like it's a little more specific than that, but that's the general idea.

This is all making me realize that it's interesting we don't seem to have any neutral (i.e. non-pejorative) slang that means "opposite of grimdark" or "opposite of edgy."

[recessional]

....well it's not like "grimdark" isn't a bit pejorative, to be fair.

[melannen]

I've only seen it on tumblr as part of a genre label (most famously follow for more soft alligator) and it seems to be used, idk, for a bunch of characteristics that might have been described as "feminine" fifty years ago? floral, pastel, romantic, gentle, soft-focus, unthreatenting, nurturing, etc.

Except in the sciences and sff, where it basically means "focused on people and relationships instead of technology and ideas or war". Or porn where it means, you know, not hardcore. Or music genres but that's beyond me.

[sholio]

THAT ALLIGATOR OMG. The comparison to traditionally feminine traits is really interesting, and I think you're right.

[sheron]

I have never seen this used on tumblr, so I am not sure, but I have encountered "softened" and "hardened" in videogame context. Basically, you have dialogue options that are more "sensitive" or less, i.e. do you choose to execute someone who committed a crime. The answer can 'harden' a hero, meaning that future dialogue options that show up are different and more, well, hard. i.e. if you choose to execute the criminal, next time you might not hesitate to execute someone else in game. If you choose to spare their life, next time you'll get a more 'gentle' option presented as a choice.

The other context I've heard it in is in terms of scientific hypothesis. A hardened hypothesis is one that's been tested, versus a soft one which hasn't.

Again, neither of these might have anything to do with the meaning you've encountered. Like I said, I've never seen it used in a sentence on tumblr.

[sholio]

Oh, that's interesting about video game characters! Based on the other comments, it looks like it's mostly used to mean something along the lines of nurturing, nonthreatening, fluffy/pink, etc. Which fits with how I've seen it used. You'll probably run into it eventually; it seems to be in the process of catching on ... ^^;;;

[naye]

I agree that "soft" is the new "smol". Kind of. I need more exposure to be sure exactly...

[brigdh]

This is the same sense I've gotten. I've haven't really seen any fetish connotations to it (though it is tumblr, so I'm sure that exists somewhere).

[sholio]

The main thing that made me think there might be fetish elements I'm missing is that you can't search on it. (Try it! For me at least, searching on "soft" returns zero hits, which is obviously not right - it's being blocked somehow.)

But anyway, yeah, it looks like the consensus here is basically that it means nurturing, nonthreatening, etc. And that fits with how I've seen it used.

[sholio]

"soft" is the new "smol"

ONLY ON TUMBLR. XDDD

Based on the other comments, I think "smol" might be a little bit, idk, overlapping in the same Venn diagram but not a complete overlap. But yeah, closely related. I think the comments have helped me nail down exactly how it's used, which is basically to mean nurturing, nonthreatening, having traditional/stereotypically feminine attributes, and so forth. And I think that's pretty accurate to how I've seen it used in sentences.

[monanotlisa]

I've only really seen it in Supergirl fandom, which skews so. Very. Young. I wouldn't ascribe too much meaning to it -- in a US-dominated online world of extremes, it's merely a word to level out the harsher connotations of any term.

[sholio]

Well yeah, but you could apply the same general principle (there is no meaning except the meaning it's given in the moment) to most slang, or words for that matter - though slang is especially that way. But there's still a distinctive way it's used and I was curious about what that meaning is - the other comments have more details if you're interested too.

I do think it's a side effect of youth in Tumblr culture; it goes along with the whole "wanting to smooth the hard edges off things" trend that seems to be a thing over there. Which, really, who can blame anyone for wanting a few less hard edges right now.

[gwyn]

It kind of means…sort of what it says on the tin? Like, there's a lot of pics of Chris Evans where he looks like a total fratboy douchebro, and people always talk about them as "soft fratbro" because he's at heart a sweetie but acts like he shouldn't be. Or the gif of Steve tearing the log apart with his hands from Ultron, calling it "soft lumberjack." Just…the tender or sweet version of whatever the thing is soft is modifying. (And I do see people using it as a noun, too, but it's sort of the same thing…"he's/she's a sweetheart, gentle, someone we don't want to see harmed."

[sholio]

Thank you - this is really helpful! That's EXACTLY how I've seen it used in general (not that fandom specifically, but overall), and this really helps me nail it down.

[trobadora]

Yeah, that was my impression too. It's a qualifier for somthing you wouldn't normally expect to be fluffy or sweet.

[st_aurafina]

I've only seen it with pairings - soft 'Kylux', for example, and I assumed it was something akin to 'pre-slash'? Maybe if I read Kylux, I'd know more, IDK.

[sholio]

As per the comment above yours, in general it's "the tender or sweet version of whatever the thing is soft is modifying" - which sounds like it would definitely be an option in pairings. Actually, come to think of it, that could be a super useful pairing term.

[stultiloquentia]

In Check Please! and adjacent sports fandoms, it often describes giant hulking male athletes being gentle, and/or participating in gentle activities such as talking about their feelings, holding puppies, or sipping tea while wearing a fuzzy sweater and contemplating a rainstorm. It's a positive descriptor, which celebrates resistance to/rejection of toxic masculinity.

I'm fond of it, especially as a replacement for "pure," which is a forbidding standard for any BSO to live up to!

[sholio]

That makes sense; thanks! I agree that it's less, well, off-putting than "pure," which is one that's always kinda bugged me.

[recessional]

All of them off-put me, tbh, including "soft", tho "soft" is least so and more to do with the part where I actually think in textures and someone associating the texture "soft" with, like, Steve Rogers is really REALLY jarring to my brain. (Gentle, sure! Kind, sure! Even fragile, sure! All kinds of things! But not soft. Fucker's made out of granite bits.)