#'if they were less homophobic and could fuck it out maybe they could be normal about each other' I Do Not Actually Think This Would Help

[stormblessed95]

I just wanted to come vent on here for a lil. Hope you don’t mind. I was on twitter today and i saw some jikookers fighting with taekookers and the taekookers kept going on with the same tired old stories of “Jikook is Fanservice” “all their moments are for the cameras” etc and storm, i realized how silly all of this is. I realized how stupid it is for people on the internet to continue fighting about who the members love the most and who they are fucking.

The truth is, the odds had been stacked against jikook and jikookers since the very beginning. Reality is never as pleasant as fiction. I honestly believe that Jimin and Jk are or have atleast been together in a romantic way considering their circumstances, that automatically means it was never going to be that pleasant. These are real people and just imagine what we normal people have to go through in our personal relationships every single day, what more of these idols who are under scrutiny almost 24/7? I used to get so and hurt when taekookers would bring out those gifs and screenshots of “Jk hating Jimin” or “Jk pushing Jimin away or making faces at him”’but when i thought about it, i realized that, that is exactly what reality looks like. It’s not always pretty and if many of us had cameras shoved infront of our faces all the time and we could sit down and watch ourselves 24/7, maybe we would all be less judgemental. I know this might sound a little crazy but i cannot tell you how many times i’ve shed tears over jikook. Their story is just so heartbreaking but beautiful. Those two never stood a chance with this fandom. When you think about the fact that their bond had been attacked since the very beginning and it just gets worse as the years go by. It doesn’t really matter what Jikook do or don’t do because some people are determined to find faults in their relationship to attack and ofcourse they will always find something or make something up because at the end of the day, no relationship is perfect.

Think about years ago when Jimin and Jungkook were everywhere together and did almost everything together. You would think that people would have atleast seen and recognized their bond for what it is but even then, people accused them of fanservice. Jikook were attacked for doing the things taekook do today and get praised for. Jimin and Jungkook hanginh out in their private time with friends meant they were a fake couple and were doing fanservice because a real queer couple in a homophobic country would never do that, but taekook hanging out and spending time together is proof that they are indeed a couple. How much evidence do we have of Jikook spending important days with each other? We have alot but taekookers literally have none yet that doesn’t stop them from coming for Jikook’s bond. Even though we have evidence of taekook themselves saying they kinda drifted apart, and videos of Jk himself saying he wasn’t with Tae on his birthday, that still doesn’t stop the cult from coming for jikook’s bond.

Now we will be getting footage of Jk cooking for Jimin in Jimin’s house and this was most like taken almost 2 years ago meaning that before Jk ever dreamed of cooking for Tae, he had already done that for Jimin several times but when taekookers heard Tae say he was going to eat at Jk’s once, they used that to attack Jikook saying Jk only cooks for Tae. We have multiple videos of Jk feeding Jimin and the other members but taekookers get a video of Jk putting food in tae’s mouth and use that again to attack jikook even though they are getting that from the same company content they hate so much.

I remember how that taekooker girl who saw Jikook at the gym in LA was insulted and called a liar by her own breed and when she eventually got vindicated, they immediately switched the narrative to “the workout date was for company content” even though Jimin literally said that he and Jk worked out together every day since they went to the US so all we got to see was just one of the workouts and see how they made it seem like everthing Jikook do is infront of the cameras. After swearing that Jk probably doesn’t even know the road to Jimin’s house, when we get actual footage of Jk cooking for Jimin in his apartment, they immediately switch narratives again to “they do everything infront of the camera”. Like do these people even truly believe the thinga they say? Do they honestly believe that the company called Jk and told him to go to Jimin’s house and cook so they can take some shots for official content? If all these years we have gotten all the content of jikook from the times they were photographed, then what about when they weren’t? Can you imagine how much time jikooo actually spend together? Can u imagine how many things they do that we never get to find out about?

I find taekookers very interesting because they keep saying that taekook is an off cam couple yet they know almost all the times taekook hang out. How private are their interactions if Tae or Jk come to tell us about it or if tae posts pictures about it? Do they think that those moments were private just because the videos or photos didn’t come from bighit’s cameras? Also, they say all jikook moments are infront of the camera but how would they know the moments that were not for the camera if those moments were private? Do they think Jimin or Jk will post pictures of themselves while they have sex or come to tell us that they had late night movies dates just the two of them? Jimin and Jk used to be somewhat reckless in the past and we got some little TMI’s from them but as pple get older, they don’t feel the need to expose certain parts about their relationship with the rest of the world. Jk literally told us that Jimin kept singing “peuriri” to him so much that he thought he was going to mistakenly sing it on stage so how do these pple think that happened if Jikook never saw each other? How do these pple think Jimin and Jk drew a whale on a yacht together?

I just realized that getting upset at the things taekookers say is kinda useless. They themselves don’t even know what they believe in and their opinions on Jimin and Jungkook’s bond doesn’t change their reality anyway. Jimin and Jungkook choosing to enlist together despite the majority of the fandom thinking they were distant should have been enough to tell people that you really cannot sit behind your screen watching parts of pples lives that they choose to share with you and think that you know it all.

"I just realized that getting upset at the things taekookers say is kinda useless. They themselves don’t even know what they believe in and their opinions on Jimin and Jungkook’s bond doesn’t change their reality anyway. Jimin and Jungkook choosing to enlist together despite the majority of the fandom thinking they were distant should have been enough to tell people that you really cannot sit behind your screen watching parts of pples lives that they choose to share with you and think that you know it all."

The most important part of this rant (in my opinion) is the last bit. Thanks for sharing your thoughts

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/747778548718321664/an-element-of-the-not-enough-ff-fic#notes

tbf, the "not shipping the canon het relationship is misogyny!" thing has escaped containment enough to the dumbest, most homophobic het-onlys that I've seen those people argue that for F/F pairings where there IS no competing M/M relationship, where people genuinely couldn't give less of a shit about the guy and are only in it to put the woman with someone better. Or when the M/M ship they also like is completely non-overlapping.... somehow it's somehow still misogynistic for them to prefer this completely DIFFERENT woman with her female best friend over whatever crappy guy she's with in canon whom they ship with nobody.

My friend has seen this in Bridgerton fandom, where people throw out the "but misogyny!" shit for people who prefer shipping Eloise with women, over her book-canon male love interest (who is a rapist who sucks and she ends up basically just being nanny to his kids, gee I wonder why a lot of people don't want that as the eventual fate of the character who in the show is the Outspoken Feminist). Their claim for why that's supposedly what's going on is these same people sometimes also like to ship her brother Benedict with men.... but like, the "canon" ship isn't Benedict/Eloise. Nobody ships that. They just like both of them in same-gender relationships. And in Eloise's case, it's clearly motivated by a love of Eloise as a character, a dislike of her book husband, and often also liking her relationships with other women in the show and thinking it would be interesting to ship them. What could possibly be misogyny and "pair the spares" about that....?

(Granted, the people mad about this in Bridgerton seem particularly homophobic and stupid and like, new to fanfic fandom or something. They had meltdowns about someone tagging a het ship with its ship tag when they wrote a fic with one of them Rule 63'd..... pretty sure that's standard AO3 practice to do that? The person tagged it as either M/M or F/F - whichever it was - rather than F/M, and put a tag in there about it being Genderswap/Rule 63, they were adequately warned. So there was literally no reason to complain except that you mad that you were reminded of the existence of non-het in your fandom by scrolling through the tag. The horror! Or maybe it's 2024 and especially if you're using AO3 of all fucking places, you need to get the fuck over the idea that "can gay people exist but like, not where I can see them?" is a preference it's ok and normal and non-bigoted for you to have)

--

[foggymartin]

It's always awful to see pretentious twats on the news, but especially when they talk about things they've had no experience in. Seeing upper class, Christian men go on and on about how we should make Britian a "Christian" place again is out of this world. Seeing upper class (and let's be real, probably Christian) men talk about how people in poverty should just *work in these shitty jobs provided by our fucked government and earn minimum wage* because what are they going to do? They basically don't have a choice. Seeing *upper class christian men* talk about women's rights, gay peoples rights, people of colours rights, like it's some kind of epic tale in a book. They have no fucking idea what they're talking about, for any of it.

Christianity is a fucked religion (controversial, I know) with again, pretentious twats speaking the "words of God" which are a load of shit. Most of the time it's used as an excuse to be a homophobe or a sexist. Okay, David, why don't we follow every single rule ever put into that musty book? Why don't we tell left handed people they're going to hell? Or tell people who are mean that they're going down there? Why is it gay people? Correct me if I'm wrong, the Bible stated "man must not sleep with *boy*" and not "man must not sleep with man." You know, because pedophila feels like more of a crime then *gay people.* just a hunch. Commenting "Jesus loves you" or "find god" on any post that is someone different. An alternative person. It's so stupid. Why do you care? Follow your little religion and fucking leave us alone.

Poverty is a huge problem across the ENTIRE world, and I'm sure that speaks in volumes about how fucked up of a world we are. The fact that these people who are fighting to survive every day are being told to "just work" by people who never had to work a day in their life for shit is infuriating. Upper class people in general irritate me. I think it's the arrogance that they have. They're a bit.. Snobbish, you know? Even from just teenage girls being naive and laughing at poorer kids for not having an iPhone, to rich adults looking down on these people with such disgust. Seriously viewing these human beings as less then their pretty little £1000 poodle. What the fuck. The government taxes people - taxes the poor people who literally can't afford it if they want to eat. And just the normal people. Why not tax the rich more? People say "oh, we do tax them." Not as much? Do they need all that money? Do they really? Why can't they lend some of that "well earned" (passed down from generations) money to people who need it. I'm sure they'll live.

People on the news talk about women and gay people like they're a shit stain on a wall, but I'm sure the stain would get better rights. It's debates about women's rights to give birth, women's rights to wear what they please, women's rights to turn down a man. Literally fucking anything a woman does is shit on by society. Gay people are debated - should being trans be allowed? Is being gay a sin? Hmm, such tricky questions... Why not just let them live? People point out "oh, that school shooter was trans" or "that rapist was gay" not to say that school shootings or rape cases are bad, no no, just to shit on the LGBTQ community. Nobody points out that a school shooter was a white man. Why don't we just say "that school shooter was a horrible person who deserves to die" and not focus on the community they were a part of? Maybe mourn the lives lost instead of rejoice in the fact that you've got new things to hate the LGBTQ community for.

What a pleasant world we live in, huh? I could go on more, but I wont. I'll probably spiral into a ton of stuff about capitalism and why it should be torn to the ground.

Jesus Christ, I wrote more than intended. Happy reading

[idiotlovesongs]

i wanna talk about being latino (mexican and colombian) in bandom, specifically being a fan of ptv.

as we all know, bandom is so very fucking white. sure you can go looking for specifically poc bands, but the majority of the popular bands are white with one or two people of color in the band and they are either white passing or get treated fucking weirdly by fans because white fans don't know how to interact with their poc idols normally (not that they interact with their white idols normally but it's a bad weird when it comes to poc).

most bands are sexualized but with ptv it felt particularly gross in the way it was tied to the fact that they were mexican. they were and are hot, don't get me wrong, but did the term sexican have to be so fucking popularized?? the fact that they were latinos was really fetishized in a way that white artists really didn't get. i remember someone talking about how the only reason they got a girlfriend in middle school was because in between getting called a beaner and a wetback, she was also called a sexican. it gave emo and alt people almost a right to fetishize latinos, specifically mexicans. and emo latinos just had to sit and take it because it was the only love we really got from such a largely white fanbase. a lot of memes around them (at least the ones that i remember, the ones that stuck with me) were kind of racist and stereotyped them. not to say ptv didn't make those kind of jokes from time to time, but it's different when it's coming from your own people rather than some person on the internet who is probably white.

i really fucking love ptv. it was so nice to finally look and see someone like me up on stage playing music for you. it was nice getting recognition from other people that we could also fucking do that. it gave us something to be. and i grew up around a lot of poc, but i always identified more with fandom spaces and bandom cause i was a weird emo child with a fucked up sense of sexuality and gender. i experienced that sense of other from my irl community and then in bandom spaces because most people were white. i wasn't totally conscious of the effects until i noticed in my writing that all my characters (and i do mean all) were white. Do you know how embarrassed I felt? How ashamed I felt? How it still feels so fucking shitty? that shit sticks with you. how is it that i was so entrenched in a white community that i forgot that i existed? that people like me existed. ptv really helped pull me out of that.

rpf is bandom was and is a big thing. if you were gay or questioning in middle school and you were emo, you read rpf. that's just how it fucking goes. i read maybe like one or two from bands that i liked, but the ones that i fucking devoured involved vic fuentes. yeah most of the writers were white and fetishized him, but it was still nice to have someone there that looked like me. idk if other poc can relate to this, but i always feel super uncomfortable walking into a room and have there be only white people. it makes you feel alienated as fuck. having vic and the rest of ptv in these digital spaces made me feel less alone subconsciously. again, this works were definitely a little racist and homophobic but i wasn't super picky back then and i had yet to unpack some internalized issues.

a little sidenote that i've noticed is that people talk about gender envy a lot when it comes to white members in bandom, but i've seem almost no one talk about it when it comes to ptv. maybe i'm just on the wrong side of tumblr, but i've very rarely seen someone say shit about ptv giving them gender envy and they are so fucking gender. literally fuck y'all. the day another white twink gives me gender envy is a cold day in hell. i went to mexico and got it so fucking often because i finally saw what my actual fucking face could be. i saw my features on guys and wanted to fucking crawl into their skins just to see how it would feel. and the gender euphoria i got at everyone saying i looked just like my dad was literally unreal. and yeah i got told i was the female version but it was so fucking close. i felt like i could fucking taste it. tangent over.

this is not to say ptv were always amazing and helpful to the community. i mean, they definitely catered to a white audience. i still remember watching their music videos and wondering why all the actors were white. they were the only poc in most of their old music videos. i particularly took note of the fact that there were poc in the music video of pass the nirvana because they quite literally had none before. i still remember the day i watched bulls in the bronx and wondering why they didn't have latinos in a music video for a song that was so tied to their latin roots. i get that latinos come in all different shades, but they are always picking the palest shade?? come on.

and i acknowledge that ptv probably didn't have control of the actors chosen for their mvs, but it still demonstrates the issues in bandom and how even in their own music videos they are kind of othered. i know if i was in a band, i would at least try to push for one actor to be visibly latino or some other poc. but like i said, they could very well just have no control over this and it's someone else pulling the strings for their music videos. it just felt kind of shitty to look at their music videos and see that even their they were the only latinos in the space.

sidenote, being latino and emo is fucking hard. being emo is seen as a white thing and, if your peers don't make fun of you, your family and community sure fucking will. i was in mexico and had my hair dyed bright red (which is admittedly an attention grabber) and you have no idea the amount of stares i got in my dad's pueblo. kids, parents, grandparents, everyone looks at you and stares. i'm sure this isn't specific to latinos, but i'm talking about my personal experience. my uncle, who had admittedly been kind of creepy and weird, kind of stopped interacting with me as much when i got my hair colored, when it became very visibly obvious that i was kind of alt/emo, and i definitely felt like my family was gonna talk shit as soon as i left. but that's also just how latino families are. there's always chisme. i can't imagine what it must feel like to actually live in mexico while being emo (especially in the 00s-10s) but, from what i've heard, it's not fucking fun. you're just really othered in a way that i didn't totally feel in the states because i had my friends who were also emo. i mean the mexican emo wars is such fucking proof of the difference in the way white people interacted with alt cultures and the way mexicans did.

anyways this was just me putting words to a feeling i've always had about ptv. it is by no means articulate or well crafted, but i just wanted to get this out. i really do love pierce the veil and most of their work. i always smile when i see the way their heritage influences their music and they really effected the way i see myself and my culture. i love that they got a mexican folklorico dancer to dance with them on stage for bulls in the bronx. it seriously warmed my heart to see them embrace us that way and honestly makes me wanna fucking cry. don't come at me because this shit is half assed. i know it is. it is just me talking about my experience and feelings and what i've heard from other latinos. if you're latino too, add onto this post or message me if you want to talk about this stuff or just ptv in general. white people, don't engage in this convo. it is not about you and i don't care about your opinion on the latino experience in bandom. other poc are welcome to talk about their experiences too. was there a band like this that y'all had and how did that impact you guys' perspective of yourself and your culture?

[teeth-cable]

On a subject that I think people have brought up but I wanted to go more in depth.

Hellborn being homophobic makes no sense. Like sinners it does but not for the native species.

Homophobia originates from the a mistranslated bible verse that in its original form condemned pedophilia so like wouldn't the Hellborns know that?

If we are going with the homophobia from the bible so of course Hellborns would be homophobic (even though that makes no sense)... Don't the Hellborns worship Satan? Wouldn't their holybook be different?

Also Succubi exist so that adds a layer of confusion.

We also have a shark demon dressed as a catholic priest... Like if you edited the outfit to look unholy kinda like some of the Murdoc Niccols art in the recent Gorillaz arc then its not a total worldbuilding issue.... But dude is straight up a catholic priest and we know the shark demons are hellborn due to concept art showing hybrids so we cant say its a holdover from life.

Also the typical western wedding we see stems from Queen Victoria and again these are Hellborns they don't know who the fuck she is. It would make more sense to borrow from more ancient wedding traditions.

Also I understand why they made Crim biphobic because it is a real thing that people do experience from parents and Vivziepop is bisexual herself so I understand it being important to the crew but, again it makes no sense unless Crim is a sinner or...

Crim wants biological grandchildren. I mean you have to genderswap Chaz and maybe Millie but then again Millie can stay the same and just have Crim mention how Moxxie used to chase after guys and doesn't like Millie because she's a country bumpkin.

Like the only way I can see homophobia being a thing in Hell if its because people there value blood more than anything. This would actually I think fit well with the Stolitz plot that they are going with. Stolas and Stella were married off to produce a child and we know that you don't have to be blood related to Stolas to use the grimoire as seen with Loona. Rather there was no point in birthing Octavia if the power isn't genetic so the system itself is intentionally flawed. Maybe like you aren't shamed if you have a same sex lover in general if you have a kid already but if you dont then you get shunned. Some people might judge Stolas for sleeping with an imp due to the status alone. If it was a male noble it would be less scandalous. But imagine like the fact Stolas chose an imp over Stella actually makes their entire family look bad.

Like people are gonna speculate on how badly Stella screwed up if her husband chose a peasant over her and that might lead to people wondering why Octavia doesn't have siblings. Depending if Hell is misogynistic or not Stella might be portrayed as at fault for this. Hey at least she has a layer of complexity now instead of being a bimbo.

Succubi and Incubi might be the only exceptions because like their existence is founded on sex.

This all would mean being ace in hell would be interesting to explore.

Now returning to theology

What are Hellborns core tenets?

What the hell happens to Hellborns when they die? Like I think we need this answered soon rather than later because we know sinners get erased by holy weapons but nothing about Hellborns who could die like a normal person. Like they don't have souls... Do they just get erased from existence too? Like everyone has been super confused about this since episode 2 for crying out loud and we have not even a fraction of a hint.

Why did they add the Great Old Ones. Like I know Viv said she was pulling from multiple mythologies... I assume that she meant she would pull from Underworld myths across the world to help out a unique spin on hell because that's a logical assumption and interesting ideas. After all the Hellenism Underworld has a lot of interesting stuff and Tartarus is pretty similiar to the Christian Hell.

But she grabs the great old ones? Look they aren't even a mythology and a lot of stuff H.P. Lovecraft wrote about them usually meant if they were around they were gonna either put the universe into an era of chaos or everyone dies. Like the only Great Old One that could fit in Helluva is Dagon because dude was an actual worshipped god and was mentioned in the bible where his worshippers were demonized.

But like going back to how using the Great Old Ones in Hellaverse is a shitty choice. Like how are you going to fit anyone besides Dagon in a show based off primarily Abrahamic beliefs.

Like there's already a christian apocalypse and The Great Old Ones seem more akin to aliens instead of them probably being demons in Hellaverse. But then you also have to consider the fact the Old Ones power is literally incomprehensible.

Like why does God on the show allow them to stick around when in Judaism He nerfed Levithan because He accidentally made it too powerful.

Like you would have to nerf them significantly which actually takes away from them.

But oh wait Vivziepop added Azathoth the one Great Old One that is so difficult to nerf because it's literally a blackhole/primordial chaos. The only reason it's not destroying stuff is because it's asleep. Like using that one either means your story is probably going to deal with end game shit or set dressing to explain the origin of the others.

Like if Azzy is there does that mean god came from it or did He create it?

Also the Great Old Ones represent concepts of madness and terror yet none of those themes are present in Helluva. Like maybe it could've worked if as they get more clients the imps get exposed to a lot of fucked shit that starts draining them idek.

Like if Vivziepop really really really wanted to pull from another mythos not linked to Abrahamic religion, roman mythology! Like literally Roman Beliefs and Abrahamic Religions have a deeply tied history so it makes since especially since Emperor Constantine made christianity legal which began the erasure of pagan religions and the roman gods even cameod in The Divine Comedy.

Im so confused about the writing decisions

The reason why the worldbuilding makes no sense and we never learn about the imp's culture is because the writers only wanted to make a show about relationship drama. Which is fine if it took place on regular Earth but no, Viv decided she wanted to make a show that takes place in Hell because Hazbin is popular but didn't want to put the effort into writing the worldbuilding so as a cheap cop out they wrote Hell like Earth but now that's biting them in the ass because fans are starting to noticed the human elements like homophobia, jail, rehab, and the mafia makes no sense in Hell.

Imps being homophobic never made sense. Beside the mistranslation of the Bible, Hell is supposed to be the opposite of Heaven. So if Heaven in Viv's version is homophobic then Hell would be the very opposite. Most likely homophobic imps would be outcasted because of their views. Also in Viv's hell being an imp is worse than being gay. The writers are just giving homophobic imps the same writing treatment as the human disguises, they're only an inconvenience or needed for the plot when the writers wants them to be. Crim was already an asshole without being biphobic, he's a misogynist who abused and killed his wife and most likely abused Moxxie when he was young. Those traits are already enough to make him dislikable.

When Viv says she's going to pull from multiple mythologies, what she actually mean is she's not going to do any research, only steal the most interesting parts out of their context, and steal ideas from other writers even if they have no relation to Hell. It's very obvious none of the HB writers did actual research just by how the show characters and Hellborn species barely resemble their demonology counterparts.

One thing to remember about Helluva Boss is this show is not professional despite what the writers and fandom wants you to believe, it is not. Both seasons were unplanned, the writers hate listening to feedback, the show reconned almost everything in Season 2, the writing is inconsistent, and the worldbuilding is just lazy.

Not much else to say about the worldbuilding TBH. Yea it's pretty terrible but from the start the show never plan or will explain more about Hell. It's just best to view this show as someone's poorly written shipping fanfic.

[whymori]

Your Drithen and Idarus tag is absolutely normal feel free to talk about them in a totalllyyyy normal way

Holy shit. I will.

So basically the overview of Drithen and Idarus in the main Zorith story is that Idarus is the revered God of Zorith, and Drithen is Its prophet. Things are very different to what they seem though because Idarus is a CUNT. For hundreds of years maybe since Zoriths creation it’s been gaining power off of the struggles and deaths of those around Zorith (It is a god of doom and deceit)

Anyway yada yada yada every god that sends down prophecies needs a prophet, and Idarus has had MANY. But since It can’t let the whole actually I’m a dick thing get revealed it just kinda. Controls Its prophets. Like a puppet. Think ratatouille but weirder.

Drithen (full name Drithen Zerades) fucking hated their life SO BAD before becoming the prophet (their family was a line of nobles close to the royal family, and Drithen had a ton of expectations on them due to this (mainly having children to continue the family line. Weird.)) so when they started having fucked up dreams and eventually got called to meet THE PROPHET they honestly were a little stoked.

They got a lot less stoked though when it was said that they were the next prophet, and that their old life would never return again. And then they got EVEN LESS STOKED when during the initiation ritual to exchange the mantle, Idarus revealed Itself, revealed what It was, and then physically appeared in the real world out of the old Prophet and blinded Drithen because you really cannot stare directly at Gods (after this their vision is similar to someone with like. Really bad cataracts. Still partial vision, but they are definitely considered blind)

So anyway all that happens Drithen is the Prophet now yayyyyy they should be totally dead. Like not in control at all probably not even conscious anymore. But uh no, pookie is still in there still in control. Motor functions in tact. This honestly means nothing for Idarus but as you could imagine this means EVERYTHING to Drithen.

Anyway now Drithen is in an undying state for around 70-80 years not sure exactly how long tbh I can’t be assed to decide exactly. It’s a LONG TIME THOUGH, and when your only company is the God of your kingdom that is able to directly control you and dish out sick bars (prophecies) into your mind to tell the kingdom, you’d probably talk to it once or twice (many times)

Issue occurs: they’re unhealthily gay towards God now. Even bigger issue: God is unhealthily gay towards them back.

Anyway they hold hands and kiss and have romantic dinners (sit next to each other because neither of them can eat) or whatever idk I’m homophobic but only to those two. Then Idarus comes up with the whole Casso and Ecith plan that totally could never fail and will make It stronger than anyone could ever imagine, Drithen spits the bars to Zorith and then is like “wow since this is going to make you insanely strong you don’t need little old (over 100 years old stop) me anymore. Please let me rest my pookiebear.”

Idarus promises to Drithen that It will simply resurrect them once it becomes the most powerful being this side of the whole fucking planet and then Drithen DIES. FOR THE SECOND TIME.

And instead of rest they get LIMBO ‼️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️☝️☝️☝️🔥🔥🔥🙏🙏🙏 WOOOOOOOOO WE LOVE PROPHECY LIMBO

Then some unimportant things happen (cough. Practically all of Casso and Eciths story) idc idc gay people or something and Ecith winds up also in LIMBOOOOO ‼️‼️‼️🙏🙏🙏🎉🎉🎉💪💪💪🗣️🗣️🗣️

Drithen is so happy (mildly interested) that there’s finally someone else in this creepy ass fucked up mirror version of Zorith (limbo is weird alr) and is like “ohhhh your one of the gay people Idarus made up. Wdym we’re going to kill Idarus. Who is Casso??” And then they do everything in their power to help Ecith find a way to kill Idarus. This takes another 25 years so our guy is like 175 or smth by now but uhh yea eventually everything is lining up and Drithen calls in Idarus to limbo (which It had zero idea even existed. Fucking loser what a moron) promptly DIES. FOR THE THIRD TIME

It’s fine though because Idarus’ fate is sealed by two different gay people and IT DIES. YAYYYYYY

Anyway Ecith comes back to life when limbo collapses (limbo was a part of Idarus even if It wasn’t aware. So when It died limbo died) but so does Drithen 💀 They CANNOT have peace. Anyway their fate is undecided rn they’re either going to just. Become a person again or alternatively I’m going to ruin them for eternity by making them Idarus’ successor.

Now you might be thinking “this isn’t at all romantic what are you yapping about???” But you have to understand that Drithen and Idarus’ love language is literally killing each other. One must imagine Drithen and Idarus setting traps for each other like Tom and Jerry. Drithen and Idarus missed each other every day when Drithen died and they also simultaneously hate each other. If all stakes were removed and Drithen and Idarus were just normal people they would be in the healthiest relationship known to man. They would (and did in Drithens case) die in each others arms. I’m normal I’m the most normal guy ever thank you 👍

God do I even want to post this holy shit

[loulines]

I got my anniversaries mixed up.

Fuck.

Not that it matters. The thing on June 21st was something I confessed to someone which started a series of things that made me end up in therapy. Still ironic.

My fandom anniversary is about a week later. Can't really remember when exactly anymore.

Again, it doesn't matter.

I survived my first ever therapy session, that's what matters.

Normally I wouldn't write about it, in fact I haven't really felt like talking about the details for the couple of days, not even to my friends. My family doesn't even know I went there.

The only reason why I want to publicly speak about it is because I know there are many people like me who are struggling and on the verge of breaking apart, but they're too afraid to start therapy, or procrastination and executive dysfunction are kicking their ass. I can only hope to inspire at least one person.

I'd rather not talk about how I even got to that point aside from the thing I mentioned earlier because this should stay private. But it was that and also years of other unfortunate events that shaped me into the miserable wreck I am today.

I've been considering starting therapy when things were still somewhat "not great not terrible", but since I was terrified of talking to anyone, I did everything I could to not find a specialist.

Then, when I actually seriously considered getting the appointment, I have already done things I was even more scared to talk about with a stranger because therapist or not, the last thing I needed was to have someone confirm that I did morally wrong and unforgivable things...

And of course living in a hell of a homophobic country doesn't help either.

Hundreds of mental breakdowns later, and buckets of tears I've cried, my irl friend told me that I should really look for someone to help me. My first reaction was of course, "no way I will do it," but then she told me that she's looking for a therapist herself too. And she told me about her ways to look for someone.

So eventually I spent some time on research, wrote down some names and then left it like that without making an appointment.

It was fine. I did the first step anyway and that was what mattered. A few days later I was getting out of another meltdown and then I just... I grabbed my ipad, went back to the list and made an appointment with the therapist that "seemed" to be the best for me.

And that was it.

I almost started crying while I was signing up because it felt like I was making a life changing decision. And idk... Maybe because I finally agreed with myself to get the professional help I've been avoiding so much in the past.

On the day of the appointment I was stressed AF but it hit the catalyst 15 minutes before. I thought I would pass out and I don't know if it was my nerves or the heatwave or both.

And then it happened. Again, I don't want to share any details. Some things got clearer right away and made me feel calm now, the rest is still confusing. I definitely need more sessions. I might attend them feeling less stressed though. Hopefully.

I don't want to draw any conclusions now. I don't want to examine myself in search of finding immediate changes in me and my POV... That's gonna take a while and just because I've been feeling slightly better for a few days and not s**c*d*l (as usual) doesn't mean I'm already fixed. I'm not. I'm still beyond broken and more than confused.

Tbh I know absolutely nothing about mental health. All the attempts at trying to understand what is happening to me or others were only making things worse. I used to think I can DIY my own therapy without stepping out of my comfort zone. I cannot.

Had I started therapy earlier, say 8 months earlier, maybe I would be in a very different situation right now. And the people that were affected by my mental fuck up would be as well. Maybe things would be so much better now. I will never know. Time can't go in reverse, what's done is done. The only thing I can do now is to trust a specialist and hope I chose the right one.

And wait.

For days, weeks, months, maybe years...

Until life is good again.

[yourcasualreligiousfanatic]

Watching community. On the 4tb season rn. Just wanted to put down some of my observations. The pilot characterisation is drastically different compared to the later seasons. Abed is functioning(he can read time, when later on he can't??? Tf??), but special quirky funny smart kinda way. Idk he seemed so much more mature compared to the later seasons. Dreamatorium, and all his schizo tendencies infantanlised him too much. Troy was the American football start still hung up about his high school life, young cool dumb and kinda stereotypically normal. He was rooted in reality, and could actually be a real person. But then they turned him into the other schizo sheep for their rainman duo. Dumbed him down and made him into a different character. Annie was supposed to be the young naive insecure girl unsure of sex...?ish. Like sheltered and unsure. She was worried about her social standing, popularity and shit. Shallow stuff, but again, real and relatable. Then she turned into... Bruh I don't even know. I guess one can argue that she grew up, and I guess Ill acclet that. She ok if guess, believable character growth that I honestly don't mind. Britta was smart, cold, strong, SMART OK?! she was independent and knew her worth. She was cooooollll as a cucumber. Like. What happened??😭😭😭😭 They made her so WEIRD WTF. Like she was sexy and cool bro, then she became dependent on guys(blade... Like, NAHHHH)and became dumb as shit. What the fuck, they did her so dirty, like frrrr lobotomised her. Like she was the girl you were intimidated of, but was still attracted to, and knew you had to put in a lot of effort into charming, but then she became some brain-dead retard. LMAOOO. Not exactly complaining about all of these changes btw, just kinda confused and a little sad. But wtv. Shirley was kinda the same. And Pierce too. Made him dumber tho, but maybe that's cuz he's just getting older and more senile. Idk, he's kinda funny.😭😭idk why ppl hate him so much, (yeah, he's homophobic, annoying asf, dumb, old, racist, everythingphobic, but that's funny bro, grow a thicker skin, Jesus fuck. Just cause your funny little show is full of cannon rainmans and rupauls, you don't get to filter out the guy.) think he's needed in the dynamic and he adds the flavour. Ppls shouldn't excluded him from their fanarts and stupid fanon shit I've been seeing. Idk, I think he's part of the group, they clearly care for him, and he's an important part, so idk. I guess ppl just seeing and selectively talking about what they want to see kind of pisses me off. But also, it's just a show, so I really shouldn't be so pressed, it's really not that deep. Ppl can do whatever they want, idc, and even if I did, no one else does. So. Jeff. Side note, he can stab me, beat me, gaslight me, manipulate me, hurt me, punch me, kick me, and I wouldn't mind. He cute asf.😭😭 And he was so cool and smart and aloof in the beginning. Twisting your words around like THAT. SO COOL. I have a thing for smart white guys with a little scruff and windblown hair. (House, and Lucifer spn, etc...) But yeah, he gets kind of lame later on. I hate that he starts having a heart and CARING for the ppl around him. Like....Ew....no. I wanted him to go back to being a cool heartless lawyer who cares about superficial things and thrives with other soulless bastards. Mmmm. Now that's sexy. Idk, he got so.... Lame. Lame lame lame. Not cool. No. Got less smart too. Hmmmm. There might be a direct correlation between coolness and intelligence.

Also, the banter of the show was smart and interesting and intricate and funny as hell. I'm not saying it still isn't(at least in season 4), but I feel like they put in a little less effort. The pilot was so good, so many iconic moments in ONE episode, so many good jokes I got pulled in LITERALLY the first scene. That's how good and consistent the jokes were.

Overall, I like what I'm seeing, really really funny show, so much fucking better than SUPERNATURAL. YES, IM STILL PISSED I WASTED SO MUCH TIME ON THAT HOT PILE OF GARBAGE. I love how much reference they put in there, the cinematography, filming styles, stylistic choices..... SOOOOOOO GOOODDD. I could cum, I love shows that do this type of shit. Documentary one ep, heist format, law and order, courtroom style drama, who dunnits, all so funny and Samer, they way they rewrite all these tropes to fit into a fucking COMMUNITY COLLEGE SETTING. WTFFF SO GOOD. I give it, so far at least, a 8.5/10. Yay.

[ksfoxwald]

(Crossposting from Twitter to get my thoughts out in longform.

One of the writers I follow put forth a question to their transmasc asking what sort of representation they wanted to see in fiction, and a bunch of thoughts I've been having about the progression of queer YA sort of condensed all at once.)

I've been thinking lately I don't see much queer lit with characters in the questioning/revelation/coming out stages anymore. Like, I get for a time all we had was the Coming Out/Trans 101 novel, but I think we overcompensated.

It's like there's an assumption that The Internet Exists now so everyone knows about trans people and can figure themselves out once they're old enough to google, and that's just... not the case? Gender is complicated, and people are in all sorts of situations.

Mostly I feel like we jumped from the 90s Coming Out novel to the 2010s Already Out novel and completely skipped my generation of "I know what gay people are but I don't know how to be one"

Or maybe YA is always just Like That with adults trying to mush their experiences into contemporary settings in ways that never quite ring true.

Queer YA in the 90s/2000s: "I have a secret...I think... I might be...gay. I am The Only Gay In Existence, except for the Hot New Guy who I fall madly in love with, even after we experience A Homophobia, so I guess there are 2 gays in the world. (Trans? What's that? Don't know her.)"

Queer YA in the 2010s: "We are going on adventures, we just happen to be two people of the same gender falling in love. Yeah, I've heard of homophobia but we don't care about that here. Also, did you know trans people exist?"

Queer YA in the 2020: "what up nerds, me and my Entire Pack Of Queer Pals are here to fuck shit up"

You know what, now I think about it, each of these trends is less indicative of the state of being a queer teen at the time and more a reflection on the older generation's wish fulfillment fantasies.

Queers growing up isolated in the 80s and writing in the 90s wished there had been even One Other Queer with whom they could have shared their experience with. Maybe even fallen in love with.

Meanwhile actual queers of the 90s/00s were like "yeah I know the Other Gay Guy at school and I don't really like him." They wrote the '10s novels from wishing they could have had queer stories that weren't just Coming Out angst, just "normal" stories with queer characters

And I'm guessing the 10s generation reading those stories were like "what's with this normie bullshit? I'm not a boy who 'just happens to' fall in love with another boy, I have a queer identity and a community even if I'm not in a relationship." They're less interested in mainstreaming and more interested in celebrating queerness in all its ambiguity and complexity, especially gender.

It'll be interesting to see what the next decade brings. I'm guessing a greater attention to homophobic backlash. My (00s) generation of teens dealt with a lot more implicit and unspoken queerphobia, which is probably why our generation of books just ignored it. We kind of just hoped it would go away on its own, didn't we? Maybe the current teens are reading the current crop of queer books like "love your enthusiasm for happy queers, but that's super not realistic and I don't want to pretend it is."

I mean I guess I could like. Ask a Real Live Teenager. But also the things you experience as a teen and the way it gels into something you write about a decade later are very different, so only time will tell for sure.

And yes, obviously queer YA writers are a variety of ages, and their works grow and change and are influenced by a variety of factors. But also, Alex Sanchez is still out here writing the same queer narrative he's been writing since the 90s.

So that's why I feel like my 00s experience of being a queer teen is missing from YA lit, because we skipped from Coming Out to Mainstreaming and missed the awkward in-between stage of "I know more than one gay person but I don't know how to form queer community."

And it's extra complicated because my experience of being a queer teen was unconsciously surrounding myself with other queer teens while we all pretended to be straight and that's a really hard thing to depict in literature in an interesting way.

Add to that the fact that a lot of people my age were like "uhh... I guess I'm gay?" in the 00s but then later came out as things like nonbinary and asexual and things that we had no way of knowing about as teens.

Anyway setting YA in the near past like the 80s or 90s is like, a Thing now I guess, but I'm not actually surprised no one has tried to depict this in fiction because how even the fuck would you? I see it in memoirs here and there, because I'm now old enough that peole my age have memoirs I guess. But in fiction?

The closest thing I've found is the anime "Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun," which is a probably unintentional but strangely perfect depiction of teens who are all some sort of queer and haven't realized it yet, but that is very much a fan reading. I've never seen it done with intent.

IDK, this was maybe just a very long way of saying I wish we had more Coming Out novels that were actually complicated and nuanced and maybe showed someone cycling through several identities, instead of just being a vehicle for Queer 101, but also I understand why the Coming Out Novel is kind of dead.

[thememphislee]

“Law And Border”

“Law And Border”

    I love freedom, I love being able to go where I want when I want without much interference or opposition.  I love the idea of being able to say what I want and the option to express myself the way that I see fit.  It’s easy to take these things for granted because we have them, usually.  Before I go any further, I should add the fact that we’re on the precipice of a new way of life.  Censorship and cancel culture have begun to overreach in our ability to communicate with each other and amongst ourselves.  I say and write some of the most offensive, racist, homophobic and discriminatory things that an individual might be capable of.  Do I apologize for it?  No. Do I regret it?  Eventually.  Could I change the way that I chose to define myself?  Probably.  Will I change knowing this?  Probably not. Why?  Because you would never know what I actually thought if I didn’t say it in the way that I meant it.  I find value in that.  No replacement for honesty, right?

    Oh yeah, I also say the most derogatory things about hippos, mainly because they’re so deadly, even though they’re adorable, they’re real bastards.  There’s even a term to describe a fear of hippopotamuses, although generic, it’s called “zoophobia.”  Where there is a fear there is a way these days! God forbid when they come up with a fear of genders or de-gender-ers, sorry the term for that hasn’t been invented yet.  But no fear, a term or definition for it will come.

    Sorry, I was rambling and ranting on purpose to confuse you, and hopefully lead you to read more.  Do you see what I did there?  Back to the title of this, it’s about laws and borders; law and order, or lack thereof. I love the United States because of the concept of liberty, the ability to be free, and an option for everyone in the world to achieve it.  Unfortunately, we have people that want to jump the line and get here without abiding to our laws.  What do you have without laws?  What is a piece of land without a property owner?  I was born here, and I was afforded certain rights, although lately those conditions seem to be compromised.

    I don’t dislike immigrants, I don’t even want to discourage them, but I do want them to follow “our” laws.  It’s simple.  Apply for citizenship.  If your life was shitty today, do something about it.  If your life was shitty yesterday, don’t repeat the step.  If your life is shitty tomorrow, ask yourself why. Don’t let it be because you burned your own house down, or in the least the house that you were striving to be part of.

    I would never travel to a country where I didn’t speak the language.  I also would never drag my kids, currently I don’t have any that I know of, LOL! Sorry, had to say it!  I don’t like kids, however if I actually had any, I would not put their well being or my state of mind in jeopardy by dragging them through the desert to a place that I didn’t speak the language, couldn’t guarantee that I could feed them, or properly clothe them.  Much less I wouldn’t take them to a place that I couldn’t provide for them.  I hate going to the DMV, (“Department of Motor Vehicles”, for you morons that don’t understand abbreviations) because I can’t figure out who or what or why their ticket system was developed.  A normal service ticket is like; “Line A is for number 32 at counter G currently serving all DCH tickets!’  It literally make no fucking sense!

    How many of you sleep with your doors unlocked?  Do you leave your cash on the front porch unattended?  I can probably already guess, you take precautions.  Is it because you hate people or is it because of their place in life? Maybe it’s because you have common sense.  Don’t pour gasoline on a fire unless you want it to burn.

 The Memphis Lee speaks!

 Now ya’ heard!

 That’s how I roll.!!!

[obsidianpen]

I know each author have a unique perception about the sexism in the wizarding world but I think canonically, sexism doesn't have much to say in the wizarding world than in the muggle one and witches and wizards aren't particularly sexist (or less sexist than muggles). In FB1 the president of MACUSA was a witch and in FB3 one of the candidates for the minister of magic post was also a witch. Grindelwald and Voldemort both had several female followers and nearly half of the order members were female too (of course Dumbles was an equalist in every aspects but still...) . And I think JK once said that the first female minister of magic was elected in 18th century.

I'd really like to know your opinion on this aspect because I've noticed you mention about sexism in the WW and I'd like to know what you think of this .

Hi anon, I'm sure I've touched on my opinions about this topic before, but it's an interesting one, so I'm happy to ramble about it again. I should preface this by saying that I don't really draw any inspiration from the FB movies. I've done a little bit of research on them specifically because of where B&G has gone, as well as some research on Ilvermorney on Pottermore for the same reasons, but for the most part I write based only on the canonical books 1-7.

I don't really care what JK Rowling 'says'. I know she's 'said' that her wizarding world isnt sexist and apparently never has been, isnt racist, isnt homophobic, etc. She's pretty much 'said' that it's a world and culture that exists outside of such terrible things, with the exception of being anti-muggleborn, sort of, sometimes. I don't really buy it. Later adding in details like 'the first female minister of magic was elected a million years ago, how progressive' or 'Dumbledore is actually gay!' does not a perfect world suddenly make.

Yes, Voldemort has one very powerful, female follower. But she didn't become one of his ranks until much later compared to his otherwise almost exclusive male following. She's the exception, not the rule. Also, apparently they were fucking, so that's annoying. Just another moment where it seemed like a woman was just a badass in her own right but no, she also had to be the romantic interest of the big bad guy. I feel like the series could have done without that, but oh well. When it comes to TR and his general following, though, it was shown in canon that he, as a young guy in school, was surrounded not by a good mix of witches and wizards in the earlier version of slughorns little club, but all slytherin boys. that reeked of old school sexism to me, which was probably totally normal back then, because, oh yeah, it was totally normal back then IRL.

Sure, many order members are female. Tonks is probably the best example of a badass witch doing the thing, but if you recall, in canon, harry is surprised when she says shes an auror. maybe thats because shes young, hard to tell. but i remember it.

Anyway, I suppose my biggest issue with JK simply saying 'nope no sexism/racism/etc here' is that it feels 1. like its an easy out, attempting to say that her magical characters/world are above such things when they are so clearly not if other -isms against muggleborns exist, and allows her to simply not address major, important topics, and 2. i dont see how it could be possible. If sexism (since that's the one we are focusing on now) existed in the much more populated muggle world, how could it not exist, or at least be acknowledged, by the magical one? I don't recall any wizards being burned alive. And while the real witches supposedly just got caught for fun because they could fake their burnings, real ass women were actually burning alive, often, I would assume, in the stead of real witches. Innocent women, and I'm sure not all of them were terrible people. I find it hard to believe that the real witches would be cool with that.

That isn't touching the topic of muggleborns. If muggleborn witches and wizards were welcomed into magical society, happily or not, then surely the -isms of the muggle world came with them. Unless certain muggleborns were not invited into the magical world, because maybe it would be really hard to explain to an older family that their daughter, who was considered property and maybe already promised to some other muggle, was magical and was invited to get a real education, just like their sons, except not really because it will be in a freaking castle far away. But even if they managed to fuck up everyone's memory who would be involved in that transaction, the young muggleborn witch in question would know what was going on, and how can someone not draw attention to issues like that if you experienced them? Unless such girls were NOT invited into the magical world, because it would be too hard - lots of girls were not allowed to learn how to read and write, for example, for a long time; how would they possibly fare in a school where that was required? Maybe they just weren't allowed in. And if that were the case, that would, in fact, make the wizarding world quite sexist indeed, even if it were combined with the anti-muggleborn situation.

I wonder the same things about any muggleborn child born as a slave in the muggle world, but that's a whole lot more to ramble about and I'm getting on a plane soon. Those are my abridged, early morning sleep deprived thoughts.

[nothing-more-than-hot-leaf-juice]

thoughts on bi!zuko? it's one of my biggest hcs

IN THIS HOUSE, WE LOVE AND SUPPORT Bi!Zuko

headcanons: 

I know that there’s comic stuff about Sozin being homophobic, but I am within my rights to ignore it. If people can move rocks with their mind and if dragons can exist, there can be normalized gay people damn it. 

So it’s not really a big deal to question your sexuality or to be gay/bi, but within the Fire Nation upper class you don’t really talk about it. There’s a heteronormativity problem, but not aggressive homophobia. 

When he’s younger, Zuko doesn’t really think about anyone like that. He’s got firebending training, sword training, and then he’s crowned prince all of a sudden, so he’s kind of got other stuff going on. 

Mai has a crush on him when she’s 12 and he’s 13 and he starts to develop some puppy-crush feelings from her. 

They do a cute pre-teen date where they play with knives outside the palace and climb on roofs (Maiko does parkour on their dates, I don’t make the rules) 

Mai’s really the only person he’s had feelings for by this point (again, he’s 13 and he’s been pretty busy being a prince and all to think about that sort of thing) 

Then the whole banishment thing happens and he really does not have time to start thinking about those things. Hunting the avatar is a full time gig. Angst baby Zuko does not have time to sit and wonder if he thinks boy are cute.

(aside from this one time when his ship docked at this port and there was a cute sales boy at the shop they got their supplies from who made 14 year old Zuko blush just a little too hard. He made the decision to put a pin in that for later) 

Then Zuko’s on a ferry to Ba Sing Se and there’s this crime boy aggressively flirting with him. The avatar hunt is on hold. It’s later, so Zuko takes that mental pin out. 

Zuko can have a little ferry make out sess with mouth wheat crime boy, as a treat (let this boy have some semi-normal teenage experiences damn it)

To Jet’s credit, he’s a good kisser. But Zuko notes that he tastes like grass. 

And you know, that whole thing didn’t end well. 

Not your usual experience to have the guy who was your bisexual awakening burst into your work and (rightly) accuse you and your uncle of being firebenders and then attack you with hook swords, but Zuko’s never had the best luck with anything. 

Jet gets arrested and Zuko doesn’t see him again, but he can’t really ignore that whole ‘oh man I guess I am into guys’ thing anymore. And it’s not like he’s got other stuff to do in Ba Sing Se besides make tea and stave off Iroh’s shopaholic tendencies. 

Immediately after the Jet incident, Zuko’s more on his guard about potential threats, but what do you know? That girl just thought you were cute you paranoid dumbass. 

He goes on the date with Jin and it’s awkward as hell, but he does like it when she kisses him. Honestly, he’s not really sure what he’s supposed to feel. This newfound attraction to guys is still in the back of his brain and Zuko just never thought about it seriously before. 

After the date he starts letting himself take more notice of guys and girls in the teashop now that he’s pretty sure people aren’t onto them about being firebenders. 

And you know.... good looking customers are good looking customers. Guys and girls. 

But you know, Zuko is the king of not knowing who the fuck he is, so it’s still confusing, 

And then the avatar pops back up and Zuko’s got a different identity crisis to focus on. The boy has a morality coma to get to and questioning his sexuality is put on the back burner for a bit. 

Post-morality coma, Zuko’s feeling way more comfortable. Not just in terms of letting himself be happy in Ba Sing Se serving tea with his uncle, but with his sexuality as well. 

Zuko thinks about his experiences and maybe, just maybe, he could be a teenager who goes on normal teenager dates and has normal teenage relationships, maybe with guys or girls. He lets himself have that notion for a little while. 

He considers telling Iroh, but not quite yet. 

He doesn’t get the chance after everything happens in the catacombs. 

Then it’s the case where he has a more general identity crisis to deal and just kind of pushes the realization that he’s bi to the back of his mind. 

Zuko and Mai get together and Zuko remembers how much he liked her when they were younger. And with everything else stressing him out, she’s there to help him feel like less of a stranger in his own home. 

(Mai’s also Zuko’s best friend, regardless of any romance) 

At Ember Island he does have jealousy issues, but later when Mai asks him why he was so fixated on that guy at the party Zuko starts describing exactly why those guys were attractive and how he logically would have been at least a little jealous “I mean come on Mai did you see that one guy’s biceps? I’m only partially blind” 

Mai listens to this and just goes “do you want to ... tell me something?” 

Zuko has a “oh yeah I’m pretty sure I’m bi, forgot to mention it, had other stuff going on” moment 

Mai, who was taught to be proper and that her options were to go into politics or marry some man above her station, is now considering that both? Both is an option? Maybe? 

Cut to Zuko when he joins the gaang. His bisexuality is just kind of something he doesn’t think is a big deal and doesn’t mention it. 

On the air balloon to the Boiling Rock, Zuko asks Sokka about Yue and they end up talking about relationships. 

Zuko mentions that he had this brief thing with a guy in Ba Sing Se but it didn’t really end well 

Sokka: “wait did you say guy? I thought you had a girlfriend?” 

the SWT is generally pretty accepting, but Sokka spent most of his life living in a village without many boys his age and didn’t really consider that as a possibility. 

(Sokka then considers how much he thought about the Boulder after watching the Earth Rumble VI match and thinks ‘yeah there’s probably something there’) 

Sokka asks Zuko more about bisexuality. Most of Zuko’s answers are along the lines of “Sokka go to sleep I don’t know who the Boulder is and I don’t care about his badger-mole tattoo”

Suki, Zuko, and Sokka form the unofficial ‘cool and bi club’ 

Zuko doesn’t officially come out to Iroh, but Iroh catches him looking at Sokka one day a while after he and Mai broke up (deciding they were better as friends) and makes a comment about how Zuko needs to take time for himself.

“Lord Zuko, you should not spend your teenage years with nothing but work. Go out, find a nice young lady to take out.” “Uncle...” “..or young man” 

And yeah, a few years after the war ends and a while after he and Mai end their relationship, Zuko’s not really in the position to deny that he thinks that Sokka is inhumanely attractive and funny and kind

But yeah

bi!Zuko ftw 

[autisticandroids]

here is that “the world of supernatural is tiny” post i’ve been promising

the thing about supernatural, the thing at the core of a lot of our collective frustrations with supernatural, stuff like side character culls, what-if-there-was-an-even-bigger-gunism, the lack of institutions and governments and interpersonal politics, the nonsense worldbuilding, the fossilization of the brothers’ relationship, all of that, is that the world of supernatural is incredibly small. like it really is just... two brothers against the rest of the world, or eventually team free will against the rest of the world. 

and this is in every aspect of it.  this is why the side characters must be culled, obviously, and not just culled: it’s why the side characters never ever get the focus they should, why an episode told from bobby’s point of view is as weird and unique as the fucking episode told from the car’s point of view, why the side characters almost never become meaningfully part of the narrative. and the culling/squashing of the side characters is why the brothers can never develop: the only meaningful relationship they’re allowed to have long enough for it to grow and change is with each other, and eveeeeentually cas, and eventually eventually jack, but mostly just each other. if they were allowed to have more meaningful relationships with the outside world, they wouldn’t have to turn to each other for everything and ultimately fail, or take out all of their problems on each other.

this is why the solution to the problem of the season is always an even bigger gun: it can’t be building a bigger army, nor can it be diplomacy, because both of those require opening the world slightly to outsiders. it needs to be a weapon wieldable by a single person that they can use to destroy the enemy, or, at best, quid pro quo a deal made with one very powerful ally who can singlehandedly destroy the enemy.

this is why there are no governments or institutions, and no truly ambiguous parties: every powerful force is, in the end, a single person, or an organization with a single all-powerful charismatic leader. there are no organizations with organizational interpersonal politics. like, do we know the names of any of crowley’s underlings’ names? NO! why the fuck don’t we, he’s supposed to be the king of bureaucrats, mr. organizational. but nope! he’s just a despot like everyone else. do we know any of naomi’s underlings’ names before she fakes her death? raphael’s in season six? abaddon’s? fucking...... who else, every other big bad i can think of is just crowley. i digress. anyway in the end it’s always just one big scary guy with a big scary power, and sometimes that power is “an army” but that’s just. a superpower. it’s exactly like having a big raygun.

and like this is one of the reasons why the worldbuilding on spn is so nonsensical like. on top of the normal bad tv scifi reasons. it’s because nothing on spn exists in a society, everything exists in atomized isolation because the world can only include one thing which isn’t the winchesters at a time. there is no such thing as a wider world on spn.

and like here’s the thing. here’s the thing. there are good things about spn’s tiny, closed world. in particular, it allows really a lot of tight character focus on the protagonists and their closest relationship(s). like, if the world of supernatural was bigger from the start, would dean winchester still be the most compelling, most tragic character on television to me? i don’t think so. he wouldn’t have the depth.

but the thing is, you can have both. supernatural could have started in a tiny, closed world which slowly opened and blossomed to include both a larger universe and an ensemble cast. it almost did, but then it lost its way.

like, the first two seasons of spn are an intensely personal story, all about a family and its trauma. and all about the brothers, and their father. then the third season is about the fallout from the conclusion of that story, still personal, still all about the brothers. 

but then season four comes along. the story is no longer quite so personal. now it’s about saving the world. it’s about heaven and hell. and along with that, the cast opens up, too. ruby and cas become main-ish characters. this is exactly the right direction to be going in, a natural progression towards a bigger world and a larger cast. bobby, too, becomes a main-ish character, though he was already headed there in s3, and he doesn’t get the screentime of ruby or cas.

then, season five: we start to wobble. the world continues opening up: we’re still at a global scale, but now the supernatural is having an effect on wider society. in season four, we were preventing the apocalypse, but no one was seeing it but us, and maybe a few small towns. now there are demon omens on the news. but the cast is stuck again. ruby is dead. bobby does have a slightly increasing role, which is good. cas is there, but he’s also less of a character and more of a useful tool. and no one new is added. in fact, two of the people who it would be most natural to add to the cast - ellen and jo - are killed off for shock value. 

but then we really go down hill in six and especially seven. the world continues to open: six is about the fallout of five, a concept which i love! you can’t have an institutional war machine like heaven thwarted in its billion year purpose without a bit of fallout. conceptually, that’s wonderful! that’s why i have a good season six au. but by execution, it’s a mess, because the world of supernatural is actively shrinking again. in order to do the premise of season six well, your world needs to have a society in it, and season six can’t manage that. like, it should have been an exploration of the supernatural world with a sociological bent; a look at how averting the apocalypse, eve, social unrest in heaven, affected the paranormal parasocieties of spn. but it couldn’t manage that.

worse, the cast is also shrinking. cas isn’t around much anymore, lisa is there but she doesn’t really get to be a person, more just the idea of a wife, and side characters are dropping like flies. they killed off rufus for no reason!

then in seven it’s even worse! because the world is still opening! the supernatural world is finally crashing into ordinary society in earnest. godstiel killed homophobic pastors! he etched his own face in stained glass! he actively went around interfering in normal society! and then the leviathans came along and totally broke down the supernatural/normal distinction. they use ordinary societal channels to acquire their power! they’re politicians and corporate executives! they put their poison in the corn syrup! 

but in terms of felt sense it’s closing. the winchesters are not living in the society that’s being attacked, they are totally outside it, alone in the world. isolated. and the leviathans are still defeated by shooting their leader with an even bigger gun!

and here’s the thing: this still could have eventually built towards something, a larger universe for supernatural. with sera gamble and her side character murderboner out, season eight could have dealt with the fallout from seven in a way that kept the universe big and built the cast back up. instead, jeremy carver gave us kevin tran only to kill him a season and a half later, and decided to just completely drop all of sera gamble’s new worldbuilding, which in the case of season six is kind of understandable, since she made a total hash of heaven, but in the case of the leviathans is deeply, deeply frustrating. like, where was the fallout from that! did it change society at all? the answer, it appears, is no.

after this, the world of supernatural is fairly static. it’s neither opening nor closing. heaven and hell are constant forces, occasionally there are other threats, but everything stays basically the same in the carver era, and the dabb era too even though dabb made a few strides towards increasing the size of the cast with mary and jack.

but yeah. basically the universe of supernatural is tiny, and that’s why it’s frustrating. once again we come back to the basic problem of supernatural being that it simply is not star trek.

[thekillingjoke-haha]

Angel With A Shotgun

Summary: The Novak family was big talk,but not nearly as famous as the L/n’s. Togther they can be unstoppable,so what say family ties like guns,drugs,money,and murder?

Paring: Michael!Dean x Male!Reader

1900's Mafia/Gangsters AU

A/N: this is a Micheal fic,but its him in Dean's body so like...idk its the same snake different skin. Also Chuck is referred as Charles

Warning:Blood,guns,knives,gore,torture,swearing. Homophobic comments like just a few. No proof reading

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The Novak's that a family that was one of the most feared yet respected. The way people talk about them down south you'd think they were inspiration for the Bible itself. A man by Charles or Chuck Novak is the head honcho with five sons to help him run is kingdom.

The youngest is Castiel he was probably the nicest of all his siblings,but also the most protected with three other brothers, Gabriel is the definition of trouble and if he slipped up head could easily get lynched good thing he puts that silver tongue to work. Raphael was one of the more head strong,but sadly he was shot when several rivals attacked at on of their bars. Lucifer is the second oldest and the most hot headed with a temper to match the black sheep in his family if you will, then last,but not least Michael he was something else entirely the play boy,a demon is a flat cap and tailored suit.Now that the Novak's have been introduced the world's most feared gang the L/n's is one family not to be fucked with.

(Father's name) leading his kingdom no...empire with his wife (Mother's name) and togther they had only two sons. The second born William and the oldest M/n. William wasn't much involved with the criminal side of the business,but his big brother was the prime example of a gangster. No one besides the L/n gang has seen him he stays out of newspaper coverage and that only allows his terror to run ramped. A man with no face and a title of Satan himself made the oldest Novak just a little timid when he found out. "WHAT THE HELL!!!" Michael threw the newspaper on his fathers desk in anger the older man looked up after glancing at the paper. "I'm due to be wed to a L/n and none the less a man! I can be hanged for so much as saying I do and it IN THE FUCKING BULLETIN!!!" He was seething with hatred in every word. Michael will admit it hurt a lot finding out he was to be wed by the slight disgust look he got while grabbing the paper before getting coffee. "I wanted to tell you sooner,but you were handling something. There's no way out of this a deal was made before you were born me and (Father's name) have been waiting for his wife to bare a girl or your mother to do the same,but your mother's untimely passing and (Mother's name) having gone unfertial our oldest are due to wed." Chuck sighed taking off his thin wired glasses.

"You two were once friends,but I guess time got rid of those memories." Chuck sat down his spectacles down looking at his son. Michael turned to father with shock evident in his eyes. He was friends with M/n L/n the man with no face. Everything was too foggy. The shorter male stood up to a shelf in the office and grabbed a small match box opening it looking around before pulling out a picture. Handing it over to his son he sat back down. "He was one of the only people you'd go to when you were a baby. Heavens he was probably the only person you liked,but when he was five and you were three the fact that our business was centered around blood and there's on bonds it became a fight,mafia versus a gang, and you guys saw eachother less and less till around the time Luci was born not at all." Chuck sighed. The young man was in shock a little boy maybe two or three was cuddled up to a baby in a pale blanket that he remembered was blue fully awake and if the picture could come to life he's sure the boy was humming all while rubbing the infants back.

"No ones seen a picture of him in twenty six years and he was on his fathers hip with a match box car. He's in town and should be coming for dinner here by himself in three days time. So til then keep your brothers in check we don't need them to shoot the young man with a stray bullet." With that Charles dismissed his eldest son as the green eyed boy stormed off in a huff. Michael started to do digging. M/n L/n was in headlines weekly in every post known to man from shootings,assassination,and gangbanding to rumors of his love-life,what he wears,and people claiming to have met him. One thing caught his eye that made him falter. "Gangsters M/n L/n Captures Murderer" that when he started reading the full paper that crumbled a bit due to age. Maybe he's not so bad the guy he caught never saw a courtroom,but met a far worse end all because he caused problems with his people. It was admirable the brunette knew he'd do the same,but not just for anybody. Marriage wasn't settling well with him that didn't mean it felt completely wrong.

One day later

Looking in the mirror Michael watched as his maid adjusted his tie while another smoothed the wrinking in his white button up and vest of his three piece suit. As the oldest he had business to handle people to keep in line. When their hands left his body they scurried out of the room rushing to be down stairs before him. His dress shoes met the floor as he grew closer to the door his youngest sibling ran up next to him. "Can I come,please!" His raven head of hair and doe blue eyes almost made him cave,but with a firm look he gazed down at him. "Sorry little raven,but I have things to handle another time." The pout on Castiel lip didn't move as he held up his hand his pinky out. "Promise?" Interlocking with the ten year olds pinky. "Promise." With that he happily skipped away to play in the garden.

Out the door he went. His flat came on his head and coat thrown over his shoulder his effects tucked in his waistband. Screams caused him to smile as he stood before the butcher on payroll. He wore the man's leather apron having abandoned his tailored suit jacket in the front of the deil. "Were is my money?" He cut the man some more as he continued to scream in pain the white fire from the rusted meat hook in his shoulder flaring with each jerked motion. "Help please!" He yelled all of a sudden in the past hour he hasn't called for assistance. "No can do." A deep voice said behind the oldest Novak turning around sharply his green eyes clashed with e/c. The man looked like anyone off the street his shoes tattered and clothing dirty form labor no bet. "I came for my five notes." The didn't seem fazed at the torture. "Fuck you gypsy scum!!" The pig of a man responded as the tall s/c man crept closer gripping a knife Michael was using. "I just unloaded a load of meat in the summer heat that would give the devil a sweat and all I asked for my effort was five notes nothing more nor less so cough of the money that you clearly owe both of us or I'll carve it out of you and make you squeal like the piggy bank you are." His tone dropped further the blade under the man's fat chin and the Novak felt aroused at the threat. This guy meant every word when the hanging man spat in his face the off color of snuff and blood made the normally clear liquid seen and thick. Let's just say Michael sat back crossing his legs in a attempt to compose himself as the man hit pitches not even the girls in the church choir could master. The heavy weight man forked over the money then some I got my full and he ended up giving the mystery man a hundred notes if he made the pain stop after pocketing the money he shot the man.

He turned around and began to leave when the brunette stopped him. "Wait! I give you my thanks friend he was stubborn for a hour almost" The h/c man turned looking at him giving a smile tilting his head for the Novak to follow as he stepped out the deli. Scrambling he walked down the street next to the man their attire clashing a well tailored suit next to rags that looked more like a potato sack then cloth. "Glad I could help a fine looking fella like yourself." His flirtatious grin caused butterflies to run ramped in Michael's guts. As they walked down the street they slowly moved from the good side of the town to the slums. No cars drove on the gravel a fire hydrine spat out water for all the children playing around it,women hung up clothes on wire between tenements and men looked more like the mysterious gypsy next to the Novak. Speaking of the mystery man he went to each crowded tenements door and knocked the women or young men of the families came to the door and he handed over twenty notes each. The women cried and clung to his tall figure and the boys almost men looked at him in wonder like a hero before running off to tell the adults of the place. "Why did you do that?" Michael asked as they walked out of the town. "You worked for that money and gave it all away." He was confused he's never seen a man work for a family that wasn't his own.

"They need it more. Schools out the children don't get meals and the men work hard to feed them at least a meal a day. I'm alone here no lover or children with the energy and muscle to work." Novak wasn't sure before,but he was sure now this was love and it felt better then any harlot he could spend the night with. "Thats very admirable of you." Michael complmented which was not a normal accuracy. "It was truly nothing to admire,handsome. I'm not saying I'm amazing,but sometimes I'm decently above average. That's what people need someone decent enough go care."

Before he knew it they were back on his side of town and getting closer to the business. "It's been a pleasure,Mr. Novak." The man dripped his head as he turned to leave somewhere. "You know who I am and I don't even get a name." He turned back around and got closer to him his chest pushed up against his till he was pinned to the wall he leaned down his lips so close to his face just out of reach. "I'm N/n,but you can call me the man of your dreams." Michael almost leaned up to peak his lips when the warm body pulled away taking with it the lust filled tension. N/n turned and left out of sight that night was full of the man tossing and turning dreaming of the e/c man that made him feel high as the clouds above. N/n smiled as his men drank around him he finally saw his baby boy all grown up and he's taking what's his this time.

Two days later=Six Hours Before Family Dinner

The buzz of the New Yorker coming to Kansas was the rage. Any man that was new in town was watched like a hawk by commoners and the Novak's. Michael was no longer looking forward to this marriage he didn't want this man no matter who he was. N/n stole his heart like a petty thief and ran away from him. No one in Kansas knew who he was a s/c skinned,h/c haired,e/c eyed gypsy was all he had to go on no last name just a image that burned bright in his mind. Michael sighed as he left his office and went down to the bank he needed enough cash on hand to throw away on booze and maybe angel dust. People parted for him like the red sea and he easily got money when gun shots went off. The teller in front of him fell to the ground wounds ridding his body and Novak turned to see men...no boys with guns.

"Everyone get down on the ground. We've come only for the money we won't hesitate for blood as well." The group chuckled as the leader smirked people shook as they easied to the ground all except Michael who stood tall. "Ah! If it isn't Michael Novak no men to protect you now." A man he didn't realize came behind him hit him over the head with his gun causing him to fall to his knees. "Pathetic." The band of thugs leader grabbed the Mafia bosses chin looking and the blood coming from his brow. Someone stood from on their knees a flat cap covering their hair and a long trench coat that was only slightly open. "It would be in your best interest to leave,boys." They all train their guns at the man. "Why's that,you motherless bastered?" The man turned his gaze upward deadly sharp e/c orbs looked at him and Michael was in shock it was N/n. "Cause I have twelve guns ready to blow holes in you and your men." After his words ten men stood up all wearing the same clothing flat caps,overcoats,and suspenders with a Tommy on every man except the leader. The cowardly man looked frightened looking around keeping his gun on the s/c man. "I only count ten I still have the upper hand." N/n gave a devilish smile that made Michelle gaze on love struck and excited for what's to come. His gray trench coat hit the floor and two sawed-off shotguns in each hand. "Upper hand you say?" He pulled both triggers the left one killing the man sending himself flying back and the right killing the man behind Michael blowing his brains painting the tan walls this made the others fire as well. The bodies of the criminals and one civilian litter the floor.

N/n sent the men off to get the people out as he walked up to the bleeding Novak. "Thank you." His green eyes gleamed making the standing man give a grin as he held his hand out to help him up. "Consider it a gift from M/n L/n." The gleam disappeared from his eyes his soon to be husband was in town has been in town and set his men up to keep him safe. "Now if I'm not mistaken you have a dinner to get ready for,pretty boy." He takes the handkerchief out of his waist coat dabbing the blood away. "Will you be there?" Michael voice sounded weak so full of hope. "You can count on it. We'll be seeing eachother alot more." The man stood up and quickly left and not a moment later Mafia men came in running tending to the boss. Looking longingly at the piece of cloth (Your Initials) were sowed into the reddend white square of fabric.

Family Dinner was about to start the Novak's sat at the table Charles sitting at the end his three eldest sons to his right while his youngest sat to the left two spots were available one across from Michael and the other on the opposite end of Charles. A maid came in the dinning hall and cleared her throat. "The L/n's are here." Two young men came through the door one taller then the other the shorter of the two sat across from Michael while the other sat at the other end of the table closest to Michael and the other man. Charles smiled at them both and Michael was in a state of shock. "M/n been a long while hasn't it?" The oldest Novak looked at the man infront of him waiting for a response when the man he thought to be just a gangster working under the L/n's answered. "That it has Chuck. Sorry father couldn't come he had some other business to handle." N/n or M/n now to Michael's knowledge said before placing a hand on the man beside him. "This is Benjamin or Benny my right hand man don't mind him." The man gave a nod of acknowledgment his blue eyes piercing. "Heard about the blood bath at the bank quite impressive from what Michael has told me." A side smile and a teasing look was turned the mentioned Novak's way. "Saw low life scum trying to rob the place and touching what's mine,their little toys they call guns were child's play compared to my men." M/n sent a wink addressing the men hitting Michael from behind.

"Are you a knight that saves people?" The youngest asked his blue eyes wide in wonder. The s/c males eyes turned to the child a warm smile gracing his lips. "Sometimes when I want to be." A bubbly giggle rang out. "You saved Mikey making him your prince." Those words caused different reactions from all the men. Gabe covered his mouth trying not to laugh at his older brother,Lucifer grinned leaning over to his brother. "Did he have to kiss you sleeping beauty?" He chuckled lowly making kissing noises in his ear,Micheal was beet red as he couldn't bear to face any of them,Chuck smiled looking at his son and son-in-law,Benny nudged his boss sliding something to him while everyone was distracted. "Yeah and I'm gonna make him my king and take him to my castle." M/n leaned towards the boy and whispered in his ear. "We'll ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after." Castiel was gobsmacked as he gazed at his brother all giddy he was gonna live a fairy tale like in all the books their mother use to read. "Um if you'll excess me. I need some air." Micheal stood up and not long after M/n followed when given a reassuring nod from Charles.

The garden of the estate was beautiful in the moonlight and it wasn't hard to spot the oldest Novak on a bench on looking the pond that reflected the night sky. "You knew the whole time who I was." Micheal didn't look up at the man as he sighed. "Yes I knew who you were...we were once closer then the stars and the skies itself." The L/n sat next to him on the bench looking forward. "Chuck knew as well." Michelle turned in shock at that statement a goose chase for nothing. "He didn't know what I looked like now,but letters everyday asking about you seemed to do the trick." Those e/c eyes turned to look into those apple green ones. "Learning from a young age that in you grasp was the person you were due to wed was shocking I almost hated you,but the moment you grabbed my finger as if I'd slip away made me realize it can't be so bad." M/n held out his hand palm up so the younger male rested his hand in his grasp. "I was afraid at first you'd hate me. So I swore to protect you always. Some of my men live here with their families and they keep me posted. Just last year a rat was found on you door step admitting his faults."

Micheal remembered that the maids came rushing to get the family and a man bloody and beaten spilled his guts about planning to cross the family having been hired by a rival Mafia to get information to attack them at a weak state. "I know this won't mean munch to you know,but maybe at some point you'll be happy to carry my last name and call yourself my husband." In M/n hand that wasn't interlocked with Micheal's he opened a box revealing two wedding bands both were silver while one had a gold trim and the other had a f/c trim. "No matter what,Novak,I'll be there when yiu need me through it all most of the times guns blazing." M/n chuckled lightly taking in a deep breath. "Just ponder on it,pretty boy,I'llbe here waiting." as he slipped the ring on the silent man's finger before doing the same with himself he gently kissed the top of his head as he stood up and left wanting to give him space. Micheal smiled at the ring that perfectly fit his finger. The one man he felt attracted to was his guardian angel always there no matter what.

Lifting his hand up he kissed the metal band as a laugh left his lips. "My angel with a shotgun."

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A/n: Second Male reader and I had to spell check for almost 50 she/her in her so I think I got them all lol.

@spnquotebingo

Quote: "I'm not saying I'm amazing,but I'm decently above average."-Blacklist @spnquotebingo

[thompsonstessa-moved]

'Teraz Rock' Interview - english translation

A well know polish magazine about rock music 'Teraz Rock' (Now Rock) had an interview with Måneskin, and since one of the polish fans on FB shared pictures of the magazine, I decided to translate the interview, because I loved some of the stuff they said there! :D

As always, the whole thing is under read more. ;)

Maneskin is not only ‘Zitti e buoni’ and their winning performance in Rotterdam during the recent finale of Eurovision Song Contest. Italian band fits perfectly into the trend of rock restorers, and at the same time fights with the mental narrowness, prejudices and homophobia. On August 19th they will play In Park Kolibki In Gdynia.

I: You started by playing on the streets of Rome…

V: Unfortunately, there is not a lot of possibilities to debut in Rome. Rome is lacking the appropriate places, there are almost no rock shows. So we couldn’t find a place where we could show ourselves to the people. So we decided to play on the streets to gain the following, the listeners. We did that for good few months. And we had a lot of fun doing that. We think it really helped us, too. Because when you play on the streets, you don’t play for someone who came to listen to you. You need to attract people’s attention. So it was a great lesson on stage skills, to keep the attention. And we played many hours each day, so we also evolved as musicians, as a band.

I: Is it true that you had issues with police? V, D, T, E: Yes, that’s true!! (laugh)

D: It was all because of this old lady, that lived on the first floor, near the place where we used to play. She snitched on us! And sometimes police came and tried to get us to leave.

I: They didn’t arrest you?

D: No, it wasn’t that bad.

V: We were 16 back then. We just went all ‘We swear we won’t do it again!’ (laugh). We hid somewhere for 10 minutes….

D: Went around the block….

V: And played again (laugh).

I: You admited that at first you were shy. How did it happen that you gained so much self-confidence? Do you think one has to be self-confident if they want to show the world that they have something to say in music, in art?

V: It is important, but its more about feeling good with yourself and having fun doing what you do, rather than confronting the world. I think that if you lack confidence, you can’t fully enjoy creating, because you keep thinking ‘What the other will think about it?’. But everyone has to go through this phase. In my opinion, self-confidence is not something you’re born with. Everyone has the moments of hesitation and doubt. I have them too, still. And I think that’s perfectly normal. But you need to learn to appreciate yourself, accept yourself the way you are, because you can’t run away from yourself. We have whole life with ourselves, until the day we die (laugh).

I: Damiano, in one of the interviews you said ‘What we say, can change someone way of thinking’. Do you want to influence your audience? Artist like Chuck Berry or AC/DC just had fun on stage.

D: We also have fun on stage. But now, when we’re well known, we can get to many people, especially young ones. And there’s a chance, that if we say something positive to them, we could help them with their problems, that they can’t fight on their own. For example ��� like Vic said – we can help them gain more self-confidence and make them feel safer in the world around them. I’ll say this: if as a musician you have something to share with others, do it. But if you just want to have fun playing, that’s OK too.

T: Exactly.

I: Your behaviour on stage is often the reason for homophobic attacks. What would you say to homophobes here in Poland?

V: Fuck them!!!

T: Fuck them!

E: Fuck them, fuck them! (laughing)

D: Maybe not so vulgar.....

T: Fuck them!

D: For sure they should open up more, get rid of prejudices. Make a step forward. Free themselves from the old way of thinking. Let the others live however they want.

I: You debuted in 2017 with EP ‘Chosen’ with two of your own songs and few covers. Even tho you were so young, you already came off as mature musicians with a set style…

V: Thanks, but I don’t think so (laugh).

D: I don’t think we would agree with that.

E: We wouldn’t agree with that, definitely.

V: My bass playing skills definitely left much to be desired.

D: 'Chosen' definitely has its advantages, but… we were still looking for our sound back then. That EP is so much more different than our other albums. But it is a part of our career, our journey, and we don’t regret anything that has to do with it. We had a lot of fun recording it and… its something we did in the past and we’re happy that people loved it.

V: Still love it!

D: Exactly, still love it. Even tho we changed so much since then.

V: The most important and coolest thing about that EP is that even tho we were really young and our skills weren’t as good, you can still hear that we already had charisma and knew what we wanted. And even tho most of the EP consists of known songs, we changed them, played them in our own way, our own style. And that’s really cool because it shows us as a band with their own personality. Of course, now that we listen to that EP, we have lot to complain about…

D: We would do the songs much better.

V: But we like the attitude we already had back then. Even tho we were so young.

E: Our sound really changed since then, but you need to remember that when we we’re recording it, it was already a huge accomplishment for us.

D: That’s true.

I: On ‘Chosen’ Damiano sung in english. On your first album, ‘Il ballo della vita’ from 2018, you had songs in italian as well. Did your songs get more personal because of that?

D: I wouldn’t say that. We started writing songs in italian out of necessity. If you’re an Italian artist and want to reach Italian audience, you need, you have to sing in italian, because not a lot of people speak english there. Now it’s different, we managed to reach international audience, so we can make more songs in english. But we won’t resign from italian, we like to write in italian as well.

I: While recording ‘Il ballo della vita’ you made documentary ‘This Is Maneskin’…

E: They will never forget it! (laugh)

I: You can see there, that during that time you argued a lot.

D: We were young!

I: Did the conflicts threaten your band’s future?

D: No! We were just starting out...

V: Conflicts were inevitable. We were very young and suddenly tabloids were writing about us. And recording an album required a lot of work. And we never experienced that before, we had issues dealing with work in the studio. Because creating and recording together isn’t easy. You need to make many decisions, everyone has their own opinion. Now we’re more mature, we know how to deal with those situations. We can discuss with each other in a constructive way. We were much more childish back then and yeah, we fought sometimes. But even then nothing happened that could threaten our band.

I: ‘Il ballo della vita’ is a concept album of sorts. You have there Marlena, who, like you said, is personification of the concern a lot of you have – that we’re not able to be yourself…

D: The album was supposed to share a message to our fans. We wanted to tell them how important for us is the freedom to be yourself. The ability to love someone, that was chosen by our heart. Freedom to wear the clothes we like. Et cetera, et cetera… We realized that the album would speak to people more, and will be easier to understand, if we gave that idea a name. Of course it’s an idea that we still share to this day, just maybe a bit differently.

I: Your last album, ‘Teatro D’Ira Vol. 1’, you recorded live in studio. Did the way you worked on it was much different from the way you recorded ‘Il ballo della vita’?

D: Oh yeah! It definitely took us less time!

V: Definitely much faster. It was very exciting. We wanted to keep in studio the energy we have when we play concerts, which meant playing together. Which is of course much more difficult than recording separately. But we told to ourselves: let it be, we should at least try. And we loved the result.

D: You know, at first you work on the material in rehearsal room. And you’re full of energy. But then you come into recording studio, where you divide the song into parts, and you loose that power, that magic. So we realized that we should change the way we work, so we could keep the emotions from rehearsals.

I: ‘Teatro D’Ira Vol. 1’ is another concept album. You said its all about the rage, that plays the role of catharsis sometimes. Can you say something more about it?

V: Anger is mostly seen as something negative. And we think that classifying emotions as positive or negative is stupid. Especially in art. When you’re creating, anger can make you give more from yourself, say more. And that’s what our album is about, talking about the world of theatre. We show that something that’s seen as bad, can – especially in the world of art – become something good. And those songs, that are so full of rage, can bring relief to our listeners, which only confirms what I’m trying to say.

I: In the lyrics to 'In nome del padre’ and ‘Vent’anni’ you’re talking about mistakes you made in the past...

D: They are very different tracks, even if they seem to talk about the same topic. Vent’anni is all about our age, because we think it’s a very special moment in your life: you become an adult, but you’re still too young to be considered as such, and they don’t treat you seriously. We wanted to share that with our fans, because maybe they think the same. And In nome del padre is about the battle we had to fight, the mistakes we had to make, to get where we are today. Of course we’re still young, we still make mistakes. But I’m singing about the mistakes from the past, because they made us the way we are today. And I’m saying: don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because they are a part of your journey, your life. What’s important is how you react to those mistakes.

E: It’s not a mistake to make mistakes.

I: The next album, continuation of ‘Teatro D’Ira Vol. 1’ – is it already recorded?

D: No, no.

V: Indeed, our next album will be continuation of ‘Teatro D’Ira Vol. 1’, but we’re still working on it. We don’t want to record it in a hurry, we want to take our time making it.

D: We have a lot of songs already, but we want to have plenty to choose from. We want the album to have the most representative songs, the best ones.

[jerry-hornes-foot]

Incoming duffer brothers rant :)

I'm still fuckin mad that Steve says the f slur in season one, for a lot of reasons

- Point 1

Like a lot of choices the duffers make it simply has big edgelord teenage boy energy. Like they saw a chance to crowbar a slur into their show and jumped at it and that always annoys me. It's the sort of thing that you need a really really solid reason to use, and to be honest in the case of two cishet men writing a programme I just don't really see the need at all

There's no plot reason for it at all, at no point before or after that is it even hinted that Steve is homophobic, and so it shouldn't be in his vocabulary. It doesn't say anything about the plot, or the characters, it's not even making comment on social issues. It's just there to make you go "oh my god I can't believe he said that!"

-Point 2

It's just dumped into the middle of an episode because they literally forgot what Steve's character was. They wrote him to be a bully, except they accidentally made him a perfectly reasonable guy right up to that moment. He tells his friends to stop bullying Jonathan, he's nice to Barb, he only breaks Jonathan's camera because he used it to commit a literal sex offence against Nancy, then they suddenly remember he's meant to be a bad guy and in the space of less than five minutes he paints the nancy sign on the cinema and says a slur.

It's as if they got to that scene and realised they'd made Jonathan the bad guy by accident then went "uhhh fuck, let's just have him do the most heinous shit we can imagine out of nowhere". It feels rushed, and a bit lazy, and to be honest the fact that they use the slur literally just for the shock factor makes the whole thing worse for me

- Point 3

They never address it ever again. Steve learns nothing from it. Yes, he goes to apologise to Jonathan, but he could have also gone to apologise just for beating him up or for calling him some other horrible (not bigoted) name

It's an issue that plagues a lot of the duffer brothers writing where they tack a really awful character trait onto someone for shock value and then forget they did it. The same thing with Jonathan and the creeper photos, in seasons 2-4 Jonathan is just a sweet misunderstood teenager, and that element of season 1 is never addressed to the point that one can only assume we're meant to pretend it never happened.

Steve never has an arc surrounding use of language like that, he never actively regrets it, he never even actually gets given a moment to apologise. It just gets left there to hang over the character as this weird out of place element. I think story wise season 1 is probably the strongest, but the characters are all fundamentally different people to the point that watching back certain scenes is jarring. Which, for me, just reinforces point 1, its so whiplash inducing how out of place it is that it just makes me feel even more that they picked it just for shock

- Point 4

This is what made me furiously write this in the middle of the night. No one says fuck in stranger things. It's rated 18 and there's one fuck ever (afaik). There are characters like Eddie who will occasionally get given really clunky lines because they use shit or damn in a place any normal person would just say fuck. Especially with Eddie, in fact, the awkwardness of the lack of fucks makes it feel super intentional

If they just didn't want a word as strong as fuck in their programme, fine, but that doesn't really fit right in a programme where they were happy to fire in the f slur when there was half as much adult content in the programme as a whole

~~~~

Maybe I'm overthinking the whole thing, it just makes me feel super yucky anytime I watch that scene and I wanted to share my thoughts on it. I've seen people talk about it before in terms of Steve as a person but I've been thinking for a while now about it in relation to the text as a whole

Anyway if you made it this far well done hahaha thank you for sticking it out, sorry for getting mad !