#(and also when i'm currently very irritated with the creators)

[ladyluscinia]

What Exactly Did David Jenkins Say?

Look, I'm still staunchly of the opinion that Word of God statements and creator interviews are overvalued in fandom, especially when they get pulled out mostly as gotchas without then continuing to analyze whether or not the show canon is successful at getting across that same message. Death of the Author is good, actually, and we should remember that. But they are worth looking at in the context of evaluating intent vs execution, and for future speculation - just, like, please with less of the whole mile high pedestal idolizing and backlash cycles.

But if overvalued "Word of God" is annoying, then overvalued "supposed creator statements that have gone through three rounds of telephone and any given blogger has only heard about a quarter of them, which they'll use confidently anyway" is worse. So, since I'd already looked up interviews for various reasons...

Here is a fairly comprehensive list of interviews David Jenkins has given and statements he's made during them, presented without commentary (save curating which statements get highlighted). All provided with links. I definitely missed some, so if you have any that you want to add, please do - though if you could trim off any commentary and save it for tags / your own post with a link that would be cool.

Also, again, just because he said it doesn't make it incontrovertible canon that only a blind person wouldn't understand. Some of these even arguably contradict each other. The creator's intent doesn't always translate to what the show is doing, nor do you even have to think it was a good idea.

(Listed in chronological order from oldest to newest - post contains spoilers below the cut)

Pre-S1

Gizmodo - Feb 22, 2022 - with Cheryl Eddy (io9) - Link

Why this story - Really, it was the enigma of Stede that drew him in. "I think actual pirate stuff is fine, but it's not necessarily my cup of tea. And I think Taika [Waititi] felt similarly. But hearing about this guy and reading about him and seeing that, you know, he left his family, then he met Blackbeard, they hit it off, and we don't know any of the details in between. So filling those blanks in, and having a very human story, and then being able to do it with the pirate genre, that was like, 'Oh, this would be cool.'"

Post 1x01 - 1x03

Polygon - March 5, 2022 - with Tasha Robinson - Link

David Jenkins, Taika Waititi, and Rhys Darby interview

About Stede running off to sea - "Stede thought he could outrun his baggage, and you can't outrun your baggage."

About S1 - "I don't think there was enough improv on set! We had an insane schedule, with a huge amount of plot. We were budgeted and designed as a one-hour show, but with a half-hour production schedule, which means we really had to chase these episodes to get them shot. And then there are certain emotional beats that we really needed. So trying to find places to find the fun was hard."

Mashable - Mar 5, 2022 - with Belen Edwards - Link

About the show concept - "It was Jenkins' wife who first told him about Stede's adventures; she thought it would make a good TV show."

On casting Rhys Darby - "Stede did a terrible thing to his family. If you cast it wrong, he's a very hard character to get behind," Jenkins said. "Very quickly, the only person I thought of for this was Rhys [Darby]. He has this childlike quality that's endearing."

About the story - "Seeing them discover a need for each other that neither anticipated and charting how that relationship goes is the meat of the story." + "If you're on this ship, you're running from something, and you're running to something that you can't be on land"

Mentions of matelotage - "In fact, one of Jenkins's favorite pirate facts that he learned while working on Our Flag Means Death was the term matelotage, which was a civil union between same-sex pirates. "The more you look at it," he explained, "the more you write to the fact that this is a queer-positive world.""

Discussing piracy careers - "Something else that astounded Jenkins about pirates was "just how fast it all moved — their lives were quite short," he said. "Your career [in piracy] wasn't very long.""

Post 1x09 - 1x10

Decider - Mar 24, 2022 - with Kayla Cobb - Link

David Jenkins, Taika Waititi, and Rhys Darby interview

Pitch for the show - "That was in the pitch," series creator David Jenkins told Decider. "That was the reason, to make them fall in love with each other."

About the romance - "The main thing to me was to side-step coming out," Jenkins continued. "I just want a romance. I want a Titanic romance between these two people. We don't have to do the coming out story and then the non-binary story for Jim [Vico Ortiz]."

About S2 and the show - "The show is the relationship," Jenkins said. "So, we end in a place where there is this breakup. What happens after a breakup between these two people who, one’s realized he's in love and the other one is hurt in a way that he's never been hurt before? What does that do to each of them in an action, pirate world with them trying to find each other again? So again, I really love those rom-com beats."

Collider - Mar 24, 2022 - with Carly Lane - Link

On making it a romcom - "It's the only reason to make the show. If you didn't do that, it would just be weird. I mean, you're using the rom-com beats. You're using these like they're together. And it's funny because so we're so habituated to be like bromance, bromance, bromance, and it's such a simple move to put them together."

Discusses focusing on romance - "I guess I really... I get kind of bored. How much pirate can you do? They're going to rob stuff. They're going to steal ships. There's only so many pirate stories you can do. So if you're going to do a workplace story, I mean, you're essentially having this... You'd have this same amount of relationships in Grey's Anatomy in the ER. So it's standard. It's the most standard. We're making a soap opera on a pirate ship, and to use those soap opera beats... I like it, and I like the flavor in a comedy when you have something that's played genuinely up against very ridiculous things."

Discusses history and kissing scene

Discusses importance of going home to Mary - "Yeah, that was the problem for me in the story. I knew that I wanted to have the end where he goes home, because you need to give Mary her day in court. I just wanted to know from Mary's perspective what happened and then to see that, yeah, they're friends."

Is Lucius dead? - "You got to wait."

EW.com - Mar 25, 2022 - with Devan Coggan - Link

David Jenkins, Taika Waititi, and Rhys Darby interview

Pitch for the show - "To me, [Stede and Blackbeard's relationship] is the reason to make the show," Jenkins explains. "When Taika and I were first talking about it, he was like, 'Oh yeah, that's the show.' I first started reading about Stede and how he befriended Blackbeard and we don't know why. Very quickly, it was like, 'Oh, it's a romance.'"

Polygon - Mar 25, 2022 - with Tasha Robinson - Link

Discusses 3-season intent - "I think three seasons is good. I think we could do it in three."

Discusses acts within S1 - "To me, when you see him get stabbed, and the blood runs through his fingers, it’s like 'Oh, no, the clown got stabbed! And not comedy-stabbed, he got stabbed stabbed!' That to me is cool. And then having Blackbeard find him as the end of what would be the first act of our story felt good to me."

Discusses kiss scene filming and the national moment around gay rights

What to focus on a rewatch - "I think Con O'Neill does such a great job. He's such a complex character, and it's such a tortured relationship. And that's a love story too, between him and Blackbeard. It's a very dysfunctional story, but it's fun to watch. Watch that maybe, on a rewatch, looking where their relationship ultimately goes."

TV Insider - Mar 25, 2022 - with Meaghan Darwish - Link

Discusses show pitch - "When I was pitching [the show] to people, I'd be like, 'Okay, so it's about Stede and Blackbeard, and then they hit it off and then they fall in love.' And then people are like, 'Okay, cool,' Jenkins shares. "And then they really fall in love, and become intimately involved."

Discusses historical inspiration

Discusses S2 direction - "But when [Stede] goes to find [Blackbeard], he's gone and his crew's been abandoned. And so watching them try to negotiate that, that's a good rom-com beat," he adds.

The Verge - Apr 15, 2022 - with Charles Pulliam-Moore - Link

Discusses being surprised by queerbaiting legacy - "...part of me knew that, yes, Stede and Ed's romance was going to be real. But one part of me felt like, 'We're going to do this story, and they're going to kiss, and maybe that's not even going to be that big a deal. Maybe it'll just be a blip.'"

Discusses writing romance - "I'd never written a romance before this one, but I think with Ed and Stede, the question's always 'what's the need for each other?'"

Discusses falling in love and Stede's accidental seduction - "It made sense to have that love be almost like a teenage version of falling in love — one with all these intense and conflicting feelings. They're middle-aged, but Stede's young. Ed's young. Emotionally, they're like 16, and they've both got a lot to learn."

Discusses Con O'Neill as Izzy - "He plays an exhausted quality that's really lovely because this character could just be generically evil, and the way Con plays, it is like, he's credible. I believe that he can do some damage if he wanted to. My favorite thing I've seen about the show is somebody saying that Con's playing the only human with a bunch of Muppets. It does feel like that a bit where he's like Charles Grodin in The Great Muppet Caper."

On Izzy being in love with Blackbeard - "I think Izzy's deeply in love with Blackbeard, and it's a very dysfunctional kind of love, and he's like the jilted spouse who's losing his man to fucking Stede Bonnet, and he can't believe this is happening."

Discusses masculinity and piracy as an escape from that

Discusses diversity and trauma based stories - "And the consensus in that very diverse room was that we wanted to show that isn't just wallowing in trauma. We don't have to do a coming out scene or focusing on the trauma of it — not to say that those stories aren’t valid."

Gizmodo - Jun 20, 2022 - with Linda Codega (io9) - Link

Musing on fandom response to the show - "I'm wondering if the fact that because the queerness of this show isn't gaslighting the audience, and isn't a function of wanting to do something, but not being able to produce the results because of network standards. I think we just happened to be in this lucky spot where the show is actually queer… and I do think that people are responding to that."

Comparing fanfiction to writing - "And Con O'Neill's audition was one of those things I would go back to. I would watch that and be like… Oh, right, that's the show. And in a way, you're writing fanfiction for a certain actor and character because you want them to do something, and you're like–" at this point, it must be said, Jenkins let out a maniacal little giggle. He’s just as thrilled to show off Con O'Neill's ability to seem both deeply exhausted and menacing as the rest of the fandom. "And you [as the writer] you're like… And then Izzy does this now."

EW.com - Dec 13, 2022 - with Devan Coggan - Link

Discusses The Chain sequence - "I had initially wanted that end sequence to be like the FBI raid in a mob movie, where the feds come in, and they've got boxes of stuff, and everyone's running, and someone makes a dash for it," Jenkins explains. "So, it's like a mob movie or FBI raid story, and then it's also a story of Stede's lover coming back."

Pre-S2

Collider - Oct 2, 2023 - with Carly Lane - Link

Discusses fan reaction to S1 - "I thought that they'd kiss, and people would be like, 'Oh, cool, cool!' I kind of thought people would know a little bit more [about] where we were going, but then in hindsight, no, people have been hurt and burned on so many other shows and then made to feel silly."

Discusses starting S2 dark - "One of these characters is very, very damaged and has never made himself vulnerable in this way before, and I don't think [he] would react very well to having his heart broken in this way. I don't think it would be cute, and I don't think it would be funny. I think it would be scary as hell to watch a very damaged guy that we've established in Ed, who killed his dad and thinks he's not capable of being loved, deal with rejection and see that Stede really hurt him."

Discusses adding more female characters

Discusses S2 needle drops including "This Woman's Work"

Discusses 3-season arc

Post 2x01 - 2x03

Mashable - Oct 5, 2023 - with Belen Edwards - Link

Discusses fandom response to S1

About the canon gay relationship - "To watch the explosion of enthusiasm around [the kiss] was disorienting, almost," Jenkins said. "I thought people would react to it, but I didn't think the reaction would be that big. And then it was moving, because I didn't realize that this audience felt so unserved in general, as far as storylines go."

Insider - Oct 5, 2023 - with Ayomikun Adekaiyero - Link

Tease on leaning into the Stede / Ed / Izzy love triangle - "I think Izzy, in a certain way, got the worst deal in the first season," the showrunner tells Insider. "He gets jilted and then he still is in spurned spouse territory at the beginning of the second season."

Discusses Izzy's arc - "What is that relationship about? And I think by the end of the season it kind of becomes a little unexpected of who they are to each other and what they mean to each other," he teases

Discusses addition of Zheng - "He likens Zheng's way of pirating to a successful tech startup, compared with the garage sale vibe Stede had going on the Revenge."

Discusses introducing Hornigold - "I thought Hornigold was the most obvious because he was the person who made Blackbeard what he is. And Blackbeard has a father complex, so it's natural that he's going to bring his former captain back," the show creator said. "It's a struggle with him because he and dad figures don't historically do well."

Discusses importance of the mermaid scene

Inverse - Oct 5, 2023 - with Hoai-Tran Bui - Link

Reveals he didn't commit to the romance until shooting 1x06 - "Jenkins always intended his pirate comedy to end with a romance, but he'd envisioned it as an unrequited love. "It was going to be about Stede learning what love is, and Ed making himself vulnerable and getting burned," Jenkins says of his original pitch. But Darby and Waititi's choices in the scene, which they played without diffusing the tenderness with a joke, made him wonder if they could take the show in a new direction."

Discusses mermaid Stede idea from S1 - "We talked about Stede as a mermaid very early on in the writers' room," Jenkins says. "At some point, yeah, I want to see Rhys Darby as a merman." + "They wanted us to come up with a Season 2 pitch during Season 1. And that was one of the ideas we hit on, and I can't quite remember how we got there, but it was us asking, what is a pirate world? Are there mermaids? Is there magic in this show? With pirate stuff, I don’t know that I want there to be magic, but there was a way where it was something really beautiful about a mer-person, and I like the idea that their coming together would have a mythic size to it."

Discusses historical divergence

Discusses matelotage and pirates as weird outsiders

TV Guide - Oct 5, 2023 - with Allison Piccuro - Link

About the shipping culture - "It's the meat of the show, so it's great to have people bought into the central romance. If it were a bromance that we were trying to make look like a romance, that would suck."

Discusses playlists he makes

Discusses opening dream sequence - "I just like that it started with something badass. Stede, Blackbeard, and Izzy are on an arc together. Whether they're in stories together or not, their ultimate arc is together. I think, by the end of this season, the last episode, that first scene will be gratifying. I won't say why, but their fates are tied together."

Discusses Kraken arc - "But I think the thing that's good about this show is that it can go to really sweet comedy land, but I want there to be, like, if someone loses a body part, for instance, they lose a body part. To do justice to the fact that this guy is a killer and a monster, and dealing with heartache that he doesn't know how to deal with, I think you really need to go there."

Discusses Izzy in S2 - "I mean, he's jilted. He had a partnership with Blackbeard, and he knows he can't live up to this person that Blackbeard fell in love with... Who is that guy? What are his hobbies? What does it look like when he's not totally subsumed with his boss's love affair with somebody, and heartbroken?"

On S2 reunion - "The second season is them being a little bit more mature... It's the thing where you're in your 20s or 30s and you're like, "Well, should we move in together?" They have to make up some time because neither of them have been in a functional relationship before."

About genre of pirate stories - "...is a show about multiple relationships. That's what I want to see when I see this show. I don't want to see a bunch of pirate things that I've seen in other things, I'll just go watch another thing if I want to see that. That's not really my thing. I like the genre, but it's a very hard genre to budge. I want to see relationships in a pirate world."

Discusses the A Star is Born aspect of seeking fame / retiring

Mashable - Oct 7, 2023 - with Belen Edwards - Link

About the mermaid scene - "You need something expressive for when they come back together," Jenkins said. "Their reunion moment has to feel big and mythical. This is not a world where mermaids actually exist, but their love for each other has that size that you can get [a mermaid] in there somewhere."

About Kate Bush - "I love Kate Bush, and I love that song, and I know Taika loves that song," Jenkins explained of the choice. "So I wanted to find a place for that song somewhere in the second season."

Polygon - Oct 9, 2023 - with Tasha Robinson & more - Link

Compares S2 and "Golden Age of Piracy" stuff to Westerns, lists 5 he was thinking of - "Every Western that’s good is that story," Jenkins says. "'This way of life we made is coming to an end. It can't last. It's a blip in time. We created this thing because we need it to exist. We're outlaws, and we need a culture that suits us, but it's running out of time.'"

Gizmodo - Oct 9, 2023 - with Linda Codega (io9) - Link

Short tease on leaning into the love triangle

About Stede, Edward, and Izzy - "I think the three of them are on an arc together that's pretty inseparable," Jenkins said in an interview with io9. "And to watch Izzy try to process what's happened [in season one]… to watch him kind of grow and figure out what's his own story, if he can separate himself from this kind of toxic relationship, is interesting to me and I think gives him a lot of room for growth."

Post 2x04 - 2x05

IndieWire - Oct 12, 2023 - with Sarah Shachat - Link

Discusses directing and show creation

"The limitations of the show also naturally push it back towards moments with the ensemble and plot problems that it would frankly be irresponsible to tackle if you had a giant budget and a fully working ship-of-the-line to sail and then blow to bits. "That's the fun of the show to us, I think. If you open this up and you're like, unlimited budget, that would be terrible because I think you can get seduced," Jenkins said. "[It could be like,] 'Oh man, it's all leading up to a climatic battle on the sea.' And those things are great. But that’s not this show.""

"The nice thing about that, though, is you get to be the lo-fi show that’s like, 'Hey, we’re making The Muppets.'"

PopSugar - Oct 12, 2023 - with Victoria Edel - Link

About S2 Stede - "I like the idea that he learns and grows and he doesn't just stay a bumbling captain. He might be ridiculous, but he is getting better at it."

Discusses genre challenges - "How do you have a show that's a romance show but it's also a workplace show and they're criminals?"

Discusses Edward's redemption - "But Blackbeard still has to come back and apologize and be part of the community again, and give his little press conference. It was fun for us to look at that in the context of piracy, where they all do terrible things to each other. But even by their standards, what Blackbeard did was a bit much."

Discusses Izzy in S2 - "When Izzy shoots Blackbeard and they all mutiny on him, that's Izzy breaking up with Blackbeard. And they're both having their own journey in the wake of it, and Izzy's having his own redemption arc. He's trying to figure out, "Who am I if I'm not Blackbeard's first mate? Who am I outside of this relationship?"" + "If Stede's Spongebob, he's Squidward. I don't know what that makes Blackbeard. But there's a real pathos to Squidward."

Discusses trauma-based narratives - "As a diverse room in terms of sexuality, socio-economic background, and race, we thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a non-trauma-based story for these characters who don't get that historically?""

Variety - Oct 13, 2023 - with Hunter Ingram - Link

Discusses three act structure and making Stede work for a relationship - "The way I like to look at a season is in threes. The end of the first act is when they find each other, and this is the beginning of the second act. They've found each other, but they are pissed. Stede thought it was going to be [Kate Bush's] “This Woman's Work,” but, in reality, it is this headbutt –– literally."

Discusses the central romance - "It was always part of the pitch... that is the reason to make the show. The pirate genre is fun, but I wasn’t dying to make a pirate show. Taika wasn’t dying to make a pirate show. But the thing that was interesting to me was that Stede finds love, and he finds it with Blackbeard."

Discusses 2x04 plot - "This episode is based on a very, very thumbnail sketch of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?." Anne and Mary are Martha and George, and they are Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton."

Discusses adding historical pirates

Discusses Buttons exit - "I just love the idea of him turning into a bird: I love the idea of Buttons somehow being the one character that is able to figure that out."

Discusses Izzy and the crew's trauma plot - "We liked the idea that there is something about trauma and getting past that trauma, even on a pirate ship. They have been through two very different ways of living and they have to get used to each other again. But it's also a family that was separated, and becoming one family again is painful."

Discusses bringing characters back - "We could bring Calico Jack back, who, if you remember, was hit by a cannonball last season. Anyone who is that fun to play with and wants to keep playing, you always find a way to bring them back."

Polygon - Oct 14, 2023 - with Tasha Robinson - Link

Discusses 3-season arc and how keeping them apart with some plot device was never in the cards - "at the end of the first season, they're 14-year-olds, emotionally. In this season, it's more like they’re in their late 20s."

Discussing New Zealand production and ensemble cast writing - "It's pretty organic, because as we're going through and tracking everybody's journey for the season, we're watching the thing that holds us together — what stage of Stede and Blackbeard's relationship are we in? Because the overarching arc is, are these guys going to learn how to settle into a relationship?"

"The second season is more overtly about romance, and more a relationship story."

Energizing aspect of fan reaction

S3 is about "love is work"

Gizmodo - Oct 16, 2023 - with Linda Codega (io9) - Link

About the story - "I want to see them become a functional couple or fail to become a functional couple," Jenkins said. "Those are the most interesting parts of the show."

Discusses fandom engagement - "...ultimately the writers are also "the fans in the room." He goes on to say that, "We're fans of the world. We're writing fanfic about our own characters, our own worlds… It's paid fanfic, but it's fanfic." He gives another example: "If you're writing a season of Succession, you're writing fanfic Succession. You're just getting paid to do it. We, as writers–" it's clear that he's not just talking about the writers in the writers room, "become fans of the world and we all have things we want to see these characters do. What we do is not that different."

Discusses the A Star is Born aspect of seeking fame / retiring

Discusses Zheng Yi Sao

Villains of the series - There are a lot of new villains this season, but, Jenkins says, ultimately, "the antagonist on this show is normalcy… These pirates have a way of life that they're not finding in normal life. They've found a way to live and support each other and be there for each other. And that's always threatened by these larger, tyrannical forces that want to shut them down."

Post 2x06 - 2x07

Mashable - Oct 19, 2023 - with Belen Edwards - Link

Discussing drag performance in 2x06

"It is nice to see with Izzy's arc, where he finally breaks through whatever he's been doing to himself. He lets himself have that moment, which I just love. It resonates for Izzy, and I think it resonates for Con. Just personally, it made me feel good to see how it turned out."

Consequence - Oct 19, 2023 - with Liz Shannon Miller - Link

Discusses intent for romance - "...telling a love story in a serialized medium like television has its perils, largely because it's tough to know how much you can draw out any unresolved tension. "I think we take it episode by episode and we try to not piss people off in taking too long and doing double beats and triple beats," Jenkins says. "You can only do Will They or Won’t They for so long. Then you have to deepen it.""

Discusses pirate setting - "The emphasis on relationships also fits into the show's high-seas setting, which Jenkins finds similar to post-apocalyptic narratives. "It is a little bit like you're doing Mad Max, except there's relationships," he says. "Stuff's shitty, so you gotta try to find some joy. Of course, people are going to have a need for each other in these extreme circumstances, and I like the idea of these characters finding some level of a healthy relationship in these extreme circumstances.""

Discusses Jim x Archie

Discusses 3-season arc

Polygon - Oct 21, 2023 - with Tasha Robinson - Link

Discussing gender and power dynamics in Jackie x Swede / Zheng x Oluwande / Blackbeard x Stede + A Star is Born aspect

Jim not being jealous of Oluwande - "I think that relationship was always seen in the room as a friend relationship that got romantic."

About adding a villain - "I think a lot of the internal forces in Our Flag are the villains." + "I think this is a story about the age of piracy coming to an end. This way of life is coming to an end. And every Western that's good is that story: This way of life we made is coming to an end, and it can't last. […] I think every story about outlaws is about trying to preserve a way of life against normative forces that are kind of fascistic."

Historical accuracy - "The balance of the show is 90% ignoring history, and then 10%, bring it in, whenever we're like, Ah, gotta move the story forward! Remember, the English are out there, and they're really bad!"

Post 2x08

AV Club - Oct 26, 2023 - with Saloni Gajjar - Link

Killing Izzy was always the plan - "We wanted to show the depth of that character. Izzy is one of my favorites. He's like middle management who is in a sort of love triangle [in season one]."

Discusses how they really wanted the happy ending for S2 - "I think with season one's end, it was a gamble to leave it the way it was. Everybody stomached through it. Now if it turned out they didn't want us to make more, I just didn't want to have another story where the same-sex love story ends in tragedy, unrequited love, or if one or both of them are being punished."

Discusses S2 progressing the 3-season romance - "They’re a couple who is like in their late twenties right now as opposed to being teens at the end of season one." + "It was an interesting tension of, which one gives up their dream? A lot of times in relationships questions can come up, like who is going to give up on their dream to take care of the kids? Obviously, no one wants to, but someone ends up giving up more than they want to at some point. What's wonderful about a mature romance, and what I'd want to see more of in season three, is Ed and Stede making these tough decisions." + progressing past the getting together point

Discusses parallels, Republic of Pirates, and Zheng Yi Sao

Short bit about fan response

Collider - Oct 26, 2023 - with Carly Lane - Link

Discusses Ed leaving fishing - "I like that he had a little prima donna moment where he thought he could go and be a simple man, and then it's revealed that he really isn't a simple man; he's a complicated, fussy, moody guy. No, he's not gonna be able to catch fish for a living. For him to be told that, "At your heart, you're a pirate. You have to go back and do it," he doesn't want that to be true, but it was true."

Discusses Izzy's speech to Ricky - "I wanted to give Izzy a proper eulogy for himself. He gives a eulogy for himself, but it felt true writing it."

Discusses Izzy's death scene - "In a way, it's very much for Ed, that speech. The "we were Blackbeard" is claiming that he is also Blackbeard, that Blackbeard is not just Ed’s creation, and I like that for him, too, because he's worked so hard for that — and then just to say, "You can give it up." There can never be a Blackbeard again as far as Izzy's concerned because he's dying, and they did that together."

Discusses Republic of Pirates / music parallels from premier to finale

Discusses finale wedding - "We knew we wanted a matelotage in the season, which is the real term they had for marrying crew members. And yeah, they've always been in relief to Stede and Ed, and they're a little bit ahead of Stede and Ed in how much they can talk about things. So to have a bunch of family things in the season, like a funeral and a wedding, and have the parents kind of watch the kids sail away, felt right, and all of those things seem to work well together and build on each other."

Discusses retirement ending - "That will-they-or-won't-they is interesting to a point, but the real meat of it is always like, "Can they make the relationship, and can they do better than Anne and Mary?""

"Frenchie's in charge of the Revenge" + teases Stede struggling to give it up

EW.com - Oct 26, 2023 - with Devan Coggan - Link

Discusses Izzy's death and telling Con - "It feels like the logical end of Izzy's arc. It's heartbreaking to me because he's my favorite." + "I told him in the middle of shooting because I didn't want him to find out at the table read, obviously. I also didn't want it to leak. He was lovely about it."

Discusses Izzy's final arc - "You know, I didn't expect him to become kind of a father figure to Ed. I think we hit on that while we were breaking the [final] episode. He's in such a weird position: He's like a jilted lover, and then he's a middle manager who has to work for a terrible boss. He gets thrown away, and then he comes back. He really develops, and he becomes a part of this family. I think the biggest surprise was the extent that he was a mentor to Ed. They were both Blackbeard. They both made Blackbeard happen."

Discusses the happy ending intent - "With this season starting so dark, I kind of wanted to reward them for the work that they've done and the character growth that they've had. I wanted to leave them in a place where they're really going to try and make this work. I don't think it's going to be easy for them, necessarily. They're both still immature."

Discusses the wedding - "We knew we wanted a matelotage in the second season, and pretty quickly we landed on Lucius and Black Pete. It seems like they were ready for that. We made up a ceremony and everything, where they call each other mateys, and it was just fun to make our own version of a pirate wedding ceremony."

Discusses potential S3 and Frenchie's Revenge - "But it felt like a good place to end the second season. It felt like a contrast to the first season. If it turns out we don't make any more, I'm comfortable with that being a resting place."

Variety - Oct 26, 2023 - with Hunter Ingram - Link

S3 endpoint - "I love things in threes," he says. "That first act, second act, third act structure is so satisfying when it is done well, and you don't overstay your welcome. I think this world of the show is a big world, and if the third season is successful, we could go on in a different way. But I think for the story of Stede and Ed, that is a three-season story."

Discusses the draw of a "Golden Age" and it's ending

Talks about father figure Izzy and wanting a real sense of loss - "There is a nice parallel to have Ed treat him so badly at the beginning of the season and then come all the way around to where Izzy is this sort of father figure he doesn’t want to lose — because Ed usually kills his father figures."

Gizmodo - Oct 26, 2023 - with Linda Codega (io9) - Link

Teasing future Izzy - "Jenkins looked slightly sad himself, saying that "Ghosts exist in this world." I told him not to make promises he couldn't keep."

"Jenkins said that he doesn't see Izzy as a pure antagonist in season one because on some level… Izzy was right in his hesitations about Stede."

Discussing Con O'Neill & Rhys Darby acting

Jenkins confirms the season was always 8 episodes due to budget cuts

About S2 finale vs S3 - "The first season ends on such a downer, so it made sense to end the second season in a kinder spot." + "I think there's plenty of story left for season three, but I think that it was important to end this as if it was the end of the show, and on upbeat note and avoid the kind of "kill your gays" trope. I don't want to see Stede and Ed punished for giving it a go. I want to see them really say, 'yeah, we’re going to we're going to try to have a relationship'."

Teases S3 revenge against Ricky and going to the Americas

Vanity Fair - Oct 26, 2023 - with Sarah Catherall - Link

About the ending - "It's bittersweet. There's death and there's the rebirth of Stede and Blackbeard's relationship; there's a funeral, there's a wedding, and the idea that this family is going to keep fighting even as they lose members. And then it's about belonging to something." + "A lot of times, with this narrative of characters, same-sex relationships end on a dour, downbeat note, where one of them dies and it's unrequited or it's unrealized; something horrible happens and they're punished in a way. So it was important to leave it open and a lot more show to go, but also leave it in a place where it's happy."

Discusses Izzy as a mentor / father figure - "We felt like Izzy's story had reached its conclusion, where we put him through enough. And then there was the realization that he is kind of a mentor to Blackbeard and that he is kind of a father figure to Blackbeard." + "And it's also a pirate show, so he's got to die."

Discusses filming challenges - "It's a big show; it's basically a one-hour show that we're doing on a half-hour budget."

Discusses adding Zheng Yi Sao

Is the show a queer romance? - "For this show, it's important to me just to write a really bold-bodied romantic show that happens to be between two characters of the same sex. I think that the story beats don't matter, because if you've been in love and you've been hurt and you met someone you love—hopefully we all know what those feelings are."

Blackbeard's arc in S2 - "...the second season is about Blackbeard's midlife crisis. And then when they both have their midlife crises, they can open a B&B together." + "I don't think Stede and Blackbeard are ready to be married. They're emotionally saying: 'Let's give this a go.'"

Discusses historical piracy as "counterculture" that's been straightwashed and whitewashed

Did he feel responsibility to the fan community? - "As opposed to responsibility, it feels more like relief—that people feel seen and they feel good about it and they liked what we did. And so it feels like, Okay, somebody's out there and wants the show. The makeup of the writers room looks a lot like the makeup of the fan base. So as long as we're true to our stories in the writers room, I think we just feel excited that there's somebody waiting on the other end to enjoy it."

Paste Magazine - Oct 26, 2023 - with Tara Bennett - Link

Discusses whether fandom expectations felt weighty - "I think particularly for this season, that "bury your gays" thing… I didn't want to end on a downbeat for Ed and Stede. We did that in the first season. I like that there's a lot of different flavors. It's even a little melancholy because the Republic of Pirates got blown up. But there's still more good things."

Discusses production and plotting - "I wanted to start at the Republic of Pirates this season and end at the Republic of Pirates. And I knew I wanted the Republic of Pirates to be destroyed, ultimately. Within that, we are making a one-hour show on a half hour budget, on a half hour schedule."

Discusses planning the ending - "In terms of ending this season, it all felt right just in talking through it when we were in the room. It felt pretty intuitive. When you get to the third act of the story, things kind of settle in. There's gonna be a funeral. We always knew we wanted a wedding at the end of the second season. And I knew that I wanted Stede and Ed to start an inn together. So once you have those beats, it's kind of locked in."

Discusses Izzy's arc - "It's kind of a strange arc in that I knew we were going to put him through all these things, and I knew he would ultimately die. But I think him becoming a father figure to Ed in the last episode didn't really dawn on us until we were breaking the last episode. Asking what would this man say to Ed at the end because they've been together through everything? He went from a troubled and downtrodden employee to a jilted lover to a discarded employee, to someone that is just trying to find his footing again—no pun intended—to actually becoming this guy's parental figure on some level. And he's one person who kind of raised Ed right, because Blackbeard usually kills his parental figures. So, it felt right and it felt like that's how the mentor dies. The mentor in a story usually dies in the second act and then our hero has to go on and try to do it without them. It felt like the right journey for Izzy and a gratifying one for Con."

On leaving open for S3 - "I don't think it was a very hard thing to do. I think it was more that I felt a responsibility to leave Ed and Stede in a good place, at least for now. It's not gonna go well. They're not going to run a business well. Ed's too much of a talker. Stede can't focus. It's gonna be challenging."

Vulture - Oct 28, 2023 - with Sophie Brookover - Link

Discussing Izzy as a "father figure" and his S2 send-off being a priority

Meaning of piracy - "...what our pirates stand for is a life of belonging to something larger than they are in the face of a crushing, slightly fascist normalcy."

Re: Con O'Neill & Izzy's death - "I had to tell him about halfway through the season"

Third season about the work of a relationship between still damaged main characters

Discusses middles as about change and transitions, and wanting characters to change instead of reset, have them experience permanent consequences

About the final scene - "...Ed and Stede as the parents kind of watching the kids take the ship. Frenchie's the captain now..."

Objective of the crew - "...have had terrible things happen to them at the hands of colonial forces, so they want some payback. Party, plunder, and payback — the three P's."

Metro Weekly - Nov 1, 2023 - with Randy Shulman - Link

Discusses historical premise of S1 and easing into the romance

Discusses S2 genre - "In the second season, it was great because we know it's a romance and we can lead with that. It's a workplace show essentially. I wanted it to be more in the vein of early episodes of Grey's Anatomy or something where there are all these relationships on those shows. That's what you’re following — relationships and friendships that are taking place in a hospital, procedural. That's Grey's Anatomy. This is less procedural for the pirate stuff — and you need the pirate stuff."

Discusses not being into pirates - "But I'm like you. I'm not a big pirate person. In general, it's a big creaky genre that's hard to budge" + "Pirates of the Caribbean, those movies are great. That's not necessarily what I hunger to see, but in that genre, it's great. You're not going to beat that, especially on something that's lower budget. We've seen a lot of this stuff, so it's fun to take it then and don't do any of that stuff."

Discusses adapting historical piracy - "You don't want to see them punch down. You don't want to see them do terrible things to people who don't deserve it, which is not what they really did. So, in the show's world, I think piracy is like a stand-in for something. I think it's a stand-in for being an iconoclast and an outsider and queer in some ways and just different." + "Yeah, I mean, the British are there to be Stormtroopers, or Nazis in an Indiana Jones movie. I mean, they're in there to die essentially."

Discusses diversity staffing

Discusses performative masculinity

Discusses Izzy's death, happy endings, and openness to S3

[simpxxstan]

perfect complements (ch. 1)

pairing: professor!seungcheol x professor!f.reader

genre: fluff, enemies to lovers, angst, slight smut

series summary: four and a half years of working together breeds familiarity, resentment, and everything in between. it's almost like living together.

chapter word count: 2.1k

warnings: bickering (will be a major feature in this story, so please do not read if verbal fights are not your cup of tea), seungcheol smokes.

a/n: seventeen is my new addiction and i'm not backing off! this is inspired from my dream life (hehe i want to be an econ prof). the series title is an econ term lolol sorry if it's too geeky. i think this series will have multiple spinoffs, maybe you can guess for which characters? all i can hope for is that i'll be able to pull through the plot till the very end and not get writers' block midway :(

slight heads up? seungcheol is 32 here, and the f. reader y/n is 33 here. wonwoo is 35-36, and minghao is slightly younger than seungcheol, probably 30. chan is 24-25 years old. y/n is shorter than seungcheol, and wears glasses. not much other physical description of y/n. also, this fic will probably have different povs, so this chapter is from seungcheol's pov.

thank you so much for reading! your reblogs, likes and comments mean sooo much honestly. i know every content creator says this, and i know we all mean it from our hearts.

enjoy some of my ult svt bias, seungcheollie!

series masterlist

With four and a half years of working together comes a ton of familiarity. Choi Seungcheol knows it annoyingly well: annoying because he’s greeted by the sight of your coat on his chair again, and well because this is a sight he sees nearly every Monday. Four years ago, he would have tried to explain to you that it’s a Monday morning, he didn’t want to come to take classes this early, and his patience is running thin, so it would be very nice if you could remember which chair was yours every morning when you came and took off your coat. Three years ago, he would have shrieked out, irritation burning through his veins. Two years ago, he would walk up to your desk, and spill your coffee all over the term paper you were currently checking. One year ago, he would purposely ruin your day even if it increased his headache tenfold just thinking about ways to annoy you. 

But not any more. Choi Seungcheol has decided you are not worth a penny of his hard earned money, a moment of his precious time, and a nano atom of his genius brain cells. He simply picks your coat and dumps it on the ground, deliciously close to the dustbin. He knows his ears shouldn’t perk up, but they do, and when they hear your reaction, it is so gratifying, it feels like he has won a World War. 

“Prof. Choi, if you feel you cannot respect the personal property of others, feel free to accompany me to the Dean’s Office.” You have somehow stomped up to him, standing right before him, as he pulls out the chair to his desk, taking in the endless papers and books that are arranged neatly before him. Your attitude never ceases to surprise him, given that you’re an entire head shorter than him, and even if you’re wearing heels, he can tower over you whenever you stomp up to him in these little furies. It makes you look like a little furry puppy, your hands on your hips, and Seungcheol thrives off the fire burning in your eyes. “There, there. I’d actually love to, but it seems that you need to remember how to respect public property and not hog over the space of others.” 

You’re staring at him above your glasses, which have slipped down to the middle of your nose, and god, Seungcheol finds it hilarious. He wants to burst out laughing, the only thing holding him on is his determination to not break character and push you further. 

“And if your routine morning tantrums are over, Seungcheol and Y/N, please settle down in your seats. It seems like I have to send you both to college again.” 

Said Dean’s voice booms out behind you, and although his voice is surprisingly firm, there’s a shit-eating grin on his face, and he walks towards the two of you. He picks up the coat, lying on the floor, and hands it to Y/N. Jeon Wonwoo does not miss out on how flustered you both look on getting caught during your little lovers’ quarrel, as Wonwoo likes to call it in his mind, all alone in the Economics Department Staffroom. 

“Morning Wonwoo! Enlighten me why no one else is here. Why am I stuck with this lady through this sad Monday morning?” 

Seungcheol leans back on his chair, casual now that Wonwoo has calmed down the mood. You walk back to your desk, which unfortunately is right opposite Seungcheol’s, but he’s used to your ugly face to stay unfazed by it now. It’s like a terrible gift from a nosy relative you’ve hung up on the wall for long enough that it doesn’t catch the eye anymore and is just… there. But he’s quick to take note of how you’re smiling at Wonwoo, your glasses have been pushed to the top of your head, revealing your forehead and the same tiny pair of diamond hoops you wear every day. 

It is, like he knows well, a scene of familiarity. And he really despises that fact. 

“Minghao has a conference, he’s in the States. This is in preparation for his exchange program thing.”

“Oh yeah, he texted me on Saturday that he’s leaving soon… wasn’t aware it’s today.” You speak softly, already opening your laptop to get started with your work for the day. 

“And Minhee is in the Girls’ Hostel.”

“Why?” You both ask, confused. “I thought Prof. Kim from History is the warden?” “Yes, but they’ve recently gone on their maternity leave. Minhee has to take over. And, bad luck for her, but on the very first day, there’s been a kind of emergency. Some punches were thrown while drunk, and now Minhee’s lecturing them.” “As if anyone’s gonna take her seriously,” Seungcheol scoffs, since everyone knew Minhee to be one of the coolest professors in the university. 

“Hey! They took me very seriously, thank you. This is the problem with men. Give them a woman with good tits and a kind face and they think she’s a dumb bitch to run over.” Minhee walks into the small Staffroom, looking very much exhausted but she’s never going to admit it. She plops down on your desk, pushing away the laptop. “Is the situation better now?” you ask, holding out your coffee to Minhee, asking her silently to take a sip. “Yes, thankfully. I’ll have to go and check again after classes get over for the day.”

“Well then, you’re all up to date. Don’t forget the meeting with the Faculty Coordinator today at 5 pm!” “Yes Sir,” you all echo unenthusiastically, as Wonwoo chuckles and walks out of the room. It’s going to be a long day and Seungcheol can already feel his temples buzzing. 

_

Six classes down, and he’s feeling the Monday blues wear off into a blissful exhaustion. At the end of the day, this is a profession he has not once regretted choosing. He absolutely adores spending time with his students- mostly. There’s always going to be a black sheep, like Lee Chan from his Advanced Game Theory course. Chan isn’t a bad guy, per se. He’s just over-enthusiastic and is always looking to impress: which results in him reading texts beyond his level just to try and make Seungcheol happy and end up confusing the entire concept. 

But at least dealing with the well-meaning Chan is better than going to the faculty counselling meeting with you. Well, not just with you. But he knows very well what he’s going to hear at the meeting, and he’s absolutely dreading it. He has nearly the same look on his face as his students do when they get the term results, he’s just better at masking it. 

As he walks into the Faculty Coordinator’s office, he sees you’re already sitting in a corner, staring outside the window, while Minhee is chatting with the Coordinator. He notices you glancing his way once, before turning your eyes towards the sky again. “Good Afternoon Prof. Choi! How are you doing?” Ms. Song looks at Seungcheol with warm eyes as he takes a seat. “I’m fine, thank you, and you?” It seems that nervousness has rendered Seungcheol incapable of forming sentences beyond nursery-level, and both Minhee and Ms. Song let out a small laugh at his childish response. “I’m sure you know why you’re here, Prof. Choi, as does Prof. Y/L/N. I’ll spare you the intro.” Minhee asks, “Am I really needed to be here?” Ms. Song says, “Prof. Jeon, unless you seriously want me to be alone with this pair who want to murder each other, I would really prefer if you could be here.” Seungcheol is blushing now, embarrassed to the toe. He can hear you groan, and Minhee somehow finds it all funny enough to smile. “If it's so amusing to you, Minhee, you can leave. We swear we won’t kill each other today, if we’ve been able to control ourselves all this time.” Seungcheol’s not even looking at you, but the sarcasm is biting his skin. 

“Alright, alright. Calm down, Prof. Y/L/N. Remember, aggression is not the key. We’re here for resolutions.” 

“Well then, could we please proceed to the point directly?”

“You’re in a rush on a Monday? You play baseball with the kids after class-” you ask him, staring into his face.

“I have a date today after class.” 

That shuts you up for good, and Seungcheol feels queasy. It’s one thing trying to get the last word in, and it’s another to hit your weak point just to get the last word in. He wants to explain but Ms. Song interrupts. “I’ll cut the chase. From what I can see now, and from all the reports I’ve received in the last three months, there’s been not much improvement from the situation we had observed earlier. In fact, it’s only gotten more alarming-”

“Ever since I’ve turned thirty-three,” you sigh, but Ms. Song ignores you. 

“I’ve spoken to the Dean, Dr. Wonwoo, and also to some of the other faculty members you share your classes and university space with. We collectively think it’s only fair to say that your interpersonal relationship is harming the kind of environment we want to foster in our university. It is, by no means, a new development, and students of several batches have noticed this relationship of yours as well. This kind of banter, which includes quite serious threats at times-” she raises a hand to quieten Seungcheol’s attempt to interrupt, “is not conducive to a healthy academic environment.”

You both sigh, you whisper something along the lines of it’s not that serious, and although Seungcheol hates to say it out loud, he agrees with you. 

“I would recommend you both to go to the University Counsellor and take a few… bonding sessions over the next semester. We think this kind of banter is not too serious, we’re extremely hopeful of a resolution. It’s just not happening right now, because you’re not aware of the efforts to be taken. Once you sit with a counsellor, the path will be clearer-”

Seungcheol doesn’t even realise when he’s stood up. It feels stuffy. He had thought he was long past the age of getting reprimanded for fighting with his peers. 

“I really have to leave now. Thank you for the talk, Ms. Song. I’ll get back to you with my schedule and we can set up the meetings with the counsellor.”

“Prof. Choi.” The voice is stern, and Seungcheol holds up. He needs a cigarette, or fresh air. Neither is really available right now, so he grips on to the chair to steady himself. “I will mail you the meetings and Plan of Action, and you shall adjust your schedule accordingly. You know the consequences-” Seungcheol nods before the threat gets completed. Wonwoo has explained the consequences several times to him. 

“I will do so. Don’t worry, Ms. Song. You shall get nothing but my best efforts.” “I hope so. Really.” 

Seungcheol finally steps out of the room, and heaves deep breaths to get his brain working again. His phone rings, as he walks down the stairs to get away from the building. He picks it up while lighting the cigarette between his lips as he leaves the campus-

“Hello Cheollie! Should I come over to your place to pick you up or-”

“Hyerin?”

“What? Did you forget about our date? Yah! Oppa!”

“No no, I just-” he realises that you’ve just left the campus walking past him, not even sparing him a glance. He watches you as you walk farther away from him, your car blinking in the distance, and the tap-tap of your heels fading out amidst the sounds of the wind. The campus is remarkably quiet for this time of the day, or maybe he’s just too out of it all. 

“I’ll meet you at the cafe. We can go to your place later, right?”

“Yes yes, I’ve talked to my roommate already, but why not Oppa’s place this time?” the sickly sweet voice from the other end of the phone irritates him, but he knows she’s acting cute just for fun. 

“You know why-” 

“Oppa, Kkuma doesn’t care about the girls you bring over.” “She does! She’s a very sensitive princess.” “Cheol-ah, you can just say you don’t care enough about me, and I’ll get it. Don’t bring the poor baby into this.” Seungcheol sighs. This is why he likes Hyerin, she can be mature when she wants to.

But it seems like now is not the time.

“I’ll see you later then, Oppa! Maybe tonight will change your mind!” “Hmm!” Seungcheol hears the call get cut, and he finally drags a puff from his cigarette. You’ve disappeared out of sight, and Seungcheol’s mind is clear now.

[zahri-melitor]

Newish Comics:

The Flash #7: The Linear Men? The Linear Men??? Si Spurrier, what is cooking in your brain and can you keep giving me a direct line to it? (I mean bringing the Linear Men in a series that also gave us Gold Beetle makes perfect sense because Rip would be so into her but wow. It looks like they've barely been used since Flashpoint too). Also it's fascinating watching the re-establishment of Max and Bart's relationship.

Barry seems to finally have risen out of his ennui a bit, only to notice Something Is Wrong With Linda and then immediately suspect (wrongly) it's Hartley. Still pretty sure Linda's main issue is PPD but it being imposed by an external source is certainly something.

Green Arrow #10: this is another issue that mostly exists for people to hug each other, while Williamson goes 'remember that these people had relationships?' Sean Izaakse's art is just so good in terms of drawing the memory backgrounds so well I can pick out the specific issues and storylines he used as references (Batman + Arsenal shoutout!)

Also, remember when Amanda Waller didn't put bombs in people's heads, she just very occasionally put explosive collars or wristbands on the most dangerous and/or irritating Suicide Squad members? (Like Captain Boomerang?) Because I do. I remember Suicide Squad 1987.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #11: part of this is me just being contrary, I know, but I am extremely not convinced we are going to see Maps as an active Robin in a main title, given Kerschl is a Gotham Academy creator anyway, and she's currently getting appearances as Meridian over in Birds of Prey. Gotham Academy continuity is only about 1/4 linked to main book continuity. (Someone is going to try and point out 'they appeared in Robin War' or something but it was an active and new title then, and honestly, nobody writing most Bat titles cares about them. It's its own sub universe. Also this story has Bruce dating Isla MacPherson, something I guarantee will not be followed up anywhere else)

Also imagine being called Karl Kerschl and coming to DC to write? How much time does this poor man spend saying "no, not Kesel".

The Artemis story remains amazing and I am fully supportive of it retconning whatever character crimes it is currently trying to excuse as weird.

Also how did we get so unlucky as to have both a Bat Lash AND a Sgt Rock story in this issue?

Amazons Attack #6: and this tied things off nicely! Honestly for an event that didn't need to happen, Josie Campbell did well with it, featured a whole host of Wonder Woman characters that Tom King's barely interacting with, and added to some relationships between characters that needed additional work.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #5: I am sure this is a far more meaningful issue if you care deeply about Green Lantern lore. Also DELIGHTED that the JSA team up in this series actually happens on page rather than in the final splash like in Wesley Dodds: The Sandman. (Wesley Dodds is still the best of the three minis to me, but I'm happy here that we're going to get JSA backup).

The Warlord #45: Previously on Lost World of the Warlord (I said I would) Travis set out to find out what had happened to his daughter Jennifer. He goes back to the village of dwarfs and gets his old sword back (since he chucked Hellfire into a lake), and ends up fighting some Cyclops' that took several of the dwarves to eat. Tragically nothing particularly fun happens here (though a skeleton IS tied to a cross, the bondage isn't involving any characters I care about AND it's just a warning threat)

Also something weird went on with the lettering this issue where what I think were script directions ended up as text boxes for all the scene transitions. If it was a stylistic choice on Grell's part it's a particularly odd one.

[dorylinae-supremacy]

Ìf you could pick one story of yours who's characters you could meet and talk to who would you pick (like phill In a fluffy fic would be a sweet neighbour but a dark phill would be like you sure you need your kidneys mate)

Personally I'm fine with any as long as dark sbi arnt asking me how much I drink and if my kidney is weak lol

I have almost 20 fics so bear with me lmao. We're gonna take a real long walk on this one. Also I'm only counting ones I've posted because otherwise that feels like cheating.

Long rambles below cut!

I think I'd have the best chance of survival with one of my STH inspired fics but that feels like cheating too. STH Techno can do no wrong and I'll always stand by that.

Honestly this with most my fics would probably be hell lmao. While the DSBI I write aren't usually outright aggressive they're more than a little loopy and would just find a reason to off me probably.

AFN and any Four Seasons fic are immediately off the list. Afn Techno might currently be a sweet little angel but I wouldnt wanna meet him after he's finished his change. AFN Phil goes without saying.

Even if I was meeting Techno at the current point in the story I don't think I'd survive since Phil really wouldn't take well to a random stranger talking to his kid. There's also Kristin but she is absolutely horrifying to meet so thats another no from me.

Four seasons would imply the existence of fae and I think I'd disintegrate in an environment like that. Also four seasons Phil is terrible and just sadistic. Believe it or not but he's playing nice with neo trio in those fics. I wouldn't want the chance to ever meet him.

Seeing as I'm working on a fic where ILMG Techno kills a neighbour for being irritating I don't think I'd ever wanna meet him. ILMG Phil and Wil could be fine but they're not fleshed out enough for me to really know.

I think I'd have an alright time in BFOB though. Its just the DSMP modified so I could have a passive chat with Tommy or Phil and that could be alright. Same goes of IDFR, thats a more accurate version of the DSMP and I don't think that'd be too terrible.

ODDO Phil could be nice to meet as well. He was just a sweet, lonely guy that lived by the seaside. He probably had a pretty fun life before that since I like to think he travelled. If this is post-horsing though then I'd have to pass.

ELTY, SGFA and EST are all royalty AU's so I'd have to pass on them as well. While Wil is skrunkly in them, his family is very much not and they totally abuse their power in their respective universes.

That all leaves me with DELG, Henchman and Harbingers to sift through.

Don't Ever Let Go could be fine. Its a superhero AU and talking to Kristin or Phil wouldn't result in immediate death. I brush over it in MBMB but Phil is passively friendly to everyone and people like him pretty decently.

Kristin does go off on a lot of 'work trips' but after acquiring twinsduo that cuts down. She's a villainness but whether its justified or not, I haven't decided yet. Its not as much fun when the narrative is 'the heros are the real bad guys'.

Its more interesting for me when the villains are villains and do bad, unjustifiable things. Makes more complex characters too, at least in my opinion. Either way I think she could be fun to meet but given the fact that they put up the facade of 'very normal boring family' I don't think it'd go anywhere too fun.

Henchman is probably off the table tbh. Techno would instantly try and shank me for money, Wilbur is a rich little asshole and I'd just wanna fight him. Phil could be ok but since his power is 'death upon touch' I'd be playing with fire.

Sure, he's more of a crime boss than steryotypical villain, but I think meeting him would just make him think I'm a cop or something. I don't think he'd believe the 'I'm actually your creator' story.

Harbingers could be fine as well. Phil is just an insane man and neo trio are more of a passive thing than an active threat. I haven't fully fleshed out their personalities yet (besides Phil and Kristin) but I don't think they'd instantly try and murder me.

They're kinda like a physical manifestation of poison, staying around them will just slowly kill you. I haven't worked out exactly how it works but meeting them would have me walking away with various health problems probbaly.

Phil could be fun though. But he is completely delusional and will become violent if you try break what he sees as his reality. That man belongs in a ward but instead he's been adopted back by his eldritch family.

I think in the end I'd go with ODDO Phil since he's a pretty chill dude. Even in the sequel I'm working on, he's much calmer than neo trio when it comes to murder. If it's pre transformation then he'd just share little stories with me and bake me some lamb based dish.

Post transformation would be less friendly but not outright hostile, he'd be more confused about how I knew so much about him than anything. He'd probably just brush it off as some kind of magic stuff though since he's cool like that.

[aresmarked]

I had fun reading this event! There’s a few things outside of the actual event I noticed if that makes sense. I think the developers are cooking Something. It might be big or not but certainly Something because while Mizuki did mention Kanade once in their area conversation with Emu, there was a noticeable lack of Mafuyu, even in the after live. With every passing event, I wonder how and when we’ll see her again. Right now, I’m waiting to see Ichika’s birthday card as mentioned before. Aside from that, I love when Airi’s ad libbing is acknowledged. It helps MMJ, and I feel like it could come into play in emergencies if needed (if Mafuyu’s mom were to cause a scene in school). (1/)

This next thought is more speculation about what might come before anniversary? I noticed this set has no virtual singer which is very 👀 or maybe I’m just overthinking it haha. But what if there’s going to be another virtual singers only event coming? It depends on what’s going to happen in the rest of the arc enders, but I found it very interesting that the MMJ virtual singers mentioned starting a Cafe! It made me of a shared Sekai situation, but that could just be an offhand comment so. I can’t forget to mention how Mizuki and Saki got along easily! (Mizuki has a moment of thinking that they were able to get along with Saki easily. Ah, do you evaluate all your new friends like this?) I liked seeing them work together, especially when their attention to detail was acknowledged. As creators, it was nice to see them being similar that way. I think it’d be neat if they went to see an idol concert together! (2/)

Well lack of mention of non-focused characters is pretty standard; the other thing is pretty much as soon as they give Mafuyu some spotlight they'll have to address her current circumstances, so they're probably aiming to one, give a narrative lull and time to breathe, two, give the other Niigo kids time to pass through (as we see with Mizuki), and three (which is sort of one but more specifically), make sure Mafuyu's story is paced out according to the larger structure.

I'm glad Airi's skills got the highlight. Because she is, as has been emphasised, an excellent idol in many regards but she got pigeonholed, so it was very satisfying to see her recognised.

(It's so funny to me that probably the people who'd be best at 'acting' for Mafumom would also be the most irritated at it later. Imagine the Airi 'nd Ena 'what the hell' convo. We know from Shizuku's unravelled thread event they're pretty similar when they're irate. would be pretty entertaining to see them both 'your vibes ma'am... disgusting'.

But I digress, I also think a VS event might be on the table. We've got a bit of a ways until anni and the lack of VS this event... rare for one to not be part of an event, for sure. There was also that Yggdrasekai that was shown in the connected through cherry blossoms event... it would be very fitting to have that lead into an interconnected sekai for the kids to meet at perhaps... either way I'm really excited for this year's anni event.

Mizuki and Saki is one of the cutest new friendships, I'm so glad they met. The fact they're both little sisters, how they both chase their passions...! Their area convos and general interactions in the event were v cute. Going to a MMJ show together would be perfect fun for them, and honestly would be a great mixed event/MMJ focus sighting.

[felicjana050896]

From: Season 1, Episode 1:

Lately I have a new obsession…, of course From :) This series…, this series…, I started it as something interesting for Halloween, I got into it, then I loved it, and when I finished season 3, I just couldn't get over the impression and surprise… IT'S SO GOOD!!! And when I started connecting the dots, I started seeing so many things…, from what I know, the creators have this series planned from beginning to end and looking at all the foreshadowing, yes…, you can definitely see it, it's brilliant!!! So I decided to do a rewatch, watch all the episodes again and analyze them one by one, initially this analysis was supposed to be mainly based on Jade and Tabitha, but these two are so connected to main plot and this plot has so many important and interesting things in it that I gave up focusing on Jade and Tabitha and decided to do a general analysis, of course if there are any references to Jade and Tabitha then I will definitely write about it, but the whole thing now literally focuses on the whole clue of the series. I have currently finished season 2, so I only have 3 left, I wanted to start posting my thoughts when I watch everything, but after the second season I decided that I will not edit my previous thoughts anymore, I will leave it as it is, so if someone wants to have the whole image of my vision about the plot of the series (there are still a lot of questions and holes in this vision), they have to read my entire analysis of each episode, plus there will be two additional, final analyses, one about the mythology in the series and the other about the intro in the series.

Attention! I watch the series in my native language, so if you're wondering why the dialogues aren't transcribed word for word in English, it's because I don't watch the series in English and I transcribe the dialogues from my language.

2 Attention! Everything here is 100% my thoughts, some may be accurate, some may be wrong, no one but the creators knows that.

So without further ado, I invite you to the analysis of episode 1, season 1 (I'll see how I'll post these analyses, as I wrote above, I've already analyzed two whole seasons, I have the third one left, so I have material for 20 posts, because I want to divide each post into episodes, but I don't know if I'll post these posts every day or every weekend, it depends on my free time, because everything is in my native language, so I have to transcribe it into English first, so if there are any language mistakes, I apologize, but I'm not writing this fresh in English, so I might make a mistake with the translation or something…)

Norman's Story: Julie tells Ethan a story about Norman being killed by monsters, Ethan says that the fairies from the Lake of Tears can help him, Julie says that they can't, that he's already dead and life is cruel. Then Tabitha comes to Ethan and tells him that Norman couldn't have died because monsters don't exist. What is important, apart from the story about Norman itself, which may be an allegory to Jim, we can already see here that Tabitha is taking care of the children, from the very beginning we are shown how bad a father Jim is and sure… he is driving the van at this point, he cannot stand up or turn around, but he could say something to Ethan or Julie from his seat, he could also say something to Tabitha after she comforted Ethan, like ,,thank you" or ,,you handled it great", instead he gives her a thumbs up and we see Tabitha sighing, irritated at this point both at Julie, who does not care that she told such a story to Ethan, and at Jim, who did not help or show her any support.

Jim's flashbacks: Jim recalls the first meeting with Tabitha's parents, that he had an old car, but that it was great, Tabitha says that it was a dud and she was afraid that her parents wouldn't accept Jim, then Jim replies ,,but it turned out differently", to which Tabitha looking at him says ,,I know" and looks back at the road, this ,,I know" is said with such disappointment…, as if she wished that her parents had hated him, because then she and Jim might not be together now. Jim continues saying that sometimes he remembers how it used to be, he clearly wants to make Tabitha feel that their marriage still makes sense, because after all, they were good together, weren't they…, or maybe it was just good for Jim…, Tabitha tells him directly not to do that, at this point they come across a tree that we all know well. The creators gave us the divorce storyline at the beginning for a reason, and looking at how in the following seasons Tabitha and Jim continue to argue, quarrel and not get along, and are at most understanding and tolerant towards each other for the sake of the children, the divorce storyline is certainly not created to be the type of ,,they are going to get a divorce, but this place will remind them why they are together and by working together they will rekindle their love" NO…, ironically, in the later seasons Tabitha spends most of her time working with Jade, with whom after the initial reluctance she starts to get along well, so the divorce storyline is created to be the type of ,,they are going to get a divorce, but because of this place they put the divorce on the back burner and focus on the children and getting away from here, but this does not make their relationship take on a new meaning, they are not new people, they are still the same, and their relationship has no future and is maintained only out of necessity", the divorce was presented to us from the beginning so that we understand that Jim and Tabitha have no future together.

Just one more thought about the car… Jim says that car was great, Tabitha says it was junk, who else pays attention to cars more… Jade of course… when Jade and Jim are collecting stuff for the radio Jade remarks on how his car isn't the best of the best ;)

A Man Protects His Family: This is a theme that will continue to be explored in the series. Boyd tells Frank (the father of the family that was killed) that a man has a duty to protect his family, to protect meaning to be there for them when they need it and to defend them when they need it.

Arrival in town: Jim tries to make his family laugh by cawing like a crow (which they met at a fallen tree), but everyone is just embarrassed by him and stressed about the whole situation with the tree and crows. Julie tells Ethan that when crows see someone, they won't stop until they get them and Ethan and Julie start to ,,fight" on the arm, despite Ethan telling his mom to tell Julie to stop, you can see that Ethan is having a good time, he laughs with Julie, at this point Jim comes in and shouts at Julie ,,calm down, damn it", basically father of the year… Then Tabitha tries to comfort Ethan again, that crows are not really associated with death, but with unkindness. Tabitha starts talking about something like a hairpin bend in the road (it reminds me of Jade, who always talks about his theories). Jim and Tabitha argue about Jim missing the exit. Then Tabitha analyzes the situation again (like Jade), that the road goes in a circle, that Jim didn't turn anywhere and how is that possible. Then we have an accident. Jim and Tabitha's van and Jade's car almost collide. When the van lands on the side of the road, Jim first tries to reach for Tabitha with one hand, telling her three times to give him her hand and like ok… but why…, you can see that she is unconscious, so she won't give him her hand or answer, you can see that Jim won't reach her, and even if he did, what would he do with one hand…, he won't lift her…, he should have tried to get out himself first, unbuckled his seat belt etc., instead of reaching for Tabitha through a tree stuck in the van, while being buckled in himself. Sorry, but I don't like Jim, so I'm writing in advance that he will be hated by me in many places and sure… he's not a bad guy, he has a good heart, but that doesn't make him a good father and husband.

First meeting with Jade: Jade gets out of the car, completely stoned and from the very beginning he has a bracelet, similar to the ones Tabitha makes for her husbands. Yes, it's not 100% the same bracelet, because only Tabitha can make it, only she makes this mistake when braiding it and no one will be able to replicate it, not even Jade, because she's not Tabitha, but he wears a bracelet that is SIMILAR to the ones she makes, probably because his soul, feels the need to wear such a bracelet, feels that it is somehow important, although he doesn't remember, he is not aware of why, just like Tabitha makes a bracelet for her husband (Jim, Henry) every time, although she is not aware, she does not remember why, it's just something that is written in their souls, as a kind of instinct of memory that they don't remember, but this instinct still works. What's important is that this is the first time in a long time that two cars have arrived, although in the second season a bus full of people arrived, it was still one car, this is the only time for the current residents (apart from Victor) that two cars arrive at once, at practically the same time, Jade and Tabitha land in town at the same time, just like every time.

Sara kills Toby: There are two options here: 1. Sara was supposed to kill Jade, the voices told her to kill the person driving the car, but they didn't specify that it was Jade who was important, so she killed the ,,innocent" (not so innocent because he was driving while high) and easily accessible Toby. 2. Sara was supposed to kill Toby, who is Jade's best friend since childhood, and then Ethan, who is Tabitha's son, to break them both, luckily Ethan survived and Jade turned out to be more resistant to the death of a friend. I personally prefer the second option, because Sara's voices would probably know that it's not Jade.

After the accident: Tabitha wants to go to Thomas, their dead son, Jim reminds her that it's not Thomas, it's Ethan. Tabitha doesn't want to leave Ethan, the children have always been the most important thing to her. Jim stays with the children, because Tabitha is injured in the accident. Tabitha is on the way to town with the rest of the car, Tabitha with Julie and Kenny (who was driving) are sitting in the front, while in the back we have Elis and Jade.

,,You Don't Recognize Me": When everyone is standing at the door of the colonial house, a boy approaches Julie and says ,,you don't recognize me?" Julie seems confused. We might think that this boy is Julie's boyfriend, but Julie explains to Fatima in a later episode that she doesn't have a boyfriend or girlfriend, only friends, and there is no reason for one friend to be more important than the others, and the monsters themselves as we know (looking at Smiley) can't change their human appearance, so there is neither a logical reason for one of her friends to suddenly appear there, nor would the monster be able to take the form of her friend, so the person Julie sees, probably (looking at what we learn in season 3), is the person Julie meets traveling between chapters of the story, probably at some point (and probably more than once) she will go back in time to some past and meet him, I wonder what the story will be about him?

Here will be a link to the analysis of the second episode:

[wordsandrobots]

Sometimes I sit and stare at takes in this fandom, trying to work out if we watched the same show. I know I have very strong feelings on it and have gone through with an abnormally fine-tooth comb, but I swear some people will post things under the IBO tags that just... stem from a textually unjustified basis.

And no, I'm not talking about your favourite trans head-canon or the little eye-twitch I get when people (just) call Atra and Kudelia lesbians because, again, no patience for bi-erasure in these parts (bi women in a lesbian relationship? Fine. But we will respect the full as-written polycule, please and thank you).

I'm talking about ignoring or overlooking easily checked details about what the story does or does not say and do over the course of its runtime. Which, well, after all that fine-tooth checking, I hope you'll understand why this is a mite irritating.

So, since it's not my place to go around correcting everybody's homework, I'm just going to re-up this essay with particular emphasis on the absence of evident homophobia in the Post Disaster timeline and what we are told about Gjallarhorn's aristocratic structure.

I will also note something I didn't mention in the original essay, which is that spin-off material has provided the names of six of the original Seven Stars at this point and they include Angelica Elion (and Mackie Fareed, who I take to be a woman but am not 100% sure as Gundam Murmur's bio hasn't received an official translation). Furthermore, in Urdr Hunt, an illegitimate daughter of Lord Issue is considered a valid way to continue the family line.

However things are intended to work with Gjallarhorn heredity, it clearly isn't strictly patrilineal and the all-male make-up of the current Seven Stars likely says more about how the creators chose to portray a fusty, staid, intractable organisation, than reflecting the intended values of the society being imagined.

IBO reference notes on . . . queerness

How has it taken me this long to write about this aspect of the show? (He asked rhetorically, staring at the enormous amount of fanfic that basically stands as a thesis statement on how very queer this part of the Gundam franchise is [as opposed to all the other terribly straight parts, he added, sarcastically].)

Anyway, let's do it. Full spoilers up to the end of the show will follow, together with discussion of child abuse and exploitation, since that is what IBO is all about.

Special thanks to @lilenui and @prezaki for their invaluable assistance in locating sources.

Statement of caveats: this work is an amateur analysis of the English-language localisations (subtitled and dubbed) of a piece of Japanese media. I do not speak or read Japanese. I am myself bi, which qualifies me to be attracted to more of the cast than the average viewer, and have a working knowledge of LGBTQ+ history in the UK and USA, which tells me nothing about the cultural and historical context in which this anime was made. As such, I will not be addressing the behind-the-scenes production or the corporate mandates surrounding it but will focus narrowly on what I perceive to be present in the text (hereafter meaning both the script and animation, and any additional fictional details provided elsewhere).

Queerness in Gundam

Some background before we dive in. To my knowledge, the first character in the Gundam franchise to be intentionally depicted as LGBTQ+ is Guin Sard Lineford from Turn A Gundam (1999). An ambitious young aristocrat who spends the series on the line between hero and villain, he is infatuated with protagonist Loran Cehack and the show makes little attempt to play this as anything other than one man falling in love with another.

This is entirely one-sided and not appreciated on Loran's part, although that seems to have less to do with it being homosexual attraction than with Guin's high-handed and entitled attitude to life, filtered through heavily gendered social norms. For plot reasons, Loran spends several episodes cross-dressing as 'Laura Rolla', corsets and all, and Guin continues referring to him as 'Laura' long after the deception is no longer required, saying it 'suits him better'. Guin is eventually called out on this by a third character, who accuses him of forcing an idea of feminity on the other man rather than stoop to place himself in the position of a 'wife'. Objectifying Loran is presented as of a piece with Guin's overall flaws as a person, to whit, putting his own views about how things should be above the material reality and desires of those around him.

Guin is also the only explicitly gay character in the show (I'm honestly not sure how to classify whatever Dianna Soreil and Kihel Heim have going on, but it's certainly not labelled in the text). Therefore no counterpoint is provided to demonstrate healthy queer relationships. I don't state this to dismiss his inclusion: he forms part of a smart, nuanced plot thread, and Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino had to fight to get Guin's homosexuality clearly included. But even so, Guin is a palpable step forward rather than a watershed moment, and the end result veers close to some nasty stereotypes about queer people imposing their desires on others.

There are other examples of characters transgressing gender norms in Turn A, most especially Loran's aforementioned cross-dressing. He is comfortable playing the part of 'Laura', in ways that mitigate viewing this situation as the extended joke it might be in another production. Funny moments do come up – particularly in the lead-in to his 'debut' as he acclimatises to the female attire of the show's pseudo-Edwardian setting and takes posture lesson – but he and the concept of a man in ladies' clothes are never made a subject of mockery. The same cannot be said for the character of Sochie Heim, whose attempts as a young woman to fulfil a gung-ho masculine role often turn comedic. This is part and parcel of her assaying militaristic modes of action, which are soundly mocked across the board. It nevertheless stands out next to Loran/Laura.

Further, Loran's status as a literal moon-child carries implications for his attitudes. His dismissal of existing social standards on Earth is very much presented as correct, and in keeping with what I know of Tomino's other writing and stated beliefs, but it dovetails unfortunately with a treatment of queerness as otherworldly, not something that may be found among an average population. We get another example of cross-dressing in the next-but-one series, Gundam 00 (2007, not a work Tomino helmed), where the usually male-presenting artificial lifeform Tieria Erde switches to a female presentation (in a ball-gown, no less) during a covert mission. This sufficiently parallels Loran's case, I assume it was a deliberate call-back, being as it is a disguise enacted by someone even less typical than a boy from the moon.

What I am driving at is that while Guin, Loran and Tieria may be characters who are queer or perform queerness in some manner, they do not necessarily represent an outright embracing of queerness as a mundane facet of everyday life.

Fast-forward to 2024 and the latest mainline Gundam show is a lesbian romance.

If you have been following my blog for a while, you will know I do not hold The Witch From Mercury in especially high regard. I think it is annoyingly messy, frequently half-baked, and, broadly-speaking, exactly as frustrating as I'd expect from the guy who wrote Code:Geass. It's still an explicit love story that opens with a clangingly blunt statement about the acceptance same-sex relationships and ends with the two female leads happily married to one other. For all its flaws, I genuinely think the central relationship between Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran is a nice piece of story-telling, not to mention admirably open about what it is doing. Like it or lump it, Gundam is gay now, properly, with a protagonist and co-protagonist who can be definitively labelled queer and whose romance appears entirely unremarkable for the setting (in terms of being same-sex; clearly there is a lot to remark upon otherwise).

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the conclusion of the series was accompanied by a certain amount of corporate arse-showing, with hollow attempts to walk back the ending seemingly for the sake of appeasing homophobic elements within and without the companies that produce Gundam. The frankly laughable nature of these actions stands testament to how unequivocal G-Witch is. It is flatly impossible in my opinion to interpret as anything other than flagrantly homosexual, and that's great.

Between this interesting but limited start and the full-throated present lies Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015), my absolute favourite and the show that got me writing slash fic after years of… not doing that. So: what is the deal with queerness in IBO?

Natural for a human

By my count, including all present spin-offs, there are three characters stated in-text as being attracted to people of the same gender (Yamagi Gilmerton, Iznario Fareed, Deira Nadira), two who are at the least open to the idea (Norba Shino, Mina Zalmfort), two whose mutual attraction is stated within the context of polyamory with a third person of the opposite gender (Atra Mixta, Kudelia Aina Bernstein), one whose sexuality is briefly hinted at (Chad Chaden), and one male character who is possibly not attracted to women (Orga Itsuka).

Let's get Iznario out of the way first, because the less time we spend on the actual paedophile, the better.

Lord Iznario Fareed is a rich, powerful aristocrat who sexually abuses young blonde boys and inadvertently sets large parts of the plot in motion as part of quasi-villain McGillis' backstory. In a lesser show, Iznario would be the embodiment of the 'predatory queer' stereotype Guin skirts the edge of. Here, however, he is very much not the only 'gay' character present and his proclivities demonstrate one of the many ways the world exploits vulnerable children, a core theme of the series. Early on, we see fleeting glimpses of young girls being pimped out on the streets of Mars. Iznario shows this social failing extends to the much richer Earth and although he is portrayed as the worst among the Gjallarhorn elite, they all abuse their power for personal gain. Thus, as much as the reveal of what he has done carries a certain shock value, it is not present purely for cheap impact. (This isn't the essay to discuss it, but the flashbacks to McGillis being abused as a child are a masterclass in how to frame such things around the victim, clearly communicating what's happening while avoiding gross voyeurism.)

I don't know how deliberate it is the canonical gay character who is shown in an entirely positive light fits the profile of Iznario's victims to a T, but it does underscore we're looking at a case of power allowing people to get away with hideous things, not a stand-in for queerness in general. To an extent I resent having to spell this out, since it seems so obvious Iznario is not fulfilling the role of a homophobic cliché. Sadly, the cliché exists and the point is worth discussion.

Moving swiftly on: Yamagi and Shino.

Yamagi Gilmerton is a small, quiet teenage boy with a somewhat withdrawn and acerbic personality, who spends much of Iron-Blooded Orphans nursing a hopeless crush on mobile suit pilot Norba Shino. Like the majority of the cast, Yamagi is a child soldier, but a mechanic rather than a combatant. Additional backstory commentary reveals that he struggled on joining CGS mercenary group due to his physique. Indeed, while this detail is not directly referenced in the anime itself, he is indeed drawn noticeably thinner than the other boys.

Again, we veer towards stereotypes, where a queer character is portrayed as weaker and more effeminate. Yet in spite of leaning this way in looks, Yamagi is an eminently capable person, never treated as lesser for fulfilling a support role rather than being a fighter. If anything, IBO goes out of its way to highlight how vital good mechanics are to mechanised warfare, and we see multiple examples of Yamagi being both assertive and kind of badass. At one point, he scales, unaided, an 18 metre tall mobile suit that's collapsed to its knees. When he and Shino are revisited in spin-off game Urdr Hunt (soon to be some form of animated production), he pilots a spaceship within an active battle-zone, flying escort for a damaged freighter as it retreats. In Season 2, he's comfortable ordering Tekkadan's new recruits around and is the first person to properly chew Orga out for his failings as a leader. Far from being an outlier among the protagonists, Yamagi is equally brave and dedicated to the cause, irrespective of his sexuality.

To be fair, he does tend to clam up and grow more awkward around the object of his affections. To be equally fair, he has the misfortune of having fallen for the most oblivious himbo on God's red Mars.

Shino is a big, boisterous warrior, the polar opposite of Yamagi in personality and physicality. He embodies Tekkadan's machismo, eagerly anticipating the chance to prove their strength and generally being a standard bearer for becoming the biggest, baddest group around. Things are not as straightforward as they seem on the surface, however. He shows a good awareness of when the group is in over their heads – going so far as to suggest retreat in the face of bad odds several times – and he is not nearly as sure of himself as he might first appear. He displays a wide streak of insecurity about his abilities as a soldier, reacting badly to people questioning his dedication or competency. And he crumbles completely when some of his comrades are killed as the result of a split-second mistake on his part, stating a wish to have died in their place. Thereafter, he acts in ways that read as choosing to take all the risks on himself rather than go through more loss. It makes him an interesting mix, someone who acts as a cheerleader, boosting everyone else's morale, while swallowing his own doubts and personal fatalism.

He is also presented as one of the most sexually active members of Tekkadan, using his wages to visit brothels to sleep with women. Indeed, he is frequently found extolling the virtues of the opposite sex, referencing collections of pornography (at least in the English dub), and generally being a very typical teenage boy about such matters.

Given this, you might assume Yamagi is longing hopelessly for a straight man. That is indeed the idea the show teases us with for much of its run (can something be straight-baiting? I feel if anything ever earned that title, it's this). OK, Shino's fond of Yamagi as a friend and frequently relies on his assistance in improving his fighting ability, and per ancillary material, is the one who got Yamagi transferred to the mechanics corps in the first place, rescuing him from struggling in the infantry. And sure, Shino spends an awful lot of time in very close proximity to Yamagi, including literally pulling him into the cockpit to assist with a mission. And yes, Shino is absolutely a flamboyant creature, sporting gold ear studs and an attraction to the colour pink, ensuring his mobile suits are painted all over magenta in order to stand out on the battlefield. And certainly, Shino is extremely empathetic, adjusting his attitude depending on his impressions of other people, such that he dials his boisterousness down in Yamagi's presence, displaying a far more gentle affection than he does with his other friends.

But clearly he hasn't noticed Yamagi is head over heels for him.

Right?

Well, towards the end of Season 2, during another moment where Yamagi is literally sitting on Shino's knee, Shino proposes the two of them drink together all night long once the fighting is over. Not only is this an unambiguously romantic overture (he's asking while pushing aside the fringe that normally covers half of Yamagi's face, in order to look into his eyes properly), it comes after a joke several episodes earlier in which Shino has to explain to a less worldly comrade that a girl inviting you for a drink is not a request to go out with the whole gang but a far more intimate gesture (I say explain, it's more expressing incredulity Akihiro didn't realise Lafter was asking him on a date). Later, it is revealed Shino did indeed work out that Yamagi 'likes' him (to his friend Eugene's exasperation that it took him so long to notice), and he reacted with amazed delight to discover there was someone in Tekkadan who'd fall in love with 'a guy like me'.

He'd assumed because Tekkadan is a family (a description provided by their ally Naze, which everyone just kind of runs with), romantic love wasn't possible between them. Having worked through this mental block and finally realised the blindingly obvious, he renews his desire to protect Tekkadan as long as he lives, refuting his previous view of himself as an expendable human shield and heading out with every intention of surviving all the way to the end.

And because IBO is an exquisitely-written tragedy, he is promptly killed while attempting a futile one-man attack against their enemies, his advances on Yamagi forming part of a long build-up whereby the boy who loves him provides the tools he needs to charge into a suicide run.

Right then. *drags out the reading comprehension soap-box* I have seen some people refer to this as an example of the 'bury your gays' trope, and there is nothing more likely to get me manifesting behind you in the form of an irate shoebill than to do likewise. 'Bury your gays' refers to a tendency for queer characters in fiction to disproportionately suffer tragic fates. This is a writing choice usually rooted in the idea queer relationships are inherently tragic, either because they are viewed as a perversion of 'correct' forms of love, or because of some misguided idea the prevalence of homophobia means queer joy is impossible. I am going to be charitable and concede this is indeed a case where one half of a budding homosexual relationship dies horribly. But, as always, the context matters.

All but one of the romantic relationships established prior to the epilogue of Iron-Blooded Orphans end in death. Of the two that survive in some capacity, one is a heterosexual background romance between two older characters and the other is a pair of women I shall be covering later. IBO is a story about child soldiers that does not shy away from the fact these are teenagers being fed into a meat-grinder. That the director's original intention of killing every named character was toned down (to the series immeasurable benefit, in my opinion) dos not change a narrative arc towards doom.

Within this, Yamagi and Shino aren't singled out for being queer. The coyness around Shino's eventually-evident bisexuality serves to generate an instant of hope and relief right before the rug is pulled from under everyone's feet. Where Shino's death does differ from those of other characters is in presentation: he dies alone and does not get any form of farewell or the passing-on moment afforded to others. But that is only to be expected, since we're talking about the point where it becomes clear there is no saving the situation. It's a cruel, abrupt moment of bad luck, puncturing the heroic idea of scraping victory at the last second. Shino flew out intending to live and he died anyway. A queer relationship forming part of what he was fighting for is an almost incidental detail.

(As an aside, I am aware of two other examples in Gundam fiction where a pilot and a mechanic have a doomed love affair. One is in Char's Counterattack, where a male engineer's romance with a female pilot ends with them both being abruptly killed, and the other is from Gundam AGE, where a female mechanic sacrifices herself for the greater good, leaving a male pilot to mourn her loss for the rest of the series. Shino and Yamagi reiterate this same concept.)

Stepping back from the tragedy, Yamagi's love for Shino is as delightfully underplayed as the other relationships in the show, with little emotional melodrama being wrung from the romance itself. Yamagi can't bring himself to declare his feelings, frequently turning cold instead and perpetuating Shino's misunderstanding of where they stand. Yet Shino ultimately proves enthusiastic for the idea, rendering moot any concerns Yamagi had over getting turned down (going beyond the text, a Q&A with the series' director confirmed Shino was written as bi). Equally, in the aftermath of Shino's death, Eugene comforts Yamagi by relating the truth of Shino's earlier realisation and even going so far as to rebuff Yamagi for implying there's something wrong with him for grieving. This and other interactions in the same episode imply those nearest to the pair were well aware of Yamagi's desires and had absolutely no problem with them. The prevailing attitude within Tekkadan is one of complete acceptance for its members and this is no different.

Indeed, for me, the most important part of how queerness is represented in IBO is that it is treated as just another aspect of the diversity of the cast. I've seen it stated that viewing homosexuality as a natural part of human existence was Tomino's motivation in making Guin gay. IBO presents us with the same idea, far more seamlessly and far more positively.

Now, let's leave the anime proper and look at the same-sex pairing from spin-off manga Iron-Blooded Orphans: Moon Steel.

Deira Nadira and Mina Zalmfort are part of the Gjallarhorn nobility and their marriage was arranged to strengthen relations between their two families. We see an example of a similar political match in the main show, where the heir to the Fareed family, McGillis, is betrothed to the second child of the Bauduins, the much, much younger Almiria. That this can take place regardless of the gender of the participants has big implications for the functioning of a bloodline-focused aristocracy. Presumably it indicates they are happy to use medical technology to ensure the Nadira family continues into the next generation, and if same-sex marriages are thus permitted, that means fewer factors to worry about when it comes to perpetuation. Whether male-male weddings are allowed too remains an open question; given the existence of real-world double-standards, it is possible Deira and Mina represent the only acceptable form of homosexuality. Nevertheless, that it is accepted speaks volumes. Gjallarhorn is not an especially progressive organisation, built as it is on rigid class structures and notions of human purity. Yet here we are.

Perhaps we should have expected that the norms around gender in this system don't correspond to strictly patriarchal patterns from the real world. Carta Issue, a key player in Season 1 of the anime, is the only child of the Issue Family's current leader and positioned as his sole heir, irrespective of the fact she's a woman. The logical inference is that any children of hers would count as Issues, rather than belonging to a potential husband's family. Deira is similarly the heir to her father's position, although intriguingly, it's not outright confirmed if she is his only child or simply the oldest. The possibility exists that gender is a non-factor in determining inheritance.

With respect to sexuality, Deira seems pretty obviously intended to be a lesbian. Her relationship with Mina is presented as one they are both happy with, despite it being an arranged by their parents, and Deira is depicted in the manual for Gundam Gremory's model kit as favouring the clothes of 'a handsome man'. She doesn't present that way within the manga' story, first showing up wearing the standard unisex Gjallarhorn pilot-suit, then wearing a formal gown for a meeting while in an official capacity. But she is depicted wearing masculine clothes in silhouette when initially mentioned and in a post-story panel at the back of the final volume.

(Another aside: the fan translations I use for this part of the manga refer to Deira using male pronouns when she's introduced. However, that could simply be down to the poor quality of said translation; she's consistently referred to using female pronouns in official materials and the game adaptation of this scene has her named as simply 'Lord Nadira', the standard appellation for Gjallarhorn family heads.)

Whether Deira's code-switching is the result of institutional expectations around her role or personal preference, it adds extra texture to her depiction. While civilian garb was designed for the adult version of Carta and closely matches conservative gender expectations for a woman, she's never shown wearing it, so we don't have a point of comparison to judge what's required of a character in Deira's position.

Regarding Mina, you'll notice I grouped her with Shino rather than the characters whose sexuality I consider to be stated outright. With Shino, the nature of his sexuality is not put absolutely beyond question in the text. This is splitting hairs due to the overt nature of what's on screen but the fact remains, the anime doesn't clarify if his being open to Yamagi's love means he already thinks of himself as bisexual, or if this is something he hadn't considered before. With Mina, it's more a case that I'm unwilling to label her one way or the other based on the available information. Deira carries sufficient signifiers, I find little room for doubt over the intention. We also have an outright statement that she holds great affection for Mina regardless of being obliged to consider her an eventual romantic partner. Indeed, she becomes so upset by believing her fiance dead, she runs off to Antarctica in a Gundam. But the exact depth of Mina's feelings in return is not discussed.

In addition, Mina is considerably younger than Deira. McGillis and Almiria's match takes place when he is (probably) somewhere in his late twenties and she is nine, with plans for the union made four years prior. This is not great, to put it mildly, albeit fairly typical of how such things have historically worked for nobility. Based on appearances and how they are treated by the rest of the cast, I would assume Mina to be in her mid-teens, and Deira to be in her early twenties (annoyingly, exact ages are provided for several characters in Moon Steel, just not these two). A less dramatic gap (and I don't believe Mina is meant to be quite as young as her appearance perhaps suggests), yet still significant when one of the people involved is below what we'd consider adulthood.

There is no indication of anything untoward going on, within the confines of the situation, similar to how we're given no indication McGillis is abusive towards Almiria. Any comparisons with Lord Iznario's activities lie purely along the axis of how children are exploited by adults even without suffering directly. All indications are that Deira and Mina have made the most of something they have little choice in. Regardless, I still feel more comfortable describing Mina as open to being in a relationship with another woman, rather than pinning her to a specific preference.

Continuing the theme of things where doubt or ambiguity exist, let's discuss some characters were there shouldn't be any: Atra and Kudelia.

I don't know about you, but I find it extraordinarily hard to read this as anything other than a three-way love-confession. Still, in the interests of fair play, let's review the wriggle room for declaring this something else.

Kudelia Aina Bernstein and Atra Mixta are love interests of nominal protagonist Mikazuki Augus, in an iteration of another tried-and-true trope, that of a male lead inexplicably being attractive to the female characters in his orbit. Or rather, it would be if the show didn't take such pains to demonstrate why these girls fall for him, setting up a long-established crush on Atra's part (rooted in him being the first person in the world to be nice to her) and a mutual respect on Kudelia's that gets spurred to more when Mikazuki randomly decides to kiss her because she 'looked cute' (Mikazuki has the manners of a feral stray raised on the streets, because that's precisely what he is).

Justification aside, this has the makings of a traditional triangle, that is, one without a connecting base, which we might expect to be resolved by either Kudelia or Atra 'losing out'. For a few episodes, this does indeed seem where we are headed. Then Atra discovers the concept of polyamory via the polygamous Turbines group and all bets are off.

Having realised it is perfectly possible for a family to consist of multiple romantic partners, Atra proceeds to work towards ensuring everyone gets everything they want. Strictly speaking, this doesn't mean she is attracted to Kudelia as well – even if she clearly recognises Kudelia as an attractive person from the start and…

You know what? Acknowledging that the information about their eventual marital status was only stated in interviews at live events with no official record and seems to have been framed around raising the son Atra has with Mika, I'm going to abandon the pretence of both-sided objectivity and go straight for the throat. Turns out my patience for soft-footing this lasts about as long as it takes to say 'bi-erasure'.

Over the course of Season 1, Atra not only decides the end-game is some form of three-person wedding, she also:

Shows no jealousy over Mikazuki and instead chides him for not providing the correct emotional support to the girl he kissed.

Spends a great deal of time with Kudelia and enthusiastically throws herself into furthering Kudelia's goals, without necessarily understanding the technicalities.

Covers for Kudelia by pretending to be her during a confrontation with Gjallarhorn soldiers, getting herself soundly beaten up in order to prevent them from chasing after the real deal.

Drives an armoured car through a battlefield for Kudelia's sake, safely delivering her to a vital rendezvous.

Leaps in front of a massive mobile suit to push Kudelia out of its path, physically shielding the other girl with her body.

As much as it pains me to resort to the 'if this were a man and a woman, would it read as romantic' crudity – yes! Yes it would! Especially since in Season 2, Atra presents Kudelia with a good-luck charm bracelet she has woven, something she previously did for Mikazuki explicitly out of having a crush on him. I'm all for embracing platonic love (which is why Takaki and Aston are not featuring in this rundown) and there's nothing in the above list necessarily entailing attraction beyond deep friendship. But when Atra consciously repeats her actions towards Mikazuki (someone she goes on to definitely have sex with) with Kudelia and it leads to the scene between them where they declare how they feel about each other and Mikauki, looking for non-romantic angles takes more effort.

After all, if we are to read Shino's openness to Yamagi's affection from the things he says and how he looks saying them, we can certainly do the same for Atra and Kudelia's use of the word 'like' in reference to one another and their reactions to hearing it said of them. (Obligatory note that if there is some nuance in the original Japanese the translation doesn't capture, I'd love to hear about it. The English scripts, however, leave little to the imagination.)

It is indisputable that Atra feels a strong affection towards Kudelia and while I have been focusing on her a lot (she is by far the most proactive member of the triad), Kudelia reciprocates at every opportunity she is presented with. Even if there truly wasn't an intention to portray this as exactly equivalent to Atra and Mikazuki, the end result manages to be on par with Yamagi and Shino. Consider Kudelia and Mikazuki, for example. In terms of portrayal and the two-girls-one-guy trope being explored here, they have the same level of chemistry and the same absence of overt consummation as Kudelia and Atra, and it would hardly be a serious position to claim the show does not place the two of them in romantic conjunction, now would it?

You may at this point be wondering why I am getting so defensive of reading Kudelia and Atra as romantic partners. Honestly, I am too. On reflection, I think it's because IBO is playing around with such a worn-out and insipid means of wringing drama from characters who should know better, I keep searching for the catch. And yet there isn't one. This show really did respond to a nascent love chevron by having the mousy, homely girl tell the governor's beautiful daughter to shut up and get in the polycule, and turned it into a true triangle.

That's wonderful. I cannot properly express the wave of joy and relief that came over me when I realised this was the direction they were taking. It ends in tragedy, of course, Mikazuki giving up any chance of a peaceful life to die in battle, far away from the women who love him. But their lives continue because of his sacrifice and by all appearances they remain together. In some ways, for the overarching message of hope persisting on the back of heartbreak, the precise details of that arrangement don't particularly matter. So why not take the gayest reading possible?

What an excellent segue into a blink-and-you'll-miss-it, probably-stretching-too-far, nonetheless-compelling potential bit of queerness: Chad in the series epilogue.

One of the many tertiary characters in Tekkadan, Chad Chaden has minor speaking parts throughout Season 1 and a larger role in Season 2. He initially appears during a particularly dire early moment when it looks like everyone is about to be killed by attacking mobile suits. His obvious resignation to this fate sets the tone for a rather dour personality, at least while on the clock. Chad starts out as human debris, a person enslaved after a space battle and sold to the CGS military group as free labour. This gives him a very matter-of-fact attitude towards fighting and the kill-or-be-killed nature of being forced into it – he voices the sentiment that even when facing other human debris, they can't afford to show mercy.

Off the clock, Chad displays a more sensitive personality. He seems studious, learning about interplanetary communications from Kudelia's maid Fumitan and later being promoted to leader of Tekkadan's Earth branch. He has some difficulty acclimatising to being treated as a free person, proving unsure about the concept of wearing a smart suit instead of his normal fatigues. And he grows anxious when he returns to Mars to discover nobody told him two of the few adults in the group (Yukinojo and Merribit) had started dating, worrying that he's no longer 'one of the guys'.

The most we learn about his relationship preferences prior to the series epilogue comes in a comedic sequence about a third of the way into Season 2, when Shino suggests a trip to a local brothel. Eugene responds by proclaiming that he's realised money will not buy him true love. This prompts Chad to ask Merribit if this is true and, on her saying she supposes so, opts out of the trip as well. Judging by his body-language in the next frame where he appears, this is possibly a decision he regrets – perhaps owing to his anxieties, since he just passed up the chance for some team-bonding.

None of this is directly relevant to the topic of this essay. If anything, the scene I just described suggests that, like Eugene, Chad has previously gone along with Shino in paying for sex with women, only to discover he wanted more than just physical intimacy. But then we get the exchange in Kudelia's office during the last episode, following a time-skip after Tekkadan's defeat and dissolution. Now working for Kudelia as an assistant of some kind, Chad notes that Merribit is shortly to give birth to her and Yukinojo's second child, saying he and Yamagi intend to meet up later to plan a celebration. Eugene reacts with amused disbelief, accusing them of just wanting an excuse to go out drinking, to which Chad retorts, 'what's wrong with that?'

And the thing is he's blushing when he does. Which may simply be because Eugene is accusing him of slacking off – IBO characters blush all the time and their embarrassment is frequently to do with being caught acting immature or otherwise against how they want people to see them. But given the weight that 'drinking the night away' carries in regards to Yamagi following Shino's actions shortly prior to his death, it is easy to speculate this represents something more specific.

As far as I can recall, Chad and Yamagi do not interact at all over the course of the show's two seasons, meaning these lines present a rather unexpected combination of characters. Eugene would have seemed a more likely candidate to associate with Yamagi. He's positioned as Shino's closest friend, he comforts Yamagi over his grief, and they are together for much of the climax to the series' plot. So what has happened in the years since, that Eugene's teasing should elicit a blush from Chad instead?

If we put on our shipping goggles, it's far from a nonsensical pairing. Chad goes through an arc not too dissimilar to Shino's. He is knocked into a coma while protecting an ally from a bomb blast and subsequently the Earth branch gets swept into a war orchestrated by one of the factions within Gjallarhorn. On recovering, he blames himself for the many deaths that result, echoing Shino's line about thinking it better if he'd died in place of his comrades. On returning to Mars, he jumps head-first into mobile suit training, determined to make up for his perceived failure as a leader and cheering himself up through rigorous activity. Different though their personalities appear on the surface, there are clear commonalities here. Further, Chad's responses to his traumatic experiences have a more measured quality to them than Shino's. He is not nearly as reckless and provides clear directions to his comrades even while acting as a decoy against a dangerous enemy, rather than abandon any attempt to be an effective leader. Taken together, and coupled to a more long-term view of romance, these qualities might make him a 'safer' version of things Yamagi loved about Shino, creating space for them to be drawn together.

Or perhaps they're simply the most logical points of contact between the ex-Tekkadan survivors at the Admoss Company and Kassapa Factory and intend to make that an excuse to get companionably plastered for no greater reason than it being a nice time. I am speculating over a couple of lines and an animation choice. Nevertheless, it does not feel like unreasonable speculation. When we already have a veritable gaggle of characters who are queer or may trivially be read as such, it's hardly a stretch to assume one more.

Chad/Yamagi doesn't appear to be a thread the fandom at large has pulled on much, likely because the pairing of Shino and Yamagi is so prominent, it eclipses a mere throwaway possibility. But I'm glad it exists within easy reach. And even if we take off our goggles, these lines demonstrate life for the characters has not stopped. The ex-slave and the gay kid are not stuck, trapped by the tragedies of their past. They have instead grown in both confidence and happiness and now have peaceful, stable lives where they're on going-out-drinking terms. That above all is why I wanted to explore this exchange: it reinforces Iron-Blooded Orphans' rejection of the idea the suffering people like Chad and Yamagi go through is perpetual or inevitable.

OK, one more character to look at. Let's talk about Orga and asexuality.

Orga Itsuka, leader of Tekkadan and instigator of the series' events, is notable for his charisma, his drive to provide a safe home for his comrades, and his complete unsuitability for the grown-up activities he attempts. Trying to party all night leaves him puking up his dinner. He forces himself into a suit and tie to handle the administration of a break-out paramilitary company, despite finding it stultifying and bewildering. His goals spin like a weather-cock, as he's surrounded by older characters possessing strong convictions while unable to stick to his own. And he is ultimately undone by an unwillingness to ask for help, having assumed that, as leader, he must decide everything alone.

I suspect his expressed lack of interest in women is intended to help convey overall immaturity. Orga is a good soldier and tactician, but he plainly isn't prepared for adulthood, lacking the grasp on the complexities of life that implies. Making him uncomfortable about sex serves to heighten the impression of a teenager trying to navigate circumstances for which he's not yet ready.

Relatedly, it should be stressed Orga stating he 'doesn't care' about woman is a response to Eugene asking if he agrees love and kindness are what's important, as opposed to Shino's endorsement of boobs. On hearing this response, Eugene proceeds to mock his commander for inexperience. That he himself has only just had his first sexual experience with another person and previously said much the same about not caring about sex simply proves hypocrisy is a fundamental aspect of Eugene's characterisation. The whole scene is very teenage.

Matters have not improved much when Orga and Eugene's dynamic is revisited in one of the side-stories released via the Iron-Blooded Orphans G mobile game. A year and change later, Eugene continues to act superior about having 'experience' where Orga doesn't.

Orga takes this rather poorly.

(Subtitles by @trafalgarlog)

Eventually Merribit has to shout at them to stop being brats, shaming them for behaving like argumentative children. It's funny – and then you remember they basically still are children and this is headed towards more carnage that will not spare them for being young. Such it is to engage with Iron-Blooded Orphans.

What does any of this tell us about Orga's sexuality? In principle, taking it as a device to convey immaturity, nothing. Orga's persisting virginity could simply mean he's not worked out this aspect of himself yet. He is a busy young man who likely hasn't had the time to try.

Alternatively it could mean he is gay. Mikazuki/Orga is an extremely popular ship in the fandom and we might take Orga's professed lack of interest in women as 'evidence' of him swinging the other way.

Or we could take my view, that Orga is asexual and his embarrassment is rooted in just not getting what the big deal is.

To immediately clarify, I don't think he is ace because he 'hasn't worked out what he wants', I think he's ace because he blushes on admitting he doesn't care about women and does not try to prove otherwise once he's in a position where he could easily do so. In circling back to the same joke for the side-story, the writers portray Orga as continuing to be uninterested in sex and sensitive over being needled about it. Again, a feasible interpretation is that he's into guys. Yet this is an argument with Eugene, whose response to the idea of Yamagi being in love with Shino is basically 'you mean you didn't notice?' Eugene is a dork and jerk; he isn't bigoted. None of the Tekkadan guys are. It's unclear if homophobia is even a factor in the setting. Sexism is, but when someone as superficially macho as Shino is comfortable with male/male attraction, and there are same-sex weddings inside Gjallarhorn, we cannot assume stigma exists around being gay. So why should Orga be worried, unless it goes beyond a question of who you're attracted to and into the answer being 'nobody at all'?

When you're surrounded by people who happily wax lyrical about how the joys of sex make you a real man, the absence of a libido might easily become a sore point.

Again, I'm supposing. Again, there is room to do so. As I touched on with Chad, it is easy to read queerness into the text when the assumption of straightness has been taken away, which is something this show does wholeheartedly and deliberately.

Orga Itsuka is one of the first characters I looked at and realised, not only shouldn't I assume heterosexuality, I shouldn't assume sexual attraction at all. I cannot credit Iron-Blooded Orphans alone with this. I do credit it with being a piece of media that applies itself to inclusiveness in ways quite remarkable for a show about giant robot fights, produced to market toys.

The word we want here is 'normalisation'. IBO has a lot to say about what constitutes 'normal' and a lot of it accords well with my own views, particularly those that have me twitching whenever anybody demands we 'be normal' about something. Normality is horrible. It is cruel and it is callous. 'Normal' is a world run on exploitation, on slave labour and on police savagery. Normal is children forced to risk their lives to earn the money required to feed themselves, because it is normal for their parents be gone, or incapable of supporting them. War is normal. Corruption of political systems is normal. Death coming more rapidly for those deemed expendable by society is very, very normal.

But so is protest. The drive to do something, to change things. The capacity for caring about each other. Love. 'Normal' is just a statement about what surrounds us every day, for worse and for better. In too many pieces of fiction, normality is narrowed, rendered a neater, cleaner picture, often excluding the kinds of people we might run into on the street, or walk past, or see on the news, distant and dehumanised.

Queerness is normal, yet for a long time it has been one of the first things to be cut out of fictional worlds. And when it is present, it's a big deal. An object lesson or a cry of triumph over breaking free of unfair strictures. I love stories about queer joy and victory. Heck, I'm a sucker for a good, soppy gay romance. But these aren't the only kinds of stories we tell. Sometimes we need to reflect the worst aspects of the world and what it does to normal people.

In attempting this, Iron-Blooded Orphans commits to an idea of 'normal people' that includes those who are gay or bisexual, those of colour and those we'd call white, the polyamorous, the illiterate, the desperate, the powerful, those who throw themselves into the fight with everything they have, and those who are simply kind. Those who are accepting, understanding and compassionate. Those who need to be accepted, who struggle to be understood, who suffer for a lack of compassion.

There are all sorts of people in IBO and – as a certain cheery, violent dumbass once said – man do I love it. I don't believe it is reading against the spirit of the thing to imagine more diversity than gets outright stated, to interpret one of the leads as ace or suppose another side character is bi or pansexual. It would seem entirely natural if they were.

Everyone's welcome here, down among the debris and the bloodshed, where hope is precious and fleeting and still somehow endures. So why shouldn't we raise a few extra pride flags?

Queer as in 'fuck you'

This all said, taken as a whole, Iron-Blooded Orphans is not a story about queerness or queer romance. Nowhere is this clearer than in its ending.

I skipped over the framing of the final scenes of the anime when I discussed Kudelia and Atra. They form a striking contrast with the ending of The Witch from Mercury, where the conclusion is directly focused around Suletta and Miorine's love for one another, their bonds of wedlock, and the happiness they have found together. This follows from the show being primarily about their relationship. In Iron-Blooded Orphans, the ending focuses not on Kudelia's feelings toward Atra, but those she has for Akatsuki, Mikazuki's son, with Eugene even saying she's eager to go see 'the man she loves', setting up a brief moment of uncertainty over who the character with Mikazuki's outline actually is.

The nature of Kudelia and Atra's relationship post-time-skip is implied rather than stated: in the English versions of the script, they do not refer to each other using terms suggesting they are married, although Atra has dropped her habitual 'Miss' from the front of Kudelia's name. They do not have wedding rings (redundant as those would be alongside the charm bracelets) and Akatsuki does not call Kudelia 'mom'. That they are raising him together is suggested very strongly, in line with Mikazuki asking Kudelia to be guardian of his child if he died. There are non-romantic ways of taking this idea, though, and none of these are closed off as viable interpretations.

But why should we expect some definite statement about romantic status when the point being conveyed is how Tekkadan's legacy continues to shape the world? This is a story concerned with the exploitation underpinning the world and the effort required to make even the smallest wide-scale change. It is about how people trapped at the bottom of the pecking order are still people, still human, messy and complex. It is about their pointless deaths, they ways they struggle on until those deaths come for them, and why they matter, even if the world forgets them.

Mikazuki, the living weapon, the human sacrifice for Orga Itsuka's reckless ambitions, leaves behind a child who will grow up in a more peaceful time, in a society slightly better off than when he and Orga were starving on Chyrse's streets. He doesn't live to see it; Akatsuki does. For all the failures, the attempt wasn't a waste. Don't you dare disrespect the people who died by saying it was.

This is where the epilogue centres, on Akatsuki and on Kudelia's cherishing of the world Mikazuki and everyone else built. Atra and Kudelia's relationship is there, a part of the gentler life they now have (Atra's desires were always towards the version of her existence where Mikazuki retires to a farm; here she fulfils the dream with Kudelia alone). It just doesn't need to take up space for the ending to land.

Yet, as I pour over how queerness is incorporated into Iron-Blooded Orphans, I find myself considering the struggles queer people face in reality. The victims of the AIDS crisis, dehumanised by indifferent institutions. Section 28 and the attempted destruction of knowledge around non-heterosexual forms of love. Riots and campaigns, voices raised loud and proud. How we are equated with dirt and corruption, reduced down to facts others find disgusting. The name-calling. The petty, pathetic posturing that makes everyday existence pointlessly harder.

So it goes for space-rats and degenerates alike.

I am lucky. My life is about as far from that of a child soldier as it is possible to get. My sexuality has been largely invisible. My gender matches the one most favoured by my society. I still have more common cause with those born in poverty on the other side of the world than I will ever have with the aristocrats and billionaires who shape the direction of my country. Because we hold many causes of misery in common. Because we share the same capacities for joy and suffering. Because our humanity is so easily cast aside by those we will never be able to touch.

There is always a place for stories uncomplicatedly about queer love conquering all. Equally, it is important to recognise the places queerness overlaps with stories about the many other ways the world casts people out. It is vital to be able to explore loss, futility and heartbreak. It is essential to capture why we strive onwards despite how heavily tragedy might weight us down.

We may be doomed. Our lives still matter. To ourselves, to each other and, whether they remember or not, to those who come after us.

So, no: for all the queer characters it contains and the many more we might trivially imagine queerness into, Iron-Blooded Orphans is not gay in the vein of The Witch From Mercury. It is not a happy story.

But it is a tenaciously hopeful one and, from certain angles, that alone looks queer as hell.

---------

Happy UK/US Pride Month – in honour and memory of Marsha P Johnson and everyone else who refused to go quietly.

I shall leave you with one of the least straight things ever to be included in any Gundam show.

[Index for further writing]

[thedrarrylibrarian]

As a bit of a special treat, and to celebrate their one year anniversary, I sat down with my good friend, the @wolfstarlibrarian. We recorded our conversation to share it here with you, our favorite patrons. I’ll be DL, in bold, and the Wolfstar Librarian is WL. I hope you enjoy this sweet peek into our friendship, and the wonderful insights that they had to share with me.

DL: First of all, congratulations on a whole year! In that time you've created a lovely and welcoming fandom space for authors, both new and established, lots of helpful guides and explanations for readers, and over 300 rec lists. What's been the most rewarding part of being "The Librarian"?

WL: Oh thank you so much! It’s been a wild year, made all the better for having this blog. As for the BEST part? Hmmmmm 🤔 This is difficult to answer because there have been so many unexpected gifts, but probably the most rewarding and surprising part is how much support the fandom community has come out with. I hoped that, at most, people would enjoy some of the lists, but beyond that they’ve given personal support as well, whether I’ve needed time, or someone to help find a fic, or just general support, the community has shown up, and that’s been an incredible gift that helps to keep me motivated and feeling special.

DL: I love that! I love how you describe fandom as a community. I think the real fandom isn't just the content, but the friends we made along the way! 😂

WL: YES! I agree! Fandom is just people connected by passion.

DL: Absolutely! And I think something really unique that you've done with The Wolfstar Librarian is encouraging others' passion as well.

WL: I was not prepared to feel this soft! 🥺

DL: Sorry, not sorry! Lol. I think something that's very unique to your blog specifically is the way that you are always giving "new" recs. A lot of the recs are ones that I haven't read before and I think that's very encouraging to authors and creators to keep writing and creating. It's not the same old "classics" over and over. That’s something I’ve tried to emulate on my own blog as well. I search for a mix of old and new fics.

WL: Oh yes, I'm always on the hunt for new fics. I check @ao3feed-wolfstar at least once a week and go through all of the new fics, picking out things I think I might want to read, and even when searching for lost fics I oftentimes end up adding a dozen new fics to be TBR list. I'm fascinated with the new, and am always looking for fresh takes on old tropes. Of course I also have tons of subscriptions for my favorite authors, but just like with food, I have comfort items I know I'll like but then I also enjoy new things just as much.

DL: Out of curiosity, how long is your TBR list?

WL: (after a significant pause) Oh goodness, I had to check. It’s currently 15 pages long and at 20 fics a page…

DL: Hold on, I’ll pull up a calculator. Um...300. So as many rec lists as you’ve made. You mentioned comfort items. What are some of your favorite tropes?

WL: Oh my goodness, yeah I hadn't done the math! 😂 I think what I find the most comfort in are things I can relate to the most? So lots of modern AUs with happy endings, and I'm also a sucker for soulmate or a good texting fic since they tend to include some fun humor that I can use as a counterpoint to real life.

DL: I love modern AUs!

WL: Me too! And fix-it AUs. JKR did them dirty 😉

DL: Who hasn’t JKR done dirty? Lol. Okay, and do you want to spill some tea? What are your pet peeves in a fic? The things that make you immediately click that red x and think "not for me". To be clear, I’m not saying things that you think are wrong — we’re not making any moral judgment here! Just your specific pet peeves that irritate you personally.

WL: The first thing isn’t so much a pet peeve as something I get asked a lot and feel bad about. The question I get asked the most is "how do I get rec'd on WL", and it just makes it clear how infrequently people read the pinned FAQ, where I encourage people to send in recs. Probably 4/5 people who send in their own fics as a rec actually end up on a list, but so few people do! So just remember that the Librarian is just one person who can easily miss a lot of things, but genuinely wants to read and share lovely fics. But actual pet peeves? I definitely can't handle MCD, or anything that's too dark just because it takes my mental health somewhere I don't want to go. I also tend not to like....imbalanced relationships? I know that's vague, but anytime there isn't mutual respect, it just feels weird and unnatural to me so I tend to just click out. Also, I need fairly standard formatting. I've seen a few posts about it, and it's definitely true that my brain struggles to read anything written outside of standard formatting (correct punctuation and capitalization). It's not even a judgement, just something like math where my brain goes "no thank you!" 😰

DL: That's definitely something that makes me hit the red x too. And I know what you mean about lack of mutual respect. I think that there's stories about relationships where someone makes a mistake and with work and apologies, they can come back from that and still have a solid relationship but there's other's where one person just completely disregards and breaks any trust or respect that they've built in the relationship and an apology can't fix that. It's a fighting together/fighting each other kind of thing. And I think that's an interesting point you bring up because I feel like with Drarry, Harry and Draco are set up to be adversaries and part of the story is them overcoming it. But that's not really part of Sirius and Remus' story.

WL: Yes, exactly! And I definitely read fanfic for comfort, for romance, and I feel like you can't have true love without mutual respect, without equality. Of COURSE that can take time and work to get to sometimes, but as long as they end up on the same page, I'm game. 😊

DL: Exactly. And again, I just want to say that it doesn't mean we think those fics are inherently bad or anything. It's just our personal preferences as readers. So, it's obvious that I also read Wolfstar in addition to Drarry. Do you ever read Drarry?

WL: Honestly, I rarely read outside of wolfstar, but sometimes I do read Drarry because it's so much bigger and tends to cover a wider variety of stories. I also read Dorlene, Jegulus, Jegulily, and a host of other smaller ships like Fleur/Tonks that end up in wolfstar fics.

DL: Can I put you on the spot and have you give us a Drarry rec?

WL: My favorite one is actually one you rec'd! It's the Christmas one that's just SO soft I can't help but read it each year as the weather gets cooler.

DL: Ohhhh! The Christmas Tree by @cottonpadenthusiast. I love that one! It’s a Drarry + Remus/Sirius get together! Just a sweet, happy family dynamic.

WL: Yes! It's half wolfstar, half drarry, and totally sweet.

DL: With families....we often joke in private that you and I have "sibling" blogs. Did you ever mind that I joined you in being a librarian?

WL: Oh, of COURSE not! Running a rec blog like this is so much work, there's no way I could do more than one, and I truly love having you, and other rec blogs, because they inspire me so much! I love finding new fics, new ways to share content, and new people to share with. Rec blogs inspired me to make my own, and hopefully I inspire people to find their own style as well!

DL: That's definitely something I've tried to do as your "little sibling" blog. I feel very lucky to have such a cool "older sibling" and mentor librarian that I can always come and ask a question or advice from, but I've tried to be thoughtful in making it my own too, with my Happy Hours and stuff. And I try to be mindful as well that I'm not copying exactly what another Drarry rec blogger does either. We all get our own niche, and I think that makes the recs we give more rich. And in true younger sibling fashion, I started my blog because I saw you doing it and thought it was such a neat idea that I wanted to join you. What made you start your library?

WL: When I first made the library, and imagined what I wanted it to be, I wanted more than anything for the library to be a place that I had searched for when I was new to fandom. I was so desperate for someone to show me fics for my exact mood, or comfort tropes, or just introduce me to something new the way librarians have done all my life. With this blog, the library, I'm trying to provide that comfort, that answer that we're all seeking. Hopefully, other people find the same relief and comfort here that an old wood lined library, full of wonder and hope, offers them in real life as well.

DL: Oh, now you’ve made ME soft. I think that’s such a lovely statement that we’ll wrap it up there. Do you think people are going to judge us because neither of us can do math?

WL: Ahahaha, honestly, if that's my worst feature, I'm okay with it. 😂

[meetmeatthecoda]

Okay Coda, don't be upset with me because I do believe in lizzington 100%... but I've been seeing some very convincing rederina theories.

The thing is, I think each writer has yanked our (the viewers) attention multiple directions except maybe Bokenkamp. He seems lizzington deep down. Anyway, while rederina could be plausible, I can't reconcile the romantic insinuations and comments from Red and even from Liz......... and Aram, and Ressler, and the knowing and LOUD expressions from Samar with her quiet lips. I think Cooper has had questions and thoughts... as have countless blacklisters.

Help Coda, I'm so confused 😕 I don't even watch the show anymore. I haven't gone past early/mid season 6 if that far.

Also, um, what ya been up to? 🙃 Not to discount your life away from Tumblr and ao3, but I'm excited about reading new content! 😄😁

Hi there, anon!! 😍 Awww, I could never be upset with you, my friend, not to worry!! Besides, I fully understand what it's like to feel conflicted over this show... I think we've definitely all been there!! 🤗 I'm very touched you're coming to me with these feelings & I'm happy to share my thoughts on the topic!! I hope maybe they can bring you a little bit of peace!! Also, I'm going to put them under a read more cause we all know how I get when asked about R*derina 😂 Okay, here we go:

So. These theories & whatnot that you're worried about don't bother me at all because, simply put? The writers lost all credibility when they killed Liz. And, if you ask me, the best part about not watching the show anymore? We don't have to pay attention to what they're doing now! And let's be real, they went off the reservation a long time ago. That's reason enough for me to not consider anything they say or do now to be canon, especially not in the context of the whole story, & especially given that they no longer have the original creator (Bokencamp, who - I agree with you - always seemed team Lizzington to me) or literally half of the original cast. And you're absolutely right, there's so much undeniable proof for - at the very least - a STRONG, STRONG case for Lizzington - I mean, everything you listed, the looks, the comments, the subtext, the filming, the FUCKING PILOT SCRIPT - that to me, the bottom line is: If they can turn their back on their original endgame, then we can turn our backs on the retconned one. And yeah, some people might say that I'm only ignoring the canon that I don't like & doesn't support my ship which is UnTrUe To ThE sHoW or AgAiNsT fAnDoM rULeS or some shit & hey, that may be. But you know what? I'm fine with that. Because it's all fictional media & media is meant for entertainment & escaping from real life. And the best part about escapism in the form of fictional media? If it doesn't spark joy, then you can throw it the fuck out!!! And R*derina don't spark no joy for Coda 🙃🙃🙃 So... fuck 'em, honestly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ But yeah, my strategy is simply "assume anything that doesn't check out with previous canon is a retcon & therefore inadmissible in the fandom court of shipping laws." I don't know if that helps at all, anon, but I hope it does, especially since you're not watching the show anymore, just like me & many of us surviving Lizzington shippers!! I would simply recommend not worrying about the crap they've spewed past season 8 7 6 3A - even if they try to confirm R*derina in the end - & instead enjoy the Lizzington proof & moments & beauty we were graced with while it lasted. Sometimes straight-up denial & sticking to your beliefs are the way to go 🥲🥲

Other that ^THAT^ lol, I've been quite well, thank you for asking, dear anon!! 🥰 And might I add that I so appreciate your respect for my #real life away from tumblr & AO3 bc - as irritating as it can be - I do have one LOL & it can get busy just like everyone else's, of course, & idk, I just really appreciated the way you worded that, so thank you so much 🥰🥰🥰 To answer your question in unspecific terms, I'm currently starting the process of going back to music school after a pandemic/personal health break to do some post-grad work. But, of course, a musician's life is not an easy one & the process takes time - especially after a break like I've had - so it's slow-going at the moment... But I'm chugging along with it & excited to get back to my passion of making music!! 😊 And, of course, I'm hoping to have more time to write in the coming days as I settle into a hopefully more productive real life routine, & bc I know I will need the stress relief of fic. I'm very excited to get down to work on Halcyon & hopefully bring you new content as soon as possible!! And of course I'm so flattered that you're looking forward to it!! Granted, it will be a while... I have just under 12k so far with just the beginning bits & my outline is only growing... sooo I think it's safe to say this will be my longest, most ambitious fic project to date. But I certainly hope it will be worth the wait - for both you & me!! 😂 Anyway, I think I've blabbed on for long enough, so the only thing left is to thank you so much for your kind & lovely ask!! I hope my response did something to help you feel a little better about things & I promise to have new Lizzington fic out as soon as I can!! Thank you again, sweet anon, & much, much love to you always, my friend!! 😍🥰❤️

[angelguk]

God you’re ignorant is astounding. It’s not about the fact I paid for 1 update, it’s the fact that that 1 update started a story you now refuse to update for no valid reason. I have no issues waiting until it’s done, there isn’t a rush I just think it’s fair that it ends appropriately. And please stop doing what all fic writers do when you throw all the cards of school, home life and work. You are able to write those other fics whilst maintaining the upkeep of those so please don’t pretend you don’t have a single second spare. It doesn’t matter where the money went, it’s the fact I paid for a fic. Do you really think I would commission work that would never be given a conclusion had you been honest about that at the beginning. It’s morally wrong to accept money for work that you will never finish. I adored this fic, it literally became a comfort for me during the pandemic after I lost a parent and to know I never get to know how it will end is devastating but you don’t care about my feelings or why I so desperately want this. Clearly no matter how much I explain I have no issues waiting until you are in a capable head space to write you still aren’t going to listen. I’m absolutely devastated. I just wanted to know where they would end up. I just wanted to support the author who created those characters. That’s all.

I'm just going to post this message here. I'm struggling to give you an appropriate answer because despite saying:

(a) I do not enjoy writing this story it makes me very frustrated and irritated and takes away from the whole fact that this is meant to be a fun/enjoyable experience for me too

(b) Countless people have harassed/insulted/demanded me to update this work, further taking away from the fact that this is meant to be a fun experience for me too.

I'm sorry that apparently those are not "valid reasons" according to you. It seems like what I feel as the creator can be dismissed entirely, despite the work only existing because of the time I dedicated to writing it.

Furthermore, you have still not contacted me privately. I am operating also with assumption that you could be a troll seeking ways to irritate and harass me with mind too. If you could identify yourself it would make me trust and understand your situation a lot better. I have delt with people on here who pretend to enjoy/like my work until they get steady contact with me and then switch into insulting me with racial slurs and threatening my person with harm. A lot of you guys don't know what the hell I go through in private on here, especially as a black k-pop stan. I cannot take this as a serious request because of that and yet if I ignore you I'm the villain so I need to respond.

Lastly, "it doesn't matter where the money went". I am going to leave that quote there but it says a lot about your character. Especially as you are speaking to a black person.

I'm going to end this by saying: I am so sorry you went through losing a lot one during this pandemic and if that fic provided you comfort, I am glad I could at least do that with my writing. However, my own sister is currently in hospital fighting cancer, my immediate family is separated across the world (I haven't seen my own mother in over a year), I am dealing with a lot of shit right regarding financial stuff, my education and my mental health. I cannot and will not sacrifice my own health and stability to make you happy. I can't believe I'm apologising for that but I am sorry if that disappoints you. You want me to extend compassion to you but fail to realise you need to do that same to me, especially as you are asking me to sacrifice time and energy to give you something. If you wanted to know where they end up and if this story has been on your mind as much as you've said it has, I'm sure you can create an adequate ending yourself. And you are not supporting me by demanding I finish this fic. If anything you are causing me unnecessary stress. I am not going to rearrange my life and give myself more burdens to ease your mind. Understand that.

[teatotally]

AO3 stats meme

I was tagged by @sdwolfpup 1. how many works do you have on ao3? There are 191 listed, though I'd say at least 1/4 are not fic but rather vids or a few podfics that I'm listed as a co-creator on.

2. what’s your current ao3 word count? 1,550,395, but some small fraction of those words are lyrics for vids, vid intros, etc.

3. how many fandoms have you written for and what are they? 53, and that's just way too many to list out here, especially since many of those are for vids. The top ones, though (and again, in some cases they aren't stories but vids), are Marvel Cinematic Universe/Captain America movies at 76/75, Buffy the Vampire Slayer at 18, The X-Files at 13, and The Professionals at 10. (Uhh...how many works before you're officially embarrassing in your monomania? Asking for a friend.)

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos? I don't want to list the count because it always depresses the hell out of me, but it's Your 21st-Century Boy on top, then I can't remember how this started (but I can tell you exactly how it ends), Dream of Caramel: or, A Recipe for Disaster, Man with a Plan, and Color Theory. (Wow, Ciudad de Estrellas, my big Fast and the Furious fic, has finally been knocked out of the top five.

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not. Of course! I feel like it's the least I can do to say thanks in return for people taking the time to let me know they read or watched and enjoyed something. It's not like it's a hardship--I don't get many, so responding isn't like some big thing I have to steel myself to do.

I also come from the Before Times, when your comments were literally written letters called (duh) Letters of Comment. Fandom was very much started as a gift economy, and one of the forms of currency was some type of feedback—it served to encourage, to communicate among separated communities before the Internet, to guarantee you alerts to future projects, and to make friends. I can't count the number of people I've met through either LOCs or emails and we've become long-term friends. I love meeting people through our shared interests and one of the best ways to do that is by responding to comments (or Asks here on tumblr).

6. what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? I used to like lots of Sturm und Drang and angst in my fic, plus I wrote a couple death stories before I decided I was over that after so many significant losses in my life. But weirdly, I don't even think the endings of those were all that angsty; I might pick a Buffy/Spike fic for this one called The Living.

7. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve ever written? I used to think I hated crossovers! But I swear Captain America fandom has changed so many of my perceptions about things, and now I've written a handful and found that I adore the Into a Bar challenge, which is all about having characters from one fandom meet a character from a second one. I don't know what the craziest one is; the first one I did, a Captain America/The Middleman crossover called There Must Be a Joke in Here Somewhere, is one of my faves, though. I like that many of the people who've read this haven't seen The Middleman and seem to get it despite that.

8. have you ever received hate on a fic? Yeah. Fortunately, not a lot; most of the hate has been here or in communities where I was reading along and got an eyeful about what apparent abject shit I am. Fun times.

9. do you write smut? With 35 fics listed as Explicit, I'd say that's a yes.

10. have you ever had a fic stolen? Large sections, yes. I was more irritated by the effects edits theft from some of my vids, oddly.

11. have you ever co-written a fic before? No, and I would honestly love to try. ::holds out begging hands to see if anyone wants to write with me::

12. what’s your all time favorite ship? That's a toughie, because The Professionals is kind of my Once and Future Fandom and I will always love them so, so much, but there was something about Steve and Bucky that pressed every. single. one. of my buttons. Every one!

13. what was the first fandom you wrote for? Ha, well, the first piece of fan fiction I wrote was when I was five, loong before the term fanfiction was coined. When my mom died, we were going through her things and found a story I wrote about Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Pluto based on the Hound of the Baskervilles cartoon they did. And I used to write silly things as a kid. But the first real honest-to-god, legit thing was in The Professionals.

14. what’s your favorite fic you’ve written? I could not possibly pick one. There are so many I love or am proud of and I wouldn't know what criteria to use to choose just a single one from so many fandoms. I will say that I think (and some people I know agree) that my fic for the movie Sunshine two years ago, The Sun Was the First Star We Knew, is possibly the best thing I've ever written, with my Steve/Bucky war story lucida, obscura bringing up a close second.

I would tag people as requested except I know I've seen a bunch of people on my dash do this earlier, and since I can't recall who it was, I don't want to keep bugging them with tags. So please consider this your open invitation because I am always interested in seeing people's answers to these things!!

[seekandsekkle]

Blessed New Moon Family. Happy Gemini Season Whoo Hoo!!!! We've got a Sun, Moon and Eclipse in Gemini. What a Birthday Gift (6-14, 51 Summers Baby) I'm grateful to be here. Excited for what life is bringing me these days and excited for all of you who took a chance on ya girl and let me fill your inboxes up with Pots, Cups and Sips of Tea. The energy of this moon is bringing the new as all new moons do but its coming in slow due to the retrograde of Mercury and Neptune. Technology has not been allowing us to shine with glitches and freezes, shut downs, zap outs and malfunctions of every kind. The universe really wants us all to have several seats and read a damn book or take a long walk or something. She really aint feeling us having all this screen time and is asking us to reflect, plot and plan our next moves so we're ready when the Summer Equinox comes sauntering in. (June 21st) This Moon/Eclipse energy will have you having epiphanies and revelations and such. You will be communicating with the seen and unseen forces. Dreams will be prophetic and deep af. Pay close attention to what they are showing you, get a dream interpreter if you need one ( I'll do it for you) so you are clean and clear with what Muvah Moon is trying to tell you. This Eclipse of the sun will cast a fire ring around the moon asking you to do a once over on your shadow side. This ain't a time to be marinating where the low vibrations reside. Check your privilege, check your attitude and get back in alignment with your higher self. This double double energy is a set up for some fuck shit, resist at all cost. You will be so sorry you fell for it when it's all over. Take the high road in all things, stay low, pray high is what I always say. Some of us will feel like lead is in our shoes. You really don't wanna do nothing and I'd listen to that somewhat. Take care of the major things in your life as much as you can but don't be surprised when you do try shit aint working right. I'm learning to just wait it out cause it beats trying to break through a brick wall with my tender head meat. The blessing of this moon cycle is that we get to call things into existence. Be clear about what you are asking for, make sure secure housing, coins and good health are on your list. Due to things opening up people are everywhere doing everything, acting as if the pandemic is over. Tread lightly in these streets and keep that hand washing and face covering going on around people. Spirit has spoken and we need to keep our protection game strong especially for those of us who are anti-vaxin and relaxin. 

Ritual: Sit in your sacred space with the scented candle or incense, vase of fresh flowers, and a list of your intentions. Use the power of the word and speak your peace out loud. Not in a shout but with conviction. We want it known that what we want, we deserve. Muvah is listening with a keen ear. She will flush out the superficial and give you exactly what you need, not always what we want. Be grateful because we don't always know what we need until it lands in our laps. That don't mean you can't ask...ijs I'd burn that lil' piece of paper and let the ashes blow in the wind. This double double air energy is sure to send your message right up to Muvah herself and that's a blessing.

Big O'pot of Tea (read your sun, moon and rising for a full cup of tea)

Aries - Getcha coins right. Investments, budgets, piggy bank, rainy day fund. Do any or all of this and thank me later. All the cards talk about the bag, getting it and keeping it. Think long term money, retirement money and generational wealth. The universe is on your side while taking these steps so get into it. Call in the Money Gawds and ask them for help with your stock portfolio...invest in something good...think of what we always need and putcha money on that. Your song for this moon cycle is "Money don't matter 2 nite" - Prince. It matters for you right now fa sho

Taurus - This new moon is giving you all the goodies baby. Things are stacking up on the luxe level, the coins and the bae. Enjoy all this goodness and be grateful for it. Call in support to stay in a good mood and trust the process. You don't want to spoil your pot of gold before you even have a chance to spend some of it. Stay tuned into the light and spread that love on the people who support you since they may not be as abundant as you are these days. Your song for this moon cycle is "D.M.S.R."  - Prince. Because you want it and need it .

Gemini - It's your time baby!!! Your sun, your moon, your eclipse. One would think its a good time to throw a big ass party and invite all 10,000 of your fans but no. You get to have a seat...a Royal seat, a luxurious birthday seat but a seat nonetheless. This is a quiet time, a relaxing time an alone time. Yeah I know this don't sound like a fun birthday but your body and soul is begging and pleading for it. Listen for once cause the fuck shit is lueming in the background waiting for you to step out. We want you safe, hydrated and refreshed this trip around the sun. Call in peace this moon cycle and allow it to be just that. Your song this moon cycle is "Shhhhhh" - Prince. For encouragement to lay around in luxury and quiet.

Cancer - You've been on the receiving end for the last few moon cycles in some way now it's time to give back. Make sure the people who show up and show out for you know that you love them. Do something special to brighten their day. They will be shocked that you even care and that makes this even more special. You are very good at receiving now lets see you give where it counts. Call in abundance in all its forms so you never feel like you are lacking in anything. This will keep your spirits up when this moon fuck your emotions up. Your song this moon cycle is "I Wish You Heaven" - Prince.  So you feel prayed on when you get sad

Leo - The sun might be setting on your old job/career and the Black moon might be rising on a new opportunity. If you like what you're doing great but if you don't this is a good time to start looking. Call in work that is in alignment with your heart. You should be working smarter, not harder. Make sure your intentions reflect something better than what you currently got going on. Your moon song this cycle is "Let's Work" - Prince

Virgo - Be excited about life dear one. Life is worth living. You can tend to stay on the brooding side of things and aint no fun over there. I dare you to take a walk on the wildside...just pack up and go. I feel the grin on your face now. There is a whole world out there waiting on you, go see it while you can still fully enjoy it. Call in Adventure Time, alone, with bae or with some friends. Your song this moon cycle is " Party Up" - Prince

Libra - You deserve to have your needs met. This comes up in a real way this cycle. Make sure your boundaries are known with the people close to you so they can avoid your explosive outburst when you reach your limit. Call in the support you need to make your dreams come true, ask for the help to stop procrastinating and actually get some shit done. Your song this moon cycle is " Good Love" - Prince. It's clear you need some.

Scorpio - Have a clear-the-air day with bae, or housemates or the kids. This ain't a time to bite your tongue. Ion mean pop off, just don't let small irritants pile up. Speak to your beloveds and get back to having fun cause that what hot human summer is all about.  Call in cooperation with the fam so all this talking you gotta do is worth it. Your song this moon cycle is "Gett Off" cause why not since you're so good at it *wink*

Sagittarius - You're coming in Hot to new and old flames and that's dope. You workin workin working day and night and that's securing the bag. But where is selfcare on the list? You can't forget you in all this. Call in a break and body work so you don't blow a flat tire on the side of the road within ya self. ya dig? May your care be just as important and the people you take care of. If you are ok they will be ok...okay. Your song for this moon cycle is "Forever In My Life"- Prince. So you make sure you are forever on the got damn schedule umkay!

Capricorn - Love is calling your name Capricorn. Stay open to the possibilities of love or at the very least tenderness and sweetness. You act like a hard ass but your creamy center is showing. This will let the ones who like but are a lil scared of you come out of the closet and make a move. Try not to be too awkward and allow some goodness to pour over on you. Call in the courage to say what you need in these new interactions. If a muthalova baulks when you speak your truth it ain't the end of the damn world this just ain't your person. Just move on and dont make it mean nothing. Your song for this moon is "Somebody's Somebody" - Prince

Aquarius - Your emo flag is flying high. It's ok to wanna be with family, it's ok to reminisce on the good times. It's ok to wanna feel loved and appreciated, It's also ok to stop doing too much so you don't get sick or hurt. Sit down somewhere and relax. The streets will wait for you. Call in spa treatments or long dead sea salt soaks at home. Your song this moon cycle is "I Feel For You" because we love you!

Pisces - Life got you wide open. You workin, you socializing, you doing all the things. Life is lifin' and you're making the best of it. At the end of the day it feels good to be in the flow of it all. Call in the inner knowing and innerstanding so you don't get distracted and fall off. Trust the process and enjoy the journey. Your song this cycle is "Trust" - Prince. Trust you know what you're doing even if you never did it before. The creator brought you this far trust that she is taking you to the next level too.

Personal Message: Do you want this pot of tea in your inbox twice a month. If so you also get a personal reading at the end of the pot. To subscribe for the next 3 months send your $150 to either of these payment sites with "Subscription" in the notes so you never miss a pot of tea. Cashapp $bushmamaafrica of Venmo: ReshawnGoods@omimagic

Extra Sips of Tea -

Crystal

Blue Kyanite is perfect for this New Moon and Eclipse energy because it helps you make sense of the unstable transmission of communication due to the retrogrades, You can tap into hidden potential in yourself and spiritually you can use this to really connect with the positive unseen forces around you to help you manifest greatness in your life. Use this stone with your ritual to call in your needs and wants with clean clarity. 

Herb

Make a pot of fresh Mint Tea before bed to relax your muscles, to aid in your digestion and get rid of headaches. This tea will be extra soothing to your mind and body. We all need this balm soul calming tea to deal with the double air energy brewing right now. Have extra cups this week.

 

Yes Gemini Tea. PRINCE songs. I had too