#ARE FICTIONAL GAYS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU????

[allbecauseoftheboys2]

After Eric moved in, he still felt more like a roommate than a lover who shared your home. A few weeks in, he got comfortable enough to lounge shirtless, but you still weren't seeing those strong sculpted legs you always saw when he lived in his apartment. It wasn't until you said, "you know, you don't have to wear any clothes in the house if you don't want to," did everything change. It was only then did he really begin to feel comfortable and relax. You began to see the real personality come out that you fell in love with in the first place. A few months later, you realized this magic phrase was not only getting you laid more, but was also saving you money - why would you stop at Starbucks on the way home when there was a naked man at the house to make coffee for you?

What you did not expect was that the elderly lady who lived next door wanted to start paying your husband to do yard work for her, sans apparel. Sure did feel nice that the neighbors were so accepting of you two as a gay couple. ___________________ Captions are fictional. Archive at www.allbecauseoftheboys.com.

Josh Duckworth | Onlyfans, 2024

[teambyler]

How the Duffers likely will make the general audience AWARE of Byler and CHEER for Byler

First the TL;DR. They'll probably do it with:

The Painting Lie

Will comes out to Mike

Will gets bullied for being gay, and Mike must make a choice

Mike and Will face danger together, alone, for the 1st time

And I'll spell out exactly how and why!

We in the Byler fandom have our theories: Flickergate, Lettergate, Churchgate, etc. While totally fun and while it would be amazing if they became reality, they don't answer the question of how the Duffers would manage audience expectations to make them accept and cheer for Byler.

Because we all know the reality: on a surface level, season 4 ended with a grand "love confession" from Mike to El. It appeared to have culminated a four-year arc that started from show's beginning. For the vast majority of viewers, a Byler relationship will be a HUGE SURPRISE.

This isn't just heteronormativity; it's also the fact that in every slow-burn romantic relationship in fiction, you need to make the show to openly present the question "Will they or won't they?" for a while first. The audience needs to start thinking that these 2 characters (1) MIGHT be together, and (2) eventually that they SHOULD be together and cheer for them!

For Jonathan and Nancy, there were a lot of moments suggesting they MIGHT be together in Season 1. Then in Season 2, we had THIS episode that made the audience think Nancy absolutely SHOULD be with Jonathan instead of Steve:

The show then dragged things out MORE before their first kiss.

Anti-Bylers raise a fair point that there "isn't enough time" to replace a relationship that seemed to have been "fulfilled" at the end of s4, with an entirely different one. Of course, the ground has been laid for four seasons, but HOW EXACTLY can the Duffers make the audience accept and cheer for Byler, after seeming to have "built up Mike and El for 4 seasons"?

Showing Byler is POSSIBLE:

First, the most obvious (and elegant) way for the Duffers to accomplish this is the Painting Lie.

The main things that make the General Audience/GA dismiss the idea that Mike likes Will back are that he (1) confessed "I love you" to El and (2) said "it's not my fault you don't like girls" and so can't be gay or bi.

The show has to address these two things, and there are ways that are pretty obvious.

The fact that El had no role in the painting COMPLETELY undercuts the "I love you" confession in the GA's mind. Anti-Milevens completely underestimate how this will affect Mike and El's relationship, and how the audience will view it. In the van, Will was not describing El, but himself. Many things Mike said didn't apply to El, but applied to Will.

When El finds out, she'll realize that Mike only said he loved her based on a LIE. She'll realize that she accurately clocked Mike for not loving her when they argued in s4. Mike might desperately try to repair things. Even if he does, this will show the GA that Mike and El WILL PROBABLY NOT end up together.

And Mike will be confronted with the fact that he felt romantic love because Will described HIMSELF. The GA will then know that Mike and Will MIGHT be together. (IF he is gay or bi, which they probably won't know quite yet!)

Then there's the OTHER Chekhov's gun that needs to fire: Will comes out to Mike. Will is still in the closet at the end of s4, and his right to be himself and find happiness is clearly central to his future arc. This HAS to be resolved. And he HAS to come out to his mom and to his BEST FRIEND.

When he comes out to Mike, he of course won't spurn Will. Will probably explains he didn't come out earlier because he was afraid Mike would be homophobic because of what he'd said that summer, "It's not my fault you don't like girls":

Mike will need to explain why he said that. Whether he's honest or nervously comes up with an excuse, it's a golden opportunity to get the GA to revisit that scene and see before their very eyes that Mike might be dealing with internalized homophobia.

This is one way to signal to the GA that Mike might be gay or bi. And there is one other!

We've been told that Season 5 returns to Season 1 themes. The Core Four are probably bullied for the Hellfire Club, and Will might be bullied for being gay. The Duffers have said that s5 will center on his "emotional arc" and his "coming into his own as a young man," and so his confronting homophobia in an 80s small town is quite likely. Since Mike and Will are joined at the hip in s5, the same accusation might extend to Mike. This would mean that Mike will be confronted with the CHOICE of whether he'll stand up to the bullying. (Perhaps this is why there's a BTS pic of Mike with a bruise on his face?) The show could strongly imply to the GA that Mike is standing up not only for Will, but for himself. (Defending Will would also clearly parallel Jonathan fighting Steve in s1, which showed Nancy that "only love makes you that crazy sweetheart, and that damn stupid.")

How Season 5 can make the GA CHEER for Byler:

First, the show has put Will through so much trauma and made clear how selfless he is, that the audience already wants him to have a happy ending. He almost certainly will suffer again in s5. Meanwhile, the show has made clear that his love for Mike is PAINFULLY deep and won't simply go away.

Once the GA sees the POSSIBILITY of a Mike/Will romance as per above, their mental floodgates will open. As Jancy shows, It doesn't take much to get the audience to cheer for a relationship, after the seeds are planted. And Byler has FOUR SEASONS of seeds for the GA to look back on with fresh eyes!

How to recall those 4 seasons of material? We already know that Will is in danger and Mike is again rallying the party in s5. This likely will echo Mike and Will's relationship in s1 and s2 (probably with flashbacks, including the newly-filmed flashback from when they were young kids, bringing their long-time closeness to the fore in viewers' minds).

Plus, we likely will have Will and Mike facing danger together, alone, for the first time:

It was Jonathan and Nancy facing danger together in s1 that made the vast majority of viewers ship Jancy. Mike and Will facing danger will put their love and willingness to risk their lives for each other to the fore. The GA will be made to remember all their sacrifices for each other: Mike putting Will before everything in s1 and s2, and Will sacrificing his feelings to help Mike be with El. They might hug each other after a near-death experience and have a mutual Gay Panic, which will be a callback (and contrast) to their non-hug at the airport. Millions will say "They should just kiss already."

There are SO MANY WAYS to get the audience cheering for Byler.

Will probably lives in Mike's house because the Byers don't have their own house in Hawkins anymore. Mike will KNOW the painting came from Will and wonder if it was romantic. The tension between them in s5 will make s4 look like nothing in comparison.

When Will comes out to him, Mike might ask, "Is... there anyone you like?"

He'll ask NERVOUSLY, like he once did before:

Will probably won't answer honestly; he might make up another boy! Mike says, "Cool." Which leads to a new cycle of these two boys thinking their love is unrequited LOL.

But this time the General Audience will be fully aware of it. The miscommunication trope widely used in fictional TV romances will not only tell the GA that Byler should happen, but that it WILL happen. Will and Mike become THE "Will they or won't they?" couple that everyone is talking about. Mike's sexuality will not be officially revealed until mid or late season in order to let the excitement build. If Season 5 is released in more than one volume, there will be a flurry of videos and articles revisiting past seasons, finding evidence of Mike's feelings for Will that we Bylers have analyzed and curated for years. Except for a few vocal homophobes, the show will have made the GA (even people who don't watch analysis videos online) fully onboard with a Byler conclusion before it happens.

Season 5 will be messy. And glorious. It will be the most Byler season of all.

-teambyler

[johannestevans]

Every day I see discourse about how it’s problematic to make a character a trans man and an omega in omegaverse or problematic to “treat a twink character like ‘the girl one’” or some nonsense and then I come on your blog and it’s a breath of fresh air every time. LOVED that post about the rapid werewolf pregnancy, so glad the world will never lack for fetish stuff that I actually like just because people incorrectly think gay people are reinventing gender roles in writing about fictional smut scenarios.

Honestly, sometimes I see people get a bit grumpy and upset with recs of my work because there aren't enough trans men topping or what have you and they're just not interested in trans men bottoming or subbing and that's completely fine!

But it doesn't mean that I'm some sort of evil fetishisiser force-feminising every trans or effete man and single-handedly holding up the side of global transphobia, lmao.

Some people are unfortunately just very sensitive about their own dysphoria and project it onto other people's fetish and kink work, and not everyone has the ability to separate their own dysphoria or discomfort, or just having the ick, from their perceived ethics or morality of that work existing.

It's difficult for many people to unlearn those reactionary tendencies, especially without exposure to healthy and unemotional talk about sex and sexuality, including kink and fetish, and so faced with all that tangled emotion and nowhere to put it, you end up with angry essays and paragraph on paragraph about how this is upholding various bigotries or is responsible for actual hate crimes and such.

Rest assured I will be posting away with my usual revolting erotic horror and terrible hentai scenarios because I just think they're such fun. And in the meantime, all the best to those poor lads tangling themselves in knots about it - we can only hope they're able to find comfort where they can and chill the fuck out at some point.

[demadogs]

as a gay swiftie i need to say it i fucking hate gaylors so much. the news of the split of her 7 year relationship came out yesterday and gaylor is already trending on twitter. it doesnt matter how huge of a status a person has STOP READING INTO THE SEXUALITY OF REAL HUMAN BEINGS!!!!!!

[thousandyearphantombunker]

If you want to fight for representation maybe don't fucking antagonize artists/writers who fight for it because "it's not good enough!"

Entitled people with ridiculous bullshit expectations like this hold back representation so much

Like I could throw all that criticism toward Legend Of Korra and Steven Universe back at TOH and other shows like it when it comes to disabled representation- "its only coding! It's not outright stated! Eda's curse turns her into a monster! Wahhh" I've stated I don't like how TOH handled disability but I'm so happy it exists because hopefully we'll open up more story telling that explores disability through the perspective of disabled characters themselves rather than a bunch of able bodied neurotypical people writing/regurgitating the same inspiration porn bullshit

I'm not saying we can't criticize these shows (SU and LoK have issues that deserve to be discussed) but creators working on them fought so hard just to get moments like Korra and Asami getting together, for the first lesbian wedding on a children's show. New shows get to flex that they have these characters because other shows like Legend of Korra punched through barriers to give them space- they didn't have space so they made some! You can criticize SU and LoK like I said- SU has serious issues with Filler and some botched ass morals and LoK could be shallow in some parts but if you try and flex on them because new shows have an easier time with gay representation your a fucking idiot- your new shows wouldn't exist without these ones

But no. It's never blunt/explicit enough, it's too problematic because xyz', it's not representing every single facet of our experiences so it must be bad.

Also the gems being nonbinary/genderless just adds another layer to LGBT representation

Are y'all gonna attack TOH because Raine is nonbinary and their relationship with Eda "doesn't count"

I'm done being polite. You can criticize rep and call out harmful things in fiction without erasing the importance of these stories

Steven Universe: Eh, I don't really feel like saying "girlfriend" or "wife". Maybe they're together. They have a special connection...

(gets violently shoved aside)

The Loud House/Craig of the Creek/The Owl House: Pfft, amateur. "My GIRLFRIEND Sam and I..." "I'm texting my GIRLFRIEND, mind your business." "Luz's new GF showed her..."

[mbat]

ah, the homoerotic relationship between a human social outcast and an abomination against nature

[alchemiclee]

i know this has been said 473773474833 times by the kavetham/haikaveh shippers and probably even nonshippers, but i'll say it again. I finally finished the genshin summer event and did the little after quest in sumeru and.....every time kaveh is sneaking around trying not to be noticed coming out of alhaithams house it's just such a gay vibe. he's basically screaming "I can't be caught being gay in a homophobic society!" even if that's not what the game writers are *actually* saying. that's just how it comes off and they can't make it come off any other way. with hoyo's gay history, it makes me wonder if it's on purpose and all a cover-up to have a technically different reason for it so they can get away with it lmao but we will never know.

[whoa-where-did-the-pancakes-go]

The thing abt me is i WILL get too invested in side characters

[achillesuwu]

It's midnight and I'm finally free (for the next 10 hours then I'm back studying 😔😔😔 why can't they let students celebrate Christmas & New Year with gay fanfic in peace😔😔😔) SO I'M GOING TO ENJOY THIS WITH MY FRIED BRAIN YEHA!!!!!!

>I always thought I was going to be wild only on Ao3 HEY if anyone here reads this NO YOU DID NOT!!!

Hehehehehehe I love how everytime you speak to me you become even wilder 😌😌 ✨

>But also *pervy voice* here it is

YEAHHHHHH *CHEERING 📣*

>["Spank me."

Well, dinner first Arthur ✋ (joke aside I was expecting this but not this fast dknsjdbsbsjbz but I'm not complaining ehehhehehehhehehehehe)

>Merlin's palms prodding at his arse cheeks, massaging him like he was kneading bread buns.

Oh, to be merlin 😔🫶 I wish I had such (fictionally) stress ball

>Arthur opened his mouth to find the air again, lost in the bliss of it all. His neck craned back, and his lips parted on a prolonged mewl, one that made Merlin grip the back of his thigh with an hiss,

He is so pretty ✨✨✨✨✨

>"Fuck, Arthur--"

Do it Merlin 🫵 (my eyes are fighting for their life to close but gay porn is stronger!!!!!!!)

>His ears buzzed, and Merlin did it again. And another time, and one more, until the sounds of the slaps became arousing, to the point Arthur started squirming on the bed.

Arthur squirming makes every fic better 😌😌😌😌😌😌

>Merlin's hands skimmed up and down Arthur's throbbing flesh, like a man worshipping his deity, up to the hollow of his knees, raising his husband's body up what was needed, only to resume what he had been doing.

Worshipping and manhandling his husband as he should 😌😌😌😌 (also Arthur is so a pillow princess here zbjdbebdbdhd)

>He tried to raise his ass to feel the hits, and he presented the image of an arch, majestic enough to make Merlin's breath hitch, Arthur's spine a curve that stretched like the string of a guitar. His belly rose and fell, and his sweat had became so much, Arthur believed his body was as damp as if he had just gotten out of a shower.

10 000/10, deserve an award, HELL YEAH & I actually died, RIP ME.

>Happy Christmas' Eve

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU TOO AND MINE STARTED WITH THIS BEAUTIFULLY✨✨✨✨OMG JZBDBZJSJSJ

> I NEED TO CALM DOWN

Don't listen to your sanity listen to me do not calm down~~~

>my first time writing something on Tumbl

What an amazing start 😌😌😌😌✨

I'm a sucker for time travelling character that think that their past self are EMBARRASSING ™ and I think that it would very much be the case for Arthur (post-return) if he meet Arthur 'MERlin us so USELESS' Pendragon

Does post-return Arthur still make joke about Merlin? Of course, but only HE can do that!!!

Does post-return Arthur want to kick younger Arthur in the ass? Yes of course (you don't understand merlin he is a BRAT Oh I think I do)

[asurrogateblog]

as a media psychology researcher 85% of my job is figuring out the most horrifically academic way to say "you idiots wouldn't last a day on tumblr"

[djungleskogs]

.

[heartsburst]

WHY MUST I ALWAYS GET INTO THE SADDEST FUCKING SHIPS WHY DO I KEEP DOING THIS TO MYSELF

[originalleftist]

A lot of people will insist that the historical Ann* and Mary were lovers. A lot of people will insist that Ann and Rackham were lovers.

To the best of my knowledge, there is basically zero evidence for either that doesn't trace back to one book: A General History of the Pyrates, which was published a few years after their brief pirating career. And A General History is just... not a reliable source. It was sensationalist popular media of its day. It's A General History that establishes Ann and Rackham as lovers. It also includes a brief allusion to an encounter in which Ann makes a romantic advance on Mary (who is disguised as a man) before learning her true identity. This was elaborated on in subsequent accounts into them being lovers as well.

In fact, solid information about their lives outside the couple months they were known to be pirating, and their subsequent imprisonment and trial, is almost non-existent. There are some maybe records of their earlier lives, but its hard to impossible to prove that they refer to the same Ann and Mary, especially as Ann is known to have gone by multiple aliases, meaning we don't even really know that Ann Bonny was her real name.

You can't determine anything about their sexuality based on the existing records. They both were reportedly pregnant (how they got out of execution), but that obviously doesn't preclude being lesbian or bisexual. They both definitely cross-dressed as well-multiple eyewitnesses in the trial record confirm that, but that obviously doesn't prove someone is gay or bi either, just that they sometimes disregarded traditional gender norms.

Some people will loudly insist that they were definitely straight and that anything to the contrary is just made up- I think that's at best reaching for conclusion, and at worst a product of reactionary queer phobia. We simply don't have enough information to say, and assuming straight until proven queer is pretty much the definition of heteronormative bias.

If you're writing history, I'd say the only honest answer is "We don't know." Will probably never know.

If you're writing historical fiction like Black Sails, then go with whatever you think makes the most compelling story, and you're as likely to be right as anyone else.

*And it is Ann with no e in most documents that reference her at the time, the e appears to have been an error in the trial record.

I saw someone say they weren't sure why they made Black Sails Anne Bonny a "lesbian" because we know she was straight in real life — and no hate to this person, it was an honest question and I can always respect a question asked in good faith, but I'm going to respectfully disagree with this person on two counts.

Firstly, I personally didn't interpret Anne Bonny as a lesbian, but rather as bisexual. Of course, I get that people will think they're straight and date men only to realize they're gay later on, but to me personally it felt like her interest in Rackham was still genuine.

Secondly, I think it's not entirely fair to say we KNOW Bonny was straight. History is complicated and Bonny is a big grey area. It's been said she and Jack were lovers, but it's also been rumored that she had something with Mary Read. So while it's probably true that she and Jack were lovers, it's not really conclusive evidence that she was straight. She could have very easily been bi and it's questions like these that allow for the sort of artistic licence taken in Black Sails.

Also, while Black Sails feels very authentic, it still is a show and I think they'd be the first to admit that liberties are taken for the sake of telling a good story.

[bisexualseraphim]

I can’t believe this needs explaining but a same-gender relationship by definition cannot be “heteronormative” lmao. The way two WOMEN date or have sex with each other or get married will never be heteronormative because they are not in a heterosexual relationship. And yes, this includes butch/femme relationships.

Like do you really think homophobes are looking at a twink and a bear holding hands and thinking “well the idea of them being inside each other turns my stomach but one is slightly more masculine than the other so I suppose it’s okay. Oh and they’re wearing T-shirts that say ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ which basically means ‘man’ and ‘woman,’ even better.” What world are you living in

[mars-ipan]

sidenote it is so funny to me that ppl are doing komaeda sexuality discourse in the year of 2024. folks…. he’s not real

[the-casbah-way]

why did my ex just like. formally ask me on a date like those men in period dramas courting the youngest daughter of the local duke