#Again!!! I'm not saying it IS about queerness!!!

[love-byers]

so as hard as it may be to believe, i was a mileven shipper right up until just before vol 2 of s4 came out. not hardcore twitter mileven, but a shipper nonetheless. i did love will and mike's relationship, maybe even more than mileven, but i never clocked it as romantic. i vividly remember thinking "aww, will and mike would be so cute together but they would never let that happen." and never thought about it again. even when i saw the rain fight and heard "it's not my fault you don't like girls" i was like "ohh wow so will is probably gay" and didn't even think he was in love with mike. i didn't believe that until the s4 trailer said "i think there is someone he likes" and of course, this was because of my own heteronormativity. i dismissed everything i saw and didn't even look for hints because the idea that the writers would allow a gay relationship between two main characters was not even a thought in my head. once i dropped that and started to trust that the writers actually cared and did want queer characters/storylines, everything made sense.

so i went into s4 thinking mileven were gonna be fine and that will was sad and hopelessly in love with mike. i mean fully believing it. so im mindlessly watching s4 e2 and thinking "aww poor will mike is so in love with el he can't pay attention to will" no questions asked.

then the fight happened. when mike blew up and said "you were! you were! you were rolling your eyes, you were moping, you were barely talking you basically sabotaged the whole day" i was like " how do you know that" but still, i dismissed it and barely thought about it.

then it happened. "we're friends! we're. friends." all the alarm bells went off. red flags flew up. my eyebrows furrowed. "ummm what mike? he didn't say you were more than friends. why is he viewing this romantically and why is he being so defensive???"

i was so deep into believing the writers would never let the gay romance happen, but that just couldn't get past me. there's no other way that line can be interpreted. that's a trope that means one thing and one thing only.

my next thought was "ok, this is gonna be like the rain fight. will is gonna be really hurt by this and go silent."

but nope, will claps back with "well we used to be best friends!" and i was stunned. utterly stunned. what is going on here? what is this dynamic? and why is mike more worried about this than finding el? why did he care enough to completely stop walking so he couple blow up at will for not talking?? but still, i was somehow able to let this go. because the writers just wouldn't do that. would they?

the mileven fight happens and i've never wanted to backhand a teenager more in my entire life. i'm reminded of stancy and their whole "i love you" thing

then THIS happened, and i was thinking more and more that mike doesn't love el romantically. look at his face when will says "whatever you didn't say you can say it to her then". will starts talking but the camera stays focused on mike and will remains blurred. we're supposed to be taking in mikes reaction. he says yes, but frowns and blinks rapidly. will was trying to reassure him, but mike has not been reassured. i don't know how to describe the emotion on his face. it's like you just had a chance to clear up your lie, but you still didn't, and now you're back to thinking about the moment your lie will blow up in your face. it's like his face is saying, "no, i can't just say it to her then because i don't want to."

the scene where they talk on top of the car is what started to make me think mike doesn't love el romantically. his reaction to will saying "it's scary, to say how you really feel. especially to people you care about the most. because..what if they don't like the truth?" he nodded. he felt seen. i remember thinking "ooooh. he doesn't love her and he knows she won't like that" everything made sense. if we apply mike's monologue logic to this, it makes no sense. whatever it is that mike is feeling, he thinks el won't like it. then he supposedly decides that the moment to tell her that is when she's dying?

mike is lying. he was holding back saying how he feels because he knows el won't like it. then when she's dying, he suddenly thinks his feelings are what she wants enough that it'll save her life? whatever he was feeling on top of the car and what he tells her in the monologue are not the same. you don't tell someone something they won't like when they're dying.

and 2 years ago i came to this conclusion without an ounce me believing byler could be canon.

[xzerosparrowx]

The Guitar

Written for the @corrodedcoffinfest

Divider by @saradika-graphics

Day #1 - Prompt: Firsts | Word Count: 861 | Rating: T | CW: Use of homophobic language/slurs | POV: Eddie | Tags: How Eddie Munson got his first guitar, Wayne Munson is Eddie's Dad, Allen Munson, First Christmas, Christmas special.

Eddie lays awake in bed, watching the weak winter morning sun cast its light across the unfamiliar room with tired eyes. He blinks back hot tears as he feels the chill around his ears, remembering the way Allen Munson pulled at his hair, the sound of the electric razor buzzing against his skin. 

Now he was here in his Uncle's trailer, a man he barely knows aside from the few times Al complained about him over the phone. 

“... Says I should stop stealing cars and get a proper job. Wayne doesn't fucking get it, man.”

“Why does he wanna look after that little queer?”

“... Just because he's got no kids, he wants to steal mine.” 

A soft little knock startles him, the shuffle of feet near his door. “Eddie, you awake?” Wayne calls out quietly, a nervous waver in his voice.

“Yea-yes, sir,” Eddie answers, sitting up but not making a move towards the door.

“I'm not- you don't have to call me that, Eddie. You can just call me Wayne,” Eddie hears him sigh, “I'm thinking of making pancakes or waffles, not sure which one you prefer. If you like something more savory for breakfast, I bought eggs and bacon as well.” Wayne rambles, and there is something sad and warm in Eddie’s chest, an old ache that he had now long been accustomed to that Wayne had stumbled upon and brought into sharp focus.

“I-I’m happy with whatever si- Uncle Wayne,” Eddie answers finally, getting up from bed and pulling on a pair of old sweats and a baby blue threadbare sweater. It’s large on his thin frame, a hand-me-down from Wayne, warm and comfortable. 

He hears his Uncle move away from the door and Eddie gathers his courage to step out of the room. A kaleidoscope of twinkling fairy lights meet him, the trailer lit in a beautiful array of colour and tinsel.

Oh yeah, it’s Christmas.

Wayne is standing in the kitchen, pouring a ladle of pancake mix on the hot griddle. Eddie rubs his eyes, forcing the tears away before standing near Wayne and watching him cook. 

“You know how to make pancakes?” his uncle asks, expertly flipping a pancake. Eddie shakes his head, the only time he ever got breakfast was if Al left him money for groceries, which was not often.   

Wayne pours another ladle in response, before handing the spatula to Eddie, “all you have to do is wait for the bubbles to show up. Once they pop, they’re ready to be flipped. See?” He says, pointing to the little bubbles in the pancake. 

Guided by Wayne, Eddie flips the pancake his uncle beaming down at him when it lands perfectly on it’s uncooked side, “I think we have Julia Childs in the trailer!” Wayne laughs and Eddie cannot help but join him, rolling his eyes good naturedly at his uncle. They continue like that, Wayne ladling the perfect amount of batter on to the griddle and Eddie flipping them with varying degrees of success. 

It’s the first time, since Eddie moved to the trailer a week ago, that living here feels normal. To realise that maybe Wayne is nothing like Al at all. They eat the pancakes in companionable silence, Eddie drowning his in maple syrup while Wayne sprinkles icing sugar and lemon.

“I have a present for you, go sit on the couch,” Wayne says, pushing his plate away and getting up before Eddie can think to protest. Eddie does as he’s told, feeling awkward and unsure again as he listens to Wayne move stuff around. 

“Alright, close your eyes!” Wayne calls and Eddie closes them, he fidgets with his hands, rubs his thumb over his fingers in a soothing back-and-forth. He hears Wayne place something on the coffee table and opens his eyes when Wayne gives him the ok. 

Oh.

Eddie stares at the old, black acoustic guitar in front of him, lovingly stored in its case. There are scratch marks here and there, the leather strap flaking in places, but it gleams under the lights as if it knows that it is a well-used and treasured thing. 

“I’m sorry it’s not a new guitar, but I don’t really use this old girl anymore, so I thought maybe I’ll hand her down to you,” Wayne offers sheepishly, wringing his hands nervously, thumb over his fingers. 

“How- How did you know I wanted one?”

“I remember hearing you ask Al for one,” Wayne says this like it’s natural that he would remember something so small about Eddie, and Eddie breathes through that sad and warm ache in his chest. 

“That was two years ago, Uncle Wayne,” he manages to choke out, he can feel his throat starting to thicken, tears beginning to well up and he watches his uncle trying to fight off his own emotions. 

“Well, you’re a good kid. You deserve something that’s just for you.”

His uncle's arms are strong and comforting when Eddie leaps towards him in a tight hug. Eddie does not remember the last time Al hugged him, but if he closes his eyes he can almost pretend that Wayne had always been his Dad. 

[bri-the-nautilus]

Come To the Dark Side, We Have Hot Guys: A Star Wars Story

Spoilers below for S1 of Ahsoka and the first six episodes of The Acolyte.

I'm writing this with The Acolyte most of the way through airing its first season, with episode 6 having released earlier today. Say what you will about the show, but it's really brought out a lot of the uglier sides of the Star Wars fandom. Everyone and their mother has seen videos or Reddit threads dunking on the Critical Drinker or SWT and their mouth-breathing misogynist audiences at this point, so I don't feel particularly compelled to retread that ground. Instead, I want to talk about the... other side of the fandom, the hypocrisy therein, and how we're all being played for absolute fools by the creative team at Disney Lucasfilm.

Yes, this post is about Qimir.

Now I want to say that I have no problem with villain simping/shipping. Far from it. Most of my posts on this account are me simping for Shin Hati (we'll talk more about her later) or various Soulsborne bosses. Hell, my mutuals and I have a running joke about me having a weakness for evil blonde women. While I personally am too gay for my own good and couldn't care less about men as a concept, I absolutely see the appeal of characters like Qimir and Kylo Ren. I absolutely get why people thirst over them and love making fandom content for them. I think Qimir/Osha has the potential to be a really fun ship, actually. The point I'm making here is not "simping for these characters is wrong and bad," and I want to make that crystal clear before we continue.

That said, let's talk about Qimir, and how the landscape of the show and its surrounding discourse has changed since his reveal. Again, I'm ignoring the chud sphere here, partly because their little corner of the Internet has remained remarkably stagnant since then. The podcast bros still think it's woke, fucking Shadiversity is still whining about fight choreography (which as someone who actually has done HEMA/stage combat, Shad annoys me to no end, but that's an entirely separate can of worms), and it all seems to be business as usual over there. No, the most marked changes have been on the Acolyte-positive end of the fandom space. Here's what the top posts in "hashtag TheAcolyte" on Twitter look like tonight:

You get the idea.

Again, no hate to any of these people. This is tumblr ffs, we've all engaged in a little simping for a morally dubious hot person. I love seeing fans having fun engaging with something, and again I kinda dig the Osha/Qimir ship.

Anyways, if you were around for the Acolyte-positive discourse before the Qimir reveal, and especially the show's marketing and the reponse to that, you'll have noticed a marked difference.

Fans quickly began to see The Acolyte as " the gayest Star Wars ever." Showrunner Leslye Headland is an out lesbian, and her wife was cast as Master Vernestra Rwoh. Archetypical girlboss Carrie-Anne Moss was cast as Master Indara, immediately drawing comparisons to her role in the Matrix movies. Leads Osha and Mae Aniseya are played by the nonbinary Amandla Stenberg. The lesbian witches of Brendok were talked about in press releases before the show aired. Dafne Keen (Jecki Lon) stated in an interview that she portrayed the short-haired, serious Theelin as having a crush on Osha, something that fans were picking up on in their first interactions in the premiere before Keen even gave that interview. While Headland said in a post-premiere interview that she didn't set out specifically to make "a capital Q Queer show," it's an objective fact that no Star Wars movie/show has had as much potential in that area, and fans (especially the queer community) took notice. (For what it's worth, in the same interview Headland commented that she was proud of creating something that so many queer fans identified with.)

The show came out, and Master Indara was killed off in the first sequence, which I'm honestly fine with. It was a good scene and works on a lot of levels. Headland's aforementioned interview came and went. Episode three aired. The lesbian witches turned out to be even gayer than was previously thought possible, and people ate that shit up while the Critical Drinker's brain suffered a major cascade failure. Jecki became a runaway favorite in the premiere and episode four, as did lovable himbo Yord Fandar and the wise, paternalistic Master Sol. In Acolyte-positive circles, this was basically how it went. People thought Brendok was cool, the Yord Horde became the show's biggest social media sensation, Jecki and Sol cultivated devoted followings alongside Osha and Mae, there were a wealth of different ships involving various combinations of Jecki, Yord, and the twins... you get the idea.

Then episode 5 happened.

The writing was really on the wall when the Brendok coven was abruptly wiped out. Introducting such an interesting (and queer) Force-wielding culture only to exterminate them in the same episode was certainly a choice that somebody made. But episode 5 was a shock to the system for many fans, as the show's resident Sith revealed himself and killed Jecki and Yord in some of the most brutal recent onscreen deaths in Star Wars. To be clear, I think this was a great sequence. Two beloved main characters being suddenly and gruesomely killed off was a masterfully executed shock to the system, especially after viewers were lulled into a false sense of security by all the redshirt deaths in the previous scene.

This, understandably, completely changed the landscape of the Acolyte fandom. Virtually overnight, much of the simping and shipping involving Jecki and Yord dried up, and once the dust had settled as far as the "rip blorbo, gone too soon" posts went, what remained were the usual Sol/twins offerings and a wave of Qimir hype. Which is understandable. He's a badass emo Sith boy with a cool helmet who brutally murdered fan favorite characters in front of us and has palpable tension with the female lead. Who wouldn't love... wait a minute.

This feels familiar somehow.

But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all?

And just like that, "the gayest Star Wars" is all about the (straight) sexual tension between an edgy, murderous Sith boy and a light-side girl plagued by dark thoughts whose friends said boy just killed. This is all eerily similar to how the Sequel Trilogy focused on Rey and Kylo while abruptly dropping Finn and Poe's character arcs. Even the fandom discourse is the same. I mean Reylo was so ubiquitous back in the day that it became a derogatory catch-all for good girl/evil boy shipping. Multiple authors now have either gotten their initial start/fame writing Reylo fics, or straight up published legally distinct Reylo fiction after the fashion of Netflix's After. You had the occasional person piping up to say "hey they kind of just left Finn and Poe hanging after TFA, it would've been cool if they got together but at the very least don't relegate them to being side characters/comic relief in separate story threads," and that was it. The same thing is going on with The Acolyte now, only the sequel trilogy wasn't marketed on the strength of being a queer story by a queer creative team. The Acolyte is, which makes it all the more baffling that by the midway point of the first season, all the gays have been buried and the show seems to be heading straight for Reylo 2: High Republic Boogaloo. And the fans are eating it up.

As an interesting aside, I think it's an interesting exercise to contrast the Kylo/Qimir pattern with the broader fandom's treatment of Shin Hati (told you we'd circle back to that), and the ship between her and Sabine Wren. On paper, Shin is very similar to Kylo and Qimir. Villain? Check. Edgy-looking armor? Totes. Emotionally damaged/stunted in some way? Sure looks like it. Tension with the heroine? You betcha. If anything, the only major difference is that Shin isn't as evil as the others. Compare her actions in Ahsoka (clearing out part of a light cruiser with Baylan and making repeated attempts on Sabine's life) to Kylo (oversees multiple war crimes, kills his fan-favorite dad) or Qimir (orchestrates the murders of several Jedi before brutally executing two fan-favorite characters). She's definitely bad, but I struggle to see her as on par with Qimir, let alone fucking Kylo, in terms of evilness.

Which makes it all the more interesting to me that the Shin/Sabine ship has received so much more mainstream skepticism/criticism than the Osha/Qimir or Rey/Kylo ships. "They have no chemistry!" "She's an evil murderer!" "She's a blank slate!" "Sabine is taken!" I may be a touch biased, but from where I sit a large part of the fandom, even the ostensibly progressive side, seems to look down upon Shin/Sabine shippers while swooning for heterosexual variants with far more evil villains.

This isn't a monolith, and I can't stress that enough. I'm not trying to start shit here. Villain shipping is awesome. We support women's wrongs in this house. You do see the occasional person decrying Reylo or Osha/Qimir as toxic, which I think is fairly unnecessary. Like yeah, maybe it's a toxic dynamic, but these are fictional characters. For these specific characters, part of the crowd appeal is the toxic badboy side of things. I don't think we should really spend much energy attacking any fictional ship (between adults, mind you) as toxic, which is why it puzzles me that an as-yet-unconfirmed lesbian ship in a niche show receives such a large proportion of this sort of criticism compared to the canon relationship between two main characters of a blockbuster trilogy.

At the end of the day, this whole affair has been rather sobering for me on both Disney Lucasfilm and the Star Wars fandom. For all the support the Shin/Sabine ship has received from Ahsoka cast members Ivanna Sakhno (Shin), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine), Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger, the other character people like to ship with Sabine), and Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka), I'm rather sour on the prospects of it becoming canon. The sequel trilogy dropped the ball on what many saw as a promising chance for an MLM romance between Finn and Poe in favor of trotting out the "why do good girls like bad boys" dynamic, and The Acolyte, "the gay show" overseen by a lesbian, has seemingly shifted to center a similar dynamic after killing off most of its prospects for a queer relationship among the main cast. Simply put, I think that Disney as an international company based in the frighteningly divided United States is reluctant to commit to anything beyond lipservice in terms of LGBT representation in their movies/shows, which again doesn't leave me feeling optimistic about WolfWren's canon potential. And the fandom takes the bait. People love the damaged evil badboy/good girl dynamic, and when the queer fandom suggests the possibility of a queer ship taking center stage in a show with no other extant relationships, even the more progressive side of the fandom tends to either ignore it or actively push back on its basis in reality until Disney Lucasfilm inevitably puts the kibosh on it. The amount of times I've heard people dismiss WolfWren for the same reasons they now like Osha/Qimir and liked Reylo (before that ship was fleshed out/canonicalized, anyway) is ridiculous, but at the end of the day you kinda feel stupid for expecting anything else. Again, I think Qimir is a cool character and I'm as much of a sucker for villain romances as the next girlie, but seeing how easily the fandom lets dangling heterosexual carrots lead it away from Disney Lucasfilm's broken promises of queer rep is a sobering ordeal.

[three--rings]

So for obvious reasons I have been thinking about IWTV a lot recently, and thinking about the books a lot. I was OBSESSED with The Vampire Chronicles when I was in middle school, into early high school.

But something that I think may not really be clear to people reading them now, or to people who only know the show, is that there's a reason the books got away with being so incredibly queer and being Bestsellers in the 70s, 80s and 90s: there was no sex.

If you're unaware, in the books, Anne Rice's vampires cannot have sex. They are impotent, sex in the human way is just not a drive they have anymore. Instead physical connection is all about sharing blood. (For the record I think the show is right to have changed this. It's not worried about censorship on that front and having sex as part of the relationships makes them way easier to communicate to the audience.)

So while the books are very homoerotic, homoromantic, and at times quite suggestive, they never have on page sexual activity, they never label relationships with explicit romantic terms like lover or husband, characters never declare their sexuality. (In early books at least.)

What this meant is that The Vampire Chronicles existed in this Plausible Deniability space where anyone who had read them realized they were gay, but they weren't LABELED AS SUCH and therefore mainstream audiences didn't know that was part of it.

So me and my friends could be 11 or 12 carrying these books around our Catholic school and didn't get anything said about it. One of my English teachers had read the first one, and we talked about it, and her only complaint was that it wasn't philosophical enough for her. But she was cool.

So, I KNEW Louis and Lestat were in love. I knew Lestat had male and female lovers. And it affected me PROFOUNDLY because it was the first depiction of queerness as anything but a joke I ever encountered.

But it wasn't "gay fiction." If it was the target of right wing criticism it was about being satanic, not queer.

I was thinking of the 4th book in the series, which I read when it was first released, in 1992. In it, (spoilers) Lestat becomes human again. And he turns to his human openly gay friend David and says "omg I'm human. Let's HAVE SEX!"

Reading that and the fucking THIRD EYE that opened for me is BURNED into my memory. I remember how scandalous that was, because it was ON THE PAGE. Here was a book with men talking about having sex with each other. And I was reading it! And it was just casual and nonchalant. (Unfortunately they don't actually do it, to my young disappointment.) Despite all the queerness that i'd experienced (and recognized) already in the series, THAT was shocking.

You can't know what that was LIKE to a kid in 1992, before the internet was anything more than bulletin boards, before fanfiction online was really a thing. And these weren't niche novels, things only people in liberal literary circles read. They were massive, massive bestsellers.

IDK, you know. I have given Anne Rice a LOT of shit in my time, and she's deserved a lot of it. But she also performed some miracles of representation that affected a lot of people. IDK if I even have a point. Just. I was remembering what it felt like. To encounter a gay character in fiction for the first time, talk about gay sex for the first time.

I don't think it's an accident that me and my friend who shared this obsession both ended up being bi. We passed the books back and forth and pointed out the really juicy sections and other people were never quite as into these books as we were even when we made them read them.

[chaifootsteps]

I still don't understand why Millie has to be straight. Everyone keeps saying "oh we gotta show our cishet allies! She's a fierce ally!" But it's like, why does it have to be Millie? I argue having a full on bi4bi canon couple would feel more representative and ring stronger than making her the token straight of the cast. It just feels like Viv once again showing how she doesn't give a shit about Millie beyond her being Moxie's wife doll who revolves only around him. Also I'm calling full on bullshit Striker is straight. That is a gay Cowboy goddamnit, he was ready to French kiss Blitz with tongue after committing regicide

Agreed. Go big and fill it end to end with queer characters or go home.

Failing that, make the token straight character Vortex or something.

[lemotmo]

I stan so HARD. I cried reading this.

A. Hello again, anon. Lol, I'm going to let you have this one. If you are correct and myself, along with countless others, are wrong, you can make your 'I told you so rounds'. Just remember though that if this goes where it looks like it's going you have to be willing to accept the 'I told you so' in return. If we are proven wrong, and I think that's a pretty big if, it will not be because we simply didn't get it, as you say. It will be because the creators and writers failed spectacularly at their job. We did not arrive at this conclusion by accident. We didn't force the narrative to this point. We just followed the shows lead.

I'm going to focus on the Eddie part for now. There is simply no other satisfactory story conclusion other than confirming he's queer. Their window for brushing off his issues over the past 3 plus seasons as simply being commitment phobe, something Bobby has already canonically debunked anyway, has closed. That storyline doesn't take nearly 4 years to tell. I have no idea why they keep going back to the Shannon well, other than Tim's admitted obsession with Devin. You can't take his entire arc and whittle it down to him simply being unable to move on from Shannon. Unless they retcon their entire history. They were never written as this happily married couple. She got pregnant. They got married, because his father told him that's what a man does. Eddie deployed. Christopher was born with CP. Eddie got scared and retreated back to the military. He came home. He couldn't handle things. They fought all the time. Eddie sucks at communicating. She left. They would have to retcon everything to make all these years be about his undying love for her. And that would be shit television. He absolutely loved her, I don't know anyone who would argue that. But this show has not been telling the tragic love story of Eddie and Shannon Diaz all these years. They were never telling that story. Now, the Shannon story they can tell though is the guilt Eddie has carried all these years. The guilt for not being the partner she deserved. The guilt for not being the father Christopher deserved when he was a baby/toddler. The guilt for running away and hiding in the excuse of deployment, something the show has already had him admit he did. The guilt he carries at being too afraid to figure out why he's always felt broken, a continuous Eddie theme. It's all right there. It's all canon. And it one hundred percent feels like the story they're going with. He dates because he feels like he owes Christopher a mother. He doesn't feel like he is enough for anyone. He lets no one in. No one gets to see all the broken pieces. He wears a constant mask of 'fine'. He does it with everyone in his life except Evan Buckley. Buck is and always has been the effortless exception to that facade. And it is without question canon fact. We've seen it. We watched Buck become that person for Eddie and Christopher.

You admitted in your ask that you have not seen and have no interest in watching the previous seasons of the show. That is your right, but that absolutely disqualifies you from pontificating on how we're all ignoring what the show is trying to tell us regarding Buck and his feelings. You don't know anything about Buck. I will never understand how anyone could not want to know the history of one half of their ship. Buck is a complicated messy ball of puppy heaven. He sees himself as defective parts, again something the show had him say out loud. It's canon. He believes he's too much and he's exhausting. He believes loving him requires effort that he's not worth. But Eddie walked right in, and invited him into his equally messy world, and Buck just effortlessly fit. The show made a point, season after season to highlight their connection. Two broken men full of deep self loathing and doubt who have no idea how to love themselves, but see each other for who they absolutely truly are, and without effort love every broken and messy piece of each other. I don't have to headcanon those things. The show wrote them. They are canon fact. And they are undeniable. Pretending they don't exist because it messes up your headcanons about Tommy doesn't make them disappear. I understand what the show is trying to do with the character of Tommy. I get his story purpose. But you don't get to take Buck and Eddie's history and erase it or rearrange it to make it Buck and Tommy's or to fit some Tommy headcanon. You don't get to do that. You can't even be bothered to watch the history you're trying to steal. You have no idea what you've missed.

How do I give this awards?!?

Thank you Nonny for sending this to me.

Once again, the anonymous OP hits the nail right on the head with this answer.

I love their insight into Eddie's character and story so far. But what stuck out the most to me, and this is something that I have seen time and time again in the BT fandom, is that a lot of the BT fans haven't watched season 1 to 6. They live in the now of their BT canon.

If they would take the time to actually watch the previous seasons, they would see how Buck and Eddie have slowly developed as characters, apart and together. They might realise that Buddie didn't just come out of nowhere. There is a long and complicated history there. These men's lives are intertwined up to the point where calling their connection only a 'friendship' would be untruthful.

Mind you, I have nothing against friendship. I believe friendships are just as important and valuable as romantic relationships. And yes, Buck and Eddie are the best of friends, but that is only half the story we have seen unfold on 911. The choices that were made for Buck and Eddie went beyond friendship and waded into the murky waters of: 'Will they, won't they?'

The promo they made around Buddie has also distinctly been about their possible romantic connection, not just their strong friendship bond. It would only be logical and natural to keep on following the story they have been telling for 6 years now.

But I don't know why I'm typing all this down when the OP said it so much better and more eloquently in the post above. :D

Enjoy the read everyone!

Remember, no hate in comments or reblogs. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of the anonymous OP’s posts, you can find all of their posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[will80sbyers]

how are u so calm abt this 😭 teach me ur ways bc im consumed by byler doubt like i verbally said “we lost” when i read that leak 😭😭

For now I trust my eyes more than leaks without context! There's really too much stuff inside the show for me to believe it's not intentionally constructing Byler endgame, every single thing I know about television is pointing to that, the parallels don't make any sense if Mike is not queer, the one with Vickie is the most incriminating one because there's no reason for them to parallel Mike specifically to her if not because of byler... If they had only made the parallel between Robin and Will I could have accepted the idea that it was only because of Will having his crush but no they took Mike's dialogue and Vickie's dialogue and paralleled that too

They made countless romantic parallels between Byler and other romantic couples Mlven included in these parallels, why if it's only Will having a crush he's gonna get over with at the end to then date a NPC character??? Makes zero sense.

Plus all the things we found in the background, the queercoding around both Mike and Will, the closets open in the background, the interruption trope used for them, Mike looking at Will with the same exact expression he has when he looks at Eleven in season 1 right before he gets a crush on her...

There's just too much stuff for me to accept that it doesn't mean anything, and then remember when people for years said Will was gay because of the background stuff and the little moments and then it happened!? We are not crazy. They have put all of these things intentionally inside the show, they have written the story in a way that makes sense only if Mike and Will end up together at the end, they have done countless parallels with byler and other couples even outside the show like Byler and Benverly (I made a whole gifset about this, click on the GIFs!) or Laurie X Amy, etc etc

Even just the painting alone.

Multiple movies of the ones in the list of S4 had love triangles that were like the willelmike situation...

It would simply go against all logic and whatever happens I need to see it with my eyes, I can't rely on words on the streets, I said it once and I'll say it again the only way I'm giving up on Byler is if the Duffers themselves say it's not happening - no one else! And even if they say it I'll be probably watching the new season low-key hoping they were lying because it just doesn't make sense for byler to not happen in my brain at this point 🌈

[larkral]

Happy Wednesday! It's the first time in ... a long time ... that I've written something that's not so UTTERLY spoilery that I definitely couldn't include it in a WIPsday. But today! Today you're going to get some stuff from Simon's two moms AKA Finally (Already, Always), because it remains the thing I'm writing when I'm actually writing and not just thinking about writing. When I'm thinking about writing it's usually FirstPrince Soulmate BS or my Original Work. Both of which have sub-10-sentences to their pages, but have logged dozens of hours of contemplation.

Thanks to @forabeatofadrum @roomwithanopenfire @monbons and @rimeswithpurple for the tags. Everyone's writing is so interesting this week, and I'm delighted with the crafty WIPsday updates. Crafty updates are such a delight to me. Unfortunately my hands hate me meaningfully more than normal right now, but SOON, soon I shall craft again (I hope).

The headmaster says my mums can stay overnight in empty professor's quarters, and Penny's mum comes and does a clean as a whistle and a sleep tight don't let the bedbugs bite, and the room is clean and the bed has sheets and Penny's mum says "Martin will bring your car by in the morning," as she says goodbye.  I'm ready to go back to my dorm when I see mummy's face. She needs me to stay, I think.  "Can I stay with you?" Mummy folds herself around me and Mum takes off her suit jacket and dress shirt, and they bracket me in bed.  Mummy starts humming the lullaby again. It's one of the ones they sang when I was little, a song so well-tread that it's become a spell for sleeping. Mum starts to sing along. I can tell from their voices that they're both still crying. I sing too, quietly, but with a thread of magic, until we're all asleep.

Tagging below the thread!!

Hello tags friends. This list has been a little bit static for a while, so if you're on it and you don't want to be, feel free to DM me or whatever and I'll strike you from the magical record. :-P

@stitchyqueer @thewholelemon @confused-bi-queer @raenestee @facewithoutheart

@cutestkilla @hushed-chorus @sillyunicorn @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @basiltonbutliketheherb

@ileadacharmedlife @asocialpessimist @bookish-bogwitch @aristocratic-otter @captain-aralias

@petedavidsonscock @artsyunderstudy @carryonvisinata @takenabackbytuesdays @martsonmars

@nausikaaa @nightimedreamersghost @chen-chen-chen-again-chen @ionlydrinkhotwater @that-disabled-princess

@shrekgogurt  @palimpsessed @fatalfangirl​ @blackberrysummerblog​ @valeffelees

@imagineacoolusername @orange-peony @j-nipper-95 @whogaveyoupermission @wellbelesbian

@youarenevertooold @emeryhall @mooncello @run-for-chamo-miles @talentpiper11

[laylawatermelon]

Now all we need is a queer club scene a la lone Star.

Buck would absolutely flourish, henren would be flirting, Eddie would be sitting at the bar doing a beer watching Buck like a hawk and sometimes smiling, Tommy would be in the void floating (sorry babe I'm a Buddie 4 lifer), and for a lil pizzazz Maddie and Chimney also go.

(it evolved into a tiny fic 🥺if you wanna read you can🥺)

ao3 link :

Ravi is probably there somewhere with someone in the VIP section looking down at them both happy but also a bit worried to see them.

(he's been working with them for a while now he knows the rumors of that many collective jinx powers they hold)

He sends them drinks periodically and they all wonder if someone is about to get a sugar daddy and then realize they're all couples so who's the couple who's getting a third?

Hen has her hands permanently glued to her wife's side and her head in her neck. She's murmuring sweet nothings and Karen giggles it away as she rubs any part of her that's closest to her and sips her drink.

Chimney and Maddie chat as they become a two-headed, four-limbed creation that smells of tequila, love, and laughter.

Maddie is constantly getting compliments on her shiny outfit and nails and ends up beside Buck periodically through the night, both of them like radiant sunlight to others.

Chimney also magically appears next to her almost instantaneously but vanishes and returns with drinks for his friends eventually chatting up the biggest guys he can on their gym regimen and suggesting they buy a calendar to support the new Asian Sex Symbol.

Of course, they sell a few copies.

Buck is the crown Jewel of the drag queens who are all shapes, sizes, and identities getting off of a show to have a nice night out.

He's marvelous and praises their outfits before quickly getting sucked into impromptu makeup and drag lessons, cards for shows, drunken histories, sexuality stories, and good ole fun lip-syncing.

And of course, since he's a bright star who everyone loves, many people begin their hunt.

A quick wink, a lingering smile, a hand on his lower back that lingers as long as a guy slides past him.

Okay, that's it.

Eddie orders another two beers, checking his phone for the babysitter's update before pocketing it.

He slides up behind Buck sliding a beer in his hand and resting his head on his shoulder his hand coming up to his waist.

The girls immediately gush about the two saying there are Two Hot Firefighters ready to put out their fire and Eddie bursts out in laughter.

They begin to fawn over him next complimenting his jawline and face suggesting he go into modelling or movies.

One of them says it's a waste but they'd be all fired up if they see him covered in soot. Another asks if he's on the same calendar as the sexy Asian guy.

Buck pouts telling them no and he's the focus again.

The drag queens then launch into a spiel about fire safety and if they could do a lecture at a show or help them.

Buck ends up video calling Bobby at the request and he and Athena are laying in bed amused as they watch him stumble through his words before a crowd of colorful queens squeeze into the frame.

He assumes them he'll think about it and the comment on Athena's beauty before the call is cut.

Bobby turns to Athena after the call and she laughs. "Your boy is always getting into trouble." He kisses her forehead softly. "We should go next time." "Let's."

Later that night as Christopher's finally dozing off, his phone slipping out of his hand he jolts at the sound of the front door bursting open.

Harry and Denny freeze on the phone, their faces both lit up by their computer screen, "What was that?"

Chris reaches for his glasses and slips them on staying quiet.

He listens again and relaxes as he hears giggles and shushes.

He rolls his eyes and pulls his covers over his head. "It's my dads."

The shuffling gets louder and he groans softly as his door is knocked on before it's pushed open.

Eddie grins down at his son's lying form and stumbles over as gracefully as he can. Buck is in the kitchen filling two (plastic) cups with water and shakily walking to his room.

Eddie walks to the left of his bed and kneels down resting his head on his arm.

He pats his head suddenly emotional, "I love you so much you know that?"

Chris frowns at his distressed tone but also notices the softness in his touch.

They watch him and Buck tiptoe in to hand Eddie a cup and rest his on a nightstand.

"We should probably let him sleep, okay babe?"

Eddie drinks from his cup smiling and pats Chris' head one last time. "Okay. Night son."

As they're leaving Buck sticks his head back in, "By the way your phone light is still asking through the blanket. Go to bed, Chris."

Harry and Denny burst out laughing and Chris promptly hangs up. He closes his eyes with a smile on his face as his dads fall into bed sloppily in the next room, leaving their problems for themselves tomorrow. 

[perplexingly]

I really enjoyed it! It was a German production in Nuremberg, but the songs were sung in English. They modernized it, having Jesus and his followers speak out against the catholic church and its controversies (treatment of queer people, women, children, ...). So Herod was the pope and so on. (This Video is German but it has snippetes of the songs: youtube.com/watch?v=bL1zvFUHzMY And this one some more immagery: youtube.com/watch?v=aCcIiCqCCI0 ) Both Jesus's and Judas's actors were sick actually, but they somehow managed to find replacement (Jesus: youtube.com/watch?v=DqFpvyhbtOk and Judas, tho i could only find him as Jesus, too: youtube.com/watch?v=L5w4y_2KNco)! I liked Mary Magdalene a lot. Something about her voice really suited the role imo? like how rough?? it was maybe.. (youtube.com/shorts/rxC6FgRjv8s) I cried multiple times, in particular during "Superstar". they made it out to be this scene in which Judas was wearing a sparkly suit, holding a camera (which was projected in large for everyone to see) and microphone into Jesus's face, who was all naked and bloodied from being whipped. The scene was really bizarre with everyone ignoring Jesus's suffering and telling him he didnt do enough. And Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a son together, who in the end was the reincarnation.

I'm really looking forward to comparing it to other productions!! it was the very first time for me to even listen to the songs, so i dont have a full opinion on this production in particular, except for that I liked it and i'm glad I got to see it and that it got me into the JCST in the fist place. (My boyfriend said we'd have to go again to compare it to other productions so I know he's the right one 🙏😤)

Omgggg that sounds incredible! Glad that you had fun 🥰 I love it when theatres do something unique to the play, thank you for summarising it! (the one I saw was very traditional, back when Neely had his European tour, I also watched it in Germany 🙈)

There's a couple recordings of different productions on YouTube if you want to compare, though I'd say most of them are different from one another only through the costumes and acting, without major changes. Still, this show tends to go all weird and unique with the setting so it's still worth watching other productions : D

[buckttommy]

your posts today have been scaring me ngl. and like, i know we SHOULD be scared but it's still making my tummy hurt. i'm sending you love and hope and just a little bit of positivity to help get you through this too.

Honestly? I am scared. I envy everyone who has the privilege of not being scared, but I live in a red state. I remember what it was like when Trump was in office, and this is the thing that SO many fucking people just don't care about. Not every story, not every evidence of the Trump ripple effect is going to make it to the news. But it still happens. I experienced SO much racism at the hands of white Christians under Trump's presidency because they had the liberty to be racist. Someone even said, directly to my face, that Trump "spoke for them." I remember the sigh of relief when Biden was inaugurated and the feeling, especially in my house, of a bullet just barely being dodged. And now here we are again, and I'm not certain Biden is going to win. That is a terrifying thing. Someone reblogged one of my posts recently saying they weren't going to vote because both Biden and Trump were evil and they refused to be "guilted" into voting for either party, and it's like. I don't know how to explain to you that having empathy for the plight of Queers, BIPOC, Women, Disabled people is not the same as being fucking guilted. Imagine having the privilege to even say that. Everyone is hinging their hope on this elusive goddamn "revolution" that no one is actually organizing, by the way, as if that absolves them of the responsibility of taking action now. But you know what, even if an effective revolution was being planned, people are going to DIE before that happens. And no one cares. No one, especially white Leftists, gives a damn.

It's very tiring. I'm very tired. I don't want to think or talk about it anymore because it gives me enormous anxiety. But. Yeah. It's whatever. It's going to be what it's going to be. At least there's fandom. Ha.

[mila-carat]

Even INI noticed that Takumi and Yudai's hug scene was a little bit "🤨🏳️‍🌈?" and to be honest i'm glad I'm not the only one...

[knifearo]

ultimately when it comes to shipping and fandom space treatment of aspec characters i just don't accept "aro/ace people can still date/have sex" as an answer from nonaspecs. like yeah. mhm. okay. now i think we both know that you're not saying that out of real interest in the diversity of aspec experiences. so you can turn in your seventeen-page essay on why and how you plan to examine this character's aspec identity within the context of a romantic or sexual relationship complete with evidence from canon and peer reviews from multiple aspec people within the next week or i'm putting you in the pit from the edgar allen poe story

[butterflysonnets]

absolutely insane that mike literally p a n i c k e d when will was like "well what about us?" because will wasn't even really making things gay he was honest to god just inquiring about the state of their estranged friendship and wondering why mike didn't make time to talk to him when they're supposed to be best friends but MIKE was the one having an aneurysm like "🏳️‍🌈⁉️ W H AT!!"

“WE'RE FRIENDS” “i know mike” “WE'RE!!! F R I E N D S!!” “right so why don't you call me — ” “I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND” “… that in no way answers my question"

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

Because he's the Tumblr sexyman du jour, and because sometimes queer history seems very far away, I'd like to make a quick point about Benoit Blanc. Let's assume that he's approximately the same age as Daniel Craig. DC, and therefore BB, were born in 1968, which means they were 20 in 1988, which means Benoit Blanc was coming of age as a gay man at the absolute height of the AIDS Epidemic.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk or whatever.

[demonbloodenthusiast]

91w deancas is so delusional cause they been making heart eyes at each other since day fucking one, calling the other sweatheart, thinking of kissing the other innocently just for the sake of the other being kissed, because they deserve that softness in the midst of all the chaos around them and the minute they actually get to it (motherfucking 200 pages in mind you) they try so hard to revert it back into something purely phisical with no emotions involved AND THEY KNOW THAT IT'S MORE BUT IF THEY BOTTLE IT UP AND IGNORE IT THEN ALL THE REVERENCE OF MOST OF THEIR LOOKS AND TOUCHES WILL JUST DISAPPEAR which is the epitome of the dilusional repressed gay way of doing anything