#It's promising queer without delivering

[kaluawoo]

Tbf there was one movie where a ridiculous amount of marketing was "HEY THERE IS A GAY CHARACTER IN THIS!"

Only for it to be a 20 second scene where some unnamed unimportant guy mentioned his husband or something. Disney's dozen First Gay Character Queerbait style.

Other than that the post is right though.

People accusing the MCU of queerbaiting has always seemed off base to me because queerbaiting implies a level of emotional character interaction that the MCU has overall staunchly refused to feature. Nobody is even friends 

[alltimefail]

Bylers I am once again begging you to watch Dead Boy Detectives on Netflix because these gay ghosts make me want to scream, cry, bite a brick in half I love them so much.

Listen listen listen just... PLEASE stay with me for a second:

See the boy on the left in the suspenders? That's Charles Rowland, and he died in 1989. Smalltown Boy (yes, SMALLTOWN BOY, I screamed too ofc) is on the playlist the actor made for him; Hozier's sappiest most yearny romantic songs (Like Real People Do, Francesca) are on his playlist too. Charles is a traumatized, passionate, kind, deeply complex little disaster loverboy and he means everything to me.

See the boy on the right with his sleeves rolled up? That is Edwin Payne, he died in 1916. He's a deeply repressed Edwardian boy who goes through one of the most insane and tear-jerking coming-of-age arcs in any piece of queer media to date. Every line he delivers ranges from the cuntiest, funniest, wittiest thing you've ever heard to the most comforting, affirming, heartwarming kindness and wisdom that feels like it came from the mouth of a damn angel.

They are both ghosts who've been running a detective agency together for 30 years, solving supernatural cases for people who died unjustly and/or without answers, thus having unfinished business, and the work is PERSONAL to them, okay?

If you listen to anything I say ever, if you take a show recommendation ever, let it be this:

WATCH THIS SHOW!! RUN AND WATCH THIS SHOW!

Trust me. It's made by LGBTQ+ people FOR LGBTQ+ people and I promise you will have a blast watching it and you'll fall in love with ALL these characters, too. (Not just Charles and Edwin, but ALL of them. I mean it, even the villains! The writing is SO GOOD.)

Pretty please I need friends who love Byler AND Payneland!!! This story changed my brain's chemistry and I promise it will move you as well!

That's all. I'm going to shut up now, but like... this show is everything to me. It changed my life. It lives in my soul and in my heart and I want to scream about it everywhere to everyone who will listen. Thank you if you read all this!

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - October 15-21

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles on Patreon!

1. EV owners volunteer to drive voters to the polls in 11 states (and you can too)

“ChargeTheVote.org is a nonpartisan voter education and engagement initiative to enhance voter turnout in the 2024 election by providing zero-emission transportation in electric vehicles (EVs) to local polling locations. ChargeTheVote will also host a webinar for those who are interested in participating this coming Tuesday, October 22 at 7pm Eastern time.”

2. Kenya moves 50 elephants to a larger park, says it’s a sign poaching is low

“The elephant population in the […”Mwea National Reserve”…] has flourished from its capacity of 50 to a whopping 156 […] requiring the relocation of about 100 of [them…. The] overpopulation in Mwea highlighted the success of conservation efforts over the last three decades.”

3. Australian start-up secures $9m for mine-based gravity energy storage technology

““We expect to configure the gravitational storage technology [which the company “hopes to deploy in disused mines”] for mid-duration storage applications of 4 to 24 hours, deliver 80% energy efficiency and to enable reuse of critical grid infrastructure.“”

4. Africa’s little-known golden cat gets a conservation boost, with community help

“[H]unting households were given a pregnant sow [… so that they] had access to meat without needing to trap it in the wild. […] To address income needs, Embaka started […] a savings and loan co-op[… and an] incentive for the locals to give up hunting in exchange for regular dental care.”

5. 4.8M borrowers — including 1M in public service — have had student debt forgiven

“That brings the total amount of student debt relief under the administration to $175 billion[….] The Education Department said that before Biden's presidency, only 7,000 public servants had ever received student debt relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. […] "That’s an increase of more than 14,000% in less than four years.””

6. Puerto Rico closes $861M DOE loan guarantee for huge solar, battery project

“The solar plants combined will have 200 megawatts of solar capacity — enough to power 43,000 homes — while the battery systems are expected to provide up to 285 megawatts of storage capacity. [… O]ver the next 10 years, more than 90 percent of solar capacity in Puerto Rico will come from distributed resources like rooftop solar.”

7. Tim Walz Defends Queer And Trans Youth At Length In Interview With Glennon Doyle

“Walz discussed positive legislative actions, such as codifying hate crime laws and increasing education[.… “We] need to appoint judges who uphold the right to marriage, uphold the right to be who you are [… and] to get the medical care that you need.””

8. Next-Generation Geothermal Development Important Tool for Clean Energy Economy

““The newest forms of geothermal energy hold the promise of generating electricity 24 hours a day using an endlessly renewable, pollution-free resource[… that] causes less disturbance to public lands and wildlife habitat […] than many other forms of energy development[….]”

9. Sarah McBride hopes bid to be first transgender congresswoman encourages ’empathy’ for trans people

““Folks know I am personally invested in equality as an LGBTQ person. But my priorities are going to be affordable child care, paid family and medical leave, housing, health care, reproductive freedom. […] We know throughout history that the power of proximity has opened even the most-closed of hearts and minds.”“

10. At Mexico’s school for jaguars, big cats learn skills to return to the wild

“[A team of scientists] have successfully released two jaguars, and are currently working to reintroduce two other jaguars and three pumas (Puma concolor). [… “Wildlife simulation”] “keeps the jaguars active and reduces the impact of captivity and a sedentary lifestyle[….]””

October 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[syrena-del-mar]

People forget that actors don't owe anybody the knowledge of their sexuality. Whether that be lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, demisexual, asexual, or any other sexuality. That includes their dating history or who they're currently dating. Actors only owe the public one thing: that they do their job and that they do it well.

If that job consists of partaking in CP/ship culture, consume their media knowing that what they show you in public is curated for you as a fan. If they're dating someone who is not their partner, they're not cheating you; they're not making a mockery out of you or of queer relationships. With ship work, they're simply doing their job how their culture expects them to.

Ship work is not queerbaiting. Living, breathing humans do not queerbait. Queerbaiting comes from a marketing tactic for fictional entertainment work to ensure that they don't alienate their straight audience while also ensuring queer interest. You're consuming BLs and GLs, where the shows deliver in the promised relationships. If you're consuming BL/GL, you should know that fanservice generally follows.

Fanservice works because it's understood to be common practice. It's acting, an extension of whatever series they're promoting. Also, realize that fans often find themselves so invested in a couple that a hug or even a tiny brush of their hands will be considered 'evidence' of a relationship. Friends can flirt, 'lovingly' touch each other, and mess around without it meaning anything.

That's still not queerbaiting.

Because of how advanced technology has become, we have so much access to these actors/actresses. Accessibility does not equal entitlement to know how they identify. Claiming an individual is 'queerbaiting' only causes harm in the long term because you might unknowingly force someone to come out of the closet before they were ever ready to be. This only pushes media/reporters to continuously ask for information that isn't anyone's business to drum up engagement, potentially exploiting them for clicks. There's no need to inquire about their personal life, relationships, or sexuality.

But what if they take cryptic 'couple' photos with someone other than their work partner? Stop searching. Take their social media posts at face value. Stop trying to come up with some 'gotcha' moment, whether that be actually dating their work partner or some other individual. It's their personal life (curated, but still their life); you're overstepping, and if what you find out upsets you, then it's time to pull away.

It's really that simple.

Just because you buy into the fantasy a little too much and invest yourself in the pseudo-relationship does not mean the actors are queerbaiters. At the end of the day, fanservice is just that—a service provided for the fans. In other words, it's a job. Finding out that an actor/actress is dating someone of the opposite sex does not make them queerbaiters. (Also, realize that dating someone of the opposite sex does not signify that they're straight; whether they are or not, it's none of your business.)

If an actor/actress's personal relationships make you so mentally unwell because they're not with the onscreen partner, it just means you've genuinely detached yourself from reality. I mean this sincerely, if you're at this point, find help. Try to learn and understand more about why you're putting so much of yourself into a parasocial relationship. It's unhealthy for you to get so worked up that you feel sick because two coworkers aren't together.

If you find out that you're not a fan of CP work because you feel lied to or cheated, just don't consume it. Simply watch the show, look up their artist profile to see what other works they've been in, and log off. Don't follow them on social media, don't look up their fan meets, or watch video compilations that fans have made for shipping.

You're the master curator of your online consumption.

Curate it.

[serfergs]

Why I’m having the most fun with DFF (spoiler free)

I know a lot of people probably dropped DFF after episode 2 or 3 so I feel compelled to write about how much I’m enjoying it. I am not typically a horror/slasher girlie (much to my partner’s chagrin 😬), but I found the characters mysterious enough to hold out for the story and romantic elements, plus I can tell the actors are having a lot of fun with the slasher parts so it makes it more enjoyable for me personally. And I think the show is doing a great job rewarding the audience for our patience considering it was marketed as a BL.

The thing that keeps me coming back is the slow reveal of the backstory and the little tickling of my brain when I think about how the different characters are complicit in Non's suffering and why he or those that care about him would want revenge. I also think this show stands out because it has just enough of a BL subplot to pull me in and then keep me with all the poor decisions of these very flawed characters.

Everyone watching can probably attest to how much we as an audience are loving hating these characters. All of these boys are written with distinct personalities and motives in both being a part of this "friend" group and contributing to the fate of our main boy Non. Even Non is not without his flaws. I think Barcode is doing a great job embodying a queer high school boy living in poverty, struggling with his mental health, and choosing to tolerate intense bullying and manipulation in the slight hopes he'll eventually be accepted and welcomed in this shitty boy group. Meanwhile all the characters within the group are revealing so much about their priorities and how they push down a lot of their feelings and convictions for the sake of not stirring the pot (aka Por). I find Tee and Jin especially compelling considering Tee's parallels to Non with feeling trapped in poverty and debt and Jin's parallels to Non with being so desperate to be accepted and how that ties in to their queer identities.

There's also so much going on with classism, coercion, and police corruption which are elements and themes that recent BL have attempted to tackle and in a lot of ways I think DFF is doing a much better job in both narrative integration and execution. All this being said, I also think it's important to remember this is only Be On Cloud's second BL and I think they're hitting it out of the park in terms of pushing the genre forward and challenging some of the tired settings and tropes still being shoved down our throats with repetitive, formulaic, and often rushed and incoherent narratives (I'm looking at you GMMTV). So, if you gave up early on, I encourage you to give it another try. Even if you gotta 2x speed or completely skip some of the more gruesome scenes. If for no other reason than to acknowledge and give credit to BOC for progressing our beloved genre forward.

TLDR;

DFF is out here delivering a really complex, nuanced, and satisfying narrative with queer characters and if you gave up early I implore you to pick it back up even if you gotta skip some of the slasher scenes. I promise it's worth it!

[ineffectualdemon]

So I'm only up to Chapter 7 So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens but I'm enjoying it a lot

The book so far can be summed up like this:

It's after the end of a D&D campaign or a classic fantasy story and the Main Character/Chosen Ones turns to you and says - "Hi, I'm a 17 year old bisexual disaster who has been living in close quarters with the 5 hottest people I have ever met for months. I am in love with my best friend who is one of the aforementioned hot people and I have somehow accidentally become King. I have no idea what I'm doing, have a constant string of problems, am perpetually horny, and a dumbass"

The book so far is like a marshmallow. It's gooey and sweet and fluffy and a source of joy. True it doesn't have a ton of substance but who goes reaching for the marshmallows when looking for substance?

It knows exactly what it is and it's delivering exactly what is promised and I'm having a great time tbh.

I don't even usually get much enjoyment out of things that are romances without body horror or murder mysteries included. Not because I'm a snob (I have read a lot of trash) but because I'm aro.

But Arek (our protagonist) is just so painfully 17 and ridiculous and charming in the ways he fails to be charming and just trips over his own feet again that he won me over

He's a dork and I love him

I like a book that knows what it's about and serves that. I don't want my hardware store to sell me sandwiches and I don't want my feel good queer fluff romance to try and deliver war and peace either

Saying that I'm only 7 chapters in so idk maybe some hard hitting political commentary happens but I would be disappointed if it did. I wanted a happy marshmallow book to help lift me out of my depression spiral and this is working.

I'll give another review at the end but I wanted to say now that I am having such a good time with this book

I just want the cute boy to get his best friend and be happy with him and his hot friends who keep him from accidentally dying because they care about their resident dumbass

[alittlefrenchtree]

Yes thank you! I mean think of the scene when Alex talks to Nora after the first kiss, or when he "argues" with his mother, or Alex coming out with Henry, the scene at the café where he perfectly shows how Alex is uncomfortable with Miguel's advances (and yes remember that dream that he is in that scene), or the first time, the whole speech after the email leak... He's soooo good I think sometimes we take it for granted that everything was easy for him because he looks a lot like Alex but definitely not that's how it is.

OMG yes!! You mentioned so many scenes I love as well! The funny tone of the post-kiss conversation with Nora is so spot on (even if I has one tiny minor problem with a second of editing -- as someone would say the pause is way too big between the "wh-- the politico reporter??" line and the "shut up" line. The cut between the two shots should have been a bit shorter). And by the way Rachel is also perfect in this scene.

Alex "coming out" to Henry and the whole conversation up until the end of the scene is just like a warm hug to my cold heart. They're both so sweet, vulnerable and soft and adorable.

I already talked at lengths about the scene at the café so obviously big fat yes.

And the speech scene and the miguel scene, omg i'll try to be quick, promise.

The speech. The writing alone is so good and important and the way Taylor delivered? Absolute chief kiss. You can hear the three parts so clearly -- the slight nervousness of the first lines when he talked about what happened to them then growing into confidence and assurance when he speaks his mind about queer's rights and struggles all of this turning into a soft and full of love declaration about his feelings for Henry. It's absolutely perfect.

And I think the miguel scene is even more layered in nuances and details. He's never been more ACD than in this scene, and I love the back and forth. How he starts unsure but quickly becomes excited to talk about politics and flirty without even being aware of it but the second Miguel flirts back he immediately retreats because he doesn't know what to do with it and all of the nuances you see in between. All of this beautiful acting + his insane beautiful looks makes me frustrated because it's a bit "wasted" in a scene with fucking ramos but i love it very much anyway.

So yeah, we should definitely see all the work Taylor did because even if he was exactly like Alex (which he isn't), the work to bring everything in front of the camera lens in the right way is equally difficult.

Thank you for your message, you made me very happy and excited to talk about these scenes 💜

[wizardsvslesbians]

It's time for another... Recommendation Masterpost (Winter 2024).

Anybody suggested Geoff Ryman's The Child Garden? It has The British Wizard Socialist Party, it has lesbians, it has revolution in the form of spitting out the pacifier of immortality, it has a genetically-engineered polar bear furry/weird little Phantom of the Opera figure who wants to defy expectations and become a singer & composer. No promises you'll love it (it was first published in 1989, for starters), but I think it'll give the two of you a lot to talk about.

Frankly this sounds amazing. I will at the very least crack it open.

This may not be mainline wizards vs lesbians (no lesbians (queer people are around (there's polyamory!)), although wizards are there (less one specific guy and more like... Themes. And people who can control earthquakes with their minds.)) But! The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is one I read recently which blew my mind in the quality of the prose and the nuance of the worldbuilding and how unflinching the author is towards having horrible and traumatic things happen to her characters without having it be gratuitous in the slightest. That + the pov and tone felt like such a breath of fresh air to me as opposed to a lot of other scifi-fantasy I've read recently. I feel like there's a good bit that could potentially be said about it and I would be fascinated to hear your takes (I am avoiding looking up reviews because I don't want to spoil myself for the sequels). Other interesting things about it: 2nd person done well and effectively. Distinct lack of europe or even the spectre of generic medieval European fantasy. Pretty accurate science to the point where I can tell what the in-world scientists are getting wrong and what's going on in modern terms (like, ohhhh she's testing for heavy metal contamination. They don't call it that but you can figure it out.) Generally very well delivered worldbuilding, sort of dystopian-post apocalyptic but with undeniable fantasy elements and I would not be surprised if the second book veers into sci-fi. That sort of fun genre non-conforming thing. And also again very well written. I don't think it's perfect though, there's been better character work. Newish listener, I've been very much enjoying the podcast despite not really listening to podcasts, came for the excellent Scholomance opinions, stayed for the interesting discussions of other books I've either read or heard about.

I think we will probably have to get to N.K. Jemisin in some form at some point, and why not here. Thanks for listening!

Have you thought about doing Babel, by R. F. Kuang? No lesbians to speak of but definitely wizards. Seems incredibly in yalls wheelhouse

R.F. Kuang's Poppy War books tend to appear in wizards vs lesbians / lesbian space atrocities / glove kink cinematic universe lists, so, yeah, probably only a matter of time. This looks like a cat squasher, though, which may be an obstacle.

this isn't so much a recommendation for the podcast as another adaptation recommendation - i previously recommended the 2019 carmilla film dir emily harris, but i'd also like to recommend the 2023 graphic novel duology carmilla by amy chu and soo lee - definitely read both volumes though because it's not complete otherwise. it manages probably one of the only ways i can actually see a 'happy ending' for the titular character that doesn't drastically rewrite her or the story's premise (though that definitely isn't the main draw - it's about the chinese and asian comunity in new york and san francisco and the aids crisis in the 90s). it is tied with the 2019 film for my favourite adaptation.

AND

finally got around to listening to your carmilla episode and wanted to recommend (not for an episode...unless haha) my favourite adaptation because it's not too well known, which is the 2019 film "carmilla" directed by emily harris. it focuses a LOT on laura's internal psychology and captures a lot of the atmosphere of the novella that i've not seen other adaptations do, despite not really trying to be a faithful adaptation plot-wise

Noted! As we've said it is very hard to get us to sit down and do movies for the podcast but that may be changing soon...

okay you know the scene in aristocrats where all the cats are partying on a piano and the piano is crashing through every floor of the house? what if the wizard is that party crashing through floors of reality and the lesbians are a new mom and her situationship? anyway i really enjoyed “the last hour between worlds” by melissa caruso

Hi Seiya! You make a compelling case, as always.

Well if your expanding most of your definitions of wizards and lesbians. I first started listening when i played we know the devil about a year ago and was scrolling through tumblr snapping up every bit of content around it, and in that episode you mentioned heaven will be mine. You could try to say like earth is being a big evil wizard in a vague way, and then theres Iapetus but hes like a personification of like, scientific chauvinism? Maybe not scientific but how his mech is described as something that divides and categorizes makes me think it and now im on a tangent I have the worst girls brainworms and id like this podcast contribute to the worms wriggling in my skull Id love to see what your analysis comes up with

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that we could have L back on to talk about HWBM - Alexis would just have to play it first.

got a book rec- The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy which pits our MC, a trans girl, and her fellow baby witches, all of whom are the scrungliest puppies, against the forces of (magic) environmental destruction. it reminded me VERY deeply of tortall (which i think the author was going for) and it was a fun, fast easy read

We've been looking for more trans stories. Tortall means nothing to me but probably something to Alexis, so that's a possible angle.

a final indulgence (and i think i’ve sent an ask about this before so please feel free to ignore if uninterested!): the neapolitan novels by elena ferrante are very dear to me but they’re almost wholly unwizleslike and so are not relevant to the show (though i would argue lila is a wizard and both leading women have a love and passion for each other that extends beyond friendship). have either of you read any of them and/or do you have thoughts?

We haven't. Italian litfic, huh? The guardian calls "my brilliant friend" the 11th best book since 2000, and who am I to say otherwise

i think metal from heaven has an audiobook now, if you guys wanna cover it

It's back on the list.

i've not read it, but i am VERY introgued by the tensorate quadrilogy of novellas by neon yang - the novellas have all been bound together as one medium size novel, so you might be okay with covering all four?

I seem to remember us bouncing off Neon Yang, but I'll stick in it the hopper.

short story recommendation: the witch sea by sarah diemer. it's a really interesting fairytale, and does qualify for wizlez i think

Thanks!

Just finished “Countess” by Suzan Palumbo which was a fantastic entry in the “the wizard is colonialism” sub sub genre. but in space. it’s a short one and i can’t decide if it should have been longer or if the novella length suited it better

Well, we do like it when things are short

i finally got around to finishing it and holy shit she ra and the princesses of power really lands like all of the lesbian space atrocities beats, i'm surprised you guys didn't cover it yet

We are aware of this. Usually we cover a cartoon every 25 episodes or so - not out of the question if we survive long enough

recommending Confessions of the Fox- it arguably has wizards in the same way that baru cormorant has wizards, & certainly lesbians although not the main character historical fiction about what if Jack Sheppard was transmasc and witnessing london in the midst of the enclosure of the commons & various social upheavals plus footnotes from a trans guy professor discovering the narrative as a lost manuscript in present day it would b really interesting to hear ur thoughts on this bcuz i think it is the worst written book that has nevertheless made me cry!! plus this is one of the early books contributing to the contemporary development of Trans Literature as a genre, sorta

Ah.. the worst written book that makes you cry is a genre unto itself, I think, and one we have historically enjoyed.

Thanks to everyone as always for sending in your recommendations! Even if we never get to them we still appreciate the thought and enjoy sharing your recs with other listeners.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Anime Overview: The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

Whew, not typing that again! We’re calling it Magirevo. If you couldn’t tell from the trademark long title, it’s a light novel adaptation, but most importantly, it’s a yuri light novel adaptation.

(And yes, technically an isekai, but the isekai element isn’t focused on a lot. It only comes into play at the last minute, in a surprisingly emotional way!)

The story centers around two extraordinary girls- Anisphia, nicknamed Anis, and Euphyllia, nicknamed Euphie. Anis is a rambunctious princess who’s given up her claim to the throne. Royals are expected to be able to wield magic, and Anis was born without the ability. So she’s developing her own field of study, “magicology”, and inventing tools that will allow anyone access to the wonders of magic. Since magic was restricted to nobles before this, Anis making it easily accessible to the common people naturally threatens the gentry, and Anis is branded a heretic. On top of all that, Anis has openly declared if she ever did get married, it would have to be to a woman, and she’s not interested in continuing the royal “bloodline”.

Euphie, in contrast, is entirely focused on fulfilling her role as a proper noblewoman. She’s arranged to be married to the future King, Anis’ brother, Algard, and is determined to live up to expectations. But then Algard betrays her and publicly destroys her social standing.

That’s when Anis steps in to save the day. She takes Euphie’s hand, quite literally carries her brother’s girlfriend away, and promises Euphie they’ll discover the root of the conspiracy brewing against her. So their partnership- and blooming romance- begins.

Sometimes just I want to watch girls fight dragons and save kingdoms and use cool magic. And sometimes I want to watch girls be gloriously joyously gay. I want to watch them fall in love, kiss, dance grandly, and team up to defeat enemies with swords and sparkles! I want to see layered, powerful queer protagonists in fun fantasy adventures! Magirevo delivers wonderfully on all those fronts, and (easy mark that I am) that alone would probably have been enough for me, but that’s far from all the series has to offer.

Anis and Euphie are great protagonists. Anis is chaotic and passionate with her love of magic. She’s bold, openly queer, and charming right off the bat. Meanwhile, Euphie is a girl struggling with the fact she spent her whole life trying to fit into the mold of perfect lady, perfect prodigy and perfect future queen. Every choice was made for her, but now that life has been ripped away. She’s free to make her own choices now, but all that possibility is frightening and overwhelming, and seeing how other people live makes her feel empty aside. The care that the show puts into representing Euphie’s depression is one of the best parts of the early arcs. The sharp direction really lets the viewer feel Euphie’s sense of loss and melancholy, as well as the hope she comes across when she realizes there’s a power in making her own choices, and when she finds inspiration in Anis.

Both girls are dynamic, easy to root for, and have a strong rapport with each other. They also both go through some nice development. The story starts off with Euphie as the vulnerable one who’s burdened with expectation and Anis as her confident savior, only to completely reverse the roles near the end of the story. We get to enjoy the journey of watching Euphie grow bolder and more self possessed, meanwhile as the story goes on it becomes clear that Anis’s sunny nature hides some aching insecurities and royal traumas. She’s not unscathed by how others denigrate her for not having magic, or from the pressure of her role. The character arcs are simple to follow, but the development is satisfying.

Yuri adaptations are often cursed with scant resources and middling-to-poor looking animation (sobs in Otherside Picnic) but Magirevo is thankfully a glowing exception to that. The animation is slick, and the show delivers some punchy action scenes and great emotional moments. When Anis and Euphie wield dangerous magic to fight an attacking dragon, it’s just as fun and hype as your average action shonen, and it’s great to see lesbians get to go feral and do ridiculous OP fantasy shit.

Magirevo also has some really fun side characters, like the cynical goth gremlin Tilty and Anis’ charmingly snarky maid Illia. There’s a few fun surprises in store- like a compelling hints of another wlw side romance, involving a vampire! It would be nice to see these characters get a little more attention, but the anime can only cover so much.

The second episode has a few hiccups that might stick out to some viewers- Anis’ father reacts badly to her antics and her declarations that she loves women, and his reaction is played in a goofy anime slapstick violence way that’s very tonally weird (it's even weirder in prose, believe me). There’s also jokes made about Euphie feeling initially uncomfortable about Anis’ flirtation and this includes Anis “helping her get her clothes off because they’re too complicated to do on her own” and Euphie being obviously unhappy with this. In the light novel, since we see Anis’ POV and there's not much of a negative reaction from Euphie, so we know she genuinely did just want to help Euphie with her clothes and wasn’t being a perv, but it doesn’t quite come off that way in the anime. Though at least the whole thing is much briefer and less skeevy than it's manga counterpart. (And Anis never repeats this behavior again).

There’s also some brief scenes of Anis at the bath later on, and an even briefer scene where Anis touches a girls boob as part of an examination and said girl is super embarrassed (this one goes by quickly enough and Anis’ expression is detached and clinical enough it doesn’t make much of an impression- it was so much worse in the manga). In the area of things that are unsettling on purpose, there’s a pretty well-done scene where Anis has to listen to a bunch of old nobles talk about her like she’s breeding stock, and a lot of emphasis is put on her disgust, fear, and discomfort. It delivers the message well, but might be upsetting.

The other caveat of the show is that while making magic accessible to commoners and upsetting the outdated hierarchy is a clear theme of the show, it’s far more focused on Anis’ and Euphie’s relationship. I think that’s for the best, though it might make one feel like the show glosses over some things. You shouldn’t expect super complex political intrigue or a rigorous, detailed examination of oppression- the show’s more into romance and cool fights. (The ending of the anime also makes it clear the fight to reform the kingdom is ongoing, so we might get more in the novels, for what its worth).

The anime also manages to condense three light novels into 12 episodes. This leaves the last arc feeling a little cramped with all the big emotions and ideas its covering, but after reading the light novel I discovered that the anime didn’t cut out much of value. The anime is by far the best way to experience the story, as the light novels are incredibly repetitive and full of exposition dumps. The anime wisely cuts all that out and focuses on what matters, the emotions and the characters. I do wish there was one more episode at least, since judging by the care the anime team shows I think they would have capable of adding good original content, but overall I’m very impressed with all the adaptation decisions. The anime turns an uneven, dragging novel series into a tighter, jam-packed story with a satisfying finale.

And what a finale it is!

When I say joyously gay, I really mean it- the Magirevo finale is one of giddiest celebrations of queer romance I’ve seen in anime. You will happily drown in rainbows.

It’s so rare to see a yuri adaptation get far enough with the source material that we get romantic catharsis, and Magirevo goes for every inch of it! Even the early moments of Euphie’s shyness and Anis’ pushy flirting become more meaningful as the roles are reversed in a truly fun way.

We even see the isekai concept used for meaningful emotional drama I always wish more stories would go into! It’s stellar all around.

Magirevo is a fairly simple story at its core, treading on some well-worn fantasy archetypes and tropes. But the loveable characters and jubilant execution of the romance make it a treat to watch. Who cares if it’s not super deep? Queer viewers deserve something shiny and fun once in a while, and Magirevo truly has a magic of its' own.

[gilgamushroom]

"Captain Nemo and I"

(or, I'm about to be very emotional and nonsensical about nemonnax)

So I didn't expect to cry this hard. Reading these last two entries, it strikes me so much how not once Aronmax shows excitement to return to land. Not once does he look forward to anything except his friends' safety. He's a marine biologist at heart, who never mentions any relations outside of these two; before the Nautilus his life was the joy he found in the sea and the freedom and happiness he expresses in so many entries contrasts so heavily with his silence on his normal life.

There's this outsider-ness so implicit in Aronnax, this unsaid thing (we talk queer allegory, we talk neurodivergency) that makes him so perfectly fit for the Nautilus and for Nemo's way of life. He talks about his pride for civilization, but his connection to it is as aspirational as Nemo's is bitter. He calls this life, this liminal space with no societal expectations and only homosocial bonds and unjudged room to explore his passion "his element"

Be it what it was, I think Aronnax connected very intimately with Nemo's outsiderness. He saw him as above human, as a force of nature, a savior, a mercenary, but above all, I think Aronnax saw him as a promise. Of understanding, of friendship, of bravery and exploration. And in the beginning Nemo seemed to deliver. He showed him the wonders of the sea, all his secret treasures. But what Aronnax really always wanted, and projected, was a soul akin to his own. A person who understood him in this unspeakable level.

Nemo never gave him that. He could never open up about his past or his trauma or his name. He chose to self-isolate, to give up on what could have been a genuine connection with Aronnax. He fell into despair and Aronnax had to finally accept that his offer of companionship was not gonna be enough to pull him out.

And until the very very end Aronnax was able to let go of him. It's so telling to me, just how many times in this second to last entry he debates whether to talk to him or not, to savotage his escape on the slim chance of Nemo opening up to him once and for all. He knows this man is different in a way he can't describe, in a way he's never going to find again, and because this IS a Gothic Romance, dammit, "whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same". He's still holding on to that promise.

And being honest? I don't think he ever really lets it go. This last chapter is all about his thoughts and hopes for Nemo. He was like him. And he knew him. And he vanished. Everything else bears no use writing about.

The end of this novel is so bittersweet and beautiful. Because Aronnax take refuge on what he did share with Nemo, instead of letting him go. They both knew the sea, the thing he loves the most, the thing that makes them both so different from everyone, like no one else. No one can take that away from him. Wherever Nemo is, I don't think Aronnax will ever be able to look at the ocean without thinking of him.

I hope it brings him comfort.

[namazunomegami]

This post is for @sniigura and me but you can read it too /j

Thank you darling for letting me ramble about some of my original story ideas 💕 My blog mainly features fics so I think there's no point to share them, even tho I have a lot concepts and characters that I've developed in my earlier years as a writer.

Cw: a lil mention of prostitution and kidnapping, my characters in general have disastrous upbringings

The first idea that I somehow circled back to came to me in the form of a very vivid dream. I rarely have dreams, and I'm especially surprised and at awe that I still remember the story with all the details and imagery.

The story is set in the Edo period of Japan and it's focused on a girl named Otomuro (my brain somehow recalled the name of a noblewoman from the Fujiwara clan. Probably I was searching for names for an oc and for japanese ocs specifically, I tend to use the names of actual people so I have the proper characters in kanji), who's abducted by a yokai. Luckily, when I did some research on japanese folklore, I found numerous yokais who frequently kidnapped children from their parents. And this story and even the original dream was full of various creatures and spirits from japanese culture.

When Otomuro is an adult, she's forced into prostitution. Though she frequently tries to escape the yokai, all her attempts result in failure. The yokai states that she's its favorite child and acts like an abusive mother figure towards her. She gets really close with one of her clients who is a ronin, a samurai without a master. His character is still really vague but I remember that he promises that one day he'll rescue her and helps her reuniting with her family. And that's basically it.

I mostly spend time with building Otomuro as a character and I did come up with a scene when she's serving as a kamuro, basically a lady-in-waiting for high ranking courtesans. Courtesans had a good relationship with their kamuros. They treated them like their younger sisters because they had mutual responsibility towards the other. Kamuros ran different errands for courtesans like delivering letters, gifts, or luring clients in to their brothel and in return, the courtesan fed, dressed and sheltered the kamuro.

This story is in a veeery slow progress, but I'm 100% sure that it can be an awesome idea for a novel. If I can come up with anything to fill in the missing parts.

The second idea is a short story that focuses on two original characters from an unfinished novel. That... sadly will remain unfinished. I'm very much heartbroken that I won't finish it, I put tremendous research into the setting, wrote over 140k words, prepared a massive appendix for further context and explanations but one single character's arc and personality fucked the whole thing up. He was supposed to be an antagonistic character but I just kept building him and he became a rather sympathetic lil fella, and he shouldn't be a character you can feel sympathy for. And it doesn't feel right for me to continue... My boy massacred the whole story lmao.

I've had a rather large cast for this novel, and the characters are with me for more than 3 years now. I know what kind of life they're going to lead, how their life started and how it'll end. They're very much their own distinct person, almost alive, and somehow they can function quite well in a different setting. Nowadays, I really like to think about them as one traumatised, queer, neurodiverse and multicultural friend group lmao. They're my children, I can never let them go or forget about them.

Yeah, back to the story, since most of the characters are highly developed and established, sometimes they just start talking inside my head. That's how my writing process usually start. The story is rather simple, my main characters, Lotte and Nikolai have a little catch up after 3 years of seperation.

I started to entertain this idea because until now, I never had the chance to develop crucial parts of these character's life. Mainly Lotte's relationship with her adoptive children (they didn't even have genders or names but now I'm settled on two boys) and one of her most dangerous coping mechanisms to deal with her depression and C-PTSD, which is none other than dissociative amnesia, and how it circles back to the kids. Lotte is a loving mother, but not an ideal, perfect parent. She's very much dependent on her older kid and quite possessive towards the younger one. Her kids must take care of her the same way she does for them too. Nikolai had several failed marriages throughout his life but the reasons and causes were unclear. So I decided to make a background character, Ulyana, as his first wife (Ulyana is still a special character for me because I named her after a russian friend I had online during quarantine. It's sorta a habit of mine to name characters after people I know and love, like Lotte's mother is named after my aunt and Nikolai's best friend is named after my grandfather and such). So the easiest way to solve these issues is to make the characters sit down and talk.

Lotte and Nikolai share a very complex and deep relationship. It's filled with a lot of understanding, gentleness, playfulness and platonic love. And even some romantic love on Nikolai's part which gives a kind of tragic edge to the whole thing. Nikolai is very much in love with Lotte, that's why his marriages fail but Lotte can't reciprocate this kind of love because she's well... canonically aroace (but like nearly all of my characters are queer this shouldn't be surprising), she has no desire to be a romantic partner or a wife but she does want to be a mother. They've been through a lot, they have an effect on each other, they make each other grow. Lotte smiles and laughs only in the company of Nikolai (and besides my russian characters only she's allowed to call him by his diminutive, Kolya) and Nikolai is capable of selfless acts to ensure Lotte's safety, though he's still a morally grey character, he's willing to achieve it by comitting corrupt and questionable things even.

But as much as I love them, the plot were abandoned before I could've written a longer interaction between them. There’s a draft of their first scene, however, there’s still an enormous language barrier between them so they can’t communicate that well. But these two really deserve their own seperate story.

Thank u bby for letting me share this with the world, hope you have a wonderful day 🥰💗

[lover-of-mine]

https://www.tumblr.com/lover-of-mine/754928814774157312/the-funniest-part-to-me-is-even-if-tim-had-planned

I think that Tim knows the entity of buddie fandom, he knows that if we go in bt as a permanent direction or if Eddie isn’t going to get out of the closet people will stop watching the show or they will watch it but illegally and they will stop talking about it on social media and stay in the buddie lane. It’s 2024, every shows and movies has queer representation. It isn’t 2000 anymore when people needed to settle for crumbs and baiting because networks were cowards. if Tim and ABC aren’t going to get us buddie, people will leave and take with them their “noise” to anothet fandom because the others are capitalizing their ship.

So Tim knows and if he decides to drop buddie then it’s because he thinks that the shows will survive without the buddie fandom. Maybe, maybe not, but the numbers will drop. People don’t like racist characters.

This reminds me of Teen Wolf. I will never forget how Jeff Davies used Derek, Styles and the Sterek fandom to gain audience then dropped them when the show was super famous to make canon is fave ship and getting sterek fandom to stop watching and in the end he had to us the sterek queerbaiting to make the people watch the last season.

It’s up to him.

I mean, I was getting teen wolf cons war flashbacks, ngl, and I did ship stydia, so I never felt the full effect of the sterek baiting, but I do remember the point of keeping Dylan and Tyler answering shit ambiguously, using both of them for promotion all around, just to get Stiles with Lydia. Then they failed to deliver stydia as canon as well and made people watch 6b by promising Tyler was gonna be in the end, that was a DIASTER, I know A LOT of people dropped the show after Tyler left because season 4 was ridiculous. The actual queerbaiting aspect of buddie can't really be called anymore, because Buck is queer, shit not going the way we want doesn't really count. BUT, to use Ryan and Oliver the way they were just to go just kidding, have this very bland queer relationship and we will make Eddie die alone, would have a lot of pushback. And again, a show is a business, and ABC clearly isn't opposed to queer relationships, and they like they glaad nominations, you should see the amount of queer people they are throwing at the wall in grey's anatomy. And Buck and Eddie could be a relationship that does not exist in media. A queer slowburn where neither of them was introduced as queer in a major network show doesn't exist. They can change the game when it comes to representation, and they have to know what will do to their numbers to be the ONE thing that had that one duo that everyone was insane about and get them together for real. Suck it up to the mcu, supernatural, teen wolf, and every other media that had that one ship that was heavily talked about but nothing came of it. I'm not kidding when I say they would be studied in media classes, because Buck and Eddie have the classic will they/won't they slowburn format, if they actually deliver, and make them The queer slowburn, that are going down in television history. Because they would be the first to pull it off. With major support. It would be so beyond stupid not to go there now. Especially since Buck is bi. They are one good push from leaving a mark on how television is made. And abc in particular because we have Oliver on record saying that Fox was blocking that, so they can just go "oh no we made sure they knew they have our full support from the start" and milk the shit out of it. Why wouldn't they go there? It would be dumb.

[danieljradcliffe]

What was wrong with it? The only thing I didn’t like was that Carlos went from saying how bad the Rangers were as an institution in the previous episode but then he was suddenly okay going off and taking the law in his own hands the next as if he’s also not under an institution that facilitates white supremacy and his very act of wanting to take the law in his own hands is exactly what is wrong with people in his profession

I'll put this under a read more because apparently my opinion is vv unpopular.

Wyatt/Judd storyline: I know this is a ridiculous drama show and I shouldn't take it seriously but... as someone who works in the healthcare system and has spent a large portion of my career in rehab....... this was just the most disability!saviour bullshit. Judd taking Wyatt home to try and rehab him, himself? Not having Wyatt have his own autonomy in that? Wyatt not being told by physicians (even though he is an adult, with capacity) about his prognosis? Wyatt requires long term, specialized rehab with professionals who are experts in their field? I don't know this entire plot line rubbed me so wrong.

Robert/Owen storyline: We didn't know Robert well enough for this to be as "heart breaking" as the writers intended. So much valuable time in these episodes was dedicated to this but as a viewer I felt disconnected from what was happening. And for the final moments to go to that (very triggering death scene) over a hopeful, joyful moment of Tarlos on their honeymoon was a fucked-up choice.

Gabriel: I wonder if there will come a day when writers recognize that you don't need to kill off characters to advance other character's storylines. A much more impactful (and less lazy) way to move Carlos' progression forward would have been to keep Gabriel alive and have them work through their issues. Growth, healing, communication. Isn't that so much more beautiful and poignant that a shocking and traumatizing death that was simply used for shock value? On a similar note, what the hell was the point of the Reyes sisters? I wish he stayed an assumed only child. The rehearsal dinner was full of characters we didn't know or care about (save Tarlos, Owen, and Gabriel/Andrea).

Tarlos: There literally wasn't a conversation between them at their own wedding....... They were in the background for the entirety of the reception. We got literally 6 seconds of a honeymoon. Tim fucking cut all of the scenes they used to promo the wedding that we all went feral over. How much more was probably filmed that we didn't get? And for what? All of 4.18 TK felt like a prop just there to further Carlos' arc. For Carlos to again end up LYING and DECEIVING "the love of his life." This arc may have worked if it was spread out for an entire season. But to try and shove it into half an episode? It felt incredibly rushed and the writing felt sloppy. All the rhetoric of Tarlos and the viewers' "earning" the wedding. Why can't they be happy after everything? Why can't we enjoy their wedding without having to earn anything? They use Tarlos to advertise and promote and when it comes down to it the show runners don't deliver and delete half their scenes and pretend they care about "representation."

Queer characters and queer viewers deserve authentic and happy plot lines that are not OVERSHADOWED by trauma and grief. I truly would have rathered they postponed the wedding until season 5 rather than thrown it on at the end like they did. It didn't feel right. Where was the joy they promised? Nothing could've made up for what we went through prior.

But none of the ABOVE even mattered when it came down to the wedding because as a viewer, I was fucking reeling from watching Gabriel's needless death that I didn't even process what I was seeing. They tainted the wedding for fucking ever. I've rewatched the vows but I can't even fully invest in them. While it was airing, I wanted to turn it off. I didn't want to watch. I was stunned, numb, and angry. Those emotions are now what I relate to the supposed "Tarlos Wedding" episode. It may have been better honestly split into 2 weeks so that the viewers could process and prepare.

Anyways... that's a little bit of what I'm feeling.

Sidenote... For anyone who has experienced the loss of a parent (I have and i think that's what made this ep so hard for me), my ask/inbox is always open. Your feelings are valid and I hope you're all taking care of yourself after last night.

[dukeofriven]

Trying to drag myself through S02E02 of Strange New Worlds—everything frustrating about SNW in one perfect episode: an interesting theme and a valid critique of Federation values let down by a clunky script and grossly mishandled directorial choices (included very jarring insert flashbacks to a speech a character just finished speaking). The director thinks you, the viewer, are an idiot, and won't get the oh-so-subtle allegory unless it's explicitly made clear with over-obvious camera work. Also like a lot of bad Trek trials, you keep waiting for opposing council to go 'objection: monologuing.' The icing on the cake is surely the lawyer turning to the tribunal and going "so all that remains for you now is to confirm the status of Una's asylum claim" and the tribunal not going "What? That's completely outside the remit of this tribunal. No. We find the defendant guilty, as she repeatedly admitted aloud just now to our faces." But I've realized that people don't want nuanced, complex, or subtle story telling, which I promise is less of an insult that it probably appears at first blush. They literally want shows that look directly into camera and say 'you're valid.' And I know this because I've read comment threads where people talked endlessly about crying and how 'seen' they felt when this episode looked directly into camera and said as much. But I don't. I don't feel 'seen' by this, I feel faintly offended that the director didn't think I'd pick up on the messaging without hammering it into my face. My queer ass doesn't like being thought of as stupid. I got the message: I object to the clumsy, amateurish medium in which it was delivered - and you should expect better too. There's a complaint often made against modern Trek that it's not very 'subtle,' and the counter-argument is usually to point out the many, many, many times old Star Trek was decidedly unsubtle: there is a literal planet of Nazis, for example. My complaint is that 25 years after The Sopranos, of ER, of The Wire, of Mad Men, of the whole great 'Golden Age of television' we've learned how to make better TV. I'm not holding modern Trek to the standards of 1996 or 1993: I'm holding it to the standards of 2023, and it rarely measures up. God, so often it feels like the writers came up with an emotional climax, didn't know how to work their way back from there, and so just... didn't. This episode is a prime example as whatever the tribunal was supposed to be about gets dropped the moments its structure becomes inconvenient for the writers, so that judges and opposing cancel alike literally sit their in silence while Una and her lawyer have an emotional conversation about their past. I don't get it: why don't people want better than this? Why is this slapdash amateur hour good enough for them? It's not bad. It's not horrible. but it could soar - with this cast, with this production design, with this budget it could knock it out to the park episode after episode after episode. And it barely bothers to try. it's not enough to be seen, i want to be seen well.

[thelostgirl21]

Alright, I might need your help / input on this one...

As some of you know, at some point over the summer, I'd noticed that:

a) Jaskier's LGBTQ+ wiki page was empty (a page had been made, but without any content yet),

b) that Radovid's page wasn't there,

c) that Radskier didn't have any page on the shipping wiki, either;

d) and that the Netflix versions of the characters of Radovid and Vespula were both missing from The Witcher's wiki, also.

Thus, I took the liberty to start filling those pages, doing my best to interpret and make sense of all the information I'd gathered throughout interviews, news articles, etc.

And, as I've explained here, I made one massive mistake of interpretation, that I then attempted to fix by rephrasing things in that manner:

I gave the moderator the explanation in yellow (i.e. the one at the bottom), and they reverted it back exactly to the way it was.

Therefore, I've now, at the very least, attempted to remove one paragraph, and given them the other explanation in yellow (the one at the top), hoping it would at the very least be kept off the wiki.

Because this is the huge mistake I made I was talking about, that was utterly and completely wrong:

Hopefully, they'll keep that paragraph off the page. It if comes back, just know that I no longer agree, at all, with what I'd previously written (yeah, I'll probably never let myself live that one down).

Where I need some input, is to see if you have some ideas on how Jaskier's sapiosexuality might have been supported by the show's narrative, to have it recognized as a valid sexual orientation for the character on the wiki?

Okay, first of all, I probably should say that the moderator appears to have a very strict "to be accepted on the LGBTQ+ wiki, a sexuality must both be shown on screen (through either text or queer subtext), and identified as such by someone working on the show," policy.

At least, that's how I've interpreted it, based on the answers they've given to other people's questions on their wall.

For example, an actor could not be officially claiming that a character is bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, or polysexual if there's been no evidence, in the show (or the movie, videogame, etc.) that they have the potential to have sex with more than a single gender.

Therefore, I was able to get pansexuality accepted as part of Jaskier's sexual identity in the table, because Vespula tells Jaskier: "I’ve cursed you for chasing tails of every kind. Men, women, dwarves, elves, polymorphous…  […] But never have I ever seen you have a crush,” and there was an article stating that Jaskier was a panromantic or pansexual character.

And they've accepted sapioromantism for similar reasons, likely because "crush" is a-spec slang for romantic attraction.

For your personal information, the main ones I personally know and remember are:

Romantic attraction = crush.

Platonic attraction = squish.

Alterous attraction = mesh.

Sensual attraction = lush.

Sexual attraction = smush.

Aesthetic attraction = swish.

So, the whole scene is layered with heavy aromantic subtext, making the claim from Joey Batey that they'd built something very special for their audience - a sapioromantic and sapiosexual connection - be something very tangible on the show.

As someone that watched season 3 having already read that article before, and being overexcited to discover how they'd handled showing the character as being a sapioromantic on screen, I felt like Batey and the writers fully delivered on their promise, and wrote the queer scenes with a queer audience in mind.

But the moderator has refused to accept "panromantic" under Jaskier's romantic identity.

And my guess is that, by having Vespula tell Jaskier that she's never ever seen him have a crush before, then the show only lists the different people that Jaskier has been with sexually.

Reading into the a-spec subtext, we are more or less told that what Jaskier is experiencing for Radovid is a crush (romantic attraction), seemingly based on the way that Jaskier appears to be fascinated by and connecting with Radovid's intelligence and insightfulness (sapio).

Jaskier insists that he doesn't have crushes (aro), thus implying that either it's never happened before, or he's never fully been aware of it happening before.

So, I'm guessing they are saying "Well, the show has failed to show us that he's been romantically involved with people regardless of gender, since they only explicitly identified a single crush that Jaskier has been experiencing on the show, and it's with Radovid (a man).

There's no suggestion, in the narrative itself, that Jaskier could find himself experiencing a crush regardless of a partner gender. We've only seen him crushing on a man."

Therefore the moderator only considers sapioromantic as being a romantic orientation that's been named and that is being backed by the show's narrative, but not panromantic.

At least, that's my theory as to why "panromantic" keeps being refused whenever I've tried putting it in the table, regardless of what Joey Batey himself said in interviews.

Did I ask them why they were refusing panromantic? Yes, I did. But they didn't answer. So, I am left with trying to understand why they've accepted sapioromantic and pansexual, but refused sapiosexual and panromantic, based on the answers that they've provided to other people that appeared to be facing similar issues I had.

Which bring us to the whole "sapiosexual" fiasco.

Sadly, I can't demonstrate that Jaskier is sapiosexual based on the show's narrative alone.

He's seen as being instantly interested in having sex with people's he's just met, and as constantly craving sexual contact to the point where it gets him into trouble.

Hence why even I managed to missed it. I've been so used to read into character behavior as proof of attraction that I totally fell headfirst into that trap!

To the point where, at some point, I was literally thinking that maybe the words that Joey Batey used were

"[We] ensured that these romances are told truthfully — and sensitively and carefully, without resorting to stereotypes… Hopefully we’ve created something that is special, a sapioromantic and sexual [connection] that is as flawed as any other relationship in this show.”

And it was reported as "sapioromantic" and "sapiosexual" by the person writing the article, rather than sapioromantic and sexual (because no official source had confirmed the pairing would be a same gender one back then, and therefore Joey wouldn't have been able to label any gendered aspect of the queer relationship with Radovid yet when the article came out).

But sexual activity can be enjoyed with people for reasons that have nothing to do with finding a partner sexually attractive, and it's not something that can easily be shown on screen, even through the use of asexual subtext.

Unless Jaskier suddenly launches into some kind of educational presentation on what asexuality is, the different types of physical attraction asexual typically experience (aesthetic, sensual...), the different types of asexuals (sex-favorable, sex-neutral, sex-repulsed...) and how each of them might choose to express their sexuality, "canon sapiosexuality" is virtually impossible to clearly represent on screen!

To have any hope of being represented by characters in the field of TV, movie, and videogame entertainment, some sexualities have little to no choice but to rely almost exclusively on what the actors and the writers (or other people involved in the creation of the narrative) of the show are saying their intention was for the character.

I understand the whole concept behind the "death of the author", I do.

I'm 100% fine with people claiming that Poe Dameron being romantically attracted towards Finn is canon based on the queer subtext the actor used in his acting and him saying that he was playing a romance despite the studios disagreeing with that interpretation.

Why? Because the performance was queer coded, the studio knew it, they still released it, and if you queer-bait your audience, you better believe they have every right to claim a character as theirs.

But in the context where we're talking about the intent of the writers and the actor of portraying such a little known and represented romantic and sexual orientation that is part of the aromantic and asexual spectrum, I'm extremely saddened at the thought of people going "Well, we'll just ignore that the character was ever intended to be sapioromantic or sapiosexual, and only give validity to what's explicitly shown on screen!"

Look Lucifer has been seen as being sexually involved with people of any gender identity on the show, but he's never once announced "I'm a bisexual devil!"

It's the actors and the writers that confirmed it.

On the show, we can only interpret his behavior as being compatible with the label bisexuality. But his sexuality was still only explicitly named off screen.

Same with Kaidan Alenko in the videogame Mass Effect, and I *think* Magnus Bane in Shadowhunters.

We interpret bisexual behavior as proof enough of bisexuality, and trust the writers and the actors' words.

But what is "sapioromantic behavior" or "sapiosexual behavior". How can one objectively differentiate it from alloromantic and allosexual behavior, by solely showing it.

If we don't require onscreen bisexual representation to use the label to trust that the people working on the show are using the right label...

...why is it so important to have people say "I'm sapioromantic" or "I'm sapiosexual" before it can be considered canon.

Jaskier was labelled as sharing a sapioromantic and sapiosexual relationship with Radovid off screen. And the show's narrative is 100% compatible with real life sapioromantic and sapiosexual behavior.

So, I personally find it extremely unfair for us to be expected to go one step further, by explicitly finding ways to prove that Jaskier can only be sexually attracted towards people that he establishes an intellectual connection with on screen through the show's narrative itself.

It also makes "allosexuality" the default sexuality, where everyone having sex with a partner can be assumed to be sexually attracted to them unless they find a way to explicitly prove otherwise.

And it requires that the representation of the characters on the asexual spectrum be explicit to the point of needing to name the label, when we virtually never require any gay, bisexual, or even pansexual (has Deadpool ever explicitly stated he was pansexual without breaking the fourth wall? I'd have to check!) to explicitly state their label, just be shown as having sex with more than a single gender identity.

i.e. Engaging in a behavior that is compatible with their sexual orientation.

Jaskier's behavior is compatible with a sapiosexual orientation.

So yes, the idea that you must both have people working on the show naming the character's sexuality, and that it must be explicitly shown on top of it in the show's narrative, rings a bit problematic to me in the context of harder to demonstrate sexualities.

When you're tackling representation for rarer and more specific sexualities, I believe you should trust the writers and actors reporting what the intended labels for the character are, and only require that the narrative doesn't contradict it, not explicitly proves it.

Any bisexual behavior seen on screen can be used as proof of either bisexuality, pansexuality, or omnisexuality (or in some case polysexuality) as soon as someone officially working on the show names the character's sexuality.

It's extremely easily identifiable and simple to show (and even there, some idiots will try to say that anything non-monosexual doesn't exist).

But there's no such thing as widely recognized and easily identifiable "asexual behavior" per say.

And the difference between a queerplatonic relationship and a romantic relationship, for example, can be so subtle that they will present on screen as being exactly the same.

So, asking for explicit representation, and having it 100% confirmed on screen, is a bit much.

Jaskier never explicitly told Vespula: "I am confused over my feelings for Radovid, because I don't think I've ever experienced that type of specific attraction before. This is different. The way I feel about Radovid is different."

And Vespula didn't then say to him: "That's because I think you are romantically attracted to him."

And Jaskier didn't then answer: "What?! But I don't get romantically attracted to people! I love them platonically or alterously! I desire them sexually! I have world ending, heart wrenching affairs! I do enjoy getting involved in romances for the excitement it provides, the love, and the kinship I share with all my partners, but I don't desire my lovers romantically! I have also finally found my chosen family - a family that I share with my very best friend in the whole wide world and the second most important person in my life (since Joey said the first was Ciri)! I thought I was 100% aromantic until today! Why would I suddenly experience romantic attraction NOW, when I finally have the family I've been looking for, and it turns out they are what pleases me?"

Vespula didn't then answer: "Well, you were specifically swooning over Radovid's intelligence and insightfulness, so maybe you're sapioromantic?"

Instead, we've got Jaskier swooning over how intelligent and insightful Radovid is, while saying "the problem is different, the solution must be different, and Radovid... is different", seemingly confused and intrigued by what he's going through emotionally.

Vespula saying "You like him."

Jaskier thinking that she's talking about his feelings for Geralt, and clarifying that they are of a platonic nature.

Followed by her specifying that she was referring to Radovid, and that, despite Jaskier having been sexually involved with a bunch of different people before, never has she ever seen him have a "crush" (aro/ace slang for "romantic attraction") on any of them.

Then, Jaskier's reaction being to deny that "crushes" (again aro/ace slang for "romantic attraction") are something that he experiences and has the known capacity for, while insisting that he only has world ending, heart-wrenching affairs!

It's aromantic subtext. And yes, I'm happy and feel we're lucky that the queer subtext has been recognized as being enough to back up Joey Batey's claims that the character was sapioromantic.

My problem, is that asexual subtext is even much, much harder to portray and describe.

I would not expect Vespula to tell Jaskier "I've seen you lush and swish over so many men, women, dwarves, etc., before; but I think it's the first time I've ever seen you smush after someone!"

Expecting queer people to pick on the differences between a crush and squish? Reasonable. If you tell them "look for the sapioromantic representation" while watching the show by telling them before hand in an article, they'll go in paying attention to it and they'll likely see it.

But trying to differentiate between someone wanting to have sex with a partner because they find them aesthetically and sensually attractive, and they can enjoy sex for the sex itself without being sexually attracted to them (for example)...

...and someone wanting to have sex with a partner because they are feeling specifically sexually attracted to them?

Good luck!

The only way I could *perhaps* see how the sapiosexual attraction between Jaskier and Radovid might have been shown by the writers and the actors on the show, would be by comparing the way that Jaskier seems usually quite playful, casual, and fully in control of his body's responses whenever he's talking about sex, interacting with others in a sexually charged context, and talking about how he might be into certain things sexually.

When he was saying that he wasn't not, not into it while looking at Senchai sharing his own appearance, it was said with an almost detached (if a bit freaked out) sense of fascination and curiosity, I think.

Otherwise, he's often seen enjoying himself and being appreciative of other people's beauty, and curious about all the things they could be sexually doing together. Sex with a wide variety of people is amazing, and he regrets nothing!

It's very loving, and affectionate, too.

But it's true that he's not necessarily intensely vibrating with need or desire for his partner in those moment.

And then, there's the way he's physically and emotionally responding to Radovid in this scene...

So that could, perhaps, subjectively show a difference between "enjoying sex with someone you love" and "being sexually attracted to a partner".

With what triggered Jaskier's sudden need to "pounce" on Radovid to kiss him and potentially initiate the sexual activity being the way Radovid's brain works, and how he chose to express his feelings for Jaskier by learning his song (sort of connecting with Jaskier using his own language).

But it's so, so, so, so extremely subjective... that I'm really not sure how I can build a case for it!

And besides, even when you do feel sexually attracted to a partner, you're not constantly sexually attracted or aroused by them. It comes and goes. Sometimes you are in that more playful and detached mood. At least, I think...

I mean, my allosexual partner is much easier to get in that very aroused, very sexually receptive mood than I am, if I'm being honest.

But if he's being a complete geek about something I'll eventually get there. At the most unpractical and inopportune moments, too.

So asexuality is very complex and there's no way to clearly show it, just basically state it.

So, if any of you have any clue on how I could make a solid case for it, and get it approved on the wiki (because I do believe that sapiosexual representation matters), I'm all ears!

And look, I'm not blaming the moderator, either. That's not the point of that post.

Am I frustrated? Yes.

But I understand the need for a clear system to accept or refuse submissions, and I'm guessing that, with the number of pages they must go through and analyze every day, at some point, some nuances get lost; and they, too, miss that maybe applying the same rules for every single sexual and romantic identities, without analyzing how it puts some identities at a clear disadvantage given the complexities of translating attraction into easily identifiable behavior, is asking a lot.

We're all doing the best we can with the knowledge and abilities that we have.

But yeah, what a mess still...

[silviakundera]

Once again reviewing less known/unpopular dramas... Ghost Host, Ghost House (2022, Thai BL) delivers what it promises to be in the first episode: supernatural family drama about ghosts, with a side of romance. I have an affection for media that knows what it wants to be and executes that.

Kevin, now an adult and ready for university, arrives in Thailand to visit family he hasn't seen for a decade - as his mother moved them to the USA when he was young. He's a budding video blogger whose gimmick seems to be: cute gay boy who visits haunted houses. Little does he know that the family he's come to stay with are all dead. The loved ones once separated by geography, as a child of immigrants, are now separated from him in a way he is yet to understand. There at the old family home he also runs into Pleum, a local boy with big dreams who is cheerfully navigating through 5 odd jobs and begins to pursue the visiting hot boy with the same dedication. But whose family is also hiding wounds of his own.

"This flower reflects the reality. Pain hasn't gone elsewhere. It's just hidden, so we can move on and live our lives."

Don't come looking for a thriller or scares or ghost hunting. It's not a fast-paced drama, it's about the characters.

It's charmingly earnest in the two young men's fumbling birth of a romance, elements of whimsical humor in Kevin's ghost family navigating death (think Beetlejuice), and occasionally poignant in discussions of mortality, grief, and letting go. The family relationships are given equal weight to the romance.

There wasn't a tonal whiplash for me. The sweet & sexy parts fit alongside the fact that both MLs are surrounded by death and need to come to terms with it. The tone is fluid. In the midst of life, there is death; in the midst of death there is life.

It's not a deeply profound, philosophical exploration of grieving and I don't think that's a failure because it's not trying to be. It's just characters who are haunted, literally and metaphorically, and who find a way to move on during the course of 8 episodes.

The couple really worked for me (until the writers imo fumbled the end). Post high school, figuring themselves out and what they want. Clearly not virgins and very comfortable with their sexuality and queer desire, while being still awkward & uncertain about how to act around a cute boy you like. I appreciated that the couple is quite sweet & soft without neutering them. They are allowed to be age-appropriate horny! They're also allowed to make mistakes & deal poorly with grief in hard moments, and then apologize and be forgiven for it. Two people who met each other in the worst timing & situation for attempting a romance. Though perhaps without the ghosts that united them, they would have lived out their lives mostly on separate continents & never found home together.

The otp like each other right away - it's external factors pulling them apart. Unresolved grief that must be dealt with and the hovering dramatic tension tension that Kevin is Thai diaspora, essentially American, and this was intended to be a temporary visit to see his relatives. He's presumably considering this a 'vacation fling', while it was clear that Pleum was ready to go all-in. A separation was basically baked into the pairing. I was anxious about how this could really work. Spoiler: happy ending, but I did not entirely like how they got there (see cut).

I would be spoiling too much to discuss in detail, but the family elements are lovely. Bittersweetness in the incomplete time we get with our loved ones. And the subtle tragedy of the opportunities Kevin lost to know his extended family; the taste of home he's been missing as his mother moved on with a new american husband.

Only 2 distracting missteps in the drama. SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING.

A. Kevin is a dual citizen who's mostly lived in America all his life. His English should be perfect but it very much isn't. But tbh to a thai viewer it likely isn't noticeable and this is a thai production; that's the intended audience, not me. So I just used my imagination. It doesn't come up frequently.

B. The requisite separation trope in the last episode is always super annoying to me in kdramas & thai dramas, because it's such a cliche. At least in this case it was foreshadowed several times since early on that Kevin was NOT ready for commitment while Pleum was. (he clearly gets uncomfortable & ducks the question repeatedly when people bring up them being boyfriends. He's not a blushing maiden, this was reluctance to commit to staying in Thailand & settling down with Pleum, despite the connection, compatibility, and everything they went thru together) And it makes sense that he was too young to be brave enough to take such a leap and hadn't made peace with his 1st love Jake's death. So for once, the separation 100% made sense and I wasn't even upset by that part! My issue was how they executed the rest. Frankly, I disagree with the writing choices. I guess they were going with the idea that Kevin was resigned to having missed out. He feels like it's too late. But I hated that they had Pleum waiting for years for Kevin to be ready and it just didn't feel certain to me that they would have reunited except by chance. Like, I wanted Kevin to choose to go to him, full-stop. Not accidentally run into him, sorry that's bullshit to me. Yes, Kevin kept a momento of their time together. Yes, he obviously wasn't over Pleum. But to me it also felt like he was just prepared to move on and never see him again. No me gusta.

There's a romantic sensual reuniting scene and Pleum seems confident that he's not going to let his man go anywhere again. And Kevin is ready to say goodbye to the memory of his 1st love and admit Pleum is the one for him. I did buy-in on the idea that they experienced something truly formative together that no one else would understand. In the end, I did feel like Kevin would make a home with him now. So it's definitely a happy ending. But.. It really annoys me because without this misstep, if they had executed the separate & unite differently, this would be a fav drama I'd rec to everyone.