#Larry is NOT cishet okay

[soencersocks]

I’ve thought about this for 2 weeks and only made it this morning.

[nerdby]

I’m not talking about the comics, that’s why I only referred to it as the mcu. And I have seen eternals, that’s why I didn’t list him in the characters with Valkyrie. I’m trying to point out the nuances u missed and instead of understanding a different perspective, u spew defensiveness and reduce my point down to something trivial. You can personally go around saying it’s biphobic, but I do not think it is, and have my reasons and arg as previously listed. It’s another perspective very worth noting, and that your view isn’t the ultimate objectively correct view.

Okay, I'm gonna go a bit off topic and I don't expect you to read any of it because you've already made up your mind about me, but here we fucking go.

I understand your perspective. I just disagree with it. Because, personally, I think even mentioning that Loki is bisexual is a HUGE fucking deal. I don't need to see him make out with a dude in order to feel validated, okay? I grew up in the 1990s when movies involving queer characters were considered adult films that were not suitable for children or teenagers. They were R-rated simply because the main characters were queer. No one talked about sexuality unless it was point out how sinful it was and we did not even breathe the words gender unless someone was pregnant. Bisexuality was a footnote in the pages of books on LGBT rights.

That is why shows like Glee and movies like I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry were once considered groundbreaking, and why I personally love them. Granted Chuck & Larry would literally have no story if they had acknowledged bisexuality in the first place, but the thing is that bisexuality was too edgy for cinema back then. It would have made the movie less marketable because it would have alienated both biphobia queer people and cishet people. So when that movie was released and there was positive, laid back, funny representation of queer people -- representation that didn't paint queer people as pedophiles or murderers -- that's why me and my queer friends were ecstatic. Because even though the premise was flawed, it was a step in the right direction because it helped normalize queerness.

That's why I'm over the fucking moon just to see Loki come out even if he's in a straight-passing relationship. Especially because like I said, the MCU is currently under Disney's control and until the 2010's Disney has been notorious for only putting out queer-coded villains. Since Loki is a hero by the end of season two, that is a BIG fucking deal especially to queer people my age.

It doesn't matter whether or not you're talking about the comics, though, because like or not the MCU would NOT exist if it weren't for the comics that had been leftist reading material since 1941. So they are 100% relevant to this conversation.

The Sylki ship really upsets antis: People who think that just because something is taboo that makes it bad when in reality it's just a nod to the comics that the Loki series is based on. Specifically the 2011 arc Thor: Journey Into Mystery.

And bisexuals and queer people in general are not monoliths. We're gonna disagree on stuff. I've known I was bisexual since I was nine years old. I know from real life experience that bisexuals don't fall in love with everyone within a ten foot radius. Which is something I have been accused of in real life by insecure dumbasses. So, yes, I probably have some trauma I need to work through regarding that and if you've never encountered that kind of biphobia in real life then you are very lucky. That's why the idea of people perpetuating that myth is upsetting for me. That's not something I like to advertise because I think there is nothing stupider someone could do than advertise their triggers to an entire platform full of trolls, bigots, and bullies.

But I have nothing against Lokius shippers themselves. They can ship whoever they want -- that's the entire point of fanfictions and fan art and blah blah blah.

I don't seek out their blogs and harass them because of the ships they like. Or dislike.

When I see content I disagree with I just keep right scrolling and stay out of the comments so I don't say anything stupid or impulsive and start arguments like a petty child. This, however, is MY blog and I'm not going to censor myself for anyone. I'm allowed to say that something upsets me.

Now, I'm going to ask that you either stop sending me asks or else block me before I block you. Because this conversation has triggered my PTSD, and I'm not in the mood to continue it.

[non-binharry]

hi ! i recently found you, which i’m excited about as i’ve always felt that harry isn’t cis, but not really sure how or if i should even speculate on that because i’m not trans. i just don’t want it to come across as fetishizing or disrespectful in any way. i don’t agree with everything you talk about (i unlarried a while ago, i think he does have multi gender attraction, i don’t think haylor or camille were “stunts”) but i do really love a lot of what you have to say! what made it seem the most clear that he’s trans was when his friend said he asked her to call him H, that just made it seem to me that he’s not always comfortable being referred to by his birth name. also, idk if this is a dumb question but i was wondering if you think harrys shared this with people close to him or if he’s just keeping it to himself if that makes sense lol

okay so i've actually been having a discussion with my friend carla recently because apparently the same thing is happening with one of the members of bts. but there's nothing wrong with wondering about someone's gender identity. i think there's a question of "what are your reasons for believing this to be true?" that can get messy real quick if you're building your curiosity off of a misguided perception, but i'm never going to knock someone who genuinely means well from deviating away from cisnormative thinking. it's a step in the right direction to stop viewing every single person as cis until said otherwise. just don't be invasive. (i know the irony of me saying that when that's literally what everyone who hates me thinks i do here on the blog but no <3)

as for your question, i think it's definitely something he has opened up about with his mom and gemma for sure. i feel like at this point he's probably discussed it with harry lambert, maybe even alessandro. probably a few close friends. he definitely keeps his secrets close and i think with this, even closer.

[causticsunshine]

half the time i’m like listen: abolish gender roles and let people dress and look how they want regardless of gender presentation and orientation ok not let’s normalize xyz and abolish this toxic pressure on people to conform

but then the other half of the time i’m like gdi listen: no cishet person is capable of having this kind of flair, this kind of Energy™️!! my authority is that i’m gay and thus i’m right

[louisadmirer-archive]

.

[thesuperiorlokiseries]

(1/2) You guys have renewed some of the hope I had lost in storytelling and people taking stories and characters like this seriously (thanks Marvel, Disney). The more time that passes and the more I hear people praising the Show in one breath and either ignoring or dismissing or sneering at Loki's characterization in Thor 1/Avengers/Thor 2 in the next breath, I can't help but feel that the Loki we got in those three films was a happy accident almost. Because it's obvious that outside of our

(2/3) outside of our (apparently) small corner of the fandom nobody actually cares about him or what he went through or that characterization, and it's disheartening. It just feels, every time I am reminded of the absolute retcon Loki's character went through and people just going along with it and the assholes who have shown just blatant disrespect and maliciousness towards him and his fandom get rewarded, (3/3) it feels like the universe is saying, "This thing that you have become so deeply emotionally invested in, and that you love, and you connect with on a fundamental level, this thing that has given you comfort and has been a source of strength and identity for years, yeah this thing is actually garbage and if you like it then you're wrong." It's just super hard so the fact that you're doing this project is amazing and... thank you. (okay im done)

Thank you so much for the support, sorry that it took us this long to answer, and by the gods do we all feel you. All I can really say, though is this: welcome to the hellscape that is late-stage capitalism.

There are a thousand tumblr posts that talk about this in detail and in multiple different contexts, but it probably cannot be illustrated any more poignantly than with the Loki Series: what we're getting in the name of movies/shows aren't stories, but content, and shitty content at that. Disney and the MCU simply do not care about character arcs or narratives - the sole motive that keeps them churning out project after soulless project is how much money they can squeeze out of each. And since it's the MCU - the most popular film franchise out there, and owned by Disney on top - they can and do pay critics to praise their trash relentlessly, and even if they didn't, there's always going to be far too many people blindly willing to eat up whatever garbage they produce.

They knew how massive and dedicated Loki's fanbase is, they knew exactly how willing far too many fans were to accept even the barest scraps of Loki content, and they knew exactly what to do to keep us willing to watch it - the sheer amount of manipulation that occurred in the trailers and the interviews is frankly insane, and most certainly very, very deliberate. Moreover, Loki is a queer, heavily-other coded, abused character whose most dedicated fanbase consists of women, queer people, neurodivergent people, and other minority groups - it is not a new phenomenon that showrunners actively go out of their way to sabotage characters whose fanbases don't consist primarily of NT cishet men, and are we really surprised the megacorporation still funding Florida's Don't Say Gay bill might torture, dehumanize, and humiliate a queer character on his own show?

In retrospect, it's ridiculous that so many of us - me included, I will admit - actually hoped that the MCU of all possible franchises might give us a decent show about a queer, traumatized, othered victim of abuse who's always represented deviance and rebellion against the status quo. Nobody could have expected the Larry Show to be this nightmarish, but a decent Loki Series... realistically wasn't going to happen in the hellscape that was the year of our lord 2021, not one made by Disney.

Of course, this isn't nearly limited to Disney - Amazon's recent Rings of Power series immediately comes to mind. The Peter Jackson movies had their flaws, but the LOTR fandom almost unanimously loves them because it's evident how much care was poured into the project. The Amazon series, though? HAH.

So while the universe isn't telling us anything, Disney - and Amazon and Netflix and every other corporation you can think of, really - and their bootlickers most certainly are. "Oh, so you want characters and narratives that represent and resonate with you? You want arcs that are satisfying and meaningful? You're dissatisfied with consuming and paying for our garbage content and actually want something that's fulfilling and impactful and made out of any motive beyond relentless profit? Hah, lol no."

Does that mean that they're right?

Hell no. What we all desire and deserve are not products but stories - ones where character arcs and themes actually matter, ones with messages and characters that truly resonate with us, ones crafted and told with love - because stories have connected us all since way before the dawn of human civilization, because stories are inherently a part of humanity, and because capitalism has no right to destroy that, especially not the story of the god of them.

This project is, and always will be, a gigantic fuck you to them all.

[menhera-worm]

Rant incoming

I think what rly bothers me about how most sm//osh fans on here is that they treat all the cast members(and crew just not as much) like children who can’t do anything.

Especially in regards to shipping n whatnot. RPF has always and probably will always be a thing in fandoms surrounding irl creators, while it can go too far(Septiplier, Larry) it isn’t the norm most of the time. Crazy obsessive fans exist for all ships RPF or not but fandoms act like it’s only an issue when it’s irl ships.

Lots of people here in the sm//osh fandom seem to think shourtney or courtmien are like the WOSRT possible thing to have come from the community when that’s literally so dumb. With the amount of ppl saying we shouldn’t baby these grown adults(the whole saige Shayne discourse) they sure love to baby them without directly saying it, Shayne and Courtney are grown ass adults, they can make choices for themselves including what they are comfortable with at their jobs.

The fact most of the shourtney tag here is filled with ppl bitching over the ship then actual shippers say a lot about how weird ppl get over things that are easy to just ignore, so what if the channel is using it for clicks? It works obviously and they are a company of course they would do what makes money, no one is forcing the cast to do these things anymore if they don’t like it they have the power and right to say so.

(Also the fact ppl STILL treat shourtney like a m/f or “token cishet” ship even tho court has come out as queer + non-binary is fucked, respect their identity and sexuality at least when ur ranting. Especially since I myself am bisexual n non-binary and get the same treatment from ppl who just assume. Okay cool thankies)

Anyway rant over, this isn’t about anyone specifically more just what I’ve observed from the uh community on here. Anyway slay happy pride and take ur medication

[songsofhome]

A brief brief on me...

Why would a grown ass and dare I say it middle aged woman start blogging about two boybanders that she has come to believe are in and have been in a long-term relationship for a decade now, while the entire world seems hell bent on denying/covering up that very fact. 

An excellent question, and I’m pleased you’ve asked it...

My daughter is responsible for introducing me to 1D/Larry and the fandom, (and her and I will be having words about that later), but the reason I jumped headfirst down the hole, was I saw a remarkable change in my very quiet, introverted teenage daughter, and I needed to figure out the source of that change. 

Cue months of research/laughter/anger/frustration/tears/warm heart fuzzies, (possibly too much time on my hands at some point) and here we are. 

This band, these two lads especially, and a large portion of this fandom gave my child the confidence to find her voice when it comes to who she is and who she wants to be. She has the confidence now to say ‘you know what mum, calling myself a cishet white girl does not make me happy or comfortable’, she has no idea what part of that statement she’s not happy with at this point, but she is gaining the confidence to ask herself those questions, and see where they take her. 

It’s very clear to us that Harry and Louis are and have been communicating in any way they can possibly get away with, they want fans to hear them, to listen to them, if they can’t say it with their voices, they’ll say it through their actions.  These actions (and voices)  have helped my daughter find her voice, and any time nasty anons, the media, the gp try to drown out H&L’s true message, they’re also trying to drown out my child’s voice and the voices of millions of others quietly screaming to be heard, and I’m not okay with that. 

So yeah, you bet your ass I’m gonna blog about them, I’m gonna cut through all the bullshit surrounding these two and I will throw my support at them in spades till it hits them squarely between those beautiful eyes of theirs. I will add my voice in support of the struggles for change and acceptance the LGBTQ+ community still fight on the daily. I bid a fond farewell to the pink frilly girly image I didn’t know I was holding onto of my daughter, and embracing and loving the badass person she is becoming thanks to one boyband and two boybanders that helped her find her voice.  

[maraariana01]

hello ace attorney community 💜✨

My name is Mara / Springle n im hyperfixating on the funnie gay lawyer game sjdhdkfj,,, im relatively new to this fandom. currently looking for some uhhhh ace attorney mutuals bc i dont rlly have any 👉👈 (or ace attorney blogs in general to follow ! )

• but before interacting PLEASE read my DNI list right here. i dont want any nasties followimg me. i WILL block you.

• Apollo, Klavier, Simon, Nahyuta and Mia Simp™ ,,,,look they're very cute and im very gay, nothing more to say gdjfhjf

• i would die for Gumshoe and Sebastian

• Some of my ships include WrightWorth, Klapollo, Blackmadhi, Maya x Franziska (i forget the ship name) , Athena x Junie

• no one in ace attorney is cishet except Manfred and Larry. but Larry's okay he can stay.

• please do Not touch my blog if you ship Athena x Blackquill it makes me uncomfy as hell,,,,,,

i think that's about it,, promo me perhaps? thank u <3

[stina-is-a-punk-rocker]

becky albertalli’s ‘simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda’: a review, amongst other things

I walked into Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda fully prepared to hate it. I’d read it a grand total of one (01) time before, way back in December 2019, with very high expectations that were dashed to smithereens halfway through. On my first reading, I found it terribly cliché, vapid and utterly undeserving of the multitude of four- and five-star ratings on Goodreads.

I’m still iffy about those ratings (it’s a solid two-point-five, three at best for me), but I didn’t hate it as much the second time around. Maybe it was because my expectations were so low that the only way it could go from there was up. You could say that I almost… enjoyed it.

That didn’t stop me from scribbling a page of complaints, though.

I’ve seen many reviews hailing the book as a win for the LGBTQ+ community, for BIPOC, for YA fiction. And Albertalli’s certainly done a better job of writing the character of a homosexual male than certain others. Simon’s whole coming-out crisis is definitely relatable, and it’s definitely a relief to have a character who’s accepted their sexuality instead of one who spends roughly 200 pages whining, “bUt HoW cAn I LiKe BoY wHeN I aM bOy??”

And yet it can be so tone-deaf in other parts.

The most glaring example is at the start of the book (I doubt this constitutes as a spoiler), where Simon says (lmao), about lesbian and bisexual girls: “I think it’s different for girls. Maybe it’s easier. If there’s one thing the Tumblr has taught me, it’s that a lot of guys consider it hot when a girl is a lesbian.”

Yes, the really says ‘the Tumblr’. And it’s not the last time, either.

I find it hard to believe that Simon, a gen-Z if my calculations serve me correct, has a Tumblr account and doesn’t know about Phan, Drarry, Destiel (RIP), Larry Stylinson (yikes) and the other staple gay OTPs of gen-Z Tumblr culture. If there’s one thing the Tumblr has taught me, it’s that there are way too many gay male ships with a brunette and a blond, with predominantly female fans.

Granted, Simon’s talking about their school’s gossip blog in particular, but that can’t be the only blog he follows.

Because fetishization is so easy, am I right, ladies?

You might bring up the ‘death of the author’ paradigm; Simon’s views ≠ Becky Albertalli’s; Simon is a teenage boy and teenage boys are generally idiots- and yet it feels like this is something the author genuinely believes, because she’s also included Simon being A-okay and even flattered by his friend Leah’s gay fanart and fanfic obsession. Yeah… no. Fetishization of queer people is creepy and dehumanizing and I’ve yet to meet a single queer person who’s on board with the idea of cishets doing so.

Also, the fact that he warmed up to Martin even while he was being blackmailed is something no actual closeted queer would do, ever. I’m pretty sure I’m speaking for loads of queer people when I say that being out to someone you don’t trust is a literal nightmare- even worse when they use that against you. And this motherfucker’s all like, “Well yeah, he’s threatening to out me to everyone if I don’t set him up with my best friend, but he’s kinda funny :) I think we could be friends.”

Simon- fuck you, you smoothbrained numbskull.

Another thing I found cringey was how many pop culture references were thrown in. Why, on god’s green earth, would you name a dog Bieber? For one, that’s a godawful name; for another- Justin Bieber? Really?

I consider myself a pretty avid fan of Harry Potter (here I will insert the obligatory ‘fuck you, JKR’), and whenever I see a reference thrown in, I feel like that one Spider-Man meme. And yet there were way. too. many. in this damn book. Seriously. We get it. Simon’s a Potterhead. That’s enough.

Also, I’m obligated to cancel anyone who likes Reese’s cups. They’re fucking vile.

Other attempts at gen-Z-ing that made me want to fling myself into the nearest black hole: every time Simon said ‘I can’t even’; a pop-punk band called ‘Emoji’ (!!! the way I cringed !!!); ‘the’ Tumblr (yeah, I’m never letting that go); Nora unironically saying ‘OMG’ in a verbal conversation; the absolute LACK of One Direction references (see, this is why I love John Green); amongst others.

Simon’s got zero personality outside of his sexuality. In case you didn’t catch it the eight thousand times it was mentioned, Simon is gay. And… that’s about it.

Leah’s annoying and yet I’m ashamed to say I can sort of see where she’s coming from (I’ve had a long and illustrious history of being left out and ignored by my friends, but this is neither the time nor place to discuss my childhood trauma, so I’ll leave it at that). Her enmity with Abby was unnecessary and uncalled for. Nick’s… a Jewish guitarist? And that’s about it? Abby’s cute and quirky and lovable and I love her. Martin’s a bag of dicks plus more. It was pretty obvious to me who Blue was; if you’ve read a YA book, ever, it’s the easiest thing to guess.

The characters were painfully one-dimensional. I can imagine them existing in that particular story, but I couldn’t tell you a single thing about them outside of it. It’s like they don’t exist outside of those pages- they couldn’t be actual people, if that makes sense (it probably doesn’t, but humor me).

The family dynamic between the Spiers was believable and pretty well-written (says me, who has zero siblings). I liked how the diversity didn’t feel contrived- just enough information to tell you that Abby and Bram were black, Nick was Jewish, Blue was half-Jewish, amongst others (funnily enough, when I first read it, I thought the exact opposite). The dialogue between characters felt pretty natural, too.

In conclusion: was Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda a perfect LGBTQ+ novel? I’ve read objectively better works on Ao3 (seriously, those of you who look down on fanfiction are missing out on some quality stuff), but it’s a pretty standard Wattpad-worthy story. It has its issues, and it’s far from the best thing I’ve ever read, and it’s not going on my favorites list anytime soon. You’re not missing out on anything if you choose to not read it, I can guarantee you that. But it’s a decently fun read, and perfect if you want something to while away an afternoon- it’s hardly going to take up too many hours to get through.

And would you look at that- I finally managed to write a review without a single spoiler (admittedly, there’s nothing to spoil outside of Blue’s identity, but let me have this).

[ziamrightnow]

okay you reblogged that one post about getting asks so here goes: MY IRL IS A FAN OF HARRY AND SHE'S GIVING ME HET HARRIE VIBES I MEAN SHE'S NOT THAT TOXIC KIND SHE'S ACTUALLY REALLY NICE BUT YOU KNOW SHE'S THAT FAN WHO WOULD WANT TO MARRY AND HAVE KIDS WITH HIM AND ITS SO DISTURBING ITS NONE OF MY BUSINESS AND I KNOW I SHOULDNT MIND AND I TOLD HER IM A LARRIE AND I THINK IN THE BEGINNING SHE STARTED BELIEVING ME BUT NOW BECAUSE OF THE HOLIVIA THING SHE'S COMPLETELY CONSUMED THE+

+CISHET HOMEWRECKER SLEEPS WITH BOSS TO GET JOB HARRY AND I FEEL SO TERRIBLE THAT PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY BUYING ALL THAT BULLSHIT AND I FEEL SO BAD FOR HARRY AND ALL ARTISTS THAT HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS SHIT AND I HATE EVERYONE IN THE INDUSTRY SO FUCKING MUCH RIGHT NOW SALMON COWBELL JEFF PR AZOFF I HATE EVERYONE i should really learn how to use fullstops huh

Alright, that does remind me of an encounter i had not that long ago where i met friends of my brother who were solo harries too and how my brother started talking about how 3/5 of 1d are dads now, that was awkward. That only shows that their strategy is working and why they're doing it in the first place. People like them (especially like that person you know) are pretty much the reason why we get stunts in the first place, it sells better to the GP. It is quite disgusting but it works :/ and it honestly feels really weird every time i meet/hear about a fan who believes that stuff because it's so obvious and it's sad that even though she knew about larry she still believes in stunts because you can't say "she just doesn't know better". Either way thinking about someone you don't even actually know in that way is kinda weird.. (and honestly borderline stalkerish)

[travisphelpsofficial]

Wait what about Steve putting racist and homophobic stuff in the game? I still haven’t had a chance to watch chapter 5 yet :( what happened?

This'll spoil the plot 1000% but it was easier for me to watch after hearing about it first, because I knew what was coming.

TW: racism, homophobia, self-harm, child abuse

Travis' whole story being about how he's violent & homophobic because he's in the closet is a homophobic stereotype from the jump. Most people who make homophobic jokes are just that, homophobes. To imply otherwise makes it harder for gay men to both come out, and critique those who make homophobic comments about us.

Personally, I also feel like the joke Sally made in the bologna incident is very, very out of place ("do you kiss your dad with that tongue?") given that Travis' dad is a) obviously abusive b) known to be homophobic and c) what most cults are known for doing to children. But that's not a common complaint people have.

Travis is never allowed to be happy, as a Brown gay man, he is abused throughout his time in the game. Which is, not okay, at all.

He dies trying to kill his father. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand and wanted his dad to be killed off, but Travis didn't have to die for it to happen.

That 1/3 of the cannon gay characters dead, and one of the few Black/Brown characters dead as well.

Todd's only character traits are that he is a nerd and gay. He does not have any kind of real story to him. He's just the token gay in the main 4.

The trauma p*rn only continues when Steve decides that, Todd, again one of the few pieces of representation in the game, needs to become a demon. (Which,, one could argue has a religiously homophobic tone to it... "oh he's gay let's make him a demon!!")

That's 2/3 gay characters and he doesn't technically die, but he's tortured and only exists to be gay, smart, and become a demon.

Neil, one of the few Black characters, and the last canon gay man is killed. Violently by the cult. His dead, naked, bleeding body is shown during one of the last scenes, for quite a while.

This demonstrates the bury your gays trope and that Black and Brown people truly only exist for Steve Garbage to torture. Extremely distasteful and ignorant.

Neil's only character traits also just so happen to be: Being gay, being kind, and being Todd's boyfriend. Not a well rounded character at all.

The fact that Neil was written to be so calm in the face of death, was also very disturbing. Sal didn't really want to die, Larry only killed himself because he had to, and Todd but up enough of a fight that he didn't get eaten up by a demon, but Neil, one of the 2 Black characters just accepts that he needs to die. All the white characters put up some kind of fight, but Neil, like the kind Black man that he is, just accepts death. Weird!

He kills off Robert, too (in chapter 4) and he's like the only other Black character we see more that once.

This isn't racist or homophobic, but the fact that he makes it so Ash has to try to kill herself in order to bring Sal back, is fucking awful. It comes out of nowhere and is very triggering.

Apparently he said that their high school mascot was a "Native American". I've never seen that, but I've heard people talk about it and obviously that pretty fucking racist.

THEN he decides that he'll add this weird as Native American lore into the fucking story?? And the legend he writes for it so misguided, racist, and ignorant, it sounds like something you'd write in second grade in a southern elementary school. I feel like we probably wrote shit like that at some point, and I still knew was wrong.

There's this fucking girl in a cave and she's got tribal tattoos and is like "my ancestors made these cave paintings" !! What!!

Natives don't have a universal culture. Not all of them did cave paintings. Not all of them believed in certain kinds of deities. Not all of them had tattoos. It's a gross generalization of a hundreds of cultures. It's racist.

He also tried to make it sound like the legend, that his dumbass wrote, was just some crazy Native jibberish. He has the legend written out, and then is like, yeah that's probably fake but they believed it any way.

All of this culminates into giving the cult part of that "oh ancient Native American demons better watch out!!" Trope. Which is, again, racist as fuck.

The end of the game leaves a lot to be desired and just fucking sucks honestly.

The game just ended up being torture p*rn made by a cishet white man, who obviously has a lot of bigoted tendencies lying beneath the surface.

* let me clarify that torture p*rn rarely conveys NSFW attributes and has a purpose of putting certain minority groups into painful/torturous situations and usually gives way to a white savior complex.

In this instance, Ash & Sal, two cishet white individuals "save" the town from a cult run & created by Brown people at the expense of the lives & souls of all of the Black, Brown and/or gay civilians (that we know of), which is a small price to pay, for them.

The fact there was never even the slightest "this game contains sensitive content, proceed with caution and care" at any point also rubs me the wrong way. Like, okay you don't want to spoil the game or lose revenue because very few people would buy a game with such fucked up views in it, but a small warning was more than necessary. Especially so considering this game ended up attracting a fan base filled with individuals that would be directly harmed by the shit.

I could go on, and on, and on about my personal grievances about how the game was written, how little research was obviously done etc., etc. but those are the main problems with it.

[non-binharry]

Hello asia! I'm going to title this essay "Why Boyfriends is about Louis - and that's okay!" by a friendly neighboorhood trans larrie. So let's give some background shall we? If you look at lyrics in the LCU (Larry Cinematic Universe) we can all see the main problem that has come up in their relationship: communication. I'll get into specific examples later but that's what it boils down to. As someone who has been here since 2012, I don't see anything in their lyrics to be about cheating, abuse, etc. So after a few listens of Boyfriends and reading the lyrics, I came to the conclusion that it's definitely about Louis and it's all about the lack of communication Harry felt he was getting during a difficult time. But what time, you may ask? Well, dear reader, in my humble opinion all their relationship troubles are not about cheating, feeling abused, break ups w.e angst wank people seem to think gay relationships can't get through like straight ones. No, imo it lies in a complicated mix of two big things: closeting, and Harry's gender identity. *for disclaimer purposes to cishets already offended by now: saying Harry is trans could mean a variety of things. His pronouns could be he/they/she but there is no denying that in the past 12 years of Harry bring in the spotlight, his relationship with gender is there and something that trans fans have picked up on, just like the gay ones who picked up on their relationship. This is just one person's interpretation of their songs so if you don't agree please ignore it. And be kind*

So, you might say, what do you mean, dear anon? Gender in the LCU? More likely than you think! I want to preface by saying that I analyze LCU songs on what I believe happened between them: they were feeling the restraints of their closet early on 2012-14 and were bad at communicating their feelings about it (Louis personality makes me think he's very much the "lets ignore our problems so we dont dwell on them" type man), but during all that Harry was also dealing with gender dysphoria and felt like Louis was shutting him out so he had no one to talk to. So when Harry finally opened up about it, Louis felt awful for not being there for him. Too Young reads as a big apology for all of that but I'll get back to that later. Take Walls and how its about Harry. Verse 1: "nothing wakes you up like waking up alone, and all thats left of us is a cupboard full of clothes" (very clearly referring to a closet with "us") "the day you walked away and took the higher ground was the day that I became the man that I am now". Now bear with me here: imo this entire intro is Louis describing their relationship as they deal with Harry's gender identity. Why? Because look at the word "higher ground". When do you go to higher ground? When flooding happens aka water disasters. Water, which has literary themes of rebirth when you emerge from it, is a big theme in Harry's music videos. Specifically with Falling with him underwater lamenting about his identity. He's drowning, feeling worthless, "what if I'm someone you won't talk about?". I believe Falling is about Harry feeling the lows of being trans, overthinking how it affects Louis, and the music video reflects that. Now back to Walls. The day Harry was able to escape the drowning (gender acceptance and euphoria) and take higher ground was the time Louis finally felt like they solved the worst of their communication issues and Louis could be "the man that I am now" in being an ultra supportive partner. The high walls Louis sings about is the way he used to box himself in from trying to deal with their problems (that he only thought was closeting but instead much deeper) but in the end they all came "falling" (*pointed stare*) down for Harry. Thats why he laments about "hurting who you love and no amount of words would ever be enough" when its literally the love of his life "you were my because". Louis has always been supportive of the trans community so I think he was kicking himself for a long time for not noticing what was happening with Harry. That's why the "thank yous" are so bittersweet. It was a painful but necessary wakeup call of not being there for his partner but they both grew from it. Perfect Now was born out of Louis giving Harry gender affirmations. Always You and We Made It are celebrating that they got through it together. But what about Too Young and Defenceless? Fear not! Because this is how they tie into Boyfriends. (2)

Boyfriends reads as Harry feeling unsupported Louis. In fact, think of it as Harry talking to a mirror about his problems after a hard day. Verse 1: "boyfriends, they think you're so easy, they take you for granted" The you is himself of course. Because of the lack of communication in their relationship, Harry felt like Louis wasn't paying attention to him. "They don't know they're misunderstanding you". This line speaks volumes to me. When you use "misunderstanding" it means that someone isn't understanding you correctly. But the boyfriend does not know that he's not understanding Harry correctly, right? Sound familiar to past themes in songs? As stated before Too Young feels like a big apology song by Louis for not being there for him. "I wish I could've seen it all along" stands as a mirror to the misunderstanding line. "I'm sorry that I hurt you darling" again for all the pain the lack of communication caused and not being there for Harry. And the rest of Too Young follows this apology theme that answers Boyfriends. The last line of the verse ends with "you, you're back at it again" and means Harry realizes the way the problem keeps coming back and he's just back to crying about it without solving it. (3)

Next verse goes "weekend, when you get deep in" could talk about how they both aren't working at the end of the week and Harry has time to get lost in his thoughts ( reminds me of "harry you're no good alone" from As It Was). "He starts secretly drinking, it gets hard to know what he's thinking" = Louis drinking with his lad friends where he's able to vent about their problems, but Harry wouldn't know about what they're saying because Louis doesn't vent to him. "You love a fool who knows how to get under your skin" Harry lamenting that Louis isn't open about their problems and goes to talk to others instead of trying to solve it themselves (Imo Defenceless tells Louis side of the story to Boyfriends with nod to "sleeping on our problems like we'll solve them in our dreams" and feeling shut out by Harry too). "You, you, you still open the door" when Louis comes home yet still not talking about their problems and it eats him inside. Verse 3 goes "you're no closer to him, now you're halfway home, only calling you in, don't wanna be alone, no and you go, why? You don't know". Again the theme of Harry not wanting to be alone, yet not feeling close to Louis, and questioning why he still goes through with it. Harry also sings is as "half way home" like the space in between that's just like the song Louis registered. I wouldn't be surprised if Louis Half Way Home song will have the miscommunication theme too. Verse 4: "Boyfriends, are they just pretending? They don't tell you where it's heading" and this reads like Harry feels as if Louis is just pretending to care for him at that point, and questions what's going to happen to their relationship. "And you know the games never ending, you, you lay with him as you stay in a daydream" and time for a "she" throwback! At this point everyone must know that She is all about Harry's gender journey. "She lives in daydreams with me" is a clear reference to this daydream line. Harry truly feels himself in those daydreams that Louis doesn't know about. And someone might listen to "boyfriends" and think "well why doesn't Harry just tell him?". If it was only so simple. Harry being trans could have made him scared of what that meant for his relationship with Louis. Would Louis break up with him? Would he look at him different? Would he not support him? Again this is the love of his life since he was 16. It can be incredibly scary to think Louis would leave him because he found his true self. It's very clear that Harry tends to think of worst case scenarios when he's hurting, and the fact he couldn't talk with Louis openly added onto those fears. They were already having problems because of what their closet put them through, so imagine Harry thinking it would be worse with a gender crisis. That's why he tells himself in the mirror "you're a fool, you're back at it again". It becomes a cycle of hurt once again as long as they don't talk. (4)

So now as this essay comes to an end, someone might ask "well who is to blame for their problems?". Let us not forget the real villain of the story: homophobia. The closet due to this gave them their biggest problems, and we can't even begin to cover what the homophobic world has done to gays mental health. Also Simon Cowell can burn. Now as for Harry and Louis? I think they both realized how bad their communication was and were able to solve it with each other. Louis tried to keep them happy in their closet by not talking about their problems caused by it, and while it was with good intentions, it ended up leaving Harry alone to deal with his gender identity. Harry's gender journey ended up (to no one's surprise) being fully supported by Louis once he knew, and it ended up making their relationship stronger. I believe Lights Up was born right after this, with the themes of "never going back" and the questions of "do you know who you are?" recurring about identity and feeling joy about finding yourself. It fills me with joy to know that Harry has a partner in Louis that loves him truly and was able to give him so much support over the years (that is obviously reciprocal you heathen rads). I truly believe Harry wouldn't be here without Louis. They are it for each other and always have been. So thank you Louis Tomlinson for being the partner all of us trans folk would want in our lives someday. No wonder H is so much in love with you.

[kazumahashimoto]

rating my family based on how homophobic they are

my dad: almost certainly calls people slurs. 0/10

my mom: she is "okay" with gay people she just doesn't think they deserve "special treatment". 0/10

my brother not pluto: calls people slurs in his free time, said "you have to admit gay people are pretty funny" in reference to me crying over how he makes fun of gnc gay men, thought i was attracted to my abuser, tried to explain to me fur one hour why he wasn't homophobic and how he knows more about gay people than me because he's older than me and he finds 1 man attractive (all while i was crying in front of him of course", name is Kenneth Patrick, ect. -10000000000/10 i hate you

my little brother pluto: gay 👍 10/10

old sister 1: bought the jeffree star and shane dawson pallets, bought herself and old sister 2 tickets to see harry styles in concert. 1/10 she gave me fruit in animal crossing once also her cats are cute

old sister 2: cishet, immature, rude, scares me, harry styles, a larry shipper at twenty years old, genuinely a bad person. 0/10 rot

little sister 1: pansexual. 5/10 she's fourteen

little sister 2: normal. 8/10 she's like eleven or twelve

conclusion: i'm in hell

[asterbi]

so I finished sally face

SALLY FACE SPOILERS (INCLUDING EPISODE 5) AHEAD

I played through the entire game two days ago (i had already watched both jacksepticeye's and gloomgames' lets plays for the first four episodes) and yeah, I know I'm a week and a bit late late, but I have some thoughts

Also I’m so sorry for how long this is, I know no one cares but I just started rambling and I couldn’t stop

First of all, criticism:

I'm getting real fucking tired of "ooOOooOOOoo a native american myth so scary and otherworldly" like dude shut the fuck up that's disrespectful as

Also (and please correct me if I'm wrong) I'm like 99% sure that the native american myth in question isn't real which. is somehow even worse

He buried his gays (tbh I wasn't that annoyed at this one because 1) at least one of the gays lived and 2) he buried pretty much everyone else too but I feel like it had to be said)

Now. Let me preface this by saying I loved travis' redemption, which I'll get more into later. However, I really didn't like the fact that travis' character played into the whole 'homophobes are gay' thing, which is a uhhhh vaguely problematic trope

The ending was unsatisfying. I'll get more into it in a sec

Larry was one of my favourite characters, and I know he's a fan favourite too. Considering the fact that he is a main character and he's been given a lot of attention and development, having him disappear at the end without any explanation and barely a reunion or a goodbye was an asshole move.

I would have loved to see some more worldbuilding and lore, especially getting into what exactly the red eyes plague did, why the cult wanted to summon red eyes, how the whole replacement thing worked, what happened with charley, and what exactly the whole mother tree thing was with larry

Ash's extremely triggering and graphic suicide. I understand this is a horror game. I understand that this sort of thing is expected and normal in horror games. But showing players imagery like that without so much as a content warning? That's not okay.

Some of the characters were left really underdeveloped. Sal and larry were great, and ash saw a lot of development in the last episode, but todd, neil, and travis, who were given a fair bit of attention as well, were pretty 2d (not so much travis, but still)

And now for things I enjoyed:

The entire game

Despite everything I said earlier, this is still one of my favourite games, and I really really loved it

Sal was a f a n t a s t i c character. 0% toxic masculinity, 12/10. I love the fact that he was so kind and calm towards everyone, even those who were rude to him, but still knew where to draw the line and wasn't a total pushover. I especially love the fact that even though he likes feminine things and wears pigtails and whatnot, he is a cishet guy. While more lgbt+ representation (particularly trans people and wlw) would've been great, I also like that the game shows that you don't have to be lgbt in order to be gnc, especially since the gnc person is both a man, and the main character, which is really uncommon. Also disabled representation!! That's really fucking awesome

Larry was also brilliant!! Loves metal, loves art, has a criminal record, cries during sappy movies, does drugs and dabbles in illegal activities, wants to go to college, is openly and unapologetically affectionate towards his friends and unafraid to tell them he loves them

Ash was not one of my favourite characters but I really love how she developed from sceptic to believer and the way she changed and faced her own problems, and to some extent had her own story (although it did rely fairly heavily on sal’s, which was :/ but then again everyone’s story relied on sal’s)

Okay so back to travis - I loved his redemption arc so much, because he was a redeemable character. I see so many characters who get redemption arcs that absolutely do not deserve them, but travis was a good person born into a horrible situation, and I’m glad they explored homophobia and abuse (although I’m not happy about the homophobes are gay thing like I said) and made him a hero at the end. I’m also glad that we got foreshadowing that it would happen, and it didn’t come totally out of left field

Speaking of which, props to steve gabry for not pulling an endgame and just throwing things in for shock value. Sal coming back in ep 5 was hinted at, travis’ redemption was hinted at, and of course the events of the first four episodes were hinted at because they were memories. Even ash and neil’s involvement in fighting the cult despite being a sceptic and someone totally ignorant about it respectively made perfect sense, and though the parallel universes thing and larry’s reappearance was a surprise, it still sort of fits with how the lore of the game works

The different game styles in episode 5 were absolutely out of this world. All of them were fantastic (although fuck you 3d sal you were Not fun to play), and I thought that was a really cool interpretation of the parallel universes thing

The writing was consistently really good throughout the whole game, and it genuinely makes you so attached to all of the characters, which makes the ending all the more upsetting

This is more personal but I really loved like. The Aesthetic of the game? It was so grungy and out there, and little things like the necrolight guitar and the super gear boy just added to this whole vibe of teenagers-trying-to-do-good-in-a-messed-up-world and I can’t explain it but it was great

The game really didn’t shy away from any aspects of horror, but it also did it in a really well written way that creeped you out without relying on random jumpscares, which was awesome. I mean they had e v e r y t h i n g - mass cannibalism, demonic rituals, cults, prophecies, murder, human sacrifices, suicide, nudity but in the creepy way not the sexy way (the random gory scene in ep 5 where neil and maple were hanging naked and dead upside down really startled me because I just didn’t expect it from this game and it just freaked me out more), aliens, creepy puppets which reminded me of dhmis, the list goes on

The main part in episode 4 where larry and sal are working together in different dimensions?? Poetic, amazing, 12/10

Final opinions: I absolutely loved the characters, the story, the general aesthetic of the game, and the art style and writing. Episode 5 was probably my least favourite episode, because I found the ending really vague and unsatisfying, although I absolutely loved all the different game styles. I also found that a lot was left vague and unanswered, and not really in a good way???? Also the representation and stuff was great (especially disabled rep, because that’s rare), but there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way :/ Still, sally face is one of my favourite games, and I’m so sad that the series has come to an end :(

[alwaysxyou]

hello maggie ^^ im a bit confused about smth.. (im kinda new): so when people say houie what do they mean? and why do people hate houies? isnt that like h(arry)+(l)ouis? and arent harries harry stans? like why do larries hate them? i thought most (if not all) larries were harries?... much confusion. help

hi cutie!! oh my god okay. 

a houie is someone who used to be a larrie but thinks theyre not together anymore. so basically an ex-larrie. people usually dont like them cause they can get nasty and holier than thou with like “~i saw the light~” bullshit. (an anti is someone who thinks theyre not together, usually people only use anti if the person is really nasty, like if you dont care i dont care, but if youre nasty about it youre an anti you know?)

harries is tricky, harries are harry stans yes. but a LOT of harries are het harries, meaning they constantly sexualize him and refuse to see the signs of him not being cishet, and all that. and a lot of them are very nasty to louis and to larries, and are just kinda..mean :( so the word has gotten a very negative connotation in the fandom. im for sure a harrie but im a harrie louie larrie, ya know? i love both of them equally but uniquely. but so yeah a lot of larries are harries too but it’s taken on a different meaning so not everyone uses it.