#QAF S4

[im-some-lionheart]

This fucking moment right here!!!! This is the moment when Brian finally understands that him and Justin are endgame. That Justin is it for him. That no one ever has nor ever will be a more perfect match for him than Justin.

Because only Sunshine can take care of him while also calling him "a mother fucking piece of shit". And mean it. Mean both things at the same time: you're a fucking asshole and I still choose to love you. Only Justin can see through him, and accept him and love him for who he is, while also challenging him and rising to his level.

And I think this is the key difference between how Justin relates to Brian vs how other characters do. Even the other characters who have some romantic feelings for Brian, like Michael and (arguably) Linds. To them, "loving and accepting Brian for who he is" means "playing by his rules". They let Brian dictate the dynamic of their relationship to him, and they mold their expectations to fit that.

But Justin doesn't do that.

Yes, he sees and understands and accepts who Brian is, and he loves him for it. But he's also the first and only character to ever challenge Brian's bullshit. Not just call him on it, like we see many characters do many times (Debbie, Michael, Linds...). But actually challenge it.

Everyone else just takes Brian's rules at face value. Some, like Mel, out right reject Brian's rules. Others, like Linds and Michael, accept them (either passively or begrudgingly) in order to keep Brian close. But they all still accept that "that's just who Brian is" and that's how things are with him.

But where everyone else takes Brian's rules as immobile, Justin is the first and only one to say, "ok, we'll do things your way, BUT we're also doing them my way". He bring his own set of rules to the table. He negotiates with Brian. And he does so multiple times throughout the show: when he tops Brian, when he asks for the no-kissing-others rule, when he convinces Brian to let him intern at Vanguard... And in this moment as well.

This moment is Justin telling Brian yet again, "Ok, we'll do things your way (angry and cursing at each other and with you trying to keep me at arms length bc it scares the shit out of you to be this vulnerable), BUT we'll also do them MY way (you'll let me in and I'll take care of you, because I fucking love you, you fucking asshole)."

And I think this is the moment it finally sinks in for Brian: that Justin loves him in a way that no one else has before. In a way that probably nobody else ever will: understating and respecting him, but also challenging him. This is the moment Brian realizes that Justin loves him exactly the way that he needs to be loved.

And I think that's beautiful.

[behindthesefangirleyes]

“My house has many rooms; I occupy but a few. The rest go unvisited.”

- Lindsay Peterson, Showtime’s “Queer As Folk”

[queerasfolkgifs]

[libertykinney]

the sideburn crimes in qaf can never be forgiven

[brian-kinney-apologist]

idk if im insane (probably) BUT the way louis is lying in bed made me immediately think about that episode in s4 of qaf where brian and justin were randomly lying the same way in their bed for no aperant reason 😭😭

[whence-the-woody]

Unpopular qaf opinions:

Brian and Justin ended up together and if you don't think so you didn't watch the show

All of brians friends almost exclusively treated him like shit.

S5 Ted was the best friend to Brian

Mel and linds should've stayed broken up

The way they especially treated Brian was fucking heinous. Especially with how they then treated Michael.

Debbie also mostly treated Brian like shit. Better then Joan does not equal a good mother

The cancer arc should've been all of season 4

75% of season 5 is bad

I'm glad emmett ended single

Linds fucking a man was totally in character. The writers fucked up not just saying she was bi.

Michael did not deserve Hunter

I don't ship emmett and drew

Leda should've stuck around and been besties with Brian

I hate the cigarette kiss. Also the s4 chair sex. Also 2x19 kiss. Also that one against the loft pole. Yknow the one.

Sure I'll add more as I remember them

[submissiveness]

Hey! Thanks for all the great posts you do. :)

I’m on my first watch of queer as folk, and am obsessed. I just finished season four and didn’t hate it at all, though I did notice a big dip in quality from the first three seasons.

I’ve heard season five is a train wreck. Would you mind sharing your opinions about whether it’s still worth to watch to see these wonderful characters all the way to their canon end, or is it better to avoid the hot mess and just read some really good fanfiction?

I know how it officially ends, so I’ve already come to grips with that final episode, I just am wondering if I would be able to take a whole season of seeing horrible writing or characterization if it really is that bad

omg hiii ☺️

i'm so happy u like my posts!

i've said this before but i wish i cld watch qaf for the first time again.

i think my favorite seasons are the first two so i get it.

i rewatched a few episodes from s5 months ago and i liked it more than i remembered. at least more than s4 i think lol.

i remember not loving the ending at first. just bc it seemed like everyone got a "happy ending" except for brian and in a way justin.

as time has passed, i rly like the open ending and it makes sense for the characters.

i was typing more abt the other characters but then i realized they would be spoilers so i deleted it lol.

i'm still obsessed with the show so i really think u should watch it all. i don’t think it’s that bad. i just think s5 was too short for some of the storylines, they didn’t make sense, or they weren’t needed esp for the final season.

if u do, pls let me know ur thoughts!

i hope u like it! 💗

[winderlylandchime]

May I ask what are your favorite Britin fics? 🥺

Hello dear sweet anon!

I am always happy to share my QAF/Britin fic recs. I keep a collection going of my bookmarks at AO3 and try to keep them pretty well tagged. You can find that here but I’ll pull out a few that I find particularly enjoyable:

Pulse Point - a complete AU with trauma surgeon!Brian and EMT!Justin. By Xie

Unfold Me - a S5 canon divergent fic which honestly solves a lot of my issues with S5. By mornmeril

Monogamy - another S5 canon divergent fic which takes an entirely different approach and is full of the feels. By frayach

The Love Song of Brian A. Kinney - a post canon classic, one shot. By ipoiledi.

Counting Dollars - a gapfiller for between S3 and S4, one shot. Also by ipoiledi.

Catalepsis - lovely S3 canon divergent fic, lots of delicious hurt/comfort. By @lostcol

Forward - post canon one shot focusing on Brian. By @kinnenvy

Glowing Rooms - canon divergent at 122 - Brian moves to NYC and doesn’t go to prom, Justin is bashed anyway. One shot. Amazing. By ohmyjetsabel

Only Time - post canon series, honestly could be S6, absolutely brilliant. Also by Xie

Homecoming - honestly, you cannot go wrong with this writer but her main series (The One Where Justin Loses His Hearing) can be intimidating. These are two parts of that series that can be read as a standalone fic (two chapters). By LaVieEnRose

If you want some fantastic PWP, I highly recommend devil_on_your_shoulder27384

Also all of ivysunna’s fics are incredible but I love their canon fics such as we’d still worship this love (S2, canon compliant, outsider POV which is always fun for Britin) and their newest the heat of your electric touch (S4/cancer arc gapfiller, canon compliant).

Wait - set during S3, Justin has an HIV scare (open ending). By @thissugarcane

Also, if you are new to fic in QAF, I would be absolutely remiss if I didn’t direct you toward Myrna’s four part fic that is canon divergent after the end of S2 and is delicious hurt/comfort and alternating POV. It is partway down this archive page. Look for If You Needed Me (If You Needed Me / I Would Come to You / I’d Swim the Seas / For To Ease Your Pain). I encourage you to save it as PDFs because it is hard to track down.

Overall, I tend to bookmark fics where the premise is interesting (bonus points for hurt/comfort), the characters and their growth are central, and the characters must be in character (any changes to their character must be explained by growth or AU circumstances but honestly I love these characters and I want to read about them), and the writing is good. I don’t enjoy fics that are anti-character. I know those are popular in this fandom and I’m not going to yuck anyone’s yum, but I generally find every character on this show has something redeeming about them and they are all flawed. It’s far more interesting to me to explore that rather than have an outright villain. More than any other fandom, I tend to enjoy canon-based fics rather than complete AUs (I say as I’m partway through writing a complete AU).

Happy reading! If you read anything that you enjoy, come back and let me know your thoughts (from this list or anything else).

[sophsun1]

I’m currently rewatching qaf (you are partially to blame for it because of your gifs) and I finished S4 like two days ago. And now I’m trying to convince myself to start s5. Just because I want see the ily and proposal. I hate it so much because s4 is such a beauty (if we ignore the posse storyline). Honestly if they ended it there, I’d be okay ngl, I’m just not ready to break my heart by seeing Brian literally end up alone almost worse as in s1, especially because he had so much growth as a person. Why did the writers have to hate us and the cast and give us such a horrible last season/finale? I already know I’ll immediately go back to the beginning of s2 and second part of s3 to fix the bitter feelings.

Hey anon!

I'm glad my gifs are doing their job!

That's the million dollar question anon? Why did Cowlip write the final season that way?

To be honest it's very rare I watch S5 and if I do it's mostly 5.10 onwards, I avoid the final scene of Brian dancing on the podium to Proud like the plague because it always makes me cry that they ended his story arc that way. There's so much more joy and story telling richness to watching a character evolve and grow into someone better, someone they thought they could never be, finally finding peace, facing their fears and mistakes. Brian was barrelling towards that at the end of S4 he came so far both individually after the cancer/liberty ride arc and with his relationship with Justin. I just think Cowlip had a hard time letting go of the fuck boy Brian Kinney they crafted in S1.

I adore all of S3 it speaks to my angst loving heart so much and it will always be the superior season of qaf.

[inkedmuses]

re-adding:

Carlos reyes from 911 lone star — canon divergent since the events of s4 and 5 do not apply to him. Gabriel never died and he ain’t a ranger, he’s a detective now (it’s what he’s also really good at too)

exclusive:

Nikolai and Brandon from GOF muses are now ship exclusive to @soulwaned Brandon and Niko.

Brian Kinney from QAF is now ship exclusive to @soulwaned Justin Taylor.

[brlankinney]

I saw your post about the qaf wedding - did you really want them to get married at the end of the show and in those circumstances? It felt rushed and wrong to me. Totally out of character (even if we ignore the character growth brian showed through s4 and that was erased in s5). It felt wrong for Justin’s character to want marriage and monogamy (he’s 22!). Idk. I think marriage is something that would make sense far in the future but not then, not as they were at that point in time. I don’t ship them any less, I just think the marriage/wedding felt forced

hiii!

okay so i actually agree with you, they were right to call off the wedding for sure, but also i would very much have liked to see justin have a full on wedding with that suit on!!! i just rewatched the scene where they have their suits fitted and brian calls justin beautiful and honestly… justin looked so fucking good it’s a wonder brian didnt fuck him immediately

on the topic of weddings though, having just rewatched the show for the first time in years there’s 100% a world where them getting married was a good choice and i will stand by that. marriage looks different for everybody, the same way relationships do, and it would have made a lot of sense for them to get married but the show otherwise ending the way it did if we believe they stayed together (which i very much do). this way it allowed brian to lean into the character development we saw throughout the first 4 seasons while also acknowledging that their relationship was just different from the other couples’ and thats totally okay

[im-some-lionheart]

As much as I fucking love Queer as Folk with my entire heart and still regard it as one of the best show ever created about queer life (right up there with Sense8 and It's a Sin), I will never forgive them for having THREE textually bi/pansexual characters engage in bi/pan behavior IN THE SAME FUCKING SEASON, and still insisting on labeling them as either "Gay" and "Straight".

Hunter canonically had a crush on Brian. From the moment first he saw Brian, he flirted with him and tried to impress him, only stopping when Brian confirmed he had a boyfriend ("in a non-defined, non-conventional way, yeah"). But the second he got a girlfriend, everyone stared calling him "straight" and called it a day.

Drew canonically "had sex with every Texas cheerleader", and had a fiancée he claimed to love, but he still had sex with men "for fun". Until he fell for Emmett and decided to come out as "Gay". Which, I mean he could be. Some people don't realize their true identity until further in life and that's fine, but I feel that was another missed opportunity to explore less rigid views on sexuality, based on the character's experiences. And it's highly suspicious that it happened on the same season that the other two storylines about characters being attracted to more than one gender.

And, finally: Lindsay had a 10+ year old committed relationship with Mel, and had a threesome with her and Leda in s2 (thus proving it wasn't a demi thing about just Mel, but she's sexually attracted to women in general). Then, she became attracted to Sam in s4 and slept with him. But even before that, it was clear she had at least some romantic feelings for Brian during college, and they canonically slept together at least a couple of times (as mentioned in ep 1).

But when she questions the binary of "Gay" vs "Straight" to Brian himself, he tells her she has to choose, that she can't like both??? Which is honestly such bullshit, coming from Brian, of all people, given that:

a) he's is the most sexually liberated out of all the characters, and

b) his own personal policy is "unless I'm fucking you, [my sexuality] is none of your business". So why would he give a shit who anyone else is attracted to or decides to fuck (consensually) ?

Anyway. Other than that, that show is fucking perfect and I still love it, but goddammit is it frustrating to watch s4 as a bi person. It feels too much like they were building up to talk about the bi umbrella but chickened out at the last minute.

[oidickhead]

The little face Brian makes when Michael tells him Ben proposed... My aromantic heart cracked in two I've seen this film before I Get It it says

I'm happy for you and it's what you want and all I want is for you to be happy because I love you but love just does not mean the same to you and me and I keep losing you to romance, the people I love keep "growing up" and "settling down" like it's the natural normal progression of life but I don't get that and I don't want it and I just wish people didn't see platonic relationships as lesser than. I will always be lesser than.

[bisexualdawnsummers]

inspired by @witchunters

[libertykinney]

my constant battle when writing fic is trying to overcome the urge to send every single word I write in real time to anyone who will listen.... bestie leave some things to be revealed

[queerasfolkgifs]