#also credit to bestie emma for pointing this out <3< /div>
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Awhile ago, my bestie @bellaswan-kinnie, who at the time was working on her thesis about female horror and mythology (which turned out amazing btw) made an observation regarding this scene:
In particular, she pointed out that the posters behind Mike, one for the 1975 film Jaws and the other for the stage adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors, might be there to offer additional queer-coding.
Vagina dentata, or toothed vaginas, is an old and multicultural myth, and "is rooted in the idea that the female body has hidden, dangerous secrets and that a man who has sex with a woman may risk castration."
This idea made it's way into modern horror, most literally in the 2007 film Teeth, a movie about a girl who literally has dick-biting teeth in her vagina, but the visual of a yonic monster with sharp teeth has appeared elsewhere, from Jaws, Little Shop of Horrors, to even the sarlacc pit of Star Wars.
So maybe Will just likes these two properties and has those posters in his room, but is it a coincidence that during a heart-to-heart with his gay boy bestie, where he says that he's been worrying too much about his girlfriend, that two symbols of fear of female sex is positioned squarely behind Mike's shoulders?
Gives a new meaning to "creature with a gaping mouth" doesn't it?
#my copy of men women and chainsaws has been returned to the library but i would def add a quote here#byler#stranger things#stranger things analysis#also credit to bestie emma for pointing this out <3#mike wheeler
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HELLO I JUST GOT THE QUARRY AND I HAVE MANY OPINIONS AND YES MOST OF THEM ARE ABOUT THE ABSOLUTELY SHOULD HAVE BEEN EMMA X ABI (don't get me wrong, their friendship is SO cute and them being canonical besties is still very precious, I just noticed something i think is worth mentioning)
(spoiler warning? Idk if its necessary cause it's been out for a lil while but if you're dumb like me and my brother and have only just got/played it then be warned)
So, as we are all aware, Nick gets infected like Chapter? 3? 4? Whatever it is... and proceeds to act Very Very Weird towards Abi, very grabby and sort of demanding her attention while also insulting her. But pretty much the very last thing he does is grab her and try to pull her into him before yknow ~flinging her~. All very uncomfortable, but remember the last thing he does in Wolf Delerium™️ before going full munch is pretty much force her to be right next to him when he's about to turn. And sure he wasn't aware of what he was doing but the game gives the impression that whoever's bitten kind of knows that nothing good is about to happen and that their personalities/insecurities are reflected in their changes.
I mean come ON that is such a fuckin predator-ass pose (sorry Nick I swear I don't hate him that much it's just this part makes it DIFFICULT to love him)
Now, I would like to compare that with this little tidbit I noticed in my run. Later in I think Chapter 8, Abi and Emma are in the storm shelter together with Emma infected (my bad babes, fucked up your QTE for you). The convo ain't pretty, although it's certainly not the levels of uncomfortable with Nick. But then! THEN! Something very interesting happens. Despite being angry and having just verbally lashed out at Abi, Emma? Staggers away?? From what I could tell she was quite literally seconds away from turning and just stops speaking before abruptly putting some distance between herself and Abi. And at this point honestly Emma knew about as much as Nick (maybe a bit more cause she's been told the basics but she hasn't actually seen a transformation, all her info is whatever Kaitlyn very quickly conveyed to Emma). All that's happened to her up to is she's had a couple run ins with werewolves and hidden in the van.
This is all a very longass way of saying I can't get it out of my head that Emma realised what was happening (or at least had figured out she was some sort of danger to Abj) and was trying to PROTECT her. When Nick was this far along, he was saying vaguely cannibalistic sentiments to Abi so I'm presuming atp Emma's having similar munchy thoughts, but instead of acting on them like Nick did she's putting distance between her and Abi. She's mere moments away from turning and somehow fights her instincts off long enough to keep Abi just a little bit safer from her. Kinda further emphasised by the fact that she very softly says 'Abi' before moving away from her in a kinda panicked way.
(Found the exact thing below so you can see what I mean, but I think she goes a bit further before physically collapsing)
I also think this is one of the only cases I know of where someone infected like actively moves away from their friends? Dylan comes the closest by telling Kaitlyn she has to get away (also hard to judge cause man's in stuck in a crane so I'll give him half credit on that one). But as far as I know Emma's the only one who in pretty much her final moments physically goes against the curse enough to try and get away.
ALSO VERY INTERESTINGLY, even after she turns, she takes...a very long time to get to Abi. You can hear the sound of her fully turning as Abi goes to the ladder. I'm gonna say tops this is like? 15 metres away? It's close enough that a human could close it in a few seconds, the werewolves can basically jump that distance in a second - if that. But it takes her (and yes I timed it) all of twenty seconds to actually reach Abi and drag her off the ladder. Abi has time to get halfway up, fall off, get BACK up and only after failing a mash QTE will Emma get her. And we KNOW Emma knew where she was cause she does look at Abi just before she runs to get away. Even giving a suitable amount of time for confusion, other werewolves haven't taken more than a few seconds before running off to do something - hell even giving her 10s (which is WAY more than any other werewolf in the game takes to get into action) she's still standing there doing nothing for another 10s.
Am I suggesting that Emma loves Abi so much she fought the urge to hunt her down long enough to give her 2 chances to escape? And that she tried to further that chance by moving just that little bit away from Abi before turning? Yes. Yes I wholeheartedly am.
Obviously this is just my interpretation of that event but!!! I maintain the evidence is there. But even if you don't perceive it as potentially romantic, it still serves well to show the depth of their friendship. At the very least it shows that at her heart, Emma cares more about Abi than Nick as they both lash out at Abi in a similar manner but Emma pulls herself together long enough to give Abi a better chance.
#blygbank#abigail blyg#emma mountebank#the quarry#my god these bitches gay#i promise i dont hate nick#his crush just seems very surface level#i mean he barely spoke to abi the whole summer#and emma and abi are besties#so obviously they love each other more
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I felt extremely personally attacked watching the Divas Division in 2014.
I checked out of regular WWE viewing for a while after WrestleMania XXX, so the last 12 months or so of television before the Women’s Revolution was pretty new to me as I watched it back. I had a general idea of what happened, but the key detail clearly slipped through the cracks because I had no effin’ clue that I missed out on months and months of BISEXUALMANIA~!
Seriously. Everyone is gay.
There was a LOT of queer shit going on in the women’s division in the latter half of 2014. So much so that I’m convinced that I’m only making about 57% of it up. (Usually I’m making 99% of it up and I accept this about myself, I am a big gay mess.) So here we go, BisexualMania. Strap on. In! Strap in. (Sorry.)
“It’s always summertime for me and my girl Lay…” – Summer Rae
It all started with Fandango. As is so often the case, our lesbian love story begins with a stupid man. Summer Rae had been his regular dancing partner and valet for a while, until ‘Dango the ol’ charmer dumped her via Twitter and started running around with Layla instead. Summer Rae, you can imagine, was not super OK with this.
Her and Layla fought over him, brawling constantly and throwing all kinds of shit at each other, until it all culminated in a grudge match on Smackdown, with Fandango serving as the special referee. Instead of letting them fight he used the match to dance with himself and hog the spotlight. So Layla and Summer Rae looked at him, looked at each other, and realised what so many women eventually do: this man is really not worth it.
So together they beat his ass out of the ring, and then they lock eyes. And stare. Summer dances, and Layla dances right back. Give and take, back and forth. Then Summer holds out her hand. And gives her The Look. A totally platonic, very heterosexual eyebrow waggle. Sparks fly. The temperature rises. The crowd stirs in anticipation. Layla licks her lips, smiles, and takes her hand. They twirl, they dip, they dance into each other’s arms.
Platonically, of course. Cole calls them “besties” before they can even stop making heart eyes at each other, so they’re just a couple of gal pals, sharing abundant eye contact and an intimate dance together after kicking a man to the curb.
Hetero as all get out.
And that’s how they remained. Summer Rae and Layla, or The Slayers as they called themselves (they even had their own ship name for God sakes!) became a regular tag team for the next few months. A tag team of two gal pals just gal palling around. The bestest of besties. Being super affectionate and dancing together, as besties do. The innuendo is subtle but consistent.
And I handle all of it really well.
Eventually Layla got injured, and I guess like so many couples they just couldn’t get the long distance thing to work, and quietly drifted apart. But for a hot minute it was a sweet subtextual romance.
Little did I know this was merely the appetizer before the main course of the BisexualMania menu: Lesbian Chicken.
“Whatever I can do to get my hands all over Paige, I will do. I’d prefer to get Paige on her back…” – AJ Lee
Paige made a memorable debut on Raw the night after WrestleMania XXX, beating record-breaking champion AJ Lee for the Divas Title. A few months later AJ returned the favor, making a surprise return to TV and defeating Paige in an impromptu title match. From there the story is that the two women become “frenemies” – in-ring rivals who also claim to be best friends – as they battle over the championship for the next few months.
The whole thing is actually Paige’s idea, at first. She’s trying to mess with AJ Lee’s head and gain a mental edge as she attempts to win the Divas Title back. She calls AJ her “frenemy” (but in a good way) and talks about how much she respects her and how close they are. As friends. The bestest of besties. Gal pals, even. They’re getting along to an almost nauseating degree. Pretty soon Paige starts skipping around and declaring her love to AJ.
Platonically, of course.
Just before SummerSlam, Paige snaps and throws AJ off the stage and then calmly goes, “I still love you, call me when you feel better!” The week after she writes AJ a love poem. This confusion gives Paige the mental advantage she wanted and she takes the title back at the PPV.
The problem for Paige is that she poked the crazy. This is AJ Lee we’re talking about. Professional Crazy Person. Paige opened the door, and AJ is about to skip on through it and show her how it’s really done.
Paige dedicated her first match as champion to AJ, so AJ came out and told Paige she dedicated her LIFE to her! This is full on, Crazy Eyes, ‘0-100mph in less than ten seconds’ AJ Lee. Paige freaks.
You can’t out-crazy crazy.
Paige awakened the beast and now some very queer things are starting to happen. AJ cuddles up to Paige, then maintains very direct eye contact as she kisses her on the… hand. She offers her Valentine’s Day chocolates in a heart shaped box. Then there’s even more eye contact when they both lean in and kiss… the title belt. They have a tag team match and Paige very deliberately and seductively wiggles her ass in AJ’s face on the apron.
I’m sure this is all starting to sound like fan fiction to you too, but I swear I’m not making any of this up. I mean my God, AJ Lee regularly does guest commentary on Smackdown during this time and there is legitimately more than one occasion when she fair dinkum misses her cue to speak because she’s too busy ogling Paige.
The things she says about Paige while she’s out there, by the way… I can’t repeat. It’s just too gay. But this is a full blown, four-alarm queerbaiting emergency now. They’re both flirting with each other as much as is humanly possible on a PG show just to see who blinks first. Lesbian Chicken. Once again, I handle all of this really, just, super well.
I should probably note for the record that when it came to Lesbian Chicken, Paige is the one who blinked, becoming increasingly rattled and replacing flirting with petulance when she couldn’t regain the title. You can’t out-crazy crazy, after all. Sadly all this was about as coherent as the angle ever got, besides the Lesbian Chicken it was a pretty big dumpster fire narratively speaking, but hey, welcome to 2014.
Besides, after a while you’ve had enough chicken. Luckily the rest of 2014 was serving up delicious helpings of BisexualMania dessert from everyone on the roster.
“I find it hard to focus on what you’re saying right now when I’m seeing Paige do *that* to Emma…” – Renee Young
The Bellas get involved in BiMania when Nikki challenges AJ at Survivor Series and when the bell rings, Brie grabs AJ and kisses her to distract her for the screwjob. Maybe Brie was just going for it after she dressed up as AJ during the build and instead of being offended AJ was kind of… impressed, saying Brie looked much better in her clothes than she did.
Paige ended up rebounding with Alicia Fox – platonically, of course – and they got a bit gal pally themselves, like when Paige would go on commentary and bang on about Foxy’s “smouldering eyes” and how she loved it when she screamed. She also kept the flirty affectations she picked up in the ring – like crawling slowly along AJ’s body before delivering headbutts – and used them on everyone going forward. In fact, Paige being too handsy in the ring became a minor Total Divas plot point when Paige licked Nattie’s face in the middle of a match without her consent.
Now, speaking of Total Divas.
And Nattie.
Season 3 was in full swing during the fall of 2014, and one of the highlights was Rosa Mendes being a big bisexual mess flirting with everyone in sight. And by everyone, I mean… Nattie. At the same time, they started pairing them on WWE TV with a veteran/rookie gimmick, and when Rosa valets Nattie let’s just say that she’s… very supportive. Shoulder massages are involved. I swear to God there’s even a moment after a match where Rosa is holding onto her unnecessarily and Nattie has to politely peel Rosa’s hands off of her bare skin.
Once again, I am not making this up. Once again, I handle it well. And I’m not saying this was gay, per se, it’s just that… OK yes this was super gay. Everyone is gay.
Back on Total Divas, there’s no rest for the queer when some marital troubles develop between Nattie and TJ, as they often do on that show. Nattie is feeling neglected and lonely and Rosa Freakin’ Mendes takes it upon herself to shoot her damn shot and kisses Nattie in the middle of the club. It all gets resolved before the credits roll but my God in heaven, for a second there Rosa legit worked herself into a shoot here over BisexualMania.
Ev-er-y-one. Is. Gay.
OK. Let’s just breathe for a minute. I swear I’m actually going somewhere with all this.
One of the main goals of me writing this series is to look beyond the objectification of these women and view them as wrestlers. And yet here I am giggling away like a schoolgirl at everyone getting it on. I know, right?
For some reason this stuff feels different to the standard sexual exploitation of the Divas we’re used to. And not just because it’s gay – they’ve done their fare share of lesbianing before: HLA, Torrie and Dawn Marie, Trish and Mickie – and it was always very sexualised. Always produced by the male gaze, for the male gaze.
The stuff with AJ and Paige didn’t feel quite like that. It was more… subtle. More cerebral. I’m infinitely curious to know how much input AJ and Paige had into the things they were doing, because it felt a lot more, dare I say, female driven.
I think it’s partly a result of the company moving into PG, sponsor-proof programming and avoiding overt sexualisation, but I think it’s also partly a result of the wrestling world and pop culture changing as well. Wrestling itself has been slowly moving away from being a blue collar, blokey pastime to becoming much more a part of nerd culture. One of the hallmarks of modern fandom is the relationship between entertainment and the queer community, incorporating maintext representation, subtextual innuendo and queerbaiting, and the endless shipping and creation of fanart and fanfiction. (Wrestling is no different – Google “The Shield” and “fanfiction” if you don’t believe me. Also, Google any of these things if you don’t know what I’m talking about.)
As wrestling, and WWE, slowly becomes more diverse, and more inclusive, and more ensconced in internet fandom culture, there should also be more room for these kinds of ideas and stories and characters to develop. It’s not just about diversity either, it’s really in all of our best interests. Some of the most memorable storylines in WWE history were romantic: Randy Savage and Elizabeth. Hunter and Steph and Angle. Saturn and Moppy.
There are myriad ways to incorporate romance, and sex, and queerness into wrestling storytelling without it being exploitative or sending us back to the Attitude Era. Now, I have less than zero faith in WWE to be able to do so because, well, frankly they can’t even write straight white male wrestling at the moment. But the potential is there. One day soon I hope it’s realised.
I said in the beginning I felt attacked by BisexualMania 2014. I think mainly because I had no idea it was going on at the time and I feel robbed of the experience. But in all seriousness, the fact that all of this brazen queerness exists on WWE TV makes me feel the opposite of attacked.
Anyone who identifies as a minority knows how important it is to feel represented in pop culture. Because of the… shall we say the base nature of wrestling, I’ve never really harboured any great hope of much in the way of real, affirming representation, whether it be of women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ or anyone else. I mean, it says something that graduating from gross exploitation of women to callous queerbaiting can be seen as a massive improvement. It also says something that while the company has its first openly gay women’s wrestler and sells rainbow Balor Club t-shirts, they still turn around and do shows in KSA and still steadfastly refuse to engage in queer storylines in 2018. That’s the difference between WWE’s current brand of self-congratulatory, public relations social policy for show, and actual change. Change that shows in the stories presented on TV, that shows in the make up of the locker room, and in the make up of the writers’ room too.
I’m drifting wildly away from the point. I guess as with all things WWE, and particularly all things Divas Era, they can do better. Much better. But I’m gonna take what I can get. And for a few glorious months in 2014, BisexualMania was runnin’ wild.
I appreciate the space to get this big gay weight off my chest. Regularly scheduled, only moderately gay programming will resume next week. In fact, last night’s glorious return of Maryse the wrestler and her theme music reminds me that I really need to tell y’all about Maryse the wrestler and her theme music, so stay tuned.
Check it out: Layla vs. Summer Rae (Smackdown, July 11th 2014) AJ Lee vs. Paige – Divas Title (Battleground 2014) AJ Lee vs. Paige – Divas Title (Summerslam 2014) Paige vs. Natalya (Raw, August 18th 2014) Paige vs. Natalya (Raw, August 25th 2014) AJ & Paige vs. Natalya & Rosa (Raw, September 8th 2014) Paige vs. Summer Rae (Smackdown, September 12th 2014) Paige vs. Nikki Bella (Smackdown, September 19th 2014) Natalya vs. Summer Rae (Raw, September 22nd 2014)
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5 Things to Know About Taylor Swift’s Rumored New Boyfriend, Joe Alwyn
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If Taylor Swift’s rumored new boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, had you rushing to Google, you’re not alone! The 26-year-old Brit, who grew up in North London, is an up-and-coming actor with only a few credits to his name. But that doesn’t mean that Alwyn isn’t a star to watch! WATCH: Taylor Swift Spotted in Nashville as Joe Alwyn Dating Rumors Go Public The hunky blonde actor has a lot going for him in addition to being the potential new subject of Swift’s highly-anticipated new music. Here are 5 fun facts about Alwyn: 1. His first role out of drama school was the titular role in an Ang Lee movie Alwyn nabbed the role of Billy Lynn in Lee’s 2016 military drama, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, co-starring Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel, Garrett Hedlund, Steve Martin, and Chris Tucker. He landed the job right out of drama school, and it happened to be with the Oscar-winning director. He also perfected an American accent for the part. “It was tough at times and it was intense and overwhelming to be thrown into such an unusual situation so early on in my career, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. People would jump for that at any point in their career,” Alwyn said at a press junket for the film.
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2. He has respect for the classics In an interview with Vogue Taiwan, Alwyn opened up about the actors that inspire him, saying, “I really thought Philip Seymour Hoffman was amazing, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Mark Rylance, Jason Lee, those are a few.” 3. He’s set to star in a movie with T.Swift’s pal, Emma Stone Alwyn’s next role is the period piece The Favourite, which hits theaters in 2018. He will play the love interest to Stone’s servant character, who will use him to advance her social status. WATCH: Harry Styles Addresses Whether 'Two Ghosts' Is About Taylor Swift: 'It's Pretty Self-Explanatory'
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4. His go-to karaoke pick is Eminem In a feature for Vanity Fair, Alwyn said that when it comes to karaoke picks, it’s very “drink dependent” for him. But he added that he often goes for “any old Eminem.” 5. He’s already worked with Swift’s bestie, Gigi Hadid In a 2016 Mario Testino spread for Vogue, Alwyn posed with the supermodel in Copenhagen. “I wasn’t one of those kids who get up on the table and dance at a young age, but I always wanted to be an actor. I just never told anybody—I kept it a secret,” Alywn said in the related interview. For more from Swift, watch the clip below!
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