#also he's gay so is that even allowed in the uk?

[beelxebub]

i totally get why people make the captain a military man or ex-military in modern AUs because it makes sense but i personally believe he would simply be one of those middle aged autistic men whose special interest is wwii military vehicles

[smytherines]

I often wonder if I would feel differently about The Staircase Scene if I had seen SAF when it first came out in 2016. The first time I saw it was probably around October or November of 2023, and like... the context is different now.

Whatever we want to say about the personal story arcs of these characters (and I know I'm in a tiny minority because, for me, killing Owen does not constitute a satisfying close to Curt's arc, that's totally fine), there is the very real issue of the sociopolitical context that this scene takes place within- both in their time (1961) and in ours.

One very cool thing about SAF is that, in order to understand these characters better, a lot of younger queer folks end up learning about the Lavender Scare, about Executive Order 10450- which officially prohibited gay people from working for the US government- for the first time. That's an incredible, precious thing to me. Yay queer history! It's important!

The show itself never addresses the fact that both the US and UK governments had very public, very brutal campaigns equating homosexuality with communism with being a traitor to your country. But if you want to understand these characters, and especially write fanfiction, you're really incentivized to teach yourself some fundamentally important aspects of queer history.

In the 54 Below concert, before singing Not So Bad, Brian Rosenthal talks about how when they were developing the show they thought N@zis were more or less a thing of the past, that they're fully aware of how differently that song might be taken now after an escalation into a more open embrace of fascism in the US. And they're absolutely right about that.

But I think that's also perhaps an issue with the staircase scene, or at least it is for me. Obviously homophobia and transphobia were not "fixed" in 2016, they were still massive problems resulting in violence and discrimination and brutality. But institutionally, at least, you could look at the situation and point to some things that were gradually getting better.

In 2016 trans youth in my state were legally allowed to receive gender affirming care. In 2024, they are not. It's not that homophobia and transphobia went away and then came back, but there was a very real resurgence of the use of the media and of governmental power to inflict pain on queer & trans people and chase them out of public life- bathroom bans, gender affirming care bans, Don't Say Gay laws, trying to make drag illegal, equating queer and trans people with pedophilia. There has been a big cultural shift back towards the same kind of violent governmental moral panic that our beloved Curt & Owen would have lived under.

Whatever we want to say about these characters and this story (and there's tons of fascinating debate there), there is still the base of a gay man killing his ex-lover ostensibly to protect US foreign policy objectives. Killing the man he loves- or loved, at least- to protect the secret that he is gay. And that hits different for me now.

I watch that scene and it is heartbreaking on a personal level, but its also heartbreaking as a queer person who just wants to scream "your government will destroy you for being gay, you don't owe them shit!"

Owen tries to explain that the surveillance network is happening, that the future won't wait for Curt to catch up. Barb has been saying she's working on the same thing for the US government the entire show, but Curt just kept ignoring her. And I just want to say "Curt, honey, what do you think your government is going to do to you with that surveillance system? Do you think you're useful enough to keep around even though you have sex with men? Because I promise you they will not care."

It feels tragic to me because on some level it seems like Curt would actually be safer with another gay man having control of all the world's secrets than he will be if the government he has dedicated his life to gets their hands on that same technology.

And the thing is, having a tragic ending doesn't make the show bad. This show is great. This scene is spectacular. It makes you think, it makes you feel things, it does all the stuff that great art is supposed to do. Absolutely none of what I'm saying here is meant to denigrate the show as a musical or a story or even a queer story. I hope it doesn't come off as me saying "actually this show is bad," because I don't feel that way at all.

Clearly I live and breathe this show. That's why I spend all my time on here analyzing every scene, every frame, every facial expression. I love this show so much that I can't help but deconstruct it and look at all its component parts- including the sociopolitical context both now and in 1961. Because that context, despite never being explicitly mentioned, is important to our understanding of these characters.

I love these characters so much that it's actually pretty difficult for me to watch A2P7 anymore, because the staircase scene is so emotionally devastating to me that it's hard to try to swing back into that more comedic tone (even though Spy Dance is a certified bop).

I'm not even sure what my point is with all of this, other than to say that Spies Are Forever is a show that is great and fun and funny as written/performed, and becomes gradually more emotionally devastating when you rewatch it or when you understand the subtext of it. When you can engage with the themes of gender and sexuality, surveillance and technology, trauma and trust, and tease out even more satisfying theories around this show.

So yeah. It's a musical. It's about spies.

[lurkingshan]

Wedding Plan and the Evolution of MAME

I have a bit of a love/hate thing going on with MAME, one of the most notorious writers in the bl genre. Her shows have traditionally been a mixed bag of incredible chemistry, high heat, dubious consent, and pushy semes transgressing every boundary laid out for them, all of it built atop a foundation of heteronormativity and homophobic tropes. In the early years of bl, her shows were one of the only places you could go to see mature depictions of intimacy in relationships, but they also necessitated dodging through a landmine of problematic content. So my long standing policy has been to never watch her shows live and instead binge them when they’re done so that I can go in with some idea of what to expect. As someone who liked Love By Chance and TharnType for what they did well despite their problematic aspects, and actually kinda loved Love in the Air, I figured I would watch Wedding Plan at some point, but it wasn’t that high on my priority list. 

So imagine my surprise when people I trusted started telling me: hey wait, this is actually really good? Like, not good for MAME, but genuinely, legitimately a quality show. @bengiyo wrote a great post on the queer read of the story that was very intriguing indeed. @ginnymoonbeam wrote about seeing an authentic representation of her own experiences in the show. When I asked for others to weigh in, @negrowhat, @slayerkitty, @thegalwhorants, @nieves-de-sugui, @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle, and @magpie24601 all said they were enjoying it to various degrees and that it felt different from MAME’s previous works. So this weekend, I sat down to watch it, and as soon as I finished, I pinged @waitmyturtles, who had previously said she did not intend to watch any additional MAME shows, to tell her she had to add it to her project tracking the evolution of Thai bl. 

Because y’all, this show! This show is stunning, in more ways than one. The people and settings are gorgeous (shoutout to that McDonald’s money), the characters are compelling and sympathetic even when they behave in frustrating ways, the romance is properly swoony, the friendships are deep and touching, the family relationships are complex, and the ending is triumphant. I enjoyed it immensely, and I was taken aback by how genuinely rooted in queer experience and celebratory of queer love it felt. It was kind of a revelation, and I felt compelled to get down some thoughts about it. I’m going to break this down by narrative themes and characters so that I can dig into some of the tropes at play and what makes their deployment feel different here than it has in MAME’s previous shows.

The Core Premise

When I say this story feels authentically queer, this premise is the foundation of that. A lavender marriage is something that can only occur between queer characters. Right away, we are kicking MAME’s typical use of heteronormative tropes right out the door, because Lom already has a wife. Yiwa is his stand-in for the female partner his parents and society expect him to have, so Nuea cannot and will not fulfill that role. Instead, Lom’s pursuit of Nuea is explicitly about his desire to break away from those constraints and pursue the authentic queer life he has never been allowed to live, even if he has to do it undercover of this facade. Lom is gay, and he is pursuing a relationship with a gay man, and there is no coding here to make a heterosexual audience feel like what he wants with Nuea is the same as what he’d have with a woman. The difference, and the way one fulfills Lom while the other doesn’t, is the point.

Nuea

At first glance, our POV character, Nuea, feels like a stock MAME uke character. He is cute, he is a romantic, he is emotionally reactive, and he has a massive crush on Lom pretty much from jump. But pretty quickly, we start to notice some important differences between Nuea and those who came before him, starting with his competence and confidence. Nuea is the ace at his company and excellent at his work, and he’s financially comfortable. He is an out and confident gay man with a strong community of coworkers, friends, and family who will support him through anything and close ranks to protect him when needed. He does not share the standard characteristic of typical MAME ukes: uncertainty about who he is and/or low self-esteem. There’s simply not a whiff of that anywhere on Nuea. He knows who he is, and he knows what he wants. And as the story unfolds and Nuea gets deeper entangled with Lom, we recognize another crucial aspect of him: he is experienced, both emotionally and sexually. Nuea has been in relationships before, he knows how to say no, he knows how to draw a boundary, and he knows when he is deciding to cross one. In short, Nuea has something crucial that a lot of MAME ukes are lacking: power and agency. 

We see this throughout his relationship with Lom, as Nuea begins their flirtation eyes wide open about his own feelings and the fire he’s playing with, and alternately pulls back and pushes forward as his conscience wars with his desires. Nuea wants Lom. Their attraction is extremely mutual. No one is wearing anyone down or inspiring a sexuality crisis in this dynamic. Instead, Nuea’s struggle is rooted in his own morality and desire to be a good person, because he thinks Lom is taken, and he wants him anyway. Which is why we see him waffling so much and sending Lom all kinds of mixed signals, pushing him away with one hand while grabbing him back with the other, drawing boundaries only to step right back over them at the next opportunity. And when he finally crosses a boundary that he can’t rationalize (sex with Lom), he retreats back home to try to get his head together. It’s not an accident that despite Lom being in the active pursuer role, we see Nuea make a conscious decision to move forward and even be the one to initiate a relationship progression at several crucial points in the story. Nuea is making his own decisions here, and he has his own power over Lom that he exercises consistently. He’s warring with himself, not with Lom.

Lom

Lom is also, on the surface, a fairly standard MAME seme character. He wants Nuea, and he’s comfortable being pushy about it. He pursues Nuea fairly relentlessly, showing up in front of him even when he’s told not to, and leverages his role as Nuea’s client to see him as often as possible. He obsessively pines for Nuea in a way that also feels familiar. But for me, there is something that makes Lom stand out and feel markedly different from his predecessors in his romantic pursuit: sincerity and frank honesty. 

From the start, Lom is genuine in his interest in Nuea and sincere about how much he likes and admires him. He tells him in a very straightforward manner that he likes him and wants to spend time with him. He tells him he knows he doesn’t have the right, but he wants to kiss him and be near him anyway. He tells him exactly what he intends to do to stay close to him, and then he does it. He tells him honestly that he loves Yiwa, but not in the way Nuea thinks, and that he is not marrying her because he’s being forced. “But Shan,” I hear you yelling, “he did not tell him the most important truth!” And you’re right, he didn’t, at least not until he was forced to do so. Which brings me to the other thing that makes Lom so compelling: the constraints of the closet and his loyalty to Yiwa. 

Lom, unlike Nuea, does not have a supportive family or the freedom to live as an out gay man. What he does have is a best friend whom he loves deeply and completely, to the extent that he would sacrifice his own life and chance at happiness to protect hers. He has no choice but to hold some things back, because to lay it all bare would expose not only him, but her. The decision to tell a boy he likes the truth about the nature of their relationship is not just about him; anyone knowing is also a risk to Yiwa and the life she is building with Marine. And he takes his duty to protect that very seriously. On top of that, Lom has been in the closet since he was a teenager. We know that Lom and Yiwa connected over their queerness and their mothers’ bigotry when they were only 15 and 13, respectively. They grew up Knowing. That self-protective mindset is not something you can easily shake off, and not something you risk for any given person you develop a crush on. He is trying to walk a line in his pursuit of Nuea to snatch whatever happiness he can without blowing up his entire life. 

And to Lom’s credit, the moment he realizes how serious he is about Nuea, he goes after him (with Yiwa and Marine’s support), dutifully pays his penance and earns the respect of Nuea’s family, and finally unburdens himself, looking at Nuea with complete and total honesty and saying to him “This is who I am, this is my situation, can you deal with it? Do you still want me?” And by the way he sobs when Nuea says “YES” and asks to be part of his arrangement with Yiwa and Marine, he never expected for someone like Nuea to accept him and all the complications of his life. He was absolutely overcome by gratitude and relief, and you could see the burdens he’s been living under start to lighten. 

Yiwa and Marine

I don’t have anyone to compare Yiwa and Marine to, because to my recollection, they are the first significant female characters in any MAME story. And significant is an understatement. Yiwa is the engine that drives this entire story. The lavender marriage is her idea, because it’s the only way she can think to give herself the freedom to be with Marine under her mother’s watchful eye. She is the one who goes to her best friend and begs him to do this for her, because she trusts him absolutely and the devotion between them is complete enough that she knows he will sacrifice in such a monumental way for her. She is the one who encourages Lom to pursue his own happiness with Nuea within the constraints of their arrangement, hoping that he will find his own Marine that can hang in for this half life they’ve constructed to meet the tenets of filial piety. She is the one who ultimately decides to come clean when she sees how the lie is hurting Nuea. And she is the one who makes the final decision to prioritize her love over her obligations to her parents, and in doing so frees them all. 

The fact that a character like Yiwa exists in the bl genre at all, let alone in a MAME show, is mind-blowing to me. A female character with this much depth and narrative importance, who is not just here to play a cheerleader to men but instead to be a fully realized character with her own narrative? A female character who matters? In my Thai bl?? 

And Marine gets to matter, too. Marine, whose experience of coming into this relationship and accepting the limitations of the life Yiwa can offer her is treated with the utmost seriousness. Marine, who we see in joy and in struggle, who is kind and compassionate with Lom, who offers solace and guidance to Nuea, and who ultimately crumbles under the weight of Yiwa’s mother’s cruelty and reaches her breaking point. As minor as her role is, she feels like a real person, not a generic side character. The relationship between her and Yiwa is developed enough to make us feel invested in their happiness, to understand the choices they make, and to ultimately feel joy at them breaking free and living a more authentic life, even if it comes at the expense of Yiwa’s family bonds.

The Ending

Which brings me to the way this show ended its story, and how glorious it was. Yiwa and Marine run away to live on their own, freeing Lom from their agreement in the process. Yiwa takes full blame for the broken engagement, a parting gift to Lom that saves face for his parents and gives him cover to publicly dodge any further expectations for marriage to a woman. Lom’s mother, who is just as bigoted but not quite as stubborn and short-sighted as Yiwa’s mother, understands exactly what has happened, and reaches out to her son to assure him that she will no longer try to force the issue, and to ask him plainly not to run away from his family like Yiwa did. It’s not the support and love of Nuea’s family, but a kind of resigned acceptance that she offers. She knows who Nuea is to her son and she knows if she tries to intervene any further she will lose him for good. It was reminiscent for me of the dynamics between Shiro and his parents in Kinou nani tabeta—it still hurts, but it's a detente everyone can live with.

And Lom and Nuea? Have the freedom to love each other more openly. To flirt in a restaurant and hold hands in public. To live together and call themselves partners to the people who matter. We end on a message from Nuea about the beauty and joy of queer love, the simple nature of two people deciding to marry regardless of their gender, and a promise that someday soon he and Lom will be the ones to make that commitment. Just, perfection, and an earned resolution so rooted in a genuine queer experience. It’s not something I could have imagined seeing in a Thai bl even a few short years ago, and I am stunned that MAME is the one who delivered it. Her storytelling is clearly evolving with the culture around her, and I will be going into her future works with an open mind.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

June 2023 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - I really adore the family/household dynamics in this show. All the relationships between siblings are so well executed. All the tension and sub text and covert glances in the first “modeling” sequence was so good. I really want to watch the BL within this BL. Bruce is THE BEST. Jeng shutting down everyone with a cool few words is genius (especially given the curt sharp flat way he speaks Thai). Why does nobody have parasols or sun hats or sunshades or sunglasses or anything? I’m actually not mad about seeing an attempted reunion with the ex, bc we are getting to see both that (and how) they once were good together, and also the cracks that drove them apart (and will not allow them to ultimately be together a 2nd time around). I do feel sorry for Jeng, he moved too slowly and lost the 1st round. The captions were not good in the trunk seen, but trust me it was totally hilarious. 

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 7 of 10 - I finally figured out why I am so tense around this show. In openly taking to task and challenging the soulmates trope, this narrative is telling viewers not to trust it’s core trope - which means we cannot trust the main couple to end happily, nor can we trust those characters who believe most strongly in fated mates (Pat & Mai). This means I, personally, not only can’t rely on an HEA but (as someone who also does not believe in soulmates) I am not entirely sure I even WANT an HEA. This has NEVER happened to me before. It makes me uncomfortable because that’s a core part of my identify with these shows. I mean, good job La Pluie, but also.... huh. Back to this ep: Uh oh. The crush is obvious and the soulmate knows what’s up now. The sex scene twist was v interesting, v gay, and v unusual in a BL. Unfortunately it’s still a BL so the faen fatal just HAD to appear. Will there ever be one out of Thailand where this trope doesn’t show up? Next week is the tried & true uke damsels off into the woods alone. Sigh. 

Our Skyy 2 (Bad Buddy & 1k*) eps 12-16fin - Jimmy, baby, why so hot in an engineering smock? Please have mercy. Aw, Marc is back in yet ANOTHER BL. Definitely the current record holder for most BLs at any one time. (His filming schedule must’ve been insane at the beginning of this year!) PatPran are still great, and their eps this had me hooting with laughter (startling the cat). I forgot how much I enjoyed this show and cast. (Ohm looks great with longer hair, but also he’s lost a lot of weight. I hope he’s OK.) OhmNanon give pitch perfect LTR energy. Throwing EarthMix into the, erm, mix is fun if awkward. NO SINGING. 2 damsels in the forest! Also PatPran = geniuses at mock fighting. So much flirting. It was all quite adorbs. But me-thinks Chief & Tian have been eating moonlight chicken. Full review below. 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 3 of 10? - was enjoying it up until the last bit, why so digusted by smooches? Bad GMMTV no green tea for you. Trash watch here! Rollercoaster about to go DOWWNNNN. 

Luminous Solution (Sat Gaga) ep 3 of 6 - I still only like the high school characters + Dome (WHY so gorgeous?). Is he a magical spirit too? Also, the subs were well off kilter. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 10 fin - God they’re so cute. This show used the manga as a storyboard, so I knew the “crisis of faith over possibility of loss” would happen. Still in live action this felt tonally off. While understandable given Yutaka’s character, and ultimately particularly important for the dad and a relationship with the family, I don’t know we needed it in this BL. The book does have a better ending second scene, but it wouldn’t be possible to do it on screen easily. Ultimately, this show had a simple, touching, quiet end to it. That’s very like the show as a whole. I did love it - it’s been top of my list all along. Full review after the special airs. 

Love Tractor (Korea Weds iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 8 - I LOVE IT SO MUCH. IT IS EVERYTHING. SHUT UP I AM FERRIL FOR THE BEAUTIFUL CITY BOY AND THE YOUNG FARMER. Come on. Korea. SRS? Plus some language play? I just go die now. 

Star Struck (Korea iQIYI & Gaga) ep 7-8 fin - Man this was a difficult show for me. I know we’re supposed to identify with HanJoon but I really felt for YooJae. I’ve been in his position more often than I care to count, and it’s terrible to lose a friend because they caught feelings and you did not. It’s an awful thing to hold a friendship hostage on condition of a romantic relationship. Especially if the other person is not sexually interested in you! All that said, the boyfriend ep was okay. Not sure I believed in this relationship, but it was cute enough. The final ep was (how do I put this?) a loser. We spent a lot of time with terrible home lives and then a semi happy for now final scene? Whatever. Full review below. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 6 of 12 - somehow I keep missing this one, I’ll catch it next week. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 9 of 12 - I think the Taiwanese boss is my favorite character. Japan rarely (if ever ) trots out the faen fatal trope. I mean I named it with a Thai word for a reason, it’s not from origin yaoi at all. Yet still there she is. Sigh. This show. 

Stupid Genius (Vietnam Fri YouTube) ep 1 of 6 - RL Studio (Stupid Boys Stupid Love) bringing us yet another high school set VBL. It’s actually not bad. I see a lot of common faces whom I’ve enjoyed in past VBLs. 

It’s Airing But ...

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end.

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) 7 eps - It’s mostly in English and set in LA so I’m not bothering but the first one did drop.

Ever After (Pinoy ????) - I got nothing. 

Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan Sun ????) 10 eps - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I? (Say it with me everyone: Oh Japan, must you?*)

Boys Love Omegaverse (Japan ????) - honestly tho? Who tf cares? You’ll still tell me if you find it, because inquiring minds... Irony of this airing at the same time as Takumi-kun. Full circle much, Japan? 

Tin Tem Jai Special (Thai ????) - honestly I checked Gaga & iQiyi in my territory (craptastic hotel) and neither had it listed so I quickly gave up. I mean OF COURSE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE Lee Long Shi in a bathtub, who wouldn’t? But... 

Just because I didn’t watch the special doesn’t mean I can’t gank Lee Long Shi wearing nothing but soap bubbles for you. 

I’m not a monster. 

Ended This Week 

Our Skyy 2 final 4 eps thoughts: This was an interesting combination, and don’t get me wrong I very much enjoyed it, but it felt like the story was carried by PatPran’s characters while the setting and narrative followed an ATOTS arc - ultimately disjointed. OhmNanon are so bold and vibrant they’re too stark a tonal contrast to EarthMix’s more refined and elegant approach, so for me the screen presences and the style of story clashed. It was like a bouquet made up of tulips & roses: they are both flowers and they’re both pretty, but I feel like they actually belong in different vases. Still, enjoyable. And I got a crying kiss. Always makes me happy. Definitely the best of this bunch, and probably the best Our Skyy (and I genuinely loved both the NLMG historical installment and SOTUS.) 8/10 

Star Struck. A friends to lovers story that felt more friends to tolerant yet disinterested partner. It was more about challenges with parents and class strife. I would’ve been disappointed if the show hadn’t come out of nowhere so I had no expectations. But as KBLs go, don’t bother. 6/10 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting:

6/15 Tokyo in April AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Gaga) 8 eps - Based on a yaoi, this is a reunion romance that takes place in an office. Japan does Our Dating Sim? Yes please.

Still Coming - June 2023

6/22 About Us but Not About Us (Pinoy movie from 2022 on Prime) - A professor grieving the loss of his partner meets an ambitious literature student.

6/24 Why You (Khmer BL ????) - Billed as a horror romance, not sure if this is a movie or a series where it will air... nothing except that it exists.

6/24 Tie The Knot AKA Under the Same Sky (Pinoy movie on Prime) Trailer - I guess Prime is coming for our Pinoy BL? From OXIN Films (Rainbow Prince), announced for 2022 based on a true story, Briggs's family runs a bridal business but he has never had a chance to fall in love until he meets Shao, a groom to be.

6/25 Dinosaur Love (Thai iQIYI) Trailer 5 eps - from Ultimate Troop about a uni student, Rak, whose partner cheats on him with Rak's best friend. This gives bad boy hazer Dino an opportunity to hit on Rak at last. From The Yearbook people so I will not watch this as it airs. After Remember Me? Never again with them.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Bruce is so damn fantastic in this show.

Consent comes in all different forms. (both Step by Step) 

Fight fight fight!

Sex sex sex blow job! (both La Pluie) 

Smartest boy in the show. 

Not enough InkPa... never enough. Never never never! 

Love the suit.

All from the Our Skyy 2 BB + ATOTS cross over. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? IVE’s I Am

[blubushie]

i've seen some blogs i follow say that misandry isn't real and men aren't opressed for being men and honestly the former doesn't sit right with me. misandry is not systemic like misogyny but your answers about your experiences prove that it does indeed happen in queer spaces. masculine queer men have to prove that they aren't a threat by making themselves a walking gay caricature.

Hell men aren't just oppressed in female-dominant "cultures" (like queer spaces) but they're also oppressed by patriarchy and, in some ways, legally. They're just not oppressed in the same way women are.

Men are considered inherently stronger/better, which means women can't compete with us, which means any time a man is a victim of a woman it's automatically his fault for ALLOWING himself to be. How are you, a man, gonna let a woman hit you? (It's because even if you defend yourself, and you make the call the police, YOU'LL be arrested as the aggressor. It's your word against hers, and in domestic violence they will always favour hers.)

We are simultaneously shit on for defending ourselves, because how dare a man ever put his hands on a woman even in self defence, but at the same time if we DON'T do that, it's our fault for being abused because we didn't "resist" our abuser. This is the male version of being asked about what you were wearing when you were victimised. The only way men are ALLOWED to be recognised as victims is if you're a child and your abuser is an adult man. If it's an adult woman? Hell, kid, you're lucky.

A lot of people think men can't be raped—either because we "always want sex", or because we're expected to physically resist our rapist and win. Contrast this to women, who are told to piss themselves or scream, or just take it because maybe if you do your rapist won't kill you. (If you ask me a firearm makes a helluva equaliser, but that's a conversation for another day.) Legislation even reflects this—in the UK, for example, according to UK law, it isn't possible for a women to rape a man unless she penetrates him with an object. A woman violently raping a man, even a child, by restraining him or otherwise and forcing him into penetrating her, is merely considered sexual assault and carries a much lighter sentence than rape.

And that really sucks for someone like me, who was raped by two women while I was drunk. Who didn't even realise I was raped until a mate explained it to me, because it's normalised that women can have sex with a drunk man and that's not considered rape—not even if he blacks out and asks them to stop when he wakes up, and they keep going while he blacks out again. Like what happened to me. An even bigger kicker—a man is always considered responsible in sex. So if a drunk man and a drunk woman both agree to sex while both are intoxicated, legally HE is raping HER despite both being unable to actually consent.

This in addition to men being expected to be sole providers for a home by society—look at the current rise of women looking for a sugar daddy or red-flagging a man because he only has one car instead of two, or of men never being favoured in family court even when the mother is unable to care for the children or is abusive, or how women will weaponise visitation against fathers for spite because they know the court will side with her regardless of how good of a father he is, or the lack of men's shelters, or how DV shelters won't take women with minor children who are boys older than 12 so a woman has to either go back to her abuser with her children or leave her sons behind alone with an abusive father, of people laughing at the male loneliness epidemic and treating it like a good thing/deserved reckoning instead of recognising it as a warning sign for a flood of lost teens and young men drifting down the Andrew Tate or rapist incel misogyny pipeline, of people laughing at men's mental health month posts and outright encouraging men to commit suicide under them while men already statistically commit suicide at a higher rate than women...

Men are oppressed in some ways, I'd argue some of those ways are systemic, but no one talks or cares about it. There was a feminism wave in the 90s of "patriarchy harms everyone", which is true, but now we're on a different wave of "men are biologically evil", which is absolutely batshit fucking insane and helps no one. Bioessentialism helps no one. (Plus it's transphobic and intersexist.)

Anyway I'm gonna go back to working on my ute now.

[docholligay]

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

THIS IS ALL SPOILERY AND ALL OF IT IS JUST GUSHING AND RAMBLING AND VIBES. NO ACTUAL REVIEW WE DIE LIKE MEN.

I love this book. We all know I love this book. I have read this book at least a dozen time sand we all know I'm going to read it again. I'm never sure whether I like this or Tipping the Velvet more, but I think as a piece of literature, this is the better book. (But Tipping the Velvet is the one I often recommend to people. Sarah Waters can be hard for some people to hang with and Tipping is her fluffiest.)

Kay Langrish, what a fucking piece of work this bitch is. She's so pathetic, and I do sort of resent her for it, but also I love her. I want to beat the shit out of her. She's Poor Little Rich Butch who literally shuts herself the fuck away and gazes out the window all day. She's one of those people for whom the war was the best thing that ever happened to her, and people like this do exist! Some people are great in a crisis, and some people are ONLY good in a crisis. Is it about her being butch and that being easier in wartime? Sure, but Mickey has it even worse and seems to manage being a member of society. (Mickey is the best person in this novel and perhaps of all time. I love her so much, she takes it all in so much stride in her shitty little houseboat, and then she offers it to Kay. Mickey will be played by Lena Oxton in the blorbo adpatation in my head and Kay will be played by Haruka Tenoh) I think Kay is just a fucking rich loser, and I love that for her.

Viv! What a moron. My wife read this book and her takeaway was the the book was about "Gay losers and a token sad straight woman" and she is not wrong. I love how much Viv hates her life in the present day and how pathetic she feels it all is, but she can't get away from it, because! Yes!! I always privately hope that the book will be different this time and there's an afterword where Viv goes and finds Kay and they get together, because I think Viv could be perfectly happy being Kay's wife and being doted on. She wants that! And Reggie will never ever give it to her (blah blah not being into women whatever it's my fantasy afterword and I can do what I want with it)

Speaking of morons let's talk about Helen. I hate Helen and I LOVE her storyline. I love her absolute dedication to ruining her own life. I'm not saying she has to love Kay, I would love to be doted on by Kay but it's not for everyone, and I'm not entirely convinced they didn't get together for any reason other than Helen felt grateful to her. BUT, what about with Julia? What about her insane reactions, the way she barely allows Julia to have friends, the way every time they go a party Helen acts like everyone is trying to fuck Julia? She basically manifests an affair into happening by her constant assumption that it is. IF Julia is sleeping around, of course that's her bad behavior, but let's not pretend like Helen's ridiculous suspicion and quarreling over nothing, her low-key resentment of Julia's success, isn't doing anything.

And Duncan, man, talk about your easily led, whatever's happening is what may as well happen, type. His thing with the junk that he considers 'antique' is so sad. He lives in a little boy's room and is kept like a little boy as a sexual pet and it would be disturbing if it wasn't so much just what Duncan had decided was the logical next step just like killing himself along with Alec. He was happier in fucking prison, it almost seems because there at least everything was just...decided for him.

I wonder if Waters isn't making a commentary about the idea that London and the UK more broadly was "never better than in the Blitz" and all that Blitz spirit stuff which i confess I can be real prone to as well, but I don't live there and am allowed to engage in a bit of romance over a situation that in no way involves me. Is Waters saying, "If we think that we, as a country, city, community, were never better than when we were actively being firebombed, it might just be that we have decided that, and have decided not to make ourselves better than that moment. Anytime, we could decide to be a better London & UK, but we aren't doing that. We're staring at the rubble and wishing we were there." I don't know! I have literally never thought this before it just came to me while writing this, it might be bullshit.

Basically the summary of this novel could be "Four people ruin their own lives because they aren't sure they deserve anything better" and I wouldn't argue with that. I love this book so fucking much.

[beardedmrbean]

In her garden in northern Athens, four-year-old Niovi plays make-believe, selling cakes from her imaginary shop.

For her two mums, Christina Leimoni and Victoria Kalfaki, their dream may soon become real, as Greece stands on the brink of legalising same-sex marriage.

Parliament will vote on the bill, introduced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on Thursday. Facing dissent from members of his own centre-right party, he will need to rely on support from the left-wing opposition to get it through.

Christina and Victoria will be there inside the chamber, willing it to pass. Two years ago, they returned to Greece from the UK, where they had moved for work - and to live their relationship freely.

They married in the UK and Niovi was born there. If the law passes, they plan to have their marriage recognised under Greek law.

'I have no say'

After Niovi's birth in London, they tried to register her at the Greek embassy, but were rebuffed. "The commentary was, 'You should have thought before having her'," Christina recalls.

"It was awful, I cried in the car for 45 minutes, I couldn't stop - it still brings bad memories," Victoria says, welling up with tears. "It's like being rejected by your country."

Without legal recognition for their marriage in Greece, only Victoria, who gave birth to Niovi, is accepted as her mother, even though the egg was from Christina.

At school, she has no say over decisions and when Niovi has been admitted to hospital, Christina has been barred from entering her room.

"My biggest fear is that if anything really bad happens to Victoria and she dies, our child instantly goes to social services, who then see if any of Victoria's relatives want to adopt her," she says.

"If they don't, she goes into an institution. I have no say. So the child wouldn't just lose one mother, she'd lose both of us."

Opposition by the Church

Fifteen of the European Union's 27 members have already legalised same-sex marriage. It is permitted in 35 countries worldwide.

Greece has lagged behind European neighbours largely because of opposition from its powerful church. If the law passes this week, it would become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country, and the first in Europe's southeast, to have marriage equality.

Same-sex couples would also be legally allowed to adopt children but not to have a baby through a surrogate - a recourse that is only legal here for heterosexual couples who have a medical need for assisted reproduction.

"Greece geographically is in the southeast, but culturally and politically it belongs to the West," says Alex Patelis, the prime minister's chief economic advisor and a member of the committee that drafted the marriage bill.

Mr Mitsotakis, recently storming to re-election, faces a weak opposition that has left him the space to tread onto their political turf without jeopardising his own position.

Mr Patelis says the bill is a cornerstone of the prime minister's beliefs: "It's often thought that human rights and equality are the purview of the parties of the left. This is coming from a centre-right party - and it's important to recognise that equality under law and individual rights are also the ideology of the right."

But Greek society is split. A recent poll for Proto Thema newspaper found 55% in favour of same-sex marriage and an even slimmer majority backing adoption.

Up to 50 of Mr Mitsotakis's 158 MPs are expected either to vote against the bill or to be conveniently absent from the chamber, meaning they can duck the vote.

A letter by the Church of Greece opposing the move was read out in morning mass across the country earlier this month, condemning what it said would "promote the abolition of fatherhood and motherhood… and put the sexual choices of homosexual adults above the interests of future children".

One of the most outspoken prelates has been Bishop Seraphim of Piraeus. At the city's Agii Anargiri Church, we watch as he leads a packed service, with worshippers in their Sunday best kissing icons and bowing heads.

He recently warned that he would block MPs who back the bill from his church, adding it would be preferable if they had not been born.

And, he said, he would refuse to baptise children of same-sex couples "to help them understand that what their guardians are doing is a sin."

Outside parliament on Syntagma Square, opponents gather to protest against the bill, beneath banners reading "No children for perverts" and chanting "Take your hands off our kids".

A video shows images including religious icons and, oddly, Bill Gates. Conspiracy theories about a new global order being imposed on Greece have blended with pious Greeks who believe their traditions are being destroyed.

"The Bible says marriage is between a man and a woman - and anything else is a big sin," says Rallou Perperidou.

"Like Sodom and Gomorrah, God destroyed people practising homosexuality. God will forgive them if they accept what they do is wrong and denounce it."

Kyriaki Chantzara, 38, is at the protest with her sister, who is expecting her tenth child.

"Homosexual people cannot give the right example for children because we think the existence of a female and male example is crucial to them. It is a human right for every child to have a father and a mother," she says.

Back in northern Athens, four-year-old Niovi is practising her English with nursery rhymes. Her mums help as she reads "Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the clock…"

As time ticks towards the parliamentary vote, the women say their excitement is building. "I'm amazingly happy about it," says Christina.

"It's the start of accepting diversity in general as a country and accepting that all people have equal rights. And for us it will mean reality, because I am Niovi's mother, and this should be supported by the law. The legislation will bring truth to the reality."

[denimbex1986]

'Ever since his breakout role in lockdown TV smash Normal People, Paul Mescal, a Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2020, has proved himself to be an alluring presence, capable of enormous empathy and range, be it on stage or screen.

In Andrew Haigh’s All Of Us Strangers, a haunting adaptation of Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel Strangers, Mescal vividly portrays Harry, neighbour to Andrew Scott’s Adam. The two men live in the same east London tower block and meet one evening when Harry drunkenly turns up at the door of Adam’s apartment, where he is rebuffed. Eventually, the two men begin a relationship, as Adam, a lonely screenwriter, revisits his suburban childhood home where he somehow meets his mother and father (played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), who died in a car crash when he was nearly 12.

All Of Us Strangers — which Searchlight Pictures opened in the US in December and the UK in late January following its premiere at Telluride — was a no-brainer for Mescal, offering him the opportunity to work with Andrews Haigh and Scott — “it would be difficult for a film with those two people at the centre of it to go wrong” — as well as the chance to play someone “a little bit more forward than other characters I’ve played”.

Mescal opted to have Harry, whose family have effectively disowned him for being gay, come from Leeds. “There’s something interesting about him escaping some place like Leeds and coming to London, hoping for a more expansive life, and having a smaller one when he gets there,” explains Mescal. “I can relate to that feeling of leaving a place, hoping for something because it’s been dictated to you that life happens in the big city. But if your family doesn’t accept you, doesn’t give [you love], you’re fucked before you begin. So, I was working back from that. A lot of acting should feel intuitive.”

By the time the film ends, a major revelation — spoiler alert — recalibrates our view of Harry. When Mescal first read the script, he was floored by what is revealed. “Then it made total sense, because it’s not about what’s real, what’s not. It’s about what do we feel?” As such, Mescal plays Harry as a real person rather than, say, a ghost. “Because he’s also unaware of what’s going on. For all intents and purposes, he is as real as Adam is. That would have been one of the only things that would have made me not want to be involved — if there was a prerequisite to do ‘spooky acting’.”

As Adam’s memories and reveries coalesce with his reality, he reconnects with his dead parents, which allows him to open up and find connection and romance with the mysterious Harry. “We knew each other a little bit. Grew to know each other quite well during the filming, and have been getting closer and closer and closer,” says Mescal of Scott. “What he does in this film is an absolute joke in terms of the standard of performance and how lightly he wears it.”

Connective tissue

On screen, the two Ireland-born actors have what critics and casting directors like to call ‘chemistry’, in much the same way Mescal and Edgar-Jones had ‘chemistry’ in Normal People, even if he bristles at the term. “It’s not a word that actors [use],” Mescal insists. “But you must endeavour a little bit to try and fall in love, in whatever that capacity is. And Andrew is a very easy person to fall in love with. He’s kind, generous, talented. We shot the film at the perfect junction in our friendship where there was a lot we didn’t know about each other, but there was mutual admiration and respect. And a similar sense of humour.”

Remarkably, the pair had no rehearsal time together. Did they know instantly that their onscreen relationship was working? “Yeah, it felt fizzy when we were acting,” says Mescal. “Especially with that first scene at the door — it’s so well-written. You feel like you’re dancing through the scene, you can go in loads of different ways, and if I went one way, Andrew would go another. If that’s what chemistry is, I was aware it was happening.”

While All Of Us Strangers was nominated for six Baftas, including outstanding British film and supporting actor and actress for Mescal and Foy, Scott was, surprisingly, overlooked by the leading actor jury. “It’s the stuff of dreams to make a film that is independent, and for an organisation to recognise the film and your performance, Claire’s performance and Andrew Haigh,” begins Mescal, choosing his words carefully. “[But] I’m perplexed and confused. How can an institution recognise all those things and neglect that? It doesn’t make sense.

“This is not a criticism of anybody else’s performance in that category. It’s not even a criticism of Bafta. I think a mistake happened.”

In the aftermath of Normal People, while Edgar-Jones largely pursued opportunities in the US, Mescal stayed mostly in the UK doing smaller films, among them Aftersun (for which he was nominated for best leading actor by both Bafta and Oscar) and theatre (winning an Olivier Award for A Streetcar Named Desire). He says he was offered several big movies but, as both actor and viewer, is drawn to indie films.

One massive movie that did take Mescal’s fancy, however, was Gladiator 2, Ridley Scott’s upcoming sequel to his Oscar-winning epic, which Mescal recently wrapped following a strike-imposed hiatus. “You would struggle to find a single actor on the planet who would say no to Ridley Scott and Gladiator, because Gladiator was an amazing character study.

“I loved every second working with him,” he continues. “I loved having to adjust the way I’ve worked, particularly in the last couple of years, to work with somebody who’s the master of what he does. You don’t have to imagine anything. He gives you scale, he gives you extras, he gives you horses.

“Having said that,” adds Mescal, “I’m looking forward to doing something that will probably be predominantly single camera, a $7m-$8m film in the next couple of weeks.”

That film is Living director Oliver Hermanus’s The History Of Sound with Josh O’Connor, which has been in the works since 2020, and Mescal has already started shooting Richard Linklater’s musical Merrily We Roll Along, which, similar to the director’s Boyhood, is a years-of-filming odyssey. He also has Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, in which he plays William Shakespeare, booked for later in the year.

While the likes of Hermanus’s film “will always feel like home”, Mescal notes regarding his Scott epic: “I felt an immense relief that the job still felt like the job, doing something like Gladiator, as it did on Aftersun, as it did on All Of Us Strangers. That was the big thing I didn’t know going into it — whether it would still feel the same.” Fortunately for Mescal — and for the breadth of roles the experience potentially opens up — it did.'

[alarrytale]

He has a Section 28 tattoo//

No queer person in the UK would dream of commemorating that evil law with a tattoo of a plain 28. If they do refer to it, it's a 28 which is crossed out.

Since I believe Louis is gay, the 28 stands for his Doncaster Rovers number.

https://www.tumblr.com/larentyouglad2/747673846189064192/do-you-think-louis-28-tattoo-is-a-reference-to?source=share

No other Larries think his 28 tattoo is for Section 28. I'm a queer Brit and we would never ever get that number tattooed on us or name a fun clothing line after it to somehow make a reference Section 28. You're not British so maybe you don't know the full horror of that legislation. Louis isn't stupid. He has the tattoo for his football number with Donny Rovers.

Hi, anon! (yes, pretty sure you're the same anon...)

No, i was lucky enough to be born on the other side of the north sea the year it was introduced. Here is what section 28 entailed;

"Local authority shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" (source)

Why does it bother you so much that i have a different opinion than you? I also consulted with my tumblr bff (who's a brit) and she agreed with me that Louis would. So does plenty of others, just look it up.

I think it's more than plausible, likely even, that a harshly, unwillingly, closeted man has a tattoo to represent that he isn't allowed to promote homosexuality. His contracts prohibits him from doing exactly that. He's got a fake kid to hide his homosexuality. He's also got a triangle tattoo which is a consentration camp badge given to homosexuals in WWII. That's even grimmer than a section 28 tattoo so... But maybe you don't know the full horror of what happened there?

Everything Louis does means something and if he says it doesn’t, or he does a "it's just a boat" and dismissing it and playing it down we know he's lying. I don't believe he'd get his football shirt number tattooed on his ring finger or name his queer, androgynous fashion company after his football shirt number. Also why would his football number be 28? Just a random number he tattoos on himself and names his fashion company after?

Also why is he always showing his fingers and attracting attention on his 28 tattoo when he's got to deny larry or stunt? It's as if he's telling us he isn't allowed to promote homosexuality... Even if he didn’t get the tattoo for Section 28, he knows that a lot of people think that he did, so this is significant.

It's totally fine if you don’t agree with me. But don’t pretend like this isn't a plausible theory, and i personally believe this over 28 being his football shirt number. I know some people think the 28 is for "To infinity" where the 8 is the infinity sign. I'd believe that over the football shirt number story too.

[snowisflesh-blog123]

Hi guys I wrote some bbc merlin fanfiction I hope you like it >.< Yaoi Bl MLM Warning dont like dont read

~~~

Arthur power walked in a manly way through the halls of the castle. He was looking for his useless and super sexy manservant, Merlin, who was late for work this morning. The king sighed to himself, ‘I really need to teach Merlin to not be an idiot’, he thought.

“MERLIN” Arthur roared. Just then he got attacked by a guy with like 20 swords! Luckily Arthur is powerful and flawless so he defended himself flawlessly. Just then Merlin ran around the corner and used his magic to explode the other 20 men who were attacking Arthur.

Arthur gasped. His trusty servant was a sorcerer??? He fell to the ground and started weeping.

“Merlin….” He whispered.

“I’m so sorry sire! I have magic but I’m not evil” Merlin mumbled, sitting in front of him. He was also crying but way harder because hes the uke. “I only ever use it to protect you”

“Right…” Arthur snarled, then he sighed again, “Of course, you’re one of the good ones.”

Merlin smiled, and then Arthur held his hand super sweetly and gayly.

“I’m going to make magic legal” Arthur bellowed.

~~~

“NO!”

Morgana looked into her crystal ball and scoffed. Magic?? Legal??? This can’t happen, she needs magic to be illegal so she can justify being a massive bitch as she has absolutely no other reason.

She breasted boobily around her hovel, looking through her evil magic potions until she found what she was looking for and smirked evilly.

~~~

“Wow Arthur, thank you for making magic legal for me.” Merlin exclaimed. Arthur laughed happily beside him.

“Of course Merlin, I would do anything for you” Arthur blushed. Merlin blushed too.

“Y-y-you would?” Merlin moaned.

“Of course.” Arthur announced, blushing even harder now.

The pair stared at each other, leaning slowly closer. Arthur then grabbed Merlin’s head and the two started kissing. It was so much better than when Arthur had kissed gross women before, Merlin’s lips were hard and chapped and manly. They moaned and their tongues started interlocking and they licked each other.

“I hate gay people!” Morgana bellowed homophobically, blasting the two apart with her telekinesis.

“Merlin!” Arthur sobbed, watching his lover crumple against the wall, “You’ll pay for this you stupid bitch!”

“I’d like to see you try, dear brother,” Morgana snarled. She was probably PMSing or something. “Windgadium leviosa transphbia avadacadavera!”

Arthur cried out in pain as Morgana magiced him. He writhed around in agony.

“How dare you make magic legal!” Morgana hissed, “No one should be allowed to use magic but me! In fact I was enchanting Uther to be super tyrannical when he was alive just because I’m such a hater!” (I’ve actually seen this plot point used before like be fucking for real)

“Expelliamus!” Merlin cried out, killing Morgana instantly. Arthur ran to his side, sobbing.

“Merlin my love are you alright?” He whimpered

“Of course my lovely prat” Merlin groaned.

“I am here too” Said Gwen, who was also there and needs to appear for one line. She smiled fondly as she, unlike Morgana, was a fujoshi.

“Lets get married. I’m sure no one would object despite the fact we live in the middle ages” Arthur whined

“Why do they call it that. The middle of fucking what” Merlin declared.

Then they fucked on the floor to keep it real, as the castle was full of chintz.

[intergalactic-garbage]

i see you've chosen to be into red dwarf today, which i've never heard of, so i'm currently working out from your posts what it even is at all

my guess went from fiction podcast to musical (a la starkid) to somewhat low budget tv show (made no later than 2007 and likely in the 80s)

it seems fun! and i'm also having fun with my lack of understanding of what it is so it's your call whether you want to tell me or just laugh at my guesses :)

hiiii monarch! i love the phrasing "whats this mf gonna reblog today *spins wheel*" :D <3

red dwarf is a sci-fi comedy sitcom from the uk, which aired some time ago. it's something i used to watch with my dad (still do sometimes) - we have all the series on dvd in czech, and the dub holds a special place in my heart.

as do the characters! the cast features dave lister, last human whos accidentally survived an accident that killed everyone else on the spaceship, wakes up 3mil yrs later, and is only accompanied by rimmer, his former insuffrable roommate (now in the form of a hologram), cat (guy who is from a race that evolved from lister's cat which he sneaked on the spaceship (and the reason why he got sent to stasis for 3mil yrs)), totally flamboyant and very stupid mf (i love him), holly (the ships sarcastic ai interface) and kryten (servant robot who learns to be more human and rebel against his programming).

the cast all have their insufferable qualities that make them so very human. lister is just a guy. hes very punk subculture guy who just views the world through very common sense, likes to poke fun at rimmer, and is gross at times :D but very much is the one to be the voice of humanity and just. empathy. real. rimmer is a horrible know-it-all whos a terrible coward and loves to pesk everyone around him (and drop the blame for things he did to himself on everyone else). he has 97 illnesses and isnt allowed in most public spaces

(this is a hannibal meme but applies to rimmer too well.) hes very autistic coded, his parents hated him, is obsessed with becoming a great world ruler/hero/whatever, and terribly in denial of the fact that hes just sabotaging himself in becoming that. also frequently made fun of for not having a lot of sex with women, but it all just comes of as him being gay and horribly horribly in denial about it.

basically, rimmer was only revived as a hologram to be a companion to lister, and was picked to be the person who was best fit to be listers companion for an eternity in space from every person on the ship of red dwarf (which is said to be big like a small city). which idk but if you ask me thats pretty gay.

the sort of core of the show is the banter of them two, and them being polar opposites in a way, but also, despite how annoyed they are by each other, clearly caring about each other.

the third character is holly, the ships ai with iq in the thousands, who exists to provide info on the ship and have sarcastic remarks. sometime in s2 he switches gender and becomes a woman. dont remember why or how. but then she has this horrible haircut

the fourth character is cat. hes stupid, cares about himself, dresses in flamboyant suits (my personal fashion icon), but never to such an extent that hed become actually unlikable. theyre all kinda annoying but that makes it so good :D the fifth character, who joins the cast sometime in s2 is kryten, android who is their maid. hes very kind and caring and they slowly actively try to disrupt this programming, so he can lie and rebel and just. im soft abt it

the entire show is enjoyable bc of the characters and the fact they all share a single braincell, and the setting allows fun sci-fi shenanigans to happen. like a manifestation of their worst aspects in the form of a planet, a version of earth where time is in reverse, and all that jazz - but it all really serves as a setting for the characters and the bits :D despite all that, often theres a deeper thought underlying the eps, like theyre often on the verge of death, or discussing the morality of something. it's all just very british.

and ahhhh i just love them all they have zero braincells and the humour is so special to me<33 and thank you for asking!!! im literally so happy someone asked me about this :3 also please if theres anything that didnt make sense to you or want to ask further about please do <3

[limetameta]

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the difference in Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort's characterization depending on a) pairing b) his sexuality in said story and c) the form he takes (snake or basic)

I spoke in length about the way authors who write Tom Riddle or Voldemort in Older Tom or Voldemort /Hermione stories absolutely write this power fantasy masculine fellow who's like the ideal dark mysterious and incredibly absurdly straight bordering on never had a gay thought in his life romantic partner who quite naturally isn't really allowed any hobbies outside of being a manipulative sex god who is going to plunder through dark tomes and a taming of the shrew and or submissive hermione granger (but she doesnt wanna admit it ofc so they have to have this long and exhausting song and dance until ultimately she is changed for the worse by the power of dark lord cock) (Ron Weasley bashing mandatory)

Though typically these stories never depict a snake voldemort. Could be in fact because this category of volmione shipper is deeply invested in writing some sort of dark lord bridgerton fantasy. Plus it doesnt quite manage to overlap with monsterfuckers who a) delight in the macabre b) know what a hemipenis is and c) forked tongue rights

The snake voldemort dark lord who is typically either unhinged in the same way a person with a gun who happens to also deal with dementia is tends to generally not fancy Hermione. In part because Hermione is never Hermione in Volmione stories - she is always in actuality meant to be the Reader or the Author living out her sexy boudoir fantasies. And these authors don't like snake voldemort.

Now who likes snake voldemort? Based off of my reading experience hot damn the harrymort portion of the fandom goes crazy for this man. In part because this is a gay pairing and we all know how much gay queer etc folks go crazy for monsterfucking and loving because if someone can love this monstrocity then theres love for me out there too. More eloquent people have written on the phenomenon on monsterfucking and the correlation between queer people and it. I am here to talk about the fact that Snake Voldemort characterization compared to Basic Tom Riddle characterization even in Harrymort is vastly different (depending on author, position, au, etc etc) BUT. These are the main things I have noticed from my unfortunately extensive reading and interaction:

Snake Voldemort is typically a) asexual b) harrysexual because thats his horcrux c) rapist (suppose this is yet another way to generally show what a monster voldemort is. if there isnt a muggle raping orgy among the death eaters, are you really writing the death eaters?/ sarcasm )

This man does not have any thoughts of his own other than harry mine mine, global domination, murder, death, nagini, hiss hiss, hemipenis

There are, of course, outliers where they write Voldemort as a 3 dimensional being and I love them to bits, though they are outliers, perhaps even exceptions that prove the rule of preferred fandom characterization.

Older Tom Riddle in harry pairings kind of dips his foot in the older tom riddle volmione characterization but dips right back out before submerging in a dark bodice ripping fantasy characterization. They keep the manipulation and this continues to be a fantasy where there is a naive younger partner who needs to be shepherded by a stronger hand. Harry and Hermione both are meant to just give in and be shown the wondrous world of a) orgasams and b) a slight type of bimbofication where oh voldemort knows better so you should just do as he says and not think . Depends on the story! Not a rule, but a majority.

Seme and uke dynamics were popular and or mandatory in harrymort or tomarry pairings and we all know what a limiting and rigid dynamic those were.

These days more and more people are writing a multidimensional lord voldemort for all pairings and I gotta say its very nice. Good to sometimes open up a story and see the man have a hobby or not be too homophobic to take a cock up the arse.

As for Bellamort - kind of the same as Volmione but the sex is much more graphic. Haven't read enough to actually talk about.

[lichengills]

Hey you, wanna hear my headcanons for the interns/junior agents that I came up with while in the car for 8 hours?

My main reason for writing these down is for future writing prompts. I haven’t done any psychonauts writings yet, but I want to at some point cause *slaps game like car salesmen* this bad boy can fit so much found family in it.

So I don’t know if we have canon ages for the interns, but I think it’s safe to say that these guys are teenagers. All of them falling into that 14-16 demographic. I think Sam would be the youngest and Adam would be the oldest.

I also don’t know if it’s ever stated if Lizzie or Norma is the oldest of the sisters (Or if they’re twins? Point is I can’t find much so I guess it’s up to interpretation). But I like to think that Norma is the older sister, only by a year. But that won’t stop her from holding that over Lizzie constantly.

Speaking of Lizzie, considering that her sister is a perfectionist always sneaking her way into being what Lizzie calls, ‘a teacher’s pet’, this sort of feeds into her whole rebellious attitude. She’s got that “my older sister is so perfect and if I’m gonna be overshadowed might as well use it to my advantage”. Since everyone seemed focused on Norma, it allowed Lizzie to get away with things they wouldn’t approve of like causing trouble. They used to be close growing up, but as Norma separated herself from Lizzie for her reputation, Lizzie just embraced her role as the “weirdo outcast”.

Norma on the other hand? Very gifted child syndrome. She was always a good grades student who didn’t have many friends and was probably made fun of for it. But it’s not like she cared, cause Norma snuck her way to the top and was on good graces with almost every adult. But deep down? She really doesn’t want to slip up. I imagine the main reason she went after Razputin more than the others was because she knew that he had the potential to overshadow her. She wants to keep her title of being the best intern around, and she’s not ready to give that up to a ten year old that showed up out of the blue. Because if she’s not a gifted student, then she’s nothing.

Wow okay a good chunk is just Lizzie and Norma, so let’s cut to just headcanons based around all of them-

I know I keep repeating it over and over how “I don’t know if” so I’ll shut up. I like to think that the interns stay in the motherlobe and have dorms/living arrangements. That way they’re involved and around 24/7. Plus it’s probably handy for those who don’t live nearby (since I’m pretty sure Adam is from the UK…?) But hey living at the motherlobe just means they have more time to hang out.

After doing assignments and homework given by their mentors, they either hang out by their dorm or around the motherlobe. What do they get up to? Shenanigans of course. Whether it’s hanging at the abandoned Lumberstack Diner for snacks, lurking in the forest at night to scare trespassers, pranking or spying senior agents, sharing gossip, the list goes on. Sure, they might be scolded for it and be assigned tedious tasks as punishment, but that doesn’t stop them. Instead it just encourages them to keep doing it and place bets on which teen will get busted. (Like, “Hey Gisu if you can write this on the wall and not get caught I’ll give you five bucks” kind of stuff).

The main prankster masterminds are Gisu, Lizzie, and Morris. They are the “be gay do crime” trio. Adam and Norma are more tactical when it comes to schemes so it can’t be traced back to them (when you have two psychonaut leaders as your mentors you can’t afford to get caught), so they don’t always get involved. Sam’s just in it for the ride and is always down to do the weird ones.

But yeah since Adam and Norma don’t want to get caught so easily, the other teens don’t worry too much. Morris knows that Milla would be stern but forgive him. Compton’s too busy with his own anxiety and isolation to even notice if Lizzie’s getting into trouble. And well, Oleander and Otto would probably encourage it. One would lecture on how not to get caught next time while the other would give tactical advice for the next one and offer to cover for them and make a fake alibi. I’ll let you decide who’s who.

And of course after the events of PN2, Razputin gets dragged into this. Now at first, some of the teens really don’t want to have Raz hang out with them. Mainly because they don’t want to be “babysitting a ten year old”, with some like Lizzie and Morris fearing that he’d rat them out. But as time goes on, he ends up becoming an honorary teen of the group. They sort of become a bad influence, what with getting him involved in pranks and teaching him things he shouldn’t know like swears or how to steal. But Raz is still a good kid.

I got more, but I might save them for the future. I have ideas on what Raz would do when he spends time with the junior agents. However, these might end up being future writing prompts…? We’ll see. If you wanna throw in your two cents or hear more about the other characters feel free to ask. Granted, even if I don’t get much, that probably won’t stop me from doing more posts like this down the line cause I can talk about these funky characters for hours.

[elipheleh]

Section 28 & Henry

So I wrote a series before the film was released where we learnt together about things from the book. I’ve been seeing some things about Henry growing up & not necessarily having the queer visibility available to him in the same way Alex did. Someone was writing about Henry at school, or mentioned it in passing - I can’t find the post now - and it reminded me of something that non-UK folk (and even perhaps the younger UK folk) wouldn’t be aware of, but would have been a part of Henry’s schooling if he had been at school, both as book-accurate age but especially as the aged-up film version. (Alex is aged up to 27 so im putting Henry at a similar age.)

This post will talk about the history behind Section 28 & its legacy, and then some personal anecdotes that will contextualise what it might’ve been like for Henry, under the premise of the real world being comparable to the RWRB universe.

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Section 28 was part of a wider Local Government Act, and was enacted in May of 1988 by a Conservative government under Thatcher. ‘The amendment stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship".’ (source) In simple English, this meant that teachers - and anyone on staff - couldn’t talk about or make reference to anything that wasnt cis-heterosexuality, nor could they be openly queer. Student support groups for queer teens also had to either close or self-censor, and many teachers worried that stepping in to stop homophobic bullying would result in censure & so didn’t speak out.

Section 28 was repealed in Scotland in June 2000 and in the rest of the UK in November 2003 (under a Labour Government), but the shadow of it was present for years after - and arguably still to this day to some degree.

It was enacted for a number of reasons, but predominantly due to moral panic resulting from a negative shift in opinion about non-straight sexualities & the AIDs epidemic. Alliances between labour unions & LGBT groups (for example Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners and the National Union of Mineworkers - if you’ve seen Pride, this is the two groups featured there) caused the introduction of a resolution at the Labour Party Conference in 1985 to criminalise discrimination against LGB people. During the election campaign in 1987, then-Prime Minister Thatcher & the Conservative Party ran a smear campaign that suggested the Labour Party wanted to teach young children about explicit queer sex in schools (they didn’t).

The resulting response after the enactment of Section 28 was that of increased homophobia alongside an spike of action by the British gay rights movement. One of the UK’s leading queer groups, Stonewall, emerged from the response to Section 28, and Ian McKellen came out as a gay in 1988, whilst arguing against the legislation. However, as I mentioned previously, the shadow of Section 28 is still felt now. In 2014, 10 years after its full repeal, 29% of secondary school (age 11-17) teachers weren’t certain that they were allowed to teach lessons about LGBT topics. In 2016, it was found that school libraries still had very little queer literature or support from librarians for queer students, and 3 years later there were still British librarians who assumed Section 28 was still law - a full 16 years after full repeal. A 2018 study found that teachers who had worked under Section 28 were still cautious about being openly queer, in contrast to those who were trained as teachers after 2003.

—

for context, i am 30 & was schooled in England specifically. i did go to a same-sex high school (secondary school) but i did not go to a private school (as Henry would have, were he real!) so some things will differ but it would not have been better for Henry than my experiences.

On a more personal note, I started school in 1997 and left in 2011. Throughout my schooling - my entire secondary/high school experience was once Section 28 had been repealed - I can count on one hand the number of times I encountered anything that was positive about queer people, and even less if you limit it to being ‘approved’ information. My most common exposure was hearing someone being accused of being attracted to the same sex, usually with slurs, and I use ‘accused’ here intentionally as it was meant to be insulting. There was no-one openly queer in my school - my friend was trans, but we didn’t ever call it that. I just knew from their reaction that their very-gendered birth-name made them uncomfortable & the neutral diminutive was preferred (as an example, Alexandra and Alex - this isn't their name). I don’t know if they knew the word for it then, I certainly didn’t. We didn’t learn about sexuality in PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education), and we definitely didn’t have openly queer teachers. Straight was the default & the only option.

I talked to my friend about their experience - they’re 22 so Henry’s schooling would fall in between mine & their's in both book & film - and realistically there was not much difference. They were at a mixed-gender school, and had a couple of mentions of ‘gay’ in classes (e.g. one reference to ‘g is for gay’ in an alphabet song) but were also expected to debate if being gay was wrong in RE (religious education). Being queer wasn’t ‘okay’ but it wasn’t necessarily inherently terrible in the way my experience implied it to be. They also didn’t have any lgbt/queer clubs in school.

Another friend a similar age to myself had no positive mention of queer sexuality until they were at university, but instead was surrounded by constant slurs, was accused of being a lesbian, and heared queer (as a slur) & the f-slur thrown around on an almost hourly basis, with teachers ignoring it.

From my understanding & perspective, Henry would have had a more repressive existence than our experiences. Private all-boys boarding school, especially Eton (the school of choice for the male British royals!), would have had much more negativity surrounding being gay, and I doubt the repeal of Section 28 had much impact in such a conservative setting like that. There are open letters from former students of Eton, some of which lay out their (predominantly negative) experience with being queer at school. I've linked them below.

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Sources/Additional Reading: Wikipedia - Section 28 BBC - Section 28: What was it and how did it affect LGBT+ people? Tribune - The Long Shadow of Section 28 Attitude - How Section 28’s painful legacy is still being felt three decades on - cw for homophobic violence, addiction, suicide Metro - Section 28 was repealed 15 years ago but I can’t forget the impact it had on me so easily - cw for homophobic violence, mention of grooming, suicide & addiction Guardian - Section 28 protesters 30 years on: ‘We were arrested and put in a cell up by Big Ben’ LSE - Section 28, three decades on: the legacy of a homophobic law through the LSE Library’s collections Daily Beast - I Was Eton’s Only Out Schoolboy Pink News (in response to the above) - Comment: Yes, there is homophobia at Eton Huffington Post (similar as above, more information/context) - Former Eton Student Jamie Jackson's Open Letter Proves There IS Homophobia At The College

[pandasmagorica]

First watch mid-watch thoughts: DNA Says Love You

Okay, this isn't a review or even comprehensive. I watched episode 8 this morning and just had to get some thoughts down. The show has been dropping hints about this all the way through so I don't claim any brilliance for reaching this conclusion, but I just want to get my thoughts out before I continue with episode 9.

If you don't want to be spoilered, just know that I have warmed up to this series and I'm pretty sure it's giving us some QL rep that we don't usually get for leads in QL. How well it will ultimately do at it remains for me to see.

Spoilers (if you can call them that) and a clown after the jump

The series has been dropping hints all along that female child Wen-Wen is now adult male Amber, that Amber is desperate to re-establish contact with his childhood friends and in particular with Pu Le Jian aka Le, who he has clearly fallen in love with, if he didn't fall already as child Wen-Wen. And it seems like Le has fallen for Amber as well - if I may steal a line from Gram Pancake Thailand, I don't have to say I love you, I fed you pancake (as seen in Bad Buddy, as Ink and Pa feed each other pancake). There's been a lot of Le feeding Amber going on.

But...we probably have to wait:

Le reacted with what might be considered gay panic to Li's shipping Le and Amber in that video.

Amber hasn't responded to any of Le's "I wonder where Wen-Wen is now" with "He's sitting right in front of you"

Amber panicked when Le almost saw Amber shirtless, which would have - as I expect - revealed Amber's top surgery scars. I was looking for them (if the actor playing Amber is cis, then they could have used makeup) but I couldn't tell from the camera angle.

It's clear that Amber is reticent. In an episode 8 flashback (the Chinese title reads "one year ago" but it's not subtitled) we see Amber have a chance encounter with Le and Yu-He at a playground in Taipei where Amber recognizes them instantly but they are totally unaware of him. It takes him nearly a year afterwards to show up at the cafe.

We also see Wen-Wen being whisked away from Taiwan as a child. Wen-Wen's mother seems determined to get Wen-Wen out of there. My guess is what led to that determination is that Wen-Wen came out to his parents as being male. We'll see.

If so, the positive interpretation would be that they wanted to get him to a place where being transmale was more acceptable and allow him to transition only under their eyes. The negative interpretation would be that they were afraid of losing face. Again, I'm guessing we'll see.

We haven't seen much about the quest to find the mysterious temple, but we do keep getting references to it, so here's my clown:

Li is right that the two temple lovers were actually gay, and the story became heterosexualized over the years.

Le and Amber are the reincarnation of the two temple lovers.

I've got four episodes left. I hope, reincarnated or not, that Le and Amber find themselves as a happy couple.

A couple nitpicks:

Amber is a female name in English - Amber lived in the UK. I would have expected a transman to avoid such a gaffe. Likely the writing team's error.

When Yu-He and Wen-Wen had the discussion about Yu-He getting boy's hand-me-downs and Wen-Wen wearing a dress, I would have expected Wen-Wen to suggest swapping clothes. This might be a victim of the 26-minute run time - not enough time to inject this and the parents' reaction into the plot.

[vintage-bentley]

If David were giving "wait and see" style answers I'd have a bit more hope but he was talking to the Radio Times which is a reputable publication in the UK so I don't feel like he'd outright lie to them about the nature of Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship.

To be honest, both he and Michael have been pretty clear on this being a ~secret background story~ or whatever, and have repeatedly said it's up for interpretation, and I'm worried everybody's doing another Johnlock where they ignore what the people involved are saying and have convinced themselves they're getting confirmation that will never come. The difference is this would be even WORSE because of the marketing campaign for season 2 and Neil's baity comments.

I honestly don't think Neil would be affected by this either because the second anybody expresses disappointment the asexuals in fandom are going to make it all about them and about how society ignores and invalidates their kind of love etc. I think he'll be successfully shielded. There will be pissed off people (especially olds like me who were book fans first and have lived through this shit a billion times) and I'm sure a huge part of the fandom will be quietly seething but we simply won't be allowed to call it bait because "Neil has always said it's a love story and therefore canon uwu" (even if it's plausibly deniable to homophobes and eludes the casual viewer 🙄).

I also think it's very telling that Neil only drew attention to the fake spoilers circulating when a post appeared saying the season was "500% gay" and that Az and Crowley had many romantic scenes. He has also said that while the marketing dept at Amazon clearly love the show he would've advised them to do things differently were he not on strike.

I know we've all been interpreting David and Michael's tight-lipped squirming when asked about a romantic subplot as an attempt not the give EVERYthing away, but it could also be that they know they're not going to deliver what the audience wants (including, apparently, every single interviewer on press day lol) so have been ordered not to say anything that sets themselves up.

IF all of this does turn out to be bait I am going to become a fic writer just to spite Neil lol. Trust I will be writing the smuttiest fic and finding the nastiest NSFW Ineffable Husbands art imaginable and it will be gay, gay, GAY 😂

I still HOPE we're getting what we want because I'm an optimistic fool. I'm just not sure it's guaranteed in the way the fandom thinks it is.

(btw if this doesn't go through anonymously please message me rather than publishing? Unfortunately I have co-workers and real life friends following me on my main 😬)

Sorry anon I couldn’t help but publish these together, it’s very funny to me 😂

Now, I know you’ve done a complete turnaround, but I do see where you were coming from with your first ask. It’s fun to imagine that the squirmy tight-lipped attitude is them doing their best not to spoil…but it’s sadly true that it could also be them feeling like they’re walking in a minefield, knowing that fans are anticipating something they didn’t deliver.

And I agree with you about fan reception to Neil. Like I’ve said before, spicy straights thinking they can call themselves “queer” has been absolutely disastrous to our ability to talk about queerbaiting. Because that term is really supposed to mean gaybaiting. It refers to the specific trend of shows teasing a gay relationship to get viewers hooked, but never taking it anywhere to ensure they don’t loose the viewership of homophobes. But now since everyone and their mother calls themselves “queer”, they seem to think the term queerbaiting applies to them, too. Which has led us to the point where people say “actually this show isn’t queerbaiting, because they don’t show physical affection which is aro/ace representation! Not everything has to be gay!” (In other words, “this show is gaybaiting but I’m happy about that so you can’t get upset about it”).

So, even if the show ends up being perfect textbook queerbait…we can’t say that, because of how the term has been appropriated. And we’ll have to deal with spicy straights whining about how they’re oppressed by gays wanting representation.

But as I’ve said before, I’m very optimistic about it not being bait! Let’s hope we’re right!