#although I'm like... yes so it's *not* intentionally Queer

[rugessnome]

(completely out of the blue LOTR post)

...the fact that Eowyn's post war life trajectory simultaneously holds the potential to be read as a disaffirming of war as well as (boo the old man and his agéd gender norms) a reaffirming of femininity that may narratively be a price exacted for continued life and happiness...

[youhideastar]

Why you should watch Story of Yanxi Palace

It seems ridiculous to do a promo post for literally the most-watched television show on the planet, but I follow a lot of accounts that post cdrama gifs, and I don't think I've ever seen a single Yanxi Palace gif, and that's a tragedy.

Story of Yanxi Palace is a 2018 period drama with 70 episodes, set in the harem of the real-life Qing Dynasty Qianlong Emperor and featuring some real-life events and characters from that period. Our heroine is Wei Yingluo, a teenager who enters the Forbidden City as a maid, seeking to solve and then avenge her sister's murder. It was a smash hit when it was released, although it was later censored. You can find it on Viki.

If you liked Nirvana in Fire, you will probably like Yanxi Palace: Wei Yingluo is very similar to Mei Changsu in all the best ways, in that she is devious, ruthless, occasionally very funny, driven by revenge, and possessed of a fundamental core of decency despite her scheming ways. She is also a fifteen-year-old girl. (At the beginning of the show, that is - the drama spans more than a decade.)

Wei Yingluo's relationship with the primary love interest, Fuca Fuheng, is also just *chef's kiss.* She suspects him of her sister's murder, tries to secretly off him a couple times, and he then confronts her about it and hands her a knife, saying, "If you really think I killed your sister, you can kill me now. I won't stop you." We've all seen this scene a dozen times in assorted movies and shows; she loves him so she can't bring herself to do it; she'll drop the knife, they'll embrace--

Reader, Wei Yingluo takes that knife and STABS HIM IN THE CHEST. She stabs him in the chest!!! How can you tell she likes him? Because he survives the experience. Barely.

After that, you think this is a Mei Changsu/Mu Nihuang pairing where there's a relatively normal person who loves their devious little meow meow--and then Fuheng turns around and gaslights Yingluo with zero remorse and you realize that this pairing is actually 100% deranged 4 deranged. The shit these two do to each other and for each other is completely unhinged. At one point, she kills his wife and the two of them never talk about it. Not before, not after, not ever. Legendary. He calls her his zhiji. They will convince you that the height of romance is marrying other people but knowing one another so deeply that you can coordinate intricate political schemes without ever communicating with each other because you can predict one another's moves with perfect accuracy.

Also, the costumes, sets, and props are ridiculously beautiful (and historically accurate!), the characters are like 20 incredibly intelligent and complex women and then like 4 hot dudes, and the score is incredible.

Is there queer rep, you ask? Nothing explicit. But there are a lot of female characters who have very intense, passionate relationships with other female characters. Also, there's a subplot where the Emperor suspects the Empress is having an affair with one of his consorts and you can see his point; finally, there's a character who is intentionally set up to have a very ambiguous sexual orientation: I think you could plausibly argue that he's ace, that he's bi, that he's gay, or that he's straight. I'm not sure even he knows.

There's a lot more to love about it, but when a show's been streamed more than 15 billion times (yes, with a b), I feel like I don't have too much to add. 😂 Give it a try!

[girlashfur]

Transmisogyny In The Warriors Fandom : The Mothpool Issue

hi, my name is muyang / @girlashfur and i'm a transfeminine being who enjoys the fictional series of warrior cats. i've been into this book series for as long as i can remember, ever since i was a little kid. and growing up with this fandom, i've noticed a reocurring issue among it, which i aim to do a break-down of now.

the issue is transmisogyny. for those who are unaware : transmisogyny is the unique combination and overlap of misogyny and transphobia, specifically targeting transfeminine individuals. it's a widespread issue in just about every corner of the world, even spaces for transgender and otherwise queer individuals seem to have a problem with being transmisogynistic, intentionally or not. the warriors fandom is not exempt from this; and they're not special, either, i'm yet to encounter a popular fictional fanbase that doesn't have several transmisogynists among it's members. but the warriors fandom seems to have a peculiar way of going about it.

to start, i want to clarify that there seems to be...a surprising lack of transfem warriors fans to begin with; i can name about three off the top of my head, not counting myself, compared to hundreds of cisgender, transmasc, or otherwise tme (transmisogyny exempt) fans. perhaps we're just underrepresented, i'm sure there's more of us out there, but nonetheless i'd like to make it clear i'm writing this mainly based off of what i personally have experienced and witnessed in this fandom. my word may not speak for every transfem person, and that's okay.

transmisogyny isn't always violent and obvious; it's not always slurs and misgendering and harrassment, although don't get me wrong, plenty of transmisogynists do engage in such a way. but it can also be a subtle practice, something most tme people would not pick up on. like all systems of oppression, it can also be a learned behavior, one somebody witnesses happen (typically unpunished) and assumes is okay to recreate. one of the ways this can happen is through the objectification and sexualization of transfeminity. stereotypes are a common form of this. oftentimes, transfeminine characters are portrayed as violent and agressive, masculine and gruff, or as suave and predatory womanizers, sometimes a mixture of all three.

the warriors fandom does this often. there are several characters that are commonly headcanoned as transfem by the fandom, and most are victim to being portrayed this way. a few i can think of off the top of my head are cats like russetfur, crowfeather, mapleshade, darktail, tree, and yes...mothwing. mothwing is a bit of a special case, because i believe most people only headcanon her as transfeminine so they can ship her with leafpool (the ship commonly named mothpool) and imagine the two with biological kittens, in some aus, even as the three's parents.

this is a form of objectification already, although one might not catch onto it immediately. mothwing's transness is turned into a token, a special card to be exchanged to fit the fandom's idolized version of the ship. one could argue it could be interpreted as sexualization as well; while the warriors fandom tends to stray away from outright sexual portrayals of the cats (for good and obvious reasons), mothwing being transfem is still only done for the purpose of making her a cat with a penis, so she can have kits.

mothwing isn't canonically a particularly violent or angry cat, nor does she seem to be particularly romantic (she actually doesn't have a canon mate at all, being a medicine cat). however, in fandom based portrayals of her, she's often twisted to fit these stereotypes. sometimes she's designed to be large and masculine with the excuse of it being because she's a tigerkin, or sometimes she's portrayed as being very proud and open about her love of leafpool (who is often portrayed as shy and defenseless, practically hiding behind her). i've seen several aus with transfem mothwing in them "conveniently" include things like her formerly training as a warrior, or killing another cat (such as crowfeather) "for leafpool", or even portraying her as evil, typically falling to the manipulation of her father.

mothpool as a ship isn't really the issue here. it's the fandom's doing. the two have quite a few canon interactions that could be portrayed as romantic, and sure, it's really not my buisness what people ship as long as it's legal and all...but when you get exposed to so much hidden transmisogyny tied to one ship, as a victim of transmisogyny, you grow kinda wary of the ship as a whole. the few transfeminine people i've spoken to about this issue seemed to share my feelings as well. the moment i see a mothpool shipper mention making mothwing trans, i get shivers.

another point i'd like to make clear is that it's not every mothpool shipper doing this either, even out of the ones who do make her trans, i've met a few who portrayed it well and seemed very open and concerned about my views on transfem mothwing as a transfem person. i'm also certainly not saying you should go harrass people for shipping what they want, that's not my point nor is it helpful. as i've mentioned before, there's a good chance some of the people portraying mothpool in harmful ways like this don't fully realize what they're doing, and think it's okay because it's something they've seen before. i don't want those people to think they're bad for falling into those false beliefs, as long as they change them when they realize how they're offensive.

what i'm aiming to do here is give my two cents on why i generally dislike the ship as a transfeminine being myself, and to also spread awareness to why i feel that way. if i can make some people out there rethink some transmisogynist views they had perpetuated before, then my work is done well. as i'm finishing off this little essay of mine, i hope my message was explained clearly and gently, as it should be. see you guys in the next post, muyang out.

[syn4k]

BREAKING NEWS: The queer-themed superhero Arrow Ace has been out on a justice-fuelled rampage this Valentine's Day Morning, sniping villains from above and appearing randomly to whack people who are being rude to the happily single on the day of love.

This is the first appearance that the Arrow Ace has made since October of last year, and we now go to our field reporter Devon, who has managed to get an interview with the enigmatic hero.

Devon: Thank you Gary! I'm here on the corner of 12th and 7th street in downtown Placeville and next to me is the Arrow Ace, who has graciously agreed to be interviewed. AA: Hello. Devon: Sir, many of our newer viewers want to know who you are and what you do. Do you have an answer for them? AA: Yes. Hi. I'm the Arrow Ace, but you can just call me Ace. I was the sharpest shooter in my archery class in college and later decided to make a pun regarding my identity and thus, the hero personality was born. Devon: So do you have any supernatural abilities or are you just really good with a bow? AA: None whatsoever. I'm just a normal guy 99% of the time. Devon: [short pause to listen through her earpiece] Ah. Yes. A question from the studio. Viewers, Ace is most likely referring to the pun his alias makes when talking about his identity. AA: Yes. I am indeed an aromantic asexual, commonly shortened to aro/ace. Devon: Could you perhaps elaborate on that for those watching who might not know what that means! AA: Of course! A person who is aromantic experiences little, decreased, or no romantic attraction to other people. This may manifest as them not getting crushes, not wanting to participate in dating, or being adverse to romantic activities in general. A person who is asexual experiences little, decreased, or no sexual attraction towards other people. They might not want to participate in sexual activities and may be uncomfortable when the topic is brought up in real life or in media. Devon: I see! Thank you for explaining. Does this have anything to do with your backstory? AA: Yes. I originally took up the mask because as a young man, although I didn't have a word for what I was yet, I was often excluded in school both intentionally and not for not having an interest in dating people. In high school, someone who heard I wasn't interested in sex but also hadn't tried it out yet assaulted me to try and "convince" me otherwise. Ever since, I've been trying my best to be a beacon of light for those going through similar or worse ever since to let them know that there's nothing wrong with them and that you can be happy without those types of relationships. Devon: I see! Is there any reason why you're out and about on Valentine's day specifically? AA: I get asked a lot when seen alone in public if I'm single on this holiday. Most of the time, when I answer with yes, the response is something like "oh you poor soul! May you find love soon!" While the person undoubtedly means well, it still annoys me, so I've decided today to be the guy every aro or ace person wishes they had during that conversation.

[B-roll footage filmed on someone's phone of two person having a conversation. The first person asks "So, got any plans this evening?" The second person uncomfortably replies, "No, not really." The first person responds with "Oh, no! Well, better luck next year. Maybe you'll find someone," promptly cut off mid sentence by the Arrow Ace running up behind them and pwhacking them over the head with a paper towel tube. "You're not less whole or less of a person for not having a romantic or sexual partner," he says to the first person, pointing the tube at them. "That is your business and your business alone. I love you. Have a good day." The two people having the conversation stare after him, perplexed, as he runs off out of view of the camera. The video cuts back to Devon and AA.]

Devon: One last question: how do you know if the person in those discussions is aro or ace? AA: I don't, and I never put them on the spot for it. However, whether you experience attraction to others or not, it's never fun to be judged based on the circumstances you may be in at the moment. Devon: A bit of wisdom for us all. Well, sir, it appears that my time is up, but I appreciate you coming to answer these questions. AA: Of course. And, to all who participate, Happy Valentine's day! The shops always have discounts on chocolate the day after. Go treat yourself if you have the means. You deserve it. Devon: This has been Devon of Lucky 7 News. Back to you, Gary!

Thank you, Devon. I have received reports that a new development is unfolding in southeast Placeville- the Nefarious Anglerfish's cat-fish army is leaping up from the docks to attack unsuspecting couples on their walks. I've been told that the Arrow Ace is on his way to get involved. We'll be right back after these advertisements.

[straightbaittournament]

straightbait tournament F.A.Q.

HEY: i am drawing free propaganda for anyone who can donate $5 or more to any of the funds or orgs in this post, such as this fund to help karam and his family rebuild their life.

where can i find the current polls?

all polls will be tagged as #straightbait tournament round (numeral), so you should be able to find current and completed polls by searching that on this blog.

you can find the updated bracket here.

round one results here.

round two results here.

rest of the faq under the cut:

what tags do you use?

#straightbait tournament round (numeral) - for polls from a specific round of the straightbait tournament.

#straightbait tournament - any post generally about the straightbait tournament.

#singles tournament round (numeral) - for polls from a specific round of the singles tournament.

#singles tournament - any post generally about the singles tournament.

#honor the fallen - posts announcing the eliminated baits from completed rounds.

#announcements - important announcements such as start and end dates for each round and other information directly related to the tournaments.

#mod talks - casual posts and most asks. if you only want to see info that is prescient to the tournament, you can block this tag.

#(ship or character names) propaganda - propaganda for individual straightbaits.

#basics - posts concerning "vital" information, like rules and faqs, although i'm pretty sure that tag is busted atm, so this faq is kind of taking the place of those posts. you can find the original rules post here.

#other tournaments - posts promoting other tournaments, in which this blog has been tagged. there are some pretty cool ones in there!

what's your policy on ties?

only a perfect 50/50 counts as a tie. if one bait is even .1% higher than another, they win. i did this because i thought it would be funny and i also want to avoid tiebreaker rounds as much as possible

do you reblog propaganda?

yes! you are free to tag me in propaganda or to send it as an ask, although i may not reblog/respond to anti-propaganda (you're free to tag me though)

what are you counting as straightbait?

the definition of straightbait in this tournament is intentionally very loose, and the poll question is also vague on purpose (is it celebratory or derogatory? who knows). i've accepted submissions with more obvious examples of "straightbait", such as cases where m/f couples are teased but never get together, or couples who seem straight but are revealed to be queer. however, i've also accepted couples where they have some kind of weird fucking thing going on that could be interpreted a number of ways but isn't straightforward canonical m/f romance, "buried straights" who die after romance is confirmed, and a number of other things. i go more into this tournament's definition of straightbait here and here. i don't believe straightbait is an actual thing i'm just having fun and being sillay

why is this couple in the tournament if they get together canonically?

see above. in most cases where this question comes up, we're talking about buried straights. if the characters in question are queer, it is straightbait at least partially by virtue of those characters not being straight. and if neither of the above, the answer you are looking for will be in the propaganda.

you're free to argue about the validity of a straightbait in the tags, amongst yourselves, or in propaganda, but please don't come to me about whether a bait should or shouldn't be in the tournament

for more on queer characters being submitted to this tournament see this post and the tags of this post

what is The Policy?

i used to rb posts that i tagged with #as per The Policy. the policy says that any time i encounter a post on my dash that is related to one of the pairs in this tournament such that it could be used as propaganda, i have to reblog it. i decided to stop doing this because i realized it just biases the tournament in favor of the media tastes of my dash lmao

how were the matchups decided?

i sorted all my submissions into popularity tiers, then randomized matchups within each tier, so characters were matched up with others of equal or similar popularity to the best of my ability. tiers were based on how many submissions a pair received and how well they did in the singles tournament. there were five or six tiers in total, although it's been long enough since i made the bracket that i do not remember the exact number. if you ask me for more details on this there is a good chance i will no longer remember hdjshkdsj

what is the singles tournament?

the singles tournament was a preliminary tournament that i ran for every pairing or character that was only submitted once, hence "singles". i only automatically qualified straightbaits with more than one submission, so i did this to allow more submissions to enter the main tournament without having to create an absolute monster of a tournament. also a chance to see your blorbo in a poll at least once, even if they didn't qualify

what should i do if you've gotten something wrong?

send me an ask or a message, or leave me a comment! if you send an ask, please specify if you want me to answer it privately, as i will answer publicly by default. although be advised if i've made a typo in a poll option or poll title, i cannot edit it

what should i call you?

i've been referring to myself as straightmod/mod, but you can also call me karinyo! i use they/them, he/him, and ze/hir

[outrunningthedark]

i hope i can articulate this properly but the problem (for me) with how they've written most of the love interests for buck & eddie so far is that they've never gotten them integrated with the other main cast much at all. so it feels a little like they're taking away screen time i'd rather see spent on other people with scenes that are just buck + LI at home or eddie + LI at home (although they can at least get chris in there with those too)

like in restrospect it's kind of hilarious actually that taylor was involved in way more scenes with the 118 before she and buck got together then after

I think your feelings are echoed by many in the fandom, and it's the main reason why I stopped pondering the future for Natalia and Marisol. I personally don't see what a DIY-er and a death doula are going to bring to the firefam dynamic when neither character has a history with them (TayKay) or is a parent to someone's kid (Karen, Shannon). I do have a couple #unpopularopinions in relation to this, though. o1. Difficulty integrating has not been limited to Buck and Eddie Lis. Michael was a main. He had his best friends, his kids. But did his love life get a lot of attention prior to the hospital explosion? And then why did the hospital explosion episode even happen? To give those characters a friendly sendoff. Had Rockmond never been let go over his actions, we can't say that part of his story would have gotten any better.

Maddie is a main. She has a child with a firefighter. They're getting married. Why does Maddie go missing in big moments? Why was she not around during the dispatch fire or Henren's vow renewal? Why is she not having "girl talk" with Hen and Karen, her soon-to-be-husband's best friends? Why is she so isolated that the fandom can't even agree on who would be her maid-of-honor? o2. Buck and Eddie can't both have first responder LIs, I'm sorry. Yes, it's the logical choice if the show wants to make new characters "fit", but that would leave only one of the mains with a LI as a background presence - Hen. I realize that the show isn't actually for us gays, but having the lesbian relationship be the one with intentionally less screen time is a path I'd prefer they not take. o3. Not directing at any specific person because I don't know the opinions of every single one of you, but I will repeat something I said the other day and apply it to future LIs. *I* think it's too little, too late not only to get the GA on board with Buddie, but also to get the fandom - the Buddie shippers - on board with other LIs. The excuse for not liking outside relationships has been that they don't feel like part of the family (agree there), but had Tim shut down the possibility of Buddie for good with Ana, or brought in a new LI for Buck in 4B that wasn't previously criticized...we wouldn't be having these conversations today. Lucy comes in as a first responder and people hate for the cheating angle, sure, but what really stung for most of them was the reminder that the fate of Buck and Eddie would never have been a debate were we watching a man and a woman as opposed to two men. Eddie could fall in love in season seven and the reaction would be "Why does Chris need a new mom when he already has Buck???" Um, because Eddie is supposed to be straight? The only way for Buddie to be co-parents without the confirmation would be if we were watching a queerplatonic relationship. Except...neither one is queer.

You know when you try to clean a stain and somehow make it look worse than it already was? That's what it feels like to watch this show and those characters post-s4.

[sage-nebula]

A trend I've noticed cropping up into Pearlina works that has started bugging me a little is the tendency to make Pearl masc/butch while Marina is femme. Which, on the one hand, at least people aren't making Marina butch just because she's Black, which is something a lot of fandoms do to Black women due to racism. But on the other hand, it's still not true at all to Pearl's character and, more to the point, I think it's bugging me because I feel like it's heteronormativity applied to a queer couple.

I mean, these are fictional characters so at the end of the day it's not a big deal. But this is something we (i.e. queer people) face all the time. Like as a lesbian, I've had to have the "well one of you would have to be the man" talk with my father multiple times because although he understands on some level that we're both women, there's a part of him that's like, well, one person still fulfills the Masc Role and one person still fulfills the Femme Role. And it doesn't help that I'm gender nonconforming and always have been (to the point where, even as a child, I would get my older relatives to purchase my clothes from the boys' department because I, an otherwise extremely well-behaved child, would pitch fits if made to wear feminine clothing). So like in his mind I'm the Masc Role, which I mean, true, but that still doesn't make me "the man," I'm still a woman, and a cis woman at that. But this is sort of veering away from the point.

The point is, in a wlw relationship, sure, sometimes one of the women involved is butch and the other is femme. But also, sometimes both women are butches. And sometimes both women are femmes. And being butch or femme isn't always about how you dress anyway. And sometimes people like to change up how they dress depending on the day, and so on and so forth. But I feel like, at least in fandom, sometimes fandoms take queer couples in fiction and they still subconsciously box them into Masc and Femme roles. This happens both with wlw couples and mlm couples. Because we're raised in a very heterocentric society, we'll often subconsciously apply the heteronormative relationship patterns onto these queer couples in our art and fiction without even realizing we're doing it.

And I think it's happening here because Pearl's personality is very rough-and-tumble. Pearl is loud, she's assertive and can be aggressive when she's protecting those she cares about, she's not afraid to fight and get messy, she's reckless and brave and has a stereotypical "masculine" personality. This contrasts with Marina (intentionally), who is sweeter, more gentle, more openly affectionate, more cautious, et cetera, and overall has a more stereotypically "feminine" personality. So people are like, okay, Pearl has the more stereotypical "masculine" personality, so we'll make her the Masc/Butch one, and Marina the Femme one. Which, again, at least they're not going the racist route with Marina. I do appreciate that.

But it's still is a stereotype that doesn't really fit Pearl, and when I look at some of the fanart, it still doesn't square. Of course people can draw what they want, and I have reblogged some of it, and I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad. But I am just saying, Pearl is VERY feminine in her dress and presentation. Yes, Pearl has a brash personality, but actually take a moment to look at her, in both Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3. Here are hallmarks of Pearl's wardrobe and design:

Traditionally feminine colors in pastel shades: pinks, creams, and yellows/golds

Shiny jewelry, such as rings, necklaces, and most notably jewel encrusted crowns

She wears dresses; her main outfit in Splatoon 2 is a dress, she wears her baggy hoodie in OE like a dress, and she has a gold sparkly dress under Marina's her jacket in Side Order

Pearl is princess themed all over (hence her stage name of MC Princess), and it shows! She's very feminine. She loves being pretty. Yes she has short hair, but it's a cute, feminine bob. Yes, she has a rough-and-tumble personality, but that doesn't have anything to do with how she loves to dress up in girly pastel dresses (or hoodies that she can wear in such a way that they look like dresses) to look pretty. This squid contains multitudes. (And if you're like, "But what if she ruined her pretty dresses?" well, she's filthy rich, so what does she care? She'll just buy a new one lmao.)

And yes, I am aware that when Pearl was in her heavy metal phase before meeting Marina, she did dress in a black punk outfit, complete with pants. She is also wearing a black version of her OE hoodie in my icon, which comes from a Famitsu render. (At least I believe it was a Famitsu render.) But as I mentioned before, people can change their styles every now and again, and at least for the past 5+ in-game years, Pearl has not only been doing hip-hop instead of heavy metal, but has also been dressing a lot more feminine and in much brighter colors. Who knows? Maybe meeting Marina brightened up her outlook, and that inspired her to brighten up her wardrobe :)

And none of this is to say that Marina should be depicted as butch, because she absolutely should not! Marina is ALSO very feminine! Yes, Marina likes to wear pants, but pants aren't automatically masc, and she still wears a lot of feminine tops, pumps, et cetera. Both Pearl and Marina are feminine.

Again, I'm not trying to police what anyone can or can't draw or depict, but it just started to bug me a little in a, "This is the same heteronormative pattern I often see" kind of way, and also a, "This is not true to her character" kind of way as well. Especially as a lesbian woman who, again, is GNC and not feminine at all. Trust, I would love more honest representation of women like me, but Pearl is just not that. She's a sparkly, high-femme, rowdy little princess. And I love her just the way she is.

[castiel-ten]

Looking at those responses, while understandable if given in good faith, I would argue that they don't seem as such. Yes, love does take place in many different ways. But it seems as if Mr.Gaiman is giving himself a cop out for not acknowledging them as textually queer in any form. It can textually be a queer love story and be acknowledged in text without using labels, but this is just not true of the show. Largely, the show makes it seems ambiguously on the cusp of something rather than acknowledging them as life partners. This is not a revolutionary act; as there are arguably a lot of shows displaying this ambiguity. You could argue that textually supernatural could be seen as such, although as you said you and I both view this as queerbait. Mr.Gaiman has also made responses before these on twitter in which he plainly stated they could not be queer, gay, or otherwise. It seems that he has disingenuously flipped his view

personally I don't understand how this could be a cop-out for neil when he has so many other "explicitly queer" characters. I just don't understand what he gains here. I also don't think it's fair to judge based on GO1 alone, since it's basically the development of their relationship into being established (for the audience).

also, it is a queer love story. like, it is and I don't understand why we're still on that.

There's a difference between the relationship itself being ambiguous in nature and the existence of an ambiguous relationship. The former is true, the latter is not in Good Omens, in my opinion. Destiel was regularly canonically backtracked and dismissed in and out of text.

This is Neil's preferred definition of queer (by his daughter).

I also think it's important to mention, in regards to "flipping his view," that he did write the show differently than the book very much intentionally. That doesn't somehow make it all wrong. Even if he somehow is ~covering his ass~ I literally don't care, it's still a queer story canonically. Supernatural covered their ass by killing Cas and shutting down fans, kind of a different ballpark here. GO2 will tell us if this truly is "revolutionary" in my opinion.

I honestly can't say that Neil is doing what I deem as best (or that he's completely innocent -- I can't know that), but I don't think there's enough of anything to say this is queerbait. I believe season 2 is where there'll be a line drawn. What side of the line A&C will be, I don't know. I'm hoping for some small narration thing like "and although they didn't give a name to their love, Aziraphale and Crowley lived their happily ever after anyways" literally something so easy and simple as that but nothing more. Anything more would be unnecessary.

I'm gonna address something different here just so I can have it all in one post, nothing at anon here. What I'm most sick of is people trying to "justify" A&C's relationship as if it isn't enough on its own. It is enough. No "they need to kiss" "they need to be say they are agender/nonbinary/aroace." "they're gay!" not if they don't call themselves that. they do not have genders, they get to make the rules. if I see one more "you cast two cis men!" I'm gonna scream. GENDER is NOT presentation. sorry they couldn't get real fucking angels. there are people you think are binary men and they look like you think binary men look like and they are not binary men. those people are real live people and walk amongst you. I sometimes consider myself one of them. There is nothing wrong with a genderless entity presenting as masc because yknow what? he has to present as fucking something and he can choose whatever he likes. it literally has nothing to do with their sexuality if they don't want it to.

[boopiddyboop]

Great article, had the same thoughts!

And yes totally agree of them wanting to appeal to their audience but unless people are delusional(specially inaginary ships distort lot of ppl views) and not know that much about the community, I think we can tell when they are not doing it to appeal,(or not only, and at least not only in that sense) specially those 3 mentioned that are so honest and genuine, and definitely all the appealing thing wouldn't apply to their answers regarding ideal types, at least not to the queer community bc the lack of specificy it's appealing mostly the hets, the same for some when they would do but to hide being queer :') But at the same time dropping hints here and there that mostly only us would recognize that a lot of cishet or +phobic fans would not see easily (or negate even if there were obvious) xD

About the feminine and masculine thing, tbh I wish more ppl wouldn't use it (not only in astrology or tarot) and use other words instead (like you said overt for example or action oriented, etc).

But I get it too since it's so rooted in society that is kind of inevitable and lot of ppl do like it, me included sometimes but anyways x]

For me I prefer seeing Scorpio ruled or co-ruled by Pluto and either way wouldn't say it would be overt bc I also can't ignore it's a water sign and that's why it's said to be feminine leaning but ig it depends of the association we give, I get associating it with Hades would be more masculine than Apollo, and cap bc of saturn would be typically seen as more masculine. That's so interesting and makes me think how flexible and adaptable astrology can be and how much better in terms of archetypes and language used we could make it! :D

About Hj chart, can't agree in everything bc although probably we can find similar answers in one way or another even with different types of charts, I still prefer placidus and think his placidus chart makes way more sense!

Thank you I like taking about these topics!🥰

Oh certainly when it comes to the "they're all just playing us for their job" narrative, if that were truly the case, I think they would've been sussed out by now. There's a reason we like and bond with certain idols- perceived truthfulness is one of them. As for what is actually bread crumbs and what isn't... personally I lean towards assuming less because it's the safer route, but in the cases of idols with western backgrounds (i.e. Felix), it's a lot easier to feel confident about your interpretation of behaviors based on similar cultural behaviors.

I like to think of the terms "feminine" and "masculine", especially in the context of tarot/astrology/witchcraft as a sort of shorthand to those traits your describe, rather than by their more aesthetic interpretations. But I also came to terms long ago with that difference in my own life, before my interest in any of these topics- that I was definitively cisgendered and enjoyed being as such while recognizing that my presentation was neither traditionally female nor intentionally androgynous. As such, the language currently used doesn't bother me, but I recognize that comfort comes from being well-established in my identity.

Semi-related, another fun article talking about the pipeline from "cruncy" left to alt-right beliefs. In some ways, the still-gendered language does play into that. When we use terms like "divine masculine and feminine" we also open doors for those terms to be weaponized against us. Another example of this is when abusers use therapist rhetoric to justify their actions. I wouldn't say the current usage of "masculine/feminine" is equally as insidious, but I'm a huge proponent of the power of language. (If you can't tell by the now literally thousands of words of dialogue I have written in response to you- I try and get my words just right to not only convey a point, but an intention as well)

As for the differences between modern and traditional, I'm a Sailor Moon girlie at heart, so I'm actually kind of sad about the exclusion of Uranus-Pluto for rulership. That being said, ancient Greeks had wildly different views on sexuality and social dynamics than us. For example, Aquarius, the water-bearer, is derived from Ganymede. Y'know, that boy Zeus thought was so hot he took him to Olympus and made him his wine-bearer and then some of the Greeks did something similar. So yeah, some differences. As a more tangible example of how culture can cause confusion, my own personal chart, by both traditional and modern, it talks about me marrying an older man, but for different placements in my chart(s). And then I wonder, what is an older man? So I trace it back past the Greeks to the Arabic- the word originally used was sheikh. So is that a certain age? Status? And then would I be considered "old" at this age (yes) , so does that mean someone my age now? And you can just run yourself silly with these questions!

Eventually, I reached the point of going by traditional because I found it both easier for me to digest and ultimately felt it was more accurate, but .... if there was one indisputably correct way of doing this, I truly think we would be incapable of determining that in the first place. So I do my little readings with my little charts, knowing that my reading is subjective and flawed because I am subjective and flawed and that's okay :) So I hope I don't ever come across as condescending on these topics- if you find placidus makes more sense, then use that! We can compare notes haha

[strangertheory]

After you so thoughtfully answered that last anon, I'm wondering a few things. Most importantly, how do you think The Duffers could write it, if mileven ends up not being endgame, in a way that was accessible and easy to understand and like for casual viewers?

The “shipping war” between Mileven and Byler fans has never sat well with me because I think there’s an elephant in the room that is rarely acknowledged by fans of either ship. I’m unsure if it’s because they don’t want to acknowledge the elephant, if it’s because they haven’t noticed the elephant yet, or if it’s because they have heard rumor of the elephant but have decided to dismiss it as unimportant.

I believe that what is going on in the story is truly not what most fans think. I think there's a meta layer that hasn't been shared with us yet but that will start to be unraveled in season 4 or 5. I cannot say for sure what that layer is: but I'm thoroughly convinced that it is there. Things are not as they seem.

El and Will are mirrors of one another, and there are details that connect each of them in a way that goes beyond mere coincidence. Their stories appear to be intertwined intentionally, and although the reasons for this remain mysterious to us currently, I suspect their connection will become relevant in later seasons.

Yes, I believe that "Byler is endgame" in the sense that I believe that Mike is in love with his childhood friend that he's known since he was 5 and he met them on the swings and that he's played D&D with and that went missing in 1983 and he was devastated upon seeing the body being lifted out of the Quarry and was relieved to find was still alive and that he greeted at the hospital when they woke up.

But I believe that something is going on here that we (as fans) are not completely aware of yet and that El’s story and Will’s story are deeply intertwined.

How do I think The Duffers could write the conclusion of Mike and El’s romantic relationship in a way that is accessible and easy to understand?

I hypothesize that the writers will eventually reveal a very specific connection that exists between El and Will. It will surely be a huge plot twist.

I believe that characters will begin to be more open and honest about their feelings in season 4 and season 5. Season 3 lacked open communication and honesty. In my opinion there was so much lying and miscommunication that it verged on being the main theme of season 3! (You can read my notes on that in this blogpost.)

I think the writers will reveal that Mike has been afraid to allow his true feelings and his true self to show because of his fear of being judged by society and by his friends. I think that we will have a storyline that involves Mike realizing that he's comfortable rejecting society's expectations of him and embracing who he really is and who he really loves.

But we can completely disregard my suggestion that El and Will are connected in some mysterious way and simply look at this as a “boy-meets-girl and boy and girl decide to stop dating” situation too.

Telling a story in which a lead character suddenly realizes that they had feelings for someone else is not complicated and is not unusual. It would only be surprising to fans that have funneled their attention and their devotion into believing that a long-term romantic relationship between Mike and El is an unchangeable certainty.

How do I think The Duffers could write the conclusion of Mike and El’s romantic relationship in a way that is easy to like for casual viewers?

The truth is: there will always be viewers that dislike discovering that a main character has feelings for a different character than the one they hoped they would stay romantically involved with. Add to that the unfortunate existence of homophobia and some fans might also be upset because they don’t like the idea of two teenage boys having romantic feelings for each other, either.

Sometimes the story a writer wants to tell might deviate from the fandom’s expectations. It happens all the time. A writer’s goal is to tell a good story, and sometimes telling a good story involves subverting expectations rather than affirming them. The Duffer Brothers seem the type to enjoy a good plot-twist. I could be wrong, but I think they enjoy layering Stranger Things with secrets and carefully crafting scenarios so that when the truth beneath the surface is revealed everyone watching the series can say "Wow! What a twist! We should have seen the foreshadowing but we can only see it now in hindsight.”

I think that Mike and Will realizing and confessing their mutual feelings for one another is a very likeable story. Mike and Will’s love story can be an incredibly well-written friends-to-lovers, slow-burn, mutual pining, angst-with-a-happy-ending, queer coming-of-age love story in the midst of a supernatural scifi fantasy horror adventure. I find it very easy to like this story. It’s FANTASTIC. And I don’t see why “casual” viewers couldn’t love this story, too. I do think they might have to be open-minded and unprejudiced in order to enjoy it, however. They will also have to be open to respecting that El is more than capable of having a happy ending that isn’t dependent on a teenage boy dating her. I hope that fans that invested all of their hopes and dreams into El dating Mike indefinitely will still have an interest in cheering for El and her new dreams and goals even if (hypothetically) she is no longer romantically involved with Mike by the end of season 5. If they care about El dating Mike more than her happiness, then perhaps they need to re-evaluate how they relate to fictional stories and also make sure that they respect when people in their real lives decide that they are better off as friends.

Whatever is going on in the story: I look forward to seeing what happens between Will, Mike, and El in seasons 4 and 5. I understand that my theories and my interpretations of the series might be incorrect, but these are my thoughts on what has happened so far in the story and what I predict might happen next.

Thanks for Asking!

...

If you’d like to read my blogposts regarding what I think is going on between Will and El and read about the Stranger Things theories that I find the most compelling you can find them all listed at my pinned index post here at this link.

[cj-and-cjs-ocs]

For Petteri: B:3, 4; C:4; D:4; E:2, 5; G: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; H:3; I:3 (i'm sorry if you find this uncomfortable or hard to answer, you don't have to if you don't want, but i've been curious ab this and y'know, as a gender-queer it really interests me `=D ) J:3; N:3; O:1, 4; P:4, 5; Q:1, 4, 5; V:2; W:2; X:2, 3; Z:1, 2, 3

Alright!  About time I actually work on these heheh…(sosorry these took so long, I got caught up in school stuff…)

B.

3. how tall are they?

Welp, I’d say in the first story he’s about 4ft, or just under.  In the second storyhe’s around 5’5.  

4. how old are they?

In the first shortstory, he’s either 9 or 10 years old, and in the second one I’d say about 19 or20.

C.

4. what is their majorcomfort food? why?

Hash-browncasserole.  He really REALLY likeshash-brown casserole.  It was the firstfood he ate outside of the hospital, and that was the first time he felt safe.

D

4.whattype of clothes and accessories do they wear?

Lotsof knit sweaters and sweatpants.  When hegoes out he’ll usually wear a vest with a button up shirt and some jeans orkhakis.

E

1.    do they do things that conform to the norm?

Imean, he tries.  Petteri knows he’s notnormal and tries to imitate what he sees other people doing, which cansometimes lead to embarrassing situations. Although Roger tells him that it’s ok to be unique, he still wants tofit in with everybody else.

5. do they portraytheir personality intentionally or let people figure it out on their own?

         Petteri always keeps his personalityhidden, he never does a lot to reveal himself and leaves it up to his friend tofigure out just what is going on.

G

1.    what is their most attractive external feature?

I’dprobably say his eyes.  They’re a deep,intricate purple colour with lots of detail and shades.  Not much else to say there haha

2. what is the most attractive part of theirpersonality?

Hmm,probably his resilience, he can take a lot and come out somewhat ok.  (this was kinda tricky bc I don’t really knowwhat attractive parts of personalities may be eheh..)

3. what benefits come with being their friend?

He isextremely loyal and will jump in front of ghosts to save you. Yeh.

4. what parts of them do they like and dislike?

Petteriis fine with himself most of the time, he likes being quiet and flying underthe radar, of course, he has to hate the fact he can communicate with the deadand become possessed.  

5. what parts of others do they envy?

Petterienvies the normality of others, the way they can just go about their normal liveswithout any worry or fear, and that they have family and friends who have beenwith them their entire lives, and that they haven’t been stuck in a hospitalfor half of their childhood…

H

3.do they like the snow?

Only alittle.  He doesn’t like the cold, but helikes the sparkles.

I

3.havethey ever questioned their gender?

(yo it’sfine my dude…)

I mean,probably…when he realized he likes Roger that confused him a lot…

J

3.arethere any songs that bring them joy?

Well, anysong that Roger listens too (pretty much Beatles stuff), what makes R happymakes him happy!

N

2.   is there anything they absolutely can’t believepeople do?

People testtheir IDEAS, SIMPLE THOUGHTS on LIVING BEINGS??

(ahem,the story is set when experiments on human beings was legal, but this can alsorefer to lab animals…)

O

1.   are they optimistic or pessimistic?

I’d say somewhere in between, but trending moreto the pessimistic side…

3.   is there anyone in their life that throwsoptimism on them?

Roger.

P

4.what oftheir personality do others envy?

Hisability to hold onto the little sanity he has left and resilience througheverything that he has been through.  Causethat’s pretty impressive.

5.  dothey hate anything about their personality/about other’s personalities?

He doesn’thate much about his own personality, he does wish he could be more outgoing andfriendly but he just doesn’t know how. Petteri hates human curiosity and greed.

Q

1.   do they ask for help?

Nope. only in really really badsituations.  His anxiety prevents himfrom communicating like a normal human being.

4. do they ask weird questions?

Every now and again Petteri will ask Rogerabout normal things like “Why do we use refrigerators?” or “There’s doctorsthat help people?!

5. are they curious?

Yes.  Sometimesit gets him into trouble bc he doesn’t know how social norms and manners work…

V

2.   do they get lots of stomach aches?

Yes, either from eating too much bc he doesn’tknow how portions work, or from more…supernatural means…

W

2,. have they learned to swim?

Nope. Water scares him too much…

X

2.   do they have a favorite song?

Jailhouse Rock, by Elvis Presley

3.   do they have a favorite band/artist/singer?

ELVIS!  Hereally likes them 50s jams.

Z

1.   what’s their favorite animal?

The Jackalope! (pls don’t tell him it’s notreal…)

2.   do they like animals?

Yes!  Animalsare much nicer than people…

3.   cats or dogs?

Cats bc cats are chill and there’s less of achance they will knock you over.

[gascon-en-exil]

Well...this is quite the news to wake up to. I can't say I knew Moonlitboar, but having to delete social media to avoid harassers is always an awful thing.

And since I was mentioned above as well, allow me to share a few things I've received of my own in the last few days following my response to that bit of necroposting (to which Raxis also responded).

Here we see the two main variations of troll anon aside from the wall-of-text with almost no punctuation or capitalization that many of us unfortunately know so well - the defensive whiny anon (see also two that I responded to over the last three days, because it amused me to assert how judgmental I am and also inform them that necroposting is a known phenomenon), and the complete non sequitur anon. I also got one about Drakengard that might be real, but I know nothing about that series whatsoever and it was short and seemed a bit random so...I'm not sure. When you get troll anons so regularly it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between them and legitimate questions/comments.

Oh, and remember a few weeks ago when there were (self-identified) Khalidstans on Twitter telling people not to watch my videos, and then one of them came after me in a lengthy reblog chain? In all of that I found some tweets that are relevant to this incident:

From these we can deduce a few things:

I am indeed talked about elsewhere online, beyond the anon meme which I already knew about and which (probably) isn't this crowd;

Either their hatereading is dated or they have long memories, because it's been so long since I wrote that joke post that I can't recall any of the context;

They either don't understand the concept of joke posts or, much more likely, are intentionally removing it from that context for bad faith readings. Their alleged quoting suggests as such, as I never seriously use "gays" as a noun because I find it obnoxious...because it's most often seen used that way either by open homophobes or by queer people mocking homophobes (which is certainly not the case here);

Speaking of, "they believe that everything is part of the BL genre" is a remarkably condescending way to say that I prefer to interpret media through a queer lens because it's usually what's most personally relevant to me. Also a little bit absurd considering I don't think I've ever directly engaged with any true BL media as I don't read manga or watch anime and haven't played any indie Japanese games (I think?);

This group may be behind some of the combative comments on some of my YouTube videos, particularly my AG overview where I assert that the route is very strong evidence that, yes, Edelgard was written with the male gaze in mind. This drew the ire of a handful of lesbians on Twitter for a few days so it's not just this group, and YouTube comments being what they are it's harder to organize harassment through them, but either way it's always nice to see my queer content never being talked about unless it's being misrepresented; and finally,

There are people in this fandom who are quite upset that harassment campaigns don't work on me, and more than two years after the Khalidstans tried it and after all these smaller incidents I'm still around laughing at them. I'm really not a soft target; I have fond memories of people on Fail Fandom Anon calling me a misogynist and being intentionally obtuse about my ethnicity and culture all the way back in 2014 or so, in a different fandom entirely. Trolling just doesn't work on me.

I may not be able to impart that immunity onto everyone else although that would surely be helpful, but it can be helpful to understand that trolls can only last so long; eventually they'll get bored, or distracted by something else, or life will get in the way. Further, how much consequence could these people, whom you will never meet and who will never be relevant to your offline lives, possibly have? There's simply no practical reason to value their opinions, and even in the matter of clout in the social media environment one generally looks to have the high ground when defending oneself against obvious troll tactics like these. You may use them solely for your own entertainment, or ignore them if they bore you, and lose nothing. Your friends will appreciate the effort, curious onlookers will enjoy the show, and you'll have the pleasure of knowing that someone somewhere is very frustrated with you but can't find the satisfaction they're looking for. It's like stepping on a man's dick when he's still 50/50 on whether or not he's actually into that.

Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions

So evidently our favorite Faerghus/Lambert stan, Moonlitboar, was saying some very stupid things on Twitter (like, for instance, Lambert taking over half of Sreng was good because it made him interesting as opposed to boring old Ionius) and got rightly criticized for it.

I’m only discovering this now: it all played out while I was at work today so I thought Edelgard Critical was randomly getting upset over the Nilsh saga again (another instance in which somebody was saying stupid things, got called out on it, turned out to be a gigantic paper tiger, and ran away).

Here’s a news flash: public social media isn’t your private place to say whatever stupid thought enters your head without criticism, and when you get mocked for the things you say, that’s not targeted abuse, that’s the consequences of your own fucking actions.

Moonlit fucked around and found out.

[thesentientmango]

Thanks for tagging me!!

1. Do you have a certain place for reading?

Nope! Anywhere will do.

2. Do you use bookmarks/what kind?

I use whatever I can find really, scraps of paper, if it's got like a book jacket thing (cant remember the word) I use the flap from that sometimes.

3. Can you stop reading it do you have to finish the chapter?

I can stop reading, it doesn't mean I want to, but I can tear myself away

4. Do you eat/drink when reading?

Not usually, I think it would distract me too much? I drink water but usually I'm not actively reading at that time

5. Music/ TV while reading

Music but on what level depends on my mood, sometimes I'll sing while reading (something my family does not understand how I do) but that only works if I'm super into the book.

6. One book at a time or muiltiple

Well one for myself. For school eh. Then it's more.

7. Reading at home or while out?

Either? It doesn't really matter to me if I have the book and the time where I am.

8. Reading out loud or silently?

I dislike reading outloud with a passion, even though it definitely helps me understand and digest the information when I do it. I skim and skip words and passages so often that it's become a running joke in my family. (I could not tell you the number of times I've tries to talk about a boom with someone and it feels like they've read a different story) But I read silently most of the time.

9. Do you read ahead or skip pages?

Not intentionally! I really want to read the books in earnest but I just can't! So yes I do end up skipping pages but not intentionally!

10. Breaking the spine?

No! Well not intentionally!

11. Do you write in your books?

No, although I'm not 100% against it. I wouldn't do it in a leisure book (if I had something to say I'd use sticky notes), but for school I would be fine with it.

Tags-

@4ngstyc00kie @a-random-queer-humanoid @nothinglikehotchocolate @abby-has-entered-the-chat

reading habits tag!

tagged by @wespers, thank you jamie! 💕

1. do you have a certain place at home for reading? 

nope! anywhere and everywhere, as long as I’ve got a book!

2. do you use bookmarks? if so, what kind? 

these days I mostly read electronic books, which save my place for me. but if I’m reading a physical book I’ll probably just memorize the page number.

3. can you just stop reading or do you have to make it to the end of the chapter? 

at the end of a chapter? no! I’ve got to make it to the end of the whole book!

4. do you eat or drink while reading? 

I can drink but if I try to eat I get much to distracted by the book!

5. music or tv while reading? 

oh, definitely not tv. maybe a bit of classical music in the background, I don’t like silence too much.

6. one book at a time or multiple? 

one is preferable, but I’m guilty of multiple, I’m afraid.

7. reading at home or while out? 

anywhere and everywhere. I can’t multitask for anything in the world—except books. I’m not too proud of it (but I am, a bit).

8. reading out loud or silently? 

silently most often, but I love reading to other people. especially if I love the book. I love to savor the words. it’s rare for me to find a book I love that much though.

9. do you read ahead or skip pages? 

no. nonono. no, no.

10. breaking the spine? 

the poor book! no, I try and keep mine as pristine as possible.

11. do you write in your books?

nope. I’m a firm believer in preserving the book as well as possible. no writing, no highlighting, no spine bending, nothing.

tagging: @sleepy-sphinx @hxlfblood-of-hermes @cauchemares @crepuscular-shoelace @asadsongwithnothingtosay @heeyitslei @yourelost-itsokay and anyone else who wants to do it! and if I tagged you, no pressure! :)