#and also see if i can play a character who's not a gay man (challenge: legendary)

[clowndensation]

zesek character sheet <3 additional fun facts:

zesek's first language is draconic, and while he can understand common, he finds it irritating to speak. he can't read it at all.

zesek grew up in the marshes near the delimbiyr river. he's an exceptionally strong swimmer, and has a special fondness for a lot of the swampland fauna he was raised around, especially frogs and spiders.

he was orphaned around the age of 4 (12, in human years), and spent 5 years of his life essentially taking care of himself. he grew very used to a raw food diet, and to this day is a notably awful cook

dragonborn children give each other nicknames when they're young, which is where the name "keen eye" comes from. he introduces himself as such to most humans he meets, as a subtle insult to them: the implication among dragonborn being that he considers them to be at the intellectual level of children.

his adoptive clan work in the service of a black dragon, who he's very loyal to. his clan values magic as the highest rank of power, and as a result he views even non-dragonborn magic users as deserving a fair amount of respect.

he likes children, but his natural stoicism, combined with a very inexpressive face, mean most don't like him.

[babyangelsky]

BL Challenge 2k24 ✨Day 7✨

Hello and welcome to @negrowhat's 15 Day BL Challenge! Full challenge can be found here.

Favorite Villain: Korn Theerapanyakul

It isn't often that we get an actual villain in a BL. We have plenty of love rivals but those are rarely ever villains in the true sense of the word. We also have a large, unfortunate array of shitty parents and parental figures, some of which absolutely do fall into the villain category, but they don't deserve my effort or your attention.

But then we have Korn.

Korn is a villain. Make absolutely no mistake about that. This man has dedicated his life to playing 4D chess with everyone around him, including and especially his sons, and he's brilliant at it. There is never a moment where he isn't in control, there is never a moment where he hasn't thought at least five steps ahead, and he has very few blind spots.

What gets me—and what makes him that much more insidious in my opinion—is how he presents himself to the world.

♡ gif by @guzhufuren from this set

"This man, a villain? Never! He's just a nice, soft-spoken dad in a sweater vest! Sure he's a bit intimidating but he's in the mafia, it's to be expected. And just look at how accepting he is of his gay sons! He's looking at a photo of his son and his son-in-law and smiling, isn't that lovely?"

False!

Korn's image is perfectly curated and if you only look on the surface, from the outside that's exactly what he is: a nice dad and a respectable businessman. He's rational, calm, and level-head, especially when you compare him to Gun—which you can't not do. It's impossible to have a conversation about Korn without talking about Gun, who is absolutely just as bad and who I easily could've chosen.

The difference is that Gun's evil is overt and in a way, it's more...honest because of it. He's not out here pretending to be a good person or trying to be anything other than exactly what he is. What you see is what you get. However, I chose Korn precisely because of that insidiousness, because his evil appears so much more subtle but only when it remains in the shadows.

♡ gif by @kinnbig from this set

Because when everything gets brought to light? Hoooooo BOY.

This man kept his foster sister in isolation under lock and key for years after he killed her husband and took her away from her two little boys. Then he left those little boys in the care of a degenerate gambler and watched them sink further and further into debt. And that's only the thin end of the wedge! If we got into all the ways he fucked up his OWN boys, we'd be here all damn day.

Kidnapping on perhaps more than one occasion, a hit squad, Kim's entire personality, Kinn's emotional range, need I go on?

But getting back to Porsche and Chay, Korn could've helped them at literally any point but he didn't lift a finger until they grew up and became useful to him. He could've cleared their debts, paid for Chay's education, provided for them, kept them from getting remotely close to a situation were men were beating them and trashing their home. But he did exactly none of that because whatever sense of obligation Korn might have felt toward them absolutely pales in comparison to his need for control.

♡ gif by @kinnbig from this set

That's what this all comes down to: control. The world is a chessboard and everyone in Korn's orbit is a piece on it. He proposed an outcome for himself and he got it.

He made sure Kinn was cemented as head of the main family and found a way to cement Porsche as head of the minor family. He got rid of Gun and the threat he presented and succeeded in burying the truth of what happened to Porsche's parents with him, because the truth that Korn gave simply is not the whole truth. It never will be because divulging the truth means giving up control, and that is something he will never do.

I could literally talk for hours about Korn. He's a fascinating character. He's got so many layers. Bottom line?

Este señor es el mismísimo diablo. This man is the living breathing devil.

[turtleblogatlast]

Thinking about the Don Suave scene and what it means in terms of LGBTQ+ representation because my brain does nothing if not torment me with random topics to ramble about on the regular.

Anyway, I just wanted to ramble about why I like the scene but to get it out of the way - the scene can very easily be interpreted in so many different ways, and all of them are valid. I personally see it as Leo having at least some attraction to a man. And the following is an explanation of my own interpretation and thoughts on it and what it means especially for Leo’s portrayal in the grand scheme of things.

Long-winded interpretation under the cut!

Now, to start with, it’s important to me that in the scene Leo looks at Don Suave in the very beginning and then for the entirety of the rest of the time the man is on screen, Leo’s eyes are closed. Yet, in the end, he is still visibly enamored with Don Suave, happily cuddling up to him as he’s being carried away.

You can very easily interpret this as Leo being spellbound and that’s honestly super valid and I believe he likely was at least somewhat in the beginning, but considering how fast he looked away and how he never looked again, I personally think it makes more sense to read it as Leo just finding the man attractive, at least somewhat. (For the record, I personally headcanon Rise Leo as bisexual with a heavy preference for men, but I want to be blunt when I say that any interpretation is valid. Literally any. Ace, pan, gay, bi, none of the above or a mixture of something new literally all of it is more than okay and fair. Hell you could even interpret this entire scene as more romantic attraction than physical and it would still work. Anything goes!! Don’t bother people, guys, really.)

The main reason I take this scene to be at the very least LGBTQ+ adjacent isn’t just because of how it’s portrayed, but because of who Leonardo is. Not in terms of Rise of the TMNT, but in terms of the entire Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™️ franchise.

Leo’s a character who, while changing with each iteration, has still at his core been around for decades upon decades as “the blue one”. One fourth of the team. He’s the one most are going to look at as the Leader, and oftentimes he is the one closest to having the title of Main Character. Not to say the others aren’t just as important, but Leo’s presence in the A plots of basically all TMNT media is often something very main character-esque.

And that’s very, very important to note. Here we have a Main Character of a prolific and decades long-running franchise distributed by a children’s television network. You can play around with his and his brothers’ characters all you like, but there is always going to be challenges to dodge around, especially since this was still in 2018-2019.

For example, you can play around with their designs so long as they’re color coded turtles, but their sexualities? Now that’s tricky.

“But what about Hypno and Warren?” Not main characters and also they’re Rise originals. They have a lot more room to play around with than a character like Leo does. But even talking about main characters in the franchise, you could arguably have an easier time playing around with Donnie or Mikey’s sexualities than Leo or even Raph, as (unfortunately) the former two tend to get more B plots, so they’d likely have had a little more leeway (still not a lot though.)

So, where does this leave us?

It leaves us in a place where outright stating and/or showing undeniable proof of Leo’s attraction to men is very, very difficult. So, workarounds!

Workarounds like the entire Don Suave situation.

To be honest, as left up to interpretation and lowkey and deniable as it is, this whole scene means a lot to me because of who Leo is as a character. It’s just nice when we get so see even the bare bones of representation with characters that have been such a large part of pop culture for decades, y’know? Even if more would be so much nicer, this is better than I thought we’d ever get for these boys.

And, again, literally nothing I’ve said is the only way to interpret it, I’m more than happy when people interpret media on their own honestly, it’s just something I’ve been thinking of lately and I was wondering if others felt the same way.

Whatever you think when you interpret this scene or Rise Leo as a whole, I just thought this would be interesting to think about, even if it was ramble-y, haha.

[bengiyo]

We Are Better Together: Why I Enjoyed the Our Skyy 2 Crossover

I enjoyed this four-part special with every part of my being, but I’m a gay man in his thirties that often feels like I understand exactly where Aof is coming from in his work. As I’ve said many times on this block and in @the-conversation-pod, I desperately want more stories about gays sticking together alongside all of the stories about discovering love. For so many reasons, I love that Aof chose to use Pat and Pran as a catalyst to help Tian and Phupha, and in turn compare their relationship with another couple experiencing some of the same challenges lets them see themselves properly. I have a lot to say, so let’s just get into it.

Funding A Tale of Thousand Stars

There is no way Aof was going to be able to produce a Tale of Thousand Stars special without merging the Bad Buddy budget. If you start from the fundamental problem that it’s expensive to film on a mountain, we need to find a problem that works well. At the end of ATOTS, Tian and Phupha agree to stay in Pha Pun Dao together, but there’s no way that can work forever. Tian has medical needs and a family in Bangkok. We also never resolved the lingering doubts and uncertainty that plagued Phupha in the story, since we focused on Tian’s journey.

With Pat and Pran, they were set on their commitment to each other after episode 11. They are just hiding themselves in college, and won’t experience any changes without some form of outside stimulus. Likewise, Tian and Phupha live in a bubble. I love the idea of shoving these four men together and seeing what comes out of it.

Playing with Archetypes and Expectations

I particularly like Aof shoving these four characters together because it allows Aof to further poke at our expectation and assumptions about BL characters. Aof is aware of the cultural understanding around seme and uke archetypes, and the decision to style Pran to physically resemble Tian is not subtle. However, as we move through the special, we realize that Pran has more in common with Phupha than he does Tian. What a gift that is from, Aof.

Aof invites the viewers through Pran to consider where they sit as viewers in these stories. We are often asked to ride along with our primary viewpoint character and see the world through their lens. Sure, we can challenge their lens, and ask the audience to grow along with the character, but I truly love the way this story hands the lens over to Phupha as we move through this special. As a gay man in his thirties, I am particularly fond of Phupha and the decision to focus on him.

It is hard growing up the way some of us did. We don’t have BL experiences like the ones we fawn over in these shows. Life was hard. We suffered. Some of us are stuck performing a version of masculinity that we haven’t ever been able to unlearn. I continue to present normie because it’s what I was trained to do. I make use of it as the face of my local queer circle. I talk to the government when we need someone who won’t get ignored right away, just like Phupha dedicates himself to the people of his village.

We might expect Pat and Phupha to mirror each other because of their physicality, but that breaks almost instantly. They’re unlike each other. The first allusion to this comes in the reminder that Tian is an engineer, and so is Pat. Additionally, Phupha rejects Tian’s diary immediately because he only gives it a surface reading. It’s only once he gets to know Pran and Pat a bit, and really listens to what Tian is saying that he starts to wake up.

I personally loved seeing these characters get lost in the woods and spin around each other for an entire episode. The best thing you can do when you’re lose in the woods is stay where you are and wait for rescue to find you. Tian can’t do that, and honestly neither can Pat. The common thread between them is how antsy and foolish they can be. Tian went all the way up a mountain with a weak heart the way only a fool could. Pat rushed after Pran to the wilderness with barely a plan because all that matters is getting to Pran.

Like many of the baby gays we sometimes help with volunteering, I wish they would just sit still and let us find them. They’re in such a hurry to grow up and do all the big gay milestones that they’ve envisioned for themselves, but it just doesn’t work like that. Sometimes you have to just finish school and become financially independent. Sometimes you need to let your partner get the help they need and the right diagnosis to manage their neurotic behaviors. Sometimes you need to just having someone beg you to just sniff your boyfriend and get over yourself. Sometimes you need someone who actually understands the weight of internalized homophobia you carry validate that it’s hard. Sometimes you just need to accept that you are now a “we” and admit openly that you can’t live without each other.

You Blame the Rebel That You Sold Out

I’ve been thinking a lot about the instinct I’ve noticed to pick apart the creative team when people find they aren’t enjoying a show for some reason. I wrote about this first during The Eclipse, and I’m feeling it again here. As I said there, I’ll say here: It’s okay to say you didn’t like something and didn’t find this to be your taste.

I’m a lifelong Star Trek fan who can’t watch Lower Decks because I find American animation to rely on a loud quality that I find overstimulating. I also don’t appreciate Seth McFarlane’s brand of humor. I didn’t get into Star Trek: Prodigy because it’s aimed at kids in a way that I found a bit boring to engage with. I think Star Trek Picard is overall pretty bad and a waste of nostalgia. I still love Star Trek, and find things worth engaging with every time I sit down and watch new things.

I recently attended a Matchbox Twenty concert and have been thinking about the song “Rebels” from their new album Where the Light Goes. There’s a portion of the lyrics that I think best covers how I feel about this instinct to turn on the creators when they do something you don’t like with characters they created.

And it's all exciting You were so alive Like a wheel in motion You were terrified you'll lose it Hell, everybody loses It was never how you wanted Now it's never good enough We're all rebels when we're young I think it's time you let it go now When you get angry with yourself You blame the rebel that you sold out You blame the rebel that you sold out That you sold out Let go and be yourself right now Let go and be yourself right now Let go and be yourself right now Let go and be yourself right now

It’s all fun and games when experiences are new to us. We’re excited to be in this new untested space for the first time, but we are all changed by it. We bring different lenses and experiences to the table. We take different things from the stories, and our tastes change because of these experiences. Then the creator comes back with a new season or new outing with these characters and they have different things they want to focus on this time. It’s not what we wanted, and so we turn on them. The only way out of that is to let go and see who you are now.

Aof is a gay man who is working at a major company to tell meaningful queer stories. Aof clearly knows that life is the future, not the past. He’s committed to bridging us to a better world for queer people so that we can see each other more.

We Are Better Together

I love that Pat and Pran met Tian and Phupha. I love that these characters made each other better in the brief week they spent together. I like that they became friends and expanded their queer circle. Your relationship is not the only component you need for stability in your life. You can get stuck in a rut. You need other people to talk to you. You need outlets for your frustration. You need friends to remind you that you’re being obnoxious, and maybe you should just have sex and see if the issue is still there.

Tian and Phupha were not at their best alone. Pat and Pran were not at their best alone. I love the idea of a lonely Pran looking for queer connection on the web and discovering Tian’s diary. I love the romantic notions he projected onto Tian and seeing them shattered by the intense physical reality of life in Pha Phun Dao, and his interactions with Phupha.

About ten years ago, we had a member of our circle who tried to view our group through the lens of Noah’s Arc, and he struggled with fact that we didn’t fit exactly. What a joy it is to realize that your own queerness is distinct in this world, and that you and your friends are special. Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars are BETTER for me now that they’ve touched each other.

I love that Phupha finally let Tian love him the way Tian wants to. I love that he let go of his concern about Tian’s wealth. I like that he let Tian’s parents see him properly and extend to love to him that he’s given their son. I like that he finally let’s them thank him for helping their son find stability and purpose, because Phupha maybe doesn’t appreciate how much of a fuck up Tian was being before the transplant. I love that Phupha found it in himself to propose to Tian. I love that Phupha let Tian take charge in the bedroom. I love that Phupha gave Pat and Pran the gift of sharing their love on a stage to adoring fans, and giving Wai a chance at redemption. Pran got to see people finally cheering for their love online.

I can’t claim to understand everyone’s frustrations with this special, and I won’t pretend to. However, I wanted to say quite plainly that as a gay viewer who has appreciated Aof’s work for years, I was particularly touched by this crossover. I don’t care about the balance other seem concerned about between Pat and Pran. I don’t care about how much they did or didn’t talk. All I know is that since episode 5 of Bad Buddy, Pat has shown that he’s all in on Pran and has never waivered. I like that so much of this special was about Pran finally accepting the way Pat loves him, just like Phupha learned to accept the way Tian loves him.

It really is as simple as the final sequence for Pat and Pran for me. It’s Pat asking if they can finally kiss and Pat and Pran again and finally getting that, Pa interruptions and everything.

So, I hope everyone finds peace with reactions to this special. I am completely satisfied, and excited to see what Aof wants to say next in Last Twilight, despite my reservations about Jimmy.

[tinka-tank]

got any dc character headcanons? specifically for the s2 cast but any work fine!!

Let's see... I don't have a brain that thinks a lot outside of her own ocs because I have a brain the size of a walnut so...

James: in a greeting he was speaking perfect Spanish and he's Brazilian and they speak Portuguese so I would like to think at least one of his parents is Mexican or he has lived there bc he also claims he loves Mexico so yes this is true and real

He also makes the cliche tiktok youtuber videos and makes Aiden do challenges and mukbangs w him and he can handle his spice but Aiden can NOT... I also like to think he takes longer to get ready in the morning just because he admires himself in the mirror for a bit. But it's no biggie bc Aiden spends 5 mins a day admiring James in return

Riya: honestly I Hate how people use the DC pride pic to say everyone else missing is straight like what if they were in traffic and missed ?? Like personally I just like to think Riya has never explored her sexuality at all and is not really aware of her interest in women (maybe someone here likes Riya x Grett just a little) so she doesn't say or claim anything really

But I do think she'd also do fashion campaigns. Like beautiful woman on a magazine cover. Ik she'd look so good w editorial makeup and fashion on..

Aiden: he is eastern european coded to me... not sure what country but he and Tom (season 1) are in that group to me.. also he calls James things like "snookums" "snuggle bun" and most importantly his "beautiful god of beauty" period 😌

Hunter: he does drag or something like that, his name would be something like June Thanasia (euthanasia) or The Bride.. or I was also recommended the name Bloody Mary like some kind of Lady Gaga or horror themed one

You will see an upcoming post of how I imagine one of his drag looks to be and I had a previous post of him in a wedding gown for this very reason, I think he likes the corsets and lots of jewelry and beads !

Ally: she likes to cosplay video game couples or ships and just not tell Tess that it's gay as hell like. She will dress up as Link and make Tess be Ganon to fulfill Ganlink or Ally as Zelda and Tess as Midna to fulfill Midzel... I also think she has posters of female video game characters who gave her the Bi Awakening...

Lake: absolutely is secretly fashion obsessed and has very cutesy themed outfits hidden around with matching flowers to put in her hair... I really think she'd look like a human flower in fashion aesthetics

As for Season 1.

Miriam: doesn't know what an air fryer is and she doesn't want to know either get it OUT of her face and I also really want to believe if Jake doesn't live with her she will have him do so after all stars so they can spend her final years together making memories and doing mundane things like shopping cooking and wandering around at 3 am for no reason

Fiore: I refuse to believe she doesn't treat a random ass stuffed animal better than real people, I guarantee she has at least ONE and it's def a unicorn like bye or cat like on her pjs byeeeee

Ellie: She had an emo phase and I know she had one bang over her eye and wore ties over everything and had a studded belt and such.. I know her power

Jake: that man is Chinese to me we've seen how I draw him this is hc I will DIE ON. I don't care whether he's Wasian or not, what matters is he really wants to wear more hanfu but is shy about it... but I like to think he loves womens Tang or Qing dynasty hanfu the most...

Also bc onc is SO disrespectful to him (I'm dramatic) I know they'd never admit he can play an instrument he SO gives me the type to have had a band in high school like tell me he isn't giving that energy

Tom: he smells bad, but to tame this he probably smells like your average cheap men's 3 n 1 body wash like think dove or suave or something like that like you can't convince me he isn't sweating balls out here, also he's secretly into fashion and desires to wear all the mini skirts his heart desires

Grett: passion for fashion like LOOK at her outfits ? Wearing heels and running around ? I know she desires so badly to dress more freely and even more showy, but because of how poorly she's been treated she is a bit insecure about her body and how it looks in certain clothes.. but I know she will learn to love herself the way we love her and wear the most stunning outfits and jewelry her heart desires

Ashley: I am going to be crazy w this one but as someone who's family hails from the North of Mexico, I have to think she's somehow Mexican BUT PROBABLY A NO SABO KID.. like I doubt she knows one word of Spanish other than swears but this is MY truth

Drew: he used to look up boys kissing on YouTube

I can't think of other bullshit I thought of but this is what I am thinking do we have thoughts opinions any add ons or disagrees ??

[akolnoix]

I've been following for a bit and I was wondering about your p4 au(?)/rewrite that you have going on honestly seeing you p4 posting has been making me think about it a lot more recently. Also you have a lovely art style!

thank you! it's honestly nothing very concrete, just an assortment of musings that i play around with in my mind for fun... might as well post some of my ramblings (apologies that it's long and a mess)

-im kinda obsessed with trying to make accomplice ending work? the ending itself in p4g is pretty great (seeing the "yu has forged a bond that cannot be broken" text you get for max social link is sooooo good) and fits thematically, it's just that it has like NO proper buildup to it to make it feel even remotely plausible.

so i'm thinking you'd have to really go out of your way to get it. like in addition to maxing out adachi's SL, you can't advance any other characters' SL past like rank 3 or something early on, and you have to select certain dialogue options (like the original game has so many mean/detached responses you can pick to be a dickhead lol), you have to refuse optional hangouts with your friends. and Then you have to choose to not reveal him. so through consistently refusing to truly connect with/care about the people around you, the protag can somewhat reach a similar worldview to adachi, and conceivably relate to him.

-izanami brings up the tv world also being a product of outside perception, but the actual implementation of it in the game feels messy and often like it's just there as a way to give reason for the shadows desiring transgressive things for shock value without committing to them being real aspects of the characters (like, how kanji's shadow is extremely stereotypically gay not just in mannerisms but in overtly showing interest in men, but in kanji's acceptance+future appearances they make sure to assert that the real kanji is not actually gay)

so i've been kinda toying with the idea that instead of the shadows as presented in p4, there would be like multiple fractured shadows in conflict? like i think it would be neat to play more off the tension between how the characters are perceived by the town vs their repressed selves, idk

-i've been turning naoto's arc around in my head a lot over the years... like the easiest thing to do would be transplant the existing (attempted) narrative to a trans woman naoto. but i also want to do right by canon naoto, who sees himself as a man, desires to be one, only gives up on that because he believes he can't become one, and gets treated like dogshit by the narrative for it. so lately i've drifted to the harder challenge of working out the logistics to make a satisfying+believable arc for trans man naoto. i've got concepts but i don't have enough worked out in this regard yet to talk about here.

-im autistic and rise has always read as such to me, so i'm being self-indulgent and making that an overt aspect of her arc. i grew up subconsciously masking my autism, and it wasn't until i experienced autistic burnout just after graduating highschool that i discovered just how much of myself i had been suppressing, and how much was constructed. it was like i had never known my true self until age 18, or noticed just how badly that repression hurt me.

so um. you might say i saw a lot of myself in rise. she's got a slightly different scenario, but still a pretty autistic one. a child with no friends because everyone thinks they're strange, who decides to learn how to be Normal in hopes of obtaining any human connection. but because she can't be herself, the connections she does make don't feel genuine. her becoming an idol specifically is really fantastic thematically, a career all about commodifying not just your body or talents but your very personality, for a girl highly manufactured on every level to appear Normal.

for the brief period you see her in person before her shadow, rise practically has a flat affect and monotone, with everyone commenting on how different she is from her idol persona, and i'd like to actually retain that as an aspect of her character. i'd like to shift her arc to being about relearning that aspect of herself, and allowing herself to be that. even if just among friends. her idol persona is still part of her (she made it after all, and it can be useful), but she was harming herself by thinking it was all she should be.

i've always hated her going back to being an idol (especially the way they executed it ugh) but it might be nice if she stuck with music...

-yosuke internalized homophobia arc is a gimme

-naturally a major aspect is in the differences btw a playthrough as yu narukami vs femc. as an ex-delinquent she experiences more hostility from the general populace and dojima. oh and i don't care for super self-inserty protags so yu and masami have more established personalities+history+etc.

i imagine the narukami sibling dichotomy is that yu tries to be perfect and masami intentionally disappoints (opposite attention-seeking responses to their ambiguously distant parents), and in their trip to inaba yu takes the opportunity to let loose, while masami reigns in the delinquent behavior (because dojima will actually react to what she does). and they both benefit from the power of friendship etc etc

-sometimes i enjoy daydreaming about a "cross-dressing" sequence that's actually fun. where the crew hang out in yu's room or something and try on each other's stuff for fun. and chie gets a buzz cut

-while it's very true that women can be bigots, that p4 claims that kanji would think that men are more accepting of gender nonconformity in men than women is something just. utterly detached from reality. it makes more sense that he thought there was no possibility of acceptance from boys so he never tried, but he thought there was a chance with girls but was rejected by them too, so he distances himself from everyone.

and i think kanji can be gnc AND gay. for many people there is a real fear of stereotype, of reinforcing them, but that repulsion is misplaced. stereotypes are bad when they are used to dehumanize, but to be a effeminate gay man, a fat butch lesbian, a trans woman with a beard, are not bad things to be. and i think it'd suit kanji to have that sort of conflict, and metatextually to take those aspects of canon that were so negatively presented and transform them

and i think it would suit his love of cute things to eventually start dressing cutesy.

-i've definitely got more in my brain i could say or i forgor but this post is long enough

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

okay so as suggested by @fromkenari (big thank btw), ive decided to make a post about one of my idols who happens to be a part of queer history i dont hear people talk about much.

and said icon is james whale.

he was an english director working in early hollywood, as well directing theatre and acting. his most well known films are probably the invisible man (1933), frankenstein (1931) and bride of frankenstein (1935).

(you might also know him from the road back (1937) if films about ww1 are your thing)

and while part of why i idolise him is those films and making horror art, i bring up the dates specifically because james whale was openly queer throughout his entire hollywood career.

said career began in the 1920s and continued up to 1950. he was pressured to step into the closet but he never did, and its likely a big factor as to why his career ended.

a lot of his films are packed with queer subtext, particularly bride of frankenstein. that film has so much camp packed into it and pretorius is so damn queer coded. theres a lot of queer readings of it you can explore, its fucking incredible.

and mind you, the hays code went into effect in 1934.

the hays code also happened to massively effect frankenstein in retrospect due to scene-cuts in re-releases, and bear with me on this one:

see the original cut had a scene where the monster meets a young girl named maria who asks him to play a game with her. in the game, they sit together and throw flowers onto a lake where they float. when the monster runs out of flowers, he throws his new friend, maria, in, assuming that she would float like the flowers. she doesnt; rather she drowns.

and this scene was specifically created by james whale in reaction to a then moral panic in america basically about the creepy man in the shadows who lures your child away and molests them. this deviant shadowy figure was essentially synonymised with gay men, who were falsely arrested on sodomy charges or died at the hands of mob "justice".

the flower scene challenges that idea because the monster isnt, well, a monster. in 1931, the monster was almost unilaterally perceived as this perverted evil thing that would steal your children; he was practically the same as these "predatory gay men", and then the monster wasnt a monster.

he was misjudged, he wasnt inherently evil, and he was unjustly punished. and if that applies to the monster, surely it applies to whale and all the other openly queer men.

as a scene in 1930s hollywood , it was so divisive because it portrayed the "villain" in a more morally grey area, and essentially said "hey, maybe this queer witch hunt is misguided"

unsurprisingly, producers at universal wanted to end the scene before the drowning. ending the scene there would leave it to the imagination as to what the monster did to maria, and given the sex offender moral panic sweeping the nation, the implication would be that he raped her.

but james whale fought for the scene to be kept and he won. specific states still forced the studios to censor parts of the film, but his film was intact.

BUT when this film was re-released in 1938, they entirely cut out this scene. and this fundamentally changed the character of the monster and the film itself.

by some fucking miracle, the scene was found in the british national film atchive in the 1980s, and modern cuts of the film now include. unfortunately, whale himself would not live to see that as he committed suicide in 1957.

what james whale did with frankenstein in 1931 was revolutionary in the same way that tod brownings freaks (1932) was. both men created films that portrayed the people society called monsters as real, complex beings who are not pure evil, and both faced censorship hell for it.

(go watch freaks btw, its so good)

and, you know, i get emotional talking about james whale. both because i have so much admiration for him as a queer person who refused to lock his queerness away, and because his name is never one i hear in discussions of queer history, and also because hes from the same area as me.

(im yet to find any clips of him speaking so i dont know if he has our accent or not. i like to think he did. he was the sixth out of a seven child working class family and first worked as a cobbler so its as likely as it could be.)

i would like for more queer folks to know about him because i think he deserves more of a legacy.

ian mckellen plays him in gods and monster (1998), and if youre ever in england with spare time, he does have a memorial sculpture. its in dudley which is where he was born, and if you know it, its right at castlegate.

but yeah no, this is my ramble post about a lesser known queer icon. originally i wrote an abridged version in the tags of a different post but @fromkenari was right, it deserves its own post.

[liamthemailman]

New Year's Kiss?

Pre-relationship AceSoap fluff Word count : 1k (whoops)

CW : two loser gay people pining but also in denial about it, really stupid, Gaz is here too but barely, the (b)romance is real

Image stolen from pinterest

The team is currently stuck in on base, getting called back on New Year’s eve of all times. Suppose they can’t all be dismissed, Soap would grumble as he plopped himself down on the sofa, the cushions sinking and the wood creaking softly beneath him. Ace snorted at the comment as he connected the streaming service to the television, having suggested watching a movie to pass the time. It would be the most uneventful holiday the team had the misfortune of experiencing. Each hour passed by agonizingly slowly, nothing particularly happening as the rest of the base got the luxury of staying home for the countdown.

Gaz sighs, draping himself on the leather seat next to the couch. “What a pain..” He was still a little bitter that his leave extension request was denied, seeing that he was only wasting his time on base.

"Too bad your bird's back home. I can be your New Year's kiss." Soap waggles his eyebrows at Gaz, to which Gaz throws a pillow at him.

"Can it, Soap."

"Oh, relax.. it's just a suggestion." Soap laughs, putting the pillow aside.

Gaz and Ace were looking through the movie options, countering what they already watched and if it was worth a rewatch. Soap joined in soon, suggesting some timely classics to watch and commenting when the actors on the cover poster were attractive. Ace excused himself for a moment, allowing Gaz to take the remote and to argue with Soap on what movie they were going to watch.

Eventually the two finally picked a horror movie that they’ve never heard of, turning off the lights and settling back down on the couch. The lights were then shut, leaving the television to illuminate the room as the movie title flashes across the screen. Ace returns just in time, dropping himself on the couch on Soap’s right. Soap does a double take at the shorter man, taking in his attire.

“Is that my hoodie?”

“Nah, bruv.” Ace answers, sporting a hoodie a size too big to be his.

“Yeah, you bawbag, it is.” Soap leans closer to Ace, pinching the fabric between his fingers to read the text printed over the left breast. It read in bold Helvetica ‘SERGEANT JOHN M.’, a detail that Soap laughs at.

“You left it in my room last night, s’mine now.” Ace argues back as a matter-of-factly, raising his brows at Soap. The two locked eyes, as if Ace was challenging Soap to do something about it. Gaz also cocks an eyebrow as he side eyed the two, watching from the sidelines.

“Movie’s starting, guys.” Gaz says, trying his best to keep his patience, and frankly, his sanity as the two finally behaved themselves. Soap drapes his arms along the backrest of the couch, letting Ace use his forearm as a headrest. Gaz sighs internally, hoping to use the movie as a source of distraction from the other two’s totally bromantical antics.

“Damn.. who picked this..” A question Ace asked to which Gaz and Soap pointed to each other.

The movie proved to be quite the distraction. To put it lightly, it was pure shit, in Ace’s words. The sentiment seems to be shared with the two sergeants as the movie goes on. Now, the group were watching the shitty movie, with the added commentary of just how shitty the movie was.

A particularly poor attempt at a jumpscare played, a character dying as a result, earning a scoff from Ace. He turns to make a witty comment to Soap. His words however never seemed to leave his lips as Ace was faced with a strange sight. 

Soap was laughing at the movie. Even in the dim light, the glimmer in his blue eyes seemed to shine brightly. His face cast in soft shadows, colours swirling along with the movements on the screen. The corner of Soap’s eyes were crinkled as his lips were curled upwards, the sound of Soap’s laughter bubbling from his chest sounding sweet as ever. On his face was genuine amusement

Ace tears his eyes away from the sight, bringing his attention back towards the television. He focuses on the poorly shot scenes, trying to clear his head. By all means, Soap is a very attractive man but it wouldn’t be the first time he caught himself appreciating Soap’s pretty eyes a little too much.

“Fuck, look at that angle. S’fucking ugly, how’d the director approve this?” Ace comments loudly, barking a laugh. “Imagine spending money to go to acting school at the cameraman does you so fuckin’ dirty!”

Soap glanced at Ace as he made his obnoxious comment. He sees the way that Ace’s lips were tugging into a smirk. His eyebrows were raised, and the crows feet around his eyes seemed even more pronounced as Ace laughed madly and talked shit. It wasn’t that Ace never talked, but hearing his voice outside of work, even while being vulgar, was always music to Soap’s ears.

“Like can you believe this?! I’m gonna piss myself laughing, I swea-”  Ace suddenly whips his head to face Soap.

Suddenly their eyes were locked on each other. Ace looks at Soap, tilting his head up to accommodate for the height difference. Soap looks at Ace, suddenly all too aware of how close they were to each other. 

“Hey.. uh, what’s the time now?” Ace lamely asks.

Soap glanced at his wristwatch and looked back at Ace, pursing his lips and humming.

“Midnight.”

Ace hums as well. He nods, feeling heat on his face for some reason. Soap could feel his ears turning pink. Hopefully it’s not too obvious in the dark. They were so close, looking at each other and-

“Are we about to kiss right now?” Soap breaks the silence.

The abrupt line hits Ace like a truck.

Ace roars with laughter and Soap starts to cackle uncontrollably. They pull away from each other, throwing playful hits at each other. Ace snorts as he laughs, causing another laughing fit. Soap falls to his side, laughing so hard he wheezes. Eventually, they calm down from hooting and hollering, now giggling at each other. They take a deep breath each, gazing into each other’s eyes as they try to catch their breath, sighing softly.

“What? No New Year’s kiss, you two?” Gaz broke the silence, both to tease the two and to remind them of his presence, in case they forgot. He didn’t need to look to even see the pink on Soap’s ears and the wide eyed stare from Ace.

“Can it, Gaz..” Soap tosses a pillow his way and misses completely.

"Just a suggestion, mate."

[sydneyofalltrades]

okay bc @toooliix can’t let me have peace, y’all get the complete comprehensive dream roles list

(yes this was an old draft FUCK OFF)

trust me this is very long so if you don’t wanna see it just skip it 😭

1. jane doe/penny lamb from ride the cyclone

reasons why i want to play this character:

she’s ghostly and silly and deep

her song is fucking AMAZING

i wanna be a scary baby girliepop doll head

could i play her?: i can sing tbojd effortlessly and i’m a pretty decent actor. i may be poc but what’s that to a doll’s head

what’s stopping me?: i’m a teenager with absolutely no community theater doing this show

2. ricky potts from ride the cyclone

reasons why i want to play this character:

HE IS LITERALLY GENDER?? LOOK AT HIM

singing space age bachelor man every night would definitely heal some gender dysphoria i have

he’s a scrunkly goober who wears a super sparkly costume

i am genuinely an irl ricky (without the disability)

could i play him?: i can sing space age bachelor man and i’m masculine enough?

what’s stopping me?: afab and not physically disabled (i’m neurodivergent but no physical disability and i would never want to mischaracterize him)

3. noel gruber from ride the cyclone:

reasons why i want to play this character:

he is. my favorite.

he and i are lost souls

gender?? like hello??

could i play him?: i can sing his song and act his part. but i have very little confidence in my gender fluidity

what’s stopping me?: lack of confidence. and also afab

4. veronica sawyer from heathers the musical:

reasons why i want to play this character:

my dream role since i first got into musicals

she makes me feel confident in my own horrible love life and bad decisions

she’s a badass. point blank

could i play her?: DEFINITELY! gimme a day to learn the script and two hours for choreo and i will be ronnie sawyer

what’s stopping me?: lack of practice, money, and genuine resources

5. jason dean from heathers the musical

OKAY HEAR ME OUT

reasons why i want to play this character:

gay gay homosexual gay

genderbent jd means toxic yuri which is always appreciated

a sapphic meant to be yours would genuinely break me so why not be the one to do it?

could i play him?: even with being genderbent, i think i could give it a shot! his insane spiral might be challenging to play out but i love challenges!

what’s stopping me?: afab, lack of genderblind productions, broke as a bitch

6. whizzer brown from falsettos (specifically the 2016 revival)

reasons why i want to play this character:

HIS CONFIDENCE?? makes me skyrocket honestly

andrew rannells. that’s it

honestly would be interested in taking a gender blind take on him

could i play him?: with a binder, proper choreo, and a decent haircut sure! i surprisingly fit in the range and he’s been a dream role forever! i would do the show in the original script because his story is best told the way he is

what’s stopping me?: afab. also not jewish and couldn’t think of mischaracterizing

7. super swing from six the musical

reasons why i want to play this character:

any role in six has been a dream since i was 13! so why not dream bigger and want to cover ALL SIX!

since every queen is so diverse, i wanna have the chance to express myself in them all because honestly that would be phenomenal

in case i must reassure you, i actually can sing. and six the musical is my favorite to sing on occasion so i’m prepared

could i play this role?: in a couple years with a little experience under my belt maybe! super swings are becoming less and less of a need in theater so i’m not sure but one can hope

what’s stopping me?: too young, no super swings in the US

8. christine canigula from be more chill

reasons why i want to play this character:

christine is just like me! a neurodivergent theater lover!

she’s a ball of energy and a ray of sunshine, who wouldn’t want to play her?

i actually see myself in christine, and she’s an independent and kind and funny character i’d like to reshape

could i play her?: um? YES! no script needed, i can just jump right into it without delay, it would be fun and i have her memorized to a t

what’s stopping me?: no experience or opportunities

9. the s.q.u.i.p. from be more chill

another hear me out, y’all

reasons why i want to play this character:

gender. that’s it. it’s so gender

the pitiful children has been my favorite song from bmc the moment i first listened to it, if i could perform it once, it would be a dream

i’m an oldest sibling, i can boss people around without remorse

could i play it?: ALSO YES? lemme learn the five sentences of japanese and i will jump right in without fail. i actually have several of my own thoughts about performing as the s.q.u.i.p.

what’s stopping me?: afab (it looks like keanu reeves and i.. don’t), no experience, probably would be too excited

10. eurydice from hadestown

reasons why i want to play this character:

she’s my comfort character and her songs are so solemn and beautiful

always a pleasure being a leading lady, and having a mainly poc take on a character is always amazing

eurydice is such a complex character and i’d love to portray that

could i play her?: i’m really confident in my abilities! i sang a cover of flowers you can check out here, and it’s always fun getting to sing her lines in my room.

what’s stopping me?: well. money. and lack of experience

and that’s pretty much all of them! so there you have it!

[missholloween]

This is totally not inspired by this insane tweet by the Tin Can Bros, but who would I cast as who if they were playing the Challengers trio:

Corey - Tashi -> First of all, I think Corey would DEVOUR as Tashi. During the Tinlighenment campaign, he was in charge of streams going well, so he's got experience in being in charge. He's often the director for TCB projects, and knows how to make people do what he wants. Moreover, he's got a sense of style and glamour that the other two tin can bros lack, and although he's written toxic gays he should get involved for once.

Brian - Patrick -> I love Brian so much, and I love Brian roles in TCB. However, I do think he's been underused, something of an underdog if you will in the tin canon... Reason why Patrick would fit him like a glove. Brian could play a fuckboy turned mess who's so toxic he's still got games. He might even make the ladies McSwoon (or serve, I don't know much about tennis). Patrick has so many layers of facade, insecurity and a deep, deep horniness, so who better to play him that the man who keeps singing not so bad. Out of necessity? Maybe. But this mess of a guy would allow Brian to flex so many of his acting mussels.

Joey - Art -> Okay, you may be thinking "oh, sure, Joey is Art because there's no more characters in challengers" and, although fair, Joey would kill it as Art. Joey is an acting chameleon, who's covered from your teenage shitty boy to the servant of some ancient evil gods. However, some of his strongest roles are when he's just some wet guy with his heart on his sleeve and life just fucking hates him. He would bring so much insight and depth to every single choice Art makes, both in the flashbacks seeing how he slowly but surely ended up with Tashi but also when he's thinking of quitting. It is a role of details and small gestures, and, as Joey put in his challengers review, "only a true theatre dude is capable of".

[adultswim2021]

Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule #6: “Friendship” | June 21, 2010 - 12:30AM | S01E06

Check It Out! Ends it’s first season with a real one-two-punch (meaning this episode and the last episode). In this installment, Brule asks a simple question: “Why don’t I have any friends”. We see him try to go where boys hang out, first by joining a troupe of male strippers. This segment is maybe most notable for me by the way that one dancer is homophobically dismissive of Brule’s intended-to-be-childish suggestion that they are a “no girls allowed” style of organization. He is crestfallen when they schmooze with the female audience members at the end of their performance, or as Brule calls them “ladies that look like my aunt”. 

A second segment shows Brule joining a motorcycle club, but it’s evident that it’s a bar for gay motorcyclists. It’s a mildly homophobic premise, but Brule never experiences gay panic, so it’s not too mean-spirited. He spends the night barfing and shitting and eventually falling asleep in the bathroom, which is very gross, especially when he wakes up licking his lips. Yuck!

Brule learns he’s depressed from a psychologist and goes on a moody walk. He isn’t cheered up by three ice creams, but instead a trumpet man who looks very familiar, INDEED! 

This one is also notable for housing my single favorite bit on the entire show: A movie review for Dumpster’s Children. This is one of those perfect comedy pieces that is short and incredibly sweet, made up of a weird old man delivering lines to the camera that seem like they were scientifically designed to make me laugh. Point of fact: the first time I watched this I laughed so hard at this scene that I had to pause the show to recover from laughing. It incapacitated me. And it’s all because they cast a man with briney spittle in the corners of his mouth. Holy fuck. This single sketch might be Abso Llutely’s finest work.

It might be my favorite segment from a comedy program ever. Like, if somebody challenged me to come up my favorite under-60-second comedy bits this would be a contender. It's so strong it merited a rare mid-roll video on this entry.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

MAIL BAG:

One thing I like about Bruel they will bend him but never break him. Other less responsible Adult Swim creators would torture the guy for being two pears short of a bushel and leave his horrifically maimed and scarred every episode but Tim and Eric hold enough reverence not to do that. It's a good thing about. I wish they would just relax with the self inserts to remind people "hey I made this". Very Ricky Gervais of you Tim. Why don't you make more Trump jokes so he can get a third term. Jerk.

Yes, this is very true. I keep writing and deleting a paragraph about how prevalent it was in the Bush W era to center comedy around retarded people and how amateurish productions were usually especially unfunny, having them play off a straight-man who just gets mad and is mean to the retarded character. I keep writing and deleting it because it keeps turning into the first paragraph of a lengthy digression I'm simply ill-equipped to handle right now. Also it implicates the high-school version of myself, and it's just not worth it. That guy's been dead for literally decades.

Would you rather eat a bagel with cream cheese or give John C. Reilly a slop kiss. You have to eat the whole bagel. You can pick the style of bagel as long as it's not dumb kid logic like "invisible bagel". You have no choice with the kiss. It's a full on french, and he's gonna be a little weird about it because he knows you are doing it on a dare.

I don't want to bother John C. Reilly, he does not seem comfortable with fans going up to him, and I don't think he'd be comfortable with a full-on-french. Also I like bagel with cream cheese, lol. Idiot!

When was the last time you "checked it out"... a book from your local library that is!

Jun 15, 2024

Please heed the SPOILER warning in this next post! I read it because (Brule voice) I don't care.

MAJOR spoilers for Check it Out (disregard this post if you don't want to be spoiled), but Dr. Brule's life is shockingly similar to Chris Chan's life, like prophetically so. I'm serious, it's spot on. 1. Both had extremely fucked up home lives 2. Both single children 3. Both have distant relatives that don’t want anything to do with them 4. both ruined relationships by doing something sexual with a friend 5. Both got intimate with a relative, chris moreso (continued in part 2)

(Part 2 - SPOILERS) 6. Both have strong, irrational fears of specific inanimate objects (puppets, pickles) 7. Both had sex with a woman while her husband was deceased (Wayne died mid-coitus) 8. Both were pushed into the spotlight in front of a large audience despite not really being fit or capable of handling it 9. Both fumble everyday conversations, often by injecting odd, out of place slang words into things, & 10. Both end up going to prison in the end. Dare I say CiO is Chris Chan fanfiction

LOL, I think I legit got spoiled here because I never saw the last season of Check It Out, but as a policy I've decided not to care about spoilers, because more often than not I find products the motion picture sciences to be more about the journey and not the destination.

This is some good on-the-ground reporting though. I was never a Chris Chan devotee until that guy started making those way-too-in-depth documentaries about her. When people in similar boats (knowing only vague details about Chris Chan and not well-versed on the various sagas) I usually suggest to them that they are better off not knowing, unless they fetishize human misery. I don't, usually, but I have enough morbid curiosity to keep clicking vids about her.

[brizadeiro-doce]

🫂 My yume/f/o headcanons 💗

— Click "see more" for me yapping about it

Shizuku — okay listen… shizuku just makes sense, okay?? first of all, shizuku is very fem presenting, but even tho she has a prince like aura, bro is like if Sailor Neptune and Lady Oscar had a son(So, sailor Uranus??? Huh). He’s so soft and graceful and totally a gentleman. Shizuku is the embodiment of "I don’t need a label to be fabulous." He’s got this feminine energy—soft, graceful, a literal gentleman—yet there's this prince-like aura that makes you think, “What’s the gender here?” And the answer is… Who cares? Shizuku is just Shizuku, and that’s all they needs to be. They transcends gender because their whole existence is just so ethereal, so above all that. like he doesn’t need gender bc their whole existence is so ethereal and above all that. Also, he is a little fruity.

Rui —He is rejecting the concept of gender entirely. Like they don’t care about societal norms or what ppl expect of them. Agender Rui is peak Rui energy. You know this man has fully rejected the concept of gender. He took one look at societal norms and expectations and said, “Not for me, thanks.” Rui is all about pushing boundaries and challenging conventional ideas, so of course, that extends to his own identity. He’s like, “Gender? Yeah, I don’t think I need that. I’m just Rui.” They’re way too focused on their passions and creativity to even entertain the box that is gender norms. Like, imagine someone trying to tell Rui what he “should” do or “should” wear, and he’s just like, “Why would I listen to that? I’m busy reinventing the world, thanks.” Imagine middle school Rui not understanding why he can’t play the female role is so real. Like, the drama teacher tries to gently explain gender roles in casting, and Rui is just like, “But I can do it better than anyone else?” because they fully believe in their ability to play any character flawlessly. This led his classmates to think of him as weird, and they subsequently avoided him. He eventually decided that he would perform shows on his own. Now, let’s talk about Rui being gay. I mean, come on, do we even need to explain this one? It’s just facts.

Arlecchino — Arle gives off the BIGGEST "i don't care about labels, i just exist" energy. Arlecchino doesn’t just reject gender norms—they obliterate them. They’re the kind of person who walk into a room and immediately makes everyone question their own sense of identity. “I’m above all this.” they’re not tied to femininity or masculinity; they’re just THEM. it’s giving gender outlaw. Like, they’ve probably been asked before, “What are your pronouns?” and just raised an eyebrow, replying with something like, “Whichever ones you prefer.” Not because they don’t care, but because pronouns—and gender—are just irrelevant. The way Arlecchino would respond to someone hesitantly using a pronoun is peak confidence. Like, “You’re overthinking this. It’s fine.” They don’t correct people because, to them, gendered language doesn’t change the core of who they are. But the thing is, it doesn’t come from a place of apathy—it’s bc they genuinely don’t see gender or pronouns as defining who they are. they’re too busy working as a Fatui Harbinger to care about societal constructs. It all fits bc arlecchino doesn’t need words to explain themselves. their presence is enough. truly the most iconic androgynous figure in Teyvat.

Toby — Like, some days he’s like, “yeah, I’m a guy,” and other days it’s like, “gender?? I've never heard of it.” He’s not out here trying to figure out deep existential questions about his identity because bro is busy fighting his demons, both literal and metaphorical. Gender is just a passing thought for him, and honestly? That’s so valid. Anyway, he got to be tmasc cos all the tboys (me included) from 2017 either wanted to be him or wanted to be Jeff. Using “he/it” pronouns? Absolutely. Toby’s whole vibe is chaotic defiance, so of course he’d embrace “it” just to mess with people. And he genuinely feels like “it” fits because his sense of self is already so warped from his trauma and life experiences. It’s almost like reclaiming something that society might use to dehumanize him, but instead, he’s just like, “Yeah, I’m an ‘it,’ and what about it?”. Toby’s whole life is already messy af, so romance or attraction?? nah. he’s got WAY bigger issues. “i literally don’t have the emotional battery for this” energy. BUT he is not 100% aroace. If i could make a % of it, i would say 70% aro, 55% ace. More like demiromantic.

Levi — He’s all about the personality—not just the gender. Whether it’s his obsession with anime or the deep, somewhat awkward, yet endearing connection he forms with others, he doesn’t care about gender when it comes to attraction. If you're a cool person, Leviathan’s all about it, regardless of whether you're male, female, or something else entirely. He doesn't need gender to define what he feels for people. His type? It’s people. Especially those with similar nerdy, anime-loving tastes. But then there’s the demiboy part. Leviathan’s whole existence is a little outside of what human society expects. He’s got this overwhelming connection to being masculine, but at the same time, his demon self doesn’t really fit into that whole binary thing. He’s beyond that. He’s comfortable with being seen as male, but there’s a side of him that feels more fluid, more in between. As a demiboy, he recognizes himself as partly male but doesn't feel tied down to the expectations of what it means to be “a man.” He’s free to define himself in whatever way he feels is right.

Simon — He’s the exact type of guy who wouldn’t realize he’s bisexual until later in life. Like, back before the Mushroom War, Simon was probably too busy with research and his academic pursuits to really think about it. He probably just assumed his attraction to men was like, admiration or “oh wow, this guy’s really cool”. (Simon, babe, no, you wanted to kiss him, not just share research notes.) Then Betty shows up, and BOOM, he’s completely enamored with her, and it just sort of confirms the “oh, I’m straight” narrative in his mind. But like, he’s definitely into men too, okay?? It just wouldn’t have been something he was super comfortable expressing openly at the time—especially not in a world that didn’t always make space for that. But of course, Betty would know. I just know she’d be the one person Simon felt safe enough to open up to about it. Maybe during a quiet moment, he’d just be like, “You know, I think I might like guys too,” and Betty would smile and be like, “Simon, I already knew that.” And that’s it. She’d be totally chill about it because she loved Simon for who he is, and she’d support him 100%. Post-Mushroom War, though? Simon’s whole life falls apart, and suddenly, his sexuality isn’t even on his radar anymore. Between the madness of the Ice Crown and the literal end of the world, he doesn’t have the space to explore or embrace that side of himself. It’s tragic because Simon deserves to live his queer little life, okay?? When he starts to heal in “Fionna and Cake,” you just know he starts piecing together the parts of himself he lost, and that includes his queerness. He’s not the kind of guy who’d make a huge deal about it, but there’s something really beautiful about him quietly acknowledging, “Yeah, I’m bi. I’ve always been bi. It’s just… me.” It would be such a soft and affirming moment for him, and honestly, Simon deserves that kind of peace. Simon Petrikov is bisexual, and that’s canon in my heart.

Monika — It makes so much sense for Monika to be pan, especially since she’d love the MC/player regardless of their gender. Monika is fully aware of the world around her and knows she’s in a simulation. It’s not about gender to her—it’s about the connection, the love, and the feelings that transcend any labels. She’s falling for the person, not the body or identity they hold. Monika is comfortable being a girl, but there are moments—especially with her being so aware of her existence as a sentient pixel—where she feels less than fully “human” or “woman.” She’s literally in a video game, so sometimes, she can feel like she’s just a part of the code or a manipulated character rather than a “real” girl. That’s what makes her a demigirl—she has a strong connection to femininity, but not in a traditional or full sense. She’s sometimes too aware of the simulation aspect of herself, and in those moments, she feels less defined by gender and more as just a sentient being who can shift between those identities. Btw, mirrored pronouns are the perfect fit because Monika can adjust them to whatever feels right

Snufkin — Him and all of his friends are Ace. He is not sex repulsed, tho. He just doesn't care and doesn't want it. He could also be aromatic, but I think he just has some emotional block. But when he gets himself falling for someone, he collapses and runs to the lonely mountains. But now he’s more focused on friendship, nature, and freedom, and it’s so clear that his love for others is more about the deep emotional bonds. Also, the way Snufkin is so free and doesn’t care about fitting into any societal mold? I mean, he’s literally a wanderer who doesn’t follow rules. I can totally see him not feeling tied to any gender at all. He’s just Snufkin, and that’s it. He’s not “male” or “female”—he’s Snufkin, this fluid, free, unbothered existence that just does his own thing. He doesn't need a label to define him; he's beyond all that. And honestly, same—why should anyone be forced to choose one label when they’re just existing as their true selves? Honestly, the unlabeled part makes SO much sense. Snufkin is unconcerned with fitting into boxes, and his life is so much about freedom and being authentic, not following expectations. Just look at the way he lives his life—he’s not bothered down by norms or categories. He just lives as Snufkin, and that’s the vibe. I bet if you asked him about labels, he’d just be like, “Why do we need them?” and walk off to go play his harmonica or something.

Chilchuck — He’s a man in his 50s. He’s spent a lot of time in a certain mindset, especially with his marriage. His reluctance to be emotionally open with his wife and his past relationship struggles really shaped him, but now that he's on his own and, like, getting over that divorce? He’s finally realizing that he’s more than just a one-gender man. He’s spent his life with women because that’s what he’s been conditioned to do, but that doesn’t mean that’s all there is to his attraction. “I’m down bad for pretty people” vibe totally works here. He’s not some overly romantic guy, but you can tell that he has a certain soft spot for people who catch his eye, especially if they’re cute. The man’s weakness is absolutely for pretty people, especially blondes. Honestly, who could blame him? His past marriage and reluctance to open up makes sense for why he never fully explored his sexuality until now. He was stuck in a “one-gender” mentality, especially as a man who was conditioned by society and by his own experiences. But now, after his wife leaves him (and let’s face it, that was probably a wake-up call for him), Chilchuck has the space to realize that, you know what? He’s not just attracted to women, and it’s okay to embrace that.

[nerdyenby]

DR pt2 reactions (spoilers)

Episode 11

Opening scene hypeeeeeee!!!!! Love seeing them all work together, there’s definitely been a soft timeskip with Arin and Sora’s costume upgrades and how well they fit together

Lloyd’s handling Wyldfyre pretty well, respecting her boundaries while making sure she feels welcome anytime

Ray and Maya!!! Are they alive lol? Will we ever find out??

“The monastery works best when everything is in its proper place” *cue explosion*

Not listening to Zane is the cause of 85% of problems in this show

Kai and Wyldfyre’s rivalry is everything, actually

I will never stop gawking at the new animation, it’s so beautiful ;-;

Yayyyyyyy propaganda /s

Aye, Sora’s parents!!!! Seems like they’re having doubts mayhaps

Keep questioning authority kids, you’re getting there

Kids get it done!!!

I am begging all the water, fire/heat, and ice elementals to practice some critical thinking and remember that ghosts cannot touch water

The delivery on Nya’s “Whaaaaaat?!??” was so good lmao

“Eh, it never came up” LMAOOOOOOO he was so deadpan I’m dying

“How hard can it be?” Arin I stg why would you say that

Frohicky!!!!!!!

Lloyd is so awkward I love him

Arin and Sora having a handshake <333

Episode 12

We love a villain whose pride is 90% of the reason they fail

If they start deadnaming Sora I’m gonna throw hands

I was so ready for them to confirm Kai’s age, should’ve known better tbh

Lloyd is such a good mentor, I could cry

They’re playing catch :((

Lloyd’s little “that was the last of our dinner plates” lmao

Has the Bounty actually operated as a ship before? In the course of the show?? Kinda love that they’re treating her like an actual boat now

Merlopians!!!!!

GAY PEOPLE!!!!!!!

Revolution counter: 1

That was so funny and for what

If they make it through this episode without mentioning Bentho I will be so sad

WAIT is the crab controlling the merlopians instead of the other way around????

CALLED IT

So glad the merlopians aren’t the bad guys here

Episode 13

Kai isn’t handling not being the most unpredictable person in the group very well

Kai’s girlbossing his way through life, as he should

Zane being down to drink motor oil but not fly juice is so valid tbh

Frohickey and Zane’s dynamic is so silly I love them

Zane you literally have a human disguise lol, kinda love him being comfortable enough with who he is that he prefers to stay as a nindroid even in disguise tho

Is that his detective costume from prime empire???? Now I’m thinking about what the ninja’s closets look like

Wyldfyre causing problems on purpose my beloved, she’s such a menace, I love her

I’m really enjoying seeing all the seemingly forgotten species come back, have we seen these skeleton people since season 1??

“Ninjasplaining” IM DEAD

The lavatides have such fun character designs

How did the other realms know about the ninja before the merge? Like it makes sense, but how about the practicality of it??

“Ok this is just getting silly” this show makes me so happy you guys

Zane has a holiday, as he deserves!!

So ready to watch Zane lose a Zane lookalike contest, surely nothing could go awry

GULCH :D

Challenging Kai with a character even more headstrong and proud then him is such a good move, it provides so many opportunities to showcase how much he’s grown

Poor Zane, this man does not need another ship of Theseus crisis

Damn, I’m kinda emo over this message

LIGHTNING??!???!?

Episode 14

I miss Pixal so bad, man

Frohickey’s trying so hard, I would die for him

Sora honey, I love you but please check that cognitive dissonance, the things going wrong are not your fault, none of it is your fault.

This show’s comedic timing is everything, I never get tired of it

Fat rip to Clutch’s book, no brobrogoogoo today :(

“Long before the Merge, Djinnjago was destroyed” Nya, are you not gonna mention that you were the one to destroy it???????

“Bad news first: our mission was a failure, also we have no good news” Sora is so fucking funny you guys

Frohickey is having such a rough time, poor guy

Nya having a lightning dragon can be so personal

Sora the dragon’s name is Zanth!!!!! Best resolution to the “other Sora” thread imo

I love this guys attitude so much lol

Confirmation that Riyu’s a special lil guy <3

The depressed icon we never knew we needed

Arrakore my beloved

Zane and Frohickey’s friendship is so precious

Episode 15

I like how Kai and Wyldfyre didn’t have a specific moment of “oh hey you don’t suck” its just “we’re too similar and it’s kinda annoying but you’re cool sometimes”

Why didn’t we get to see Arrakore’s song :((

Nya’s being so chill with Arrakore being djinn, obviously he has nothing to do with Nadakhan but it’s still nice, he also seems massively less racist so that’s good

Nya’s dragon finally has a name, Jiro my beloved :))

Arin infodumping and Lloyd just “mhm-ing” my beloved

Asking nicely always works, apparently

I entirely forgot about Rapton lmao

Is it Cole time??? I want it to be Cole time

*motivational music* “all life is important” “… but that’s Rapton 🤨” I love Arin

HEATWAVE TO THE RESCUE!!!! Though where has he been up til now??

Lloyd being like “yeah sure, how impossible can it be?” and being entirely justified is the most him thing ever

COLE TIMEEEEEE HELL YEAHH!!!!!!!!

Episode 16

Cole and Nya hug <3333

Someone other than Zane mentioned Pix, a day for the history books

Glad to see Cole’s as OP as ever lmao

Oh they’re so gay

I didn’t even think about that, it’s so fascinating that the earth is unsettled by everything that’s happened

That’s so sad what the hell, so in character for Cole to just adopt a buncha orphans tho

WHAT THE FUUUUUUCK IM SO ABNORMAL ABOUT THIS

Sora I love you but that is the worst possible way to phrase that

Kai talking about the importance of other ways of helping and how combat isn’t everything and showing Wyldfyre a healing technique :(( I’ve been rewatching s1 and he’s come so far

Geo :(( things are better now, but change didn’t come soon enough for him and now he’s Lost

Borg mention!!!!!!

Also I love having a reference point for Sora and Nya’s skillsets, it’s also just so heartwarming to see adults who are wholly supportive and unafraid of younger people being better than them

Cole is so out of the loop lmao

Zanth :0

Oh you bitch

Cole and Geo are so in love :(

Episode 17

I entirely forgot about this plot point lol

Oh this is so dystopian

Kai in a mentor role means everything to me

They’re actually addressing Kai’s grief??? Hell yeah, fucking finally /lh

Alright, betting time: Jay or Pixal?

Lloyd and Arin are so silly, I love them

Zane???!?!!?!

Zane really just sat in that office, huh (/ref but it’s so vague I’d be shocked if anyone got it)

It’s a part of the realm of madness oh my goodness that’s hilarious

“Are they safe for people?” “No” *proceeds to shove them both in there*

Zane had way too much fun with that superhero landing lol

JAYYYYYYYYYY HOLY SHIT ITS JAY NINJAGO!!!!!!!

Zane is having so much fun this episode, he’s just getting shit done and looking great doing it

So we’re not getting Jay back yet? Rip

Zane is so polite what the heck

Episode 18

So Wyldness confirmed to be the same realm as Imperium???

Is Beatrix gonna have the same origin story as Kalmaar??

Nya and Cole’s friendship is so tender and caring, they’re besties your honor

LaRow trash talking Rapton to his face lmao

Rapton redemption arc!??!????!

It’s so interesting seeing the backstory of Ras and Beatriz’s alliance after it’s already fallen apart

Wyldfyre did not need to be told twice lmao

THAT ACTION SEQUENCE HELLOOOO?!????? THEY WERE THROWING AROUND THOSE GUARDS LIKE A FUCKING VOLLEYBALL

From a psychological perspective, Beatrix is fascinating

Revolution counter: 2!!!!!!!

Episode 19

Lloyd letting Kai take point on wrangling Wyldfyre only for Kai to immediately match her energy my beloved

“You have no idea how foolish some of us can be!!” Pffff “-no offense Lloyd” PFFFFFFF

Interesting to go the “non bender revolution” route considering how few elemental masters there are compared to avatar where benders are a vast majority, but it’s a villain whose power hungry so makes sense and I’m entirely down

The quips this episode are impeccable

They built an hq??? Hasn’t it only been a week or two??

So much is interconnected in this season I’m kinda not following some of it, but I love it

Percival monologue going off!!!!!!

Sora main character fr fr

Kai and Wyldfyre are everything

Kinda iconic that Nya just hasn’t mentioned that she found Cole lol

That scene with the guard was so good!!!! The suspense and the realization of just how deep the resistance runs…. It’s such a good moment

Love that as soon as Kai has Wyldfyre even slightly reined in he’s down to let loose and make messes with her, as long as it’s for a good cause lol

That extra delivered with that cry holyyy

Heck yeah Rapton redemption :D

Rapton out here with the guardians of the galaxy motivation and I’m loving it

The fight choreography in this show never ceases to amaze me, holy crap

Sora’s speech goes so hard, I’m tearing up

Finally got confirmation the og ninja are in their twenties, thank god

One thing about Nya is that she will never pass up an opportunity to call her brother stupid

Episode 20

Rapton calling Dorama a “washed up clown” is everything I never knew I needed lmao

The stakes are staking

The glitch effect??? Hello spiderverse!!!

The platonic love on display this season is killing me, they all care about each other sm :((

That Rapton Nya interaction was so good and for what

Sora’s parents >:(

Deadnaming their kid and guilt tripping her saying she “abandoned you,” damn Sora’s response is so fucking cathartic as a trans person with unaccepting parents

I’m just here for the ride and having a great time

Frohickey!!!!!!!!!

Lloyd doing ye ole Chosen One things, as he should

Kai and Wyldfyre hug <3333

Dragon heritage mention???? Mayhaps???????

That was cryptic, cool though

Lloyd sees so much of himself in these kids 😭😭😭

Jordana boutta get the Harumi treatment fr

[denimbex1986]

'Many queer people, who grew up in the homophobic 80s, in the shadow of the AIDS epidemic, today struggle with trauma from childhood, believes British star director.

And Andrew Haigh knows what he's talking about, because he himself is part of that generation.

- Even though we have moved on in life, many people carry with them bad memories from childhood and adolescence, says Haigh in an exclusive interview with NRK.

For the personal film he is currently working on, "All of Us Strangers", he has brought in big stars such as Paul Mescal ("Normal people"), Andrew Scott ("Fleabag"), Claire Foy ("The Crown") and Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliot").

Haigh's previous film "45 Years" garnered Oscar nominations. "All of Us Strangers" has received a total of 6 Bafta nominations, Britain's answer to the Oscars.

In the film, the lonely gay man Adam, played by Andrew Scott, lives in an almost empty block of flats in London. One evening he meets Harry, played by Paul Mescal, who also lives in the empty block. As the love relationship between the two develops, Adam becomes preoccupied with memories from the past.

He returned to the town he grew up in, and found his parents living in their childhood home, just as they did before they died suddenly 30 years earlier when Adam was only 12.

Adam gets the opportunity to have the difficult conversations with his parents that he never had or dared to have before they died in a car accident.

- I would be stupid if I said no to this role

In contrast to Adam, Harry stands out as a confident gay man who is confident in his own orientation. But that's only on the outside.

- I have a deep interest in the form of masculinity, the modern man who on the surface looks like everything is fine. Harry is similar to something I have experienced, and I see him in my veins and in people I know. He was a character I felt I could add weight to, Paul Mescal told NRK.

For Claire Foy, known to many as the young Queen Elizabeth II in "The Crown", there was no doubt that she would say yes to the role.

- I think that the older I get and the more I work in this profession, I will do things that I care about, and that I hope others will care about. I would be very stupid if I said no to this role, says The Crown star to NRK.

Director Andrew Haigh is himself part of the generation of queers who grew up in the 80s, and wanted to make a personal story about growing up queer at that time.

The film "All of US Strangers" is partly based on the 1987 book "Strangers" by the Japanese author Taichi Yamada and partly on the director's own story.

- Things are so much better now for most of us, but we still harbor feelings and trauma from growing up. These feelings are with us in the decisions we make in life, and can lead to us setting boundaries for ourselves, says Haigh, who believes it is important to cultivate that feeling a few times.

- Missed this film as a teenager

Director Andrew Haigh has a wish that not only adults, but also 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds should see the film. He thinks it would have made a big difference if he himself had seen this film as a teenager.

- Sometimes a film can have the ability to convey the difficulty of an experience, whether it is grief, a strange upbringing or whatever it may be. As a teenager, through a film like this, you can gain an understanding of what is challenging about being gay, while also seeing that it is possible to work through the difficulties.

Paul Mescal received a Bafta nomination for his role in the film. So did Claire Foy. She is happy about the nomination, although the real barometer of success for her is people's reaction to the film.

- Nominations and awards are absolutely fantastic, and especially for independent films like this that stand out and attract attention to get people to go and see them. At the same time, I quite sincerely believe that if people come up to you in the street and say that what you do means something, then it doesn't get any better than that, says Foy.

Director Andrew Haigh told NRK that he has experienced an absolutely enormous response to the film. People of all ages, both queer and straight, get in touch to tell stories from their own lives, about the loss of parents, loved ones and the like.

- The film seems to have resonated with them on a sort of universal level, and that means a lot, says Haigh.'

[nariko-senpai]

MY HOT TAKES ON ANIME/MANGA FANDOMS P2

Disclaimer: These are my opinions based on prior experiences with said fandom and what I've seen online. Please don't come after me :/

Spy x Family

Tamest and purest fandom I've seen in a long time. Y'all just ship loid and yor, Anya and Damien, etc and it's just NICE. ITS NICE ANC CUTE OKAY? Although you're down bad for yor and loid, at least majority of you know what pedophilia is 😀👍

Chainsaw Man

Y'ALL ARE SO GOOFY. Honestly, I try not to interact with this fandom cause I've seen so much goofy shit with Power and Makima and stuff I JUST STAY AWAY. Y'ALL JUST AS GOOFY AS THE STORY LMAO.

Naruto

You're an OG fan. Everyone in this fandom has watched all the episodes (including the hundreds of fillers) and just ARGUE. YOU ARGUE ABOUT EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER AND GO ON FULL ON RANTS. Also, you all collectively bash Boruto and treat Sakura like shit (I'm not arguing about that tho) But Naruto fans are DEDICATED TRUST ME.

Bungo Stray Dogs

Don't interact much with this fandom, but y'all seem depressed and suicidal af. YOU TAKE DARK HUMOUR TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. I also see some pretty aggressive shipping coming from this fandom, but it's always Dazai x whatever character. SPEEKING OF DAZAI, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ALL WORKSHIP THE MAN OR SMTH IDK 💀

One Piece

Wholesome. You just want more people to watch/read One piece so you can talk about it. ITS KINDA DEPRESSING TO WATCH ACTUALLY. And somehow you all remember like 100+ characters in this story LIKE HOW? I KEEP FORGETTING WHAT THAT LONG NOSE GUY'S NAME IS 😭 But you are some of the most diehard anime/manga fan if you've done the impossible and finish both anime and manga. Also has the best live action in my opinion ¯\(ツ)/¯

Kakeguri

Horny, gay and suicidal. Y'all watch lesbians play uno and checkers like it's world war 3 and eat that shit UP. But fr, you're either a someone that watches for boobs or a someone who started watching with good intentions and now thinks they can win a million dollars by challenging someone to an uno game 💀 PLEASE GET PROFESSIONAL HELP IF YOU KIN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS, YOURE MOST LIKELY DEPRESSED AND/OR SUICIDIAL.

Should I make a part three, and if so, what fandoms?

[mademoiselle-red]

TC chapter 6 reread thoughts, part 2

A rush of old memories went through Laurie like a pain. “I’ve never noticed […] that the competition to take things on was as killing as all that.” I love how Laurie takes Ralph’s side and tells him he’s done nothing wrong. One of my favorite aspects of their relationship is their camaraderie, the feeling that Laurie is playing on Ralph’s team. That’s also what makes the horrible crap he says to Ralph in chapter 16 so terrible: for the entire book, Laurie has been Ralph’s cheerleader, cheering him on when he’s feeling down or when other characters put him down, but then Laurie suddenly joined the others in denigrating his character from a position of superiority 😢

“He was staring at Ralph, who was standing in the thick of the crowd, hard and crisp and gay, laughing at someone’s dirty story, his battle-scars put neatly out of sight. I wonder what the punishment is for heresy, Laurie thought.” Here, his idealized image of Ralph as some otherworldly higher being who is above crude human desires is challenged, and he finds himself so compellingly drawn to Ralph that he can’t simply ignore it and retreat into his fantasy version of Ralph. But again, his revulsion at Ralph laughing at someone’s dirty joke is really the pot calling the kettle: “Gareth. That’s what my stepfather-elect’s called. I suppose he was conceived with Tennyson in limp suede sitting on the po-cup-board.” Reg coughed repressively. […] He sometimes found Laurie’s conversation highly obscene, and would have voiced his disapproval to anyone he had liked less.” Ralph would have laughed at Laurie’s obscene joke and Laurie would have been pleased 🤷‍♀️

My favorite Laurie lines from this chapter: “If you mean Ralph Lanyon […], he’s a friend of mine, I’ve known him for years.” And, “It’s the Odyessey all right. It’s the one where the man comes back from war and finds the flash boys on his pitch and runs them out.” Again, despite many reviews pointing out Ralph’s attempts to insert himself into Laurie’s life, we see here that it was Laurie who made the first move, showing up to the party acting like he is Ralph’s boyfriend in front of all his friends. Like, consider this party from Ralph’s point of view: guy you haven’t seen in seven years and kissed one (1) time crashes your ex-boyfriend’s party to see you and “only you”, follows you around with his eyes like a love-sick puppy, starts telling everyone that he has known you for years (Ralph: um, we had like one (1) conversation, but sure), and declares to your would-be suitors that you are the Penelope to his Odysseus (Ralph: I was not aware of being married with just one (1) kiss, but ok). Just who is being presumptuous and “proprietary to the point of arrogance” here? No wonder people at the party were like, who the fuck is this guy and what the hell happened to Bunny, his actual boyfriend???? Like, Laurie, you can’t just act like a guy’s boyfriend and then be all surprised when he thinks you wanna be his boyfriend 🤣🤣🤣

“[Ralph] went off rather stiffly to the drinks table. Really, he can be awkward, Laurie thought, but he felt no serious discomfort.” Awwwwww Laurie’s thoughts are so tender. And Ralph being awkward in front of Laurie is simply too adorable 🥰

“Now we’ll see something, thought Laurie not without satisfaction.” It’s so interesting to me how Laurie expects Ralph to react to Bim with contempt, but Ralph surprises him by reacting with gentleness and compassion. And this prompts Laurie to see past Bim’s “hard glitter” and see his “feverish and taut” demeanor. Like, Ralph is actually a soft and gentle person underneath that hard layer of self protective roughness.

“Not the Odell?” I love this parallel to chapter 12: not the R R Lanyon? They’ve both been telling their loved ones about each other for years ❤️❤️❤️ (Lucy & Alec: 🤝)

Laurie throws a jealous fit and wants to leave the party because Ralph is driving Bim home. “He’d be up before the major and have his passes stopped for a month; but, he thought bitterly, there wouldn’t be much hardship in that.” We can infer from this line of thinking that Laurie was already expecting to see Ralph regularly and was planning to use his late passes for this purpose. Renault conveys this to the reader in such an indirect way, showing how Laurie is unaware of the desires that drive his thoughts. Consciously, Laurie hasn’t made any kind of “choice” to date Ralph, but unconsciously, he has already committed his future late-pass evenings to Ralph, and this is before Ralph has even asked him out! I think throughout the book, Laurie makes a lot of decisions and choices, especially w.r.t. Ralph, without acknowledging them. And this is one such example. He’s not a passive participant being dragged into a relationship by chance and Ralph’s will.

“What makes me cross about people like Ralph is the way everyone used them. [….] Their life gets like one of those ham spy films where they brief the agent and say, “But remember, one slip and you’re on your own.” This is such an apt description the way Ralph has been abandoned by everyone and every institution his entire life! one slip, and his parents beat him, one slip, and he was thrown out of school and home, one slip, and he lost his naval career, one slip (that wasn’t even his fault), and Laurie seems to have abandoned him too. Until Laurie comes back and becomes the only person to not abandon him when he doesn’t live up to their expectations. Laurie is the only person who loves him enough to allow him to fail ❤️❤️❤️

“Ralph’s tragedy is that he’s retained through everything a curious innocence about it.” It being the idea that “sacrifice uplifts the redeemer and casts down the bought.” I don’t agree with this observation about the nature of sacrifice, but I do think Ralph is unaware of the way his giving nature coupled with his unwillingness to receive help leads to a “trade deficit” in his relationships, which breeds resentment. He showers his loved ones with love, but doesn’t give them the opportunity to dote on him in return.

“You said he’s in a spot. […] Can I do something? […] No, tell me, please, if I can do something. I want to know.. […] I’m not sleepy. When Ralph comes back, if he’s in a fix you’ve got to wake me. No good keep talking about he’s in trouble, and not do anything.. […] I won’t go away. I’ll wait for him here if it takes all night.” All Laurie wants is to be able to do something for Ralph 😭😭😭 like, screw the rules, if Ralph’s needs him to, he’ll stay all night. All Ralph has to do is say he needs him 😭😭😭 (Ralph: I can’t admit I need Spuddy! I need to be strong and brave in front of him! Or he won’t admire me anymore and he’ll leave me 🥺🥺🥺. Me: 🤦‍♀️)

To be continued…