#and an actor being gay or not is not what makes or break the value of the representation

[undreaming-fanfiction]

I am massively busy with work and finalizing my Big Bang, but this idea just won't leave...

Steve and Eddie are both actors. They're in their mid thirties, well established, but they never starred together in anything. Steve tends to be cast in the same type, the dumb but pretty love interest, Eddie has lots of indie and disturbing movies under his belt. But this time, they both landed something big.

They get cast in the new Batman movie.

Steve is, of course, Batman. He insists on doing his own stunts. He refuses to get dehydrated for his shirtless scenes because he knows how damaging it is to both young men and women alike, he's not going to contribute to shitty expectations. The director (Dustin, duh!) sees something in him other directors never have - a potential for depth, for internal turmoil. He gives Steve the chance to prove himself as an actor and Steve pounces on it.

He's still very hot.

Eddie is cast as the Joker. He is a fan of the comics and scoffs at how absurd and deranged the character is becoming. He gets hired because he immediately says he doesn't think the character needs to rely on cheap tricks and shock value to be terrifying. Cutting off his face? Not cool. He suggests to play the Joker according to one of the older comics he has - one where the Joker is actually absolutely sane, but hides it to never be held accountable for his actions. The only person who ever saw through his ruse was Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Joker took care of that issue very quickly.

The chemistry between Steve and Eddie on screen is insane. They go toe to toe, it's impossible to look away when they interact. Eddie utilizes his bright smile to the maximum, tweaking it just right within moments so it becomes unsettling. The first time he laughs, Steve gets goosebumps.

Steve encompasses Bruce's loneliness so well Eddie's heart breaks for him. Dustin finds him in the trailer, giving himself gentle slaps over the face and muttering "you're evil, damn it, you don't want to comfort the Bat!!".

Batgirl (Robin) and Harley Quinn (Chrissy) find their slow descent into love hilarious. They all become good friends on the set.

Hopper, an acting veteran who plays Commissioner Gordon, grasps Steve's shoulder after an intense fight scene and mutters: "Good job, Steve, but maybe don't stare at his lips so much?"

Robin doesn't give him the same courtesy and once Dustin yells "Cut!", she screeches: "NOW KISS!"

The movie is a hit. People love the cast and the story, some of the OG fans complain as they always do, but the ratings are great, there are many interviews, panels, all of that.

And of course, there's gossip about Steve and Eddie being a thing, which enrages the macho Batman fanbase. Their Batman isn't gay!

But the rumors quickly disappear after an award ceremony where Eddie is nominated for the best supporting actor. He wins, of course. And as he gets up to accept the small statue and deliver a speech with enough "fuck"s to give the censor a headache, he drags Steve up and kisses him in front of the whole world.

A week later, Steve and Eddie are together in front of a camera again, answering questions in an interview.

The host asks: "What do you say to those fans that are disappointed, who say that their Batman isn't gay?"

Steve just snorts, pulls Eddie closer and answers: "They're right. Their Batman isn't gay. But he's definitely bi."

Also the comic story I'm mentioning exits and is short but fantastic. 10/10 recommend.

Oh also. The first spark happens when Steve sees Eddie's hair and blurts out: "Please tell me they're not making you cut it shorter. It's too gorgeous for that."

Also because people were asking about the comics - it's Batman Black and White - Case Study and it can be found on Tumblr HERE

[inamindfarfaraway]

Hnnng dehumanisation in Spies are Forever. Curt's not a man, he's "property of the United States government". Tatiana wasn't a child, she was an “instrument of war”, a “killing machine". It’s particularly poignant that Barb calls Curt property of their government, a cog in the machine, because she knows that she’s in the same boat, and in fact socially inferior to him as both a woman and a support worker to his more prestigious career. She herself has always seen and valued him as a person and is constantly trying to make him reciprocate. But he initially views her as just a cool gadget dispenser. Technology appears to be her only means of asserting her worth and earning people’s attention, which might be why she’s working on a global information network, essentially the internet - the ultimate technological platform for human connection and collaboration. Cynthia is so committed to overcoming her human vulnerability in order to be the best tool her country could possibly ask for that she poisons herself every day to build up an immunity. One of the villains is a literal Nazi who uses a literal puppet. And the other is Owen.

Owen's evil vision is "turning everyone into a spy", aka property. Instruments for him to conduct. Creating a global surveillance network, because the internet has as much power to distance and isolate people as to unite them. The machine failed him when he was a cog in it, so he aims to replace it with a more efficient one and control it this time; he cannot comprehend any ethical improvement to or dismantling of the machine itself. His problem with spies is that they contaminate the ruthless political mechanisms with messy, fallible humanity... and vice versa. Agent Mega messed up the mission because he was human; Curt left his boyfriend for dead because he was a spy. You can’t be both. Person or tool. So Owen chooses the one that can’t be hurt. He willingly becomes a tool of CHIMERA, a living weapon. He kills and tortures hundreds of people, considers himself an actor in a story and others expendable characters, does everything he can to detach himself from ideas of personhood. “Who needs spies when a box in a room can do your job in seconds?" Humanity is worthless. Obsolete.

Except no, it isn't. Curt and his allies proves it. After the prologue, Curt simultaneously makes Owen’s mistake of binary thinking. First he wants to be purely a man, and an absolute wreck of one; then he wants to be purely the greatest spy ever, no sentimental weaknesses. But he can’t maintain that divide. He has to be both. The team win with their skills, training and expertise and by being human - social, irrational animals, working together, loving each for the sake of it, acting spontaneously. They aren’t tools that Owen can perfectly predict and manipulate. Curt surprises him. And Owen, for all his icy calculations and grand talk, cannot escape his humanity any more than he can destroy Curt’s, as his last scene makes painfully clear. He lowers his gun like a person. His voice breaks like one. He bleeds like one. Meanwhile, Barb is a genius engineer and Tatiana is a master assassin. You’d think that their climactic moment of triumph would demonstrate Barb’s amazing technology or Tatiana’s combat skills, but instead the focus is on them simply talking to each other and even Mrs Mega. Human connection and collaboration. Human error that doesn’t negate their victory. “You can break a computer box, but you can’t break the will of a man.” That’s what Curt is. Not property. A man. He is a gay, unemployed man; Barb is a woman in STEM; Tatiana is a female ex-KGB Russian immigrant; all in the United States of America in the 1960s, a very bad time and place to be all of those things. Yet they will survive. They are not alone and they will endure. Spies are forever because they are people.

And the narrative consistently emphasises that everybody is a person! It mocks the Nazis, obviously, but even then Baron von Nazi isn’t a one-dimensional monster, he has emotions and cognitive biases and a backstory and fondness for cheeseburgers. Sergio isn’t just an interchangeable criminal, he’s a devoted family man awkwardly trying to lighten his work atmosphere. Richard Big isn’t just a crass parody, he has moral principles. We hear all kind of characters’ thoughts and feelings: the Informant, Barb’s fellow scientists, the waiter at the casino, the guests at the gala. This affirmation that everyone has a inner life means that yes, anyone can be a spy.

[stinkysam]

@kiemimi wanted to know my opinion and brainrot on the OPLA characters so here some of them :

-> Akagami no Shanks

No brainrot but very pleased with his actor. Ngl I was a bit skeptical when he first appeared as Shanks. Because this is not how I imagined him to look like irl, and I saw multiple people complain that he didn't look handsome lol. But now I can't see him being portrayed by someone else. He's just him. And he looks very hot when he saves Luffy. 👌🏻

You're in for a ride with him. He's an open book yet there's many things you don't know about him. "You didn't ask" basically. He's really chill and likes to see you laugh and smile, seeing you sad really breaks his heart.

-> Buggy the Clown

BARK BARK BARK. As said in an older post, I didn't recognize the actor and was shocked to see that I already knew him. I saw his face without makeup and found him familiar. It renewed a brainrot with an old character (deke), lol.

There's always something happening. There's rarely ever a fully boring day. And he loves that you're by his side no matter what. He might want to abandon you to save his ass but always end up taking you with him because he doesn't have the heart to actually abandon you. He likes your attention, but you better be careful with it because he might go overboard very easily. And sometimes he's too lost in it to care about what you really want and don't want.

-> Cabaji

GAY ‼️

-> Dracule Mihawk

No brainrot. I have some trouble with his eyes. I can't tell if I would've preferred them without contacts. But other than that he slayed his role, very cunty.

Maybe the calmest relationship of your life. He doesn't talk much but he still values communication because it's important. He trusts you and likes to see you happy, mentally cheering for you.

-> Monkey D. Luffy

No brainrot. The only thing is that he doesn't stretch himself as much as he should. But I can't remember if he used his stretchiness as much as he does now (grabbing someone from afar, launching himself…) otherwise Iñaki is a good luffy. Love him. Knew him from The Imperfects so I was happy to see him again.

Too trusting. And too naive. Believe any words that come from your mouth, but you better not play too much with it because he's going to repeat it. Like Shanks, he likes to make you laugh and see you happy. Seeing his crew in a good mood is important to him.

-> Roronoa Zoro

No brainrot, surprisingly ? I love his anime/manga vers. so idk why his live action isn't clicking. I remember being 15 and fighting for him with a friend lol

Very loyal, not that the others aren't. But you better not betray him. He won't take it kindly. Very trusting as well. If you're ever accused of something you didn't do, he won't need to hear you to know if it's true or fake. And even if it was true, he's going to be like, "You had your reasons *shrugs*."

-> Usopp

Don't have anything to say, good actor choice. Love him as usopp. Can't wait to see more of him in season 2, honestly. Which we would see him as sogeking/sniperking.

He definitely hides behind you but doesn't back down to protect you. Likes to make you laugh. But the more you laugh, the more he might lie to make you laugh even more. Down to try whatever drink you take. If he knows he can't take someone down, he'll run to you for protection. If you can't take them down either, well... You're both running.

-> Vinsmoke Sanji

I don't know why they got rid of the eyebrows. He's really sweet. I love him more than the anime/manga because he's less of a pervert and he's smoother about it. Taz did an amazing job. He's really dedicated from what I've heard, doing his own stunts, learning how to cook…

He loves flirting with you even if he's already dating you. He's really biased when it comes to you. He trusts you with his entire being, heart, and soul. Very gentle lover that makes you breakfast in bed. Or breakfast in the hammock.

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL - October Is Looking Chunky

Sept 2022 Wk 5

Happy fall everyone! 

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

Ongoing Series - Thai

The Eclipse (Fri YT) Ep 8 of 15 - The pacing is starting to feel off and I am getting frustrated with the plot. That said, K is such a killer actor. And Aye is so damn pushy but with emotions as well a physical affection, he exposes his own vulnerability as a kind of benevolent attack on Akk to instill trust and worth and value and safety. Akk is just so scared and closeted. This whole narrative is less about love than it is about courage. Whether that is courage to live or courage to love. 

Vice Versa (Sat on YT) Ep 12fin - They are very cute and domestic boyfriends, and I realize GMMTV often does domesticity with their couples in the final episode. I’m thinking about the fantastic final ep of Dark Blue Kiss. “Celebrity coming out for love” is very Love Stage!!  Interesting that they advertised Not Me at the end, does that mean we have no new BL in this time slot from GMMTV next week? Curious choice they still have 4 more from their 2022 lineup.* I half expected the high school one. 

So what do I have to say about Vice Versa? 

It’s a solid BL with a weak plot but a strong concept. It’s very well acted and Jimmy remains the most charismatic talent that GMMTV currently fields. I hope we get more of this pair, either together or separated. That said, this is never going to be one of my top rewatch rotations, so I’m calling it for an 8/10. RECOMMENDED 

My Only 12% (Fri iQIYI) Ep 8 of 15 - Oh goody more pain. Look I like the noona romance thread. It’s obvious she had to break his heart, it’s what I would’ve done, it’s what Minato should have done. But it was still sad to watch. This is a well cast show. Sniffling at the end of this ep. Looking forward to seeing Siew come into his own and Cake crumble while they are apart. 

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI) Ep 1 of 10 - Words cannot adequately describe how much I dislike the credit sequence and music on this show. I nearly DNFed before a single line was spoken. The subs are also not good, but my Thai is getting better so I don’t mind as much as I once did. The show leads us out with: Slow motion + instalove + tons of familiar faces + some very terrible sound effects. Pretty much standard pulp territory. Despite all this, I actually kinda like it and they are so pretty. A rare sunshine/sunshine pairing! Nhai is an adorable idiot and Ai is confident king and I’m chortling away. Also GAY DADS played by IRL husbands Arm & Porsch! We’re good here, I’m happy. 

Work from Heart (Thurs YouTube) Ep 2 of 7 - Cute ex boyfriends. Thank god for uniforms. But now evil ex is overly aggressive. I’m getting Check Out vibes and that’s not a good thing. I love the tattooed actor who plays Guy, I wish he’d get more roles. I loved him in Ingredients too. 

Love in the Air (Thurs iQIYI) Ep 7 of 13 - It was a fine ending to the first couple and a good (if audio dubious) start to the second. I made more puns in the DUMPSTER FIRE TRASH WATCH ALONG HERE.

Fahlanruk (Sun GaGa) 3 of 12 - And now identical twins? SERIOUSLY?  The show sucks so bad. The story of 2 players never runs deep. Absolutely nothing happened this episode. I might drop this one. 

* GMMTV’s remaining 2022 BL line up is:

My School President - which I expected to be in VV’s time slot.

Moonlight Chicken - EarthMix’s next one, probably what they are working on next

Be My Favorite - recasting 

Never Let Me Go - filming now (assuming this will take on Eclipse’s time slot) 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan Thurs GaGa & Viki) 6 of 8 - This is my favorite BL currently airing BY A LANDSLIDE. 24 minutes of pure agony and joy. It just makes me so happy but it’s also so high school angst and traumatic to live through. This is the best of Japanese BL, I keep getting a feel of Seven Days off it and I don’t mention that comparison lightly. Takara is SO CORNEY. Also. THAT ENDING. Yes. Exposed! No more secrets! Squee! I can’t wait to see what happens next week. 

Once Again (Korea Fri GaGa) 5-6 of 8 - This show. I swear it’s so in the throat creepy and tense (in a Kassandra the mad prophet way) but also weirdly sweet. Poor Ji Hoon, he’s such a nice guy in a world just has a in for him one way or another. I’m glad both actors are so good since it’s the whole reason to watch this. I’ve no idea how they are going to manage to resolve it, but it looks like we get a cute date next ep!  

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y - too hard on my soul. Will I watch it eventually? Maybe? Probably not. I think we have an ITSAY situation going on here. Also BL Express was not best pleased, and I while we rarely share taste, in this instance I trust their reporting.

My Tempo - a Thai BL movie about the Thai music industry. Yeah, no thank you.

Oh My Sunshine Night - I’m scared it’s gonna be sad, so I’m waiting for spies to tell me it’s safe

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us - ditto above

In Case You Missed It 

More Than Words (Japan indie subbed by furritsubs) - TIP ‘EM if you like em!)  All the eps have dropped, so I binged it. Basically the definition of moody arthouse smackdoodle. Makki is an outgoing but mysterious boy with secret pain. Eiji is the an older gay boy struggling with identity. Mieko is a broken angry girl who both makes them work as a couple and aches to belong with them. This is a story about all 3 and their complicated interweaving relationship. It’s about love and intimacy in all its many faceted forms. This is not, and I'm being very clear here, a romance. In fact this is not a romantic show in any way. It’s poetic, sad, and wistful. Is it beautiful and a little lovely? Yes. Did I like it? No. For BL stans like me? NOT RECOMMENDED. For the ITSAY and YNEH folks... have at. BL Express likes this kind of thing and did a great review. 

Zero Supporter featuring EarthMix in their KornWin roles dropped. Look these two are just so cute together. They aren’t as good at this premise as OffGun were in Our Skyy, tho. Still, ultimately, I like this special better than the original Cupid’s Last Wish. 

NetJames (forthcoming BL Bed Friend) portray a BL side couple in Thai drama Catch Me Baby starting Oct 6 on WeTV. 

Semantic Error won Best Couple at the APAN Star Awards 2022. And Jaechan won the Popularity Award. 

Gossip

Thai casting call went out for the world’s first omegaverse BL Midnight Fortune. Twitter went as pearl-clutchingly hysterical over it as we might expect. It's not my thing personally and I doubt I will like it (frankly I doubt it'll be very good, either, the plot looks like it was written by MAME & Jittirain) but you better believe I will dumpster fire trash watch this SO HARD if it airs. It's about time Thai BL started to get seriously experimental in its cinemagraphic life cycle. It will be gloriously whackdoodle. I did have it down for Japan first, Thailand is so plucky! 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting: Mon: To Sir With Love AKA Khun Chai - Thai (10 eps 40 min ea) on One31HD & possibly WeTV. Kabe Koji - Japan (10 eps 20 min ea) on Viki.  Weds: Ghost Host, Ghost House - Thai (5 eps 30 min? ea) YouTube for reruns. Sat: Big Dragon - Thai (8 ep 40 min ea) reruns on Star Hunter’s YT. Sun: Remember Me - Thai (8 ep 40 min ea) Gaga. 

FULL October 2022 line up is here. 

This week’s best moments?

Fucking awesome Takara. 

This year’s Namgoong Award for BEST WINGMAN goes to Katori in Takara & Amagi. He’s glorious. 

Ai Long Nhai calling itself out. 

And again. 

Eclipse being a tease. 

My Only 12% pulling our heart strings.

Vice Versa, beat that drum honey! 

I LOVE a back hug. 

(last week)

Current earworm? JJ Project (fetal GOT7) Coming Home 

[narcissa-black-supermacy]

and for 003, all 5 Black cousins pls!!

ok its time to answer theseee

003 | send me 5 characters and I will rank them in order of preference

SIRIUS BLACK - obviously, the GOAT, the real main character, the best thing to ever happen to our pathetic human existence, the man too beautiful for any actor and too deep for any words, the eternal number one for me that nobody could ever top (except for jfp himself). no clever words or deep analysis on this bc it would take me 37 pages.

NARCISSA - there's this recent trend i'm seeing of trying to make her more "relevant" but making her gay or giving her a different love interest but i think people don't appreciate enough the depth and complexity of her canon story. trying to keep your family together through war and terrorism and your husband going to jail and your son being forced to join a terror cult is something that's very very personal to me, especially with the way she sticks to her familial values and traditions but is still willing to sacrifice anything for her son and husband. it's a tragic story with a rare happy ending and it always touched me on a very personal level.

BELLATRIX - again, from my own personal perspective, what Bellatrix does and the way she defies the expectations society has for her is even more revolutionary than what Sirius did, because she is doing it while still staying within the system. it's an angle we rarely see - we don't get many stories where a person wants to stay within the family circle of an abusive, conservative culture, but still breaks stereotypes inside of it. this is what creates change, in the long run, and it deserves recognition no less (also she's hot and unhinged and we love that)

REGULUS - I enjoy his character a lot, but only when he stays within the frame of very grey morality. I like Regulus who's very different from Sirius, who has a good relationship with Walburga and Orion, who dropped out of school and joined the DEs at 16 willingly bc he thought it would give him power and then ended up being disappointed in his own leader and tried to take him down (but failed bc he's still a 18yo idiot).

ADNROMEDA - i don't care much for Andromeda unless it's in the context of Black Sisters Drama. can I put Walburga instead? I love Walburga if she was on the list she would be n 3 <3

[bengiyo]

The Eclipse Ep 11 Stray Thoughts

It's been a lot of fun watching this with everyone. I'm really looking forward to seeing everything come to a head with this episode. This has been one of the most outright political shows we've had, and in many ways I think its ideas are more coherent than other attempts. Excited to see what the final thoughts it has for us will be.

I wonder what car manufacturers do when their vehicles get used in productions they don't like.

Chadok being there when Dika died doesn't surprise me.

We've only just started and I need to pause to praise First making his voice crack at the realization of the horrors he's been groomed to perform. This is a great emotional breakdown.

There's really something special in this show's messaging that agents of the system can recognize the harm they've done and change. They can choose to work against the system and try to do good.

That's right, Ayan. You teach him how to love you.

I'm kinda sad that Akk gave the necklace back.

Ayan is such a romantic. Still, I can't help be feel him doing everything he can to reassure Akk that he is loved and not alone. He needs Akk to know that there is always another dawn, because he doesn't want to lose him like he did with Dika. Ayan shouldn't have to feel this way. It isn't his fault he didn't know what was going on with his uncle or how to prevent what happened.

These two are gonna break me with this pin as a wordless comforting gesture across the room. Ayan is so clever.

I don't have a problem with Akk accepting this award or getting the scholarship (if he gets to keep it). In the words of Brian Kinney: "There's nothing noble in being poor."

Ayan and Thua shouting out for the world remembers, along with the other students following suit, is a good example of coalition building. The World Remembers has been relentless and clear in their messaging. It has garnered sympathy that can finally pay off here.

And now it's muddled already. Thua is not wrong. Finding justice in all this does require the truth. Not keen on outing Ayan and Akk, but I get why Thua needs to counter Ayan's credibility.

Oh Wat and Kan. We're going to spin this?

First and Khaotung are great criers.

Seeing Neo and AJ play righteous fury is very fun, even if I know this is deeply upsetting for every character involved. Ayan is right to direct everyone's focus up the chain of command, particularly in a culture that seems to value hierarchy so much.

Khaotung Thanawat Rattanakitpaisan.

Seriously, he's so good. The build up to this confrontation is so well done, and his emotional outbursts come in waves.

Oh shit it's Teacher Sani with a steel chair!!!

Well, we called the relationship between Chadok and Dika. I'm actually glad the show is going there. We know that there were gay Nazis, and I think it's important to highlight that this happens in oppressive systems often.

I'm so glad we're getting a sad secret dating montage. The audience benefits from the empathy this will engender.

Oh my that was more heartbreaking than even I expected. Goddamn. (But also, well done, everyone).

Akk asks the most important question, and then we just cut away? Come on, now.

Absolutely loving this fierce determination to achieve his ends (fuck the consequences) from Thua. Many of us have treated him as passive in all this, but I love this reveal that he was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I love Thua so much. Absolutely phenomenal work from Louis in the final parts of this show. Thua realized he couldn't wait for a hero and decided to make the call himself.

I feel like there is always too much water in Thai school pools. Don't their care about displacement?

I'm dying at this movie crew. Akk coming out as a BL Actor because it's Thailand's soft power is SENDING ME!! I have so many thoughts and questions that don't fit this format.

Kan found his bravery. Perhaps seeing that Thua had more guts than all of them was the final push.

Oh well that was adorable.

I love the many different laughs we've gotten out of Khaotung in this show.

Haha I love them recreating earlier moments from the show. It's a real student project now.

Looks like a lot of resolution and a denouement next week. I hope we see the movie crew reconcile with The World Remembers before this ends.

We beat the episode 11 curse!! Congratulations!

[adultswim2021]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force #65: “Moonajuana” | November 26, 2006 – 10:30PM | S05E09

Master Shake requires some sweet marijuana for his bogus case of glaucoma, so he pesters Frylock to grow him some. Frylock refuses, of course, because weed is EXTREMELY ILLEGAL and VERY DANGEROUS (in 2006). Luckily the Mooninites are within an earshot and they break and enter the Aqua Teen home, luring Shake and Meatwad out to the driveway so they can get their fill of “Moonajuana”, a special kind of weed that grows on the moon. 

It turns out Moonajuana is just a few wooden logs and some old tires which Err lights up while a giant Ignignokt-shaped enclosure lowers over it, trapping Shake and Meatwad with the noxious fumes. They don’t seem to mind, though, believing they are getting high while they asphyxiate. Turns out this was just part of the Mooninites’ plan to break into the Aqua Teen home and rob shit. Of course they need to take care of Frylock, so they throw a hose into the house, pumping in tire smoke. This works for about a second, until Frylock simply kinks the hose. 

Carl shows up, and the Moonites fail to get him inside the tire smoke hot box, but they do convince him that Frylock has weed. While Carl bugs Frylock, the Mooninites rob Carl’s house instead, find nothing of value, and then burn it down.

The grand finale: After telling Frylock a sob story about being neglected by their parents and craving attention it’s suggested that the Mooninites simply go to Hollywood and become famous actors. The final scene shows Err in a movie not unlike William Friedkin’s Cruising (I assume; I’ve still never seen it, sorry!). He plays a gay prostitute. A maniac shows up with a gun and asks “is this where I go to kill all them gay prostitutes?” the Aqua Teens yell at the TV for Err to “don’t say yes!”. Unfortunately for Err he can’t stray from the script and he gets blown away. THE END!

This is a pretty good one, and maybe one of the stronger Mooninite episodes. I like it better than Remooned, and it’s of course better than the exceptionally weak Moon Master. Some episodes of Aqua Teen are pretty good, but do feel like they’d benefit from being able to shear off a few minutes. This is a very non-specific complaint, I know, but I just feel like if this were 8 minutes instead of 11 and a half minutes it would truly sing. You know how much I love songs. 

I vaguely remembered this episode because to say “this is the one where Shake and Meatwad get choked out by a tire fire hotbox” is pretty accurate for most of the episode’s running time. I forgot the weird gross bit where Shake removes his colon and puts it in his mouth. This gag is sorta baffling to me, especially since it’s happening behind darkened glass and you can’t even really see what’s happening that well. I guess ultimately I could just do without this one part, because it’s sorta confusing. Call me a fuddy duddy but I don’t like it when people pop their colons out of their bodies and then chew on them for a few minutes. I think it’s weird! 

I did check out the deleted scene for this which is on the DVD and the hotbox set up they had was originally a more see-through dome. The deleted scene featured Shake and Meatwad banging on stuff (like they do in the actual episode) in the name of jamming, but it somehow turns into real drum noises.

Specific stuff I liked: Err not being able to join Ignignokt in demonstrating that they are “thin lines of deception” because he can’t wrap his head around turning around the way Ignignokt can. A lot of the dialogue in this is at the very least amusing, which is all you can ask for from this show. Sometimes there aren’t jokes, but the characters talk in funny character-specific ways and it just makes me smile. Also the ending I really love; the idea that a movie would be scripted in such a way that a character would answer “yes” to the question “is this where I kill you” is so funny to me. Though to be fair, 12 Oz. Mouse did just air their episode that ended with the line “He kills us”. What the heck are these guys smoking to come up with this stuff!!! What, some sort of MOON Marajuana from the MOON? Or something???

[grunge-mermaid]

grunge rewatches midsomer murders pt 1

this was bound to happen. especially after the second use of "cunt-stable" within the first half hour

1x01 The Killings at Badger's Drift

"you've got yourself a right cunt-stable there" beautiful

"you are politically correct as a Nuremberg Rally"

you know what? I chose to rewatch this because it's boring and a good background show but it's off to a real strong start

I know Dennis is either a murderer or gets beheaded (gimme a break it's been 15 years since I've seen this ep) but I'm living for him repeatedly calling a surprisingly homophobic Sgt Troy "cunt-stable"

I completely forgot about the incestuous mother/son dynamic

I really don't remember Troy being such a homophobic sexist dipshit

can i skip to the episode with Orlando Bloom?

ohhh he got his throat slit this ep ok he gets beheaded as another character in a few seasons?

aw man now that the creepy incestuous blackmailers are dead and no one is openly calling Troy a cunt, we're back to just plain boring village gossip

which tbf is why I put this on in the first place but like come on

you can't give me a gay undertaker serving cunt (literally and figuratively) with a totally inappropriate relationship with his nosy neighbour mother who make Gladys Kravitz look like she minds her business

and then just... go back to boring nothingness murders

oh god

late 90s high society wedding

yikes

lord god what are those bridesmaids dresses

are they supposed to be ruched at the back or are they just really poorly made?

oh thank god it was a nightmare

as were those dresses

and those hats

that corpse is breathing pretty deeply fellas you sure she's dead?

Barnaby sure is discussing a lot of details of the case with his family. shouldn't some of this information be confidential?

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH INCEST IN THIS VILLAGE

oh no those actually *are* the bridesmaids dresses

I have 2 questions

1) who in-universe is responsible for dressing the bridesmaids and why do they not own a garment steamer or an iron?

2) who on set is responsible for dressing the actors and why do they not own a garment steamer or an iron?

like holy shit those dresses are wrinkled af

that ending was... well, an ending.

1x02 Written in Blood

ok is this ep gonna go hard like 1x01 or

I do appreciate when murder mysteries tell you who the murderer is right off the bat and the fun is all in seeing how the detectives piece it together

god these houses are so pretty

oh this is a village populated entirely by mediocre writers

I really hope MM is intentionally leaning into the inherent cheesiness of the murder mystery genre and this isn't just low production value

Killmouskie the Russian blue kitten. cute.

wait so what does Liam killing his father have to do with this writing group?

is one of these writers Liam using a fake identity?

wow this guy's one hell of a dick can he get murdered please

I love how this show manages to be so dull but still get you hooked on the village gossip

what's the deal with Max and Gerald? if this isn't Lovers To Enemies I'm gonna be pissed

(I know it won't be this is a show for boring boomers)

FINALLY

a murder that's definitely relevant to the plot

still no hint as to who Liam is or why the cold open

another Very Clearly Breathing corpse come on lads

NOPE THAT IS NOT AN OKAY WAY TO BEHAVE AROUND YOUR UNDERAGE STUDENTS PLEASE GET MURDERED

living for the students giving him shit and laughing at him because he is a fucking creep and deserves it

why can the subtitles not spell Causton correctly or consistently

ok so Gerald is Liam?

that's not what I expected a secretary called "Bouncing Barbara" to look like

ok. so if Max was a therapist before he became a writer, Gerald is actually Liam and was Max's patient after murdering his own father?

idk but it's 50 minutes in and there has been no other mention of Liam since the cold open and I'm all for suspense but come on you've got to at least give me a dot that will be connected in the next hour

FINALLY

JOYCE TO THE RESCUE

only took 60 minutes

I don't know if my theory is completely right yet but I'm definitely not entirely wrong

you know what? it was totally worth the wait

oh look a corpse that isn't visibly breathing wow

ok so not only was I right but Gerald/Liam was also a transvestite and that plot point was treated with more respect & dignity than I'd expect for 25 years ago... until Troy had to open his transphobic mouth

while their methods are ethically questionable, I do enjoy the group of 15-year-olds trying to take down their pervy drama teacher

oh man if this is going to be an eleventh hour AIDS reveal

character's brother who died of a sudden illness in the 80s "knew" the transvestite murder victim

OH HOLY FUCK I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THAT

WHO KEEPS THEIR DEAD BROTHER'S BODY IN A FUCKING BED LIKE IT'S A SHRINE JESUS CHRIST

"hatters are sane compared to Honoria Lyddiard" is one hell of a fucking understatement good lord

oh yep there's the eleventh hour AIDS reveal

not just of the dead brother but she was keeping it from her sister-in-law not to protect her from her husband's cheating but because she was hoping her sister-in-law was HIV+ and going to die soon

yikes

fuck man that episode was a wild ride with one hell of an ending

but did it ever stick it

amazing

1x03 Death of a Hollow Man

creepy choral singing and a licence plate that says "boo"? alright lets buckle up

Salieri, prime, not Sally Arie. Salieri.

they're putting on a production of Amadeus, or is context not enough for you to get the captions correct?

camp gay men being gossipy bitches? yes please

ok now that is what I expected "Bouncing Barbara" to look like

ostrich feather trimmed coat, lots of makeup, bouncy blond curls

of course her name is Kitty

she looks as much like a Kitty as she does a Bouncing Barbara

love it when they find an actor who can hold their breath for a single take as a corpse

STOP BEING SUCH A HOMOPHOBIC DIPSHIT TROY

why are you so uncomfortable just being in the same room as a visibly queer person?

gulping, pulling at your collar

go fuck yourself

you walked into a bookstore and he is trying to sell you a book

he's not even being flirty calm down

oh and now you're surprised at how heartless the deceased's only living relative is? you're not exactly an emblem of compassion yourself

do they only have one lawyer's office set?

ex wife keying the ex husband's new wife's car is some satisfying petty revenge but then discovering the new wife is having an affair? delicious

that fascinator sure is A Choice

actual line: bloody hell caption: oh dear

actual line: I'll frigging kill him caption: I'll fucking kill him

inaccurate captions are amusing for me but this is like an actual accessibility issue

at least the meaning isn't drastically different for those lines but transcribing "can" or "did" when the actual line is "can't" or "didn't" or they can't spell character or place names correctly, it's not great

who is proofreading these

"everyone liked Esslyn"

previous 50 minutes: everyone hates Esslyn and they are right to do so

{duolingo break}

"he wasn't always gay" baby boy. baby boy let me introduce you to the concept of being attracted to more than one gender it will blow your mind

that is some flawless hair and makeup for a supposedly grieving widow less than 24 hours after her husband's murder

ok I gave up on the last 15-20 minutes of that episode, it wasn't as compelling as the previous 2 sorry

1x04 Faithful Unto Death

opening with Morris dancing and a village fete this feels boring

yeah this one's boring

nothing salacious about the village gossip this time

please let there be a twist

I'll just be over here knitting and scrolling pinterest and waiting for this to get interesting

POT BROWNIES

THEY JUST FED THE COPS POT BROWNIES

their "daily bake" amazing

still a boring af episode but thank you Bunny and Elfrida for feeding the cops pot brownies without telling them

I do appreciate the sometimes not at all subtle anti-cop undercurrents

54 minutes for Troy to say something homophobic that's a record

I know I said I was rewatching this because it's boring & good background content but this episode was far more boring than I remember any episode being

but I remember it being like delightfully boring

charmingly boring

not a fucking drudge

and the first 2 episodes went so hard like you can't really compete with incestuous undertakers blackmailing incestuous siblings and dead brother's corpse enshrined in his childhood bedroom like some twisted Edith Finch shit

1x05 Death in Disguise

please god be more interesting than the last episode

sidenote: I really appreciate that streaming services play each story as one episode unlike TVO that played them as 2-parters

"Barnaby investigates a string of deaths at a local New Age commune run by ex-cons"

keywords: Suspense. Drama. Beautiful. Sensual.

I'll give you suspense and beautiful but I'm not sure how I feel about this show being described as "sensual"

buddy. my guy. just because you live a new age commune doesn't mean you have to give up conditioner

he's breathing but is he a corpse yet? or just severely injured?

yep

he dead

and breathing

"light slinking music" A+ description

I do appreciate the overarching message of "just let people be weird, it's fine"

was not expecting scenes of cocaine use

Ken: "Heather honey" Heather: "what?" Ken: "no, it's heather honey" Heather: "oh I just thought you were being affectionate"

what a weird little beekeeping couple they're so cute

this is more intriguing than the last episode but not much to comment on really

I take that back the adorably weird beekeeper couples used to run a brothel

they're still weird and cute

nothing inherently immoral about running a brothel even if it was illegal

especially since they seemed to make a point of profit-sharing with all employees (I'm assuming on top of wages otherwise that would be immoral)

oh so the non-verbal autistic kid miraculously speaks for the first time ever and it just happens to be the one word that's the key to solving the case

so that's season 1. sorry? you're welcome? idk take your pick.

episode 2 was definitely my favourite because what the fuck was that ending. the pacing was perfect, the plot twist was executed beautifully, perfect murder mystery

I'm probably going to do this for at least the next couple of seasons but god help us all if I manage to do the entire fucking series.

[confusedlamp]

The thing is, conservatives aren't technically incorrect when they claim that politicians and corporate media pander to minorities or put in buzz words to try and appeal to the socially progressive. You can definitely see that in, for example, a politician making a statement for Martin Luther King Day, but not doing anything to enact policies to further racial justice. Or, every time Disney hypes up its "first gay character" just to have it be a throwaway line from an unnamed man or a background kiss that's on the screen for under 2 seconds. Or during Pride month when big businesses change their social media logos to rainbow, but don't even have LGBTQ anti-discrimination policies on the book. Corporations and some politicians definitely see minorities and progressives as a population to be marketed towards and not as people to who deserve to have meaningful stories told about them or have rights that need to be protected.

But what conservatives don't seem to get is 1) that not every attempt at diversity and inclusion is superficial, 2) Plenty of leftists/liberals/ progressives will criticize corporations and politicians when their words are empty, and 3) conservatives are absolutely susceptible to the same pandering.

1) I feel like this point is obvious, but satisfying the "woke mob" isn't the only reason to write diverse characters. It's been said before, but sometimes people just exist! Sometimes those people are in the writer's room or director's chair! If the story being told reflects the real world, shouldn't the characters be like some of the people who exist in the real world? Why would all Starfleet captains be white? Why would there only be male jedi? You're telling me that none of the knights of Camelot, a fictional land, could be into eachother romantically?* Come on. Not everyone is a white, cishet male. Sorry to break it to you.

Also, stories can be made more rich and interesting when you have diverse characters and creators! Not that I really love Marvel, but a major reason why the costuming and set design of Black Panther was beautiful was because they drew on different cultures in Africa, as opposed to only the European styles in a lot of movies. We got to see styles and buildings in whole new ways, and it was gorgeous. Another Marvel example, but in Agents of Shield, they wrote a really twisty and interesting storyline that directly drew on an actor's mixed ethnic background (the actor has said in interviews how she used to be told she was 'too Asian' or 'too white' for parts and she finally didn't have to pretend to be one way or the other). Having different kinds of people creating art allows there to be more cultures to draw stories from, more experiences that can be authentically shown, and often just better art.

*From my knowledge, Camelot is based on Wales and gay Welsh people aren't a new phenomenon

2) Go look up critiques of "Rainbow Capitalism." You certainly can find them all over tumblr during June. Go look at people making fun of the FBI for tweeting out stuff in support of MLK Jr. given their outright hate of him during his lifetime. We know it's bull shit.

3) Conservatives get pandered to. Every time a politician invokes "family values", but doesn't support policies to actually better support families. Every time a politician claims to love the military and respect veterans, but supports making cuts to the VA. Look at the sheer number politicians who pose in their ads with hunting rifles! They don't really all hunt regularly. How many times have politicians misquoted the bible? Attempted to appear more religious than they really are to appease a Christian base? Hell, go look at the whole Starbucks coffee cup "controversy" from a few years ago. Did the politicians really think Starbuck's having a plain red cup during December was somehow newsworthy? It wasn't an attempt to drum up anger in a conservative base? If a big store tells everyone "Merry Christmas" but they don't allow all their Christian employees to take off the 24th and 25th, how is that not pandering?

I know I am writing this on Tumblr and so I'm preaching to the choir. The vast majority of people here aren't conservative and I'm pretty sure no conservatives follow me. It just frustrates me like hell when I see conservatives online or in person talking about "pandering to appease the woke mob" and they aren't technically incorrect, but they are so very wrong. I just needed to yell into the void. Because, come on!

[criticalgay]

‘straight actors shouldn’t play gay characters’ is such a strange take to me

not only does it imply that all actors shouldn’t play outside of their real life sexuality, including gay ones, but it’s also like, you expect every single actor to publicly out themselves even when 1) it’s not safe for them 2) they’re not ready 3) they maybe just don’t fucking want to, just so you can feel like they deserve to play that role

no one owes you access to their sexuality, and that includes public figures

[orionsangel86]

SPN Conspiracies - Applying Logic to Chaos

Its been over 2 months now since the Supernatural finale aired. I am still so angry, hurt, and confused by it and I don’t think I will ever get closure unless someone like Andrew Dabb, or Jensen Ackles, actually opens up and gives us an explanation that makes sense.

What annoys me most right now is people trying to gaslight fans into believing that we should accept the narrative we have been given at face value: That the finale was always planned to be that way, that Destiel was never on the cards, that there was no Network interference, that the only changes made were due to covid and were minor at best.

This harmful gaslighting is FALSE.

NO ONE KNOWS THE TRUTH OF WHAT HAPPENED.

Look, I don’t agree with some of the crazier conspiracy theories. I don’t believe that there was some huge campaign among the CW Network execs to remove anything remotely gay out of homophobia. I don’t believe that the finale was changed because of some desire to make it into a Walker promo. I don’t believe that the finale was really bad on purpose in protest by Dabb for not getting to do an ending he truly wanted. I don’t believe that Dabb left us smart fans a bunch of secret messages in the finale to hint that he was on our side all along and that everything was fake.

I do, however, believe that all of these conspiracy theories have some elements in them that are plausible. At least, more plausible than the bullshit narrative mentioned above that some people are pushing in some desperate attempt to defend the Network (which imo is really strange behaviour anyway - why would anyone care about a TV network with a history of terrible behaviour?!?)

We have facts, based on information provided before the covid lockdown, which for some reason, people like Misha have since backpeddled on. So let me try to outline some of the information that makes no sense.

Below the cut I go on a deep dive into the conspiracies and statements I have heard about the SPN finale and try to make some sense of this whole fucked up situation. It gets long.

1. “Cas was never gonna be in the finale”.

False: We have many fan accounts of Misha confirming that he was filming the finale. We have video evidence of Misha confirming he was going back to film the finale after the lockdown. We have confirmation from fans in Misha M&Gs from March that he had about 5 days of filming left.

We also had fan accounts of discussions with Alex Calvert (I think) where he confirmed the final shot of the final episode was all four of them though I would LOVE if someone can find a source for this.

2. Okay, Misha was gonna be in the finale, but only as Jimmy Novak

False: I heavily side eyed Misha when he said this. But I think I can come up with a plausible explanation for it. Per above, Misha was supposed to film for 5 days. This does not align with the half a day he described of filming as Jimmy Novak. My own belief is that after Cas was cut from the finale (for whatever reason we don’t know) someone (probably Jensen Ackles) put up a fight and complained that Misha should be there for the final episode. The writers probably tried to come up with a way to bring Misha back without having to deal with Cas, and pitched the idea of Jimmy Novak being in Heaven. Misha, obviously annoyed about this, turned this stupid pitch down.

3. Destiel was never a thing, never planned, never part of Dabb’s ending. Bobo and Misha pushing the confession was the part of the season that was Wrong.

False: We have a SPN writer on record saying that Castiel’s confession was the first thing written for Season 15 when the writers returned to the writers room. If it wasn’t planned, why was it the first thing written, why does it align so well with the rest of season 15? Look I know some people either a. hate destiel and refuse to see it even if it slaps them in the face, or b. have major heteronormative goggles on, or c. are just homophobes in denial, but 15x18 fits in perfectly with the narrative of season 15. Everything Cas says, everything that happened in that scene was so in character it just works. It fit. If you just rewatch the season whilst applying some critical thinking skills and pay attention to the narrative and character arcs, trust me, the confession fits in with pretty much every other plot point, and character story in the season.

Also: We have known for a while that the network did market research into Destiel, wanting to know if it would go down well or not. They were well aware of its popularity and considering it. Where would this have come from if not pitched by the showrunner? Dabb must have at least been considering it. If you take all of Dabb era into consideration, starting with mid season 11, all the way through the season 12 build up, season 13 grief arc, and then Bobo’s Destiel break up arc in late season 14, early season 15, it is clear that there was some toing and froing on the issue of Destiel, but ultimately, I still believe that Dabb was on board. He wrote 13x01 for christs sake. No way he wasn’t taking it seriously.

 4. It’s always been about the brothers. The finale just stays true to what Supernatural is all about.

*rubs temples* Fundamentally FALSE: The show has time and again reasserted the message of “Family don’t end with blood”, as well as the messages of AKF and YANA. Sam and Dean may be at the heart of the show, but a heart can’t exist without a body to support it. Without bones, and lungs, and blood, and muscles, and a BRAIN. The finale abandons the shows core messages. It forces the characters back into their season 1 characterisations and the whole thing becomes hollow and souless. But I’m not here to complain, I’m here to lay down the facts. Dean’s heaven was supposed to be surrounded by loved ones right? We know OG Charlie Bradbury was gonna be in his Heaven, we also know CAS was gonna be in there. So this idea that the finale as it currently stands was how it was meant to be is wrong. Dean was supposed to die and reunite with his found family and loved ones. This alone would have been a far better ending than the one given. Do I think this was solely a covid issue? Fuck no.

The randoms that WERE in the finale are proof alone that they could have got people in and quarantined. We also have several actors on record saying that they WOULD have quarantined for the finale had they been asked to return but they WEREN’T.

Lies have been told. Samantha Ferris and Chad Limberg have confirmed that we have been lied to about the original plans for the finale.

This alone is proof enough that there is more plausibility in some of the conspiracy theories than any bullshit narrative some people are pushing in defence of the barbaric mess of a finale we were given.

So lets address some of the conspiracy theories now:

Conspiracy No.1: The CW Network reviewed Supernatural during the covid break, and due to homophobia, refused any Destiel arc that wasn’t already filmed, shut down any potential reciprocation from Dean, and forced Dabb to change his finale.

I don’t think this is entirely what happened. But I do think it is very strange how there is a such a huge disconnect particularly in Dean’s characterisations between what had come before the lockdown, and what came after. The one fact we have here, and please someone provide a source if you can find it because I know there is one, the finale script was still going through changes up to only 2 weeks before it was filmed. We know that there was some weird editing in 15x18 (which was still in post and uncompleted before lockdown) and we know from Jensen’s own mouth that there was more to the confession scene on Dean’s side that was cut. We also know that this isn’t the first time that Destiel heavy moments have been changed in post - the prayer scene is another big scene that went through a lot of changes and Bobo fought to have his script play out the way he wanted it.

There are certain things that in my own opinions, are basically true of SPN which I have put together from years of keeping one eye on the writers room, the network, and all the various comments made. My opinion is this:

The writers room has always been split on Destiel. Some writers heavily supported making it canon, others did not care, or were against it.

The Network considered it over the course of several years, did market research, green lit it, then changed their minds, possibly several times over the course of Dabb’s era. Destiel was pitched to the Network early in Dabb era.

The crew on set were also split. Some people heavily supported it, and worked to assist the reading, whereas others did not care/did not support it. The same can be said for the editing room.

Bob Singer supported the subtextual homoeroticism, but never supported bringing it into text (this is an opinion, but I think it aligns with everything we know about him.) IMO Bob Singer also supported subtextual homoeroticism between Sam and Dean - the guy is gross is what I’m saying. He isn’t exactly a progressive person.

Fun fact - a while back our old enemy Sera Gamble went on a Twitter rant about writers rooms and the ways a script goes through changes. I don’t think this was in relation to the SPN finale wank but she basically inadvertantly confirmed that the Network can step in and make sweeping changes to a script if they want to and if they decide they don’t like the direction of a story. Sera Gamble confirmed this as a fact.

Now. I’m not saying that this is what the CW did with Destiel. I just think its very strange how pre lockdown, the last thing filmed is a heartfelt homosexual declaration of love between Dean and Cas, and we have a finale script that Misha had not seen, but knew that he was meant to film as Castiel for 5 days (5 days on set is over half of an episode as far as I know). Then all of a sudden, Covid happens, and Cas is cut from the finale completely, a desperate attempt to bring Misha back only as Jimmy Novak takes place, which Misha rightly refuses, leading to a finale which makes zero sense narratively and appears in every way completely and utterly butchered.

The only explanation provided by anyone involved is that Covid meant changes had to happen - but that covid didn’t change the actual story at all.

But this makes no sense because we know that Cas was cut from the finale. This is FACT. Do not let anyone gaslight you into thinking otherwise. Misha was preparing to quaranting to return to set as Cas post Covid, so whatever happened to cut Cas from the finale, it wasn’t Covid.

I’m gonna have to Occum’s Razor this and say that the most logical explanation here is the one that is most likely true. Someone got cold feet with the Destiel story, and to prevent any possible interpretation that included Dean reciprocating, any hints of Destiel were removed from the finale script, including Castiel’s whole appearance.

Now, this isn’t me saying I think that Dabb’s original finale was full of Destiel love confessions and a homosexual kiss or whatever, but I am asking you all to really think about it and ask yourselves WHY Cas would have been totally cut from an episode he was supposed to be in at LEAST half of? 

We will probably never know the real reason Cas was cut, but he WAS cut. I’m not saying it was all homophobia, but some fuckery went down.

Conspiracy No. 2: The CW Network changed the finale to make it into a Walker promo because they only cared about raising up Jared and not Jensen and Misha as they were losing them anyway.

I don’t agree with this in terms of the finale being butchered solely to make it into a Walker promo. There are however moments in the finale that are clearly supposed to be Walker Easter Eggs and added to excite fans of Jared/Sam in particular such as Sam’s gratuitous and unnecessary topless scene, as well as the call on the “case in Austin”.

I will take this moment to say something pretty damn controversial though.

*Deep breath*

The fact is, Dean Winchester has been the “lead” character of Supernatural’s narrative for years now, with Sam often being sidelined and not given great storylines himself. Even in Season 15, right up until the finale, I myself felt bad for Sam sometimes because so much of this show has become all about Dean. Jensen Ackles is clearly the better actor when it comes to emotional story arcs, so the emotional heart of the story has most often leant on him.

So you can understand my confusion, when this is turned on its head in the final episode, to make Sam carry all the emotional weight, and have the most lines/screentime, and story resolution (even if his story resolution was just as crappy as Dean’s).

If we pretend that Destiel is not a thing, and ignore Cas’s confession, the story change in the finale from Dean focus to Sam focus is still rather suspicious. Again, I’m not saying I completely approve of or agree to the conspiracy theory that Walker influenced the butchering of the script, but I can believe that perhaps a note went down from the CW to someone like Bob Singer, to emphasise Sam/Jared more than they perhaps would normally, because the CW wanted to shine the spotlight on Jared to raise excitement for Walker.

I can also believe this note might have said something like “we wanna cater to fans of Sam/Jared the most - don’t do anything to piss them off.” but now I am getting into my own conspiracy theories so by all means dismiss this as me being bitter.

Conspiracy No.3: Dabb purposely made it bad, as a secret message to Destiel fans that he had been silenced, by layering meta clues into the episode that he knew fans would notice.

I doubt this one is true. Though some of the theories are quite compelling. The old vampire silent movie theory for instance starts off quite well, but loses me the moment it brings up Urban Dictionary slang.

Sometimes I have just had to accept that Supernatural is a bad show that is sometimes accidentally a masterpiece. However, some writers really did go That Deep with their stories - anything by Ben Edlund or Steve Yockey for instance, their episodes are meta masterpieces with a hundred different layers of beautiful subtextual storytelling and are a joy to analyse. Bobo Berens has certainly done some A+++ work especially now we KNOW that he was working hard all this time to bring Destiel to canon text (so any analysis of Destiel in the subtext in his episodes is very accurate). There have been many other key elements analysed over the years which have been confirmed true. Cas’s death in Season 12, Dean’s time as a demon in season 10, Season 11 ending in unity of dark and light, these were all plot points predicted by meta writers just by analysing the narrative. Sometimes the writers really have been very smart and they do add things to the show to aid us in our meta.

Richard Speight Jr for instance, confirmed that SPN has a visual library that the production team use to give clues and hints in the narrative. Pizza, for example, always means a lie has been told. Whenever Pizza is being eaten or even just mentioned on screen, there is dishonesty in that particular moment.

The beers also have a very specific message and the one thing I can’t let go about the finale, was that Dean was drinking El Sol beer. The beer his dad gave him, that was terrible.

El Sol has been used in the show to indicate something being wrong, a fake reality, or another lie, for the longest time. It is the beer of deception.

The fact that in the final episode of this entire show, Dean is in Heaven, supposedly at peace, and then he gets handed an El Sol beer to drink? Thats a HUGE red flag for any meta writer watching who can read SPNs visual library.

If they had given him the Margiekugel beer of family then it would make sense. Dean is in Heaven, with Bobby, his family, at peace. Margiekugel should have been the beer of choice. But nope. El Sol. Something is wrong.

I don’t know if it was Dabb, or Singer, or some disgruntled ADs and crew members who added these elements into the finale, but their very presence confirms some message of Wrongness.

I could go into a huge rant about Vampire Mimes not making sense and the very glaringly obvious symbolism of cutting out peoples tongues too, but that is high school level film analysis. It’s obvious. It means to silence someone. There is validity in interpreting this as Dabb saying he was silenced. I don’t know how true it is, but i can’t 100% dismiss it, because as I said, this is high school analysis levels of obvious subtextual storytelling.

So in summary, whilst I don’t think that Dabb intentionally went out of his way to sabotage his own script, and leave a breadtrail of secret messages for savvy fans to put together to confirm that he was silenced by an evil network into not getting what he wanted... I do think that there is validity in questioning these odd choices for the finale. Cutting out tongues? Vampire Mimes? El Sol beer?

The evidence is somewhat compelling is all I’m saying. I don’t believe the full conspiracy theories, but as I have said many times before, some fuckery went down.

So What Do I Believe?

That some fuckery went down and whatever company line they are pushing is bullshit.

I believe that the original script included Cas (since thats fact). I believe that the original script probably always had Dean dying on a vampire hunt (due to Jensen’s issues with it and in particular, his sarcastic comments about vampires in the past year or so which in hindsight are hilarious and prove he never really came to terms with Dean’s idiotic death). I believe Dabb’s original script was some less crappy version of what we got, which potentially included showing Jack rescuing Cas from the Empty and resolving the outstanding Empty plot points (potentially this was actually a 15x19 plot since Mark P commented that his final scenes were supposed to be with Jack and Cas), had Cas reunite with Dean in Heaven and had them have a discussion about Cas’s confession. I believe that there was probably a lot of back and forth over how to handle that with some people wanting Dean to obviously reciprocate and others believing they should keep it ambiguous. I believe that Dean and Cas would have reunited with Charlie Bradbury, and Bobby Singer, and possibly others (though if this was the case it must have been very early on since no one ever looped in Sam Ferris, Chad Linberg or any other Roadhouse people).

I believe that Sam’s ending probably didn’t change much, but I do feel that initially they were planning on him ending up with Eileen, because it is the only thing that narratively makes sense. Cutting Eileen and giving him a blurry wife is something I won’t ever understand and Jared’s bullshit explanations are quite clearly pulled out of his ass to appease bronly types. I believe the reunion on the bridge would have included Cas and Jack, with a final shot of all four of them together, at peace (as this aligns with Alex’s comments from around a year or so ago that the final shot was all four of them). (I also am not sure it was always supposed to be on a bridge since the foreshadowing in an earlier episode showed Dean, Cas and Sam all in the Roadhouse together).

I believe that script went through countless changes and redrafts, and not even production people or the types that some fandom people claim as their “sources” would even have seen those early scripts, since even Misha never saw it. I believe that these rumours of Dabb never having Cas in his finale and ignoring all Destiel elements likely come from people who only saw later versions, weren’t party to network discussions and felt bitter about the final scripts they did see (being the crappy butchered one that was ultimately filmed). Those “sources” are now spreading rumours to discredit Dabb.

I obviously believe Dabb is a weak ass pushover who either didn’t care enough to fight back, or gave up since he’s been stuck with fucking Bob Singer on his back for years, but I will NEVER believe he didn’t care about the DeanCas love story, because he has been one of the few writers who has championed for it for years. You can’t look back at Dabb’s episodes in earlier seasons and claim he didn’t care. Dabb was a writer whose creative ideas were beaten out of him by an unforgiving Network only concerned about where their future money was coming from. Do I think he gave up too easily? Yes. But I also have one other huge reason for not believing the bullshit about Dabb being this anti-Destiel villain.

Bobo. Because if Bobo truly believed Dabb was gonna fuck that up at the end, I don’t think he would have given us Cas’s love confession to begin with. If he had known it was gonna end like that, I think he would have reconsidered, because had Cas not confessed his love, I don’t think he would have been cut from the finale. Bobo - a gay man, would not have wanted such a horrible message for queer fans being put across in the show he worked so hard on. He started writing that confession scene the day they returned to the writers room. Dabb would have been there, would have seen what he was writing, probably discussed it with him, after all, other episodes were written with the confession in mind. No way was Dabb planning to fuck up the ending knowing what Bobo was giving us. Nope.

Something went very wrong over lockdown. Someone, somewhere up the chain of power caught wind of the confession scene in 15x18, realised that it demanded a resolution which would make Dean Winchester, their protagonist, queer, and pulled the plug. I believe this did not come from a place of homophobia, but of bad business sense.

The CW is constantly trying to win the approval and attention of the one demo group that they seem to fail at getting the most: young straight men. Supernatural was one of their only remaining shows that appeals to young straight men, and Dean Winchester is more often than not the fave character of those young straight men who project onto him. Making Dean Winchester, established Han Solo of Supernatural, queer and in love with his best friend in the finale would have come across as a betrayal to those young straight men. The CW probably feared they would lose that demo group for good, and with a show like Walker starting soon with Jared at the helm, they couldn’t take the risk.

Hence there was probably a whole bunch of back and forth script redrafts with the Network, with Dabb and Singer fighting to make a finale that would appeal to everyone. There was most likely no way that they could bring Cas back without addressing what had already been filmed, because any resolution of that plot would either a. make Dean queer, or b. address it awkwardly by having Dean reject Cas (this storyline would probably have been slammed by critics worse than the finale because it meant addressing it. It might have got the attention of LGBTQ activist groups and caused a bigger shitstorm than what we got). The best option was therefore C. Bury it and Cas, pretend it never happened. Never address it again and distract Dean with other things. Hope that Destiel fans will accept no answer from Dean as ambiguous enough to imagine a future reunion rather than shutting it down with a rejection, and still keep hold of the blissfully ignorant heteronormative straight boys so they can carry over to Walker when it starts.

I also believe (controversially probably) that there was concern that any resolution of Dean and Cas would have overshadowed network darling Jared Padalecki. If Dean and Cas had come together in the finale, with a very clearly textual homosexual reunion, then that would have been all anyone talked about. The reviewers, the critics, the audience, everyone. It would have been nothing but Dean and Cas (and look, if they did think this, they were right, Destiel trending over the US ELECTION.)

So what is the network to do, when they are losing the two stars who would get the most attention from this storyline? The one star they were holding on to and getting his own show, relegated to third place in the finale of the show where he was first on the call sheet? Nope. That’s pretty unacceptable. Even without Walker I can imagine people at all levels side eyeing the Destiel thing over the years. This IS a show about two brothers, and their relationship should be the core relationship, we can’t have one brother pushed aside in the finale to make way for a queer relationship that will get all the attention instead. It was never gonna get approved for this reason ALONE.

At the end of the day, if I look at it from a business perspective, it makes far more sense that the CW shut down Destiel, rather than “oh Dabb never cared and ruined it because he’s an idiot.” The writers cared, and had built on that story over years. But their mistake was leaving any Destiel resolution to the finale. If they had instead gone and got Dean and Cas together in early season 15, then they could have ended it in a way that satisfied everyone. Destiel wouldn’t have threatened pulling focus away from Sam and Dean, and the show could have gone out on a high.

When I lay out all the conspiracy theories, and line them up next to the cold hard facts, the conspiracy theories in some way or another, make more sense. To believe the company line, the narrative we have been fed, is to ignore your own eyes, ears, and memories pre March 2020.

All I’m asking people to do is take a look at the show, the narrative presented in the show, and the information presented above. I’m not telling you to believe what I’ve written here, half of which is just my own opinion. I’m asking you to ask yourselves if it makes sense to you. Because it sure as hell doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied.

[mousieta]

Review: Bad Buddy

Year: 2022 Country: Thailand Platform: YouTube

In the midst of watching Bad Buddy I remember telling a friend that there’s something so healing about watching it. I know there is an abundance of BLs that are a wonderful representation of queerness, especially young love in a highschool/college setting, so Bad Buddy isn’t really breaking any new ground genre wise. What it does do, however, is express the power of its genre at its highest potential, as expected from a Director/ Showrunner as thoughtful as P’Aof.

The premise is a Romeo and Juliet (with notably less death) story of two families eternally at odds, in a never ending game of one-up-man ship that is mostly expressed in constantly pitting their sons against one another. The two boys, Pat and Pran, chafe at the expectation to constantly be in competition, wanting so much to be friends but also wanting to please their parents.

This competitive set up allows the struggle of Pat and Pran to become a metaphor for homosexuality, reflecting the queer experience while allowing it to transcend being just that. They are closeted in their love not because they are gay, but because of the ridiculous expectations of their parents (which is so meta, I love it). So we, as the watchers, never have to endure homophobia out right but still get to see a similar struggle play out.

So, what we get is a coming of age/ love story between two queer boys in which they are just allowed to be, and that feels so healing for the young, queer child buried in my heart. It feels very much like P’Aof is making the story he wanted to see - that he needed to see - when he was the age of our characters.

There is no crisis of identity or sexuality, not that there is anything wrong with that, but by not having it we get to have other conflicts that are rooted more in human struggle: the conflict of child against the prejudices of the parent. And we have a relationship that is built on the shared experience of our leads. No one in the world will understand Pat and Pran like they understand each other because no one else has had to endure the specific pressure they experienced, and they both chose to morph that trauma into a point of connection, subverting the expectations and appropriating them into their own language of romance.

Bad Buddy rounds out strong directing and a steady, well-paced story with fantastic acting. P’Aof apparently stated that he envisioned both Ohm and Nanon as Pat and Pran from early on and he could not have made better choices. Both actors fully embody their characters and navigate the course of their journeys beautifully.

All in all this is a delightful show with a super-high rewatch value. It hits every beat spot on and that is a rare feat.

[incarnateirony]

Kinda worried that Jensen will let the confession go off without addressing or reciprocation in romantic terms. That's where the hurt started in the first place. Letting go is fine, but first he has to understand why it hurts so much and what it all meant for him and him only. I hope Jensen goes the distance for that.

I genuinely want to punch this ask in the face and I usually love your submissions. I mean you literally sent it a few hours after I made this post (x)

This is straight up fandom brain damage causing this take. This is like. brainrot from osmosis from pat and kelios arguing nonsensical shit.

Jensen just carefully crafted an entire ass fucking studio with some of the most famous and power queer rep advocacy people running the fucking acquisition process and any representation or disputes while hiring back and in queer authors.

Even if someone's psyched you into believing he hates it (he fucking doesn't, he's in the trashbin, and that's not a parasocial fucking statement, and I'm about to break out a fucking drill and take it to people's skulls until they understand that), but even IF you imagined that shit, he's not gonna fucking career seppuku over this shit and burn everything down just to make a point on behalf of some frazzy haired incest hag or some irrelevant douchecanoe looking for attention.

Jesus. Stop it. Read the new thing at the top of my bio.

it's whispering, rumoring, catastrophizing, and people don't realize they're doing it but it's innocent but no less infuriating to watch happen over and over because despite your best interests it genuinely reads like aggressive concern trolling at this point.

we've all taken trauma but there's a certain point people are just trauma dumping and trauma sharing instead of discussing actual forward progress, and I'm drawing a firm boundary on that being near my blog. We're not gonna give a perfectly good new fandom anxiety because grown adults still haven't stopped spiraling 2 years later to see clearly.

much less like. maybe you haven't been following the news. and I'm not gonna repeat it for glory or attention. But genuinely this entire take gives me an eyetick probably as primal and gut gripping as the years berens spent tolerating being accused of queerbait while trying to run the ball.

Catch a clue on the energy and read the room on what I've been posting.

these weird fucking days where the gays feel compelled to talk quietly about their shit is over and we're ending that right now and talking about what's real and true without fucking apology now and if people don't believe it they can get out until they do, because I don't have time for that energy in my life anymore.

defeatist attitudes are the problem. sorry. we didn't get this and here by anyone giving up or being cynical or stopping fighting because uwu they're not sure what someone thinks.

Fandom needs to stop cracking to incester dogwhistles and learn what this representation battle actually looks like and takes.

There shouldn't have only been 2 participants left standing in the project by the end. So before anyone judges anyone's value, know that of thousands of fans starting on wayward, only 2 fought till the end for Winchesters and this queer production setup, and these people judge how hard the authors and actors they judge fight.

Stop.

genuinely waiting for the day people care at least if not more for the actual queer creatives and systems supporting them as they cared about fear of their own discontentment.

maybe it's not fucking clicked with you yet because the wincels got their shitty low rent finale and you're still salty or whatever, but that's it, that's all they get that. From here, the whole universe belongs to the gays. Start getting used to it, and talking about it from the right angle.

They're still fighting, and they're winning. Ya'll are... idk, catastrophizing on tumblr from unaddressed trauma you need to unpack, and honestly most people stopped actually fighting and fell into self pity. Stop it.

[taggingtim]

Why I love Pre-Boot Tim Drake and why the Reboot has ruined him

I love Tim Drake.  He is my favorite comic book character of all time.  I’ve been really upset the past few days about what DC has been doing with him lately, and I thought it would be cathartic for me to write something up about it.  (No, this isn’t a rant about Tim being bi/gay; it’s a much larger problem than that. But I’ll get to that in a bit.) Bear with me for a bit of history, first.

When I was a kid I loved the Batman Animated Series.  I know this will lose me a lot of internet cred, but I always preferred the fourth season. In particular, I loved Tim Drake. He was fun and funny and I absolutely adored him.  I used to beg my mom to take me to the mall so I could buy issues of Gotham Adventures. For my birthday one year my parents got me a subscription to the comic, and I was blown away by the idea that I could have comics MAILED to my HOUSE.

Around middle school I started collecting Marvel comics, mostly X-men stuff.  I loved them, but when I started college I quit the hobby for financial reasons.

 Fast forward a few years, and I felt I was financially stable enough to start buying comics again. Rather than going back to Marvel, I decided to give Batman comics a chance.  I had no idea where to start, and when I found out my beloved Tim had his own comic series, I thought it was a perfect entry point into the Batman universe. I bought the complete series from a local comic shop and dove in.

 Tim’s Robin series was exactly what I was looking for in a comic.  He was very different from little Timmy Todd from BtAS, but I loved him. I built the rest of my comic collection around him, grabbing up every book that he was featured in, from Young Justice to Teen Titans to Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Red Robin, and many others.  I have random books from series like The Demon just because Tim was in them.

 So why did I like Tim so much?  What about this character made me so excited for more?  I found in Tim something that I had never seen in a comic book before: character growth.  Somehow, though he was written by many different authors over many different years, Tim managed to have a character arc that is consistent and makes sense. Sure, there were a few small bumps along the way, but on the whole Tim has always stayed true to his character, and he’s developed in a way that the big name characters, like Batman, never can.

 When we’re first introduced to Tim, he’s a young teen who has been neglected by his parents growing up. He’s smart, healthy, and strong, but he lacks so much self confidence and has little sense of self worth.  Tim notices Bruce’s increasing violence as he grieves for the loss of his son, and Tim knows he needs to step in and help.  Batman needs a Robin.

 For most characters, this would be the part where Tim put himself forward for the job.  But he doesn’t.  He seeks out Dick Grayson and begs him to come home instead.  It’s only when Batman and Nightwing are in danger and there is literally no one else to help that Tim steps up and dons the cape. And once he does, he’s constantly plagued by self-doubt, terrified he will screw up and leave Batman worse than ever before.

 From there, Tim undergoes intense training.  He never begs to be in the spotlight, doesn’t push to go out on the streets before he’s ready.  His goal is to help Bruce as much as possible.

 Here’s where I started to fall in love with him.  All that self-doubt, the constant need to be useful?  That’s exactly what you would expect to see from a child whose parents had ignored and neglected him.  He finally has a parental figure who sees him, who values him, and Tim does everything he can to make himself worthy in the hopes that Bruce will keep him around.

 This is the first example of character consistency that we see with Tim.  And it continues.  When his mom dies and his dad is put in a coma, you see Tim struggle to come to terms with losing the people he loves, but never had a relationship with.  Tim almost never mentions his mom after her death, because she just wasn’t present in his life.  When his dad recovers and decides to stick around, Tim struggles to build a relationship with him.  He’s plagued with guilt because he’s finally found the father figure he needed in Bruce, but he thinks that he’s supposed to feel that way for Jack.  It’s a running undercurrent in their relationship that creates distance between them for years.

 This is already so long, so I’m going to try to summarize a bit more.  We get to watch Tim grow up.  We see his awkward relationship with his first girlfriend, Ariana.  He doesn’t know how to treat her; he’s never had the opportunity to observe a healthy relationship.  But he tries so, so hard.  All of Tim’s relationships are awkward, because he’s never had a model of a good one. Steph is a great match for him, because she’s very vocal about what she wants and needs, and she isn’t afraid to call Tim out when he messes up, which is exactly what Tim needs.

 Big things happen to Tim. He’s stuck with Jean-Paul Valley, who slowly goes insane, leaving Tim to try to keep the city in one piece.  He’s infected with the Clench, a plague that sweeps over Gotham and kills everyone it touches, and barely escapes with his life. His girlfriend is sexually assaulted, leaving him to deal with the fallout.  His family moves out of Gotham, and he has to sneak back in during No Man’s Land to help.  His relationship with his dad has intense ups and downs, resulting in him being sent to boarding school, punished in a variety of ways, and generally caused a lot of trouble in his life.

 Then people start dying. Over the course of about a year in his life, Tim loses his girlfriend, his dad, a close friend, and his best friend, each of whom dies under tragic conditions.  Tim’s grief is intense, and he is understandably traumatized by the losses. We see fundamental changes in his character.  He changes his costume from something bright and cheerful to something darker that reflects his emotional state.  He’s more subdued, his adventures a little more serious.

 When Bruce first tries to adopt him, Tim literally creates an uncle and hires an actor to play him, just to avoid dealing with the situation.  Bruce has viewed Tim as a son for years, so to him the adoption is an obvious step.  For Tim, it feels like a betrayal of his father, and it takes a while before he’s ready to accept Bruce’s love, home, and a place in his family.  

 When Damian shows up on the scene, Tim really struggles with him, and not just because early Damian is a horrid brat who tries to kill Tim on multiple occasions.  Tim has always felt the need to earn his place with Bruce, and Damian constantly throws all of Tim’s biggest fears in his face—he’s not wanted or needed now that the “real” son is here, he’s not worthy of a place in the family, he’s not good enough.

 Tim tries to clone Conner, his best friend.  He’s lost so many people, and he’s desperate to get them back.  Conner was cloned to begin with and fully matured over a very short period of time; the technology clearly exists, so why can’t Tim use it to get his best friend back?  And if he can get Conner back, why not the others he’s lost?  He eventually gives up, but when he eventually gets access to a Lazarus Pit, he immediately wants to incorporate the waters into his process so he can revive his loved ones.  With Dick’s help, Tim eventually decides to let it go, but it’s such a poignant moment for the character.

 Then Bruce dies, and Dick takes Robin away.  Tim switches to the Red Robin persona as he travels the world, alone, trying to prove that he was right.  He has to deal with the trauma of losing another father, finds out that his girlfriend never died but let him hurt so much for so long.  His brother and the only close friend he has left both think his grief has overwhelmed his sense and that he’s gone crazy.  He’s utterly alone.

 The Red Robin series is such a great culmination for Tim.  He finds a place for himself as a hero, as a CEO.  He gets parts of his family back—Bruce, Steph, Bart, Conner.  He finally figures out who he wants to be and creates a place for himself.

 This overarching character development is what I love about Tim.  His many, many traumas impact his decisions, and you can clearly see how he changes over time as a result of them.  I didn’t even go into his development as a leader from his early fumbling with Young Justice to his strong leadership of the Teen Titans, or how his relationships with Conner, Bart, and Cassie develop so fluidly and realistically over the years.

 This is why I love Tim. Characters like Batman are static; nothing that happens to them will ever have a lasting impact, because in the end the character always returns to what they were.  Tim, on the other hand, has changed and developed A LOT since his initial appearance.  His growth has always been consistent and logical.

 When the reboot happened, all of that character growth was lost.  Tim was replaced with a jerk who betrayed his friends and cheated on his girlfriend.  DC has basically retconned all of this and tried to turn Tim back into who he was, but by taking away all of the things that have happened to him over the years, Tim has lost SO MUCH.

 I keep looking for my Tim in recent comics, and I just can’t find him.  It breaks my heart, because I love him so much, and it feels like he’s lost to me forever.  The most recent Young Justice comic series actually gave me hope; I felt like maybe, finally, someone was going to write Tim correctly.  He had his primary friendships back, his relationship with Steph was developing (even if they seem to have completely dropped all the development around Steph’s decision to let Tim think she was dead).  The actual book itself wasn’t fantastic, but it felt like they were headed in the right direction.

 Over the last few days, I read the Batman: Urban Legends books.  I actually read the Batman/Red Hood story first, which was fantastic.  I was really excited to read Tim’s story (though I already knew how it ended).  Jason’s character was handled so well, and he seemed to actually have some character development that will hopefully last.  I anticipated the same for Tim.

 But Tim’s story was awful. The plot was all over the place—kids are being kidnapped, so Tim has to join a pain cult to get them back?  He’s somehow helping Oracle with computer issues while simultaneously questioning witnesses?  He’s broken up with Steph, off camera, shortly after telling her how much he loves her, but Steph somehow thinks that they should have a caring relationship where Tim tells her what he’s feeling?  Bernard has somehow become a good enough fighter to stand side by side with Robin?  Tim STILL doesn’t have a code name?  Why is everyone suddenly hounding him about what he wants to do with his life?

 It’s just such a mess of a story.  If it didn’t end with Tim agreeing to go on a date with Bernard, no one would ever have even mentioned it.  There’s nothing particularly re-readable or enjoyable about it.

 I actually liked that they brought Bernard back. I really enjoyed him in the original Robin series. It’s been a while since I read that part of the series (I’m actually working my way back through it now).  I know Bernard always read as gay to me, yet somehow I felt like he was out of character in these books.

 And then, the climax of the story.  Tim is bi, or gay, or has at least agreed to go on a date with a boy.

 If this had happened in the pre-boot, when Tim was Red Robin and had an actual character arc, I honestly wouldn’t have had an issue with it.  I do think it would have needed a LOT more build up than it was given here.  Tim has always been a very introspective character, and we’ve been party to so much of his internal monologue over the years.  It seems very strange to me that such a huge thing just sneaks up on him out of nowhere when he’s never even thought about it before.

 But more than that, this story just feels like the final death blow for the Tim I loved.  The whole arc is about how Tim doesn’t know who he is or who he wants to be.  What will his hero name be?  Will he go to college?  What is he going to do with his life?  These are all great questions, and his answer to all of them is… date a boy?  

 Is this going to be his defining characteristic going forward?  From here will we just see Tim exploring and discovering his sexuality?  The Tim we have now doesn’t have a family, a team, a purpose, or even a code name.  Why was this the thing that DC decided to give us?  It feels like they wanted to make a gay Robin and decided it would be Tim because they didn’t know what else to do with him.

 It’s stupid, but I honestly feel like I’ve spent the past few days grieving the loss of a loved one. The Tim that DC is presenting now is just not the person that I knew.  Tim would never break up with Steph that abruptly for what he admits is no apparent reason.  He would never say “just call me Robin, since Damian’s out of town.”  Everything that I love about Tim seems to be gone, and in its place DC has given me a date with a boy.  

 Again, it’s not Tim being not-straight that I have an issue with.  I’ve never read the character that way, but it’s something I can live with. My issue is the way it was handled. Why not make Tim an actual person first, and then explore his sexuality?  Send him off to college!  He’s obviously thinking about it!  It’s the perfect opportunity to give him his own book.  He can move to a different city, choose a new name, and DC can introduce a whole new set of characters.  Figure out which parts of Tim’s backstory are still canon, and which have been dropped. Make him a person again, and then let him explore his sexuality.

 I know this post is all over the place, and I don’t have time right now to go back and edit it.  I just really needed an outlet for my frustration.  Right now it feels like there are so many people who are so excited about Tim being bi/gay, but they don’t know anything else about him.  I keep seeing people comment how DC has been “dropping hints for years!” with no evidence other than “he and Superboy were really close!”  I guess I’d just really like to have some dialogue with other people who are fans of Tim, rather than fans of Tim-as-bi/gay or fans of Tim-as-straight.

 Does anyone else feel this way?  I’d honestly like to have a dialogue about it with other long time fans.

[dreamylyfe-x]

Your trevor meta is making me realize how weird it is that the writers and cast were so insistent that mickey wasn't coming back, because I don't think theyve ever really known what to do with ian's story without him. They put him in these lukewarm relationships and tell us they're so much better and healthier, but then have ian straight up admit that he still loves mickey and nobody else has made him feel the same way. How do they set that up and then have him go back to trevor? They set up ian moving on with "I'm not that person anymore" and follow up with season 8. It's like okay...who he is now is gay Jesus? Lmao. He's always been the shows forgotten middle child and after they wrote mickey off "for good" they could have taken him in a million directions but they chose one so shitty it basically made cam leave lmao. Sometimes it feels like fan insistence kind of forced mickey back but in actuality, the seasons where he's gone just hammer home that he was always the inevitable end to ian's story. So bizarre how little the showrunners understand their own story sometimes.

Ok. I’m going to be a little more Doylist here than I usually am, because we’re talking about what the writers are thinking. And I’m also going to take this opportunity to share this fascinating article from the AV Club in 2016: When Fan Engagement Goes Wrong. Everyone beware, it contains significant spoilers for The 100. But it’s also largely about Gallavich, the fact that online promotion of Shameless leaned hard into the popularity of the couple, and were up against it when Noel left. I’ll quote: 

“[Supervising Producer Shelia] Callaghan’s choice to be honest and straightforward when engaging with fans is admirable, and yet also on some level futile. She can’t tell them exactly why Fisher chose to leave, she is (logically) unwilling to spoil future storylines outright, and she can only speak her own mind as part of a collaborative process over which she holds only some influence. So while many fans respect her effort to maintain the connection to this now marginalized community, others attack, reinforcing that attempting to manage these situations is a full-time job that no one has been properly trained for.” 

This article links some tweets and the one I find the most interesting is this one:

“But the actor left.  So...what to do? Have them just break up?? Felt way less true to me than a forced separation!” 

That tweet is from Krista Vernoff, who wanted to convey that they tried really hard to come up with what they do with Ian now that he’d lost Mickey. And I’m sure they did try really hard. And.... People hated it. Mostly. 

Here’s what I think, based on what I’ve read and the interviews I’ve seen, on deleted tweets and Tumblr rumours and YouTube clips: The show didn’t want Mickey to leave the canvas. At all. Noel wanted more money. The show could not come up with both that money and the money they needed for everyone else. The show let him go. And hoped they could solve the creative problem their budgetary problem had dumped in their lap. 

I actually think Ian’s story in season six is decent. I miss Mickey, of course. I find the last scene with him really painful -- but it’s not painful because the show is trying to diminish him. They write and then cut together a scene where Mickey is DEMONSTRATIVELY still deeply in love with Ian. He’s carved his name in his chest. He is looking at Ian like he’s the most beautiful creature ever given breath. And Ian can barely meet his gaze. They tell us Mickey is being sent away for 16 years but when we see the last of Mickey Milkovich in season six I think “God, this is so sad. They love each other so much and this is so fucked up.” 

I do NOT think “We are NEVER EVER EVER getting back together.” 

The show always knew what it had with Ian and Mickey. They leaned into it promotionally. They gave meaty storylines to the characters, particularly given that Ian was the fourth lead on a family dramedy built around six children. John Wells replaced Aaron Sorkin on The West Wing. He knows how hard it is to follow a phenomenon. 

The more I think about it, honestly? I don’t think they tried. I think they knew that they couldn’t bring in Mickey Milkovich, the sequel in season six, so they brought in Caleb. And maybe they meant for him to be a LITTLE more viable than he was... but I think there’s a pretty good chance they were just throwing something at the wall to see if it stuck, while being fully aware that the important storyline in season six was getting Ian from despair to a fulfilling career. Caleb was just there as a catalyst. 

Season seven if more interesting, because Trevor is brought on and it’s very much... “Hey, let’s do something new. Let’s bring on a transmasc character and put him into a relationship with Ian and explore those complications.” 

“Great! Put it up on the board!” 

“Also. Let’s call Noel Fisher’s people and see what we can work out because we can do better with Mickey’s send off and people are yelling at me on the street about it.” 

Quite honestly, these are not equal tasks for his writer’s room. You have one story -- Create a whole ass new character. The only thing we know is that he’s trans. Figure out the romance from there. You have six episodes to get them together as an established couple. 

Then: Bring back the well-established and beloved character for an epic romantic two-episode arc where he reunites with his true love and they run away together and then ultimately realize it cannot be, and say goodbye and it all feels like I Will Always Love You should be playing in the background. They actors worked together for five years. They have a great professional partnership. They like working together. They have a ton of history so there’s lots of juicy subtext. The longing and sexual tension comes pre-established. See what you can do. 

HOW do you make both those things work out so that they are equal? You need lightening to strike. And that already happened on How I Met Your Mother. They squandered their good luck and now there is none left for Shameless. I do not disparage Elliot Fletcher at all when I say that for Trevor and Ian to really work he’d have had to have come with scorching chemistry with Cam, rich material that really gave them a good opportunity to build rapport between the characters, and A wizard standing by to cast spells in the wings. They had SIX episodes, a pretty average connection between the actors, and the “these are the LGBTQ+ people in your neighbourhood” scene. 

I just can’t believe that someone with as many years of TV writing under his belt as John Wells has expected that to work. He hoped the Trevor story might be good, and was certainly going to break some ground in terms of telling trans stories. And the Mickey story was going to be the highlight, because he knew people wanted it and he also knew that they’d had something pretty special to start with. Which is why people were yelling at him at Comic-Con. I DO think he hoped it might placate fans a bit. But... he wasn’t going to completely close the door on Mickey this time, either. 

So... I don’t really think the show every intended to write Mickey off “for good”. I think they wrote him off “for now, and we’ll see what happens...” -- and they did that with Karen, Shelia, Jody, Steve and Fiona, too. They only brought a few of those people back... They brought Mickey back three times. They ended Gallavich FOUR times. Noel is in ever season except eight. I don’t think they wanted Mickey gone -- but I KNOW the fans also made it pretty hard for them not to know his value, so absolutely I think that played a role. But when you create something people love and you get that lightening in a bottle like they did with this story, I think writers are always going to be excited to get that back. They like praise! They like people to be excited about their show. And Gallavich was always one of the things that got people excited about Shameless. 

I think they also wanted Gay Jesus to be a great story. But that’s why the lightening in the bottle is so valuable. You can’t just get it anywhere. 

[potteresque-ire]

This is a response to @rainbowsky​ ‘s questions about BJYX, as the original post got too long for reblogging (I hope this is okay!). 1) Should we be worried about GG and DD being outed? I often think about what it’s like to be in the closet and I know how it feels to need to be SEEN. But I also understand the reasons why that might not be an option for them. Still, I worry about them being involuntarily outed. There are so many antis after them.

 2) What would you speculate is the likelihood of this ever happening, and what might be the consequences if it happened?Is leaving an option for them, even as a distant goal years from now?

3)Does their fame and popularity hold any protective power in the situation (i.e. if they were to come out or be outed, would public opinion about what might happen to them have any impact on the outcome given the nature of the regime)? To what degree would that depend on how much money they are still able to make for interested parties?

My response is under the cut, as it got long, as usual ~

@rainbowsky, you’re among the first BXGs I followed! I’d like to thank you for your insightful posts as well!

Your questions ~ I don’t think I’m qualified to speculate because I’m still a very new turtle and also because of the volatility as well as inconsistencies of China’s sociopolitical policies. I do have a better sense of China’s politics than most international fans, but I also don’t live there and the only way to truly understand how things work at the ground level in a non-transparent country like China is to be there.

(For example, China has officially banned Christmas celebrations  for the last several years, but as we saw last week, commercials remain very “Christmas-sy” and Chinese fans happily said Merry Christmas to each other. It takes someone who lives inside to know where to draw the line — what is permitted by the state and what isn’t — when the line shifts and adjusts accordingly.)

Here’re my thoughts, as of today (2020/12/31): if the perpetrator is only some segment of the fandom and the purpose is merely to knock them off the popularity pedestal, outing isn’t a particularly effective way to do so. Homosexuality, being a highly regulated subject in Chinese news and social media, is likely to mean limit transmission of the accusations. The accuser also has to run to risk of being banned themselves first. Also, with BJYX + ZSWW + LSFY being the sizes they are, the people who will most consider turning against gg and dd, ie, the solo fans, have probably already heard something. Some will leave, but the news won’t be a bombshell to them.

The next possibility is if a legal case becomes possible, ie. if China suddenly outlaws homosexuality. This scenario may seem the most dire on the surface but is also one that I least worry about, because with China’s judiciary system being very biased to those in power, if someone wants to frame gg and dd, they do not need to use sexuality as the accusation and subject themselves to the same restrictions as mentioned above. Tax evasion, as @peekbackstage has mentioned with the actress Fan Bing Bing, is far easier, because it tends the turn the audience against the defendant: these stars are making so much money and yet they’re not contributing their share! And as long as the accusers have sufficient power — remembering that commercial and political power are married in the country — the accuser can make up any evidence to suit their needs for any crime.

The third possibility is what I see as the worst case scenario: that the government decides they don’t want their major stars / entertainment industry to be *perceived* as queer — whether the stars are officially out doesn’t matter — and signals the media and commercial companies to stop using any “suspect” star altogether. (Chinese term: 封殺). This is the case of career murder without blood —  laws aren’t changed; all the fans will hear are rumours confirmed by nobody. I see this as a possibility because of the Xi regime’s view of The Ideal Men , and my admittedly limited experience with dealing with older generations of Chinese, who I’ve found tend to confuse perceived femininity in men with queerness. I think, and this is only my opinion, that the sheer amount of adapted BL dramas in production (the so-called “dangai 耽改 101” phenomenon) and the heated discussions of them on Weibo will at some point trigger the government (which is made mostly of older generations Chinese). Even if gg and dd don’t do anything, should the government decide these adapted BL dramas, even after the elimination of their queer element, are “non mainstream socialist core values”, all the major people involved with the Untamed—arguably the classic and the drama whose success all these follow-ups are trying to imitate—can be cast as the culprit. If the same officials become aware of BJYX and if they’re somehow convinced that BJYXSZD, it can be easy be used as evidence of the bad influence these dramas can do—“they can turn people gay”—and it doesn’t help that according to reports, gg, at least, used to have a girlfriend.

Something more to consider: Gg and dd are also in a very special position now, in that not only are they immensely popular in China, no other native mainland Chinese stars have achieved this level of international fame with a native mainland Chinese production (ie, not a production from Hollywood, Hong Kong or Taiwan, or with a Kpop band). As such, they are likely subjected to high levels of scrutiny from the state. Depending on who’s in charge in the appropriate department, they may decide gg and dd have to be China’s image; they may have a set idea of what image it is and most likely, it won’t be queer. 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 are special times for China, image wise, both at home and abroad. 2021 is the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, and gg and dd are both starring in its propaganda productions (dd as a police in BAH and gg as an army officer in AT). CCTV, the state-controlled TV station, is already promoting these shows. So, for 2021, gg and dd are slated to not only be the faces of Chinese entertainment, but also the image of Chinese uniformed forces. If gg and dd come out or are outed, their allowing themselves to be being perceived as queer while donning uniforms will most likely to be viewed by the current regime as an embarrassment; a career murder, then, is an apt response to such transgression. 2022 is the year of Beijing’s Winter Olympics, so again, it’s the time where image matters.

You may have noticed a pattern, as I have as I write this up: them being outed is something to worry about, but also ... nothing more than anything else. If someone wants to tear gg and dd down — and there will be, given their massive commercial power right now and the increasing evidence that they’re working more like collaborators than competitors (ie, they aren’t about to tear each other down any time soon) — they do not need their sexuality as a reason.

(And if these accusers really want to use homosexuality as a reason, the unofficial BTS is, IMO, more than enough, as long as the accusers have sufficient power.)

Your other question ~ can gg and dd’s fame, popularity, and ability to draw consumers protect them? My (slightly) educated guess of the answer, then, is that it’s very much a double-edged sword. Indeed, the one major thing that may be going for these adapted BL dramas, and for those who come to superstardom to it — with gg and dd being the prime examples — is the economic health of China, which, by some reports that can no way be verified, are far worse than what has been reported. This is the thing about countries lack transparency; without reliable news, there’s no way to get the facts. Reports on China outside the country tend to be either propaganda or demonising / filled with conspiracy theories, and the truth is probably somewhere in between. If the reports of poor economy are true, the commercial sector — which, again, is tied to those with political power; ie the money made in the former goes into the pockets of the latter — desperately needs stars like gg and dd to move products (based on those recent consumer reports!) and with that, it will want to keep gg and dd and these dramas that can potentially make more gg and dd around. This *seems* to be what’s happening so far, with the the state-run media happy to show gg and dd’s dramas (when it should know, at least, that they got to the height of their fame playing lovers-not-lovers) and gg and dd’s sponsors not-so-subtly wooing the BJYX segment of fandom, so I’m tentatively optimistic. However, the current regime has also shown a willingness to sacrifice the economy for the sake of political ideology, so it’s not something to be taken for granted. (What’s going on in Hong Kong is a good example of that.)

(I always think, eat each candy like it can be the last one. With this regime, it can be. We can wake up tomorrow and gg and dd have to break up BJYX to protect the fans.)

(I always think, treasure, treasure, treasure. Ask for more dy and lz and Weibo posts, but never anymore from gg and dd when it comes to insights of their relationship, even without considering it’s actually their private lives and they’re under no obligation to share.)

(They’ve shared with us far more than enough.)

There’s really no precedence for us to predict the future of an outed gg and dd from, as far as I know. Confirmed queer stars in Chinese entertainment (those with sufficient followers to make news) have all been from Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries. The successful BL dramas before The Untamed — Addicted (2016) and The Guardian (2018) — didn’t have a real-person cp that truly took off. Addicted, a true BL drama (ie, it retained the queer elements), was banned before it finished its broadcast. The two actors were also banned from appearing together afterwards, and this “signal” from the government almost cost the two actors their career. Bai Yu from The Guardian, meanwhile, already had a girlfriend as he filmed, so there was never a Weibo supertopic dedicated to him and Zhu Yilong. gg and dd, along with their millions of turtles, are treading untrodden ground.

Something I should clarify ~ all the things I said above may sound very scary to international fans, but to those who live in the country, they understand it as the way things are, and they strategise and move accordingly. This is their way of life. What I wanted to say, in my first reblog, is that we who’re outside may not understand why they do things the way they do, why they don’t, for example, come out with all the candies they are spending so much effort to give out, but I do believe that gg and dd have a plan, not in the sense that they’re scheming or trying to trick anyone, but that they are moving things along at the pace necessary to meet the pre-requisites for the outcome they want. What this outcome is is anyone’s guess, mine being that they have the freedom to work together, not necessary in lover’s capacity — most of us are not required to perform our day jobs carrying our identity as so-and-so’s significant other and gg and dd shouldn’t be exceptions — but as colleagues, professionals and friends (lovers are friends). 

To some international fans, this may sound implausible, ridiculous: why do they need a multi year campaign for something as simple as this? As working together again? And I suppose, all these words I’ve typed so far is my attempt to answer this question, to ease the … unease, the frustration of those who may not understand. True to its marxist root, perhaps, many things that are considered mindless, effortless tasks elsewhere somehow become battles, grand struggles of sorts in China. That sea of sea lights on the night of Tencent awards, for example? It was the result of gg’s fans fighting, strategising in real time to smuggle those LED banners in when they realised the venue had forbidden their entry. They wrapped the banners around their bodies under their underwear because they were patted down by security at the underwear level; they hid batteries in their shoes. They ran batteries from one zone in the stadium to another during the whole show for whose who only managed to smuggle in banners or batteries. They fought the security guards inside the stadium, who continued to snatch away their banners even after seeing they were merely support material for the idols. They fought and fought, despite their identities were recorded by their COVID pass and facial recognition. Many confessed they had no idea what gg was singing during the show; they were too busy. They were there, some paying scalpers > 10x the ticket price, just because they promised the sea of red would be there for gg when he returned. When some realised dd’s banners were confiscated in high numbers because his fans happened to have seats right by the strictest security, they improvised, found an image of a green block to show on their cell phones to make makeshift green support lights for dd. They used Weibo to spread this trick to fellow fans. All these trouble, all these effort, all these planning and scheming and sweat and tears — all for one night, one concert and they laughed about it, called it a wonderful day.

(There are many ways for lives to be hard.)

The very first thing gg and dd need to accomplish, therefore, isn’t to announce what they do in the bedroom—the very first thing they need, for their plan to come to fruition, is to stay on top of the industry. How can they be on the same stage for the yearly Tencent Awards if either of them fails to make VIP? What’s their negotiation chip for a future collaboration, when the current norm is against cps like them working together again, if they cannot draw enough viewers and consumers, or if they offend Tencent and other media companies by refusing to see to the needs of the other side (for example, the need to promote new dramas)? So far, the two of them have accomplished this in flying colours. The other thing they need right now, the way I see it, is for their fans to get along. I think part of the reason they’ve made BJYXSZD so easy to believe in and love, in addition to their very human need to be seen when their careers may be safer otherwise (yes, I think they know what they’re doing, the candies they’re throwing), is because they want their fans to unite, as they have united. To make sure something like 227 cannot happen again, or at least, if it does happen again, their fans cannot be used as an excuse, as scapegoats. And this union is happening — slowly, but it’s happening. The size of BJYX (>2.8 million as of now, on Weibo supertopic) is a powerful indicator; I also had a wonderful time reading the comments of gg’s solo fans who went to purchase dd’s new song. This is the part gg and dd need their fan’s help. This is the one of the fews things we, as overseas fans who have limited access to their products, can help.

Your final question — sorry, this is getting so long again — about leaving. Of course, it’s always up to the government and It’s impossible to say what can happen so far ahead. But my perception, right now at least, is that gg and dd have no intention to leave, no intention to sacrifice their career for their personal lives and vice versa. After all, this is a pair who has answered those A vs B choice questions with a straight-faced “I want both” and “so annoying” without a follow-up reply. They’re right to want both. I like them for wanting both. And maybe, with their intelligence, charisma and hardwork and ambition and personalities that seem to clash but somehow complements each other’s, they will figure out a way. Maybe they are, as the Chinese turtles call them, the Chosen Pair, and they will be the ones who’ll change the perception fo queer artists in China, and we’ll one day get a biography about them and laugh at the candies we get right, laugh harder at those candies we get totally wrong.

(Dd ~ I want your honest opinion, in your own words, on the ones we get wrong.)

(Gg ~ videos of your expressions while reading the crazy theories the first time will be very much appreciated. By me.)

It’s a good day to look forward to.