#and get confused by why they’re doing queer readings of the story

[overthinkinglotr]

Yes to all of this, thank you! As someone who’s always had homophobes attack me for posting gay stuff using “but what about the value of friendship” all the time, I’d like to add that…….It’s frustrating how easily people fall for conservative rhetoric when it’s framed as “defending something from the queers” rather than just “hating queers.”

Conservatives are like “It’s not about hating LGBT people/ hating queer readings of stories; it’s about the importance of defending the sacredness of platonic same sex friendship :) (which is under threat from the disgusting perverted queers who make everything about sex, though they often don’t say that part out loud.) And because they dress it up in positive nice-sounding progressive language, it’s easy for well-meaning people to parrot that even if it’s blatantly false.

Yes, amatanormativity is shitty; but the cornerstone of it is that it wants people to be in ‘normal’ straight relationships, and demands platonic same sex friendship. friendship is not under threat. Even if a tiny niche of queer fandom in a small corner of the internet is writing gay stories, that does not threaten platonic friendship in any meaningful way. If you go onto the gay blog fanfiction website you will find gay blogs and fanfic, but if you leave this corner of the internet you can find the ‘friendship’ content you’re looking for literally anywhere else.

It’s just disheartening how supposedly ‘progressive’ people spread the rhetoric that the solution to “people being afraid to behave in certain ways with their friends because they don’t want to be mistaken for gay” is …..”we should declare that nothing is gay, it’s all valuable platonic friendship, don’t worry you’re not a gross gay person <3” instead of “we should destigmatize being gay, so that people don’t have to feel paranoia about it, and also be more accepting of the way there can be blurred lines between friendship and romance.”

I think people just really want to morally justify their own preferences. You personally don’t ship something or don’t like romance stories —that’s fine, its not moral or immoral. But if you want to feel Good and Justified about not shipping something, you have to write this whole story where you’re doing this revolutionary act of defending the sanctity of platonic same sex friendship from the Terrible Threat of like 50 icky queers trying to “ruin” it by just existing in their tiny niche corner of the internet. and it’s so tiring. Well-meaning progressive people parrot rhetoric that makes them feel nice but is fundamentally untrue.

Like, even after making vent posts about right wingers and homophobes sending slurs to my inbox, I still get ‘progressive’ people going ‘but friendship is important too! <3” at me…::and it’s always like okay, Yeah, I know that. I know friendship is important. I have never made that argument and it’s insane how even progressive people pretend that I do.

Pretending that gay people on the Gay Romance Fanfic Site are inherently making an argument against the concept of friendship by just doing queer readings of their favorite stories is a conservative homophobic lie.

I think the Evil Media Bias Against Platonic Relationships is one of those things tumblr loves to get worked up about despite, like. simply not being real.

[gothwineaunts]

I tried my best to replicate the post that Tumblr ate earlier.

It’s not as good but you'll get the jist I think. :’)  

---

Hi again! I wanted to follow up on my post from yesterday. I’ve been mostly offline since then, and I feel much better now, especially after seeing the thoughtful responses y’all left. Where did you all even come from!? I don’t think I’ve ever posted this account anywhere, haha. But thank you so much. I’m horrendous at taking a damn compliment but I read all the replies and reblogs and I’m just incredibly humbled. You all brought up my mood a lot and highkey made me feel sane again. I’ve been so confused at why everyone in the WEBTOON comments seems to be so mad all the time, it kind of does my head in if I’m being honest.

But please don’t worry about me or Flynn. Or about Nevermore! We’d never change the story to fit what we think the commenters want us to do, for a lot of reasons. The most important of which is. If we had to do that, I think we’d rather just stop making it. What they seem to want is a story we’re not really interested in telling.

Wholesome wlw is a wildly important thing to be able to find if you’re looking for it. That really cannot be overstated. Until very recently, queer characters have been subjected by popular media to a disproportionate amount of anguish and violence. So the concept of seeing two women just, living a safe and fulfilling life together? I get why people want to see that so badly. And there’s so much beautifully written aspirational content for queer audiences out there now, and I’m pleased to death over it. But the thing is, it’s just not what we’re making.

Nevermore was always intended to be a dark gothicky romance with horror elements. Like Wuthering Heights, or Phantom of the Opera. Because those were the stories that always inspired us when we were young. Bloodsoaked stories of melodrama, intrigue, grief, and passion. Those stories would captivate me and get me asking all kinds of questions. Why can’t the Phantom be a beautiful woman? Why does Christine have the agency of a desk lamp? Why can’t sapphics have something cool like this?

So we decided to make it. Nevermore is not a wholesome romance. It doesn’t try to be. The point was never to explore sapphics having a healthy and (heavy air quotes here) “normal” relationship, like heterosexual couples get to have in real life. We already have that, together, Flynn and I. We live it, everyday.  In Nevermore, what we wanted most was to explore a sweeping sapphic romance full of danger, like heterosexual couples get to have in fiction. That’s why we love those kinds of stories so much, because of how divorced they are from the mundanity of real life. They’re fantasies.

I know that I'm preaching to the choir, aha.

But my point is: if you go to a hardware store to order a cake, you’re probably going to be disappointed. If what you crave is aspirational wlw content, there are so many bakeries you can go to that will give you exactly what you’re hoping for, and more. I especially recommend Muted by Miranda Mundt. It’s also on Webtoon, it’s completed, and it’s free to read.

And please know that I’m not saying to stop reading Nevermore, just maybe to adjust your expectations a little bit. We don’t sell cakes here, but I am pretty sure I've got a few 12ft tall skeleton lawn ornaments in the back if you're interested.

[nativegirltapes]

I've only read the script for the movie (along with the book) 1. Would you say that Eugene is very cold and detached during the BJ scene when Lee goes down on him. In the script in basically says that Lee keeps looking to see if Eugene is into it but that he is ''neither disgusted nor happy''. 2. How do you inerpret Eugenes back and forth. His tug and pull with Lee essentially. Again, I have not seen the movie, only read the script, but from what I gather, it seems like Eugene does not know what his sexuality is and is exploring it, a bit confused about it. And therefor does not know how to feel about Lee. To me, I think apart of him likes him but then the other part of him, is almost disgusted/confused for liking a man and tries to fight it. 3. I totally feel you on the ''allerton lowkey made me mad''. He is one cold ass bitch. Goes from having intimate moments to just plain out ignoring him in public, or looking bored when they have conversations. Even from reading the script, there was a certain bordom from the intimacy as well ''If you insist''. Like damn. If a man was that disinterested with me, bye. Though it feels a bit icky that they had an agreement to ''have Allerton please him twice a week''. I feel like that makes the ''love'' completley void in my opinion. How did you feel about that? Did you think it effected the ''love story'' 4. Would you say this movie is not fully based in....reality....and a bit....not fantasty, but obviously not reality either. I mean....Lee and Eugene having the same dream. Lee ''thinking'' that he is touching Eugenes hair and therefor it moves....

oooooo love these questions <3 i barely understood what was going on during half the movie but i’ll try my best to answer 💝 talking about queer under the cut !!

1. honestly no? he seemed very into when lee was giving him a BJ, he was panting and he seemed very horny and turned on. and even after that he seemed pretty eager to unbutton lee’s pants and give him a hand job. so id say no? he didn’t seem detached. but honestly someone else might have a diff interpretation. i will be completely honest i was just looking at drews fine ass making orgasm faces sigh.

2. i agree!!!!!!!! i will say it’s so fucking hard to read eugene so it’s hard to know if he’s disgusted with the idea of being gay or if he’s just disgusted with lee. the only time i personally picked up on eugene being disgusted by the idea of being gay was when they were in the jungle and the lady who gave them the ayahuasca, after their hallucination was basically saying “the doors already open why not explore more?” (to me it was her basically saying that she seen how open eugene and lee were with each other and thinks they should explore their relationship further) and eugene just kind of looked at her like he was disgusted with himself ?? the lady also said “you should have seen yourself last night.” or something like that. and it’s like oh! his lil gay ass!

3. YES OMG!!!! also there’s one part where they’re at lunch or dinner or whatever and lee is yapping away and when he’s done talking you see eugene kind of just laugh and not give an answer or response to literally anything lee was talking about and then you see lee kind of scoff bc he’s upset eugene didn’t have anything to say to him ? and then he kind of just ask what he’s gonna get to eat because he realizes eugene literally does not GAF. it’s sad. AND YES the “if you insist.” …. it’s like …. eugene you CAN say no ? this wasn’t even when they went to south america yet so it’s like there was so “agreement” yet. eugene could have said “no i don’t want to do anything right now.” but he just said “if you insist.” … like boy what … almost like he was ashamed that he too wanted to do something sexual so kind of made it seem like he was forced into doing something sexual with him ?? does this make sense?

4. i think i know what you’re asking but also im not sure ?? but also yes ?? like when they’re at the movie and lee goes to touch eugene but he’s not really touching him. like after seeing that i really thought that at the end of the movie we were gonna find out that eugene was just apart of lee’s imagination or hallucinations from the heavy drugs he takes. maybe he is?? idk the movie just fucking confused me.

anyway loved these questions ���‍❤️‍💋‍👩🩷

[onlyoneofyongsoo]

Why BUB actually fits into OOO's catalogue

Bump Up Business has been criticised for many things, and don’t get me wrong, it’s far from perfect, but there is one question I have heard a lot: “Why did OnlyOneOf of all people choose to do this? Doesn’t this show play exactly into the thing we have been defending them of?”

My own answer to this is yes and no. But let me explain. 

In this I will not be discussing what the writers had in mind, because I don’t know them. But I’ll talk about why I think it makes sense OnlyOneOf would tell this kind of story, whether they actually had any say in choosing this drama or not.

The main argument for most peoples' criticism I’ve seen is “This show is about/glorifying queerbaiting.” But is it really? Both of the characters are already queer. Jihoon has dated at least one man and is very aware of his own sexuality. Eden is quickly established as being very insecure in his own sexuality, not because he’s straight, but because he’s queer and finds that hard to accept. So the show is about queer characters. 

Okay, so how does the queerbaiting fall into this? Obviously there is queerbaiting present. Their company practically forces them to do it. Eden is very reluctant, but agrees after the company gives him an ultimatum. Jihoon is less reluctant, but also in a tight spot. He has fallen off and this is seemingly his last chance to save his career, something he wouldn’t give up even for the man he loved. So the characters take no pleasure in the queerbaiting, but is it a problem to them? Yes, actually. It is made clear that they have trouble telling apart what is real feelings and what’s just work. In episode 4 for example Jihoon asks Eden if he is struggling with their concept after Eden revealed how insecure he is in his sexuality. The question comes from a place of caring and honesty. Eden then answers that he is okay because it’s "just work". Since emotions and their hidden identities are now part of their work it gets all muddled and confusing for them. 

You might say now “But that’s not the problem with queerbaiting! They’re leading their fans on!” And from a fan’s perspective I agree. They are leading them on. But this isn’t about fans, this show is about idols. What would it be like for a queer idol to work in an industry where you are urged to act queer but to never be queer? How would that affect your personal life?

In the drama the queer characters hide their identity. Even after Hyunbin spread these awful rumours about Jihoon, they don’t reveal their relationship. Evidently having rumours about being with women is still better than revealing that you’re gay. The entire time they keep any real relationships under wraps. 

On top of that, in a way Eden has to out himself for his job. Even though he of course isn’t allowed to be actually queer, acting this lovey-dovey with another man in public sure must feel like he’s coming out and he is clearly uncomfortable with that. Interviewers and netizens are constantly questioning their relationship as well. Are they gay? Are they straight? Do they naturally act that way? Is the company forcing them? Having all your actions be scrutinised and dissected like this, especially as a closeted queer person is terrifying. 

Once again I’m not claiming that the writers wanted to represent queer idols’ struggles, but I think you can understand how this might be able to be read that way, especially by idols themselves. 

Now how does this fit in with OnlyOneOf’s usual work, besides the obvious queer element? For that I’d like to remind you of June 2022. That is the month we started off the undergrOund idOl project. If you’re like me, then that name probably made you question it. What does it mean? I remember theories about it being about struggling as a relatively unknown group and things along those lines. Luckily they gave us hints in several articles by letting us know that the series is about “the inner side of idols who shine on stage”. Okay, cool! So is it about struggles with fame? Like a glimpse behind the mask? Let’s look at the videos! Hm… Not much about idol life here actually… They’re all just.. queer? How curious. Almost as if they want to highlight the queerness so many idols or celebrities have to hide?

So OnlyOneOf, a group whose behaviours and sexualities are constantly being dissected and who is famous for telling and highlighting genuine queer stories, even connecting those stories to what idols have to hide, choose a drama that is about queer idols who have to navigate their queerness in an industry that demands “fake queerness” but has no room for real queer people. This doesn’t actually seem that surprising to me. Does it to you?

Last comments:

I don’t think that BUB is a critical masterpiece tastefully portraying the harsh reality of queer celebrities. I think that the producers and writers did not do a good job and that OnlyOneOf’s own work is a lot better. But I can absolutely see how this story fits into the larger picture and why this could be appealing to them. I don’t know if they even had any say in doing the drama to begin with. But I just wanted to provide a different point of view. Maybe someone found this interesting at least <3

[harleyqueerner]

i saw hozier live in concert last night, so i’ve been thinking a lot about his music which in turn of course makes me think of payneland, and as i was looking through the genius annotations of his song “i, carrion (icarian)”, i realized how very payneland it is. so here’s an analysis/thought process on that. i’ll be including screenshots from genius dot com to aid me (sorry if it’s a bit all over the place this was originally me yapping to a friend through voice memos)

trigger warning ‼️‼️ for child abuse btw, i talk about charles experience with his father quite a bit in this post

so as i was reading the annotations pictures below, i came to the realization that edwin is the sun to charles’s icarus . which set me off in this whole messy tangent to explain why i think this.

jumping right in:

charles doesn’t even realize he’s dead until he sees his own body dead on the floor of the attic. and this is because he was so distracted by edwin’s kindness and companionship. and While he’s with edwin, he’s always trying to be happy and he’s always got this smile on his face. and it’s not that he’s necessarily in denial about his death, its that he’s not sharing his feelings and grievances, he’s not talking about them like he should be, he’s pushing all of that down, which could potentially be his downfall. charles is so distracted by edwin, enraptured (thank u @b-dwolf ) by him really, that he doesn’t even realize that he himself is not doing well.

annnnd the fact that daedalus, icarus’s father, is leading icarus into these situations, he’s pushing him to do these things that are getting him hurt, which correlates to charles’s father abusing him.

continuing on:

…..

charles dying because of the freezing water and it should’ve been brutal, and it was, But because edwin was there with him it was less painful, more gentle, and as he’s dying, he accepts that fact and leans into the love and light and warmth he now gets to feel forever with edwin.

they both save each other from falling too far they’re constantly saving one another and picking each other back up or making the fall less painful just by loving each other so deeply and irrevocably.

so like basically, payneland defies all these tragic love because they’re so in love .

there are so many myths and stories of characters who were like them, but they didn’t make it out alive/together. and while, yes, charles and edwin are both dead, they are still together and that’s a testament to how close they really are and how much they love each other. even in death, they will not be separated. and when their relationship is threatened, neither of them will accept the “inevitable” damnation. they fight and fight and they make it out together each time.

continuing on:

in the song, hozier kind of references the god atlas, who holds up the sky/the world, while talking about his lover or whoever he’s talking about in the song. so he’s saying that his lover holds up His sky, His world, and in that, it makes him feel weightless, or they soften his fall. and (if i’m understanding the annotation correctly), hozier is also saying that is lover would drop the world in order to stop his fall. (please correct me if i’m wrong here because it’s confusing me). and thinking about it, edwin really does carry such a heavy weight on his shoulders. like the “they have to matter!” scene…..

so onto charles’s father being daedalus:

daedalus’s warning to icarus about flying too high equating to charles’s father potentially (probably) “warning” charles about the dangers of the world and being queer in said world but simultaneously being the one to hurt and abuse him and put him on the path leading to his death by sending him to the boarding school.

and then icarus not listening to daedalus’s warnings/charles defying his father by being who he is and fighting for whats right which gets him killed. but his death isn’t as horrible as it should’ve been because edwin was there alongside charles, comforting him, and it almost makes dying worth it in a way because at least now he’s with edwin, his sun, his guiding light, the one who holds up his whole world now. and then after death, charles prioritizes edwin and everyone else above himself, which could have lead to his damnation, to them losing one another, but he said Fuck that he will not let those tragic stories define them, he will not let them be separated no matter the cost.

they are the exception to the thralls of tragic love stories.

another lyric “if the wind turns, if i hit a squall, allow the ground to find its brutal way to me” … charles thinking that he’s not worth the love he receives from edwin/not worth the “trouble” it takes to love and care for him, and not wanting, but Needing, edwin to just let him go and save himself and the world over charles, if the moment came where edwin had to choose between him and others. charles needs edwin to survive (well. yknow what i mean.) because he knows he wouldn’t fare well without him (just like hozier’s song “fare well”…).

hozier also mentions atlas in his song, movement, where he compares his lover to “atlas in his sleeping” (in his sleeping bc he has to be so careful and graceful as to keep holding up the skies). he also compares them to fred astair (pictured below), except here he says that his lover is unlike him in the way that his lover moves and acts more organically, unlike astair who is very showy. and while yes, edwin is definitely a show off and puts on a mask for others, charles see past this and knows who edwin is deep down, knows that he’s graceful and lovely and kind. (he also sings later in the song about how his lover is more than what they seem on the outside.)

hozier also talks in this song about how his lover moves him, shapes him to be who he is, to live more organically. so with that. putting charles in hozier’s place: bc edwin is charles sun his guiding light, as i stated before, edwin inspires him to be better than his father before him. now of course charles never Wanted to be his father, in fact he’s always trying not to be, but edwin helps charles understand that he could never be his him bc his father didn’t care about hurting people, meanwhile charles does everything in his power to be kind and help people. edwin even tells charles that in him actively trying not to be like his father, he is already so much better than his father could ever be. i could go on about “movement” and about how payneland it is but i think that ones more obvious and doesn’t really need too much explanation imo.

also in movement. “i could never define all that you are to me” and charles not knowing how to define him and edwin bc it surpasses that of platonic and romantic feelings …….

SO! in conclusion hozier wrote “i, carrion (icarian)” about payneland (along with many of his other songs) because how else is it so accurate to them??? crazy

[scribe-of-maat]

Ranking DC Pride 2023

9. Love’s Lightning Heart (???, ???)

Starring The Flashlight and The Flash, I think? When he called the dude “Ray” in the beginning I thought it was gonna be The Ray, you know? This only scores so low because I’m not at ALL familiar with anything Multiversity and this story especially seemed to be absolutely thick with that corner of DC lore. I get there’s a Parallax type of thing happening but... this was kind of hard to follow for a payoff that’s pretty lukewarm if you’re not well-versed in who this story’s about.

8. My Best Bet (Jon Kent/Superman, John Constantine

This is hit especially hard in my ranking because it’s the last story in the book and the only thing DC Pride about it is that it stars two Bs. They’re popular queer characters but I’m here for stories that are specifically ABOUT LGBT stuff, not about LGBT people doing stuff. There’s nothing to really talk about here.

7. Found (Xanthe Zhou, Batwoman/Kate Kane)

I’ve been meaning to read Spirit World, and since I hadn’t gotten around to it Xanthe being LGBT was a surprise to me, but not as much as Kate Kane showing up was. It feels like someone threw a dartboard at WLW women and plopped in whoever came up, cuz I guarantee if I flip the newest Batwoman issue open to a random page she’ll have a girlfriend-slash-situationship that won’t be too happy about her seeming receptive to some flirting. But hey, I like Xanthe more now so there’s give-and-take.

6. And Baby Makes Three (Xiomara Rojas/Crush, Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy)

I like Crush. I can’t claim to have read much of her, because for now that means enduring way too much Damian Wayne, but she seems like an incredibly interesting character. But I could not tell you why she’s here with Harley and Ivy. This, moreso than anything else, has a less than negative chance of being referenced again and it’s giving me even more of that dartboard feeling the last story did. Plus if there’s one thing Harlivy can do, it’s carry a story by themselves. I wish we’d gotten something about JUST Crush, is what I’m saying. I feel like this was a status update for Crush, like her washing ashore was meant to bridge the gap between this story and whatever she was doing the last time she showed up.

5. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work (Natasha Irons/Steel, Nubia)

Listen, I will always have space in my heart for the Irons family. I love Natasha, and I love John Henry, and when DC lets either out of the ether every other year I’m front and center. That, and the recent super-push Nubia has been enjoying made this story one I was pretty excited to read when I realized who it was about. But THIS ART. These faces are TRASH. Even without looking it up I feel like there’s a 0% chance DC would give a nonblack artist this story, so it makes it especially confusing as to why the characters look like THAT. The actual content was fun and even though Io needs to come up off our queen posthaste, I didn’t have any (other) complaints. But it’s SOOOOO UGLYYYYY.

4. The Dance ( Minhkhoa Khan/Ghost-Makes, Thomas Blake/Catman)

I knew Ghost-Maker was bi prior to reading this, somehow. I’ve been meaning to read anything about him because his design is so awesome but I was only really guessing this was Catman alongside him. I really don’t know anything about him, so this ranks so highly just because of Ghost-Maker. I don’t really have anything else to add here since this story’s ultimate purpose seems to just show off muscley dudes post-sex.

3. Anniversary (Lucas Trent/Midnighter, Andrew Pulaski/Apollo, Alan Scott/Green Lantern)

These showcases tend to have like, one story that directly addresses inequality if you’re lucky. This is that story, and it’s such a good one. Midnighter and Apollo’s fame as the canon gay Superbat sort of eclipses anything else about them, but that reputation is put to excellent effect here. Plus, Alan Scott, one of my favorite Green Lanterns, finally shows up. Revitalizing that old slogan to make it clear the LGBT isn’t going anywhere was fun, too.

2. Subspace Transmission (Jules Jourdain/Circuit Breaker, Jess Chambers/The Flash, Andy Curry/Aquawoman)

Jess was an extremely fun and memorable character from the start like, half a decade ago and that holds true here. I was super uninvested in the Circuit Breaker part of this story. I don’t know who that is, and even after reading this I genuinely don’t care. This made my heart hurt for more Teen Justice and Future State stuff in general. That Jackson Hyde cameo at the end was also perfect.

1. Hey, Stranger (Connor Hawke/Hawke, Tim Drake/Robin)

I was definitely in diapers the last time these two characters spoke to each other. When there’s been THAT big a gap in timeframe I can’t be sure how emotional a reunion can be to a modern readership. None of that matters to my enjoyment, because Connor Hawke is far and away my favorite Arrowfam member and his recent resurgence (even if too much of it is attached to Damian Wayne for my taste) has been such a blessing. DC only trots this guy out three times a year but god do we eat good each time. They just need to do a LITTLE more with him.

[chirpsythismorning]

The best symptom of this script drop and milkvans going from having some doubts to going back to being 100% certain with endgame, is that as s5 approaches and we yet again get promotion focusing on byler with posters and everything… they’re gonna be sooooo confused.

Bc to them this is not queerbait. It’s merely fans reading too much into things that aren’t there. But the reality is it’s happening in s5, and so what would often constitute as queer-bait is going to continue, not as queer-bait, but just simply as foreshadowing and Easter eggs leading up to the inevitable (literally the exact opposite of queer-bait).

It’s gonna be hard for them to see that promotion focus on byler again and try to find an excuse for it. They’re at the very least not going to be able to deny queerbait anymore. Bc they’re telling everyone and themselves that the duffers don’t want any confusion and that they want us to accept that byler won’t happen.

And so inevitably when that s5 promo makes a point to give byler a main focus again, arguably even more than s4… that won’t exactly give the impression they don’t want us read into it or even consider it.

They spend millions promoting this show. The stuff they focus on in posters and teasers and trailers and how that has manifested and transformed over time, is them doing that, knowing that those things will be looked back on when all is said and done.

I know for a fact new viewers watching in the future, even straight homophobes, are gonna be laughing like, why did you people seriously think it wouldn’t happen when they put all that focus on them in s4??? And then again in s5? That was literally just set up and you guys denied it!! Kind of embarrassing.

I mean imagine byler endgame without s4? The s4 posters alone feel like them trying to leave crumbs in the past for people to look back on and go OH. Like imagine if the s4 posters had them completely separate with no focus only to have byler endgame in s5 with again no focus in the poster… You can’t! It was necessary!

Fans from all sides just aren’t fully grasping that they make a lot of big budget choices, especially ones that are meant to be hiding Easter eggs in them, with the knowledge this will be pointed to as proof that was there all along later on. Posters more than anything, bc that’s at most what people are going to see upon rewatching it casually and looking into the details behind the scenes vaguely. That major stuff is telling its own story along the way.

So while it sucks now for some fans who were already experiencing doubts for whatever reason, just know that it’ll make the scale evening out in bylers favor that much more hilarious to watch unfold when we also get their confused reactions 🤣

[stupendousfoxthing]

if there were to be video or something that came out of jk doing something clearly romantic w a girl, would u think we misinterpreted tkk all this time and were just reading into their interactions way too much? or would u maybe believe they were together at one point and ended it? maybe they’d be in an open relationship? or maybe it rlly was for show?

i didn’t follow ur blog at the time of when the shitstorm happened w the sasaeng taking a video of jk and a girl in his apartment (ik it’s an old topic but it’s one of the only things that gets in the way of tkk for me) but i’m interested to know ur take on whether that video was a romantic interaction or could’ve been just friendly? i believe it was 100% a real video and at first i was so heartbroken and confused abt tae and jk’s relationship. i grappled back and forth w the nature of the interaction in the sasaeng video for a while but the more i watched it the more i thought okay wait it’s like a 15 second video taken super out of context of just one location in his apartment where u can’t even rlly see if they’re alone or what happened prior. and it could be platonic (there were pics of him back hugging his female tattoo artist who was just a friend) especially if he’s not straight and the girl knows about that? i feel like there’s a lot more leeway w platonic physical affection between women and queer men than with straight men (even tho ik of friendships between both straight men and women that are also physically affectionate but still totally platonic). however, i sometimes feel like that sounds like me just rationalizing why it may not be romantic and being in denial. idk bc i don’t want to blindly believe in tkk but i can’t explain away tae and jk’s interactions as being totally platonic either so then i get super conflicted.

sorry ik this is rambling atp and it may be a topic u don’t want to address anymore but i’d love to hear ur interpretation of that whole scenario and how it affected ur beliefs and views on jk/tkk

It would be very hard to convince me now that there wasn't something between Taekook at some point, and it certainly wouldn't all be undone by a clearly romantic something between Jungkook and a girl. You definitely would not be able to convince me that what they did was "for show". Their relationship is authentic no matter what the nature of that relationship is. I've been a Taekooker for a long time now and I think I'm older than the average here. I not only have plenty of receipts for my belief in Taekook, I have context for all of those receipts because I was here when it happened. I was much more active on Twitter when the tattoo artist "scandal" happened, and I actually got tagged with a few of my TK friends by the first shady accounts trying to spread it. When I think back on that time, I just feel bad for everyone involved. Even the tattoo studio staff, who were harassed mercilessly and had their shop vandalized. That had much bigger impact than the recent video, but it's funny because when I saw the convo around that I was just thinking I've already seen him back hugging a woman. If that was enough to debunk Taekook I would have bailed in 2019. The intention of this rumor was exactly the same as well. It follows the same pattern as every other. Post something with no context and that's actually not proof of anything, but spin some wild stories about it. It's very easy with interactions between a man and a woman. Every person I see still posting it everywhere says the woman in the video is his pregnant gf. That's obviously not true. People freaked out because they were told more was coming. That didn't happen. I agree with a lot of your second paragraph. I don't put more weight on interactions just because they're between a man and a woman. I do think it's weird that a few seconds without any context would be enough to question just because it is a man and a woman. I've had plenty of interactions like that with male friends I had no romantic feelings about. Hell, when I was Jungkook's age if a stalker wanted to they could have gotten video of me hugging and kissing people I also had no romantic interest in and never dated. That informs my perspective on things. It's not just heteronormative, it's all a little puritanical to me. I actually wasn't blogging here until a few weeks ago so you're my first ask about this. I appreciate your message. After days of nothing, I got yours and then another (which I'm not going to post because it was obviously someone trying to start shit) a couple of hours later about the exact same topic, so I was a little sus about people trying to troll. But your questions were asked in good faith so I wanted to answer genuinely. Hope you're having a good weekend. ❤️

[derpcakes]

The Best Books I Read in 2023

It’s the most magical time of the year—time to gather the lists of my favourite stories I’ve enjoyed across the past twelve months! As is tradition, my pile of book recommendations kicks things off, and the last post of the year will compile my anime recommendations. As always, I acknowledge that there’s a couple weeks of December left and a new favourite could sneak in at the last moment before the fireworks go off to mark 2024, but those titles will get parcelled into next year’s list instead.

So how do I catalogue 2023 in reading? It was a year with a lot of change for me, and changes to my reading habits followed. I finished my PhD and, with the ensuing move out of academia, reading and thinking about fiction is unfortunately no longer my job. Naturally, by sheer volume, I read fewer novels than I have in previous years (and I actually didn’t read any non-fiction or textbooks). However, that does mean I’ve been able to branch outside of my specific research niche and have been much more of a “mood reader”, picking up things that sound interesting or fun rather than picking things up based on their relevance to a current or potential project.

I read a lot less YA (though I still found a couple I’m very fond of) and did a lot more exploring in the world of adult fantasy and sci-fi. Most of these are queer genre fiction in some way or another, so that’s a trend that prevails; and as you’ll notice I’m entirely “off” contemporary realism and rom-coms… unless they’re in manga form, which I devoured plenty of. To confuse the trend data completely there’s a satirical thriller in there, but I think you’ll understand why it called to me when you read the writeup.

So without more dilly-dallying, here is the list of my favourite books and manga series I read in 2023! Does this roundup cross over with yours at all? Are there any recommendations you have for me based on my recommendations for you? Let me know in the comments!

Read more...

[sister-lucifer]

hey its me lons again. give me your most autistic take. what's the opinion you've had (any fandom) for so long as the result of your deep, soul-crushing obsession of canon. the comsic truth of the universe

oh boy i’ve. i’ve got quite a few. let’s get these over with

(multiple fandoms ahead)

Bubba Sawyer AKA Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre is NOT a villain. He grew up away from civilization and only ever interacted with his family, and therefore only knows what they taught him. he is also clearly disabled to some capacity and literally does not grasp the weight of his actions because he’s only ever done what his family has told him to. He has had no other significant human interaction besides his family. he is an antagonist, an opposing force, yes— but NOT a villain

The Batman fandom gets really pissy when characters are confirmed as canonically queer in any iteration, usually the Riddler and/or The Joker. This makes me angry for a few reasons. One, literally who gives a fuck, just because you don’t like a single interpretation of a character doesn’t mean all other media of them doesn’t exist, just go watch that. Two, it’s literally denying the entire history of these villains. “But isn’t making a flamboyant man gay a stereotype?” Yes. Exactly. Because they did that on purpose. Whether conscious or not, DC has been queer coding their villains since the beginning. They were literally made to be theatrical, flamboyant gay stereotypes to demonize gay people. There’s a reason all the male rogues are so out there and colorful and batman is stoic and dark. we deserve to reclaim them. Three, it’s been confirmed like a million times that the Joker is in love with Batman in his own special messed up why, and if you deny it you’re literally just lying go read a comic (this can also be applied to Venom + Eddie…Venom literally sucks eddie’s dick, gets him pregnant, tongue kisses him, and eddie refers to their relationship as a love story. they’re dating get over it).

The reason people hate 2022/Dano Riddler is because fandoms hate any significant change and because they can’t read between the likes enough to actually see the nuance and understand the character. Superhero fans need every aspect of a character fucking spoon fed to them and it’s so frustrating.

Nina The Killer’s rewrite was a downgrade, sorry. she’s just a copy of Jane now. which i was confused as to why she was rewritten anyways was because i always thought that the point of her story was to be satirical? Like…the whole joke was that she wasn’t actually talking to Jeff, just an impersonator messing with her not realizing the damage they were doing, and the moral was about the dangers of extreme idolization. but idk maybe that’s just me

Tim punching Jay in the parking lot in MH was totally justified. Deserved, even. Imagine if someone recorded you and posted it on the internet without your consent, and on top of that had been basically stalking you and totally lying to you. Jay was basically on a mission to uproot Tim’s entire life whether he knew it or not. I know Jay didn’t totally realize what was going on, but he needed the wake up call. He was doing some fucked up shit

No, [WOMAN CHARACTER] does not deserve to be hated on, you’re just misogynistic. hope this helps!

oh boy that was a lot. I have many more of these but this is all i can make myself type out rn. hope this is satisfactory!

[gay-otlc]

Won't Fall In Love At The End- 3

I swear I haven't abandoned this story okay. I'm writing it. Just very very slowly. Tagging people who are maybe interested? @xanadaus @an-ungraceful-swan @novaliae @gaslight-gaetkeep-gayboss uhhh enjoy

other chapters are here btw

Going to homecoming with a date, however fake, is stressful. 

“I suppose I should tell my mom about you,” Asher says casually, not looking up from their copy of Hamlet. Rana can’t tell if they’re trying to read, or if they’ve entirely given up on productivity and only pretending to do work so the teacher doesn’t keep sending them disapproving looks.

“About me, as in how you told your friends it was fake? Or about me, as in pretending I’m your girlfriend?”

“The second one.” Asher shrugs. “She’ll be thrilled. She’s been asking me when I’ll bring someone home for ages. Always telling me to find a ‘nice Jewish girl… or boy! Or person!’”

“I’m not Jewish.”

“Eh, she’d prefer I date someone Jewish, but I don’t think she'll mind too much that you're not. As long as you compliment her cooking, she’ll love you forever.”

Rana refrains from mentioning how she sometimes can’t stand to eat objectively good-tasting food because the texture is just… nauseating. Hopefully that doesn’t happen with Asher’s mom. “Should I meet you at your house before the dance?”

“Yeah, my mom will probably want a million photos.” Asher sticks out their tongue, and Rana laughs.

“Okay, um, text me your address and I’ll have one of my parents drive me over, I guess. But I’m not going to tell them we’re dating. Or fake dating.”

“Are you not out to them?” Asher asks, and then winces. “Sorry if that’s invasive, you don’t have to answer-”

“It’s okay. I’m not out, but that’s not the problem. They’re supportive and all. They just don’t want me dating anyone while I’m in high school.” She half laughs. “They’re like, the only people alive who aren’t telling me I should date someone.” 

“People should be less obnoxious about dating. It’s not even that great! No offense or anything, but we’ve been fake dating for a full day, and I still don’t get what the big deal is.”

They look extremely lost, but unlike homework, this isn’t something Rana can help explain. “I’m just as confused as you are,” she replies.

Asher laughs, and then their face settles into a thoughtful frown. “You said your parents were supportive, right? Like, they’ll be okay with you having a nonbinary friend?”

“Yeah, totally! I’ve been friends with Eva forever, and she’s a lesbian, and they know because she’s incredibly not subtle, and my parents have never had a problem with that. I mean, they’re even okay with us having sleepovers, which Eva was super worried about when she first came out.” 

Now that Rana thinks about it, it doesn’t make much sense why she’s not out to them. There’s no reason to keep it a secret, and, well, she’s not making any particular effort to hide it from her parents. Ever since the summer between seventh and eighth grade, when she would spend her days at the pool and notice her eyes kept lingering on the girls in their bathing suits, she’s known she was queer, and she’s never felt like she had to keep this part of her invisible. She’s just never talked about it with her parents. It’s never really been relevant.

They suspect, probably. They’d asked if she was dating Eva, back in ninth grade, and Rana had said no. She thinks girls are attractive, but she’s never really looked at Eva like that. They’d believed her, and that was that. 

So, they probably suspect she likes girls. And they don’t want her dating anyone yet, and she doesn’t want to date anyone yet or maybe ever, so it’s not something they’ve discussed any further.

Maybe she should come out to them. But she doesn’t even know what she would come out as. Is she pansexual? Does she like everyone? She must, because everyone is hot, and she’ll happily fantasize about someone of any gender. But she doesn’t want to date anyone, of any gender, so maybe she’s asexual. Maybe she likes no one.

It’s all very confusing, and she doesn’t know how she’d explain it to her parents when she can’t even explain it to herself, but that’s okay. If she’s not dating anyone- well, not real dating anyone- there’s no reason for her to try explaining it, anyway. 

“You good?” Asher asks, snapping a finger in front of her face. 

Rana blushes. “Sorry. Zoned out.”

Asher nods, and the bell rings, and she waves to her fake partner before rushing to her next class.

Over dinner, she picks at her chickpea salad before saying “We, um, have the homecoming dance this weekend. My friends and I were going to meet at my friend Asher’s house beforehand. Would you be able to give me a ride?”

Her mom nods. “Who’s Asher? I don’t think you’ve mentioned him before. Is he a new friend?”

“Um. They, actually. Asher is nonbinary.”

She’d promised Asher her parents would be totally okay with it, but anxiety curls in her stomach in the breath between when the word leaves her mouth and her mom nods. “Like Nadiyah’s child?”

Right. One of her parents’ friends from Mosque has a nonbinary child. Rana didn’t know Jarin very well before they left for college, but she silently thanks them for introducing her parents to the concept so they could understand her friend better. She nods. 

“Okay. So, is Asher a new friend? Where did you meet… them?”

“We sit together in study hall and work together on physics homework a lot. They’re nice.”

Her dad nods. “And other people will be there?”

“Yeah, Aziza and Eva will be there too. And Asher’s mom, so we’ll have adult supervision.” She’d arranged everything with her friends over a long thread of text messages on the way home. Aziza and Eva were happy to meet them at Asher’s house. According to Aziza, Asher’s mom was nice and her challah was delicious, and Eva wanted to meet “the person cute enough to convince Rana to finally go on a date.” She makes a mental note to make sure she and Asher were clear on the details of their fake relationship.

Her parents exchange a look that Raan couldn’t fully decipher, and then her mom says “I can drive you.”

So, the planning for transportation is out of the way, Rana notes with a sigh of relief as her dad begins asking her mom about work. The stories about her moms’ fifth graders are always entertaining. 

The next thing she has to plan is an outfit. This is difficult for a variety of reasons. For one, she does have to consider the prices, and thinking about money sometimes gives her a headache. Eva promises to help. She has a decent amount of money; tutoring in biology pays well. Rana’s good at it, and most people are bad at it, and she profits. Knowing how to spend that money wisely is the hard part. She also has to make sure the dress is parent-approved, so she promises to text them a picture before buying anything. It’s not like she’s interested in a sleeveless dress or anything anyway, but they want to make sure. 

Also, she needs to make sure her dress has a fabric that doesn’t make her want to tear her skin off. Rana doesn’t know why certain textures do that, but they do, and she doesn’t want to spend her homecoming dance covered in itchy uncomfortable fabric.

She makes her way through school, and it’s not as bad as yesterday. Lunch is actually good; she sits with Asher’s friends again, and they’re… really nice. Daniel is actually interested in hearing her ramble about bearded dragons, and the whole group laughs and jokes with each other like they’ve been friends for years- they probably have- but they don’t shut her out in the process.

It’s nice.

Rana is generally terrified of making friends, of people other than Aziza and Eva, but this… this is nice.

She mostly ignores Asher throughout study hall- she likes them, but she likes not failing calculus even more, and the pile of homework demands her focus- and then the school day is over and she’s in the passenger seat of Eva’s car, Aziza in the back, on the way to the mall to find their outfits for homecoming.

Like she expected, it takes a while, but eventually Rana finds a long green dress with a tolerable texture and a reasonable price. She tries it on and texts a photo to her mom. Her mom responds with a thumbs up emoji, fulfilling the third requirement for a homecoming dress, so she buys it. Briefly, she considers buying heels with the money she has left, before trying on a pair and realizing she can’t walk. Just the dress, then. Eva drives her home and she hangs the dress in her closet. 

School is mostly normal Friday morning, except for the constant flow of gossip about dates for the homecoming dance. It’s slightly nauseating. And then it’s lunch, which Rana spends again with Asher’s friends. She feels only slightly uncomfortable around them, compared to the “extremely uncomfortable” feeling of being around most other people, which is weird, but good. 

After lunch is the homecoming pep rally, which… Rana’s not entirely sure what the point is. School spirit? Getting excited for the football game Rana doesn’t really care about? Hearing everyone cheer until her head hurts and she can’t breathe?

Asher nudges her. “Are you okay?” 

“It’s loud,” she manages.

Asher nods and stands up, extending a hand to her. How fake-romantic. She takes their hand and allows them to lead her away from the bleachers, muttering something about the bathroom to the teacher that gives them an inquisitive look, and brings Rana over to the library. The library is good. The library is quiet. The library is not crowded. She finds a book about marine biology, and Asher finds a book she doesn’t catch the title of, and they read in silence until the pep rally is over.

“Where did you and Asher sneak off to?” Eva asks her after school. There’s a laugh in her voice.

“The library,” Rana tells her. Eva raises her eyebrows and grins. It’s pretty obvious what she’s implying. And Rana doesn’t hate the idea that she ditched the pep rally to make out with Asher. She didn’t, but the thought of kissing is more tolerable than the thought of going on dates and being their girlfriend. 

What the hell does that even mean? 

Later that afternoon, Aziza asks the group chat if they want to come to the football game with her, and Rana sends back a vomiting emoji. It’s cold, it’s loud, and she doesn’t see the appeal of watching football players get hurt. So she stays home, eats dinner, watches Netflix, and finds out from a text message several hours later that their school won.

Good for them, she supposes.

With the football game out of the way, they are now officially in Almost The Homecoming Dance territory. Rana has done all the planning she thinks is necessary, but there’s still the requirement of “figure out how to pretend you’re there with an actual date you have genuine romantic feelings for,” and that’s the main component she’s not prepared for.

Less than a day to figure that out.

It’s fine. It’ll be fun, she tells herself, lying.

[rev3rb]

Hello! First off, I def appreciate the info explained in this chp. Even if I had to read it over to really grasp the second half lol. So, if I’m getting this right, does this mean that Yu is the personification of darkness (and maybe more specifically creation, resurrection, and apothnasia)?? And would that mean that The First used Yu to create Mikaela?? Who ig represents the first taboo committed and maybe that’s why his death is needed to undo the taboo from the Apocalypse? Tbh I’m also confused on how the trumpets that appeared are different from the other angels. The way they’re depicted kinda makes it seem like they’re the ones created from darkness. Maybe that’s just bc they don’t seem to be fully formed ppl just instruments of destruction ig. Seriously though, why is this like God’s only way of communicating???

What was extremely clear to me is how gay Paimon and Bael are, like come on now. Bael saying the only thing he wants his beyond his reach and then pulling a Romeo/Juliet move so that their souls can be together 😭 Seriously shipping goggles aside, Ik ppl say not to reach for queer rep in stories that aren’t specifically created to be that, but holy shit man. ONS is becoming more and more about the gays fighting God and winning.

Wanted to respond to this earlier but it's been a busy week!

Yes! It's about time that we started getting some answers. Yeah, that is a little complicated. Seemingly? Yu is definitely something that is meant to harvest light, so I'm wondering if he/it is supposed to *create* darkness sort of as a byproduct. Either way, he seems to have a lot of potential power. Now I'm just wondering how he turned into a person. Obviously, the whole reviving Mikaela thing didn't work out, so maybe this experiment was what lead to that. Time will tell though. Back to what you were saying.

I always thought Mika dying was just a result of his being a demon and all vampires and demons being eliminated by the revival. Maybe I'm wrong though! Your idea is an interesting one and it makes some sense!

Yeah! The angel design was interesting. I wonder if they looked like that because all three taboos were kind of being committed at once or what because as far as I remember, the angels didn't look like that before. If they are created from darkness, does this mean that God's power isn't just over light? I mean, god is supposed to be all powerful, but still. His power was specifically listed as light, so hmmm. An absence of light being the enforcer of abuse of it. Thinking on it, that makes sense. Wild thought but what if paradise is a lie and reaching paradise corrupts you, turning you into something like that? Probably not the case, but I think it's an interesting thought. I digress though. It's been a while since we've seen the trumpets, and... wait that just made me think of something. The trumpets that we've seen in modern day hold the keys. Here we learn that the keys are a sort of conduit or capacitor for light. Maybe light DOES corrupt in a way. Hmmm... it's a lot to think on.

TRUE!! I may have my gay rose tinted glasses at most times, but this is very much a "how else are we supposed to interpret that" sort of thing. It was VERY Romeo and Juliet. The gays are fighting God and it may take millennia, but they're very motivated to win.| As a side note, I do really enjoy how there are different types of love shown here. Even if Bael and Paimon were just supposed to be friends (lmao) you have familial love with Sika Madu and Mika, and you have romantic friendship love with Paimon and Bael. Fun to see.

Overall, I'm satisfied, and am really interested to see what the result of this little resurrection attempt will be. Is this how everyone was turned into demons/vampires? HMMM Questions. Questions. Always with more and more questions.

Thanks for sending in another ask this month!

[tragedykery]

*twirls hair* bisexual pirates u say? would love to hear anything u'd like to share about them <3

YESSS. okay so

it’s set in the avatar world but like. in the ages before the war and also a little bit to the left bc someone invents metalbending. the previous (fire) avatar died about 20-30 years ago (no one really knows) and because of that there is quite a lot of piracy.

I have a doc with the crew here. still workshopping the characters used for the names bc I don’t want to get that wrong but there you go sjfkgsjks. I also have a doc with the relationships between the crew but there’s an undescribed image in there. as for the crew and its famous bisexuality…yes pretty much everyone is bisexual. the only ones who aren’t are iraluq and nisha (lesbians) and tetsuo (gay). also most are poly- or at least ambiamorous (that’s why the relationship chart is. a little convoluted)

now onto the actual story. it would be told from the perspective of an indentured sailor on a merchant ship, hira. she’s like 27 and grew up as an orphan in the earth kingdom. the ship is out on the middle of the sea when they suddenly get attacked by pirates. hira, who has never been in danger like this before, tries desperately to defend herself—and, for the first time in her life, uses airbending. she gets knocked out by a stray frying pan (the cook’s weapon of choice), and no one thinks about her anymore because well. they’re busy fighting. until, several hours later, she wakes up on the pirate ship. unbeknownst to the pirates too bc they kiiinda accidentally kidnapped her.

she gets found out within minutes, much to everyone’s confusion and embarrassment and anger (at themselves. how do you accidentally kidnap a person.) the only problem is uh. they’re out in the middle of the sea and already several hours away from the merchant ship. hira is stuck with them for the time being.

the captain, taituk, who is my poor little meow meow (strikethrough: my poor little meow meow) really embarrassed and apologetic about the whole ordeal because holy shit I accidentally kidnapped a person, promises her that as soon as they reach land, she can get off the ship. hira, of course, takes this offer. she doesn’t have any family or friends on land or whatever, but it’s better than staying with a bunch of pirates.

on the ship, however, she finds that the crew is…really cool actually. there’s an air nomad girl that isn’t a bender herself but grew up in the temples so she teaches hira how to bend. she gets taught how to fight and defend herself by the really badass warrior women! so when the time comes, she has grown too attached to the crew, and instead of leaving, stays and becomes a pirate too.

(and then, later, for no other reason than that I think it would be really fucking funny, she discovers she’s the avatar. tfw people are hoping for the avatar to put a stop to piracy, but when she finds out her identity, she is, in fact, a pirate.)

tldr: yes queer pirates in the avatar world thank you so much for asking (/gen) and so sorry for rambling and if you read this whole long-ass thing I’m even sorrier

[firsttarotreader]

A bit of a longer message here but I finally watched Brokeback mountain and I was left a bit confused. I read some articles online and there were mixed opinions about wether or not the characters were gay. And bisexual authors were saying they were bi, while a gay writer said that’s just bisexuals not understanding how gay people work .. which was kinda offensive, but that’s just my opinion as a bisexual. I’m surprised all these years I thought it was a gay love story movie when in reality it doesn’t really seem like it 🤔 it’s even more interesting now to think back to SWOL, since those two characters showed clear signs of bisexuality in their young years and yet again, it was branded as a gay cowboy in the media. I do think I have the right to be upset about this, since I’m bi, like I said. And if movie directors/media are always using the “the characters had relationships with the opposite gender but they weren’t real to them/ - or - the partner of opposite gender was a beard” it’s just plain biphobia at this point. Because why does our reality have to be used constantly to prove a point of someone being gay? Don’t know if I’m conveying right what I’m trying to say, but in short: our sexuality continues to not be taken seriously in this world, and it’s being used as a means to paint and build a gay character. Which sucks. I’m tired of the beard rhetoric as well. Just some thoughts. I remember reading some studies about the queer community and how there’s a big percentage of actual bi people in it, instead of gay or straight, but they’re just forced to pick a side instead of exploring their sexuality and I kinda agree, we see it all around us. I’ve seen multiple bisexuals sending you asks complaining about this approach the world has on us, I’m really sorry for those who can’t be themselves in peace without a biphobe breathing down their neck 🏳️‍🌈

Yeah, and I always said I think both Silva and Jake were bi. Jake because he mentions having an affair with his brother’s wife for a while. An affair with a married woman, and his brother’s woman. Silva because he has a son and his son is with him. Back then fathers didn’t get custody of their children, so he probably was with the mother and she died or something. I don’t really think it was compulsory heterosexuality for Silva because he never seems to have a problem with his attraction to a man and living with a man fully. However, not even Almodóvar acknowledges that and only calls them and the story gay, while he unbeknownst wrote a love story between two bi men.

About the fetishising, Pedro himself called that out subtly, when during an interview to Variety, the interviewer called them “gay cowboys” and Pedro immediately corrected him with “ex-lovers”. So yeah, Pedro saw the fetishising too.

[valenteal]

My opinion as a newbie in the mha fandom

Ok so I finally got into mha. I don’t actually like it but once I watched most of seasons 1-4 on Netflix and watched some YouTube videos summarizing shit I was able to get into fan content without being majorly confused. And I love the fandom?! Or at least the content that comes from it. Idk a lot of people seem really opinionated about it and kinda aggressive? Which I can’t really understand because canon isn’t even that good and the only way I can stand it is by changing some things in my head. As far as I can tell most people do this? But it ends in everyone having wildly conflicting views of all the characters and like… not going back to canon to remember where they got their version from and see how someone else may have gotten something different? Or people are getting pissed because other’s aren’t being true to canon, which is bullshit because that’s literally what fandom is for… anyway I am having a lot of fun actually. I tried to watch the anime a couple times but I just didn’t like it and wasn’t motivated enough to push through it but now I’m wishing I could watch more of it (stupid Netflix only has 4 seasons cmon man I wanna see more Hawks!!!!!!!).

Anyway I adore all the different variations on the characters, like no one characterizes anyone the same way and no matter how many times you read the same scenarios with the same characters it’s always wildly different and entertaining! I this the greatest thing about having a large fandom built around a not so great original piece is how creative everyone gets. Everyone builds off each other and create something entirely different from the original and everyone gets to run wild and have a blast. I especially love how so many people have taken the Todoroki family and told so many different stories with them, weather it’s about forgiveness or revenge or moving on. Dabi is objectively insane and totally unhinged in canon but I love when people make him a bit more rational and in touch with his feelings. I also love seeing him go nuts and burning shit to the ground. I love seeing all the interesting relationships we don’t see enough of in canon expanded upon.

So far Dabi, Hawks, Bakugo, and Shoto are my favorites which, that’s 4 characters why the hell are they all guys? Obviously because the female characters aren’t nearly as well developed and that does piss me off quite a bit. The whole show is horribly sexist to the point where I don’t understand how anyone ever got through it without fan content to motivate them. Like they put in a token effort with making the girls just as powerful but I cannot get over the objectification or the way none of the girls really get their own serious arcs or backstories. At the same time the fandom is full of really positive feminism?! Like the sexism drew to much attention to itself so everyone was like ‘nope we’re fixing this ourselves’ and then did?!

Although I do have to say that people may have gone a bit overboard with the lgbt representation in the fandom because there are like no popular straight ships which is a bit disappointing to be honest. I like queer representation but this is not just representation at this point because it’s left female characters seriously sidelined in any romance centered fics. Straight people do actually exist and queer people do actually have straight relationships sometimes and it’s really sad that all the most popular ships are made exclusively of men. I actually really like Shoto and Momo, partially because that was one of their feeble attempts at making themselves seem not sexist (though they failed through sheer sexualization) but also because I just think they’re cute.

[winderlylandchime]

Hello, how are you? I hope life is going good and that you are spending your Saturday relaxing. I am coming to you with just a tiny update on my brother as a proof of life but also because it made me laugh when it happened and I thought maybe you’d appreciate it since you are the one who told him ao3 has a lot of shows he’s a fan of…I feel like a snitch right now but he discovered 2 things about ao3 by complete accident. And that is omega verse and that some people write incest fics.. I got a text that just read ‘werewolf porn?!?!’ So that was a nice way to start my day. And then like two hours later he found out some people write about incest and I’m not gonna lie it took me a minute to convince him to continue using ao3. When I called him about it he said that he wanted to look into the other stuff he’s a fan of aince he remembered you told him so and he unfortunately discovered a dark side of it. So now he swore to himself that he’s only going to use ao3 for Britin. BUT he did also discover like a true grandpa with no social media presence that he got replies on his comments from you and Hannah Montana (his words, he only refers to them as that and I’m supposed to just know who he’s talking about) and he was very delighted because he didn’t realize it at all and then horrified that he didn’t realize it. He also got really mad when he realized you can’t leave kudos on each chapter which tbh, I fully agree. He’s genuinely still confused by ao3, It’s kinda like watching someone who is 60 try to use instagram or something like that. And then on top of that a few days ago he told me that he is worried that his love for qaf has died down since he hasn’t seen the show since he left and can’t watch it with the original soundtrack. And he was genuinely worried about that and then today at an ungodly hour I got a call saying ‘YOOOOOO BLONDIE WAS IN MR ROBOT!’ I don’t think he was even fully sober or even awake when he called me for that. Turns out he was at his friends house and his friend’s girlfriend had Mr Robot on and then she just left it playing while everyone hung out. And then Randy showed up on the screen and my brother -mid conversation with a friends new girlfriend who literally met him that day!!!- yelled across the entire apartment from the kitchen ‘BLONDIEEEEE’ and then apparently he proceeded to talk about qaf to the poor woman. I’m talking full breakdown, story lines, characters, actors, the fact that season 5 (and I quote) ‘sucks hardcore ass’…. So he got excited and happy to report to me that the love (and hyperfixation if we are being honest) is still very much alive. As if HE, the owner of many self made shirts, could somehow manage to escape it…And if you were wondering, yes he was wearing his Brian shirt during the party so I don’t know how he thought he was over his love for the show. Btw he was telling me about a fic of yours he was reading and he went ‘you don’t get it, they’re doing therapy together…Fuck I can’t believe real life Blondie is gonna be doing shit like this for a living now’ and that gave me a mini wtf moment because I completely forgot about Randy’s new career. So bottom line is: he is now scared to look up any shows he likes, he got a bit scarred because he didn’t read tags/doesn’t understand them AND he still talks about everyone’s fics the same way he did when he was living with me. Aka he just starts talking about it without any context or titles or links.

Dear sweet anon! I’m so sorry it’s taken ages to respond.

Oh sweet summer child brother anon! Yes, omegaverse and incest porn are on AO3… as he commits to using it only for Britin fics, warn him (or don’t!) about mpreg fics. Sooooo many pregnant!Justin fics out there and at least one pregnant!Brian fic that I can think of. All the wonderfully horrific fics on AO3 are exactly why I love it. Banning incest fics is a slippery slope to making any explicit content, especially queer explicit content (and all queer content is explicit to bigots).

I feel the anger about not being able to leave kudos on each chapter. And I also fully feel the excitement and joy of getting a response to a comment. Reminds me that I need to go respond to his comments!

I didn’t realize that one Mr. Randolph Harrison was in Mr. Robot, but there it is on his IMDb page!

Haha I’m only halfway sorry I put Justin in therapy so often in my fics because now Randy is on the other side of the couch!

I’m so glad his enthusiasm only temporarily died down. Unfortunately, it looks like you need to copy your DVDs for him because I got an ask a few days ago asking for resources to watch the series with the original (only correct) soundtrack and the fandom agrees that it’s no where to be found.