#and guess what? it ain't

[jlf23tumble]

I sent the anon about a lack of gay rumors about Harry. I don't think you read all I said because I never said he was straight and I never said there weren't any gay rumors. I even said that I didn't think he was straight. I was asking is it possible that all these women who said they've hooked up with him, and there are tons, all lying and were put up to it by Jeff? Like the bachelor contestant? Love island contestant. Influencers, models. Is it all lies or is it more likely that he is bi?

My apologies, I had a lot of similar asks come in all at once that were a) long-winded, b) didn't clarify what they were asking, and c) went off on tangents that kept me stuck on the first bit, and in this case, yeah, I got stuck on your ask's "there aren't any gay rumors" about him because, uh, there are?? Like, a lot?? To answer your question, I don't think Jeff has the ability to encourage random women to make that kind of claim (or the interest: it seems like a lot of work, and he reads as a shirker), and as a rule, I don't think women are liars. That said, are there really "tons" of women saying they've hooked up with Harry Styles, like, truly? I can think of one or two one-off anecdotes, but it gets muddied by media speculation, randos "connecting" "dots," or people linked to him officially. And all of THAT said, I have no clue as to Harry Styleseseses' real-life sex life, but since you ask, sure, he could be bi! Annnnd I think he could also be exploring his own sexuality in a much deeper and layered way than a lot of people in today's tumblr.biz fandom space are ready to consider because, frankly, a) they can't handle too many levels of nuance and b) don't understand that the deepest, most private real-life facets of someone else's sexuality are none of their biz. And that pulls in another part of this ask that kind of raises my hackles, and it's the "is it all lies" bit because none of us are owed the truth from someone we don't know. We see *maybe* 5% of any person's actual lived life! Anyone telling you they have it all locked in w/r/t a stranger is full of shit!

ETA: check out the replies for stuff I should have included but was too sleepy to really get to because YEAH, NAILED IT FURTHER

[akanemnon]

Meanwhile with the bicker brigade...

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[dotted-clouds]

Replaced.

[laurellala]

A Shakespearean comedy of errors

bonus:

[non-un-topo]

Thinking about Yusuf and Nicolò as young men again

[gods-perfect-idiots]

damn this hyperfixation got HANDS (and claws and fangs to boot)

[arcademyth]

i've decided that ash gets to bring his boyfriends along for dawntrail

[eddiezpaghetti]

It has come to my attention that SOME OF YOU who read my last Byler post remain UNCONVINCED. So I'm gonna tack onto it this:

I'm older than fucking God and air, and I've been out and proud since 2007. Yes, I know what homophobia is, and yes, I know what queerbaiting is. I know about Supernatural and Teen Wolf and Sherlock and blahdyblahdyblah. No new ground is being covered here. I thought I made that clear in the original post, but, clearly, I did not.

I am aware of queerbaiting and homophobia, and I'm still wholeheartedly certain in Byler being canon anyway.

Okay, so there are three types of relationship I want to discuss when it comes to queerbaiting. They're all, like, "queer relationships that could have happened, but didn't".

First off, queer-coding. This isn't really a thing so much anymore, but it still crops up every once in a while. I'd argue it probably happens most with male-male relationships in family shows these days. First example that comes to mind is Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowny from Steven Universe. You can't make a relationship canon because some shitty overhead bastard overhead said no, so you get as close as you can without compromising the show. Can't make someone gay? Well, now their comedy routine is a blatant allegory for a romantic relationship. Boom-shaka-laka. This is something I don't see being a problem with regards to Stranger Things, but I want it to be there as contrast, a demonstration of one of many things queerbaiting is not. However, one could argue that, thus far, Will Byers is, canonically, queer-coded. It's pretty fucking heavily implied in the show, and the creators have confirmed it, and you're gonna be able to see it if you're not FUCKING BLIND, but word of god is not technically canon which means that interviews don't technically make something canon, blahdyblahdyblahdyblah, technicalities, Robin has been explicitly stated in the text to be queer while Will has, thus far, not, outside of good ol' Show-Don't-Tell. Of course, anyone with two brain cells to rub together can tell that that's going to change by the end of Season 5, but, hey, for what it's worth, I'm throwing this out there.

Alrighty, Thingamajingama Number Two: "Oops, I accidentally made the greatest love story known to man." AKA, a genuine, honest-to-goodness mistake. Unfortunately, we do live in a heteronormative society. Sometimes people who don't think about being gay much write a friendship that's incredibly compelling and don't even consider the possibility that it could have been read as romantic. Something something Top Gun something. This is, again, not queerbaiting. This is Steddie, this is Ronance, this is Elmax, this is your favorite flavor of non-canon ship this week, this is not Byler. The creators know DAMN well what they're doing. They've talked about it. We know this. Nothing new here.

Which brings us to the topic of discussion here. Actual queerbaiting. This usually starts out as an "accidental greatest love story", and then reacts to fan response. And when I say "reacts", I mean like a goddamn chemical reaction. Like bleach and ammonia, bitch. It's noxious and it's gonna kick your fucking ass without mercy. This is when a creator is like, "Hey, let's get our queer audience invested, but we're not actually going to give them what they want because our straight audience isn't here for that/we personally think it's gross/we don't give enough of a shit to want to research a goddamn thing to write a real gay character," blah blah blah whatever excuse they want to come up with this time.

And when you think "queerbaiting", I want you to think "bullying". Because that's what it is. It's lucrative bullying, like beating us up and taking our lunch money, but it's bullying all the same. And it's a real goddamn thing, even if people misuse the word a lot, often when they mean one of the two above, sometimes when they mean "bury your gays", which is another homophobic thing entirely that I'm not going to get into here. Queerbaiting is the thing we're focused on, and it's real, and it's bullying. And here's the reason I want you to think of it as bullying:

They

Think

It's

Funny.

They are actively making fun of us.

That's why Dean had the "Cas, get out of my ass," line in Supernatural. It's why the "Do you like boys?" line happened in Teen Wolf. It's why "Lie with me, Watson," happened in the RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies. Because "It's just a joke, mate." "It was just a prank, bro." "You didn't really think it would happen, did you?" "You should see your face."

So here's probably the biggest reason I don't think it's specifically queerbaiting in this specific instance of Will Byers and Mike Wheeler.

Stranger Things has never, not once, made a gay joke. Ever.

Every single time queerness comes up, it's dead serious.

Lonnie calls Will a fag, and the show is not at all reluctant to show what a goddamn horrible person he is. And when Hopper latches onto that, it's not as "Hahah, is he gay, though?" It's because he's trying to determine a potential motive for Will's disappearance, and even if someone had interpreted it as a joke, Joyce immediately has a line that functions as snapping her fingers in front of the audience's face and yelling "FOCUS" when she says "He's MISSING." Basically outright saying "This isn't funny!"

Troy calls him a fairy, along with targeting Lucas and Dustin for their skin color and disability respectively, and Mike gets damn near murderous. Troy is portrayed as a goddamn monster and the show portrays it as justice when El makes him piss his pants and later breaks his arm.

Steve calls Jonathan "queer" as a slur and gets the shit beat out of him for it.

Billy's father is revealed to be homophobic and abusive in the same breath.

Mike says "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" and we're shown how devastated Will is and Mike immediately follows him to beg for forgiveness.

There is a joke in Robin's coming-out scene, but it's not at Robin's expense. It's at Steve's. Specifically for being heteronormative.

Jonathan has multiple scenes where he's trying so hard to tell Will that he's always going to love him as he is, whether he's gay or not, without pressuring him to come out before he's ready.

Even when there's a little bit of ribbing at Robin's expense, it's always because she's an awkward nerd who's nervous around pretty girls, just the same as Lucas and Dustin are teased when they both first develop crushes on Max, and even then, even then, it always comes as a package deal where they make fun of Steve's girl problems at the same time.

Stranger Things is an emphatically pro-gay show. It may not be the core point of the show the way it is in, say, Our Flag Means Death, but there is nothing less than respect for its queer characters. Its queer characters are always taken completely seriously. No one is making fun of us. They never have. That's why I have serious doubts that this is queerbaiting. It would come completely out of left field for the bullying to start in Stranger Things' final season.

So it's not at all likely to be queerbaiting because queerness is taken completely seriously. The creators have talked about Will's queerness, at least, so it's not an accident. And queer-coding would be silly to expect from this show when it's already on its final season. Like, what is Netflix gonna do? Cancel it? Not to mention all the explicit queerness that's in there already. And no one's gonna "What about the children?" a show that's had sex scenes in it since the first season.

There's no fakeout here. It's gonna happen. Breathe.

[vaggieslefteye]

CHARLIE MAGNE from HAZBIN HOTEL (2019): Pilot - "That's Entertainment" ↳ "So, I've been thinking: Isn't there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through... redemption?"

[shattered-eluvian]

hello tumblr can I interest you in a collection of various unfinished doodles I am too embarrassed to keep inundating my art blog with? 😂

woe. solavellan's be upon ye.

[greenleaf4stuff]

thinking about the scene of Halbrand in Adar's camp and I cannot help but imagine what would have gone on Halbrand's head if he *hadn't* been Sauron in disguise. Try to imagine being that poor guy-

you try to bargain with your enemy for the wellbeing of your own and *his* people only for said enemy to get super suspicious and aggressive at the mention of his ex (boss)

you immediately get antagonized and threatened with torture??? Like alright you attempted to kill him during battle before but you're hardly the first one right?

you remind said enemy of his toxic ex and/or the enemy suspects you actually might be that same toxic ex (while you are completely unaware and know none of this, so his behavior makes absolutely no fucking sense to you)

the guy then waxes a monologue about how he met the aforementioned toxic former boss through an equally toxic work environment seemingly unprompted and completely at random while you lie in chains, beaten and bruised, and have to listen to his life/relationship problems.

"I drank it all" great he is making all of this weird now - ever heard of TMI dude?

you randomly become the subject of some kind of humiliation kink??? Out of the blue?? Like did the others also have to put their heads at the guy's feet or...? Plus the same dude who makes you do this won't stop looking at you a certain way

you get branded and have to swear loyalty to him. which. somehow makes the most sense out of all the things happening in this fucked up situation??

after all that, you get to leave. Utterly confused. Like what just happened?!

Poor Halbrand would have been like "dude what the heck is this guy's problem?!" the whole time.

[ilikestuffthatsparkles]

Theon leaving

[angermango]

"Oh, I know very well. How the puzzles beckon so sweetly...

As expected of you, Layton.

Only an honest death will cure you now."

...

expanding on that Lady Maria vibe for Descole from the first Laytonborne post, and that famous boss intro.

Descole would make a hellish boss fight, i know it. i mean have you SEEN how he moved during Eternal Diva and with that big ass sword? now imagine that with Soulsborne-scale strength and possible other additional powers.

plus his theme could be pretty easily adapted into a Bloodborne boss style piece I think, just add more orchestra heavy brass and cellos and some ominous Latin chanting choir and presto. that organ goes so hard too.

[mechaseraph]

Dissociation/Self-Confusion/Losing sense of self

I got sick with freaky cold, so this was heavy influenced by my restful sleep 'caused by it.

Stupid bonus comic ft. Hakuba, whom I drew for the first time. I am sorry, Hakuba, I'll draw you better next time I promise

Kaito won't open to him, but will share some of his issues in stupidest way if he thinks it'll be funny. At least that what I like to think of their relationship

[ladyinthebluebox]

i'm starting to sense a certain pattern here...

[mirakurutaimu]

I mean I have no pretensions about streaming being a "real job" or not but there's something to be said about a cc who only goes live once a month and earns more than my paycheck that week in donations before they can even be bothered to turn the "starting soon" scene off

cool story bro