#and how well she plays subtext gay??

[normal-nightmare]

Honestly the sheer amount of gay subtext between Dick and Jason in Gotham Knights is like,, literally insane. It's impossible to ignore??

"Oh but they're brothers-" not in this game they're not! Talia refers to Jason as "Your friend Jason" when you confront Talia if you play as anyone who isn't Jason. No one corrects her either; not Barbara, Tim, OR Dick. They just get mad at her over her insisting they be glad she brought Jason back even though she took away his autonomy (Dick especially is PISSED- protective boyfriend much? Lol). Talia herself just says he's their 'friend', not brother. And I don't recall a single time any of them refer to each other as siblings in any form.

Yes they call themselves a family in the game, but it's pretty clearly in a found family way. I'd honestly compare it to the Titans, since they're a found family too, and also a team (and the batfamily works much like a team here). Plus, Barbara is part of it too, and she dated Dick in the past lol. So the batfamily very much is NOT a nuclear family in Gotham Knights, as well as the comics (though DC keeps trying to push it that way...).

Anyways there's just. So much gay subtext between Dick and Jason, and it's so obvious it's damn near just text. Their personal stories are pretty tied up in each other, especially Dicks focusing quite a bit on Jason. Their interactions and how they act around each other also hint at something more going on, little things like constantly being paired together or being physically close more often than not, to interactions being just straight up flirting:

The rooftop scene, implications of Jason looking at Dicks ass??, Dick mentioning the Belfry needs a cat and Jason taking the chance to tease and flirt with him and this audibly flusters Dick; Dick consistently calling Jason things like big guy, swole, tiger, etc; the suggestive implications when you play multi-player with Dick and Jason during the labyrinth mission that Dick "took [Jason] to Hogans Alley, and..." and Jason cutting him off with a "Okay, it's you! Fine. We don't talk about that night." (Note that Dick sounds shy and he trails off and gets quiet while talking, while Jason is very embarrassed at the memory Dick mentions)

...honestly, I could go on and on about it. Pretty much none of this feels at all platonic, it feels more pre-relationship than anything.

I just,, God it's so overtly gay?? There's no other explanation. And I'm looking at it from a very objective perspective, no shipper lenses here.

Anyways jaydick is pretty much canon in Gotham Knights and that's incredible to me

[loseractivities]

Ok time to yap about Billy Loomis. What is bros sexuality?

Billy is 100% gay. I also think that he’s on the aromantic/asexual spectrum, with the best label fitting him being demiaroace. In simple terms, I think the only way he feels authentic romantic/sexual attraction is when he has a very deep emotional, (whether he likes to admit that or not), bond with someone.

People often like to bring up his romantic relationship with Sidney and his sexual affairs with other women, one of which we have proof of in the later movies. Because he was dating Sidney before his mom even left, and they were known to have started off “hot and heavy”, (as Billy likes to call it), he didn’t really have any reason to be doing that. Or did he?!

It goes without being said that Billy is a conventionally attractive white male in the ‘90s. In the movie, we already see Billy’s efforts to appear as normal as possible, wearing bland clothes with little room for interpretation and speaking very little to others. Which leads to why Billyboy was sleeping with girls when he was a big fat QUEER!! …

Billy loves control! He loves it, he loves planning everything out and acting it out like it’s a movie because of his dumb special interest. He loves predictability, he loves feeling normal, and he loves having control over people. What better way to feel in control, (perhaps of his own sexuality), than by sleeping with and casually dating girls!! It makes so much sense.

How does Stu play into this?

Well firstly Stu is Billy’s only real friend. Through subtext we can tell that Billy trusts Stu a lot, considering he trusted him to 1. Call Sidney while he was in jail. 2. Be ghostface with him and have him not tell anyone. 3. Literally fucking stab him… The list goes on. People like to say that Stu didn’t know Billy’s real motive too, which is fucking stupid because why wouldn’t Billy tell him this?? One entire year between murdering Sidney’s mother and then eventually attempting to murder her and all her friends, and you’re telling me Stu wouldn’t have suspected a thing? Just for fun?? Yeah right!

Also people try to say “okay, well then why did Billy stab him so much in the kitchen if he wasn’t trying to kill him”? Firstly it was always part of the plan for Stu and Billy to be the only survivors because only one survivor is extremely suspicious. Secondly you can tell he was just not thinking clearly, he acted on his anger and lost focus of his goal (KILLING SIDNEY??NOT HIS BF??) which is something he NEVER DOES!!

Man,, the whole final act is my favorite, because it really shows both Billy and Stu coming apart and quite literally COMING OUT as the killers. Come on guys. Media. Fucking. Literacy. They literally penetrate each other right in front of Billy’s girlfriend, and that shit was freaky as fuck.

ANYway I’m going off on a tangent. I do wanna talk about why Billy didn’t explicitly say anything about being gay when he so very obviously is. Billy, in all areas, is much less obvious than Stu.

He’s closed off, secretive, keeps up a pretty believable facade to everyone until the finally is able to drop the act. It makes sense he isn’t as physically or verbally affectionate with Stu, and for this reason people are more inclined to believe Stu is gay and in love with Billy more than Billy is gay and in love with him. Well, in order to get a good sense of Billy’s relationship with Stu, you have to look deeper. Let’s start with some things from the script, since there are very few scenes with the two interacting.

Stu and Billy, in the script, are best friends, have known each other since kindergarten, and are partners in crime. Billy obviously is capable of forming strong bonds and connections with very specific people. Even unhealthily so, and we see this in the relationship he has with his mother. He idolizes her, victimizes her, makes her more than she was as a coping mechanism and never officially comes to terms with the fact his mom probably wasn’t as great as he remembers. And when his mom leaves, he breaks, needs control (as stated previously) because his life is suddenly unstable and who does he turn to? Stu!

Also I just wanna say when Stu drapes over his back Billy leans into him okay thanks. Body language in this movie means SO FUCKING MUCH TO ME these actors did amazing. When Billy follows Sidney inside the look of CONTEMPT ON HIS FACE!! The way he looks through his eyelashes. The acting is impeccable Skeety, I love you!!!! 😐😐 Also the way Billy looks at Stu before stabbing himmm…He;s in love I promise. In whatever way he knows how

Lastly the boy has autism

Passionate interests, he loves horror movies and constantly references them throughout the film. Even at unconventional times, like when his girlfriend is venting about her dead mother. Eye contact and too much staring. Meltdowns when overstimulated. The whole last act was just him stimming and destroying shit because stuff didn’t go his way. Bad reactions when plans are interrupted. At the staircase when Sid runs away he punches himself in frustration. Talks with hands in Sidney’s room about The Exorcist. Favorite person/people (his mom and Stu). Extremely overdramatic. When he got fake stabbed. When he falls down the fucking stairs for no reason. Finally, just socially awkward. Any word out of his mouth makes people uneasy. Ez

…Finally for Billy I js wanna say he arches it a lot and I think only someone who takes it like a good boy wpu;ld do that Ok im done by.e

LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE BANGERS LIKE THIS ONE

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 3, Episode 5

Episode 5 starts sometime after August dropped the bombshell about Erik at the end of last episode, and Wilhelm decides for some reason to visit the party palace, in order to make himself feel extra shit? I don't know what's going on here.

Blink and you miss it: Hey, that's one of the clown masks they used for Wilhelm's initiation back in season 1.

Blink and you miss it: Henry and Valter are doing a class presentation on rhetorical analysis, and for some reason they chose former US president George W. Bush as their subject, which is pretty hilarious given that he was a notoriously bad public speaker.

Blink and you miss it: Instead of asking Wilhelm, who is sitting right next to Simon, how he's feeling, he writes the question in his notebook and slides it over.

Subtext: Gotta keep up that facade and bottle all the negative feelings inside!

Lost in translation: Vincent uses the word "nyanländ", "newly arrived", which is the current politically correct way of saying immigrant.

Subtext: ...but in typical bully fashion he asks the target of the racist "joke" if it was funny, and Marwan obviously lies about it as to not upset Vincent.

Subtext: Felice tries to play it off as no big deal, but she actually wants this opportunity to spend time with Sara without her other friends, in order to rebuild the friendship.

Subtext: Sara is right to be suspicious of her dad, because he is a lot more energetic than usual, and excuses his behaviour by him simply being in a good mood. It's probably his new medication that kicked in, though.

Subtext: Speaking of having a hard time showing weakness, that's exactly what Wilhelm's been struggling with by not telling Simon how upset he is about having learned that Erik took part in the gay porn initiation.

Subtext: So the whole subplot of the past four episodes was that the school locked up all the phones, and Wilhelm joined the little strike to get them back, pissing Simon off in the meantime, and now that they have their phones back he's not picking up when Simon is calling him? Not cool.

Culture: The choir is practising "En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt", a Swedish hymnal with text from 1889, but this version of the melody is from the 1930's and composed by Waldemar Åhlén. It's a very well-known summer song that pretty much every Swedish schoolkid has sung at some end-of-schoolyear summer assembly.

Cinematography: We're in the cursed music room, and this time the lighting is harsh and sharp, Wilhelm is in stark contrast to the rest of the room, there's no soft golden light smoothing things out, so we're gonna have an argument!

Subtext: Yeah, no, Wilhelm, sweetie, that's projection, that's what you are thinking about your brother. Simon isn't doing anything wrong here, he's just concerned about you being a moody asshole.

Cinematography: To illustrate how the relationship is going south, the music room which used to be full of instruments, is just getting emptier and emptier, and Simon is left standing alone at the piano.

Subtext: No, he's not feeling ok, and no, he's not interested in making up with Sara right now, because he's still angry at her.

Subtext: There are different kinds of homophobia, for example, there are people who talk loudly about how accepting they are of The Gays, but who react negatively when someone close to them comes out, because they were only fine with it at a distance. And then there are people who are ignorantly homophobic in general, but who turn out to be supportive of anyone close to them who comes out, because they know that that person isn't like The Other Gays. Shitty, but less shitty than the first group, and I think that's how Erik would have reacted had he known about Wilhelm.

Culture: In Sweden, you do the practical driving test in a car provided by the testing centre to make it fair and equal for everyone. These cars all have a red sticker saying they're for driving tests.

Subtext: Micke is failing exactly how he described it in an earlier episode. He's on new medication, it made him feel good and like he was in control, so he thought he could take just one beer with his friends.

Subtext: No, it fits horribly, and you can clearly see that it was on sale and that the price tag is still on it. But this is what Linda can afford.

Lost in translation: Simon actually says "jag vet", "I know", when Sara tells him that their dad let her down and that she is sad and upset about it.

Subtext: Unlike Simon who got a cheap suit on sale, Wilhelm just has his perfectly tailored suit delivered to him by his bodyguards.

Subtext: Last episode Wilhelm picked a sport charity or something that he doesn't actually care about, because he thought it would best fit the narrative the royal court is going for. So now his internal homophobia is screaming at him to remove the nail polish, because it doesn't fit that image.

I don't know what this is: This has got to be an editing goof? This sequence of events doesn't work. Everyone else is up and about, preparing the third year's dinner with the teachers and they're even cooking the food with a chef, but it's early morning and Wilhelm is still sleeping in? Anyway, the whole thing is yet another example of how the school teaches hierarchy. As a younger student you service the older students, and when it's your turn to graduate, someone younger will service you.

Throwback: Aww, Simon made Wilhelm a sandwich, just like Wilhelm made one for Simon a bunch of times in previous seasons.

Culture: Man, early summer in Sweden is beautiful, isn't it? This was shot at Åkeshofs Slott in Stockholm, and if you do a 180 turn on that path, you'll see the subway station Åkeshov, and if you go through the tunnel under the road and then up to your right, you'll end up at a sports centre where I went twice a week as a kid for fencing training!

This tumblr is now about French school fencing! Doublé! Riposte!

Subtext: Time and time again the show has shown us how much August loves this shit, and that he wasn't lying when he said he knew everyone, because clearly he does!

Subtext: And to show how much Wilhelm dislikes this shit, he is so stiff when talking to the invited kids who are actually benefitting from his charity foundation, while August just immediately jokes around with them and is much more comfortable.

Culture: I've seen how a lot of fans think that the flower Wilhelm is wearing is a green carnation, which is a symbol for being gay, popularized by Oscar Wilde. I don't think so, that's not a thing in Sweden as far as I know. Instead, I think it's an alternate version of a Majblomma, which is an actual Swedish charity thing, where you can buy these plastic lapel flowers from schoolkids to show your support around this time of year.

Subtext: Even though Simon is there, he's being shoved to the back, because his presence doesn't fit the narrative. If Wilhelm instead had chosen to start some kind of LGBT charity, Simon would have had a much more prominent role. Oh, and poison or not, that Princess Cake looks delicious!

Subtext: Farima is expertly letting August down, who of course pretends that he's not the least bit disappointed at being excluded from having dinner at the royal palace.

Blink and you miss it: IT'S LISA! HI LISA!

Culture: Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll are two characters from a radio show for kids from the 1940's, but they've also been featured in books, comic books, a live action movie, and animated cartoons. It's about the two titular characters, a cricket and a frog, and their adventures. The last movie was made in the 1990's though, so I'm not so sure kids these days knows who these characters are. Personally, I can't hear this song without hearing their silly character voices.

Subtext: The Queen is still keeping up appearances and lying through her teeth about how she's actually feeling.

Culture: In real world Sweden, Victoriadagen is celebrated in mid July when Crown Princess Victoria has her birthday, she hands out a sports award, there's a concert, some charity stuff, and you can sort of meet the royals or sing her happy birthday or something.

Subtext: August is repeating the excuse Farima used on him as to why he didn't attend the birthday dinner.

Blink and you miss it: That's a Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II. It's only about $10,000 and change.

Subtext: Simon, sweetie, I don't think the royals have any clue as to what "the usual" means when you're describing how regular people celebrate birthdays.

Culture: Simon actually says Laserdome, which is a company in Sweden that has been running laser tag arenas since the 1990's. I had no idea they still existed!

Culture: They're singing Lambo, a drinking song for students. It's a challenge song, so while the rest of the table sings, the target has to finish their glass, correctly sing the response lines, and turn the glass upside down over their head. If you fail, like August does in this scene, you have to do a penalty round and chug another glass.

Subtext: ...before her parents heaped all of their family's expectations on her. But maybe if Felice can break free she could pursue her actual dreams?

Throwback: Remember the scene in S1E3 when Simon is practising the Hillerska song in the music room?

Subtext: Queenie, sweetie, you're not looking Wilhelm in the eyes, you're not engaging in the discussion, and the only thing you do is to talk about Erik every chance you get. No wonder Wilhelm has had enough and explodes at his parents.

Blink and you miss it: Vincent won the "Daddy pays" award. Pappa betalar.

Subtext: In this context the award just means that he's the image of a bad boy, a player. But throughout the season, August has been struggling with whether or not he's actually a bad person, which is why he's not exactly happy with the award.

Cinematography: Fuck me that's a pretty shot of a typical summer sunset. In late May in the Stockholm area, sunset happens at around 9:30 in the evenings.

Subtext: One more explanation for August's body dysmorphia is that he got bullied for being weak and scrawny when he first started at Hillerska, so he decided to start working out more.

Blink and you miss it: The reason Fredrika is outside and happens to see Sara and August kiss, is because she's trying to sneak away the bottle of wine she stole earlier from the kitchen.

Subtext: And the reason Felice looks upset when Fredrika tells her what she saw is because she truly thought Sara was over August, and that's a condition of them reconciling.

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm plays the first few notes of the original Hillerska song.

Subtext: And to cap off this terrible no-good horrible cliffhanger episode, Simon breaks up with Wilhelm by repeating the words his mom said to him earlier in the episode.

[bulbagarden]

Opinion: Scarlet and Violet are Pokémon's Queerest Games Yet (Bulbanews)

Hi it's Lisia here!! The following is an opinion piece from one of our staff members, Torchic W. Pip!! Blanc and I both loved this and like... we had to share it here LOL.

Pokémon was my queer awakening. I had silly little crushes on male and female characters alike, and I resonated with many of the designs of the series’s more gender nonconforming designs. Pokémon has always had a wink and a nod to queerness: Jessie and James’s genderbending antics, Beauty Nova in X and Y, Blanche from Pokémon GO… the list goes on. But with Scarlet and Violet, queerness shines bright as celestial stars.

“But wait!” you might say. “Scarlet and Violet has no canonical gay or trans characters! How can this thesis make sense?” Well, queer representation need not be explicit to be impactful. Sometimes, the stories queer people resonate with most are told through metaphor, from the misfits in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to X-Men to Luca and Gwen Stacy. The roots of this trace back to a history of censorship. LGBTQ+ stories have been historically censored, such as with the Hays Code. Queer people have long been unable to see stories with explicitly queer characters, so they instead turned to metaphors and symbolism. Gender nonconformity is also nothing new to the scene of video games. Metroid, Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Guilty Gear are just some of the games that play with our expectations of gender. It’s also nothing new to Pokémon. East Asian media tends to depict transness and gender nonconformity differently from the West, but for more on that, I'll direct you to this video.

Even before the release of Scarlet and Violet, gender nonconformity shined through. Take a character like Grusha, for example, who many mistook for a girl when he was first introduced. It goes a little deeper than that, though. “Grusha” is Russian for “pear”, but it’s also a diminutive for the name “Agrafena”... a female Russian name. Whether or not it was intentional, it does add an extra layer of nonconformity to Grusha. Another character with some queercoded elements is Iono: Her color palette evokes the colours of the trans flag, and her Magnemite headpieces evoke an explicitly genderless Pokémon. Baggy clothes are common among many transgender people. Her friend Bellibolt is a frog, and many frogs in real life can change their sex. In Japanese, she speaks with a Bokukko speech pattern (a girl using the masculine “boku”), which is often used for plucky characters, but also nonconforming characters. All of Iono’s names across translations evoke themes of questions. On top of all that… well, the Vtubing scene is, from personal experience, very queer. All of my friends who watch VTubers are queer in some way. More seriously, creating a persona where you can let your true self shine in a way that regular society won't allow you to... that's pretty queer.

With the release of the games, we’ve seen a wide array of characters—Rika, Saguaro, Penny, and all of the leaders of Team Star, among others—showcase a wide range of gender expressions, either in their appearances, their personalities, or their hobbies. And all of these characters are seen as heroes, as role models.

As with games before, there are two characters with queer subtext in their relationship. Hassel and Brassius have been seen by many as being in a gay relationship, bonding over a love of art, supporting each other in dark times, and giving each other pet names. Even if it's not outright stated that they're in a romantic relationship, their care for each other is a beautiful thing. Many gay coded relationships are often of younger men or women, and while these relationships are important, it's also important for older gay couples to receive some of the spotlight. After all, queer people have always existed, and it's important to remember our past and honor those who came before us, who helped paved the path to acceptance.

For the first time in a mainline game, the player character can choose any clothes, hair style, and so on regardless of gender. While the player can still only choose between being referred to by masculine or feminine terms, this is a step in the right direction, and it opens the door for many opportunities never seen before. Boys can be feminine, girls can be masculine, and both can be anywhere in between. The world of gender expression is as big as the open world of Paldea.

But back to Team Star. The whole Team Star path is one big, queer metaphor. Think about it: kids are bullied for how they dress or act, these misfits band together and retaliate against their bullies, finding a sort of family in each other, villains who turn out to be just the opposite… It’s a story that, in some way or form, can resonate with many kids who have, sadly, dealt with homophobia or transphobia in school. The path is a story about righting what’s wrong, about making the world a more accepting place.

Scarlet and Violet is a game about shining bright in the sky with other stars, about being your true self. Its themes are deeply resonant with the queer experience. At the end of the Team Star path, you battle Penny, whose ace Pokémon is trans flag-coloured Sylveon, and as she Terastilizes her partner, she says, “Shine bright like the starry sky and become who you really want to be!” So shine bright, trainers, and be your true self.

Oh, and of course, Quaquaval is the queer icon of all time.

[Torchic W. Pip is a Bulbanews writer with a focus on music, merchandise, and spin-off games. They're also a fanfiction author and moderator of the Writer's Workshop subforum. Outside of writing, Torchic is studying music theory and linguistics, and his favorite games are X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire.]

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

There are times I think about playing Arknights just to see if it's as gay as your posting makes it seem.

Actually it's probably better just to ask it here. How gay is Arknights?

Well. The answer depends on how willing you are to read into subtext. If you’re the type who only cares about extremely explicit gayness to the degree of them literally saying it out loud or to have their relationship with another woman described in text as a relationship, then I guess the answer would be not that gay. There’s Tomimi who professes her love to Gavial in The Great Chief Returns event, and there’s Scavenger whose operator file describes how she was in love with a woman but they got separated, and by the time she was able to return to her her partner was dead. I think that might actually be it from the “turn to the camera and say ‘I’m gay’” level of gayness.

The reality of Arknights is that, despite all the things it does well (and there are seriously a lot of those, that’s why I’ve become kind of obsessed with it for better or worse), it is still a gacha game. And when the profitability of a game is tied directly to how much you can convince your audience to spend money to get the characters they want, it unfortunately makes them make so frustrating decisions to avoid any potential loss of profits. Specifically I’m referring to how characters are not allowed to be in relationships in text, as self-shippers are a potential revenue source (despite the fact that a character having a girlfriend vs a character being single is a much smaller roadblock to dating then the fact that they’re not real). Also it suffers from the very common problem of lack of body diversity and skin colors, fanart that you see that seems otherwise is likely fanon.

But if you like queer subtext, there’s quite a lot to work with. Especially since so many characters and their relationships with each other lend really well to lesbian readings with fascinating dynamics. Women will straight up flirt with each other in text somewhat frequently depending on the characters. Some women have relationships that are really really hard to read as anything other than lesbian (but people will always find a way, usually by not reading in the first place). It very often turns into a “there is no heterosexual explanation for this” situation. And the important thing to know is that ~80% of the characters are women, a lot of whom are very real characters with stories and everything that is well written and respecting of them (with a few exceptions). The majority of their interactions are with other female characters. If you’re picky about it any only want heavy subtext with minimal reading into it, you’ll have a number of good options of characters and relationships to enjoy, like Margaret Nearl and her two very obviously girlfriends/wives (depending on your interpretation), or Skadi and Specter, or Franka and Liskarm who got an official manhua dedicated to their relationship as mercenary partners that was so gay that the scanlators who put it on mangadex tagged it “Girls’ Love” only for the official translation to make it gayer.

It really is a your mileage may vary situation. If you’re like me and can read into the potential yuri in even the slightest interaction, it’s an unending feast. But if you’re only in it for the explicit canon then you might want to look for something else. Regardless, it is a gacha game but also it is a game with a majority female cast of usually well written characters in stories where they are the focus. Seriously, the first like 6 chapters of the main story only have a few men, most of whom are nameless npcs or antagonists, and even the main antagonists get to be fascinating women a large portion of the time. I know it might sound like I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel here but misogyny is an extremely present force in storytelling and the bar is really low. I can elaborate more if you want me to, but as you can probably tell I’m not good at being succinct, and any further elaboration would be as long and rambly as this

[oddp1ant]

A handful of loose reflections I wanna put down before time moves on, things change etc

One, Viktor. The biggest thing I'm feeling right now is grief. We knew he was doomed from the start, to lose parts or all of himself, but seeing it happen still hurts. I was unsettled during act 1, feeling so much of him was already lost with little fanfare - would the narrative just move on? I'm actually mollified by this second death, seeing it delivered with narrative and emotional weight, even if we haven't gotten the (Jayce's) reasoning for it yet. Plus, I'm fairly confident we've yet to see his final evolution. So again, he was already (mostly) gone, but now it's like the narrative has acknowledged it, too. Even less will be left off him in his final form, but by god, I hope it's his wrath. If he's truly left an empty shell for the arcane I think I'll cry.

Second, Jayce. What the hell man. Explain yourself. Ngl I love him so much, seeing him get cut up with a chainsaw and apparently run through the arcane autoclave was oddly satisfying. Both him and Mel felt a bit, idk, like they'd gotten a PR treatment in arc 1? Like I love the "my place is here in the lab with you" and "Viktor will return to us" as much as the next guy but both of these characters have been very shitty to Viktor very recently and erasing that feels too cheap. I'm glad to see Jayce return to making Big Swings in the worst possible direction. I only wish he'd said something to Viktor before. Well. Y'know.

Speaking of Mel, I absolutely love the arc she's getting. Even just the fact that she's getting an independent arc, tbh. Most beautiful woman in the world is also magic? Gays stay winning.

And it feels almost redundant to mention but. The sister arc. Suffice to say I'm chewing drywall. The scene in the glow mushroom tunnel. Vander. Possible Vi Jinx Cait teamup in act 3. Love me some natural character/relationship development!!!!!!

Side note: love the ambiguity whether Vander is actually at least Vi's bio dad. Get it, you dog.

I'm not ready to talk about Isha.

Finally, I'm feeling a peculiar kind of melancholy for the diverse but largely congruent Divorce Era fanon that sprung up in between seasons - the visions of Machine Herald and Defender of Tomorrow built from an amalgamation of League and Arcane, making a shared space for creators to play in that has birthed some of my very favorite stories. It's been so, so much fun and I'm floored by how much of it was really founded in shared fandom interpretation and imagination. Now that Arcane canon has set out its own, unique direction, I wonder if this nebulous genre and its characters - a Machine Herald that is neither of League nor Arcane but all our own, the meeting and friction points between Jayces Giopara and Talis - will fade into the past, a weird limbo between the solid pillars of canon, or if its grounding in league lore will keep it alive.

- Honorable mention to the fics where arcane-adjacent and league-ish versions of jayvik meet and fuck absolutely nasty about it. You're the real ones. I could (and have, thank you to my very patient, non-fic reading friend) talk for hours about the complexity and depth of character explored in robotfucking timetravel porn. And none of it, not just the stories but the shared framework and subtext they're based upon, would exist without the beautiful minds of fans! Thank you ily.

[girl4music]

Now this is a very interesting piece of commentary from Lucy and Renee. Even though they knew their characters were in love with each other, through the whole show - until these last episodes - they did not ever play their characters as romantically attracted to one another but just always kept it about the unconditional love in their friendship - which I appreciated, of course. But Lucy says here that suddenly their characters in the script are written as explicitly out of the closet. Which they are. But then Renee says that she was still playing her character as straight because she just wanted to focus on the pain Xena was in rather than focus on any jealous feeling she had towards Akemi. So Renee wasn't playing Gabrielle in those moments as if she was jealous because she thought Gabrielle wouldn't put that over her love for Xena. Which we knew she wouldn’t anyway because all that’s happened in the past. There’d be no reason to be jealous now.

But then why the bloody hell was her reaction in 'The Debt'/'Forget Me Not' one so full of pettiness and vinctinctivness? Is she saying that Gabrielle learned from that experience so much that no matter what information was revealed about the past female lovers in Xena's life, she wouldn't make it about jealousy anymore because she knew what it would lead to would be something that she'd never ever want? It's just such an interesting conversation about their characters and the nature of their relationship going on here in regards to who Akemi was to Xena and that Gabrielle never made it about jealousy so Renee never played it as if Gabrielle was jealous but instead sharing Xena's pain at the loss of someone who she finds out was more than just a friend.

It's just so funny to me that as the episodes go on, Lucy and Renee become a little more aware that there's more that's going on there but everybody else - clearly the writers and directors - already play it like that because, yes, Season 6 especially is written as maintext but it's not necessarily portrayed as maintext. Well, now it makes sense why it isn’t. It's because Lucy and Renee chose not to play it like that. They just let their natural chemistry do its thing and translate to the screen as romance instead. I've always personally interpreted that in their portrayal of the characters but I NEVER knew that it was intentional. That's really interesting to me because regardless what you see on the screen here, if you read the script for that specific episode - it’s intentionally written as romantic. It's written as a queer love story.

That's honestly thrown me for a loop that Lucy and Renee did that because I never knew that at all. In all my years of being a fan I never knew that Lucy and Renee intentionally played straight characters even when the script was written as queer or "gay" as Lucy puts it. I knew that they didn't want to make a joke out of the relationship so never went too far with the lesbian subtext. I knew that they refused to water it down as some pandering kind of thing. But I never knew at all that even when they were aware that their characters were queer or "gay" that they played them as straight instead.

I'm not too sure how I feel about learning this new information. 🫤 I mean why would they ever need to play their characters as straight when they’re written as not? Especially in these last two episodes. And under the guise of a water transfer or not - these character kiss romantically. How can that be played as straight? I feel like I’m really misinterpreting this. What they’re saying here. What exactly do they mean?

Weigh in anyone - please. This will drive me insane.

[sananaryon]

Boscha and the Collector; The  parallels I did not fucking expect

In For the Future, we catch up with Boscha for the first time since Labyrinth Runners (and her only speaking role since Any Sport in a Storm), and she’s doing... well. She rules the Hexside survivors with an iron fist, a disguised Kikimora acting as her advisor, she has a cool new look, she’s revealed to be attracted to women, oh and also she is the episode’s most prominent narrative parallel to the Collector.

hear me out.

The Collector first and foremost is motivated by being lonely. They have spent milennia trapped in a void between worlds with no company other than themselves, desperate for any kind of company or outside stimuli.This ends up leaving them vulnerable to Philip, who pretends to be their friend and offers to let them out, but actually only wants them to use their power for his benefit. In short, the Collector is a lonely kid who’s vulnerability is exploited by an adult who only wants to use them for their own ends.

And then we have Boscha. Over the last few months in-universe, two of Boscha’s closest friends ditched her for new friend groups basically overnight. Then her entire world was turned on its head with the Day of Unity and the ensuing warping the Collector did to the isles, and she loses her two remaining friends who, to make matters worse, sacrifice themselves to save her, which I imagine left her with some survivor’s guilt as well. And with the adults taken by the Collector, Boscha is suddenly thrust into a position of leadership she was ill-equiped for.

Which is when Kikimora shows up. We don’t exactly know how she got into Boscha’s good graces, but going by the credits illustration and her actions as Miki, we can assume that she comforted Boscha through the difficult times and offered some sense of guidance and stability. Of course, Kikimora doesn’t actually care about anyone but herself, she’s just exploiting Boscha’s vulnerability to gain power for herself. Like the Collector, Boscha is a lonely kid who’s vulnerability is exploited by an adult who only wants to use them for their own ends.

Also both adults manipulating them disguise themselves as someone much younger to seem more trustworthy, Kikimora as a child named Miki and Belos as the middle-aged Raine.

And with that connection established, we can also see Amity and Boscha’s relationship as a parallel to the Collector and King.

When Amity shows up in the Boiling Isles again after being gone for months, Boscha immediately latches onto her. Putting aside the gay subtext (is it even subtext? This girl is hopelessly in love), Amity is someone familiar. Boscha has lost everyone and her world has been turned on its head, so of course she wants to reconnect with the one person who can give some sense of normalcy. You can hear in her voice how frightened she is when Amity is about to leave. But, of course, Amity does not reciprocate, and Boscha has to let her go.

Compare that to the Collector. When he’s freed, the Collector latches onto King, calling him his best friend. King was the one who freed him, and his first real friend given what a bastard Belos is, but the Collector also recognizes King as the son of the Titan, someone they always wanted to play with. Again, we have someone who has been alone for a long time immediately latching onto someone who provides a sense of familiarity. And like Amity with Boscha, King does not actually reciprocate those feelings of friendship. That’s not to say King dislikes the Collector, just like I’m sure Amity doesn’t hate Boscha, but he doesn’t see the Collector as their best friend, and mostly just plays along. However, unlike Amity with Boscha, King doesn’t really have the chance to stand up to and make the Collector listen.

TL:DR: Boscha and the Collector are both scared and lonely kids with too much power who latch onto any sense of familiarity and comfort, which leaves them vulnerable to being manipulated by powerhungry adults.

[tessarionbestgirl]

I have to ask did HBO learn nothing from the later seasons of the original show. Softening the main Targ because people “love” them, cutting important storylines ect queer characters cut and only really used fan service instead of the actual book canonically gays/sapphics?!? (granted it is less male gazey then the Yara bullshit which makes me want to hurl due to how bad faith it is but still) Urg hbo is practically screaming the quiet part out loud and I hate it. They are as bad as Lucasfilm and the bullshit they are pulling

HotD and Got have different problems, but, your right, they do share one in common, and that is it the show runners wanting to tell their story more than the book. That is why HBO cut out Miguel Sapochnik, but make the mistake of putting Sarah as producer. And that is why this season it feels even more Rhaenyra/Alicent relationship focused than S1 in a lot aways.

For the inside I got and I think there is interview that kind confirmed that a bit, is that Sarah a long time ago read the books and she doesn't care about canon. She cares about Rh*enicent only, and that is why the worse choices on this show comes from her. She character assassinated Rhenys and Alicent over the "motherhood message" she fails to execute properly because at end of the day she is not a good writer when her bias come into play.

I know people like to put Ryan and her in the same bag, but at least with him for what I know, he is the one that care more about the source material and keep in touch with Martin. He is the one a bit to enamored with Daenerys and tries to bring her in the context of the story and subtext? Yes. But that doesn't bothers me as much compared to the others issues this show have, because in a weird way there is more ground for it.

And I feel at this point there is no way to come around those choices. Because S2 was the last chance of changing the subject a bit. Seasons 2 usually are one of the best of any story because it opens to the possibility of you explore new characters and expend the word building.

What we got was hints at most. Aegon, I give them that, he is well explored this season.

But besides him and the main trio, the relationships between the characters on tg and tb are so poorly dipped. It mostly happened to move the plot. Or happened of screen aka Heleana.

So is no surprise to me that they would cut so much. And is dumb. Because a show that tries to level up to Got so hard, doesn't understand one of the strongest point was the diverse cast of characters, instead of focusing on 3 main characters is just dumb.

[sonatine]

Top 10 Bend it Like Beckham Subtext Moments

All the women in Jess' life dress super girly and she dresses. Well. You're not going to believe this

Neither Jess or Jules interested in dating guys. It's implied that Jules has an ex, but he's never mentioned again and she does not care about him

Jess gets mad anytime someone calls her friend Tony her bf

All the girls in the park salivating over a guy with his shirt off and Jess is just like 😐

Why did Jess sit SO CLOSE next to Jules on her bed when her mom came in? What was the point of that?

Their cute date into city center to buy cleats

Comparing playing soccer to sneaking around with a boy (hm)

Jess' sister calling Jules "dykey"

"Me? Kissing? A boy??? You're all mad"

Jess asking her sister if her parents would still speak to her if she dated someone white (could apply to joe but also jules)

"How do you know if you love someone?" "You'd do anything for them" there is no WAY this is about Joe

Jules gets mad about Joe and Jess kissing but........ who is she maddest about

Parallels between Jess and her gay friend Tony

Shots of Jess' sister dancing with her husband at her weddings interspersed with shots of Jess playing at the finals with Jules

Jules planning to show up to the wedding """"IN HER BEST TROUSERS""""

"You look gorgeous" STOP

Holding hands at the wedding

I did forget about the kiss after the final match

[hamliet]

Genderbending Sophie

tldr hamliet watches Bridgerton for the vibes and the fandom dissolves into shambles and now I'm mad at the horrible things people are saying with their full chest (on both sides, but definitely one more than the other) so I'm going to write about it.

I actually have some criticisms of the Michael/Michaela change. And not all criticism of this is homophobic in nature. My main one is that Michael's personality is going to be extremely hard to make work as Michaela in the established world of Bridgerton, what with its misogyny as kinda a major plot point in every single female character’s storyline so far. Michael’s “merry rake” personality makes him the character I personally saw as least fitting for a gender switch.

That said, I am interested to see what they do with this switch—maybe Michaela will be a “fallen woman” or something of the sort. And while I am sad about losing the infertility plotline, I do think there are other ways to incorporate it. Yet it is a new story, so fans who are disappointed are allowed to express that.

But I’ve long been a proponent of genderbending Sophie, or at least having gender-nonconforming Sophie, both of which seem entirely possible. Benedict’s story works so well with queer subtext—the fact that to be with Sophie, he has to literally choose to leave society in other to be with her and retreats to the country so they can live happily because society will never accept them, and he chooses not to need that acceptance—all of this works really well with a gay love interest. And a gay Cinderella story would be a fun twist.

Yes, in the novel Sophie's role as an illegitimate child and servant girl does play a significant role, but I don't think it plays a role we don't already see in the series. The main issue of Sophie's societal rejection is class, not her gender (though that exacerbates it). Being queer would also potentially exacerbate this, albeit in a different way.

It's also worth noting that lesbian relationships were never explicitly illegal in England. Male homosexuality, however, was very much illegal. Sorry, but I can definitely see this being an interesting aspect to explore. A lot of plot points for Sophie's story easily adapt to this storyline with subtext that works even in today's world (being attacked by strong men who see a weak opponent? being arrested for grasping at happiness when you can find it?), forcing the world of Bridgerton to confront this head on in a way that echoes through the misogyny text of literally every other Bridgerton story.

And that said, I do think it's valid for people to want female!Sophie and to be disappointed if she is genderbent without being homophobic. Because it would be a different story. (I for one really don't want them to give Eloise a female love interest.) But...

The sheer vitriol, the silencing of any opinion that disagrees, the TERF talking points about how ciswomen's perspectives are being erased? Girl, get outta here with that. There are literally SO many ciswomen characters on this show whose struggles with how their genders are perceived have been explored and will be.

Daphne, whose gender-induced ignorance about sex leads to her committing assault (not that the show handled this remotely well). Mary Sharma, who had to flee society after marrying a poor man. Edwina, who is only accepted by her grandparents if she marries well. Kate, who pursues happiness for her sister at the expense of herself, because she is already a class outsider. Violet, who begs Antony to tell the doctor to listen to her when he's told to choose mother or child to save in childbirth. Penelope, who struggles with balancing her passion with her prospects for the future. Prudence and Philippa, whose wellbeings reside in their abilities to bear sons. Portia, who schemes to scam the ton in order to save her daughters and herself. Cressida, whose own internalized misogyny and helplessness leads to her inflicting it on others. Eloise, who is resentful of having no options. Francesca and Michaela's stories will certainly address this. Marina, who had to marry someone she doesn't love. If we get them, Lucy, Hermione, and Hyacinth's stories will also tie into this.

So don't you dare say that ciswomen and their struggles are being erased.

And that's really something that's bothering me--that people who have genuine questions or disappointments about any gender swapping are lumped in with the loud, screaming mobs that are thinly veiling their homophobia (and in this case racism). Many of them are being respectful and don't deserve to be accused of something so serious.

Yet the reason for others being extremely kneejerk defensive is a because most of the talking points I've seen are TERF-related or homophobic, as in they only want to see suffering for gay people and can't fathom them having a happy ending in Regency England. When while there are challenges, they absolutely can, especially in a world as haphazard and vibey and escapist as Bridgerton's. Like if you're watching for deep plot and themes I don't know what to tell you.

Also, the books will always exist. If you love Michael or Sophie (if they change her story), the book is still there for you to love. They're not erasing it and saying you can never prefer it or read it again. And you can be disappointed and express that in a way that isn't God-awful.

Lastly, the way people talk about the queer showrunner (who is a ciswoman herself) is kind of horrifying. She's writing "self insert fanfic," she should "know her place," she's ruining everything--y'all sound like The Fandom Menace. Maybe consider not insulting a queer woman in a way that implies she's overstepping, and keep it to the plot changes and workability thereof? And again, you can have criticisms of how she ran the show--I have writing issues with season 3 (and 1 actually)--but why do you need to make it a personal attack on her as a human being?

Anyway, popular franchise has toxic fanbase, and water is wet.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Bollinger at LGBTQ Nation:

Former Fox host Tucker Carlson said that it’s so obvious that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is gay that it actually proves that it’s Democrats who are the real homophobes because Walz doesn’t feel comfortable coming out. Carlson was on Megyn Kelly’s SiriusXM show, where she played a clip of Walz gesticulating energetically at the end of a rally. Walz has gotten media attention for his animated presence at campaign events. “I’m just gonna say, I don’t know any man who behaves like that,” Kelly said.

“Come on, I mean, come on,” Carlson responded, apparently frustrated at something. “I don’t want to be mean and also I don’t want to say things I can’t prove, but like, let’s- let’s be real.” “Let me just say, not connected necessarily to Tim Walz, I’m never going to take another lecture about gay rights from these people, like, ‘Oh, you hate gays and you keep them all in the closet or whatever,'” Carlson ranted as Kelly giggled. “Any party… Stop with the, with the lectures about that stuff. Do you know what I mean? If you’re so for, in general, if you’re so for gay rights then that would mean that any member of your party who’s gay would feel free to say so in public and would not be pretending not to be gay. I’m just saying.” Carlson then said that he doesn’t dislike Walz for being gay, but he’s mad at “the falseness of” his pretending to be straight. Walz is married and has two kids with his wife. He has never said that he identifies as anything under the LGBTQ+ umbrella.

[...] Pundits have noted that “masculinity” has become a subtext this election, with the Republican ticket positioning itself as “strong” candidates who will “protect” women by upholding conservative gender roles. Harris has painted Republicans’s anti-abortion policies as a threat to women’s bodily autonomy and the right of all Americans to make personal medical decisions. Walz is a father, a hunter, a former military servicemember, and a former football coach who has steadfastly supported LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive, and workers’ rights, but many on the right define masculinity now as the opposition to women’s equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and gun control measures. Walz, on the other hand, is now best known for his supporting role in Harris’ candidacy as well as his past advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, including helping his school establish a gay-straight alliance in the 1990s and making Minnesota a sanctuary state for trans youth.

Former Fox host Tucker Carlson, appearing on fellow former Fox colleague Megyn Kelly’s SiriusXM Triumph show Wednesday, pushed the homophobic rumor that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is “gay”.

See Also:

MMFA: Right-wing media figures are spreading salacious and unsupported accusations against Tim Walz from an account known for creating viral hoaxes

From the 10.16.2024 edition of SiriusXM Triumph/Devil May Care Media's The Megyn Kelly Show:

[fangxin-guoshi]

Banana fish re-review ~

I did a rewatch of banana fish and oh my God I forgot how good this series was. Considering the original manga came out in the 80's in JAPAN, it was SO ahead of its time. One of the best depictions of gay characters I've ever seen in Japanese media, even by today's standards.

Some more silly thoughts:

Like yoshida just casually dropped a manga with an insanely progressive take on the bl genre by showing a complex queer interracial relationship with incredibly well-written characters. Honestly the fact that ash and eiji's relationship wasn't explicitly defined as romantic is a plus imo. Not being able to rely on obvious romantic gestures like kissing, hand-holding, romantic confessions, etc. actually forces the writer to develop their relationship without that crutch to lean on. That's why ash and eiji's relationship is so good, because it doesn't rely on surface-level romance to get across the fact that they love each other and instead use subtlety and little nuances in their interactions. It's obvious from the subtext and how much they're shown to care for each other.

Not to mention the great depiction of black characters (I know portraying black characters non-offensively is like, the bare minimum, but may I remind you this is the EIGHTIES in JAPAN, and there are so many CURRENT animes that have an issue with it).

I mean yea does it have its flaws? Sure. Ash's admittedly very lame "lynx" title that comes with many wildcat metaphors, eiji being a bit passive in the first half, sort of cringe portrayal of America, etc. but my God the way she handles the trauma and character dynamics is incredible.

Ok so I did have a uh... Not really a criticism but something that I noticed that got me thinking. I feel like some shows use dark subject matter as a bit of an easy way to evoke an emotional reaction from the audience. Sometimes authors give characters horrible backstories as a way to make the audience THINK the character is complex and interesting but in reality it's a bit of a lazy writing tactic. Low effort high reward kind of thing. Banana fish obviously does have brutal subject matter and ash is really put through the ringer, but I love that yoshida doesn't let that become the axis of his character. He has trauma that greatly impacts him, but he's also super developed on his own apart from that. When I think about Ash's character, I don't immediately think about the traumatic backstory parts. The balance between how significantly the trauma affects him vs making sure that's not the ONLY part of his character is extremely well-executed.

Scenes that stuck out to me (not including asheiji ones bc it goes without saying theyre all amazing)

- the interrogator playing Ash's tapes after being arrested ("later, movie star" was the most brutal line ever omg)

- max burning the photos of ash (underrated moment this was SO good),

- any and all interactions between sing and blanca (they're such an unlikely duo peak comedy right there)

- the convo between sing and yut lung in the last episode

- ash stabbing the guy in the dick with a fork

- callback to ^^^, ash stabbing the banana with a fork

- Ash's breakdown in front of dino (ep 19 I believe)

- the entirety of ash escaping from the "mental hospital" and then having to go rescue ibe and max lmaooo

- ash brutally murdering Abraham(?, the redhead guy) by blowing abt a thousand holes in him w a machine gun as payback for shorter

- ash shooting shorter

- running joke of max being Ash's dad

- everyone constantly manhandling yut lung by yanking on his hair (dude get a haircut)

- ash immediately going to shoot himself no hesitation after yut lung told him he wouldn't hurt eiji if he did so (technically asheiji but I'm keeping it since this was a yut lung and ash scene)

- "what does this picture look like?" "Your wife"

- eiji's cute stupid little outfit he wore when he went to go find shorter in Chinatown

I also have a confession:

I LOVE yut lung. Him being paralleled with ash, but instead of finding love he let hate consume him because he had no one unlike ash who had eiji was just devastating but in a good way.

So yea those are my messy thoughts after finishing it. I'd argue that it was probably one of the best pieces of queer media to exist at the time. In the world. And one of my personal favorite pieces of queer media ever.

[doki-doki-lesbians-club]

hello! please rant about the comphet subtext in ddlc. i wanna hear it so bad please please please please please

Hi! I think I've written on this before, but I can't recall when or where, so I'll try and recall as many points as I can!

This'll be a long one, so under the cut!

For starters, let's talk base game. Obviously, all four girls fall for the MC and that's that. However, watching the ways that the other club members interact, it's pretty clear to many players that they have feelings beyond just friendship.

Namely, I sight Natsuki's poems. First off, the poem "Amy Likes Spiders" can be read as Yuri's love of horror (which is how I initially read it when I first played). However, it's also pretty easy to read this as either Natsuki's experience being trans, or being gay. Either way, that makes the entire narrative of the poem make sense, and also explains lines like "I tried not to let her touch me. She likes spiders, so her hands are probably gross." as well as "It doesn't matter if she has other hobbies. It doesn't matter if she keeps it private. It doesn't matter if it doesn't hurt anyone.

It's gross. She's gross. The world is better off without spider lovers."

Seems pretty clear, right? These lines may feel intense and out of place with other readings, but when you imagine Natsuki being outed to her shit friends as gay, or trans, it all starts to make sense.

Have you ever read the poem "I'll Be Your Beach"? Because it's gay as all hell!

We're led to assume that the romantic poems Natsuki and Yuri write are about the MC, but that would be odd to imagine when reading this poem. Natsuki writes about "your heavy thoughts", "your insecurities", and "your memories" and ends by saying "You'll learn to love yourself again." When, exactly, did the MC express any of these sentiments? Let alone to Natsuki?? But I think it would be pretty easy to connect all of these points to another girl: Yuri.

It's easy to see some strong subtext here for gay Natsuki (and maybe trans too, if you wanna see that). But when we break into the Side Stories, this is where it gets real interesting...

MC is not there. The Side Stories are purely scenes to read through to watch the Literature Club form for the first time as all the girls meet each other and get to know one another. Because of this, we get to see more of them and their feelings toward each other than we could have ever dreamed of in the base game!

Without giving too many spoilers for some of the best scenes in the entire game: the Side Stories are pretty gay. It's nearly impossible to ignore. These girls are clearly imagining each other as more than just friends, are going through some feelings. Each pairing even gets their own spotlight, and we see how each and every one of them has some interest in each other, which is a stark difference from the base game.

The main difference? MC is not there.

The base game has a lot of themes surrounding control, reality, and choices (or the lack thereof). Not only are all the girls destined (or "programmed") to fall in love with MC, it can't be avoided, even by Monika, who wasn't meant to have a route at all. They were already playing with the ideas of fate, and programming, and free will, but what happens when you remove the object that decided their fate?

Well, when we removed MC from the scenario altogether, we see the girls happier, getting along better, and showing interest in one another that we only got in subtext in the base game. To me, this leads to another theme of choice and control: compulsive heterosexuality. If part of the "generic dating sim" frame of their reality is forcing them to express interest in the male protagonist, even if they couldn't care less and really are interested in each other, that's the same themes but on a whole new level.

Left to their own devices, the girls are happy and expressing interest in one another. In the "game" they are forced to play roles in, we see their problems exacerbate, their situation spiraling, as they all desperately cling to the MC as the object of their affection. Seems pretty comphet to me.

Thank you sooo much for this ask! It's been a while since I wrote a long post like this! :D Speaking outside of my own trans/gay perspective, it seems pretty hard to imagine any other future for these girls in light of the Side Stories. And to that extent, I think the Side Stories gives us a window into a happier world; one where they are all free to grow and thrive as who they are, regardless of what that means for each of them! I think that's only further fueled this wonderful fandom: seeing them happy.

and gay.

Thanks again for the ask~!

[bengiyo]

Boys Be Brave Eps 3 & 4 Stray Thoughts

Last week, we met our high performing student Kim Jin Woo, who is looking for his ideal type of girl while suppressing his feelings for Jeong Gi Seop because Gi Seop always says yes to everyone. Gi Seop felt some kinda way about Jin Woo never asking him out, and so decided to squat in Jin Woo's house to figure out why. There's also a side couple, one of which is Gi Seop's friend, who has a guy who declared he wants to fuck him.

Episode 3: Contract that has been started

Has the sub team decided to change spellings on me already?? Y'all.

Oh to be a young gay thinking that being a good student would be enough to keep your parents happy in spite of the disappointment you know you will inflict upon them.

I have affection for gays who recognize their attraction but won't risk it on someone then find unreliable.

If this man gives it up because of a mobile....

Complicated feelings about Gi Seop feminizing himself to appeal to Jin Woo.

This chair Balgeum is sitting in is making me think about The Beauty Inside (2015).

Is Balgeum in a second chance romance?? I'm intrigued.

Gi Seop is fucking up this man's schedule!

A multi-pronged misunderstanding. That's kinda fun.

Oh hell no. No man makes me hide in my own damn house.

Ooh Balgeum and his guy got separated by distance.

Now, I don't like what you said there at all, Balgeum. Rolling around fighting better end in sex and an apology for that.

This is such an awkward angle to film a kiss.

I know Balgeum and this pianist better kiss because the pianist has ample lips.

The song they keep playing is making me think of that song for Wish You.

Episode 4: A sudden encounter with my type and you

Socks getting switched is a fun new euphemism, and also very funny from a gay sex standpoint in whether the socks stay on or off during sex.

Moment immediately ruined by the crushing weight of poverty and debt.

I hope the actor didn't really hurt himself on the bed.

This man is driving me up the wall with this wig.

This is why faking it blows up in your face.

Oh no, a girl who doesn't deserve this.

Suddenly, wound tending and hair drying.

The weird line around queer subtext in a show about m/m romance is so confusing for me here. It's making Gi Seop hard to read because I don't know how much queerness is real in this show. He could be aromantic mostly, but who knows.

Watching a movie from the library? I'm into this.

Oh, they're just reading together. That's also good.

She has an alarm for them to move to the arcade? She's awesome, but what is all this hetero activity in my BL?

Wow he really got that tattoo.

Is there a thing they're going for here about not pairing with the same type as yourself?

Hold on this girl tried to beat Gi Seop's ass with a bat before? I'm obsessed with Kang Hye Jin.

I don't really know how I feel about this show? I kinda don't like it? But I also want to like it? I'm not sure I get the appeal of Jeong Gi Seop or why Kim Jin Woo is into him. I like the energy of the sides, but we don't know enough so they're skating by on broad sketches that work well. I'm not sure what it is, but I just feel uncertain about this show.

[amageish]

So, James Somerton's brought his Wiccan and Hulkling video back online and I feel a need to just yell into the void for a moment about it.

In that video, Somerton says a lot of really dumb things and exaggerations to make the Young Avengers MLM power couple of Wiccan/Hulkling and the gay X-Men Iceman seem more important to comic history then they are. They are incredibly important, of course - Iceman especially is, to my knowledge, the only Lee/Kirby character to be textually out - but their writers were not fighting tooth and nail as Somerton claims they were - and they certainly weren't acting on spite against a homophobic Marvel who would never let queers into their flagship franchise. They were stories, pitched and approved like any other...

Hell, Bendis had already written a queer woman in the form of Ultimate Spider-Woman a fair amount of time before Iceman came out... Somerton's commentary makes no sense - it's well-delivered and no shade to anyone who was fooled by it, but (like a lot of comic book discourse online TBH) it doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

That said, I think it's important to remember that Marvel Corporate does still need to approve queer coming-outs. There are actual times where characters were intended to have come out as queer, but ended up as subtext in the final draft or had their arcs abandoned entirely. Hell, in the Marvel Pride special last year, Marvel writer Tini Howard alluded to the challenges that can come from writing queer stories while not knowing if they can be officially queer - mentioning how she's been "writing Rachel and Betsy falling in love before [she] knew [she] could."

So like. If you see something queer happening in a Marvel comic and it remains confined to subtext, then please do not immediately jump to "Well, Somerton lied about corporate resistance to Wiccan/Hulkling, so therefore this writer totally had a choice to do a queer story and just chose not to"... Not everyone has the sway of Bendis! Not every queer coming-out is approved. They often take time.

Queercoding is also, for better and for worse, often the route to queer canon in a collaborative medium like comics. There's a lot of queercoding and queer implications from the Jim Shooter era (where queer stuff was actually firmly prohibited at Marvel) that are only now becoming canon. Northstar, Marvel's first openly-gay superhero, was coded for years before it was hard canon. Chris Claremont, one of the main architects of the X-Men as we know them today, wrote plenty of stuff that was subtextually gay that Marvel is still playing catch-up with to this day - ex/ Mystique and Destiny only became Nightcrawler's biological parents, as was his original vision, last year and we still haven't had Kate Pryde do anything more textually Sapphic then kiss a tattoo artist one time...

Being frustrated is cool - I am also often frustrated with Disney and Marvel, as my blog can attest - but please do direct your frustration at the corporation and don't jump to being mean to authors/artists... as I'm pretty sure they're often just as disappointed as we are!