#and there's some gay subtext because we deserve it

[lab-trash]

Yknow, I'm genuinely surprised there hasn't been some sort of weird horror/adult adaptation of The Magic Tree House.

Like, an It style thing. And I don't know why that surprises me. The books weren't particularly scary, and I don't know if I ever read the origins book, so I don't know how it ended up there or why those kids are there in it all the time.

But it's still really weird to me. Like, it feels like the perfect recipe for some sort of weird, dystopian horror. An isekai horror, if you will. These two early-to-mid teenagers getting shoved into the past or future or different dimension or however you have it. And they need to get home or whatever.

[therainscene]

I've described myself in the past as "overly-queerbaited" as a way of explaining why it took me so long to come around to Byler endgame as a legitimate possibility... but that's kind of a misleading way of putting it.

Truth is, I've always been too much of a cynical fuck to fall for queerbait... or any other story that promises positive queer rep.

[Sherlock couldn't touch me; I saw this cringe homophobia coming from a mile away. Fans mistaking straight anxiety jokes for meaningful gay subtext was clearly doomed to end in mockery. Nobody deserved to be treated like that... but god, it was easy to predict.]

I think it's a symptom of having grown up under Section 28 -- feeling like I'm being unreasonable for wanting to see queerness normalized is such an ingrained habit that even today I instinctively recoil like a vampire touching sunlight whenever an optimistic queer story falls unrequested into my lap.

But I'm hardly alone in feeling this way -- many queer Millennial and Gen-X fans of Stranger Things are against the idea of Byler because it would ruin the catharsis of watching the gay boy growing up in the same era as we did slowly succumb to the same despair that we did.

[For those who haven't played the VR game: Vecna is speaking in this screenshot.]

There's genuine comfort to be found in painful stories -- this type of catharsis is practically the cornerstone of horror as a genre -- so I can't really fault myself or anyone else for wanting it, despite the obnoxious oversaturation of disappointing queer endings in media.

This is the nostalgia show, after all -- and like it or not, for many middle-aged queers in the target audience, nostalgia is shot through with the pain of homophobia and loneliness.

But do you know who else is a hurt queer(-coded) adult who resents happy endings? This cynical fuck:

Henry personifies despair and loneliness and the dark urge to take our pain out on others -- and when Will is in the picture, I would argue that he also represents internalized homophobia.

Will might represent who we were -- but Henry represents who we've let ourselves turn into.

And I don't think many of us want to admit to that, because that would involve questioning why we have so much in common with the literal villain of the show; why we're still so consumed with self-pity after 20+ years that we're obsessing over the fate of some kid.

I'm not suggesting that wanting a less-than-fairytale ending for a fictional gay boy is equivalent to being a child killer lol. It's perfectly valid to want to see your pain acknowledged, and stories which appeal to that desire deserve to exist.

But between Henry's connection to Will and the cycle of abuse themes of the show, it's clear that this particular story simply isn't about wallowing in the bleakness of growing up gay in the 80s, but about self-actualizing in spite of it all.

So I just can't bring myself to want a "relatable" ending for Will.

As much as I struggle to enjoy positive queer rep, I don't want to be so cynical. I'd thrown up so many walls to protect myself as a teenager that I forgot how desperately I wanted to see just one of those painful queer stories end on the same uplifting note that straight stories were always entitled to: with true love overcoming the odds, saving the day, and living happily ever after.

[But I'm A Cheerleader, a surprisingly fun movie about conversion therapy, is proof that stories like this did exist when I was a teen... but finding them in the pre- and early-internet days amidst so much censorship was a tall order.]

What makes Stranger Things different from most queer stories -- and what allowed it to pierce through my defenses and stab me in the gut -- is that it perfectly mimics those bleak, acceptable-to-the-censors stories from my youth -- only this time, the secret uplifting gay plot twist is real.

Not for the sake of shock value or of grabbing some empty woke points at the last second, but because the plan all along was to slap the audience in the face for believing homophobic lies about the existence of queer happiness.

That's some gourmet catharsis, if you ask me.

Just the possibility that my inner child might finally be vindicated has allowed me to truly let myself want the things I want for the first time in 20 years -- and that's the first step towards finally crawling back out into the sunlight.

Happy Pride Month, everyone. 🌈

[levelofyoureye]

despite making a destiel meme on here that got incredibly popular, i have never seen a single full episode of supernatural. however, my best friend @res-spectans is a huge fan of the show, so she’s shown me the 15x18 scene™️ before (which is why i was able to make the meme LMAO). a couple of nights ago i was sleeping over and late into the night we were very delirious and decided to watch a compilation of deancas highlights on youtube. and holy fuck…

supernatural fans HOW DID YOU DO THIS FOR 11 SEASONS STRAIGHT. all it took was that one 20-minute compilation of their best moments and i was IMMEDIATELY convinced that they were in love. actually i didn’t even need the 20 minutes. even the very first clip from that video was actually some sick fuckery. the absolute journey i was taken on in those 20 minutes of homophobic queerness was just… wow. if i had adequate words to describe the buffoonery that must’ve been going through the creators of this show’s minds then i think i’d be on a hit list. HOW WERE THOSE TWO NOT TOGETHER??? ur telling me there was literally an episode with a wholeass plotline about dean refusing to let cas die a virgin? the show deadass acted like they didn’t explore each other’s bodies even ONCE?? and THERE WAS A WHOLE EPISODE WITH DESTIEL IN A FUCKING MUSICAL?!?!? like they FULLY ACKNOWLEDGED THE QUEERBAITING THEY WERE DOING AND STILL ACTIVELY CONTINUED TO DO IT?? i’m sorry but there is quite literally no way. not to even mention all of the romance tropes they fulfill. cas breaking out of the brainwashing (i’ve also been informed that dean was originally going to say “i love you” there like HUH)?! THE MIXTAPE? neither of them ever denying anyone who called the other one their boyfriend?? “dean and i share a more profound bond” WHAT. dean calling cas devastatingly handsome? maybe it was because i was sleep deprived but by the time we were done with the compilation my ribs were aching from how much i was CACKLING. i was just in absolute disbelief at the absurdity of it all. like,,, people dared to call this subtext? this was the gayest shit i have EVER SEEN. if you are actually a fan of this show then i am so fucking sorry. i cannot believe you all just sat through that for 11 seasons and then had it confirmed in the end by castiel being sent to SUPERHELL. you gays deserved so much better and SO DID DESTIEL.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

Unpopular opinion but this is also why I dislike so much behind the scenes content. (This kind of stuff not necessarily shots of the cast like we've gotten recently.) Because we usually get NO context for any of it. But we WANT to know the context without waiting for episodes months from now. So we spec about ~what it could mean~ and I feel like we as fans are more creative and meaningful than the writers (or give them too much credit sometimes.) Leading to all these ideas about this or that from pics/vids only to, like you said, end up disappointed or even angry by the end reality.

Spec can be fun and I'm not saying people shouldn't do it. But sometimes people take it too seriously or grasp onto these hopes/ideas that they or others come up with. And it only results in disappointment. (I feel like a lot of gay Eddie spec falls in this category right now)

i agree, the sheer amount of bts content posted by the crew drives me a little crazy… like i know it’s fun for them and they want to cause chaos bc that’s all stuff that brings in intrigue, but it’s stressful as fuck when you have one singular shot of a camera on a location as the only context and zero other information and people start acting like the first plausible theory is gospel truth.

i remember so much bts content from even s7 that either never even ended up in the show, or only ended up being in one shot yet was the cause of an insane amount of speculation (for example the fucking warehouse fire from the finale— people were convinced it was the 118 burning down and that someone was gonna end the season presumed dead and then it ended up only being used in a bit plot that had no actual narrative impact other than prolonging a black man’s pain but i digress)

i absolutely agree with you about the eddie thing too— it’s one thing for a bunch of queer people on the internet to see a mustache and go “omg it’s a freddie mercury reference” but no one is thinking about how wide of an audience this show reaches… most of the GA aren’t going to think about freddie mercury when they see that mustache on screen (hell, i don’t even think of freddie mercury when i see it) they’re just gonna see a macho man in a mustache which is the prevailing stereotype in a lot of places; not queer subtext. we are giving these writers too much credit when they’ve only ever put in surface level effort on queer characters by saying they’re trying to subtly tell us that this means queer eddie when this has just as much of a chance of eddie falling back onto toxic masculinity, or it just being a really bad stylistic choice (that we know they’re capable of making)

it’s okay if you want to participate in spec.

spec is fun but some people don’t want to participate in it and that’s okay.

they don’t deserve to have their valid concerns ripped apart and spat on just because you decided for everyone that the mustache obviously means he’s going to be gay when that’s very likely not the case. (im thinking of one popular blog in particular that has been doing this lately)

overall… im sitting out of s8 until something actually good happens. i’ve lost faith and trust in the writers and no amount of official 911 instagram videos are going to convince me otherwise especially after how hard we were clowned by abc in s7. they’ve proven that they only care about baiting us and until they actually go through with their own set ups within the narrative rather than backtracking at the last second, i will continue not to trust them with these characters.

[blackbird-brewster]

CM Unpopular Opinions

Just a couple of weeks out from the new season, the new trailer just dropped, and people are getting hyped. For last season, I made a CME predictions post (which mostly came to pass, bc this show is so predictable) -- but this season, I'm going to post some unpopular opinions going into S17. Don't like, don't read.

WILL. Since we know Will won't be in this season, there have been speculations that JJ/Will will be getting a divorce, or that Will is going to die. I do NOT want Will to die. I hate that guy, I've never liked his character, but you know who I do love? JJ. She has already been through SO much, I do NOT want Hotch 2.0 in S17. I don't want Will to die, because that would be like ripping half of JJ's soul out of her chest and she deserves better. What I actually think will happen -- is just that Will is going back to being an off-screen partner like he was for most of the series.

JEMILY. I've already written my thoughts on Paget's Jemily hints on social media and why I think that's simply queerbaiting. There's no way Jemily is going to be canon, and I am HAPPY about that. I don't want Jemily to be canon!! Look at how this show treats canon relationships!! How many female romantic interests have been tortured and killed???? Why would I ever want Jemily in that crossfire? Also, as a fanfic author who has been writing Jemily for the past decade -- I don't want them to become canon, because that will squander so much creative potential. Fic authors fill in the gaps and subtext of canon, that's our job, when a relationship becomes canon it really loses it's appeal. That being said, I would love to actually see Emily and JJ interacting again. S16 really ignored their decade-long friendship altogether. Shit, I would love to just see them in the same fricking scene again.

REBECCA. All I want is for Rebecca to survive this season. As mentioned above, the way this show treats romantic interests of main characters is HORRIBLE. I'm forever furious with how the show handled Tara/Rebecca's relationship last season. I know fans hated Rebecca for getting pissed at Tara, but I still don't agree. What I do hate is how as soon as Tara's queerness served it's plot point (getting the inmate to admit he's gay too) -- the show nuked Tara's relationship altogether. I seriously love Rebecca, I think she adds a lot to the show. And since we already know Rebecca is in S17, I would LOVE to see Tara/Rebecca sit down and actually talk through their issues (like real adults!). I would LOVE for them to get the happy ending they deserve.

GARCIA'S ROMANCE. For real, I do not care about any of this love triangle bullshit with Garcia between Tyler and Luke or whatever tf is happening. I seriously hated what they did to Garcia's character in S16, it felt like they completely erased the prior 15 years from her character and replaced it with the most basic hetnormative romance plot. I don't ship Garvez (nor her and Tyler), so I don't really care about that side of things. But I would LOVE to get our Garcia back. I miss her so much.

RETURNING CHARACTER RUMORS. If one of the past cast members comes back in S17 I do not want it to be MGG. CME already focused an entire season on Rossi's man-pain (literally the only reason they killed Krystal was for him to be angry 🙃). I do NOT want another season of white-male centric plot lines (even though that's clearly what's gonna happen with Voight) If anyone actually comes back to guest, I want it to either be Matt or Derek. Alternatively, I do have a crack theory that the unsub/Gold Star is actually Elle Greenaway. A trained government assassin, she became a vigilante after leaving the BAU and she's been operating for all these years without detection. Now THAT would be a good twist.

Listen, overall, I'm not looking forward to another season of Evolution. I think they're trying way too hard to turn CM into some edgy, gritty, Norwegian-type crime drama and in doing so, they've ruined some of my favourite characters irrevocably. I don't have high hopes for S17.

[little-bloodied-angel]

When I was twelve I read my first queer book. I gasped and cried when Dorian was the hand that drove a knife into Basil; when I understood that meant "his love killed him".

I had been told about it. I had been warned against the kind of love that would inevitably lead to your destruction. I'd been ten when it happened in real life around me for the first time, the boy I'd barely met who sentenced himself to death for who he was, while my school and my church warned us about his sin and slapped gags over our mouths.

I saw it happen again. Again. Again.

When Brokeback Mountain came out the world was so concerned with making gay cowboy jokes that by the time I dodged my mother enough to watch it I thought it was a comedy, and it gutted me. Not just because of the very real and very visceral tragedy it represented, but because I understood that the world would watch even our darkest misery and laugh.

There was no escaping it in this world, and there was no escaping it in art. The happiest endings we got were subtext. We died, or we were a mockery, or we were evil, or some godawful combination of the three.

My best friend died in my arms when I was fourteen years old and he sixteen, and I was supposed to accept that his queerness killed him as though it hadn't been his father and his priest and the self hatred that kept him pliant but ate him inside until there was nothing left.

I read De Profundis and wept and wondered if he hadn't known all along that his love would kill him too.

Being queer and trans and a mixed Jew, and growing up Catholic because the wrong parent took charge, meant growing up with the fear and the shame and the guilt and the pain; it meant burying those I claim as my people, even those who died before I was born; it meant the terror of burying someone else; it meant being pigeonholed in roles I'd never asked to play and being less than a person; and on the screen and the page it was more of the same. At fifteen I'd lived more than most people do at ninety, and I can't remember a time when my soul didn't bear permanent scars. I can remember when I started giving my body scars to match.

I am damaged. Because the world decided they knew what I was and punished me accordingly.

I looked at Izzy last year and I thought I know you, and you know me, and I let the fierce hope in my chest ignite and come fully aflame that once, just once, someone in whose eyes I saw myself would get a happy ending. I heard this show is kind this show is queer joy this show is queer love and we know how much you've needed that and I let it promise me I was safe.

I should have remembered what promises of safety have meant for me in the past.

He deserved so much better and so did we. I don't really know what else to say.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here again my friend with a quick 🫂 for you. And now let's dive in.

So the great and unexpected: Madney!!! I didn't think we'd be getting much from them this episode, and it was starting to feel weird that we hadn't heard from them after Mara left, so I was so, so happy to see them finally get some dedicated screen time!!! And I loved how they handled their talk about kids and really brought home how solid and loving their relationship is (of course Chim already knew, that's her husband!!!). And while the well call-back being about their story was a surprise, it wasn't unpleasant, it worked and Kenny killed that scene, they never said it outright but you could feel Chimney thinking about his own brother when he was talking to the kid. And yeah, Maddie making a rule that she not be treated with kid gloves was so good to see, it needed to be said. Perfect subplot for them, no notes.

The incredible and only partly expected: Eddddddie!!! We are finally, actually dealing with the root of Eddie's problems and yeah it feels mean to say (but Tim kinda earned it after last season's mess) they are actually handling it well. The hot gay priest is a lovely bonus, but him being the one to push Eddie made sense for where Eddie is at now. And the Risky Business dance after shaving??!! TV at its finest. And as a last point actually putting "Oh, I'm straight." in the script?? That man is getting out and I can't wait, we are going to feats my friend.

Now not great but I get why but also I'm tired: The break up. So before I get salty let me just emphasize BONES 🥂🥂🥂🥂🎉🎉🎉🎉!!! Oh god it feels like we lived the literal seasons of BT 1.0 in these 10 or so episodes of BT 2.0 and I'm so glad its done for and we are free. That being said let's talk about the way they handled this. So is it just me or is Tim literally recycling his lonestar secret wife plotline for Tommy but with slightly less plotholes?? Because Josh's whole speech minus the Glee nonsense sounded a lot like his facebook post from that time. That man seriously needs to let his bad ideas die. Also whether your trying to face-value justify Tommy seriously hurting Abby during a rough time in her life (and I'm no fan of Abby) or trying to imply that we should let go of the racism and misogyny of the past in the subtext, "you don't know what's it was like to be scared and gay and closeted" isn't an excuse!!!! You don't get to magically wave away people being harmed by a character's actions OR someone close to those people passing judgement on those actions with a "pre-Glee" argument, its absurd. And yeah, maybe they had to have a good excuse for Buck to overcompensate and jump into "let's move in together!" but is this really the best they could do?? Speaking of Buck overcompensating, I repeat from last week, the hamster wheel is not fun!!! I mean at least they didn't actually move in together, but to try and pull off a last minute "I won't because I care too much" from the guy who just brought Buck tickets to watch a game he hates for an anniversary present is just 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄. Also unless its part of his post-breakup spiraling we are once again not going to discuss the condescending attitude, the digs at Buck being mature enough, or telling Buck who he is all the way up until the final scene. I'm tired. Why did we go through all of this nonsense for months to end with Buck getting nothing from this relationship aside from realizing he's bi, we could've done that in 2 or 3 episodes last seasons and spared everyone the pain of trying to buy into's Lou's attempts at acting. Just ugh.

At least we ended with Buddie on the couch, which definitely feels like the start of something. Thoughts (salty or otherwise)??

Hello my friend, and thanks for the hugs, they are appreciated 🫂

Okay, let's get to it! I am SO very excited about a new Madney baby! They deserve to have a lovely, healing experience after the last time! Their discussions about joy were sweet and I loved their rules! They have to communicate, but with trust! He has to trust that when she says she's okay and doing well, she is, and she has to trust that if she is NOT doing well, she can speak up and he (and everyone) will be there to support her. I love this for them, and also for us! And also for Uncle Buck and the good stuff we can get there too.

The Eddie stuff was so good! We see him STILL hiding the actual truth of what happened in his storytelling and putting all the weight on himself! And even without the full story, Hot Priest Brian still knew exactly what was up and what to say to help kick-start Eddie's journey. As much as I hate this Chris plot dragging out like it has been, this episode gives some reasoning by telling us Eddie is keeping himself from joy to punish himself, and Chris has always been a joy for him. Hopefully we will see him taking steps soon to go get his son back.

As for the break-up, at the very least we can celebrate it being over! 🍾🥂🎉🍾🥂🎉🍾🥂🎉 I wasn't expecting it to be super satisfying but damn this show still manages to let me down 😒 I am *cackling* at the LS comparison because it's just like, same premise, different font 🙄. And if it didn't work the first time and actually got a LOT of criticism, why pull the same shit again? Except that BT 2.0 is called that for a reason because it's the same as BT 1.0 down to the stank face about an ILY, and a panicked "move in with me so I can prove I'm good enough" from Buck. How tired and boring.

I'm glad Bryan gave a speech that resonated with him. I'm glad it can be looked at with an Eddie lense. I'm NOT glad that we are excusing racism, and misogyny in the name of "protecting closet space". Eli was a white man who worked in the same house under the same people, and we NEVER see him engaging in that kind of shit! So it's not like T couldn't have hung out with him instead, he actively CHOSE to be part of the problem. And at the end of the day, we STILL see the misogyny from T, in the way he talked about Abby!

Literally, WHAT did Buck learn here? BT 1.0 didn't really teach him anything either because he left not because he was miserable and unhappy, but because she once again put people he loved in danger for her own personal gain. And even THEN they didn't actually talk about that or let anyone on the firefam make any comments about her behavior, or the way she treated him, or how unhappy he had looked. And here we are again, with Buck trying to shrink himself down to be what someone wants, while the show refuses to address it, even through other characters talking amongst themselves about their concern for Buck. NGL I snorted SO hard at Buck saying he didn't think T could be that cruel because that's the ONLY thing we knew about him as a person until they brought him back in s7. We literally could have avoided ALL of this and gotten rid of him in 7x05 and let Buck have an actual plot about exploring this side of himself, and reflecting on what he actually wants.

*deep sigh*

On the bright side!! Couch theory is fucking BACK! We got Buck having the same couch his mom got for him(???), we got T laying on it looking the most uncomfortable a human has ever looked on a couch (his head isn't even on the pillow??) while Buck is across the room starting an allergic reaction to the medicine T gave him, we got Eddie dancing around and jumping on the couch, and we got Buck showing up and them sitting in silence on Eddie's couch (the first time the two of them alone have shared a couch) with pictures of their missing son framed between them! What a way to end the episode! And next week is lightning strike trauma??? It feels good to be this excited about the show again, even if it still could use some work to get back to the level of the good ol days. We're on the right path!

Thanks for giving me something else to think about today 💙

[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.

[benkybot]

// Evangelion spoilers

Been watching evangelion for the first time and I'm on episode 24, in which they introduce Kaworu, and usually I'm able to tell the difference between queerbaiting shows and actual queer representation right of the bat but with this show I am sooo unsure because some people just don't act normal in this show.

Like in this episode we get 10 minutes of purely Kaworu and Shinji hanging out while 1. They take a shower together while Kaworu discusses fear of intimacy and holds his hand 2. They sleep next to each other 3. Kaworu tells him "I think I was born to meet you". And even when Kaworu turns out to be an angel he's like still really nice to Shinji and tells Shinji that he's willing to give up his plan to end the world for him and allows Shinji to kill him (which Shinji hesitates a looooong time). And then later he's like "Kaworu deserved to live, not me" even though Kaworu living would mean everyone else he knew dying. Mind you this episode was the first time they met, dude's entire arc lasted 24 minutes but it was so much.

Like it's probably meant to be that Kaworu was the first person who truly liked him openly and honestly without ulterior motives and without any social boundaries and him being an angel is meant to break Shinji (as every episode does) because this was the first real friend he made but it really reads like Kaworu is very romantically interested in Shinji and I genuinely can't tell. Like all of the characters in Evangelion are so weird and sexually unnormal that maybe taking a naked bath so close to someone who you've never met seems normal by comparison but idk.

They definitely are gay in my mind I just don't know if that was the writers choice or not, though it probably was meant as subtext. Either way he should've switched sides and joined Kaworu in ending the world cuz let's be honest he treated him better in one episode than anyone in the whole series

[williamrikers]

King of the Cardboard Castle

- thoughts on kanghan after episode 2 -

i just rewatched the episode (because it slaps so hard, i'm fully on board and invested in this show now), and i want to write a little something on kanghan because i see some people in the tag confused by his choices. why did he go to sailom's with a gun? why did he end up comforting sailom? i think it's all very understandable from his character's perspective.

so, to me, that cardboard castle tells us everything we need to know about kanghan: his power is an illusion, built on an unsteady foundation, and could be torn down at any moment. kang is intimately aware of this and does everything he can to try and consolidate the little power and influence he has by any means necessary.

why use a gun to threaten sailom?

but sailom isn't afraid or deferential. he never, EVER is.

kanghan needs to feel dominant. he needs to feel powerful, and literally the only guy at school who keeps defying him is sailom. sailom keeps coming out on top time and time again because he's smarter than kang and never actually starts shit, he just reacts to what's happening, making him basically immune to being ratted out to people in positions of authority. even kang's own grandmother sees through kang's shitty attempts at manipulation and chastises kang in front of the principal.

kanghan's only power is that over the kids at school, truly a king of a very small and incredibly meaningless kingdom. but it is effective in making him feel powerful: all of the other kids defer to kanghan or are openly terrified of him (we saw them all dutifully lining up to have the videos removed from their phones, none of them are ever going to challenge kang).

and kang resents that--has a deep need to put sailom in his place, because he wants that feeling of total power. he wants all of his classmates to defer to him, not just 90% of them. at this point, it's turned into an obsession for him: make sailom afraid just once. make him tremble before kang just once. make him get down on his knees JUST ONCE. (and no, there is no gay subtext at all to kang insisting again and again that sailom should get down on his knees. don't worry about it kanghan your secret gay fantasies are safe with me 😘)

like, he's tried everything else: threatening him physically, trying to get him fired from his job at the car wash, ACTUALLY getting him fired from his job tutoring, hurting his friends, trying to convince his grandmother to cancel his scholarship, taunting him about his home situation and lack of money, actually throwing money in his face/on the ground (from what i understand, a taboo in thailand). and none of it has worked to make sailom treat him with the respect and fear he thinks he deserves. sailom would rather have given up his scholarship than lie about what happened and wrongfully apologize to kang. at this point, i feel like kang is too far gone to be able to back out. he has set this goal for himself (humiliate sailom), and it's been eating his brain. he can't rest until he finally gets what he wants.

can i just put in a quick tangent in here gushing over CHIMON'S MICROEXPRESSIONS!!! god, this man is a joy to watch, just look at the money throwing scene in part 3/4; the depth of emotion chimon manages to convey with just the slightest changes of expression is incredible. i've said this before and i will say it again: chimon is one of the strongest actors on the gmmtv roster right now and i am in awe of his skill.

anyway, kang goes to sailom's house fully intent on humiliating him, but what he finds there is so much worse than any of his own bullying has managed to be. for all his talk, kanghan is not a particularly scary or successful bully: he's the king of the cardboard castle. his power is an illusion, propped up by his family name and his family's money. i don't think he would be capable of taking a hot iron and burning someone with it--the level of violence that sailom is subjected to (ON THE REGULAR, I MIGHT ADD) is completely out of kang's wheelhouse.

and i do think that at this point he genuinely feels for sailom. that he genuinely does feel sorry for him, because you can't be obsessed with someone to the point of going to their house with a gun without caring about them in some way. on the contrary, the kind of obsession kang has with sailom runs bone-deep, and i am absolutely team "kang is going to fall first and fall hard". he's already obsessed with the guy! he values sailom's emotional state in a way he doesn't anyone else's! (sure, initially it's because he wants to make sailom submit but all that obsessive energy has to go SOMEWHERE, right.)

seeing sailom cowering and crying does put things in perspective for kanghan, i think. the way he reaches out to him seems almost involuntary, the way he touches him is hesitant and unsure. but this does read as a very genuine and understandable reaction to me: no matter their differences at school, this is a person who kang knows and, in a twisted way, cares very much about. the normal human reaction at this point is to reach out, to offer comfort, no matter how you feel about the person. it would have been weirder to me if he hadn't, honestly.

also, a note on the use of "friend" by kang in this scene: i've seen people making a big deal out of this but it's absolutely not that deep. please correct me if i'm wrong but as i understand it, "puen" is also frequently used to refer to classmates/people in the same year at uni, no matter whether you're close to them or not. "friend" is just a translation choice which fits imo, because you wouldn't say "get away from my classmate" in english. you'd probably say "get away from my friend" instead, even if you're not really friends, and translation is also about what makes sense in the target language. so him saying that is not some big 180, he's basically just stating that he knows sailom from school.

anyway, where was i going with all of this? to me, kang's choices in this episode are all completely justified from his character's perspective. i neither find it odd that he tried to threaten sailom with a gun, nor that he ended up comforting sailom. because everything he is and claims to be is built on cardboard: the guy doesn't know himself. we know he has some deeply, DEEPLY repressed gay fantasies and that he gets obsessed with the first person to openly defy him because that threatens the stability of his cardboard castle. what if everyone realises that deep down, kanghan is a cringefail loser who is so starved for love and attention he would rather fill the hole in his heart with violence and cruelty than be honest about who he is? what if everyone finds out he's not as scary as he'd like to be?

the cardboard underneath kang is flimsy, and i'm pretty sure his castle is going to collapse pretty soon.

[animaddie-live]

Yuri on Ice final thoughts

So there we have it, I have finished watching my first ever anime! And I LOVED IT!!!!!! Yuri on Ice is now one of my top 5 favourite shows of all time. I think my favourite episodes were 6, 9, and 2. My favourite character was definitely Christophe Giacometti. He was what made me watch this show in the first place.

I've never laughed so much watching a show before. So many audible reactions came from this. Will certainly be rewatching this for years to come. It was a nice story, I always love a good gay fluff pieces. But there were also so many side characters that I was also invested in. I grew to really like Yurio as well, his sass and anger was very amusing.

Now Viktor, Viktor makes me question so many things about myself. I get such gender envy from him. And loved seeing him explore his feminine side in his programs. Why can't I be a twink on ice. Also I found myself weirdly attracted to him. Idk I'm gay don't do this to me. But Viktor Nikiforov and Chris own my heart.

Yuri had fantastic character growth, I was so proud to see him find his confidence. He also grew the most as a skater, I can't believe he beat Viktor's record. And Yurio also beating the record. I was actually happy to see him win the world cup, it was well deserved.

I was left wondering. Were Viktor and Yuri ever confirmed to be in a relationship? Throughout the series I was always confused on whether it was canon or not. We never saw an on screen kiss. (There was that off screen speculated kiss at the end of ep7). I know I probably sound crazy for even questioning it, but it didn't seem like they had a conventional thing going on. I think it was all still in the flirtatious stage and they at no point were together together.

Similarly, when Yuri talks about "mine and Viktor's love" is this referring to romantic love? Or is it the bond between student and coach, or both? He often publicly talks about his love for Viktor, so is this them being out as a gay couple, or do people think it means something else? I was disappointed to see there was no outright decleration/acknowledgement of their relationship status. But maybe that is me just being fucking blind and unable to pick up on subtext. I shouldn't be so shallow. But overall, it could have been gayer.

Now the whole engagement thing, I did not understand why they did that. If they were dating it seemed farrrrrrrrr too premature to even be considering engagement. And to base the whole 'we will get married when he wins gold' seems so immature. I definitely felt like the first half of the show was significantly better than the second half. I didn't really like how things were left. It started so strong, but disappointed me in the end.

I wanted so badly to believe that they were soulmates, but we were just shown time after time again the immaturities/ incompatibilities. But I will continue to be delusional and jump on the Vikturi train because I am desperate lesbian who is very much alone.

If I may embody Chris for a second: in regards to Vikturi it felt like we were edged all series and denied a happy ending. It just felt like there was a lot of build up, but their relationship ultimately didn't progress that much in the end. I will be poking my head into the YOI fanart and fanfics because I am invested in these characters and need to see more of them.

All in all, I was disappointed and dissatisfied with how the show wrapped up. But that won't ruin it for me, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Quotes from my live blogging that sum up my experience:

ep2: "this is like some fever dream self insert fanfic written by a gay 13 year old"

ep6: "why are we the audience being edged so hard whilst they go off and make this many innuendos aaaaaah"

ep6: "is he also down bad, why am I being forced to watch the strangest foreplay ever play out"

ep 9: "that caught me so incredibly off guard, I haven't laughed that loudly in ages"

take a shot everytime I said something caught me off guard, or I said that I cackled. <- I feel like that encapsulates my experience perfectly

[starkjoy]

it’s insane how disappointed i am with this season… like i don’t even know how to deal w this lmao. i just feel like i’m being gaslit into believing all the stuff i previously thought about tomshiv’s dynamic and even tomgreg’s (in terms of the nero/sporus subtext) isn’t true. it’s a weird decision on the writers’ parts.

the whiplash is so odd to me that i can’t help but wonder if they’re intentionally misleading us for some late-in-the-game twist. that’s probably delusion though—simplest explanation is that they changed their mind or it’s shitty writing. seems to be a trend with hbo final seasons. let’s see how it all ends before we make any final decisions, though.

unlike failed internet darling mlm ships of the past, tomgreg isn’t a case of fandom creating a narrative and setting themselves up for disappointment—the writers intentionally implanted homoeroticism into their plotline. the actors knowingly played around with it. jesse literally called them homoerotic a few weeks ago. it’s really sad to think succession may fall prey to every other queerbait-adjacent (adjacent for now since the season isn’t over) curse, leaning into the queer undertones until they’ve written themselves into a gay corner with the internet convinced something is gonna happen, only to backtrack and pretend the vibes were never there at all. it’s too early to say if that’s the case here, but it certainly feels that way at the moment. i mean, what else are we supposed to think when the writers go from nero and sporus gay marriage as the through line of season 3, to disgusting brothers hetero sex tour comedic relief background noise with tomshiv redemption front end center? am I supposed to be enjoying this?

all that being said, on a positive note im glad we’ve seen how much closer tom and greg have gotten as partners, and that they’re scheming together and on the same page. i’m glad they’ve had at least one interaction each episode. i’m glad greg seems much more into tom than previous seasons, quelling any unrequited friendship accusations. i’m glad we got insane homoerotic undertones in episode 1, even if they’ve dropped off since then. but where we’re sadly lacking is depth—what was once the hallmark of tomgreg’s deeper connection in contrast to tomshiv’s emotional constipation. now greg makes sexual quips while tom rolls his eyes…end scene. and again. it was funny and cute at first, but now it’s getting boring. don’t they deserve a more interesting arc in the final season after years of build up? why are we subject to tomshiv rehashing the same shit we’ve seen for 3 seasons instead?

also, one of the most compelling arcs of season 3 was tom’s vengeance, especially because we saw it play out from his perspective. outside of his plane convo with greg, tom’s pov has all but been erased. even the tomshiv moments are from the lens of shiv’s experience. and as much as we may sympathize with shiv’s heartbreak over his betrayal and her dad’s death, it feels almost wrong that the show is trying to make me feel bad for her? we saw how awful she was to tom for three seasons, we saw from tom’s perspective how much she hurt him. i don’t feel bad for shiv on the tom front at all, the fact that she kept his baby feels wildly out of character, and frankly it’s a little insulting the amount of time the final season is spending trying to convince the audience otherwise.

hey, maybe my feelings will change in a few days. maybe the final episodes will change all of our minds. i’ll always have some hope for tomgreg, but right now it’s not looking promising given the treatment they’ve received so far. anyone with any positivity to share hit me up because I could use it!!

[jakowskis]

💖💙💜 owen harper bisexuality masterpost 💖💙💜

i've had this in my drafts for a minute but i figured i'd finish it up and post it today for bisexual visibility day :D

it hasn't cropped up recently, but i've seen a lot of people who've questioned owen's bisexuality over the years and i thought i'd compile all the 'evidence' (although it completely baffles me that we got a show with five canonical bisexual characters and people want to write two of them off as straight / "heterflexible" ?? there shouldn't have to be 'proof' of owen being bi, RTD said torchwood is about five bisexuals fighting aliens in cardiff which means they're all bi, full stop. also, bisexuals should never have to 'prove' they're bi, and in regards to fictional characters, i'm sick of people nit-picking who 'deserves' to be counted as rep and refusing to 'claim' certain characters if they're morally grey or if the fandom simply doesn't Like them as much-)

but i digress.

so without further ado, here's everything i've found that supports owen's status as a bicon :-)

explicit canon instances

➤➤ obviously, we have to start with his gay kiss in the first episode of the show. there's a lot to be said about that kiss, i'm not gonna get into all that here, but i've seen a lot of people say it's not proof of owen being attracted to men, and i wholeheartedly disagree. you can literally catch him smiling very happily after the kiss (and one of owen's few genuine smiles of the series, too). i don't think a straight man (or even a "heteroflexible" man) would beam at another guy who's just informed him that he wants to fuck him. a fair amount of people have also said they interpreted owen calling the taxi as him intending to get away from the couple, but i don't understand how they're getting that impression, because that smile makes it seem very much apparent to me that running away is the last thing he wants to do.

it's also, notably, the first time we see bisexuality IN the bisexual show, which i don't think should be discounted. like, we see owen do something gay before jack does, for fuck's sake. is it a good first impression of how torchwood portrays bisexuality? no. is setting owen up as a more sex-driven, opportunistic bisexual nicely contrasted against ianto & tosh's more romance-oriented brand of demisexual bi/pansexuality? in my opinion, yes. i love that the torchwood bisexuals all practice their bisexuality in different ways. that's very special to me. 'cause it's realistic! real bisexuals all experience bisexuality differently! obviously it'd be a different story if he was the only bi rep, because lord knows we've seen enough of that already, but torchwood makes an effort to show us five different brands of bisexuality, and five different bi stories that largely only exist in the subtext, that aren't the focus of the show, and it's fantastic. it's all i could ever want out of bi rep, honestly, even if it is a bit dated now.

➤➤ the other explicit moment in the show: asking tosh and ianto for an end-of-the-world threesome in sleeper (s2ep2). i've actually never seen owen bi-deniers (fhdskjf it's a conspiracy) even mention this scene. owen literally asks ianto if they can have sex with each other to his face, and he's dead serious when he asks it. that's... i mean you can't mistake that as anything else. like fhdsjkf??

➤➤ next we jump to some of the, i suppose, extended universe content. whether the books are canon or not is debated, but the novel 'another life' features owen playing an online simulation game, and it makes a point to depict owen flirting with someone with a male avatar + wondering to himself if the guy would be down for cyber-sex. [someone posted part of that scene here. for context, owen's also got a VR headset on during that bit.]

➤➤ another instance is on the website, which some also don't regard as canon, but, i mean, i don't know who worked on the things we see on that site, but obviously they got their information from somewhere. they probably consulted with the writers on the show, or at the very least got notes on what things to touch on. anyway, there's a portion of the site where you can find a 'background check' on owen, and it's just a collection of messages from some ex-lovers of his. one of them is a man.

again, some people disregard the canon validity of the website, but the way i see it, the information on this site was released while the show was airing for fans to look at and to gain further insight on the characters. one of the things they felt a need to tell us about owen, important enough to be featured in his background (wayyy before the katie plot was developed), was that he wasn't just interested in women. personally, i regard that as canon. you can find this here. and even if you wanna say fragments jossed this background, it doesn't joss his, like... identity.

next we have things said by russell t. davies himself + by burn gorman (owen's actor)

➤➤ again, RTD (who's torchwood's creator, but i'm assuming everyone reading this knows that) explicitly described torchwood as "a bunch of bisexuals living under cardiff and fighting aliens". that's not ambiguous. [i don't have a direct source for this quote, it was apparently said on the dvd extras.]

burn's comments on owen's sexuality include...

➤➤ (when asked who owen fancies) "Owen's pretty cocky, he'll try it on with whoever comes along." [x] and yes, this is vague, but vagueness is often interpreted as proof of bisexuality. (for example, in the pacific rim dvd features, newt's bio stating he was interested in "whoever will take him" was widely interpreted by the fandom as him being bi.)

➤➤ (in regards to owen's "let's all have sex" line) "I don't think he [...] thinks about the implications, or whether it's with a man or a woman." [x]

(ok i have to admit, although i absolutely adore burn, i'm not super fond of the way his 2006-08 self would talk about how torchwood handled sexuality*. however! he kind of hit the nail on the head in saying that, even if it's in the context of owen wanting end-of-the-world sex, because my take on how owen sees his own sexuality has always essentially boiled down to thinking he'd be like, "well, why wouldn't men also be an option?" (well, with sexual attraction anyway; i think owen's relationship with romantic attraction is far more complex.) i think he resembles jack in that way; anyone's a prospective sexual partner, if they're attractive and interesting and he decides he wants them, and he's also impulsive as hell, so he doesn't think too hard about gender in the moment if he decides he's into someone. there's not really any hang-ups.)

➤➤ and ofc...

(out of context this could look like he's just jokingly calling owen an alien-fucker, although owen makes his thoughts on alien-fucking pretty clear in countrycide lol, but it was said in the context of owen/andy as a ship [x].)

*if you're wondering what i'm referring to, it's a comment here [x] about how the torchwood team's bisexuality is a result of being in a pressure cooker environment and having a 'wartime mentality', and they just kind of 'take what they can get'. the implication that bisexuality is out of desperation/accessibility rather than attraction is pretty damn icky, BUT i love him lots and he generally seems to be pretty woke these days (+ otherwise has always seemed to grasp why torchwood's rep was so unique and groundbreaking and important) so i'll go ahead and hope that was just, y'know, simple 'being a straight guy in 2008' ignorance. fifteen years is a long time and i have faith his opinions have evolved by now, esp considering he used the word 'pansexual' at a 2016 con [x]. (actually, ok, you caught me, that last bit wasn't super relevant and i didn't need to bring it up, but i just wanted to gush about him doing it because how often do you hear that word out of celebs, especially older and presumably straight ones. and in 2016, too. kinda slay of him, ngl)

aaand finally, some random, non-explicit little things that i think support him being a bisexy king (several of these are goofy and half-serious)

➤➤ in episode 2, they make a point to cut to owen smiling after jack's line about "you people and your quaint little labels". one might argue he's smiling at gwen & carys on the screen, but cutting to him immediately after jack says it very much implies he's reacting to jack's words, and i think it's particularly poignant after, again, we saw him kiss a man the episode prior. (which, another thing - owen's literal introduction features him kissing a man, like that's gotta count for something. if the literal third thing i ever see a male character do ever is kiss a guy, that means something.)

➤➤ and of course, in the same episode, we get "period military is not the dress code of a straight man" .... owen's the only one of them with working gaydar. also what a fruity thing to say

➤➤ speaking of fruity things to say, in s2e10 when they're all watching the old film, owen goes "look at the state of them 💅" and he says it SO cunty for no reason it always kills me fhsdkjfd

➤➤ combat.

➤➤ no, really.

➤➤ bonus: in the combat commentary, it's mentioned that when RTD saw the above scene between mark & owen, he said it was "the gayest thing he'd ever seen".

➤➤ in the three monkeys, a big finish audio featuring owen & andy, owen flirts with andy repeatedly. even if he just does it to be annoying, it's still pretty damn gay. also the pet names... (he calls him sweetheart, sunshine, and tiger. it's half-mocking, sure, especially because it's owen, but there's also a domesticity to it.)

➤➤ and then there's the hope's "you're alive again and you want crisps?!" "be glad that's all i'm asking for" (owen was like 'i will not use this as an excuse to try to sleep w andy i will not use this as an excuse to try to sleep w andy i will not use th') these are the only two audios i've heard with this duo, i'm sure there's more examples in the other two. i know gooseberry literally has owen sabotaging andy's relationship with his gf and that is... woohoohoo.... i'll update this once i get through those.

➤➤ …. this is my personal opinion but i lowkey think he kinda wants john hart a bit when they all first meet him in kkbb hdskjfds. gwen & tosh both seem very charmed by him and they're meant to, it's supposed to be like 'oh, look at jack's ex waltzing in and charming the pants off everyone (ha), and only ianto and jack see through him' - owen isn't given a flirty line of dialogue or even a close-up shot of him eyeing john like the girls get, but if you watch him closely he certainly looks… intrigued by him. i think owen's more of a bi disaster than he lets on.

➤➤ in episode 10, diane notes that owen has "beauty products" in his bathroom. obviously this shouldn't be indicative of sexuality, but how many Straight Men in 2006 were moisturizing lmao. hell, how many do nowadays 😭

➤➤ gwen & owen's dynamic settles into a lovely little friendship in s2 and owen lowkey gives gbf vibes <3 them making fun of the movie in s2e10 together + the cheek-kissing at the end of s2e9… bi besties!!

➤➤ the peace sign he throws up in meat when he meets rhys fdsjk i don't even believe in some of the silly internet jokes abt bi culture but c'mon

➤➤ have you seen his taste in women. diane is soo butch and gwen's a total tomboy in s1. that's bi culture babey!!!! i too like girls when they're boys

➤➤ i already talked about it but the aforementioned scene where he asks tosh and ianto for a threesome... he asks them, like, immediately after they team up and bully him for not comprehending that there's "no phones. phones all broken. anyone there? no, 'cause the phones aren't working." that was suuuch a disaster bi owen moment for me. i too would get a little revved up if tosh and ianto both bullied me at once <3

aaand finally... the biggest Evidence of all....

➤➤ he's a leather jacket bisexual. need i say more

and that's all! thanks for reading!

[credit for the dividers used in this. didn't tumblr used to have built-in dividers? i miss that.]

[castleclerics]

the other story being told in s1

(had this in my dafts for like 5 months but i decided to finally get the pics and post since we're talking more about timelines rn)

they are literally telling us exactly what events would've taken place if the gate was never opened, the original universe. the sad raw reality of a horrible situation in a small town in the 80's. if the UD did not combine with the real world, if el never opened the gate and didn't escape the lab and everything played out as it should've. i'm gonna guess that el opening the gate and/or will doing something thrust the normal hawkins timeline into a different one, the one we see the entire series, while still telling the story of what happened in the original timeline, without showing that timeline.

will byers is a gay kid who gets bullied for it and abused by his dad which eventually drives him to off himself by jumping into the quarry. (what hopper believes too if you look at the subtext including hopper asking joyce if will is gay). his mom starts thinking he's not actually dead and goes "crazy" impacting her loved ones around her. will's friends cope by thinking one of the monsters from their beloved game is the reason he's dead.

mike takes it the hardest though and starts believing will is alive too, but his friends help him come to terms with realizing he's not. he eventually jumps into the quarry too, thinking he can be with will again. if el never opened the gate the bullies would've never chased dustin and mike there, and mike wouldn't be saved.

these two bikes could represent will and mike in the og timeline hence the pan and prolonged shot on them.

how will ties into this is very interesting. we know he does shit with his watch so he obviously is aware of things other people aren't and in control of time in some capacity. for reasons i will not go into and gatekeep for a lil longer only bc it took me 6+ months to figure out lmao i know he's totally aware of these two different timelines and might have some doing with shifting the timeline. just notice how he always looks immensely guilty especially in s4. it's also another reason why he feels like a mistake, because he knows he's supposed to be dead. he himself in the parallel universe we watch the show through is literally a mistake. he probably still questions if he even deserves to be alive now in this parallel timeline.

now stay with me......

look at the dialogue and how they show the gate when this is said. literally showing the gate, a hole.

even having the bullies repeat this line

the biggest hole of them all...... literally in the middle of the hawkins community area.

will dying in the other/og timeline due to the abuse for being gay is somehow the root cause for this hole, and he knows it.

maybe that's how they'll tie his sexuality storyline in with his supernatural one, and why they're so incredibly linked. this is how he's the main character especially of s5 when they explain how will has always been the most vital part of the story.

adding to this since we know about the henry/edward timeline weirdness now, i think it's possible the og timeline = henry's and the parallel/one we've been watching this whole time = edward's. idk how well that lines up i'll have to think about it but it makes me think......

[animentality]

Tbh I think it's still legit if you read and like Blue Lock for being so gay (at least subtextually), despite being misogynistic Kaneshiro seems to have sympathy for queer people to a certain degree. Besides the gay sidekick, As The Gods Will also has some other queer side characters (a lesbian, a trans girl, a few more hinted gay boys and a non-binary villain according to my memory) even though not all of them are well-written, the good ones are good. Specifically my most favorite is the gay sidekick Ushimitsu, he's actually a pretty well-rounded character with very strong role as a co-lead in ATGW 2, I never feel like he was disrespected in the story (rather I think he's obviously Kaneshiro's favorite), sure he's got an open ending that can be seen as tragic but it's actually in line of the whole theme of the story and I respect Kaneshiro to commit to writing it rather than just give a copout happy ending and it also proves his gay feelings as real & deep despite heartbreaking.

Now I wish Kaneshiro can have that same energy in writing Bachira as he's in a similar position to Ushimitsu in ATGW but somehow poor bee boy got pushed aside in bllk after U20 arc (probably in favor of more popular Isagi ship with Rin or Kaiser 🙃), I hope he makes good on the promise that Bachira will be a key character later in the series and this time since nobody will die in Bllk I hope Bachisagi will get a deserved happy ending.

well that's the thing, anon.

I feel bad for liking blue lock because it has such a misogynistic creator but it's hard not to cling to something so obviously queer friendly.

like honestly.

there's definitely Japanese media that's queer neutral or queer friendly but blue lock actually feels like it's always on the verge of just being properly queer.

it's not fanservice like free or yuri on ice. it legitimately feels as close to canon as it can get without changing genres. and I think the creator having queer characters in the past gives him some street cred.

i know what homophobia in a manga looks like. it's that awful rapist character from one punch man. this hyper masculine but also hyper feminine muscly man who sexually assaults other men.

it's tokyo ghoul having its only queer characters being pedophiles, rapists, and sex addicts/victims who get sexually assaulted until they're "corrected."

it's having no subtext at all and only ever using gay men as a one off joke and gay women as a fetish.

at least blue lock does seem to respect its characters enough that it takes their hinted at sexualities seriously.

it really doesn't go for the obvious "ewwwwww we're both guys" jokes. it's kept very ambiguous. it's subtle (except when it's not, lol).

the only character who really fits the usual offensive gay anime representation tropes is Shidou, but even him I wouldn't count as bad rep (as the closest to canonically gay character, aside from Bachira).

Shidou might be super flamboyant but he also gets to have the coolest fucking moments in the series. he's not just some pervert, he's a badass. he doesn't just flounder around like some useless weird loser who only exists to be the butt of a joke.

he loves to fight and play soccer and feel alive. he has the coolest aura in the series and everyone is constantly in awe of the ridiculous things he can do.

he's a proper villain, who's out of pocket and insane, but who's also intensely lovable and silly. and honestly portrayed pretty sympathetically. for all his faults, he can be very kind.

there's a lot of depth to him, and honestly, I think Blue Lock is pretty good at not doing anything to suggest oh hahaha homosexuality exists. isn't that funny

plus I think Bachira is canonically gay. we know he's canonically in love with Isagi.

kunigami and aiku are actually confirmed bisexual too.

Shidou and Sae were also highly suspect during u20, to the point where even homophobes cant deny they have something weird going on.

so to me... that's a lot of queer characters who are taken seriously and actually have characters outside of being a joke or a gag. they feel like real people. they have distinct personalities.

the bar is in hell, but it's more than most manga/anime manage.

so I have to give Kaneshiro credit. he's doing as much as he can, without overstepping the boundary I'm sure kodansha has set for him.

it's just a shame he's a sexist. also, I hope Kaneshiro grows a pair.

just have bachisagi get married in the last chapter you pussy.

let Shidou officiate!!!

[trelkez]

Notes from my current Doctor Who rewatch, which has just reached s3 (having started with s4/early s5, at which point I gave in and started from the beginning):

We really don't give Nine enough homicidal credit for building a humanity-ending doomsday weapon out of loose wires and scrap parts and then putting his hands on the detonator

But then he took his hands off the detonator, unlike Ten, who decided to destroy the Cybermen by making them self-aware, thus effectively torturing to death untold numbers of innocent converted humans (...a thing I had completely blocked out)

(All of this really undermines Ten's point later about how Tentoo is him when Rose met him, before she made him better. The two of you unhinged each other! It doesn't somehow make things better that you're giving him to her pre-unhinged!)

On that topic: I don't rewatch s2 often and it's been so long that I had forgotten why, but Ten and Rose are just A Lot. Two mutually enabling sets of character flaws racing headfirst for tragedy, staring each other in the eyes on the way down

Some of those character flaws are interesting; some were just unnecessary. Why does Rose turn into a territorial misogynist any time the Doctor has a conversation with a woman? Didn't we address this in School Reunion and move on? Rose did not rewrite the universe in 2005's finest Punkyfish so that the writers could constantly undo her character growth

[ this space reserved for a lengthier rant about how Mickey deserved better ]

Tommy from Idiot's Lantern is gay? They went to great lengths to make the subtext as overt as possible and it still took me almost two decades to catch on

Knowing that makes the ending of that episode even worse. Don't tell that abused gay kid he's personally responsible for redeeming his horrible father! Why is that the moral of the story!! Just Walk Out! You Can Leave!

I've made it to Martha! She has always been one of my faves, but her season makes me constantly want to punch the Doctor in the face, so this should be ... another adventure

"Trelkez, do you even like Doctor Who?" yes I love it more than I can say but RTD Era 1.0 sure did have some content in it

That said, things I loved about s1-s2: Sarah Jane! Mortal Jack! The Runaway Bride! The Girl in the Fireplace! The Doctor Dances! Cassandra dying in her own arms, Jackie saving humanity because a guy with a truck owed her a favor, Mrs. Moore teaching herself how to be the tech support of the revolution, the Doctor finally catching on to Bad Wolf in Boomtown - that moment gave me chills again like it was 2005

I will not be watching Torchwood before/alongside s3 for the full experience, because I lived that and I am not going back. Torchwood stays in the box. No thank you