#anyway it's a fun show so far and there's a lot of lesbians in here and it doesn't feel particularly TERFy so far so feel free to watch it

[james-stark-the-writer]

5 episodes into Deadloch and this show is so much more fun when it isn't trying to pretend like it's not copaganda like genuinely a really fun mystery and executed super well and then the lib-ish politics of the show keep popping in like "hey fuck the gender binary" and "hey queer people don't murder, we get murdered" and "hey our lead is a lesbian cop" and it's like shut the fuck up already my god. like you're bringing up all these issues you're clearly not gonna fucking reckon with because you can't by the nature of the show unless this ends with cops getting abolished in australia so like what are you doing here, you know? like in the first few minutes of episode 1, the lead lesbian cop finds ACAB spray painted on her neighbor's garbage cans and we just haven't gone anywhere with that, it's not like used to critique the system or anything, and her response is just to get it cleaned up. so like. it's just kinda infuriating.

[0th3rw0rldl1n3ss]

So I have a dormant scooby doo hyperfixation (that comes back now and then) and since the new Velma show is trending rn I feel the urge to tell everyone that in the Mystery Incorporated series Fred is canonically autistic with a special interest in making traps and I never see anyone mention this. It was confirmed in a video that’ll be linked at the bottom of this post.

But yeah, aside from all the other problems with the new Velma show (disclaimer: I haven’t seen the show yet but have seen some previews and have heard things about it that have given me very low hopes for how the show will be) one of the biggest icks for me so far is making Fred into a shallow and arrogant asshole popular rich boy stereotype instead of going the Mystery Inc route and making him a classic himbo and autistic who’s obsessed with building traps.

Autistic Fred Jones is the best version of Fred Jones. I love that he displays autistic characteristics without being a lazy one dimensional stereotype of autism. In the show, from what I remember (I need to give it a rewatch), he has a clear special interest in building traps to the point that it defines his life and affects his relationships, he struggles a lot with interpersonal relationships, indirect communication and social signals (especially when it comes to being oblivious to Daphne’s romantic signals, and the issues this causes in their relationship). But he’s not one dimensional, in fact he has more emotional complexity in this series than in any other rendition of Scooby Doo, in my opinion, and even though he’s autistic he’s still a conventionally attractive man and a central character who is desired by one of the main, attractive female leads in the show, which I almost NEVER see.

This Reddit post goes a bit more into the specifics of his autistic traits, for anyone interested.

Here’s the video I mentioned:

This post is about Fred, but I also wanted to mention that I have a lot of love for the Mystery Inc creators deliberately writing Velma as a lesbian who was struggling with coming to terms with her sexuality throughout the show, and giving her a canonical sapphic love interest, in a time where having a queer character in the main cast of a kids show was unheard of.

Anyway, I recommend watching Mystery Inc if you don’t want to watch the new Velma show but still want to watch something that hits the Scooby Doo nostalgia spot. It still has the fun of classic Scooby Doo that speaks to my inner child but it’s also dark and complex enough to appeal to teen and adult audiences (as well as younger audiences) without over the top edginess.

[bri-the-nautilus]

Come To the Dark Side, We Have Hot Guys: A Star Wars Story

Spoilers below for S1 of Ahsoka and the first six episodes of The Acolyte.

I'm writing this with The Acolyte most of the way through airing its first season, with episode 6 having released earlier today. Say what you will about the show, but it's really brought out a lot of the uglier sides of the Star Wars fandom. Everyone and their mother has seen videos or Reddit threads dunking on the Critical Drinker or SWT and their mouth-breathing misogynist audiences at this point, so I don't feel particularly compelled to retread that ground. Instead, I want to talk about the... other side of the fandom, the hypocrisy therein, and how we're all being played for absolute fools by the creative team at Disney Lucasfilm.

Yes, this post is about Qimir.

Now I want to say that I have no problem with villain simping/shipping. Far from it. Most of my posts on this account are me simping for Shin Hati (we'll talk more about her later) or various Soulsborne bosses. Hell, my mutuals and I have a running joke about me having a weakness for evil blonde women. While I personally am too gay for my own good and couldn't care less about men as a concept, I absolutely see the appeal of characters like Qimir and Kylo Ren. I absolutely get why people thirst over them and love making fandom content for them. I think Qimir/Osha has the potential to be a really fun ship, actually. The point I'm making here is not "simping for these characters is wrong and bad," and I want to make that crystal clear before we continue.

That said, let's talk about Qimir, and how the landscape of the show and its surrounding discourse has changed since his reveal. Again, I'm ignoring the chud sphere here, partly because their little corner of the Internet has remained remarkably stagnant since then. The podcast bros still think it's woke, fucking Shadiversity is still whining about fight choreography (which as someone who actually has done HEMA/stage combat, Shad annoys me to no end, but that's an entirely separate can of worms), and it all seems to be business as usual over there. No, the most marked changes have been on the Acolyte-positive end of the fandom space. Here's what the top posts in "hashtag TheAcolyte" on Twitter look like tonight:

You get the idea.

Again, no hate to any of these people. This is tumblr ffs, we've all engaged in a little simping for a morally dubious hot person. I love seeing fans having fun engaging with something, and again I kinda dig the Osha/Qimir ship.

Anyways, if you were around for the Acolyte-positive discourse before the Qimir reveal, and especially the show's marketing and the reponse to that, you'll have noticed a marked difference.

Fans quickly began to see The Acolyte as " the gayest Star Wars ever." Showrunner Leslye Headland is an out lesbian, and her wife was cast as Master Vernestra Rwoh. Archetypical girlboss Carrie-Anne Moss was cast as Master Indara, immediately drawing comparisons to her role in the Matrix movies. Leads Osha and Mae Aniseya are played by the nonbinary Amandla Stenberg. The lesbian witches of Brendok were talked about in press releases before the show aired. Dafne Keen (Jecki Lon) stated in an interview that she portrayed the short-haired, serious Theelin as having a crush on Osha, something that fans were picking up on in their first interactions in the premiere before Keen even gave that interview. While Headland said in a post-premiere interview that she didn't set out specifically to make "a capital Q Queer show," it's an objective fact that no Star Wars movie/show has had as much potential in that area, and fans (especially the queer community) took notice. (For what it's worth, in the same interview Headland commented that she was proud of creating something that so many queer fans identified with.)

The show came out, and Master Indara was killed off in the first sequence, which I'm honestly fine with. It was a good scene and works on a lot of levels. Headland's aforementioned interview came and went. Episode three aired. The lesbian witches turned out to be even gayer than was previously thought possible, and people ate that shit up while the Critical Drinker's brain suffered a major cascade failure. Jecki became a runaway favorite in the premiere and episode four, as did lovable himbo Yord Fandar and the wise, paternalistic Master Sol. In Acolyte-positive circles, this was basically how it went. People thought Brendok was cool, the Yord Horde became the show's biggest social media sensation, Jecki and Sol cultivated devoted followings alongside Osha and Mae, there were a wealth of different ships involving various combinations of Jecki, Yord, and the twins... you get the idea.

Then episode 5 happened.

The writing was really on the wall when the Brendok coven was abruptly wiped out. Introducting such an interesting (and queer) Force-wielding culture only to exterminate them in the same episode was certainly a choice that somebody made. But episode 5 was a shock to the system for many fans, as the show's resident Sith revealed himself and killed Jecki and Yord in some of the most brutal recent onscreen deaths in Star Wars. To be clear, I think this was a great sequence. Two beloved main characters being suddenly and gruesomely killed off was a masterfully executed shock to the system, especially after viewers were lulled into a false sense of security by all the redshirt deaths in the previous scene.

This, understandably, completely changed the landscape of the Acolyte fandom. Virtually overnight, much of the simping and shipping involving Jecki and Yord dried up, and once the dust had settled as far as the "rip blorbo, gone too soon" posts went, what remained were the usual Sol/twins offerings and a wave of Qimir hype. Which is understandable. He's a badass emo Sith boy with a cool helmet who brutally murdered fan favorite characters in front of us and has palpable tension with the female lead. Who wouldn't love... wait a minute.

This feels familiar somehow.

But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all?

And just like that, "the gayest Star Wars" is all about the (straight) sexual tension between an edgy, murderous Sith boy and a light-side girl plagued by dark thoughts whose friends said boy just killed. This is all eerily similar to how the Sequel Trilogy focused on Rey and Kylo while abruptly dropping Finn and Poe's character arcs. Even the fandom discourse is the same. I mean Reylo was so ubiquitous back in the day that it became a derogatory catch-all for good girl/evil boy shipping. Multiple authors now have either gotten their initial start/fame writing Reylo fics, or straight up published legally distinct Reylo fiction after the fashion of Netflix's After. You had the occasional person piping up to say "hey they kind of just left Finn and Poe hanging after TFA, it would've been cool if they got together but at the very least don't relegate them to being side characters/comic relief in separate story threads," and that was it. The same thing is going on with The Acolyte now, only the sequel trilogy wasn't marketed on the strength of being a queer story by a queer creative team. The Acolyte is, which makes it all the more baffling that by the midway point of the first season, all the gays have been buried and the show seems to be heading straight for Reylo 2: High Republic Boogaloo. And the fans are eating it up.

As an interesting aside, I think it's an interesting exercise to contrast the Kylo/Qimir pattern with the broader fandom's treatment of Shin Hati (told you we'd circle back to that), and the ship between her and Sabine Wren. On paper, Shin is very similar to Kylo and Qimir. Villain? Check. Edgy-looking armor? Totes. Emotionally damaged/stunted in some way? Sure looks like it. Tension with the heroine? You betcha. If anything, the only major difference is that Shin isn't as evil as the others. Compare her actions in Ahsoka (clearing out part of a light cruiser with Baylan and making repeated attempts on Sabine's life) to Kylo (oversees multiple war crimes, kills his fan-favorite dad) or Qimir (orchestrates the murders of several Jedi before brutally executing two fan-favorite characters). She's definitely bad, but I struggle to see her as on par with Qimir, let alone fucking Kylo, in terms of evilness.

Which makes it all the more interesting to me that the Shin/Sabine ship has received so much more mainstream skepticism/criticism than the Osha/Qimir or Rey/Kylo ships. "They have no chemistry!" "She's an evil murderer!" "She's a blank slate!" "Sabine is taken!" I may be a touch biased, but from where I sit a large part of the fandom, even the ostensibly progressive side, seems to look down upon Shin/Sabine shippers while swooning for heterosexual variants with far more evil villains.

This isn't a monolith, and I can't stress that enough. I'm not trying to start shit here. Villain shipping is awesome. We support women's wrongs in this house. You do see the occasional person decrying Reylo or Osha/Qimir as toxic, which I think is fairly unnecessary. Like yeah, maybe it's a toxic dynamic, but these are fictional characters. For these specific characters, part of the crowd appeal is the toxic badboy side of things. I don't think we should really spend much energy attacking any fictional ship (between adults, mind you) as toxic, which is why it puzzles me that an as-yet-unconfirmed lesbian ship in a niche show receives such a large proportion of this sort of criticism compared to the canon relationship between two main characters of a blockbuster trilogy.

At the end of the day, this whole affair has been rather sobering for me on both Disney Lucasfilm and the Star Wars fandom. For all the support the Shin/Sabine ship has received from Ahsoka cast members Ivanna Sakhno (Shin), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine), Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger, the other character people like to ship with Sabine), and Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka), I'm rather sour on the prospects of it becoming canon. The sequel trilogy dropped the ball on what many saw as a promising chance for an MLM romance between Finn and Poe in favor of trotting out the "why do good girls like bad boys" dynamic, and The Acolyte, "the gay show" overseen by a lesbian, has seemingly shifted to center a similar dynamic after killing off most of its prospects for a queer relationship among the main cast. Simply put, I think that Disney as an international company based in the frighteningly divided United States is reluctant to commit to anything beyond lipservice in terms of LGBT representation in their movies/shows, which again doesn't leave me feeling optimistic about WolfWren's canon potential. And the fandom takes the bait. People love the damaged evil badboy/good girl dynamic, and when the queer fandom suggests the possibility of a queer ship taking center stage in a show with no other extant relationships, even the more progressive side of the fandom tends to either ignore it or actively push back on its basis in reality until Disney Lucasfilm inevitably puts the kibosh on it. The amount of times I've heard people dismiss WolfWren for the same reasons they now like Osha/Qimir and liked Reylo (before that ship was fleshed out/canonicalized, anyway) is ridiculous, but at the end of the day you kinda feel stupid for expecting anything else. Again, I think Qimir is a cool character and I'm as much of a sucker for villain romances as the next girlie, but seeing how easily the fandom lets dangling heterosexual carrots lead it away from Disney Lucasfilm's broken promises of queer rep is a sobering ordeal.

[hope-you-brought-kneepads-bitch]

Agatha all along spoilers

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Okay okay sure

First off! I’ve seen people on Twitter already going mad but I think I need people to understand, this show was never targeted at a specific lesbian ending, yes! Very queer show and of course lots of Agathario but Rio is death, I always thought a kiss of death would happen because otherwise we’re being silly with ourselves it’s not queer baiting and it’s not helpful to be mad because marvel wont want to do things like this again if we start getting angry, the cast and crew were so proud of this and we should be too (we can vent a little and I plan too but I won’t tag actors or creators because I’m not weird)

But! I will say dying for Billy (technically I know she did because of Nicky because Billy got into her mind like a loser and a bitch and she wanted to redeem herself or whatever) is a bit strange I guess I get people saying ‘oh well of course lesbians get screwed over’ but you know for a marvel show to have actual canon lesbians who are kissing, yeah it’s scraping a barrel but if it’s received well I have no doubt they’ll do it again, I mean in the comics agatha gets resurrected and who’s to say that won’t happen? Anyway I’m ranting and yeah a little sad about the ending because it does feel like the killing eve ending but! Let’s get into the two episodes

Alice! My love, my baby I’m so sorry! Rio was right you died doing your job as a protection witch but it still hurts! I hope the afterlife is good to you and treats you well I love you 🥰

Jen! My beloved you did it! You got your powers back, I can’t believe agatha bound her that’s so funny and messed up! God agatha were you that low on cash???

“He’s an abomination” Damn right Rio get him!

Also the change in agatha a little about not wanting to see Rio when she died like yeah it’s a quick change but I think it’s Agatha putting her shields back up, she does want Rio back she definitely does but also it’s like ‘oh actually I’m putting my guard back up because I’m scared and you did something that hurt me’ (she is my scar!)

Rio being pissed off that agatha doesn’t want her and that she loves it when she’s like this unfortunately ladies this foreplay went a little too far and got ruined by a man (fucking typical) them basically flirting through their whole fight was great too

Also going back to episode 1 where Rio said ‘so take my power’ and Agatha replied ‘cute, but you know that would kill me’ BECAUSE SHE HAD TO KISS HER TO TAKE HER POWER! Did I get it right? Pretty sure I did so I declare that in their private moments agatha never kissed Rio but just started at her neck so not to accidentally kill herself during sex (dramatic lesbians)

Also in ep 4 when Agatha tries kissing Rio but then Rio stops her, I have a depressing feeling that Agatha was so upset at being reminded of what happened to her son she was willing to take the kiss of death I guess? Or maybe Rio can control stuff like that and kiss Agatha fine if she holds her power in but thinking she’s death I think it’s the first one

Rio cutting the road and stepping through I’m not gonna lie I was shocked! I gasped guys and I don’t do that often like obviously they knew was fake but I didn’t I love just thinking about Rio stepping in and out of the road but also where is the ‘road’? Is it just Agatha’s house? Have they been walking around in circles this whole time, god the citizens of westview may need to start looking for other places to live

The Salem era! I loved it (I do want more backstory but I think we’ll get some interviews explaining it so that’ll be fun) ‘born from scratch’ beautiful line Rio turning up I was like ‘oh daddy’s here to help with the birth’ then I quickly remembered she’s death and agatha begging not to take him and then I realised daddy isn’t here to stay for good reasons (like most dads)

Little Nicky was adorable! Such a cute kid and helping his mother trick witches? Putting him to work agatha, I like it! Start them early I say

Also they created the balled! So cute and heartbreaking since Agatha had to sing it all the time when killing these witches constantly being reminded of her son

Also her killing everyday then the one night she doesn’t rio takes their son??? God Rio give her a fucking day don’t you have like billions of other souls to take?? Just walk very slowly 🙄

Billy carrying the trauma of killing three (that’s right I count Sharon too!) witches because he created the road makes the ending worth it actually (not by much) because he has to suffer the consequences and deal with ghost agatha, get recked!

Rio and Agatha will definitely reunite (source: Me) Rio says she hates ghosts but only because she’s death and ghosts probably don’t want to move on, be a bit like trying to round up cats. HER AND AGATHA CAN FINALLY WALK TOGETHER FOR ALL ETERNITY

Anyway I have work in an hour and I’ve been up since 4 it’s now 6 and I’ve slept about 3 hours soooo if this is all ramblings I’ll try to add things later but yeah I loved the last two episodes yeah we could’ve gotten a bit more Agathario but I truly think they didn’t anticipate the overwhelming reception for them (Kathryn and Aubrey did though definitely)

I’m up for any discussion too I love talking about this stuff but works been hectic recently hence why I’m watching the episodes before work because after I’m just knackered but I’m off this weekend so I can reply properly to people

[mono-blogs-art]

Alright, I finished GAP the series. I can't lie, I finished it in 2 days so, it was very addictive. I liked the first half more than the second, in later episodes it all just kinda dragged out a bit and the arguments felt a bit cyclical. But overall, I really liked it! Plus, the show is entirely on YouTube, I love the accessibility of it!

It's my first time watching a Thai drama, and I was somewhat aware before that GAP was one of the most popular lesbian shows coming out of the genre (and also one of the first Thai lesbian shows ever??). It's the kind of show everyone just knows through osmosis or has at least seen a few episodes of. And now that I've seen it I understand why that is the case :D

Overall: I will give the show a 6/10! It definitely has more of a silly, telenovela type edit and structure which is great, but not necessarily always for me. But because of that it also hooks you in immediately. Over time, the pace really starts to show however and it's just too slow for me. The shots are also sometimes a bit inconsistent, some of them look like a straight up painting and others are baffling to see in a finished product. I definitely laughed a few times because of that, but I find it more charming than anything else. It's a silly show after all.

The Plot: Is barely relevant to be honest, the main plot (Sam's company being in a tough spot) is just kind of abandoned after a while in favour of the love story. I didn't mind it. The romance is what I'm here for anyway. It has a very "my parents sold me to one direction" fanfic vibe, and I mean this only in the best way. Getting to intern at your idol's company, then becoming her personal assistant and eventually conquering her heart is a classic. Lesbians need that messy shit too. And brother I ate it up. I also understand now why people were comparing Chaser Game W (2024 lesbian jdrama) to this show, it has a somewhat similar vibe and is also about an unhealthy relationship in the workplace. However, GAP does literally every single thing better than Chaser Game did, and I still thought CGW was fun.

The Characters: I love them. They're simple but well executed.

Mon is understandably a bit boring, suffering from being the protagonist, but she does have a few key moments that were either really fun or really made me emotionally connect, so I like her. She's cute! And I loved her boldness and rebellious nature in the first half of the show, sadly I think it got lost a bit in the second. Overall this show isn't really interested in exploring sexuality that much (even though it's very steamy), so Mon just kinda goes from "Don't be silly, she's a woman, I'm not interested in her like that" to making out with Sam. Like girl, I get it but also... I wish we could've seen a bit more of that discovery and exploration (we do see it much more on Sam's side though). Mon also doesn't have a ton of agency, she's kinda powerless in a lot of situations because she's just a normal girl, not an... insanely rich noble lady CEO with powerful connections. You know, unlike her boss.

Sam is the true main character of the show, driving pretty much the entire plot in one way or another. She is also by far the most entertaining and charming character and I'm obsessed with her. She's a horrible person, wildly inconsistent, toxic and emotionally immature in every way, and seeing her ice-cold facade thaw every so slowly throughout the episodes is just so much fun. Underneath it all she's just a Weirdo who is so deeply traumatized by her upbringing that she's still just a kid at heart. I say all these harsh things because they are true, but also because despite it all the show somehow pulls it off to make her really likeable. Sam is funny, mean, extremely cute, pathetically down bad and horny, and just going through all the emotions ever, and her actress Sarocha Chankimha really pulls it off and I can only be impressed. Sam's development in the second half of the series also really works because it's surprisingly consistent, her falling back into her bad habits and eventually accepting her tragic fate made so much sense. She couldn't have achieved her freedom on her own and I'm glad the show didn't go that route either.

As for the supporting cast, Sam's friends are definitely the most interesting. I just wonder how Sam, a cis "straight" woman, ended up in the coolest queerest girl gang in town. Only because they were friends in elementary school? Honestly that's the most unrealistic part of the show for me LMAO. Sam's fiancé Kirk is The Man in the lesbian show, he's alright. Mon's friend Nop turned out to be surprisingly sweet in the later half of the show, which was a delight. The big villain of the series, Sam's grandmother, is ... Well, it was certainly a choice to have her end up where she did in the end. I wish they'd have done something a bit more bold with the character - I found it a bit of a cop out. Not all villains need to turn out to be nice in the end, especially not this one. But I can respect the choice, and I'm ultimately more in favour of a character working to become a better person than a villain succumbing to more evil.

One thing that's undeniable about the show is that it's hot. The leads have some insane chemistry going on and you can't look away, every scene with them feels electric, especially in the beginning. I was also surprised at how sexy the show is overall, like okay, we just dedicate an entire episode to Sam and Mon wanting to fuck. And there is an honest-to-god eating out scene that made me go 😳 I appreciate the show for that :D

Overall, I'm glad this was my introduction to Thai GL, I understand why it's a somewhat foundational text and I really enjoyed my time with it. I'm also happy to hear that it's been a kickstart for the actor's careers, and that the two girlies are doing more sapphic shows together now. I'm actually already watching The Loyal Pin (trying to watch and stay up to date as it's currently airing!) and that show is much more my style, even though it's also quite slow. But it's fun to see the same actresses play completely different roles. I loved Sam a lot, but overall I think I will enjoy Anin and Pin more.

[liquidstar]

do u have any recs for folks newer to the yuri genre? I've never really read any manga other than shounen and some magical girl stuff

Omg i can totally give yuri recs. (And which ones to stay away from. Sakura Kiss has cousin shit in it, Citrus has stepsister dubcon, Dragon Maid has lolicon, Happy Sugar Life is also lolicon but it’s edgy about it and tries to act like this makes it deep, we can do better)

Anyway here’s my actual recs! I'm going to give details but if you don't wanna read them I bolded all the titles.

YuriKuma Arashi (By Ikuhara of Revolutionary Girl Utena fame), is about lesbian bears. But it’s actually a metaphor for the simultaneous objectification and demonization of lesbians, the expectation both for purity and predation. There are some nitpicks I have with it like the sexualization being a bit too much to bring the point home, but overall I do like its themes and its message. And I think the ending pulls everything together really nicely. There is both a manga and an anime, and I believe the anime came first. I’ve only seen the anime so I’m not sure if/how the manga deviates!!!! 

Bloom Into You is an absolute must. Like, for real, I think it’s one of the best romances out there, yuri or otherwise. It gets really deep into both characters' respective psyches and the ways that they’re both Very Screwed Up when it comes to love and romance, or really just life in general. Giving details would be doing them a disservice honestly. Both characters are very messy but also do try their best to genuinely communicate, and what comes of that is a lot of teenage lesbian drama, but the growth they both experience though it TOGETHER is just great, and you can tell they care about each other so much.

Okay this one I’m not really recommending for the good writing, it’s more-so just really cool. Liberta (EXPLICIT) is a series about a vampire who can turn her body into guns and a human woman who is sick of being seen as lesser in her ordinary life. And then they fall in love and are vampires together. The artstyle and character designs are awesome and it has some really cool fight scenes. However it also has full blown barely censored sex scenes. A few of them. One of the women uses her tail at some point. If that’s not what your cup of tea is, give it a pass. 

Anyway for something more wholesome you should check out The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All, which I’m actually not fully caught up on bc life, but has still been a super fun read so far. It’s about a girl who works at a music store, and her classmate who gets a crush on her while she’s at work. The classmate doesn’t realize that they’re the same person, due to her looking different at work, and thinks her worksona is a guy. Hijinks ensue. 

Otherside Picnic is also highly recommended. Its manga adaptation is lagging behind the light novel, which I can’t find a translation of online (But if anyone can help me out w that 🙏). The story itself is about two college students who go on adventures to a parallel plane of reality, which contains cosmic horrors who can only communicate with humans through fear so intense it will make you go insane. They’re also looking for someone who went missing, and gain cool powers like Ghost Hand and Sans Eye. Yes this is still a yuri series and it’s also really really extremely fucking cool. 

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, is a slice of life story about… Well exactly what it says. A woman with a passion for cooking, making lots of food and sharing it with her neighbor, and they end up bonding through this. It’s also like, cool to see a big butch woman for a change! The story itself is very straightforward but I love watching the relationship progress as well as the mc question her sexuality. This story will absolutely make you super hungry though.

Show Me Your Bust (EXPLICIT) is also exactly what it says on the tin, though it’s technically a webtoon. Again this is a series with explicit sex scenes, but it actually does have a story and actual depth to its characters. Honestly there’s a lot to unpack with all of them and a lot of the relationships aren’t totally healthy but it’s a drama so that’s the point. 

A Monster Wants To Eat Me is actually hard to describe without spoilers. It’s about a girl who lives by the sea, meeting a mysterious girl with eyes that remind her of the ocean itself. The girl says that she’s actually been looking for the mc for a long time, and it’s revealed that….

And lastly I wanna mention Hanamonogatari, a story about an old widow who begins to regain confidence in herself as she experiments with make-up with the help of another old lady who works at a local cosmetic store. Honestly it’s very very very sweet, it’s rare to get romances like this of old women when so much of the focus of romances (yuri or otherwise) is often on the characters being attractive. I also really appreciate how the make-up is being used specifically to accentuate their wrinkles. Not hide them. Because aging is beautiful too. Sadly IVE ONLY READ TWO CHAPTERS BECAUSE I DONT THINK THE REST ARE TRANSLATED IF ANYONE OUT THERE CAN HELP ME PLEASE DO 🙏

[camilaxmartin]

gonna put them emoji’s again💀😭 so it would be: 🥑🍬🌸🐝🎨🍄

I love using these TOTALLY USEFUL emoji’s so I picked em🥰

you don’t use avocado/bee/mushroom everyday? what are you even doing?🙄

BUT ANYWAY

🥑: you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

probably @bunnylove1 and @blookyag, idk why tho honestly, just getting the vibes they’d help somebody out with hiding the body💀 (it’s a compliment, i swear-)

🍬: post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character:

okay uhh- (don’t cancel me plz) i respect with my whole heart that alastor is asexual and (?) aromantic but i don’t get the hate people receive when shipping him with someone? as far as i know being on the spectrum means he can still date? like i know, he doesn’t show any interest in that but if its just for a silly au or for a cool drawing then what’s the fuss about? i’m not talking like about erasing that part of him because that’s a big no no for me, but like…? respecting it but still having fun with his character? i saw a great tiktok explaining my thoughts exactly so maybe i’ll link it here if i can find it (add the link here later camila:) (besides all that i project a lot of myself onto alastor (still debating if im aromantic or not) and i want to explore myself with his character (if i can even phrase it that way) so all the hate and shit really bother me, you know?)

(another thing more about whole thing not a character is that “whatever it takes” is in my top 4 songs and i don’t get the hate it gets?? i love this song?? it’s so great?? two latina (?) girls singing together?? cmon??)

🌸: do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them:

i do actually! i have a dog and three rats:) (also had a rabbit but he died not so long ago and he was like my whole world so i got a tattoo to remember him, i’ll add it as well just because i can)

🐝: tag your biggest supporters and say one nice thing about them:

@kimmyisachiisaiakuma - ugh of course?? like in my head we are already besties fr fr, what can i saaaay😭 idk i love you and how supportive and just friendly you are!!:) and god of course, i love your art?? but i’ve already said it a thousand times??? so here’s one thousand first??

@bunnylove1 - just how supportive you are towards my stuff and how with exactly one request i felt like we also became besties? maybe it’s just me but yeah😭

@blookyag - liking my every post and responding to every single one of them!!! she’s a treasure, really. i’m surprised someone cares about my rambling this much💀

@informist - i’ve noticed that she’s also reacting to a lot of my stuff and she’s so quick with it like?? idk it makes my heart jump okay? i love attention from people even when it’s just my stupid rambling😭 (#iamanattentionwhore 😗😗)

@rougecreator1 - liked a lot of my posts as well, and somehow i feel like they enjoy my stuff? idk tho?😭😭 yeah just noticed interactions in my activities:)

@riveramorylunar - i feel like we were more active on each other’s accounts when i was still in my lady lesso era, but idk i really liked you then and i still love seeing your stuff pop up on my main page:)

and of course, all of my lovely anons who send me their ideas that i can’t wait to write!!:)

🎨: link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it:

okay so like it changes every day?? but for now i must say this one:

click!

why? simple. a. brokerdoll b. the marvellous style? c. i want to draw like that d. just… just look at it okay? e. lesbians.

(and a special mention for THIS as well, as it’s the first time someone ever drawn my oc and besides the fact that she looks so pretty here it’s just… idk i just love it okay, she stole my heart)

🍄: share a headcanon for one of your favourite ships or pairings:

let’s start with the fact that i even have a favourite account for all the headcanons about brokerdoll which is @vypridae (adore all the hcs, really)

buut! my personal headcanon is:

• carmilla didn’t really expect to fall for velvette, i mean in my head she just saw her as so… respectless and dumb and stupid and careless and carefree and wild and free and pretty- wait

yeah, so in my head velvette was the first to initiate anything and at first carmilla was like “ha! no way, you stupid girl” but then she started to think more and more about velvette as the time went on and one day she just got along the fact that she might be attracted to the young overlord and somehow… went with it? like she didn’t make a big deal out of it… but velvette definitely did, despite the fact she was actually the first one to say or act on her attraction in any way.

(i need to write more headcanons for them, they’re literally eating up my brain)

[bonesandthebees]

Bee i don’t enter your anon box very frequently but i am just SO EXCITED about you branching out into writing for house of the dragon, even if you don’t end up continuing, its just super exciting to see!! Especially as someone who has been following your work since the final few chapters of clinic and now is insanely obsessed with got/hotd i am just so so so excited to see where you go from here!!!

I also might be delusional but i’ve noticed that incredibly complex and interesting wlw dynamics tend to be ignored in favor of the far less complex or developed mlm dynamics (especially in fanfiction), so it is just soooo nice seeing an author i really enjoy and respect writing for such interesting characters.

ANYWAYS this is just your reminder that no matter what you end up writing you’ll have readers who support you because your work is really really good <<<33

aaaa thank you!! it makes me so happy to hear this. I loved house of the dragon when the first season aired (and is what directly inspired under the hanging rose) so I've definitely thought about writing for it before, but I just never had an idea that really stuck until the other day when I was like wait a second-

also you're not delusional. wlw ships are almost always the least popular in fandom, with female characters very often being shoved out of the way, ignored, or pigeonholed into stereotypes by fandom at large. it thrills me to see how popular rhaenicent is in the hotd fandom, but even while being relatively popular it's still often overshadowed by ships between male characters who have barely interacted before. and of course I think fandom is a space to have fun and anyone can ship what they want, but sometimes I think people need to sit down and actually reflect on why they feel more drawn to the ship between two male characters who barely had a minute long scene together (*cough cough* all the ship content I've been seeing for that blackwood guy and the bracken guy) compared to a more complex, interesting, and nuanced dynamic between female characters.

I have a lot of strong feelings about misogyny in fandom spaces. but also I'm a lesbian who just loves writing about sapphic romance. and I just adore alicent and rhaenyra's dynamic in the show. there are so many layers to the pining and resentment and guilt and frustration they feel for each other and just. agh. it's so good.

ty for this it means so much that some of you guys wanna stick around to reading my stuff even when it's not mcyt <33

[lesbianrobin]

okay sorry have no one else to talk about this so i'm gonna be insane in your inbox for a sec

so hi this is the anon from a little while ago who's name was also tommy and had never seen 9-1-1 but kept seeing the discourse posts lmao. i started watching 9-1-1 after that and i'm having so much fun w it! i'm almost done w season 2. i'm working a summer job w my best friend rn and a lot of our morning carpools have involved me going over the events of the most recent 9-1-1 ep i watched afsgsgsgsg.

anyways i'm seeing the mustache pictures rn and i'm losing my mind about it i think (positive). like i already knew i was gay but it looks so good holy shit? did not know this about myself but i've been sick the past few days and i think it's healing me

anyways this ramble was a lot longer than i planned i am SO sorry about this. your 9-1-1 posts have been so fun so thank you! i think i am just also going insane

HI TOMMY WELCOME BACK 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 i'm so glad you're having fun with the show omg!!! literally debriefing 9-1-1 with your bestie is So fun i'm so glad you're having that experience i terrorized my best friend @steveharrington while i was first watching the show too !!

also yeah mustache is. yeah. yeah. i'm literally a lesbian and i'm sitting here like Feeling Things it's insane. you are so far from alone my friend ❤️

[smokestarrules]

That one post about people "hating on Destiel bc they're white and male" is *wild* to me. I combed through the reblogs of the poll to see if I can find anything and stopped after like 50 refreshes bc my goodness over 9000 reblogs. I saw the main complaints and *real* reasons people are upset with Destiel/Destiel fans. Most notably:

- queerbaiting (the show doing so or the fans doing it to themselves [it's pretty split])

- forcing an actor to come out as straight

- apparently being salty toward bumbleby during their poll

- discounting Sulemio as a 'random anime lesbian pairing' / hyping Destiel up as being more important (having more fics on AO3, shutting down tumblr, mishapocolypse, etc)

- Super hell

Everyone that's hyping Sulemio up is doing so bc:

- canon on-screen marriage

- the sheer history and influence of g-witch internationally

- most Gundams sold from said fandom in a country that still bans same-sex marriage

- literally posting all the amazing sulemio moments

- and obligatory "let's go lesbians!"

I like both shows a lot honestly. Even without taking everything else into consideration, I think a lot of older spn fans feel burnout from the ship. Especially when it was *the* big Supernatural ship.

Either way, trying to pull a reverse racism/sexism card on a lesbian inter-race ship is distasteful. I'm glad you left the poster's name out. Ultimately a AO3 ship poll isn't something we should be tearing each other down over, but instead a celebration of fandom history and fandom history in the making as ColeyDoeaThings put it in her last ship poll video

Nonetheless thanks for taking my rambling! No need to respond to this! I just felt like sharing

Ooh, but I will respond to this, because I really like the points you've raised.

I actually really appreciate this perspective because I have never seen Supernatural, nor do I ever plan to, and obviously that and g-witch are on very different spectrums no matter what, so it's genuinely interesting whenever I come across someone who has actually seen them both.

And yeah, like, I'm sure it's being hateful on both sides, and I acknowledge that I am heavily biased, but from what I've seen, most of the animosity seems to stem from the Supernatural side of things. Granted, they're losing fairly badly at the moment, so maybe it'd be completely different if things were on the other foot. Who knows! I do think this is ultimately hilarious and that's always what side I'm going to portray here, but there's always going to be people who take it too far.

But yeah, I completely agree with you there. Popularity polls will probably always hold some sort of controversy with them, but to be honest, it could be far, far worse. Hence why I'm making fun of my favorite takes anyway! Keeping it anonymous, too, is better for everybody involved.

[chronic-cynic]

@pessimisticgh0st you asked for anime recommendations, so I am obviously going to jump at the chance to give them to you. You’ve dug your own grave, sorry.

Madoka Magica - a 12 episode anime that fucks up your mind and makes you lose your will to live. A classic. It’s short, so it’s not much of a commitment, and it’s perhaps the best anime out there. I’d recommended this before, but I’m hoping you forgot everything I said about it so you go in blind. Brief summary: 14 year old girls gain magical powers and have to fight witches. Recommending this anime is always very fun :) There are also 3 movies, but the first two are recaps of the series, so only the third movie (Rebellion) is relevant. This series will not leave my mind. This is the lesbian show.

A Silent Voice - a movie about a former bully making amends to the deaf girl he bullied. I normally hate this trope, but it’s done so well here, god. It really makes you empathize with both of them, especially since they were really young when it happened. Depicts social anxiety in the most accurate way possible. Absolutely beautiful film (I think Tori would love this film). Trigger warning for bullying, ableism, suicide, and violence (I may have missed something, so be cautious). If you aren’t doing anything today, I swear to god, watch this movie.

Romantic Killer - the aroace show. Not a favourite, but it’s definitely good. It’s about a girl who has zero interest in dating being forced into a dating simulator game by a wizard. She does her absolute best to ignore the romance that is forced into her life, and by the end of the show, she becomes very good friends with all of her love interests (found family for the win). A lot of people misunderstand this show, saying it’s anti-aroace which is absolutely ridiculous because the whole point of the show is that you can’t reduce people to mere love interests, and that romance can’t be forced onto people. It does have a lot of romantic elements because it’s a rom-com, though, which makes me cringe a lot of the time, but it’s good anyway. It’s a very funny show with a strong-willed main character. Trigger warning for stalking and sexual abuse, both of which are very well handled in the show. On Netflix.

Neon Genesis Evangelion - it’s a goddamn ride. Another classic. The main characters are so well written that you feel like they’ll crawl out of your screen and live in the real world. And, if you relate to one, it’s like the show is grabbing you by the throat (this is definitely not me talking about Asuka, nope). Touches on every existential question imaginable. Gives you a headache. 10/10. You should probably look up trigger warnings because there are likely a lot. On Netflix as well.

That’s all I can think of for now.

Edit: I’m adding two more shows but neither are anime. I promise they are both worth it, though.

Daria - a sitcom that aired from 1997 to 2002 on MTV (my profile picture is the main character). I’ve been watching it for a bit now. Haven’t finished it yet but it’s very good so far. The main character is very similar to Tori, except she isn’t as miserable.

Pyramid Game - a Kdrama about a class that plays an oppressive game that picks on the weak. I don’t watch many Kdramas, but the plot intrigued me and now it’s an absolute favourite. There’s a canon lesbian character and an implied sapphic romance. It’s also an all-female cast which I love, and the main character is incredibly smart. Here is where you can find it (use an adblocker).

[vexy-hexy]

I watched Lio's response video, and while he proved a good amount of stuff (mostly with Peaches being horrible), I have a lot of problems with it

I commented on his video with timestamps from the first 2 and half hours or so (my comment talking about after that was deleted before I could post it or save it, FML)

But, anyway, I figure I'll put my commemt with most of my issues here with the timestamps:

"While I absolutely acknowledge that Peaches is garbage and manipulative and I feel sorry for you for what you went through, I have to point out some strange things that I've noticed in this video. I'm commenting on this as I go through the video

17:03 that screenshot doesn’t say what you said it did

While Lumi DID say it's fun to fuck with people, the only thing they say about using slurs is that they have no issues with people using slurs they can reclaim and stating that is also what yhey do, before jokingly calling Peaches the f slur

I think you know this to, as, so far, any screenshots you KNOW prove your point have stayed on screen for a decent amount of time, whereas this screenshot was only there for about a second

I also find it odd that you have someone voicing the accusation document, you don’t have anyone voicing the screenshots you bring up

17:52 I disagree. Rosa being able to get mad over an opinion on Star Wars is not even in the same ballpark as removing a predator, who, may I add, was one of the highest tier mods in Rebeccah's server at the time

Also, if you find the anger you had with Rosa justified, where was that anger when you DID get Rebeccah in call? You know, not only the one with the actual power to remove N3koPan, but also the one who tried to move in with a 17 year old?

The Tek-no podcast happened BEFORE Rosa revealed she knew about N3koPan, and you came into that call already aggressive towards her because she suggested an internet horrors episode be made on your friend, a known harasser who sent people death threats for disagreeing with him, and someone that you only finally stopped white knighting for when he did something against you

23:34 that's not a sob story, that's Kumo explaining his side of things to you

Also, Peaches consistently says the Rosa call happened in 2022, but it happened in 2023. I don’t know why you haven't called that out, but that’s a pretty big oversight

38:43 but you HAVE lashed out at victims of abuse before for behavior that is normal in a victim, the Jibz call shows this

It's normal and even typical of victims to return to their abuser and, while Jibz WAS 100% in the wrong for giving their abuser the contact information of another minor (even if they weren't groomed), you yelled at him (?), sexualized him (calling him their abuser's fleshlight, among other gross things), and questioned his sexuality as a Lesbian because his abuser was a man

1:25:16 it IS vigilantism

Vigilantism isn't always putting on a cape and beating up punks for snatching a purse, it's getting involved in legal matters that you have no authority to get involved in

Cambridge defines it as:

"The practice of ordinary people in a place taking unofficial action to prevent crime or to CATCH and punish people believed to be criminals"

LSD law defines it as:

"Vigilantism is when individuals or groups take the law into their own hands and act as law enforcement without legal authority. This can include punishing people they believe have committed a crime or enforcing their own version of justice"

You have stated before that you are "barely qualified to do predator hunting", but you still get involved which could then make genuine attempts to take legal action difficult, if not, void

One could argue that pulling someone believed to be a predator into a call of multiple people berating them relentlessly is you punishing them without legal authority, or if a confession IS given during the call, they could easily argue it was coerced or given under duress, as you have stated you can find where someone lives by a picture (which can and has been taken as a threat)

1:28:16 proof of Jay encouraging negativity about your wife?

2:03:30 talking about you and Peaches fighting is giving context. Jordyn says outright that he misunderstood and thought you knew about what Peaches did. Why would he tell you something he thought you already knew? And Jordyn says they don't like Peaches, so why would they talk to or spend time with him or wish him a Happy Birthday if he didn't like Peaches?

2:04:35 that proves nothing, this conversation could've been before the mental issues, or could be him trying to focus on something he liked

2:07:07 why aren't you showing the screenshots Jordyn apparently provided in their video? That's incredibly suspicious

Several people in your own comment section have stated they haven't seen any of the videos by others intentionally. By not showing the supposed screenshots you're talking about, you are not providing the evidence you are "debunking", only saying what it supposedly says and arguing against that

Maybe Jordyn's screenshots DO show this stuff, but, because you didn't include them in your video, some people won't know since they refuse to listen to other sources

If anything, this makes it appear like you're hiding something

2:12:57 proof of Jordyn being in others streams?

2:18:57 that screenshot literally says CHROME decided to send the message to you, despite Jordyn telling them NOT to

2:22:01 it didn't make sense that someone who has shown game ending tendencies would look for weapons they could game end with...

2:28:21 she never said anything about being a MOD, she said she was Rebeccah's FRIEND

2:31:04 That doesn’t show Rosa was a mod for Rebeccah. It shows someone asking Rosa if she wants to join their staff TEMPORARILY and Rosa says "of course"

We don't know if "deleted user" is Rebeccah from this, and, again, it also says TEMPORARILY

I have many other issues with this video, including that you didn't prove that you apologized to Rosa, accused her of lying without evidence, and a bit more, but I lost that comment with my more detailed thoughts and timestamps

Fuck

In conclusion, I thought that the video had a lot of problems, and it just solidified my opinion on Lio being manipulative and disingenuous further

The screenshots were weird, some being way too small to read unless you squinted, others being blurry, or them disappearing too fast, unless they showed what he was actually saying, which is, to say the least, suspicious as fuck

Also, I HAVE seen Harley's video on Peaches, and while I agree with most of their points and think they did a good job, I can't help but side eye them and Ponder (which sucks because I used to watch both of them). They were in this call that happened over a YEAR ago, so why is it that Harley is only talking about this NOW after it's been revealed to the public and Omnia made a video, and, aside from the interview Harley had with her in video to clarify things, Ponder has seemingly not yet said anything about the situation on her own platforms

Also, I don't remember seeing anyone give Peaches shit for covering the faults of Camilla Cuevas after she tried to hurt Peaches, so I don’t know why people are framing Omnia doing a similar thing regarding this whole situation with Peaches as them being petty and not letting things go

Also, after responding to a comment in a way that I believed was calm and civil, Lio told me to "Kick rocks", to which I commented back in, admittedly, a harsh way, while also trying to focus on the facts

I've also had 2 separate people inform me that they can no longer see my comments to Lio on the video, so I assume they've been deleted, whether by Lio or YouTube, I'm unsure, but, if it was Lio, that pisses me off, especially since his comment telling me to "kick rocks" is still there, so I feel some people may think I look like a coward

Once I learned my comments were apparently gone, I commented at him again with this:

He had yet to respond again despite the fact I sent that 2 days ago

Needless to say, I am a little pissed at this whole situation, especially since (if I'm remembering correctly), he BARELY addressed the facts that he had the FCK screenshots for months and didn't do anything, and downplayed Peaches' inaction there himself by blaming his being groomed (actually being the first to both bring it up and insist upon it) and ignoring the fact that, in the call he himself showed as evidence in the Crystal Flame video, Peaches ACKNOWLEDGED that Slimurz would've been a minor and they would've known

[fruitzbat]

There is this bizarre mischaracterization problem with Kingsley in the CR fandom that I think shows a certain level of contempt for the character himself — and honestly, I think it’s really revealing about a troubling hallmark of conditional support of nonbinary people in real life, which I find beyond hypocritical given…well, let’s get into it.

For starters, I'm not bothering with leaving a disclaimer about how not all fans do xyz or why I think that anyone should listen to me over anyone else. We’re adults here, we should know that things are nuanced by now. I also think talking about my own qualifications here is silly and masturbatory given that this is fandom and I'm very much doing it for free along with almost everyone else, so I'm not gonna waste the space.

Getting into the exceptions and such is well beyond the scope of this post, and I frankly don't think anything I say in this will convince anyone of anything — I just need to get it out there. If any of does change your mind, great! Icing on the cake.

*eyes glowing* anyway,

Given the admittedly considerable amount of work I do relating to his character, I wade through Kingsley's character tag a lot, and in many different places. On here, on Twitter, on AO3, his tag is full to the gills of bits of people writing stories in which he steals up to a certain member of the Nein and showers them with gifts and forehead kisses and...for lack of a better term, 'Mollyisms', and lays there enraptured while they talk about their relationship with Molly — who, obviously, is him. He's called "circus man" and is unbothered by it; it's testimony to the fact that this person and Kingsley have a history that transcends silly things like death.

Thus, the general depiction of Kingsley within the fandom is one that is not unlike Molly's, if not a 1:1 replica: a fun-loving, carefree libertine whose sun often rises at a certain other member of the Nein's forehead and sets are their toenails. He's curious about his past lives, but sees minimal distinction between them and himself.

And that's utter motherfucking hogwash.

The thing is, Kingsley's not an act II of Molly. He’s arguably a very different person from Molly, and the drift in Molly’s canon and fanon depiction is an essay on its own (not to mention the shift in perception in-universe, also brilliant and fascinating in its own right).

And I sincerely want us to think about that oversight in the same vein as if there were a considerable amount of Critters making content about, say, Beauregard Lionett falling in love with a man when she's explicitly a lesbian. Like, to me, it is that dire. And I will explain why that is momentarily: once I finish talking about who he actually is, and one of the principal culprits that I blame for this schism.

"But fruitzbat," some people might cry. "But fruitzbat, we have so little to go on. He's hardly shown himself on stream and he does, in the end, come from Molly!"

To that I would reply "skill issue," because Kingsley very much has distinguished himself from his siblings. Fandoms have extrapolated way more about a character with far less in the past. I didn't live through Superwholock on this website for anyone to tell me that they can't pull a fully-fledged character out of one episode of something. With all due respect, git gud.

Kingsley is a hustler and a cutthroat. He's driven, micro-managey — like, PAINFULLY Type-A, and interested in staying alive and making a name for himself; but in contradiction with this sense of self-preservation, he’s also ready to impulsively give himself up for a greater good and/or "make new mistakes", which can be read as altruistic at its best and unhealthy and self-deprecating at its worst (a trait which he definitely shares with Molly). In commenting on his new outfit, I’ve shitposted in the past that Kingsley is frum, but it's really not that far off. He doesn't like to leave things to chance, and also strongly believes in taking care of his own — he notably takes excellent care of the Nein Heroez’s crew. He doesn't suffer fools, he's snarky (too many examples to list them all, but have a few of my favorites), and also thoughtful and analytical and a skeptic. And most of all, he’s eager to learn and curious — not just about Molly and Lucien, but in general.

He jokes about being Lucien at one point, but makes it very clear that it's not him when people in his life make that slip-up. He's also been making the point that he’s not either of them as early as the campaign finale. And within the special, too, it’s pretty unambiguous. And then there’s Taliesin himself, also making it very clear that he’s a separate animal and on top of that, that he’s an absolute fucking badass.

And as mentioned, it's true that there's overlap with some of Molly's business — he's theatrical and loves fashion, for instance. But honestly, this character has far more in common with Lucien than he does with Molly. Lucien, who spoke multiple languages and lead a mercenary group into Aeor and back multiple times. Lucien, who even the mere prospect of him being resurrected was enough to reassemble the Tombtakers. If that’s not the makings of a Plank King, I’m not sure what would be.

And here's another thing: "Kingsley came from Molly" in and of itself is a misnomer. Based on both the stream and the addendum from the Lucien novel, Kingsley is mostly the reforged soul of Lucien — Molly's soul fragment was reintegrated into the rest of Lucien's. Kingsley is what was born from that fusion. When interceding on the failed Raise Dead spell, Caduceus said "put it back...whoever it was." There's just as much potential to say that it was Lucien's soul returned to that purple body by Melora as it was Molly's.

In all candor, I think it has a good deal to do with how many vocal Molly fans wanted Widomauk to be canon or somehow endgame.

The inherent tragedy of the dynamic between Caleb and Molly is that there is a constant specter of what could have been. Neither encountered each other when they were at a point to pursue their attraction, and Molly was dead before anything could come to pass. As a passive observer, I think that this what could have been has bled into the fanon interpretation of all kinds of purple tiefling content, mostly because there's so little to analyze otherwise. One only has to glance at the tags for the Lucien novel or the Molly origin comic to see what I mean. And I think that this has also significantly impacted the fanon depiction of Kingsley.

I find that this fandom in particular has a huge problem with sacrificing characterization in the name of fanon archetypes and tropes, but due to the distinct nature of Kingsley’s character this can veer into…I mean, pretty ugly territory.

People love the reincarnated lovers trope, and I see that applied here the most, to which I always want to remind people that Kingsley is probably more like a joined Trill. He has these past lives and memories, but just like Ezri isn’t quite Jadzia isn’t quite Kurzon Dax, Kingsley isn’t Molly isn’t Lucien. Ezri didn’t hop up and get busy with Worf, even when Jadzia had been his wife. Far from it, actually. Similarly, Jadzia had an entire exploratory episode dedicated to encountering Kurzon’s spouse and deciding that she (regretfully for lesbians everywhere) felt differently.

It’s true that it’s not completely baseless; I’m genuinely not saying that. It’s true that one of the first things King did was flirt with Caleb when he woke up. And then when he’d come more into his own, there was all that wild talk they had during the…

Oh wait, that’s right. They didn’t speak one on one even once during the reunion. So the argument could easily be made that in the chunk of the stream that showed us the most about who King was as a person, he didn’t touch Caleb with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole. Meaning that at this point in time, the basis of the ship is predominately Caleb’s relationship to his elder siblings.

I don't have time and ultimately have no interest in unpacking that in terms of it being solid foundations for a romantic relationship — we all can read, baruch hashem — and will also assume that there’s content about that dynamic that explores that weirdness with all the complexity that it deserves. But my central point here is that I’m seeing vanishingly little of it, and far more of it being used in a way that denies Kingsley his own identity. The point isn't hating on a ship. Widoking in and of itself is fine, the point is that people aren't actually shipping Kingsley with Caleb. They're shipping him with someone wearing the skin of his dead older brother.

Which brings me to my next point...

I find this aspect to be incredible given the extraordinary way that this campaign explores trans identity and narrative. Plenty of other folks have written about the extent that campaign 2’s focus on identity as a theme has resulted In one of the most comprehensive studies of several different types of trans stories. Like, VETH?!?

BEAU?!?! Not to mention FJORD’S UNRELENTING T-BOY SWAG?!?!?!

And yet.

And, yes, it is that deep. Let me explain.

Molly and Lucien are canonically genderfluid. Kingsley hasn't come out as anything yet, so the jury is still out... though many people, myself included, headcanon that he's some flavor of not cis.

For me, this is because Kingsley’s narrative is arguably more a traditional trans one than Lucien or Molly's: being born with the expectation that he would be one thing, then coming to his family — who hold that expectation quite dearly — and asserting that he is someone and something else completely different from that. Lucien and Molly are trans characters, no doubt, but their stories are not about being transgender. And there is an intrinsic quality to King's that definitely is.

The notion of "trans narrative" is also something applied to someone like Nott/Veth, even in a world where transness is not stigmatized. So while transphobia is not a thing as we understand it in Exandria, that doesn't change that Kingsley “came out” and transitioned in a more recognizable way to us than Lucien or Molly ever had to — in the same light as Veth arguably struggling with her self-image in a way that many trans viewers find exceedingly familiar.

If we can apply the queer critical lens and think of Fjord being a trans guy deconstructing toxic ideas of masculinity, or of Beau being a trans girl dealing with transphobic parents that wanted a son, got one, and cast her aside, we can also use that same level of discernment when it comes to Kingsley. There's precedent.

I don’t mean to get personal here, but the flat out dismissal of Kingsley's identity as an individual and not as the sum of other parts reminds me so much of my own experience of having come out as non-binary and then telling people that I was going to start HRT. The support dried up almost immediately the minute I made it clear I wanted to switch pronouns again and pursue medical transition, though I still conceived of myself as effectively genderless.

So long as you’re fun and funky and trans in a way that isn’t obtrusive, it’s fine. Well, “fine” isn’t the right word, but people are so fucking terrified of you becoming one of “those” trans people and taking the scary hormones and changing your body and getting the surgeries. It's the cousin of that perennial TERF talking point of "why can't you just be a tomboy/effeminate gay guy". As if being a tomboy/fem guy is somehow easier, too!! But I digress. To a lot of folks, Kingsley can be whatever he wants..........so long as he doesn't reject Molly as a foundational part of him, if not the, and heaven help him if he diverges from the mold Molly left for him.

For this reason (and for other transgender reasons that I don't want to get into), that has made engaging with a lot of this faux-Kingsley content difficult. Because Kingsley came out! Kingsley has told everyone who he is and what he's about, and folks are ignoring that in favor of an interpretation that centers a different person's existence entirely. And with this coming from a group of fans that tends to trend towards being trans, too, that's quite the bitter pill.

Creatively, I firmly believe that people can do whatever they want forever. And everyone has the right to make content where their Barbies scissor. I, for one, also am 100% guilty of it in other contexts. That doesn't bother me.

What does bother me is a collective delusion where a significant chunk of the fandom, in missing their tragically dead non-binary character, effectively stuff a separate one that resembles him back into the closet without noticing the cruelty of doing so. In fact, relishing in it.

And while these people are fictional and aren't real and can't feel pain aside from what we inflict on them narratively, it gives me pause about the way this trend mirrors common transphobic behavior I have experienced as a non-binary person myself. Thus, I cannot possibly watch it happen and not feel compelled to say something about it.

In essence, Kingsley has told us time and time again who he is and what he's about. If we say as fans that we respect the narrative integrity of Campaign 2, I think it's important that we listen and honor that.

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Bimonthly Media Roundup

- Wind Breaker (Anime) - Surprised to include this 4 weeks in a row as it was a pretty simple and quick season, but I found myself going back to quite a few moments for a second watch, either to appreciate the pretty fight choreography or to aww at all the wholesome emotional moments that the "feral cat experiences love and affection for the first time and cannot handle it" protagonist gets. I still wouldn't call it a must watch or anything, it's specific brand of ridiculousness isn't going to appeal to everyone, but I had fun, I'll check out the second season when it drops.

- Alien Stage (Web Series) - Final video dropped for this portion of the Alien Stage saga, and as a whole the series was very entertaining. The music slaps every time, the characters have nice designs with tragic gay romantic entanglements, the art is super pretty and the plot was intriguing and interesting to dig deeper into. I love animatics, musicals, and music videos in general so it's perfect for me, though I suppose it would be easier to convince other people to watch it if it was an anime or webcomic, not everyone is as in to the interpretation through song and visuals with limited dialogue thing. Anyway a good time, I for one will be rewatching quite a bit.

- Mouthwashing (Video Game) - This was an interesting little single session horror game. I wouldn't say it was mind-blowing, a bit too short and simple with sometimes janky graphics, but it had some neat visual ideas, a straightforward and poignant lesson about SA Culture and Avoiding responsibility/confrontation, and produced some really stellar fanworks. It's structure keeps it interesting and it's a unique enough concept where I can see how it stuck in peoples mind, It's worth a watch/play for horror fans, especially given it will only take around 2 hours.

- The Locked Tomb Series (Books) - If I had a nickel for every piece of media on this list that contained cannibalism as a significant story beat I'd have 6 nickels. Which is kind of a lot considering there are only 9 options here. 2/3rds cannibalism ratio. Should I be worried about myself?

- One Piece Fan Letter (Anime) - Honestly the best One Piece content to come out in quite awhile. Obviously the animation style helps alot as its bright and flowy and very charming, but honestly the plot was really cute as well. In general it's nice to get Outsiders POV in the world once in awhile, and seeing how many people where positively affected by the briefest encounters with the Straw Hats/ Encouraged to follow their dreams and take risks is really nice, striking the heart of the series and tapping into the best parts of it. OP has plenty of flaws but when it's good it's really good, and you can tell this was made with a lot of love and passion for the show. Good stuff!

- Malevolent (Podcast) - Yuppers.

- Yellowjackets (TV) - So this was the big one of the month, the survivalist lesbian cannibal show has captivated me. I was actually a bit worried about the cannabalism aspect when pitching we watch it to my sister, as from what I've heard a mystery/suspense show about a group of girls whose plane crash's in the wilderness whose story alternates between the past timeline of them struggling to survive and the current timeline of some of the girls struggling to forget what happened and function normally in society with an ongoing question of "who survived and what did they do?" sounds right up both of alleys, but my sister would probably not be down for the eating eachother thing. Luckily she decided to watch it anyway and that aspect hasn't been too bad so far , though I suppose that really depends on your tolerance for that kinda thing, uh. People do get eaten. Anyway that's really underselling it, what makes the show work is it's slow build of tension, both in the past and present timelines the situations keep building until they spiral out of control with the show somehow continually making you shocked at the escalation and sheer insanity of it all. The vast majority of the cast is made of of complex and interesting women who have complex and interesting relationships to other women, which is certainly a nice change of pace. It's not all doom in gloom, there are emotional highs, characters you root for, and real sympathy for everyone involved, no matter how many bad choices they made. Plot wise it's great as well, the first season can be a little slow at times with some of the modern day plotlines but the latter half of that season and season 2 really spices things up with the adult timelines, and the young timeline is just solid throughout. Lots of fun visuals, memorable moments, and possibly a supernatural presence, though that remains to be seen. The only nitpik I can really think of that hasn't been addressed is that music hasn't really stood out so far? There's been a couple of good pop/indie tracks that were incorporated well but I can't recall any instrumental tracks that stood out, so we'll see if season 3 adds some new ones. If you're not squeamish I honestly recommend it, it's good TV.

- Dungeon Meshi (Manga) - Yup.

- Genshin Impact (Video Game) - Yes.

Listening To: Tongues and Teeth by The Crane Wives, Dream Girl Evil by Florence + The Machine, Creep by Radiohead, Ruthlessness from EPIC the Musical, The Main Character by Will Wood, Lunch, Stick Season, Feeling Good, and Too Sweet Covers by Reinaeiry, Like A Prayer Choir Version from Deadpool 3, Dial Drunk Cover by Chloe Breez, Kiss From A Rose by Seal, Could Have Been Me by The Struts.

[antlerx-art]

GOOD OMENS 2 EPISODE 6 REACTION - CONTAINS SPOILERS‼️

THE EVERY IS IN THIS EPISODE. YES I’LL KEEP CALLING IT THAT UNTIL IT HAPPENS. IM GOING INSANE.

starting it 👍🏻

aziraphale you’re standing a little too dangerously in that circle remember last time

“you’re not welcome here” DEEP VOICE OOOOOH pity crowley isn’t here to hear it my guy would’ve fainted

HIS ANGEL OUTFIT 💀THE WAY HES RUNNING

yes maggie ROAST her 🙏

“i’ve spent my life being scared of things” 😭

“BRAVER THAN ANYONE I KNOW”YEEEAHHH MY LESBIANS

shax don’t hurt maggie don’t you even THINK of hurting maggie or nina

“my god you lot are pathetic” LOUDERRR GO MAGGIEEE GOOOOO

no wait why can they get in

MAGGIEEEEEEE WHAT HAVE YOU DONEEEE

hehe aziraphale is “perfectly prepared to take defensive action” 😼

“STAY BACK 😠” OHHHH WOW

“you can all leave now, and nobody will be hurt” SO BADASS YEAHHHHHH

rip eric

lol there’s no miracle apparently michael and uriel just can’t notice crowley

noooooo muriel is lonely :(

also crowley comparing angels to bees and aziraphale feeling lonely when he realized he’s an “angel that goes along with heaven as far as he can” in ep 2 is making heaven look like some sort of hivemind and it’s really cool, it also explains why aziraphale is a bit uncomfortable with not having someone to report to after becoming free

CROWLEY WAS AN IMPORTANT ANGELLLLLLL I KNEW IT OHHH MY GOD I THOUGHT IT WAS A STUPID THEORY BUT IT SEEMS TRUE?

aziraphale using the way he discorporated in s1 to discorporate other demons hehe silly

i was about to say that demons can’t possibly be that stupid but aziraphale is reading my mind i guess

AND HE DOESNT HAVE ANOTHER PLAN!

“amen” okay??

gabriel saying nah???? to heaven winning?????

crowley is so doctor who right now

“ARMAGEDDON THE SEQUEL THATS A NAH” 😭 IS THIS WHAT HE WAS PUNISHED FOR??

aziraphale MENTIONING THE FIRE???????

NOOO IT’S TRAUMATIC FOR HIM ☹️

they had a TRIAL?

saraqael knows it’s crowley AND KNEW HIM AS AN ANGEL WHAAAT

“severe measures” no aziraphale you have to say extreme sanctions

“CROWLEY’S EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANGEL”

shax stop making fun of my angel

THE METATRON AT THE TRIAL

UHH why doesn’t gabriel give a fuck about this

“GUYS ENOUGH”? OH MY

“one prince of heaven cast into the outer darkness” DO YOU MEAN. DO YOU MEAN CROWLEY? WAS HE A PRINCE OF HEAVEN????????

junior recoding angel😭 HES ONE CLASS UNDER M U R I E L

crowley’s little punch on their shoulder HES A NICE GUYYY OH HES SO CBBSBDBBD

gabriel is so casual about the trial?? like he just got fired but he didn’t like the job anyway

aziraphale what are you doing

IS HE GOING TO BECOME BIBLICALLY ACCURATE?

THE HALOOOOOO

HE STARTED THE WAR

“YOU WOT?”

just kidding no war apparently

and why is the box full now?????

THE FLYYYYYY that’s what he was writing

BEELZEBUB INVOLVED I K N E W IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT

HEHEEHEHEHHEHE INEFFABLE BUREAUCRACY

yayyy memories are back

SEASON ONE???????

OH GOD THIS SHIP IS REAL?

arma bloody geddon

ahh and they’re too tired to fight so they agreed to just refuse to do it i guess?

and gabe then went to aziraphale’s bookshop because he was the first one to go against armageddon

A PROPOSAL TO MAKE

yes that’s what i thought

i can’t believe gabriel has a deal with beelzebub this fandom keeps winning this season truly is a shipper’s dream

THE SCENEEEEE from the trailer

he actually goes there just to look at the statue for hours💀

THEY WERE AT THE PUB!!! i keep predicting

romantic ineffable bureaucracy date if they *every* before aziracrow i’ll be dead on the floor laughing

GABE PUT THEIR SONG ON

FINGERS TOUCHING

“it’s bigger on the inside” CAN BRITISH PEOPLE STOP. BEING. BRITISH. (jk i love y’all keep making these silly shows🫶🏻)

ROOOOMANCEEEEEE THE WAY THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER

HES BACK!

if they kiss istg

“SILLY SILLY ANGEL”

HANDS HOLDING???? WHY IS EVERYONE CONFESSING BEFORE AZIRACROW WAKE UPPPPPP

WHY DID IT TAKE YOU GUYS 6000 YEARS AND INEFFABLE BUREAUCRACY MADE IT IN?? SOME MONTHS?

“you will speak one at a time” yummmmy

ALPHA CENTAURY THEY ALWAYS WANTED TO GO THERE

still cant believe they’re canon

THATS THE METATRON

NINA AND MAGGIE TELLING CROWLEY TO CONFESS OOOOOH YESSSS

NINA CALLED MAGGIE ANGEL

ah i suppose the metatron offered aziraphale to be some sort of archangel but hes gonna decline because he wants to be with crowley

ITS ABOUT TO HAPPENNNNNN

no aziraphale HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?????

yeah as i said

AZIRAPHALE HOW CAN YOU STILL THINK THIS I THOUGHT YOU HAD SOME BIGGER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

CROWLEY’S CONFESSION IM NOT OKAY

“oh crowley nothing lasts forever” shut. up.

CROWLEY PUTTING THE GLASSES BACK ON AS A SHEILD

YOU GUYS WERE SUPPOSED TO DINE AT THE RITZ AZIRAPHALE YOURE RUINING EVERYTHING

“i need you!” THEN STAY YOU DUMBASS

NO NIGHTINGALE? STOP IM ABOUT TO THROW UP

WE COULD’VE BEEN US

THE EVERY

THE EVERY OH GOD

THE FUCKING EVERY HAPPENED OH MY GOD BUT ITS SO SAD WHYYYYYYYYY

THIS IS WHY I DIDNT WANT IT TO BE IN THE LAST EPISODE AND EVEN LESS IN THE LAST SCENE I NEED HELP

“I FORGIVE YOU” / “DONT BOTHER”

NEIL GAIMAN PAY MY THERAPY BILLS

aziraphale touching his lips.

GO AFTER HIMMMMMMMMMM YOU IDIOT

i hate this

i need a moment

SO.

i know that in cinema the middle part is usually the sad part so since this show is a three season thing i was already considering the possibility of a sad ending for s2

BUT IT DID NOT. HAVE TO BE THIS SAD.

i have to say it did feel quiet gentle and romantic compared to season one, BUT THIS ENDING. THS FUCKING ENDING???? THIS COULDVE BEEN SO PERFECT WHY DID THE METATRON SHOW UP WHY DID AZIRAPHALE ACCEPT

neil i’m in your walls IM UNDER YOUR BED

AND WHAT IF WE DONT GET A SEASON THREE?

good omens and ofmd both ending with them separated this is too much why can’t gay people be happy

and when i had seen the every i couldn’t wait to see the contentx BUT OHHH I ALREADY MISS THE TIME WHEN I WAS CLUELESS I DIDNT NEED THIS CONTEXT

crowley i’m with you btw aziraphale needs to do the apology dance a million times

alright i’m rambling bye everyone i’m gonna go stare at the wall for seven hours

tagging @neil-gaiman but this time it’s to send him my therapy bills not the reaction ❤️

[weiner-enjoyer]

ofmd s2 literary analysis, mostly so i dont die of gay disease. obviously, spoilers for our flag means death season 2

okay so im going to start with the gravy basket because.???? there has to be some kind of metaphor im missing. but regardless, most of it was pretty up front. ed hates himself, he chooses to live, he changes. but theres some smaller details i find important. for one, he’s under the immediate impression that he hates hornighost, but hornighost feeds him and takes care of him anyway. he helps him. if hornighost is ed, then we can assume that ed is taking this time to take care of himself - with or without anyone else’s help. was he doing a great job at it? not at all. but he displays this self help when he establishes his boundaries with stede. not to mention, death is a huge main theme in this series. obviously he didn’t die, but he had a choice to. he was faced with “fix your problems, or die.” and he chose to fix them; he chose change, but change of his own accord, not death’s. he has control.

i also want to talk about ed saying “you’re not a fucking mermaid”. which seems really obvious, and it is. but the whole mermaid vision was to show that stede is here, whether he likes it or not. and whether he likes it or not, he takes that help. and it helps him. but he’s just started this whole self help journey, and he doesn’t want to accept he’s not strong enough to do it himself. so he’s telling stede to back tf off. and also obviously their divorce or wtv

okay so the bunny. ed is confiding in this random ass bunny. the bunny stays put, but it is also quite visibly shaking. ed has control now, but he isn’t ready to deal with the feedback he would get from a person. humans are unpredictable, and they aren’t always good at receiving emotions. ed also doesn’t want to use feedback to get better, because he’s so convinced he’s always right (or he chooses to think that to avoid how he absolutely knows he’s wrong.) and so theres this bunny. and then the bunny fucking dies, and then he eats that bunny. which is crazy, but he immediately talks to stede after eating it. he lost a safe zone, and then he got out of his safe zone and fixed a problem; the main reason he chose to live

and then theres the lesbians (i forgot their names, im so sorry). love those guys, my favorite plot device so far. this one is pretty obvious as well. but they’re just so immature. like. oh my god. and it’s fun at first. at first, both stede and ed love them, but both of them realize how unstable it is. they’re not even afraid to become that, because they know they’re better than that. but. there’s a but. the lesbian’s way of life was easy. if you don’t have to deal with the problems, you can live and die childish, probably from gangrene after your girlfriend stabbed you. and stede and ed immediate relate themselves to the lesbians, and then they completely defy that relation by doing the mature thing. i kinda forgot to say this, but the lesbians are a symbol of ed’s past life too. they act like how ed acts when he meets his old pirate friends; immature and reckless. when ed leaves that scene, he leaves that part of him behind.

okay so then we have the robes. im almost done, i promise. the robes are fancy. the robes are rich. the robes are cursed. they protect stede in every way except that everyone around him fears the robe. the robes are super cash money. unfortunately, stede no longer likes being cash cash money bags, so he gets rid of the suit. most of it. because he really does wear fine things well. but the robes are a past life for stede, and he willingly gets rid of them. he’s not even that mad about it. the same can be said for the lesbians; when stede leaves the robes, he leaves that part of him behind. he does it for his shipmates, but it helps him too

okay okay okay now izzy. so it’s less an analysis and more of a question. of course, izzy has been suffering a lot. like a lot. and he deserves that. wholeheartedly. he was doing relatively well with the suffering too, at first, and then he decided “fuck all that. im going to get drunk off my ass and pretend that ed didnt almost kill me, because i’m too immature.” this behavior is not healthy and im almost positive he’ll eventually come back to hating ed and try to kill him. but even with all of this, how is he going to do as a captain? we now have two other former captains on board, albeit fairly weak captains, but they pose a threat to izzy’s power. and probably his emotional state. is he going to govern the ship like before, or is he going to be emotional like he was in the beginning? he had to have learned that it could get him betrayed, but he seems intelligent in the robe situation

i hope this makes sense