#as canon as victorian gay men can get

[gayelderstourney]

OLD MAN YAOI BRACKET ROUND 1

Propaganda:

Sir Alistair Hammerlock/Wainwright Jakobs:

THEY ARE CANONICALLY MARRIED!!!!! THEY ARE FORCE/FINESSE SUN/MOON SALT/SUGAR. THEY ARE SILLY GENTLEMEN WHO ARE IN LOVE. HAMMERLOCK IS A VICTORIAN BIG GAME HUNTER LIFTED STRAIGHT FROM A STEAMPUNK NOVEL WHO IS ALL ABOUT ADVENTURE AND WAINWRIGHT IS A SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN HEIR TO A GUN MANUFACTURING MEGACORPORATION WHO HAS SMALL AMBITIONS. OPPOSITES ATTRACT ULTIMATE INCARNATION. THE THEMES AND MOTIFS AND PARALLELS BETWEEN THEM ARE IMPECCABLE. THEY SUPPORT EACHOTHER UNCONDITIONALLY AND WHOLEHEARTEDLY. HAMMERLOCK THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE AND HE RECORDED WHAT HE THOUGHT WERE GOING TO BE HIS LAST WORDS AND HE SAYS, I QUOTE: "but I long not for death seeking adventures, but instead for one… last… peaceful… moment… with you. I love you, Wainwright. Farewell." DID I MENTION HAMMERLOCK HAS A NICKNAME FOR WAINWRIGHT. HE CALLS HIM Winny AND IT MELTS MY HEART EVERY TIME. GOD THEY GET MARRIED IN THE CORPSE OF AN ELDRITCH GOD AND THEIR WEDDING IS AN ENTIRE DLC. IT ALSO COVERS THEIR RESPECTIVE DOUBTS THAT MAYBE THEY AREN'T THE RIGHT MAN FOR EACHOTHER BUT IN THE END THEY REALIZE THAT IT'S NOT TRUE AND THE OTHER LOVES HIM SO SO SO MUCH JUST LIKE HE IS. I AM SO SO AUTISTIC ABT THEM THEY ARE PEAK OLD MAN YAOI BUT THEY ARE VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN IN THE OLD MAN YAOI COMMUNITY. PLEASE.

They have an entire DLC about their wedding. Their base game story arc starts with Wainwright calling you to ask you to go on a rescue mission to save Hammerlock and calling him the love of his life.

There is a whole game DLC dedicated to their canonical marriage, they constantly call each other by pet names, every single time they talk about one another there is passion in their voices, they express how much they love and care for each other.

Irving Bailiff/Burt Goodman:

they are TRAPPED in capitalist dystopian hell and yet gay love persists. literally they are fighting for their got damn lives to be gay. they've been subjected to evil fucked up brain surgery to make them forget who they are outside of the workplace and yet. AND YET. they fall in love INSIDE the workplace and gain the desire to fight their oppressors so they can do old man yaoi activities. i forgot to take my adderall today sorry im not forming coherent thoughts but they made christopher walken yaoi real

They have only ever experienced being at work and are desperately trying to find meaning with no memory of the outside world. Fraternization is against the rules as well. The yearning is so much.

they are 2 sad old men who are in forbidden love. they bond over a mutal love of corporate art & company tote bags. their love inspired Irving to rebel against his employers for the first time ever. Burt is even Christopher Walken.

They’re so quietly sweet and heart-wrenching… fell in love on the ‘inside’ (they both work a job that ‘severs’ their work memories from their out-of-work memories; inside the job, they have no idea who they are on the outside or what the world is like, but they found each other and found a little bit of love and meaning and happiness inside the nightmare corporate world that is their job)

canonically in love with each other! in the show people sever their consciousness so they aren't aware when they're working. this creates a separate person that only exists while they're at the office, who doesn't share any memories with the person they are on the outside. these two old men bond and find comfort in each other despite the dystopian hell situation they're in

Old men having a forbidden romance while stuck in a hellish workplace dystopia

These two old men know nothing outside of their company propaganda, which says romance is forbidden, and they still choose each other. They bond over paintings, discuss company policy in each other's arms like they're debating scripture on whether their love is allowed. They're sooo gay and it's so sweet to see true, canonical old man yaoi

Weird old man office romance except they only exist inside the bounds of the world’s worst office building and they go on a little date to a room full of plastic plants

[emily84]

like, i feel like it bears repeating, but the argument that aziraphale and crowley's happy ending means that they'll fuck on every surface of their new shared cottage because they're 'finally fully human' etc. is a bit... unnerving to me, personally.

it's not fair to call people who just want honest and decent ace representation 'prudes' or 'victorian'.

i both read and write sex scenes, i like them. i have both read and written it for these two! however, when it comes to canon, i am fiercely protective of the way they've been portrayed so far and yes, that can change and evolve, but i don't want that to mean that ace fans are once again thrown under the bus over the false idea that sexual relationships are inherently 'better gay representation' or somehow 'more deep because there's human sex involved'.

i understand that my reading of them as a sex-positive ace couple who just kiss a lot is not necessarily mainstream or popular (see the hate neil gaiman has gotten from a section of the fandom for saying this in the past, maybe in not so many words), but i can't stand when people try to diminish it or calling it less valid. and i am tired of having to defend ace interpretations of charcters that were explicitly ace to begin with like i'm somehow 'taking away from gay representation'. as if being ace was just a step for them to overcome in their quest to 'become real boys'.

and also, also, i love the idea that they have to make an 'effort' to be sexual, and their effort can manifest in different combinations but no matter, because they still fit like puzzle pieces. they can at times be men, or women, or nonbinary, or agender, or shades of gender that only shrimps see, idc. i don't want them to end on the same note as barbie, where becoming real humans means they get 'real, fixed human parts', like genitals are the entire point of this. even if they are important!

[gulfportofficial]

Was saying this to a mate but here you can have it too: there are two fan interpretations of male villains who canonically, in the text, have sex with men on television media that you can always, always count on encountering. The Reddit Intellectual Response of "(character) is not actually attracted to men, just using sex as another manipulation tactic/display of power" and the Fandom Sympathizer Response of "(character) is traumatized and hypersexual." This is even more notably a thing where the character's sexuality is like, a well-written, vital facet of their character formation and relevant to the narrative. Like for example, Frank Underwood's bisexuality is so painfully real because it presents as the exact weird gendered mess you'd expect from a closeted and misogynistic white boomer from South Carolina (women are either goddesses or whores, men are tender wartime companions with bonds shared in secret), and it is also something that lurks in threat of exposure the same way his multiple murders do. Or Cornelius Hickey, whose boyfriend slips the Victorian version of "I'm not actually gay like YOU are" into their breakup and then in the next episode gets a drop of blood on his hand while Cornelius is being flogged. People come up with such elaborate justifications for why a male character would have sex with men other than that he is attracted to those men and wants to have sex with them. I legitimately wonder if people out there actually believe in the existence of gay and bi men, like. Honestly. Things may happen to or from such characters because they are gay or bi, but they are also just... gay or bi.

[brw]

i didnt realise you posted two ask games anyway, reed richards for the character for the other one

do I like them: he's my babygirl my angel my wife my slut my pet rabbit my strange aetheral neighbour my newscast presenter my wild frog my sailor my middle-class victorian gentleman part of the homosexual nightlife my courier and my best friend.

5 good qualities: loves wife. and friends. and children. and many other things he is filled with love.

autism <3

makes a concentrated effort to believe in the best in other people, even when he really shouldn't or doesn't want to. he always thinks people can be better & can improve themselves which i admire.

uses his powers to give his friends & wife & children super mega hug which i think is the best application for stretchy powers.

he's like genuinely a good guy. like he is nice & polite & gives good tips when he takes a cab & has his wife & kids & friends at the forefront of his mind at all times he just makes uhhh bigger decisions than most people do n i hate comics & fans who try to make him into someone malicious or cruel like. no.

3 bad qualities: keeps getting soul married to different men like a whore.

was gay with johnny in an alt universe but NOT ben or victor??? fucked up.

didn't let valeria build bombs.

favourite episode/etc: marvel knights 4 #4 by a longshot. i don't know how mr aguirre-sacasa wrote something so good & devolved so much as the series progressed but its my fave ever.

otp: tbh i ship almost every big reed ship. i love you reedsue i love you doomreed i love you benreed i like reed/t'challa & reed/blackagar & reed/medusa too there's so many good ones i appreciate all of them.

brotp: reed & ben obviously but i love his friendships with t'challa & hank pym those r good.

ot3: benreedsue :)

notp: i couldn't name one tbh? i'm pretty open minded with reed.

best quote: the final two pages from secret wars. "everything lives". it gets me.

head canon: bisexual and genderweird he's got a strange little gender he's peculiar abt it. oh also grey ace.

give me a character & i will answer...

[explosionshark]

book asks: 3, 6, 10, 11, 20

3. What were your top five books of the year?

Red X by David Demchuk - this was the first book I read this year and it's stuck with me this WHOLE time. It's a tough book to describe succinctly - it's a supernatural horror novel fictionalizing the events surrounding the very real disappearances of men in Toronto's gay village between the 70s and the 00s, but interspersed with non-fiction essays by the author. The relationship between queerness and horror is one that's fascinating to me and Demchuk really tears into it here. Cannot recommend it highly enough, though I'd check storygraph for triggers if you're a sensitive reader.

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield - one part moody, existential relationship novel, one part Lovecraftian body horror. It's gorgeously written, bracingly sad, and the dread is smothering. Very atmospheric and contemplative, while still maintaining a sense of urgency.

Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk - this was so much fun. It combines a few things I love - a good noir detective story, some urban fantasy, lesbians. It follows a supernatural PI attempting to solve a series of grisly murders in 1940s Chicago - with her life on the line.

The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp - OKAY TALK ABOUT FUN. I listened to this on audiobook and really recommend the format, actually - the narrator was great. The book is presented as the posthumously published final book of Jack Sparks - think of the shittiest, most miserable VICE-style journalist you can imagine, now have him set out to disprove the existence of the supernatural, only to end up immediately possessed. Sounds good, right? It IS. I'm REALLY stoked to read more Arnopp next year

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold - the only non-fiction in my top 5 this year. This book, as you can probably tell, is a historical biography of the five "canonical" victims of Jack the Ripper. It's less true crime than you'd think - there's very little in the way of grisly details of the crimes. Instead, Rubenhold chooses to focus on putting together as compete as possible a biographical record of each of the women, while helpfully contextualizing the facts of their lives with details of Victorian-era life. The dismal similarities between recent "culture war" rhetoric and the attitudes of Victorian moralists were striking, depressing, and vital to understand. It made this book feel even more timely.

6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

ooh yeah a bunch. I have a bunch of sequels I mean to read and didn't get to - most notably the last two books of the Foundryside series and A Desolation Called Peace. Also The Thousand Eyes, which is the sequel to The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood. God, I suck at sequels I'm so bad at reading sequels. I wanna get better. Also I was going to finally read Ghost Story by Peter Straub this month, but I haven't gotten to it. I'll save it for next year, I think.

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

Our Wives Under the Sea, I think. Really striking.

11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

The most extreme example was probably Dracula which I happened to read like a month before Dracula Daily kicked off lmao. But yeah - I'm not super well read when it comes to pre-1900s fiction. I was surprised by how readable it was. Certainly not without its issues, but it was REALLY fun and now I've unlocked a whole literary canon of Dracula spin-off works. I'm so stoked.

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

So embarrassing but my most anticipated release was Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez which I haven't actually read yet. I bought myself a copy for Christmas! I'm gonna read it next year!

end of year book asks

[majorxmaggiexboy]

The Terror Shipping Nonsensical Babbling - Jopson edition

first of all full disclosure while i am happy to ship this cat with anyone and everyone in this show (except, y’know) Jopson is my designated character per media i get to claim for the aroaces so technically in my world it’s canon that he’s just married to being the best steward on the planet like someone back home will be like “So have you ever thought of marriage?” and he’ll be like “No i’m good” “But Don’t You Want A Wife?” “Nah” “A Lover???” “Wouldn’t have time” “what” *rolls out to-do list* “Okay first of all you need Jesus but second of all-” 

BUT HYPOTHETICALLY 

there’s exactly one of two ways a Jopship could go

1. This is a guy who needs a PROJECT okay this man is a mama duck in the body of a cursed victorian 20-something if he isn’t actively caring for and nurturing something 24/7 he fades into the ether like if he doesn’t have an object of ceaseless loyalty and devotion you HAVE to give him like, an egg or something to take care of until that situation is rectified. Which means ideal candidates will be the poor little meow meows of life the pathetic soggy waffles of men (if women were an option in The Terror he’d go for like, an ex-maid turned weird victorian vigilante she totally killed her last three bosses and probably lives in a trashcan he would love her) okay he needs somebody he can take care of and hype up and enable i mean

2. ALTERNATIVELY and he would HATE this option initially he should be with someone who will be like “Wow, damn, he does everything. I better step it UP” and pulls an uno reverse on him and shows the same level of care and dedication and he’s like “wtf is THIS? NO??? That’s my job!” if he isn’t furious and wriggling like the cat in the pepe le pew cartoons they’re not doing it right. Unfortunately Jopson is tall so ideal candidates for this scenario are absolutely lacking but even shorties can make it work if they’re determined. Get somebody who will either out-soft him by sheer goodness of nature or who will run on spite and red bull and take it as a personal challenge to be as gentle and loving as possible and create a continual cycle of one-upping each other like that

THE CANDIDATES THEN

Luckily for us almost the entire cast of The Terror falls into one or the other of those two categories. So does Catwoman. So,

1. Catwoman - I was joking at first but actually i can see it. It could work. 19th Century Catwoman would be a weirdly ideal candidate. I hate myself

2. I won’t lie the Jopzier shippers know a category 1 when they see it. It ain’t my favorite but i also can’t argue with them

3. Lieutenant Nedward Little is unique in that he fits both categories like, on the one hand we’d get Jopson going “Oh my god I have to fix him,,,,” and trying to kind of lowkey hype him up, especially to Crozier, being like “that’s an interesting point lieutenant the captain would like to hear that he’s actually v fond of u u know” and Little would be like, you know, in tears by this point going “man i gotta step the hell up and be a damn good man” and then he wouldn’t but it’d be a solid effort and Jopson would appreciate it except for the times when Little’s on him to take a break or smthn. They definitely argue a lot but they’re a pretty cute option.

4. Lieutenant Irving is actually also a fit for both categories so Lieutenant Nedward once again knows the sting of not being special, that’s awful. Anyway, Irving is a flaming dumpster fire of a gay man, it’s downright tragic, Jopson would feel compelled to intervene. He’d sit through so many crisis of religion conversations and be so nice about it while also fully calling Irving out on his stupidass opinion so after a certain point Irving would actually be working on himself and would be like “wow I should do something nice” and would do a hard swerve in the opposite direction so he goes from Gay And Angry About It to like, Aggressively Bumbling Yet Well-Meaning Boyfriend like after a certain point Jopson would legitimately have to be like “please let me do what’s left of my job it’s all i have, also we have to improve your sewing” it’s a potentially cute option, they get into little tiffs too but at the end of the day they’re also in fact having an ongoing competition as to who can be the sweetest softest most gentle yet semi-feral bf

5. Henry FOSTER Collins oh my god it’s another category 12 HE STARTS OUT as a 1 like Jopson’s like “This man is on DRUGS?????” and drags him to Dr. Goodsir which starts a chain of events that saves all their lives but hear me out hear me out Collins is reminded that life is worth living and Collins is able to return to being the absolute soft semi-feral teddybear we all know and love he’s like “i will take care of you i will somehow bring flowers i will cuddle for warmth you don’t even have to ask i will build us a goddamn house i will punch tuunbaq in the face if it even looks at you what do you need what can i do for you” and Jopson is probably like “that’s very sweet but nO ACTUALLY” so he’s doing everything in his power to take care of Collins and make him feel loved but Collins is doing everything in his power to take care of Jopson and they’re both kind of stressed out but Collins is hug-shaped, and that is important. Jopson needs a hug that cracks his spine like a glow-stick it’d be so good for him, Collins is the man for the job. Collins also has rly big coat which is super important for purposes i’m sure you can discern

6. DOCTOR GOODSIR CATEGORY 2 codifier. Do y’all understand that if Goodsir falls in love with you you’re set for life? Like you literally never have to worry about anything ever again, that bear could be looking you dead in the eyes going “you’re next” and you’ll still die feeling safe and warm in the knowledge that Goodsir loves you SO GENTLY ngl Jopson would be horrified. He’d probably go through a bluescreen moment of just, “what is happening” just, straight up sheer confusion but eventually he’d be like “Oh. Alright” and would immediately make it his mission in life to be such a ray of sunshine that Goodsir would be like “I thought it was starting to be horrible here but Actually,,,” also it would be cute bc Goodsir would be like “You’re probably fluent in Inuktitut by now, you eavesdropped so much” cue playful argument over whether being in the room to serve tea and happening to be highly observant counts as eavesdropping

7. Ngl i don’t really see it aside from potentially bonding over a mutual appreciation for propriety and shampoo but on the other hand it’s the contrast between the man who will do amazing things to be seen and the one who’s willfully invisible but desperate to be seen by just one person it’s the fact that if Jopson ever caught on that Fitzjames is a Category 1 it’d be like “I Can Fix Him” senses ACTIVATE here comes Validation here comes Unconditional Love here comes Devotion Like You Never Seen Before those piercing slightly cursed knowing victorian eyes are locked on, man, Fitz would be shaking in his boots like Holy Shit and then Fitz would go Category 2 so fast the world would start spinning the other direction

8. Silna stop blocking me they would not get romantically involved per-say but at the end of all things Jop could be a suitable roaming the wild companion for her bc on the one hand he’s respectfully distant on the other hand he literally has to be ride or die in order to live, kind of like a shark if he stops he’ll die so he would absolutely give it 100% into helping her out however possible and she’d be like “If I Have To Be Stuck With A Haunted White Boy Who Isn’t That Doctor I Suppose This One Will Do. They’re not bf/gf, they are Partners. Silna would also clock Jopson as no less than 10% Unhinged and be like “Oh. Okay.” and occasionally side-eye him like *nods to herself* “Ghosts* and not elaborate

9. Hartnell - they would date for like one week bc Hartnell is a category 2 who’s just getting his Bi wings. They’re mutually v soft and adorable but after a certain point they’re both like “Oh okay turns out we’re actually just rly close friends” and it’s like the most peaceful breakup in the history of breakups

10. im including Hickey just to make the note that he is a 1 but even Jopson isn’t that good. He can’t fix that. No one can. It doesn’t even occur to Hickey to look at Jopson and go “I could make him worse” until it’s too late. A REAL contender would’ve figured out Jopson’s slightly insane well before the tent scene. If Hickey can’t figure it out before “I’ve shot smaller hawks than you” he can’t make Jopson worse, he wouldn’t even know where to start. Instead i’m proposing that they’re like, exes who never dated. They were never attracted to each other but Jopson went “I’ve shot smaller hawks than you” and Hickey went *EYES EMOJI* they have a beautiful arc of “strangers-to-can’t-be-in-the-same-room-without-trying-to-skin-each-other” 

11. i’m serious about 19th-century catwoman tho

[faux-ee]

Sherliam is so canon like i dont even have any insecurities with this ship. Miraculous

[keister-meister]

I'm currently watching the Bohemian Rhapsody film and it's got me thinking about how silly it is that this whole 70's rock aesthetic has become practically inseparable from the popular Marauders era fanon.

Like... we all know what the Marauders era looks like in a lot of fanon. Everything is kind of sepia, the Marauders wear nothing but bell-bottom jeans and t-shirts and denim and leather jackets, they rock those fluffy, shaggy 70's 'dos, light up a cigarette like every five minutes and maybe most importantly, they spend their free time listening to whatever the author's/OP's favorite popular 70's band is on a muggle record player whenever they're not busy participating in muggle protests for gay rights.

What's up with making the Marauders basically muggles in all but name only? Aside from projection? We know at least two of them were pureblood wizards, the third was a half-blood who grew up in the wizarding world (Remus had to hide being a wizard AND a werewolf – what are the chances that his parents would have allowed him to hang out with muggle children?) and the fourth was most likely either pureblood or half-blood. Point is... they all grew up in the wizarding culture, as far as we know, and whatever muggle influence Remus as a half-blood would have had from his mother would certainly not have included current fashion and popular music – those are things youth get from peers.

The boys likely wouldn't have had much contact with muggle culture until Hogwarts... but from what we know from canon, there doesn't seem to be much muggle culture in Hogwarts either. The kids from wizarding backgrounds just stick to their own things, and the muggle-borns seem to mostly adapt to the wizarding world. Also, muggle technology doesn't work in Hogwarts, so that's it for music records, movies and TV-shows being shared.

We also know from canon that the wizards as whole just aren't keen on integrating or adapting aspects of the muggle world into theirs, even if it was possible. They still write on parchment with quills and ink, FFS. Arthur Weasley was apparently the most notable connoisseur of muggle culture, yet he didn't even remember the word "telephone" correctly. While Harry's generation of wizard youth is said to dress in muggle clothes outside Hogwarts (which I assume was Rowling's way of making Harry's generation in particular more relatable to the reader), we are shown that adult/older wizards are mostly clueless about muggle clothing... to the point of old men wearing floral night dresses (no judging tho).

All I'm saying is... if the wizard society as a whole – not just the few pureblood fanatics – wasn't pretty much unreceptive of the ways of the muggle world, there's just no way they would have that medieval/victorian thing going on in the late 20th century. They would not wear robes and cloaks as everyday clothes. They would have debit cards instead of carrying gold around, they would write with mechanical pencils and they would definitely use some magic-powered version of a cell phone instead of... sending an owl or putting their head in a fireplace. Dumbledore would not be seen as the progressive icon he apparently is just because he thinks it would be evil to kick muggle-born magical people into concentration camps to be executed. IDK, the bar is pretty low.

The fact that the wizards haven't adopted many modern muggle inventions and ways of doing things even when they would be more convenient suggests that valuing tradition is something that is implicitly taught to all wizards. They either see their own ways as superior, or just don't feel compelled to change what is familiar just because something else might be more efficient or convenient. And it makes sense because isn't this how humans work a lot of the time when it comes to new, unfamiliar things, although maybe less extreme? Like, how America as a whole is still mostly averse to bidets, despite the fact that rinsing your ass with water is obviously a better way to clean up than just smearing around with a dry piece of paper? (Sorry for the shitty example.)

This is why I feel like the Marauders wouldn't be anywhere near as "muggle" as they are usually portrayed in fanon. I don't see any reason why they would be so different from Harry, Ron and Hermione – none of whom were into muggle things in canon, despite being "progressive" and despite two of them actually having been raised in the muggle world before Hogwarts. Teenagers don't tend to become invested in popular culture like fashion and music until after the age of 11, and these kids spend all but two(?) months a year at Hogwarts surrounded by wizarding culture. Since the expectation is that they stay in the wizarding world, why would they be interested in keeping up with the trends of the muggle world? I can see this being important enough for someone who is muggle-born and maintains close relationships in the muggle world, but for purebloods? No way.

Anyway, we know there are wizarding musicians (although maybe two were mentioned), wizarding games, wizarding fashion, wizarding literature, wizarding magazines, wizarding sports... so why not get creative and expand on that, instead of making everyone basically muggle? Like, it's interesting that most fic writers don't take the chance to explore the possibilities of wizarding youth culture beyond what is shown in the books. What if there was a wizarding band that had the same vibe as Queen or ABBA or the Sex Pistols or whatever band you want the Marauders to like? What if instead of everyone just smoking regular muggle cigarettes, there was some different habit that was popular with the wizard kids? Wizard drugs?

I guess people love the idea of Marauders being the definition of cool, but we forget that what is cool to us is generally stupid or insignificant to wizards, and what is cool for wizards is just... silly fairytale nonsense to us. The Marauders who wear like... high-collared Diricawl feather cloaks and smoke Purple Pixie grass or whatever through a nostril pipe while listening to some band called the Bad Goblins, or whatever whimsical things Rowling would probably come up with, just don't scream "cool guys" to us like the Marauders smoking cigs and wearing leather jackets do.

IDK, let's just be real, the canon Marauders would be scoffing at bad-tasting muggle cancer sticks, laughing at how silly muggles look in their bell-bottoms, listening to weird wizarding music... what's so wrong with that?

[lnkedmyheart]

So today we're talking about a few things related to Yuumori's writing. Now, I am doing this as a -ahem- gender fluid lesbian on the ace spectrum diagnosed with a severe anxiety and depressive disorder. I am also someone who has been analysing media and studying queer representation in media for my PhD dissertation and have already written an entire dissertation on queer rep in conservative cultures. So I do believe I'm qualified enough to debunk some bullshit takes that people tote around like facts instead of opinions and attempt to force down everyone's throats and then bitch about the lack of admiration they get from the crowd. I am however not going to put in too much effort into this because my GOD I don't care enough but the sheer misinfo some of you people spread is mind boggling.

So let's start!

YuuMori has bad queer representation.

YuuMori's queer rep is a ridiculous thing to get mad at. For starters the series is Japanese, set in 1800s London, a place where being queer was pretty much punishable by death. Now if the story was explicitly labelled as a forbidden victorian gay romance I could see why people expect there to be massive queer rep at all. However, at no point in the main manga has Sherlock's previous statement of "I have no interest in women" been challenged. Sherlock has consistently only shown visual and behavioral cues implying a crush towards William, his 2 closest relationships are both with men (Liam and Watson) and his interaction with Bond is still the same as before with him being uncomfortable when he clings to him or him showing his fondness of Bond just as he does with Miss Hudson.

If you wish to insist a throwaway line about him being unable to forget Adler (a reference to the Doyle canon where it also wasn't romantic) is romantic then I do think there are more than enough lines he says about both John and Liam with far more intensity and passion that hint towards affection and should therefore also be taken as romantic since that's the narrative hill we are dying on.

YuuMori has terrible trans representation.

The trans representation in YuuMori is bad because...? Well here's the deal, the two random lines that are brought up to insist that the trans thing is fake are both lines that people have criticised the translation of. And yes, both those lines in the main manga are lines that don't necessarily mean just the trans identity. Hell it's honestly a stretch to use those lines as proof since the whole idea behind said lines is "what is my role in Liam's plan" and Bond learning that his role is defined by his own self and choosing. The whole deal was Moran telling him to stop acting like Bond needed to be guided and told what to do and be genuine and Bond immediately chose to embrace his masculine side, never once going back to his old name or pronouns. Furthermore the very idea that Adler should cease to exist in people's memory just because Bond is a person now or that Bond cannot be trans without dysphoria is such absolute horse shit because not everyone suffers from dysphoria the same way. Some never go through dysphoria and instead realise that they just feel better and more true to themselves when they dress up a certain way. A large number of cosplayers realise they are genderfluid, nb or trans because they realise they much prefer dressing up as the opposite gender. You cannot put trans or gender based experiences into a neat little box and gatekeep it. Furthermore, there is no way that YuuMori isn't following the trans narrative, sure you can chose to ignore the glaring hints dropped every where like Sherlock and Watson discussing how Adler's writing is masculine (no matter how great an actor, Adler couldn't have changed her entire hand writing to fit that of a man enough to fool Sherlock), Adler constantly choosing to disguise as a man, Adler not feeling like she fit into the world right, Adler immediately choosing to become a dude, not just any dude but James Bond, the ideal of traditional masculinity. But you cannot ignore the explicitly trans discourse regarding changing rooms. So no, the trans rep in the series is actually rather good all things considered. Just the fact that a few translations can read a little differently and there is a whole horde of people using those vague translations as proof of Adler's cis-ness makes no real difference to how well it is handled. Sure the Irene came back point seems to have blinded everyone with rage so thoroughly that they completely skipped the parts constantly remarking Penny's hardships with playing a man because she is a woman unlike Bond or Bond's complete insistence at being refered to as Bond when he's in a dress. And I've seen a lot of people calling Bond's depressed expression happy and I'm so sorry but how is that HAPPY??? And why is everyone calling him Bond or a he/him in private where no one can see him go back to Irene?

YuuMori is using queerbait and bl tropes for marketing.

Queerbait is when audiences are baited into thinking there is something queer going on in the series so as to get them to spend money on it and then never giving them actual rep. James Fucking Bond is an actual character in this series. No Bond can never confirm if he's trans or non binary or gender fluid simply because those terms do not exist in this era. On the other hand, if we're talking about Sherliam then again no, Sherliam isn't even remotely queerbait. They are first and foremost friends, they have actual romantic tropes attached to them but are never hyper sexualised or put into uncomfortable yaoi dynamics or situations. You are supposed to be reading subtext in their friendship and no YuuMori cannot fully confirm them as a gay couple without risking their slot in the magazine or censorship. Again, Japanese artists need to work around censorship far more than western writers and choose to fall back on other cues, tropes and means of providing romantic subtext. And bl...seriously just because a series that is non romantic has a non het dynamic that borders on romantic doesn't mean it's bl or is using bl tropes. Sherliam are literally using het couple tropes, have parallels with a canonical het couple in the series while also retaining the essence of how a lot of queer people interact with a heavy helping of victorian era flirting.

YuuMori has extremely weak characters.

YuuMori has rather strong characters, no not all characters grow but the world around them does. A character doesn't HAVE to grow themselves as long as they make the world grow around them. YuuMori has struck a nice balance between these two types of development where it stalls some development for characters till it is necessary abd therefore doesn't take attention away from the issue at hand. That is a way of avoiding overwriting which can detract from the main story and narration. For starters the world shifts around the Moriarty brothers. They do successfully spark a massive change in the world around them by staying practically stagnant because had they changed dramatically their entire arc would have fallen flat. The 2 characters with the most individual growth is Sherlock, who grows to accept people and realise their worth and Liam who realises that people will not constantly follow his every whim especially when it involves him killing himself over it. Every character in the series has grown, Moran, Moneypenny, Moriarty brothers, Mycroft etc. So no, characters aren't the weakest point of the series, especially when you realise that the majority of the fandom seems to not dislike anyone in the recurring cast all that much.

YuuMori has no foreshadowing and has bad writing.

Untrue. YuuMori had several instances of foreshadowing throughout it's course. A lot of the character interactions can in fact be seen in a different light when you go back to them after certain key events. Sherlock's interactions with Adler foreshadow his eventual transition into Bond. A lot of conversations between the Moriarty gang foreshadow events that happen in the final problem, chapter 31 Durham date is literally just a pile of foreshadowing disguised as an adorable friendly date. Secondly, YuuMori has pretty strong and tight knit writing. Not only does it seamlessly create new stories out of original stories from the Doyle canon but it also switches up things to both fit into the new version while staying true in its essence of the Doyle canon. Oh and let's not forget how strong the development is, every relationship is expanded upon well enough to justify how certain deep bonds work.

YuuMori has no development between Sherlock and Liam.

Okay now this is just bs or anime only talk but the fact that that angry person keeps insisting that manga sherliam have no development either throws me for a loop. Seriously William's letter basically spells out why they are both so attached to each other and chapter 31 is literally those two growing even more fond of each other. Seriously, how is Sherlock knowing Adler for 1.5 days during which he was irritated with her for 80% of the time enough to be seen as endgame while Sherlock openly admiring and travelling 10 hours just so he can visit Liam "anytime he wants" not enough development to justify his attachment?

YuuMori glamorizes mental illness.

No. Just no. None of the Moriarty brothers are mentally stable, Albert's ocd variant is genuinely terrifying but not because it makes him evil but rather because of how much it breaks the mind of a child when left untreated. William's depression has left him emotionally stunted and incapable of seeing any value in his existence, Louis clearly suffers from some kind of anxiety variant which leads to him constantly feeling like he is never enough for his brothers. Moran's PTSD is never mocked or misrepresented, Sherlock's canonically neurodivergent traits have not been erased even if he's been made slightly more personable (yes neurodivergent people can be personable, they're not all extreme loners).

At no point are you made to believe that Albert's desperate need to clean everything is quirky, or Liam's suicidal tendencies are cool and fun. That's just a really bad take of someone scraping the bottom of the barrel for something to hate on.

YuuMori glamorizes terrorism and martyrdom.

I mean...Moriarty is literally a villain protagonist? He's a literal terrorist?? Nobody (with two functioning braincells) that I've talked to about YuuMori has ever felt that we are supposed to like Moriarty's actions at any point. We are supposed to agree with his beliefs and feel for him but not agree with his method. We are supposed to root for Sherlock, his adversary, which we actually do. We aren't cheering on a terrorist, we are cheering on a good guy murdering absolute scum that hunt kids for fun and actively torture the weak. Remove the nationalistic aspect and people would be raving about how good Moriarty is. As for glamorizing martyrdom...again, nobody in the series is an actual martyr for their country. They are all willing to die for the people, Liam sees no worth in his existence outside of helping the weak finally find equality, Albert sees no value in his existence, Moran has lost all purpose and latches onto the ideals of a child because of how his mind was broken from his own people betraying his trust. Sherlock has no intentions of being a martyr. There's no glamorization of martyrdom at any point in the story. At no point does anyone say "I will die for my country" and is praised for it.

Last but not the least, just because you are queer, doesn't mean you aren't an asshole. If you're going to sit on your imaginary high horse and spout nonsense actively calling other queer people delusional fake fetishists because they like a headcanon/ship you don't you're kind of a jackass and probably need to rethink your argument entirely. If you think the majority of the fandom is delusional because they read the very blatant subtext in their own way instead of your own then you need to step away from your device and touch some grass. If you are going to sit there and actively negate the experiences of millions of queer people or people with psychological disorders because they like a ship or show or headcanon you hate then you can't really pull the "I'm queer too" card. And stop calling the fandom jokes attacks. If shippers of the pairing or headcanon call insanely aggressive antis who insist on using main tags to talk shit about the ship or headcanon and insistently tell LGBT folk we are dirty lustful people for being gay on several platforms, they are refering to those assholes. If you're not the one doing such things people aren't talking about you.

[tiktaalic]

sometimes i feel like. they never could have made dean a good father to jack. cause that would have been TOO gay for dean to do. and that doesn't mean that the canon relationship btwn dean and jack in the show is automatically bad and wrong. but! it still makes me upset

Hm. Agree I think. It comes back to how it has to be three men and a baby because two men and a baby is just a gay couple who has adopted. And even THEN sam has like. Two moments? Maybe 3? With jack that are one on one heart to hearts and most of those are concentrated in early 13 when Dean wants to commit infanticide. How do I know dean’s in love with cas bc sam isn’t etc etc. i LIKE the jack and dean stuff I just wish it was a little more wrapped up because it very much goes from extreme one: Dean is going to kill this kid at the very first chance he gets and extreme two: that’s his kid he never thought he’d get the chance to have one of those and he’s gonna teach him to drive and hang out in his doorway awkwardly and ask if everything’s alright and clenching fists to keep from crying when he dies of Victorian wasting disease. Back and forth and back and forth. I think what it comes down to is that in supernatural being a bad dad is the straightest thing you can do but gay af to be a good dad (see: cas)

[unrestedjade]

Baseless Ferengi headcanons no one asked for and that get increasingly queer-navel-gazing and self indulgent because the horrible space goblins have consumed my brain:

- Mobile ears, because if hearing is so well developed and important to them they should be able to aim those big stupid radar dishes. Also because then they can emote with them and that's cute. THE AESTHETIC IS PARAMOUNT.

- Since they canonically sharpen their teeth with chew sticks and sharpeners, their teeth must grow continuously. So I submit: subcultures that let certain teeth grow out as a fashion/political statement. Ferengi punks and anarchists with 5" tusks. Ferengi with all their teeth filed flat (mom and dad HATE it).

- Corollary to the above, most of their teeth are crooked. At the least, they don't share our fetish for straight teeth. What if their teeth are deciduous, and there's no point in trying to force them into perfect alignment, since they'll just fall out and get replaced? So like, sharks but their teeth can also grow longer with no limit. WHAT HAST EVOLUTION WROUGHT ON FERENGINAR :V

- Parents nagging their kids to sharpen their teeth "or they'll grow up into your brain and you'll die :)"

- Personal space? Don't know her.

Okay I need a cut because there's too many now. WHOLE SOCIETY OF GAY HOMOPHOBIC UNCLES AND AUNTS GO I HAVE A PROBLEM

- I can't remember who on here put forth the idea of them having retractable claws but Yes. :3

- Pushing back against the worst canon episode a bit but: relative ear size being the only obvious sexually dimorphic trait, and even that having enough of a gray area that the only way to be 100% sure you're talking to a male or female Ferengi is if you do a blood test. Unless they're intersex! *shrug emoji*

- This is why they're so fanatical about gender conformity and their Victorian "separate spheres" attitude to men and women's roles. Capitalist patriarchy is fragile! And as artificial to Ferengi as it ever was to Humans! (self-indulgenceeeee about gender shiiiiit)

- You know how with domesticated rabbits, the rabbit getting groomed and paid attention to is the boss? Yeah. Go ahead and paint your bestie's nails, just don't be surprised if she cops a little bit of an attitude with you from then on.

- Their fight/flight/freeze/fawn instincts skew heavily toward the last three, and what a lot of other species read as annoying sucking up is the Ferengi in question feeling anxious and unsafe. Especially if they don't feel integrated into the group. Even being at the bottom of the pecking order is better than not being in the flock at all.

- If they DO opt for fight, it's ugly and typically their last resort. Bites or scratches will get infected without intervention-- microbes that their immune system can handle could cause big trouble for aliens. You might wanna check for full or partial teeth that break off and get lodged in the wound, too.

- Too many of these are tooth related but I don't care. :B More teeth stuff: you know what else has teeth that grow constantly? Puffer fish. Likewise, Ferengi can chew up mollusk shells as easy as potato chips, and they need the minerals for their teeth. (Imagine grandpa Sisko offering Nog a crayfish for the first time and watching as he just...pops the whole damn thing in his mouth and crunches away...)

- Their staple foods seem to be grubs and other arthropods, high in protein and fat. I've unilaterally decided their cuisine also involves a lot of edible fungi, ferns, plant shoots and seeds. Gotta get those vitamins. Overall flavor profile leaning toward umami, vegetal, and fresh herbs, and pretty mild (or "delicate" if you wanna be snooty about it, which a Ferengi probably would let's be real).

- Not much sugary food. I'm basing this solely on Quark's aversion to root beer as "cloying". Which could definitely just be his personal preference, but most of the people I hear hating on root beer cite the actual sassafras/sarsaparilla flavor (saying it tastes like medicine) not the sweetness. Nog might be the weirdo outlier for being able to enjoy it.

- Their home planet isn't bright and sunny, so their eyes are better at discerning shades of gray in low light conditions, with relatively weak color vision. Which could explain why they dress Like That.

- Conversely, human music has a reputation for stinking on ice because a lot of it is juuuuust lightly dissonant or out of tune because we can't pick up flaws that small. Ferengi can, and it drives them up the *wall*.

- Music? So many different kinds. Traditionally, maybe lots of percussion and winds, and water as a common component of many instruments to alter pitch or tone. Polyphony out the ass. Some of the modern stuff is an impenetrable wall of sound if you're not a species with a lot of brain real estate devoted to processing sounds. Pick out one melody to follow at a time.

- Yes, back to teeth again I'm sorry. It's a sickness. At some point in their history, pre-chewing food was just something you did for your baby or great grandma as a matter of necessity. Possibly your baby gets an important boost to their immune system and gut biome from your spit. At some point takes on a more formal intimacy aspect and gradually drifted from something all adults and older kids do to something only women do. Your husband and older kids have perfectly functional teeth, but you love them, right? =_= (Think old memes about husbands being useless in the kitchen if little wifey isn't there to cook, but even more ridiculous. Ishka was right about everything but especially this. Thank you for making your family chew their own food, Ishka. Not all heroes wear capes. Or anything!)

- How did they get started on the whole men: clothed vs women: unclothed nonsense? My equally stupid idea: men just get cold easier. Those huge ears dissipate a ton of body heat. Cue Ferengi cliches like "jeez, we could be standing on the surface of the sun and my husband would put on another layer." At some point, again, this got codified and pushed to ridiculous extremes in the name of controlling women and keeping everyone in their assigned box, to the point that women just have to shiver if they really are too cold and men have to pass out from heat stroke if the alternative is going shirtless, because That Would Be Inappropriate.

- Marriages default to five years, but they're also the only avenue for women to have their own household or any stability. Plus their religion places no emphasis on purity save for pure adherence to the free market and the RoA. So, curveball to the rest of their patriarchal bullshit: female virginity isn't a concern in the least. Bring it up and they'll rightly side-eye you.

- Family law is absolutely bonkers and lawyers that specialize in it make BANK. I feel like custody would default to the father usually but oh wait, the maternal grandfather has a legal stake in this, too, and your next father-in-law is asking HOW many kids are you dragging into my daughter's house, etc etc. Growing up with a full sibling is way rarer than growing up with half or stepsiblings, since it usually takes both men and women two or three tries to find someone they vibe with. (Not love, unless you're super cringe.)

- A misogynistic society is a homophobic society. Imo those flavors of shittiness just come in pairs. Homosexual behaviors are fine within certain parameters (aka "always have sex with the boss") but not on your own terms. To add spice, bisexuality is their most common mode (because I'm bi and these are my hcs for my fics I'm not writing, so there), but capitalism demands fresh grist for the mill so you better get het-married and pop out some kids you lowly peons. You have a choice so make the proper one. :)

- Corollary to the above, that doesn't keep all kinds of illicit "we're just friends with quid-pro-quo benefits for realsies" affairs of every stripe and every gender from going on everywhere. Many Ferengi have a lightbulb moment somewhere in early adulthood when they figure out their dad's business partner or the "auntie" who visited their mom every month had a little more going on.

- Plus there's way more gender non-conformity and varying degrees of trans-ing than the powers that be have a handle on. Pel isn't unique, even if most would have to somehow make it out into space to be able to thrive.

Damn a lot of these are just my personal bugbears plus THE GILDED AGE BUT WITH HAIRLESS SPACE RODENTS ain't they

- Women can't earn profit, okay. But lending or "lending" things to each other isn't commerce, riiiiiiight? To be assigned female is to master navigating a vast, dizzying barter/gift economy. Smart boys and men leverage this, too, and there are splinter sects that view this as the purest expression of the Great Material Continuum.

- Of course plenty of women make profit anyway, and just do their bast to dodge the FCA. The tough thing about insisting on using latinum as currency is that cash can be so hard to track, you know?

- Because of the RoA, guys are discouraged from doing favors or giving gifts without setting clear expectation of getting some return on investment. This can twist into an expression of friendship (and of course women do it too), and the ledger will keep cycling between debit and credit among friends for decades. A common mistake aliens make is to tell them recompense isn't needed without explaining why, or return their favor or present with something that zeroes out the debt. The Ferengi will assume you want to break off the friendship. (I cribbed this from dim memories of an African studies course I took in 2007 and whose textbook I know I still have but I can't frigging find it...)

- Flirting, they do a lot of it for a lot of reasons. Roddenberry made it clear that they're just straight up pretty horny, but there's no reason it can't pull double duty for building alliances with other people, smoothing over feuds or disagreements, or cementing friendships. Ferengi who are ace and/or sex-repulsed are possibly viewed similar to the way we'd view someone who's "not a hugger/not big on touching" and if they flirt just don't get offended if it doesn't go any further; aro Ferengi don't garner much comment aside from an occasional "wow how badass, never falling in love with anyone."

- where to even start on making sense of the Blessed Exchequer??? Like seriously, what is this literal prosperity gospel insanity, I need to force myself to re-read Rand and like, some Milton Friedman for this shit. Help.

- fuck I'm probably going to actually do that, RIP me...

[wishingicouldfly]

I've been actively blogging for more than six months, even though I've had a tumblr account for ten years. I started reading One Direction (specifically Larry) fanfiction about the same time.

Originally, I read exclusively canon compliant fiction--I was hungry for industry insider, what-could-have-happened narratives. But I've slowly branched out into other genres. I find fanfic--good fanfic--super calming. When I've had too much stunting, too much noise, I grab a fanfic and immerse myself. So I thought it was time to do a post about my favorites. Keep in mind, I'm terrible at cataloging, and I have over 150 bookmarks on my A03 Account, so this is by no means an exhaustive list.

I'm not including the classics like Tired, Tired Sea and Escapade. While I do love both of those (so well written), because a lot of people know about those already.

My all time favorites are by @helloamhere

1. The Multipicity of Powers - https://archiveofourown.org/works/28580229

Maybe in another universe he isn’t different. Maybe he hadn’t been given an impossible choice. Maybe he wouldn’t have lost everything and broken everything and then fallen impossibly, irrevocably in love with the first next thing that was kind. Maybe in that universe he doesn’t feel like he’s never breathing, always pretending, teaching the kids even though they all have to learn alone, trying hard not to read the headlines, and so afraid, every day, that he won’t be a good enough teammate to the superhero he can’t live without. He knows that love isn’t supposed to feel this way, slid secret under your skin like a surgical razor, an invisible war held close over the tender vein that keeps you alive. On the other hand, Louis wonders, had he ever known how to do it any other way?

Maybe there’s a universe where he doesn’t have to keep all his secrets on the inside.

But this isn’t that universe.

//an X-Men AU.

Me: I never thought I'd love a super hero 1D cross over, but this is so well done. The backstory, the pacing, the characterization, the friendship. Read it.

2. Saving Symphony Hall and it's prequel Night Out - https://archiveofourown.org/works/12633921

“I think I have an idea,” Louis said. Slowly, and reluctantly, but with a growing sense of the inevitable. “God damnit, I think I have a really good idea.”

“Oh christ, that's the problem-solving face,” Babs said. “Last time we saw that face, he sold a company.”

“Wait, what?” Zayn asked.

“Right place, right time,” Louis said. “Also, fuck my life,”

“What?” Zayn repeated. Niall patted his hand.

“I usually just roll with whatever Louis is about to do,” he said. “It’s better for us all.”

“That’s the attitude,” said Louis, “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Tonight, I need to do some research. Zayn, give me your number. I’m gonna save our symphony.”

Me: The best sex scene I've ever read is in the prequel Night Out. Sexy, but tender. I love the characterizations in this duo--ABO but not traditional. Doesn't feel out of character.

3. Just Let Me -https://archiveofourown.org/works/11695350

The party was going well. So well, Niall had already sworn undying love to one multi-tiered chocolate cake, two friendly corgi-poodle mixes, Zayn’s hair, and the entire population of Los Angeles. So well, Zayn had only laughed and ruffled Niall’s hair and not even twitched towards a cigarette. So well, nearly everyone had spilled far past the boundaries of the night’s original plans, extracting bottles of vodka from the cabinets and losing a lot of clothes. Harry had proclaimed that he was finally going to throw a small and very grownup dinner party and of course here they were three hours later, fifty people half-naked in the pool. Soon to be full-naked, if Louis had to guess. Everybody in LA loved a heated pool. Everybody loved Harry.

Me: I love love love this. Harry is so gentle, and Louis is so stubborn and needy. It's ABO but subtle. I'll read this one again and again. It's comforting.

@HelloAmHere is one of the best writers I know--amazing stuff. I also love their werewolf story, but it's not finished, so I won't link it here.

Other favorites:

1. Seven Up by cherrystreet - https://archiveofourown.org/works/5828539

Very loosely based on the British TV show "The Up Series" and somewhat inspired by the song “Something I Need” by Onerepublic, we follow the lives of Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson in an interview setting every seven years. They fall apart and come together, their lives and emotions recorded. Harry calls it a time capsule. Louis calls it a pain in the arse.

Me: Trigger Warning, major character death. I literally SOBBED through the end of this. It was lovely and devastating. So good. But be warned.

2. Light, Spark and Fire series by @greenfeelings

Life’s pretty ordinary for Harry. He lives with his best friend, got into university just like he’s planned, and manages to support himself just fine for an unbonded omega. If he sustains that lifestyle by getting paid to help alphas through their rut every now and then, that’s nothing to be hung up on. Until he’s hired by an alpha that turns everything upside down.

Or, Louis and Zayn run a music label, Liam is Britain’s up-and-coming pop star, Harry’s working on taking Louis’ walls down until he builds his own up, and Niall holds them all together without realising he does.

Me: A nice healthy three-parter. Characters you just want to live with for a while.

3. Relief Next to Me by dolce_piccante - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117942

AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

Me: This one is super long, so be prepared when you dive in. It's got a lot of lovely bits, and some great smut.

4. 2012 'Verse by ashavahishta - https://archiveofourown.org/series/27601

Me: This is a five-parter and satisfies my love of canon compliant stories. It spans most of 2012 and into 2013, and illustrates the difficulties of Harry and Louis' relationship amid the band success and management disapproval.

5. Love After the End of the World by mercurial-madhouse (writing_practice) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/31251434/chapters/77248901

Society shattered when all electricity suddenly cut off across the globe, plunging the world into darkness. Now, Prometheus Industries is the sole remaining supply of power, a saving grace to those who survived Lights Out. As fugitives in no-man’s land struggling to break into Prometheus HQ, death lurks around every corner for Louis and Zayn. Things get complicated when a routine recon falls apart and Louis collides with Harry and his mates Niall and Liam, survivors with their own agenda.

When staying alive is already a constant battle, the deadliest weakness is to be in love. For Harry and Louis, finding each other sits on top of the endless list of What Else Could Go Wrong.

Me: Really unusual (as far as I can tell) end of the world story. I loved the characterizations of soul mates here at the end of the world.

6. Flightless Bird by audreyhheart - https://archiveofourown.org/works/6401653/chapters/14656807

AU where Louis Tomlinson is a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. When his rival from ballet school, moody dance prodigy Harry Styles joins the company, old wounds are reopened and old passions reignited. During the company's production of Swan Lake the secret that doomed their love is finally revealed, but will it be too late?

Me: Trigger Warning, sexual assault (by an original character to a major character). This was a little brutal because I hated to see a broken Harry, but it was well written and has a happy ending.

7. Wear It Like A Crown by zarah5 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1816771/chapters/3900322

AU. As part of a team of fixers hired to handle a gay scandal in Buckingham Palace, Louis expects Prince Harry to be a lot of things—most notably a royally spoilt brat. Never mind that the very same Prince Harry used to star in quite a number of Louis' teenage fantasies.

Me: I loved Louis in this one--actually they are both pretty great. Scratch that, they are ALL pretty great.

8. Shake Me Down by AGreatPerhaps12 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/3331958/chapters/7285322

Harry's new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.

Me: I don't like the self-hate here, but it was necessary for the story and H comes around. Found family vibe.

9. Gods & Monsters by Velvetoscar - https://archiveofourown.org/works/2090982/chapters/4550871

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that's exactly what he did.

Me: I loved Harry in this one. Louis gets there. I don't like Liam, but I don't think you're supposed to. Zayn is great.

10. Own the Scars by crinkle-eyed-boo (KimmieRocks) - https://archiveofourown.org/series/1010796

Louis has never felt like he was good enough: for his stepdad, for his life-long best friend, for the life he's supposed to want. After an accident that nearly costs him his life, Louis' parents send him to rehab where he’s forced to face his demons. On the long and difficult road to recovery, Louis must confront the truths he’s been avoiding about his future, his relationships, and his sense of self-worth. Because before he can love anyone else, he’s got to learn how to love himself first.

Me: Harry is lovely in this one. Trigger warning, substance abuse and near death.

11. Wild Love by purpledaisy - https://archiveofourown.org/series/1030904

AU: Two best friends try to date each other for forty days. It's supposed to be fun until emotions make it complicated.

Me: I loved this way more than I thought I would. It's lovely and messy and I love it.

12. Victorian Boy by audreyhheart - https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosann1986/readings?page=6

Victorian AU. Harry the virgin Duke of Somerset knows little of love, while Louis the sly Duke of Warwick knows too much. When the two dukes come together for the Bilsdale fox hunt in York, Harry finds himself drawn into Louis' bed. But when secrets from Louis' dark past come to light, Harry fears that the fox isn't the only one being hunted.

Me: Historical fiction I didn't intend to love. I LOVE Harry in this one. LOTS of smut, so be warned.

13. Keep Me Closer by zanni_scaramouche - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30752633

Louis expects Harry to react poorly, maybe even file a formal complaint and that’s gonna suck ass but Louis won’t say shit cause he knows he deserves it, so he prepares an apology before Harry’s even turned around.

What he doesn’t expect is Harry to fucking drop.

Me: lovely, protective Louis just trying to do the right thing.

14. Turning Page by purpledaisy for SockstheDog

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11826345

AU: Harry Styles tries to get lost in a place he’s never been.  Louis Tomlinson has been perfecting the art of being lost for years. What they don’t expect to find is each other.

Me: sweet love story. Niall owns a bar, and is pretty great.

15. Freedom Always Comes With a Price by Cyantific - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30278514/chapters/74624262

A shared dream brings them together onto the X-factor stage, but one decision changes Harry and Louis’ lives overnight. Thrust into a world of instant stardom, they're forced to live a lie to sustain their dreams, but years of living in the shadows and under strict management takes its toll.

With the bands impending hiatus, there’s no better time for change, so they think.

Desperate for a solution, they turn to an unlikely source with a radical plan. An unfortunate accident sets everything in motion, but not how they intended, leaving Louis’ memories altered, Harry broken-hearted and full of regret.

Can Harry figure out a way to fix everything? Will he even want to once he sees how Louis moved on after the hiatus? Will Louis ever find out the truth of their past and can he forgive Harry after all this time?

In the end, two friends find out that memories are elusive, trust is everything and love is the only antidote.

Me: Heartbreaking when they lose each other, but really good in the end.

16. Little Technicolor Things by scary_crow - https://archiveofourown.org/works/6025519/chapters/13821628

Louis is a poor writer and recent university graduate, depressed, anxious, and living in London when he meets Harry, an artist with a secret who likes to paint sunrises and pretty boys from California.

17. Hold You Now by solvetheminourdreams - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30253536/chapters/74556744

Three years ago, Harry Styles said goodbye to communications consultancy firm McQuiston Worldwide, leaving a life of travel and agency PR behind. When he accompanies his best friend to a family wedding across the Atlantic, he'll be forced to reopen old wounds and face his past—one that no one wants to hash out, but may just have to.

Me: Niall is great. They almost miss each other in this one, and you just want to bash them over the head. But they figure it out.

18. At Risk, I Fold by clare328 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/26542480

2015 is a stream of hotel rooms and whisky on the rocks, tired glances and touching hands under tables. It’s the bears and the bees under a rainbow sky, and Harry and Louis have to figure out how to grow up together, instead of apart.

Me: A canon compliant fic that feels like it could have really happened. Set in 2015. Lovely first chapter and scene where Harry writes If I Could Fly--i could read that chapter over and over.

19. Into The Blue by zarah5 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035822/chapters/2065499

AU. In which Louis is Harry's scuba instructor and quite happy to provide the requested special treatment, pun fully intended. It can't be all that difficult to convince Harry that they're on the same page, right? Also, Niall and Liam may or may not be dating, and Zayn is surrounded by emotionally stunted idiots. He bears it with dignity.

Me: AKA the Scuba fic.

20. Tie Your Heart by ArcadianMaggie - https://archiveofourown.org/works/546688/chapters/973236

Harry grows wings.

Me: How can you not love a fic where Harry grows wings? Trigger warning: injury of a major character.

21. I think I'll end this here. My last and probably first favorite (read it more than once) is...

my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach - https://archiveofourown.org/works/934996/chapters/1820282

When Louis first saw Harry at the 2010 X Factor Auditions, he thought he was watching a peculiarly special stranger. But Harry has known Louis ever since he was five years old.

Because Louis has a rare genetic disorder that causes him to Time Travel to important moments in his past and in his future - and to Harry, always to Harry. When they're put into a band together, it seems like everything Harry has been waiting and wishing for has finally come true. Except for the small fact that Louis doesn't know that Harry is in love with him- that Harry's always been in love with him. Fate, it would seem, is just getting started.

A story about growing up and growing together, and the impossible love that makes it all worthwhile.

Me: I LOVED the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and I'm a huge fan of time travel, so this is right up my alley. It's really well done, weaving canon into fantasy and then going years forward in tme. I love everything about it. Great character development. Really good smut. Trigger warning, there's a little underage sex, so be aware. Anyway, LOVE this one so much.

I'll add to this but it's already longer than I meant it to be.

[thestalkerbunny]

Dr Jekyll did some gay stuff while being Mr, Hyde because society make him asociate homosexuality with all the other bad impulses that are expressed through Hyde.

I'm gonna say this because I feel like Classic Lit tumblr would come for me, but I feel like my blog is small enough to where I can say it they won't jump down my throats but here it goes, my entire thought process this entire week-

It is a STRONG feeling of mine that Dr. Jekyll is canonically a gay man. It's stated before the events of the story, he indulged in an 'unstated vice' and feared discovery of it. At the time in 1800s England, Homosexuality or Sodomy as they put it, was a perscutable offense. In some cases you could be put into jail for 10 years for just having a LOVE NOTE between two men on your person. Being accused of being gay in that time era would be social suicide for a man of Jekyll's standing; or in some cases where men were hung for the 'crime' of just loving the same sex, literal suicide. The Prudish and Uptight Victorian Society the book is set in would absolutely consider going out to be gay and have the 'gay old time' would be a 'unstated vice' and Jekyll in the book was someone who was well liked, of good standing and popular.

In personal opinion, Hyde is the Id; he is the part of us that is impulsive, that does things without reason or coordination. The voice in our head that says, crash our car, steal from the grocery store, be nasty, be naughty, be self indulgent hedonist and is only reigned in by the Ego and Super Ego (the part of us that says don't do that and the part of us that makes us feel really guilty for thinking such things) Dr Jekyll ended up separating the Id from the Ego and Super Ego a little TOO well and now it doesn't listen anymore, it goes around doing as it please, ranging from probably indiscriminately sleeping around, getting kicked out of bars, doing crime and at it's apex, murder.

tldr; Jekyll let his horny loose and then it committed a murder. Should have kept it on the baby leash like everyone else and just get dicked down like a normal man, Jekky.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Ok so since I went on a wee tear about people reading someone other than Pratchett, the same as how HP fandom needs to read someone other than she who shall not be named, here are some authors to check out! Some are classics who you will have read before, or at least heard of, I hope some of them will be new to you as well. 

Feel free to add to it. I’m going mostly for fantasy/sci-fi/fabulism and their adjacencies:  

Octavia Butler (she’s a classic and her stuff from the 80s alone, and the context she was writing in, is 100% more radical than half the crap we all spew out now.) 

Angela Carter (she’s a classic for the retold fairy tale. I’v read other authors who try this and everyone is derivative of her and no one is nearly as good)

Scott Lynch (fun fantasy assassin world - though I feel like he’s #problematic for some reason now? I don’t follow all the lit drama that is out there)

Marie Brennan (dragons! women in science!)

Stephen Graham Jones (Indigenous [Blackfoot] horror and the struggles of belonging)

Natasha Pully (steampunk and spies! Also you want some actual, canon, like it’s clearly stated gays in Victorian England and not some bad jokes vaguely hinted at kinda-sorta in Monstrous Regiment)

John Gardner (fun weird fabulism? idk I’m just here for Grendel) 

Imogen Hermes Gowar (Mermaids! cabinets of curiosity! low-urban fantasy! I got queer vibes from her stuff) 

Waubgeshig Rice (more Indigenous (Anishinaabe) horror - his latest Moon of the Crusted Snow is *chef’s kiss* perfect) 

Jeff Vandermeer (environmentalism sci-fi/spec-fic - weird and very Floridian. More women in science!) 

Amanda Leduc (new author! Apocalyptica and centaurs and meteors)

Katherine Arden (eastern European folklore retold in different ways)

Tamora Pierce (I know I bang on about her all the time - openly gay and trans characters; deals with racism and doesn’t dismiss it by saying speciesism is more interesting; no “loitering with intent” jokes that show how everyone hates the homeless and gay men etc.) 

Ursula K LeGuin (another classic; also openly gay and trans characters; fascinating stuff with gender and race; she’s so fucking smart)

NK Jemison (Like LeGuin, so fucking smart, doing cool stuff with race and sexuality and also environmentalism and other issues)

Silvia Moreno-Garcia (she wrote Mexican Gothic! She tends to do fantasy and gothic and folkloric retellings set in Mexico - her latest is 1920s Mexico and the Mayan god of the dead has come back. Shit proceeds to get real)

Rebecca Roanhorse (there’s a massive flood; so many earthquakes and other events cause magic to return. Tells the story of a group of young Navajo kids dealing with all of this)

Karen McBride (new author! Crow Winter is great - girl returns home to Spirit Bear Point First Nation and starts being visited by a local spirit/god and things go from there) 

Lydia Kwa (magic-realism in 7th century China with many ghosts and oracle bones also martial arts and some good action) 

Eden Robinson (she wrote the Trickster series! If you guys like trickster gods and the shit that can fall out from magic powers going sideways? Her books are for you.)

Tochi Onyebuchi (deals with magic and race and racism; also cops and incarceration and the violence of the carcerial system.) 

Rivers Solomon (she talks about race and slavery and class through spec-fic - she’s more on the sci-fi side - also she talks about generational trauma and inherited struggles)

This is obviously just a starter pack. 

Honestly though, if you want radical fantasy that talks about real issues? Stop reading white straight men for a year. For just one, single year read only black and indigenous authors, lgbtq+ authors, Latino authors, east asian authors etc. 

There is a massive wide world of radical work out there. I’m sorry to say, Pratchett isn’t really part of it. But if that’s what you’re yearning for, if you want to see yourself and your struggles on the page? It’s out there. Just google “queer fantasy” or “Latino fantasy authors” or “afro-futurism” and you will be inundated with fantastic writers all worthy of reading and exploring. 

[margridarnauds]

Okay, I’m apparently still on this but....as much grief as I’ve been known to give AC in the past (and I will continue to after this)....we’ve really come a LONG way. 

Like, we’ve had degrees of gay representation in the series since Da Vinci back in the days of Ezio, even as far back as the very first game, but like....in AC Unity, which came out in 2016, we had next to nothing, besides the Marquis de Sade, and most of his flirting with Arno can be brushed aside as nothing, especially when his flirting with Elise is highlighted and more overt. We got the Chevalier d’Eon, but they’re generally referred to as “he” and treated more like a man in a dress. Rogue, also 2016? Nothing in the main storyline (the modern storyline apparently drops some lore on Harlan Cunningham and Arend Schut Cunningham, but....I didn’t notice it.) ORIGINS, taking place in a setting where it would have been very easy to slip something in (and that was only made...about three years ago)? We get one reference, and the character is (1) a villain and (2) designed to be as repulsive as possible. Syndicate gave us Ned Wynert, Jacob Frye, and Roth, but all three of them are played fairly subtly. (Though, in all fairness: I WON’T count that against them given the time period - It’s the Victorian Era, and I DO think that there’s enough to intuit, especially reading the database entries. I’ll give the Syndicate team props for putting in as much as they could.) Odyssey did a good job, being the first game in the series where you actually had the ability to play your character as queer, albeit not without controversy due to That DLC, and quite a few side characters being queer as well, and it definitely laid the groundwork for Valhalla.

It isn’t to say that Valhalla’s the FIRST one to do anything, but between Birna explicitly being in love with Soma, Erke and Stowe, Azar explicitly being genderfluid, a love letter that you can read from two women, and Randvi being in love with Eivor (who’s canonically a woman, and has a feminine name), even if you choose not to actively romance her, along with the other romance options...I definitely think the series is making leaps and bounds. Like, these aren’t blink and you’ll miss them characters, these are characters who are tied into the CORE of the game. You can’t miss it, you can’t ignore it. I know the series has gotten its share of flack for historical accuracy, given that all the enemies are randomly generated as either men or women and there’s no OBVIOUS discrimination against Eivor as a shieldmaiden (personally, I’d point out that there’s quite a bit of subtext if you look for it WITH the idea that Eivor’s canonically a woman in mind), but also? Frankly, the entire series rests on the idea that there’s a worldwide custody battle over alien artifacts that’s been going on for over two thousand years and has involved almost every famous person ever - It’s really weird where the suspension of disbelief rests sometimes. And it’s VERY, DEEPLY satisfying seeing this happen with The Viking Game™, given that Vikings are everyone’s go-to MANLY MEN WHO ARE MANLY. It’s getting increasingly so that Straight Gamer Bros can’t ignore the subtext, because it’s very blatant. It isn’t PERFECT, but I do think that it’s trying, especially from where we were just a few years ago in the series. 

[frankendeers]

Kylux and the Queer Literary Tradition

So, I have seen a lot of people talk about Kylux in terms of queer fetishisation or even labelling it a “crack ship”.

The discourse has somehow made Kylux out to be this straight-girl fantasy where two men are simply shipped because they are white and handsome. Such an unfavourable interpretation completely takes away from many Kyluxers being queer and/or poc themselves as well as shaming straight people for seeing queer potential where it’s not canonically stated to be. Since the comic came out, there has been much elation because it finally “confirms” some of the things that appeal to Kyluxers, therefore justifying the ship. I don’t think, however, that Kylux has ever been anything but rather conventional in its queer subtext. Kylux falls in line with a long tradition of homoerotic aggression between two men. I will try to put this into words as eloquently as I can.

First, let’s talk about how Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Armitage Hux are queer coded on their own before moving on to their relationship.

Armitage Hux is almost comically queer coded. The act of feminising a villain to subtly convey to the audience that he is gay and therefore “morally reprehensible” has been a practice since the Hays code era (in some respects even before that -as the Victorian Age marks the beginning of our modern understanding of gender and subsequently, its subversion). He is seen to be physically weak, petty, moving and snarling and “bitching” in a way society would stereotypically ascribe to women.

His British Accent, at least from an American point of view, already marks his sexuality as ambiguous. This is not helped by the fact that he speaks in an abnormally posh way, alienating himself from the common people.Hereby, the movies draw a well-established line between decadence/queer and pragmatic/heteronormative.

In the “Aftermath” trilogy Brendol Hux states his son to be “weak willed” and “thin as a slip of paper and just as useless”, robbing him of his masculinity – no matter how ridiculous of an endeavour this is when talking about a four-year old boy. Hux is very early on criticised for not fitting into a socially expected form of manhood. This is especially evident when one compares him to his resistance rival, Poe Dameron. Now, Dameron has his own set of queer coding, but he is shown to be what is commonly viewed as “acceptably queer”. He is masculine, trained and proactive. When he ridicules Hux at the beginning of The Last Jedi, there is this juxtaposition of the helpless, feminine villain and the dashing, superior male hero. Hux is supposed to be judged as vain and arrogant while Poe takes risks and although reckless, is somehow to be admired. Further, Hux is constantly abused. He is thrown into walls letting out high pitched screams, runs away in the face of danger (as seen in the recent comic) and is pushed around by his own subordinates. His strength lies in being cunning and calculated, not stereotypically masculine virtues.

Hux’s destructive powers, his monstrosity so to speak, also follow a long-standing tradition of queer villainization. Harry Benshoff’s The Monster and The Homosexual articulates this as follows:

“[...] repressed by society, these socio-political and psychosexual Others are displaced (as in a nightmare) onto monstrous signifiers, in which form they return to wreak havoc […]” (Benshoff 65).

And what other, than a socio-political Other, is Armitage Hux - the Starkiller?

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, too, is touched by the mark of queerness. It is no coincidence that despite his raw power and muscular physique, Kylo Ren has not been adopted by hegemonic masculinity in the same way Han Solo has, for example. When the logical is traditionally seen as masculine, the realms of pure and unfiltered emotionality is feminine. And Kylo Ren is unrestrained in his vulnerability, his tears, his pain – People make fun of the dramatic ways he gives words to his feelings precisely because it is regarded as weak, as whiny, as “womanly”. His long curly hair, full lips and dress-like costume only strengthens this impression. Kylo Ren is an amalgam of masculine aggression and feminine expressiveness. Some of his outbursts even remind of the pseudo-illness of hysteria. The gendered lines are blurred and unclear in Kylo Ren, diffusing any efforts to appease the binary. Benshoff describes this as a form of queer existence which does not only constitute itself in opposition to what is considered normal but “ultimately opposed the binary definitions and prescriptions of a patriarchal heterosexism” (Benshoff 63).

Both are not easily categorised. They are patched up by multiple, gendered signifyers. Kylo Ren’s masculine body in contrast to his femininized fashion. Hux’s slender body with his stiff and masculinised military get-up. Hux’s toxic tendency to avoid showing his emotions while also being shown as weak, womanly, cowardly. Kylo Ren is an excellent warrior, yet simultaneously being prone to emotional outbursts. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s famous work Monster Theory (Seven Theses) elaborates upon this further, while acknowledging that queer figures are most commonly depicted as the monstrous Other:

“The refusal to participate in the classificatory “order of things” is true of monsters generally: they are disturbing hybrids whose externally incoherent bodies resist attempts to include them in any systematic structuration.” (Cohen 6).

Nonetheless, many queer people feel empowered by these figures. Lee Edelman theorises in his polemic No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive about the nature of queerness as a force of cultural resistance. According to Edelman, the queer must always refuse societal expectations of a perpetual future and embrace the death drive instead. In this sense, queerness stands in direct opposition to futurity as it negates any meaning in sexual reproduction and marriage (cp. Edelman 13). When Hux destroys planets, when Kylo Ren proposes to burn it all down “The Empire, your Parents, the Resistance, the Sith, the Jedi”, they are not merely killing the past. They are also negating the worth of categories that make up future and present alike. They are resisting the heteronormative values of production.

Now that we have the puzzle pieces that illustrate how Hux and Kylo are queer figures in on themselves, it might be interesting to examine how they work together.

In her text “Epistemology of the Closet”, Eve Sedgwick talks about a common gothic trope where two men are caught in a feud full of mutual hatred. In this case, both men are mirror images of one another, making them especially vulnerable to the other’s advances: "[…] a male hero is in a close, usually murderous relation to another male figure, in some respects his 'double', to whom he seems to be mentally transparent."

Kylo and Hux are very clearly mirrors of one another. Aside from the gendered oppositions I have already illustrated, they are each other’s double in every sense of the word. Born on opposite ends of an age-old war. Both caught in complicated relationship with their fathers whom both have killed out of opposite motivations (loving them too much vs. hating them with a passion). They represent the opposite ends in the binaries for logic vs. spirituality, restraint vs. wildness, control vs. sensuality, technology vs. nature etc.

This shot from The Last Jedi shows both of them mirroring each other visually, henceforth strengthening this impression.

They are "mentally transparent" to each other, because they are different sides of the same coin which Snoke tossed around to his whims. Even their aggression takes on erotic forms. It is hard to deny the homoerotic implications in choking another men to make him submit, forcing him onto his knees. The breaching of personal spaces and looming over each other, the obsessive need to prove one’s own worth to the male other with which one is engaged in a homosocial bond:

“The projective mutual accusation of two mirror-image men, drawn together in a bond that renders desire indistinguishable from prédation, is the typifying gesture of paranoid knowledge.” (Sedgwick 100).

And through all of this, I have not even talked about the collaborative potential between the two of them. Their instinct to protect one another despite insiting the opposite. How both of them could overcome their trauma by engaging with the other, who suffered so similarly under family obligation and Snoke’s abuse.

Works Cited:

Benshoff, Harry: “The Monster and the Homosexual.” In: Harry Benshoff (ed. and introd.)/Sean Griffin (ed. and introd.): Queer Cinema, the Film Reader. New York: Routledge 2004. Pp. 63-74.

Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. "Monster Culture (Seven Theses)." Jeffrey Jerome (ed. and preface) Cohen: Monster Theory: Reading Culture (1996): 3-25.

Edelman, Lee. No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive. ,2004. Print.

Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky-Sedgwick. Epistemology Of the Closet. Berkeley, Calif. :University of California Press, 2008.