#because s1 joey is ALSO canonically gay

[spacetrashpile]

ok so i recognize that shelby said in her stream today that witchcraft joey and pirate joe are not the same person. however, 1. @pixlostinatos and i were having this conversation before we knew about this and 2. this is funnier, so we're gonna pretend.

so we were talking about the implications of shelby and joey's endings, and the fact that, in his episode 3 of witchcraft, joey makes a remark about being "a pirate in a past life" (around the 31 minute mark)

we came to, like, two extended conclusions.

joey's ending for season 2 is akin to his season 1 ending. it was all a hallucination/dream, and he's just dead now. this is not in tone with the rest of the season, and as such, very unlikely, and less fun for all involved.

his ending is NOT a hallucination, and he just dies somehow in between the finale and the start of witchcraft. don't worry about it.

however, if he's reincarnated as witch!joey the Normal way (y'know, being born as a new person), that makes witch!joey, at most, 11 years old. and while it is hilarious to consider that all these adults took the competition with this 11 year old totally seriously, it's also... no. no i'm not doing that.

so, we decided that at some point in witch!joey's life, the soul of pirate joe just got shoved into his brain due to the whims of the universe. cause why not. it's kinda funny.

this leaves two options for how that went about, in our eyes.

the reasonable option: this is why witch!joey developed his fire powers. universe said "here's some new, antithetical powers, and a new soul to mix with yours. have fun!" he figured this out at some point in his life through normal reasons, perhaps by seeing shelby for the first time and being like "hold on, i know her. why am i a pirate in the memories i have with her."

the FUNNY option, and the reason i made this post: witch!joey and pirate joe's souls got combined at some point when he was a kid, and literally no one noticed, including witch!joey, for multiple years. witch!joey (canonically gay) only figured out something had happened when he briefly remembered katherine and was like "wait a second".

[pacificwaternymph]

Master List of Tags

Feel free to send me asks about any of these aus, no matter how long it's been since I've talked about them! I'm always willing to answer questions <3

You will find the au and general tags tagged under this post. Everything else can be found in one of the reblogs

General Tags

she speaks!! - I use this very infrequently. This was meant to be like a general tag for answering asks but I'm terrible at remembering it.

my writing - Exactly what it sounds like. Also infrequently used.

my art - there are like two posts in here because I don't post my art that often but please check it out because whatever I post I am very proud of!

Fake fic titles - exactly what is says on the box. A bunch of concepts and summaries that I produced from just the titles. Feel free to take any that catch your eye, as long as you message me or send me an ask to let me know first, and send me the link once it's posted!

Dizzy’s Ocean - Posts about the ocean to fuel my longest running obsession to date

Empires SMP S1 AUs

Rivendell Twins AU - What if Xornoth and Scott had grown up together but then Xornoth got exiled? Also has a fic on Ao3 called "A Tale of Two Champions" All canon ships and a reimagining of Joey and Xornoth's relationship to be less toxic.

Dragon Emperor AU - Dragon Prince AU with Empires SMP Characters. Flower husbands, nature wives, whatever Joel and Lizzie is (I'm not calling it Jizzie)

Ren the Ocean Knight AU - AU where Ren dies in last life and comes to in Empires SMP, where he swears his loyalty to another version of his queen.

Kid Xornoth AU - Reverse Responsibility au by @/shyrose57. Xornoth, as a thirteen year old is sent to destroy the world, and ends up defeated and kidnadopted by Shrub. Nature Wives, Flower Husbands, and Jizzie. Fanfic in the works

Great Beasts of the Past AU - Dragon shapeshifter AU. Roseblings, seablings, and nature wives are dragons, so is Joey, everyone else is human all canon ships and sibling relationships.

House AU - Modern AU where they all live in a house together. That's it, that's the whole thing.

The Great Clash of the Joels - I've started a war between @fishfuckerjoel and @joeldoesntknowwhatsleepis. Help.

The Merman AU - Jimmy's a traditional merman, Lizzie's a terrifying ocean goddess, and Scott is very very gay. Fic on AO3 titled "The Merman"

The Four Empires AU - An avatar the last airbender AU! not much else to say tbh. All posts are tagged with "the four empires au." Do NOT use "atla au" for anything.

The Blue Axolotl Heir AU - AU where Lizzie has a daughter who is also a blue axolotl, and is friends with the Tiger Blood Prince. Mostly funny and wholesome, no romantic ships other than what's canon.

Corrupted Jimmy AU - Jimmy is corrupted by Xornoth and all the feelings come spilling forth. Seablings and Flower Husbands centric, background Jornoth with canon-typical toxicity

Superhero AU - Exactly what it says on the box. All canon ships and sibling dynamics, plus Nature Wives and also everyone in the WRA are siblings. All important information can be found here

Kid Superhero AU - A mashup of the kid Xornoth au and the superhero au.

Deaf Scott AU - Gem manages to scrape up enough magic to escape from Sausage and Joey, but is forced to leave Scott behind. When a rescue party finally comes for him, they find he's had irreparable damage done to his hearing and his ability to speak.

Pirate AU - Jimmy is a pirate captain. Scott is a former navy officer who defected and became Jimmy's husband. Lizzie is the queen of the sirens who adopted Jimmy as her younger brother. Pure fluff and shenanigans. All canon ships + nature wives because why not.

Kid Pirate AU - A combination of the Pirate AU and the Kid Xornoth AU where everything is the same, except Xornoth is a teenager that Shelby and Katherine kidnapped instead of a navy captain.

Actor AU - Empires SMP is a tv series and everyone are just actors. Shenanigans ensue.

The Hourglass AU - Scott knows his life is tied to Xornoth. He knows he's destined to die, as soon as his blade plunges through his brother's chest. So why is it that he continues to prolong the inevitable?

Teen Titans AU - An AU based on the teen titans cartoon with Jimmy as Robin and Scott as Starfire.

MCD Crossover AU - An error in Gem's spell lands Xornoth in Phoenix Drop with amnesia.

Empires SMP S2 AUs

Part-time villain AU - After being expelled from the magic academy, Shubble becomes a known menace and villain to Witch Society, seen as a great danger to everyone around her. However, for her friends, she's still the same old Shelby. Clumsy, disorganized, unassuming Shelby.

S2 Kid Xornoth AU - An offshoot of the original kid xornoth AU in which Xornoth and Shelby reincarnated. Xornoth is Scott's twin brother who got lost in the Evermoore and is now cursed so that he can never age, and never leave. Shelby is doing everything in her power to break this curse.

Eldritch Dad Pixl AU - Pixlriffs is an eldritch god turned archaeologist who adopts isekai protagonist amnesiac Falsesymmetry as his daughter.

Colorless AU - Based on that one comment Scott made about the crystals draining Chromia's magic. Scott slowly loses his color, and himself along with it.

Western AU - Everyone gets shoved into a western setting. Lizzie's the town Mayor, her brother is the Sheriff, Scott's a bartender, everyone is flirting with everyone and half of them are involved in the black market.

Cottage AU - Post canon AU about the time between the end of Empires s2 and the beginning of Witchcraft SMP. Katherine and Shelby run away together and live in a cottage in the woods.

Beauty and the Beast AU - Nature Wives Batb au based on the animated Disney movie

Life Series' AUs

Fae AU (Title is a WIP) - A mashup of empires smp, last life, and double life, in which almost everyone is either fae or some kind of other mythical creature. Lizzie's an eldritch monster, Jimmy has three boyfriends, and ren desperately needs therapy.

Prince x Bodyguard AU - Majorwood/limited life AU where Scott is a prince and Martyn is his bodyguard.

Selkie Scott - Exactly what it says on the box. Scott is a selkie. Martyn is a fisherman. Jimmy is a well meaning human. Martyn x Scott x Jimmy x Tango

ALSMP (Afterlife) AUs

Guardian of the Village AU - Alsmp Vampire Scott has a village living beneath his home, one which he pretends not to care for, yet protects with his life.

Owl House AUs

She Ra x The Owl House Crossover - Hunter gets adopted by an older Catra and Adora. They relate to his struggles just a tad too much.

Owl House x Empires AU - The Empires SMP cast in the roles of the owl house. No one can agree who's who.

She Ra AUs

She Ra x The Owl House Crossover - Hunter gets adopted by an older Catra and Adora. They relate to his struggles just a tad too much.

OC Tags

Pacifica - Shy little gardener from the Ocean Empire, works in Rivendell's greenhouses.

Lilac of the Crystal Cliffs - Empires SMP OC, bat hybrid cafe barista with the ability to see ghosts.

Tesha the Spider Pirate - Empires SMP Season 2 OC, a former member of Joey's crew and new resident of Sanctuary.

I think that's all of them ^.^ I'll put all of them in the tags so that you guys can easily access them.

Chloe Bernier - Batfam OC, Collector who lives in Gotham and turns pieces of scrap into art projects. Absolute maniac.

Jasmine Morgan - Batfam OC, supervillain with the power to drain life force. Absolute wild card; little shit /affectionate

Rat!Dizzy - My ratsona (I cannot believe I just used that word lmao). Little medic mouse. Absolute sweetheart. Will cry if you insult her.

Eris Fernbone - Wolf Mother side character who I brought up once (1) and decided I would protect with my whole heart.

Via the End Floran - Inspired by Lizzie's End Floran from ALSMP. A guide and a wanderer that helps travlers navigate the dangers of the end.

Magnolia Berry - The first of kid!Xornoth's future children. The youngest, future queen of the Undergrove, and earth fairy.

Delilah Thistle - Witchcraft SMP OC, the Empathic Witch. A literal therapist with the ability to influence and manipulate emotions.

Evansi - My spidersona. Based on the Blue Knees sea spider with the additional abilities to breathe underwater, swim really fast, and skate on top of water like a water skeeter

Joanna the Nightingale - Pirates SMP OC. A mermaid from the deep. A huge sweetheart with a big heart and a bigger sense of adventure. Great sailor, terrible pirate. Will not hurt anyone, no matter the stakes.

Inigo the Kestrel - Joanna's boyfriend. A mash between Howl Pendragon, Flynn Rider, and Gomez Adams. Flirtatious playboy turned wife guy who lives to shower his girlfriend in expensive gifts.

Tabitha and Elliot Amor - Joanna and Inigo’s future kids.

Telling Dead Men's Tales - The Collection of pirates smp ocs that belong to me @/amostfoolishgold, @/finnified, and @/solsearchingnights

Star Sapphire Gracie - An aroace Star Sapphire from the DC comics universe. Fueled by the love she shares for her friends.

[kaypeace21]

I believe that byler is an endgame

but why would they spend 3 seasons winding up with mileven?

People REALLY need to pay attention to the shows the Duffers cited as huge inspirations to them. Cheers,dawsons creek, freak &geeks did exactly what the Duffers are doing (and the Duffers said these shows inspired them)

. Cheers for over 5 seasons built up the pairing of sam and Dianne- had them break up in the s5 finale and then in the last 2 eps of the 11th season have them get back together and once again break up explaining for the 100th time they were wrong for each other and brought out the worst in eachother . Cheers would build up multiple pairings (Frasier /Lilith (s4-11/broke up in s11) , sam/Dianne (s 1-11, broke up in s11 permanently) , rebecca /sam (s8-10) Rebecca/robin (s8-9) -these pairings lasted for multiple seasons and they all broke up! They built pairings up for multiple seasons but showed throughout the show why those pairing in cheers could never work out in the long term. The same Thing happened with almost every pairing in Dawson’s creek (they’d build up multiple pairings up -sometimes for multiple seasons- sprinkle in good but also dysfunctional aspects of those relationships- and then break them apart for good ).

Also in Dawson’s creek 2 characters (a rich girl and poor guy with daddy issues) date and breakup- but both of their gay brothers get together and are endgame instead of them (cough jancy vs byler). One of the gay guys (the rich one with the book smart sis) even dated the main girl (Joey) for a while before admitting he was gay and that he was in denial (while dating the main girl for more than a season ). In D.C even the main guy(Dawson) / girl (Joey) don’t end up being endgame (despite teasing it for all 5 seasons) . They did this with a lot of couples in the show. Honestly, the Duffers pretty much borrowed this idea of showing pairings with issues and breaking them up -but toned down how long they’d bait them . Like 11seasons of showing dysfunctional couples date -ick. And Dawson’s creek ... my god it had a literal love octogon/ love webs (so many love squares/pentagons/ and on and off relationships). The 1 adult couple broke up and I’m not exaggeration 4 times, and Dawson got back with 2 of his girlfriends like so many times. And ugh I’d say each (of the 4-5) main characters dated at least 4 people -and each of those relationships lasted for like 20+ eps each... and then after all that build up -break up ). That’s not even including the people the main 5 or so characters would date for like 5-6 eps . Thank god it was toned down compared to Dawson’s creek or cheers. i can’t imagine the frustration watching those shows during its airing 😂

Freaks & geeks (set in the 80s)was also inspo.14 y old Sam who is bullied and called “homo” “queer” etc throughout the whole series - he also obsesses over a cheerleader girl for the whole series and in the second to last ep of the series- they finally start dating  and he realizes they have nothing in common and says “it’s boring. all we ever do is makeout.She likes nothing i like. We can’t talk to eachother. We never have fun.” And he admits he only keeps dating her cause everyone would call him “crazy” to not date her. sam and her are also said to be “from different planets” and “different species”  just like mileven in s3 lol.  The gf of  sam also says before they dated she saw him ‘like a sister’ (like El asking mike if he’d be her brother in s1, before they date). And after this sibling comment various characters -encouraged the couple and said they would be good together (before they dated-like what we’ve seen in st with mileven and other ships ).Sam eventually decides to not cave to peer pressure- and breaks up with her. Meanwhile sam’s sis (is a straight A student, who is initially into a popular guy and starts hanging with the cool kids).  After getting over the first (popular) guy, she later dates another guy- a music-obsessed-stoner-guy  with a cruddy dad...and she breaks up with him (like jancy?). That couple was even called ‘romeo & juliet’ before they broke up-similar to mileven being called “romeo & juliet’ before their breakup. plus r&j were never in love... just like mileven.

All 3 shows had the main guy/girl date but not end up with eachother in the end . And both shows -would build up several pairings that looked like endgame but would show faults in those relationships and would have them breakup (because those pairings were never that healthy together). Which I believe is what they’re doing with jancy, jopper, mileven and lumax (explained in my analysis here all the evidence for why I don’t think they don’t end up together). I mean there’s many reasons I listed in the analysis but you think it’s a coincidence - jancy, lumax, mileven , and Steve/rando girl who rejected him in s3-all incorportated spying on their love interest ? you think the duffers think that’s good to have all these romantic pairings spy on eachother? When in the show they canonically have the us gov (villains) spy via phone taps, and hidden recorders, and cameras? Brenner used El as a spy for his own gain ? they even call the mf a ‘spy’ (which the characters perceive as the  main villain)... i don’t think the mf is  actually villainous but that’s off topic).The point is narratively equating spying as something ‘wrong’ by characters our main cast of heroes is against. But having that same cast of heroes partaking in spying themselves … specifically on to their romantic partners- and not also showing it as a negative. But romanticizing it? Would be quite hypocritical. And a HUGE narrative oversight.

Also build up?

S1- mileven kiss right after el asks if he’ll be her “friend” or “brother”. Has others compare el to mike’s sibling /cousin. Hint Will is gay . Have hints mike is queer too/ and cares deeply about Will. Constantly mention how el physically resembles Will/a boy. Parallel mileven to ted/Karen who were “never in love”. Have Nancy and mike verbally compare the jancy/stancy love triangle to mileven/byler . And at the end of the season mike writes a story for Will that likens the 2 to han/leia. Flo says about jancy/Jon “ only love makes you that crazy and that damn stupid”. (Which flo wasn’t entirely right about since jon punched Steve for insulting his family- for Jon it was familial love -not romantic love. But put a pin in that phrase)

S2- was pretty much byler season (and mileven barely interact that season). Byler say they’d go “crazy together”. But el’s new catchphrase is she’s “not stupid.” They Compare mileven to luke/leia (siblings that kissed) . Ref ghostbusters and parallel byler to the romantic pairing of Dana /venkman (but have el just be a ghost and mike a ghost buster which isn’t romantic but the opposite) .parallel mileven to hopper/el. Have el spy on mike, el hurt a stranger cause of unhealthy jealousy, have mileven dance to a song about a possessive spying/Stalking ex gf . Throw in mileven burns like “they’re not in love they’re not even from the same planet.” (El being et ref) . Have mike say annoyed “a bond ?! (Scoff) cause you shared nougat?! “ (egos like s1 ) “. Mike saying after knowing max for a week “hate you? I don’t even know you?” (He knew el for a week too so no way he loves her -cause he doesn’t know el , just like max ) . mike even criticizes his friends’ instant attraction to max saying “you haven’t even spoken a word to her.”Dustin saying “ I don’t have to . I mean -look at her.” Which makes it even more suspicious that mike was into a girl who multiple characters said looked like a boy (specifically Will) in s1. Have El watch a soap opera (all my children) and mimic the scene of  erica kane and her love interest michael. Which in the soap opera-isn’t endgame, and ended with some stalking after their breakup.

S3- mileven is finally dating : multiple characters (lucas, Will, Hopper, dustin,Max, etc) in the show dislike and verbally complain about them together . In cheers all of sam’s friends hated him dating Dianne and would vocally complain about it (similar to joyce they even clapped/cheered after 1 of their many breakups) . Mike is horrified by the spying(that mileven fans romanticized in s2) , el is happier single and neither is heartbroken over the breakup. They date for 2 eps and then breakup . Mileven being together inhibits El’s character arc from s2 (aka she went from wanting to explore the world and leave the cabin in s2 to see her friends, to ignoring her friends and cutting herself off from the world in order to stay in the cabin all day to make out with mike for 6 months - she would literally lie to her friends about curfew to return to the cabin and kiss mike -going against her ‘friends don’t lie’ mantra from the past 2 seasons too ). Mike canonically doesn’t trust her / doesn’t believe in her ability to make decisions and lies to her and never apologizes for lying. And el doesn’t apologize for spying . They throw in more gay hints of mike & Will. Mileven is called “bullshit” like s2 stancy . And Both pairings in the show kissed a bunch and said “I love you” (but they weren’t endgame). They also contrast s3 mileven scenes to s2 byler scenes and have byler win out. And once again parallel mileven to hopper/el and Karen/ted. As well as paralleling and likening Mileven to stancy in numerous other ways (besides the “bullshit “ line) . They also parallel mileven to stobin (both are straight baits) .They parallel the stobin confession to the mileven one -both confessions have them sitting on the floor, both girls have bandages on their legs, and both confessions are interrupted by dustin. Also both Steve/mike use the terms “crazy & stupid ” to confess to robin/el. But unlike Will who agrees to be “crazy “ with mike .El confused , asks “ what makes you crazy?” And robin says she didn’t have a crush on his “stupid hair”. el even says in reference to mike “there’s more to life than stupid boys.” Showing how el/robin don’t have romantic feelings for the boys-like the flo phrase of s1. Unlike Will who after fighting with mike calls himself “stupid” over and over and rips up the photo of him and mike where they promised to go “crazy together.” Even Steve says in s2 stancy should should “pretend to be stupid teenagers” in love. Emphasis on “pretend”. And when el says she loves mike “the first I love you” plays -the only other time that song plays in s3 is when robin rejects Steve (cause she’s gay.) cough cause mike is gay too.

There’s a lot more in each season (that illustrates mileven was built up -but not as a positive couple but a problematic one that was never was in love to begin with ). But I’m trying to keep this short . You can read this post here where I go in more depth about all of this .

S1-2 builds up the problematic ships (but showed good and bad aspects of their dynamic) . like the spying of jancy, lumax, and mileven or the jealousy. of Hopper in s2. In the s2 finalie they have them kiss or hug/exchange romantic glances. And in S3 we see the after math of this with all the couples officially dating - and they show all the couples issues at the forefront . I already talked about mileven. But, Lumax broke up 6 times (they dated for 6 months- and every month they dated max dumped him ). Jancy fight in the opening of ep 1 and don’t understand each others issues (sexism/poverty-and Jon’s issues with his dad) . And neither supports the other in their passions of journalism & photography.Nancy is also called “nancy drew” who in 1986 (year of s4) before going to college dumps her long term highschool bf (who helped her in many of her past mysteries/novels ). Their relationship was also shown as complex and somewhat dysfunctional because of both parties -before nancy drew dumps him. And (even if not dating like the other pairings) jopper almost go on a date in s3. Joyce was trying to hide the fact she was moving, Hopper was horribly jealous, and all they did was yell and argue.Murray says to joyce regarding hopper “he’s a brute... probably reminds you of a bad relationship” (aka lonnie/Joyce) . They even have Joyce watch a cheers ep- which directly compares jopper to (dianne/Frasier) who weren’t endgame in cheers but a rebound .  Hopper /fraiser both drink chianti . Fraiser asks dianne to marry him/Hopper asks Joyce on a date-both women stand them up. Or when Joyce asks Hopper out she calls her self ‘detective byers ‘and Hopper name drops miami vice. Which had an on and off again relationship for several seasons- of the male /female detectives.The relationship faded out as Gina realized they mainly got together when one or both needed someone. Crockett was very protective of Gina, and had some jealousy when Gina was involved in relationships , but was the first one to be there for her when things went wrong. And they realized it was better to not be together romantically. Heck seems like all these couples have negative film/tv parallels... lucas in s2 mentions not liking winston in ghost busters cause he came ‘super late’ (like Max). in s1 disses michael myers (which Max dressed as). And at the end of s3- lumax dress identically to eric/donna from a ep of that 70s shows (in the ep  eric/donna were broken up).

 (s3 was marketed as the “summer of love” and “summer love” is a euphemism for flings that don’t last.) s4-5 Will probably show good healthy ships/break up the problematic ones from past seasons .

So first 2 seasons focus on the unhealthy ships / and the last 2 seasons focus on healthy ships. S3 the middle season would be considered the turning point -and why none of the popular ships (assumed to be endgame) came off looking that great (compared to how they were presented in s1-2) .

[des8pudels8kern]

Saw someone earlier saying that if Jaskier is supposed to be queer-coded then Joey shouldnt be playing him as he "isnt gay" and like, can we please not be that fandom which forces actors to comment on their sexuality to satisfy the crowds? Joey has been very private about his personal life, we have no idea at all how he identifies and Id hate to think of the fans or the producers putting him in that situation

I. What? Do people not know what queer-coded means?

It's implications. Hints. References for the initiated. Little nods that can be read a certain way but don't prove anything. It's being able to sell something to China without having to change anything. A queer-coded character is a character that is not textually queer. And Jaskier, however much I read him as queer-coded, canonically represents as heterosexual - we have had mention of several lovers, all of whom female (unnamed wives, mothers, concubines - the latter could technically also be used for men, but it hardly ever is - and the Countess de Stael). Jaskier is not canonically queer. To the contrary, evidence supports him being heterosexual.

It's possible that the queer subtext fandom sees is deliberate. Actual code, put there on purpose, rather than fandom interpreting the character a certain way despite it not having been intended as such. Because that is also possible - in which case we would read Jaskier as queer-coded when the subtext is just coincidence rather than actual code; certain characteristics/behaviors/words used by creators who know certain character archetypes and tropes exist but not what meaning they carry for some of us. Unless someone comes out and gives a clear statement, we have no way of knowing.

And what if it's deliberate? Even if the creators would like to make a character queer but, for a variety of reasons, don't do more than coding that can be easily denied and ignored, the character remains not canon queer representation. Jaskier won't be queer until canon, not subtext, makes him so. (If they queer-code a character to keep viewers interested and create buzz but don't want to make the character queer, that’s queerbaiting, which is also a possibility and something I wouldn’t put past tptb, tbh.)

It's a possibility that that might happen. I doubt it (you probably sent this ask in reaction to that post, but for everyone else see Geraskier is the new Garashir). If canon does make Jaskier queer, then, yes, the character might retroactively have been queer all the time, but any non-queer character can in theory have a queer awakening later on in canon. (And many, in fact most characters that never become canonically queer share some personality traits with queer people that said queer people (or some of them) consider to be typically queer. Has commented on the looks of a member of their own sex? Must be queer. A man who cares about personal hygiene? Gay. Awkward, insecure, etc? They are closeted and afraid to be found out. We all try to see ourselves in the characters we love, but ultimately none of these behaviors are inherently queer. They are just behaviors and people can have them for all kinds of reasons.)

So, should all characters be played by openly queer actors only, unless it's contractually determined right from inception that a character might never e.g. have a bi awakening or other coming out? Is that it? because that would... lead to characters not becoming queer, tbh, not unless they are conceptualised as queer from the very start. No more following a story. No more developing characters. Do you think Joss Whedon (yeah, I know, but he was formative for pop culture) created Willow as queer rep right from the get-go? Because by the reasoning of the person you mention, there would have been no way to take her in that direction once she was created and cast on the basis of S1 facts only.

Jaskier is not queer at this point. This is not a queer role being taken away from a queer actor.

If it were, if Jaskier were an openly bisexual character, from the get-go? Then, yes, I'd want him to be played by a bi (or pan or similar) actor. These days, there are out actors to be cast in these roles (which wasn't always the case), but out actors are still part of a minority that is often disadvantaged and are less likely to be cast in not explicitly queer roles due to prejudice and queerphobia, so those explicitly queer roles should go to them rather than cishet (or cishet-presenting) actors. Yes, yes, everybody should be allowed to play every role, but we don't live in that post-queerphobic utopia yet so let's keep queer roles for queer people.

But again, Jaskier is not canonically queer. Any queer-coding fandom sees is subtext and speculation. And we do speculate, because it's fun, because we want to see ourselves, because we are tired of the ever-same stories about the ever-same people... it doesn't matter why. Fandom speculates, fandom interprets, fandom stereotypes, it enhances the aspects it likes and disregards others. And that's fine. No harm done.

Where harm is done, however, is in speculating about the sexuality of real people. It's painful for people to be harassed about something as private as one's sexual and romantic preferences by tinhatters who insist they've followed the clues and discovered the ultimate truth. It's incredibly painful and dangerous for "fans" to try and out an actor - whether or not the actor in question is queer, the potential harm to their career and relationships is real.

I don't tend to search for information on the private lives of celebrities I like. If it's bad enough, I'll hear about it. if it's not bad, then it's none of my business. Could Joey Batey be queer? None of my business (and, as elaborated on above, not relevant to Jaskier). Not any of our business. Unless and until he goes public with a relationship, we know nothing about his preferences. And if he ever does go public with a partner, we'll still only know "likes x" while he could very well also like y, or be z. We don't know. It's none of our business. We have no right to this information and he is not obligated to tell us. Unless it's relevant specifically to the job at hand, actors' private lives are none of our business.

[multimetaverse]

Doafp 1x10 Review

Two Party System was a nice end to a stellar season though one story line didn’t quite stick the landing. Let’s dig in!

All is well once more with Elena and Sasha and Jessica. Great to see them open up to each other and for Elena to put sisters before misters. We’re really starting to see Elena become a leader and I loved the ending line of ‘’diary we’re just getting started’’. I do hope if there’s a S2 that we start seeing more of a direct line between Elena’s middle school life and her eventually becoming president because as of now the flashforwards to her as president 25+ years later seem gimmicky 

Sabi are hetero goals again. It’s been a very nice surprise to see how much they’ve focused on some pretty adult topics with Gabi and Sam.  It’s hard for kids shows to pull off and I commend them for it; it reminds me of some of the focus we saw on Bex and Celia’s relationships and their pretty heavy issues in AM S1 and 2a. This was certainly the right time for them to put all of their cards on the table with Gabi realizing that Bobby is starting to see Sam as a father figure. I’m very curious to see where they go with Sabi in future seasons, if they’re renewed

Bobby’s story line took one step forward and two steps back tonight. Bobby reconciling with Liam and coming to grips with his sexuality in front of the mirror was a nice way to end his arc this season; it was also a retreat back into subtext from the more explicit ways they’ve touched on Bobby’s sexuality in eps 8 & 9. And the way Bobby’s conflict with Liam was wrapped up is noticeably different from how Elena’s conflicts with Sasha and Jessica and Gabi’s conflict with Sam. 

Bobby and Liam made up by not actually discussing anything which sadly reminds me of what happened with Tyrus on AM after costume day. So many people after that ep aired said that Tyrus couldn’t reconcile and get together unless they talked things out, but of course they never did and they reconciled like nothing had ever happened and then had an underwhelming ending that could have happened without all the poorly written angst and drama. Now I don’t think the Bobby and Liam conflict will end up being all that important in the long run if the show is renewed because I don’t think Liam is Bobby’s love interest and if the show gets renewed then the writers have plenty of time to learn from this mistake but it’s more the fact that they made this mistake. If a show can’t pay off a story line then they shouldn’t do it; the writers had no excuse. They never would have Gabi tell Sam that she was just stressed because of work and then have everything go back to normal after their breakup in ep 8 because that would have been absurd. Having Bobby and Liam get in a brawl is great drama but set up becomes meaningless without payoff. It’s not a great sign that the Doafp writers are already making mistakes that it took the AM writers until almost the end of that show to make

I had flagged Cami explicitly stating the reason why Bobby fought Liam in my ep 9 review as potential set up for them not having Bobby tell Liam about his feelings which isn’t so surprising as we’ve literally never had a boy confess his feelings to another boy on a Disney show before. Since S2 if it happens will open on the start of the next school year it’s very unlikely that they’ll ever touch on the fight again which is for the best if Bobby is going to end up with someone else; just like how on AM it was for the best that Cyrus never told Jonah about his old crush on him.  Again I really hope that the writers make a plan for how to give Bobby the best possible plot in the face of Disney censorship. The best case scenario for the show is that they get 3-4 seasons total which would mean they have 20-30 odd eps to explore whatever it is they want to explore with all the characters. They just won’t have the time to drag things out like they did on AM, the 23 ep gap between Cyrus coming out to Andi and coming out to Jonah is likely more eps then Doafp has left for example. On Andi Mack the rule was that there couldn’t be anymore than 2 coming outs per season but their seasons were also 20+ eps so who knows if the Doafp writers can swing that in 10 ep seasons. All coming outs also had to be one on one coming outs but if they let Bobby come out to his family all at once then that would probably make things easier for the writers

Brandon Severs Jr really needs to stop with the Cartero hyping. It’s great that he ships cartero but there’s no evidence that he’s been told to act like Liam likes Bobby back in sharp contrast to how it was clear from the start that TJ liked Cyrus back because Luke had been told that TJ was gay. At least Josh and Luke and Terri and the other cast and crew who hyped up Tyrus to varying degrees were actually hyping up a ship that did end up canoning; what got them in trouble was hyping up the ship too much without knowing until the end whether it was actually going to be allowed to canon and lying about Disney censorship. What’s Brandon going to do when they eventually introduce a love interest for Bobby?

I like the development of the classmates like Claude and Ryan and Belinda and Joey and the Brits. They feel like real people in a way that background class mates rarely do on TV shows. It will serve the show well if they get renewed

The show has had great continuity so far, like with Ryan telling Elena that his mom and Claude’s mom are friends which is something Claude had mentioned earlier in the season. But I didn’t like that they blew up the timeline so that not only is spring break over in ep 9 but ep 10 which ends only a few days later is also the end of the school year. Timeline issues in and of themselves are not necessarily serious but they’re usually a warning sign that things are going wrong in the writers room. The GMW timeline never made much sense but it ended up becoming a total shitshow once that show got really bad and the AM timeline only started to get messy in 2b when the show’s writing started to get bad

Looking Ahead:

Doafp has really turned out to be a delightful surprise and I can only hope that it gets renewed though with the corona virus sweeping the world any announcement and any future production won’t be for a while most likely

With Sasha having a thing for Claude and Joey seemingly interested in Elena I think S2 will likely see a bigger focus on Elena and her friends and boys. It would be nice to see Joey’s bar mitzvah in S2 though I doubt they can top Cyrus’ bash mitzvah

I hope they introduce a love interest for Bobby in High School and that the censorship isn’t too bad but we shall see

If the show is cancelled and this ends up being the final review then thanks for reading and if we get more seasons I’ll see you back here one day

[preppymayhem]

For the meme, 001: Tell me all your Dawson's Creek thoughts

Favorite character: I want to say Joey, but let’s be real, it’s my stupid, stupid son, Pacey Witter (please fix your life)

Least Favorite character: The obvious answer here is Dawson, but then I remember the teacher/student plot so it is Creepo!Teacher

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Pacey/Joey (obis), Pacey/Andie, Jen’s little noona romance with the freshman quarterback, honestly that’s it for now, maybe something will jump at me in the rest of this show

Character I find most attractive: I have come to the conclusion that I am ridiculously gay for Katie Holmes, so Joey.

Character I would marry: I would marry Jen

Character I would be best friends with: I would friend the boatman who made fun of Dawson for ripping off the Blair Witch Project

a random thought: Dawson was never the correct protagonist. Even if he was likable nothing about any of his arcs are all that compelling.

An unpopular opinion: I don’t think I have any overly unpopular opinions. I think the people who say they felt the PJo sexual tension in s1 and s2 of the show are sort of full of it. You only see it because you know it’s coming in s3. They aren’t really anything in the first two seasons and that one ep in s1 was narrative function to push Dawson/Joey forward.

My Canon OTP: Nothing else really compares to Pacey/Joey

My Non-canon OTP: Don’t have one. The dream romance arc that Jack should have had I guess.

Most Badass Character: This isn’t really that type of show. But damn Grams can get shit done.

Most Epic Villain: I miss Abby Morgan.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Dawson/any woman honestly. He had entitlement issues he needs to work through but the narrative won’t let him. Also Creepo?Teacher/Pacey (obviously)

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I think they could have done more with Andie post Pacey/Andie break up. She was fun but I don’t think they had the budget to add an additional love interest for her and so it all just fell apart.

Favourite Friendship: Jen & Jack are pretty great always.

Character I most identify with: A lot of Jack’s storyline is really close to home. But I most identify with every character who roasts Dawson’s “films”

Character I wish I could be: None of them, their lives and inner drama stresses me out