#being NOT normal about this and very GAY in fact

[sgiandubh]

Imagine

Imagine you are offered an exciting, well-paid job with an up and coming spirits business, whose owner you happened to sympathize with at a work event. Imagine you really invest yourself in that job and you are so enthusiastic about it, that you even put your own business network to service. Imagine you start seeing the first results of your efforts.

Then imagine that the owner you happened to sympathize with (and who probably recruited you) has a teeny-tiny problem, the amplitude of which was absolutely impossible for you to grasp. He is also an actor and, as many actors who are actively involved in successful cinema/TV productions, he has a fandom. Some things may have been mentioned to you, such as the abusive behavior of 'some' fans - but you really had no idea and you were way too excited to make this new job opportunity work for you. You definitely didn't take any warnings too seriously: you know that series has some sort of cult-ish status and that actor is many ageing women's secret fantasy, all around the world. You probably even think it's definitely corny, but overall these ladies seem harmless enough - plus they seem to show up in droves and buy in bulk, everywhere he goes. You are way too focused on your job to notice any misconduct: you dismiss it with a laugh.

And then, someone, somewhere decides it is your turn. You have excitedly posted a snapshot of a rugby match you have been invited to by the owner of the up and coming spirits company, who happens to have an excellent relationship with the local, prestigious club and is a rugby fan himself. You are over the moon to be a part of an event that allows you to better discern the new type of customers the business hopes to attract, in the foreseeable future. You enjoy the wonderful camaraderie in the galleries: you had no idea about what rugby means to so many different people, wow!

You are, therefore, very surprised to find out some women already started to claim on the Internet you and your boss are an item. This is completely nuts: courtship seldom involves attending a rugby match, in Europe - that much you know. You begin to receive nasty, insinuating DMs on your Instagram page. You perhaps remember one of your boss's friends, a young disabled artist, has very recently been harassed by his fans and had to call the police, in order to make it stop. You decide the best thing you could do is to erase the rugby match pic: too late, it has already been screen capped, shared and discussed. This is how you also find out that some of those women think you have an agenda, that you plan to seduce your boss and that you are, at any rate, a lousy wannabe in the business world and a highly functioning alcoholic, to boot. The ones claiming so are either pretending to be experts or to have SOURCES, based on FACTS. This is beyond your understanding. You may even have a mild panic attack and you definitely feel all of this is: a) ridiculous; b) unfair and c) potentially dangerous.

Most of the women who called you out have no idea about what happens at a rugby match. They are that kind of older people who still think geishas are prostitutes, for example, because they lack proper education. They have no direct experience of the business world, let alone the spirits business world. No real facts and no logical arguments are ever presented to seriously discuss your efforts, but many smearing accusations are being written down, with full confidence. All they know is that they don't like you, because you somehow failed to comply with their own, twisted version of reality. In their books, your boss is either a closeted gay man or a lewd womanizer, with a dirty penchant for whores. This would normally make you grin, but today you're just not in that mood.

Today's your turn.

[canichangemyblogname]

Look, THIS is why I’m not upset with Tommy breaking things off with Buck, just the rhetoric they (the show) wrote for WHY they broke up and the general lack of resolution we’re likely to get. The break up itself is like… yeah, okay. It’s drama on a drama. People CAN see Tommy’s perspective: Buck DOES still have things to learn and IS still impulsive. There ARE a lot of things Buck does not know.

It’s the dialogue they wrote for Tommy and the likely lack of follow through that has me like 😑. Let me explain—

Tommy could have followed up Buck’s question about moving in with, “I’m not so sure moving in would work out; I think it’s too soon.” Buck blinks as he hesitates. “Uh— w-we-well, why not?” “Look— you’re an incredible guy. You’re funny and hot and kind… but you’re impulsive, and I feel like you may still have some things to learn.” “I—I’m not sure I know what you mean?” “We’re in two very different places in our lives. I feel the way you see me is incompatible with the partnership I want in a long-term relationship.” Tommy takes a sharp breath in. He pauses. “I—,”Tommy falters, “I’m not so sure we will work out.” “Wait— are-are you breaking up with me?” And then we get the similarly devastating, “Yeah… I guess so. Believe me, I didn’t see this coming, either.” A beat, and then, “See you around, Buck.”

And the thing is? This feels more resolved without fully closing the door. The reasoning behind why they’re breaking up is because Tommy feels they’re in two different places in life. He feels like moving in is too soon and that Buck is being impulsive. He feels like Buck is treating him more like a gay yoda than a partner, and so moving in will put their relationship on an unsustainable course that positions Tommy less as a partner and more as a forever teacher.

Additionally, characterizing the breakup as the result of being in different places in life (and emotionally) could continue a narrative trend of Tommy successfully working out emotions in a way Buck has not yet learned. Buck was so jealous and in need of Tommy’s attention that he maimed his best friend. However, when Tommy was jealous of the 118, that did not manifest in any real-world consequences because Tommy processed that jealousy in a healthy, normal way. Buck has daddy issues, and this directly impacts his emotional relationship with his father and Bobby, and his professional issues with Gerrard. However, Tommy has already come to terms with the nature of his relationship with his dad and, it could be argued, he has processed his daddy issues or dealt with them in a more productive way. At the same time, should the author want to do something with these character threads later on, the foundation has already been laid to explore Tommy’s jealousy and possible daddy issues as sources of conflict later. (Later exploring this also wouldn’t do the breakup scene any injustice, as the main reason for the breakup is how Buck views Tommy and the growth—re: impulsiveness— that Buck still needs to undergo.)

This hypothetical also avoids the whole, “Why would someone date someone else for six months when they just assume that person’s going to leave them and break their heart at any moment?” This hypothetical additionally avoids these characters breaking up explicitly because they have the same wants and desires for the relationship, like what we got in canon. (In canon, Tommy literally went, “You’re good looking and funny and kind and incredible and I really want to be with you, and you want to be with me, too, and that’s why we actually can’t be together.” 🙄) It also avoids re-hashing conflicts the characters have already addressed, like Tommy thinking Buck isn’t yet ready for or comfortable with his queerness, because this hypothetical would focus on Buck’s history of impulsivity or grand declarations when things get tough or weird. It also avoids the fact that Tommy did agree to try again, knowing that Buck didn’t have a label yet and then attended a wedding as Buck’s date, so why does he suddenly have an issue with Buck’s sexuality 6 months in? And, this hypothetical also still leaves the door open in the event the author wants to revisit this character dynamic, but currently cannot develop it due to cast contracts. Because Buck can wise up. He can admit that he had approached some aspects of the relationship a little impulsively; that he was prone to hitting Tommy with these grand declarations. Buck can change the way he views Tommy. Buck can change the way he sees relationships as something meaningful designed to help his own growth (“transformative” and all that). And all of this can happen with Tommy off screen. They theoretically then COULD meet again when they’re in similar places in their lives (and emotionally), or Buck could apply his newfound growth to his next relationship or final relationship.

Because Buck does still have growing to do and things to figure out, it’s just that none of those things are about whether or not he likes men, as Tommy’s canon monologue implies with the whole, “You’re still figuring yourself out… I’m not your last; I’m your first.”

But that’s ultimately what we got. We got that BS about firsts and lasts where Tommy downplayed what Buck feels for him and why, and outright assumed Buck’s feelings now and in the future. He spent that entire scene giving Buck the ol’ biphobic, “you still gotta figure yourself out” and “you’ll just leave me for someone else” lines. He then concludes his break up dialogue by telling Buck that he’s afraid Buck will break his heart and that he can’t handle that, implying that he’s breaking it off due to anxieties around getting hurt emotionally. But the thing is? Tommy’s insecurities aren’t resolvable with Tommy off screen because Tommy needs to be on screen to show that growth. So, if contracting is or becomes an issue for someone who is NOT A MAIN, then there will be no resolution. Don’t hint at a character having major insecurities as a source of conflict—on par with that of a main— if the show cannot dedicate the appropriate screen time to that character to resolve that conflict.

Because right now? This FEELS like the set up for the third act’s preclimax. Tension between the characters is at its highest. Now Buck—the hero—must look inward and decide whether to prevail. He must face his deepest fears and greatest weaknesses. He must come out on the other side knowing that he is not listless; he knows what he wants for his future. This would take Buck full circle from who he was in his “Begins” episode where he didn’t know what he wanted or who he wanted to be, and hopped from place to place on this journey. Buck will realize he has hopped from relationship to relationship because he hadn’t defined himself well enough, but NOW he knows who he is. And once he realizes that, we reach the climax: the confrontation. Buck confronts Tommy about Tommy breaking his heart. This immediately segues into the resolution where Tommy acknowledges this hurt and admits the break was due to his own insecurities. And then, much like in season 3 with Abby, the show could keep them broken up to continue their Tommy-Abby parallel. (IMHO— if a resolution is the goal, keeping them broken up would be a more likely outcome when considering contracts. If the two got back together, that would require the show to dedicate a good chunk of screen time to addressing Tommy’s insecurities, something they may not be able to follow through with due to availability.) And then we actually have an on screen portrayal of HOW Tommy was transformative for Buck as opposed to just being told he was.

However, this resolution still requires Tommy to return, and exit interviews seem to suggest the actor who plays Tom is not returning. Meaning, this may remain unresolved. We could have had something that seemed resolved with the potential to revisit it, but instead we have something that would require the show to feature heavily conflict revolving around the insecurities of a character who is not a main, played by an actor who is juggling multiple projects.

Why not make the conflict something that can be resolved with Tommy off screen? Why not provide a little resolution if you cannot guarantee more Tommy? Why hint at fundamental changes to Buck’s character journey and the outcomes of his relationships if this one ends like all the others? Why suggest the show is going to fundamentally alter the way it writes love interests, something that would necessitate a change to how the show approaches any and all secondary characters? Why build up Tommy as a source of character conflict and major transformation for Buck if they cannot dedicate the appropriate screen time to establish that? (Because, remember, Buck TOLD the audience that Tommy was transformative for him, but we’ve yet to see how he’s been transformative like we have with any of Buck’s other previous love interests.) Why build up his insecurities if the show cannot address them?

I actually think they should have stopped going to Miceli’s. I think that place is cursed. Weird vibes. Every time they went, it was awkward.

[koskela-knights]

OOGA WOOGA Champion of Light on YT has dropped the HQ Koskela ads 🥵🥵 Now I can be thirsty af again but in HD

Dont mind me admiring them all over again 👀 the details in their clothes, the wrinkles/crowfeet eyes, the body hair, etc.

[james-spooky]

this is a test

[infizero]

every time i so much as think about that scene where light looks at porn magazines while scowling i go into hysterics its genuinely the funniest thing i've ever seen

[mysoulspiralbound]

i'm not 100% on the timeline, but fords been missing for 30 years when the show takes place in either 2012 or 2013. plus 2 years spent on the portal, and adding in stuff like ford was probably in school for longer than fidds, the time ford spent in gravity falls before he met bill, and the fact that fidds is married with kids by the time he moves up to gf means he probably graduated class of 1980 at the absolute latest.

technically the first computer science degrees and programs existed in the 1950's, so computer science isn't actually as outlandish as i first guessed. home computers came into popularity in the 80's, with laptops not following until the 90's (though fiddleford seems to have been working on earlier prototypes within the cannon of gravity falls).

still, while fiddleford is very clearly good at computers and programming, the inventions he makes and the stuff he enjoys still makes me lean towards either electrical or mechanical engineering. i bet he took classes in all 3 for his range of interests, but unlike ford, i don't think he'd feel the need to get a doctorate in multiple of these fields. fidds doesn't have the same complex about needing to be the smartest person in the room, and quite frankly anymore than 1 phd is just overkill, especially that early in his career.

what i want to know is when the hell he had time to take enough psych, bio, and/or anatomy classes to build a working memory gun. that thing targets specific or general groups of memories and removes them in a such a way that it seemingly Does Not Damage any other part of the brain unless used extensively. it works by typing in what you want someone to forget with a dial. it's small enough and light enough to conceal it when carrying and to hold it with one hand. it's - it's not even plugged into anything. even after the society of the blind eye has forgotten it's founder then damn thing still works. it even stores the missing memories as playable data. which, for some reason, seems to play in the third person. seriously, what the hell. forget the fake sea monsters or giant metal people, this is his most insane invention. i'm like 90% sure he tested this on himself too. fidds, fiddleford, fiddleford hardon mcgucket—Where Did You Learn How To Do This???

tldr- it doesn't matter what fiddleford studied because his phd is in being so unhinged the only way to appear normal is to be very very gay about the only person more unhinged than you.

it's probably a good thing he followed ford to gravity falls because anywhere else he'd have to contend with things like "ethics board of reviews" and "healthy amounts of caution," both of which were things he did Not have to worry about when doing mad science with ford.

What does everyone think Fiddleford McGucket's degree is in?

I genuinely don't know if it's ever been said or if there's an option here I'm missing, so I thought I would crowdsource :)

[melonisopod]

"Homophobes don't assume that!" well I was raised by them and uh yes they do.

[brittie-frog]

Some yellowjackets thoughts because some posts on the tag are annoying me:

- Shauna being sad that the baby died is an extention of her grief over Jackie and don't know how to properly word it so iykyk

- yes Ben is probably gonna die soon but don't be mad at him for walking away at Shauna giving birth - he is a starving adult (probably early 20s) with maybe basic first aid (that most definitely doesn't cover childbirth) that they don't respect and is also missing a leg - he definitely has less clue than Misty 'actual watched the video and asked medically relevant questions' Quigley

- the whole thing about people wanting to know what happened in the woods but the girls not talking about it - yes they could admit that they ate a couple people, especially Jackie since she technically died of natural causes, but the reason that they won't talk about it, that they find it so horrific, is as Shauna says: it wasn't out of survival. They probably could have lasted a bit longer without eating Jackie but they wanted to and then the later people they ate it turns into a game/cult ritual of hunting them down and building traps - and because as Shauna also says: they want to do it. And presumably they still want to do, they liked the "unpredictability" of the woods. That's what they find so horrifying about their situation - they wanted to eat Jackie and then they purposefully making a ritual out of it rather than just necessity of no food. If someone told you that they wanted to eat those people and it wasn't purely because they would have starved to death, you can't tell me you wouldn't have a single thought of that person is fucked up.

Honestly I will take the L if they do do something absolutely horrific in the woods but even then they could admit to the eating people and just leave that out to get people to leave them alone, but the fact they won't probably means it's linked to the cannibalism.

[queenmeve]

The impact gillian has had on queer women cannot be understated

[im-just-a-random-fandom-girl]

Hiya, I really appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt. I truly was not trying to wreak havoc in the tag. I should’ve tagged it as meta instead, and I’m about to go back and fix that.

Yeah I have read around, and I get the first and second points! I did notice how when it was sort of more private, Tommy acted differently. I’m not going to pretend I have experienced racism to the extent that you have as a Latina (I am Hispanic, but very much white passing), and I can appreciate that his sort of softness after the fact made you feel more comforted! For me, I just like it wasn’t enough.

As for the bit about Abby, I just think this more a disagreement of how we perceived the conversation. Yeah, I agree that Tommy expresses regret about this period of his life where he was closeted, but it feels more like sympathy for himself (which he deserves!) and judgement of Abby. Again, the casual sexism of him calling her crazy for dating a man half her age is absurd when he is literally doing the same thing.

On the fourth point, as a queer woman, queer people do not owe others any sort of label. If Buck doesn’t ever want to define himself by a label, he doesn’t have to! I totally agree that Buck was putting Tommy on the gay icon pedestal, and that’s not fair to Tommy and not what you do in a relationship. Both of them don’t really treat themselves as equal partners, and that’s not a good foundation for a relationship. Navigating new interactions is a normal part of the queer experience, and I can appreciate that Tommy has helped Buck a lot with that, but he shouldn’t turn the blame for their breakup back on Buck if he doesn’t want to do that.

I am truly sorry that this has hurt the BuckTommy fans so much! I know what it’s like to ship characters whose storylines get dramatically changed from what I felt was right (I’m a Stucky shipper!) It didn’t personally come as a shock to me, but I agree on your last point about Tommy being scared, and can sympathize with him.

Thank you again for giving me the benefit of the doubt! Not trying to change your mind or anyone else’s, just sort of get my own thoughts out of my head! Going to change the tag now

listen, i liked tommy as a character when he was friends with eddie, but he and buck being in a relationship has never made sense to me, and hated it more and more as time went on.

firstly, i really can’t get over how he treated chim and hen when he was in the 118. i get that at that point in time he was suffering from both internal homophobia and witnessing homophobia on a daily basis at his job. i get that he had to protect himself. but its possible to protect yourself without also perpetuating the problem. he was homophobic and sexist and racist, and him being closeted doesn’t excuse the former, and certainly not the latter two. i get that hen and chim forgive him, but he legit never apologized. he’s never truly taken accountability for what he did, and he honestly doesn’t seem to feel that bad about it

2) on that same note, i don’t know that buck would be able to forgive him so easily. he has such a big heart and a strong sense of right and wrong that it feels out of character for him to know how awful tommy was to his best friends and coworkers and not really care, despite the fact that, again, tommy hasn’t apologized or anything

3) everything about how he spoke about abby and their relationship was gross. “she went crazy after” and “went after a himbo half her age” is so callous and cruel. it also is casual sexism at its finest. it’s not unreasonable for abby to have felt lost after her engagement and long term relationship suddenly ended because the person she thought she wholeheartedly knew turned out to be gay. but tommy just sort of brushes it all off, dismissing the fact that he played a role in her personal turmoil, and expressing no sympathy for a person he supposedly cared for. obviously, tommy did the right thing in ending their relationship, both for himself and abby, but the way he discusses it feels cold. (also the sexism is really highlighted by the EXTREME hypocrisy in saying she went for a himbo half her age when he literally is also dating a man way younger than himself, even without knowing that it’s the same man)

4) i’ve always felt like tommy has treated buck as a “baby gay” rather than as an equal partner. looking down at people that don’t fit the mold or are young and still working things out is a problem in the queer community (of course, this is ironic given the fact that we are all about not fitting the mold society wants for us). i think tommy and josh both have some of that mentality. again, yes, tommy was trying to protect himself and yes, younger queer people will never be able to fully understand what the old generations of our community faced and experienced, but that doesn’t mean that young queer people’s opinions and feelings are invalid. like me, buck felt icky about how tommy spoke about his relationship with abby, and instead of being encouraged to open a discourse, his feelings are shut down with a “you will never understand so shut up, and, in fact, THANK tommy”. YUCK.

5) tommy just continues this treatment of buck as a clueless “baby gay” when he breaks up with him. instead of listening and trusting buck when he tells him what he wants and how he feels, tommy completely invalidates all of it. he acts as though he knows buck better than he knows himself, and acts like their breaking up is buck’s fault. ugh, the whole scene made me so angry.

i know that there are a ton of BuckTommy shippers, and i’m not trying to attack you at all. this is just my perspective, and i’m always open to discussion!

[snekdood]

anyways the reason a lot of cis men move to the right is because they're isolated and outcasted when they come into leftist spaces for not knowing Every Possible Progressive Thing Under The Sun Immediately and now since they have no friends for being new to leftism they go to the right because its the only place welcoming them.

[autism-corner]

:(

[ratatatastic]

me thinking itd be fine to put on an ekky interview in the bg as i deal with hot things that could burn me because im frying yes wonderful me good job me this is fantastic

[deconstructthesoup]

One thing I absolutely adore about Dead Boy Detectives is the immaculate costume design. Specifically, how it perfectly encapsulates who the characters are, both as a whole and who they are in the moment.

From the very first scene of the show, we know immediately that Edwin is a bookish, somewhat stuffy guy from the Edwardian era who attended a boarding school, and Charles is a punk from the 1980's who's most likely the wildcard between the two of them, just going off of the way that they're dressed. Both of them have distinct color schemes and different styles, but the general shape of their outfits is actually relatively similar---both of them have collared shirts (Edwin's dress shirt, Charles's polo), something over those shirts (Edwin's vest, Charles's suspenders), a jacket of some kind (Edwin's suit jacket, Charles's flannel thing), a longer overcoat (Edwin's traveling coat, Charles's peacoat), something around the neck (Edwin's bowtie, Charles's necklace), slacks, and nice shoes. They're distinct, yet matching, two clearly defined separate characters yet part of a set.

Edwin's prim, proper, buttoned-up personality lends itself to the way he dresses throughout the season---in the first episode, he only dresses down when he's in the office with Charles, aka his safe place and his safe person, and he doesn't really dress down like that again for a good long while after getting stuck in Port Townsend (though, if my memory serves me correctly, he does take off the suit jacket while watching TV with Niko). But in episode six, he's changed up his usual look for a cozier, casual-looking sweater and a little bit of collarbone, and in episode seven... well, he's in his nightclothes, and he's about as open, raw, and vulnerable as you can get. Edwin's color scheme is also predominately blue, which lines up nicely with his logical and practical, yet deeply sad and closed off personality, and the only time he really wears anything other than his normal blue-and-brown outfit (willingly, that is) is when he's in that green sweater in episode six. And, uh... all I can say is that it's quite telling how blue and green---or, well, teal---are the main colors of the gay/mlm flag.

Charles, by contrast, dresses down a lot, and that makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that unlike Edwin, he feels comfortable pretty much anywhere. On any given episode, he goes from wearing his peacoat to just wearing his flannel to ditching the flannel to not even wearing the freaking polo---though, again, the latter is something that only happens when he's in the office with Edwin. Safe space, safe person. And, well, plenty of people have analyzed Charles's polo shirt going from red to burgundy to black over the course of the series, and there being a little bit of red under the collar of his coat that's only visible when Edwin fixes it, and then it goes back to burgundy, and then it's red again when Edwin's out of Hell... for good reason! It's color symbolism at its finest! Not to mention, the red and black not only perfectly contrasts Edwin's color scheme, but it also lines up with Charles's personality---he's a rebel, he's hotheaded, he's bold and brash and loud... and yes, he's angry, but he's also so, so loving.

When we first meet Crystal after she loses her memories, her outfit choices feel very deliberate. They're stylish and vaguely trendy, they're arty and a little bit witchy---pretty fitting for a psychic who's also a showbiz kid, even if she doesn't know that last part. But all of her clothes appear thrifted, or at the very least vintage, and the patterns and the general vibe all feel natural and comforting. Her makeup's always fairly simple, her hair's either down or up in a couple of cute space buns... overall, this Crystal looks like the kind of person who'd make you tea when you're in a bad mood, who'll listen when you just need to vent, and who may not always know the right thing to say but will understand what you're going through. But when we see her in the flashbacks, her clothing's flashy and prioritizes high-end trends over comfort, she's either got her hair up or has it straightened, and she not only has dramatic makeup, but acrylics. This is a girl who talks shit about you behind your back, who's bitter and cynical and wants everyone to feel the same way, who makes up for the lack of love and stability in her life via material things. It's also worth noting that Crystal's color scheme has a lot of purple, which is a color that connects to wealth and luxury, but also creativity and magic---which, yeah, fits her two conflicting sides pretty damn well.

You cannot talk about Niko Sasaki without talking about her outfits, and the meaning behind each of them has already been talked about at length. However, one thing that really stands out to me is that the reason they're so iconic isn't just because of the monochrome color schemes, but because they're out there. They're weird, they're eclectic, they're a little mismatched in style sometimes, and they're so unapologetically her. Niko wears heart-shaped sunglasses, unironically. Everything about the way she dresses speaks to how, even though she's a recovering shut-in who initially doesn't want to be perceived, she's still very sure of who she is.

Jenny's design, like Charles and Edwin's, is a design that gives you the key information you need the minute she first appears onscreen. The dark makeup, the silver jewelry, the leather apron, and the hairstyle all point to a person who's tough, doesn't take anyone's shit, and has long since given up on caring what other people think---in other words, she's a badass. But the butterfly tattoo hints at a softer side, a side that we see time and time again throughout the series as she shows that she cares about Crystal and Niko, and even the boys... eventually. Also, Jenny's design is perhaps one of the most clearly queer-coded in the series, to the point where her being a confirmed lesbian is pretty much a no-brainer.

Esther's design oozes camp, from top to bottom. The fluffy coat, the bustier, the boots and the cane and the everything, speak to a woman who's kept with the times and yet has seen it all. There's really not a lot I can fully say about her design, other than what Charles has already said: "She looks like a witch... like, kind of a sexy witch, who smokes a lot." (Or maybe I'm just tired and running out of steam at this point, idk, I love Esther's design and I can't really put it into words.) It's also pretty fitting that her color scheme has a lot of yellow in it---after all, she's always striving for more, so what better color for her than the color of gold?

Everything about the Night Nurse's design speaks to a woman who follows rules and discipline above all else, from the pantsuit to the pinned-up hairstyles to the tie to the heels. She's also the most muted out of the main cast in terms of color, dressing mostly in browns, dull greens, and duller browns---and while I don't have a lot to go into detail about there, I feel like that's kind of a symbol of her narrow-minded and bureaucratic worldview.

And the animal characters... Jesus Christ, I fully forget that they're all being played by human actors. Tragic Mick dresses like a man who's always spent his life by the sea, layered denim and all, and it's never a stretch to see this sad, bushy-bearded, baggy-clothed fisherman and imagine him as a walrus lounging on a beach. Monty, at first glance, seems to only wear black, which would be perfectly fitting for a crow, but when he's in better lighting, you see that he dresses in layers of red and blue, calling to how he envies Charles and Edwin and clearly longs for something more---and this might just be me, but I think that even though his outfits seem fairly normal at first glance, they feel kind of like a costume for Monty more than anything else, like he's trying to emulate a teenager that he's seen on TV more than someone in real life.

The Cat King fits this just as well, with all of his outfits aligning perfectly with whatever his cat form is at the time---when he's a fluffy ginger, it's always sequins and fur coats and clothing pieces that are specifically designed to take up space and call attention, and when he's a black shorthair, it's sleek styles and shiny leather and pieces that are designed to cut an intimidating yet more subtle figure. And while I could go into detail about all of those, what really stands out to me is how clearly queer everything is---more than Jenny's alt lesbian attire, more than Esther's campy coat and corset. From the very first scene he's in, he's wearing a skirt, and it looks natural. Nothing about the way the Cat King presents himself is exaggerated, nothing about the way he dresses is played for laughs---he's flamboyant and feminine and flirty, and he looks so fucking hot while he does it. It's gorgeous.

So... yeah, uh, all the awards for the Dead Boy Detectives costume designers!

[self-loving-vampire]

1- Demands like these are not a new thing. Trans people were (and in some cases still are) medically gatekept if they were not judged as likely to end up living a normal, "respectable", "passing", and extremely gender-conforming heterosexual life. Often these judgments were made based on race.

In fact, what the suggestion above is is a repeat of historical trends.

2- This all is still working from the assumption that being trans is a disease and transition is a sort of last resort to be avoided as much as possible in favor of the alternative of just doing nothing, or possibly doing conversion therapy. Somehow they never seem to demand very strict evidence in favor of that.

It is a very uneven sort of skepticism. Transition remains suspicious no matter how many times people say it helped them but conversion therapy and HRT bans are treated as neutral, even effective alternatives based on nothing.

3- History and hypocrisy aside, it's just bad if someone's rights and autonomy are contingent on stuff like employment, isn't it? Imagine if you were required to prove the correctness of all decisions about your body this way.

Want an abortion? Well, we can't be sure an abortion would actually make your life better unless we make sure you're likely to be employed and having whatever I define as a good sex life afterwards. Don't you remember that "I regret my abortion" campaign? Sure most people say they don't, but what if they're lying?

You're gay and want to have sex and get married to someone of the same gender? Well, we don't know if you actually want that or if it would be good for you, thus we must ban those options for your own good until we make sure gay people are just as employed and socially connected after coming out and if not they shouldn't be allowed these freedoms. Hope your family doesn't just kick you out of the house when they find out!

[scintillatingshortgirl19]

thoughts on house and wilson and queer repression

i'm endlessly fascinated by the way both these men are so overwhelmingly repressed yet it plays out in such different ways for each of them

to me wilson is someone who is repressed in such a way that he's constantly fighting his feelings for house/attraction to men in general - while house's brand of repression has resulted in house burying his feelings so deep he isn't even aware of them

so when people mistake them for a couple (and when wilson catches house jerking off) wilson gets flustered and nervous bc deep down he doesn't feel secure in his straight man status.

house is chill and makes gay jokes and doesn't mind pretending they're a couple because, unlike wilson, he has successfully convinced himself he's a straight man

in fact, at this point i very much see house's gay jokes as his own way of continually proving to himself that he's straight

"see? look how comfortable i am with my straightness! i make gay jokes every day. i don't care if people think my best friend and i are a couple. i can talk about men being hot. i'm just that secure."

(there's also the fact that wilson is obsessed with being "normal" and house actively tries to be as edgy as possible - but still, the frequency with which house's brain seems to instantly, specifically go to gay jokes in a given situation is...sure something. and there's a whole other conversation to be had about the way comphet has affected them differently in the sense that wilson still clings to the Straight Man American Dream concept whereas house let go of that a long time ago. but that's another post).

anyway, i feel like another reason house is able to be more comfortable than wilson is - despite the repression and in his own weird way - house sort of has acknowledged his attraction to men?

the thing is, he's done it in such a way that he can logic his way out of admitting he's queer. of course he admired other guys' asses in the locker room in school - all guys do that, right? yeah he's thought about sex with nearly every single coworker regardless of gender - but hey, all that says about him is that he's a perv. maybe he looks at the man sometimes when he watches porn - whatever, he was looking at the woman too and that's all that matters. he's enjoying the thought of wilson in a porno because it's funny and it's embarrassing to wilson that's it there's no other reason he's so enraptured by that film (stop thinking about it)

tl;dr:

wilson's repression is more active and his attraction to men lies just below the surface of his subconscious - deep down he's insecure in his straight man status, which is why he gets so flustered every time somebody mistakes him and house for a couple

in contrast, house makes gay jokes on the daily because he's buried his repressed feelings so deep in the ground he doesn't even feel threatened by them