#both these queer men looked at this character

[thenightshadowqueen]

SFTH queer characters

Because I like lists and I’m queer

(Also I’m leaving out the Patreon-exclusive stuff because this is fucking long already, but I might do a part two someday if people enjoy this)

Canon

I tried to get them all, but if I forgot any, I’m very sorry

Xavier (Tom, Oh my God, is this a Joke?)—confirmed by Tom and AJ to be canonically queer—headcanon label pansexual

Bubba (Sam, Inside the Mysterious Cube)—canonically in a relationship with a man—headcanon label gay

Jeremiah (Luke, Inside the Mysterious Cube)—canonically in a relationship with a man—headcanon label gay

Magnus O. Puss (Tom, BUS)—canonically referred to with both he/him and she/her pronouns—headcanon label genderqueer

Fullset O’Hands (Luke, No! I Always Loved that Caravan!)—canonically in a relationship with a man (…his brother…)—headcanon label unlabelled

Lots O’Hands (Tom, No! I Always Loved that Caravan!)—canonically in a relationship with a man (his brother again)—headcanon label gay

Bradley/Chip (Sam, the Cardboard Stegosaurus)—canonically bisexual

David (Sam, HUGE)—canonically in a relationship with a man—headcanon label bisexual

Steven (Tom, HUGE)—canonically in a relationship with a man—headcanon label gay

André Beetroot (AJ, Beetroots and Murder and Burglary and Bobsledding)—confirmed by AJ to be canonically pansexual

Derek (Tom, Susan’s Holiday)—canonically likes “looking at the back of another man’s head”—headcanon label gay (but in denial)

John Watson (Sam, the Mystery of the Midnight Circus)—canonically in love with Sherlock—headcanon label bisexual

Sherlock Holmes (Tom, the Mystery of the Midnight Circus)—canonically does “mental fuck chess” with Moriarty—headcanon label aromantic homosexual

Moriarty (AJ, the Mystery of the Midnight Circus)—canonically does “mental fuck chess” with Sherlock—headcanon label pansexual

Derek Gangles (Tom, the Unrelenting Aubergine)—canonically in a relationship with another man—headcanon label gay

Titch (Luke, the Unrelenting Aubergine)—canonically in a relationship with another man—headcanon label demihomoromantic, homosexual

The vampire slayer (Sam, the thirsty vampires sketch)—referred to by Sam as both bisexual and a lesbian

Esmeralda (Luke, the thirsty vampires sketch)—canonically interested in a woman—headcanon label bisexual (but still figuring that out)

Janice (Luke, “completely improvised sketches #9”)—canonically in a relationship with a woman in the past—headcanon label bisexual with a preference for women

Luciana Berger (Tom, “POKER ROBBERY” book game)—canonically a trans woman

Dr. Millbrook (Luke, “solving a murder” genre)—canonically had some kind of affair with a man—headcanon label bisexual

Alan (Tom, “solving a murder” genre)—canonically had some kind of affair with a man—headcanon label gay

Clive (Tom, “friends with benefits” genre)—canonically sleeping with men—headcanon label gay

Sam’s character (Sam, “friends with benefits” genre)—canonically sleeping with men—headcanon label gay

The third part of the throuple (AJ, “friends with benefits” genre)—canonically sleeping with men—headcanon label gay

John (Sam, “GAY DAD” timewarp)—canonically gay

The dad (Luke, “GAY DAD” timewarp)—canonically gay

Trevor (Luke, “GAY DAD” timewarp)—canonically in a relationship with a man—headcanon label gay

Clive (Tom, “GAY DAD” timewarp)—canonically gay

Susan (Tom, Jingle Boys)—canonically in love with a woman—headcanon label lesbian

Alice (Sam, Jingle Boys)—canonically interested in a woman—headcanon label bisexual

Danny (Sam, Death for a Dollar)—canonically flirts with men—headcanon label gay

Amanda Wilson (Tom, Clarissa’s DIY Wedding), canonically in love with a woman—headcanon label lesbian

John (Luke, the Hobnob Affair)—canonically in a relationship with a man—headcanon label bisexual

David/Terry/Dave (Sam, the Hobnob Affair)—canonically in a relationship with a man—headcanon label gay

The father from the Pillars game (Luke, the Underbelly Mini-Special)—referred to as a man while also canonically having given birth to his son—headcanon label trans man

Fanon/Headcanon

(I have plenty more, but these are some of my favourites)

Andrew (Luke, All Eyes on Nigel)—headcanon label biromantic demibisexual with a preference for men

Nigel (Tom, All Eyes on Nigel)—headcanon label bisexual

Jericho (Tom, No! I Always Loved that Caravan!)—headcanon label queer and demiboy

Persephone (Tom, Wild, Wet, and Worrisome)—headcanon label bisexual

Janae (Tom, the Neighbour’s Under the Bed)—headcanon label nonbinary

Svet (Tom, “He loses his VIRGINITY” timewarp)—headcanon label bisexual with a preference for women (but in denial/doesn’t know it yet)

The bartender with the Texan accent (Sam, the Milkman)—headcanon label pansexual

Gareth (Luke, the Milkman)—headcanon label gay

The main character (Sam, Beetroots and Murder)—headcanon label gay

Justin (Tom, Beetroots and Murder)—headcanon label gay (but in denial)

Juliet Caesar (AJ, Caesar and Juliet)—headcanon label bisexual with a preference for women

Troll-Son (Luke, Wine Under the Bridge)—headcanon label demihomoromantic asexual

Tobias (AJ, Wine Under the Bridge)—headcanon label aroace

Old Lady Marjorie (Sam, the Unrelenting Aubergine)—headcanon label unlabelled

Poppy (Tom, the Lighthouse)—headcanon label trans woman

Toby (Luke, Toby’s Secret Pocket)—headcanon label bisexual

The meth wife (Sam, Toby’s Secret Pocket)—headcanon label pansexual

Jimmy (Tom, Toby’s Secret Pocket)—headcanon label queer

The camp German time traveler (AJ, Ballet on the Battlefield)—headcanon label bisexual with a preference for men

Father Andrews (AJ, the Phantom of Hornchurch)—headcanon label gay

Phantom Betruvia (Sam, the Phantom of Hornchurch)—headcanon label bisexual

Julian (Luke, the Phantom of Hornchurch)—headcanon label transmasc

Locomotion (Tom, Strange Noises from the Hole in the Wall)—headcanon label queer and genderqueer

Maria Prostitute (Tom, Death for a Dollar)—headcanon label bisexual with a preference for men

Clarissa Suzanne (Luke, Clarissa’s DIY Wedding)—headcanon label bisexual with a preference for women

Angus Campbell (Tom, the Hobnob Affair)—headcanon label biromantic asexual

The blacksmith-bakery co-owner (Sam, the Hobnob Affair)—headcanon label aroace

Lucy (Sam, the Hobnob Affair)—headcanon label bisexual with a preference for women

Marco (Luke, the Hobnob Affair)—headcanon label bisexual and demiboy

[creatingblackcharacters]

ALT ID Context under a readmore, as requested:

Things To Ask Yourself When Writing That Black Queer/Trans Character

When you’re writing that Black trans character, are you making sure to consider how they would be perceived in the moment, both in story and outside?

Do you feel like your Black queer/trans character has to sacrifice their culture to be who they are? Why?

Is this an intentional plot point, or did you just think that was The Answer?

When you say this Black trans character “passes”- by whose standard? That of whiteness?

When you say this Black nonbinary character is “androgynous”- by whose standard? That of whiteness?

Do you associate certain things to gender presentation, that their culture may not? E.g. long hair. Long locs are not considered a feminine look on Black men, but the sister locs style might be considered feminine. Are you aware of patterns like this?

Do you feel like these Black characters have to pass in order to be “validly” trans? Do you hold your white characters to this standard?

When you’re writing this story, if you want to say “oh everyone in my world is unaffected by these things”, very well! It’s nice to have stories like that! But are you having White Queer Main Character go through the real-world scourge of discovering sexuality/gender, and then act like Black Queer Main Character just lives life willy nilly?

Why? Is that explained in-story?

Are you doing the opposite? Is this on purpose?

Are you avoiding giving that Black queer/trans character that depth in their background because you are scared of/don’t want to do the research?

If you feel this way, do you think you should continue? Are you willing to take the risk of it being rejected, upon someone potentially seeing the lack of effort?

What made you want to write a character with this identity, if you did not want to know them? What purpose does them having this identity serve, other than ‘being cool’, if you weren’t interested in it depicting it well?

Have you consumed any media written by Black people that compose of the group you’re trying to write? Why not?

When you come up with your “ship pairings”, do you reject Black people as queer? Why?

Why does this Black woman not strike you as bi? Why does this Black man not strike you as gay? Is it because you don’t see Blackness as in line with what you see queerness as?

How do your views of Blackness and sexuality affect how you treat Black characters that are canonically queer?

Do you feel like you have to have “more proof” in order to accept that a Black character is queer? Why?

Do you feel like your Black characters have to be bolder about their sexuality in order for it to be valid? Why? Why do you not hold your nonblack characters to this standard?

Do you feel like your Black male characters have to be feminine in order to be acceptably gay? Did you even notice you did that?

Do you feel that being masculine would make them threatening, or less gay? Why? Did you even notice you did that?

Do you feel like your feminine Black male characters are somehow “less Black” if they’re not stereotypical? Did you even notice that you did that?

Do you feel like your Black female characters have to be masculine? Why? Did you even notice that you did that?

Do you feel like your Black character has to be the top, and does that come with an automatically “dominating” personality? Why? Is it like this for all your Black characters? No, there’s nothing wrong with writing a Black character that is also a dom and a top. It happens. However, what matters is the why, and also, this next part:

And are these dynamics specifically made around a paler, maybe white character that plays a demurer role?

Before writing that Black queer &/or trans character, ask yourself:

Another set of resources that I've typed up for my upcoming lesson. I'm sure that even more questions could be asked; I hope that Black folk feel free to include their own additions in the tags! But these ought to be enough to at least get anyone to start self-reflecting during their creation/watching process!

[williamaltman]

On Lochlan, his sexuality and incest

Ok, so the following text was written with reddit in mind, so my tone is a bit more... idk, serious and cautious than it usually is, but I decided to post it here as well, cause this whole topic has been eating me up. I'm also aware that I'm kinda preaching to the choir when it comes to how tumblr sees this situation, but still.

Ok, so I was thinking of waiting for the end of the season to talk about this, but to be honest it's been kind of driving me mad.

For a while now, there has been debate about what exactly is going on with Lochy and his relationship with his brother and what exactly is the truth behind this whole situation. After all the debate about him supposedly being an evil predator who spit the pill (which he didn't!) so he could take advantage of Saxon, it seems that now most people have settled on "he was just genuinely trying to help and the handy was bad but not actually incestuous in nature", and I kind of understand why because this is pretty much how the actor is explaning his character away, but I'm gonna be honest, I don't think that's really the case.

I don't want to discredit Sam entirely, cause I do believe that actors' opinions matter as it affects how they play things, but he's still not the writer/director/anything with actual input in the story, and both he and Patrick have also said that Mike White decided to leave things up for interpretation, and he hasn't given any interviews or explained his thoughts himself (well, apparently he mentioned something about a "gay storyline that is truly satanic", as that's mentioned in a couple articles, and if that is true, the fact that he's even referring to it as a gay storyline kinda supports my point).

I actually agree with most of what Sam has said, which is that Lochy is a people pleaser who is desperate for approval and attention. As of these last few episodes, he has basically followed his brother's lead and done everything that Saxon has told him to. I do believe he did not have any malicious intentions.

However, this doesn't necessarily negate the idea of him being sexually attracted to him. I think the way Sam talks about it, as well as a large part of the audience, comes from the idea that it has to be either one of two extremes: Either Lochy is a creep and a freak and predatory, or he's actually just a teenager helping out his brother in a no homo way... Which honestly just doesn't compute.

If you pay attention, there has been a lot of stuff suggesting Lochy is queer. Whether he's gay or bi I don't know, and I don't think it really matters, but I just can't possibly think he's straight. I'm gonna list all the ways that I think indicate that, and I will warn that some will probably be considered a reach by some, but others imo are very clear, and I ask you to read this with an open mind.

1 - From the beginning, he has the dilemma of going to Duke or Tar Heel for college. As in, will he follow the same path as the men of his family or the women. He doesn't know himself. This could mean different things, like does going to Duke makes him more masculine like his father and brother, or does it mean that he's choosing their side as in... choosing men? And vice-versa. Not like it's an actual choice, but again, as a storytelling device.

2 - Both his parents (but particularly the dad, I think) are adamant on him fixing his posture. Straightening his spine. Making him stand up straight. Saxon also encourages this, on the same situations where he encourages him to hook up with women or drink his protein shakes to get buff.

3 - If you think the last point is a reach, in the very session that he takes for said issue, the therapist tells him that he sits in a defensive posture because he's "protecting himself with his female side."

4 - He's the one who notices the "ladyboys" and asks "Dad, are they women?". When Saxon makes his joke about them, "you never know which one is gonna have nuts", he looks visibly uncomfortable. He tries to laugh at it like he does with most of his jokes, but for that one he can't. You can see that he's affected.

On his mother's dream, she also sees him sitting with two "ladyboys" as he talks about the tsunami.

5 - When Saxon is getting drinks for them on the Full Moon Party, he says "pink one for the lady" and tries to hand it to Chelsea. When she refuses and goes to take her call, Lochy takes it instead.

Now, to kinda go back on the Saxon/incest-related.

If you're a straight guy, losing your virginity to a woman, would you really be so focused on jerking off another man? Even if it's like, some guy you really like such as your best friend or your brother? I don't know. And he didn't seem to be actually that interested in Chloe to me. Not grossed out either, so I don't think he has to be gay necessarily rather than bi/pan/whatever, but still.

Chloe also mentioned how young virgin guys get all flustered and shaking with their hearts beating rapidly when they take off their clothes and etc, that she wanted that kind of attention. Yet we don't see any kind of excitement from Lochy over her, really. If you look at Saxon's memories, Lochy only smiles when he's looking at Saxon and Saxon looks like he's about to come (as he jerks his body up).

Going back to the first episode... Many people have rationalized that scene as not really being sexual. I know what Sam has said about it on interviews, too. But I just don't think it checks out. There is a real focus on Saxon being naked and Lochy staring at him. That soundtrack, which seems to be one that plays when something kind of spicy and perhaps unsettling is happening, starts playing right as we get the shot of Saxon walking naked with his ass on full display. It continues as Lochy is looking at him.

And then Saxon notices, and even him, who has no boundaries and was talking about porn and sex, seems a little freaked out when he does. As Saxon closes the door, Lochy looks like he's either embarrassed for being caught looking, disappointed that he closed the door, or both.

And then on episode 2 we have the scene of him waking up. And again the first thing he sees is Saxon's ass, and then he goes wash his face and looks in the mirror. Yeah, this isn't quite proof of anything, but what is the purpose of the scene then, why was it written and shot and kept in the final edit? Especially when you consider it in addition to the previous one.

And lastly, spoiler alert, in one of the trailers/promos,there are scenes where he says to Piper "I don't want to give in to my dark thoughts" and "if everyone gave in to their base instincts, it'd be total depravity."

If he does not have any incestuous feelings for Saxon, what are these "dark thoughts" he has in him that he's talking about? For the second one there could be some other context, but even then it seems like he's thinking of his own "base instincts" as depraved.

To go back to what Sam has been saying on interviews a bit, I think a lot of it comes from the fact that he wants to defend Lochy and believe that he's a good person, especially after the reactions to episode 5 where so many people were saying that Lochy was a creep, a predator, some kind of evil mastermind/manipulator and theorizing that he had spit out his pill and was perfectly sane.

I think he feels the need to defend him and not paint him in such a negative light, and because incest is a thing that is considered, well, bad by most people, he's denying that as well. In another interview he also said actors need to find a way to love and connect with the character no matter what, and I think this is a big part of it, not seeing him as fully incestuous if one thinks that incest is something irredeemable.

Both he and many people watching also seem to think that Lochy thinking of the handjob or even the kiss as him wanting to make Saxon happy and impressed automaticaly negates him being attracted to him and having any other feelings about it, but that isn't necessarily the case. It can be both, it makes sense that it's both imo, and I think that's part of what makes him and this storyline as a whole so interesting, that there are so many layers to it.

But in my mind, with all of the context we have for the character in relation to both his relationship with Saxon and in regards to how his own identity and individual arc is portrayed, I think Lochy is definetely queer, and indeed attracted to his brother. And when you put these two things together, it can easily be explained as something similar to, if not straight up the same thing, as the Oedipus/Electra complex.

Lochy, even though he's legally an adult at 18, is clearly still developing in many ways, including his sexuality, and Saxon is the closest male figure in his life, not to mention one who's showing up naked in front of him and talking about sex.

If you're grossed out by it and want it to be explained away, or get some comfort about it in general, I think it would make sense for him to sort of grow out of that as he gets older and more secure in himself/his sexuality, especially after the confusion and guilt he feels over what he did as seen in the monastery scene when he remembers things.

[wannabanauthor]

I have a new rule for Buck and Tommy:

They should fuck before having serious conversations. Because twice now they had a chance for more sex but fucked it up by talking first.

Night of the breakup, Buck should have just taken the offer for a blowjob before the movies.

And they should have had morning sex after hooking up as exes before talking about getting back tougher.

Now you might be wondering, didn’t you just say that all they did was fuck and have fun when they were dating? Yes. And they made it six months.

Wait, that is a bit contradictory.

But my vision is “post-nut clarity”.

Get the orgasms out of the way first, and then you can see things clearly. Yes, the oxytocin might affect decision-making, but I think the orgasms would be worth it.

And I just know Buck was wearing Tommy’s ass out on the regular (literally and figuratively).

Buck looks at Tommy like he’s been given filet mignon for the first time after starving for a day.

They only talked for a couple minutes before Buck asked if Tommy wanted to see his new place. Bold as fuck, but it worked. Tommy’s reaction expression “wait, did he just proposition me?” was perfect. “I get another chance?!”

Also “that was easy”.

And then Buck proceeded to fuck the absolute shit out of him all night, and they both slept so well that Tommy became a homemaker while Buck slept in.

And the way Buck was looking at him in the kitchen and licking his lips, you know he wanted another round or two. Whenever he’s around Tommy, Buck becomes insatiable. I know it’s a stereotype that queer people love to fuck a lot, and I can’t disagree.

Even when I was virgin, I was easy, with men and women (former bisexual, now lesbian). I didn’t want PIV sex at the time (hindsight is 20/20), and still didn’t, but did almost everything else. Why postpone having fun due to some stupid societal rules about waiting until marriage (my parents tried to raise me to wait until marriage, but it didn’t work).

So I’m not just talking about these stereotypes as an outside observer. Queer people like to fuck (not all since I know there’s a spectrum of sexualities).

Back to my point, Buck looks at Tommy like he’s been waiting his whole life for someone to understand him like Tommy does. In multiple aspects, including sex.

And apparently the sex was so good that Tommy got up early, bought groceries, came back to the house, cooked breakfast, arranged it all in the kitchen like a buffet, and even made coffee.

Tommy was smiling from ear to ear, so I know that Buck went into overtime while they were fucking.

And the way they wanted more in the morning. I thought they were maybe gonna kiss when Buck hopped on the counter and Tommy sauntered over to him and asked him how he slept.

And Buck licking his lips multiple times while staring at Tommy, I swear these actors are too good at their jobs. What’s also funny is that sometimes when actors play queer characters they end up discovering that they are queer in the long run.

Buck was in full on flirt mode even when Tommy was trying to be serious. The voice he uses around Tommy is so flirty and deep. Buck, Tommy knows when you’re flirting with him. Please take serious conversations seriously and use a non-flirty tone so he knows that he’s more than just sex to you.

I fully believe that if they had eaten and fucked before talking about getting back together, the conversation might have been different.

But I will not complain about them acting like two horny teenagers around each other. They like each other a lot and match well in the bedroom. Yeah, they definitely spent most of their relationship fucking, eating, drinking, and hanging out. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but they didn’t even talk about their goals for the future until Buck asked him to move in completely out of left field.

And this is why it’s important to have sex first. Because you’re not you when you’re horny.

Now you may say, don’t they fuck all the time? Yes, but if it works, it works.

[python-nebula]

Do you see the vision

[snixx]

got queerbaited into reading a book by chatgpt. is this rock bottom

[chemicalarospec]

actually i'm so obsessed with the Julian&Sandy + Kenneth Horne and Stefon + Seth Meyers parallels. the "Straight Man" who can't help but crack a smile interrogating his (heavily coded as) gay friend(s) that calling "whacky" would be putting it very lightly. comedy hasn't changed in 50 years.

And hey. it's still very funny and endearing to me! The tried and true formula is great!

[oimoi-op]

About your tags on the Lucienne post: oh we usually aren't even half this nice LMAOOO I could be a lot meaner but like. Both our posting about her and also the anger and frustration comes from the same place of love for and fascination with her. There's so much to talk about it's insane

Literally tho like!!!!! she's such a compelling character on so many levels, yet a lot of the fandom reduces her to the "mom friend" or other similarly reductive if not misogynistic stereotypical roles so for me (someone not super involved in the fandom these days) it's so refreshing to see you and others discussing her on her own merits and not just an accessory/afterthought for someone's white slash ship lol

[eat-a-dicker]

i understand that a lot of people are puzzled by why i insist that jimbo and ned are both gay men, and like, south park is a show that has a lot to say about the conditionality of homosexuality and i legitimately believe ned would've been written differently if he was bisexual.

[ajdrawshq]

i finished 7th dragon a lil while ago n some of the worldbuilding is so funny i cant stop thinking abt it. why is the lost city of atlantis populated by catgirls

[lesbianjackies]

i’m actually getting exhausted at this point guys yellowjackets is an extremely queer & sapphic show 😭 like no it’s not the L word. because it wouldn’t make any fucking sense for it to be the L word. these are teenagers from the 90s who have weird and complicated relationships with each other who grow up into emotionally stunted adults who continue to have weird and complicated relationships with each other. i need you to stop discrediting the extremely queer way jackie and shauna were written, the devotion courtney eaton and jane widdop played their characters as having for each other, the ways in which christina ricci has played and talked about misty’s sexuality and feelings toward men, the obvious ways in which travis can be read as a trans woman. i need you to stop discrediting all of this just because they’re not portrayed in a stereotypically sexual and romantic way, just because the themes of this show aren’t spelled out for you. not every queer person is going to look the way you want them to. not every queer showrunner (because, i will remind you, bart and ashley are both queer) is going to write queer characters in the most straighforward way. it’s frankly fucking insulting to see so many people accuse yellowjackets, a show full of beautiful and complex and fucked up queer female dynamics, of queerbaiting and not being gay enough. watch heartstopper if you want a romcom. this is something different. just because queer representation doesn’t look the way you want it to doesn’t make it any less queer.

[ithinkthiswasabadidea]

I'm not anywhere really near or into Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but since the second game released recently, I've seen a lot of new attention on my social medias, particularly around Henry and Hans' relationship

And I, very obviously, love queer characters and relationships, and even moreso the canon ones, so I watched the IGN video explaining how one might romance Hans in the second game

Man. I was blown away.

By now I've played a handful of rpg's and romanced a handful of npc's, but not ONCE has the dialogue and action of a confession scene ever felt quite so real and as beautifully acted

I have almost zero other context about the games or characters, yet I haven't stopped thinking about that romance scene in days

That you build up the affection and genuine care for Hans through dialogue choices feels completely non-forced, and you can tell that Hans enjoys your presence and respects you immensely. Henry gently encouraging and helping Hans when he's uncomfortable, always concerned about his wellbeing. There's such a solid foundation of mutual trust that even I, as an outside viewer, can tell that both men truly would put their lives in the others hands

And then the confession scene itself? Henry coming to say goodbye, and because of the work that has been put in to convey Henry's feelings of care and devotion for Hans, it's Hans himself who starts the conversation. He tells a story that he 'doesn't have his own words for', displaying that he's uncertain about how this might go, but knowing that it needs to be said before Henry leaves. He's both deflecting and projecting, using this story as a way to cushion the segue into his own feelings, or the blow of rejection should it come. And as Hans imagines something terrible happening to Henry, he immediately gets emotional, voice shaking, knowing he'd be unable to help

There's a small moment as Henry reassures that he'll be alright, when he places a hand on top of Hans' and this small, delightfully hopeful smile appears on Hans' face. I take this to be the moment where Hans believes that Henry has understood his story, and his way of confessing his feelings, and that Henry feels the same way about him. Then Henry stands, moving to leave and Hans' smile drops. Perhaps Henry's confidence falters here, and before he can reciprocate his true feelings and kiss him, Hans is running on adrenaline and courage and pulls Henry into the kiss instead, before he can second-guess himself

It's awkward, uncertain. Hans has this almost crushing grip on Henry like he's barely sure what he's just done, just that he couldn't let him walk away without doing something . And when Henry turns his head and steps back, noises of shock and breathlessness, Hans jumps back like he's been burned and spurned. He's stammering and stuttering out an apology, quiet and upset, unlike his usual self

Hans' body language as he turns away, making himself smaller, making more space between them than is necessary, it displays how he thinks his actions have just been perceived - that Henry doesn't feel the same way, he just ruined a perfectly good friendship, he's made himself look weak. He rubs at his mouth like he wishes he could remove the feel of Henry's lips against his own, tries apologising again, gasping for air, screws up his face in anxiety or anger for his recklessness......

Then Henry makes his own decision and speeds back over to him, pulling him into an even more crushing embrace and kiss, before they make their way over to the bed

The acting direction here in this scene is just so delectablely real . It looks and feels like I'm a fly on the wall of a real life confession, where both men are less than certain about their futures, and even less certain about how their relationship is perceived in the others eyes. Hans is visibly scared of rejection when Henry turns his back, Henry is visibly coming to terms with what he wants in this moment

The reactions are the most natural thing in the world, especially in a game that strives for realism. There was clearly a great deal of care that went into writing and directing this relationship, and with how naturally it progressed to this climax

And I think that's where the divide is for me, when I think about the romance options in BG3 or other rpgs, because there is something more flowery and shiny about those romances that I've experienced. Like they're too perfect, too polished and rehearsed, no room to have any fuck ups or moments of imperfection. But it's the awkwardness and show of non-positive emotions and reactions, rather than immediate lust and experience, that really pins the Henry and Hans scene above the rest

There's probably more I could say, and I'm sure there's more that others who know these characters and the games could say, but I just wanted to get my thoughts into some words and hope that it strikes true with someone else

I don't think I've ever seen a romance scene in a video game, that has felt so genuine as this. A thousand kudos to the actors for Hans and Henry, and the writers and directors for this marvellously curated scene ❤️

[riza-hawks-eye]

A while back, Neil Newbon confirmed on one of his streams that Astarion is Pansexual.

So this is why it bothers me seeing fandom say things like "Astarion just feels like a gay man!" and "I just can't picture Astarion with a woman" because like... Astarion is still a queer man. It's been outright confirmed by his voice actor. And his queerness and his attraction to men isn't diminished by the fact that he can also be romanced by female characters. Repeat after me: Pansexuality is an lgbt identity in it's own right and not just gay person lite.™

And I think an important aspect to Astarion's sexuality is the fact that the writers made his relationship with both men and women part of his backstory. It's a stark contrast to Dragon Age 2 back in 2011 where Ander's past relationship with Karl was completely omitted from his dialogue if he was romance by a female Hawke. The unfortunate implications here being that bioware didn't think their female player base would still wanna romance Anders if he had past relationship with men. That to make Anders palatable to a straight-girl audience, all traces of his bisexuality had to be erased.

Astarion's Pansexuality doesn't change depending of the player's gender. The language he uses for his past lovers is gender neutral, he'll still mention relationships with men regardless of who you are playing as.

There is no "Playersexual" about it. Astarion is Pansexual. And that matters.

Edit: I was just looking over the notes of this post after having it muted for months and it really reaffirmed my decision to mute it. Some of you are posting bad takes like you're in a bad take contest. Hope you recover from the trauma of having to acknowledge bisexuals and pansexuals. - Love my bisexual ass ❤️

[theflashjaygarrick]

After thinking about the comic fandom's prioritisation of white male characters I feel like it's a self fulfilling cycle.

Mainstream discourse around superhero comics is all about how white male centric the genre is. The general consensus in fandom is that women don't like female characters because they are badly written and 2-dimensional in most nerd franchises.

And if you go in with that mindset you'll fairly assume that the characters who have the best runs and most interesting stories are the white men. And if you look at fandom spaces and people are waxing poetic about characters like Jason Todd and Tim Drake and acknowledging that characters like Babs, Steph and Cass exist this only will reinforce this perception. So the person getting into batfam go and ask for the best stories about the Batboys or read summaries about their arcs, only seeing these women as background characters in male characters stories.

But the thing is that isn't strictly. I mean I 100% agree that comics are sexist and racist but that doesn't mean that there aren't phenomenal and iconic runs starring and entering female characters (including queer women, disabled women, and WOC). Cassandra Cain and Kate Kane probably have two of the best character bibles out of the entire batfamily in the form of Batgirl 2000 and Batwoman: Elegy. Selina and Babs both have more well received story lines/runs than Jason Todd does.

Great stories with nuanced female characters exist but the assumption they don't means that people don't look for them. So instead they draw upon stories with the Batboys (minus Luke Fox, JPV and often Duke) in their fan art and fan fiction and discussions and accidentally obscure the stories of female characters in the batman mythos even more.

And the cycle continues.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Mix Sahaphap gets to perform (and has the performance chops to perform) in a style that I’ve never seen any other male actor get to embody. Mix gets to unironically play the #strongfemalecharacter. The Beatrice, the Elizabeth Bennett, the Jo March. Strong-willed, emotional, kind-hearted.

Not only do the plot points line up, but Mix, more than any BL actor I’ve seen, fully leans into the embodiment of this archetype. In his roles, he rolls his eyes, pouts, banters flirtatiously, softens his posture and expression at small details. He doesn’t over-exaggerate and imposition other characters but his face also doesn’t hold back his character’s thoughts and judgments. And when the moments arrive, he lets all the hurt and anguish pour out in shatters of tears and visible heartbreak—the star-counting scene, anyone????—in a way that harkens to the operatic emotionality of well-done melodramas, soap-operas, and their contemporary Thai equivalent of Lakorn. It’s only that these have never been men’s roles in those.

It’s no surprise that one of Mix’s roles—Cupid’s Last Wish—is explicitly a gender body-swap, and Tian in A Tale of Thousand Stars is (albeit explicitly denied within the show) heavily connected to gender body-swapping. What Mix specializes in as an actor, and does exceptionally well, has been defined as feminine. To depict a kind of queer expression in this style is novel because it’s not camp, it’s not okama, it’s not a soft or femboy, it’s not a BL twink (Mix has been mostly excluded from the schoolyards and quads of the BL universe except for a role as a senior crush in Fish Upon the Sky). It’s too sincere and too adult for any of that.

In Moonlight Chicken we get to see, without the pretense of gendered mysticism, this performance style’s seduction, warmth, wit, and explosiveness within the framework of a general gay form of expression. It says that this kind of femininity might just be a gay thing. Not all gay men exhibit it, obviously—queer men aren’t a monolith. Still, it gives us something to consider about how we observe performance of queerness on screen, especially in front of an audience that puts so much more emphasis on ships, heat, and pairing chemistry to assess how well they perform a BL role. Could we look for other features to judge performance of queerness instead of how well they kiss?

Seme and uke roles would be the major performance style categories loyal BL fans assess actors with, yet even within the archetype his character’s fill within BL narratives, Mix’s performances differ from the typical uke depiction in BL because he really doesn’t perform them as passive. Rather, Mix’s characters and his portrayal of them are dynamic and demanding. It certainly fits certain stereotypes of ukes (Gilbert!) and their gay stereotype equivalent of bottoms as pillow princesses and brats. Mix’s characters, though, have more drive, agency, and compassion than that, and he plays them with all of those currents running underneath.

We certainly have openly gay writer/director Aof Noppharnach to thank for writing this kind of queer character for Mix to play in Tian and Wen. But for Mix’s specific commitment to the performance starting off with his (debut!?) role in ATOTS, we first have Earth to thank for believing in Mix’s ability and recommending him to portray the role of Tian, and then Aof’s acceptance despite his differing initial expectations for the character. Mix, Earth, and Aof have all been open about how Mix in his personal life and nature holds a lot of similarities to both his role as Tian in ATOTS and Wen in Moonlight Chicken. Some people might knock points off his performances because he’s like them. But his relationship to the characters, rather than dampening my enthusiasm for Mix’s performances, helps me appreciate his willingness to give an authentic performance in a style that hasn’t been encouraged on screens previously. It’s made more impactful that he chose to risk vulnerability to bring something personal that had previously been excluded from screens because of its gender deviance (and in broader society explicitly condemned). This doesn’t make a claim on Mix’s actual identity, but simply shows his willingness to understand and perform the expressions of his queer characters with an effort at empathy that many other actors would feel challenged to bring.

Some actors are chameleons, but some actors have a gift of a type within which they can explore depths and range that no one else can best. For me, that’s what Mix does in his work when directors and casting understands his talent. There’s a BTS video of Mix actually fainting during a scene while in Earth/Phupa’s embrace on the mountain that immediately brought to mind the wildly famous final scene in the film Camille where Greta Garbo as Marguerite dies in her lover’s arms.

For Mix, it was a serious incident due to regrettably extreme conditions and requiring the on-set paramedics, but these levels of theatrics, for me, are emblematic of what Mix is capable of as a performer, as well. After all, he had to faint in Phupa’s arms multiple times on purpose. It’s the kinds of Old Hollywood and heightened sentimental romance realms Mix takes his performances to! Then he can turn around and make it look easy to take that same character into grounded quips or dedicated everyday tasks. It only takes writers, directors, and audiences willing to see that men can feel this way and act this way. Mix has paved the way.

[cinna-wanroll]

The Twinkification of Obi-Wan Kenobi

Hi everyone! I have emerged from the abyss to posit an opinion and analysis about something that has been ongoing in my corner of the fandom for some time now and I just wanted to share my thoughts. Please note that this is not meant to be a call-out post. If you have made references to Obi-Wan being a twink, we are cool, we simply have a difference of opinion! As always this blog is an open space where people from across the fandom are welcomed and loved.

With that being said:

The Co-Opting of "Twink"

It isn't uncommon to come across the term "twink" nowadays while scrolling the social medias. In fact, there are several videos referencing men, both real and fictional, using "twink" as a kind of affectionate endearment.

Is there a big, beefy man who shows his emotions in your favorite TV show? Chances are he has been called a twink.

Looking at a cute post of a straight couple? There is a chance the woman has captioned her post with: I love my twink boyfriend! :)

Is there a trans man on your for you page? Peer in the comments: chances are he, too, has people teeming in his comments to call him a twink.

Let us be clear: this is not what the word "twink" means.

The term "twink" is a queer term that has become so mangled and co-opted by cis, straight people (especially women) that it has become misused across the internet. So what is it, exactly? "Twink" is a queer identifier. Traditionally, the term refers to gay men who are:

Thin

Not very muscular

Not hairy

Young

Of course, there is always room for nuance. Also, there are so many layers to this conversation I have not and will not address fully. However, the main purpose of this conversation is to discuss its relation to Obi-Wan Kenobi.

So You Want to Woobify a Warrior

Most of the time when I see someone refer to Obi-Wan as a twink, it is in reference to mid-thirties, mid or post-war Obi-Wan. I am not going to address sexuality here because I am a firm believer in allowing people their interpretations of characters' sexualities. Instead, here are some photos of Obi-Wan Kenobi during and a bit after the era previously mentioned, and of his actor, Ewan McGregor:

Here are some things of note: Ewan and Obi-Wan are not especially petite. They are muscular, hairy, and visibly middle-aged. Or at least, visibly older than 20s.

In Karen Miller's Wild Space, Bail Organa throws up in his hands out of fear when Obi-Wan is having hallucinations and moves to attack him.

In Christie Golden's Dark Disciple, he punches a droid in the face and it stumbles back.

My point here is that Obi-Wan is intimidating. He underwent years of rigorous training, fought in battle after battle, and is an expert in martial arts. The chances of him escaping that with the appearance of being boyish, early 20s, skinny, and not muscular seem... slim. War does not typically have anti-aging effects.

I once saw someone on this app make a point that because Obi-Wan is portrayed as the more intuitive and emotionally regulated character in contrast to Anakin's brash violence, he is perceived as more feminine. Therefore, he is more "coddleable." And, furthermore, the "feminine" narrative lends itself to the stereotypical parts of the label of twink. (Again, there is a deeper conversation to be had there. I am generalizing).

Unless Obi-Wan has been extensively malnourished, shaved, and de-aged, I don't see sense in seeing him as a twink.

The part of all this with even more implications associated is that I see a lot of this mentioned in relationship to Obi-Wan being in a relationship with Cody. There is a lot of comparison there, usually positioning Cody as the strong, indestructible warrior of whom Obi-Wan is either envious of or saved by. The racist undertones there are infinite and have been addressed and readdressed, especially by POC in the fandom.

Anyways gorgeous people, this concludes my thoughts, as it is very late. I am hoping to be able to participate in Codywan First Kiss Bingo, but I was hit with the flu and have been working diligently to catch up in my uni classes. I love you all and wish you nothing but the best!