#but he was also in some kind of homoerotic relationship with all 4 of them

[andrew-dramaqueen-minyard]

Jean, years in the future being asked by reporters for a comment on the news that Neil and Andrew are actually partners and have been supposedly for years: Neil was my partner first, I gave him to Minyard.

Reporters: sorry what? Care to expand on that?

Jean: not really.

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 3, Wave 2, Poll 4

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included. 

Check out the other polls in this wave and prior here.

Tougou Mimori-Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero

Qualifications:

her legs are paralyzed for a long time and even after she regains leg movement she still likely has some form of ptsd due to her experiences (she also clearly shows signs of some other kind of mental illness but that isn't explicitly stated by canon), she also canonically has a crush on her best friend and has an extremely homoerotic relationship with her other best friend

She is canonically sapphic and a wheelchair user.

Propaganda:

she's so amazing, like she's the mom friend, the tech wiz, she pretended to be a vigilante one time, she tried to destroy the world, she's a history buff, she's stubborn, she had amnesia, she prefers her last name even with her closest friends, she's a total goofball, she loves to cook and bribes her friends with snacks

Are you a fan of magical girls? Of magical girls who would like to kiss other magical girls, perhaps? Well then. #togosweep

The qualifications and propaganda paragraphs correspond, @melodemonica is the first submitter.

Andrew Minyard-All For The Game

Qualifications:

He’s gay and has some sort of trauma disorder probably.

Propaganda:

Very gay, pretty commonly thought of to have some sort of trauma disorder, he’s neat. I have many thoughts about him as a character but I don’t really feel like writing them.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

just out of curiosity – why do you like sukugo??

i've just never seen any of the accounts i follow/my mutuals celebrate this pairing so i'm really curious!

:))))))))) i smiled so wide getting this ask anon. PLS DON’T BE ALARMED just take my hand and let me tell you abt two deeply violent homoerotic men….

okay so when it comes to sukugo i just. ADORE their dynamic and relationship. it’s one of my favorites in the entire manga and i truly think akutami COOKED with it . not only the shinjuku fight itself (which is, ofc, what sold me on the ship) but also the foreshadowing beforehand!!! like sukuna telling gojo that he’ll be the first one he kills…. the two of them making the same kind of pose in their respective volume covers (vol. 4 & 14….. another parallel which is even more devastating when you remember that the number four is associated with death in japan)….. both of them being referred to as ”the strongest.”

i actually didn’t pick up on a lot of it until we got to shinjuku!! but i just think akutami teased at their importance to each other so well and so early on.

WITH THAT BEING SAID . their dynamic. their parallels. yes. they’re both the strongest and the most isolated and those two things are synonymous. it ties into one of the most central themes of jjk that equates absolute strenght to absolute solitude — it’s a kind of curse. a curse and a blessing. and they both have it.

the main difference is that gojo knows what it’s like to be understood and loved — but sukuna doesn’t. so he can’t feel lonely. he’s never known what it’s like to not be alone. but gojo has!!! gojo has felt love and felt what it’s like to be understood, and when geto died a part of him died too. he’ll always be lonely. he’s the loneliest character in the series. and when he looks at sukuna he sees the exact same isolation that’s plagued him since the moment he was born. so what does he do about it?

he tries to teach sukuna about love.

^ and THAT’S . the most delicious dynamic ever. i take no criticism. i’ll die on the hill that this concept and their dynamic is one of the absolute highlights of jjk. it’s so GOOD. it’s so insanely good. gojo wants to teach sukuna about love/cure him from his solitude by killing him. and vice versa. it’s inherently violent and inherently tender and it makes me INSANE. to me that’s the greatest appeal of sukugo!!!! violence as tenderness is a trope very near and dear to my heart (and also VERY frequently associated w queer subtext in media…. just putting that out there……) and they do it so good. they have a blast killing each other.

also i just NEED to say how much i love the ”teach you about love” line. it’s one of my favorites in the manga and akutami utilizes it so well!! he repeats it over and over as foreshadowing and to build up the sukugo dynamic. the final reveal that gojo is ”the one who will teach [sukuna] about love” made me weep (even though it was so obvious)…. it’s just so deeply. idk. it just says so much about gojo as a character :(( the fact that he wanted to teach sukuna about love. i’ve seen some people who think that part is ooc but i disagree completely!! gojo has never concerned himself w the morals of others. not really. toji kills riko but gojo still has a respect for him and allows him to say his final words. he never hated geto despite his crimes. he supports yuji fully no matter how many people die because of him. etcetc. same with all his students.

gojo looks at sukuna and sees someone who is just as alone as he is. so deeply, deeply alone. him wanting to change that is not ooc in the slighest because that’s quite literally what drives gojo as a character:

he’s just such a genuinely good person at his core. and it coexists with the way he sometimes disregards morality. this is a hot take but i genuinely think gojo’s character blossomed fully in his battle with sukuna….. i don’t see him as ooc in it at all. he genuinely wanted to reach sukuna!! he knew he was the only one who could even hope to do so. and he tried his best.

and, i would argue that he succeeded.

SEGWAY TIMEEEEEEEEE LET’S GO. okay so let’s talk abt one of my favorite panels in the jjk manga, the panel that solidified sukugo as one of my favorite pairings Of All Time:

(two diff translations bc i love them both :3)

THIS. wow. wow. wow. i could talk abt this panel alone for hours and hours but i’ll try to be coherent……

there’s just? so much meaning to be found here??? for both of them????? not only is it a fundamental moment for gojo — being praised and acknowledged and accepted as himself rather than the strongest — but it’s also proof that gojo did reach sukuna!!! he’ll remember him forever. sukuna will never fully be entirely isolated because even millenia into the future he’ll still remember gojo. gojo nestled his way into sukuna’s heart.

and that’s just . so romantic isn’t it???? so beautiful???????? this is the culmination of gojo’s efforts; the most genuine expression we’ve ever seen on sukuna’s face. he actually looks happy.

i cried seeing that panel btw 😭😭 not a joke!! i was already crying when i started chapter 236 bc i knew how it’d end but this panel (+ the one w geto cheering gojo on in his cult leader fit) made me SOB. not exaggerating. i’ve never cried so much reading a manga… T_T

so!!!! yeah. i just love sukugo. their dynamic is so interesting and beautiful and i can never get enough of it. sometimes i love it more than stsg… don’t tell geto that though……..

[isa-ghost]

Isa my darling! Happy Birthday, albeit a couple of days early.

Seeing you screech in Philza's streams because Apollo hit you with that dodgeball yet again makes me giggle a lot.

How about since headcanon's for qPhilza's past/pre island relationship with qFit. How they got to know each other, and how quickly they became friends?

Idr if I said this on Tumblr yet but deadass I asked Apollo on my pendulum if qPhil is his blorbo and he said yes. He's been as invested in shit as me and it's been hilarious. I literally have crows yelling at me irl to keep writing rn but I'm answering headcanons first.

The entire time I've been distracted between writing these, crows have been yelling at me about it. Which. Is how Apollo communicates with me when I'm not actively talking to him through readings LMFAO.

Also thank you for the birthday wish :D [desperately hoping nothing else horrible happens this weekend please god]

Anyway qPhil headcanons masterlist let's go

Disclaimer that I didn't know of Fit before QSMP (I've only been in mcyt for 4 years monkaS) so these are gonna be largely pulled out of my ass and a lil repetitive.

These two both have experiences in anarchy and war, they've definitely brushed shoulders a couple times bc of it

They admired each other's work ofc. Phil is a macro scale kinda guy, total annihilation and victory that makes a statement. Fit's more of a micro scale kinda guy, zeroing in on one person or group individually and making their lives hell until the end in the name of surviving a little longer

On that note, I think we all sleep a little bit on the fact that Fit is Also a survivalist like Phil, just in a very different set of high stakes conditions. These two are equally skilled in it and equally sharp strategists

On that note, anyone who knew them from the past would fear the idea of them coming together to create a plan of any kind, especially of the anarchist-fueled variety. If the Federation has done their research right, they should know full well how terrifying this duo could be in an effort to dismantle their authority

Btw by brushing shoulders I don't just mean brief passings by, I mean they've like. Camped out for a night together, temporarily truced for the sake of safety in numbers, etc. More than a few conversations have been had even if the time they've spent together totals to less than a week.

However, even when they weren't actively paired together, they'd still occasionally trade or gift each other surplus resources. It was a genuine kind act, even if it simultaneously served as a reason for each of them to not come after the other. I scratch your back, you scratch mine.

Like why do you think Fit was one of the first threats on Phil's mind in Purgatory. He Knew(tm). And he knew Fit has an affinity for picking off the weak first, like a lion after a herd of antelope. To him, Purgatory was the awakening of a monster who'd been dormant for a long time.

See, present day they're QPR as fuck, they'd never do this now without 10x the pressure Purgatory put on them, but back in the day they took close notes on each other's strengths and weaknesses. Just In Case, yknow? They could very much kill each other. Back in the day they would've if it came to it, no matter how good an ally they were.

Something about how these two used to be so cold and hard to the world. Be it to self-preserve or some other reason. Something about how now they've both softened and warmed after becoming parents. They never could've imagined the other would "weaken" like this, especially back then.

Phil 🤝🏻 Fit - Phil being a historian of the deities/builds of his Hardcore World, Fit being a historian of 2B2T

A lot of this boils down to mutual respect, common interests, and secret admiration tbh. And what's more homoerotic than that?

They're both crisis preppers. Not doomsday type shit, just. Being ready for shit to hit the fan. They both come from places where life is significantly more dangerous than it is in other realms.

The crazy thing is though? Despite the above, they can't imagine being from each other's realms. Phil would LOATHE 2B2T and Fit would hate the absoluteness of Hardcore. Isolation is absolute, death is absolute. There's no wiggle room or margin for error.

With how adaptive the two of them are due to their origins, they could probably acclimate to any conditions. They'd complain about having to, especially if it was inconvenient, but they could. They used to swap tips & tricks with each other on how to improve their adaptability too.

Fit would've 100% been down to join Phil on Doomsday in DSMP. He was thoroughly impressed when Phil told him the story.

[kyouka-supremacy]

I usually like to imagine that Beast! Sskk's relationship is just as intense and, if not, even more tumultuous than than canon! Sskk, but the other part of me says they get together quicker (whether they work together as partners quicker or simply become boyfriends quicker, your pick) entirely because I find the prospect of the beast! ADA interaction with Beast! Atsushi so funny

Like on one hand, Atsushi is known as the White Reaper of the Port Mafia, one of the most terrifying and ruthless assassins. But he also has the personality of a very skittish cat that stands in corner of the room and does not talk to people aside from stare at them (its the anxiety) but since he masks his usual emotions so much he just looks really menacing.

And on the flip side the ADA cherishes Akutagawa; they trust him and they believe in his intuition, so if Akutagawa assured them that there is no harm in Atsushi's presence, then surely they have nothing to worry about, right? Yeah but they forget Akutagawa's weird as fuck and finds companionship in the most questionable people, so they should've figured to prepare themselves in advance

So now there are rules in the ADA regarding Atsushi when he is in their building:

1.) Akutagawa needs to stay in the room and keep atsushi company for everybody's mental health (so many weapons came out in the 3 minutes it took for Akutagawa to go to the cafe for a snack and come back)

2.) Dont stare tiger boy in the eyes too long he'll get defensive (at least he was kind enough to repair the broken wall in the agency office)

3.) Dont turn the lights off when he's in the room he blends too well in the dark (everyone had at least 2 heart attacks cause they couldn't see or tell he was there)

4.) Dont take photos of him he'll know when the camera is pointed at him (fukuzawa tried to video him playing with the trinkets and Akutagawa's desk and he got so embarrassed he left and ghosted everyone for a few weeks)

5.) Dont comment on the amount of sugar he takes (emotional support sugar packets for his coffee. Same incident as rule.4)

6.) If sskk does some out of pocket homoerotic enemies type shit, ignore them. They're not gonna stop. (Ada made a betting pool, and it keeps pooling in more money. Akutagawa doesn't know its existence yet)

Okay first of all Anon THANK YOU I LOVE YOU WITH EVERYTHING I'VE GOT LITERALLY NOTHING IS GOING TO EVER GIVE ME AS MUCH JOY AS OPENING MY ASKBOX TO SEE A LONG ASK TALKING ABOUT BEAST SSKK. DAY WEEK MONTH ABSOLUTELY MADE I LOVE YOU FOREVER.

Second of all Beast ada is SO unhinged, they all literally went “this is our little murderous wet dog of a new member and this is his doubly murderous catboyfriend”. I love the set of rules, in my mind Kunikida actually wrote them down and hang them next to the door of Fukuzawa's office, hoping it could help avoid confusion in the office as much as possible. They are updated occasionally. I love Atsushi being... Completely unstable like yeah that's literally everything Beast Atsushi is (on the verge of breakdown / violent panic attack 24/7). Like he IS a feral cat he IS going to launch at you and scratch your face. And I LOVE how Akutagawa's presence instantly calms him because??? It would??? Because they have this unmatched connection and Atsushi knows no one understands him as deeply as Akutagawa does, and that at least is comforting and soothes him and makes him feel safe. + major abandonment issues that will have him quietly (and then not so quietly) spiral into panic as soon as Akutagawa is gone and he's left alone in an environment he's not familiar with. I'm dying at the idea of Atsushi ghosting the ada for weeks on more than one occasion that's such a dysfunctional behavior and that's so him I love it. I love all of these brilliant spectacular showstopping thank you so much Anon I owe you my life

[pinkeoni]

Byler & Possession Plots

Reading the show through more of Men, Women & Chainsaws

When talking about occult horror in her book Men, Women and Chainsaws, Carol J. Clover writes—

"On the face of it, the occult film is the most "female" of horror genres, telling as it is regularly does tales of women or girls in the grip of the supernatural. But behind the female "cover" is always the story of a man in crisis."

One of the examples that Clover provides is also one of the most popular possession stories— William Peter Blatty's novel and William Friedkin's film The Exorcist. Little Regan Macneil may have been the one possessed, but as the title suggests, the story is really about a man, the exorcist.

I do believe that season twos possession plot does a little more for the possessed than the examples Clover gives in her book, it is interesting that it does follow a similar formula to other possession plots, in that while the story is definitely about the possessed, it's also about the male character that sticks by their side.

So using Clover's book as a guide, I wanted to look again at season two's possession plot and see what it's saying for both Will and Mike's story, how it aligns with other possession stories, how it improves upon them, how it falls into similar pitfalls, and what is reveals about Byler.

The show does do a little better than other possession plots in that it does focus on the perspective of the possessed, Will, and how all of this is affecting him personally. We hear a little bit from Regan in The Exorcist, although the focus is centered much more on how her possession is affecting her mother and of course, her exorcist. The story centers around her, but it’s not really hers. Will’s possession feels a lot more like his story.

As for Mike, he starts the season grieving the loss of El and likely feeling guilt for her “death.” She “died” saving Mike, and Mike was unable to save her. There's a strong theme of heroism at play here. Mike (innocently) put the expectation onto El that she was a superhero. Mike's idea of heroism relates to the ability to perform impossible "Yoda" like tasks, such as lifting objects and killing monsters with your mind. As such, Mike doesn't recognize his own heroism, such as bringing El in and showing her kindness and friendship. This insecurity is later confirmed in season 4.

Mike's story doesn't really start rolling until he goes to check on Will. There, he's able to find purpose and finds his own way to be a hero. maybe without realizing it, he is able to save someone. Mike was there to help Will by offering emotional support, as well as aid him in finding some agency in the situation.

The possession for this season along with the El/Mike/Will triangle reminds me of a film that Clover discusses called Witchboard but with a few key differences. In the film, a woman named Linda is possessed by a spirit after messing with a Ouija Board she got from her ex Brandon, leading Linda’s boyfriend Jim to find a way to free her. The film ends with Jim and Linda getting married.

Similar to The Exorcist, Linda is the possessed person but the story isn’t really hers, it’s about Jim and his arc to becoming a more emotionally open boyfriend. In fact, the emotional core of the film is actually between Jim and his relationship to Brandon, whom Jim reveals is actually an old childhood friend until they had a falling out. Clover notes a particularly homoerotically charged scene in a motel room where Jim and Brandon are able to talk out some of their feelings.

While the possessed person is now Will, the character split is the same. El is not a passive character at all, but her story is still almost entirely split from the boys. She starts off the season missing Mike, but similar to Mike, she chooses to leave him, and her story really kicks off when she seeks out Mama and Kali. Both of them may have started the season thinking about the other, yet they choose to take their stories in different directions.

So maybe that’s why the end of the season feels like the end of Witchboard, which Clover described as the film's “pale, heterosexual ending” where Jim and Linda get married. The season ends with El and Mike at the Snow Ball, which to be fair is set up enough— this is making good on the promise that Mike made to El in the last season. But Will, who has spent most of the season by Mike’s side, is left entirely to the wayside. He gets his own dance partner, but it’s a nameless character who calls him his mean nickname. Mike gets to dance with El, Lucas gets his dance with Max, and Dustin discovers some self confidence when he dances with Nancy. Every ending feels like something that was someone built up— except for Will’s. Will didn’t show any interest in Snow Ball girl before, or any girl at all. It feels unsatisfactory.

Similar to other possession plots, it does fall into the similar pitfall where during most of the last third of the season, Will is barely even there at all. He spends most of his time asleep, and when he is awake— similar to Regan in the last bit of The Exorcist— he’s no longer Will.

And maybe that’s why the shed scene feels so hard hitting. Mike reminds Will of a moment where Will had agency, when he chose to be Mike’s friend. And as a result, he’s able to break through.

To me, that moment feels more like a culmination of both of their arcs for this season, way less than the Snow Ball ending. Mike takes action and calls out to Will, and in an act of agency, Will answers.

There's more interesting stuff from the chapter that I decided not to include here, and I honestly suggest that you go read the book yourself. It's super interesting and highly informative.

Oh, and happy Day 3 of Bylerween 🎃 @bylerween2023

[13eyond13]

Who are your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from Berserk? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Thanks.....

I think I kinda only have 4 main faves, really? And that's probably a pretty obvious bunch (Guts, Casca, Griffith, and Puck). I got attached to them all in the first arcs and then stuck out the rest of the stuff mainly just for them without getting extremely attached to anybody else (though I do think the rest of the story is definitely worth reading, and there are many amazing things that come later on as well).

(Warning for spoilers below):

I love Guts because I just cared about him and what happens to him way more than I initially expected I would. I think he's very relatable to me personality-wise and just not your typical macho protagonist guy in some pretty interesting and unusual ways. I also like that he's both kind of simple and complicated all at once and not just a corny noble typical hero type guy, but not completely boring and edgy and nihilistic either. It's a fun blend. I felt a ton for Casca as well and just thought she was very sympathetic and tough yet vulnerable too. I think Griffith's idealism and ambition makes much of the intriguing drama and plot happen that I actually care about in the story, and that he's definitely a complex character that's maybe the most fun one to analyze in a fandom sense. And Puck is just that cute little voice of reason / comic relief sort of character who keeps you going when Guts is being particularly grim and surly and difficult to connect to and when the story is verging on way too dark and bleak, and since he's with you from the very start it's hard not to get attached!

Some Top Favourite Moments (I couldn't narrow it down to five):

-Guts's interactions with Theresia, the Count's daughter / that entire scene in the Black Swordsman Arc: Maybe a bit of an oddball choice, but I distinctly remember that this part of the story was surprising and interesting to me in a good way because it just showed some sides of Guts's character that I didn't expect, and made him seem a bit more unusual and interesting of a character to follow in my eyes. I felt like his weirdass/awkward dark advice to her to just kill herself if she really didn't want to live anymore was obviously because he himself had gone through something like that as a kid and then come to that conclusion based on his own survival instincts as well, and just spoke a lot about how strange and rough his own life and upbringing and worldview probably was, to see that as sincerely good advice to give to a kid at that time? It was different than what you'd expect a typical hero to say or do, and the fact that Puck comments on it like "dang, he's not even trying to be an asshole or mean, he legit thinks that's a good thing to say to her" made me laugh as well, because that was the impression I got from it too. It was also surprising to see him like tearing up afterwards? Idk it just marked a moment to me where my interest in the story and in Guts as a character deepened and changed a bit, so I like it for that!

- Guts and Griffith's first swordfight:

So good and iconic and also perhaps one of the most homoerotic things ever to be put on a page

-Guts holding his sword up to the moon and deciding he was gonna fight for Griffith's sake

- Guts and Casca's first kiss: I kinda get the feeling from most Griffguts fans that it's not super popular to have and share positive or warm feelings about this pair, but I thought the moments between them like their first kiss were actually so cute. I thought it made sense for them and their relationship at the time, and was nice to see them both having a soft and warm and consensual moment with someone else that they trusted that way

- Guts explaining how Griffith is the only person he can't stand looking down on him to the rest of Band of the Hawk:

Another moment where Guts pleasantly surprised me as a character, this time with how self-aware and forthcoming he was about his thoughts and feelings on this front. He's a pretty close-lipped character about such things and also pretty private and secretive most times, so whenever he does share those kinds of feelings I'm just like !!! and very invested in what he has to say. I also didn't expect the story to take this direction so explicitly, and thought that his prioritizing of his relationship with Griffith over everything else would remain background and buried in his subconscious at best, so I was pretty intrigued that this part actually happened at all

- Guts and Griffith's second sword fight in the snow:

So many interesting things going on between the main three characters here, and I feel like this was one of the most suspenseful parts of the story to me, I was having actual like heart racing physical reactions to it. I also love how it teases the audience a bit with certain clever fake-outs and whatnot, like making you think this is probably going to be how Guts will lose his arm...

-Griffith's visions of his childhood self / guilt about his dream:

Anytime we got a glimpse right inside Griffith's head was a fascinating treat for me, and I think the scene of him being guilted by the God Hand over his childhood dream was a fantastic bit of writing and artwork, and so important to the story as a whole.

-The Eclipse (up until that one scene):

You love to hate it and hate to love it, basically? It's an awful and traumatic time, but also just so effective at doing what it's supposed to do and such a great buildup of dread for this extremely climactic scene, and the horror of it all is super well done to me (though once it gets to the Casca and Femto part it lost me a bit, because I did not like how tastelessly that was depicted at all)

-Griffith's frozen heart starting to beat again:

There's no way that's just because he's fused with the Moonlight Boy or whatever, right? Love the idea that there's still a kernel of his old vulnerable self in there that he couldn't completely kill

-Casca's healing: this was such a LONG TIME COMING and I was so glad it actually happened and that Miura got to depicting that part of the story before he passed, I felt like it actually took 1000 years, and it was one of the major things keeping me reading due to wanting to see it resolved

[friends-to-lovers-tournament]

Friends to Lovers Tournament: Round 2, Side A, Match 4

propaganda under the cut!

Fuyupoly:

Submission 1:

they're from the winter troupe of the mankai company, and unlike the other troupes they're all adults. that said, they all have varying degrees of trauma and emotional stuntedness. it takes them some time to fully open up to each other bc they're all very cautious of each other's boundaries and don't want to cross any lines which initially led to some issues in the group's formation. over time they've learned to bridge the gap while still being mindful of hard boundaries. at one point they have a discussion about what exactly their relationship is (gay) cuz they were talking about how the other troupes have clearly defined dynamics (spring=family, summer=besties, autumn=rivals & teammates) but they don't,, and homare deadass says they're "people bound by a common destiny" which in and of itself sounds very Gay (like why are you as a man bound to other men by a common destiny), but it goes even further because homare starts spouting WEDDING VOWS: "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!" THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE GAME AND THE MC EVEN REMARKS "i can already hear wedding bells in the distance..." 

gradually they become closer, in individual sub-units based on who's paired up as co-leads for a play, and as a troupe overall. also two of its members are childhood friends who had a messy 'divorce' in their young adulthood and it took the game breaking its genre to introduce a timeloop for them to finally make up if that means anything to you. one of their troupe songs "precious to us ~bokura no kisetsu" has some pretty beautiful and fruity lines: "The many kindnesses born in me here / Never fail to breathe life into my chest / Even all the pain and bitterness / Have now become dear to me (Ah…Stay with me)", "No matter how many times our season passes / Let us keep living together / Holding our hands, without ever letting go / Let us open up the curtain of tomorrow", "There is no need for words, because once our gazes meet / Joy sparks a light in your eyes", "Our journey, may it be a brilliant one / As our breaths overlap as one"

a lot of their plays has a LOT of homoerotic tension between the two leads too. their first play has tsumugi and tasuku play angels, and it's heavily implied that tasuku's character has an unrequited crush on tsumugi's character. their third play has azuma play a vampire and tasuku play Just Some Guy and it's generally agreed in the fandom to be one of the gayest, if not THE gayest, play A3 has ever written. obviously the vampire thing is very fruity, but there's also how the vampire was longing to bite the human but was holding himself back, and when the vampire left the human in the end, the human was absolutely HEARTBROKEN over it and was swearing they would reunite one day. the stage play of this takes it even further by having the vampire embrace the human from behind and BITE his neck. the fourth play is a watered-down adaptation of Phantom of the Opera where they genderbend Christine into Chris among other things and change the relationship between Chris and the Phantom to one of friendship.... ostensibly so, because there's still a lot of homoerotic undertones in their interactions. i could go on but this should be enough of a sampling taste 

Submission 2:

the writers rlly said "let's take 2 normal guys who are childhood friends and have been into theatre since their school days and have them go through a pre-canon messy divorce, an eccentric poet with a potentially controversial haircut, an amnesiac sleepyhead who can only be awoken with marshmallows but is also somehow extremely athletic despite doing nothing but sleeping and eating marshmallows all day, a man who is so beautiful and mysterious he breaks gender, and a supposed android from a fictional south asian country, and throw them into a blender, oh and for good measure let's throw in some theatre and angst and gay and angst and gay" and the end result was marriage. i mean it took them a lot of awkward fumbling around and conflicts to get there but they got there and thats what matters. ok *technically* in-text they're all rlly good friends and kinda found family BUT they are found family via marriage papers i do not make the rules chief

Submission 3:

The reason why they are so friends-to-lovers to me is because their relationship is founded on quiet and unconditional acceptance of each other—regardless of how flawed they may be or how heavy their burdens and trauma may be. When the troupe first formed (sans Guy who was in another country at the time), they didn’t have any major clashing personalities at the very beginning and generally they were mindful of each other’s boundaries, unlike the other troupes that came before them. However, it’s BECAUSE they were too mindful of said boundaries that it was difficult for them to break down their walls and bond as a team—and there were a LOT of walls to break down, as all of them had varying degrees of emotional baggage and trauma.

In fact, it’s only three plays in that they finally truly start opening up to each other, with Azuma getting the ball rolling by opening up about the deep loneliness that haunted him ever since his childhood. It’s during this conversation that they also discuss what their relationship as a troupe is, because the other troupes have defined their relationship as a team (Spring is family, Summer is best friends, Autumn is rivals & teammates), and Homare goes on to declare that they’re “people bound by a common destiny” and goes on to spew wedding vows: "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!" I mean… it can’t get any more obvious than this, really. They are married.

But anyway, Tsumugi says he wants their relationship to be one where while they respect each other’s need for space, they’ll also be there for each other and share their pains and burdens—or in his words: “supporting each other when our burdens become too heavy to bear on our own”—which I think is really sweet because it carries this idea of quiet, unconditional acceptance; they don’t push each other to share more than they’re comfortable with sharing, but with whatever they ARE comfortable with sharing everyone carries the load and pain because pain is easier to bear when you’re not bearing it alone <3 

A later part of the story focuses on Hisoka, a mysterious amnesiac, being terrified of regaining his memories and facing some “sin” from his past that has led to another character, Chikage, trying to take revenge on him. When he confesses this to the rest of the Winter troupe, Homare asks, “How heavy is this sin you bear?” and Azuma suggests, “Perhaps it’s just heavy enough for the five of us to carry together.” (at this point Guy hasn’t joined yet). The stage play adapts this scene into a song called Key to Memory. The key (pun unintended) part is 1:27 where there’s a back-and-forth between Hisoka and the other Winter troupe members (sans Tasuku because he wasn’t in that particular play)

Hisoka: “I’m scared…”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “It’s okay.”

Hisoka: “My unforgivable sin…”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “Let’s carry it together.”

Hisoka: “I might not be me anymore.”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “It’s all right. We understand and we accept you, so let’s go together.”

And it ends with Hisoka singing: “I was afraid to open the door of my locked memories. But if everyone is here, I believe I can do it.”  In both the game and stage play, Hisoka fully regains his memories and reconciles with Chikage (long story). He tells Fuyupoly he can’t go into detail about his past with Chikage because it’s dangerous but he’ll tell them when the time is right, and they accept this saying that no matter what his past is, they know and love him as their Hisoka which obviously is a very sweet thing for friends to say, but it’s also very Marriage-coded to me.

Later, Guy is introduced as an android from Zahra (a fictional South Asian country) and joins the Winter troupe as a temporary member—because he’s stuck in Japan for the foreseeable future—until they find a permanent member to replace him. The other Winter members have a conversation among themselves and agree that regardless of whether he’s really an android or a human they’ll accept Guy for who he is and help him improve his acting, which again harkens back to the idea of ‘unconditional acceptance’. Eventually it’s revealed that Guy is in fact a human who has forgotten his memories of the past and his emotions. He recovers his memories all at once which shocks his system and causes him to pass out. When he wakes up in his room, he finds the rest of the Winter Troupe asleep around the room—which I believe is symbolic of their whole theme of “quiet acceptance”: they don’t want to push Guy to share beyond what he’s comfortable with, but they’re always there to listen to him and share his load if that’s what he wants. He opens up about the memories he recovered, and they don’t treat him with pity like he’s a lost child, but still extend gentle empathy and understanding. They also emphasise that it genuinely doesn’t matter to them whether he’s human or android because he’s Guy first and foremost. It’s at this point that Guy truly lets himself become part of the Winter troupe/Fuyupoly and not just as a temporary stand-in member, because he’s found a place where he’s found himself again and people who will accept who this “himself” is, whether that be an android devoid of emotions or a human brimming with vivid beautiful emotions.[Mod note: There’s a LOT more but we’re afraid of crashing the post. I (Deli) summarised it the best I can since I’m familiar with A3, but if you want to read the full thing you can check it out on this google doc)

Sourin:

okay so i have a picture to crack explain the sourin supremacy

but i also have legitimate reasons lmao

1. sousuke and rin both GET what it's like to want something so bad but not be able to achieve it. they know each other's pain so well, and they know just how much effort the other person puts into swimming. AND THAT MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING STRENGTHENS THEIR BOND SO MUCH!!! this is also the reason why they are each others' comfort person because the other just GETS it, no need for any explanations

2. they're passionate as fuck about the same thing (swimming) and they help each other train harder and swim better,,, like get you a couple with the same obsessions as you!!!

3. THEY SWAM A RELAY TOGETHER and that means a lot in swimming because IT'S BASICALLY SMTH A TEAM DOES WHEN THEY HAVE ABSOLUTE TRUST IN EACH OTHER AND THEY DEPEND ON EACH OTHER AND THEY LOVE EACH OTHER AND IT'S BASICALLY THE SWIMMING ANIME EQUIVALENT OF I LOVE YOU

4. when sousuke told rin about the shoulder injury he was literally so devastated because his love couldn't follow his passions anymore,, AND WHEN SOUSUKE RECOVERED FROM THE SURGERY RIN LEGIT CRIED HAPPY TEARS!!! and sousuke was always there for rin w/e he had a slump bc he compared himself too much to haru and others,,, like gods they care so much for each other

5. sousuke is the earth and rin is the fire,,, AND RIN LIGHTS A FIRE IN SOUSUKE WHILE SOUSUKE GROUNDS RIN LIKE PLEASE THE MOTIFS ARE LITERALLY RIGHT THERE EVEN IN THEIR COLOUR SCHEMES (teal + maroon) 

in short: sourin supremacy because these two bois are so perfect for each other"

[gothark]

Books I've read in July 2024

And what I thought about them:

The Husky And His White Cat Shizun Vol 1 - I looked at a problematic person and said 'yes, you. i will keep you' no joke though I breezed through this one, so invested like wdym????

5 Stars

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club - literally based on 'what if everyone was a stereotype' and I really wanted the characters to be more than that? and they were, but all that got added was that they were all fucking mean

DNF

The Sky Blues - really didn't like it at the beginning but I didn't want to DNF another book right away so I continued and I think I liked it more at the end? Might just have taken me hostage instead though. Cheesy.

3.75 Stars

Tadek and the Princess - Follow up Novella to 'A Taste of Gold and Iron' and it made me bawl my eyes out. i was ugly sobbing, such a good exploration of grief and not allowing yourself to feel that grief. chefs kiss.

5 Stars

The Lightning-Struck Heart - I just couldn't get into this one. Maybe me and T.J. Klune just don't mix but this kind of humor goes from kinda funny to really fucking annoying in like 4 chapters.

DNF

Reforged - I just got over A Taste of Gold and Iron and this punted me right back into it, very similar feel but also different? I dunno how to explain it but if you liked one of these you will probably like the other one too. This just missed that slight spark to make it amazing.

4.75 Stars

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories - Jesus fucking Christ. Like. WHAT. I hated this, this is legit the worst book I've ever read. If you like stories that sexualise the abuse of women at the hands of men in literally every single story this is the book for you. Maybe I'm just stupid but none of these stories gave women any agency, everything was just done TO them. Hard no. Gross.

0.25 Stars

She Who Became The Sun - Holy Shit. My beloved. Actually just my favorite fucking book ever. Like Shelley??? Hello??? How did you write this masterwork? Still can't decide if Zhu or Ouyang is my beloved (it's Ouyang) Pls, everyone read this. i'm keeping the second book in the series for dark times.

5 Stars

The Past Is Red - It was fine? I didn't like the guy, whatever his name was, i didn't like the rift between the silly names for things and the at times really horrific things going on?? the reveal at the end felt kind of cheap and unbelievable.

2.25 Stars

MADK Vol 1 - Insane? like... wtf did I just read? homoerotic cannibalism the manga. i was intrigued though and the art is really pretty??? (help)

4 Stars

MADK Vol 2 - i have no clue what's going on anymore, i'm just here for the ride. things are happening and my last brainvell has left the chat

4 Stars

The Fragile Threads of Power - CONFLICTED. I liked it? the world is really interesting? the problem was the 50 different pov's and that i really like some of those characters and really disliked others. i was also a little confused at the beginning because this was the first book i read in this universe (which you totally can do, everything you might be missing gets explained)

4.25 Stars

Herald of the Witch's Mark - i thought this was the last book in the series but it wasn't and i was lowkey so glad to be finished with the series because we have a serious love/hate relationship going on. i'm also just not the biggest fae person I've realised. oopsies.

3 Stars

Red Rising - my god, this is so good. completely changes it's vibe like halfway into the book and i'm all for it??? darrow is fucking insane, batshit crazy. this man will lead me to an early grave and I will THANK HIM FOR IT. he is my favorite frat bro who does murder in space. right after she who became the sun in my fave book rankings.

5 Stars

The Lightning Thief - I read the first five books once as a child and man this just hit such a good nostalgia spot, it also has none of the bad taste that harry potter does and this was just such a nice and easy read. like a nice rainy day in a warm blanket. would recommend.

5 Stars

The Extraordinaries - I actually started reading this at the end of 2023 and that should basically say everything. So technically this is my first TJ Klune, not Lightning-Struck Heart but I gave up on it after. Microwaving a cricket to make it radioactive to gain super powers was just too much. also the main character? felt kind of offensive if he was supposed to be a character with autism because no way in hell would any real person actually be like this

DNF

A Darker Shade of Magic - We have the problem here, I like the world but the pov characters are the ones I did not like in Threads of Power (lila) i'm sorry, i just don't vibe with her personally overall a good book though?

4 Stars

Shadow and Bone - man it just took too long to get to the reveal, once again i didn't really vibe with any of the characters (except for mal) and i want to punt the Darkling to the dark side of the moon

3.75 Stars

The Sea of Monsters - what can I say? i'm a sucker for greek mythology so this is just really my thing and it's just such a nice break to take between other books, also the twist at the end? i love that shit lol

5 Stars

Firefly Lane - so this book was basically taking the blueprint for the life of the typical midwest, american white women (maybe a little extra shitty life) and it's this book. it feels like going down a check list. young girls getting sexually assaulted? check. young girls getting with older men? getting pregnant when it wasn't planned? having a miscarriage? getting married to the guy who liked your best friend before he liked you? surprise twins? (being a bad mom lol) but that works for some people, just not really some gay guy who thinks marriage and children are kind of icky (personally, for me) also the parts where it was heavily implied that the one women was only unhappy because she had her dream job but no husband or children??? so ew. the ending got me though because cancer runs in the family. oh also just way too fucking long. needs to be like 40% shorter, so boring for so much of the time

3.5 Stars

[avengerphobic]

Question so Im a f4 follower and not X-Men one so where do all the daken son of wolverine(?) with Johnny comes from? Especially to have people rotting for it on next to Wyatt and Peter?

I think its daken dark wolverine that its from could be from the f4 run from that time too but its been like 4 years since i read all of akihiros comics. Basically akihiro manipulates johnny into being his friend and lies about him wanting to become a good guy and wants the f4 to help him get away from norman osborn cuz hes on the dark avengers with him. I'm p sure its to steal smth but i dont entirely remember why he initially chooses the f4. Basically him and johnny have a lot of like really homoerotic moments. and they have this little "friendship" going. Then akihiro fakes his death at one point and steals some shit from them. and burns all those bridges. But I think from a narrative standpoint they were just so so interesting together. Like Akihiro is like definitely super hot and he plays johnny like a fiddle. Johnny is so self destructive that Akihiro just makes sense as a partner he would crave the affection from him but also akihiro would hurt him and they would just feed off each other. like I would never want them to stay together for a long time but god their relationship is so fascinating like akihiro has some feelings for Johnny (despite not wanting them) and Johnny can be so kind and gets so attached despite knowing he shouldn't that i think he could keep falling back into a relationship with akihiro even when he knows he shouldn't. also everyone would be so mad hes dating him

[fitz-higgins]

LGBT literature of the 1860s–1910s. Part 2

Ten more works! This time we have: a sci-fi novel by a transgender author, a major science study of homosexuality in the 19th century, Thomas Mann's homoerotic short story and more.

1. Two Loves, by Alfred Douglas (1894). This beautiful poem is a staple of gay culture, famous for its last line, the love that dare not speak its name, which became an euphemism for homosexuality and acted as code for homosexual men [see more about codes here]. [Read online]

2. Q. E. D., by Gertrude Stein (written in 1903, published in 1950). Based on Stein’s ill-fated relationship with May Bookstaver, this short story is about love between a young Adele and Helen. Interestingly, the story is the first novel that uses the word “queer” as a signifier of homosexual love. [Read online]

3. L'Immoraliste (The Immoralist), by André Gide André (1902). Another story of a married man who discovers that he is attracted to men, so much so that he virtually sacrifices her. Again, problematic, but offers an interesting insight as it is written by a homosexual (or bisexual) author who was familiar with gay community of France. [Read online in French or in English]

4. L’eredità di Saffo (Sappho’s Legacy), by Nada Peretti (1908). Out of scientific curiosity about lesbian relationships and after witnessing them in women’s boarding schools, Fede conducts a survey. The novel contains the results of this survey and also the letters from her friend Franz on this topic. The book is so explicit that Peretti was even tried for obscenity.

5. Fenny Skaller: Ein Leben der namenlosen Liebe (Fenny Skaller: A Life of the Nameless Love), by John Henry Mackay (1913). Another autobiographical novel that explores same-sex sexuality and the subject of “third sex” which was popular at that time. The protagonist, Fenny, discovers that he is not alone in his preferences through scientific studies. Curious, he studies sexology, but eventually comes to an identity that is resistant to theories of sexual intermediacy, mostly because of the way it describes homosexual people. Allow me an interesting quote: “He understood only so much: they had locked up his love in science’s wax-figure cabinet of monsters, of deformities and monstrosities of all kinds – there they had also classified him: among people with whom he had nothing in common, and could and would have nothing in common. But the love existed. It was there, and among those pages, filled with the confessions of the desperate, who did not understand themselves and who hoped for salvation from the doctor”. [Read online in English]

6. Beatrice the Sixteenth: Being the Personal Narrative of Mary Hatherley, M.B., Explorer and Geographer, by Irene Clyde (1909). Another Edwardian sci-fi (feminist utopia), written by a transgender author, no less! Mary Hatherley, an explorer, finds herself in a strange kingdom of Armeria where gender doesn’t seem to exists, and relationships are based on love and companionship, not sex.

7. The Claudine stories, by Colette (1900–1903: Claudine à l'école, Claudine à Paris, Claudine en ménage, Claudine s'en va). Semi-autobiographical story of Claudine and her journey from her school to the literary salons includes a lot of homoerotic motifs and describes Colette’s own experience in same-sex relationships. [Read all four novels in English or Claudine à l'école in French]

8. Tonio Kröger, by Thomas Mann (1903). A short story about a young man who is torn between his bourgeois and artistic heritage as well as between two sexualities as he falls in love both with a popular young man and with a young woman. [Read online in German or in English]

9. L’Affaire Oscar Wilde, by André Raffalovich (1895). Raffalovich was a poet, a critic of Oscar Wilde and for some time was considered the leading expert on homosexuality in France. In this essay he attacked Wilde, but not for homosexuality (he himself was a gay man, in relationship with John Gray) but for “encouraging vice in others”. Raffalovich did consider Wilde a criminal, but only because of the influence on “the vain youth”. [Read online in French, also available on Google Play]

10. Sexual Inversion (Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Vol. 2), by Havelock Ellis & John Addington Symonds (1900). Officially, this work’s author is only Ellis, because Symonds’ name was removed to avoid a scandal. He was a gay man and a very influental figure for homosexual men of the 19th century. This is the first English medical book about homosexuality. It explores same-sex relationships in different cultures and eras and classifies forms of “sexual inversion” in men and women. [Read online]

If you missed Part One, here it is! More to come. If you have suggestions feel free to submit them via comments, ask or DMs!

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

The more I’m reading the books, playing the games, and watching the series (both the old and the Netflix one), I’m becoming more and more sure that no one in the Witcher is actually straight nor monogamous.

To elaborate, as prime 4 examples, you have your:

Local slut™️: Geralt in his natural habitat; fucked legions of women (in each media) and OH MY GOD HIS IN-BOOK DIALOGUE WITH JASKIER??? AND OTHER MEN??? HELLO??? EVEN IN SERIES 2 GERALT IS EYEING JASKIER IN THE POND LIKE: 👀. Go ahead and pull out your weak "but it happened over several years, smh" excuse. I'm ready for a fight.

Theater queer™️: Jaskier is all over the fucking place, being the chaotic bi disaster I am in real life. It was also pointed out by Joey that he genuinely falls in love with whoever is in front of him; so it doesn’t really matter if it’s Yennefer, Geralt, a peasant, an innkeeper's daughter, or any of the witchers; he’ll go 😍. And, he also fucked legions of women (both married and single) in each media he made an appearance in. He even TELLS Geralt in The Sword of Destiny that he has multiple mistresses and fiances all over the Continent. Wagwan my dude, what's good my g? A manwhore.

Dark emo edgy witch™️: Aight listen, we saw Yen flirting and being actively attracted to/in love (call it what you will) with random people throughout the series itself - book counterpart is all over Istredd in the 'Shard of Ice' short story and openly tells Geralt she been fucking him the entire time they resided in Aedd Gynvael. AND SHE JUST FUCKING GOES HEHEHE 😈 WHEN THE YOUNG ARETHUSA STUDENT TELLS HER “Gods, you’re pretty”, major overall bi/queer vibes, 10/10.

Elven child that goes AAAAAaaA™️: MY GOLDEN BABY. Ciri is a designed queer mess wherever she is, let it be in games, books or series. GO, MY TOMBOY QUEEN, KICK ALL THEM WITCHER ASSES. Openly bisexual queen, we stan those.

To conclude this TedX talk... Andrzej, buddy, listen - I, as a Slav myself, know that we’re all about sex and homo (from a personal experience, more than 75% women I know had a homoerotic relationship, including my mom, her friends and my GRANDMA and more 30% men are likely to say that they have some kind of homoerotic experience - no fucking cap) but BUDDY: WE’RE NOT THAT DOWN BAD, YOU DID US DIRTY DAWG.

[eri-cheri]

Now that we have reached the last chapter of the year. It is time to do a 2020 roll call of what I like to call, “State of the Shippers”:

1. IzuOcha. Status: Placated.

-IzuOcha’s could celebrate several cute tidbits throughout the year. Mini moments as they say.

Anime Highlights: The OVA’s came in clutch with moments for shippers all around and IzuOcha is no exception. We got a cute tidbit where Izuku and Ochako bumped into each other and were flustered.

Manga Highlights: Christmas kept on giving to this fandom as the AM doll Izuku gave Ochako made many appearances. A cute fist bump between the two was also exchanged and Mina was right there bouncing with y’all.

Heroes Rising: Izuku super man carried Ochako to safety. And was Angy she was injured. Fans could enjoy the small Lois Lane moment.

Troubling Signs?: Ochako said “I would like to be excluded from this narrative” when it comes to her feelings for Deku. She’s a hero damnit! So if they are in for something, probably won’t be while they are still in school.

II. DabiHawks. Status: Yikes.

- Dabi and Hawk’s very public breakup set this fandom in disarray but also kind of disayay?

Anime Highlights: None yet. This fandom was cruelly cock blocked by Bones. Sorry DabiHawks stans.

Manga Highlights: Where to begin, my goodness. With these fans, I guess the good and the bad is a plus in this homoerotic double agent relationship. We have the notion that Dabi may have known Hawks when they were kids, which may be a positive? Hori sure loves his childhood friends. Other than that. The GIRLS WERE FIGHTIN’. Hawks is now permanently scarred by Dabi and I don’t think it was kinky folks. Tokoyami inserted himself in the middle to White Knight Hawks, Dabi broke up with him via YT expose and overall, shippers could anguish in the absolute MESS that this ship endured this year. But I’m sure that’s part of the appeal. So...yay?

Heroes Rising: They were both in it.

Troubling Signs?: The entire relationship is a troubling sign which again, is part of the appeal. Maybe Hawks will cuddle up with Dabi’s father after the war. That’s troubling! Speaking of...

III. EndHawks. Status: Yearning and Burning.

-If there’s one thing Endeavor couldn’t stop worrying about, it was his hot (in more ways than one) new side piece who probably should have looked at the fine print when signing a contract to be a recurring guest star on “Keeping up with the Todoroki’s”.

Anime Highlights: A fateful meeting finally in high definition for all our eyes to see! Hawks’s unwavering support of his biggest hero was endearing to watch and their shenanigans together spurred the anime onlies to finally jump on the biggest May-December ship in the series.

Manga Highlights: Endeavor’s admiration and concern for Hawks seeped through the pages as we entered our most exciting arc in the manga yet. Fate split these two up yet entwined their downfall together. And that Fate’s name was Dabi...or should I say ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️ or should I just say Touya!

Heroes Rising: “Don’t bite my head off, Endeavor.” Geez, can you flirt a little less loud Hawks?

Troubling Signs?: They say never meet your heroes and Hawks is in for a rude awakening. We shall see just how deep his admiration runs or if Endeavor’s past will split our dynamic duo up for good.

IV: TodoDeku. Status: “Precious”

-Shoto’s “Midoriya is in Danger” radar was highlighted in both manga and anime. 4th User’s quirk, who?

Anime Highlights: “Midoriya hasn’t returned yet.” “Where’s Midoriya?” “Midoriya! Grab my hand!” “Have some of my Soba Midoriya.” Shoto gets it. His emotional support friend is a danger magnet. TodoDeku’s also enjoyed tiny tidbits in the OVA such as a hand grabbing scene. Gotta hold tight to those crumbs.

Manga Highlights: Two Words. “Precious Friend.” Deku comes in w/o arms or legs fighting for Shoto and Shoto’s honor. These two spent the entire year worried sick about each other, and going against all odds to save each other. Precious Friends indeed. TDDK fans ate.

Heroes Rising: Shoto kicks some dog ass and then faints thinking of Deku (and Bakugo but shh. Let the shippers rejoice.) On the bright side, we have a 3rd movie coming featuring “The Three Musketeers” so shippers of TdDk can HOLD TIGHT to what’s to come.

Troubling Signs?: Shoto still doesn’t know about OFA and he’s gonna have LOTS of questions after this arc. Will Deku finally tell him? If not, it could make or break the ship.

V. TodoBaku. Status: “Shining through the city with a little funk and soul.”

-Who knew the greatest comedy duo we needed was Shoto and his hot headed “friend” or not friend? It still remains unclear to Shoto. Regardless, these two had a fun year.

Anime Highlights: “I wanna see your cute face”, disco dancing, and more fun in the provisional license training. Plus the OVA added some cute moments between the two such as Bakugo staying behind to save Todoroki during a dangerous excercise and his adorable plan neatly animated for us. I’d say TodoBaku’s really were resurgent and energized this year!

Manga Highlights: Shoto, that is not how you properly Catch a Kacchan, I’m sorry. But at least you did it you mad lad. As with Deku, Shoto spent the year worried sick about Bakugo. While the anime let us have our fun, these two were suffering in the manga.

Heroes Rising: Again, Shoto put a dog down and then fainted with Bakugo on his mind (and Deku but we ignore that. Shush.) TodoBaku’s have the 3rd movie to look forward to which is bound to have some amazing content!

Troubling Signs?: They have a lot of trauma to deal with. And a lot of Deku to worry about. I also imagine Shoto will be hurt about being left out of the OFA secret. We shall see what 2021 has to offer.

VI. KiriMina. Status: Unbreakable.

-Changing your hairstyle to match the gal who inspired you in middle school? Sorry y’all but if Mina were a guy, I’d say that’s gay af.

Anime Highlights: We got that backstory Bois. Red Riot’s origin might as well make him be called Pink Riot. Again with Hori and the childhood friends though I wouldn’t exactly call them friends. They just went to the same middle school but Kirishima was highly influenced by Mina’s Chivalrous spirit! A ship is born!

Manga Highlights: The influence is mutual! Mina creates a move based on Kirishima’s unbreakable and we all let out a collective “awwww”. Also in the war arc, we got Kirishima making sure Mina’s chivalrous spirit shines through right into Gigantomachia’s mouth! KiriMina may just be the unsung MVP’s of this arc.

Heroes Rising: They were in it.

Troubling Signs?: I can’t think of a single one. KiriMina’s can enjoy a peaceful sailing.

VII: KiriBaku. Status: Crumb Collectors.

-2020 was an uneventful year for KiriBaku but Bones made sure there were crumbs aplenty! Thank God for OVA’s!

Anime Highlights: KiriBaku’s did thrive in one episode! Kirishima reflects on the sludge incident and evolves his quirk based on inspiring words from Bakugo! Hooray! KiriBaku’s can thrive in their blossoming friendship. The OVA also has Kirishima (and Kaminari but shh) once again following Bakugo’s lead when it comes to the training excercise. How can you not? He’s so manly!

Manga Highlights: Not gonna lie. There is nothing much here this year. I did find a teeny tiny flake in Aizawa’s flashback. Kirishima and Bakugo are sitting next to each other. Oh! And at the hot pot gathering, Bakugo sits next to Kirishima! Eat your crumbs KiriBaku’s! There’s always next year!

Heroes Rising: Kirishima hangs with a lazy Bakugo and delivers the most hilarious line in the whole movie. “Silly Bakugo, there won’t be villains here!” Hahah... Silly Bakugo. Oh you~ KiriBaku’s can inhale the fact that those two sure love to hover around each other!

Troubling Signs?: With great crumbs come little responsiblity. No trouble if there’s no content! 🤔

VIII: KamiJirou. Status: Singing their hearts out 🎶

-If there’s any ship that’s coming close to canonization, I think this is it, folks! “Think of the person most important to you!” Can’t argue with Midnight!

Anime Highlights: Kaminari does non stop encouraging of Jirou and her hobbies! He works super hard to learn guitar for her sake! We love a king who can encourage his queen!

Manga Highlights: Kaminari thinks of the most important person to him and surprise! It’s Jirou! All of the feels can commence.

Heroes Rising: They were in it!

Troubling Signs?: Kaminari does love his women. And men. Kaminari overall is a huge flirt. But Jirou appears to have his heart strings. ❤️

IX: BakuDeku. Status: Rising. 👑

-Alternative Statuses include Winning, Thriving, Soaring. It’s just been non stop content this year. 2020 is truly the year for BakuDeku. The shippers can rejoice.

Anime Highlights: Three words. Be. My. Cane. The OVA’s helped fan the flames of the BkDk hearts with a surprise! Deku tops! Not only that, we got a lovely shoulder tap of encouragement in the canon material. While in season 4, Deku’s primary focus was Eri. Bakugo and Deku still had their moments to be hella gay.

Manga Highlights: Where do I even begin? I guess we’ll just cut to the chase with Bakugo Katsuki: Rising. We finally saw Bakugo’s true feelings manifest for Deku and if getting stabbed for him isn’t the ultimate showing of love, then idk what is. BakuDeku’s rounded out the year with the Volume 29 cover AND the volume 29 cover drafts to eat at our heart strings. Overall, their relationship got the spotlight in the manga this year. And we’re bound to start 2021 with a dramatic confrontation. Hand holding seems to be the key with these two and it didn’t stop with Heroes Rising...speaking of.

Heroes Rising: The entire movie. Like....yeah. That’s it. [OP, your bias is showing. You have to be SPECIFIC.] {But random criticizer in my head, if I lay out the entire plot of the movie, my post will be too long} [OP....] UGHHHH Okay okay. The POPSICLE MELTING. THE HAND HOLDING. THE CHARACTER DESIGNS OF WHAT MIGHT AS WELL BE THEIR LOVE CHILDREN. Did I mention? “It’s fine if it’s you?” CAUSE YEAH. Oh and All Might randomly officiating their wedding in their heads like idk. Isn’t it just simpler if I say the whole movie??!

Troubling Signs?: Well these two’s relationship is extremely delicate and while it has non stop soared this year, Deku might not take too kindly to Bakugo almost dying for him. Will they stop pushing each other away? Time will tell.

That’s all for this year folks! Happy Shipping and good luck to everyone next year!

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Porky’s

Do you ever look at a pug and think “I can’t believe you’re descended from wolves”? That’s kind of how I feel going into a completely cold viewing of Porky’s (requested by Chad, of course). I’ve seen many a teen sex comedy in my day, but this is the granddaddy of them all and I’ve never seen it. This is the wolf that walked so American Pie the pug could run. I’m not expecting anything resembling likeable characters or good writing here, but I am curious about why this movie was the one to really break out and make a name for itself. There’s not much plot to be had - a group of horny dudes at a Florida high school in the 1950s are sex-crazed monsters who set up elaborate pranks on each other, objectify women, terrorize sex workers, and learn an after-school special lesson about racism, maybe? There’s also a side plot about Kim Cattrall howling like a dog during sex. So far, I’m not seeing where the enduring legacy is coming from. As a sex comedy, it’s terribly unfunny AND deeply unsexy, but like a weird Trojan horse plot twist, this is the best ACAB propaganda advocating for abolition of the police (and with its weird racist undertones, probably abolition of ICE as well!) that I’ve ever seen. Truffles in shit, I guess?

Some thoughts:

I see that we’re using the Grease method of casting 35-year-olds to play teenagers. Maybe everyone born in the mid-30s actually did look twice their age when they were in high school. They went through the war, that shit prematurely ages a person. 

WOW there are way more racial slurs being thrown around than I expected. I mean, I expected some, sure, but wow, this is a lot. Exotic ones, too, not just your typical anti-black nonsense. 

We do see some peen and a lot of male butts, so there’s at least some equal opportunity exploitation here. 

Interesting that there’s a subplot about Tim (Cyril O’Reilly) and his just-out-of-prison father being abusive as if we’re attempting to humanize and soften the most virulent racist - we’re talking real in-your-face bigotry - in the film. Are they actually trying to make Schwartz (Scott Colomby) feel sympathy for his abuser because Tim’s dad beat him up after Tim assaulted Schwartz and lost? And the resolution is for Tim to stand up to his dad and say “If being a man means being what you are, I’d rather be queer.” Has...has anyone written about the homoerotic relationship between Tim and Schwartz? The way they protect each other and have that nice little moment after Tim’s dad is arrested? There’s an enemies-to-lovers slow burn fanfic OR a dissertation in here about compulsory heterosexuality in teen sex comedies - I’d read either one.. 

The actual Porky’s club is a nightmare - there’s Confederate flags everywhere, and one of the patrons tries to assault one of the dancers. Also Mr. Porky refers to his dancers as piglets, so good job! I hate Porky’s the most out of everything I hate in this movie!  

Nice to see that the cops are good ol boys blatantly racketeering and extorting money from folks who are, admittedly, assholes but still. They don’t even pretend not to be dirty cops. These are the villains of the movie. 

I also feel like it’s significant that Schwartz is the only character who seems even remotely decent. It’s as if his status as the Other means he’s de-sexed and not allowed to participate in the creepy behavior of the rest of the guys, but by extension that actually means he’s the only one I’d be willing to spend more than 30 seconds with.  

It feels as if this script was just a collection of pranks the writers came up with and the flimsiest wet tissue paper plot to connect them all together. Rather than the precursor to American Pie, this lives comfortably in that space that all those terrible spoof movies of the early 2000s did - Date Move, Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, etc. If your plot is just a series of 2-to-4-word “joke” pitches on post it notes (locker room peephole! Gym teacher grabs dick! Woman howls during sex! Naked running!)...you know what, I was gonna say something insulting, but this movie made truckloads of money for the creators, so what the fuck do I know? Keep doing your thing I guess even if it’s more depressing than - and contains the same amount of artistic integrity as - a crusty pan of congealed eggs at the breakfast buffet in a strip club just like Porky’s. 

The infamous shower scene is horrifying for all of the sexual harassment, but turns out there’s also a bunch of virulent fatphobia and the sexual assault of one of the peeping toms as well. Just when you think this movie can’t fit any more horrors in it, it really steps up to the plate. Also, for any of you aspiring screenwriters out there, I’mma need you to jot this down - girls’ reaction to being watched in the shower is not to find it hilarious and want to further engage with the peeping tom.

I’m no structural engineer, but I just don’t think a couple of piece of shit fishing boats and a 20 horsepower 1951 Chevy pickup can pull out the foundation of an entire building. Like, fuck Porky’s - I have no problem with this plan to basically demolish the building, but I find it hard to believe that this infrastructure is so shoddy that you can just take it out no sweat. The WPA probably built that bridge! That’s some solid American craftsmanship!

In the big climax, the villains of the piece (the bad cops) are outsmarted by the good cops - you know, the ones who are also engaging in  intimidation, threats with a deadly weapon, and extortion. But see, they ARE pretending they aren’t dirty, and that’s what makes them the good guys! Literally, the showdown ends up being “you’re corrupt, but we’re more corrupt, and if you try to prove it you’ll have to expose how corrupt you are so MIC DROP BITCHES” and then the good cops break some headlights and that’s the end of the movie. So the moral of the story is that we live in a terrifying police state and cops can do whatever they want, and you just better hope that the cops are on YOUR side. Am I saying that this movie influenced NWA when they wrote and released “Fuck tha Police” in 1988? No. But I’m not NOT saying it. 

Did I Cry? Only on the inside.

You already know if you’re going to like this movie before you watch it. What you might not know is that this is the highest-grossing movie from Canada for over 20 years. Everything about my experience of watching this movie was perplexing, and the way that fact makes me feel pretty much encapsulates the rest of my feelings on the matter. 

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[gascon-en-exil]

I think the problem with your Hubert = Manfroy archetype take is that many western FE fans still haven't played Geanology, and also, that even Japanese FE fans don't think primarily of Manfroy when talking about what inspired Hubert or which pre-existing character he resembles. The popular JP take is that Hubert is most likely inspired by Paul von Oberstein from Legend of the Galactic Heroes. (1/?)

Which has been bolstered by Intesys admitting that one inspiration for Claude was Yang-Wenli from the very same series. Or Ferdibert being the Two Jewels of the empire while LoGH has the Twin Jewels of the empire. Quite the coincidence! I’m kind of middle of the road in that I’ve recognized Hubert as a character archetype I’ve encountered a few times before in various fantasy anime and manga. (2/?)

A ruthless (almost always) male servant who is ready to go against his master’s orders if he thinks that his master is being too soft/reckless but who is also nevertheless has the loyalty of an utter zealot. This plot line is usually accompanied by the master really loving a morally more upstanding character. The servant tries to get rid of said morally upstanding character because they’re turning his master soft which could spell doom for said master. (3/?)

In the end the servant character either dies for his master or sees the error of his way, his master is redeemed and a happy end of some sort happens. The master is usually a man and the servant usually comes across as subtextually gay or is even in some cases confirmed as gay in canon. In extreme cases he winds up the only confirmed or implied to be gay character in a very straight cast (4/?).

What makes it even spicier is, that in the rare cases in which the servant has any homoerotic tension with someone else (or even a requited romantic relationship), it’s in my experience to date, always with a male character he has an antagonistic relationship with. There’s a lot more I could write about trends regarding this character but this is already unwieldy and long. Needless to say, someone in the Intesys writing room knew this archetype pretty well (5/?).

To circle back to Oberstein, after watching LoGH, I realized that Oberstein is most likely the origin of this character archetype and that the archetype has developed away from him over the years. For example, Oberstein himself isn’t all that gay but the archetype itself sure is. Hubert himself imo, has traits of both Oberstein and the later versions of the archetype (too many of them to list here). (6/?)

Also, interestingly, the physical resemblance between pret-s Hubert and Oberstein from the 90ies LoGH anime is pretty strong, so I think the 3H character designer was in on it, too. Not saying that Manfroy has nothing to do with him, but Hubert is closer to Tharja, I think. Intesys imported an animanga archetype into FE that previously didn’t exist in the series. In Tharja’s case, she was FE’s first yandere and in Hubert’s case, he was FE’s first „Oberstein“. (7/7)

Interesting. I admit that outside of (some) Nintendo IPs and a scattered few others I have next to no knowledge of or interest in Japanese media. I remember one of my mutuals quite some time ago made the observation that there's a surprisingly large subset of FE fans who don't seem to be much into anime or manga, despite this series being what it is.

In any case, while I always enjoy pointing out the intertextual nature of FE there's something to be said for influences and parallels (intentional or not) outside the series. I lean more heavily on FE4 for Three Houses specifically because that game was cited as an inspiration, but as much as IS loves to reuse characters and archetypes they're (almost) never recycled exactly as is.

[vintagegeekculture]

Who are the “Venoms Mob?”

Well, first things first: if you go to China and talk about the 5 Venoms, or the Venoms Mob, they’ll have absolutely no idea who you’re talking about there, because that’s a fandom-term among US Kung Fu cult movie fans.

In Hong Kong, the Venoms are known as director Chang Cheh’s Weapons Expert Troupe, a group of five lifelong friends, martial artists, bodybuilders, exotic weapons experts, and trained acrobats who did at least a dozen movies for manly man Kung Fu director Chang Cheh in the 1970s and 1980s. They were the real deal: they usually choreographed their own fight scenes, which often involved flips and crazy stunts due to their acrobat training, high-wire acts, and unusual and exotic weaponry not typically seen even in martial arts movies. It’s like every single one of them drank the Captain America potion. Their films tended to end in heroic sacrifices, and the Venoms, for all their athleticism and daring, tended to be identifiable people on the bottom end of the societal ladder: homeless drifters, refugees, itinerant hobos, traveling performers, or restaurant workers.

The Venoms were stars in the US, particularly among the black community who love Chinese martial arts movies, not just because of their truly breathtaking skill and choreography, but because they are how most people feel they are, secretly, deep down: rams among sheep. They are the poor, downtrodden, or average person who decides “not to take it anymore” after untold indignities. This is also why the Venoms are especially important to the black community. In fact, if you want to know how much the Venoms mean to their fans, just go up to nearly any Black Dad over 45+ and ask about the “5 Venoms.” 

Chang Cheh, Director of the Venoms

The best way to describe the director and writer of the Venoms films, Chang Cheh is that he is basically Mac from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia if he decided to make Gladiator and loved Sergio Leone and Kurasawa.

The director and writer of the Venoms movies, and maybe the most significant name in the history of Kung Fu cinema apart from Bruce Lee, Chang Cheh was towering enough that Quentin Tarantino dedicated Kill Bill Part 2 to Chang Cheh in the closing credits. It would not be inaccurate to say he invented the Kung Fu movie as we know it, with its training montages, mentor-student relationships, all cut with themes of vengeance, noble self-sacrifice, and rebellion of poor and ordinary people against unjust authority.

Chang Cheh’s life story is fascinating. His father was a warlord during the Republican Era between the World Wars, which must have made for an interesting school career day. He started as a film critic and became a screenwriter, then from being a screenwriter, became a director. I wonder if that is the reason that Chang Cheh was so fascinated by themes of masculinity and male bonding, as the arty, openly gay movie critic son of a central Asian warlord had a nearly impossible standard of masculinity to live up to.

The two Western movies that are, thematically, the closest to Chang Cheh are Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan, and if you like both of those movies, you’ll probably like him. His heroes are often James Dean-like angry young men, poor and at the outskirts of society. His movies tend to end in heroic self-sacrifice for a noble cause, and tend to have themes of vengeance, arty blood red slaughter, and a distrust of authority and government of any kind. He loves bloodshed and thinks violence is beautiful; an image that comes up often is someone in an all white outfit that gets covered in blood, an arty view of violence similar to his two biggest influences, Sergio Leone and Kurosawa. Like the Shawshank Redemption, Chang Cheh movies are essentially ensemble pieces about the friendships and close comradely bonds of brotherhood between men. Very few women of any kind have extensive speaking parts in his movies.

Another movie that also summarizes Chang Cheh would be 300. Remember that Sarah Silverman bit where she said that “300 is the answer to the question, how gay is this movie on a scale of 1 to 10?” Not just because it is about an entirely male cast, or about finding fulfillment in noble self-sacrifice and heroism Alamo-style against desperate odds, but also because it’s about glorifying the male body, with tons of abs and pecs. I suppose I should mention here that Chang Cheh’s movies are profoundly homoerotic, and discussion of their homoeroticism is the major way film academics talk about these movies. How many scenes in Cheh’s movies are about dudes hanging out with their shirts off, flexing their muscles? Or about “brothers” who clasp each other on the shoulder while looking longingly into each other’s eyes in a shot-reverse shot? The only meaningful relationship in his movies are male ones. I dislike passing on cheap gossip, but by all accounts it’s actually an open secret in the Hong Kong film industry that Chang Cheh was homosexual and lived with other men. 

Yi Kuang -Screenwriter of the Venoms

The screenwriter of nearly all the Venoms movies, much like Chang Cheh, Yi Kuang had an interesting life. He was a Communist Party officer who went to Inner Mongolia, where his primary job was writing death sentences for landlords. Once idealistic, he left disillusioned with the Chinese Communist Party, and a remained a die-hard anticommunist. Evil bureaucrats tend to show up in his stories often for that reason, and a common theme of his scripts is the anger of ordinary people against distant, unapproachable authorities. There’s no understanding Venoms films without their screenwriter. Chang Cheh started as a screenwriter and wrote his movies, but Yi Kuang was his most frequent partner.

Interestingly, Yi Kuang got famous long after for writing a series of supernatural and horror novels called the Mr. Wisely books, where a traditional Chinese medicine expert fights for sites of power charged with Feng Shui. It’s interesting to see his turn to the supernatural, sorcery, and ghosts as an overreaction to his distaste for Marxist materialism. Of all the Venoms films, the one that shows his influence the strongest was the one the Venoms fight an evil human sacrifice devil cult, Masked Avengers. 

The Hero – Kuo Chui

A guy with a big smile and a body carved out of marble, Kuo Chui started as a circus acrobat before becoming a stuntman and then a leading actor. He was the Venom with the strongest and most natural screen presence, the one that was the most “movie star.” In fact, he was almost always the hero and central character of Venoms movies, usually playing the most levelheaded and strategic minded of the group.

Kuo Chui deserves some credit also for being the one Venom to actually direct a movie himself, Ninja in the Deadly Trap. This sounds like a heck of a leap, but in Hong Kong, nearly all choreographers also direct their fight scenes. It’s no surprise that a common career path in Hong Kong cinema is to go from choreographer to director (see also Chang Cheh’s ex-choreographers, Tang Chia and 36 Chambers director Liu Chia Liang)

 The Bad Guy – Lu Feng

Every single movie, Lu Feng was the heel, the bad guy. I mean, heck, in Shaolin Rescuers, he even played the evil apprentice of the supreme supervillain of the martial arts, Pai Mei! But no matter what, Lu Feng was just so cool that you couldn’t help but root for him just a little bit. He was a character type common in pro wrestling: the arrogant “cool heel,” like Rick Flair and the Horsemen. 

The Venoms tended to be workaday regular poor guys, but Lu Feng usually played a rich guy who oozed arrogance and menace, rather like the evil rich football player heel in college movies. 

 The Funny Guy – Chiang Sheng

A guy who usually played the funny young hero or a wisecracking comedy sidekick prone to wiseassery and pratfalls, Chiang Peng was the Venom who most benefited from the rise of Jackie Chan, and his introduction of silent film era inspired physical comedy into the otherwise stale Kung Fu film. Like Robin Williams, Chiang Shiang was someone who made everyone else laugh, but because he had a lot of darkness inside him, which ended up killing him. Chiang Sheng is the only Venom to not be with us, he drank himself to death after his divorce in 1991. Because of this, there can never really be a full Venoms reunion.

One of the most amazing things about Hong Kong cinema in the 70s is that the actors tended to have scraggly teeth that aren’t perfect and that seemed to be Chang Shieng’s defining trait. To be clear, I am not in any way mocking him for having bad teeth. In fact, I think it is rather winsome and endearing, like a teenager with braces.

 The Tough Guy – Lo Meng

Known as the “Shaolin Hercules,” the person I’d compare Lo Meng to is Mr. Worf. Ultra-strong, humorless, intimidating, dead serious and never smiling, he was by far the most muscular and powerful of the Venoms, with tons of machismo and swagger, “big dick energy” as the kids say today. The camera tends to linger on his oiled up biceps and chest in extreme close-up…but was also, usually, the first to die in nearly all of these films. Much like how Worf was the toughest guy ever, but usually got beat up a lot so the writers could show that the situation was serious. In fact, Lo Meng, still in great shape, was in Ip Man 4, where, not one to break with a tradition, he was the first guy to get his ass beat in the film, even in a movie made in the Year of Our Lord 2020.

Lo Meng tends to be the “backup main hero” and was even the main character in films like 2 Champions of Shaolin. He had the most impressive “solo” film career apart from the other Venoms. Like Geri Halliwell, he left the Venoms to do his own thing, which is why the defining trait of the later Venom films is that he wasn’t there. 

Lo Meng wasn’t Taiwanese like the other Venoms, and was a native of Hong Kong. In fact, he got his start in the film industry not as a stuntman or muscleman, but as an accountant for the Shaw Brothers studios, and he lifted weights and did Praying Mantis Kung Fu as a hobby. That’s…that’s hilarious. Reminds me of that fake Simpsons movie, Undercover Nerd with Renier Wolfcastle:

 The Wild Card – Chun Shieng

Would YOU trust this man? I wouldn’t. He betrayed the Toad!

That’s Chun Shieng for you, the wild card Venom who could “go either way” and so wasn’t an entirely trustworthy ally.

Allow me to correct a misconception I’ve seen in a lot of places: Chun is sometimes known as “the one Korean Venom.” He isn’t Korean but Chinese, but he was trained in Korea and is a Tae Kwon Do expert, unlike the other Venoms, who studied Chinese Kung Fu and Peking Opera. And it certainly shows: he always fights with a kick-heavy Tae Kwon Do style that does not look much like any Kung Fu at all.