#i could have rbed stuff but uh no i know people go on and on about nothing being too old to interact with when it comes to fandom

[elisedonut]

I have this gif now

Not useful for much but i have it and i did not have to make it

in completely unrelated news I've now gone through every page of the Colin tag

[three--rings]

Ok, for no good reason really, except @weiixian asked in a tag on a post I RBed:

How gay is Hikaru no Go on a scale of 1-10?

(First, you may want to check out my rec post.)

I’m going to answer SPECIFICALLY for the Chinese drama, because it’s more relevant and I’m trying to get people to watch it, lol.  There are really good analyses of the anime, anyway.  (Mild Spoilers for the drama below.)

So, to borrow language from this essay on AniGay, Hikaru no Go has always been implicitly and metaphorically gay, rather than explicitly gay.  The anime fits in with other sorta classically shipped animes in that ‘WOW those two boys are REALLY obsessed with each other, huh?’ kinda way.

But with Hikago, it’s really not accidental.  You get the sense the people making it really understand what they’re doing. 

The same goes for the Cdrama, but even more so, I feel.  Now, it’s very on the downlow.  Someone could easily watch the drama and not notice the gay implications at all...at least until the last episode. 

The drama actually goes FURTHER than the anime or manga in making it hard to ignore the implications.  It’s still 100% deniable, because they’re friends and rivals!  But, uh, they’re sharing a bed and like Totally Married by the end?

HOWEVER, there are 34 episodes to get through before the gay stuff starts being REALLY obvious.  So if your ONLY reason for watching something is to watch obvious romance, it’s probably not the show for you.  (I’d recommend an explicitly BL drama.)

I do think the show is good, and engaging, though IMO it picks up as it goes and you have to get past the first few episodes to know if you’ll enjoy it.  The main actor doesn’t even appear until ep 3.  There are a lot of enjoyable side characters and emotions to be had that have absolutely nothing to do with the main ship. 

The drama of the Go matches and world is very compelling and you become super invested over time.  (Less so in the drama than the anime, tho.)  But really, there’s a reason this story has been adapted multiple times.  It’s very good.

There’s also the side-ship of Fang Xu/ Bai Cheun.  This also doesn’t really show it’s shippiness until the last couple of episodes, though they interact throughout.  This is a drama-only ship, btw.  Also Fang Xu is super attractive eyecandy, okay.  I just need to get that out there.

But overall it’s a coming of age story, in the context of a game, pursuing a dream, making choices, making friends, struggling, achieving, dealing with losses...the gay is basically a cherry on top? 

So it’s difficult to rate.  Do I think the show writers and actors are completely aware of the undertones and even play them up?  Yes.  Like by the end state how gay is it?  Like a 7 or 8?

But for most of its run?  Maybe a 3.  It’s hard to rate because it is so subtle.  Which honestly makes it perfect for a Chinese censorship environment.  Or the general anime market 20 years ago, tbh.

[ignitification]

is it that * account? Their takes are terrible😐 i read before that they said that young toya used his trauma as a psychological weapon against natsuo and i was like WHAT and also shit like dku's bullying wasn't a societal issue actually which uh again,What and this lady nagant bashing? It's almost misogynistic. like I get she wasn't referenced before and treated badly by/for the narrative but she absolutely was nuanced and nagant's takes on society weren't perfect but came from a jaded perspective of being used to brutally keep up the system. Which in the same vein, when was hawks referenced in the story before his intro? what has he really provided to the narrative other than being a cog in the system who upholds the system, pushes for the hero ranking system of having a symbol - and this one being a egoistic abuser - and kills for the system and doesn't have any particular remorse for it and believes the perpetrators of the system over its victims?

Hi, anon! To confirm your suspicions, yes. I do find some of their takes problematic and uncomfortable to read but I also used to like some of their stuff and sometimes I did agree with different statement they made. However, this said, the fact that a lot of people have been reducing the character of Lady Nagant to an appearance of nothing, with no personality and just a rebooted female version of Hawks, does not sit right with me. I honestly don’t remember anything about what they said about Touya/Natsuo (I don’t follow, and I just happen to see some posts when they get rbed in the feed or in the tags) nor about Izuku’s bullying so I’d have to take your word for it (I’m sorry, I really do not care enough to go look for any of these takes, I don’t think it’s worth my time). But as for the Lady Nagant thing, yeah I thoroughly agree with you. I think that the entire existence of her character is to give another dimension to the narrative (which other character couldn’t, so the argument of her being shallow really does not stand on its feet) and to have a positive (or negative, for that matter) impact on Izuku’s development as someone who tries to change the tide of things. I have talked in length about how I think Izuku will become the Greatest Hero exactly because of all he has been through and because he did not stop at the surface of the things (however faulty this statement might be, because while I do think Izuku is still far away from the character I’d like him to be, he still is trying to understand, giving a chance to himself to ask whether there is someone more to what his eyes can see, and that’s far more than any of other heroes have ever done). Lady Nagant therefore serves as both a confirmation and another perspective in the story that Izuku is trying to address/correct/understand - which has literally so little to do with Hawks, that I think the comparison is futile. She is a supernova, and she has been shining for a very short time - but brightly enough to actually pull at some strings for Mido. Which is, again, more than every other hero has ever done. No one actually stopped to tell him their story, and the fact that Izuku values heroes so much is only one of the factors why Lady Nagant’s story will have a huge influence on him and will resonate with Izuku. I really like her character, because she is blunt and honest, and to be honest she has (exactly as the other villains) more values than everyone else in the narrative. She has done bad things - and she has been punished for it. She recognised the need that maybe talking to the kid, instead of shooting him dead (like people are trying to assume, putting forward the argument of her career at the HPSC) or trying to weasel or lure him in, would probably be more effective. Also yeah, her view on society might not be perfect and her methods did not work, and she used to kill terrorists-to-be and all that yada yada, but she also wanted desperately out. She was smart enough to know that killing the President of the HPSC meant that her life was over and that anyways that would have not changed anything in terms of cogs of society, but she did something. She did not stand for the status quo anymore, and that’s where the beauty of her character comes in. Like Hawks, she was held in a cage where she could not refuse to be fed and she just went along with it, until she couldn’t and then she entirely decided to throw herself and everything she had worked for hard at the wind, to end up in Tartarus - but free of the Damocle sword that the HPSC and society norms held above her head. This is entirely opposite of how we are introduced to Hawks’ character, Just because he has been longer in the narrative, as you said, it does not hold true that his introduction was not out of nowhere. I was so confused when we hear Tokoyami having his internship with him and it is only then we discover who he is. Is it nowhere better than Lady Nagant, who is instead at least seen once before (chapter 296/297) with the Tartarus escape. I already however talked about all the faults that Hawks has, and the values he upholds (and the abuse he justifies) so I won’t be repeating myself, but that’s the downline of it. He had no active role in the down bringing of the HPSC (for reason I stated here, confuting once again of the posts of this same account, funnily enough), and he is still supportive of Endeavour, notwithstanding his own past and the detailed account of Dabi’s story (on here I also wrote so much lately, just scroll to see), which is still a memento that Hawks is part of the system, and he does not see himself capable of living without that same system (the system being society - and the comfort that the familiarity of Endeavour brings him). It is really pointless to compare the two character, who stand diametrically opposite on one another in the narrative. I also dislike the choice of Horikoshi that lets Hawks have his moments of saving Lady N’s fall, because it once again, shows how Hawks’ double standard heavily influence his own standard of life (which is worth for his identity of hero and spy, his relationship with Endeavour and Dabi, and him killing Twice and looking down on the League, while still talking affectionately about Lady N), and that is exactly why Hawks’ character fails to acknowledge his fault as his own. Since he is part of the system, his actions are part of the system too, no matter whether wrong or right. If the show (system) must go on, then he will make sure it will. 

[piplupod]

i fully agree that calling the cops on queer people isn't a great thing to threaten, but also as a minor i get their overall point. i feel that there should be some separation between pride = kink and pride = safe space for all ages. there should be places where younger queer people can go and feel welcome. and it makes me feel v weird to see a bunch of adults yelling at a minor for being uncomfy with kink in public? even if there are historical reasons for its presence, ppl can still b uncomfy

(the post in question)

HIGHKEY GLAD U SENT AN ASK ABOUT THIS TBH, i wanted to talk abt it/expand on it but im terrified of doing so on the post even in the tags bc ppl on here are fucking insane and will screenshot and post stuff out of context and then all of a sudden u get anons telling you to kill urself or smth so UH. yea. anyways. thank u for sending this in bc i wanted to talk abt it but didn't know if i should or not!!! <3

so first off i want to say that i agree with you!!! initially when i saw the post i was like >:/ but then i thought abt it and was like "well,,, wait. dont fuckin call the cops on ppl at pride lol" and rbed it bc i agree w "DONT CALL THE POLICE ON SOMEONE AT PRIDE HOLY SHIT"

i would love if pride could be minor-friendly all the time and luckily it often is. i've gone back and forth on this issue of having kink in pride over the last few years and i'm still not fully settled in one direction or the other bc its a VERY complex issue!

there are historical reasons for sure (that to be totally honest i need to do more research on but ch'boys just trying to stay alive rn shdgfjkl), and there are other reasons for it. personally, i only really get uncomfortable with people wearing kink gear/displaying nudity bc i dont know what to expect from them bc thats not a social norm i encounter ever.

i think maybe where i stand with this issue for now is that it's not going away and it's a big part of pride's history and many activists who got our rights to be where they are now were sex- and kink-positive, often leather enthusiasts. i think that pride is a complex celebration that has sexuality as a big part of it so we shouldn't necessarily censor it entirely (but i absolutely don't want anyone doing any sexual acts at pride lmfao that shit is nasty and you would need EVERYONE'S consent to witness that shdsfjkl). but wearing leather gear and even pup-gear isn't really an issue for me? i know i'm an adult now, but even as a teen i was kind of like [shrug] it's part of sexuality and a big gay subculture and it's not going to stop anytime soon. i just look away if i need to.

i do think it can be uncomfortable for minors but no one is having full sex in public, they're just wearing some funky outfits. this also overlaps for me personally with the whole issue of nudity and the human body being shamed. i think general pride should be at most PG-13 and then anything past that needs to go into private places where minors can either choose not to go into or not be allowed into. but thats ultimately up to the organizers unfortunately!

i don't know. it's very complicated, but the reason why i reblogged that post specifically was because holy shit don't call the cops on anyone at pride, especially since these are LGBT ppl - a minority group, even if they're wearing harnesses or puppy hoods and leashes. sorry for the ramble, my brain is not working very well with words lately :/ i hope this kind of made sense!

TL;DR i only reblogged it bc of the message of "WTF DONT CALL COPS ON PPL AT PRIDE" and i am not really sure what i think about kink at general Pride, its a complex issue that I haven't done enough thinking and research on.