#idk why i got stuck on the 4 panels for this week but

[jvnart]

Kakagai Week!

Hero

Kks: gai? GAI: In here!

Kks: feeling nostalgic? Gai: ha, I suppose.

Gai: I was just wondering-

Kks: -he knows gai: .. thank you, kakashi

[antiloreolympus]

4 Anti LO Asks

1. You know, if you apply to be a webtoons editor they put on the application you have to be ready to sometimes write episodes if the creator can't do it. it only makes me wonder, esp give how rachel constantly complains about how hard writing is and how bad her writing choices are, that the few times there are good character interactions or eps that it's just the editor's work being shown as rachel's own. tbh that's why i figure we even got minthe episodes, it was probably the editor's doing.

2. I honestly don’t understand Persephones and Hades relationship in LO at all.. she doesn’t mind being flirty with him when others are around, even flirting with him around Hera and Zeus and in the workplace (even in private at his office) and dancing with him in front of her friends, yet in some panels she acts so awkward around him. In the latest fast pass episode she just finger guns at him? And says bye? In some other episodes she just acts awkward and weird around him.. I honestly don’t understand... and the thing about their flirting is that it’s not the lustful and sexual one but a more intimate one? Idk if this makes sense but in my eyes they flirt more like a couple who is intimate and comfortable with each other rather than two people who just want to have sex with each other so they flirt to get each other horny.. and since they have a more intimate flirting theme going on why would they be so awkward around each other? The awkwardness could be justified by saying that they’ve only known each other for 2 weeks but then again that would mean that they wouldn’t flirt and be comfortable with each other like they are.

3. at the very least persephone not liking minthe makes sense, since she was just in a relationship with hades and they have reason to fight over him, but hera? didnt their affair end before persephone was even born? and hera is already married too? why would she care? you dont go through every partner's past romantic life and obsess over it when it holds no relevancy, that's not healthy. this is such unneeded drama when they should be getting together and forming a relationship by now, not this.

4. Just going off the trends of how women are treated in LO, I 100% expect it to be revealed Demeter was also r*ped, probably by Iasion to be a ~myth reference~, to explain why Demeter hates all men, doesn't like sex/had to create her daughter from clay/forced her to be a virgin, and why she's so overbearing to her daughter and as a two-for-one to "redeem" her so Persephone isn't stuck in an abusive home for half the year. Mark my words, it's going to happen, or i'll eat my shoe.

[thegempage]

i!! was tagged by @adventuresloane​ thank you very much my friend!!

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 (ish)* favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work!

so. hmm. this’ll be interesting ljfkdsa

i don’t. what did i even do in 2020

* i did nine things bcus two are words and one i just couldn’t help myself but link

(i’m gonna put this below a cut bcus it’s long and idk how to resize images)

(also if this has taught me one thing it’s that if you want to see my art you might do better following my twitter and deviant art as well as this blog bcus i post art sporadically everywhere lmao)

1. the first answer is BEHOLD, MY MAIN PROJECT (at least as of writing this post):

beyond the divide and into adventure is an original fantasy universe homestuck au centered around the beta kids + a few others that’s kind of just about having adventures but also about how the relationships we forge are important parts of understanding ourselves but also about saving the world (eventually) (it’s mostly the first two right now, we’ll get to the saving the world later)

i do art for it, i’m trying to update it more often, and hey there’s a discord!

2. i also!!! have almost completed a series on youtube for the first time and i’m counting it as art bcus i put a lot of work into it lmao

Let’s Play Hiveswap Friendsim (For The Third Time) is a let’s play designed not to show new people the game but to replicate playing a game with a friend(s)!! it’s got jokes, it’s got fun voice acting, it’s got reflection on the game itself and the writing, and sometimes i go on long tangents about lore bcus i got excited lol. the final episode comes out in a few weeks and i’m planning to do a few more let’s plays in this style!!

(i also sometimes bring in a guest and then the conversations just get even more fun)

3.

[image description: a drawing of an Imposter-sona from Among Us, who has taken the form of a chubby white person in the pink astronaut suit an a doctor’s outfit. The Imposter is wearing dark sunglasses and is arguing with a small, pink-suited robot who resembles a human girl with short hair. end description]

(see the full version here!! you can zoom in and see the details and stuff)

this is a doodle of my imposter sona jfkdaslf basically in this idea the Imposter is an alien who takes over the body of a person it’s killed (aka my crewmate-sona) and runs around in that body to complete its plans! it’s arguing with the robot bcus the robot is a helper specifically programmed to the original crewmate and has trouble understanding the Imposter!

4.

[image description: a sketch in pink pen of a crewmate-sona from Among Us, depicted as a chubby person with long hair and glasses wearing a docotor’s uniform over a pink suit. They’re standing one one leg and looking at a wire in confusion. A small, humanoid robot with short hair stands next to them and gives them directions. end description]

for comparison, here’s the crewmate!! i can’t link it bcus i never posted it anywhere but this is what they usually look like and an example of how the bot might help!!

and fuck it, here’s more homestuck art

5.

[image description: a drawing of two characters side by side, talking together and laughing, set against a background colored like the lesbian flag. The left figure is a chubby tiefling with gray skin and red horns; they have long red hair, a long tail with black puff at the end, and are wearing a blue robe over pajamas in various shades of red. The right figure is a Homestuck troll with a long, black to gold dyed mullet with shaved sides, curved horns, and a prosthetic arm; they’re wearing a blue outfit and have big, orange wings. They are both discussing axes and their respective romantic partners.  end description]

twitter / deviant art links!! this is The Heir/Guts (left), a future d&d character/fankid, and Clairre (right), my current and beloved d&d character and fan troll!! the Heir is actually a human but took on a tiefling form for d&d reasons and is the heir of blood, and Clairre is a knight of breath!! they’re both nb lesbians and i love them

6.

[image description: a drawing of Kanaya and Karkat from Homestuck, grown up and sitting on a bench together, labeled “wait for spouses to finish a meeting.” Kanaya is tall, with gray skin, tall orange horns, and short hair. She’s wearing a yellow dress and shoes and is sewing something. Karkat is shorter than Kanaya and is chubby, with short hair and short horns that have grown down across the sides of his face. He’s wearing a sweater that says “imagine there’s a crab here” and is looking at his phone with a bag in his lap. end description]

twitter link; this one is dumb and i literally just made it to make myself laugh and show off a dumb hc idea i had (link to image of the hc, but the basic idea is that mutants have fucked up horns). most people who see it think it’s gross lmao

7.

[image description: an image of Snowman from Homestuck imposed over a photo of a hallway that has been layered with a sepia effect. Snowman is a tall, thin black carapace woman wearing a long suit coat and a wide-brimmed hat with the image of an 8 ball on the front. She’s smoking from a long pipe and saying, “Do you know what makes the perfect disease, Karkat? I’ll tell you.” On the floor is a word in an alien language with a long pink tail, which translates to “rat.” end description.]

twitter / deviantart link

so this!!! this is fanart for someone else’s fic for once jklfadskl this is a scene from Alternate Universe, a homestuck college/fantasy au that you should definitely check out bcus it’s 11/10 and i adore it and trying to summarize it would probably spoil more than i want to. the journey it takes you on is so fun and this scene just! stuck out to me

8.

[image description: a digital drawing of June, a light brown skinned woman with long dark hair wearing a rose-patterned cropped hoodie, jeans, yellow shoes, and glasses, curled up into a ball. Wind, show in various shades of blue, is whipping around her and pulling her hair and hoodie up. She seems to be bracing against the wind. end description.]

this is just!! a little preview of something lol

i’m making a thing for beyond the divide and this little piece of a panel was cute so i clipped it on its own!!

9.

[image description: a digital painting of Barry Bluejeans, a white man with red hair and glasses, leaning on the ground as if he was struck, clutching his chest. He’s wearing a red robe over jeans and a white shirt. The world appears to be ending behind him, and he’s saying “Why do you tramble on our love?” end description.]

twitter link!! okay. so this was technically done in dec 2019 but i was reminded of its existence while looking for twitter links and it’s still one of my favorite fucking pieces of art

this is a reference to a video that no longer exists but in the hearts of the few who knew it while it was still live and i put way more work into it than i needed. if the line sounds weird it’s bcus it was originally in poorly translated japanese lmao

iiiii don’t know who to tag jkfldaslk if you get this far and you want to do this go ahead!! i’m just too nervous to tag anyone rip

[ziotsu]

time to write out literally all my thoughts as someone who can’t read Japanese!

I actually saw the first few pages when people were posting them because apparently the first half of the chapter comes out the second week? I didn’t post my thoughts cause I wanted to do them all at the same time

Page 1! Well this is fun, I absolutely love the expressions in this manga (I feel like me going on about the art in this manga is going to be a theme lol). But the subtle differences between how Ashiya looks and how he looks when Sakae is controlling him are amazing. And it isn’t just the eye color, but just everything with how Sakae acts and carries himself (face included) really is awesome. And it doesn’t feel like just slapping a new face on Ashiya’s body, I genuinely can see Ashiya making this expression when Sakae isn’t possessing him (if he wasn’t such a cinnamon roll). Also the shock on Abeno’s face is not something we see too often. He has his normal shocked face but this feels more raw than in the past? Like his eyes seem wider and the way his hair is makes it seem like he basically just did a double take. MMMMMMMMMM this is good shit. But story wise, I assume this page is just restating the fact that you really don’t wanna use influence on a parasitic shrub possessed demon.

Page 2 and 3! Abeno know’s what’s up, or at least it seems so. It would be more surprising if he didn’t tbh. Also I wonder if Sakae kind of knew this was going to happen? Considering he was trying to keep them away, I assume he did. At the very least he does not seem shocked at all to see Aoi like that at all. Speaking of Aoi, they are def trapped where they are at. That whole is well large enough for them to get through and attack them again, but they are still on the ground it seems. I am guessing it has to do with the tree we saw coming from their tail last chapter. They are still 110% mad though.

3-4! It looks like it isn’t just the trees that are keeping Aoi down, I thought the roots attaching the main body to the ground had been ripped up but it looks like there are some remaining. Sakae is as gentle as ever, yes just toss away his injured arm, great idea. Now Abeno is in even more pain. The wound though is really deep, looks like two large gashes, which Sakae actually starts to dress (rest in peace, kimono sleeve) (also while abeno is trying to get his arm out of the inner kimono (idk what is is called), we can see the medicine Abeno always carries around! I love the attention to detail in this manga)

5-6! Yup, page 5 doesn't do it justice, but page six really shows the extent of the damage one of the gashes did. Super nasty scar going to go there. We see some more of Aoi though, and do they chirp? Like what cats do? Cause murder cat looks super cute on page 5 and I don’t know how to feel about this.

They look like baby here and I want to protect them. Abeno seems to be bringing up the medicine, though I really don’t know what this would do to Aoi other than basically kill them. Which honestly, may be for the best? I know it’s a bit messed up, but it has been stated before that they are obviously past the point of getting them help, and leaving them there would be super dangerous.

7-8! I am making another assumption that Sakae doesn’t know what the medicine does. Which I have a current theory that the medicine is a new development for the underworld. (if such a medicine existed before Aoi left, why wouldn’t they use it on them?) Which would also mean that Sakae wouldn’t know about it either. My guess from the last pages seem to be correct as there is a panel showing Aoi burning, which seems pretty deathy to me. I honestly don’t know what they are going to do, though I think for now, they should be getting back, reporting the situation and getting help for themselves. Aoi seems really stuck here so I don’t think they are a direct threat to the underworld immediately. (Unless Aoi manages to escape the island and oh boy that would not be good) Abeno seems pretty determined, though, so regardless Aoi is most likely going to meet their actual end.

9-10! Aoi is starting to go to sleep here, Sakae seems really good at first aid (wonder where/why he learned that ;) Maybe a certain lady who often gets sick?) Not a whole lot happens, I think these are mostly showing the passage of time, and it seems Abeno is putting away the medicine for now. Which good move, my boy. Come back to take care of murder cat later. Also I wonder if all those trees are from Aoi’s parasitic shrub. That would be terrifying if that is the case. It could really show how long they have been there, trapped and going mad because of the shrub.

11-12! Good lord all of them are looking super cute this chapter. Sakae you can’t do this to me, just all your movements and facial expressions are justlasdkhjg;lakshjdg. Ashiya is cute in his own right, but this is a different type of cute. Why are all these characters like this and please don’t stop making all these characters like this. We get a good look at Aoi’s spine and it makes me sad (though also could give more insight to how the shrub basically takes over? Using the spinal cord to get to the brain seems like a good path to take if the shrub’s goal is to spread like any other parasite (which also makes sense with the going mad thing, kind of like rabies almost) I am glad Abeno’s arm is being supported and held still with what they had on hand. Still looks super painful though.

13-14! And they are out! At least out of the pit where they can really easily run if they need to. Sakae is starting to get tired, so I wonder how much longer he can go on? I hope he can stay awake long enough to get back to the mononokean because I highly doubt Abeno can carry an unconscious Ashiya back. He would most likely have to wait for Ashiya to wake back up before moving on and who knows how long that will take. Part of page 13 made me go back to see the last few pages, but it looks like Aoi’s front right paw is stuck in the ground :( good cause they are most likely really stuck there and probably wont be able to escape easy but it makes me sad to see the previous master of the mononokean in such a state.

15-16! Oof the tiredness is really showing in the first panel. Get out of there quick so you both can rest! I am guessing Abeno is asking about why Sakae said those things in the flower field.Like how Aoi is dead and such, and honestly did Sakae lie? Aoi, as they were in the past, is dead. They are completely over taken and do not recognize even the child they basically raised.

17-18! Oh boy Sakae is getting more and more tired, Abeno is asking about the golden butterfly and can you two just get going? Ya’ll have limited time here!!!!! Though I wonder if Sakae used his influence on one of the butterflies to communicate to Ashiya? it seems very similar? Or a butterfly made from pure influence? Which would explain how it disappeared when Ashiya grabbed it?

I am going to stop the page format because uh.... WHAT. First off Abeno was def asking about the influence/parasitic shrub thing that Sakae brought up. And WE ACTUALLY LEARN ABOUT IT NEXT CHAPTER. This is huge cause oml this feels like a rare moment. Normally mysteries like this linger for a few chapters, simmer and make us suffer. BUT WE GOT A NEW BRAND OF SUFFERING TODAY FOLKS! Like I theorized it a bit on why I didn’t think Aoi was the one Sakae used his influence on, due to thinking that Aoi being infected years before picking up Abeno seemed super dangerous and didn’t feel like something they would do. I DIDN’T KNOW YOU CAN USE INFLUENCE TO CURE THE PARASITIC SHRUB THOUGH! PAGE 22 IS SUFFERING! PAGE 22 HAS ALL THE ANSWERS! Like we now know what happened, or at least have enough facts to be able to piece it together! Aoi and Sakae went out for a job, either they find out that the demon is infected or know and are going to try to help them out. Aoi somehow gets infected by this demon and Sakae uses his influence to get rid of the growing infection only to die himself as the parasitic shrub is not meant to live in the human body. This explains why Aoi was so beat up over his death, because IT WAS THEIR FAULT. It explains why Sakae would use his influence on a demon that is infected, because it is Aoi, their employer and friend. He probably wasn’t meaning to die at all, just thinking that ‘hey let’s just get rid of this shrub from Aoi so they don’t die because they are an important part of the Underworld (though AU where Sakae can’t do this and has to become the next master of the mononokean ;) )

We also see the aftermath, it is almost like he becomes some form of demon himself, and actually looks infected with the shrub. I doubt it is the same sort of situation because he doesn’t become a tree? I am honestly unsure on how this affected him. He does go and meet his son a few months later, (wait or was that Aoi because between the two pages we see a sort of continuation with the hand on the left (aoi’s hand) but we also see the ‘veins’ of the shrub which hints towards Sakae? I like to think that Sakae visited baby Ashiya, so I am going to go with the assumption it is Sakae visiting till I am proven otherwise) and smol Ashiya is always cute. Ashiya does seem to ‘notice’ something? or he is just a baby and babies cry A LOT. We see Sakae ‘infect’ the butterfly he uses to communicate with Ashiya in the flower field. Wonder if he tried doing the same in the past with Abeno, only Abeno cannot hear his words.

ALSO GUYS I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF THERE NOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? Ashiya is now completely passed out, Abeno cannot carry him back and now they gotta just chill there till Ashiya wakes back up. I know it is awesome to have questions answered, but please. 

Though I guess somehow they managed cause Ashiya wakes up in what I can only assume is the Legeslator’s place? It is def not the mononokean (too large and im sure we would be hearing a bell the moment Ashiya woke up) but it could be Korou’s place. Not sure how Abeno managed, but he probably found a way to get them out of there. Rip golden eyes, though :( Guess they were just either the side effect to using that much influence or a hint that Sakae was just kind of hanging around in case shit hits the fan. 

There is incense burning, making a guess this is either a preventative measure against the shrub or something to help wake Ashiya up faster. Ashiya is alone and it seems he is shaken because of what Sakae explained (I am guessing it was similar to his dreams when he subconsciously used his influence and he was dreaming about Sakae’s past)

This chapter was amazing, answered so many things and saw enough cute to really counter balance the ‘what the actual fuck’ this chapter brought along with it.

[thedogsled]

I'm interested in hearing about the Merlin queerbaiting thing because I seem to remember someone saying that this homoerotic subtext was upped after the producers or writers or whoever had been asked whether the queer subtext was intentional or something like that.

tbh the likelihood is you probably heard this from me, but who knows. I think it’s clear to a lot of people in Merlin fandom either way, although maybe not everyone feels that way. I’m going to go riiiight back to the beginning, though, to the very first episode where I was coming off my last fandom (Harry Potter) and had nowhere else to go, and there was this awesome show on TV…

First of all I’m going to drop this here:

So this was my experience, back in 2008, when I got to go to MCM London. The show had been on maybe a few weeks at the time, and not much had been developed back then, but there was no doubt that they were writing the pair of them very well as a strong male/male friendship. Now the subtext was glorious, because as you can hear right here it wasn’t the intention of the writers to put any of it in there, and it came off so naturally as a strong set of bonds forming between two guys. Nobody was aware of it, and then bam there’s all this fanfiction being written. This was the first ever question these guys had been asked on a panel ever. We’re not talking like the pussyfooting into asking those kinds of questions like you see with SPN panels, these guys were fresh and green and had no idea what they were getting into, and the unequivocal downplay from the writer ‘No, this is a story about friendship’, well it should have stopped there. But as you hear the writer go on to say, as they laugh about the idea of people shipping Merthur at all, these sorts of heroes journeys do have a homoerotic subtext. He acknowledges that, but he’s also forthright in saying ‘no, that’s not what this is, end of story’.

So for me, that should have been what it is, i.e. it’s not queerbaiting because there’s absolutely no intention of going there, and they’ve made it clear. Unfortunately that’s not what happened, and the consequence is that it wasn’t made clear to the audience. Sure, that crowd at comic con of a few hundred people, but not the audience (also I’m disappointed there wasn’t more to that clip, because the writers (there was at least one other person, a woman there, backed and forthed briefly on the topic, “is that a thing?” or something like that, but it was ten years ago so I’m afraid I can’t remember exactly. By this time next year people were cosplaying Merlin, it had played in the USA and everything was really taking off, but that first season was in the can at this point, and consequently precious and innocent. The friendship between Arthur and Merlin was as untarnished as you could get, because the writers had no idea what they were doing, and the actors had no idea of what was coming across in those intimate moments, so that was perfect too. Seriously, that first season of Merlin is superb.

But now everyone is self conscious. They know they have this audience and they’ve been exposed to how loud it is, how superbly influential. The feeling of watching Merlin season 2 was therefore entirely different to watching season 1. Bradley and Colin carry themselves differently. The wording choices in the scenes become deliberately nudge nudge wink wink. The scenes themselves are more homoerotic because of this conglomeration of ideas and acting choices. Merlin talks about how he ‘feels’ about Arthur and there’s shitloads more shirtless scenes and long silences and held glances between Merlin and Arthur than Arthur and anyone else. 

I’m saying this as someone who didn’t fall for the queerbaiting, because I knew from that unequivocal “this is a profound friendship” declaration that they were never, ever going there, that Arthur was destined to get with Guinevere (that was the societal wall i.e. class, that he had to jump over) and they weren’t ever going to do anything but straight and hetereosexual on Saturday night on BBC1 (an opinion I changed for Sherlock but very quickly changed back when I saw the same tone and delivery grabbing for and successfully pulling in the audience who so desperately wanted to see what they were being teased at. Merlin and Sherlock really coincided at the sweet spot of queerbaiting (which incidentally is when Cas joins SPN, and coincides with the most queerbaiting seasons of SPN as well.) But I was at ground zero for Merlin, before shipping Merthur was cool, and you can betcha that the writer declaring that there were only straights here put a dead end to that before it could begin. Just imagine a writer saying something like that now. We track all the panels, we record everything. We’d tear them to pieces in a second flat.

The mood in S2 just changes. Here’s a bunch of clips from S2. I’ve stuck it on a late timestamp, but that’s only because that particular scene is a standout example: gay 4 comedy. By the middle of S3 filming, everyone is well briefed on the interest in the ship. The baiting gets really hard and comedic by season 4. I’ve jumped to some of the worst offending moments in this series of clips here. And remember Sherlock’s first season aired just before this, thus my accusations of a queerbaiting heyday. It was all getting into stride about this time, carte blanche to suck in queer viewers with no intention of following through and use ‘they might be gay’ both as an endless mockery, as in these Merlin clips, and as a way to add seriousness to some scenes. My memory of feeling mocked and ridiculed by Merlin is just so strong, and reviewing some of the episodes really nails that down for me. Having known where the writers come from, knowing the sentiment behind their approach to their queer audience…it drives me up the wall even right now.

So season 5 they pull it all together, and - spoilers - Arthur dies in Merlin’s arms, and there’s an unspoken I love you, and Merlin waits for centuries for the return of the Once and Future King. And this, coming back to the strongest part of the story in order to deliver the final emotional punch, the part that carried it through (the relationship which could be misconstrued between the main characters) and offering a flimsy not quite there delivery of yet more subtext (because you have to be in on the queer reading to see it), was a final spit in the eye. It’s why you’ll see a bunch of people in fandoms who are disgusted by the idea of a kiss in the last scene, they die together, or a subtextual drive off into the sunset ending, because it’s such a familiar and heart wrenching and aggravating cop out. It’s not even Thelma and Louise, you know? Because over years and years, you’ve been driven by this show, by what you’re seeing on screen, and your reward is a lacklustre nod in the last few seconds; what you’re there for you never get, and yet at the end of the day you’re supposed to be delighted they gave you even 50% certainty that your ship would end up together. Fuck you.

Merlin could easily have been read as not queerbaiting. That’s the thing. Some people will outright tell you that Sherlock is easily read as not queerbaiting too. Those people will also say ‘why is it that two guys can’t have a relationship without people thinking it’s romantic.’ Well, they can. They can. But I point you to the word ‘bromance’. These shows deliberately either take romantic storylines and apply them to those characters, or play up the gay for laughs. Especially at this sort of 2008-1016 sweet spot, pre The 100 drama, they absolutely did. They didn’t see the harm, and what they got back in return from fandom involvement and viewership and repeat viewing was absolute justification for those choices. Merlin benefits from it’s queer audience, but it also benefits from a storytelling perspective as having been intended as a heterosexual friends only story in the first place, and the first season (and season 3 largely, idk why) play out like that. That’s what lets it off the hook when people are looking for queerbaiting in the show, because it’s absolutely not from the get go. Like with Destiel it establishes naturally, both as a result of the story and because of the vibe the two main actors have with each other. 

Compare to Sherlock, which went for it right out of the gate “Is this a date?” and never backed down, applying the queerbaiting consistently until they were done as though I think to legitimatize the writing choice. “See, it wasn’t queer, that’s just how we wrote it, you’ve all got dirty minds.” That same show will be defended with ‘why can’t guys just be friends’, and implications that any suggestion of physical intimacy doesn’t make it gay and is harmful to guys in general. There may be some truth in that, but there is also truth in the use and manipulation of queer audiences, and there are plenty of touchy feely male/male relationships which aren’t queerbaiting; look at most buddy cop shows (I exclude due South from this), JD and Turk, McGee and DeNozzo, Esposito and Ryan. Well written brotherhood and friendship is out there which does not rely on one character waiting for another to come back from the dead for centuries, or casually delivering that Cas ∴ Cas

I’ve been going on for a while, but I’m going to just make one last swing for it before I conclude. Take in mind that original quote, then. Look at this article. The quotes here are notorious in Merlin fandom, of course, but even from an outsider they leave a bad taste in my mouth. 

“Murphy points to the moment where Arthur finally dies as what the entire series has been building towards. At the “just hold me,” Murphy justifies to a shocked McGrath that, “well, he’s dying, the man he loves is dying, so he’s holding him.””

Maybe it wasn’t queerbaiting to start with, but Merlin knew what it was doing. S1: “Merlin is about a friendship between Merlin and Arthur, and they do care about each other hugely, but um it’s not necessarily, you know, it isn’t a gay love story, no.” vs. S5: “I think you maybe just confirmed what a lot of people thought, and I’m glad that Julian could do it, because he’s probably the only one who could have gotten away with that commentary.”

I don’t know where Merlin fandom stands on this. I know there’s an undercurrent - because I’ve read it - that some people like the ending as it is because they don’t think that all love has to be shown in smooches. But that would be fine if it wasn’t raising a strawman to argue against (I see it a lot in these conversations). Nobody is even talking about kissing. A relationship of any shade which is confirmed and genuine is fine. But queerbaiting specifically is this kind of stringing people along by dancing around the suggestion of something, and then coming back to state that it was there all along, or worse still just go “Maybe~ If that’s the way you see it~”. Nobody is saying they have to bang it out in a clearing in order for it to be legitimized, but that’s a whole other level from ridiculing people who see it that way, playing it as a joke, or stringing those people along right to the very last gasp.

For sure, if you don’t think it was queerbaiting then that’s great, and I’m actually glad for you! I’m sure people disagree with me on a handful of things I’ve said here, but Merlin was a huge disappointment for me as a creative. I wanted to play in that universe, but the seed was planted that every hint of homoerotic subtext was targeting me, or making a mockery of me, and it poisoned that well from the get go. That I’m still harboring those feelings a decade later probably shapes the way I interact with canons now, but it also is an indication of how strongly I feel about Destiel that I can get over it; once burned twice shy usually applies; it harmed my viewing experience of Merlin, Sherlock, and Hannibal, and I won’t deny it affects me when I watch SPN (and some other shows) too. It’s part of why I think this show has such an opportunity to do something different. But there’s still that tugging part of me that insists that because this is a show nurtured in that sweet spot, I have no reason to believe it should do anything outside the norm. Perhaps the situation with The 100 doesn’t affect it, or maybe it will have learned from it? Some things, like the queer hires to the writers room, fill me with hope. But who knows? That’s unfortunately the state of the uneasy relationship I have with it, particularly as a queer person who wants to see those stories on TV. To tell the truth, this uncertainty and unease is the damage that queerbaiting causes in the long term, and we deserve better stories.

This got super duper long, so thanks for sticking with it.

[windycityparrot]

Does UV Light Really Help Produce Vitamin D3 in Birds?

Have you ever wished you could see the additional ultraviolet light spectrum that birds can? I've been a strong proponent of using light cycles to interrupt the circadian rhythms of our pet birds  I'm also fully convinced that no amount of artificial lighting over birdcage will help a bird produce vitamin D3 regardless of the lumens, quality of the ultraviolet spectrum emitted or the distance from the light source to the cage  editors note: Vitamin D3 is used by your bird's body to help assimilate calcium. Calcium is more important to hens who may go through egg laying cycles. The only way to know if your bird is deficient in calcium is by a blood panel work up through your avian vet. The lack of eggs is no guarantee you have a male as eggs can get stuck any number of ways in a birds reproductive system, especially in over weigh birds. You can have your bird surgically sexed by your vet or spend $18 for a DNA test kit The only way to know if your bird is over weight - is to weigh it - regularly. Regular weight checking is a front line defense against illness detection as rapid weight gains or losses may indicate a health problem not apparent by visual inspection of the bird https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eMEtQWDy7A I'm assuming every one of you reading these words has, will be getting or has had a pet bird at some point in their life. You may have interacted with a veterinarian or better yet a board certified avian veterinarian for well bird examinations or God forbid, an emergency  Scientists, ornithologists and researchers know unequivocally that sunlight cycles, moonlight cycles, ambient temperatures all impact every living organism's circadian rhythms - especially birds.  Notably because they can see areas of the light spectrum that few animals and organisms can see.  Controlled by circadian oscillations, circadian rhythm indicate to birds when to molt, when to breed and when to migrate. In humans circadian rhythms make us depressed during the shortened light cycle days of winter. These aren't hunches, these are facts.  How many veterinarians have asked any of you about  lighting and light cycles the suggesting the introduction of timed light cycles to help your bird keep an even keel hormonally?  Whenever I post and/or ask the question about why isn't a particular captive bird keeper whose bird is exhibiting hormonal behavior like prolific egg laying, using light to control this - it’s treated as heresy.  I've had Facebook fans reply that "I shouldn't believe everything you read on the Internet" a couple of injections of Lupron isn't going to hurt a bird. You know Lupron, the drug that’s caused things like teeth enamel delamination, fibromyalgia and broken bones more than 10,000 post pubescent women - 10 years after the treatment?  Yet avian veterinarians have been using Lupron off script for years  I've seen no research studies on either side of that question. I work closely with the folks at HARI who care for close to 500 birds with on-site avian veterinarians testing for efficacy of Hagen bird foods.  They work  closely with the veterinary school in Guelph Ontario Canada.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGGEkUBpZOA&t=7s Dr. Gregory Harrison the founder and producer of the only organic and non-GMO bird food manufactured today Harrisons bird food, recommends light cycle therapy on the Harrisons bird food website.  I've seen light cycle disruption work myself and for our customers. Why can't I get any avian veterinarians who endorse this? Why can't I get bird keepers in general to understand the birds are unlike all of the creatures. I can see how UV  can produce D3 fir reptiles who have exposed skin and sit motionless on a rock under the UV light for hours. Birds on the other hand tend to be more mobile. Birds need to obtain from the uropygial (preening) gland and as they preen residue from the feathers may come in contact with their skin. An what about Amazons? Amazons have no preening gland - fyi. From Wikipedia: The integumentary system is the organ system that protects the body from various kinds of damage, such as loss of water or abrasion from outside. The system comprises the skin and its appendages (including hair, scales, feathers, hooves, and nails). Vitamin D# deficiencies can result from low calcium levels If you have an egg producing hen but clutches are small and  egg quality is low your bird may be vitamin D3 deficient Bone fractures - Seizures - Overgrown beak - Splayed legs can be a  all be indicators of vitamin D3 deficiency. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msIjZZryufs African greys are susceptible to hypocalcaemia which may be the result ofa vitamin D deficiency not low calcium levels. It's best to address any vitamin deficiencies in pet birds with proper nutrition like Prime supplement from Hagen. Donna Replied  Hi Mitch, I am fairly new to reading your blog, so I hope I am not asking questions that are too redundant. I have three birds - a almost 4 year old male Bodini Amazon, a 2 year old male Blue-headed Pionus, and a fiesty little female Parrotlet. I have two questions really. First , I would like to know if what I am currently doing is adequate or not. My birds have their own room where their cages are. The room is furnished with a fountain, a tree, hanging toys, etc. - basically a parrot playground. There is only one overhead light in the room that is just an LED daylight bulb. They spend most of the day out of their cages in their room or in other rooms of the house with me on stands. So, that being said should I be making other lighting arrangements. I ask because you say to put the light above their cages, but I assume that is for birds that spend more time in their cages than mine? There is a bit of screaming on and off. There seems to be more lately for reasons I can't figure out? Idk is it's light related or not? My second question is about food. I wonder if you suggest something different than what I am doing? They eat Zupreem fruit pellets as their primary diet, but they also get fresh vegetables, and Higgins fruit and nut mixes fairly freely. I would love your opinion and suggestions for my flock. Thank you so much for your time! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg5smWl_SzA Hi Donna  - Thank you for writing Other than keeping the bird room from darkness the overhead bulb in the bird room doesn't bring much to the party. Having lights above the cages is only half the equation. A timer is essential to indicate to your birds when the day begins and ends. You may have a morning routine during the week when you come into the room every morning, turn on the bird room light and uncover the cages. But if you sleep in on the week end, even if the ceiling light was on a timer, the cages are probably covered. Birds don’t know what day it is but they can tell time more accurately than a Rolex. Having a consistent light source is one of the many signals the pineal gland signaling “well being” messages to our birds. We currently have a Senegal and 4 budgies - the budgies have their cage and Peaches has hers. The are in the same “space” but they can’t see each other when caged. The times go on and off at 7:20 am/pm respectively. When daylight savings time arrives - we will not respect it and the time will be 8:20 on/off for consistently. Peaches has bonded with me, she tolerates Catherine. Normally Catherine is up early and will uncover Peaches (and the Breakfast Club) when her light comes on. This morning she left for work early. I got up about 8, uncovered Peaches cage (now 40 minutes late opened the door, sought a step up as I always do - but got bit. I never get bit. I instantly knew it was Peaches communicating to me, her unhappiness at the delayed cage unveiling. I closed the cage door, came back in 10 minutes and she was happy to hop on my shoulder so we could embark on our morning chores. Which takes us to your screaming issue. Days are now once again getting longer which is very confusing to birds. I haven’t found a lot of information on cross (bird) species communication but this is an interesting article assuming the parrotlet is part of the conversation. When birds scream, they are communicating. Your zons might be saying “hey where’s the girls - we have urges” Is the screaming more pronounced in the bird room or when they out and about the house with you? Which now takes us to the food issue (all bird issues are intertwined) Before I get into food recommendations, how is food dispensed to your birds. Dishes filled with an unlimited supply of kibble in their cages and stands? Lack of enrichment can be a contributing factor The screaming could me “WE’RE BORED - WE ATE AND NOW GOT NUTTIN’ TO DO CEPT WATCH YOU” This is one of my favorite videos. Birds with a cages filled with endless food sources next to interactive toys where getting food is a difficult task. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgLd5nUR55Q To the food question. Zupreem adds sugar to its pellets for patibility making it very  popular with birds. I question how that sugar affects birds for the 6  hours it spends in their crop. Sugar has a low ph making it acidic - for 6 hours. I’d recommend either Hagen Tropimix Or Higgins Safflower gold Both blends have seeds fruits nuts and pellets providing more of an enrichment diet. Fresh vegetables, and Higgins fruit and nut could still be part of the diet. Just try to make it fun :-) written by mitch rezman approved by catherine tobsing your zygodactyl footnote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DteD7BpZIig   Click to Post