#it gives the same vibes as people who judge young gay people for being really open about their identity and wearing pride flags and stuff
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One time I suggested watching Dan and Phil Games to someone because I genuinely thought they would like it and they told me they wouldn't ever watch dnpg because they don't want to be "one of those gays."
The blatant homophobia in that sentence??? And that was clearly a jab at me?? Ugh.
Pls just let me live my life, thanks xxx
#i genuinely don't understand why some lgbt people feel the need to judge other queer people for just existing#it gives the same vibes as people who judge young gay people for being really open about their identity and wearing pride flags and stuff#just let people exist#so what if we're cringe?? it literally doesn't effect you.#I am so over people judging others based on stupid things like their interests#i would love to just exist for 5 seconds without someone making a comment about something i like.#dan and phil games#dnpg#dnp#dan and phil#daniel howell#danisnotonfire#phil lester#amazingphil
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Ranking The Incident's members from "normal-ish straightman" to "interesting weirdo (affectionate)" based on their personalities. I am sorry if you disagree, but I respect your opinions on this matter.
1. Shrimp. Despite her admittedly off-putting smile, she's also just a very kindhearted young girl with a love for music. Consistently seems to fill the role as a younger sibling for other members to defend. Shrimp just wants to make others happy and seems like a relatively normal shark girl idol.
2. Big Bill. Surprisingly, for a buff, humanoid duck, he actually seems pretty chill. Don't have much to say about him, so he gets this by default.
3. Orion. Probably the closest to the "traditional" heroic archetype, being a strong and devoted family man with plenty of skill as a swordsman. He loves his daughter, plays both classes to the best of his ability, and is probably the voice of reason a lot of the time. The only thing keeping him down a bit is his odd attempts at giving presents and seeing an immortal chef with a thousand-yard stare and massive eyebrows as the best pick for a partner.
4. Erica. In a way, I see her and Orion as two sides of the same coin, being dedicated warriors who changed classes with a strong urge to keep their team safe. However, her Season 2 development led to her throwing much of her caution to the wind, so her temper and violent streak knock her placement down a bit. Still, I definitely could see her being the type to call others on their crap and forcing herself back into the straightwoman role if really needed. Very much a case of "only functional by comparison."
5. Failboat. The man, the myth, the definitely (maybe) not a furry, he's... gone through a lot since the first season. While it's difficult to say where the creator ends and the character's personality begins, I personally see C!Fail as a pretty nice guy, just world-weary and desperate for a break after his experience of the world. (TBF, makes sense given his relationship with Chat). Also, any man who eats spaghetti with cat paws on cannot be labeled as normal.
6. Bo. Certainly not the most unhinged even after her vampire transformation, but her generally seeming on edge a lot of the time makes me feel she deserves this position. Honestly, I'd just say her position fluctuates as much as Failboat's and Erica's.
7. Friend. While we likely can't truly judge a maybe-divine entity with human norms, I do think them being fairly serene and forgiving, yet also casting Righteous Anger with zero hesitancy and a stone cold smile, can speak for itself.
8. Mar. While his stoicism and apathy towards the zany nature of his party do make him appear normal at first, I'd argue it also makes him nearly as unhinged as the two members below him. Except, instead of being the "blast the door off the hinges" unhinged, he's the "saw it down and let it fall over" kind of unhinged. An odd mix of blank mindedness, Italian plumber cosplay, and top-notch leadership. To quote one of the memes @gnomey22 posted, Mar is "queer as in gay, yes, but also queer as in really very peculiar." He sees recklessness but willingly chooses to just watch it happen.
9. Chi. This, THIS is a character that I feel like could actually break everything in her body, survive and get healed, and immediately repeat whatever it is she just did—either for science, her love of fire, or just because it's fun. Sometimes for her friends, yeah, but mostly one of the above things. She sees everything from gender norms and to the laws of chemistry and just goes, "Hmm... nah, not really up for that," and defies them openly and instantaneously. Honestly, though, I vibe with it. Can definitely see why a lot of people like her!
10. Chat. I mean, what did you expect? They're a loose cannon both literally and figuratively. They spread mayonnaise on Failboat's head when he was ill. Proclaimed their friendship with their team before firing them at the enemy. They're a bundle of untamed voices, like a nest of fire ants who lost a pheromone trail.
...Well, that took longer than I thought. Hope anyone who sees this enjoyed it, though!
#failboat miitopia#failtopia#the incident#failtopia erica#failtopia chi#failtopia bo#failtopia big bill#failtopia chat#failtopia mar#failboat#failtopia friend#failtopia orion#failtopia shrimp
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greysanon again and tysm for answering i love talking about this stupid show lmao
okay agree about s12 it’s actually my ideal end point for the show after s8 and the magmeldith (i love maggie—she’s over hated and all the hate is over shit other characters would easily get away with but they come down extra hard on the black woman for some reason🤨—and im a sister lady chief stan idc that it’s corny i loved how snarky and close and fun they were in this season) everyone finally moved on from the derek stuff and they’re all learning now to be okay again it’s so good and endearing🥺
yeah! simone is so adorable and kind! she even made lucas tolerable but he’s annoying af and drags her down. he needs to leave her alone and they need to write in a new guy for her that adores her. honestly wish lucas was leaving the show and not yasuda but greys loves to disappoint.
speaking of yasuda, why has the chemistry between her and jules been so good these last couple of eps lol like when they woke up together the energy was giving GAY lol. they should bang before she leaves for good honestly
same for amelia and beltran who finally acknowledged the thing between them. i still don’t see sparks but i was charmed by beltran this week (spoilers for ep8) and i loved that amelia asked her out. idk why she’s always attracted to these emotionally unavailable women (addison is my top 5 greys women but sorry to say ive never sparks between her and any of the other women except maybe callie? i just don’t get a femslash vibe from her at all she gives me super straight wasp vibes srry lmao but she’s super hot and brilliant) but it’s good drama when they put in the effort to write it. seems like she could be sappy but like in erica hahn way (another fave idc that she was mean and arrogant she was right and they wrote her off so stupidly) where she’s still kinda cold to everyone else but sweet with amelia and honestly that would work for me because i love that dynamic for women. imma need a kiss by the finale to really solidify my interest tho.
but yeah no this season is so bland the show itself has become so low stakes and formulaic it’s like they’re afraid to actually take it in a compelling and dynamic direction because they don’t wanna alienate their old ass fans in middle america but what about us young fun dykes lmao. what if we’re tired of weekly hetero complications like we wanna have fun too!
greys anon bestie!! hi <3
girl you are so right, Maggie get behind me 🤺 I really love Maggie and I do agree that a lot of the hate she gets is due to misogyny and racism, and she was kind of put in a shit position being "the other Lexie" by the writers. (I personally never minded the recycled half-sister storyline but Lexie was a precious babe so of course people are going to be territorial.) the thing, to me, about Maggie, is like. yeah. she's a little bit annoying. but we have to remember she's an ex gifted kid turned gifted adult, she went through puberty and like pretty much all major "age-related" (mental) changes surrounded by people much older than her and she was also bullied, plus she grew up an only child who was very much the center of her parents' lives. like, yeah, when a person like that grows up, she's gonna be a bit childish and self-centered (for the RECORD I can name at least ten characters who are way worse in that regard starting with the ugly little gnome George o'malley) (also Maggie is extremely emotionally intelligent when it comes to judging situations/dealing with conflict but due to everything in her life just not happening at the "average" time and being so focused on her studies she's just starting to develop an adult sense of "self-awareness" when we meet her - and that is OKAY). tldr Maggie is an angel and the minuscule amount of flaws she has just make her a real, three-dimensional, complex human being, and I wish people would get over the Lexie thing so they could appreciate this wonderfully written and played character.
same I loved sister lady chiefs so much!! I had genuine Amelia/meredith brain rot a few years back 🤭 when Amelia was curled up at the foot of Meredith's bed and then when they were at the table and Meredith reached out to pet Amelia's head - I have a lot of Thoughts about how much of a puppy Amelia is but I don't know if this is a safe space so I'll shut up now 😭
simone is good at many things but nothing and no one can make Lucas tolerable to me, every time he is on my screen it makes me want to kill myself. I wish he would leave and from a show writing standpoint I don't understand why yasuda is leaving. it just feels like everyone is coming and going as they please, couldn't they hire main characters who actually want to stay on the show for more than three seasons? because I'm sorry but what is this?
anyways yes in the very beginning I thought they would make yasuda and Jules a thing... I do think they would be good together in the time yasuda has left (in the show haha) but I found the storyline with her fight with Taryn very dissatisfying and just... meh, I guess. (but that could be said about any storyline at all of the past five seasons so)
okay enough of me being a hater!! I am a lover now. Love ❤️
okay I lied I still don't like Beltran and I want her to go away. I do agree with you that the badboy who's sweet to one (1) person in a lesbian dynamic is top tier, but regardless I do want kai to come back to Seattle and also their senses and for them to confess their love to Amelia. as an alternative I would settle for seeing addimelia scissor on national television. but that's beside the point.
anon have you watched private practice? if you like Addison, you should!! she's definitely a wasp but she is a lesbian i know it!! (source: delusion)
honestly I really wonder how their more conservative/republican fanbase feels about the general tone of the show now (I mean the hardcore alt-right people probably stopped watching a long time ago haha) because even though I'm anything but conservative I find it very disrespectful. I mean, you can't have every main character parroting one political standpoint (in ear-cancer inducing twitter lingo might I add) and the faceless "bad guys" saying the other. like with the roe v wade storyline - obviously I'm pro choice, but there could've been something way more interesting. instead of "bad guys throw brick at good guys" (Kwan). something to reach people on both sides and have an actual nuanced conversation - what if a woman who was a protester had gone to Addison for an abortion? for example
dude imagine if we were writers on the show... every character would be a dyke. Addison dyke, meredith dyke, Amelia bisexual(no one's perfect), NICOLE HERMAN!!! DYKE. Owen? dyke! you get it
thank you soo much for these anons they really make my day :'') as you can see I am a bit obsessed with grey's (I also write fanfic) so I'm super delighted to yap about it with you <33333 (but I promise I'm normal otherwise 😭 I go to school, I have friends, etc no basement dwelling going on here no ma'am 🫡)
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sexuality headcanons for the bau!!
hotch - this man screams bisexual to me and i dont even know why. he just gives off the vibe. i feel like he has a preference for women but still very much loves men. emily was the first person he came out to (gideon had known but he found out on accident when hotch forgot to change the pronouns while talking abt an ex) since he knew he could trust her with that sort of thing after she came out to the team. shortly after haley died he decided he was tired of hiding this part of himself and came out to the rest of the bau, starting w rossi and then telling reid, morgan, garcia and jj at the same time. they were all very supportive and garcia gave him a little bi pride flag for his desk :)
emily - gayest bitch in the whole show. this woman takes wlw simping to a whole new level w the yearning shes been doing for jj for the last decade. she came out to the team very randomly while they were out at a bar. she slapped her hand on the table and said loudly, “id just like u all to know im a homosexual” and then walked out. everyone was kinda dumbfounded at first but obviously very supportive and happy she felt comfortable enough to tell them. she goes to pride every year and owns a lot of lesbian pride flags. morgan always laughs at her and teases her whenever he sees her obviously checking out someone and is happy he has someone to comfortably talk to abt girls. she gives the guys dating advice claiming shes “the master of dating women” even tho it took her over ten years to build up the courage to ask out jj. rossi finds this fact very funny
garcia - this woman is pan and u cannot tell me otherwise. fuck gender she loves everyone and is only interested in a persons amazing personality (since she prides herself on her ability to judge character) and how willing they are to flirt in public and how much they enjoy pda. garcia never really felt the need to come out assuming everyone just knew already but after emily came out she decided to keep a set of pride flags in her office and she has a pan flag on one of the walls plus an array of different pan themed things. one day rossi asked what the flag was for and she went in detail explaining different sexualities, flags and the significance. she finds the history super interesting and loves going to pride. she also wheres a little pan pride button on her shirts everyday because she thinks it looks nice :D
morgan - bisexual man. do i have to say any more? he never really came out but after seeing him flirt w enough guys while they were out everyone got the point. has a mini pride flag on his desk he got from garcia and a matching flag pin he wears on his shirts most days. he goes to pride w garcia and spencer every year
rossi - unlabled!! hes mostly had relationships w women but that doesnt mean exclusively. he likes men sometimes and has had relationships w them in the past but hes not quite sure which label fits him and thats okay!! hes never specifically stated his preference or sexuality to any of the others but they wouldnt be surprised if he got a bf, moreso surprised he got into a relationship at all
reid - biromantic demisexual!!! it took reid a long time to figure himself out, getting bullied a lot through school w various slurs thrown at him every day not helping. once he was in college he started to realize his attraction to both men and women and it scared him. he also felt like he was wrong for not wanting hookups or flings, he couldn’t understand the appeal. he pushed away a lot of his feelings, too scared of judgement from other people. that changed when he got to the bau tho, he had a family who loved and. supported him and he started to realize maybe it wasnt just him who felt this way. he ended up opening up to garcia after finding out shes pan and she lets him no they love him no matter what and theres nothing wrong w him. she helps him explore labels until he figures out which ones fit and gives him advice on coming out. he comes out to morgan first, hotch soon after, then emily, jj and rossi. they all are super supportive and loving ofc and reassure him that nothing can change their feelings towards him. theyre family.
jj - jj is bisexual!! she is obviously in love w emily but she also was in love w will for a long time. she never came out to the team officially but they all knew and she kept small bi pride things around her office. shes generally less of a gay mess than the rest of them but she definitely has her moments. she goes to pride every couple years w emily and sometimes hotch if they can convince him to tag along. she figured it out at a young age and never rlly doubted her feelings, just being happy w herself. she loves herself and her identity
#criminal minds#spencer reid#aaron hotchner#derek morgan#penelope garcia#emily prentiss#dave rossi#jj jareau#sexuality headcannons#headcanon#hc#none of the bau are straight and i stand by that#ignore me going a bit overboard#i wanna expand on the spencer headcanon tbh#i have so many thoughts#also i didnt add it in the post but morreid#and morcia#how abt morcied?#also jemily for the win
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some thoughts i have on the s2 promo stills
I think Ben is appearing either in a dream or to someone other than Klaus. The reason I believe this is the color composition for the shot and the framing. The Umbrella Academy is a dark show. Literally. And the season two promo pictures are no different from season one. Why the sudden departure from this? Promotional photos directly from the source (i.e. the production department) usually are not put through filters so this is how it will be shown in the show. So why the brightness? I think it’s either a dream or revelation (you know the cheesy trope where the sunlight streams in and someone finally pieces things together) or maybe it’s a vision that someone has of Ben. Contenders for this? No idea. But judging from the body that’s strung up on the ceiling (yeah, I didn’t forget that part) it could be Vanya. Or I could be totally wrong. Either way, the body does hint towards Klaus’ telekinesis, something he has in the comics that we have yet to see in the show (besides the suitcase debacle).
We know that Five is the last to be sent to the 60′s so if he’s stuck in a new time with no one around what does he do? Find a mannequin and make a new friend (or something more). Maybe what we are seeing is him about to home-wreck this bitch and steal little miss blue-dress here. Or maybe he’s looking back at a different character... the villains of this season perhaps? Or maybe The Handler makes a comeback? Either way, he looks cautious and if he is looking at someone less than savory then the set up we see could be set up to mock him rather than a harmless department store display.
The paper reads: “S.J.C.C. asks... Have you experienced DISCRIMINATION by your employeer?” Not much comes up in Google for a look into who S.J.C.C. could be but I personally am SYKED to see The Umbrella Academy hopefully tackle race issues. Especially at this time in the world, it could be what people need. Also a new hairstyle for Allison which I love. I personally hope Allison is thriving but this is the 60′s and even though The Civil Rights Act was signed in ‘64, there was no across-the-board stop of segregation at once. I hope for her sake she stays safe.
Again, we know that Five is the last one to arrive. Perhaps he gathers them all to this place to tell them about the newest apocalyptic event about to take place. But a barn? Not sure why. Everyone else is dressed in back, however, even Klaus which is very telling that something is wrong. Allison has lost the hair bump (she was probably just wearing it to fit in). Luther has a beard which is very telling as well because the only other time that we have seen him with one is when he woke up from his surgery (supposedly after a long period of time) so if it was in his control he would shave it off to be the good little soldier that dad made him. Maybe being stranded in Texas in the 60′s made him depressed like we saw towards the end of season one or maybe he just wants to live a little. Diego’s outfit looks very similar to his vigilante outfit in season one but with what looks like either shoulder pads or a hoodie. This could be one of two things: he is still a vigilante using his powers for good, or he works a job like construction or something similar judging by the cross-chest harness. And Vanya. Look’s like she’s wearing a suit jacket. Peak gay. No further comment.
GOOD GOD!!! What to say, what to say. As it’s been pointed out already by many other users, Ben. Is. Holding. Keys. That means he is corporeal and has a physical body. Whether this is for a short period of time like when he punches Klaus in season one or if this marks the beginning of a new era of Ben-filled The Umbrella Academy is unknown. Klaus is a fashion icon. That much we been knew. Although, his beard is longer than the promo pictures despite being in the same outfit. Longer than the picture above too. I’m excited for this scene regardless of what it is about, but if I had to guess: Klaus is motioning for Ben to give the keys to him. The car broke down. Klaus gets out and tries to fix it by popping the hood, only he knows nothing about cars. He gets angry and throws the keys. Ben catches them. Klaus is then irritated and asks for them back. That’s just my take. Klaus looks like he’s smiling but it could be the natural face a person makes when they are squinting from the sun (this is Texas and those are sunglasses (also water is wet)).
#justgirlythings. Vanya is the only one who seems uncomfortable, also where are Klaus’s shoes? If you look in the background it appears this isn’t a salon as you would guess on the first look but rather someone’s house. Maybe this is a way to time travel without Five? Or some other sci-fi device like the shoot that Cha-Cha and Hazel used in season one to get their orders. Either way, there is a lot more going on here than we know from first looking and I wouldn’t put it past anyone that this is an important still to remember and keep in mind.
Iron Man references aside (thank you Justin Min), look at her entire body posture and language. Clenched jaw, clenched fists, forehead straining, eyes closed but not clenched like the others, neck straining. Vanya appears to be in the middle of nowhere so maybe she’s testing her powers? Last time we saw her testing her powers it was in the middle of the woods with Leonard so maybe this will be a good parallel. What else to do in the 60′s when you’re stranded than to try out your superpowers that you just remembered a few days ago?
Vanya! Is! Happy! She is definitely smiling and looks genuinely more happy than she did with Leonard in any event. The blonde woman is Marin Ireland who plays a character “Sissy”. Variety and Netflix have stated that Sissy is "a fearless, no-nonsense mom from Texas who married young for all the wrong reasons". Maybe, and I’m just spit-balling here, she married young because of internalized and outward homophobia that is probably rampant in the 60′s and in Texas. She meets Vanya and the two begin a relationship. Friends? Lovers? More? Vanya’s right hand is either on a gear shift (manual transmission i.e. stick shift cars were much more common in the 60′s than now) or on Sissy’s knee. I like the idea of her resting her hand on Sissy’s thigh and smiling, maybe driving off on a new life together.
Like. The Gang’s all here, Scoob. Even Ben! Allison is talking, it seems so to have Ben in the shot is odd. Usually Ben only appears when Klaus is the main character of the shot or the scene since he can only see him. Except, maybe everyone can see him!! Klaus can summon Ben as seen in the season one finale so maybe he was able to do it for a longer amount of time. I personally really hope that we see more of Ben (which the stills lead me to believe) and that they will develop not only his character and backstory more but his powers as well. His power rivals only Vanya’s is sheer amount of destruction it can cause. The room, however, where they all are looks unassuming. It could be where Five has taken up a residence, could be a house of one of the other siblings (we know that some of them did in fact settle down and start lives in Texas), or maybe it’s just a safe place to meet as a team. Either way I am psyched!
It’s safe to assume that these are the assassins. Whether they are with the organization that The Handler was with is unclear. What is clear is that I get Stranger Things vibes from these guys. It might be the white hair and dark, cloudy road. Either way, these guys are played by Tom Sinclair, Kris Holden-Ried, and Jason Bryden left to right and they play Oscar, Axel, and Otto respectively.
Diego, Diego, Diego. My son. Disregarding the long hair and beard completely because I refuse to acknowledge it at this point, here is my interpretation of the scene. This is a flashback in the same fashion that we had a Diego flashback in episode three of season one. That flashback had Grace helping Diego through a stutter and then in one camera motion showed current-day Diego sitting on his old bed. This could be the same kind of thing, with current-day Diego sitting where he past self was and watching a scene unfold around him. Why else would he be in his uniform? How could it fit? How could he be back in the mansion?
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That’s all I have to say about it for now but my ask box is OPEN for theories, possible explanations, or hypotheses on season two or any of the promotional stills. Time travel is messy. Let’s see what happens on July 31st.
#the umbrella academy#tua#tuaedit#netflix#netflixedit#i was not paid to do this lmao#mine#mine:headcanons#shows#rm#tua spoilers
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here’s a thought: if the show had been less cowardly and went forward with incorporating dan’s bisexuality from the novels into the show’s canon, how and when do you think it should have been done? what kind of storyline would you ideally want for him?
hi!! as you can imagine, i was delighted to receive an ask of this nature, and i started writing an answer for this, and then tumblr randomly shut its tab and ate it (biphobia!) so i’m trying again. uhh the short answer is that there was ample opportunity in canon – this post i made about dan dating everyone in the njbc, while sadly a joke, is based entirely on canon situations & dynamics.
[ more under the cut ]
that post i linked is quite a bit even as is but there are more things in canon that lend themselves to dan being bi which i didn’t think of while making that post, such as:
the thing with chuck, when he was trying to get that story in season 2. it was very fade to black, which means anything could have happened.
dan making nate’s character in inside gay!! like, this was played off as a ‘haha funny’ by everyone, but characters in inside are…. recognisable. blair realised dan loves her for her through an extract from the book. everyone in dan’s life was pissed off with him because they could recognise themselves in the book. why would dan even make nate gay? what purpose does that serve? is it heterosexual to look at your dude best friend and go “damn, i wish he was gay”? nope! (here's a little more on why i choose to interpret it this way, despite the whole nate & eric being one character fusion thing.)
remember that bit in s2 that all of us dairs keep yelling about, where dan gives blair advice on how to seduce chuck? why was blair taking dan’s help on how to get the guy?? what made dan a suitable candidate for this sort of seduction? what made serena – dan’s literal ex gf – suggest dan for this job? this makes so much more sense if he were bi, seriously.
him thinking of nate & serena having sex at the shepard wedding in graphic detail. i made this meme because, lmao, dan, what are you doing! but seriously – that didn’t feel very heterosexual to me, at all. i know the vibe was supposed to be ‘dan comparing himself to nate’ but the vibe was… not that, lmao.
things i would do beyond this / the direction i would get canon to take:
i think dan would know he liked boys as young as like, 13 or 14, but i think he would repress it and keep it to himself and not talk about it. vanessa would have her suspicions, possibly, but she would never bring it up.
i’ve written this in a fic or two before, but i headcanon dan’s first crush on someone in school to be on nate and not on serena. he meets serena at that party in ninth grade, but i’m assuming that he has classes with nate all the time at school, more than with serena simply because of the way constance/ st. jude is divided.
i think dan would have a lot of internalized biphobia to work through. i don’t think he would initially be happy or comfortable with knowing he likes boys, and he would try to ignore it. dan’s already very much a loner, ostracized by his peers, made to feel different and weird, and to him this would be one more thing that sets him apart from his classmates and makes him different from them.
so, given this, i think dan would be afraid of / highly uncomfortable with the possibility of becoming a stereotype. like “of course dan likes men, he likes to read poetry and watch romantic movies” or “of course dan likes men, he’s so well-informed on fashion” – i think dan would find that sort of thing uncomfortable and reductive, but in true dan humphrey fashion, i think he would be judging himself more than anybody else is.
this sounds so cliché, but i think dan having a gay arc in college would be best for him. esp given his popularity at NYU, i think that’d do wonders for his self-confidence in general – knowing that he’s found ‘his people’ and that people like his writing and like him, just for who he is.
he would kiss a boy at some party, and the world wouldn’t end, and the boy would give dan his number, and dan… would still be too shy to call but it’d be a life-changing moment of… oh. i can have relationships with boys and still be dan humphrey. this doesn’t change anything about me. okay.
once he’s had that revelation, of course, it gets a lot easier. i’d want dan to have his first serious boyfriend in college. probably not anybody he knows from high school, someone new – an olivia type of person, basically, but a man.
he could still end up with blair, or get to raise milo with nate – i like both nate & blair as potential romantic endgames for dan. blair gets him in a way that nobody else really does, which is fun to watch on the show and very sweet to envision for dan. at the same time, there’s an easiness to the way he is with nate, like, their friendship is so low-pressure and solid and i think that’d translate nicely into a relationship, despite lack of similar interests.
i would like dan to make queer friends at college! i would love that for him. i’d like him to have friends who drag him into gay bars, i’d like for vanessa to realise she’s bi in college (vanlivia always had better chemistry than danlivia, this is the hill i will die on), i’d like dan to finally get to a point where he’s comfortable enough with his sexuality that even if randoms go “of course he likes men, he likes poetry and he likes fashion” he’d just be like, “fuck off, i like men because i like men, not because of the other things,” and he would… not care what people said, basically.
there’s probably more, but this is all i have for now! bonus: here’s a margottenenbaum S3 au fic where instead of serena who has the affair with tripp, it’s dan who does that? it’s a really interesting fic – the dynamic is so different, and it’s in tripp pov, which is kind of a rarity, at least, from what i’ve seen.
if for some reason you want more thoughts from me on bisexual dan beyond this, here’s an iconic conversation @blairwaldorfisgay & i had which started out with nate x dan & somehow ended up at chuck x dan. to this day, i have No idea how that happened, lmao.
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Fav 2019 K-Dramas
2019 blessed us with many intriguing kdramas with unique stories, don’t you think? I’m bored during quarantine and decided to post this. Anyways, here are my favs:
1. Vagabond
There, this picture says it all: this drama is fast paced, SO intense, and on fire. I love every minute of it! Vagabond is different than another k-dramas. I’m not lying when I say this drama literally makes me cry and scream. Sometimes I even had to pause in the middle of episode just to catch my breath lol. The plot is so well written and full of unpredictable storylines (which is what I love the most about Vagabond–that every episode always has a way to surprises me). Although, many viewers disappointed with how they ended Vagabond with a cliffhanger. I, too, really hope they consider making the second season to satisfy our curiosities. But either way, I don’t regret watching this drama. Not at all. Because this drama is too amazing
2. When the Camellia Blooms
Unlike majority of romance k-dramas, this drama’s love story is centered around a young woman who raises her child on her own. I gotta say, this is one high quality k-drama. I could even judge it from its lovely opening video. Every episode always has meaningful messages behind it. The storylines are rich and presented in such a way that makes viewers immersed in the stories and emphatize with the characters. First, they make us understand Dongbaek’s dark past and her struggle as a single parent, then they make us emphatize with Dongbaek’s son who grow up without a dad figure. We also get to see the perspectives of her mom & Yong Sik (the lead guy)’s mom as mothers, the issues faced by side characters, and conflicts that arise from triangle love story. In addition, they also involved mistery of murderer in the stories! Can you believe how many of these can we swallow in one drama? One time this drama is heartbreaking, then it’s heartwarming, another time it gets super dark.
Also, what I find many viewers love from this drama is how Yong Sik cherishes Dongbaek and love her for what she is, which is why I concluded this drama is perfect for woman who feels insecure. Why? Because with the way Yong Sik endlessly convinces Dongbaek, he reminds us that every woman is good enough, deserves to feel loved and receive happiness. And I love him for that.
3. Her Private Life
There is a reason why people said this is the perfect kdrama for fangirl, since the story is told from the perspective of a die hard fan (Sung Deok Mi). Those who have experienced being fangirls know how well this drama represent fangirls’ life: what fangirls do, and how fangirling affects our lives. It’s all displayed in such fun atmosphere that it’d give you good feelings while watching it. Personally, I am attracted to its opening video. It’s really catchy and reflect the fun vibes of Her Private Life. I really recommend this drama if you want to lift your mood.
But on top of that, Sung Deok Mi’s relationship with Ryan Gold is the major part of why I highly appreciate this drama!! Their relationship is unlike any relationship I’ve ever seen before. They’re very mature, respect each others’ dreams and what each other loves, always resolve conflicts through discussion. They portray the definition of a healthy relationship and I really admire that.
4. Extraordinary You
The word extraordinary isn’t used in the title for no reasons. The storylines are, indeed, extraordinary. It is a mix of comedy, high school romance, star crossed soulmates, fantasy, mistery, comedy and a glimpse of stories in historical settings at the same time. Thus, it’s not exaggerating when fans said “you don’t have to look for specific dramas, you can get it all here”.
The actors & actresses’ acting skills are superb and we can find so many funny & relatable lines here. But one of the best things about Extraordinary You is they place the second leads in the center of spotlight! Finally nice second leads get the justice they deserve. They portrayed how lead guy who’s rude and feels entitled to have his crush doesn’t have the slightest chance of capturing the woman’s heart. Instead, the nice second leads who show respects and always put the woman’s desire before his own are what woman find attractive. I highly praise this drama for that.
5. Crash Landing on You
In 2019, we encounter many dramas with unique synopsis, including this one: a relationship between a North guy and a South woman. I have no doubt in Son Ye Jin and Hyun Bin’s chemistry since the beginning. Their incredible chemisty makes every romance scenes look even more sweet and pure and sometimes cute. Although I wasn’t really engaged with the first two episodes, the next episodes gets more appealing and satisfying. It’s nice to see the progress of both lead characters’ development and how they help each other overcome their issues. Aside from Se Ri (Son Ye Jin)’s relationship with Jeong Hyeok (Hyun Bin), her relationship with the North soldiers and neighboors at millitary village are pretty adorable. Their interaction always give me warm fuzzy feelings and they’re what I miss the most from this drama honestly.
6. One Spring Night
If you love Something in the Rain, I’m sure you’ll love this one too since both are the works from the same director. It has similiar atmospheres and similiar soundtracks vibes (both have really beautiful soundtracks by the way). Like Dongbaek from When the Camellia Blooms, the lead guy in this drama (Yoo Ji Ho) is also a single parent. I agree with fans saying this isn’t the kind of drama for everyone. This is more like slice of life and they aren’t in a rush to throw in conflicts as well as its resolution and I love it that way. Through this, they made it possible for us to process our emotions while the conflicts are presented.
The stories are also realistic: the issue experienced by the lead guy as a single parent, issue that’s arised from triangle love story, how pride and status mean for men, also a glimpse of abusive relationship, and the heartwarming sisterhood. And if we look closely, we could see how they tried to portray the influence of culture in the family and in the way they resolve a conflict.
7. Catch the Ghost
I thought the ghost from the title refers to an actual ghost but thank god it’s not. Here, ghost is a nickname for a criminal–the villain of the drama. Even when the story centered around the same villain from the firat until the last eps, but I wasn’t bored at all watching this. In fact, it is what made me engage with the stories and made me continue watching the next eps although I had assignments to do 😅. It’s just so, so exciting to watch. The stories are dark, sad, but funny at times. However, some viewers (including me) found the lead woman (Yoo Reung) annoying at first because of her selfishness. But I promise it’s still worth to watch because in the later eps, you’ll understand why she is the way she is which makes it easier to tolerate and even emphatize with her. She’s actually lovable, and her relationship with the lead guy (Ko Ji Seok) is really cute! In fact, Ko Ji Seok is one of my fav characters in kdrama land!
8. Class of Lies
You know, I always love kdramas with unpredictable storylines. Just like what this drama has. I know the settings are set in high school but it is waaay too dark for a high school story. You can even see it from the picture that it has gloomy vibes. I thought it’s the typical high school kdrama about bullies or corruption but it’s truly exceeds my expectation. From the first episode, I already saw the potential of this drama and already hooked with the misteries. I felt so tense throughout watching the entire drama. I kept clicking the next eps to find out if things are getting better and if there is any clue to the misteries here. But I swear everytime I thought I figure something out, this drama always has surprises to give. So brilliant. I stan.
9. At Eighteen
We could tell from the title that this drama must be related to the dynamic life of 18 years old teenagers. Considering this is the age where we explore ourselves, this drama portrayed how different teens could have different issues to face: trying to fit in at school, stand up against bullies, trying to be in top tier at school, trying to get good grades whether it’s to get into reputable colleges or to meet parents’ high expectation, trying to experience romance, AND exploring sexual orientation (actually this is the first kdrama i’ve watched that portrayed gay issues so I was like wow??). So, the stories aren’t only focused on the main characters, but the side characters too. Though I really adore the main guy in this drama: Choi Jun Woo. I even made an essay about why I think he’s an ideal guy lol. If you’re interested, here you go
Not only does this drama describe the issues faced by 18 yo students, but also the struggles faced by the teacher. It shows us how teachers can feel nervous too whenever he’s about to teach or deal with the students, how certain teachers care about the wellbeings of their students, not just care about their grades. I appreciate that from the drama, really, I do. This drama is calm, heartwarming, and meaningful.
10. Love Alarm
Tried to watch it because of Kim So Hyun, and I quickly got invested in the stories. I like the futuristic theme in this drama. The idea of a Love Alarm app itself is already interesting. Moreover, So Hyun has good chemistry with both guys. Though I don’t find both lead and second lead guys as my best type of guys, but I couldn’t stop watching it and I don’t regret watching it. Their lovestories are bittersweet which kept me looking forward for more. The last episode ended in cliffhanger though, typical Netflix series. If you don’t like uncertainty and want to watch this drama, I suggest you to wait until season 2 is released (yes, they announced there will be a season 2).
k-drama recommendation: 2/?
#fav kdramas#fav 2019 kdramas#kdrama recommendations#vagabond#when the camellia blooms#her private life#extraordinary you#july found by chance#crash landing on you#catch the ghost#at eighteen#moments at eighteen#class of lies#love alarm#kdramas#korean drama#k-drama#touch your heart#one spring night
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( 001. the young pope/the new pope || 002. lenny/brannox || 003. sir john brannox ) && ( 001. space force || 002. malloraird || 003. dr adrian mallory ) && ( 004. the new pope/space force )
just for the heck of it, and because i’m greedy ☺️
fandom ask
man wth that's a lot... 😂😂😂
Okay, off we go~
001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my: + The Young Pope/The New Pope
Favorite character:
Sir John Brannox, because I love the emo pope. He's got so many issues, and he's lovable for it.
Least Favorite character:
Um... I guess I don't know. I don't want to offend anyone.
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):
I only have 2-- Sofia Dubois/Sir John Brannox and Lenny Belardo/Sir John Brannox. Judge me if you must *shrugs*
Character I find most attractive:
Lenny and Brannox gotta fight over that one. I like how both of them look.
Character I would marry:
My hand in marriage is saved for Trench, exclusively, and he's not even a character in the show. Sorry. 🤠
Character I would be best friends with:
Gutiérrez but that's cuz he's a nice man and stuff. The dude would be swept away by me doing bs and just end up enduring it, not because he likes me. Let's be real. Nobody in the show would like me enough to befriend me! Unless I somehow weasel my way to Brannox, and we bond over being sad bastards but I don't think I have the energy to deal with his moping...
a random thought:
I feel like Adam's grave fucked up the timeline, nothing adds up. I'm sorry, but how old is Brannox supposed to be?? I am confused.
An unpopular opinion:
I don't obsess with some characters the rest of the fandom seems to, so I guess that's my unpopular opinion.
my canon OTP:
Sofia Dubois/Sir John Brannox
Non-canon OTP:
Lenny Belardo/Sir John Brannox, because imagine how fun that'd be!
most badass character:
Fck, I feel it's Lenny in The Young Pope. He's just out there destroying things.
pairing I am not a fan of:
I don't desire to put a bullseye on my back.
character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):
Hmm, I feel like Adam is an easy pick cuz for real, they did fuck up the timeline with him.
favourite friendship:
Lenny and Gutiérrez
character I want to adopt or be adopted by:
Nobody!! AH, that would screw me up big time.
002 | send me a ship and I will tell you: + Lenny/Brannox
when of if I started shipping it.
Like love at first sight, I fell for that shit since I saw them doing the world's most awkward prom picture. I mean, look at it:
And then I was pissed off... I watched the whole season and while I enjoyed it, I didn't get nearly enough interactions! But what I got, I treasure... Even if it probably tricks you into thinking this ship's dynamic is different than what I actually headcanon for them.
my thoughts:
Lenny would fuck up Brannox so badly. Then probably feel guilty about it to some extent, and try to do something about his incredibly low self-esteem. :) This is the only sfw thought I have.
What makes me happy about them:
:)) wouldn't you like to know.
I love, love, love the energy they would have, ok!? Imagine, the constant contrast of Lenny and Brannox! Just...imagine.
What makes me sad about them:
Lenny's dead. :((
Also, Brannox has no self-esteem. :(
things done in fanfic that annoys me:
IF there was fanfic of them, which there is none of, I checked-- I would be annoyed if somebody thought Brannox had any power to hold over Lenny. Also, IF there was fanfic, I would not hesitate to read it even if it was garbage, but there's none.
things I look for in fanfic:
Actually existing fanfic. There's none. I gotta write that shit myself, and I'm trying, but it's hard!
My kinks:
:)) I can't. I'll get shadowbanned. Lenny fucks him up, let's just say.
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:
Sofia with Brannox, death with Lenny, I guess?? I'm quite happy how the show ended, but I've never been one to want my ships to be canon, most of the time.
My happily ever after for them:
They quit the clergy, I guess, and Lenny lives with Brannox in the estate and they slip into an awkward but working relationship? Brannox gets over his problems and so does Lenny.
003 | Give me a character & I will tell you + Sir John Brannox.
How I feel about this character:
I feel I got into it before, but I love him.
All the people I ship romantically with this character:
Ah, this is a repeat. Sofia and Lenny, both in their own verses, never together at the same time.
My non-romantic OTP for this character:
....Happiness/Brannox.
My unpopular opinion about this character:
Not in the mood to put a bullseye on myself~
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:
We got to see him interact more with ghost!Lenny. Like the scene at Adam's grave, just replay it 100x more.
my het ship:
Sofia and him.
my fem/slash ship:
Lenny and him.
my OTP:
Lenny/Brannox. But that might be cuz I love suffering and pissing people off.
my OT3:
None~
my cross over ship:
None???
my kink:
He has a praise kink.Probably cries during it, too.
a head cannon fact:
*gently puts a hand on Brannox's head* This bastard can fit so many obsessive thoughts in himself!
Also, sorry tumblr user sirjohnbrannox, I am stealing all your headcanons about him.
His parents probably mainly hated him cuz he was a non-straight punk, then started drugs to deal with his problems, and genuinely I feel like he's a little bit...how do I put this, not stable cuz of that. Adam was a perfect son, John meanwhile ended up traumatized and soft and scared. He has no self-esteem cuz his parents fucking sucked and played favorites!! And also probably blamed him for Adam’s death, I guess. Fuck Brannox's parents!! I don't want to see them!!
my gender bend:
I don't have one, cuz I don't like them~
&&
001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my: + Space Force
Favorite character:
Dr. Adrian Mallory, duh.
Least Favorite character:
RIP in PEPPERONI, KICK !! I HOPE YOU DIE.
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):
I literally only have one ship, Adrian/Mark.
Character I find most attractive:
In this episode of Dickie sets up ridiculous fights: Adrian Mallory vs Mark Naird. For whoever of the two, I actually find most attractive. Because I don't know, but boys are good.
Character I would marry:
HHHHH no
Character I would be best friends with:
Adrian, but only because we're both could be judgemental af... together!
a random thought:
Man, I hope they didn't make Malk shave for season 2. I'd hate that.
An unpopular opinion:
I don't care that much for Fuck Tony, I'm sorry. He's fine, I just-- don't really see the appeal of him. Maybe, just maybe, I'm too much into old men.
my canon OTP:
I...no? IDK!? Ali/Chan is cute, I guess and they're canon.
Non-canon OTP:
Adrian/Mark, which probably will never be actually canon and we'll keep getting ship baited.RIP. Good that I don't care about my ships being canon all that much.
most badass character:
???? IN SPACE FORCE????
pairing I am not a fan of:
I do not care for Ch*ntony. RIP. Not a NOTP but I just don't see it.
character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):
Erin Naird. I understand where's she's coming from, but my god.... they really wrote it poorly.
favourite friendship:
Mark and Adrian in the canon lense I guess.
character I want to adopt or be adopted by:
Nope.
002 | send me a ship and I will tell you: + Malloraird
when of if I started shipping it.
When tumblr user sirjohnbrannox didn't shut up about it.
my thoughts:
It's cute, but my kinky hands will continue rubbing off on it.
What makes me happy about them:
Adrian being head over heels for a dense fool.
What makes me sad about them:
Nothing, cuz there's nothing sad in the show? Or at least nothing I am emotionally invested into enough to actually be upset about?
things done in fanfic that annoys me:
Y'all really think Adrian is vanilla? Y'all really think Adrian is anything but a brat?
things I look for in fanfic:
I am interested in a plot, that has a build-up for these two. So...my fic, In Need, which I am still working on. Cuz I literally stopped after my life fell apart and I couldn't handle the daunting comments. Anyways as I was saying. In Need-- except make it good.
My kinks:
:)) I don't want to get shadowbanned but Adrian is not vanilla, let's just say.
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:
Just keep Mark with his wife, I don't care. Adrian, anyone but Jerome. It was painful to witness Jerome. I'm sorry, but how do you write Adrian-- a fairly not too stereotypical gay man? And then write him to be with somebody like Jerome, which just comes off as "oh shit we need a character for this and we didn't establish anyone!"
Also-- Jerome/Adrian is, unfortunately, canon-- why does the wiki make it creepy and one-sided?!!?
My happily ever after for them:
Maggie gets out of prison, runs off with her guard lover (which I'm actually fairly certain will happen), and Mark slowly enters a relationship with Adrian which actually results in both of them widening their views on things and getting along.
003 | Give me a character & I will tell you + Dr Adrian Mallory
How I feel about this character:
He's pretty cool. Fun.
All the people I ship romantically with this character:
I literally only ship him with Mark, cuz Jerome gives me the worst vibes that make me actively partake in Jerome erasure.
My non-romantic OTP for this character:
404 BrOTP not found.
My unpopular opinion about this character:
The man's a brat.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:
I wish he would have sung that song about Mark, and it would have actually been one side and nobody would have figured it out (so no photo kissing at the end) lmao cuz that'd -- now that'd be cursed and fun. >:3c
my het ship:
He's canonically gay so none. Unless season 2 decides to make him bisexual, this will continue.
my fem/slash ship:
Him with Mark.
my OTP:
Him and Mark. God, doing these memes is getting repetitve.
my OT3:
None.
my cross over ship:
Lmao none. I mean, c'mon I don't even like crossovers 99% of the time.
my kink:
:DD are you trying to get me shadowbanned, bud.
a head cannon fact:
I have none that I can share here, or at least none springing to mind... but can we all agree that people saying Adrian is a spy or he has intentions for Space Force's downfall, is so funny, because it's literally not that deep. He's just gay and in love with Mark, how much do the r*dditors gotta overthink the damn show? It's not even that good to overthink!
my gender bend:
NO, I don't like them.
&&
004 | send me 2 fandoms and I will give yo my crossover OTP + The New Pope/Space Force
None of these, I am not answering this, cuz this is the worst crossover ever conceived by man and I don't even like crossovers enough to begin with and my laptop is dying from heat--
....;
no? ok.
Imagine poor ol' Brannox meeting Adrian. Goodbye.
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New sensations, sweet temptations: Chapter 2 (Crygi, jan/rock)
a/n: we’re here with chapter two and ngl this was my favoruite chapter before i even wrote it, and huge thanks to emerald for betaing all this and helping me brainstorm, catch me over @soulfulwinter if you like, enjoy the girls at summer camp!
ao3 link
“Rock, how did you know you were gay?”
It was a sudden question that made Rock jolt. Why was Jan asking? She swore Jan was straight, she’d never mentioned anything remotely gay in the years they had been friends. She tried to shake off the confusion, resolving to help her friend and not prod whatever questioning might be happening.
“Oh, you want a story time? Do you wanna come inside and listen to auntie Rock tell you a story of lesbians?”
Jan laughed, of course Rock would respond with her usual brand of endearing stupidity. It made her heart flutter. The confusion and anxiety was quickly becoming too much with all these new feelings. But she knew Rock wouldn’t question it, only trying her best to keep Jan amused and not thinking too hard about things. She was like that, and it made Jan’s head spin even more at the thought of how good her best friend truly was.
“Jannifer, I asked you a question and you’re just staring into space. Did the sun melt your brain?” Rock joked, but inwardly worried for Jan. She was acting off but it wasn’t the right time to question her about it. Not if what she thought was true. It was better to let Jan figure it out for herself and be as supportive as she could every step of the way.
The pair continued into Rock’s house, Jan trying her hardest to not seem off or raise suspicion. Rock sat across from Jan, posing herself like an old story teller ready to bestow an old legend onto some unknowing children.
“It all began many years ago, a whole 4 years ago to be exact. You remember that summer camp? It was then.”
—–
A young Rock, anxious and awkward as any kid her age would be, got dragged into a summer camp by Jan. Her parents said it would be good, they spoke so much of how it would help her to come out of her shell and make new friends. It didn’t feel like that though.
Rock didn’t fit in with her peers. She was weird and she knew it. She always had been, and few people wanted to associate with the quiet nerdy girl who only seemed to talk to one person.
Jan was everything to her though. She never judged Rock when she got excited over a cool anime she had watched recently or begged Jan to play a video game with her. If anything she encouraged it, always laughing and being excited along with Rock. Jan was different too. No one had the same energy as her. That bright bubbly infectious spirit that lit up everyone around her. How Jan wasn’t the most liked person confused Rock. She considered herself very lucky to have such a good person as her close friend though.
They had made it to the camp in one piece, Jan was ever excited and had made a friend in the 5 minutes they had been there. She introduced her new friend, a timid looking girl with bright green curls falling just above her shoulders. She stood out and yet, seemed to want to run away from anyone who looked at her the wrong way.
“Rock, this is Crystal. You two both like art and stuff, I think you’ll get along well!”
In hindsight, Jan was absolutely right. The pair got along very well and became good friends in their first year of high school, still a summer off however.
For now, the one thing they shared was the anxiety of making new friends in such an unfamiliar place. Jan being the energetic 5 year old she was and would always be had dashed off, talking to more people and just generally being the social butterfly Rock had come to rely on.
“Hi, I’m Crystal. Your friend is very…uhm friendly isn’t she.”
Rock picked up on the nervousness in the other girl’s tone. As much as she related and would rather run away than ever talk to someone, she felt an opportunity to find someone like herself in this strange place. Maybe it wouldn’t be awful if she tried to make a friend.
“Yeah, she’s super friendly.”
The awkwardness in the conversation was palpable. But Rock knew if she ran back to Jan, the blonde would question it. She wouldn’t be harsh, but any bit of disapproval from Jan would destroy her.
Rock pushed forward, trying to ignore the anxiety eating up at her, so far from her comfort zone in the first hour of the camp.
Before their conversation could continue too much further, everyone was called over and one of the camp instructors started explaining everything. He explained how everything was going to work and Rock almost zoned out before Jan lightly shoved her. That made it even harder to pay attention though, but the pair managed with similar small smiles, trying and failing to hide their amusement.
Room orders got sorted out, Rock sighed with relief upon realising she was in a decently small 4 person room with 2 people she already knew. It was to be her, Crystal, Jan and a girl called Jaida.
They got settled into the rooms soon after, with the four chatting away while putting their stuff into the room. It was mostly Jan talking to Jaida, the blonde ball of energy was as sociable as ever, clearly having already befriended her.
Despite having stayed mostly silent since they got into the room, Rock was a little bit shocked when Crystal approached her with a nervous smile.
“Hey, you brought a sketchbook with you too? Oh, I was so worried I’d be the only one and be the weird art kid. Nice to know I’m not alone.”
The stark contrast in Crystal’s attitude was jarring. She had gone from sitting alone in a corner, glancing at the girls, not daring to interject with any of them to grinning excitedly at Rock, the genuine joy in her face made the other girl feel giddy, had she made a connection with someone? She hoped so desperately.
“Well, I guess that makes two of us weird art kids!”
The loud, jovial laugh Crystal let out before regaining her grin made Jan glance over. She felt a surge of pride knowing her nervous friend was hitting it off with someone without much intervention. She wanted nothing more than for Rock to be more confident with people.
“So what kind of stuff do you draw?”
Rock smiled nervously, inwardly cringing at the question. The reaction to her art from anyone apart from Jan was rarely what she liked. Would Crystal judge her? She tried to shake it off and be proud of herself, like Jan always advised her to do. She opened the sketchbook to reveal many drawings of different characters. The intrigue on Crystal’s face eased her anxieties. The green-haired girl gestured to something, smiling even more.
“Woah that’s a really good looking Eevee! Rock, your art is so cute!” Crystal squealed in excitement, making Rock bloom in pride.
“What about you? What kind of art do you do?”
Crystal’s art was intricate. She flicked through the pages of her own sketchbook, filled with sketches and watercolours of plants, trees and general landscapes. It was stunning, Rock was in awe of the girl’s art.
Watching their conversation unfold, Jan had a huge grin. She always loved seeing Rock get excited about her art, and having someone else join her in the excitement was incredible. Jaida noticed the shift in her expression, curious as to what caused it.
“Chile, what are you doing looking at her like she’s a kid who just learnt not to burn herself?”
Stifling a laugh at Jaida’s phrasing, Jan tried to articulate a response through her giggles.
“You know, I saw her burn herself once. She was trying to cook something but didn’t wear an oven glove and burnt herself on the tray.”
Although they had known each other for all of 10 minutes, Jaida got the vibe Jan was an absolute airhead. She was extremely correct in her assumption, sighing inwardly upon realising she seemed to be the only one in the group who wasn’t off in their own world. Or jantasy as she had heard already. The puns were going to get tiring.
The girls came to bond quickly over their shared time at the camp. They’d learnt they were all going to the same high school. Crystal felt immense relief knowing she would know people going into a new school. The fear of once again being an outcast hung over her still. She couldn’t help but question if they all would become good friends or split off once they started to get to know other people.
That and her blossoming feelings for one of her campmates. It wasn’t the first time she had such feelings for a girl but it was hard to deal with. She didn’t know if the girl in question was even gay. Or even if she knew of her own sexuality. That was until one night in their room. She was half-asleep when she caught onto some quiet voices.
“Chile, you are absolutely gay for her. We’ve seen the way you look at her . It’s cute.”
The voice was Jaida, Crystal vaguely wondered who she was talking to before another, quieter voice piped up.
“Do I? I don’t know anymore. It’s so confusing. How do you even figure something like this out?”
Crystal recognised the second voice, her chest tightening at the thought of Rock talking about another girl.
“I can’t tell you what you feel. But give it some thought. If she makes you more nervous than anyone else, makes you smile like no one else does and all that other sappy stuff then it sounds like a crush. I personally think you have a crush on Crystal. But you have to figure this out for yourself. I know it isn’t easy but know we’re here for you during this? Okay?“
Crystal froze at hearing her name. Rock liked her? Or was she just hallucinating while half-asleep? She woke up fully, head spinning with what she had overheard. Could it have been a dream? She decided not to push it, and to just observe how Rock was acting.
The pink-haired girl seemed to be acting odd as the day started. She was practically attached to Jan, whispering things to her periodically. The moment she made eye contact with Crystal, she froze up. It was clear she was trying to act through the anxiety but she came off as shaky and nervous during all their conversations that day.
It sent Crystal on a journey of mixed feelings. On one hand, she seemed to be causing the same feelings Rock caused for her but she hated to be a source of confusion and anxiety for the girl. She wanted to intervene but realised it would be smarter not to. Letting Rock figure herself out before talking about anything related to her feelings.
All the confusion and anxiety built up slowly in Rock. She had a lot of long periods of thinking, trying to make it all make sense. She liked girls. It made sense. She could accept that, what was harder was her feelings for a certain green-haired art kid with the cutest smile, the squeals she let out when her art got complimented and just every little thing about her.
She had spoken to Jaida more, trying to explain her feelings with the brunette telling her that it sounded more and more like a crush the more she spoke of it.
She had yet to speak to Jan though. Jan who had been by her side for years, who was always there when needed. She was terrified as to how her best friend would react to her newfound sexuality. She knew Jan wasn’t homophobic, she had argued with the homophobic kids a lot in the past. But the paranoid thought of her having a bad reaction tore Rock up inside.
Eventually, after some days of it boiling up in her, Rock had to tell someone. She piped up in a quiet moment before they went to sleep.
“Hey, can I talk to you guys about something.”
The nerves in her voice were immediately obvious, Jan got off her bed, making her way to Rock’s side quickly. She supportively grabbed her shoulder with a wide smile that lit some much needed confidence in Rock.
“I think…”
She trailed off, anxiety flowing through her with 3 sets of eyes on her at once.
“I’m a lesbian.”
Jan’s reaction was instant. Gaining a rare serious expression, she put her hands on Rock’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes before speaking.
“Hey, Rock. No matter what you are or who you want to date. I’m always here and I’ll always support you okay? It’s nothing to be afraid of and you’re super brave for telling us.”
Rock could only try to hide her face, not wanting Jan to see the tears forming. Her emotions were at an all-time high as Jaida and Crystal came over, offering the same sentiment as Jan.
“Hey Rock. I’m proud of you for that.”
“Hey, we’re both gay weird art kids now, isn’t that cool!”
Crystal’s brand of comfort made Rock laugh, she felt lighter at the support her newfound friends gave.
“Thank you guys, so much.”
—–
“That was when I really realised and accepted myself, it’s weird, it’s been a good few years now huh?”
Jan nodded, clearly engrossed in the story. Rock couldn’t help but smile at that. Jan was always listening to whatever she said and Rock hoped it would never change.
“Oh, I remember you and Crystal. What an interesting time.” Jan smiled, wistfully reminiscing on the short-lived relationship. They had a lot in common, making a good couple. But it had ended for some reasons she still wasn’t too sure of. Although she felt slight relief, knowing Rock was single now. Not because she wanted to date her though?
Right?
“Hey, what happened with you guys anyway?”
—-
The rest of the summer passed by in a flash. The anxiety of starting in a new environment set in and shook the girls. After camp had ended, numbers had been exchanged and a group chat kept them feeling closer than ever.
They all reacted differently to the new situation. Jan was excited, always the one to shrug off her friends’ anxiety with pure optimism and eager energy. Crystal and Rock were similarly anxious, confiding in each other in the lead up. Their feelings had only complicated more since camp. Neither quite had the courage to approach the other. Although Crystal knew there was a high chance Rock liked her back, it was almost impossible for her to admit her own feelings to the girl.
“Hey Rock, how are you dealing with all this? I’m kinda scared. You can’t help but wonder if it’s going to go well or if you’re going to mess something and alienate yourself for the next 4 years. Oh, I’m scaring myself. It’s so spooky!”
“It do be like that sometimes.”
Crystal snickered at the deadpan response, knowing it was meant in a loving way. Rock had a habit of blanking, only replying with things that somewhat made sense but made people question her. Although she had seen Jan poke fun of Rock for it, Crystal found it adorable. It was part of her unique charm.
“Crystal. Seriously though. You don’t need to worry yourself so much. You’re great, funny, nice, talented, uniquely yourself and one of the prettiest girls i’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. Everyone’s going to love you and if they don’t then they’re really stupid and you’re better off without them.”
Whatever daze Rock had been in shifted quickly. Her serious face and voice was a strange transition from her normally chaotic and sweet demeanor. It was obvious to Crystal that it was all very heartfelt though. Her chest tightened, much like it did when she first overheard the conversation between Rock and Jaida at camp.
“Rock, you’re so sweet. But you’re making it sound like you have a crush on me .”
Although her tone was lighthearted and fun as ever, Rock froze at Crystal’s words. How did she know? She desperately wanted to shake it off, joke back with the cute green-haired girl and act like it was just banter between good friends. But part of her wanted to let it out. Express her feelings even if she got shot down. It was worth a try. But the fear was paralysing.
Crystal noticed the conflict in Rock’s expression. Her heart hammered as she blurted something before thinking.
“I like you more than a friend.”
She spoke fast, but Rock knew what she heard. It snapped her out of her conflict, soon stammering out a confession of her own.
“Crystal. I….you…” she paused to gather herself. “I like you like that too.”
—
“Honestly? I think it was Gigi. Not intentionally or anything but you know she was attached to Crystal the moment they met. Also we really did just work better as friends in the end. It’s not like it was too bad or anything. If anything we came out better friends. Plus I don’t think I would’ve wanted to be on the receiving end or the target of a jealous Gigi.”
Jan nodded, in hindsight they did make better friends. She couldn’t complain about Rock being single though. It made her heart feel somewhat lighter knowing she had a shot.
Wait what?
She wanted a shot with Rock? No? Maybe? Of course she did. They worked so well together. They understood each other. Rock was the one person Jan felt the most comfortable with but she wanted more. The realisation hit her like a truck.
She was gay for Rock.
#rpdr fanfiction#crygi#crystal methyd/rock m sakura#jan sport/rock m sakura#jan sport#rock m sakura#jaida essence hall#crystal methyd#new sensations sweet temptations#winter#fluff#lesbian au#high school au#concrit welcome#summer lovin' 2020#day 2: camp#submission
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I'd love to hear what you think about Mia and Diego's relationship 😊
Thank you my anonymous enabler
*cracks fingers*
I should probably preface this by saying I’m not even an active miego shipper. But I hate seeing people mischaracterizing characters to fit their narrative, especially when ignoring canon elements. I also should add that I’m sorry if the pics are blurry/small, I had to find a work around because I struggled to upload them.
The big thing I’ve seen around is the idea that Mia’s and Diego’s relationship was somehow abusive, that Mia didn’t actually like Diego, and/or that Diego/Godot only liked the idea of her. The thing is that we have no canon basis for this. I’ll try to keep it short (mostly because I need to replay the game for more things, and that the Diego/Godot part would be too long). Basically I’m going to focus on Mia.
We have no canon basis to pretend she didn’t like him. I mean, she did decided to face her trauma from her first trial to get a chance to avenge what happened to Diego and frame the person who poisoned him. Even Grossberg says it, “Oh, now I understand why you asked to take this case.”
Remember how she punches Grossberg each time Feenie mentions how much he loves Dahlia ? We fandom often jokes about it, saying she just finds him embarrassing and sickenly sweet, but she didn’t react that way when Larry would do the same in 1-1. No, the reason she does it is probably out of rage and grief. I mean, Diego’s poisoning was only 8 months old. She was robbed of what Feenie (thought he) had with Dahlia, and couldn’t bear seeing him brag about how much in love he is and how happy he is with her (and on top of that, with the very person who took Diego away from her).
Mia was mad, and hurt by what happened to Diego, and being able to get Dahlia convicted was a huge step into helping her moving on.
This is a first step to explain why she “barely acknowledged him in T&T” (the main argument of the anti-miego), because she already moved on. The other explanation might just be that of storage room. T&T is one of the longest game (originally planned for GBA), and they had already used a lot of tricks to take less space, taking this occasion to enter a new judge, and a very intricate plot running through the whole game. They most likely didn’t have time to give to their past relationship, based on all the hints we have. Just see how the anime is adding little bits about their relationship, and how many official art feature them happily together
Speaking of which, let’s review Mia’s attitude toward Diego/Godot in official art:
Mia’s attitude is relaxed, she’s often smiling, looking at him, standing/sitting close to him and being in interaction with him (drinking coffee, talking, etc.) Does she really give off vibes of being unhappy with him or wanting to fly the interaction ? not really.
And even less on that one art
Where she looks playful, takes his arm and is here without having even been channeled.
These last pics bring me to talk about Diego’s attitude toward Mia (outside the cute coffee sharing). A big argument I see against Diego is that he supposedly belittles her and doesn’t think she can do things on her own/is overprotective to a unhealthy/sexist extend. I say this is bullshit, and all my following argument is going to be summarized in this collage (original post courtesy of @draincyanide , hope you don’t mind me tagging you here)
Wow, really belittling (especially from a senior attorney to a rookie on her first trial). I know this impression also comes from the “kitten” nickname, but really, Diego/Godot calls “kitten” anyone he finds is a position of being more weak/young/in need of protection, whatever the gender (see, Ron DeLite, and Miles in the Official Casebook Volume 2 when Miles ends up trapped in a kid’s body). Does it mean he thinks she can’t do it ? no. It’s just how she is, at the beginning of her first trial. She’s in need of a little kick to assert herself, and it’s exactly what he does by often teasing/roasting her. He does such things as to make an objection and let her explain it, or underline her situation to push her to find a way to turn things around. He’s not trying to roast her for the likes of it, or to maintain her under his “protection”. On the contrary, he’s assisting her in her first trial, and pushing her to assert herself, be confident and eventually fly on her own. He’s acting as a mentor. And he doesn’t bat an eye either when she calls him out on his coffee addiction and talk back (I get the feeling their relation would have a lot of mutual roasting). He’s actually pushing her out of her comfort zone so she can be more independent and fend for herself.
Also, her famous sentence of “It’s in the harder times that a lawyer must put on their bigger smile” is directly inspired by Diego’s “The only time a lawyer can cry is when it’s all over”. Diego positively influenced her and her career.
To finish, I’d like to put some words on what is, to me, the chore of the issue: before T&T, many people headcannoned Mia as a lesbian and shipped her with Lana. No issue with it. But for some reasons, people couldn’t get behind the idea that she could be *gasp* bi, and that she could have been in a happy relationship with Diego. But I will tell you: you can ship this while acknowledging that Mia could be bi in canon, without making her past relationship abusive.
Just because a relationship ended doesn’t mean it was abusive. There’s plenty other reasons for a relationship to end, and in this case, a coma with very little chance of waking up from it is a pretty good reason. You even have the basis for a hurt/comfort scenario with Lana supporting Mia through this hardship, without changing one bit from the canon. Why try to frame Diego as an abuser to justify your ship ? you don’t need to.
Trying to vilify this relationship in that type narrative is not as progressive as it might sound. It actually participates into a scheme of shaming bi women’s m/w relationships. But I’ll tell you a secret: if you don’t support bi women no matter the gender of their partner, you’re not supporting bi women at all. Supporting them only when they’re with girls means you only accept half of their identity, and it shows in your vain attempt to vilify Mia’s past m/w relationship when you have no need for it to ship her with a girl.
Secondly, it also participates into the narrative of the “chosen” sexuality. As much appealing as it sounds, making women “turn lesbians” because of disappointing or hurtful past relationships with men perpetuates the idea that sexual orientation is a choice, and that if gay people are being bullied, in a way, they chose it (and that gives ground to the straight people’s idea that this can be “fixed back” by meeting the proper person who will turn them back straight).
You know what could be truly progressive, if you really can’t fathom the idea of Mia being bi ? Mia realizing she’s actually not attracted to men and breaking up with Diego after this. And I’ll tell you one more secret: you don’t even have to make Diego be an asshole in this situation. Try it, it’ll save you a lot of energy.
tl;dr There is actually more grounds to defend the idea that Mia and Diego were a happy couple than to assert that they were abusive/didn’t really like each other. I believe that shipping bias and character preferences play a big role in this negative, but you can totally ship your wIw ship while following canon (and even in canon-divergent AUs) without having to make this relationship abusive. Also, support bi girls.
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Ask!
Jay! (A goddess of the moon, but not known for that, infact it's a secret in her case. Often shipped with Sea Breeze, Gust, Cyber, or Iceflower. Only real canon ship is Anti.)
Rai (Half human, half pupper. Childhood friend of Tyy. Often shipped with Spark or Irene Wolf)
Tyy (Teen boy. His appearances range from 11 - 17 usually. Was trapped in a painful area where he meets people, make relationships with them, reset, then they forget him. Shima found him. Rainbow Hawk made him his own AU with nice fields, a portal to the ors, no resets, and a nice house. Often shipped with Lunars, Sizzle, or Mino)
Alternate Clock (Goddess of Dimensions. Origins are unknown, and she is still getting used to staying in one reality. Usually shipped with Cyber)
Rainbow Wishes (Goddess of Wishes. Usually seen as the leader of the gods. Often shipped with Lightning Lane)
Syle (Joyful Lesbian Kirin. Dating Mina. Found trapped in a dimension where it's just... A mountain area. Amnesia from before being there.)
Mina (Jay and Anti's ship kid. Dating Syle. Disobedient but fun)
Lyri (Jay and Anti's second ship kid. Obedient and joyful normally. Crush on Rai)
Iceflower Drop (Goddess of Nature. Dated/dating Icicle Zapp. Can control plants. Abnormal strength and pansexual. Often shipped with Jay, Icicle, Lightning, or Tyy)
Cyber Lane (God of The Afterlife. Often shipped with Alternate Clock or Jay. A spirit.)
Sunset Shy (Iceflower's little sister. Goddess of The Sun. Mute. Often shipped with Icicle.)
Lightning Lane (God of Electricity. Brother of Cyber and Spark. Often shipped with Iceflower or Rainbow Wishes. Cyborg. A bear with a large lung disorder- where about 2/7 of his lungs had exploded mid-roar -ripped out his eye, trying to give him a hug.)
Speed Demon (God of Speed and claims to be the God of Ships too. Crush on Icicle but Icicle hates him. High-pitched voice. Tried forcing love. Because of his voice, he's often assumed to be a girl. So he went along with it for a while. Often shipped with Dizzy)
Sea Breeze (Goddess of Water. Extremely depressed, due to every other God and goddess hating on her. Crush on Rai and Tyy. Often shipped with Rai, Jay, or Icicle.)
Ivan (God of building. Often seen as useless and isn't included in much. Built the treehouse.)
Timelight (Ship kid of Cyber Lane and Alternate Clock. Goddess of Time and Space. Crush on Gray Skies.)
Rainbow Hawk (Overpowered but takes it for granted. Above God level and depressed. Sometimes shipped with Gust.)
Gust Dash (God of Wind. Crush on Jay!, Elisse, and Iceflower. Often shipped with Elisse. Depressed due to other gods and goddesses hating on him.)
Shein (Innocent boi. Gives off the same vibes as Tyy. Almost as if They're related. Moon irises. Often shipped with Lunars)
Dizzy Chaos (Daughter of Chaos. Sister of Iceflower and Sunset Shy. Loves Chaos and uses it whenever she can. Hates gods and loves pulling cruel pranks on them and even at one point made them kill each other in a survival game, appearing as Rainbow Hawk to them, making her an enemy. Crush on Zyke and Sprinkle. Draconequus. High-pitched voice. If killed, Zyke will do anything to get revenge for her. He goes crazy. No longer any sanity. Dizzy is deadly but loves cuddles from Zyke. Best friend/boss of Zyke. Often shipped with Lilly, Zyke, or Speed)
Zyke (Changeling. Assistant/best friend of Dizzy Chaos. Crush on Dizzy Chaos. Shy boi, and frienemy of Gods. Although They're extremely close, Dizzy often uses him.)
Chase (Gay boi. Innocent and has a crush on Zyke, Aiden, and Stripes. Normally wears green and has blue hair.)
Sarah (dating Tom. Icewing. Side character )
Tom (Dating Sarah. Floofy boi. Nightwing. Side character )
Tim (SandWing. Tom and Sarah's friend. Side character )
Sizzle (Ship kid of Tom and Sarah. More important to the story. Crush on Tyy. Gay boi.)
Jerry (FUCK YOU JERRY!! Side Character. Hated by everyone because he fucking sucks. Ghost. He doesn't deserve anyone or anything except the ability to cry and have existential crisis'.)
Mino and Milo (Demons that follow Jay. Milo is a former spirit of a seven year old non binary who died in the late 18th century. They were framed for murder by the demon haunting them called Mino. Mino still follows Milo and tries to encourage them to do bad stuff. Mino is often shipped with Tyy)
Ribbon (Mine but not necessarily Jayverse!. Cross Sans x Blueberry Sans ship kid. Dating Limbo.)
Spark Lane (Sister of Cyber and Lightning. Obsessed With technology. Goddess of Electricity. High-pitched voice. Dating Rai)
Blare (Dating Blae. an artist. Often annoyed by Blae but still loves her. First introduced in Ripple's hometown village. He was, when they Ripple returned with Tyy, drawing. Blae was annoying him but he was managing. Like everyone else in Ripple's hometown, he and Blae acted normal. Like there was no magic or anything. But they were half Neko and half Wolf. Blare had wolf ears and a cat tail.)
Blae (Dating Blare. A simple hyper townie. Often annoys Blare but obviously loves him alot. First introduced in Ripple's hometown village. She was, when Ripple returned with Rai, annoying Blare about what he was drawing. Like everyone else in Ripple's hometown, she and Blare acted normal. Like there was no magic or anything. But they were half neko half wolf. Blae had cat ears and a wolf tail.)
Ripple (Half deer, half human. She showed up in the forests of Tyy's new dimension. Tyy, Rai, and Irene Wolf found her. They found out she came from a village on the other side of the forest. The village was called " Meresville ". The Townies lived normal lives. Without magic. It turns out she's slight royalty. Her father works for the FBI. Her mother is... A alcoholic.. After PJ and Tyy broke up, (THAT WAS CANON, YES.) her, having become great friends with PJ and Tyy, soon started dating Tyy.)
Ripple's mother (An alcoholic at the time of the story. Abusive and upset most the time. Eats cereal with vodka instead of milk. Messed up. Real name is Carolyn Silvers. Side character. Normal human from Meresville.)
Ripple's father (A FBI agent and a CEO of an international airport business. Almost always at work, and hates Ripple's mother. Screams "FBI OPEN UP!!" naturally before entering rooms. Kicks down every door this happens to. Has nearly put himself in debt from this. Real name is Clark Tap. Side character. Normal human from Meresville.)
Irene Wolf (The goddess of Animals. Currently dating Rai. Tyy found her where he used to be trapped. He brought her to the dimension RH made for her, and she 'met' a few people. Elisse remembered her, but nobody else. She claimed to be trapped there for around a week. Rainbow Hawk showed up to greet her because of the fact she had been missing for multiple years. Before this, Rainbow Hawk and Irene had never really met. She couldn't question much though. She was revealed to have been trapped in that dimension for 5 years. Dizzy showed up and was immediately requested to leave. She did, But that raised a question for Irene. Of course, that question was who was she. They talked about Dizzy for a bit and eventually started talking about the Survival Game. Rai got emotional and went into the forest. Irene went to talk with him. This brought them to a first kiss.. They were friends for over a week- This was later, after she met them)
Daniel (Used to be a Registered sex offender. He was always in heat... He mainly claimed Mark as his boyfriend (although Mark hated that) but tried starting relationships with anyone he could. Met PJ and was shown Underlust. Is now scared of what used to be and kinda has a crush on PJ. Also has a crush on both Rai and Irene Wolf. Currently enrolled in a highschool run by only Rainbow Hawk. One of the students, Allison, a witch who was new at the time, gave him bunny ears. He doesn't know how to get rid of them. Has become good friends with PJ and has a crush. Was shown AUs so is aware of alot. Human from Meresville.)
Mark (past main victim of Daniel. Was Annoyed by him, but... Kinda liked him tbh. Side character. Regular human from Meresville.)
Stripe (Spot's brother. Dating Chase. Side character.)
Spot (Stripe's brother. Side character.)
Graysie ( Former bully. Crush on Spot. Past Victim of Daniel. Side character)
Luck Spark (Goddess of Luck. She can't do much and isn't included with anything often. Never had a ship. Status has always been single.)
Ziko (... Story hasn't been figured out, but is like Shein.)
Valerie (Former slut. She's currently depressed about it and recovering from that horrifying phase. Side character.)
Fyre (Same species as Tyy, still in progress.)
Damien (Edgy bastard boi but actually soft boi. Was dating Shima. Works for Dizzy. Still in progress.)
Shima (Shapeshifter. Elisse claims she's a changeling, therefore wants her to die. Gets in fights with Elisse weekly/daily. After her home village burnt down, she was convinced she was the last of her kind. In Jayverse!, this is Babs' (MLP character) origin. She was scared of being judged for being a changeling. So when her home was burnt to ash and she felt she had to live with regular people, she turned into Babs. That's not what Shima is known for though.)
Dare (A teen boy. Very calm and relaxed usually. Human from Meresville. Slight crush on Allison. Goes to a Highschool run by only Rainbow Hawk.)
Addison (A young witch. Loves T or D, and Dare's best friend. Goes to a Highschool run by only Rainbow Hawk, with Dare sharing the dorm.)
Aiden (Gay. Crush on Chase, and side character.)
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Analyzing “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
I don’t often post things as they’re having their cultural moment. However, this song by Lil Nas X, a rap/hip hop/pop artist, who is famous for his song “Old Town Road” a few years ago, has caused quite the stir. On one side of the fence is the LGBTQ+ community, who touts this song as an anthem to the artist’s sexual identity. On the other are the Christians, many of whom have posted warnings on social media, urging fellow believers to “wake up,” guard their children, and many calling down the name of Jesus against the Satanic imagery associated with it. The music video for this song sees the artist depicted as Eve in the garden of Eden, being seduced by the serpent. He is then on trial, then descends into hell, where he himself seduces the Devil. The artist has also partnered with street wear brand MSCHF to produced what many are calling “Satan shoes.” These shoes apparently have contain one drop of human blood in the soul, have a black and red color scheme with pentagrams painted on the soul and attached to the laces.
So first off, the reason I’m writing this post is to critique the Christian reaction to this song and its associated media. It’s important to understand this right off the bat, as I will not be analyzing this song on its artistic merits. Instead, I will attempt to analyze the artist’s intent behind the imagery and symbolism he chooses to use.
If there’s one thing that I have grown to understand, it’s that the American Church has a fundamental misunderstanding of how believers are to interact with culture. We have been stuck in the same culture war for decades, with this idea that we must enforce our beliefs on others, affect change through politics and protests, and fear all that is antithetical to the Christian belief system. This latter point is the most significant, and one that many of my Christian friends may dispute.
Let me explain here. In the age of social media, everyone judges and reacts quickly, posting their affirmations and protests for everyone to see without putting much thought into what they’re actually critiquing. Sadly, the American Church, most of the time, has followed suit. Rather than choosing a different way to interact with the world on social media, it has become a leading reactionary voice -- a more intense version of what already exists in the mainstream. It has so become the case that the world looks on and mocks.
As a younger Christian, I went with the flow, just as everyone else did. But as a I grew up, and especially in college, I learned the importance of questioning, of slowing down, of considering the ins and outs, the truths and lies present in our everyday world. I believe this process gives insight into the presence of God in our everyday lives, presenting us with his truth and beauty, present even in the darkest of places. It also gives us the ability to, like Jesus, call something what it actually is, diminishing its power, and responding to it with the importance/weight it deserves.
Now understanding this context and the process by which I will move forward, let’s talk about this song. First of all, the lyrics explicitly discuss the artist’s encounters with one specific person, a male in this context. There’s a couple of levels to this song. The first, that many in the LGBTQ+ community point out, is that he says that his partner “lives in the dark,” while he himself “cannot pretend.” This refers to the fact that his partner is a closeted gay man, while Lil Nas is out. As for the rest of the lyrics here, Lil Nas discusses his attachment to this man and the sexual experiences he has and wants to have with him. He mentions the use of drugs to illustrate a hellish environment. On a deeper level, evidenced even more clearly in the music video, Lil Nas is using this situation as a metaphor to reach out to his former, closeted self.
In the interest of digging for the truth, I would go one step further here. While it is obvious that the artist wishes to affirm his former self and encourage a lifestyle that is honest, at the very least, he also confesses what he wants very clearly. All of the explicit imagery here is true to his experience. So what does he want? He wants deep connection, intimate experiences, and he’s ultimately willing to go to “hell” to get it, even if his partner won’t come out.
Why is it important to understand this? Am I trying to affirm how Lil Nas gets what he wants? No, but that’s also not the point. Understanding the artist’s questions are just as important as understanding his answers; in my opinion, even more so. In order to make any sort of true judgment of merit or integrity, either subjective or objective, it’s important to understand fully how the artist is coming to his conclusions.
Moving on to the music video, I’m going to use an analysis posted by reddit user margarita_atwood, as she discusses much of I what I found myself.
Everyone is going to have an opinion on this video, whether that opinion is heavily in favor or disfavor...Later, I’ll talk about why the negative opinions about this video don’t really matter and actually play right into LNX’s plans.
Lil Nas as every character: Through the miracle of CGI, LNX plays every single character. Some people might interpret this as LNX making love to himself in some scenes, but I think it has more to do with the Jungian concept of the Shadow Self (explained some in this video). There’s definitely some interesting psychology behind LNX playing all the parts. He’s talking to himself, seducing himself, running from himself. And I don’t think it would have had the same impact if the main characters were played by anyone else. He’s definitely being a little narcissistic, which he winks at with his own face on a Narcissus flower (daffodil) that I’ll get to next...He also says in the intro: “Welcome to Montero”, which is both this fantasy land he is creating for us in the video, and introducing us to his real self, saying welcome to the real me.
Scene 1- Garden of Eden: In the first scene. We’ve got the temptation of Adam by the snake/Satan in the Garden of Eden story mixed with Greek classical architecture motifs (sans Eve, as LNX raps “If Eve ain’t in your garden/ You know that you can/ Call me when you want”). In the reaction video I mentioned earlier, LNX talks about how growing up gay in a black church (or any church for that matter) made him repress and feel ashamed about his budding sexuality as a young adult. So while the lyrics are explicit, all of the themes in the video are very pointed allegories about how he’s dealt with his sexuality. He runs away from his tempting snake-self, meanwhile running past a Lion King-esque Mufasa cloud featuring his fate/destiny, and Narcissus flowers AKA daffodils (in the Greek myth, daffodils grew where Narcissus drowned after staring at his own reflection for too long), only to be caught by his temptation in a scene that gives me a ton of Labyrinth vibes. After his literal fall with possible Paradise Lost references to this perceived “sin,” we nearly see his alien-snake-self fellate his Adam-self. Finally, we close in on a shot of Greek writing on a tree. Some people smarter than I were able to find out that this is an excerpt from Plato’s Symposium which reads: “So in the beginning when they were cut in two, they yearned for each other’s half.” Symposium is basically a bunch of Greek philosophers telling metaphorical campfire stories about love (let’s ignore once again problematic themes of statutory rape in some of this). The excerpt in the video in particular is a part where one of Plato’s students Aristophanes gives an account of the origin of soulmates. Originally people were joined as two people to make one whole person. In this story, there were male/male, female/female, and female/male pairings and the gods became jealous and split them in two. The Montero excerpt is explaining this splitting of soul mates where they’re doomed to long for their other halves to become whole for eternity. Lots of allegories there regarding LNX trying to seduce a possibly gay man who is still in the closet.
Scene 2- The gladiator’s Colosseum: LNX then is taken as a prisoner in chains to a Greek colosseum, also full of LNX judges in Marie Antoinette wigs and faceless LNX mob spectators. I believe his character in this scene is supposed to be a Ulysses-type as his pink, fur shawl he’s wearing has a ram’s head broach...the blue LNX jury sentences him to...jail, and he gets literally stoned to death... Ulysses-LNX presumably dies and his soul is being lifted up to the heavens. An angel awaits him above, with a lot of Creation of Adam motifs (which was also hinted at on LNX’s IG). But just before he reaches his guardian angel.... a stripper pole rises up from the earth...and he rides that b**** all the way to the seventh inner circle of h*** in some thigh-high boots, tricking all the way down.
Scene 3- Twerking on the devil: And now we get to the biggest scandal. LNX said to those of you who think gays deserve to go to hell, watch me go to hell and give Satan a lap dance....he’s one-upping the shock factor in each part. Think it’s scandalous to go down on myself? Just wait. There’s some trolling of Illuminati/Satanist conspiracy rumors in the motifs. Honestly, the purpose of this scene is that he knew religious types would try and metaphorically crucify him over the lyrics. So he said let me beat you to it. He’s trolling the religious hater that I’m sure made his life growing up a proverbial hell already. And hey, the more times they stream and react to the song out of anger, the more money he makes from their anger. And then he goes and pulls a mafia hit, killing Satan after seducing him, and taking his horns of braids and becoming the fallen angel...
While perhaps not stated the most eloquently, and obviously from a more approving light, the OP gives us some insight into the symbolism used in this video. On first glance, the believer might gag at how biblical imagery is used and twisted here. However, I would encourage that believer to be patient and consider for a moment a few things.
1. If we let our gut reaction to this imagery become our public reaction, we prove the artist’s perspective of believers correct in the eyes of the world.
2. If we consider the symbols and imagery used, it is obvious that this piece was intricately planned by Lil Nas to suggest his conclusions through the subversion of cultural norms. This is not a new technique by any means, and it is important to acknowledge this.
3. Remember that Lil Nas was raised in the church. His use of biblical imagery is intentional here. If you detect a hint of bitterness in the twists he uses, that’s because there is, and not without reason.
See, I think that if Jesus looked at this video and gave us his reaction, it would not be a warning to us to guard our hearts. That’s common sense. I think it would be sadness that Lil Nas has not experienced the true intimacy and connection that he so desires in a healthy context, but also that he would be so bitter as to use the imagery as a “F*** You!” to the church. Granted, this is all speculative, but when I look at Jesus in the gospels, I never see Jesus trying to separate or isolate his disciples from sinners. He sees right to the heart of why sinners sin, and urges his disciples by example and speech to have compassion. It is the the Pharisees and teachers of the law who he preaches against, urging his disciples to guard their hearts against them.
Finally, there’s the even bigger deal being made in Christian circles of the “Satan shoes.” Let me set the record straight here. This company put out “Jesus shoes” a couple of years ago that claimed to have holy water in its soles. This was a stunt by the artist for the very purpose of causing controversy. It was done out of anger. The imagery only has power if we let it be something other than what it is.
I have seen so many people decrying the use of this imagery as an act of devil worship. That’s not what this is. Is Lil Nas believing a lie? Most certainly, as all humans do every day. But this should not be shocking. We must look behind the symbols to what they’re really pointing to.
In conclusion, I felt that it was important to share my feelings on this, as the social media chatter is a prime example of how the American Church has lost its way. However, on a more personal note, I have a lot of history and connection that helps me to deeply understand what’s happening in this song. That drive for connection, that willingness to put myself in horrible places to find it, the feeling of dirtiness and the running away from it...and especially the now often used intimate metaphor “call me by your name,” referring to the book/move of that title...I’ve been there. I even embraced it for a time. So more than most, I am more inclined to have compassion on those who are in that place, even if they don’t see the fruitlessness of it. The Lord has been good to me. He was with me in that place, just as he is with me now. It is important for all who call themselves Christians to remember that before we judge, we must seek empathy and compassion, fullness of understanding, and most of all, the heart and mind of Jesus himself.
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loneliness </\///\|/3
a fic by rocco wulfram north, m.d.
(found that name on hardcore baby names)
–chmapter jop–
before the tríp
It was a normal day for the Skullsmashers: go to somewhere, kill people, be gay, sleep, get brunch. Right now was the first part of their daily routine, and they were getting ready for it.
“holy fuck nova could you hurry the shit up i have to brush my fucking teeth you bitch” Ace hissed, knocking repeatedly on the bathroom door. “Fuck You. I'm Going To Go To Hell Itself” Nova gargled back, mouth full of mouthwash. More banging was heard; the door had seen better days.
Several feet away was Jake, all dressed up and ready to go, waiting for the others to get ready. He sat on the couch gayly in the living room down the hall, scrolling through Apocalypse Twitter. ‘every day i throw down an unpeeled boiled egg from the rooftop to simulate fear and unreadiness’ he read, a tweet from Orc's account. What the fuck. Classic Orc.
“ah fuck !! am i late !!” Jake turned around to see Damon panicking and counting the daggers in his pockets. “no no not at all. i just get ready really quickly to throw everyone into a state of disarray” Jake replied in an honest, monotone voice. “come sit down”
Damon sat down nervously next to his captain, knowing he'll ask him for Bambi on the PS2 now. “look. look at them those dumbshits” Jake uttered, pointing to Ace and Nova arguing. “those little bastards are completely unaware that ive put a fake cockroach puppet in the mirror. watch now” he added, pulling out a cheap remote control and pressing a button.
*sound of glass breaking* Jake sighed. “okay maybe that wasn't really the best idea” Nova screamed, running out of the bathroom and confusing Ace. “Fucking Roach!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she yelled, already too far away from them to be heard clearly. “huh. well okay then!” Ace grinned, going into the bathroom.
“i'll guard. you do your thing okay? :-)” Damon said to Jake, smiling mischievously. Jake's heart skipped a beat as he was suddenly flustered by the killer's action. «oh god, shit's just gonna get more complicated from here» he thought, staring into nothingness.
Damon braced himself against the bathroom door, eager to hear Ace's chaotic screaming. “ready ??” Damon asked, sending Jake back to the real world. “hhuh??????? oh yea right” he mumbled before beginning to control the cockroach with the remote. “this shit cost me like 200 bucks so it better be worth it”
HOLY MOTHER OF
F U C K
JAKE JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
WHAT THE S H IT DUDE
ace will remember this.
Jake cackled loudly, rolling on the floor and hitting the table with his fist. “LMAOOOOK FUCK YOUUU” he yelled, angering Ace even more. “I WILL GODDAMN SKIN UOUR FUCKIGN ISTINEDSTINES OLD MAN I SWEAR TKC FUCKF” they yelled back, pushing the door repeatedly. “IM GOIND TO FUCKIGN DIR HERE YOU BITCH”
“ah . ace ? could you move a little please ? i'm trying to get in ?” Damon said annoyingly kindly, making Ace jab a fake knife through the space between the door and the doorway. “THIS IS THE BEST FUCKIGN KNIFE I HAVE ON ME RIGT NOW BUT PLEADR JSUT FUCK O F F”
“hm ... i'll have to check in with the blacksmith today to know what this one's worth... possibly rusted here, though.... could also just be dirt tho.....” Damon mumbled, examining the knife. “FUCKING HEL P” Ace yelled in distress, his breath seeping through the door. “ace. brush your fucking teeth that's disgusting.”
“IM FUCKIF D TRYINF THERES JUST A FUCKGIFN ROSCH HEREERF” Ace explained fearfully, trying their best to get some pity from the other. “a what ?? don't think we have those here” “A FUCKIFN COKROSKC” “corrosion ???? how bad” “FUCK YOU A GODDMAND COKCROACH” “girls?? what?? are they milfs??” “HOW THEE DFUCKDB DID YEOU HEAR FTHAY WHATS DUCUNESKRHI”
Jake's hand slapped against Damon's shoulder as a way of saying thanks. “good work out there soldier. us skullsmashers really need someone like you damon” He said confidently, disguising his flirting as a compliment. “cool !! you too man !!” The shorter man replied, completely unaware of the flirting and continuing to yearn for the mutual love between him and Jake. fuckin idiots lmao
“alrighty fuckers, let's move!”
Rachel's voice sent Ace and Nova into a panic, making them scram to look for their weapons and equipment. “Got everything ya need? W'ain't makin' any stops; tryin'a save fuel.” Shaw asked, leaning against the wall at the entrance menacingly. “When the fuck did you even come here.” Dennis asked in surprise, carrying suitcases. “Hmph. Man never tells his secrets, young man.” She replied, tilting her cowboy hat. “What…”
Aaron was sitting peacefully in the trunk of a pickup truck they had, only to be met by a large backpack to the face. “ah!!!!!!!! very sorry!!!!!!! we'll be going in separate vehicles, and trunk space is very much needed!!!!!!!!” Whitney said, apologizing. “Ah. Well. O-okay then.” Aaron stuttered out, holding back tears from the painful impact the backpack had. Pretty sure he'll get a bruise from that.
Henderson and Rachel were waiting in the front seats of yet another pickup truck. To pass the time, they took very cringey pictures of each other pretending to be on Cowboy TikTok™. “Do one where you're pregnant with the truck's baby!” Henderson suggested, making Rachel flip the bird at her but begrudgingly agreeing with her stupid idea. “i literally would skin you alive.” She spat out, putting a pumpkin inside her shirt. “That's… literally so sexy, babe.” Henderson replied back, taking more pictures.
Meanwhile, Andre was busy explaining to Cyprus, who was in a small glass jar, that forcibly entering Damon's bloodstream and mutilating his entire body was not very nice, with Orc and Sarah judging. “YES BUT UNLIMITED POWER COULD BE RIGHT IN OUR HANDS ANDRE” “That'd very mean of you to do, and could actually probably kill you too in the process.” he explained to deaf ears. Well, technically no ears. Yet. “CYPRUS I KNOW IT SOUNDS STUPID BUT YOU COULD LITERALLY DO THE SAME BUT LIKE IN AN ELEPHANTS BODY DUDE” Orc suggested, only to be ignored. “cmon cyprus just pleaaaaase dont kill ppl ok”
Jake looked outside, then back at Damon. “well guess its time to move!” “yea ... but at what cost.” Damon replied confusingly, making a sad face. “did you know today is…” he started, then regretted saying anything. “nvm…” He turned away from the punk, sniffling and walking to Dennis and Aaron.
“damon” “??” Jake asked quietly, craning his neck a little before making the decision to leave the new recruit alone. Instead, he joined Henderson and Rachel in their odd activities.
“hey guys. i fucking miss sans.” Damon confessed, taking a seat next to Dennis. “My nose is bleeding.” Aaron pointed out. “ok. today's sunday. and you Know what That Means… Meant,” The boy continued, facing the ground. “Kanye West he…” Dennis began (begun???? idk). “… liked.” Aaron continued, also affected emotionally by the departure of not only Sans, but Komaeda too.
Jake stared longingly at the family, wishing he was a part of it too. He truly felt Ariel Little Mermaid's desire to become human. Seven Vagánias… that was a risk he was willing to take for him. He would shave his eyebrows off for that man, and he just might do it right now.
“Jake? Don't do that. Please don't fucking do that.” Henderson suddenly interrupted, surprising Jake. “do what” Henderson squinted her eyes, giving Jake a suspicious look. “That's the face you make when you want to do silly things…” She pointed out.
“You had that when you almost electrocuted yourself at that stable, you had that when you threw the dart at Scoran, you had that when you glued Marcus and Reese–” “OKAY OKAY I GET IT IM A DUMMY SILLY LITTLE BITCH BOY OK”
Rachel put the pumpkin back on the ground and went to the two friends, curious to know what the quarrel was about. “what's poppin gayboy!” She loudly asked, slapping Jake's forearm strongly. “i am in peril and shaking and crying” “daddy issues” “yget?” He explained, gesturing towards the Russells.
“ah. please clarify what kind.” Rachel said, knowing Jake has a very questionable taste for fictional middle-aged men, such as Sigma Overwatch and the guy from the cowboy game. “the fuckin. family one rachel” “look at em just vibing and simply being gay”
Rachel and Henderson gave eachother a look that questioned whether Damon and Jake were going to be a thing or not, since Jake's technically still with Andre. “Considering the fact that they adopted Damon, they could probably also adopt you if you wanted to.” Henderson suggested, knowing Jake wouldn't like this and would stupidly unknowingly accidentally confess his love for Damon to them both right then and there.
“what?????” “ew no thatd be fuckin incest or some shit what the fuck” Jake said, being grossed out. “what would be the incestuous part, jacon. we did not say or hint at anything related to incest.” Rachel asked, making Jake's hair stand up in panic. “fuCKIN NOTHING DUH” “BUT LIKE YKNOW I GET CRUSHES REALLY EASILY YEA??????” Jake explained weirdly.
“So there's a new one right now, huh…” Henderson asked… feeling like she was in Ace Attorney. “no!!!! no wait” “well yea– no.. but i–” “fuck You but yes” Jake grumbled. “ah no, we won't tell, obviously. it was just getting way too obvious, so we just wanted to hear it from both sides.” “WH” Rachel said mysteriously, getting into the driver's seat of the pickup truck. “okay guys let's go!!” She yelled out, starting the engine. “THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN??????” “BOTH SIDES???”
chapter dos
two four trucks
The journey to god knows fuckin where idk didn't plan i guess a fuckin cabin or smth idk was long and torturous, especially when Rachel said that cryptic-ass thing before going. What the fuck was that supposed to mean, bro.
sudden interlude for seating arrangements !!
truck 1: Henderson, rachel, whitney, CYPRUS
truck 2: jake, damon, marge, Andre, Aaron
truck 3: ace, Nova, Dennis
truck 4: sarah, ORC, Shaw, viper
truck two.
Jake awkwardly patted Marge's head in the backseat of the truck, avoiding eye contact with Damon and Andre. Of course he had to go on a three-day trip in the same car with his ex, his crush, AND his crush's father. God, he was pretty sure this was the lab rats' doing.
“cows.” Damon pointed outside, earning Andre's attention. “Holy– what are those?” He asked, taking his sunglasses off to admire the beautiful little cows. “Cows… we drink their milk and wear their skin as jackets…” Aaron explained, his eyes drifting from the road momentarily. “They can have best friends and stuff. Really nice guys. Also, they're expensive as hell.”
“Y–You do what. Their skin??” Andre asked, his voice a pitch higher than usual. “yeah and we rate them based on which layer it is. also, like their meat, expensive as hell. but still very cool.” Damon said, confusing Andre even more. “they also give us cheese and ice cream and whipped cream and stuff. underrated little babies. they deserve better.” “they also have nose rings which are punk as hell–”
“Wait, why the nose– cheese?! Cheese?! AND ice cream??!” Andre asked again, his mind attempting to comprehend the greatness that cows are. “Oh man, you are not ready to hear about pigs.” Aaron said jokingly. “What the fuck are pigs???” “Sausages, ham slices, bacon, lard, leather too, rotisserie–” “aaron please i'm gonna throw up.” “Oh, right. Sorry,”
Jake sat quietly in his seat, just now realising how much of his world Andre's missing. Sure, his world was much cooler, but do they have sheep? Palm trees? Penguins? Thought not, bitch. “andre do you know what a kangaroo is” He asked, breaking his silence like that one YouTuber.
“A what?” “kangaroo. some of them are buff as shit and they move by hopping. they cant hop backwards and they also keep their babies in little pouches attached to them and their bones and guts are exposed on the inside of said pouch. baby kangaroos are about the size of a jellybean, and the adults can box you”
“They what” “yea they're weird as fuck.” “its from australia so” “That sounds fake.” “oh man. wombats bro. quokkas. fuckin drop bears and flying foxes. PLATYPUSES!!!” “wombats poop in cubes and quokkas are always smiling” “Koala bears hold onto tree branches and eat their mom's shit, which is the leaves of said tree branches.” “Please stop what the fuck” “ohoho fucking GEESE” “GET IM JAKE MY NEIGHBOR HAD FUCKIN THREE OF THOSE BITCHES”
truck three.
The three sat silently, with the exception of Dennis, who was swearing at random times. “You call that a fuckin’ turn, old man?! HUH?!!” Ace's shoulders jumped, the sudden exclamations preventing them from sleeping through the trip. “This Is Probably The Last Time We'll See Each Other Alive.” Nova stated calmly. “i slept for like two minutes last night… didn't even get to wear conditioner today. unrelated but just sharing my struggles with you.” Ace said, shifting into a more comfortable sleeping position.
Dennis overheard the two talking, and opted to stay quiet for the rest of the trip, before stumbling across a strange sight. “FROG!!!” he yelled, waking up the duo. “he said fuck! he said the f” Ace yelled out while rubbing their eyes. “Are We Aliven't” Nova asked, stretching. “Sadly, no, but the good news is, I found a frog!” Dennis excitedly said, opening the car door.
“WHAT” “THAT SHITS GONNA POISON US WHAT THE FUCK” Nova yelled out, unfortunately not loud enough for Dennis to hear it. The man kept walking towards the creature that was technically an alien to them, and picked it up with watery hands. “DENNIS YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING KILL US ALL!!!!!!! DENNIS!!!!!!”
“So, you kids know how to handle a frog?” Dennis asked in a wholesome tone, alerting the two even more. “KILL IT KILL IT FUCKING KILL IT” “Oh, are you guys allergic to this little guy? Sorry, I'll put it in the dashboard instead.” “GET ITBOUT WHAT THE FUCK DENNID JESUS” “… Huh?” “POSIOJ DART FOGR” Nova shouted, hiding behind the passenger seat and being pushed by Ace, who was also going to hide there. “BITCH”
Dennis and the frog stared at them in confusion, hearing their horrified screams. “This is… a wood frog… not a poison dart… that one would probably die in this climate…” he explained plainly, his hands gently cupping the newfound friend. “oh. ok” Ace muttered quietly, while Nova maintained an awkward silence. “You can… pat them very softly if you want.” Dennis suggested. “Or spray the shit outta them. That could work too.”
Nova nervously held out her hand to pat the frog, then smiled in succeeding to do so. “Death Quivers Before Me” She said, proceeding to pat it even more. “can i do the spray thing.” Ace asked, their voice quiet as a whisper. “Yeah, sure. Go right ahead.”
*the frog was going to die so technically they didnt like fuck up the ecosystem or smth. do not attempt this irl.
truck four.
“What jolly tunes d'ya have on this here truck. Fellas.” Shaw asked, observing the radio. “uh, really, i don't think it'll be necessary!!!!!” Viper nervously said, only to be ignored. “NONSENSE! ONE'S TASTE IN SHANTIES PROVES TO BE A WINDOW INTO THEIR LIVES.” Orc said wisely, patting them on the shoulder. “i guess that's good advice, but really–”
TWO TRUCKS HAVING SEX. TWO TRUCKS HAVING SEX. MY MUSCLES. MY MUSCLES. INVOLUNTARILY FLEX.
“I SEE. A MATING SONG FOR YOUR SPECIES?” “my truck f### playlist,.,.,.” Viper tried to mute the speaker to no avail as most of the buttons on the control panel were very much broken. “I'm. Very sorry for this, pardner. But this doesn't sound so bad. I could put this in a jukebox…” Shaw consoled, only making them panic more. “im so f#ckig sorry” They said, before smashing the radio with a briefcase.
They all paused for a moment, unsure of what to do. “i have spotify…” Sarah croaked, holding up her phone. “they have lemon demon too, if you want…” She muttered, scrolling through the song choices. “does anyone want to listen to wet a–” “no.” “okay.”
The truck grew even quieter for a while, until Shaw gave a suggestion to pass the time. “Wanna play 20 questions?” “I'll start: how many folks have y'all killed?” Viper gave the assassin a horrified look, confusing her. “I think mine's around 150. No… 145…” She confessed, rubbing her chin. “Wait, or was it 160?”
“like six. do you like girls, and, follow up question, do you also coincidentally like short girls with long hair.” Sarah said without hesitation, stopping Orc from answering the first question. “Yes! I literally have a wife!” Shaw shouted happily, rolling up her sleeves to show Sarah her tattoos. “This one is her setting herself on fire and me getting inspired–” “ah, yes–” “That one was a total cover-up! Previously, it was the names of my exes, all thirteen of them, but now, it's my cat!”
After some time of receiving a bit too much RexShaw lore, Sarah finally got the answer she so desperately needed from Viper. This was the verdict that determines whether she could make a move or not. This answer could change– “i am gay and do not get attracted to women. thank you.” Ah. Back to more hunting. “I am a lesbian! High-five!” Shaw exclaimed.
And finally, the first truck.
truck one.
Loud country music blared in the truck as they drove by the snowy mountains of uhh. Winsnow. Like winter and snow. They had all chosen separate routes in order to cover more land and see if there were any new developments in the area.
“BRANDY!!! FETCH ANOTHER ROUNF!!!!!!” Rachel screeched as she drummed on the dashboard. “AND SHE FJSJS” Henderson kept driving, searching every inch of land for a rest stop to stretch her legs and also listen to something else.
“hendy.” Rachel said, getting her girlfriend's attention. “do you wanna buy that slime that cleans cars and stuff?” Henderson stared into the distance, pondering. “Hm. There's always the possibility of the slime disappearing under mysterious circumstances and turning up in the trash can the next day covered in saliva, so.” Whitney looked away, feeling attacked.
“yeah, that's a problem.” Rachel muttered, her hand instinctually moving to Henderson's. “Please don't crash the car.” She begged, looking sadly at her. “is there a domino's nearby. i heard they have that new peanut butter chocolate lava cake.” Rachel asked, cupping Henderson's face gently.
“Rachel. There's fucking mountains.” Henderson pointed out, gesturing towards their surroundings. “That shit will freeze.” Rachel put her head down in disappointment. “yeah. damn.” “MORE FLESH!!! MORE FLESH!!! MORE FUCKING FLESH!!!”
Oh yeah, Cyprus was here the whole time. “why does the metal say fuck?????” And Whitney too! “MIND YOUR OWN GODDAMN BUSINESS. FLESH NEEDED!” Cyprus yelled out, resembling a hungry toddler on a road trip.
“do you want like a burger or something......” Whitney asked, judging the spirit. “FLESH” “like are you more of a kfc or a mcdonalds guy” “NEED FLESH” She gave the couple a look, one that was kind of undecipherable due to her lack of normal face details like eyebrows, visible pupils, etc.
“So, three peanut butter lava cakes and one meat lover's… what else?” “ah!!!!!! no lava cake for me, i'm on a diet!!!!!! dirt and dirt only!!!!!!!!!!! also fish bones as a treat” Whitney corrected, her eyes searching for a nearby body of water. “Or, we could get Cyprus the fish meat, and Whitney the bones.” “sounds good to me!!!!!!!!” “FLESH”
…
“welcome to domino's! can i get your order?”
“three peanut butter lava cakes, please. that's all. thank you.” Rachel said, her seat switched with Henderson's, who was too nervous to order. “okay but they each take like three hours to make” “what.” “yea you can stop by like the grocery store up ahead” “fuck you for ordering this” “i–” “fuck off”
the grocewy stowe
The truck stopped by the front of the building, Rachel telling them to go in first while she searches for a good parking spot. Much to Henderson's disappointment.
“My lover…” Henderson said with fear in her voice. “it's okay… go along… i… i have to do this for you…” “for you all… i won't forget the good that you've done to me and everyone i've ever known…” “Rach, please don't go, I lo–” “you all are the kindest people… heaven may wait eagerly for you, but as for me, the ground trembles for its latest meal. fresh from the oven, i will enter the furnace…” “why the fuck would they cook you again” “because i'm TOAST!!” “haha”
“Kill Ronald Reagan while you're at it… I forgot which one he is but I'm pretty sure he's a total bitch…” “i will meet you doomguy” “heeeeeeeh” Rachel whined weakly as she slowly drove over to the spot she wanted.
MOTHERFUCKER.
A silver Honda Civic quickly made its way into there, angering the scientist. “not on my watch, fucker.” Rachel muttered, sliding the pickup truck across the road. She slammed her palm onto the car horn, which terrified even a murder of crows.
“huh wonder who that is” “hm anyway which fish do u like ???? :-)”
A woman who seemed to be in her late 40s exited the Honda Civic, throwing a rather large and flashy boa around her neck. “Jesús, ít's cold in hère,” The lady commented, putting on a pair of expensive-looking sunglasses. “Márie, come along, ma cheghhy!” (i forgot how to spell it)
oh, son of a B I T C H .
it's the french lady who smells weird.
Of course, seeing your enemy in any circumstance that wasn't planned was clearly a little scary and will probably be your last day alive, but bumping into them at a Target was kinda… awkward.
Both the hazelnut and the dolphin were less armed and armoured than usual, and there weren't any bodyguards or security. Usually, if a top leader goes anywhere, the standard protocol was to do thirty separate background checks on the location and have it guarded up somewhere in the three months before their arrival.
So, obviously, someone in Top 50 driving around town in a decades-old car buying groceries isn't very safe, or probably even legal. Hell, she hasn't even seen them wear anything this ridiculous ever. Could this be a distraction? Or is it an opportunity?
Ah, wait, they're both wearing their stupid little marriage bracelets.
It's the middle of October.
This is their anniversary vacation.
Shit.
in the store
Henderson strolled through the aisles with Whitney at her side, hugging Cyprus's jar. She examined the cereal boxes to make sure they didn't contain any food colouring that could potentially kill her.
Whitney, on the other hand, zoomed over to the meat section, licking her lips at the sight of a raw cod. “cyprus…… do you feel that? the need to devour a being???? the uncontrollable desire for energy that it transcends all laws and regulations placed on mankind?????? the growing hunger for power, one that's so strong it controls your every need????
a natural, primal instinct to become such a brutal being that no one, not even you, recognise yourself anymore. you look at yourself in the mirror and you feel like you want to destroy that, to put yourself onto the pedestal you belong on, to wreak havoc on the cosmos of all beings, living and dead, real and mythical, walking and extinct.
you know that you're the only who understands this instinct, the only one who follows it to this distance. everyone else may underestimate you, but in the end, you'll rise above them all. man's natural instinct is to become the ruler of all.”
“What the fuck, Whitney. Anyway, I talked to the deli guy and he said he could pay you to eat up some scraps if you want. You down?” Henderson asked, her trolley already full of snacks. “yea fuck it man” Whitney replied, walking over to the ‘staff only’ door. “im hungy as fuck”
parking lot.
Despite the growing need to kill the woman, Rachel was managing to control herself. Even though this was the perfect opportunity to eliminate one of them, she knows she'll be replaced by someone much crueler. So for now, she'll just stick to watching this lady consider which can of tomato sauce is better than the other.
Rachel parked the truck near the entrance and the Honda Civic. She kept an eye on the couple as she quietly made her way inside through the back door.
“So thàt's when Í saìd, ‘that's not a cactùs, that's a lámp!” Karén playfully said, her hand entwined with her wife's. Rachel was unsure whether to stalk the two or join her friends in shopping.
WELL, FIND THAT OUT IN THE NEXT PART,
B I T C H !! !! !!
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AWWW YEAH KIDS. I am HYPED. I woke up stupidly early for zero reason, Infinity War trailer came out, I talked to my leasing agent, steamed some tablecloths at work, came home, shotgunned one on an empty stomach and now i’m READY WITH SUSHI AND CIDER
oh my god we have a fucking saw/blair witch/every shitty horror movie from the 90s and 00s “this is REAL people” intro i’ve only had one piece of sushi i’m not PREPARED for this
i’m assuming these pairs are all just people who have just boned. bughead. varchie. josyle. ....mackler?
jughead’s like “don’t blame yourself babe let me offer emotional comfort in this trying time” and betty’s just “shut up i’m solving a MYSTERY.”
((this is the exact point i paused to jump over to tumblr and type that last i’d like to thank not only god but jesus))
he just called her poirot they definitely banged. changing from cute nicknames that imply your gf is a fresh faced young lady detective to “lol babe you’re such a mustachioed old man” is def one of those comfortable, intimate signs you’ve touched each other’s business
me, @ penny’s bangs: you again
“messed up that pretty face of his” fp jones was the town bicycle and worked his way through literally everyone in his age demographic before 30, confirmed
jughead is such a sweet bean. so sweet. such a bean. fully realizes that violence is a regular part of his dad’s life. has experienced some of this violence himself (the gauntlet). still spirals into a panic at hearing his dad got beat up.
penny peabody is the shadiest person on this show and that is SAYING something. she is just- LOVING the powertrip. she LIVES for this. jughead- wide eyed, panicked, offering all he has and anything else she can think of- her black little heart is beating out a samba
i can’t fucking WAIT to find out that fp is fine and hasn’t been hassled one bit but the goulies in jail and penny just came up with this story for the LEVERAGE
cheryl pushes her way between jarchie with josie in her wake because they have gay things to do that require the full span of the hallway
there is a CHAIN on this box
archie’s fantasy for their future is the gayest thing i’ve ever heard is he about to propose
“where are betty and veronica in this?” because jughead knows he’s about to get a marraige proposal and fully intends to say yes but doesn’t want the core four to get weird. “they’re roommates” because archie supports beronica
of course the tire goes out and the old guy from every horror flick of the 80s pulls over to offer some folksy yet sinister help
“you’re not seriously going to go with this guy alone, are you?” archie keeps whiplashing from “pretty but dumb” to “only person with any fucking sense in this town” so fast i have a headache
“you’ve come this far. we’re all good. okay?” oh my god. oh my god. jughead is REASSURING archie that he hasn’t failed him in this favor. now. as he is about to drive off into the night with ol man smithers who definitely has a suspicious amount of rope and knives in his glovebox. this what he takes the time to communicate. i am feeling DELICATE.
“don’t look under that tarp boy” DON’T LOOK UNDER THAT TARP BOY? DON’T LOOK UNDER THAT TARP BOY?? DON’T LOOK UNDER THAT TARP BOY??? DON’T LOOK UNDER THAT TARP BOY????
YASSSSSS. what did i say a few months ago huh??? what did i say? i said “god i hope season 2 doesn’t abandon the mega creepy trend of people comparing archie to jason.” and lo. the creepy dude on the road delivers. my savior.
oh fuck me sideways was that the title card i’ve been drinking on an empty stomach don’t judge me
there is so much about this episode that’s giving me a heavy Jeepers Creepers vibe
jesus christ riverdale has had MULTIPLE SERIAL KILLERS in this guys lifespan. the town with pep. has had two serial killers. currently has two active gangs. HOW MANY PEOPLE EVEN LIVE HERE?!
whut the fuck why is archie seeing good trip bambi
honestly jughead i feel like if someone says “don’t look under that tarp boy” and you’re SURPRISED when you see blood leaking out of the tarp at least like 20% of this is on you
i feel like jughead probably went from “oh phew it’s a deer” to “nope definitely a sicko” in the second it took for this guy to assure him that his hunting does not make him comparable to a serial killer
jughead perks up at “slaughtered family” because he’s read in cold blood 50 times and can’t wait to bring it up again
archie came back for his boi i’m so proud right now my heart is so full
teh crate says “wiscatonic ((as in whiskey-tonic)) university via h.p. lovecraft” and “polar expedition january 13 1923″ because this show loves me and wants me to be happy
PENNY IS MAKING A POWER GRAB WITH THE KING IN JAIL HELP I’M SO ALIVE
great soundtrack choice
these boys are just being so TENDER rn this is what i signed up for i need to lie down
fucking told you fp’s fine
“or raise your voice to me ever again” HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT. PENNY. FUCKING PEABODY.
“fp made me a promise he didn’t keep” oh my goodness. oh my golly. oh my goshdarnit.
JOSIE SIDEPLOT
again it’s really hard to remember that these characters are kids cuz none of the actors look like teenagers but a mom being like “honey there is a serial killer on the loose and yo’re the mayor’s daughter can you maybe not go walking alone after dark” is a pretty fucking reasonable request. get a walking buddy jos come on.
oh yes that is not a remotely sinister gift tag “i’ll be watching you” is a totally normal harmless crush thing to say
“are you the one putting things in my locker” “well i can be” “ew.” ICONIC EXCHANGE.
“i don’t date” yes my love for josie just increased
“Chuck asked me out” “im assuming you said no” “of course.” “good because our wedding is next year and i’ve already got way too many deposits out”
no the supporting cats are back only to break things off with alpha kitty nooooo
oof chuck’s turnin a new leaf OR IS HE
also this begs an interesting question about loyalties because clearly josie is all about supporting other women, and season one cheryl is very much okay with aligning herself with season one chuck, but cheryl and josie are very tight from day one so do they talk about these kinds of things? did season one cheryl downplay her combativeness and full ability to step on every woman around herself to lift herself up around josie because she wanted kisses? i need answers.
okay so chuck is trying to be a better person and i guess this is sweet but last episode i was half committed to hitching my wagon to josie/reggie???? what am i supposed to do now?! i’m not fickle! but this is getting more time and development and i’m so tired of fighting the tides of canon. my life is HARD okay guys.
“You’re in here doing THE TWIST” this woman deserves an oscar for saying that with a straight face
okay but WHY keep this from people. unless she’s getting further communication. unless she’s being threatened. GOD I FEEL LIKE PEOPLE ARE BEING TOLD TO HUSH UP BUT WE’RE NOT SEEING IT ON SCREEN I CAN’T WAIT IF THAT GETS REVEALED
josie has the exact same hairdo three days in a row because it’s the same SUBPLOT
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT IT LOOKS LIKE A DAMNED SHOULDER PAD PENNY IS THAT YOU
OMG PARALLEL PLOTS THAT’S WHAT’S GOING ON WOW I’M DRUNK THAT TOOK ME AWHILE TO CATCH UP
okay so now cheryl is all about condemning misogyny- i mean it makes sense with her season 2 subplot but like kinda some 180 here no?
like why why is she so quick to say it’s him when it doesn’t fit. what gain. other than a smokescreen because she’s being threatened by the real perpetrator to throw suspicion I AM SO TIRED BUT I NEED ANSWERS
“there’s no evidence” “well keep looking” mayor mackers is such a sleeper shady person in this town
WHAT THE FLYING FUCK CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
WHAT THE FUCK
Kevin: “my dad’s been acting shady” beronica: “SUSPECT. TUMBLR WAS RIGHT.”
“he’s the black hood” “he’s having an affair” “Maybe he’s having an affair AND he’s the black hood” JESUS CHRIST
oh no what are you going to do veronica please don’t try to seduce your friends dad i don’t think i can handle that
sheriff k seems REAL ready to share details of an ongoing investigation with the school newspaper. maybe betty has just worn him down
KEVIN IS A CLOSET TABLETOP NERD HELP ME I NEED TO KNOW MORE HOW DID HE GET INTO THIS DO HE AND BETTY PLAY THIS DID HE MAKE JOAQUIN PLAY THIS I NEED ANSWERS PEOPLE
why is THIS the comedic subplot of the episode i mean i love it but HONESTLY!?
oh god please don’t tell me these are sex grunts stop grunting sheriff k
he is so uncomfortable veronica stop
OOOOOOHHHHHHH kevin’s mom is miliatary. gotcha. that had been nagging at me.
oh frick oh dang. it’s too early in the season for this but DANG SHERIFF K GOT SOME SPLAININ TO DO
“i’m in. for kevin’s sake. and also to keep you in check” every friendgroup needs a veronica I desperately need a veronica
oh god no this is a trainwreck betty stop this
FUCKIN CALLED IT MACKLER SAILS YASS
GAAAAHHHHHHHHH
Episode Scorecard:
# of sick beat drop editing sequences: none that i counted- nice use of retro tho.
do i still miss joaquin: yes. even moreso now that i’m reminded of the missed opportunity of he and the sheriff meeting. can you fucking imagine how awkward? IMAGINE IT. also i miss polly. either bring them back or write me a fic where they’re chillin together safe from harm.
episode hair mvp: Melody’s confrontation afro
episode outfit mvp: cheryl’s very bisexual romper. honorable mention to veronica’s very veronica pjs
cast and crew mvp: editing. some really nice throwbacks and genre motifs as well as use of comedic editing style. it all felt natural too which is hard to pull off. well done in the cutting room. also whoever made the stamps for that drug crate. and gave the shady truck dude that hat.
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Meta question moment: in the sneak peek Mon-El acts like on Daxam lesbian relationships were not a problem at all (okay he then goes all jerk with "the more the merrier" but I think that's just how he is, his first reaction was "is it a problem here on Earth?"). So do you think that Daxam's and Krypton's culture were similar enough to assume that sexuality was more fluid than Earth's one on K. too, and then Kara might later be revealed as bi/pan without it being a big deal for her?
Welllll, what could technically be true logically is not necessarily what they would do as far as writing. So I have a few answers.
What could technically be true:
Krypton
Keep in mind that Kryptonians were similar in physiology to Daxamites, but they had vastly different cultures and judge each other accordingly.
In Daxam it’s ‘anything goes’. Sexuality does not indicate how many relationships a person has but if you don’t care how much of these are happening, chances are higher that you don’t care who it’s with.
But Kara’s planet has been shown to be more conservative than Daxam as far as relationships go. Krypton was not past monogamy, if Kara’s opinion of Mon-El’s behavior is any indication (She considered them all to be frat boys and called him a floozy. This was in the context of Kara’s prejudice storyline, so it was likely meant to represent the ideology of Krypton and not just her own opinions).
So Krypton isn’t “the more the merrier” but that doesn’t mean that they’re homophobic or aren’t fluid in sexual and romantic preference.
But Krypton is typically depicted as more advanced than Earth, so this may transfer over to the culture.
If Krypton took the same path Earth is taking but was further along, I’d hypothesize that they had homophobia at one point but were past that, but not past having one partner. I don’t think anyone has specifically written Krypton with homophobia, and despite Krypton’s being written by people from a heteronormative society, the universe’s default is not heteronormativity.
As for how many people are born with certain preferences, we have no way to tell.
Kara
As stated, there’s no way of knowing how many people are of what orientation from Krypton. So I can’t say if Kara would be more or less likely to be bi or pan.
But as for whether or not it would be a big deal for her if she were, Mon-El was a full grown man when he left Daxam, so he was fully socialized by them and their tolerance. Even if Krypton was particularly open in that regard, Kara came to Earth at a young age and was then exposed to the way we regard same-sex relationships. So she could feel pretty much the same way we do about it.
People realize their feelings at many different stages, so if she already had crushes on girls, that’s not as likely to be repressed or a surprise to her and she’d have been more likely to internalize positive feelings about same-sex relationships if she had reason to pay attention. If it were me, I’ve liked girls since I was at least 6 and knew what it was around 9 or 10, so I’d have made the cut by a while. But some people are more like Alex, and Kara expressed confusion at how she’d know that she liked someone in the pilot, so I’d say she’d take a while to recognize any feelings for either.
But even if, internally, she knows that It’s Okay to Be Gay™, she might hide it the way she did her powers. There’s no internal shame about it the way there may be for those from Earth, but she may fear backlash nonetheless.
Probably not the answer you were looking for, but the way Kara looks so impressed by Mon-El for Daxam’s tolerance, she’s not as nonchalant as one might have guessed.
What they’d probably make true:
Krypton
If you ask the writers “Do Kryptonians care if people are gay?” they’re probably gonna say no. Especially these writers, since they are aiming for positive representation in this matter. The fact that they even mentioned that Daxamites don’t care probably means we’d get a positive answer.
But they if haven’t talked about it yet, they probably won’t. Alex coming out was a perfect opportunity to discuss the differences in culture, but they went a different direction.
Kara
They’re not going to make Kara pan or bi, because they wouldn’t do it without giving her a female love interest, and they’re not going to risk lose their straight viewers. Not because they’re pandering to homophobic viewers, they’ve likely lost the majority of those already, but because they still need straight people to like their show. If Kara ends up in a relationship with a girl, even if it’s a love triangle with the guy waiting to the side, the straights may stop watching.
Unlike minorities, white straight women and men have a plethora of choices of things to watch. If there are no straight relationships in something, and they want to see themselves in a relationship (which, given how every damn movie has to have a love interest, it seems like they do) they can just move on to another superhero show about a guy and a girl.
Also, there are gay people writing this, that much we can tell from the nuance of Alex’s coming out story, but there are straight people to. And straight writers feel the same way straight viewers do, they want to see themselves. We all want to see ourselves. And if the majority of a writer’s room isn’t gay, then the majority of the show won’t be gay. This is just typically how it goes. Not when people make an effort, but Sanvers probably feels like enough to them. (Not in a “this should satisfy the peasants” kind of way but in a “why would we think to do more?” kind of way.)
(Also, it was just mentioned in passing, but I didn’t really have a problem with the “more the merrier” joke, because I don’t have an issue with people who like a lot of sex. It’s his character and culture, and he didn’t direct any creepy vibes toward sanvers or anything. I can see myself making the same kind of joke to my friends, tbh.)
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MOXIE is more than just a book, it’s a call to action! We talk all things Riot Grrl, music and our misspent youth with author Jennifer Mathieu.
The Riot Grrl movement was born out of the feminist punk scene of the 1990s. Nearly 20 years later and so much has changed, but even more has stayed the same. There is still a need for female unity. There is still a need for feminist activism. There is still a need for Riot Grrl. Jennifer Mathieu’s new book MOXIE reminds us of all the reasons we need REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW!
YA WEDNESDAY PRESENTS:
An Interview With Jennifer Mathieu
Q: The dedication of this book is badass but it makes me think this story is personal. What inspired Moxie?
A: Writing that dedication was, truly, the most fun I have had writing in years. It was very cathartic. I think I was inspired to write Moxie not only because of my personal interest in Riot Grrrl and feminism (which really started during college) but also because I wanted to write the sort of book my high school self would have wanted to read. My high school was very conservative, stifling, and especially restrictive when it came to gender roles. It was the early 90s in the suburbs and it was hard. The teacher to whom I dedicated the book also bragged about giving his wife a frying pan for her birthday. The vibe was just gross and in my gut I knew it. But I didn’t have Moxie or anything like it, so I decided to write the book I wish I’d had when I was 15.
Q: I grew up in small town not unlike East Rockport High and Vivian’s story felt very real to me. Was your high school experience like what was described in Moxie?
A: Yes, in a lot of ways. I didn’t grow up in a small town, but the sports teams were very important at my school. My school was religious, too, so in many ways it was very conservative. I don’t mean to imply you can’t be religious and progressive or religious and a feminist, but my school was very conservative in its approach to social issues. It put a high premium on conformity. I had several bad experiences there. The teacher to whom I dedicated the book was one of them. I also had my cheerleading coach imply I needed to lose weight. It was really gross.
Q: Music was such a large part of the Riot Grrl movement and Vivian’s story. What songs fueled you while writing Moxie?
A: I remember the first girl punk song that blew my mind was Cherry Bomb by the Runaways. I discovered it in high school because it was on the Dazed and Confused soundtrack, which I played obsessively on cassette – lol! When I got to Northwestern for college, I met up with people who I really connected with, and they introduced me to punk. I listened to a lot of those songs as I was writing Moxie, including a ton of Bikini Kill, of course. I listened to Cool Schmool by Bratmobile repeatedly as well as a lot of Team Dresch songs. I listened to a lot of music by bands that came a bit after the RG movement, including Sleater-Kinney and Cadallaca. I don’t always listen to music when I write, but for this book I definitely did!
Q: In Moxie, Vivian finds a box of paraphernalia from her mother’s high school days called “My Misspent Youth” box. What would be in your My Misspent Youth box?
A: Great question! It’s funny because after the book went to print I wondered if I should have called that box something else because I don’t think Vivian’s mom thought her youth was misspent – she was mostly being tongue in cheek about it! Her youth was important and revelatory for her as was mine. I’m 40 years old, and I think I would include my ticket stubs from all the shows I went to – Fugazi, Sleater-Kinney, The Queers, etc. as well as some of the books that made a real impact on me, including Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion and the Sisterhood is Powerful anthology, edited by Robin Morgan. I’d include some of my journals and the letters and postcards my friends and I wrote to each other – we were part of the last generation to write to one another instead of just email or text. I would also include Zine, the Pagan’s Head zine anthology by Pagan Kennedy, which introduced me to zine culture and what zines are all about.
A few item from Jennifer’s “My Misspent Youth” box.
Q: Vivian was inspired by the Riot Grrl movement from the 1990s. What historical movement or individuals inspired you both in high school and now?
A: For me personally, looking at feminism’s second wave, I am deeply inspired by Gloria Steinem and Audre Lorde. I had the opportunity to hear Gloria speak when I was in college and it was an amazing experience. Audre Lorde’s “Sister Outsider” collection is as relevant today as ever, especially in regard to feminism needing to be inclusive and not just a movement full of middle class white women. As far as RG, I was and still am inspired by Kathleen Hanna, the lead singer of Bikini Kill and later Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. I know in her early years she shunned off the “leader” title, but she is so charismatic, inspiring, and hilarious it’s no surprise that word kept getting thrown at her. I have also been so impressed by Beth Ditto, who led the band Gossip and is now a solo artist. I recently read her autobiography From Coal to Diamonds and was so touched by her insight and honesty. She was really influenced by the Riot Grrrl movement as well. And finally, Roxane Gay is one of the most important feminist voices out there right now. She should be required reading in schools, and that’s why I name dropped her in Moxie! LOL!
Some of the woman that inspire Jennifer Mathieu. Take note ladies.
Q: In Moxie, some students are less than enthusiastic with the idea of a feminist agenda at their school. What would you say to anyone who thinks “feminist” is a dirty word?
A: I would be really gentle with them because arguing back isn’t going to help change their minds. I would ask them why the think this way. For a lot of people I think it’s the media’s influence or just stuff heard at home. Feminists are man haters or can’t wear makeup – just dumb stereotypes that get circulated online and elsewhere. I would ask them if they think women and men should be paid the same. I would ask them if men should be able to cry in public and not get shamed for it. I would ask them if childcare and housework should be valued no matter who does it. Feminism isn’t scary if you think about it like that – it’s really about liberation for everyone from stifling and repressive stereotypes. As the great bell hooks said, feminism is for everybody. It’s about love, inclusivity, and living authentically. I think approaching the conversation that way might help.
Q: After finishing Moxie I was ready to take over the world! What would you suggest for girls who want to continue the Moxie movement after they finish this kick-ass book?
A: I’m so glad you felt this way! I didn’t want Moxie to be the ending point but rather the starting point, so with the help of my former student, Lexi Acevedo, I created the Moxie Tumblr which can be found at moxiegirlsfightback.com. There you can find resources, a playlist, and tips on starting your own Moxie Club at your school! You can also Ask a Moxie Girl a question or submit original art and writing to be shared on the Tumblr. It’s my hope that the Moxie movement really becomes a community. The book is already out in the UK and I recently heard from two young women over there who are working on their own zines and starting a Moxie Club! i wanted to scream with excitement! Actually, I did!
Q: So, the rights to Moxie have been acquired by Amy Poehler’s production company (yay!). What songs would be on your dream Moxie soundtrack?
A: Yes, right now the screenplay is being developed and we’ll see what happens from there! As for my dream soundtrack, I would recommend every song on the Moxie playlist, which you can find on the Tumblr. For sure Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” and “Feels Blind” would go on there, but I would also want to include some contemporary lady punk, including a song called “Mujer Moderna” by this kick ass San Antonio band called Fea as well as “Dream Number Nine” by a UK band called Big Joanie.
San Antonio band FEA
UK band Big Joanie
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu: The Review
From the book flap:
MOXIE GIRLS FIGHT BACK!
Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with a school administration at her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment, and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.
Viv’s mom was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.
Moxie is a book about high school life that will make you wanna riot!
Overall: There are times when the problems of the world seem too big to handle. Climate change, racism, politics…Problems- so, so BIG. Me- SO, SO small! To stop myself from sliding into depression and retreating to my bedroom with a quart of gelato, I remind myself that no problem, no matter the size, gets solved with inaction and even a small act creates momentum, the opposite of inertia. MOXIE is that reminder. Moxie proves that small acts can lead to BIG change. Alright ladies-go read this book, then go change the world!
Judge a Book by its Cover: Black, white, pink and pissed! The Moxie cover fits the book’s vibe perfectly.
Me Talk Pretty: Jennifer pretty much channeled me at 17 while writing Vivian. This quote especially sums up my high school experience.
Audiobook Narration: Audiophiles, you’re in luck. Moxie will be available as an audiobook on September 19th and the reader is audiobook veteran Suzy Johnson.
Kick-Ass Factor: The Kick-Ass factor for Moxie is high! Don’t get me wrong, this is not a book about a girl who suddenly finds out she’s got secret martial arts skills and starts challenging bullies in hand to hand combat. No, Moxie kicks ass in a way that is real, believable and accessible to anyone. Vivian just gets fed up with the misogynist status quo at school and she decides to do something about it. It’s not something that would be considered overly grand or reckless to everyone, but for meek Vivian, it’s huge. And from her one act of defiance, the Moxie movement is born.
Body Count: While this is not a book with a literal body count, there are definitely casualties.
The Chosen One: The plot of Moxie could have slipped into the cliché if not for the skillful writing of Jennifer Mathieu. Moxie is Vivian’s story, but this is not one girl against the world. There are other girls in this book who are fighting their own battles in their own ways. Moxies girls fight back, but there are consequences.
Just. Why. One thing I couldn’t understand was Vivian’s love for frozen dinners. Please Vivian, stop with the Stouffer’s!
He Said/She Said: Moxie is told from the perspective of Vivian, a girl who does a lot to go unnoticed. She’s smart, but afraid to speak out in class. She clever, but doesn’t want to draw attention to herself. She’s got ideas, good ones, but she’s too scared to voice them. Vivian’s inner dialogue proves this girl has a voice, she just needs to learn to use it.
Bizarre Love Triangle: Jennifer introduces the sort of love triangle that is way more common in real life than the usual YA trope: The Platonic Love Triangle. It’s easy to feel pulled in two different directions when a new friend threatens to shake-up the friend equilibrium between you and your old school bestie. Especially when the new friend is a badass girl from the big city with all kinds of subversive ideas. Is there room in Viv’s life for old friends and new ideas?
Don’t Believe the Hype: When Amy Poehler endorses your book and wants to turn it into a movie, the bar is set pretty damn high. And for me personally as a self proclaimed Riot Grrl, this particular bar was 20 feet above eye level. But Moxie is worth all the praise it’s receiving. ALL. OF. IT.
Open tab/Last call: Jennifer Mathieu proves that Moxie Girls can be both gentle and tough. This is why the perfect Moxie drink is Fortified Lemon- sweet and sour with a hidden kick! We’ll keep the punch bowl full for you, Jennifer!
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, Roaring Brook Press, 336 Pages, September 19, 2017
Ann-Eliza
First Reads Friday Presents: MOXIE by Jennifer Mathieu, Author Interview + Review MOXIE is more than just a book, it's a call to action! We talk all things Riot Grrl, music and our misspent youth with author Jennifer Mathieu.
#Audre Lorde#Bell Hooks#Beth Ditto#Big Joanie#Bikini Kill#Bratmobile#FEA#Fierce Reads#Fugazi#Gloria Steinem#Jennifer Mathieu#Joan Didion#Kathleen Hanna#Moxie#Pagan Kennedy#Riot Grrl#Roaring Brook Press#Roxanne Gay#Team Dresch
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