#karen mention

[1296-very-good-year]

With Pride month going I can't stop wondering if homophobes and transphobes are mad that they can't wear or decorate anything with a rainbow bc it's been ruined by wokeness or something.

How many rightwing Karens out there are frothing at the mouth that they can't put too many colours in their grandbaby's room bc it'll make them trans?

Also like... shoe on the other foot, if the Nazi symbol was a rainbow I'd be pissed to hell that I couldnt use it for anything

[whim-prone-pirate]

i'm thinking about an au possibility where karen didn't go back for hen after their breakup. she got on the flight to houston. she lives in houston for a few months and decides to go to a gay club to check out the scene after she's settled in to her new job. she meets one edmundo diaz, visiting his sister adriana who lives in town. they are Best Friends. karen and eddie both get job offers in LA at the same time. they move back. and just by karen's fucking luck, her closest and only queer friend eddie diaz is working at the same firehouse as her ex-fiancé AND her now-distant former neighbor. and he has a thing for the annoying twink one. AND HEN STILL HAS EVA'S FUCKING KID. HER NEPHEW CHRISTOPHER WANTS TO BE BEST FRIENDS WITH THIS KID. she is so fucked. it's a telenovela for the ages.

[karenandhenwilson]

Let's talk about the 21st century and queer rights

Sometimes I see a post and wonder what kind of world people live in, how ignorant and hateful they are of the community they claim to be part of, and even the most recent history of that community.

I saw this post with this line in it: "Its the 21th century, are we still suppose to justify people who lie at their partners in order to protect their reputation?" And I'm not reblogging because I don't want to have it on my blog.

So, let's talk about the 21st century and queer rights in the US, shall we, @queershits?

Did you know that same-sex marriage in the US as a whole has only been legal since the Supreme Court decision on Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015? Prior to that, the first state to grant same-sex marriage was Massachusetts in 2004, while the first civil unions for gay and lesbian couples became legal in 2000. But at the same time, 28 states had banned same-sex marriage and the recognition of those marriages from other jurisdictions until 2015. In fact, the federal government had been banned from recognizing same-sex marriages by the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, which had been voided by the Supreme Court decision in 2015 but has only been fully repealed by the Respect of Marriage Act in 2022. That's all the 21st century. And very recent 21st century!

When Hen and Karen adopted Denny in 2011, they weren't married. Because at that point in time, they weren't allowed to in California.

Did you know that until the Supreme Court ruling on Lawrence v. Texas on June 26, 2003, same-sex sexual activity was illegal in 14 US states? And that even with that ruling 12 of these states have not changed their state's constitution, so that these laws aren't executable but still on the book and regularly used to harass queer people? (And didn't the current Supreme Court just say after overthrowing Roe v. Wade they'd like to take a good long look at Lawrence v. Texas, too? People might lose their rights again in those 12 states if the worst comes to pass here.) That's all the 21st century.

Did you know that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" came into effect in 1994, allowing gay and bi people to serve in the US military as long as no one found out about their sexual orientation? If they were found out, they could face dishonorable discharges or even prison time. Either would be a permanent burden on their records for the rest of their lives. DADT was repelled in 2011 after a long and hard debate. That's well into the 21st century.

Karen explicitely states that DADT is part of the reason she didn't become an astronaut. (Though, NASA was never truly subjected to the rule as it is not a military organisation. But on the other hand, many of the astronatus are active or former military.)

Tommy was at the 118 in 2005. We know he was in the Army prior to joining the LAFD. That means Tommy served under the rule of DADT, which would have been an immense burden on him.

Do you know that there is a defense called "LGBTQ+ panic" often used in combination with a defense of insanity, provocation, or self-defense? This defense tactic is only banned in 21 US states, and most of those bans are very recent. In 2018, only three states had banned this defense. In 29 US states people are allowed to say "this person is gay/trans/queer/etc and I felt threated by that fact alone so I saw myself with no other choice but to hurt them" in a court of a law and the jury has to consider that argument. That's the 21st century.

Let's take a look at the kind of world Josh, Michael, and Tommy would have been children and teenagers in. That's not quite the 21st century, but it's near enough.

Tha aids epemedic started in the 1980s, and is — for the record! — still ongoing. But in the 1980s it was very much deemed a problem of the gay community only. And many, many people claimed outrageous things like "they're getting what they deserve". Josh and Tommy are both 80s children, Michael was a teenager in the 80s. We know Tommy grew up with a bigoted and hateful man like Gerrard as a father. He probably heard the above quote and worse regularly.

Have you ever heard the name Mathew Shepard, @queershits? (If not, go and educate yourself!) Mathew Shepard was a young gay man tortured and murdered in October 1998. Josh and Tommy would have been teenagers or maybe young adults (as we don't know the exact age of either of them) when that happened. It was all over the news and there were, again, people not shying away from saying he got what he deserved. I've no doubt Tommy's father (and Gerrard) was one of those people.

That's the world Josh, Michael, and Tommy grew up in as gay men that Josh talked about. They didn't hide to protect their reputation, as it was put in the quote above. They hid to protect their life and well-being. Finding the confidence and security to let go of that kind of learned behavior to protect yourself is so hard. But all three did it!

There are still people today who have to hide like this in the US. Because they're born into the wrong family or the wrong neighborhood or the wrong religious community where being queer is still seen as a ground to hate them, to exclude them, to hurt them, to kill them.

The number of hate crimes is rising again. The hard-won rights and freedom of queer people are threatened again. It's the 21st century, but that doesn't mean we are always safe or that we don't sometimes have to do shady things to protect ourselves or that we can lean back and enjoy the rights we have. Because many of us all over the world either don't have any rights or are facing the very real danger of losing the rights again that those who came before us fought so hard for.

[jensenackles-daily]

@mishacollins: Starting momentarily! https://youtube.com/live/Is876dF_- (x)

[o0anapher0o]

It’s on Christmas morning probably around the third amazon gift voucher she 'unwrapps' that Karen realises that outside of work and her kids she doesn’t have a life anymore.  So as a new year’s resolution she decides to get a hobby just for herself.  For a hot minute she considers taking up knitting,  but then she remembers Buck mentioning that Tommy gives flying lessons and hey it’s a little out of her comfort zone, but isn’t that the whole point? So she contacts Tommy and after one test flight she is absolutely hooked. Flying tickles all the parts of her brain that wanted to be an astronaut and she loves the feeling of being in control that she doesn’t really have much outside of work (and even there, ever since the lab blew up that control has felt a bit tenuous). And she gets on great with Tommy as well. Their life experiences are drastically different and they tend to have pretty different opinions on a lot of things but they also weirdly get each other. Plus it’s taken Karen about five seconds to see that under the cool, confident pilot facade, Tommy is a total teddy bear and she’s added him to her mental roster of potential baby sitters about ten minutes in.

(For added conflict, maybe Karen hasn’t exactly told Hen about her new hobby. She only finds out when Tommy (who totally thought she knew) accidentally blabs.)

[softhairedhotch]

whenever i've imagined the upcoming bucktommy kiss (which is a lot) where buck initiates the kiss at the wedding once tommy saves chim, i imagine buck runs up to tommy and immediately kisses him in front of everyone. which is great and all, but now i think it'd be great if it starts with a simple hug first. like there's a slowmo scene of tommy getting off the plane, looking around for someone he knows, and then buck yells his name and sprints over, we hear tommy let out a soft "evan" before he's stumbling at the force of buck's body colliding with his as he hugs him so tightly. and as buck holds him, there's a few reaction shots. bobby has a slightly raised eyebrow, wondering when they got so close, athena looks a lil confused but happy nonetheless, hen and karen share a look, maybe we see buck's parents share one too (but less knowing/sweet and more worried), and eddie smiles a lil. let's out a sigh of relief because tommy is his friend too and he's glad he's safe. and THEN buck kisses tommy. and oh my god we get to see everyone's face switch immediately. the shock and the confusion and the pride. oh it'd just be so beautiful.

[conflictofthemind]

Thoughts on "Escape from Camazotz"

Oppressive Suburbia, Conformity, and Season 5 Themes

I've long thought that a major focus of Season 5 will be the contrast between the families of The Wheelers and The Byers, and exploring how non-traditional family environments can be freeing vs the oppressive structure of the nuclear family.

In a Wrinkle In Time, Camazotz is a planet controlled by the big bad of the book, the "IT", who forces the citizens into a conformity that resembles American suburbia. All of the houses the same, the citizens the same, doing the same things at the same time without individual identity. Without anything different. Different means a lot of things, but with Stranger Things dropping different in reference to Will's identity and the presumable themes of this season, it will heavily codify as queerness and how it threatens the cisheterosexual family model.

Henry was raised in the 1950s, a decade still revered by conservatives for it's traditional family dynamics that supposedly were the peak of culture and happiness for all. That was all a lie, of course, and Henry knew so as he shows to Nancy and Eleven during his monologue. The second most conservative decade aside from the 1950s in American society is widely considered to be the 1980s.

The Creels will serve in parallel to The Wheelers; the worst example of what they could become and the damage that this type of family could do to a child that is different in any way. Notice how Vecna selectively shows Nancy visions of The Wheelers dying, but not anyone else she may consider family or friends (like Jonathan).

That is; unless they change their ways and come together as a healthy functioning family facing their traumas, The Wheelers will be toast.

Karen has been moved up to a main character role this season. Ted's actor says the father starts to show up more for Holly (hold that) and realizes he wants to act differently. Holly has been recast. Finn has said Mike goes on a much more personal journey this season, and steps up as a leader.

Oh, also: the catalyst for all of this is that Holly goes missing. The contrast will help show how the Byers (including El and Hopper here) were able to pull together and help solve Will's disappearance, versus how the Wheelers as a closed off nuclear family grapple with Holly's vanishing.

Each of the Byers is in some kind of a non-1950s conformist relationship, but particularly Will (not in one now but we all know he will be). I think El might represent, after she breaks up with Mike, the fear of the unmarried woman being satisfied without a husband. The above shot really emphasizes my point.

I predict that Will will end up coming out to his family rather early on, and we will see all of them immediately accept him with little surprise or push-back. Will is a visible gay man who comes from an open minded non traditional family (divorced, non-married, adoptive) that is willing to have honest conversations.

But this theme will place the most focus on the Wheelers. Mike is the main character of said family and this will particularly focus on his arc, and his acceptance of his queerness in the midst of suburban conformity.

He is not visible, he comes from a Reagan-supporting family who don't communicate with each other. He is not particularly close with his family like Will is. He pushes his feelings down and tries his damn hardest to be normal despite it all. His trauma hasn't really been addressed at all. He is falling back into his usual habits - the one thing he dared to do different (grow his hair long) has gone back to how it was.

It's not all doom and gloom though. This season above all will be a redemption arc of the American nuclear family, how they choose to escape their conformity and learn to be there for each other, thus overpowering Vecna. Not that the Wheelers are going to end this personally.

"Great, more hysteria. Just what we need". "It's the news, now indistinguishable from the tabloids".

[shroomerr]

I love this orange airpod

[vamprisms]

like is that actually a karen or is it just a woman who disagrees with you

[kingly-court]

I’m legitimately gonna explode if I don’t find someone else who understand the background tragedy of the Gleeful Family in Gravity falls.

[mentally-ill-simp]

Trusting the RDR2 women to hold your drink

Tw:mentions of alcohol and once again Micah Bell

Karen Jones: You walked up to her rolling your eyes at something you had just heard one of the guys say "my god they are idiots sometimes" you groaned and she laughed "got that right" she took a sip of her own drink sitting at a table a little away from the rest of everyone "could you hold my drink for me really quick?" You asked her with a smile and she nodded taking the drink from you, she sat at the table holding the drink as you left, she made faces and glared at anyone who walked by eyeing the drink keeping it safe until you got back

Mary Beth Gaskill: The girl was sitting on the ground writing away as usual when you approached her "hey Mary whatcha writing" you smiled and she shut the book quick almost embarrassed to show you or anyone what it was "oh nothing" she said her face flushed red, you gave her a small smile "could you do me the biggest favor?" You asked changing the subject, and she nodded "yes of course, what is it?" The girl asked, curious."Could you hold my drink for me?" You asked, holding out your drink to give her, and she nodded, giving a small sweet smile."Of course, " she said. The whole time she held your drink people would walk by and she would give them an explanation on why she was just holding a drink "oh it's (y/n)'s just holding it" and cute stuff like that

Tilly Jackson: You ask Tilly to hold your drink and she happily agrees just working on her sewing much like Hosea she would just put a hand over top of the drink to make sure no one touched it while she worked until you got back

Sadie Adler: You were scared of the woman, but you'd trust here regardless. "Hey Sadie..." you approach her as she cleans her gun she looks up at you "hey (y/n)" she says her usual raspy voice sounding pissed but that was normal "would you mind holding my drink?" You asked her shyly her face softens nodding "yeah of course i can" she spoke nicely and grabs the drink from you holding it between her legs while cleaning the gun, everyone was to scared to approach her about the drink anyway so it was safe

Susan Grimshaw: You walk up to the woman, she was basically the mother of this group she was bitchy sure but she was trustworthy "good evening Ms. Grimshaw" you smiled at the woman "evening (y/n)" Susan stood there with her arms crossed watching the fire in a good mood "would you mind holding my drink for me?" You ask her softly and the woman takes her eyes off of the fire "of course I can darling" the woman smiled as she took your drink. She held the drink close to her protecting it as if it was her own "I can see you in the corner of my eye Mr. Bell you better walk off" she said not even making eye contact with Micah

Abigail Roberts/Marston: "Hey Abigail" you smile at her she had just finished putting Jack to bed and looked exhausted herself "hey" she smiled softly at you "I hate to ask this but would you mind holding my drink for me really quick while I go to the bathroom... I'll owe you one" you smile at her and she thinks about it for a moment "yeah sure I'll watch this for you but you get me one once you come back" she smiles softly and you nod running off, the woman sits there the whole time watching as the people walk by even keeping your drink safe from John when he tries to steal it to drink

Molly O'shea: You look around the camp, finding Molly sitting there by a tree reading. You walk over to her. "Ms. O'shea" you nod and she smiles softly "y'know you can call me Molly" she hated how formal everyone was towards her "alright Molly would you mind holding my drink for me?" You look at her, lips pressed together she nods "yes of course" she takes the drink while you run off and do what you need to, she glares at anyone and everyone who walked by

[incorrectplastics]

[duckapus]

AU where Mr. Puzzles actually manages to kill Mario, Meggy and SMG4 during the fight in the engine room. Of course, because Mario's dead the universe starts falling apart, which was not part of the plan, and when he looks up the Lore and finds out why he finally completely breaks and whatever's left of him gladly welcomes the end, declaring that a world that can't exist without Mario doesn't deserve to exist!

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew out in the park proper are freed from his control (since he's not really even in control of himself anymore) just in time to see the world falling apart around them and SMG3's model start to corrupt. 3 then gets a crazy idea, gathers as much Meme Energy as he can in his current state, mixes in some long-dormant leftover speck of Youtube Remote energy he apparently had buried deep inside him all this time (remember, he ate the damn thing, why wouldn't it have some hind of lasting effect?), then hurls it at the rest of the group.

Somehow, this sends their minds back in time to May 7th 2011, the day "The Cake is a Lie!" was uploaded, with the mission to stop Mr. Puzzles from inadvertently ending the world again. And it also gives them a chance to make other improvements to the timeline along the way. Just a few problems though:

They're dealing with the pre-character-development Total Asshole versions of Mario and the SMGs to start with

Everyone except Luigi has to wait until the show gets out of the "fucking around in Super Mario 64 Mods with text" and starts using G-Mod to actually get directly involved

Saiko's back in her game, though Boopkins was apparently already playing it even back then so she's at least not alone

Tari's... actually not sure where she is. Her memory doesn't extend this far back. Apparently she's in some sort of weird facility? At least Clench is still active.

Melony is a watermelon and has no idea where her mask is

Apparently Inkopolis won't be retroactively inserted into the universe until Splatoon actually comes out in the real world in 2015 so they have to wait about four years for Meggy to even exist

None of them have any idea where Mr. Puzzles was or what he was doing up until that fateful Mar10 Day where he sold 4 the goddamn Demon Keyboard

As you might expect, Bob immediately starts putting his knowledge of the future to use so he can get filthy rich.

[shieldofiron]

Steve who’s convinced that Billy is straight. I mean convinced. He was the only lunatic in the world who would start liking a girl more after she waved a gun in his face… And it turned out that after Billy apologized to Lucas, Steve was next on the list. And he was having some kinds of feelings about it.

Goes through all seven levels of hell because he’s had guy crushes before sure, but it’s never been like this. Not when Billy’s apologizing in the parking lot, spitting fire with a black eye that Steve doesn’t remember putting there. Not when Steve finally stutters out the explanation he came up with Hopper when they all got back, and Billy had cracked, patting a hand on Steve’s shoulder. That shoulder felt warm for the rest of the day.

And then he saw Billy leaning over Aimee Parkinson and his whole body turned to ice for a second. It was probably just a break up thing. Like his feelings were just acting up. After all Steve still likes girls. Still got interested… but then sometimes he would think about that warm shoulder, about hands that never had scrapes on them. Billy just had really nice hands, ok?

He was able to ride that explanation for another few months, hands shaking when they made contact in gym or when he handed him a beer those infrequent nights when he’d go on a drive and find Billy’s car out by the quarry. Just getting over Nancy still, the feelings spilling over. And sometimes guys get man crushes when they want to be friends. Right?

It’s only that day at Starcourt when he sees Billy drive his car into Mrs Wheeler’s station wagon to try to stop her from hitting Nancy that it hits him. This shit isn’t going away. Not that there’s much time to think of it. Between the fireworks and Steve’s throbbing head there was Billy. Billy hustling El away when Mrs Wheeler dragged her to the monster and promptly melted into it, absorbed. Billy, who was the first person to hug Mike Wheeler after, telling him it was going to be ok, that his mom loved him, Billy knew she did.

Between late nights at the hospital, and waking up to one of those nice hands laid over his. They were friends. And it was a level of hell as of yet unimagined.

Friends, as it turned out, got jobs together. Fucking Keith loved Billy. Thought he was a laugh riot because Billy could quote some stupid British movie from memory. Because Billy was a nerd, underneath all the swagger and the unbuttoned shirts. And even that made Steve’s knees weak.

Eventually Robin clues him in. Gives him a word. Turns out liking guys and girls and basically whoever he likes is not the singular suffering of one Steven Alessandro Harrington. And it’s nice to have the word for it, even if he can’t do jack about it.

And then one night they’re shooting the shit after a late shift. Billy’s got his shirt off and his family video vest on, because he’s a demon from the fifth dimension. And Steve’s got extra cologne on because they’re hanging out. And they’re talking about how El wants her powers back and… Billy starts crying.

He starts babbling about Mrs Wheeler, how it’s Billy’s fault, all of it. Because she was driving out on that road to meet him.

Steve turns to ice again. Because he knew Billy was straight but… this…

But Billy keeps crying. Talking about his dad, how his dad always wants him to be a man. That he had to lie he had a date tonight just to be here. And how Billy thought if a rumor started with the moms in town it would finally get back to his dad, and his dad would believe it and lay off him. Believe that Billy is straight.

Steve lays a hand on Billy’s shoulder. And it burns, burns like hell. What did Billy always say. Looks like there’s some fire in him after all?

“What if you weren’t lying to your dad?”

Sniffles. Wiping tears away from blue eyes with his own hands.

“Whad’ya mean, Harrington.”

“This could be a date.”

Billy doesn’t move away. Those hands curl into Steve’s vest collar as their lips meet. Billy makes a noise, a sweet heavenly noise.

“You can call me Stephanie,” Steve whispers when they finally pull apart for a second. “If that makes you feel better.”

Billy snorts. “I could never want a girl like this. Sorry, I’ve only had my eye on one guy in town. Maybe you’ve heard of King Steve?”

Steve runs his hands up Billy’s shoulders, tangles in his hair, slotting their knees together. Billy can be very convincing.

[messrmoonyy]

Women of the Van Der Linde gang >>>>>>>>>