#lgbt+ characters just exist without any drama about it

[clanandkingdom]

what are the general rules like? any shops?

Hey there anon!

Server Rules:

🌟 No Hatespeech of Any Kind Allowed

Unfortunately, it doesn't go without saying, so I'm gonna get it out of the way quick. We are an LGBT+ run, POC friendly server. We believe in a free Palestine, body equality and accessibility for all, and that everybody deserves decent respect. If you can't agree with that, then we can't agree with you.

🌟 Communication Is Key!

This is a BIG one. If you're unsure about ANYTHING, the direction of roleplay, if the joke someone made was directed at you or not, if the message that you're about to send will upset people, don't just rely on your gut instinct! Check, double check, triple check! Check the blacklist, pop a message down in questions and answers , or if you're a bit shy, create a ticket and it will open up a private channel for you to talk to us one on one! If me or any of the mods clarify our DMs are open, then you can talk there. But please, TALK. It will save a lot of drama and headache, I promise!

🌟 3: Blacklist Stays In Blacklist

The channel is there for a reason, folks! If you're about to post a message in general that you think might be a bit taboo, check the blacklist just to make sure! And if it is, then scoot on over to blacklist chat ! Even in there, remember to censor your images, links, or messages and plop down a proper tw! (for example, posting a picture of a spider and putting tw: spider). For things such as art, they can still go in the art chat, but remember to apply the same censoring techniques!

🌟 16+ Only! That Means YOU

This server is run by adults! We will sometimes cover adult topics in roleplay! However, let it be known that NO NSFW is allowed in ANY capacity. That includes images, roleplays, and in depth conversation (jokes are fine, but keep them very light) If you are younger than 16 years old, please do yourself and everyone here a favor and leave now. This isn't personal, this is just for everyone's safety.

🌟 Art Belongs to Artists

If you post someone else's art without a link, I am hitting you with a beam attack (joking. kind of). In all seriousness though, link and credit art that isn't yours! Even if the artist is in the server, credit them by tagging them or shouting them out! And on a similar note, we do NOT accept AI art in roleplay submissions or to be posted in art channels. It's alright if you can't tell the difference and send something on accident, but we gotta make our stance known.

🌟 See Something, Say Something

In reference to any of the rules above, if you think you see someone breaking any of them, let us know by making a ticket! Or, if me or the mods say our dms are open to talk, talk to us there. You will not be mentioned by name in any way if you don't want to be.

Character Creator Rules:

🐈 NOT Allowed: Other Clan Cats

By this, I mean that your cat HAS to either be from one of the three clans, one of the kingdoms, or an outsider. You can't make a cat from ThunderClan because ThunderClan does not exist. Or at least, doesn't exist anywhere near here. That being said, if you have an oc that you previously used for a different clan that you want to use for this server, thats completely fine! Just make sure to update their story appropriately. If you need help, read up on the clan and kingdom lore channels, or pop a question in questions and answers

🐈 NOT Allowed: Stereotypical Depictions

Things such as feathers behind the ear, headdresses, exaggerated features or accents are not allowed in any capacity. If you think your current character might break this rule, either toss them out and make a new character or double check with others in character chat . If you go ahead and submit smth like that without checking, you're gonna get a strike.

🐈 EVENTUALLY Allowed: Special Characters

So, you're probably asking, what are special characters? Well it's a good thing you're reading this paragraph because I'm about to tell you. Special characters are NON-CAT characters, or to be more specific, creatures such as:

cat fairies

mercats

dogs who can speak cat These above examples are special characters, and you only get ONE. And you only get that one after you've 1: Shown a habit of regular roleplay 2: Own at least 6 other normal cat characters If I think you're somehow abusing this special character by making roleplay hard for everyone else, then it's getting yoinked and you're getting a strike.

🐈 ALLOWED: Everything Else!

Other than what's stated above, there's really no limits! make a kitty that looks like a tiger, make a sparkle cat, make a completely normal tabby! Things such as disabilities and culture are also fully allowed as long as you think you can portray them accurately and respectfully, referring to the second rule. Starting off, members get 4 character slots to work with, and every month you're here is another character added!

Roleplay Rules:

🐾 Communication Is Key!

I've said it once and I'll say it a million more times, talk, talk, and talk some more! Plan out your roleplay in rp request or character chat before diving in to minimize confusion. It'd be awfully awkward for your apprentice character to catch a piece of prey that someone else's warrior character thought they called dibs on.

🐾 No Apprentice Without Mentor, No Kit Without Family

If you have a kit or apprentice character, make sure to talk with other members of the server to get that kit a caretaker, or that apprentice a mentor! They won't be allowed to play without one. The same goes for squires and yearlings in The Wild Kingdom!

🐾 Starry Shenaniganry Requires Approval

If you want your spirit character to float down from the heavens (or up from You Know Where) and deliver an earthshattering prophecy, make sure to ask permission from me or one of the other mods assigned to roleplay stuff first, by either making a ticket or popping down a question in questions and answers . If you don't want to do anything mystical and magical and just want to play a spooky cat, then by all means go for it!

🐾 Blacklisted Topics? Stick It In A Thread

The same sensitivity that we give to blacklisted topics in the general chats are applied to the roleplay ones, too. If you and someone else want to roleplay an event that contains blacklisted topics, then you are required to make a thread with a tw in the title. For example, roleplaying a battle with heavy gore would require you to make a thread with TW: ANIMAL GORE in the title.

🐾 Doing A Border RP? Stick To One Channel

As you may have noticed, there are a few 'duplicate' channels scattered throughout the territories. These are border channels, and if you go into the description of each you can see which part of the territory they border. If you are doing a roleplay where two cats are meeting along the border, stick to one of these border channels for brevity's sake. For example, if a CrimsonClan cat and a CobaltClan cat wanted to meet in secret, you could say the CrimsonClan cat climbed down the mountain to end up in CobaltClan's side of Bearnose Falls, or vice versa

🐾 Keep It Semi-lit

That means at least one paragraph per response! As long as you're writing a minimum of 3-4 good length sentences, you're in the clear. You can of course go higher, but don't pressure other people to do the same!

As for shops, uh, what are those exactly? Either way, hope this helps!

[ericmicael]

It took me a while to make this post, but I think now after the first concept art of "Frozen 3" was released it's the perfect time.

The entire "Screenrant" article is about the possible hints of Riley's possible bisexuality in "Inside Out 2" that, regardless of whether they exist intentionally or not, in the end, ended up resulting in simply nothing. Officially, the subject of romance for Riley in the film is only related to male characters and Val never stops being just the older, cooler girl that Riley looks up to.

And this disappointment in believing that this could be the time that Disney would take this step made the author of the post fear for Elsa's love life in the continuation of the franchise. I honestly share the feeling although there is a big difference between Riley and Elsa: the romantic life established so far.

Riley in the first film was already explicitly attracted to the opposite sex and even has a date with a boy who is mentioned in the second film. Elsa? Officially nothing about romance, which could indicate several other paths besides something as simple as Riley needing to undergo a certain change to become part of the LGBT list. A change that makes total sense in real life. Until I was 18, I believed I was straight and only discovered I was bisexual the first time a gay boy flirted with me. But it's not that simple how the world sees a character in pop culture. Even characters who are not confirmed as members of any sexual orientation (I'm talking about absence, not to be confused with acearo) coming out as LGBT caused a stir that would not have caused if the same character had come out as straight. A good example of this is Tracer from "Overwatch".

Some people call Tracer's confirmation as a lesbian a bad representation of LGBT people because she wasn't raised that way and was only confirmed later, but to me the only bad representations of LGBT people are the ones that aren't representative and the ones that are made to mock. If Tracer in this comic were kissing a man, would anyone say she's a bad representation of straight people because she never gave any indication of it? No.

The world unfortunately follows the rule: everyone is heterosexual until proven otherwise. Most people are heteronormative and that sucks.

Back to Riley. Riley, even though she was hinted as straight in the first "Inside Out", could very well have gone through a process of discovering her bisexuality/pansexuality or simply gone through a moment of compulsory heterosexuality, but perhaps that would be too unnecessarily complex for a film that tries to cause identification with as many people as possible and that's why it's always necessary to go back to the same old beats. There's a certain joke that Elsa in "Frozen 2" is coming out of the closet for the second time with "Show Yourself" (the first was "Let it Go" in "Frozen 1") where she once again releases her powers at a time when she's understanding more about herself… And the concept art for "Frozen 3"?

How much do you bet that these people from the floating castle similar to Valhalla will be the key to another revelation for Elsa about her magic and she will have a solo too similar in concept to "Let it Go" and "Show Yourself"? One of the phrases that Jennifer Lee used to describe Elsa's journey in the future was precisely the powers of the Snow Queen continuing to grow… If "Inside Out" uses common situations of a teenager growing up to bring tensions that everyone could identify with, Elsa's is this drama: eternally trapped in the same cycle that has already lasted two films and that has a chance to repeat itself in a third.

"Inside Out" seems to be more creative in its situations, while the "Elsa's magic is growing" reminds me of the first movie where she freezes the entire kingdom of Arendelle without even realizing it… How could it grow beyond that? Repeating and standardizing the character's drama in order to expand its reach, a harsh consequence of wanting to have a high box office.

But what about Honeymaren?

The character that intentionally or not was a gift to the fandom that wanted Elsa to have a girlfriend and was tired of creating original characters or/and having to explain who Marisol was. But until today, the only other media that gave any expansion to the character was a mobile game… Seriously. And it did in fact give a good expansion, making clear her personality (a little shy and having difficulty talking to strangers, but who overcomes both problems to please someone she likes), her great interest in magic and mainly her relationship with Elsa where it practically confirms that she has romantic feelings for the Snow Queen. But besides this mobile game, the character was practically ignored, and they always come up with a new excuse for why Elsa is not shown interacting with the Northuldras who are theoretically her neighbors.

And going back to the concept art of "Frozen 3" what do we seem to have? A new magical core, and a whole air that they will expand more the mythology and magic of the franchise that unfortunately can distance Elsa even more from Northuldra and Honeymaren. So in the end Elsa, like Riley, would not have her own particular core and instead again this repetition distancing her from an originality that in Elsa's case would not even need to change anything since "Frozen 2" gave everything it needed, but something more epic and identifiable for everyone, although it restarts the character's arc, is more profitable than a romantic life that escapes the imposed standard.

[chubphoe-linkclick]

Hey, I'm kind of confused about your last anon. This isn't so much about Shiguang, and more about your statement on queer media in China. How can link click or any content be gay baiting if same-sex relationships are not allowed to be shown on the show due to censorship in China? 

Per dictionary.com, queerbaiting is implying non-heterosexual attraction between 2 characters to generate interest in the show (in this case) without actually showing the relationship turning into anything more than that. If censorship doesn't allow the latter part in the country that the show was made for, then how can we say that this is queerbaiting? I can't find the source, but your previous anon mentions the lh0, show's creator, rejecting that Shiguang written to be queer (I don't remember this exact quote but I do remember him saying stuff about their friendship in past interviews so I am asuming the quote is true). I am not blaming the fandom for anything, I have been part of it for a long time, but the only way (that I can think of) people could be queerbaited into watching the show is through reading, listening to, or looking at fanworks, as well as fan discussion on the show that talks about how gay the show is (please let me know if I'm missing another way, though!). I also tried to look up "gaybaiting" and all I could find was Urban Dictionary definitions that's similar to other definitions for "queerbaiting", so I am working under a possibly incorrect assumption that you are using the term as a substitute of sorts to queerbaiting. If you choose to respond, please let me know if this was incorrect! 

I'm sorry this has gotten very long, I hope this doesn't come across as being criticized because you are not! Queerbaiting has left such a lasting mark on so many people and it's hurtful to be baited like that. It's valid and understandable that you continue to look out for it, I know that I do the same. Also, I don't know much about how pop culture and media are discussed in China, so phrases such as "gay baiting" and "queerbaiting" may apply differently there. I don't expect a response to this, especially if my assumptions were incorrect. Regardless, thank you for taking the time to read this.

Heads up, I will likely delete this post soon because it doesnt fit with what this blog is for but I wanted to answer your very much not out-of-pocket question. I may or may not have spent a while smile-laughing at how relatable your follow up was, please relax it is all good

"How can link click or any content be gay baiting if same-sex relationships are not allowed to be shown on the show due to censorship in China?" since "If censorship doesn't allow the latter part in the country that the show was made for, then how can we say that this is queerbaiting?"

It's an excellent question and I am NOT an expert. I'm not Chinese, I don't know many/any Chinese people, nor am I a Chinese culture enthusiast. Hell, you can just ignore everything I say because I am certainly not qualified to be an authority on the topic (and was really hoping no one would say anything about my little joke, aha).

But! I do think that something like gay-baiting could be possible even in the Chinese context because, while illegal to show in mainstream media, there is gay content coming out of China -- there's no doubt to this. It's just not professionally made gay content, nor is it easy for non-Chinese people/speakers/readers to consume.

I'm mainly thinking of the very prominent danmei online spaces that exist via web-made audio dramas that's still quite active to this day afaik, even in spite of the unfortunately increase in the CCP's anti-LGBT censorship that's happened in the past few years.

So to answer the original question, this subculture existing and standard industry practices of taking these often very explicit audio dramas and bringing them to live action while obeying the censorship rules can rise to a sort of implicit gay baiting. Precisely because the characters can't actually be gay, subtler and unrelated things that have become shorthand for "eyo they gay". These shorthands become tropes, and tropes can be used to fill people's imaginations whenever these innocent things happen in actual innocent contexts. Though I can imagine any intentional choices of LAN's part are often much more tongue-in-cheek rather than any serious attempt at gay-baiting.

The fact that I'm convinced Studio LAN is pro-LGBT in their own silent but supporting way also increases my belief that any gayness between CXS and LG is also intentional. I'm also under the impression that LAN's twitter has also retweeted ShiGuang art among other gay things. And, okay, it's not strictly gay-baiting if the studio literally cannot make them gay because the government doesn't let people have fun, but it's a very similar mechanism/practice. And honestly, I'm skeptical that they'd do it even if they could just because hinting at being gay and letting the fans fill in the gaps is a lot easier and safer on studios in general. Especially in a country that's getting more and more homophobic over time in recent years...

Like, I don't know man. I'm not an expert in danmei or any of this stuff really, and honestly my explanation is rather hand-wavy for my own tastes. But wow do I feel in my balls that Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang have some ✨SOCIALIST BROTHERLY LOVE✨ together.

[maneaterwithtail]

Clark is intentionally trying to fade into the background and I believe it's only his novel writing that gets him some nod but for the most part it's a while before he sort of meets Louis head-to-head and usually I think in an adapted Superman story he's a step behind on the journalism so much as the center of the action as Superman whereas lowest gets the byline or the scoop

This is it always the case but you do run into the issue of how Superman without scoop her and it's probably going to make him look even like a bigger Dick especially nowadays then it would as a charming little back and forth

This is why I appreciate say yeah clark is known for this for that article. But he's the guy you don't see who's holding me up that you might be surprised or you might in enough himself be unremarkable but his effect on the overall workplace is amazing

Those exclusive superpictures that only Jimmy Olsen can you get question Kirk yeah it's thanks to connections that Clark helps

When Ron troop starts to lose it in terms of getting his message out there he tends to collaborate with Clark in order to add that human personal touch that tends to make people care about his ideas and how they connect to people though I'm pretty sure it's the other way around but still I'm just going with an idea here

And of course in terms of partnership with Lois they tend to share the byline on a few cases and it leads to a number of things where you know that they're better together

But most of all if Clark's going to get any recognition it's going to be because he's won some sort of award for the novels he writes

Which in terms of technical pros or depth they're not all that much in fact they're pretty standard... Something you buy at a drugstore but there's just something about how you write them that are so good. if I could i'd say it's the difference between say a deep-seated drama and something along the lines of die hard

Die hard this is a very fun heartfelt movie but it's not all that deep it jus it does it's thing really really well

These are Clark stories but there's always this element to them that makes them really reach out and grab you

Maybe it's the way that you can talk about foreign clients or how every person that you meet regardless of what you would expect for what seems to be very much a red-blooded a Republican style American Really does treat almost everyone equally

He really isn't so much bringing values to some place so much as discovering how they exist everywhere and how he can bring them to others that is the strength for others to succeed with his hero characters

Even at the same time there's a lot to mock about the convention and development of his stories where he's this globe-trotting superhero but also a down to Earth community center leader

But chances are if you like his work you are hooked for a life

I imagine he has such a diverse fan base and that he's gone on to expire competition as well as successors that are even more progressive not just in terms of technical skill but as we tend to use it nowadays as a euphemism for liberal or pro LGBT identity politics and what have you.

But despite all this he's not gonna be all that popular or held in necessarily the best or most prestigious regard

I think that's an essential aspect to the Clark identity

Clark's just a nice guy who does his job pretty darn well and he's there and you certainly like him or maybe you'd like to target him or maybe you think he's kind of a loser

But you don't think he's exceptional or super extraordinary

Clark Kent? Oh, you mean Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Lois Lane’s husband?

[c0rpsedemon]

Same anon as bwfore - those are all valid hnoc complaints, i have a soft spot for it since it got me into arthuriana which is now a big special interest (also yk, the thing of making ur own Canon for a media piece in ur head that no one else knows abt)

Appologies for yelling in ur asks abt it, just trying to say I agree

Also sending asks so u can ramble abt ur gripes w hnoc if u wish (no pressure to)

yeah i Used to have the same perspective on it too but as time went on and i developed a stronger aversion to the mechs fandom (everyone say thanks to ts teeth hcs, dr c mischaracterization and any other piece of widely accepted fanon which ppl get weirdly overprotective of) + realized that hnoc Wasn't my actual introduction to arthuriana (shout out to dragon slayer's academy and this niche little vn which i pretended to have read for weeb clout when i was ~12 even though really i had just read the summary of it on a fandom wiki, it was called destiny/leave day or something like that?) an i'd just somehow forgotten about its predecessors + tried to fit my arthurian faves into hnoc-verse and realized that it just Didn't Work and realized just how bad it was in comparison to like. udad. which was soooo good and it just kinda. made me go a little bit insane and tanked my opinion of it. also my growing hatred of a/g/l due to med lit fandom drama (< bizzare series of words that Sure Does Exist) + modern arthuriana like in general probably fanned the flames.

anyways. i said almost everything i have to say about hnoc in the og tags (save for some parts that are less a hnoc issue and more of a discussion of th white/mzb/modern arthuriana in general or a frantic explanation of why it's ok when fate does it but when hnoc does it i'm mad and it's not hypocritical of me (< generally it boils down to 'arthurian lit is incredibly inaccessible to english speakers in 2023, imagine what it would've been like to japanese speakers in 2004, nasu did the best he could, meanwhile the mechs have demonstrated the ability to heavily research their albums and are english speakers who would've had university access (p much the only way to read anything other than le morte or sgatgk legally without breaking the bank) at the time they were working on it')) but i got cut off so i'll add a basic summary of the tags which tumblr couldn't handle bc my arthurian takes r 2 complex and well-thought out for it

basically re: "#and idk it just rings hollow to me for the adaptation which made all/most of its characters either lgbt or poc to have written out p much#all the arthurian characters who were originally poc (palomydes. priamus. ysabelle. feirefiz. isolde of ireland. etc.)" there was a second part of that sentence which also pointed out how almost all the academically/historically substantiated lgbt characters (palomydes, tristan, gawaine, galehaut, lancelot, sebile, morgan, galahad) were cut out or unrecognizable (lancelot and galahad fall under the unrecognizable category).

i also had the character assassination of gawaine as it's own point, as it's just. particularly bad and one of the main reasons why i dislike hnoc, as well as the reason why hnoc's world is so hostile to p much Every other arthurian story bc he's basically the main character of medieval arthuriana and he's now. . obligatory disclaimer that i'm not opposed to gawaine as a villain bc god knows i'm a palomydes stan above all and anyone with a passing interest in the tristan tradition will know that gawaine is a fucking asshole an a horrible person but like. he didn't have to be fucking racist. medieval gawaine is an incredibly complex and deeply deeply flawed character and hnoc boiled that all down to 'racist' which is. one of the few things medieval gawaine is not. and so now all the characters and stories that orbit him are dead in the water bc why would anyone want to read about the cartoon racist.

in general all of the hnoc characters seem like they were written to serve the plot and the co-opted into being the nearest arthurian character. not a single one resembles themself at all. the best example i can think of is galahad (who's actually my fave hnoc character) who just isn't. galahad. medieval galahad is young and has been worshipped and dehumanized all his life, the very reason he was conceived was bc a prophecy said he would be good and pure and would achieve the holy grail, and so he was raised like a holy relic for one purpose and one alone, to the point where, when he finally tries to make a friend in le morte, literal angels intervene to remind him of his purpose, and ultimately he did succeed in that purpose! and when he did he had nothing else to do but end his own life. hnoc galahad is never dehumanized nor worshipped or even liked. hnoc galahad is viewed as a crazy person but a person nonetheless, and hnoc galahad genuinely wants the grail. the two are connected by name alone and it's the same w everyone else. medieval lancelot will always return to guinnevere, and she is the source of both his loyalty and sense of self, and he will destroy anything that poses a threat to her, hnoc lancelot genuinely cares abt camelot and uhm. human life. medieval mordred wasn't actually arthur's son in most texts and kinda just tagged along w his brothers' plans (particularly agravaine's) and ultimately took over camelot bc agravaine was dead and it was the next logical step to take considering all they'd done before, if you want something really interesting mordred-wise the alliterative morte gives him genre awareness but his lamentations of his fate are centered around the uhm. fratricide. and not arthur, hnoc mordred views arthur as his whole world which his Only brother gawaine is comparatively a footnote in, and has motivations which are truly his own. medieval guinn is politically savvy and stuck in a loveless marriage unable to fulfill her one purpose as queen (to have an heir) and thus centers herself around lancelot and his devotion to her to cope, hnoc guinn is a gunslinger. idrc enough abt arthur to analyze him but ultimately it's easy to see that These Are Not The Same Ppl in the way that like. myth orpheus, ulysses, narcissus etc. and udad orpheus, ulysses, narcissus etc. are. even in like. ouat(is) where the characters are Obviously Different People from their fairy tale counterparts, they exist in a form of commentary on their other selves, and the ouat(is) approach to characters is true for the prisoner of dorian gray + frankenstein as well. hnoc has no commentary on the original arthurian characters bc it Doesn't know who they are, the characters in hnoc are meant to be the arthurian characters in a different setting like in udad and tbi (the latter i can't speak on bc i don't norse myth and don't tbi). and it gets them wrong.

tl;dr uhm. the mecha arthurian vn that lives in my head wouldn't do this to me

[interact-if]

Day 1 of our Pride Month Featured Authors interview, babey! We're so excited that we get to feature these amazing authors, so without further ado... Jasper!

Jasper, author of Crosshollow Foundations

Pride Month Featured Author

Taking place around the turn of the century, you take on the role of an ancient, incorporeal being. Many centuries ago, following a series of bad decisions, you found yourself here on Earth. To maintain your link to the physical world you must maintain a “tether” to a human- a psychic bond that can only be broken by death. And death is always close at hand, as you are being pursued by another of your kind- somebody with a grudge and infinite patience to take out his revenge.

Alongside your most recent tether, Tobias (customizable name- this is simply the default), you have been traveling around North America and staying far away from your pursuer. Short on cash, the two of you find yourselves hiding out in the remote mining towns of the Colorado mountains. The people here are not quite as they seem, however- and as tensions rise in the community and your pursuer draws near, you find yourself at the center of a conflict of both rural and cosmic proportions.

Demo: TBA

Tags: supernatural, speculative

Other projects: An Angel Among the Aspens, 13 Laurel Road

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!)

Q1: Tell us a little bit about your project(s)!

Crosshollow Foundations is the story of how the fictional town where my games take place was founded. You play as an otherworldly incorporeal being who must form bonds with humans to stay on Earth. Trying to keep a low profile and avoid a mysterious individual with a vendetta against you, you and your companion find refuge in the remote mining town of Gothic, Colorado. But despite its quaint exterior, something sinister is brewing in Gothic- something you’re about to find yourself stuck in the middle of.

It’s a fun little Old West romp based on real historical roots, and an introduction to the world of Crosshollow.

Q2: Why interactive fiction? What drew you to the medium?

Interactive fiction wasn’t actually my first choice! I experimented with a lot of different mediums to tell this story, like 2D point and click games, visual novels, comics, and even ARG-style multimedia projects. I eventually rediscovered Twine, which I had experimented with in the past, and made my first game (An Angel Among the Aspens) in a couple of weeks. That’s when I realized, hey- I can actually do this, if I put my mind to it I can make those dream projects and actually release them. That’s the beauty of interactive fiction. You can do it all yourself, the only limit is how much work you want to put in.

Q3: Are your characters influenced by your identity? How?

I never intend to make things about my identity, but it often ends up happening anyway! My game 13 Laurel Road, in particular, has a lot of my own identity as a transgender man woven into it. I think a lot of trans people can relate to having family members initially react to your coming out with a lot of hatefulness and ignorance, only for it to strengthen your bond in the long run. It’s something I’ve definitely experienced myself, but something I’ve rarely seen portrayed in media.

Q4: What would you like to see more of in LGBT+ fiction?

LGBTQ+ people in historical media! Once I mentioned that I was interested in transgender history to an acquaintance and they laughed and said, “If there is any!” It’s a really commonly held belief that trans people popped into existence in the year 1990, or that every trans person in history was closeted, and that’s just not the case. I want to see stories about a trans noblewoman in Baroque France, or a trans doctor in Victorian England, or a trans cowboy in the Wild West! There are so many incredible dramas just waiting to be told.

Q5: What or who are some of your biggest inspirations?

I am a horror lover at heart, and especially indie horror games! My main sources of inspiration have been surrealist horror games, Newgrounds-era point and click flash games, and narrative-focused walking simulators. The Rusty Lake games in particular have been a massive influence on the Crosshollow universe, and 13 Laurel Road was greatly inspired by Gone Home, even if I didn’t realize it while I was writing it!

Q6: What’s a super vague spoiler for your current project?

I swear all of my games are connected, it just might take a little while for that to become apparent!

Q7: Lastly, what advice would you give to your readers?

This is a big moment for the LGBTQ+ community. Things are changing! There are opportunities out there that there never have been before. Go out there and advocate for yourself, create the media you want to see, and forge your own path in the world.

[picturejasper20]

Something i want to add to that drama about that person trying to put down Steven Universe’s LGBT representation and the crewniverse efforts to push that type of representation in the show (now deleted post) is that two of the three shows they mentioned in their post were Craig of the Creek and The Owl House. 

These two shows were inspired by Steven Universe LGBT+ representation to have LGBT+ characters too. Matt Burnett and Ben Levin, Craig of the Creek creators, used to work as main writers in Steven Universe. It’s very clear that all the queerness that SU had was applied to their show as well in some aspects. 

As for The Owl House, Dana Terrace talked about how she wanted to work in Steven Universe and was a fan of Rebecca Sugar’s works. Much like happened with Rebecca Sugar, Dana Terrace talked about how she had to fight to include LGBT+ characters in the show due to Disney not approving of that type of content. One of the reasons i assume why Disney later let Dana and her team to include it was because they noticed Steven Universe’s popularity. Without Steven Universe, it’s very likely that Disney wouldn’t have allowed The Owl House to have same-sex romantic relationships or not being as explicit as they are in the series.

Another aspect i want to mention is that some people who used to work in Steven Universe are now working in The Owl House. Just look at Ricky Cometa, now The Owl House art director or Steven Sugar , who is, by the way, Rebecca Sugar’s brother. I’m sure there are more examples if one checks in the credits of the show. 

But of course, the person who made that post didn’t know this because they didn’t bother with doing any sort of fact checking whatsoever to the point they didn’t know that the creators of Craig of the Creek used to be main writers in Steven Universe. Or maybe they did know that but they just didn’t care and pretend to ignore it.

Anyways, my point is that the shows that OP brought up probably wouldn’t have the representation they have if it wasn’t for Steven Universe existing in first place. SU was a source of inspiration for the creators of those shows and one of the animated series that helped with pushing LGBT characters in the animated western medium.

[weirdboi]

||Wich The Bad Guys character are you||

Enjoy :>

Rules:

No looking at the results,first answer the questions and then you can look at the results

Don't do this quiz if you necer read the books or you'll get confused

Answer honestly no lying

Enjoy

What would you do if a child was starring at you?

💛I would smile at it

💚I would say "Boo"

🧡We would have a starring content

💙I would just turn around

🤍I would just wink

🖤The child would just start crying,I know it bc that always happens

2.If yiu found a wallet on a street, what would you do?

💛I would try to find the owner

💚I would take it,I mean no one leaves a wallet on a street unless that don't need it

🧡I would ask everyone in town and if it's nobody's i would just leave it on a street

💙I would gave it to the police

🤍I would try to find the owner but I think they would got scared so :')

🖤 Depends

3.If your friend is upset,what do you do?

💛Ask them what is wrong and if they don't want to talk about it I'll be ok with it

💚 Pretend like I don't exist

🧡Ask them what's wrong until they tell me

💙Make them some tea to feel better

🤍Give them a Biiig hug

🖤Still Depends

4.If your friend comes out as LGBT+

,what is your reaction?

💛 I'm glad you found your true self

💚Good for you I guess

🧡WE NED TO CELEBRATE THIS

💙I always knew that your gay

🤍Give them a hug and promise that I'll suport them no matter what

🖤Gives a big hug that they can berley breath

5.You didn't learn for a big Monday test,what are you going to do?

💛Learn at the lunchtime

💚 Depends from wich subject the test is

🧡Panic and scream in bathroom

💙I try to learn for test very fast

🤍I accepted my future

🖤It wouldn't be the first time so

6.It's movie 🎥 night,wich film do you want to pick?

💛 I'm ok with everything except horrors

💚 Anything without clowns

🧡✨Drama✨

💙 Romance

🤍 Something with romance and tragedy like Romeo and Juliet

🖤 Horrors something like Mr.Babadook(2014)

7.Someone wnats to fight with you,what do you say?

💛No way!Call me a pussy but I ain't fightin with you

💚Ok when,where and are any weapons allowed?

🧡BRING IT HERMANOO!!!

💙Just walk away

🤍Bites him and job is done

🖤Ummm hi 911?There us a guy I had fight with and now he can't stop bleeding

8.You have a crush on your best friend and how will you tell them that?

💛I like you,more than friend,I really like you and I think we could work out

💚Hi I like you

🧡 Marry me 😍

💙I like you,do you like me back?

🤍*Writes on paper* I luv you be mine pls

;)

🖤*Kiss* Your welcome

9.There's a fire,who do you save?

💛 Family

💚 Myself

🧡I try to save everyone in the place

💙The children

🤍I save everyone except myself and die slowly

🖤I caused the fire so

Results:

💛If you had most of the yellow hearts,than your Mr.Wolf.

You are fun, loyal and always there for your friends.You'll always believe in them even when they don't believe in themselves

💚If you had most of the green hearts,you are Mr.Snake.You care and love you friends,but you don't show it that much.You have a bit bigger ego than theirs and you would do anything for your friends even if that means becoming Satan's batler

🧡If you had most of the orange hearts,you Mr.Piranha.Yoy are a funny and sometimes a bit annoying person.You are full of energy 24/7 and love Mexican food.And you also have stomach issues

💙If you had most blue heart,your Legs/Mr.Tarantula.Your a small person with big brain.You always want to help and you are ready to give people second chance (Only if you believe they deserve it)

🤍If you had most white hearts,your Mr.Shark.You're a quiet,shy and big person who isn't the main character of the group but you still help.You have some issues that mess with you but you're still trying to get up.Also you have an amazing taste in clothes

🖤If you had most of the black hearts,your Joker Black (my Tbg Oc). Your a bit creepy but funny person.Sometimes you do some evil things to help others and you like hanging out with boogie mans and clowns.You have some amazing powers and aslo daddy issues :)

Tell me in comments wich characters did you turn out to be

Luv you 💟

[poobit]

people constantly misunderstand the dichotomy between praising shows for a less blatant sexualization of lgbt themes and understanding that sexuality doesnt have to be something unspoken about in it, sexuality can still exist in a show about teen drama because by all means the subject of sexual education (recognizing consent, comfort and freedom) shouldnt be taken off from media because its one of the things that people need so urgently in their lives, the problems really lay in dividing sexuality as an “unwholesome” subject or something that taints an idealized “innocence” in the essence of a media , whether its framing sexual subjects as constantly negative or something that corrupts characters inherently (without EVER EVER tackling the subject of actual sexual trauma n hypersexuality) , or by erasing and in all mentions of attraction of any kind or framing sexuality as something directly tied to romance (ex: any sort of mention of “forming” a family as the next step in romance/marriage forms a direct tie between procreation and romance, this is something that feels grossly tackled onto cis girl characters finding romance with guys) , can be detrimental to the ideas of ever being experimental, to explore and settle boundaries in relationships, to not be constantly tied in commitments , by framing “commitment” as a deal of “save sex for a special someone” or “break that commitment by having sex outside TRUE relationships!” instead of actual freedom of expression, its just perpetuating a lot of sexist ideas of whats the “right” kind of sex or not. you can have messed up ideas about boundaries even if you dont have sex as long as you keep tying some moral system on the act, what matters. always, and foremost, is to actually write out a vast diverse of stories without throwing the others under the bus over a system riddled and ruled by misogyny , homophobia, sex-shaming , sexism, transphobia and heteronormativity in the first place.

[venteamocha]

Hello! Sometimes I see you post stuff from IF blogs and I've recently started playing some IF games, which I've enjoyed so far. Do you have any IF stories you'd recommend in particular? I'm not attached to any particular genre and I don't need romance or a self-insert main character, (though I'm not opposed to either). Though, it's a definite plus if it's LGBTQ+ inclusive! I'm not really sure what the "cornerstones" are of IF so I'll take any and all recommendations haha

Oh god, I play so many IFs. So many. And it’s not even close to all of them, but I’m trying!!

Tbh IFs without romance seems to be very rare, I think because when I think IF I think Choice of Games, and those pretty much always have romance in them. At least, the most well known ones do. But a well done one without romance would be nice too!

Okay, this is a list of my favourites! They’re all LGBT+ inclusive, and most have gender selectable love interests, or at least ones that change gender depending on the gender and sexuality combination you pick. In no particular order, of course.  Behind a cut because I’m gonna give them each a mini review. Because I haven’t done that yet.

(There are so many.)

Mind Blind: I absolutely love our big brother Nick, I love how witty and sharp so much of the dialogue is, I love how the MC clearly has a rather large handicap, but is still such an important person to so many people and not looked down on in the slightest. And when they are, we all know it’s because that person is a jerk! They’re not defined by what they aren’t, but what they are, and that’s a great message.

Shepherds of Haven: Part of why I love this one so much is I just love fantasy settings and this one just pulls it off so well. The cast is full of amazing characters, and I gotta say I die inside pretty regularly for not being able to afford the patreon content, lol. The author puts so much amazing stuff on there, and gives us so much great content in the game and through answers on tumblr, and you can tell this whole thing is just the best thing ever to them, and that makes it the best ever for us readers too!

The Wayhaven Chronicles: I’d be shot if I didn’t mention this one, the series that literally killed dashingdon when the book 3 demo dropped!! Again, another author that cares a lot and does their best to do right by their fans. We’ve been given drip after drip of these amazing characters backstories, and I just cannot wait for more! It’s definitely very romance centered, but the overall plotlines are also very good, and I have to say that no matter who I romance, I just feel like the group as a whole is a family. And that’s wonderful.

Speaker: I really like the lore. I really like the lore. I can’t wait until we get more of the overall plotline. Mostly I want my Speaker to get in deep trouble so Seb, Li and Seer (best sister ever) go off and beat the shit out of whatever is causing it. This probably says something about me, but what can I say, I thrive on angst and inflicting near death injuries on my OCs. Sometimes I even kill them, although all of this is offtopic. Or is it? I guess we’ll find out, although I doubt we’ll actually be able to kill off Speaker. And yes, I am definitely playing the Seb & Li poly route. I love them both so much. 

Wilhelmina: I love vampires, ok? Ok? And this one is based off Dracula!! The OG!! And you can choose Drac’s gender!! Shit, sign me up forever!! Yeah, she might be literally killing my bff, torturing my fiancé and low key fucking with my mind, but vampires are hot!! Let me live! Or not. But yeah, this is a really well done retelling of the Dracula novel and I like how well it works as an IF. Did I mention I like vampires?? Especially when they get all monstery?? (This one has an MC with a set gender, as it’s based on an already existing literary figure. Mina can have a same sex relationship with dracula, if you make drac a female, or with Lucy, a female love interest.)

More Things in Heaven and Earth: Hi Nell!! First off, I gotta uncover a deep shame of mine. My family literally has a Shakespeare heirloom collection. As in, my greatgrandfather passed down through the family a collection of Shakespeare that was published in 1911. In ye olde englishe. I tried to read it when I was like 10 and was like what language is this?? What the fuck? What the fuck??? And ended up reading As You Like It, a bit of Romeo and Juliet, and a little of Hamlet. Didn’t touch the rest of it. I only got into the other stories through trashy ya reimaginings. That said, this retelling of Hamlet inspired me to go read the whole of the original and now I have a lot of fears for these characters that I’m so much more attached to, oh god I hope my Ophelia has a happy ending. I hope Hamlet himself has a happy ending. The dialogue is so well done, everyone is engaging, and yeah it made me finish an old af book when nothing else did. (This one also has an MC with a set gender, female, for the same reason. However, there are two gender variable love interests, so you can very much play a bi or gay Ophelia if you so choose.)

Guenevere: I love King Arthur. All the myths. I have so many books based on the King Arthur mythos, oh dear god. I love pretty much every version of it. All the movie and tv shows too! I just can’t get enough of those knights. I could go on for paragraphs about how courtly love worked and how all the different social castes were, but I’ll try not to. This series lets you customize Guen as a character to an amazing degree, considering that she’s also based on an actual literary figure like the other two I mentioned above. It really feels like she becomes your own character, and yet she still exists within this world very very well. I worry quite a bit that the author might have bit off more than they can chew with the current book they’re working on, what I’ve seen of it looks absolutely massive in scale. What is out so far is a wonderful read though, full of drama and laughter and lots of chances to make the story your own.

Bastard of Camelot: Yep! Another King Arthur series! Sue me! This one lets you set Mordred’s gender though, so it’s more inclusive in that way. It is very interesting to play as one of the “bad guys” of the King Arthur mythos. You can play them as straight up evil, as good, or you know, a bit of column a and a bit of column b. Or they can just be a rude little shit. It’s got dragons too! You get a dragon pet! Dragons are cool. It can be a bit tough to play sometimes, since a lot of people dislike Mordred quite a lot because of prejudices. Hopefully this will change a bit later in the series if you’ve been a fairly good person up to that point. Gotta say though, as a warning, that Mordred is a product of incest. It’s not glossed over, and it does cause a lot of problems for them in the story.

God of the Red Mountain: I just love that this inspired me to read more chinese mythology tbh. There is just so much here! And it’s just such a good read. I wish I was better at describing things. The MC being a spirit that you can define, the whole setting, most of the love interests also being spirits, the massive amount of history and culture and lore, how it all fits together. It is such a well done story. I really wish it got more attention than it does. I still miss Big Sister. I still can’t wait to find out more about the foxes, and how we can heal our MC.

The Nameless: Another one that lets you play as something otherworldly. I love the lore behind this one, and I love all of the cast I’ve met. I kind of like that our MC isn’t loved right off the bat, that we’ll have to win over all of our love interests and even the other npcs. I’m up for the challenge! Everything I’ve read on the tumblr for these characters just makes me love them all more tbh. I love how much they’ve written for all of them! Most of all though, I love Oisein. All the art of them is just *chef kiss* and their personality is magical.

A Mage Reborn: This is a really recent one but!! Wow, it’s really well done! That cliffhanger!! Oof!! Not many books literally start with killing your MC off! That takes guts! I told the author this already, but I love the way they formatted this, the way it starts with the end, so to speak, and then fills it all out. It just made everything feel so poignant, how MC is literally looking back at all these moments in time in the last minutes they have before they die. Shit. That’s powerful. And there’s gonna be more??? Can’t wait for that angst. Give me that drama. Of course I picked the one who had me killed, that’s just how I am!

These are all just the COG type games, there are a few twine games with graphics I’d throw on here, but the list is long enough as it is and they feel like they’re in a different category to me. Maybe it’s just me?

[winterserendipity]

“Their bond does not exist for our enjoyment. It's theirs. They can share without outting themselves. They can share without confirmation. They can not share without suddenly becoming enemies. They are real people, not characters in stories.”

I love this and Storm has put into a few simple words all my opinions on the matter.

I have some points to make:

1- I’ve seen countless times the argument of “if they are a closeted couple in a homophobic country why would they post X selca or why would the company release a video depicting Y moment” and I don’t think people understand how LGBT couples - or any real life couple - work. Jikook are in a glass closet. Which essentially means they can’t come out, but that doesn’t mean they can’t or even don’t want to demonstrate their closeness and intimacy and there’s a lot that a couple - especially a same-sex couple - can get away with and can be explained by “it’s friendship”, “they’re like brothers” (and funny enough, it works! Look at this fandom!). There’s a phrase that me and my friends always say - “just because a country is homophobic, doesn’t mean queer people don’t exist there and just because a queer couple can’t be fully out it doesn’t mean they have to be completely silent about it”. It’s almost like people place the burden of being “discreet” on the queer couple themselves. Which leads to point number 2:

2- Queer couple have varying degrees of being “out”. Being out is not black and white. As someone who is queer and has been in a sapphic relationship for over 15 years, legally married for 5, I’ll say I’ve had moments when I have proudly shoved my marriage down people’s throats and moments that I didn’t correct someone who thought my wife was a friend or even my sister. Let me tell you: being out is a constant exercise in a heteronormative world and sometimes you just get tired and choose your battles. I see the same with Jikook: sometimes they are loud as fuck and sometimes they just wanna keep their love life to themselves. Being out is not linear and just because a queer couple has been more “explicit” in the past doesn’t mean they’ll be progressively more out. And I’ll talk further about it on point 3:

3- Ultimately, a couple’s relationship is between them and they should set the pace of how much they want to show people and when - which is something even more adamant for a queer not-out couple. And that’s a good thing, because imagine how tiresome it is to have to be wary of every little interaction you have with the person you love, especially after you’ve been together for so long and are so domestic around each other - let alone a couple like Jikook who have every single interaction heavily scrutinized and are targeted with so much hatred. It’s probably a very difficult balance between wanting to be like a normal couple and being cute and funny and sickly sweet together but also wanting to preserve themselves from hate and criticism. So they allow us how much they want us to see, which is understandably VERY LITTLE. How many times have we been utterly surprised by what BTS have been doing and we realized months later they filmed this, recorded that, came up with so and so content while we thought they were at home watching dramas, eating fried chicken and listening to other people’s music (which they also do a lot too lol)? We have the illusion that we know much about their lives bc of the overload of content we get from them, the spoiled fans that we are, but we don’t know about 80% of what they do in the privacy of their lives. And we shouldn’t be because it’s exactly that: their privacy.

So Jikook don’t owe us anything. It’s a huge privilege to be able to witness the beautiful bond they have and we should always keep in mind that it’s exactly that: a privilege. We’re not entitled a coming out, an explanation, a confession, joint content or anything else.

As an army and a jikook supporter, all I want from them is to be happy - alone or together, in front of our eyes or in complete privacy, whatever they choose and works best for them.

I don't follow or keep track of tiktok couples who got famous by making their relationship their job. Queer or straight couples, because I think that's a bad idea, but that's a whole seperate post (that we could relate to jikook as well if you want).

Oh please make one. I also think one of the major reason they became so private is to keep their relationship safe,not just from military or anything but just to keep it private and safe as possible. The reason nick and Pierre broke up was they started to feel like their relationship became more of a brand than an actual relationship. Like posting about your partner or private life once in a while is ok, especially if you are at two different places career wise, but making it your whole job and personality is definitely hard as gradually it will be just job and playing out characters for media than actual relationship.

Lowkey, saw this guy Chris from tiktok who said most of what I could say about it, he went through his own tiktok relationship public breakup too, it was awhile ago I believe. A relationship is between 2 people. You can share without giving it up for public consumption. You can share some stories and moments and your love without jeopardizing your privacy if you want to. And that's important.

Your intimacy as a couple together is meant for the 2 of you, not for people to invite themselves into. Tom Holland and Zendaya are a really good more recent example of a couple who does this. Jikook do not owe anyone confirmation of their relationship together (romantic or not) for it to exist. Their bond does not exist for our enjoyment. It's theirs. They can share without outting themselves. They can share without confirmation. They can not share without suddenly becoming enemies. They are real people, not characters in stories. Making your relationship what you base your content on or what you talk about all the time, makes things more fictional (for lack of a better word, it's not quite what I mean, but hopefully yall understand) at times because you don't just get to experience things, you have to turn them into a story for your audience too. And there is pressure to give the audience what they want. No one is owed anything here. From anyone online or from BTS or from Jikook. Everyone's relationships are their own.

I don't want Jikook to come out or confirm their relationship or anything. I want them to stay safe. I want them to only ever come out if and when they feel safe to do so. And if that's never, that's fine by me. I'd love it for the representation given on such a global scale, but I'd hate it because I worry about their safety enough ALREADY. Lol

[s1i9d]

AMPHIBIA SEASON 2 FINALE: INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND SHIPPING

SPOILERS FOR ALL OF AMPHIBIA PRE-"TRUE COLORS" & SEASON 2B TRAILER

It's time.... I can't believe this is the final week of Amphibia before the hiatus for Season 3. We can cry about that in May, but for now we have some business to get to with Relationship drama!

DISCLAIMER: This is a shipping/platonic interpersonal relationship discussion post for the relationship between all three of the girls. All healthy ships are good ships, but I’m talking from my perspective. This is my own speculation for the show, and what I interpret may not be the crew’s intent. So I’m doing this with the knowledge that there’s a possibility that this is all speculation and not canon.

If no ships at all, or the ship you wanted did not happen in the Season 2 finale, do not blame the artists and creators for such. Many fandoms have done this and it’s possible that it will happen again. Just don’t be those people who ignore the hard work and beautiful storytelling the Amphibia crew have done and just complain to them about not doing the ship you/we desperately wanted. Harassing the crew for telling their story is a horrible thing to do. So please be mindful of that.

I will also talk about both monogamous ships and a potential polyamorous ship (which is WILD that a Disney frog isekai has one of the most potential for LGBT Poly representation). So if you're polyphobic or monophobic, this post isn't for you. (while you're at it block me.)

But let’s get started:

The Polaroid

A recurring prop used to showcase the happy memories of Anne, Sasha and Marcy. We’ve only seen two of the same Polaroid: one with Anne, and the other with Sasha. It's used to showcase the three girls' tight friendship and bond initially on Earth, and I think if Marcy shows hers, it might showcase the angst of her working for Andrias. (More on that theory in my plot speculation post.)

There is no one else to morally ship them with.

Pad Thai shippers, calm down. In a show like this, there would be a dude who came to Amphibia with the three girls and Anne or someone would fall in love with him. But like The Owl House, there is no hetero ship presented with Anne, Sasha or Marcy that aren't Amphibians. The only people we can ship the three girls with are each other, and even then Sasha and Anne's ANGST is too much for a healthy relationship at the moment. Marcy would be the only real potential option for a happy ship with Anne. (Don't attack me Sashanne shippers, just stating the facts on screen.)

"Well, romance isn't the focus of this show!" You're right. Romance isn't the focus, but the show does do romance. We've seen several times with Sprig and Ivy, and Hop Pop and Sylvia. They may not be the centre focus (which is one of the reasons I love this show) but it exists. The show has done romance several times, and if they culminate a romance with [two or all three of the] girls, it would make sense. The potential is there, but will it happen?

Romance Thread

Hop Pop and Sylvia, Joe Sparrow and Bessie, Sprig and Ivy, "Quarreler's Pass" where Hop Pop asks Anne if she has a boyfriend to fill the awkward silence: these are all romance threads/points throughout the season and it makes so much more sense to have them culminate in this finale or at least showcase an idea of further explicit queer relationship, and do the romance in Season 3.

An overarching story with these three girls has been their interpersonal relationships with one another as Sasha is controlling of both of them, and Anne and Marcy try to find their own path and reach their own autonomy. By having Marcy and Anne find themselves devoid of Sasha, they are free to be themselves.

Sasha as a Complex Character

Sasha at the current moment is not ready for any relationship with Anne or Marcy, especially with what we learn about her in “The Third Temple” in using Marcy, Anne and the Plantars to storm Newtopia. She is a major component of angst in the show, and the main conflict to Anne and Marcy's arcs. Especially with the Season “wrapping” up their angst by "Battle of the Bands", but touching on it in several episodes of the season: it seems like it's going to be thrown over to the next season. The Season 2 finale will be somehow more angsty than “Reunion” (which... how are they going to do??) and the Season 3 finale will introduce a sort of distrust arc and denouement of them realising their relationship and dynamics were not healthy. The biggest disconnect in the last episode was Sasha thinking that after she uses them to get into Newtopia safely, she can somehow control this relationship she has between Marcy and Anne.

[You might be wondering: "okay, but if their angst is doubling down this season, why do a big post on potential shipping and relationships?" Because I can and I want to. I'm just very into these adorable teenagers being in a happy relationship as soon as possible (especially if it's not hetero).]

Sasha and Marcy - Hold your horses, this isn’t a Sasharcy segment. I’m talking about the relationship and interactions between these characters themselves.

We haven’t yet seen how Sasha and Marcy interact without Anne there: similar to Season 1 where we knew who Anne and Sasha were in terms of their own characters, but in “Reunion” we saw how their dynamic was and how that played a great influence on the Battle of Toad Tower. I think “True Colors” will delve a little into that with perhaps a flashback.

Another similarity and difference between the two is that Marcy is willing to give up her hyper fixated goal for the people she cares about. We see it in "The First Temple" where Marcy is willingly forfeiting the game to save Anne and the Plantars from the harm of the Temple. While with Sasha, we see in "Barrel's Warhammer" that she is persistent in going through with obtaining the Warhammer, even at the cost of the people around her. In this instance, Percy and Braddock. I definitely think that Marcy and Sasha are two foils while still being similar overall. If Andrias' plan means risking Anne and Sasha, I think Marcy would very quickly try to undo it and help Anne.

One theory I saw floating around was in "Reunion", Sasha forgot it was Anne's birthday, and so she sent Marcy to find her a gift while she distracted Anne with all the "fun birthday" stuff. I think perhaps we'll see some more of that, to showcase their relationships as a second chapter to "Reunion" where we see their dynamics. Or it could just be a Season 3 thing.

Anne and Marcy

Something I really like is a post made by @pyroclastic727. They talk about how Marcy and Anne were other-ing each other when I’m their relationship with Sasha. As much as Anne and Marcy cared for each other pre-meet-up, Anne in Season 1 focuses on Sasha. And of course who wouldn’t? Sasha is a force to be reckoned with, and last such an impression that we were terrified of who Marcy was going to be before we met her. I recommend checking their post here for full context.

One thing I am interested in that will probably be a Season 3 flip is how Marcy and Anne met. They seemed to be friends since they were babies, there isn’t really an understanding of where their relationship started. It could be they were best friends, but they started othering each other once Sasha joined them. But now, they’re high tier solid friends again.

The major thing Sasha isn't accounting for is the fact that Anne has changed and grown over time. She's not the exact same girl from Earth, she has grown and changed. Become better and able to stand up for herself. Sasha and Anne's relationship seems to be more angst driven than it was in "Reunion". (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE???)

THE ARC OF WOMEN LOVING WOMEN

Now that the general stuff is out of the way, let's dig a little deeper into the arcs of the three girls these two seasons so far.

101B - “Best Fronds” - We see Anne’s relationship with Sasha, and how she manipulates Anne and Marcy to do as she says. I’ll talk about this a bit more in the “Barrel’s Warhammer” section from Sasha’s POV, but this is big stuff.

110 - “Toad Tax�� + “Prison Break” - These two episodes tie in Sasha and Anne’s angst for the season. It directly ties in two plot threads that are very prominent in ”Reunion”: “Toad Tax” with Anne’s progression as a character and her connection to the people of Wartwood, while “Prison Break” shows Sasha willing to do what it takes to get back home and find the other girls. This is the main plot of the season 1 finale, where Sasha helps Grimes to get what he wants in order for her and Anne to find Marcy and get home, even if it means killing off Hop Pop since he’s a frog and according to her, he doesn’t matter.

119B & 120 - “Anne of the Year” + “Reunion”

There's so much to unpack here. But this is a major moment in Anne standing up for herself, Sasha's "sacrifice", and the future of their relationship hanging in the balance. This is the main trigger for the Sashanne dynamic, the toxic and angst driven story. The end of Act 1 of this 3 act story.

201A - “Handy Anne”

This is an essential episode. The premiere immediately starts off with mentions of Sasha in the events of the Battle for Toad Tower. In addition to Marcy being mentioned only a few moments later. Clearly Anne isn't over the events of Toad Tower, but she's pushing forward and trying her best to move on positively; especially with trying to find Marcy, her third and final friend sent to Amphibia.

204 - “Quarreler's Pass” + “Toadcatcher”

As I said, the Hop Pop/Anne B Plot in "Quarreler's Pass" where Hop Pop tries to fill the awkward silence by asking Anne if she has a boyfriend is very telling of their relationship. But what I find interesting is as soon as the episode ends with Hop Pop saying, "Now we can talk about Anne's boyfriend again." And he gets shoved off the cliff. We immediately go to Sasha. We could have had any other episode with Sasha, but why the one immediately after discussing Anne's romantic life? We know the show likes to tie in plot threads through A and B episodes, so it's a possibility!

"Toadcatcher" is all about the Sashanne angst from Sasha's perspective. She tries to distract herself with training, but Grimes points to her that she's afraid their relationship will never be the same again. Sasha also reveals that she has been training to protect Grimes, the one person she can count on right now. After the fight with Yunan and making plans for storming Newtopia with a Toad Army, Sasha says, "It's not over between us. Not even close." Which just highlights their angst arc for the Season. We'll touch more on it in the B segments of 217 and 218.

206 - “Marcy at the Gates”

Here's the thing about this episode. We touch on Sasha and Marcy in the F-Wagon, and then we speak more on Marcy than Sasha. Something Anne says in the beginning with Sprig: "Look, Sasha and I might be going through a rough patch, but that doesn't mean I don't care about her." It shows Anne still cares about Sasha, and she wants to continue their relationship in a healthy way moving forward if possible. If not, then it's something she's willing to let go.

The rest of the episode is a Marcanne fancam people. So much love for Marcy, some suspicion of her from Sprig. But in the end, she's loved by all. If you don't love Marcy, you're a monster. A key reaction in this episode is wariness in the fandom: after Sasha, everyone was terrified and unsure who Marcy is and if she had a similar trait. But she’s amazing and a wonderful nerd.

Something I did find interesting in the Rebecca Rose interview that Matt Braly (and creator of The Owl House Dana Terrace) is that Braly said Marcy was the most important key to the whole show: if the audience don't love her in the first few minutes of her introduction, the entire show would collapse. What is so vital about Marcy that would cause the entire story to collapse? Is it the romance or the plot? Is it the overall arc or what?

207 - “Scavenger Hunt” + “The Plantars Check In”

Marcy and Anne episodes, with Anne feeling insecure about Marcy and Marcy feeling envious of Anne's social skills and befriending the people around her. It solidifies their dynamic and doubles down on Marcy being the cutest and greatest character of all time.

210A - “The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers”

This is a heavy episode for Sashannarcy. Although not seeing Sasha since "Toadcatcher" and we wouldn't be seeing her until "Barrel's Warhammer", this episode does good to remind the audience of Sasha's presences and lasting effect on the girls. Anne talks about Sasha as though she still wants them to be friends if possible to continue their relationship in a healthy way.

The episode does more so focus on Anne and Marcy in the sleepover, but Sasha's presence is still very strong, enough that you feel her presence looming over them. It's not healthy, but it's part of the healing process.

210B - “A Day at the Aquarium”

This is where alarms were set off about Andrias. His proposition for Marcy directly after she tells Anne to go with the Plantars back to Wartwood really does create a new dynamic. So far, it seemed as though Marcy really wanted to have her friend around her. She had no one from Earth until Anne came, and it seems as though she can't reveal informal secrets and insecurities to King Andrias or Lady Olivia. It is a real victory to have Anne go with the Plantars to Wartwood, but Marcy is left without her friend and Andrias takes advantage of that. It's still very unclear what his plans with her are, but that's just the other shoe waiting to drop.

214 - “The First Temple”

Marcy is wonderful. We see flashbacks through Anne's perspective as we see Marcy's issue of extreme hyper fixation not allowing her to pay attention to her surroundings. This was in "Marcy at the Gates", but it doubles down here. It even shows in the Temple where Marcy seems to be so into all the trials that she is unable to see the Plantars being squished, burned or smashed to pieces as a result.

I mentioned this as a comparison, but Marcy really does give up all her chances of recharging the Green gem just to save Anne and the Plantars. She gives up her hyper fixated goal just for them. Her extreme presence of empathy and care of Anne and the people who she may not have incredible emotional attachment to is what separates her from Sasha.

215A - “New Wartwood”

Directly after "The First Temple" with Marcanne development, absolutely no one saw this segment coming in hot as one of the gayest ones yet. It is an Anne and Marcy episode with a slight emphasis on Mayor Toadstool. I think I would have seen this episode as solidifying Anne and Marcy's friendship if not for that blush in the beginning of the episode. Marcy geeks out about the swamp Wartwood is built on top of, and Anne blushes at her asking for more info she learned in the town. If Anne and Marcy were "just friends" I don't think Anne would have blushed at Marcy geeking out about frog stuff. The only other times we've seen her blush is when she's embarrassed, and it doesn't seem like that's her emotional state at that moment. You could just brush it off and say its an error, but there's no way that's an error. It went through production and post-production and was locked in! There's no way that's an error!!

216 - “Toad to Redemption” + “Maddie & Marcy”

Not a lot to say here, but this is important. These two episodes are directly after "Return to Wartwood" and a while after "The First Temple". Each segment features Anne and Marcy having their own adventures, and their stories can be separate from one another. In "Toad to Redemption", Anne is helping Mayor Toadstool remain the Mayor of Wartwood and not become the head of the Southern Toad Tower. In "Maddie and Marcy", Marcy is helping Maddie with reviving a pet to life. Both Anne and Marcy are key players this season, but they each play a supporting role to people they didn't really talk to or meet previously in these segments. This shows their independence from one another, and that my friends is the sign of a healthy relationship!

217 - “The Second Temple” + “Barrel’s Warhammer”

Buckle up folks, the Sashannarcy segment we've been waiting for.

"The Second Temple" has a focus of Marcy and Anne, but more specifically Anne since this Temple was her trial. Still not sure of the exact location of the temple, but it's fine. The trials show Anne and how she cares about the people around her, how she is the "heart" of the group, and her growth from Season 1 up until that point. The deep love she has, especially at the end where she gives up charging the gem midway to save her friends who are screaming.

"Barrel's Warhammer"... yikes. This segment is perhaps the biggest insight into Sasha's psyche we've seen. In comparison to Marcy who gives up what she hyper fixates upon for the people around her, Sasha is persistent and attaches her worth to her goal. She does not like failure or losing, and I think that shows in this segment. This shows her absolute fear of abandonment and desire for complete control (which we'll talk more about in "Battle of the Bands") over the situations around her, which causes for unsympathetic actions and negative repercussions of the people around her. This episode (very late into the season) just highlights Sasha's journey further and what she needs to work on. It's not Anne and Marcy for leaving her: it's her. Her tunnel vision is shoving them away.

218B - “The Third Temple” - This episode made me feel so down on shipping. Like it’s a great episode over all, but what it means for the Season 2 finale is... angsty. Sasha fake apologises to Anne in order for her and Grimes to enter Newtopia safely for the invasion. Just as much as she understands she is doing it, her slight look of conflicted feelings at the end of this segment really does showcase how even she is unsure if she should go on with this. Sasha really does not deserve Anne and Marcy, and I think she knows it too.

219 - “The Dinner” + “Battle of the Bands”

The biggest disconnect Sasha provides is that she believes after they get the Toads to invade Newtopia, she can get her friendship with Anne and Marcy back "under control". Which I believe is the friendship they had back when they were on Earth. Sasha didn't realise how much Marcy and, more specifically, Anne had changed in their time in Amphibia. Sasha is really the only person who hasn't changed nor made solid emotional attachments to anyone other than Grimes. Anne and Marcy grew, while Sasha didn't. "The Dinner" just proves that where she is unable to have her feelings of being other-ed in their relationship. I think Sasha's fear of missing out, and not being the centre of their relationship just plays into her "Barrel's Warhammer" insecurities and problems.

While "Battle of the Bands" shows her need to be in control of everything and everyone around her, even with her realising it's very tiring. She doesn't like mindless people (like Toadie) who obey her every command, she likes the challenge of controlling people into submission. Which is very bad, but I think by the end when she plays the song she realises it's okay to let loose with help from Toadie. Even at the end when the three of them lose to Grimes, she realises that it was more fun to play with Anne and Marcy with a silly, heartfelt song instead of making it perfect and winning with a controlled performance. By the end, Sasha is controlling them because she does have the plan to invade Newtopia with Grimes. But this is just the calm before the storm.

TL;DR - I don’t think a relationship can healthily start in the finale, especially with the Sasha betrays Anne and Marcy betrays Anne plots both coming to a head. There’s no way that Sasha is going to be an immediate better person and get into a relationship with Anne and/or Marcy. There is a logic to them starting the relationship, but I don’t think it’s gonna be this season. Instead, I could see perhaps a declaration of love or some kind of coming out scene happening where someone confesses their love to the other. I don’t come to this show for shipping, but there is a logical through line as a connection to the overall story which could culminate in romance.

Either way, lemme know your thoughts and ideas! No shipping wars in the comments please, but do tell what you think? Is it happening? Is it not? Are we going to be explicit in canonising (by that I mean a confession of love or something) or saving it for Season 3? As always, let me know your thoughts!

[remythologise]

Hello! I found your blog via you amazingly summarizing all that's going on with the spn drama. Due to my schedules, rl stuff, some of the arcs that didn't vibe with me, my availability to find a place to watch...the rollercoaster I was used to with this fandom was more me binging it in a weekend to going months to over a year without watching it. I still haven't watched the last season(but with a fandom this big it's pretty impossible not be spoiled so I more or less know what happened) BUT oh great one I ask of thee for more information if you have it...other than being busy and whatnot, I'm not really one to keep up with the actors as well. So could you also maybe do a summary of all the stans? I'im seeing terms I haven't seen before. Who is Kelios(sp?)? Hellions?? probably messed it up but like...I guess what are the name of each legion? Who do they have alliance towards? What was their desires? Que paso?!?!?!?

Hi there! 'Some of the arcs that didn't vibe with me' me emotionally quitting Supernatural in Season 7 after they killed Castiel 😂 Anyway I totally get it, I went through the same culture shock mid-last year when I got back into SPN and tried to find where fandom was at! There's really a LOT of lore and content after 15 years though so I'll just do the broad brushstrokes based on my impressions and personal stereotypes PLEASE remember this is oversimplifying groups and individuals to tendencies and I'm very biased! Also important that there are sub-factions within sub-factions - again, I'm simplifying here!

I've also linked to the 'Super-wiki' in terms of some definitions because the Super-wiki has pages for them where the Fandom-wiki does not. Great introduction actually - only in the Supernatural fandom. There are two Supernatural wikis. One, through curation and twitter activity, supports BiBro/Wincest factions and does not support Destiel users. One is more neutral or Destiel-friendly (I don't know that the Fandom wiki has a personality/social media presence per se). You cannot make this up. There is a factional war... within use of fandom wikis.

Destiel faction

People who primarily ship Dean/Cas, love Castiel and (often, although not always) Jack, and the 'found family' of Supernatural as well as the brothers, and like the post s3 seasons too. Hated 15.19 and 15.20 for killing Dean and ignoring the other characters/narrative arc of the show. Nicknamed 'Destihellers' by the Wincest faction as a derogatory term, 'reclaimed' and shortened as 'Hellers', a nickname they use affectionately to describe each other. See more info on nicknames here.

Sometimes also ship ‘Cockles’ (the ship between Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles) although generally speaking they're more respectful of the wives of the actors than J2 shippers, who are notoriously responsible for... a vast series of insane-fan misdemeanours. Historically most were also good at keeping RPF to themselves and not harassing celebrities with it directly, although recently, particularly with younger twitter fans, that has not been the case.

Sub-factions:

The ‘Desticule’ or ‘Destiel tumblr’ - general grouping of Destiel-shipping tumblr users around 20-30 years old, usually LGBT+, most who came back to the show post-15.18 after leaving it for various reasons including getting sick of the queerbaiting. Funniest bitches alive etc. and responsible for the best text posts you’ve ever seen. Can also start stupid discourse and in-group drama when they’re bored.

'POLOL' - People of Lots of Letters, a discord group (of tumblr and twitter users) that ran on the assumption Andrew Dabb was playing a hugely intricate game of 3D chess to do with gnostic symbolism among other things, and would make Destiel canon. Have since had their own factional sub-wars and fallen apart a bit. Some of their meta was and is good and interesting! Some of it was wildly off the mark. Now generally insist that Dabb/the writers were all pushing for Destiel canon and the network is entirely to blame.

Twitter fans (TikTok edition) - younger fans around 18 and younger who (FOR REASONS BEYOND ME) started watching the show around 2018-2020. Definition of 'stans'. Tend to be very loud and aggressive on twitter when Events Happen, which like. I do get, because they've grown up in a completely different media environment and this kind of Dinosaur Politicking around LGBT+ issues is beyond them. Fancam central. Anyway stream #CASTIEL for clear skin!

Twitter fans (AO3 edition) - older fans around 30+ who kept going with the show but either don't have a large tumblr presence or just prefer twitter. A lot of fic writers, GISH-ers, and BNFs in this group. Some of them are very cool and reasonable in their opinions, some of them act like the younger stans. Some of them too accepting of what happened wrt 15.19-20 in my opinion, because, in contrast to the younger twitter stans, they grew up expecting Destiel to NEVER be canon or respected. 'Can't believe we got this far' etc.

Multiship faction

Multishippers or shippers of things not as large as the two main behemoths . Sub-factions based on shipping, e.g. Megstiel and Sastiel. I don't think these groups are very large though, and seem to have very little influence in the Discourse.

Wincest faction

LARGE overlap with the 'BiBro' faction and their opinions, which I'll get to. Ship Sam and Dean romantically. Often pretend to be BiBros on places like twitter and reddit in order for outside groups to take their opinions more seriously. 'Wincesties' etc. are derogatory nicknames given by the Destiel faction.

Sub-factions:

Multiship fans - ship Sam and Dean but respect Castiel/the 'found family'. Politically overlap with the faction of multishippers, I think. I don't have a lot of insight on this group of people honestly, but I know they exist.

Bronlies - the typical BiBro and 'Wincest' shippers most people think of, twitter user 'Kelios' is one of the would-be ringleaders of this faction - typically tend to be older white midwestern women. Historically have been pretty nasty on twitter (leading to Robert Berens, writer who made Destiel canon, occasionally subtweeting Kelios). Also tend to ship 'J2' - and take it very seriously as a legitimate thing that is really real. This is called 'tinhatting'.

BiBro faction

People who think the show should JUST be about the brothers, love Supernatural s1-3 and everything after it should have been just like Supernatural s1-3. Hate Castiel, Jack, and the 'found family'. Largely loved 15.20. Go to literally any comments section on any Supernatural article and You Will Find Them complaining about how the show should just be about the Brothers. Tend to be older, straighter, and more conservative/Republican (and male) fans. (I am aware that the definition of 'BiBro' used to refer to people who just liked the brothers but there's no definitional difference now in the discourse.) The Wincest and BiBro faction are generally much more wealthy than the Destiel faction (they being younger and more diverse/queer/left-leaning in general) and would be the biggest revenue generators at conventions etc.

Sub-factions:

Reddit bros - literally anyone who visits r/supernatural. Well, that's not fair - there are people who post reasonable opinions on there, but it's pretty rare and they get downvoted a lot. Like to talk about 'toxic Destiel fans' 'ruining the show' and how Dean is a straight man who is straight and could never possibly be gay. Might even think the confession was platonic despite all evidence to the contrary. I'm Not Homophobic I Have Gay Friends, But No Gays on MY Show!

Old Guard - group of older fans who overlap strongly with the Wincest faction, but might not necessarily ship Wincest.

GA faction

'General Audience' - These are the group of audience members that aren't 'online' so to speak; most watch the show on TV as a Casual Viewing Experience (are therefore also sometimes referred to as 'casuals'. Mostly their opinions tend towards BiBros, but they have a vast range of baffling views thanks to being Not Online and usually Not caring about Supernatural that much or thinking that deeply about it.

Sub-factions:

People who simply watch Supernatural on TV and then don't think about it very much after that.

I said they weren't 'online' but that's not entirely true; I'd probably classify people on Supernatural Facebook Groups as GA, along with friends of friends who post statuses about how 15.20 was a neat finale that wrapped up the series.

Conclusion

Supernatural is famously the show that appeals to both Republicans and Democrats, literally All Orientations, so there's a WIDE range of factions. However, most warring online boils down to Destiel vs. Wincest/BiBro - the war that started in Season 4 and has simply never ended. In terms of the 'actors' and their stans, in general, Wincest/BiBro fans love Jared, like Jensen, and dislike Misha. Destiel fans love Misha, like Jensen, and dislike Jared. Of course as with everything, there are variations and this is just a generalisation. But that's the summary of it, from my perspective!

This didn't even get into Sam girls, Dean girls and Cas girls. God. Anyway.

Hope that answered your question, anon!

[devilbrew-69]

I made a post about this a while back, but persona 5 being labeled as a "rebellion" story is still incredibly annoying and pretentious. A lot of people advertise the game as being about anarchists/ social outcasts when its really not. Like, at all. The characters fit in almost perfectly well within societal norms and expectations; they just have personal issues. Having personal problems doesn't make someone an anarchist. Every teen drama in existence is about anarchism by that logic.

The status quo at large is never questioned or attacked on any meaningful level. The closest the game got to that was the sexual predator Kamoshida, but even then they don't address rape culture and how society enables it. The game just treats Kamoshida as a one-off villain without acknowledging how society allows predators to thrive in the first place. P5 being written by a straight man who doesn't know the first thing about the patriarchy becomes aggressively obvious when you realize teen Joker can date adult women.

And what the hell was all that talk about social outcasts? Not in this homogenous heteronormative af game. It's very telling that the only gay characters here are grown men who hit on joker and ryuji. Atlus( or rather Katsura Hoshino) loves to put lgbt elements in their stories but only as the butt of the joke. A simple story about LGBT people living their lives would be more counterculture/ rebellious than anything P5 has done. American kids media can tackle topics like homophobia, racism, oppression, etc so it doesn't make any sense to give P5 a pat on the back for not even doing the bare minimum.

I don't hate the game. I just wish people wouldn't try to make it something that's it not. It's clear that's the writers of the game never had to fight for anything in their lives because these characters do not feel like rebels on the slightest.

[mutsukiss]

This thing is that mutsuki is an accidental trans character. He was written like one, without the intention of being one. HEAVY spoilers under readmore just in case

I don't think the western fandom was influential enough to cause a backtrack or explanation and from what I've seen about the Japanese side of the fandom Mutsuki is not understood as a trans man at all, but at some point later in the story there is this whole thing about how, technically, originally, in theory, Mutsuki does not present as a man because he is a man, but because he is disgusted about being a woman. Which from our point of view (mine, at least, but a lot of people agree with it too) could still be seen as a personal way of viewing transness or gender dysphoria at least, but this is a very actualized and "local" way of interpreting it and not what supposedly occurs in canon.

In canon Mutsuki is getting away from feminity and the woman identity, but he is not doing it with the intention of becoming a man; this is simply the quickest and most logical way of not being perceived as female. So initially it could have been a fitting thing for him to consider or want top surgery, maybe? But as the story progresses and the deal with his identity becomes clear and evolves this becomes unneeded. Transitioning is not a necessity, because he doesn't want to transition, he just wants to stop and get rid of anything that might associate him with femaleness. This is all without mentioning the differences in culture surrounding LGBT+ topics which undoubtedly exist but I'm not knowledagle enough to talk about, so just commenting it as a small note.

And as I mentioned the Japanese fandom picked this up with no issue (again, from what I've seen of people talking about it. Which is not much and does not represent everyone but you know) but here in the western and SPECIALLY the people in contact with the LGBT+ community (because there is a lot of people that will shut off any comments about Mutsuki being anything over than a girl, as it was so clearly said in the manga itself), we are used to seeing trans characters being portrayed I one way but living the trans experience in another, and Mutsuki just happened to fit unexpectedly well the latter.

His identity is a source of drama through the story, but he speaks about his identity in a very relatable way for trans people. His inner circle is unconditionally supportive when made aware of it, which is also something very attractive. He's accidentally a very nice transgender representation, at least for what you could be used to in popular media. He is not made fun of for it, his identity is not a comic relief, he experiences discrimination but it's not the main focus of his character arc, he is respected and loved by the people that love him without going through an "acceptance" period or discussion or making him the issue, or an issue at all.

So while, yes, he is a GREAT transmac chatacter, he is an accidental one, and no effort is made on him to transition because that was never his goal in the first place. Does that make him less trans? Eh, depends on what you want. If you want to follow what Ishida wrote and intended and say no, Mutsuki is a woman who went through x stuff and coped in this way, and when it all unfolded he admitted to not being a man, despite CONTINUING presenting masculine after the story ends, then sure. To me he's a trans dude!!! Idc abt what the author says or thinks. His character makes sense as a trans person, including the parts about his relationship with his sex and his identity as a woman. You can do whatever you want forever.

Am I misremembering or did they do Tooru super dirty in not letting him at Least get breast reduction surgery before the Quinx one?

I mean ofc maybe he didn't want to, maybe he prefers binding, but that is what we see, isn't it? Tooru's chest bound with Torso? He's a Quinx at that point, so he should have okay healing, right? So the bandages are probably for binding?

[riceball1759]

Reading Tips from your Hyper Librarian

"So many books, so little time", right? If anyone understands this, it's us bibliophiles and librarians (and publishers) -especially someone like me! My interests are super varied and many times, I'll start reading a few chapters in a book that REALLY REALLY interests me...but then, I have that ADHD SHINY moment and the poor thing is forgotten. Seriously, this is a constant struggle. Being a librarian makes this even more important that I know what I'm recommending. And I do! I just can't get the focus to actually read them>< I'm part of a committee that is assigned reading every year for 3 months (give or take) and -you guessed it- I get that done. Why? It's got a deadline and I churn through them like nobody's business. It also helps that I didn't choose them and they aren't always what I normally like to read. It gives me an edge when helping certain patrons look for something I normally don't read. Not that I don't have an idea already -it's just more cemented than usual since I actually read that particular book. Though I kinda gave you one of my tips in this blurb, I'll rehash later!

A little more on my SHINY moments and then we'll get to my tips! Like I said before, SHINY really takes a toll sometimes on my goals, but it also helps. How? Situation: I hear all this buzz about this upcoming book (debut author/fresh voice/intriguing plotline/etc.). I either miraculously get an ARC or I'm waiting with bated breath, for the dang thing to get shipped to my library so that I can "steal" it for the weekend before it gets catalogued (I tell everyone I'm borrowing it, so don't judge me!). If all goes according to plan, I DEVOUR it within a day and come back exclaiming all the virtues of reading said book. I might even write a glowing review (if I had the capacity at the time). This has happened with a few books in the past years: Stay Gold, Wicked Fox & Vicious Spirits, Ember in the Ashes, Invisible Differences, and a few others, but I can't remember right now. Point: it's super hard for me to get the reading I want done, actually done.

AND NOW, for the star of our show: The Hyper Librarian's Reading Tips!

Please remember, these are things I remind myself of when I'm having a hard time getting through my TBR (the library-books-out-that-are-due TBR). Some lead into or are extensions of others, but being specific is necessary for me. You can adapt them to your needs or or just copy/paste them into your life :)

1) It's ok to DNF. So you gave this book the 'old college try' and just can't do it -it's becoming torturous and you're at risk of going into the dreaded slump... Just stop already and save yourself more grief. Another reason is that you're just not in the mood to finish, so don't. Why torture yourself (again -I seem to like using this word, but it's so accurate at times!) by seeing a book lying close by that you wish was anywhere but? Some of us (incl. moi) have a shelf on Goodreads just for those pesky things. Let's cut the drama and move on! I find it therapeutic as well as final.

2) You are your own censorship committee. We all have that verbal content line where ~once toed/crossed~ our tolerance, belief, comfort level, etc., is compromised to the point where there's no enjoyment because of that one or more 'tidbits' giving you grief. Sometimes, I'll scan several reviews before starting because I want to make sure I don't get any 'surprises'. Most times, I get to that proverbial part that has me slamming the book closed, never to be opened again (dramatic, yes, but sometimes very true!). {{Point}}: you are the only person keeping you from reading something you don't like!

3) Be picky! You are as unique as your fingerprint. Why wouldn't your reading habits follow? If you get a rec that is absolutely not your thing, say no (thank you). It's not fair to you if you're just going to trudge through it anyway for the sake of being polite to friends/family/librarians/coworkers/etc (publishers, I'm sorry). If you like vampires, werewolves, and all things paranormal (like me) don't despair of the current books coming out -look back to the '90s and '00s! Reading is one of the most personal things we experience in our lives. {{Please, for the sake of your sanity}}: read reviews, look for trigger warnings (if that applies to you), verify that historically under-represented voices are portrayed correctly (misinformation is our greatest threat). For example: I won't buy a book about LGBT+ characters without verifying the plot as authentic (i.e. all fluff and no real problems vs real problems with a happy ending). I need to know that the book about that Transgender girl is written by someone who is either also Transgender or very well-informed.

4) Own your reading preferences. Just own it. I read somewhere in a journal interview that the concept of "guilty pleasure" shouldn't exist. So you like SJM's ACOTAR and are all about that fan community life, but are afraid to talk about it even though it's basically a mainstream subculture now? {{Point}}: Stop feeling guilty for what makes you happy! If people judge, that's their problem. I read romance for stress relief and because I just happen to like happy endings. Seriously, people need to stop shaming romance readers and self-shame is a huge part! Don't shame yourself, "SHUN THE NON-BELIEVERS"! (Charlie the Unicorn, RIP in Youtube history)

5) It's ok to read more than one book at a time. If you're anything like me (the Attention Deficit part), you probably have up to 5 books going at the same time: that paperback at home, the ebook on your phone, audiobook in the car, hardcover in your office, etc. (I know that's not 5 -I ran out of ideas!). Point: it's only natural you're in the mood for something different at certain periods of the day, week, or whatever. They'll get finished eventually. Just spare a thought for the 1 or 2 that are a little extra "dusty" cuz that might mean you need to DNF...just a thought.

6) Book clubs are your friend! They can be your enemy, too; but here's what you do: choose one that reads almost everything you want to in a specific genre. I'm not talking the next bestseller (unless that's you). I'm talking genre-specific and something you researched before joining. Online or in-person, this is has the potential for changing your reading habits for the better because you'll actually want to interact and read the books! I decided to join a book club so I could finally talk about a niche genre that is one of my favorites: Christian fiction. No one around me reads this (anymore) and I have no one to talk to (regularly) and trade recs with, so I joined a Facebook group and it's really nice to chat about all these great books and authors I've recently read with others who do the same:)

7) Book journaling. Yes, you may have heard of these things. There are so many ways to journal about your reading: bullet journals, the blank ones where you can let loose your creativity, the ones like from Moleskin where you just fill in the pre-determined spaces (aka: reading log), lined journals for writing your heart out, themed reading planners and TBR journals... Just look it up, the interwebs has you covered. The key is to use them as a tool for expanding and enriching your enjoyment or education (nonfic). I don't journal for everything, but I do like to do it for the ones I know I'm going to review later or for general reflections as I read. I started doing it by chapters, but that doesn't cut it when something jumps out at me from a random page and I NEED to write about it immediately. So, I make note of the page # and we good! I'm very personal in my writing (if you can't tell) and it can turn into tangents, but that's how I roll. I don't do that artsy stuff because that takes away from the reason I'm doing this in the first place. I write about anything regarding my reading -incl my reading slumps. I love it.

Wishing you Happy Reading! Thank you for reading:)