#love the implication that he’s lgbt coded

[cutepastelstarsalior]

Sexyman Wally

Update; his class is Keter now

Update x2 he’s Archon now

[kingwuko]

I'm rewatching rememberances & oh my GOD people cant tell me that the writers weren't writing wu with gay coding in mind 😭 I was at the part where Mako said "i had to realize who i was without a lady in my life" and Wu was like "i know what that's like" and then everyone silently looks at him for 2 seconds? and then he hesitates and is like "only because im absolutely swimming in dames they all love me 🤭". obviously the writers couldn't explicitly have their LGBT characters confirm their identities because of nickelodeon but its so blatant and extremely possible that wu is actually gay and hits on women and talks about them constantly (even though hes really weird about it) as a way to overcompensate. and when you think about it the character he has the closest relationship to is...Mako😭

I have SO MANY FEELINGS about remembrances. Normally 'flashback episodes' are kinda just filler, bottle episodes. But something about remembrances just HITS DIFFERENT.

Mako saying "I realized I had to figure out who I was without a lady in my life." will forever replay in my brain... Wu's response to it is so fucking funny I laugh every time. "I know what that's like." says the guy who has not been shown on screen to successfully interact with a woman besides grandma Yin. Sure buddy.

Also I will never get over the fact that Wu says the words "I was born that way" like WAAAAAT. You cannot tell me the writers, who were in the process of crafting a subtle sapphic story for endgame korrasami, wrote those words without knowing the implications. CMON.

And listen Mako's entire story is about his past relationships, like BARELY touching on the larger story. He just sat down for 10 minutes explaining to Wu that he's single and he and his exes are just friends. Why Mako. why. why did you need to explain that to WU.

And the fucking. homoerotic sparring of it all. @buckybarnesss always calls it 'the intricate rituals of male touching' lmaoooo. Every time Wu gets in Mako's face, clutching his arms, close enough to kiss... I'm just like. can I reach into the screen and nudge their faces together. Just a little nudge is all it would take. Look:

The writers and animators fucking KNEW what they doing. There's no way they didn't. its such a gay episode.

and lets not forget the sapphic side of things in that episode. Asami's like "I thought you might be cold so I brought you some hot tea." To KORRA. Korra, who grew up in the FRIDGID SOUTH POLE and is also a FIREBENDER who could warm herself up easy. Gurl.

and like. even outside the queer coding in this episode, it's just delightful. the fucking little chibi popups in his flashback. Yin implying that Bohai cheated on her in scenario as convoluted as Mako's love triangle. Tu dropping the most accurate and eloquent assessment of Mako's issues in a single sentence: "it seems like you're so afraid to disappoint anyone that you end up disappointing everyone." TU. WUT. WHEN DID TU GET WISE. Tu and Wu high fiving.

In conclusion. Remembrances is top tier Wuko content. It's way more than a flashback filler episode.

[panicroomsammy]

Sam Winchester, queer coding, and CSA themes

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time but what finally got me to write it down was this post about Sam and queer coding. For this reason (and that this got ridiculously long) I will not be restating all of the points made in that post, though I do agree with them.

I think the reason so many people refuse to see that Sam is queer coded is that he is queer coded in unpalatable ways, including being csa coded. I am only on season seven, but I am going to try and break down some of the ways that he has been queer coded so far. I must begin by explaining what I mean by queer coding and what coding is in general. When I say the word “queer” I do not necessarily mean “gay” or “bisexual” or any other lgbt label. I mean outside the norm. This is because “queer coding” is not so much about purposefully portraying a character as a certain sexuality, but about othering that character from those around them. Sam is clearly an othered character. We will start, as all things in Supernatural do, with Azazel.

When Azazel makes his deal with Mary that ultimately results in the othering of Sam via his psychic powers, the deals are csa coded in a variety of ways. The most obvious is that he possesses Mary’s father’s corpse to kiss her and make the deal. Hunting families are already incest coded in that it is a secret and something that children raised in it are taught no one outside of their family will understand, and in this case hunting is something Mary is trying very hard to escape. Her love for John (who is also her means of escape) seems to be a love for his “innocence” in the way that he does not know of the supernatural. She tells Dean that what she fears more than anything is her own children being raised into hunting. This is a very typical incestuous family melodrama plot (that I could cite in many academic articles but alas this is a tumblr post). Besides the explicitly incestuous kiss and the familiar plot, there is also the way that Azazel obscures what exactly he is asking for in the deals. When he makes the deal with Mary, he has taken both the familiarity of her family and her route of escape from her. He then offers the escape back to her, in exchange for something. He never tells her what this “something” is. This is a more insidious piece of csa coding. Mary lacks the knowledge necessary to consent to the deal - the same way that a child lacks the knowledge necessary to meaningfully consent to sex. All demon deals in the show are sa coded in that they are extortive and about owning someone and depriving them of autonomy, but in this particular case Mary not knowing what she is consenting to is highlighted. He also phrases is as “permission” (to do what he’s going to do to baby Sam), similar to language of asking for consent and implying that whatever he does that she does not understand she will have allowed so she cannot take issue with it later.

Fast forward ten years. Azazel comes to collect on his deal. Two significant things happen - he feeds baby Sam his blood and he is caught in the act by Mary. Let’s focus first on the latter. Azazel kills Mary because she walked in on him with Sam. The way he talks about this in the show has a stomach turning amount of innuendo to it. Specifically, he says she had to die because “she walked in on us” to Sam. The use of “us” is very clearly supposed to invoke an abuser’s attempt to convince a victim that they did in fact have agency in the situation and were just as active a participant as the abuser, though the audience knows this cannot be the case as Sam was an infant.

When Azazel feeds Sam his blood this is without consent which already gives it a csa implication. The way that he made the deal with Mary in the first place does the same. Then there is the way that Sam feels dirty because of the demon blood in him. “Something that I could not control happened to me as a child and now I feel dirty forever” is glaringly a metaphor for csa. The way that Sam says “so he could bleed in my mouth” made me pause the episode and sit there for a moment because of how much it sounded like a euphemism.

Then Sam becomes addicted to demon blood. The parallels would almost make me laugh if they didn’t make me nauseous. Ruby forces herself on Sam sexually before she starts feeding him her blood, and then later it seems that their routine is feeding Sam the blood and then having sex. This creates an association between demon blood and sex. There is also a more sinister undertone to it if you read with this in mind. Sam’s desire for demon blood invokes, for me at least, queer desire. Unlike what some people on tumblr would like to believe, sexual desire isn’t something that people only start feeling when they turn 18. It isn’t even something that we only start feeling when we reach puberty. Everyone has a human body that is capable of feeling arousal from the moment they are born. This is a simple fact of life, but it is one everyone likes to ignore. With this in mind we can understand the quote “within childhood sexual trauma, the experience of violation may be viewed in the moment as uncontrollably stimulating and overwhelmingly arousing” from this post. When someone experiences violation as a child, they may at the time feel pleasure in it or desire for it to happen again. What I am saying is that his whole life after Azazel fed him his blood maybe Sam, for all his fight against being a freak, deep down felt some kind of desire for something even without knowing quite what. And then Ruby gave it to him. This is an unacceptable desire and therefore coded as queer (sexual) desire. But as it is not just queer desire but one associated with both childhood and non consent, which makes it unpalatable to many people who may otherwise enjoy reading for queerness in subtext, therefore the queerness here is missed.

Sam’s fight against being a freak is also part of his queer coding. Some may see this and take it at face value, but truly what queer person can honestly say they have never tried to fit into heteronormative society? When one is constantly told by society that they are wrong, they will try to change to fit - even if just out of a desire for safety. Sam trying and failing at normality (including the ideal heterosexual romantic relationship which is taken from him with Jess’s death in the first episode) is a glaring example of queer coding.

Yet another aspect of Sam’s sexuality that I believe leads to his queer coding being ignored is that the vast majority of sexual situations we see him in are non consensual and he makes it explicitly clear that he wishes not to be in those situations. The first time we see him in such a situation is the pilot where the woman in white forces herself on him and tells him that he will be unfaithful to Jess. At the time this felt pretty extreme to me for putting in the first episode, even for trying to establish that a character highly values their morality. From there they just don’t stop putting Sam in these situations. The next time this happens is with Meg touching Sam sexually while she has him and Dean tied up with no motivation other than that she wants to. She later possesses him, which is used throughout the show as a sexual assault allegory. The next time I remember something like this happening is Becky groping Sam and refusing to stop when he asks her in season four. Later in season seven she roofies him with love potion and kidnaps him. When Sam and Dean investigate the mental hospital in season five, one of the patients grabs both Dean and Sam and makes out with them at different times. While Dean goes with it and does not resist, Sam tries to push the girl away. While neither of these situations had consent, it is much easier for the audience to swallow Dean’s reaction than Sam’s, as Dean’s reaction plays into the notion that men cannot be sexually assaulted because they should always want to have sex with women, while Sam’s forces one to confront that men are capable of not consenting. In the very next episode a high school boy uses a spell to swap his and Sam’s bodies. While in Sam’s body the boy has sex with a woman. Throughout much of season six I would argue something similar occurs. While I’m a bit fuzzy in the metaphysics of what exactly is happening here, Sam is functionally anywhere from two to three people over the course of the season. Despite the fact that they are all technically Sam, I would argue (as a system myself) that any one person within a system using the body to do things that the others would stop them from doing given the chance is non consent. We also know that soulless!Sam slept around with a lot of people during that year and a half. Again, as a system, I would say that is noncon. There is also the fact that during all of this Sam-in-hell (soul!Sam?) was being tortured and more than implied to be raped by Lucifer. All of this makes Sam and sexuality a much less palatable thing to focus on than Dean and sexuality. (Though Dean has his fair share of sa coding as well he covers it up with jokes that make it easier to ignore. But that’s another post.)

The bottom line is that Sam’s demon blood addiction is coded as queer in that it is a desire that is taboo, but it is a bit too taboo for most fans to enjoy or even acknowledge, leading them to voice outright denial of it, with the unpalatable themes of rape surrounding Sam and sexuality adding to the lack of desire to discuss this aspect of the character.

[davekat-sucks]

since this topic is making the rounds of controversy AGAIN I will confess something: i genuinely don't get how gamzee or damara are offensive, even though i am what the nu fandom would call a "poc" (hate that term, sounds stupid). i find damara relatable and hilarious as fuck even, and i love her design, she is obviously based on azula to accompany rufioh's dante basco reference; but suddenly my opinion and life experiences don't count or deserve to be heard because i don't agree with these americans with "white savior complex" as they call it? so hypocritical. and honestly i find all this "coding" shit people associate with gamzee despite him being based on fucking clown rappers to be the real racism. what, are people gonna tell me irl clowns are offensive too because they use poofy wigs and face paint? lets boycott ronald mcdonald too then, or ship him with gamzee, both work. #fuckclowns #clussy #gamzeexronaldmcdonaldSWEEP #shitsbetterthandavekatanyways

idk im just tired and i cant believe people are still fighting about this shit, if anything wouldn't that just prove that fandom activism amounts to nothing on the long run except alienation, sucking the joy out of everything and making people uncomfortable to create content for these characters and thus, ironically, giving minorities less representation? it's the circle of stupidity man

I don't think Damara is based on Azula. But more of people finding Aradia dressing in Asian attire like kimonos or cheongsam beautiful and would headcanon her to be Asian. Even if her first name is based on an work that are pagan text in found Italy and the last name based on a location in Israel that the Bible prophesizes that it will be the final battlefield for end times, people think Aradia as Asian was better. Anime on the rise probably added fuel to this. Nobody gave a shit about an Asian lady being a lower class because of the hemospectrum lowblood implications. And even if it did, people think it would be about her overcoming her high class rich oppressor. But then, people would be too focused on Condesce being black because of her being technically Meenah, showing that it was a BLACK WOMAN who started the oppression in the first place. No one gets mad that a black woman was trying to beat and kill an Asian woman. Asian people today in this modern era, may as well be white. And I'm Filipino, who may as well be leaned to white if don't agree with my white LGBT saviors. People being upset about Gamzee being black just because of his crazy messy hair style, people assume it was an AFRO. And I mean afro afro ROUND afro. Tell me, how is a messy unkempt hair style equal AFRO SO HE IS BLACK.

They might as well say bedhead hairstyles mean it is only for black people. While they forget black people aren't the only ones with afros. Do people accuse Bob Ross as black appropriation because he as an afro? NO! There are people, regardless of skin color, that have different hairstyles! Whether they are American, Mexican, etc!

I don't mind Damara being some Asian stereotype. In fact, as a Filipino, I find it funny! My parents would joke themselves of eating dogs and it is still funny to them! Her being a bitchy slutty Asian girl is fine! Isn't her role of working for the bigger bad cool enough or complex that she would go through this lengths to get back at her bully interesting? I guess not to others. Sometimes people who have been depicted as Asian with some joke or vague stereotype attached them, approved of being shown like this! Remember that Asian guy in Courage the Cowardly Dog that says "WATCH WHERE YOU GOIN' YA FOOL!" The creator based it on a RL friend he knew. And that Real Life friend gave his OWN VOICE for it too that we hear today. He didn't mind and actually approves of this character! He would later to go on to voice him in episodes that star him too! And there are people like dumb YouTubers who talk about cartoons, think it is racist, when it is NOT! It's like they assume Trey Parker and Matt Stone pointed a gun at Isaac Hayes to let his voice stay for black racist jokes, when it's not the case and he know what he was going into and didn't mind it! Him drawing the line at mocking Sciencetology is not the same as him thinking he hated all the black jokes he had to deal with in South Park. Can we just go back to letting people headcanon a character whatever they want? If someone wants to blackwash Tom from Eddsworld despite the character being a white British man? Fine. If people wanted to draw the Homestuck kids as anime characters with light skin? It's fine too. Let people do whatever the fuck they want. If someone wants to draw the characters as they appeared in the series, it's fine too! Nobody is racist or homophobic or anything for liking a character a different way! I don't need some bitch with multiple pronouns and LGBT flag emojis on their profile to tell me that my Asian depictions in Hollywood and TV shows are bad or limited. I find more representation in ANIME than there. And if they say "THERE ARE NO PINOYS OR PHILIPPINE CHARACTERS IN HOLLYWOOD OR MAINSTREAM MEDIA!" All I got to say is, I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! I just want to see if my anime, manga, video game, TV show, comic, movie, etc is enjoyable and has cool characters. I don't care about the skin or ethnicity. I want to see them go through cool shit! And when there is a rare moment of one making a decent series, nobody props them up for their originality. They rather care about a raceswapped modern updated version of Superman than something actually new! I don't see people praising Trese as a step for Philippines in comic industry after it got a Netflix Adaption. Raya and the Last Dragon was the better one because of the vague Southeast Asian Disney princess compared to a badass woman killing monsters!

Modern fandom culture is a poison and I desperately want it gone. But it's gonna be years before that will happen. It started to seep in 2014-16 and doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon in the 2020s.

[fattylime]

Ur art is so cool!!!!!! I LOVE trans nacho hc, do you have any other queer brba/bcs head canons you’d be cool talking about?

omg hi thank u thank u and yes i do!!

(for reference, i just finished brba i think last week, i watched bcs first and i'm doing a rewatch of that currently just so i fully get the plot !! if i get anything wrong or if you have anything u wanna add just tell me i love learning new things <3)

i think as a queer person my default for most characters is some type of queer even if i don't have a specific label for them if that makes any sense?? i kinda forget that straight people are a default in media until there's a character that's so unabashedly straight :')

the jesse trans hc is really popular and i understand why, i wanna draw jesse eventually when i have time !! i think a lot of small details about his characters are readable as trans or at least relatable !! sexuality wise i'd say he's either straight or bi but you'd never get him to admit to the second one lmao

also this post by geitonas introduced me to the idea of mike being trans which i ADOORE i scroll through art about him being trans giggling and twirling my hair i absolutely agree

most villains default to gay for me just because they're usually coded that way and it carries over to lalo and i don't have to hc gus as gay so,, i could see lalo as either gay or bi it depends on the day i'm talking about it but a lot of the personal things that are linked to his character have to be inferred since again he doesn't have the level of backstory or even directly told lore as other characters. i don't think he'd be "secretive" about his sexuality but i think growing up around hector and then seeing what happened to gus and max he's definitely not loud and proud either but considering the circumstances who would be. Him being so high up in rank with the personality that he has i can almost see him doing that out of spite if that makes any sense?? idk how to explain this thought properly im dealing with finals right now my brain is pretty much smooth but i know he enjoys what he does as a "job" but idk i think he'd find the idea of a queer man with a high rank funny because who is going to tell him what he can't do?

kim definitely kissed a girl in college and she definitely didn't hate it at all but never allowed herself the time to think over the implications of that, similarly i think skylar has fantasized what it would be like to be married to a woman but in the way thats like "what if i didn't have to do everything all the time" but i can sense something lgbt about her i just haven't thought it through enough yet lol

Idk where to start with howard and jimmysaul but they gives me the vibe of when you're around family but you aren't out and you're a little too supportive of gay people and everyone looks at you suspiciously. they're ALLIES (at first)

anyways this post is entirely too long but i hope this somewhat answered your question

[guardian-rocket]

This post I made as a bit of a joke at this comment from Peter since he laughed when Rocket admits he got taken advantage of by a girl he liked.  (For clarity’s sake as I know how people’s minds wander I mean she screwed him over to do her a favor and left him to fend for himself treating him like, in his own words ‘like he was trash’)  This game version of Rocket he does seem more on the male-attracted side.

Looking at Rocket through my own lens, I have always interpreted him as on the Bi spectrum (and any alternative male/female attracted terms that may go along with it such as demi/pan/ect) I just always thought he had ‘the vibe’ of not being 100% straight. 

While MCU Rocket is extremely subtle in context of his orientation in any respect, I interpret him as being highly complex in that respect because he’s a complex character.  We also know that he had to be palatable for the widest range of people possible and people tend to clutch their metaphorical pearls at the idea of an anthropomorphic character showing anything other than platonic friendship towards another species (male OR female) unless it’s a cartoon.  (I am not going to go down that rabbit hole though.)

Now outing Rocket as actually being legitimately bi?  The world on a wider level is not ready for that... but let me grace a few examples of what I’ve picked up on his bi-coding in general.

Relationship with Elder Groot?  It has a sorta ‘gay married couple’ vibe to it, not saying that’s how their relationship worked, but there is a vibe I picked up on it.  Other than that we can kinda look at how he does really treat his male and female friends with very little distinction.  

His attachment to Peter also feels a bit crush-coded at times, I’ve seen enough breakdowns from other users to see plausibility.  He even goes around wearing Peter’s scarf in End Game, literally carrying a memento of him everywhere he goes, not to mention he just sticks by the guy despite how frequently Peter insults him.  We know he HATES being insulted, so I feel like maybe there’s implications that relationship for him is complicated.  While I know this literally can just be a close friendship, it also could be possibly more.

Another thing to note with Peter is how Rocket NEVER is seen addressing Peter’s relationship with Gamora.  He did try to get Peter to abandon her on several occasions (and on the flip side he did the same with her about Peter when Peter went to get his Walkman back on the Kynn) and even after Gamora dies, and Peter is all hung up about it, Rocket never once is seen trying to console him or talking about it in anyway.  I think we can interpret that in a number of ways, but... maybe he was jealous? Peter’s love for Gamora?  Gamora’s love of Peter?  Maybe it’s an uncomfortable topic, maybe he just doesn’t know how to talk about it because it strikes to close to home, but it’s something to note, at least.

Three humanoid females that Rocket has unabashedly expressed attraction to in the comics are all at least masculine too.   We have She-Hulk, Angela and then Star-Hawk (shown below Rocket is even using male pronouns and while maybe having a bit of a bi-awakening of some sort lol... he says what he’s thinking.)  This scene is from the 2008 comic so things weren’t quite as liberal for the LGBT as they are now, so forgive Rocket with his slight homophobic Freudian slip here.  

There is also a scene where Rouge is texting Rocket looking for relationship advice, and to be frank, that isn’t the only scene where Rocket is seen dishing out actually decent relationship advice to friends, but it really just feels like one of those troupes of getting relationship advice from a gay friend.

Over all this is all speculation, as I don’t think Marvel COULD out Rocket as being Bi at this time because he’s a popular character it’d make him more controversial than he already is, but I do hope in time we do see it revealed more directly.

Closing this rant out, I just want to clarify I don’t base this solely on what I want to see, it’s just how I see the character.  He’s just got mad bisexy energy. 

"I totally had you pegged as gay." - how this read in my head.

[newtrekcriticisms]

This is going to be a bit long, and I apologise for that.

I’m seeing lots of people saying they’re tired of people calling SNW Spock “straight”. Consequentially, I am tired of people acting like there is no valid criticism to be made about SNW Spock’s bizarre hypersexualised relationships with women. But let’s focus on the former complaint for a moment.

Mostly, I’m seeing the position that those who are unhappy with how Spock’s relationships with women are being depicted are being biphobic; the implication being that Spock has demonstrated attraction to both women and men, and that him liking women should not erase his attraction to men, and that Spock should be allowed to love whomever he loves. And that would be a very valid and important criticism, something which I myself would stand by. Except for the fact that nowhere in all of Star Trek has Spock actually been depicted as being attracted to men.

I realise that what I just said could be equally provoking to both sides of this ongoing debate, so let me make some things very clear. I need all of us to admit that we understand that Spock, in any iteration, was never actually gay. He has never actually been, at any point, canonically attracted to men. I know we believe that he is. I know Spock’s sexuality—not his orientation, but his relationship to romance and sex as whole—has been depicted rather vaguely since TOS, and I know we as LGBT people therefore feel, some of us very strongly, that he is even coded as gay. We’ve seen all the iconic moments: we all saw the Search for Spock and the one with the whales. And we should all understand that interpreting Spock’s relationship with Kirk through a romantic lens is a thoroughly valid reading of their relationship. But we also need to understand that mlm Spock is only true in our heads, in our stories and art. Yes, people have been exploring the relationship between Kirk and Spock in a romantic way since the 1960s, as was the dawn of fandom culture. No, that does not make it anymore real. To the writers of Star Trek, from the 60s to now, the iconic character of Spock is, has been, and always will be understood to be heterosexual. I need everyone to take a step back, be objective, and really recognise that. We can argue day and night about intentions and subtext and implications but when it comes down to it Spock is not actually an LGBT character. He just isn’t. Anyone who says otherwise is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Understanding that, we can understand, then, that Spock has only ever been canonically depicted as being attracted to women. In TOS, these moments were sparse, light, one-off romance plots and usually came down to either Spock’s utter indifference or his duty to the Enterprise coming before personal relationships. In SNW, it is a whole new breed of animal. But my point is, there exists no logical grounds upon which to claim that Spock is canonically bisexual. He has only exhibited canonical attraction to women, and his attraction to men only exists in the popular conception of one specific group of Star Trek fans. The size and passion and hopes of this group is irrelevant. Spock is not canonically mlm. Spock is not canonically bisexual. A belief, no matter how strongly held, is not reality.

Therefore, objecting to valid criticisms of SNW Spock’s repeated ooc sexual and physical encounters with T’Pring and Chapel on the basis of biphobia is invalid. There is no actual bisexuality being erased here. I need people to understand that.

To be clear, I do think some people objecting to SNW Spock’s relationships with women are not doing so in good faith. I do believe that some of these people are objecting because they are misogynistic, or think Spock needs to be seen as a “gold star” gay, and are ultimately only objecting because they feel their “ship” is threatened by T’Pring or Chapel merely existing and playing out the scripts that were written for them. I have even seen this fearmongering extend to Uhura in some particularly vile instances of misogynoir. To these people, the “sanctity” of their gay ship is their only concern. I would like to state that I do not align myself with these people, and rather condemn them for their blatant fetishisation and intolerance. Those displaying this sort of behaviour are not allowed to use this post as a shield.

But I digress. My point is that someone taking issue with SNW Spock’s bizarre ooc hypersexual relationships with women on account of them being bizarre, ooc, and hypersexual is not biphobia. Calling SNW Spock “straight” is not biphobia, either. As we have established, Spock is not canonically bisexual. SNW Spock is, very much, being depicted as straight. And in a overwhelming, almost disturbing way.

Now if somewhere down the line Strange New Worlds decided to make Spock canonically attracted to men, i.e. bisexual, I need it to be understood that I would absolutely lose my mind. I cannot think of anything the show could do that would make me happier than that. And I have seen some poor souls who are excited for Kirk to appear in season 2, because they believe something resembling Spirk is going to happen. But in our second reality check for this essay, we need to understand that the chances of that happening—that is, the chances of Spock being depicted as LGBT in any way—is, put gently, extremely, extremely unlikely. Put harshly, it is never going to happen, ever.

And there is a reason why it is never going to happen, ever. The reason is homophobia. I’ve stated a few times before that Spock, even more so than Kirk, is the Star Trek franchise’s golden boy. He is the iconic character to end all iconic characters. There is absolutely no way in hell that the powers that be at Star Trek will ever allow Spock to be depicted as LGBT in any way, shape, or form. They would upset and alienate cishet viewers, which is important to them, and they could possibly lose money, which is even more important to them. In short, the powers that be at Star Trek will never allow Spock to be depicted as LGBT because they are homophobic. They don’t believe in gay Spock. They have no reason to. They don’t subscribe to the interpretation and it therefore doesn’t matter to them. I would venture to say that some if not most of them would react to the idea of gay Spock with confusion at best and disgust at worst. It’s important to recognise that outside of the Spirk circle, nobody knows, or let alone cares, about Spirk.

And, to be clear, “Spock” was only dragged back onto the silver screen in the first place to be paraded in front of the camera so that everyone would say, “Omg Spock!!!!” and thus attract masses of fans who otherwise might not have cared or bothered to watch some mediocre sci-fi show, but now will because, as I said, “Omg Spock!!!!” They chose him as a safe option to draw in viewers. They are not going to let him be gay.

And by god, if anything supports this claim, it is the very specific and intentional way in which Spock’s relationships with women are being depicted. I’ll reiterate that attraction to and sex with women does not in any way preclude Spock from also being attracted to men, but as we’ve established, they are not going to let him be attracted to men canonically. And as I’ve stated in previous posts, there are no good, inclusive intentions here with the way Spock’s relationship with T’Pring is being portrayed. SNW Spock’s heterosexuality—and yes, it is heterosexuality—is intimately portrayed, aggressively asserted, and dominates the character’s entire arc. Not one single character in the show deals with the topic or action of sex more than Spock. Not only that, but the writers went out of their way to deliberately and knowingly transgress established TOS canon specifically to bring T’Pring into the picture. Specifically so that they could depict her and Spock having sex and kissing and being in a very overt, central, and very sexual relationship. SNW Spock’s relationship with T’Pring is, in a word, purposeful. The writers are communicating something to us through the constant fucking. They are reminding us what Spock is. Spock is straight.

Again, these writers do not value or care about LGBT readings of Star Trek. They don’t care what Spock means to the LGBT community. They’re not even altogether concerned with keeping Spock in character for these recurring sexual and romantic escapades. To them, it doesn’t matter how out of character it is for Spock of all fucking people to be smashing puss every other night. The writers are demonstrably doing everything in their power to assert that Spock is a heterosexual. Not secretly bi, not secretly gay. Not questioning, not closeted. They are not leaving room for any interpretation here, and they are doing so deliberately. The whole thing reeks of desperation in a really weird way.

Of course, I have no evidence that can conclusively say that yes, the reason they’re making Spock have so much straight sex on screen is to dissuade people from seeing him as gay. This is just an opinion piece, not a peer-reviewed investigation, and I am just an armchair critic. But speaking from my armchair, I simply cannot come up with any other explanation for why, out of the blue and wildly out of character, Spock is being depicted in this way. I don’t know why Spock’s storylines would revolve around sex in the extremely obtrusive way that it does. I don’t know why this is what they decided to do with this legacy character, who previously had next to nothing to do with sex with the sole exception of Amok Time, which was a once every 7 years thing. As I’ve indicated, this is Spock we’re talking about. The iconic character to end all iconic characters. Star Trek’s golden boy. And this is what they decide to do with him? Of all the things they could have possibly done? It’s borderline inexplicable. What is presented in the paragraphs above is only my best attempt at an explanation. It’s one that I think makes sense, but only the writers of Strange New Worlds truly know what their intentions are with Spock.

In summary, Spock’s hypersexualised relationships with women on Strange New Worlds is a valid cause for criticism. It is not biphobic to be confused, disappointed, or upset about Spock’s depiction on SNW, as Spock is not and was never canonically mlm, and the writers very clearly would like us to remember that. Of course, I say fuck them. I’ll continue to enjoy Nimoy’s Spock as preserved in TOS, and I’ll continue interpreting him as gay because it’s what I personally believe. You too can continue to have whatever headcanons or theories you have about Spock’s sexuality, even on SNW, and what his future on that show might entail. You can even continue rooting for SNW Spirk in season 2 if you want (although I would ask you if you really think Ethan Peck and Paul Wesley can really give you anything half as heartfelt and touching as Spock and Jim’s interactions in the TOS movies, and if it’s really worth caring about, but that’s just me).

Ultimately Spock’s portrayal in SNW is divisive, and people are probably never going to agree whether his sexually charged plotlines are right or wrong, in character or out of character. But I hope we can at least understand after all these paragraphs that slinging accusations of biphobia against those attempting to address this issue is uncalled for. The issue lies not in the possibility that Spock could be bisexual rather than gay, but in the fact that the writers would clearly have us understand he is neither. That’s what I’m upset about.

[foxtwink]

Concepts + Relationships in Goncharov (1973)

I finally watched Goncharov and wanted to post my own analysis because it destroyed me emotionally ;-; This will be focused on certain scenes / concepts that stand out to me, and scenes related to Goncharov or Katya. It also gets more unprofessional and rambly the further it gets as I lose my sanity. Enjoy!

It's incredibly significant to me that a movie portraying positive gay relationships was filmed during a time when the Hays Code was active. It really shows the resilience and continual survival/presence of the LGBT+ community, even when faced with hostility from the outside world. Of course the gay relationships aren't the focus of Goncharov but like, the fact that gay relationships never needed to be in this movie at all?? They weren't essential to the plot. The movie wasn't about or centered around queer relationships. Those queer relationships just... existed. Director Martin Scorsese just... chose queer representation. It's super unfortunate that queer representation did end up leading to Goncharov's heavy censorship when it was released but I think being able to rediscover it in 2022 has given a lot of us in the queer community hope and has turned Goncharov into sort of a 'queer icon' type movie? And might be what has led to Tumblr's huge obsession over it. (Because as you know, the presence of gays on Tumblr is huge).

Goncharov (1973) is also culturally significant. The anchovies scene. THE ANCHOVIES SCENE. They really single-take improv'ed a scene discussing fUCKING PIZZA and USED IT AS AN ALLEGORY for old, traditional values vs. new progressive values. THE ACTORS ARE FUCKING BRILLIANT??? Not only this but the anchovies scene as the setup to homoerotic Andrey x Goncharov implications ?! smortass gae men plsss. What's so important about this scene to me is that it reflects how many of my friends and I might have a conversation. They're just cooking and they start talking about food. then that leads to an INTELLECTUAL discussion about values, using what they're doing (cooking) as a metaphorical comparison point. AndTHEY DID IT SO WELL???? FIND ME ONE PERSON IRL WHO CAN USE ANCHOVIES ON PIZZA TO MAKE A POINT ABT PROGRESSIVE / NEW IDEAS BEING SCARY BUT ALSO POSSIBLY BEING GOOD BUT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW UNTIL YOU TRIED IT???? i am iN LOVE

OK LET ME AT SOFIA FOR A MOMENT GRRRRGRGRGRRR BARK BARK BARK GRRRRRRRRR. Sofia is insane. When we're first introduced to this character she fucking bITES SOMEONE'S EAR OFF in the background of a shot?? SHE IS A BITER she is crazy I LOVE HER. Biter representation fr. Then while Katya and Sofia are having their wlw sequence, and they fight, Sofia ruthlessly starts fucking drowning her ??? Against Katya's reasonability, her love, her "this isn't how we end sof" they're fighting, Katya's dying, the slowing thudding heartbeat with the ticking watch, it's all so.. visceral. Tangible. It's a scene you FEEL deep in your bones. You recognize in that moment that Sofia just... is a wild card. No apologies, no purpose, no meaning. She's not a manic pixie dream girl, no Harley Quinn, she's not written up for some redemption arc or to be "misunderstood" just for later trauma reveal and healing sequences. She just... is. She's insane and awful and tragic and amazing and beautiful too. She's a force of nature. She truly makes you feel entropy incarnate.

Next up the apple scene. CAN WE TALK ABT THE REPEATED FOOD SYMBOLISM IN THIS MOVIE??? Goncharov offering Andrey the apple ??? Adam and Eve allegory ???? The entire scene basically screams "hey im gay (corruption) come be gay (corrupted) with me" and I LOVE IT. but the fact that ANDREY FUCKING REFUSES TO EAT IT??? Like. im SOBBING this is such an emotional and symbolic scene and we can see Andrey struggling with himself here. He doesn't know what he wants yet. He doesn't want to make hasty decisions. Yes, he takes the apple, but he also doesn't eat it- he's tempted but he doesn't commit. He knows better than to follow his basic impulses. He decides to spend time getting to know Goncharov better instead. This scene really offers a lens into Andrey's character and gives him dimension rather than making this a Gay Romance ™️

NEXT UP: clock tower scene !!!!! wow. wowowowowoowowow. ok. wow i can't breathe. this scene is STUNNING. 1) the clock symbolism, relating back to Katya's watch. 2) the actual aesthetic, gorgeous spinning brass and silver accents with the sunlight and everything. 3) the STANDOFF between Goncharov and Andrey. Goncharov is so scared and paranoid. He has that gun pulled and pointed at Andrey, he's shaking, he's visibly upset and unwell. Andrey is an absolute statue, the fucking image of calm over here smoking a cigarette not even worried. Such gorgeous juxtaposition man I wanna cry. 4) the gunshot. when Goncharov pulled the trigger I jumped so hard, hell I expect anyone who watched this movie jumped and yet the focus on Andrey and he's still standing just as still, not a twitch not a jump. He was looking away from Goncharov and yet he didn't fear for his life for a SECOND. He knew he wasn't going to get shot. I can't believe this sexy ass man's nerve but it makes him so beautiful and contrasts so well with Goncharov's paranoia. And then the "Time is something you can’t stop, Goncharov" line after Goncharov has blown out the clock in the tower with his gunshot like COME ON who even thinks of something that iconic to say except sexy ass Andrey / sexy ass director Martin Scorsese ughhhh

and finally we reach the death of Goncharov, and the primary theory of all Goncharov enthusiasts: gay sex would've fixed everything. Would it have though... would it really have? Because now we know of Andrey's betrayal. The way he kills Goncharov... and shouldn't we have known it all along when he refused to eat the apple Goncharov offered? And Andrey shoots Goncharov in the back. It's like how in the clock tower, he had his back turned to Goncharov when Goncharov could've shot him... now there is a role reversal, but Andrey does shoot. And he has the chance to shoot Katya too but Katya kills him first. We don't see much one-on-one interaction between Katya and Andrey in this movie but the standoff between Goncharov's love interest and his Literal Wife is so powerful and you can really tell that even though Katya and Goncharov as a couple are over (or were over for a while) she still cares about him strongly. She still loves him. She avenges him swiftly and with no hesitation, not just to save her own life. She is cradling Goncharov's body as she sees Andrey and sheds that last single tear, and she has sympathy for him and his lost love. Katya is so strong. So brave. So beautiful. She is the ultimate strong ass woman and she does right by her dead husband and she kills for love. She is an amazing character and she absolutely is the only one to deserve to live.

------

p.s. this was created with the help of a mass document on Goncharov (1973) developed by various Tumblr users. thank you all for your labor of love in creating this doc !!

[rottenbooks]

Dark academia inspired books I want to read

⚰️The Six by Kirk Holland⚰️

💀 Fiction, Fantasy, LGBT

In a small Texas town, the unusually strong son of two bestselling authors is sick of sitting on the sidelines. Cozy in the tall trees of Oregon, a little woman sharpens her knives and readies herself for another day at the faire. Meanwhile, another young woman is prepared for a day of conning tourists and begging a living unaware that she’s being stalked by a man with a secret of his own. And on each coast, the enchanting adopted twins of a media mogul enjoy the fruits of the high life. They all have one thing in common: none of the Six know who they are.

They’re about to discover it.

Discover who they are. Discover those around them are more than they claimed. Discover the end game is only the first play.

🏚️Gothikana by RuNyx🏚️

📜 Dark Romance, Gothic, Mystery, Horror

An unusual girl. An enigmatic man. An ancient castle. What could go wrong?

An outcast her entire life, Corvina Clemm is left adrift after losing her mother. When she receives the admission letter from the mysterious University of Verenmore, she accepts it as a sign from the universe. The last thing she expects though is an olden, secluded castle on top of a mountain riddled with secrets, deceit, and death.

An enigma his entire life, Vad Deverell likes being a closed book but knowing exactly everything that happens in the university. A part-time professor working on his thesis, Vad has been around long enough to know the dangers the castle possesses.

And he knows the moment his paths cross with Corvina, she's dangerous to everything that he is.

They shouldn't have caught each other's eye. They cannot be. But a chill-inducing century-old mystery forces them to collide. People have disappeared every five years for over a hundred years, and Corvina is getting clues to unraveling it all, and Vad needs to keep an eye on her.

And so begins a tale of the mystique, the morbid, the macabre, and a deep love that blossoms in the unlikeliest of places.

🔮Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) by Leigh Bardugo🔮

🕯️ Paranormal, Adult, Horror, Mystery

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

📕People Like Us by Dana Mele📕

📌 Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult, LGBT

Kay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet, but the past is past, and she's reinvented herself entirely. Now she's a star soccer player whose group of gorgeous friends run their private school with effortless popularity and acerbic wit. But when a girl's body is found in the lake, Kay's carefully constructed life begins to topple.

The dead girl has left Kay a computer-coded scavenger hunt, which, as it unravels, begins to implicate suspect after suspect, until Kay herself is in the crosshairs of a murder investigation. But if Kay's finally backed into a corner, she'll do what it takes to survive. Because at Bates Academy, the truth is something you make...not something that happened.

🌷Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas🌷

🌆 Horror, Thriller, Adult, Gothic

You are in the house and the house is in the woods.

You are in the house and the house is in you . . .

Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world’s best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House three years—summers included—completely removed from the outside world. Family, friends, television, music, even their clothing must be left behind. In return, the school promises its graduates a future of sublime power and prestige, and that they can become anything or anyone they desire.

Among this year’s incoming class is Ines, who expects to trade blurry nights of parties, pills, cruel friends, and dangerous men for rigorous intellectual discipline—only to discover an environment of sanctioned revelry. The school’s enigmatic director, Viktória, encourages the students to explore, to expand their minds, to find themselves and their place within the formidable black iron gates of Catherine.

For Ines, Catherine is the closest thing to a home she’s ever had, and her serious, timid roommate, Baby, soon becomes an unlikely friend. Yet the House’s strange protocols make this refuge, with its worn velvet and weathered leather, feel increasingly like a gilded prison. And when Baby’s obsessive desire for acceptance ends in tragedy, Ines begins to suspect that the school—in all its shabby splendor, hallowed history, advanced theories, and controlled decadence—might be hiding a dangerous agenda that is connected to a secretive, tightly knit group of students selected to study its most promising and mysterious curriculum.

🍁We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan🍁

💌 Contemporary, Adult, Mystery, Thriller

It doesn't take long for the students on Fielding campus to become obsessed with Hannah, Leslie and Jimmy. The three graduate students are mysterious, inaccessible, and brilliant. Leslie, glamorous and brash, has declared that she wants to write erotica and make millions. Hannah is quietly confident, loyal, elegantly beautiful, and the person they all want to be; and Jimmy is a haunted genius with no past. After Simone—young, bestselling author and erstwhile model—shows up as a visiting professor, and after everything that happened with her, the trio only become more notorious.

Love. Death. Revenge. These age-old tropes come to life as the semesters unfold. The threesome came to study writing, to be writers, and this is the story they've woven together: of friendship and passion, of competition and envy, of creativity as life and death. Now, they submit this story, We Wish You Luck, for your reading pleasure.

❌How We Fall Apart (How We Fall Apart #1) by Katie Zhao❌

🔪 Young Adult, Crime, Mystery, Contemporary

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends--Krystal, Akil, and Alexander--are the prime suspects, thanks to "The Proctor," someone anonymously incriminating them via the school's social media app.

They all used to be Jamie's closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy's full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

☠️Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth, Sara Lautman (Illustrations)☠️

📖 Horror, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Mystery

Our story begins in 1902, at The Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it The Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, The Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever—but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way.

Over a century later, the now abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer, Merritt Emmons, publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded-Age institution. Her bestselling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, opposite B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern heroines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled—or perhaps just grimly exploited—and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins.

A story within a story within a story and featuring black-and-white period illustrations.

[bottomharrykingdom]

(1) I don’t mean to be rude or ignorant, I just come from a sheltered upbringing and just want to understand and learn. Harry being transgender confuses me. Obviously he hasn’t confirmed his gender or sexuality to us explicitly. I just don’t see how he’s transgender because he’s not becoming or going to be in future, a women. Also could calling him transgender not be offensive? Not in a transgender is bad way but assuming his femininity means he want to be a women...

(2) my gay friend finds it upsetting that just because he’s feminine people assume he wants to be a women. Could speculating his gender be offensive to Harry? Once again I really don’t mean to upset anyone, I genuinely just want to learn and be more open minded. I’m really sorry if I’ve offended anyone through my questioning! Just to clarify and I may not fully understand it but I don’t think transgender is bad or anything, you should be authentically yourself!! Please help me learn!

Hi! You're not being offensive at all, it's really great that you're trying to educate yourself 💖

Trans is an umbrella term for anyone who isn't cisgender, not just a term for those transitioning from their birth gender to another. So when we call Harry trans we aren't calling him a woman, we're saying he could identify as pretty much anything that isn't cis! The reason we call him trans specifically is because he used a trans flag on the cover of Fine Line.

People have been theorizing that he isn't cis for years, but it wasn't until Harry identified with the trans flag himself that people started using 'trans'.

The reason Harry's album is believed to have references to his gender identity isn't part of an invasive conspiracy theory, it's interpreting the queer coding deliberately present in his art. If you look further there are many references to transhood in Harry's music and appearance, from using trans and nonbinary colors, to referencing books with trans themes, to working with artists who push for gender nonconformity. Harry doing all of this is a form of queer coding, a core part of LGBT culture in which queer people communicate their identities with each other in a way that keeps them safe from society's prejudice against them.

Many people are under the impression that if Harry were really trans he would say it outright. That the person who releases intimate music and refuses to explain the meanings would one day give a lengthy interview explaining his gender identity, and that we must wait for this day to say he's trans. That society has become so accepting of the LGBT community that his wellbeing and career would face no negative consequences. And that because of this any belief that he's trans is absurd. But they couldn't be more wrong.

If you aren't aware, LGBT people are the largest target of violence in the world. As progressive as you may think society has become towards the LGBT community, 2017 recorded the highest number of single-homicide related deaths in the LGBT community since 1996. The majority of those deaths? Trans people. The average lifespan of a trans person is just 30 years. Rejecting the possibility that Harry isn't comfortable with the world knowing he's trans, and would find solace in hidden messages and symbolism that register to trans people as a way to safely communicate with them, is a cruel trivialization of the actual risk of harm trans people face and the subsequent fear for their safety at the hands of the public.

With that said, no one thinks Harry is trans just because he's feminine. In fact, most of the things that make people believe he's trans have nothing to do with femininity. Femininity is not inherent to any gender. No one thinks Harry is trans because he wears nail polish and did two photoshoots last year in a dress and fishnets. That's very silly! And the trans people who recognize their experiences as trans people in Harry are not silly at all.

If you want to understand where the belief comes from, check out these masterposts 1, 2, 3 and our 'trans harry' tag! Our 'femme' tag also includes all the references to Harry being feminine and/or doing something relating to the female gender.

There's years of instances, really! It isn't any individual one that indicates Harry is trans, but the collection of them as a whole. A single puzzle piece doesn't show you anything, but when you put enough of them together the full picture is revealed! It's important to see all of these instances as a unit, and not argue over the implications of one single reason. Gender is a complex thing and everything can mean different things to all of us! Trans people are very aware of this. It has been through careful and mindful observations of Harry that have lead them believing certain actions have particular ties to gender.

Beeing trans is a wonderful thing! A small group of fans believing Harry is trans could never hurt him. The conversation comes from a place of so much love and support! There's a lot to learn and none of us can really know anything for certain, but what's important is keeping an open mind and supporting trans people. Because whether that includes Harry or not, you're still supporting trans people! And in the end, that's what matters most 💖

[awriterpretendingtowrite]

TFATWS Spoilers

Don't keep reading if you haven't seen up to the latest ep of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Ep 5).

First, I love Sam and Bucky’s dynamic, and I used to not ship them at all.

However, this frickin show. Wow, where to start.

First, the queerbaiting in Ep 2 with the couples therapy was blinding.

Then, they just keep fighting like an old married couple. If we kept the same shots, the same music, same tones of voice, but changed one of them to be female, this would be a romance.

Now for Ep 5:

First off, I LOVED that Sam is finally taking on the Captain America mantle and proving that he doesn’t need the serum to do it!!! Even after Isaiah Bradley shared his horrifying experiences, after it looked like Sam was giving up, he still decided to pick up the shield and train!

Speaking of the training scene... let’s talk about the queerbaiting. Whether it was intentional or not, there was a TON of queerbaiting in this episode. Here’s what I saw, but feel free to add on:

1. The way they fight together in the beginning isn’t their best work, at least in my opinion, but it’s still amazing, and it at least shows that they trust each other with their lives. That scene was more focused on Walker, but there was still that element of partnership that we used to see with Bucky and Steve, who were/are also heavily queer-coded. When Bucky saved Sam from Walker’s killing blow, it solidified that these two men matter a lot to each other and that they are partners, even if they don’t want to admit it.

2. Speaking of, their bickering is hilarious, but also undeniably old married couple behavior. It can also be seen as the classic romantic trope of “fake-fighting because neither of you have processed your feelings yet and you don’t want to ruin your friendship.” Most importantly, in between that bickering, they have real conversations, and although they can be stubborn with each other, it shows us that again, they really care about each other and that they are partners in fighting for their cause.

3. Skip to Sam being home, calling in favors, etc, fixing up his family’s boat. “How do we get it off the truck?” Cut to Bucky casually showing off to all of Sam’s friends with his strength and fixing the gas leak. AKA the romantic trope of showing off in front of your romantic interest and their friends.

4. Speaking of Bucky fixing the gas leak, they were way closer than they needed to be at first, and Bucky grabbing Sam’s arm, and the return of their old married couple bickering. I can’t, please, my little queer heart can’t take another major company using us for money.

5. Bucky continually showing his strength to Sam and being super helpful (also, the jeans/t-shirt combo? Deadly to my little bi heart).

6. “Well, Nicole, what about Sarah and Bucky?” That’s a valid point, truly. What about them? Honestly, I was looking for any romance between them to make sure I wasn’t just blindly ignoring it because I want the gay romance to happen so badly, but I saw nothing except Bucky going, “hEy. I’m Bucky.” And then they made it worse by having Sam say, “But don’t flirt with my sister.” Yes, that is a big brother thing to do, but again, if either of them were female, that’s a Jealous Crush move! There’s no denying it! “Don’t flirt with them” *internally* because you should flirt with ME.

7. Skip to Sam fixing the boat and Bucky knowing that he’d be down their fixing it and just helping him. Who was the only person Bucky ever just helped and took orders from like that? Steve. That was it. Again, queer-coded. (And more old couple bickering)

And finally...

8. The training scene. Oh gosh, the training scene. Their flawless chemistry. The way they trade off the shield. The way they remember each other’s struggles and the way Bucky tries to understand Sam’s struggles, even though he’s from a completely different era.  The way they are vulnerable with each other. The way they look at each other my stars.

9. Sam asking Bucky if he still has his nightmares and Bucky, without hesitation, replying, “All the time.” It parallels the therapy that wasn’t doing Bucky any good at the beginning, but if you watch Bucky’s body language, the look in his eyes, it’s clear that Sam’s words help him more than anything else as so far. The way that Sam knows when to be tough with Bucky and when to be a caring friend who just listens. The way he looks at Bucky.

10. Bucky risking asking the Wakandans for another favor to replace Sam’s wings, because even though Sam walked away, Bucky knew that he would want them back eventually. He knows who Sam really, just like Sam really knows who Bucky is. He is so open with Sam, even more than he was with Steve. Again, the way he looks at Sam. Like he’s some sort of heaven-sent person, like Sam is his lifeline to his sanity. If Bucky were female, that would be immediately recognizable as a pining look. I have given my best friend that look and I was crushing on her, hard. That is not a look straight men give each other.

11. And at the end of their training, when they part ways, just as a little cherry on top, their “bro handshake” lasted wayyyy too long (and the way they look at each other... again). The awkward way they’re trying to put a label on their relationship and Sam automatically correcting partners to coworkers. That may seem like a straight guy thing to do, but as a queer woman, when I was first figuring out that I liked girls, and specifically my best friend at the time, I avoided and corrected, at all costs, any implications that she and I could possibly be involved, even in the sense that someone called us partners for something totally unrelated to romantic intentions.

12. Skip to Sarah and Sam talking and Sarah saying, “Who knew you were so sensitive?” Well, that’s a classic falling in love trope. “You’ve changed, for the better,” or pointing out something specific that has changed because of their partner, is so commonly said to people in romance stories, and if. Sam or Bucky. Were female. This. Would. Be. A. Romance.

My queer siblings, my rabid hellers, my tired LGBT folks who are desperate for scraps of representation--

Don’t settle for scraps, because if we settle for scraps, it’s all we’ll ever get. It was a start, sure, but we cannot continue to let big companies think it’s okay to queerbait us in increasingly obvious ways and make money off of us frantically grasping at straws. Look at Supernatural. They had a gay confession to draw the queers back in the for last two episodes, then never acknowledged it. In fact, they insulted us by killing any and all even slightly queer-coded characters.

It’s time to join together and let our voices be heard. Our sexualities, our gender identities, our struggles, will not be made into something that companies use to make money. If Marvel pulls the same BS that the C*W did, queerbaiting and then discarding, we need to let them know that that is no longer acceptable. It’s not okay; it never has been.

In the meantime, enjoy TFATWS, ship whoever you want, and be aware of what is happening and what Disney and Marvel are doing. 

We won’t stand this mistreatment any longer, and when it comes down to it, we will make our voices heard.

[patcaps]

You shouldn’t have had to deal with that trans and homophobia bullshit. I was hesitant to think of any bill/yonderland characters as lgbt, but only bc I’m so used to being queer baited and didn’t want to get my hopes up. But I love Cap being confirmed gay, it’s so nice. Finally some decent fucking food, you know? But yeah, the gang had always written characters that can at least be discussed as being queer.

thanks! derogatory asks are few and far between these days which is good.

also, i get you. i will say that ben’s recent interview (cough cough) is testament to the fact that they’ve always cared and put thought into their lgbtq+ characters, but as i said i also talked to them back in like 2016 and we talked at length about their queer characters in yonderland and bill. larry also tweeted @ me before the yonderland christmas special about ho-tan and her younger being trans - the trans coding of her younger was meant to highlight how ho-tan is also trans, a mirroring device. he said the pipple fruit incident wasn’t forgotten by ho-tan. and then of course you have gabriel montoya being included in bill’s “all the men and women” speech.

i fully get not wanting to be queerbaited - god knows it’s a fear i also have as a queer person - but it’s safe to say after years of consuming their work that it’s just not applicable here and i’m so glad. they aren’t and never were characters set up for gags. the creators are huge purveyors of incidental representation (words from jim and larry’s mouths), of characters allowed to be lgbtq+ whilst having other things going on too, and i’m glad with ghosts’ format that the captain has the time and depth to be explored where yonderland and bill characters couldn’t.

cap is very good food though, it’s nice that he’s explicitly talked about as being gay rather than an implication, outside of the obvious writing/acting.

[strangertheory]

Being LGBTQA+ in the 80s

Fans that expect characters to understand and identify themselves as lgbtqa+ in Stranger Things, or that think the story should have had characters that are 14 years old assert their identities by this point in their lives and by this point in the story, might not be aware of the severity of the ignorance and homophobia of the era. I anticipate that other characters will eventually be canonically revealed to be lgbtqa+ in the series, but I want to explain more about why it was difficult to recognize yourself as lgbtqa+ while living in small-town America during the 80s. Here is some quick history and a little bit of context:

The American Psychiatric Association didn't vote to stop categorizing homosexuality as a mental illness until 1973, and even when it was finally declassified as such, a good portion of the APA still disagreed with that decision so they actually decided to list "sexual orientation disturbance" in the DSM all the way until 1987.

The World Health Organization didn't remove homosexuality from its ICD classification until 1992.

[source: Psychology Today]

When many medical professionals and "experts" still believe that the lgbtqa+ community is mentally ill, and you live in a rural small town in the 80s: the vast majority of your neighbors and friends, even the ones that are kind to you and care about you, most probably view the lgbtqa+ community as being mentally ill and unhealthy. Then add to that the stigma, ignorance, and misinformation surrounding the ongoing AIDS crisis! Yes, larger cities in the US had some Pride parades in the 80s. Yes, there was a thriving lgbt culture in the 80s. But it was still heavily stigmatized and isolated from mainstream society. Especially in small towns like Hawkins.

The 80s was a challenging era for those seeking to better understand their sexuality or gender. Many lgbtqa+ folk in the 80s genuinely believed that something must be wrong with them because some doctors and their communities told them that their desires indicated that they were sick. Just understanding and acknowledging your lgbtqa+ identity to yourself was hard. Then add coming out to your loved ones and community, and the prospect is even more intimidating.

Our favorite assertive and opinionated Robin Buckley only admitted to having romantic attraction to a girl after a day of being tortured and fearing for her life and while she was still heavily drugged and in the company of a close friend. And even after everything they had been through, Robin was still holding her breath waiting to see what Steve said. "Holy shit."

Will Byers grew up with a notably homophobic and abusive father. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas have repeatedly encountered homophobic bullying at school from kids that are repeating their parents hateful attitudes and words frequently. "He's dead. Probably killed by some other queer. That's what my dad said."

Don't expect 14 year old characters, let alone the older teens or even any of the adults, to suddenly work up the courage to confess their lgbtqa+ identities to anyone until they are confronted with a moment of truly desperate and determined clarity and bravery. That moment will be earthshattering to them.

Even if Jonathan would immediately embrace Will no matter what, that doesn't change the fact the rest of the town and other people in Will's life might not. I am so glad that Will has Jonathan in his life, but Jonathan cannot fully protect Will from the harsh judgement, fear, and bigotry that would potentially spring up in other corners of Will's life.

I believe that there are definitely other lgbtqa+ characters in Stranger Things beyond Robin, and that the writers will address it canonically in the series. But it will not be an easy journey for the characters. Please do not accuse the writers of being homophobic for not having characters aknowledge things explicitly sooner: it would be unrealistic. However! I firmly believe the writers have been intentionally queer-coding certain characters. In a story set in the 80s: implications matter. What is conspicuously left unsaid matters. ("Lonnie used to say he was queer: called him a f*g." "Is he?" "He's missing, is what he is!") Small gestures matter. Symbolism matters. Subtext matters.

We need to understand the way in which the characters choose to express themselves is always within the invisible confines of not only their limited understanding of their own potential to be lgbtqa+ in the first place, but also within the confines of the bigotry and fears of their families and community. A closeted person in a small town in the 80s is rarely going to pursue an lgbtqa+ relationship directly until they've indirectly confirmed that their feelings are returned. PDA could be genuinely dangerous for lgbt couples. We need to remember these nuances when critiquing the way in which the writers may or may not be representing lgbtqa+ characters.

The creators of Stranger Things are clearly cognizant of the oppressive and ignorant politics of 1980s small-town America and how that makes admitting who you are to yourself just as challenging as admitting it to your loved ones and your community. I look forward to seeing how the writers explore the self-realizations the characters might face as they get older and begin to know themselves outside of the shadow of their parents and their community's prejudices. I want everyone to be true to themselves. To love themselves. To be loved. To be happy and to be safe no matter who they are, who they love, or who they desire. ♡

Although it is still hard to come out in America even today: I appreciate how far we've come since the 1980s.

Let's not forget it. 🌈

[eradicatetehnormal]

I really hope Renga becomes explicitly canon because right now the only confirmed gay character is a predatory pedophile. If there were just more, positively depicted canon lgbtq characters then Adam would simply be a creep who happens to be gay. But because right now he's the only openly gay character, the show ends up with the unfortunate, gross implications associated with the queer-coded villain trope.

Did I miss something? I didn’t realize that Adam was confirmed as gay, I thought he was just on some Hunter x Hunter villian stuff, but yeah I agree with you. The most interesting part about the queerness in Sk8 is that the heroes act just as queer as the villian with their coded same sex love interest, and if Reki and Langa really are romantically interested in each other, than there’s the potential for some really interesting commentary on queer culture and the grooming and policing of LGBT youth depending on your interpretation of Adam and his backstory.

[cerillosvillage]

Is it chill to make like, individual Tundra that aren't so bright as long as it's not used as a mean-spirited comedy point/they're not treated as an embarrassment? I'm sort of a forgetful and thick skulled individual myself so I feel like it'd be nice to make a dragon with similar traits who's still like, happy and accepted in their clan :x

Oh yeah, definitely! Honestly the beef I have with how people portray tundras comes in large part from the fact that I’ve got ADHD and my memory is SHIT - like I have repeated ENTIRE CONVERSATIONS with my boyfriend because I honestly can’t tell if I’ve told him about something before or not. (God bless him, he listens in rapt attention every time because he loves hearing what I have to say ;-;)

I think that any stereotype can be taken and rewritten in an effective, considerate, non-problematic manner, you just have to be willing to spend the time reflecting on why the stereotype exists and what implications it has. 

It’s like the difference between Disney writing a villain as flamboyantly gay-coded and an LGBT creator writing a similar villain. One is coming at it from a viewpoint of literal vilification (whether meant mean-spiritedly or not) while the other is coming at it from a viewpoint of reclamation and/or personal relatability. 

[aquacure]

📌✨🎥🏳‍🌈💎 (sorry if this is alot but I want to hear)

📌  how did you find your hyperfixation?

i kinda ran into hlvrai on accident after finishing freemans mind but i grew up on resi 2, even tho apparently i was super scared of it when i was young.

���  what draws you towards your hyperfixation? what is interesting about it?

resident evil is simultaneously corny as hell but simultaneously have serious implications... survival horror stuff is really interesting to me bc it's people living through this mess n not existing just to die in the horror, theres the potential to grow from this somehow... as for hlvrai I've got a soft spot for machinima and hl1, and the humor is so well done, the characters memorable, the media is accessible especially with the captions, etc. theres so much POTENTIAL to make HCs off of this funny hl series but in a POSITIVE way, not in a "this is lacking" way

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

the entirety of resident evil 3's ending from the acid nemesis fight to the very end... resident evil 2 remake n any sherry and claire scene... code veronica "steve is suffering"... any barry line from re1.. also act 3 part 2+3 gordon momence are my favorites. especially the electric rotating door bit + the helicopter heap

🏳‍🌈  do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?

claire is a lesbiaaan, forzen is a trans maaaan with that adhd, tommy + gordon are filipino (benrey too when he's human n he's fil-am), uhhh no one in hlvrai is cishet

💎  are there any fun facts or trivia that you would like to share?

... re1 (1996)'s dialogue was taken and chopped up from different takes bc the direction was by a Japanese man who wasn't fluent in English and just wanted what sounded good to his ears! people use the Japanese version of re2 (1998) for speedruns bc the dubbing is still english with japanese subtitles, so u can understand the most important stuff n skip door cutscenes.

uh. carlos's spanish accent in re3 (1999) very quickly goes away despite claiming "all the foxy ladies love my accent, it drives em craaaazy ;)" probably bc they retroactively realized that Was A Bad Move but the line was already there. so. whoops.