#no homophobic camera panning! we get to see it!!

[monotonous-minutia]

okay

okay

OKAY

the Santander 2007 Hoffmann is SENDING ME

I

okay

the way they look at each other

they can’t keep their hands off each other

just being silly together

dancing!!

AND THIS

dealing with creepy salesman

observing Olypmia but also kinda being on a date

“don’t hurt my boyfriend :((((”

(they skip the Violin aria which is STUPID)

Protective Boyfriend Mode

always there to guide you home

a literal love triangle

guess who <3

it was always you 

HOLDING HANDS

AND NOW

SCREAMING CRYING

(no literally I screamed and jumped around so much my roommate asked me what the matter was)

I CANT HANDLE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS HOW IT’S MEANT TO BE

look at his face <3

LOOK AT HIS FACE

the end!!!!!!

HAPPILY EVER AFTER BABYYYYYYY

[total-drama-takes-takes-2]

aftermath 2

A flashy intro sequence reading “TTA Aftermath” flashes across the screen as a merry tune plays. A clip montage of scenes from the past four challenges play- mostly the humiliating ones. 

The screen glitches, and the camera pans out and down to a swanky studio. Former contestant Patrick is sitting on a suede couch in front of a clearly-cardboard back wall. In the bleachers off to the side are every camper who hasn’t made it back, or who’s been eliminated so far- Courtney, Ass, Julia, Staci, Mal, Frollo, Kelly, Austin, McLovin, Bonnie, Michela, Sha-Mod, and Joner. 

Kitty crawls out from under the couch and sits next to Patrick, covered in dust bunnies. He grimaces and scoots away from them. “Welcome back to another riveting episode of the Total Takes Action Aftermath- I’m your host, Patrick, this is my assistant Kitty, and this-”

“A travesty! This is a travesty! Boooo!” A voice from the audience yells. Patrick winces as if listening to nails on a chalkboard. “Down with the Patrickarchy!”

Caesar is standing in front of the audience, holding a picket sign and booing. He throws an apple at Kitty, though they duck at the last second and it hits Julia in the peanut gallery. 

“DAMN IT! Give it a rest, Caesar!”

“Never! Not until we dismantle this oppressive system!” 

Patrick rolls his eyes and pulls out a remote, pressing a blue button on it. A few burly security guards come out and restrain Caesar, tying him to the guest chair on stage. 

He pouts. “It’s not fair! I’m a host! I should be hosting!”

“You snooze you lose, buddy,” Patrick shrugs. “Can someone gag him? We have a schedule to keep, people!”

Kitty beams, running over to Caesar and digging around in their pockets before pulling out a party horn and stuffing it in his mouth, and then tossing a bunch of confetti over him. He blows into the horn weakly. 

“Thank you,” Patrick mutters before pulling out a set of freshly minted cue cards. “First on the agenda… hey! HEY! No fraternizing in the peanut gallery!” he stands and points at McLovin and Sha-Mod kissing in the stands. “In the time-out corner!”

The two guards from earlier run up and grab McLovin, carrying him off stage. Michela’s voice rings out weakly from the stands. “Thank you,”

The audience stares at Patrick. “What?” he insists. “Oh- COME ON! I’m not homophobic, I hate everyone equally.”

Kitty nods and the audience murmurs. Caesar spits out the party horn and addresses the audience. “Yes! Yes! Turn against him! I could be host, I’d let those gayboys make out all they want! I-”

Kitty stuffs a handful of candy in his mouth and then scampers back to the couch, sitting next to Patrick. 

“Thank you. First on the agenda, we have a little game of Truth or Scare. Let’s see… Joner!” 

Joner stands nervously and gives a firm salute. “Sir, yes, sir!” He jogs down to the main stage and awkwardly stands next to Caesar. 

“Kitty, bring out the wheel,” Patrick instructs. “The game is simple. Much like the truth or dare of Total Takes Island, on this wheel the peanut gallery has dictated a list of truths- questions you must answer honestly- and I have a list of scares- punishments that will be inflicted if you lie.”

Joner holds up a finger as Kitty rolls out a large spinning wheel on a dolly. “How can you tell if we’re lying or not?”

“Kitty can smell fear,”

They bare their teeth and grin. Joner swallows nervously. 

“You’re up,” 

He hesitantly inches towards the wheel and puts the tip of his pinky finger on it, shaking in his boots. Michela shouts from the crowd. “You got this!”

He smiles nervously and spins the wheel, landing on a picture of Courtney. He sighs, relieved, and they give him a big thumbs-up from the peanut gallery. 

“BO-RING!” Patrick sighs. “Fine. Courtney’s truth is- “Tell us your most exciting memory with a friend.”

Joner relaxes a little. “That’s easy. Miccy and I had to be… five or six. Our families went camping together, and one morning we snuck off super early to catch salamanders. But we ended up getting lost, and it started raining, and it took like three hours for us to get back to camp,”

Ass rolls their eyes. “That’s your most exciting memory?”

“I had an uneventful childhood,” he shrugs before spinning the wheel again. It lands on Staci. 

“Staci asks- who’s your secret Total Drama crush?”

The crowd Oohs and Joner blushes. “I don’t think I really have one,”

Patrick turns to Kitty, who nods. He pulls another stack of cue cards from his coat and shuffles them slowly before drawing one from the deck. “Ah, Max’s punishment, may he rest in peace-”

“He’s not dead,” Michela says from the crowd. 

Ass scoffs. “As far as we know,”

“-Spend fifteen minutes in a sound-proof chamber with Julia and a beaver on steroids,”

Julia stands. “WHAT!”

The security guards return again and haul the two off stage. Patrick smiles and waves good-bye, and then turns to Kitty. “I am so glad we hired those guys. Let’s see, what’s next… Sha-Mod, care to take the hot seat?”

He hesitates. “Um. By hot seat you mean the interview chair and not a seat that sets on fire, right?”

“No. Of course not. That would be a hazard. Our chair heats up like an electric oven,” Patrick smiles, watching Kitty pull a lever. The seat drops from the ceiling and crashes into the ground, indenting the floor. Sha-Mod gulps. 

“No? Suit yourself. Michela, you-”

“No comment,” she crosses her arms and leans back against the bleachers. 

“But you-”

“I said no comment,” she snaps. “I don’t have anything to regret, no secrets, no rumors, no gossip, no lies, I did my bit and I went out protecting someone I love. What do you want from me, a poem?”

“Ugh,” Patrick rolls his eyes. “As much as I hate to admit that anyone but me is right, I’ll pass on the mushy-gushy romance story. Sha-Mod, you’re back up!”

“Why me?!” Sha-Mod shouts. “I’ll just tell my romance story, too!”

“Do you need incentive? Kitty, the screen,” Kitty presses another button on the remote and the massive TV screen lowers above their heads again. “Show him the time-out corner.”

The screen fizzles to life and cuts to live footage of McLovin suspended by rope in the air, dangling above a massive shark tank. Patrick smiles, at peace with the world. Sha-Mod grimaces. 

“And for the low, low price of 3rd degree burns, we’ll set McLovin free!”

“Fine!” Sha-Mod huffs. He stands and sits in the hot seat next to Caesar, who finishes chewing the sticky candy just as he settles in. 

“You know, Sha-Mod, if you help me overthrow Patrick and Kitty, I can put an end to this James Bond villain crap,” Caesar says. “I’ll let you co-host if you want!”

Sha-Mod holds up a hand. “I’m okay,” he turns to Patrick as Caesar sighs. “So, what’s the deal? Do I have to pull out my teeth or something?”

Patrick crosses his legs and pulls out a notebook. “Not at all- this is free-flowing therapy. I’ll say a word, and you’ll say the first response that pops into your head. While this chair heats to degrees hot enough to cook an egg on. If you can survive just one measly minute in the hot seat, we’ll let McLovin go,”

The screen continues to play live footage of the time-out corner. The peanut gallery turns to each other. “Is anyone going to do anything about that?” Courtney asks. Michela shrugs. 

Finally, a single hero stands amongst the crowd. “I’m on it, baby!” Austin says, striking a heroic pose before losing his balance and falling off the stands. Courtney sighs. 

“Ready?” Patrick asks. Sha-Mod nods. 

“Dolphin,”

“...Ocean,”

“Speedboat,”

“Ocean?”

“2 million dollars in cash,”

“Um- I thought it was only supposed to be one word-”

“Airplane,”

“Musicals…?”

“Hijacking,”

“Um… wait-”

“D.B. Cooper,”

“Hold on-”

The peanut gallery’s attention is diverted from the disaster on stage to the screen- as Patrick and Kitty are obliviously talking to Sha-Mod, Austin stumbles his way into the time-out room and says something to McLovin. He then stands at the edge of the tank, trying to grab the boy without hanging over the water. He resembles a cat batting at a toy more than a hero. 

Still, the audience and peanut gallery alike watch as the rescue goes down, and eventually, Austin just falls in the water long enough to distract the sharks. The rope holding McLovin snaps and he falls in, but the binds come undone and he swims out, eventually followed by a wet, pathetic Austin. The peanut gallery cheers and Patrick finally turns to the board. “What the-”

Caesar manages to wiggle out of his binds as Patrick is distracted and he lunges on him like a tiger attacking a deer. 

Kitty winces at the commotion and smiles at the camera. “We’ll be right back!”

---

When the commercial break closes off, the studio is quiet. Patrick is now the one bound and gagged in the guest seat, and Caesar is fixing his hair in the reflection of the shiny glass table in front of him. 

He looks up. “We’re back? Oh- we’re back, ladies and gentlemen! I’m your new host, Caesar Flickerman, and this is Total Takes Action: The Aftermath! I’m here with some questions from the audience to close off today’s episode- but don’t worry, we’ll be back soon after,” he winks. “Alright, let’s start off with the disgraced former contestants… Julia?”

Julia sits in the stands, covered in scratches and bites, one side of her hair completely sticking up. She crosses her arms and glares. 

“Mary M says: Hey, Julia. Imagine losing to McLovin of all people. Couldn’t be me. You should be disappointed in yourself." What an inspired take!" 

She rolls her eyes, and refuses to answer. 

“Okay- next one, from an anonymous user, open to anyone- “How was spending time with Fren on the playa de losers? is he as rude and loud as he is in his original songs? or is he as nice as he is on his social media?””

“He’s… fine, I guess,” Courtney shrugs. 

“He’s a liar is what he is,” Ass murmurs, then turns to the camera. “By the way, Fren, there’s no way you were working at a law firm in elementary school- yeah, I looked it up!”

Staci looks up from her phone. “Who?”

“Yeahhh, I don’t think this is the right demographic to ask. The people Fren was friends with at the ‘casa’ are all still in the game,” Michela says. “Unless…?” she turns back to the peanut gallery and everyone shrugs 

Staci squeals. “OMG, Zoey just liked my comment on Instagram!”

“Oookay,” Caesar says. “Well, enough about you people. Time for questions about ME!”

The peanut gallery groans in unison. Bonnie balances their head in the palms of their hands and hunches forward, looking off into the distance. Julia leans forward. “Woke up on the wrong side of the coffin?”

“Shut up,”

“Don’t even bother,” Ass says to Julia, crossing their arms. “You might as well be talking to a Halloween decoration.”

Julia rolls her eyes. “I’m just asking. Sue me!” She turns back to Bonnie. “You and Salad Dressing over there haven’t spoken since he got back, have you?”

“I’m not talking to you,”

“He’s been so busy with the show, he hasn’t even bothered to hunt you down?”

Julia suddenly yelps as Courtney grabs her wrist and yanks her back into her seat. “Watch it,”

The blonde rolls her eyes and scoffs, trying to play off the ordeal by fixing her hair. 

“Alright, this first one comes from River: “To Caesar: bro, I thought you were going to sweep. This is so heartbreaking,” Well, that makes two of us!” Caesar chuckles. The audience laughs. “But honestly, I’m in my prime here. What would you rather have- a million measly dollars (minus tax), or a lifetime of luxury from lawsuits and appearance fees? Fame, baby!”

The audience cheers. Ass looks around. “How does he keep getting people to react?!”

“Host charisma,” Bonnie sighs and stares ahead blankly. 

“Next up, from Caesar Fan- aw- “I miss you.” Well, Caesar Fan, I’ve missed me, too,” Caesar flicks through the papers. “Can you drop the hair or skin care routine?” Well, I’m afraid to say that’s a trade secret.” He winks. 

“Egg yolks and aloe moisturizer!” Julia yells. “What? I could smell it on the island.”

Caesar huffs and rolls his eyes. “Funny you’d butt in, Julia, because this one is for us,” Julia gags. “Again from River- “Who slays more between the two of you. Can we have a contest to determine that? Please.” What an inspired question! Now, I actually took the liberty of taking a quick poll…”

The overhead screen lowers again and a graphic appears in bright blue. “75% of poll takers responded on my behalf, leaving a measly 25% for Julia,”

The audience Oohs. 

She stands. “WHAT! You people seriously can’t believe this! He obviously just made those statistics up!”

“Really?” Caesar chuckles. “Let’s show some testimonials from the field.”

The screen crackles to static and then refocuses on the image of a young teenager behind a microphone on a crowded city street. 

The cameraman asks an indistinct question and the girl laughs. “How is that even a question? Of course, Caesar!”

Static- another teenager on a different street. “I feel like that’s a pretty subjective question… but that’s the point, huh? I guess I’d have to say Caesar, but I’m biased,”

Static- a boy inside a coffee shop. “Um… well, I haven’t seen the show in a while, but I guess the guy, even though that’s kinda gay,”

Static- an awkward, braces-riddled preteen. He grins widely. “Definitely Julia! She’s so hot!”

The screen turns off and Caesar smiles victoriously. Julia is frozen in place, a wild look on her. Her eye twitches and she suddenly lunges forward. Caesar screams and the screen goes black. 

---

Fade in. 

Julia is now sitting on the suede couch, smiling with her hands in her lap. Caesar is handcuffed to a radiator across the room, his hair a mess. 

“Welcome back. I’m your new-new host, Julia, and this is Total Takes Action: Aftermath,” she stands and begins pacing the room. “Before our break, we had a really annoying shift in tone, and I’m here to right that!”

“So you’re on my side!” Patrick says, still tied to the chair across the room. 

“No! You’re both idiots, and I’m only doing this to teach you two peacocks a lesson in humility!” Julia snaps, then smiles. “That’s my speciality.”

“You can’t keep me here forever! Kitty will find me!”

“Ooooh, I don’t know about that,” Caesar chuckles. “We might have given Kitty an all-day pass to the aquarium.”

Patrick’s eyes narrow. “Kitty is banned from the aquarium,”

“A little bribe can go a long way! Ah-ha… like I said, I’m a very thorough planner,”

“BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!” Julia yells. “God, I am so sick of you guys! Constantly trying to show off and out-swagger each other. You’re both lame, move on!” She takes a deep breath, and then smiles again. “And to punish you, I’ve planned a little something myself.”

“Man, that girl is evil,” McLovin whispers to the peanut gallery. 

All the fem-aligned people turn to him. Kelly scoffs. “I didn’t realize you had a problem with women in power!”

Staci nods. “Um, yeah, like she’s totally girlbossing, and this is so going on my blog,”

“Too late!” Mal says. “I’m already streaming this. Julia is so trending on Twitter now!”

Bonnie puts their head in their hands and Michela pats their shoulder reassuringly. 

Julia suddenly turns to the pair, pointing out an accusing finger. “BONNIBEL!”

Bonnie jumps, the lights on stage dimming and a spotlight falling over them. “How did you-”

“Oh, please, I have access to a lot of files,” Julia rolls her eyes. She looks back to the chair. “Um, hot tip, Patty- maybe don’t make all your passwords your first name. Anyway… let’s give the audience what they asked for, right? I know all of us… and you… have been very curious as to what’s going on in paradise.”

Bonnie turns bright red and avoids eye contact. Caesar’s eyes widen from across the room and he hisses as the radiator turns on. 

“Question number one,” Julia pulls a small garbage bin out from under the table and takes a crumpled ball of paper out of it. “This comes from River- “Can you guys PLEASE talk about what you guys got going on. Please.””

Caesar coughs awkwardly. Bonnie looks down and speaks quietly. “That was in the trash?”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Patrick says. “You know I love psychological torture as much as the next guy.”

The lavender-haired prisoner sighs. “Listen, I… I didn’t want us to go through this in front of all these people. I just… well, I know you like dealing with things on your own,”

“Is… that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

Julia grins widely and sits back on the couch, enjoying the show. The entire peanut gallery is still, though Mal is moving her phone from speaker to speaker across the room. 

“A part of the reason,” Caesar sighs again. “I just figured you would need some time to adjust to… well, everything. I’m still figuring out where I stand on all this myself- the show, the aftermath, our friends, our enemies…” he turns to Julia and glares. “And myself! I still don’t know what’s right for me.”

“You were doing okay at hosting this,” Bonnie says. Patrick laughs and they glare, but ignore him. “You seem to know what you’re doing most of the time.”

“You seem to know what you’re doing most of the time!”

A blanket of deeply uncomfortable silence falls over the studio. Patrick is humming something to himself and Julia is filing her nails with a big smile on her face. 

“Maybe we don’t really know each other that well,” Caesar says. “But… that doesn’t mean either of us are doing anything wrong.”

“What does it mean, then?”

“It means that we still have a lot to talk about. And maybe… avoiding the subject and making assumptions about each other isn’t the right way to handle that,” Caesar smiles slightly. “Maybe we should stop putting this off.”

“So?” Julia asks, flicking away her nail file. “Where’s the chorus? The goo-goo eyes? Where are the rose petals, people!”

An intern walks out by the radiator Caesar is cuffed to with a small basket and dumps a few flower petals over his head. “Thank you!” Julia yells from off-screen. 

“No, no, this is all wrong,” Caesar sighs, massaging his temples with his free hand. “This isn’t for us! Love you all to pieces, but we’re not Max and Michela, or Sha-Mod and that other one.”

“Well,” Bonnie fidgets nervously, twirling their thumbs around each other. “What are we?”

“I don’t know,” Caesar says, almost confidently. “I’ve been avoiding the subject because I don’t know! But does that really matter?”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Bonnie says, standing in the peanut gallery. “Why do we even have to be anything to be taken seriously? Why is everyone so obsessed with this whole gotcha moment?” 

Julia rolls her eyes as one intern fans her with a palm leaf and another pours her a glass of lemonade. 

“We don’t have to be anything!” Caesar insists, the handcuffs rattling against the radiator. “And if we are, maybe we’re something new entirely.”

“Something new?” Bonnie thinks for a moment, and then they sigh. “Listen… I’m not very good at understanding my feelings. I think we all know that.”

The peanut gallery participants look away nervously. They continue: “I don’t know how to put words to things, but I know I hate feeling like I’m supposed to feel a certain way. People put these crazy expectations on me, and then I get mad at myself when I can’t live up to them! It sucks!”

Caesar hangs his head a little and looks at the floor. 

“But… you’re important to me,” Bonnie continues. “And I’m pretty [CENSORED] tired of trying to put words to that.”

Caesar breathes a sigh of relief. “God, me too,”

“Boooo! Boring!” Julia yells. Patrick joins her. “Get a room!”

A few of the peanut gallery members look to each other and nod, then rise from their seats and calmly walk across the stage. 

“Hey!” Julia yells as Courtney and Michela grab her arms and start dragging her out of the room. “Hey! Wait!”

“Watch it!” Patrick hisses as Staci drags him out of the chair. “I break out when I’m stressed!”

Kelly rolls their eyes and slings him over their shoulder. Staci takes a selfie with Patrick’s flustered face and giggles. “This is gonna do numbers on my blog!”

The struggling hosts disappear backstage and are thrown into the soundproof chamber together. Julia screams in frustration and starts beating on the door. 

Ass turns off the overhead monitor with a smirk and sits back down. The peanut gallery returns to their seats, with the exception of Sha-Mod and McLovin, who are busy trying to lock-pick Caesar’s handcuffs. 

“I think you’re supposed to hear a click!” McLovin says, using a toothpick to shove around the keyhole. 

Sha-Mod moves his ear against the cuffs and winces at the sound of a snap. He stands up as McLovin pulls out half a toothpick. “Oops,”

“Give me that,” Michela says, shoving between the two. She inspects the cuffs and then nods. “Joner, give me the tool box.”

Joner scurries over with a red metal box and sets it at her feet. She flips open the lid and pulls out a screwdriver. “Let’s hope you’ve been working on those arms,” she mutters to Caesar. 

Bonnie winces at the sound of metal scraping against wood as Caesar walks over to the peanut gallery, dragging the radiator behind him. He sighs. 

“Well. This is humiliating,”

The crowd turns to the left as the sound of arguing and struggling follows, and Courtney drags out Julia and Patrick behind them. 

“Watch it, these glasses are expensive!”

“If I break out, it’ll be on your hands, freak!”

“SHUT IT!” Courtney snaps. The two are so scared at the sound of them raising their voice they both immediately go slack. “Now, don’t you two have something to say?”

They both cross their arms and grumble. “We’re sorry, Caesar,”

Julia continues. “You’re a good host,”

“And if you want to host the show… I guess I’ll allow it,”

Caesar smiles and places a hand over his heart. “Well, I accept your apology, and I accept your offer,” he then turns to Bonnie, holding their hand and getting down on one knee. “Bonnie… you are the most important person in my life, and this is probably the highest honor I can ask of anyone… will you be my co-host?”

Bonnie smiles. “I accept,”

The peanut gallery cheers as Bonnie and Caesar shake hands. A few producers in black suits come out from backstage with clipboards and papers to sign. 

“But don’t expect us to be happy with this change,” Julia says, crossing her arms. “We’re going to be fighting you every step of the way.”

“I look forward to it!”

“You better not!” she snaps, balling her hands into fists. “Cause we’re working as a team now!”

Patrick puts a hand on Julia’s shoulder. “See, while we were locked in the sound-proof chamber together, Jules and I realized we have a lot in common…”

“Goals, enemies, skincare routines…”

“And we figured that if you and Bonnibel over here are going to chum it up, why can’t we?”

Courtney shudders. “God, you don’t mean-”

“That’s right,” they hold hands. “We’re an item now.”

Ass gags. Michela winces, even Frollo looks disturbed from the backstage corner he’s been reading his Bible in all episode. 

Only Caesar doesn’t look bothered. “I only have one thing to say to you two- bring it on!”

The pairs glare at each other and the audience goes silent before the sound of the back doors opening catches their attention. Two police officers walk in with a drenched, handcuffed Kitty. 

“Is this yours?”

[redsanji]

citing the genders involved of a ship has always been a bad argument same sex ships shouldnt be defended just because they are same sex ships

saying but korrasami is the only same sex ship in lok or the first one is not a valid argument for korrasami.

korrasami is a bad product thrown in at the last minute at the cost of breaking the narrative forcing two people who were barely friends and barely interacted together.

(there was plenty of time they could have shown being close in b4 but that didnt happen ( i am not talking about a kiss) and while mako supported korra and talked about korra as a person asami failed in helping her

in the last two minutes korra was ooc

there have been too many times where a show gets defended because the decision they made was " progressive" where a ship gets defended because its same sex and they cite the genders involved.

Its funny how many times I see it either with bb or with korrasami where they claim if you dont ship it you are homophobic that you dont care about the lgbt community if you dont support korrasami " the only same sex ship in lok/first same sex ship in animated show involving an mc.

when they are the ones who try to cite the genders involved when ever they try to talk about korrasami/bb or defend it from criticism and try to attack the person attacking it by claiming homophobia.

especially with bb since if anything they are the ones who attacked blacksun for being a m/f ship and calling it forced due to being het

( I have seen them go but there are tons of feasible f/f ships and yet they are teasing the main girl with a guy when I am sorry but it doesnt matter if there are feasable same sex ships the writers arent obligated to make that happen.

and that just points to the idea that their only issue with blacksun was sun being a guy since they had to cite the genders involved.

that was the first thing they cited

(

and in bb's case they repeatedly made accusations of homophobia if you didnt see evidence for bb or acted like if you shipped blacksun instead of bb it was just because sun was a guy .

(its funny they shipped bb when the trailers first came out while blacksun only began due to their observed interactions in v1 which hinted at romance ( suns introduction was a lowmotion

Sun’s wink is accompanied by a slow-mo pan of his expression, followed by the camera focusing on Blake’s slack-jawed attention, along with a literal choir singing in the background while she stares at him. This is his introduction— to Blake, but more importantly, to the audience. This is the first moment we properly meet him, and it’s through this very particular gaze.

and we see sun actually helping blake ( while yang didnt interact with blake until v2.)

seriously do you not understand ship wars are a thing in every fndm

them jumping on the homophobia accusations seem to be them convincing themselves that the only reason someone could oppose that same sex ship was not liking gay people.

They think that because there arent that many same sex ships anyone who is okay with lgbt rep would support any same sex ship being canon or that its immune from being forced

someone can be gay and still support makorra over bb

no ship deserves automatic support just because of the genders/identities involved

nor does the genders involved mean you shouldnt oppose the ship

in a ship war between a m/f ship and a f/f ship saying the m/f shiip should have happened/had actual evidence not the f/f ship ( saying its a forced last minute retcon etc)

isnt homophobia or not caring about the lgbt community the point is about the writing

it doesnt matter that getting rid of k/a means there arent any canon same sex ships in lok

supporting a ship between two white people over a ship between a black man and a white woman isnt automatically racism it means you feel the other ship makes sense

jumping on the racism accusation is just a cheap tactic

I feel like when it comes to ship wars where there is a difference in identity between the two ships

like one ship being a same sex ship and the other being. A het ship

they either genuinely convinced themselves that anyone who would support a ship which happens to be m/f over a ship that happens to be f/f and say the f/f ship has no actual evidence etc

can only be doing it because of homophobia rather then because they don’t see any actual evidence and like the ship more.

or the accusations of homophobia are just a cudgel /shield for their ship where they try to protect itself from criticism and attack critics.

(In a situation where they threw in a ship in the last minute retconning stuff etc and this ship happens to be f/f it doesn’t matter if it’s the only same sex ship that isn’t a reasoning to support it there doesn’t need to be a canon same sex ship what the story needs is good writing. A ship shouldn’t be defended for meeting a criteria

and they try to make the you would ship it if it was a m/f ship but that’s often baseless accusations while there is evidence they would have supported the m/f ship of it was f/f given the times they complain about the genders involved

Or one ship

[wheeler-things]

Hello. I came across one of your posts about Vecna!Mike and saw the reblog about Lucas being Kas. My first thought when I saw that was how Lucas had a line earlier on in season 1 about “blinding” “whoever’s out there”(referring to who took Will) with his wrist rocket. And kas ends up taking vecna’s eye…

Hi! Yes, this is definitely something that I’d thoughts about when we were talking about that.

It really is very interesting, because that’s clearly setting something up, but the UD monsters don’t have eyes (that’s a pretty big thing), and the one major shot Lucas does manage to get off SEEMS to fulfill this, but then the camera pans and we see that it is really El who is handling things.

It’s possible that this is referencing Lucas eventually doing something against Henry (he seems to be half blinded right now, so losing the other eye would probably be quite damaging for him).

But! I would point out that IF you are willing to consider the idea of Vecna!Mike, then I hypothesize that, in that context, El functions as the Hand of Vecna and Will as the Eye of Vecna. And you COULD definitely make an argument that Lucas, all through s1 is a major driving force in Mike coming to view his relationship/dynamic with El in a romantic light. This dynamic somewhat continues in s3, with Lucas talking Mike through every hiccup in his relationship with El (and he’s the one there with Mike, equally dismissive of Will’s campaign, which leads to the rain fight). Then in s4, we get the subtle implication that there is still a level of heteronormativity which Mike is feeling from Lucas (note: the fact that this is how Mike experiences all of this should NOT be taken as a suggestion that I believe Lucas actually is homophobic, because I don’t believe that at all), such as when Mike is all good to argue about playing dnd rather than basketball… basically up until Lucas makes the comment about wanting girls to not laugh at him (ie. wanting them to find him potentially attractive/to have a hypothetical shot with them— he’s broken up with Max and, even if he wasn’t, being actually derided as a romantic option by the demographic of people you are attracted to isn’t FUN). All of which is to say, IF you consider Vecna!Mike, and you think of Will as the Eye of Vecna, you COULD make an argument in the case of Kas!Lucas that he HAS been “blinding” Mike all along by (inadvertently) pushing heteronormativity onto him.

It’s possible that @madwheelerz may have something else to add? I remember a comment about Lucas and right hand/side imagery to do with Mike, at one point?

[angelhummel]

I’ve always thought it was weird how in fanon brittana are portrayed as not being able to keep their hands off each other and being explicit in front of everyone. Like Santana literally had trouble holding Brittany’s hand without a napkin or giving her more than a peck in the hallway? And you expect me to believe they’re making out at any spare moment company be damned?? I think maybe people saw the show do its weird fetishy camera angles and make them mention scissoring at any opportunity and jumped to some weird conclusions. As fanon tends to do I suppose.

Ooh a Brittana ask... I don't know if I have a lot to say about them tbh anon...

Lmao well obviously first of all I try to avoid any extraneous Brittana content outside of what I'm forced to witness while watching the show so I can't really speak on what the fandom is doing to them but that's not surprising

Also in all fairness in s1 Brittana are always totally touchy feely like holding hands, resting their heads on each other's shoulders, touching each other's arms and legs lmao. And I doubt they were being directed that way so like I guess Heather and Naya were just vibing? Good for them. Brittana's best season truly was season one, when they barely spoke and had zero plotlines. And Brittany still managed to out Santana in a crowded school hallway two seasons before Finn did. What a trailblazer. Couple goals 5eva!!

Also now that I think about it. And I may be wrong but. The only like fetishy male gaze-y camera angle I can think of is just when we first see them together and the camera slowly pans up their legs to them "kissing" (Santana's face in Brittany's neck while they make vague kissing movements ??) And even that can kind of be justified bc like it was a slow pan around Brittany's room in general, and seeing her making out with Santana was kind of treated as A Reveal you know?? So like yeah it is kind of oggly but also it kind of makes sense in context?? Idk, your mileage may vary, ig

(Like the show had a problem with sexualizing their teenage characters in general, which is a whole other discussion. So idk I wouldn't say the problem is exclusive to Brittana?)

But the scissoring comments. Oh god, the scissoring comments. First of all like. Maybe it's just that I think I'm somewhere on the ace spectrum aklsjfsl but just hearing two hot girls talk about scissoring is not hot to meee. Like. It was a fucking joke. It was written as a literal Joke. It does nothing for me bc I cannot take it seriously in the context of their stupid relationship

And sorry not sorry but like. Brittana have no fucking chemistry alksfjdsklf. And I think that's mostly due to Heather's acting. Like Naya had amazing chemistry with literally anyone she was in a scene with but with Heather. Like you could replace her with a literally dummy with a pull string that plays one of six Hilarious Deadpan One Liners and the scene would be the same. She really feels like furniture half the time alsfjskdgjdsl I'm probably going too hard but I'm being honest

I don't believe Brittana as a real relationship. Like there is literally no reason for these two characters to be together. Brittany says Santana is nice, ignoring Santana's constant barrage of racist, homophobic, antisemitic, fatphobic, transphobic comments towards her classmates. Bc Santana is nice to her.

Except no, she's not. She thinks Brittany is too stupid to cross the street on her own, loves that she's easy to manipulate, and even implied she was stupid to her face with comments like "breakfast is confusing for you" and then straight up reacting to her dumb statements like she's an idiot. To her face.

And Santana claims she thinks Brittany is so nice and smart when again, she knows she's not. And when Brittany is just as rotten and offensive as Santana is to their supposed best friends. They're two vile horrible people who bring out the worst in each other. When they're apart, Santana grows a personality and gets better, and Brittany may as well not exist. I love when they're apart <3

Anyway my main point was they have no chemistry, I just felt like going off on a tangent uwu

ALSO to tie into the scissoring paragraph lol. There was one old Glee Confession I saw once like. "How can people say Brittana have no chemistry?? Brittany literally popped a hip having sex once!" And that's a part of my absolute favorite story telling device that no writers can seem to follow...

Show, don't tell

You are telling me Brittana scissor all the time and Brittany popped a hip during sex. Ok. I'm hearing that with my ears. But what I'm seeing on the screen with my eyes is not lining up with that. Like Brittana can talk til they're blue in the face about all the wild and crazy sex they have but if watching them on screen looks like two store mannequins sitting next to each other like... what do I care what they say?? Television is a visual medium lmao you gotta show me some images on screen that match up with the words you have written. Brittana doesn't do that

And the times when they do kiss in the show. Are so funny. Like 90% of them are those ^3^ kissy faces where it looks like the goal is to be as far away from your partner as possible while still just barely grazing each other's lips. At school I would understand but they do it at Santana's house, too. imo the only good Brittana kiss is the one from Heart. Even the churro kiss that Brittana stans thinks is sooo steamy and hot. I was watching that ep w my sister once and when that happened she was like "ew that was awkward" aksfjsdlf like yeah I have to agree luv. Even the kiss on their wedding day is sooo awkward like the way Brittany grabs Santana's face with just the heels of her hand??? Makes it look like her fingers were sticky and she didn't wanna get them on Santana. Like that's not passionate or loving that's literally 4th grade school play kissing where you hide your faces so the audience cant tell your lips arent actually touching lmao

Anyway I haven't complained about Brittana in a while so this was fun <3 Thank you for that, anon

[quinnick]

for the scenes we want to see- everyone getting vecna’d at once. i’ve been saying this since vol1, and i have the WHOLE thing planned out.

i’m sorry in advance, because this is long as HELL- and tbh, it’s more of a half-planned fic than something i’m actually demanding LMAO- but i do really hope for a lot of the things included in this, even though it obviously won’t pan out quite like this lol

LETS BEGIN

the main kids (sin max :( )find vecna in the upside down. they’re in a V shape, with el at the head of it. the camera is behind el, and we can see each party member, and it slowly pans up, tilting backwards, to reveal vecna at the top of a large hill (nice recall to s4, ofc). vecna gives a speech (yeah, i love his monologues, what about it) and el raises her hand out, ready to fight.

the camera is entirely focused on her, blood beginning to drip out of her noise. the scene changes- vecna steps forward, head tilted. he smiles. the scene changes again, the camera now points at the ground, and is slowly panning up. el is now standing alone, hand dropped to her side, head raised in horror as she begins to turn.

the entire party is in the air, eyes white and bodies limp.

vecna is now powerful enough to put four people in a trance all at once- and he’s still awake, aware, and capable. but these trances seem… different.

lingering shot on the party, until the camera pans back down to el and zooms forward into her.

BLACK SCREEN TRANSITION

we’re in the mindscape. it’s empty, except for a single couch. the byers couch.

lonnie is sitting on it, clearly angry. we see a young will creep in. he says something quietly to lonnie, who then starts to tell. the camera spins around, and we see will, staring on in horror. lonnie’s voice starts to morph, and he slowly transforms into a demogorgon, prowling towards a terrified young will. right as the demogorgon screams in his face, the scene on the couch shifts. current will dissipates into the air, and now, we see max, lying broken on the ground.

the camera pans to lucas. he runs towards her, but she keeps moving infinitely away, all while she cries out for help. he’s powerless. her voice morphs again- lucas, why didn’t you save me? it’s your fault! i blame you!

lucas falls to his knees- and he, too, disappears.

we see dustin walk forward, taking his place. he watches in morbid curiosity as a small shimmer appears, which begins to morph into a tadpole, which then starts to grow.

dart.

dart continues to grow, at a horrific rate (think the legs in stanley’s head in it chapter two type growth) the camera pans around to behind dustin, where we see a man scream. bob. dustin whips around, and dart runs around him, pouncing on bob’s chest and ripping out his throat.

more and more people appear, and all of them, dart brutally kills. a voice echoes throughout the mindscape: it was all because of you. we find out dustin blames himself for all of season two.

dustin disappears. camera turns- we see mike. he has his arms around his chest- he’s already scared. he knows what’s happening. he knows what he’s going to see. camera turns again.

we see bullies kicking a younger version of him, while a young will stands to the side, yelling for them to stop, all while being held back by the arms of two other bullies.

the one’s kicking mike are yelling awful things. slurs, insults, the whole homophobic shebang. again, a voice- they were right, weren’t they, micheal?

the entire scene disappears, and the water fades into blackness. suddenly, the camera zooms back out, and we see el, who’s face hardens in determination. she screams, and the fight begins.

back to the mindscape, her scream echoing throughout the void. the four scenes the party is experiencing are playing at the same time somewhere, but they can’t see each other. they’re trapped.

somehow (i havent figured this part out quite yet), will manages to rip through the factions of the mindscape, and the party is together as they face their traumas together. we see them all, backs together, as the camera does a circle around them.

again, i haven’t figured this part out yet either, but will manages to free them from the mindscape. it’s now his turn to save his friends.

the party falls to the ground behind el, who is clearly exhausted. her and vecna are still going at it.

the party does everything they can to help fight, but it seems useless- until will takes el’s free hand. he whispers something to her, and she nods, brow still furrowed in concentration as she is still fighting.

something happens, and she starts to overload vecna with power. will has something to do with it as well. (ITS COMPLICATED, OKAY, IM NOT SURE YET).

slowly, with will’s help, the upside down starts to melt- think coraline, when the other mother’s world starts to fall apart? the sky is dripping, like watercolor, and pieces of the UD are being ripped apart, revealing sketches of the rough shapes underneath.

we’re given a short flashback to mr. clarke’s drawing of the flea in the tightrope from season one.

the upside down is turning 2d.

will now focuses his attention to the ground beneath them. screwing up his face in concentration, he kneels to the ground, and slowly, the floor melts away to reveal the same material that meshed between the UD and the real world in season one- the material separating him from joyce.

he’s creating a gate.

the upside down is folding in on itself, and even vecna is faltering. he starts to melt.

the gate is now big enough for them all to come through- but how do they break through?

hopper appears beneath the… glass, we’ll call it. similar to the gate in eddie’s trailer, it’s on the floor for the UD and the right side up.

he calls everyone else- everyone. joyce, murray, the older kids, erica, and yes, karen, start to hack at the glass.

el gives one final scream, and somehow, she transfers ALL her power to vecna. he’s knocked down, and he doesn’t get up.

she no longer has her powers, and she collapses, but gets caught by dustin and lucas.

almost the entire upside down is now paper sketches, that are slowly being erased and turned to black. it’s quickly advancing towards the gate, and dustin screws his eyes shut, ready to disappear- until them glass between them breaks.

they all fall through, something funky with gravity happens, they get through, and all watch, horrified but fascinated as the upside down erases itself- the gate along with it.

erica runs to the window, followed by everyone else.

the apocalyptic hellscape from before is fading, the deep scars in the ground closing up. the red sky drips down, revealing blue sky underneath.

everyone is in stunned silence, hopper robbing his face in shock, joyce’s draw wide open, everyone panting.

mike glances at will. we see will nod- i’ll tell you later.

it’s done. they’re done. the upside down is gone, and they’re free.

*bows*

[andyinmiddleearth]

Lol trans people didn’t give me rights. Marsha said he was a boy in his documentary Pay it No Mind . ITS LITERALLY ON CAMERA. Stop Trans Washing history to get a foot hold over normal gay people who don’t agree with your ideology. HE WAS LITERALLY A GAY MAN. He also stated that he was a dude 10 days before his death. I DONT OWE YOU MENTALLY ILL SHITHEADS ANYTHING. My rights came from the sane lesbians and gays who don’t slit their wrists and have mental breakdowns over their own genitals, you homophobic conversion therapy pushing delusional asshat.

First of all, you’re being ableist by implying being mentally ill is a bad thing. Second of all, not all trans people have bottom dysphoria. Some of us don’t even have ANY dysphoria. Also “trans washing” 💀 are you also gonna tell me the little mermaid is “Black washed” now and cry about the “good old days” when people like me were murdered for existing? (FYI, we are still being murdered. We face disproportionate rates of violence compared to cis people; and the rate is even higher for Black trans women and other WOC. The only difference is that people know about it now, and people like you who want us dead fuel that hatred and get us killed). You sound like a MAGA supporter.

And Marsha’s gender was complicated because of the historical context that she lived in, which had very little trans and non-binary visibility, but she lived her life as a “transvestite”, aka a trans woman back then, and even her close friends said that. She even legally changed her name, which is not something many cis gay men do. But I wouldn’t expect you to understand the complexities of a dead transfem drag queen’s gender identity. Also, you do know not all trans people are straight right? There are gay trans men and lesbian trans women, and non-binary people like me that are bi/pan/ace/gay/lesbian/etc. Thus, how are we doing conversion therapy if… you know… many of us are already gay to begin with 😂

Also it’s funny how I’m the “deluded mentally ill asshat” simply for existing and asking for an ounce of respect, yet you’re the one screaming and anonymously harassing a trans person in their inbox when literally no one fucking asked for your opinion. It’s almost like you’re obsessed with me or something. Do you even have a life outside of this hellsite? Not only that, you continue to slander the trans community without a single source or citation, while I have provided several sources in my links. Not that you would have any anyways except for JKR’s tweets. The post that set you off on your anti-trans crusade was literally a trans intracommunity post that you had no business interfering with. If you want to say something, you can say it to my face, put on your big girl pants, and DM me, or at least ask off anon. Y’all just got your anon privileges removed. I will not allow my trans brothers, sisters, and siblings to continue to see your violent hatred on my page. I refuse to give you a platform any longer.

[mesmerizms]

Okay so!!!! First of all dhjejw sorrry this took me forever it is so incredibly sweet of you to ask about the rp but thinking about it I wasn't sure where to start or what to hear!! But Im so excited to tell youa about it!!!!!

The rp is set about a year into the future from the recent graduation story on JP with a few OCs thrown in (one of which we got really attached to and she alone is upholding our quota of female representation, bless her soul <3). We generally speaking try to not make it explicitly contradict camon but we definitely go wild at times with what we can get away with without explicitly contradicting it. While I usually am more (oftentimes way too) serious in rp this one really balances seriousness and absolute crack and it's incredibly refreshing not having to take myself and the characters too seriously in it because it gives us the chance to develop them freely and without questioning the quality of everything, or at least that helps for me. We're also both getting into the fandom as we are writing it which has led on one hand to some hilarious moments in which we somehow absolutely predicted canon, but also to desperate moments of fumbling trying to explain why some things we established are canon when they are hard to combine with the source material (so far we have always been successful but let's see what the future holds). We don't take it too seriously (which again, rare for me so it's a true blessing) which has led to a few personal highlights I can tell you about djsks

-Kaoru cannot. cannot. notice when someone is gay. he'll misinterpret every hint and be absolutely shocked (not in the homophobic way, just in the very naive "what?? I had no idea!!) way when anyone around him is anything other than straight. Which is about everyone so he's truly in for a ride

-Koga gets rabies regularly without it affecting his brain in the way that usually makes people die (very vague, I know, my friend could peonably write you a thesis on it because they researched it, I could try too but Im not sure how inter3sted you are in the effect and treatment of rabies right now) and he accidentally gave it to his kindergarten girlfriend's dog

-whenever Eichi shows up he monologues for the duration about 3k+ words. My friend is responsible for these monologues. They have never read a single piece of actual Eichi dialogue/monologue. I have. Somehow, their monologues are SPOT ON

-Keito made a friend's parents eat sand in a frightening demonstration of his often forgotten theater kid self

-ibara always looms in the background having cameras everywhere and always watching in the worst moments. Sometimes we do something with it, sometimes we don't, but ever so often the view just pans to ibara cackling over some emabrrassing exchange or private information usable for blackmail he witnessed. He also wants to establish Eden as "the queer unit" on the international market as a marketing ploy to set them apart from other units, so Nagisa now had an ibara-assigned gender and sexuality. Ibara gets mad from a marketing perspective whenever members from other units come out

There are so many more things, these were just the first that came to mind, but i've probably been saying more than enough honestly, and it's also a little scary to share all that publically in an ask and not just in tags djsksks

I also want to add that I'd be more than happy to rp with you! I dont know where you usually do that but if you're still up I'll maybe just message you if that's alright and we can talk about it from there?

Anyway if you sat through all that thank you, it was probably very convoluted

Also, yuzuru is death and just waiting around to take eichi <3 (we have no justification for this one)

YOU CAN'T JUST DROP THE YUZURU BEING DEATH WAITING AROUND TO TAKE EICHI ON ME THEN DIP WHAT THE FUCK I LOVE THAT?????? THAT'S COOL AS FUCK??????

ok lemme address this in order uhhh

oh i LOVE balancing seriousness with crack it's so fun. predicting canon sounds hilarious i love this.

i love the mental image you've given me of kaoru being like "i love being an idol in ES everyone's such close good friends :)" and in the background there's two people practically making out on the couch.

I WASN'T VERY INTERESTED IN THE EFFECT AND TREATMENT OF RABIES BEFORE BUT NOW I'M INVESTED???? WHAT

i need to read the eichi monologues those sound fucking incredible.

begging for an explanation about keito making a friend's parents eating sand. like i'm fairly aware of keito being a theatre kid (generally instead of brain there is dramatica. i think about them very often) but???? hello????

i feel like that first part about ibara is just canon anyway for the most part tbh. anyway i REALLY wanna know what nagisa's ibara-assigned gender and sexuality is. anyway, most canon compliant ibara so true bestie.

i'd also be down to rp w/ you!!! i usually rp over discord, but recently my friends tried to get me into parp before it crashed and burned horribly so i'm sorta in-between mediums rn. i've been writing little ficlets in my google drive to help sate the urge to write. feel free to message me at any time! my tumblr dms should be open, but also my discord is pyroselkie#4130

[bylrlvr]

reminder that karen wheeler told mike wheeler, “all this, that’s been going on with will, i cant imagine what its been like for you. i just... i want you to know that you can talk to me. i never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me (meanwhile el is hiding in the closet in mike’s room!!!!) i’m here for you, okay?"

reminder that mike wheeler has a ‘one-way’ sign pointing towards his closet in his room!!!

reminder that mike wheeler has a binder full of will’s drawings that he looks at for comfort and absolutely adores it when will gifts him paintings

reminder that mike wheeler has will’s art hung around in both his bedroom and basement (meanwhile el’s room is a mike shrine, mike barely has anything that represents el in his room)

reminder that mike wheeler is ‘the only one who’s acting normal here, the only who cares about will’ (his words, not mine)

reminder that mike wheeler stayed awake at the hospital, all nervous and his feet jumping up and down, because he wants to be the first to get to see will and make sure will is alright. when he saw will, he ran towards his bed and hugged him, putting his head softly over will’s chest

reminder that mike wheeler got completely furious that he pushed a bully to the ground in front of everyone at school because he couldn’t handle will being called homophobic slurs

reminder that mike wheeler held will’s hand when will needed him the most and reassured will that the shadow monster can’t get to him, that ‘we’ won’t let it get to him (this was in the same episode where the following convo between dustin and lucas took place; dustin: “i saw you [and max] were holding hands on the bus” lucas: “she was just scared. it wasn’t like that” dustin: “but i could feel it” lucas: “feel what?” dustin: “the electricity”)

reminder that mike wheeler told will on halloween night that if they’re both going crazy, they’ll go crazy together

reminder that mike wheeler stayed at will’s house for days and slept beside his bed, just to make sure he’s with will in case something bad happens

reminder that mike wheeler’s catchphrase for will is “are you okay? are you hurt?”

reminder that mike wheeler said while vulnerably crying that the best thing he’s ever done in his life was asking will to be his friend at the pure age of 5

reminder that mike wheeler biked all the way to will’s house in the pouring rain to apologize to him (in the same episode as this, max told el “dont worry, he’ll come crawling back for you in no time” which mike in fact did not for el, and instead did for will)

reminder that mike wheeler always keeps looking at will’s lips, because my dude what is the deal with that

reminder that mike wheeler stayed lingering in front of the byers’ old house, when everyone have already biked away at the end of s3, while the hopper narrates “i don’t want things to change”

reminder that mike wheeler went home to hug his mom after will has moved away, because he felt like he had lost will in a way. that scene parallels to the only other time he has hugged his mom which was in s1 when he thought he lost will for the first time

reminder that mike wheeler wasn’t able to be physically affectionate with will (the airport scene), when others were around (uh-oh, comp-het is typing)

reminder that in season 3 the sauna episode, mike wheeler yelled “boys only!” and then the camera pans onto the sign that reads “MEN”

reminder that mike wheeler said “we’re friends. we’re friends!” a liiiittle bit too defensively, like who are you trying to convince fruit boy (this was his response to will asking him, “what about us?” will meant us, as in their friendship, but mike probably thought the question had romantic implications)

reminder that once mike wheeler is alone with will and el is away, he is just himself (that scene in jonathan’s bedroom)

reminder that mike wheeler feels like he lost will because he was ‘focusing too much on el’ and that hawkins, the only place he has ever known of, is not the same without will

reminder that mike wheeler nodded in agreement when will said “[…] to say how you really feel, because… what if, what if they don’t like the truth?”

reminder that mike wheeler looks at his best friend this way:

reminder to mike wheeler that i know what you are

[orionsangel86]

I don’t think we realise enough as a community the extent of our own trauma at the hands of decades of queerbaiting in media.

People will laugh at this, but I’m actually deadly fucking serious. My friends and I have been talking non stop about Our Flag Means Death for the past week, and the one thing we all have in common is how much disbelief we have that they actually went there. That this show centers around a mlm relationship, that the two lead male characters of this show fall in love - and are allowed to show that intimacy and affection on screen with a kiss.

Looking on social media this past week, its more and more of the same. Queer people all asking each other the same things:

“Wait it’s real?”

“You mean they ACTUALLY get together?”

“It’s NOT queerbaiting?”

“Those are the LEAD CHARACTERS?!”

The level of disbelief and shock involved is so ubiquitous it’s actually really sad how much we have been conditioned to think that such a thing isn’t possible. Whilst there have been other shows made about queer characters, it is so rare to actually find a show that has been made with us in mind that isn’t specifically about a queer persons struggle in a homophobic world, about coming out, about fucking AIDS or some other dramatic bullshit where we die in the end. A show that was marketed for the mainstream as just a silly pirate comedy and not another LGBTQ nische for that specific category on the streaming sites, kept shoved out of the limelight so it doesn’t offend the mainstreams more homophobic tendencies. A show that also hasn’t bought into the kind of insidious PR to reel in queer fans by making over the top announcements about certain “bisexual” or “pansexual” characters, who are then never actually shown in same sex relationships, or announcements about minor characters in big budget movies who may be allowed a “gay moment” which is overhyped to the extreme when said moment is a blink and you miss it laughable excuse at keeping us queer fans placated whilst we are told over and over again that our existences aren’t meant for certain spaces and clearly not on the silver screen.

The trauma is real. It has affected how we consume the media we love. Audiences have been conditioned to recognise certain TV tropes for generations. We should be able to recognise a developing romance on screen. Lingering eye contact, romantic music cues, camera’s panning over bodies from character POV to depict attraction, storylines filled with profoundly deep bonding scenes as the characters learn each other and get closer, secondary characters sharing knowing glances as they watch the pair interact...

For heterosexual pairings, these types of tropes are obvious - the characters get classed as a “will they, won’t they” pairing. Journalists and reviewers write articles speculating on when they will get together, cast and creatives openly talk about the budding relationship between the characters, fans happily share theories about the building love story and ask questions openly at conventions.

But where the exact same tropes are used on same sex characters, the opposite happens. The conversation is usually considered taboo. Any journalist bold enough to ask the question is usually quickly dismissed by the creators and cast, questions about the characters relationship are banned at conventions, fans are laughed at and openly mocked online for “seeing things that aren’t there”. Other fans loudly bemoan “why everything has to be made gay” and “why can’t we just enjoy platonic relationships?”

Queerbaiting over the last few decades in genre shows has become so bad, that it has left a generation of queer fans suffering from so much trauma that we were not able to recognise a clear romance between male characters on screen when it was happening right in front of us. Or in truth, we all recognised it, but we all just assumed that they were doing the same thing that so many of their predecessors had done. The creators of Our Flag Means Death were shocked that no one picked up on the relationship building between Stede and Blackbeard after episode 5, they were surprised that no one wrote about the romance in reviews of those episodes. The show remained relatively under the radar throughout its release, until in episode 9 the characters finally declared their feelings and shared a kiss on screen.

Only at that point, did the internet blow up, and through word of mouth, news of the openly gay pirates spread like wildfire. Queer fans all over the world are sharing their joy at something which for them, has never happened before - because we all expected yet another queerbait. Because we are so used to being disappointed.

I cannot stress enough how groundbreaking this supposedly silly pirate comedy show is for queer audiences. Yes, other shows have had queer characters, queer leads even, but this is a show that centers around two lead male characters who fall in love, with an extended cast of MORE queer characters, including a nonbinary character whose very presence had my trans friend shedding tears of joy. OFMD made it look so easy too.

I hope this is a turning point. Enough is enough. Queerbaiting needs to die. There is NO EXCUSE now that OFMD has shown how easy it is to do it properly, to take that final step. Two men kissing on screen should not be scandalous, not in 2022. Its time we start healing some of this trauma.

[flosbelova]

I’ll Always Protect You

florence pugh x fem!reader

warnings: mention of death threats.

word count: 1.7k

summary: you and florence had been dating for a while. when she posts you on her Instagram, you receive a bunch of hate comments and florence defends you and your relationship.

request from @the-loving-quotes​

Dating Florence Pugh has been one of the greatest decisions you have ever made in your life. You both have managed to keep your relationship lowkey until she randomly posts you on her Instagram. It was a photo of you looking at this mountain view at sunset from the balcony. She captioned it “My happy place.” 

Your heart started to race as soon as you saw a photo of yourself on her Instagram-- and the fact that she tagged you almost made you pass out.

You looked through her comments and let’s just say most of it wasn't what you would have expected. Some were positive-- for example, there were comments that read:

“OH MY GOSH IT CONFIRMED! I'M SO HAPPY”

“I’m so proud of you <3”

“You guys are the absolute cutest!”

Then, there were comments that weren’t so positive. It was a mixture of homophobic comments and comments that said “Florence deserves better.”

Of course, they hurt, but you didn’t mind at first and chose to focus on the more positive comments. 

-

A couple days pass and you also decide to post Florence on your Instagram. As you hit “post,” your phone instantly started buzzing with notifications. Again, the comments were all a mixture of the positives and the negatives. However, you wanted to focus on the positive side and ignored the comments.

-

You posted Florence on your Instagram story, and you received a lot of DM’s. Although you don’t open your DM’s, you decided to check just for the hell of it. As soon as you swiped to your message requests, you instantly regretted swiping. 

“Kill yourself. You don’t deserve Florence.”

Tears started to well up in your eyes, but you quickly wiped them away when you heard Florence come into the living room.

“Dinner’s ready, darling,” she says, holding a wooden spoon.

“Hm? Oh, right. I’ll be there in a sec,” you respond.

“Is everything alright, love?” she walks towards you with a concerned look on her face.

You take a deep breath. “Yes, everything’s fine.” You clench your jaw hoping Florence would drop the subject.

She pouts and looks at you with worry. Florence knows every little detail about you. She knows that nothing is ever “fine,” when it follows with you clenching your jaw. However, Florence doesn’t like to overstep on your boundaries, so she drops the subject and figures she’ll ask you later. 

“Alright, love. C’mon, let's eat. I’ve made your favorite,” she says, giving you a soft smile.

-

You loved Florence’s cooking and you always made sure to compliment her dishes whenever she cooked. However, tonight was quiet. The two of you sat in silence, quietly eating your dinner. 

You were grateful that Florence knew to get off your back whenever you were in a mood. That’s one of the things that you appreciated most about her, her ability to understand your emotions and how you cope with them. 

You knew that she would eventually ask you what happened as you have both communicated that suffering in silence wasn’t healthy.

You finished dinner early and asked yourself to be excused. You headed to bed as soon as you finished your meal. Florence stayed in the kitchen to tidy up and to give you some more space.

-

Laying on your side, you couldn’t help but to grab your phone and scroll through your notifications. As hurt as you were already, you were too stubborn to gain some self-control. As terrible as that message was, your comment section got even worse. Not only was it filled with homophobic comments, but you were also getting sent death threats. You had checked Florence’s account and pressed on your photo. You noticed that she turned off the comments.

You felt the bed behind you dip as an arm wrapped around your torso.

“Hi,” Florence whispers, and she rests her chin on your shoulder.

“Hi,” you weakly respond. You sigh as you turn your phone off and place it on the bedside table. You turn around in Florence’s arm and face her.

Florence gave you a worried smile and she wiped the tears on your face. You were so busy scrolling through the hate comments that you hadn’t noticed that tears were falling from your eyes.

“Oh, my love.” Florence places a gentle kiss on your forehead. She then looks at you with worry in her eyes. Florence couldn’t imagine what was going through your mind.

“I know you saw the comments,” she begins, “I saw them too. As soon as I saw the hate comments, I immediately turned them off.”

You sniffled and took a deep breath. “I got death threats,” you say, your voice breaking.

“What?” Florence says, appalled. Florence could feel her heart race and feel herself be filled with rage.

“That’s it, I’m making a post, this is unbelievable,” Florence says getting up to get her phone.

“No, please, you don’t have to,” you plead, “it’ll only make things worse.”

“No it won’t, Y/n, I promise you,” Florence says, already typing in her notes.

“You can’t promise me something that you have no control over,” you say coldly.

Florence pauses. She looks over at you, takes a deep breath and pouts. She stares at you for a while, studying your face. Florence is the type of person to defend the people she loves and doesn’t care if it will give her a bad rep. You just so happen to be one of the people that Florence loves, and she will do whatever it takes to defend you and her love for you.

“It doesn’t matter, what matters is that someone I love is being sent death threats, so please, let me say something,” she says, reaching for your hand.

“I really don’t deserve you,” you sigh.

“You do Y/n, you deserve every bit of me as much as I deserve every bit of you,” Florence says, caressing your cheek. 

-

A few days passed and Florence posted a video on her Instagram regarding the hate you had been receiving. 

“To my “fans,” who have sent a tremendous amount of hate to my girlfriend, Y/n, kindly unfollow me. I do not need your negativity towards my relationship with her. The hate you throw at her is hate you throw at me. The death threats you throw at her, are also death threats you throw at me. It is not your place to tell me who I should and should not love, nor is it any of your business. I do not appreciate the comments you have thrown at her. She does not deserve it, and nor do I. I am happy with Y/n. She makes me a better person. So please, leave my relationship alone and stop sending my girlfriend death threats. I will not ask again.”

After watching the video, you were in shock. Even if you had talked about it a couple days prior, you still didn’t expect that she would actually post it. Florence kept the comments on and fortunately, it was filled with massive support from other celebrities. You were grateful.

-

Florence had an interview with Jimmy Kimmel this week to discuss her recent and future projects. Of course, her video regarding your relationship was a topic of discussion. You stayed backstage and watched Florence’s interview from her dressing room.

“Okay, I think everyone here has seen the video that you had recently posted regarding your relationship,” Jimmy says.

“Yeah, I hope so,” Florence chuckles nervously.

“So tell me, if you’re comfortable, why you had said what you needed to say?” he asks.

“Did you watch the video?” Florence says sarcastically, earning a couple laughs from the crowd. “Um, I figured that I needed to. I mean my girlfriend was getting sent death threats for no apparent reason and it needed to stop.” This earned Florence a clap from the audience.

“That’s fair. God, the internet is so toxic, isn’t it?” Jimmy complains.

“Yeah,” Florence agreed. “Y/n and I had been dating for a while now and we’d managed to keep it lowkey. I just thought that when I’d finally posted her that I wouldn’t receive such horrid comments. Which is why I felt the need to address this because I hate seeing the people I love get hurt.”

A couple people from the crowd “Awwed”

“So, tell me what it is about Y/n that just makes you so in love with her?” Jimmy asked curiously.

Florence smiled as she thought about the things that she loved most about you. “Her smile was something that caught my eyes right off the bat. She has such a kind smile and I would do everything just to keep her smiling.”

The crowd “Awwed” again.

“Also, Y/n is so loving. She won’t admit it because she likes to be that “tough” person on the outside, but inside she’s a big softie. She gives the best cuddles. I also love how she makes me tea every time I come home from filming.”

“Aww, that must be nice. I think we all need a Y/n in our life, right?” Jimmy says.

The camera pans to the crowd who was cheering and nodding their heads.

“Well, too bad, Y/n is only one person and I’m the lucky girl who has her,” Florence says wittily. 

The crowd laughed and clapped.

“Alright, well it was lovely having you, Florence,” Jimmy says, shaking Florence’s hand. “And that’s all for tonight, we’ll see you tomorrow!”

-

On the ride home, you rested your head on Florence’s shoulders.

“You really had to call me out, didn’t you?” you ask.

“Yeah, maybe just a little,” Florence says, making a gesture.

You chuckle and look at her. “Did I ever tell you that you are the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid my eyes on?”

“Yes, Y/n, you tell me everyday,” she says, grabbing your cheek.

You smile and close the gap between you. Florence melts into the kiss and moves her hand to the back of your head, running her hands through your hair. You pull away to catch some air and Florence rests her forehead against yours.

“I love you, Flo. Thank you for everything.”

“I love you too Y/n. and don’t thank me, you know I’ll always protect you.”

The End

[therogueheart]

So I’ve seen a few posts questioning why it’s always Eddie in fics that struggles (sometimes negatively) with his sexuality or experiences internalised homophobia, some of which vague that it’s hateful towards the character or follows the ‘trend’ of victimising/babying Buck. There are also posts I’ve seen that reference the same, but in relation to the actual show and the handling of Buddie or mlm relationships with Buck and Eddie in canon.

So I’m going to do what I did with my post about Eddie’s reactions (or lack thereof) being in character, and lay it out as factually as I can.

It is more in-character for Eddie to be the one to struggle or to have a difficult sexuality journey than it is for Buck.

Even the show, in not so many words, has said the same thing. We’ve already seen Buck in several scenarios where his sexuality is questioned, assumed or vaguely referenced, and in none of them does he have a negative or overtly reactive response.

Buck’s sexuality was outright assumed, twice, to his face. In the first instance with the Christmas Elf Lady he was openly confused but ultimately shrugged it off with a smile and compliment. In the scene with TK we see him react a little more expressively, but with no obvious negativity or unhappiness. Poor baby was just confused that his bid for friendship was being taken as flirting, explicitly by a homosexual male. 

Eddie, however, has several character factors that would point towards a choppier journey with realising he isn’t heterosexual. To name a few:

His (explicitly stated and referenced) past relationships, love interests and current love interest are all female, although the same can be said for Buck.

On the subject of Buck; Eddie also isn’t shown to have any real friendships with men (or women) outside of the 118, and none as close-knit as Buck. Eddie also doesn’t behave with his male peers (such as Bobby, Chimney and Albert) the way he behaves with Buck. Contrary to this, Buck is referenced up until recently to have been a very social person outside of the 118, even thus far as to live with several other men prior to moving into Abby’s and then into his own apartment.

Eddie was brought up in a heavily Latino/Latinx family and lifestyle and presumably, community. It’s common for Latino/Latinx communities to expect men to comply with the ‘macho family man’ archetype, and there are multiple resources from Latino/Latinx people that review the toxic masculinity of the communities and culture. We see a reflection of this in Carlos from 911: Lonestar, where his family is accepting but in a dismissive way, so much so that he makes the decision to introduce his boyfriend as a work friend.

He served in the military. Now the military is notorious for being the most homophobic ‘gay for the stay’ community you’ll ever encounter. It’s kind of fine to jerk each other off behind the craft building while thinking of your wives, but if someone comes out as gay they could be outcast, given a vaguely or outright homophobic nickname and face the age old ‘you’re gay so you’re a predator/risk’ type of treatment. (I’m not saying everyone and every base is like this, but again there are plenty of resources available that document the institutional homophobia in military spaces.) In worst cases gay/bi+ men are bullied or forced out of the barracks, beaten or killed.

Canon extensively implies that Eddie is straight. We don’t get the same vagueing and hinting/joking that we do with Buck. The closest we’ve come is the livestream where several comments mentioned him and Buck as a couple, but we don’t see Eddie react to these or even potentially notice them. Every time crushes or love interests are explicitly presented to/for Eddie, they’re female. Ignoring any possible meta about camera and behaviour choices, Eddie is depicted exactly the same as the other heterosexual male characters of the show, such as Bobby and Chimney. Contrastingly, Buck is the only one who receives explicit reference to or vagueing towards his sexuality and relationships, especially with Eddie.

Relating to the point above; if Eddie is a closeted bi/pan/demi/gay+ man, then he’s lived as a straight man for years and it would be a colossal change for him to come out. It would mean coming out to his family (assuming he hasn’t already, and to the family that already thinks he can’t function without a wife), his friends and peers, it would mean dealing with the change in perception of him from his peers and adjusting various aspects of his life; not least, talking to Christopher about it too.

In Season 3 and 4 we also see Eddie struggle with moving on from Shannon, and I think it’s plausible that Eddie would feel it’s some kind of betrayal to her. Eddie would likely wonder if his sexuality aided to the collapse of their marriage and would likely also wonder about the impact it had on their chances of reconnecting and his relationships with Buck and Shannon, if Buddie is the pathway to Eddie’s sexuality exploration.

Now I’m not saying Eddie would go off-the-rails homophobic in the instance that he was put in a situation like the ones Buck has been in, but Eddie would definitely be in-character to have some form of mild crisis, fear or doubt about explicitly realising he’s attracted to a man.

Eddie would quite literally have to question his entire existence and past and explore this new part of his identity, whereas from what we’ve seen on screen thus far it’s far more likely that Buck is open to or has already considered his own sexuality. Buck is also easier going about new parts of his identity, which the show depicts through his ‘Buck 1.0′ style self-developments.

Also; it is perfectly plausible for someone to be completely fine with other people being LGBT+ but to struggle with a change or discovery of their own sexuality. Again, the LGBT+ community is full of stories, most notably the Reddit thread about the man who realised he wasn’t homophobic; just jealous. Eddie’s immediate acceptable of Hen and Michael does not necessarily equate to immediate acceptable of his own sexuality.

When people consistently write Eddie as the one to have a sexuality reckoning, it’s not out of hate for the character or out of the desire to whump/baby Buck. It’s just in line with the character. Similarly, if the show does decide to go ahead with Buddie or to reveal Eddie as not heterosexual, please don’t lash out or criticize if they depict him struggling with it or taking a long time to adjust/accept it. Similar to healing, the journey of sexuality exploration is not always linear. Michael’s character is an excellent example of this, paralleled by Charles from Why Women Kill.

[ghost0loxer]

Imagine, a gender fluid teenager like myself has a favourite/feel-good film and that film is “Just One of the Guys,”from the mid 80s.

Picture this: theatre class, we watch “She’s The Man”, a dreamworks film from the 2000s. And yet, the social justice issues within the film are glaringly obvious to today’s society. Don’t get me wrong, it can be a funny film in a group setting - but then there are scenes that are just uncomfortable. Now, we discussed these themes in class, but I just can’t help but think about the film that came before it. Yes, StM (she’s the mans) is a modern day adaption of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” but I was thinking about the modern day adaption before StM, “Just One of the Guys” from the mid 80s.

I love this film. For multiple reasons, which I hope to discuss.

Number one, our main character. Terry Griffith is stubborn. If she thinks something is right, she won’t let anyone say no or get in her way. Now in some cases, this is great. It’s definitely a shift in the usual romantic comedy female lead (especially for the 80s). But it’s one of her biggest flaws. In the beginning, Terry doesn’t win a contest for a part-time job at the Sun Tribune. She believes her article was amazing, but she speaks with her English teacher and he gives it to her straight. “You don’t have what it takes to be a reporter.” Her article is boring; it’s about the nutritional value of the lunch menu in the school cafeteria, of course it’s boring. But the words her teacher tells her has her convinced it’s because she’s a woman. Thus, she leaves school for two weeks and transfers as a buy to another school who are holding the same competition. Once she gives her article, she is told almost the same thing, but this time, she’s given proper feedback to improve it. Of course, there was some irony with this scene between Terry and the teacher. “Just because you’re guy, doesn’t mean you can’t be sensitive or light.” Thing is, she doesn’t give up, she strives to fix it and finds a new angle. I love her determination, I love the way she doesn’t let others push her around. Furthermore, her transition to a man. In StM, Viola as a guy is made to be cringey and comedic, you watch and think, there’s no way a guy would do that. But Terry, having grown up with a younger brother and is actually smart, manages to nail the role. Sure, she has slip-ups, but she stays afloat and she’s not being over the top. She’s chill and convincing, yet you as the audience can tell she’s trying to appear masculine. Her lines are witty and she’s sharp. Someone has something to say, she’ll be able to backtrack and answer with a joke or sarcasm quickly. I like smart characters.

Another point, the way women are written in this film. A lot of women in this film are treated like shit, but it’s probably a realistic depiction of the 80s. Everyone is talking about dating and sex, it seems to be the only topic the women in this film speak about, unless they are Terry. Terry seems to be the only character in this film whose main goal is not romance or sex. She strives to be a reporter, she wants to prove herself, and she rejects the advances upon her frequently. Whether it’s the boys asking her on dates in halls, or her own boyfriend attempting to seduce her when her parents aren’t home, she doesn’t put them above herself, yet she still lets them down easily, unless they become more pushy (case in point, her boyfriend, Kevin, in the beginning). She can stand up for herself, but she’s not the only one. Her best friend, Denise is one of the many women looking for love, nevertheless, she holds standards. I will admit, I didn’t like Denise’s acting in the beginning; she’s not a great character, but even she manages to reject men’s advances constantly. She’s not afraid to say it bluntly and she expresses her true emotions when certain guys try to ask her out. She tells it to them straight, and I respect her for that (despite her lack of empathy for some). Terry’s brother is constantly hitting on Denise, but she stands her ground. She doesn’t hit him or curse him out, she spins words around him and always lead back to the key word “no.”

This is my third, and maybe final point, (because I’m not great at writing but I’m starting to get tired) the way they handle sexual orientation. It seems if you’re going to make a film about a cross-dressing woman who falls in love with a man, you have to discuss sexuality and this film is not afraid to. That was my biggest beef with StM, when Viola confessed her love to Duke, the made it blatantly clear that it was “weird” and “unusual”; the editing and music cuts. It was done for comedic purposes, but in that moment, it just made me cringe. Even when the principal marched onto the field during the big match to expose Sebastian as “the woman he was all along,” he used a big megaphone and said to the whole crowd this man is in fact a girl. If it were to happen in the real world, and this character was a trans male, that would be traumatizing and so so insensitive. I couldn’t help thinking the way they handled the reveal in StM was poor and shitty.

But with JOotG (just one of the guys)? It’s done respectfully. Throughout the film, Buddy, Terry’s younger, sex-obsessed brother (I have thoughts on this character), often refers to Terry as a transvestite or sexually confused. They make references about her dating other women and jokes. It’s not treated like taboo, but just something people normally talk about, and as a questioning kid when I first watched the film, I really needed that. Although it was used for jokes, the fact that it wasn’t treated like a silent topic made me think more of it and discover who I was; it was media like this that made me accept myself.

Even with the reveal. Kevin, Terry’s boyfriend (or ex boyfriend by the end), stomps up to Terry after she’s wrestled with the school bully and was dumped into the waves at prom. Rick, who’s been Terry’s friend (and is the male lead) throughout her time at his high school, immediately questions who Kevin is and he responds with a harsh and sure “Terry’s boyfriend.” Of course, that doesn’t expose Terry as female, but makes Rick assume she’s a homosexual. But instead of calling her weird or replying negatively, he answers Kevin’s question calmly and says he’s just a friend. There is no prejudice, no disgust, Rick is shocked, but that’s expected. Furthermore, this reveal not only does not alienate homosexuality, it puts the center of focus on the main characters rather than have the whole audience/prom witness this exchange. Sure, the rest of the school is watching but the camera never pans over to them, and even then, Terry drags Rick away from the crowds to a secluded area to explain more.

Even once they’re secluded, Rick doesn’t yell at her or is homophobic. He just says “I understand, you’re gay.” As we know, Terry is not in fact gay and she reveals this to him in a similar fashion as StM, at least it’s not flashing a whole crowd. But the thing that hits me, is the fact that it’s not used as a joke or for comedy. Throughout the film, they’ve mentioned homosexuality and being transgender, but it was used as a light-hearted joke (nothing insulting or derogatory). In this moment, it’s not a joke, and it’s the bare minimum for a emotional scene like this, but it always hits me.

Of course, Rick gets justifiably mad that he’s been deceived and he storms off. Terry’s flaw catches up to her here, as she kisses him in front of the prom guests, stubborn to make him realize how much she cares. ( I didn’t agree with this action to be frank, I cringed ). The crowd gasps and it’s the usual reaction to a homosexual kiss and Rick just pulls back, says “It’s alright everyone, he’s got tits,” and leaves with Deborah.

In true romantic comedy fashion, life moves on. Terry gets the job at the Sun-Tribune after writing her article about posing as a guy and everyone who was longing for love in the beginning has found it, except Terry. The ending, however, is Rick coming back for her after a couple (days? Weeks? Idk all I know is it’s summer by the time he comes back, how much space between prom and summer?) and they kiss, go on a date and all is good.

Now after writing this long ass post, I’ve come to realize the main reason I like this film. Sure, Terry is a good character (not morally sometimes, but she’s interesting to watch), the way women are presented also is good, but my main source of affection for this film (in comparison to StM) is the way they handle the switching of genders. I’m gender fluid, I don’t always like being a woman or a man, I switch almost daily and half the time can’t decide if I want to grow out my hair or cut it. Seeing Terry, originally a woman, manage to convince people she was a guy made me wish I could do it too. It made me realize, I don’t always like being a woman. I want to be a guy sometimes, and I want that to be accepted. It was media like this, like Ouran High School Host Club, like Bare: A Pop Opera, that made me understand my gender and sexuality. (Even media that didn’t have any relation to LGBTQ+ helped).

When I first heard of “She’s the Man”, I had hoped it would be like these pieces of media. And it wasn’t. It was an alright film, but made me feel disappointed and somewhat let down. And that’s why I just prefer Just One of the Guys. Maybe it wouldn’t float in today’s political climate, maybe I’m wrong for seeing these points as reasons it’s one of my favorites, but its still better than StM and is one of my favourite films.

[tiptapricot]

Moon Knight Liveblog thoughts, The Friendly Type

I love this opening scene w Layla but who is the lady truly like

How did they get to know each other bc she sorta acts like a mom but also not rlly n also she isn’t credited as such

Marshmallows :-)

Layla ilysm

I wish this scene didn’t have music almost bc the asmr would b amazing

LAYLA DOES YHE FACE PICKY THING IRL NOT JUST AS A DUAT NURSE OGHGGHGG

HER STIMMMMINGHGGGGGGGH

She also works her lips a lot

THIS LOGO SONG YESSSSSSSS

Episode two w the boring ass normal music should step up

Marc Jumpy Guy Spector

The way he’s running so fast n then is just already late lol

“Owh shit :-/“

“Oh wow”

“Ooo we dancin we fightin what we gonna do”

The slap… THIS FIGHT FUCKS

Love the musicCCC GOD

The dynamic vibes slap so hard ahhHgGghh

Marc looks great disheveled too

Jake just stepping in like “lol sorry guys don’t go after me or I’ll kill you” *gets in a cab*

MARC USED STEVENS ACCENT I THINK WHEN HE ASKS WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME???

“Just let us go man 😟”

Marc Jumpy Guy Spector again

He looks so dumb when he runs

These poor bystanders

“Mahc… that’s enough”

Jake moment again woooooo!!!!

Also knowing the changes when the camera pans between Marc n reflections is practical n Oscar doing it in real time makes this ep even MORE FUCKING EPIC

The pause before “he’s just a kid” n then seeing Marc push all ot it away

God

We don’t talk enough about that moment jfc

Khonshu’s neck black hole lmao

“Anger them enough… and they will enact a hate crime on my fruity ass”

*Does a gay little eclipse that pisses you off*

Literally the limp wrist moment is the next scene

Also Khonshu is so stupid he’s so dumb he’s like “we gotta b perfect haha no I won’t tell you anything or prepare anything byyyye”

“Ohhh I’ll be there 😏”

Steven is… I love him ���Oh my days” what if I kissed u huh??? On the nog?

YATZIIIIIILLLLL her voice is so nice

“Ok…. Cool” Marc interacting w ppl makes him sound so funny

“The only melody Khonshu enjoys is the sound of pain” Marc that’s…. Really funny

JUST TELL HIM HES GONNA B POSESSED DUDE STOP LEAVING HIM IN THE DARK

The trial scene makes me fucking feral

“We despise your garishness” STOP BEING HOMOPHOBIC

OSCARS ACTING IN THIS SCENE MARC LOOKING MORE AND MORE AWARE AND AFRAID OF WHATS HAPPENING GODDDD

THE TEAR

IM NOT OK IM NOT OK ALSO THE LIGHTING IS RLLY NICE

The little whispered “fuck” Marc I’m so sorrry I love you

Arthur Crunchy Feet Harrow coming out of the gate swinging w the ableism

Harrow shut up shut up shut up shut up

Marc’s poor body

Watching them blur here is ridiculous like they’re both being triggered but I think it’s Marc that breaks through n tries to punch harrow bc u hear him say stop n Khonshu say shut up

HARROW SHUT THE FUCK UP I WANNA KILL YOU

“We will not tolerate violence” oh I see tolerating ableism n verbal attacks but not physical ones I see I see also HARROW I HATE YOU

Marc…. Looks so fucking…. In disbelief and so wrecked and so sweaty and teary and vulnerable his voice cracking and he’s scared and he’s scared of harrow for te power he has over him god this fuvking scene I’m not ok

What other memories is this echoing what other experiences is this mirroring where he wasn’t believed and was yelling to listen but no one did bc he was written off for being seen as lesser

And Marc feels as if he’s lost after, as if not being normal cost him everything. His brain and his struggles and that being weapon used like always causing him to lose

THE MUSIC FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

He went back for his hat :-)

Marc failing at an interaction… felt

LAYLA YESSS

BOAT SCENE BOAT SCENE YESS

Layla u are glowing get his ASS

“Copy that” you military ass guy I love you

Layla finger fiddling again

SALKAAAAAA

I need to see their wedding

I’m getting goosebumps I love them the like emotional tension here n Layla has the power

“It… doesn’t matter” the way his voice breaks

AND HIS FINGERS AUTOMATICALLY OPEN WHEN LAYLA TAKES THEM N HE FIDDLES W THEM I LOVE YHEM I LOVE YHEM OK INLOVE THEM

The way he gives her her hands back n pats them like giving the affection back, returning it bc he doesn’t need it

Layla in a ponytail somehow almost changes her character to me she just looks like like she just looks she LOOKS SHE LOOKSSSS

What happened between Layla n Mogart I wanna see the drama

Marc fails a social interaction part 2, electric boogaloo

Layla just like “o baby no”

Marc just not knowing shit ab Egyptian stuff is so funny n then Steven’s like that one tik tok meme

“I receive: the body. You receive: the info you need”

“He’s praying” IS SUCH AN OVERLOOKED LINE

Steven n Marc bantering my loves

Let Marc say fuck

Mogart I hate you

The way Marc can’t act when harrow is there…. The trauma from the trial still so fresh and that power imbalance and uncomfortability freezing him

“You piece a shit..” real

Also w Marc being unable to act, it’s also after he starts turning Layla against him and it’s just the same and he just can’t he can’t you can see a shot of his face that almost looks identical to the trial

It’s like a silent panic attack

But then harrow leaves n he can breathe again

THIS FIGHT SCENE MY BELOVEDDDTGE CAPE IN A MOON SHAPE SHEILDING LAYLA

“Buy me some time” “I can do that :-)”

Also the music AGAIN

MARC RUNNING THROUGH THE FUCKING FENCE IS SO FUNNY HE DOESNT EVEN JUMP JUST ZOOP

Marc growling… baby you are neurodivergent ily

“Thas it… alright that’s it that’s it time out!”

“Take… the body… take the body take the body Marc”

Lol get stabbed

Imagine seeing ur husband get impaled

LAYLA W THE KNIFE NECKLACE I LOVE HER I LOVE HER

“LAYLAAA!!”

The grab n roll is sOOOO satisfyinGGGG

“Tik tok marc spector” shut UP

“Aigh… I really liked that jacket… o wel”

Marc in da car call that Carc

He has nice shoulders

Bologna :-)

Marc just breaking internally n pushing her away the scene where they’re driving makes me weep they’re just tearing at the seams n both so sad but also angry

Marc getting upset easily felt felt

Some of Khonshu’s neck tendrils r taught into his neck n some just dangle lol

THE AWITCH W THE CAR MIRROR that’s the scene that got me to watch actually I saw it on Instagram n was like ohhHh

Steven’s eyelashes n the way he looks at Layla adoringly

“Egyptians invented modern.. navigation” baby you are so cute

“It’s French” LAYLAS LAUGH

They’re both so pretty they need to kiss

Watching this scene after that one comic ab Layla not knowing why it’s not working hits diff I love her

Khonshu sad scene….

His voice is so deep and soft….

The stars r fucking beautiful

This scene gives me goosebumps

Layla has a scrape on her shoulder

THIS SCENE THIS SCENE THIS SCENE OF TURNING THE STARD BACK AGHGGGHHGGGGHHHHHGHHHHHGHHJJHHGGHHHHGGHJJHGGUHJHGGHHJJ

God it’s so pretty it’s so pretty I’m out of my mind it’s so pretty I’m in space I’m eating wood

Khonshu dying hurts why does it hurt the way he yells and crumples n the suit breaks away and the bones snap and shatter and he groans in pain and Steven can feel it and feel it leaving him and he reaches out to Khonshu as he dissolved into dust, desperate and scared and so sad and then just goes totally limp… the tie severed from the body for the first time in a decade and the immediate mystical biological whiplash

*ahem* Harrow…. I hate you. Also stop having crunchy toes.

This episode slaps so hard everyone else shut up yes I like it more than the tomb which comes next and it’s bc SO MUCH HAPPENS AND ITS PACED SO WELL

YESSSSSSS THIS ENDING THEME WHY DO ALL OF THEM FUCK SO HARD YESSSS

[thelastharbinger]

Eric & Buddy: An Essay On Why They Should Have Been | Part One

It’s no secret that the writers of That 70′s Show had originally introduced the character of Buddy Morgan portrayed by a young Joseph Gordon Levitt to be a potential love interest for the main character of the series, Eric Forman. In fact, per Buddy’s intro, the show would’ve explored Eric’s bisexuality; his having to make sense of his romantic feelings for the girl-next-door who he’s wanted since they were childhood friends, as well as this new, charming and friendly guy while living under the roof of a father who subjects him to archaic notions of performed masculinity.

The program would’ve delved into a sweeping love triangle that ultimately would have seen the flourishing union of Buddy and Eric, as it was intended before the show had seen homophobic backlash from fans at the sight of a male|male onscreen kiss. Before Buddy’s entrance in episode 11, the show teased at Eric’s sexuality, occasionally making him the butt of jokes where friends or his paternal parent would call him “queer” or poke fun at his sensitivity, which was seen as an effeminate trait. Another character by the name of Fez, a foreign exchange student, much more frequently gets spotlighted for this amongst his peers. Thus, even now, looking back at this one episode, one can clearly see the groundwork the writers were setting up for making this master pairing that was rare for its time.

I mean, come on! They were chemistry partners! Everyone knows that’s the classic Hollywood cliche for putting two high school kids together. And boy, was there chemistry! The two immediately hit if off, right from the get-go and Buddy Morgan asks this seemingly innocent question that upon further inspection, is quite heavily coded. On the surface, Buddy asks Eric if he’s okay being teamed up with him for lab, with the excuse being that he tends to blow things up (an innuendo that the audience didn’t catch on at the time). However, reading between the lines, Buddy is trying to parse out whether Eric is okay being partnered with him. He’s searching for signs of acceptance beyond academic capabilities. Buddy knows well that while they live in the seventies, it is not safe to come out to everyone. Society is not there yet, much less then in their suburban town where KISS is all the rave and seen as the height of male bravado and achievement. In the first instance he does so with Eric even, he denies it and then plays it off cheekily.

All this, though, is to establish knowledge that Buddy is interested in Eric first. We meet Buddy who already is set into his attraction to Eric, which contrasts the pilot of the show where we meet an Eric firm in his years long crush for Donna Pinciotti. Here, the camera pans around to the motion of Eric reaching to the opposite end of Buddy’s car, but it never leaves Buddy’s gaze. Throughout this episode, where Buddy’s eyes are are very important because it is often the case that they are fixated on Eric in a way that hints at a kind of longing. Buddy watches Eric the whole way has he approached the car in a manner that would be hard to argue is platonic.

Even here, you can see how shy Buddy becomes at the extra attention he’s receiving from Eric for presumably the first time, who is infatuated with simply his ride. The nervous ruffle of the hair is a dead giveaway and this whole opening scene follows a lot of the same conventions of many heterosexual romance movies, particularly where the female lead realizes her attraction for the male love interest, usually signaled through awkward exchanges, fidgeting, shy glances and laughs, avoiding gazes, stuttering, the works. All of it is here displayed in a way that does not mimic any of the interactions Eric has with his other male friends. And Buddy is excited, of course, by this development. He lets Eric act giddy about his vehicle and offers to give him a ride, and he’ll take any excuse to be able to spend time with him.

The dialogue here also contains a gold mine of hidden messages. Eric is initially dumbfounded seeing Buddy keying into the car he does not yet realize is his, and then jokingly exclaims, “So you’re the guy I hate” and Buddy replies, “Yeah, that’d be me.” Another inconspicuous line that the writers have thrown in but is doing so much work. The “that’d be me” exits so softly from Buddy Morgan because in some way, without knowing, Eric was thinking of him. Maybe not him exactly, but through this vehicle of navigation, Eric was finding him--meeting him. And while the show never had enough time to go into how long Buddy had been harboring feelings for Eric, maybe he was already thinking of Forman too. In some ways, Buddy’s car is like the missing glass slipper and Eric’s finally found it’s owner, “that’d be me.” Buddy has been found.

Note that the color of the car, and Buddy’s turtleneck are red -- a color long associated with heat, desire, love, fire (the car’s titled the ‘Pontiac Firebird’) and passion. I can’t believe that this color choice wasn’t purposeful because it draws on the imagery of another person associated with red: Donna, who has red hair. It’s not a coincidence that Eric is also attracted to the red Trans Am, and so his eventual interest in Buddy is foreshadowed by his cherry turtleneck shirt.

whispers *it’s about the yearning

Read Part 2 here.

[kanmom51]

Sigh. Here we go again. Reading that Tkker ask was pretty scary. Because they actually believe what they said with their whole heart. For the sake of my hope for humanity I want to believe that that Tkker is a minor and knows nothing about life. But you know what? I still have some things to say to them.

"Anygays,this tk separation that you take as a "theory" is in fact a "fact".bh did separate them on camera.There are so so many proofs that it's delusional at this point to not believe it."

Where is your proof? Show us. Please. I've been only watching original content ever since I've became an Army and I didn't see anything that could even remotely prove that BH is hiding TKK. If your proof is cuts in original content, well, then all of BTS are dating. I could name at least three weird cuts for Jikook immediately and there are way more. For example the New Year's episode where Jimin hugs Jungkook, his face comes close to Jungkook's neck, cut. The November live last year on Youtube. Jungkook is leaning on Jimin, cut and we only see Jimin putting is hand down again from what looks like touching Jungkook's face. Or the one Run ep where they had to guess the song by the choreography blindfolded. Jungkook is being shown touching all members but as soon as reaches Jimin the camera pans away, you hear Jungkook asking 'Who's that?', cut and Jungkook is already touching the next member.

So if that's your proof, sorry sweetie, I guess BTS are all in a secret relationship.

"For number1,it's easy to see how that works.You cover a real gay rltnshp with a fake one because there's nothing to expose about a fake one."

I think what you miss here, my dear, is not only that covering a gay relationship with another gay one in a homophobic country is just a very stupid idea, you also miss that there is something to expose in that "fake one". And that's Jungkook. How would him "pretending" to be in a relationship with another man protect him in any way? The only one protected would be Tae. But I guess that narratives fits with Taekookers caring about Tae and only using Jungkook.

"2. Tk toxic.It's very evident that they sometimes display extreme possessiveness.So what they do?I don't understand jikook shippers logic of supporting something that is only flowery. [...] I'm choosing my own ship who have the kind of relationship that I want in my own relationship."

And that's the prime example of what you Taekookers are doing. Projecting what you want on two people who are not you. You know what? I can't even blame young people who think jealousy and possessiveness have to be part of a relationship because that's what media shows them. A healthy and happy relationship is too boring for viewers, so obviously movies and tv shows rather show dramatic and oftentimes toxic relationships. But that's not how it works in real life. And if that's what you have or want in real life, please, please, get help.

"Simply put,You Jikook shippers are fetishising."

No, sweetie, that is what you're doing. Jikookers don't have any toxic narratives, Jikookers don't believe everything we read, Jikookers enjoy all the members interactions, Jikookers just love and support their bond. (I know there are also bad Jikookers out there too, don't worry.)

What you and a lot of other Taekookers are doing is taking two men and pushing your fantasies on them. While doing so you create narratives that support your fantasy, you twist things that might ruin that fantasy, you ignore what these two men actually have to say, you dismiss other bonds, call them fanservice because they threaten your fantasy, you create lies, mistranslate things and continue to use said mistranslations although you've been corrected already, you use innocent moments and twist them to fulfill your needs and you completely ignore that there are two real people behind the two men you use like characters in a tv show.

Ship whatever you want but don't push something you want on two real people who made it clear that it's not what they want.

You go anon.

Preaching to the choir here. But as for that TKK anon, well, sadly, everything you said will fall on deaf ears. I truly, truly hope to be proven wrong.