This is something I thought of suddenly: So when the Actors-on-Actors roster came out, I didn’t have that much of a problem with Taylor being paired up with Joey King. It was kinda odd to have two close friends who are now doing very different projects put together, but they were happy and watching Joey King fangirl over RWRB was fun.
But now that I think of it, it was such a missed opportunity not to put Taylor with Jonathan Bailey.
(Gonna preface this by saying I know far less about Mr Bailey than Tay, I skimmed through Fellow Travelers, Bridgerton S2 is on my to-watch list, and as a fan of Wicked the Musical I have complicated feelings about the movie adaptation)
The thing that is so often brought up with RWRB is that it’s a queer rom-com, it’s a queer love story with a happy ending. The relationship itself does not need to be sacrificed. In fact the whole Kensington confrontation is proving exactly that: they are in a position and point in time where they don’t have to give up on their love and relationship for the sake of other aspects of their lives, they can “find a way to love each other on our own terms, no one else’s”. Many people, including the core four of the movie (Matthew, Casey, Taylor, Nick) have said that this is something that made this movie stand out from other queer productions, something that the world needs.
Fellow Travellers is almost the exact opposite: it is exactly about the periodic queer struggles. It is about the lavender scare when any queer members of the US government were deemed national security risks, and were subsequently dismissed from their stations. It is about the AIDS epidemic that led to the devastation and discrimination of queer communities. It is about a closeted man who chooses to submit himself to a lavender marriage, but who also can’t let go of his one true love. If RWRB is the idealistic future that we’re trying to build, then fellow travellers depict the dirty, gritting, tragic reality of the past.
And here’s the thing, as Matthew said, both types of queer stories are important, both kinds of queer stories need to be told. We need to acknowledge the bad parts of the past, as a reflection of society, as a reminder of history and the progress made, but we also need to imagine the wonders of a better future, as a target for society, as a vision for the progress to make.
And it would have been so interesting to hear the conversation on this contrast between the main leads of two very different queer projects.
Additionally, another thing they can compare is queer intimacy on screen, because again, the intimacy of the two projects are vastly different: RWRB made a deliberate point in creating a more gentle, vulnerable, and quiet intimacy in the Paris scene, with the focus being on the characters’ face; Fellow Travellers’ intimacy is far more explicit and wild, much sexier if you will. Again, both have their place in media and the queer community: sex can be wild and fun, but sex can also be sacred and soft. It would be really interesting to hear the similarities and differences between the two experiences, especially since Taylor has done more explicit stuff in Minx (in a heterosexual on-screen couple) and Jonathan has done more vulnerable intimacy in Bridgerton (also in a heterosexual on-screen couple)
There are just so many parallels and points that the two could have talked about! So although I’m still fairly okay satisfied with the Taylor Actors on Actors we got, this is such a missed opportunity to talk about the importance of different types of stories in the queer community.
i really love how it’s canon that Carmy’s never had a girlfriend and is a certified loser, yet in every fic he eats pussy like a champ. worships it, lives off of it, couldn’t function without it. ravishes it like a man starved yet savors every drop. eats it more than he eats real food. that’s just Carmy idk. i love that man. keep it up.
Apex predator, my ass. I’m going to pet the dog 🐻🐻❄️🐼
perhaps now is a good time for some responsible bear programming to remind everyone that as cute and cuddly as they may seem, bears are lethal apex predators and should absolutely be treated accordingly if ever encountered.
“Nine would have treated Martha better than Ten did”
I need to talk about this argument that never seems to stop circulating.
Note: Not a venomous/anti post. There’s more than enough of that across fandom spaces as is, and this is supposed to be a place for ✨sweet, blissful escapism✨
When making this argument, people seem to envision a scenario in which Nine never met Rose.
While I can appreciate a good hypothetical, recognizing Rose's significance to the Doctor (Nine and Ten) is essential to understanding why things with Martha played out the way they did in the first place.
In the third series, the Doctor is grieving. This grief is deliberately threaded into nearly every script, whether spoken aloud or not (and these are just a few examples):
He's burning in Rose’s wake the entire time Martha travels with him, which is why it’s so frequently called upon: It’s 100% deliberate in framing his grief. He grieved as Nine too, of course— having been fresh on the heels of the Time War — but then he met Rose, which changed everything.
Back then, he was still a rude, traumatized pain in the ass, but we watch Rose soften more of those jagged edges with every episode as they grow closer; as he lets his guard down and forms a deep connection with her.
He falls in love (against his better judgment) and it's game over.
And yes: provided S1E1 had been titled 'Martha', one can realistically assume things might have unfolded similarly to how they did with Rose. However, it wouldn’t have been that way just because the Doctor was Nine and “Nine was different” — it would be because he wasn’t already in love with someone else. The same can't be said for the start of S3.
Think of it like this: if Rose AND Martha had been in that cellar — if Nine had taken both of them along with him in S1 — we’d eventually be looking at the most melodramatic love triangle ever, what with him living in close quarters with two brilliant, gorgeous, compassionate young women... But Doctor Who is plenty “soap opera” as is with just one woman in the TARDIS.
(I certainly wouldn’t object to reading that fic, though)
Now, regarding the unrequited elephant in the room…
His inability to be romantic with Martha isn’t because he thinks her lesser, nor is it for lack of compatibility. It isn't because Rose is any better than her. It certainly isn’t just because he’s Ten.
It’s really only for one reason, which can't be denied — and now I’m a broken record:
He is still in love with Rose.
(cut from a tenrosedaily gif)
Nine is Ten, and Ten is only such a mess in S3 because he’s just lost the love of his life. Martha merely got caught in the crosshairs of a volatile Time Lord in mourning, and yes — it sucks. Absolutely.
But it also feels dismissive to chalk Ten and Martha’s relationship up to little more than some sort of mindless dance of pining, jealousy, and toxicity.
Ten trusted Martha with his life over and over again — and hers, with him. He constantly praised her brilliance, happily carting her around time and space with no intention of letting her go. In the BBC’s extended universe of novels/comics/cartoons/etc, there’s so much depth to their relationship: love and trust and trauma and sacrifice. They had their own special bond as mates, their own complexities — so it’s a bummer that it's forever overshadowed by the other things.
I’m not denying that there was a lot of stuff that sucked/was for sure toxic about Ten's S3 behavior, but so many of the things I've seen him catching flak for can be directly attributed to being A Clueless Fucking Alien Idiot (not a trait that’s unique to Ten) — as well as his flat-out obliviousness to Martha’s feelings.
So yes, I agree: if Rose never existed, he would have treated Martha differently as Nine. He also would have treated her differently as Ten. Certainly.
But Rose did exist, and when discussing canon, it matters.
“He tells me that he absolutely, 100% loves Rose... He tells me how my daughter; my wonderful, beautiful, clever little girl saved him from himself before… And he says that’s all because of me! I made her into the Rose Tyler that saved him.”
-Jackie Tyler, Flight Into Hull!
Martha got the short end of the stick in S3. She came round at the wrong place and time, but that doesn't mean it was all bad. It doesn't mean the Doctor didn’t adore her. It certainly doesn't mean the time they spent together was wasted or worthless. They were brilliant!
Sure, he could be a twat, but let it be known that he was a twat with Rose as well, both as Nine and Ten. I’m sure Tentoo can be plenty infuriating, too. So while I'll defend Ten (and Tentoo) into the ground forever and ever and ever, I'll concede that he's fucked up.
The Doctor is a certified Pain In The Ass. It’s one of the things I love so much about this character — dynamics.
But never forget that Martha was goddamn tough as nails and overcame every bit of it. She moved on with her life, and the Doctor moved on with his. One can only pray that, when they inevitably drag her back onto the show (which feels inevitable if I'm honest), we see at once that she's been living her best life for all these years.
So, bears are a special interest of mine which means I have too much knowledge about this animal than what is allowed and I just...needed to make these involving my favorite druid's preferred wild shape. This is part romantic headcanons, part general hcs and part me using this man as an excuse to talk about bears.
As I said in another post, bears have an extremely accurate sense of smell, and they will leave their mark on their territory by rubbing their backs on trees to leave their scent. With that in mind, I can picture some days where Halsin is constantly hugging Tav, holding their hand, just being in physical contact with them, to sort of leave his smell on them.
Maybe he would do that after noticing how Tav was smelling of others.
On the topic of smells, bears are attracted by smell, so on days that the group is low on supplies, he wildshapes and scavenges for all sorts of fruits and plants, especially the more sweet ones.
Also, Halsin sniffing Tav’s hair, especially after a good bath, and saying that it smells nice.
Many species of bears are omnivourous, I think especially black bears, so Halsin will eat just about anything. If it looks fresh and edible, he will eat it.
It also means that, during the weeks/months leading up to winter, he is going to be eating a LOT.
Bears are not true hibernators and for Halsin, that could translate to him just sleeping more during winter time.
Also, if it’s a particularly cold night, he’s wildshaping into a polar bear and enveloping his partner(s) in a tight and very warm hugs. I say polar bear in specific because they have the fur that is more adapted to handle cold weathers and because polar bear moms will often cuddle with their cubs because their (cubs) fur is still not developed enough to handle the weather, and picturing Halsin in bear form doing that is just so cute.
Black bears in particular are great climbers and I can see Halsin picking up that as well. On a particular night, where the sky is clear, Halsin would transform into a bear, get his partner on his back, climb up the tallest tree around and then show them the stars and the moon.
Also, getting a bit into more animalistic things, Halsin would be a very vocal guy, like grunting and growling when he's upset.
When confronted by someone who could be a threat, he'd use his already large size to his favor and try to intimidate the person away. Puffing up his chest, holding his head higher, just showing he's the bigger guy and he's not to be messed around with.
Getting particularly into more…naughty territory, I want to talk about courtship. On the more tame side, if Halsin has his eyes on someone, he’d follow them around more, get them to be comfortable around him. He’d be more playful, like being more outspoken of his intentions and flirting more, but just like real bears, he'd wait until his partner initiated it.
I don't see Halsin as a possessive man overall, BUT, in specific situations, I can see this side of him coming out, because of bear instintcs. Male bears can get more aggresive towards other males during mating season, and I can see that affexting him.
Maybe he's courting someone and another person gets a bit too close (and his partner makes it clear they're not liking it), Halsin's gonna get into protective mode and scare the guy away.
The last two points are a bit more sexual, so I put them under the cut.
Also, after seeing a video and reading a couple of articles on it, yeah I can see Halsin being into primal play.
His partner gets a good head start before he wildshapes into a bear and runs after them. Fun fact, bears can run up to 35-40 mph, so I can see him also like, stopping from time to time to prolong the hunt even longer. If his partner in a druid who can wild shape into a bear, I think it’d be even more interesting because the speed of both would be equal.
Remember how I said he's a vocal guy? Yeah, he's going to be groaning, and moaning and grunting a lot during sex.
God I’m so sick of JSchlatt haters being like “erm isn’t he racist? 🤓👆” “isn’t he republican🤓👆”
NO HE IS NOT
HE MAKES EDGY STUPID JOKES THAT ARE SO CLEARLY JUST THAT, STUPID EGDY JOKES. “Erm he still shouldn’t have said it 🤓👆” THE MOST POPULAR FORM OF “EVIDENCE” WAS SOME SHITTY THUMBNAIL THAT WAS CHANGED AND A JOKE SWAGGERSOULS MADE BE FUCKING FOR REAL. ITS SO OBVIOUSLY JUST A EDGY JOKE GROW THE HELL UP.
“B-but he’s homophobic/transphobic!!” THAT MAN HAS KISSED MORE MEN THEN YOU WILL EVER MEN OR WOMAN AND HE IS IN A PODCAST WITH A OPEN TRANS WOMAN. THE PODCAST IS SLEEP DEPRIVED AND HER NAME IS ASTROSIST, SHE IS AWESOME AND CLEARLY FRIENDS WITH JSCHLATT BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY WOULD BE THERE IN A FUCKING PODCAST TOGETHER.
“Well he’s an awful person/rebublican 🤓” ITS CALLED A PERSONA, JSCHLATTS WHOLE PERSONA IS THAT HE IS AN NEW YORKER ASSHOLE BUT HE ISNT ITS JUST FOR THE BIT. HE LOVES ANIMALS, IS GREAT WITH KIDS, ACTUALLY FUNNY, AND MOST DEFINITELY NOT A DAMN REPUBLICAN. ITS CALLED A FUCKING BIT. Okay he is from New York but I digress.
Anyway fuck JSchlatt haters who don’t know shit about him, I mean if you just don’t like him for his content that’s fine but to try and make him seem like a shitty person is just shit man. I’m a JSchlatt fan for life man🔥🔥
PC can enter Robin's room naked and I think this should be taken to the next logical step where both of you are sitting naked and PC just casually cockwarms him the whole day. And they are playing games <3
You know what? Exactly my point, but since PC doesn't really come to school too often anymore cuz she's been busy fooling around with Wren, smashing stuffs in Remy's estate, go hunt the Ivory Wraith,... She'd prefer reading some books stolen from Sydney to maintain her school performance than playing games all day.
*Sigh* I wish PC and the school kids could graduate. School performance's such a pain to maintain when there are too many other things to do.
my favorite baby style ncu continuity is cute tiny hopeless romantic kindergarten disney prince stan falling in love with kyle broflovski at first sight and buying every flavor of ring pop trying to propose to him like 'you are...the most Beautiful person i've ever seen.'
and evil feral kindergarten nj kyle threatening to bite him, fight him and end his pitiful life like 'and you are...so Gahdamn WEIRD. stay the hell away from me, yA FREAK!' and trying to bear mace him skdhs
— but then k-garten stan doing something incredibly wholesome, mindboggling stupid and storybook chivalrous to save k-garten kyle's life, the ice around his cold black heart melting, bein forever changed and falling head over heels in love w boy hero k-garten stan...
...all to take the fATTEST L OF ALL FUCKING TIME because he is too emotionally constipated to confess his feelings and end up gettin stuck in the super best friend zone FOREVER bc every day perfect stan marsh gets lovelier, handsomer and....Fucking STUPIDER.