#not to mention the fact that TO THIS DAY if you want lgbtq+ rep in your game you have to PAY for it bc none of the lgbtq+ sims are base gam

[a-quiet-autumn]

it sucks to have to be scared to update the game, no matter the size of the update, because you have no idea if it's going to break your game or not (not to mention going through the process of updating your mods)

[twiixr4kidz]

hello! could you do Todd Ingram x trans masc reader headcanons? I've never seen one and as a trans masc it makes me kinda sad tbh 😭😔 Have a great day!

tysm!! and yeah i get that :( we need more rep!!!

todd ingram x transmasc!reader

have i ever mentioned the fact that he is so chill with everything it's kinda nuts

he literally does not mind at all

he doesn't really know what being trans entails (he is so new to anything LGBTQ........ he's not ignorant, he just didn't realize he's queer until recently)

he tries to validate you as much as possible, sometimes it might even be TOO much

if you ever want to borrow his clothes, his cologne, anything like that, he's completely ok with it

as a matter of fact he'll give you pointers on outfits and he'll cut your hair if you want him too

you'll probably end up looking a little bit like him...... just a teensy tiny bit..........

if you're feel like, dysphoric or insecure, he will hype you up so violently

he compliments you all the time

obviously it's because he loves you, but it's also because he wants you to see yourself the way he sees you

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: Never Been Kissed

Author: Timothy Janovsky

Genre: New Adult Fiction | Drama | Romance | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Mentioned Biphobia | Homophobia

Overall Rating: 9.4/10

Personal Opinion: One of my all-time favorite tropes is childhood friends that reconnect and become lovers. Wren and Derick give me that in this novel. They are adorable and soft and they leave me tenderhearted with almost every single one of their interactions. Another one of my all-time favorite tropes are happy endings and this serves one of the happiest epilogues I’ve seen in a book. So I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t.

Couple Classification: Wren Roland X Derick Haverford = Nerd X Prep

Do I Own This Book? Nope.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- The most fabulous part of this book is when Wren and Derick promised to do better with their communication. That is all I’ve ever wanted in a book. And yeah, the lack of clear, honest communication at the start is tragic but the fact that they’d reached the point of wanting to do better and putting in the work to do better makes it all worth it, in my opinion. Plus, I absolutely understand why Derick chose not to tell Wren about the demolition given the circumstances. Likewise, I also understand Wren’s blow-up when he found out.

- The ending of this story is quite possibly the happiest that it could’ve been. Everyone gets what they want and it is magnificent. Wren is the new owner of Wiley’s Drive-In and he published a book! Derick reconciled with his family and was allowed to get any job he wanted (choosing to stay on as the social media manager at Wiley’s) instead of following in his dad’s footsteps. Alice was able to sell her place and she reclaimed her fame as a badass woman director. Avery and Stacia are still together, Mateo and Brandon are still together, Wren and Derick are implied to be engaged! I love happy epilogues and this was just so good.

- I’m glad Mateo’s firing wasn’t framed as something Wren did wrong. He was right and I’m so glad Mateo apologized for not doing his job properly. 

- Oscar is such a great side character. He sort of exists to elevate other voices and he fulfills that role perfectly. I love when a character does one job and does it well. That sounds weird but it’s true.

- The friendship between Alice and Wren was honestly just adorable. When they watched a movie together, I was deeply moved. Just seeing Alice open up to someone after being an isolated recluse for years is just so sweet. And it makes me so happy that she was able to reclaim her fame.

- I am a sucker for childhood friends to lovers. Wren and Derick have so much history together and it is adorable. I love the flashbacks because they meld so well with the story and it gives us so much more depth to their relationship. To how much Derick means to Wren even though Derick had hurt him before.

- Their present day interactions were adorable too though. The best part was probably the cuddle session on the couch in the basement after watching a bunch of POV Disney ride videos. It’s so unique to this book and it’s so tender and soft. And the fact that Derick was upstairs in the morning making pancakes just fills me with that domestic sweetness that I love.

- Demisexual representation! I love ace rep of any kind really but that conversation between Wren and Brandon was just so insightful. And I love that there is no shame surrounding Wren exploring his sexuality in his twenties.

Dislikes:

- Wren sometimes frustrates me. Mostly when he flat out ignores Derick or tries to stop Derick from talking. He admits that he should not have done that so I forgive him somewhat. But it’s still frustrating that he did that at all. I’m actually more willing to forgive him for the second time he does it. Because the first, when Derick tries to apologize for ghosting Wren, was just unnecessary. It went on for so long and for what. 

- Mateo being a bad employee just sucks because I just got so annoyed with him. It made me wonder how he was going to act like a friend to someone who got him the job when he won’t even do it properly? And how is he gonna act like it’s not his fault for almost causing an accident when he’s literally staring at his phone during work! He should’ve been reprimanded earlier but I get not wanting to cross blurred friendship/co-worker lines. 

- Derick ghosting Wren sucked! I think this one is personal though. Because it is my absolute worst fear. I’m a socially anxious person and I love my friends. And it was pretty obvious that Wren and Derick were really close up until college. So the ghosting just rips my soul out and tears it into shreds. Then Derick said he didn’t feel the same way but then sent those mixed messages and it was just infuriating. He made me feel frustrated. And I do not like that in a love interest of a book. If they frustrate me, in the beginning especially, it’s difficult for me to see them as good for the protagonist. Even if Wren says they help each other be better, I just… ugh. Communicate better! Thank fuck he promised to do that.

[karliesbuzzcut]

You seem to know and understand the Kaylor narrative or history so I was hoping maybe you or an anon could answer a question for me. So I wouldn't classify myself as a Swiftie, over the years I don't get on here alot and if I do it's not about trying to meet her. I have follwed her closely though because I am a fan. I have gone to every show, buy the merch. I only became aware of the fact that there was something called "Kaylor" this year. And so I just saw this post that said something like "remember when TTB let us all post messages about how Taylor disappointed us when she walked in Paris with Joe". And I'm sort of confused because that leads me to believe that somehow Taylor promised or hinted she's LBGTQ, and I somehow missed this big hint.

What I have seen in following her was 2015 and 2016 was a shit show. I followed the assault trial and the public shaming. Then there was Rep and I know some claim Lover was queer baiting. On one hand I thought YNTCD could be more accused of making a profit off the community, but I think its just how she leans into an era. She always has and based on Miss Americana she acknowledged she has to reinvent herself every era. Sultry Red, Pop Princess 1989, dark Rep, bright Lover, flannel and cottage core Folklore. These have always just been themes to me and not indicative of her personality. And I guarantee her next album will also have a theme and a look that is totally different from Evermore.

So where does this attitude of Taylor owes or promised us something actually come from? Because I mean I saw someone mention Karlies wedding and how disappointing that was but when I looked up the date it was like almost a year before even Lover was dropped. Maybe I just have a problem with harassing or accusing someone of lying to you. Or maybe I really do have blinders on and miss some big clues Taylor left for 3 years while was blinded by my own perceptions?

It has taken me SO long to answer this ask — I hope you’re still around, Anon ❤️ This is what I keep saying, sometimes I hold on to a message that I’m excited to answer, waiting for a moment of inspiration or something... and then I get distracted.

I wanted to organise my thoughts somehow but I should’ve known by now that my thoughts, just like my life, will never be organised so I might as well give it a try.

In hindsight, YNTCD was a bit of a mess. Without getting into discussing Taylor’s sexual orientation (something no one here actually knows, so we’re not going to act like we do) — as you mentioned, she was profiting from the community. But as you also said, she leans into Eras, and Lover was The Colourful Era. However there’s colourful Lover,

And then there’s this,

This second picture is from iHeartRadio Wango Tango (June, 2019) on the first day of Pride Month. On the 14th of that month, she released YNTCD as a single. Along with her petition to the US senate to pass the Equality Act. A few days later, on the 17th, she released the music video for that song.

Once June was over, she went back to her original pastel colours aesthetic. The urban legend going around in Kaylordom is that she was planning to come out, but once she found out her Masters were sold to Scooter, she backtracked. But a more realistic explanation is that Pride Month was over and she needed to promote the rest of the album.

I’m not saying that LGBTQ+ rights are not a matter close to her heart. I’m just saying that she’s a marketing queen. And that at some point she and a bunch of people sat at an office, looked at the album’s tracklist and decided which songs would be released, when and how.

So Taylor purposefully decided to insert herself into several discussions surrounding the LGBTQ community: was she there as an ally or as a member? Was that it or is there more to come?

And I’m saying all this because I want to make it absolutely clear that I think there’re many conversations to be had, regarding this subject, that are absolutely valid. And it’s very much understandable that people have questions about it to this day.

But...

...

That’s not what Hardcore Kaylors discuss... is it?

Because it’s miles different to consider the possibility of Taylor is something other than straight, than to strongly believe Taylor Swift is currently dating supermodel, Joshua Kushner’s wife, Karlie fucking Kloss.

To get there you need to believe that Taylor and Karlie are secretly communicating with you somehow. I’m talking emojis: how many? Which ones? What do they represent? Half truths: sure, she said ‘Joe’, but she didn’t say which Joe, she didn’t say ‘my boyfriend Joe’. Double messages: she said she cut his hair but we all know that means she cut him out of her life. And the best of all: ~secret sources~ which simply means that there are some Tumblr users who claim to know what’s going on behind the scenes. I know, I know, people pretending to be someone they’re not or knowing something they don’t ON THE INTERNET? Shocking. Isn’t?

But give all of that to a very enthusiastic internet community who loves bouncing ideas off each other, and you end up with ‘due dates’.

You see, hardcore Kaylor have this constant feeling that something is about to happen, they gather clues from lyrics, social media posts, interviews, plus whatever their secret informant has told them (ever). They share their theories. Other people add to them. Suddenly something big is going to happened in January, March, June. But nothing happens. Nothing ever happens. Or even worse, something happens involving their boyfriend/husband.

And obviously they’re going to be disappointed, but they’re not going to be angry at themselves. Because if they thought that this was all in their heads we wouldn’t be here. They think that Taylor and Karlie are the ones leading them on and then changing the plans on them. And if you believe that, it makes sense that you’re frustrated by the girls.

Aaaaanyway... currently the due date is an actual due date. They’re hoping something happens before Karlie gives birth. Nothing will, most probably. And I don’t know about anyone else but I’m looking forwards to the subsequent meltdown ✌🏼

[feather-dancer]

Trollhunters Fanfic Recommendations - Part 3

Somehow there is now a third one of these because I read far far too much fanfic and have no regrets about it. It’s with great pleasure I can also announce I’ve been digging around for Trans Jim fics and found some gems while I was at it that have been included below.

You can find Part 1 of my fanfic recommendations here!

And Part 2 here!

Plus one shameless plug for my own current fics.

General Trollhunters

(And you're my Arcadia.) - All you need to know is it’s Jilaire post Season 3 and one line in particular made me burst out laughing.

Bitter[sweet] - Sometimes the thing you need most is just a really good friend when your body plain sucks. Contains Trans Jim and is delightful.

the red book - Far beyond the humble days of Season 3 and after living beyond his human family and friends, Jim has started to forget who he was and that he was ever just a human kid.

The Halls of Arcadia High - When Strickler disappeared in Season 1, his absence was felt in many ways even in the form of a humble piano left un-played.

Not - Not!Enrique isn’t his name yet it’s what they call him anyway. An albatross reminding him of what was taken before he even had a chance to start.

On the Radio  - The final telling of the Janus Order.

Gay stories for Tales of Arcadia - Yeah I’m pretty sure you can guess where this is going, LGBTQ+ rep!

Through the Fires - There was a before time, one where Gunmar still roamed free and Deya had yet to be chosen let alone felled. These are the words of the humble witnesses of that war, from the changelings to the trolls who would oppose them.

Trollhunters: A Series of Disjointed Drabbles - This is so cute and fluffy I might just spontaneously combust.

Insomnolence - It is after the final battle and Jim has a lot of thoughts.

another tragedy - Anxiety is a bastard, it gives a lot of bad thoughts but sometimes there is a little bit of truth buried beneath it all and it whispers all about how you can keeping doing the wrong things for the right reasons. Season 2.

i will always hold you close (but i will learn to let you go) - Sometimes the hardest thing you can do is learning when to let go. Sometimes however, even when you want to they hold back even tighter. Season 2.

your eyes look like coming home - Toby has been the witness from the start of just how close Jim has been to death multiple times over and how Jim he is about the whole thing. It scares him how this time might be it, again and again. Season 2.

The Collected Tellings of Shigir and Other Changeling Folktales - I don’t actually know which category to put this under so I’m going the to heck with it route instead. Does exactly what it says on the tin for your Changeling lore needs, some of which will be off-hand mentioned or outright appear during the fantastic Terpsichore - The Comedy of the Danse Macabre - ACT I.

Please note: The main fic is Stricklake if that’s not your cup of tea, the folktales however can be enjoyed regardless.

~~~

Stricklake

all that dazzling dawn has put asunder - The sequel to in my sleep i dreamed of waking, this is filled with delightful fluff, internal panicking and the joys of trying to explain how you’re a not and how that does not change the fact Strickler is still a was. Being a changeling in these strange after times are difficult even before the other baggage involved but at least you're still here to start.

Two Pisces in Alto Mare - When in Rome as part of a study trip abroad, you meet the most curious people sometimes and  by fluke or nature you may even do so more than once.

Filling The Gaps - Possibly a bit of an unusual mention but! These are little pieces of Fallout that were going on while our eyes were following elsewhere and boy it can hurt.

Rehearsals and DvD Bonus Features - Another from the home of Terpsichore - The Comedy of the Danse Macabre - ACT I which is being listed here because it does have Stricklake in it. Some things don’t make the cut with writing fanfic, either because the plot wandered off, it doesn’t fit right or it’s some backstory you haven’t quite figured out where it can be naturally brought up yet and in this case they’ve found themselves a home. Be warned, one particular chapter is explicit and has been marked as such in warnings in the chapter summary.

~~~

Alternate Universes

(Un)Becoming - Not technically an AU in the conventional sense but I’m putting it under here anyway. It’s Unbecoming, as ever the road to hell is paved with good intentions but as Jim threw in the towel the storm that’s coming will not be stopped. However, what if others caught glimpses of a world that still had a human Trollhunter to defend it?

Steve the Kind - Steve became the Trollhunter but how the adventure unfolds differently than when Jim was at the helm might just surprise you. Very slow burn Steve and Jim that in a rather refreshing change doesn’t throw Claire under the bus for it to happen. Praise be.

31 Days in the Darklands - Strickmar that somehow kinda works?? It helps with Gunmar having the space to breathe outside of getting Morgana out and be more of his own character. Storywise, in order to rescue Jim from the Darklands Strickler broke a deal that would cost his own freedom and now has to somehow maintain a treaty between three very different factions all the while keeping his own neck intact. The intense distrust in changelings continues on to boot but hey, nobody said politics was easy.

Building Bridges - So Gunmar is distinctly of the more Eldritch variety with dream powers, the ability to easily see through lies for the true emotions and thoughts, Bular has the Insight as well to a lesser extent and everyone has somehow managed to hop onto Stricklander’s bandwagon of we must protect Jim Lake Jr. at all costs. Now the race is on as both sides try to sway the young Trollhunter to their way of thinking and the Trollmarket has no idea how dangerously badly they’re doing so far.

Lost Souls - A fic written in variable snapshots. Jim was kidnapped and changed by Merlin far earlier to be his Champion to ensure he did the “right thing” while Barbara in desperation to find her son falls into the hands of Morgana thus mother and son become enemies without even realising it.

Faithfully - Barbara died overseas and yet somehow Jim still managed to make his way back to Arcadia to become the next Trollhunter. This road is far harder for it as a seemingly homeless orphan though on the flipside he keeps on acquiring dads. Contains Trans Jim, timeline variable snapshots and I love it very much.

The Burning - There was a fire, it killed Barbara and Jim was thought dead as well. Nobody could have guessed the feral half changeling that is running around like a cryptid is the very much alive Jim.

Finding Daylight - Jim is a very low ranking changeling, terrified of Bular and his home amounts to little more than a spot in the woods. Things started to go pear shaped for him when he accidentally stumbled over Blinky and only more so when the amulet picks him after Kanjigar is felled. Tis not a kind world for a changeling child out there and he has nobody really to help watch his back until he stumbles on a potential maybe.

~~~

The bonus shoutout for an excellent MSA fic   

A Sleep Like Death - Who wouldn’t want to go visit a tower you’ve inherited apparently and has haunted as all hell all over it? Not Vivi that’s for sure. Poor Arthur is just along for the ride and then things start to get really weird when they find it’s still occupied and thinks Arthur is his jailor.

[nudibranchiethoughts]

Disclaimer: this is 90% of a ramble I wrote in response to a thread on my main blog :-) im not editing yet b/c I've topic jumped to celtic languages vs anglocentrism. Also I found out tumblr posts have a limit so I'm gonna continue the thread in reblogs LOL

Addressing a common theme in the original discourse thread, especially with regard to using LGBTQ people as tools or weapons: I am very literally an LGBTQ person in the flesh, I associate with almost exclusively LGBTQ people (just the way the mop flopped). Unless I am somehow weaponizing myself - I’m interested to see the reasoning. I’m self-IDing on this post for reference - I’m queer, bisexual non-binary. I actively participate offline in queer direct action/mutual aid + post covid, hopefully organising some things in my local area.

Canon in works of fiction is a fun guideline (though it is important for works of fiction to be finished before their canon is presented) for artists and otherwise creative people to work with. I don’t actually care enough to view content on Alex’s YouTube channel and when reading the “official” wiki for character backgrounds there was no mention of sexuality. This leads into a secondary point, the word of Alex in non-canon media is not the word of god. Unless there is direct, real LGBTQ rep in the finalised product it can only be taken as lip service - show in game that there are LGBTQ characters, not in related and non-canon media like YouTube videos. It’s the same kind of slapdash representation used by JK Rowling pre-TERF days to make her works seem more progressive than they are. To clarify: I’m not making a direct comparison - Alex is not JK Rowling. It is the nearest example that’s easy to search and verify. To condense this: If it is not on the ‘official wiki’ with a source in game, or in the game with no room for confusion that the characters are LGBTQ, it is lip service at best.

The majority of my issues lay outside of the development process and involve what I perceive to be really unfair treatment of the fanbase (people are giving him money and he has only JUST implemented Osana. It has been 6 years. Sole developer or not, that’s an incredibly long time when she probably should have been added in at the beginning to fix balancing issues and time schedule conflicts - it would have been easier) as well as issues with wider anime content that have directly influenced his game development and attitudes towards women.

Yandere Simulator is misogynistic and I would venture to say Alex is too. This is pretty easily summed up in the first regard with the panty shot mechanic + the reduction of women into being either rivals or NPCs with no personality or emotion. I would be interested to see if the final product passes the Bechdel Test or not. I genuinely think I would have had less of an issue with this first point if he had just openly stated that Yandere Simulator would be a fanservice ecchi game with a yandere character - at least it would have been open about the intentions. Instead it’s being gussied up as a social sim + assassination game.

Tackling the misogyny in plainer terms: the objectification of women in Yandere Sim both continues to push stereotypes of women only being objects to gain or exploit as well as the sexualisation of school uniforms and youth. Even if there is a disclaimer that they are all 18, the sexualisation of school uniforms and “schoolgirls” contributes to the idea of younger girls being more sexually desirable. There are multiple published studies regarding the impacts of sexualisation of younger women and its impacts on both their mental health and their safety - I’m going to cite my sources at the end of this if you do want to read up as well as pulling the relevant information from the articles if needed. This is of course not limited to Yandere Sim and is more than prevalent in wider anime/manga content as well as a lot of content outside of that. I am not touching on the fact the games mechanics include torturing and murdering school girls, I think that’s pretty self explanatory. No media exists in a vacuum - it should, will be + can be critiqued in its wider social context. Yandere Simulator is absolutely not exempt from this.

[ruffiorocks]

She Ra! This show was amazing! (Long post)

Omg! I stayed up until 4.00am to binge watch the last season of She Ra. I'm gutted that before I put it on I opened Twitter for a second and the Catradora kiss was ruined for me! 😞

But what a bloody season! What a show! I grew up watching the original She Ra and the original He Man. Mine and brothers favourite movie was "The Secret of the Sword" (the He Man and She Ra film where she is first introduced). That show was brilliant for its day, it depicted strong women who didn't need men to save them. Plus She Ra was so much better than He Man, she could heal people, talk to animals and turn her sword into anything she liked! She also had a flying unicorn that could talk! What else could a girl want in a show?

When I heard this was going to be revived I was a bit apprehensive, especially after the failed He Man reboot and the failed Thunder Cats one. (Dont even get me started on that monstrosity they call a reboot! At least the anime version was cool).

I decided to give the show a watch, convincing myself that is was for nostalgic purposes only, and wow! I could not stop watching it!

This version is great, because it wasn't trying to be the same as the original. The basic premise was the same but the story and the characters were fleshed out so much more. The relationships between the characters was just something else. I loved how they de-aged them, so it was teenagers and not adults this time.

Making Adora and Catra best friends? I loved it! The fact that this friendship/enemies story between the two became the heart of this show was something else. The original series had Catra being jealous of Adora and becoming a force Captain after Adora left but that was the extent of their relationship.

I love how Hordak wasn't even all the fussed about conquering Etheria. He had so much more depth to him than the original one did. OG Hordak was a bumbling idiot who laughed evilly and could turn himself into rockets and canons. The most interesting thing about him was he used to be Skeletors mentor. The very idea or Hordak caring for anything or anyone other than imp was unthinkable. This Hordak has a tragic back story, he's had it rough, he has a specific goal and conquering Etheria seems to become less and less important to him. He's even able to form a close friendship with Entrapta.

Shadow Weaver being a maternal figure for Adora was something the original had but wasn't mentioned much at all. The fact that she was the foster mother of both Catra and Adora and favoured Adora to the point of obsession in getting her back gave the back story so much more. The fact that Shadow weaver is more connected to the other characters and has her own back story and then a redemption, I love it.

I also love how the relationship between Shadow Weaver and Catra was really explored. It made Catra so much more than just a boring villain of the week when you see the neglect and abuse she went through. How her only solice was Adora, you can totally understand why she feels broken when Adora leaves everything they both know. But I also love how even though she was villian she kept her sense of humour and she just couldnt get over Adora no matter how hard she tried to.

Glimmer? So much more character than the original. Her relationship with her mother was brilliant. Angela was so funny and I was gutted when she died. In the original it was Angela that had been gone a long time and had to be rescued by He Man and She Ra to be reunited with Glimmer. Her father didn't show up, but it was rumoured that a mysterious red knight who Angela thought she knew could have been him.

Bow? This bow was amazing with all of his tech and his sass and his sensitivity. The original bow was OK but he wasn't the character you watched the show for. I'm also glad they didnt have him pining for She Ra like the OG did. The fact he has two gay dads was amazing! I do wish they had kept Kowl though.

Swift Wind is hands down by favourite side character! That horse is so sassy he just make me crack up no matter what he does. I'm glad they did him justice, because when I was younger I always wanted a white horse and to call it Spirit like the Original She Ra and so that meant a lot that they just improved on him.

I love how everyone knows who Adora is, there is no secret identity.

The fact that the princesses have so much more personality and backstory than their OG counter parts did is brilliant. My absolute favourite is Mermista!

Scorpia? I love how she wasn't just a bad guy like her OG counter part was. This character is so much more interesting. She goes on her own journey, she doesn't even seem to grasp what she's doing half the time because she is just desperate to have friends. She never gave up on her friendship with Catra, even when Catra didn't want her she was still there. I love that.

Sea Hawk? Omg! One of my favourites! A far cry from his OG character. I'm so glad they didnt have him and Adora as a couple like the OG did! "ADVENTURE!!"

This show had everything! So much more humour than the OG one. It allowed violence as well which is something the OG one didn't allow. If you ever watch it you'll notice She Ra doesn't hit any one who is alive (Robots don't count) she would beat them in ways they couldn't be harmed, like she ra throwing into mud or water. But this? This show has some ass kicking going on!

The shape of the characters is also brilliant. I love how Glimmer is slightly bigger than than the other characters. How we have them in all shapes and sizes. The OG characters were always drawn using the same template. The footage was also constantly reused in every episode.

Now for the change I love the most! The LGBTQ rep! This would have been unthinkable when the OG show was on! No one would have dared suggest it. (Although He Man always had gay under tones, especially after the live action movie happened). But when I was watching this show being gay wasn't something people discussed and certainly not with children. The most we saw was the occasional gay couple on a soap. For me it was Tony and Simon in Eastenders and Zoe Tate on Emmerdale. But a children's show? NEVER!

I wish I had had this show when I was a kid. It took me until i became an adult to admit that I liked women. If I had had this show and these characters in my life perhaps things would have been easier. It would have helped me understand myself better. Unfortunately for the time it still would have been frowned upon and even though my family are much more accepting after a lot of education I don't think I would have been allowed to watch this show this way when I was a kid.

But kids now are so lucky! They are exposed to the LGBT every day. It's everywhere! It isn't hiding anymore, it's so much more accepted. Even when I was a teen at school a lot of gay people were still in the "we know you exist but we don't want to know about it" phase.

This show handled it so well!! There was no coming out story line, no trying to figure out why they had these feelings. It was treated the exact same way any hetro storyline would be. The fact that there was a canon lesbian couple from the get go said it all. As the seasons went in they progressed and gave us Bows gay dad's. They had Adora crushing on women. They didn't even try to hide what they were doing with Catra and Adora. I love how this last season gave more screen time and story to Spinereella and Netalia rather than them just "being there". It was just handled so well. None of the characters battered an eye lid at the thought of Adora and Catra as a couple. I'm just gutted its over. They even gave us an epilogue!!

Last point, maybe it's an unpopular opinion but I feel like they didn't need to put Glimmer and Bow together. I always adored how they had this wonderful best friend relationship between a boy and girl that didn't need to end in them falling in love. I never saw them as a couple, just best friends. Plus I always saw Bow as asexual.

Catradora reminds me so much of Supercorp from Supergirl. It gives me hope that maybe the show will be brave and give us a canon Lena and Kara. But I won't hold my breath 😅

All the kudos to She Ra!

[buddha-in-disguise]

Oh boy, another long post today. But this is who I am 😂 And well, another person decided to make asinine comments about Supercorp fans on their Twitter account about how Supercorp fans are mostly young and White, so ... here we go.

Yesterday I mentioned The 100, and how Clexa is still something spoken about today for LGBTQ people. Even those who weren't around it as it went on, a lot of you will of at least heard of it, know it has caused a shift in LGBTQ fandoms, even if you don't know details.

I was actually a little late into The 100, mostly because it wasn't easy to watch episodes at the time in the UK. Unfortunately that timing meant I had barely got into the fandom before they went straight into the kill your gays trope.

The thing Clexa did was twofold. Firstly, although not the 1st time it had happened, it was the 1st time real and very much needed discussion over TV's decisions to 'Bury your Gays,' went on. It also showed as a collective LGBTQ fandom force (other than perhaps Xena), it was powerful. We initiated change because of it.

Are Supercorp that powerful? You know what, I think they just might be getting there. After all, media are now beginning to write much more about the issues Supercorp is raising.

Mo Ryan changed LGBTQ fandom in her reporting of Clexa. She still is changing things on how the TV industry works (her reporting on sexual harassment in the TV industry alone is incredible. If you don't follow her on Twitter I highly recommend you do).

Here are facts taken from GLAAD (you can see the full report here: https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/GLAAD%20WHERE%20WE%20ARE%20ON%20TV%202019%202020.pdf

The main takeaways are this.

GLAAD and Harris Poll’s Accelerating Acceptance study shows that 20 percent of Americans 18 to 34 – a key demographic for networks to court, as well as the rough age range where several characters fall – identify as LGBTQ.

As such, GLAAD recommendation is TV produce shows to reflect that percentage. In other words, 20% of characters cast are LGBTQ.

Sadly that figure is still roughly 50% below that recommendation. See pic.

Here is the other key takeaway, and is why Supergirl, by giving us Supercorp, wouldn't be just performative in its LGBTQ representation but groundbreaking.

'At a time when viewers have more options for entertainment than ever before, Hollywood must include lead LGBTQ characters whose stories are told with nuance and depth that reflect the real world that audiences know if they want to retain and grow their audiences.'

'... must include LEAD LGBTQ characters.'

Hello! Waves in Supercorp! Right here! Also canon to some of the comic. Hellooooo.

Also important is the last segment: '... whose stories are told with nuance and depth that reflect the real world that audiences know if they want to retain and grow their audiences.'

Sadly, as it stands with Season 5, Supergirl have not even given the canon LGBTQ rep nuance or depth in the storylines. If anything, it was the worst season ever. Less than 10 minutes of just Dansen? Only one Nia episode of depth. Having LGBTQ characters, if you don't utilise them, is performative. Supergirl have been just that. Especially as Kelly is Black, so double performative by them. Sheesh.

Supergirl have two stark choices now.

They ignore Supercorp and will forever vilified by LGBTQ audiences on how they queerbaited. And I mean forever! We aren't a small fandom, and LGBTQ fandom memories are long. Hell, just this week Xena was all over my timeline as it celebrated it being 25 years since it was shown.

Or Supergirl can take on GLAAD's recommendation, grasp Supercorp with both hands, really give Dansen, Kelly, Alex and Nia good solid LGBTQ storylines and be forever praised (even if some lingering resentment might surface on treatment of the LGBTQ fans and rep) for doing so. 25 years worth potentially.

They literally have nothing to lose. Last season alone proved that ignoring Lena and Kara on any level, trying to enforce unwanted men into storylines, tanked viewing figures.

The moment Lena and Kara reconciled, social media went crazy - and for the first time in ages, trended - Twitter picked it up on their moments. Media outlets loved it. Viewing figures improved.

Yet, despite all this, despite all the fans I know, despite us constantly acknowledging that some fans go too far, despite the fandom being a huge, diverse group, with a vast age range, we continually get vilified.

And for what?

Wanting what heterosexual fans get given ad nauseam?

Why, other than internalised homophobia (& yes, that can exist even if someone identifies LGBTQ), do people object?

All we want is the bare minimum that heterosexual cis people get given each and every day a thousand times over.

If you can't accept my comments, or even understand what GLAAD recommends is still falling way short, and that without LGBTQ fans voices amplifying the messages, we would have nothing, you're part of the problem.

If we sit quietly by, simpering in a corner we get nothing. This isn't a gay agenda. It is simply asking for equality, & it doesn't cost you anything.

Well, I've never sat by quietly simpering in the corner. So that is why I've written another long assed post.

/end

Unedited, so apologies for any mistakes.

[ladyonfire28]

Hmm I'm a little concerned about Noémie's new movie where she plays a trans man. Now that she has this great rep as an excellent actress, she might get backlash. She worked with Celine & Adele who have been very vocal about having representation in movies, idk how they might feel about this.

Listen, I’ve been thinking about this for days for some reasons, I’m so scared of the backlash she’s gonna get. 

But i’m not concerned about Céline or Adèle feel about this. I’m quite sure they’ll still support Noémie. Because they know she’s a good person with a kind heart. And she wants to represent the lgbtq+ community. And technically, there is representation in the movie, since the movie has a trans character, it’s just not interpreted by a trans person unfortunately. 

Of course I’ve also felt quite skeptical when i heard about A Good Man. I’d have really preferred that a trans man play that role, and not a cis woman. But you also have to understand the whole context. It’s not all black and white. 

Noémie knows the director, Marie Castille Mention Schaar for 6-7 years, they’re very close, she’s the one who discovered her. She already did 3 movies with her before that one including her breakout movie “Heaven Will Wait”. And that same director was also her maid of honor at her wedding. So they’re very close. And I think Noémie trust her with everything and she’s very loyal to her. 

And Marie Castille isn’t a bad person either. She always try to make movies that matters, on subjects that are usually very complex, very taboo. And i don’t think she’s the best director ever, most of her movies are alright but nothing really incredible (Heaven Will Wait was truly good though),  but i still respect the fact that she tries to tackle very important issues that nobody would dare to talk about. And she’s a huge supporter of the lgbtq+ community, she went to marches and all and supported them. She’s an ally, just like Noémie. 

I just think she didn’t see the real issue when she casted her favorite actress as a trans man ? Or maybe she had a reason to ask Noémie (i’m not saying it was a good reason at all) ? I think she really trusted Noémie with that role because she knew she’s talented and fearless when it comes to complex roles. But it’s obviously another issue for sure, and the director should have known about it. But she should have casted a trans man nonetheless. 

But France isn’t there yet, we barely have any trans representation in our movies, so the whole “we need trans people to play trans character” conversation ? That’s something that’s still so far away from us unfortunately. I can’t even think of one french movie that has a trans person as a main character (the only recent film i heard about with a trans actor was a belgian film called Lola vers la mer and it was with a trans woman actress). And I only know of one actor that is out as a trans man but that’s it. And actually Marie Castille worked with him on the movie (probably during the writing process). But they still hang out together today. We barely have trans actors in the business. But that’s also the main reason why we NEED to cast them in films. Because they aren’t a lot of them and we need more of them. And there will only be more trans actors if casting directors and directors are choosing them. And not only to play trans but also cis characters. But we’re still so gar away from that right now. As I said, it’s already so new to have a film about a trans character. And i’m not saying it’s an excuse, we’re really bad at this, but i think we have to be a little patient and understanding because of that context. 

I really feel bad for trans people who may feel hurt by the lack of real representation. And I totally understand it and it sucks so much. And they have every right to feel upset or angry about it. But I don’t think Noémie deserves hate for accepting that role, I think she wanted to do good, she wanted the trans community to feel represented so she accepted the part. We know how she feels about lack of representation. She already said about her own movie about the gypsy community that she wished someone from their own community could have directed the movie, and not herself.  I truly think her heart is in the right place. 

And hopefully that movie will bring other questions and will raise the issue about the lack of trans actors in movies. I just want that discussion to be done respectfully. I know the director already blocked people on IG because they were insulting/harassing her about the film. And that’s not the way to do it. I’m sure they’re all open to the conversation, but insulting them isn’t the way. I know it might be hard to understand it when you’re not french but we need more time. And we really need to hear and listen to each other. Especially when we talk to people who are actually allies. We can’t be mean to people that are sometimes clueless about some issues, but still are trying to support the community. Let’s educate them, let’s have a conversation with them so they can understand the whole issue. But if you think insulting them is the only way then I’m truly not with you. 

But yeah…. That’s a long ass answer i’m so sorry i got carried away, that was not the answer you expected lol… 

But I reaaaaally hope the movie is not too bad and  the story will be told respectfully. If the character is badly represented, that will be truly their fault though. And they’ll be criticized rightfully so. But if the story is good and the character is well written, then it’s already a first step. The next one will be to have a real trans person playing that kind of character, and i really hope that step will be made quickly. 

[penzyroamin]

Hi I know it’s been a bit but I’m the confused bi anon. I really really appreciated your response and it wasn’t too long. You made me feel a lot better. I was wondering if you could maybe suggest some books, tv, movies with bi female characters. Thanks soo much for the entire last response . You are absolutely incredible and so sweet. This means more to me than you could ever know❤️

of course!! i’m glad that my first response helped <3

disclaimer of course: i’m not bi! so i’m not an Authoritative Source on bi rep and what people want to see more of. i do actively seek out stuff about lgbtq+ characters, specifically girls and women, so i have some recs! however, i’ll also be adding some things that some bi folks i know have recommended because while lesbians and bi women have a lot in common, these are at the end of the day representing them, not me :)

extra-super favorites will be bolded! i’m putting this under a read more because... i read a lot of books. and recommended a lot of them.

books:

her royal highness by rachel hawkins-- this book is a pretty easy read-- don’t expect any massive revelations about life from it, and you’ll have a good time!!! essentially, a bi texan girl named millie, after having her heart broken by her friend-turned-sort-of-gf, goes to boarding school in scotland and ends up rooming with the princess, flora. if this sounds outrageous and sappy, that’s because it is! and i love it! sexuality isn’t a BIG part of this book, but it’s discussed, and it’s just a generally fun enemies-to-lovers story about a bi aspiring geologist and a no-fucks-to-give lesbian princess and them falling in love!

fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe by fannie flagg-- hello this is actually my favorite book! unlike hrh it is... a LOT to read. it essentially follows 2 stories-- one about a housewife named evelyn and her friendship with an old woman named ninny threadgoode who she meets at the old folks home her mother-in-law stays at, and the other about the stories ninny tells her about her sister-in-law idgie and her partner, ruth. the book was published in 1987, and ruth and idgie’s story is set during the great depression, so they aren’t actively labeled as lesbian or bi, but it’s made obvious enough through coding and the fact that ruth has relationships with men prior to idgie while idgie spends her entire childhood pining after ruth. both storylines are fantastic-- they have a lot to say about the lives of southern women in the 30s and 80s, and about race relations at both periods. i’ll warn you that there are depictions of extreme racism and of abuse, but it handles both delicately. it’s a critical piece of southern literature, and a landmark for lgbtq+ storytelling. as a bonus, my copy has a bunch of great recipes in the back, so if you read it you might chance upon an edition with those in it. if you like poignant period pieces about wlw relationships, women losing their damn minds, and abusive men getting what they deserve, this is the book for you! you will sob. this is a fair warning.

you should see me in a crown by leah johnson-- i haven’t personally read this one, but i’ve heard great things about it from everyone i know who has! an anxious black bi girl in indiana has to win prom queen at her mostly-white school in order to get enough scholarship money to go to the college of her dreams, but ends up falling for mack, another girl running for queen. 

@landlessbud wanted me to shout out red, white, and royal blue by casey mcquinston-- you’ve almost definitely heard about it before (first son and prince of wales, enemies-to-lovers with a side dish of political drama), and it is primarily about a mlm romance, but nora is a fabulously fun bi girl side character and there’s a lot of great stuff about figuring out your sexuality in it.

leah on the offbeat by becky albertalli-- i’ve read a lot of complex thoughts on this book, and mine are... i like it! it’s flawed, sure, and i wish it had handled a few things a little better, but you know what? it’s cute as fuck! leah is a fat bi drummer, and she’s super cool! abby is a great love interest, and she goes through a whole bi realization throughout the book. all in all, it’s just a fun wlw high school romcom with a couple solid dramatic beats and a lot of goofball shenanigans. also, if you were an american girl kid??? one scene in this book will make the entire experience worth it for you.

harley quinn: breaking glass by mariko tamaki and steve pugh-- hey, we’re in graphic novel territory now! this book is RAD. a really neat look at gentrification, community solidarity, giving people what they deserve, and fantastic lgbtq+ found families. teenage harleen quinzel is taken in by a group of drag queens, and is caught between two sort-of love interests-- mysterious vigilante the joker and classmate and community activist ivy-- and the different forms of protest and resistance they represent. the art here is STUNNING, and it’s a great read!

laura dean keeps breaking up with me, by the great mariko tamaki with art by rosemary valero-o’connell-- the vast majority of the characters are lgbt, with a lesbian main character, and the supporting cast including a bi nonbinary character, a bi girl character, and two mlm characters! this is mostly a piece about modern lgbtq+ teenagers and the way toxic relationships take over our lives. it’s one of the most cathartic things i’ve read in a LONG time, and especially if you’re at a point where your sexuality feels kind of vague, this is a great read because it embraces that vagueness by not needing to clearly label the characters and celebrates whatever point of clarity the characters are at. probably some of the most gorgeous art i’ve ever seen in a book, with a beautiful black-white-and-pink color scheme and a really neat approach to visual storytelling.

movies:

i don’t watch many movies, because i get bored really quickly hskdhskhds. but the movies i DO watch are usually gay!

wowie zowie its fried green tomatoes again!-- fannie flagg came back to adapt this into a film and HOT DAMN is it just as good. the plot is primarily the same, with some stuff obviously cut or trimmed to make it a two hour movie instead of a 450 page books fhsjdhsjhds. mary-louise parker plays ruth!!! it got a GLAAD award and an oscar nomination, and god it’s good. there are a couple scenes in here that i think are going to be in my mind until the day i die. the level of pure butch energy that idgie radiates in this film is a one-hit k.o. and it KILLS me.

birds of prey-- listen. this is not a profound movie. harley’s bisexuality isn’t emphasized, and romance is basically nonexistent in this movie. there is some... quite graphic violence. that said, this movie is so fucking fun. it’s mostly just a bunch of women fucking up everyone who crosses them while margot robbie gives a gleeful performance that you can just TELL she enjoyed the fuck out of. the last 20-30 minutes of this movie are the absolute best part, with a long sequence that kind of reinvented what an action/superhero movie could be for me. again, bisexuality isn’t a massive part of this-- it’s mentioned, and then harley just continues on in her gloriously campy outfits and breaks peoples’ knees. again, i CANNOT overemphasize just how fucking good the last 20-30 minutes are. this movie knows what it is and it embraces it. also, women beating people up in costumes that don’t horrifyingly objectify them is always a plus!

imagine me & you-- i’d be remiss if i didn’t mention this one, considering it’s probably one of the most iconic wlw romcoms. a woman named rachel, while at her own wedding, meets a florist named luce, and they fall in love. it’s a very sweet look at questioning your sexuality when you were already secure in it, and rachel’s husband wins “most genuinely understanding guy in a wlw movie” award. it has a lovely happy ending, and articles have been written about the importance of rachel being a bi character who a) gets a happy ending and b) isn’t shamed for figuring out her sexuality later on or slutshamed. this is just... a sweet movie. it’s the romcom a lot of us need in our lives. also, a LOT of floral imagery.

tv shows:

ok, i’ve got a confession. i reaaaaaaally don’t watch much tv. seriously, the only shows i’ve watched a substantial amount of recently have been parks and rec, schitt’s creek, the good place, and gilmore girls. i have a really REALLY short attention span.

that said, eleanor from the good place is bisexual!! the good place is a really wild ride, it’s half afterlife comedy half philosophical musing, and it will almost certainly make you gasp, laugh, think, and also probably cry. also, eleanor is just buckets of fun and she, like many of us, is often blown away by tahani (jameela jamil) and her beauty.

ummm shows i haven’t watched entirely or at all but that have bi women in them and seem pretty good: black lightning, sex education, jane the virgin, arrow. 

if you haven’t already watched it, do not believe what people are going to tell you about watching glee. it will drag you into a pit of despair and white men rapping, and it’s quite biphobic to top it all off.

i hope you enjoy at least some of these!! i tried to include some of my own favs and some that were pointed out to me, so i hope that at least a couple connect with you and make you feel better. again, the bolded ones are my 100% favorites. i love you and i’m glad you reached out again!!! feel free to send some more asks later on <3

[jeredu]

Axel: You sure you’re okay? I can see your-

Saïx: It’s none of your concern.

(Implied XemSai in the background)

I have some Saïx headcanons to share with a load of screenshots to illustrate, but some of those images are from KH3 (no story spoilers, just some outfit spoilers mostly), so read at your own risk. Thanks to @crystallineabyss for the gonial angle info!

So.  Headcanon:  Saïx | Isa is AFAB/DFAB  

I’m not naive enough to think it would ever be confirmed, nor do I really think Nomura had a reason to do this deliberately, given Japan and Disney aren’t exactly huge proponents of positive LGBTQ representation. HOWEVER, I do think it’s possible that someone on the modeling team wanted to sneak rep in under the radar?  Allow me to explain:

I’m not saying this is canon. However, the basis for this HC is 100% based on demonstrable canon facts, and only enhanced by a few theories/assumptions. I’ve tried playing Devil’s Advocate against myself to DISPROVE this theory, but every attempt I’ve made to find inconsistencies in canon material has failed, and I’ve instead only uncovered more and more evidence.  

First and foremost is body type (hip alignment, weight distribution, etc). There is no denying that Saix (and Isa) have a very noticeable hourglass figure:

Evident in KH2, but consistent in all appearances, including Birth By Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 3:

and

So that’s part of it- 

This in stark contrast to, say, Axel:

His whole upper body is honestly built more similarly to Kairi, Namine, and Xion. But he hides it well with those huge padded shoulders.

Notably, he’s the only one with a chest with a profile like this. 

I’ll compare his BBS model with Lea.  Please also note the faux sideburns, the baggy clothing, and the coat worn in a way to disguise a narrow waist and wide hips:

Notably, this is Saix in the foreground:

His shoulder/chest/bust is all very similar to kairi, but here’s another angle;

Lastly, let’s talk about gonial angle. Many thanks to @crystallineabyss for this info:

Saix's gonial angle indicates he very likely would've been afab whereas lea's is definitely amab

The gonial angle is something that is used to sex a body - mostly skeletal remains.  It's a trend that helps ascertain if someone was likely afab or amab in life An angle of under 120° is generally masculine, and one over 120° is feminine

I also want to mention that his nastiness to Xion in particular in Days could be some form of projecting internalized self hatred.  He also sees her as a literal doll, calls her ‘it’.  You get the idea.  That’s not proof, but it definitely supports rather than refutes this, given how poorly he handles his own negative feelings in general. 

Edit: @xigsai raised another good point; Saix sits with his legs crossed at the knee, which is often uncomfortable and uncommon for someone who is AMAB since uh. Things get squished. His sitting posture definitely stood out to a number of people I’ve spoken with as odd:

I could definitely dig up more examples but this honestly is plenty. The most baffling aspect is that nomura’s art also is in line with this theory, when i assumed he wouldn’t be the one pushing for this. It’s just ludicrous to think Japan circa 2005 would have deliberately pushed this agenda in a high profile, mainstream game. But the facts are what they are, and there’s too much evidence for it to be pure coincidence. It’s too consistent, ZERO inconsistencies, in fact. 

Again, this is not CANON because it has not been confirmed. But it is a reasonable HC given the facts presented.  Personally, I would love to have good, respectful representation. If one WAS going to do so- not with symbolism but just simply by inclusion, then Saix is a perfect example of how one WOULD do so.  If you didn’t know, AFAB = assigned female at birth. I’m saying Saix easily could be trans masc, and all evidence supports it, but it has not been confirmed and likely never will be. I love him either way, tbh. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

EDIT:  I have a few more images to add to this, just to illustrate the differences in body shapes- 

NOT TO SCALE-  Gummiphone images are NOT TO SCALE. Note that Saix’s coat  IS  unzipped, but like Larxene and Xion, the zipper hangs loosely enough that it appears closed, indicating that his HIPS are the widest diameter in contact with the coat (below his chest). 

and lastly, here’s the side by side of the BBS image I updated in the body of the post:

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: Meet Cute Diary

Author: Emery Lee

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Transphobia | Suicide Mention

Overall Rating: 6.6/10

Personal Opinion: Noah wants nothing more than to experience his own love story but until then, he’s settling for creating fictional love stories between trans people on his blog. Enter Drew, his chance at turning a fictional meet-cute into fake dating into real dating. Enter Devin, who threw up on him the first day they met. Everything Noah knows about love may not be entirely correct but it’s kind of fun watching him figure that out.

Do I Own This Book? No.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- The trans rep is exquisite and it makes sense seeing as it’s by a trans author. The protagonist is a trans man and his ending love interest goes by the neo-pronouns e/em so that’s awesome. Love that. Of course, we also have Becca, the local lesbian.

- I like the intent of the Meet Cute Diary being a beacon of hope for trans people. I think it is very sweet and noble because stories really do have that effect on people. I always get giddy when I see gay men thriving and in love in the world so I absolutely get the intention.

- I like that Noah developed as the story went on. He grew as a person. He saw where this unhealthy obsession with the idea of perfection had ruined his perspective on life. Being a perfectionist myself who also fantasizes about meet-cutes, I can relate.

- Devin really is super sweet. I love how e cares and does eir best no matter the situation. In spite of eir struggles and all e went through, e can still smile so brightly. I feel proud of em, all things considered. E clearly went on a journey of healing and self-discovery before e met Noah and I love that.

- That moment when Noah had gone and opened Becca’s list and it fit Noah perfectly was so beautiful. I love the slow and sure progression of Noah and Becca’s relationship too.

- The red flags around Drew were so clear, he might as well have been a red blanket. The casually racist joke that he had laughed at, the fact that he’s not even (normally) attracted to men but went out with an AFAB person, the possessiveness, the manipulation, the way he cared so much about internet clout on fucking Tumblr. God, I hated him. But Lee obviously did it on purpose. For readers to see it and for Noah not to. After all, Noah was wearing rose-tinted glasses for almost the entirety of his relationship with Drew. The red flags didn’t look red because of that. He got so caught up in the idea of a perfect romance because it was a cute meeting that he did not even stop to wonder if the relationship was actually good for him. The Diary also being a factor for why he wanted it to work out so badly also helps with tolerating his blindness. 

- I love Brian. I really do. He tries so hard for his brother and he’s not perfect but he is trying. I adore the fact that he acknowledges when he makes a mistake and tries to give his brother the best. The way he’d defended Noah against his transphobic girlfriend too, that was iconic.

- Then there’s Noah’s parents too! They obviously had a lot to process when Noah came out to them but over time, they were able to say his new name easily. It happened naturally and the best part? Noah was not even with them physically. They’d clearly practiced it on their own so they wouldn’t fuck it up during phone calls and I love that. I love their support. I mean, they even got Devin’s pronouns right too immediately! It’s honestly heartwarming. It’s the bare minimum but it’s still heartwarming.

Dislikes:

- While I get that Noah had rose-tinted glasses on and I imagine, I would not be immune to it either, it feels like Noah let Drew get away with too much. He should have been called out more. Now he’ll never learn. Calling Chinese food “exotic,” the casual racism, the fact that he made Noah feel less than a man when he said he wasn’t gay and Noah is “special.” Like what exactly do you mean by special? Special as a person or special as in his parts?I’m aware that it’s difficult for asses to change but I feel like Noah had the opportunity to sow the seeds of progression and didn’t. Drew will just remain a manipulative and self-centered jerkwad that could end up taking advantage of girls in the future. Him and the rest of his cronies.

- Noah is annoying. There’s just no way around it. I find it so hard to root for him even though he is the protagonist. I mean, he made no attempt to get to know Brian’s girlfriend. It didn’t matter that he didn’t like her, he should at least try not to be an asshole the entire time. Especially since he himself acknowledged that part of why he didn’t like her was jealousy. That he was going to lose his brother to a girlfriend somehow. Like that is so insecure of him. Granted, she’s a bigot but he didn’t know that when he was being rude to her! Someone that Brian had really liked.

- I’m not done with the “Noah’s annoying” bit. The way he treated Devin like he was above him in the beginning? Dick maneuver. I get it, he puked on you. I would not be thrilled by that either. But I would at least be amicable because I know a person would never do that on purpose! I think I would recognize Devin as this nerdy, awkward kid and not a villain.

- Let’s not forget about how Noah and Becca interacted. Yes, this was done on purpose so that the relationship can grow. But Noah was so self-centered and even his best-friend-approved-dating-list was so shallow. Although, to his credit, I would not be happy if my best friend was interested in a TERF either. I mean, gross. In a way, I have a hard time rooting for them and I usually love best friends in almost any situation.

- Too much eye-rolling. It felt like, on every other page, somebody’s rolling their eyes. It was usually Noah, which of course, did not help his case. I don’t mind the phrase “I rolled my eyes” since it is such a staple in writing and it is a real reaction people have. But he did it so much. It makes him seem egotistical and arrogant. I mean, maybe that was a little bit intentional? But it’s not like he’d changed after. He still rolled his eyes at everything and it was so annoying. Because it really made it seem like he thought he was so much better than others. Again, it makes it really difficult to root for him.

- I can see why Noah fell in love with Devin but why the fuck was it reciprocated? Just because he was Devin’s first real friend after coming out? That feels like such a flimsy reason in my opinion. I am willing to give this one a pass because e’s a lonely teenager who’s been through a lot. Noah is also the first person to validate all their pronoun changes and also someone who has seen em at eir most vulnerable. Okay, I think I talked myself into. It was the unblinking support and validation that probably attracted Devin to him so quickly. But Noah was still pretty awful to em in the beginning.

[rissa-posts]

Why representation in media is needed

Let's start this off by saying that I was born in the south... you can already see where this is going. My parents mindset is "I don't accept the LGBTQ+, but I won't do anything actively against it." That is important to note because it is better than being violent towards LGBTQ+, but it is still homophobic. Think of it as me being born on the threshold of closed mindedness and open mindedness (born on the wrong side, but easy to cross over)

The first representation in media was Nico coming out in Rick Riodan's House of Hades. I thought of it as a literal joke, a punchline. It only got worse when I overheard my mom recommend to another mom not to read it because Nico was gay. Me, being a young impressionable child, decided that day that gay=bad. (Because parents are always right, right?)

The next representation I saw was a minor character in a book who just happened to be gay. The important thing about this was that it literally didn't affect the plot at all. I mention a book who's title I can't even remember because I remember not recommending it because a minor character was gay. At 14 years old, I was censoring the LGBTQ+ community.

Skipping forward a year, my sister and I wanted How to Get Away With Murder. My sister absolutely loved Coonor and his arc. (Obviously she was more accepting than I was.) I was kind of quiet, so I didn't admit to her that I didn't really accept of the LGBTQ+ community. I just listened to her rant about Connor. This is kind of what started my transition towards acceptance.

Next up: Anime. The thing about Anime is that it is mostly queerbaiting (especially the ones I watched) so this mostly goes out to the fandoms. I was the heteronormative shipper, but I was definitely exposed to all of the gay ships. My sister also watched some of these with me, and she would just rant about her favorite ships and point out any cute moments. I actually found some of the ships cute, and by the end of my anime phase, I was shipping several gay ships.

Last up, cartoons. I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and binged Avatar and Korra in 3 days. I remember that when I watched Korra, I naturally veered toward the heteronormative ships. But I also remember being pleasantly surprised and ginuenly happy when Korra and Asami became canon. Why? Because Korra deserved someone who made her happy instead of confused. This was the first gay ship I had formed without the influence of my sister, which was a huge step in my little journey.

I can't tell you the specific steps between LoK and now, but I can tell you that I have grown. Now, I watch Steven Universe, She-Ra, Dragon Prince, etc., and I get excited about representation. I was happy when Rupphire had their wedding, I ship ALL the character on She-Ra, and can't wait to see the promised rep in Dragon Prince. In fact, what spurred me to write this was me reading an article on how the latest episode of SU was a trans metaphor and I rewatched the episode right then and there as I realized how different I was from my 12 year old self.

Now all of this had been in media, but that soon changed. I was at a sleepover with my sister and her friends just this year when all of them came out to me a bi. (Yes, all of them.) I'm pretty sure my exact words were "cool, but it's your turn now, can you play a card?" I was happy for them, but I didn't see them any differently. They were still my friends.

So you want to fight for representation? Go for it. You want to ship a non-cannon gay ship? Please do. Because if I had not been exposed to it I would be the one voting against you. I would be the one censoring your representation. Worst of all, I could've lost a lot of my friends, including my own sister. The thought that I could've become that is absolutely disgusting.

Edit: please dont say anything about my parents, my sister and I have made a point to bring up gay rights in any conversation. Their worldviews have changed too!

[sapphicambitions]

So I emailed the SYFY Feedback account. This is what I said. I’ll let y’all know if they respond.

To Whom it May Concern,

I'm writing concerning the Magicians finale which aired last night, April 17th. While the finale may have been beautifully acted and filmed, there are many real concerns that the fans have that were brought on by this episode. Many of us fear that these concerns are going to be overlooked or written off by the network, furthering the betrayal. I'm not sure who reads these feedback emails, but if it is at all possible to get it passed along to the right people, it would make a huge difference. 

The death of Quentin Coldwater was unnecessary and cruel. This is a character that has clinical depression and has been hospitalized multiple times for suicide attempts. One of Quentin's major character arcs is that he is in a better place now than he was before he discovered magic, and that he had to do that for himself. For fans facing their own mental illness and struggles, he was a beacon of light and a chance to see themselves on screen. Quentin was not special. His discipline was minor mendings. He was not a high king in his blood, he was barely the hero of the story. But he was the hero of his own story. And for fans, this was important. That even though they might not be "special" they could still live to fight another day. That they could find the courage to keep fighting. So many fans identified with Quentin. He was their reminder that if he could keep fighting and living, so could they. This is extremely important to people who are suicidal. It is not something to take lightly, as literal lives are at stake.

There is a problem in the action adventure / science fiction genre with using the heroic self sacrifice as an excuse for suicidal tendencies. It is a harmful trope, but when you place that trope on a character who is clinically depressed and suicidal, it is devastating. And Quentin Coldwater's suicide has devastated the fandom. If you were to go onto tumblr.com and go through the Magicians tags, you would see that the episode was incredibly triggering for the fans with mental illnesses. Because our hero who kept living to fight another day killed himself. The episode poorly addressed this when Quentin and Penny 40 were discussing this in the Underworld, and there was no specific conclusion. Suicide is never heroic in any context. Portraying suicide as heroic is dangerous.

Further, there was no reason for Quentin to die. In an interview with Sera Gamble, she discusses the choice in a way that is grotesque. She calls it an artistic choice and a "full complete circle of Quentin's storyline." Do you have any idea how harmful that is for suicidal viewers? To tell them that the only end of their story has to be their death? To tell them that their efforts of saving themselves are pointless? Quentin's death was tragedy for the sake of being tragic and shock value. This is damaging to fans who saw Quentin as a way to keep fighting. 

Additionally, the idea that Quentin's death was heroic or okay because all of his friends were able to love him and be okay, so that Quentin could find peace in death? That is the most catastrophic idea to come from this finale. John McNamara said in the same interview that he didn't want to write pro-suicide television but that is EXACTLY what they did. If they cannot understand why telling suicidal people that they will be able to find peace in death is dangerous and damaging, I can't begin to tell them how to care about people. Quentin's death was cruel and thoughtless. There's more that Sera and John say in the article but honestly I cannot stomach any more of it. Here's a link to the article I've mentioned:https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/the-magicians-finale-death.html The death of Quentin is not just important because of Quentin's mental illness, but because of Quentin's queerness. It cannot be denied anymore that Quentin Coldwater is queer. Following 3x05 and 4x05 especially, but from the word of the actor himself. Jason Ralph stated at comic con this past year that Quentin's queerness is the only thing he's not anxious about, and spent the entire con calling Q & Eliot soulmates and lifetime loves. The marketing department for the Magicians has released fan videos and egged on the queer viewers, encouraging them to watch for the representation. Quentin's entire motivation this entire season has been to get back to Eliot. And then in the last three episodes this build up was completely discarded.

Quentin and Alice get back together after both of them moving on with their own story lines and the fans agree that it doesn't make sense. The reunion of Qualice feels like it was essentially set up so that the writers had an excuse to not acknowledge Queliot in the finale. Because they didn't. Quentin has spent the entire season trying to save Eliot and then we don't get to see him reunite with Eliot. Even if one were to ignore anything Queliot, they have been best friends for the last four seasons and narratively it doesn't make sense. The fans feel as though it was a purely homophobic move and are hurt. The build up and then casting aside of a queer narrative is hurtful to queer audiences.

Queer audiences get such little scraps from shows as it is that the Magicians was a breath of fresh air and the chance to see our stories played out on screen. The chance for them to receive an equal narrative weight and taken seriously. Because the show, in the end, didn't follow through with Queliot, the queer fans feel baited. Queer baiting is a gross tactic to gain viewers and many queer fans are devastated for their trust to be betrayed in such a way. And this was a betrayal to queer audiences. Make no mistake, many queer fans will not be returning to see the show's fifth season.

Frankly, the Magicians has never had great queer representation. Eliot Waugh is really the only confirmed queer character and his storyline falls right into the unhappy gay man trope. In the first season, he has to kill off his fake boyfriend. In the second season, he's married off to a woman and essentially forbidden from sleeping with men. In the third season, we have A Life in the Day, which is then not acknowledged again for an entire season. Every other "queer rep" is literally a joke or not followed through. The amount of homophobia that runs through the show is a disappointment to fans who have identified with the queer characters. Sera Gamble and the other Magicians writers have made it perfectly clear how they feel about queer people and their storylines. This has been noted by the fans.

Further, the confirmation of Quentin's queerness and then his execution falls right into the Bury Your Gays trope. It falls right into the Hays Code and the idea that in order for queer people to exist on screen, there has to be negative consequences for being gay. Is this the kind of network SYFY wants to run? One that refuses to allow members of the LGBTQ community to be happy or to simply exist? Because by backing the choices the Magicians have made concerning their queer characters, that is what they have done. A large portion of the fantasy audience is queer people and yet we are continuously excluded from narrative, or included only to be killed off. 

This is also dangerous for viewers. According to the Trevor Project (https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/preventing-suicide/facts-about-suicide/#sm.0001fud2yh6a9ctju2r22bg7t0dyo) queer youth are five times as likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth. It is practically an epidemic in the community, the taking of their lives because they aren't given space to exist in the world. And yet the Magicians just allowed their queer main character to kill himself. This has devastated the viewers who identified with Quentin for his mental illnesses but also his queerness. 

Sea Gamble and her team of writers can say that "not even the white man is safe" and claim that Quentin's death is "ground breaking" but this is not the case when the character is suicidal and queer. A mentally ill queer person killing themself isn't ground breaking, it's a devastating reality that too many face and capitalizing on that trauma for the sake of shock value is disgusting and frankly, unforgivable. No matter what the writer's intentions might have been are irrelevant, this is the message they have sent out to their audiences. 

The fans have real concerns about this and if their concerns are going to be acknowledged at all. There's a fear that we will be written off as complaining about shipping or not getting our way, when in reality it runs so much deeper. The Magicians writers broke the trust and spirits of their audiences, and the betrayal will effect ratings and viewer numbers. Is the network going to acknowledge these concerns and the damage done to their audiences? This is a much bigger deal than just some upset fans. This was a catastrophic blow and a slap to the face to an already marginalized audience.

Please understand that even though there is anger in my tone and in my heart, this is also coming from a place of love. The Magicians has deeply affected my life and changed me as a person, which is why this betrayal hurts so deeply. Many other fans feel the same way, and many of us are not returning to the fifth season. I cannot speak for the entire fan base, but some recognition and acknowledgement or damage control (and even an apology) would make the world of a difference for an entire fandom that was just stabbed in the back and shaken to their core. Ignoring this problem will only cause a drop in ratings and numbers and be a blow to the network itself.

Thank you for taking the time to read these concerns. 

[phroyd]

The time has come to END Mitch McConnell and his limited, hateful America! - Phroyd

We stand today upon the fulcrum of history, a crossroads at midnight with a blood moon rising. Down one road lies fire, flood, famine, failure and the final triumph of greed. What awaits down the other road is unknown, terra incognita, a mystery to be solved one gentle step at a time. As a species, we tend to recoil from what we do not know, often choosing the awful alternative simply because it is familiar. Now, even that poor option is a suicidal indulgence leading inexorably to our common doom.

Everyone, from leader to laborer, is a teacher delivering a simple lesson: how to be, or how not to be. We go to school on the words and behavior of others, and it falls to us as individuals to either absorb what those others teach us by being who they are, or to cast their lessons aside in search of more worthy instruction. As bad lawsuits make bad law, however, bad people make worse people by example. We are often childlike in our emulation of what we see, and if we only see scoundrels, well … that script writes itself.

Which brings us to a most valuable teacher: a privileged, compromised, cowardly, racist, sexist, hate-swaddled, power-mad, greed-gorged, double-dealing, fathomless void where all integrity goes to die. I speak, of course, of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. If Donald Trump is the Devil waiting at that moonlit crossroads to tune our guitar at the cost of our souls, Mitch McConnell drove him there and paid for the gas.

McConnell is valuable because he teaches us in graphic fashion how not to be. In his own words, McConnell shines a light down that road to ruin — his road, his way — and compels us for our own sake to choose the other route. He serves to make the decision binary: zero vs. one, nothing vs. something, altogether elegant in its simplicity.

McConnell was featured in a recent Wall Street Journal article about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Green New Deal and the mainstreaming of progressive policy initiatives. “I can pretty safely say,” he declared, “this is the first time in my political career that I thought the essence of America was being debated.”

Whoomp, as the song says. There it is.

If Donald Trump is the Devil waiting at that moonlit crossroads, Mitch McConnell drove him there and paid for the gas.

“American democracy has never accorded all the people a meaningful voice,” writes Nancy Isenberg in White Trash, her scathing examination of ignored U.S. history. “The masses have been given symbols instead, and they are often empty symbols. Nation-states traditionally rely on the fiction that a head of state can represent the body of the people and stand as their proxy; in the American version, the president must appeal broadly to shared values that mask the existence of deep class divisions. Even when this strategy works, unity comes at the price of perpetuating ideological deception. Instead of a thoroughgoing democracy, Americans have settled for democratic stagecraft.”

It is all of a piece, the centuries-old notion of this country as a paycheck for the few at the expense of the many. British colonialists sought to peel the land using kidnapped Africans and impoverished Britons, slaughtering and displacing Native peoples wherever and whenever they were encountered. Wealth must be compounded with wealth, power must be held by the few to wield against the many. The fiction of democracy provides an illusion of freedom to obscure the looting that was the whole point of the endeavor to begin with.

Mitch McConnell is a highly visible champion of that ideological deception, a deft practitioner of that stagecraft. The “essence of America” he spoke of certainly exists, but cunning politicians of his ilk are too canny to mention it in public. That essence — the belief that the nation and its population are a gilded platter to be gorged upon, a fertile field to be plundered and despoiled for profit with the people serving as replaceable tools for the aristocracy — is McConnell’s poisoned birthright, and he defends it with all the powers at his disposal, just as his colonial predecessors did.

By recognizing this, we recognize Mitch, and all who rally to his banner. They want freedom for themselves, not for you. Their “freedom” is elite, expensive and jealously guarded. Yet a thousand choices on Netflix is not freedom, any more than the constant choice of corporate political candidates is freedom, but therein lies the illusion. Pick your poison. See? You’re free!

McConnell’s “essence” is a con, a sham history inflicted upon us from our first kindergarten recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance: “With liberty and justice for all.”

The fiction of democracy provides an illusion of freedom to obscure the looting that was the whole point of the endeavor to begin with.

And yet there are six words that have caused great consternation over the years for men like Mitch. Nathaniel Philbrick, in his book Bunker Hill, compellingly describes “the unappreciated radicalism within the Declaration of Independence – ‘that all men are created equal.’” At the time, it was a lie, what Philbrick describes as “a rhetorical flourish.” Native peoples, enslaved Africans, women and the economically dispossessed did not merit equality in the eyes of the Framers. But those six words have come to be a thumb in the eye to what Mitch McConnell meant when he speaks of “the essence of America.”

Indeed, those six words are now correctly taken by many as a demand for equal rights for men, women, poor people, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, the elderly, the incarcerated, children, laborers and every other human being who breathes the same air. The Framers did not mean it, but they damn well wrote it down, and public officials of every stripe swear an oath to defend it every single day.

Obtaining those rights has been an ongoing multi-century bloodbath because those who subscribe to McConnell’s “essence” choose to ignore the imperative embedded within those six words. For them, equality is bad for the bottom line and rattles the calcified infrastructure of entrenched power. Their violent devotion to that “essence” has caused unspeakable agony and degradation even to this day, but that is not their concern.

Men like Mitch McConnell flee the very notion of those six words, because at the far end of the struggle for equality lurks a bill to be paid. Nothing so final as a guillotine awaits them at the conclusion; merely a sharing of power and wealth, of rights and privileges, which is anathema to them and their rampant belief in their own superiority. To fight this rising tide, they divide and denounce, fashioning enemies out of natural allies because when we fight each other, we serve them.

Look no further than the tumult of the moment to witness how far the few will go to confuse and control the many. See their white nationalist puppets on the march and immigrants on the run; see the Black people cut down by the police officer’s gun; see women using a social media hashtag to explain how it has always been so it may someday cease to be; see the people deprived of options by the economics of enforced inequality fed into the maw of a profitable war machine; see LGBTQ+ people stripped of rights by a heteronormalized society that uses splinter Christianity to rationalize fear and hate; see the rage-flecked faces at one of Donald Trump’s rallies as they howl at enemies conveniently created to incur their distracted wrath; and see the oceans rising and the fires burning because the nature of plunder is damage. This is the place we have been, and the place we are going, if we choose poorly at this crossroads.

And therein lies the rub, because Mitch McConnell was absolutely correct. The essence of this country as he understands it is not merely being debated, it is being run to ground and throttled, finally. The anger on display from those who have been privileged to own center stage in this society comes from the fact that voices besides their own are finally being widely heard.

“Sharing” is not in their lexicon, and so we must see this as a teachable moment. Not a vengeance tour but an education, because we are all teachers, and there is a better way. Pediatricians call it “growing pains,” biologists call it “evolution,” and I call it fulfilling the promise of those six radical words. Hell, we might even get around to applying a long-required tweak to those words: “All people are created equal.” This version, at last, has the virtue of being true.

The road we have been on is littered with bones and sorrow. The road we must take is strange, and new, and dangerous, and difficult. There are no promises, other than it will be – by dint of our collective will – better than the way that is failing before our eyes. This crossroads is freedom distilled, and the time to choose is now.

Change is coming, Mitch. Not a slogan. A fact. Tell your friends.

Phroyd

[migleefulmoments]

Anonymous said: "But in those early interviews Darren was asked if he was bothered by having to kiss another man. Nobody asked Chris if he was bothered to kiss a straight man." This is splitting hairs. I'm not sure what you want to argue here. The issue under discussion was not if Darren was asked what's like to kiss a man, but whether he was asked about his sexuality - and he was from the start. As a matter of fact, out-gay actors in straight roles are also asked what's like to kiss a woman on screen.

Anonymous said: "Darren was asked a lot about how he felt playing a gay character…how he felt kissing a man." --There was nothing novel about that. It's a typical question many actors before him who had played gay roles (esp. if somewhat prominent) on screen or TV were asked. Even Chris got asked one time if Darren was gay (I think it was at the Time 100), and he said "No, I don't think so. I've met his GF." I'm not sure what being good looking has to do with being asked if he was gay if he played gay.

Anonymous said: "yes the actors were comfortable. The reporters weren’t." Not accurate. The entertainment press has routinely asked straight and presumed straight actors in a gay role what's like to kiss a man and makes a point to mention the actors' sexuality - see e.g. Matt Damon in the Liberace movie. It's been reported that this is often encouraged by the actors' reps. But whatever the case, it is a self-perpetuating reflex of the entertainment press, which has come under rightful criticism only recently.

I already addressed my analogy with Chris kissing a woman in another post and I concur it wasn’t a good analogy.

I went on an deep dive of the press Darren did in his early days of Glee last year after Abby kept repeating the cc trope that his interviews are always “no homo” because his “team” writes the article, dictates what is said, controls the interview questions or stands off camera threatening him to repeated the scripted answer. I went on another more shallow dive this evening after I got these Asks and I still stand by earlier statements that America was still quite homophobic in Glee’s early days-it still is in many places- and people were shocked to see a straight actor comfortably playing a gay character.

My point was never that Darren was the only actor who was ever asked these questions -in fact it was the complete opposite. My point was -and is -that in 2009, being gay was still something that made a lot of people squeamish and a good looking, young, actor playing a gay teenager on a tv show was something people didn’t quite understand. Whether it made the reporter, the team, the actor or society uncomfortable isn’t important-someone was uncomfortable. The fact that the questions were routinely asked tells me that a lot of someones were uncomfortable.   

Matt Damon and Tom Hanks were in big screen movies. For many years, Hollywood has rewarded straight actors for their portrayal of LGBTQ characters by giving them Oscars and Emmys. But Darren was playing a gay teenage character on Network TV- a gay character who was rumored to be a romantic partner for Kurt, this was a very new idea 2010. 

Tonight I looked for the interviews where Darren was asked about kissing and I couldn’t find them and frankly I wasted enough time. However, I did find a bunch of early Glee interviews-well before he played Hedwig or Andrew Cunanan-that addressed his sexuality with questions that  I cannot imagine being asked today:

Darren Criss on Glee | Time Out May 31, 2011 Did anyone in your life express concern about you as a straight guy playing a very visible gay character? No, that’s actually never even occurred to me. I don’t think that’s how myself or my team—I don’t think any of us are wired that way. You see a good character, and that’s it. But maybe that is a very naive way to look at things.

Bliss Magazine October 2011 (Imogene Press)

The actor is comfortable with playing an openly gay character on the show, despite being straight in real life, although he still isn’t used to wearing guy-liner on set.

8 Reasons We Admire Darren Criss -Starpulse.com 2014

6. He isn’t afraid to play gay. As one-half of everyone’s favorite TV couple, Darren’s portrayal of teenage dreamboat Blaine Anderson has both guys and girls swooning. His onscreen romance with Chris Colfer’s Kurt Hummel has often drawn fire from anti-gay organizations but Darren has kept his cool and admits to being comfortable enough with his own sexuality to kiss other boys.

San Fransisco: : He Only Plays Gay on TV.  July 1, 2013

Which brings us to the bombshell of this story—Darren Criss is not gay. And this isn’t the first time that he has had to make that clear (he says that he also had to come out of the straight closet as a teen in A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory). “I’m the opposite from what people pin me as,” he says, referring to both his sexual preferences and his career choices. “I’ve kind of made it a habit where if you expect me to do something, I am usually immediately averse to that idea, and I try to do something else.”

Norwegian TOPP  December 21, 2013 (Translated so maybe take this with a grain of salt?)

What kind of response have you gotten from other, about playing the role of a gay character? - Only positive feedback! It’s really fun playing Blaine, and I don’t have any problems with him being gay.

Asking about an actor’s sexuality -both gay and straight -is absolutely “a self-perpetuating reflex of the entertainment press”. But the questions have changed and the tone has evolved. The tone and the questions Darren was asked in 2010-2013 were about society’s confusion that a straight man would be comfortable playing a gay man or *gasp* kissing a gay man. Questions about whether his parents were concerned about the visibility of his gay character convey society’s view that being gay was something to be ashamed of. In 2018 during his ACS press tour, he was asked

“You’ve also played a lot of gay and queer characters. Has playing these parts informed how you think about your sexuality or gender?” (X) (His answer is super long, click the link if you want to read it)

and the NYTs said:

His early introduction to gay culture helped prepare him for a career in which his best-known roles and a good chunk of his fan base are gay, though Mr. Criss himself is straight. (His longtime girlfriend is Mia Swier, a TV director and producer.) He’s a rare breed: theater geek filtered through California bro, which made an ideal combination for the pop dorkiness of “Glee.”  (X)

A much more respectful line of questioning with a more accepting tone. The tone no longer convey’s the tone that his sexuality matters in his ability to play the role or that it is something to be ashamed of.  

If you have more to say on this topic I would beg you to come off anon. At first I was going to call this topic closed because it is impossible to have a conversation when you are on anon. I have no way to notify you that I answered your ask and you are limited to 500 characters-both hindering actual communication. But mostly because this is a complex topic with nuances. There are misconstrued ideas and poorly written analogies and no effective way for us to clarify and frankly it ends up feeling like a beatdown. But I wrote a lot and that didn’t seem fair to have the last world since these are just my opinions and I’m always learning.  If you have more to say, PLEASE come off anon and submit a post- that way we can actually chat and you can share more than 500 characters worth of thought.  

I already addressed my analogy with Chris kissing a woman in another post and I concur it wasn’t a good analogy.  

I went on an exploration of the press Darren did in his early days of Glee last year when Abby kept bringing up the cc trope that his interviews are always “no homo” because his “team” writes the article, dictates what is said, controls the interview questions or stands off camera and threatens him to give the scripted answer. I went on another dive this evening after I got these anons and I still stand by earlier statements that America was still quite homophobic in Glee’s early days-it still is in many places- and people were surprised to see a straight actor comfortably playing a gay character.

My point was never that Darren was the only actor who was ever asked these questions -in fact it was the complete opposite. My point was -and is -that in 2009, being gay was still something that made a lot of people squeamish and a good looking actor playing a gay man on a tv show was something people didn’t quite understand. Whether it made the reporter, the team, the actor or society uncomfortable isn’t important-someone was uncomfortable. The fact that the questions were routinely asked tells me that a lot of someones were uncomfortable.  

What I see as the difference between Matt Damon and Tom Hanks is that they were staring in movies. For many years, Hollywood has handed out Oscars and Emmy’s to straight actors for portraying LGBTQ characters. But Darren was playing a gay character on Network TV- a gay character who was rumored to be a romantic partner for Kurt.

I went looking for the interviews where Darren was asked about kissing and I couldn’t find them and frankly I wasted enough time. However, I did find a bunch of early Glee interviews that address his sexuality with questions that I cannot imagine being asked today. Of course, these are all before Darren played Hedwig or Andrew Cunanan.

Darren Criss on Glee | Time Out May 31, 2011 Did anyone in your life express concern about you as a straight guy playing a very visible gay character? No, that’s actually never even occurred to me. I don’t think that’s how myself or my team—I don’t think any of us are wired that way. You see a good character, and that’s it. But maybe that is a very naive way to look at things.

Bliss Magazine October 2011 (Imogene Press)

The actor is comfortable with playing an openly gay character on the show, despite being straight in real life, although he still isn’t used to wearing guy-liner on set.

8 Reasons We Admire Darren Criss -Starpulse.com 2014

6. He isn’t afraid to play gay. As one-half of everyone’s favorite TV couple, Darren’s portrayal of teenage dreamboat Blaine Anderson has both guys and girls swooning. His onscreen romance with Chris Colfer’s Kurt Hummel has often drawn fire from anti-gay organizations but Darren has kept his cool and admits to being comfortable enough with his own sexuality to kiss other boys.

San Fransisco: : He Only Plays Gay on TV.  July 1, 2013

Which brings us to the bombshell of this story—Darren Criss is not gay. And this isn’t the first time that he has had to make that clear (he says that he also had to come out of the straight closet as a teen in A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory). “I’m the opposite from what people pin me as,” he says, referring to both his sexual preferences and his career choices. “I’ve kind of made it a habit where if you expect me to do something, I am usually immediately averse to that idea, and I try to do something else.”

Norwegian TOPP  December 21, 2013 (Translated so maybe take this with a grain of salt?)

What kind of response have you gotten from other, about playing the role of a gay character? - Only positive feedback! It’s really fun playing Blaine, and I don’t have any problems with him being gay.

Asking about an actor’s sexuality -both gay and straight -is absolutely “a self-perpetuating reflex of the entertainment press”. But the questions have changed and the tone has evolved. The tone and the questions Darren was asked in 2009-2013 were about society’s confusion that a straight man would be comfortable playing a gay man or *gasp* kissing a gay man. Questions about whether people were concerned about the visibility of his gay character indicate the shame that was still part of society’s view of being gay. In 2018 during his ACS press tour, he was asked

“You’ve also played a lot of gay and queer characters. Has playing these parts informed how you think about your sexuality or gender?” (X)

and the NYTs said:

His early introduction to gay culture helped prepare him for a career in which his best-known roles and a good chunk of his fan base are gay, though Mr. Criss himself is straight. (His longtime girlfriend is Mia Swier, a TV director and producer.) He’s a rare breed: theater geek filtered through California bro, which made an ideal combination for the pop dorkiness of “Glee.”  (X)

A much more respectful line of questioning with a much more accepting tone.  

If you have more to say on this topic I would beg you to come off anon. At first I was going to call this topic closed because this isn’t a conversation when you are on anon. I have no way to notify you that I answered your ask and you are limited to 500 characters-both hindering actual communication. But mostly because this is a complex topic with nuances. There are misconstrued ideas and poorly written analogies and no effective way for us to clarify and frankly it ends up feeling like a beatdown. If you have more to say, PLEASE come off anon and submit a post- that way we can actually chat and you can share more than 500 characters worth of thought.  

I moved this to a text so I could add tags and find it later.