#personally i don't interpret their relationship as romantic bc i think the point of their relationship was to show

[peenalize]

btw im not anti-jayvik guys i promise i just think some ppl r kinda annoying abt it (only sayin' this cause i reblogged a post or 2 that come across that way)

[competitioneddie]

discourse time baby.

can we look closely at the amount of people who only like tommy bc they've been explicitly clued into the idea of him as a love interest vs buddie being implicit.

wdym you were invested in ted and robin for 9 whole seasons despite the very fleshed out and long lasting love interests that you hated bc you knew in your heart of hearts that they were endgame but you're clinging to a character whose backstory is 'love interest of previous love interest' bc 'noOOoOoOo bUcK aND edDIe aRe plAtONIc'. why don't you cling to taylor like that she was a fantastic character and she loved buck even if they weren't a good romantic match, the same arguments that apply to tommy should hold for her...

like truthfully what is the reason you're so opposed to two men having a friends to lovers situation. i've read this book before and the answer is usually a construction of queerness rooted in a deep seated form of misogyny that skews people's perceptions of how gay people romance. pls take a moment to reflect on the idea of coupledom you're building there for buck and for the queer people in your lives. gay people can have relationships that are not purely sex driven. friends to lovers is universally the single most common way for people to bond and partner up romantically.

if buck and eddie were a straight couple no one would question that a slow burn friends to lovers is on the cards and i think that's telling. you're entitled to dislike eddie as a character or as a love interest for buck but can we please stop acting like interpreting last week's episode as the high point of a friends to lovers feelings realisation is some outlandish shit we're making up. even if the conclusion isn't buddie. we've seen this before for straight couples. and no one heard "i'm not in love with him/her" and immediately decided that this is the showrunners shutting it down. c'mon we all watched bones & booth break up and nobody thought "well yeah that's it for them".

pls don't be that person, and if you absolutely have to, like, don't be nasty about it? it's not a good look.

[menlove]

wait enlighten me on the i’m so tired being about paul grind i don’t know if i see it

ofc! it's just interpretation obviously but it's one of those that makes me eye it a bit. but. it's one of those that every beatles wiki will be like "it's about yoko" but he's never said that and honestly the song doesn't fit with their relationship at the time like at all. she WAS writing him a lot of telegrams and their relationship was certainly getting Weirder at the time, but I wouldn't think it would inspired sleepless, tortured nights yet

the song is very much like. a sort of rising anger/irritation with the situation and the person in the song which is very much where paul and john were at at the time. I'm not a "something happened in india" truther, but I do think things between them were going south. had been since brian died and only got worse with paul getting engaged.

this part particularly To Me reads as very paul

bc at the point john and YOKO were at if he called her and was like "hey I'm in love with you and I'm going insane and can't sleep over it" I don't even know that HE'D be scared she'd say he was joking and turn him down. like she was very much the one doing the chasing there for a while and her telegrams seem pretty damn confident about where that relationship was headed. where they were at just didn't seem like the tortured, aching, harm that he talks about in this song. it was the beginning obsession of new love which is a TOTALLY different feeling than this song gives off.

paul on the other hand. I think it would be incredibly reasonable to assume that if he told paul "yeah I haven't been able to sleep because you're driving me insane, I'm in love with you, and it's like actually genuinely hurting me" paul would go "that's a hilarious one john thanks" like 💀 way more in character for paul to brush something like that off than yoko

also as just a further lil reach lol in the esher demo there's this:

obviously john was just misspeaking and meant to say my arms but. interesting especially bc at this point him and yoko had never slept together or been intimate at all. that's USUALLY something I'd call bullshit on with affairs, but they've been pretty open about their relationship timeline. she's also. I mean. yoko isn't very charming lmao I'm not dogging on her she just isn't and she knows that, john knew that, the world knows that. she's just a very blunt person who at the time this was written was just coming off as sort of strange and mysterious to him.

so saying yknow "when I hold you (/fuck you) I wonder if I should get up and lock myself in a mental institution" would again just be a really weird and nonsensical thing to say about yoko. about the notoriously charming man who in this scenario you'd be fucking, though.......... homosexuality was BARELY legal let alone smth john had come to grips with so this whole doom spiral around this person & fucking them & what that means for you, well! very interesting, anyway

anyway that's it! I just am super unconvinced this song is about yoko. and there's really only 3 sort of romantic interest options in his life at the time it could be about and it just wouldn't fit for yoko or cynthia imo. so that leaves paul. and their quickly crumbling relationship.

[burrythebusy]

I love going back to reread hrkg because I just learn something new every time even without the influence of the recent chapter. I particularly love analyzing Kagiura’s character. His view on love and romance and family and marriage was just so interesting before. It was so innocent, meaning he didn't think of it any more or any less than just "I get to stay with him, only me". Like that's not the average thought for a crush. And Niibashi tells him that, he's like do you even view him romantically, or do you simply just wanna keep him close? It could be interpreted as so many things. Like aroace spec hrkg is such a real interpretation.

And it gets me even more when I view it in reference to his past relationship. Like his most Romantic™ action ("What lovers do") is a lap pillow. Because she was his girlfriend and that was the reason given for it. We're dating so this is something that people thay are dating do. So his middle school self is like oh okay. And it happens and he's stiff. And he doesn't think it feels right. And that follows him to high school bc if we're dating and this is something people that are dating do, why doesn't it feel right? But yes. That's literally it. That's as romantic as it goes for him until Niibashi mentions kissing. Which he didn't even think about. He claims it's an influence of never really seeing his parents kiss. His view on love IS his parents. It's influenced by those around him (ooh). But it's also because marriage is supposed to mean you're in love. And his parents are in love and act like best friends and rarely kiss so that's what the young Kagiura thinks of love to be like.

Now I don't know what influenced him to get with his girlfriend per se. Because (!!light novel stuff!!) I think it's implied that his view of love and marriage comes after his girlfriend, not before, which would make sense considering his relationship didn't work out. It also makes sense if it came before. Because why did it start? I genuinely think that he might have liked, and i think that's what was said. But i think he liked her as a friend, and he's expected to get with girls, and if his view on marriage was getting started at any point then. That's literally a prerequisite. A relationship like best friends. So he dates her and it just doesn't feel right. And it could've been because he treated the whole relationship like a friendship with a different label which wasnt what his girlfriend wanted. And then the one "traditionally romantic" thing that comes along, close physical contact, still doesn't feel right.

Going off of context clues here. It's safe to say they never kiss or even hold hands really. It's probably the only thing they ever did, the lap pillow. It's what Kagiura thinks about when he thinks of romance and what lovers do because it's the one thing he failed to FEEL right about. And if he liked her. Why didn't he?

Obviously everything isn't surface level either, on one surface. Because Kagiura’s personality comes into play too. There's probably more to be said about his politeness, how we don't see him really challenge anybody on what they say (except Hirano for obvious reasons). If his girlfriend said dating -> lap pillow then he's gonna say okay. Sure. Even if he's unsure about it. But we don't get much of his personality from then. We only know this snippet, and the fact that it bothers him.

But we also know WHY it bothers him after ch. 6 and 7, and in 16a. Kagiura doesn't think about kissing Hirano because his view on love and romance is limited to how his parents show it, and how his ex girlfriend showed it. He hasn't developed it on his own yet, at least not consciously. He likely never kissed his girlfriend (and if he did it doesn't stick with him at all since the first thing he thinks about is literally the lap pillow) and he doesn't see his parents kiss so Niibashi asks him about kissing hirano and he's like "idk lol". Hence why, does he even like Hirano romantically? (And though you can be in a romantic relationship without kissing, the question still remains as to how he sees his feelings for Hirano, considering how juvenile they seem*)

But the difference here is that, without thinking about it, Hirano and Kagiura were becoming best friends. Kagiura didn't go into friendship with Hirano thinking he's a love interest the same way he might have with his girlfriend. Hirano treated him really well and they developed this natural thing and Kagiura started to develop a natural Kagiura version of a crush. But still, every action after that wasn't with the deliberate intention of his outlook on love. It remained natural. So that "prerequisite" was already fulfilled (and honestly, it could easily be viewed separate of how he sees romance from his parents. Again, it all happens so naturally and easily for him).

So in chapter 6, he thinks about what Niibashi said more and then the urge comes. To kiss Hirano. The first time he's probably thought about kissing anyone. So it's already an outlier to how he views romance anyway because kissing never had to be a part of it but now it is. BUT WAIT THERES MORE!

Because next he decides to indulge in something he can easily call back to. His girlfriend and their experience. People that date do lap pillows. How would that feel with someone I'm in love with, someone I now know I want to kiss? And I truly don't think he expected much from it because of his experience of not really liking it. Of it being "off". But Hirano lies in his lap and his mind blanks. And then he lies in Hirano's lap and he can't do it. Not because it feels off or wrong. But because he felt too much. A LOT in that moment. Cue his sexual and sexuality awakening/crisis. It literally scares him out of being NEAR Hirano for extended periods of time. Out of touching him. Because this new attraction is foreign to him. He now actively wants to touch him, actively wants to kiss him and at this point he already knew hirano doesn't see him that way so what do you do?

Then 16a comes. They're starting to touch for ten seconds a day because Hirano said he would try, and Kagiura’s largest guilty pleasure is literally just physical contact. Particularly with Hirano. Which he used to do so casually but can't bring himself to. So he asks hirano when it's okay and they agree to ten seconds.

To me, this is when he comes to terms with the fact that he never romantically liked his girlfriend in the first place. Because he knows hirano isn't in love with him at this point despite Hirano agreeing to try. He knows what they feel is different. Which is exactly what happened with his girlfriend. That's why he's afraid he was making Hirano feel how he felt with his girlfriend back then. Uncomfortable. "Off". And when I view it in context I always come to the conclusion that he didn't like her (let alone love her). This may not be his first relationship but it is his first love.

All this to say... literally nothing. I just love digging into Kagiura’s character, how his past does end up influencing the present in really subtle ways. I mean think about it, he feels so guilty for wanting to touch Hirano that he limits himself to the ten seconds. Like every time before chapter 14 that they touched just because (locking arms, holding his shirt or his wrist just to grab onto him, that natural gravitation) is just gone. Because now he loves someone who doesn't love him so how could he possibly put the pressure on him to touch him in the same way? He gave away his right to do that. But it hurts him. (And it hurts Hirano too). Another problem. But that guilt doesn't come from nowhere. He doesn't want Hirano to feel how he felt with his girlfriend. He doesn't want to make him uncomfortable or push his physical boundaries and make himself a sad memory in Hirano's high school years.

Kagiura is experiencing this extent of love and a crush for the first time. He lied in his girlfriends lap hesitantly but did it because they were dating and didn't like it. And I feel like a great fear of his is making Hirano feel that way too. So he wants Hirano to feel the same way desperately without pushing the physical boundary that has once made him feel unsure and weird. He loves Hirano so much that he'll limit himself as much as he can bear in this process. (Which, isn't the greatest thing. It's almost contradictory). But that's his experience. That's how he's letting it influence him. And it's so interesting to me.

Erm this is long anyway I love doing Kagiura character study. Obviously this is my interpretation and how I view his character to be. And we are all influenced by our environment in the end, especially those that have an important place in our lives (hint hint wink wink iykyk) but some people still build their own wants and desires with that as a foundation. Kagiura took his parents as the blueprint itself. THE guide, THE directions. So now I think he's on a journey of defining love for himself too.

[getsuuna]

ok so here's my complaint of the day!

I wrote this during the moment I felt like complaining and I was sleepy so it MIGHT be a little dramatic 😇

every time I'm devouring a SaneGiyuu fic because I like its plot for a while, here goes a smut scene that never fails to make me sigh and mayhaps roll my eyes

most of the times I know I'll get icked but decide to read because "what if it's not that bad",, then it's almost always the same shit over and over: Sanemi topping, bonus points if there's even just slight roughness (yikes😬...), Giyuu being loud and being described in degrading terms [and basically none of this was told beforehand in tags nor notes, almost as if it was the "normal" perception of SaneGiyuu for most people...??? shut UP??😃]

respectfully, it's ass.

I'm tired, these tropes are overused and fucking inaccurate dare I say, unless there's a reason in the fanfic's AU specifically but I still find it to be too common and weird. if you want a somewhat accurate SaneGiyuu pay gorn (/hj /ref) it must be them switching AND being romantic. where the FUCK is the romance,, the last one I've read now wasn't that bad because it still mentioned adoration, kisses and love overall, but there's almost always something that icks me even just in the few fics I've read so far, and it makes my reading experience sm slower and uncomfortable afterwards even if I initially loved the fic

now, as I've stated multiple times, I hate the "rough daddy dom Sanemi" and "submissive twink Giyuu" headcanons with every single inch of my entire being in&out including my whole soul /drm,,, and not just in sex scenes but in their overall dynamic, it's so enraging I don't care if someone disagrees I'd just stare and judge??😭😭😭my main purpose when I complain abt this stuff is to look for other people with my same mindset (thank GOD I saw lots of them so far though)

the disrespect, and the fetishization of queer couples in which one "has to look/act more like the opposite gender" and inevitably the one who has more apparent feminine traits has to be the sub, bc they associate femininity with submissiveness. heteronormativity and borderline patriarchy-inducted stereotypes?? woah./neg

let Sanemi receive, it won't make him any less of a man nor threaten his masculinity I promise🥺 same goes for Giyuu if he was actually written like the manly strong man and SOLDIER he fucking is? I still wouldn't really really prefer it but I would respect the preference in that case.. heated arguments about who tops or bottoms are inherently fetishizing and stupid, however if I see a (weird) pattern I'm gonna hate it sorry not sorry😭🙏🏻

also please if someone can recommend SaneGiyuu fics with NO smut or actually well written sex scenes with them preferably switching (it's the only actual realistic trope and I stand by this fact) I'll be thankful, and I'm taking the occasion to also recommend "You And Me, Alone Together" by Katz3 (yes there's also occasional sex scenes and yes they're perfect in every possible way, the whole fic is!! I have yet to find a better fic and I know I won't, despite it being underrated); or maybe if you have fic recs in which Giyuu exclusively tops if there's NSFW scenes, out of nothing but pure spite, I would be thankful as well🥰

one last thing bc I usually get heavily misinterpreted whenever I complain abt anything: I'm NOT saying "GiyuSane is better" (even if that's what *I* personally think, due to how I interpret their writing and how I headcanon their relationship dynamic which has nothing much different from most, I just don't twinkify/overly-feminize/infantilize Giyuu nor I over-sexualize/booktok-fy Sanemi), I'm just saying it's more realistic if they switched: it's more accurate, more inclusive, less mischaracterizing, less stereotyped and therefore less heteronormative and less fetishizing...

and about the degrading and roughness and all that I mentioned, I just despise it. for every ship and every trope, whether m/f, f/f or m/m. it takes romance away imo and I won't be sugarcoating it with "oh but it's consensual so it's fine" nor negotiating it in order not to piss off the people who like this kind of content; I'm sorry, keep your preferences, but I won't be shutting the fuck up if I have to read it every goddamn time I naively think there's normal and loving sex scenes. put tags to warn readers who don't wanna read that shit so they can skip it if they still gave the fic a shot, please🙏🏻

[stupidlittlespirit]

I totally dig the whole ford aroace hc, but at the end of the speech alex gave, he said "but you know, when we were doing gravity falls, gay marriage had only like, just been legalized" wouldnt this kind of imply ford was trying to ignore something a little different? i dont know, what do you think? could you try to explain what alex said in your own words so i can understand better? i think im def reading it wrong... and you're the smartest person i know when it comes to writing and ford LOL. i like hearing your rambles about aroace topics. bc im on that spectrum myself, you unknowingly explained a lot of things to me I didnt know about myself, like, multiple times 🤣 you dont have to reply to this if u dont want to btw, just ignore it. i wont be offended

I think first and foremost, the most important thing to pay attention to is that Alex states in that interview that if you identify with Ford as a queer person, that's great, he wants you to be able to see yourself reflected in his characters. No matter what your queer identity is! So, you can see him as gay or bi or ace or aro or trans or whatever you like, because that's the beauty of interpretation! No one is singularly right.

I believe Alex made reference to the gay marriage thing just because of the topic of queerness in Disney shows in general. At the time, it had only just been legalised so it was unlikely you'd be able to push a big network as far as getting a major character to show ANY sign of queer identity. Not one specific one. I think he was just kind of saying it in general as a reference point for how unlikely it was to have queer characters in things (and aces ARE queer, no matter their romantic attraction preference. Aros are also queer despite having no attraction.)

In reference to Ford's attraction and his lack thereof, Alex says that quote: "for all people on all sides of the gender and sexuality equation, the idea of '...I'm not sure what this part of myself is, so I'm going to fixate on something I can understand..... as long as I'm doing this, then I don't have to focus on that'."

and I think that's something that rings true for ALL queer people.

The reason I (tongue in cheek sort of) said that about him being canon ace is because Alex compares Ford to Tesla, who was infamously 'celibate' and was outspoken about his distaste for romance/sex across the board. Tesla is known as being ace. Alex describes Ford as having a similar reaction to Tesla when it comes to attraction: 'I really thought of Ford kind of like Tesla in that realm. He is distant.'

I know Alex uses women as a specific descriptor in that passage, but I think that's because Tesla spoke about women most often because heteronormativity (and was very sexist about it at times, but considering the time period, whatever). Tesla does state that he fell 'in love' with one girl, but I don't think it's ever been expanded on for what type of love.

Tesla is never described as having had relationships with men OR women. There's a chance he was gay ace, bi ace, or just aroace. We'll never know, and there's not really any reason to try and sus out someone else's sexuality, but it reads to me that he was someone who was just aroace and Not Interested. He had his science and that was all he wanted.

That sounds exactly like canon Ford.

So the comparison to Ford rings strongly of him being Asexual first and foremost. Then, when you align it with the other clues in Journal 3, it really speaks very strongly to me that Ford is ace. I mean, he keeps a fucking photo of Tesla on his desk! And he outright says that he has this picture whereas Fidds has one of his wife and child, and that's confusing to Ford. He doesn't understand it.

He doesn't want to 'settle down' or 'start a family' as Fidds suggests. He never has crushes on people. He never expresses sexual or romantic attraction to anyone. He loves, but never in a romantic capacity. He admires, but in an educational context.

Also, in TBoB, Bill teases Ford for dreaming of a sexuality quiz that asks him 'what are you most attracted to?'. Ford answers: Logic and planning........ And Bill again teases him with the Plansexual line. If that doesn't scream Ace, I don't know what does.

I think for me personally too, I have been (and am in) Ford's position. I spent so long burying my head in the sand about being asexual because I truly believed there was something wrong with me. I was told there was. I've even sought out conversion therapy (never went through with it, but felt like I should at the time).

Ford's running from his true feelings in that sense is very much a mirror to my own. And I think that mirrors many queer people's experiences. So, to go back to what I opened with: if you want to see him as gay specifically, you can! I want to see him as ace, so I will! He isn't a real person, so you can project yourself onto him. That's okay to do :)

And I'm glad that my answers have helped you, by the way! That's a really sweet thing to know and I'm really glad some of the stupid stuff I yap about has helped you haha <3

[neyafromfrance95]

i don't get involved in discourse, but i feel like i need to talk about this (for the first and the last time) since i saw a few haladriels say that they were made to feel dumb for thinking haladriel is real.

generally speaking, when we have a piece of media and we try to explain this piece of media through analysis, OF COURSE we are going to come off like we think our interpretation is the right one... bc that is the whole point of having a take. we are trying to explain the source material, not personal hcs.

no, this doesn't mean that different interpretations aren't valid. this doesn't mean that the same thing can't signify smtng different to different people. but this does mean that when people write analysis and metas, they try to figure out the actual intention of the material, and evaluate it, smtms considering the contexts existing beyond it.

my point is that it is silly to get offended at someone's meta not capitulating or leaving space to your own interpretations. there is no need to take these disagreements personally and demand people to be less set on their reading. that is the real "let there be different interpretations". you must be okay with someone's interpretation disregarding your own.

there is, of course, the difference between the interpretations based on the "vibes" and the interpretations based on the actual media analysis...

for example, we can say that sauron and galadriel's feelings are ambiguous, so we are going to define those feelings based on our guesses and theories, mostly.

but there is no ambiguity in the fact that sauron and galadriel's bond is the most special, significant and above all other connections they have. this is what the text and the subtext and the framing and all those storytelling elements tell us. their dynamic being a metaphor for the push-pull between the dark & the light underlines their bond being eternal.

another thing, whether or not their feeling are romantic or antagonistic or soulmatistic, a basic media literacy makes us recognize that the framing and the formula of their dynamic is romantic.

and same goes with the characters individually. is galadriel happy to go to valinor or is she sad to be leaving the middle-earth by the end of the 3rd age? well, i'd say it's ambiguous, especially considering how inconsistent her lore is with tolkien, so i think we are free to interpret it in different ways.

but tradwife!galadriel? that's straight up mischaracterization. one thing that has always been consistent with her is that she is a leader. there is no ambiguity in her defining trait.

so, yeah. haladriel is very real, so is their bond, and their relationship is the center of trop story. and as much as i love ambiguity and subtlety, i hope for more clarity in s3 since some people seem to need everything spelled out for them and they make their media illiteracy everyone else's problem.

[aurelialux83]

I don't think it's a matter of preference, everyone has their own and there's no reason to try to besmirch anyone on that, I think so it's more of an extended and misguided effort by some people toward the Canon of relationships between the characters of the chronicles. I don't care what a person likes as long as that person gets joy and enjoyment out of it, but the moment you have to go and besmirch or look for absurd theories to put what others love in a bad light well we have a problem. I wonder why all these devil's Minion lovers spend more time energy and effort talking bad about Marius instead of talking about what they theoretically like which is Devil's Minion.

Now, I understand that those who have really read the books and know the path of the chronicles and its characters, leaving aside a talk of ship preference, know that there's an immense difference between what exists in the relationships between Marius, Armand and Daniel. To begin with, Marius has always been looking for a kindred soul, an immortal love, a companion, someone who would stand by his side and share immortality with him, an immortal love, and he finds it in Armand, and I don't care in the least about the thousand bullshit things that some types of people can pull out, a fundamental pivot of the chronicles and the story of both Armand and Marius is their mutual and deep love. Armand accepts and desires immortality, but to share it and to live it alongside Marius, it is his choice, his unbreakable decision, even in the face of the rest it is Marius who falters at some point, because he knows what it means to give up being a human being and he does not want to prove of that Amadeo. Amadeo has never wavered in his choice toward that love and immortal creature that saved him. Whereas instead, Armand and Daniel's relationship only moves and finds meaning as long as Daniel is human.

Daniel had already sought immortality from Louis, it was not a feeling of love, or desire that moved him, but the romantic idea of immortality. Armand comes next, and in the end, everything collapses the moment Armand transforms Daniel, and he loses interest in that new creature he has created, and Daniel gets what he wants which is immortality. They live what can be felt as a love story, but it has neither the basis nor the development of the relationship of Marius and Armand, and by Armand's own admission he will say in TVA that he was never to Daniel after the transformation what Marius was to him. By choice, I might venture, on the part of both Daniel and Armand. They are extremely different relationships and everyone is entitled to have a preference, but this wanting to put Marius in a bad light, always, for reasons among others absurd or not contained in Anne's Canon I find really low. Not to mention that it is actually Marius who saves Daniel, and it is Marius who gives him the happiness and stability that Armand never gave him. Again by Daniel's own admission, who in PL expresses his love and deep gratitude to Marius " If it weren't for you I wouldn't be here." says Daniel to Marius.

And even this topic that Daniel leaves Marius for Armand in Atlantis, it is not specified what happens in the Canon or even whether Daniel's return to Armand is romantic or not. One can only speculate. As a matter of fact this is not the end of the chronicles, while there is a love closure for Marius and Armand unfortunately Daniel disappears and nothing more is known about him, we only know that Armand in BC returns but with Benji and Sybelle, and no one says or asks anything about Daniel, simply gone. Now why all this, not to mention that so much will do little good, because I would like to see an end to these pundits or doctors interpretation, it is not Nice, it is Anne Rice, and as wonderfully rich and complex as her writing has been, there are no interpretations or hidden messages to be found it is all black and white. And if you don't like it if you don't accept it let it go and devote yourself to something else if only out of respect for her. Or at least devote yourself to what you like and leave everyone else free to do the same.

[spireofdeceit]

i don't really get simpatico but i would love to understand it more bc its such a big part of transformers now. if you're willing, you can do that big post on simpatico here?? if you wanna??? i'd really appreciate the help 🥺👉👈

The thing with Simpatico is that i didn't exactly Get it at first too, most of my exposure was through fan content and reading the thing i was just Yeah it Makes Sense people ship this, but then it kind of bestowed on me more how these two people are just two parts fitting together perfectly in a way they wouldn't with others, and it's not even inherently Romantic to me, even if i see them as very much in love and conjunxed post MTMTE/LL story.

Their relationship is quite silly in the context at first. Brainstorm's profile calls him a conflicted Perceptor fanboy. The only thing we get, up to this point, is his Annoyance with how his genius is overshadowed by Perceptor. While Perceptor doesn't seem to give him his time of day at all, more concerned with his work and what Rodimus wants from him than what Brainstorm is up to.

It's honestly just my personal interpretation of either characters, but Perceptor is finally allowed to fullly get back to science again, he's not expected to be holding his sniper rifle (even though he was never expected to! He had himself believe that holding a weapon will make him of more value!), while Brainstorm is there with his own super secret super important agenda.

Brainstorm is, apparently, an MTO, while we don't know what for, but MTOs have a very sad track record and usually have a lot of baggage as they're usually "born" and then kicked into the heat of battle, barely having any chance to learn who they are, just what they're for. Yet Brainstorm has never killed anyone - and despite that, he's still LIED about being an MTO.

Here they're talking about the concept of Constructed Cold, but there were TWO waves of them - pre-war and post-war. What Brainstorm is talking about he was not even born to witness yet.

They're both people who, one way or the other, "defying" what they are. It's a common theme with tf ships for me, but in case with this, it's Perceptor believing that he has to be more, and at the point of MTMTE, perhaps, not feeling entirely whole, and Brainstorm WANTING to be someone He actually Wants to Be.

Brainstorm feels threatened when his intellect is belittled by people calling Perceptor the genius. Brainstorm is quite egotistical and selfish, but it all ends up being just a facade, just as much Perceptor's cold and perfect exterior he cultivated throughout years during the war, of someone he thought his side needed.

Up until Brainstorm's time travel shenanigans, we saw them interacting sometimes, and a lot of the time, it was Brainstorm trying to impress Perceptor somehow, or just being himself that draws attention of Percy nevertheless.

And then we see Percy smiling the most he's ever smiled throughout the comic, calling Brainstorm a genius himself, impressed by the intricate work of Brainstorm.

Perceptor gets up to clap for Brainstorm at his trial, and i think it's the moment that sold Perceptor for his respect to Brainstorm. Everything he ever knew about Brainstorm - the careless egotistical and cowardly scientist - turned out to be nothing but means to an end, making way to a dedicated, caring, kind and brilliant person into his mind.

I think their finale just says it all regarding these two, honestly.

"I always wanted recognition for what I am."

"Me too."

Brainstorm spent his life on science and to be recognized. He didn't hide the fact he's an MTO just because. He wants to be seen for his achievements. Perceptor's war trauma had him feel useless to his comrades, who's "purpose", who's Genius, was ultimately the thing people saw in him, brushing off his personal achievements, maybe even the fact he could be more, his person, the way he feels Brainstorm could understand, too.

They're simpatico for a reason, and its just one of them, but pretty crucial and at the very core of why they're so compatible.

While i understand simply thinking of them as "science duo" they're so so much more than that.

[elrielffs]

Why would Sarah put Gwyn in the extra chapter, I'm sorry but it seems strange to me and the truth is it does lend itself to confusion with the issue of shipping

Look, I get it.

If I saw the end of the bc without knowing anything about ACOTAR or it's characters, I could see how it's interpreted as romantic and lend people to ship Gwynriel as a probability.

But context is everything in every piece of media.

Looking at Gwyn and Azriel's interactions point blank in ACOSF...there is nothing that lends to romance or attraction. Not a blush, not stated interest, no charged glance, nothing.

Combine that with the fact that after the BC, Azriel and Gwyn's relationship doesn't change and Azriel has no mate behavior to Gwyn...no longing glances, no desire to seek her out, no reaction to her in the BR, no rage at the thought of her assault...he doesn't even have these things instinctively or even as person that cares about another person beyond general friendliness.

Couple that with the backdrop of alllllll the Elriel going on and it's just not plausible to me. Gwynriel and Elucien have not been given the emotional weight that Elriel has and it definitely has not been given anything even close to it at all and I fail to see how SJM can catch up the couples in 1 book if she wasn't doing Elriel. Even Feysand had 2 books.

I personally think Gwyn was put in the BC to hint at Lightsinger powers that will come into play some way or maybe she is just a red herring, we won't truly know until the next book. Emerie was introduced in ACFAS and we didn't really know her role until ACOSF (and people shipped her with Cassian and Azriel). The BC wasn't Gwyn's introduction but we can conclude that just because she was there doesn't mean it has to be because of romance.

People also like to ignore the other BC where Rhysand and Feyre discuss Elain. The common factor between the two being the third Archeron sister.

I just don't see any good explanation or anything that would make sense in the story for SJM to build up Elriel and have nothing come of it (not even having them together!!) while planning other ships that arent properly set up.

If Elriel had already become a full fledged acknowledged couple in the backdrop of the trilogy, I could see it but as it stands they haven't even been able to explore a relationship. There would be no reason for them to have all this momentum to just fizzle out to lackluster alternative relationships that have not even a crumb of set up that they got.

Also, it's a BC, it's extra, it's hinting at story beats. It can't change the narrative or begin or end anything because if it did it would have to be in the book.

And you can't say oh well, it's hinting towards Gwynriel and ignore everything else that happened with Elain and Az and even Rhysand and Azriel in the BC or with what we see in ACOSF with these characters. Elain has a mate she doesn't want, Azriel and her had a miscommunication, Az and Rhysand have friction now, the Blood Duel was mentioned...all this isn't put there to not play out and just be a top off of a romance that wasn't fully realized.

I could go on and on about the minutiae of what was included and what wasn't and why but I won't. Suffice to say that everyone will have their own take and we won't rightly know until the next book is out but if we actually take everything as a whole rather than in parts you can see how things are falling into place.

[profounddefendorcrusade-blog]

A Long Rant About The Koffin Trio

Note: So, this is my first (really) long post about this fangame, and to be honest, I was debating whether or not to even publish it. I still decided to do it since not a lot of folks talk about ts!underswap, and I wanted to give my two cents regarding my three favorite characters.

More important note: If you think it's gonna trigger you to read about Harry/Larry and Harry/Larry/KK as a found family, better click off this post. Maybe it's my inner aroace speaking, but I personally don't see the romantic appeal at all. Good for you if you do! I'm not trying to invalidate anyone's opinion; diversity is great after all :)

For those of you who are still here, I will start off by saying this:

Harry and Larry depend on Count Koffin-K for so much. I'm tempted to say EVERYTHING.

He genuinely feels like their father figure. I mean, this sentient fedora gave them a job while they were both living lives that were... bad.

He isn't cruel when they do something stupid and instead just looks deadpan. Sure, Koffin-K's not a perfect boss; he yells at the two of them and insults them (dude really needs to work on his temper), but I found it sweet how both Harry and Larry felt safe enough to tell him the truth here, which to me counts for something (pun intended) ↓

He even pranks them sometimes ↓

Koffin may not be perfect (he's gotta keep up the "evil" persona) but at least he 1) tries to give Harry and Larry a hint that he cares for them (has them both secretly do his laundry without them telling each other) 2) actually admits that he cares for them both equally (in his own way) 3) attempts to solve their disagreement despite him not gaining anything out of it

How they met is also interesting to me.

Based on their backstory, Harry and Larry were clearly hesitant to work for Koffin, but when they actually started the job the next day, I imagine that their conversation went something like this (either during the first day or at some point early on in their career):

H: "Larry, he could be like the dad we never had and provide for us and we could have all da money that we never did, see?"

L: "Huhuhu, yeah! Don't forgets da food!"

...and that's how the parade float came to be. I think Koffin secretly appreciates they made it, even though he says how he wanted the thing "as far away as possible" right after saying this line ↓

He also makes this face later on at the festival when he sees the float again cause it reminds him that the three of them are a family despite Harry and Larry getting on his nerves half the time but I can't include the screenshot bc of the picture limit

Heck, the two even built their house outside the keep, which to me suggests that they don’t ever plan on leaving Koffin.

Harry does mention his mother, and we learn that he's into embroidery (both making me think he's a a 'mama's boy'; maybe she taught him how to embroider)...

...but even on the ts!us wiki, the only relationship dynamic the two have is with Koffin-K himself.

Weirdly enough, we only know that Harry has a mom, but not a dad

Even though he was definitely unaware of this, Koffin liked Harry and Larry FOR BEING THEMSELVES. This is really important to me.

He saw something in them that others did not, even if it was initally just "your names rhyme and you give me the 'goofy henchmen' vibe." He sees them both as useful for what he needs them for. It may not be much, but it's exactly what Koffin's looking for.

In other words:

THE WAY HARRY AND LARRY ARE IS ENOUGH FOR COUNT KOFFIN-K. I mean, why look at resumes of competent potential employees when you can hire two idiots who are just as goofy as you

Exactly why Harry and Larry are so loyal to Koffin-K is unknown, but based on my interpretation, it has to do with 1) them desperately needing a father figure/someone to rely on 2) Koffin giving Harry and Larry a home, food, money, and a job that also allows them to slack off and finally enjoy life, and 3) him making them feel needed. Maybe not appreciated, even though he subtly tried to, but definitely needed. Serving under him became their purpose.

In other words, I think they're so loyal because Koffin "chose" them, even if he did that subconsciously.

Harry got the chance to be more than just a janitor. Imo, he was hesitant to work for Koffin at first because he was afraid that he would lose the only sense of security he had. I think he lived with his mom at the time, considering his low-wage job This explains why he wants to be rich (to make up for all the things he couldn't afford).

It also explains why Larry loves food so much (he literally slept under a dumpster bag and if he was both homeless AND unemployed, it would mean that he had to either be a beggar or eat from the trash. Either way, eating good food was out of the question.

It's also possible that Larry had a janitor job just like Harry (but unlike him, nowhere to live). I say that he might have been a janitor, since Koffin mentions how they could both do better than mopping floors forever, but maybe it was just an assumption on Koffin's side.

Whatever the case, their lives sucked.

There was also this one moment I wanna talk about, where Larry called Koffin-K stupid, and Harry pretty much agreed. So I asked myself why they reacted this way.

Maybe because it was easier to convince themselves that they didn't care about their boss than deal with the fact that he (maybe) always saw them as nothing but 'lowly servants'.

Seriously, Harry said out loud what they both wanted most of all. And that something was for Koffin-K to value them. This was more important to them than money and food COMBINED, considering their entire arc was about learning that Koffin needed them both equally

Maybe they were worried about getting fired, but I honestly don't think Koffin ever wanted to do that to them, no matter how many times they messed up.

Maybe they didn't want to be honest and admit to Koffin that he's a total dumbass so they wouldn't get in trouble with him. I mean, they did want to gain his validation/appreciation/approval/love, so it makes sense that they would do anything to get and remain in his good books.

I think the third scenario is the most likely one, tbh.

Might be a nitpick, but notice how Harry and Larry are walking next to each other here, but Koffin-K's at the back, just sorta... isolated, like he's not their equal? This is why I'd rather see him as their father figure than an older brother. The way I look at it, the oldest sibling is usually in charge, yeah, but there's still a level of closeness and familiarity between the siblings, whereas Harry and Larry hardly know anything about Koffin-K, ESPECIALLY how lonely he really is. Koffin's the one who gave them a purpose, became their boss, and as a result, they began looking up to him. In contrast, the two spend 24/7 together, bicker, and are practically inseparable, like brothers

Larry also explains how Koffin-K doesn't like leaving his study, but clearly neither Harry nor Larry reflected on why that is and just assumed it's because Koffin's 'stupid.' This reaction kinda rubbed me the wrong way at first, but then I remembered both of these dudes are street rats who don't know any better.

Look, I know the Boogiemen were supposed to fit this common "goofy villain's sidekicks" trope, but both of them clearly grew up in poor conditions, have daddy issues (imo), and feel worthless/useless.

That's why they want Koffin-K's attention so badly.

They need a father figure to reassure them that they're useful, important, and loved.

All this makes them three-dimensional and relatable, just like most UT/DR/UTY characters. It feels like everyone in these games goes through some kind of deep arc, and I feel like this is supposed to be the Boogiemen's

Sure, Harry and Larry are funny at first glance, and they're great at being comic reliefs, but at their core, they are misguided guys who come from poverty/homelessness. I kinda wish the feisty four from uty had more going for them just so I could psychoanalyze them all

Even though it's probably been a few years since they joined Koffin, at least some part of Harry and Larry doesn't seem to believe that they can finally enjoy themselves, even if it means doing hooligan stuff and boring chores. That's why they're 'superficial' and goof off and will grab any opportunity to act childish and materialistic.

A typical case of age regression

What lies beyond the surface is incredibly sad to me.

Now, this is sort of like a bonus section bc I want to explain WHY exactly I see Harry & Larry as brothers, and WHY I think they see Koffin as a dad again, maybe it's bc I'm aroace and I see family relationships everywhere, but the stuff below REALLY REALLY reminds me of these types of dynamics:

They threw insults at each other and had a literal fistfight over which one of them Koffin appreciated/liked more

They cried HARD (of joy) when Koffin told them they're both equally useful and useless, so they no longer had to be at each other's throats. He also said how he recognized that they're passionate about being his lackeys, even if their teamwork needed, well, work

I think it's sweet how they built the float 'within their first days of henchmenry,' according to KK. They could have easily NOT included him, but had apparently warmed up to him pretty soon

Harry wanted to call Koffin to save them + I love how he's CERTAIN he'll do it

Both yelled for Koffin (reminds me of Axis calling out for Chujin for some reason)

Larry called Koffin Keep their home (could have easily said that they left it at the keep...reminds me of the times Starlo called The Wild East Clover's home I really need to stop with the uty parallels)

They cheered for him (and got hit in the face with books)

They get in trouble with him

They apparently copied two of his attacks these 3 are so similar except that Koffin is a more 'head in the clouds' kind of goofy while Harry & Larry are more grounded... but still goofy

And this line... "And quit arguing, you two!" sounded so parental, istg

I forgot to mention some stuff:

After Koffin tells everyone to go to the festival, Harry and Larry quickly look left and right, like they're wondering where he is and/or what to do now that he isn't there. Poor guys really are dependent on him and like to be in his presence

They talked about Koffin a LOT throughout this game. Their conversations are either about 1) Koffin and what they're gonna do to please him, 2) Them bickering, or 3) Some shenanigans they get themselves into. Larry even remembers how Koffin-K always says: "If you're slacking, put some hustle into it"

Koffin doesn't treat any other lackey the way he does Harry and Larry, and none of the other lackeys seek his admiration like the two do

Harry and Larry were both jealous af of Chara for getting all the attention (right after they got into Koffin's study Harry said "Now whaddya need us in here for, see?" and I immediately thought that he wanted to add "you have a new favorite child lacky now so why don't assign more chores TO THEM")

Like I'm not sure if they were meant to come across to us players as a family but for some reason that's how they came across to me since day 1

The actual reason why I see them in this light is not just bc I love found family (even tho I do. a lot), but bc I feel like it would give Harry & Larry more depth than a romance between any of them

[echoes-of-mia]

okay this is a long ramble and kinda personal, so bear with me, but i want to talk about being aspec in the joker out fandom bc I'm full of emotions and i need to share them somewhere

(just a short warning for internalised aphobia before i go on)

for context, i identify as aspec, more specifically asexual and some flavour of aromantic. I've known about the ace part for about 3-4 years now, the aro part is more recent and I'd say that before, lets say, a couple of months ago, I'd always seen that as something negative, something that makes me miserable, a deficit that will always be there and that others will never understand

and then i joined the (tumblr) joker out fandom around... june of last year, probably? and at first i thought "theres no way there are many queer people in this fandom, its essentially a boyband, and other aspec people? no way"

well, oh boy was i wrong

because not only is this fandom, like what, 90% queer? (i know someone made a poll at some point but i dont remember the percentages) but it's also around 50% aspec. and there's just this general positivity and support surrounding the a-spectrum in the fandom. like, some days ago there was an aphobic comment somewhere and before i even saw it my dash was FLOODED with people defending aspec people and i was just sitting in the kitchen reading through the posts and crying.

and yes, this is tumblr, i could have seen this coming and it's probably different on other platforms, but so many aspec people in one place, in one fandom, is still something that I've never experienced before.

so why are so many aspec people drawn to a slovenian indie/shagadelic rock band that, at first glance, is just 5 very good-looking probably-straight guys making music? that doesnt really make sense, right?

and then you see how much more they are. how they interact with each other. how comfortable they are in their sexualities, in their masculinity, in being themselves. you see a group of friends that love each other so unashamedly it's a bit unbearable to watch sometimes. you don't see them holding back because "thats not their partner!" or "that's reserved for romantic relationships!", you just see love. you see them supporting each other, being physically affectionate, looking out for each other, laughing together, even living together. vse kar vem could easily be a romantic song, but it's about their friendship!!

and what is all of that, if not THE dream of many aspec people? to be okay with not feeling sexual or romantic attraction because you have your group of friends that you love the same amount as allosexual/-romantic people love their partner(s) and to show it, and to know that they love you the same (and won't replace you with romantic partners) because they also show it, without thinking twice about it, without thinking about how others might interpret your relationship because it just doesn't matter as long as you love each other.

so of course aspec people see themselves in joker out. we see hope for ourselves in them, we are probably a little (or in my case very) jealous of their friendship, we want what they have or we just love to finally see real people live with the sort of affection we would like to have. (just to clarify, this is based mostly on what i feel, so other aspecs might feel completely different about this, idk why I'm trying to generalise this)

and this is about all five of them, but to take jan and nace as an obvious example: they love each other so much that the fans start to speculate, and they know about it. but instead of hiding their affection, they just keep on doing what they're doing. because they know how they feel for each other, and it's no one else's business, and they won't be stopping their love just because of "conspiracy theories". and to me it doesn't matter how they love each other (platonic, romantic, whatever), it matters that they do and that you can't help but notice it, because they show it in every interaction we see of them. the damon baker photoshoot just confirmed that, they look at each other and the amount of love makes me cry, it's so incredibly beautiful.

(just some other things i want to mention: them probably cooking mostly potatoes because nace is glutenfree. nace calming down bojan after his panic attack in summer. jan and bojan casually kissing on the lips during a concert. the jure and bojan getting married photoshoot. bojan touching kris's hair during concerts. kris being carried around during a photoshooting. jure and jan drawing a heart together. them gathering around jure's drumset during concerts. i could go on but for my sanity and yours i won't, there are so many moments that just make me soft)

I'd love to be more physically affectionate with my friends, but every time there's this voice in the back of my head saying what society has conditioned it to say, which is that that kind of affection is reserved for romantic relationships, and this voice stops me every time. i feel like bojan, jan, jure, kris and nace either don't have that voice (anymore?) or they've just managed to ignore it, they don't hold back and i admire that as much as i wish i could be like that.

and while i still have a long way to go until i can be affectionate with my friends without worrying about it or holding myself back, joker out have shown me that it's possible, because of them i finally have days on which i think that i can be aspec and actually happy about it. being aspec finally feels as freeing as it should feel and I'm just grateful

joker out has allowed so much queer joy into my life without intending to and although i don't think anyone i know irl will ever understand this, i hope that some of you can relate to this in some way.

I've said this a lot during the past two weeks but i can never say it enough: all the love to my fellow aspecs, and also to all the non-aspec people who support us <3

feel free to add to this if you want to; my dms are always open if you want to talk about it without posting about it, i love hearing other people's thoughts about stuff like this ^^

[mae-i-scribble]

I rewatched a few of the early episodes of spyfam today bc getting to see the movie gave me an itch to scratch, and in particular episode two made me finally able to conceptualize what about fandom twiyor that irks me so deeply. If you like widespread fandom interpretations of them I would uh, look away bc none of my opinions on it are positive.

Episode 2 of the spyfam anime remains one of my favorites because of all the little flourishes the studios add to sell you on Yor as a character while also expanding a bit on the manga's original commentary on the stigma that follows older single women. What draws Yor and Loid together as a family is that neither of them are capable of having conventional relationships. Both of them are war orphans forced to grow up far too soon and who threw away aspects of their humanity to fight for what they believe to be a better world. While Loid's position as a spy and mastery of deception allows him to avoid the stigmas that would come from the ordinary person discovering what he does, that is not something that holds true for Yor, whose weakest point is that she simply cannot understand "normal." She's aware of the way her coworkers demean her and insult her but can do nothing about it because her only conflict resolution skill is murder. She is constantly reminded that she is an outsider, hence why Loid's declaration at the party is so meaningful to her, and what convinces her to ask him to continue the facade as a married couple.

Underneath it all however, is a quiet showcase of amatonormativity that drove both Loid and Yor to their arrangement. Eden requires a student to have a perfectly nuclear family. Societal conventions dictate that Yor, happily single at 27, is someone pathetic (to her coworkers) or someone in need of help (to her brother). Marriage is an expectation that Yor is pressured to commit to, and a societal requirement that Loid must uphold for the sake of his mission. And while this showcase begins in episode 2 it is something that spyfam continues to highlight when it comes to the expectations both Loid and Yor struggle to meet when they try to hard/become to anxious over what is "expected" as a married couple vs what the other person is actually thinking/feeling.

Now, what the fuck does this have to do with fandom you ask? Here's the thing. Spyfam reached the broad range of anime fans when it exploded in popularity, which is when I started engaging with it beyond just comments on the latest manga chapters. Modern fandom already has the issue of classifying ships into tropes rather than actually like, shipping characters as they are. And that's exactly what happened with twiyor. People began going "oh my gosh this is the moment she fell for loid," "oh he's so in love with her just look at him," before we had even reached episode 10. Which was incredibly frustrating to me because clearly Loid and Yor are not anywhere near in love that soon in the story- and the basis for that frustration starts in episode 2 for me. Because Loid and Yor's marriage is one that is unconventional from the very beginning, and it is that factor that defines their dynamic an allows them to function as healthily and sweetly as they do. People don't need to be in love to be married or to be a parental unit. None of that requires romantic love, it is simply an expectation of our society, the same sort of expectation that cripples Yor and makes her think she has to find a partner, then that she has to find a husband to appease those around her. Seeing that completely erased in a large portion of art/commentary/fics written about them angers me because its something baked into the foundation of their dynamic and something I feel enhances them as a potential romantic pairing rather than detracts from it. But we can't have that because of course a man and woman living together and caring for a kid fell in love almost immediately.

And don't even get me started on how people misinterpret Loid for their far more romantic interpretations of his motivations and relationship with Anya and Yor or else I will start losing teeth from how hard I am clenching my jaw

[erikahenningsen]

#79 I don't care what anyone else thinks -- cadina bc I need fuel

79. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

Being in a secret relationship is not as exciting as it seems in the movies.

Holding hands under the lunch table or trading kisses in empty stairwells seemed romantic at first, but it doesn't actually feel so good when the person you're with looks over their shoulder to make sure nobody saw every time they show you affection.

Cady would never push Regina to come out before she's ready, but she wishes she could share her happiness with other people. Because she is happy—being with Regina makes her happy.

And maybe part of her—the selfish, egotistical part of her—wants everyone at school to know that she, Cady Heron, is the person who gets to kiss Regina in the janitor's closet.

(Maybe she doesn't want to announce that last part specifically, but the point stands.)

Cady and Regina get to school early, like they always do, so they have some time to make out in Regina's car before the homeroom bell. As far as Cady is concerned, it's the best part of the day.

The novelty of kissing Regina George—being the one who gets to kiss her—has not worn off, and Cady isn't sure it ever will. She certainly understands why Aaron got back together with Regina so easily now.

She was also surprised by the way Regina kisses her. When Cady used to stare longingly at Regina and Aaron, Regina would kiss him in a way Cady can only describe as dominant—like how the male lions would rip into a kill while the females and the cubs waited their turn.

But Regina kisses Cady so gently, fingers tangled in the hair at where her skull meets her neck, letting Cady set the pace. It's soft. Sweet. Even tentative, at first, when it was still new. Their kisses never lose that quality, even when they're moving more urgently, hands roaming and bodies pressed together.

"Here," Regina says when they break apart, the bell due to ring in five minutes. She hands Cady her lip gloss.

"Thanks." Cady wipes whatever was left smeared around her mouth away and runs the applicator over her lips quickly. Regina watches her with a smirk on her face, making it hard to concentrate.

"You're so pretty," Regina tells her, casually but sincerely. It makes Cady's chest feel warm. She smiles at Cady—the affectionate one reserved only for her—and gets out of the car.

They cross the parking lot, hands brushing every few steps, until they reach the front door of the school. Regina pauses, looking at the door almost apprehensively. Before Cady can ask if she's okay, Regina reaches out and takes her hand.

Cady looks around them quickly. "Regina, what are you doing? People are going to see."

"I don't care," Regina says, and Cady would believe her if not for the tremor in her voice. "I don't care what anyone else thinks."

"But—"

Regina opens the door and steps inside, leaving Cady no choice but to follow or let go of Regina's hand—and Cady would never even consider doing that.

The whispers and double-takes are almost immediate, albeit more confused than anything.

As if not wanting to leave any room for interpretation, when they reach Cady's locker, Regina kisses her. Kisses Cady. In the middle of the hallway. It's quick, more a peck than anything else, but Cady stares at Regina dumbly as the people around them gasp.

To an untrained eye, Regina looks totally unfazed, but there is a pinch between her eyebrows, a nervous tension in her shoulders. But she looks happy, too.

Cady has never been more proud of her.

"I'll see you at lunch?" Regina asks, and Cady nods.

Regina turns to walk away and catches sight of a couple of freshman girls staring at them, open-mouthed.

Regina smirks at them. "Jealous?"

[kimkhimhant]

I don't understand why so many people equate a single aspect of a character's personality to their sexual preferences. like pointing to Kim's apparent enjoyment of violence and being like obviously he's a violent dom top.

it feels like toxic masculinity and disturbing stereotyping to say a character who has violent tendencies can't possibly be gentle in romantic and sexual relationships, or someone who has a lot of anger can't possibly bottom or submit to the person they love.

because Kim can kill people means he would want to aggressively dom Chay and would never want to give Chay any power in their sexual relationship? it doesn't make sense to me and it honestly feels like an insult to Kim's character. I don't have a problem with Kim domming or topping. i have a problem with people making that his whole personality when it's Not. the biggest move he makes on Chay is a very innocent cheek kiss, when he absolutely could have done more. to say that the violence he commits to protect Chay= violent sexual dominance is weird!

to say that because he is ambitious & hardened & willing to threaten & kill people who endanger his loved ones, he could never willingly submit to someone - what kind of claim is that? doesn't that make it all the more impactful when he Does submit?

claiming so confidently (and rudely) that there's nothing submissive about him, and that it's out of character to write him as anything but an aggressive and violent dom top really does feel so narrow-minded and insulting. his actions in canon are very much open to interpretation.

the club scene, he momentarily loses control of his emotions: he finds out chay skipped his audition, is at a club, and is being offered drugs. he freaks out and drags chay away, but when chay stands up to him he stands down. he leaves. he doesn't continue to force chay. we can interpret this interaction either as a momentarily loss of control, or as proof that he's capable of force, but again, neither option is explicitly confirmed by canon.

the song, it's implied that he started writing it while he and chay were still together, rather than a post-breakup manipulation tactic. we see him alone in his apartment writing a song while thinking about chay's love song and smiling. it was a love song, written in response to chay's love song, but they broke up before kim finished it.

kim is absolutely capable of violence and force. boundaries are a little blurry for him, especially when he's trying to accomplish something. he looks into chay's phone, breaks into his room, bypasses his being blocked by messaging from a different number. chay also walks right over kim's boundaries. he insists that kim stays to listen to his song (repeatedly), get's kim's address from his friend and shows up at his place, etc. they are pretty well matched in that sense – their concept of boundaries and attachment are both unhealthy.

there is really nothing in canon that dictates whatever romantic or sexual dynamics they will have. i'm frustrated when people act like there are. the image someone presents in public has nothing to do with their sexual preferences.

it feels like a projection of misogyny & toxic masculinity & honest to God homophobia to say that because Chay is sunny & soft, he can only ever be a submissive bottom, & bc Kim is cold & raised to be violent, he can only ever be a violent, dominant top.

again, as a disclaimer, i'm not opposed to domtop kim. i think it's an entirely valid portrayal of him! i support those who write those dynamics! but it's not canon, because there is no canon sexual dynamic for kimchay. sub bottom kim isn't canon either! because there is no canon sexual dynamic for kimchay.

we almost never see kim with his defenses down. he's always on guard and putting on a brave face, except for just a few scenes, like when he's alone writing music and finding chay's polaroid.

i think it's important to recognize the fact that sexual dynamics cannot be predicted by looking at how someone looks and acts in public, and that no interpretations are confirmed by canon and all interpretations are therefore equally valid

[simpingresponsibly]

apologies if this is all over the place (or doesn't make a lot of sense) but the ask about dnf and hall passes tickled my brain as an aro/ace person lol

When I fully migrated from exclusively dsmp fandom stuff to a mix of dsmp and rpf the amount of weird puritan hostility I encountered was completely baffling. I know my experiences with and opinions on relationships are a little skewed on account of the aro/ace-ness (and the fact that I feel very little relationship jealousy) but to be honest I think the main issue here is that a good chunk of the fandom drank the amatonormativity koolaid.

This mostly manifests in the way people treat Sapnap (or I just notice it more with Sapnap bc I like him) and his relationship(s) with DNF. Adherence to a partner-centric relationship hierarchy leads to people treating Sapnap's relationship with DNF as lesser or not as important as their relationship with one another, when in reality it's just as important, it's just not romantic.

I think the mix of platonic and romantic there tends to throw people for a loop, but to me that confusion doesn't make any sense whatsoever because I've never considered romantic relationships to be more valuable than platonic ones. The whole DNF romantic vs Sapnap platonic baffles me to no end because people try to insert arbitrary jealousy into the dynamic where it doesn't actually exist.

The dteam all have a very close (borderline qpr imo) relationship with one another, and in a world where DNF are dating I can 100% see georgenap still having their regular insaneisms and it not being an issue because that's not how Dream understands his relationship with either of them. Sapnap is his best friend and George is his boyfriend and neither of them are more important to him than the other, which doesn't mean he wants to date Sapnap or that he doesn't love George enough.

A lot of my personal grappling with the dream team's relationship and the fics I write about them centers around this actually - I keep trying to figure out how to explain them, the way they have all these behaviors with one another that are romantic between two of them but platonic with the third member of their friend group. It's really hard to communicate this idea to other people (I think jealousy is the stress point because I don't understand it but other people certainly do lol) because I know what it looks like in my head but I don't know how to show it.

You calling it 'the christian missionary relationship' is so funny tho because that's EXACTLY how I felt when I first joined the fandom. I felt like I was insane for a week and a half there lmao

also the kink thing is just straight up weird tbh my only guess is that it's some kind of warped hold-over from the 'cc boundaries' era of the fandom?

tbh the cc boundary holdover might have some weight on the anti-kink angle

there's a couple of interesting things here. I don't think I completely agree with you on how I interpret them or the fandom responses but I certainly see where you're coming from

the first one is the jealousy angle. I'm a bit biased, given that I answered an ask a little while ago talking about how much I deeply LOOOOVE jealous dnf, but I don't really think that comes into it at all. theres plenty of different reasons to do it, obviously, but to me jealousy is at the core of what makes open relationship/hall pass stories so good.

slight NSFW under cut

whether that's Dream reclaiming George the second he gets back from a hookup or the slow build to possessive sex, THATS the good shit. or when there isn't jealousy, the absence of it is the point. the ultimate trust that goes into the act of George letting Dream go for a hookup, and knowing that George is always the one he's going to come back to. the knowledge that there's nobody out there George needs to be jealous of, because none of them will ever compare.

jealousy is the meat behind stories where they make each other crack and lay claim; George leaving hickies bigger and darker than the last girl Dream fucked. Dream stuck between horny and angry when George sends him a snap of a guy pounding him into the mattress. I even love the stories where they say they're not jealous (when they actually are) because they're so scared of losing each other over it that it explodes into a confrontation and desperate sex (even if the thesis of those stories ends up being that there was something they were capable of adding to their relationship to make them exclusive)

if you're not someone who experiences jealousy at all, you probably don't like the stories for the same reason which is absolutely fine!! thats the beauty of storytelling. but I don't think the reason people hate them is related to jealousy; jealousy is usually the point of them.

the other thing I think is interesting that you brought up, which sort of moves away from the original hall pass discussion, is the romantic dnf + qpr sapnap angle. people do tend to react badly to the idea that Sapnap could have relationships of similar importance and intimacy to dnf as they have with each other. generally the response I see is "well, yes, friendships can be just as important but Sapnap is straight and he wouldn't do [insert traditionally romantic/sexual thing] to dream or george".

which, regardless of if that's true or not, is sort of a moot point because qpr doesn't really take sexuality into account. it's a queering of the understanding of things that can or should go into a platonic relationship but you don't have to be queer to be in one. it's the framework you use to understand what is allowed or encouraged