#she is obviously not gay and flamboyant

[love-for-burgundy-blog]

I know perfectly well that Harley was nasty and manipulative to a literall 10 year old girl, but he was soooo dammnnn funny and entertaining. Gotta love my favorite gay, flamboyant coordinator!! 💚🌵

[smallhatlogan]

reading this thing this lesbian wrote back in 2003 when she was really mad about AFIN and it's so interesting to see someone pretty much accusing them of queerbaiting even back then (when the word in the same sentence as Xena makes people get really mad nowadays) and also it's pretty funny how little fandom has changed

Extremely funny that the "well I fucking despise the actual piece of media in question but at least we have fanfiction" mentality was around even in 2003

[wifelinkmtg]

TUMBLR POST EDITOR WON'T LET ME TITLE THIS POST ANYMORE SO I GUESS THIS IS THE TITLE NOW. WEBBED SITE INNIT

So let's say you grew up in the nineties and that The Lion King was an important movie to you. Let's say that the character of Scar - snarling, ambitious, condescending, effeminate Scar - stirred feelings in you which you had no words for as a child. And then let's say, many years later, you're talking about it with a college friend, and you say something like, "oh man, I think Scar was some sort of gay awakening for me," and she fixes you with this level stare and says, "Scar was a fascist. What's the matter with you?"

The immediate feeling is not unlike missing a step: hang on, what's happening, what did I miss? You knew there were goose-stepping hyenas in "Be Prepared," but you didn't think it mattered that much. He's the bad guy, after all, and the movie's just pointing it out. Your friend says it's more than that: the visuals of the song are directly referencing the Nuremberg rallies. They're practically an homage to Riefenstahl. This was your sexual awakening? Is this why you're so into peaked caps and leather, then? Subliminal nazi kink, perhaps?

And then one of your other friends cuts in. "Hold up," he says, "let's think about what Scar actually did in the movie. He organized a group of racialized outcasts and led them against a predatory monarchy. Why are you so keen to defend their hereditary rule? Scar's the good guy here." The conversation immediately descends into a verbal slap fight about who the real bad guy is, whether Scar's regime was actually responsible for the ecological devastation of the Pride Lands, whether the hyenas actually count as "racialized" because James Earl Jones voiced Mufasa after all. Your Catholic friend starts saying some strange and frankly concerning shit about Natural Law. Someone brings The Lion King 2 into it. You leave the conversation feeling a little bit lost and a little bit anxious. What were we even talking about?

INTRODUCING: THE DITCH

There is a way of reading texts which I'm afraid is pervasive, which has as its most classical expression the smug obsession with trivia and minutiae you find in a certain vein of comic book fan. "Who was the first Green Lantern? What was his weakness? Do you even know the Green Lantern Oath?" It eschews the subjective in favor of definitively knowable fact. You can't argue with this guy that, say, Alan Scott shouldn't really count as the first Green Lantern because his whole deal is so radically different from the Hal Jordan/John Stewart/Guy Gardner Corps-era Lanterns, because this guy will simply say "but he's called Green Lantern. Says so right on the cover. Checkmate." This approach to reading a text is fundamentally 1) emotionally detached (there's a reason the joke goes, oh you like X band? name three of their songs - and not, which of their songs means the most to you? which of them came into your life at exactly the right moment to tell you exactly what you needed to hear just then?) and 2) defensive. It's a stance that is designed not to lose arguments. It says so right on the cover. Checkmate.

And then you get the guys who are like "well obviously Bruce Wayne could do far more as a billionaire to solve societal problems by using his tremendous wealth to address systemic issues instead of dressing up as a bat and punching mental patients in the head," and these guys have half a point but they're basically in the same ditch butting heads with the "well, actually" guys, and can we not simply extricate ourselves from the ditch entirely?

So, okay, let's return to our initial example. Scar is portrayed using Nazi iconography - the goose-stepping, the monumentality, the Nuremberg Lichtdom. He is also flamboyant and effete. He unifies and leads a group of downtrodden exiles to overthrow an absolute monarch. He's also a self-serving despot on whose rule Heaven Itself turns its back. You can't reconcile these things from within the ditch - or if you can, the attempt is likely to be ad-hoc supposition and duct tape.

Instead, let's ask ourselves what perspective The Lion King is coming from. What does it say is true about the world? What are its precepts, its axioms?

There is a natural hierarchical order to the world. This is just and righteous and the way of things, and attempts to overthrow this order will be punished severely by the world itself.

Fascism is what happens when evil men attempt to usurp this natural order with the aid of a group or groups of people who refuse to accept their place in the order.

There exists an alternative to defending and adhering to one's place in the natural order - it consists only of selfish spineless apathy.

Manliness is an essential quality of a just ruler. Unmanliness renders a person unfit for rule, and often resentful and dangerous as well.

And isn't that interesting, laid out like that? It renders the entire argument about the movie irrelevant (except for whatever your Catholic friend was on about, since his understanding of the world seems to line up with the above precepts weirdly well.) It's meaningless to argue about whether Scar was a secret hero or a fascist, when the movie doesn't understand fascism and has a damn-near alien view of what good and evil are.

There's always gonna be someone who, having read this far, wants to reply, "so, what? The Lion King is a bad movie and the people who made it were homophobes and also American monarchists, somehow? And anyone who likes it is also some sort of gay-bashing crypto-authoritarian?" To which I have to reply, man, c'mon, get out of the ditch. You're no good to anyone in there. Take my hand. I'm going to pull on three. One... two...

SO PHYREXIA [PAUSE FOR APPLAUSE, GROANS]

We're talking about everyone's favorite ichor-drooling surgery monsters again because there was a bit in my ~*~seminal~*~ essay Transformation, Horror, Eros, Phyrexia which seemed to give a number of readers quite a bit of trouble: namely, the idea that while Phyrexia is textually fascist, their aesthetic is incompatible with real-world fascism, and further, that this aesthetic incompatibility in some way outweighs the ways in which they act like a fascist nation in terms of how we think of them. I'll take responsibility here: I don't think that point is at all clear or well-argued in that essay. What I was trying to articulate was that the text of Magic: the Gathering very much wants Phyrexia to be supremely evil and dangerous fascists, because that makes for effective antagonists, but in the process of constructing that, it's accidentally encoded a whole bunch of fascinating presuppositions that end up working at cross-purposes with its apparent aim. That's... not that much clearer, is it? Hmm. Why don't I just show you what I mean?

Atraxa, Grand Unifier (art by Marta Nael)

In "Beneath Eyes Unblinking," one of the March of the Machine stories by K. Arsenault Rivera, there's a fascinating and I think revealing passage in which Atraxa (big-deal Phyrexianized angel and Elesh Norn's lieutenant) has a run-in with an art museum in New Capenna. The first thing I want to talk about is that, in this passage, Atraxa has no understanding of the concept of "beauty". A great deal of space in such a rushed storyline is devoted to her trying to puzzle out what beauty means and interrogating the minds of her recently-compleated Capennan aesthetes to try and understand it. In the end, she is unable to conceive of beauty except as "wrongness," as anathema.

So my first question is, why doesn't Atraxa have any idea of beauty? This is nonsense, right? We could point to a previous story, "A Garden of Flesh," by Lora Gray, in which Elesh Norn explicitly thinks in terms of beauty, but that's a little bit ditchbound, isn't it? The better argument is to simply look at Phyrexian bodies, at the Phyrexian landscape, all of which looks the way it does on purpose, all of which has been shaped in accordance with the very real aesthetic preferences of Phyrexians. How you could look at the Fair Basilica and not understand that Phyrexians most definitely have an idea of beauty, even if you personally disagree with it, is baffling. This is a lot like the canonical assertion that Phyrexians lack souls, which is both contradicted elsewhere in canon and essentially meaningless, given Magic's unwillingness or inability to articulate what a soul is in its setting, and as with this, it seems the goal is simply to dehumanize Phyrexians, to render them alien, even at the cost of incoherence or internal contradiction.

Atraxa's progress through the museum is fascinating. It evokes the 1937 Nazi exhibit on "degenerate art" in Munich, but not at all cleanly. The first exhibit, which is of representational art, she angrily destroys for being too individualistic (a point of dissonance with the European fascist movements of the 20th century, which formed in direct antagonism to communism.) The second exhibit, filled with abstract paintings and sculptures, she destroys even more angrily for having no conceivable use (this is much more in line with the Nazi idea of "degenerate art", so well done there.) The third exhibit is filled with war trophies and reconstructions from a failed Phyrexian invasion of Capenna many years prior, which she is angriest of all with (and fair enough, I suppose.) But then, after she's done completely trashing the place, she spots a number of angel statues on the cathedral across the plaza, and she goes apeshit. In a fugue of white-hot rage, she pulverizes the angel heads, and here is where I have to ask my second question:

Why angels? If you are trying to invoke fascist attitudes toward art, big statues of angels are precisely the wrong thing for your fascist analogues to hate. Fascists love monumental, heroic representations of superhuman perfection. It's practically their whole aesthetic deal. I understand that we're foreshadowing the imminent defeat of Phyrexia at the hands of legions of angels and a multiversal proliferation of angel juice, but that just leads to the exact same question: why angels? To the best of my knowledge, the Phyrexian weakness to New Capennan angel juice is something invented for this storyline. They have, after all, been happily compleating angels since 1997. We could talk about the in-universe justification for why Halo specifically is so potent, but I don't remember what that justification is, and also don't care. Let's not jump back in the ditch, please. The point is, someone decided that this time, Phyrexia would be defeated by an angelic host, and what does that mean? What is the text trying to say? What are its precepts and axioms?

Let me ask you a question: how many physically disabled angels are there in Magic: the Gathering? How about transsexual angels? How many angels are there, on all of the cards that have ever been printed for Magic: the Gathering, that are even just a bit ugly? Do you get it yet? Or do you need me to spell it out for you?

SPELLING IT OUT FOR YOU

There is a kind of body which is bad. It is bad because it has been significantly altered from its natural state, and it is bad because it is repellent to our aesthetic sensibilities.

The bad kind of body is contagious. It spreads through contact. Sometimes people we love are infected, and then they become the bad kind of body too.

There is a kind of body which is good. It is good because it is pleasing to our aesthetic sensibilities, and it is good because it is unaltered from its (super)natural state.

A happy ending is when all the good bodies destroy or drive into hiding all of the bad bodies. A happy ending is when the bad bodies of the people we love are forcibly returned to being the good kind of body.

Do you get it now?

ENDNOTES

It's worth noting that the ditch is very similar to the white American Evangelical hermeneutics of "the Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it," the defensive chapter-and-verse-or-it-didn't-happen approach to reading a text, what Fred Clark of slacktivist calls "concordance-ism". I don't think that's accidental. We stand underneath centuries of people reading the Bible very poorly - how could that not affect how we read things today? We are participants in history whether we like it or not.

I sincerely hope I haven't come across as condescending in this essay. Close reading is legitimately difficult! They teach college courses on this stuff! And while it is frustrating to have my close readings interrogated by people who... aren't doing that, like. I do get it. I find myself back in the ditch all the time. This stuff is hard. It is also, sorry, crucial if you intend to say something about a text that's worth saying.

I also hope I've communicated clearly here. Magic story is sufficiently incoherent that trying to develop a thesis about it often feels like trying to nail jello to the wall. If anyone has questions, please ask them! And thank you for reading. Next time, we'll probably do the new Eldraine set.

[andrewsleftarmband]

Foxes Walk Out Songs

Ive seen this done a couple times and wanted to do it myself!! Slight modern au cuz I’m too lazy to find period accurate songs.

Dan Wilds

The Greatest by Sia

I think she’d choose this one to sort of hype herself up, and hype her team.

The pre chorus repeat of “I won’t give up” is just so Dan to me and I think she’d agree.

Matt Boyd

My guy Matt is definitely charging into the court to the raucous melody of

Turn Down For What by DJ Snake and Lil Jon

My guy is picking the hypest song he can think of and he’s gonna get that crowd GOING

Renee Walker

Sunday Best by Surfaces

Idk I think Renee would want something upbeat and happy

This song is so Renee coded like “feeling blessed, never stressed” is definitely a sticker she’d have on her water bottle

Allison Reynolds

Allison is 100% picking a hot girl bop and a half

And that song is On My Mama by Victoria Monet

I think she’d pick this song obviously for the hot girl vibes but also as another fuck you to her parents. “They say she get it from her mama, imma say you fucking right”

Nicky Hemmick

Now Nicky is picking an iconic gay anthem to strut out to in the most flamboyant way he can

And that song is I’m Coming Out by Diana Ross

I think he’d find the literal interpretation funny, but also he’s definitely the type to shout from the rooftops that he’s gay and this is a way to do that

Aaron 100% rolled his eyes when nicky picked this one

Aaron Minyard

Okay here’s how this went (I read a fic where something similar happened I’m just changing the circumstances lol)

I think Aaron would just avoid choosing something for lack of caring

And I think Nicky would decide to choose for him

But when Nicky suggests Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson, he almost immediately shuts the idea down

But then he sees a little quirk of andrews eyebrow betraying a hint of amusement

And he chooses Man in the Mirror

One could laugh at it, but one could also get depressed by looking too closely at “I’m asking him to change his ways”

But I’m choosing to laugh

Neil Josten

This one was hard, I went through a couple options before landing on what I think would be funniest while being something he might actually pick

I don’t think Neil would know what to pick so I think Andrew would just show him a bunch of songs until he picked one

And I think he would eventually land on Centuries by Fall Out Boy

For one thing Andrew def listens to the emo trinity

For another I think the song has Neil’s fuck you im going to win energy that he brings to the court

One could look more closely at Neil “I’m finally a real person” Josten picking a song saying “you will remember me”

I love it

Andrew Minyard

This was actually the hardest

Because I don’t think Andrew would actually care enough to participate

But I can also see him using it as an opportunity to be a little shit

So I think he’d look wymack directly in the eye and choose Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne

Just to watch him sigh and put a hand to his forehead in exasperation

And I think the rest of the team would find it funny

Anyways, lmk what you think or if I’m like way off the mark here.

[lifes-line]

In honor of the Adventure Zone and the suffering game coming out soon I’m gonna talk about the moments in The Adventure Zone that got me the most emotional

Obviously spoilers for the Adventure Zone

5. Johann the Bard’s death

This one I think caught the majority of TAZ fans off guard. Whenever an NPC died.. it was always during the events of recovering a grand relic - never after the mission. It’s like-

Johann was here. And then he wasn’t.

And most people grew very attached to Johann during the episodes and arcs of making fun of him, asking if they’re ok with being forgotten, him and his relationship with the Void Fish— and to include this with my number 5

WHEN MAGNUS AT THE END OF THE PODCAST

NAMES HIS FUCKING DOG AFTER JOHANN

OHMYGODDD

4. Meeting Lup

Now- not when Lup was freed from the Umbra-staff and called out her brother for being gay, while that was a funny as fuck moment, that’s not what I’m referring to.

It’s when we cut back to the Stolen Century and we meet Lup officially for the first time. I just remember hearing her speak for the first time and her antics and I remember being like “god.. she’s just like her brother.”

And we get to know her and it’s like- we also find out she is nothing like Taako. She’s more empathetic to people - to strangers- she’s smarter than him(like book smart) , SHES a nerd, she flamboyant and kindhearted and it’s like also-

We’ve known her forever. She was in every single adventure the boys had- she was this overwhelming presence in the entire podcast - from her name burnt into the wall, to “where’d you get that umbrella?”, to flying to Taako’s aid every time he was in trouble— she had always been a character without a name or face to her and then we she is finally formally introduced you just love her instantly.

That’s amazing writing.

3. Arms outstretched

Now this got everyone.

It was such a powerful moment between brothers and between friends- even Griffin didn’t see it coming.

He fully expect them to just let Magnus float off into the astral plane but then they change the entire plot of the story and saved Magnus and brought him back.

Taako and Merle both using a spell slot to bring back their bestfriend. Also foreshadows to their deeper connection back in their stolen century.

The music behind that scene was also fucking phenomenal it was beautiful and I loved it.

2. “You fucking took everything from me”

Ok SO- THIS ONE IS INCREDIBLE- it starts me on the same tangent every time.

In this moment Taako has fully remembered all of the events that happened before Lucretia erased their memories and he is fucking infuriated.

Because if Lucretia had not done it that day- Taako and Barry would’ve found Lup. THINK ABOUT IT - that day they were going to check Wave Echo cave- they would’ve found Lup’s corse and the red robe and the umbrella - Taako would’ve made the connection and Barry would’ve figured it out instantly and Lup would’ve been set free and back.

But because Lucretia did it they never went to WaveEcho cave and they never found her- until a decade later- Taako found her stupid and unknowing - took her umbrella and watched her skeleton decay- AND NOW HE REMEMBERS THIS

And it’s too late to go back to WaveEcho now, the fucking hunger is here and her corpse is long gone, if she was a lich barry would’ve found her by now, and if she was in Phanadalin- it was all glass now - where could she have gone?

Taako is realizing silently what Barry isn’t aware of- Lup was right there. SHE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM- and he couldn’t find her, he couldn’t save her.

In this moment of rage Taako realizes his sister is gone. She’s never coming back. Lucretia took his everything from him.

And it’s all her fault.

1. Magnus’s death

Now. The day I finished TAZ Balance edition, at 9:38PM, I cried myself to sleep. OF COURSE I DID

“HOW DOES MAGNUS DIE?”

SURROUNDED BY HIS LOVED ONES

WITH HIS DOGS

AND MAGNUS FINALLY ENDS HIS ULTIMATE QUEST- HE SEES HIS WIFE IN THE AFTERLIFE

Magnus, rushing in to everything because he ultimately wanted to die a crazed hero so he could see his wife again but still feel like he died doing something worth it just for her, who never loved another ever during his years alive, who turned down the temptation of his own relic because if he was going to see his wife again he wanted her to be proud of him, Magnus Burnsides whose ultimate destination and goal was to see the love of his life again.

And he finally did.

Magnus got the happy ending he truly deserved.

Magnus Burnsides is the most relatable character in all of the Adventure Zone(to me at least) I love and cherished him like he was truly my friend- so when he dies at the end of the podcast I cried like I was grieving a real person.

[deviouswhiz]

Skip to Loafer Relationships (and my perspective)

The confirmed, implied, or hinted

Mitsumi and Shima: Obviously

Mika and Mukai: I actually find this ship kinda intriguing simply because they aren't the stereotypical personality types that get paired together. The deprecative, insecure girl x the guy who isn't afraid to speak his mind.

Yamada and Tomoe: Tomoe is so freaking cute. Although I find Yamada a bit annoying, I really hope that his relationship with her develops him into a better person (not that he's a bad person per-se, but I feel like he needs to really learn what it means to be in a relationship and to genuinely LOVE someone instead of pursuing them for their looks.

Nao and her boyfriend: I don't remember the BF's name but I think they have a very wholesome relationship. And I think Takamatsu does a great job writing a down-to-earth, not overtly dramatized relationship for a trans character. I may have said this before in a previous post, but I have found it incredibly rare to find a respectful portrayal of a trans character in Japanese media, so StL is a treat.

Makoto and Senpai: who is this "Senpai" you ask? *Shrugs* I don't know either! Could it be the senpai from her first date with that dude back in Chapter 26? Possibly? Or is there someone new? That's also a chance. Honestly, either way, I hope it's a good person!

Characters I'm interested in:

Yuzuki: Obviously, she's the odd one out of the group. Out of the main cast, she's the only one who is strictly and overtly single. She seems to reject every guy who proposes to her, but I'm not sure if this is out of distrust built in her middle school years, or simply she just isn't interested. I honestly can't tell if she likes boys and just doesn't trust them, if she likes girls, or if she's asexual/aromatic.

Kanechika: I like this guy. He really reminds me of a lot of theater type people I met during my university days. I'll say this upfront. The first impression I got from him is he's gay. His flamboyant personality and colorful dressage does little to persuade me otherwise, LOL.

I'm sure there's more examples, but I'm just going over the few that I explicitly remember. I love reading the manga, and I wish it updated more than once a month 😭 but sometimes the wait is worth it.

[can-of-w0rmz]

Throwback to that one time my art teacher asked me to explain some notable scenes from Les Misérables for illustration shenanigans, and when I obviously mentioned the Grantaire and Enjolras death scene, she just went “😀 and was this a man and a woman?”, and when I said “…….No?” She went “Alright alright alright that’s fine that’s ok that’s no problem” as if she was praying not to get cancelled by the ghost of Twitter itself

And 1) Listen man I don’t know how to explain to my art teacher that 19th century French literature, is very much going to be 19th century French literature (outrageously flamboyant, dramatic, morally dubious and probably gay), and 2) If two men dying holding hands is enough to absolutely flabbergast the masses or something, then I’m going to have a very difficult time next year if I decide to go for anything Frankenstein-related explaining the plot of that book.

[choicesmc]

Chiamaka x Fiona: The Analysis

okay, self indulgent post here <3 

I just find chiamaka + fiona’s relationship so fascinating. because they could’ve been happy, they could’ve lived a nice, long, stable life + fiona really did trust and love her. So part of this is post is to explain why fiona trusted her + illuminate a little of how their relationship developed and worked <3 <- ive put too many hours of thought into this 😭

it is also incredibly long so under the cut it goes ♠️

The Beginnings 

Fiona + Chiamaka are, essentially, high school sweethearts. While they didn’t date during high school, they hung out a lot and worked on various things together. It helped that they had pretty similar interests + even at the beginning of their friendship, their respective families were already teasing them for their relationship. (You know the: ‘Is she your girlfriend?’, ‘His in love with you, obviously!’ <- that sort of thing)  

One thing to get out of the way is that Fiona was very different in high school. He was not the flamboyant team player he is now. High school Fiona was quiet, intimidating, and stern. He took control of most group projects and almost always sought leadership roles <- he wasn’t really liked because he often crossed the line between ‘strong leader’ to straight up ‘domineering’. None of that was on purpose though and I doubt Fiona was even aware of the majority opinion on him. 

Meanwhile, Chiamaka was sunshine personified. She was nice + persistent + kind + caring + helpful + supportive. And, from the outside looking in, it was a grouch x sunshine romance story. You know, the ray of sunshine slowly worming its way into the grouch’s heart. They looked made for each other with complementing personalities + appearances. It wasn’t that hard to imagine their dynamic stretching into the future with a wedding + children. They really did fill their stereotypical roles well with Chiamaka being the kind mother, the warm half, of Fiona’s masculine domination. <- Caricatures of the ideal marriage, in a sense. 

But their relationship didn’t really start to pick up till college. 

College

Chiamaka + Fiona went to the same college. It was a private college a decent drive away from their hometown and it was very much a blossoming period for Fiona + Chiamaka + their relationship. For them, it was the first time he was really away from his upbringing + family + the first time he’s meeting a really wide variety of opinions. For their relationship, this is the period they begin to really know each other. 

Fiona learns more about queer struggles + identities and, while not identifying himself with anything (<- he really tries not to think too hard about it), he does shift closer to an ally. He’ll defend his gay friends to Chiamaka + sign petitions + attend protests. Chiamaka, for the most part, doesn’t comment much on it but importantly doesn’t say a word of this to his parents. It’s an unspoken thing between them <- fiona gets to explore this new world without fear of repercussion for the first time in his life + what he considered support. (sidenote: this is the period where Fiona adopts the name Fiona. <- prior to this, his given English name was Peter.) 

On Chiamaka’s side, college was a test run for marriage. I’m not entirely too sure how ‘in love’ she was with Fiona but I do know that she’d spent her high school years surrounded by the idea that she was in love with Fiona + marriage was the best possibility for the two of them. Now that they were in the same college + away from external pressure, this was the chance for her to figure out if marriage was really in the cards for the both of them. 

So, she kept his secrets, she cooked for him, they made time to spend with each other + what they discovered surprised and enchanted them. Fiona started to become a little more flamboyant, started wearing a wider range of colors, took interest in her make-up, and took more of a backseat role in their relationship. To be clear, Fiona wasn’t tossing on skirts and wearing lipstick <- but he was branching into blues + greens + oranges (and in general taking better pride in his appearance) rather than the dark blacks + greys + whites he’d grown up with  and he could tell brands apart and knew Chiamaka’s favorites. Chiamaka found that she liked being able to pamper Fiona, liked seeing him dressed up + liked the more natural confidence he had when he was <- this was still heavily policed, though. None of them stepped too far out of their roles. 

For example: Chiamaka pampered him with food. She’d make his favorites, take him out to places and order for him (even if Fiona would pay at the end of the night), and cook with him –leading him around the kitchen in an area of life where she was allowed to dominate. Fiona learned that he really really liked giving gifts + as he came more in touch with different interests, he very much set his eye on buying the best he could for her. They were stereotypically ‘feminine’ gifts (ie necklaces, rings, dresses, makeup kits) but he’d developed quite an eye at picking them out.  

That’s how they fell in love. By being more than their roles, by finding the different shades, by plugging shades and gaps between boundaries where there were none. They both knew, instinctively, that this was something they’d have to keep to themselves. The nuances of their relationship –the truth that traditionally lines were more blurred and fluid than they appeared– was something that they knew wasn’t acceptable in public. 

For Fiona, this was the best he could hope for. Was it everything? No. Absolutely not. But it was a way to live an honorable, respectable life within the constraints of society + family pressures. It was having his cake + eating it too. It was something. 

Chiamaka saw it a bit differently. (Not that Fiona realized that at the time.) For Chiamaka, college was a time to explore. It was four years to get weird deviations out of her system without repercussions. When college was over, she had to settle back down + be ready for weddings + motherhood. And she planned ahead too. Fiona + her could have their fun, inverting + playing around with social roles –but not forever. In the end, they’d have to go back to their respective roles.  

(sidenote: Chiamaka originally came for a biomedical degree before switching to education. Stated reason? To give fiona the choice of a demanding career since she’d be available for their future kids.) 

Of course, the four years came and went + she realized this wasn’t something she could get ��out of her system’ so the both of them decided, in public, they’d fulfill their social roles + in private they’d continue as they currently did. <- Again, this was not something they actively sat down and talked about, this was mutual understanding of what they were doing. They were on the same page, just different lines. (<- I’d attribute this to their long friendship prior to their romantic relationship) 

It wouldn’t be wrong to call them soulmates at this time. What changed this was their engagement. 

Engagement Period

They were engaged the day they graduated (sidenote: <- this is a retcon, i initially imagined them getting engaged later down the line but i like this better). Literally. Fiona sang the national anthem at the beginning of the ceremony + then got down on one knee + proposed to Chiamaka much to her delight. 

But this also marked the end of their idyllic life. Now, they were back under the social rules that had governed much of their life + this time with a detailed discomfort with it. Needless to say, it was a struggle to re-adjust. Fiona found escape in academia; first working in research and then as a professor. Chiamaka found it easier to adjust. She’d already internalized that college would be a phase and, yes, it turned out to be a little more permanent than she’d wanted but, ultimately, she spent her four years ready to return while Fiona had not. 

And she helped him edge back into the stoicism he grew up in, y’know? When things were too hard, there was always the knowledge that once the both of them were alone, they could slip back into the fluid, real relationship they’d developed together. It’s not really a surprise that Fiona trusted Chiamaka in addition to loving her. There was real and genuine joy in seeing her wearing an engagement ring. There was real adoration during the wedding planning period. For the record, the same could be said for Chiamaka. With Fiona was a side of her that only existed around him, Fiona was a safe place for her. <- The difference was: this is her limit. 

She was still very much raised in a traditional Nigerian household with traditional beliefs. Where Fiona was gallivanting and flirting with queer ideas, Chiamaka was still bound to her family and community. Yes, there was still freedom, but it was a leashed one. She was expected to keep her family in the know, to continue familial bonds and be their eyes and ears in what Fiona was up to. As I said earlier, she took advantage of this position to cover for Fiona. <- She fed just enough info that things were realistic without telling the full extent nor truth of what Fiona was up to. This was a protection but it also meant she was never really free in the same way Fiona was. 

While she had grown, she hadn’t grown as much as Fiona had assumed. <- Notice how much of their relationship was assumed. They don’t talk much about their problems but they tend to be on the same page but “different lines” (<- heh quote from earlier that now makes more sense, i think im very clever). This is where it came to bite them in the ass. 

Fiona assumed Chiamaka was like him: constrained by social pressures and fighting for a haven of respite [in him]. Chiamaka assumed Fiona had simply grown and stretched his beliefs without true change: he was an ally, fine. But in the end, Chiamaka assumed that was something he could drop as easily as he’d ‘picked’ up.  

That was a problem.  

The End <3 

Now you get why Fiona told Chiamaka about his bisexuality. Why he came clean about his gender nonconformity. Why he was so shaken and blinded sided in [worse than heartbreak], <- fic, and somehow mistaken about the limits of his fiancée’s acceptance. 

Hopefully, you’ll also see Chiamaka in a more sympathetic light. <- I tried to do that in the fic as well but y’know…. kinda hard to do that in that fic. D: 

Even more, i get to dump all these thoughts about fiona x chiamaka out of my head finally!! 

As always asks are greatly appreciated!! <- I really hope y’all liked this despite its length :) 

[the-gay-disney-games]

Round 1A: The Little Mermaid (1989) vs. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Propaganda:

The Little Mermaid:

“It's an allegory about transitioning under the Benjamin Standards actually.”

“Like. c'mon. the original fairytale its based on was literally written by a closeted gay man as a metaphor for how his love for another man was doomed. also ursula is a drag queen”

“She's trans-human, or something. The Queer experience of wanting to know what else is out there, if there are people like you, like you in your soul, put there. Of wanting to go to a place where you are safe to ask everything you want to ask and be whatever way you want to be.”

“any movie howard ashman writes lyrics for is gonna be pretty gay”

“The trans metaphor is right there, guys!! Plus Ursula being based on a Drag Queen. And most importantly: Howard Ashman.”

“The original story is about Hans Christian Andersen being in love with a man but knowing he could never be with him. And the movie itself is very queer. You could read queerness into Ariel’s fascination with the human world and wanting to be part of that world rather than the one she “belongs” in. Being willing to cut off contact and move far away from your family because you’ll never be accepted by them, especially after a parent violently rejects something important to or about you. Ursula.”

“a lot of ink has been spilled on why the little mermaid is a metaphor for internalised homophobia, with hans christian anderson's own thoughts regarding his bisexuality coming through in the character of the princess (ariel) who wans to be a real woman so she can be with the man she loves. this also lends itself ot trans readings in the mdoern day. of course, the 1989 film was written by howard ashman, himself a gay man, and it is possible to read the alternate, happier ending to this film adaptation as a hopeful retelling for gay people towards the end of the 20th century. its gay”

“Part of Your World??? Ariel literally transitioning from a mermaid to a human. bYE”

“Girl have you Seen or Heard the behind the scenes of Ursula”

“Ursula literally being based on the drag queen Divine”

“The whole plot is a trans allegory imo. Ariel feeling like she’s be happy with “just one day on land” screamsssss trans person wanting to be seen as their gender. Plus she literally got “bottom surgery” lmao. (Tl;dr: I’m trans and it’s my fav so I say so. /j)”

“hans christian anderson wrote the little mermaid as an allegory for being gay. therefore these films are literally gay. disney swept it under the rug but i will not. also that "i can't believe we're both goth and trans" post”

The Great Mouse Detective:

“The protagonist, Basil, and antagonist, Ratigain, are practically bitter exes. Basil literally has a giant photo of his “”””enemy”””” above his fireplace, come on!”

“Vincent Price as Ratigan is so obviously over the top queer coded, but this is one of the few Disney movies where the protagonist, Basil, is also queer coded. It’s more subtle, but all Sherlock Holmes type characters are queer coded. Also the movie ends with Basil asking Dawson, this movie’s Watson, to stay and live with him so yeah”

“As per usual, Basil (Holmes) is V queer. Confirmed bachelor, immediately ready to play happy homes with Watson, Ratigan is Basil's flamboyant ex.”

“i can't explain it but basil the mouse is gay and so is the vincent price rat”

“It’s based on Sherlock Holmes so right away the Basil/Dawson relationship is. Very queer. Also Ratigan is a queer-coded villain.”

[caddyheron]

An In-depth about Damian Hubbard

So to preface, this is a mash of bway and 2024 canon, but I'm sure a bunch can be generalised to 2004 too? It goes into 2024 specifics but you can generalise if you'd like! There's also mentions of self harm & suicide in relation to Janis but there's an explicit bold warning before so please skip that if you would prefer!

It's long down here. So long. A little rambly. And if anyone has any questions/comments/ideas etc, feel free to imbox me!! I do indeed have more thoughts.

To begin with, he is a very autumn birthday to me, basing off 2024 canon, he was born 18/10/06. [Also some AU to me he is trans and came out quite young, I’d say around 11ish? He started to socially transition right before middle school started, so he began middle school in the school system as a guy. His mom and Janis were super supportive of him and his mom helped him pick his name and was so proud of him.] & He didn’t actually need to come out as gay because his mom just knew his whole life so when he started talking about the guys he saw in his English class, his mom never made it a big deal or anything that it wasn’t. He was just Damian. On the other hand, his father was a very, very absent figure from his life, sort of in and out until he was about 9 and then he just fully left. Damian ties to keep up the fun and flamboyant persona, but this really fucked with his self esteem and sense of self as a person. He struggles with getting very, very attached to people and separating himself and his identity with Theirs while still trying to keep up the “gay best friend” that people expect him to be. He knows he has to water himself down, make himself fun and dimensionless. Janis, who he’s known literally forever to me, has some idea of how much he waters himself down, but he even tries to be “palatable” for Janis, as much as he doesn’t necessarily want to hide the fact he experiences human feelings too, it’s just an automatic reaction that’s been deeply ingrained into him his whole life. They’ve been in the same elementary, middle and high school their whole life and definitely felt isolated for being the only BIPOC kids in their elementary class and in such a predominantly white area [looked up the Evanston population of POC and it’s such a very white are], and then the isolation continued because now they were BIPOC queer kids. 

Other than his father leaving, Damian’s childhood was so… normal. He and Janis spent so much time together, they had sleepovers, went to amusement parks, and then sort of by fourth grade, they both became good friends with Regina, Gretchen and Karen. I think Janis was friends with them before, but it became a group of five sort of but I do feel like Damian was always kinda on the outside to all of them and it sort of got Janis pulled away. He wasn’t a lonely kid, but he wasn’t… not a lonely kid, he just always felt out of place unless he was with Janis, despite the fact I think he got on with everyone because from so young because he learnt to be less than he was. Always right in the middle but always on the outside.

In middle school, the whole thing with Janis and Regina went down and he became deeply protective of Janis, beyond how he was before. Right afterwards, I think that (tw self harm) Janis started self harming, I think it was before she was kicked out of school too. Damian found out because he invited her to a sleepover to try and get her mind off everything, but she just… forgot not to wear long sleeves and he saw. He reacted well because it’s Damian, obviously he reacted well, he couldn’t let her see the panic he was feeling. They both sort of locked eyes for a moment and Janis tried to cover it but she couldn’t and Damian didn’t want to make a big deal out of it so he just… offered her a sweater, hugged her and never brought it up again. Given that he only talked about it if Janis did, it sort of fucked with him because he was so worried about her. He was always so worried about Janis but if he brought it up, he’d cry. Then, after she couldn’t go back to school anymore (tw suicide) I headcanon she attempted the night after the Bunsen Burner incident and I’m half between she told Damian and she didn’t. I’m leaning towards it being a heated, terrified, depressed and angry spur of the moment decision where she didn’t tell… anyone. Her mom found her and ended up phoning Damian’s mom and that's how he found out - this is another thing that is there in their friendship they don’t talk about. He spent the whole night downstairs with his mom trying to act like it was fine and okay just in case. It was neither and doesn’t have the words to explain just how terrifying that night was and how much more protective he became of Janis. He is constantly worried that he’s being overbearing and too much, so he’s desperately trying to be a middle ground. This isn’t to say he doesn’t have so much fun with Janis frequently, but he’s also extremely worried about her pretty much all the time. 

I also see that once Janis left school, Damian was subject to all the redirected bullying that they couldn’t give to Janis anymore. Pretty much any type and he doesn’t really stand up for himself and he doesn’t tell Janis this… ever. Because between being bullied at school, he also feels like he’s responsible to check in with Janis all the time and essentially keep her alive. He is 12 and it feels like it’s all on him because he just loves and cares about Janis so much. Every year around the anniversary date of the Bunsen Burner / space dyke (depending on the canon you wanna read this) Janis’ mental health takes a really sharp and sudden dip and Damian starts to get extremely anxious. He has to text her and make sure she’s alive and okay if she isn’t at school, he is constantly checking in and arranging plans, which he pushes as just a way to keep her distracted because he can’t explain the gnawing terror and worry he feels. Damian has this caretaking role towards Janis and he doesn’t really know how to be anything else other than funny and loving and helpful - he can’t be too much and feel his own set of worries, but he can’t be so little that he doesn’t help in any way.

I often think about perhaps the first time that he freaks out in front of Janis. He’s tried to calm himself down and it’s getting closer to the next class and Janis never arrived in this class and he has to find her because what if something happened. Turns out, she was just someone else / doing a test / making up a class, but the second he sees her, he just breaks. He can’t hold himself together anymore and Janis is almost. Confused. He’s Damian - he’s funny and he’s loving and he’s kind and … he doesn’t cry like this. It then sort of hits her just how much he must have suppressed down and kept away for her benefit? Their relationship is one that’s built on knowing everything about each other but yet, knowing so little. 

[likeastars]

As per insistent request of @phantom-of-the-laboratory @arachniids @incorrect-nevermore and everyone else screaming in agony under my post:

Cishet! Nevermore AU

Let's go

Lenore is 💫🤢💫not like other girls💫💫🤢

She isn't disabled in anyway btw

Yes a tree fell on her but just to kill her brother to give her a tragic backstory

No leg injuries and trauma and shit to deal with

She escapes her family because they want to marry her off and succeeds and doesn't even burn her house down 😭😭😭😭😭😭

White raven isn't canon obviously

Annabel isn't half as developed as she is in canon

I'm thinking stereotypical mean girl underdeveloped

She's there just to make fun of the protagonist and highlight how much of not like other girls she is

Nooooo backstory given to her no motivations no unhealthy homoerotic obsession

She and lenore met in life before but Annabel just ditched her. No gut wrenching I Am Hurting You Because I Have To no big bad feelings about sexism and obviously no slowly falling for the one you where supposed to use

........

Wait a sec guys I am thinking about the Balcony Scene I need a breather

.

.

.

Alright

Obv there are still some people shipping it bc. Yk. Rivalry

And the whole fandom hates them

Dnis and reasons why they are toxic and shit

Ada is even worse off than annabel she's just a minion no personality whatsoever

Morella too she's the happy go lucky friend that appears in the beginning to be of support but doesn't actually do anything

Pluto exists only to be comedic relief and nothing else

He's the butt of every joke and his anxiety just makes him a "scaredy cat"

Ew

Berenice and Eulalie say exactly one word each and they are the webtoon's one gay couple

They die

NOW DUKE IS HARD

I'm very torn

He could be part of the *drumroll*

Harem

Of the webcomic

Because we need all of the people in the world to go after the main character are you kidding

So I can see him as a second male lead, the friend to lover

BUT ALSO

He's black. And pretty flamboyant.

And since I'm pretty sure neither black love interests nor bisexuality/gender non conforming people exist in these type of stories

I am also type casting him into the gay best friend trope

Prospero is also a part of the 💫harem💫 because I said so

He's Annabel's boyfriend (obviously) but she mistreats him and he's actually such a good boy inside 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Yes he helped in all the things she did but he wasn't actually participating 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

But he's still not the main lead

Because that

Is

Obviously

Montresorry

Wait

I meant

Montreal

Wait

Montrefucker

YOU KNOW WHO

Bad boy turned good with a secret come on

There's x reader ff of him

Ppl justify him in every way possible

Will is his minion

again no personality no possibility of redemption no storilines

AND

MOST IMPORTANT THING

Lenore isn't masc >>>>>:(

[zeasty]

Jordan scoffed loudly as they passed a couple of men kissing at the bar. His eyes narrowed, lips curling into a sneer. "Eww, those two guys are snogging, that's so disgusting," he proclaimed, his voice dripping with revulsion. Jemma, sitting across from him, winced at his words.

"Omg, you're so homophobic. What if you were gay?" she snapped, frustration flashing in her eyes.

Jordan leaned back, folding his broad arms across his chest, the fabric of his tight black t-shirt stretching slightly over his muscular frame. His blonde hair, buzzed short in a no-nonsense cut, framed his chiseled face, and the light from the bar reflected off his neatly groomed beard. He looked like the stereotypical gym-going guy--solid, confident, and hyper-masculine.

"Well, I'm not gay, and it's disgusting," he replied, dismissively, his tone full of condescension.

Jemma shot him a sharp look, crossing her arms too. "Maybe you should be."

Jordan raised an eyebrow, suddenly uncomfortable with her intensity. "What do you mean?"

She gave him a dangerous smile, her fingers idly playing with the silver pendant around her neck, something she always wore but never talked about. "I wish you were a gay man. A bottom, who always wore flamboyant and slutty outfits."

"What the fuck?" Jordan started to laugh, but his voice caught as the pendant in Jemma's hand began to glow with an eerie, pulsating light. He felt something strange wash over him. A tingling sensation spread from his chest outwards, filling him with an unfamiliar warmth. He tried to move, to protest, but his body felt heavy, his limbs stiff.

"You heard me," Jemma said softly, her eyes gleaming as the glow intensified. "Let's see how you like being gay… and obviously so."

The light enveloped him, wrapping around his muscled body like a blanket of warmth. Jordan's mind scrambled, confusion mixing with panic. His disgust for the men he'd seen earlier seemed distant now, almost irrelevant. Instead, strange new thoughts began to swirl in his head. He could feel his preferences shifting, reshaping.

Women, who once occupied the forefront of his mind, started to fade. Their images, their voices--everything about them felt distant, almost forgotten. In their place, he found himself fixated on men--strong, confident men. His heart quickened as he imagined being close to them, touching them. His mind reeled with a dizzying excitement as thoughts of attraction filled him.

The light around him flickered, growing dimmer until it disappeared completely. Jordan blinked, trying to catch his breath. He looked around the bar, disoriented, but something was different. He wasn't just seeing the men in the room, he was noticing them. The way they stood, the way their shirts clung to their torsos. His eyes traced over their broad shoulders, their stubbled jaws, their confident smirks. His body reacted in ways that were entirely new to him--his pulse quickened, his breathing hitched.

Hours later, in the dim light of his apartment, Jordan stood in front of the full-length mirror, taking in his reflection. His body--still the same in many ways, toned from years of working out at the gym--now seemed to serve a different purpose. The pink tank top clung to him snugly, highlighting the definition of his chest and arms. His ass, barely covered by a skimpy thong, caught his attention in the mirror.

He tilted his hips, turning slightly to show off his butt. A smirk crossed his face. Who would've thought he'd end up like this? Posing in a pink tank top, wearing a thong, trying to get the perfect angle for his next profile picture.

He grabbed his phone and opened Grindr. Excited to get some action later. Maybe being a gay man wasn't what he expected--but it sure felt good.

@ Jordan James

[crows-home]

Hello hellooooo I have thoughts about Tiger and Bunny :) below the cut because it's so long lmao. I tried to keep spoilers out of it, for the most part, but this is mainly me talking about things i liked

I really liked the character designs. It's what immediately drew my eye and hooked me when I was just channel surfing and came across it. I was like holy shit!!! Black people drawn super well in an anime!!!! It's something that I wasn't used to, Made my heart sing yk.

I adored the character designs for the most part!! Yeah some of them (barnaby) looked silly, but it really fit their character. It's a superhero anime- I was expecting it!

Oh man, speaking of, I'm such a goner for superhero/ mecha stuff. Some of my favorite franchises growing up were Transformers, Power Rangers, and Tenkai Knights. So when I flipped through channels, saw the heroes in action and the fighting/ animation, my brain went "!!!!!!! Yes!!!" I gushed over Tiger and Barnaby's hero suits, heck, everyone's hero suits. It just scratches an itch in my brain.

I watched the dub, and I thought it was great!! Lots of funny lines and great deliveries :) ("and what's that over there?" "Oh that's. A building." "And that?" "...also.. A building." And "I don't talk like that!" "I dOnt TaLk liKe ThAT!" And God any line where Bunny was crying was just so good. Really pulled on my heart strings even when I wasn't expecting it to) Sure, some of the scenes were corny, but I was expecting it!

The plot was solid, though I can see where some holes might be poked. But there was so much character in every episode, I love the teamwork and the way everyone interacted with each other. And the attention that was placed on their relationships with their families. Even if I wish for more, it's fun to play around with in my head. Like, I'm sure Fire Emblem was a big step forward, in universe, for gay rights and their flirty, flamboyant attitude is the biggest "fuck you" to homophobes. I'm sure Dragon Kid's debut, at 13, caused a commotion about children doing hero work, especially when she's getting hurt so much. I'm sure there's a lot of background politics at play regarding heroes and their sponsors that we don't see. I know a lot of this was left out, because they wanted a story with one plot, because they weren't sure how far this series would go, because it just wasn't as interesting. But oh man, these things have been in my head ever since I watched it. Tiger and Bunny is a fun playground.

(I'm going to be honest, I went in without high expectations for the plot. I was just here for cool fight scenes)

I appreciated the direction they took Karina's crush on Kotetsu. I was really wary at first. She's 15? 16? and he's like 36. If they were going to be pairing up the underage girl with the grown man she had a crush on, I was prepared to drop the whole show and hate it. But no!! The progression was sweet, the way Kotetsu obviously sees her as a daughter, and how Karina evolved into her feelings was just :')

Also. Holy fucking shit. Barnabys entire life just. Put out there, for the whole world to see. I can't imagine the sense of perversion that creates. The world knows his name, his backstory, everything. He no longer has his own life, his own choices. It's ridiculous, and I'm glad he had people there to support him.

UNLIKE KOTETSU JEEZ. Man was getting the short end of the stick at every turn ToT I felt so bad for him every time he tried to hard to be recognized, but also just embarrassed. Give him a break!!!

And. Even before going into this, I knew that people would ship Tiger and Bunny. I've been around the block, I know how this shit goes, especially in these types of shows. Two guys being super close, going on about their friendship and all that, is bound to attract shipping. I wasn't against it!- I was just ready for it, but was mostly planning on ignoring it.

But. Holy shit. It's really all there huh. They're like. in Love Love.

("you're only partners for each other." "You two fight like an old married couple." "we dont need to talk to know what the other is thinking." "you're always making me think about you."

Kotetsu "I wonder how Bunny's doing again" Kaburagi and Barnaby "Have I told you about Kotetsu today yet" Brooks Jr. Neither of you are subtle.)

I'll make another post with some more detailed criticisms and takes, but for now, this is all my brain wants to gush about

[mamanbou]

The Roppongi-Yoyogi beef in tmm au lait is something that's so important to me. The hatred they share. Yoyogi obviously hates Roppongi on sight because Roppongi is a narcissistic freak, but I think it goes deeper than that. It's because roppongi is bisexual.

i think yoyogi's closeted-gay in-love-with-his-best-friend doing-mental-gymnastics-to-regularly-kiss-said-best-friend-as-a-bit ass saw roppongi openly flirting with a man onstage and felt a complicated unspeakable blend of emotions and instead of confronting any of that he just decided that, no matter what, he hated him. (Which is quite easy to do given that he's insufferable)

Roppongi, being surprisingly perceptive, is of course fully aware of this. He makes it clear repeatedly, though mostly in extras, that he knows exactly what Yoyogi is.

Like with most other things he perceives about Yoyogi, he finds this fact equal parts frustrating and (sym)pathetic. So he openly tries his best to give yoyogi advice and hints and nudges towards at least realizing his feelings, but it never really works Yoyogi loves both Shibuya and Anzu dearly (in a general sense) and would never seriously take action to jeopardize their relationship, so conceptualizing his own feelings about shibuya as romantic is too dangerous. And also because i think he'd rather die than admit Roppongi was right about something.

Yoyogi is full of himself, but only in that he acknowledges his many strong points in an objective, neutral light without embellishment. He's intelligent, he's physically adept, he's handsome, he's good with women- these are all traits that are societally encouraged. He's also very likely gay, based on. the way he acts the entire series. Like seriously whenever he discusses women (including Anzu, which is very notable as she's kind of the female audience insert when it comes to fanservice) it's "women are attracted to me, I am capable of attracting women". whenever he's deliberately seductive, it's either a means to an end or he's messing around- either way, 110% uninvested. Compare that to his baffling persistence in finding any excuse to kiss Shibuya directly or indirectly... his ass is homosexual.

But being gay isn't rewarded by society. it isn't something that Yoyogi can embrace like he does all his other traits- he can't even bring himself to face it properly, because it would shatter his self-image and public persona of objective superiority. Yoyogi's narcissism isn't an actual obsession with the self, it's more like a dedication to showing off the most accepted version of the self.

Compare that to Roppongi, whose narcissism is 100% pure and all-encompassing. There's not a bit of posturing. He's flamboyant, certain in his own judgement, prioritizes his own wants and needs to an often absurd degree, flirts with anyone he pleases with no pretense... he loves himself, ADORES himself, in his ridiculous entirety. He doesn't feel he has anything to prove, he's just himself- and "himself" is inherently a thing of greatness. So he's happy with his bisexuality, polyamory, and subtly feminine gender expression- unlike Yoyogi. Compare their initial reactions to their mew mew outfits.

So of course Yoyogi immediately hates him. Roppongi receives nothing but adoration for proudly, mindlessly (well, not really, but to the bitter outside observer it would appear mindless) displaying these traits that he keeps locked deep, deep in a closet to protect his social standing.

Anzu calls Yoyogi's dialogue here "Roppongi-kun-ish", but it isn't, really. He's more resigned than anything else. He receives benefits for his attractiveness, it's best (objectively) to be above average, versus Roppongi basking in the grand consequences of his excellence.

Roppongi's issue with Yoyogi is that Yoyogi refuses to face his flaws or work to improve himself for the team's sake. He cares for the guy as a teammate, and shows him special attention as he tries to understand him, but he insists on being incredibly difficult to work/reason with because Yoyogi's issue with Roppongi is that everything about his personality triggers self-loathing.

I just think the contrast in their characters and the background conflict that springs from it is so fun, it would've been so easy to make the two self-absorbed "mature ones" indistinguishable from each other, but the best thing about au lait is the main character writing (aliens notwithstanding fuck those guys). Read au lait for them. In my minds eye they're like a serene worldly mother bird and her baby bird who won't stop pecking the shit out of her leg

[sera-phii]

“I know (obviously CANON transfem character) refers to herself as a delicate lady but I always thought she was saying that the same way that flamboyant gay men call themselves and each other "girl, lady, baby girl, etc etc-“ SHUT UPPPPP BOOOOOO🧱🧱🧱🧱

[moookar]

ghdsgshs I *love* PC/NPC romances in D&D omg I feel exactly like I can fix him!! I can make him worse !!! Except it’s *literal* because I actually have a major say in how his canon life turns out. I’m going to elaborate under the read more (because it’s kind of embarrassing how enthusiastic I am <33) and also if anyone from the Fade is reading this, don’t click the read more! There are spoilers!

So the characters in question are Endt (my PC) and Ennard (the NPC). I might refer to Ennard as Hen here because that’s going to be Endt’s nickname for him <3. (The DM and I unthinkingly gave them similar names 😔)

their whole Thing is a sort of villain/hero rivalry. Endt is a prolific conman and Ennard is a city guard! Endt a flamboyant wizard. He’s loud and silly and kind and has not learnt how to self regulate. From ages 12 to 38 (that’s in Fade elf years, in human years that’s 12 to early 20s) he was the primmest most proper gifted child (an apprentice scribe) who did everything wanted of him with no trouble, always making himself small. He got fed up w that and is *waves hand at him* now like that. And ough i was gonna describe Hen’s personality but the DM did it sooo well that I have to share it here

I’m litteraly in love with the dm (hyperbole). I tell her how cool she is all the time but it’s honestly not enough. Brb i haven’t done it in the past few days i’m gonna do that now

okay i’m back. But basically their whole thing is that Ennard is very obviously watching Endt do something extremely illegal and is like. obviously trying to stop him?? But then Endt pulls the (inserted image) card

and every other member of the holdtian guard force is like Haha classic Hälfte with his stupid gay crush. (I’m exaggerating but not by much; this happened canonically)

And HONESTLY… i’m not normal about them.. They are both people who are so deeply insecure about their flaws and💜💜💜 im always thinking about them.

Endt genuinely admires him so much. Endt is a very confident person, at least on the outside, but he doesn’t like himself. He doesn’t consider himself good. *Ennard*, however, has such strong values and fights for what he believes to be correct so strongly. Endt wants be like him in that regard <33. Endt also finds Hen getting so flustered sooo endearing. Cuteness aggression

anyway i rest my case. They should gay kiss. Thank you