#something something gay subtext.

[vancilocs]

silva gives makoto the succ

Nights were easier to handle. The sun wasn't burning your eyes or picking at your eartips, and it wasn't so bloody open and populated everywhere. Silva hated traveling in groups that demanded that they move during daytime, and even more he hated when he had to move in a group that didn't even try to hide their wariness around a vampire. Sure, they were right about his particular needs. No, it didn't make it any more fun to sit around people who could afford you only quick sideways glances when talking about what to cook on the campfire that night. He was sitting away from it, he didn't care for the bright light and the warmth didn't do much for him. He much rather sat aside and stared into the forest, trying to listen in on the various critters and creatures shuffling about. He had little luck. He was hungry - desperately so, he hadn't had a meal of true man blood in ages, and the starvation dulled his senses down. The replacements he had been given for the journey did a piss-poor job of trying to sate the thirst. But, he had little options. Rather starve outside during nighttime with some possibility of feeding, than locked in a cage underground where he might get a rat once a week if he was lucky. Silva still hadn't come to terms about being a spymaster for the prince. He didn't trust the man as far as he could throw him, but he could admit that he had the vampire in a vice grip, and that the only choice with any kind of future was to bend the knee. For how long, who knows - the prince didn't seem like he would be sad about killing Silva, if it came to that. He wondered what this would mean for the future of the guild. They surely weren't happy.

Someone cursed by the fireplace, someone else hurried to look. A slip of a knife when cutting a package open, not a deep wound at all, but the smell of blood in the wind struck Silva almost immediately. He briskly got on his feet and hurried to leave. He had a separate tent, nobody would be forced to bunk with a vampire. And he preferred that. He enjoyed his solitude and was a restless sleeper, especially when his own instincts pulled him to action in the deepest hours of the night instead of bringing any kind of rest or rejuvenation. Throwing the flap of his tent aside he flew in, tore his pack open, feverishly digging in it for a second before he found what he was looking for - a vial of thick, dark, brownish-red liquid. He sneered. But he couldn't afford to be picky. This stuff had been made specifically for him. His teeth made short work of the cork and he spat it aside, taking a deep breath and pinching his nose with his free hand before knocking the vial back - the taste he could stomach, but the concoction went down like sour milk, clumpy and sticky, forcing him to wait for all of it to come out before he was rid of it. He groaned and stuffed the emptied vial back to his pack. Vile. Blood substitute - that's what the alchemists called it, but Silva didn't truly know if it had any blood in it to begin with - could take the edge off and dull the worst of the hunger, but it wasn't made for sustaining. Frustration building, the vampire tightened his cloak around him and grabbed his bedroll to pull out a pair of sheathed daggers. The sword could stay, it was useless on a hunt. He threw it down on the bedroll and hung the daggers on his belt, turning to grab a garrotte from his pack when the tent flap moved. He froze.

The emperor's dog stepped in - his bodyguard, the tall, slender wolfman from the South, clad in black with his hair slicked back into a ponytail, his black and amber eyes fixed on Silva as he let the tent flap fall back into place. Silva didn't know why Makoto had been sent with him, away from the prince's side. But there he was. "Where are you going?" Makoto's voice was low, husky. Silva hadn't seen him at the campfire - most likely he had been sitting aside, like the vampire had been. "Hunting", he admitted outright, wrapping the garrotte into a bundle to stuff into a belt pouch. "I'll be back before soon." "Who are you going with?" "I'm going alone." "You can't", the response was curt. Silva looked up at the man. "Orders were given. If you need to hunt you go in pairs", Makoto said, his hands relaxed on the handle of his sheathed travel sword, but stance firm. "I'm not hunting for you people. I need to be alone. I'll be back before you know it", Silva said. "Orders were given", repeated the bodyguard.

The wolf annoyed Silva, and he knew the feeling was mutual. The prince's shadow, the sword master, the captain, nothing but a self-righteous orphan puppy from the South with no house of his own. They had tussled before - the castle's men had meddled in Silva's thievery far too many times. He didn't enjoy being ordered around by the likes of him. If facts didn't work, perhaps feelings, then. As much as it irked him to try and beg, especially from the likes of this one. "I'm hungry, Makoto", Silva tried. Makoto cocked his head half an inch, but his expression didn't change. Silva was unsure if the reaction was for him using his name, or the sudden vulnerability. "This swill doesn't sustain. I need just one decent meal - a badger, a fox. If I get a deer I'll be out of your hair for the rest of the week." Truthfully, even a fully-grown deer didn't do too much for a starved vampire's appetite. Animal blood was a poor substitute for the likes of man's. It'd keep him going for a day or two, maybe, before he'd have to turn to the sad bottles of shit tucked away in his pack. Makoto didn't have to know that, though. Makoto shifted his weight on his feet. He always was quiet, and hard to parse, but he didn't seem unreasonable to Silva. He tried pushing a bit. "You understand, right? Thanks. I won't be an hour", he said and took a step towards the tent door. Makoto's reaction was immediate; the relaxed hold of his sword tightened and he took a wider stance, stopping Silva on his tracks. "Take mine", he said. Silva stared. "Pardon?" "We need you sharp, and I was told to offer any assistance I could. If the situation is that dire, it's acceptable", Makoto elaborated, letting go of his sword and grabbing onto the lacing of his right bracer instead. Silva just looked as he swiftly undid the cords, then removing the cuff and pulling his sleeve up - offering a bare, clean wrist to the vampire. "I will stay at the camp tomorrow. I have ample time to recover", he said. "If it helps." He extended his arm towards Silva, who tried to act nonchalant. But his eyes were fixated on the dim blue veins in the swordsman's arm, enticing, visible even in the dim light of the tent. Silva looked up at Makoto who stared down, unflinching, selfless. His eyes spelled a tinge of fear behind the resolute calm. It disgusted Silva, honestly. Self-sacrifice out of pity. He opened his mouth to reject the offer, to call him out, but a drip of saliva came out instead and he shut up again, wiping his mouth and swallowing. Makoto didn't move. "It's gonna hurt", said Silva. "I can take it", the swordsman muttered. Silva took firm hold of his hand and arm and bit down on the wrist.

Makoto groaned under his breath, but Silva didn't hear it - the flood of red in his mouth immediately numbed his senses and he squeezed Makoto's arm harder, tasting the adrenaline as the swordsman fought the instinct to pull his arm back. Silva did his best to hold himself back, but he was starved, he was pulled in by the southern blood, biting with force that was sure to leave bruises. Makoto stood firm, his muscles and tendons tensing as he first clenched his hand into a fist, his grip then loosening as the blood drained. Silva didn't know how much he had taken. He tried to remain aware of the transactional nature, to remind himself to hold back, but trying to stop was like trying to pry a dying man from a desert oasis. Makoto's heart was racing, Silva felt it against his lips, his tongue, down his throat as he fed, the taste of shock of pain and fear reminding him of the hunt and invigorating him to dig deeper, until he felt a fist grab onto his hair and forcibly yank his head back.

He opened his eyes, blinked in the dim light, met Makoto's eyes who stared back with wild fear overwhelming his usual calm demeanor, his breathing heavy. Cold sweat trickled on his forehead, a glint of tear from pain in the corner of his eye. "Enough", he croaked. He let go of Silva's hair who in turn let go of Makoto's arm, looking down at the wound he had made, still trickling blood from the two fang marks surrounded by other teeth indented in Makoto's pale skin. It would definitely leave bruises. He had bit down hard. Slowly, Makoto took a piece of fabric from his belt, shakily wiping off the remaining blood and saliva and trying to wrap it around his wrist one-handed. Silva offered a hand, deftly tying a makeshift bandage around the wound. Wordlessly he pulled the swordsman's sleeve back down, picked up the bracer and relaced it the best he could, Makoto offering no rebuttal. His heart was still beating hard, Silva could hear it through the air, his senses perked up by the meal. "I... thank you", he tried nonchalantly. Makoto exhaled deep and nodded, eyes closed, his head obviously swimming as he took a correcting step to the side, and Silva figured he was trying to will the pain away and not tumble over. "You think you'll survive tomorrow?" he asked, eyes still shut and brow furrowed. "Yes. I'll do fine." Makoto nodded, swallowed, opened his eyes and regained his bearings. "Goodnight", he said half to Silva and half to nobody, gliding out of the tent and towards his own.

Silva, Makoto's blood rushing throughout his body, didn't feel like sleeping at all.

[sunderwight]

It's actually kind of hilarious to contemplate the prospect that the genre shift in SV means that Luo Binghe's harem go the queer route as well and start largely pairing off into lesbian ships with one another.

Mostly because of the sheer scale of Bingge's harem, and the fact that a lot of it was comprised of the members of politically influential families.

Can you imagine the freak-outs that various lords and kings are probably having over the fact that their daughters keep eloping with one another? The practical ones are probably going to be like, well, a political alliance is an alliance, welcome to the family Random Demon Princess! But a lot of them are probably going to be pissed that their bloodline's liable to die out, and that the perfectly suitable match (read: asshole cannon fodder Bingge did away with in PIDW) they arranged for their daughter got interrupted by some lady cultivator kidnapping her from her wedding instead. Imagining several prominent nobles in various realms furrowing their brows together and just being like, is it something in the water? Did some plant do this? Is it like it a cultural ripple effect, the Demon King is gay so now all the youngsters are too?

[13eyond13]

The thing I respect most about Griffith Berserk is actually how ridiculously unsubtle with his hitting on Guts he is. Just IMMEDIATELY going up to him and literally grabs his face like "I realized I WANT you, now let me tell you exactly why." Like this isn't your typical suggestive homoerotic innuendo, this is just what he actually says. To the point Guts is just like, oh you mean like, in a gay way? And Griffith's just like... "*gay silence*" like idk you certainly can't blame the frustrating star-crossed lovers mutual piningness of their relationship on him being a bit too ambiguous about things or too cowardly to shoot his shot lol

[sneakyboymerlin]

Since we’re all in agreement now that Gwaine is (sub)textually in L word (lesbians) with Merlin, can we stop no-homo-ing them in every fic 😭 if I have to see “Gwaine did all that because Merlin is like a brother to him” one more time I’m gonna create a zombifying parasite that takes humans as hosts and then also they ship merwaine because of the parasite and there is peace on earth. worm

[mrbrrop]

I did not remember the cancer arc to be this romantic.. It's not even gay (I mean it is obviously but,) at this point it's so romantic I just don't know what to do with myself, it's like one of those north korean movies where it's considered scandalous to even kiss, like genuinely the emotional depth of the Hilson scenes are so strong I just feel like I'm watching a romcom (a very good one but still).. it's not even funny anymore to me it just feels so raw I'm truely taken aback

Just wow.. Holy shit.

[just-an-enby-lemon]

Nothing will be more hilarious to me than the party's - specially Ben's - outrage about Alex's sneaky reference to William Shakespeare slowly fading as they remember that half of the NPCs are actually historical figures. Like they are genuinally going "what's this assassin's creed? You put Shakespeare in the gift Augusta Leight gave to our honorary party member Oscar Wilde while waiting for Ada Lovelace and Nikola Tesla to see if we can talk to the brain of Charles Babbage about the mission Albert Einstein teleported us to? Shakespeare a whole historical person? "

[baddingtonbitch]

Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt in Murder by Numbers (2002)

[sainthomura]

The way she looks at herself after trying to fuck Jeff vs the way she looks at her very close friend (👀) Shauna Shipman

[arx-aru]

pictured: gay cleanrot couple protecting their boss's feral ass daughter

remember to water your murder child twice a day

[angeldrawsstuffs]

I lurk on Ninjago’s subreddit for shits and giggles sometimes and it’s legitimately funny how hard people are trying to make it out that Cole can’t possibly be gay or there’s totally no subtext at all between him and Geo and his true potential scene wasn’t an allegory for anything at all and Cole has ABSOLUTELY NEVER BEEN QUEERCODED EVER AND LOOK HE HUGGED VANIA ONCE SO THAT MEANS HE’S STRAIGHT TRUST ME BRO-

With the amount of mental gymnastics people are doing over there, they could place in the Olympics holy shi-

[comradesummers]

obviously it's okay to prefer one show to another and prefer a certain style of storytelling over another but the language people use to describe why they think house is so much better than grey's anatomy is just obviously steeped in misogyny and derision towards media aimed at women. like oh you think house is grittier and it's medical procedures are more hardcore and grey's anatomy has too much romance and only straight women like it. why don't you call house more masculine and be done with it?

[gottagobackintime]

I find it fascinating to witness the straight audience of any media not being able to pick up what the makers of the movie/show puts down.

It’s like when people reacted to the “You wear fine things well” scene in Our Flag Means Death with “aw, they’re such good friends” whereas the queer audience went “omg, this is happening”. We all had access to the same scene, we’d all watched the build up to that scene but the straight audience wrongly read it as friends/straight whereas the queer audience had suspected they were building up to a romance but this was the confirmation. Even the creator of the show was baffled that people were surprised that Ed and Stede fell in love. Because he thought they had made it obvious.

And as I said, we, the queer audience picked up on it. And I feel like the same thing is happening with Ted Lasso. Do I know that Ted and Trent will get together? No, I am unfortunately not a writer on Ted Lasso. But you can’t deny that there are clues pointing to it. But the straight audience barely pick up the fact that Ted and Trent like each other, be that in a platonic way or romantic way. I’ve seen several reactions to the last episode of season 2 and ONE of them included the scene where Ted reacts to Trent not being in the press room. All of them severely cut down the scene in the parking lot. One of the scenes most of us Ted/Trent truthers point to as a huge piece of evidence for it going canon. The parallel of them meeting in an empty parking lot, just like Ted and his ex-wife and Roy and Keeley. But because Ted and Trent are both men it couldn’t possibly mean anything. And Ted has an ex-wife and a kid so he can’t possibly be into men, as if there is no such thing as being bisexual. “But I’m pretty sure Trent has a family, he has a kid right?” So? He could be divorced, we also have no idea if his daughter has another dad or a mum. And the same thing applies to him, it doesn’t mean he can’t be into men (take also into account all of James Lance’s interviews, and his choice of shirt in one of them, friend of Dorothy anyone? He's the captain of this ship, we're just along for the ride tbh.)

Then we have the wonderful “I’m so not homophobic, in fact, you are homophobic because you think Ted is gay just because he likes musicals and has ‘feminine’ traits” um no… it’s the fact that he kind of acts in a way that an ally wouldn't. Yeah, he called himself an ally in that one episode. But every single person who is now out as queer who at one point considered themselves an ally because "I’m not one of them but I sure think they're neat" raise a hand 🖐️ (been there, done that. Was very into queer things before I realised I myself am one of them). What it always comes down to is "it's pandering", "it's tokenism" (having the main character on the show be queer wouldn't be fucking tokenism), "not everything has to be gay", "why can't men just be friends, there is a severe lack of male friendships on tv". And like the last one makes me go??? There are a MILLION friendships between men on TV. There are even multiple friendships between men in Ted Lasso. Beard and Ted, Ted and Higgins, Ted and Roy, the himbos and so on. Having Ted and Trent become a couple wouldn't really change anything because there are still friendships between men. They also claim that Ted is needed as the "straight without toxic masculinity" representation. As if Beard isn't right there. The man who has no problem going to an immersive show about the menstrual cycle. Has no problem with shrieking when he's surprised and so on.

I also like that if we'd get Ted and Trent together, we'd get two middle aged queer dads. Which isn't that common. It's not even super common to see people realising they're queer late in life on TV, and yet it happens every day. Because let's face it, most queer men on TV kind of look like Colin, and I don't mean that as a bad thing. And I'm looking forward to his storyline. But it's also nice seeing middle aged or old people finding themselves and being allowed to be who they are (see Ed and Stede from OFMD). Also would enjoy seeing people lose their minds when they realise they've been fooled this entire time. It'll be like Black Sails all over again.

I do not have any doubts about the fact that, had Trent or Ted been a woman and they saw Trent give up his career because of Ted's influence, they sure as hell wouldn't protest people thinking they'd become a couple. But because it's two men it's just delusional for some reason (homophobia).

What I'm saying is, it's clear that the straight audience has a hard time picking up subtext and clues that the makers are planting. Because they've never had to do that. Because they are always clearly represented. They don't have to look for minor side characters and hope that they might be queer. Because the main character is straight and most of the supporting cast too. When you've grown up with a lack of representation or with representation that is meant to be subtext, you'll learn to pick up on it. And you do look at media differently. I just wish that the straight audience could listen to us for once, without getting defensive and dancing around the fact that they are uncomfortable relating to a character that turned out to be queer.

[hypermascbishounen]

There's a deep irony in Berserk being so admired by people who really really hate what Berserk is about on an emotional level, but especially when writers want to take influence from it. Because Berserk is very strong thematically, and someone who can't acknowledge subtext is going to whiff on emulating anything good.

[kiraman]

are people aware of the fact that Mizu is not canonically in any way shape or form.............. queer....bi.....

(quick note here because reading comprehension stays dead and people may not read the tag novel: I want bi Mizu! I hc her as sapphic! I love sapphic Mizu)

[zehecatl]

just read about the 'Sukuna and Itadori is related' twist, and what kind of gay ass bullshit is this

[xbuster]