#subtext anyone?

[arabella-strange]

jesus christ man

bonus: the face Orym made when Dorian suggested if he wanted to ride Coriolis into the fight by asking, "Do you want to be a mounted fighter?"

[project-sekai-facts]

Wait An/Kohane have outright stated romantic interest?

poor wording on my end bc they never actually say "an and kohane like each other romantically" but the evidence it very much there and it is clearly depicted and phrased in other ways. for example: the shoujo sparkle effect that is used for An from Kohane's POV.

This effect is often used on Haruka in Minori's imagination, which, well, let's just say it doesn't disprove that Kohane is attracted to An. While the effect is also used to show a character being cute or having a strong "idol" aura without any attraction attached, it's prettly clear the intent was to show Kohane's attraction. Also she was blushing.

Bonus points to the fact the wedding event has a underlying message (they say it on screen) about how marriage should be equal regardless of the genders of the couple [because gay marriage currently isn't legal in Japan].

There's also literally everything in Buddy Funny Spend Time. While almost all of the interactions in that event can be read as platonic if you really want to, they're written so you can interpret it as romantic if you choose to. And considering the featured pairs in this event were Minori/Haruka, An/Kohane, and (briefly) Shizuku/Airi, it's not like that reading isn't supported by the writers lol. There's one part where Minori and Kohane get jealous of how close Haruka and An are as childhood friends and aren't sure if they can amount to that, but they want to try. Doesn't necessarily have to be romantic but can be if you choose to read it as such.

When Kohane is visibly attracted to Haruka, An gets slightly jealous and says that her singing should be the only thing that makes Kohane react that way.

Haruka also points out that although An has always been super friendly she's never been like this with anyone until Kohane came into her life, and still keeps this behaviour Kohane-exclusive. An says it's because they're partners, which, kinda friendzones them, but kinda doesn't.

The word for partner used in the story - "aibou" - means, to put it in incredibly basic terms, coworkers. It's like the cowboy or detective word for partner, though I believe it comes up in shounen every so often (the genre vbs story is based on). In itself, aibou has no romantic connotation. But 3 of the partnerships we see in VBS' story have lots of interactions that easily read as having romantic undertones, so basically in the context of VBS story the nature of said partnerships becomes a little more ambiguous. The word is still platonic and that doesn't change, but you get the idea. Oh and VBS has recurring romantic soulmate imagery more on that later.

continuing on BFST, yeah they went on a date. which is strongly suggested to be a romantic date unlike how it's sometimes used platonically. like the other characters say An is "seeing someone", at least in the English translation, which is very much associated with romantic interest. Also the original Japanese for the "do you know who she's going out with" line uses the phrase デートの相手 which is the Japanese equivalent for the word "date" (as in a person/your date), so it's not really any different. they go on another one in Kick it up a notch and An's card story for the event. their relationship is never labelled or anything (probably bc this genre avoids that sorta thing for fan-related reasons) but this very much was a thing that happened.

(also when ken says partner he says aibou. so not partner /r but anyway it does clarify that this date is to do with their relationship on a different level to partners /p. ie: an's going on a date with kohane because she's cute not because she's her partner. language is fun)

Lastly back on that thing I said I'd come back to. The Walk on and on costumes have romantic soulmate symbolism included on them. The wings on the backs of the outfits are based on the mythical hiyoku bird, a one-winged bird that could only fly after meeting its other half. Kohane's costume has pink accents, one of the variants has accents in An's image color and the wings on the backs of those variants match up to each other. The card illstrations themselves also feature crows, which mate for life. While the symbolism is mostly associated with Toya, the Whip the Wimp Girl! cards take place in the same location as the woao cards which is pretty neat, and makes sense given the themes of both events. I've put both their gacha logos above as well. Oh and An's card for wtwg was. Something.

And Kohane got the valentine event this year and it was about her entering a contest to win limited edition chocolates for An I forgot about that until just now.

Have fun with that.

[jadecantcreate]

pyke if he was an avantris character! for the little au im currently calling witchlight rhapsody, where the rhapsody crew is in prismeer/once upon a witchlight

[blazeeblake]

I’m not explicitly trying to be that guy, but when someone describes a love interest whose [objectively small total amount of] screen time has largely featured them being kind of insensitive and disinterested in/dismissive of the character they’re paired up with as a “partner that prioritizes and cares so much [for said character]” I can’t help but be curious of what string theory gymnastics led to such a conclusion.

Like, my own shipping goggles aside, I’m legitimately wondering where those descriptors can be found in the actual narrative?? No hate, just pure confusion, fam.

[sparklingjay]

This moment in IDW is so funny to me:

Shadow is being the biggest badass, but I just love everyone's reaction to it

1. Rouge: She has seen Shadow in action multiple times. She knows how powerful he is. She is the proud bestie.

2. Tails, Amy and Silver: They have seen Shadow in action before, but they are still very impressed and cheer him on.

3. Sonic: He has seen Shadow in action multiple times, knows how powerful he is, but since he is his biggest rival, he doesn't want to admit that Shadow is better than him in anything, he is a little jealous, and is probably planning to make that a competition somehow. Because he is obsessed with Shadow and can't leave him alone.

4. And then there is Blaze: She and Shadow barely ever interact. This is the first time she has seen him in action. And she is shocked, nervous, and extremely impressed.

So basically this:

[t1koy-roll]

Parallel

[mamawasatesttube]

half the plot of the kon & cass gender fic i need to finish writing is just

kon: i'm a boy. the scientists said so. cass: the scientists also said you were superman? kon: kon: kon: … FUCK.

[abrilstevens]

i am unfortunately, really and truly, longing for queerbait. no piece of media will ever make me go more insane than ones with two women who care for each other more deeply than anyone else in the world and who look at each other like they hung the fucking moon and every time they’re in each other’s vicinity there’s this palpable tension.. and then off to the left there’s a painfully average man who they’re fighting over for some reason. he knows maybe two facts about each of them and he gets their birthdays confused if he remembers them at all. these are the building blocks off which the best fanfic you’ve ever read in your life is made

[ingravinoveritas]

ineffablymischievousscamp replied to your post “Oh my God, Michael…”

@ingravinoveritas Exactly! His heart never quiets I'm sure, burning with a love for this world they've created. Good Omens has given him just as much, if not more, to make him a bit dewy eyed today too.

@ineffablymischievousscamp Oh, absolutely. I really love that today, of all days, was what got Michael out of Twitter retirement, and that this in particular was something that meant enough to him to comment on it. Your last few words also made me remember Michael's tweet from 2019 where he talked about being dewy-eyed as he filmed his last scene as Aziraphale in GO season 1...

And I think what you've said is exactly right: That Michael's heart never quiets, that it always beats with so much love for Aziraphale and Good Omens and everything that the show and especially the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley means to him. That on some level, he never has stopped being Aziraphale, even long after filming has ended. (Which seems to fit perfectly with Michael saying on several occasions that he doesn't know where Aziraphale ends and he begins.)

A lot of us today are talking about what Good Omens has given us, but as you mentioned, what GO has given Michael is likely even beyond description. We've heard both him and David say that it's changed their lives, and whether in public or private, I think that both of them are acknowledging the depth of that today, to each other and to the world...

[citrinekay]

My body follows my heart.

The Worst of Evil (최악의 악) // Episode 7

[angelsdean]

I need people to understand how S&P (standards and practices) works in television and how much influence they have over what gets to stay IN an episode of a show and how the big time network execs are the ones holding the purse strings and making final decisions on a show's content, not the writers / showrunners / creatives involved.

So many creators have shared S&P notes over the years of the wild and nonsensical things networks wanted them to omit / change / forbid. Most famously on tumblr, I've seen it so many times, is the notes from Gravity Falls. But here's a post compiling a bunch of particularly bad ones from various networks too. Do you see the things they're asking to be changed / cut ?

Now imagine, anything you want to get into your show and actually air has to get through S&P and the network execs. A lot of creators have had to resort to underhanded methods. A lot of creators have had to relegate things to subtext and innuendo and scenes that are "open to interpretation" instead of explicit in meaning. Things have had to be coded and symbolized. And they're relying on their audience to be good readers, good at media literacy, to notice and get it. This stuff isn't the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, it's the true practices creatives have had to use to be able to tell diverse stories for ages. The Hays Code is pretty well known, it exists because of censorship. It was a way to symbolize certain things and get past censors.

Queercoding, in particular, has been used for ages in both visual media and literature do signal to queer audiences that yes, this character is one of us, but no, we can't be explicit about it because TPTB won't allow it. It's a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to those in the know. It's the deliberate use of certain queer imagery / clothing / mannerisms / phrases / references to other queer media / subtle glances and lingering touches. Things that offer plausible deniability and can be explained away or go unnoticed by straight audiences to get past those network censors. But that queer viewers WILL (hopefully) pick up on.

Because, unfortunately, still to this day, a lot of antiquated network execs don't think queer narratives are profitable. They don't think they'll appeal to general audiences, because that's what matters, whatever appeals to most of the audience demographic so they can keep watching and keep making the network more money. The networks don't care about telling good stories! Most of them are old white cishet business men, not creatives. They don't care about character arcs and what will make fans happy. They don't care about storytelling. What they care about is profit and they're basing their ideas of what's profitable on what they believe is the predominate target demographic, usually white cis heterosexual audiences.

So, imagine a show that started airing in the early 2000s. Imagine a show where the two main characters are based on two characters from a famous Beat Generation novel, where one of the characters is queer! based on a real like bisexual man! The creator is aware of this, most definitely. And sure, it's 2005, there's no way they were thinking of making that explicit about Dean in the text because it just wouldn't fly back then to have a main character be queer. But! it's made subtext. And there are nods to that queerness placed in the text. Things that are open to interpretation. Things that are drenched in metaphor (looking at you 1x06 Skin "I know I'm a freak" "maybe this thing was born human but was different...hated. Until he learned to become someone else.") Things that are blink-and-you-miss-it and left to plausible deniability (things like seemingly spending an hour in the men's bathroom, or always reacting a little vulnerable and awkward when you're clocked instead of laughing it off and making a homophobic joke abt it)

And then, years later there's a ship! It's popular and at first the writers aren't really seriously thinking about it but they'll throw the fans a bone here and there. Then, some writers do get on the destiel train and start actively writing scenes for them that are suggestive. And only a fraction of what they write actually makes it into the text. So many lines left on the cutting room floor: i love past you. i forgive you i love you. i lost cas and it damn near broke me. spread cas's ashes alone. of course i wanted you to stay. if cas were here. -- etc. Everything cut was not cut by the writers! Why would a writer write something to then sabotage their own story and cut it? No, these are things that didn't make it past the network. Somewhere a note was made maybe "too gay" or "don't feed the shippers" or simply "no destiel."

So, "no destiel." That's pretty clearly the message we got from the CW for years. "No destiel. Destiel will alienate our general audience. Two of our main characters being queer? And in a relationship? No way." So what can the pro-destiel creatives involved do, if the network is saying no? What can the writers do if most of their explicit destiel (or queer dean) lines / moments are getting cut? Relegate things to subtext. Make jokes that straight people can wave off but queer people can read into. Make costuming and set design choices that the hardcore fans who are already looking will notice while the general audience and the out-of-touch network execs won't blink and eye at (I'm looking at you Jerry and your lamps and disappearing second nightstands and your gay flamingo bar!)

And then, when the audience asks, "is destiel real? is this proof of destiel?" what can the creatives do but deny? Yes, it hurts, to be told "No no I don't know what you're talking about. There's no destiel in supernatural" a la "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" but! if the network said "no destiel!" and you and your creative team have been working to keep putting destiel in the subtext of the narrative in a way that will get past censors, you can't just go "Yes, actually, all that subtext and symbolism you're picking up, yea it's because destiel is actually in the narrative."

But, there's a BIG difference between actively putting queer themes and subtext into the narrative and then saying it's not there (but it is! and the audience sees it!) versus NOT putting any queer content into the text but SAYING it is there to entice queer fans to continue watching. The latter, is textbook queerbaiting. The former? Is not. The former is the tactics so many creatives have had to use for years, decades, centuries, to get past censorship and signal to those in the know that yea, characters like you are here, they exist in this story.

Were the spn writers perfect? No, absolutely not. And I don't think every instance of queer content was a secret signal. Some stuff, depending on the writer, might've been a period-typical gay joke. These writers are flawed. But it's no secret that there were pro-destiel writers in the writing room throughout the years, and that efforts were made to make it explicitly canon (the market research!)

So no, the writers weren't ever perfect or a homogeneous entity. But they definitely were fighting an uphill battle constantly for 15 yrs against S&P and network execs with antiquated ideas of what's profitable / appealing.

Spn even called out the networks before, on the show, using a silly example of complaints abt the lighting of the show and how dark the early seasons were. Brightening the later seasons wasn't a creative choice, but a network choice. And if the networks can complain abt and change something as trivial as the lighting of a show, they definitely are having a hand in influencing the content of the show, especially queer content.

Even in s15, (seasons fifteen!!!) Misha has said he worried Castiel's confession would not air. In 2020!!! And Jensen recorded that scene on his personal phone! Why? Sure, for the memories. But also, I do not doubt for a second that part of it was for insurance, should the scene mysteriously disappear completely. We've seen the finale script. We've seen the omitted omitted omitted scenes. We all saw how they hacked the confession scene to bits. The weird cuts and close-ups. That's not the writers doing. That's likely not even the editors (willingly). That's orders from on high. All of the fuckery we saw in s15 reeks of network interference. Writers are not trying to sabotage their own stories, believe me.

Anyways, TLDR: Networks have a lot more power than many think and they get final say in what makes it to air. And for years creative teams have had to find ways to get past network censorship if they want "banned" or "unapproved" "unprofitable" "unwanted" content to make it into the show. That means relying on techniques like symbolism, subtext, and queercoding, and then shutting up about it. Denying its there, saying it's all "open to interpretation" all while they continue to put that open to interpretation content into the show. And that's not queerbaiting, as frustrating as it might be for queer audiences to be told that what they're seeing isn't there, it's still not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a marketing technique to draw in queer fans by baiting them with the promise of queer content and then having no queer content in said media. But if you are picking up on queer themes / subtext / symbolism / coding that is in front of your face IN the text, that's not queerbaiting. It's there, covertly, for you, because someone higher up didn't want it to be there explicitly or at all.

[porciaenjoyer]

i think musicians should never reveal who they write their songs about.. it alters the experience and is particularly disturbing in some cases

[electricpurrs]

tex red vs blue is insanely transgender but im the only one who sees it that way because im crazy in the head.

what if there was a past version of yourself. a woman, a wife, a mother, with long hair and a sweet smile. and she died long ago. and you are her. but you are not her. you're nothing like her, but the people who knew her desperately want you to be her, want to preserve the memory they have in their minds of the woman they loved through you. but you never asked to be her, never asked to carry the burden of someone else's expectation of who or what you should be. you have a new name. you prefer to go by this one. people remark on how weird it is that it's a guy's name. sometimes the people who loved [the past version of] you call you by your old name. they are not referring to you when they say it. you live in the shadows of someone who's long gone, and you're something different now, but you don't feel like you're ever allowed to define yourself on your own terms, to be your own person, to control your own life, because you exist solely through the memories people had of you. and the longer she has been gone for, the more desperately people try to get her back, the less you resemble her and the less you know who you are, or if you ever even got to be anything at all. what i mean is that transition could have saved him

[diodellet]

Jamil confession with prompt 10!

Context: Relationship started off antagonistic since the reader encouraged Kalim's independance (teaching him chores, cooking, etc) and eventually grew to a one sided rivalry (Jamil was the only one into it, reader was just having fun with his reactions). Reader spends months pining while Jamil is just in denial. At the end of conversation, Reader slips up while saying they don't need a response and Jamil goes through the five stages of grief in a span of 2 minutes.

Appearance: long straight brown hair and dark skin.

Personality: jolly like Kalim but in a much calmer manner, huge nerd for art (literature, music, movies, etc), rarely loses composure, when flustered they go red with a very wide goofy smile on their face (no shyness)

💌Jamil Viper + Prompt #10 (Talking with them for hours about anything and everything, not even feeling the time pass.) ++(edit: i put female!reader here by accident, it's gn!reader actually)

There was no bigger illustration of irony than the situation the both of you were in right now. From the winter break incident to…

“—these little gestures that the actors look for in the choreography, so they know when to start signing. Like there, when that guy lets go of the bed frame—”

…spending three hours watching musical bootlegs.

If there was anything that remained consistent, it was that you were irritating. The way you unabashedly inserted yourself into his and Kalim’s schedule. You seamlessly guided him away from most distractions, yet at the same time, sent Jamil’s blood pressure to new highs by leaving—trusting? Ha. As if anyone sensible would put—Kalim in front of any kind of electrical outlet or open flame. Who cared if you were occasionally successful? 

Never mind that Jamil was actually intrigued by the musical. In spite of its grainy footage, your little quips were accompanied with a little smile and excited glint in your irises.

(That you’re still willing to meet his eyes is another constant, but that rouses a different kind of unease.)

“Jamil, about the Potionology homework—”

“Yeah?”

Kalim glances at the shared laptop screen between you and Jamil. “...Oh, uh, never mind. I’ll figure it out! Sorry for disturbing you two!” And he traipses out of Scarabia’s common area.

“...I should also go over my work with Kalim,” Jamil says, wrenching himself away from this idle moment.

Your hand touches his wrist, withdraws when he jolts. “I think he’ll ask for help if he needs it.”

“It doesn’t hurt to be sure.”

“Maybe we could wait until the end of the first act? There’s one more ensemble number you’ve gotta see—or, oh.” A sheepish smile spreads across your features. 

“What?” A frown pulls at his lips when you shut the laptop.

Your cheeks flush red in embarrassment. “Um, I realized that this was probably…not the kinda musical to attempt a confession to.” A laugh, sweet and genuine, escapes you.

Confession? You liked him? It would explain your sudden closeness in spite of everything, but why? And for how long? Why him?

“I should return this to Ignihyde, but—this was a failure, so you don’t have to reject me yet, alright?”

Jamil can only nod mutely and watch you leave, that dopey smile splitting your cheeks imprinted on his mind.

Sevens, help him. He’s caught in between two whirlwinds.

a/n: oh man, i'm so sorry this took so long. i tried to incorporate as much of the request into the word limit i set for myself but in the end, i took some liberties with it 🙇‍♂️ i still hope this was an enjoyable fluffy read tho! 💕💕 happy holidays (? ouh man where did the time go)

[kawaiifacesong]

Is part of the division in the fandom about what kind of "queer media" people were consuming?

Because, being honest, this show is the most perfunctory and broadly appealing kind of queer media. It's not exactly challenging.

I was watching QAF, Undressed, and Tales of the City when I was younger. Skins too but only the first two seasons and I got bored. If I wanted "mainstream" rep it was Will and Grace or Brothers and Sisters (only the latter of which could be considered remotely challenging).

For movies it was Mysterious Skin, Shelter, Prayers for Bobby, and Brokeback (naturally).

As I got older I found good stuff like Eastsiders, Looking, IWTV, and for movies, In From the Side, the Normal Heart, and All of Us Strangers. More "mainstream" was Shameless, for Ian and Mickey.

I have serious doubts that there is any overlap between the media journeys of some queer fans, particularly queer men, and the media journeys of some slash fans.

[gayofthefae]

Do you ever think about how "I have no idea what's gonna happen next, but whatever it is, I think we should work together. I think it'll be easier if we're a team."

is both so poetic and so euphemistic because that boy is not talking about solutions and battles that boy is talking about LOVE.

He wants it to come across, or at least have some plausible deniability that it's, "us not working together will just make the hell storm about to rain down harder" but really it's

"If I die tomorrow, I want you to be by my side; I won't be as scared"

They were already working together. Will forgave him and was acting normal. It was going to be "easier" and there was no obstacle for that. He just wanted to say "I love you" without saying I love you. In season 4, he's already fighting to say "I love you" to El while fighting NOT to say it to Will. Look at him, he's finding work arounds on both sides.

Something about the phrase "I have no idea what's gonna happen next"[but I want you to be there] is just so romantic. Elevated from anything. Beyond "whatever happens next will be bad let's face it together you and me against the world". It's

"I want to jump into the unknown with you"