#they were so sapphic in ep 1

[touchoffleece]

Apology in Advance for the probable incoming Sulemio v Destiel Poll posts.

There are layers to why the dumb ship poll has me feeling so passionate, some are: -Sulemio more or less checked off a Bucket List Want I thought I would die before seeing it become a reality. That being: a Sapphic Anime couple where the main focus and story doesn't revolve around discovering or accepting their sexuality and showing it can be a successful story public perception wise and money wise (G Witch has some of that self discovery stuff but it's like a D or E level plot). And having it so the gay relationship can't be perceived away as besties or sisterhood or with a Bury Your Gays end. -wlw/GL ships constantly getting overshadowed by mlm ships or get played down to hype up mlm ships because "there can only be 1 lgbtqi+ ship" mentality in fandoms. -Sulemio fandom was vibing and more or less quiet until this rewoke us up here on Tumblr. We are all once again speaking and writing deep analytical lengthy posts about how deep, well written and portrayed the love between both characters were not only in subtext but throughly explicit sentences in dialogue or actions of Suletta and Miorine, and the world around them. I am very happy to join in and revisit the awesomeness that their story was since I can't truly replicate the journey that was watching their story as it developed in real time. (Shout out to my 2 het cis male acquaintances who nagged me to give G Witch a shot back when only ep 0 and 1 were out you guys freaking amazing. Bros gave me unforgettable memories.) -But a big one I see not getting talked about a lot is how this match up is giving a big and much needed reality check to western-media-live-action-only-consumers/fans that: Just because something is an animation it does not make that type of art/storytelling/show/whatever you want to call it inferior to live action. A few years back I saw so many west live action tv fans shit endlessly and mercilessly on Magical Girl Utena because of a similar ship poll where it had come down to live action fandom ship vs canon anime ship. (iykyk, I don't want to restart that shit up again since it hurt a lot to watch as someone who liked the ship that was leading but didn't watch Utena-I'm too weak for that hurt- see the show and its contribution towards actual wlw/gl representation get shit on) A lot of the criticisms and punchlines of statements were mocking people for getting attached to cartoons as "grown ass adults"; a criticism any animation enjoyer probably knows all too well. Post so many animation shows in western streaming sites get cancelled or be erased and locked behind vaults because the CEOs think there is no fanbase or value in creating animation, this sentiment more towards animated shows with depth in their stories. I think back to that poll and the ensuing shit show. To think about that back then and see a reflection of that situation with the Ship (Sulemio) that has been stated to be inspired by the ship from Utena (Utenanthy) that was shat on so much by similar media consumers back then who perceived and said animation is a lesser form of storytelling-after seeing so many animation shows I enjoyed get cancelled because of this same sentiment from people thinking no adult wants animation as entertainment- to see Sulemio beat "the greater known" ship from a western live action media show that didn't even want the gay representation associated with itself, it feels like properly bandaging a seeping wound that you were letting "dry out". This all still feels like ship war with ships and fandoms that shouldn't have reason to beef, but the catharsis of seeing such a: powerful, moving, and overall amazing story that is Gundam the Witch from Mercury (free on Youtube to watch btw) and Sulemio's love story get recognized when it still feels like animation as a storytelling device gets looked down upon and has partially been erased, is making me cautiously optimistic that maybe in a few years we can get our amazing in depth animated shows that got taken away because animated storytelling is "just for kids" or "isn't good enough".

[twig-tea]

GL odds and ends 20 October 2024

Still feeling out how regularly it makes sense to do this; first one was 2 weeks ago on 6 October. If you're interested in GL older than that, check out my GL rec list through Feb 2024 and my update in July 2024. New series marked with an asterisk*.

Currently airing (with thoughts up to Oct 6):

Reverse 4 U 7/8 (Thai, Tuesdays 1:00 PM EDT, Netflix / YouTube) I'm disappointed by how this final arc has gone. We haven't really seen any growth for Wa, and the whole plot with Wa and Vivi's father didn't really make sense. I really don't understand why he had to stay away, or why the rules are so different for him than for Wa. The relationship between Wa and Four also feels flat because we've barely seen them together. I was rooting for this one but alas.

Unlock Your Love ep 6/8 (Thai, Wednesdays, GagaOOLala / YouTube [cut version]) The sequence where Rain and Love keep trying to have sex but getting interrupted/hurt was very funny; this show still drags but the core of it is pretty good. I mostly just wish it were tighter.

Chaser Game W s2 ep 5/8 (Japanese, Thursdays 12:30 PM EDT, GagaOOLala) @lurkingshan is already doing a great summary of this week to week in her JQL weekly round-up!

Affair the series ep 8/8 END (Thai, Fridays 11:15 AM EDT, iQIYI/ YouTube) Other than the jealousy in the last 10 minutes of the show, I really did like this ending for the series. I really liked Wan's decision to take time for herself after being disappointed by Pleng's decision again. The plot and melodramatic-ness of this show is not my favourite, but I enjoyed it week to week in spite of that. The acting was so solid, the women so gorgeous, the chemistry so fire, and the writing was great for the genre its in (the story was internally consistent and coherent, and the characters were complex and their motivations were clear. There was even a good plot reason for the 'they might be siblings' twist). If you don't mind melodrama, give this one a try!

*Pluto ep 1/12 NEW (Thai, Saturdays 9:30 AM EDT, YouTube) Starting off with a fantastic kiss and Namtan on a motorcycle is truly an incredible opening gambit. That being said, I don't buy the core premise of the plot and it is making it difficult for me to actually enjoy the show. I'll probably be mostly quiet about this one because the things I don't like about it aren't actually about its execution but rather my taste.

*Apple My Love ep 2/7 NEW (Thai, Saturdays 11:45 AM EDT, GagaOOLala and YouTube) I already shouted on main about ep1 here; so far I'm obsessed with this show. Kris is too gay to function, and the misunderstanding is perfectly executed. Very excited for this one, it's so far fantastic.

The Loyal Pin ep 12/16 (Thai, Sundays 12:15 PM EDT, YouTube) Anin's speech in this episode was fire. I feel for these girls, Anin and Pin are just so desperate to be together and their choices are limited. This show continues to be gorgeous and so well done, and I keep bracing for pain.

Red Whisper ep 4/8 (Korea, [schedule is kinda unpredictable; vaguely every 5 days??], YouTube) Cheating and taking advantage while your crush is heartbroken and drunk is not my fave but is par for the course with these SukFilm short series; my fave so far has been their first GL so if you haven't seen that yet I'd honestly recommend that instead.

Recent One-offs & Side Couples

We finally got the sapphic backstory in The Hidden Moon but it was (as expected) sad and mostly inferred.

We also got more of the Aim as a Lesbian plotline in the new Love Sick 2024 remake (this was not a plotline in the 2014 version and it's one of the changes I really like and that I think works really well)

Sastra film app YouTube channel has several short Cambodian GL series that come out weekly Honestly they are not to my taste but I don't like gatekeeping GL especially from smaller markets. I check in on these time to time and if there are any that I think are great I'll give them a shout-out

Ditto above with JPC media YouTube channel for Thai GL shorts if there are any that stand out to me I'll say so

Starting soon:

The Nipple Talk, [ensemble] Taiwanese, 1 November GagaOOLala

My Ex's Wedding [in theatres in Thailand 14 November]

Mom Ped Sawan, Thai, 17 November [international distribution uncertain; it should be on VIPA app with subs, but that is region-locked]

Petrichor, Thai, 23 November, TBD

[lintwriting]

Disney’s Comphet Episode

girl meets world's legacy will most likely be its total flop as a sequel to boy meets world, as well as the worst autism rep ever lol but I'll personally always remember it for how much it FUMBLED THE BAG because it introduced a stupid love triangle.

why were there so many shows in the late 'aughts dedicated to RUINING their shows with pointless ship wars? star vs the forces of evil, danny phantom, and girl meets world are just off the top of my head.

we have these two perfect best friend characters. surprisingly perfect friendship. okay, more like, veering on homoromantic.

(via @forbescaroline)

and then you know what they do with it? They insert the MOST WHITE BREAD ass love interest ever in the form of Lucas.

his defining characteristic is that he's a dreamy goodboy, and there's nothing wrong with that except that he's EXTREMELY boring compared to the oddballs of the rest of the cast, like Farkle or Maya or Riley.

The one thing that subsidizes his bore factor is that all his love triangle ship drama fuels conflict in the show.

he's the straight man--ha, get it? kys

he's dreamy enough to have these perfect friends in conflict over him.

and it kind of ruins the fun of the show.

like, i don't want to see Riley and Maya fight. and they don't even want to fight either. so they're just sighing sadly at each other, meanwhile im over here WHY WOULD YOU EVEN WANT TO DATE LUCAS??

it's giving "she was a girl, he was a boy, can I make it anymore obvious"

like i appreciate a show that demonstrates that girls in competition over a guy DO NOT need to be catty or mean (from what I can remember), but like, this should have been a 1 episode plot AT MOST GOD

they expand on the plot in the most bizarre ways possible too. like i havent watched this show in years, but i still remember this shit.

The premise of the show is that Riley falls into Lucas's lap on a bus in ep 1, so they're basically an end game couple from the beginning. But they have to introduce a shitty love triangle.

So they then have an episode where Maya "acts" as Riley for a day, and while she's acting as Riley, she realizes that Riley doesn't love Lucas and most likely sees him as a brother. which, first of all, is the craziest shit ive ever heard, and second of all

COULD HAVE BEEN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL scene about comphet EVER in a disney kids show.

the DRAMA. the PROJECTION. "she's confused" "feelings you don't understand"

the contrast between what Riley THINKS she feels for Lucas and what Maya feels for Riley. Riley ASKING MAYA "how do I feel, then, maya?" and MAYA's "just tell me what to say" !!! It's the "Good Luck, Babe" of it all!!!!!!!!

it astounds me that this exists in the show! i remembered nothing else about the show EXCEPT for this scene and the terrible autism PSA farkle episode lol.

they use this to fan maya x lucas flames and some drama about maya becoming riley in the last season, which I have zero clue about because all that exists to me is that one crystal clear moment of comphet.

so yeah, while I don't care for sabrina carpenter's music, im extremely happy that she covered chappell roan's "Good Luck, Babe" because it led to this amazing edit that compiles all these moments lol

what a moment. everything, it all has led up to this 67 views edit.

last thing I gotta say, I feel like the drama of "are you becoming me" would've ATE as drama, especially in a sapphic context. like some jennifer's body type shit. instead, it's poorly executed, one-sided, and does harm to both of their characters, from what I've read. BUT LIKE, there's no way it was one-sided. The envy/self-projection thing nor the love!! THEY HAD TO HAVE BEEN RECIPROCAL oh my god i can't Disney was SO CLOSE to greatness WHYYYYYYYYYYY

[howbrightthemoon]

Dylan's s3 reaction is one of the funniest so far

some context, youtuber Dylan Is In Trouble has reacted to the previous seasons of Bridgerton but only by watching the first and last episode

go and check it out!! him trying to figure out the missing pieces for each season is the most hilarious shit ever, and sometimes he literally predicts every single plot point without even seeing the other 6 episodes lmao

the fact that he is completely clueless about Anthony's "bee trauma" still gets me

iconic reactions from ep 1

*Colin ick wink* ... *eyeroll*

"were I to tell you even the tiniest adventure, I'd be forced to marry you." "he's bothering the hell out of me right now SHUT UP"

Picks up on Fran's sapphic energy from only her second scene AND predicts the LW imposter plotline (but at the wrong time), so he thinks it doesn't ever happen, even though it actually does later 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Pebling stan "I hope Colin loses to this guy"

"and what I have learned, is that charm can be taught." *dying cat noises*

Debling "Clive"

more iconic reactions from ep 8

*sad boi Colin on the sofa* "I hope you're sad. You should be sad. I don't like you."

Pen comes out holding her stomach (actually tying a ribbon around her waist) "WHAT ARE YOU HOLDING YOUR BELLY FO- oh I thought she was pregnant." SHE ACTUALLY WAS HERE AHHAHAHA

"I trust you had a happy wedding night." *SCREAMS* "a happy W H A T????"

*sees John for the first time* "he looks like a vampire, I hope he's a vampire."

*Cut to Bene-dicked down scene 1* *Dylan being just as confused as we all were* *Cut to Bene-dicked down scene 2* "what is this again...why are we back here?" *Cut to Bene-dicked down scene 3* "are they in a throuple???? OH NONONONO I'm having Riverdale flashbacks I CAN'T DO ITICANTDOIT."

*Colin stares at Penelope's bare shoulder* "have they not consummated the marriage?" OH BOY THEY CONSUMMATED ALRIGHT-

"if my only purpose in life is to love a woman as great as you, then I will be a very fulfilled man indeed." *Dylan sobbing* bitch that love declaration got me crying too

anyways i am convinced he is slowly becoming one of us

also check out his season 1 and season 2 reactions!!

[disventure-rewrite-takes]

I’m SO tired of the amount of romance drama in this fucking show it’s making me insane. The only THREE characters in Dcas who don’t have romance being an important part of their arc in this season or their original season is FIORE, MIRIAM AND LAKE. The two who basically CAN’T have a romance plot because of their ages, and Lake who was only rlly close in age to Maggy from her season. Shoutout to Lake for being spared from the horrors.

Otherwise they are ALL involved in romance in some way or another, and it���s so tiring especially bc this show just has to go out of it’s way to ruin every single one of them either by some several episode long conflict or giving them 0 screentime. Hell, they can’t even resist doing the same thing to many of the friendships in this series. Tess, Ally and Hunter barely interacted at all after all the set up in season 2, Tom and Gabby barely interacted until the episode he was eliminated in, I don’t think we got a single scene with Jake and Miriam after ep 1, like… what is The Point. There’s also Grett and Gabby, and they were great!!! But they REALLY could’ve started that whole arc earlier. Episode 12 ends with them being Reluctant friends, they don’t really start getting along great until the end of episode 13, and then we get one single episode and Gabbys gone. Awesome. If they KNEW they were doing this, why couldn’t they have started having them interact since the moment Gabby joined the villains alliance? As much as I enjoyed their interactions, it did feel a bit undeserved to me how they were treated as Absolute Bffs forever after 2 episodes when they had more time to set it up. For example, the scene where Riya tells Grett off for not standing up for herself could’ve easily been Gabby, Riya and Grett don’t even interact after that.

Now basically the only friendship we have left is Jake and Aiden.. PLEASEE don’t ruin them for some stupid forced drama I’m begging you!! I think we’ve officially gone past the Jake’s character arc takes 50 steps back and causes a dumb conflict for no reason point, but there is still the fact that Aiden doesn’t know Jake is the reason James was eliminated. I’m just waiting for them to bring it up and ruin everything again at this point.

i hate how ONC handles every single relationship. want romance? heres two guys that have chemistry but GUESS WHAT MISCOMMUNICATION now their chemistry is gone. sorry about that, heres sapphics HAHA NO BUILD-UP OR MEANINGFUL SCREENTIME GET FUCKED. what? straight people? but theyre not marketable to fujoshis- ughhh fine heres an OFF-SCREEN ROMANCE YAY!!!!!!!

want a friendship? sure here!! *ellie betrays jake* aw dang it! *fiore betrays alec* aw dang it! *gabby betrays dan* aw dang it! *ally and jake start arguing bc jakes immature* aw dang it! *jake gets ashley out cuz hes an idiot* aw dang it! *miriam and jake have almost zero interaction in AS* aw dang it! *connor and alec are ruined bc of a love triangle* aw dang it!

and the FUCKING. LOVE TRIANGLES IM GOUGING MY EYES OUT. i hate the love triangles and i hate this show and i hate this studio if they ruin reality resort with their shitty writing i am going on a killing spree

[khaopybara]

Ok so we are in agreement that may definitely knows that ai-oon is not oom right? Like even if she somehow managed to avoid seeing the news of the accident our girl oon is NOT doing well acting like someone may has/had been dating lol.

But also I love them so i am more than willing to turn a blind eye to all the sus behavior 😆

ALSO we finally got PhimPang and they are ICE COLD!! I wanted to like Pang soo much because of ciize but Pang is the WORST! I was so mad when she pull oon away from may so that she could basically make sure that May was blind. WHO DOES THAT!? 🤬🤬🤬 i know we’re only on ep 2 but at this point i am all for PhimJan!

Really i am praying to the GL gods for a true triangle! Give me PhimPangJan or give me death!

AND ANOTHER THING that grandma is on thin ice

Ok what else….planetarium dates was adorbs and the the cockroach scene had me dying 😭

-🤫

miss famous lawyer who's studying to enhance human rights and went to a meeting in geneva to create a roadmap to help with her mission most definitely knows something is up. i think i got spoiled about this whole situation, but i'm not 100% sure how trustworthy people's vague commentaries and my deduction skills are. either way, oon is now the love of my life. she is adorable and she needs a very tight and good hug, and for now, may seems like she's doing it quite well (tho i must admit, my heart hurts for oon every time may calls her oom).

LISTEN! i love my girl ciize. i adored her as alpha in 23.5, and i was so looking forward to see her in pluto (still am, don't get me wrong, i think this plot line will give us so much), but from the moment ciize said, yeah you know, pang has had this crush on oon since forever but never made a move bc she didn't know oon liked women, too, but now that she knows that's an option for her, you know, she might go for it. never mind this relationship i have with this other stunning officer who lives with me. it's like having war flashbacks of raymew in only friends, tho they are very different characters in very different circunstancies.

the thing about pang tho is that she's very logical. ep 1 pang telling oon, hey girl, i know a lot has happened in the last week of your life, but you're really taking the side of a girl found out existed just the other day and you met literally once. get a grip. iconic behaviour. i was saying the same thing. but ep 2 pang make me feel she does all of that out of misplaced jealousy and sense of ownership over oon's time and presence which is not really nice. i hope we get to see more of the phimpangjan triangle thing soon, because as i said, it's gonna be juicy~ (also, jan is so much more loyal and driven than i thought she would be. from the pilot trailer, i thought she'd be just a jealous wine lady who'd get in between kapookciize, but she's sweet so far).

grandma clearly has favorites (or so we think. at least this part of the story is from oon's perspective, after all, and we know we can be biased when telling a story), but @suppaloscurse talked about it in this post and i agree with a lot of that. oon not only is the older twin, she's also the one who needed to be strong and support her younger sister. it's not fair of grandma to pick favorites so blatantly, but i feel like it's what oon has always expected. she was sidelined bc her sister's fragile health, oom went to a private school, and then as adults, oom became a flight attendant while oon works in delivery (pls know i'm not putting more value in one more than the other) and then, also married rich. namtan talked about how grandma is pivotal in oom's story and is the reason for the granddaughter's growth, so i'm looking forward to figure that relationship out, too.

also, THE SAPPHICS OWN THE SPACE. THAI GLS TAUGHT ME SO. and, props to the cockroach that gave us the classic falling on top of you scene. i've said this during ploy's yearbook when namtanfilm's character found themselves in a similar predicament that if they were dudes, they would have kissed on the lips back then, and we almost had it in today's episode. fingers crossed i still can get my cliche from them.

[calliettes-posts]

Would you rank the skam wlw seasons? and could you justify the rankings? I am interested in your opinion. sorry my english :)

Your English is fine! And sorry for the late reply, I just finished s2 of skam españa so that I can answer this properly

1. Fatou (Druck s6)- now this is me being completely biased, but watching Fatous season live honestly was so life changing, I've never seen a black main character be so portrayed in a beautiful and caring way in Germany, and I honestly adore Fatou. I love that her season didn't deal with a coming out, but that she was already an out and proud lesbian, and I honestly LOVE how they portrayed her and Kieu Mys culture. For me, when it comes to black sapphics and sapphics of colour, I feel like they always make their culture a point of conflict, but with Fatou and Kieu My, their sexualities and culture could just coexist without any problem, and that is so special to me. And I absolutely love Kieu My, I love how well fleshed out she is, how we learn more and more about her throughout the season, and how she's more than what she portrays, how she just wants to be seen and not have to be perfect and please everyone all the time, how much pressure she puts upon herself just to make everyone happy, and so much more, I also love how they used her social media to document how and when exactly Kieu My stopped performing and started ro just be herself. Also back to the culture, I loved how they referenced Fatous, Kieu Mys and Avas cultures, it felt like it was made for bipoc watchers, and not to educate the white audience, and that is what made it so authentic imo, because as a black person, I don't need explanation for certain things, like for example when ava explained how mailin behaved at the protest, I immediately understood why she was bothered by it, and so did fatou, and that was realistic, its the small things, but that made me relate to the characters so much more, or when fatou face timed her relatives and relied on her dad to translate to her, these moments are so special to me. I also love the symbolism throughout the season, from Kieu My being the axolotl and Fatou the tortoise to the astrology references to Kieu My being the ice queen and Fatou the warmest person ever, how well they complemented etc etc. Also: " Kieu My, du bist so schön. Ich hab mir ne Liste gemacht an Dingen die so schön an dir sind. Wie du zum beispiel immer deine ohren hinter deinen haaren versteckst, wie du so eng mit deiner Familie bist, und dass du so krass gut mit Horrorfilmen bist. Aber am meisten lieb ich wenn du lachst. Weil dann seh ich dich. Und wie viel liebe in dir ist."Like hello???? Also, the entirety of Sonntag, 13:28, and how they related and bonded with each other through their experiences of being a child in an immigrant family. Generally, I love how much care was put into this season, and that's why Fatous s6 and kieutou will always be on top for me. Also, it's the remake where I don't need any translations for lol

2. Anaïs (Wtfock)- now I know the writing has been disappointing since ep7, but honestly, I am sosososososo grateful to have Anais as a main character in a skam remake. I honestly love her, I love how loyal, caring, and kind she is, and there's nothing that could make me hate her, like that's my nigerian sister, I honestly never thought that we'd get nigerian sapphic rep, and I'm so here for it. As for Anobbie, I love how their development was shown from ep1 to 6, especially ep3, that ep felt like it was straight out of a rom com, from anobbie fleeing together from that Fries place and getting closer to the subtle flirting of Bobbie, to Bobbie looking out for and helping out Anais at the party and with her friends drinking away her dads alcohol, to Bobbie opening up to Anais about her dad and showing her the place where her fathers ashes were sprayed, to Anais and Bobbie getting closer, to Anais arranging a date meeting with bobbie, to Anais playing "I'm gonna make you love me" and making Bobbie dance with her, to Bobbie finally kissing her, like it was so beautiful to watch. Also, I love how anobbie complements eachother and how theyre exactly what the other person needs, Bobbie makes Anais feel free and able to stand up for herself and feel like she's herself, and Anais makes Bobbie feel safe and provide a sense of stabilty, they really adore eachother and would go to great lengths to protect eachother, and I honestly love to see it. Also they reminded me a lot of kieutou, and alone for that they're high on the list. Also, just like Kieu My, I love how fleshed out Bobbie is as a love interest, she's such an interesting character that you want to know more of, and whether you love her or hate her, you pay attention to her, that's how interesting she is and im so here for it. And after druck, they're the remake where I need the least amount of translation for lol

3. Cris- (skam españa s2)- I just finished watching it, and omg, crisana literally invented gay staring, from their first meeting their eye contact was so insane, it got me giggling and kicking my feet lol. I really liked the season, I loved how reassuring and supportive Cris friend group is, how they were there for her every single time she had problems with Joana, and generally they seem like such a sweet friend group, and now i see why they're most peoples fave girl squad. As for crisana, they were so cute, I love how much they adored eachother, and I really love how reassuring cris was with joana at the end, telling her that she won't run away and that she'll be there for her. I also loved howbwe could see just how much cris cared for joana, like she cried in almost every single clip after joana disappears. honestly sometimes forgot that this was an evak remake lol, but I think it did the OG justice

4. Lola (skam france s6)- I don't remember much from lolas seasons except that it was veeeeryy dark, and that she could never catch a break, like why did they make her suffer so much? I feel like her and Maya could've had more development because their relationship felt rushed to me, but they were really cute, and I really love the scene where Maya draws on lola while she's laying there crying, it feels to intimate and special. Also, just like Bobbie, Lola is a polarising character, and I love those types of characters, especially female ones

5. Maya (skam france s9)- this never happened, mayla are still happily together while they work on their issues through proper communication, lola never broke up with Maya, and they still have their tattoo together

But honestly, this was so disappointing, the first time a LI got a season, and then we don't even learn anything about the LI at the end, it feels they just made the season to have an excuse to break up mayla, but we already knew that

[blackbird-brewster]

Tara Lewis Fanfic Stats

It's incredibly frustrating to see how this fandom treats Tara as an afterthought, if they think about her at all. I wanted to take a look at the stats on AO3 (bc I'm a nerd). [See this post for all CM fanfic stats]

Tara Lewis was in nearly 100 episodes (about 1/3 of all eps), but she's so largely under-represented in CM fanfiction. Furthermore, she is the ONLY canonically queer character in Criminal Minds' SIXTEEN seasons and yet, there are very few fanfics exploring her queer identity.

Overall Stats:

Character Tag: 1187 total

Out of 36k+ fanfics on AO3 Tara is only tagged in 3% of all fics. This includes any fic where she's been tagged as a character -- keep in mind, in many of those fics she's only featured in the background.

Tara doesn't even make the Top 10 most popular characters in the CM fandom, despite being in six seasons of the show.

Actually, on a list of all 18 Main Characters (profilers) from the total run of the show, Tara lands at #13. That's a lower ranking than five other characters who were in far fewer episodes.

Relationship Tag: 242 total

Out of the 1187 fics with Tara, she's only listed in the relationship category in 242 of those. Which is a measly, 0.67% of all CM fanfiction. Our ONE canonically queer character doesn't even make up 1% of ship fics in this fandom. (Reminder, this stat also includes any fic where her relationship is background/minor)

Tara Lewis in Femslash:

Femslash only makes up for 12% of all CM fics. In the femslash category, Tara is tagged in a relationship in 242 fics. That's about 5% of the total CM femslash posted to AO3.

To put that in a bit of perspective, there are nearly TEN times more Jemily fics (2376) than there are of Tara in ANY queer pairing.

Tara's top 3 relationship tags: Tara/Emily (139 fics), Tara/JJ (27 fics), Tara/Reader (24 fics)

Tara's canon relationship with Rebecca Wilson is only featured as a main ship in FIVE fics. Including background Tara/Rebecca, there are only 12 fics with this pair

In Conclusion:

I have watched people beg for a canonically queer character FOR YEEAAARRRSSS in this fandom. After Kirsten revealed Emily was originally supposed to be sapphic in a 2015 interview, the fandom pleaded for it to be addressed in canon. Of course, that never happened.

What we got instead was a queer confirmed Tara Lewis and after all the years of begging for a queer main -- the fandom went silent.

Why? I think it's mostly because Tara is a queer Black woman (and one of only four POC who have been main characters in eighteen years of this show). Racism and misogyny have run rampant in this fandom for as long as I can remember, so it shouldn't have been much of a surprise when everyone saying 'Give us a canon queer character!' actually meant 'give us a white queer'.

I'm never gonna shut up about HOW IMPORTANT it was for Tara to be our first queer character. I only hope that people start to understand why this representation matters and why it's worth writing and exploring Tara more in fanfiction.

[lunarsniperwifle]

I havent posted in a while so here's a lil life recap!

I started HRT in august!! Woohoo!! Its been going really well, Im so happy.

I had a lil vacay with my parents after my Tia's wedding in October, read cover to cover a book (Legends & Lattes, very fun very cute, and gay) and its the first book Ive fully read in a few years and cover to cover in about 24 hours in many years. It really sparked a lot of joy and got me back into the reading mood. Plus the story hit like all my boxes (fantasy, coffeeshop au style, sapphic, retired adventurer, past coming to haunt and help).

Next thing I read was She Loves to Cook She Loves to Eat. SO. GOOD. i adore them, i cant wait for more (i think i saw the author is on break atm which of course is fine take care of yourself!!). Im loving where its going, that theyre older women, that theyre falling/have fallen for eachother but dont know how to bring it up and are hesitant BUT working towards taking the next step together. I cant wait for them to communicate, and kiss.

I also got into Im In Love With The Villainess and omg. I adore it so much. I watched when it had like 4 eps out, watched em all. And then immediately bought all the light novels, manga, and claires POV LN that were out. And then proceeded to read all core/main LNs in less than a week. Then Claires then the manga. I adore it, I fell in love with this story so fast and stayed up nightly reading almost one LN a day for a week. I think the 2nd one is my fave, and it makes me so excited for the anime and for the manga to get translated and released. I am dying for the 2nd one from Claires POV as well (im sure i could maybe find it online same with the manga since thats up to the looks like Lily/Yu arc now in japan) but i kinda wanna wait for the print to come out so i can physically have and read it like the others. Rae and Claire's story means so much to me, and especially Inori-san's writing in general and being serious about certain topics and actually diving into them. I hopw with all my heart it continues to be animated, i have a feeling we'll wind with the scales of love arc for season 1 and tease vacation arc for start of 2 (and probably go through to the end of LN 2 for season 2 mayhap?) It deserves to have the entire story told through animation honestly.

I also got the bloom into you manga (got the 1st one to read and see if id like it and shocker i do so i have the rest of the manga, LNs, and manga anthology on the way and might get the bluray of the anime eventually to watch). Ive really liked the 1st volume so far, it has me excited to find out how the story and relationship develops! Also wow! It was very fast at getting into the love feelings i was kinda surprised (pleasantly)

And then when im done with that have the Whisper Me a Love Song in my sights for the next yuri story to dive into and adore.

Its been a wonderful time. Im real happy :3

[lollytea]

Okay highly specific and idk if you even have any thoughts on it BUT ☕ on the Boscha/Amity dynamic in FTF? I literally had no significant thoughts on Boscha til this ep. Now I'm kinda into whatever toxic thing she's got going on with Amity. Heathcliffian in nature, almost. But what's your two cents, if you have em to spare?

I've never really had any strong opinions on Boscha. Like I know a ton of people absolutely loathe her but I can't even grant her those feelings. I can never really drum up too much animosity towards teen characters. She's just a kid. Kids suck sometimes. Sometimes they grow up and they learn and they become better people and sometimes they just get worse. I'm not gonna make any assumptions about which category Boscha will fall into because she's still too young to be certain.

I think it's kinda funny how the writers clearly gave her a deep underlying complex but never bothered to elaborate on it. Like the opening of WILW where she's like "You can be hated. So long as you are feared." Girl??? Can we like...get an update on this kid's home life? Why is this her mindset? Where is this coming from? Where are her moms??

During the time she and Amity were friends, the latter was also deeply depressed and had a horrible home life. So I wouldn't be surprised if she and Boscha had one of those sapphic toxic co-dependent teenage bonds. (We've all had them.) Like there's no escape to this life. Things won't get better. But at least they can stew in their own cynicism together. They help each other gain some semblance of control over their own lives by clawing their way up the Hexside hierarchy, with Amity being top student and Boscha being grudgby captain. Just a pair of fucked up and lonely girls just trying to pretend they're not fucked up and lonely.

I feel like, at some point, Amity even found solace in Boscha's company. When she was younger and more immature and was led to believe that actual positive mutually uplifting friendships were only for kids (bye Willow) so she desperately leans into what she has. What they had with each other may have been their only real connection. Early episodes definitely give the impression that their friendships with the likes of Skara and co. were rather superficial, with Boscha acting rather dismissively towards anyone who wasn't Amity. I'm sure they saw all the vulnerability and ugliness in each other that nobody else saw. I'm sure Boscha got unhealthily attached because Amity was really all she had and she didn't have any experience with an actual constructive relationship with anyone her own age to understand that she and Amity were bad for each other.

But Amity was clearly worn down. This relationship was exhausting. It leeched away at her. She was complacent in all the bullying because she didn't see the point in even trying to discourage it, other than half-hearted chiding every now and again. In her own words, there was no reasoning with Boscha.

And then Amity opened her eyes and realized that this fucking sucked. You see her gradually detaching herself from Boscha throughout season 1 which results in her completely cutting ties in WILW, much to Boscha's disgust.

Tbh I feel like Boscha's gotten pretty funny since then, though she's been barely present. I enjoyed her in ASIAS cuz she was just so pathetic. Literally just third wheeling lumity, neither of them give two shits about her existence but she just refuses to exit the scene. We love girlosers.

But yeah I really did dig her in FTF. It's definitely the most insight we've gotten into her character since her debut. I didn't exactly need Boscha character development to live cuz like. I don't care about her. But I guess if they're gonna include her at all, at least they didn't keep her stagnant.

She's clearly traumatized by the fact that her team essentially "died" (as far as she knows) protecting her and she's never experienced such a heavy emotion before. She doesn't know how to handle it. She pushes it down. She lashes out. And Kikimora has just made her a million times worse. No wonder she begged for Amity to come back. She's unstable and scared and wants to cling to some fantasy that this will all be okay. And she feels like if she just has her friend back, that can be a possibility.

I like how Amity dealt with her in this episode, as a contrast to how Willow did. Willow was perfectly within her right to be furious with Boscha, considering she's nothing but her former bully who's given her so many emotional scars. But Amity approached her with an appeal rather than a fight. Because Boscha is Amity's former friend. She knows things about her that Willow doesn't. And no matter how awful their relationship has gotten, she doesn't want to see her former friend as the villain of this story.

"There's no reasoning with Boscha." She said two season ago. And then she DID!!! It really speaks volumes about how much Amity has developed from an emotionally exhausted enabler to a proactive outspoken girl who's willing to give everyone a shot to prove themselves, the way Luz did for her.

Anyway I think Boscha has completely burned all her bridges and has no hope of rekindle her old friendship. That's a consequence she'll have to live with for the way she's behaved. Plus, she and Amity just....don't mix well anymore. Some people are destined to come into your life for a time and keep you standing upright but they're not lifelong friends. I could see them as like...acquaintances maybe? Maybe theyll grow up and have kids and be on the PTA together. Maybe. But I can't see them as ever being true friends again.

Some people say that Boscha's actions at the end of FTF was a "rushed redemption arc" though I disagree. It wasn't a redemption at all. It was simply an acknowledgement that Boscha is not the devil incarnate. She's a kid. All she wants is to have a normal life and play Flyer Derby. So she's taking the necessary actions to get that future for herself. It opens up the possibility that Boscha could be a good person. Someday. She's not there yet. But someday. Maybe.

[i-think-i-can-speak-here]

hi i finished both seasons of tslocg and here are a few thoughts

i loved watching leighton’s character arc till the very end. it was very cool and i loved the reason why she left kappa whitney going there was not cool, i’ll come back to that

also i totally agree with leighton. math is way cooler than biochem. obviously.

so proud of leighton when she came out to her friends and her dad. and also super glad that she got back with alicia also what was the hot vampire from first kill doing here?

whitney in s1 after the whole teacher storyline was good. and i love they portrayed her as a nerd and not just a jock yk? and i love her relationship with her mom. her mom is pretty fun and she should be in more eps

whitney can play basketball too? she is so freaking multi-talented not water polo though

whitney and canaan did make a good couple though what she did by going through his phone was not cool but i can see where that cam from like her prev relationship and what the girls from kappa told her

i loved bela more in season 1 ig. season 2 was more of character ruin and i hope it gets better in s3. i really thought she was talking to a therapist in the last bit and not TRANSFERRING but i’m glad she realised and owned up to all her mistakes

bela and eric were really cute and they kinda made sense together but yeah she fucked up 

kimberley was fun and everything and i kinda related to her when she was being awkward sometimes but the way the season ended was so bad she really should not have kissed canaan. i wish she had come clean to whitney the next day. it was just not cool

i am excited for s3 but i really am not interested in watching a love triangle nonsense. i hope all four of the girls work it out

oh i also wanna see more of nerdy leighton in the next season and them actually studying 😭

sorry this got so long 😭😭

omg i love that you sent all this!!

no yeah leighton's arc is just chef's kiss

dude... you did not just say that... math is in NO WAY cooler than biochem 😭😭

tbh i looooved vampire girl from first kill playing a sapphic character. they were cute for like an episode

whitney is talented af she can do anything (except water polo)

i really liked whitney and canaan together!! what she did wasn't great but like you said, it was understandable after her previous relationship with the coach

ngl i wanted kimberly and canaan to stay platonic besties, i love their dynamic. personally i never got romo vibes there. and yeah, she should have come clean to whitney

bela... i have so many thoughts about bela. i feel like they ruined her character arc a bit this season. her and eric were kind of cute although i wasn't rooting for them. and i feel like i'm one of the very few people who immediately assumed she was talking a out transferring?? although in hindsight i see why it would have seemed like she was in therapy. i wish she was 😅

i doubt there'll be too much focus on the triangle next season. the main focus so far has been the four main girls and i hope it continues to stay that way

how much do college students actually study though lmaoo

[weirdo09]

Only finished ep 1 but. Opinions on Kitty/Yuri/Minho

it’s cute to me, tho i’d prefer the platonic aspect then the romantic one. yuri and min ho would probably set their differences(or not so different) aside because they both love kitty. me personally, i feel that min ho’s (obvious) feelings for kitty should be unreciprocated because i can’t really see them together romantically and it would feel weird that kitty never shown romantic feelings for min ho throughout s1. kitty and yuri to me, were an obvious couple from ep 1. they’ve have a very special place in my heart because i’ve never really felt this strongly for a sapphic couple. [mostly because all the sapphic shows i was never allowed to watch but besides the point, i love them so much] but yeah, overall i give kitty/yuri/min ho about 6/10 [platonically ofc]

[lesbicosmos]

bored and procrastinating being productive so im doing this instead‼️

1. how did you find out about merlin?

either during or just after lockdown one of my friends had started watching it and was on about s2 and told me id like it. i started it and then binged it too far and she finished it like at least a month after i did

2. do you have a ship? if so, when did you start shipping them?

i have more ships for this show than any other show ever icl everyone's so in love with everyone else. like most people i was shipping merthur from the very start and also started shipping morgana and gwen at like episode 3. they're still my main two but i love mergana, mergwaine, mercelot, gwencelot, pergwaine and freylin (even tho they were only in one ep they were so sweet😭) and literally all the other main ones. this show turned me into a multishipper istg

3. what's your favourite episode/two parter?

much like 90% of the fandom, a servant of two masters is my favourite episode ever. but also some of my favs are the poisoned chalice, the moment of truth, the lady of the lake, goblin's gold, the sword in the stone two parter and also diamond of the day, no matter how much i sob every time

4. what's your favourite scene?

oh god too many. merlin trying to kill arthur and failing and gwen thwacking him round the head with a jug is up there icl. any scene in the early seasons where arthur and morgana are being so siblings. the entire section of the s4 finale where arthur's enchanted. the magic reveal. there are so many i can't list them all

5. what's your favourite quote or interaction?

it's probably gotta be "i don't want you to change. i want you to always be you." from the finale i think. but so many others - "you're the only friend i have and i couldn't bear to lose you", "he is your destiny and he is your doom"/"she is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love", also every time merlin is sarcastic and anything dragoon ever says ever.

6. how do you feel about the ending?

gay fan brain is screaming in agony but vaguely more stable brain thinks its good. nowhere near perfect, i think it was too fast and there needed to be more time where arthur knew about merlin's magic and we saw him dealing with the mental battle. but on the whole i think it was pretty good, the performances in it are amazing and it still makes me sob every single time. i do also love the open ending with the time jump!! it's like they gifted us fic bases on a silver platter

7. what's your favourite headcanon in merlin?

i love the idea that there were characters who knew about merlin's magic but never said anything, especially gwen and gwaine because you cannot tell me those two didn't already know. in fics i love when arthur knows and has been struggling with figuring out what to do for a while but in canon i think he was just too dumb lmao

i also love the headcanon (which is basically canon let's be real) that basically all of the servants and guards and anyone who ever met merlin and arthur just Know abt them and treat merlin like arthur's mistress

8. do you have a favourite merlin fic?

again too many i can't choose one

it's like The merlin fic rec but i LOVE and like the cycle of the year we begin again by katherynefromphilly

there are three i read the other day that i'm just in love with, all magic reveal fics and all by the same author. i love the writing style and characterisation so much 😭 in some sad way i already knew, something immortal and revelations by loser_angel

a sweet magic reveal rewrite of the end of the poisoned chalice - what most likely probably actually happened by TrebleMaker07 (can you tell ive been binge reading magic reveal fics recently)

gotta get a crack fic in here, this one's the knights playing gwen or merlin abt things they've heard arthur say - the servant or the wife? by diabeetus

and it wouldnt be a sarah fic rec list without the sapphics, so here's a really sweet morgwen au one i love, a little piece of home by doylefan22

this just turned into me recommending a bunch of my bookmarks but i love merlin fic writers so much ur all amazing

9. what is your personal headcanon for post-s5

if we're saying canon happens here, im a big fan of arthur returns from avalon for merlin. not for the country or for some big thing, but for merlin when his need is greatest because he's the only thing left of arthur's albion

if we're ignoring the canon ending, i love the idea that arthur lifts the magic ban and makes merlin court sorcerer. it's a common one but i can't help but love a fix it where everyone's happy 🤷‍♀️ i think gwen would know about arthur's Feelings for merlin and vice versa and would be fine with it, with either her and arthur staying together as a marriage of convenience or they're poly, either way i just need those three ruling camelot together

10. what's your favourite character?

morgana. partially because it's katie mcgrath and im very in love with her but also bc i just generally love mildly fucked up female characters. i can't say i entirely love what the writers did with her storyline in later seasons but she's so interesting as a character and she deserved so much better and i just wanna give her a hug

close second being merlin himself because who doesnt love him😭 i also just wanna give him a hug. every character in this show needs a hug wtf

Merlin questions to do when you’re bored

1. How did you find out about merlin?

2. Do you have a ship? If so, when did you start shipping them?

3. What’s your favorite episode/two-parter?

4. What’s your favorite scene?

5. What’s your favorite quote/interaction? (ex | merlin: “how long have you been training to be a prat, my lord?” | arthur: “i love poetry” merlin: 😀)

6. How do you feel about the ending? 😉

7. What’s your favorite headcanon in merlin?

8. Do you have a favorite merlin fic? Please share 😍

9. What is your personal head-canon after s5? (Ex: arthur dies and merlin waits for 1500 years | the roundtable lives | merlin becomes court-sorcerer)

10. What’s your favorite character?

That’s all!! Tell me if you want more!! Answer in the reblogs!! Or comment!! Or anywhere!!

[mayadoesfandomstuff]

The Persona Series and the Generational Experience

Besides thinking about the ages of the protagonists recently, I had been greatly intrigued in the way that each persona game reflects the generation that would have come to the age that the main characters would have been as well as the social climate and environment that would have been present at the time.

The characters of the game would have grown up in a completely different age and environment from the previous generation, being Gen X in a world dominated by the post-war Baby Boomers, which causes them to struggle with what is expected of them and what they want to be. If not this, the characters are already labeled as outcasts due to their own individuality or personal histories they can't change. Yukino as a former delinquent and sapphic woman comes to mind and Reiji being a bastard and a delinquent himself too.

NOTE FROM OP AS OF 04/08/2024:

I feel like this wasn't the best worded post and I would rather rewrite a lot of this. I wrote this when I was fresh off of a serious personal event that led me to think a lot about Persona 1 considering I related heavily with Maki's experiences during the game. It sounds unrelated but uh, let's just say that's also the reason why the wording and research here is rather flimsy since I wasn't really in the most lucid or stable condition at the time. I don't think this post is that bad but I think some points aren't the best either and would rather not this post circulate but I don't really want to private it or to turn off reblogs so I'm just putting this note at the beginning. I'm going to try to read up more stuff and then I'll make a post about each game some other time. Sorry for the random note here but yeah. Feel free to read and still reblog the post though even if I don't really think it's my best worded one as of now.

Original Post:

Persona 1 (1996), besides being a game about how society leaves behind the disabled (Maki hating the world due to her inability to participate as a regular person in society due to her poor health), is primarily a story about the dangers of corporatization which was extremely relevant in Japan during the 90s especially coming from the economic boom of the 80s. The culture of this extreme progress also calls into question the traditional ideas of collectivism and how it could negatively affect the individual which is the core of the entirety of the Persona franchise.

This is more apparent in Persona 2 (IS: 1999; EP: 2000) which deals with a lot of discourse about rumors and propaganda and the early effects of the early internet on the community. There's also a sense of dread for the coming new age as such a possible reflection of the fears of things such as Y2K. An interesting thing to note about Persona 2 are the villains, mainly a serial killer and a terrorist bomber, which shows the communal fear of these events on a society-wide level as this calls back to how Japan just dealt with their own serial killer in the form of the infamous Otaku Killer in 1989 and the fresh from memory terrorist bombing of doomsday cult Aum Shrinrikyo in 1995.

The Persona 2 characters would have grown up in a similar environment as the Persona 1 characters as they are both within Generation X. Knowing my parents who had come from this generation as well, they had told me that there was a constant fear of the apocalypse. It was the height of the cold war when they were growing up and although we weren't directly affected by it, the sheer proximity of our country to large powers like China and our allegiance to their enemy America has created a constant panic. Japan falls in a similar position as a US Ally and a Chinese and Russian enemy that's extremely closely situated to them, so I could imagine that this sort of fear influenced the writing of the games as the writers most certainly had experienced this as well.

It's no wonder then that despite the characters coming from a post-cold war Japan, that these fears may continue in for them and everyone around them so rumors as ridiculous as Hitler literally coming back to attack Japan spread regardless of how realistic it could be.

Skip forward several years, and Atlus decides to brush off the dust of their shelved spin-off series and come back with Persona 3 (2006). The characters are now literally a completely new generation, a generation left behind by their elders and exposed to the harsh reality of the world at such an intensely young age - the millennials.

I know that a lot of people may see this as a stupid point to bring up, but I assure to you that as a non-American, that the war on terror still gripped and sensationalized my own country to such a degree that it did cause a level of apathy among the populace. I'm not sure if this is true of Japan as well, but I feel like tragic world events and the increased visibility of these stories due to the rise of the 24-hour news cycle certainly is a universal experience. It is not surprising that the members of S.E.E.S. needs to fight back against this desolation and desperation on a day-to-day basis when everyone is literally affected by this universal apathy.

An interesting thing to note about Persona 3 is how almost all the characters are either orphans, become orphans during the narrative, or have a complicated relationship with estranged family. I feel like this reflects the way that millennials may feel that they had been abandoned by their elders and now they're forced to navigate the world with little to no guidance or even possibly corrupted guidance from adults like Ikutski.

Technology is also an increased concern in this game, following the trends of the previous two. The progress of technology could lead to incredible and even helpful things such as the creation of Aigis as a fully-realized individual from an AI program or the creation of the evoker as a means to harness the ability of the persona which, in the lore of the franchise, needs to come more naturally but could now be summoned on command regardless of it all. No longer would the person with potential need to wait as long for their abilities to show, all they need is this macabre device in order to access it.

That's the thing though isn't it? This technology comes with a price and comes with disturbing progress as well. Aigis was created to kill shadows and the AI was just created to make her more effective. She was forced to destroy what were essentially her sisters in order to make her the perfect killing machine without any consideration about the possibility of her own humanity despite the fact that they programmed her to be as human as possible.

The evoker came about from years of research from the joint efforts of the Nanjo Conglomerate and the Kirijo group. The research involved in which abused children and destroyed the lives of those who opposed the research just to get where they want to go. There was no care for ethics nor humane treatment which resulted in these children to turn to crime in order to live as a consequence of the unethical research that harmed them.

The concerns of technology and the ethics of playing god were already prevalent before but the turn of the new century put it as a discussion front and center. Stories of cloned sheep or strange chimeras from experimentation had increased discourse of whether or not science had gone too far during this time. Vividly, I remember being s teenager in the 2010s reading these old articles and old Wikipedia entries about these oddities.

As Persona 3 discussed the increased societal apathy for the world, the struggles of the millennial generation navigating it by themselves, and the dangers of research that forego ethics, Persona 4 (2008) focuses on the world's obsession of media, the struggles of a small town in the center of fame, and how collectivism forces the individual to hide themselves to be accepted even moreso than the other three entries of the franchise.

Persona 3 focuses on the early to mid millennial experience in a pre-recession society, Persona 4 focused on the late millennial experience in a media-hungry, recession-era society. These characters would have grown up around the late 90s to the mid 2000s where things such as gossip and paparazzi culture was all the rage. People started to care more about their media presence and how they present themselves not only to the local community but the world.

Gone were the days where rumors only reached a handful of the informed gossipers and internet forum users, and here comes the rise of television! Found in every well-to-do middle-class home! The world is judgmental, unfeeling, and only cares about the hottest new headline and our Investigation Team needs to learn how to be true to who they are in a society that doesn't want them to be.

The setting of the story in a rural town in the brink of urbanization is such a relatable one as I also come from a similar background. The fears of the loss of the cultural and individual identity of the small town is a real one that I had the displeasure of experiencing recently. Progress is good, but it's destroying local businesses. Progress is good, but it's making everyone less personal. Progress is good, but it's making people lose who they are.

It's also not at all just a Japanese pandering situation for the themes of the game be centered on traditional Japanese culture such as the characters' personas being Japanese figures from history, literature, and religion, the main villain and basis of the grander narrative themes also coming from old Shinto mythologies, and the emphasis of tradition with the story even starting out in an old traditional Japanese inn.

Mass media is destroying culture and it's up to the younger generation to navigate these two worlds of preserving who you are and accepting the progress. As a child, I found some level of annoyance that the previous generation before me who acted as my teachers and seniors, both at school, at home, and on the internet, was too forceful on things such as local tradition to the point that some of them even shame people who aren't on the same page as them. In a way, this is them trying to deal with the grander pressures of what society is demanding of them and it's something that I myself grew to understand as I got older.

When I got older, I realized how these complicated systems had genuinely ruined too many lives and destroyed individuality and culture which I know for a fact is a definite almost universal experience for the next generation, Generation Z (colloquially now known as the Zoomers). A common experience for this generation is the shattering of wonderland and the intense exposure to horrible reality at such a young age which leads to such a desensitization that it's worrying.

Most often than not, this generation is told that they are responsible for the horrible state world around them, that they should be the ones to fix the problems of society, that they should do this themselves lest they want to die. This leads to a lot of youth activism and protests with people as young as 11 or 12 being so active in politics that it continues to permeate to this day. Think of those 16-year-olds in this website back at like 2015-2016 that rallied behind the discourse. This is that generation, and it's a universal experience among the group, not just in America, but globally.

I'm gonna be a bit salty and a bit cringy here and maybe a bit biased, but fuck it this is my generation after all.

Persona 5 (2016) is the persona game for the disgruntled Gen Z. As the previous persona games were criticisms of society that could be dismissed off as individual-motivational fluff by those that love ignoring the grander themes of the series, Persona 5 is a figurative punch in the face that's hard to ignore.

No longer are we in made up cities and towns, no longer are we just focused on finding our place in the world, we're in Tokyo, Japan, baby! And we're here to tell everyone in the world that the society that you pride yourselves in is a farce that actively oppresses the weirdos, the outcasts, and the miscreants! They've done fucked up and we're not sitting idly by no more! We're not just gonna defy you by being who we are, we're going to actively stop your shit before you continue hurting others!

As pompous and self-important and even stupid as that sounds, those words reflected the battle cry of the generation. Online slacktivism, exposés, cancellations, and borderline illegal activities that basically amount to doxxing and wiretapping are part of the gen z cultural identity whether we like it or not. The generation selects the shitty adult target and doesn't let off until they're gone and had paid for their crimes.

As how shitty these witch hunts could get, there is no denying that deplatforming dangerous individuals had garnered good results on the cases where it doesn't become a shit storm. In a way, the Phantom Thieves are the success stories that the copycats that we know about in-game try to emulate but just end up hurting innocent people.

As it stands, in the retrospect that we have more than half a decade later after the game's initial launch, Persona 5 interestingly also stands as not only a criticism of larger societal issues, but also to those who try to respond to it by force and how they don't help long-term and are simply contributing to society's oppressive systems. It's interesting to note here how the choice of taking Yaldabaoth's offer of keeping the Phantom Thieves a part of the grander influencers of Japanese society is considered a bad ending.

As much as you want to change society, you best be careful to not fall in the same trappings that would make you the villain that you so desperately fought against. Despite your good judgment before, you should not be the arbiter of right and wrong. You should be there to liberate people, not control them.

The games development in itself is interesting in that not only did it take a long time, but it's based on a lot of real-life events that led to the writing team to develop the game in this direction.

The original plan for the game was supposed to be a road trip with the characters possibly even going international. I speculate that it may be a story that would have supposedly tackled globalization and its effects on the individual which is also an equally poignant thing that Gen Z has experienced. This all changed, however, when Japan was rocked by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 which launched the country into a national crisis. The team became more aware about their country's situation and the people within Japan that it made them change the focus back into Japanese-society.

This refocus seemed to have spurred the writing into a more rebellious direction than the previous concepts possibly owed to the rise of social awareness within the country. News stories had never been more front and center than they have with not only the rise of the internet but it's domination in daily life. In fact, Japanese players had pointed out that the first arc of the game, the lustful PE teacher Suguru Kamoshida, may be based on a real life case of Masato Uchishiba, an Olympic medalist judoka that was accused of sexual harassment and rape by the women's team that he coached which broke out into the news the same year this sudden shift of direction happened.

With news after news of this caliber, it's not surprising that the game had such a frustration with how society works and the failings of authority to protect and to serve the people.

With all of these in mind, as much as the series in itself is flawed, it's such a fascinating reflection of the times. Each of these games are, to a degree, timeless in the fact that they tackle constant pervasive issues that affects not only Japanese society but the grander global culture. Though besides this, the context of the time period and the setting gives such a raw view of what the issues most prevalent were at the time and the struggles of the generation that these games were released for.

I know that there is absolutely no indication that Atlus would be releasing Persona 6 in the near future, but I am assured of one thing. Persona 6 is going to be a reflection of the generation that will grow up with the main characters. It would be a criticism and an earnest look at society's ills that are important to the next generation. The series will continue to build up on previous themes and discussions of the previous games as each generation continues to build up on the discourse of the last. This is the intriguing relationship of the Persona series and the generational experience.

[gay-strawberry]

okay lets talk sapphics because theyre very dear to me (since im one myself)

finding nice lesbian/bisexual women representation in media is hard and a BL was the last place i expected to find it but here we are.

i dont know if they will end up together or if we will get to see their relationship evolve (fair, ‘cause this isnt their story) but the fact that theyre both queer coded cant be denied, in this essay i will-

#1 ink’s lack of interest in men.

we see her reject pat (more than once lmao), and she makes very clear that what she had with pat in high school was just friendship (so not only she doesnt like him now, she never did).

#2 their first interaction its them literally flirting.

god the “chracter A: i cant do it its too hard 🥺👉👈, character B: i will teach you 😏” troop its so cliche but so good 1000/10 never stop using it please

#3 ink’s interest in pa.

she insists pa goes with them to eat (and its kinda sad when she says no)

then when she finally gets to be with her, even if its suppose to be a date with pat, she pays way more attention to pa (and the cakes) than to him and its more than happy to be left alone with her (and to get to eat pat’s cake).

this  ↑ ss literally summarizes the date. pat tired and rejected while ink asks pa to feed her hahsdfhjhahsdjfk i love it here.

#4 pa’s curiosity and interest in ink.

shes helping her bro to get ink even if it goes against her own advide (dont date friends) just because its ink, just because she likes her (looks like someones living her own crush thru his brother, who she probably thinks has more chances to date ink than her anyways). 

she likes her yall. thats all 👀👀👀

#5 whatever the f*ck they got going on in ep 7

they were so gay in this episode. i was thriving !! like theres no straight explanation to any of their scenes,

-their encounter here is very clearly out of a romcom. the music, the stare, the smiles, 

-them holding hands for no reason (pretty self explanatory) and pa’s face when ink calls her pretty. i cant tell whats gayer, calling your homies pretty or reacting like that to your homies calling you pretty.

-flirting thru sweets and anonymous notes (sighs) theyre so much like episode 2 patpran, just date already 

-ink saving pa (and her friends) from a stupid dude bro

and look !! at pa’s face like- nngghghg shes so gay for ink. me too me too

-pa’s friends instatly crushing on ink (me too tbh) and pa agreeing with them

# bonus: wai is now interested on pa (cant blame him, shes the cutest prettiest girl ever). which i hope leads us to pa rejecting him and realizing thru the whole thing that she likes ink (the same way pat did with ink and pran, i do love a parallel ngl)

anyways thats it. sorry for the rant. but not really because i will probably add to this if more happens between them.

[vivacissimx]

it is a bit laughable that anybody is applauding laenor as good gay rep for the sole reason of him not being a femmey fag fairy limp wrist homosexual. because this is serious television! yes ep 1 daemon and aemma and viserys were introduced in various stages of undress with their straight partners, yes in that same ep 1 rhaenyra did her little gasp and draped herself all over another girl so we can laugh about a baby sapphic, but it would really be too much for laenor to make eye contact with joffrey lonmouth. for laenor to surround himself with handsome squires of his own age as he canonically did. he's a soldier first, a fruitcake second... no, fifth! regardless it's very important for a gay (noun) to show zero signs of gay (verb) at any time or else that would be political or reductive or whatever buzzwords people are falling for these days because it takes 1.7 seconds too long to apply some critical thought. anyways laenor has like 3-4 episodes left at most but i'm so glad HBO is taking it's time in delving into laenor as a person before they unveil him as a bottom, so the audience can forgive him this 💗