#this actually got gayer then i intended

[simplysnaps]

What is Wayward Baby?

I started writing my Jojo's Bizarre Adventure fanfiction in April of 2019 because I was extremely into Jojo, but was running out of content to consume. I was watching YouTube videos about the franchise and came across a video titled "The Joestar that Everyone Forgot About" by xForts

The video got me thinking about that invisible baby from Diamond is Unbreakable, and it also brought to my attention that her name's kanji can be read as "Jo Joestar," which makes her an official Jojo. For those who aren't aware, every protagonist in Jojo can be reasonably nicknamed Jojo due to the spelling or pronunciation of their name. It's just a tradition at this point, and Shizuka Joestar technically qualifies.

I started thinking about if Araki ever intended to make a part about her. Was he just leaving his options open? Did he give her a Jojo name just to be cute? Either way, it was clear that he wouldn't ever tell one now, so I got to brainstorming about what it might have looked like. Enter "Wayward Baby."

Art by @laveerie and graphic design by SimplySnaps.

Wayward Baby started as a quick 3,000 word intro I wrote in a single night and published without much thought, and certainly no plan. All I knew was that Shizuka seemed neat, and I wanted to write about a little girl Stand User. I had ideas like "Bubblegum Bitch" in my back pocket from discussions with my siblings Mallaidh Anne and Brie where the three of us talked extensively about Jojo AU's and potential Stand abilities. With Mallaidh Anne's blessing, I used his idea for Bubblegum Bitch and created Marina to go alongside it.

Art by @gotham-gargoyle

With Marina and Bubblegum Bitch in the picture, things were looking great! But I wanted more original characters on the team with hopes that someday I might get to remove all the cannon characters from the picture and tell an arc with only my babies. That meant I'd need more characters! Enter Pepsi and Shirlie.

Remember when I said I got Bubblegum Bitch from Mallaidh Anne, and how a lot of my early ideas came from talking to MA and Brie about Jojo AU's? Well, that came to a head when I realized their AU Jojo selves would fit right at home in the cast. This is sorta getting into how the sausage is made, but I don't wanna make anyone think Pepsi and Shirlie aren't their own actual characters. I basically took their appearances, Stands, and one or two one-dimensional characteristics and then extrapolated two characters from the ingredients that way.

Art by @casualswords

This resulted in Pa-Pa-Power and Mist being added to the story as well! This art predates Wayward Baby by about three years, and it's actually the first art that was included in the story. (Art in the earlier chapters was actually added retroactively. This includes the story cover and Marina/Bubblegum Bitch's designs.)

The last remaining member of the OC team was Ripley. She began as a throwaway character to get in an argument with Marina, but I actually liked their chemistry so much that I decided to have her stick around for an entire chapter. Then they had an even gayer dynamic, and I knew it was over.

Agent Ripley, Art by @gotham-gargoyle

With the crew of five original babies, the story was finally ready to kick off proper! Please consider reading it if you haven't, I put a lot of work into it! Wayward Baby is ~534k words, and the series is still ongoing at 613,367! I'm not stopping anytime soon!

Art by @gotham-gargoyle

[kowaindar0u]

//

found my way to this earlier which had me in a chokehold (pun intended) in 2015 when it came out, but watching it nowdays... my god i think it's hotter LOL (i think i'm just gayer)

but may have been compounded by imagining sengo and nagasone .......

(sengo under the cut)

good god i got on a ROLL drawing this (even through d&d lol) , i think it turned out good enough for not being finished or anything but the head/face... NOT happening lol so it wont ever be finished >:(

i dont know why i try and like ?? paint??? but omg it never works how i want it (actually i think i do know why. it's cause lineart takes SO much time and patience i dont have lol) art is stupid!!!!!!!!!!

anyway i like how the rest of it turned out for what it is so i'm posting it

[bluebeewings]

I started Our Flag Means Death FURIOUS and bitter. I was still high on the Always Sunny train and feeling that no other type of humor would ever compare to sunny’s humor and as I watched the pilot I was seething with anger cause I was already feeling the show wouldn’t live up to what I thought it could be. Nobody was talking about it and there were a few episodes to come out, so I hadn’t even heard of it before (my friend told me it was a Taika pirate show and we should see what was it about). My first impression of Stede was that he was gay, but that the show wouldn’t possibly go there and that I’d eventually be disappointed when it’s not the case. Secondly, Jim. The moment I saw them I thought trans, but then again, how often it is that the trope of “dressing as a guy to blend in” leads to actual trans rep? I saw all the queer allegories, the queer undertones but honestly thought the show wouldn’t deliver. It’s a silly show about pirates, a workplace comedy with a new gimmick. I thought it was fine when I finished the last episode. Maybe a week later (if I recall correctly) I went back to it, giving it another chance. With each subsequent episode, I understood the series more and more. I saw that Jim’s actor was non binary and that gave me hope that the queer undertones was actually intended and thought of.

Then of course, Blackbeard. Episode four was an eye opener. Firstly I thought “people are gonna ship the hell out of these two” (me included) but I was still skeptical. But then… The parallels with Mary and Blackbeard? I thought I was loosing my mind. But it just got gayer and gayer (Taika’s heart eyes like, they’re impossible not to notice). But it was still in my mind that it couldn’t be the case, how can a show be this unapologetically queer without being marketed as such??? I’m always on the lookout for queer stuff so I’d certainly know. Episode 5 went on and we saw Lucious and Black Pete as an item and I took that as confirmation that nothing would happen between Stede and Ed (like, come on, we got a non binary character and a gay couple, if there’s more than it’s officially for the gays) but then!!! The moonlight scene! I legit thought I was going insane thinking to myself this is the most romantic shit I’ve seen I can’t believe this is happening is it really real or am I this delusional??? I was in it now and couldn’t stop my binging the show. With each subsequent episode I got more and more sure it was really a romantic comedy and let me tell you the rush and the serotonin I felt knowing more and more that for the first time I was getting what I hoped for? Scratch that, something better than what I had hoped for.

There were only 8 episodes available and when I got to Calico Jack everything happened again. I looked at him and though “lol ed’s ex” but thought I wouldn’t be so lucky… Well think again! I was still wondering if it was all some sort of next level queerbaiting but Jack went there and said “nope, we used to fuck” (and for that I’ll be forever grateful of Will Arnett). Then obviously the feet touch aka the most romantic thing to have ever happened in fiction. The first thing I did was to look up people here on tumblr to see if everyone was consuming it with the same eyes as I and let me tell you, watching the fandom start was so cool and I’ll remember those simpler times fondly. We were all wondering what would happen, if there would be a kiss (and people still debating if it was bait or not).

The last two episodes released like a week later and I waited as patiently as I could. The kiss and subsequent break up oh I was in heaven. If there’s something I like is drama and it peaked as Mary realized Stede had come back. Ohh and episode ten hm! Delicious. Anyways after the kiss everyone and their mom knew that it was not only canonically queer but an inherently queer show, the fandom grew in unprecedented ways. I lasted like four months before I quietly got away cause big fandoms intimidate me. Too much content for me to process and way too much discourse… But I’ll be here for this season because the brainrot is real and I’m exited to see the show being even more unapologetically queer and more explicitly than ever as a love story.

I’m just really happy to have stumbled upon this show without knowing a thing and finding out in real time that it’s one of the queerest shows in existence.

[wake-up-get-up-get-out-there]

DING DING DING DING DING! These are the three correct answers 😁

To be honest, I really thought y’all wouldn’t put Ryuji in the top 3 ‘cause so many people wanna believe he’s the Second Coming of Yosuke but I stand corrected

Edit: WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT I MISREAD JOKER GOT FUCKING 3RD PLACE WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PPL

(Light-hearted rant incoming. Don’t take me too seriously teehee)

I hope you guys did this to hurt me because this can’t be what you truly believe

You cannot actually think Joker has an ounce of straightness in him????

Okay so admittedly I’m a biased (no pun intended) bitch and view him as bisexual, just like me. BUT COME ON, BRO. HE’S GAYER THAN ALL THE THIEVES, OKAY (except maaaaybe Akechi)? MY DAUGHTER FUTABA MOST CERTAINLY IS QUEER BUT THE ULTIMATE QUEER? I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THAT. I DON’T KNOW, JOKER JUST GIVES ME BI ENERGY, MAN.

Anyway. Top 3 should be Morgana, Ryuji, Sumire—to me. But your opinions actually make me wanna do somethinggggggg

By the way. There are only three correct answers here.

EDIT: I realize this might be worded strangely so let me rephrase-

Choose YOUR candidate for most likely to be heterosexual!

[vokava-a]

because  you  are  my  friend.

DO NOT REBLOG , COPY OR  REPOST

disclaimer  : this  started  out  hella  neutral  &  then  right  at  the  end  it  gets  really  fucking  gay  ---  just  a  fair  warning .

tagging  my wives   @boldlychasing  &  @spaceworn   cos  importance .

IT  STARTS  WITH  THE  FALL  &    ends  with  the  rise  . miracles  do  not  exist  , there is  a logical explanation to  their  current  success .  “  there  are  no  such  things “     &   a  voice  broadcasts  on  the  bridge. the  realization comes  like  a snap ,  an unsolvable  puzzle ,  (   if  you  eliminate  the  impossible  ,  whatever  remains  however  improbable  must  be  true   )       there  is   no   moment  he  can  recall in  his  entire  live  that  spock  wants  his conclusion  to  be desperately wrong .  

SPOCK  LEAPS  FROM  HIS  SEAT ,  racing  past  each  &  every  crew member  ,  not  looking  behind  him .   maybe   he   can   get   there  in  time  .     you  better   hurry    there  could  still be  a chance .     its  his  destiny   not  jims   ----  its  not  his  sacrifice  to  make  ,   its  not  supposed  to  go  this  way .     he cannot  be  too late.  

STEPS  HEAVY  AS  HE  REACHES  engineering ,  he  can  feel  the  shift  in  the  atmosphere  even  before he  sees  the  face  of  mr. scott .  &   if   that   wasn't  confirmation  enough   a nervous   glance    towards  the chamber  seals  the  fate .   ----  he  races  too  his  side  in  an instant ,  eyes  downcast  on  the  broken  form  of  james  t.  kirk  .  this   cannot   be  real .    “ open  it  “    he  turns  back towards  mr. scott  ,   a  look  of  desperation  on  his face   .   but  there   is  nothing  to  be  done  it  cannot  be  opened.       he   crouches  now  ,   hand   guided forward  a  split  second  to  try  &  reach  out  to  jim .  spock  quickly  remembers  there  is  glass  dividing  them  ---  he  cannot  touch  jim   he cannot  save  him 

EMOTIONS   THREATEN  TO  COMPROMISE  him .  but  for  the  first  time in  his  life  spock is  not  focusing  on  controlling  his emotions   ,  he  doesn't  care  .   it  is  difficult  for  him  to  remain   level  headed  when  jim  asks  about  the  ship  .   spock  does not express  his  confusions  but  they  are  hidden  on  his  face  .    was   this   how   jim   felt  when  he   was  ready  to  sacrifice  himself  for  the  prime  directive  ? 

IF  THIS  IS  WHAT  it  is  like  to  be  human ,  spock  wants  no  part  of  this  hurt .   “ you  saved  the  crew “   just  as  a  captain  should  .    the   needs  of  the  many  out weight  the  needs  of  the  few  .    spock  has  never  loathed  anything  more  in  his  life .  this  wasn’t  right  ,   this  could  not  be  logical  by  any  sense  of  the  universe .  but  here  it  is  playing  out  before  his  eyes .   it  must  be  true  vulcans   don’t  dream  ,   they  don’t  step  away  from   reality  not   like  this  .   “  it  is  what  you  would  have  done  “ spock  tore  a  page  out  of  the  book  of  james  kirk  for his  final  attack  on  their  enemy .  there  is  no  regret  to  his  choice  ,  no  remorse  for   following  anything  other  then  logic . 

IT  THREATENS  TO  TEAR  him  at  the  seams .   “  and  this , this  is  what  you  would  have  done “     the  dying  echo   of   jim  kirk  could  not  be  more   right  in  this  moment.  “  it  was  only  logical “   it  should  be  spock  behind  the  glass  & in  another  life  time  it  had  been.     -----    tears  well  in  his  eyes  now  when  jim  tells  him he  scared  .    fear  is  a concept  spock  is  very  familar  with  ,   it  is  something  he  has  done  his  best  to  hide  his  entire  life  .  feelings  only  bring  pain   & with  the  ability  to  feel  so  deeply  ,  it  was  a  curse  .  a  curse  of  suffering  no  matter  how  you  looked  at  it.   “  i do not  know.   right  now  i’m  failing  “ 

HE  IS COMPROMISED  COMPLETELY in  every  sense  of  the  word .  never  before  has  spock been  so  desperate  to  finally  shed  a  tear .  he  has  been  on  the  brink of  such  emotion  many  times   but  real  tears  have  never  been  spilled    he  only  comes  close .   & just  like   that  it  all  snaps  into  place  .    “  i  want  you  to  know  why  i  couldn’t  let  you  die  ,  why  i  went  back  for  you  “         spock  doesn’t  even  hesitate  now  ,   hes  at  the   mercy  of  his  emotions  ,  hes  given  himself  up  to  them .     “  because   you   are   my   friend  “     and   a  tear  slips  down  his  cheek  . 

JIMS  SHAKY  BREATH  can  be  heard   &  spock  knows only  a  few  moments  now  remain .  it  all  becoming  more  real  when   jim   slams  his  hand  against  the  glass  in   what spock  gathers  is   desperation.   there  is   no  hesitation  from  the  hybird  as  he  reaches  forward  hand  gentely  meeting  with jims  ,   a   wall   of  glass  between  them .

HE   JUST  STARES AT    their  connected   hands   &   for  a  moment   wonders   what  it  would  feel  like   to  have  jims  hand  in  his.   fingers   intertwined  nothing  between  them   just  skin  against  skin .     oh  what  a    beautiful  what  if .   another  struggling  breath  is  what  brings  spocks   attention  back  to  his  dying  captains  face .  in  all  their  time  spent  together  spock  has  never  truly   seen   james   t.   kirk   until  now .    &   now   that  hes  seen  it   —–   letting  go  is  proving  to  be  one  of  his  biggest  challenges  since  joining  the  fleet.

EYES  LOCK  &  SPOCK   offers  jim   his  version  of  a  sad  smile  ,  lip  trembling  as  hes  fighting  the  urge  to  let  more  tears  fall .     being   strong  on  the  outside  ,  putting  on   a front     —–   the  vulcan  is  good   at    that  .    so   why   is   this  so  hard   ?        he  can  do  nothing   now   but  watch  as   jim  chokes  on  his  own  breath   ,   powerless  to  stop it  .  

HE  KNOWS   BEFORE  HIS  captains  eyes  go  blank  that  hes  dead .  jim  kirk   breaths   no  more  ,    &   spock  can  only  watch   the  hand  falling  from  his  own .    if  only  he  could  reach  out   to  grasp   it ,   stop   the  dying  light  from  going  on .      —–   anger   ,   fear   & confusion  pulse   through   his  veins   as  his  own  breathing  becomes  short   &  shallow.   jim   used    his    last   dying   breath  wanting  to   tell   spock   he   couldn’t  let  him  die.   mr.  scott   knew   jim   was   dying   &  he  could  have  called  anyone  —  humans  were sentimental  that  way .   it   should  have  been   leonard  mccoy  ,    but  instead  it  was  spock.

THIS   WAS   A   PLAN   from  the  beginning       all   elaborated    by  the  name  screaming  inside  his  head  .   another  game  a  way  to  break  him  .   hes   won  .    the  augment  doesn’t   have  his  people   but  he  has  spock   ,   the  game  is  over  .   body  shakes  violently  for   now   spock   can   finally   scream   at   his  true  offender  ,   the  only  one  who  managed  to   bend  him  to  his  knees  .      “  KHAN  “    the   scream  rips  through  the  entire  ship  .    it   is   time  for   the  reckoning  to   pass.

[droidmom]

me: maybe im reading too much into sam and janet’s interactions

janet: hey sam,,, cassandra’s staying at a friend’s place tonight so,,, girls’ night out? :^)

[redxblueihateloveyou]

Fascinating. They usually cut jealousy scenes to a minimum or don't show at all even in pure BL genre, like Lan Wangji (esp Wen Ning thing) or Shen Wei being extremely possessive, bc it can't be explained by brotherhood in their opinion. It's also the reason it was cut from Ultimate. So why here suddenly add scenes like that and with such heavy focus is a mystery, since you've said it's not in the novel. It's not even reasonable jealousy, its just straight up "cant touch my piece of pizza" stuff

Hmm... never thought about it. LOL in the anime the kept LZ being jealous of Wen Ning though xD. Idk in "Sleuth of the Ming" they made a whole open scene out of it. What I've noticed is that their censorship always works differently, and some choices never cease to surprise me, as in who decides what's ok and whats not, bc idk... I understand that stuff like dying for each other, touching, staring can be by many seen as a touching bromance technically, I mean I've seen many ppl watching even cencored BL and being completely oblivious. But there are sometimes some stuff included, that I personally do not get how it can be interpreted as "close friends" and how it passed the censorship. And I do not mean here sucking out poisons, for example (bc I would've done this for my close friends if they were in danger haha).

I'm just judging from the point of view of like me and my sister being very close to the point of a person on the street asking us if we're lesbians lmao (I like still don't get where it came from, hand holding?xD). As I've said before, I guess I see why some ppl who don't have close friends or family would consider some closeness as romantic (since both close bros and couple do some things like spooning for example), but anyone who like saw idk bts members or have a super close bestie or sibling might know that hugging each other to sleep, wearing their clothes or feeding them a jelly bean if their hands are busy doesn't always mean you have any romance there going on, speaking from my expierience, so I just have different view on this "gay stuff vs bro stuff". (like to me the afterlife pingxie scene is actually gayer than any touching they've done, bc like why he didn't see his family or iron triangle whole if they all bros). It's just there are a LOOOT of things that can be indeed considered bro stuff technically (they might not be, but they could), but there is some stuff that just cannot be explained by we're bros, thats all. And this kind of jealousy is one of them.

Bc like a bit of jealousy like "my bestie wanted to go skating with their lover instead of me, so I'm upset we don't spend as much time together" can exist, but if you have problems with someone hitting on your friend, checking him out or even touching him and you don't want them to date anybody, that's another thing, that just means you wanna date them. Wu Xie can hug Fatty to sleep and they can slap each other's butts like me and my sis, but he'd never be jealous seeing someone flirting with him or smth. You know what I mean here? So I get why it's in most situations considered not censorship appropriate and it's cut.

But the most funny thing about the "him being unreasonably jealous" added scenes is the fact that like they actually chose to make him being absurdly jealous. Bc for example in the first version of the scene, Pangzi was trying to dance with Xiaoge, thats why Wu Xie got all worked up:

it was at least somewhat understandable. But in the actual scene from the drama they went and for some reason changed it. Xiaoge pulled Pangzi in, bc he lost direction while being blind, but it was still Pangzi who got reprimanded for that at the end lmao

so it just became even more hilarious, bc Pangzi just grazed him, he didn't even do anything, so I was like will this guy just calm the fuck down, but no, he kept going lolz

I'm just surprised about some of their deliberate choices I guess. So I agree, weird it is.

But Reboot in general was weird, when it comes to the rollercoaster of their choices lmao. They uncensored, then used censorship to uncensor, then censored to cover, its just the first time I saw this weird kind of censorship, like as long as girls are there, jokes like "I won't be able to get it up on a woman" are okay??????? Idk they were just extremely out there almost each episode with all kinds of stuff, that by the end I was like... well, at this point its already pointless. I guess it was just the first time, I've seen it made in such weird way and actually used in a smart way fitted with the character and no just for the sake of it. Adding a scene when he accidentally calls his in their opinion potential love interest his bro's name is actually uncensoring, not censoring, you know what I mean? (since we in fact didn't move anywhere near this realization in the book). Same as what many noticed about them openly making fun of censorship and "out of nowhere appeared feelings and how its not love and whats wrong with idolization if u don't know a person" after NPSS interviews and how it only made everyone fall for what pingxie have more. So it was like... I actually for the first time enjoyed it. It was a pretty genius way of showing Wu Xie's weird internal struggles from that book, which I thought were not possible to show. Bc as you know he's hilariously oblivious there about all of it and same as WWX for example do not even consider such possibility. But I think it's just bc it's not actual BL BL, it's a story where a couple naturally accidentaly came together and turned out to be both guys (even tho one was initially intende to be a girl xD), so its in general complicated. Wu Xie is just borderline lost at this point xD. It's like "Yeah, I want him... What do you mean as in dating? Whats that?". Or like:

- Want a wife?

- No, I want Xiaoge.

- As in you're gay?

- What's a gay?

That's basically how he rolls.

But I do love jealous Wu Xie, I think it's hilarious here, he's like somehow complitely okay with how idiotic he looks and that's very sweet haha.

P.S. "can't touch my piece of pizza" lmaoo well Xiaoge does look very delicious like Black Glasses says xD

P.P.S. all in all I really do not get how their censorship works in general at all. Like why Wangxian wedding bows were allowed, but other stuff don't? Or like I get like complimenting your bestie "you look hot in this" or "you're so pretty" or smth, but there's a difference between this and saying that their "lips look sweet"... like thats already another thing entirely. So at times I watch cdramas like... huh??? Maybe it depends on who checks it idk

[hungryhungryhannibalhimbo]

Okay so I giggled like a pickled toddler when I saw this addition but it actually got me thinking because kuru disease happens when you eat brains and the only time we EVER see Hannibal even attempt to eat a brain, it’s in season three with Will. This immediately stood out to me because the protein type that makes human brain tissue infectious for kuru disease is prion proteins. There are a few prion brain diseases, all of which are relatively rare, but one of them is encephalitis. Now obviously, Will was treated for his encephalitis but some of infections tissue could still be present, and if it was, Hannibal would know. Considering that in the original Red Dragon, Hannibal intends to eat Will’s heart, which would have been gayer, the fact that he instead attempts his brain is interesting. Could this have been an attempted murder suicide? It’s a stretch but it’s an interesting one. At the very least, could this be part of the reason Hannibal never tried to eat Will earlier? I’m interested in you guys’ thoughts.

I used to think they were gonna make Hannibal have some kind of terminal disease, the way they kept focusing on Bella's cancer (yes bc of the parallel of encephalitis but they're vastly different) + him saying sus things like "thinking that I might die makes me want to live to the fullest" or whatever poetic version of that + Will's "he must have hepatitis" (I know y'all think he was just saying as an example but I'm not fully convinced since he was 1: looking at Hannibal's eyes and 2: he's a rude little shit) + that homophobic hospital guy "you seem convinced I'm diseased" (yes I know the connotations of that scene) + other general reasons but lol I swore they were gonna make him sick somehow

[sineala]

The gay Invaders

Hi, internet! Today I'd like to talk about one of the chronologically-first canonically-gay couples in Marvel Comics history: Brian Falsworth (the second Union Jack) and Roger Aubrey (The Destroyer). (I mean "chronological" in terms of in-universe timeline rather than RL publication date; I'm pretty sure Northstar is still the first to publication as far as unambiguously-gay Marvel heroes go.)

If you are a fan of reading or writing about Captain America being queer, you should care about Brian and Roger, because they were two of Steve's fellow Invaders in the 1940s, meaning that they are two of the people on the list of Steve's Old Gay Friends And Teammates, because, yeah, Steve sure had a lot of canonically gay friends during the war. Probably more than you'd think he would have had in the forties! (The other two are Percival Pinkerton, who's part of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, and of course Steve's childhood friend Arnie Roth. Pinky is gay by word of Stan Lee, IIRC; Arnie was as canonically gay as DeMatteis could make him in the early 1980s, so they didn't say the word "gay" but it's really, really not subtle. Steve compares what Arnie feels for his "roommate" Michael to what Steve feels for his girlfriend Bernie. Yeah.)

I previously made a Tumblr post about Brian and Roger, rounding up some of the canonical evidence of their relationship, but that post is six years old now, and in the intervening years, Marvel has thoughtfully put the rest of the 70s Invaders run on Unlimited as well as the two Citizen V miniseries that star Roger and retcon his relationship with Brian as romantic. So I've read them now, and I've got panels.

Okay. I should probably begin by saying that Brian and Roger are not canonically gay in their first significant appearance together, which is in Invaders vol 1 #19 and #20, published in 1977. Roy Thomas does not seem to have intended them to be a couple, and they aren't canonically one in any of the original Invaders run. However, if you enjoy gay subtext, it's very nice.

This whole arc is the one that introduces Roger in modern canon. He's been brainwashed by the Nazis and the Invaders rescue him and get him back to his normal self. But in #19 we get his backstory in flashback, as related by Montgomery, Lord Falsworth (Brian's father; yes, MCU fans, the name should look familiar) and it turns out that Roger and Brian were basically best friends since childhood:

They were the dearest of friends!

Anyway, they both ended up captured by Nazis, they presumably changed their minds about appeasement as a policy, Brian got out and joined the Invaders, then they had to rescue the brainwashed Roger, and it's a fair amount of fun in a two-issue arc.

The subtext is even more prominent in Invaders #34, in which they find out that someone going by the Destroyer (which is Roger's codename) has been doing villainous deeds, and the Invaders worry that Roger's gotten himself brainwashed again. Brian immediately insists that it can't really be Roger because he knows Roger and Roger Would Never:

Unsurprisingly, Brian is right. It's not really Roger; Master Man is impersonating the Destroyer, and the villains have taken Roger captive, and the Invaders break him out and there is an extremely significant moment where it just so happens that Roger has to catch Brian, saving his life for a change, and they stare deeply into each other's eyes and Brian seems to be having difficulty finishing his sentences:

Some people who read this therefore concluded that Brian and Roger were extremely gay for each other. While ordinarily this sort of shipping is mostly confined to fandom, in this particular instance, one of the people who started shipping Brian/Roger was Fabian Nicieza, and Fabian Nicieza, as you probably know, writes comics for Marvel. I think you see where this is going.

However, first I must inform you that, sadly, Brian has been canonically dead for years. Captain America vol 1 #253-254 -- the two-parter about Baron Blood in the Stern/Byrne Cap run in the 80s -- establishes that Brian died in a car accident in 1953. (This is also the run where Joseph Chapman -- a friend of Jacqueline Falsworth's son Kenneth -- becomes the third (and current) Union Jack.)

(Roger then appears in a bunch of T-Bolts issues; I assume there's nothing interesting there on the gay front because I feel like someone would have told me. I should probably read more than three T-Bolts issues someday.)

So, anyway, in 2001, Fabian Nicieza wrote a miniseries called Citizen V and the V-Battalion. Roger, who is still superheroing as the Destroyer despite being pretty old by this point, is part of the titular V-Battalion, and he has a very prominent role in this miniseries. And in #1, we have the usual splash page of character backstory, and there's a very, um, interesting line there:

Regarding Brian and Roger's relationship, the narration informs us: "It sounds much gayer than it probably was."

This is interesting, obviously for a couple of reasons. One is that, up to this point in canon, as far as I can tell, literally nobody thought any of this sounded the slightest bit gay at all. (Other than, I guess, Fabian Nicieza.) The other reason is that, as we soon find out, it actually was as gay as it sounds. Thanks, Fabian!

In 2002, Nicieza wrote a second miniseries, Citizen V and the V-Battalion: The Everlasting. Issue #1 opens with a flashback set in 1953; specifically, we see Brian's funeral:

Roger is extremely sad, and when Lord Falsworth expresses his sympathy about the death of Roger's "friend" and saying that he knows how much this hurts him, Roger mutters under his breath that he doesn't have the slightest clue:

All is revealed on the next page, when one of the other characters tries to ask Roger about superhero business and Roger snaps at him because, as he says, "I just watched my friend die in my arms."

Except "friend" isn't the word he starts to say:

Yep. That would be "lover." So Roger nearly outs himself. So, yes, now it's absolutely canon. Hooray.

Later on in the issue, which is set in the present day, we have a couple pages of Roger staring at pictures of the two of them and continuing to be sad:

Yeah. They were a couple.

So the question you -- being a Captain America fan -- might ask yourself is, okay, did/does Steve know about any of this? (The reason I started looking all this up was because I wanted to know if Steve knew.) I don't know if we have a panel of Roger specifically admitting any of this to Steve (and if we do, I would like to know about it), but I would be comfortable saying that Steve probably knew back then -- because, well, he seems like the kind of guy who would actually have been fine with it in the 40s, what with all his gay friends -- and also that I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't know now. Because he's definitely worked with Roger again in fairly recent comics, and also Roger is very much out, these days.

In fact, New Invaders #4 (2004) opens with Roger attending Pride:

So, yeah, he's out.

(Then he has to fight, as far as I can tell, homophobic Nazi vampires. They're yelling slurs in German. Great.)

In All-New Invaders #10, which is from 2014 (and which is not the same series as New Invaders), Roger shows up to help out the Invaders, and in passing, he just happens to mention to another character (Joseph Chapman, the current Union Jack), that he is in fact gay:

He and Joseph don't really like each other much; as far as I can tell, their acquaintance in New Invaders consists of Joseph being vaguely homophobic and Roger being bitter about him being Union Jack because he actually wanted to be Union Jack himself to honor Brian's memory -- you know, that thing superheroes sometimes like to do to honor their dead superhero significant others, viz. Hank when Jan was dead after Secret Invasion -- and now Union Jack is this annoying kid and not, y'know, the love of his life. This exchange from New Invaders #4 seems pretty representative of their relationship:

Anyway, yeah, he's pretty obviously out.

Steve isn't actually present for this conversation in All-New Invaders, but he mentions in a later issue of this run that he knows what Roger and his pals have been up to, plot-wise, so I feel comfortable assuming that he's talked to Roger at some point in the previous ten years or so, and therefore, since Roger is completely out at this point in canon, there's no reason Steve shouldn't know now.

On an unrelated note, it's also a fun issue if you're a Steve/Tony fan because this is clearly running in parallel with Hickman's Avengers run, which means that he spends half a page telling Namor that he's mad at him and the rest of the Illuminati (but mostly mad at Tony because... he's just obsessed with Tony in this run, I guess?) about the mindwipe:

This is the sum total of my knowledge about Brian and Roger. No, wait, I know one more thing, which is that Brian was a character in the late, lamented mobile game Avengers Academy, in which he was also actually gay; Roger does not seem to have been there. There's a CBR article that you can read about the whole thing, which mentions some of these details from the comics in passing. (I have no idea why it says that their relationship was alluded to in the Stern/Byrne run; unless I missed something big, the only thing those issues do is establish Brian's death. As far as I can tell, no one is gay in them.)

So, yeah, that's Brian Falsworth and Roger Aubrey, the two gay Invaders. Steve sure has a lot of gay friends.

[gemsofthegalaxy]

I DO think it's a little funny that people are saying marvel accidentally made SteveBucky even gayer in TFA by paralleling their scenes with confirmed romance Steve and Peggy because, or did that "in confusion" like,

The whole point of actual queerbaiting, is to intentionally give fans hints and crumbs of queernes in the text and marketing so they will keep watching, while never following through

They know stuckies are a huge portion of the fanbase so they likely won't alienate us completely if they don't have to, but they will never give us fully confirmed queerness.

And i actually don't think they intended romance for Steve and Bucky in TFA (although the director was distinctly happy about ao3 fanfic for them? So?) and probably not even Winter Soldier tho I didnt pay attention to the marketing for that so I might be wrong (and the "life experiences" line is so SO sus) but, Civil War was definitely baiting in it's marketing, didn't the Russos say "stevebucky fans will be pleased" ?

i'm as happy as anybody else to have the scraps of stevebucky we got, and the hard part of queerbaiting is they will try to obfuscate it as much as possible to give fans the run around, so i'm a little more cynical than "marvel did this accidentally because they're homophobic".

Anyway, Mentally i'm with steve and bucky living their lives post war and being happy together for a long time

[wordstrings]

of sleep-warm skin and love requited

Written and submitted by @delicategoblin:

OK IM OFFICIALLY TERRIFIED BUT IVE EDITED THE ABSOLUTE SHIT OUT OF THIS AND I CANT FIND ANYTHING ELSE TO CHANGE SO UHHHHH HERE WE GO. uhhhh you don’t need to anonymize it I’m g with having my actual blog on here i’m just ,,, f r e a k i n g o u t . thank you again for this opportunity though cause i never would have done this otherwise,,,,also it’s kinda cringe i know but i’m fragile ok i needed the Bois being soft

Publisher’s note: The first official fic of I Fixed/Fic’d It: A Supernatural Fluffsgiving Event! I absolutely love this and it’s exactly what my heart needed.

Words: 1,700

—

of sleep-warm skin and love requited

Soft puffs of warm air blew onto his chest, it blew the fine hairs that grew there against their follicles. It was an annoying, tickling sensation that made it feel like there was a bug crawling on him. He didn’t move, though, or adjust the sleeping hunter in his arms. It served as a grounding sensation, a reminder that the warm body lying next to him was just that; warm, breathing, alive.

“I c’n feel you look’n at me weird.” Dean’s sleepy voice cut through the gentle silence that hung around them. One sleepy green eye cracked open and he shifted, wrapping his arms around Castiel’s bare torso tighter and burying his nose into his sternum.

“I was admiring you,” Castiel protested indignantly and smiled at the muffled embarrassed noise Dean made against him.

“Less admiring, more sleeping.” He grumbled, and pressed a placating kiss to Cas’s throat. Castiel let out a contented hum and let his fingers glide up Dean’s muscled back, feather-light, and up to the nape of his neck.

“Quit it.” Dean shuddered and fell back onto the mattress with a bleary-eyed glare. Castiel shifted onto his side and smoothed his thumb over the crease in Dean’s forehead that resulted from his affronted expression. Dean didn’t comply with his silent request, and it was Cas’s turn to frown. He leaned down and pressed a tiny chaste kiss to the wrinkle, Dean just shied away and huffed.

“Dean,” Castiel squinted at the stubborn man beside him, who stuck his tongue out and made a point to draw his eyebrows even further - the crease became more prominent. Cas could almost laugh, but this was a challenge. A challenge he didn’t intend to back down from.

“Cas,” He mocked, pulling a face.

Oh, so that’s how it was.

Gears in Castiel’s head were turning, but before they could even quite slot into place, he was on top of Dean, pinning him to the mattress with his weight. Dean’s eyes widened, no longer half-shut with the remnants of sleep, and he sucked in a breath. Pupils blown wide, and Castiel grinned. Dean had a very wrong idea of what was about to happen.

“Dean, you’re very stubborn.”

Dean smirked and waggled his eyebrows, before quickly returning to his previous expression, complete with his arms crossed across his chest.

“Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”

Castiel hummed as if he were deep in thought, tracing his index finger from Dean’s collarbone to his sternum. Dean cringed and pushed himself back into the mattress.

“Me? Well, I’m going to knock you down a peg or two, in a manner of speaking.” Castiel purred, resting all ten of his fingertips on his ribs, a salacious grin on his face.

“You, on the other hand,” He continued, gliding his hands down to rest at Dean’s sides. “You’re going to smile for me.”

Dean barely had time to swallow nervously before his senses were set alight by tingling, buzzing electricity. He bit his lip and squirmed, grappling with Castiel’s flitting hands.

“C-Cas, c-c’moHAH. Nonono, c’mohon man, this shit’s for kIDS.” His voice raised an octave when the ex-angel who was enjoying this way too much dug his infuriatingly skilled fingers into his tummy.

It took less than three minutes for Dean to be lost to laughter, punctured by the occasional ‘No!’ or ‘Cas!’ and things that were definitely not shrieks when his attacker got to a bad spot.

Cas, the bastard, was watching him with a big stupid smile on his face. It was so wide and genuine Dean couldn’t even find it in himself to be mad when he caught glimpses of his face amidst his thrashing.

“Cas! Cas, it’s like 4 am, stoho- nahaha CAHAHAS NOT THERE, YOUSONUVABIHIHITCH.” Dean cackled and threw his head back with laughter as Castiel’s hands shot into his armpits, he convulsed and clamped his arms down as hard as he could. Nothing could deter Cas’s determined digits.

When Dean’s breathing started sounding labored, Castiel retreated his hands and took to scritching at Dean’s lower belly. Tickling there, just above his waist-band, was the closest thing to giggling he thought Dean Winchester was capable of. His other hand, bored and itching to roam the squirming body beneath him, cupped Dean’s other side and stroked the skin there. There was another layer of squirming away added to Dean’s half-hearted struggle.

“Caaaas, quihihit playing with my chubby spots.” He whined through bubbling laughter. It was innocent enough, but Castiel knew this man well enough to tell the difference between a joke and genuine insecurity.

Castiel pursed his lips and abandoned his tickling, leaning forward to kiss the panting, red-faced mess. Dean was enthusiastic, cupping the back of Castiel’s head, meeting his kiss sloppily with an open mouth and obscene smacking sounds.

When Castiel pulled away, Dean’s hand kept him there; their faces just inches apart, noses brushing.

“You’re the single most beautiful creature in all of creation, Dean Winchester. Inside and out.” Castiel said firmly, cupping Dean’s jaw reverently and looking into his lover’s wide eyes. A faint blush dusted Dean’s cheeks and he dropped his gaze, shrugging, and grumbling. Cas used his hand to nudge Dean’s face back up and pressed kiss after kiss to Dean’s face. His forehead, each eyelid, his nose, his top, and bottom lip, and his chin.

“I’ve seen stars born,” Castiel murmured against his jaw, pressing another kiss to the stubbled skin.

“Galaxies formed,” Another kiss, this time to his neck, then his collarbone, then his sternum.

“Supernovas,” His chest, right over his heart.

“I witnessed the creation of the very first life forms,” His ribs.

“I’m older than time, older than this world, than the universe.” His diaphragm, his stomach, his hip.

“It’s you, Dean. Nothing I’ve ever seen, ever experienced, could ever hold a candle to you. I just wish you could see yourself the way I do.”

Dean sat completely still, watching Cas with twinkling eyes, he swallowed thickly and made to sit up, Cas climbed off him and Dean leaned forward, resting his head on Castiel’s shoulder.

“You mean that?” He whispered, taking Castiel’s hand and fiddling with his fingers. Castiel smiled and pressed a kiss to the crown of Dean’s head, nodding.

“Yes, Dean. I mean it.”

Castiel could hear the quiver in his breath when Dean inhaled deeply.

“That’s pretty gay, man.” He said shakily, pulling away from Castiel with a wobbly smile on his face.

“That it is. I’d venture to say what I’m about to say is gayer, though; I think your smile is especially beautiful. And your laugh.” Castiel added with a sly smile. Dean was quicker on the uptake, though, and before Cas could follow through on his plan, he found himself pinned to the mattress. Staring down a disgruntled Dean, who wasted no time in reaching behind him and kneading Castiel’s thighs.

He howled with laughter and grabbed blindly at Dean’s arms.

“DEAN! DEAN, STOHOHOP!” He bucked underneath the grinning man.

“You started it! And you were about to ambush me again.” He feigned offense, his words spoken around a laugh. His hands converged on Cas’s ribs and dug into the giggle-shriek-inducing spots between each bone.

Expertly, Dean took Castiel apart. Fingers seasoned with years of big-brother experience. His goal was to just tire Cas out to the point he wouldn’t be able to re-retaliate. Ten fingers scribbled across his belly and Cas was lost to giggles that Dean would never tire of hearing.

“Deheheannn, nahaha I’m sohOHORY!” He barely managed around an honest to god squeal that left his mouth when one of Dean’s curious fingers wiggled into his bellybutton.

“See, I just don’t think that’s true.” Dean tutted.

He could have continued on forever, sweet laughter and adorable attempts at an escape or a plea. But, now that Cas was human and oxygen was kind of a necessity, he made the mature decision (what can he say, falling in love changed him) to stop. He pulled away with a parting raspberry to the side of Cas’s neck, which made him shriek and jackknife under him.

“I didn’t bring you back from super hell just so you could tickle the shit out of me, you know,” Dean said, poking his hip. Cas flinched and rubbed a hand over his face, residual giggles still tumbling out of his mouth. He sighed and parted his fingers, peering up at Dean.

“Why did you bring me back, then?” He challenged. Dean glared down at him, but his gaze held no heat. Maybe some exasperation.

“You know why.”

Castiel pulled his hands away from his face and shrugged innocently.

“I don’t, actually.”

“I told you,” Dean huffed. Don’t ask why he was allowing himself to be swept up into Cas’s little game - maybe he liked it. Or maybe he felt guilty still.

“You told me lots of things - through wailing sobs, so it was hard to understand at times. Here; I’ll even make it easy for you. I love you…”

“I know,” Dean replied in a mocking, honeyed tone as he flopped back onto the mattress, pointedly shutting his eyes. Castiel let out a long-suffering sigh and lay back next to him, body curved around Dean’s; a perfect fit, like pieces of a puzzle slotting together. It was a shame Dean was being too much of a man-baby for Castiel to properly enjoy their compatibility and closeness at the moment.

“You’re impossible,” Cas murmured into the skin of Dean’s shoulder, reaching over to pinch at Dean’s waist. He curled away with a squeak that made Cas’s heart swell and grabbed his hands.

“No more tickling,” He pouted. The other man smiled fondly and pressed a kiss to Dean’s temple.

“No more tickling.” He agreed, nodding solemnly.

Then it was quiet again, peaceful. The soft sounds of Dean’s breaths were in sync with his own - the feeling of his heart beating was still alien to him, even though it wasn’t something he noted often.

“Hey, Cas?” Dean said quietly, fingering a mindless pattern on Castiel’s bicep, “I do. Love you, I mean.”

Castiel smiled and pressed his thumb gently into the give of Dean’s thigh, reveling in the softness, the warmth.

“I know.”

[hasturmcfuckface]

OH MYGOD OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY. OKAY . HOLD ON YES I CAN HELP WITH THIS

The most important thing to know about faroeverse is the fact that it tackles the narrative topic of fridging, specifically the fridging of female characters. Faroe's story is about surviving in a world that, metatextuality, did not want her to survive.

FIRSTLY: follow @saturnniines on twitter and tumblr! i believe moth is more active on twitter and is kind of The faroeverse guy. also the writer of the fics i'm about to send you!

SECONDLY: a collection of some of the faroeverse works! there's another one out there but i don't remember who wrote it which is sad because it's really good it takes place in the dreamlands :((

fic one, "godhood and girlhood," separates faroe's kiy fragment, jane, as her own person through her explorations of gender.

fic two, "fresh static snow," is this au's version of the yellow arc and it's actually so much sadder imo because it swaps fv!jane and canon!john. faroe gets her dead dad's fragment, arthur gets his dead daughter's fragment. very sad. there's a comic i made for it linked at the bottom of

Some other AU world stuff beneath the cut that's not necessary to know but Is very fun:

Some important other characters:

-Jane Doe. A fragment of the King in Yellow who has chosen her own identity. She's a lot more reserved than John is, her fights with Faroe are ice-cold rather than loud and aggressive, and she has a tendency towards anxiety. She's an absolute sweetheart a lot of the time. She's a transfem lesbian and her relationship with Faroe is definitely romantic, both of these facts are important to the themes of the story.

-Parker Yang (also known as Uncle Park!) Her dad's best friend, and another father figure to her when she's little. Parker shows up far earlier in the story and helps raise Faroe after the bathtub incident. He loses custody of her when Arthur dies, but they reunite when Faroe is a teenager, having run away, and pick up the old family business (aka detective agency.) He later shows up again in the story after being presumed dead, and fills the narrative role of Detective Noel.

-Daniel Saltzman. He really sucks in this timeline, he projects his loss for Bella onto Faroe and has really high pressure and expectations of her to be a "perfect woman." The narrative with him focuses less on reconciliation and forgiveness and more on how your childhood doesn't need to shape you.

-Teddy Hart. The first entirely fanmade character! He's essentially what Bella is to canon Arthur, with the added caveat of the fact that they were in a very forced marriage (see: Daniel Saltzman). He dies when Faroe, fleeing in a panic, accidentally left the stove on. The house burned down with him inside of it. There are whispers that Faroe did it on purpose. She didn't. She misses him, even if she never loved him the way she was "supposed" to.

-Alexander. Remember that kid Oscar talked about in his backstory? This is him. He's in this.

-Addison "Addy" Larson. Wally couldn't do it in this world, he couldn't sacrifice her, so she got the chance to grow up and be just as vicious and power-hungry as him. When she learned of his plans for her when she was little, she decided to complete them--by sacrificing him instead.

-Jupiter. Kayne thought it would be really really funny if this timeline had a character like Yellow too, the other half of the king imprisoned in a mortal body. They skip Faroe and goes straight to Addy.

-Denise "The Butcher" Collins. Pretty much a genderbent regular Butcher except she has some other stuff going on. She's Faroe's butch awakening (no pun intended--Faroe gets the idea to disguise herself as a man in s4 because Denise does it first). Somehow also gayer than the canon Butcher.

And now for some fun facts!

-It takes place in the early 1950s; Faroe is 29. She has access to a lighter and an aerosol can. She uses this power well.

-Faroe plays the violin, not the piano!

-Jane's voice is exactly the same as John's, just with a different cadence and speaking pattern.

-Instead of Owlexander in season 5, Faroe and Jane get a skrungly black kitten they name Bowl. Faroe carries her around in her bag or hood. It's exactly as adorable as you're imagining.

Faroeverse?

Ok SO

I've arrived to the point when I want to get into the Faroeverse.

Tell me where to start and whom to follow pls!

Are there fics? I'm aware of the surrogate series only and that's not it is all I know 😅

[supercalime]

The Edge of Great Commentary

I FINALLY READ THE EDGE OF GREAT BOOK! and boy it was a book. That I read. With words and everything. Here is my commentary, yall. Hope you enjoy my rambling

- okay, cocky luke was not what I was expecting

- Also, it’s stated that the FOUR OF THEM are brothers. Bobby is innocent, kids

- The way luke thinks of bobby here makes it so much worst knowing his betrayal

- Julie bb, I just wanna hug you!

- Petitioner julie to always call Luke “floppy”

- Micol, I get you have to condense stuff and I get this was written before they shot the show, obviously, but i still miss scenes we saw but are not written here! I hope this version of the book gets rewritten once we get a season 2, so we can get the extra scenes

- Wake up taking place in Alex’s pov is something that can be so personal

- Okay, I like the change that the show made to actually have them say Alex is gay, good on them

- Okay let’s stan the book for painting therapy in a positive light! Julie claiming it’s helpful is really good for their young audience

- I love getting confirmation that julie is a Harry styles fan. As she should

- Also, bisexual julie is basically canon here at this point. We stan

- Reggie pov!!!!!

- Reggie already loves her. We love to see it

- Oh my god! It’s the willex first meeting! Everybody calm down!!!!

- Sure, we don’t get “he’s cute, huh” but boy! We got “I’m around. Come find me. Even if you don’t have questions.” That is fucking cute!

- Flynn pov!!!!

- I love Flynn so much you guys. It’s not fair. She’s such a bad bitch, we can’t help but stan

- Museum date! Ahhhhhh

- Interesting that they are separating bobby from Trevor. That might be a clue...

- Mystery solved, yall. Luke was the one who wrote “hi Bobby” in the mirror

- Nick is so insignificant in this book it’s kinda comical

- Willie pov!!!!!

- I wanna personally thank booboo and owen for making the dialogue 90% gayer than it’s intended on text. It really shows how much they care about these characters and their scenes together

- The way we get confirmation that Caleb is basically a cult leader on willies POV really sells how Willie is a victim in all of this

- Dude, you don’t need to point out every time the ghosts “breath”. We’re suspending our disbelief here, it’s fine

- Okay, nick not being able to get his glue stick uncapped is very endearing

- I’m glad that the acapela sorry song is here

- Been so long and now we’re finally free!!!!

- Juke is cute in whatever form huh

- The crime that they CUT perfect harmony!

- Three words: willex angst hurts!

- The fact that we get confirmation of Alex’s feelings during their “break up” scene? We love to see it

- I get that we wouldn’t get the improvised scenes like “girls am I right?” BUT! Excuse me? Cutting edge of great as well? What is wrong with you?? It’s the freaking name of the novel?!

- “A voice I knew and missed” fuck off! Alex’s pov don’t fuck around!

- Don’t fucking tell me that Alex was supposed to say he cared about willie back? We were robbed of that in the show! Kenny!

- P A I N

- Oh. Julie played unsaid Emily to Luke’s parents here. Interesting. I would die if that happened in the show

- I’m so mad we didn’t get a rendition of the “I would have still followed you” scene! It’s crucial for willex! C’mon! We are just getting breadcrumbs here! Gimme the gay!

- Wow. The hug was very disappointing indeed. This book condenses too much. I don’t know what limitations the author had but if that was a choice, she did a terrible job. The characters barely have depth

- The ending was so rushed, christ

- Where’s the angst? The uncertainty?

- I’m not gonna lie, I wish this book was written for a slighter older audience, just so we’d be able to get more depth

- I like that they make it clear that the boys are just tangible but they don’t know how long it’s gonna last

- No cliffhanger that gives me anxiety. That’s...good?

[meatmandean]

Rant to follow, sorry about this,

But like do they NoT underatand that Cas' death is the primary concern here? Like we fuckin got over that shit and if the network actually took the time to got through #Theysilencedyou tag, they'd realise that immediately.

It's about them seemly erasing Dean's queerness and then KILLING him and overwhelming evidence of this happening to other characters. Like it's even more concerning now, how much of Dean's part was cut when you put it together with his badly-done death in 15x20

Like can they really look us in the eyes and tell us, yes that was the finality we wanted for these characters, yes this is what we had intended to do?

They're like not even trying to understand what the problem is here, instead just trying to defuse what is some pretty serious and valid shit.

This is making me irATE, like jesus christ just release a proper statement and give us the reasons, people have been here for 15 years and we deserve some closure at the very least.

Thoughts??

I literally was just saying to my friends earlier that had they just let Dean reciprocate (even if it wasn’t shown until after Cas was taken) and mourn him, kill both of them still , but show them reuniting in Heaven? People would be significantly less angry. Like yes, we would still be mad about them killing Dean too young and other things but we would still be mostly ok right now. They don’t get that it’s not the deaths themselves it’s the fact that they killed them and also left their character arcs incomplete because they were too afraid to make it any gayer than they already had.

[lanonima]

This ended up being slightly later than intended but anyway, my review for Nan Chan:

Romantic - Fucky is not how risque a work is but rather my opinion of the attitude/quality of the main relationship, the way the characters interact with respect to one another. I like a lot of stuff in fiction but if you’re easily made uncomfortable, stay towards the top half.

Easy reading - Plot-heavy is how I personally consider the plot’s intricacy and successful implementation, regardless of the author’s intention.

Nan Chan

Author: Tang Jiuqing

Quality: 8

Enjoyment: 6

Comments: This one is kind of weird because it's definitely competent, it's well-written and has a fairly in-depth plot, but I just didn't really enjoy it all that much? I never got emotionally attached to any of the characters, and I didn't even really get the relationship buildup. I understand what the author is going for with it of course, but it didn't necessarily make a lot of sense… Or rather it seems like some bits in the middle were just missing, there's good buildup in the beginning and in the end but how they got from point A to point B was kind of not explored to my satisfaction. I did really like the flashback to the past, I thought that storyline was all pretty interesting. The big bad was kind of disappointing to me as well though. In general, I think this is a really good book with a lot of skill behind it but it's just not really my thing.

Would I read it again: No.

The reviews of things I previously read are below the cut.

Mo Dao Zu Shi

Author: MXTX

Quality: 9.5

Enjoyment: 10

Comments: I have a huge emotional connection to this novel. There are some weak parts, the tension isn’t quite even, she’s pretty terrible at erotic scenes and not great at fight scenes…but that being said, I love the characters and some of the plot points really ripped my heart out. This is a novel that’s really driven by the characters so if you’re a character-focused person like me, definitely look into it (as if we all don’t already know it lmao). I really, really love this story. Every single adaptation of it has also been great, but the novel is still my favorite. It was my introduction to xianxia novels too, so you can say it changed my life!

Would I read it again: I’ve already read it twice, and consumed every adaptation (sometimes also multiple times)

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Author: MXTX

Quality: 6

Enjoyment: 5

Comments: I’m not much of one for comedy and, as I discovered, not really into system novels either. Clearly weaker than MXTX’s later work, many of the characters are somewhat bland, she hasn’t quite found her groove yet. It’s not my style but the fandom is hilarious and the fans constantly produce content that I actually do find entertaining so overall I still have some fond feelings for this one, even if not for the source material.

Would I read it again: I found a different translation and am willing to try again in the future, I’m also willing to watch the donghua. But I can’t guarantee I’ll like it any more than previously.

Tian Guan Ci Fu

Author: MXTX

Quality: 10

Enjoyment: 10

Comments: I love this book…but not as much as I love Mo Dao Zu Shi. I think the plot is somewhat typical, however the characters are great once again (though maybe slightly less deep than MDZS), and her use of thematic repetition and foreshadowing are killer. Actually, I liked this book more the second time around because it just hits differently. Definitely the best of MXTX’s couples, they are so soft and sweet. Very long, but worth it.

Would I read it again: I already have, was personally translating the manhua before I hurt my arms, and am eagerly awaiting the donghua this fall!

The Villain’s White Lotus Halo

Author: A Big Roll of Toilet Paper

Quality: 10

Enjoyment: 10

Comments: Fuck, I love this one so much…..even though it’s also a system novel. But that part is in it so rarely that it reads more like pure fantasy. I love the characters, I love the plot, I love the way the relationship is developing. Oh yeah, the translation isn’t even complete but I already purchased not only the original from JJWXC but also the print edition. I’ve even drawn fanart for it, which is so unlike me. Every time a chapter comes out, I’m ruined for the rest of the day, I can’t think about anything else. Good fight scenes, which is uncommon. My favorite danmei novel so far.

Would I read it again: I fully intend to once the translation is complete, and also plan to read it in Chinese later (I’ve already read certain parts in Chinese hahaha but not the whole thing)

2Ha (Husky and his White Cat Shizun)

Author: Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat

Quality: 8

Enjoyment: 10

Comments: 2Ha is not for the faint of heart, it’s very horny, and violent, and has a lot of questionable content. However I love it so much. The story and characters are great, Meatbun really has me by the heart. The writing is a little more on the casual side but it hardly matters because the story is so great. Good fight scenes. Chu Wanning is like, the ultimate Me™ character, I hate how much I adore him. If you read this, just go into it knowing that it’s a long emotional journey, the characters are very dynamic and there’s a lot of character development.

Would I read it again: Same as the above, I plan a reread when the translation is done and have read parts in Chinese and might read the whole thing again later. Cautiously eager about the up-coming live action and donghua.

Di Wang Gong Lue

Author: Yu Xiao Lanshan

Quality: 2

Enjoyment: 9

Comments: This is one of the most terribly written things I’ve ever read, but I’m a character girl and the characters and ways they interact fucking kill me. I’m constantly entertained….although I don’t think this is actually supposed to be a comedy. If I were going to treat myself and like, take a bubble bath and read something that made me laugh, this is exactly the sort of trashy romance I would want to read. Technically a political intrigue story but it’s so abrupt and full of holes, are any of us reading it for the actual plot? The donghua is on Youtube, I watched it first and recommend others to do the same. If you can handle that, you can handle the book because it’s exactly the same in quality, just gayer. I do love the main couple a lot, the set-up surrounding the relationship is great, and the side characters are also really fun.

Would I read it again: Probably not, but I’m still having fun with it. I watched the donghua and read a bit of the manhua as well, which has very cute art and is probably my favorite version of the story.

Liu Yao

Author: Priest

Quality: 6

Enjoyment: 7.5

Comments: I really struggled getting into this one, it took me about 25 chapters to get invested. Initially I had rated it a 6 in enjoyment but after careful thought, I realized that even though it was so hard for me, it probably is my favorite Priest novel and I really do love the main couple so much. Her side characters also seem to be slightly stronger than usual in this one. Decent plot, not too much or too little. It seems really chill to me, doesn’t provoke much of an emotional reaction but I do think it’s very sweet, which is nice sometimes too.

Would I read it again: No, but I think (?) it’s supposed to get some kind of tv adaptation (drama or donghua, not sure), and if that happens, I’ll watch it.

Didn’t Know the General was Female

Author: Rong Qing

Quality: 4

Enjoyment: 6

Comments: Not the greatest thing I’ve ever read, but cute. It’s short, and a little lesbian fluff is never a bad thing. Writing is a bit weak and the plot is basic, but the characters are enjoyable and I liked it overall.

Would I read it again: No.

Wrong Way to a Demon Sect Leader

Author: Yi Zhi Dayan

Quality: 4

Enjoyment: 7

Comments: Again, not the greatest in writing or plot, it’s a bit shallow. But I found the idea of it to be entertaining, and actually liked it more than I would have assumed. It’s fairly short and cute, like a good summer beach read.

Would I read it again: Probably not, but possibly, if the stars align.

Female General and Eldest Princess

Author: Please Don’t Laugh

Quality: 7

Enjoyment: 6

Comments: A very good first effort, but the writing is a bit weak. It’s slow to start and I don’t think the political plotline is spectacularly strong. Some things were left unexplained, and her sense of battle tactics and fight-writing were very confusing, definitely room for improvement. I don’t think it’s as good as people say, but she writes with the air of someone who will continue to improve. And also, a lesbian author writing lesbian stories so that’s a plus. Overall I enjoyed the experience, this story is definitely worth a read.

Would I read it again: Maybe, but probably not.

Sha Po Lang

Author: Priest

Quality: 7

Enjoyment: 7

Comments: Originally I rated this one higher, but on later thought I realized that I actually enjoyed Liu Yao more. I personally have issues with the way Priest writes, and this book showed a lot of them. Characters were okay, I did like the main couple, but side characters were weak as usual. The plot is pretty good, though not great, and I think some of the pacing is off. Some descriptions were confusing, but that could be a translation issue. Overall, still a pretty good political drama, but I would say that of the three I read, this was the Priest novel with the least impact on me.

Would I read it again: No. But I will watch the live action if it ever gets made.

Guardian

Author: Priest

Quality: 6

Enjoyment: 5

Comments: I love Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, thought the plot was interesting, and there were some enjoyable moments. But it has all the problems I usually have with Priest in addition to some choices that offend me as a queer reader. I spent about 75% of the time reading while pissed off. And actually the fact that it had a happy ending kinda bummed me out because I love a good tragedy. Overall, I can only give it an average score. If you like Priest, you’ll like this one too. I’m not a tv person but I binged the hell out of the live action, I really loved it, so I was sort of disappointed that the source material didn’t seem as strong as I had assumed.

Would I read it again: No, but I will happily watch the live action again some day.

Jing Wei Qing Shang

Author: Please Don’t Laugh

Quality: 9.8

Enjoyment: 10

Comments: I have to start off by saying: damn girl. The improvement evident in this book is absolutely insane. A few minor issues prevent me from giving it a 10 out of 10 – her transitions are still extremely abrupt, the ending is slightly weak and some plot points remain unresolved, and her use of narrative repetition is too heavy-handed for my taste. Other than that, this book leaves me almost speechless. Very similar to Female General and Eldest Princess, there are many similar themes and events. But while I thought FGEP was fairly cute, I like this one way better. If you like angst, political intrigue, and lesbians, you should definitely read this book. I have no doubt that Please Don’t Laugh will continue to improve in the future, and I really look forward to following her career.

Would I read it again: 100%, I absolutely intend to read this again sometime in the future. It’s very long and very dense but delightful and ultimately worth it.

Fox Demon Cultivation Manual

Author: Feng Ge Qie Xing

Quality: 8

Enjoyment: 10

Comments: This was a delightful romp. I had expected it to be somewhat silly and was pleasantly surprised. It was heavy enough to be engaging but light enough to be an easy read, with multiple spots that made me literally laugh out loud which does not happen often. This is apparently just one book in a series of same universe novels, and a lighter-hearted one at that. I would be interested to read the others because I found the world pretty engaging, and I do want to know what became of the other characters. Overall I found it very fun and very cute, I read it in four days so that says something. On the downside, the link for chapter 9 is broken. But skipping a chapter doesn’t seem to have affected the experience of the novel as a whole.

Would I read it again: Yeah I think I would be willing to read this again someday. If it gets adapted I would also consume adaptations, in addition to being interested in the other connected works.

Golden Stage

Author: Cang Wu Bin Bai

Quality: 6

Enjoyment: 7

Comments: This one has some Sha Po Lang vibes, but the characters have more depth and chemistry. The word ‘more’ here is extremely relative because it’s still pretty shallow. I honestly liked them both, I liked the relationship and the psuedo-rude way that they flirt entertained me. As for the plot…ehhhh. It tried. There were things that worked, but in general the plot seemed disjointed from the characters and there were a few things that had no business being there and just muddied the waters. It’s not bad necessarily, it’s just not very smooth. There are better political intrigues to read if that’s what you want. But if you just want some sugar-sweet fluff with a backdrop of drama, then this one is perfect. My favorite scene was probably the flashback to the first few times they met, absolutely fantastic.

Would I read it again: Nah.

[incomprehensiblelentils]

@dollsome-does-tumblr​ does this and opened it up to anyone and I am feeling chatty today SO!

Because I co-write a lot with my lovely wife, I might answer some questions including those co-written stories, or I might not, depends on how I feel when I get there.

name:

Megan but I go by Lentils most places on the internet, Shadowcrawler over on AO3

fandoms:

at the moment: MCU, especially Agents of SHIELD and Daredevil; Terminator: Dark Fate; Halt and Catch Fire. Oh and I wrote Dollhouse fanfics a thousand years ago. Sometimes I will watch a movie/show and think “those two girls should be gay” and bang out 2k of fic about it and then never write for that fandom again. (I THOUGHT this was going to be HACF but as it turns out, no, it’s not done with me yet.)

where you post:

AO3, at Shadowcrawler. I also have a tumblr @lentils-writes​ where theoretically I post links to fics/advertise them in the tags, because I used to be real precious about not putting porn on this blog, but fuck it.

most popular multi-chapter fic:

Co-written, it’s definitely mallverse, which is I think the reason most writers definitely hate us because it’s very long and there are a lot of tags lmao. The problem is that every tagged character HAS shown up in a significant fashion at some point so we can’t just...untag them! It doesn’t update weekly anymore because we’re exhausted by life lmao so at least there’s that???

As for a multi-chapter fic that was just me, I don’t tend to do that so much, so actually it’s say you will, my 3-chapter Endgame fix-it where Clint dies instead of Natasha and Natasha and Laura have a past. It actually has over 1000 hits which is very exciting! I feel like it’s...niche in a way that is frustrating but understandable lol. I put a lot of my heart into it and some people really liked it, so that’s gratifying.

favorite story you’ve written so far:

Co-written, I think our SHIELD Dollhouse AU is very underrated for the amount of work we put into it. Author bias evident here because I love Dollhouse warts and all, and it’s a lot of fun translating episode plots as well as the general trajectory of the show into stuff that will work with SHIELD characters. We don’t just rewrite episodes, we really try and rework them as needed. Also it features both Skimmons and my beloved rarepair Bobbi/Kara, though of course they won’t get together until later.

Of my own stuff, I’m still really really proud of the AU where Kara Palamas didn’t die. I think that was a pretty severe misstep of the show and I think I did a good job of fixing it. (I haven’t forgotten Kara, promise!)

fic you were nervous to post:

lolololol I wrote some uh. Terminator pornography last year and. They are very porny! I had co-written a bunch of smut obviously, but that was the first time I’d posted like, PWP all by myself on purpose??? and that was TERRIFYING. Also I was very nervous to post the Engame fix-it because that was my own personal goodbye/tribute to Natasha.

how you choose your titles:

They are always either song lyrics or jokes (such as Three Lawyers and a Baby, my Daredevil Accidental Baby Acquisition fic). My WIP docs are always titled either obvious shit like “RoseJannah horse girls” or memes like “what if we belonged to a fire cult and we fucked haha just kidding unless...?” or “Morgan has two mommies.”

do you outline?:

B and I typically outline for the co-written fics, although it’s more often chapter-by-chapter outlines since that’s how we write them. On occasion we’ve fully planned multi-chapter stuff out in advance but that’s less common. Oh and the one-shots are nearly always outlined as well, just to keep ourselves organized.

When I have written planned multi-chapter fics in the past I have used outlines - particularly for the Kara one and I had to do that for the SHIELD Kill Bill AU because I was trying to follow the format of the movie. For things that are allegedly supposed to be one-shots I almost never outline, which turns out to be a terrible idea when they inevitably balloon beyond my control and become 45k like say you will. That one, I wrote out a list of scenes I thought needed to be in it and then I wrote about 75% of those scenes and then I wrote a bunch more scenes I hadn’t planned for. Don’t be like me, kids!

complete fics:

According to AO3, 89 as of right now. Uh, you do not want me to list all of them, here’s a link, I guess!

in progress:

I don’t understand what the difference is between this question and the WIP questions lmao help????

posted WIPs that I have active plans to continue at this time:

Cowritten: mallverse as I said, and its femslash smut oneshots spinoff and character flashbacks spinoff and older characters/teachers spinoff (these get updated, uh, irregularly), the first half of a Piper/Snowflake SHIELD s7 fic that we are planning on finishing the second half of soonish, SHIELD Dollhouse AU, SHIELD Teen Beach AU, SHIELD Buffy AU. You may notice a pattern!

By myself, I have: Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas, a Terminator Hallmark Christmas fic that I ambitiously posted the first chapter of in 2019 and then lost steam immediately (I am going to go back to it sooner or later bc I had some cute ideas for it); the SHIELD Fate of the Furious AU that has one chapter to go and which I do intend on finishing eventually; Three Lawyers and a Little Lady, the Daredevil Accidentally Baby Acquisition AU that is literally just cute kidfic and poly avocados and which I have a bunch of ideas for and just need to buckle down and finish some.

posted WIPs that I have given up on:

Lol so there’s a Dollhouse Caroline/Bennett Doctor Who AU that I wrote purely as idfic and which nobody ever cared about except me, and I think that ship has sailed! RIP darlings. I also had an ongoing Skimmons series waaaay back when where I posted oneshots that were like missing scenes or gay readings for each s1 episode, and I just feel like it would be inauthentic to even try and finish it at this point. (It does include the first ever Skimmons fic to be posted on AO3! Really truly, there’s one fic that shows up as older but it’s an ongoing fic and was updated with the tag way after I posted mine.)

exchange fics due soon/unrevealed:

I haven’t done an exchange since like 2015 lololol I am so bad at them. I am currently working on finishing up my MCU Femslash bingo card, very late, and I do have plans for almost all of the remaining squares!

WIPs that live in my fanfic folder and are incomplete and who knows when they’ll be finished:

“RoseJannah horse girls,” which has been put on hold temporarily but is literally just Rose and Jannah being gay while riding orbaks

half of a Daisy/Gwen fic from Marvel Rising because I know they’re not making any more of those but I stg those two were really gay

multiple fics about Elise Nelson-Page including: avocados Halloween with smol Elise, Aunt Elektra very reluctantly taking smol Elise shopping until she realizes smol Elise also likes weapons (she buys her a fake katana), Uncle Frank is a pushover and spoils the shit out of Elise, and baby Elise has a high fever and everyone freaks out but then she gets better and smile at them for the first time (inspired by baby me lol).

coming soon/not yet started:

“Morgan has two mommies,” yet another Endgame fix-it where Maya Hansen did not die in Iron Man 3 and she resurfaces and she and Pepper kiss and eventually she adopts Morgan

Claire and Colleen go on a nice date to get coffee/tea where Danny doesn’t interrupt them goddammit

Bobbi/Kara Warehouse 13 AU which is sort of like “For the Team” but gayer ft. grappling hook

X-Men: Evolution Tabby/Amara fluff

Cameron/Donna character study disguised as smut

Grace proposes to Dani with a ring made out of the metal from her power source and Carl officiates the wedding 

Dani gets horny watching Grace eat a peach and jerks off and Grace ends up hearing her and then they fuck (I have been calling this “the peach fic” in my head but I gotta stop being delicate about it lmfao it is just porn)

B and I have plans to do a Nico/Karolina Jasper in Deadland AU but we keep forgetting

I MUST WRITE FOGGY AND KAREN SADLY FUCKING IN A CHURCH WHILE THEY MOURN MATT THIS YEAR I STG

do you accept prompts:

uhhhhhh I have on occasion written a prompt for someone before but it’s pretty rare and I have enough trouble writing the shit I come up with in my own head lol. but never say never?

upcoming story you are most excited to write:

I’ve got a bit of the Bobbi/Kara Warehouse fic written and it’s nice to go back to that world. Also I’m weirdly excited about the Cam/Donna smutty character study I mentioned above, I have a lot of what I think are good ideas for it and it’ll be fun.

tagging @unwind-myself @swiftzeldas @swashbucklery @loved-the-stars-too-fondly and, if you want to, you!