#this is the lesbian relationship we were robbed of

[sokuly419]

Now that Arcane is done, I’ll share my thoughts as I did with the previous two acts. It won’t be as long probably, but it would feel weird to me to not do one for act 3/Arcane as a whole.

I have some mixed feelings on it like everyone else it seems. Really, I agree that so much more could have been done if they were given a third season. I think it would have been better.

Overall, I loved this act and I loved the whole show. Of course I have some issues with how it played out this time. It was all rushed and crammed. A third season would have done WONDERS. I see those complaints, and I acknowledge them. I also understand not seeing the conversations and growth that happened off screen. I agree that we were robbed of Vi’s arc and her trauma. We were robbed of a Cait and Vi actually rebuilding their relationship. Season 2 was flawed, yes. But I don’t know a show I’ve watched that isn’t. This includes She-Ra too.

They may have fumbled a bit, but I still personally enjoyed it. The lesbians won, there’s some open ends for the other locations they want to explore, and so much more.

Unfortunately I’m already seeing caitvi turn into the catradora wars. I’m not engaging in it. If you call caitvi toxic and not catradora I don’t know what to tell you. That’s my position on it. Y’all can be critical about it, that fine. We don’t have to agree, but I’m not dealing with the arguments and I’m sure not going to involve myself in them. Just like catradora, in my opinion, a lot of growth and redemption arcs took place off screen. It’s a major, major bummer. But these arguments are literally catradora all over again.

At this point, you want a redemption arc? Fanfic is the way to go. I’ve already read some amazing ones. Post canon and dealing with the trauma and losses, exploring Vi’s pit fighting phase, Cait’s redemption/realizations in those 7-8 odd months they were apart, the arguments of the things that happened, the AUs even. Soft fics, smut fics, it’s all there. I’m even writing some myself.

So like… take a collective breath, criticize all you want. But there’s no need to turn this into the catradora/She-Ra wars all over again with all the arguing. People genuinely enjoyed the show. I know I did. I’m sad it’s over but so, so glad it happened.

[hannahmanderr]

💘 whats the Sam/Paulina ship name

okay but you're actually psychic bc I was literally already working on something that fit this perfectly so thank you for giving me an excuse to finish it hehe

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Ardent Amethyst no. 4 (AO3)

A conversation about lipstick ends far more differently than Sam could've expected.

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If Sam could just wear her normal makeup to school, she wouldn’t have even had this problem in the first place.

“But noooo,” she grumbled as she twisted the cap back onto her eyeliner. “Dad’s running for city council, and how dare his daughter be seen in public wearing anything that’s not cookie-cutter perfect little white girl.”

She didn’t mind that he was campaigning, if only because it gave her an excuse and a leg up in trying to help get some better legislation passed in town, but her mom forcing her to ‘always look the part’ was beginning to get tiresome.

“It’s Amity Park. It’s not like he’s running for president.” She tossed the eyeliner back into her makeup bag and pulled out her lipstick. This one was a darker purple than her usual, close to an eggplant color instead of a lavender, but it was quickly becoming her favorite. A name that referenced her favorite gemstone was almost enough to automatically win her over.

Plus it was dark. Which meant it would piss off her mom even more. Always a bonus.

She leaned over the bathroom sink to bring her reflection closer. The girls’ bathroom in the science wing definitely wasn’t her first choice of staging area, but this one had pretty decent lighting, plus the added bonus of it being out of the way enough that she wasn’t constantly being bothered by other girls bustling in and out and gossiping and trying to do their own makeup.

Yep. Peaceful. Just the way she liked it.

Carefully, she began rubbing the lipstick on. It was an art that had taken her months to perfect, but she had it down pat by this point. 

If there was one thing she could agree on with the A-list girls, it was the beauty and fun of putting makeup on. If only they had any sense of individuality to go along with it.

She rubbed her lips together to try and cover any bare or uneven spots, but the job had already been done very well, if she did say so herself. 

A thought occurred to her as she examined her reflection. Danny had complimented this color the other day. Did that mean he liked it better than the old one? Should she keep wearing this one more? Would it catch his attention, or would he be his normal, clueless self? Could she -

The door to the bathroom banged open, and she flinched. Something in her chest seized up as Paulina of all people rounded the corner. Of course she would come and ruin a decent makeup session. It just had to be her of all people.

Odd that she wasn’t with her posse though. She’d always been under the impression that the popular girls moved to and from the bathrooms like the pack of hyenas they were.

She fumbled with her makeup bag. No sense sharing the same room with a girl like Paulina for longer than necessary. She’d pretty much finished anyway.

“What’s the rush?”

Sam whipped her head around. Paulina stood behind her, hands on her hips, wearing a coy smirk. The kind of pose that just screamed “I’m better than you and I know it.”

It made her blood light on fire.

“I was just wrapping up,” she said, pouring as much ice into her words as she physically could. “Figured it’d be rude of me to intrude on the queen bee’s oh-so-important bathroom time.”

The smirk stayed glued to Paulina’s face. “Well it’s nice to finally hear you recognizing my status. Were you doing your makeup just now?” She nodded at the makeup bag in Sam’s grip.

“No, Paulina, I thought I’d just come in and stand here holding a bag full of hot air for a little while. Not that you don’t already do a good enough job of it.”

That finally made Paulina’s lips turn down, and Sam resisted the urge to grin in triumph. Paulina sighed. “So rude. And here I was about to tell you how pretty of a color that is.”

Okay. That was unexpected. “Really?”

“Yeah.” The other girl started stalking towards her, slow and catlike. “I was gonna ask if I could get a little bit of it.”

Sam’s alarm bells started ringing, and her heart began to pump a little faster as she tried to back away from Paulina only to be met by the sink. “Then you can get your own,” she snapped, trying to keep any indication of intimidation out of her voice. She would not back down from Paulina like this. Just because she was bracing her arms on the sink and leaning backwards over it didn’t mean she was backing down.

“I don’t think you get it. I want to try it now.”

“What do you - mmph!” Sam’s words were cut short as Paulina leaned into her and connected their lips together. For a moment, she could only stand there, frozen, as Paulina kissed her in the middle of the school bathroom.

Finally, her senses came back to her. Sam shoved the other girl off her. “What the hell was that?” she growled, but the effect was ruined by her breathlessness.

Paulina ignored her, instead checking out her own reflection in the mirror. The corners of her now purple-tinted lips curled upward. “What do you know? It is a good color on me too.” 

Without another word, she sauntered out of the bathroom, leaving a speechless Sam standing alone.

She blinked once, twice before turning to see where her lipstick had rubbed off on Paulina. Finally, she managed to break herself out of her stupor enough to grab a paper towel and wet it.

She wiped at her lips vigorously, quickly staining the wet towel purple. Hopefully Danny would still like her old lavender color, because she would never be able to wear this one again without wanting to throw up. A shame too. She’d really liked this color.

And honestly, it hadn’t looked half bad on Paulina either.

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Tiffanie pounced on Paulina the moment she emerged back into the hallway. “So?” she asked, practically bouncing up and down. “Did you do it? Did she hate it?”

Paulina shook her head to try and break herself out of her haze. “Huh? Oh. Yeah, I did it.”

“OMG, yes!” Tiffanie squealed. “That ought to knock her down a few pegs! And the best part is she can’t tell anyone! Who’s gonna believe her when she tells people you kissed her, one of the biggest freaks in school?”

Something in Paulina’s heart wrenched sideways, but she couldn’t put words to it. 

It wasn’t pleasant.

Tiffanie dug in her bag. “Here.” She offered Paulina a ten dollar bill. “You’ve way more than earned this, girl.”

Paulina stared at the cash for a long moment, trying to figure out why her stomach wouldn’t quit doing acrobatics. A little voice in the back of her head was pestering her, telling her something wasn’t right about all this.

And why did it feel like her heart was reaching out for something it couldn’t grasp?

Finally, she shook her head. “Keep it,” she said, gently pushing Tiffanie’s hand away and laughing weakly. “Taking down a - a loser like her is reward enough, you know?”

“True that! You sure though? I told you I’d give it to you if you did. I really don’t mind.”

“Yeah. I’m sure.” Paulina tried to shoot her with the same smile that melted the heart of just about every boy in school. “I already got what I wanted.”

Tiffanie just shrugged. “If you say so. Oh, by the way,” she said, putting the money back in her bag and digging for something else. She pulled a tissue out. “Here. You still have a little freak on you, if you catch my drift.”

“... Oh. Right.” Paulina gingerly took the tissue and, with Tiffanie watching her, gently dabbed the purple lipstick off of her mouth. 

Satisfied, Tiffanie nodded and began to walk off. “Star and Ashley are gonna love hearing about this. Shame though. That really wasn’t a half-bad color for you,” she said, still half-laughing to herself.

Paulina followed close behind, unable to tear her eyes from the purple imprints on the tissue. Carefully, making sure Tiffanie couldn’t see, she folded the tissue neatly and put it in her pocket.

Maybe she’d hang on to it just a little longer.

[butch-reidentified]

have you helped women get out of abusive lesbian relationships before?

I have not, but I'd still be happy to help

[williamvapespeare]

"every day i'm fucking smiling;" a rant (cogent, intellectual character study) about Charles

We all know that Charles Rowland is THE character of all time. Obviously. Undisputedly (except by Netflix) blabla. I, a mixed race bisexual idiot with daddy issues, am about to fucking get into it.

I think there are a lot of ways to get into that end of ep 4 scene – I think we can look from trauma, we can look from model minority syndrome, we can look from a place of people pleasing to the extreme, but I think the best way to get into Charles (for me, personally) is to look at him as a character formed of intersections. Of in-betweens. In literally EVERY way possible, he is between things. He’s mixed race, he’s (probably) bisexual, he’s between life and death, he’s between good and bad, he’s probably sitting somewhere between trauma and healing – like, he’s CONstantly engaging in coping mechanisms and that itself is an in between.

Ok this idea of “I must be liked” very obviously will come from living a life where the opposite of not being liked is always violence, and that definitely can’t be understated. But I think this whole scene and this line in particular really speak to this very specific feeling that comes with inhabiting an identity that is ALWAYS seen as “not enough” in some way. Like, if you sit in a place where you don’t speak one side of your family’s language well enough and simultaneously aren’t white enough (or whatever enough) for the other side, you’re just like fundamentally culture-less and fighting to just be ANYTHING.

(Another GREAT example of this I think is the game Life is Strange 2, which is about two Hispanic American brothers, one of them speaks Spanish and the other one is much younger and doesn’t and there’s a bit where the younger brother doesn’t want to leave the US and says “I don’t even speak Spanish” and the other one is like “don’t worry, everyone likes you.” Like YES being “““Likeable””” is maybe the only way in when you are so fundamentally detached from a thing that you are also fundamentally part of, anyway!!)

Similarly, like all of us bisexual people know we’re constantly getting shit from both sides, from straight people and gay people and probably like, corpses decomposing in the ground who are throwing around terms like “gold star lesbian” or whatever the fuck. People just look at whatever relationship you’re in and they’re like ah yep that’s you!!

Like the whole thing is the most reductive narrow-minded stupidity, but it’s also just THE WAY. It’s the way of stuff. And being like ok, I AM NOT ENOUGH OF ANYTHING THAT I AM. How are you going to deal with that, you’re going to try and be likeable?? Because that’s something you can control!!!

And I’m low key so mad that we can’t see a continuation of this story where we get to see a character slowly come to terms with these in-betweennesses and say like, I’m not actually two halves, I’m two wholes. This is intentional in-betweenness. Like yes, blabla let the boy be bi, but it’s SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. And I trust this show and I trust these writers to get that right and we were robbed of that.

So yeah idk tldr “every day I’m fucking smiling” was like the gut punch of the century. Whoever wrote that I’m omw to haunt your local Denny’s with my extroverted mixed race bisexual energy THANK U

[originalwinnercheesecake]

Wish list for CBS ghosts season 4

Make Patience a recurring antagonist for at least 2-3 episodes before that story gets resolved and she gets regulated to a background character.

Patience character to be 50% good religious farm girl, 50% crazy witch. She also needs to have a wicked(ly cool) ghost power

More of Isaac loving dinosaurs

More solo development for Isaac

More of Isaac and Hetty's awesome friendship

No Nigel for a while. I do not like him. He did a lot of things in his and Isaac's relationship that are textbook abusive partner behavior.

I think it is about time for Jay's restaurant to start up, and I would like that to actually become pretty successful/profitable. Mostly because I would like Sam and Jay to have a bit more disposable income to do things around the manor, and I know the B&B is unlikely to become super busy next season (unless the show is ending , which I really do not want).

The difference in treatment between the above ground ghosts and basement ghosts to be addressed. I know after season 3 that they aren't going to move them all up stairs. But it would be nice if Sam and Jay could like furbish the basement , and then more Basement ghosts than just Nancy got invited to come upstairs for games or discussion.

Just to be clear I still want Nancy to keep making her frequent visits up stairs and hang out with the man 8. I just also would not mind seeing Stuart or another nameless basement ghost standing or walking by in the background on the occasion.

Explore Pete's power more. He does not need to hop on a plane and go across the country or anything, but let him keep going out into town and having adventures. Also let him keep going on dates with other random ghosts outside of the house.

I know that Pete&Alberta will probably happen at some point in season 4. The thing is though while that ship was cute in season 1, the way the ship was handled in season 2 soured it like milk to me. Both characters need a lot of development, and separate explorations of what they want out of a relationship, before I can ship them again.

H-Money is still a couple I kinda like. I do not expect them to get back together in season 4 (Please not another season that is fully devoted to coupling up all the character), but I would like them to start scheming together again. Let them figure out how to interact together as friends, and build a stronger foundation to eventually, in season 5 maybe, try again.

I have heard people suggest that Pete's power could maybe be extend to getting the other ghosts through the barrier if they are like holding onto Pete's hand. I want this. Now I know Sass will want to visit a Pizza Hut, and Issac a dinosaur museum, but I would say the most important thing to do with that would be to take Thor and Flower over to the Farnsby manor to visit Bjorn and his girlfriend Judy. It would also be cool if there was a lesbian ghost living there they could set up Nancy with. Since Nisaac is on a "respite" and queer representation (preferably healthy queer representation) is important.

Everyone remember in season 2 when we learned about Flower's super protective, formally MIA, army vet brother : Rob. You remember how the show's staff said they would love to have Rob come to the B&B for a visit, and were already considering actors who could play him? I want this episode. Also if you cannot directly tell Rob his sister is a ghost on the property, then can Trevor or Alberta use their powers to help Flower send a message to Rob. To say that she still loves him. I cannot deal that both siblings spent like 50 years thinking the other hated them when neither did. It is to sad.

It would be cool if we could also have Ira visit once too. I know Flower did not love him like she did Michael or does Thor, but he was still someone who was a big part of her life for a while, and knowing her cannonly had a large impact on his. Maybe we find that while he has done charities in her memory, trauma over watching her be killed by a bear has also lead him to sponsor bear hunts or poaching. Flower is horrified. Then Sam and Jay have to spend his visit looking for a way to convince him that is not what Flower would have wanted.

Four standard episodes for each season are a Halloween episode, an episode where Bela visits, one where Stephanie wakes up, and one where Crash appears and is slightly relevant. I have no idea what to do for an episode with Crash, but for the others

-Ghost animals on Halloween

-Home theater night for ghosts and guests on the night Stephanie wakes up, complete with all the drama of set up and shenanigans that going to the movies encores.

- Bela is broken up with Eric, she does not even like him. This time her and Jay's parents come with her for the visit. Bela wants all the latest gossip surrounding the ghosts, but they have to tip toe around the parents. Jay's dad does not fully support the B&B even without the knowledge that it is haunted, and Sam does not want to give her mother in law another reason to suspect that she might be crazy.

Owning back to the "Can Pete take the other ghosts off the property" theory, can Thomas Woodstone be a ghost who died visiting a neighbors property. We have no reason to see Elias again since he has decided to stay put in Hell. But Thomas reappearing could be interesting for both Hetty and Alberta. If he does show up though I want the twist to be that he is actually severally cognitively impaired (think Lenny from oMaM)... I mean the man was from an inbred family, played with lead based toys as a baby, had a cocaine addict mom, and a father who was a lot of things. He could not have been all there. Also address more on if Earl ever actually cared for any of the people he was two timing (again development that needs to happen to make Alberta want to go from dating an Earl to a Pete).

A Sasappis based episode that is not his death story. I feel like he needs at least one more episode exploring what his life alive was like, to be appropriately gutted when we learn about his secret death.

Actually maybe we can hold off on Sass's death and Hetty's ghost power until season 5. let's keep the element of mystery in the show for a little longer.

[door-insurance]

So I played Life is Strange 2 for the first time ever

I didn’t wanna play it for a long time not cause it didn’t have Chloe or max (tbh I got sick of their asses around BtS they’re not even my faves)

By that point I was in college and had lost interest in the whole franchise but also I was very apprehensive of white creatives writing racism with no input from the group they’re portraying, they don’t usually do a good job

Sometimes they make it cartoony, sometimes they trivialize it, sometimes they romanticize it

So years later adulthood kicked my ass and I came back crawling to this franchise for some comfort, I finished True colors annnnd I finally started 2 after hesitating annnnd

^sketched this while playing

SPOILERS

I actually liked it

I liked Sean, the drawing segment he does- he was such a likable main guy, deserved better honestly.

I also liked Daniel, he was very adorable and I never got it when people called him annoying like no shit the 9 year old is gonna act like a 9 year old- just don’t be a jerk to him, I know he can be frustrating but that’s what taking care of a kid is like

And lis had always been about realistic complex characters, y’all can’t handle a traumatized nine year?

I have two younger siblings and two nieces plus I’ve been a bratty younger sibling to two older sisters

Maybe I’m just used to it?? But honestly Daniel wasn’t that bad

The racism portrayal in the first few episodes was not all that cartoony and it actually felt real at times, like I can check for American news rn and find stories similar to what you see in episodes 1-3 (minus the telekinesis)

Although the gas station racist hick spouting trump slogans was a bit on the nose, it’s more of dialogue thing

Some people thought the gas station detainment was egregious but it can happen unfortunately, especially to vulnerable people in rural areas and by someone of a higher systematic advantage

One other thing I did not like was the love interests, I thought Finn and Cassidy were alright characters on their own but why do we need romance in this game where the protagonists are always on the run?

I don’t like to compare lis 1 to 2 but when it comes to the romance the former did a better job as it spent more time establishing it, plus max stayed in the same place for the majority of the game- but you know what? Sean doesn’t have to be in a relationship right? It can be a one off thing, that’s fine

Which brings me to my next point

How old are Cassidy and Finn?

Cause Sean is still 16 and no, being on the road didn’t mentally age him- he’s not “mature” for his age

He is still a kid

So for some reason Dontnod never really specified their ages but some articles described them as teens (they look 30 to me) and they can be around 18 right? Their lives are hard stress ages you- it happens, we can with live that, it’s just a two years difference

But teens or not

why did they animate a whole knocking the boots scene???

Of all the games in the series, the only one that gets a sex scene is the one with the much younger protagonist and his ambiguously aged older looking love interest and I think it’s only with Cassidy you get to do it in the tent

Alex Chen was robbed of a on screen booty call from a beanie wearing lesbian with a sexy radio voice or a buff ass Adonis of a man who was Smokey the bear’s regional manager or something

Anyways I’m gonna move on I’m uncomfortable lmao

*im not hating on people who ship Sean with either Finn or Cassidy, I’m not even tagging your ship names- im just stating my personal preferences on my blog

One last thing I did not like about LiS 2 and it was the one thing that kept me from playing it for years

That one scene from episode 4

So at this point Sean Diaz went through the following:

-lost his father, had to abandoned his loved ones, education and home

-was accused of killing a cop

-had to take care of his little brother on his own while on the run, the same brother with telekinesis and none of them know how to control it

-was harassed, beaten then detained by a racist white man

-had to take refuge in an abandoned cabin with little resources

-the dog that they adopted at the gas station eventually gets mauled

-the one time they found solace at their grandparents house they had to leave abruptly cause the police was hot on their trail

-on their way out they can potentially witness the neighbors kid that they befriended get hit by the police car that’s chasing them

-they find shelter at a nomad campground but oh no they get involved with drug trafficking cause they barely have any other options to make money (unfortunately this happens a lot IRL this isnt egregious)

-Sean now has to deal with the trafficking, making sure that Daniel doesn’t get into any trouble with his powers while fake ass giancarlo esposito is breathing down his neck

-and guess what happens next… Daniel gets robbed into pulling a heist on temu gus fring and it goes badly, Sean can potentially lose a love interest/friend in Finn

-Sean gets hurt, Daniel goes so mad that he blows the whole place up; a shard glass flies into Sean’s eye and he ends up losing it

- Sean wakes up from a coma and learns that his brother is missing and he’s about to be taken to jail

- the one thing that consistently brought him joy during this trip was his art and because of the missing eye he can’t even do it the same anymore cause it hurts now

- Sean has to escape the hospital with a hot wired car, little money and has to drive across two states just to get to his brother

-on the way he dreams of his father, he wants him back he wants his old life back but that’s not gonna happen so he has to move forward

Im not listing all this as examples of bad story telling, a lot of these are real life experiences of homeless people. im just painting a picture of the shit that Sean had went through so far

Cause right after the dream sequence, Dontnod didn’t think all that was enough no you had to see Sean get hate crimed by two lifetime movie, sitcom special of the week racists- be made to either sing or suffer a brutal beating

It added nothing to the plot, it didn’t need a choice system either- it’s a hate crime, you’re not asking Joyce for fucking pancakes or eggs n bacon at the whales diner or hosing down Lisa the fckin plant.

This to me went straight to trauma p*rn category, it’s wheelchair Chloe all over again

I hated it then in LiS 1 and I hated now in LiS 2, this is why I don’t dick ride Dontnod that often

They always had this tendency right before the end they single out a particular character and mentally whip them, they become the writing teams punching bag- they think we didn’t get it the first time that this character is going through it, they just hammer it in with the subtlety of a heart attack and I hate it

“Yeah but it’s there to show Sean’s resolve to find Daniel-“

HE ESCAPED FROM THE HOSPITAL AND THE FEDS, HE HOT WIRED A CAR TO DRIVE ACROSS TWO STATES

He’s starving, dehydrated, suffering from chronic pain

That’s enough

Let the character breathe

You ask why not a lot of people wanna play this game and I’m gonna tell you, as much I enjoyed it myself it’s not an easy game to play- it gets brutal, especially right around the end

I’m not against bleakness or extreme conflict, I’m into that but sometimes that doesn’t translate well to any gaming format- especially a choices matter game that’s meant to be replayed

Some people have asinine reasons not to play LiS 2 like it dealing with racism and those people suck, lis had always dealt with progressive themes like calling out objectification, cyberbullying and sl*tshaming

Racism shouldn’t be the exemption

but misuse of racial trauma and not knowing when it’s appropriate to invoke it is a huge turn off and hella triggering to a lot of non white players and I remember when LiS 2 dropped I’ve seen (mostly white) lis fans at the time proclaiming that not wanting to play it meant that you were racist

Like I said there were probably racists who didn’t wanna touch the games cause of the main characters skin but there were people like me who were apprehensive of the “Let’s go to the mosh pit Shaka brah” people handling racism

This is the same studio that had Ms Grant (one of the few black characters from LiS 1) claim that the white settlers peacefully shared the stolen land with the native Americans

I find that shit harder to believe than the time traveling powers

And they were doing alright in the first episodes they covered stuff like unconscious biases slipping through, dog whistles, polite racism from the grandparents segment, police brutality, racial profiling and being targeted/othered- some of these things I went through when I visited western countries

Then they did the bullshit I feared theyd do…

I really don’t blame myself for being hyper vigilant at the time and honestly I was going through a lot then, even if I wanted to I wouldn’t have touched LiS 2 cause it’s a very heavy tasking game to play

I know I kinda made it seem like I didn’t like this game but I did, its the best one in terms of the choice system

It had more weight to it, seeing Daniel internalizing what you say to him or how you act around him was so cool

Also what the second game has over the first one aside from the choices system is the ending selection- I never liked picking the endings for max, I wanted her to pick the ending or her coding/script to do that

Its definitely more fleshed out technically even though LiS 1 has a special place in my heart it’s always gonna be no. 1- but im also glad that I got to experience the 2nd game for the first time, I liked it

Personal lis ranking

1: Lis 1

2: Lis 2

3: True colors

Discount bin: BtS

My personal fave moments from LiS 2:

- beating up the racist bully and giving him a concussion

-mushroom (rip icon)

- victorias letter

-winning that that bear from that claw machine

-gorillaz song that was not feel good inc

-Brody pointing at a fucked up looking arcadia bay yelling “that’s the past!”- that was hilarious

-Sean paying tribute to Arcadia bay in his sketchbook (this fucking kid man, he’s so sweet he deserves the world- what did he do to make DONTNOD mad at him)

- the wolf animation and the story that plays before every chapter

-this was the worst hate crime in the whole game

[leikeliscomet]

Heartstopper's Aspec Representation Isn't For Me - And That's Okay (Mini Essay)

Spoilers for Series 3!

So I just finished series 3 and I feel conflicted. I don't hate Heartstopper at all. I think it's a very cute show. I'm happy queer baby gen z and gen alpha have something to see themselves in, I love how Tara, a darkskin Black lesbian girl is happy in her relationship. I'm happy Isaac makes my fellow aspecs happy. I'm happy Charlie tore Ben's singlet in series 2 and for once the victim/survivor is allowed to not forgive their assaulter. I like Heartstopper's little moments but I've felt like something was missing overall and now we're on the third season, I think I know what it is now. There's comments on BL and yaoi by Alice Oseman I don't fully agree with, some of the acting in the show could be a bit better I guess, most of the characters are comfortably in the British middle class and I am a grown adult now so my interest in school/teen dramas has dipped a little bit (but not you Waterloo Road ily <3). So to an extent, there were always gonna be limits on how much I enjoy this show, but nevertheless, I still think they're worth pointing out, especially if we're claiming Heartstopper for the next gen of queer rep. Because honestly having watched shows like Heartbreak High and Koisenu Futari plus being a massive Selah and the Spades fan, I feel a bit robbed in terms of quality.

Isaac still feels underdeveloped and for a show that's been going on for 3 series now this feels disappointing. Like obviously Nick and Charlie get all the screentime as they're the main characters. Tao and Elle got a lot more juicer storylines from s2, Tara and Darcy got more to work with this series even if it was rushed (oh I miss you long series 2010s shows), but Isaac still feels leaps behind everyone else. He didn't really get anything in series 1. In series 2 we saw him coming to terms with his identity which felt like a good starting point but I was still waiting for the 'big asexual plans' Alice Oseman promised and... nothing. I liked his comment about googling aromanticism to Charlie because the representation by PowerPoint style of aspec writing can get tired. I also liked his moment of feeling left out by his friends plus still wanting to know Nick and Charlie's tea, giving him sexual agency whilst aroace instead of feeding into infantilisation. But apart from that... nothing. I wanted to feel more moved by the aquarium scene, but it felt tacked on because whilst Isaac's upset was justified, Imogen just wanted to chat about gay fish, so Isaac came across as a little passive-aggressive instead of what was supposed to be his moment. Plus it feels a little backhanded how much effort series 1 went to in how big coming to terms with your identity is, plus the gorgeous way Isaac's aroace revelation was filmed in series 2 was filmed just to have him blurt it out in an aquarium and have barely any of his friends actually support him like he supported them. But life imitates art I guess. This whole season we've seen characters talking about university plans, gap years and going through the post-16 struggle. But what about Isaac? We never find out what uni he wants to go to or even if he wants to go. What subjects does he like? What job does he want post-school? What's his relationship like with his family? The people need to know! I always found it weird how Isaac was left out to the point where straight characters, whilst still bearing in mind that Tao x Elle is an interracial pairing between two POC and one of which is a trans girl and this is very rare and deserved representation too, had gotten more screentime than him. Imogen, Sahar, Mr Ajayi and Mr Farouk had all been introduced for bigger storylines but Isaac, despite being in the main group, still had to wait for his share. This series was such a huge moment for everyone but Isaac... again. And whilst I'm happy if everyone else is, I genuinely feel like we all deserve better.

Tori was given bigger moments this series and that was great because I was waiting for my introverted slurping sister to come through. Her concern and care for Charlie and jealousy of Nick were great plus with the introduction of Michael, it was all leading to the big reveal of Tori being ace, right? Right? Wrong, because this scene was cut from the ferris wheel moment and I have no idea why. Oseman confirmed it was because Tori's storyline will continue in s4 and she didn't want to rush it but like, what? Series 3, at least in my eyes, did an alright job at building up her coming out. And again, if Nick could get his bi awakening in a one series arc, why can't this asexual character then too? They also covered Darcy's non-binary transition and coming out in this series too so I don't know why there wasn't room for Tori apparently. There was plenty of room for an 'I'm asexual' within those 5 minutes. Waiting to develop her in series 4, which is yet to be confirmed and likely to be the show's last series so it will already have a lot to do with wrapping up the Nick x Charlie saga seems like a poor decision. This is the second time we've had to wait till next season for the aspec character's arc by the way.

I'd like to see some aroallo POVs on this but this season put a lot of emphasis on linking love and sex together and it felt a bit strange icl. Yes, they're linked socially/societally and it's great to have sex with someone you love and love someone you have sex with etc etc etc but the first 2 series made a point of separating the two by showing love without sex and how it was just as meaningful. Almost every time a character was sexually attracted to another e.g. calling them hot or started making out because they wanted to have sex in that given moment there would be a dialogue from one of them going 'it's okay we're in love 'it's normal you're in love' 'well that's what people in love do!' and these are all correct statements but like... we get it! You don't have to be head over heels in love to find someone sexually attractive or just want to have sex with them. It's okay if you're not in love too y'know? I'm not sure what that constant reassurance was for because depicting sex without love isn't as pearl clutchy as it seems when all parties are safe, consenting and comfortable, or, if you've ever had any knowledge about aro(allo) spaces tbf. Nick and Charlie are not aspec and are very much sexually attracted to each other so the conclusion of them having sex isn't surprising at all, especially when I already knew from tweets back in series 1 that Heartstopper the comic already had a storyline later on of the two having sex for the first time. Plus the other characters aren't aspec either so their sexual debuts are also unsurprising and deserved. Plus, I'm actually glad they included Tara and Darcy having sex because many 'sex positive' shows seem to leave out the lesbians. But for a show with an aroace creator and aspec characters, the depictions of romance and sex don't feel like they were written from an aspec lense or for an aspec audience. It's normal for people to be romantically and sexually attracted to each other and then date and have sex. But if you're aspec, you know this. We all know this. This is the mainstream and default depiction of human (hetero)sexuality. We're watching the queer shows to see something different from that. When romance without sex can only hinge on the characters being below the age of consent plus a supposed 'innocence' due to their young age and sex without love is non existent, plus when you factor in how there are no aroallo or alloace characters in the show with 'groundbreaking' aspec representation, it makes for a bit of a headscratcher. Heartstopper may be made by an aspec, has aspec characters and aspec fans, I don't consider it an aspec show. Bit sad, but it is what it is.

It's honestly strange how despite this fact, asexuality and aromanticism is barely mentioned in the main discourse about this show. Antis claim Oseman is a cishet woman despite being non-binary and aroace. They blame the sexlessness of the show on puritanism despite Oseman being aroace. There's constant arguments about how 'unrealistic' it is for teenagers to not have sex despite Isaac being a whole teenage aroace and how some people just didn't have sex in their teens... like aspecs. People are annoyed the show keeps giving Isaac aromantic and asexual storylines because it's 'not as important' and they 'don't care' as if he's not a main cast member and again, the creator is aroace! If you look at the promo pictures of the show, it has the main three pairings, Nick and Charlie, Tao and Elle and Tara and Darcy and no Isaac. Despite the fact it's supposed to be 'for' us and made by one of us, it's not. And a lot of non aspec queer fans watching the show don't see it for us despite being made by one of us either. And that's a real shame.

I'm fully aware Oseman knows about writing aroace characters from the book Loveless, which has an aroace MC. But I think Netflix choosing to adapt Heartstopper over Loveless was intentional. I think Netflix creating Isaac instead of Aled, a demi gay non-binary character from the og comic, was intentional. I think all the decisions Netlix made with Isaac and Tori are intentional, the same way bringing Yasmin Benoit to the Sex Education writers room to cut half of O's storylines was intentional. Netflix has fumbled the bag with asexual and aromantic representation several times now (Cash Piggot and Todd notwithstanding) so at this point, I'm not surprised anymore. Again, I'm happy for anyone who really likes Heartstopper, but I've finally accepted that it's not for me. And that's okay. When someone makes the predominantly aspec, slightly more grown, queer show with fully fleshed out arcs for its's asexual and/or aromantic characters or hits up Lovie Simone for the scrapped Selah and the Spades TV show, I know where I'll be.

We deserved our moments too. We deserve our Heartstopper.

[asnarkyandironicusername]

Every person has a RomCom, just like a soulmate; I truly believe there is one out there for everyone. To prove this, let me share the recommendations I would give to our favorite profilers

My recommendation for Aaron Hotchner would be Beach Read by Emily Henry. Now, it may sound like a bit of a reach, but I think he would connect with Gus - he had a complicated relationship with his father (which arguably could have led to him pursuing his career to help others) and also has regrets from his younger years. I think he would appreciate the cheesiness of their competition, as he is a competitive person but, around the right people, has no problem laughing a little at himself.

David Rossi would be Love In the Time Of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson because he could relate to her researching serial killers & how that work, along with personal trauma, shapes our social connections. Also, the love interest is mildly put off by serial killers & notices her self-sabotaging detachment but plans to stick it out with her anyway and he definitely needs the kind of partner who is willing to meet him where he is.

We were robbed of lesbian Emily Prentiss (personally always saw her Bi, but that’s neither here nor there), but I know she won’t even look at a rom-com if it isn’t Sapphic. I know One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston has a home on her bookshelves and would definitely recommend her Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner.

Derek Morgan is definitely a sports rom-com guy. However, my recommendation for him is actually The Rom-com Agenda by Jayne Denker. I will not be elaborating.

Now, JJ could go one of two ways - She definitely still has a competitive edge so I could see her digging some sports romance, but the real question in my mind is would JJ read a queer romance? I don’t think she would avoid them in a homophobic way, but I definitely could see her going through a phase where she questioned her sexuality, but it made her nervous so she just compartmentalized it and now only reads straight rom-coms OR she was totally comfortable with her sexuality and can actually enjoy a queer rom-com without it stirring up complicated feelings. In this scenario, I’m picking the latter and recommending (despite the cliche of it) Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner.

For Spencer Reid, I have three suggestions: Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood and Love In the Time Of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson and The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. I think his physics inclinations could make Love, Theoretically a good pick, but IDK if there are any inaccuracies. Love In the Time Of Serial Killers is up his alley and deals with a protagonist who seeks academic validation instead of social. The Seven Year Slip only feels like a fit because he’s a Doctor Who fan & it involves time travel & wobbly wobbly stuff.

You know that Penelope Garcia is just gobbling up any and all rom-com with a fistful of popcorn and lots of giggling and feet kicking.

[scoopstomyahoy]

i’ve seen a couple lavender marriage stobin posts, but what about lavender dating stobin?

they’re both way too young to get married — robin’s parents especially would be shocked, and, well, steve’s parents would just be shocked by his choice. but maybe when robin goes back to school after summer ‘85, all the girls in her grade are asking how she possibly landed steve the hair harrington.

and she’s soooo sick of it. she’s sick of telling someone that they aren’t dating and getting asked the same question by another girl the very next period. she’s sick of the way they treat steve like a prize to be won and not a human being and let’s be honest, a dingus. and she’s sick of the way everyone is scandalized by the thought of him dating HER because at some point, it kind of just hurts her feelings!

and she goes on a rant one day in front of a whole group of people about how basically, none of them ever stood a chance with steve, because they didn’t see who he really was and they didn’t treat him the way he deserved to be treated and she could totally land a hottie like him if she actually wanted to, for the record, and that she’s sick of everyone harassing her over it and making her (and steve) feel like zoo animals behind thick glass.

and everyone is staring at her, and oops, she didn’t say they were dating, but these normies wouldn’t understand the concept of platonic soulmates even if she tried to explain it. so they all think she’s dating steve.

“everyone thinks we’re dating, steve,” she grumbles when he picks her up from school that day. and, well, she wonders what could possibly have given them the impression that they were dating, when he picks her up from school like he does every day, and tosses her a little candy bar, the kind she likes, probably because he saw it at the gas station and thought she’d want it and just. bought it. because he loves her.

steve looks at her. “uh, yeah?”

because this is not actually news. dustin has been convinced they’re dating for months, and she’s been complaining about the kids at school for weeks.

“no, like, they really believe we’re dating now.” she cringes. “uhh. i might have said something that implied we were.”

steve snorts.

“not on purpose!” she cries.

steve snorts again. “doofus.”

“shut up, dingus. it’s a problem! i was, you know, defending your honor—” a third snort “—and i just didn’t deny our relationship like i normally do, and everyone took that as— admission.” her hands fly around her as she talks.

steve is silent. she looks at him. he’s thinking. hard.

“well,” he says, “that wouldn’t be… the worst thing. right?”

“what.”

“i just mean, if we were dating—”

“LESBIAN, steve!” robin points to herself.

“i know! i know, jeez-us. if everyone thought we were dating, like, actually, that could solve some of our problems.”

“explain.”

“like, i keep striking out, but that’s ‘cause i’m not really interested in hooking up with girls who aren’t looking for anything serious anymore. and you said i should try to be single for a while, ‘be comfortable with my own company’ or whatever—”

“it’s healthy!”

“sure! yeah, whatever! so i could be single with you, and you, you could, you know, you’d be a little safer. i could be your… goatee.”

“beard.”

“that.”

“although, i don’t know, maybe for lesbians it is a goatee.”

“rob, we’re getting off topic. my point is, we could… we could be dating.”

robin considers it. “you want to fake date.”

“not like, actually fake date. like, i’m not taking you to the diner and sharing a milkshake with two straws after we see the latest john hughes.”

“steve, we have literally done exactly that.”

“oh. right.”

“wait,” robin says, “wait wait wait. we have literally done exactly that.”

“right,” steve says.

“steve, are we…. are we already fake dating?”

it’s steve’s turn to consider it. “wait, are you the reason i keep striking out?”

“hey!”

“kidding!”

anyway. they talk it out a bit more, and robin warms up to the idea. because steve isn’t wrong, she would be safer if people thought she had a boyfriend. she had never dated a boy before. and dustin might lay off of steve for a little bit if steve admits he was right. (steve groans, loudly, at the idea of ever admitting to the little genius that he’s right.) and they don’t have to make some huge announcement to the world, posting it on the school’s bulletin board for everyone to see.

but maybe robin would stop getting weird looks in the locker room if she had a boyfriend to prove people wrong.

[maxcreatesthings]

AU: Instead of kidnapping and stealing Percy's and Jason's memories, Hera decided to make a sort of school swap with the Big Three children.

---

Summary: Greek and Roman demigods mix like oil and water.

Greek demigods are far more sporadic, easier to trust, more powerful, and chaotic. But they lack the numbers and the quick but good work the Roman demigods have.

Roman demigods are far more organized, they have more strength in numbers, and they know how to work quickly and get the best results. But they lack the power that comes with being a direct descendant of a god/dess, and the trust that comes with having constant life-or-death situations.

Not to mention the Big Three kids.

Camp Jupiter has two of them, Jason Grace and Hazel Levesque, a son of Jupiter and a daughter of Pluto respectively.

Jason could control the winds, and Hazel could pull the riches from the ground.

Camp Halfblood had the whole set with Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson, and Nico di Angelo.

Thalia could control lightning, and Nico could control the undead.

The best way to describe Percy's power? He could control anything that has water in it.

So what would happen if these two forces were to mix?

---

Ships: Jason/Percy (future), Thalia & Reyna (they're in a qpr), Will/Nico (future), Percy/Annabeth (present + polyamory!!!!), Annabeth/Piper (future), Frank/Hazel (future)

---

What I changed from canon:

Hazel's age. Her and Frank's canon relationship sorta gives me the ick since she's 13 and he's 16. She's 14 here, and won't be dating Frank until she's around 15-16 years old.

The Lost Hero + The Son of Neptune never happened here, obviously. Piper and Leo were latecomers, so to speak, but both of them got claimed by the first week like how it happened canonically.

Leo and Percy are balls of ultimate dumbassery and chaos together!!!! We were robbed of their friendship in canon for real. And also, Leo's aroace. Thalia helped him find the terms of his sexuality. He won't stop flirting and being himself, of course, he's just aroace now.

Speaking of sexualities, polyamorous percabeth <3

in this au, Annabeth and Percy are more chill with their relationship. sometimes they go on dates with other people if they want to, their partner knowing full well what happens and who they're dating.

genderfuck + asexual Percy the Beloved

no but seriously, i think he would not give a damn about his gender or sex. he could do either if someone else wants him to, but he generally doesn't care about it

Nico and Thalia getting adopted into the Jackson-Blofis household

the addition of Max Jackson and Ezra Jackson, two of my OCs that Sally fosters for Percy so that he could adopt them both when the time is right.

Nico still revived Hazel and became an Ambassador of Pluto for a bit, but Hera screwed with his plans to keep things hushed up about the Greek/Roman division. He helps (somewhat) with easing both Hazel & Jason into Camp HalfBlood and Percy & Thalia into Camp Jupiter.

did I mention that most of the big three kids are gonna have a sibling dynamic? because they're going to have a sibling dynamic (except for jercy, of course)

pipabeth is… well, it's happening, as much as lesbians who are so dumb about each other can be anyways (they are in a situationship is what I'm trying to say here)

the big three children can be dark sometimes, and that's okay!! we <3 the dark! little big three here

Annabeth isn't as controlling as she is canonically (someone had to say it)

Piper is less "I'm not like other girls"

Leo is a bit more mature, and doesn't make fun of people he doesn't know well like he did with Frank in Mark of Athena

Edit: forgot to mention that percy is a hopeless romantic here! He's the one who remembers any anniversary, gifts, etc form his loved ones

---

If you have any questions about this au, feel free to ask! it's still in development here, and I'd love to hear your thoughts about this au <3

[homosexuhauls]

I haven't seen anyone mention it on here, most likely because English language news sources are reporting them as friends, but a man murdered a lesbian couple in Hong Kong last week.

(Twitter thread includes more sources and proof of the two victims being in a relationship. However, video of the attack exists online and some of the photos in Chinese news articles are graphic/disturbing. Please proceed with caution.)

Fang Xiaotong (26 years old) and Liu Jixi (22 years old) were stabbed to death by a 39 year old man in a targeted attack in a shopping mall. Allegedly, he purchased the knife only after seeing the visibly gay couple, then attacked Fang Xiaotong, who was a Tom, which has a similar meaning to a butch or stud or masc lesbian. Liu Jixi attempted to intervene to save her girlfriend, but the perpetrator stabbed her also. Bystanders and mall security did not intervene, although eventually chefs who worked at the mall heard screams and armed themselves with stools before attempting to stop the attacker. The perpetrator then waited calmly for the police, and both women were pronounced dead at the hospital. While Western sources are painting this as a result of mental illness, the video and local news stories make it clear that this was likely a hate crime.

(Nb. I've also seen their names given as Fong Hiu-tung and Lau Kai-hei, and also that they may have used the nicknames "Daniel" and "Amber". I can't know which names they would have preferred to be used, hence why I'm including all of them here but using Fang Xiaotong and Liu Jixi throughout the post for consistency and clarity.)

From Naomi Wu, whose twitter thread I've linked above, an explanation of the sometimes deadly hostilities Toms and other lesbians face in China and Hong Kong:

When men attack Toms (butches), they think a lot of things- sometimes in Chinese we say "one lesbian steals two men's wives"- herself and her partner. And for bitter middle-aged, unmarried men like this attacker, they've been told their whole life they are owed a wife to wait on them hand and foot- and they feel robbed and wronged by a young handsome Tom taking what's "theirs". They are angry, entitled, jealous- they want to teach her a lesson. They want to punish her for having what is rightfully theirs when they don't. Then it's "Oh, if you want to act like a man, I'll treat you like one". Most need to justify it to themselves to get started. Of course, the femme/Dee/P is always next, because we will fight to save our Tom, and once we do, they can justify turning their violence on us next. In their twisted head, they decide their unprovoked attack was "fighting 1-on-1" and it's our fault for getting involved. All Toms know the deal, they cannot win, all Toms tell their girls again and again "if something happens, just run, I can take it". When the time comes, all Toms try to buy their girl time to get away- even as they go down under fists and boots...or knives They want to buy us time, but no femmes can bear to leave them, so it never works. But they always go for our Toms first, then us. Every time.

Fang Xiaotong was a waiter in a high-end restaurant. She loved small animals and children and had lived with her mother and step-sister prior to moving in with Liu Jixi one to two months before the attack. Liu Jixi was a hair stylist and also worked part-time at a bar, which is apparently where she and Fang Xiaotong met. On the day of the attack, both women were planning to meet up with Fang Xiaotong's family to celebrate her grandfather's birthday.

Rest in peace 🫶 your courage will not be forgotten.

[girl4music]

“But without a doubt the most iconic on-screen lesbian representation to come from the 90’s and perhaps of all-time is unquestionably Xena and Gabrielle from ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’. A series which started airing in 1995 and spanned 6 seasons following the character of Xena, an infamous warrior on a quest to seek redemption for her past sins alongside the small town bard Gabrielle. It’s no secret that the writers for Xena purposefully implemented romantic subtext between the characters of Xena and Gabrielle from the very beginning. This subtext eventually bled into main text in the later seasons. Xena and Gabrielle were declared soulmates, they kissed on the lips more than once, and they even got married. It’s also been confirmed my the creator of Xena, Rob Tapert, in numerous interviews that the romantic relationship between the two was deliberate and carefully planted in the show. He and the writers had to contend with the censors - meaning that they were limited with what they could portray on-screen. Tapert has also said that they had written an episode where they actually outed Xena and Gabrielle but Universal told them that they couldn’t use it so they ended up having to do a rewrite. The show, at its core, is a piece of lesbian media but it’s a piece that is distorted by performative heterosexual elements for the sake of keeping the studio happy and to keep it marketable to as big an audience as possible. It’s been well documented that the writers faced a lot of barriers with the network desperately trying to censor any overt romantic implications between Xena and Gabrielle. However, the writers creative efforts to get around the censorship alongside the lightening in a bottle chemistry that Lucy and Renee had undoubtably created one of the most iconic lesbian couples of all-time. ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ is an example of lesbian representation that managed to thrive against censorship and it was a lifeline for a lot of lesbians and bisexual women in the 90’s who struggled to see that type of relationship and love between two women anywhere else. It really is a special show and alongside Ellen is absolutely one of the most defining pieces of lesbian media from the 90’s” - @sapphicunderground

Please check out this wonderful creator’s breakdown of the negative and positive lesbian representation of the 90’s. It is thoroughly educational and insightful and it affectionately gushes about my favourite TV show and WLW relationship of all-time. I still don’t know if can call Xena and Gabrielle a lesbian couple or relationship given I headcanon Xena as bisexual but I can say that it is absolutely the greatest lesbian representation that I have ever seen in my life. And I implore people who want to see proper positive lesbian or WLW representation to watch this show. Sapphic Underground also has a 1 hour long lesbian review of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ on her YouTube that I would also recommend people to please check out.

When we talk of positive representation for LGBTQ media here on Tumblr or on any social media platform… I hate that Xena and Gabrielle are almost always ignored or even removed entirely from the conversation just because it was not explicitly textually confirmed as canon when it is easily one of the most authentic representations of WLW there is. Like,… in principle. Not just in TV but in any platform of art/entertainment that has ever been created. The creators for Xena went above and beyond expectations to provide something that was sorely missing in the landscape of art/entertainment media. Like if you watched it, you would understand what I mean with this. It’s revolutionary what they did with it.

[mayapapaya33]

A Game of You/ Brief Lives

I'm seeing some people complain about Thessaly in such a way where it implies that they think the narrative likes her? Guys, she sucks on purpose lol. I am begging all of you to pay attention in English/Lit class more often. Wanda is clearly the hero of the story, everyone treating her badly are dicks, it could not be more clear. I love Wanda so much. Thessaly should die in a fire lmfao. (the parallels between her and Esther from Dead Boy Detectives are fascinating, I wonder if they ever met?) All the people giving Wanda shit are wrong; Thessaly, The Animated Severed Face on the Wall, the Moon Goddess, her family, etc.

Death, the most level headed, kind, compassionate character in all of Sandman is on Wanda's side. It's generally bad form to read the author's personal stance from one particular character, but Death is as close to a stand in for Neil Gaiman's personal opinion as we are ever going to see in a story as far as I can tell. She is always who he gives the final say to in terms of morality over every other character, very much including Dream. (We also got Barbie being a ride or die, and the disaster lesbian neighbors Hazel and Foxglove being confused but supportive, and the homeless lady Wanda helped talking about her grandson being like Wanda and how dumb it was that people were so cruel and just because some people are different it doesn't make them bad.) Go read it again.

Neil Gaiman literally talked to his Trans friends about their lives and the stuff that was happening to them and then put it in his comic in 1989! I repeat, 1989! (through to 1996). No, the terms and language aren't all going to match up to 2024, Think, please, I beg of you. He wrote Desire as non binary before that was really a thing "Well why didn't he just use They/Them" IT WAS 1989 PEOPLE!!!!!! (the concept obviously has existed for longer, I'm talking specifically about language trends).

(Characters in stories doing or saying bad things to other Characters does not make the Story Itself racist/ sexist/ homophobic/ transphobic/ etc).

I've also seen people talking about Thessaly and Dream dating, again Dream is making poor life choices, as per usual! I think he was initially attracted by her audacity and strength, and her longevity. Him sulking Byronically and inconveniently in the rain he himself creates to be more moody and Goth about being dumped is meant to contrast sharply with the scene after You Know What happens at the end of Brief Lives. He returns home to the Castle and quietly walks through the corridors, being polite and kind to everyone (freaking them out a bit in the process), he slowly washes the blood off his hands, and collapses into a chair to mourn deeply in solitude and silence. No more drama, no more rain, no more epic windswept shots of him staring pensively into the distance, just true sadness. It's almost like his earlier performance about being upset by Thessaly's absence doesn't actually matter that much in the face of true tragedy.

The first is shallow and dramatic, He's the Prince of Stories, he falls in love at the drop of a hat, but he's bad at maintaining relationships. The Drama is inherent to his being. He IS stories. But in the second situation it's more real, he's more real. The Grief is too much to bear turning it into a story. Dream is being forced to face harsh Reality. After all, like Dream said, stories are how we keep ourselves alive, "If you rob them of their Dreams, if you take away their hope, then yes, this is the truth of Mankind." Perhaps it's also the Truth of the Collective Unconsciousness of Mankind? His path forward was set from that moment on.

[greaseonmymouth]

do you like THIEVES? are you a hardcore Leverage fan? somebody who watches Ocean's 11 - or Ocean's 8 - and think 'wish that were me'? do you want to eat Neal Caffrey up with a spoon? do you think the British Museum should give back all their stolen art?

boy, do I have the book for you!

PORTRAIT OF A THIEF by GRACE D. LI

This was how things began: Boston on the cusp of fall, the Sackler Museum robbed of 23 pieces of priceless Chinese art. Even in this back room, dust catching the slant of golden, late-afternoon light, Will could hear the sirens. They sounded like a promise.

Will Chen, a Chinese American art history student at Harvard, has spent most of his life learning about the West - its art, its culture, all that it has taken and called its own. He believes art belongs with its creators, so when a Chinese corporation offers him a (highly illegal) chance to reclaim five priceless sculptures, it's surprisingly easy to say yes.

Will's crew, fellow students chosen out of his boundless optimism for their skills and loyalty, aren't exactly experienced criminals. Irene is a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything; Daniel is pre-med with steady hands and dreams of being a surgeon. Lily is an engineering student who races cars in her spare time; and Will is relying on Alex, an MIT dropout turned software engineer, to hack her way in and out of each museum they must rob.

Each student has their own complicated relationship with China and the identities they've cultivated as Chinese Americans, but one thing soon becomes certain: they won't say no.

Because if they succeed? They earn an unfathomable ten million each, and a chance to make history. If they fail, they lose everything...and the West wins again.

WHAT YOU GET

pretentious af college students (mostly Will) who think they can get whatever they want (mostly Irene (but also Will))

STREET RACES. do you like Fast & Furious? good

complicated feelings about everything but especially, like, lesbians having complicated feelings about other lesbians who then fall in love (Irene and Alex)

FOUND FAMILY. the real treasure is the friendships we made along the way, and like, maybe also the relationships we repaired along the way

healing through stealing (Daniel (and Lily (and Alex (and Daniel's dad and Will and Irene and—))))

ART

discussions of identity, colonialism (and colonised art), art repatriation, the immigrant experience, class,

THEFT. so much theft. THIEVES BEING THIEVES.

immovable object ("girls have broken themselves trying to change him"!boy by which I mean Will because of course it's Will) meets unstoppable force (Lily)

did I say healing? I think I meant stealing. no healing. no stealing. no—

anyway everyone should read this book

[saltywinteradult]

I’ve seen Alicent stans who are anti Rhaenicent make this argument so I want your honest truth. Hand on heart, is the only reason you ship Rhaenicent because Alicent has no other female relationship in either book or show minus Helaena?

Absolutely not.

Shipping isn't a zero-sum game to me. If Alicent had any other women in her life besides Helaena, I might ship her with them too. For comparison, I totally ship Rhaenyra with Laena (we were ROBBED!!!) and I even have a soft spot for Rhaenyra and Harwin (yeah, we were kinda robbed of that one too. Damn those time jumps!). Likewise, I am absolutely on board with platonic Alicole because for all his flaws, Criston is one of the few positive relationships Alicent has (and also because it's objectively hilarious how Criston puts Alicent on a pedestal as the Mother incarnate while Alicent, the lesbianest lesbian to ever lesbian, is still lusting after Rhaenyra decades after their breakup). However, none of this changes the fact that I consider Rhaenyra and Alicent to be the central relationship of the show. The fact that I don't think Rhaenicent will ever be canon doesn't change that. Their messy gay breakup is not the only thing that caused the Dance of the Dragons, but it sure as hell contributed a lot. It's a divorce so toxic it caused war crimes to be committed and thousands of people to die. Is it a deeply toxic dynamic? Yes. Is it by far the best relationship on the show? Also yes.

[theloganator101]

Why Vaggie Being an Exorcist Angel is Worse Than you Think

So I was scrolling on here seeing what Tumblr has for me today, and then I saw one post saying how Vaggie being an Exorcist is a "brilliant test" to Charlie's character and how she has to show that she really does believe in forgiveness and redemption.

And I'm like "Okay, but you DO realize that in doing so, you sacrifice Vaggie's character just to make her into this plot device to "test" Charlie and be a lesbian trophy to cling to her side no matter what right?"

And I know that probably sounds a little harsh but CAN YOU BLAME ME WHEN THE SHOW LITERALLY GIVES ME NOTHING ABOUT VAGGIE TO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT HER OTHER THAN HER RELATIONSHIP WITH CHARLIE!? AND EVEN THE RELATIONSHIP ITSELF IS HOLLOW AND SAYS NOTHING ABOUT EITHER OF THEM!!

The interesting points of a character being either an angel or a demon in this world is that it opens many possibilities and theories as to what their previous lives as human was like and how they ended up in either Heaven or Hell. Like how Alastor was a serial killer during his time, or that Angel's sister was good enough to become an angel.

But then you have Vaggie, in which it's heavily implied that Adam was the one who created the Exorcist Angels so it kind of robs Vaggie of having her own backstory to flesh her out better. Now it's at this point that we really don't know much about Exorcist Angels and how they're chosen or if they're even made, but given the context clues we were given, I heavily lean into that Adam made them.

Because if Vaggie WAS a human, why would she agree to change her name unless they went by code names. And how would they be able to recruit others to join if the majority of Heaven didn't know about the Exterminations? Yeah you see how poorly thought out this kind of is?

It feels like Vivzie added the twist without fully thinking about how this would effect the plot AND the world building of the story, so unless we learn something new in Season 2, I stand by the notion that by making Vaggie an Exorcist Angel, it robbed her of having a potentially good backstory to make her an actual character instead of Lesbian love interest.