#those characters are queer. please.... let me write them...let me show you the way

[bikananjarrus]

always a bit of a whiplash moment (and a disappointing one at that) when i'm reminded that characters that i've headcanoned as queer aren't actually canonically queer. like somebody refers to them as straight and i'm just ????? THAT guy???? you think that guy is straight?? now i've got bad vision but i don't think i'm the one who needs to get their eyes checked lol

[novella-november]

Here's a WIP list of my ideas for a full year of monthly writing events!

If you have any suggestions *please* feel free to send them in :D

Not everyone has free time to do a full 30k in November in particular, and the key of learning to write consistently...... is consistency!

Writing in earnest for just one month out of the year doesn't give you much practice, does it?

But 30k every single month can be exhausting an daunting!

So, here's my WIP proposal....

------

January [15k total / 500 each day]-- Public Domain-Day Dash -- On January 1st, pick a brand-new Public Domain work, read/study it for a week while brain storming, then spend the next three weeks writing 5k words to make by the end of the month a 15k word short story, adapting that PD Work into another genre / time period / etc. February [20k total / ~714 Each day ] -- Freedom February -- Black History Month. Each week, write 5,000 words each week celebrating freedom from tyranny in all its forms. March [9,300 total / 300 each day] -- Spring Equinox -- Each day, write 300 words based on the concepts of warmth, renewal, rebirth, changing of the guard, etc. April [8k total / ~285 per day] -- April Fools -- Each week, write 2k words of a comedy short story, to end the month with 8k words of comedy. May [6,200k total / 200 each day] -- International Workers Celebration -- Each day, write 200 words about a character in your line of work (or a nonfiction diary/article) and what you enjoy about it and how it keeps the world turning, or saving the world in some emergency, then take some time to relax, you've earned it! June [15k total / 500 each day] -- Pride Month -- write 500 words each day, either fictional or nonfictional, about queer history, pride, solidarity, or intersectionality. July [15.5k words total / 500 each day] -- Disability Pride Month -- Each day, write 500 words about your favorite genre, from the perspective of a disabled character (or a character with your own disabilities), and what kind of accommodations they use in their daily lives, without magically erasing their disability. August [15.5k words total / 500 each day]-- Alien August -- Aliens have invaded! Pick your favorite genre, and each day, write 500 words of that genre, with a plot that gets interrupted by an alien visitation! September [60-100 Pages / 2-3 each day] -- Scripting September -- Each day, write 2-3 script pages for an audio-drama, stage-play, or movie/tv show, to end the month with a 60 to 100 page script. October [20k total / 714 each day] -- Ominous October -- A choice of themes will be decided on before October, two options for each week, and everyone will write a 5k word short horror/spooky story each week, that all get posted on October 31st / Halloween

November -- Novella November [30k total / 1k each day]-- Write 1k words a day to reach 30k words by the end of the month. You can write a 30k word novella, use it as the start of a larger novel, write a series of short stories (such as writing a 7.5k word short story per week), etc. [30k total / 1k each day] December -- Don't Touch It December [6,200k total / 200 each day] -- this is your month of relaxation! Write just 200 words per day about anything you enjoyed / are proud of from the past year, and what you are looking forward to in the future! [6,200k total / 200 each day]

If you prefer to focus on just the longer challenges and spend the other months editing, we can also have mirror events each month for different ways of editing with community support!

Things like Beta reader swaps, doing cover mockups, localization help for those not writing in their first language, etc!

[zombee]

I feel like the luckiest Our Flag Means Death fan in the world after the season 2 finale. By a series of incredible circumstances - including a significant metatextual realization that came in at the 11th hour - it was close to perfect for me.

This essay has everything. Completely normal behavior over a television series. Steven Universe references. The David Jenkins School of Whatever is Best for the Bit. Humbling catharsis.

First: this piece does not exist with the central thesis of “it’s okay to not like something but that’s not the same thing as it being bad.” I feel like thousands of words have already been written on this since Thursday, so I’m going to try to not get too in depth on that.

Second, cards on the table, because it’s relevant and I don’t want to waste your time if this is going to sour your ability to hear me out: I’m an Izzy Canyon hater. For MANY reasons, but from way before the concept of the Canyon existed, (some) Izzy fans pinged me in the same way as Snape/Kylo Ren fans did, and before May 2022 was over I went from genuinely enjoying Izzy’s character and place in the narrative to hating him because his fans made it impossible for me to enjoy him anymore.

(SOME! of his fans. Please don’t keep making me say this, although I’m not going to talk about the Canyon directly anymore after this. I know there are a ton of normal Izzy Enjoyers and even Canyonites, I am literally friends with many of them, please take this all in the good faith it’s intended and if you’re not One Of The Bad Ones then you’re fine! I very carefully don’t go anti-Izzy on main, and when I stopped enjoying his character, I stopped writing him into fics. I’m not trying to be a dick, I just want to be honest. Anyway.)

The season 2 finale made me weep over Izzy Goddamn hands.

ALL season long, I was disgruntled. All season long. I really, truly, DEEPLY appreciated what they were doing with his character and arc, I thought it was wildly on brand for the themes of community/queerness in the show, I saw the vision, I liked it!!! But. I wanted a fucking apology, yall. I needed three seconds of “sorry I called you a slur, Ed :/” and that would have been enough. But I had to let it go. It was poisoning my enjoyment of the whole season, which I loved with very little exception (not none!) and I just had to let it go. I wasn’t getting an apology. That didn’t negate what they were doing with his character.

Yall. They withheld the apology on purpose.

THIS FUCKING SHOW!!!

Let’s go back a bit. I was at the episode 6 + 7 screening, and the breakup shook me. Probably a LOT more than if I had watched it alone in bed at 3am on my laptop - five days of no sleep after NYCC, lots of emotions, seeing it on a big screen with a hundred other intense fans, etc etc - but I did see other folks reacting in parallel ways to me when the episodes aired to the regular public, so maybe I would have felt the same way. Regardless, I was mad at Stede and to a lesser extent Ed. I NEEDED AN APOLOGY FOR THAT FISH LINE. I needed it! “Whativah” autocorrects to “WHATIVAH” in my phone. I was going through it.

(When I rewatched the episode when it aired it was not nearly as bad as I remember, lol)

So now the episode 8 screeners go out and the reviews drop and I think I catch one half-glimpse of a “What a heartbreaking ending!” kind of snippet, and some of my friends who are spoiler fiends unintentionally drop little hints about similar ideas (devastating/heartbreaking/split the fandom) type shit.

And I was a fucking WRECK! about it.

I do love this whole show with my whole chest. I do!!! But I’m not rotted because this is an excellent television show, I’m rotted because two old men kiss each other! On the MOUTH!!! in an excellent television show. You get it, right? I’ve written 700,000 words across almost 100 fics and 98% of them are dedicated to those two men falling in love in different universes. 

So it just did not even occur to me the “heartbreak/devastation/fandom split” would be about anything but Gentlebeard.

Another piece of this that was fucking me up - David Jenkins and his “satisfactory” ending biz. My brain was reacting like this show was ENDING ending, even if I knew logically! that this is just season 2!!! And I wasn’t ready for that, because what if it wasn’t personally satisfying, and I’m a mess about it? Why was I so worried about not liking it? I’d liked the whole season! Even if they didn’t nail the landing I wasn’t going to stop writing fic or hanging out with my pirate community & friends. 

…is what I kept trying to tell myself, but the way anxiety disorders work is funny like that lol. What if I did stop writing fic and hanging out in pirate spaces? That would hurt much more than a show I like disappointing me. And for anyone who’s having that experience with ofmd s2, I’m so very, very sorry. It sucks and that’s where my epiphany came from on Wednesday before the finale.

Because it has happened to me before.

I flit from hyperfocus to hyperfocus, as ya do when you’re spicy, but the last thing to get its hooks in me PROPERLY like pirates was Steven Universe. And I did NOT like the way the regular season ended!!! (I actually really did like most of Future; that’s not what I mean. I mean season 5). I don’t like how they handled the Diamonds, tldr; I think the scope of their villainy got too out of hand, and I was left grieving the thing that had meant enough to me I ran a fan convention for four years based around it. 

Side note: imagine if I had channeled the hyperfocus of almost a million words of fanfiction into an American OFMD con instead. We could have made magic :( I did consult with Our Con Means Death though so I am at least a teeny tiny bit of that one!

I did not like the way Steven ended… but I do respect the story they were telling and think they told it well.

I’m still sad about it. Steven is still one of my most beloved, it will always be beautiful and great to me, but that experience did and does sully my memories. There is so, so, so, SO much more good than bad from being in that fandom, and I cherish it. And I hope, if you’re having this experience with OFMD right now, that you’ll find similar comfort.

But, like I said at the top, “it’s okay to not like something but that’s not the same thing as it being bad” has been belabored already by people better at writing about it than me. I just had the incredible privilege to remember my brush with lower case T trauma and having that experience in my last REALLY big deal fandom. That’s why I had been so extra anxious about being disappointed. Because it happened to me before. It helped so much to connect those two.

So the finale happens, and it’s actually about twelve hours of me going from “eh, rushed but fun, whole season was great” to “THIS MAYBE IS THE BEST SHOW OF ALL TIME, ACTUALLY!”

BECAUSE THIS SHOW MADE ME CRY OVER IZZY FUCKING HANDS!!!!

They literally told me this was the story they were telling this season. “Men can change” “The end  of piracy” “Ed leaving Blackbeard behind (ish).”

As for me? I didn’t get an apology for the fish. Instead, I got “Sorry I was a dick.” “You weren’t a dick. Life’s a dick.”

Just… fuckity BAM. THREE FUCKING SENTENCES resolving that fight. Saying so much in so little.

In real life, should these two men have an actual conversation about this shit? Sure!!! But that’s not how OFMD tells its stories!

It works in symbolism. It works in vibes. It works in an hour’s worth of content into each half-hour episode, and for how much lamenting I have done about the pacing, I would prefer that 100x to having to stretch it out too much.

I have said since March 24, 2022 that OFMD wields anachronism as a weapon. First and foremost, it’s fucking funny, but in addition to that, it’s stating clearly: “This is a fantasy world. This is not real history. This show is about romance (and so much more than that), and the rest is just VIBES!!!”

Sometimes vibes can be historical accuracy. Sometimes vibes can be true emotional poignancy. Sometimes vibes can be Ed finding his sunken leathers in the sea, changing underwater somehow, and coming out of the ocean like the Birth of Fucking Venus, because water and rebirth and mermaids and shit is all very prominent this season. And ALSO, and this is very important! BECAUSE IT LOOKS FUCKING COOL!

I don’t want to do much real Izzy meta here. It’s been said by others, and better than me. But it was telegraphed and it was symbolic – he was the paragon of Traditional Piracy in season 1, for goodness’ sake, and Traditional Piracy is Toxic Masculinity, and he was a part of Blackbeard and Ed had to leave Blackbeard behind (yknow, ish), and he got this ABSOLUTLEY FUCKING LOVELY! storyline about appreciating what a (queer) community can do, and god fucking shit fucking dammit… most of all, best of all (for me), was Buttons landing on Izzy’s grave at the end. Men can change. And Izzy DID!!! He did it for Ed. For love. For community. I am puzzled by “it’s fucked up to use Izzy to further Ed’s storyline” because… this was Ed’s season, in the way that season 1 was Stede’s. And Ed cannot be removed from piracy as a whole (neither can Stede!) so to have this old, set in his ways, coded-queerphobic character blossom to the point he can give this gift to Ed and to piracy… idk man. I just find it so fucking beautiful.

It is okay not to like what they did. It’s okay!!! It’s okay, and it’s okay to mourn, and while it’s not okay to do [insert vile behavior here], it’s okay to carefully examine what you think is “bad writing” vs “what you would have preferred to happen” and give good-faith, textually-based criticism on that.

But I want to remind you over and over and over again, this show works on vibes. It tells its stories leaving many, many, many gaps. There are many things I would have liked to see, and y’know what? I would have told the Izzy story differently. I would have personally done it differently. But it’s not my show! It’s not my show, and I am humbled and delighted to remember that, and to appreciate Our Flag Means Death for what it is and not what it isn’t.

Other words have been written better than I could about the 18 months between seasons 1 and 2 and what that does to us as rabid fans with expectations of how things will go. Millions and millions and millions of words have been written about OFMD, fictional and non, and that is going to color our expectations and experience. We had built it up SO MUCH in our minds and along the way I think some of us forgot (INCLUDING ME!!!) that it is first and foremost about Vibes.

The vibes of Izzy’s death are about rebirth and forgiveness and leaving traditional piracy behind. And he got to die in Ed’s arms, knowing (HAPPILY!) that he had been wrong, and giving Ed the gift of letting him know he is loved, and being a part of something. We had a funeral but we also had a wedding. The only constant is change. Men, piracy, Blackbeard; it all changes. And Izzy found peace in that.

Before my last point, I want to @ myself on things I felt versus realizing in the end it is (I will say it until I’m blue in the face) about vibes.

· I was convinced they left Buttons’ transformation ambiguous because they wanted to leave room for it not having been real. NO!!! It is real, until they decided it isn’t. Magic in the OFMD universe? Fucking why not!!! IT’S SYMBOLIC!!! IT’S IMPORTANT TO ED’S STORYLINE AND THE CENTRAL THESES OF THE SHOW!

· I was unhappy, and still am a little, about the Polycule Situation, but now that I realize Oluwande is Zheng’s Stede… I am less so. The Zheng : Auntie :: Ed : Izzy vibes, btw? Fuckin immaculate.

·        Obviously they touched on Stede/Ed’s “killing people trauma” but I’d reallyyyy like Stede to address it, and even though I think Ed’s is left on a very satisfying note, I’d like him to dip a bit more into it as well. But if they don’t, oh well! It’s not like they ignored it, they just didn’t have a Deep Dive like I Wanted Them To!

· They didn’t deal with Ed throwing Stede’s shit away. They just ignored it! Stede started to collect new trinkets, and I believe that was as much about giving the audience back the old feeling of the Revenge as it was anything important (not to say it wasn’t also important thematically!!!). Just like Ed going back to his leathers is both Extremely Important thematically and about putting Taika back in the leathers because that’s what Blackbeard should be wearing for the epic final scenes for the sake of visually keeping the show consistent. That’s Blackbeard’s uniform.

· Stede’s frilly little outfits my beloved. God I hope they give him back some of his frippery in season 3. I think they will re: cursed suit BUT his journey this season was about something else, so!

· Ed’s stupid little non-profit non-apology, oh my god. It was so funny. And there is a transition from eps 5 to 6 where Ed is back in his leathers and the crew is more comfortable around him. They didn’t have to have him do a Real Apology, it’s implied it was all settled. What was the timeline? A day? DOESN’T MATTER, BABY, VIBES!!!

· Lots more, I’m sure, but now that I’ve tried to let it all go, I’m remembering less of what I wanted and appreciating what I got!

And, last point here, I think it is also very very very important to remember that a lot of people are normal about this show. In fact, WAY more people are normal about this show than aren’t. And that is EXTREMELY! IMPORTANT!!! because otherwise it wouldn’t be profitable and we all know what would happen then. We are the core of it, to be sure. Without word of mouth that stems from our intensity, this show would not be NEARLY as successful as it is. I truly, truly believe that.

But.

Do normies need deeply emotional discussions dissecting the central relationships? No. What normies need is Ed and Stede running dramatically toward each other on the beach and kissing. And I am happy, so fucking happy, to realize that’s what I need too. I’ve got fanworks for the rest.

I love this fucking show and this fucking fandom and its fucking creators so much. Fuck.

[ahungeringknife]

Let's talk about Aspec characters and relationships!

I'm aroace. I write a lot of characters who are aspec in some way. I have a lot of aspec friends. And this is why your aspec character is driving me crazy. There's also sex talk in here so if you're not mature enough to handle it please scroll past.

Edit: Allos also should reblog this if you found it helpful.

First lets get some terms right:

Aromantic (aro) and Asexual (ace) are two distinct things. Aroace means you're both aromantic and asexual at the same time. It is generally referred to as 'aspec' (aro/ace spectrum) when you fall on one or both spectrums. If you are not aspec you are allosexual/alloromantic (allo). It just means someone who isn't ace or aro. You can also be aroallo or aceallo (aromantic allosexual, asexual alloromantic). All these terms are neutral and not used in derogatory ways similar to trans/cis. It's a descriptive word not a put down.

Now about those characters and their relationships. Because that is the most :))))) to me as an aroace is when people just don't know how to handle an aspec character. Usually because they're allo. But that's okay you probably don't know and we're all here to learn from each other. Here's some things to consider when you want to make or write an aspec person.

Ace's do sometimes have sex. They just aren't motivated by sex. That's it.

Along with sex your ace character may also masturbate and feel good being touched. They also might only like touching themselves and hate when other people do it. They usually also know when someone is hot/sexy and will comment on it. Finding someone sexy =/= we want to fuck them. Thinking someone is hot =/= we want to fuck them. We're still human. We know what a hot human looks like. Your ace character might be attracted to someone's appearance aesthetically but have no interest in their bits. Your ace character might fall in love with the most beautiful person in your story and never show any interest of wanting to bed them.

They can have boyfriends/girlfriends/romantic partners they do or don't have sex with. But they can be anywhere on the spectrum of sex repulsive, to sex positive, to absolute sex hound. Some of the horniest people you know are probably ace. Some of the horniest people I know are ace, and I have a lot of ace friends.

And we're not all virgins. Some ace's had sex and realized 'nah fam. Didn't do it for me' and never did it again. Others are virgins and have no intention ever of having sex. Others are virgins but don't care either way? It just hasn't happened. Others enjoy sex with their partners. Some are parents! You can be ace and had enough sex to procreate. Some also think sex is icky or it squicks them out. Some might be squicked out at the thought of sex with another person but they're fine looking at porn or doing it themselves. There is a wide range of what asexuals are into just like allos.

Aros also sometimes do the sex. They are not motivated by romance. That's it.

That being said your aro character can have a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner and it can be 'romantic'. It doesn't have to be a queer platonic relationship. Your aro character also might not want to be in a relationship at all. It is not weird for your aro character to call their partner their partner or bf/gf or if they're married their husband/wife.

Aro people do not get butterflies. They don't really get flustered around people they like. There's no spark. And they don't feel that romantic attraction allos do when they meet someone and fall in love with them. I've found that aro people are also terrible at flirting or picking up flirting cues. At least in my own personal experience when it took my aro ass 3 years to realize some girl was flirting with me and I just thought she was being nice to me. Take the 'useless lesbian' trope and take it to 11. We just don't know. Aro people also know when other people are hot. Just like aces just because we're aro doesn't mean we don't know a baddy when we see one. We just probably won't realize said baddy is flirting with us...

Aro character still love. They love their family, they love their friends, they love their partners. And it's all real love. The love is still there. Aro characters also probably know what they should do to mimic being in love. Even if we don't love someone more than platonically they may still do the things romantic partners do with their partner. Some don't! And that's fine too. Sometimes you're boyfriends and you share the same bed with him, and sometimes your girlfriend is just your roommate. Both are totally valid aro relationships. Maybe your character kisses their partner passionately and they like it, or they might only kiss during sex, or they might not kiss on the mouth. All valid and correct, still no romo. Kissing =/= romance for aros. Sex =/=romance for aros.

Aroace characters do all those things! At once! They can do the sex, and the boyfriend/girlfriend/partner and loving their friends. They just are not motivated by sex or romance. Kissing =/= sexual attraction. Sex =/= romantic love.

Being aspec is looking at the most beautiful and delicious cake in the world and going 'neat, cake' and walking away not even wondering what it tastes like, not even for a second considering having a bite. It's a cake. Neat. You are not motivated by cake. You don't even really care about cake. It's nice that other people fucking loooooooove cake but it's just not for you.

We also know what love is supposed to be like, what a 'healthy sexual' relationship should feel like. It's everywhere. All around us. Constantly. It's also sometimes fucking exhausting! It's why some aspec people can be a bit agro. We get it you're in love/got a new partner/are sleeping with someone/really sexually attracted to this person/keep spamming us with your celeb thirst pics/etc. It does get tiring sometimes. We don't care about the cake and sometimes listening to you talk about the cake drives us crazy. Consider that too when writing aspec characters. Sometimes their friends and their cakes are annoying no matter how much they love them platonically or romantically.

Anyway just some things to consider for your aspec OCs from an older aroace. Should be said aspec is a wide spectrum and I'm drawing on my own experience as an aroace with aspec friends, and my writing of those characters. If you have more questions about writing characters on this spectrum feel free to ask!

[brandytusk]

The following thoughts, or maybe confession, contain Arcane spoilers. Please keep that in mind should you continue. It's a long story, I apologize in advance.

Now I will say, I am no LoL player, thus unfamiliar with its lore with the exception of what I search for, or what education I get from others. I had a passing interest in Arcane due to my best friend's insistence, rambling on about its beautiful art style, symbolism, and compelling writing. It was one of those things I did in fact, try and make a habit of to sit and watch at dinner, see what all the rising hubbub was about. I'll admit, I don't know where I stopped in season one, but I didn't finish it. As I recall, the plot felt too grim. To me, it felt like it was a show getting praise for being artistically depressing. When season one's ending was spoiled for me, I was glad I hadn't got as invested as other people I knew. To have developed characters so sincerely in a season's time, just to end it the way it was done…I disapproved, and I shook my head. Forgot it all at the time.

I'm a millennial who has lived through recession, through pandemic, and I am not middle class. I'm anxious, and there are days that feel hopeless and painfully long. I want to escape into the media I consume, let characters take me on a journey with them, far away from the oppressive, hanging air of everyday life in late stage capitalism. I don't want a tragic story, no matter how much it is praised for its art direction. Moving forward every morning can be bleak enough. Maybe others like these kinds of harsh stories for its relatability, and that's fine! I am happy for those that can appreciate it in that way, but I cannot. I'm tired, and perhaps not just as a struggling individual, but as an LGBT+ person with a husband.

Mainstream, popular shows (that get shown to American audiences, at least) don't often get obvious queer representation, or when it does, the show is often cut short. I felt baited in what I did see of season one, and rolled my eyes that fanfiction writers were fed enough to work their magic and fill the holes, as per usual.

Then, the next season of Arcane releases, and my social media feeds became flooded with screenshots and spoilers. I didn't block said spoilers and told myself I was no longer invested in Arcane -- only to see the most alarming screen captures I'd ever seen.

I especially liked what I'd seen of Viktor and Jayce in the past. I enjoyed seeing two intelligent, determined male creatives share screentime and share their story of a growing, deepening friendship. As far as I was aware, Jayce and Viktor were well bonded colleagues, if not each other's 'ride or die', once mutually and deeply invested in a greater outcome to benefit the whole. Compared to the rest of what I'd seen of Arcane's first season, it still hadn't gripped me enough to stick around as I wanted to save myself from heartache. Long story short, season two's spoilers revealed to me Jayce making a frantic, truly desperate effort to revive his fallen, disabled partner Viktor after the explosion. While he's successful, this fuses Viktor with tech Jayce once swore to destroy. Jayce draws close and is just relieved Viktor, in his birthday suit at this moment mind you, is alive, while Viktor is disappointed Jayce didn't keep his promise. They go separate ways, and the scene felt like an intimate argument, a break up. Well, at this point with that much revealed to me, I was relieved to see the two of them alive after the first season's ending. I was curious again, so I continued to look at screen captures and gifsets.

Viktor develops magic skills to heal others, and in his new body things, seem to fall into place for him. He is appreciated, and maybe it's suggested he gets a following. While its unclear how 'good' the arcane is, what he's doing with it seems right for the character. It looks like a victory…until Jayce comes along and puts a hole in Viktor's chest, keeping his promise. Viktor only meant to talk to him. Jayce, who had fought so hard to revive this man, kills him, as far as I'd seen it. It felt like petty shock value. Not knowing there was more episodes to come, I thought that was it. More tragedy, more pain.

My husband knows me well. I very rarely get affected by the shows I watch, and when I do, I am reserved about it. Instead, I sobbed, the kind where you can't see passed the tears and the snot. I felt so betrayed by my curiosity, by my hopeful feelings. I spent days ranting to my friends and my husband, offended and angry. How dare these writers throw around this disabled character and give him no relief, and what was more, develop two men in such a way as to suggest one simply cannot exist without the other only to shoot down one of them, by the hand of their partner? I had let myself be baited again, and I was feeling it. It burned, it hurt, I raged. I gave up.

A day or two ago, my best friend chimed in again: I should check in on Arcane. There had been more episodes, the season had finished. Trusting they knew how sensitive I was about all of it, I did. Again, I was moved to tears, but for different, much better reasons.

What was this?

Fortiche and its writing team had bothered to weave together and tell a story of two men ultimately destined for each other through every timeline, the kind of trope reserved for romantic movies and literature? They held hands, kept each other close, were honest with each other in the starry nothing. Hand to nape, forehead to forehead, and colorfully blinked out of that current existence, together? Such intimacy didn't need a kiss or a sex scene to feel real, there was love there. Their fated, interwoven existence, their deep and complex relationship, saved the world. In the end, there was hope.

You can tell yourself that it wasn't romantic if it makes you feel better, but in all its passionate details it very much was. To this stressed, exhausted LGBT+ person in these real uncertain times, I needed to see it. I felt deep relief, satisfaction, and most of all a need to pursue the Arcane fandom, a desire to enter. To at the very least, gush about my impression of it all, and what it means to me to see two men tenderly portrayed in ways they typically aren't. Fortiche, well done. You did give the Caitvi shippers something to blatantly feast upon, you also gave lesbian characters depth and variation, but this isn't about that.

You let two male characters show dedication, affection, and softness. Thank you. Jayvik folks, I am with you. Arcane, let's start over at the first episode, I can't wait to watch all of you now.

[yowlthinks]

Dead Boy Detectives: a no-spoiler review

So I have finished DBDs last night, and frankly, I would have probably finished it in one or two days if not for time limitations. So I wanted to write a review without spoilers and in a Q&A format, so here we go.

tldr: I LOVED IT!

Q: Do I need background knowledge to enjoy it?

A: No, just dive in.

So first of all, a disclaimer: I have not read the Sandman comics, I have read one volume of the DBD comic just after the show was announced, but that did jot even cover the complete case, and I have watched the Sandman on Netflix.

If you are worried that you won't get what is happening, I can assure you, you will. You will get sucked into it immediately and will not want to leave.

Characters from Sandman (it is the same universe) that appear there are a bit like easter eggs: you'll get a kick out of it if you saw Sandman first, but otherwise you just watch them in DBDs and then if you decide to watch Sandman you will get a kick out of seeing these familiar faces there.

Q: What is the general vibe of the show? Is it spooky?

A: The show can be described as a heart-felt mystic detective story. It is funny, sweet and a tiny bit spooky (at a guess, PG13). Overall mood is.. joyful and optimistic.

You know how sometimes you want to watch something exciting, but not too scary?

Dramatic, but optimistic?

Light, but also quite profound and philosophical?

Personally, to me, this show ticks all of the above. And as I watched it with interruptions, at times I felt even lucky to have these because there are just so many big topics this show touches. It was often done by one line of the dialogue, but it would stay with you for the next couple of hours, getting you into this delicious state of philosophical exploration. I feel like at a re-watch this will come forward even more.

Q: I am a GO fan, will this tickle me?

A: Oh yes, it will and despite yourself you will be searching for Clues.

Let me just say that the main characters are another throught-the-ages duo, and you will have a lot of fun comparing and contrasting them with Aziraphale and Crowley, as well as Dream and Hob (these are from the Sandman and are also adorable).

One of the two protagonists wears a bow tie.

Another one is... well, Crowley would love him, I have no doubt in that.

Q: Does it deal well with queer representation? Are there neurodivergent characters?

A: Yes and (I would say) yes

Neil Gaiman was involved, what did you expect? Personally, I think this is one of those instances where the world itself basically treats queer as normal. It is just something that exists, and the world as it is now accepts it. The characters may have inner struggles / self-discovery journeys, but the present world at large accepts them fully and without judgement.

Q: Will it pass the Bechdel test?

A: Yes, with flying colours!!

All the characters are absolutely delicious, and I am not gonna give any more details because I don't want to spoil anything, but you do have all flavours of female protagonists, and you will love them all.

Q: What else did you like?

A: The way it was filmed, the title sequence and music, the humour, the costuming, THE CHEMISTRY between the characters!!

Look, I loved this show, please go and watch it, it is amazing and we need another season of this!

Also, there is a CAT KING!!!

[lurkingshan]

Kinou nani tabeta/What Did You Eat Yesterday?

You should know that I attempted to start this write up about half a dozen times before I managed to get a single word down. Every time I tried I just ended up staring at the wall. I don’t think I’ve been this emotionally stunned by a show since I Told Sunset About You, and I don’t say that lightly!

So, is this a good show? My god, YES. What an understatement. Let me tell you, as my MDL can attest, I’ve watched nearly 300 dramas. I’m sure I’ve watched even more Western shows since I had a 30 year head start on those. And I can say confidently that I’ve never seen anything quite like this gem.

Kinou nani tabeta, or What Did You Eat Yesterday?, is a drama about two middle aged gay men living their everyday lives, making and sharing food, reckoning with their identities and expectations, and figuring out how to be together in a long term relationship. That’s it, that’s the show. If that sounds boring to you, I gotta tell you: YOU ARE WRONG.

We meet Shiro and Kenji when they’re in their mid 40s and already a couple years into living together. Over the course of the show, we learn more about their relationship - how they got together, how they differ, where they struggle, where they shine, what they are still figuring out - and we see them work through it all, together. We see them at work, with friends, with their families, out in public, and in the privacy of their own home - we get a full and complete picture of their lives. And we are invited in to experience it with them and get up close and personal with their relationship in a way that feels both cozy and thrilling.

Now, I am not going to go into detail about everything that happens in this show, or attempt to provide deep analysis about its story, its characters, or the various cultures it depicts. This show was released in 2019, the manga began its run many years before that, and there are folks on this website - like @isaksbestpillow and @bengiyo - who have been at this a hell of a long time and thus have a broader context and lived experience from which to critically examine the show and its messages as they relate to Japanese familial values, life as a queer man from an older generation, and building community while living in a culture that is actively hostile to who you are. I implore you to go read their thoughts and learn from their wisdom. But what I will do is mention a couple (3… no 4, okay 5!) things that really made it stand out to me, a lifelong romance reader, avid media consumer, and drama enjoyer (I’m going to keep plot stuff vague because I hope if you’re reading this, you will be watching very soon!):

Let me repeat: this is a drama about a middle aged couple in a long term relationship, and the ongoing growth and deepening of their relationship is the main plot. Do I have to tell you how unique that is? The romance genre is rarely interested in what happens after the couple gets together, and even in other dramas featuring a couple in a LTR, the plot is usually about something else with the relationship in the background. And I’m fairly sure this is the only show of this nature in the entire bl genre (@absolutebl please fact check me if I’m wrong). In this show, the relationship is the point. It’s a rare look at what it actually takes to learn to deal with your baggage and share your life with someone, and I found it deeply moving.

My god these actors. With all due respect to the many fine actors in the bl industry, these two are on another level. We just never get to see seasoned actors of this caliber headlining ql dramas. If I have one tiny critique of this show, it’s that I found the moments when they let us listen in on the characters’ internal monologues mostly unnecessary - every emotional beat played out in their faces and body language. There’s this one scene I can’t stop thinking about, where the main pair are fighting, and one of them says something he doesn’t mean, and you see the regret on his face instantly, followed by a quick aborted movement as if to take it back, but his partner has already turned away and doesn’t see it. Just perfection. And the acting was so good in the finale (@waitmyturtles informed me my absolute fav moment was improvised for fucks sake) that it actually laid me out for like an hour, I was just sitting there in a crying daze.

The writing is so fucking smart. What’s absolutely brilliant about this show is that it’s structured like an episodic slice of life drama, but there is a deeper long term emotional arc at play and the writers forget nothing. Just like in life, in each episode something will happen, it won’t really get fully resolved, and the characters will move on. But on this show, it always comes back around, usually when your guard is down and they can inflict maximum damage by sucker punching you right in the solar plexus. I can hardly believe how many times this show managed to sneak attack me with emotional realness (official Shan cry count: 8/12 episodes caused me to burst into tears, sometimes more than once).

This show will take you through every possible destination on the spectrum of human emotion. I was so emotional while watching this show, in every sense. Crying both happy and sad tears. Swinging wildly between giddy delight, deep sadness, low key anger, and belly laughing. Sometimes the switch happens literally one scene to the next! And yet, there is an evenness to the tone and assuredness to the filmmaking that makes it all feel smooth. You never feel jerked around by the narrative. This is a credit to the writing, acting, and editing all coming together with perfect precision. The people who made this show are masters of their crafts.

OBVIOUSLY I MUST MENTION THE FOOD. Every episode of this show features at least one instance of a character making Japanese food that looks like the best thing you’ve never gotten the chance to eat. I do not recommended watching this without feeding yourself first, because it will have you salivating. And they don’t just show you the characters making the food (even narrating the recipes for you!), they always show you the characters actually eating and enjoying it. Some real foodies were involved in this production and as someone who loves to eat and absolutely was raised to view feeding people as a love language, I loved it.

So now that you are obviously dying to watch it, you must be wondering: where can I find this show? Let me point you to this post on @kinounaniresource, where the amazing Siiri has compiled all the video files and English subs you need. If you’re not familiar with how to use these, you’ll find instructions on her blog (if you get confused come ask me, please don’t bug her about it). I know sometimes shows being a little hard to access is a big deterrent to watching them, but please trust me that this is absolutely worth your time and effort, you will not regret it.

[kaija-rayne-author]

Review 10.3 of Dragon Age Veilguard

74 hours in, 72 playtime

Obligatory disclaimer, feel free to jump to the cut if you've read it.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I'm on media blackout while I play this, so I'm only getting second-hand info on how awful it is right now in the DA Fandom. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

Spoilers for Dragon Age Veilguard

Section 10.2 here.

So. I didn't want to play tonight, didn't really have the energy. But I legitimately fear if I don't play for even one day, I'll drop it and not come back. I have ADHD, its a strong possibility, and I still want to see what happens in the story for myself.

I hereby announce that I am, in fact, Eating Crow. Game Lucanis is way better written and developed than in his intro story.

And Lucanis did let Emmerich help, after all. Plot hole taken care of.

That's it? That's all we get about The Titans? After all the previous foreshadowing, we get a single companion quest to find out and resolve (completely unrealistically) the entire issue of The Titans? Are you seriously kidding me?

I need a stronger word than flabbergasted.

Discombobulated. I'm discombobulated at the sheer level of mishandling so many incredibly important aspects have been treated to in this game.

Yes, it's nice to get confirmation about my guess to the history of Titans and Elvhenan... but are you seriously fucking kidding me?

Lucanis talks about coffee more than we get something as important as the Titans settled.

Anywaaaay.

Called it on the identity of the Gloom Howler. And the 'reason' for Isseya to be doing the exact opposite is 'she's been driven mad by 400 years of guilt for following orders'? Edit, it's been pointed out she's suffered the blight for 400 years, too. The blight, in the Lore, basically makes creatures start digging out dragon/arch demons. Because all they can hear is 'the song'. There have been speaking hurlocks working for the benefit of the unblighted. There's the Architect, who keeps showing up and is sane. If directly opposed to anything mortals would want. There's no support in the Lore for blight making someone mentally ill. I truly just feel it's bad writing.

That is so over the top ableist I'm not sure if I can describe it in small enough words why we shouldn't say grief and guilt makes us fucking mentally ill in a dangerous fashion! There isn't a mental illness that I'm aware of that includes a person completely reversing deeply held, sacred beliefs so they do the exact opposite of what they've previously sacrificed so much for.

Crazy and mad both mean mentally ill. That's why calling Isseya mad or crazy is ableist. Isseya would protect those griffins, She’d very possibly steal them to protect them from the wardens. I could see where, out of fear, she'd decide that the Wardens weren't worthy of the griffins after all.

What I cannot see is her sticking a knife into the skeletal remains of a 400 year old arch demon dragon and actually finding liquid blood. That's some foolish jurassic park nonsense. Thinking maybe she got it from the blood marrow? That's dried and almost dusty within a century. Or turned to a rocky like consistency. I don't care how magical the creature those bones came from was, that's just not happening. It's ridiculous.

What I cannot see is her then using that to infect the griffins she fought so hard to save from that very fate.

Last Fall wasn’t my favourite of the books. But both the writer and the character Isseya deserve fucking better than what the end of her story will likely be. I can think of two ways that dumpster fire could be satisfactorily fixed, but I have zero trust in the Bioware writers anymore, so I highly doubt they're going either direction.

And outright stating that too much emotion makes us dangerously mentally ill... I've always said Bioware had ableism problems. I've said they need to hire diversity editors.

I'm utterly appalled that they thought that whole storyline was even remotely okay on any level.

So. Do I have this right?

The Evanuris did lots of bad things. One of the worst was severing the Titans and the dwarves from their dreams.

The Evanuris bound themselves to high dragons, blighting them, and they did this for more power.

The blight is somehow The Titans' or dwarves or both severed dreams? If that's the case, the blight should now be receding or cured because the Titans have been 'fixed'. In a completely unrealistic and ridiculous manner that does a disservice to the whole damned Titan Evanuris war, but hey. I'm used to bad, nonsensical writing. Especially in this game.

Solas made the veil to imprison the Evanuris? Bad side effects. Which, in the Lore, include the death of magic in THEDAS and the eventual death of the realm itself. But we're apparently conveniently brushing that under the rug of bad writing to drive through a story that makes no sense.

He tied the veil, their prison, into their life essences.

So the theory they seem to be going with is that by killing the arch-demon dragon, the Evanuris will become mortal.

They were mortal before they bound dragons to themselves for more power. Mythal was mortal. She was murdered. (Oopsie, even bound to her dragon.) But the Evanuris, the first elves, didn't age and were eternal. They could be killed, sure, but just regular living, even inside a prison, wouldn't have killed them. So why exactly would all the other Evanuris be dead? Just killing their dragons wouldn't have killed them. If they were somehow dead... Wouldn't that have thinned the precious veil that they've spent three games, numerous books etc. stating was thin and as full of holes as my grandmothers crocheted doilies?

Somehow, the veil is completely all better now and holding back a world of blight that never existed in the fade except maybe in the black city? We've been to the fade several times in this game and seen no blight.

How exactly is the blight the corrupted dreams of dwarves or Titans? Does that make any sense to anyone else?

Does that mean that Genlocks (blighted dwarves) dream?

And the veil is what separates the world and magic/dreams/world of spirits?

If the so precious veil is tied to the life energy of the Evanuris... and the veil was created to contain them... what exactly is going to happen to said veil when those Evanuris die?

Either I've figured out the end of the story, or found plot holes the size of Texas if they try to say that veil is still in place once Gilly and Eggy are dead. (Why again are there only two Evanuris left? Have we gotten an answer to that? That makes any sense?)

They've made the answers to everything too pat and yet so convoluted they're tripping over things they've said are fact in this very game.

I just... how? Why? What the actual fuck? How is the writing in this so reprehensibly bad?

I can write better stories in my sleep FFS. And have. One of my published novellas was a dream before I wrote it down. And at least everything makes sense in it.

Section 11 here.

[laylawatermelon]

Side Eyes or Raised Eyebrows

Buddie: Marketing Tatic or Something Else?

Hello! Back on my big brain I cant sleep stuff.

I've been a Buddie fan for over a few months now (idk how time works) and have lived through the beautiful bi buck confirmation.

Now I do have some think pieces about queer representation in American media and in different countries (i literally spend all my time watching tv I'm a conessiur or sorts) and how they differ on impact/deal with issues etc.

What I woke up thinking about is something that's bugging me a bit about Oliver and his interviews.

If we're (both the ga and buddie fans) supposed to be convinced about this new relationship the writing and promotion MUST be changed.

Let me explain.

Tommy, Tevan whatever you want to call it is Buck's newest relationship.

It's a new relationship with a similar set up/feeling around it.

The only way I think Buddie can be override/mitigated is if they have a doctor love interest who consistently stays over the course of seasons who has their own backstory and storyline.

I'm starting to swing my eyes at ABC and their marketing team now.

Madney's wedding coming up and we barely saw either of them ( granted kudos on keeping this all under wraps y'all) and they've been hanging a shiny bell in front of us as distraction like a baby.

Look at the shiny buddie then BAM character death!

Please don't take this serious, please don't take this serious, Tim! PLEASE don't take this serious.

But anyways, I have been thinking about Oliver and all of his recent press and just the way Busdie has been uttered and whipped around like a tennis ball.

He currently has a boyfriend but the way it's been discussed and portrayed has me a bit dazed.

I wanna be a bit objective (I'm asking the big questions here)

The main problem is the Buddie relationship and how it's portrayed/written and had continued to be this season.

If you compare the past seasons and how they've developed as let's face it a couple, because there's no way to deny it as they've been written to parallel in unverse and other show romantic heterosexual relationships.

They quite literally qualified for a queer platonic relationship (if you wanted to view it that way. I however have not. I say let the gays free!/j)

If they intended for it to be platonic let it BE platonic.

They shouldn't be doing an if, of the gender was swapped would it be romantic/ship coded?

They literally have that in the show already. Bobby and Chim, Bobby and Eddie, hell Chim and Eddie (do they even have solo scenes together???).

Bathena is a blatant parallel. The main one almost beat for beat is the orchard shooting and the hostage situation. (Pretty sure it's the same season I believe)

But those are just some examples of the show.

My main gripe is if it's not about buddie don't make it/lean to heavily into it as it can backfire.

I'm not gonna lie, bi buck episode was a bait and switch (beautifully done and still very infuriating all the same).

Oliver I gotta bone to pick with you (I really don't I'm side eyeing the network i know they approve questions).

He's also a Buddie warrior so I can't really fault him on how he talks about it it's been like 6 years he's had the same partner with the domestic (cough sexual tension cough) with.

So I don't really blame him tbh.

*Swings around and points fonger at marketing team*

It's all your fault.

I know the episode will feature Madney (duh it's their wedding episode and I'm ready to cry) but I'm pretty sure there could've been another way to advertise this occasion.

Use flyers (similar to the ones used to say that one of the dispatch crew was attending) to get fans buzzed about watching the show in a few weeks as though they're rsvp'ing, talk about past scenes, more interviews centering the couple and what they thought about the episode, a promotional photoshoot?

Photoshoot in a magazine with jlh and Ken would've been really cute. Madney fans would then be happy. (I'm included🙋🏾‍♀️ give the beautiful couple their photos i wanna see it😤 my little queer heart and eyes demands it)

Literally would've been the perfect time to pair up with some wedding magazine or something. Literally a million ways to go about it.

Madney in formal wedding clothes, then a dystopian kind of dress clothes to reflect the chaotic wedding ending.

Use a highlight reel.

Similar you are cordially invited to a 911 wedding -

Show madney karaoke, engagement ring being missing, proposal, hugs after hostage, this season cute date idea and excitement for the wedding then a simple where's chimney.

Then put the bachelor stuff then have him crawling.

Something as simple as that puts more of the focus on madney visually and marketing wise.

For the interviews they could've split it between Oliver talking about bisexuality and the other two talking about relationship and the high beats and low beats and how it felt to play.

How their relationship developed as costars and what the characters mean to them.

Split it down the middle so both fans are appeased.

I am a fan of all characters and this is really funny because I the first half of this one morning I woke up before the scene was even mentioned being cut but i was like there's a shift in something and it's not good🤣 as expected something went wrong)

Though I'm pretty sure the fans of both will be happy because Buddie are going to be the comic relief so they'll have a decent amount of time as the blockers so to say because we will know who's gonna kidnap Chimney. He only had one enemy??

But yeah this was a Tuesday thing I wrote and it's now very hilarious in hindsight and in the future.

Happy Madney day i guess!

This will be linked to Twitter cause whew...

[bryverros]

YAP MY LIEGE WHAT ARE THE HAPPENINGS IN THY KINGDOM

im going to be real immature on main so turn a blind eye guys

so. my beloved firefighter show. first, a brief introduction to the massive fandom drama. we have buck, eddie and tommy. buck and eddie are best friends since season 2 episode 1 (we are on season 8), tommy becomes an important(?) character in season 7.

- buck and tommy are canonically in a relationship. i want them broken up asap. its not even personal. i just dont think they work, even all the buckandeddie theories aside. and if they do break up, i will call it a win and clap my hands jollily. their fanbase is honestly making me feel stupid because theyre acting like bucktommy is this soulmates endgame couple and i tried seeing it. but i just dont.

exhibit 1. eddie appears in practically every single bucktommy scene. and when he didnt appear directly, he sure as hell was mentioned. a lot. which??? weird??? considering the fact that bucktommy are supposed to be in a relationship and very in love. like maybe i dont know shit about dating but im pretty sure that its objectively weird to include the best friend in all scenes the couple has. so far, in s8, buck and tommy had one (1) scene. and it had eddie in it.

then there’s the whole weird thing on how buck and tommy got together in the first place and one might argue that buck was trying to get eddie’s attention, not tommy’s. so like yeah eddie sure is haunting their narrative a lot and for seemingly no reason which kind of stops me from feeling attached to the ship. which i tried initially before i started praying on their breakup.

- in the scenes buck and tommy (+eddie. cant forget that he was there) did have. sigh. their dynamics is just weird. first of all, tommy is older than buck. like, he was in the flashbacks of the older coworkers (he was kind of racist and kind of homophobic and misogynistic in those too, but ok ill let that pass, people change blah blah). and he called buck kid before they got together. which. sigh. im generally against age gaps i dont fw that stuff and theyre not letting me forget that they do have an age gap. but fine, ill put the age gap aside. theyre both adults so yk. surely it wont be THAT bad. alas. it is. moving to the next exhibit

exhibit 2. the bachelor party. so buck is really excited to organise this themed party for their his brother in law (a dude tommy was kind of racist towards in the flashback btw). the theme is. 80s. buck and eddie do matching costumes (suggested by eddie. very enthusiastically)! matching each others freak! yay! what does tommy do. he arrives in a henley. and as a person who kind of relates to buck in a way that i get excited about things. tommy’s low effort uninterestingness wouldve kind of been hurtful to me? like the way he casually kind of discarded that excitement buck had about this party was giving “im not interested in your interests babe 🫶” and from personal experience! not nice! and buck already had like a shit ton of self esteem issues and like yeah im projecting but please please break up w tommy you deserve better buck please

- name. so evan buckley has been going by buck. everyone calls him buck except his parents (bad. he doesnt like that) and his sister. sometimes. tommy calls him evan all the fucking time. which feels. condescending. i do not like it in the slightest. break up bucktommy. for me. please.

now! onto the clowning part.

ok look. buck and eddie. theyre so special. their friendship is so special. and if they go canon. that would be absolutely historical. like a queer non established from the beginning romance? that has 6+ years of shared history? they were friends before they were lovers and they could be THE friends to lovers in my eyes. and look if they dont go romantic, i really wont be that sad? their friendship kind of remains regardless so like while i do think it would be bold and take some good writing to have them go down the romantic line. i also do really cherish their friendship. but i am strongly gaslit that they will go romantic. to the point where i fear that im clowning about it.

- the actor playing buck recently said that he wants some slowburn for buck. some will they wont they kind of relationship. that the audience will have to yearn for. like my man your character is in a relationship and that relationship came together in, let me check… 2 episodes? slowburn? bucktommy? i have a VERY hard time believing that. there were a whole bunch of other quotes that could be interpreted as bucktommy breakup (yay 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶). like you dont see any other member of the cast speaking about their love interest the same way this man does about tommy.

- the episodes 5 and 6 are centred on buck and eddie respectively. episode 5 will have tommy “weirded out by something about buck” (surprise surprise). episode 6 is called confessions. eddie has a lot of potential queer coding (eddie: “i just hate having to date. it feels like i have to perform”; someone else about eddies relationship: “just make sure youre following your heart. not christopher’s [his son]” ahh stuff). and episode 6 is centred on him. it also is coming out on nov 7th, 2 days after the infamous destiel election day. so having eddies coming out in that episode would be the funniest thing ever. and the marketing for these episodes is driving me insane. like. will they. wont they. will they. wont they. i feel like im clowning so hard but i also feel like i cant be wrong about this stuff yk? too many coincidences?

so yeah. episode 5 is coming out today. wish me luck (bucktommy breakup ⁉️)

[ask-pentious]

Hello, my dearsss! IT IS I SSSIR PENTIOUS! Former resssident of the Hazbin Hotel AND GREATEST INVENTOR IN HELL...current resssident of Heaven. The once GREATESSST rival to the Radio Demon hasss come to anssswer all of your questionsss! Missss Emily hasss informed me that thisss "blogging" is the bessst way to do ssso. -🎩🐍

Pentious vs. Lute, the story so far:

Prologue:

The Serpent

The Sword

Heaven Sent:

The Seraphim

Scrambled

Boiling Point

Mod: @able-juice ((Lilith))

Lutual Statement

After a pretty rough week with a lot going on, the Lutuals have decided that moving forward we will be a bit more selective regarding certain things. We love sharing our characters and developing new and interesting storylines for people to read and interact with and want to continue doing so while protecting ourselves and our mental health. Please see below on the things we expect moving forward.

Asks, anon or not, will be deleted on sight and the sender blocked if they fall into any of the following categories:

NSFW - finding the characters hot is fine! Telling the mods what you want to do to those characters sexually is not!

Violence - show typical violence may be part of storylines or backstory to inform characterization! Graphically describing violence you would like to see done to the characters doesn’t! To vent frustrations with characters, please throw a bible at them; the mods will get the message just fine.

Hate Speech - the Lutualverse is a fun spinoff of the Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss settings and isn’t the place for social or political commentary. We’re just here for the various shades of queer relationships; if you’re not, kindly move along.

Spam - many Lutuals utilize their queues for asks and submissions; if you sent it once, we probably got it and will answer asks and post submissions in due time. Sending more than once will just confuse Tumblr and annoy the mod.

To better form a cohesive, consistent universe with multiple storylines, the current Lutualverse is a set roster you can find here, all of whom have been vetted as 18+. As the blogs, storylines, and shows are 18+, it is recommended that minors do not interact. We are not accepting applications at this time to join the Lutualverse, though individual mods may respond to starters at their discretion; these events will not be canon to the universe.

It has also come to our attention that some blogs are claiming to be part of the Lutualverse despite not being official members.

While we appreciate that people enjoy our work, we DO NOT appreciate being impersonated or having unaffiliated members claiming to be part of our canon.

At the time of writing, the ONLY Lutuals are as follows:

@joyerisjoy

@able-juice

@silvireal

@texanredrose

@kambiteydragon

@moreaustars

@canibalistic-brownie

@greybazzy

@seecatrun

@pseudobun

@atttwoood

@paperroxas

Our recently updated roster of characters on our Lutuals page of the Wiki lists all the OFFICIAL blogs we have can be read here (https://lutualverse.fandom.com/wiki/Lutuals).

Any new blogs or members will be announced by ONE OF US and will be LISTED on the Lutuals roster.

Any unaffiliated users claiming to be part of our verse WILL BE BLOCKED.

Thank you for your understanding.

[becauseimanicequeen]

Pride Month Watch: Light On Me

I'm currently going through my Pride Month Watch List.

Light on Me hasn't been on my radar very long, but I've heard about it from various sources recently, so I figured I would watch it this month. I don't know anything about it, but I've heard it's good. So, let's dive in!

I'm about halfway through the first episode and realized one of the actors has one of the main roles in Black Knight (a dystopian k-drama, which I enjoyed when I watched it last year).

So, the first episode is over, and I feel like Shinwoo (the guy who was against Taekyung joining the student council) is Taekyung's first love. Or, perhaps I've seen too many enemies-to-lovers stories and this trope might just be messing with my head...

I'm near the end of episode 2 and must say that Daon is really sweet. He's my favorite character at this point. I get the feeling that he might remember Taekyung for other reasons than just having a good memory. But, please don't tell me we're getting a love triangle...

I love that the moody brooder Shinwoo wears dark (black/gray) clothes every time I've seen him so far.

Namgoong is ridiculous, so I love him (obviously).

Oh, lord. The date in episode 3 is so awkward. But I love how completely honest Taekyung is, he just says what's on his mind.

I have a feeling that Daon being nice to everyone will become a bigger problem in the coming episodes.

I’ve just started episode 4, and I’ve decided that every time Shinwoo says he doesn’t like Taekyung from now on, he’s actually saying that he likes Taekyung.

This is starting to look like a love... what's the next thing after a triangle? Love square? Love quadrangle? Well, you get the point, it's a mess, lol.

I’m on episode 8 and the girl (whom I can never remember the name of, lol) is using Daon being nice to everyone against Taekyung to say that he’s not anyone special to Daon. And, at the same time, Shinwoo is stepping up his own game to get closer to Taekyung, which Daon is seeing. This is getting delicious.

I'm halfway into episode 9 and this series is starting to lose points from me. Honestly, the BL screenwriters who write female characters to be the wedge between the queer boys who like each other, just because she likes one of them too, need to develop their repertoire...

This is obviously a me-problem because I know that Korea is a very different country than where I'm from (I'm from northern Europe, btw) and their view of girls/women is very different from where I was born and raised. But I can't help but get annoyed at it.

Sohee (yes, I remember her name now) is so stereotypically written and boring at this point. Hopefully, it will change in an episode or two. Hopefully, Daon will be upfront with her that he has zero interest in her so she humbly backs off. His dilly-dallying with her isn't exactly helping either.

Anyway...

Thank every higher power Namgoong is here to be ridiculous. I love him so much. So, whatever points this series is losing because of Sohee (and Daon not telling her what's up), Namgoong makes up for it. And Shinwoo's longing stares at Taekyung. I love those too.

So, Shinwoo's way to get closer to Taekyung was to physically bump into him?

No wonder Taekyung ignored him, lmao!

Daon taking off the bracelet he got from Taekyung physically hurt me. It's understandable considering the conversation that led up to it (and that conversation in itself was annoying to watch even though it felt more than realistic). It still hurt me. And that Taekyung noticed Daon wasn't wearing the bracelet anymore hurt me too.

I'm nearing the end of the 10th episode and Taekyung feel like he has been rejected by Daon because of the bracelet, Daon's reaction when the dudes interrupted them, and Daon not being able to find the words to say anything. Then they showed that Daon has one of those tubes you store papers in (commonly used by architects and artists), where he (most likely) has a drawing of Taekyung (which Taekyung asked for in a previous episode).

Daon clearly likes Taekyung. I get the feeling that he's holding back because of what those two dudes said to him earlier. There could be something more behind it as well. The family is often a reason, but they haven't been mentioned all that much (just that they practically ignore Daon).

Namgoong just stood up to Sohee for Daon and Taekyung, and I love him even more than I did before.

I'm on episode 11 and it seems like the family might be another reason Daon holds back and that potential rumors could hurt their reputation or status. I hope this doesn't turn into one of those stories where the parents transfer him to another school just because of rumors...

This is getting really painful to watch. Painful for the characters, I mean (because I love the pain it's giving me, lol).

I'm glad that at least Taekyung has someone there for him when he's falling apart.

I hope Daon has someone to be there for him too. I'm sure the other three (Shinwoo, Namgoong, and Taekyung) will stand up for him against the idiots at school, but he seemed so lonely at home. It breaks my heart.

I love how Shinwoo took on the role of Daon's friend and then Taekyung's friend to share the different perspectives on what happened so that Taekyung could understand things from Daon's perspective but also feel like he had Shinwoo in his corner. I love friends like this.

I've got so much respect for Shinwoo after his conversation with Daon in the 12th episode. He knows that both he and Daon like Taekyung, but he doesn't take advantage of Taekyung now that he's heartbroken and vulnerable. Instead, he told Daon to stop avoiding Taekyung and to fix things with him.

I love this. It's not a competition or about who gets the boy by playing dirty tricks. It's about two long-time friends who respect each other and just want what's best for the boy they like. It's such a big contrast to the whole Sohee and Daon situation, and I fucking love it.

I love Namgoong so fucking much!

I’m at the beginning of episode 13 and I’m glad Daon got pissed at Sohee. He had every right to be considering she outed him and Taekyung to the whole school. I like the way he handled it and how he told her he never wanted to see her again. I mean, she betrayed his trust. Let’s see how long it lasts (I hope it lasts until the end of time, but that’s just me being petty as fuck when it comes to people who betray my trust, lol).

I’m glad Sohee apologized to Taekyung, as she should. That doesn’t mean I would want her as a friend, though. Taekyung is clearly not as petty as me, lol.

It’s near the end of episode 14 and Daon has practically forgiven Sohee, so that didn’t last long. But I’m glad he said they might not be able to be good friends right now.

It was a drawing of Taekyung in that tube. Too bad Daon's declaration of love comes now, though, because I feel like Taekyung is already moving on. Timing is everything.

Have I said that I love Namgoong? No? I fucking love Namgoong. He’s so sweet and funny and ridiculous that I can’t help but smile like an idiot when I see him on my screen. I love him so much.

The way I cheered for Shinwoo when he asked Taekyung at the end of episode 15 if Taekyung was going to keep him waiting… Shinwoo has waited for a long time to get closer to Taekyung.

And then the way I cheered for Daon when they showed the flashback of him kissing Taekyung’s forehead… These boys...

I have no idea how this is going to end (probably enemies to lovers since that’s so common), and I’m not really leaning more toward one rather than the other. (Normally I would be loud about poly at this point, but I don’t think these boys are ready for that.) So, let’s see what happens.

The way I laughed when Taekyung said he was thankful that Shinwoo had honest ears!

Look at these boys linking arms!

And holding hands!

I’m so happy for them!

Overall, this was a great show. I really liked the friendship between the four boys. I haven’t written anything about the teacher but I loved his role in the series. He was always so kind and gave great advice to all of them. A guiding light in the murky waters of being a young queer kid.

Obviously, my favorite character was Namgoong. He was ridiculous, funny, sweet, and an amazing friend who stood up for the people he cared about.

Seriously, I love Namgoong!

This is definitely one of the better QLs I’ve seen from Korea, and I’m happy I watched it.

[princeblue]

I’m probably gonna get some hate for this but I dont really care because anyone who does that just proves they’re immature and can’t handle an opinion and/or facts. But let’s talk about Alastor ships.

There’s a lot of people who say that Alastor is canonically Aroace, and the fact is that he’s not. He’s canonically asexual, but vizziepop has not mentioned he’s aromantic as well.

Now I want to say this first and foremost, you CAN headcanon alastor as aroace, in fact as an aroace person myself I actively encourage it! It’s great! It’s fun! I understand the need/want to see a part of yourself in a character you enjoy!

But by saying he is something that he is canonically not only will create a negative and harmful space, those who WANT to ship alastor with someone will feel as if they can’t, that they don’t want to get attacked or hated on or made fun of, and that’s not fair to them for multiple reasons.

One being that if he WAS canonically aroace, aroace people can still date, it is quite literally a spectrum orientation, you have those who are willing to be open to dating with time, let’s just call this demiromantic or in the asexual case, demisexual, you have the people who are not at all open to dating, I’ve seen multiple names for this but mostly “loveless” and you also have the people who don’t necessarily want to date someone but love/care about them more than a friend, so you have queer platonic relationships.

These are all incredibly valid people and incredibly valid feelings and incredibly valid ways to date or to not date.

If vizziepop takes the direction, which I truly doubt she will to be honest, or if someone ships alastor with someone. They CAN do this, it’s not taking a canonically gay male character and shipping him with a woman, it’s taking a character who needs time and boundaries to develop a relationship. These are two totally different things.

I’ve seen this thing happen… not exactly consistently but almost enough, where people will see an asexual character and go “oh! They must be aro too!” And that is not valid, a character should be allowed to just be the one without people saying they SHOULD be the other, it’s harmful to the communities and nearly exclusionary to those who struggle with their identities already and trying to find out WHO they are HOW they feel about these things and once again, creates a confusing space for those trying to just enjoy their characters smooching.

So, if you want to write alastor having sex, you can do that, asexual people and their relationship with sex CANNOT be narrowed down to one type of stereotype of “oh, I don’t want to have it” which is VALID!! But it’s not the worldwide universal feeling, if you want to write alastor developing romantic feelings, however they may be, you can do that! If you want to write alastor being sexual and romantic averse. YOU CAN DO THAT.

But you have to do it in a way that is respectful and knowledgeable, state alastor became comfortable enough with his partner to have sexual acts, state that although he may not take a 100% physical role in sex but still wants to please his partner because he knows THEY enjoy sex and they come to an understanding and firm/respected boundaries.

And state that you don’t want to ship him, you don’t want him taking a role in sex, but just don’t be cruel about it; don’t attack people; don’t say he’s something he isn’t. Just say this is how you see him and respect others who don’t see him like that, I promise you they will understand that and respect it too.

I’m probably honestly wasting my time saying all of this considering it’s a character from an animated tv show, but it really bothers me when I see these people arguing when it does absolutely no good and all it does is stress you out and potentially ruin a thing you really enjoy.

[coricatchthorne]

Amping up to sharing my own writing (starting NEXT WEEK!), another work I admire is the Doctrine of Labyrinths, by Katherine Addison AKA Sarah Monette (who I don't think is on Tumblr but if anyone knows different please let me know!)

I’ve been working through this dark fantasy series for a while, but in 2024 I got my hands on the last book, Corambis. There’s a LOT to chew on, but a few things really inspired me in my own writing. Minor, but vague, spoilers below.

POV differentiation and juxtaposition: The voices of Felix and Mildmay, our half-brother protagonists, are wonderfully distinct and messy. You can immediately tell whose chapter you’re in within a sentence or two, and both are deeply unreliable narrators in different ways. The gaps in how they perceive their world, each other, and themselves allowed a lot of really juicy storytelling by contrast alone. Showing a place, a person, or an interaction from their different viewpoints allowed any given instant to serve as a delicious layer-cake of joint characterization and worldbuilding. Also the bond between them is deeply satisfying, taking a long time to build but also becoming a powerful force in both mens’ lives.

Bad behaviors: Felix and Mildmay both do terrible things over the course of this series, and yet remain compelling protagonists. Mildmay, despite being a literal killer who kills, is far easier to sympathize with: he’s not prone to cruelty like Felix is, and his inner voice is sly and funny and humble. Because of this, and because he’s a straight man who thinks little of himself and keeps things close to his vest, it takes time to realize how smart Mildmay is, and how profoundly he’s been abused. Felix, on the other hand, vents his trauma (some of which is deeply queer and sexual in nature) loudly, through vicious social and verbal violence, both subtle and obvious. He’s got a cruel streak and often acts a real asshole, even (and perhaps especially) to the people he cares about. Yet both remain deeply sympathetic characters who I personally found myself rooting for very early, even in the moments where I also wanted to slap them. 

The labyrinth of trauma: Dissertations could be written about how labyrinths are used thematically in this series. But one aspect I appreciated was the non-linearity of recovering from trauma. You may have a profoundly healing realization one day, then re-enact old shitty patterns the next day. You may have a day where your injury feels okay, and the next day you feel like shit. You may make amends to someone you hurt, then hurt them again. But those things don’t mean you aren’t moving forward, or that healing isn’t happening. It’s just that sometimes you have to retread the same piece of ground over and over, each time hopefully moving a little closer to a world where you aren’t lost in the maze of your wounds. 

There’s a ton else that could be said about these books (and also a zillion content warnings: this is dark fantasy); but I’ll end with how I felt finishing this series. Unlike some ‘dark fantasy’ series’ I’ve read, this journey was harrowing, but ultimately felt hopeful. It posits that there is a way out of the labyrinth, and trauma doesn’t actually have to define your whole life forever. 

I’ll be thinking about Felix and Mildmay for a long time, and I’m curious about others’ thoughts on these strange, haunted, and beautiful books. Check them out here: https://openroadmedia.com/contributor/katherine-addison

[namtanlovesfilm]

Wanted to start this by saying that I usually agree with your opinions (or even when I don't, I can at least see where you're coming from) but that's not the case when it comes to your opinion on Only Friends because I completely disagree and just wanted to add my two cents. You said that it wasn't relatable to the queer community but I'm sorry, the queer community isn't a monolith, there isn't one universal way that every single queer friendship group functions. Just because it wasn't relatable to your experience, it doesn't mean that it wasn't relatable to many other queer people's experiences. For example, one of my friend groups consists of gay men and the stories they've told me (and some of which I witnessed with myself)? Not that far off from OF (aka everyone getting with everyone, behind people's backs as well, and most of them are still on friendly terms now). It's perfectly fine that you didn't personally relate but you can't say no queer person/community did.

I also saw depth to a lot of characters and I could relate to several of them in different ways and everything in the finale made sense to me for those characters. For me it achieved what it set out to do: entertain, while also make me connect/care about some of the characters. It didn't do that for everyone (you included) but please don't claim it's a "bad show" as a general statement just because you didn't get anything out of it because a lot of people did. (My friend who struggles with depression and is currently going through a depressive slump found comfort in seeing Ray progress to a point where he's much happier at the end of the series because it gives her hope that she can get to that point soon too.)

Is Only Friends a brilliant, amazing, showstopping, incredible show? No. But it's not bad, far from it. It certainly has its flaws but the sudden hate it's getting is not warranted imo.

hi, first of all, it's fine to disagree lol, though it's always a bit jarring to me when people feel the need to let me know they disagree with me bc clearly we simply have a different taste & opinion. when I share my opinion about a show, I do it on my blog but never go on others' blogs to either defend a show I liked or trash a show I didn't like, but anyways. I have NEVER, EVER said that the queer community is a monolith & that all queer representation needs to be relatable to ME. in fact, a lot of my favorite queer media are HIGHLY UN-relatable to me lol. I never implied that only friends' flaws comes from it being unrelatable or unrealistic? in fact I believe it to be realistic since it's made by queer men & has recurring topics that p'jojo especially has used in previous shows of his, especially since the story of only friends is inspired by real-life events. in fact I said that I WISH they'd have leaned into the queer community aspect of it even more bc it was the one point in which this show differentiates itself from friend zone, so yeah. don't really know where you got that notion from. secondly, like it or not, I can claim any shows I've watched are bad in my opinion. once again, media is subjective & I did not like only friends so for me it IS a bad show. is it the worst? no. did I HATE it? no. did I have a good time in front of it? also no. also from a writing standpoint I'm sorry it IS objectively bad and FAILED at what it set out to do, especially considering the show itself doesn't seem to know what it set out to do in the first place. moreover, sudden hate? I've been criticizing only friends since it started airing lol, I'm not jumping on any bandwagon, and in fact it's more so the fandom that's catching up to the fact that this show is not very good. now, I'm genuinely glad that this show helped you & your friend and that you liked it! that's great, of COURSE this show is gonna have its fans, and in fact it has a lot of them! however it seems to me as if you've taken my (justified) criticism of the show to heart for a reason that only you fully know, and I hope you can investigate why that is. I truly value you as a long time follower of mine & I hope you can agree to disagree with me on that one even though I must admit this ask seems a bit jarring & personal to me. wish you all the best :)

xxx

[dearunreliablenarrator]

✨Good day!✨

For the elemental asks:

Psionics: How do you get into the heads of your characters?

Summer: How do you know when you need a break from writing?

also have an awesome day ✨

✨pip pip✨

before we start: TL;DR! i think back to traumatic experiences and drop them in that situation, john quiñones dupe🤩 ; forcing myself to write is like shittin’, push too hard and you’ll get a hemorrhoid.

psionics: How do you get into the heads of your characters?

we’ll stick with the big three for this one. and forgive me when it gets a little mystical in here. and maybe a wee bit sappy. now, i’m a whole hearted believer in that characters are reflective of their creator, from avoiding topics to indulging in them. with that being said,

Grace Davis & Simone Thompson (CUTS): these girls and their stories, are the unfortunate outlet to being black, queer, and depressed in the height of covid. the world shut down on itself and so did its people. we isolated ourselves in more way than one. i think i missed out on one of many crucial parts of life that evolve self exploration and expression.

their heads, just like mine at that time, are riddled with the worries of adjusting to college life (for context, i was a freshman in college when covid hit) not just once but twice. as they never truly bounced back like that world demanded; go back to normal and ignore the plight of those around you, rise and grind.

spiritually, they reflect my ascendant (yes i know some people have ruined the name of astrology but stick with me). which is in scorpio-in a degree i don’t know much about-- so boom we have the moon which is believed to be the face of emotions and scorpio which rules the genitals. can you imagine the turmoil of an isolated new adult unable to express themselves because the forces at hand are too strong to handle alone? they're watching the world burn and being stinged by its flames and now they have somehow glue the pieces back; everyone please bow your head in prayer for these young ladies.

amen.

and we’ll keep forces as a general term, as it’s different for everyone. (psht! spoiler, one got to be gay in peace and the other has a homophobic father 🥰) i also really started my deconstruction on religion here so that’ll be in there too but enough on them today, let’s move on to our romantics.

Warren and Elaine: omg being a romantic these days is so hard! and as the reflection of my thoughts on that, they’re here to show you that romance is only perceived as dead cause it’s not easy! they are my characters to stage the perfect romance; and in my our heads that involves knowing when to say you don’t know and when to say you’re wrong.

and i think we’ll keep it short n’ sweet for them, i fear i will get off topic so onto FREEDOM

Emilia: while not the only star to this show, is the reflection of wee little saturn before they became a gas giant. so she's sheltered, protected, and ignorant to how the world works. but as someone who has a curiosity for everything, she wants to explore what's been hidden from her as a child and to test the limitations of humanity. long story short, we working with the inner child and teen here, a good coming of age like the movies.

alright! still with me? cool..

Summer: How do you know when you need a break from writing?

over the years, i've learned that bad shit has to come out to be polished into a good one. with that being said, when it starts to become a struggle instead of a challenge, i stop. point blank, complete shutdown. if it feels like something isnt flowing in a way i'm used to, i step away. which is sometimes hard, because i feel like we all want to produce something every second; but that has burned me out. so when it feels like i can't get myself to create what i've envisioned, i just take a break. breaks are good. rest is good. you alway come back better than if you had churned out something just to flush it.

---

anyways in the midst of my ramblings, i hope i've made sense (feel free to ask questions, i don't bite)! have a good day/night/evening/mornin'!