#was a loving kiss between a wlw and mlm who love each other platonically

[soufre-de-paris]

we watched the batman last night, and i gotta say, really powerful decision to make batman an autistic gay incel/volcel

oh and every single person in the fucking movie was gay. i… don't really understand

[dwindlinghaze]

omg would love if you could write something platonic with remus where him and r have a really flirty/affectionate relationship and ppl who dont know them think they’re dating but they’re both gay and it’s just mlm and wlw solidarity 😭💓

hiii omg i love this idea so much (considering the fact that i am somewhat gay lol😭) i hope u like this 🤍☁️🫧

something anyone can see

(remus lupin x platonic!reader)

contents: blurb, platonic relationship, implied mlm/wlw

　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

it was funny to see people outside your friend group thinking you and remus were dating. it's not their fault tough, you never really spoke about your sexuality publicly. you feared the nonacceptance of people so you kept it only to yourself and the friends you trusted.

remus being one of them.

you came out to remus a few months ago; he was the first person to know. you trust him with all of you. he's your best of best friends.

he was completely supportive of you, and he ended up coming out to you also. you both laughed at the end. it was a comforting feeling to know that your best friend you couldn't imagine living without will always be there.

it was relieving almost- to know that your relationship with remus will always be the same platonic thing. nothing will ever change between the two of you. nothing silly will bring you guys apart.

the reason why he can be so affectionate towards you is because he knows you will not find it weird at all and things wouldn't go awkward between the two of you.

you both love each other a lot, just platonically.

"rem, do you wanna go? it's dinner time," you said lowly. you two have been studying in the library since four.

this is also one of the many reasons why people thought you and remus is something. he seems to always be wherever you are. spending time late at night until your eyes gave out. he gives you chocolate and flowers just because because you love them.

mostly, he's just there to be a good friend and make you the happiest. not to mention, both of you are very respectful of each other too.

"let's go," he agreed, taking yours and his books.

as you two walked down to the great hall, some students were giggling at the two which made you grew wary of your surroundings.

"let's guy their idea of us," remus said, hovering his lips over the corner of your eye to tease the students around. it looked like he was kissing your eyes, which in fact, is not the case.

"rem!'," you chuckled.

"what is that?"

"nothing!" you giggled, punching his side jokingly.

when dinner finally started, you heard little murmurs about a certain couple. it was obvious that that is circling around you and remus.

you felt remus kicking your feet under the table, sending you a sheepish grin. from the outside's point of view, it seems like you two were having a nonverbal lovey dovey communication.

students don't usually care about hogwarts couples and whatever, but remus' love life was somehow intriguing for them. maybe because it was so unlike remus to get close to a girl. he is mysterious and it was interesting to see the two of you getting together.

to make the people around grow even more giddy; you blew remus a kiss, winking at him with the most flirtatious eyes you can manage. it turned out to be more comical than flirty.

he puts his hand over his mouth, muffling his laughter at the shocked faces people are making as he looked around.

james let out a snicker, looking at his friend with a funny look. only you and the marauders knows about remus' sexuality, so seeing people getting so worked up about a love story they narrated on their own was amusing.

"imagine if they know how gay i am."

[cassahina]

Headcanons for my favorite queer Danganronpa ships (+AroAce Chihiro): Dr1 & Udg~

Celesgiri:

- They are the two who start dating after consistent events of being done with everyone else’s shit together. It was probably the fifth time Leon got his good throwing hand stuck in a pickles jar where they decided to say fuck these people and make out in the closest that night, ditching their friends game night in the middle of charades.

- When Celestia first saw Kyoko’s hands without her gloves on, she was shocked. Not so much because of the scars, but because of the look of shame and discomfort that was blatant in Kyoko’s features. That night they had a talk and Celestia repeatedly told Kyoko that she was beautiful and reassured her that Celestia adored her. That would be the same night where they shared their first “I love you”s.

- Kyoko is one of the very few people who know about Celestia’s vampire fetish and always teases her about it. For Halloween she decided to surprise her by dressing up as one, and Kyoko swears she has never seen Celestia blush so much.

- Celestia loves to teasingly flirt with Kyoko whenever Kyoko is busy. She definitely looked up pick up lines and fancy French terms of endearment to use before Kyoko starts her work. Kyoko always rolls her eyes at Celestia’s antics, but deep down inside they both know they are the highlight of Kyoko’s day.

Ikuzono:

- Sayaka loves to kiss the few scars Mukuro has and has only shown her. It’s always a very intimate and vulnerable moment for the two, and Mukuro always gets a bit worried and insecure when she shows them so Sayaka happily reassures Mukuro that she is beautiful before showering her in kisses.

- Mukuro has definitely beaten up a few guys who have stared at Sayaka for too long in a certain way before. Having an idol for a girlfriend is rough, but thankfully it allows her to flex her amazing strength and muscles, which Sayaka always finds hella attractive and will thank her with a kiss, regardless of whether the paparazzi is there or not.

- Mukuro sometimes has nightmares about Junko. During these nights Sayaka will come in, spoon her, and quietly sing Mukuro back to sleep until she is snoozing again while snuggled up in Sayaka’s arms.

- Mukuro has a wolf onesie while Sayaka has a koala bear onesie and they always have cuddly dates in them at least once a month (once it was every night of the week for two months). Mukuro always gets bashful wearing her onesie, meanwhile Sayaka is just gushing over how cute her girlfriend is.

Tokomaru/Syomaru:

- They always share a bed ever since the udg events. Even when Toko got over her worry about ghosts, they still share a bed and stay up late talking to each other until they both pass out. It’s really helpful for times when one of them has a nightmare as sometimes Toko doesn’t wake up, so Komaru just quietly holds her and soothes Toko as she calms down in her sleep.

- Jill loves to gush on Komaru and show off. She’s actually decently strong, so they will carry Komaru around and bench press her at times to show how strong they are and how they can protect her like how they protect Toko. (Jill is a protector alter for Toko’s DID system, and that protective nature rubs off onto Komaru after they start dating and as Jill grows more and more fond of Komaru)

- Komaru and her girlfriends love to take baths together. It started off when Toko was in a depressive swing and Komaru helped her get through the necessities (cooking Toko meals, brushing her hair, etc.) and it ended up making Toko very happy, so they continued to do it. Toko likes bubble baths and Jill loves bath bombs, and Komaru always brings scented candles so it’s always just a nice relaxing moment between the girlfriends.

- Toko is a little spoon who will never admit that fact out loud, while Jill is a big spoon. Komaru loves it because she constantly gets to be both the big spoon and the little spoon, and cuddle times with her girlfriends always leaves her in a state of pure bliss.

Ishimondo:

- Mondo was probably Taka’s last straw before he accepted the fact that he liked guys. Like he is chill with gay people but he never fully saw himself as one, constantly questioning it but thanks to heteronormativity he repressed those thoughts a bit, and then he looks at Mondo and went “ah, so this is what it means to ‘gay panic’”.

- Mondo likes to follow Taka to help him keep the others in line with school rules. Whenever someone seems to question Taka or is about to berate Taka for being so stringent, they get a death glare from Mondo that reads “you better listen to my boyfriend”. Taka always thinks it’s his authority that makes the others listen out of respect, and Mondo doesn’t have the heart to tell him the truth.

- Bro is their casual tough guy way of a cute pet name for each other. This is mainly because Mondo called Taka babes once, and Taka gay panicked so much that he passed out. Poor baby couldn’t handle how soft it made him. It was both very concerning and very cute to Mondo who ended up watching over Taka until he regained his composure.

-they are like so supportive of everyone else, either being the big gay brothers or the dads of everyone else. They have a mlm-wlw solidity with Sakuraoi where they take care of everyone and all the baby gays. They also have monthly game nights where they playfully compete against each other in a joke battle between the gays and the lesbians. Just lots of lgbtq+ jokes and fluff and support, all in good fun and never any hard feelings towards who wins and who loses. Really they are just a badass yet very considerate and soft couple with one another.

Sakuraoi:

- Aoi definitely asked Sakura out first, and knowing her it was either to get something to eat with her or to work out together. They both really admire each other so they would be down for whatever, but neither is big on PDA in public besides hugging and hand-holding and the occasional kiss on the cheek or pet name. It took the others about a month to realize the two were dating because they were so casual about it and both forgot to tell the others, figuring the other had already done so.

- So much body positivity from both of these girls. For real, imagine comments like Ishimaru accidentally calling Sakura a guy happens all the time, so it probably means the world when Aoi just love spams a million gender neutral and feminine compliments telling Sakura how beautiful she is and how Aoi can’t believe she is dating the most gorgeous woman in the world.

- Meanwhile, Aoi sometimes worries about her weight as she is not only an athlete but also from constantly being judged for eating doughnuts so much and her other comfort foods. But Sakura tells her that those things make her happy and when she is happy she is beautiful because Aoi has the most captivating smile. They both in a way just remind each other that they are both beautiful and loved every day, but both know that the other genuinely means it.

- Sakura is amazing at baking and Aoi melts over the wife material her girlfriend is. Whenever she is stressed, Sakura bakes something with one of the other girls to cheer Aoi up, and they end up having a cuddly sleepover. Aoi in return always makes sure to comfort Sakura whenever she is stressed, with Sakura not being the type to let things get to her often so Aoi is always the worried, accepting, and loving girlfriend when Sakura needs it.

Chihiro:

- They are AroAce, but they are open to QPPs. I see Taka and Mondo being the most likely candidates, but they are more like Chihiro’s gay dads though.

- Chihiro has said sexuality can fuck itself. Taka passed out from both the sheer shock and horror of that moment.

- They probs have the worst anxiety when trying to explain the Aro spectrum and how QPRs work, so they are extremely appreciative for their friends who accept them and love them for who they are.

- They are the softest thing, I would imagine them being an amazing snuggler platonically cause they still love cuddle time, they just ain’t into romance. They are also super supportive and great at being a hype person. They are generally just precious and deserve the world and all the validation it has to offer to them.

[girlboss-molina]

flarrie+ smirk? I JUST LOVE THEM OKAY

ofc mon ami!

send me a ship+prompt and i’ll write you a drabble!

ao3

-----

“You have got to be kidding me.”

Flynn loved slumber parties. She always did; the sugary food, staying up late, movies, it was all so fun. And sleepover games were the best part; truth or dare, spin the bottle, etc. 

But they’d never hated them more. 

Their group had decided on spin the bottle; they were all friends, of course, so it wasn’t supposed to be awkward... but it was. For Flynn, at least.

They didn’t tell anyone, of course; how would she explain that she’d had a crush on Carrie Wilson since seventh grade? Unfortunately, though, they didn’t have to tell. Somehow, Julie and Kayla had figured it out themselves. And based on the smirks being thrown their way, and to Carrie as well, Flynn was very tempted to smack them both. 

Because the universe hated them, they’d spun the bottle and it had landed on Carrie. 

It couldn’t have landed just a bit to the right to hit Kayla? Or a bit to the left to hit Julie? Not even Arcady, Soleil, or Jenna (the other three Dirty Candi members)? Even hitting Alex would’ve been better (boys technically weren’t allowed at the sleepover, the only reason he was there was because he was a ghost and could poof away, even though he could now make himself visible and corporeal). She could’ve just kissed him on the cheek or the hand or something equally as platonic (wlw/mlm solidarity). 

“What’s wrong, Flynnie?” asked Julie, her smirk widening. Flynn shot her a quick death glare before smiling again, turning back to Carrie, who seemed to be just as uncomfortable. 

Well, that didn’t make them feel better. 

Her heart sank just a little bit; they’d already known there was no way their stupid crush was reciprocated, but this pretty much proved it. 

“Carrie?” asked Kayla, elbowing her in the ribs. “You okay?”

“Fine,” she said quickly, her voice at least an octave higher. Flynn rolled her eyes and leaned forward, pecking her on the cheek. 

“There.” They leaned back and fiddled with the hem of her pajama shirt, actively ignoring the even wider smirks from Julie and Kayla specifically. 

“You’re both so stupid,” Julie informed them. Flynn and Carrie looked at her and, in unison, gasped in mock offense.

“Jules, how could you?” Flynn asked sarcastically; calling each other stupid, disappointing, or underachieving was a daily occurrence for them. 

“I said what I said. Both of you are very intelligent but just so fucking stupid and oblivious.” 

“What do you mean?” Carrie asked, and Flynn didn’t miss her blush. They were probably blushing too. Flynn knew what Julie meant, and wasn’t sure she liked the implications of “both.” 

Julie and Kayla shared a look, then bust out laughing. 

“I swear,” Alex said, “they’re worse than Jules and Luke were.” 

“Okay, rudeness aside,” Julie said in mock offense, “you aren’t wrong.” 

“Wait...” Carrie said slowly. “Isn’t Luke your boyfriend?”

“Yep,” Julie said with a smirk and raised eyebrows, glancing between Carrie and Flynn. Flynn adjusted the sleeve of her shirt, subtly giving Julie the finger. Julie just laughed. 

“Okay, I’m sorry, could I please speak with Kayla?” Flynn asked.

“Yeah, could I talk to Julie real quick?” Carrie added, glancing their way. Julie and Kayla looked at each other and rolled their eyes, muttering something about disaster lesbians. They got up, following Carrie and Flynn respectively to the other sides of the room. 

“Okay,” Flynn said in a hushed voice, “clearly you know I like Carrie-”

“She likes you too, dumbass,” Kayla cut in before they could say anything else. Flynn’s jaw dropped.

“What?”

“You heard me.” Flynn barely registered Kayla’s snort and saunter back to the circle of pillows, because they were still too caught up on... everything. 

If Kayla was to be believed, her crush was reciprocated? Carrie Wilson? Flynn knew she was awesome, but they’d never actually believed Carrie would like them like that. 

The sound of Julie clearing her throat knocked her back to reality. Carrie was back at her spot, her face considerably red, fidgeting with a pillow, but her lips were raised in a small, confident smile. So, Flynn did what they did best; channel their inner confidence, let herself mirror Carrie’s smile, even going as far as to add a little smirk to it, and walked back. 

“Carrie spun the bottle, since it was her turn,” Julie explained, pointing Flynn’s attention to the bottle pointed right at their spot. “And it landed right back on you!”

“Yeah, and it only took three tries,” muttered Alex with a grin. Carrie’s face got even redder, which Flynn didn’t think was possible. 

“Well,” they finally said, sitting back down with a smirk, “rules are rules.” 

Time seemed to both freeze and fly by as they leaned forward, and for once, Flynn was able to ignore the butterflies in their stomach as her lips met Carrie’s. The kiss was sweet and Flynn tasted the faint bit of strawberry chapstick they knew Carrie always wore. Carrie smiled into it, and they couldn’t help but laugh when Julie and Kayla started cheering, followed by Alex’s loud whooping. 

Flynn couldn’t bring herself to care, too caught up in the euphoria of kissing Carrie. 

[catsandcatci]

Hey guys! Guess who’s back on their bullshit?

Okay, disclaimer right now, I have not formally studied psychology, sociology, anything about that funky little grey matter in general, so this entire thing will consist of, as I have said before, my bullshit. 

Alright. Here goes. 

We all have had at least one instance where we encountered someone who shipped a gay couple even if they themselves are not gay, right? (Hell, considering this is tumblr, most of y’all can probably relate) The dreaded fujoshi among them? Now, not that I find this anything odd, myself, but it has occurred to me many times that people not familiar with fandom likely think this odd, or, citing the literal meaning of “fujoshi,” rotten. At the same time, I refuse to think that all the people that find joy in reading about homosexual couples (mainly straight women who enjoy yaoi and the like, but also the reverse and everything in between) like those things out of some purely fetishized, lustful mindset. That is not to say that that kind of fan isn't out there, but I perceive them as a radical and vocal minority. Like politics (god I hate politics). 

So, that begs the question, why? Why then do many straight girls and women turn to gay pairings? There are several reasons I can think of, none of them overly comforting (you’ll see why).

One: A lack of meaningful heterosexual relationships in media, romantic or otherwise. 

Yeah, don’t we know it? I like to think of romance as something resulting from friendship and emotional bonds (friends to lovers, you know the drill), but apparently, most shows and books don’t agree. Or, they agree too much. How many times can you say that you have even seen a relationship between a male and female in a show, movie, or book that didn’t shift from platonic to romantic? That in itself is, to my mind, harmful, as I had many difficulties forming friendships with guys, as once a meaningful friendship begins to form, then the pressure for romance began. If not from friends, then from family, or from the guy in question, or perhaps even my own subconscious which said “this should lead to romance, right?” Wrong!

Now, wlw or mlm couples? That expectation doesn't exist at all. It’s an escape, and it’s comforting,  isn’t it?

Two: The romantic connection itself is generally extremely well developed.

Not all romances are created equal, and one has to admit that there is a large discrepancy between heterosexual and homosexual relationships due to heteronormativity. A man and a woman speaking? Must be love, smash em together like the classic story of a Disney princess marrying the first man she meets! Two men sharing their lives with one another, supporting each other through tragedy and baring their souls to each other? Very good friends, someone should write in some wives for them!

Sorry for the exaggeration. But that’s really how it feels sometimes. Has anyone else ever noticed (this is aimed at people who read BL, mainly), that while you don’t mind reading, say, a kiss (or dare I say intercourse) between the two main characters at what is often the very, very end of the novel (looking at MXTX novels, here), the same thing in a movie between a man and a woman is extremely off-putting? Yeah? That’s development, baby. Because for some reason, many heterosexual relationships are underdeveloped, while in order for a homosexual relationship to even be considered, there has to be insane amount of development (*cough* heteronormativity *cough*). 

This is not only harmful for those in the LGBTQ+ community, but really everyone involved, because it teaches young people that relationships should just happen (and they shouldn’t). 

Three: Equality within a relationship

This is my third and final point, which really kicked off this whole thought process and thus this post (read: me venting). And yeah, you heard me. I think that many people (especially young women and teenage girls) tend to turn to shipping homosexual couples because, to many, there exists a precedence of inequality in heterosexual relationships. Historically, men have been considered the breadwinner (and isn’t there that pesky thing called “man of the household”?) while women generally were expected to be in charge of domestic affairs (ah! classic republican motherhood!). Times are changing, that’s true, but they haven’t been changed for long in the grand scheme of things, and male chauvinism is still absolutely rampant, especially where I live. So, where is it that there exists no precedence of inequality? A homosexual relationship. (That is not to say that it is not present at all, but in an invariably smaller degree, nonetheless)

And there you have it. In fact, I don’t think that this is a conscious thing. It took me a very long time to put my finger on the why of it all, or what I perceive it to be anyways, and I tend to overanalyze things. 

Please, tell me your opinions. Love it? Hate it? Think I’m stupid, or perhaps the next Plato? (don't answer that last one)

[sol1056]

shooting it all into the sun

I haven’t seen anyone else bringing this up (or at least, the people I follow haven’t been reblogging it, if it has) but I think it’s worth pointing out. Given the bios a lot of you have at your headers, I’m guessing most of you haven’t had the firsthand experience that would help you see how startling (and pointed) a certain exec move was, in VLD’s final season. 

To understand that, though, humor me with a thought experiment first. Once you’ve got the basic mindset, then I’ll explain what in S8 made me sit back in absolute shock and reevaluate DreamWorks pretty thoroughly. 

1. Think of a large sum of money for you. Your paycheck, your savings, or all your holiday gift money from elderly relatives. Big enough that spending it all on one thing is a little scary. Let’s call this your cash-on-hand.

2. Think of a decision you make regularly. Do the dishes after dinner, or let them sit overnight? Take this bus at your corner, or walk two blocks for a different bus? Study with friends, or alone? Something relatively minor.   

3. Now imagine: there’s money riding on your choice, equal to the amount in step #1. Choose wrong by some mysterious measure, and you lose all your money. All of it.

4. Another twist: it’s not predictable. The first time you do the dishes right after dinner, you lose. The next time, you wait til morning... and lose. You’d probably realize quickly there must be other factors making an impact.

5. Another twist: if you choose right, you get a bonus. A dollar extra, a hundred, or more. You’d have to pay careful attention to what else could be in play, making the bonus small this time, and huge the next time.

6. And for the god-tier twist, every decision is actually multiple-choice: take the bus, walk, get a ride from a friend, work from home? One choice will cost you, another won’t cost you but won’t gain you either. Another will get you a small but decent bonus, and another gets you a bonus twice your cash-on-hand.  

How would this impact your decision-making? You’d start to track when you lost, when you didn’t, and when you gained. You’d look at all kinds of things: maybe “study with friends” is only good when the teacher's out sick. Or “walk two blocks” is only the right choice if it’s not raining --- and when it is raining, you have to score “get a ride” for the biggest bonus.

Figuring out the logic is going to take some wrong guesses, and each one sets you back to zero. You might get lucky and get a bonus -- and proceed to lose it all trying to reproduce what you did right that one time. Was it the weather? time of day? someone’s mood? So many factors. You’d weigh every decision carefully -- especially new ones. Is this like that time I lost everything, or more like when I got that huge bonus? Hold on, is it raining? Mood check! 

Bottom line: the more you have on the line, and the closer that ‘more’ is to ‘everything you have,’ and the more unpredictable the number of factors, the more conservative (little-c) people tend to be. We’ll hoard, save, hold back. The bigger the gamble, the bigger the potential gains --- but the risks are just as big.

You are now --- in a limited but hopefully illustrative way --- thinking like an executive. Big money, big potential, bigger risk. 

As an exec, maybe you figured in the last stretch of a multi-season show, the staff didn’t need constant supervision... and then you see S8. Obviously, you figured wrong. Whatever your specific complaints, you agree with the other execs: this season needs fixing. And fast.

The question is: what needs to be fixed, and what can be fixed, given time constraints, limited remaining staff, and whatever is left in the budget? It’s a lot of choices with big consequences. 

Doing nothing will cost in a lot of ways: franchise goodwill, future income, your brand and reputation, and of course, the audience’s good faith. Doing nothing simply isn’t an option. At the same time, there’s no point laying new carpet in a house that’s falling down. You can’t fix everything. What can you do that’s just enough to patch up the worst? 

Well, an epilogue where everyone gets a happy ending, that also leaves open the chance for franchise continuation... that might work. It’s not a full episode, and it could be done in the time remaining, by in-house staff. Alright, then. What goes in this couple of minutes? This is your chance to tell the audience what you, as execs, think is a good place for the story to end. What do you want to say? What’s your highest priority? 

A conservative set of execs, from a conservative company (think Nickelodeon) would show each character as happy in their post-series lives, and call it a day. That’s the safe bet. You might not gain much, but you’ll lose less. An adequate fix for the least cost in terms of cash, time, and effort.

In case you missed it: this is not the choice DreamWorks made.

All along, the EPs have paid lip service to VLD’s queer audiences, like in this oft-quoted exchange from Let’s Voltron podcast:

interviewer: Will we be seeing any LGBT representation? LM: It’s super important to us. JDS: Just know that from our perspective, we’re fighting to create as open and broad a spectrum of characters as we can. LM: We can’t give you any definite answers, but just know that--- JDS: We’re fighting for as broad and open representation as we can.

A company playing it safe would give every character an ambiguously (and unpaired) happy ending. A company walking the same edge as the EPs --- a lot of lip service, requiring a lot of reading between the lines --- might give a Korrasami ending. 

An idea of what that might look like: Shiro’s section shows pictures on a mantle. In the center is one of Shiro with another man; perhaps they have their arms around each other, both smiling at the camera, flanked by the paladins. It’s the barest possible nod for a queer audience; for everyone else, that could just be Shiro with his new best (totally-platonic) flight partner. 

That’s choosing to lose small. Throw a bone to the queers, but not so much to piss off the assumed-majority straights in the audience. 

Or you could just say fuck that and go for broke. 

DreamWorks didn’t have to go that big. Really, they didn’t. The EPs had set up a perfect cover for the execs to hide behind: getting representation is hard, so many barriers, you just need to be patient and maybe you’ll get a split second nod that you have to tilt your head and squint to interpret as any kind of queerness, but really, we’re totally fighting for every little scrap. 

DW took the EPs’ protests and tore them into smithereens. Then DW gathered up all those teeny pieces and shot every last one into the goddamn sun. 

In the big picture, I do agree that everything else being equal, a five-second clip like this is pretty much the opposite of satisfactory. Audiences want to see the relationship develop; that’s what really matters. A wedding kiss is just a happy by-product.

But if you’re an exec who has only so much money left to gamble, a company policy of not reacting publicly to audience reactions (for better or worse), and limited time to repair or redo the damage in the final season... you need to make the most of what you do have. 

So you edit Ezor in so she’s not one more dead queer character, you edit a few scenes to include a love interest’s presence earlier in the season... and you blow the lid off the EPs’ prevarication. None of this implying bullshit; you put it all right there on the screen.

You know what that says? 

It says there was no goddamn reason we couldn’t have had a long development of an mlm (or wlw) relationship, onscreen, over the course of several seasons. I don’t care which relationship you think it should be; that’s not the point. It says as far as the execs are concerned, we could’ve had a queer relationship written as romantic and sealed with a kiss, none of this euphemism crap. It says in the execs’ opinion, every time the EPs swore they did ‘all they were allowed to do’, that the EPs were wrong. 

The inserted epilogue is practically a neon sign two stories high. 

HEY THIS IS OKAY BY US, WE WOULD’VE BEEN FINE WITH YOU HAVING THIS EARLIER, JUST SO YOU KNOW

Want to know what else the epilogue tells us?

Remember all the steps at the start of this post, how everything is setting you up (as an exec) for not acting without all possible data, for moving slow and being cautious in case this wrong guess is the final straw? 

There’s another side to that: sometimes, you have to gamble because doing nothing is against everything you stand for. Even if it costs more and appears to gain you nothing in the bank. 

When you take in everything --- from the money lost (20M is a conservative estimate for VLD’s production costs), franchise partners who might not be keen on queer cooties, to the EPs who swore what we got was all they could get --- DW is making a pretty clear statement, here. Being inclusive and progressive is important enough to them that even in a show patently and obviously failing on every count, they’ll still make sure it doesn’t end with a handful of dead queers and one shelved mlm guy. 

Yes, DW still has to clean its own house and do some internal education to make sure its decision-makers don’t sit back for so long and let a bunch of newbie showrunners impose their narrow-minded regressive agenda. Yes, DW was a day late and a dollar short when it came to fixing the catastrophe of S7 and the complete hash of S8. Yes, DW clearly chose to bury S8, rather than yank it back and redo it over. 

But they also chose not to let it go down without showing their support for onscreen, explicit queer characters and relationships. 

Enough with the grumbling about so-called exec meddling; we’re overdue to lay the blame for bad LGBT representation squarely on the EPs. All they gave us was a lot of empty talk. It’s the DW execs who gambled on walking on the walk, and I think it’s time we recognize that.

[sometimesrosy]

How positive are you that Bellarke is going to become canon? And I don't mean like in just this season, but if more seasons were to come and just in general? Like do you really think this can happen? I just need someone to give me hope lol.

I am 100% positive that the story they are telling is ABOUT Bellarke, and that includes romantic endgame Bellarke. They are ALREADY telling a romance story. They just haven’t gotten to the end of the story yet, where they come together. This is what I mean when I say I believe Bellarke is already canon, even without the kissing. Because a romance story inevitably leads to the kissing.

I am NOT 100% positive that the show and hollywood will stay true to the story they are telling. I don’t even have a percentage for that one, because sometimes hollywood screws you over for their mysterious hollywood ways. But, unlike Xfiles, JR actually seems to love Bellarke. I know it may not seem like it with all the obstacles, and slow burn, but I maintain that this delay in romantic Bellarke is actually a masterful spinning of an epic tale or romance within the apocalypse. It is NOT ship baiting. It is not trolling. It is not faking us out. Every time they are separated, it serves to make their relationship deeper. He has continued to follow a romantic path with Bellarke even when they are off on their separate journeys, angry with each other, with other people. Bellarke are always drawn back together and they are always better when they are together. This has been noticed WITHIN the narrative, not just in meta. It’s canon.

JR has been DESCRIBING a powerful, respectful, deep love between two people that has saved them both and saved their people, and we’ve also seen contrasts to their relationship, in which, rather than being made better, they were made WORSE by their connections. 

This is a love story.

It’s a very slow and patient love story and there never was a guarantee that they would get to the end of the tale and actually get to be together, but it sure does look to me as if we are FINALLY there where the romance is going to be canon on screen.

It is also a love story deeply entwined in this post-apocalyptic action survival story starring these two characters. The romance is one thread that has been running through the action survival story since the beginning, starting out as enemies, becoming unwilling allies then trusted partners then friends in season 1. After season 1, their feelings start growing and you can track them. Everyone has a different track that they see, but it’s there. 

If it were meant to be platonic, they wouldn’t be looking at each other that way, they wouldn’t get their kind of theme, they wouldn’t have cross fades linking them, they wouldn’t parallel them with canon couples, their love interests wouldn’t be jealous, they wouldn’t pick sex partners who look like the other, they wouldn’t nuzzle hands or sniff hair or call the other special or be called out for their devotion. Or risk humanity for one man. The narrative is TAKING us on this path, it’s SHOWING us how deep their feelings are, giving us stepping stones to get us there. Some of us saw it right away. Some of us need to be lead. Some of us need the evidence of the stepping stones to believe our own interpretations. So pay attention. Because it’s there. Stop doubting what you see. Double check it with canon, but don’t erase it because you’re afraid you’re wrong. “You center her.” “You got it backwards.”  Listen, if that were a wlw or mlm couple everyone would take all that as incontrovertible evidence of canon romance. 

With the finale leaving Clarke calling to Bellamy for six years, this is actually a confirmation that Bellarke is romantic and their story is a romance. It’s a romantic trope, my dudes. Penelope and Odysseus. The story is set for season 6 to be canon romance. 

[gghero]

im really curious and misinformed about where wlw like me who write about mlm relationships fit in the whole “women and slash fiction” discourse. 

Like... its not my fault male characters are infinitely better developed and their relationships, even if intended to be platonic, are portrayed as far more complex that those between women (and often not revolving a woman at all, while it looks like every single woman in fiction has to have a man in her life)? or that they get 70% of the spoken lines in any thing ever (and thus the most screentime/depth)? 

idk man my first thought when i see two men interact in fiction is not “omg look at the hawt yaoiz” im just needy for something close to representation (even if said couple is not “canon”) that i dont care if they’re mlm or wlw, theyre just part of my community and i want to write about them, always respectfully and with dignity, of course, but the rare times where i have been blessed by two woman characters who feel human and are hinted/confirmed to love each other are rare.

(and the times where i have liked a wlw ship can be summarised like “oh look they dont adhere to human concepts of love and commitment and pda” or “theyre minors which is cool if you wanna write kisses and hand holding”, the infamous “theyre cute but their dynamic reminds me of something painful a straight best friend has made me go through” and how could i forget “they’re literally confirmed near the end to be fucking cousins lol”).

i just cant relate or care for them otherwise, specially not if when in comparison with male characters they are a scarcity, a comodity, and feel shallow and only in the thing for the straight male audience to enjoy anyways, so why bother.

(and to all people who may say “lmao youre not looking hard enough” i cant just decide which fandoms i enter lol, i mean, having wlw is cool but it cant be the only selling point of a piece of fiction, and if the rest really doesnt appeal to me im not gonna get in the thing just in hopes of getting a glimpse of two women in love, ya dig me.)