#whether that's in like a manly repression way

[zmediaoutlet]

Oh Z go OFF why don't you ship Sam/John?

ahaha, anon starting off the friday night wine party by choosing violence <3

how don't I ship Sam/John? Let me count the ways --

first of all have you seen the sam/john content out there? I'm negatively interested in shitbird lolita sam with his crystal heart-shaped buttplug and the overemphasis on his pink lips and his mewling or whatever. like the puss becomes the sahara. I need a Great Wall of No between whatever's going on with that particular kink and the actual character. As always, a division: 'this is so hawttt omg' is good and fine, but please can we have a little moat between that and character-based canon-feeling stuff.

so all that stuff aside, on a plot level, John's Quest is based around protecting Sam, and like... way to not do it, bud. That is if you believe that John is ultimately flawed but kinda trying, which I do because 'pure monster' and 'hero daddy' takes are equally boring. Sam is left behind, is overprotected, is taught some hunting stuff but comparatively coddled -- in the wee!era, I see absolutely no way that John would go there on any kind of purpose, especially given the fact that Dean's also always there and it would be very embarrassing for your devoted older sonwife to stab you in the brain. (Caveat: I guess there are those times when John would "send Dean away" for disobeying, so that opens a window. But honestly, Sam was probably just abandoned in a motel room alone while John got on with work. I don't think it was a secret fuck-cation.)

on a sadness level: John wants something better for Sam. Dean's a lost cause, although John does super vaguely gesture at like 'eh he could have a house maybe' -- despite the college fight, Sam's untouchable in a way because John has this mad idea that maybe they'll actually win somehow, and Sam can have a future. That doesn't jive with bouncing him on the Dad D. And, again, if John's not purely insane, then--?

on just a vibes level: once Sam gets older, he and John are just way too much alike, and that's why they piss each other off so much. They're the thing of two magnets of the same polarity bouncing apart. Now there are ships where that can be fun, in the kind of slap-slap-kiss model, but in the specific (characterful) case of these two... no. I can see Sam losing his shit and throwing a punch; I aaaaabsolutely don't see him following it up with like, passion. Though I am literally loling here at my computer thinking about it. I'm doing my absolute best here not to compare to other ship options, but like -- this is not the son who'd fold and be like, aw daddy let me take care of you, you know what I'm saying?

on a taste level: like... can you see Sam actually wanting to? Any emotional/physical weirdness he has I feel like would get automatically turned to a different member of the three-part family unit. Non-con is blah, sex pollen is too easy (although with that said, I imagine a no-romance sex pollen f-o-d would be a good way to crack open those dynamics and see how they operated). Part of the massive issue here is that Sam has an oedipus complex, not an elektra complex -- he wants to fight his dad, not fuck him. He has daddy issues but they're of the tough masc black sheep son who goes off and has to get heroes' journeyed back into the fold; it's not 'oh daddy please say you're proud of me please let me be a good son,' unlike Some People We Could Name. It just doesn't have any entré into the kind of tangled up fuckery that makes vertical incest interesting for me. So...

That's probably enough, lol. That said, again: if you love to jill to babby Sammy slurping on daddy John's big meaty dadcock, go on with your bad self. Especially if Sam's inexplicably femme. But like. I'm good.

[artificial-sleep]

Saw this post and had a good laugh, but I also want to break this down. Call this my Deanior thesis.

Throughout the show, we see Dean make a lot of compromised decisions and react in a lot of different ways. However, one thing remains true all of the time:

Dean is afraid.

✨ Let me elaborate.

When you really think about who Dean is fundamentally and what principles guide him in making the choices he does, you'll find that he's very transparent with his priorities. First and foremost, he wants his brother to be safe, and he will go to great lengths to achieve that (including giving his own life, sacrificing himself in some way, or even going as far as refusing Sam his bodily autonomy just to save him).

But consider it: Dean's perfect world is one where he can save lives and not have to worry about Sam. Sam is such an integral part of his personality, and the result of this is that he tanks 95% of his time into ensuring that his little brother is okay.

However, due to the nature of their job, he often fails at protecting Sam and then ends up making shit so much worse for him. The nature of the job is that Sam will never be safe, so, by proxy, Dean will never rest.

This is such an important plot point and something that reinforces some of my favorite headcanons of all time. For example, I believe that Dean doesn't actually want to hunt forever, and he'd settle down with Sam in a heartbeat if he thought that's what Sam wanted, too. Look at when he's most happy: when Sam is content and safe and has the things he wants.

I hear these questions circulate over and over: Why does Dean act the way he does? Why would he make the terrible choices he makes? The answer is that he's afraid. He's fucking terrified. There's no security in what he does. Everyday he fears losing his loved ones. He carries the literal weight of the world on his shoulders (see how he internalizes John's warning of 'People are dying' by turning it into his own slogan), and he gets no reprieve. This causes him to go to extremes to protect his support system.

All that he does, he does to bring honor and respect and safety and stability to his family (My favorite example of this being how much time he invests in his car, which was entrusted to him by John, and Dean views that vehicle as an extension of his father, like he's responsible for it in the same way he's always been responsible for his family. This is something he reverts back to in crisis.), but what holds him back time after time is crippling anxiety.

Dean functions on a spectrum of crisis at all times, whether minor or major (but always a crisis, regardless, at least for the average person). He self-medicates with liquor to numb and sedate himself after living through extreme horror and tragedy, and it's also the only time he'll indulge in pleasures for himself (women/getting laid), but other than that? He's not overly hedonistic or abrasive. He's obsessive. Like a helicopter parent. He's overbearing and fussy and needs constant reassurance, and he's in the worst possible line of work for that type of thinking. He's constantly overextended and emotional beyond belief, making any kind of discussion of his problems or feelings overwhelming and unrealistic — not because he's "too manly" (although, this is the facade he uses). He shuts down because it's the only way he can grapple with the intense trauma he goes through on a daily basis (traumas he's been enduring his entire life). He ignores it or represses it because acknowledging it only makes it all the more crippling.

Because of this and because of who Dean is, I find it endearing when Dean gets compared to his father. To me, this man is not like John at all (no matter how badly he wants to be, haha). He's nowhere near strong enough. Sam wants the entire box of Lucky Charms before Dean has had a bowl? Okay, Sammy. You can have it. Whereas John would have tutted at Sam and made him eat the spaghettios, teaching him some hard lesson about not getting the things you want just because you're passionate about them.

Dean, my beloved, who tightens his robe and demands to speak to Sam in the other room like he's about to bicker so hard that Sam's ears fall off. That's the Dean I know.

Now, I understand that Dean is an older brother who was made responsible for his brother at a young age WHICH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE PROBLEMATIC (and I do love when it is made problematic in fiction hehehe).

I see a lot of good evidence that Sam has several unhealthy coping mechanisms that revolve around him offering himself up like a punching bag, ever the Christ figure. And while, yes, I agree, I don’t think that's his goal when interacting with Dean.

People will point out how he self-sacrificially offers himself up to Dean as a means to try to get him to relax. The popular interpretation here is that Sam knows that Dean takes pleasure or solace in hurting him, and Sam was raised to take beatings from his big brother and has grown to like it to some extent, like a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. Although this is a unique and thought-provoking case to build, I'm not sure it fits into the way these characters are canonized.

When I see Sam tell Dean, "You want to take another swing? Go ahead if it'll help," I see his brattiness, a challenge and test. It's little brother Sam, rolling his eyes and huffing under his breath, muttering, Jfc, Dean, will you calm down? What do you need? Need to blow off some steam? Because holy shit. I can take a shiner if it means you'll STFU. This is a strong and assured Sam, a cocky and certain one that tests his brother and even mocks him to an extent, knowing Dean is blowing things out of proportion and needs to step back and do something to ground himself.

In addition to this, a lot of people note how Sam's whole demeanor changes in later seasons. As far as Sam getting more and more shy and drawn into himself and apprehensive and reclusive in later seasons, I 100% blame Lucifer and the horrors™ of the life. Dean is not part of the problem here. Sam can't always trust Dean, and there are several instances of him feeling betrayed, but the root of betrayal is hurt (not fear), and Dean has the capacity to hurt Sam unlike others can because of how deeply they rely on each other.

But Dean pointblank putting Sam in immediate danger? Purposefully going out of his way to hurt Sam? I doubt it. Dean is harmless. Sam is bigger than him, has been training with him since they were kids. Sam is not some helpless little boy. He's not distressed and abused. He challenges and mocks Dean constantly anytime he tries to bring up the fact that he has seniority or that he's better at certain things because he's older.

I consider overall how Sam treats Dean, how he talks to him. Does Sam worship the ground Dean walks on? Does he revere him and step on egg shells to appease him? LOL, NO. Sam goes away to Stanford and still cops an attitude when Dean shows back up asking for a favor (This is not to shit on Sam. We love a healthy boy setting boundaries. But. I mean, Dean had to beg him. This goes to show Sam has no problem rejecting Dean and/or standing up for himself.).

Some of the strongest evidence I see of this in the series is when Sam has a moment of maturity and gets a snippet of an idea of just how much Dean sacrificed for him.

Sam has legitimately no idea how many sacrifices Dean made for him, has no idea that Dean spent his entire childhood being solely responsible for Sam. HEAR ME OUT, GUYS: SAM IS A SPOILED LITTLE BITCH AND THIS IS GOOD! THIS IS REALLY GOOD! DEAN DID A GOOD JOB BECAUSE, OUT OF ALL THE EVIL IN THE WORLD, SAM ISN'T SCARED, AND HE DEFINITELY ISN'T SCARED OF DEAN.

So, whereas I like to explore the toxic codependency of two brothers, I struggle to see an imbalance in their dynamic. Dean and Sam are each other's safe spaces. If anyone, Dean blow things out of proportion (see: "Red Meat" lol). Like. Dean is insane to Sam always, but Sam gets it. That's just his overbearing, clingy mother. 🩷

In summation, Dean would have benefitted from anxiety meds, but furthermore, he'd be a completely different character if he had a stable home and a Sammy that stayed close by to him. Still codependent to an unreal extent but happier.

[epithet-beloved]

what about Naven comforting a trans reader through a rough dysphoria day?? it can be platonic or romantic, or whatever you think best fits the story you want to tell :))

Naven + Reader with Gender Dysphoria

synopsis… Headcanons on how Naven helps out a reader with gender dysphoria!

ft. Naven Nuknuk

tags… epithet erased spoilers, but only if you squint, platonic, slight hurt/comfort, gender dysphoria, reader identity kept vague, headcanon content

word count… 661

a/n… Naven is so trans to me. Trans masc? Trans fem? No one knows. (I’m personally a genderfluid Naven truther). ((Nyoom/Zapped Apples is actually sapphic if you pretend real hard)). Comfort character writing to ward off the malaise lesgo!! ✧ 🦝

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 Epithet God bless this guy i mean it

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 He feels so deeply for you.  If he could, he’d wipe away any indication in your mind that you had to transition, that you simply are how you identify.

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 But, alas, he cannot, even if he really really desired it.  That’s not how life works, he so begrudgingly knows.

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 But… that doesn’t mean he can’t try.

“Oh, I love that outfit on you!”  Naven would compliment you as you pass him one day, wearing something you feel particularly brave about for once.  His bright grin is infectious, and you can’t help but feel flattered when he says, “it suits you very well.”

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 I personally headcanon that Naven had a great fascination with the rise of the punk scene and ideology, especially when he was a teenager.  Thus, he always sort of had a loose relationship with his gender, preferring to present himself exactly how he wishes.  As he grew older, he felt it would be more professional to be a bit less brazen, but he still wouldn’t care if you refer to him with she/her or something.

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 His experience of transness is a little bit outdated compared to young trans people today, but Naven hopes he can validate you in any way that he can, from the subtler things to the widespread action.

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 If you frequent STEM, he’ll push for gender neutral bathrooms, for example.  Actually, considering certain people he’s worked with, I don’t doubt that he already has some in the building!  He does all he can to make things as welcoming as possible.

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 On a more personal level, Naven checks in on people face-to-face quite frequently.  If you bring up your gender dysphoria to him, he smiles sadly and tells you that he understands, and sort of guessed, based on your tells.

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 He offers you to tell him if there’s literally anything he can do to help.  Your comfort is his priority, after all!!

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 He’s a secret sucker for clothes shopping for others.  If you’re close enough, he’s totally here for shopping with you and buying aaaaannnyything you want (cause let’s be real he’s probably loaded).  He doesn’t care if it’s expensive, he’ll get you that gender euphoria!

“How about this?”  Nave points at a certain belt from your selection of clothes on the fitting room door.  From where he’s seated, he makes a great judge of your new outfits, and he’s always clapping and chittering gladly about how something looks on you. He stands up to pick up the belt and compares it with what you are wearing.  “Yes, this would go great with your style!  Let’s give it a shot, hm?”  You can’t deny his eagerness to see what the belt looks like, as you turn and go back into the changing room.

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 If you’re transfem, Naven actually likes to help you with vocal training!  His voice is rather effeminate himself, so he has some tips on how he gets his voice sounding more like a woman’s.  (How does he have this knowledge?  You always forget to ask.)

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 If you’re transmasc, Naven likes giving you jobs that kind of makes you feel more ‘manly,’ as it were.  He’s the teacher that asks “are there any Strong Boys who like to carry these chairs? :)” except he picks out the girls (or repressed trans mascs) to help instead.  He really well and truly is a teacher.

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 If anyone, anyone, were to question whether you “really are” a certain identity… Oh, you should see the glare Naven gives them.  Despite his squinted eyes, his furrowed brow and tight frown really makes your blood run cold.  Trust that person will get a stern talking to later… Maybe a little more. ^^

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 Also entirely separate note if there are any artists out there PLEASE give Naven a cute long skirt i’m on my knees he deserves to be pretty PLEASEEE 🙏🧎

[lawrenceofbessarabia]

i'm only four episodes in but timothy dalton in the 1983 jane eyre adaptation is so slept on. i don't want a comically physical rochester or a perpetually angry one, i want a moody rochester with a weird sense of humour and a soft side he makes only a token attempt at concealing, and ol' timmy sure delivers.

plus have you seen the man?? "oh he's too pretty for rochester" POPPYCOCK. too many readers assume rochester must be butt-ass ugly but to me, the way rochester is described in the book, hold on let me dig out the quote, makes him sound like he belongs on the cover of GQ:

"I knew my traveller with his broad and jetty eyebrows; his square forehead, made squarer by the horizontal sweep of his black hair. I recognized his decisive nose, more remarkable for character than beauty; his full nostrils, denoting, I thought, choler; his grim mouth, chin, and jaw—yes, all three were very grim, and no mistake. His shape, now divested of cloak, I perceived harmonized in squareness with his physiognomy: I suppose ​it was a good figure in the athletic sense of the term—broad chested and thin flanked; though neither tall nor graceful."

keep in mind that at the time of the book's writing, the English ideals of beauty, even for men, emphasized even, harmonious features and in general a much softer, more feminine, look than what we consider hot in the twenty-first century (you can see this reflected in the long, elegant silhouettes that were popular for menswear at the time, notable for their sloped - not padded! - shoulders).

so no shit a craggy-jawed manly-man hunk like rochester would not have been considered conventionally attractive in early 19th century (i say this bc the jury is out on whether Jane Eyre is set in the 1810s or the 1830s) England.

but that doesn't mean rochester can't, or that he shouldn't be ruggedly handsome! in every interaction between jane and rochester she is practically salivating over him while pretending like she isn't. some of that attraction is definitely due to his singular personality but we cannot pretend that little miss repressed isn't also physically attracted to him. i think zelah clark in the 1983 adaptation does an excellent job of portraying the tension between wanting to jump your hot clever employer's bones and keeping to your moral principles about emphatically NOT doing that, while also allowing for some subtle mutual flirting.

[soapver4]

Hungry Does

Spinoff Bubble: An ethnography-informed anthology that delves into gender psychology, power dynamics and moral structures through stories of wives who stick to convicted husbands. Depending on study findings, episodes include:

A determined woman whose husband did suffer a miscarriage of justice fights by his side for decades, despite suffering from the discrimination and abuse hurled at their family because of the infamy of the alleged crimes.

An insecure woman, like many, associates violence with manliness in a world hostile to even the roughest women. Like her husband, she believes each court verdict is a badge of honor, never mind the very real harm to victims.

An otherwise mentally tough woman brainwashed by her husband into pursuing a twisted ideology joins him in his pedophilic crimes. There should be a dinner warning at the start of the episode.

An emotionally repressed woman weary of being a goody-two-shoes to meet societal expectations of her gender, similar to the youngest daughter in My Liberation Notes, is attracted to a broody man whose law-breaking acts are his destructive emotional outlets.

A harried woman who finds divorce proceedings too expensive and cumbersome in the first place resorts to roping in her husband to keep an eye on their kids from his jail through all sorts of incredulous tricks.

A high-flying woman in a political circle doesn't want to attract public derision for abandoning her husband at the lowest point of his life or be seen as regretting her spousal choice. They have come to a tacit agreement to not talk to each other in private.

A filial woman's husband threatens to harm her parents if she pushes for divorce again.

A beloved, sweet woman incessantly excuses her husband's behavior and works multiple jobs to pay off his fines by herself, to the exasperation of her numerous relatives and friends.

A dreamy woman rejects overwhelming, court-acknowledged evidence of her predator husband's infidelity.

A proud, intelligent woman knows deep down that the man she is still in love with is a sly, heartless criminal who embezzles even her company's money but keeps fighting the justice system to deny this reality.

An icy woman who has grown cynical about the meaning to everything in life doesn't care whether her husband reoffends or not as long as they keep their financial lives as separate as possible.

A devastated woman who believes in rehabilitation and everyone's susceptibility to moral mistakes reasons with and guides her husband into turning over a new leaf. Time and again, she offers him chances. After he tries but botches all of them, she decides to file for separation in the hope that the disruption to the overfamiliar routine of their lives will spur him to work harder at change. Through much trial and error, sometimes together and sometimes apart, he finally quits his deviant ways successfully and they tie the knot again for good.

A foul-mouthed woman has a habit of loudly haranguing her husband for his criminal record, to the second-hand embarrassment of people around, even though he has seriously left behind his criminal life.

A fervently passionate woman with multiple degrees from prestigious institutions simply hungers for her husband, even if the world sees it as the most primeval form of hunger. She keeps berating us, the audience, for wanting to know more in this episode that pits raw desire against moral concern for the victims. "It's none of your business, period."

An emotionally needy and confused woman with a track record of guiltily cheating on her significant others believes she doesn't deserve a decent husband anyway. Are the wrongs on both sides equal? If not, do wrongs warrant a greater wrong?

A self-blaming woman apologizes for her emotional neglect of her husband, which she attributes his offenses to, to the befuddlement and dismay of the public, who want him to take ownership of his mistakes.

A now-ordinary woman leads an ordinary life with her now-ordinary husband. She has been hurt by the knowledge of his irresponsible behavior, but they are healing together. The audience yawns and the producers fret about viewership figures.

The eventual conclusion may be that while there is tremendous diversity and complexity among women, they are a group that still needs more financial, emotional, career and societal empowerment to make truly autonomous decisions about their romantic and family lives. Diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) movements have not yet outlived their usefulness.

This anthology has been conceptualized without knowledge of the BBC series Prisoners' Wives. You may like to compare the two and leave a comment about the strengths of each approach.

In the end, both Prisoners' Wives and My Sweet Mobster are perhaps just the start to an understanding of women around ex-convicts. The focus of the British drama appears to be jail time, while the Korean drama is celebrated for its romance and positive feelings and limited to a small handful of those women. Like what My Sweet Mobster suggests, there can be much value in looking beyond the surface.

[academicgangster]

absolutely baffling take on Rusty tbh, like sure he's a bit fucked up (aren't they all - it's a con artist canon) but he is super in touch with his feelings and barely repressed at all. We get to see him openly weep at Oprah with Danny, ffs. Half the arc of Eleven is Rusty being one thousand percent more grounded and capable of handling difficult emotions than Danny is, and trying his best to shepherd Danny through it even though it hurts Rusty personally to watch things go down. This is not a man who breaks down and lets go in front of a partner. This is a man who feels way too responsible for said partner to show much in the way of vulnerability beyond an agonized look in his eyes - the same look we see on film: Tess does not split eleven ways.

Rusty isn't likely to break in front of a partner. If Rusty needs a good cry, he'll probably Marge Simpson it up, set an evening aside and get a glass of wine and a dressing gown and make sure there's enough tissue roll around to blot his eyes. Rusty will arrange the logistics of crying before crying, lol - any more than Very Manly Self-Deprecating Oprah Tears, obviously.

If you're looking for a Brad Pitt character who would have a cathartic breakdown (whether in front of a partner or not), Frankie McGuire from The Devil's Own is right there. Tom Bishop from Spy Game is a pretty likely bet. Hell, Coffee Shop Guy and The Living Manifestation Of Death from Meet Joe Black are great candidates, too - there'd just be a learning curve involved for them.

[mari-the-bimbo]

Bro, you got me OBSESSED with dormmate Sukuna (I read it all in one go)! You're so talented, god fucking dammit I love your writing!

I do have a request though but please feel free to say no if you don't like it, but I'm a thirsty bitch for some angst so could you make a dormmate Sukuna where he gets into an argument with the reader and say some mean stuff in the heat of the moment and she leaves? Like, she takes the car as leves, vanishing without saying another word and he doesn't know if she's okay or anything like that, and you can finish with some fluff idk I just had this idea while taking a shower lmao

Dorm mate Sukuna: the storm brewing

A/N: Is it even a series if I don’t randomly add angst before the confessions? 😼Thank you for the request! Hope you enjoy! <3

“Oh boy” Yuuji sighed as he exited the dorm. He knew the storm was coming, Yuuji already heard the news about Sukuna beating up one of your male friends and as he watched you make your way over to Sukuna, he knew it was best to stay out of the incoming mess.

“- you can’t just beat people up Sukuna, all he did was talk to me”

The tatted, unbothered dorm mate shakes his head. “Everyone knows he’s a fuckboy y/n, it’s not that deep”

“No he’s not Sukuna. And he wasn’t even flirting with me! He was asking about my day because he’s my frie-“

“Aren’t you the one always complaining those college boys annoy you? Shouldn’t you be thanking me?” He asks dryly as he takes a puff of his cigarette tiredly.

“No Sukuna! I won’t thank you for beating up of friend of mine!” You snap.

Sukuna is stunned into silence. Then a crease formed in his eyebrows, why were you getting so defensive? Can you not just have some trust that he did it for a good reason and leave him alone?

But that was the problem. Sukuna himself knew there was no good reason.

Only a bad reason. The reasoning of him wanting to kill any man that looks your way lately. The reason that repressing his romantic feelings for you was starting to consume whatever pieces of sanity he had left.

“Why did you do it?”

Why did he do it? Because he doesn’t know how to process his feelings for you? It confused him, frustrated him and your insistence was only driving him more mad. He needed to be alone and figure it out. Your questions started to sound like a headache.

But he wasn’t the only one going mad. Rage filled your body as you watched your dorm mate ignore you and groan as he rubbed his head instead. It’s almost as if he saw your feelings as irrelevant. If only you knew the real reason.

“Sukuna hello???”

He squeezed his eyes shut trying to cancel out your voice, it’s the last thing he needed right now. God please just stop-

“Sukuna im asking you a question!”

“AND IM ASKING YOU TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!” He roars, throwing his cigarette on the kitchen floor.

Now it was your turn to be stunned into silence.

“YOU’RE SUCH A FUCKING WHORE YOU KNOW THAT? I HELP DRIVE THOSE BASTARDS AWAY FROM YOU AND YOU COME BACK CRYING LIKE A BITCH NOW THAT YOU CANT GET THEIR ATTENTION ANYMORE” he screams.

Silence fell upon the room. All that could be heard is Sukuna heavy panting after his string of vile words. Vile words that he knew weren’t true.

You stare at the man in front of you. You don’t see your loving, manly dorm mate who you have feelings for, just a selfish, violent man. And suddenly you realised you didn’t want to be in a room with such a man.

Before you turned away, you saw the instant guilt in his red eyes as he watched a tear fall from your eyes, but it was too late.

“Y/n-“

“Save it”

And those were the last words Sukuna heard from you as you left the dorm without a word.

Sukuna slumped back into the chair in defeat at the sound of the door. What has he done?

Rough fingers pulled his dishevelled pink hair in frustration as his mind flashed pictures of your teary eyes.

Sure, he’s made you cry before, whether it was pulling your hair, or eating your food, but never heartbreak. Never that. He was supposed to be your hero, not the villain. He was tired of being the villain. For once he was just supposed someone’s beloved. But now he ruined that too.

He wasn’t going to look for you, he’s done enough damage already. He always knew he wasn’t good enough for you. Today he proved it.

To think all of this could’ve been prevented if only Sukuna understood love.

[bluecatwriter]

jonmina, holward (if you have done them already, helward)

Joke's on you, I'm answering all three because no one can stop me! :D JonMina (Jonathan Harker/Mina Harker)— HECK YEAH! 1. What made you ship it? Jonathan and Mina embody a whole bunch of tropes I absolutely love— childhood friends-turned-lovers, young married couple facing The Horrors, a very stable, respectful, and loving relationship that's mostly buffeted by outside forces, etc. I was in love with them even before I met Mina in the story. 2. What are your favorite things about the ship? I'm a really big fan of romantic partners who are genuinely best friends and deeply in love, looking out for each other as they face conflict together. I'll admit a lot of this is a sort of self-insert enjoyment: my spouse and I have been married ten years but are frequently mistaken for newlyweds because we're super annoying affectionate. I love angst and conflict as much as the next person, but sometimes I just want a couple whose love is one of the great stabilizing forces in the story, and I adore Jonathan and Mina for that.   3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? Jonathan avoiding the oath to kill Mina and vowing instead to follow her into vampire hell instead is incredibly romantic (and hot as hell), but I don't see it as an unqualified good decision, and in fact see it as one of the few times he won't respect Mina's choice in a situation. It's pretty much the only decision Jonathan is capable of making at that point, given what he's been through and how he feels— but it still denies Mina's agency in the situation, which makes for an interesting tension. I think that tension makes their relationship even more compelling! Holward (Arthur Holmwood/Jack Seward)— Yup! 1. What made you ship it? I always thought their friendship was sweet (I'm a sucker for dudes comforting other dudes when they're crying, even if it's just a repressed manly squeeze on the shoulder like Jack manages at Lucy's funeral), but it wasn't until I wrote a fic about them (Words and Voice Fail Me) that I came to appreciate their romantic potential. 2. What are your favorite things about the ship? They're a classic sunshiny-golden-retriever paired with a sullen-wet-cat dynamic, which is always fun, but on a more serious note they're just complementary in many ways: Arthur tends not to overthink things while Jack runs in mental circles all the time, Arthur's used to abundance while Jack is in more of a scarcity mindset, and Arthur is very emotionally open while Jack is repressed. But sometimes Arthur really does need to think more carefully, not assume that everything will go his way, and keep his emotions in check a bit more, so Jack is helpful for him, too. They're a good match. I think they're sweet. 3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I honestly don't know enough fandom discourse to know which opinions are controversial. ;) Helward (Abraham Van Helsing/Jack Seward)— OH YES 1. What made you ship it? A vast amalgam of Tumblr posts, plus reading the text itself. This is one of those ships that feels absolutely canon to me— any version of the story without Jack and Van Helsing at least pining for each other feels like an AU at this point.  2. What are your favorite things about the ship? There are so many different ways to write/headcanon it! There are tons of potential obstacles between them— whether Van Helsing's marriage, the age gap, the former student/teacher dynamic, the internalized homophobia, you name it— and so many different possibilities for how their relationship can play out. It seems that no matter which way it goes, there's always a lot of delicious tension and pining and angst.  3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I've never seen a version of Helward that I didn't like in some way, so I think my opinions are pretty mainstream… considering that there's, like, seven of us who ship it in the first place. ;)

[babydotcom]

okay i don't know if anyone's said this before but i think hakoda and bato's relationship is really important to sokka accepting his attraction to men. this absolutely got away from me so the analysis is under the cut. i'd appreciate it if you gave this a read!

we all know sokka sees his dad as the pinnacle of Manliness, and spends so much of his childhood and teenage years trying to live up to this standard he feels hakoda has set for him (whether or not this perception is accurate). he is supposed to be a warrior, a protector, a leader. he is supposed to be strong. this is why he represses all of his negative emotions, all his grief, sadness, rage, hurt. it's why he falls madly in love with the first sweet, emotional, kind, traditionally feminine girl he's ever met that he's not related to, because yue compliments his perception of manhood. it's why suki, a woman who is all of the things he thinks a man should be, is confusing to him. suki opens his eyes a little bit, because she is an attractive girl that also embodies manhood the way sokka thinks he should.

from the beginning of book two on, we see sokka be more honest with himself about his attraction to men, even if he's not so open about it. there's the boulder, chong in the cave of two lovers, and zuko (he was flirting at the western air temple i don't care. this isn't about shipping anyway). these are men that sokka textually finds attractive, so he knows he's not straight. this doesn't fit into his perception of manhood- hakoda's love for kya was incredible, so of course sokka would ingrain heterosexuality into manhood. he never voices this same-sex attraction (i know this is nickelodeon, but you know what i mean), but it's pretty much a no-brainer that a relationship with suki, who he perceives as being man-adjacent, is something he wants so much to pursue.

from book two on, we also see sokka sort of reevaluate this manhood standard by expanding his horizons. he finally is expressing himself creatively. first is the haiku club in ba sing se-- when else have we seen him trying to impress girls by meeting them where they're at, using his words in poetry to impress them rather than performing some act of machismo? second and infinitely more importantly is in Sokka's Master. the entire episode is about sokka proving (and realizing) his worth, and to him he is only worth anything if he is a perfect man, if he is like his father. for someone training to be a swordsman, we actually see sokka do little swordfighting in comparison to how much art (which for the sake of this post we'll consider traditionally feminine) he does. he never once complains about this, but his appreciation of the arts changes over the course of his training. for his first calligraphy practice, sokka tries, sure, but he doesn't take it seriously. he mushes his face into the paper, taking the easy, and the more brash route to the end goal.

he approaches his first spar with *checks notes* fat, the same way. he tries, but fails spectacularly because he takes the brash and easy route, making the most obvious first strike against his opponent. he sucks with the sword, so far. it's only after he takes piandao's painting lesson seriously-- or as seriously as he's capable of-- that he has any sort of breakthrough in his swordfighting. his development as a swordsdman, his mastering of a masculine activity and fighting style, is dependent on his acceptance of art and emotion and creativity, of femininity. piandao's training, his emphasis on the arts, is what made sokka a great swordbender. in realizing his worth, sokka had to accept femininity into his ideal of man.

back to hakoda and bato. sokka doesn't get a lot of time with his dad before the invasion on the day of black sun, because obviously they have a war to fight. but what time he does have with hakoda is spent spiraling over his worth as a man yet again, because hakoda has shown just how much sokka has yet to grow as a leader. it's neither of their faults, but hakoda showing up sokka at the planning meeting causes a blockage in sokka's growth, just after he'd reached new heights in sokka's master. sokka's back to feeling like shit, and this is compounded by the failure of the invasion. that moment at zuko's coronation, when hakoda tells sokka that's he proud of him, after sokka had been absolutely crucial to winning the war? that's means the world to him. his Ideal his proud of him.

i imagine that during the war, hakoda and bato weren't together. hakoda was still mourning kya (and he always will be, but the wound was fresher then), and then they were fighting for their lives. so, i think when they do get together, it's not terribly long after the war. sokka seeing them start a romantic relationship is what allows him to finally embrace his attraction to men. his father, his chief, his pinnacle of manliness, can love other men and express that openly. hakoda is the Typical Father in that we don't really see him actually vulnerable other than that moment in boiling rock when he tears up at seeing sokka, so to see his father in a loving relationship again, with bato, his life long best friend, would be incredibly powerful for sokka. it finally clicks that sokka can love a man, too, and that loving a man does not make him less of one. before bakoda get together, sokka probably fears ever coming to terms with his same-sex attraction. he knows that hakoda loves him absolutely, but the nagging voice in most, if not all, queer peoples' heads still makes sokka wonder if hakoda would respect him as a man if he were in a gay relationship, regardless of how much hakoda loves him. to have that worry soothed... that's everything to him, when it comes to his sexuality and acceptance of himself.

much of sokka's arc throughout the series is about deconstructing that idea of manhood he's held onto since he was a little boy, and redefining masculinity in terms that embrace the feminine parts of him that make him such a great warrior, protector, and leader. he is loving in his protectiveness, he is soft in his strength, he is creative and artistic in his leadership. sokka's development in this regard is incomplete by the end of the series, because he's 15 and nobody is done growing up at that age, but him getting his dad back, and finding that his ideal isn't really what he thought, has him on the right track to fully embracing himself as a man whose strengths go beyond the idea that he created as a kid, and whose love goes beyond gender. i just think that's neat.

[tr6polla]

summary : having feelings for a shy person ! ; gender neutral

characters : epel, riddle

warnings : none !

a/n : waves HELLO i havent posted on this blog in a full month . . . im really sorry about that ;;; but im back now! it feels like i havent written in so long orz and ive never written for these characters before ?? so i hope this came out okay and i hope you enjoy mwah /p

— epel

epel’s well aware that he too comes off as this gentle, soft-spoken guy. it’s always been an image he’s wanted to rebuke, to prove that he’s much more than what he looks like. now, with his ever-growing feelings for you, the urge to appear as a person manly enough to protect those he loves further buds

developing feelings for someone as reserved as you is enough to prove to him that he has yet another person to become tougher for. he wants to be someone you can rely on, maybe even a person you can let go around and be yourself with !!

more than anything, epel wants to look cool for you. for once, he wants to be the person who steps up for the person who has garnered his attention. any semblance of an idea of you finding him cool is immediately met with the most prideful grin you’ve ever seen from him. you, the one person he wants to particularly show off to, view him as cool ? it’s practically a dream come true !

even the idea of appearing weak to you horrifies epel. he wants to get your attention the right way, and what better way than to subtly show off when you’re around ? playing sports has always been enjoyable, but the gratification he gets from being able to pull something risky off during a game is unmatched

he approaches you to offer an invitation to a game of his in hopes of impressing you with his cool magift moves every so often - seeing you before matches pumps him up to do even better, to show you how cool he really can be !

actually getting close to you proves to be challenging for epel for two reasons : only presenting himself as that fragile “cute” boy from pomefiore to you certainly wouldn’t be enough to win over your affections. yet, coming up to you with his natural brash and temperamental character is bound to put you off, won’t it ?

regardless of how you perceive him at first, epel wants nothing more than for you to accept him as he is in his essence, and not for the timid front he puts up as a means to hide his true nature. he’d treat you the same way, of course it goes without saying, so he’d encourage you to open up bit by bit if it would mean getting to know who you are beyond your closed off exterior

— riddle

riddle doesn’t develop feelings easily, but you’d best be sure that when he does find himself garnering special feelings towards a person they’ll be treated with his utmost respect and loyalty. his politeness towards you is charming, even. it comes naturally to him - identifying and respecting your boundaries is almost like a sixth sense to him

your quiet nature’s endearing to him,, and he appreciates the hush, pleasant moments he can spend with you. being around you is akin to taking in a breath of fresh air for riddle, seeing as though his duties as dorm leader can be headache inducing on some days.

he’s always quick to reprimand those who seem to be a bother to you ! his defenses dont go unnoticed by certain members of his dorm, much to his disdain. he tries his best to keep a level head when you’re around, but there’s only so much teasing riddle can take before growing irritated . . . he hides away for a day or two whenever he unintentionally loses his temper in front of you - whether it’s to repress the memory or to memory prepare himself to not do it again,, he isn’t too sure

pure yearning and curiosity is what drives riddle to push himself to act on his thoughts of possibly getting closer to you! he’d have a very brief denial stage about his feelings towards you, genuinely taking a moment to step back and consider whether his feelings really were just those of one wanting to befriend another, or if they were in fact feelings of a teenage boy with a heart fluttering crush

he’s thought about inviting you to one of his dorm’s unbirthday parties, but ultimately decided against inviting you in case it would make you uncomfortable to be around so many strangers. instead, he settles on inviting you to spend time with him in private, in a way where it would be just you and him and the hedgehogs ! riddle’s quite fond of the hedgehogs himself, so he makes sure to keep them around while you’re over in case you’d find yourself warming up to the small animals just as he had

silences between the both of you are sometimes filled with attempted small talk . . . though they do turn out to be a little awkward on the occasion. he indulges you to be polite, maybe even in subtle hopes of managing to crack through your closed off exterior by his courteous words alone

little by little, riddle tries his best to share some of his interests with you. although he isn't the best cook, he makes efforts to bake a few sweet treats to share with you behind closed doors. he offers small bits of himself, and, despite himself, finds that his feelings grow deeper the more time he sets aside to be with you

[variousqueerthings]

Daniel LaRusso: A Queer Feminine Fairytale Analysis Part 1 of 3

Disclaimers and trigger warnings: 

1. These fairytales are European, although there’s often overlap in themes globally. I know European fairytales better, which is essentially the reason I’m not going to branch out too far. I opted to also stick to Western movies so as not to narrow things down, but also in particular “waves hand towards all of Ghibli” amongst many others. There’s a reason the guys in Ghibli are so gender.

2. TW for discussions of rape culture and rape fantasies

EDIT: FUCK I’M A GOBLIN CHILD! FORGOT TO PUT A MASSIVE MASSIVE THANK YOU TO @mimsyaf​ WHO HAS BEEN THE NICEST, KINDEST EDITOR ON THESE THOUGHTS AND CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO THEM AND GENERALLY IS A WONDERFUL PERSON!

Part 2

Part 3

1. Introduction

I recently wrote a little thing, which was about Daniel as a fairytale protagonist – specifically one that goes through some of the kinds of transformations that are often associated with female protagonists of fairytales.

I used quotes from Red Riding Hood, Labyrinth, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Dracula, which, as an aside – the overlap between fairytales, horror, and fantasy and the ways each of those genres delve into very deep, basic questions of humanity and the world is something that will always make me feral. I will be generally sticking with fairytales though. Also I am very excited about some of those Labyrinth concepts going around!

I’m going to use “feminine” and “masculine” in both gendered (as in relating specifically to people) and non-gendered (as in relating to codes) ways throughout this, depending on context.

To be binary for a moment, because sample-sizes of other genders are low, women are usually able to fall into either feminine or masculine arcs, although sometimes the masculine-coded woman can become a “not like the other girls” stereotype and the feminine-coded woman a shallow cliché – in both cases they’re also under more scrutiny and judgement, so it’s always worth asking “is this character not working for me because of the writing or because I have ingrained biases? (Both?)”

Men don’t often get feminine-coded arcs. Because. Probably a mix of biases and bigotry. But there are some that seem to have slipped beneath the shuttered fence of “Sufficient Narrative Testosterone,” and Daniel LaRusso is one of them.

2. Some Dude Comparisons (Men Doing Manly Action-Hero Things like being trans symbolism and loving your girlfriend… seriously those things are hella manly, I wish we saw more of that onscreen…)

a. Neo

Much like Neo The Matrix, whose journey is filled with transgender subtext and specifically and repeatedly references Alice In Wonderland, Daniel doesn’t go through quite the kind of hero's journey usually associated with Yer Standard Male Hero, especially the type found in the 80s/90s.

Neo is my favourite comparison, because of the purposefulness of his journey as a trans narrative and the use of Alice. But I’m sure there are other non-traditional male heroes out there (but are they trans tho? Please tell me, I want trans action heroes).

Neo “passes” as a socially acceptable man, but online goes by a different name - the name he prefers to be known by - feels like there’s something inherently wrong about the world around him and his body’s place in that society, and then gets taken down the rabbit hole (with his consent, although without really “knowing” what he’s consenting to) to discover that it’s the world that’s wrong - not him. And by accessing this truth he can literally make his body do and become whatever he wants it to.

Yay. (The message of the Matrix is actually that trans people can fly).

Neo is – kind of like Daniel – a strange character for Very Cis Straight Guys to imprint on. He spends most of the first movie unsure about what’s going on, out of his depth, and often getting beaten up. He is compared to Alice several times and at the end he dies. He loses. He has to be woken up with true love’s kiss, in a fun little Sleeping Beauty/Snow White twist. Yes, after that he can fly, but before that he’s getting dead-named and hate-crimed by The Most Obvious Stand-In For Normativity, Agent Smith, and being carried by people far more physically capable than he is (people who also fall outside of normative existence).

Trinity and Neo in The Matrix. The fact that a lot of the time neither of them is gendered is something. Literally brought to life by true love’s kiss.

I’m not about to argue that Daniel LaRusso is purposefully written along these same thought processes, so much as the luck of the way he was written, cast, directed, acted, and costumed all came together in the right way. And this is even more obvious when compared to That Other Underdog Fite Movie That Was By The Same Director as Karate Kid.

b. Rocky

The interesting thing about Rocky is that he is (despite being a male action icon) also not written as a Traditionally Masculine person. Large portions of Rocky – and subsequent Rocky films – are his fear and insecurity about fighting vs his inability to apply his skills to another piece of work and wanting to do right by his girlfriend (and future wife), Adrian. The fighting is most often pushed onto him against his will.

Much like in Karate Kid there is barely any fighting in Rocky I. Most of it is dedicated to how much Rocky loves Adrian and the two of them getting together. The fight is – again like in Karate Kid – a necessary violence, rather than a glorified one (within the plot, obviously watching any movie like this is also partly about the badassness of some element of the violence – whether stamina or the crane kick, it’s all about not backing down against a more powerful opponent).

Rocky is played by Sylvester Stallone. He’s tough, he’s already a fighter (albeit in the movie not a great one yet), he’s taking the fight for cash – so although he’s also soft-spoken and sweet, you’re aware of the fact that he’s got those traits that’d make a male audience go “Hell Yeah, A Man,” or whatever it is a male audience does watching movies like that… cis straight men imprinting on oiled muscle men sure is a strange phenomenon, why do you wanna watch a boxing match? So you can watch toned guys groaning and grappling with each other? Because you want to feel like A Man by allowing yourself to touch the skin of other men?

Apollo and Rocky in Rocky III. This sequence also includes prolonged shots of their crotches as they run. Sylvester Stallone directed this. This was intentional. Bros.

Daniel LaRusso is not built like that. But that doesn’t really have to matter. Being smallish and probably more likely to be described as “pretty” than handsome, and not having a toxic masculine bone in his body does not a feminine archetype make. It just makes a compelling (and pretty) underdog. 

c. Daniel

So where does the main difference really lie? Between Rocky and Daniel? Well, Rocky has the plot in his hands – Daniel, largely, does not. Rocky is acting. Daniel is reacting or being pushed into situations by others. Just like our boy Neo. Just like Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Snow White – just like some of the women in some contemporary(ish) fairytale films like Buttercup (Princess Bride), Dorothy (Wizard of Oz), or Sarah (Labyrinth).

This isn’t a necessary negative about stories about girls and women, so much as looking at what it is girls and women in fairytales have/don’t have, what they want, and how they’re going to get it. It’s about power (lack of), sexuality (repressed, then liberated), men, and crossing some taboo lines. It’s also about queerness.

3. The Karate Kid Part One: Leaving Home

Daniel LaRusso is a poor, skinny, shortish kid (played by a skinny, shortish twenty-two-year old) who doesn’t fit in after having been taken away from the home he was familiar with against his will. Not every male protagonist in a fairytale leaves of his own will, and not every female protagonist leaves under duress – Red Riding Hood, for example, seems perfectly happy to enter the forest. However generally a hero is “striking out to make his fortune,” and generally a heroine is fleeing or making a bargain or being married off or waiting for help to arrive. She is often stuck (and even Red Riding Hood requires saving at some point).

Daniel then encounters a beautiful, lovely girl on the beach, puts on a red hoodie (red is significant), is beaten up by a large, attractive bully, loses what little clout he may have had with his new friends, and generally has a mostly miserable time until he befriends and is saved by Mr Miyagi. To do a little Cinderella comparison: Miyagi is the fairy godmother who pushes Daniel to go to the ball in disguise as well, and that disguise falls to pieces as he’s running away.

Then Daniel asks for help, Miyagi gets him enrolled in a Karate Tournament, and starts teaching him. Daniel wins the tournament and gets the girl, the end.

While Daniel has chutzpah and is a wonderful character, none of the big events are initiated by him, except for the initial going to the forest/beach (and within all of these events Daniel absolutely makes choices – I’m not saying he’s passive): Lucille takes them to California, Miyagi pushes him to go to the dance, Miyagi again decides to enroll him in the tournament and trains him, and only because Kreese doesn’t allow for any other option, Ali is the one who more often than not approaches Daniel, and even their first encounter is pushed by Daniel’s friends.

Daniel really is at a dance/ball in disguise and receives a flower from a girl who recognises him through said disguise, it’s unbearable! It’s adorable! I get it Ali, I fucking get it!

Daniel’s main journey within this – apart from not getting killed by karate thugs (love u Johnny <3) and kissing Ali – is to learn from Miyagi. He’s not necessarily a full-on feminine fairytale archetype at this point, although there are fun things to pull out of it, mainly in the context of later films and Cobra Kai: the subtext of karate and how that builds throughout all the stories, the red clothes, the themes of obsession, his being targeted by boys whose masculinity is more than a little bit toxic and based on shame… more on all that coming up.

He doesn’t technically get a home until they build him a room at Miyagi’s place, but he definitely leaves the woods at the end of this one, trophy lifted in the air after being handed to him by a tearful Johnny and all.

And then they made a sequel.

4. The Karate Kid Part Two: Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Daniel’s won the competition, Kreese chokes out Johnny for daring to lose and cry, more life-lessons are given (for man without forgiveness in heart…) and Daniel and Ali break-up off-screen, confirming that TKK1 was not really about the girl after all, which, despite Daniel and Kumiko having wonderful chemistry, is also an ongoing theme. Daniel enters the screen in The Most Baby-Blue Outfit seen since Tiana’s dress in Princess and the Frog? Or that dress in Enchanted? Maybe Cinderella’s (technically silver, but later depicted as blue)? 

(Sidenote: At everyone who says Sam ought to wear a callback to that suit,  you are correct and sexy).

Surprise, Miyagi’s building him a room.

Double-surprise, Miyagi needs to go to Okinawa.

Triple surprise, Daniel reveals he’s going with him, because he’s his son dammit.

The Karate Kid Part Two is maybe the least Daniel-LaRusso-Feminine-Fairytale-Protagonist of the three, because it’s not really his movie. Daniel runs around with Kumiko (aka the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen), continues to be The Best Non-Toxic Boy a middle-aged Okinawan karate master could ask for, lands himself another Built Karate Rival (twice is just a coincidence, right? Right?), and eventually doesn’t die while wearing red again – twice: When Chozen almost strangles him to death at the Miyagi dojo and then during the final fight. The Saving Of The Girl (both the little girl in the storm and Kumiko) actually puts him in a more traditional masculine space than the previous movie did, even if the main theme of the film is about compassion and kindness and by the end, once more the boy whose masculinity is built on rockhard abs and matchsticks is on his knees. Daniel just has that power over big boys. It’s called kick/punch them in the face hard enough that they see stars.

There’s an aside to be made here about how much Daniel really is an observer in other peoples stories in this, although he is the factor that sends both Chozen and Kumiko into completely different directions in life (Chozen and Kumiko main characters when?) Anyway he comes out of it presumably okay, despite being almost killed. Maybe a few therapy sessions and he’ll get over it. Too bad Terry Silver is lurking around the corner…

5. The Karate Kid Part Three: The Big Bad Wolf

Alright people have written Words about the third movie. It’s fascinating. It’s odd. It’s eye-straining. It’s like olives – you’re either fully onboard the madness or it’s too off-putting for you (or you’re like. Eh, don’t see what all the fuss is about either way...). It’s basically a non-consensual secret BDSM relationship between a guy in his thirties (played by a Very Tall twenty-seven year old Thomas Ian Griffith) and a 17/18 year old (played by a shorter twenty-eight year old Ralph Macchio).

Also recently we got more information on Mr. Griffith’s input on the uh… vibes of the film. Apparently it wasn’t just The Sweetness of Ralph Macchio’s face, the screenplay (whatever that amounted to in the first place – release the script!), the soundtrack, the direction to not tone it down under any circumstances, the fact that Macchio categorically refused to play a romance between himself and an actress who was sixteen, no: it was also TIG coming up with fun ways to torture Daniel’s character and suggesting these to the director. Clearly everyone has fun hurting Mr Macchio (including Mr Macchio).

The point is that aaallll of that amounts to that Intense Homoerotic Dubiously-Consented-To D/s subtext that haunts the movie and gives a lot of fun stuff to play with. It’s also a film that – if we’re analysing Daniel along feminine-coded fairytale lines recontextualises his role in this universe.

The Fairytale goes topsy-turvy. Through the looking glass. Enter Big Bad Wolf stage right. Karate is a metaphor for Daniel’s bisexual awakening. 

“Oh, when will an attractive man touch me in ways that aren’t about hurting me?” he asks after two movies of being hurt by boys with rippling muscles. “Why do men continue to notice me only to hit me? Do you think wearing red is making me too noticeable? Anyway, Mr Silver looked really good in his gi today.” 

Daniel’s diary must be a trip.

[deanwasalwaysbi]

Thinking About How This Wasn't Actually a Denial

But was it self preservation?

The year was 2013 and rather than a denial, Jensen said "Don't ruin it for everybody now."

What was the fan 'ruining' for everybody? The Con? or something else? So if I was a tinhatter - and sometimes I am - I might think about other tv shows from the past that were covertly queer and how they handled the question, were TV shows 'out'?

Mainstream shows like Bewitched, you know, shows that are so clearly straight, you can tell because... well. ... they never technically used the word 'gay'. ... witches honor

SPN Film Studies is Back in Session! Join Under the Cut for more on supernatural & the story about how Bewitched! came out of the Broom Closet

Bewitched aired from 1964-72, it's so old the first season was in B&W. The show starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, the strange housewife with a stranger secret. Her husband, Darrin, unwittingly married into the whole witchy family, from the now drag icon Agnes Moorehead's Endora with her open marriage, to the unmarried and batty Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne who played the mother in Hitchcock's heavily gay coded 'Strangers on a Train'), to the extremely coded Uncle Arthur (gay actor Paul Lynde). (We can't know for sure, but it seems at least 4 members of the cast were gay themselves.) The core premise of the show involves Samantha balancing who she really is with repressing that self for the safety and comfort of her family.

Samantha and her husband keep her [ahem] 'queer' nature a secret which gets harder on Samantha when she has to tell her daughter to live the same way, “I know what fun it is to be a part of the magical life ... to have so much at your fingertips. But we’re living in a world that’s just not ready for people like us, and I’m afraid they may never be. So you’re going to have to learn when you can use your witchcraft and when you can’t.”

There are plenty of generic 60s wacky hijinks but there are also whole episodes metaphorically about repression being harmful, episodes where characters asked if another was a 'thespian', episodes where Darrin was queercoded while under a spell, episodes about representation & bad stereotyping in media, and even two episodes where witches discussed whether it was time for witches to come out to the mortals, (whether mortals could accept that they were just nice normal people trying to live their lives like everybody else - or not - and would just freak out and kill them again).

When it came time to recast Dick York's Darrin with a new 2nd lead, Elizabeth and her husband, William Asher, knowingly cast the gay Dick Sergeant. (Although he wasn't out publicly at the time.) Then, when Sergeant came out in '91, Montgomery supported him and the two served together as the grand marshals of the Hollywood pride parade.

Dick Sargent expressed in the 90s what he would want in a Bewitched reunion episode: for Darrin to meet another like couple, a witch and a mortal who are married, and another, and another, and end up forming a whole community and support group, finding out that it was never so uncommon after all, that it was actually "about 10% of the population." The two would march in the first mortals and witches pride parade, saying they should have come out years ago.

In '94, Montgomery had this to say about the queer themes of the show, “Don't think that didn't enter our minds at the time. We talked about it on the set, that this was about people not being allowed to be what they really are. If you think about it, Bewitched is about repression in general and all the frustration and trouble it can cause. It was a neat message to get across to people at that time in a subtle way.” (x)

Interviewer: Are you concerned that your involvement in the gay-pride parade will lead people to believe you're a lesbian?

"[Laughing] I'm really not worried about that. There are bigger things to worry about. Like the presidential election and finding a cure for AIDS. I did the parade in support of Dick. I mean, in the end, didn't we all?" (x) (Montgomery was also one of the first celebrity allies to fight for LGBTQ rights and support HIV/AIDS-related fundraisers.)

So did they talk about it at the time? No. You can bet they didn't speak about it publicly. What would have happened if a fan, publicly, had asked Elizabeth, William, or Dick about the show's queer allegory content? This was a time when being gay was a literal felony. They would have had to have lied or risked losing the show, their careers, and possibly subjecting themselves to violence.

Now. back to Jensen and the Schrodinger's long con:

This was in 2013 - The same year that the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a federal ban on gay marriage. You certainly couldn't call homosexuality illegal in the US at that time. It's the same year that Dabb and Sgriccia spoke about the Aaron moment on the DVD and whether there's 'this potential for love in all places' for Dean. Of course Jensen said this about the very same scene: "But it was - you know - it was comedy. It was a comedic moment in the show and fortunately Dean gets a lot of the comedic moments in the show and it was just, you know, Ben was poking fun at the fact that - you know, how can we make this very kind of manly, heterosexual guy uncomfortable - uh -you know, or  or have him back on his heels and throw him off his game a little bit.”

I'm reminded of 2012 when Ben Edlund stepped in about a Destiel question at comic con, pretending it was some freaky thing that fans had made up even though he'd already written and directed TMWWBK, which had already aired.

Jensen: “What’s Destiel?” Ben Edlund: That’s some weird shit. Jensen: Is this something that you created, Ben? Ben: You don’t want any part of that.

Or the next year for season 9 when Jensen said “I think the whole Cas and Dean thing has gotten out of hand”  “I don’t think there’s anything secret to their relationship even though a lot of people wish there was” EVEN THOUGH- that season we got the nightstands acknowledgement and Misha (or both of them?) was told to “play him like a jilted lover”

Or Jensen's knowing bromance smile in 2015

I think recent events (cough spn gate) have made clear that the network and many viewers were still uncomfortable with CAS being gay in 2020, deleting even familial mentions of Cas from the finale episodes once he was revealed to be not only gay but also in love with Dean. (x) (x) (x) Can you imagine then what Warner Brothers would have said to an acknowledge bisexual Dean Winchester in 2013? Granted, there was no Trump election, but legitimate, could that have been the end of the show? Or the Russian and Conservative US viewership? Is it possible that Jensen would have feared so?

Is it possible that Jensen had a more personal reason for a knee jerk defensive response?

So was Jensen covering in 2013? Well. This happened 5 years later in 2018:

That hostile "? No." came even though Misha confirmed that he and Jensen had discussed Destiel by that point. Granted, discussing Destiel as a concept and accepting Dean being inherently bisexual are two very different things - Cas is GN after all - still, less than encouraging.

I may never get over the jumps back and forth that Jensen did. At this point I think there's no denying that a lot of SPN's queer content was on purpose, even as writers and actors were telling fans and network execs otherwise. Yet when each person involved was brought in? that question haunts me at night. I have gone off before about the timeline in my pursuit of whether Jensen was Ben Hur'd (x) and, if so, for how long. I'm sure many in this fandom have so much to add.

In the meantime we'll just have to cherish this moment from 2019:

Interviewer: 'So, tell us just a little bit about what you’re most excited to tackle with your character this final season.’ Jensen: “Cas. Just like a full football form tackle.”

Bewitched references in SPN:

2.05 - Dean: Well, it looks like he can't work his mojo just by twitching his nose, he's gotta use verbal commands.

2.20 - Dean says Barbara Eden was hotter than Elizabeth Montgomery - sigh - Dean.

7.05 - Dean thinks a husband has no idea his wife is a witch, and refers to him as Darrin. Dean also indicates he likes the first Darrin better. - (I guess I can't make a comment about how much TV Dean watched as a kid if I get all of his references and also haven't saved the world.)

14.03 - Jules refers to the witch as 'Brunhilde' - this is a minor character in bewitched but more so from mythology and likely referred to the cartoon witch from WB cartoons - the stereotypical witch that faced bugs bunny with the green skin and straw hair.

let me know if you have any to add. Stay Witchy ✌

[champion-prism]

Fluff Alphabet- Kirishima Eijiro

 Anon requested Kiri headcanons and I procrastinated so much, here’s a whole alphabet to make up for it :)

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Being manly together is his favourite ting :)

Seriously though, he loves working out with his s/o. Whether you’re big on going to the gym or a total couch potato, he’s going to rope you into coming with him, even if you just want to sit around and stare at his muscles. He also loves soft dates, like the kind where you get ice cream and pick wild flowers and sit on park benches talking.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Your skin- he just loves drawing shapes and patterns on you with his fingers, revelling in how you feel, occasionally peppering soft kisses on you.

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Instinctively gets hard. Not in that way, his quirk activates when he sees you upset or crying or heaving. Eijiro is great at being a comforting presence. He might not always know what to say, but he has a determined, optimistic vibe about him and when he tells you he believes in you, you trust him to be truthful.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He pictures both of you learning and growing together, becoming strong and complementing each others’ strengths. He hasn’t really thought about getting married yet, but he’s taken it as a given that you two are in it for the long run. Stream “the long run” by eagles.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Neither. Eijiro is respectful, respectful enough to be conscious of the fact that he doesn’t want to be domineering, at least. But he’s not one to be pushed over, either. Overall, he’s very respectful.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

This is tricky. He tends to bolt up a bit, retreat into himself and pretend he’s not hurt. He’d like to think he’s as emotionally impervious as he is physically, but it only leads to repression. He will forgive you easily on the spot, but he’ll carry the hurt and resentment until one day he spews it all out.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Quite grateful, and he’s quick to always return the favour, either through getting you food or taking care of you.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

He definitely hides his fears and worries.He doesn’t like being seen as having any sorts of weaknesses.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

You help him become slightly more accepting of his own weaknesses- help him learn not to berate himself too much, help him learn that the conviction to become better is only hurt by self deprecation.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

He does get jealous easily. He’s a bit insecure, in some ways, and if he sees someone hitting on you it’s going to rub him in a way he doesn’t quite understand- a cold trickling in the back of his neck, his hands hardening as he tries to catch his breath and try to understand why he’s so upset. He feels guilty about it because he doesn’t want to show mistrust in you, so he bottles it up.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

He’s a very gentle kisser. He loves how soft your lips are, melts into your touch.  First kiss was awkward, a bit sloppy at first, but he got into the rhythm of it quick.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

He’d be a bit cliche about it, I feel. Ask you on a coffee date, bring you a flower. Walk you home, stand by your door and bite his lip and softly tell you how he’s falling for you, and he hopes you feel the same.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Hasn’t thought about it yet, but when he does, he will want to marry you. He’ll do a dumbass thing and forget to hide the ring properly when he gets it, so you accidentally find a ring box with a handwritten note in his scratchy handwriting you always insist is cute. He’ll be taking a shower before bed while you stand dumbly in your shared bedroom, staring at the note that addresses you by name, telling you how much he loves you and why, and how happy he’d be if you agreed to marry him. He’ll come out of the shower wrapped in a fluffy towel, see the box and note in your hand, and hurriedly begin to explain himself and how he forgot to hide the ring until the proposal, before you shut him up with a “yes”.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

He calls you baby shark. Periadt.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

He’ll be a bit spacey, blush easily, but be eager to show off. It’s obvious to the people who are close to him that something is up.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Quite upfront. He has nothing to hide- he’s so proud you’re his! Chaste kisses in public, hugging, hand holding, he’s good with it all. He’s not really fond of full making out in public, though he won’t hide any hickies or love bites you give him. It’ll also make him proud if you let your hickies and love bites be on display.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Q u i r k? His quirk is hardening I’d think that’s quite beneficial in a relationship-

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Cliche but he’s very cute about it. He just wants to show you he loves you. Very romantic, the sort of dude who’ll bring you flowers weekly.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

You are just so manly and strong and he believes in you so frigging much. You can do a n y t h i n g. If it’s in his power to do anything to help you achieve your goals, he’ll do it. The more passionate you are about it, the more he gets into it too.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

He doesn’t say no if you want to do something new and fun, but he likes the security of routine. His work life is hectic and quite thrilling as it is.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He makes it a point to carefully store all factual information about you that he happens upon. Emotional understanding takes time, but he’s certainly trying very hard to be as empathetic as he can.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it worth in comparison to other things in their life?

You as a person are very important to him, but the relationship takes a backseat to your ultimate wellbeing and his hero career. If he feels he’s genuinely not good for you, he’ll end things.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Loves kisses on his eyelids and jaw. If you kiss him and tell him he feels soft he’ll lose it. He’s never been told that in his life.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Loves to kiss and cuddle, yas! He loves to tickle, too, so watch out! He’s very open to physical affection, and always has an arm around you in public.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Sends you selfies of himself pouting. Sometimes he’ll write your name on his bicep in marker and send you a video of him flexing it. You’re not sure what it means but it’s cute-

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

He’s a hero, so he’ll pretty much sacrifice his life for you. He’s willing to protect you no matter what, and he’s kind of a simp, so he will (within reason) work on any aspects of himself that may be detrimental to your relationship, once brought to your attention.

Requests are open! :D

[creampievampire]

Could you go into the difference between the subtext and queerbaiting in it, I'm still kind of -well it's obviously gay but nothing was really ever said or shown that says that expect for people talking about it- Like are the characters and their relationship just queer-coded (positivly ofc lol) but the baitiness comes from them sort of confirming it off the show?

of course! im assuming by ‘it’ you mean merlin, but rather than explaining the reasons why i think bbc merlin is a matter of subtext (or queer coding) and not queerbaiting, i think it would be easier and more productive to explain the difference between the two in general. they are very similar - which is why i think a lot of people are unable to tell the difference between them - but they have important differences

just a warning, this is going to be a LONG post lmao ive bolded exactly what each term means below, after which i go into more detail on the whole issue. this is something im passionate about so,,, ♥

queerbaiting specifically refers to a marketing technique in which creators hint at but dont actually depict a queer character or relationship. They do this in order to attract a queer audience with the suggestion of a character or relationship they can relate to, while also avoiding alienating their queerphobic audiences

queer coding is the subtextual coding of a character as queer through the use of things like metaphor, allegory, hinting, recognisable traits/stereotypes/experiences, etc. This is done to build believable characters and create more complex plot lines, and it is also regularly used by people who want to tell queer stories but are unable to do so explicitly. it CAN be used negatively to enforce damaging stereotypes, but that is just a small part of its usage

both of these things utilise subtext in order to work. subtext is not only a crucial part of the creation of any piece of media, but is impossible to avoid.

an example of the most basic types of subtext is when a character tells someone that everything is going to be okay, but you can tell they dont believe it. or when youre watching a story unfold and you suddenly connect the dots and realise whats going to happen before its explicitly stated - you used subtext and the hidden meanings and hints to figure it out!

the people involved w a piece of media create their story with a specific purpose or meaning in mind, and they construct the subtext of the story to reflect that purpose/meaning. HOWEVER, the viewers dont always see things the same!

your experiences and personality shape the way you view and interpret every piece of media you consume. if you hate cops youll see the insidious undertones in cop shows - if you grew up with an abusive parent youll see the biting implications in a characters dialogue that others find innocent - if youre queer you will search for and fine queer characters everywhere, regardless of the creators intentions

now, both queerbaiting and queer coding use subtext to function, right? so how do you know which is being used and whether or not its a bad thing? its all about intention

to give a specific explanation of the difference im going to use two examples that are (arguably) very similar in the way their queer characters became canon

example 1: adventure time featured the characters marceline and princess bubblegum, who have been forever depicted as a couple in fan content. their interactions in the show were read into and latched onto bc we saw ourselves in them and we saw it as positive queer rep. but their relationship was never explicitly discussed during the course of the show and was only confirmed at the end of the final episode.

that makes 10 seasons in which their relationship existed only in subtext, and when it did finally exist in canon it was only for a few minutes, if that.

example 2: supernatural featured the characters dean and castiel (lol) who have been depicted as a queer couple pretty much since the first episode cas appeared in. i personally hung on their every interaction, analysed every glance between them, bc i interpreted deans character as a parallel to my own childhood trauma.

cas joined the show in season 4, so that makes 11 seasons in which him being gay existed only in subtext, and when it was confirmed he was immediately cut out of the show. the exact nature of dean and castiels relationship still remains in subtext.

so why is it that adventure time is widely considered perfectly fine but supernatural is dunked on as being the poster boy for queerbaiting?

its bc adventure time involved queer creators and was an earnest representation of queer characters, but they were boxed in by their publisher, Cartoon Network and thus the only way for the relationship to exist in the show was through subtext.

supernatural, however, consistently neglected their queer character and employed transparent tropes and stereotypes - bringing him in just sparingly enough to keep queer audiences interested while never being gay enough to alienate their macho manly man queerphobe audiences. they would have dean and cas stare into each other eyes for a full 30 seconds and then almost immediately follow it up with an episode about dean banging a disposable female character.

so imho adventure time falls under queer subtext, and supernatural falls under queerbaiting

when it comes to a show like bbc merlin i see a lot of debate about whether or not its queer coding or queerbaiting, and my intention is not to convince you of either. merlin was very much a product of its time, and i have argued the same about seasons 4-6 of supernatural as well, before the queerbaiting escalated and became exhausting to me

the purpose of this post is to start giving you the information you need to analyse any piece of media and come to your OWN opinion as to whether or not its queerbaiting or whatever else

people will ALWAYS have differing opinions about this shit yall. i have debated so many times w so many people about where the line is and whats okay and what should be ‘cancelled’ and if consuming something deemed problematic makes you a bad person or not

and my conclusion?

if youre capable of acknowledging the flaws and issues w a piece of media without trying to defend it as a shining beacon of purity simply bc you like it, then you do you. enjoy whatever you want to enjoy - if i think its reprehensible i simply will never interact with you lol

at some point everyone has to stop regurgitating these generic woke speak cancel culture speeches and buzzwords and formulate their own opinions

my advice to anyone reading this is to learn how to do close reading (ill provide a link to a wonderful short guide on it in a reblog bc tumblr hates links) and start really considering where you draw the lines with all types of content. decide for yourself whether merlin or supernatural or adventure time crosses the line into content you cant stomach, but respect other people whose interpretations differ from yours

i know a HUGE amount of people think supernaturals confession scene was homophobic and toxic - a slap in the face - but when i watched it i saw myself reflected in dean. a repressed bisexual whose emotions had been stunted by lifelong trauma, who wasnt ready to face his feelings for cas but quickly realising that his chronic avoidance and fear was about to tear them apart possibly forever. to me it was tragic and beautiful, and i loved it

i also think merlin is a tragic and beautiful love story, and to me its a pivotal piece of queer media that changed the way i viewed love and made me believe that it was a possibility for me bc i related so deeply to arthur

i hope that you can draw a satisfying answer from this, anon, and i apologise for this post being a full essay lol but i believe it needed to be said  - i dont think there is a right or wrong answer here

[mx-shirogane]

Persona 4 and LGBTQ+

Ah yikes, an opinion piece. These are just my thoughts and I’m more than open to hearing other people’s opinions and thoughts on the matter. 

When I first found the Persona Fandom, I was introduced by Game Theory. Not the “Teddie is Yu’s Shadow” video, rather their video on LBGTQ+ represention in video games. MatPat threw around the word “Persona” and as someone who was just learning about the LGBTQ+ community, I became interested in what I thought to be a game with character development around sexuality and gender identity. While I can understand Kanji’s shadow being used as an example for this in their video due to Persona 4 being recent and how it appears at a first glance, I think a better example would have been Jun and Tatsuya from Persona 2: Innocent Sin. In this post I’ll be covering Yosuke, Kanji and Naoto.

Sexuality, Kanji and Yosuke: From the beginning, there were created issues with the idea of Persona 4 being an LGBTQ+ game, this was with Yosuke being removed as a romance option. Had they kept him as a romance option, I personally feel they could have explained his behaviors as internal homophobia and suppression of his own feelings for the protagonist. However, with this removed, Yosuke’s cracks at Kanji’s sexuality lack the reasoning of insecurity and projection and instead comes across as ignorance and fear. The anime made no attempt at fixing this, having more negative connotation around Kanji as the party is hesitant to save him. Another scene that comes to mind is the camping trip, where Yosuke asks if they’ll be safe alone with him. In the anime, the protagonist also joins in on this interrogation. Kanji’s clearly uncomfortable as he eventually runs off to sleep in the girl’s tent at an attempt to defend himself. In the game, Yosuke does express concern for Kanji as he fears he might be expelled. This at least shows that Kanji is a friend regardless of the feelings Yosuke harbors towards his sexuality. This exchange portrays Yosuke as quick to flip sides from being worried about Kanji to worried for Kanji and still maintains their friendship. This does have a bit of karma as Chie insinuates the same thing when the girls sneak into their tent. Where as in the anime, Yosuke and the Protagonist just watch Kanji leave and there are no later comments made on the matter. Overall, Kanji’s homosexuality becomes more of a punchline than a sexual orientation and was more so fueled by hyper-masculinity and Naoto. A later scene in the game that shows his perception change of Naoto from male to female is during the group date cafe when describing his ideal girl and Yosuke calls him out sarcastically for being obvious. During this same event, if you choose to be on the girl’s side, you have a few options. If you pick Yosuke, he’ll freak out but then begin flattering himself, the protagonist noting that he seems “proud for some reason.” Meanwhile if the protagonist picks Kanji, Yosuke will note that they’re a perfect match to which Kanji refuses and even threatens Yosuke if he keeps bringing the matter up. Instead of there being any snarky remarks following from Yosuke, he compliments Kanji saying it’s due to his manliness which Kanji does take well. This could come across as Yosuke trying to protect himself, however his remark is more positive than that in the tent and does signify a growth towards trying to understand. If you sit on the guy’s side and ask if Yosuke likes any of the guys, he’ll respond saying the protagonist before stuttering and calling him out for making him play along. With factors like Naoto’s reveal taken into account, Kanji’s shadow becomes less focused on his sexuality and more so on bullying and hyper-masculinity. As for Yosuke, he comes across as ignorant and fearful. Had he remained a romance option, this could have been played off as an internal conflict Yosuke was dealing with and projecting onto Kanji.

Gender Identity and Naoto: I’ll be using They/Them pronouns to refer to Naoto. Naoto Shirogane was originally thought to be a male which greatly fueled Kanji’s Shadow. However, Naoto’s arc referred more to sexism in the work place and their struggles with being a child detective and idolization. Side note: Props to Kanji in the shadow scene for realizing Naoto had to confront their shadow in order to stop hurting. After the fight, Yukiko asks Naoto if they dislike being a girl and if that’s the reason they dress like a man. Naoto responds saying their sex doesn’t fit their ideal image of a detective and notes that the police department is a male-oriented society. They express that if anyone knew Naoto was biologically female, they wouldn’t be needed anymore. Kanji and Yukiko both make remarks on this, Kanji saying that they didn’t know how others would react, and Yukiko remarking that Naoto didn’t want to become an adult or a boy. This is followed by Naoto saying “What I should yearn for... No, what I must strive for isn’t to become a man. It’s to accept myself for who I really am...”  From this point on, Naoto is referred to with female pronouns terminology, even by their close friends. While Naoto continues wearing the male uniform, they say it’s what they’ve become comfortable in and are show to be generally shy about their body, key examples being in the bath house and the beauty contest. My opinion on how to portray them as LGBTQ+:  These are small notes on how I would portray and shape them based on contradictions and hints in the game.  Yosuke: Have Yosuke identify as bicurious. It’s cannon that he likes girls and there are scattered remnants of him liking the protagonist littered throughout Persona 4 and the other spin offs. His internal conflict over liking guys as well as girls could prove to be an interesting story premise when done properly. As well, him projecting his insecurities onto Kanji would shift his character from being ignorant and fearful to being insecure about his own feelings and not knowing how to deal with them. If you want to have someone in Yosuke’s life that shaped his views on homosexuality, create someone like a friend, parent or even bully who caused him to see homosexuality in a negative light. Try to avoid having him instantly fall in love with the protagonist and present more of a struggle as to figure out what’s right and what’s wrong. Even if you end up having him identify as straight in the end, allow for some wiggle room for experimentation due to the small hints throughout the games.  Kanji: Have Kanji identify as pansexual and focus his shadow around him questioning his sexuality and not hyper-masculinity. Keep in the fact Kanji was called queer by female students because he liked cute things and knitting. This would serve as a starting point for him questioning his sexual orientation. However, when it comes to his shadow, have the repressed self trying to figure out who he likes whether it’s guys, girls or if sex just doesn’t matter instead of flat out calling him gay. That way, when it comes to the reveal of Naoto, his entire shadow arc doesn’t get cancelled out.   Naoto: Have Naoto identify under the transmasculine umbrella. As much as I love Trans!Naoto in fanworks, Naoto does say that they should strive to be true to themselves and that what they want wasn’t to become a boy. Transmasculine, acording to the nonbinary wiki, is an umbrella term that refers to those who were assigned female at birth, and whose gender is masculine and/or who express themselves in a masculine way. Transmasculine people feel a connection with masculinity, but do not always identify as male. This way, you can still have Naoto identify as male for the first majority of the game and have the shadow reveal Naoto felt pressured by the police force to negate any feelings they had and portray themselves as strictly male. They said themselves that both their parents were detectives, which contradicts Naoto saying that they’d get tossed aside if the department knew they were biologically female. Focus less on their age and have the repressed feelings focus on how they felt like an outcast for not fitting in the gender norm which contributed to an anxiety of shutting people out and obsessing over masculine stereotypes as an attempt to fit in. Naoto identifying as masculine would allow for more wiggle room in terms of pronouns and the variety of honorifics used (Chie and Yukiko use Kun, Rise, Yosuke, Kanji and the Protagonist don’t use any, and Teddie uses Chan) whilst further supporting Naoto’s preference for masculine clothes and body insecurities, mainly their chest.

[themangaguide]

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