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grinnames · 1 day ago

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HOW THE HECK DID THIS HAPPEN AND WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE

200+ followers.

We are over 200 followers strong already folks.

What do I even say?! Well I gotta say something, because it's been over a month since I hit this milestone, and I finally got all other ideas finished.

SO! Let's start with saying that I am incredibly and forever grateful and lucky that this has happened to me and that I get to do this online and that so many people enjoy my work. I've always been an outsider looking in, always the spectator, and never the performer. For so long, I have dreamed of finally being the person on the other side of the screen, making countless people smile and maybe even brighten up their day just a little bit. It feels like I've only just started making content on Tumblr SINCE LAST AUGUST, and I'm already having to write grandiose thank-you letters!

On a more serious note, I had been going through a rough time for the past few months, just a little after I started Tumblr. I had just transferred to a new school, and have had to leave all my friends behind for a second time. The transition period was hard, and I had never felt so lonely in a long while, but coming back online to see you interacting with my blog always brightened up my day. I've come to learn and accept that sometimes, online communities can be just as good as in-person communities, though it did take some getting used to!

Speaking of grandiose thank-you letters, let's get on to acknowledging some VIPs!

First, thank you everyone that has decided to hit the follow button, and for giving me a chance! It really feels validating, and motivated to continue working on and posting my story!

Also, I would like to thank God for gifting me with artistic talent and the drive to hone it at the tender age of five. He's given me so many opportunities to practice my craft, and He continues to give me more chances to use my gift for the happiness of others, and for myself. Without Him, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

@novajuniper! You know who you are to me. So I'm just here to remind everyone what you did. YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND IRL AND YOU ENCOURAGED ME TO START TUMBLR IN THE FIRST PLACE! You were also one of my first and only fans of my art for a very very long time. Everyone, let's give it up for the OG!!

@oppsiedoo! YOU. You were one of my first fans that gave me FANART! The first Godbox AU fanart came from you, and the first Grinnames fanart came from you! And then you kept giving me more! I'm honestly sometimes a little concerned with the amount of fanart you do for me and my work. Surely you have other creators you look up to?! But thanks for giving me that much support since the beginning when I was small! I felt so validated and seen!

@bow-and-aro-child and @smgx-pez! I always remember you because you were some of the first people to notice Godbox AU! Though we don't interact much, I very much appreciate that you stuck around! You two often appear as my top-fans on my Activities page!

Also @smgx-pez you were also one of my first reblogs. It was the one where you compared Rewrite Sonic to Godbox SMG4, and my stomach kinda dropped in a nervous but excited way! That thread where you found out I actually was inspired by Rewrite is something I will never forget because that's how I discovered that Tumblr was chill like that! Thanks for representing Tumblr!

@hexsie! You were also one of my first reblogs! I was so young and inexperienced on this platform and some stranger (you) sends me some OOC drawing of your OC hugging my boys... I have to admit I was very flattered but so stunned that I didn't know how to respond. Well, now here's the response! I now think that this interaction was hilarious! Thank you for being my introduction into the SMG4 community! Looking forward to that Hexsie lore!

(It's always been the Hug Saga, hasn't it...? From the very beginning...)

@smg6-the-memer! My first asker! You probably submitted the most asks to my ask box as well! That's how I remember you! I had actually not intended to start asks at the time, but the askbox was open by default, so I just went along with it because I HAD ALWAYS WANTED AN ASKBLOG. So thank you for being the push!

@supern0vashii! The infamous Starter of the Hug Saga! Also currently the Ender of the Hug Saga! (for now) We've come full circle! Honestly, Hug Saga was fun, and it's all thanks to you reaching out to me! You also started the Godboxified OC trend with SMG6... you really be out there trailblazing! I've always enjoyed redesigning my OCs to fit AUs... so to have people doing the same for MY AU?! IT FEELS SO AMAZING! Thank you!

@bear-boi-5! My first mutual that isn't @novajuniper! (she doesn't count because I met her IRL before tumblr) When you followed me back you have no idea how shocked and excited I was. I'm not really interested in the fandoms you draw for now, I mostly followed you for your amazing SMG4 au art (Monster Containment AU is my favorite! It's what got me to follow you!) but I'm sticking around because of the sentiment and I also like your vibes!

@michaelscorneroftheinternet! Holy hell. You are one of the creators that I really look up to! Your art-style is just so yummy! So I kind of, may have, freaked out when you joined the Godboxified OC trend AND followed me back! ON TOP OF THAT, YOU SAID I'M ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE CREATORS TOO?! I nearly died from all the happiness rushing up to my head! Not to mention, I really love your energy whenever you reblog stuff! It's rather infectious! Keep up the good work!

@libbytwq! I also look up to you! We may not have interacted much, but I am honored that you follow me back! I really enjoy watching SMGL:e's silly little adventures and interactions with other OCs! So much so that I was inspired by you to later publish some lore about my own OC Grinnames herself! I'm looking forward to some more delicious lore-drops in the future!

@purpdrawsthings! You are probably one of the the NICEST most BUBBLY people I have met on this platform! I just like watching you be nice to people and the fanart you make of other creators' AUs! Not to mention your own AUs are mighty interesting... I want to be as nice as you when I interact with other blogs! Also MY SONA BECAME AN ANIMATION IN YOUR CHRISTMAS VIDEO, SHE'S GOING PLACES THANKS TO YOU!

@bstroobery! specifically @bluestrawberrybunny, Apprenticeship AU is actually one of the first SMG4 fanfics I decided to sit down, lock in, and read through. And over time, your OCs SMG5 and SMG6 really grew on me! I also liked that you were open to AU interactions in your askbox, and crossovers have always been my sort of thing, so I decided that your askbox would be the first I would interact with! Thank you for being so chill with me!

@clowntrickery08! My latest mutual! Dude I really like your artstyle, and its super easy to tell that its you! The way you draw characters is really charming! So I can say for certain that I WAS SO EXCITED WHEN YOU DREW MY BOYS IN YOUR STYLE. Also I really like your sona's design! Also, your concept for SMGPuzzles and SMGWren is SO COOL that I am gonna play around with it sometimes!

@itz-miss-kamilyvision! My god, your OC has a whole-ahh saga in Godbox AU. You having your OC have so many interactions with my boys was so much fun to watch! Thank you doing all that, I always love making characters interact and you gave me just that over and over again! I also like seeing your OCs lore, and the other interactions you have with other creators!

@alan-william! The one who turned ME into a gacha character AND animated me! But what I appreciated the most is how you made my sona interact with yours and also Micheal's. That is the closest thing to real human interaction to me on this platform, and something that I've enjoyed the most here is finding community, and I really feel connected with you!

@birdy-four! We haven't interacted that much, but to this day, that giant reblog of Godbox AU Chapter 0 with you word-vomiting everywhere about my fanfic is my favorite reblog of all time! I sometimes go back and read it again because while most people see my art, they don't really get to see my writing, and I've never gotten feedback like this before!

@smg33exe! And last but not least, the one that put my boy Godbox!SMG4 in a gacha video! BECAUSE OF YOU I MADE IT ONTO YOUTUBE! Thank you for throwing my creation out there on the web, and for creating a video that I sometimes come back to just to marvel at what I've become!

As for the rest of you... I have planned something that everyone can partake in! Stay tuned, I just need to finish preparing it...

#thank you #thank you everyone #200 followers #200 follower special #thank you note #grandiose thank you letter #grinnames is a very lucky girl #bring it in everyone!#WE ARE LEGION #HOW DID THIS HAPPEN #WHY AM I FAMOUS #well now we finally have enough people to safely rob a bank #this is probably enough people to screw in a lightbulb

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samovar225 · 3 days ago

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Happy Birthday Pizza Tower!

I love this game, and especially the people I've interacted with at least a little bit during my time in this community.

and since such congratulations are the only way to at least "communicate" a little with my favorite artists, ftiends then why not..

@saltplane when i first saw your art on pinterest i was very inspired, i remember that art helped me draw Pizzahead for the first time😭😭plus, you are one of those people thanks to whom I stopped being ashamed of my favorite ship, and post mly first post about it, I didn't think you'd notice it, but when it finally happened I was overjoyed

@tinybubble330 I really like your OCs and headcanons, which surprisingly almost always match mine, I adore your drawing style and I remember how happy I was when you first reblogged my post... to be honest, I'm ashamed to say this, but I squealed like a little girl.

@bigboybird words can't describe how much you helped me one day, and I'm damn grateful to you for everything you've done for me and the whole community, thank you so much for everything!you are very cool🫐

@choco0ne I just love your Peppizza art!❤️❤️

@delta-muy don't stalk me, I'm right at your doorstep with a bouquet of flowers and candy, I love you little fox

@megil0pedro Bro, I swear we're going to blow up this dude's house, we just have to wait a little while until it becomes legal.

@alextydaisuda123 THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE FIRST ART TRADE!!

@gggiiidd I understand that you may not see it right away, but despite all the hardships, you will cope! I promise, everything will be fine!❤️in the end I had the same situation and everything worked out in the end..

Remember that even if I didn't tag you, you are still a wonderful person and an artist! um.. even if you are not an artist. anyway, have a great day everyone and I share with you my favorite blueberries🫐🫐🫐

plus I'll add that I want to take a break from tumblr, I don't know for how long, but for a couple of days for sure, everyone I told in response to the questions: don't panic! I'll answer everything, I just don't have any strength left right now(

#pizza tower #peppino spaghetti #pizza tower 2nd anniversary

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asheepinfrance · 3 days ago

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if you haven't gotten sick of seeing me on your timeline, i'm not doing it right. i'm like a challengers fan fiction cold sore! i'm not sure if i like this, but then again, i say this about everything i've ever posted and still make it publically available. i hope it's cute and just yearny (??) enough because what is a challengers fan if not a yearner? i will probably post something again in the next 24 hours maybe less so.. who's ready for a patrick fic? patfic. woah... hope you enjoy and feel free to leave tips and critiques as per usual<3

Societal conventions of platonic relationships are boring, and that’s why you all rejected them. I mean, sure, every time you said that you weren’t dating one of them the response was always “You know you can tell me anything, right?” but seriously! You’re all just very good friends. Best friends, more accurately. So, yes, you helped each other out. That’s what friends are for. Patrick needs a fake girlfriend for one of his parents’ parties? You and Tashi are on it. Art wants a date to some tennis gala? You’re all jumping at the chance. It’s not like it’s hard to fake something like that, because you’re all close already. A kiss on the cheek and a hand on the waist are essentially nothing. You wouldn’t bat an eye if it happened outside of one of those contexts, either. So it’s fine when it does, and it doesn’t make your heart race.

It also never bothered you to admit that they were incredibly beautiful people, because that’s just a conclusion that you can draw by having eyes. Even without your little set up, you’d certainly feel that way. So Tashi’s birthday party, which she’d dragged you all to some club you can’t legally be in for, was fine. It was fine that Tashi was dancing with her arms outstretched above her head like a prayer, slightly offbeat to the timing of the song, and yet still so in place. She’s dancing like she forgot there’s always eyes admiring her, skirt swaying around her long legs, eyes closed like she’d absorb the moment if she concentrated enough. And she looked gorgeous, the way she always did. Which you’re allowed to say, because best friends always support their best friends. And sure, when she opens her eyes and waves at you from her spot on the floor you start giggling despite having had nothing to drink, but it’s because you’re happy for her. It’s extra fine that Patrick soon comes up to join her, large hands to sharp hip bones, and they start swaying like one unit, and they both look lost in one another until suddenly they’re lost in you. You don’t bristle when Art leans into your side and mumbles that someone ‘looks really good, huh?’ and you don’t quite make out if the sentence started with ‘he’ or ‘she’.

It’s fine when Tashi pulls you up to some makeshift platform of a stage for karaoke, screaming the lyrics just a bit too loudly into the microphone, and clinging onto you for dear life. There’s a second mic hanging limply to your right, but it’s been deemed unnecessary because she’d insisted on pulling you close and sharing the one in her hand. From this close, you can smell the perfume she’d chosen for the night, which you note isn’t her signature, and the faint coconut of her shampoo. You can make out two sets of smiling eyes from the same shitty table you’d claimed, nursing drinks in calloused hands that still manage soft touches.

It’s fine when you get a little solo and you manage to squeak out a few notes, voice thick with nerves and lack of proper use, and feel the way that three people’s worlds have stopped to take in each sound before they pass. They’re committing you singing to memory, and you’re not sure what’s telling you as much, but you know it’s true. It’s fine when the song’s over and Tashi leads you back to the table with a hand on your lower back, and her fingers are so long that your mind drifts without your permission, and your steps become a bit more rigid than they’d usually be.

It’s fine when you’re pressed between Patrick and Art in the rented limo Patrick had arranged using his parents’ money, and two different hands meet your thigh, and you can just barely feel Patrick’s pinky grazing the hem of your skirt. It’s fine when Art begins feeding you praise like it’s his life’s goal to make you drown in it, because the compliments sound sweeter in his voice, so you can take that sickening butterfly flutter in your ribcage and crush it under the stiletto point of your heel.

It’s fine when you’re all laying on dew-dampened grass somewhere near Patrick’s apartment, staring up at the sky, and the crowns of your head are all touching, because there’s a need to not acknowledge the obvious, and a deeper need to indulge in it. There’s a voice in the wind that’s rustling Tashi’s hair and creasing Art’s shirt that’s telling you to just give in to yourself. You wonder if it’s only talking to you. It’s fine when you turn to look at Patrick to find he’s already looking at you, and he’s got the wonder in his eyes you see on people gazing into a Van Gogh. He’d take staring at you over any painting in a heartbeat, he’d tell you if you asked.

It’s fine when you find yourself in Patrick’s bed, goosebumps littered across cold-air-kissed skin, with your back to Tashi’s chest, and she’s cradling your head like it’ll fall off if she doesn’t hold it up herself. You find yourself liking the feeling of Art’s lips scattering feather-light kisses across the inside of your thighs. You lean further back against Tashi when she starts cooing some kind of praise you’re too hazy-minded to make out, but it sounds nice with the inflections of her voice, demanding but soft. You don’t mind watching Patrick’s lips connect with Tashi’s, then with Art’s, because you can focus in on how their bodies melt and their fingers bend. You can pick up on each little click of a broken kiss, and each sigh of a newly formed one. The night’s some kind of haze of warm hands, adoring eyes, and wandering lips with glints of white teeth that you can’t quite put in place. What you can definitively say is that it felt like coming home. It felt like sleeping in your bed for the first time since you’ve been away, and it molds around your shape like you hoped it would. It feels like falling asleep with Tashi’s hair in your face and a pool of Patrick’s drool building atop your stomach and not caring. It feels like getting a kiss goodnight from Art because he’s just as naked and giddy as you are.

It’s fine to admit to yourself that you’re in love when you don’t want to be. Love apparently didn’t care that you wanted a step-by-step plan, a playbook, a set of rules to follow. Love didn’t care that you’d been planning on keeping things simple, because lack of acknowledgement means lack of potential rejection. Love didn’t care because love is like a mother, it knows what’s best for you, even if it’s less than pleasant to sit with. But love was deeply breathing against your neck and snoring a little too loudly. Love was going to wake you up at sunrise to make them all hangover cures, should they need them. Love was going to let you fall asleep and dream about it, just to wake up and realize it’s still there.

#challengers #challengers fic #art donaldson #patrick zweig #tashi duncan #tashi duncan x reader #art donaldson x reader #patrick zweig x reader #artpatashi??#someone for the love of god tell me their ship name #save me polycule save me #bisexuality saves lives

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arczism · 1 day ago

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I have a question for you. I saw this post on my feed https://www.tumblr.com/arczism/767406042232602624?source=share (very nice by the way, I love the detail. I don’t have the ability to describe my full awe right now so *insert extremely poetic prose about your awesome artwork) I was wondering how you managed to make the characters feel like they have weight. In the image, it genuinely looks like Zoro is pressing into/onto Sanji, and Sanji is pressed into the bed. I don’t know how else to describe it. They feel… real. Like if I actually tried holding the image it would feel like tiny people were inside. Do you have any tips on drawing how people fit together without making them seem like plastic Barbie dolls placed on top of each other? (In way less metaphorical terms, how do you draw a human like their made of meat, blood, bones, etc?)

Hey! Sorry it took me so long to reply. I'm not the best at explaining, but I’ll give it a shot. Just so you know, I’m not a professional artist, I’m self-taught too, so I don’t really feel like I’m in a position to give advice, but I can try to explain my process. Just keep in mind that it works for me, and I could be totally wrong!

Drawing bodies interacting with each other is hella tough, but it’s just like any other skill. At the end of the day, we only get better at art by practicing and observing. That’s how I see it.

I use a lot of references when I draw. Like, A LOT. Expression references, pose references, anatomy references, color schemes, lighting references. I usually go all-in when creating a piece, making a little collage with inspirations and references before even starting. Then I just build on it over time (which is why it takes me so long to start comms </3).

Another super helpful thing for me was studying, breaking down pictures, and tracing. Painting over pictures helps with learning and understanding how bodies work and interact.

You gotta be careful, though—sometimes it can make your art look stiff, so try to add some movement where you can. Hair is always a good place to add a bit of flow! Also, look for clean, simplified shapes.

So yeah, no secret to it, I just use tons of references (because I’m still learning too) and practice a lot </3 From my experience, that "plastic Barbie" look usually comes from not feeling comfortable with certain angles or perspectives, but that definitely improves with practice, too, so no worries!

#asks #good luck!!#i hope i helped a little #art is just a skill #it just takes time and practice

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thoughtfullyrainynightmare · 2 days ago

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For some time I thought about if I should post anything, but I decided to do so in case anyone else needs it (because I have been a tiny bit burnt out for the past year or so):

Your hobbies are supposed to bring you joy. Don't let it become a job; a "responsibility". You don't have to be "on" every day

Chances are that there will be someone who keeps bugging you even after politely telling them that you're not interested or that "you might consider it" or something along those lines. (This is how I ended up doing some role-playing for a fandom I was not interested in, in my dms) Some people will keep expecting things from you, while ignoring your boundaries. Don't let them (aka block; they might call you "mean" or "rude", but you're not)

You can't cater to everyone, so it's better to have your group of friends, along with some friendly acquaintances with whom you can make the best of your fandom experience

A block isn't a reflection of morality or "badness", especially on algorithm based mediums or Discord (tip: if you're in a larger public server with someone who overwhelms you or annoys you, blocking them will hide their messages from you. It's like being able to be in the same club house without forcing yourself to engage with someone) Yes on Tumblr you can always unfollow, but you can still see their posts in the tags. Cater to your experience. A block isn't a big deal (I know I have been blocked by people who don't like seeing reader insert fics in their feed/tags, and that is completely fine. And I have probably been blocked for other reasons as well. It's not a big deal)

Promote things you want to see, create things you want to see, and enjoy the process

Publishing that Work/Art/Fic is scary, but that is the only way to get it out there (and if you're worried about "not being 'good enough'" whatever that might mean, remember that you have to start somewhere. I started with sentences that were all over the place, and just last year got a comment about having good grammar; after 3-4 years of writing in a foreign language)

Be cringe. Be free. Do things you enjoy! Pet a dog, go for a walk, draw that oc or blorbo or both or daydream about them. The world is bleak rn, but you have to try and find enjoyment from little things. You can't give from an empty basket, so if you're spent all the time, being there for those you care about becomes impossible somewhere down the line. "You have to take care of yourself, in order to care for others." Stop to breathe

More often than not, you just existing and enjoying life brings a kind of stability and enjoyment to others. I think about this one time in high school chemistry class, where I was knitting (yes Chemistry, don't ask), and this one girl came up to me afterwards and said something along the lines of "I was feeling a lot of anxiety in class, and then I saw you knitting, and I went 'okay, [she]'s knitting, it's going to be okay'". I still to this day don't really know why that was, but it did tell me a thing: people around you, especially those who seek you out, follow you on social media, ask you out just to hang, they like having you around. And to these people, you existing as you are, including taking a step back when you need it, you are valuable as you are

#idk how to tag this

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the-font-bandit · 14 hours ago

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Ok ok I have more to say about Dragon Age, audience expectations, creativity, and art as a product.

Buckle in.

Now I'm speaking as a writer who published their first book in 2024.

Ok, traditionally-published "can find it in bookstores" book in 2024. I do have self-pub stuff from earlier, and I still love those books but marketing is different for those, so we're focusing on the more mass-marketed stuff for this post.

(I promise, this is gonna circle back to Bioware and Dragon Age, stick with me).

Right now, I'm having a problem with submitting my new work to publishers.

Why?

It's different from the first book. The Longest Autumn (2024 book) is atmospheric, a bit literary, melancholy and mythological and bittersweet.

The new stuff I'm pitching? Deeply gothic, gory, and kinda horror.

People know me for the poignancy and lilting prose of The Longest Autumn. Where is all that? Why the blood, the darker themes, the dread?

This, I think, was what I most deeply loved about Dragon Age, but also what ultimately doomed the franchise.

Each game experimented. They tried things! Unexpected things! Some that succeeded, some less so.

Origins had an intriguing world and lore, and incredibly compelling character writing, but was otherwise a pretty standard RPG for the time.

Dragon Age 2 had some gameplay flaws (mostly from its development crunch) but had a more unique art style, a complicated, messy story, and an ambitious structure covering 10 years in Hawke's story.

Inquisition updated the elements once more, and yet again updated and refined the art style. The gameplay itself was a bit more standard for its time, but still had the deep character work fans had come to love, if a bit less bleak than DA2.

Then comes Veilguard. The art style is bright, clean, almost shiny. The morally-gray grit of DA2 is gone. The characters interact differently than in previous games. They bicker less, over more trivial things. Everything is more streamlined, more optimistic. The gameplay mechanics were tweaked yet again.

And I think this is where Dragon Age both appeals to me in a very compelling way, but also loses that big swath of general gamers that they needed to make those bonkers EA sales goals.

In a broad-scope AAA game series like Call of Duty, you know what you're getting from game to game. Upgrades, tweaks, graphics updates, streamlining, but generally a similar experience.

Even something like Fallout can utterly change gameplay mechanics from game to game, but not tone.

Dragon Age committed the unforgivable sin of experimenting too much. Of straying away from "the brand". Even if, for me (and I think many of their biggest fans), the brand was always about interesting world lore and brilliant character work, those weren't the core for everyone.

When art becomes a product, it becomes "a brand". Sales matter. Audience retention matters. Metrics and profit & loss statements.

It's no longer creative expression. It's business.

And that's where Dragon Age failed, and also why, as a writer, I'll love it forever.

#dragon age #bioware

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l0verei · 3 days ago

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Art just seems like a chore to me now.

I don’t know something looks off about this drawing.

Honestly all I can ever do is quick doodles now, I have been working on my comic for a long time and it’s shown in my previous posts and this one I’m working on currently.

But it’s getting to a point where my life issues and mental health have deteriorated into a mindset where art isn’t fun anymore, but this is something I’m passionate making when it comes to comics because I’ve seen so many content creators post their art and I just wonder how do they get through all of that?

But if I put aside the art what would I have left? Myself? Just me? Art is the only thing I’m truly good at and the only thing that brings people’s attention, without that what else am I supposed to do? I don’t know it sounds stupid but I can’t find the motivation to do it. Sometimes I just wonder why I start art or comics and then never finish them, it feels like I’m letting an audience down.

It always feels like a chore.

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starskytohutch · 2 days ago

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Hollywood's Hidden Queer Genre (The Buddy Genre) and How Starsky & Hutch did a queer-coded episode in America's Homophobic 1970s. - An Essay from my NTU College Course Fantastic in Western Vis Arts!

So, what is the Buddy Genre? It is a story typically between two characters, but it can sometimes be a group of friends who work together towards a similar goal. Their friendship will provide the drama and resolution of the movie's plot. Typically, these characters are not identical in personality and often have differing or opposing personalities. Okay, it is a Hollywood genre about friends; what is so gay about that? This genre is about friendship and platonic relationships, is it not? However, nuance quickly makes this genre bleed into the romance genre as it uses dialogue, blocking, and mise-en-scene to create queer romantic subtext. It is argued that many buddy films have heterosexual b-plot romances. However, these are implemented to remind the viewer that these romantic relationships do not undermine the most prominent relationship of our two same-gendered buddy protagonists. In every buddy film, their relationship always trumps as the most important, or else the movie is not a buddy film. It is a romance.

A b-plot is a side plot to progress the main storyline. Our main storyline is that of two same- gendered protagonists. This is why a same-sex relationship can get blurry in the buddy genre. Suppose a romantic relationship trumps a platonic one. In that case, it is a love story. Still, when two people of the same gender reflect the same emotions in a possibly arising romantic relationship, it suddenly becomes a powerful friendship. Only recently have same-sex romance stories been allowed to flourish, obviously and honestly! That is precisely why the buddy genre is so unique; it takes analysis to decide whether the relationship is a robust platonic friendship or a clever take on queer characters and relationships! I find it even better when media unintentionally queer codes these characters, but due to their traits or situations, the queer agenda blossoms and takes form. 'Queer-coded' refers to the subtle or indirect portrayal of queer characters or relationships in media. That is where Starsky & Hutch, A Coffin for Starsky, comes in.

Starsky & Hutch is a formulaic cop show from the 1970s based in Los Angeles, California. The series ran for four seasons, each with 25 episodes, each about 40-50 minutes. Starsky & Hutch ruled prime-time television during the 70's, and they were even referred to as French Kissing Prime Time Homos in a blooper reel. Starsky & Hutch is part of the buddy genre and the subgenre Buddy Cop. "The "buddy" aspect of the genre implies a professional partnership that often evolves into a personal friendship throughout the film.". Before this essay can go any further, I will refer to a social media blog post that best describes the 20th-century buddy formula in Hollywood.

"We've got two best friends, and the show NEVER really feels right if one of them is missing unless the focus of the story is how A & B operate without each other while trying to find the other one. They stick with and rescue each other unfailingly in scenarios that might destroy a regular friendship- Between the inherent closeness of being narrative foils. The regularly scheduled life or death drama creating sometimes remarkably romantic (in the narrative if not a literal sense) drama between the two. The revolving door of weekly women they never seem to get attached to enough to leave one another. The non-serialized nature resulting in sparse personal information/history about the protagonists as a result." (Excerpt: Why Do Old-School TV Duos Have SUCH MLM Vibes?!)

A Coffin for Starsky begins with Dave Starsky being drugged in his bed by an intruder. He is left with 24 hours to live if he and Hutch do not manage to find the culprit and the drug injected into his bloodstream. Starsky and Hutch race against the clock for a chance at the antidote while Dave's health slowly dwindles throughout the day as time passes. As formulaic TV goes, Hutch finds the culprit and gets an antidote for Starsky, saving his life so the show doesn't end after the episode aired.

Let us dissect! Before Starsky can go completely unconscious, he calls Hutch. Unpack that, a veteran detective cop with seven years on the force and direct connection to the police decides to call his partner instead of the cops. He puts his life in the hands of Hutch. When he makes this call, all Starsky manages to grumble out before passing out is Hutch's name and the word help. It is fascinating that all Starsky must do is say his name in a specific tone, and Hutch knows something is wrong. We cut to the

two riding in an ambulance, which, to ride in an ambulance with someone, you typically must be a relative of some sort, but we will pass it off as the two may be getting some special privileges being cops. We arrive at the hospital, and paramedics rush in Starsky. When Starsky wakes up, the first thing he sees besides doctors is Hutch inside the room. Hutch and the Doctor leave Starsky to be for a minute and step out. A crucial piece of dialogue appears. The doctor asks to speak to Hutch alone-

Doctor: I understand you and Detective Starsky have been partners for some time now. Hutch: That's right, Doctor: Yes, he said you were his best friend. Ken Hutchinson: what are you trying to tell me? (A Coffin for Starsky, Starsky & Hutch)

This dialogue is brave, considering the mise-en-scene. Hutch could have easily corrected this partner's misunderstanding by agreeing with the doctor after he brought up the afterthought of "best friends." Instead, Hutch waves it off to suggest to the doctor that the whole partner thing is the correct answer and he doesn’t need to pry. The implications of Starsky and Hutch begin teetering towards more than work partners and best friends when we hear this dialogue. The doctor sees through their façade. Asking him the same question twice, he subtly tries to confirm with Hutch that he is the closest person to Starsky and is a type of family. The solitude of Starsky and Hutch riding to the hospital and Hutch being the person with Starsky in the hospital room is the confirmation. Hutch senses the doctors' implications of something more than a friend, and he cannot sincerely disagree without being dishonest. The doctor furthers this idea when he tells Hutch,

Doctor: His relatives and any other close friends should be notified. (A Coffin for Starsky, Starsky

& Hutch) The doctor's advice to Hutch is specific and telling. He suggests that Starsky's 'close friends and relatives' should be notified, clearly indicating his understanding of the nature of Starsky and Hutch's relationship. Hutch gets hot and argues until he realizes that Starsky specifically asked the doctor to tell him something.

Doctor: He asked me to tell you. Said he hates soapy scenes. (A Coffin for Starsky, Starsky &

Hutch) This seemingly casual statement holds a deeper meaning. It implies that Starsky is aware of the potential romantic interpretation of their relationship and wants to avoid it, possibly to protect their professional image or because he is not ready to confront his feelings. When a patient hears their dying in a day, you have the most crucial person in your life there to listen to the news; in this case, it is Hutch. The two decide that with their brains combined, they can help the doctors find a cure by catching the culprit. After the decision, the two argue like an old married couple because Hutch didn't do the domestic task of bringing Starsky's spare clothes.

An iconic, if not the most iconic, line from Starsky and Hutch is when Hutch asks whom they should trust, and Starsky replies, "Me and thee." In one of the very first episodes, this little one-liner between the two is them against the world. Starsky reprises it when the two cops leave the hospital to search for the culprit.

Starsky: As I see it, It's who do we trust time. This reprisal is significant. Often formulated shows do not use reprisals, even of lines, because it means you had to tune into a previous episode to get some clarity. This line is reprised to highlight the episode's theme of two partners being one. (A Coffin for Starsky, Starsky & Hutch)

Charlotte is a chemist at the police station, helping Starsky whenever he gets ill. Hutch interacts with Charlotte uniquely; Hutch is very platonic. He has all his focus on Starsky, and when he does something like holding Charlotte's hand or making her coffee, it has no weight. Compare this to Hutch at the hospital putting an arm on Starsky's shoulder; there is a weight and connection you can read from the action. It is comforting, loving, and reassuring. With charlotte? It is Hutch reassuring himself that someone's on duty to care for Starsky. Since the beginning of the show, the two are playboys of sorts; in the serialized pulp fiction, Hutch is described as "Even working out in gym attire, he looked like a Beverly Hills socialite." (Starsky & Hutch #5, pg.8). I will skip ahead of the episode to a pivotal moment where we meet one of the most important scenes of the episode.

Starsky's illness is progressing during a search for a prime suspect. He falls to the floor with stomach pain. Immediately, he latches onto Hutch as if this man were going somewhere unbeknownst to him. Hutch immediately cradles Starsky, letting him lean into his chest and lap to steady him. Starsky tries joking around while Hutch soothes him. There's a constant movement from both characters to grab onto each other; they know they do not have much time. Hutch feels like he is grieving in real-time, and Starsky feels like a dead man walking; all they have is each other. This scene contains this constant blocking and grasping for each other. Starsky frequently looks for Hutch to grab onto his hand, leg, shoulder, arm, and the inside of his coat. His body language and blocking tell us he is searching for every part of Hutch to ensure he is there, not going anywhere, and that Starsky is not alone in his desperation. These swift movements are intimate and honest and grasping for life. For a 70's show, a man showing this much vulnerability, let alone with another man, is incredibly taboo. Starsky starts to feel his life slipping away; Hutch is the lifeboat. Hutch's movements compliment Starsky's erratic and intense skinship. Hutch's hands are leading, grounding, and stable. A hand on Starsky's shoulder and chest is firm and steady. He lifts Starsky back up with both arms and moves with Starsky, never against him, supporting him. The movements, these actions, and this choreography are incredibly intimate, honest, and always towards each other. It is like connecting two magnets. They just don't want to separate unless forced to and are always attracted to each other.

Starsky is not looking to lie down and take a breather; he is looking for Hutch because that is his breather. Hutch does not look to lay Starsky down either or find a comfortable place to take a break; he knows he is that comfortable place for Starsky. Even in such challenging situations as this one, friends are not that intimate. Consider a Comparison. Max and Lucas from Stranger Things season 4, specifically the scene of Max dying. These are the same scenarios; the only difference is that Max and Lucas are a romantic couple. Lucas holds Max as she almost passes away, yet this scene between 'best friends' is more intimate.

When they are back at the police office to get medicine for Starsky, Starsky admits he is scared to die. Hutch responds by leaning close and cracking some jokes, reflecting how Starsky was comforting

Hutch earlier in this episode. They have flipped their usual dynamic, Hutch being worried and quick to emotions, while Starsky jokes and thinks quickly. It has become more severe than ever. As soon as Hutch sees some pain flare up in Starsky, he leans further into Starsky before asking for Starsky's medicine ASAP, going as far as to roll Starsky's sleeve up and then adjust it back when the pain killers have been admitted. Hutch keeps his hand on Starsky's arms. The painkillers for Starsky do not keep Hutch at bay; he starts getting angry, and his patient mask drops. He cannot grapple with the fact that no matter how hard Hutch tries or who he takes Starsky to, there is no cure, and time is against them. Starsky deescalates Hutch

Starsky: Softly, don't antagonize the people I need. (A Coffin for Starsky, Starsky & Hutch) His tone is gentle, sweet, and considerate, again, not towards Charlotte, but in a way to bring Hutch back

down to earth. Hutch can only calm down via Starsky, as is known from previous encounters throughout the episode with the Doctor and Charlotte.

As we are about to give up, we hear what is one of the most loaded pieces of dialogue and exposition on television (In my very biased opinion). Starsky delivers this glowing gem of a loaded metaphor, "If this were a cowboy movie, I'd give you my boots," in doing so, he stretches his arm out, opens his hand, and asks for Hutches. Hutch, in the public open setting of the police station, takes his hand and holds it. Their holding hands is no handshake, no quick reassurance; this is intentional, emotional, and romantic. The Western genre has often been queer-coded; Think Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other by Willie Nelson. So, to say to the most beloved companion in one lifetime that if this were not only a Western movie but a COWBOY movie and to tell Hutch as he knocks on death's door that he would give Hutch what a cowboy's most prized possession could be; Is to say, you are a part of me, and I am entrusting you with that. Starsky follows his metaphor up with, "

Starsky: You're my pal Hutch- but the two, in one of their most intimate moments, are cut off- by a witness who recognizes who

drugged Starsky. It becomes a big deal when they're caught holding hands. Starsky scatters to untangle

their hands and, in doing so, accidentally grabs a prop with rapid and embarrassed body language. He's trying to pretend he didn't pour a bit of his heart out in public while Hutch gets defensive.

"It's really incredible that they are, for a very long time, holding hands in the squad room. Hutch is so reluctant to break the hold that he practically slams Starsky's hand down on the desk when Mrs. Haberman comes forward with the photographs, exploding "Lady – !" and then, in frustration to another officer, anxious to get her away from him, he says, "Ted, will you ...?'" (Excerpt, MerlTheEarl, Episode 21: A Coffin for Starsky Review)

Eventually, she offers a piece of information critical to the case. The two scamper off to possibly find their culprit and cure, but we come across a standoff. Hutch and Bellamy (a suspect part of the larger crime) are on the rooftop as he shoots at Hutch. Starsky is barely staying alive, almost not making it up the stairs. He taunts Hutch and shouts, "What's the matter, Hutchinson? Did you lose your peace(piece)?". This homophone is carefully picked to entail that Hutch cannot be someone alone; he needs Starsky to be whole, his peace and or piece. It works both ways. Watching this unfold, Starsky decides, with what little strength is left in his body, to shoot Bellamy and save Hutch. Hutch does not want to shoot or injure Bellamy to ensure a cure for Starsky. Starsky gives up his life for Hutch as Hutch was willing to for Starsky. For just a split second, his vision and thinking are clear, and it is for the safety and livelihood of Hutch. Hutch realizes what has happened, and he also realizes this is the last of him and Starsky as soon as he drops the dead body of Bellamy. He walks over to Starsky, asking him why he did that, knowing full well why. Starsky knows that Hutch knows, too, and gives Hutch a small confirmation by telling him,

Starsky: Seemed like a good idea at the time. (A Coffin for Starsky, Starsky & Hutch)

He falls into Hutch's arms at a last grasp of life and looks longingly into his eyes before going down with Hutch holding him up and his head on top of Starsky's. Hutch loses that cop sensibility Starsky held him accountable for and finds the very last clues to get him a cure after admitting Starsky to the hospital. He first goes to shake down Vic Bellamy's girlfriend and then quickly puts together what a college professor is doing. Notice how Hutch is incredibly calm when he gets to the Professor, the real mastermind. When

Hutch finds the thread connected to the ball of yarn (Professor masterminding with Vic Bellamy to kill Starsky), Hutch remains calm and reasonable. He knew he was on a ticking clock, and without Starsky, Hutch knew that to save him, Hutch had to be reasonable and calm, as Starsky would have been if he wanted to reach him successfully.

Hutch: I'm asking you to save my partner's life. (A Coffin for Starsky, Starsky & Hutch) He is taking those cowboy boots Starsky would have given him, using that other half of himself (Starsky) to keep himself whole. Hutch makes it to the hospital with relief and love written on his face. It is such a sweet smile, and it comes with Hutch looking like he is also on the brink of tears. Again, Hutch and the doctors are the only ones in the room with Starsky. Of course, an episode so queer-coded in the middle of the American 70s could never air without just a bit of heterosexuality thrown in there as if to say, "Guys, they weren't gay. See, Starsky wants to go to a beach, and see ladies!".

The Buddy Genre is often queer and has been since it has begun. It sprouted from men needing to see close male friendships, which quickly started blending into something that could be gay. The genre holds blurred lines between friendship and romance of the same sex, often male friendships, to be specific. Starsky & Hutch tackles this. Although they frequently have one-off relationships with women, they always end up by each other's side, not a woman's. Until the show's end, if it was between the love of their life or each other. As we have seen repeatedly, they always choose each other, such as leaving a heterosexual romance or risking their own life or livelihood. Their detective cop jobs further these two's romantic fates for each other. Their heterosexual romantic relationships will fail every time since anguish, danger, and turmoil come with being a Detective Cop. Fortunately, these two and many other buddy movies or shows are in the same boat. In Hutch's own words,

Hutch: Would you consider that a man who spends seventy-five percent of his time with another man has got certain tendencies? We work, eat, and drink about twelve of those hours, right? That's sixty hours a week, seventy-five percent of the time we spend together, and you're not even a good kisser. (Death in a Different Place, Starsky & Hutch)

Take actor Paul Michael Glaser's word.

"I think it's very real (the spark of gay tension between his character Dave Starsky and David Soul's Hutch); I think it's important to understand that yeah, there's homoerotic elements... You have to be able to recognize there is a part of all of us that is homoerotic." (Excerpt, Starsky & Hutch's Gay Secret Exposed!)

Works Cited

Baume, Matt. "Gay Bar Murder Mysteries, from Starsky & Hutch to Murder She Wrote." Youtube, YouTube, 9 Aug. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgAHn3SilhQ&lc=UgwHdXHBFY_hM6k- 86h4AaABAg.A8ENRpzWC9mA8G2VAcC9JD.

DeGuzman, Kyle. "Buddy Cop Movies - Genre Explained with the Best Examples." StudioBinder, StudioBinder, 6 November 2023, www.studiobinder.com/blog/buddy-cop-movies/.

Franklin, Max. "Chapter 2." Starsky & Hutch #5, Ballantine Books, New York, New York, 1977, pp. 8–8.

Lars. "Why Do Old-School TV Duos Have SUCH MLM Vibes?!" Tumblr, 3 May 2024, https://www.tumblr.com/ichayalovesyou/749465945358155776/why-do-old-school-tv-duos-have- such-mlm-vibes. Accessed 17 September 2024.

MerlTheEarl. "Episode 21: A Coffin for Starsky." Merltheearl, WordPress, 27 January 2010, https://merltheearl.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/episode-21-a-coffin-for-starsky/. Accessed 17 September 2024.

"Starsky & Hutch a Coffin For Starsky." McCowan, George, director. Starsky & Hutch, season 1, episode 21, ABC, 3 March 1976.

"Starsky & Hutch Death in a Different Place." Roley, Sutton, director. Starsky & Hutch, season 3, episode 6, ABC, 15 October 1977.

8. "Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 9 | Max's death" YouTube, uploaded by ItzBrody, 2 July 2022,

#starsky & hutch #starsky and hutch #queer #queer coded movies #queer coded

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demonslayedher · 1 day ago

Text

A post about the lead actor's feelings on the Kimetsu no Yaiba Noh/Kyogen stage adaptation:

To try to increase my karma for getting KnY Noh tickets, I went to a Noh performance and interview with Ohtsuki Yuichi, the actor who performs the roles of both Tanjiro and Nezuko. He was also one of the people responsible for seeing the potential for performing KnY as Noh. As he described in the interview, both KnY and Noh are trying to express the same things.

This was brought up in the later half of the on-stage interview. To give more background, the society surrounding Noh theater knows its roots, and is pretty dedicated in preserving traditions, like family lines dedicated to playing a certain kind of role in a certain school of how to stage the plays. Yuichi grew up surrounded by Noh, and although he was born into a different Noh performing family, he became the apprentice of Ohtsuki Bunzo (a living national treasure), hence why Yuichi has taken up the Ohtsuki legacy. Bunzo is a very influential figure and has dedicated a lot of work to revitalizing plays nearly lost to time, and he's a tough act to follow.

So when the topic of "new Noh" came up in the interview, Yuichi's very calm and experienced interview demeanor started to seem, at least to me, a little more hesitant. The lady interviewing him, a veteran reporter in the world of traditional performing arts, did not seem intimately familiar with Kimetsu no Yaiba. The vast majority of the audience was much older than Yuichi, and many of them were dressed in kimono. (I stuck out in that crowd as the only obviously foreign face.)

Yuichi explained what he usually explains about KnY and Noh, especially the themes with demons and building sympathy for them. The surface level similarities, like a mountain of spider demons, did not matter as much in seeing the potential for adaptation.

Unlike the audiences at the stagings of plays from the usual Noh repertoire, the vast majority of audience members at the KnY performances had never seen Noh before. They went to see a Noh performance because they were KnY fans, not because they had any previous interest in Noh. With a bit of a laugh in his voice, Yuichi (who had just been talking about the heavy sense of audience anticipation right before some famous plays begin) said nothing could compare to the tenseness before those performances, because nobody in the audience even knew what to expect. Still, he finds it gratifying how it has brought so many more people into the world of Noh, especially young people.

The discussion of this "new Noh" wrapped up very nicely with a reminder that five centuries ago the tales of Heike and Genji were super popular and drew crowds, so maybe someday "Kimetsu no Yaiba" will be considered a classic piece of Noh canon.

Before that, though, there was a part when Yuichi sped up little by little as he got more animated recalling a little anecdote.

You see, he explained go the interviewer, the world of KnY is actually very complex. There are, like, whole encyclopedias (the fanbooks) with information about the characters, like their birthdays, their hobbies, favorite foods, etc.

He then goes on to say how they did a week of performances in Tokyo last December (frustratingly, I did not manage to get a ticket). One of those performances happened to fall on December 28, which is Kamado Nezuko's birthday.

The whole audience--everywhere--there were so many Nezukos. Nezukos everywhere. People cosplay and come to watch Noh. Everyone was cosplaying Nezuko that day, because the fans know these things. There were so many Nezukos.

He did not make his point that eloquently, but he sure made his point. I don't know if he was a truly shook by anime fandom since he's always been deep in Noh fandom instead or if he was nervous about what the core fans of traditional Noh thought about it, or maybe that was just his excitement for KnY and that project coming through.

I, in any case, am still super excited to hopefully, hopefully, hopefully see the continuation. Aside from seeing Yuichi reprise his roles, Bunzo is playing Gyutaro and I really, really want to see that mask.

Come on, karma...

#i have over a week until the current ticket lotto results are posted #come on karma please please please #kny noh production #kny in real life

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