#yea the queer one was really hard

[isilee]

💀 and 🏳️‍🌈 for the ask game (evil laugh)

ooof you really spared no mercy

okay, since you didn’t specify a fandom I will take it into my own hands. be warned.

💀 - If you had to choose one major character to die, who would you choose?

from keeper of the lost cities: this might legitimately get me hatemail, but if I had to choose a character to die, I think dex would be an interesting choice. I could see a lot happening from that, hmm how should I term this, event that would really change things up and make it interesting. for example, would one of the triplets take his place? so many interesting outcomes

🏳️‍🌈 - Which character who is commonly headcanoned as queer doesn't seem queer to you?

from brotherband: wow, it’s actually really hard to think of a character that I don’t think has even a little queer flavor. uhhh since I have to put someone, maybe rolland? idk if he’s popularly headcanoned as queer (I really need to get more involved with the brotherband fandom) but he kinda just seems like a big himbo to me. just a cishetallo who’s happy to be here, yknow?

[apollo-cackling]

not trying to be mean but honestly any sentiment that's like "[non-Traditional form/genre of literature*] raised my bar for queer representation so much I can't ever return to Published Books because it's all bad straight stuff/straight people writing queerness/etc" is kind of distasteful to me now. they're there. there's literally plenty** out there now if you just look.

[edit: I want to clarify that I don't think published books are inherently better than any other forms of literature and that I'm not trying to say people should always aspire to have a media diet of only 100% Published Literature (the assumptions inherent in which create a false dichotomy anyway bc plenty of published queer books I've read are fun romps whose themes are incidental to the main goal of being fun)

I just dislike the sentiment I've seen around that mainstream queer stuff is either just subtext or written Inauthentically because it's just. untrue. and it cedes ground to queerphobic people saying the only ground queer stories can occupy is artless smut/popcorn trash with no meaning (which isn't a bad thing to be in and of itself, but it's hardly like queerness can't be artistic)]

The Darkness Outside Us came out last year. Ophelia After All came out this year. The Honeys came out this year. the second book of Burning Kingdoms came out this year. Zachary Ying came out this year. Delilah Green came out this year. This is Why They Hate Us came out this year. And that's just the few on my 'anticipated of 2022' GR shelf (+ The Darkness Outside Us because goddamn that book was good).

it's completely fine to be dissatisfied with how the publishing industry (/mainstream media but I'm mostly read so) is! I also have many gripes with it! but it just feels distasteful to demean Published Books on the whole as if it (/other mainstream media but again see above) is a monolith and diminish the the very queer queer books by queer - gender and sexuality - authors (Ocean Vuong, Akwaeke Emezi, Victoria Lee, CB Lee, Ashley Herring Blake, Shaun David Hutchinson, need I go on?)

it's mostly a massive pet peeve of mine but it just feels kinda. lazy? obviously if something like this's post date was like 2010 or if it was a situation where access not awareness is the problem etc that's a different situation but like. most of the posts/tweets/etc I've seen of this are recent and most of them have the tone of "it's perfectly safe for me to read/watch queer media I just couldn't find any" which

I really started reading queer books in 2020ish. I googled 'queer fantasy' (because I like fantasy) and found a bunch of different booklists, took a few recs and just started there. I found lgbtqreads. I followed a few queer folks on GR (once you look through a certain type of books' reviews a few common names start popping up) and noted down the books they were reading and now I have a bunch of queer books that I need to get around to.

I just. if you're into books there's plenty of queer books literally right there (and recently enough big publishers have started publishing them that they're appearing in libraries too). it's not a dichotomy. you don't have to read Published Books if you don't want to but it's not all straight there goddammit. and this isn't even bringing up self-published books

[inadequate-nefelibata]

sigh. someday i'll finally talk about all my found feelings in regards to str/anger things and queer representation and all the ifs and buts of it. but i guess the summarized version would be I Don't Trust the Writers (and I Don't Think You Should Either)

[imfinereallyy]

“Steve, it’s an emergency. I need to kiss you. Actually, I need you to kiss me. But I can’t just do it without asking because what if you don’t want me to, and I practically attack you? So yes or no? I swear it’s for a good cause.” Eddie comes running up to Steve in the bar, panting so hard Steve can see the chest movements.

They have taken Robin to a bar out in Indy to get her laid finally. Or at least a tongue in her mouth. The girl is pent up. And it’s Steve’s job as best friend to make that happen (Robin has told him to stop saying that, ‘it is gross’). Eddie is the only other queer person they know and, luckily, has made quite a few trips to Indy to know which bars were the good ones. He tells Steve that, like Robin, he is desperate to get laid, so this is the perfect opportunity.

Steve does his best to try and ignore the burning jealousy he feels at that. Eddie doesn’t know about his feelings (hell about his sexuality), and Steve is pretty sure Eddie doesn’t see him that way.

“Huh?” Asks confused, his brain struggling to process.

“Okay, I see you’re stuck on how to answer, but Steve—“ Eddie grips Steve’s shoulder, and Steve tries not to swoon. “—my ex, the extra shitty one, is here, and if he sees me alone I’ll either a) go home with him tonight and—“

Steve cuts Eddie off with a searing kiss. The thought of Eddie going home with someone else was enough for Steve’s brain to catch up to speed. Steve presses Eddie against the bar. The loud bass of the music suddenly becomes a light thrum in the background. All that he feels is the delightful pressure of their lips together. Eddie’s hands slide up into Steve’s hair as he gets pressed harder into the bar. Steve’s hands' grip Eddie’s waist and give them a tight squeeze. The idea of bruises being left behind, a mark of what they are doing here, makes Steve deepen the kiss. His tongue used to massage Eddie’s, tasting the menthol and rum on his breath. Eddie moans loud and heavy, vibrating Steve’s entire body.

“Eddie?” A voice interrupts them. Steve feels his anger spark back slightly but wills it down because the interruption is probably needed. They are very close to getting kicked out for public indecency.

“Oh hey, Ryan.” Eddie looks the blonde man up and down. He’s cute, Steve notes, but he lacked personality in his appearance. He isn’t what Steve expects from an ex of Eddie’s. He isn’t naive enough to think Eddie dates exclusively metal heads, but he expects someone to match Eddie’s energy. This guy—Ryan apparently—looks like every other guy you’d find on a Sunday in Supermart. Boring and lacking imagination.

“Who’s this?” Ryan looks at Steve pissed.

“Steve?” Eddie wraps an arm around his waist, bringing Steve close up against him. “This is my boyfriend.”

“This dude’s your boyfriend?” Ryan snorts. “C'mon baby, I know you can do better.”

Steve feels his anger finally pop. “He is not your baby. Yea, he can do better than both of us combine, but I’m lucky enough to get him. Now, you interrupted our time together, and we both know you saw what we’re up to, so don’t act like it wasn’t on purpose.”

Ryan startles backwards, “I—“

“Sorry, maybe I wasn’t clear. I meant leave the fuck right now.” Steve grits out, some of his Upside Down protection mode popping out. Ryan scatters quickly.

“Jesus, Steve, that was amazing. I’m sorry I had to make you uncomfortable with that.” Eddie’s eyes find his and cuts Steve off before he can protest and explain no, he really did like that “—and you never even let me explain reason b, by the way! Reason b is b) he would probably humiliate me in the middle of the club.”

Steve nods at Eddie but has one track mind at this point. He grabs Eddie by the face this time before crashing their lips together once again. This time Steve moans into Eddie’s mouth as they both get lost in the kiss.

Steve pulls back ever so slightly and talks directly into Eddie’s mouth, “Sorry. I think he’s still staring. Needed to do more.”

Eddie, with swollen lips and a kissed-out face, looks around the bar to find nothing. “I don’t see him anywhere.”

Steve smirks and pulls Eddie by his belt loops so they are flushed together. Steve leans into Eddie’s ear and nibbles at his lobe. “Hmmm, you’re right. I think he’s actually in the bathroom. Maybe we should kiss in front of him there.” Steve whispers hotly.

Eddie’s brain, which has short-circuited much like Steve only minutes ago, finally catches up. Eddie groans, his face collapsing into Steve’s neck. He licks a stripe up Steve’s neck all the way to his mouth. “Fuck. Yea, baby, I think I saw him too. Think kissing, though, won’t be enough. We might need to up our game.”

Steve nips at Eddie’s lips, “I was hoping you would say that. Guess I just know how much you love your games, Eds.”

They meet each other for one last searing kiss before rushing to the bathrooms to share a very tight, very heated stall.

[foreingersgod]

I love love love your writing! I was wondering if you could write something about cc dating a pop star, very much chappel roan vibes

y’all must be reading my mind! this is perfect!

Red Wine Supernova . CC

pairing: caitlin clark x reader

synopsis: you’re an upcoming queer pop star who just happens to be dating the hottest player in the wnba (set slightly in the future just for the sake of plot!)

it was off season for caitlin and she was so relieved to have time off from practices and games for a while. she had now devoted all her attention to you, hardly leaving your side these past few weeks. you, on the other hand, were just starting your debut tour. a small one, only a handful of destinations, but incredibly important (and sold out) nonetheless.

yes, caitlin had heard you sing, several times in fact. but she’d been too busy with everything that she had yet to see you perform live, outside of your home studio when it was just the two of you. so when she told you that she wanted to tag along with you for the entirety of your tour, you were practically beaming with excitement.

you had worked really hard on this album and you were thrilled to finally be able to perform it to your growing fan base. you loved performing in the bustling bars of your hometown and the stadiums in surrounding cities, but you’ve always known you were meant for bigger and better things; you wanted to travel the nation and share your songs with so many different people. you were even more excited, though, to have caitlin see you up on stage. something more than just a karaoke stage in a dingy bar with just your guitar and the intensity of your voice. no matter where you sang, caitlin still made it her mission to tell you how amazing you were and how she couldn’t wait to see how much of an amazing star you were turning out to be.

“wow, just…wow” caitlin said, speechless, when she walked into your dressing room for your first show in Chicago.

you, with the help of your entire team and manager, had just got into costume. a purple leotard that dazzled with thousands of hand placed gems. pink fishnets, white go go boots, a matching purple cowboy hat, and a dozen other miscellaneous accessories to pull together the outfit.

you looked up, still trying to pull your leotard into a comfortable position, when you heard her walk in. “hey, i was gonna meet you outside! everything ok?”

“yea no we’re all good,” she looked up and down, lips slightly parted “i just couldn’t wait to see you”

“well i’m glad you came, like the outfit?” your assistants stepped away, sliding past caitlin at the door to give you both some privacy before the show, as you gave caitlin a full twirl of the outfit.

“i love it, you look beautiful, people won’t be able to take their eyes off of you” she said “and if we’re being honest…i can’t wait to take this off of you tonight”

you felt your face heat up underneath your show makeup. “a bit cheeky tonight, i see”

“well when you look so good all the time, how could i not be” she grinned, pulling you into her chest and hugging you deeply before stage management gave you a 3 minute warning. “you’re going to do so good, i’ll be watching!”

“i’ll find you in the crowd, don’t worry” a quick peck on the lips and you were being escorted to the wings of the stage before you knew it.

˗ˏˋ ´ˎ˗

“HELLOOOOOO, CHICAGO!!” you cheered into the mic, waving to fans and hyping up the crowd “i’m so happy to perform for ya’ll tonight, this has been an absolute dream of mine”

you gave the classic introduction speech: getting the crowd warmed up, announcing the songs, teaching them the dances that went along with each song. it was cliche, for sure, but you loved it. it felt like you were meant to do this your whole life. once you got rolling, getting comfortable on the stage, the feeling only got better. this was truly a dream come true.

you performed your most popular songs, along with a few of your more lesser known ones, and had the time of your life watching all of your fans sing along to something you had written. you spotted caitlin a few times through the show, watching her sing along too and cheer your name, and it made you incredibly happy to see her support you.

“alright guys, this next one’s a song i’ve been keeping from you for quite some time” the crowd whispered to each other in anticipation “but i think tonight…y’all have earned it” cheers erupted from the audience.

“i wrote thing song a while back, when i met a certain…someone…” you grinned, purposefully avoiding eye contact with your girlfriend “and i fell head over heels for her the second i saw her…so without further ado…here’s RED WINE SUPERNOVA!”

your band started playing and the audience was already dancing and cheering. you were incredibly nervous to perform a new song, and little embarrassed knowing that caitlin was going to finally here a song you wrote about her from months and months ago. but the moment you sung into the microphone, you knew she was going to love it.

through out the song, you gave quick glances over to caitlin, trying not to be obvious while wanting to see if she was enjoying it or not. but you were struggling to find her this time with the change in set lighting.

then suddenly you found her, your eyes meeting, and you instantly noticed the goofy grin plastered on her face as she watched you sing about her. still making eye contact, you continued to sing:

Well, back at my house

I got a California king

you walked over to the end of the stage, with eyes still locked.

Okay, maybe it's a twin bed

And some roommates (don't worry we're cool)

you watched her laugh as she caught on to your inside joke.

I heard you like magic

I got a wand and a rabbit

you pointed out to her and she ran her hands over her blushing face in playful embarrassment.

So baby, let's get freaky, get kinky

Let's make this bed get squeaky!

you blew a final kiss to her, the crowd interpreting it as a cute part of your routine, but she knew you had meant it just for her.

you danced around stage for the remainder of your song, kneeling down time to time to hold your fans hand and letting them sing along with you. when your set ended, you bowed to the crowd and said your finally goodbyes and thank you’s, then quickly running off stage and into your dressing room.

after catching your breathe, you started to take off your makeup and costume, again with the help of your team. caitlin had texted you shortly after that she’d meet you outside the venue so that you could have a little time to talk with your team.

once dressed in a fresh tshirt and jeans, face washed and hair tamed, you grabbed your bags and headed out to find your girlfriend. you found her waiting right outside the venue entrance where she was leaning against a post and checking her phone. she looked up almost instantly upon hearing you call her name and hearing your footsteps against the pavement.

“hey superstar!” she ran over to you, you dropped your bags to the ground as you threw your arms around the back of her neck “you fucking killed it!”

“thanks, cait” you pulled away, smashing your lips into hers feverishly “ d’you like the new song?” you muttered against her lips.

“oh i loved it” she kissed you again “you know…suddenly i’m really into magic”

“is that so?”

“definitely, and i think i got a few tricks to show you back at the hotel, how does that sound?” she cradled your jaw, nipping at your bottom lip. you tried your hardest to suppress a moan.

“take me home, clark”

[genderqueerdykes]

being butch really isn't a choice for most of us (if any). it's not something that you like, wake up one day and decide yea, i wanna be a cool tough dyke or that you wanna be fit and rugged or something. we're just kinda born a little different. we're just Like That. other people tend to notice way before we do, and by the time we do, we have a lot of work in undoing society's hatred of masculine women & queer people. we were the he-she, the it, the thing, the That, the "not a real girl" but "not a boy" either, the "what is that?", the "ma'am? sir? i can't tell." not a woman, not a man, just a sight to behold, a question poised waiting at the tip of a tongue.

all of these things are something to be proud of, but we have to fight for that pride. when you see a tough butch who struggles to get close to people and acts tough to protect themself, just know that it's because being butch is a hard life. it's like having a target on your back that you can never remove. we aren't tough because we want to look cool, be suave, or seduce women. we walk a dangerous place in life. we have to protect ourselves first and foremost. this is the source of butch toughness. we're gender outlaws.

[ditizygirl]

Editblr is a breeding ground for idolatry, ableism, racism and so much more all for a community about putting images together.

I've been here for only a year but I feel like I've seen it all, and the excuses oh my god the excuses. You are all 15-19, you should not have the mental capacity of a 8 year old. Your common sense is non existent and almost all of you guys are so fucking stupid it's pissing me off more than any god can understand. You are old enough to have logical thinking skills, you may have a disorder and it may be a reason but not an excuse.

Alot of you have forgotten the saying "Think Before You Talk" and I've sure as hell done alot of thinking. This is my deep dive into editblr.

Ableism

Typing quirks are a way of personal expression but why do so much of you hate to add plain text. I can understand to extent because plain text hates my head because of how long it can be but I'm not gonna act like a little bitch about it. I'm gonna add my typing quirk or even fonts itself to it.

I'm gonna ask someone to help me, or to do it for me. Stopping making excuses for ableism. Alongside with the typing quirks, your psds are ugly and eyestrainy. Psds also fall under racism because I have no idea why you guys are ignoring the fact some make dark skin characters lighter but in the case of ableism most of them are really bright and makes it hard to see.

Orange and brown? Green and yellow? Blue and brown? Why are you putting colours that can be so much eyesore together? And won't even tag as eyestrain and when someone does ask you only do it for one post.

Romanticization

This one is weird as fuck and I see no one mentioning it. Editblr highkey has a ddlg problem, this "little girl" aesthetic you guys have going on borderlines ddlg alot and its icky. The baby talk typing quirk is disgusting, stop it.

I'm not one to judge how someone copes with their trauma but what I DO judge is how you act when majority says its uncomfortable. Now this section I'm a bit unsure how to phrase it, gotta love dyslexia, but that isn't going to stop me.

There's alot of very uncomfortable romanticization of stalking which I've seen so much of alongside abusive relationships and the justification of these things.

Racism

Really can't escape this one unfortunately. Many of you are like kpop idols, you're too dyslexic towards the difference between appropriation and appreciation. Incase you forgot let me remind you.

You can not gift japanese names. Gifting names is a native practice therefore you can only gift native names. Also I've noticed you weirdos befriending people just to use their cultural names. I can't even say it east asian fetishization because its only Japanese.

Also for the love of God can you guys stop saying nonmem and non women especially when referring to sexualities. It's not hard to simply say "queer attraction to women" and "queer attraction to men".

Coming back to the "gifting" names thing, I think it's interesting how all of you conveniently have a Japanese friend who "gifted" you the name of a cute pink anime girl. Maybe I'll do a post later on how much of a bad liar you guys are.

Closed symbols is also another big problem you all have. No matter how much times you're told you can't use something you always cry "but my friend from xyz culture said it was ok!" One person can't speak for a whole culture. You're nothing but a coloinzer in disguise hiding behind the idea of aesthetic. If you want to know if a symbol is closed just use this site.

Goddess Personas

Yea this one is getting a whole section of its own. Like any people I am uncomfortable with goddess personas, especially being someone with biblical sources. Now the idea that a teenager on the internet is making people call them a goddess is strange isn't it?

In my opinion, they're all annoying, copy and paste, and I think not a lot of people talk about how the really bad ones get. You all love to indulge them, make them think they have power over them. You put them on a pedestal and praise them and get surprised when it all goes to their head?

Stop giving 14 years old power, stop indulging in their habits and letting it go their head. Forcing people to refer to you as their goddess? Their Lord and saviour? Their idol? Someone they must listen to? It creates a power inbalance which always leads to the weirdest of manipulation. Also all the engagekiss copiers are so obvious why would you want to copy the identity of a groomer? It says alot of about yourself if that's what you think is ideal.

Callout Posts

Now, personally, I believe that the only reason a callout post happens is because someone was affected, does it not? Very rarely would a callout post would be a fake one, especially if someone has more then one. If you defend someone who has more than one call out post that's on you and you're gonna end up making one some day I can genuine you that. People don't make them for no reason.

This is all I have to say for now. I hope you guys really consider what I have written here, or not, considering the fact you guys have shown multiple times you lack reading comprehension

@starriesse @dollicous @doveinne @firstgf @kiochisato @lamboll @cherryshh @narcbf @lavendergalactic @npditary @sprinkleoverdose @necroangelz @eskeys

[time-woods]

Previous Sidus fashion ask anon here; couldn’t agree more w/ ur in-canon prismo tag thoughts there.

I, for one, think it’s inspiring and amazing of your lore to acknowledge prismo’s canonical tendency!

…which is obviously his vicarious outlet for making fashionably boobied OCs as a flatter-chested ahem ‘2D’ wishgod wall-being.

Totes unrelated to all your amazing queer rep art and how much MEGA appreciation you deserve for feeding us, but imagine someone lookin @ the source of characters like Ice Queen, Hana Abadeer, Fiona, or Lord Monochromicorn and somehow still doubting if canon Prismo is queer-coded.

LMAOO couldnt be me dude. bro be giggle flustered over a little furry dude’s “i love u prismo” on 1st meetup so hard he immediately snuck a secret note in afterwards asking about getting that 2nd date-er, super casual offer to hang again, I mean.

Definitely not thinking about how your “THE party” comic makes for perfect headcanon juice as to why Prismo could’ve developed a mild over compensation coping technique for preventing repeats in missed social connections w those who he would’ve liked meeting again later. They might’ve enjoyed hanging out together again too and he’d never know! Maybe he really could’ve been too much on someone like that one time at the party and needs better awareness. Were they just chirp shy?… :’ (

No worries to be had if you simply supply the right non-verbal resources to reach out again at their own comfort and someone just happens to choose not to! Better confirmation on messing up upsetting others too. You lose 100% of the shots you don’t take! :’D

Gives Jake all his available contact info, his total openness in schedule for home visits, and just a wee little home cooking incentive for added insurance. Low key interested in learning a cool instrument too after talking. might even offer to jam together later if he’s feelin cute idk.

No conditional romance requirements for remaining openly affectionate, loving, and kind w friend crushes even if they were dating someone else and expecting kids.

Classic heteronormative Prismo. /J

thankyou ! !

and god yea whats up with this wallsticker man like theres no way he aint queer . . .

[awhimproned]

"you don't actually want the thing you think you want", a nandermo retrospective

In this post of mine deep diving into the decision of guillermo staying human, I said I wanted to make a nandermo analysis at one point. I absolutely have no self-control so I immediately started working on it. So, welcome. This is it.

This post will attempt to analyze in depth two implications of the infamous quote from above by Yana Gorskaya:

It’s shipbaiting and we’ve got a storm coming

It’s slowburn and the importance of recognizing toxic dynamics even when enjoying the drama and the potential

The quote comes from this interview question right here:

It can be interpreted in a lot of ways and directions, the most prominent one being “and they were platonic all along. trust us you dont want them together” — it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth because I can see the showrunners dangling a carrot in front of a target audience until the finish line. Especially when one of the directors herself says and proves outright that nandor and guillermo have been framed romantically on purpose just by having the line “will they won’t they relationship” in the interview.

Keep in mind the admittance of will they won’t they directly out of Yana automatically eliminates the argument that the writers were strictly going for platonic friends. There’s no refusal. No going: yea no we dont know. They wrote nandor and guillermo to be romantic.

From there we have two routes we can take:

1) On the direction that they’re not having nandermo be a thing: This makes everything shipbaiting.

At least it’s not queerbaiting, I hear you say, both characters are queer. I’d argue shipbaiting is worse in this situation, because in this frame, it rather looks like the showrunners are using the certain attachment and sentiments of the audience to string people along:

Both of these characters are people of color, one is plus size, both of them queer. If it’s shipbaiting, this kind of alludes to discrimination, I’m afraid. It does not look good on the showrunners/producers’ part (when Taika’s name is attached, too. This man is literally in OFMD. Help)

And you don’t want to be like Jason Rothenberg; beefing with your own fandom, making writing decisons to spite them, kill a lesbian character after exploiting your sapphic audience and be infamous for the worst case of bury your gays, shipbait for seven seasons to hold the largest fandom in the audience to keep your views up, mistreat your POC cast members... etc. God, yeesh.

It’s almost incriminating in that sense, when they stopped floating around the idea of them and made it canon by dropping the “maybe he has feelings for you as well” line in season 3 and while guillermo was disguised as nandor. And have him be bitchy about gail. Everything about s3 told us that guillermo had a thing for nandor.

If nandor and guillermo were intended strictly as just a couple of pals, they could easily shut down the excitement and expectation for the ship, but instead they did those. It was a confirmation more than anything rather than a rebuttal.

But I guess for the shipbaiting case, the “rebuttal” was s4 when Guillermo was in his healing era, Nandor wanted a wife, and they resetted allathat in s3 to practically nothing.

As much as I’m going to use this as an opposition argument in section two, it also is a potential support for shipbaiting case, and that is the repetition of “friends” for nandor&guillermo that started becoming more of a thing in seasons 4&5. Especially s4.

It saw Guillermo outgrowing Nandor for a potential love interest when s3 had the biggest plot twist in their favor ever, it was going somewhere, and then they immediately established not only Guillermo finding a boyfriend in London, but also him having no hard feelings about Nandor wanting to find a wife when we all know how hard he’d taken Gail — and most important of it all, Nandor just wanting a Freddie of his own. It’s really weirdly romantic drama-centric with each of them getting partners & setting up for jealousy, but the writers subvert every trope, and instead do this weird shit with Nandor’s storyline where it’s purely a horror story from Marwa’s POV and he’s a horrible, selfish monster (and I was flabbergasted at the downward spiral his character took) — yet he’s incredibly “generous” to Guillermo because he chose to make his own Freddie rather than take his and let him go in the end, it’s all so very bizarre.

Which makes the shipbait even more outrageous. Because now it’s personal since it has more shipbait moments inbetween that don’t have heterosexual explanations. KEEP IN MIND THEY’RE STILL FRAMED ROMANTICALLY THEY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING AND THE WHOLE THING WITH DEREK IS A WHOLE CHEATING METAPHOR.

The equivalent would be that one scene in Sherlock BBC when irene goes “of course you are [in love with him]” to john and how the show keeps bringing up how other characters think they’re in a relationship and saying it. You never want to be like Sherlock, either. Ugh.

I’ve been in through enough queerbaiting&shipbaiting to know that it could definitely turn out this way, and I’m still half-expecting this to be honest. I’m also a big fan of ofmd and go, but they’re exceptions, not the norm, and as much as wwdits is a wildly revolutionarily queer show, there is enough material for it all to turn out to be nothing.

So, in conclusion: shipbaiting turns out to be worse than it is because it’s on purpose and there’s no salvaging it after the “it was friendship all along ❤️” insistence, there’s receipts and the actors are on board with it. And in a situation like things, there is only one thing to say:

At least we have fanfiction and the actors like the pairing.

2) On the direction that nandermo is a thing: “you don’t know what you’re asking for and you won’t like it if we give it to you right now” dilemma, aka “you don’t actually want the thing you think you want” —

which basically rounds up to yana meaning, if nandor and guillermo were to be a thing right now at this point in their relationship, it would be messy, abusive and toxic [and there are still other plots to explore and directions this pairing could/have to be taken before they become canon.]

“Yeah they are messy, toxic characters, we know what we’re asking for,” I hear you saying. And I say to that, no, you really don’t, and you would end up hating what they did with nandor and guillermo if they became canon before they were true equals. One example of this would be people switching on Olicity (Oliver and Felicity from Green Arrow, wildly popular crackship there was no hope and only the teasing of in the fandom before it became a real thing) after the writers rushed to make them canon and did them very wrong afterwards.

The allure of nandermo is guillermo breaking the status quo and catching nandor slipping by establishing himself as his equal, destroying the power imbalance completely, them standing as individuals with equal power if not guillermo flipping the dynamic upside down and asserting dominance over nandor this time when he was a mere familiar nandor couldn’t care less about before.

This process is still in progress as of season 5 and let me tell you this, them becoming canon during Guillermo’s familiar status would have been downright icky.

This show’s only other canon ship ladja is the most healthy, gomez and morticia-esque thing ever, they’re in love, they’re horny all the time, they are queer, they fuck other people all the time and encourage each other, they’re wildly protective of one another, the man steps up to be a single father of a child he isn’t obligated to look after and he doesnt let it derail his wife’s career or force motherhood onto her, like. Do you really expect they wouldn’t let nandermo cook enough before they are on this level of iconic and healthy before they become a thing?

Nandor wasn’t even able to admit that Guillermo was a friend to him (and to Guillermo’s face) up until season 5. In season 1 he was weirded out by even saying it, in season 4 he could only manage to say “best man” and immediately reverse when the word friend was brought up — “closest companion for 13 years” in the market fight & “i may have killed my friend” muttered to himself before guillermo comes bursting out the door, it’s like he didn’t want to admit out loud that Guillermo became very important to him in a very short amount of time. Half of the pairing consisting of a person who is unable to make it clear and known to the other how important and precious he is just doesn’t sit well in the case they are in a relationship.

And the power imbalance is still there even if you don’t see it or think it’s gone, albeit knocked almost even by “I can kill you if I want to but I don’t” assertiveness from Guillermo.

Because even in season 3 and 4 in instances Guillermo was able to best Nandor in power, he’s still inferior to and is in service of him — because he’s working for something he wants from Nandor, which Nandor of course keeps taking advantage of by treating Guillermo like a subservient familiar (although it keeps getting better as things change more and more) even if in name he’s a bodyguard.

Their relationship is that of employment in name, the nature of it is give-and-take, Guillermo says it himself in s3 Nandor is a boss more than a friend and he would still be have to be “friends” with him because he’s his boss. And let’s be honest, before Nandor really became found family to him and he himself realized that over the seasons, Nandor was a means to an end for Guillermo, he’s “Master”, not “Nandor”.

And from Nandor’s perspective, Guillermo is with him because he wants to be a vampire. Simple as that. It’s what allows Nandor to exploit Guillermo.

Imagine a premature romance happening in these circumstances, it’d be absolutely in abuse territory, you don’t make your significant other do the dirty work for you like that. It’s why boss-employee relationships are most of the times, forbidden in the workplace, because the boss holds some power over the employee and can very much have them do things that they don’t want to do.

Nandor would not be able to see Guillermo as an equal even when there are feelings involved, because I have to remind you, Nandor is a cruel bastard, and it would turn into one of those AITA posts real quick between them when Guillermo is fully in service of Nandor still.

And remember how Nandor treated his “love” Marwa, how fast he dropped her from his life once that “phase” was over, all the things he did to her, she was his significant other — yet he never connected with her, not really, she was just an accessory to him and this was supposed to be “love”; and the other side of the coin, how he keeps self-sabotaging and ignoring his real problem by filling the void with what he thinks is the solution, getting in the way of his own happiness.

This can’t be ideal from Guillermo’s perspective when imagining a relationship with him.

And now, change Guillermo’s gender. Imagine it being a woman who’s going through this. It’s putrid toxic when you think about it like that. And to think “she” would receive Nandor’s respect and equal footing once she became a vampire same as him — uhh... No, please, thank you. It’s less fun and more this is problematic when the tables turn, isn’t it?

Not to mention how open the vampires’ relationships and sex lives are, they are not monogamous. Guillermo is a very repressed and private Catholic, he wouldn’t be able to handle Nandor and Laszlo’s trysts. He has his own journey to go through for him to be also into open relationships because Nandor sure as hell won’t turn monogamous for him, this is wwdits.

Which is why the progress of “work relationship” to “official declaration of friendship” over the course of season 4 & 5 is very important in their dynamic, because it takes things into a more attentive, caring and intimate territory in which both openly care for each other beyond being Master and Familiar. They both grew tremendously as individuals. Guillermo admits he loves Nandor the most, Nandor is finally able to say that Guillermo is his friend and openly do acts of service and somewhat redeem his selfish actions in s4 when he was lashing out making dumb decisions and actively self-sabotaging because he was given the power instead of confronting leftover problems he was repressing from s3.

This solidifies their connection, makes it something undeniable that it affects a vampire who immediately is able to move on from another’s death. You’re shown again and again how they react to death and how insignificant it is to them, yet Nandor is close to tears when he thinks Guillermo is dead, falls to his knees even, and is even more disturbed and outraged when he thinks Laszlo is violating his corpse.

For the first time you see that more than an unhealthy codependency or a symbiotic relationship between a vampire and a slayer bodyguard/familiar, Nandor is emotionally attached to Guillermo.

Like, really attached that he will actually be kind and giving and forgiving — not only did he violate a vampire society taboo to kill a fellow vampire, but also overcame the pride and humiliation because he finally realizes Guillermo is much more important to him and that he actually doesn’t want to kill him when the anger lets up enough for him to see that. (Thank you Patton Oswald for your service)

And we don’t stop there. He accepts him as an equal and invites him to live together in the house, which proves that even when he was a slayer bodyguard Nandor didn’t see him as an equal, and after Guillermo is having problems with the killing side of being a vampire, he doesn’t humiliate or shame Guillermo through this. You‘d think he and the vampires would make fun of him endlessly, but they let Nandor organize this intricate ritual so all of them together can allow Guillermo’s decision to be as authentic and without pressure and shame as possible. You’d think that ritual room was prepared by Guillermo but everything is done by Nandor, so he proves he’s not entirely unable to function as a normal being who can live by himself, he’s just dramatic and likes to be pampered.

If you thought The Roast was an incredibly generous nandermo episode for me to think we collectively hallucinated it like a Goncharov moment, this final episode is downright fanfic. Nandor has never been this nice with Guillermo, EVER.

All of this is done right after Nandor’s official admitting that Guillermo is his friend. This is a crucial step in their relationship for Nandor to consider Guillermo to be more, and Guillermo to question just what they are.

And love can only work where there’s mutual affection and respect for one another. And the writers are gradually working up to achieve that while tackling individual character arcs for nandor and guillermo to get there.

The power imbalance I’m talking about is a thing that exists beyond the powers they hold over the other’s head, it is about what they think of each other as. What Nandor is to Guillermo, and what Guillermo is to Nandor.

They could only become canon without it being toxic is when Nandor can look at Guillermo and think — “This is my friend and not my servant” and when the carrot of vampirism isn’t hanging in front of Guillermo and he’s naturally an actual part of the friend group (so that he wouldn’t be mistreated while he’s Nandor’s partner too.)

And I really don’t think nadja out of nowhere saying “my best friend” about laszlo was a coincidental writing choice.

And we’re nearly there at this point. Mister Nandor nobody can betray me and get away with it the Relentless just let Guillermo get away with it, and not only that, he fixed everything for him. Everything. He didn’t even get jealous that Guillermo had a choice in staying human when he obviously would kill to be human in season 3. He just went “I will fix”. It’s the most selfless thing he did in the entire series and he only got competent and smart when it was Guillermo in question — he wanted to fix the friendship.

And in episode 8, he told Baron Afanas — “whatever Guillermo’s flaws may be [...]”

That suggests Nandor doesn’t see any flaw in Guillermo, and is unaware if they do in fact, exist. He genuinely likes Guillermo, enough to cry and mourn when he thinks him dead, enough to snap at the Baron and defend him until the end, enough to clutch his favorite sweater like a shock blanket. It was this episode that cemented Guillermo as indisposable to Nandor, and the season finale to establish how far Nandor would go and soften himself up (change) if it was for Guillermo’s sake, he’s never been that tender and considerate, ever with Guillermo,

and you could say at that point it could be because they were “equals” as vampires but Nandor knew what he would choose — the focus on his hands when he’s personally dressing guillermo (pride and prejudice hand flex, dont @ me). "don't be nervous we've all been through it" (gentle). "nothing you cannot handle" (encouraging). Making up an intricate ritual so that he wouldn’t feel pressured or stressed or shamed. "you wanna be a human, there's no shame in that". (These vampires clown on EVERYONE) "we're gonna make it happen". "you want me to do it?". "I don't know" "I do". Keeping Guillermo's old or spare glasses in his pocket like it was something he came across while he was destroying Guillermo’s things like some lover scorned and he saved it like it was some keepsake. “I'm sorry, Guillermo. That was the only way for you to figure out what you actually wanted”. The hand on his shoulder to comfort him and the patting. “It was a horrible and hard decision. I think you made the right choice.” (Nandor himself would have killed derek in a heartbeat if it was his decision to return to being a human, but he still spared Guillermo’s feelings because he knows how hard it was for Guillermo. Since when is Nandor considerate about another person’s feelings? Guillermo is special.)

He was so very unexpectedly gentle and he’s never ever been that way and I am still in shock about his honesty and the effort he’s put into helping. This was the biggest gift he could have given Guillermo, not the vampirism, but a way out of it when he didnt want it anymore, a choice. And he wouldnt have done that if he didnt deeply care for Guillermo —

And with that, we’re almost out of the toxicity zone into a yet new dynamic with them, one that isn’t about who’s dominant and who’s submissive, but them finally being able to stand on equal ground, if Guillermo isn’t asking for vampirism from Nandor anymore and isn’t implicitly going back to being his familiar.

If they’re going towards a romantic relationship, this was an important border to cross and a topic finally handled the way it needs to be addressed. The one thing that’s causing a chain of command in their relationship is gone. And anything can happen. Anything.

I don’t believe that line about cleaning up Derek’s body was meant to imply Guillermo was back to being a familiar for Nandor and that we are back to square one. His phrasing was extremely polite — “Now if you wouldn’t mind cleaning up Derek’s corpse before sunrise that would be great”. That’s not an order. Derek is Guillermo’s mess, so he has to handle it himself, it’s like saying “I’ve done all this and I even killed him for you, and the rest is yours to deal with,” — it’s like saying “I cooked, you do the dishes”, and Nandor is giving him space to deal with his decision, hell, he didn’t even tell Guillermo to clean everything else like he normally would, now that would suggest back to the status quo.

Season 5 was fucking HUGE for nandermo and all of guillermo’s dynamics with everyone. It still feels like a fever dream to be honest. They really went and got rid of what was clogging up the progress of their relationship. They’re just. Happening naturally. It’s a slowburn if it’s meant to happen eventually and the writers are being really careful with doing things in the right way for it to not become toxic.

You just gotta have some faith in the team and wait for it.

In conclusion: Yes fucked up relationships are fun. until it’s canon and people are making discourse on the internet about how abusive it really is when it could have been handled better. The ross and rachel-ification of nandermo is the last thing we need.

There’s definitely things I’ve missed because im purely making this post on mobile and it’s not as coherent as I’d like it to be, if I have, please don’t hesitate to tell me.

[anulithots]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For these series : JJK, TMNT, and Link Click ?

Thanks 🌻

(my post got wiped and I cry)

Thank you for the ask! I'll answer in order... although note that I have suuuchhh a hard time picking favorites for things/shows I like, but I shall try my best!

Jujutsu Kaisen

Favorite Character: Itadori yuji. One of the best written protagonists of all time. I love how he takes the 'wants to save everyone' trope and gives it the underlying reasoning of the avoidance of regret and grief, and the desire to not die alone because so far he has been alone (for whatever reason, I see it as because he was 'too nice' and would beat up the 'popular bullies'. Hence why he called himself a loner and hence why he became so attached to Nobara and Fushiguro despite the little time he's known them.) Also how this underlying narrative is tested and builds more nuance and flaws as the series goes on... overall Yuji's arc up until the Shibuya incident is very well done. (I have... mixed feelings post Shibuya and honestly would need to reread that whole arc)

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Honestly.... the cursed womb arc. I know, I know, there's the hidden inventory and the shibuya incident and Maki's massacre of her family and the Gojo vs Sukuna fight... but hear me out. My favorite parts of storytelling are theme exploration, and I think this arc does it for Yuji's underlying motivations to save everyone. This arc builds nuance to this part of Yuji's character, contrasting his ideals with Fushiguro's logic: 'what if someone you save hurts other people in the future'. How Yuji then takes this upon himself, how the narrative says that perhaps the better option would've been to kill Yuji in the first chapter, how Fushiguro denies this and it gives Yuji hope for himself, has always given him hope, and always will. (So he has to save Megumi. I'm willing it into existence. Gege make it happen.)

Character I Think is Underrated: Yuji. Yuta. Maki. Mai. Mechamaru. Miwa. Shoko. Nobara. Fushiguro. ... most JJK characters honestly. There are a few characters that get the most attention from the fandom (they know who), and while they are AMAZING characters who DESERVE the attention they get... so does everyone else. Yuji is one of the most amazinggg protagonists I've ever seeeen and yet he gets little to no analysis and I got burnt out just before I could make a full analysis about him so yea I'm a hypocrite when I say this. But still. More attention to the rest of the cast please. Thank you <3

Character I Think is Overrated: I KNOW HE"S WELL WRITTEN AND A REALLY NUANCED AND INTERESTING CHARACTER WHO EMBODIES THE THEMES BUT.... Gojo Satoru, the fandom treats you as the best character in the animanga despite you're very character being about the desire to be treated as an individual like everyone else. And to be clear, I'm not saying that we should love Gojo less, far from it, I'm saying we should love the other characters more.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: (Note that I prefer dynamics to shipping although I do like shipping. I also tend to love shipping queer platonically and rave about dynamics and interactions) A tie between Satosugu and Itafushi (they parallel each other so how could I not love both of their dynamics?).. although I'm quite fond of Itadori x Junpei. They could've been the 'movie nerd duo' and they would've had the best moral parallels, especially when you consider Mahito and how they were treated (one was bullied and the other tries to fight against bullies) and how they see grief and kaljfalksdfklasdjf it would've been wonderous. I also think Yuta and Yuji are an underutilized dynamic (not shipping them). I would've loved to see more interactions and comparisons between them. IT WOULD"VE BEEN SOOO COOL I WOULD"VE BEEN OBSESSSED.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: Each character has such nuance and embodies a section of the themes about Jujutsu society and how that effects the morals of an individual, and each character is nuanced and honestly the recent arcs do not fall short because of the characters, but because of the underutilization and pacing more so. Quite sad but when Jujutsu Kaisen shines it SHINES.

... I feel like these were supposed to be one sentence answers but it's fine... ONE DOWN TWO TO GO!

Tmnt (I've only seen Rottmnt so we're doing that one)

Favorite Character: DONATELLO (with a book in hand, saves the day and proves to everyone that he's the ma-). Okay but seriously he's portrayed as a character that cares in his own way in a POSITIVE LIGHT. Soooo many other shows would've taken his basic character and showcased it as selfish but Donnie is far from that. He likes his alone time and has a creative and analytical mind and interprets the world through his creations and interests and that is A GOOD THING THAT HE DOES NOT HAVE TO CHANGE. As a fellow creative an analytical mind that interprets the world through my interests and has been told I'm selfish and self-obsessed, Donnie means so much to me. (Yes, he's my #1 kin)

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: kjalfkljasdkfj OKAY OKAY.... I forget the name of it but the episode where Splinter takes Donnie's turtle tank to the demolition derby. I know I had another favorite episode(s) when I was in full hyperfixation, but to be honest it's been a while. My favorite episodes are the Donnie-centric ones (obviously), especially when he's with Mikey because that duo is ✨peak✨. But for the demolition derby episode, I think it provides a great view into Splinter's psyche as chasing the high of his prime, along with Donnie's desire for his dad to be proud of him. (I kin, I kin, I kin so much.) Also Mikey being the level-headed one in this situation. Absolute peak.

Character I Think is Underrated: Raph for sure. He's the sweetest older brother ever with just as much character nuance as the other three, and yet he gets the least amount of attention from the fandom as far as I've seen. (Again I'm a hypocrite for saying this but I do think Raph deserves more love.) Also April.. Casey... GAhhhhh I wish Rise got a season threeeee it would've been wonderous.

Character I Think is Overrated: I don't think any of the characters are necessarily overrated. I don't understand why everyone loves the disaster twins so much. (I feel like you could make them more 'disaster' if you have them bicker and cause issues rather than all of the 'they are each other's favorite person' that the fandom does. HOWEVER, I love the fandom interpretations of them, and overall, I love the rottmnt fandom a LOT, best fanfics and fanart and fancomics everrr)

Favorite Ship/Pairing: (not shipping/no tcest) Donnie and Mikey for sureee. It's the perfect combination of overdramatic mad scientist /aff with silly crazy-powerful artist /aff. What's not to love? Also the way that they contrast with each other, opposites yet similar, it's wonderous.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: It's what got me into loving slice-of-life/episodic narratives, and what got me to release my 'every story needs to have only important scenes with conflict' mindset when it comes to storytelling. Rottmnt is mainly the brothers hanging out with each other and going on the odd adventure and it's wonderous. It's amazing storytelling because it differs from the predecessor's saving the world. It's silly and jovial and feels like siblings having fun with each other. AND YES I have three other siblings and we've been socially isolated for the longest time because of multiple mowings (pre-covid) and covid (made it no better) and our family in general being undiagnosed neurodivergent introverts and rottmnt means a loooot to me for what it is and what it offered to me. I was in one of the longest spirals of my life at the time and rottmnt brought back color to my monochromatic life and IT SHOULD GET A SEASON THREE BRING BACK RISE KAJFLSKDJFKLd

ANd yet again.. Noorie has rambled. Noorie will ramble again, here we go:

Link Click

(I started scrolling on the link click gifs and the musical is sooo cuttee i love all their interactions akfaskldfj)

Also note this is my most recent hyperfixation and it usually takes me about a month or two to have the most fleshed out thoughts but I shall try!

Favorite Character: You. can't. do. this. to. me. /pos KLJDKLFJSDKLJFKLDJF HOWWW DO I DECIDEEEEE NOO. KAS FAHHSHF. Okie okie er... Cheng Xiaoshi. I still have to dissect and analyze him but he's just SUCH a good character. The way his backstory is revealed bit by bit until the end of season one where we get his full flashback scene is sooo interestingg and effectiveee AAA- Plus the way he's overwhelmed with emotions easily, how easily he trusts others, even more than he trusts himself, how he seems to be 'just a little silly', and he is silly, but when given time to process his thoughts and emotions, he is quite strategic and effective at adapting his plans to the situation. (Which is especially interesting in how that contrasts Lu Guang's need to have control over everything, the general inflexibility of his plans). Also how Cheng Xiaoshi teases Lu Guang and how much he loves and clings to those he loves. How much he wishes for his parents to return and how much hope he has that he can save everyone/bring everyone together and keep them from leaving him again. THERE'S SO MANY LAYYERRRS I NEED TO DECIPHER THEM ALLL

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: howwww dooo I deciddeee it's alll dooonee sooo weelll. Nott a singgllllee baddd orrr borrinngg eppiisoddeee I sobbbbb I can't pick a favoritteeee. ... OKay this might be because I just finished watching episode five, but that whole arc (episodes 3-5) is done so well and starts off with a silly basketball game that gives more information on Lu Guang and CHeng Xiaoshi's relationship and slowly builds to the earthquake and the most devastating backstory to present day scenes I've ever seen for a character. From a storytelling perspective Link Click is just so well done all around and this arc exemplifies that. I also loveee any moments of Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao LIng being siblings. Also, QIao Ling slapping Qian Jin and just season twooo is crazzzyyyyy. I can't pick on whether I love season two or season one more despite them having two different narrative structures... I just remember season one more because it's episodic and I have it downloaded on my computer. (It was on internet archive... and it would be NICE if season two was on there toooo)

Character I Think is Underrated: Honestly, all characters are given lots of love and attention for the amount of screentime they get. Qiao Ling could always use more love though. Qiao Ling supremacy.

Character I Think is Overrated: None really. The fandom is really nice and really good at art and writing and the ANALYSIS HOLY HERBS *sparkle eyes*. It's all wonderous and I love Link Click soooo muuuuchhhh

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang are literally queer platonic partners in cannon. /half joking but for real the act like queer platonic partners. With all the making noodles and dumplings for each other and the constant reassurances and canonical cuddling (they held hands in season two aklfjasdklf) plus how much they canonically care for each other. I rambled about that on another ask but they have constant shows of affection and how much they tease each other and they are probably my favorite pairing everrr. ALSO Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling as siblings (not shipped) are peak fiction. They have the most bickering yet reassuring dynamic ever. Part of the reason why I like that season two has less dives is that it gives QIao Ling more screen time and really makes her part of the trio. The backstory with them both means everything to me. It's so sweet and saddd I sobbb.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: Literally what's not to love? APPARENTLY THERE'S A GAZILLION AND ONE MEDIUMS, NOT JUST THE SHOW and they're all amazing??? I want the adaptation of the donghua into the manhua sooo baddd. The pacing is done to perfection, never once was I bored. The 20-minute episodes felt like five minutes while still covering so much ground and giving each character the time they deserve to develop them (although Lu Guang... where's the backstory..../pos /j). It perfectly balances humor and silly interactions between the characters with ripping your heart out and making you ugly cry. THe cliffhangers are never annoying and the SOUNDTRACK. THE FRICKING SOUNDTRACK IS WONDEROUS I SANG VORTEX ON REPEAT TO CALM MYSELF FROM PANICING AT MY STATS AP EXAM. The animation is sooo cozy and well done and I want to live in their shop and use my non-existent money to buy as much Link Click things as possible.

Annnddd THat's it! Thank you for the ask! If you've read all the way up to here... I commend you. That's a feat in and of itself.

[fictive-culture]

(Not fictive culture ask) What rant did ypu wanna go on about fictives from problematic sources? /genq

!!!!

Okay SO! When it comes to fictives problematic sources basically don't fucking matter. Like if someone is an avid harry potter fan yea that is shitty. However if someone has a harry potter introject and that is the only information you have you can not assume the same of them as you would a harry potter fan.

They could have been a fan when they were a kid and either introjected them then, or since the memory exists within them, they can't just forget everything about the source. The brain decided to introject them later. Even if they are non traumagenic you don't know how or when they got introjected and if they are still a fan of that source today.

By all means, if a source is triggering to you or makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to interact with them, but you can't make it their problem. Simply block them because unless you can easily see they are still a fan of and support the source, the only way to figure out how they got a fictive is to ask incredibly invasive questions and make people defend themselves by talking about their trauma or their past self which no one is entitled to.

Also, this isn't fictive specific, but liking a source doesn't even always automatically mean they're a horrible person. Jk bitch has irreversibly ruined her books but if the books were really important to someones childhood and they just talk about it amongst friends or keep a couple pieces of merch they bought before they learned she was awful to hold on to the good memories. They aren't a bad person? Burning or throwing their merch away isn't going to take the money back from her. If they don't support her and don't buy the merch, don't watch the movies they aren't really doing anything wrong. If you do throw your stuff out because it makes you uncomfortable, that's valid but if you put on a big show of it it's kind of just performative hating the show more than showing care and support for all the people she is against. Just don't be a clown and put your hogwarts house in your description, or people are gonna assume you support her.

People still read and enjoy the various stories by Lovecraft and he was awful. People still watch marvel movies when so much is wrong with various directors and actors.

For a lot but not all things you have to learn how to consume things critically, or you are going to end up being unable to watch anything because at least one person in it's creation was awful or at least one part was kind of problematic. And if it's all or nothing it's going to be so hard for you to tell apart good and bad people. There are probably moms out there that go to pride give out water bottles, free mom hugs and supports her queer kids to the moon and back but obsesses over hp and knits inspired blankets. She's not a bad person she's probably just confused and old.

I hope even like half of this makes sense and I just used HP since basically everyone knows what it is I thought it was neat for like half a year when I was 15

TLDR: Fictives ≠ supporting the source and they don't owe you how they formed. Problematic sources are 98% of the time not even worth 100% canceling you just need to learn to consume things critically.

[connectionterminated13]

Any other details you’ve been thinking about for the Millie and Elizabeth au?

There's a couple of things that have been floating around in my brain space... This is going to be very long...

- Relationship progression stuff with Elizabeth and Millie!

I think I've mentioned this before but they start off as like not really friends more like acquaintances. Like Elizabeth thinks Millie is really cool and wants to be her friend and Millie thinks Elizabeth is just a prep! (My immortal voice). I think they kind of start being friends after The whole Millies Crush/boyfriend dating another girl (Sorry if I'm not remembering that right it's been a billion years since I've read count the ways). Liz finds her being a pissed off mess in the Bathroom at their school and they chat about it. Millie realizes that Elizabeth isn't really that bad, But still things that she can't possibly understand Being such a perfect girl with a perfect life.

They get like a lot closer and the plot really starts Post count the ways, Elizabeth visits Millie in the hospital as she's recovering from having like most of the arteries in her neck slashed and nearly bleeding out. Elizabeth believes her about the evil murder bear, Explain the lore, And apologizes because in her eyes there's nothing they can do to stop it. Millie tells her that's stupid and that they could stop William! Elizabeth tentatively agrees and they start trying to track down William's monsters and killing/like dispatching them before they do murder.

From here on out I imagine there's a lot of smaller stories of Liz And Millie catching the evil machines, Stopping the frights before they happen and all that, Having lesbian tension. Elizabeth knows she likes Millie but She doesn't want to pursue that because the only other queer person she knows is her father the deranged murderer and also Her own fear that she's inherently just as bad as William and could hurt her the people close to her. Millie is a lot more accepting of the crush since she's goth, But she's still having a bit of a hard time like grappling with that internally.

Then some big event happens, IDK maybe a Fight with Some extra spooky monster from frights (I was thinking ralpho or My re-imagined Eleanor). And they're trapped together alone and both of them are very sure they're going to die. Liz apologizes to Millie blaming herself for their situation, She pulled Millie into this After all it's her fault, The 2 of them are going to be torn apart or stitched into something new and horrible and it's all her fault. She probably whispers something like "I'm just like him aren't I?" Millie holds her and Tells her it's both of their faults and that's okay. Even if it was a small one they made a difference. Millie also tells Elizabeth that she's nothing like her dad, She's a wonderful lady and it's sad they didn't get to be together longer. Then they kiss. Then the monster is stopped by probably Mikey and Charlie coming to the rescue. And the 2 surviving and realizing that both of them like each other decide to start dating yea!!!

- I have a weird idea of how to use Casey/the new kid from frights?

So before this you should know that I'm thinking about using my frights re imagining/ Agony creature lore for this! In my frights re imagining Casey from the new kid is an agony creature who kind of dislike runs around scamming into people's friend groups just to kill them till I get agony.

I think here he does the same thing on the side but mostly he's Kind of trying to suck up to William by like "protecting" Liz (William knows he exists and let him do his thing but also does not care at all about him in any way) . He's like one of her only friends before Millie. Elizabeth sort of knows what he is but things he's just like William's way of keeping eyes on her. After Millie comes along and Elizabeth spends most of her time with Millie, Casey gets worried that They're going to get on to him and like set him on fire or something. I think he's probably a minor antagonist, in like the first or second part...

- Abigail And her relationship with Elizabeth and also her feelings on Millie

Abigail loves Elizabeth More because she's William's daughter than because Abigail is her stepmother. William loves her so like a good wife Abigail loves her. She wants what's best for Elizabeth and what's best for her is what William wants and what William wants is Elizabeth to be like Him/a good daughter who doesn't ask questions or step out of line.

And that was going well until Millie came. Millie maid Elizabeth adventures which made William madd which made Abigail mad. These 2 girls were now ruining so many of their plans and if William didn't tell her not to Elizabeth would have been shoved in a robot by now. Also the fact that (as everyone can tell) they're clearly together. Like Abigail knows that William is not straight and how William has a weird fascination with Henry. She's done her best to steer him away from that but Elizabeth being gay too opens up that wound again. Because no matter how hard Abigail tries she'll never be the Henry that William imagines Henry is in his head.

- Zombie???

I think it would be funny if there was a running joke that Michael didn't like zombies. He finds them gross. Anything that his father makes that has to do with like weird flesh organic junk freaks him out.

Also there are like no zombies in frights so this is probably going to be the one connection terminated AU without a zombie :(..... Maybe I throw in the kids from the breaking wheel I don't know.

[buttercups-song]

Ok things i loved about season two that have nothing to do with ineffable husbands because yea we’re not talking about it:

It was so so deliciously queer. Neil saw reviews for the sandman saying it was too queer and said hold my beer we can do one better

All of aziraphale’s neighbours! Just visibly queer! Obviously Maggie and Nina but also the man in the magic shop and his genderqueer spouse! Just random men zira meets at a cemetery!

Also we got confirmation that as much as heaven sucks it’s not homophobic. Aziraphale told them that he used a large miracle to make Maggie and Nina fall in love and they couldn’t care less

Canon they/them beelzebub! Also yea I have to admit their romance with Gabriel is really fucking cute (and if I see anyone calling them a ‘het’ couple I will be going for your kneecaps)

They/them god!

Crowley straight up saying that he’s not a man! I don’t know much about historical clothes but the resurrectionist outfit has a more feminine silhouette and generally looks pretty androgynous for a XIXth century outfit .Also just everything about Crowley. He was so excited about stars!

All of the disabled angels! (And presumably demons? Hell is dark and it’s hard to see all the details) they are angels! Presumably they can do whatever they want with their corporations! And one of the most powerful angels uses a wheelchair!

Also fat characters! And middle aged characters! Who get to be attractive and desirable! Also just people who look like people.

There’s a sex worker who just is a part of community and is not villainised! The only joke is that when she explains what she does everyone speaks like they’re in a Jane Austen novel because aziraphale is throwing a ball!

Season two was so good and so much fun and if we don’t get the third season I WILL eat my computer!

[gothcade]

oh yea never shared this here but uh relationship dynamics w my sona

long post sorry

(when it comes to canon character exes, in order:)

-Jon and Cupid were in a queer platonic relationship a year after highschool graduation, they broke it off a little over a year later due to Cupid moving back to the US for college. When Cupid moved back they maintained a normal friendship up until Jons death

-After he came back to England he dated Matt, it was for less than a year. Cupid broke up with Matt due to lack of intimacy and Matts ego overall. Matt definitely wasnt the worst partner Cupid had, he dealt with MUCH worse in the states, But their friendship became super awkward after their break up

-Cupid briefly dated Laurel for a few months, years before she dated Eduardo. They broke up simply due to Cupid having a stronger male preference. They remained solid friends up until Laurels death

and then, as for current romance

Cupid and Eduardo were best friends in high school, they were the weird art kids that kinda just stuck together due to fate i guess. After they graduated they both moved back to their birth places for college (theyre both from north east america, new england to be exact!) and never got in contact with eachother again, just being busy all the time really :/

They both moved back to the UK the same year without even knowing and were actually neighbors for a long time, Cupid being Kim and Katyas roommate

after a few years Kim and Katya moved and Cupid had to find a new place to live, hearing his neighbors a few houses down were looking for a fourth roommate he decided to take a chance and hope for the best

upon realizing his best friends and high school crush lived there, it was basically guaranteed Cupid had a new place to live. their place was kinda small, two bedrooms claimed and the basement downstairs refurbished into Eduardos room, Cupid was bunked with Eduardo. Sharing a room with Jon would of been awkward and he didnt know Mark well enough at the time to feel comfortable sharing a room with him. So a cot in Eduardos room made do until he got his stuff moved in.... only Eduardo insisted that Cupid take the bed and he'd sleep on the cot, chivalry aimt dead ig

anyways ill spare all the small details, as time went on they bonded and got close again, reminiscing on their past and talking about feelings they had but were to scared to show. in high school they felt like they could only be themselves with eachother and that feeling kinda dragged itself out to adulthood. any walls or facades they put up around others were never shown when around eachother. their understanding of one another, their real selves, their past, their feelings for the other. all kinda helped them when forming a more intimate relationship.

Eduardos "real self" is disheveled, self loathing/self depreciating, and overall just ungodly insecure. ever since the elementary school incident with Edd he kinda fell victim for a lot of bullying, being called a try hard, jealous, or attention seeker simply for pursuing his talent. thus leaving him kinda shunned as the weird art student throughout his school life. if he was talked to or befriended someone "above him" in terms of cliques, it was a joke. so his trust issues are pretty extreme as well. Cupid sees past Eduardos walls. His arrogance and ego being nothing compared to what he sees, he sees Eduardos insecurities and flaws as what makes him beautiful, he loves him for every bit and wants to be there to reassure him of that.

Cupids "real self" is honestly just a tormented child that deserved better. being a victim to abuse, CSA, and bullying he never had anyone to turn to but himself. he had to grow up fast to take care of himself, to keep himself safe. he was put into a foster home in the UK when he was 10, it wasnt the best but it was better than what he had in the US. he wasnt allowed into normal classes until high school, being kept in sped classes for his trauma responses (anger issues, general anxiety, and was quick to shut down so to speak) he took art as a passion to cope with reality, thus was also given title as weird art kid. Eduardo knows all of Cupids past, every painful detail, and from that wanted nothing more than to keep him safe. to be a person he can feel safe around, to stop repressing and to be himself.

an art class in Cupid and Eduardos freshman year is what brought them together, from being project partners, to friends, to pining, up until their separation their senior year. Eduardo moved back to Massachusetts for college, Cupid back to Maine for college. never knowing if they'll see one another again. Cupid went though hell (relationship trauma) when moving back to the states but thats for another post probably

on the outside, through the eyes of others, theyre both arrogant assholes, shitty people "made for eachother" because of their way of masking their real selves. be a jerk > keeps people from getting close > cant get hurt again. while its not the best method, its what theyre most comfortable with and as long as they have eachother and their close friends they dont give a fuck

idk what else to add, there is more but i need to figure out how to put it into words

[imfinereallyy]

celebrate softly

it my birthday today so here’s a lil gift from me to you (yes I know that’s not how this works haha) I made a bunch of little things is celebration, i probably won’t post these till later in the day so sorry if you get a bunch at once.

Steve wanted to like his birthday.

No, really, he truly did. He knew that birthdays were the one time of year you get to be a little selfish. The people you loved gathered around you to celebrate another year of you.

It was just that Steve was also used to disappointment.

Over the years, his birthday has consisted of either his parents parading him around at business dinners or the empty silence of a house that wasn’t ever a home.

His old friends were never around. It was a holiday weekend; he didn’t expect them to stick around. Even if they had, Steve was almost sure they would have made him throw a party, where they would have pressured him to get drunk and sleep with someone, and…

Yea, Steve wasn’t interested.

The one birthday he spent with Nancy had been okay. She had to go on a family trip, her parents attempt at getting their kids to cheer up over the loss of their friends, and she was going to leave the morning of his birthday. But at midnight of July 2nd, she had snuck into his window even though she could have walked through the front door. Nancy had brought him a cupcake, a small present, and a soft smile. Steve had wanted to kiss her, but he knew it wasn’t what she wanted then. He wanted to be respectful, so he held her hand instead.

Nancy hadn’t brought a candle, said she didn’t want to risk burning the Harrington Household down. Steve had laughed, saying that would be the best birthday present ever, but she hadn’t laughed back.

The present had been a book. Which wasn’t a terrible gift per se, Steve liked reading it was just he had difficulty doing it. He couldn’t focus long enough, or he would have to reread sentences over and over again.

It just didn’t feel worth the frustration.

But it was sweet of her to get him something, so he tried reading it. It took him months to finish it, even though it was small. It was boring, and Steve had found the main character whiny, and Steve had begun to wonder if Nancy was trying to tell him something.

Then the Upside Down round two had happened, Steve got his ass kicked again and learned that Catcher in the Rye was Jonathan’s favorite book.

Steve had thrown out the book amongst his bloody bandages.

Steve was only slightly hopeful to have a good birthday last year. He had good friends (sure, one was his ex, and the other were children, but he still counted them); Dustin would be home from camp, and even though he had work, he got to spend the whole day bothering Robin, which brought him a special kind of joy.

But then they were cracking Russian code, getting tortured, and watching Max’s Stepbrother die, all within the days of his birthday.

So Steve didn’t have high expectations this year. Sure, people knew it was his birthday, it was hard to hide when he was friends with the nosiest people, but most of them were spending the entire weekend staying with Max, and he would have been too if Max hadn’t thrown a remote at him when he suggested it.

So Steve had conceded to having a quiet but lonely July 2nd.

But then at 7 am there was a knock on his front door.

A knock was putting it lightly, there was pounding echoing in the Harrington Household.

When Steve walked up to the door, he was prepared to drive away some bigots who had been trying to “repent Hawkins.” They had been going around the richer neighborhoods recently, saying we needed to clean up the streets of the sinners and the queers.

Yea, they were knocking on the wrong door.

Steve hadn’t expect Eddie Munson, notorious night owl, to be crowding his doorway at 7 am.

“Harrington, have I ever told you how absolutely ugly your house is? Like for how wealthy your parents are, they chose an absolute nightmare of a layout! It makes no sense.” Eddie budged his way past Steve with his arms full of bags.

“I’ve been telling him that for a year, Eddie, and every time he just shrugs!” Steve turned to find Robin bullying her way through him as well. She had a handful of videos in her hands.

“Sure, come in, I guess,” Steve mumbled. He shut the door and turned toward his intruders. “Not that I don’t love a surprise appearance at—“ Steve checked his watch “—7:03 am, but is there a reason why you are awake before the birds are even chirping?”

Eddie snorted and just gave him a look instead of answering. Robin shook her head, “What doofus hear is trying to convey with a noise, Jesus Eds, I know you’re not a morning, but words please, is that we are obviously here for your birthday. You, Steven Alison Harrington—“

“Not my middle name.”

“—we’re born at exactly 7:07 am on July 2nd. So we had to be here to say happy birthday officially!”

“How do you even know the time? I don’t even know that.”

“She snuck a look at your file last time Owen’s was in town.” Eddie smirked.

Robin hit him upside the head, “Don’t tell him that asshole, he already thinks I’m crazy enough. And don’t act like this wasn’t your idea!”

Eddie rubbed the back his head in dramatic fashion then yelled, “Snitch!” through hissed teeth.

Steve felt himself unthaw at the idea that these two weirdos woke up this early for him. “Ah, well, thanks, guys.” A blush rose on his cheeks, “Well, thanks for stopping by; you guys can go home and sleep if you want.”

“Stevie, did you think we brought all this to just leave? On your birthday. Oh no, no, no. We are having a whole movie and snack day! I brought weed, and chips, and we can order a pizza later in the day. And just be lazy weirdos in your fancy living room.” Eddie hopped up on his coffee table, startling a laugh from Steve.

“That sounds like a typically Friday for us, what’s so special about it?” Steve teased.

“Well we brought all of your favorite movies! Grease, Top Gun, Karate Kid, Indiana Jones...wait I think I'm noticing a theme here—“

“Robin!” Steve screeched, his blush coming back with vengeance. He didn’t want her to reveal there very obvious, and embarrassing pattern to his favorite films.

“And!” Eddie said from atop his place on the coffee table, unfazed by the two of them, “We are paying for the pizza.” His voice oozed with pride at that. Steve was sure he had come up with the idea.

“Wow I’m a spoiled prince. Maybe ever think I wanted to stay in bed?” Steve raised a single eyebrow.

“Oh but my sweet prince, we know you rather spend this glorious day with us.” Eddie was confident, with confidence came the damn nicknames, and Jesus Christ—this blush of his was never going away. “Besides what else could you wish for!”

A kiss from you. Steve thought quickly.

Steve sighed deeply before saying, “Alright. Get down.”

Eddie seemed taken aback, like he hadn’t expected the rejection. “Oh yea man, of course. We will get out of your hair.” He scrambled off the table.

Steve giggled, “No Eds. I’m moving the coffee table. This couch is a pullout. We can all just lay on it while we watch movies.”

Eddie’s face lit up while Robin yelled, “Oh thank god, I’m exhausted.”

An hour later, when the sun was still barely risen and Grease blared in the background, Robin was bundled up in the blankets they dragged from his room, out like a light.

Eddie and Steve huddled close, but didn’t touch. The anticipation and want sat between them. “I actually have something for you.” Eddie whispered.

Robin snored beside them; Steve looked at her fondly. “You don’t have to whisper; she’s a heavy sleeper. Learned that the hard way.”

“Ah well, I have a present for you.”

Steve knows he should say that Eddie shouldn’t have, or insist he returns it. He knew it was the polite thing to do. He couldn’t find it in himself to do it, though. The idea that Eddie even thought to get him something beyond the amazing day they had planned (truly Steve couldn’t ask for a better day), but Eddie had spent his time to get something for Steve.

It was nice to have someone who would do something nice for you just because they can, not because they should. So, Steve waited patiently as Eddie reached into his bag beside the couch.

“Here.” Eddie spoke, placing the roughly wrapped package in his lap.

There was a tiny notecard with Eddie’s chicken scratch on it; Steve decided to read that first.

Stevie,

No adventure is the same without you, and this is the only one I have taken without you by my side. Thought it was about time we changed that. Hopefully we are not forever partners in crime (we’ve had enough of that) but instead, adventurers taking on then great unknown.

Together.

Yours,

Eddie Munson ッ

Steve smoothed over the card and tried not to cry. The poorly drawn smiley face stared up at him from the piece of parchment. Steve tucked it into his pocket for safe keeping; he might even frame it.

Eddie looked at Steve eagerly as he tried to open the package. He does it slowly to tease Eddie; his frustrated little growl made butterflies in Steve’s stomach.

Inside the package is a worn-out book, one he would recognize anywhere, considering he saw it every day on Eddie’s bookshelf. “Eds, this is your copy of Lord of the Rings. I can’t take this.”

Eddie put his hair in front of his mouth, suddenly shy, “Well, it wouldn’t be exactly yours. It’s just I thought it would be fun to, ya know, read it together? Like we take turns reading to each other. I know the kids always bug you to read it, and I noticed that it’s hard for you to focus sometimes, and I get that, so it might be easier if we like make it a thing? I know it’s probably not your interest; it’s my favorite book, not yours, so you know what? This is stupid—“

Steve cut him off by pulling him into a hug. Steve buried himself into Eddie’s neck before saying, “Thank you. It’s the best birthday present.”

“Really?” Eddie pulled back to look at Steve’s face. Whatever he found there must settle him, because he relaxed his shoulders. “I know it’s silly, but I guess I wanted to share this piece of myself with you…and maybe spend some more time together.”

Steve didn’t mention how they spent almost every day together, didn’t think he had to either. They both knew.

Steve decided to be bold instead. He pushed Eddie back into the couch and settled his back into Eddie’s chest. He snuggled into the warmth of his arms.

Steve put the book in Eddie’s hand. “Okay, you read first.”

Eddie laughed; Steve could feel the vibrations from under his skin. It was delightful; it was delicious. “Oh, you want to start now?”

Steve made an indignant noise while Eddie laughed again at him. His hands settled at the back of Steve’s neck as he played with hair that brushed it.

“When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventyifirst birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was …”

And once again, hours later, when Steve woke up, after drifting to Eddie’s soft, deep voice, Steve felt something settle in him. He felt Eddie lightly snoring beneath him, one hand still tangled in his hair. He felt Robin’s hand wrapped around his ankle, grounding the both of them. And there, between all of them, was the fallen book with no bookmark, signaling they would have to start again.

Maybe, sometimes. Steve thinks, birthdays could be good.

***

projecting. projecting. projecting. that’s me.

I hope you guys liked this one :) I did use my own bday for him, but the time he was born at is different than mine lol. I had a lot of fun writing it, it was just the softness I needed.

[punkboyjuul]

So my mom once read Red, White and Royal Blue thinking it was about something else and she absolutely hates the romance genre and also she's a straight woman so she obviously did not like the book at all. She kept complaining to me about the cliches and so I decided to read it. Now I don't like romance novels all too much but I was absolutely starved for gay media so I read it and was pretty surprised by how good it was.

Fast forward to today where I'm watching the movie and I tell my mom I'm watching it and she obviously makes fun of it because it is so cliche and in her words "The same old bad cliche but with two guys because they think that will make it better". Now I get where she's coming from but I was trying to explain to her why it was different. And I was thinking that it really isn't. Like yes, it's a cliched story. Yea it's a gay couple. Does that make it bad? No, absolutely not. However, one of those things makes it exceptional. Because we have more than enough straight cliched romcoms that people adore. So why can't we have a gay cliche romcom for the queer people to adore?

We have a lack of media that portrays gay couples in a happy way, usually it's just balls of angst (The Boys in the Band, OFMD and now recently Good Omens, I love all btw they're my favs) or oversexualized (Elite). Heartstopper is a recent addition that is perfect for queer teens. Is it so bad that we would like some more cheesy romcoms that have people like us in them? Yes it's horribly cheesy but it shows a queer couple in such a delicate, tender and real way I love it so much.

AND it also shows what a supportive family looks like. It's the only media where I've seen a mom make sure her kid is having safe sex as a queer person. They never talk about that in any other media. And it also has the closeted gay part with Henry. It's good representation, and it's good media because queer people deserve cheesy stupid lovesick romcoms too because they're beautiful and happy and make my little queer heart leap with queer joy.

Anyways I wish I could explain this to my mom but she's a straight Indian woman so it's very hard for her to understand what being queer means, so anyways here were my thoughts.