agaphie

[agaphie]

Tbh it’s interesting to me how many people will say something cannot be queerbait just because they end up being siblings. Why is it that two characters with a very queer relationship who insist they are friends is queerbait but it’s not the same when those characters are revealed to be siblings? I’d honestly say that’s even WORSE bc not only are they saying it’ll never be canon they’re saying YOU are in the wrong if you see it as romantic (or ever did) it’s just like. So gaslighty. “You didn’t see anything romantic there they were just a normal sibling relationship” idkidk this is probs incoherent but I just HATE the fandom response to agaphie and how they treat soman like he can do no wrong.

[agaphie]

[agaphie]

being gay really opens you up to shrimp emotions the regular human population will never understand. i don’t think there is anything that compares to watching a fairytale set up specifically for two girls to kiss, only for them to actually share true loves kiss against all expecations (because you know better) and then to have it end with “because no love is stronger than friendship” i’ll fucking murder a bitch

[agaphie]

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL IS OUT I CANT WAIT TO WATCH IT TONIGHT

Update: I did watch it and damn… I wish they were actually gay

[agaphie]

Does anybody else have suffer from "I stopped keeping up with this media ages ago but I have an extreme affection for its characters and concept. The writing just started to suck ass"

[agaphie]

Soman’s failed POC and Queer rep in the SGE saga — And why criticism is essential to the movie (franchise)

[repost]

Before I start though, I’d like to say that if you have any argument about forced representation, dni. I don’t give a shit that ur faves aren’t white anymore — and please stop fucking harassing Soman and the cast about this non-issue.

Now onto the racial criticism of Soman’s work, which I don’t see talked enough about.

Being a person of colour does not mean you are exempt from racial criticism. I’m sure this is known by now, but in the books, literally everyone is white. Like EVERYONE. And not only that, the beauty standards he portrays and tries to critique (but then fails miserably at unfortunately) are so Eurocentric it’s quite disheartening actually - pale skin, small noses, coloured eyes, etc. The themes are also quite Eurocentric as well — if you had told me that the books were written by a white author, I would believe you.

Now, I’ve always given him the benefit of the doubt here, considering he was writing a middle grade series as a marginalised author, which was a lot more difficult at the time, and because he does genuinely try to improve his POC rep in the later books (even if that does include retconning character’s previous descriptions lol). In that same vein, the cast is also noticeably more diverse, and I truly applaud Soman for that. However, he has not said anything in regards to the racism the cast have been getting, which considering his influence on the fandom, would have been much appreciated. (The only casting choice he actually spent some time defending was brunette Tedros 💀💀 — like mate, get your priorities together!). Also, since whiteness is quite intrinsic to the core themes of the story (I’ll make a separate post on that later), I worry that the movie will unintentionally be pushing it. And if that’s the case, people should be allowed to critique this (hypothetical) poor depiction of race, without it being considered racist. (As previously mentioned — this excludes those fucking weirdos who just hate on the cast coz their faves aren’t white anymore 🙄🙄)

Ok so, in regards to the queer-coding/queer-baiting:

Just like being a POC doesn’t mean u can’t have internalised racism, being queer doesn’t mean u can’t have internalised homophobia, especially to other members of the community. I don’t know why exactly Soman struggles with writing queer rep so much (I mean I can understand in 2013 — but now plenty of middle grade books include queer characters), but he barely has any canon gay rep.

Tristan/Yara, who is not even specified whether they are gay or trans, is one of the first characters to die, with absolutely no resolution to their arc whatsoever - and their queerness is never mentioned again. The next confirmed queer couple are two backgrounder guys who barely have any significance to the story. The couple after that are two evil white boys, who are only confirmed to be queer after they both die. They are are the only relevant gay characters at this point — yet ofc they’re dead, white and evil. This wouldn’t be a problem if there were other (good) queer characters, but since that is not the case, it just comes off as rather… icky.

Now notice how all these couples, as poorly written as they are, are all (white) gay men? There are hints that Hester and anadil might be in a relationship, but it’s never explicitly confirmed.

In addition, sophie and Agatha are explicitly queer coded — (I made a post about it on my acc for anyone’s interested) — they even kiss!! Of course people are going to be mad that they were baited into a relationship that ended up being incesteous! Especially, ESP, considering that Agatha is now a Black girl in this adaptation. We barely see any white canon wlw couples in media — Black sapphics are almost unheard of in the mainstream, especially as leads. first kill, one show that featured a Lesbian Black girl lead (a Dark-skinned one at that!)— got cancelled. And this happens all the time. Lesbians/sapphics, esp sapphics of colour, ESP Balck sapphics are barely given any time of day in our media in favour of centring gay white men in queer narratives, and thus they have every right to be upset at the queer baiting.

I’m not Black, but as a queer woman of colour, Agatha’s character has always been very special to me. I’ve always thought she should be a POC considering how different her and her mum are from the rest of her cookie-cutter village, and queer because she did not fit into conventional notions of femininity. It would be so awesome to see Agatha, a queer woman of colour, as the lead in a high-budget fantasy series. But alas, that is too many marginalised identities for the general audience.

Not only that, the twin reveal was just plain bad writing. It had absolutely no bearing at the story whatsoever and is never mentioned again. It was just done purely for shock value, and for that, I will absolutely critique Soman.

I know that this discourse is tired and worn out — and understandably so, it’s been years. However, now that this movie is approaching mainstream — At worst, this queer baiting can already add to the whole ‘lesbian relationships aren’t serious’ and other terrible stereotypes. At best, it deprives sapphics of much needed representation in mainstream fantasy films.

Remember, unlike with the books, we as fans have the power to influence the story. If the creators see how unpopular the twist is with the public, they can probably change it. We can make a difference! Btw, this doesn’t mean sophie and Agatha should be endgame — I’d like for them to be in a short term relationship and be confirmed as canonically queer — Tagatha can still be the end couple! (Not hophie tho, coz sophie is a lesbian and I despise Hort lol).

[agaphie]

agatha and the wish fish from the school for good and evil 💕

[agaphie]

being gay really opens you up to shrimp emotions the regular human population will never understand. i don’t think there is anything that compares to watching a fairytale set up specifically for two girls to kiss, only for them to actually share true loves kiss against all expecations (because you know better) and then to have it end with “because no love is stronger than friendship” i’ll fucking murder a bitch

[agaphie]

Professor Anemone : The School For Good and Evil

[agaphie]

"i'm not triggered or upset by or even ideologically opposed to it, i just associate it with something so bad that i can't enjoy it anymore" is such a frustrating relationship to have with a piece of media

[agaphie]

How did these girls both end up with boys when this happened

[agaphie]

My Agatha

[agaphie]

yaaaas sophie is so evil that it makes her so lovable bcs she proved herself to be the 100% evil just as agatha did in the books, a balance fight i say!!!!!

[agaphie]

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL (2022, dir. Paul Feig)

[agaphie]

Agatha and Sophie are so in love and don’t even realize it till the very end and I absolutely SCREAMED when Agatha went home with her 😭❤️👏

Like- I was about to be PISSED hearing she might stay. Nah- Sophie, she in love with you boo boo 😂😂😂

[agaphie]

Just finished re-watching season one of Princess Tutu, bracing myself for how much I'm going to cry when I finish season two. Also getting used to using procreate.

Image description in the alt text.

Edit: Was unhappy with the sky so switched it out for the flats version, but Tumblr's really compressing the colours out of this thing!!! sky should be pinker

EDIT AGAIN: genuinely frustrated with the colour change lol, if you want to see how I wanted it to be, insta seems to have done a better job of keeping fidelity. username's yasmbol over there. godspeed if you brave the wilds of insta though

[agaphie]

Tbh it’s interesting to me how many people will say something cannot be queerbait just because they end up being siblings. Why is it that two characters with a very queer relationship who insist they are friends is queerbait but it’s not the same when those characters are revealed to be siblings? I’d honestly say that’s even WORSE bc not only are they saying it’ll never be canon they’re saying YOU are in the wrong if you see it as romantic (or ever did) it’s just like. So gaslighty. “You didn’t see anything romantic there they were just a normal sibling relationship” idkidk this is probs incoherent but I just HATE the fandom response to agaphie and how they treat soman like he can do no wrong.