#ALSO i disliked extremely the way two people will be gay and the first thing people will latch onto is like. ooh an achilly patrocley moment

[jade-kyo]

Non-Red vs Blue fans guess the fake fact: results!

Find the og post here

Alright time to finally review the results! Correct answer is at the bottom of this post for those not interested in all of the results and explanations!

So the most highly voted option at 23% was Elijah Wood which I’m sorry to say is incorrect! Elijah Wood was a voice actor in the series. He played the role of Sigma! What this big name actor is doing in a random web series I have no idea but it’s still one of the wildest things to me.

Now the aspirin overdose comes in with 17.3% and got mentioned a lot in the notes and it is also incorrect. However I will admit to some poor wording on my part because it was actually an allergic reaction not an overdose. That’s a genuine oopsies on my part 😅

Florida sinking into the ocean gets a 10.1% and is also incorrect! The state of Florida does in fact sink into the ocean and it’s implied this was to cover up the disappearance of Agent Florida (who is also the guy who dies from the aspirin)

The gay guy, who’s name is Donut btw, becoming Jesus comes in with 8.3% and is in fact very real. He even walks on water. It was wild and tbh I barely remember it cause it’s from a season I dislike but it was too wild not to include.

With 7.2% I can say for sure that the giant killer robot is indeed dressed up in cute hats! Specifically a sombrero! Also the robots name is Freckles.

CPR for a bullet wound in the head gets 6.7% and is in fact considered effective medical care. Now I will say this later gets retconned and it turns out the guy didn’t actually get shot in the head the bullet just grazed him and his armor locked up making them all think he was dying- hence the choice of word being considered. The characters fully believe it but the CPR did not actually save him cause he wasn’t even hurt to begin with.

The crazy love triangle comes in with 4.7% and is also very canon and is exactly as it’s said. There’s literally just this insane love triangle for like two seasons- honestly the only love triangle plot I ever enjoyed.

With a solid 4% I can say that there is in fact canon mpreg! Hurray? Idk man this one’s exactly as it sounds. Dude got knocked up by an alien.

In last place with 2.5% of votes is the main character dying repeatedly. This is also incorrect. First off this guy is named Church which very funny on its own. Secondly it’s actually one of the first running jokes in the series how much this dude dies. Until it’s not a joke 🫠 also a few people pointed out RvB doesn’t have a main character and while I agree I felt it was simpler just to call Church the main character for this poll since it’s designed for people who haven’t seen RvB and I would argue that the majority of the narrative centers around Church even when he’s not there.

And now for the correct answer, coming in at third place with 16.1% is Caboose is god!

Now I will fully confess to being sneaky with this one. This is actually a joke made within the series but it is not true at all. Caboose is not actually god and the platypus is just that fucked up. I knew nothing I could come up with would be able to match the absurdity of this series so I decided to twist a few words so that way everything seemed equally fucked up.

And that concludes the poll! I will now leave you off with a few honorable mentions that did not make the Final Cut:

They have a Spanish speaking robot. None of them speak Spanish.

He’s a ghost but not actually a ghost but actually a highly advanced computer program

Woman has mega beef with an AI copy of her dead mom

The highly advanced computer program can’t aim for shit

The first 5 seasons were revealed to actually be a prolonged torture session

Dude chases his dead gf through multiple iteration of the same memory

Woman developed a sibling like bond with an AI copy of her extremely neglectful father

#rvb #red vs blue #rooster teeth #jadey speaks

[thearchercore]

lestappen is not real as a romantic relationship, we know it, there's no need for speculation here. but would you want to see it be real? of course we dont know how they act in their general romantic relationships or their private life, if they are straight/bi/gay etc, but the way they act so soft and domestic around each other, max being a literal fan of charles, defending him (the example is just two days ago on the cooldown room and theres a lot lot more lol) charles having things that he only does for max, and adding all the rivalry, im curious about your opinion

i mean, let's be real first. even if one (or more) drivers were anything other than straight, f1 is a business that thrives in countries where it's illegal so for a driver to come out publicly under the current conditions? yeah.. that's not really a great option. the most they can do is when lewis had his rainbow helmet in qatar or when charles said he's not against same sex relationships because "he has gay friends". it's not exactly a sport where it would be encouraged to be diverse in that sense, or even an acitivist. drivers also have clauses that prevent them for speaking out about political issues in their contracts so there's not a lot that can be done there without risking a person's career.

other than that, it's a very masculine sport and a lot of men project their idea of masculinity onto other drivers (as @tsarinablogs once said, a lot of men who disliked the lewis dominance found themselves in max and became a fan of his, but max does not really present their idea of masculinity in real life. he's just a high profile athlete that other men create sort of a parasocial relationship with -- trust me, when men attack girls for liking f1 and calling them parasocial, it sure goes both ways.)

people like charles (or even lewis) who express interest in not typically masculine things like music or fashion also tend to struggle in the public eye whenever male fans need to find a reason to dislike them.

so all in all, we have to understand two things -- do i think any drivers have a secret relationship? no. if yes, i'm gonna be genuinely surprised more than when lewis moved to ferrari lol. and i definitely don't think the current state of the sport allows a driver to come out on their own terms without destroying their reputation. sure, some drivers have more influence on the sport than others but as of now, it does not seem realistic.

what i think most people find "odd" in terms of whatever friendship max and charles have going on is that they aren't the type of "rivals" that men would expect - they respect each other and actually think very highly of one another so you won't find them beefing it out behind the track like the nascar drivers do (by the way, yes, nascar drivers get into physical fights after races lol) they don't hate one another, they admire each other's skills and talent and it's not really the "drama" you see in other sports where the rivarly can get to toxic extremes (let's say, mma) and that's what makes them stand out.

#lestappen

[pinkeoni]

Mike Wheeler and Audience Perception

(Or, Why Does Everybody Hate Mike?)

I want to stress right off the bat that this is not meant to be read as Mike hate AT ALL— this is a pro-Mike post I promise!! It just might take a lot of explaining on my end so bare with me.

I know that the general audience perception of Mike can be incredibly frustrating. Post vol. 2, and hell even during season 3, there's been a large amount of animosity towards Mike, because he isn't acting in accordance with the Mike that everyone fell in love with in seasons 1 and 2.

But here's the thing, the audience is supposed to dislike Mike.

Maybe I should clarify first, I'm not saying that the audience is supposed to dislike Mike FOREVER, but rather the audience is supposed to dislike Mike RIGHT NOW until season 5 airs and clears up a lot of his choices. And even if people do like Mike, which a lot of the smart ones do, then they are at least supposed to dislike his actions. Even the most hardcore Mike fans will admit that he has moments where he messes up, but understand the complex reasonings behind why he makes these mistakes.

I should clarify too that what I mean by "the smart ones" are the ones who see Byler as the likely outcome. Even regardless if you see Mike as gay or bi (I personally see him as gay, but that besides the current point) the only way to explain why Mike has been acting the way that he has is through his sexuality and feelings for Will, otherwise he really is being an asshole for no reason. Mike's true character is purposefully being withheld from the audience, so that they can make the reveal and it can completely recontextualize his character arc. Those that have it figured out (Bylers) are just ahead of where a typical audience member would be.

Let me put it this way:

GA that dislike Mike and MiIeven are watching the show correctly, even if they don't necessarily see Byler as an option yet.

Bylers that love Mike are one step ahead.

MiIevens that hate Mike see all the narrative information correctly, but are denying the truth.

MiIevens that love Mike are willfully changing what the narrative is presenting.

If Mike was truly acting exactly the way he was supposed to, then his actions would be more likable.

I've noticed that a ton of miIevens tend to dislike Mike. Not all, but a good number. They hate him because they believe exactly what they see on the surface level and that he's acting exactly the way he's supposed to. When Mike is ditching his friends and disregarding his interests in season 3, that's just Mike growing into his heterosexual self! Yes it's totally rude and out of character, but Mike is meant to be with El which means that he is doing exactly what he is supposed to do, right?

Is it possible to have this arc without Mike being unlikable? I mean, it’s not impossible, but it would be extremely difficult. The whole point is that Mike has not been acting like himself for the past two seasons, so it’s important to show that when he acts like this it is not a good thing, and this is not only proven through the audience’s perception but also through the characters perception in show. Mike gets called on his bullshit in universe by Will and Dustin! You are supposed to see that what he’s doing is strange!

Let me put it this way, if all of Mike's current actions were liked and supported by not only the audience AND the characters within the story— this would make the reveal that he hasn't been acting truthfully not work.

I’ll use a pretty robust example, let’s consider a character dynamic that, while not romantic, is widely loved by most audience members: Steve and Dustin.

Let’s say that in season 5, it’s revealed that Steve actually hates Dustin and doesn’t like being his friend. Not only would the audience strongly dislike that, but it wouldn’t match any of what was being shown in show. There’s no reason to believe that Steve doesn’t like Dustin, so that reveal would just feel cruel and cheap.

Let’s also say that Mike was actually a perfect boyfriend and friend for the past two seasons. He’s always able to say “I love you” to El. He isn’t possessive of her. He doesn’t ice out his friends (especially Will) just to be with her. He doesn’t try ti be someone he’s not. His actions are loved by the audience and the characters. And THEN it’s revealed that he’s gay and loves Will. Wouldn’t that feel off?

While Bylers may be used to being faced with intense homophobia from certain MiIevens and toxic fandom members, the typical GA member actually isn’t homophobic. Most GA don’t like MiIeven, but they’re indifferent to Byler because they don’t see it as a possibility quite yet because they don’t read into it as closely as we do. It’s not because they are media illiterate, it’s just because they watch the show casually. The general consensus that I actually saw from GA on twitter is that they actually wanted more of Will and Mike and were dissapointed with their lack of attention from the season.

The unfortunate thing about Mike and audience perception is that we have to wait for the payoff. There’s not really anything that can be done about that, it’s just how the television production cookie crumbles. I also don’t think that it’s a bad thing for Mike to have pronounced flaws, if anything it makes his character more interesting and dynamic. Some of my favorite characters in media are ones that are deeply flawed but have a redemption arc. Although, I guess this would be less of a redeption arc and more of a recontextualization arc? Either way, I’m excited for the audience to finally see Mike the way that they’re supposed to.

#mike wheeler #happy birthday mike everyone hates you #btw thats an uppercase i when i write miIeven #stranger things analysis #my analysis #anti mileven #anti milkvan #byler

[notyourmajesty]

Henry's Dog David, and How RWRB (the Book and the Movie) Explore the Meaning of His Name.

(GIF by @andysapril)

CW: Mentions of deaths, murder attempts, mostly from Bible verses.

An Easter Egg from the book that the film managed to incorporate in an entirely different context.

Henry naming his dog David is one of the things Alex comments on both in the film and the book. He finds the name particularly odd for a pet, and when Henry tells him later that the inspiration was David Bowie, Alex remarks that he could have just used the surname instead.

This is basically just me overthinking the way the book and the film added "David and Jonathan" to two totally different scenes haha.

David Bowie

There has been a lot of debate over Bowie's sexuality since the 70s, and possibly conflicting statements from Bowie himself over the decades, but he did leave quite an impact on queer people in his time (ref: this article). Henry both in the book and in the film has often turned to literature and art for inspiration, and solace, when it came to exploring his own identity as a gay man. All kinds of historical queer identities - both debated and confirmed - show up in the tapestry of people and ideas that have influenced Henry's own thoughts and ideas (Alex's too). So it definitely makes sense that he would name his beloved pet dog after one of those inspirations.

(notably, during Henry's dramatic entrance when Alex comes down to the UK for damage control, the song playing is Bowie's "Up the Hill Backwards". You also see him choose a Queen song for karaoke, which makes me want to really headcanon him as a 70s prog rock fan 😄)

David and Jonathan

In the book, Alex goes over the details of Henry's fact sheet with Nora and his sister June. When he mentions the name of Henry's dog, he claims his dislike for the name is because it sounds more like a "tax attorney" than a beloved pet (Ch 2).

In the film, it's his SS detail Amy who quizzes him. She responds to his quip about Henry's choice of name for a pet by telling him what she's named her own dog. It's a tiny, fun detail with no lasting importance in the film, but I feel it does work within the larger framework of how the film incorporates queer readings and figures too.

I see this as a reference to a popular reading of the Hebrew/Biblical story of David and Jonathan from the 2 books of Samuel. David was a shepherd anointed by the prophet Samuel (through orders from God), to succeed King Saul, and Jonathan was Saul's son who was extremely devoted to David and even saved him from his father's wrath. They were known to have made a covenant to each other soon after they met, and the first Book of Samuel gives us a picture of an immensely close bond between the two:

After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. (1 Samuel 18, 1-4)

Interpretations of their relationship have ranged from close friendship to a romantic relationship, and there have been many, many queer readings on this pair.

In Casey McQuiston's RWRB too, Alex references both a saying from the Book of Proverbs (24:13), and the story of David and Jonathan in the same paragraph. This is in Ch 10, when Henry takes Alex to the V&A museum. This particular sequence is in the inner chamber of the museum, shortly after the couple dance to Elton John's "Your Song".

He compares himself and Henry to "a lost David and Jonathan", and it's pretty obvious why when you think of their devotion, and the tragic end of the relationship of the latter. Like Jonathan, Henry is a prince utterly devoted to one man, and sure that his family too will be against their bond. Like David, Alex is an outsider who the royal family may view as a threat to their stability, and therefore must be kept away. David's love for Jonathan is immense: he makes the covenant with Saul's son soon after they meet, and when he mourns Jonathan's death, he says "Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women." (2 Samuel 1:26).

This amazing post from @elipheleh explores this metaphor more in detail (as well as St. Chiara, and a quote from Oscar Wilde, who is referenced both in the book and the film as a writer Henry is fond of). It also speaks about the verse from the Book of Proverbs that Alex remembers, partly in Spanish, partly in English - Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. (Proverbs 24:13-14)

(Jonathan in 1 Samuel also has his own reference to honey - there is a story that chronicles a tense moment between Jonathan and his father, King Saul, due to Jonathan eating wild honey on a day when the troops were bound by an oath to fast (he had not heard the oath himself). He almost faces death by Saul's hand for breaking the oath the latter had made, but is saved by the other people in the troops. (1 Samuel 14: 24-46). I've seen different ways of this passage being interpreted - as either Jonathan being judged for disobeying an oath even though he was not around when it was announced, or Saul being viewed as foolish for making such an oath in the first place. The main point is, Saul is ready to kill his son for breaching a certain protocol, and it is the people who save Jonathan.

Similarly IMO, Henry is prepared to live his whole life in the closet viewing his sexuality as something that would bring shame to his family, but eventually recognizes that he has support. Both within his family (in the form of his mother Catherine and his sister Bea), and in the public eye)

At this point in their lives, Alex and Henry see very little hope that things will get better soon enough for them to unite. It is more than likely that - in their minds - this one romantic visit will be their last for a long, long time. Of course David and Jonathan - who parted ways in the hope of being reunited after the battle with Jonathan's father, and whose friendship/love met a tragic end - would be considered a fitting parallel for the situation Alex and Henry find themselves in.

The book has the space and scope to explore many, many images and symbols that could fit Alex and Henry. Whether it's in the letters they send each other, the references Alex learns more about as he figures out his sexuality. The book can - at the V&A museum - describe the statues the two men linger at in loving detail, making us more aware how poignant their temporary separation will be and how bittersweet this last dance is.

The movie's focus is different - the V&A scene is a (presumably) final, deeply intimate moment that lets Alex see for real the weight of his role in Henry's environment, and how little he expects to see his dreams come true. It also lets Henry see how determined Alex is to make his every dream a reality.

Most moments of highlighting queer literature or history are pocketed away in smaller sequences in the film, as small references and Easter eggs (eg. the books they recommend each other), as the film focuses more on the relationship and it's effects both on the men and the world around them. The V&A is more a visual backdrop for that bittersweet last moment where the two can find equal ground and truly understand each other. I think mentioning the names of the statues would take away from that.

The movie didn't need to include David and Jonathan. Why is why I'm truly, truly grateful that they still did. Even as a tiny, cute Easter egg that is supposed to be banter about weirdly specific pet-naming protocol 💖

#Youtube #Spotify #rwrbmovie #red white and royal blue #alex claremont diaz #henry fox #henry george edward james hanover stuart fox #rwrb movie #henry fox mountchristen windsor #firstprince #taylor zakhar perez #alex x henry #nicholas galitzine #rwrb thoughts

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

I'm here on the behalf of the "send me a character" ask game and I'm going to cheat by asking for two characters: Hua Cheng and mtp Sherlock Holmes (bc tgcf and mtp are both special interests of mine and I'm always excited remembering you post about both of them)

I love that there are other people who are into both of these series!

Send Me a Character & I'll Tell You✨️

Sherlock Holmes (Moriarty the Patriot)

My first impression: tbh he definitely grew on my gradually, I seem to remember watching the anime the first time and every time the focus was on him being like BACK TO WILLIAM BACK TO WILLIAM.

My impression now: I am so fond of him. I think he is sincerely such a lovely adaptation of Conan Doyle's character. He's lively and silly and moody and awkward and smart and caring and I just really like him.

Favorite thing about that character: I feel like he's very...steadfast. He sets his mind to something and just goes for it, stubbornly. Sometimes unhealthily. But I admire it.

Least favorite thing: I do still get a little bored anytime the story is just on him without William. I love him best when he's with his hubby.

Favorite line/scene: obvious pick but THAT whole interaction on the train is one of my favourite scenes in the whole series. "I was just thinking it'd be fun if you were that clever mastermind"????? [parapharasing again] Sherlock that is crazy people talk, what are you on about you kinky weirdo. But also the bridge scene is right up there. And the rooftop.

Favorite interaction that character has with another: extremely hard to pick between Sherliam moments but I think I'm gonna land on the entirety of chapter 67.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: Hmm. Bond, maybe. I want to see them get really chummy in part two.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: Sherlock Holmes from the original ACD stories. 🤣 (Again, I'll edit if/when I think of a better answer)

A headcanon about that character: He idolized Mycroft as a little kid but between a mix of teenage cringe-syndrome over hanging out with big bro and the ways he sees their worldviews as diverging, they drifted apart as he got older.

A song that reminds of that character: Sherlock-focused-Sherliam

An unpopular opinion about that character: Idk if this counts, but that he doesn't actually actively dislike women (though he is very gay and not interested in them romantically/sexually) he's just annoyed by the front proper Victorian society makes them put on. Once he actually gets to know a woman, he usually likes them.

Favorite picture: pretttttty

Send Me a Character & I'll Tell You✨️

Hua Cheng (Heaven Official's Blessing)

My first impression: I first saw a clip of the scene where he's leading Xie Lian through the bloody forest in the wedding clothes beneath the red umbrella, and I downright swooned over the romance of it all.

My impression now: basically the same. THE romantic character. Like. Literally a character who exists for the sole purpose of loving another. I'm getting sentimental in my old age, because I would have turned my nose up at that idea fifteen years ago, but now I adore it.

Favorite thing about that character: he's just so gentle and careful and thoughtful and loving? But also powerful and dangerous. Knight in shining armour hours. But then to be all of that and also be such a bratty, sometimes teasing and sometimes sulky husband is so funny I love it.

Least favorite thing: Uhhh. Hmm. I get why he's mean to...basically everybody but Xie Lian, because everyone has been cruel to Xie Lian. But in a sort of realistic sense that I don't actually bother to apply to fiction like this, I'd like to see him encourage Xie Lian to have other people in his life. It's fine if he wants to stay mad at Feng Xin and Mu Qing, but he should invite Yushi Huang for tea and encourage Xie Lian to hang out with Yin Yu and so on. It would be good for them both to have other friends. But like. That's me forcing myself to come up with an answer lmao.

Favorite line/scene: any big romantic speech, but also anytime he just absolutely embarrasses himself. "Gege, want to get married?" PFFFT. Loser (I love him.)

Favorite interaction that character has with another: I think the part where he's disguised and Xie Lian is laughing at him and he's pouting, and then "Only after having met you did I rediscover that it's such a simple thing to be happy." Just imagining what that must have done to Hua Cheng's heart makes me so happy.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: Yushi Huang. They are covert infiltration buddies.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: Has there ever before been this level of simp? Has anyone else romanced so hard? I'm gonna say maybe Kurogane from TRC, because ( TRC SPOILERS) while Hua Cheng is much softer and more poetic about his love, Kurogane did cut off his own arm to save his beloved, and bond his soul to a vampire who could only feed on him, and definitely seems the type to do what Hua Cheng did in the current donghua arc with refusing to let Xie Lian take blame beyond what he actually had done even when that was what Xie Lian wanted. Those all feel like Hua Cheng levels of dedication.

A headcanon about that character: just absolutely and entirely overwhelmed by actually having sex with Xie Lian the first few times. He cries. He maybe panics a little. He comes too fast. He cries some more. Xie Lian adores him.

A song that reminds of that character: I mean, A Thousand Years is more about Hua Cheng than it's ever been about anyone else ever. But also this.

An unpopular opinion about that character: apparently, in some corners, my belief that the donghua version is very very in character to the novel would be unpopular lol

Favorite picture: all the manhua art is of course utterly gorgeous but...

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #heaven official's blessing #tgcf #sherliam #sherlock holmes #hualian #asks #hua cheng

[thebreakfastgenie]

beejhawk 👀

LMAO I was just sitting here like "no one even bothers to send me beejhawk anymore" but bless you to the bottom of your pot-stirring heart, anon.

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it? I have several reasons, which I will get into it, but I'm going to start with this one: I like a happy ending. Beejhawk cannot be a happy ending to me. I'm not entirely convinced any Hawkeye/4077th ship being endgame can be a happy ending, even the ones I like. I want to see Hawkeye move on from the war, which is what GFA is setting him up to do. Beejhawk keeps him stuck with the war defining his life. That's depressing to me. In the larger narrative of Hawkeye's life, it's important to me that the war is unimportant. The war being how Hawkeye met the love of his life gives me the ick. It implicitly suggests the war was somehow worth it. I can't think of a single reason why I would ship it. I think the biggest reason is it's simply too OOC for me. I cannot believe that Hawkeye would be in love with BJ. That is not Hawkeye to me. I actually can believe that BJ would be in love with Hawkeye, even though BJ is extremely straight to me, but I can't see Hawkeye reciprocating, ever. I've read some beejhawk fic and a lot of posts, and the way Hawkeye behaves and is characterized doesn't just feel wrong to me, it feels wrong in the way I hate the most. BJ is usually wildly OOC too. The other big reason is the complete lack of chemistry. They have negative romantic chemistry to me. This is a much smaller reason, but the things people get from beejhawk I get from other ships that make more sense to me. For a best friends ship, I have piercentyre. If I want to ship Hawkeye with someone repressed, I have hawnk or houlihawk. Sometimes I joke about this but it's kind of true that I don't need beejhawk because I have hawnk. The Joke Is Wild? Hawnk did it first. I genuinely do not understand why beejhawk is a ship at all, except that they're the two main guys. If I didn't know how slash culture worked, I would have been shocked that it even existed. In the last few seasons, I'm not even convinced they like each other. I found myself asking "do these guys even like each other?" about the alleged best friends more than once, and I had to actively rev up my suspension of disbelief to enjoy their goodbye properly the first time I watched GFA. I very strongly dislike any framing of MASH as a love story, and I have yet to find beejhawk content that doesn't turn it into the Ballad of Hawkeye and BJ. Piercentyre is fun for me, because it really changes the show very little. Beejhawk requires me to rewire the entire show, and I don't want to. A lot of moments that I adore become less meaningful to me if they're shippy. For example, Where There's a Will, There's a War. "When I wake up remind me to give you a kiss" is an expression of BJ's profound relief and a wonderful resolution to the anxiety and guilt he's been feeling for the whole episode. It's hyperbole that only works because they don't normally kiss or want to kiss. It always brings to mind a lyric from a song about WWII: "and I never kissed so many men as on that afternoon." It's not about romance, it's about being glad to be alive. I just like the show better without beejhawk. I started out a little more neutral and my visceral revulsion built through overexposure. There was also an assumption that you shipped beejhawk that I really resented. Especially because of the implications around it being slash. I am gay, I ship gay ships, I ship other gay ships in MASH. I don't ship beejhawk. I'm not required to ship every single gay ship. So all those beejhawk posts about "gay people love this" or "gay people think that" bother me and turn me off even more.

What would have made you like it? Completely different acting/chemistry. Something completely different from what I ever see the fandom do with it. I could probably be sold on unrequited (BJ's side only) or unhappy ending beejhawk in fic if it was really well done. This is your chance to plug! I think a realistic handling of it would help too. The show gives me a BJ who is as far from leaving his family as a man can be. I need to be convinced that something would change that. Meta claiming he's actually close to leaving in the show does not work for me, it directly contradicts what I see. I need writers to dig into it. Actually show me the dissolution of BJ's marriage, the pain and consequences. Show me how he manages to stay in his daughter's life, if he does. Brokeback Mountain does not shy away from how badly Ennis treats his wife and how absent he is to his children. My experience with beejhawk is that much angst is made of the obstacles to their being together, but they're quickly dispatched with. Tell me what Hawkeye sees in BJ, because I don't see it in the show.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it? It inspired me to make these. I've been thinking lately that this lyric fits beejhawk "perhaps we don't fulfill each other's fantasies." If you know me, you know this is something positive from me, because it's from what I think is one of the best songs ever written. There is some interesting potential. Just get out of the true love box! Try something dark, something one-sided (BJ's side), something that ends badly! I do really like their friendship in the first few BJ seasons.

#i'm gonna stop there this could go on all night #mashposting #i welcome discussion on any of these points btw #you won't change my mind but it's fun to talk

[opalspring]

Some observations about the gay Kazui theory

A lot of people have been discussing this and it’s super interesting so I wanted to share some stuff I noticed too! Posting this before cat since it’s possible this theory will get either debunked or confirmed by then.

Lyrics from Cat

First, let’s talk about the preview of cat from the 2nd trial song previews. One thing I personally dislike from the staff’s English translation is this part:

“Devotion-love, lame, cheating”

While the first two tl choices are good imo, the third part could have been chosen better. The reason for this being, while it’s not a wrong tl per say, 化かす (bakasu) means “to confuse”, “to delude” according to my dictionary. There’s also the expression 狐と狸の化かし合い (kitsune to tanuki no bakashiai), which refers to two people outfoxing each other. 

While I get this might be for localization purposes, I feel like the word “cheating” has connotations in English that are way too different from the original in this case. What I’m trying to say is that we should probably wait for the mv itself to draw our conclusions regarding this (though it’s also possible this really is just about cheating).

These lines caught my attention too, but for another reason:

“Love + Fate = Crap”

“Disgusting playing-house + Disguise + Fake”

While at first glance, these lyrics make it look like Kazui might be a cheater (and not shy about it), I feel like this could be a case of Kazui lashing out after he spent so much time in a relationship with a woman when he’s not attracted to them in the first place. It’s possible Kazui actually saw his wife in a best friend kind of way, and that they only got married because of their families’ and society’s pressure, compulsory heterosexuality, you know. There Are a lot of suspicious things about Kazui that he needs to explain, but maybe cheating isn’t actually one of them. We’ll see, though.

Next, let’s discuss some things from the half mv. 

How Shidou and Kazui respectively visualize their partner

This next section will reference Triage, where we have a look at Shidou’s family for the first time. As a quick note, there has been some debate over the woman in the mv potentially being Shidou's sister or other family relative but I personally believe she's his lover because of this part:

Shidou (we recognize him as he has the same outfit as in the rest of the mv) has his arm around her waist so I assumed they’re romantically involved because of it.

But how does this all connect to Kazui? You guessed it, the way Shidou and Kazui visualize their partner in their respective mvs vastly differs. Let’s have a look. 

Shidou’s visual representation of his lover.

And here’s Kazui’s.

Notice anything? In my opinion, these choices were very deliberate. As various people in the fandom have pointed out, characters in mil mvs who have faces are very important to whichever story is being told (Rei in Muu’s mvs, Shidou’s lover mentioned earlier etc). So it can make one wonder, why does Kazui’s wife, who he obviously cares deeply for, not have a detailed face when we see her? 

To continue this particular point, I want you to look at these consecutive shots from half:

It’s unclear who the blonde woman on the top is, she could be someone Kazui met at the bar, or a coworker etc. It’s not really important who she is for our theory, what’s to note is that these two shots come one after the other, and that the composition in both is extremely similar. My interpretation for this is that, between a woman who is in the grand scheme of things a stranger to him, and the woman he married, Kazui makes almost no difference in the way he visualizes them (as in facial detail).  Because ultimately, if he’s gay, no matter how hard he tries, no matter the woman, he won’t be able to love them romantically. This could be what the staff was going for here.

The green apple and the pixelated person

There’s a cool detail about the two shots above. To start off, the first one’s composition is a little curious. It follows the rule of 1/3; 2/3 with Kazui in the third third of the screen, but the remaining part of the image feels strangely empty, save for the green light at the top. 

It could represent Kazui’s solitude in the theater, but a few scenes later we get the second shot, where we see the green apple on one of the seats.

A fun fact is that, if you count the seats between Kazui and the apple, you notice that 4 seats on Kazui’s right seats the apple… Which corresponds to the second leftmost seat in the first screenshot. The apple was with him the whole time, and the green light stands right in the middle of the two. Hmm. But what does this mean? Honestly I’m not sure. If anything it means the apple is so important to Kazui it was given this special place. 

But then there’s also the pixelated person in the back of the second screenshot. Who are they? They’re probably very important to the story, especially when the apple stands right between them and Kazui.

Since the mystery person isn’t in the first shot where we’re introduced to Kazui, it could mean that whoever they are/represent, Kazui would rather not acknowledge them. At least not until he has to.

Look at the lyrics that play when this scene is on screen. 

“Where did I go wrong, probably from the beginning”

And then, during the same sentence, we get this Kazui who looks like he just had a revelation.

This sentence probably refers to the fact Kazui’s relationship with his wife was bound to fail, because of his sexual orientation. And the mystery person might be a representation of men in general, who Kazui could be attracted to.

The chair and what it could represent

At certain parts during half, it seems as if Kazui is talking to this chair. Some examples:

It should be noted that both times Kazui does this, the lyrics he sings are the same. This part in particular caught my eye:

“Please tell me what I should do”

Who exactly is Kazui talking to here? He could simply be thinking of his wife here, but since there’s so much emphasis on the chair, I thought they could be symbolic for an entity or a group of people Kazui knows. I have two guesses: it might represent either his family, or maybe society in general. 

I don’t think it’s the former because Kazui seems at odds with them and possibly got disowned, so I feel like he wouldn’t value their opinion too much. As for the second option, it could be Kazui asking us what he should have done/ how he should have handled the situation (with him being gay and unable to love his wife romantically, but not wanting to hurt her feelings). It’s hard to know because we don’t have a lot of context for this part so it could be anything really.

Some parts of the lyrics that could specifically refer to homosexuality

These don’t really fit in any of the other points I talked about but if we look at them in the context of this theory they can be pretty telling:

“So many things I wish I hadn’t known, I’m just a coward”

“What I gave up a long time ago, why is it questioning me now?”

“So many things I should have known, I’m just a coward”

Kazui’s possible coming out to his wife

In my opinion, this part could be the aftermath of Kazui coming out to his wife. Let me explain. Here we have the apple (temptation/the forbidden fruit = the idea of homosexuality here?) in the background, so that’s one thing. Add to that the lyrics playing:

“All this time till now has hurt me, The scales of my heart have decided to sway”

This line could refer to the moment Kazui felt like he had to be honest with his wife, because as much as he loved her, pretending to basically be someone he wasn’t was hurting him. Hence “the scales of his heart swaying”. This scene then led to Hinako jumping from the balcony at some point, but at the moment we don’t know the details.

Hope you enjoyed!

#milgram #milgram theory #kazui mukuhara #I swear I have mil theories that don't involve gay ponders #even if the next one is about Muu lol

[tobi-smp]

Can I ask your opinion on something?

Do you think being poly makes you queer? Not necessarily LGBT+, just queer. I’ve seen a few of people say no, and I’m really wondering what you might think, because you talk about this kind of thing a lot and seem really knowledgeable on it

So sorry if this bothers you!!!

To address the end of this ask and your follow up ask first: you have nothing to worry about, I don't mind questions like this at all (though it was a bit of a surprise to see it’d been sent here rather than my main). you just happened to message me while I was in the car so I couldn't respond right away!

that said, there is no point in gatekeeping against people who are marginalized by our amatonormative cishet society from the Marginalized Sexual Romantic And Gender Identities Group. literally everybody benefits from solidarity and nobody is helped by exclusionism, there Is no upside to looking at someone’s suffering and saying that it’s not important enough, that it’s not good enough, or that it doesn’t belong to them, or that it doesn’t look enough like you to Count.

so my answer to “should this marginalized identity have a space in our community” has been, in the space of 10 years of me having an opinion on it, a Unanimous Yes.

to talk on polyamory in particular, it’s genuinely ridiculous to me that it’s even in question in the first place.

1: polyamorous people are Legally discriminated against, with marriage being solely monogamous. this has all of the same problems that are tied to gay marriage being illegal. there’s the mundane of taxes and the extreme of partners being barred from their loved ones in medical emergencies, but it goes even further than that. landlords denying people the right to roommates that aren’t legal partners or family members, for instance.

2: polyamorous people are Religiously discriminated against, with the christian mindset being that marriage is intended to be between One Man and One Woman. many religious zealots view polyamory as just as other, just as deviant, just as Sinful as they view gayness.

3: polyamorous people are Socially discriminated against, with even non-religious people viewing it as other, questionable, or even Immoral because monogamy is the dominant cultural standard. you’ll see the same arguments used to demonize and pathologize gayness used against polyamory, often times without people even realizing that these two mindsets are comparable. that the same societal standards that deem that heterosexuality is “normal” (heteronormativity) also creates the idea that monogamy is “normal” (amatonormativity).

and on top of all of this, polyamorous people face Erasure and Misinformation propagated By the society that stigmatizes and discriminates against them.

now, I greatly dislike the idea that we need to line up a list of oppression stats in order for a marginalized identity to “count” or to Belong in our communities, but I bring all of this up because having solidarity with other marginalized communities is the most effective way for marginalized people to gain the social power needed to combat systemic, legal, and social discrimination. 

when we say “x marginalized group doesn’t belong in our communities Because” what we’re saying is “x marginalized group Deserves To Be Stripped Of Their Ability To Fight Back Against Discrimination Because I Do Not Want To Defend Them.” which is both Cruel, and Ridiculous on account of the fact that Solidarity Goes Both Ways.

allowing polyamorous people within queer spaces means that polyamorous people will be heard and protected within our communities, but it Also means that polyamorous people will be there to Hear And Protect Their Fellow Community Members. that is literally the Point of community. which is why, like I’ve already said, there is literally no downside to inclusivity and there is literally no upside to exclusivity. we Strip Away our power as a community by cutting ourselves up and gatekeeping who can and cannot add to the pot.

on another note, I’d like to address something that was small within the ask, but that I have a lot to say about:

on a personal level people are allowed to identify with certain terms and communities and not others. if someone wants to be queer and not lgbt+ or lgbt+ and not queer then they should be allowed to, it’s as much a choice on community and acceptance and comfort as the choice of identifying as pan vs bi is.

but the idea that as a Community we can or Should decide which marginalized identities “count” as lgbt+ vs “just queer” At All is absolutely outrageous to me. and I don’t say this against you anon, it’s clear you’ve seen people talking about this and are now trying to understand it conceptually. but from a fundamental level it is Absurd.

the point of “queer” as a label and as a community is both in radical acceptance and in rejection of the status quo. which means it’s very appealing for marginalized identities and presentations that face backlash even within lgbt+ spaces. 

but this fact Doesn’t mean that these identities Should be excluded from lgbt+ spaces, it doesn’t mean that we Should be allowing people to gatekeep the lgbt+ community. the idea that a marginalized orientation could belong to one but not the other is giving the lgbt+ community to exclusionists, it’s Giving control of these spaces and communities over to bigotry and lateral aggression. 

nobody should be Forced to use any labels that they don’t want to claim, nobody should be Forced to align with a community that they don’t want to be apart of, but that Also means ensuring that we leave all of these labels and communities open to anyone who Does want to align with them.

#discourse #long post #polyamory

[oceanic-sunsets]

an analysis on Mike's feelings progression, and the Love Confession Epiphany trope

i've read many, many analyses about mike, his feelings [for will, and in general] and whether he's aware of them or not, and one very common, popular interpretation is that he's always had feelings for will, making byler fall into the "it's always been you" trope. and while i LOVE this interpretation, i want to offer my own perspective.

s1-s2 mike

i think at the beginning of the show, mike is truthful when he says they're all his best friends. they're all unique, and different from each other. mike has different dynamics with all of them, but they're all his best friends.

then, with will's disappearance and his later possession, mike realizes something: Will is special, and he IS different from the rest of his friends. we can see how he's aware of it by his shed monologue when he tells possessed will that asking to be his friend was the best thing he's done.

and, honestly? i STILL think that up to this point, all mike feels towards will is a VERY strong friendship, but, of course, people grow up and nothing ever stays the same.

s3 mike

oh, this is a complex one. we know mike spends most of his time with el, and we can interpret his behavior in a lot of different ways. there's ONE thing i know for sure: he's not doing it for "romance" or because he's so in love. We have to look at the events that took place in the previous seasons: in s1, el "died" saving everyone, and in s2 mike felt so, so guilty, so he spent so much time thinking about her and calling her. he wanted her to be safe, he began considering her one of his friends (a friend is someone you'd do anything for), and also, the fact that he was a 12 year old boy who just saw a girl sacrifice herself and vanish.

s3 mike, now going through puberty and entering his teenage years, is glued to el's side and he's doing it for two reasons:

he's scared to lose her again. as simple as that. she is his friend, who he thought he lost before, and he wants to make sure she is safe (sounds familiar?). one of mike's character traits is that he feels the need to protect other people, and this, of course, includes el.

it's what he's supposed to do: isn't it the natural progression of the story? el is the first girl mike has befriended. everyone around him started assuming he liked her simply because he was nice to her and cared. they started teasing him. and mike thought "yeah, it makes sense", because why wouldn't it?? it's what they see in the movies, tv, and comics all the time. However, i dont think by this point he's aware he's following societal's expectations. Mike genuinely enjoys spending time with el. they have fun together, find comfort in each other (mike gets a reminder that el is there, safe, not in danger anymore, and el has the company of one of the first people that showed her kindness and friendship) this is really undeniable. he doesn't particularly like kissing, but he doesn't dislike it either: he's a teenager, kissing is fun, makes you seem cool, and hey, if you run out of conversation topics you can just kiss and problem solved! i dont think he spends time with her out of pity, as a cover, or anything like that. he's just unaware he's hurting and sidelining his friends in the process, too. the context here matters, of course, because this isnt the modern world. this is the 80's, a time where being gay in a smalltown could be extremely dangerous, and the media spread misinformation about the aid's epidemic. so i dont think mike is aware of anything, but i can see this easily being one of his fears*: he and his friends (specially will) have been bullied by homophobic kids, the people in household doesnt seem particularly accepting, and it's a common experience for lgbt+ kids to feel this feeling of guilt, wrongness, not 'normal' from a young age and not understanding why.

...but then, of course, stuff happened, and said stuff involved one of the most important (see: s1-s2 mike) people in his life: will.

Will, hurt because it seems like his friends don't want to spend time together like they used to, tells mike he's ruining the party. so mike projects his fears* onto will:

and mike immediately regrets it, realizing he's wrong. he gets, again, this feeling of guilt he's felt before, but a thousand times worse because it's his best friend he's talking to. and it's unfair, that's why he rushes to try to fix things.

next thing we know, mike is telling the entire room he loves el and that he can't lose her again. Sounds familiar? yeah, we went through this before, which is why i dont think it was a lie: of course he loves el and doesnt want to lose her. she's his friend and he has lost her before. this interaction here is what leads me to believe mike is STILL unaware, still fully believing that what he feels for el is romantic love..

up until the famous s3 finale, at least.

this, this is when confusion starts to kick in. when he starts questioning things. El, his girlfriend, just told him she loved him and kissed him. But he's confused, as we can confirm by the script. because isn't he supposed to feel.... happier? more excited?? by his girlfriend telling him i love you? is this really how being in love feels?

and this right here is where the path towards his character grow REALLY begins. mike is sad, and confused because nothing is turning out how it's supposed to. his best friend, who he spent so little time with thanks to his desire to grow up and trying to be who he was supposed to, is moving away. his girlfriend, who just told him 'i love you' (and isn't he supposed to be happier?) is moving away too, and he has no opportunity to try to discover what all of this means because they're moving away.

so he enters this phase of repression, bottling up his feelings and isolation. and mike ends s3 AWARE that things arent as it seem, that there's something that hasn't clicked yet, because despite his awareness, he doesnt understand why. after all, he did everything he was supposed to, didnt he??

enter: mike and s4. by this point, i'm convinced mike is starting to realize a couple of things: he can't say i love you to el, and will DEFINITELY falls into a different category than the rest of his friends. his absence wights on him more than ever: hawkins isn't the same without will.

he's also hyper-aware of this difference and doesnt even want to THINK about it, so he falls into his perfect boyfriend persona again (failing). This is what gives us the awkward airport hug and the rink-o-mania fight: mike is trying really hard to ignore his feelings, but by ignoring them, they start becoming more and more obvious.

he tried to reach out to will but it didnt work. will didnt reach out. He's hurt, because will, who is special to him is apparently ignoring him, and suddenly will is in front of him asking "what about us?" and mike panics, because that is too close to his fears* and the list of things he doesn't understand and are better left alone, untouched.

and this is also one of the reasons he feels so self-deprecating and insecure: despite trying so hard, he can't be the person who he wished he was: a better, more loving boyfriend who can say i love you and truly mean it. a better friend, who doesn't get confusing feelings and cares maybe a bit too much, someone who doesn't overcompensate and ends up coming across as emotionally detached.

but hey, apparently there's a light at the end of the tunnel, because suddenly will is delivering his endearing, loving speech about all these feelings El has for him and it's exactly what he needed to hear, and for the first time in a long time, he feels loved, special, wanted.

and isnt it amazing?? he's finally hit by such intense emotions: this is how you're supposed to feel about your girlfriend!

but, hey, wait a second. why is el ignoring him after his big love confession? why does it not feel right, despite how he felt back in the van?

these are thoughts he can revisit later, tho, as there are more important matters at hand: the end of the world is about to begin.

so mike ends s4: A) aware he cares too much about will, thinking that maybe more than will cares about him (because he didnt reach out), so he should pretend he cares less...? but wait, no, he still wants his best friend back, despite everything. B) even more confused. why did he felt so loved by el back in the van? but why is she ignoring him now? shouldn't his speech bring them closer??

i believe mike has all the puzzle pieces right in front of him, he just hasnt put them together yet. But. But. That's why Will's lie, his painting, exists. It's the key, it's finding out the truth about the painting what mike needs to understand himself and what those around him have been feeling.

when mike started developing feelings for will is up to interpretation. Personally, i believe there were hints that there might be something else by the end of s3, but they didn't fully develop until s4, because a glimpse of a feeling is easier to ignore when the person involved is across the country. And despite projecting his fears* onto will in s3, it's only in s4 that he starts acting different towards Will, behaving awkwardly. it's s4 when he feels undeniably loved by someone. it's s4 when he admits Will is different from the rest of his friends, to the point of not considering Hawkins home because Will is not there. It's s4 when we REALLY start seeing their friendship change into a more intimate, yet tense dynamic.

So, yeah, Will has always been it for Mike, but his feelings weren't always romantic, and that's the beautiful thing about it. We watched him develop feelings for will on screen. we watched their friendship change, evolve, and slowly grow into something else.

One of the reasons why i think mike is not fully aware yet, despite NOW HAVING romantic feelings for will, is the simple fact that he has NEVER considered it. Finn wolfhard himself said mike is clueless. he's unaware. He doesn't even see it as an option, but once he learns the truth, it'll become one.

This is where the Love Revelation Epiphany trope comes in:

The Truth about the painting is Mike's Love Revelation Epiphany. He already had feelings for will, he has had them for a while, but for Mike, it was something confusing, something he couldn't understand. It's only the truth about the painting and the meaning behind it that makes him realize them. It'll be his clarity, the moment where it starts making sense.

When, where, and how is something i don't know and i wont try to predict. But Will's painting isnt only about him. It doesn't only portray his truth, it's also a representation of Mike's truth, the culmination of his character arc, the progression of his feelings throughout the show, and the key piece we need to understand both of them and their actions.

#mike wheeler #will byers #byler #stranger things #analysis #mike wheeler analysis #st analysis #i cant believe i wrote a 2k mike wheeler character analysis #i was such a mike anti back when s3 aired #look at me now #if you read ALL of this: ily and im so sorry i hope it made sense #let me know what you think please #and i'd appreciate reblogs A LOT #i spent an embarrassing amount of time on this

[willandmichael]

something i keep circling back to is mike's characterization from a (byler)-outsider point of view.

the duffers saw the way the public reacted to mike in s3, he went from being a loved character to someone most people found annoying and just plain rude (the cause: his relationship w el). he became someone that started to act extremely out of character for what people knew of him in s1-s2 by ignoring his friends and his BEST FRIEND (who btw everyone saw him going crazy over the last two seasons bc he almost died twice in the span of 2 years). so, going in, the public expects that in s3 he would absolutely be clinging to will, being protective and not.. pushing him away, ignoring him and making fun of him wanting to play d&d. the public was left with a bad impression of mike, but nothing that he can't come back from. we get left with the just the plain "mike is annoying" from everyone.

so if you're writing the show and you want people to like mike again, what do you do? well, this character who was left with a bad impression last season needs to have a new arc and stop giving everyone more reasons to dislike him. but then we get to the whole ordeal of s4 and boy oh boy, the amount of times i saw people saying they wish mike was the one to get vecna'd and die was overwhelming. even finn himself was getting the bad end of it :/

if the duffers don't have an actual reason and resolution in s5 as to why mike is acting the way he is for 2 whole seasons then it will just be bad writing i'm sorry lol we get to sit here to write and read analysis and truly try to understand mike, we believe he acts the way he does because he's battling with himself over liking will and having internalized homophobia.. but the general public only sees what's on screen and don't really have many thoughts about it. all they're going to see when they think of mike in stranger things is that he went from a loving, caring kid to an annoying, rude teenager that treats his girlfriend like shit and ignores his friends.

the milkvan relationship will be in shambles and terrible, why push this relationship that doesn't work? why does mike treat eleven like that if she's supposed to be the love of his life? why write all this conflict in the first place?

and the byler narrative will also be unfulfilled and make no sense, why would mike change so much in regards to will if 1) he doesn't know will is gay / is projecting onto will: did he say "it's not my fault you don't like girls" / "we're friends, we're FRIENDS" for no reason? it was just to hurt will, the canon gay character, even more? 2) is not attracted to will himself? what other explanation could they give to mike's behavior around him?

all this to say, would they be dumb enough to "ruin" mike's character for no reason and to "ruin" mikvan's relationship for no reason for 2 seasons in a row? if they're going the byler route they need to have the public seeing mike being his true self again with will (which we get in s4), where he is caring and soft and likeable. in s5 they have the opportunity to actually explain mike's actions and have everyone looking in retrospect and going "oh, so that's why"

but if the duffers are actually that dumb and anything happens otherwise, i feel bad for el, will and my beloved s1-s2 mike.

#byler #iza.txt #rambling cause i don't accept the fact they don't have a clear reason for all of this #finn wolfhard was not looking at noah's lips for no reason come on now

[sonorousabyss]

Hello, i hope youre doing alright!! May I ask for a Star wars romantic Match up? Thank you in advance if you do<3

I'm masc Non-Binary They/Them & Gay/Queer (male attraction). My Star sign is Leo and I'm INTJ-T if that's of any use.

I have short layered Blood Red hair, but I seem to dye it every month! My fav colors to switch are Red and Baby Blue!! My eyes are rlly dark Brown, almost Black. Im more on the short side (5"0ft/152.4cm) & what people call a baby face.

Minus all that I'm not "mean" but people always assume on first glance that I would fight them(never understood that as im quite shy upon first meet, i prefer to stay with myself), I do have a lot of fighting experience but that's only for when someone swings first. I have some hard anger issues but never take them out on people, at least I try not to, I do enjoy a good argument tho,, i also tyoically yell or curse in german when im mad my friends think its the funniest thing ever. But once you get past most of that I've been discribed as much of a protective father/brother figure by a lot of my friends, I always try to be there for the people im close with, I have the Humor of a little teenager boy dispute the fact it's hard for me to laugh with Alexithymia. (Ex; I giggle at the word balls :")) with Alexithymia I typically have a monotone expression and voice as it's hard for me to express or tell what emotion im feeling.

I LOVE listening to people talk about the simplest things they find interesting, even if it sounds dumb I prefer to listen to those around me speak. I don't like talking due to my Alexithymia and stutter, but I could talk about Space and Science for hours!

My main Hobby is writing, but I enjoy doodling my friends or landscapes!

My style in clothing is much more bright and "loud", I enjoy the kidcore theme of clothing and dress in vibarant colours! My favorite colors are pastels!!

I enjoy background Sound when it's more quiet, vibrants and pastels, reading, and science/math!

I dislike extremely loud sounds, yelling, and crowds!

I've been told my Love Language is quality time and Gift Giving, im afraid of physical touch but also extremely touch starved, I'd like a hug but the idea also scares me lol 😵‍💫..

I apologize if this was too much or a lot to read, take your time Sonor if you decide to do it!! Have a good day<3

AN: Don't worry about it Anon, it wasn't too much! Had a few potential matches but I figured it'd be safer than sorry to take my time with yours. Hope you don't mind getting someone from the humanoid-adjacent partner pool!

Plo Koon is one of the most down-to-earth living beings you'll ever truly meet and just an overall sweetheart.

Despite the disposition that you appear to portray- that being of someone on the more vocally or physically violent side- Plo could sense your good nature resting underneath. He never once doubted that you were a decent person.

That said, he found it quite curious that you tended to keep to yourself, given the aura you almost seem to give off with the force. I don't imagine that it would take too long for him to put two-and-two together that you were just shy, but the reason for that level of withdrawn attitude would be a question that nags at the edge of his mind.

Unlike other Jedi who would either keep their distance from you entirely or jump right into conversation (or at least try to), he was definitely on the more tactful side when it came to initiating conversations. He didn't want to make you uncomfortable, and conversely, didn't want to risk you being lonely either. He sought a healthy balance.

Amusingly enough, the monotonous way in which you speak isn't something that would bother him all too much in the long scheme of things, nor with the lack of expression. Plo is keen when it comes to communication, so if he isn't sure about something there's no doubt that he'd ask for clarification.

Furthermore, when it comes to speech patterns, you're both in a similar boat considering that his speech is slightly unique as well. He thinks about what he says, and there's this draw of emphasis he seems to put on certain syllables and words. It's not so much that he's sluggish as he is slow and deliberate. Fairly refreshing, actually.

As for conversational topics, I imagine that you both would have many things to discuss- common interests or otherwise. He doesn't mind carrying the conversation if it makes you most comfortable, but you'd find that no matter how much you stutter he'd be right at your side, gaze fixated on you and only you as you speak.

He thoroughly enjoys your rants on space, science, and the like that you both share in your free time, finding them both interesting and insightful. Quite a few things you've mentioned have drifted in and out of his mind when he's out on missions, and a fact or two has come in very handy.

Though he's less argumentative than quite a few of his peers, debates between you two are also something that he looks forward to. They can be quite amusing, although not much can quite chalk up to the feeling seeing you curse under your breath in german gives him.

More than likely, he's walked in on you while you were with his men doing so, and at least once you were shouting. The boys in white might not have known exactly what you were saying, but he certainly caught on quick.

Let's just say he got a good chuckle during those excursions.

When you start changing up your look, you'll find he almost immediately notices- especially in regards to your hair. He compliments it frequently. Your style of dress, though quite unlike his own, also interests him. He's done a bit of research in an attempt to locate where the style originated from, to varying levels of success. I don't imagine you'll ever catch him partaking, but he makes sure you know he appreciates the looks you do.

As far as amusement goes, he probably trusts the force to gauge just how pleased you are by certain situations to better get a grasp on your humor. He finds the level of 'immurity', as some would call it, in your tastes amusing... in that it's just another character trait of yours that makes you unique. He also may or may not have tipped off his men so you could have a good time hanging with them, not that he openly stated so. He'd probably tease you a tad if you questioned whether or not he was the culprit.

He finds your 'big brotherly' and 'fatherly' attitude towards those around you quite endearing, especially to those younger than yourself. He's been fairly well known to have a good reputation with the younglings (or at least Ahsoka) and has a similar relationship with her that you have with others, so it's something he understands quite well.

Of the potential suitors in the Jedi Order, he's fairly logical, which means that you are going to have a lot more leeway when it comes to what missions you do and do not go on. While others like Skywalker or Kenobi would have openly objected to you going on more dangerous missions had you been their partner, Plo lets logic take the lead and knows that you're capable of defending yourself.

That said, don't think he'll just let you partake in whatever mission you want whenever, regardless of the danger. You will be debriefed on the situation for your safety if you are going, and when the rare circumstance arises that he 100% does not want to see you on the gunship with him and his men, he isn't really going to be someone you can negotiate with. Not that you can't try- it's just that he'll have an armada of rock-solid arguments that'll be extremely difficult to counter.

He's the type that would rather you avoid violent situations if at all possible but feels much more comfortable knowing that you have legitimate fighting experience under your metaphorical, pastel belt on the off-chance it becomes unavoidable. The safer you are, the more he can focus on his work without worry.

I imagine exchanging feelings was a rather interesting situation for him given his position in the order, but when he did share them with you it was heartfelt and in the comfort of a quiet room, or hallway. Perhaps located by a balcony or window with a view.

Personally, I picture quality time as one of his love languages, which works quite well for both of you. As for physical touch though? He'd recognize and respect your fear and reserve such contact for moments he was certain you were fine with it. It probably wasn't common during the start of your relationship but became more frequent as you got comfortable over time.

On the notion of fears, Plo is the type to help you with them if at all possible, even if it takes a long time to do so. The long haul doesn't bother him much- not with how long he's lived.

One of Plo's favorite ways to spend quality time with you together is when you're drawing. He finds the process quite enjoyable, and never hesitates to compliment you on your technique. Your skill never ceases to amaze him.

He almost certainly has a drawing you've made of him and/or the boys in his quarters. Likely framed, and either sitting on a desk or mounted on a wall. He makes sure to value any gifts he's given.

Overall it's a very trusting, wholesome relationship and one that doesn't often yield issues. You simply set his heart aflutter.

AN: There are few words to describe this relationship other than "Wholesome." It's not one that drudges up particularly chaotic scenarios in mind, but the sheer stability that comes with a relationship with this man is rather comforting. For those who got this far, I hope you enjoyed! May the force be with you, and may your day be as pleasant as the ocean's abyss is deep!

For those who are new here, I take requests. You can find my rules here.

#star wars #star wars x reader #star wars x gn reader #star wars x gender neutral reader #star wars matchup #gn reader #gn #gender neutral #matchup #clone wars matchup #clone wars #clone wars x gn reader #plo koon #plo koon x gn reader #plo koon x reader #plo koon matchup #clone wars x reader #anakin #kenobi #ahsoka #headcanons #star wars headcanons #clone wars headcanons

[knightotoc]

Spock's deal as developed over decades:

logical, stoic, superhuman strength, superhuman precision, green blood, pointy ears, scientist, musician, vegetarian, friend to animals, telepath, hippie sympathizer, idealist

has more powerful emotions than humans, so he has to hide them

over years of cold professionalism, forms incredibly deep attachments to coworkers Kirk and Bones, even though their human lifespans are tragically shorter than his own

a complex reflection of an imperfect but remarkable and beloved real person (Nimoy's two biographies are called "I Am Not Spock" and "I Am Spock"); because of this, Spock is famously Jewish-coded and expressed many of Nimoy's strong personal values and creative ideas

historically significant gay interpretation by an important fandom and published writers; in the wider fandom, Spock's sex appeal surpassed the actual lead actor's

he has some romances as a young man, but he ultimately dedicates his life to the noble cause of Romulan reunification

bizarre alien libido on a fuck-or-die 7-year cycle; this silly premise is taken extremely seriously

difficult relationship with his Vulcan father and human mother

complex relationship with Starfleet, especially w/r/t Pike, Kirk, and Romulans

has a secret half-brother who darkly mirrors Spock's own struggles with emotions, forming bonds with other people, and faith in God

sacrifices himself out of pure, logical love and gets reborn through the misuse of a terraformer-turned-superweapon

the platonic ideal of a nerd

In 2009, Spock was recast, but this version is from an alternate timeline. There are two significant changes to the character, which are not as appealing to me, but I still appreciate them:

his homeplanet was destroyed. This enormous tragedy gives us a character who is much less stoic. In my opinion, this takes away from Spock's uniqueness. But as a Star Wars fan, I appreciate that Spock's grief for his planet gets to affect him in a way Leia's never did

he has a relationship with Uhura. This is a fun decision, especially as these characters had some chemistry in the original show, but it is a bit spoiled by the creepy tracking device subplot

This recast is a fundamentally different character. In my opinion the best thing about him is when they lean into that difference; Quinto's Spock knows about Nimoy's, and has profound feelings about his alternate self. This was handled beautifully after Nimoy's death, and I am grateful that his protege's version of the character got to grieve with us in the real world.

In 2019, Spock was recast for a second time, and this version is supposed to be the same character as the original. But they have made multiple changes to the character anyway, which I mostly dislike. I haven't watched SNW since I feel this interpretation of Pike is even more ableist than the 60s version, but I am trying to keep track of what this franchise is doing with their best character:

Spock now has an additional secret sibling, an adopted human sister Michael. The reveal that Sarek chose Spock over Michael for Vulcan Science Academy, which Spock refused anyway, is some fun drama. It makes me feel bad for Michael and angry with Spock, which is a bummer. I do not think we needed to have Trek's first Black woman protagonist anchored by her relationship to a legacy character. I enjoy their dynamic, but I don't see a fundamental mirror of challenging topics with them like I do with him and Sybok. And of course this bond isn't going to be able to influence Spock in the future, as his bond with Sybok will

Spock now also has dyslexia; I appreciate the representation, but again this isn't going to influence him at all in the future; Spock in "The Menagerie" is an ableist character by modern standards

he's in a love triangle with Chapel and T'Pring; to me this is OOC for all three of them, and unnecessarily makes original Spock into a big, insensitive jerk. While he is a passionate character, the whole point is that he controls his passion, even to the point of choosing his love for humanity over his love for individuals. His deep friendship with Kirk and Bones is only possible since they have grown old together, which is the main theme of the original movies

where'd the chest hair go

Peck's interview where he says they're pushing Spoimler and he enjoyed acting with Quaid because they're both from acting families = so this actor's input into this once highly personal character is just queerbaiting and nepotism

The reason I wrote this post is because, in the newest SNW ep (spoilers), Spock becomes somehow humanized and, as a result, happily eats bacon. First of all, "I love bacon" is like, the definition of cringe outdated internet humor. More importantly, this is a nonsensical and possibly offensive move for a character who is Jewish-coded and vegetarian. Vulcans can eat meat, but they choose not to as part of their strict code of ethics. Spock in particular has a deep love for all forms of life, and his telepathy even gives him the ability to understand every creature from the Horta to the whales. Of course Federation meat is synthesized, but, at least in my interpretation, I can't imagine Spock even symbolically enjoying eating one of the smartest animals on Earth.

Of course every beloved character will develop over time, sometimes even in prequels. But these changes ought to make them more complex, or more personal to a new creator. The things that made Spock special are draining away. He is becoming more fashionable, straighter, more ordinary. Most fans seem to enjoy the new version, but I am left reeling at these odd decisions.

#star trek #spock #long post #lots of adverbs here smh im too upset to write well ig

[vespertin-y]

THE ASK MEME AGAIN what about...... miu kaito and himiko?

it's been an ENTIRE YEAR since the first time we did this. h o w.

MIU

Sexuality Headcanon: not the slutty bisexual rep we wanted, but the slutty bisexual rep we needed.

Gender Headcanon: i firmly see her as a trans woman because she's going to make jokes about her genitals and i find dick jokes funnier than vagina jokes. yes, that is the entire basis of this headcanon.

A ship I have with said character: her and kiibo are bland for my taste but still sweet. her and kaito are fun also (what if we were both soo smart and also sooo stupid...and we're both trans😳!?). honestly i don't ship her with a lot of people in the cast? i should make up an oc for her to date. hm.

A BROTP I have with said character: her and kokichi are great, and not just because they're funny! it's fascinating to think of how long they were cooperating behind the scenes. sometimes i get really mad at miu because kokichi (presumably under the cover of the first electrobomb) TOLD her his plan, he tried so hard to work together, and she rejected him, tried to beat him to death, and sent everything spiraling off the rails for the rest of the game!! but then i have to reel myself back in and remember that she was just as paranoid as kokichi, that she didn't go with the plan because she was terrified "someone" (probably kokichi imo) would betray and kill her, and Not Everyone Mean To Your Blorbo Has To Explode, Mem. miu tried her best. it just wasn't enough. that can be said for 99% of the v3 kids.

A NOTP I have with said character: YOU GOT ME TO RANT ABOUT IRUMATSU LAST TIME YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT AGAIN. i will say i dislike sairuma though, but mostly because i think shuichi hating her ass is the funniest way for that relationship to go.

A random headcanon: i know it gets lost in the whole "haha funny she thinks she's a cyborg, aren't tsumugi's backstories so fucking stupid" thing, but i think she *did* get a traumatic brain injury in that car accident that eroded her impulse control and sense of boundaries and that's a large part of why she behaves the way she does. does that count as a headcanon or is that just extrapolating from canon. hm.

General Opinion over said character: every day i think about kodaka designing her to be a deliberately unlikable character who everyone would hate, and then getting super shocked and mad at the popularity polls showing she's rlly popular. GET FUCKED NERD

KAITO

Sexuality Headcanon: either aro or gay. headcanoning him as not attracted to women is the only way i can get any enjoyment out of the clusterfuck that is the harumota plotline, because at least it makes the scene where maki confesses and he says "...good for you, off to die now!" extremely funny.

Gender Headcanon: a bro. a broski. a brotato chip. a brotein shake. a brofessor. a member of the broman empire.

A ship I have with said character: i've grown fond of oumota if only bc those fics tend to have really good kokichi characterization. him n gonta are the embodiment of the "i lied, i don't actually like sex, now put your pants back on and let me infodump for three hours" meme and i love that for them. but most of all i like the idea of him and rantaro in a qpr postgame. i think those two would get a lot from just...existing quietly in each other's space, slowing becoming the center of the other's life. i should write a fic about that...

A BROTP I have with said character: him and shuichi are sooo unhealthy and that's what makes them so interesting to me. i think about them postgame a lot...about shuichi trying to support kaito the way he was supported, and about kaito fighting against it. it's hard not to slip into old patterns, but i think they could do it.

also i think about "i don't care if you're sick! i don't care if you're dying! i won't let monokuma touch you!" EVERY GODDAMN DAY

 A NOTP I have with said character: him and maki. i can’t even rant about them like i do with my other NOTPs. they just make me...tired.

A random headcanon: he never gels his hair again after the game. i’ve said it before but i really think he should’ve been more messed up when he came out of the exisal - no gel, no coat (where did he even get the second one??), covered in blood, etc. and i think after that, when he wakes up, he can’t bring himself to gel it again. he buys the supplies and goes into his bathroom and just Stares into the mirror. he can’t make himself do it. he leaves.

General Opinion over said character: ehhh...mixed. he’s a very good and complex character but he’s also a raging homophobe in the og japanese, yknow? it’s difficult for me to have super positive feelings on a character who calls people homophobic slurs and is treated as right for doing so by the narrative, no matter how deep and complex they are and how many cute gay headcanons i have. maybe that’s more of a flaw with v3 than a flaw with kaito, though.

HIMIKO

Sexuality Headcanon: she engages in lesbianics

Gender Headcanon: none beef with left girl.

A ship I have with said character: WAH i already talked a bunch about tenmiko in the tenko post,,,i think himikiyo’s surprisingly cute! it’s not a ship i considered before i found it but ao3 user platonics has gotten to me what can i say...

A BROTP I have with said character: the survivor trio makes me very soft,,,they deserve a very long nap together under the softest warmest blankets mankind can acquire. i have a pin of the scene of gonta giving her a piggy back ride because i am not immune to the ancient fandom dynamic of Tol and Smol. i enjoy thinking about the tension she’d have with angie postgame, even if that doesn’t quite count as a friendship. and platonic oumeno is always 👌, their scenes in ch3 are so good.

A NOTP I have with said character: uhh i dunno...maybe her and rantaro? he seems like he’d peg her as a little sister pretty fast.

A random headcanon: nobody ever talks about it but i feel like her master was probably?? not great??? i mean he abandons the child he’s been teaching because she gets more popular than him, what the hell.

General Opinion over said character: i love her so mucjh,,,,she was the most relatable character in v3 to me. her relating everything that happens to her through the lens of her childish interests punched me right in the gut :’). her *choosing* to combat her natural fatigue and depression in order to live a better life because she won’t get another chance was so moving. wish she had a better outfit tho.

#so many..words...oTZ #i hope you liked these!! happy one year lmao #miu iruma #kaito momota #himiko yumeno #dr #mem gets an ask

[clusterbuck]

acting like people hate kristen because she called buddie a “friendship” in that article while purposefully ignoring the rhetoric she used and how a lot of people who have been played before over gay ships have seen that exact language used before is extremely reductive. nobody is mad she scalled them a friendship. we know thats what they are CURRENTLY but her saying “actually this isnt whats happening this is all in your head you are seeing things that arent there” was still extremely harmful in the language she chose ? acting like people dislike kristen and that shes “homophobic” for calling them a frienship is just. untrue.

oh, you want to do this? okay, let's do this.

first off. the quotes being discussed come from an article by max gao, renowned terrible journalist with a grudge against the writers who thinks buddie is queerbait and that any good buddie scenes are accidental. you might say he has an agenda. it's also an article, not an interview transcript, which means he can frame quotes however he wants. you know, like according to his agenda.

Reidel said that, while the writers' "original intention is never to string anybody along," she doesn't know if there has been a goal about defining their dynamic, even if she realizes the actors who play them "have terrific chemistry." As a woman who has many "amazing, deep relationships with other women in my life that are platonic," Reidel said, "I personally have always seen [Buck and Eddie] as a great friendship."

so. they're not stringing anyone along on purpose. buck and eddie are friends. next question

"But I think the struggle with the Buck and Eddie relationship is, we write a thing and we have an idea in our head of what the scene means and what those lines mean and an intention behind it, and then it goes out into the world," Reidel added. "People may receive it in a way that we had not expected or that we had not planned on, and I'm not gonna tell people that they're watching the show wrong because people see what they see. But I think that they're very good friends, and in a lot of ways, they are family, and I think that's where they are right now."

"To me, that's kind of an example of, I intend one thing and people see it a different way. And there really is no right or wrong—you see what you see," Reidel added. "So I completely get why people saw that as something deeper and more meaningful. They went from two guys who didn't really get along because Buck was super jealous of Eddie when he got there, and they have become family. And family doesn't always look the way you think it's going to."

please explain to me how "i'm not gonna tell people that they're watching the show wrong" and "there is no right or wrong here" translates to "actually this is all in your head"

like. what exactly is the problematic rhetoric here? is it that kristen herself has great platonic friendships in her life? does that somehow poison everything she touches and mean she can only write platonic friendships?

it's also worth noting that max (as well as other journalists apparently) has a tendency to bring specifically buddie up in places where buddie doesn't belong. so it's entirely possible--i would even posit likely, just based on the way it seems to take her a second to find the point--that these questions weren't originally planned on, so she didn't have a response ready to go. so she had to prevaricate, because i promise you they're not gonna spoil something this big in an interview with a random 20-year-old who hasn't even finished journalism school yet.

also, kristen has written some pretty iconic buddie content, and continues to do so. she wrote survivors. she wrote kids today. she wrote hero complex. she wrote eddie's queer as hell breakup in desperate measures and eddie being petty about abby in what's next. she wrote all the buddie parallels and callbacks this week. surely if she was actually anti-buddie she would have started steering away by now?

tl;dr kristen is not the enemy (max gao is the enemy) and i'm gonna bite the next person who tries to tell me she is

(also i'm not 'acting' like people think kristen is homophobic i have seen people calling her that with my very own eyes)

#ask emma

[noyoucannotpushthevoid]

Summer Camp AUs

There're 3 huge opportunities I feel like are missed when writing summer camp AUs a lot of the time: you are literally living with these people, you become a "family", and the "rumor mill". This is in terms of being on staff, you're living in close quarters with these people for like two months. Even if certain people's living quarters are half the camp away from yours, you're going to learn the most inane facts about them. I know the exact shampoo used by someone I genuinely dislike. You can try to avoid it. You will learn against your will. That being said, just picture Person A getting up early one day to like catch up on work or something only to find out Person B gets up super early every morning because they like to take the long way the dining hall and watch the sunrise. Or Person B finds out Person A's comfort snack (like the one they always have on them, and hoard in their cabin). So the next time Person B goes off camp to pick up some stuff they also grab that snack. Person A finds out that Person B uses x toothpaste or some other mundane but intimate fact*.

Building on how you're going to learn these intimate domestic little things about the other people, you start to learn how to like live around each other and what boundaries people have. It's really cheesy to say you become a family with the other staff, but you do. Family is also meant in the most literal sense possible, like you can easily end up estranged from someone after having an argument about politics over dinner. As much as you learn nice or neutral facts about these people, you also learn the bad parts very quickly. You may know that they eat starburst in rainbow order, but you also know that they are a raging misogynist**. These are both facts that you just have to grin and know, because you guys work together and getting in a row in front of campers is a big no. That's the bad side, but to focus back on the relevant parts. Especially with the people you work with directly, those you share a cabin with, and the people you become actual close friends with*** you learn very quickly how to operate around each other. You get real comfortable with them. A real-life example, I'm still friends with her and the whole "this is so-and-so she likes her personal space. This is [me], they also like so-and-so's personal space" joke has been made several times. If allowed, I will sit practically on top of her. This is a prime example because we knew each other for not even a week before the disregard for personal space began. There is another person--and we all ask or indicate if doing any of this first for the most part--who it's practically unspoken at this point that if I have an energy drink I pour like a third of it into his mug. The examples go on and on. I can only think of real-life examples and I don't want them to be misconstrued as anything but platonic, but also: a fanfic where it starts as a joke, Person A and Person B get up at sunrise and make Person C take fake prom pictures of them, things just spiral from there. 85% of staff at the camp I worked at are men, at least a third of them have pretended to date another man on staff before (a lot of the time for no other reason than shits and giggles. This also completely transcends sexuality, they do not care if the other person is gay or straight or etc, it is silly). The fucking fake dating AU writes itself. If I didn't find it really weird because I would be romanticizing something that was never meant to be so, I could write extensively just based on what I've witnessed.

Finally, these camps are primarily staffed by teenagers and young adults, the age groups most know to be petty, cliquey, and major shit talkers. Now, put them in a situation where they're almost entirely cut off from the rest of the world. It will get to a point where there are only 2 consistent conversation topics: work and the other people around you. It becomes small town to an extreme; everyone knows everyone else's business, good, bad, and neutral. So, people are going to know. Rumors are going to fly, yes, but more often it's just the truth. That's the beauty of the fact that everyone can see it. Therefore, everyone can verify it. So, if Person A has a very unsubtle crush on Person B, people will know. And if it's not a known fact, people will speculate. It's not really a thing at the camp I worked at, but it was so true when the Foxes in aftg bet on literally everything, because that’s the natural progression. People talk, and I think that should be used more in writing. Like how about having no spine to verify a rumor? Or the stress of how bad an idea a camp relationship is? Or, no miscommunication, both know everything, they just are far too fucking busy with work to actually talk about it (bonus points for funny hijinks interrupting them. Even more bonus points if they have the same off night and STILL can't manage to get the time)? What if only Person A's group knows and has been sworn to secrecy on threat of violence/Person A manages to keep it a secret for the whole summer, and Person B finds out after the summer's over? So, yea the person they have a crush on likes them back and has slid into their dms, but also that motherfucker is going to college over a thousand miles away. Building on this, campers are nosy little shits sometimes and will perpetuate completely incorrect rumors, and that's so silly of them. So Person A catches wind that Person B likes them, but no, actually Person B likes Person C. Person A doesn't like Person B, silly hijinks ensue and the truth comes out that a camper just misheard the names that were really similar, or even funnier, completely different. Enemies to lovers camp edition? Where they have to work closely together on a project but they find each other really annoying and bothersome and their friends hate each other^? Mayhaps one attributes the other as the reason they keep coming back to camp, because said other person did something for them that completely switched how they saw their camp experience? It also brings a bit of realism to the story. As well as if really utilized these facts can lead too very sweet, very silly, and very dramatic situations. Maybe reality isn’t actually stranger than fiction, but it can be just as if not more dramatic. The fact that these people are stuck together needs to be emphasized because what that makes is a pressure cooker of emotion. Sometimes it’s hard to buy a big dramatic reveal in a mundane setting, but everything is dramatic at camp. In the end, I’m just saying I’d like to see more of this kind of stuff in Summer Camp Aus.

*And like, intimate doesn't need to mean romantic, I mean it more so in the way of facts you wouldn't otherwise ever find out if you didn't have to live with them. If that makes sense? **This is made up for example's sake. Just know that I’m basing this off the middle of buttfuck nowhere, if someone's one type of bigot, they're actually several types ***Trust me, friendship is really fucking weird in these circumstances. I found out someone considered me a friend even though we worked on different sides of the camp and had had maybe 2 frivolous conversations up to that point. He's very rad as I've gotten to know him though, still not sure I'd really consider him a friend... ^This is an excellent one for queer pairings, because a notable chunk of the queer staff I've met and become friends with through this camp have a chip on their shoulder and an inane passion that pushes them to just try and be a perfectionist. The queer audacity is strong in us, and I do not believe any of us are wrong when we think that we could do other people's jobs better than them, despite lack of knowledge. Queer enemies to lovers also just has more nuance and less toxicity to it in my opinion

#a long fucking post #long post #fanfic #writing #camp related

[fangirleaconmigo]

Do you think it's bad for a cis woman to read gay smut fanfictions or the opposite, as it's not really about exploring the reader's own sexuality?

Hi Anon,

I know this question is controversial in fandom, and liking peace and quiet as much as I do (and disliking Discourse as much as I do), it would be much smarter for me to just delete your ask.

However, I have some extremely strong feelings about this, so I’m going to dive in and hope for the best in how it is received. (famous last words) It is going to be long, because I do think it warrants careful thought. The question of shame, fetishization, and homophobia is an important one, so I will address that. This may be a lot more than you wanted, but asking me any questions about morality is going to open up a huge ol can of worms. I am a wordy bitch. So here we go.

Firstly you ask, is it ‘bad’. To explain my own personal system of morality, my measurement for whether something is bad always boils down to, does it hurt people or does it help people? And when the thing we’re judging is a personal action someone has taken, I ask myself, is this person making a choice for themselves (as is their right to do) or are they making a choice for other people?

Obviously this can get very complex. I studied political philosophy in college, so I know that when you are in the fuzzy areas, you can debate these things until the end of time. People are still arguing over moral ideas put forward centuries ago. BUT that is the basis, the starting point for my own system of morals.

So. Does reading fiction in private, or being horny harm others or even affect others? No. Obviously not. Does it help anyone? Yes! It helps the person reading it! People really really really underestimate how much pleasure, a release, a bit of serotonin, can turn your mood and therefore your mental health around. I’m all for profound emotional shit, but let’s not overlook the fundamental role simple things like pleasure, fun, play, and release make in our quality of life and mental health. Eat a cookie! Smell a flower! Laugh! Orgasm! It’s all the good brain chemicals, folks.

That’s even setting aside (for the moment) the more profound ways reading smut can help you with your own trauma, shame, or general desire to explore your sexuality. It’s also even setting aside the way that smut fics often also have strong emotional elements of love, connection, learning to trust, and healing from trauma. I am setting that aside because even though it is true, it is not necessary to my argument.

So, it doesn’t hurt anyone (I will get to the fetishization question, bear with me.) And it is usually great for you. Or not! You’re a human being. You get to decide what is best for you.

Further, asking “should a woman with X gender identity and X sexuality be reading gay smut of two men” requires a few things. It implies that I am going to pass moral judgement on someone for what fiction they read, and base that judgment on their gender identity and sexuality. So, it requires me to know what that gender identity and sexuality is. Then, it requires me to say...you should or should not be reading that.

So my first issue with that is that I always reject efforts to police, restrict, or gatekeep art. Yes, even horny art is art. Even art created to provoke a sexual response, which many people (often very religious people, but also a subset of online fandom activists) consider a “lower” or “base” function of the human experience, IS art. (I don’t believe the human experience can be dissected in that way, but that is neither here nor there.)

Just as importantly, I viscerally recoil from any effort to police people’s gender or sexuality to see if they are allowed to read (or are just shamed for reading) certain material. Just. Whooooeeee, no thank you. Dear god, no.

Setting aside the fact that people’s sexuality and gender evolve, and they may not even know how to label themselves, this mentality, this sort of approach, often requires people to ‘out’ themselves. It demands that they publicly disclose their own sexual and gender identities in order to enjoy fiction in peace. It is, and I cannot stress this enough, toxic, abusive, and always damages queer people far more than anyone else. It is the exact opposite of queer liberation. Please look up Isabel Fall. There is an article on Vox that thoroughly walks you through one example of people shaming someone and demanding their identity, sending a trans woman into the hospital, and back into the closet.

Cishet white men literally do not give a fuck what you think about what they read. It is always and I mean ALWAYS LGBTQ people that suffer under the policing and forced outing of sexuality and gender. It also stinks of fascism.

I hear people saying “we aren’t burning books, it’s not censoring, relax.” What if we aren’t actively restricting material? What if we just judge, stigmatize, and shame in order to bully straight people into changing their reading habits? Isn’t that ok?

And what kind of disaster would we call upon ourselves if we don’t force anyone to out themselves? I mean, if you just ‘let’ lgbtq people do what they want without disclosing, you could get a bunch of straight cis women slipping through! They could just be out there! In their homes! On their devices! Being horny for fun!!!

I’m completely fine with that.

I am aware that the conversation happening in fandom spaces is whether it’s inherently fetishizing for women to think two men together in fiction is hot, and whether the smut is the cause of a tendency to fetishize gay men. Since I care a whole lot about fighting homophobia, I’ll take that seriously and address that.

People always use the example of “but how is this different from men lusting after lesbians? Don’t women hate it when men fetishize lesbians? How is this different?” That is always the question. “What if the genders were reversed?”

So I am going to start there.

As a gay woman, I can tell you, what a man beats it to in private is his business. I could not be less interested in the details of that. It doesn’t affect or harm me. It is literally none of my business.

What harms me is when a man mistreats gay women. When he thinks he can ‘convert’ a woman, says that she hasn’t had the right dick yet, or asks gay women to perform for him.

And I can say with confidence that men reading explicit material about two women has zero to do with this.

(People often bring porn into this, but bringing real human beings performing sex into the equation would require a broader ethical conversation and you asked about smutty fiction, so I’ll keep it focused on that.)

So, to really drive this point home, we need to separate two concepts out.

Sexual attraction vs dehumanization.

Sexual attraction is being hot for someone. It is morally neutral before you have acted on it in a way that involves another human being.

Dehumanization is seeing someone as less than human in some way. Dehumanization is when people believe they have the right to touch, harm, or even kill another person. It makes people believe that another human doesn’t doesn’t need or deserve to decide what happens to their own body. Dehumanizing is how you get young army recruits to kill complete strangers. Dehumanization facilitates bigotry. It shuffles sexual assault under the rug. It devalues life.

Misogyny is a form of dehumanization. It is a form of violence. It is what causes men to feel entitled to demand sexual favors from a woman, and to disregard her sexuality and autonomy. It is not sexual attraction. It is misogyny.

And you do not “get” or “catch” misogyny from smutty fiction.

When men are still boys, before they even pick up a device or a book, they are taught to see women as commodities. They are taught by their parents, their pastors, even CHILDREN’S MEDIA that sexual harassment is comedic, stalking is romantic, and women are prizes to be won. That if they achieve certain milestones required of men, they are entitled to a ‘prize’ of the woman they desire.

Misogyny is systemic. It is everywhere. It’s in the water, the air of our society, no matter where you live. It is global. The thing that makes men walk up to women and demand their bodies is one thing: sheer, mind boggling, entitlement. Audacity. Gall. Fucking nerve. Insidious misogyny.

I know this sounds dramatic to people who don’t experience it. But think about it. Every time someone tells a girl that she is ‘mean’ for not responding to a ‘nice’ guy's advances they are saying...you are a commodity to bestow on someone as a reward. You are not someone who gets to just simply have preferences. That is for ‘real’ human beings. This kind of mentality, in the mind of a violent angry person, is quite literally why men kill women for breaking up with them.

(I know that men, and people of all genders, suffer abuse and violence against them. I am not denying that, I am just having a conversation focused for the moment on violence against women.)

NOW, the constant violence against women in this context (and you may not experience it, but please look at the numbers for rape and domestic violence and other gendered violence) has made people CONFLATE men’s sexual desires with predation.

That is how you get people who profess to be leftists and care about oppressed peoples treating the ENTIRE CONCEPT of men’s attraction to women as predatory and therefore stigmatizing and demonizing the entire concept of sex and men's sexuality. I’ve heard people talk about leftist puritans online and I think a lot of stems from a misguided reaction to a society that allows sexual predation to become rife. No, darlings, no.

The problem isn’t men or their sexuality. The problem is misogyny.

If we are to have even a prayer of a healthy, kind society, we need to separate those two things out. Get a crowbar. Pull them apart. Don’t allow the patriarchy to poison you against something that is an important, fundamental part of who we all are! There is nothing dangerous or shameful or predatory about men being sexually attracted to women.

If men think women are hot as fuck? If they want to read about or think about hot gay ladies together in order to get off? Shit, me too, man!!! ME FREAKING TOO.

We can apply this to the concept of women fetishizing gay men. When we talk about women fetishizing gay men, we are talking about women who ask creepy intrusive questions. Who call gay men demeaning pet names against their wishes. Who touch them without their consent. Who go to gay clubs just to treat it like their own personal entertainment and make everyone feel uncomfortable and on display. These are women who don't give a shit about the personal boundaries or comfort or well being of gay men.

This behavior is revolting. But the root of that behavior isn’t lust. It is homophobia. Homophobia isn’t just ‘I hate gay people’ or ‘I want to beat up gay people’ or ‘I think they shouldn’t get married'. It is also, ‘gay peoples’ sexuality isn’t real or important, and it just exists to entertain me or get me off.’

Again, we are taught homophobia from the cradle in a thousand different insidious ways. People have their homophobia deeply rooted far before they even find out what AO3 is, my friends. Homophobia is a violence. It is evil. It is systemic.

And we cannot combat it without NAMING it. Without UNDERSTANDING IT. Bigotry is baked into our society (whichever one you live in). You have to learn to IDENTIFY IT to COMBAT IT.

And to do that, I am begging people, BEGGING THEM, my god I am on my knees people, (cue Boyz II Men, down on bended knee) to learn the difference between sex and violence. Between attraction and assault. We don’t have a prayer of eliminating bigotry or the shame and stigma around sex until we do that.

Because the stigma and shame we attach to our bodies and to sexual desire (or lack of sexual desire, ace people are valid, all level of sexual desire is valid) are pernicious, violent, and toxic to our self worth and to our very spirits.

This goes back to the question I asked earlier. If we aren’t forced outing people or actively censoring material, isn’t a little shame and bullying ok just to keep the straights on their toes?

It really is not.

Please take it from me, a person with a metric fuckton of experience working through PTSD, depression, anxiety disorder, and dissociative symptoms, most of it due to sexual abuse as a child, that shame about your body and your natural desires (or, again, lack of) is what keeps their boot on your neck. It is what keeps you from healing. It makes you live a half life. It steals joy and health and peace from you. It is the enemy of the human spirit.

My god! There is nothing wrong with experiencing sexual desire for fictional characters or scenarios! There's nothing wrong with being horny in your own house! Lol Just imagine the damage that kind of shame and stigma does to people!

I was raised by fundamentalist Baptist right wingers. They tried to teach me the same thing. That the natural things my body did were shameful and disgusting outside the bounds of a marriage to a Christian man. It turned out all that did was make me a perfect target for predators because no matter what happened I would always feel at fault.

Besides all the abuse, I was also told point blank by my father and my pastors that gay people are all sexual predators, child molesters, and deserve to be executed. You may not see much of this attitude anymore in public spaces like twitter or tumblr. But it is still very very common all over the world. In fact, it is more common than not. And I internalized that to the point that even as a grown woman I am not whole. I still have work to do to get rid of the shame I have around my own sexuality. But I will get there!

And reading sexy fiction online (along with a metric fuckton of therapy, self help books, meditation, several inpatient hospitalizations, and, well, you get the picture, I’ve done a lot of stuff) helped me work through some of the damage that did to me.

So….thanks, sexy fic writers! (I’m going to talk to the sexy fic writers for a second) You cannot know how much you have helped me! Even all the fics that are ‘just’ pwp or ‘just kink’. You cannot know! It has been a process of shedding shame and being able to face up to who I am after having a whole bunch of self loathing dumped into my brain while it was still mushy and forming.

And reading sexy fic that doesn’t contain any representations of my own body has been really, really important to ease into learning to accept myself, because it offers me a space that will not trigger any hatred or shame I have attached to my own body. That is how it has helped me.

But it doesn’t have to ‘help people’. It can just be fun.

So, when women enjoy smut of two men, and people point and say “Look! Look! Those women aren’t gay. They’re just...(gasp, choke) attracted to men!!! And therefore!!! They like two men together!!!” as though it is just a fucking S C A N D A L. I just. It’s hilarious. Most people are horny, and GOD FORBID, some of them like men! (MEN?? NOOOOO, NOT M E N) Let me notify the church real quick. Let me clutch my pearls. Light some flares. Call the red phone. Turn on the bat signal. Help, Batman, help.

So, dear anon, I don’t know why you asked the question. I don’t know whether you believe it is bad, or whether someone has told you it is bad and therefor you feel bad about yourself, but my answer for you and women of any sexual or gender identity who love gay smut, I promise that you are not inherently bad.

Certainly, if people are like ‘I don’t trust women who only ship men’ or if they have critique about the way fics are written, that is their right. You must respect their feelings and their decisions about what they read and who they associate with. They have the right to feel however they want, and read whatever they want. Being a person is complex, and we all have our own perspectives.

But as for you? Being inherently bad? No, no, no.

And as for gay men, I can guarantee you that the absolute last people on planet earth to be horrified by an attraction to men, are gay men.

Just don’t treat real people like they exist to be your little pet or that their queerness exists to fucking entertain or serve you.

Just don’t confuse fiction and reality. That should be easy enough. One is words on a page. The others are living, breathing, human beings.

#ask #fandom #fandom thoughts