#and this goes double for queers of color | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thewistlingbadger · 11 months

Text

Is Spider-Gwen trans: An analysis

After leaving the theater yesterday for Spiderman: Across The Spiderverse, one thought sat in my mind: could Gwen be trans? This may seem like a reach, but just hear me out.

1. Trans Flags

There are two trans flags that I spotted in the movie, both of them are in Gwen's home. In Gwen's room, a small trans flags with the phrase "Protect trans kids" hangs above her doorway. Now, if Gwen isn't trans, then why would she have a trans flag in her room? Most ally's wouldn't have a trans flag in their room. Maybe someone she's close to is trans? There's only 3 people Gwen has in her life. Her father, her dead best friend, and Miles. There isn't any evidence to suggest that any of them are trans. Especially her dad and Peter, since they didn't have much screen time. The phrase is an important clue too. If she was just an ally, why the phrase "Protect trans kids"? Why not "trans rights are human rights"? That phrase is equally as popular and it's more general. Protect trans kids is personal and usually refers to anti trans legislation that affects minors. Gwen is a minor, so is it really too unbelievable to suggest that she has the flag because she's trans?

The second flag is a patch on Gwen's dad's police jacket. Does this flag mean that her dad is trans? Or, is this a dad wearing a trans flag in support of his daughter?

2. Color theory

This is a weak point, but I'm going to include it anyway. Gwen's world is full of pastels. In fact, in most scenes with Gwen in her dimension, the colors light blue, light pink, and white are in the background. Those are literally the colors of the trans flag

3. Spiderman as a trans allegory.

Now, it's no secret that a lot of trans people like the character/concept of Spiderman. For a long time, I, as a fellow trans person, didn't understand the obsession until seeing this movie. A main theme of this movie, if not Mile's franchise, is that anyone can be Spiderman. Anyone can wear the mask, each Spiderperson is unique. Spiderman isn't really a person, it's a concept, and that's why its so applicable to everyone, regardless of who they are. Spiderman is a good person with a "secret" identity who goes trough struggles and also lives a "double life". And when you look at the story like that, the trans allegory becomes clear. Across the spiderverese is a brilliant movie with an abundance of representation. To black spiderpeople, Indian spiderpeople, disabled spiderpeople, hijabi spiderpeople, even spiderpeople who are cowboys and all sorts of other different variants. If all these different people can be Spiderman at the same time, then who's to say there isn't a trans spider person? And who's to say that person isn't Gwen?

So, is Gwen Stacy trans? I don't know, and I'm not saying she is. But I think it's entirely possible and the fact that it is, the fact that any spiderperson could potentially be queer, is something to be celebrated because it opens more doors for representation.

#happy pride month #trans #transgender #queer #lgbtq+ community #spiderman #spiderman across the spiderverse #spiderman into the spiderverse #spiderverse #across the spiderverse #into the spiderverse #gwen stacy #spider gwen #trans gwen stacy #mic does analysis #media #sony animation #animation #repersentantion

2K notes · View notes

nanowrimo · 9 months

Text

5 Tips for Building a Sustainable Writing Practice

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. First Draft Pro, a 2023 Camp NaNoWriMo sponsor, is a great writing app—whether you’re writing solo or with a co-author. Here are a few tips for building a sustainable writing practice, brought to you by author Ariana Brown and First Draft Pro.

We’ve all heard the advice to “write every day,” as if it were that easy! Translation: suck it up, no one cares if you’re tired. But what if there was another way to get writing done, without being unkind to yourself?

Hi, I’m Ariana Brown, and I teach writers how to create a writing practice that is sustainable, flexible, and fulfilling. Most of my students are chronically ill, disabled, neurodivergent, or simply exhausted from the daily stresses of life. I know writing isn’t your only responsibility—capitalism makes sure of that! But I strongly believe that writing should be an enjoyable activity you look forward to.

Below I’ve compiled my top tips for exhausted writers who want to be kinder to themselves—and still get the work done.

1. Add pleasure to your writing routine.

Sensory pleasures are neither frivolous nor are they only for children. They’re a crucial part of being alive! They give us something to look forward to when times are tough and we need motivation. Candles, soft blankets, cold beverages, mood lighting, dance breaks, yummy treats—whatever you choose, make sure it’s something you love. Paint your nails a fun color so you have something beautiful to look at while you’re typing away. Make a playlist of your favorite songs and after you finish a chapter, blast one song so loudly you have to get up and dance. Then, get back to writing. Remember, even for the most focused among us, pleasure is a better motivator than shame.

2. Be clear about your intentions.

What brought you to writing in the first place? For some, it was the ability to escape into our imaginations. For others, it was the chance to finally express what we’d been holding inside. Identify your reason for writing, then ask yourself: Am I still enjoying this? Do I still feel connected to my reason for writing? If not, explore how you can strengthen your connection to your inner child’s reason for writing.

3. Work with your brain, not against it.

If we know that everyone’s brain works differently, why do we force strict discipline and linear processes on ourselves? My advice: find or create a writing process that works for you. Maybe you love outlines; maybe you prefer to see where the words take you. Either way, make space for wandering, play, and discovery as you write. Take brain breaks. Doodle, map, dance, and draw when you get distracted. Body double with other writers, try new exercises and prompts to make the writing sing, and take plenty of breaks to stretch your body and talk to friends. We come to writing with our whole selves. Listen to your body, don’t shut it off.

4. Find a writing community.

You don’t have to wait for a community to come to you! I offer co-writing sessions on Zoom four times a month for my Patreon supporters, but do what works for you. Attend local open mics as an audience member and cheer on your peers. Invite your best friends to your living room once a month for a two hour writing/crafting session. Or check your local library and bookstores for free workshops and author events. You don’t have to do this work alone.

5. Develop a gratitude practice.

Finishing your draft is a huge accomplishment, but it’s not the only milestone to be celebrated. Consider creating opportunities to thank yourself throughout your writing practice. You’re doing an amazing and difficult thing. The fact that you keep showing up is worthy of celebration. Whether you decide to journal, rest, pray, meditate, or reward yourself, a little gratitude goes a long way.

Ariana Brown is a queer writer from San Antonio, TX, based in Houston. She is the author of We Are Owed (Grieveland, 2021) and Sana Sana (Game Over Books, 2020), and a national collegiate poetry slam champion. Ariana holds an MFA in Poetry, MS in Library and Information Science, and a BA in African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American Studies. She has been writing, teaching, and performing for over a decade. Follow her online @ArianaThePoet and www.arianabrown.com.

#nanowrimo #writing advice #executive dysfunction #neurodivergent writers #disabled writers #by nano sponsor #first draft pro #ariana brown

409 notes · View notes

domiforpresident · 9 months

Text

Model girlfriend Riri hc's

Paring: model!RiriWilliams x fem!blackPhotographer

This is just something i put together while working on the Riri fic I'm currently writing

Color coding: interviewers/press, Riri, you, Riris mom

A/N: Riri is extremely fine so why wouldn't she be a model......exactly! ��🏽‍💻

The start of her career:

Riri was walking the streets of Chicago. Some woman came up to her with their business car. The lady told her to come by for a photo shoot if she's up for it. Riri had her doubts but still went because why not?

When her pictures hit the internet she gained alot of popularity overnight. Even though she could model as a full time career if she wanted to, She doesn't plan on doing so.

She still goes to college at M.I.T when she isn't modeling because she wants to get an education. (Not that she would need it much) She has hopes of pursuing stem when she's finished with college.

Alot of people on her management team call her beauty and brains. She thinks it's silly but doesn't mind the ego bost.

Riri plays around with her masculine and feminine side when it come to clothing. It started to get a few blogs talking. Soon everyone was dieing to know her sexuality.

"So Riri I'm guessing you've seen the blogs and everyone is dieing to know, what kind of people are you Interested in?

"The kind of people that love me back"

She hates when people pry at her personal life. So she never really gives clear cut answers to these type of questions. Everyone in her circle knew she was a ragging lesbian and that's all that mattered to her.

You and Riri’s relationship:

You and Riri met at one of her photo shoots around the time she started to gain alot of popularity. You were her photographer. When she saw you she couldn't help but to do a double take. You were breath taking and She wouldn't stop flirting with you. The more you called her unprofessional the harder she flirted. Eventually you gave in and agreed to go out on a date with Riri.

After a while of dating you and Riri Made it official. You two decide as a couple to keep the relationship private. Regardless people still talked because you were seen with Riri practically all the time.

One night you and Riri were out on a date at a restaurant. As it came to an end you walked out and cameras flashed in your face. You knew what the press was like. You had yet to experience it first hand though. Riri being a good girlfriend put her jacket over your face and held you close. The men holding the camera's then began to question her.

"Riri is this the lucky woman you're dating?"

"How does it feel being a black queer model In an industry domina-"

"All I know is y'all better get these cameras out of my girls face." Riri said bluntly, quickly becoming irritated by the questions.

It was hard for you to adjust to the press at first. After a while it became second nature. You knew how to duck and dodge them. If you couldn't do that you would never give them direct answers to the questions they asked.

You go the run way shows and photo shoots of Riris that you can make it to. You Always blow her a kiss when she comes out on stage.

Sometimes you aren't able to make it when she does runway shows. She'll still call you right before she walks on stage. She says you're her good luck charm.

"Baby I'm a little neverous you sure you're not gona be able to make it?"

"If I could I would my love, and you're literally a pro at this Riri. You're definitely gonna kill it like you always do so just take a deep breath and count down from 10 in your head."

"Thank you baby, and remember the live stream of the show starts in 3 minutes"

"I'll be watching my love I promise"

She loves taking you on vacations whenever she can. You're not used to getting spoiled but Riri constantly let's you know that you deserve it and so much more.

Upon meeting her family they all loved you immediately especially her mom.

"You're so beautiful Y/n, Riri better be telling you that everyday"

"i promise you She does" you said while softly smiling at both Riri and her mom.

"Oh and here come look at these" Riris mom went to go grab Riris baby pictures. "I've been waiting for her to bring someone home so I could wip these out"

"Ma is that really necessary?" Riri said to her mom. "I don't even think y/n wants to see these"

"Don’t speak for me girl, and move over you're blocking my view." You switched places with Riri on her mothers couch. "aww look at baby Ri."

You and Riri take long and relaxing baths together after you'd both had a stressful day at work. Sometimes Riri says she's too tired and just wants to shower and go to bed. You always manage to convince her into it though.

You can't stand it when women or men flirt with Riri while she's doing interviews. She always makes it very clear she has a lovely wife at home. Sometimes the flirting still gets to you. But Riri quickly reminds you that you're the only person she wants in one way or another 🤭.

Even though you're the photographer Riri takes more pictures of you than she's does of herself.

*Riri taking a picture of you for the 2000th time that day*

"Ri are you taking another picture of me?"

"Yes. Your face is too beautiful to always be behind the camera" Riri said while snapping another picture of you.

She takes pictures of you while doing the simplest things like eating.

At events and red carpets she always has you on her arm. People constantly scream that the two of you would be a model power couple if you ever decided to get into the industry. You're more low key though and photography is your passion.

#riri x black!reader #riri williams #riri x y/n #riri is my wife #lesbian #mcu riri williams #ironheart #lgbtq #black sapphic #riri williams x reader #mcu fanfiction #iron heart x reader #riri black panther

117 notes · View notes

turningsoft · 3 months

Text

Richie Tozier & Will Byers Werewolf Metaphor Post

@pinkeoni's old What's up with all the werewolves? post and its further discussion made me think of a lot. Seriously, it's lengthy.

I wanna preface this by saying I don't actually believe everything is connected or intentional, as it would be a huge reach. However, it's rather interesting to draw connections even where there were intended none. Proceed at your own peril.

As we all know, the Duffers originally wanted to write Stephen King's IT remake. Naturally, we also know they took some inspiration from King's various work, so for me it was a really small leap from werewolf references in Stranger Things to Richie's werewolf in IT.

Richie Tozier Was A Teenage Werewolf

In the book, Richie goes to see a horror double-feature, which includes movies I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (both 1957). Let's read the excerpt from the novel.

The Teenage Frankenstein was suitably gross. The Teenage Werewolf was somehow scarier, though… perhaps because he also seemed a little sad. What had happened wasn't his own fault. There was this hypnotist who had fucked him up, but the only reason he'd been able to was that the kid who turned into the werewolf was full of anger and bad feelings. Richie found himself wondering if there were many people in the world hiding bad feelings like that. Henry Bowers was just overflowing with bad feelings, but he sure didn't bother hiding them.

Now, this quote contains a lot of information to suggest that Richie at least empathizes with the character, but we don't actually see him relating to Tony until Richie comes face to face with Pennywise — for the first time, or so he thinks. During this encounter, It takes the form of the Teenage Werewolf and chases Bill and Richie out of the house on Neibolt Street. His appearance is described in great detail and mostly doesn't contradict the original movie, except for the werewolf's silk jacket.

It was black with orange piping — the Derry High School colors.

And a bit further on:

It was the other thing that made him feel as if he might faint, or just give up and let it kill him. A name was stitched on the jacket in gold thread, the kind of thing you could get done down at Machen's for a buck if you wanted it. Stitched on the bloody left breast of the Werewolf's jacket, stained but readable, were the words RICHIE TOZIER.

In the movie it's Tony's signature jacket that allows others to recognize him in his werewolf form, so it only makes sense to assume Richie's scared because he's forced to recognize himself in the monster. The implications affect him so deeply that he considers giving up his own life.

Bad feelings

It provides a bit of insight into Richie's head and makes us question what exactly he considers “bad feelings” within himself, if not anger (he doesn't seem to be an angry person). Some speculate it has to do with growing up and becoming an unstable, hormonal teenager in the future. Others link it to his possible undiagnosed ADHD, self-hatred and the ever-present fear of being ostracized for his differences, both visible and not. Being a queer person in the 50's would also fit the narrative pretty well. For those who are interested, I strongly recommend reading expanded analysis on the matter here (werewolf as a symbol in IT), here (bisexuality viewed as “monstrous”) and here (Richie's fears explained).

Not his fault

Obviously, none of the aforementioned reasons justify putting such strong labels (monster, werewolf) on a literal child. Richie seems to understand he's not at fault for whatever makes him a target, but he also believes in a strong possibility someone can inflict this inhuman identity upon him. Despite already being bullied, he fears his situation can take a turn for the worse. And despite having a wonderful support system, he somehow knows it's not enough. If someone or something decides to “fuck him up” and exploit his vulnerable state, they will, so he cuts down on the amount of vulnerability. Heavily. I can't believe I'm still not talking about Will Byers.

Hiding stuff

As ironic as it sounds, Richie Tozier is canonically good at hiding. Other people find it difficult to make up their minds about his personality and actions — the most famous instance being, perhaps, this quote.

He had known Richie Tozier for four years, and he still didn't really understand what Richie was about.

Richie uses his Voices and “numbers” both as a shield and a weapon. He shows raw emotions only when he considers it absolutely safe. He takes “refuge in absurdity”. To reiterate @/jasperathrifteddoll's werewolf symbolism post, Richie 1) is confusing; 2) tells half-truths; 3) puts up facades; 4) “through his concealment of his inner thoughts to the reader, seems almost aware of his status as a book's narrator”.

All of Richie's fears are connected to or based on public perception. “But he knew well enough” has earned a meta post in and of itself.

Will Byers Has Werewolves In His Closet

So what's the meaning behind this werewolf costume in the Trick or Treat, Freak episode? Maybe it's a manifestation of one of Will's fears, or maybe there's no hidden message. After all, even if Stranger Things and IT are connected, I Was A Teenage Werewolf has nothing to do with ST… Unless we consider it left a huge legacy and inspired The Cramps to write a song of the same name — the one that introduced Eddie Munson to the audience in S04E01. Frankly speaking, I don't think this was an easter egg the writers were actively trying to include, but it doesn't take away from the parallel. It's still fun to compare Will and Richie, especially because on a surface level they're so unlike.

To execute Stephen King's werewolf metaphor, one would need:

a character with enough emotional baggage,

who is afraid of being perceived as a monster,

especially as a result of trusting an authority figure,

who breaks his trust and exploits his vulnerable state,

potentially making him dangerous in the process.

Let's see if Will ticks all the boxes.

Bad feelings

Will's otherness is easy to pick up on. It's either “being a sensitive artistic kid who grew up to be gay in the 80's” or “being a child who was abducted to a horrific dimension and is now attached to it”. Arguably, we don't even have to choose: these two plots are closely related and can become one through the AIDS metaphore. Not to mention the whole “growing up poor with an abusive and neglectful father” thing. Simply put, Will Byers has plenty reason to experience “bad feelings”. On a rare occasion, we can hear about his struggles firsthand.

Bad feelings = self-hatred

So far, Will has internalized a variety of epithets:

“Zombie Boy”

“Freak”

“Stupid”

“Mistake”

We can see each of them affect him to some extent.

In season 2, during multiple heart-to-hearts with Jonathan, Will expresses his desire for everyone to stop treating him different, like there's something wrong with him. Meaning, he himself doesn't think there's something wrong. He stubbornly insists: “Yeah, I am. I am [a freak],” but he's quick to be offended when Jonathan agrees. It reads as a defense tactic, not his own opinion. After all, when you pointedly address yourself in a hurtful fashion, shouldn't those words stop holding power over you?

When drawing the Zombie Boy, Will essentially tries to reclaim this identity in a way that's true to him — by using art. He doesn't want to passively accept the label, he wants to strip it of its negative connotations. But then again, when a kid deemed as dead comes back to life, it's a pretty dumb reason to bully him. Will probably knows it's dumb, so he fights back. His homosexuality, though, is a harder pill to swallow.

There's no denying he feels guilty for his attraction to Mike (well, boys, but Mike specifically). Guilty and other things as well, a mixture of shameful, jealous, hurt, confused and angry. In seasons 3 and 4 he learns that even the tiniest portions of his affection and his sincerest attempts at salvaging a friendship can be neglected or misconstrued. It cuts deeply.

Then there's, of course, the van scene. Will says he feels like a mistake sometimes. Not all the time, he clears up. Mike makes him feel better for being different, and yet Will cries after the speech, knowing full well his differences don't make his life any happier or simplier, or better.

Bad feelings = past trauma

Still, all of it pales in comparison to plain old trauma and its prolonged effects. This anon ask and @/heroesbyler's answer have summarized it better than I ever could. Here's a quote that I can't not mention:

His trauma is one of the most if not the most multifaceted in the entire story, and also he literally is the main character foil to the big villain. Saying that Will hates himself for being gay is such a gross oversimplification of what we see. It's haunting to know that people want to project a stereotypical situation to his nuanced one.

Additionally, there were theories that Will is a victim of CSA, and I'm not only referring to the ones about Vecna/MF/UD allegories (these I very much agree with) but those about full-on CSA by Lonnie. While I'm still on the fence about it, I acknowledge this is also a possibility.

To sum up, our boy Will has been through a lot. Emotional baggage? Check. Susceptibility to “monstrous” labels? Check.

Not his fault

Up until this point I was being ambiguous about whether my theory is applicable to S2 only or other seasons as well. I have to admit, right now the werewolf costume guy is no more than a little foreshadowing of the S2 plot. However, given the fact that S5 is promised to take inspiration from S2, some of its key elements or plot points may be reused, albeit probably in a different fashion. Additionally, new information might be revealed, meaning that the metaphore has potential to grow into something bigger in the future.

For now I'll focus on the S2 events mainly and compare them to I Was A Teenage Werewolf.

___

Movie: Tony Rivers embodies a typical delinquent from the 50's. He's a troubled rebellious teenager with anger issues. He exhibits such violent behavior that he's advised to seek psychological help.

IT: Richie doesn't fixate on the anger part and instead uses “bad feelings” wording to convey broader (or perhaps, entirely different) meaning. Ultimately, we're led to believe that it doesn't matter what character traits Tony possessed. What's more important is 1) he had psychological issues; 2) he was advised to seek out professional help.

ST: Will has a lot of unresolved trauma from his experience in the UD, which manifests in “bad feelings”, so-called flashbacks and coughing up demonic slugs. He's advised to undergo medical supervision/scientific surveillance at Hawkins Lab.

___

Movie: Dr. Alfred Brandon embodies the classic mad scientist archetype. He conducts experiments on people by using hypnosis and medication in unconventional ways and claims it's for a greater cause. He draws out Tony's traumatic childhood memories during their sessions. Brandon has an assistant, Dr. Hugo Wagner, who comes across as compassionate and humanistic.

ST: Dr. Martin Brenner is affiliated with multiple scientific projects that conduct experiments on people by using sensory deprivation, psychedelic drugs and various abuse/manipulation tactics. He, too, claims it's for a greater cause. Also works with traumatic childhood memories, e. g. the whole NINA project. If twelvegate is proven true in S5, these parallels will become positively unhinged. Brenner repeatedly works with Dr. Owens, who on the outside seems more sympathetic towards main heroes.

___

Movie: Tony finally accepts Dr. Brandon's help after a Halloween party gone wrong. He decides to trust everyone's opinion, goes through the procedure and ends up becoming “possessed by wolves” (= made into a werewolf).

ST: Will accepts the fact that he's spiraling and needs help on Halloween night. He decides to trust Dr. Owens, Joyce and Bob that his visions are just PTSD-related episodes. He follows Bob's advice and ends up possessed.

Ultimately, this is the moment when Will's trust is broken. Although it's definitely not Bob's or Joyce's fault, a collective authority figure represented by Hawkins Lab fails Will. It fucks him up big. And one can argue, Owens' incapacity to protect him wasn't a simple negligence but an extension of Brenner's politics. @/runninguplenorahills suggests the following:

If Owens knew about Brenner being alive and deliberately kept that information to himself (which he did), and if Owens knew about Henry and everything that happened (which seems to be the case too)……. Well….. doesn't that make Owens' inability to help and protect Will in s2 a deliberate choice?

Regardless, it isn't Will's own doing that turns him into someone dangerous — it's the Lab's fault.

___

Movie: Dr. Brandon and his assistant argue about the necessity of transforming Tony because it might be harmful or even fatal to him.

“But you're sacrificing a human life!” ”Do you cry over a guinea pig?”

ST: Dr. Owens argues with other scientists over attacking the UD vines/tunnels and potentially harming Will in the process.

“And if it kills the boy?” ”Then quite frankly, Sam, it kills him.”

___

Movie: In his werewolf state, Tony kills a bunch of his classmates, a random dog, Dr. Brandon and his assistant.

ST: While being possessed, Will leads the soldiers into a trap and gets them killed because they've upset the MF. Owens ends up injured, and Bob gets killed. We can view them all as Brenner's “assistants” to different extents.

All in all, I'd say the metaphor fits. But wait, there's more!

Hiding stuff

Once again referencing @/pinkeoni's posts, there's a long history of Will hiding his feelings. Fascinating how the conversation that basically establishes this trait of his, aka his exchange with Joyce, happens in S2 and specifically in relation to his not-actually-PTSD episodes. But the motive of hiding, be it in a literal or a figurative sense (as in hiding parts of himself), is integral to Will's character. It is continually present troughout seasons and is supported by in-show elements and costume design choices alike.

Billy Hargrove And Henry Bowers Are Overflowing

Parallels should be drawn between Henry and Billy, too. This section is small, but nonetheless I like it — it's a finishing touch to the story and a cherry to top it all off.

Richie completes his train of thought by contrasting Tony and Henry Bowers, accentuating how the latter “didn't bother hiding” his bad feelings, e. g. his anger, bigotry and violent outbursts. The same could be said about Billy. Both of them killed people under the influence (Flayed!Billy, Pennywise-inspired!Henry) and definitely were capable of assault regardless. For both of them a relationship with one's father seems to be an instigation of their descent into madness, although Billy hates Neil, whereas Henry appears to have a more complex, effectively love-hate attitude towards Oscar.

It's also noteable that Billy is a foil character to Will, who is mirroring him in many ways, while Henry and Patrick may be seen as foils to Richie and Eddie when it comes to handling “their same-sex attraction”. And by the way, if sexuaility and attraction is consired “bad feelings” within Will's mind, one particular part of this post becomes all the more relevant. To quote and paraphrase, “Billy wears his sexuality proud and openly”, yet Will's sexuality is suppressed — another case of hiding versus overflowing.

I'd love to TL;DR this post into something concise and coherent, but I fear I'd just end up repeating my points and wording. I'd rather say I have more thoughts on Richie and Will's similarities, so there's gonna be a short post about it sometime down the line. Thank you to anyone who decided that this was worth reading!

#tw csa mention #will byers #richie tozier #stranger things analysis #st analysis #my analysis #this is not gonna get noticed but whatever #i'm doing it for the sake of doing it

25 notes · View notes

triflesandparsnips · 2 years

Text

Speaking of ahistorical gay pirate fashion: There's something deeply weird about Stede's collars.

When he's at real ease (at sea), his shirt is gaped open, but you'll note that his collar is starched upward so that the shirt points are facing up toward his chin -- not a fashion from the 1710s, but rather from the 1770s.

Figure 1. Dandy en déshabillé.

When he's embodying his most Captain-like persona -- 'sea-faring butch,' if you will -- his neck is fully covered up with cravat, stock, jabot, whatever. Shirt points are often (always?) absent.

Figure 2. Intensely wealthy and impeccably dressed weirdo.

His neck is covered up similarly (no shirt points) when he goes back to Bridgetown in 1x10, though his cravat is tucked sensibly away beneath his waistcoat. He also had no visible shirt points before married life, though he hid bright colors and lacy cravats under drab jackets.

Figure 3. Man on brink of divorce realizing that perhaps giving up his shirt points was Not Enough.

Figure 4. Man about to make terrible life choice wonders if maybe adding more colored cravats to his wardrobe will feel sufficiently adventurous for the next sixty-odd years.

When he's actually in the middle of married life, though? Stede's collars are fucking weird. They're folded down and away, looking very much like either Peter-Pan collars or, frankly, the fashionable look for 19th century boys who hadn't yet hit puberty. On top of that, his jackets also have teeny tiny lapels, which end up doubling the effect of making Stede look a bit turtled into his own shoulders -- smaller and, ahem, spineless.

Figure 5. Authorities unsure whether local deadbeat dad was coerced into flight by own yellow cravat knotted too tightly under man's stupid collar.

Figures 6 and 7. Married men: Are they obligated to wear weirdly matching or contrasting cravats tied under tiny squished-down collars, or is it just This Fucking Guy.

And then, for people who are much cleverer than me, there are...

..the Outliers.

These are the fuckers that, imo, are the most indicative of whatever the hell self-transformation Stede is going through. But fucked if I know exactly what they're saying.

Figure 8. Recently resurrected idiots of the Caribbean wonder: how many collars can they leave open? And does wearing the solitaire anyway keep it Respectable?

Figure 9. Clueless moonlit asshole unaware that his "marriage" collar, silk cravat/shirt, not-black-but-very-dark solitaire and wtf poorly fitted double-breasted waistcoat are somehow the goddamn height of queer seduction.

Figure 10. Man attempting to regain his feeling of ease on the sea by wearing nightwear that is not buttoned up to his chin is shocked to discover that life remains stressful.

Figure 11. Newly poor but happily divorced man still somehow finds new fashion statement before seeking lost love: cotton weave gathered at the shoulder seams, wide but folded down collar, romantic lace-up that not only fastens nowhere near his chin but can also be loosened for peak nipple play, should any nearby dread pirates feel the urge.

#real talk this Figure 1 gag I've got going on right now might be my new favorite Thing #our flag means death #costume #fashion #meta #stede bonnet #and his stupid fucking collars #though this also gets perilously close to #CRAVAT THEORY

255 notes · View notes

rythyme · 2 years

Text

i'm really bummed that first kill got cancelled. we deserved to see cal and jules' happy ending, but on a more serious note i think the cancellation speaks to a general trend where sapphic-led american and british shows — especially ones with women of color — *still* aren't seen as profitable. when they do occasionally get made they receive overly harsh criticism and get cancelled — see the wilds, batwoman, trinkets, one day at a time, betty, i am not okay with this, even sense8 — the list goes on. there are so many shows with queer women as side characters but they very rarely get to be the true leads.

that's not to say that shows with queer male leads don't face some of the same issues in the states or the UK, but there are significantly more examples of shows with queer men at the helm that have been renewed for second, third, even fourth seasons. i don't mind a show having a short run (when it's planned that way) but renewal is an indication of investment and perceived profitability, and clearly that's not what Netflix or other companies see in their sapphic-led shows.

i see a lot of comparisons between viewership numbers for heartstopper and first kill, and i think it does highlight a bit of a double standard, but it's also worth noting that the budgets for these two shows must have been VERY different. heartstopper probably cost pennies to produce, while first kill has elaborate sets, props, CGI, fight choreography, and a larger main cast.

netflix saw heartstopper as an easy win, but didn't see first kill as something worth the effort to renew despite its success. i think some of this is because of the negative reviews written by people the show wasn't intended for. reviews called it unoriginal and underwhelming, but heartstopper never received that type of criticism. first kill was held to a very different standard. both were designed as teen dramas, but only heartstopper was actually treated like one by critics.

some of this could be that first kill seemingly has a wider audience appeal. first kill has supernatural elements, which is a popular genre for teen and adult viewers alike, while heartstopper is just a slice of life teen romance with less adult appeal. i'd also speculate that sex and violence play a part in how these two shows were treated. heartstopper is about as G rated as you can get. first kill is distinctly not G rated. the presence of sex and violence might have made first kill seem like a better target for wider criticism. no straight adult man is going to write a review calling heartstopper boring, but there's a chance he might write one for first kill.

shows that truly put queer characters front and center — no matter their gender — are not common on british and american tv, but it is true that there are fewer queer female leads than male leads, and shows with trans leads are almost non-existent. it's not quite fair to compare heartstopper and first kill without some caveats, but i do think the comparison still highlights some issues with how mainstream tv here treats queer leads and queer romance — especially queer women and queer Black characters.

#this really got away from me but i am just :( sad and disappointed. like i didn't really expect anything but this is still a huge bummer #like first kill gave us queer women who were COMPLEX and FLAWED and HORNY!!! how often does that happen??? 😭#a lot of queer characters in american and british tv are sanitized and BORING. first kill wasn't!!!!!!!!! :(#first kill #heartstopper #adrama #long post #100

116 notes · View notes

waitmyturtles · 1 year

Text

I picked up The Promise last night based off of @absolutebl‘s mini-review of the first episode -- any mention of coffee will get me intrigued, and I am super glad I followed thru. (@respectthepetty, heads-up -- LOTS OF COLOR TALK! Like purposeful color talk, like “pink on Tuesdays” color talk and matchy-matchy office colleagues, the whole deal. And a potentially sneaky dude who might interfere in a love coupling who’s wearing black -- I’m bad at this interpreting, but I think the first episode might be ripe for your analysis!)

I love me a slow burn. And I can’t help but do a quick ATOTS double-take (cough cough) that this show is a slow burn that starts out in Chiang Mai. Really quick: Phu and Nan are childhood friends who grew up in Chiang Mai, with Phu’s family being a coffee plantation family. Phu and Nan go to college together, with Phu disappearing right before graduation. Nan doesn’t see Phu for 10 years, until Phu turns up in Bangkok, preparing to open a coffee shop. (It warmed my heart to hear someone in the show call coffee with condensed milk “old-school kopi,” that made my SE Asian heart twinge a little. I love that old-school style of rich, milky, SWEET coffee.)

I don’t have much to report on the first episode as it was all mostly background set up for the script, but isn’t it ironic that Phu and Nan are living on the same floor as adults after not seeing each other for years (cough Bad Buddy cough).

I’m not ENTIRELY sure I should be surprised that there may be slight, slight similarities to P’Aof dramas, because the director of this show is Khom Kongkiat, most lately of KinnPorsche. And this is so embarrassing, y’all, but I didn’t realize that UNCLE TONG from Bad Buddy was the DIRECTOR OF KINNPORSCHE UNTIL NOW, so thank you to the #khom kongkiat tag for that quick education last night. (UNCLE TONG AND KINNPORSCHE, consider my mind slightly blown, but at least I now realize that I’m somewhat familiar with his directing oeuvre.)

I’m excited for this show. Queer elder rep ftw (heads-up, @bengiyo). If Phu was held back by recognizing a potential attraction to Nan back in college, it certainly would be surprising, considering the VERY accepting community of elders in Chiang Mai that Phu is surrounded by. Let’s see where this one goes. I’m shelving A Boss and a Babe for this, and I think the trade-off will be worth it.

#the promise #khom kongkiat

22 notes · View notes

katzkinder · 1 year

Note

Idk why but I headcanon lily as aro ace

Ooh, neat! You're about... The third person I know of who also has that headcanon!

Personally, I headcanon that he identifies as pan, but like... He chooses that as his label because he likes the flag colors better lmao. That's it.

I always meant to type up my headcanons for this but never got around to it, so I think now is as good a time as any?

Misono: sex positive ace. Both because I think it suits him and because I like the contrast with my headcanon of Lily, where Lily has sex related trauma that makes him have difficult feelings about being attracted to others. Misono is almost clinical? When talking about that kind of thing. It can be off putting but he genuinely just thinks the scope of human sexuality is a fascinating thing to research

Mahiru: Bisexual, like his uncle, but not particularly aware of it in that he doesn't identify as anything. He's very "yeah that person is hot" and moves on with his day. The type who goes "huh! I guess I am" if you point out he's queer

Speaking of Queer, Mikuni: uses this exclusively. He thinks it's delightful. Like yes, this is perfect, he IS a very strange and odd little man! And that's all you're getting out of him (genuinely, this is all he gives me aside from maybe some flavor of aro. Jackass)

Lawless: Disaster bi with a distinct preference for intimidating women and older men. Licht is actually out of left field for him. Not typically the type he goes for!

Speaking of Licht: Angel. No I do not know what this means anymore than you do. Figure it out.

Kuro: double demi. His attraction hinges on having close emotional bonds with somebody first and it drives him crazy 😭Like he'll just be chilling and everything will be fine and the next thing he knows he's having an epiphany that ohhh god. oh fuck. oh god oh fuck he cannot DEAL. Terrible at flirting unless he's passing it off as a joke btw

Sakuya: *smash bros announcer voice* GAY

Freya: bi lesbian but calls herself lesbian, because that's what she's always called herself and she's not changing. Completely blindsided by the whole lesbian separatist discourse. Frankly disgusted with it. The big bad butch aligned fem in the corner who stands there and intimidates anyone hassling baby queers. She's got that peasantry farmer's wife bod, which means biceps that can crack your skull if you annoy her.

Iduna: doesn't label. She likes what she likes, so there! (does anyone remember this show lol)

Jeje: He's dressed like a priest, so I think it's safe to assume he's a self hating queer. This is only half a joke.

Ildio: You know that chart that's like functional bi, distinguished bi, disaster bi? He's a secret fourth thing: Himbo bi.

Nicco: Wombo Combo of Functional and Distinguished bi.

I'd add pride pair but my read on them is Lacking due to them not really having much in terms of development...

40 notes · View notes

sleeping-satan · 9 months

Text

I want to start off by saying that I loved the Barbie movie. The messages around how women are treated and directly discussing the double standards they're forced to deal with are in your face and addressed well. All while not being too depressing to the point where it brings down joy and comedy of the film. When talking about social issues, it's extremely difficult to do that, but when done correctly it gets so many people to actually listen.

And God it's so campy while giving actual Barbie history.

And with so many women of color in the movie, its sad to say that I have one critique: It lacks intersectionality.

I'm a White dude, so what I'm saying is what I've learned from women of color and throughout college. If it seems shallow it's because it is, I do not have as much of an understanding as I would like.

Spoilers below the cut:

Barbie does not address that in a matriarchal society other marginalizations do exist. A Black woman is president, great, where do we talk about misogynoir? When do we address that Black women have to constantly prove that they're woman enough? Address that Black women are not allowed to be weak or fragile, that they're stereotyped as aggressive.

There were no cultures outside of western, there was no Latina Barbie or Muslim Barbie (from what I remember, I saw it at 9:30 at night).

What I picked out early on in the film that irked me personally was that there was one fat Barbie and one wheelchair Barbie. Fat Barbie did appear as a main side character multiple times, wheelchair Barbie for a few seconds.

If the Barbie message is that women can be whatever they want to be, then the fat Barbie and wheelchair user Barbie are both seen as occupations in a way. Both have the other privileged societal traits other than the ones shown on film (White, skinny, able bodied, western, etc.) Showing in some way that fat Barbie can only be fat, wheelchair user Barbie only a wheelchair user.

Besides the campiness and extremely queer undertones, there is no character that is outright queer. It's all undertoned but never outright. Stereotypical Barbie does give extremely aro/ace vibes, but that goes with the fact that Barbie as a franchise focuses on almost anything but romance. Plus the feminist message of how women do not need men to base their entire lives around, which is from heterosexism as well as misogyny.

Don't get me wrong, Alan seemed like a heavy third gender in the movie. "We do not have genitals" made me think of how trans and intersex bodies are different and that's okay. Homophobia and masculinity do not exist when Ken gets kissed on the cheeks. It's never outright though, because queerness is still seen as a mature topic. "Sexuality is mature" Ken is referred to as Barbies boyfriend guys come on.

Again, this isn't to say that I think the movie is bad. It tries to criticize itself in many aspects ("White Savior Barbie") and brings up that Barbie has negative consequences on body image as well. It's an incredibly fun movie on top of all of that. A perfect feminist movie would be a five hour movie at least because of how many different aspects it'd need to address. Its still okay to point out the flaws though so that way feminism can improve.

#random shit #barbie movie

5 notes · View notes

sloshed-cinema · 5 months

Text

All That Heaven Allows (1955)

Let’s repeat it again for those in the back: adult children have no say in how their parents choose to conduct their lives. While the disastrous cocktail party that Cary attends with her new beau Ron is well-stocked with instantly hateable uppity socialite pricks, few characters are more odious than Cary’s own children. Ned in particular is a slick haired Donald Jr trust fund brat who is more interested in his own future prospects with the family money than his mother’s well-being, all under the guise of knowing her better than she does herself. Kay disguises her snobbery under the guise of scientific detachment, pretending that her studies as a social worker grant her a perspective on all relationships even before she knows the people themselves (the concept of sociology in the 50s is hilarious enough itself in its many and varied shortcomings). Kay at least comes around, but all of the vitriol directed toward Cary underlines just how difficult it can be to change, even if you know it’s a change that you want for yourself. Jane Wyman’s performance as Cary Scott showcases layers of vulnerability and quiet strength. Especially early in her relationship with Ron, Cary is quiet and withdrawn, always glancing nervously about as she considers the social implications of even the smallest of choices. How should a widowed woman of a certain age conduct herself? Polite society may not wall its widows up as Kay describes the ancient Egyptians to have done, but they have their own ways of shuttering them off from their emotional freedom. Ron represents dirt in the eye of that country club set, a free-spirited, renovated-mill-living, Thoreau-reading flannel enthusiast who could seep me off my feet any day. Sure, this falls under the old school physical romance vocabulary where even gestures of “good” love are a little rough, the guy a little too forceful out the gate, but all told it’s a softly powerful accounting of a woman finding her own footing, damn the expectations.

Technicolor really is a marvel. It’s easy to love the vibrancy afforded by this process when watching films by wizards of the three-strip camera like Powell and Pressburger, heightened fantasias where everything pops. But Douglas Sirk here shows that even something as simple as the quaint pleasures of a small New England town can be made lush and larger than life with the right touches. Quintessential images of leaves changing color and trees growing bare shifts to the frigid pleasures of sleigh rides and falling snow. But there’s also pain in this beauty: the sumptuous Christmas scene with its well-decked tree turns out to be the nadir of Cary’s experience here as she learns that no matter how much she sacrifices for and gives to her children, she will always be secondary. At least the tinsel looks great on the silvertip fir.

THE RULES

SIP

Someone says 'Harvey'.

Cary looks uncertain about something.

A meal like dinner or lunch is named.

Kay goes into pedantic academic mode.

A doorbell rings.

BIG DRINK

The Stoningham clock tower appears in a scene.

Television is mentioned.

Rock Hudson says something that's actually just a queer double entendre.

#drinking games #all that heaven allows #douglas sirk #jane wyman #rock hudson #romance #drama #christmas movie

2 notes · View notes

itwoodbeprefect · 1 year

Note

Hello, for the WIP game : Several of the Hawaii Five-0 section sound nice... I'll go with #23 because it does sound particularly intriguing!

Steve’s becomes… themed

ooh, another recent addition to the h50 pile! though the idea is one that’s been bouncing around my head for years - and then always ended up going a different direction, which this one already has again too, i think. the “steve’s” here is the restaurant (i forget if canon ever really nailed that down, but we do get steve asking danny to name the restaurant after him (so they can be together forever, you know, like good platonic buddies) so i think it’s at least generally accepted fanon that it’s called that?) and the “themed” is just, well. i think that in canon, at one point, danny says he wants the restaurant to be a place for cops to come hang out and get dinner after their shift? but this is steve and danny, so of course they accidentally open a queer restaurant instead. huge rainbow in the window, cheesecake in the colors of the transgender flag, they adopt half the local teens, that kind of thing. (obviously they keep the restaurant in this version instead of selling to kamekona - i think it would work out a lot better for them if they have a united Cause that distracts them from fighting over the shade of red of the chairs, anyway.)

which is a concept i really like, but it’s also always pretty Big. there’s a lot of stuff i would want to throw into that story, and to avoid starting something Very Long that i’ll never finish because it’s getting Very Long, i end up cutting myself short to keep things manageable and throwing the original idea overboard in the process, which i think might happen again here, but i’m also considering ways i could keep this fic short and set it up as a potential start to a series, so i don’t need to commit but there are still options.

for this particular go at this idea, this is the catalyst:

“Oh, it’s good that you’re both here,” Grace says, when she falls into the kitchen with a slightly chaotic energy. The double doors haven’t had the time to fully swing shut behind her when she follows that with, “I’m a lesbian.”

They were going over the menu - again - and it’s been a pretty boring if hectic day of ironing out the last details before the opening. Steve looks from Grace, hovering so near the door she looks as if she might run right back out, to Danny, who quietly unglues his shoulder from Steve’s and puts down the pen he’s been using to wave far more than write. “Monkey,” Danny says, with a lot of emotion but most of all baffled, and Steve has to agree that these are pretty uncharacteristic nerves for a kid as cool as Grace.

She shifts a little, folds her arms. “Mom already knows. I just wasn’t sure how you’d take it, so-”

“Grace,” Danny says, and this time he sounds like he’s about to cry, but in the next moment he’s around the counter and wrapping Grace up in his arms so tight it’s as if he’s trying to squeeze the thought that he could ever love her any less than he does right out of her.

Steve lets out a deep, shuddery breath, and closes the menu folder. They’re finished for today.

and then there’s some stuff about letter soup (“I tried to get someone to sell me only the LGBTQIA’s, but they don’t seem to do custom letter sets.” / “Right,” Steve says, because what else is he going to say? “And what would you do for the plus, anyway?”), and danny cooking sadness pasta while telling steve he feels like a Bad Dad because he’s known he is bisexual this whole time and if he had been open about it maybe grace’s life would have been easier, and obviously steve goes, paraphrased, “you are very stupid for thinking that you’re not the best dad, stop it”, and then he mentions that at least grace did tell her dad, that she trusted him enough to do that, and that steve never took that step with john - and that’s the story of how half the mcgarrett-williams family came out in maybe an hour.

send me the title of one of my WIPs and i’ll tell you something about it or post a snippet!

#thank you for playing!! 🎉#h50 #ask #*

18 notes · View notes

just-miru · 1 year

Text

some lyrics from jekyll and hyde: the gothic musical thriller that make me think of William + some silly rambles let's gooo-

i need to know

why does a wise man take leave of his senses? / where is that fine line where sanity melts? / when does intelligence give way to madness? / a moment comes when a man becomes something else...!

hghgnnhgbbfhhh

thinking thoughts i can't word out about these rn-

still, they do fit William really well and i am very normal about that

---

why man plays this strange double game! / his hand always close to the flame

don't think i've got to explain these, like-

"this strange double game" also known as texan in the streets, british in the sheets asdfaggahajskaka

and "his hand always close to the flame" as in the flame he uses to get remnant and all that let's gooo

---

bitch, bitch, bitch

he's as queer as hell / and bi-sexuelle / likes to switch!

i had to ok-

---

take me as i am

and when despair / tears me in two

this one mostly makes me think of a silly idea about William losing his true self to Dave and stuff. haven't really explored this concept much, but it still pops in my mind from time to time hehe

but yeah, basically it comes to a point where Dave becomes an identity of its own, and William does all he can to take back full control

... only to fail miserably because i say so-

ya know how it is - little man also has to suffer from time to time in my silly little scenarios afahhajaskkak

(also, unrelated, but i just really love those lyrics as foreshadowing in the musical hehe)

---

board of governors

you're playing with fire when you start to play god!

hngbbgnbbgnbb!!!

this is one of my favourites because it can be taken both figuratively and literally in William's case and i'm so so very normal about that (lies)

---

transformation

like a warning light, glimmering in red; / like crimson bloodshed, shimmering in red / beautiful and strange, see the colors change before my eyes... / see how they dance and they sparkle like diamonds at night / leading me out of the darkness and into the light!

remnant aesthetic let's gooo

also, this ramble is more about Jekyll and Hyde rather than William, but i love the foreshadowing in this one so so much!!

"like a warning light, glimmering in red;" - this one's pretty obvious, i guess. a warning sign, yet Jekyll ignores it

"like crimson bloodshed, shimmering in red" - foreshadows all the blood my boy Hyde is gonna spill when he kills those from the board of governors who've brushed Jekyll and his experiment aside once again, as well as some other people let's gooo

"(...) see the colors change before my eyes..." - the colours are not the only things to change right before your eyes, my dear Jekyll adfahansjs

"(...) and into the light!" - i like to see this one as yet another lyric to foreshadow Jekyll's death

---

will i see the world through different eyes?

tbh, in William's case i just think it's funny since "he will see the world through texan eyes" adfaghsjsjHahsjjz

(compared to Jekyll, who will literally see the world through different eyes / a whole new perspective on life and all that jazz)

---

something inside me / a breathtaking pain! / devours and consumes me / and drives me insane!

(prolonged scream, pained noises) <- very very important to mention this! i do recommend listening to the song for this part alone adgayafgha

u gotta trust me on this one. this part of the song goes so well with the moment in which William injects himself with remnant ok-

---

(also, "the world has gone insane" works pretty well for that moment too)

alive

honestly, the whole song really fits him (with some silly things to mention, of course), so here are just a few of my favourite lyrics which i associate with him!

it's the feeling of being alive! / filled with evil, but truly alive! / it's the truth that cannot be denied!

---

and i feel i'll live on forever / with Satan himself by my side!

---

what a feeling to be so alive! / i have never seen me so alive! / such a feeling of evil inside;

kissie kissing all those lyrics on the mouth

---

his work and nothing more

you have your work and nothing more / you are possessed. what is your demon? / you've never been this way before / you've lost the fire you built your dream on! / there's something strange, there's something wrong / i see a change, it's like when love dies / i who have known you for so long / i see the pain in your eye

ok ok so-

here i actually like to think more of Henry, and how he's finally starting to realise William isn't the man he thought he was.

in the musical, mr. Utterson witnesses a very drastic and very real change in his friend Jekyll, while as in William and Henry's case, it isn't William who really changes, but rather Henry's vision / outlook on him (this sounds weird, but y'all know what i mean-)

say goodbye to the rose tinted glasses, my friend

---

he has his work / and nothing more! / he is obsessed / the man is driven

the man ever. i am kissing him on the mouth

and i think that's pretty much it

#my silly brain is vibrating rn #the lovable bastard <3 #will just advance

8 notes · View notes

sixstepsaway · 2 years

Note

Not to send you into another Izzy rage (unless you want one) but I saw another hideously bad take about Izzy objectifying Ed during the ep10 argument scene? Sigh. Really goes to show the lack of ability to attribute normal human emotions to Izzy. He can't be angrily yelling at Ed because he's angry his friend has had a massive behavior change and is nothing like the man he thought he knew. Izzy must have intentionally hit a vulnerable spot so he would get a sexual thrill from Ed being a sexy dom who chokes men. He didn't gently reach out to touch the face of a man who was finally behaving like his old self out love for his old friend, only creepy lust. And Izzy is such a creepy objectifier! Look how Ed looks uncomfortable and knocks him away. Never mind that Ed choked him against the wall, that's not objectifying so it's okay. Oh, and by the way, tell me if you got my Ask about the first Daddy Dom on the good ship, uh, Big Daddy. It may have disappeared in a tragic Tumblr accident And also if you want me to NOT occasionally send you daddies, say so. Making up lots of boyfriends for Izzy makes me feel better. The poor guy.

Oh, I enjoy my Izzy rages!

Gonna reply to the end of this first, then swing back up: I have two asks from you in my box; Monday and Sunday. If there's more, I don't have more, I just have those two.

I promise I'm not ignoring them and you're not annoying me or anything like that, I enjoy your daddy dom and related asks very much (even though I might not always have a long/deep reply for them, I'm not amazing at replies to more general things than meta) it's just that yesterday was a high stress day for me. I spent the whole day knowing I had to make a phone call at the end of my day (I'm nocturnal, so 9am when places open is the end of my day) and not just any phone call, but I had to call a vet about my duck. Then there was also the incident with the AO3 comment, and I spent most of the day compiling my metas and word counting them (40k) so I could add them to my general word count for the year. With all that, I didn't have a lot of time to reply to more than a few messages! But I'm going to get to your messages today!

And, I don't know if you noticed, but I gave you your own tag on my blog! So I can keep you and your collection of daddies sub-categorized!

Right, moving on to the rest:

I can see what's happening re: Izzy. First, they decided he's homophobic because of the daddy scene and the 'namby pamby' comment (I've also seen people double down on that, despite Izzy being in love with Ed and thusly queer himself. And I do know that queer people can be homophobic and queerphobic, but it does deeply change the angle from which that homophobia or queerphobia is coming, and also I stand by my reasoning that if Izzy was homophobic, Ed would have punted him by now, because he would have shown it around Jack; his issues aren't homophobia, they're "you're not being a proper pirate" or "you're not doing your job", and possibly a perpetuation of a cycle of abuse he received, that he isn't looking at critically enough to realize he's acting like a homophobe at Lucius).

So, the "he's homophobic!" didn't work at shaming fans into hating him, so they levelled it up: he's a racist fetishizer. Another read that, although I can understand people having that read or being uncomfortable with how he acts, it's been pointed out by a black fan, in fact (among others as well), that considering the effort OFMD puts into actively telling racists to go fuck themselves, it would be poor writing on OFMD's part to let Izzy slide the way the show does. It's also worth noting that being rude or abrasive to a person of color does not an instant racist make, it can just be a person-on-person issue. That is actually a thing. Furthermore, which is another thing said in that piece and what I am referencing, the idea that Izzy wants Edward to be violent because he's a man of color, not because he's a pirate is not only laughable but a downright daft read, because everyone on that ship is a pirate and violent. If Ed was the only person of color it might be problematic, but they're all so diverse and such a wonderfully mixed bag it means that Ed being a person of color is not why Izzy wants him to be violent.

And we've discussed at length here why Izzy likely wants Ed to be violent (pirate! safety! protection! vulnerability!) so I won't dig back in here.

When "racist!" and "homophobic!" didn't work, they started saying he was abusive, to which most of us said, "He was a meanie pants and then Edward cut off his toe and fed it to him? That is not Izzy being abusive. If you want to pick someone in that sequence who is abusive, it is most certainly Ed, did we watch the same show? Ed cutting off his toe can't even be labelled as reactive abuse (eg. the victim of abuse gets abused to such an extent they start to strike back, somewhat mimicking their abuser's actions) because it's such a massive escalation from nasty words to outright permanent physical violence."

So now those three things don't work because the arguments either don't hold weight (abusive), would make the show infinitely less good and well put together than it is right now and undermine a lot of the messages (racist), or is undermined itself by Izzy being in love with another man (homophobic), they've moved on to saying he's a fetishizer, because that makes sense, right? Telling us who love him that we're fetishizers didn't work, so they'll tell us that he's the fetishizer.

Lots of people have explained better than I ever could that the word 'fetishize' is being misused at length, but the tl;dr is that fetishizing is very different to 'finding someone attractive' or 'enjoying when they act a certain way'. A fetish is something that is attractive to a person that isn't naturally supposed to be. Finding someone's lips or tits hot isn't a fetish, finding someone's feet hot is, because it's not really meant as a sexual thing. It also doesn't mean it's a bad thing, it's just a term. Fetishizing and sexualizing are both ridiculous terms, especially when they're being applied to one grown adult finding another grown adult attractive or sexy in some way.

It's also weird to read Izzy cupping Ed's cheek with tears in his eyes as sexual rather than romantic or just affectionate. Ed has been a mess for days, and considering Ed was actively discussing suicide in 1x04 when they first boarded the Revenge (something Izzy looks devastated about, by the way, and then tries very hard to put aside as, "Well that makes no fucking sense!" and ignore because how, how, how do you handle something like that? How do you instantly swallow down that the person you love most on this godforsaken Earth is considering dying as a good idea because of the mental instability you've been spending most of your energy trying to stabilize for what seems like it might be years?) and has spent 3 days crying in a blanket fort and seeming completely not himself (and I've seen people say what he's doing is a healthy mechanism for getting over and through a breakup, and I don't disagree, but I do think he's also trying to become Stede and I'm not really sure that's as healthy as the crying and songwriting and letting out his feelings) on top of being apathetic and lethargic and disinterested in everything before they boarded the Revenge, and finally there's a spark, a hint of who he used to be, and Izzy is clutching desperately to it because he wants his person back!!!

Sure, maybe the chokeslam turned him on, but as we've discussed here before: physical reactions are not something we control. You can be turned on by something you are actively disgusted by and do not want in the slightest. Bodies are betrayers when it comes to things like this. Izzy potentially being turned on by being chokeslammed by the person he's most attracted to and in love with isn't shocking and doesn't mean he was, in that moment, lusting after Ed and hoping that being mean to him would lead to them boning against the wall, it just doesn't.

So now we've done racist, homophobic, abusive and fetishizing, I assume the next steps over the next couple of weeks will be firstly that Izzy and Edward have clearly been a twosome for many years, and thusly it's incestuous because they're brother-coded (rather than canonically framed as being married couple coded), and then either because Izzy is historically 16 (much like Stede is historically 29) or because he's short (and frankly I do not know which one is worse), the argument will be we're all horrible people for shipping them, not because Izzy could get hurt but because we're turning Ed into a sex offender.

Can't wait to see that unravel between now and s2!!!

Please continue to send me lots of daddy dom and Izzy asks, I love receiving them and waking up to asks about Izzy makes me unfathomably happy.

#izzy's dd anon #ask

12 notes · View notes

aanteater-nose · 1 year

Text

Here I go. So about the new Velma series. Not only was I very excited to see Glenn Howerton in a voice acting role, but the concept for an adult animated scooby doo was actually pretty appealing to me. The show would’ve been ripe for the now-adult audience who grew up in the golden age of Scooby Doo TV (not to mention it’s kinda timeless). When I first saw the poster art for Velma I actually really liked it. The art style and animation is cool and the colors are vibrant, giving a very “spooky” vibe to the show nothing short of the mystery gang aesthetic. Really, an adult scooby doo could’ve been so fun; shaggy and scooby get the munchies and end up driving to a taco bell late at night only to find it’s haunted or some shit like that. But of course, as soon as I saw that we were race-swapping every character (not only that but Velma is literally just Mindy Khaling cosplaying as Velma) I knew to have my doubts about what this series would be trying to accomplish. Was I gonna get a good show with interesting concepts and humorous writing...or some “look how diverse we are, give us your money” bullshit. Yeah it’s pretty clear which one.

I think we can all agree that comedy is subjective but holy shit. the humor and writing for Velma is just terrible. The show concerns itself so much with appearing edgy, witty, and (hate the use of the word but “woke”). It’s like if you sent a research team to twitter and had it come back with a script. Not to mention Mindy Khaling herself is uh, how you say, not funny? I honestly don’t know what I expected from her when I heard she’d be a big part in the Velma series, literally every show she’s ever helped produce or act in, she’s playing a self-insert of herself and her own life events. All. the time. There’s this self-pitying, snarky attitude that follows her wherever she goes, and unfortunately, that means the character Velma will be subjected to this misery as well.

Once again, it’s just the writing that is the worst part of this project. As a big fan of shows like Arrested Development and It’s Always Sunny, I love watching characters who are just awful people committing awful acts. However, in order for those characters to be loved, the writing has to actually be good. Watching the small clips of Velma I’ve seen, I feel like I’m constantly being lectured by that one kid in class who tries to one-up every joke ever told. The show (and mostly Mindy) tries to show off how “smart” and comically sarcastic they are. As for the race-swapping of every character but Fred (who conveniently stays white so that the gang can make fun of his heterosexual, small dick, male whiteness) Mindy claims it’s because she identified so much with Velma that she felt race did not need to be tied into the character at all...which is contradicting because if that were so, why not leave the character as is? Regardless, for a show that claims to care so little about race, there are a lot of race jokes. (they couldn’t even make those funny either).

I ofc cannot fail to mention the fake gay representation of Daphne and Velma. Anyone who’s ever watched scooby doo has had their own theories about velma and daphne, one of which being they were gay, so yeah that’s not a new concept. However, it’s so clear to see this show just lazily throwing shit in because it’s trendy. Not to mention anyone who attacks a show so full of minority “representation” will be attacked online and the creators know this. Essentially, all the inclusivity Velma parades is an obvious attempt to rack up brownie points, please do not accept this as real representation of any kind.

So yeah anyways in conclusion, the race-swapping and queer baiting is a cash grab, the writing is atrocious, and the main character is an asshole with no redeemable qualities doubling as a self-insert of Mindy. The fact that they already got renewed for a S2 despite the overwhelming backlash just shows that it expects to survive on hatewatching alone.

#Velma #Velma show #I’m def still bitter that I won’t get to see Glenn in new media that deserves him

3 notes · View notes