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bomber-grl · 6 months

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SAL FISHER RELATIONSHIP HC ! ₊˚⊹

₊˚⊹ PAIRING(s): Sal fisher x Gn!reader

He’s so sweet it hurts

Honestly, Sal is the best boyfriend ever, he’s always there for you and he always knows the perfect things to say when comforting you.

The two of you met because of the ghosts and the whole cult thing while at high school.

You were the more outspoken one out of the two of you since Sal was mostly against violence even when Travis was brought into the convo.

I can definitely see Sal being the first one to approach you.

It all started when Sal started becoming increasingly interested in you to the point that Larry and even ash started teasing and encouraging him to talk to you.

He would fluster, occasionally and say the wrong words out of nervousness however with luck, he managed to get your number.

It was hard not to fall for him, especially with how lovable he is.

He’s so genuinely nice and actually cares for others.

Of course, you eventually see his face, and although he was neutral about it since he trusted you he was still a bit nervous.

Definitely warms his heart when you not only accept his face but also kiss it.

He flusters and stutters so badly afterwards.

Continuing from that, he’s definitely the type to tease lightheartedly

Definitely not in the beginning though

So when you first started teasing and provoking him, causing him to get super flustered

He wouldn’t really know what to do except accept it, so imagine your surprise when he turns the tables once day and makes you a blushing mess

Most times when you hang out, you usually hang at the apartments in his room, or when sals an adult you’d hang out in his room in the house

During these hang outs you guys would usually listen to some music or just enjoy each others presence

Most times it’s just you and sal cuddling and ngl he smells rlly good

Like I’m not even joking and when you mention this, he can’t help but laugh and just tells you do too

However, when you guys hang out with Larry (which is more often than not) you guys end up in more than sus situations 😭😭

The. Larry is all like “I’ll leave you guys at it” and dips

Like??? We’re not doing anything 😭🗣️

Anyway

While you’re at high school ofc Travis has something to say, and if you’re a guy then he obviously calls you the f slur and a lot of homophobic nonsense

And if you’re a girl Travis still calls y’all homos in a negative way, and always says shit about you two

And I don’t think I need elaborate further about how Travis would probably hate crime you if you were non-binary, gender fluid, or basically anything under the trans umbrella

(Basically any gender identity that isn’t your assigned one 😭

Larry, ash, and Todd all get pissed at Travis , and they always come to the both of your guy’s defense

And ofc Sal is bit lenient towards Travis, well only ever when Travis is talking shit about him

If Travis talks shit about you he’d be pissed

But ofc younger Sal is less violent and more open so he’d obvs be kinder

Anyway, we all know what happens at the apartments and if you live there-

Let’s just say it pains Sal so much to have to kill you

I mean him having to kill all the people he grew up with and the people he cares for is horrible but he knows he has to

However, if you don’t, well let’s say you know about the cult and why he did it

Still doesn’t stop you from trying to find a way to get a lower sentence and from trying the convince ash of the truth

When sal dies, let’s just say you feel so alone

Of course you have ash by your side but it’s just horrible

Eventually you’re the person that sals soul would enter and you’d defeat the cult that way

But let’s all pretend that they were able to defeat the cult without having to kill the innocent tenants

Making sal a free man

Well if it were that way, you and Sal would be together for a long time, and if you both wished it, married too

———

Art credits : @/toasterdoodle22

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anarcoqueer1994 · 10 months

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Eddie was going to tell them, he promised Steve he would. Its was easy to tell the apocalypse crew, kind of hard to keep things from a group of people you saved the world with. But telling Corroded Coffin about his new boyfriend was different. Not that they would care that he has a boyfriend. They've known he was queer for a while. What he was worried was who he was dating.

They had spent years in high school touting their superiority over the "conformist, arrogant sheep, and their leader King Steve." Except he had been to harsh, he had gotten to know Steve.... love Steve. And he was afraid if he told Corroded Coffin, not only would they rag on him, but they may say something horrible to Steve. But Steve said he didn't care, that he could handle it. He would "kill them with kindness." He just wanted to be open with Eddie with all their friend groups.

So Eddie promised he would tell. There was a little part of him, though, a superficial part of him, that cared a little more about what his friends think than he should. And so, even though he told Steve he would, he has been dragging his feet. Unfortunately, Steve does not know that. Eddie told a little white lie a few weeks ago that he told them, bringing the brightest, prettiest smile to his face. Eddie had planned to tell them soon after.

But he still hasn't, did not realize the mess he was about to make. Tonight they were having Hellfire at the Wheeler house. Dustin, Will, Lucas, Mike, Erica and the rest of Corroded Coffin were there.

Dustin mentions that Steve would be there soon to bring he, Lucas, Erica and Will home. That's when Garreth says "I still don't see why you guys like hanging out with that guy. He always seemed like an asshole to me." Jeff and Caleb nod their heads.

"He kind of is." Mike jokes. "But he's not a bad dude."

"Steve is cool, man." Dustin adds, obvious admiration in his face.

"Yea, Steve has always been really nice to us." Will smiles. "He is like another big brother." The rest of the party, including Erica, nod in agreement.

Erica gets a shit eating grin(not knowing Eddie has not told Corresed Coffin about he and Steve dating) "And he's cute, right Eddie?" The rest of the guys except Lucas and Will groan in response.

Eddie tries to play it off. "Yea, Harrington is hot. Anyone with eyes can see that."

"Well you must think he's extra hot since he's your...' before she can finish Eddie cuts her off. "I think we are at a good place to stop for tonight."

Everyone notices the quick way he cut her off. Everyone looks confused, even if the younger teens are for a different reason. Jeff speaks up. "What's Steve, Eddie?" He pokes.

"Steve is Steve." He shoots back avoiding the question, slight embarrassment creeping to his cheeks. He knows he should say more, tell them about his wonderful, adorable boyfriend. But maybe he ego is too big to admit he fell for the jock.

"What are you talking about?" Dustin speaks up.

"Why are you being weird?" Mike adds.

Suddenly a chorus of voices chime in, all asking questions. "What is Steve?" "Eddie, why are you being like this?" "Is something up with Steve?"

Finally over the loud voices from his old friends and new friends, he defensively says. "Steve is nothing!" His cheeks are red.

Unfortunately, over the chaos, they hadn't heard Steve come down the steps, having heard Eddie's proclamation. He had come a bit early, thinking Correded Coffin knew. He was carrying a plate of cupcakes, wanting to make a good impression during the first time seeing Correded Coffin as Eddie’s boyfriend.

But he was wrong. They didn't know, and Eddie had lied to him. It hurt. It's not like Eddie’s friends are homophobic, so Eddie was...ashamed to be dating him.

"I'm nothing?" Steve's voice causes everyone to look behind them. Steve looks devastated, like Eddie had just took his heart and stomped on it in front of everyone.

"Steve..." Eddie jumps up, trying to will time to rewind, but he can’t. He hadn't meant to say those terrible things.

But Steve is shaking his head, setting the cupcakes down, before bounding back up the steps.

All the "kids" including Mike, practically shoot daggers at Eddie as they leave, following after Steve.

Eddie is left sitting in the basement, with his three confused bandmates, feeling deflated, knowing he just fucked up the best thing in his life.

Part 2? Let me know if you want to be added to a tag list.

Tag list closed, part 2 here :)

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steddie angst

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blanketforcas · 4 months

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hey cw, yeah. it's about your favorite american hero. turns out your homophobic jokes accidentally queercoded him. yeah. sorry. no it's too late now, the actor fully internalized it cause he was already predisposed to it bc of his d- yes, daddy issues you got it! your set is full of 'em, i hear ya. haha great times i bet. anyways yah so. turns out whatever the guy's dealing with, he put it all into this character and queercoded him even further. oh- what's that? your writers are aware and are writing it into the narrative too? no no i won't tell the big boss, secret's safe with me. what else can you tell me about what's gonna happen on the show? omg no way. bi lighting for real? yeah they weren't aware of that last time were they haha. so like, intentional this time? ok nice! what else you got? dean's flustered by several guys again? yeah i mean i kind of expect that now. oh he's-? he's saying "i love you" to cas?? mm sorry man i think that's a bit too soon for homeboy, he's gonna want that changed to "i need you" or something. he'll genuinely believe that'll make it less romantic tho, no worries. just go with it, he'll figure it out eventually... if i know why he's so weird about this destiel thing? well um. have you perhaps noticed something about the way he acts around misha, compared to, say, the other one? [pause] [what do you- oh.] ... sir are you still there?

#destiel

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deluweil · 1 month

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People are joking about ABC realizing why FOX put Ryan in interview jail - Without realizing the consequences of what FOX and KR have done.

Actors don't say anything that they aren't allowed to say, that is Hollywood's iron rule when filming a project.

Whatever Ryan is saying, he was given permission to do it.

ABC sees and understands the ramification of the homophobic narrative forced on the show on FOX's network they can see the bad writing and the altogether 'don't give a fuck about this' attitude the show was getting from it's showrunners.

ABC wouldn't take something that is circling the drain just to continue with the bad form of handling the show got so far.

Now Ryan, bless him, he loves Buck and he loves Oliver and thank God he loves Eddie, he understands the character better than anyone, he also knew where it was supposed to go when Murphy first hired him.

KR taking over put a wrench in that original plan but the choices made by both writers and actors on screen showed her exactly where she could shove her heteronormative narrative.

ABC is simply amplifying the obvious cast and writers cry and giving them a safe heaven to exist in peace.

It's not for nothing that the publicity and the premiere party were this big, this is a promise to the cast and crew that they will be treated better than the crap hole FOX network treated them.

Now, I don't know what will happen, but gay storyline or not, Eddie does love Buck to the core, it doesn't have to be in a romantic sense, it can be in any way possible, that saying alone does not scream gay, everything else that happened in the story up until now, however, does.

Because in CF Severide and Casey loved each other to the core in their best friend way, Vic and Travis love each other to the core in Station 19 without there being a romantic entanglement, Gibson loved Miller until he died still managing to stay straight lol and same for Cruz and Otis in CF - both had gfs both loved each other like brothers.

Eddie loves Buck, it doesn't have to mean anything romantic unless it was played into it, 911 leaned into it and failed to follow through on FOX, I am hoping ABC gives them that last shove.

After all, ABC is the home of Station 19, Home of the beautiful Marina pair, and the first male bi-character, finally, portrayed brilliantly by Eli in S6.

So stop saying Ryan is simply burning the house down, he does better PR for this show than all the anemic interviews Oliver was instructed to give so far.

Again, not Oliver's fault, KR made him, picked her favorite and dragged him down with her kicking and screaming. Shame on her and FOX.

#a little psa #ryan guzman #eddie diaz #evan buckley #oliver stark #911 spoilers #911 speculation #911 abc #fox and KR suck!#thank you ryan!#buddie

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l0ve-bug-m1les · 10 months

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hii I was wondering if you could write a

miles morales x male! reader

where the two kiss because they’re curious about their sexuality and that leads to them finding out they aren’t exactly as straight as they initially thought

Ahhhh this is such a good idea!!! Thank you so much!!

🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸

The Answer Sitting in Front of Me

Miles Morales x Male!Reader

Summary: All questions have an answer to find. You just didn’t think you’d find yours in your best friends lips…

Warnings: No actual warnings, just two teenagers figuring themselves out!

It’s the final class of the day, and you’re struggling to stay awake. This isn’t like you, considering the fact you normally go to bed at a decent time so at the end of the day, you’re pretty awake. But today was different. Or rather, last night was different. Recently, you’ve been having…doubts about yourself. Specifically your sexuality. So to—hopefully—get your answer, you spent all night on Google searching up different tests, articles, and videos to answer your burning question. But alas, flashy Buzzfeed quizzes aren’t the remedy you hoped for. So now you’re just here. Tired, ready to get back to the dorms, and still unsure.

A crumpled up piece of paper lands onto your desk. You know exactly who it’s from as you open the note and read it.

"Hey, you don't look so good. Are you alright?”

“Damn, I look so tired you can tell from behind me..” You reply, and ball the note back up as you nonchalantly stretch your arms and drop the note onto his desk. This is how close you and Miles are. It’s easy to tell how the other is feeling just from body language. But at the same time, it wouldn’t take a genius to tell you’re pretty out of it today. You patiently wait for his reply as your teacher drones on and on about something you’ve forgotten about and, frankly, don’t care for. The note returns.

“Yeah. But for real, you’re normally pretty awake when we’re about to leave. What’s wrong?”

You think for a long time. You couldn’t possibly just tell him you’re going through a sexuality crisis! It’d put your relationship in jeopardy! A sigh escapes your lips as you try to think of a bluff, only to scrap the idea knowing Miles would catch it and hound you until you cave in. But what could you possibly say? “Oh, yeah, i think I’m gay and stayed up all night thinking about it. No biggie.” Yeah, right. But at the same time, he opened up to you about him being Spider-Man, so why can’t you just explain your problem to him? “Because he’d hate you.” is the lie your brain is plagued with. You know Miles isn’t homophobic and you know he’d probably just try to help you out. You’ve been through thick and thin with him. He can trust you, and you can trust him.

You realize you’re taking too long when another note flies onto your desk. You don’t read it and just answer the other one: “It’s kinda complicated. Swing by my room when you get a chance, alright?” You toss it back and refocus your attention to the lesson.

It'll be alright.

Right?

🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸

Time flies and you’re now sitting at your desk in your dorm. Your roommate’s off to who knows where, so you’re by yourself just waiting for that fateful tap on your window from Miles. Normally after school he’ll do some spider stuff before coming back and chilling out for the rest of the day, most of the time with you. That is, unless some guy tries to wreck havoc on Brooklyn, and it’s up to Miles to take them down. As much as it sucks when he has to leave, you admire how dedicated and passionate he is about doing what’s right and protecting what he loves most. You also appreciate how much he’s helped you throughout the school year. High school is no joke, and there have been some times when you felt like all was hopeless. But with Miles there, you came out of those slumps for the better. You also admire the way his eyes shine with that cheeky glow when he says an exceptionally cheesy joke, with that charming smile to go with it. And his kinda cute laugh and—

Oh no.

You groan and lean back in your chair. It’s those thoughts again. The very thoughts that have you so tired and confused. The line between admiration for guys and attraction towards guys has been blurred and now you’re not sure if there even is a difference for you. You close your eyes and continue to think before a shadow blocks out the sun and you hear a knock at the window. “Here we go..” you think to yourself as you unlock the window and open it for Miles.

"How you been?" Miles says as he steps through with that same sweet enthusiasm. He’s not in his Spider-Man suit so you figure all went well. “I’ve just been chilling out,” you say and sit back down, “nothing too exciting.”

He hums in response before taking a seat on your bed. “So what was it you needed to explain that was so complicated? Don’t tell me you’re having an identity crisis!” he jokes. You don’t smile because that’s exactly what it is. He notices the change in your demeanor and grows worried. “Ah..I see,” he looks over you for any hints as to what’s bothering you, “uhm…would you feel comfortable explaining?” he asks.

You take a long moment to think. Is this really a good idea? Should you even tell him? It’s not like you’re confessing to him so bad how could it be? You take a slow, long breath in, and release it just as slow. “I think….i think i like guys…” You finally say. “And i spent all night trying to figure that out, which is why i was so tired in class today.”

Well there it is. It’s out.

You both sat in silence and stared at each other for a long moment. Miles looked like he was in disbelief. Great, you blew it. You go to try and reverse the damage before Miles speaks up.

“Wait, really?! You too?!” He exclaims much to your surprise. You too? Wait so does he…

“You’ve been thinking the same thing?” You ask him.

“Yeah! Like, all the time!”

This is some news. You thought he was gonna try to leave and awkwardly forget about the situation. Never did you consider the possibility of him thinking the same thing. But now what? You know he’s possibly not straight like you, but what are you supposed to do with this information? Honestly you didn’t think you’d make this far. “So,” you speak up, “what now? I mean, we’ve got the same problem. How do we solve it?” A good move on your end. Not too leading, but leading enough to keep the conversation going without you both just changing the subject.

“Uhm…have you ever kissed a girl before?” He asks, his eyes avoiding yours.

“No, why?"

"Well, i was just thinking we could..." he trails off, hoping you get the memo.

"Think we could—“ you’re cut off by the realization hitting you— “Oh…i…get what you’re saying. Kiss and compare how it feels when we kiss a girl, right?”

He sheepishly nods. “Yeah, but neither of us have kissed a girl so it wouldn’t work.” His eyes fall to the floor, and you’re stuck looking at the wall. A kiss? Would that really work? Maybe neither of you need to have kissed a girl—or anyone else for that matter—to see compare how it feels when you kiss a boy. You’re a boy. He’s a boy. Why should you have any prior experience? But is it a good idea? What if you like it, but he doesn’t? There’s only one way to find out..

Forget words. You get up and stand in front of Miles. Your hands find a spot on his face and they stay there as you look deep into his eyes. A question. A silent way of asking for permission when words aren’t good enough. He nods and you lean in, gently bringing his face to yours.

After what feels like an eternity, your lips meet. At first you’re both hesitant, but it’s as if a spark went through you both as you relax and lean in to the kiss. Miles holds your hands on his face and let’s the kiss linger for a moment longer than you both thought it’d last. It’s the sweetest first kiss one could have. The world only starts to spin again when you both pull away, practically breathless.

"Did…did that answer your question?" Miles asks, his voice soft.

"Yeah. Did it answer yours?”

Miles nods and leans in again for another kiss with more confidence. His hands find yours and he brings you down onto the bed to sit beside him, before slowly pulling away again.

“Yeah…” he breathes.

You’re a lot more awake now.

🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸 🌸~~🌸

#miles morales #spider man x reader #miles morales x male reader #male reader #across the spiderverse #fanfic

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buckttommy · 23 days

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umm. pause. guys. guys. gay tommy has been canon this entire time. what the fuck. like. oh my god. no. like. okay. okay. so. 2x9 (hen begins), sal [deluca] is talking about his girlfriend dragging him to see twilight. he makes a homophobic joke about tommy being team jacob and tommy's like "i don't even know what that means." chimney says "he's insinuating that you're gay" and tommy blows deluca a kiss. fine. whatever. but THEN you skip to 2x12 (chimney begins), and—i stg it's a blink and you miss it moment—tommy and gerrard (racist captain) are having this conversation in the background

tommy: what about that burger place? gerrard: tommy i hate that place. hey wasn't your girlfriend supposed to come and cook us dinner? tommy: uhh. next tuesday. gerrard: promise? tommy: uhh. uh. yes. yeah. i will promise.

and it's like. number one, this sounds like a conversation they've had before. something to the tune of "hey, how come you never bring your girlfriend around" which i can't help but think was intentional considering the members of the old 118 were entirely familiar with deluca's girlfriend gina. but number two, no straight man who has a girlfriend sounds that unsure that they have a fucking girlfriend. it was very much giving "ah yes. this human lady that i love that most definitely exists. absolutely. also i like breasts." and it's just like. ok. what the fuck. like. i don't know if this was the plan all along. i don't think it was. i still maintain buck/eddie were supposed to go canon after the shooting and the powers that be got in the way. but. but. the idea that this canon queer character has been hiding in plain sight (subtext) is just. wild to me. like. i've always headcanoned tommy as gay, mostly because every character he plays seems fruity as hell. but bro. i don't think it's a headcanon anymore. and i don't think it ever has been. what the fuck.

there's also the idea that. like. so i've been watching the begins episodes again trying to figure out what, exactly, tommy's crime against the members of the 118 has been. like. he worked in a -phobic/-cist environment. he was definitely complicit in making hen/chimney feel like outsiders in their workplace yes yes all these things are true. but as far as i can tell, tommy has rarely ever actively been anything except spineless. deluca makes a homophobic joke? tommy laughs. gerrard makes a bunch of sexist and racist comments? tommy looks, but doesn't say anything to encourage (or discourage him). hen gives her monologue? he looks chagrined.

and his complicity would be absolutely shitty and inexcusable if he was just a cishet white man. no questions asked. but if — if — you view his behavior through the lens of the fact that tommy is queer himself? that tommy is, and always has been, a member of a marginalized community who felt it was easier and safer to assimilate than it was to be openly queer and have a target on his back? his behavior becomes a whole hell of a lot more understandable. yes, it's still shitty, but. there's a purpose behind it. and this idea is supported by the fact that, when gerrard leaves (flashing forward to bobby begins again), even before bobby gets there (because we always credit bobby with making the 118 the family it is today), like. the atmosphere is completely different. tommy and hen? are friendly with each other. chimney and tommy? also friendly with each other. which we also know because in 2x14 broken, he calls him up for help. which lends credibility to the idea that the problems tommy had (or thought he had) with henchim were not about them as people but more about whatever manufactured conservative boys club bullshit gerrard fostered.

and it's just like. motherfucker. bitch. what the hell. like. first of all, leave it to 9-1-1 to tell a story like this in the most subtle way possible. like if that was indeed the intended implication, i'm throwing my tv off a bridge immediately. but also. second of all. what is wrong with this show. they're crazy. i want to eat it like a loaf of bread. just shovel it in my mouth because the idea that tommy has been queer all along, that he wasn't brought back just to be a stopgap on buck's queer journey to eddie, but that he's been haunting the edges of the narrative like a gay ghost is sooo like. ohhh. okay. [throws up]. like????? okay. anyway. i'm going to be thinking about this the rest of the day.

#tommy kinard #head in hands.....................HEAD IN HANDS #tv: 911 #jack.txt #There's also something to be said about the idea of FOX main characterizing Buck/Oliver #around the same time they put a stop to Buddie #Something about like. Conventionally attractive (dark hair / light eyes) white men are not allowed to be loudly quee #and like. I KNEW there was something there #I knew it. And I love Michael and David and Karen and Hen don't get me wrong #those are my emotional support gays #but I was just like ''hm. kind of funny how every queer character connected to the mains is a person of color right?''#and I never vocalized this thought to ANYONE but I always kept it in the back of my mind #even the men michael would be seen with *before* David — always black #and there's nothing wrong with it it's fine #but the idea becomes a LOT more insidious when I consider FOX's politics—when i consider that both racism and homophobia are inherent to #their brand. and then it's just like ''ohh. you guys made the black people dirty queers because white is right. okay got it''#anyways. let me stop talking. lol

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angelsdean · 5 months

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I need people to understand how S&P (standards and practices) works in television and how much influence they have over what gets to stay IN an episode of a show and how the big time network execs are the ones holding the purse strings and making final decisions on a show's content, not the writers / showrunners / creatives involved.

So many creators have shared S&P notes over the years of the wild and nonsensical things networks wanted them to omit / change / forbid. Most famously on tumblr, I've seen it so many times, is the notes from Gravity Falls. But here's a post compiling a bunch of particularly bad ones from various networks too. Do you see the things they're asking to be changed / cut ?

Now imagine, anything you want to get into your show and actually air has to get through S&P and the network execs. A lot of creators have had to resort to underhanded methods. A lot of creators have had to relegate things to subtext and innuendo and scenes that are "open to interpretation" instead of explicit in meaning. Things have had to be coded and symbolized. And they're relying on their audience to be good readers, good at media literacy, to notice and get it. This stuff isn't the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, it's the true practices creatives have had to use to be able to tell diverse stories for ages. The Hays Code is pretty well known, it exists because of censorship. It was a way to symbolize certain things and get past censors.

Queercoding, in particular, has been used for ages in both visual media and literature do signal to queer audiences that yes, this character is one of us, but no, we can't be explicit about it because TPTB won't allow it. It's a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to those in the know. It's the deliberate use of certain queer imagery / clothing / mannerisms / phrases / references to other queer media / subtle glances and lingering touches. Things that offer plausible deniability and can be explained away or go unnoticed by straight audiences to get past those network censors. But that queer viewers WILL (hopefully) pick up on.

Because, unfortunately, still to this day, a lot of antiquated network execs don't think queer narratives are profitable. They don't think they'll appeal to general audiences, because that's what matters, whatever appeals to most of the audience demographic so they can keep watching and keep making the network more money. The networks don't care about telling good stories! Most of them are old white cishet business men, not creatives. They don't care about character arcs and what will make fans happy. They don't care about storytelling. What they care about is profit and they're basing their ideas of what's profitable on what they believe is the predominate target demographic, usually white cis heterosexual audiences.

So, imagine a show that started airing in the early 2000s. Imagine a show where the two main characters are based on two characters from a famous Beat Generation novel, where one of the characters is queer! based on a real like bisexual man! The creator is aware of this, most definitely. And sure, it's 2005, there's no way they were thinking of making that explicit about Dean in the text because it just wouldn't fly back then to have a main character be queer. But! it's made subtext. And there are nods to that queerness placed in the text. Things that are open to interpretation. Things that are drenched in metaphor (looking at you 1x06 Skin "I know I'm a freak" "maybe this thing was born human but was different...hated. Until he learned to become someone else.") Things that are blink-and-you-miss-it and left to plausible deniability (things like seemingly spending an hour in the men's bathroom, or always reacting a little vulnerable and awkward when you're clocked instead of laughing it off and making a homophobic joke abt it)

And then, years later there's a ship! It's popular and at first the writers aren't really seriously thinking about it but they'll throw the fans a bone here and there. Then, some writers do get on the destiel train and start actively writing scenes for them that are suggestive. And only a fraction of what they write actually makes it into the text. So many lines left on the cutting room floor: i love past you. i forgive you i love you. i lost cas and it damn near broke me. spread cas's ashes alone. of course i wanted you to stay. if cas were here. -- etc. Everything cut was not cut by the writers! Why would a writer write something to then sabotage their own story and cut it? No, these are things that didn't make it past the network. Somewhere a note was made maybe "too gay" or "don't feed the shippers" or simply "no destiel."

So, "no destiel." That's pretty clearly the message we got from the CW for years. "No destiel. Destiel will alienate our general audience. Two of our main characters being queer? And in a relationship? No way." So what can the pro-destiel creatives involved do, if the network is saying no? What can the writers do if most of their explicit destiel (or queer dean) lines / moments are getting cut? Relegate things to subtext. Make jokes that straight people can wave off but queer people can read into. Make costuming and set design choices that the hardcore fans who are already looking will notice while the general audience and the out-of-touch network execs won't blink and eye at (I'm looking at you Jerry and your lamps and disappearing second nightstands and your gay flamingo bar!)

And then, when the audience asks, "is destiel real? is this proof of destiel?" what can the creatives do but deny? Yes, it hurts, to be told "No no I don't know what you're talking about. There's no destiel in supernatural" a la "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" but! if the network said "no destiel!" and you and your creative team have been working to keep putting destiel in the subtext of the narrative in a way that will get past censors, you can't just go "Yes, actually, all that subtext and symbolism you're picking up, yea it's because destiel is actually in the narrative."

But, there's a BIG difference between actively putting queer themes and subtext into the narrative and then saying it's not there (but it is! and the audience sees it!) versus NOT putting any queer content into the text but SAYING it is there to entice queer fans to continue watching. The latter, is textbook queerbaiting. The former? Is not. The former is the tactics so many creatives have had to use for years, decades, centuries, to get past censorship and signal to those in the know that yea, characters like you are here, they exist in this story.

Were the spn writers perfect? No, absolutely not. And I don't think every instance of queer content was a secret signal. Some stuff, depending on the writer, might've been a period-typical gay joke. These writers are flawed. But it's no secret that there were pro-destiel writers in the writing room throughout the years, and that efforts were made to make it explicitly canon (the market research!)

So no, the writers weren't ever perfect or a homogeneous entity. But they definitely were fighting an uphill battle constantly for 15 yrs against S&P and network execs with antiquated ideas of what's profitable / appealing.

Spn even called out the networks before, on the show, using a silly example of complaints abt the lighting of the show and how dark the early seasons were. Brightening the later seasons wasn't a creative choice, but a network choice. And if the networks can complain abt and change something as trivial as the lighting of a show, they definitely are having a hand in influencing the content of the show, especially queer content.

Even in s15, (seasons fifteen!!!) Misha has said he worried Castiel's confession would not air. In 2020!!! And Jensen recorded that scene on his personal phone! Why? Sure, for the memories. But also, I do not doubt for a second that part of it was for insurance, should the scene mysteriously disappear completely. We've seen the finale script. We've seen the omitted omitted omitted scenes. We all saw how they hacked the confession scene to bits. The weird cuts and close-ups. That's not the writers doing. That's likely not even the editors (willingly). That's orders from on high. All of the fuckery we saw in s15 reeks of network interference. Writers are not trying to sabotage their own stories, believe me.

Anyways, TLDR: Networks have a lot more power than many think and they get final say in what makes it to air. And for years creative teams have had to find ways to get past network censorship if they want "banned" or "unapproved" "unprofitable" "unwanted" content to make it into the show. That means relying on techniques like symbolism, subtext, and queercoding, and then shutting up about it. Denying its there, saying it's all "open to interpretation" all while they continue to put that open to interpretation content into the show. And that's not queerbaiting, as frustrating as it might be for queer audiences to be told that what they're seeing isn't there, it's still not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a marketing technique to draw in queer fans by baiting them with the promise of queer content and then having no queer content in said media. But if you are picking up on queer themes / subtext / symbolism / coding that is in front of your face IN the text, that's not queerbaiting. It's there, covertly, for you, because someone higher up didn't want it to be there explicitly or at all.

#long post #LONG-ass post #but it needed to be said!#i'm sorry if you think every creative involved with spn was a braindead asshole but the thing is.#even the most mediocre of writers understands a thing or two abt symbolism and writers working in TV are plagued by S&P #countless writers have talked abt the S&P bullshit and having to tweak and edit down their work to get past censors #it's a reality of writing for television #and the people who understand all this and understand the context of making TV in the early 2000s (to present tbh!) aren't 'delusional'#i'm sorry but it's naive to think that queer stories and queer characters are free to be told even nowadays. it's still a constant battle #times have changed but unfortunately not as much as you'd think #the confession !!!!! the confession still struggled to air and what we got was so obviously hacked down to bits!!!!!!#how can anyone think getting destiel content into the show was ever easy?#how can anyone think the pro-destiel writers weren't constantly having to be careful and underhanded in their writing?#there's a reason queercoding and subtext exist and it's this!!! it's censorship from TPTB #anyways. people much older than me have been talking abt this for ages. younger fans who are used to more open queer rep need to understand #it hasn't always been that easy and even nowadays SO many networks are still not willing to take a risk on queer stories #so creators do what they can #vic.txt

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cosmerelists · 3 months

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Why I DON'T think Dalinar will be homophobic

[Stormlight spoilers if you don't know who in Stormlight is canonically gay! Both in book and per WOB]

Now...it's possible that the many posts I see floating around predicting that Dalinar will be homophobic when Renarin comes out are, like, jokes. In which case, I look the fool to take them seriously and argue the other side. But oh well. Here's why I genuinely do not think Dalinar will be anything but supportive of his gay son.

1. Gay marriage is legal in Alethkar

No, wait, don't get mad! I'm gay married in real life, and trust me, I know that the existence of gay marriage does not mean homophobia is over. But I do think that the point of the scene with Drehy being married to a man was to suggest that gay Alethi men can be openly gay. They aren't expected to hide it and it isn't assumed to be shameful. It must be less common, since Kaladin did his whole "You know how it is to be different, being married to a man" speech, but it's not presented as something shameful or illegal and the other bridgemen react as though Kaladin is the weird one for bringing it up like that.

2. WOB is that Vorinism supports gay marriage

Sanderson has said, "Vorin culture is concerned with oaths. Extra-marital sexuality is strictly forbidden, but homosexuality is regarded the same by most as heterosexual relationships. If the proper oaths are spoken, then the Almighty approves."

So to me, that means that Brandon wants Vorin society to be heteronormative but not homophobic. We can argue about whether he's successful (Kaladin's speech is still weird), but I don't think he'll have his specialist boy Dalinar be homophobic if society at large isn't. If anything, Dalinar is gonna say something like "Well okay but no mateform before marriage, right?"

3. Dalinar reads now

Also, Dalinar is honestly doing a lot to break down some of the heteronormative barriers himself. He reads and writes now, something so out of the ordinary that there didn't even exist a first-person male "I" form--Navani has to lowkey invent one for him. So Dalinar is pretty okay with nonstandard expressions of masculinity.

4. Dalinar lets Rlain carry a spear

I bring this up on the assumption that Renarin's first boyfriend will be Rlain--in which case, there is the disturbing possibility that Dalinar would oppose the relationship not because he's homophobic of course but just because it's a human-singer relationship. Which would be hard to pull off, I feel, without it feeling like metaphorical homophobia. But the good news is, I think Dalinar is meant to also to be growing steadily more accepting of singers. I mean, even way back when, he allowed it when Kaladin asked that Rlain be allowed to carry a spear.

5. Dalinar joins the scholars so that Renarin will feel more comfortable

But to me, the number one piece of evidence that Dalinar will support his son is that he's already doing that. When Renarin wanted to hang out with the scholars in Urithiru, an act that could be seen as unmanly, Dalinar came to the scholar meeting too, just to demonstrate that it was perfectly manly and also something that Dalinar himself supported. Therefore, if Renarin does announce his relationship with Rlain and seems to be getting any grief at all, I feel like Dalinar's only response would be to ask Navani later, late at night... "Navani...should I get a boyfriend too?"

Because that's what a supportive dad does.

#cosmere #cosmerelists #Dalinar #Renarin #Rlain

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susansontag · 9 months

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studio ghibli ranking list let’s go

(will include nausicaä and the red turtle)

the these-are-actually-bad section:

24. earwig and the witch

actually the only one I haven’t watched so it’s cheeky to put it here. but I won’t be watching it and no one will blame me.

23. ocean waves

who sincerely cares about these teenagers they’re so annoying. if the boys had been gay it would have honestly been homophobic.

22. pom poko

this film is about shape-shifting raccoon dogs waging a war on humans and there’s copious jokes about their testicles. so on paper a perfect film. execution wise it’s so long and so boring and you care about none of them.

the cure-for-insomnia section:

21. tales from earthsea

hayao miyazaki was right to walk out of this one even though he probably is a terrible father for having done so. some of the animation was really nice but these protagonists made me yearn for the ocean waves cast because at least they have semi-personalities.

20. castle in the sky

proof miyazaki was judging his son too hard for earthsea because this is basically his version of the same thing: a nice idea with good animation and the most boring boy/girl protagonists imaginable. has got that whimsy he does so nicely however.

the passable-films section:

19. the cat returns

but should he have? was that really necessary? has a scene of cats walking in a procession on their hind legs though so that’s a plus.

18. arrietty

visually gorgeous but otherwise a very run-of-the-mill adaptation of the borrowers, which in something that should feel wondrous is less than ideal.

17. my neighbors the yamadas

some harmless and inventive fun that you can put on in the background whilst eating lunch or doing some light yoga stretches.

the don’t-harm-me-I’m-right section:

16. howl’s moving castle

yes I do in fact understand the intricacies of the plot and I still don’t care. this is one of ghibli’s messiest films for sure, it can’t decide what it wants to be or focus on and the plot just seems to happen and then not happen for no good reason. I also think howl’s a whiny bastard and hate that sophie has to mother him and endure his contemptible man tantrums. a shame because she’s actually cool.

15. grave of the fireflies

it was sweet but I’ve watched more moving animated films set in war-time, even. I don’t have much desire to watch it again honestly but maybe I will at some point.

the this-is-getting-there section:

14. the red turtle

I liked it! an acquired taste but I really felt the harshness of the elements and the cruelty and the love. it's also very beautiful to look at, one of the most visually arresting ghibli productions.

13. only yesterday

a tale of two films with this one. the parts where she's a young girl are much more interesting, but if this had stuck the landing and it'd been more even overall, could have potentially been a favourite. alas.

12. the wind rises

a genuinely weird one in ghibli's lineup, in which miyazaki meshes two different stories together (one of inventive 'genius' and a doomed love story, respectively) in a likely attempt to try and grapple with his having chosen his career over all else, including family (noteworthy is that his wife was not able to retain her career as an animator). as a piece of art it's less whimsical and more mature than many of these films, but I struggle to not let my distaste for what it potentially represents get in the way of my appreciation for it as a film, but it's so blatantly personal that it's impossible.

the that-was-just-a-good-fun-time section:

11. nausicaä of the valley of the wind

aesthetically one of the coolest films on this list but I don't remember the story as well. great protagonist too. must have been great to experience when it first came out in the '80s.

10. porco rosso

I love this film about a tomboy mechanic and some pilot guy who went off to war and was so changed he is now a pig. watching it feels like if the mediterranean was so small it fit into your back pocket and was also populated by all your friends all your enemies and your ex-lover also.

9. from up on poppy hill

I found this one boring the first time I watched it but it really grew on me with subsequent rewatches. I really like her predominantly female household and the community they share in the backdrop of the rest of the drama is sweet. the bit of drama midway through is still batshit though but in a loveable, disney-would-never way.

the near-perfect section:

8. the tale of the princess kaguya

probably takahata's magnum opus with the studio, if slightly overlong. folktales are tricky because they tend to feel moralistic and the characters one-note if you're not willing to build on them but kaguya herself feels very spirited and alive. the prettiest on the list too I'd say.

7. my neighbor totoro

cozy late summer comfort film. perhaps even more special now because I was able to see the london production. cute!

6. when marnie was there

surprised this one has ranked so high for me but that's the power of tomboy lesbians heck yeah etc. also the fantastical element of this one is so up my alley and touches upon a particular kind of childhood nostalgia I have of being in old houses and imbuing them with magical qualities. the image of anna facing the house across the marshland is burned into my retina.

the I'd-die-for-her section:

5. princess mononoke

aesthetically too cool for school and has one of the best ghibli villains and female characters (lady eboshi). they really said all the spirits of the forest are going to die in this one but well it was a nice thought.

4. ponyo

my comfort movie of all-time! heartwarming! with another great female ghibli character in lisa, sosuke's mum who is legally allowed to drive like that apparently. also one I actually watched for the first time in my childhood when I was around 7 or so at an after school club. the subtitles taught me the useful and now underused gem of a phrase "bog off".

3. kiki's delivery service

asks the important questions such as: what if you were a young witch from a dying tradition who moves to a gorgeous town in sweden? what if your remarkable gifts were no longer appreciated due to rapid advancements in aviation technology? what if you could live in a bakery?

2. spirited away

when you're just a timid child who is scared of admittedly a lot and your parents manage to mess everything up spectacularly so now you're forced to work at the age of twelve for people who steal your identity. still one of the best honestly they may never top this as the peak of their artistic achievement.

1. whisper of the heart

have you ever been a struggling artist? have you ever been in love? have you ever been obsessed with john denver's take me home, country roads? in all seriousness love a story of two artistically inclined people inspiring each other and this has a unique feel compared to other ghibli films forever favourite probably. it feels like basically no one has watched it and that's a shame. rest in peace yoshifumi kondō.

#this took fucking ages #I welcome discussion #studio ghibli #moth.txt #moth rankings

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he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle · 9 months

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Interesting Linguistic Notes from Jun & Jun episode 4

In her phone conversation with Choi Jun, Young does not exactly call herself his "fiancé."

She uses the word 구녀로서, which roughly translates to "as your woman." 구녀 when used alone means "she/old woman," but when paired with 로서 (which means to do something as a person who holds a specific status) it transforms into the idea more along the lines of being that person's singular girl. So you'll sometimes see it translated to "as your old woman" because it's more akin to the slang way we refer to our moms and wives than it is to the way we might say "I'm your woman" to refer to ourselves as your romantic partner. It's less about the state of romantic ownership and more about the old and familiar. I don't know why the translation team chose to translate it as fiancé, unless it's possible they have access to later scripts and know something we don't. But even then, we can probably anticipate that she's not an official fiancé, but rather someone their parents expect him to marry.

My current bet is just on her being overly familiar with Choi Jun, as we saw from her speech patterns in the car ride with both Juns earlier that morning. When she realizes that she already calls Choi Jun "Jun-i Oppa" (an intimate and affectionate way to refer to an older male/brother, as spoken by a female) and she has to call Lee Jun something different, any normal Korean who wanted to breech that level of familiarity would suggest "Lee Jun Oppa" as a way to differentiate the two. But she's been raised in the US too and leaps into suggesting "Jun-i Eonni" (an intimate and familiar way to refer to an older woman/sister, as spoken by a female). Lee Jun comedically bristles at that, saying he'd rather she kept calling him "Pigeon" instead. But she doesn't care and brushes right past societal norms and even still refers to him as Eonni later in her phone conversation with Choi Jun. Choosing this is intentionally queer-coded language as well (because her Korean is otherwise so good, and she doesn't seem to be joking). It's like calling a gay man "girl," or "sister," or "queen."

Speaking of the ways others address Lee Jun, it's important to note that in the final scene Simeon repeatedly calls him 우리 이준씨, which basically translates "my Lee Jun." He's not speaking intimately, but he is claiming ownership. This is why we see Hyun Jae's bewildered and sad expression and Choi Jun's stunned and jealous expressions.

Finally, I'll share a tidbit that caused some confusion when @bengiyo watched the episode and take my comment out of the notes on Ben's post and put it here. In his breakroom conversation with Lee Jun, I think it VERY LIKELY Hyun Jae was vaguing about M/M relationships. Because Korean culture is still VERY homophobic, he was trying to feel out how accepting Lee Jun is towards diversity and possibly even invite him into a queer space. He begins by saying, "you know, people have different values depending on the environments they've lived in," and ends with "diversity is valued these days." But instead he "dug his own grave" because Lee Jun's brain immediately went to the morning's events and the confusion he feels from it all (particularly being invited to do a sexual favor for a man who then later received a kiss on the cheek from an overly familiar woman) and he basically said NO, SOME THINGS ARE TOO DIVERSE.

I expect we'll see Lee Jun try to draw more boundaries with Choi Jun, not because he's a man (he flirted back after all) and not because he's his boss (although that may play a role), but mostly because his current impression is that Choi Jun isn't serious. He thinks he flirts like this all the time because he's too American.

@absolutebl I'm tagging you again because you're a linguistic geek too!

#jun & jun the series #jun & jun #jun and jun #asian gay dramas #i love linguistics #watch all my predictions be wrong #i always feel like such a clown

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arealphrooblem · 5 months

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A Good Roommate Is Hard To Find Part 4

Synopsis: Civilian has harbored a secret crush on his roommate for a long time, only to find out that said roommate is the newest villain on the scene during a robbery at his job.

CW: mentions of homophobic parents

Part 1 Here

Ben’s parents always accused him of being as stubborn as a goddamn mule, especially when it came to his sexuality, which they viewed as some sort of rebellion that he childishly refused to grow out of. Even Adam joked about it when Ben would play a video game until he completed every task, gained every achievement, and found every collectible.

Even his crush was stubborn, digging its fingers in when any sane person would have moved cities, new roommates be damned.

In the face of Adam’s injuries, his resolve crumbled like a Nature Valley granola bar. The new fear that unlocked seeing Adam limping and covered in blood over-rode whatever lingering anger and resentment he had about Adam’s . . .new career.

In its place rose a fierce protective instinct and the need to dote like an old grandmother. He made Adam tea, changed his bandages, cooked and did the dishes and brought Adam his meals so he wouldn’t have to hobble to the kitchen table.

No matter what happened between them, no matter what Adam did in Ben’s absence, the realization that he nearly lost Adam haunted him.

Ben arrived at this city friendless with a useless degree and freshly disowned by his parents. Meeting Adam at his first job felt like nothing short of a miracle. They clicked instantly and for the first time in years Ben felt seen. Adam lit up when they found shared days on each weekly schedule and complained bitterly about the days their shifts didn’t cross. The first time Ben called in sick, Adam sent him a flurry of concerned texts and Ben nearly cried. A quiet, awkward kid turned anxious loner, Ben never had his absence noticed or mattered to someone this much.

He thought for sure their friendship would go to shit when they got an apartment together but living together felt as easy as breathing. What few fights they did have were resolved quickly, as Adam refused to let Ben hide his issues and suck it up. They always found a compromise, something Ben’s parents never granted him.

No wonder he fell so quickly and so hard. And even in the face of a knife at his throat, those feelings refused to let go. He was stuck with them and the night Adam came back Ben resigned himself to his fate.

“Fucking Christ, Ben, sit down,” Adam said from the couch. “I can get my own drink, I don't need a fifties housewife.”

“It's fine, I was already getting up anyway,” Ben protested but Adam glared.

“Sit down.”

“But —“

“Sit. Down.”

Something dark flashed in Adam’s eyes, sending a thread of hot, shivery desire through Ben’s spine.

He sat down.

Adam limped over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. Even after two days, his leg still pained him, though he wouldn’t tell Ben what the injury was or how he got it.

“Maybe you should go to a doctor,” Ben suggested as Adam wandered back in.

“Absolutely not.”

Adam didn’t even spare him a glance as he reached for the remote.

“What if you broke it or something?”

“I didn’t break anything. Quit fussing, Benji, and scoot over.”

Ben obliged, sitting at the far edge of the couch. Adam stretched out on the rest of the couch, setting his head in Ben’s lap and draping his injured leg gingerly over the other end.

Suddenly every nerve was on high alert. Adam had done this before, usually when drunk, and always with a pillow. This time his face lay bare against Ben’s jean clad thigh. Whiffs of his cologne teased Ben’s nose, his body heat sinking into Ben’s leg.

It took every inch of willpower not to spring a boner right then and there. If Adam turned his head the other way, he would be breathing right against Ben’s dick.

“Doesn’t it hurt,” he asked, trying to turn his thoughts anywhere else.

Adam glanced up and gave Ben a small, wistful smile. “I’ve had so much worse. You worry too much.”

“That does not in fact make me feel any better.”

Adam wriggled, adjusting into a more comfortable position and Ben bit back a whine when the back of his head brushed against a growing erection.

“You want a pillow or something?” he asked, voice coming out somewhat strangled.

“Nope. I’m fine. Flip to ESPN. The Lakers are playing tonight.”

Sports. Dozens of men in their physical prime sweating and running and showing off lean, muscular arms while another man lays in his lap. Just great.

Of course the day the worst cold front of the season hits, the power to half the city gets shut off, including their apartment building. Ben had just shuffled home from work, kicked off his shoes, and pre-heated the oven before the whole place plunged into darkness.

And of course Adam was nowhere to be found and he didn’t answer any texts or calls.

Things like this happened more and more often. Maybe it was because he didn’t have to lie to Ben anymore about his activities — Adam had taken a lot of “late shifts” and overtime before the truth came out — or maybe things were ramping up in the criminal underworld. But more and more often came long swathes of time where Adam disappeared and could not be contacted.

Usually Ben spent that time staying up as long as he could for Adam, always scared of another bloody return.

This time he yanked off his comforter from the bed and sat on the couch, pissed. It was freezing, his phone battery almost dead, too dark to read and no internet. The fuck was he supposed to do?

By the time Adam stumbled back through the door, Ben had dozed off and on the couch in pitiful snatches of sleep, too cold to get any rest.

“You have shit timing,” he said, teeth clacking. “Turning off the power couldn’t be a summer activity?”

“Then you’d be pissed at how hot it was,” Adam retorted.

“At least I could open a window.”

Adam threw him a devious smirk that looked almost ghoulish in the glow of his phone. “Or take your clothes off.”

Ben’s cheeks heated, the only warmth he could feel.

“Seriously though, what the fuck?”

“It wasn’t my idea, trust me,” Adam grumbled, toeing off his shoes. “My boss is an impulsive fuckface.”

“So how long until the power comes back?”

Adam shrugged. “A while. The point is that it will take a long time and a lot of resources spread across the city to get it back. So layer up, Benji.”

Ben groaned. “Fantastic. Are there any perks that come with this gig of yours?”

“Not yet. But there will be.”

Ben had his doubts about that. Part of him wanted to really interrogate Adam, to know everything — what got him started, what his goals were, what the point of all of it was. But Adam was right — the more Ben knew, the more of a liability he was. Better to stay ignorant, even if his anxiety filled the gaps with ideas probably worse than reality.

“Come on,” Adam said, motioning to his bedroom door. “Bring your blanket, we’re bunking up tonight.”

All thoughts ground to a sudden halt.

“What?” Ben asked stupidly.

“It’s freezing in here or have you not noticed?” Adam said, already heading towards the bedroom.

“Yeah, but —“

“Quit being a wuss and come on. It’s the only way we’re gonna get warm.”

Heart pounding, Ben followed, blanket clenched around him like a shawl. Adam didn’t know about Ben’s feelings but he did know about Ben’s sexuality and he never had an issue with it. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t get freaked out if he woke up to Ben’s erection against his back. Or to Ben moaning from a dream or sleep-cuddling or hundred other humiliating tells that could happen in the obliviousness of sleep.

Still, his idiot self followed Adam into the bedroom. Adam gestured for Ben to crawl in the bed first. The twin mattress was set against the wall and did not leave much room for two grown men. Ben started to despair as he scooted as far over as he could and still Adam’s thighs brushed against his as both men jockeyed for room. Eventually they ended up on their sides, facing each other, close enough to feel their breath on their lips.

That and the smell of Adam and his warm radiating against Ben under the covers was enough to send him a little light-headed. Only two inches and his own willpower separated them from kissing.

“You good?” Adam whispered.

Ben nodded. “Yeah,” he said hoarsely.

Adam shuddered and scooted closer, pressing his head against Ben’s shoulder. “I’ve been freezing all night,” he muttered.

“Same,” said Ben, hardly daring to breathe. The smell of Adam’s shampoo tainted every lungful of air.

“I’m too wired for sleep, though. What about you?”

He should feel exhausted but having Adam pressed up against him ignited every nerve in his body.

“I’m not tired,” he said.

“You wanna play Never Have I Ever?”

“We don’t have drinks.” And thank God for that because who knows what insane statement Ben might ask under the cover of darkness. Like Never Have I Ever killed someone. Or Never Have I Ever thought about kissing another man. Things that haunt Ben that he also doesn’t want the answers to.

“What about Truth or Dare?”

“There’s no way in hell I’m getting out of this bed for a dare and I don’t trust you not to ask me something totally humiliating.”

Or for Ben to trust himself not to dare Adam for a kiss. The temptation, with Adam pressed close enough that Ben could feel the reverb of Adam’s voice against his own ribs, was too great. Something about the darkness made Ben feel reckless and only the life-long ball and chain of his anxiety kept him from going rogue and ruining everything.

“Goddamn do you get cranky when you’re cold,” Adam grumbled. “How about this — we take turns telling us something the other person doesn’t know about us. But we get to pick what we reveal.”

Always hungry for knowledge, especially about Adam, the King of Evasive Answers, Ben could not resist.

“Okay. But you go first.”

Adam thought for a moment before answering. “One of my greatest fears is that I’ll get that tick bite that makes you allergic to meat.”

Ben smiled. “Good thing we live in a densely populated city.”

“There are ticks in the city. We’re not safe here.” Adam sounded so serious that Ben had to laugh. He pulled away from Ben’s chest and he could feel Adam’s glare even in the darkness. “Alright chucklefuck, what about you?”

“Um . . .I hate cake. I’ve never had a birthday cake I enjoyed.”

“You hate cake?”

“It’s dry and gums up my mouth and the frosting is always too sweet.”

“You’ve just never had good cake.”

“I’ve had all kinds of cake. They all suck.”

“I could find you a cake you’d love.”

“Careful, Adam. That sounds like a bet.”

“Oh yeah? And what would you give me if you won?”

“Anything.” The word slipped out of Ben’s mouth before he could stop it.

He felt a sharp intake of breath against his collarbone.

“Anything?” Adam whispered. A strange tension strung his voice taut. Ben wished he could see the expression that matched it. “That’s a dangerous thing to promise.”

“I um — ” Ben swallowed thickly. “I really hate cake.”

“We’ll see about that.” It sounded almost as if Adam was talking about something else and though Ben usually squashed any wishful thinking down, he let this one take root.

“Your turn,” he said.

“I’ve never been drunk.”

“Bullshit,” Ben said. “I’ve seen you drunk. Multiple times.”

“You’ve seen me pretend to be drunk. I’m very good at it.”

“Seriously?” Ben thought back to last New Years, at a party thrown by one of their old coworkers. Adam had been giggly and ridiculous and adorable, his guard down in a way he never allowed sober.

Or so Ben thought.

“Being drunk makes you too vulnerable,” said Adam. “People do and say stupid shit they never would sober. It’s not worth the risk.”

“Why lie?” asked Ben. “You could just say you don’t drink.”

“That draws a lot of attention. People take it as a challenge to get you to drink or they interrogate you about it or they get pissed because they think I don’t drink out of some moral high ground. It’s easier to pretend.”

Adam always seemed confident and untouchable, even before Ben found out about his criminal activities. To hear him admit to so much fear tonight . . .the trust felt addictive. And suddenly the weight of his own secret, his own fear, felt unbearable.

“I’m in love with you.”

The intimacy of the darkness, of their bodies cradling each other, the vulnerability of secrets, cocooned around him like a protective shell. He felt bulletproof. He felt tired. The secret weighed so much, even if he could ignore most of the time.

Silence intensified between them at the confession. Ben’s heart roared in his ears.

“Oh Benji,” Adam sighed. “You’re supposed to tell me something I don’t know. That’s how the game works.”

“I — you knew? How? How long?”

“Not long after we moved in. You’re not very subtle, especially when I know you so well.”

Ben anticipated all kinds of reactions, but not this one.

“Oh. I’m — I’m sorry. I didn’t mean — ”

“Don’t be sorry,” Adam said, his tone heartbreakingly kind. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I don’t — I don’t want to weird you out.”

“It doesn’t bother me.” Adam’s fingers curled around Ben’s shoulder and squeezed. “It doesn’t bother me at all.”

A dangerous spark of hope ignited in him. Adam knew. Adam knew and it didn’t freak him out. Adam knew and he still put his head in Ben’s lap and cuddled with Ben in bed and —

“Do — ” Ben swallowed, his heart in his throat. “Do you — ”

“My father is a supervillain.”

Once again all the thoughts zig-zagging in his head screeched to a halt. “What?”

Adam took in a shaky breath. “He’s dead now but he was very infamous when he was alive. Other villains cowed to him. I inherited his powers.”

“You have powers?”

There had been a handful of infamous supervillains in the past few decades and all of them had terrifyingly powers. No matter who Adam ended up connected to, every option was lethal. A lick of fear tingled up his spine.

I don’t need a knife to hurt you.

But right now, pressed so close together in the freeing darkness, Adam didn’t feel dangerous. And it wouldn’t matter if he did because reckless want surged through Ben, burning out the dogged fear that always followed him. Adam might be murderous, he would never love Ben back the same way, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t want it to matter.

Adam pulled away, his fingers digging into Ben’s shoulder, the intensity of his gaze almost a physical weight.

“No one knows about this, Ben. No one. My crew, my boss — they think I’m a grunt, a weapon to point with. And I need them to think that. Do you understand?”

Of course Adam had a plan laid out. And the fact that he’s telling Ben the one piece that could bring it all to ruin left an ache in Ben’s chest.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Ben said. “I swear. I worry about you all the time. I want you to be safe.”

“I trust that.” Adam’s grip loosened and he smoothed his hand over the wrinkles he caused. “I shouldn’t. I don’t trust anyone. But you . . .you feel different than anyone else I’ve met. I can’t really explain it.”

“You do too,” Ben whispered.

Adam’s hand traced up the column of Ben’s throat, cupping his jaw with just the barest finger tips. The urge to kiss him swelled up in Ben, overwhelming, a wave of reckless desire finally cresting. Just a small kiss. Just this once.

He ducked his head down a fraction of an inch, terrified and determined all at once, when Adam pulled back.

“Go to sleep, Ben,” he said quietly, hand sliding away. ��I have a long day tomorrow if you want the power back on.”

Disappointment crashed into him, a wave against a cliff. “Yeah,” he said, a tremor in his voice. “That would be nice.”

He slept facing the wall, feeling Adam’s breath against his neck. The next morning the bed was warm but empty.

Taglist: @itsmyworld23 @canary-warrior @cyborg0109 @littlesadzap

Let me know in the comments if you want to be tagged!

#a good roommate is hard to find #hero x villain #villain x civilian #friends to lovers #original fiction #writeblr

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yubnubforhire · 9 months

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I’ve seen a lot of people decry criticism of the rwrb movie as simply either homophobic or anti-cringe, with the statement ‘let queer people have our cringe rom-coms’ a common defense. This idea is flawed for many reasons, not least of which being that this movie is like… barely queer. Sure it’s about a queer couple, but that’s about where it stops.

First off there’s the blatant bi erasure, with no discussion of Nora’s sexuality, no June/Nora/Pez, the word bisexual only being used once or twice in the whole movie, etc. Second off is the complete lack of queer education or community: where is Alex learning about the gay lib movement and feeling like he understands something new, deep within himself? Where is Henry talking about his role amongst the erased queer figures of the past? Where are the crowds supporting both of them, in the US and the UK? (the scene at buckingham where you don’t even see the crowd felt so cheap) Where was Amy’s role as queer elder and protector? Where was Luna, and Alex’s realization as to why he looked up to him so much and why his betrayal hurt so bad? Where was Alex realizing he and Liam had actually ‘had a thing’ when they were younger, and reconnecting with him as someone who can fully be himself? Where was all the support when they got outed? Where the fuck was Catherine? Where were Bea and Catherine fighting for them during the confrontation at buckingham? Movie!firstprince feel so isolated and without community, which is just SO not the world CMQ created in the book.

More broadly, the movie just felt so shallow. I completely understand the need for adaptation and translation to a new medium, but so many of the things they changed either lower the stakes or remove them entirely. Bea is a non-character, with no depth or backstory. Nora only exists to tell Alex to fuck Henry. Pez gets all of one line in the entire movie. June does not exist, which should completely change things because Alex does not act like the only/eldest child of the POTUS. We never really see the emails and a lot of them are adapted to onscreen dialogue, so what exactly was leaked? Why are they called the Waterloo letters? No one watching the movie alone will know. Who leaked them? I figure the movie implies it was Miguel, but then why have Richards be a character at all? CMQ was making a point with the Richards/Luna story, and the movie having a new side character as the “villain” is just… so disappointing. We don’t see any of the scenes of Henry acknowledging how fucked up the monarchy is (other than a few throwaway jokes), the comparison to the Empire, any of the Bea storyline, or him trying to avoid military service and renounce his royal inheritance, so the one line towards the end when movie!Henry has an outburst about the monarchy being antiquated is just completely unearned and comes out of nowhere.

They kept the line where Oscar tells Alex that ‘sometimes you just have to jump and hope it’s not a cliff’ but it’s now completely devoid of the context— that line is about Oscar telling Alex he doesn’t regret getting together with Ellen, no matter how it ended. It doesn’t work the same if Oscar and Ellen are still happily married! (Justice for Leo also tbh)

In the confrontation at Buckingham, the king (don’t get me started on the things they changed to avoid comparisons to queen liz) still suggests to Henry that they should claim the leaks are deepfakes and deny it, but Alex already gave the live televised speech in the movie timeline! It’s out already! The entire scene with the king honestly just does not work if Alex has already made the speech. Also side note, there’s absolutely no way in turbohell that Alex would make that speech without talking to Henry first.

There’s so much more I could talk about, from more script shenanigans to the Pip of it all, but this is honestly already way too long. All I want to say now is that it’s obviously everyone’s prerogative to like a movie or not, and nothing anyone else says should change the way you personally feel about a piece of art. That does not mean, however, that any criticism of said art is incorrect or unwarranted. You can like something and still acknowledge its flaws. And no, cringiness is not this movie’s main flaw.

#red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #don’t like don’t read #seriously!#you’re entitled to love this movie and watch it dozens of times #but it’s not immune from criticism #I really wanted to love this movie #but there are just some books that do not and will never work as movies #everything was so rushed #on top of everything else #there was no space to breathe and fall for these characters #rwrb #red white and royal blue movie #rwrb spoilers

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steddiealltheway · 2 years

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After Eddie comes out to the party, Steve starts noticeably avoiding him. Eddie is a little hurt, but he knows homophobia runs deep in Hawkins, and he couldn’t expect everyone to accept him.

But it still bothers him that whenever they happen to be in the same room together - no thanks to Dustin - Eddie can feel Steve staring at him. As soon as he tries to look back, Steve is hastily looking away. Eddie almost announces, “You can’t become gay from eye contact.” But he doesn’t want to raise the obvious tension in the room.

Dustin starts to become bothered that his two older male friends aren’t getting along. He promises Eddie that Steve isn’t homophobic, and he does like him. But that’s definitely untrue based on the way Steve jumps when he sees Eddie and tries to stand on the opposite side of whatever room they’re in.

One afternoon, Dustin is clearly on edge about to snap and no one in the party can get him to calm down. Eddie and Steve don’t even bother to correct his tone because they’re both seemingly afraid of what will happen.

Dustin asks for everyone to sit around the table but tells Steve to grab something for him. He reluctantly agrees and goes into the other room, and while he’s gone, for some reason, Dustin doesn’t let anyone sit next to Eddie, so the only seat left when Steve comes in the room is the one to Eddie’s right. “Sit down,” Dustin demands.

Steve’s eyes dart around and finally land on the only empty chair. Eddie is sure that there is no way he can get out of this. But then, he finally settles his back again the wall saying, “I’m more comfortable standing.”

Then Dustin snaps. He slams his hands on the table. “Steve. Eddie. Come with me!”

Everyone else at the table start whispering to each other, but Eddie finds Max to be smirking at him for whatever reason. Eddie groans and gets out of his chair at the exact time that Steve is passing by. The other boy freezes and Eddie dramatically bows and gestures for him to go in front of him. He swears Steve looks like he’s also about to burst especially now that his face looks like a tomato.

Steve obliges and rushes off towards Dustin. Eddie follows at a slower pace, letting his eyes linger lower than they should.

They stop at the end of a hallway and Dustin gestures toward a walk-in closet. Eddie tries to ignore the irony. Steve puts his hands on his hips and raises his eyebrows. “You going to tell us what you need, Henderson?”

Dustin huffs, “There’s something in the back that I can’t reach. Please grab it for me. Both of you!”

Eddie and Steve both stare at Dustin.

“It’s really heavy,” Dustin explains.

Steve sighs and reluctantly opens the door and walks in, and Eddie follows close behind. “This is what got your panties in a twist?” Eddie asks Dustin, being careful not to touch Steve although the closet is smaller than he thought.

Instead of an answer, the door slams shut behind them, surround them in darkness. Then, there’s the click of a lock.

“Dustin!”

“Son of a bitch!”

The two scramble towards the door and Eddie starts twisting the handle and slamming his hand against the door. Steve, in his haste to get to the door, accidentally presses his entire body against Eddie’s. The sudden body warmth is quickly gone.

“I’m not letting you out until you solve whatever shit is going on between you two! Also, I turned the lock around yesterday, and there’s no way to pick it. I’ll be back!”

“Don’t you fucking dare, Henderson!” Steve shouts but he gets no response.

Silence surrounds them for a few awkward moments.

“Stuck in the closet again,” Eddie jokes.

Steve doesn’t respond.

Eddie figures he has nothing to lose. “I get it, man. You’re uncomfortable with me being gay, I’m used to homophobes by now, but for Dustin and the other kids’ sake can you try to act somewhat normal?”

Silence fills the closet. A hand finds its way onto Eddie’s shoulder causing him to jump, but then there’s a hand on both his shoulders.

“I’m not homophobic, man,” Steve insists while being the closest he’s been to Eddie in weeks. Eddie swallows hard. His eyes start adjusting to the dark enough to see how close Steve’s face is to his. “I just…”

“You just what?”

Steve’s hands squeeze Eddie’s shoulder probably unconsciously. “I just don’t know how to act around you anymore.”

“The same as you did before.”

“But things aren’t the same!” Steve’s voice raises. Then he immediately quiets down. “Things aren’t the same.”

Eddie’s hands flex. He wants to fiddle with his rings but he’s pretty sure Steve is so close that his body would block the movement. “Why aren’t they the same?” Eddie asks instead.

“Can being gay be contagious?” Steve blurts out.

Eddie takes a deep breath. He doesn’t know what the fuck to say to that.

Steve finally lets go of Eddie’s shoulders. “Ever since you came out, I can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to be gay. And every time you’re close it’s like… I want… I want…” Steve takes a deep breath, and Eddie doesn’t know what the fuck is happening. “I want to kiss you! I don’t know why. I’m not gay. But I just… want… that,” Steve finishes lamely.

Eddie tries to reply, but Steve cuts him off. “Then, I noticed that there are other guys that I wouldn’t mind… you know. Like Tom Cruise! And Tim Cury in Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“You watched Rocky Horror Picture Show?”

“But I like girls! And boobies! I love boobies. But then…” Steve sighs.

Eddie takes a moment and carefully wracks his brain. “Do you know what bisexuality is?”

“Hm?”

Eddie fidgets with his rings. “It’s when you like girls and boys.”

“Oh,” Steve says then takes a while to think. “So, you’re bisex…?”

“Bisexual,” Eddie fills in. “And no. I’m gay, but… maybe you’re bisexual.”

Silence fills the closet once again, and now Steve is thinking even harder. Eddie doesn’t know what to do.

Steve breaks the silence. “How do I know if I don’t kiss a guy?”

Eddie hesitates then whispers, “Do you want to?”

He can hear and almost see Steve try to make his way towards him. He suddenly jerks back, and his hand reaches up.

Light floods the closet. Eddie sees the light that was in the middle of the closet the whole time with Steve’s hand on the chain. He feels slightly like an idiot for not thinking about it sooner, but also there are more important things happening at the moment. Like Steve approaching him with slightly wide eyes and a flush on his cheek.

Steve stops in front of Eddie and nods.

“What do you want, Steve?”

Steve’s eye flicker down to Eddie’s lips.

“You’ve got to tell me,” Eddie whispers.

Steve swallows and turns even more red. “I want to kiss you.”

Eddie immediately closes the distance between them and presses his lips against Steve’s. It takes a moment, but then Steve relaxes into the kiss and begins kissing back. When they part for air Steve says, “I think I’m bisexual.”

“You think?” is all Eddie says before pushing Steve back against the shelves in the closet and kissing him again. Steve groans and runs his hands through Eddie’s hair, raking his nails against his scalp.

“You two better not be fighti- OH MY GOD!”

The two boys look towards the now open door where Dustin is standing with his mouth gaping open. Before they can respond, Dustin is running away yelling to everyone else, “They’re not fighting, they’re making out!”

Steve groans and rests his forehead on Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie softly chuckles and says, “Come on, time to face the music.” Steve nods but holds Eddie back by his wrist when he tries to leave.

“Hey,” Steve says, eyes looking anywhere but at Eddie, “Do you want to do that again something? Maybe. I don’t know uh...”

“A date?” Eddie hopes.

Steve looks at Eddie and his lips quirk up into a small smile. “Yeah. A date.”

Eddie tries to hide his smile as he replies, “I’d like that.”

They both stare at each other for a moment, but then Eddie bows and signals for Steve to leave the closet first. The other boy laughs and grabs Eddie’s hand leading the way to where all the kids have strangely lined up.

“What a way to come out of the closet,” Eddie jokes.

Everyone groans, but at least Steve squeezes his hand.

#steddie #steddie ficlet #steve harrington #eddie munson #dustin henderson #steddie fic

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fangfic · 1 year

Text

I imagine this in an AU where vampires are out and open.

TW: dubcon, financial coercion, homophobic parents

Okay imagine being a broke student on campus, making your cup noodles in the communal kitchen as your vampire roommate walks by "sup dude, you eating cup noodles yet again?" He asks as he looks up from his phone.

You awkwardly try to make a joke out of it because whereas most people have a fight or flight response you have more of a comedian or feral kitten response.

Your vampire roommate looks concerned at you as you explain your parents cut you off after you came out.

"Christ that sucks, fuck your parents" your roommate exclaims as he puts an arm around you, his rich musky scent overwhelming you, in a good way.

"You'd like to eat some actual food? C'mon my treat" he asks and you agree, joining him in his car to a restaurant in the town adjacent to the university.

It's not a super expensive restaurant but still you feel bad for dining on your roommate's dime. As you finish your large plate of food, which he ordered for you, since you kept attempting to order the cheapest side dish, you look at him sip from his glass of blood.

You ask him how the blood tastes in an attempt to break the silence.

"eh it satisfies my hunger but it's not to write home about" he replies, downing his glass and asking for the bill.

Once back in your room he grabs your chin "listen, we're gonna figure out a way for you get a grand or something so you can continue studying here without overworking yourself, alright?"

You nod and feel tears come, it was so goddamn unfair, you cry into his chest and he pets your back.

"fuck, you smell so good, do you mind?"

You lift your face from his chest, what should you do? Let him have a drink after that nice dinner? It's not like you owe it to him, right?

Before you can even answer he sensually starts licking your neck, whispering into your ear "just a little bit" and he bites you, cupping your ass as he drinks eagerly drinks your blood.

After having his fill he whispers in your ear again "tell you what, you become my blood bag and I'll take care of all your worries" you nod in silence, not knowing what else to do. It wasn't like you had a choice really.

And so you started being his blood bag, in the beginning it was just drinking blood and cupping a feel but one day he noticed how aroused you got from the drinking and he decided to add fucking you as a condition as well.

Now he gets to fuck you whenever he wants and he fucking does.

You don't mind though, whenever you feel his balls slapping against your ass as he rails the living shit out of you a feeling starts to creep up...

The feeling that it's alright to be nothing but a vampire fucktoy, load after load at the laundromat, the showers at the gym, in a classroom after a lecture. You start to love being his, you stop wearing clothes when in your room, so he can fuck any of your holes whenever he wants.

You're a Vampire slut, it's fine, embrace it

#nsft #tw monsterfucking #nsft post #nsft concept #nsft text #vampire aesthetic #vampirecore #vampcore #vampire smut #vampire kink #bd/sm slave #tw dubcon #tw coercion #fuck now im hungry for cup noodles

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chaifootsteps · 3 months

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I think there's an argument to be made in favor of showing the reality of what Angel deals with on the day to day, both on the gear he wears and the SA he faces from Val.

but these kinds of scenes can very easily be exploitative; used for cheap shock value & end up fetishizing that abuse by presenting it as titillating. it's long happened to female characters where the violence becomes an excuse to show them brutalized or with their clothes ripped off and given how often Angel is sexualized it can just as easily happen to him.

Addict managed to communicate a whole history of sexual abuse committed by Valentino with just a forced kiss and a hard cut to Angel having a breakdown in his room. The scene focused on Angel's emotional distress rather than the act itself, so it avoided objectifying him further and was still effective

this is part of a wider pattern already established by Helluva Boss, where abuse is treated in the least sensitive, most sledgehammer blunt and cartoony way possible.

going by HB, abusers are:

always obvious and easy to spot,

they're complete monsters devoid of any life or interests of their own,

they have no inner lives whatsoever because they only exist to hurt the victim (Stella stays around the house despite not liking Stolas, Crimson wants to force Moxxie into a gay marriage despite being homophobic - to the guy who put his son in prison in the first place!!) - they're inconsistent and unknowable,

they abuse their victim openly in front of others everyone goes along with and tacitly approves of it (Stella's friends happily laugh at her jokes disparaging a demon prince who could kill them all despite knowing he's in earshot)

they cannot be easily stopped even when they have far less power, either in magic or social standing, than the person they're abusing (Stolas and Stella, again)

they hang around long past when they should despite the cast having ample reason to proactively do something to stop them (everyone leaves Crimson alive despite killing all his minions, Stolas knows Stella has ordered a hit on him but probably still lets Octavia spend weekends with her??)

they are fundamentally Bad People. None of the 'good' characters can every be called out for being abusive, what they do is funny - because they are fundamentally Good People. It doesn't matter how many traits Stolas and Stella have in common, he is Good and she is Bad. It also doesn't matter that Stolas sexually coerced someone for a season and a half, neglected his daughter and abused his servants, and barely feels bad about his own infidelity. He is Good so anything he does can be excused. Same with Loona - beating people is bad, but it's OK for her to give her dad a black eye and beat his head in with a picture frame, because she's one of the Good Guys. Same with Blitzo demeaning Moxxie constantly in the workplace - it's funny when he calls Moxxie fat, it's abuse when Mammon does it to Fizz

Abusers are fundamentally Other from Us, and we never need to examine our own behaviors as long as we know we are fundamentally Good.

like how is any of this making the world a better place? or advancing the understanding of abuse? it's an embarassingly dated and in places actively harmful depiction of what abuse is or isn't (I don't even want to get into the bad takes I've seen surrounding Stol/tz and what coercion is or isn't, but you can probably add that to the list too)

if the Angel scenes are as brutal as they sound then the rating should be an 18. I don't entirely blame Viv for that, I know sometimes ratings boards have a weird habit of treating works that have LGBT content as somehow 'more adult' than movies with straight up rape and SA scenes in them (though HH is both, so idk how literal bondage gear didn't up the rating), but I hope against hope there's some kind of trigger warning for this somewhere, and it isn't just dropped on the viewer's lap in order to shock them further with the world's bluntest and most graphic animated scene of SA it can

This. All of this, every word.

#Anonymous #viv stuff #hazbin hotel critical #actual blog post

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