#not only would it establish they are bi but also be hilarious

[chimchiri]

Just read through your headcanons for spit, rd and aj and I would like to hear about yours for rarity!! Especially touching on the point that she's bi/only gay for aj which is quite different from rd's bisexuality. How did she reach that conclusion when all her life she was after stallions/men. What made her see aj in a different way and only aj? Only if you don't mind sharing tho :)

Sorry for the delay in response! I actually had to gather my thoughts.

The formation of this headcanon isn't really set in stone! Honestly there are many different scenarios I could see. I think it could also change depending on where AJ stands in all of this. Does she openly crush on Rarity? Does she have hope? Is she pining? or already over Rarity because she thinks there's no way Rarity could like her as a woman?

I definitely like a bit of angst and pining, so I like the last option a lot. I could see AJ very accidentally nudge Rarity into her enlightenment. E.g. AJ helping Rarity out in her garden, maybe building or setting up some things and (probably without realizing) going into all the sexy tropes of bulky handymanwoman sweating in the sun sun with sweat dripping all over her. I think Rarity would be very much into these masculine tropes that you see in cheap romcoms. Yes, when it comes to romance and daily business she loves a handsome, sweet and fancy man. But when it comes to sexual tension and desire, I could see her lean more into rough, burly men. And AJ checking off a lot of these tropes and desires could easily make Rarity go 'hmmm....' at the end of the day. One thing that definitely immediately turns Rarity on and blush is being lifted off the ground, which AJ could also easily do. And which AJ would do without realizing what she's doing to poor little Rarity. I could see them bicker and pout and AJ just with an annoyed huff and puff pick Rarity up and down two steps to the side so she can finally get to wherever blocked Rarity her path to. And then Rarity is just standing frozen over how easily AJ lifted her up. Gosh that farmer is strong...

Either Rarity slowly realizes that she starts to fantasize over her friend (as in the previous setting) OR she doesn't - which is just as hilarious. I could see that one more in a 'let's drink too much at your yearly family garden festival and makeout and possibly more' way. Rarity being completely oblivious to her attraction towards AJ + AJ still being so goddamn much into Rarity + alcohol + more alcohol + some minutes of alone time makes an incredible night and unforgettable, embarrassing morning. I mean, it doesn't have to be completely sexual. I could see a drunk Rarity just pulling AJ in and making out with her for the end of the night without leading up to anything more. Especially, if AJ had drinks than her friend. I think something like that would work well with Rarity wondering and trying to understand her sexuality for a long time. Probably with more shame pinned to it due to her previously unhinged behaviour.

Honestly, there are many different AUs and scenes I could see with them. Most of them involve Rarity confessing because.. well, AJ is pretty openly a lesbian and she has never seen Rarity seriously flirt with her or any other woman. And even with the possibility of Rarity liking women, AJ probably doesn't think she's Rarity's type - not the way she fawns over handsome and posh gentlemen. Lastly, AJ definitely doesn't want to risk her friendship with her by making a move that may not lead anywhere. So .. yeah. I think Rarity most often has to show interest first. At least in any AU where they're established friends and Rarity starts to realize her liking for her friend.

#excuse any mistakes it's been a long day and I didn't read through it a second time #also: that's just my fave hc #I still think some other Rarity ships are cute #mlp #headcanons #rarijack

[juneviews]

Hey axelle i’m looking to finally watch some thai lakorns. what are offgun’s best heterosexual slays 🫣

hi! YESSSSSS, you asked the right person ;) there's not many lakorns (thai soap operas) they've been in, but I will simply include my favorite straight pairings they've been a part of (though in the case of off all of his characters are bi as we've established many times before 😌)

off in girl next room: richy rich

so not only is krathing my fave off character from a non bl show, but his pairing with mild in this???? absolutely scrumptious! the chemistry is more than here, they are hilarious together but also have deeper moments, and they're just without a doubt my favorite straight thai ship of all time <3

gun in the gifted

so the gifted is one of my favorite thai series of all time & gun is mostly known for his amazing performance in it, but his ship with jane is also very sweet as they're both pocket-sized and work surprisingly well together!

off in fabulous 30

so it feels like I'm just listing off's characters in order of how much I like them, but yes, on top of zen being THE most biconic off character after sean, khai & pick, his ship with gam whichayanee was absolutely LOVELY! I loved them together, the visuals were beautiful (bc I'm in love with both lol) and their story was actually the only thing that made the show interesting bc as much as I adore mond, sadly his main role & pairing weren't it. zenyui though??? SLAYED.

off in 46 days

once again offmild is just the best off ship after offgun (and offtay if they were to actually happen lmaooo), and this proves it! they definitely take the backseat in this series as the secondary ship, but they were still amazing & looked incredible together! this is also off's most well ajusted role I've seen him in? so I'd definitely recommend!

gun in secret seven

gun was absolutely LOVELY as liftoil in secret seven, and his ship was silly, funny & just overall incredibly wholesome! secret seven is in general such a cute little romcom that I would recommend too! (the gif I had to choose doesn't represent the overall vibe of the show at all lmaoooo, but it was the only horizontal one I found :'))

off in wolf

so not only is por one of the cutest off's characters (with glasses!!!), but in this show he gets to act cute with literally every woman ever, punpun, jane, jan, a foreigner girl & many others... it's just iconic tbh!

bonus: gun in the currently airing three gentlebros show! has just started airing so I can't say much about it but his pairing with film sure promises to be fun :)

xxx

#answers #offgun #off jumpol #gun atthaphan #girl next room: richy rich #the gifted #fabulous 30 #46 days #secret seven #wolf the series #I haven't seen gun in many straight roles I'm sorryyyy

[highly-flammable]

I love the post you made about sfam. It is probably the 2nd maybe 3rd post I've seen that points out the fact that Johnathan wasn't a saint. I find it very interesting how most people who commented on the series all were like "how can anyone not find Oscar Isaac attractive?" / "I would never do what Mira did!" or saying how Mira was wrong for divorcing him and how she's toxic but hardly any have said that Johnathan was just as bad as she was. I mean, yeah Oscar is very attractive and both he and Jessica made make my bi-heart stutter but the characters they played were both shitty in their own way. I feel like the people that were bashing Mira and saying all sorts of things about her didn't watch the final episode. Johnathan literally cheated on his new wife, who mind you was taking care of his months old son. He also lied to her and was pretending to be somewhere he wasn't, but hey, let's all blame the female character because the male is played by a handsome, charming guy. All this to say I found your post very refreshing <3

@chastainromanova Thank you! It’s so good to see that at least some other people are recognizing that Jonathan is flawed as well. I certainly feel like Mira did a significant amount of damage to him but his damage to Mira was also there. It was just a lot more subtle and incremental in nature. You can say that Jonathan caused a rot while Mira caused an explosion.

And yeah, Jonathan ended up doing the exact same things he and the audience hated Mira for. And why did he do it? Because he and Mira were so out of sync after Mira left that they couldn’t fix the relationship even though at different points they wanted to, and Jonathan ended up valuing his ego so much that he gave up on what really made him happy even when it made its way back to him. I definitely empathize with not wanting to be hurt again, not wanting to give someone that power. But then really get over that person and IDK, properly commit yourself to the new situation that you think is oh-so-right for you. He didn’t do that. In fact, he is doing a whole lot less for his new marriage than Mira did to keep their marriage going even when she was depressed and cheating. It says a lot about Jonathan that both times after having a kid with a woman his marriage with her became stagnant and he stopped looking after the woman herself, focusing more on the child. He really does care more about being a father than a partner. You can hear in his interview in the first episode that he thinks marriage is a platform, as in, it is just going to stay there below your feet. He has a habit of taking the women for granted after he has had a kid with them because he sees that as the ultimate culmination of a relationship. He doesn’t like working on relationships. The only time he actually even wanted to was when Mira was already on her way out, and that’s only because deep down he does love Mira, always has, always will in his fucked up way. But he still couldn’t think of doing right by her before it was too late. And he won’t work on his relationship with Jane at all because he doesn’t even care about her. All he cared about was that she could give him a kid and an environment that reminded him of the one he grew up in.

What I find hilarious is that there are people blaming Mira for ruining Jonathan to the point that he eventually became a serial cheater, but it has been canonically established that a bunch of bad relationships also hurt Mira in the past so are they going to make the same excuse for her? Clearly no. I agree that along with Jonathan’s flaws being a lot more subtle in nature, his actor being attractive has a lot to do with people being biased towards him but buddies, look at Jessica Chastain for a second. She’s a hottie too but that doesn’t make Mira a good person 😂 They’re both attractive and both are playing toxic people, what’s not clicking? It’s exhausting to see only one character getting the bashing in a show where both characters are equally messed up so I just had to speak about it.

#scenes from a marriage #mira phillips #jonathan levy #jessica chastain #oscar isaac

[biilssst]

Lily and fans are upsetti 

So recently, I saw Lily Talk about steven universe as a character was going to make a post about it because it was stupid then I went down the page and look at lily’s Tumblr for five minutes and found this gem

So to get one thing out of the way, I’ll talk about these fans and then I will talk about Lily response in a separate post because her response was hilarious that it makes her look like the absolutely the most hilariously unhinged person In Canada just to talk about some random fans who like a show and who really hate your video. That it just Has to be talk separately about. Anyway, let’s get started with the first fellow. 

I understand that Lily has a limit on her ask thingy, but man, most of this sounds so incoherent so they’re talking about “ hiding in private” video on Lily, Steven universe video So you know, even though they’re not really making an argument they’re just saying a lot of things but I’m going to listen and hear them out about what is false equivalence, Bad faith, arguing semantics, maybe they’ll go into a bit more deeper because they actually give out an example. as for the amount of people that’s probably gonna be pissed off, I would say 2k out of 10k people because that’s the amount of use that I’m pretty sure Lilys gonna get on that video maybe 60K at most because I ain’t watching that video I decided I’m not gonna watch anything until Lily decides to actually be interesting again

All right, I know which section you’re talking about. It’s the section where Lily states that LGBT rep is only relationships. Oh wait I said that wrong let me quote Lily for real “it wasn’t until the first season until an actual relationship was established” (defining LGBT as in relationships is really stupid because it means that you maybe bi but you’re dating someone the opposite gender of you Or that you’re not dating anybody so that makes you’re straight it’s such a clear and wrong way of thinking about LGBT) you take that as what you will from that, but apparently Lily also consider pearl and rose Possible LGBT rep until they written it in a way that Lily didn’t like and I quote ” There’s a reason why LGBT stories don’t cover these issues because when they’re botched this badly, they end up reinforcing conservative paranoia”. It sounds like the most cowtow thing to me because not only Lily make constant fun about how conservatives will basically find anything gay absolutely a front against nature regardless of its contacts. Why should we not write stories like these if the conservatives will just find anything and everything that gay people or anything the LGBT does a front against nature and something that they need to stop out?

I like how when Lily and her fans will keep on saying that she didn’t do anything, How she’s not that famous and she didn’t do anything to Steven universe this was always a thing then. when people make videos on Lily, then Lily and co will say that you guys are just making your videos on my fame and money you are a clout chasers 

And in the same vein as in, they could’ve just made a positive  video. Lily could’ve also just have made a positive video as well. She could’ve said [Insert show name here] is genius or good and here’s why. She could’ve made a video like that if she kept on feeling like I’m gonna get constant hate mobs I’m gonna get people riled up instead she decided to make this video and now you’re trying to defend it with your life.

Anyway, I’ll make a separate post talking about Lily’s response to the first question

#lily orchard #lily orchard critical #Fans that want to cause drama but don’t know how to actually say anything worthwhile

[too-many-funerals]

all I want for shadow & bone season 2 is a scene where for some reason Jesper goes “you know she is only mean because she secretly has a huge crush on me” and Nina interrupts him like “I see your point but she obviously has that crush on me”  and then they just start bickering about who is better with girls while Kaz has to be physically held back from killing both of them with his cane

#shadow and bone #Grishaverse #nina #jesper #kaz #not only would it establish they are bi but also be hilarious

[ben-wisehart]

Hi! I LOVE your SVSSS meta, it's always so well thought out<3 At the very bottom of your BingQiu meta post you mention that LBH is gay. I had interpreted his sexuality in SV as like, he could be attracted to anyone (evidenced by his huge harem in PIDW) but after falling for SQQ, he wasn't interested in anyone else. What leads you to believe that LBH is gay and not bi or pan? (I don't have a strong opinion either way, I'm just interested in hearing your take if you feel like talking about it!)

the post anon is referring to

Oh man I've had this one stewing in my brain for days. I DEFINITELY feel like talking about it.

So here's my obligatory disclaimer that media should be enjoyable first and foremost, and if someone reading this enjoys seeing Binghe as bi or pan, I think you should continue to do so regardless of whether or not it's supported by canon.

To be honest, while I don't read either Luo Binghe or Shen Qingqiu as mspec, I'd probably have an easier time believing it of Binghe than SQQ. SQQ's feelings and attitudes toward women come across very much like your pretty stock-standard compulsory heterosexuality; he talks a lot about how he's straight and wants a girlfriend, but try to name one single woman he's actually attracted to and you come up short. In practice, he's constantly making excuses why any given woman who crosses his mind isn't suitable for him: usually it's "they belong to the protagonist" or maybe "she's too intimidating", and he never seems to realise that these things...don't actually preclude him from finding them attractive.

To Shen Qingqiu, simply not being attracted to a woman is very easy and he genuinely doesn't realise that that isn't normal for straight guys. It's why he finds it so confusing why so many people like PIDW despite all the terrible sex scenes. Even when Madam Meiyin (a woman whose predictions he's just described as infallible) is describing his literal destined partner, he tries to picture a woman who fits that description and immediately dismisses the prediction out of hand because she's unrealistic and would obviously go to Binghe anyway.

I think it's really telling that his favourite female lead in PIDW was Liu Mingyan—the only one who never got sex scenes with the character he was actually attracted to. Like. Seriously. His favourite wife was the one he never had to read having straight sex with Binghe. The lack of sex scenes gave her room to breathe and grow as her own character; Shen Yuan talks about how he thinks she should get "pushed down" but I'm willing to bet that if that had actually happened and she'd ended up in the same ridiculous sex scenarios as the other wives, his fondness for her as a character would have mysteriously dried up.

I don't think I have a specific moment I can refer to for this, but you also just...get the impression that even though Binghe is obviously the person SQQ finds most attractive, he's still capable of finding other guys hot. With Liu Qingge in particular Shen Qingqiu spends a hilarious amount of time fixating on what a Pretty Boy(TM) he is compared to how the PIDW fandom liked to portray him. Tianlang-Jun, Gongyi Xiao...even Shang Qinghua he describes as "handsome with an air of sleaziness" in his first appearance. I'm not saying SQQ wants to bone each of these guys, but it does make you kind of feel like a man's general attractiveness is something he takes note of. He does also describe female characters as pretty, so there's an element of it that's just...the POV character relaying the other characters' appearances to the audience, but with the female characters he's usually describing them as they appeared in PIDW, and I sincerely doubt PIDW ever took much time to establish that any given male character was nice to look at.

Anyway. I'm digressing.

As for Binghe...

God, even when I'm trying to talk about Binghe I'm talking about Shen Qingqiu, aren't I??😔

The problem with Binghe, I think, is that he fixates so heavily on Shen Qingqiu to the point of obsession. Like, sure, it's hard to imagine Binghe (as we know him in SVSSS) being attracted to a woman, but it's equally hard to imagine him being attracted to a man that isn't Shen Qingqiu. He just has such singular focus on the person he's fallen for that you might just as well label him "shizunsexual" as anything else.

So if you heard that he married a man in one timeline and a bunch of women in another, and took this information in isolation, you probably could conclude that Binghe is a bi/pan dude who just got really invested in one specific person to an extent that it permanently blinded him to anyone else he might have otherwise shown an interest in, and that this one specific person just happened to be a man.

However, I do think it was MXTX's intention for Binghe to be specifically read as gay, and not just because she's a BL author with a fondness for making her romantic leads only ever have feelings for one single person (and by extension, one gender) in their lives. The Bing-ge extra just doesn't make sense to me if Bing-ge was genuinely attracted to women. And the story overall, I think, makes more sense when that's not the case as well.

Firstly, I want to emphasise that Airplane didn't originally plan for Binghe to be gay. This is a common misconception that I think stems from his teasing remarks to SQQ in the last chapter. In truth, his original plan was for Binghe to not have a love interest. Binghe was supposed to be a tragic protagonist destined to die alone and unloved. Airplane might have added all the wives in for fanservice, and it's obvious that he thinks he's been writing a straight character since he seems genuinely shocked and even upset(??) when he finds out Binghe is gay in real life, but...at the story's core, Binghe having a loving, positive relationship with someone who meets his emotional needs was not part of the plan at any point.

I want to pull up a quote that I think is incredibly telling. This is how Shen Qingqiu describes the scene in PIDW in which Binghe loses his virginity:

The girl thought, "Since I'm about to die, I must leave behind some memories to ensure that my life won't have been in vain. I don't have many days left, after all, so I won't suppress my feelings anymore."

Then, using her weak and fragile body, she pushed Luo Binghe down.

Luo Binghe put up a brief show of resistance before telling himself "She did it all for my sake. I don't have the heart to reject her final wish." He yielded, still half-reluctant, and went along with it...

(Vol 1 Page 143 of the official translation)

Which is just...utterly tragic. I do want to be clear that it's perfectly normal for men to not actually want sex all the time, even with the gender that they're attracted to. Even if Binghe were totally straight it wouldn't be weird that he didn't want to have sex with Qin Wanyue in a life-or-death scenario like the one above. This scene on its own isn't proof that Binghe doesn't like women, but I think it does show that Bing-ge didn't start out chasing women indiscriminately; his very first time was being pressured into it.

Here's the thing. Bing-ge had no positive male figures in his life, especially when he was young. All the men he encountered were indifferent to him at best or outright cruel at worst. He spent his formative years alone with no permanent caregiver. The Meng Mo arc suggests he was on his own until the age of four or five, and that he was regularly beaten on the streets, usually by men. Once his mother took him in, she became his safety and his shelter; it was the two of them against the world. When he loses her, he resolves to join a cultivation clan to get stronger, and is immediately chosen by a graceful and talented immortal—his dream! For the first time, little Luo Binghe allows himself to believe there's going to be somebody else in his life who will protect and mentor him—but then the harsh reality is dumped on his head and he's alone again. His new Shizun punishes him harshly and encourages others to bully him. His shixiongs are only too happy to oblige. His sect leader turns a blind eye to his abuse.

But Ning Yingying...Ning Yingying is naive and a bit tactless and sometimes her interference causes him more problems than it solves, but she's well meaning, she seems to like having him around, and she's the only person who will stand up for him despite everyone telling her not to. In PIDW, she was the person he trusted the most during his time at Qing Jing Peak. Admittedly not a very high bar, but he has a friend. And then the others. Liu Mingyan, Sha Hualing, Qin Wanyue, the Little Palace Mistress...these are people who make him feel wanted. Needed.

It's a really interesting and frankly tragic mirror to Shen Jiu, who was also abused by men and for whom women became his safety. It's also interesting in the ways that they differ. He goes to brothels to sleep so he won't be around men, but there's nothing to suggest Shen Jiu actually turned to having sex with women for comfort in the way that Binghe did. Shen Jiu closes himself off completely from forming relationships with other people, even superficial ones, while Binghe can't seem to stop forming new connections, even if they never manage to satisfy him in the way he really wants.

I think the members of the harem have varying levels of genuine care and love for Binghe. Unfortunately we don’t have the benefit of their POV and we only have brief allusions to what their individual relationships with Binghe were like in PIDW. Breaking down my exact thoughts on each wife would make this essay even more bloated than it already is and wouldn’t add much overall, but in general, I do think most of them were at least physically attracted to him. Some may have married him for political or social advantages, especially once he started to amass power and…eliminate their other options. Some might have wanted the safety and protection that came with being the Saintly Ruler’s wife. I think a good chunk of them were, consciously or not, using him in some way—but Bing-ge is so desperate for human connection (or at least a parody of it) that he doesn’t really care, especially as he spends more and more time using Xin Mo. If he's being taken advantage of, it’s not like he doesn’t have the resources to support it.

But there must have been women in the harem who genuinely loved him, who wished they could be more to him than just an interchangeable face in the crowd. There must have been women whose personalities meshed well with his. Women who earned his trust and his loyalty. Women whom, if Binghe were somebody with the capacity to have romantic feelings towards women, he would have fallen in love with.

And yet, all it took was a few days with Shen Qingqiu to change everything.

Now, I don’t think Bing-ge in the extra was gearing up to give up his harem unprompted. He wanted SQQ to come back with him. I do think that if Bingmei had simply never returned and provided a way back, Bing-ge wouldn’t have regretted the loss, and I also think that if SQQ had gone back with him to join the harem, Bing-ge would have never looked at another woman in his life, but these things aren’t outright stated in canon so I can’t in good conscience present them as indisputable fact. The fandom is pretty consistent on the belief that Bing-ge goes home with his worldview shaken and develops an obsession with SY, and I think that too, but the fact remains that we will never really know for sure how he moves on from that experience. I'm pointing all this out because I really do want to give mspec Binghe as much benefit of the doubt as I possibly can.

But god…I really just don’t see how it’s possible to read the Bingge vs Bingmei extras without coming to the conclusion that Bing-ge is a gay man who is experiencing a genuine positive connection with another man for the first time in his life. He’s hostile and standoffish when he doesn’t know what’s going on, but as soon as he understands the situation, he melts. He looks at Shen Qingqiu like he’s seeing him for the first time. He starts calling his name just because he can, because he likes hearing SQQ respond to him. He becomes drunk on it, unable to stop. He offers to cuddle him to sleep. For somebody who has never had intimate relations with a man before, he doesn’t even hesitate to start seducing him once he understands the situation. Everything is just perfect—right up until SQQ sees through his deception and the facade crumbles.

I don’t think Bing-ge knew he was gay before this point. How would he? Who could possibly have been a focal point for these feelings? The only male friendship we know he had was with Mobei-Jun, and even though Mobei-Jun is also a MLM, he’s not exactly Binghe’s type and they just don’t have the kind of dynamic Binghe needs in a relationship. He’s spent his entire life being the strong one, the one who saves the maiden, the one who carries the weight of the world on his back. So the relationship he truly craves, even if he doesn’t realise it, is one where he gets to be doted on and cared for. Where he gets his hair braided.

He finds that so suddenly in the Scum Villain world, and it shakes him to his core. He doesn’t know how to deal with it. He looks at his other self in a loving relationship with Shen Qingqiu and feels nauseated, but begs Shen Qingqiu to come back with him in the same breath. He doesn’t understand what’s different here, he just knows he doesn’t want to lose it.

Why am I so unwaveringly convinced that Binghe is gay? I’m going to bite the bullet and say It’s Just The Vibe, Your Honour. I guess you can argue that he could still technically like women even if he just never managed to connect with one the way he did with Shen Qingqiu, but there comes a point when you have to ask why you’re assuming a zebra instead of a horse. Narratively, Binghe being gay is the only answer that makes sense to me. The harem collectively serves as a sort of character foil to Shen Qingqiu, contrasting him as a love interest for Binghe. Binghe in PIDW was surrounded by an abundance of relationships but all of them were superficial and shallow, never able to completely satisfy him. Binghe in SV has one loving partner who actually fulfils his emotional needs, and it’s enough for him.

Sex God Binghe with a harem of beautiful women who obey his every whim is very explicitly the bad ending. It’s about the inherent brokenness of a man who would seek something like this. Amassing hundreds of wives isn’t actually something that normal straight guys want to do; most straight guys (most people) are much happier with a loving partner who supports them and actually connects with them on a deep, personal level. So having Binghe, the ultimate stallion, be somebody who isn’t even attracted to women just drives home the final point even more that this is a doomed behaviour that could never have made him happy.

There’s so much tragedy in the fact that this is the only way Bing-ge ever learned to get even a resemblance of emotional fulfilment. I maintain that a lot of his wives probably did care for him, even if they could never have played the role in his life that Shen Qingqiu did in the SV timeline. Being a harem master was the only way Bing-ge knew how to make himself feel wanted. And it’s sad. It’s really, really sad. I like to think that his foray into the SV universe might have served as a wake-up call for him, that he might have realised everything he’d built wasn’t making him happy and tried to find something else. Unfortunately, Binghe has learned such bad coping mechanisms that it’s easier to picture him trying to build a portal back into the SV world to kidnap the nice SQQ than, like, doing the normal thing of going out and finding a cute farm boy to settle down with, but we can only dream.

TL;DR Women were the only people Binghe was able to form positive relationships with, but I’m just not convinced there’s any real evidence in canon that he was actually attracted to them.

This is long enough so I'll stop here, but I might share this earlier post of mine from someone asking about Binghe's feelings about SJ as it feels somewhat relevant. This essay can be shared on twitter here. Feel free to check out my meta tag for other stuff I've written, too! (at this point, I might just make a specific svsss meta tag and be done with it)

Thanks for the question, anon!!

#svsss #luo binghe #luo bingge #meta #bingqiu #anon: hey would you mind sharing your thoughts on Binghe's sexuality? #me: I'd love to! (opens with a 500 word essay about shen qingqiu) #I'm gonna write a small follow-up to this maybe later tonight it's not part of the essay it's just something I want to acknowledge #if anyone is wondering this ended up being 2.8k words😐 #long post for ts #shen qingqiu #also thank you so much!!! I’m really happy you enjoy reading my ramblings hehe😅 #svsss meta

[hansoulchews]

Exile ft. Bon Iver (5/11 of Exile) | Vernon Chwe x reader

Pairing: Vernon Chwe x gn! reader / past Park Seo Joon x gn! reader

Genre: fluff, angst, strangers to lovers

Sypnosis: Famous singer-songwriter, y/n, quietly released an album 2 years after ghosting the music scene suddenly. After their infamous scandal in which y/n was videoed to be in an altercation with established actor, Park Seo Joon at a restaurant, y/n ceased all their music activities and went into hiding, refusing to comment further on the issue. Lucky for all you conspiracy theorists! It seems as though all the questions left unanswered in 2019 are finally addressed (or so we think!) in this unexpected album drop.

Warnings: None for this chapter

Series Masterlist | Next

In the only collaborative track, the lead singer of Bon Iver, Justin Vernon, lends his voice to Exile, an indie-folk gospel ballad song that encapsulated a bleak discussion of two estranged lovers who are at different points of a breakup, one being the person who has yet to move on, and the other already has. The fusion of y/n’s soft vocals with Justin’s deep baritone voice highlights the juxtaposition of two former lovers, having an unarticulated conversation of their past relationship. The song was structured in a call and response format, funnily, as the artists sing about the lack of communication that lead to their dismay. It is safe to say, this song showcases the sonic beauty of y/n’s musicality.

August 2019

“That’s literally the worst way someone can pour wine,” Minghao said in a deadpanned voice. You cackled, knowing that you have successfully riled him up. In the past few months, you have been trying your best to integrate back into socializing with new people, mainly other Seventeen members as well as some other musicians. You have not dared to reach out to your friends in the acting industry, not knowing where you stand with them and what they thought of you.

Woozi and Hoshi helped you out a lot with this process. They slowly introduced you to Joshua and Minghao, knowing that their funny but calm demeanours were a good acclimation process to you befriending other (more active and talkative) members. Minghao was a friend who you never knew what to expect from. He was a silent menace who was unpredictable but hilarious. Both of you enjoyed online shopping together, roping each other to buy fashionable goods from the same sites, getting free shipping by default. (Yes, you both are millionaires, yes, free shipping is still greatly appreciated.)

With Joshua, you were able to speak more English, feeling glad that you could speak your other native language. Both of you would also exchange American pop culture references in these conversations. He was the most geeked out when you mentioned that you were working with Bon Iver for a song.

“I didn’t know you were even making records right now.” He said at your bi-weekly dinner get-togethers. “Hey, hey, no English in our presence please!” Hoshi screamed out from the kitchen.

“Y/N is making a song with this cool band, Bon Iver!” Joshua shouted back, looping Hoshi into the conversation. Hoshi came back out from the kitchen with a childish pout. “I remember when I used to be the first to get updates…” He sighed dramatically.

“I knew before Joshua.” Woozi purposely said, teasing Hoshi. Hoshi just pouted even more.

“Well, you, I understand because you were first in line as y/n’s friend, but Joshua? Unforgivable!”

Joshua just rolled his eyes teasingly as you simply smiled widely at the scene before you. Joshua turned back to you and said (in Korean for the benefit of everybody), “So, how’s the recording process like so far?”

“I’ve got the lyrics and Justin and I have been exchanging ideas on how his lyrics could go. He’s writing his and I’m making revisions on mine.”

You had been hesitant at opening the can of worms that was your relationship with Seo Joon. But penning down your thoughts and expressing them through the best way you know how — songwriting and composition, had been a cathartic experience that helped you process how you used to feel back in the relationship, how you were feeling about the break up and now, the aftermath.

It’s a bit painful to see Seo Joon on screens and billboards. It’s not that you missed him or anything, but the reminder of these grand gestures of reverence towards him made you inevitably gaslight yourself. Was it you who overreacted? Did you make the wrong decision? Were you too hard on him?

You felt isolated and in exile. It was hard to see the man who caused you so much pain, hurt, anger and frustration being loved irrevocably by basically everyone. And he’s still getting gigs. The Divine Fury, a cameo in a distinguished film, Parasite, not to mention the remnants of how good his performance in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim that is still securing him for roles in Kdramas. And here you are, having articles putting you on blast for pouring ramen on him and people reducing your craft and talent to a manipulative tactic to lure men in as your lovers only to break up with them as a source of inspiration for your next album.

“That’s really cool. Are you planning to make an album?” Minghao chimed in. You shrugged.

“It’s just one track. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to put myself out there just yet.”

Present

Hansol reached his hand out to you. You grabbed it to stabilize yourself. His other hand was holding the picnic basket, filled with sandwiches, some canned drinks, pastries and chips.

“You alright?” He checked in with you. Both of you decided to hike up another trail on a cool Saturday morning. This trail wasn’t as intense as some of the trails you frequently took with Hoshi and Woozi.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve gone hiking.” Hansol hummed as he slowed his steps down to match your pace. He knew you were cooped up in the studio, finalizing the album the past 2 months. Now that it’s out, he decided that it was time to celebrate it by doing something you loved.

You finally reached an area with relatively flat ground and decided to set up your small picnic there. Hansol opened a can of coke for you and handed it to you. You smiled softly.

“How are you feeling baby?” Hansol broke the silence after giving both of you a moment to enjoy the scenery.

“I’m okay. I’m pretty nervous about the live performance though.”

“The one at Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook right?” He recalled the conversation you had with him about the premiere of the live performances for the songs in the album.

You nodded. You were slowly refamiliarising yourself with the schedules you used to have when you were an active musician. It was inevitably overwhelming but Hansol was there throughout the process, supporting you by being the best listener to all your rants.

“Mmm, can’t decide if it’s the interview or the live performances I’m more nervous about.”

“The questions have been screened and curated though, right?” You nodded.

Hansol then decided to change the subject, knowing that the whole purpose of this trip was to liberate you from the flurry of activities you had planned after releasing the album. “What shall we cook for Friday?”

You gave him a pointed look. “You mean, what shall I cook for Friday.” He chuckled, his infamous skills (or lack thereof) in the kitchen had you bench him from actual cooking (at least those that require the food to be decent for the consumption of others at the dinner parties).

“Hey, I’m getting better! I can help with prep.” He said in a jokingly defensive manner. You rolled your eyes, causing him to peck a quick kiss on your cheek as a result of the intense fond feeling he had while looking at your face.

“Yeah yeah, sure. Minghao suggested steak because he wants to break open a new red wine he got from China.”

“Hmm… steak sounds good… let’s do that.” Hansol replied.

You got tired of sitting up so you laid your back onto the picnic mat, propping your head up with a makeshift pillow aka your hiking bag. Hansol picked up your relaxed vibe and decided to lay his head on your belly. Your hands instinctively found his hair, massaging his scalp gently.

He hummed gently, blending into the white noise of the forest.

#seventeen x reader #seventeen fic #vernon #vernon angst #vernon fic #vernon fluff #vernon scenarios #svt fluff #svt imagines #vernon imagines #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #vernon x you #vernon x reader #hansol x reader #hansol vernon chwe #vernon oneshot

[imaginariaextraordinaire]

Episode 8 is one hella packed episode and it is an absolute joy to unpack it, beginning with this:

Clever, clever idea to have Ji-Woo repeat the line that Mi-Joo just said to indicate Ji-Woo is taking charge of things as far as Assemblyman Ki is concerned. It's also a good reminder of how tone and intent can change the meaning of a sentence even if the words are exactly the same (which is why we need good translators).

Seeing Mi-Joo stride across the screen with Seon-Gyeom behind her, it struck me that we've seen a variation of this many times before, beginning with the credit titles. While Seon-Gyeom is the sprinter, the one we see constantly trying to up the pace and charge ahead is Mi-Joo. She's always intent on moving ahead faster — perhaps to outrun the past that she finally makes peace with during the marathon? — while Seon-Gyeom moves at a slower pace, disentangling himself from the constraints of his troubled past and troubling father. The only one time we see him race ahead (in episode 2), we also see him come back and slow down.

What I particularly love about Park Shi-Hyun's writing is that in addition to all the layers and complexity she's written into the scenes and characters, she's also written a very, very funny show.

Both Shin Se-Kyung and Kang Tae-Oh do such a fantastic job with both the physical humour (without being over-the-top) and the timing that's needed to play up the wit in the dialogues. Not that Siwan and Soo-Young do a bad job — the scene in which Dan-Ah proposes to Seon-Gyeom is hilarious. My favourite is still May, who is very funny throughout this episode (the shot in which we learn she sleeps with her eyes open! GOLD).

The transitions in this episode are so well written. The insights from one scene ricochet off the next. For example, Dan-Ah in the scene at the bar — where she tells the bartender she can't risk keeping the book in her own study because she can't risk people guessing she has anxieties — gives us a look at the problems of the privileged. This is followed by a scene in which Yeong-Hwa and Mi-Joo discuss student debts, which is a relatable middle-class problem. This in turn is followed by Tae-Woong saying that he takes selfies because he's addicted to the validation he gets from the likes each of those photos gets him — a Gen Z problem. And so it is that we get a spectrum of problems that people face and hide behind performative façades.

The likes that Tae-Woong talks about pop up with manic frenzy at the end of the heartbreaking scene with Dan-Ah in the parking lot, presenting the viewer with a terrible contrast — driving away from him is the love and acceptance that he yearns for from a sister who (he hopes) knows him. All he has to hold on to is the superficial attention of the love professed by a fandom that doesn't really know him at all. Soo-Young's performance is fantastic in this scene, especially when she asks in a voice tinged with desperation why Tae-Woong keeps coming back to her despite her treating him so badly. For the first time, you realise how much it takes out of her to lash out at this desperately-sad boy. "It takes effort to hate someone," Tae-Woong tells her. My heart!

Another fantastic set of transitions comes later on in the episode, when Mi-Joo and May are unwinding at the end of a long day at the film shoot.

This is such a great example of writing inter-generational female friendships. When May remembers not being paid for working overtime, it's an acknowledgement that things are better for working women (especially in film) than it was before, but as Mi-Joo's experiences show, there's still a lot to be done because women are still driven by a certain insecurity and anxiety to push themselves way too hard (as we see a sick Mi-Joo do later in the episode).

Of course a man tries to break this gathering up — because he wants to go to bed. Superb excuse, particularly because these women are talking how much they have to work — and it is deeply satisfying to watch all three of them shut him down and establish their right to unwind.

This scene of female friendship is followed by one that shows the friendship between the three runners. Then we get to see a fight scene full of male actors. The machismo of that performance is a sharp contrast to the awkward tenderness of Woo-Sik and Yeong-Il's conversation.

While on the subject of toxic masculinity, this is the episode in which we find out Dan-Ah's father forged Myeong-Min's birth certificate to make him legally older than Dan-Ah even though he's actually 10 months younger than her. All to ensure he has a male heir. It's a nice detail that Myeong-Min's mother is the one laying out the memorial service for Dan-Ah's mother because it hints at a sense of solidarity.

Also dismantling traditional notions of masculinity is Seon-Gyeom, whom we see at his most domestic as he cooks and packs meals for May and Mi-Joo, and does chores around the house once they're gone. It's very much an inversion of the standard male-female gender roles with the woman going out to work and the man as the homemaker. To underscore this point, we see Seon-Gyeom consider the leopard-print shirt (that May and Mi-Joo hang to give strangers the impression they've got an alpha in the house) for a second before putting it away.

Speaking of alphas, Mi-Joo's really got a thing for wild cats. In addition to that shirt, her blanket is also a leopard-print and when we see her calling Seon-Gyeom, she's standing in front of a painting of a tiger. All these seem to be digs at her posturing that she's strong and invulnerable and I burst out laughing when Seon-Gyeom folds the leopard-print blanket while muttering, "I'd have guessed this is hers even if she hadn't told me."

As disinterested as Seon-Gyeom may be in films, they play a big role in sustaining him emotionally. In this episode, it's the film set that helps Mi-Joo and him come together after their stupid disagreement. Equally importantly, the film set is where he gets the time and space to reconnect with his mother.

Run On has so much fun being meta with the film bits. The film shoot within a drama is indeed an old fake.

There are two film sets we see in this episode — one with Ji-Woo and the other with Mi-Joo. While Ji-Woo's set feels relaxed, the one Mi-Joo's working in is chaotic and taxing. The two women are also at different ends of the professional spectrum. Ji-Woo is a star while Mi-Joo is not just working behind the scenes, but she's come to fill in for the person who was the juniormost member of the crew.

When pointing out the main players of their film crew to Mi-Joo and May, Hui-Jin describes the cinematographer as "a bit racist, but still a gentleman". (Mi-Joo's response is superb: "Weird.") It's an interesting choice to make the cinematographer racist because that's the crew member who decides how subjects and scenes will be framed. "Racist but a gentleman" feels like a precise summary of the orientalist perspective which (aside from being overwhelmingly masculine) shows the East through stereotypes that are often superficially beautiful, but also reductive and damaging. Not surprisingly, this cinematographer is the reason Mi-Joo flounders while translating on set.

The film set is also the first time that Seon-Gyeom sees Mi-Joo's vulnerable side when she falls ill. It's such a clever choice to have Mi-Joo stop performing in a setting that's all about performances. Not only does Mi-Joo give up the alpha act when she's sick, she admits to Seon-Gyeom that when she's feeling helpless, her instinct is to resort to a performative lie — calling out for mom because that's what she saw other kids do as a child in a sick ward (imagine how isolated and neglected she must have felt to do this. Also, she's felt this way so many times that this performance has become second nature to her).

The anecdote suggests Mi-Joo's mulish championing of her self has its roots in past incidents when she tried to fit and either failed or was rejected. And yet, for all her strength and confidence, she's chasing phantoms and has been doing so since she was a little girl. All because she was alone and didn't have anyone she could reach out to for help. Which is why what Seon-Gyeom tells her at the end of the episode is so relevant. He helps her to reorient.

To which Mi-Joo, bless her leopard-print-loving heart, responds with

But my favourite part of this episode is the conversation that Ji-Woo has with Seon-Gyeom when he visits her set. First of all, Ji-Woo is playing a "vegan murderer", which is brilliant as ideas go and it's adorable how delighted she is about her violent roles.

I love how Run On doesn't punish Ji-Woo for sacrificing her family life for her work. Instead, it holds out the possibility that it is ok if you have that imbalance. In this scene, we see Ji-Woo's family reforming at the film set with Eun-Bi sending the coffee truck and Seon-Gyeom showing up just because Ji-Woo asked him to be there.

The mother-son conversation gives us a glimpse of Seon-Gyeom's bleak childhood and we learn that everything Seon-Gyeom did for his father was actually him doing what his mother had asked him to do. It comes as a surprise to Seon-Gyeom that his mother has noticed what he's suffered and that she understands how he'd hoped silently suffering would keep the family together. It's almost as though he's feeling seen for the first time.

Much like Dan-Ah, Ji-Woo may seem self-centred because of her ambitiousness, but she does notice what's happening beyond the obvious, especially when it comes to people she cares about. Both women are up against the worst of patriarchy. Also, I love that when she's talking about motherhood, Ji-Woo is blood-spattered — after all, being a working woman and a mother in a patriarchal is nothing short of fighting a war.

In previous episodes, it seemed as though Ji-Woo was the 'bad' (or at least not ideal) mother while Director Dong was the ideal, modern mother. Yet in comparison to how Director Dong later reacts to her son coming out, you can't help but feel Ji-Woo, with her unconditional support for her kids, might just be the better parent. What is great about Run On though is that that the script doesn't pit the two older women against each other as competing examples of motherhood or femininity. The point is that everyone's struggling, making mistakes and trying to learn from them. Ji-Woo is doing that and so will Director Dong eventually.

Love that the scene ends with Seon-Gyeom effectively declaring himself his mother's son. Take that, patriarchy.

#Run On #Episode 8 #Rewatch #Kdrama #Mothers #mother series #Smash the patriarchy #Im Siwan #shin se kyung

[kingreywrites]

hopefully u don’t mind that I ask the same.. but the new Dream proposals?? I’d like to hear ur thoughts!! :))

Your opinion on _____?

I absolutely don't mind, there's like 70% of my brain devoted to the proposals always, and that's why this post is so long ghdhdhd apologies for that but i love them ur honour 😭💖

1st proposal: (BEA)

my beloved <3 ghdjdkd i know it's controversial but i just. feel like it's such well done conflict, that it could have been written so wrong for so many reasons but was SO well done and i actually love thinking about it. Honestly, this moment is kinda new dream's lowest point in the series, the one moment when their deep love for each other isn't enough to make them be on the same page, and the one moment when the "fairy tale" kinda stops and they really start building their relationship together and I!! LOVE THAT!! I also love how it all came to this, how their own issues made this possible (Rapunzel who has been raised to cater to someone else's happiness at her own personal cost all her life just cannot bring herself to admit anything about how she feels because Eugene is happy and she wants to keep it that way; Eugene who's given everything he could have wanted and more, and has his own abandonment issues to work through, just trying to secure this because he wants them both to be happy and he's scared that it won't last, and, in doing that, missing the discomfort Rapunzel is herself hiding.... that is very good conflict okay)

AND i also very very much love how it was resolved within the episode. We always say new dream is a very healthy relationship, and it's true but like it's the most obvious exactly when things are going wrong between them! They can communicate when they're happy and nothing is happening, but that proposal shows that even when there is a serious conflict between them, even when they actually did not manage to communicate well and Eugene fucked up and put Rapunzel in a tough spot, THEY ARE STILL ABLE TO TALK IT OUT, APOLOGIZE AND ACTIVELY WORK ON THEMSELVES TO MAKE SURE THIS WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN. Sorry for the caps but holy shit. Eugene's apology at the end is such an amazing scene because he acknowledges what he did wrong, he apologises, he also stops rapunzel from apologising because he knows it's not her fault, and then he admits that he still needs to work on himself to understand what went wrong, that not everything is magically fixed because he said sorry, and he tells her exactly what course of action he's gonna take and i just ghdjdk THE FACT THAT THIS PROPOSAL CAN BE USED AS ANTI NEW DREAM BY SOME PEOPLE WHEN IT EXACTLY SHOWS HOW AND WHY THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS ABLE TO WORK EVEN AT ITS LOWEST POINT DRIVES ME CRAZY

(i think about the first proposal a normal amount I swear ghdjdkd anyway onto the others)

Second proposal: (1st one in BTCW)

literally the funniest one because like

Eugene: i was one of the best thieves in the world, master of lying and deceiving people

Rapunzel: did you just say... marry me?

Eugene:

Eugene: Larryme. i said Larryme, the name of... my fake old dog

1/10, worst save i have ever seen, he gets a pity point because i like him and the name Larryme is hilarious i wanna meet this dog

ghdhdkd joking aside it's always funny to see this one brought up as him making an ill-timed proposal again when like, the man didn't even get to try it fgdjdjdk the way it was going, i can definitely see him put off the proposal because lance and hookfoot's advice got to him, but i at least know for sure he wouldn't have done it like that in the caravan 😔

3rd proposal: (end of BTCW)

WHY IS THIS ONE FORGOTTEN ABOUT SO MUCH IT'S A HUGE TURNING POINT IN THAT WHOLE ARC and like!! Eugene is right in that they are very much not in the right time or place to get married, and though he sorta misses Rapunzel's eagerness it's actually a good thing he makes sure they're not rushing this because she's still worried of losing him (he's literally keeping his promise of being patient with her but also he makes sure she's patient with herself too!!) BUT. But, from that point, from literally the first episode of the second season and onward, it's established that Rapunzel wants to get married with Eugene, they both do, and they are on the same page about it. It's not a nebulous distant future in Rapunzel's mind anymore, it's not an anxiety-fueled desire to protect their love for Eugene, they just. do want to get married because they love each other and want to live that together. I cannot stress enough how !!!!!!!!! i am about that asfgsjfj so like a very good proposal, highlighting that they can take their time together which is very good very wholesome

3rd and a half proposal: the Tromus One (rapunzeltopia)

Does this one count? ghdgdh my guy tromus really said the only way to keep her into the perfect dream version of her world where she is completely happy is to make sure she's with eugene 💖 we thank him for that and for the parents au and for the demon au too fgjdhdhf i gotta say, I like how it also highlights how much Eugene has changed and how their relationship is much more solid now. Like, genuinely, after all they went through, Eugene wouldn't propose like that to her anymore, and he also showed that he's ready to say no to make sure that she has the space to discover herself and be certain of her choice. Also I like this proposal because the joy on Eugene's face when she says yes is very cute okay I KNOW IT'S A DEMON BUT IT'S ALSO MY BOY

4th proposal: (Cassandra's Revenge)

ASGSGDHDJDHDHDJJHLSDGSDSG I LITERALLY WILL NEVER RECOVER FROM THE GIRL WHO HAS EVERYTHING REPRISE. NEVER EVER I GENUINELY FEELS GIDDY LISTENING TO IT EVEN NOW AND THEN WHEN SHE PROPOSED AND HE WAS LIKE "FOR ME?" AND IT WAS THE SOFTEST THING IN THE WORLD I DIED

i'm also so happy rapunzel got to try to propose a second time because hell yes she would and like i'm glad it wasn't ever questionned and that eugene got to be over the moon because she oves him just as much as he does and !!!!!!! FLUFFY HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS WHERE BOTH PEOPLE WOULD DO ANYTHING TO MAKE THE OTHER ONE HAPPY ARE ALL I WANT IN LIFE ACTUALLY

5th and final one: THE proposal :')

It's literally perfect what can I even say ghdhdh like. the dialogue? Eugene reminding her of his promise, making sure she knows it's a choice, us seeing how far they've come together since the beginning and how it's literally the next natural step for them instead of a tacked on "happy ending" thing?? The sheer emotion and happiness in their voices and their expressions, the intimacy, the gorgeous bi flag sky behind them, the parallel to I see the light, THE EVERYTHING?? this proposal is the best proposal to ever proposal, no one is doing it like them

#the way i lose any sort of coherency for the last two asfhdjdk it's not my fault they make me lose my mind #also i have so many thoughts about the 1st one because that's the one people have bad takes on literally all the time ghdjkdd #sob i love the proposals...... i also did not expect to love them when i first got into tts so it was a very pleasant surprise #they are very well written and i cherish them gdjjdkd #thanks for the ask!!! sorry for this hella long answer 😭💖 #ask game

[sanchoyo]

danny phantom, season 3 episodes 3-6 thoughts!

see prev episode thoughts in this tag <3

-johnny was actually pretty civil with danny and left when he asked! thats nice. also, SKULKER?? HAD A FRAMED PICTURE OF EMBER?? oooo fuck wait had they established they were a Thing Before?? I dont think so. thats weird. its like that country boy/goth girl meme lmfao. I think i am going to choose to ignore this new info and pretend I didnt hear it. 100% unrelated to the jazz/ember fanart I already drew and posted....😳

-LADIES NIGHT EPISODE THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT. wish it didnt really center around the guys or them being pissed at them, but. willing to bet this was written by men lol

-THEY ERASED ALL THE MEN??? meanwhile, jack and danny are fishing at. silent hill or something. im glad jack is trying to read a parenting book and making an Attempt. (theyre at lake erie, but, they made it actually eerie...thats fun)

-the girls alt outfits...cute. EMBER MADE A NEW SONG TOO!!! kinda. jazz being one of the backup singers and being AWFUL. NOOOO

-'how are we going to get kitty to blow a kiss?' 'she'll have to think there are still some males in town!' ...i dont know how to break it to you, but I dont know that a 100% het girl would wish for all men to Begone. I think. I mean im not a het or a girl so I dont really know for sure. she Is probably Bi tho. esp having the other ladies in town chanting NO MEN!!! excitedly............(then again, the kiss is to get Rid of men, so, she probably would have blown it at the ladies only if they were actively trying to attack/stop them, so...I MEAN. THE DRESSING LIKE DANNY BIT WAS SO EXTRA)

-I feel like an all female cast ep couldve been way way way way cooler than that was. like. why was it still somehow all about Men. ...anyway. (where was valerie...)

-next ep opens with the observants, and, way way more of them than I expected...existed? I mean I guess them being a council/jury of some kind is what I expected from their first appearance (bc at that time they were basically TELLING clockwork to kill danny, not asking,, so I figured they had SOME kind of authority) but. there were so many. anyway, here goes vlad! letting his own hubris go brrrr. releasing a weather ghost for political gain! #justvladthings

-okay say what you will about him (he IS an asshole) but having an umbrella with his own face on it and more prepared to share is SUPER FUNNY. and him being fanned by huge wads of money by his bodyguards. SO ineffective but so Dramatic. He UNDERSTANDS that if youre rich you need to be. you know. obnoxious and kinda eccentric about it! fuckign hate when rich people are boring about it. I would trust vlad with nothing except to not be a boring rich asshole who wears...fucking khaki or some shit. man knows his Presentation Skills. and that 'V' chair in his mayoral office. is that fucking embroidered?

-maddie get your MAN PLEEEEASSSE. IM SO EMBARRASSED FOR HER. the way jack stays simping for this man. in FRONT OF HIS WIFE!!!! ...my god its like a love triangle. jack clearly loves vlad, who loves maddie, who loves jack. jack fenton is at the very least bi, right................. this is an OBSESSION . 'THE V MAN COMETH'???? i...my god. (also, on a serious note, to have a friend THIS SUPPORTIVE...and still be SUCH A DICK TO HIM (TRYING TO KILL HIM AND STEAL HIS WIFE??) NOT COOL VLAD. JACK IS YOUR 1 AND /ONLY/ HYPE MAN. if someone loved and supported me THIS HARD...LIKE. CMON DUDE.

-STOMP the fucking GAS, JACK

-this would make a great shirt design, looks like a metal band design! we love The Maelstrom

-oh, so vlad did in fact get a mansion in amity park. and its purple! good color choice! not as flashy as a CASTLE or MURDER CABIN, but still pretty eccentric, which I appreciate.

-...vlad knows the difference between picasso and da vinci? in the ep last post where we were watching him fail at conquering every historical time ever he didnt seem to know history well enough to like. be effective...was vlad taking art history at college?? (was he an art MAJOR??? we never DID KNOW WHAT HE WENT TO SCHOOL FOR. I kinda assumed business because in the masters of time ep he was still rich without ghost powers so he had to have..known something about business or something, right...but also, art and or theater FITS HIS PERSONALITY. possibly also something science-y, I guess, but I always felt like he got roped into that, esp how pessimistic he was about the ghost portal in the flashbacks to college, like, i felt like he was just there for maddie and was uninterested/un-invested at the time...)

-THIS GHOST JUST ELECTROCUTED MADDIE (THE CAT) BITCH!! THATS MY FAVORITE MADDIE!!! vlad going after vortex and being ~shocked~ .....WHEN. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN. THAT YOUR ACTIONS. HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!!

-the way this random man with a camera sees the mayor laying in an alley covered in TRASH AND DECIDES TO TAKE A PICTURE HAHAH

*snap* this ones going in my cringe compilation!

-vlad 'if we're going to defeat vortex, we're going to have to do it together!' *immediately dips after dropping danny off in front of vortex* JKASDFHKJHJKN

-DANNY CAN DUPLICATE!!! ...he couldnt even attack with it, but he DID IT!!! INTO (4) OF HIMSELF!!! SO PROUD!!!!!!!!!!

-'THE ROLLER COASTER EMOTIONS OF A TEENAGER THREATEN MY PLANS!' ...0 self awareness of his own dramatic moodiness. incredible, how dumb this man is. its very close to circling around to endearing, if he was less of an asshole. at least its very very funny to see danny shooting him with tiny lightning bolts anytime he's even slightly irritated! vlad you should be nice to danny anyway. this is what you GET

-...making sandwiches and ice cream and playing video games with your nephew is a totally normal thing. WHY is vlad acting like this is the end of the world. if you were a GOOD UNCLE YOU WOULD ALREADY BE DOING THESE THINGS!!! bitch I make my nephew food all the time and dont forget what he does and doesnt like. if u didnt know danny didnt want tomatoes, thats on u. if u, a grown adult, are gonna piss of the 14 yr old by not letting him win, u deserve to have to pay for the arcade machines he ruins because he now has uncontrollable storm powers because YOU THREW HIM INTO A FIGHT WITH THE STORM GHOST. fuck u vlad. paypal me $400,000 while ur at it tho. (also, gamer vlad confirmed)

-VLAD CAN COOK THOUGH???! I assumed he had...people working for him that did that. I mean. billionaires usually dont do that. then again, we've only seen those vultures working for him (and I guess the dairy king was AT his old mansion, but it was never really clarified if he worked there...I think he probably just Hung Out and they Enjoyed Cheeses Together. thats what I think, I dont think a KING would be working for anyone and also the dairy king was nice <3) but then again he would be a private person and we cant have anyone accidentally finding Ghostly Things, so...still, that's hilarious. pour one out for that really cute banana split that got ruined 2 seconds later

-vlad just fucking picking danny up and THROWING HIM AT VORTEX TWICE WITHIN LIKE A MINUTE. JUST ABSOLUTELY LAUNCHING HIM. BITCH THATS MY SON BE CAREFUL!!! HES GOT ORGANS AND THINGS!!!!

-danny seeing those animal commercials and feeling sad is the biggest 2000s throwback so far. i legitimately had to change the channel or walk out of the room when those came on bc id CRY AND BE SAD ABOUT THEM FOR DAYS AFTER. fuck those commercials and fuck that IN THE ARMMMS OF AN ANGELLLL song 😭

-'vlads ego almost got the town destroyed!' yes danny thats the entire episode. the entire series anytime vlad shows up honestly. this episode was just him being really embarrassing the entire time, and, me laughing about it. 10/10 would laugh at him again

-NEXT EP WE HAVE A SHAPESHIFTING GHOST?? I've said it before but shapeshifting is the power I would want when asked those 'what superpower do you want' questions...its the Best power! this guy looks like a homestuck character. ive never read homestuck but thats the vibe

-I love every time we see tuckers family, they are by far the most functional family. and dash has a lil chihuahua!!! named pookie!!! i am crying (I've had 3 chihuahuas, so I am very biased, but...) AND HE WATCHES THE ROMANCE CHANNEL WITH POOKIE. POOKIE I WILL DIE FOR YOU YOU SWEET LITTLE BABY.

-danny can lift a bus! I shouldn't be surprised, but i am proud of my son. hes got lil kid fans. i am going to cry about this

-JAZZ KEEPS A SCRAPBOOK WITH DANNY'S LIL HEROICS AND NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS!!! we've actually seen it on her floor before, but I didnt realize it was a scrapbook!! thats sooo cute.

-...and danny has to stand there listening to his parents saying danny phantom sucks and is a 'filthy ghost' and calling him egotistical...i am once again stealing their kids!

-THIS GHOST RIPPING JAZZ'S SCRAPBOOK!!! ILL KILL YOU. SHE WORKED HARD ON THAT!!! BITCH

-yes, maddie, the one with red eyes is For Sure Actually Your Son. ignore the, red eyes... (CLEARLY she hasnt watched the other 2 eps where danny has been evil, she doesnt know red eyes= evil!!!)

-'billy fenton'.......................

-danny being stuck as phantom in his own house, no way out is a fucking NIGHTMARE. his parents pointing giant weapons against him and SHOOTING AT HIM. THIS IS A HORROR MOVIE.

-NINE INCH NAILS POSTER.

-this is the most screenshot of all time

-amorpho turning into mr. lancer because hes 'someone no one will want to be around' BUT HES WRONG, I WOULD BEFRIEND AND HANG OUT WITH MR LANCER SO FAST.

-tucker dressing as danny, now I have the full Tucker set of him being sam and also being danny. also saying 'the ghost...uh...RIPPED MY FACE OFF.' and then running. SMOOTH. NOT AT ALL CONCERNING TO ANY PARENTS.

-sam accepts the toast from jack. and then 2 seconds later is like 'why am i eating this.' THIS SHOWS HUMOR IS SO UNEXPECTED SOMETIMES ITS REALLY GOOD. and then the scene after, mr lancer running into his ghost doppelganger and being like 'YOURE GORGOUS' THEN FAINTING. I AM CRYING. AND DASH FAINTING TOO.

-sam disguising herself as danny again to help tucker run from the fentons. but leaving him shirtless in the streets. incredible. 'plEASE DOnt NOTice MY FACELessNESS I MUST LIVE IN EXILE' this episode is destroying me the humor in this show is exactly my brand of corny and cheesy

-the impromtu story made up by danny and amorpho to explain stuff to the fentons. my god they are both such bad liars. but amorpho is a good egg. wish danny wouldnt have said he didnt wanna see him in town again!! I want him to be reoccurring. not that thats gonna matter since I'm almost done with the series, but the idea of this being the Only Time We See him is :(

-NEXT EP SAYS STARRING MARK HAMILL??????!!! hello ! mr . joker....mr. star wars.... I feel like I should be. idk. taking off a hat im not wearing in respect. I shouldnt be surprised tho bc hes in a lot of cartoons as a very good voice actor, and dp has already had a lot of talented ones so I've been looking out for ones I might know, but....mr. hamill....

-sam has her own greenhouse, names all the plants, and says thank you to them (in the languages from where the plants are from) whenever she harvests from them. thats SO cute. and her lil gothy lunch box...

-and danny's lil red fuzzy lined jacket!!! ive said it before but every time the characters get alt outfits im like :D

-danny has ice powers now!!! THATS WHAT FROSTBITE MEANT. HE KNEW SOMEHOW WAY BACK THEN

-THIS SHOW NEVER LETS YOU FORGET VLAD IS A BILLIONAIRE, HUH.

-danny's lil 'holy hibiscus!' first off the 50s batman swearing is hilarious. 2nd. my username is from the flower sanchoyo hibiscus, so, shoutout to ME this ep. hi :)

-EURGH UNDERGROWTH MAKING EVERYONE PLANT ZOMBIES. HIVEMIND PLOTS SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF ME. and this dude made the city SO overtaken so quickly like how long was danny asleep?? oh god

-evil fucked up sam! now the whole trio has gone evil at some point! the voice actress did a really, really good job with making her sound like a zombie...

-frostbite's paws are so so so big compared to danny. oh my god. i want to hug the snow dog...

-the far frozen has an advanced medical stuff!!! very cool. very smart snow dogs

-im so glad danny has a friendly ghost snow dad to explain this new power and teach him!!! this is so sweet. DANNY'S GHOST SENSE WAS A PART OF HIS ICE POWER?? OOOH. COOL. we love a training montage!!!

-danny saying if he cant defeat overgrowth, that he'd want to stay with frostbite...oh my god...do you think this is the first real supportive adult figure in his life (I am NOT counting his parents because they threaten him on the daily even if they dont realize it.) I mean mr lancer is a Teacher, but he was also nice but this is different, but this is a GHOST WHO IS WILLING TO HELP HIM with his powers and also will help him when hes injured and is so so nice and comparatively so much more mature than 90% of the adults in this show!!!! god. dad frostbite is my everything.

-the framing and lighting this episode, and all the angles...they went all OUT and it looks really really good. this is my nightmare scenario, tho. like, FUCK zombies and dead city zones and hivemind shit. and using the humans as 'nutrients for the children' i am going to THROW UP.

-MALEFICENT VIBES WITH THE HORNS AND GREEN EYES! this costume kicks so much ass. sam is now mark hamills daughter, I guess.

-danny's ice powers making his eyes blue!!! thats neat. and him going for the roots underground was SO SMART. i will not stand for danny ever thinking hes stupid, hes SO smart.

almost done with the show... :"( thats a sad thought!!!

#sanchoyorambles #dp thoughts #danny phantom

[pilferingapples]

needsmoreresearch

there continue to be amazing clothes, thank goodness!!! and while it keeps on with the violence there's a lot less sexual violence after S1. (I really loved the show, even though I wasn't Convinced by billy's character arc.)

ok I feel it’s important to establish that, at this point, this is how I am Identifying Black Sails characters, more or less in order of appearance (spoilers for like. the first two episodes): 

Silver: weirdly pretty disaster, hilarious, absolute memeking, almost makes me forget his first act in this show was to run away and murder a cook 

Flint: Twitchy captain, got Issues, only trusts That One Guy and that Only Sorta , will definitely  beat a guy to death 

That One Guy: the round sailor dude, currently being the Only True Loyal Man on Flint’s ship. Last seen being exactly this character but in the PoTC series. Glad he’s still getting work. Not at all sure it’s the same actor but it’s the same character, would totally agree that Flint surfed out of doom riding on sea turtles, he’s like that. 

The Other Guy, The Tall One, Who Lied About the Paper After Flint Beat a Guy to Death: yeah, him. 

Max: chief offender in the category of being deprived of her cool outfits in the mistaken belief that I would rather see a Naked People. The only person on the whole island of Nassau who is actually smart so far 

Elizabeth Guthrie: I know this one because people say her name roughly 1000 times. Terrible GF. Just awful.  Dated Vayne/Vane/Vein so like. Also highly questionable life choices in general. 

Elizabeth Guthrie’s...Lieutenant? Assistant? Minder? Him. Looks like his face got clawed sometime. 

Elizabeth Guthrie’s dad:  has been bleeding out in a boat for like two episodes?? 

Vane/maybe Vain? Vayne? Vein? ...Vaeyne?? anyway:  continuing the trend of bein’ real ready to kill people , dated Guthrie (jr) (maybe also Sr this is a real Everyone is Bi/Pan show I think) 

Anne Bonny:  She has a hat! 

Not Yet Calico Jack: Truly Unfortunate Facial Hair Choices 

That woman playing  a PIanoforte Or Something At the end of the Second Episode: I’m sure she’ll matter more so I’m paying attention

Lots of dead people:  Seemingly Disproportionately Black So Far?  but also like. Just So Many Dead People In General, I Could Be Wrong , some of them seemed to be getting complicated stories but Now They Are All Dead So I Guess Not, Unless This is a ZOMBIE Pirates Show and No One Told Me 

In General a Whole Bunch of Sailors With Bad Impulse Control

The “Tits, Tits! Fruit, fruit!” Guy

A CAT WHERE DID THE CAT GO 

that’s all I know so far! which is to say, I don’t know who Billy is? 

#that one pirate show #amazingly not les mis

[anamatics]

so i’ve been watching rwby

and as I’ve been doing so I’ve been posting reactions to my friends. After S5, S6, and S7, in particular, I had a lot of thoughts and opinions. More under the cut. I’m going to write fic aren’t i?

Season 5:

1. Where is the first/autumn relic?! Like, we've established that Ozpin hid it well, yet for some reason it doesn't feel like that's the whole story - given where the relic was hidden this time, in some sort of n dimentional desert (where, if you looked closely you could see similar ##chemtrails - could people just walk through that desert to get to all of them? 2. I find it hilarious that Weiss just got out of Atlas only to go back, I'm very curious as to what sort of ~~damage this reveals about her in the coming seasons, but I'm also very intrigued by how reintroducing her to her father with the rest of team RWBY will shift/alter the narrative of powerlessness that he seems t be pushing toward her. I'm esp. intrigued as to what his reaction will be to Blake (as he seems very anti-faunus). 3. WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR THE #YANGST. 4. The show has been pretty constantly showing us that most of Ruby and Yang's family seems like chill folks, but the ##absentmother trope is strong here. Given that it seems like only Blake has a mom, does Blake's mom adopt everyone? 5. Blake having a fairly functional nuclear family is fascinating to me, because it makes a lot of her choices seem way more political (at a very young age) as opposed to just a kid who got in over her head with a boy who was a bit older. I'd love to know more about this. 6. as a multishipper, I hurt all over.

xx

Season 6:

Item the FIRST: Weiss barely making it out of Atlas only to be dragged, albeit somewhat willingly back to the source of all of her ~ trauma & family drama ~ I am curious to see how this plays out and generally hope that Weiss somehow stabs her shitty dad and Draco Malfoy rip off brother while being reunited with her 100% Cooler Than U sister. Also that Cooler Than U sister works on the unresolved sexual tension she CLEARLY had with Qrow.

Item the SECOND: The show's thoughtful handling of Qrow's alcoholism and Ruby's gentle efforts to push toward sobriety without like being annoyingly moralistic about it. It could have been handled so differently and I really, really enjoyed that it was handled in the way it was.

Item the THIRD: Weiss' new red scarf. adsfajshfaksdjfhthatsgayweissaksdfhaksdjfh

Item the FOURTH: The various Poor Life Choices Salem made during our brief sojourn to the Department of Backstory. Also Jinn is amazing let's keep her around. She can join Jaune, Ren and Nora as a 4th member of their team and just hilariously be naked all the time. 10/10 would watch for hijinks adventures.

Item the FIFTH:  Ozpin sulking that he got all his relationship drama put on main like that

Item the SIXTH: Jaune's gay sister and sister-in-law and their baby and and and and (idk I just loved this).

Item the SEVENTH: BLAKE AND YANG HELD HANDS AND MURDERED THEIR TRAUMA TOGETHER PRAISE JESUS AND CAN I GET A HALLELUJAH? NOW KISS.

Item the EIGHTH: My multishipper ass saw that moment between Weiss and Yang when they were stuck in the basement and I'd just like to say I would be happy to see that too.

xx

Season 7:  Item the First: Weiss has a mother. Which we all logically knew she did but that scene with her in Jacques' office was just... a lot. Also raised some very interesting questions. When will Weiss and Ruby bond over alcoholic parental figures, I ask you. On this front, I am also now supremely, supremely curious about Winter's relationship with her mother. 

Item the Second: Leftist Weiss. Well we all knew that Weiss wouldn't have voted for her dad anyway, but I think the tension between Weiss's clear orientation toward helping people and government for good and her father/sister's appealing to/embodying other forms of authority (corporate/military). This also raises an interesting point of contention between Weiss and Winter, as Winter's sort of this embodiment of what I'd maybe call a conscientious soldier – where she’s clearly in possession of independent thoughts and opinions, yet also seems to want to appeal to a higher authority whenever she feels conflicted (e.g. “Ironwood is making the hard decisions so we don’t have to.”). This actually draws a very stark line between Winter and Weiss – as Weiss has always been a freer thinker, who can and does think for herself and operate from her own moral compass. The moment at the end of the season between Weiss and Winter was just so delicious as I hope (HOPE HOPE) that they’re setting up for a ~~moment of clarity~ for Winter where she has to make a decision on her own that defies orders in some way for the greater good that Weiss can see so easily. (Also, please, my good gay sisters: Hug. It. Out.)

Item the Third: Leftist Bees (well really, leftist Yang, Blake was always a revolutionary). I absolutely loved the Everyone Is Lying moments in this season, and I do hate that the Bees were the ones caught out in it first. Black and Yang telling Robyn the truth also struck me as something that the pair of them would do anyway – the only other character I could see possibly slipping and letting info get to Robyn is Weiss, but I also got the sense that Weiss understood the politics of the situation better than anyone else and because of this was playing it pretty close to the vest. The Bee’s decision really jives with their partnership. As did getting to watch them fight together so much this season, they’re evolving together, and seeing them fight in tandem is a delight.

Item the Fourth: Splitting whiterose. I like Penny. I actually love Penny. I love Penny and Roby’s dynamic. And their friendship. And how ridiculous they are. But it really struck me that how the whiterose partnership kept on getting split until the final fight against the Spice Force Five. I’m sure there’s a reason for this but I don’t like it and I won’t hear it or respond to it.

Item the Fifth: The Not Spice Girls/Spice Force Five. Love these idiots, but they’re all cops. Marrow is the most delightful of them and seems like he’s about to go on a journey similar to Winter, Harriet sucks a lot, Clover was a delightful almost rip but also mmmwhatchusay. I sort of hated the juxtaposition between team RWBY and them, with the ‘just following orders’ mentality and the lack of friendship/cohesion between these guys. I guess now Winter can join them and they so they can have their Posh Spice.

Item the Sixth: Schneewood Forest. I feel like I could write a whole elaborate backstory with these two. There’s something there – the unstoppable force meets immovable object of it, plus the idea of someone who challenges Winter’s entire belief structure just by being an okay person ~with a merry band of queers~. I feel a lot of things. I want to explore this. Stop me I am in a PhD program. 

Item the Seventh: The Tinman’s Heart. Having read all of the Wizard of Oz books, as well as the Wicked series, I actually appreciate that this series is taking nods from both sources for these characters. James’s decisions are … not great but I can see his logic – well right up until the part where he shoots poor Oscar. That was just rude. Also I do love watching him fight because he’s so very, very good.

Item the Seventh: Bisexual Bobs. How very Bi of you Blake. And how useless lesbian of Yang to be all flustered about it. Please kiss.

#it's fucking obvious that Weiss is my favorite character isn't it

[chaosbycari]

Julie and The Phantoms

So I watched this show the day it came out, I didn’t have any prior knowledge to it at all. When I had opened Netflix it was the show on the main screen, the trailer played. I thought “Eh it looks good, I’ll give it a try.” And I’m glad I did. That show was a masterpiece. 

Spoilers Ahead

Every character has great development at the beginning.Not only Julie but we get an understanding of Carlos,Ray,Flynn,etc.

The way they died is hilarious to me. Albeit there are theories that Bobby poisoned them, I don’t think he would do that.

Rose! Is she Julie’s mom? 

The posters behind the boys when they eat the hot dogs; An unfinished business flyer and a missing persons flyer with Luke’s face on it.

Flynn! She is such an amazing best friend! She was honestly Julie’s rock throughout the loss of her mom.

Luke! His character development throughout the season was great.Unsaid Emily is such a great song and I had to pause cause I was crying so much.

Reggie! He is so cute, he just wants to be friends with Ray and prove to Julie’s Tia ghosts are real so that adults will listen to kids for once. Also Bi Reggie

Alex! I love that it’s already established he’s gay. He didn’t have a coming out scene. His friends accept him 100%and tease him about Willie,his new crush. 

Nick! I thought I wouldn’t like him because he was Carrie’s boyf but I did. He was a genuinely good guy. A sweetheart, as Julie put it. I like that Julie didn’t need to change for him to notice her, he already noticed her before everything.

Carrie! She felt like a stereotypical popular girl at first, but when I though about it I get her perspective. Sure she had no right to be that mean to Julie but her though process was kinda ok. She worked hard for what she got,albeit her father may have helped her along the way. Julie didn’t do anything for 1 year yet she was still allowed to stay in the music program, to Carrie this was unfair, and maybe it was, but Julie’s mom dies. I think she was a great human villain for this show tbh.  

Julie’s family! They were so supporting to Julie and her passions. Ray was willing to see his house so she’d be happy. He was willing to send her to Australia if it meant she could have music in her life. Carlos was such a cute little brother, his ghost hunting brought a smile to my face. Tia Victoria just wants whats best for them, she has good intentions. She wants Ray to be able to punish Julie, because I’m assuming that’s what her mom did.

Willie! I love Booboo Stewart so much and Willie was such a great character. I could feel his pain through the screen when he saw the boys after they got stamped, especially Alex.He was a cute skater boy with amazing hair.

I was a little disappointed that there was no kiss scene but I like that there wasn’t any at all. There was just long hugs, they didn’t have the straight couple kiss and just give the gay couple a hug. 

#julie and the phantoms #julie and luke #alex and willie #reggie is bi #flynn deserves the world #carlos is so pure #nick is so sweet #this show is so good

[queermediastudies]

Little Effort for LGBTQ Representation in a “Maximum Effort” Superhero Movie

In comic books, one of my favorite characters is and has always been Deadpool. He is “popularly known to be pansexual and isn't particularly choosy about the gender of his partner, much like he has no particular affinity to anything. While this wasn't reflected in the 2016 film starring Ryan Reynolds, both Reynolds and director Tim Miller have hinted that this might come up in the sequel” (Vijaykumar, 2016). After watching it, I feel that the movie succeeds on some marks for giving out adequate LGBTQ representation, but not for the character one might expect. The movie Deadpool 2centers around Wade Wilson’s “one or two moments” that make him an (anti)hero. After losing his love Vanessa from the first movie, Wade finds himself attempting to create the X-Force in order to protect Russell, a mutant teenager from Cable, an experienced and genetically enhanced time-traveling soldier on a quest for revenge. Most of the movie focuses on the drama that ensues after Deadpool’s vain attempt to die is foiled by his own mutant abilities, his grudging acceptance of life and a sense of responsibility for Russell only to then (spoiler alert!) die. Except he doesn’t. Yet, in all of the CGI fights and snarky comments and constant breaking of the fourth wall, the movie does actually manage to discuss some elements of LGBTQ identities and representation. There are two main topics surrounding LGBTQ issues that the movie Deadpool 2 focuses on: the alleged hypersexuality of bi/pansexual people and alternatively, the de-sexualization of queer couples already in a relationship. Deadpool’s‘R’ rating and the characters’ own desire to “Fuck Wolverine” by getting better ratings in the second film took away from the potential of better, full-fledged LGBTQ representation stemming from the titular character, however, the film manages to cover up some of its pitfalls by succeeding in portraying a healthy lesbian relationship between one of the already established characters in the franchise and threading subtleties that condemn conversion therapy and argue for acceptance of others.

           At the start of the film, Deadpool makes a valiant, but luckily, unsuccessful attempt at suicide with the first two words being “Fuck Wolverine.” This merges directly into his habit of breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience and promising that he’ll be dying in this film too. Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds then goes on to explain what led up to this moment which can be quickly summed up as the love of his life, Vanessa, was killed and he feels responsible for her death. The fact that Deadpool only begins to show more signs of a queer sexuality after Vanessa (his love from the entire first movie dies) indicates that being queer means exhausting every other opportunity of expressing yourself. Without the director and actor Ryan Reynolds discussing it in interviews, the average viewer would have been largely unaware of Deadpool’s canon queer identity in the comics. GLAAD actually gave the first movie some flack for its “veiled references” to Deadpool’s sexuality, however, the second film does not seem to take the subject much further (Romano, 2018). It is easy to view Deadpool’s flirtatious manner with Colossus as simply a moment of weakness and used as a joke, rather than an affirmation of his queer identity and sexuality.

           The other, more direct aspect of LGBTQ identity that is given in the movie is between Negasonic Teenage Warhead and her girlfriend, Yukio. The following scene occurs just prior to Deadpool’s confrontation with Colossus.

           “The power-couple proves groundbreaking, proving to be the first truly open, explicitly LGBT couple in superhero cinema” (Armstrong, n.d.). Despite this being the first out relationship in a Hollywood movie, the moment isn’t treated like a groundbreaking moment. In some ways, this could be seen as negative, because it isn’t treated like a big deal, but Armstrong argues that it could also be a way of trying to prevent alienating viewers by “mak[ing] any LGBT representation too visible [then] make certain audiences uncomfortable” (n.d.).

           In the article from Scott, Darieck & Fawaz, the authors explore queerness using the X-Men as an example (2018). The queerness in X-Men characters is even more pronounced for certain individuals, such as Iceman who are actually labeled as gay/bi/pansexual, alongside of Deadpool. There is a scene in the second X-Men movie in which Iceman “comes out” to his parents, except rather than dealing with sexuality, it is about his mutant status (Puchko, 2018).

           Exchange the word “gifted/mutant” for “gay” in the previous clip, and the movie would have passed for solid LGBTQ representation. This movie was filmed before “the character Iceman realizes that he has been in the closet after his younger self confronts his older self in Uncanny X-Men (in a messy time-travelling episode)” (Vijaykumar, 2016), but the franchise as a whole still works to entice LGBTQ viewers for the marginalization that mutants feel in society that mirrors the lack of acceptance for LGBTQ individuals. Going back to the film, although Deadpool 2fails at giving enough exposure and time to focus on Deadpool’s pansexuality, it still adopts many of the themes from previous X-Men movies that argue for acceptance alongside of Negasonic’s relationship with Yukio. The movie provides its own anxious teen serving as a symbol for queer youth and their fight against with bigoted condemnation through flame-throwing Russell Collins” (Puchko, 2018). Russell, or “Firefist” lashes out in violence because of the torture suffered at the hands of Essex House’s mutant-hating headmaster whose techniques are similar to real-life “pray away the gay” conversion therapy (2018). Given that Russell is seen purely as a victim, regardless of the violence he instigated and the reckless choices he made that led to Cable searching for revenge against him in the first place show how damaging the lack of acceptance is for people in marginalized communities. Russell was persecuted because of his mutant status, and despite the film not exploring the canon texts of queer visibility in the comics in any nuanced way, it still provides some representation what is still a hilarious movie.

           I only just recalled the Celine Dion music video that came out before the movie that Deadpool did a music video to and is the song for the very Bond-esque opening credits for this movie. Check it below, both the music video and the opening credits.

Music video: 

Opening credits to Deadpool 2: 

Given that I’ve read the Deadpoolcomics, I saw the moments where Wade is flirting with Colossus as an affirmation of his sexuality in the most “Deadpool way,” that is, ridden with crude humor and sexual overtones. However, it is understandable to me where audiences would downplay those moments because the movie does not return to them or make them “a big deal,” when it needs to be in order to provide a critical and engaged LGBTQ character. Additionally, Deadpool’s character is very much an anti-hero. Although we see him have a couple heroic moments in this movie, he is still a mercenary who has a murder tally in the hundreds for the movies and thousands in comic books, which doesn’t bode well for overall positive LGBTQ representation. Also, given that the network Fox was subsequently bought out by Disney just prior to this movie’s release makes me concerned for the future of Deadpool and the X-Force as a whole because of Disney’s now long-running trick of the presenting their “first” LGBTQ character appearing in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene in recent movies (Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Onward). Personally, I identify as pansexual, so seeing a superhero movie where it was at least alluded to more directly, alongside an explicit lesbian couple appearing on-screen simply gives me great joy although I definitely want to see Hollywood go further in how it portrays queer characters. My biggest issue with the movie was actually that the character Yukio has already been portrayed in X-Men films and is actually at one point, dating Wolverine. Therefore, her relationship with Negasonic does not make any sense if one follows the movies and comics very closely, however, it is a sin I was willing to forgive because other than Yukio’s rather small presence in other movies, she shines in Deadpool 2.

References:

Armstrong, B. (n.d.). Deadpool 2 is Groundbreaking, But Still Lukewarm LGBT Representation. Retrieved October 2020, from Metzia.com <https://metiza.com/culture/lifestyle/deadpool-2-is-groundbreaking-but-still-lukewarm-lgbt-representation/>

Puchko, K. (2018). ‘Deadpool 2’ is the gayest superhero movie yet. That’s not saying much. Retrieved October 2020, from Mashable. <https://mashable.com/2018/05/20/deadpool-2-queer-representation/>

Romano, N. (2018). What Deadpool 2 gets right and wrong about Hollywood’s first LGBTQ Marvel heroes. Retrieved October 2020, fro, Entertainment Weekly. <https://ew.com/movies/2018/05/18/deadpool-2-lgbtq-superheroes/>

Scott, Darieck & Fawaz, R. (2018). “Queer About Comics.” American Literature 90(2), 197-219.

Vijaykumar, N. (2016). Wonder Woman and other LGBT characters in comics universe. Retrieved October 2020, from The Week. <https://www.theweek.in/webworld/features/society/lgbt-comic-characters-wonder-woman-deadpool.html>

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#queer media studies #deadpool #deadpool 2 #comics and zines #lgbtq representation #lgbtq relationships #wade wilson #ryan reynolds #pansexuality #xforce #xmen #hollywood films

[buddiewho]

911 S4 Ep 1

I have been mulling over 911 season 4 episode 1. It's obviously a great exposition episode to explain and reiterate peoples' experiences during the pandemic. It's just...

I am not sure I actually know where the stories are headed. There's the speculation from us clowns that Buck's "covid crush" is actually a therapist. There's speculation that "the secret" is that Buck is adopted. Either way, I'm still clowning for bisexual Evan Buckley; but I did read a disappointing post, where someone thinks that the network/creators made Buck 100% straight. And like they also said "I won't love the character any less", however, it's hard because...

My brain cannot compute that at all. Though, there is always something on my mind when it comes to Evan Buckley. Why'd he go from "I hate you" to "ride or die" with Eddie Diaz and his son? Why'd he latch on so hard as if he never had a close friend in his almost 30 years of life? Also, why can't those intense feelings turn into something more? I've also wondered why the writers/producers can't take a character in a certain direction, because they saw something the actor did [*coughs* the kitchen scene] and thought, wait a minute? Let's run with that. Yes, I do know that TPTB (the powers that be aka the network) can throw a wrench into the plans...

To me it feels extremely easy, but I suppose it's like moving mountains when you have writers/producers/networks telling you, no you can't do that. No, he's not bisexual. We can't take it that direction. We've established since the Pilot that he was a 100% heterosexual sex-addict who finally learns his lesson after almost being fired from his job. There's no room for interpretation or questioning sexuality in this scenario. He was sleeping recklessly with women, he had a few girlfriends, they didn't pan out, but that's that, he's straight and he's ready to committ. Abandoment issue Buck ready to committ? Thought he could be a Navy Seal Buck ready to committ? Ran away to South America (probably had the time of his life being freely bisexual), but then decided he had to go to LA (after he fell into firefighting) and 'put on a face' is ready to committ? The only thing he ever committed to was/is firefighting and a certain firefighter and his son. He went out of his way to find Eddie the resources he needed to take care of Christopher. Remember out of all the firefighters in the 118, BUCK is the one that Eddie trusts with his son.

Plus, you cannot tell me that it isn't a big smack in that face that they've decided to send Hen, Buck and Eddie to the 126 in the Lonestar crossover episode. Sure, this guy Buck who is like TK is totally 100% hetero so we have to parallel him to that gay character in the other show. We must also send our lesbian from the one show to meet the other gay(s)? I've found it very interesting the juxapostion of Hen and Eddie too, which comes mostly from a parenting level, but honestly I'm hella interested in the decision to parallel Buck and TK and then they expect it not make me go hmmm? about Buck.

Okay, some people might counter with, "Can't gay men and straight men have the same experiences?" There's a fine line, if you ask me, because there are things a gay/bi man has experienced that a straight man has not due to their sexual orientation. Therefore, Buck being 100% heterosexual seems weird to comprehend and if he doesn't get to see TK doting on his sexy boyfriend to make him go hmmm...and think about why he's 'put on a face', then what is the point? Clowning theory? Guessing that TK is a few years younger than Buck, but they could've previously met? That'd be hilarious if it was a sort of drunken thing in South America, like oh, "He was my gay thing." Oh, sorry, wrong show. I'm quoting that show that went on 15 years and still kept the bisexual in the closet. Anyway, I'm clowning on a theory that TK and Buck already know each other.

*Also, let's not pander out the excuse that "making" Evan Buckley or any other character bisexual would be too "jarring" or "threatening" to a general audience.

#just give me bisexual Evan Buckley pls #evan buckley #911 fox #911 show

[simuran]

Varya, baby, it's valentine's day so you should have seen this coming: say good and positive things about your favourite ships 💖🌹

Ooooh, that’s an interesting one! Let’s gooo!!!

HarlIvy - the absolute perfection of friends-to-lovers genre, plus the whole let’s-burn-the-world-together-(or-at-least-the-parts-we-don’t-like) schtick is amazing. Fanfics where Ivy helps Harley to beat the Joker black and blue make me soft 😌 Kudo for being canon!

MCU:

Frostiron - usually has the best Loki hurt/comfort there is. The jokes are endless. Also love it when they create something scientific+witchy together. The height difference makes for hilarious fanart sometimes. Generally speaking, frostiron fandom provides me with happy Loki the way no one else does, bless them for it. I also enjoy the headcanon that Loki was Tony’s bi awakening, because it’s fucking hilarious

Frostshield - mhm, the slow burn of learning to trust each other... Nice

Thorki - Very Hot. So much passion, this fandom has The Best PWPs

Though basically any mlm ship that comforts Loki will do (because I firmly headcanon MCU!Loki as gay, it’s a long story why).

Natasha/Sharon - basically lives in my head only, if there is a fandom, I wasn’t able to find it. But Natasha learning to form relationships with a woman she won’t be made to kill... Sharon not fully trusting her at first but being able to see past her crimes and reputation... Yes 😌 (Also Sharon telling Peggy about this annoyingly hot Black Widow, and Peggy DYING internally, because wow, some things are sure genetic. Like, for example, the weakness for these shady spy ladies sksksks)

Natasha/Yelena Belova (from comics) - the tension! the jealousy! the resent! the hatred! the sympathy! the understanding the way no one else could! the shared trauma! the growth! the affection! Queens <3 Who does it like them <3 <3 <3

Natasha/Nakia - again, haven’t seen much of a fandom, but the potential of jaded, bitter, and cagey postCivilWar!Natasha vs hopeful yet not naive and very loving Nakia is enormous. I just wanna read a slow burn of them on a long spy mission having philosophical debates about Truth, and Lies, and Purpose, and The Nature Of Humanity. I’d read it even if it’s gen!

We need More Natasha in femslash, is what I’m saying, and not just Natasha/Pepper as a background for stony (even though it is lovely)

Yennefer/Geralt (The Witcher) - because Yen Deserves Nice Things. I wasn’t awfully interested in Geralt for most of the show (they really should've introduced the tragic backstory earlier, it kinda hooked me), but he made her smile so sweetly 💜💜💜 Also can’t believe that I’ve finally fallen hard for a m/f ship that’s supposed to be the endgame sksks

Nomi/Amanita (Sense8) - as my tag for them states, The Relationship Goals. The way they support each other unconditionally and make each other so happy is extremely heart-warming. Kudo to writers who knew how to write an established couple entertainingly without breaking them up.

Parker/Hardison/Eliot (Leverage) - what’s to say what hasn’t been said before? Found Family soulmates, who Are Gay and Do Crime together

The Old Guard:

Andy/Nile - Very Hot. I haven’t yet found any PWPs, and I am Disappointed

Andy/Noriko (from the comic) - I’m probably gonna write a bit more about them later in a post with highlights from the second mini-series, but I’m just 💔💔💔 they 💔💔💔

Andy/Quynh - the dungeon scene just broke me, okay, it broke me.

Andy/Achilles (her late boyfriend from the comic) - he 😖 made her want to live again 😖 but then 😖😖😖 she had to leave him 😭😭😭 10/10 heartbreak, would recommend

(I love suffering in The Old Guard fandom, okay)

Phew, done! I thought about including my fave platonic ships, but this has gotten way too long already 😂

Thank you so much for the ask, Giada, I had enormous fun! I love talking about fandom things that make me happy, it seems 😄

#Posts by me #Giada speaks #ask #Why does Tumblr delete my additional paragraph breaks #They are there for a reason you hellsite #They are there to make this wall of text readable