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heartstopperthoughts · 3 months

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The Heartstopper teachers mean everything to me.

#the representation for older queer people #makes me cry #heartstopper #heartstopper teachers #nathan ajayi #youssef farouk #mr ajayi #mr farouk #coach singh

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eliounora · 9 months

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red white and royal blue was so cheesy and predictable I enjoyed it thoroughly. making banal queer romantic comedies is hard but necessary work

#sooner or later we'll start getting them with lesbians too *shakes fist in determination* imagine #nor's rambles #ALTHOUGH it would be refreshing to get a film that does not hit all these romantic comedy beats #or that would be a romantic comedy but actually good. like palm springs but gay. the big sick but gay #WHEN HARRY MET SALLY BUT GAY although that really hits the beats ahgvadhbfds #also personally i like queer stories that don't give much attention to labels and such. i think those are really important too #it's one of the reasons i'm not the biggest fan of hearstop*per (censoring so it doesn't go into the tag to ruin people's fun)#because i feel like it's just taking all the letters from the LGBTQIA and assigning each character with a letter #which is not wrong in any way and once again i am older than the intended audience it's not For Me #but i am often left craving something sort of... less defining. more free. more just being what you are and doing what you do #kind of like.. something done for the sake of the story and the art instead of just representation for the sake of representation???#that is important too!! but kinda craving stuff for us who don't really like labels as well???

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dingustripas · 1 year

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Someone reblogged my post about old gays basically saying they wanted to see old lesbians. I agree with this, we need more lesbian representation so here’s an itemized list of some movies/shows with cannon lesbian couples. That being said, the reason there is a lack of lesbian representation in media is because women’s bodies are constantly sexualized. Lesbianism is constantly sexualized and fetishized in films and in society.

Heartstopper

Willow

She-Ra and The Princess of Power (Netflix series)

Killing Eve

First Kill

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

DC Legends of Tomorrow

How to get Away with Murder

Warrior Nun

Gentleman Jack

Ratched

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Jessica Jones

Ammonite

Harley Quinn (HBO Animated series)

The Walking Dead

One Day at a Time

Two of Us

Lovecraft country

The Fosters

Wentworth

Bound (1996)

Chucky

NOPE (I'm aware there isn't a lesbian couple but the sister, Emerald Haywood, is a black lesbian which is fucking rare for media to represent. So the movie is going on the list, sue me)

Thelma

Carol

Tell it to the Bees

Wynonna Earp

The Owl House

Black Lighting

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starrytalking · 9 months

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Recently I was at a meet-up-thing for a-spec people and one of the older ones who organise these meet-ups said in the course of a conversation “well I’m ace and whatever sort of attraction I might feel every time a full moon aligns with the bloom of a special flower won’t shake my understanding of myself, I’m secure enough in who I am to not let that shatter my picture of myself” (that was a very loose quote but I think u get what she meant). And I just found it so funny cause she said it like it was a ridiculous thought to herself, that something small like that could impact herself so much because she’s obviously very at piece and secure with and in her asexuality and while I’m also quite sure of myself in that regard nowadays, there was a long period of time where a random maybe-attraction could definitely make myself question my whole sexuality all over again so that ridiculous thought was and in parts still is a reality to me. And I think this really beautifully shows how self-discovery is a process that we’re all taking at our own pace but that can “end” at some point where we can still be open to new feelings and realisations but where we can have found a way to self-identify that makes us be secure in who we are and where the path of self-discovery is less a daily shattering of our perception of ourselves and more a stable ground we can be free to make new experiences on.

#starrytalking #just to be clear she obviously spoke about her own experiences and I’m pretty sure she didn’t mean to invalidate anyone who would be really #unsettled after experiencing something that makes them going into questioning all over again #also that wasn’t the main topic of that conversation it just briefly came up #and I found it funny in what different stages of questioning and self-identification we are #so it was funny but also cool to see how open she is about her asexuality and how safe she feels in it #like the older people at this meet up honestly make me so emotional because I’m not even out to most people I know and these people are out #there living their lives and being openly ace and organising meet-ups and holding speeches and being in YouTube videos #it’s honestly so so cool to see that!!! and that’s exactly why representation matters! because it makes me believe that asexuality is real #and that my feelings are normal and valid which is super helpful at times where my head tries to tell me that it’s all just on the internet #which isn’t true but it kinda feels like it but with these meet-ups and friends of mine also being aspec and storylines like Isaacs in #Heartstopper I can feel more secure of that :)))#asexual #ace #aroace #aspec #lgbtq+#queer #thoughts #representation matters #self discovery

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dangerliesbeforeyou · 1 year

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been thinking about this a lot cos i see a lot of Disk Horse about it, but there's like 2 opposing popular views when it comes to queer representation in media.

the first is that current queer media trends are overly sanitised. they say that these queer stories are devoid of any real sense of queer experiences, that they exclude portrayals of sex and attraction in favour of 'uwu'ification (a term that i just made up but go with it lol) homophobia/transphobia in these kinds of stories is either a non-issue or defined by just a few bad eggs, rather than a systemic issue. the reason for this kind of media is that a more sanitised version of queerness is more palatable to a non-queer audience and, more importantly, to advertisers! so the same way we're seeing sites like youtube and tiktok censoring so-called 'adult' topics like 's3x' or 'unalive' so that companies feel comfortable about putting their ads on the videos, queer characters need to be brightly coloured bubblegum and unproblematic versions of queerness to appeal to that same kinda thing... i often see these people talk about how they want more 'fucked up' queer representation, queer characters and stories that are 'problematic' or 'evil' to counteract the sanitised disney-fied stories that they say dominate the queer representation market atm...

the other viewpoint is one that says current queer media is actually overly sexualised, with too much of a focus on explicit scenes as well as drug/alcohol abuse being the norm in media that has young people as its target audience. this is often the same crowd that complain about sex scenes in media, not just queer ones, saying they're unnecessary and uncomfortable to watch. and when a queer media comes out that doesn't focus on sex (and drugs/alcohol/etc), they praise it for being more 'wholesome' than other media. this is often the media that the first group see as sanitised btw... they are often first in criticising queer characters and ships as perpetuating harmful stereotypes or being 'problematic' in their eyes, claiming that the villainisation of queer characters leads to villainisation of real queer people...

the first group calls the 2nd group puritanical in their views, the 2nd group calls the first perverted in theirs. so... who's right?

well... i think both groups have incredibly valid critiques of current queer media. but at the same time, both are wrong in how they want to solve these issues.

current queer media, particularly stuff within the mainstream, is a lot more sanitised. companies like disney only use queer characters in order to help with marketing, whilst at the same time actively funding incredibly homophobic legalisation (for e.g. the don't say gay bill) and also blocking or under-promoting stories that feature queer characters or stories (for e.g. that film strange worlds(?) that came out last year). but to say this is representative of all queer media is massively disingenuous imo! not only are their very prominent and popular mainstream series and films that feature 'fucked up' queer characters and stories, but you just have to look beyond hollywood at foreign or indie cinema to see some super interesting and strange queer media being told by queer creators!

i always say, but if you're looking for interesting or nuanced queer stories in blockbuster superhero movies then i think mayyyybe you're looking in the wrong place lol...

as for the 2nd view, i actually tend to agree that a lot of queer media (both new and old) is overly focused on sex and substance abuse. growing up, i didn't have series like heartstopper that portrays a much more 'innocent' version of young queer people, most of what i saw was stuff that was either made for older audiences or featured more 'adult' themes (and i know that this was mainly because back along media featuring queer characters at all was immediately deemed as inherently 'adult' anyway). and like, i personally didn't mind, though i would have longed for a film like the half of it! i also think something within this discussion that gets lost is the fact there's so little media that centres ace or aro stories! there's often the odd mention of ace/aro characters within larger narratives, but not as much in terms of them being the main characters!

despite this, i'd again say that trying to claim that the only stories being released are hyper sexual ones is plain wrong lol i've literally mentioned 2 things in this post that are more 'wholesome' with less focus on sex and still focus on young queer people! there's also a significant increase in queer media made for kids as well as in cartoons/animated films! there is so much more 'family friendly' queer content out there now than ever, which i'm so happy about! and the existence of this kind of media doesn't erase the more adult media that also exists currently!

i think, ultimately, people need to take a step back and realise that we live in a sorta golden age of queer representation. it's not perfect by any means, and a part of that is that we need an increase of queer people both in front and behind the camera, particularly queer people of colour (since a major critique that i don't see nearly enough is the lack of queer media with non-white people people!)

i also would say that as important as queer representation in media is, i don't think it can be presented as a form of activism. because the fact of the matter is that queer characters and stories have been in both mainstream and indie cinema for a longggg time, and despite the fact we are more visible in the things we consume, there has been a massive increase in anti-queer sentiment within the whole world in the last few years alone! anti-trans views and legalisation, as well as a notable increase of violent hate crimes, are just amongst a whole lot of queerphobia existing in the world at the moment that is not going to be magically fixed by queer media or representation!

tl/dr (or in conclusion...): there is a whole bunch of queer media that's being released all across the world every day, many of which is being written by or featuring queer people! there's a long way to go with queer rep, of course, (especially with less represented communities like ace/aro or trans/nb people!) but the claims that it's either overly sanitised or overly sexual are just plain wrong in my opinion, particularly if people are willing to watch things other than hollywood blockbusters or the latest netflix series' lol! it's also important to remember that queer media and representation isn't going to fix our queerphobic world, and the over emphasis on the harm and/or benefit of queer media is missing the forest for the trees lol...

#ive definitely already talked about this before in tags and what not but i wanted to make a proper and complete post talking about it #rant #queer representation #queer #hopefully this makes sense lol???#i just see both of these views being talked about online and it frustrates me cos like ...#you're both right but also so so SO wrong lol #my other advice that i didnt feel fitted with this is: watch stuff from prior to 2010 lol #there's so much older queer media that is genuinely so good and a lot of queer people aren't watching it #because they're just sitting around waiting for new stuff lol...#also if you want me to give you recommendations of older queer stuff just message me!

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girlinlavender · 2 months

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reminder that young, white, allosexual, alloromantic, cisgender queer people are not the only queer people and should not be the only queer representation ever. PLEASE, more black trans women, older people just discovering they’re asexual, genderqueer indigenous people, aromantic nonbinary teenagers, cute interracial lesbian couples, intersex people, etc, in media. The queer community is messy and beautiful and multifaceted and complex and colorful, and representing only the most “easily digestible” aspects of it does NOT make you a good ally or a good person. It makes you a fucking dick.

#queer #lesbian #bisexual #transgender #genderqueer #intersex #asexual #aromantic #pansexual #gay #nonbinary #queer discourse #queer representation

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renthony · 14 days

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A significant amount of my opinions about modern queer television are influenced by researching older queer media.

I see a lot of the same vitriol in modern queer fandom discourse that has been playing out in queer spaces since film and television were invented. Shows in the 70s started making steps toward sensitivity consulting in queer media, even as the networks fought them on it. Imperfect but earnest queer representation was met with aggressive protests by homophobes and queer people who thought it wasn't good enough. The argument over good representation vs no representation has been happening for decades and decades.

You spend enough time immersed in old queer media and you really start to vibe with Harvey Fierstein's words in The Celluloid Closet documentary. Or at least, I do.

youtube

Harvey Fierstein: "I liked the sissy. Is it used in negative ways? Yeah, but, my view has always been visibility at any cost."

The way I see it, the way to genuine, loving queer representation that showcases a vast array of experiences is to stop demanding perfection. The fewer queer stories that are allowed to exist, the more of the heavy lifting those stories have to do in the representation department.

When we have numerous queer stories, it's suddenly much less important to argue over whether the queer characters in question are "good" or "positive." They can just be queer characters who exist in the same infinite variety as straight characters. They can be messy, they can be flawed, they can be honest portrayals of the complexity of human existence.

Queer representation will never be perfect, and striving for perfection is how we shoot ourselves in the foot.

Some starter reading for those interested:

Alternate Channels: Queer Images on 20th-Century TV (revised edition) - Steven Capsuto

Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture - Matt Baume

The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies - Vito Russo

#original post #Youtube

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neil-gaiman · 10 months

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hey mr gaiman. i saw that this post got revisited and wanted to address it.

i submitted this ask over a year ago on my old account and it was one of the stupidest things i ever did. it was my first tumblr account. id only been really online for a few weeks. i was 13. i was just coming back to school after a global pandemic.

ive been a fan of good omens for years and a fan of yours for longer. i was brought up reading odd and the frost giants and fortunately the milk, and as i got older i fell in love with your norse mythology book, good omens, snow glass apples, the sleeper and the spindle, and more.

i was excited to see one of my favorite authors on tumblr and tried to come up with the most bold and interesting ask i could think of.

i was rude and misinformed and it was a stupid choice of me to send it in with no thought.

but i got feedback. some in the form of kind suggestions. quite a few in the form of death threats and people telling me to kill myself.

while those specific messages were rude and hateful, the point got across. i educated myself to the best of my abilities, and eventually came back online.

not only did i misuse the term queerbaiting but i also implied that you were not an amazing supporter of the queer community. that’s absolutely incorrect. you’ve done so much for us with activism, representation, and overall kindness.

i wanted to address this ask that got so much attention because despite moving accounts i still feel guilt and shame every time i see it, or even when i interact with any of your posts at all. i need to actually address it.

also, i wanted a proper apology to be made. by no means am i now a saint. but im trying to be more thoughtful about thinking before i speak.

whether or not you decide to make a public response to this, i think ill find some peace knowing you’ve received this. ive needed closure on this for a long time.

im overjoyed and thrilled that season two is so close. thank you for tolerating the dumb questions of pretentious kids and thank you for helping to create a world where we can grow to be better than we were.

First of all, and most importantly, I'm really sorry that people were mean to you. That's awful. And nobody should ever have to deal with death threats or online threats and attacks, let alone a thirteen year old.

And secondly, you do not owe me an apology. I figure I have a Tumblr account, people ask things. Mostly they'll get nice replies, occasionally (normally when I'm being asked the same thing over and over) the replies will be terser. There has to be a certain amount of rough and tumble though, and occasionally I'll grab an ask that represents all of the asks I've had on that subject, and try and reply to all of them. That's what happened to you. I was getting tired of being accused of Queerbaiting for the occasional answer about a Season that was not yet released and about which nobody knew anything. And I needed to tell everyone who was doing this that they had to stop now. You had the misfortune to be the representative of all of the other people.

If you are not making mistakes you are not human and you are not learning anything.

(I wish there was tone of voice on the internet.)

And I think you are growing and learning and will make a fantastic adult.

I really hope you enjoy Season 2 when it drops.

#And I hope as many people are nice and supportive about this post #as were mean about that first one

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rowenablade · 6 months

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Okay. I’m going to wait to do a second watch before I articulate most of my other feelings here, but I want to address one thing.

I’m seeing a lot of posts like, “I related to Izzy because I am also queer and older/disabled/depressed. By killing him off, the writers are saying that I deserve to die.”

Guys.

I’m not saying your feelings aren’t valid. I totally understand grieving a character that you relate to. But speaking as a writer, I just want to point out that trying to write with the shadow of “what is the absolute worst and most harmful way a reader can interpret this” will smother your ability to create. Twisting yourself in knots, trying to think up the worst-faith takes possible and scotch-guarding all your writing decisions against them is exhausting to the point of making you just not want to write anymore.

And we’ve seen the writers deliberately choose not to do this in Season 1. Remember all those terrible “Izzy is racist” takes that the writers and cast seemed completely blindsided by? That happened because the writers and directors and actors weren’t going over every scene with a fine tooth comb, ferreting out every shot or line of dialogue or micro expression that could possibly be interpreted as racist, and scrubbing it off. Because there comes a point where your story is what it needs to be, and you have to accept that some people will interpret it in ways you didn’t intend them to. And if you can’t accept that, you’ll never find the courage to put your work out there.

The point of diverse casts and writing teams isn’t to achieve a state of, “Nothing bad ever happens to a character from a marginalized demographic ever again.” It’s to achieve a status quo of these types of characters just being people in the world of the story. Not symbols, not representation boxes to tick, not tokens that you can point to so that you can say, “Here, we acknowledged this type of person exists, now where’s our woke points?”

OFMD is full of characters of color, queer characters, older characters, characters of differing body types. And in stories, things happen to characters. Some fall in love. Some make the same mistakes over and over. Some turn into birds. Some die.

Izzy’s character represents a lot of things, but he does not represent every older, disabled fan or fan who has struggled with suicide, any more than Jim represents all genderqueer fans, or Olu represents all black fans. That’s not how the writers were handling him. They were handling him like a character, because that’s what you have to do.

Again, I understand being sad. I am so, so fucking sad. But this idea of, “Any time something bad happens to a character I relate to means that the writer thinks I deserve these bad things to happen to me,” will poison everything you engage with eventually. Because stories are full of things happening to characters, and they won’t all be good things. And the more representation we get, the more often bad things will happen to characters we relate to.

But good things will happen too.

Queer couples get married. Disabled women run off with their favorite husbands. Middle-aged characters change careers. A multiracial polycule finds a home at sea. A fat man covered in tattoos stars in a drag show and all his friends cheer. All these things happened in the same show as Izzy’s death. This is what this world is.

Anyway. I know emotions are running high and I’ll probably get blocked or unfollowed by a few people for this. But I’m just trying to find my peace where I can, and if anyone else finds this useful, cheers.

#our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #izzy hands

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demontobee · 8 months

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Good Omens is queering TV/storytelling - part 1: GAZE

I would argue that part of why Good Omens is so refreshingly queer is because it does not cater to the male gaze (which centers around the preferences - aesthetic, romantic, sexual, visual, logical, emotional, political ... - of mainly white men in positions of power):

no oversexualization of groups or types of people: Women or characters that could be read as female presenting are not overly sexualized. In fact, some of them are shown to be grimy, slimy and not sexual at all. All of them are real characters and not just cardboard-cutout on-screen versions of male misogynistic fantasies. They portray real people with real people problems. They are human, or exempt from our categories when portraying angels or demons. There are no overly sexualized bodies in general (as has so far also often been the case with young gay men, PoC, etc.), no fetishization of power imbalances, and not exclusively youthful depiction of love and desire.

sex or sexual behavior is not shown directly (yet): All imagery and symbolism of sex and sexuality is used not to entice the audience but is very intimately played out between characters, which makes it almost uncomfortable to watch (e.g., Aziraphale being tempted to eat meat, Crowley watching Aziraphale eat, the whole gun imagery).

flaunting heteronormativity: Throughout GO but especially GO2, there is very little depiction of heterosexual/romantic couples; most couples are very diverse and no one is making a fuss about it. There is no fetishization of bodies or identities. Just people (and angels and demons) being their beautiful selves (or trying to).

age: Even though Neil Gaiman explained that Crowley and Aziraphale are middle-aged because the actors are, I think it is also queering the idea of romance, love and desire existing mainly within youthful contexts. Male gaze has taught us that young people falling and being in love is what we have to want to see, and any depiction of love that involves people being not exactly young anymore is either part of a fetishized power imbalance (often with an older dude using his power to prey on younger folx) or presents us with marital problems, loss of desire, etc. – all with undertones of decay and patronizing sympathy. Here, however, we get a beautifully crafted, slow-burn, and somehow super realistic love story that centers around beings older than time and presenting as humans in their 50s figuring out how to deal with love. It makes them both innocent and experienced, in a way that is refreshing and heartbreaking and unusual and real.

does not (exclusively) center around romantic/sexual love: I don’t know if this is a gaze point exactly but I feel like male gaze and resulting expectations of what a love story should look like are heavily responsible for our preoccupation with romantic/sexual love in fiction – the “boy gets girl” type of story. And even though, technically, GO seems to focus on a romantic love story in the end, it is also possible to read this relationship but also the whole show as centering around a kind of love that goes beyond the narrow confines of our conditioned boxed-in thinking. It seems to depict a love of humanity and the world and the universe and just the ineffability of existence as a whole.

disability as beautiful and innate to existence: Disability is represented amongst angels by the extremely cool Saraqael and by diversely disabled unnamed angels in the Job minisode. Representation of disability is obviously super important in its own right, but is also queers what we perceive as aesthetically and ontologically "normal". Male gaze teaches us that youth and (physical and mental) health are the desirable standard and everything else is to be seen as a deviance, a mistake. By including disability among the angels, beings that have existed before time and space, the show clearly states that disability is a beautiful and innate part of existence.

gender is optional/obsolete: Characters like Crowley, Muriel and others really undermine the (visual and aesthetic) boundaries of gender and the black-and-white thinking about gender that informs male gaze. Characters cannot be identfied simply as (binary) men or women anymore just by looking at them or by interpreting their personalities or behaviors. Most characters in GO, and especially the more genderqueer ones, display a balance of feminine and masculine traits as well as indiosyncracies that dissolve the gender binary.

Feel free to add your own thoughts on this in the comments or tags!

#good omens s2 #good omens #good omens 2 #go2 #good omens meta #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #queer #queer TV #male gaze #thank you neil gaiman for cranking up the queer #neil gaiman #thank you neil gaiman

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itsheartbeat13 · 2 years

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Something I don’t think enough people recognize when it comes to making shows more diverse, there is so much going on behind the scene that you literally can’t “just add them.”

Alex Hirsch had to wait until the end of Gravity Falls to show that Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland were in love so that way the show didn’t get prematurely cancelled. And even still, that was censored in other countries.

________

The Owl House has a bisexual afro Latina protagonist that falls in love with a white lesbian. They kiss several times on screen and say “my awesome girlfriend.” It also has Disney’s first nonbinary character (Raine Whispers), their bisexual love interest (Eda Clawthorne), and an aro/ace woman (Lilith Clawthorne). However, because like five people said that TOH wasn’t the “Disney brand” the show is prematurely cancelled. So even with everything that TOH did, it only won battle but lost the war.

________

The art crew for Encanto had to fight to make Luisa buff. And when they were finally able to make her buff, Disney didn’t make as much Luisa merchandise because they thought little girls would want Mirabel or Isabela’s since they’re more “feminine.” (I think the same thing happened with Namaari when RATLD came out but I’m not sure. So don’t quote me on that.)

*Also, Luisa out preformed. So that’s a win.

________

Bubblegum and Marceline couldn’t kiss until the series finale of Adventure Time because it would’ve been cancelled. So throughout the entire series, the crew always just had to imply undertones about their past. Since HBO produced Obsidian, they were able to kiss on screen.

________

Korra and Asami’s relationship had to tempt down so that way Nick could continue airing the show and they weren’t allowed to kiss until the comics.

________

Turning Red got so much unwarranted criticism because not only did Mei’s mom say “pads” but she showed them on screen. (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if that made you uncomfortable, that’s a sign that we need to do this more and not less.)

________

Some countries marked She Ra as 18+ because Catra and Adora kissed on screen. (Once again, I’m not sure if this completely true but Nate Stevenson had to fight to actually show them kissing on screen instead of a fade to white.)

________

Steven Universe is the gayest show I’ve ever seen in my life which was both good and bad. It was good for obvious reasons. Example being that it was the first show that introduced to me nonbinary people in a way that wasn’t “haha, look, she uses they/them pronouns. She’s so funny and quirky.”

And it’s bad because it put a target on it’s back. SU has been censored so much that it’s honestly a miracle that we got an ending. And in most of the countries that censored SU, they usually portray Ruby as a man. So I can’t imagine how bad the censors were when the wedding happened and Ruby wore a dress and Sapphire wore a suit.

________

Also, you have to remember the outdated idea that gay/trans topics are “too mature” for kids to handle (there’s an episode of Adam Ruins Everything that talks about this). So it’s easier for shows with an older audience (like Arcane) to have queer/trans rep.

Not to mention, if you ever go on Insider’s website to look at the queer/trans characters in cartoons [here], most of the characters are revealed to be queer only online and not in the actual show.

________

All of this BS because God forbid that kids find out that other people exist.

Representation is important but please, just be aware of the actually struggles that go on that you don’t see and be thankful that this is where we are now because even though it might seem like it at times remember that this is actual progress. We need to keep pushing studios to do more. I’m sure that there’s millions of untold stories that would be made if not for this prejudice.

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queerly-autistic · 2 months

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I've been turning over the 'boyfriends' deleted scene in my head all day, rotating it gently in my hands to get a good look at it from all angles, trying to figure out why it hit me in such an emotional place, and I realised it's because it's so...young?

It just perfectly captures that wonder and surprise and joyfulness of being in love for the first time, and realising that you can suddenly use words like 'boyfriend' and they mean something tangible to you - testing out the language and definitions of your relationship for the first time and being absolutely giddy with it all.

And the fact that it's two middle aged men, who have both been on their own specifically queer journeys, gives it a whole other layer of meaning and importance.

As queer people, so many of us were denied the opportunity to have these experiences when we were kids; standing on the sidelines and watching our peers go through all these rites of passage, whilst never quite able to reach out and touch it ourselves. And I think many of us live in perpetual fear that because we didn't to get to have this as kids, then we've missed out, and we will never get the chance to have those experiences in the same way.

But it isn't too late.

My mum came out as gay at 50, and I watched her go through the same thing when she met her first ever girlfriend (who is now her wife): the absolute excited youthful joy of being in love and getting to do all the things she never got a chance to do when she was younger. As a twenty year old, I was a bit annoyed and embarrassed by my mum suddenly turning into a lovesick teenager, but looking back on it now as a thirty-something, it actually makes me well up slightly thinking about how absolutely beautiful it was.

And that's why the 'boyfriend' moment puts me in such an emotional headspace. Because what this silly show did was cup my face gently in its hands and say 'it's never too late to have this'.

I'm so, so glad that we have so much representation for younger queers these days; that young queers get to see themselves represented on screen, having all these experiences that every young person deserves to have. But it's so much rarer for us to see older queers represented in this way, too. Older queers getting to have this is so important, and watching these two men in their 40s experience this, being allowed to revel in the giddy joy of first love - omg we're boyfriends! - like the happy lovesick teenagers they thought they'd forever lost the chance to be, it's just everything to me.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ed x stede #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #edward teach #stede bonnet #ofmd bts #ofmd deleted scenes #ofmd s2 ep8 #episode: mermen #ofmd meta #queer media #erin waffles

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that-ineffable-devil · 9 months

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I'm processing a lot of emotions tonight and I keep being drawn back to Good Omens--not just because it's the new hyperfixation or because it's so good. That's what I thought it was, at first.

But this year--hell, the last 3 or 4 months especially, I finally started taking steps to accepting and being myself. I'm rapidly approaching middle age and I'm only just now beginning to feel like I'm allowed to be me. I came out to the people in my household, a few select friends, and a few select family members--most of whom were wholly supportive. I started testosterone injections. I stopped trying to be someone I'm not. I stopped hiding who I am and who I love.

What does this have to do with Good Omens? Nothing. But also... Everything.

So much queer representation is in characters vastly younger than me--and that's good! I want queer kids to feel safe and loved and accepted in ways I never did. They deserve better than we had. And it gives me hope for their futures. I bawled like a baby when I watched The Owl House with my son and he was totally unphazed by the queerness. It's just how people are to him.

But when something like Good Omens comes along and not only grabs every opportunity to show average, everyday old(er) queer representation... It just. I've never felt more seen. More accepted. More hope for all our futures. And season 2 just knocked that out of the fucking park. And the nonbinary, genderfluid, and genderqueer rep? My God.

And it's not subtext, it's not it's own separate plotline where they're fighting for acceptance or dealing with hateful bigotry... It's just... Accepted. It's normal. No one questions it. No one even comments on it.

It's people of any age (even millions of years old) being unapologetically themselves and loving who they love openly and fully (with one notable uncommunicative group of two ineffable idiots, but they'll get there).

I just.

I can't express how grateful I am to see older queer rep at this time in my life. It's been a rough year, and I expect it'll get rougher before it gets better. But I've never been happier in my own skin, and it means the absolute world to see my literary and media heroes like Neil Gaiman, David Tennant, and Michael Sheen (and Terry Pratchett and everyone who worked on Good Omens, honestly) making this beautiful, messy, adorable, excruciating, wonderful, heartbreaking, ethereal, down-to-earth tale.

There aren't enough words in all the languages of the world to express how I'm feeling. "Thank you" just feels... Insufficient.

I just hope they know how much it means to people like me, especially after a lifetime of buried subtext and overt queerbaiting and media ridicule and general lack of acceptance, to experience this story with them.

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blakbonnet · 2 months

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i know a lot of you are feeling like this was wasted effort, the entire fight but let me tell you something - before this, all i had were shows that baited us openly and us, knowing full and well what was happening, still supported those shows and settled for crumbs because "it was the best we could hope for". the actors, cast and crew made fun of our art and fics, not even hiding their disdain, and we just shrugged through it all.

then ofmd came along and gods, a brown lead? who thinks he's unlovable and then the show goes on to show me that he's the most worthy of love? he's a genius in his field and clever and kind and quirky and full of love? an older queer discovering love so much later in life? not crumbs? explicit representation? the cast and crew gleefully laughing at homophobes and racists right alongside me and people who look like me? even the antagonist honours the pronouns of the nb character?

it was cancelled and it's devastating and take your time to grieve but it wasn't for nothing. some of us were here back when things were worse. and are still living in places where queer rights are LOL. it means something to get two seasons of this, it means something that they made love while fireworks went off, it means something that we were on Times Square, it means a lot. take pride in that. YOU did that. All of that.

It didnt mean nothing.

#ofmd #our flag means death #meow speaks #looking at you Sherlock :)))#and all the others that came before and after #imagine being a brown teenager and having nothing to look up to fuck #and imagine being a teen now and having all we have now #not perfect no #but something more #more than what we had #(I'm by no means saying this is the first queer show lmao)#(it's the first queer show that hits all the right buttons for me)

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tocomplainfriend · 4 months

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I am mad

Yup!

Bro shut up, she is white - being Latina is not a race, is an not the same as color skin. And she is a second generation immigrant too. So like... this isn't like a Salvadorian person doing a cartoon, is a daughter of Salvadorians... That grew in the USA. Being Latino doesn't mean you aren't white, you can be any race and Latino. Still wouldn't make up for the lack of representation or the existing racism. In the piece of media that's "diverse".

Salvadorian is not a race, LMAO. That's crazy- you think someone from Argentina who is white, is not white cause of their nationality??? Being Latino and having that culture does not equal a race. It's in itself a racist thing. This Latino = Race is terrible, It also comes from the idea of the "You are not Latino because you are not brown", assuming all people from Latino America are brown by default. You know how much has that happen to me? -AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE.

(I'm Latino btw)

I already have an older post about it, but - you can really see the lack of diversity in the show a lot. (Will talk about it even more other day).

Again the main thing you get is MEN, hypersexual skinny queer men (cis). You won't get to see female characters being well written, thought all the season 1 and all the episodes we got rn of season 2. All characters are skinny and similar body types and repetitive design choices. Funny enough, shows that lack of human characters still have better race-coding that helluva. (and well in hazbin you'll get POC characters that are gray, lack all ethic features... even when they are humanoid. So that is great.)

Bro you could, you imagine a character being black and having different textured hair, and you go to hell... AND EVEN THO YOU ARE HUMANOID- your hair became straight and spiky, and you are now a light gray? If you build a world like that... it just seems like the perfect racist excuse to delete ethic features out a POC character because you don't want to draw them. "Not going to a single hint of their race/culture unless it revolves on their death"... If the character became a fucking coin with dot eyes, maybe (not really, shows with no human/humanoid characters still are capable to race-code their characters). But all of these characters are humanoid- why do none of them have their different characteristics? Also, this is about a real person in the real world choosing how to design a character.

This tweet also implies that a black character when they were a life they had ethic features, but lose them when they go to hell. Which is even more fucking stupid.

If a white person with straight hair goes to hell, and their hair remains straight (assuming it has nothing to do with their death), why wouldn't there be black people with textured hair? This is dumb. This goes back to the fucking thing of "No black people in fantasy media", In the same way, it's stupid for fantasy stories to revolve around white people characteristics in fictional species and people in that world- not including all the rest of diverse human characteristics POC people have it's crazy. The biggest problem here is why the fuck all Viv's sinners characters (main characters designed by her) that are supposed to black (or mixed like Alastor) have 0 characteristic. THEY ARE HUMANOID, THEY AREN'T EVEN ABSTRACT OR AN ANIMAL OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. She didn't want to draw that nor change designs, and wanted to justify the whole concept of Alastor even using Voodou.

HOW ARE ALL THE ANGELS THAT VIV WANTS TO BE BLACK (black voice actors specified, or are race specified) HAVE NOTHING??? LIKE HELLO THE 'I'm such a nice angel character girl' HAS SPIKY STRAIGHT HAIR??? SHE IS AN ANGEL AND BLACK, WHY DIDN'T YOU DID HER HAIR TO BE CLOUDS- It's THE EASIEST SHIT YOU COULD’VE DONE.

BOOM! A FUCKING TROLL FROM A KIDS MOVIE WITH DIFFERENT HAIR. BOOM! THE FUNK TROLLS ARE SO EXPLICITLY BLACK CODED.

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Bro, you know this whole thing of people with textured hair have to forcefully straighten their hair or wear wogs to a job... because people consider it ""Unprofessional"" cause racism? The erasure and discrimination of POC people and their features is a problem. That's why it is important to people represent all of those things:

(Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur)

The only reason of why Alas tor is even mixed is purely cause Viv used the Voodou symbols because she thought they were creepy and edgy. It's sucks that all the angels and sinners that are supposed to be black have nothing.

#vivziepop critique #vivziepop critical #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critique #helluva boss critical #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel critique #anti vivziepop #antiblackness

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qbdatabase · 1 year

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Book bans are on the rise across the US, but even if you want to go read and buy as many books with LGBT+ representation as you can get your greedy little hands on--it's hard to know what you don't know :/

The Queer Books Database lists over 3,500+ fiction and non-fiction titles in a google docs spreadsheet that lets you search by representation, or just by age, genre, year published, and more. It doesn't just track LGBT+ rep but also tags for people of color, disability, mental health, neurodivergence, fat rep, older characters, and religion!

You can use the database to search for:

multiple identities at once--find rep for a schizophrenic asexual lesbian, an autistic black boy, or a non-binary soldier with tinnitus

age appropriate books--search for children's books, junior chapter books, teen titles, and YA

non-fiction education--this includes biographies and memoirs, self-help, mental health, sexual education, LGBT+ history, legal resources, and affirming spiritual texts

trope/setting/time period--get a list of ghostly paranormals, queer fiction set in africa, gay regency romances, enemies-to-lovers, dark academia, and tons more!

Using the database, supporting my patreon, or buying me a ko-fi also really helps out the autistic transgender librarian who put this all together during the pandemic! Please share and reblog if you can~

#queer books #lgbt books #lgbt fiction #lgbtqia #queer #bookblr

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