#theme: queer platonic ride or die

[augment-techs]

#boom! comics power rangers #web weaving #theme: queer platonic ride or die #Black Sentry Adam Park #Red Sentry Eugene Skull Skullovitch #@heavensghost #@felonius-glitch #charlotte's web by e.b. white #catherynne m. valente #The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There #olive aurora #The Secret of Moonacre (2008) #the secret garden (1993) #studio ghibli #@trannydykepuppybot

[sarandipitywrites]

WIP intro: Dead Roots, Dark Water

Fandom: Jak & Daxter

Genres: adventure; dark fantasy; dystopian

Themes: self-acceptance/self-love; healing as pain/love as violence; masks and masking; choosing to break cycles of cruelty; loss of innocence; (found) family and belonging

POV: third person close; 2 POV characters

Vibes: grungy neon lights on broken streets; ride or die friendship; rain rattling on a tin roof; monsters that bleed chaos; queer platonic relationships; dragonflies skimming across a lake; came back wrong; a wilted fern in a blue pot.

Content Warnings: ableism (mostly internalized); past emotional abuse by a guardian; graphic violence; body horror; trauma; medical trauma; depictions of panic attacks, meltdowns, and dissociation; referenced slavery; racism; strong language; major character death.

How far would you go to find your way home?

Daxter has a rock-solid ten-year plan: avoid the ire of Sandover Village's curmudgeonly old Sage; wait for his best bud, Jak, to complete his training and become the new Sage; then live in Jak's attic for the rest of his life. He's got this all figured out, and the upcoming visit from some of Haven City's bigwigs isn't going to blow him off course.

That's what he thinks, anyway. Right up until the bigwigs' armored retinue are arresting Jak for a crime they won't disclose, but he definitely didn't commit.

It's two years, three months, and twelve days before he sees Jak again, and his buddy's a little... different from how he used to be. The physical differences aside, this Jak doesn't seem interested in collecting bugs and studying medicine. This Jak doesn't seem truly happy unless he's got blood running down his hands. Being the favorite subject of the Minister of Science's experiments can apparently do a number on a guy. But Jak thinks there's a way to change him back, and he's not willing to go home until he finds it.

Daxter's not jazzed about staying in Haven - between the propaganda speakers going all night and the gun-toting Krimzon Guard that patrol the city night and day, he's not sure his nerves will ever recover - but for Jak, he'll do it.

He'll do anything to get his best friend back.

taglist (ask to be added or removed): @sam-glade, @televisionjester, @surroundedbypearls

#writeblr #wip intro #writers on tumblr #fanfic #jak and daxter #adventure #dark fantasy #dystopian fiction #alternate universe #jak 2 #dead roots dark water #my writing

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

The thing about OPLA is that it inspired me to pick up watching One Piece again because it was full of what I loved about it in the first place. It also reminded me of how camp its whole deal is.

OPLA filled me with queer joy. Which is why I guess I was disheartened going into the tags and seeing the infighting. If your arguments go hand in hand with homophobic and misogynistic anime fans who see any popular queer interpretation and subversion as a fetishistic perversion of the text, or if you're gatekeeping queer interpretations, then perhaps some grace and perspective has been lost?

(It also doesn't make sense to me because I see all the Straw Hats as ride or die for each other. They love each other so much, they just have different ways of expressing it with each other. Them in one big polyam/queer platonic cuddle pile is my personal headcanon.)

Anyway, this is to say, isn't one of the core themes of One Piece how joy and connections are the only thing defeating societies stagnating pessimism? I'd like to hold onto that feeling of queer joy. 🙂

#one piece #one piece live action #op #opla #storytelling things #navel gazing #queer reading #maybe this sounds condescending but i don't mean for it to i swear

[autisticandroids]

my fics

listed in increasing order of wordcount.

latch, .5k: A miracle happens. Dean feeds Cas.

hello destiel breastfeeding community.

voyeur, 1k: Dean watches his other self talk to Cas.

i feel like endverse fic is a right of passage, isn't it? this is one of only two three four i guess now five fics on this list which makes no mention of godstiel.

to act with intention, 1k: The family Winchester on the road back to the Bunker after Cas kills Billie, and more importantly, after Mary makes certain revelations about Cas' state. A rather unpleasant car ride for all concerned.

#mpregpocalypse, etc.

stability, 1k: Sam has noticed that Cas' feelings toward Dean may be more than purely platonic. He is concerned about the stability of his family.

a short little fic where i make the dynamics among tfw worse.

getting serious, 1k: A small vignette of family life in the bunker, and the difficulties therein. Dean pays no attention to Sam's escape attempt.

established destiel. sam and dean have a horrible little conversation.

no longer your brother, 1k: Michael and Lucifer pose a threat to His reign, though a small one. God pays them a visit.

OLD-ass godstiel fic from when i was like. sixteen. my interests have not changed at all.

cold storage, 1k: Crowley discovers something fascinating about Cas.

a little bit of lighthearted crowstiel fuckbuddies.

yeah, well, i don't want to, 1k: He didn't do it on purpose.

a little brothers-centric deanfic for the pilot. dean is very normal.

the follower, 1k: The world is being restructured. Dean can't stop it. He has a long conversation with someone instead.

an unpleasant and uncomfortable conversation between dean and godstiel. dean tries to make it sexual in order to make cas uncomfortable. it does not make cas uncomfortable.

just gimme daddy's blunt instrument, 1k: Dean points a gun at Cas.

godstiel gunfellatio fic. they don't fuck in this but they do.

damage control for a walking corpse, 1k: Meg escapes Crowley's dungeon, at least for a little while. She prays.

meg character study featuring faith, lucifer, masochism, and megstiel.

hunger, 1k: Endverse Cas talks about what it was like to have Dean inside him.

november fifth fic 2022. despite being technically an endverse fic, focuses on cas saving dean from hell.

eros and thanatos, 1k: Cas enjoys himself immensely, and then he doesn't. Dean can't find out.

my entry for @deancas-stabfest! casturbation feat. cas triggering himself and throwing up after.

dean winchester really needs to make some gay friends, 2k: There was no way the answer to this question wasn’t funny as hell.

post canon fluff and humor, written and posted during the week of madness between 15x18 and 15x19. an exploration of a dean who is queer, but doesn't really understand how to be queer yet.

there is want., 2k: There is God. And there is a body. And there is want.

*sigh* more godstiel fic. this time with horrific and gratuitous gore. godstiel eats some copies of dean, to see if that will satisfy him. this one, the follower, and just gimme daddy's blunt instrument are a kind of triptych. they don't exist in the same continuity but they all follow the same themes: sex-without-sex between dean and godstiel, mixed with character and relationship exploration.

smorgasbord, 2k: An incident under the influence of Famine.

my bloody valentine fic (evil) (horny) (evil).

goldfish, 4k: Lisa Braeden opens the door for some strangers.

a study on cas in the aftermath of a slightly divergent moriah where jack did not die, through the lens of lisa braeden and her memory.

three card stud, 4k: A collection of script excerpts for a version of Season Six that goes a bit differently. Cas and Dean conspire. Lisa is oblivious, and they keep her that way. Dr. Freud always said nightmares were based on wishes, too.

finally! some deancaslisa infidelity. mindwipenatural (worse). live free or twi-hard (better). an experimental amv for a version of season six that doesn't exist.

i fold in half so easily, 5k: A study in learned helplessness, set in the Men of Letters Bunker. Cas clings hard to what he has, and doesn't think about what he doesn't.

this is my 15x18 anti-fix-it. my 15x18 make-it-worse. my magnum opus of the winchester family horror in late seasons, or at least cas' experience of it. established relationship destiel (derogatory). it's my favorite piece i've published in spn fandom, and maybe in any fandom. i put a lot into it and i hope you get a lot out of it.

circle, broken, 5k: A series of conversations and resolutions. Cas haunts the fringes of a new Heaven.

my piece for @spnangelbang! 5k of quiet cas angst and angel feelings, with a little bonus trueform stuff.

so much smoke in a hall of mirrors, 6k: Humans kiss each other. Angels kill each other. Castiel distracts himself from the war he's losing.

doing angel politics, unconsensually watching dean rake leaves (and other things), working on his frustrations on the physical bodies available to him. it's season six and cas is having a terrible time. formerly known as the dean sex doll fic.

the real finale, 21k: Supernatural 15x19 and 15x20, as they should have been.

mainly the work of @beatsheetketch, but it is our shared brainchild. a lot softer and fluffier than either of our usual fair. our go at a finale rewrite.

since this is probably my new pinned, i'll link some other stuff:

[my fic rec post] [my amv rec post] [my amv tag]

#spn

[danielpowell]

Okay, I'm making the show post cause I have to put my thoughts in one place. Warning you that this is full of spoilers, so don't get mad and say I didn't warn you. This very well could change on a re-watch, honestly. These feelings are rather fresh.

Pros:

The theme visuals look pretty.

Wardrobe is great- I genuinely want Dan's shirt and cardigan look, the film bar one.

Lots of sets look really nice and packed with detail- there's even nods to the podcast and the miniseries.

Certain tracks are nice and the sound design is well done for the most part.

Expanded backstory of the two mains we don't get in the podcast- while I don't necessarily like the ones they are given because of the aspect of ~ they were connected the entire time ~ it was nice to see any at all.

Expanded backstory and personality of the two supporting characters for the main- Mark feels far more involved and while I do think he's supportive and caring in the podcast, I do think the show does a great job at showing his ride or die attitude. Annabelle, Alexa's replacement, is still very queer ! She's a very fun character too. I think her actress did a fantastic job in this role. I would have loved to see her in a relationship with Melody outside of roommate and best friend.

Ratty is there and far more realistic in depiction. Dan barely fighting anything Ratty does is hilarious. He's a disgruntled roomie and puts up with it. I find this dynamic way more enjoyable than in the podcast, in all honesty.

The film restoration bits are sexy. The tech is on point and the tools are pretty fucking accurate if you ask me. Thanks for wearing gloves, Dan. More than I can say for Daniel Powell who doesn't even say the right model and doesn't prep the tapes before playing them.

Speaking of, they have the Otari MX5050 Bii model in the background at one point. Kudos.

The mold is kind of cool, actually. I think it would have worked better if he had noticed it on the tapes sooner. More Mold, please.

I wanna say that many of them give great performances, but genuinely it's hard to tell what I think is bad or good because the writing or directing hinders it. They did a good job with what they were given.

It is apparent they listened to the podcast by all the homages and references thrown in.

They have a Magnetic Fields track in there. It's short, but it did get me as it's one I put in an Archive 81 playlist.

The short segments at the start of each episode are reminiscent of the tapes and in-show ads from the podcast. I thought the killer clown movie one was hilarious and I kind of want to see it.

Mark bludgeons Davenport, go king go.

I'm in the unpopular crowd here, but I'm glad Rat isn't in it. People can't be normal about him. I think if he was people would have rioted anyway.

Cons:

They did in fact erase the sapphic relationship and instead have them as platonic. While Annabelle is unabashedly queer, is teasing and flirty towards Melody, and is present through a large amount of the show, there is nothing that states, alludes, or cements a romantic involvement between her and Melody which is a grevious offense.

Melody mouth kisses Samuel on screen after flirting with him. They go on a date. It's kind of implied they were going to drink and maybe do stuff in the privacy of her apartment. It's very uncomfortable paired with the fact she is now not sapphic.

There is zero confirmation she is a lesbian or sapphic in any way. If anything, it's the opposite.

They do make Cassandra Wall a lesbian, but it's done so in a way that feels... icky. I can't speak much on it as I am neither a woman nor a lesbian.

Melody is now kind of incompetent and a damsel in distress, which is so far removed from the original. She has to be rescued.

She also has a fight with her best friend and gets told she is smothering people for trying to help them. It was very upsetting to witness.

Jesse is both aged down and changed to a girl, for some reason. I think it's to further connect Dan as he has a sister in this portrayal, but it rubs me the wrong way. There are certainly some improvements when it came to antiblackness, but maybe replacing the teenage black boy with a younger girl (with lighter complexion) isn't a good look.

In that same vein, while Jess still runs errands for Visser residents, they completely get rid of any mention of Why. This snippet was supposed to give hints to people gathering ritual components and more importantly, touch on disability and the fact that there are disabled and elderly residents and that the programs in place for their food deliveries suck. It was an important detail to me, but instead it's utilized as an excuse to have Jess around and help groom her as a sacrifice for the cult.

I'm not sure if it's just me, but I found the scenes of her in pain distressing and unnecessary.

Oh yeah. And she lives unlike in the podcast, but she's a nun now :/

On that note, they change the genre from found-footage weird fiction with comedy and cosmic horror elements to a religious horror mystery drama that made me more angry with each bastardization of the religions in question. It feels very satanic panic and uninspired at best and lazy and offensive at worst.

The backstory for the mains quite frankly suck. The connection and involvement between them was wholly unnecessary. I don't care if it makes their connection deeper or whatever. The point was that Dan was isolated and didn't know these people. He was an observer that got strung in thanks to his obsessive and curious nature. Trading this for a tragic backstory and a family connection to Melody was a poor decision to me. I was not a fan.

The dog being the same is dumb ! That's the most generic dog with a red collar I've ever seen. Dan, what the hell are you talking about ?

Melody is a witch now, I guess ? The whole thing with her mom was just, bad. It's bad. I hate stories that try and do genetic witch shit. I'm Irish Pagan and it's by choice, it's not a hereditary thing.

Also, making it to where Melody is instead trying to track down her mom rather than simply gathering stories and staying because she cares and it's her job is a choice they made. It's not a good choice. Isn't Melody supposed to be a social worker ? Or was that not good enough for this re-envisioned story ?

Also, she stays in Visser in this portrayal and doesn't even live in New York. They could have easily kept it to where it was her act of recording and taking the tapes with her that give her a connection to Visser and its Weirdness. But they don't! In fact, the recording only feels important for the sake of letting Dan watch it and go :0

Dan's dad is her therapist because sure, why not ? Let's add threads where there didn't need to be.

Dan also has a history of mental illness and they shove this down your throat many times by having people constantly ask him if he is having a mental health emergency. It feels very modern, I'll give them that, but it only infuriates me further as:

Why the hell is LMG name-dropped in full and why did they try and make them seem any kind of caring ? They are a face-less, heartless corporation.

Dan can get groceries and leave whenever he wants. They eliminate isolation, poor living conditions, and poor nutrition. These were huge factors for his mental decline, why axe them ? You wouldn't have had to rig all the family history and trauma if you had just stuck with this. In fact, it would have been enhanced !

Dan's kind of a huge asshole to Mark for seemingly no reason ? To me, Mark was shown to be supportive and present for Dan when he needed to be. Why is Dan saying to not do stuff for the podcast, you only care about the podcast, when it doesn't look like it was, ever ?? I feel like I missed a scene or a conversation or a line somewhere. Please correct me if I did miss something cause it was not at all spelled out to me. It felt out of place, like they wrote this scene for the end but forgot to actually bring any conflict.

They do scenes where Dan and Melody interact and talk with each other and they are So Awkward. There is no chemistry here, I'm sorry.

For some reason they turned Dan into solely a techie nerd and instead gave the hipster qualities to Thomas (?) and MELODY. If they were trying to make a connecting factor with them, it failed miserably.

Dan finds out he's being watched early on and navigates this by 'hacking' so he can find blindspots. He later destroys the cameras. He is never reprimanded for having visitors or other things, I don't know why this was done at all, please help me understand, this show is somehow so stupid and so convoluted at the same time.

Something about sending both Melody and Annabelle to psych wards "for safety" really doesn't sit well. Like, um, it's pretty obviously bad ? It's bad, right ? Pairing this with people constantly thinking Dan is just having a mental breakdown feels very wrong and kinda ableist. I don't know if that's just me or not.

Ratty was an afterthought. I loved him being there and alive, but he does nothing except serve as a treat for podcast fans. He's barely there. If this was so Rat, could actually be Ratty, that would be hilarious to me.

The theme song sucks, there I said it. I found it boring and even annoying when they played it in scenes. The shrill tones, yuck.

Some tracks are actually painful to listen to. There's one in particular that would trigger headaches. It was also paired with flashing lights at one point which is just asking for trouble.

The dialogue is Bad. It's very stiff and unnatural. Boring, even.

There is some gore and the blood looks like corn syrup. It's not good special effects. At least they had sfx.

The magic CGI also blows.

The sex scene is sudden and unnecessary.

There is one archive and it never said to be the 81st. The title has no relevance to the series.

The last shot where you can see the twin towers reflecting in the windows is COMICALLY BAD.

Overall, I was bored to tears. I multitasked at points and was still wishing I was watching something else.

TL;DR [too long, didn't read]

It's a very bland and uninspired adaptation that makes very bad, stupid decisions for plot and only has a few good things going for it.

I'm proud of Marc and Dan for getting to this point, and I want to support them, but if you are a fan of the podcast I have a strong feeling you won't enjoy this show. But hey, you just might.

Edit: [March 30th, 2024] I'm actually a fagdyke, so this is funny to look back on.

Also, for reference, I now have the screen worn film bar shirt. Huzzah.

#archive 81 netflix #mel talks a81 netflix #a81 netflix spoilers #spoilers #antiblackness tw #homophobia cw #misogyny cw #unsanitary cw #ask to tag #long post #ableism tw #medical cw

[erosia-rhodes]

Top 9 Newbie thoughts on Supernatural after Six Months of Madness

I started watching Supernatural a week before the series finale, and full disclosure, it was only because I heard about the gay angel. I loved me some Good Omens, so I decided to check out a series my only previous thoughts about had been, "Is that show still on?" In the past six months, I've watched about fifty percent of the episodes scattered across all fifteen seasons. I've also spent time following the bonkers-in-the-best-way fandom on Tumblr, and here is what I have learned:

1) Everyone who loves Supernatural also hates Supernatural

No one is capable of praising this show without also trashing it. Supernatural is as awful as it is awesome. Watching Supernatural is like hate-fucking your nemesis against a wall; you're totally conflicted about it, but it's enormously pleasurable and you know you're going to do it over and over again. No one has a pure, untainted love for this show. They only have complicated emotions. This is because…

2) The fact that the show needs to be fixed is an essential part of its appeal

Strangely, if this show were better, it wouldn't be as popular. If you love a show that is perfect, you watch it once or twice or thrice, make a bunch of memes, and move on with your life two years later when you find something else to hyper-fixate on. If you love a show that's broken, you spend the rest of your life obsessed with fixing it. It's the crooked photo hanging on the wall that yearns to be straightened (because, you know, this show is bad at making things straight). It's the stray dog you know would be adoptable if you fattened it up and socialized it with your other dogs, and just like some people can't stop rescuing animals, Supernatural fans can't stop thinking about how to fix a show that isn't great, but could be with a flea bath and a trip to the groomers. Supernatural fans are not fans of the actual show, but of the show they imagine it could be, one that only exists in an alternate universe. They are in love with the Platonic ideal of Supernatural. That's also the reason why…

3) The fans understand the characters and themes better than 95% of the people who worked on the show

The people who watch Supernatural have thought about it way, way, way, more than anyone who produced it. I have read complex essays about what the color of people's clothing imply and how the state of the Impala reflects the state of Dean's mental health and other things I'm certain this show did not do intentionally. People can find depth in the shallowest aspects of this series. Any random fan could explain the complicated dynamics of the Winchester family and the overriding themes of the series better than most of the people who worked on it. That includes the LGBTQ stuff, which leads to the fact that…

4) The show is simultaneously too gay and not gay enough

On one end of the spectrum are fans who are offended you would dare to suggest one of the Winchesters might like kissing a boy and they'll shove you in a locker and duct tape your butt cheeks together for it. On the other end of the spectrum are fans who think it's odd that every episode doesn't end with two attractive men dry humping in a dark corner of the bunker library. No one is happy with the level of gayness on this show. It's always got too much "No Homo" or too much queer subtext, which is why I've concluded that…

5) The audience this show wanted is not the audience they got and they are resentful of it

The original pitch for this show targeted a male demographic who’s into toxic masculinity in a non-ironic way. It was about bros and beers and muscle cars and shotguns and hot chicks who will be killed to further the man's storyline. However, when making that show, they accidentally created a show that attracted female viewers who liked speculating about the queer subtext of each scene while looking at pretty men with traumatic backstories fight back their man tears. The show depends on the unintended audience segment to survive, but is bitter about it, which they remind you of time and time again by killing the female and non-white characters and toying with endless queer-baiting. It's like the writers got a plane to Rome, ended up in a gay nightclub in Amsterdam instead, and even though the canals and tulips make it a lovely city to visit, they wanted to go to Rome, damnit, and they'll never let you forget it! I also suspect that…

6) The people who made this show were at constant war with each other

This show has such a split personality. Sometimes it leans into the gay stuff and other times it makes fun of it outright. Sometimes they'll introduce an interesting side character that could make the show more diverse and then they'll slaughter that person for practically no reason. Sometimes they praise free will and other times they force people down pre-destined paths. The writers feel like a dysfunctional family stuck at Thanksgiving dinner endlessly squabbling with each other—who then had to write a TV show together over dessert. That's why it's such a weird hot mess. The show's unevenness makes me think that…

7) Some people's attachment to the show can only be explained by the fact that it imprinted on them when they were young

Some fans have mentioned they started watching Supernatural when they were kids. It's a pretty common experience to go back and watch things you loved when you were a kid and realize they were…not so good. Your memories of them are far better than the reality of them, but you cling to them anyway. The shows you watch when you're young imprint on you in a way you never forget. Supernatural fans are like a baby duck who looks up at a cat and assumes it’s their mother. Then that cat slices open their poor little hearts, leaving them wounded but not dead, forever be toyed with in agony. The only relief is that…

8) The fandom is batshit insane in the best way

I started following the Supernatural fandom on Tumblr in November of 2020 and OMG, it was AH-MAZE-ING. It was total insanity. I didn't understand half of what was going on, but it was more fun than a yard full of puppies doing zoomies. People were posting detailed PowerPoint presentations theorizing how the series would end, citing extensive physical evidence like the background in Misha's hotel room. People learned election results through Supernatural memes. Destiel went canon every other week. When the Spanish dub was released, Tumblr literally crashed! Obama's Twitter was following a Destiel account. There was a Twitter wedding for Destiel on Valentine's Day, which made the one-month anniversary on Pi Day.

It's been a ride, y'all. I have no idea how you guys survived fifteen years of this. The fandom has been so much fun that I actually sat down and watched more than 100 hours of this show so I could understand everything better. It's like the show is an extension of the fandom instead of vice versa. If anything sums up Supernatural for me, that's it. It's all about the fandom and the show is secondary to that. It's like the fans willed the show into existence as part of some partially botched spell. And part of that twisted spell is that…

9) The show will never die until someone finds its bones and burns them

This show has been off the air for more than six months now and it keeps trending on Tumblr consistently. Misha recently trended on Twitter simply because he was at the Oscars. That was it! He didn't even do anything there, he just attended, and some people figured it out by the reflection in a photo posted by someone else! And just as I was proofreading this post, Destiel started trending again because John Cena is a stan or something? This fandom is crazy and unpredictable and I love it like Dean loves pie! If there ever does come a time when this show stops trending, that will be the moment when they decide to reboot it or revisit it.

There is a lot more I could say about this show, but these were the elements that seemed most unique and bizarre about it. I wouldn't say Supernatural is a ride-or-die fandom for me, and I have no intention of watching another 100 hours of this series, but it's been hella' fun to drop in for a while. The show is just as much a dysfunctional mess as the Winchester family and I guess that's why people love it, right?

#supernatural #spn #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #jensen ackles #jared padalecki #misha collins #destiel #the cw #tv #television

[trutrustories]

Okay, this will be probably long and with many errors (my english isn´t very good) But I saw several posts here on Lokius tag, talking about this ship as result of gay fetish, and about non existing chemistry and  how this ship doesn´t make sense etc… And from what I understood there is tagged Lokius because of genuine interest to understand others point of view, so here is mine: I wil try to explain where my frustration comes from, and how I feel about Lokius, Sylkie, AND representation + some other things which I saw here somewhere. But first of all: I like Sylvie, I don´t hate sylkie shipers, and after so many years reading fan fictions, I don´t mind selfcest – I read weirder things. I have some issues with this ship (the mainlythe fact that it isn´t Lokius), but  this is not one of them. Also, I am not about to tell anyone, they shouldn´t ship sylkie.Ship whatever. And I LOVED the show as a whole. 

I just want to defend my standpoint, that Lokius does make sense, people shipping it does make sense and whether it will happen or not, (I don´t have my hopes very high, and I learned to be very skeptical in this regard ) it is more than just about crack ship, or fetish. I´m honestly blown away that people are still surprised that this ship became a thing :D First of all, let´s look at some romantic story telling and tropes: I mean the way they introduced them in the first two episodes set the tone for all series and how the heck this isn´t romantic? Somehow there are all these romantic tropes existing in a show. They´re just there. Just chilling between Loki and Mobius and large portion of audience can´t even see them. (and some of those tropes were used for Sylki as well, so you could actually see them side by side)

For example: 1) traveling to the apocalypsis 2) breaking law/rules for the other 3) literally changing for the better thanks to the other 4) arguing like old married couple 5) saying secrets, personal things to the other 6) sharing glances, touches, visibly being happy around each other - in case of Loki happier then we´ve ever seen him before 7) being completely themselfs around each other 8) One knowing everything (even the worst) about other and still accepting him completely 9) teasing, being comfortable and domestic around each other 10) one being literally enthusiastic FAN of the other 11) Mobius defending Loki whenever he has a chance 12) Freaking amnesia trope that they pulled of in the end??? (It could be different Mobius, but point is he suddenly doesn´t know him - and Loki knows more, in contrast with the beggining) 13) the jealousy in ep4 14) Misunderstanding - when Mobius thought Loki betrayed him and Loki (thanks to Ravonna) thought Mobius betrayed him... 15) witnessing death of the other and being absolutely broken afterwards 16) The goodbye hug with romantic music in the backround 17) Saving life of the one (even when it means problems for the other ) - like Mobius saved Loki´s ass at least three times when he was trying to stop others from pruning him. 18) sharing deep conversations about meanings of life, freedom and how it would be fun to make some chaos and ride that fucking jet ski!!! 19) Inspiring the other 20) looking for each other (Mobius didn´t believe for a second, that Loki would die in the Void and the way how in the last minutes of the series Loki run through all places they were together when he was looking for Mobius... and I could go on. Point is, even if they are not planning to make Lokius canon, all these things are used on a daily basis to describe romance in media and they are used here. On top of that it´s just very poetic and cute, that this drama queen and powerful god of Asgard who looked down on people would find his match in someone, who is so quiet, ordinary on the first sight, and basically is just human from 90s, who loves jet skis. Mobius can´t even fight. But is highly inteligent and he also happen to be as good manipulator, such as Loki himself. - That´s why they work together so well. Mobius sees right through him and once Loki understands that, he drops his evil persona. Almost nobody expected to ship it for real. But story itself and chemistry between them just made it probably the most exciting duo in the whole MCU. And I mean it genuinely. Third episode, even though it was beautiful and Sophie was great in it (and is literally dipped in bisexual colors), is the least favorite for a reason. And that reason being, there is no interaction between Loki and Mobius whatsoever. Lot´s of people though that series slowed down a bit. Even when in fact there was more action, then when we watched Loki and Mobius working at the TVA.

(and let´s just talk about evil!Mobius narative for a bit and how some people say he is manipulative and toxic for Loki: show itself explore heavy themes and one of them is in Loki´s line: no one bad is ever truly bad and no one good is ever truly good. And as a theme in a fictional world, it is working as it should, for the  story. When Loki and Mobius meet, one of them just killed lots of innocent people and destroyed almost whole city. The other one is a part of fascist organization – and in the beginning of the series they both believe what they´re doing is right. They´re both bad, they´re both good, they´re both broken. And they are changing with the help of the other.) From all reactions I watched - and there was many of them, lots of people actually didn´t see dynamic between Loki and Sylvie as romantic in the third episode. So it´s not like Sylvie and Loki had unequivocally love story right from the start.

The only difference is that lots of people won´t see romantic tropes, when it comes to two men in a mainstream show – show that isn´t primarily about relationships and problems that queer people has to face. Because in super hero story and science fiction we have to warn audience, that they´re about to watch two man in love, right? At this point It´s just frustrating really. There were many M/M dynamics that used similar story line, as for example Lucifer, or X-files, or Bone collectors. -  But unlike those M/M pairings, no one was making fun of people for shipping main characters in these shows. But when it comes to two men suddenly you´ll see from all corners of the internet: “why can´t it be just platonic?” “There is not enough platonic relationships” “why can´t two man just be friends?” (They can and they almost ALWAYS are) and “if you think there something romantic between them, you´re delusional” “fetishist“ “And for god´s sake just let them be friends, Loki needs a friend more then....” oh wait, but Sylvie is allowed to kiss him. Sylvie doesn´t have to be just friend. (And I must say, that I love Sylvie, I liked most of the interactions between her and Loki and I think she is a great character ((I hope we learn more about her in the future)) it just doesn´t work for me as well as Loki´s dynamic with Mobius. Maybe partly because of chemistry between actors, partly because combination of characters and they´re personality and also because I had two whole episodes to fall in love with the pair before Sylvie was even introduced.)

First of all: people can be friends and then evolve into lovers. Not only it is common romantic trope, but it is also the most realistic one. And those relationships are usually strongest. second: If people want to see Loki in a platonic friendship so desperately, why can´t it be a woman for a change? They were acting like chaotic siblings for most of the episode three anyway. The age gap aspect is also very funny. Owen is only about 12 years older (That is not that much. But I imagine, some people would get uncomfortable. But If it was man and woman, most of them wouldn´t even blinked. But two men, that has to be somehow automatically son and father figure dynamic) And If you want to dive into age of an actual characters, then good luck with that in a series about gods, variants and time travel. Almost nobody cares about age gap between Lucifer and detective Decker, or Bella and Edward. On top of that, it was heavily implied, that Loki slept with older, silver haired guy in Ragnarok, so it´s not like he would have problem with that.

Different standards are projected in a way how we see romantic dynamics between fictional characters depends on what we are used to, how are we perceiving world around us, what we are expecting to see and ALSO, what we would like to see, that much is true.  When people are used to make no differences between heterosexual and homosexual pairing, then everything what happens to the characters is measured with the same meter. (Even though I experienced queerbaiting many times (( Once upon a time, Sherlock, Supernatural, Good Omens – the last one hopefully is not the case, but I guess we´ll see)) I also saw lots of lgbt shows like Queer as folks and Sense8.) And when we are not used to see it the same way, well… then it looks basically like that one comment under Castiel´s “I love you” scene on youtube, that said  “what a beautiful friendship”.

If we forget about all that chaotic mess behind the scenes (all those articles and contrary messages)  What is happening in a show between Loki and Mobius can be objectively considered romantic and what is happening between Loki and Sylvie in a series can be objectively considered platonic (until the kiss) and vice versa.  And then to see comments about how absurd it is to even think they have chemistry, and about gay fetish - it´s hard to swallow. I read posts about absurdity of a ship and how there is absolutely nothing that would suggests romance.  Well there is, actually. But whether creators are going to work with it or not, that´s something we can only speculate. They already made Loki officially bisexual. So why should it be so absurd to assume, that there is an actual possibility of romantic subplot between Loki and Mobius? Oh right… it´s Disney and Marvel we are talking about.

So on a subject of bisexuality: Bi people can date whoever they want.  But It is a little frustrating, when there is so many heterosexual pairings in the mcu and disney but when there is a promise of lgbt character (speaking of endgame) we get one line about date from a man we´ll never see again. And when there is a promise of lgbt representation you can´t even blink during movie, or you´ll miss it (Star wars, Beauty and the beast). And then Loki said “A bit of both, I suspect the same as you”. And I won´t lie, I was happy. And I think creators made biggest step yet with this one line (which is honestly terrible, that “a bit of both” coming from Loki of all people, is the biggest step forward.) But they played it VERY safe. Obviously, both Loki, and Sylvie are bisexuals, and in three episodes, we had Loki flirting with female flight attendant, Sylvie talking about her relationship with POSTMAN and then they fall for each other. So the only thing that suggests they are really as bi as Lamentis 1 is that little sentence, that can be edited out, or easily overheard. It´s the bare minimum. And I think that frustration with how freaking slowly we´re moving into some progress is understandable. From all those great M/M dynamics I talked about, those, that could make great love story, nothing happened, because too many people “don´t mind gays but don´t need to look at them” or are scared for their children. In 2021.

It is not a fetish to wish for a gay love story in superhero movies/series. (But anyway, I don´t think there is anything bad about it. Some men like to watch lesbian porn, some woman like to read gay porn. AO3 wouldn´t be were it is today, without people reading and writing slash :D – but that has little to do with what we actually see on tv)

I´m not delusional. As much, as I love these two characters together, I know how little chance it has.  I´m not delusional. I´m just in the future, old and tired, waiting hundreds of years for at least one of my OTP to finaly become a fucking canon.

#Lokius #loki series #LOKI AND MOBIUS #mobius m mobius #loki

[cobalt-knave]

Podcast ask game: 💝, 💜, 🎶? :)

💝 A podcast you think deserves more love

I’ll see your “a” and raise you 4 podcast recs. I have never head of this thing “moderation”.

Hubris: A 24 Hour Podcast Project - Every season is a theme, and that theme was what teams had to work with to create a one-off podcast episode in 24 hours. There are so many fantastic episodes! So many genres! I’ll specifically rec 1.03 Just Wait For Dawn (apocalypic with great characters), 2.07 Spring Will Bloom (what if. a guided meditation but terrifying?), 3.06 Vibestown And The End Of The World (found family queer folk in a band have to save the world), 4.1 Train Of Thought (noir-ish with a literally omniscient narrator), and 4.2 Tall Order (a bunch of himbos try to pull off a heist). 

The Antique Shop - Really great single-narrator podcast by Dr. Ghostly Thistle following Maya, a college student who starts to work as a mysterious antique shop. It features great folklore (specifically Scottish folklore) elements and also FRIENDSHIP. Maya is aroace and also sometimes stupid and also seems to be having a bit of a corruption arc, and I love her.

Unknown 9: Out Of Sight - In-world podcast following Blake and his producer (AND BEST FRIEND) Lazari. If you say something weird or supernatural happened, they will believe you. They will also probably come check it out for themselves. Featuring such things as a hole that is just too deep, ride or die friendship, and pizza. 

Kane & Feels - Lucifer Kane and Brutus Feels, paranormal investigators. These two chaotic, absolutely insane, and fantastic. Great use of narration with both characters alternating narrating. They are buddies, your honor. Horror! Weird things! Dream logic! If it’s a demon, Feels will probably punch it. The little one helps, and the big one makes tea. 

💜 Favorite platonic relationship

SAMMY STEVENS AND BEN ARNOLD ARE MY EVERYTHING. I would simply do anything for them and love them dearly. Best friends. Partners. Brothers. Sammy and Ben own my whole heart. (King Falls AM)

🎶 Favorite theme song

Hmmm hard to say! There are so many good ones.

The Magnus Archives theme is iconic and perfectly sets the mood and is beautiful. 

Just listening to the King Falls AM theme is enough to make me do an instant relisten.

And the Woe.Begone theme is fantastic as well!

(ask game)

#i got an ask! #ask game #podcasts #pod rec #pod recs #Podcast Recommendations #24 hour hubris #hubris #the antique shop #the antique shop pod #unknown 9: out of sight #kane and feels #king falls am #kfam #the magnus archives #tma #woe.begone #w.bg

[sloane-baker]

The Doe Eyed Brat || The Coquette || Girl of Your Dreams

Name: Sloane T. Baker

Nicknames: Baker (hockey buds), Lo

DOB: 11/11/1991, Age 28 (Scorpio)

Queer, she/her

Origin: Toronto, Ontario

5'3, petite, athletic build - ♥️ on side of right wrist

Occupation: Bartender @ Nightingale 

relationship status: single, uncollared

D/s role: Submissive, brat

Theme song: Lolita, Lana Del Rey

Born and raised in the suburbs of Toronto, ON

Quiet and a bit reserved as a child, though found her footing socially in school once she found a friend group in gymnastics, hockey, and cheer

Incredibly intelligent; enjoys studying others and the human psyche - double masters degree in sociology + psychology from University of Toronto

A decorated gymnast and competitive cheerleader at University of Toronto 

has never agreed with her submissive role and bratting tends to be more of a defiant act of rebellion than playful teasing, especially against male dominants

Genuinely believes she should have been a switch/unmarked

Started bartending during university to make some money, stayed for the tips and the fact that she can still put her degrees to work behind the bar (people tend to open up more when they’re drinking, big surprise)

Strong ego - not quite a narcissist, just knows her own worth

Spends most of her free time at the gym - want to play roller hockey or ice hockey? give Sloane a shout, she’s a beaut with the puck! 

Ride or die loyalty - once you’re properly acquainted and on Sloane’s good side, she’s one of the best friends you could possibly have

Loves a bit of trouble, and definitely can’t promise to steer clear of gossip or drama

Loves to spend Sunday mornings in bed with a good book or crossword puzzle and tea

Surprisingly sweet when you get past the pain-in-the-ass exterior

Doesn’t believe in the expectation that the partner she marries needs to be a dominant - she’d rather be sick and in love than marry for any other reason.

Wanted Connections:

SUGAR DADDY: Sure, Sloane's a submissive, but she's still a princess. She doesn't believe in traditional D/s dynamics, regardless of what she's been taught and what's expected of her by society. Someone who wants to tell her how pretty she is and buy her everything she wants if she's willing to be their arm candy for a little bit? Sure, she can subscribe to that.

RIDE OR DIE: Someone who would take a bullet for her is quite possibly the highest form of compliment to Sloane. Platonic or romantic or somewhere in between.

POWER PLAYER: Sloane loves a good power play match. She looks sweeter than sugar, but she loves to test patience and boundaries. A dominant or switch who can handle her pushback might just earn her undying respect and loyalty.

LOVERS WANTED: This doesn't have to be a dominant - she doesn't mind playing with other submissives or switches. Consider Sloane a bit of a beta - she's certainly not an omega, but not an alpha, either. She's down to smack an omega type submissive around for her own enjoyment. She thinks her DNA got her coding wrong - she definitely should have been a switch, regardless of how much she prefers being submissive for those who actually deserve it.

DOMINANT: This person will have to earn Sloane's absolute loyalty and respect, but once they do, she'd be happy to be collared. Someone who can brat tame, degrade, but also praise her for being the best baby when she does do what's expected of her. This person is the reason she'd reconsider covering her ♥️  on her wrist.

JUST FRIENDS: We all need friends. Sloane loves to hit the gym, loves to volunteer, loves social activism. Wanna go for a hike? Sloane will bring a picnic. Wanna gossip? Sloane's a call away. As much of a brat as she is, she's an amazing friend.

XTRA SPICY PLOTS (bring em all, no limit): with Sloane's opinions on the D/s roles of society, it's unsurprising that she might go against what is expected of her. Staying sick to be with another submissive or a switch? Why not? 1/???

#sc.intro #//why did it take me forever to post this lmfao

[theboywhocriedbooks]

Dreadnought by April Daniels (#1)

[Goodreads]

Until Dreadnought fell out of the sky and died right in front of her, Danny was trying to keep people from finding out she’s transgender. But before he expired, Dreadnought passed his mantle to her, and those secondhand superpowers transformed Danny’s body into what she’s always thought it should be. Now there’s no hiding that she’s a girl. It should be the happiest time of her life, but Danny’s first weeks finally living in a body that fits her are more difficult and complicated than she could have imagined. Between her father’s dangerous obsession with “curing” her girlhood, her best friend suddenly acting like he’s entitled to date her, and her fellow superheroes arguing over her place in their ranks, Danny feels like she’s in over her head. She doesn’t have much time to adjust. Dreadnought’s murderer—a cyborg named Utopia—still haunts the streets of New Port City, threatening destruction. If Danny can’t sort through the confusion of coming out, master her powers, and stop Utopia in time, humanity faces extinction. 

Thoughts:

This was so good! I think I am actually a little in shock at how much I enjoyed it because I thought it would be good but I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was. The fact that it’s a superhero book about a trans lesbian teenager by a trans author is wild enough. I think it was just very well developed, so many aspects of the story were pretty fleshed out and unique in a way I wasn’t exactly expecting for a seemingly cheesy superhero story with a twist. It was a lot more than that, fulling discussing queer themes specifically in regards to being trans and the many things that comes with being a trans teen girl. Even then, Danny is a trans lesbian with new superpowers but there are many different sides of her shown. She was painted as a strong character but she was shown struggling and dealing with people/events around her. She cried and she kicked ass. I really loved the whole superhero aspect of the story, and I also really obviously loved the character Calamity. This book was a wild ride and I am so excited that it’s getting a sequel soon so you better get your hands on this one if you haven’t already! Especially because I am about to go on about it in spoiler-y detail below:

I really enjoyed Danny’s story. Her struggles in terms of trans things were rough. Her family’s reaction was bad because its your family and you want them to support you, the friend’s reaction was also bad though because you can’t choose your family but you can hope your chosen friend supports you. That wasn’t the case. And then to add on it all, there were super people who didn’t support her and were transphobic, of all people you would want them to understand being different and to accept you but nope. So when people did treat her right, did respect her pronouns, I was so very happy.

Speaking from a cis pov, I thought it seemed pretty authentic to trans experiences I’ve read and heard about. The interesting thing was that this aspect of the story was pretty big but in a way it also wasn’t? It was an underlining important aspect but Danny becoming the superhero she didn’t expect to be was the focal of this story. The negative responses she got were other peoples personal problems because she knew who she was and didn’t let anyone tell her otherwise.  

Calamity was a cute character, I’m really interested in knowing if she’s queer. I would not say no to a Calamity and Dreadnought love story tbh! But I would understand and also appreciate a platonic relationship between the two. That would also be very impactful, them just being in the book is impactful enough honestly. I really liked the other characters as well but they aren’t really shown that much in depth aside from maybe Doc Impossible, who I really loved. I think her character was also very important to the story as being someone who is supportive of Danny. I’m also glad she didnt die like a few of the other superheroes. I’m really bummed about the winged lady but she will probably maybe come back reincarnated eventually?? who knows. I’m looking forward to more development of the characters aside from Danny.

The family was an a rough plot line, as it is often times for queer, specifically trans, youth. I thought we would get at least the “mom is coming around/secretly supportive” theme but nope, they’re both pretty ignorant and unwilling to be educated. That was really difficult but I enjoyed seeing Danny feel empowered despite that. I also really was upset to see that the witch type superhero was a transphobic bitch as well, mainly because I love witches so was immediately excited by her name but also because I wanted the superhero’s to be supportive off the bat. That’s just wishful thinking I guess, as well as unrealistic. I’m interested in seeing where that all goes.

Overall I really loved this book! The villain was interesting, and her goals were interesting as well. The twist with Doc Impossible was unexpected but I loved it. I am really excited to see where the story goes because it was very good but also because how important it is. I haven’t seen toooooo many people talking about it but I think more people should. The ending with Danny telling the world that she is a trans lesbian was so empowering, I thought. I really loved the way she went about it and I really just loved the fact that she did that despite not owing anyone that information. Can’t wait to read the 2nd book!

#i loved it! trans lesbian superhero? super great #dreadnought #april daniels #trans lit #queer lit #review #2017