#why can’t us queer men have representation as well | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

actualhumantrashcan · 6 months

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I can understand a silly workplace comedy about pirates not being everyone’s jam but I really can’t understand the amount of queer people I see hating on ofmd.

like for one thing most of the debates turn into gatekeeping queerness (which I think has a lot more to do with the ages of the main couples than actual concerns about authentic representation but that’s another post) and the rest are just hateful because it doesn’t directly name or label it’s queer characters but like why do we need that at this point?? listen I love heartstopper with all my heart but it is exhausting to watch them explain queer identities sometimes (even though I do think it’s super useful for younger audiences I’m just not the target demographic!) and ofmd is an explicit, violent, adult show that doesn’t NEED to explain it’s character’s identities.

queer people past their 30’s are usually very well aware of their queerness and have had (hopefully) plenty of time to go through the arc of discovering that. so why would we need to see Stede or Lucius or Ed going through turmoil because they’re attracted to men when they have already come to terms with that at this point in their lives?? i for one find it so fucking refreshing to watch a show where the characters being queer is not their main arc, they just ARE queer and life is still happening to and around them. maybe that’s just the millennial gay in me talking, but it gets emotionally exhaustive to watch show after show where the queer character’s arc is overcoming homophobia. yes obviously homophobia still exists and yes obviously if ofmd was trying to be historically accurate these characters would be living in a very dangerous time to be queer but it isn’t trying to be accurate!! it’s trying to be fun and diverse and kind!!

and also, they aren’t pretending homophobia doesn’t exist!! it’s just addressed in a different way. Stede was emotionally abused by his father for his entire life for being “soft” and then was chased down by his homophobic childhood bullies, one of which explicitly told him that he “defiled” the great pirate Blackbeard by simply falling in love with the man behind that name. Meanwhile Ed was forced into the world of piracy at a young age and developed the entire persona of Blackbeard (who fits the toxic, violent masculine stereotype of the time) to hide the fact that he’s actually an incredibly sensitive and deeply queer man! and is told multiple times by male figures in his life that sex with other men is fine but it is absolutely unacceptable to be in love with a man. both of their arcs contain homophobic rhetoric that is still present in society today, but its never presented as a problem that they have to wrestle with. they don’t have to come to terms with what it means to love each other, they just have to overcome some trials that go along with the complicated lives they both lead as a pirate and former aristocrat. the homophobia in ofmd is woven into the backstory of each and every character, it shapes them into the people they are at the beginning of the show when all of their walls are up and they are performing the “pirate” roles they are supposed to play. and then we get to see them grow and realize that they are in a safe space, part of a community not just on the ship itself but in the life of piracy (which in the show is pretty much explicitly an allegory for queer lifestyles.)

anyway, I could rant about this all day but just truly why do we have to tear people down for enjoying something? why do we have to find reasons to hate something so obviously created with sensitivity to it’s queer audience and with so much queer joy? if historically inaccurate gay pirates going on silly adventures and falling in love are not your thing, fine! but perhaps just let people enjoy things and find your own things to enjoy.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #our flag means gay

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yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy · 7 days

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I want to strangle people like this with black licorice vines

I need straights and gays to wake up and realize that this narrative we’ve had for the past near century that “the majority of people in the LGBT community are Gay/Lesbian“ is a lie. Most people are Bi/Pan. We’ve always been the majority, but even despite efforts by sexologists to introduce nuance into the conversations of flexible sexuality, the straights and the gay/lesbian community have consistently enforced the existence of an either-or binary of Homo | Hetero which has led to the false impression that Bisexuality is extremely anomalous even within the ‘anomalous phenomenon of queerness’. It isn’t, never has been, y’all were simply brainwashed just like straight people by rigid Western conceptualizations of gender and sexuality.

There being no monosexual (attracted to only one gender) companions is NOT ERASURE. Erasure is lying, censoring, ignoring, or attempting to re-explain the clear present evidence of someone’s identity. The companions are Bisexual/Pansexual from the jump, therefore there is nothing exclusively homosexual to erase. There is nothing in the game that indicates anything but perhaps a historical preference toward one gender over the other (i.e. Astarion making more observational comments about men than women that I’ve noticed) or known dating history (i.e. Gale’s relationship with Mystra).

I’m sorry if you want characters to be exactly Gay or exactly Straight, but when people complain about Bi/Pansexuality in media it stinks of the arguments once made by gay and lesbian activists until very recently that “Bisexuality is a political copout to appease the straights”, “Bisexuality is a lack of commitment to one side.” It’s the understandable fear that if Bisexuality is made more visible, then straight people will even more insistently weaponize our existence against gays and lesbians and argue “Well these queers can have relationships with the opposite sex, so why can’t you?” It’s not our fault as Bisexuals if the hegemony uses us as a weapon against our community without our consent, just like it’s not drag queens’ fault when the cishets use them to paint gay people as deviants.

Not only that but this insistence on these characters as being gay or lesbian is strictly due to this worship of gay/lesbian archetypes which are really just stereotypes. “Minthara is a lesbian because she hates men” is not groundbreaking girlboss empowering representation for lesbians, I don’t care what your little pink ribbon emoji handle has to say about it. “Astarion is gay because he’s flamboyant” wait until I introduce you to Lord Byron and Bi men who have freed themselves from the shackles of toxic masculinity. “Karlach is a lesbian because of that haircut and Mommy” Karlach is Karlach. She likes cock and cunt.

You can headcanon that these characters have a preference. You can even headcanon they are 99.99% into one gender and 0.01% into another. But no matter how many 9s you tack onto that .99% it’s still gonna be less than 100%. They’re still canonically Bi. Sorry that’s just how it is. That’s the reality.

#bg3 #twitter #shit talking #astarion #minthara #karlach

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gottagobackintime · 1 year

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I find it fascinating to witness the straight audience of any media not being able to pick up what the makers of the movie/show puts down.

It’s like when people reacted to the “You wear fine things well” scene in Our Flag Means Death with “aw, they’re such good friends” whereas the queer audience went “omg, this is happening”. We all had access to the same scene, we’d all watched the build up to that scene but the straight audience wrongly read it as friends/straight whereas the queer audience had suspected they were building up to a romance but this was the confirmation. Even the creator of the show was baffled that people were surprised that Ed and Stede fell in love. Because he thought they had made it obvious.

And as I said, we, the queer audience picked up on it. And I feel like the same thing is happening with Ted Lasso. Do I know that Ted and Trent will get together? No, I am unfortunately not a writer on Ted Lasso. But you can’t deny that there are clues pointing to it. But the straight audience barely pick up the fact that Ted and Trent like each other, be that in a platonic way or romantic way. I’ve seen several reactions to the last episode of season 2 and ONE of them included the scene where Ted reacts to Trent not being in the press room. All of them severely cut down the scene in the parking lot. One of the scenes most of us Ted/Trent truthers point to as a huge piece of evidence for it going canon. The parallel of them meeting in an empty parking lot, just like Ted and his ex-wife and Roy and Keeley. But because Ted and Trent are both men it couldn’t possibly mean anything. And Ted has an ex-wife and a kid so he can’t possibly be into men, as if there is no such thing as being bisexual. “But I’m pretty sure Trent has a family, he has a kid right?” So? He could be divorced, we also have no idea if his daughter has another dad or a mum. And the same thing applies to him, it doesn’t mean he can’t be into men (take also into account all of James Lance’s interviews, and his choice of shirt in one of them, friend of Dorothy anyone? He's the captain of this ship, we're just along for the ride tbh.)

Then we have the wonderful “I’m so not homophobic, in fact, you are homophobic because you think Ted is gay just because he likes musicals and has ‘feminine’ traits” um no… it’s the fact that he kind of acts in a way that an ally wouldn't. Yeah, he called himself an ally in that one episode. But every single person who is now out as queer who at one point considered themselves an ally because "I’m not one of them but I sure think they're neat" raise a hand 🖐️ (been there, done that. Was very into queer things before I realised I myself am one of them). What it always comes down to is "it's pandering", "it's tokenism" (having the main character on the show be queer wouldn't be fucking tokenism), "not everything has to be gay", "why can't men just be friends, there is a severe lack of male friendships on tv". And like the last one makes me go??? There are a MILLION friendships between men on TV. There are even multiple friendships between men in Ted Lasso. Beard and Ted, Ted and Higgins, Ted and Roy, the himbos and so on. Having Ted and Trent become a couple wouldn't really change anything because there are still friendships between men. They also claim that Ted is needed as the "straight without toxic masculinity" representation. As if Beard isn't right there. The man who has no problem going to an immersive show about the menstrual cycle. Has no problem with shrieking when he's surprised and so on.

I also like that if we'd get Ted and Trent together, we'd get two middle aged queer dads. Which isn't that common. It's not even super common to see people realising they're queer late in life on TV, and yet it happens every day. Because let's face it, most queer men on TV kind of look like Colin, and I don't mean that as a bad thing. And I'm looking forward to his storyline. But it's also nice seeing middle aged or old people finding themselves and being allowed to be who they are (see Ed and Stede from OFMD). Also would enjoy seeing people lose their minds when they realise they've been fooled this entire time. It'll be like Black Sails all over again.

I do not have any doubts about the fact that, had Trent or Ted been a woman and they saw Trent give up his career because of Ted's influence, they sure as hell wouldn't protest people thinking they'd become a couple. But because it's two men it's just delusional for some reason (homophobia).

What I'm saying is, it's clear that the straight audience has a hard time picking up subtext and clues that the makers are planting. Because they've never had to do that. Because they are always clearly represented. They don't have to look for minor side characters and hope that they might be queer. Because the main character is straight and most of the supporting cast too. When you've grown up with a lack of representation or with representation that is meant to be subtext, you'll learn to pick up on it. And you do look at media differently. I just wish that the straight audience could listen to us for once, without getting defensive and dancing around the fact that they are uncomfortable relating to a character that turned out to be queer.

#tedependent #ted lasso #trent crimm #there are so many times where I'm watching something and I go... hold on that is... is that a queer character... yes it must be #and then they do something small that confirms it and I'm like I fucking knew it!#I have 0 gaydar in real life but when it comes to media I tend to pick up on it #I wish that all straight people would learn about the way queer people have been represented throughout history #so that they might be able to understand why we have to look for subtext even today #hell we got ''representation'' in star wars and beauty and the beast and it was blink and you'll miss it #and they wonder why we have to make everything gay??#because we want to be represented in a show that isn't strictly about being queer #yes it's nice with a ''everyone is queer'' kind of show #but it's also nice to be seen in a mainstream show that is loved by not just a queer audience but also a straight audience #nicole watches stuff

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arliedraws · 3 months

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Reminder, everyone, that queerness is not a personality trait. It can be an essential part of your identity and representation fucking matters, but your personality does NOT define your gender or sexuality.

The point of this post is not to call anyone out in particular for perpetuating harmful stereotypes about queerness/gender, but to ask people to be more reflective about why we tend to base our understanding of queerness in particular around stereotypical ideas of femininity and masculinity. Hypermasculinity harms all of us. If you are a trans woman, there is no RIGHT/CORRECT way to be a woman. If you are a trans man, you should NOT feel like you are less of a man because you embrace qualities our heteronormative society deems “feminine.” Obviously, right? Well, if you were to observe fandom and shipping dynamics, these values become…murky.

I say this out of the kindness of my heart and with all the love in the world, but folks gotta be more careful when they say, “I can’t believe people think THIS character is straight!!!!” with 100% sincerity particularly regarding a narrative where the author very obviously did not intend to make characters gay. (You’re excused if you say it because you’re just passionate and having a good time and I respect you for that.)

I am bothered by these statements because…upon what exactly are you basing this argument? The problem is, because the author (derogatory) did not intend for people to interpret particular characters as gay/queer, there is a strong likelihood this statement is based on stereotypical ideas of what queerness looks like. “He is dramatic/emotional” is…uh…not a good reason to think someone is gay. A man with stereotypical feminine qualities does not necessarily mean they are gay. A woman with traits associated with hypermasculinity does not necessarily mean they are gay.

Do I think Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks are gay? YES. Do I think Tonks could probably be gender fluid? Yes! Do I adamantly believe that Sirius is a bisexual semi-aro superstar? Also very much Yes. So it’s not like I don’t have opinions or feelings about this. However, there is SO MUCH HARM in believing that men who embrace softness, beauty, and vulnerability MUST be queer. Okay, you say. But in MY mlm ship, one guy is SUPER DUPER masculine and the other one is feminine. Right. That’s part of my point. Hypermasculinity is so pervasive even in queer spaces that ships are often reduced to “this is the top/masculine person in the relationship, and this is the bottom/feminine person.” So…uhhhh…what does this sound like?

Yesterday, I had a conversation with my students (teenagers) to explain why “she wears the pants in the relationship” is an extremely harmful idea. I asked them, “Okay, so what does that mean when you say that?” Students responded that it meant that the woman was the “boss” in her heterosexual relationship—that she was the controlling one.

“So when you say ‘she wears THE pants,’ are you suggesting that one person wears the ‘traditionally masculine’ article of clothing and the other should wear the traditionally ‘feminine’ article of clothing?” I prompted. They could see where I was going with this. So I went on, “Think about what we’re insinuating here. We’re saying that men are leaders—or at least, they SHOULD be. Masculinity is being a leader, and femininity is being a follower. Making a snide remark that ‘she wears the pants’ suggests that she is NOT assuming proper gender roles and it might strike some of us as funny. But do we see the problem with this? What does that sound like to you? And for that matter, should ANY partnership be so unbalanced that ONE person controls it?”

Kids were shaking their heads, but one student was really troubled by this. “But in every relationship, there’s got to be the person in charge and the person who is just…” He didn’t really finish the sentence. I’m pleased to say that most of my students immediately recognized the glaring issue with this. Most of the class shot this kiddo very horrified looks, and he was so shocked that people weren’t on his side (goodhearted kid, but clearly some messed up gender roles going on at his house). I let them discuss a bit more and finished with, “Be reflective in your relationships, friends. Dynamics like this can sometimes point to power imbalances—and generally, people shouldn’t feel inferior in their partnerships.”

Fandom is SO LIKE THIS. We equate personality with sexuality and gender so hard!!!! We try to inject hypermasculinity into queer spaces SO HARD. At some point, your desire to be ‘subversive’ just turns into toxic heteronormativity. When you make Remus hypermasculine and Sirius hyperfeminine because it “just feels right” - consider WHY this feels right to you when there really is not a lot in canon that points to these things. Why does it feel right to you that one person should “be a top” and one should “be a bottom”? This is not to say this is ILLEGAL or you shouldn’t make Sirius feminine—it’s just…think about the underlying message here when it’s in contrast to very very masculine Remus.

My point here is NOT “stop making characters gay/feminine!!!” My point is, hell yeah, the characters who are canonically straight could be gay, but also I really recommend avoiding basing this on stereotypes. “I can’t believe people think this overly dramatic/emotional/fashionable/soft man is straight!” Unpack that. Really think about it. What are you really saying? Just…be reflective, folks. You are not immune to the heteronormative agenda.

TL;DR // softness, aggressiveness, beauty, love, gentleness, competitiveness, etc. belong to everyone, every gender, every sexuality.

#taking a bit of a risk with this #this is coming from someone who is uhhhh heavily into fucked up ships #i love fucked up dynamics #it’s hot #i am personally into playing with power dynamics in a kink way #but not in my regular life #disclaimer #you can do whatever you want #whatever floats your boat #but be aware of spreading harmful stereotypes #don’t just reinvent toxic heteronormativity lol

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matthew-novak · 1 year

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Hello! As I have mentioned before, I am writing my thesis on X-Men comics, and a big part of what I focus on, is how representation in media, in this case more specifically comics, but mainly just the general media, matters to people of a minority group. To elaborate, how seeing yourself portrayed in a positive way in those kind of medias, effects the individual.

So, in that regard, I am looking for people from different minority groups, who would be willing to answer and fill out a very simple array of questions about this subject.

I can’t promise that I’ll include every answer in my thesis, but it would sure help me a lot if a couple of people would take the time to answer!

I won’t need you full name or age if your not comfortable with that. And if there are questions you don’t feel comfortable answering, then that is totally fine as well and you can easily just skip them.

If you, for example don’t agree that representation matters, don’t let that discourage you from answering, as I’m willing to accept everyone’s perspective. But my main focus is, as before mentioned, why representation matters for us.

I myself, am a queer man, but my opinions and perspective is not enough evidence alone.

So if you yourself want to answer or know someone else who could be interested, please share it with them, and I thank you in advance for your help!

Please please please share! 🙏🏻

-Matthew

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barbiegirldream · 2 years

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It can’t be overstated that queerbaiting allegations directed at Dream are apart of one of the most vile and long standing homophobic harassment campaigns I have ever seen. And I need to break it down because it’s genuinely insane.

Queerbaiting is defined as “a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBT representation.” The reason hinting at but never following through on queer representation in fiction is problematic is it invites in queer audiences and then treats them like they are stupid and dumb and unwelcome for their queer readings of the content. It is not the act of flirting between characters that is harmful but the treatment of real people that comes from the studios who are gaslighting them.

Dream and George could never be queerbaiting because they are real people who do not market their friendship and have never once tried to convince anyone they are dating. There has never been harm done intentional or unintentional to queer people for engaging with DNF because Dream and George are not corporate entities trying to use queer people. They’re young men who have with no direct intentions formed a large community of young queer people. It is clear that in the start Dream and George expected young boys to be fans of them but they got so much more. And they are welcoming and kind and always try to give the most support they can to their incredibly diverse audience.

Furthermore real people can never be representation in the same capacity as a fictional character because fictional characters are moldable and shapeable to be as all encompassing as possible. Expecting a real person to represent anyone other than themselves is setting them up for harassment and failure. As well it is dangerous as bigots are often trying to establish a monolith of how ‘those people are.’

Now all of this established one can’t help but be confused as to why Dream alone is attacked for his flirty nature. Dream is the only one in the entirety of his very flirty friend group to face any repercussions for ‘queerbaiting’. Dream is also one of the few (openly) non straight members of his entire friend group.

People who are inherently uncomfortable with seeing a man express affection and desire for other men are looking for a way to make him stop. The purity culture and respectability politics mindset is an immediate giveaway for a bigot though people still spout off these rhetorics at Dream. But queerbaiting that’s a fun new terms all the baby liberals know is a negative word. It also is not immediately obvious in meaning and why look anything up if a twitter thread can tell you.

So queerbaiting what can they say it means? Well to them baiting someone into thinking you are queer. How do you do that? You flirt with people of the same gender implying you have some same sex attraction to them. Why is this bad? No need to explain everyone knows queerbaiting is bad and we’re not explaining why if you don’t get it you hate gay people.

Online spaces are so caught in always doing the right thing and saying the right thing they don’t even stop to realize what they are saying. Because what so many so called progressives are arguing is that it is fundamentally wrong for a young man to express any same sex attraction with his friends because someone might think he’s queer and that’s bad. Like that is just homophobia.

None of this is to get into the fact that homosociality becoming normalized by heterosexual people is proven to lower gay panic. Gay panic as in thinking someone is gay and lashing out up to the extent of murder and arguing that you panicked in the face of homosexuality. This defense is something people have used in a court of law to defend their homophobia. But if it becomes more normal for men to express their love for other men without fear of being called gay it makes the world safer for queer people.

We have somehow looped so far around in queer theory in the mainstream that people are completely seriously arguing that the potential of being perceived as queer or in a queer relationship is inherently bad.

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panickinganakin · 10 months

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stepping stones to hell ch. 3 (ronance fic)

this is chapter 3 of an ongoing fic, you can find all previous chapters here.

word count: 2,310

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After soundcheck Robin made her way back to the dressing room areas. She needed to drink water and ice her wrists with what little time she had left. She knocked on the first dressing room door, hoping Steve would be inside.

“Come in,” she had heard his voice from the other side.

Relief flooded through her just at the sound of her best friend's voice. She pushed the door open and groaned. As she shuffled into the room, Eddie was already holding a bottle of water out for her. She grabbed it thankfully and plopped down on the couch next to Steve. “Well, how’d it go?” He asked.

Robin waited until she had drunk almost half the water before answering. Trying to decide what to say. “It went well. I wasn’t expecting Nancy Wheeler to be there. Why didn’t you say that?”

“Well, I just know tensions used to be high between the two of you. I was afraid you might turn the offer down had I told you beforehand.”

Robin cocked an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I’ve always liked Nancy. Sure, we may have not been compatible friends back in the day but.. I’ve always respected her as a person and not to mention she’s a hell of a writer.”

Eddie lifted his water, “Cheers to that.”

“It was nice though. Nancy asked me questions that mattered and that were centered around what I had to offer to men. It was a really good environment. I fear the pictures might look… Well, I don’t know.” She looked in the large mirror across from them. The lipstick didn’t look bad. She didn’t look bad. “Okay, fine. I look great. But, I just feel like posing is hard. I probably look like a stiff board.”

Steve laughed then patted Robin’s knee. Robin’s thoughts drifted back to the last question Nancy had asked her. “What do you guys think about me coming out?”

Steve tilted his head but it was Eddie who spoke first, “To who?”

“Like everyone?”

Robin could feel her cheeks heating, “It was just an idea. I just thought maybe,” she started but paused to hear any protests. But they both were silent and listening closely. “Well, you know the point of this is to like, be a role model right? Women for women and such. It’s important for young girls and women to have women in all industries they can look up to.”

“Okay, go on,” Steve encouraged.

“But, what about queer women? Like sure there’s representation with me doing an article cursing the patriarchy but what about what coming out could do? I just think of someone who was like me. Young, confused and just wanting someone to look to. I just-” she choked. Why was it so hard to say? “I just think coming out could give hope to people out there. Not just gay women, but anyone in our community. I’m just afraid of opinions.”

“Opinions of who? We already know your gay, babes,” Eddie said.

“Well, what about Nancy? Will she even publish a story focused on a gay woman?”

Robin bit her nail but Steve smacked her hand away from her mouth. “We just painted those. But, no? Why would Nancy care?”

“Well, because, well-” But Robin had nothing to add to that. Of course an all woman magazine would be progressive.

“I think you’re more scared of yourself than anyone. Why?” Eddie asked.

Robin rolled her eyes. She hated when Eddie spoke deeply and started making sense. “I’m not scared.”

“Really? You’ve only ever had one girlfriend and you wouldn't even bring her on a double date.”

Robin threw up a hand, Steve had no right to bring that up. “I was young! I’ve been busy. I’m not dating because I don’t want to. I just can’t right now. I’m focusing on this band, obviously.”

Eddie and Steve exchanged a silent look and Robin groaned. She hated when they spoke with their minds. “Nevermind, just forget it.”

She stood up and grabbed an extra water. Before she made it to the door Steve stopped her, “Robs. You know we are proud of you no matter what. We will always support you and stand behind your decision. You can come out in this article or months down the road. Don’t ever ask us how you should do it. We are standing behind you no matter how.”

Robin’s chin quivered and she nodded, “I know that. I love you guys and I’m very thankful for you both. I’ll think about it. Maybe I’ll know after the show.”

Robin followed the hall down to where she knew dressing room ‘C’ was located. She tapped on the door twice and pushed it open before hearing a response. Gareth was sitting on the sofa, tapping drumsticks against a practice pad. He looked up and smiled, “Oh hey, Bubs. How did the interview go?”

Robin took a seat beside Gareth and sighed dramatically. She laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her. She couldn’t remember when Gareth had given her the nickname but it had been years of him using it. Their practice sessions had led to them becoming very close. He was practically her best friend after Steve. “It wasn’t bad, was it?”

“No, no. It was fine! Nancy Wheeler was actually the person interviewing me.”

“At least you knew someone. Did they take photos?”

Robin nodded, “They did. I felt sort of silly alone but I think it’ll be okay. The work they’re doing is great.”

“That’s good, I know how much it means to you.”

That was true. Robin was very grateful for all of her bandmates. On more than one occasion they had stood with her, signs held high at different protests. Not only gender equality protests but also LGBT protests. “I think it’s going to be good. Nancy is a phenomenal writer.”

“One of the best,” he agreed. Robin notes his silence and he knew he was thinking of her article she wrote for Eddie. Truly she deserved a large portion of credit when it came to Eddie’s name being cleared.

The door swung open quickly and Nancy’s head popped in. Her eyes went big, “Oh, I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I just missed something but,” Nancy looked down at her notes, her brows furrowing. “Uhm, I’ll just find you after the show.”

She turned and shut the door behind before Gareth or Robin could respond. “That was weird. Maybe go talk to her?” He suggested.

Robin debated it for a moment then stood up, letting out a small sigh. She exited the room and saw Nancy standing at the end of the hallway. She held the notepad in her hands but was looking straight forward at the wall. “Uh, Nancy? What did you miss?”

“Oh! Oh, uhm,” she paused. She looked down at the notes and sighed, “Nevermind. I had read it wrong, I thought I missed half of the answer to the growing up question but I drew an arrow to the margin and for some reason I missed that.” She inhaled, “Sorry I stormed in. I didn’t mean to interrupt your privacy. Steve just told me where to find you and,” she shook her head then smiled. “Please tell Gareth I’m sorry.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. Nancy was acting like she had walked in on something scandalous. “Oookay. It’s not like either of us were offended. He was just asking me about the interview.” Robin took another step toward Nancy, “You said you’re going to stay for the show?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah! Steve said it was fine and I wanted to take some notes to maybe have some stuff to fluff up your article. Is that okay?”

“Do whatever you want,” Robin gave a smile then thought again about what she had discussed with Steve and Eddie. “How long does it take to run an article?”

“Well, we’re hoping we get this one bumped to the issue that drops in two weeks but it really depends on the printers. It may be next month's issue.”

“Okay, cool. Does that mean we could change some things around?”

Nancy raised an eyebrow, tucking her notepad under her arm. “Like what?” She smoothed her shirt down and Robin noticed now she was wearing a short gray skirt, almost the color of her shorts. “Was there something you didn’t like?”

“Oh, no! Everything was great! I just feel like I could have answered one of the questions differently. You know,” Robin paused to take a breath. Her chest felt funny as the internal debate with herself started again. What would the outcome of this be? Would it have the impact she thought? And why did she feel the need to have validation? “Maybe I’m just overthinking stuff. Everything was great.”

Robin rocked back on her heels and Nancy looked at her curiously. She needed to change the subject so she clapped her hands together. “Have you ever been onstage before a show? The doors open soon but we have enough time to take a tour. Would you be interested?”

Nancy’s face cracked into a smile and she nodded, “Yes! That would be perfect!”

“Come on,” Robin motioned for Nancy to follow her.

They walked through the hall staying silent, Robin was unsure of what to say. It was nice though, she has to admit. Being around someone from her past and a woman at that.

As they approached the black curtains that separated them from the stage Robin quickened her step to go and hold them open for Nancy.

Nancy stepped out on the stage slowly with Robin following. She turned taking in the whole venue. “Holy shit,” she said almost breathlessly. “It always seems so big when you’re out in the crowd but seeing it from this angle?”

Robin watched Nancy as she stepped towards the middle of the stage. With the overhanging light above, Robin could see the colors she had added to her hair better. There were blonde streaks but also reddish brown ones. “This many people? All around America? Incredible.”

The room had an upper balcony seating with back of house seating in the back as well. The pit stretched to the seats in the back making the venue able to accommodate nearly five thousand people. Tonight was a sold out show. One of the largest they’ve played.

Robin took her usual seat at the drum kit, “London. Mexico. Brazil. We’ve been a little bit of everywhere now.”

Nancy shook her head as she turned to look at Robin. “That’s so crazy. It seems like just yesterday we were still in Hawkins. Now you’re on planes, touring the world.”

“Plans suck. The worst. I have to be medicated just to step on one.”

Nancy chuckled, “Really? I don’t think they’re that bad. I kind of like being that high up. It’s nice looking down at the world.”

Robin shook her head, “You’re bonkers. I can’t even look out the window when I’m on one.”

She laughed softly before sitting at the edge of the platform Robin’s drums were on. She stared out at the empty room for a long moment before Robin saw her shoulders lift in a shrug. “I’m really proud of you and the rest of the guys. It’s so crazy, don’t you think?” She turned to look at Robin and the light caught the glitter in her eyeshadow, “You guys started playing music and now you’re doing it. You’re living out people’s dreams.”

Robin nodded, “You are too. I mean, you always wanted to write, right? And I mean, all those times you were dismissed and made to be a secretary? Now look at you! You own your own magazine and employee only women. That’s so fucking bad ass.”

Nancy’s cheeks turned pink and she nodded, “I think we both turned out pretty badass.”

“Doors in five!” A security guard shouted toward the stage from the back of the room.

Robin gave a thumbs up, hopping off the platform. She offered a hand to Nancy to help her up. Nancy pulled herself using Robin for support. “Thanks for showing me this. It was super neat.”

“Are you going to watch to watch the show from side stage?” Robin led them back behind the curtain and towards the dressing room areas once again.

“Well, I actually got Steve to agree to an all access pass. I’m going to watch from the barricade.”

“Nancy Wheeler,” Robin said in sort of shocked but delightful tone. “I did not take tour for a barricade kinda girl.”

Nancy made a snorting noise, “Okay, one thing about me? I love live shows. Another thing? Stepping Stones to Hell? Favorite song ever.”

Robin felt a small bulb of pride fill her chest. Gareth had actually written that song with Eddie. It was her favorite to play because she had an extended drum solo while the rest of the group paused for water. “Well, Wheeler, that just happens to be the best song we play live.”

The two them entered a room where there were more snacks and refreshments. They both took a water then sat down across from one another at a table. “Are you supposed to have favorites? Isn’t that biased?”

“I think you’ll know why after you see it tonight.”

“Alright then, looking forward to it.”

“As fun as this has been, if you want barricade you better be getting down there. It’s going to fill in quick once the doors open.”

She stood, finishing off her water then bowing her head slightly. “Thank you for the advice. Im looking forward to your show.”

“At least you know it’s mine and not the guys,” Robin said jokingly.

Nancy shook her head with laughter, waving at Robin before hurrying out the door.

#ronance #ronance fic #fanfic #stranger things #st4 #stranger things fic #robin and nancy #the fruity four #fruity four #robin buckley and nancy wheeler #corroded coffin #stepping stones

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cinna-wanroll · 2 years

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On Homophobia Surrounding Queer Obi-Wan

Queer people get asked to settle or let things go so often that it baffles me. As a genderqueer, bisexual, and gray romantic person, my experiences get invalidated or criticized daily. It is exhausting. I feel that queer people are often pushed into scenarios where they have to prove who they are, but not too much, lest you cause discomfort to some cishet people who may be sensitive to "that sort of thing." Queer characters and expressions are, unfortunately, no different.

What's my point? My point is that I should not be up at 3 am, my stomach turning, because of something I knew was bound to happen. As soon as I read that Obi-Wan's identity was going to be elaborated upon in Padawan, I expected the incessant whinings. I expected the shocked, ridiculously wounded alpha-male routine. And yet, as @sunflowersinheaven 's post: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/sunflowersinheaven/691110776621219840?source=share crossed my dashboard, I began to spiral. At first, sure, it was vaguely amusing. Then, it became sickening.

Still, I have a few things I would like to address:

This is not new. Obi-Wan was referenced as bisexual in the Revenge of the Sith novelization. Those claiming that this is to fulfill Disney’s queer agenda need to admit to the fact they didn’t know everything prior to this now, and if they have such a problem with it, then why not call out Lucasfilm too? They aren’t trying to preserve representation that is marginally accurate, they’re being a bigoted assholes.

People saying this "doesn't prove Obi-Wan is queer" are fooling themselves. No, it's not pushing lgbtq+ identity(s) onto him just because he's around queer people. Obi-Wan uses gender-neutral language when expressing attraction, and he even addresses the fact that he generally finds the group of people he's with attractive. Obi-Wan says that he may want to kiss ALL of the people he's surrounded by, except for a character who uses she/her pronouns. Hmm. That does not sound super heterosexual to me. As a side note, for those who read this more in an a-spec interpretation, I am approaching this from an opinion that Obi-Wan experiences sexual attraction. I read this as Obi-Wan being confident that he finds people attractive but unsure whether he wants to act on that attraction. Therefore, somewhere in that bi umbrella is where I see his identity. At Obi-Wan's age (now, obviously, everyone's experiences with attraction are different and equally valid), I was sure I liked many genders. Now, what I wasn't so sure of was my romantic or sexual attraction toward them. Writing a character uncertain about their identity does not invalidate their current feelings. Sexuality and attraction (romantic and non) are fluid. And Obi-Wan being young is not an excuse to use homophobic/invalidating rhetoric to try to flip around on queer Obi-Wan supporters.

People who blame the author for "ruining Obi-Wan's character," need to do some serious self-reflection. Why does a character being queer ruin their character for you? That is astoundingly ridiculous to me, especially coming from a group of people who so often express the opinion, "Oh, well 'gay people' always make their sexuality their entire personality," and various other bullshit. Really? And yet, you can't seem to overlook a character's sexuality, which ruins everything they are to you. Some of these people are the same ones who were creaming themselves over the Kenobi show, TCW, etc. Which, I mean, hey! Kenobi has been my favorite man since I was five. I get it! And yet, I'm still a fan, unlike the manchildren wailing about the fact that Obi-Wan likes men. Sad. Now, if they're claiming that Obi-Wan being anxious and emotional in the book ruined his character... leave your fragile masculinity at the door and remember what it was like to be a teenager for fucking once. I only say "teenager" in this circumstance not because I feel adults can't feel this way (I am an emotional, anxious WRECK y’all), but because these are not traits Obi-Wan keeps into adulthood.

People who say this is either trying to invalidate his relationship with Satine or can't be true because of his relationship with Satine need to shut up. If you know my blog, you know I am a day one Obitine stan. What I refuse to engage in is bigotry based on my personal ship preference. (Although I am a multishipper). Select members of the Obitine fandom; do better.

To the people complaining: Please stop. I am tired, and people on the internet need to work on their goddamn (not so critical) thinking skills. If you don't want to accept part of a character, examine why. Your prejudice and weak claims that this is only to feed the "woke agenda" are rooted in misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, and I hope I never have to meet any of these people in real life.

#obi wan kenobi #padawan #homophobia #star wars

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hellomynameisbisexual · 2 years

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What a weekend: both Pride in London and UK Black Pride saw their highest ever turnouts. I was lucky enough to be present for both. The energy was incredible. The city was washed in rainbow and everyone was there to say love is love and who you are is valid.

I was honored to be asked to speak on the Trafalgar_Square stage and address the crowd. Speaking in front of thousands of people is not exactly my dream but I felt it was important to have people like me represented. I did it for the young bisexuals out there searching for representation and rarely finding it. It was an amazing experience: seeing people raise those bisexual flags high and cheer at me for saying positive things about bisexuality truly gave me hope for the future.

What I decided not to share with the crowd was that two gay men made biphobic comments to me that day for wearing a shirt with a huge bisexual emblem.

Biphobia is happening at Pride, of all places

The next day at UK Black Pride a gay guy pointed at my shirt and remarked, ‘really? I don’t believe you.’

These were three gay men making biphobic comments during Pride weekend. That number doesn’t even include the nonverbal eyerolling from passers-by.

If there is one thing that truly pushes my buttons it’s hypocrisy. Of all the places and people to make negative remarks about my sexuality, it was gay men at Pride. People at a protest, calling on people to not discriminate against them, were happy to dish it out to others.

The truth is I’m more angry with myself. I was on such a good vibe at both Pride events. I also didn’t do what I normally do – put the fear of god into them.

The truth is this isn’t about me. I’m a big boy and I can take it. But the young bisexual guys, girls and non-binary people out there just emerging in to their sexuality will take these comments to heart. It is on the shoulders of people like me to call out biphobia and make these people feel so small that they never dare do it again.

What is important is that I am by no means criticizing the organizers. Both the Pride in London team and the UK Black Pride do a fantastic job and, of course, stand against biphobia. They have bisexual people working on their teams that know the issues. However, they can’t control the millions of people that attend these events.

Biphobia within the LGBTI community is a big problem

These problems exist in our community long after the Pride flags comes down every year.

It’s important to understand this isn’t just one bisexual man’s anecdotal experience, it is widespread throughout our community.

One report found that bisexual people face just as much discrimination within the LGBTI community as they do from straight people.

The Equality Network found 66% of bisexuals do not feel part of the LGBTI community. Figures that seem to have a knock-on effect. Bisexual adults are also much less likely to join an LGBTII organization or attend an LGBTQ Pride event.

Biphobia coming from within the LGBT community is actually so well-documented there is actually a term for it. Researchers came up with the term ‘androcentric desire hypothesis’ to describe the phenomenon that gay and lesbian people perceive bisexuals as being more attracted to men, which is why they treat us with disrespect.

That’s why we need a better way to stamp out biphobia within our community than our current efforts. Going forward I would like to see more of an effort made to specifically tackle attitudes towards bisexuals. It starts with LGBT groups spending more than 1% of their budgets on bisexual issues and bringing bisexual leaders in to the fold to help advise them.

This year the UK will hold its first ever Bisexual Pride on 7 September. I hope all queer people will join the celebration and help leave biphobia in the past.

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briar-rolfes-research-oubliette · 1 year

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Okay, I’m going to start keeping an eye out for anything describing fan spaces as:

created by women for women, a place solely focused on the desires and interests of women

created by queers for queers, a place solely focused on the desires and interests of queers

That then suggests that:

criticising fandom is “really” criticising women, and is misogynistic, even if the critical voice is that of a woman; any critical voices are “really” men’s voices

criticising fandom is “really” criticising queers, and is homophobic, even if the critical voice is that of a queer; any critical voices are “really” homophobic voices

And that

women can “only” find a safe and supportive place to create art (or content) within fan spaces, and therefore fan art/fan fic/fan content is the only art that truly reflects the interests and desires of women

queers can “only” find a safe and supportive place to create art (or content) within fan spaces, and therefore fan art/fan fic/fan content is the only art that truly reflects the interests and desires of queers.

This is because I have just seen what I’ll call the “women’s interest stream” of these arguments made as a case for why authors shouldn’t critique Booktok—the argument being ultimately that women’s interests (aka ‘happy endings,’ ‘giving pleasure to readers,’ and ‘the fandom kingdom’) drive sales.

It’s very weird to see this argument because… obviously fandom drives sales. That’s why fandom is tolerated. It’s why we can’t look at juggernauts like Disney or the wizard terf without seeing that they are well aware of and continually engaging with their fanbase—and in both cases, feel empowered to continue marginalising queer people via the unerring support of their fandoms. Developing a fan base and engaging them and enraging them is incredibly profitable. Some franchises aren’t just selling a product anymore, but access to the fandom that comes with it; watch our show, so you can become part of the community conversation about our show.

The THING IS that the fandom runs off free labour. The vast majority of people in fandom—all women, or all queers (famously, no straight men have ever built their whole lives around a franchise), the people who create all the content—the discussions, the hot takes, the fanfic, fanart, booktoks, cosplays, social media AUs, etc, do it all for free. They HAVE to do it for free. Nobody is paying you for your Twitter thread. And often doing it for free is the only thing protecting you from copyright infringement.

The thing that freaks me out more than the corporate interests at play is how fan products are so often framed as the most authentic expression of that community’s interests and desires.

“I only read fanfic because it’s the only place queer people get happy endings.”

“I only read fanfic because only fanfic authors understand what women’s sexuality is like and what women find hot.”

“I only ever get to see diverse representation and people who look like me in fanart.”

—somehow, it never seems to matter that the franchise itself is unconcerned with queer people’s happy endings, women’s sexuality, or representing the diversity later injected into the world of the franchise by fanartists. We all know the poor ugly duckling turned class mobile swan that is Hermione was never intended to be a Black girl.

So I’m starting to wonder how huge swathes of fans started repeating to each other that their labour and voices and artistic expression matter THE MOST when offered FOR FREE in support of A PRODUCT. And how, once we heard it, we fell for it. How do we still think of fandom as subversive or progressive, especially when it serves the interests of some of the most evil people and companies on the planet? How come fandom is still making characters queer when the author is trying to stamp out queers in real life?

I am hoping finding more examples of these arguments in use will help me unravel the… knot. (Omegaverse fiction is certainly part of the mystery).

#idk how to tag this #liberation through fandom breakdown #ok I’ll level with you: naturally I have a suspicion that the middle class is involved but. I want to prove it #it’s an assimilationist desire!! I’m slamming my hands on the table!#I too enjoy and engage with fandom but I’m haunted by how my work is seen as queerer within the constraints of the world of a franchise #heartbreaking how many people described my fanfic as ‘queer fiction’ like heaven above then please read some queer fiction NOT on AO3 #anyway uh you should get paid for your art you should get paid to have opinions about a product #it’s okay that you don’t but like. it’s way nicer and you’ll like yourself more

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sir-klauz · 1 year

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So awkward seeing some fiction posted that’s creepily similar to your own you’ve been working so hard to create, researched, and such from your own experiences heart and imagination and they’re just throwing it around like it’s theirs with not that much changed about it aside from statement names and such. Well, at least I have my originals thank goodness!

Please check out Orange Juice In The Studio, a love story about a couple residing in a manga artists studio apartment in Spain, and just, couple things, warm, and it’s mature content and smut but also safe nsft and a bit more realistic depictions than some harmful representations of queer men engaging in romance that is trending and getting a lot of bottoms/subs hurt because of people’s refusal to talk about using lubricant and safety and treating an ass like a vag basically which doesn’t self lubricate anyone with experience would know nor enjoy being rawed with zero prep aha unless you like pain and being damaged ! Anyway, that said, that’s why I wanted to write it really, it’s important to me, the real love that happens and consent and boundaries and safety with things some people may not even know what to do because barely anyone teaches us about queer intimacy that people aren’t taught!

The second is definitely just some comedy and funny smut fanfiction for Ayato and Diluc, here’s the link to this, I’ll update ASAP but I haven’t atm as I’ve been a bit busy but hopefully I’ll get some more of that series done soon!

If anyone would like to give feedback please do, I’ve tagged with as many warnings and such as included within both but as always I welcome any tags you’d recommend me adding as I want to 100% communicate with the reader what will be within the story and what is suitable for their tastes and preference, and do not wish to spook anyone etc. as well, the nature of it is mature fiction so includes as such. I truly hope people enjoy it, but please, don’t steal it! I’m struggling enough as it is to keep motivation in writing it, and I will, but I am also not physically well right now so can’t schedule writing as easily as someone who isn’t and I hope to keep bringing my writing to people again. It doesn’t help that my side blog I was promoting it with most got censored the other day so I’ll probably put stuff about updates to chapters and art about it on here now instead, or, on @crimsonyoukai once I get that one up and running to replace my nsfw one.

Please don’t take my stuff, credit a little, or address me about maybe collaborating or something instead. I appreciate inspiration being taken but when it becomes painstakingly almost the same, that’s not okay at all. I don’t get paid for this, this is my art, this is my work, these are my ideas alone, and if it’s fanfiction it’s my ideas based in locations presented in game, or the characters and their basic personality and abilities but otherwise the rest, I’ve made it all up. I’m in pain most days, a parent, and stuff going on and it’s not as easy for me as some to just whip up and do this stuff! I can’t stop anyone but if you do take inspo let me know and I won’t mind of course unless it’s basically the same thing, hell if you liked the story that much just quote as fanfiction. Cripes. Maybe I should take it as a compliment that it was that good it had to be taken as their own. It’s fine. My originals are still up and dated and they are there as proof as well if I go further with it.

#personal #I won’t be posting teasers anymore until it’s released and I’ll only be posting my teasers for Orange Juice on my Bronze tier pixivFANBOX!#orange juice in the studio #ojits #The Lord of Wet and Pyro Princess Adventures #my writing #The Lord of Wet and the Pyro Princess #ayato x diluc #oc x reader #ventauz

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uncommon-etc · 2 years

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A controversial take...

It might just be because I grew up in an era where queer characters, the few that we had, were regularly murdered, sidelined or reduced to punchlines on screen, but I think if you’re not doing any of the above, there is no such thing as bad queer rep.

I’m tired of living a world where, if I want to watch an overtly queer love-story in the cinema, I’ve got to take a two-hour train journey to London, (because beautiful films like Firebird, and Freefall literally only get shown at like four cinemas in the UK, and three of them are in London), I’m sick of doing the exact same thing, as an adult, we did as kids when trying to find characters we related to in media (’he’s never actually said, but he seems pretty queer-coded to me’), and I’m fed up of seeing people hating on writers who give us canonically queer characters for not making their queerness more overt, because you can guarantee they’re getting hate on whatever social media sites straight folks use nowadays for ‘trying to make everything gay’.

I don’t want to live in a world where Our Flag Means Death is a unique, beautiful exception to the rules of how we treat queer characters on screen. I don’t want to live in a world where if I want to go and see the only example of a same-sex love-story that’s central to the plot of a major blockbuster I’m accused to giving money to a terf who, let’s face it, is already richer than the queen, and isn’t going to care whether I see it or not. And I definitely don’t want to keep living in a world where we’re still sharing gifs from the same four shows in a few years time, because they’re the only ones who have managed to do queer representation ‘correctly’.

I want bad queer rep as well as good.

I want queer characters with as many flaws as we regularly let straight characters have, while still rooting for them.

I want queer characters that come across as deeply uncool, who parts of the fandom hate on, not because they’re queer, but because they’re just plain annoying.

I want queer characters who live up to stereotypes, and own them (It’s a Sin did a particularly good job of portraying gay men who had a lot of different sexual partners in the 80s as being no less worthy of care or sympathy than anyone else who contracted AIDS, but few other shows have been brave enough to go there).

I want to turn on the crappiest, most badly-written, procedural crime show completely at random, and see a queer detective, or a queer serial killer, preferably both, and they get it on, enemies-to-lovers style, with very little build-up or meaningful connection.

I want queer himbos who are so dumb you can’t quite work out why they’re still alive.

I want the next Disney prince to be gay.

I want queer superheroes who continue the long and proud superhero tradition of having almost zero personality, and not much going for them beyond being quite good at flying people out of burning buildings.

I want to see queer characters cross-dress, and explore weirdly specific fetishes, and reclaim dated terms for their identities, and do all the other things we no longer see queer characters do, because it’s viewed as bad rep, even if plenty of actual queer people do these things.

I want a queer character in every lame, action-thriller aimed at making a tonne of money from a predominantly male audience.

I want to see love-triangles that turn into polyamorous triads, in the trashiest possible way.

And I want all of these things because, as a queer person, in a supposedly equal-opportunities media landscape, I want something more realistic than the sainted, beautified, sanitized version of queerness that we’re all too often given, because there is still too much stigma to show us as regular people, and because some writers are still so afraid of getting it wrong that they continue to create worlds in which we don’t exist.

#lgbt #lgbt representation #lgbt discourse #ofmd #it's a sin #disney #mcu #fbtsod

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smokeybrandreviews · 3 months

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Monster Mash

The final episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is in the books and it has been one hell of a ride. This show had no right to be as good as it was. Seriously, Monarch was a solid, refreshing, little entry that squeaked in just before the end of the year and I’m glad it did. Obviously, it’s not highbrow, intellectual fair but it is very well written, with strong characters, great performances, outstanding effects, and a whole ass realized world. I have my issues, of course. Off the top, I don’t like any of the original monsters being introduced by the Monsterverse. These things suck balls, every last one of them. Admittedly, this is an overall Monsterverse thing, not just a Monarch show thing. The US is just so uninspired with their kaiju design, always has been. Ren Watabe is kind of awful and doesn’t have the acting ability to carry such an emotionally involved role. Also, this thing just blows open gaping plot holes and raises so many questions about all of the content which came before. I like a lot of the “revelations”, I just wish they were integrated with the established lore better. There’s only a handful of films. You can’t be f*cking up that narrative like this so soon. Those are minor gripes, of course, because Monarch has been a beacon of what streaming originals can be and it has found a pretty broad audience because, and this is kind of the point of this essay, the lead is a lesbian Japanese woman and no one seems to care.

You would be forgiven if you thought this was Kurt and Wyatt Russell’s show, the marketing pushes that narrative strong, but you would be wrong. This show is about the Randa siblings, Cate and Kentaro. The aforementioned disappointment, Ren Watabe plays Kentaro but, in direct contrast to his flaccid performance, Anna Sawai plays his half-sister Cate, and she is the engine that makes this show go. You watch Cate’s character develop, spend so much time with her, learn so much about it. This is HER show and it never she’s away from who she is, which is kind of remarkable because Cate kind of checks every box of diversity bingo. Woman? Yessir. Japanese? You betcha! Lesbian? Check. Overtly carrying romantic feelings for Kiersey Clemons’ bisexual May? Check, again. Also, May is black. Just wanted to throw that in there for reference. Oh, and she basically left Kentaro FOR Cate, too. You’d think having a queer relationship presented front-and-center in the middle of A-spec Goji content would get all the neckbeards in a tizzy, but I haven’t heard a single peep. But the representation doesn’t stop there. The leader of Monarch is a woman. Mari Yamamoto plays the Randa siblings grandmother, Keiko, and she’s also a founding member of Monarch, itself. Michelle Duvall, Sandra Brody’s sister, is this bad ass Monarch operative who goes rouge with Lee Shaw, eventually taking over his band of defectors after the good Colonel goes missing for the second time. This show is riddled with POC, queer, and female representation. By all means, it’s woke as f*ck and no one has said a word. Why? Because it’s f*cking good.

I will dies on this hill, man. There is no such thing as “Go Woke, Go Broke.” There is not Superhero fatigue. The issue is that this stuff is poorly written. Identity politics can encapsulate your entire goddamn narrative, as long as you write it well. Your lead characters can be two, gay ass, men, as long as the character work is there to make those aspects part of who they are, not define them as a whole. I’m speaking, specifically, about The Last of Us. They did that sh*t twice, actually. Nick Offerman’s episode as some of the strongest television I have ever seen in my entire goddamn life. It was beautiful It was tragic. It was inspired f*cking television. That’s how you do representation and identity on television for the wide audience. That’s what Monarch has done with Cate and May. That’s what we need to see more of out of Disney, Lucasfilm, and the MCU. There has to be nuance when developing these characters and stories. They have to feel real, not just performative checkboxes for Xitter clout. You’re always going to have Neckbeards upset that The Force is Female, but don’t feed the trolls with more lazy characters like Rey. Write better ones who line up closer to Ahsoka and Dr. Aphra. Interestingly enough, Chelli is also a queer woman of visibly Asian descent. An just like that, we’ve come full circle! Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a great show. It’s probably the best thing The Monsterverse has produced to date, and it did so while incorporating a ton of diversity, without alienating the entire audience. That, alone, I think, is worth a watch. And, more to the point, worth the entirety of Hollywood taking note. We need more shows like this, Atlanta, Beef, Reservation Dogs, and The Brothers Sun. It’s not hard to write “Woke” content for the masses, as long as what you write is organic and true to the characters. No one wants to be preached at or pandered to. Monarch towed that line beautifully and every follow it’s example.

#Monarch: Legacy of Heroes #Monsterverse #Godzilla

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smokeybrand · 3 months

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Monster Mash

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lonelier-version-of-you · 1 year

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Not related to anything specific but the only thing worse than allistics being like ‘you’re missing the point diagnosing (character) as autistic! They’re just quirky with a bad home life!’ Is media neurodivergents saying that and pulling the ‘but I’m neurodivergent so you can’t tell me I’m wrong’ card. Like what the fuck is that? They always act so superior about it too.

Also I think people need to reckon with the fact that in a pushback against the rude savant stereotype the community now acts like the only valid rep is weirdly sexless uwu innocent infantilised characters especially concerning non male characters. Every time I hear someone say a char is bad rep because they’re not a sweet socially acceptable angel or ‘too stereotypical’ I roll my eyes- *I* am stereotypical under the masking and we’re ppl not, like, moral lessons??

Yeah, I've seen that sometimes and it is really irritating. I hate it when people think their interpretation of a character is The Only Valid Interpretation, and particularly when they pull the "well I'm actually [insert neurodivergence here] so I know this character can't be that" - or "well I'm actually queer so I know this character can't be that", I've seen that too - when they're... talking to someone who is also neurodivergent or queer or whatever in the same ways as them. It makes me want to shout "your opinion is not the only valid one!".

And yeah, I agree that some people have really just reacted to certain autism stereotypes by being like "oh, the answer to this is to stereotype all autistic people, but like, the other way around!". Like... no, we shouldn't be stereotyping at all?? I feel like "stereotypical representation" is a useless phrase when it comes to autism at this point, because some people use it to mean rep that's like "oh this cishet white man character is a bigot and hates women but it's ok because he's autistic uwu" (*cough* Atypical *cough*), but then other people use it to mean... any character who doesn't align with their exact personal experiences. And when it comes to reading characters as autistic, I feel like people are simultaneously like "you can't say they're autistic, they're smart, so it's a stereotype!" and like "you can't say they're autistic, they're not smart, you're stereotyping autistic people as stupid!". (The latter really annoys me as an autistic person who isn't smart.) I don't even know what people want, are we supposed to never call characters autistic at all?? Also, like, as I sort of already said lol, a lot of this supposed ~pile of representation~ for "stereotypically" autistic people is representation specifically for well-off, cishet, white men (Atypical, Rain Man, The Good Doctor, etc. etc.). It's not actually representing anyone who doesn't fit into that little group, even if they have stereotypical traits!

I was probably not coherent with any of this but yeah, I definitely get your frustration. (This sort of discourse is one of many, many reasons why I basically stopped engaging with autism circles on the internet.) I'm glad the Holby fandom isn't bigger, lol, because otherwise I feel like I wouldn't be able to call any character autistic without getting yelled at about "stereotyping" (Henrik, Arthur, and Eli would all probably be deemed "too smart" and therefore stereotypes, Chantelle would probably be deemed "too stupid" and thus a stereotype). (Also, it's interesting that you brought up gender because I've definitely noticed that there seems to be a thing with autistic/autistic-coded male characters where if they don't already fit the "uwu sweet angel" trope, fandom simply infantilises them until they do fit - at least, this is what happens with Henrik. I hardly ever see it happen in the same way with autistic/autistic-coded female characters.)

#asks #anons

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