#'Juniper had a girlfriend once' is a thing I want to come up in canon or not at all 😌

[blujayonthewing]

now that I’m not being secretive about crossover shipping Elyss and June anymore I was kind of thinking of redoing and reposting that one doodle comic about them being such a slowburn partly because neither of them knew about bisexuality, because I think the concept is funny but the art’s Pretty Rough, but then I remembered that I still can’t share it with the rest of the party because it gives away a lil bit of Juniper’s canon backstory

[sapphicambitions]

like when I say I think Luke Castellan is gay I don’t mean it as a cutesy “don’t u wish ur fave was gay” kind of way I mean textually and seriously I believe he was gay. 

I could cite the petty stuff like “he only had female friends growing up” and “he clearly never showed interest in women even though many women were interested in him” or “he is one of the few people in the series who didn’t actually have a serious love interest / partner” or whatever but i feel like it’s actually much deeper than that. Luke was a young person who had a difficult and strained relationship with his parents. He saw how flawed the system was and how it was treating people like him, and sought to change the system, give power to people like him, and start it all over. (Yeah, he fell victim to people who influenced him to the dark side but that had nothing to do with his gayness, imo.) He just reminds me a lot of characters like Nico and Catra from She-Ra: repressed gay with a strained relationship with parental figures, angry and willing to take down the world. In this essay I will-

.......like no but seriously

Luke had a very troubled childhood because of his mother’s damaged mind, and the fact that she was constantly having fits and telling him how terrible things were going to be for him. When Luke is (angrily) describing his childhood to Hermes he says: “You could’ve helped me when she was having one of her fits, shaking me and saying crazy things about my fate. When I used to hide in the closet so she wouldn’t find me with those glowing eyes,” like!!! he even mentions hiding in a closet (let me find the subtext where i want it)  but seriously, you know what’s one of the first things my mother said to me when I came out to her? “You know how much harder your life is going to be, don’t you?” So then Luke ran away from his home and found a new family, one that looked out for each other and loved each other more than their blood family ever did. This is a queer narrative!!

And with Hermes, it was all sorts of fucked up. His father kept him at a distance. Made Luke feel like there was something wrong with him, like he didn’t love him. His dad made it very clear to him what his expectations were of him, tried to encourage him to be a great hero, like all the heroes before him (when he was talking to him about sending him on a quest and Hermes said “You will get a change to be a great hero before…”) but Luke didn’t want to be the person his father expected him to be. He wanted to be something new, something true to himself. Luke was always burdened down with the weight of his parent’s expectations, both the expectation that he should strive to be a perfect hero and the knowledge that his future was doomed. 

So one time i was at a bar with friends and me and the only other queer person there were talking and he was like “gay men and their dads, you know what i mean?” and I was like “yeah also gay women and their moms” and we had a whole discussion about growing up with a certain set of expectations of who you’ll be from your parents and the gendered expectations they have for you and having to crush all of that when you come out to them and navigating the difficulties that come with that when you want to be your own person so like there’s your real world comparison / evidence for that argument

ALSO Luke ran away from home but then kind of immediately went to Camp Half-Blood where he was shoved into the Hermes cabin with all of his siblings and undetermined kids and then still expected to scrape part of his food in the fire and be thankful to his deadbeat dad. That would suck! He was already harboring all of this rage inside of him, and then he went on his quest. Saw the world. Was exposed to other schools of thought. He understood that he was just being used as a pawn. He came back a different person, he didn’t quite fit in at camp anymore now that he’d seen the world. Kind of like when I went off to be gay at college and then came back to my childhood home and had to be straight around all my high school friends. just saying.

Luke saw the flaws in the system, the way the gods ruled the world. The way the gods treated their children and how much it hurt them. He felt so betrayed and hurt and abandoned by his dad and all the gods, so instead of sitting with it, he thought “I can do better.” Luke sought to rebuild the world, scrap it all and start new. Start with new leaders who took better care of everyone, who did things completely differently than the way it was done before, and raze anything before it. We’re going to ignore the fact that he was influenced to the dark side for a moment because it’s not related to this essay, but I also feel like this is a very queer narrative. (how many times can i say that phrase in this essay) Seeing the flaws in the way the world is treating people like you and wanting to do better. Luke said (this not an actual book quote more of a dramatic sentiment): “I won’t be used and I won’t be who you want me to be. I will become my own person and there’s nothing you can fucking do to stop me. I will make a new world, better than before, without you, for people like me, and I will tear down the walls of the previous world if I fucking have to” and i just think that’s very gay rights of him.

A thing that I’m a big fan of is seeing specific character types and relating them to each other. For example: our fave Nico di Angelo and Catra from She-Ra. (If you haven’t seen She-Ra, she’s the DEFINITION of an angry repressing gay) We can see from Nico’s narrative and from Catra’s narrative and also just straight up my own personal narrative that sometimes when you’re gay and repressing and afraid of becoming the person you are warned against, while also knowing that you were meant for more but maybe not quite understanding what that more is yet, and overall just want to feel accepted and loved as who you truly are but not receiving that, it can tend to make one lash out in angry and irresponsible ways. It can make one isolate themselves from those they previously were close to. It can lead to irrational and impulsive choices for all the wrong reasons because you don’t feel right and you don’t know why. Not at all saying this is the same across the board for queer people, it’s just something that honestly happens to some people and I can relate to when i see it in characters. 

I see that in Luke. He is weighed down by everything his parents want him to be, both good and bad, and is trying to scrap the world and make a new one for people like him. He wants to take his turn, pushing aside anyone who’s hurt him. Luke was someone who was constantly being torn apart by the world and just wanted to feel safe and secure in who he was and the world he was in. He was acting in anger and fear and hurt and revenge for his childhood and because he still felt like there wasn’t a place in the world for him. He lashed out against his father and his family and his friends and pushed them all away. Sure, he had some friends at Camp Half-Blood, but Annabeth’s devotion to him was not enough to make up for like, all of his childhood trauma. First everything with his mom and then being on the run for so long and then meeting his dad and then losing Thalia (which also fueled his anger and hatred of the gods but like we knew that) and his quest and just everything. He was dealt a cruel hand and he didn’t handle it well. Not that that has anything to do with him being gay but I’m just lamenting over the tragedy of his life. Anyway.

Also not to quote the Lighting Thief because it’s not technically in Rick’s canon but i still think they perfectly understood the characters so I’m including it, but the idea that Luke has tried to be a good kid, he’s tried to do what was expected of him, he’s done everything they ever asked of him, but it didn’t pay off. It didn’t matter. It still wasn’t a world he belonged in. “you know this world will never be ours as long as our parents rule over the stars” and “it’s time to make the world our own” strikes me very much to the tune of LGBT activism. once again ringing in that idea of “if you won’t make the world better than i will do it with my bare hands” he also sings “the gods were never on our side, so i think it’s time we watched them fall” which gets to me every time because like he was just a kid! he was just a kid who had so much hurt and anger inside of him and he went about everything the wrong way but he was just a fucking kid! 

also YES to be petty and shallow but while Annabeth and Thalia refer to luke romantically, he never mentioned the same for him. Kelli the sexy monster hits on him during Battle of the Labyrinth and was clearly interested in him and he pushes her away without any hesitation. IN FACT the only demigods referenced on Luke’s ship are Chris and Ethan (why we didn’t see any of that trio, I’ll never understand), with Ethan working much closer with Luke and being a major player in the Titan War. (also I think Ethan is queer too but that’s a battle for another day.) And Rick LOVES romances. pretty much every character gets paired up with someone in the original series (percy and annabeth, grover and juniper, even Clarisse and Chris) which is fab thank u rick for my percabeth rights but Luke is the only character who does not get a girlfriend!! because he’s a homosexual!!!! you know what other character didn’t get paired off in the original series??? NICO, a known homo!!!  i do think that luke is a case of “accidentally written homo” because this was before rick saved the world and gave us nico’s coming out and really started pushing for queer rep in the books (thank u again rick!!!!), so I’m allowed to find my gay subtext in the original series, thank u very much!

listen all im saying is that my favorite character narrative is “angry gay coded villain who is repressing and lashing out at the world because of it” and i truly believe luke fits into that narrative and I stand by my argument.

Thank u for attending my TED Talk

[soloragoldsun]

Fanfiction Master Lists: AU and Alternate-Canon fics

Here’s a list of my AU and alternate-canon fics! The more canon disappoints me, the more I turn to AUs and alternate canon... Fics still in progress will be marked with a *.

13 Tricks and Treats: A series of Halloween-themed oneshots. Includes several AUs.

A Rationed Recovery: Tired of the media attention and lack of privacy at home, Pyrrha tests out of Sanctum early in order to spend time on her own, roughing it in the Wilds. She underestimates the dangers of her endeavor and ends up collapsing near a village in Vale during a lockdown. Luckily, she is found and cared for by a young man named Jaune Arc. (Alternate-canon Arkos Twoshot. Commission for D. KnightOfShadows.)

College Battle Games: On her first day of college, when Pyrrha spots a group of people clad in medieval garb and hitting each other with foam weapons, she slips away from her orientation group almost immediately. When greeted by one of the fighters, a friendly blond boy named Jaune, she knows that she made the right choice. (Dagorhir AU.)

Five Summers: When Ren's family moves to another state, he stays in close contact with his childhood friend, Nora. A summer writing workshop opens in their hometown, giving him a way be with his best friend for one month each year. During the following five summers, the two begin to realize the true value of their friendship, and the potential for it to become something more. (Modern AU.) *

Goddess of Victory: For countless millennia, Pyrrha has been worshiped as the Goddess of Love and Victory, revered by both mortals and fellow deities. Now, in a time when humans and Faunus have forgotten the legends of old, she decides to descend to Remnant and experience life, love, and happiness through the eyes of a mortal. (Goddess!Pyrrha AU. Commission for Darkkseid.)

Hot Tub Discussions: After a long, grueling mission, all Ruby wants to do is relax with her new boyfriends and girlfriends. Thankfully, Team JNPR has a plan to thoroughly spoil her during her visit. (House Hunting AU. Ruby/Team JNPR. Sequel to "Wilted Rose." Commission for miner249er.)

House Hunting: Graduation has come and gone, and Team JNPR is taking the next step toward having a long, happy life together: finding a house worthy of four Huntsmen. (First in House Hunting AU. Poly!JNPR. Commission for miner249er.)

Mates for Life:  Love takes many forms and knows no gender, age, or species. (Discontinued oneshot series. Includes Wolf AU White Rose and Dragon AU Arkos.)

Merry Dustmas: When Jaune invites his team to spend Dustmas break with him and his family, he doesn't realize that he's giving them the greatest gifts any of them could have hoped for: love, acceptance, and the first truly joyful holiday season of their lives. (Canon-verse where Volume 3 never happened. Commission for Darkkseid.)

Mistress of Grimm: When Cinder stood over Pyrrha Nikos at the end of their fateful battle, she did not kill her. Instead, she did something far worse, twisting the brave young woman into a shadow of what she used to be. Now, Pyrrha hunts alone through the woods of Remnant, craving the blood of a strangely-familiar young man. (Post Volume 3. Vampire!Pyrrha. Commission for Dark rayquaza x.)

Move-In Day: The first day of truly living together as a family has finally arrived for Team JNPR, and they couldn't be happier. From the tradition of carrying each other over the threshold, to the simple pleasure of sharing a meal with their friends, arriving at their new home is a cause for celebration. (House Hunting AU. Poly!JNPR. Commission for miner249er.)

Once in a Shattered Moon: Jaune is a Huntsman, sworn to protect the religious, fearful town of Vale from Grimm and all other creatures of the night. Pyrrha is a werewolf alpha who is expected to one day become the leader of her pack. Nature has made them enemies. Fate has decided that they must work together in order to save both of their homes from destruction. (Medieval/Werewolf AU.) *

Red String of Fate: When two soulmates fall in love, a red string appears between them, manifesting their eternal bond. Though the string may stretch with distance, it will never break. (Collection of Soulmate AU oneshots. multiple pairings.) *

The Taste of Mint: After having a nightmare about her time with Cinder, only two things can calm Emerald down: the taste of mint, which Cinder had hated, and the comforting presence of her beloved best friend. (Modern AU. Hints of Gemstone. Mention of past abuse.)

Three Days at the Ryokan: The village of Onsui is home to one of the most famous natural hot springs in Remnant. It is a place to relax and heal oneself of whatever ails them. For Jaune and Pyrrha, it may be the place where four years of self-doubt and suppressed feelings will finally be resolved. (Alternate-canon Arkos threeshot. Commission for Darkkseid.) *

Vanished Boundaries: Blake has been in a relationship with both Yang and Sun for a few months. During their first trip together, she worries about whether or not she's paying equal attention to them and wonders if she can successfully juggle a romance with two people. (Alternate-Canon Golden Eclipse.)

Wilted Rose: Team RWBY has been drifting apart over the course of several months. Feeling tired and isolated in Vale, Ruby decides to spend a few days with Team JNPR in their house by the woods. There, her friends offer healing, comfort, and perhaps more. (House Hunting AU. Established Poly!JNPR. Eventual Juniper Rose. Commission for miner249er.)

Wings of Dust: In the world of Remnant, Dragon Riders are all that stand between civilians and the creatures of Grimm. During a time when the rights of dragons are still in question, illegal hybrids are being bred for shady purposes, and a rise in egg thefts has been reported, the new students at Beacon Dragonry will have their hands full simply keeping their partners safe. (Dragon Rider AU.) *

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