#GUYS IF THE DYNAMIC IS GAY ITS GAY IN BOTH MEDIA

[tentaclecats]

NO BECAUSE IM SEEING ALL THIS DEAD BOY DETECTIVES STUFF ONLINE (i have never watched this show) AND IVE SEEN PEOPLE COMPARING GAY GUY #1 TO KAZ BREKKER AND IVE SEEN PEOPLE COMPARING GAY GUY #2 TO JESPER FAHEY BUTTTT

BUT WHEN I SAY I SHIP KAZ AND JESPER. SOCIETY. SOCIETY GOES CRAZY. SOCIETY CALLS ME GAY.

[tgcg]

part 1 of something specific

TG: oh my god you get it

CG: OF COURSE I FUCKING DO, DAVE. I’LL ALLOW MYSELF CREDIT FOR ONE GOOD THING, AND THAT’S THE FACT THAT I KNOW HOW TO CONSUME MEDIA CORRECTLY.

TG: you understand me

TG: so many damn times ive tried to turn john over on this business and he doesnt listen

TG: like you dont need to be gay to see how naruto and sasuke are the romance of the fuckin century man its not rocket science dare i say it is elementary level 

CG: IT’S BASIC READING COMPREHENSION, I AGREE.

CG: I’M NOT ABOUT TO EVEN *TRY* TO UNDERSTAND EARTH’S BIASES TO CERTAIN FORMS OF ROMANCE, BUT IS IT LITERALLY JUST BECAUSE THEY’RE BOTH GUYS?

TG: i dunno i dont think hes like

TG: homophobic or something

TG: i think if anyone is the number one ally to anything its probably john yknow hed have your back bro if you were all up and being bisexual on earth and people werent scrambling hand over foot away from you because youre an alien 

TG: but just because you were that 

TG: thing

TG: bisexual

CG: YEAH, THAT THING.

TG: he wouldnt care man

TG: he wouldnt give a shit or fuck about it probably

CG: SPEAKING OF LABELS THOUGH!

TG: aw man are you about to pull out the quadrant shiz on my boys

TG: are you gonna tell me naruto and sasuke got a hate on for each other or something cus thats 

CG: OH JEGUS NO, DAVE. THAT WOULD BE COMPLETELY MISSING THE POINT OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP’S GROWTH AND THEIR ENTIRE DYNAMIC, NEVERMIND THE PURPOSE OF THE STORY ITSELF.

TG: alright lay it on me shercock homos ill be your watson watching you with the big twinkling eyes of a newborn fawn

TG: sleuth this shit like you were there when kishimoto invented it

TG: his alien understudy rises from the caverns of anime hell clutching the scroll of one universally understood truth and with his otaku disciples there to listen he takes a deep breath and delivers his groundquaking sermon to the masses

TG: jesus take the mic

CG: I’M CLUTCHING THE MICROPHONE IN MY CALLOUSED AND BONE-DRY TOUCHSTUMPS, BODY WEARY AND ON THE BRINK OF CAVING IN ON ITSELF, BUT I SPEAK WITH A STALWART DETERMINATION THAT WILL RING TRUE THROUGHOUT THE COSMOS FOR SWEEPS TO COME. THEY WILL WRITE MY FUCKING WORDS IN THE STARS, DAVE. IT’LL BE ALL THEY HAVE LEFT OF ME EVENTUALLY, BECAUSE I’LL PREACH IT HARD AND FEVERISH UNTIL THIS MORTAL COIL DECIDES IT’S FINALLY HAD ENOUGH OF PUTTING MY PATHETIC HALF-CORPSE THROUGH THE RINGER BY MAKING ME GET UP EVERY MORNING LIKE IT’S SOME KIND OF JOKE, AND FINALLY LETS ME KEEL OVER. THAT, DAVE, IS MY CRUCIFIXION. IT REPEATS ITSELF, OUROBOROS-LIKE, EVERY CYCLE, AND MAY WELL LAST UNTIL THE COLLAPSE OF PARADOX SPACE ITSELF SINCE THEY APPARENTLY FIND IT SO INCREDIBLY HILARIOUS. THEY BETTER MARTYR THE FUCK OUT OF ME. YOU BETTER PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT I AM MARTYRED TO *SHIT*.

TG: done and done

CG: THANK YOU. WHERE WAS I? OH RIGHT. NARUTO SHIP ANALYSIS.

[musicfranchisetournament]

propaganda under the cut !!

paradox live :

ive seen my friends talk about it and also theres this really pretty girl i thibk her name is anne? i wanna kiss her mwah

The world is set in the future where the hip hop artists have these cool Phantom Metals that produce cool illusions as they perform with the downside of the performers reliving their worst trauma after using it. Every group has their own theme, aesthetic, and music style Every character has canon trauma which perfect for angst Found family It's still going on They do April Fools on the fandom every year (2024 being an ad for a cat game)

charisma house :

genuinely what the fuck. i don't think i've seen a song franchise as bonkers as charisma house and i doubt i ever will. it's so entertaining and the characters are all unhinged in the best way possible. none of them are 100% good people at the end of the day and i think this just makes the whole ordeal even funnier. are you kidding me you have some random 19 yo who invites people to go live in a random house one day and they just go. the songs are so so good (most of the time. stares at my two exceptions) and whenever it's a full group song? they're always parodies of another common popular song which is so funny to me every time i hear them. i love charisma house and will defend it to the days end

It's so silly and entertaining:) the songs are sick and super catchy . The visuals are super unique .. and the concept of these eccentric crazy guys all living in a house together with the power of charisma has some super hilarious interactions.  Also charisma is the power that can save the world.. and if these guys get too overpowered with their charisma they go through yugioh style transformations and break out into song... so there is that little detail<3

they're just ordinary guys. music part aside the story is funny until it gets serious and then it's funny AND heartwrenching. music part?? group songs are based on nursery rhymes and they fucking suck but also go so hard. their solo songs all have their own genres and they're so. Aodhajhfhdhfbd Stream viva la liberation. 

Funny gay people living in a house together and all their songs parody children's songs, and all their music videos are like Cocomelon on crack. They're funny and they have a lovely found family dynamic. Very silly guys, I'm so normal about them.

Never in my life have i seen a piece of media change me this much as a person while doing the bare minimum. Perhaps the fact that it is the bare minimum and i still fell for it regardless says more about its power than any words could ever begin to describe. So utterly ridiculous in the most perfect way possible and so weirdly deep in also the best way possible but without forgetting its still fucking ridiculous. The appeal of Charisma House is that its Charisma House, and that same thing manages to be both its strength and its weakness, but its weakness is so grand it ends up becoming a strength, and perhaps its biggest strength by far. Talking about Charisma House makes me feel insane emotions because you cant describe it as good but you still know fully well its not bad either despite that being the easiest way to describe it. Sooner than later after so many episodes you'll end up realizing you have fell in its trap. Once you start caring. Once you start analyzing the miniscule tid bits of plot. Once all of that starts occurring you will soon come to realize you have been another victim of the mystical power Charisma House has on every single person that watches it. Or perhaps you just dont fucking care after 5 episodes and you leave it at that. This is perhaps the best option for everyone in the world. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but the fact that i still do from time to time is because i want everyone else in the world to experience the unknown horrors of this media project until each and every one of them realize they have fallen down a hole they will never be able to escape. also Awwwww ohsebso cute i like ohse aaawwwww so cute 😍

[auckie]

Neil gaiman is such a fucking hack. All he does is ride off Terry pratchets coattails, gets. I really hate the word cuck but idk how else to describe the Amanda Palmer situation. Cucked by women and regurgitates that into flat one dimensional characters. Queer baits and panders to trashy online YA level drivel types. He’s the definition of the word fandom. If men like his garbage they’re always the kind of guy who has a beard and lets you know he has a beard. He probably owns a kilt despite not being remotely Scottish. Funko pop owner for sure, has a mini tardis and probably that dr who scarf. A pentagram tattoo, maybe some runes.

And like. Neil gaiman is a capable writer do not get me wrong. But his idea of creative writing is theorizing about how the afterlife is all bureaucracy bc that’s never been done by a bitter atheist. It’s always secularly Christian too isn’t it? I mean i guess that’s what he knows.

So im saying this knowing that he’s not solely responsible for it, really, and having read the comics and not enjoyed them at all but continued to have done so out of some weird sense of obligation, I’m very angry to admit that I’m enjoying the stupid Netflix production of dead boy detectives. It is absolutely a mishmash of other similar cw-type shows, but that’s just the thing. I eat that shit up. Riverdale, Sabrina, teen dramas with obnoxious editing and low brow production value. I even liked the second season of good omens despite like, hating a solid 40% of the secondary character and plot direction. It’s sorta like eating little Debbie cakes yknow? Or binging reality tv.

DBDA is better than all that, like it’s a crust above but it’s wrapped in the trappings of really shitty things, and whenever it manages to be a bit better it’ll sink a smidge lower by referencing its ilk or doing exactly what you’d expect of it.

Whenever I see the ‘two skinny whitish boys with obvious sexual tension and an annoying women in the middle’ I stop and ask myself— does this writer have a track record of making the same dynamic.

An obnoxious woman is not a bad thing. She can be a good thing even, but if she’s a mirror image of a million other toxic characters that indicates two things: projection, or a formula. Especially when paired between two male characters that clearly interact in ways that urge the audience to say ‘they should kiss!’

Then she becomes an obstacle. It’s rare for a character in this role to rise above the narrative, and even rarer for authors to try and write one capable of that.

A lot of fans will see people hating on her and cry ‘misogyny!’ Instead of asking why she was written, and why hundreds of other past iterations and future clones of her continue to be written. A similar character is the empty lesbian who stands in both popular media and fanfiction to prove that the author is not just obsessing over gay men and throws a bone to the supposed lesbian audience as well.

And then you have the flat poc or other LBT, sometimes disabled characters who serve to act as a tick mark off a checklist. It’s lazy, it’s annoying. But that’s a whole different can of vaguely related worms

[literaphobe]

I’ve seen a lot of gender swapped mlb stuff where either one or both of their genders are swapped. How do you think any of those variations would change the love square dynamic or the characters in general, if they would change it all?

GONNA TALK ABOUT WLW LOVE SQUARE. other variations will be elaborated on if u come back and ask my sweet anonie <3

adrienette: i feel like fem adrien would give marinette so many more demons. i could go more in depth about my visions but ifl it would be really funny to see alya try and convince marinette that girl adrien TOTALLY likes her like its SO obvious and marinette is like IT DOESNT MEAN ANYTHING ALYA SHES NICE TO EVERYONE!! plus we dont even know if adrien likes girls!! and adrien walks by only overhearing the last sentence and is like oh! i do like girls :) and then after marinette’s recovered from her heart attack the new meta becomes OKAY BUT WE DONT KNOW IF SHES ATTRACTED TO GIRLS. MAYBE SHE JUST THINKS GIRLS R REALLY FUCKING COOL!! the next day the papers announce that girl adrien is in love w ladybug

ladynoir: chat noir has got the biggest crush on ladybug like she is so seriously gay like if she didnt already know she was gay if she was the most repressed gay girlie in this gay girlie world she would know what she was with ONE look at ladybug. ladybug has no fucking idea chat noir is in love with her. she thinks they are best friends. no one understands this life other than Her. one time some sleazy guy hit on chat and ladybug beat the shit out of him. he just so happened to be akumatized but she was so pissed off and violent about it. the dating rumors and the media are the same about it. aka incredibly invasive and ladybug is just as pissed off that they think they are dating. she gets so aggressive about it to the point where chat noir asks her what she thinks about the lgbt+ community. and chat is like im sorry like im a wlw and if u dont like gay ppl thats okay i just– and then ladybug like kisses her and is like im gay too u idiot its just weird of the media to speculate so harshly and then chat is just like FROZEN and ladybug freaks out shes like IM SO SORRY I SHOULDNT HAVE LIKE I MEAN I SHOULDVE ASKED and chat is like NO ITS OK UVE KISSED ME BEFORE ANYWAY and ladybug is like THATS DIFFERENT I HAD NO CHOICE BUT HERE– and then chat kisses her to calm her down (and shut her up) and pretty much just even the scales in terms of initiated kisses. when news about girl adrien x ladybug breaks out ladybug is like ???!!!!!!!! and chat is like um do u hate that she likes u i mean the news probably waaaayyyy exaggerated what they interrogated out of her and like um so overstretched it probably haha what do u think of blonde models and um adrien i guess like do u hate her do u think shes cool do u think you could fall madly in love with her and spend all your days together

ladrien: ladybug saves girl adriens life and shes like oh thank you ladybug… ur so wonderful 😍 like so clearly into her but ladybug is dense af and also nervous af she doesnt even believe the rumors!! shes like ur welcome girl adrien haha um yeah so um i saw the news but dont worry!!!! i know how the news exaggerates all the time like they always call me and girl chat noir a couple even tho we are not!! and adrien is like oh so like… ud never date chat noir? and ladybug is like uh… we are… friends and partners. do you.. want me to date chat noir? So the news really got it all wrong and you dont like me at all? and adrien is like I DO LIKE YOU… UM WHO WOULDN’T LIKE YOU? <- she has no idea how to save this bc she wants to date ladybug but doesnt know which identity to chase her with best and she thinks ladybug might not like EITHER of her identities so shes like confused at shit but also she very easily gets her hopes up and shes like maybe i should tell her???

marichat: ifl the events of glaciator will always be so inevitable for marichat. like marinette will always look so inviting on that balcony of hers staring off wistfully into the evening air and chat noir will always feel drawn to it when ladybug is nowhere to be found… what would be fun about wlw marichat guys

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

They Should Have Never Given You the Word “Queerbait”

It’s been 5 years and I’m still thinking about this, so now I am going to vent a bit. I hate when there is a Black female protagonist who is queer coded and seemingly in a slow burn setting, and the viewers flag it as queerbait and disengage.

I feel like I have seen so many shows where people can take a character who is never even suggestively queer and nit pick even the smallest glimmers to validate reading them as such and they will be able to ship and create and support all of the ways this is a queer character and trust the writers to possibly give more. 

But, when there are Black women in these areas, it falls down as soon as they aren’t given overt displays of wlw actions. I said its been 5 years, because I’m specifically thinking about Kiss Me First, but I also want to hit on Crazyhead, while I’m here because I feel like it got paid the same treatment in this regard. And both of those shows had such good writing, and as a Black queer woman WITH mental illness, both of these characters spoke to me and seeing them have potential for love stories for wlw stories was so rewarding, only to see the journey get bashed and the shows get cancelled. 

So. Let me talk a minute. Starting with Kiss Me First.  If you haven’t already watched it, you probably aren’t going to, so I’m not sparing potential “spoilers,” as I’ve said, its been 5 years.

Kiss Me First centers around this dynamic of an orphan, Leila, who recently lost her mom and is getting attached to a woman, Tess, that she met in this computer universe, who she also has befriended irl. Leila and Tess start off with some mystery, as you can’t tell what Tess’ intentions are for this woman, but you see very early on that Leila doesn’t necessarily trust people that are in Tess’ life. When Leila realizes that the person who Tess seems to care about the most is a dangerous and manipulative person, she does everything that she can to protect her.

The criticisms of the show were that people were “queerbaited” with the relationship between them because of the romantic and sexual relationships that these characters had with men and not with each other...

This is what is frustrating to me: So much of this series is realistic, INCLUDING the story arcs where these women are in relationships with men that don’t really serve them best. Real life queer people frequently have relationships with partners that they don’t really belong with before finding the love that they had been seeking. But, the moment it happens in media, especially with a Black woman, it is unbearable for audiences. They gotta see her eating box, or it ain’t real.

And it’s aggravating, because there is this fairy tale happening in which Leila literally is on a quest to save Tess. She knows that this guy is dangerous and her entire goal becomes making sure she rescues Tess from him. He lifts Tess on a pedestal and makes her feel like she is the most important person, but he is actually an abuser and preying upon this group that idolizes him, so Leila spends episodes working to get Tess out of his grasp.

In the end, they aren’t IN a queer relationship, but she has absolutely freed Tess and Tess is helping her to escape being framed by the enemy. They are “friends,” but if you have a queer eye, and are not racist, you’d be able to see that this is and was the entire time a fucking love story between these two women! If anything, they tossed in some dudes for the straights to pay attention. I’m livid every time somebody suggests that Kiss Me First is queerbait. To you, but not my Black, gay, bipolar ass. I loved it. I wanted to see them flourish. I wanted to be given the payoff, yes. But, I loved being able to see a beautiful love story between two fucked up people who were side by side at the end.

This happened in Crazyhead, as well.

Raquel is a target for an apocalypse and do you know how Amy saved her and the world? By telling her she loved her and giving her a kiss that brought her back from the brink of destruction...

Now... I will admit, the writers did a “no homo” type thing at the end... but the homo in me seen the homo in thee, so I wasn’t bothered by that. 

I just think that it is an unfair measurement, to expect everything to be served up for you in order to support representation, and not being able to detect subtext or to envision the potential coding shows a huge amount of privilege. I adore the fact that so much queer content as of late gets spoonfed to you, but I also enjoy a slow burn, and it’s not right that Black queer women rarely get one because you give up if there’s not an automatic tonguing and huge declarations. And in the cases of these two shows, there were very clear expressions of love and several moments of intimacy, but I guess they needed to trib for true love. 

Anyways, I love Kiss Me First and Crazyhead, and I consider them representation FOR ME. 

[mahoutoons]

i really do not get all the hatred sonamy fans get in the sonic fandom.

"but they're so toxic!!"

so are all other ship fandoms. i've had experience with toxic shippers of other ships. but you won’t see me generalizing the ship's fandom over them. every ship has its fair share of toxic fans. so why is it that only sonamy fans get all the heat for being toxic? i'm not denying that there are bad eggs in our fandom but i don't think its fair yo act like we're a special breed of toxic. i've seen fans of other ships with r*pe on amy yet people don't use them to generalize the whole ship's fandom.

"they think their ship is canon!!"

in the 2000s-2010s, maybe we did have a lot of fans who thoight that way. but nowadays whenever sonamy fans claim its canon, its always done in a joking way. its what fans lf literally every other ship do. i've seen people jokingly say "x ship is canon" because character a looked at character b funny. but no one ever attacks them for it. so why is it that only we get attacked when a lot of the time we aren't even serious?? we KNOW our ship will never actually be canon. we KNOW sega has no intention of changing their dynamic as of now. we're just having fun with the moments we're given. especially in recent media. why do y'all froth at the mouth over that. don't like it? just ignore and block.

and to be honest? as sonamy is now, it can be considered semi canon. like, give me a platonic explanation of the "amy, i should've made up my mind sooner" line in frontiers. IF sega decides to make them a couple, their dynamic still won't change. it'll still be very subtle except they're actually a couple now and you won't even notice it. and even then no one's stopping you from liking other ships. and if they are, well the block button exists for a reason.

"but the fanfics-"

i have my beef with old sonamy fanfics. but i have a feeling the people who made them were young kids and teenagers. i'll bet a lot of them have grown up now and have better things to do in life. now i hardly see any sonamy fanfic that villainizes sally or makes sonic an asshole for the sake of angst. the more extreme shippers from the 2000s-early 2010s should not be used to judge shippers today.

imagine if i used the sonadow shippers i encountered in 2014 deviantart, who were mostly allocishet girls who shipped them because they fetishized gay men, made both of them extremely ooc (anyone remember the terms seme and uke?), and of course hated amy for getting in the way of their ship, to judge the sonadow shippers of today who are now mostly mellow and enjoy their ship in peace, it wouldn't be fair now would it?

"the age gap is problematic!!"

most of the ages in sonic make no sense! there's a line in sonic forces where infinite claims sonic has defeated eggman for decades, and sonic's only supposed to be 15. granted using sonic forces may not be the best example but it shows how little sega cares about the ages. and now they've even been renoved from sonic channel. AND even ian flynn himself has said not to worry about pairings like sonamy and knuxouge because there's nothing wrong with them.

and i KNOW people are gonna take this to mean "so shipping things like s0nt@ils is okay now??" no, because tails is still coded as a little kid. sonic and most of the cast are coded as teenagers.

there's people who ship tails and fiona, and that's an actual toxic ship with an actual problematic age gap. but they don't get half the heat that sonamy shippers get.

"sonamy is a ship for the cishets"

really now? i guess my lgbt cars has expired guys. maybe that's a good thing because i was born and raised in a country where its illegal to be lgbt and my parents are kinda religious. and even the country where i'm originally from is pretty homophobic despite gay marriage being decriminalized. who knew all it took to solve those problems was to ship sonamy?? thanks guys.

do you see how stupid that logic is? a fucking ship doesn't determine your sexuality. i don't want to kiss women any less because i ship sonamy.

[scattered-winter]

wait hang on who are the hot gay boys in that gif set you reblogged

HGLHSIERGLSJDGALKSHGLK i was gonna put the [do you have any idea how little that narrows it down] meme but im pretty sure u mean this one <3 and in any case i will always be down to ramble about the Sillies(tm)

ok so those guys in particular are from the fox procedural called 9-1-1 Lone Star, which is a spinoff of the original 9-1-1 (which just got moved to abc after some Drama that went down so my tag for it is 911 (not fox) lmaoo). but both shows are about first responders (firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers, police) with a particular focus on firefighters. 9-1-1 (the og) is set in LA, and primarily focuses on the 118 firehouse and the firefighters/paramedics there with some other characters in the main cast who work as dispatchers/police officers (the police storylines are more often than not FULL of copaganda which sucks but the main focus is on the firefighters so i'm able to enjoy the rest of the show). 9-1-1 Lone Star is pretty much the same except it's set in austin texas, and is about the 126 firehouse. there are onscreen queer characters in both (in the og there's a married lesbian couple raising a kid, and in lone star there's the aforementioned hot gay boys [one of whom is unfortunately a cop but i swear to GOD i will get him out of there. one day.] and in lone star there's also a trans man and wlw woman in the main cast.) and my favorite thing about these shows is the found family !!! like these are the shows that have endeared firefighter aus to me because they live together and eat meals together and just. the familial/platonic love is So Powerful and it legiterally makes me cry to watch. like there's romance ofc but genuinely it's one of my favorite found family medias to ever exist. its So.

of the two the og is my favorite for a LOT of reasons, but they're both pretty enjoyable !! lone star definitely has more of a comedic tone than og (theyre BOTH funny but lone star doesn't have as many somber intense moments as og does, and they're much more spread out so there's a lot more room for goofy shenanigans. but og still definitely has plenty of those) and the team dynamics in them both are just...ughhh <3333

HOWEVER. lone star has ..... Him...(derogatory)...he's the fire captain and (despite lone star SUPPOSEDLY being an ensemble show with no Main Character) is in fact. the Main Character. and he's the blandest most obnoxious crustiest white man to ever LIVE. he gets most of the storylines and he's constantly propped up by the writing as The Coolest Guy Ever when he's just . not . i hate him so much it's unreal it's soo so unreal (<- biting the bars of my cage) BUT the rest of the team ??? absolutely love them. like i DO love lone star a lot its a great show with great characters and dynamics but it just has. the most annoying guy to ever live front and center when ITS SUPPOSED TO BE AN ENSEMBLE SHOW FEATURING EVERYONE EQUALLY. grr. anyway. og does a much better job of being an ensemble show, and i could not choose a favorite character of the main cast if you held me at gunpoint. angela bassett is there. i am gay. jennifer love hewitt is there. i am very gay. etcetera.

AND SINCE YOU ASKED SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE LONE STAR GAYS ILL TELL YOU A BIT ABOUT THEM

so one of them is tk strand (firefighter/paramedic, also the son of the Main Character (derogatory). i have many many many thoughts about that. i would probably get gunned down in this fandom if i ever said them aloud.) and the other one is carlos reyes (a private detective TO MEEEEEEEEEEEE but unfortunately fox is full of cowards who refuse to see the truth. they wanna have a gay cop in their show sooo bad </3) and they're kind of the main romance of the show (there Are others ofc but theyre like. The Focus. which is fine ig but i do wish there was more focus on other relationships because in general lone star isnt as good as the ensemble thing as og. but i already complained about that so i digress.)

now they're a fun pair because one of them has been shot, frozen almost to death, and otherwise put into a coma on MULTIPLE occasions. and it's not the guy whose entire job is to get shot at. (the whump in both of these shows.....................absolutely effervescent. im thriving here.) and they have a very fascinating relationship because their personalities fit together really well but they have different ways of coping with shit that kind of tear each other apart a little bit. which is of course terrible for them but incredible for me. and the writing is at times ridiculous. soap opera-esque, even. they're ridiculous. i adore them. they cannot catch a god damn break and i love that for them even more. <3

[gotham-is-the-best-worst-show]

Talking About The Isabella Arc part 1

CW: Helluvaboss discussion

I hate for one of my first posts on here to be negative, but I feel so mad that we were pitted against Ed in the whole Isabella situation.

I really wish that we would have got to see Ed's side of the story. I felt like the whole time, we were so disproportionately seeing it from Oswald's perspective, that it really was unfair to Ed as a character.

I know that Oswald is an extremely important character to the show, and Ed's character is usually an accessory to Oswald, but . . . As a Riddler kinnie, it’s so unfair.

The thing about me is I love fictional relationships in which both characters are equally bad people, doing equally selfish things to each other. It’s like candy to me, it’s so interesting to explore and write about, and it’s always exciting.

And that is one of my favorite parts about Oswald and Ed's dynamic, that they are equals. When one of them has the upperhand, the other will eventually come out on top.

I think that their power dynamic is very compelling. Oswald helped to begin Ed's criminal career, and Ed seems lost without his guidance. But also Oswald is hopelessly in love with Ed and will always be waiting for the day Ed reciprocates.

I feel that they both love each other so much for reasons that are selfish. Oswald loves Ed for the same reason Fish Mooney loved Oswald: she 'made' him. Ed loves Oswald because he gives him a sense of identity he can’t have on his own.

I really hate the way that gay men who are in unrequited love are sometimes so infantilized by the framing of the narrative. I’m thinking about the character of Stolas in Hellavaboss (I despise that I have to mention that show).

In the beginning of Helluvaboss, the show is a lot more honest about Stolas' morality and selfishness as a character than it gets as it goes on.

In the beginning, we see Stolas as an entitled noble who cheats on his wife with an imp, using Blitzo for his own shallow sexual gratification while being belittling to Blitzo, uncaring about the effect this has on his daughter until she brings to his attention the way it damages their relationship.

Blitzo, too, is shown to be cold and callous to Stolas for reasons that are understandable, but also it is clear he is using Stolas too, for Stolas' grimoire.

I think that this was a good set up.

I was really hoping for Stella to be a somewhat sympathetic character who is lashing out because she is being betrayed by her husband who she loved, because I am very much not into the way that (often) queer-created media or queer fanon likes to demonize women who get in the way of the gay ships. (Examples: hatred for and abuse of Harley Quinn because she gets in the way of BatJokes, hatred for and abuse of Lizzie Midford because she gets in the way of SebaCiel)

This sort of thing happens with any ship, that people hate certain characters for getting in the way of their ship, but it’s just annoying to me the misogynist undertones when it comes to women characters. (Saying Lizzie deserves to die because she has an annoyingly high voice . . . Um . . . She’s a preteen girl . . . Of course she has a high voice . . . It’s okay to not like her voice, but most people who say that obviously hate her more for being a ship cockblock)

It’s so much more interesting to be able to have sympathy for all sides.

And also, I was hoping to watch a show that is honest about its own character's immorality, and lets us feel for them anyway. No moralizing bullshit to only make us feel for the 'good guys' and hate the 'bad guys'. Just a show about horrible people all around that we can nonetheless relate to and enjoy.

But as it goes on . . . Things fall apart.

The show started to frame Stolas in an infantilizing light, making Blitzo out to be the villain only because Stolas is in love with him, which is so fucked up, because Blitzo doesn’t have to love Stolas, or anyone at all. That’s just kind of true of anyone. Nobody has to be in love with anyone, even with people who they are in a sexual relationship with, and that’s a fact of life.

Even though Blitzo obviously has romantic feelings for Stolas, that’s also not an excuse. He doesn’t owe Stolas anything. This whole relationship was based off of mutual selfish gain, and so, it’s really not Blitzo's responsibility that Stolas caught feelings.

It seems to me a very easy way to manipulate the audience. Because the majority of the fanbase of Helluvaboss are queer people and they know very well what it feels like to be in unrequited love (often with a straight person, or else someone who is struggling to be honest about their identity), they are more likely to sympathize with Stolas.

And Stella is demonized completely, so she’s just a bitch who abuses Stolas because she’s a bitch and does the bitchiest things the writers can think of to make you hate her.

All this would be fine if the show stopped doing this weird thing where it tries to retcon its own characters' morality and manipulate the audience into thinking characters who are horrible people are worthy of sympathy and love and other characters who are also horrible people aren’t deserving of sympathy and love because of the manipulative framing which screws with the plot and makes the characters uninteresting pity-bait or hate-bait.

This is something that Gotham does sometimes, but it’s not such a glaring issue, I feel.

[byfurries4furries]

Arches (Horror Visual Novel)

Here's an elevator pitch. What if you had a gay couple where one guy, Devon, is a paranormal investigator and the other guy, Cameron, has psychosis, but Devon thinks it might actually be psychic powers? It sounds like a really terrible horror movie. The twist though is that unlike most horror media, Cameron is kind of the main and most prominent point of view character, so the story is told in massive part from his perspective and deals heavily with the ramifications of its own premise.

Cameron is a very rich character and far more than just "the psychic". He's a former drug addict and had a mom who was similarly addicted to drugs. Both suffered from psychosis that caused hallucinations, but his mother's caused her to believe that arches were gates to either heaven or hell and if she went under the right one, she'd be able to go to heaven, thus she became obsessed with the shape. She died from drowning in a lake next to a bridge with an archway below it. Cameron pushed himself to quit drugs then as he blames his addiction for leading him away from protecting her. Soon though, he entered a relationship with a horribly abusive boyfriend. He eventually broke up with him and tried to pursue music, but labels felt like a guy with his unique vocal style just didn't have a place in modern music, so he pushed himself, blaming his anti-psychotics for ruining his creative process. Since then, he's felt useless, stuck at a soul-crushing call center job. But when he finds out his psychosis might actually be psychic powers, it gives him hope that he might be able to do something useful.

Devon is not as rich of a character, but he's very three-dimensional still. He had a comparatively much healthier upbringing, but he lost his aunt at a young age and that got him interested in the paranormal not just as a hobby, but as a way to figure out what happened after she died. He's considerably much better off financially too and could support his boyfriend fully if he needed to. He however struggles to listen to Cameron and in fact learns about most of his past during the events of the game, despite having dated him for years. Learning about it though makes him far more hesitant and scared to utilize his partner's powers in fear that he's in far too fragile of a mental space for something this serious. So in a way, by the time of the events of the story, the roles have switched in their typical dynamic and it's bringing up a lot of problems that had been bubbling under the surface.

This is the greatest strength of the game. Writers are typically REALLY bad at writing relationships. They almost always focus on the buildup to the relationship or decades after the fact where the characters are so used to each other that even they can't fathom each other apart. However, Cameron and Devon are in the throws of a relationship just long enough that they could propose to each other, but plausibly short enough that their biggest commitment is simply moving in together. And everything is messy, but it's not the fun kinda messy where they're on-again-off-again. They really want to be with each other and work through their issues. It's incredibly well-done, especially for a gay male relationship. And this is just the very tip of the iceberg. I didn't even need to sell you on the supernatural stuff, the part where they get kidnapped, or the extent and nature of Cameron's powers. The relationship between Cameron and Devon is the heart of the whole thing and if I can sell you on that, I don't even need to think about spoiling much else. Also, this is a sequel to another game called Echo, which I highly recommend and I did recommend before I basically rebooted this blog. You don't need to play Echo though. You can enjoy it just fine on its own. Echo however provides additional context for a character named Brian who doesn't really become a large presence until at least halfway into Arches. I'll talk more about Echo some other time though.

Links

Itch.io

[sarahnasoni]

Roundtable Presentation: Red, White & Royal Blue

Red, White and Royal Blue (2023), is directed by Matthew Lopez and is placed in the romantic-comedy genre. The movie is based on the novel that was published in 2019 by Casey McQuiston.

The narrative of this film centers around Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the U.S. President, and his antagonistic dynamic with England's young prince, Henry. Following a disruptive incident at the prince's brother's wedding, they must fake a close friendship to prevent a potential national scandal. What begins as a forced camaraderie gradually evolves into a deeper connection, complicated by the need to conceal their relationship amidst the spotlight of Alex's mother's re-election campaign as the first female President.

In the film the Alex Claremont-Diaz transcends otherness by not letting his defining characteristic be his racial and ethnic background and instead focusing more on his sexuality. This being said Alex's mom is the first black woman president and talks about the criticism she faces both because of her race and gender. By having this film center on a biracial gay couple it makes it a lot more approachable than most movies in this genre as it reaches a wider audience with its diversity. The film examines situations that aren't typical of romcoms by having two queer main characters. Also having a main guy character be bisexual is also not expected as there is not much media in general on bisexual men. Most romcoms are about heterosexual white couples and there are very few romcoms that focus on two men or have men as the main character. The fact the film centers around a gay biracial couple itself subverts gender roles that are normally typical in romcoms.

I think there is some unrealistic aspects of this film, including the fact that Henry seems to receive and face more backlash than Alex. The film managed to make Henry, the white guy the victim which is unfortunate and they could have portrayed the intersectionality of racism and homophobia better. I think they could have also mentioned more about race and ethnicity as although at some points it was briefly mentioned it was never really delved into.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Ive been thinkin about Herbert a lot because I like him even though hes in like 1 and 1/2 scenes in total and most of his characterization comes from my own headcanons and godddddd his dynamic with his dad is so fucking weird and Im so mad theyre just never going to elaborate on it. I mean unless they wanted to do some Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies type shit but I dont think thats happening anytime soon

And to be clear, im talking about the musical bc in the movie its just like, Herbert has his little gay moment with Alfred when he kinda corners him against the wall when they first get to the castle and then he has his big gay moment with Alfred with the flirting advice book, and then later the count is talking to Abronsius on the roof like "we'll have eternity to spend together, just like little Alfred and my son >:)" and its like, okay if things had gone according to their plan we wouldve had regular yaoi (that is to say two twinks) and old man yaoi (that is to say two old men) happening parallel to each other in this fucked up castle, and also Sarah wouldve been around and Im sure she wouldve been in a really weird position between Alfred and Count Krolock, although tbh I feel like she wouldnt have stuck around for too long if she didnt have to, like her whole thing was she wanted to be free from her shitty dad who never let her go outside I think she wouldve started traveling the world at the first opportunity but whatever

But in the musical its like, Herbert and Krolock are both clearly interested in Alfred and theyre both clearly aware of each others interest where Krolock is like "hey boy Im interested in, go be boyfriends with my son youre exactly his type" and Herbert is like "oh, father is so begeistert by you" like oh yeah? Whats he begeistert by? his submissive breedableness? And once again, Sarah is also there as part of this weird love formation, except this time its like a little more requited on all sides because Krolock is interested in both Alfred and Sarah and Sarah is interested in both Krolock and Alfred and Alfred is interested in Sarah and hes like scared of Krolock bc hes a vampire but you can easily interpret that as him being scared of his own homosexuality if you want, really Herberts the only odd one out in that dynamic by virtue of being the only non-bisexual in that castle

Before I continue with the actual point of this post, I just wanted to say that it just occured to me that that mess is basically the only non-monogamous portrayal of vampires I can think of in fiction, which tells me that I either need to seek out better vampire media or that our society is so hetero- and amatonormative and obsessed with the idea of Only One True Love Forever to the detriment of actually telling interesting stories about immortals who would naturally have very different opinions on love, which iiiiiiiis a lil bit frustrating ngl

Anyway, the fact that they Herbert and his dad barely interact is insane to me, Krolock is just like "this guy here is my son, everyone say hello to my son" when they get to the castle and then they never speak again like bro youre a VAMPIRE if you have a son youre gonna need to explain that a little

[ariapmdeol]

8:11 anon here again. Wow. W o w. Brain empty but just. Wow.

Went through all the endings and then had to go back to Arrival Point S to cope with all the other ones. And, as expected, the first ending and S destroyed me. Cried at least two times. My god. It's been a while since media made me cry, and I certainly didn't expect to get so emotionally invested in CoE.

However! I have questions!! Spoiler-y ones? If you don't mind, of course. Sorry if it's a lot?? I'm definitely going to re-watch everything again to connect whatever is left.

First off: is there a "canon" ending? Surely S is what everyone wishes to be canon (although E is pretty good too, in its own way, definitely wouldn't want it to be canon, though) but is there a defined one by the developers? Actually, what even is the first ending gotten before S?

Second: what triggers change the endings? I figure that for deaths it's mostly a matter of wasting time, which is really neat and genuinely puts urgency into the situation.

Connected to that, what's the blue-colored person speaking at the end of most endings? The one who "guides" the player on what they missed to try again?

Third: honestly what (and who) the hell is Kanou. Man shows up as quickly as he dies, reappears in like two endings, commits suicide in both. Is he just the local cryptid? A doll? There's something going on with him, between the Told You So death, the text about murdering coworkers at a previous lab, and his corpse disappearing (and, in specific endings, showing up as...human? Dialogue specifies that)

Fourth: you mention the DLC, but also Hermits Room and Interlude, however I don't see them in the playlist? Do they have to be played specifically as there's no uploads?

Fifth: wow Utsugi is so incredibly fruity. My god that guy is gay, good for him, good for him. That's not a question just need to state it. Also Sanemitsu being emotionally not there ever and Atou threatening him every five seconds. Peak dynamic, love them all so much. Shinano being happy. S ending my beloved

Sixth: I heard something about a...cipher? An art book cipher? Or an ARG? Idk but if you're willing to explain.

That's...it? Surely I have more questions but these are the main ones I can think of now. Again, sorry if this is a lot???

And!! Enjoy 8:11 whenever you get the time for it!! It was so fun to play and mind-boggling.

CONGRATS ON FINISHING AAAA!! i'll answer all these in order!! let me know if you need clarification on anything <3

Yes, there is a 'Canon' Ending'. S+ is considered the canonical ending! This actually answers the other part of this question: the Ch 8 Arrival point S goes through S (Future), which directly leads into S+ (Empyrean Point). The two endings are connected, and S needs to happen in order to achieve S+! OH ALSO. THERE ARE POST-S CHANGES, which i will put under the cut bc I have collected them <3 These technically happen in S+, but we don't see them bc we only check back in when Atou is in ch 8 already. The DLC (Records of Sanemitsu Isoi) takes place almost exactly 3 years after S+. (These are shown in the playlist after the Ch 4, 6, and 7 extras <3).

ENDING FLAGS: Fun bonus fact: the purple text will tell you what you missed, and this changes based on what you did wrong! S Root: get all the info, don't let anyone die. A Root: keep everyone alive but don't get all the info. Ensure that you have charged Shinano's Phone B Root: everyone alive but Shinano's phone was not charged or unlocked. C Root: Succeed in saving Yanagi. Fail in Saving Karen D Root: Succeed in Saving Karen. Fail in saving Yanagi E Root: EVERYONE DIES!! YIPPEEE Mx. Purple Text is something that you'll learn about in the DLC, so I'll RAFO you for now (Read and find out). It is purple specifically! (though i also made that interpeted it as blue at first sdajkldsjkal)

Kanou Flag: in Chapter Four, you can read Yuusuke Aiba's Journal without Kanou (this is shown in the extras for chapter 4). This starts the kanou flag. This is what triggers a couple of small changes surrounding Kanou (the quick flash of him in ch 6 comes to mind) and grants access to the kanou elevator scene. TLDR Kanou was infected with cells, which let him live a little longer, but not enough to grant abilities. They talk about dying as a 'human' because if he lives longer, his cells will morb and he'll become a doll or a creature. He also gives us a Note that says something like 'live for me'. This note gives us a buff during the origin beta boss fight (his "curse" protects atou <3)

The first Five records of the DLC (+ the intro) are in the playlist! for anything beyond that point, contact me here, on discord (@ ariapmdeol), or on twitter (@ AriaPMDEoL ) and I'll help you!

UTSUGI FOREVERRR HE'S SO. he makes me so emotional i love you noriyuki utsugi. Sanemitsu my darling my beloved he is trying but he also sucks so much <333 i love him. The Reiji-Sanemitsu-Haruki family means so much to me. they make me emotional UEEEE. S and S+ make me explode,,

YES there are ciphers!! there's an official artbook for COE (which unfortunately isn't being sold right now orz orz) Which has a few ciphers in it! The one that i was looking at is HORRIFICALLY warped (i genuinely don't think we were actually meant to solve it LMAO) but I solved it and a friend was kind enough to translate it for us! There is also a Cipher in DLC, and a few others in the DLC 2020 credits! I have solutions to all of those as well. It's less 'ARG' and more "here's some information hidden behind a cipher." They're not REQUIRED reading but they help a lot with theorizing, and I've been finding it to be a lot of fun :D

I CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY 8:11 I AM VERY EXCITED HEHEHE

OK POST S CHANGES ( you'll have seen one of these before). These are sorted by chapter. DON'T WORRY IF THESE DON'T MAKE SENSE TO YOU YET.

CHAPTER 1.

"You want to forget the rat without a head" has been changed from Red to Purple.

CHAPTER 4.

There is an Item on the floor in chapter 4 (the room that you have to walk through in order to get to Aiba's journal) which reads "Zero Does not Exist".

Chapter 6:

This document has been replaced, the first time you look at it, by a document by CODE:DANTE. This one is a little long so you can DM me and I'll grab it for you!

Chapter 7:

ok so. this is shown in A root but it's not an A root thing, it's a Post S root thing (it's because of how the YT translator got their endings, dw abt it). All mentions of Seodore Riddle have been removed

This text has changed (both in normal vision and in Vision shift. it reads:[normal vision text] 'This is not the start of a nightmare but the end of a peaceful dream' and 'but what will you see when you wake' is added post S. [purple text] 'Aare you enjoying this divine comedy?' with 'i'm glad, you've enjoyed the love of god' added post S.

^this section was translated by tumblr user hermitroom!

[castlebyersafterdark]

perhaps you don't want to speak about mike x el here, but as a gay man in the fandom, can you speak a little on your opinion of how that relationship was set up and played out? was it expected for you as a het relationship, did you find it intriguing or cliche, sweet or boring before byler became clearer? after you started realising byler was a real possibility, what did you think of mike x el in retrospect both in the show and for the show as a work of art in modern culture?

+ sometimes when i've seen takes defending queer stories against anti-woke people, some folk have even said that queer people have been 'putting up with' straight stories for decades and are just as sickened by them as homophobes are with queer stories. i'm interested if this is a defensive slap back or an actual truth for many people. do you enjoy a heterosexual love story in the right context? do you think how they are handling this specific love triangle works well as a plot twist and thematic message in ST?

i know its hard to tell cos its open ended but just in terms of where we're at now, i would love a gay man's opinion on this classic trope of superhero girl x 'straight' nerd boy and his gay bestie.

I'm down for talking about anything and everything here! I havent gotten anything yet I won't address haha. Mike/El is an important aspect of the show even if I don't support the ship or want (or think) it will be endgame.

I guess when I first watched the show I was honestly a very casual fan and even though I really liked Mike, the mike/el relationship just seemed like a typical little thing s1/2 and it didn't really mean much to me. Like it was fine, it was minimal and kinda cute I guess? I honestly was pulling for Joyce/Hopper from the beginning because one, Winona is such an icon and part of the draw when I heard about the show. Always loved her. And I had (have) a huge thing for David Harbor so I was really hoping they got together in the show. I guess this answers your question if gay guys care about straight ships - of course we do! At least I do. I care about 'story telling' and I just want more story telling in media that reflects more than just straight love stories. (I was also so shocked and blown away with excitement about Robin's reveal in s3 - tons of love for the gay ladies as well!! It was very exciting when the show added that.) So yes, of course I'm latching onto gay ships in fandom and really pulling for them playing out for real in the media itself. (For another instance, I love Jonathan/Nancy in the actual show, but I only read Jonathan/Steve fics. Just for fun! I don't really 'ship' them. I like the idea but not for the show. If that helps explain my mindset?)

For comparison to another fandom (I've since ditched) - Marvel. I liked SteveBucky because it made sense and the subtext was there, but I knew the MCU are cowards. I liked SteveTony because the dynamic was interesting to read in fic. I liked SteveThor because hot superhero dudes fucking is hot. (Sweet Steve Rogers, what a 🚲 hahaha). And then I liked ClintNatasha because they were in love and should have been together. For me, it's always half storytelling, half fandom fun.

Until season 4 threw me into a tailspin, MikeEl was just... boring and I didn't really care? But what they did with Mike and Will s4 was eye opening and exciting and it'll honestly be a huge disappointment and a deeper conversation about terrible rep and storytelling choices over how they wrote this love triangle if the worst comes to pass. A gay kid's trauma and feelings to prop up this generic and boring and very cliched pair of MikeEl? They aren't a game changer, they aren't really something to root for at this point? I do feel some sort of way knowing the potential for a Byler reveal is considered a plot twist. Wish a gay love story wasn't a shock factor, but society hasn't gotten there yet so, it is what it is unfortunately and this is a major mainstream show so... it is shocking. But I'll feel so proud for them having depicted this amazing story. Really gotta wait and see how they build and reveal season 5. I want to trust them! With a very beautiful slow burn. Otherwise.... so much to unpack.

[petphantoms]

the abusive flower husbands thing does actually just come across as homophobic at some point. interpreting things in your own way is all well and good but as a gay man seeing people who are not gay men (from a lot of what I've seen anyway, not saying it's true for everyone), bending over backwards to say "no really they're abusive because I'm going to take these jokes and bits completely literally" it feels bad actually. I'm also not cool with the way people also tie this into scott being aro, bc I'm also aro and implying that he's abusive because he is aro is bad actually! sorry i really don't want to start anything this has just really been bothering me and you're the first to actually bring it up. it just has uncomfortable ties to the way people treat scott (as a character and as a real life person) as a gay man, and i think people should be more critical of these patterns

i had no idea scott was aro? huh! so i wont be able to comment on that fully because i havent seen it personally used as a point of discussion but that's really interesting..and im sure ur telling the truth i just. i havent seen it so i cant say much about my experience with it

other than that, yeah! like i said in my rb response, people dont tend to give the way that joel and grian and etc all bully jimmy the same treatment, where theyre Also horrible and abusive to jimmy etc, it just. it strikes me?

i know not EVERYONE who is interpreting FH as abusive hates scott or is even homophobic but it does just come off weird when people just don't seem to like... enjoy. the people involved at all. ... i enjoy some problematic ships because im interested in the dynamic and how things happened and the outcome, um. .. not because i hate this other guy??

idk if that makes any sense. id love to talk about the nuance and importance of media analysis and interpretation/representation of problematic relationships whether they be intentional or not but thats not rly what ur here for.

personally i do love discussion so if you have more shipping takes i am literally all ears, even if i disagree i really enjoy trying to understand different perspectives, which is a huge reason why i even made that post in the first place. it was a cry of frustration and confusion with what i was seeing because i had no context.

anyways everyone please remember we love eachother and to be civil and that im just here for discussion and understanding. i dont think FH is abusive personally, to me it reads as very just messing around and rough housing in a bad and unfamiliar situation (the life series is not like. a kind game, and 3l was the first! ofc theyre gonna be less comfortable).

i dont think its actually indicative of anyones personal beliefs unless theyre being freaks but i would implore everyone regardless of what you do or dont like both CCs and ships and etc to like. ask yourself why you dont like it, and where you're getting that information from, ykwim?

ok ty for the ask nonnie xx -🍄

[disastergay]

the boyfriends webtoon drama: myths and facts (NOT a callout)

for those of you who are unfamiliar with the name 'refrainbow,' here's a quick rundown of basic information:

Ray, aka refrainbow on twitter, is a 23 y/o gay transmasculine comic artist. there is no easily accessible publicly available information about their race or ethnicity in their carrd.co link (or bio) aside from the words "based in Indonesia."

you may recognize his art style from this fan animated short on youtube, which went viral mainly for being... less-than-well-received. the comic's gratuitous usage of internet slang and flashy pastel overtones (some of which clash with each other to the point that it irritates my scotopic sensitivity syndrome), and barely-there character development (to the point where readers have to go out of their way to look up any of the character's names) have given it a notorious reputation for representing "everything that's wrong with fandom culture and LGBTQ+ rep as a whole."

the premise is simple: four guys who go to the same university decide to start dating each other. each represents a different character trope--goth, jock, prep, and nerd.

some users have gone so far as to argue that the webtoon perpetuates harmful stereotypes about gayness, transness, and polyamorous relationships. (while I can't really agree or disagree since I haven't read the comic, from the few panels I've seen, it does seem to take a strangely infantilizing approach to the discussion of top/bottom dynamics.)

I think we all most of us can agree that just because something makes us cringe doesn't mean it has no right to exist. at the end of the day, this comic has very little influence on mainstream media, even less so after its controversial public reception.

unfortunately, the controversy didn't stay fictional.

on May 13, 2021, Ray confirmed that they used to create non-SFW comics featuring members of BTS, which fall under the category of RPF ('real person fiction'), and later stopped doing so, citing "I've come to realize that it is a violation of their consent" as the reason why.

on October 10, 2021, Ray quoted a tweet from 9 years ago (October 5, 2013) where they had, at age 14, called a character from the competitive swimming anime Free! the n word, saying "I'm very sorry for ever using it ... I'll make sure that I will never use it again."

while I'm glad they apologized for the harm they have caused and are attempting to make amends, it's not my place to forgive them (I'm nonblack and not east asian), and the same goes for many of you who are reading this post.

for anyone who skipped to the end of this post looking for a TL;DR or waited patiently for me to finish, without further ado, here's the 'boyfriends' webtoon/refrainbow discourse summarized.

Myths* ❌

refrainbow is white

he fetishizes asian men

they're a troll trying to make the LGBTQ+ community look bad

he genuinely intends to perpetuate queerphobic stereotypes and harmful beliefs about polyamory

they intentionally slutshame/are anti sexworker

*when I say "myths" I mean we currently don't have sufficient information to determine whether or not they are true, and anyone spreading this information very likely has no real basis for it.

Facts ✔️

refrainbow is nonblack

they used the n word at age 14, when they should have been old enough to know better than to do so

he used to create smutty comics featuring real life members of BTS

since then, they have apologized for both

some of the phrases his OCs use and ways they act are stereotypical of gay/trans men and polycules, especially when related to their sex lives

anyway. I'm tired of looking at this post and I have better things to do with my time, so I'm gonna sign off now. do with this information what you will.