#I'm sorry I recognize that this is less diplomatic than it should be but like

[silentstep]

Why do you dislike the idea of Wen Qing being the top of a ChengQing relationship out of curiosity?

Short answer is that if it wasn't such an overwhelming majority of portrayals, I wouldn't!

slightly longer answer is that the idea that ~all het pairings have to have femdom in order to be acceptably progressive~ cuts off women from being portrayed as fully realized characters. It's a lack of willingness to explore their interiority and to allow them access to the full spectrum of humanity. Male characters are allowed to be messy. Male characters are allowed to pine and fall desperately in love and harbor fears that it's unrequited. Male characters are allowed to feel insecure and uncertain. Male characters are allowed to be loved despite all their flaws and all their mistakes and all their blind spots. Male characters are allowed to change and grow and be forgiven. Female characters have to be perfect angel goddesses who are given out to male characters as rewards to be worshipped. Let female characters down off their pedestals for once, I am begging.

*long sigh*  It’s just like… nowadays we express attraction/affection towards a female character by going WOW STEP ON ME QUEEN!!! and towards a male character by going OH THE THINGS I WANT TO DO TO HIM… >:)  HE’S SO PATHETIC AND WET

and it’s because we don’t want to be sexist and/or degrading!  I absolutely get that!  but when we’re actually writing longform narrative about specific characters, I want to be able to explore the character of the individual and the relationship, instead of just having those two sentiments writ large.  I don’t want to read about generic Character A/Character B.

and like, again, this is a problem I have with the trend, not with any individual fic. I've read and enjoyed individual fics where she's the dominant one who takes Jiang Cheng apart and makes him beg for it. But why is it all I can find? Why is she slotted into the pigeonhole of "Wei Wuxian's mean lesbian bestie, whose own life never gets any focus" in the background of every other fic? Why does she never get teased by her modern AU friends?  When does she get to be impulsive and silly?  Why does she always have to be “too smart” to get involved in shenanigans?  Why does she never get to let her guard down? When does she get to feel safe enough to relax her prickles and expose her vulnerable underbelly? Why does she never get to have vulnerabilities at all? Why does she never get to be soft, why does she never get to be sweet, why does she never get to rest and be taken care of?  Why does she always have to have everything together?  Why does she never get to appreciate or be grateful for someone else's good points, someone else's strength? Why does she have to be good at literally everything, instead of ever getting to let someone else compensate for the things she's not good at? She's lost so much, just as much as any male character in the series; why does she never get to cry and mourn and be held and comforted? Why does she always, always have to be the strong one? When does she get to put that burden down? Why is her canonical moral ambiguity never given space, when Jiang Cheng's is always portrayed as an obstacle between them? Why do her canonical wrongdoings never require forgiveness or atonement? Why doesn't she ever get portrayed as feeling guilty for the atrocities she stood by and let happen— that she outright enabled? Why does she never get to be a person?

tl;dr: every single time the male character gets to be a skrunkly meowmeow, his female love interest should also get the same treatment, dammit.

[broadwaytheanimatedseries]

Erasing The Empire AU:

In a far away kingdom from a time long forgotten, there is a magical forest who's inhabitants were starting to worry that the kingdom their home resides in is going to destroy their forest, should they continue with their harmful ways of war and violence.

And so, the magical communities of the forest came together to decide what to do, and the idea of negotiating with the humans came up. Most of them thought it was ridiculous, but one of the unicorns spoke.

"I believe if you were to allow me to put together a team, we could act as an emissary of the forest and have an agreement settled with the kingdom, in no more than three moon cycles, maybe less."

Everyone was shocked at the unicorn's bold claims, and the queen of the fae raised her brows, skeptical. "that is a very big promise, Unicorn. Are you wasting our precious time with boastful, empty words, or are you willing to let yourself be held accountable to this promise?"

"I am. I know what my capabilities are and the only thing I need is a team. How much time I can save us under three cycles is entirely dependent on the team I can assemble."

"very well, Unicorn. I shall allow you to meet with my court, so that you may decide which of them you wish to take with you on this quest. Just one last question, what is your name?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, the same as she had at him, and cracks the smallest smirk. "you may call me Logan, if you wish to refer to me by something other than Unicorn."

Once he had chosen the smartest fae in the queen's court, the two had gone back to the rest of the forest to recruit their last member. They knew it was a very narrow representation of the creatures of the forest, but they were trying to save their home quickly and efficiently, not fill the king's palace with magical beings.

However, they soon found that not many people wanted to be on a team with a fae and a unicorn. "well this is tragically amusing." the fae chimed unhelpfully.

"I really don't see what's amusing about this, Deceit." Logan responded to the fae, his yellow wings flapping with no regard for how they were repeatedly hitting Logan's side.

"you don't? Oh but it's so obvious. You spent hours in the court, picking and choosing until you found the right fae for the job, and now it looks like you're gonna have to settle for whatever miserable sap of a creature comes your way, otherwise I don't see how you're getting an emissary together anytime soon!"

Just as Logan was about to argue back, a cloaked figure with gleaming red eyes and sharp teeth, that seemed to be illuminated by some dim light, approached them in a hurry.

As the figure came closer, Logan realized to his dismay that he recognized who it was.

"are you by chance the unicorn and faerie leaving the forest on a mission to talk to the king?"

Logan and Deceit glanced at each other, before Deceit smirked, causing Logan to roll his eyes and choke back an annoyed sigh.

"yes, we are. Why do you ask?"

"because I want to join you! Please?"

"Roman, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, this is a diplomatic mission. It's not going to be an epic battle adventure where you go out into the world and defeat the villain and save some damsel in distress, or whatever it is that you do on your escapades out of the forest. This is a serious task that must be handled with caution and precision."

"wow, Logan. Good to know you think so lowly of me. You think I don't know how to act in a socially tense situation? My brother creates those twice a day for me to deal with! You think you know anything about how the humans act or think? You never leave the forest! I might not have the best reputation in the kingdom, but at least they know who I am. Face it, Specs. You need me."

Logan was absolutely shook. He did not expect Roman to bring up so many valid points that he was now ashamed to realize he hadn't even considered. He knew nothing of the humans! What was he thinking, going into this mission so unprepared?

He knew what he was thinking. He wanted to be heared, to finally be listened to for once, and to have his words be taken seriously.

And because of that, he put the fate of the entire forest on the line.

As Logan breathed deeply, he decided to push down those thoughts. They could be dealt with later, Roman could not.

"you're right. I'm sorry to have offended you, you're welcome to join if you still wish it."

Roman was confused for a second, not used to having things go his way when arguing with Logan. The two weren't friends by any means but they both lived in the forest and so their paths had crossed on several occasions. But this was the first time Logan was willing to concede to him so easily.

He soon got over his confusion, however, as the realization that he would be spending the next three months at the kingdom set in, replacing his confusion with joy.

"oh thank you, thank you, thank you! This is gonna be the most epic adventure! But serious and precise, of course. But still, EPIC!"

Logan did sigh heavily that time, as Deceit just chuckled in amusement.

As they were about to head out that night, they were stopped by a giant dragon, his green scales shimmering in the moonlight and his green eyes dark and menacing.

"and where do you think you're going, little creatures?"

It growled in a deep, unsettling voice.

"oh cut it out, Remus! I'm going to talk to the king and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Roman yelled at the terrifying beast like a bratty child.

Remus transformed into his humanoid form and scowled at his twin brother

"fine, then I'm coming with you. And there's nothing you can do to stop me." he replies, voice snarky and much higher pitched, almost the complete opposite of his voice in dragon form.

Seeing as all three of them saw exactly what Remus's true form looks like, no one could really argue against that.

And so, the four set off on a journey to the kingdom, knowing they would arrive at the castle within three days.

But even making it to the castle was going to be an adventure all on its own, otherwise what kind of fairytale story would this be?

Stay Tuned...

[themousefromfantasyland]

The Yule Man (3/7)

As told by ME

This was meant to be a short story, but it became too big, so I separated it in seven parts. I want to turn my blog in a space where I can share my writting every once and a while.

This is the first time I post one of my stories on a public space. This is the first time anyone besides my sister will be able to read, so I'm pretty exciting and anxious. I want honest criticism. I hope you all enjoy it.

In the next year, Chris opened his bag earlier, near the old bridge. News came that the Yule Man had already arrived in Arnsberg. Mia stepped into her carriage and ordered the coachman to lead her to him.

She found him sitting in a wooden bench next to the clocktower. He hadn't changed a thing. The same dirty clothes. The same enormous fur coat. The same shaggy red beard. The same tender boyish face.

His whole mood lighted up pretty quick as soon as he caught her in his sight. She waved to him, and not containing himself with excitement, he waved back to her.

They stopped the carriage near him, and she opened the door to him.

He grinned with all the mischievousness of a boy:

"You changed."

She nudged his shoulder.

"It passed only a year. How can I have changed?" She played with his beard.

"Everyone always changes." He spoke.

During the course to the Hayek Mansion, everything felt different. The coachman looked tired and in a bad state of mind. Even Mia herself seamed exhausted, yet they tried their best to stay the same. The way to Hayek home had changed too. Less trees, more buildings, the town expanded itself again.

"How is your father?"

The coachman looked behind his shoulder.

She grew quiet. Chris would not dare to ask more questions; he knew that feeling all too well.

At the Hayek Mansion things continued to change. The Yule Log had been launched in the fireplace far later than it should. The decorations this year looked poorer and simpler, as if something had sucked all joy and life out of them. The living room was a shell of what it once was. No Yule Goats this year. Silver bells now accompanied the typical decks of holly hanged by the walls. He saw statues of the Silver God near the Yule Tree in the living room.

"I didn't know you were religious." Chris said surprised.

Mrs. Hayek stormed in the room.

Mia expressed defeat.

"Oh, you brought him again." She said with more resentment in her voice than usual. "Without telling me anything."

Mia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Mother, please..."

"Oh, shut up." She snarled. "I believe we already ran out of things to say to each other."

There was only one table this year, set more by a sense of duty than by any real intent. Less charm, less sweets, less delights. The feeling in the house was way different. The Yule Festival now felt more like an accessory, a decoration, than anything real.

The Solstice Eve ball felt different too, less guests, less presents, and less joy. A sense of uneasy filled the air, with the townspeople unsure if they were welcome there. St. Nicholas was now exactly as how the holiday cards portrayed him.

The gigantic Yule Tree has disappeared this year. Along with many Yule things, it had been brought along with Mr. Hayek when he went to his final destination.

Mia stood in a corner, trying to stay out of sight, what Chris thought as a shame. She dressed even more beautiful than in the last year. She wore a sleeveless ivy-green gown with a bright red sash around her waist.

He went to talk with her, still carrying a plate full of cookies and other sweets, all those he could find.

"Are you alright? Can I do something to help?" He asked with a deep fear of invading someone else's business. He tested the ground to know if it was safe to step on it.

She saw how he carried the plate.

"Thanks."

She picked one. He released a quick nervous laughter.

"Oh, they were not for you... "

She gave him a judgmental stare.

"I mean, you can get them if you..."

She laughed.

"I missed you, silly." She hugged him and rested her face on his shoulder.

"What happened here?" He asked.

"My relationship with my mother is worse than ever." She placed a huge emphasis on the word "ever".

Mrs. Hayek approached them with as kindness as it was possible from her.

"Mia, I wanted to talk with you." She began saying by putting her best "mother voice". "Remember Mr. Evans. Well, he has a son your age. He has been having troubles finding a bride for his son. I agreed to talk about marriage proposals tomorrow. The old man is unsure with you as a good bride for his soon, so I want you to go there..."

Mia had enough. That was the final stroke that broke the camel's back.

"Mother, I'm sorry, but no!"

"What?"

Mrs. Hayek had trouble digesting that word. "No" wasn't a term she was familiarized with.

"I thought the problem was you not getting any suitors."

Mia tried her best to be diplomatic on that moment.

"Mother, I'm very thankful for what you're doing, but I'm not want to be married. Not like that."

"So, what do you want Mia." She raised her voice.

Everyone stopped and stared at them. Chris saw the sparks starting to fly between the two.

"The money of your father will not last forever. I'm trying my best to hold this family together, but you're refusing to help."

Mia kept her best poker face.

"His partners are almost taking over the company. We are almost losing our income." She continued.

Mia exhaled.

"Mother, I know, and I don't want to bring you any more trouble, but please..."

"You have been useless." She yelled.

Mia raised her voice.

"You can say that to my face."

"I can't?" She smiled with disdain. "At your age I was already married, because that's why women of our class do, we help our family." She paused to breathe. "I didn't like your father at first, he was very older than me, but this is real life." She lowered her tone. "We don't have much time."

Mia shouted back.

"What do you know about love?"

Not even Chris recognized her when she said that. She got careless. Mia spilled a kind of bitterness that she didn't know she had. Whatever that thing was, it came from way within her.

"A gold-digging shrew. Nothing is never good enough. Not even my father was good enough. You only married him because of his money. You yourself told how the fact he been black turned you off at first."

By the look of Mrs. Hayek’s expression, it was as if she had been hit in the face. A sure slap that hurt nothing more than her ego.

"I want you out." She went straight to kill.

Mrs. Hayek stopped looking into her daughter's face.

"Mother, please." Mia tried to fix the whole situation, to salvage their relationship. Mia implored for all reason she hoped still lasted in her.

Everyone continued watching.

"I will not send you away because it would be a sin against my god. You can spend Yule with us, but after that I want you out." Her mother growled

She walked away. Mia tried to reach her.

"Mother."

She immediately shot her down.

"You father already left half of his inheritance to you. This house is mine and from your siblings. It's ours."

"What is happening here" Sophia asked, followed close by her brothers.

"Nothing." Mrs. Hayek smiled as perfectly as a china doll.

Mia rushed back inside. Chris followed her.

In her anger she threw a the statue of the Silver God over the stairs and broke down in tears. She sat upon the staircase and kept crying. When Chris entered the room, she made sure to wipe her tears away. Too late.

"Father loved the Yule Festival. Mother not so much." She started. "He never liked the Church. He always told how the church appropriate the Winter Solstice festival to themselves. How they plastered their stupid god everywhere to make the holiday theirs."

She smiled, trying her hardest to lighten the mood. "Now that he's gone, mother did the same, and things are worse than ever." She hid her face in her hands.

Chris stepped up the stairs and sat by her side, remaining quiet.

"You don't know what to say!"

He nodded in shame. She gave him a half-smile.

"During this year I couldn't stop thinking about you. You never change, you never ages. I wish to be like you sometimes."

"You don't." He broke the silence.

The way he said that surprised her.

"You have an immortal lifetime."

He raised his voice.

"You have a lifetime." His lips trembled "I got only moments."

"You don't die." She was quick to point out.

"What's the point of not dying, if you never lived?" He shook his arms in frustration.

He lowered his head and his tone.

"During most of the year I cease to be, and just to think about it makes me terrified." His lips quivered. He struggled not to spill any tears. "For all the purposes I'm dead. There's no such thing as an afterlife for me. I just disappear. Boom. Nothing."

He failed. He got emotional.

"I wished I could exist. I wish I could form real relationships with people. People remember me the same way their remember a snowy day."

She closed her eyes.

"For how has it been like that."

"For as much as I can remember." He said in deep mournful tone. "I'm part of the landscape, not of the people who go through it."

"Father was the only one who understood me." She continued.

"My mother raised me to sit still and be pretty. My father raised me to be a tomboy. I'm scared. I'm a woman now, and I don't have talents or skills. I don't know what to do now, where to go. I just don't want to be like my mother. My mother comes from those types who married earlier and with much older men. I don't want to be like her."

She caught him gazing at her with care.

"You don't need to be"

She pulled his hands.

"You either."

She continued.

"Let's live the moment, here and now. As my mother said, we don't have much time."

"I really want that, but..."

"Why are you always so afraid?" She shook her head.

He stayed quiet for a couple of seconds.

"The North Wind, for as far as I remember has been one of few things that acknowledges me. He doesn't like that I'm too close to mortals. He can't punish me. He isn't my boss. But he cares, really cares. He fears for me."

Mia drew his hands to her lap.

"Promise me you won't be afraid anymore. You can be yourself. I will not punish you. I will not run away."

He smirked.

"But you have to promise me you will try to write. You told me you wanted to be a writer last year.

She raised up.

"Were you really listening?"

He got up near her.

"It's one of the few things I can do in this world." He continued. "I want to see if you are good on that. I don't change, but I think I can change you."

He realized how that sentence could be interpreted. "I mean, I don't want you to change, I mean..."

She took off his fur hood and kissed his cheek, and for a moment the whole world changed for him.

[traincat]

not to be a big bitter bitch but like, i'm seeing a bunch of articles about tom holland being "open" to the idea of spider-man being gay, and comparing that to that recent travesty of an interview, it just feels.... hollow. like, we can imagine him being gay but not jewish? really?

also obviously no one has a monopoly on the idea but Andrew Garfield Did It First Y'all

I was on mobile the past two days and wanted to wait until I wasn’t tapping out replies on my phone, but in a word: yeah. I’m going to sum up why I personally feel Tom Holland’s comment on the possibility of a gay Spider-Man is different than Andrew Garfield’s, starting with the context of the given quotes.

First off, literally all Tom Holland said was that “of course” he would be okay with a gay Spider-Man when he was asked about it. He went on to elaborate a little bit, and the whole thing is very diplomatic and more than a little vague: 

“I can’t talk about the future of the character because honestly I don’t know and it’s out of my hands. But I do know a lot about the future of Marvel, and they are going to be representing lots of different people in the next few years.”

This, to me, seems like a careful and diplomatic response to the question given the massive backlash the MCU has gotten over its lack of representation, particularly the Endgame “gay Joe Russo” debacle and the cutting of Tessa Thompson’s bisexual Valkyrie scene, and also in response to the discussion that the Andrew Garfield controversy generated. I can’t say for certain whether or not this question would be asked if Andrew Garfield hadn’t so vocally spoken out in favor of exploring Peter Parker’s sexuality in film – and then gotten so much backlash both from fans, and, he’s since revealed, push back from the studio – but I do think it’s less likely it would have come up.

Let me be totally clear: I think this comment from Tom Holland is nice. It’s well-spoken, polite, and it’s good that he’s publicly supportive of the idea. But also, despite what a lot of his fans like to think, Tom Holland is not “just a kid” – he is a 23-year-old professional actor, and this is not his first press tour. “Tom Holland Says Spider-Man Can’t Be Gay” is a PR nightmare. So faced with this question, this was about the only answer he could give without more massive backlash against the MCU for its lack of representation 20+ films in. So it’s nice. It’s well-worded. Hopefully it means something to kids who are only familiar with this actor’s iteration of Spider-Man who want to see themselves represented on screen. I’m not putting Tom Holland down as a person or a public figure here, but I am saying this is nothing to write home about compared to some other attempts to drum up representation by even other MCU actors. This kind of reply should be the minimum people should expect from someone in the public eye in 2019.

Again, let me stress the point that this question was put to Tom Holland in an interview. Andrew Garfield brought this up on his own to producers, director Marc Webb, and to Entertainment Weekly. 

“I was kind of joking, but kind of not joking about MJ,” he tells EW. “And I was like, ‘What if MJ is a dude?’ Why can’t we discover that Peter is exploring his sexuality?  It’s hardly even groundbreaking!…So why can’t he be gay? Why can’t he be into boys?”

(He also wanted Michael B. Jordan to play his love interest in the third film and every day I think about this and how my Spideytorch beliefs are validated by the universe.)

Much like Andrew Garfield’s comments on Spider-Man being Jewish (more on that in a minute), there’s no evidence that anyone asked him these questions so much as he just went off on his own – and got a lot of backlash for them:

“I worked harder than I’ve ever worked on anything and I’m really proud of it,” he says, “but I didn’t feel represented. There was an interview I gave where I said, ‘Why can’t Peter explore his bisexuality in his next film? Why can’t [his girlfriend] MJ be a guy?’ I was then put under a lot of pressure to retract that and apologise for saying something that is a legitimate thing to think and feel. So I said, ‘OK, so you want me to make sure that we get the bigots and the homophobes to buy their tickets?’” 

It’s unlikely Tom Holland is going to face that kind of studio backlash for his comments, because he didn’t make them out of nowhere – he responded politely, positively, and just a tad evasively (”it’s out of my hands”) to a question that was put to him. He didn’t come out swinging, and in light of the backlash against the MCU and Andrew Garfield’s honestly about the pressure he was put under to apologize for his own opinions, it’s pretty unlikely Marvel Studios wants to look bad by making their bright-eyed star go back on the record all, “no, sorry, no gay Spider-Man here, I thought you said DAY Spider-Man.” And we at the very least partially have Andrew Garfield being honest and vocal, both about his vision for a canonically bisexual Peter Parker who is allowed to explore that on film and about the pressure he was put under to apologize following those comments, to thank for that, so it feels inappropriate in light of that to celebrate Tom Holland’s comment without at least mentioning Andrew Garfield no matter how one personally feels about either film franchise. It’s definitely weird to take memes like this one and paste Tom Holland’s name over it in light of the fact that he’s received maybe a teeny tiny fraction of the backlash Andrew Garfield got, if that. I don’t, for the record, believe the theory that The Amazing Spider-Man franchise was canceled solely because of Andrew Garfield’s above comments – the Sony leaks were kind of a big deal, and TASM2 didn’t perform as well as desired at the box office, so Marvel Studios was prime to swoop in with their deal  – but even just in terms of making jokes, it’s a bit in bad taste when Tom Holland definitely isn’t getting fired over this one.

And again, the sentiment that Tom Holland would be okay with a gay Spider-Man is nice, I’m not saying it’s not, and it’s good that he voiced his support, but it is the bare minimum, and when he was blindsided by the idea of a Jewish Spider-Man in a Wired video, he was visibly confused, said, “I don’t think he is,” and never voiced his support for that idea or for more Jewish representation in superhero films, Spider-Man or not. Leaving aside the fact that Spider-Man was created by a Jewish man, that Andrew Garfield was also very vocal about recognizing his own Jewish heritage and identity within the character, and that in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Peter B. Parker has Jewish wedding on screen, and so the only way Tom Holland could not have considered this possibility is if he read literally no widely circulated press about other iterations of the character he plays ever, it was a bad look. It would have been easy to say “I didn’t consider that before but now I will,” or something along those lines. (I have a longer post about that and why the problem isn’t a lack of knowledge of Spider-Man’s Jewish history but a lack of consideration of it here.) But he didn’t. So some forms of representation for Spider-Man  are okay, but others haven’t merited the time it takes to think about or a polite and considerate reply. Got it.

[mittensmorgul]

do you think it's open to interpretation whether dean and cas are in love with each other? Like is it just as valid an interpretation to say they're not? Whenever anyone calls destiel "one interpretation" or whatever, my hackles rise. And I know I'm overly sensitive about this stuff, being a gay and whatnot, but I mean, is it? Am I just insecure because my otp isn't canon, or is destiel really more valid than other readings or what? What do you think?

Hi there. :)

I’m gonna give you the diplomatic, academic answer, and then I’m gonna give you the grumpy-ass queer lady answer. Hold on to your horses. :)

Polite answer:

All media is open to interpretation. Of course, this doesn’t mean that all interpretations are equally valid, or equally supported by canon, especially when taken in context of the entire body of the work in question.

For example, I replied to a post the other day about 13.17, and that scene where Dean and Sam are-- on first glance-- rather disrespectful of the extremely rare and valuable books in the bunker... but in context of the rest of the episode and the rest of the season, that montage wasn’t about disrespecting those books at all. It had less than nothing to do with the books themselves as objects or as sources of knowledge that should be properly cared for and respected. But out of context it kinda looks that way. So, based on that one short gif set, it might seem like a perfectly legitimate interpretation to suggest that Sam and Dean were careless with the immense knowledge and invaluable books they’ve found themselves in possession of. But in the larger context of their entire history, of all their interactions with the bunker and the untold store of knowledge it holds,  and with the context of the specific reasons for their frustration in that particular scene, it seems obvious that there’s a lot more to the story, you know?

You could technically argue just about any weird headcanon can be supported by canon. I wrote this weird little post right after 12.11 aired, and it sat in my drafts for a good long time before I finally posted it. But there’s nothing in canon that legit quashes the possibility that endgame fish!Cas is where the story’s been headed all along. He’s positively swimming in fish metaphors. (sorry, I couldn’t resist) Does that abundance of fish, fishing imagery, and water imagery that have surrounded Cas for years lend itself to a literal interpretation? I mean, it’s definitely AN interpretation that is there if you want to see it, and if in your heart of hearts you believe it’s legitimately what the storytelling is attempting to convey here. But does that make it a valid interpretation that deserves serious consideration? Does it truly make sense when taking the larger story around Cas as a whole? Or is it obviously a literary theme that we’re supposed to consider through the themes traditionally associated with fish and fishing as used in countless other fictional works of the past? I suppose that sort of interpretation has been left open for us to take or leave as we see fit. It invites us to examine those references more closely, to help us understand Cas as a character and the journey his personal character arc is taking him through. It gives his experiences and growth a depth of context that is there to explore if we so choose.

(for more on Cas vs Fish, please see my tags regarding “The Fisher King.” I like to think there’s a more well-reasoned and logical line of thinking for pinning so much fish to Cas than my cracky example of fish!Cas would suggest.)

Now, looking at destiel specifically, if you take any single moment out of context, it’s absolutely possible to make an interpretation that their relationship is clearly more “brotherly,” or clearly more “familial,” or clearly one of “very close friends.” But it requires the same removal from the larger context to explain away what taken with the entirety of their history begins to look entirely undeniable.

I suppose, since Supernatural is an open canon and the story hasn’t been fully told yet, that it’s possible the writers could change course with the storytelling. It’s possible that something might prevent them from taking Dean and Cas and their story to the conclusion they’ve been building to for the last ten years. They could decide to leave this particular “interpretation” open-ended and unresolved.

Since that is always a possibility, and because I’m not psychic, nor do I have any top secret inside information from the writers and showrunners, I can’t say that my particular interpretation is more valid or correct or likely than anyone else’s. But I have yet to come up against a credible, coherent explanation for the entire body of extant canon that invalidates my particular interpretation, either.

The vast majority of arguments against boil down to logical fallacies-- cherry-picking scenes out of context as “proof,” straw man arguments, and ad hominem attacks. Because of this, I’m content to wait for canon to play out. I’ll happily watch the rest of the story unfold, and happily continue to interpret what I’m witnessing as a whole instead of attempting to dissect it out and explain away what I see as an entirely logical progression of storytelling.

As an aside here, I find it entirely fascinating that one of the most common complaints I read from people who deny Dean and Cas are in love is that the writing has become progressively more terrible, that the story of Supernatural as a whole makes less and less sense, and that the characters are behaving in increasingly “out of character” ways. And as someone in possession of rational capabilities, I wonder if their disconnect from the storytelling is simply their refusal to see and accept that perhaps their “interpretation” of the story is just... not correct.

When we attempt to deny or rationalize away certain interpretations of characterization, or certain progressions of events and how they relate to one another, the larger narrative just falls apart, you know? Of course it doesn’t make sense if you exclude large portions of it because you don’t want to see it or believe it’s happening, or important to the story.

Meanwhile, I’m over here loving every minute of it (okay... most minutes of it). So even if my interpretation isn’t absolutely 100% “correct” (and really, with any media, there’s always different ways to interpret everything, from what the color of the curtains might imply to who’s gonna get to fire Chekhov’s Gun in the third act), I’m content to continue to interpret it in a way that not only makes me personally happiest, but in a way that makes the story itself seem both logical and entertaining, as well.

Okay, that’s the end of the rational portion of this essay. Now on to the angry queer lady portion:

There’s more canon evidence for Dean and Cas being in love, or at the very least caring for one another to ridiculous, rather mind-numbing degrees, than there is for practically every canon heterosexual couple on television in the last fifty years. Think of any slow burn, will they-won’t they hetero couple, and do the point-by-point checklist of all the tropes they burned through before they got to the love declarations and the kissing and the happily ever afters (or worse, the dramatic breaking up and getting back together, or even worse, the tragically breaking up forever). I challenge anyone to name one hetero-presenting couple who required as many love tropes for audiences to recognize and acknowledge they were in love. Yeah, I’m thinking of that whole “they shared a pencil” post.

So yeah, there is likely a measure of heteronormativity to it, and a lot of the arguments against also devolve into rather gross denouncements that there’s no way Dean’s not straight, because he said so that one time... Mr. “I lie professionally” who also never actually said he was straight... gah... I’m not gonna dig up every ancient meta post on the subject. If anyone is legitimately interested in understanding why making those same tired arguments just doesn’t have any legitimacy in a reasoned discussion, they can damn well do their own digging. It’s not like any of the evidence is difficult to uncover, and it’s not my job to spoon feed it to every naysayer myself.

I feel like I’m standing on a Mt. Everest size pile of rational, reasonable, well-argued analysis supporting the claim that Dean and Cas are in love. *stands back and points at my whole entire blog again* If anyone would like to come back at me with something even remotely worth my time and attention to persuade me to alter my interpretation, I suggest they get busy. I’ll just be up here on top of my mountain enjoying the clean, destiel-scented air up here.

And finally, who says it’s not canon? Ah, right. Moving goalposts. At this point, I think it’s ridiculous to suggest that Dean and Cas don’t love one another. And profoundly, at that. I mean, you don’t give up an army for one guy if you don’t at least like him a lil bit. You don’t shout down God begging him to bring back that dude you’re kinda buddies with, or sink into a suicidal funk that reverses completely within minutes of finding out said buddy’s alive again. You don’t offer to march to your death with your chum because he’s such a nice guy and all. I mean... honestly. How far in denial does someone have to be to suggest they don’t love each other? At this point, when comparing Sam and Dean’s reactions far into s13 to Cas’s death in 12.23, either you accept that Dean has much stronger and far different feelings about the loss of someone that Sam does love and considers a brother, or else you kinda have to assume that Sam’s just kind of a dick for not being as broken up about Cas’s death as Dean is. So... which interpretation do you think is the one they’re trying to convey?

Bleh, whatever. I await the inevitable inbox full of nastiness that I will cheerfully delete while judging every anon who sends it as someone who really should find a better hobby than antagonizing strangers on the internet over a work of fiction.

Anon, basically, don’t let the bastards grind you down, okay?

Now for some reason I feel like listening to Achtung Baby. Imma go do that and feel the love.

[izzyovercoffee]

I'm sorry if you've already answered this, but what's the deal with Mandalorian society and sexuality? Would a larger portion of the population be of one sexuality than others? Would sexuality be the same as we know it since they don't recognize gender? etc

I’m sorry for the delay in answering this !! I haven’t actually answered / addressed this topic quite just yet, bc they’re both easy and difficult questions to answer, if that makes sense. 

So I’m gonna do the short/long again. 

The Short Answer to the three questions is this: Mandalorians don’t care about your sexuality inasmuch as, within mandalorian community and society, specifically, it’s not a big deal — or any deal, at all. And because there is no compulsive heteronormativity, and because mandalorians as a society have a heavy emphasis on adoption and sharing the burden of child rearing with the entire clan, the population’s sexuality should not skew in any specific way. 

If I had to guess, I would suggest that the society leans more bi/pan, if only because there’s no stigmatization to be tied in with a gender binary that doesn’t exist to them. Ideally, though, I would think that there would be equal representation of every combination, and every iteration, of relationship under the sun — so long as everyone involved are consenting fully-grown adults. 

The long answer is … it’s complicated.

The thing is … uniquely, as a society, mandalorians don’t recognize gender in the same way that we do. So, it’s safe to assume that sexuality is dependent entirely on each individual’s personal frame of attraction. Procreation via popping out babies (crude, I know but u kno) would not take such a strong focus or precedence or moral imperative because mandalorians don’t just accept adoption as an option — mandalorian society strictly enforces the legal equality of adoption.

That is, the negative attitudes surrounding adoption just don’t exist. And because they don’t exist, the societal pressures tied up in maintaining a blood line disappear. 

Our society’s understanding of sexuality is, in part, highly contingent on the framework of the gender binary and the nuclear family. I would even go so far as to suggest that a heavy skew towards a cis-centric heterosexual population is, at least in part, due to the homophobia inherent in a heteronormative society. And none of these things exist in mandalorian society.

Thus it’s hard to say if sexuality would still resemble sexuality as we know it, or if it would take a completely different definition or range, or if it would be somewhere in-between. After all, mandalorian society is not one that is wholly isolated, as it’s hard to be so when so many societies are interconnected by necessity and diplomatic allegiances across the known galaxy — and the rest of the Galaxy Far Far Away seems to have the machinations of sexism and homophobia still in place (whether or not you want to chalk that up to writers imposing their internalized sexism / homophobia on the material, knowingly or otherwise, is up to you). So even if these terms and way of thinking aren’t natural to mandalorians, that doesn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t be present at all.

That said, I’m of the opinion that the general mandalorian society may actually skew in the direction of pansexual/bisexual.

Explanation going under the cut, because this got … very long.

So. Why Pansexual? Because pansexuality is generally defined as an attraction either in spite of or without consideration to gender. The distinction of gender does not actively exist in mandalorian thought (or language) and so attraction becomes something that does not actively consider gender.

Why Bisexual? Because bisexuality is defined as an attraction to same and other genders, and the logic that follows is that all mandalorians should accept all genders, aka all genders are recognized. In a society that doesn’t stigmatize any gender, everyone has their personhood recognized (heteronormativity has no place and thus little to no influence) and thus celebrated.

Either way both bisexuality and pansexuality encompasses the full field / range that would actually, actively, exist in mandalorian society.

Pan-normativity / Bi-normativity, I guess. Lmao.

I would also suggest that the nature of a population’s sexuality (and guessing at the population percentage of x sexuality) becomes difficult to discern, because it’s heavily dependent on the population and where they’re located, and how many are adoptees — and how many of those adoptees were adopted when they were children vs. already socialized adults.

How deeply has a mandalorian diaspora or ethnic enclave’s community participated in assimilation with whatever society they find themselves in? Communities that are located in, say, Coruscant under the Empire might skew towards a heterocentric human focus due to the pressures of the surrounding environment — or they might go in the complete opposite direction and raise a vibrantly rainbow one finger salute right up the Emperor’s nose. 

It’s hard to say lmao.

TBH like … I want to backtrack a little bit to talk about the nuclear family. 

So. Family is a HUGE part of what being a mandalorian is about. Raising children is being mandalorian — but we’ve seen that the children don’t always have to be “their’s” inasmuch as a parent to a child relation. They can be nieces/nephews, cousins’ cousins, even friends’ and friends’ family’s. The focus has always been on a community raising children together, rather than any conceptualization of a nuclear family.

Frankly, nuclear families have no place in mandalorian society anyway. Any society that engages war as a supposed common export would also have a high percentage of casualties — parents never coming home, parents severely injured in the line of their profession / duty, parents away for long periods of time. In the wake of absent parents, other members of the clan/community are expected to do their share and raise the children as if they are their own — and are ultimately treated and regarded as their own.

“Why are you so focused on children and child-raising when this is a question about sexuality?” Not that I think you would necessarily ask me that, but I think it’s an important question to be answered.

How we view sexuality, how we define it, how we see it expressed, how we criminalize that expression, how we victimize and marginalize people … is all tied up in other forces and expectations our society is built on. IMO, in order to understand what sexuality is to mandalorians, it bears repeating what mando society is not and does not have.

Example: I’ve noticed that people who are homophobic view homosexuality as a deviation from a perceived moral expectation — and it is a violently enforced moral compass that is hyper-focused on a “woman’s” (ciswoman’s) capacity to bear and raise children, and only devote her life to that one role.

Because mandalorian society is completely without that expectation, the foundations that would otherwise exist to enforce marginalization completely disappear. Can’t have children? Adopt, or help raise the kids in your clan. Don’t want / want to deal with children? Offer assistance to those who have / want to assist in raising children so they are free to do so more easily.

Because mandalorian society doesn’t recognize gender roles, the framework that misogyny and transphobia is built on ceases to exist and so anyone of any presentation is not someone to then be brutalized until they return to a gender binary, bc mandalorians don’t have a gender binary. 

Because mandalorian society encourages communal raising of children, the capitalistic forces contingent on the survival of the nuclear family structure cannot be found here. There is no two parent household — everyone works and lives together, or works and lives in large groups, supporting each other.

Romance, in general, is built on an assumption of the nuclear family’s goal: two people to a household to raise children, alone. Complete co-dependency between two people for all romantic and platonic emotional and interpersonal support. You don’t need friends nor family when you have someone to share your bed — but specifically someone to share a bed and produce children with.

And tbh … because mandalorians don’t HAVE an arbitrary moral system built on a foundation of misogyny, homophobia, and capitalistic ideals of a nuclear family, I wonder if monogamy is something that would be as heavily tied with morality as it is in ours — would it really be so expected? Less so? Would polyamory be more acceptable (bc let’s face it, it’s still in unacceptable territory)? Would single-parenting also be more acceptable (bc, again, single parenting is still viewed as unacceptable, as if there’s something wrong with the parent)? 

Identifying as anything not-hetero doesn’t come with a death sentence, however oblique or immediate or realized. 

What I’m saying is this: there are inherent pressures in our society that we don’t think about that affect us on a personal level, every day. Being gay, being bi, being ace, being pan, being trans, being gender nonconforming — even if we don’t actively think about it, we know on some level that our status in our society is ostracized at some level, if not every level. The subtle ways in which society treats and regards us ultimately has an effect on us — and how we perceive others, and can affect how we structure sexuality and our sexual identities.

The absence of those pressures would lead to a radically different society and social understanding of gender and sexuality. Both on a micro level, and a macro level.

And that’s really interesting, imo. These are great questions to ask — it’s a great topic to address and to try to write about and build upon — and I have no idea if any of my answer is adequate, because of how difficult it is for me to conceptualize sexuality in a society that isn’t burdened by a heterocentric gender-conforming monogamous hegemony focused on procreation. 

God I hope I answered your questions lmao. Sorry I’m so verbose !!