#Queer coding (extreme edition)

[gunkbaby]

He’s soooo whimsical look at his gay little wrist

[tidesreach]

the funniest thing about the Heterosexual Eddie thing is that even if you put everything else aside. like, you know. the fact that buck was technically by their logic "canonically" heterosexual for six seasons, the fact that queer-coding is a very real thing that has existed in media for approximately a fucking century (not even hyperbole. like, actually approximately a fucking century) and that eddie is, well. extremely queer-coded, and the fact that many of the people now bizarrely deciding that canon queer is the only accepted and correct type of queer are people who originally headcanoned him as queer. like, even if you put all of that aside, the best they could do to prove that heterosexual is how eddie should and is intended to be read (to queer people no less) is *check notes* a twenty second video edit. OUT OF SEVEN SEASONS. google how to become a parody of yourself and they will be the first result i think.

[stainedglassthreads]

I feel like the four leads of Deltarune--Kris, Susie, Ralsei, and Noelle-are just. Somehow two different levels of queer-coded.

(Edit: Just to be clear: not saying any of this to disparage or insult shippers of Kralsei, Suselle, or Kriselle, I've just seen a lot of cool analysis about tropes, romance, and lack of choice in Deltarune and wanted to chime in with some of my own thoughts. If you ship any of those ships in Deltarune--fantastic! May you find a lot of content precisely to your taste.)

Like. On the one hand, if you're looking at tropes, they are very neatly set up into two romantic partnerships. Noelle is very blatantly interested in Susie, and Ralsei's feelings for Kris are often portrayed similarly. On a surface level, both pairings appear very clear. Noelle is a girl in love with another girl, while Ralsei is a very effeminate boy in love with a teen who doesn't appear to use pronouns. And a big deal isn't made of either pairing, there's nothing really in the way of Suselle or Kralsei on a societal level we've encountered so far. At least in terms of gender and sexuality. But if you look a little closer, it's kind of...'these are a very straight idea of queer ships', y'know?

Noelle and Susie are both girls, but one is very effeminately coded, anxious, uses magic, and is more traditionally cute, while they other is crass, crude, intimidating, and physically strong. Ralsei and Kris are gender-noncomforming, but Ralsei is a sweet pacifistic healer who bakes cakes while Kris uses a sword, and keeps being mistaken for a boy by much of Youtube and Reddit. The active one and the passive one, the fighter and the mage, the one with cute hobbies and the one who eats moss, the one in pants and the one in a dress.

And here, I start thinking of some posts I've seen analyzing how, in Deltarune, romance is used to explore how Kris doesn't really get choices. Kris has been cast as the leader and knight, and Ralsei has been cast as the healer and Princess, even if he is a boy. The leader often ends up with the healer. The knight often gets the princess as a happy ending. But Kris doesn't seem to like this! Their reactions to Ralsei are constantly lukewarm at best, and that's not getting into how Ralsei seems to be in love with his idea of Kris, while being very. Asriel-coded, who the game describes often as Kris' brother, in sharp contrast to how ambiguous Chara and Frisk's relationships with the Dreemurrs were.

If we and Kris reject Ralsei as a love interest, we can a different romantic partner in Noelle...but this choice has a bodycount, traumatizes Noelle, doesn't seem to leave Kris any happier, and it's still a kind of straight-coded ship. Now it's the knight being paired up with the apocalypse maiden, for the doomed codepedent toxic tragedy lovers out there. But it kinda makes sense too, right? If Kralsei is the expected RPG romance, then Kriselle would be the expected romance if there were no Dark World and Ralsei weren't an option. They're childhood friends and neighbors in a small town, their families used to be very close, Rudy is still very fond of Kris. They're even extremely angel/devil coded.

But the most interesting part is. It's implied that there IS someone that Kris is very interested in, either platonically or romantically. It's Susie. Kris never seems frightened by Susie when they're bullied by her, and rejects Noelle's offers to switch seats. They seek comfort from Susie rather than Ralsei after the Spamton fight, they call her their friend when Toriel calls, they share moss with her, they refuse to think about her during Snowgrave when Ralsei prompts them, they make it clear that out of all the people they COULD go to the Carnival with, Susie is the one they'd ACTUALLY want to choose.

And this is the part that drives me crazy. Because while Kris is so tightly controlled by genre and narrative, and those things would usually push them towards Ralsei or Noelle, and Ralsei keeps encouraging Kris to stick to the narrative. Susie is the one who refuses to be bound to the narrative. Susie is the character of Deltarune who is most unapologetically herself--and isn't that a very queer thing, refusing to be anyone but yourself despite everything? She says no thanks to the prophecy, until she comes around to it on her own terms! She makes herself and Ralsei learn to take their own actions, and drags Ralsei off to have fun with him instead of letting Kris choose who to with! She doesn't stay in her box of the damage-dealing fighter, she insists on learning Healing magic, even if she's not particularly skilled at it at first! Even Ralsei is forced to admit that it's wonderful that Susie is Susie, and not anyone else!

I think Kris likes Susie a lot. And part of it may be admiration. That while Kris is controlled by the player and the narrative and the prophecy and humanity and divorce and a dozen things outside their control, Susie refuses to ever be bound by anything. And Kris and Susie together happen to be the two more masculinely-coded party members, the two melee fighters, the two troublemakers. It honestly makes me wonder a little if Susie and Kris might be able to make their own ending beyond the bounds of gender expectations and romance expectations together? It would be cool. And I think it would make Kris very happy to break free like that.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Deborah Kerr (Bonjour Tristesse, An Affair to Remember, The King and I)— For several decades she held the record for most Oscar nominations without a win (6 in total), and she was a prolific leading lady throughout the 40s and 50s. She's best known today for the romance An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant, and as the governess in The King and I. Many people have this erroneous perception of her as extremely prim, proper, and virginal, but this could not be further from the truth. When she first came to Hollywood under MGM she was typecast into boring decorative roles, but broke sexual boundaries for herself and Hollywood generally in From Here to Eternity, when she made out (horizontally!) with Burt Lancaster (on top of him!) in the famous Beach Scene. She went on to play many sexually conflicted women, a character type that would define most of her post- Eternity work. She continued to break Hays Code boundaries with Tea and Sympathy, which addresses homosexuality/homophobia head-on, and even did a topless scene in The Gypsy Moths 1969!! One of the only classic stars to do so. She deserves a more nuanced and frankly a hotter legacy than she currently has!!!

Devika Rani (Achhut Kanya)—She was grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore (laureate). She was sent to boarding school in England at age nine and grew up there. After completing her schooling, she joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the Royal Academy of Music to study acting and music, at a time when aristocratic women did not enter showbiz. She studied filmmaking in Berlin. It is well known that she underwent training at the UFA Studios in the art and technique of acting under Eric Pommer, and other aspects of film production including costume and set designing and make-up, under eminent directors like GW Pabst, Fritz Lang, Emil Jannings and Josef von Sternberg. She is also reported to have worked with Marlene Dietrich. She had a multi-faceted personality and took on many responsibilities of film production at Bombay Talkies, a studio that she co-founded with Himanshu Rai in Mumbai in 1934. She often took care of hair and make up, supervised set design and editing, scouted for new talent and mentored them. She was the face of Bombay Talkies, and also the reason behind the political and financial backing the studio received, at a time when even women from red light districts refused to work as actresses. She was the first recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, when it was instituted in 1970.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Deborah Kerr:

I think she was one of my first crushes before I realised I was bi in The King and I when I watched it as a kid honestly. The kissing scene in From Here to Eternity is iconic for a reason. Actually tried to learn the accents for the characters she was playing if they weren't English which is more than pretty much anyone else was doing then. Played very restrained characters who frequently seemed to be desperate not to be so restrained. Did horror movies without venturing into hagsploitation tropes. Gave Marni Nixon the credit she deserved for her share of the singing in The King and I.

Anne Larsen is a peak late 1950s bisexual with big MILF energy. Have you seen the behind the scenes pics of her wearing a suit?? Have you????? Vote Deb as Anne Larsen.

Nominated for an Oscar six (6) times and never won, but besides her having actual talent (hot), and besides her looking Like That (very hot, also beautiful), she was always playing women who are, like, crazy repressed. Which makes it fun and easy for me to read these characters as queer. Icon!!!! You know what's hot? Playing ambiguously gay in vintage Hollywood.

Her face and talent and body, yes, ofc, duh. But also!!! Her HANDS!!!! I may be but a simple lesbian, but she is the best hactor (hand actor) that ever lived and that's HOT! For propriety's sake I feel I must redact a large portion of my commentary on this subject. Anyway. She's hot in her most famous roles (mentioned above), and also some of her sexiest hacting is on display in An Affair to Remember (her hand on the bannister when Cary Grant kisses her off-screen??? HELLO???), Tea and Sympathy (when she's trying to persuade Tom not to go out and she keeps flexing her hands like she wants to reach out to him but can't??? ALLY BEHAVIOR! WE STAN!), and The Innocents (which opens and closes with extended shots of her hands bc director Jack Clayton was also an ally and he did that for ME). Much of her appeal also lies in the fact that she often played deeply repressed characters and you know what's hot? When those uptight characters finally unravel. It's sexy. It's cathartic. It's erotic. Plus, she's beautiful to look at in both black & white and technicolor, and the more of her films you see, the more you can't help but fall in love!

Literally is in thee most famously sexy scene of all time (or maybe just during the hays code era which is what we're talking about HELLO), which is the beach scene with Burt Lancaster in from here to eternity. To quote a tumblr post of a screen capture of a tweet of a video of joy behar on the view: "y'know, there used to be movies where they were kissing on the beach... From Here to Eternity. They're kissing-- Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr are Kissing on the Beach and then the WAVES crash!! You know exactly what they did!"

She might have a reputation of being chaste and virginal or whatever, but we all know it's the quiet ones who are certifiable FREAKS

Devika Rani:

Achhut Kanya (1936) is the only one of hers I've seen but hot DAMN

[love-byers]

SO NO ONE WAS GOING TO TELL ME "Religious American" AND "You're The Heart" ARE 98% THE SAME FUCKING SONG??????????????????????????

if ur out of the loop, "You're The Heart" is the song that plays during mike's monologue. im not sure what scene religious american plays in but ??????????

i mean first of all the obvious.....religous american. religion. queer coding. duh

but also, they couldn't give milkvan their own original song that's not just an extremely similar version of another song from the season for what should be the biggest moment in their relationship thus far???????????/

they're bones im telling you THEY'RE BONES

edit: i just listened to the song "Unambiguous True Love" from the s4 soundtrack and if the milkvan monologue was supposed to be romantic or meaningful in any sense they should've used that song. the name doesn't have gay implications and its beautiful i can perfectly see that song playing when he says i love you, and memories of mike and el playing over it. in the heat of the moment it probably would've made me cry. but NOOOOOOPE didn't do any of that.

also theres a fucking song called "Unambiguous True Love" on the soundtrack and they DIDNT use it in the scene where mike is supposed to be confessing his unambiguous true love..... ok

[sneaky-snake-907]

TBOB spoilers:

I'm glad that there are so many new people in the BillFord tag, but I really don't understand how the gay website didn't pick up on the queer coding for both of these characters. This is also the old man / monster fucker website where yaoi (toxic or not) is extremely popular.

"Fordsy"

"My muse"

Bill took Ford to the penthouse suite, and offered Ford a chance to rule the world beside him.

Ford covered his house in images of Bill so he could be closer to his muse.

They made a deal where Bill could possess Ford's body. That triangle has literally been inside of that man dozens of times.

*EDIT: Never noticed the typo until now. Sorry.

[amuseoffyre]

Back on my thinkie horse about the significance of The Little Mermaid within the context of Our Flag Means Death.

TLM has always been a queer story from its very creation. Hans Christian Andersen reportedly wrote it as a kind of love letter to the man he had fallen in love with, but who had went on to marry a woman. Literary critics have suggested the story was a queer allegory all along, a metaphor for queer love in a time when it could not be spoken aloud, and where people had to be silent and watch the people they love marry elsewhere.

Giving this mermaid's story to Ed has been there all along because here he is, putting himself out there, dancing on the proverbial knives for Stede, only to be left behind by the rich boy who goes back to his comphet life.

But this is where the rebirth of TLM comes in: the Disney edition is layered with even more queer allegory. Howard Ashman took the story and made it about more than just the Prince. Here's a story of a character who doesn't fit in the world she was born into, who yearns for something her society considers taboo and dangerous, something out of her reach. She's warned away from that world, told they're a threat and a danger, but she's drawn to them anyway.

This has strong flavours of Ed's entire journey, his yearning to be more than what he had been told both by his mum and the world that they live in. "We're not those kind of people". It doesn't stop him holding on to that scrap of silk, of wanting more, of wanting affection and love and softness and all the things he was told he couldn't have.

There's also this gorgeous essay about the queerness of TLM, especially focused on the inspiration for Ursula, the drag queen Divine, and what it means to have this blatantly queer-coded character standing in opposition to the world Ariel is restricted by.

It also makes a point about the queer act of resistance, of bodily and emotional autonomy and the right to be who you are, regardless of the limitations society tries to constrict you with.

Ed is in his TLM phase proper now. He reverted back to Kraken mode, the extreme version of his piratey self, as a defence mechanism but change is on the horizon. And it's not just because Stede is doing Prince Eric's "I lost her once, I'm not losing her again" thing. It's Ed's journey this time and Stede may be part of it, but he is not the whole of it.

Ed's an A-grade mess right now, but he is still Ed and Blackbeard and all of those other things. He's just lost and hurting and needs time to figure things out.

I also don't doubt he has a hidden little stash where he keeps his precious soft things and dinglehoppers because that's what we do. We package our queerness and softness and tuck it away somewhere safe where no one can find it until we can risk a look at it again. But our mermaid is going to figure things out and work out who he is and who he wants to be and I cannot wait.

[iwanthermidnightz]

Ahhh did you see the new rolling stone gaylor article ?? I'm so impressed.

When Taylor Swift released the long-awaited rerecording of her genre-leaping album 1989, fans eagerly pored over vault tracks, theories of double albums, and limited edition vinyl releases that could predict Swift’s next re-record. But for Gaylors, a dedicated Swift fanbase that’s existed for over a decade, Swift’s prologue and a mention of her feelings surrounding speculation about her love life have dampened what should have been an exciting release.

Thinking about the 24-year-old she was when 1989 was released, Swift writes, “I swore off dating and decided to only focus on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.” Many users online interpreted that line as a subtle callout to Gaylors, supporters of the niche theory that Swift is queer or leaves queer messaging in her songs. But several members of the Gaylor community tell Rolling Stone they’re actually not convinced the callout is about them — and are receiving targeted and homophobic harassment in the process.

For those not extremely online, Gaylor is an unproven theory that Swift is queer and leaves messages alluding to past relationships in her work, a fan theory that originated on the blogging site Tumblr in the mid-2010s. It is also the fan name for groups of people who believe there are queer interpretations of Swift’s songs. (While Swift has been a vocal ally and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and representation, she has never publicly commented on Gaylor and has only been in public relationships with men.) Gabriela, a 27-year-old Gaylor, tells Rolling Stone she doesn’t believe Swift’s prologue is about the Gaylor fandom specifically, but she’s frustrated at the use of the word ‘sexualize,” which she says has long been co-opted by fans who think Gaylor is harmful or inherently rude.

“I think it’s a call-out yes, but more to the media at large, rather than just about the Gaylor subset of her fandom, which is only a small piece of her complaint. [Swift] doesn’t want to be assumed to be in a sexual, romantic relationship with anyone she is seen next to,” Gabriela says. “Hetlors [those who object to the Gaylor discourse] are cherry-picking to make it about her ‘shutting down gay rumors.’”

As an internationally beloved artist — one capable of selling more movie tickets than Martin Scorcese and convincing an entire fandom to rebuy her music her way — Swift professes an unusually close relationship with her followers. The lyricist often hides clues in her work and visuals, encouraging fans to decipher what coded messages and hints she’s leaving behind. But Swift has also verbalized how upset slut-shaming and assumptions about her love life make her. Anna, a 23-year-old Gaylor who uses they/them pronouns, agrees that the prologue wasn’t about Gaylor specifically but says they do think all Swift fans online could operate with more boundaries.

“Of course, I’m a little annoyed that people are pulling one or two lines of the prologue out of context and using it as a justification to be homophobic and send death threats to my friends, but I don’t think Taylor is at fault for people misconstruing her words and I think she has every right to call out things that make her uncomfortable,” Anna tells Rolling Stone. “’Shipping’ culture across the fandom seems to have gotten really ugly recently on all accounts. I’ve seen people speculate on her sex life, openly and graphically, track her location, insinuate that she wants/has children and just overall cross a lot of boundaries. It may be unpopular for me to say it, but I do think members on all sides needed to be put in their place a little bit.”

All of the Gaylor fans who spoke to Rolling Stone expressed that beyond the prologue, much of the reaction to them as a group has stemmed from a lack of understanding about why the fandom exists and has lasted for almost a decade. Liv, 26, says that the Gaylor community has been a large part of her life — it’s even how she met her current boyfriend. And she tells Rolling Stone the identity has allowed her to have a deeper understanding of Swift’s lyrics.

“It’s always fun for me to think about what inspired a song. So even if it’s not what happened in Taylor’s life, it’s interesting for me to think about a song through a queer lens, because I feel like it adds a lot of layers that a song about a guy might not have,” Liv says. “And I don’t really know any straight people who are that deeply obsessed with Emily Dickinson.”

The X account @gaylornews has over 12,000 followers. The admin behind the account declined to include her name but tells Rolling Stone Gaylor isn’t just a fun internet conspiracy theory, but means a lot to the community.

“Analyzing her lyrics through a queer perspective is more about defying heteronormative narratives and finding representation and not about invading Taylor’s privacy or sensationalizing her personal life,” the account owner says. “Gaylor is about queer people finding a safe space which straight people not only find but already have everywhere, is about all the things you never learned about yourself, is about feeling seen and genuinely understood.”

Regardless of what people think the prologue is about, Gaylors are worried about one thing: targeted harassment from more mainstream fans of Swift. In an April 2023 report from social media tracking firm Graphika, researchers found that Gaylors made up nine percent of active Swift fans on social media, but are often exiled and isolated from neutral fan spaces. The study also found that anti-Gaylor accounts, also referred to as Hetlors, “play a key role” in how the theory is presented to mainstream audiences and often misrepresent commonly held Gaylor beliefs, which can lead to the harassment and doxxing of neutral Gaylor accounts. Each of the Gaylors who spoke to Rolling Stone detailed targeted harassment, hate speech, and homophobia they’ve received online, something they all believe Swift would stand against.

“I think that people who are against Gaylors think we’re way more serious about it than we are. A lot of the things we say are jokes or ideas or possible theories,” Liv says. “And at the end of the day, none of us know what the truth is about her personal relationships. And we shouldn’t want to because [Taylor Swift] is entitled to her privacy.”

(link)

[meowlfoy]

06/2024

ᯓ★bambi's record: June

―୨୧⋆ ˚ Artists of the month ⋆｡‧˚ʚ♡ɞ˚‧｡⋆

ᡣ𐭩 Lana del rey

My queen my love and my inspiration. I think she could be on top of my artists list for long enough. I've been listening to her much more recently

ᡣ𐭩 Chappell Roan

Love this wiw princess. Her songs resonate with me deeply and with my personal romantic experience with women.

ᡣ𐭩 Ayesha Erotica

Who doesn't love this sl*tty big juicy woman? Heavy bimbo energy femme fatal but make it pink and sparkly

ᡣ𐭩 Night club

Band that doesn’t disappoint. I love their retro style with electronic vibes

ᡣ𐭩 Ten (10) CM

Korean calm chill artist. Loved him since day one and go to his profile every time i need something relaxing or little bit sad but beautiful

―୨୧⋆ ˚ Top 10 tracks ⋆｡‧˚ʚ♡ɞ˚‧｡⋆

01 ᡣ𐭩

fluorescent adolescent by artic monkeys

I love monkeys with my whole heart more then almost any band, this months i felt extremely nostalgic with them and lana and couldn't resist listening to this song

02 ᡣ𐭩

flesh & bone by sammy rae & the friends

I LOVE this kind of jazz and you should too!!

03 ᡣ𐭩

stupid in love by max, yuniin

I can't describe how much i love this song it’s just perfect in every way, it's catchy sounds gentle and voices!!!! their voices just HIT

04 ᡣ𐭩

the girl, so confusing version with lorde by charli xcx, lorde

girly girl song! hearing this song legs ask to move move

05 ᡣ𐭩

licky hérve radio edit by larry tee

Ive been listening to this song a lot imagining myself in edits or like in a runway as a model

06 ᡣ𐭩

andromeda by weyes blood

need a song to slow dance to? or maybe cry? this one is for you

07 ᡣ𐭩

le temps de l'amour by françoise hardy

do i need to say anything? just check it out. it's sexy and sensual

08 ᡣ𐭩

you wish by flyana boss

you must've heard this song in tiktoks, it's so groovy and bad bitch energy coded

09 ᡣ𐭩

war isn't murder by jesse welles

great touching song about war. you can get a hint it's about Palestine mostly but about any other war too. folky sounding!

10 ᡣ𐭩

black rose by taemin, kid milli

taemin and everything he does is epitome of sex what else can i say

―୨୧⋆ ˚ Albums ⋆｡‧˚ʚ♡ɞ˚‧｡⋆

ᡣ𐭩 AKMU, Love episode

akmu makes me see the world through gentle rose glasses

ᡣ𐭩 Charli Xcx, Brat

slaying this queer a*s

ᡣ𐭩 The smiths, hatful of hollow

Classy band everyone should listen to at least once

ᡣ𐭩 Fiona apple, Tidal

Everyone knows this wonderful singer nothing add besides how good she is and she is

ᯓ★Editor’s note

Hii!! I’ve been inspired by @huellitaa and decided to do my own monthly records.

I love music dearly and want to share stuff that i found or hyper fixations i got this time! Hopefully you will like it~ You can text me your songs recommendations i will happily check them out ⋆⭒˚.⋆𝜗𝜚

[aspec-mafia-official]

"If it's normal, then why do you need to celebrate it?"

The above quote is something I've seen many times as a "gotcha" for queer folk trying to celebrate pride month, and also as a genuine question from uninformed allocishets. I have personally received this question multiple times both as an act of aphobia and genuine confusion. So, why is pride necessary (aspec edition!)?

As an asexual and aromantic person, I very rarely see people like me in the real world and in media. In fact, just now I can think of maybe five canonically asexual characters, and two canonically aromantic ones (both of them, by the way, are also asexual. We need aroallo rep as well!!!) When it comes to real life, I know 2 other asexuals, with myself being the only aromantic. (Of course this is excluding people I've only interacted with online, if I included them the numbers would be much higher.)

That lack of representation means that many aspecs feel outcast growing up, knowing there's something "wrong" or "broken" about them (there is NOT, for the record) but being unable to pinpoint why. I was one of the lucky ones who had chronically online and queer friends from an early age who introduced me to the terms many years before I ended up discovering myself, but that is far from the norm.

We also very rarely see aspec flags in pride merch! Even during pride month, I find myself having to scour the stalls for anything asexual, let alone aromantic or even aroace (and if you're somewhere more nuanced on either spectrum, just forget it. Demis might get lucky occasionally (and of course demisexual is more common than demiromantic in my experience), but everything else is nothing.) In fact, there have been times where I saw very niche microlabel flags I didn't even know the name of, but not one aspec flag!

I will never forget the year I went to a pride parade and there was a stall selling flag jewelry. They had a bunch of flags, including asexual and aromantic (the latter of which I bought). I was naturally extremely excited, and the person working the register gave me a business card and a paper with an etsy discount code (unfortunately I lost it so I can't tell you the brand, sorry!!) Later I was passing a group and overheard someone lamenting to their friends about the lack of asexual related anything. I instantly stopped them, directed them to the stall, and gave them the etsy code paper (not really on purpose it was just the closest one in my bag but I figured they would get more use out of it anyways). The look of pure joy on that person's face will never leave my brain. I thought they might cry in front of me at the idea of someone representing their identity at a massive event.

This is why pride is so important. Seeing yourself represented and being told in no uncertain terms that you aren't alone means more than could ever be described, though I hope I managed to do it some form of justice <2

Happy pride, everyone!

[cursed-man-prayers]

High Infidelity is about Miss Americana.

Notes before we begin: First, I can’t post screenshots from the doc bc Netflix, but I have pulled direct quotes and rewatched scenes over and over as I wrote this analysis. The more I watched, the more this theory made sense.

Second, while I obviously don’t know what Taylor Swift’s relationship with her dad is like, the clips in Miss American plus the song tolerate it are enough to convince me that he’s not/wouldn’t be accepting of Taylor being queer. There’s a reason she’s a mama’s girl. This is a Scott Swift hate account.

Let’s begin

Verse One

Lock broken,

A common interpretation of this lyric is the invasion of privacy that is someone reading your diary/journal. Having a locked diary is also something most common with young girls (only girls get privacy, sorry lads), and in Miss Americana, the first diary that Taylor shows in the first scene while she says the first words of the film is a diary that has a lock, and there’s also a closeup of another diary with a lock, as well as the words “bitch session.” There’s also the very common trope/reality of parents reading your diary. Speaking from personal experience, this can genuinely be traumatic, especially taking into consideration the next two words.

Slur Spoken

Seeing as Taylor is a white woman, I genuinely don’t know how else this can be interpreted besides a homophobic slur being spoken. $!u and b*!tch are derogatory, but that’s not the same thing as being a slur. Also, I’m not going to justify the “she’s talking about slurring words while drunk!!” interpretation bc that makes less sense than thinking the slur is “whore.” (I think the diary I mentioned that says “bitch session” is further proof that Taylor doesn’t consider ‘bitch’ to be a slur, even though she has called out the misogynistic way men use it in music.)

Wound open, game token

The person who is breaking this lock and speaking this slur and opening this wound is using Taylor’s pain as a means to get a prize. “You play stupid games you win stupid prizes” (MAATHBP), “You knew you won, so what’s the point of keeping score?” (hoax).

I didn't know you were keeping count

In the Man music video, during the tennis match, Scott Swift is playing the scorekeeper. This line is repeated multiple times in the song. The context of the repetition does change and develop throughout the song.

Rain soaking, blind hoping

I think this refers to the Lover era and how Taylor was not able to come out (specifically that video where she’s talking about ME! and looks sad as shit). I think it’s also a reference to Midnight Rain, rain being a metaphor for unexpected, unseen change, and also the isolation of staying hidden.

You said I was freeloading / I didn't know you were keeping count

As someone with a dad, I can confirm that this is very dad-coded. Like, I can’t think of a context in Taylor’s life where a romantic partner would’ve said this to her, especially considering how idk, rich and successful she’s been since she was a teenager? While I don’t think her dad would ever be justified in saying this to her either, it could be a reference to him throwing his role in her career in her face, the way we see in Miss Americana.

Chorus

This is where things come together in terms of being about Miss Americana.

High infidelity / Put on your records and regret me / I bent the truth too far tonight / I was dancing around, dancing around it

In order to produce a consumable product (the Lover journals) around her and her art, she had to dance around the full truth. The entries were meticulously chosen and most likely edited. In Miss Americana, the segment where she “comes out” as a democrat feels like it might’ve been a different kind of coming out story, especially when you factor in the creation of You Need To Calm Down. It comes across as extremely personal, and while there are multiple factors leading to the experience being emotionally charged for Taylor, I do think that her own queerness is one of those factors. The entire documentary feels like she’s dancing around a bent truth.

Put on your headphones and burn my city

Putting on headphones is shorthand for ignoring someone. “Burn my city” in the context of how Taylor equates her (former) lover with *a certain city* feels like an indication that the subject of the song did something to sabotage and burn down the relationship. I think this is a reference to how her career and the people controlling it (such as her father, but others as well) ruined the love she’s been singing about since reputation.

Your picket fence is sharp as knives

This also goes back to Midnight Rain (“my town was a wasteland, full of cages, full of fences”)

I was dancing around, dancing around it

Taylor has used dancing as a literary device throughout her discography. I believe it’s typically a metaphor for queerness.

Post Chorus

Do you really want to know where I was April 29th?

This goes back to the diaries from Miss Americana. This is Taylor being confronted about a journal entry from an April 29th where she wrote something gay. When *her dad* saw it, it led to a slur being spoken.

Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?

This refers to the segment in Miss Americana that is allegedly all about Joe. Call It What You Want plays over a montage of videos filmed by an unseen lover. The only clip actually featuring Joe in the entire film is a single moment where Taylor and Joe look vaguely excited to see each other after one of the Rep shows. The way she wrote and sung this line makes it seem like charting constellations in some dude’s eyes is the last thing she wants to do.

Verse Two

Storm coming, good husband / Bad omen / Dragged my feet right down the aisle

This very much sounds like Taylor being forced to be romantically linked in a traditional, heterosexual way. The storm coming and bad omen are what led to her being pushed into this, likely the media storm that happened in 2016. It ties together the lines about pickets fences and how the rain referenced in the first verse is connected to Midnight Rain, because, as we learned with the very first track on Midnights, Taylor is not interested in 1950’s shit.

At the house lonely,

“To a house not a home all alone ‘cause nobody’s there,” Dear Reader

good money,

“the jokes weren’t funny, I took the money” from YOYOK is just one example of how the money comes at the cost of herself and who she is and her worth as a human being…

I'd pay if you'd just know me / Seemed like the right thing at the time

…but now she’s regretting paying that price, wishing that she could be truly known. It seemed like the right thing, but she’s realizing that it wasn’t. Alternatively, she regrets coming out to her and the price she now has to pay of knowing his love was conditional. She paid the price for being known. Also, during the clips that play during the segment allegedly about Joe, Taylor is singing Call It What You Want, specifically the lyric “At least I did one thing right” which is… devastating in this context. She also says:

But I wasn’t happy in the way that I was trained to be happy…It was happiness without anyone else’s input. It was just, we were happy.

Anyway she doesn’t seem happy anymore.

Pre Chorus

You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love / The slowest way is never loving them enough

This creates a strong connection to tolerate it. I feel like this lyric is the thesis of that song. Again, this is a very dad-coded lyric. It’s the slow realization that a parent’s love can be conditional. It’s like when a queer kid comes out and a parent says “I still love you, but…” There’s other contexts where that phrase could exist, but it’s an extremely common queer experience.

Do you really want to know where I was April 29th? / Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

I think this could refer to the narrative of Joe Alwyn being William Bowery (which is suspect at best and criminal at worst). She has to say that Joe helped her write devastating breakup songs like exile and champagne problems to keep up the narrative that they are in a VERY HAPPY relationship.

The next new lyric is in the third chorus and let’s just say I have thoughts about it.

Put on your records and regret meeting me

THIS LYRIC HAS BEEN DRIVING ME MAD FOR THREE MONTHS. In the other choruses she says “regret me,” but she changes it here to be “regret meeting me” in the last chorus. “Regret me” implies regretting the existence of Taylor Swift. It’s the people credited with kick-starting her career (such as her father!!!) putting on your records, a double-entendre for her albums + the awards and accolades she has earned for those albums. But! In this chorus! The lyric is! Regret meeting me! The promo for Midnights focused heavily on “meet me at midnight,” the concept that she would be showing who she really is with the album, so much so that people thought she might be coming out with this album. While I think this lyric is a reference to that narrative and the fear that her fans won’t get her or won’t like her after listening to Midnights, I also think it is about how her dad regrets learning who she really is, and how he therefore IGNORES IT by listening to the albums she wrote about me. This is the only lyric in the chorus that changes, and it’s seemingly such a small change, a single word added to the line, but that’s what makes it so massive. Because why would she change this lyric if not to completely change the meaning of the line? It’s drawing a distinction between regretting someone’s existence and regretting knowing the truth about them.

Oh, there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love

And it's never enough, it's never enough

I think the phrasing here implies that Taylor feels like she can never be good enough to earn the love she needs and deserves. This ties it, again, to the intro of Miss Americana where she’s going through her diaries and talks about how her main goal in life was to be a good girl.

Outro

The entire first chorus is repeated, and we have a new perspective.

You said I was freeloading

When it comes to this line specifically, I think it refers to the conversation about Taylor’s desire to speak publicly about politics, in which her dad throws in her face how he hired armored cars, essentially saying that she owes him something. It’s just phrased in an odd way and it makes everyone uncomfy.

I didn't know you were keeping count / But oh, you were keeping count

The repetition of the first chorus at the end of the song implies that this song is cyclical. It’s a loop that she’s trapped in. (If you put this song on repeat and turn up the crossfade, you can listen on a seamless loop). Tolerate It does the same thing. Repetition also draws attention to the lyrics while recontextualizing them. The last lyric (“but oh, you were keeping count”) is this acknowledgment that her relationship with this person was/is transactional.

What about the name of the song?

Okay, I’m convinced the only reason anyone would ever think this is a song about cheating is because of the title. Obviously, the primary definition of the word infidelity is cheating on a romantic or sexual partner. Nothing else in the song indicated cheating. SO. OBVIOUSLY. I GOOGLED. THE DEFINITION. TO SEE. WHAT. AN ALTERNATIVE. MIGHT. BE

unbelief in a particular religion, especially Christianity.

Jesus Fucking CHrist. Taylor Swift has called herself a Christian, and she has also written songs with overt religious themes, typically borrowing from Christianity specifically (Don’t Blame Me; False God; Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve; Soon You’ll Get Better). While I know that you can be queer and Christian, it is not unreasonable to conclude that coming out as queer to a conservative Christian (parent) would be considered a lack of belief in Christianity. Infidelity literally means “unfaithful.” To many people, Christianity and queerness are unreconcilable, to the point that they believe accepting yourself as queer can lead to you going to hell. While they won’t say this outloud, many Christians put “homosexuality” into a higher category of sin, meaning that being queer is HIGHLY UNCHRISTIAN, HIGHLY UNFAITHFUL, HIGH INFIDELITY.

One last thing. Miss Americana was released at midnight PST. Which is 3am EST. High Infidelity is a 3am track. So, yeah.

tl;dr

High Infidelity is about being considered unfaithful for being who you are. It’s about dying slowly because you are not loved (enough) for who you are. It’s about how the lies you’ve been forced to tell have forced you to be unfaithful to yourself. It’s about Miss Americana.

[peachjagiya]

i’m so confused as to how everyone seemingly came to the collective consensus that the dream premiere was some huge pivotal moment/statement for taekook. i don’t rlly understand how them showing up to a movie premiere together is a huge deal? it’s not like they waltzed in holding hands or anything like that. it very well could have just been two close friends/bandmates going to a movie premiere together bc why not? if any two other members had gone to a movie premiere together it would be seen as completely platonic and normal so why is tkk going made out to be some crazy brave and “wow” moment for them? everyone knows they’re friends. is it just bc jk was shy? bc that’s pretty normal for him tbh especially given that it was his first public outing since being on hiatus for a long time and only doing weverse lives from his house/gym.

also everyone seems to have concluded that they were definitely intentionally wearing queer coded clothes when honestly their outfits were pretty normal. ppl just dug extensively into the background of every item they wore and found some far-off connection to queerness/tkk when rlly it’s so unlikely they planned each article of clothing out like that. bc for what? they’re not actually trying to come out so why would they plan queer coded outfits as some “secret sign” ? like ppl really think jungkook looked up the exact quotes of the print on his jacket and traced it back to being vaguely alluded to something queer? and then said to himself “yes this is what i’ll wear to show the world” ?? and ppl genuinely believe taehyung intentionally wore the brand juntae kim to symbolize the connection of their two names together…like rlly? it’s just a brand…we talk so much abt how shippers connecting clothes/accessories to prove a relationship is stupid yet we’re out here doing the same and making it one of our biggest moments?

don’t get me wrong i love the dream premiere, it was cute, but i rlly don’t get why it’s been made out to be THAT much of a big deal. like i get the kappa tshirts thing bc those r clearly the exact same shirt on the same day but in what way is going to a movie premiere together some “huge step” ?

Vibes, my friend. Vibes.

Let me start by saying I also don't put much into the clothing. They may have been styled for it, they may have chosen themselves. Who knows? But I also wouldn't be surprised to find out it was deliberate. Tae is knowledgeable about queer culture, British music and art, etc. I don't think it's a reach to assume he knows who Morrissey or Oscar Wilde are. But ultimately no, I'm not factoring it into my thinking.

I found videos of a couple of other times two members attended a thing together.

Joonie and Hobi at Love Your W 2022 photowall.

They do heart poses together but when you watch the video, they are both completely focused on posing for camera. I'm not implying they're not close but there's a business-like vibe to it. Joonie was there to perform, it's on schedule etc.

I also found Jimin and Hobi at Dior in Paris.

This video doesn't show it but they arrive seperately, do photowall seperately* then sit together at the runway. They're on schedule.

(* there are some pictures showing them together at photo wall but they're edited.)

These both feel a bit different to:

👉 An off schedule event to support Seojoon.

👉 Tae going to his best friends premiere and taking a plus one.

👉 Being together at all points of the event from arriving in same car to leaving together to then continue being together with Wooga after the event.

👉 Hyungsik and Wooshik posed alone and they're super close. This might be because Tae and JK are grouped as BTS though.

👉 The pair of them having a number of moments of eyes on each other rather than anywhere else.

👉 JKs extreme giggliness which, though I see your point about him being shy, seemed excessively nervous.

👉 The fancams of JK stopping and Tae encouraging him.

👉 JKs somewhat pensive live later.

👉 This picture:

(I know it's a still photograph of a millisecond in time. I'm just being a dork.)

Vibes.

Thanks anon. It's good to look at this stuff twice and compare. If you know any other times two of them attended something, let me know! 💜

[orionsangel86]

Subtext Glorious Subtext! A Dreamling on Netflix analysis in The Sandman - Part 3

1589

Insert distracted boyfriend meme here...

1589 is when the queer coding starts ramping up a notch. Let me tell you how I am fascinated by their choice of actor to play Shakespeare - a twink with stars in his eyes - amazing. Bravo. Not even Hob manages to look at Dream like he wants to be utterly ruined by him the way this actor looked at Tom Sturridge. Here on Tumblr.com I am sure we are all very much aware of the theories and speculation about the actual Shakespeares sexuality with the consensus being that he was probably bisexual, and my GOD have they decided to lean into that on this show.

There is a lot to analyse in this scene. Hob’s dialogue about what he has been up to is almost word for word the same as the comic, but Ferdie’s delivery is perfect with its mix of flirtation and desperate need to impress. Look at this dramatic fool:

Dream’s curious reaction to his bragging is almost as if he is trying to figure him out, but unlike the comics/audiobook, the conversation between Shakespeare and Marlow is interspersed with this one, with Shakespeare pulling Dream’s attention before Hob has even finished talking. This adds extra tension to the scene and raises the emotional stakes. In the comics, Hob had already finished talking when Shakespeare gets up and starts reciting Faustus to the point that he draws Dream’s attention prompting Dream to ask Hob who he is.

One of the interesting changes made is the removal of Hob’s description of Kit Marlowe as “bent as a pewter ducat.” A wise choice as it comes across as somewhat homophobic, but its removal also serves to not “other” Marlowe and therefore “other” the idea of homosexuality as something different to Hob. The other similar change to the show was the removal of Shakespeare flirting with the waitress whilst Marlowe claimed he’d “stick to boys, my horned “actresses”.” 

It’s funny to me that by removing the moments in this scene that canonically confirm one characters queerness, the show also removes any interpretation that could “no homo” the other characters, ultimately making everyone appear much gayer in general!

(My giffing skills are woefully inept so have an image of Shakespeare's heart eyes instead)

When Dream approaches Shakespeare in the show it is insanely heated. The music swells with mystery and intrigue, Shakespeare stands and stares at Dream in complete awe. Enraptured by Dream’s gaze. The whole

“Have we met?”

“We have, but men forget in waking hours.”

Sounds like the ultimate pick up line. It's basically a play on One Upon A Dream from Sleeping Beauty in my opinion! This line is in the comic, and also in the audible book, but the delivery of the line in the show is the only time it comes across like a come on. Tom Sturridge please explain yourself?!?

In fact, all the acting choices here blow my mind. Seriously. I wanna know what the director told these two. Its really easy to see Dream’s proposition to Shakespeare as something beyond a business transaction. With the mysterious and rather romantic music, the soft candlelight, and the cameras keeping in close up of the two characters as they hold each others gaze... It’s a moment where you raise your eyebrows and wonder if the show just implied that their lead character just took THE Shakespeare off for a one night stand passionate enough to inspire the entire “Fair Youth” series of sonnets.

Joking aside, it doesn’t help the extremely queer undertones when the camera cuts back and forth between Dream, Shakespeare and Hob looking on at them with an expression one can only describe as hurt.

(Gif link)

It’s the editing in this scene that really sets it apart from the comic and audible book. Dream is distracted throughout Hob’s talk, and continues to look over at Shakespeare much to Hob’s apparent distress. When he eventually gets up to leave, he holds a hand up to stop Hob talking and simply walks away. Which only causes to further upset Hob and heightens the emotional intensity of the moment. As Neil Gaiman said in the episode 6 watch party - Hob is having to watch his date get up and leave him half way through. It’s specifically framed in a way to emphasise the hurt Hob feels, as well as the envy towards Shakespeare.

This is far more subtle in the comic and practically non existent in the audible audiobook where Dream actually tells Hob “Excuse me” before approaching Shakespeare. I found this funny because where the audiobook interpreted Dream’s behaviour in the comic as rude and clearly sought to attempt to change that, the Netflix show makes his behaviour worse by framing it as Dream abandoning his date. Playing up the emotions of the moment and making the whole scene come across like a live action distracted boyfriend meme!

I do encourage every Sandman fan to listen to the Audible audiobooks, but fair warning, the tone is NOT the same. The meeting with Shakespeare is played completely straight (in both senses of the words). This is in no way a criticism of the audiobook, but it is an excellent indication of director decisions and how different elements in different mediums can convey certain tones. I find that the show in general plays heavily into Dream being other and oftentimes it is very easy for other to be subtextually layered alongside queer (see the entire history of queer coding in cinema and why gay people love the horror genre). Interestingly, the audiobook doesn’t give Dream this same vibe. People such as Hob, Shakespeare, Constantine, etc, they just treat him as a bit of a posh lord. His otherness isn’t heavily emphasised in scenes set in the Waking World, indicating he is better at blending in than he is in the show.

So after Dream goes off to ravage Shakespeare - ahem - make a business arrangement with Shakespeare, the final 1589 scene is Hob’s final reaction. The line is the same across all mediums.

“Everything to live for, and no where to go but up.”

In the comic, the final panels here do not give any indication that Hob is upset by Dream’s leaving. He get’s distracted by the joys of having white bread. Simple pleasures please comic!Hob far greater than mysterious black clad lords.

The audiobook follows this along to the letter. Audible!Hob is joyful, laughing and happily reminscing about killing for bread (NGL I don’t particularly like Hob in the audiobook. No offence to Mathew Horne but 1. I can’t separate his voice from Gavin in Gavin and Stacey, and 2. I just think he comes across as really laddish and I find it offputting.)

In the show, Ferdie gives an absolute brilliant performance with just the right mix of hurt at being ditched for a young twink, and hopeful optimism for the future. Gone is any mention of killing for white bread, and in it’s place is a thoughtful Hob who looks at the spread of food laid out for his Stranger, and accepts it almost as a consolation prize. He’s gonna eat through his hurt and try to forget about this for the next century, but we all know he won’t forget at all.

Follow on to Part 4 to read my analysis of 1689

[fiercynn]

bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme!

since there are both recent newcomers to bbs fandom and people like me who are new to bbs tumblr, i thought i'd create a getting-to-know-you meme for people to introduce themselves if they want! all questions are optional

note: i consider "fanworks" to pretty much everything people create related to a fandom, including but not limited to meta/analysis/discussion, gifs, fanvids/edits/fancams, filk, fanart, fanfic, fan food, fan crafts, etc. please include this note with the meme unless you have a different definition!

name and whatever you want to share about yourself

hi i'm deepa! i'm indian-american, in my 30s, queer, and agender – please use my name (either deepa or fiercynn is fine) instead of pronouns when referring to me!

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom?

i watched the whole show in the course of about 36 hours just about two weeks after the finale had aired, in february 2022! i joined bbs fandom on twitter soon after and have been there ever since, but i’ve only really been interacting on tumblr in the last few months

favorite ship(s)

patpran and inkpa…i'm a traditionalist ig lol

favorite character(s)

it’s so hard to choose but i think it has to be pran! i love his pining and his cockiness and his anxiety and his kindness and his grumpy faces. really channeling pat right now aren’t i

favorite episode(s)

episode 5 for obvious reasons; my second-favorite is a tie between episode 3 and episode 8 i think

favorite scene(s)

rooftop kiss, episode 3 bus stop scene, episode 8 backstage apology scene, and episode 9 picnic bench hand-holding scene

one thing you would change about the show if you could

LET INKPA KISS GDI

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people?

ughhhhhh SO HARD TO CHOOSE and i think i'll do a longer rec list sometime but here are some of the earliest fanworks i engaged with that really set the stage for how i think about bbs

dynamic (fic, patpran) by riddles2 on ao3: one of the first fics i read in the fandom, it’s pat’s pov through episode 5 and it’s absolutely seminal imo

international love song (fanart/animation, patpran) by @architectxengineer: science is one of those incredibly multitalented people who writes, makes fanart, and animates?? among other things??? and this animation is sooooooo gorgeous and makes my heart absolutely melt

same page (vid, patpran) by dkyth73 on youtube: such a good fanvid of the show that p’aof himself tweeted about it!!!!

(if you create fanworks) what are your favorite fanworks that you’ve made?

traffic was slow for the crash years (fic, patpran): gotta plug my baby, right? this is my patpran fake dating au which is 80k words and was so fun to create!

we both know you’re my only dream (fic, patpran): on the other end of the length spectrum, this 1k fic is one of my favorite things i've written ever

just being friendly (vid, patpran) co-vidded with @scribescribe: yes i know this is an msp song but we made the vid before msp aired!! i think it’s very cute hehe

a song that makes you think of bbs (the ones in the show don’t count lol)

since “just being friendly” is already obvious from me and scribe making a vid to it lol, i'm going to say “keeping tabs” by niki, which is extremely pran-coded. like. look at the lyrics. doesn't it seem like it was written to be about pran’s feelings at boarding school, where he misses pat desperately and hopes pat’s thinking of him but is also trying to convince himself that pat’s forgotten him and that everything pran wanted from him was just a delusion on his part. PRAN 😭 😭 😭

idk anything else you want us to know?

i have opinions about pran’s sweaters

okay i'm literally going to tag all of my tumblr mutuals that i think are still in the fandom (if i missed anyone sorry!!), but also if you want to do the meme consider yourself tagged! please don’t let this flop lol 🤞🏽

@citystoryscapes @nicolasechs @architectxengineer @mahuhumaling @manogirl @galauvant @miscellar @monamay @dancing-out-in-space @melto @incandescentflower @loveongsa @dimplesandfierceeyes @geonbaeeee @faillen @cinnamonseadragon @inkpaa @yourunwiththewolves @prany @pranpats @teesemomma @iathefurrr @inventedfangirling @sharingfandoms @lamonnaie @maychild @thegayneurodivergentagenda @mistergreaves @dudeyuri @nyttvera @thecriers @threezoz @wontbotherrn @not0nmain

[barilleon]

System Recommendations Based On What I Like About D&D

Sometimes you want to play a different system because you are looking for a brand-new experience. Sometimes you want to play a different system because you have an ethical objection to the one you're playing now. If you're the latter, you probably don't want to hear about how awesome games like Orbital Blues and Stillfleet are. They are awesome, but right now you're looking for a system to move to that can capture the magic you feel playing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. This post is for you.

Here are the parts of D&D 5e that I really enjoy:

Involved Character Customization ("Build Creating")

Tactical Combat

Ability to use Magic

Appealing World

High Fantasy With Heroic, Upbeat, or even Comedic Undertones

Getting to be Gay with my Friends

Each of my recommendations has at least two of these factors and is intended to be played in a group setting over multiple sessions. So let's jump in!

Blue Rose (or The AGE System)

Features: Tactical Combat, Build Creating, Magic, Appealing World, High Fantasy, Gay

Blue Rose uses the AGE System, which might be some of my favorite tactical combat design. In particular, I love stunts. When you roll good in combat or other scenarios, you get stunt points, which you can spend to create additional effects, like setting up a teammate or taunting your opponent. There's a lot of options to choose from when building a character, and you can make some of that stuff synergize real well. This is all true of most AGE system games, so I'd also recommend checking out Fantasy AGE and the Dragon Age TTRPG.

Blue Rose in particular is all about Romantic Fantasy: humans going on fantastical adventures with magic talking animals, protecting the land and those who would harm it, that kind of stuff. The setting is also explicitly queer, and "relationships" are an emphasized part of character creation and development. Found Family all over the place.

If you liked The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, or the Uncaged anthologies, you might enjoy Blue Rose!

7th Sea

Features: Tactical "Combat," Magic, Appealing World

7th Sea is all about swashbuckling adventure, court intrigue, and intense action. There technically isn't a "combat" system in 7th Sea, so much as there is an "action" system. Swordfights, escaping a burning ship, high-stakes chases: all that stuff uses the same system, where you have to think about how to set up good opportunities. The combat is meant to be fast-paced. GMs are encouraged to not give players too much time to think.

The world is full of secret societies and shadow organizations, as one would expect for a game about gentlefolk and intrigue. One of my favorite parts in particular is the "Story," which is what 7th Sea calls a PC's backstory. There are guidelines for creating one, with expectations and progression hard-coded in, from the First Step to the ultimate resolution.

There's a lot here to do with Ship Combat. If you liked Ghosts of Saltmarsh or 3rd Party products like the Seas of Vodari, give this a look.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians

Features: Upbeat Fantasy, GAY

Let me start by saying that you can play this game in any genre. In the Advanced Lovers and Lesbians expansion there's even rules for playing a session as a pack of hyenas. But if your table is the type to really lean hard into developing your characters' relationships, between PC and NPC and PC and PC, then this is the game for you. Mechanics allow you to place strings on other characters, giving you "pull" with them to influence a later decision. Status conditions are extreme emotions, and the only way to deal with them is to lean on another teammate for emotional support or indulge them in a cathartic and destructive manner (you can relieve being angry by breaking something that has value to another person, for example).

If you are gay and you play D&D you are legally obligated to try TSL. I DO make the rules.

Court of Blades

Features: Magic, Appealing World

When folks say they like Eberron and want to do crimes, I tell them to play Blades in the Dark. When folks say they like fey magic and high society and doing dirty work for wealthy patrons, I tell them to play its sexy cousin Court of Blades. CoB is a Forged in the Dark game, meaning it uses the Blades system. Instead of a heist crew, you're a coterie, and you perform errands for your patron that run the gamut from assaulting a rival to publicly embarrassing them.

One of my favorite parts about FitD systems is how it handles the aftermath of your adventures. Different groups across the city might react differently to the news, and that propels future adventures. The City of Ilrien is full of hooks and briars for your characters and GMs to get stuck on.

Court of Blades might seem like the outlier on this list, but my favorite official 5e adventure was Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. If you liked that one too, and you're looking to lean into that WAY more, you should give CoB a look.

[the-gay-disney-games]

Round 1B: Strange World (2022) vs. Raya and the Last Dragon (2023)

Propaganda:

Strange World:

“Can you be queer coded if you are canonically queer?”

“First openly gay can’t edit him out character”

“The main character is canonically and pretty explicitly gay! Actual Disney first gay character™”

“Comfort movie with gay protagonist”

Raya and the Last Dragon:

“Lesbians!!!!!”

“Rayaari my beloved...”

“Raya and Namaari call each other dep la, which could mean strangely beautiful or screaming slippers in Vietnamese — who knows even the Vietnamese dubbers don’t know, and Namaari has a stereotypical queer hair cut. And Raya sounds like a very betrayed ex whenever Namaari is involved. It’s been a while since I’ve rewatched the movie. There’s most likely other submissions with better raya is queer propaganda than mine”

“hello?? raya and namaari calling each other dep la?? thats literally a pet name. i think it also means beautiful in vietnamese which is so fucking gay. raya and namaari are extremely queer coded AND raya's voice actress ships it.”

“not disney’s best work but my god those bitches gay”