#and honestly how a lot of queer characters are presented in media

[dinitride-art]

Nancy and Mike (and Robin) - Character Relationship Analysis/Exploration

Nancy and Mike’s relationship has always been really interesting to me. We don’t see Nancy pull away from Mike but we see Mike reacting to Nancy’s absence in his life. He tells their parents about Steve, and takes Nancy’s things, and tries to hold onto their relationship in the only way he knows how to. Because Nancy acknowledges him when he’s annoying her and when she’s angry at him. Or when he’s in danger. That’s it.

Nancy doesn’t play D&D with him anymore. She doesn’t talk to him anymore. Even in season four, the most we see of their relationship is Nancy driving Mike to school. And even though Nancy’s been pushing Mike away, he still goes to her when Eddie tells him and Dustin to find a replacement for Lucas. Mike keeps trying to come into her life, and Nancy keeps pushing him out.

Nancy is constantly trying to find a place in the world. She’s with Steve in season one because she thinks that’s what she’s supposed to do. And she gets good grades and studies and goes to party’s in season two. Even to the detriment of her relationships. However, she doesn’t take any blame for her actions, because of the societal pressure for her and everyone else to conform. Jonathan confronts her about it when they’re trying to find Will and Barb and she’s immediately defensive. She gets back together with Steve and blames Jonathan for not making a move sooner. Barb tells Nancy that she’s making a mistake with Steve, and Nancy tells her to go home.

But Barb dies.

Nancy blames herself for that. She blames herself for a lot of things. But she doesn’t want to understand why she blames herself for these things. Jonathan’s already told her that living married to Steve and conforming to societal expectations is bullshit. And she knows it is. But admitting that she’s hurt people by conforming, and trying to get them to conform, means that she’s hurt more than just herself. She’s hurt Barb. And Jonathan. And she even hurt Steve.

But most of all, she doesn’t want to admit that she’s hurt, and has been hurting, Mike the whole time.

That’s why she doesn’t like Robin at first. Because Robin is very similar to Mike. She’s loud, and impulsive, and says the wrong thing at the wrong time. And she can’t help it in the slightest. It’s not Robin’s fault that Nancys cold to her at first. It’s got nothing to do with Robin. Nancy just doesn’t want to admit that Mike hasn’t done anything wrong either. Because that means she’s wrong. And that means that she’s hurt him.

Mike and Robin both display autistic traits. Honestly, a lot of the characters in Stranger Things do, but these two are the ones with the most on screen brushback against those traits. Everyone has autistic traits, and having autistic traits doesn’t necessarily mean that someone’s autistic but. Considering that this is a writing choice, I think it’s fair to assume, at the very least, that they’re autistic-coded. And the reactions we are told and that we see, like Robin telling Nancy that she doesn’t pick up on social queues easily, and that her mother thinks she’s got something wrong with her. Versus what we see with Mike, people calling him annoying and an asshole and oblivious. Going to Lucas for help with El because he doesn’t understand what he’s supposed to do.

The key difference between Mike and Robin is what we see and what we’re told. Robin always tells us what she’s thinking and feeling and who she is. But with Mike we’re shown what’s happening. Same with them being queer characters, we’re told that Robin likes girls, and we’re shown that Mike likes Will. Robin is a queer character for a heteronormative audience. Mike is a queer character, regardless of the audience’s biases. Robin tells us that she doesn’t pick up on social queues. She explains that to Nancy, and Nancy is confronted with what we’ve seen the entire time with Mike.

Mike doesn’t pick up on social queues either. And Nancy knows this, and she’s seen all of his similarities to Robin as a bad thing. And she’s told him that he’s doing something wrong for being that way.

The reason that Nancy doesn’t like Mike, why she pushes him away, and calls him annoying and an asshole, is because Mike can’t be like her.

He can’t conform in the same way that Nancy does. And she doesn’t understand why he can’t.

Until she meets Robin.

And there’s a neon sign in front of her face that says, “Mike didn’t deserve this. It wasn’t his fault. He’s different, and so is Robin, and you told him that something was wrong with him.”

Nancy hurt him. She pushed him away. Told him in every way possible that his interests, and friends, and personality were wrong. And that she didn’t want a brother who was like that.

And now she knows why. Robin told her why.

Nancy doesn’t hate Mike. She’s scared that she was wrong. That Mike hasn’t really done anything wrong. That it was her fault that their relationship is like this.

And she’s scared.

Because she’s a lot more like Mike than she wants to admit.

[luunamoona]

the way community handled queerness is honestly so peak. like, there're 3 main moments i can think of in the show where queerness was apparent and mentioned: advanced gay, queer studies and advanced waxing and britta's pitch in emotional concequences of broadcast television.

in advanced gay, the cornelius hawthorne is seen as a villian for having traits like being abusive towards his son, pierce, him being really racist and him being homophobic. this acknowledgement of homophobia being a bad thing is definitely good for the early 2010s, as many shows treated being queer as a joke back then. also cornelius being fucking murdered at the end of the episode solidifies the fact his actions were deemed immoral and he therefore had his comeuppance.

community only ever uses queerness as a punchline in the context of troy and abed's relationship, the punchline usually being "look at how romantic these 2 friends are how silly", which could be seen as homophobia as the same context with a man and a woman would be treated differently by the showrunners as it'd be turned into a romantic subplot.

the next example i have is from queer studies and advanced waxing. having the dean tell richie and carl that he "isn't openly anything and gay doesn't begin to cover it" is much more progressive than many other media at that time, and even now, as they'd usually have the queer character just be gay for convenience. this need for convenience is commented on in the episode with richie and carl basically coercing the dean into adopting a label that is inaccurate but convenient for his straight peers. back to my previous point, presenting queerness as being more complex and having more nuance than just gay and straight is something that is very useful to queer viewers as it presents an option beyond these 2 ends of the spectrum. unlike what other shows may do with this concept, community treats it seriously, showing the dean's inner conflict with presenting with an identity that isn't his, with lines like "i feel sick". (also side point, the line "i make gayness look like mormonism" goes so hard)

finally, there's britta's pitch in emotional concequences of broadcast television. in this, the dean protests britta's decision to make him transgender and not "all this other stuff". something i love about that scene is the ability to critique queer represention without insulting it. as a trans person, i've seen a good amount of transphobia is television. this isn't one of these times. being able to have trans identity be a part of the punchline without it being insulted is something that is apparently very hard for screenwriters of sitcoms to do, so i commend them for being able to do that. as well as this, this scene acts as a criticism of how basic queer representation in media is, how they like having one distinct, easy to understand label to give their token character, ignoring "all this other stuff". it's telling us that, like in queer studies and advanced waxing, queer idenity isn't black and white, it's a wide spectrum of identities that comes in many, many different colors.

all in all, community's representation of queerness and how it treats insults to queerness is something a lot of other shows should try to strive for. in my opinion, it has some of the most nuanced takes of queer identity and representation out of any sitcom that doesn't have queer people as a target audience. it feels very fitting, since the show is literally called community and it about a group of misfits who bond over their shared messed up-ness. this show is all about finding your people and accepting everyone, as pierce says in for a few paintballs more, "flaws and all". i think the showrunners had an impression this show would speak to a lot of queer people and i love that they were able to make us feel welcome just as greendale does to the study group.

[poisonheiress]

Vivziepop and Queer Rep

As we all know, many fans and media reps alike have commented on the apparent "queer rep" seen in both Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel with many sighting their MLM relationships and use of Sallie May as proof of Vivzie's dedication to queer rep. Yet for how much this idea is spouted across social media, I cannot say that Viv truly cares about Queer Representation in her shows. The apex of this disagreement comes from phrase that man people seem to not remember when it comes down to queer rep: Representation for one is not Representation for all.

In her hyperfocus on thin, cis mlm relationships, Vivzie creates rep for only those relationships, leaving behind countless other queer identities and relationships that also heavily need queer rep. The largest dismissal of queer individuals/relationships in HH or HB appears in characters that fall into one of three categories, The Fat, Sapphic, and The Nonbinary.

The Fat

When some of you look at this, you may be confused as to what fatness has to do with queer rep, I would tell you that it has a lot to do with it. Fat people are not inherently removed from queerness and have been there since the beginning, the creation of the term Bear is proof of that. This is the first strike on HH and HB's records.

As many other creators have thoroughly pointed out, fat representation is abysmal in both HH and HB with either shows either lacking fat rep completely or having fat characters made using more fatphobic stereotypes than I could count. With this poor managing of fat representation, its no surprise that Vivzie pop ignores all possible avenues of queer rep with fat people involved. This also impacts her presentation of mlm ships with all those in these ships only appear as thin cis men, not a single bear or trans man in sight.

The Sapphic

The second largest and arguably most obvious strike against Viv comes in her disturbing lack of sapphic relationships in both shows. While HH has at least one sapphic ship (Charlie and Vaggie), HH has none to speak of. As a result, Viv's ratio of Sapphic to Achillean relationships is heavily one-sided.

It shouldn't take me having to say this for many of you to realize that you cannot claim to have true or complete queer representation when you ignore a whole side of the queer community. While this issue in sapphic relationships likely tied to Vivzie's smaller amount of women in her stories, this does not excuse it. Having one or two of these secondary characters be in a sapphic relationship (especially Sallie May) be shown or even mentioned in passing (not random background shoots) has having a girlfriend would fix this issue, but we cannot even get that.

The Nonbinary

The final strike against Vivzie's queer rep comes in both shows ignoring the existence of nonbinary characters as a whole. While we get some presentation for the binary trans community (even though most are background characters never seen again besides Sallie May), we have yet to see a single nonbinary character in either show's canon.

This is honestly fucking ridiculous. To ignore an entire gender identity because its easier or you simply don't want to is ridiculous and should strip any claimed queer rep media from their title. Nonbinary people have always existed throughout time in different countries and cultures. To think that they're wouldn't be a single nonbinary sinner or demon in hell after all this time does not make sense.

Trans people on the binary and nonbinary side have the right to representation equally, and even if we were to ignore the concerns about Viv's current trans rep, trans people deserve more rep than random background characters and a one dimensional trans woman.

The Finale

As I end this essay, I do want to say that I wanted to discuss HH and HB's treatment and ignorance of asexuality and aromanticism as they are both highly relevant to the discussion. However, I need to do more digging on Alastor and his ace situation first before I do so in order to prevent spreading misinformation.

But even without this section, I still stand on my belief that neither of Viv's shows should be paraded around as good queer media or as truly supporting queer rep. While HH has a little more leeway with Viv's only sapphic ship, HH and HB still ignore large sections of the queer community. It feels more like Viv is picking at the parts of the community she likes more, grabbing at the more marketable identities and appearances until she has enough to call her show queer.

I hope one day Viv will listen to her fans and critiques about this lack of other queer identities but I will not hold my breath. All that is left to say is that queer people deserve better especially in adult shows and in animation. Picking and choose what queer people you include in your media simply because you like one more is the farthest thing from queer rep.

[erros429]

why are you calling farcille sapphic representation when they aren’t even canon

had a very lengthy internal debate with myself on whether i wanted to answer this with an essay or say something short like “because i’m sapphic and they represent me.” but you guys can have the essay too.

i’d like to preface this by saying that i understand where you’re coming from. explicit lgbt+ representation is so deeply important and queer characters in media needs to be normalized instead of tokenized so that queer viewers can feel like there is a world that accepts them and that they can belong in.

HOWEVER. this does not also mean that queercoding and subtext should be devalued, especially given how ingrained it is in queer culture and media. historically, when it was a lot more dangerous to show a character as queer without villainizing them in some way, subtext was all a queer viewer could have. but it’s because of those small hints (see: the legend of korra) that we could have popular media that unabashedly shows queer love. however, even that representation has been stifled, either by only allowing the queer love to be shown in the end (see: adventure time, she-ra, and voltron) or by straight up canceling the show itself (see: the owl house, warrior nun, i am not okay with this, sense8, and first kill).

now let’s get into the actual discussion of farcille. more often than not, shipping arises more from seeing the buildup of a couple rather than when they actually get into a relationship. and this goes for any ship, not just queer ones. but you’re not questioning me on shipping farcille, you’re questioning that i called them sapphic representation without them actually being canon (and therefore they can’t be considered representation).

however, i wholeheartedly think that farcille cannot be read as anything other than romantic, and i genuinely believe that (MANGA SPOILERS) they’d pursue a relationship post-canon, now that falin is un-chimera’d and marcille has a less anxious attachment style to the people she loves. dungeon meshi doesn’t focus on romance whatsoever, and there honestly wouldn’t be any time to show romance anyway because neither character was in a position to be ready for one, so the only appropriate moment would be post-canon.

and that’s where the importance of subtext comes in. ryoko kui’s storytelling relies heavily on her audience’s media literacy skills. though laios is never explicitly stated as autistic, his character is written in such an exquisite way, that any viewer could easily guess what she was trying to represent there. i would 100% consider him to be autistic representation, even without him saying it in-text. now why shouldn’t i be allowed to extend that same logic to farcille being sapphic representation? all the tell-tale queercoding signs are there, just like all the tell-tale autistic-coding is present in laios. i don’t need the two girls to kiss to be aware of how utterly devoted and in love they are with each other.

[bengiyo]

Wonderful day in Thailand. but now for the important questions.

Of all the ql thai couples, what couple would be the biggest headache for Namnuea? And why?

Rose💜

See, this is an interesting question. I've been thinking about it for days, and now I just want a follow up show about Wiwa Square tackling all of the new gay weddings. I'd love this as an episodic show where the challenges the classic BL couple is dealing with reflects something going on with Nuea's or his people's lives. Any Thai fans following me, feel free to propose this to your people and make this happen. Just make sure I get to watch it.

The Wedding Plan Wiwa Square Spinoff Show Guests

With that in mind, I'd like to see an episode for the following pairs:

Sarawat and Tine

I just know that Tine is going to be the one they expect to be dramatic as hell, but it's going to be Sarawat freaking out about everything being perfect in a fantastic meltodown. We could have Lom talk to Sarawat and share how the closet affected both of them.

Teh and Oh-aew

Teh wanted to come out at the end of IPYTM, and wanna see the glam these two could pull off. I just know they're going to have an epic fight. This would be a good episode for Lom and Nuea to have a big fight.

Patts and Saengtai

Honestly, I want this episode because I feel like we didn't learn a lot about Patts beyond his relationships with Nara, his grandmother, and Tai. It would be a great chance to delve deeper into his character and see these two trying to communicate properly now that Tai is not holding back. These two also kissed really good, so this would be a good episode for Nuea and Lom to have a steamy moment.

Mork and Tawan

Let's be real: weddings are expensive. Mork's poverty was a huge part of his story in My Ride, and I think it would be really cool to see Wiwa Square work on a small budget for Cheep and Dej, Mork's gay uncles. It would also be an opportunity to talk about wealth and aging while queer.

See-eiw and Cake

The benefit of these two being friends to lovers is that their families saw how close they were the whole time. Despite the unfortunate PSA at the end of My Only 12%, this would be a great episode to focus on families around weddings. We'd get to see Cake's mom stepping in to fill the mom role for See-eiw, and this could be an opportunity for Lom's mom to reenter the fold.

Yang and Phumjai

We need a good episode for hijinks. The Love in Translation cast would be perfect for this. Yang is also Chinese, so we could focus on some cross-cultural traditions.

Charn and Tinn

I'm sorry, I just want Nawin to meet Neua. It also means Silvy could cameo. This would be an excellent episode for the side characters to take center again because they decide to keep Nuea away from Charn or something.

Phun and Noh

I just want White and Captain to get back together every few years and reprise these characters for little check ins. This episode would be a good time to talk about long-term relationships and their challenges with guys who are just a few years older than Neua and Lom.

Khai and Third

Speaking of White showing up in BL! I'd like to see Third struggling with his perfect wedding plans. This would be a great time to reflect on how weddings have been presented in media, and they could spin that either way by either leaning into the tropes or actively subverting them. That would be in line with the ToL goals.

Pluem and Kevin

These two had fantastic chemistry in Ghost Host, Ghost House. This could be a good episode to reflect on how weddings feel when some of our loved ones didn't get to live to see the day. I think this could be a really touching reflection on grief softened by how comfortable these two always manage to look with each other.

Pharm and Dean

I honestly don't think these two would have a lot of problems within themselves for the wedding itself. For this episode, we could really focus on wedding logistics. We could have something go really wrong with a caterer at the last minute and have Pharm step in to save his own wedding while Dean uses his connections to fix other things blowing up around them. This could be a good episode about Nuea and Lom having problems maintaining a good work-life balance.

Cairo and Gavreel

We need to do an international episode, and I'd like to see a crossover with The IdeaFirst Company in some way. Gav and Cai have been separated multiple times. I like the idea of them finally getting to marry at a destination wedding.

Shin Ki Tae and Lee Wan

I just wanna see these two again. This would be another international episode, and we could get back into some of the unresolved abandonment issues Shin Ki Tae is happening, and we could have a cross-cultural dialogue about making things right.

Im Han Tae and Han Ba Ram

Another international episode. They could use this episode to talk about the ongoing challenges of being a public figure and a star if these two are successful.

This was a lot of fun to think about! I really want this show now.

[evasiveagaric]

I have a physical reaction every time i think about the queercoding of Dave at the end of homestuck. My roommate and I were reading it and i kept having to take a moment to think “holy shit, is he coming out??? is that what we missed on the meteor round 2?”. I don’t keep up with Andrew Hussie news bc i don’t really like him as a person, but the whole talk with Egbert on the lillypad makes me think Hussie either was really close to a queer person or queer himself with just how accurately he wrote Dave talking about the queer experience, even if he doesn’t actually come out in that part. It doesn’t feel like queerbaiting either bc it bc fits with Dave’s characterization and how hard it is for him to talk about anything sincerely.

I don’t want to downplay the importance of Dave realizing the thoughts Bro instilled in him about how a man should act in favor of speculating about his sexuality tho. Not wanting to be a stoic hero of man who doesn’t have attachments or be soft with anyone is a huge part of Dave’s characterization and character arc. I think they go hand in hand tho, his struggles with toxic masculinity and his sexuality. I think the conversation was blatantly about both while Dave gave himself an out to pretend it was just about one. And he didn’t even do that.

I’m about to get hella pretentious and read way too much into things under the cut. More rambling about Dave’s character arc as a whole and nitpicking of dialogue towards the end of homestuck down below.

Future peepaw edit: this turned into a fucking play by play essay, my bad

Out of order but I also want to talk about his characterization as a whole.

Homestuck Mobile formatting jumpscare:

He’s willing to talk about another guy’s feelings. Romantic ones. for someone at the time presents as a guy. It doesn’t even feel like he’s joking. 13 year old Dave would never.

And this happens before all the stuff i mentioned earlier, showing exactly what he talked about. I honestly don’t think any other character has an arc like Dave’s. Which, seeing as Dave is a fully fleshed out complex character that makes sense, but I mean in general. I have consumed a lot of media, i’ve consumed a lot of queer media too. I’m really into the history of queercoding and how it relates to representation. I don’t think I’ve seen a character arc quite like Dave’s, especially in relation to sexuality and toxic masculinity.

Egbert assumes that Dave’s being a dick on purpose, and Dave rebukes it so strongly he uses an exclamation point. In a series where how people type is kind of a big thing, Dave’s frequent lack of punctuation is a nod to his “cool guy” facade, the lack of tone indication part of the “mystery” a cool guy has to be surrounded with. So, the fact that he feels strongly enough, or has loosened up enough on the cool guy show no emotions routine speaks to his self reflection. Of course this is stated literally a few more dialogue lines down, about how much time he spent on the meteor thinking about societal norms and his Bro’s teachings but the fact that it’s sprinkled in before hand too makes it feel less like it’s come out of the blue, or that it’s out of character.

“yeah we coulda talked about this” says so much. Not only to his relationship with Karkat (romantic or not, i’m a Davekat shipper but that’s not what i’m getting at here) but just how far he’s come with getting close to others. Not to mention the fact that it’s implied that they talk at least somewhat frequently about heavy and deep issues such as feelings for other people definitely feels like a major shift in Dave’s character, one for the better.

He’s probably been vulnerable with Karkat in a way that he never was with anyone as a kid. They talk about things. They talk about important enough things that Karkat’s past black crush on Egbert never coming up probably feels a little strange, hence Dave asking if he’s been thinking about it all this time. He has that connection with Karkat, which is important bc Karkat is masculine presenting. I’d bet money that Bro would not have approved, regardless of them just being friends or not.

That level of vulnerability? Not immediately calling Karkat gay and dunking on him? Treating what would be seen a gay relationship as completely normal and not even something to bat an eye at? 13 year old Dave WISHES he had the emotional maturity Dave has now.

He even encourages Karkat to hold on to those feelings bc Egbert expressed that they could hate people, at least platonically. Egbert even calls him out, saying he sounds like he’s being a dick about it and Dave says he’s being real.

Not to mention he kind of forgets that Egbert “isn’t a homosexual” at this point, that or he suspects Egbert isn’t straight in some capacity. I think he has less hang ups about queerness than Karkat does at this point. Or at least less hang ups about being honest. It feels fitting for his character and i’m sad that most of that character arc is off screen. I get it tho, writing meteorstuck round 2 would have made homestuck significantly longer most likely.

In conclusion: I like Dave and his character arc too damn much. I have to go to work now, i was not expecting to have this many thoughts about it and i’ve rambled enough.

[idolomantises]

talking abt that one thing in velma thats on my mind a lot for the past few days (that turned into a big incoherent rambling about gay rep in media)

i'm seeing jokes about how the queer representation in mystery inc being so much better than the queer representation in velma and honestly it makes me want to go on a whole tangent about my thoughts on queer representation nowadays vs the more subtle examples decades prior.

There's this weird debate that goes on online about what is "good" queer representation, and one of the most notable and honestly annoying examples is that queer representation has to be so subtle that you could easily miss it/ignore it. i've always hated that take because its a claim mostly said by straight people who are uncomfortable with seeing characters who are openly queer and/or state their identity, but they present it as some sort of push for subtle and nuanced writing. personally i do prefer it when a character just, identifies as how they are without explaining their identity, but that doesn't mean flat out explaining your orientation is inherently bad representation. its why i will always defend the very clunky and awkward high guardian spice scene. it is absolutely poorly directed and written, but that doesn't make it "bad representation". however, I do consider the character who explains that he's trans bad representation because he is flat, uninteresting and very clearly a creator self insert. he doesn't feel like a well rounded character who's also a trans man, but just an incredibly sanitized example of trans representation.

i have many, many issues with helluva boss/hazbin hotel and i do genuinely find some depictions of queer characters just flat out offensive (you can argue with me about how angel dust being written like your average 90s gay stereotype is woke actually because he has trauma, i dont care), but i do admire and appreciate that the series doesn't want to sanitize its queer characters, even if its done poorly. though i could go into a whole rant about how i find it very telling that female characters that are queer are far less sexualized or allowed to be problematic compared to their queer male counterparts.

anyways back to velma. that show does something that i've always found pretty irritating in queer representation which is just this weird lack of faith in its audience. characters can't have a slow burn anymore. internalized thoughts, anger, frustration, longing. you have to immediately know that two characters are gay for each other, even if they're lifelong enemies. its like when modern horror movies open with the gore because they're scared people are going to be bored or leave early. there's no subtlety or chemistry between daphne and velma, they're just lovers because idk, its two girls who hate each other and who doesn't love that.

then i think about how mystery inc handled velma and her sexuality, how she was allowed to be well rounded and nuanced before you slowly realize that "oh, she doesn't like boys". i know her whole thing with shaggy is controversial among fans but i always loved how she does do something pretty unlikable but not immoral. yeah, it is shitty to force shaggy to choose between her and his dog, but i can understand her line of thinking and empathize with her. and i do like how they become friends in the end despite their awkward break up. It's always fun rewatching it and realizing that their incredibly awkward and cringe relationship was meant to be awkward and cringe. it was supposed to be weird and difficult to watch, because those two weren't meant to date each other. you could see how hard velma was trying to make the relationship work despite the fact that you never get the vibe that either character was full invested in it, unlike daphne and fred's relationship.

then you had velma and her relationship with marcie, which started off as sort of a catty rivalry (not full on attempted murder, i mean holy shit hbo velma) that slowly grows to where you're completely convinced that these two did gradually like each other. and i do really enjoy stuff like that, more subtle writing like that. which doesn't just apply to queer rep btw, my favorite ships are relationships that feel understated, something you have to really dig for and pay attention to. its why i consider bubbline the best f/f representation in cartoon. because its subtle, but not too subtle where it feels out of no where when they kiss, and nuanced in ways that enhances the relationship AND characters.

there's a good amount of relationships i see in cartoons where the creator, who is usually queer themselves, often wants to depict queer relationships, but is weirdly adverse to depicting the uglier aspects of that character, and refuses to add subtlety to it. steven universe is a show i've always felt conflicted on its handling of queer representation because on the one hand i appreciate writing lesbians that are messy, traumatized and make constant mistakes. but on the other hand, the show goes out of its way to ignore these issues and/or make excuses for it, making the decision to make these characters messy and complicated genuinely baffling (this is also one of the big issues i have with catradora and stolitz).

it makes me think back to my own work too. i really enjoy making fluffy, easily digestible gay content for my followers and myself because it puts me in a good headspace. But even now and then i like exploring those little nuances too, because i don't really enjoy stories with little conflict. Because of that acknowledgement of how satisfying it is to write fluffy, queer rep, you end up putting yourself in other creator's shoes. you're so used to media that either dehumanizes gay people or tells people that they don't exist that you push yourself to make the most in your face queer rep you can but its at the cost of an interesting and subtle characters. characters that don't really have arcs or places to learn and grow.

With bugtopia i made a joke about how i want some of my queer rep to feel like you're being queerbaited. It's not literal, obviously, but mixed in with characters who are already married and in same gender relationships, i really want to write dynamics that feel subtle enough for a bit of a slow burn. even if you know they're going to end up together, to at least value the characters on their own before centering them on their relationships. queerbaiting is something that deserves all the criticism it can get, but it is embarrassing when queerbaiting feels genuinely more interesting than actual queer rep because queerbaiting has that factor of "maybe they won't get together" that adds that bit of intrigue, vs so many shows that repeatedly hammer in your head "don't worry guys, they're gonna be lesbian lovers".

mystery inc (and many other shows) being forced to keep a relationship obvious while subtle to get through censorship really forced creators to be creative with their storytelling and not center characters around their relationship and identity. but nowadays i think shows like to take the easy way out. for me, i always thought the most impactful example of queer representation in steven universe is "Rose's Scabbard". I genuinely don't enjoy that episode because it's a good example of the show thinking that trauma is an excuse for shitty behavior, but i cant deny that an entire episode of pearl breaking down and finally accepting that she wasn't the center of rose's world. it's the crew being forced to be creative and push through censors to telling a compelling story about a traumatized lesbian slowly realizing that she basically deluded herself into thinking she was someone's savior.

I think it's silly to try to place good queer representation in one box. like subtle queer rep is good, but also queer rep where a character flat out states that their gay. where I think it falls apart is when it either reinforces stereotypes without properly deconstructing or expanding on them, makes the characters so overly kind and non-controversial that the relationship is just boring, or try to make your messy and complicated characters but the narrative refuses to hold them accountable or at least acknowledge that they're doing something wrong. and to clarify on that last part, i'm not asking for some hays code nonsense where every bad person goes to prison and/or promises to stop being a bad person again. i mean the narrative doesnt just fucking sugarcoat their behavior. i don't want to see helluva boss ignore the fact that stolas made blitzo call him out for only using him for sex and then pathetically rush to justify their relationship by giving them a bizarrely sanitized and sweet backstory. and i don't want to see catra literally end the fucking universe and only do something good because she's straight up out of options and the show just decides that that was her redemption and she doesn't need to do anything to atone for what she did (including repeatedly abusing and verbally berating adora).

anyways velma has none of those interesting qualities and i'm pretty sure daphne and velma kissed because the creator is a weird pervert who thinks two girls kissing is hot.

[olderthannetfic]

Here's my mini list about how to figure out if someone is a tryhard, and if you thereby should ignore them when it comes to recommending books. Obvs this is also paired with some sub conscious pattern recognition.

1) Cares too much about the author. Making mention of the author if it's relevant is ok. But some people will put too much weight on what the authors is, and who they are and let that influence the review. Also noticed especially with social media famous people where the author. So if the author's presented persona is brought into the review for no reason, it becomes a red flag. I don't often think there's any reason to really mention the author, unless it's a biography.

2) People who judge the author instead of the work. In some cases this can be valid, but in most cases the judgement of the author makes little sense in a review of the book. If you're reviewing a book, review the book.

3) Identity checklists in the review, especially if it's at the top, and they're counted as a positive, instead of a neutral fact. Yes having a lot of diverse identities can be a pro, especially if the book has diversity as a theme, but it shouldn't be presented as a grocery list for you to check off. A lack of elaboration can make it feel like the reviewer really didn't actually care that much about the identities listed beyond "They exist, so that means the book is good."

3.5) Too much random focus on the identities of the characters, but with no actual elaboration of how this is presented in the story. Just because the book has a lot of identities doesn't mean they're done well, or that the story is good. You can mention a hundred times that the gay character is gay, but is the actual character any good? Is the story written competently?

This is something that I noticed can really mess up a review streak. You can have two books with wildly different levels writing competency, and they get the same type rating and review, because the reviewer didn't actually care about more than the checklist. So a 10/10 book is treated as equal to a 4/10 because of the identities presented.

4) Double standards for reviews. Honestly pretty straight forward, are they excusing things for certain stories but condemning the exact same thing in another, for not actual reason? Are they biased against certain authors? Against certain demographics? Certain plot turns and arcs? No one is free of a little bit of bias, but when it's too obvious it's just not good.

This point actually goes back to author identity and the character identities. Author: A cishet author and a queer author can both write competent queer stories. If the only, and I mean ONLY reason the cishet author gets a worse grade is because of their identity, then that's a double standard. You're supposed to read the story on its own merits.

Checklist: Let's say you have an abusive character get their commuppance; if the reviewer thinks the abusive female character shouldn't have gotten punished, but are fine if a male character gets punished for the same crime.

I simplified those examples, and this point is mostly based on you noticing a pattern by the reviewer. If you actually are someone who follow reviewers, it'll at some point become something you notice.

--

[pumpumdemsugah]

Completely agree about fandom stuff. I’m a frequent lurker in a handful of fandoms and people have always been strange and obsessive but even comparing five years ago and now the difference is stark. I think of how people used to acknowledge that headcanons and fan theories were their own creations and that they were hoping for the best but now with all the social media access there’s a lot of entitlement and begging and it’s embarrassing to watch. Wanting better or non stereotypical, harmful writing/screentime or people with lived experiences in the writing room is one thing but seeing people insist that there’s something secret going on and then throw tantrums when the straight character ends up being straight like the show said all along or shit like that puts me off so many things. 1/2

Yes there are times when shows say one thing and present another but for the most part things are what they say they are (also stop watching if you feel jerked around? this isn’t a hostage situation) Idk I feel like any adult that can’t watch something without needing it to relate exactly to them is a major loser or whiteness/‘queerness’ has eroded their brain. They would die being a black lesbian woman and watching shit because 9/10 our representation is a joke. And I know queerbaiting is real but a lot of it is simply fan delusion especially when it comes to white guys. Like I wouldn’t have watched it anyway because it seemed uninteresting but seeing how the fans are up neil gaimans ass about his show is so pathetic. The loss of private forums to speculate and be weird and write fanfiction has done major damage. People will go on social media and fully @ creators/writers explaining why the characters they created are actually this instead of that with a straight face and their full government names attached. Grown adults too. Where is the self awareness and shame lmao 2/2

Honestly! " It isn't a hostage situation" sometimes it's just time to drop a show and mourn what could have been. There are some shows that have been ruined because creatives didn't want to piss off fans by killing off someone that needed to die

It's very entitled and it's burning up whatever good will and willingness creators have about even listening or interacting with fans because for some the only answer is treating their headcannons as just as important as the shit you created from the ground up. It's nice to hear how people interpret your art but when it's obvious they don't care about what your creation is and it's simply an empty vessel for them to occupy with no regard or actual engagement it makes you wonder what they even got from the story especially if they chronically have to do this.

Sometimes characters are written in such a way it doesn't matter and creators may change their minds because something is added they love but again this is usually behind the scenes with the input and direction of the creator

I love when something is changed and it becomes a core part of the story like with an interview with the vampire, so much is gained by Louis being black and from New Orleans. You can tell so much care and thought was put into it. The change becomes a reason why leaving humanity behind is so difficult, no wonder he locked himself away in that casket of a building in Dubai.

There's a place for everything but you have to learn how to act and learn shame

[transificationbeem]

I didn't know one of the people was a TERF, who was it? <- someone who doesn't know who the two women accusing gaiman are

Hi! The ONLY source that, to my knowledge, exists for these accusations is Tortoise Media, which is a TERF site. One of the main journalists that investigated the whole thing was Rachel Johnson, sister of the former UK PM Boris Johnson. The woman is a straight up TERF. Notably, David Tenant (good omens actor, fervent defender of trans rights, has insulted Boris Johnson on interview (about covid, in the clip i saw) as WELL as the recent thing insulting Kami Banedoch for being transphobic) had recently gone to bat for trans rights, and Gaiman has been in open support of trans rights as well for a long while now. Tennant has a trans kid.

The first article that dropped ABOUT the podcast was also pushing TERF articles last I saw. The podcast itself has strange facts—both accusers have basically the exact same story set 20 years apart, both claim the relationship was completely consensual and enthusiastic except in the specific instances they're accusing, both claim to have be predated on at a young but adult age. Now, usually this might be like. An MO for someone who has a habit of doing this, except...it's twice, twenty years apart, and I certainly haven't seen anyone else come out. Usually when there's such a huge amount of time, a bunch of other people will gather the courage to stand up and add their own assault to the list.

Now, I will be very clear: I am not saying for certain these women lied. I can't know that, obviously. I don't know neil gaiman and I don't claim to know anything about his character beyond how staunch he's been publically about trans rights.

But it absolutely should be kept in mind that the case these women present is so incredibly grey, and if they ARE lying they have picked the PERFECT lie to get away with. There is literally no way Gaiman CAN prove, for absolute certain, he did not do this, given that they literally go on about how they had consensual relations in their proof texts.

There's some other weird stuff going on, like the podcast stating they interviewed Gaiman even though he's been completely radio silent, the fact that it came out on a podcast in the first place and not like. An actual news article? IDK.

Honestly, maybe I'm being a little harsh, but I'm incredibly frustrated with how a lot of people on this website could witness a male/masc assault with their own two fucking eyeballs, or literally hear recorded confessions and STILL say the victim was the aggressor—and yet they'll jump over themselves to shame and silence anyone for being the least bit skeptical of an incredibly strange and well-timed accusation (by a fucking TERF whose family was literally insulted by an actor in one of Gaimans queer-positive shows) against a prominent writer who's been very vocally supportive of trans people.

Bottom line: believe victims, but be aware that victimhood (especially of this kind) has been used as a weapon against marginalized people throughout history, and will continue to be used as such. It's not conspiracy theorizing to look at all the facts objectively and come to the conclusion that something seems a little off.

[midnighttreasureseeking]

James Somerton and the Vampire Chronicles

Ok last thing about this whole James Somerton situation before watching the hbommerguy video.

James Somerton made several videos in which he mentions interview with the vampire and they always rubbed me the wrong way. In the last one, a video of which im still trying to figure out the point, he spends about 20 min trying to tell us that Anne Rice was the first person the portray the vampire as sexy. Which is not true, for example 'The vampire lovers' was made in 1970 and 'The kiss of the vampire' in 1963 (and then i havent even talked about literature). It is not Anne Rice's original idea that vampires can be sexy. But the portrayals of sexy vampires before 1975 were mostly women being sexy, and i guess that doesn't count for him.

The only other things he could talk about was how sexy the main characters are (in a way that made me honestly uncomfortable because he seemed to be undermining the point of the scenes and the show in general) and to give us a general summary of the show he spends ten minutes on.

He goes into the attractiveness of lestat in the book and briefly the show but he goes into no further depth beyond that. And there is a lot to say about attraction in the vampire chronicles beyond that!! Why do we get a ten minute summary of the show instead, where nothing is mentioned to further your point?

Don't get me wrong, Interview with the Vampire is my current hyperfixation and i love hearing about it. But i already knew the plot of the show and you had a point to make, right?? (the point never gets made)

When watching the video back when he posted it i was pretty disappointed that he went into so little depth regarding the show, certainly after the analyses i had already read about it, but now i'm honestly relieved. No doubt he would have directly stolen from our amazing meta creators and analysts in this fandom.

There are more things i can talk about.

His endless praise of Anne Rice as the saviour of all gay people while every other woman (including queer women) is bad for liking and creating content about gay men. (heartstopper, fanfiction, etc.)

How he doesn't mention the racism present in the books while only sparing a sentence or two talking about the handeling of racism in the show. And with that taking a firmly white lens stating that Lestat releases Louis from the shackles of humanity and therefore racism and homophobia. Which, when you watch the show, is obviously not what actually happens. Louis is still factually a black man in the Jim Crow south, he just also has to kill people now and can't talk to his family. Not crazy he doesn't take to vampirism so easily. But James seems to agree with Lestat that he should get over it and have fun.

He does not talk about any of the misogyny present in the books, just not at all. I don't remember him talking about the women in the books or the show at all either...

Now i'm going back to real life where people disappoint me far less

here 5 youtubers that source their content

[lianecartmanstimtoy]

okay wait i just found your acc W art btw but i’m kinda confused do you not like matt and trey

Honestly I'm impartial to Matt Stone simply because he hasn't been involved in writing south park in literally 20 years. I don't like actively hate hate Trey Parker but the older I get the more I see through his writing and political beliefs and the more irritated I get with him. Mainly because both of them present themselves as "higher than political alignments" while most of the episodes they write that are supposed to be political commentary are at best:

"observation that most sane individuals can make and is popular opinion outside of radical circles"

At medium:

"Uninformed opinion because they clearly didn't read anything outside of a few headlines."

At worst:

"Actively harmful to marginalized communities because Trey Parker is yet another white cishet man who rarely looks outside of his own experiences and views of the world."

Centrist satire in general, to quote one of my favorite articles about South Park, is "half the time fine and half the time really really wrong."

Now to put it more personally,

South Park holds a really special place in my heart because I grew up queer in a conservative homeschool cult and as a teenager it was one of the first media I had access to that actively showed characters questioning my world parent's world view and showing how absolutely ridiculous it was. On top of that the first episode I found was the Butters Conversion Camp one. My parents had been trying conversion talk therapy for years with very little success and I was regularly punished for any form of Queerness. Having a show that not only addressed the fact that kids like me existed but looked me dead in the eye and said "there's nothing wrong with you it's the asshole adults around you that are fucked up" was...unspeakably important. That was something that had never been in my life before outside of other queer peers I was able to find but certainly not from adults.

So I think that's why I get more and more irritated with Matt Stone and especially Trey Parker as time goes on.

South Park has the capacity to do a lot of good. They've won multiple awards for disability representation and going head to head with harmful ideologies and the people who use them for wealth. So seeing it also harm just due to some guy's laziness and lack of willingness to unlearn and relearn.

Well,

that pisses me off.

Also hope this doesn't come off as aggressive @ you!! I'm just passionate about this and wanted to give you a full extremely neurotypical//j explanation.

Edit: Realized I could've summed this up much quicker by saying I don't like to see Trey Parker become my parents.

[johannestevans]

Come see me in Leeds this Friday!

Good morning, good morning!

Remember you can sign up to get this update directly as an email. Anything that I can't promote or post as per Patreon's more stringent guidelines will always still be in my regular email newsletters.

First things first, in the aftermath of the piece I submitted to Trans_Muted late last year, I'm going to be at an event at The Bookish Type, a queer bookshop, in Leeds this Friday evening! Tickets are sold out online, but there will be more tickets available on the door at the £0-£5 range depending on how much people can afford.

It's going to be a Q&A and discussion sort of night, with some readings as well - as well as me, there'll be Dalton Harrison, the founder of StandFast Productions, a collective for ex-offenders to share art and stories; there's Loren Lepton, who does all sorts of rocking art across different disciplines and has published poetry in Trans_Muted; and of course there's Dorian Rose, the founder of Trans_Muted!

Here's the piece I'll be discussing and potentially reading from:

Questions You Wish You Could Ask A Gay Transgender Man — A tongue-in-cheek take on cisgender people’s frequently asked questions.

Read here in Trans_Muted!

Also On Medium / / On Patreon.

There will be books and such forth available from us, as well as the fact that the Bookish Type is an excellent queer-run bookshop that will have all manner of wonders for you to peruse as ever.

Great news for those who enjoyed my Minotaur talk a while back - Romancing the Gothic have invited me back to do another talk as part of a charity event toward the end of March!

On March 16th 2024, Goths for Breakfast is going to centre a variety of talks about gothic literature to raise money for hungry kids, and mine is going to be a presentation and dive into Crimson Peak (2015, dir. Guillermo Del Toro) and its appeal as a modern gothic romance, with a bit of examination about people's hunger for ~problematic~ themes in the age of BookTok, book bans, and rising puritan values and opposition to nuance. Title is yet to drop, but in the meantime, go sign up for Romancing the Gothic and check out their other events!

My plan is to write more non-fiction in the next few months as honestly, I need the money - I'm settling well into the new place but I'm getting used to balancing all my bills against furnishing everything, and I'm currently in need of some dental care. I've talked about it at length here, and there's two polls here and here at the moment about particular essays or non-fiction people would be most eager to see and read, but please let me know if there's anything you'd really like me to write about!

I have a few media recs this week - I already mentioned that I've been playing Dragon Quest XI and I'm now replaying Final Fantasy XV again, but onto some movie recs! A few of these fucking rock, and I definitely plan to write a bit more about them at length.

The Holdovers (2023, dir. Alexander Payne) - This one was good, not a new favourite of mine or anything, but it's well-paced and has a lot of well-done slice-of-life and character study, which I know people who like my work will undoubtedly appreciate! It's a loving and sensitive film - I found it to be a bit bland for my taste, but for being this sort of film it's not at all too saccharine, and it definitely might be worth a watch if you like nasty old men or nasty young men! I'll be honest, though, none of the men in this are particularly to my taste - I did love Da'Vine Joy Randolph's performance though, she really makes the whole film.

Demon (2015, dir. Marcin Wrona) - This film has been criticised a lot by genre horror fans because they're upset that it doesn't meet genre horror conventions: it doesn't. This is a real fucking horror film delving into the reality of living on haunted, bloodied land, and it's a modern retelling of The Dybbuk - gentiles at a wedding become haunted by the ghost of a dead Jewish bride, and horrors unfold for them. This film is beautiful, and I don't think I've ever seen a film that depicts gentiles grappling so much with the violence that's been done by them and their community to Jewish people, and then making the decision to turn away from it. The haunting of the pogroms in this film is visceral, and it feels all the more salient at the moment given the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the historical-to-now experiences of Palestinians in the face of that colonial violence.

Minyan (2020, dir. Eric Steel) - This is a super gorgeous film as well - I've watched a lot of coming-of-age flicks about young queer men coming to terms with their sexuality, particularly set in the 80s, but I've never seen one that has such a loving depiction of a man's developing sexual identity at the same time as his developing religious one and the relationship he has with his Judaism and with worship and religion, and other queer men in his community and how many there are once he knows how to look for and find them. I really love the undercurrent of his relationship with James Baldwin's work, especially a contrast at one point of a fellow young Russian Jew saying he's going to join the IDF, and then immediately jump to work from Baldwin. I would recommend Baldwin's short open letter on Zionism, antisemitism, and Palestinian liberation from '79 in The Nation, which you can read here.

New Works Published

Serial Update: Powder and Feathers

Chapter Fifty-Four: Colm has a painful discussion with his granddaughter; Jean-Pierre bonds with his niece.

--

It seems to Aimé Deverell that there is very little point to life, except for what pleasures can be enjoyed before the grave. Life is short - thank God - but at least there's enough in the world to dull the senses in the meantime.

That philosophy shatters like glass when he meets Jean-Pierre, an angel.

Read on Medium / / Read on Ao3 / / Read on WorldAnvil

Erotic Short: Wine Barrel

The angel Jean-Pierre lets himself get caught by the all-too-friendly Dionysus.

Rated E, trans M/everyone at a party. Featuring object insertion, inflation with a womb filled up with wine, unsafe alcohol consumption, lactation, milking, public humiliation, voyeurism, transformation, very drunk sex, sadomasochism, free use, objectification, begging, multiple orgasms, overstimulation.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on SubscribeStar / / Read on Ao3

Erotic Short: Window Trap

Jean-Pierre makes an unwise decision, and gets caught amongst the wrong crowd.

Rated E, 3.9k, trans M angel gangbanged by Greek gods, mostly by Hermes (Aetos Talaria). Doros is also here — Doros and Jean-Pierre both being characters in Powder and Feathers.

Dubious to non consent here after some pure hubris, with a gangbang, large insertions, come inflation, deepthroating, spitroasting, predicament bondage with Jean-Pierre stuck in a wall, humiliation, degradation, dirty talk, masochism, stomach bulges.

Read on Medium / / Read on SubscribeStar / / Read on Ao3

Non-Fiction: My Top 6 Films of 2023

2023 had a few knock-out hits as far as the cinema goes — obviously, people were very excited about the respective releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer, but my top films of the year were a bit different.

One  thing I do think unites a lot of these — and a trend I hope to see from  more films in the next few years — is a trend toward more earnestness  and sincerity in scripts and plot lines, and I’m hoping that trend  continues!

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon/ / Read on Tumblr

Woe, Boypussy Be Upon Ye: Transing Characters in Fanfic & Fanart

What’s the deal with envisioning your blorbos as transgender?

Read on Medium in Prism & Pen / / Read on Patreon/ / Read on Tumblr

Erotic TweetFic: Building Stamina

A new addition to a band of mercenaries struggles to keep pace with them - but no worries. They've another role in mind for him.

Read on Twitter

[snailslovesketching]

is catradora a toxic ship? my opinion that no asked for :)

TW: discussion of toxicity, abusive relationships and trauma; pls take care of yourself :)

Hey snails,

I started rewatching She-ra and the Princesses of Power for the third time recently, so suffice to say I am a big fan. The ship catradora, which is the ship name for characters Adora and Catra in case you don’t know, is honestly very important to me as a lesbian. Calling a ship from a show ‘important’ may sound dramatic to some of you, but it’s the truth. I was just coming into my identity as a lesbian when I watched the show because I heard it had good queer representation. Catra and Adora’s relationship was one of the first relationships between two queer women that I’d seen in media which was actually written by a queer person, and it meant so much to me as a baby gay. I’m not even a particularly emotional person when it comes to the media I watch, so it surprised me when I got emotional watching their love confession scene for the first time. It was and still means a lot to me that ND Stevenson and everyone behind She-ra worked so hard to get representation in the show, and I’ll forever be grateful to them for doing so.

Now that I’m watching the show for the third time, however, I’m starting to view their relationship more critically. Perhaps due to me being older and more comfortable in my queer identity, along with seeing discussions of their relationship online. It is an unfortunate truth that Catra treats Adora like shit for most of the show. She is an undoubtedly toxic person, and that brings into question whether, after everything she’s done, she deserves Adora. I’m going to provide my own opinions on this discussion and analyse whether catradora is a toxic relationship. To do so, I’m going to split this discussion into three main categories - what makes a relationship toxic? What toxic behaviours are present between Catra and Adora? And, lastly, is catradora a toxic ship overall?

Firstly, what makes a relationship toxic in the first place? In my research, I found a quotation from an article by verywellmind.com (Toxic Relationships: Signs, Types, and How to Cope (verywellmind.com) which I feel sums it up quite well: ‘A relationship is toxic when your well-being is threatened in some way - emotionally, psychologically, and even physically’. A toxic relationship will provide more negativity than positivity to your life and well-being. A person in a toxic relationship may question why they even involved themselves with that person in the first place, but simultaneously find it difficult to let go of them due to happy memories shared and the manipulation tactics employed by the toxic person to keep the other person trapped in the relationship.

Common traits of a toxic relationship are gaslighting (making someone doubt their own thoughts and experiences), victim blaming, isolating the person from their loved ones, constant arguing - and having to walk on eggshells around them as a result, controlling behaviour and generally feeling bad after being around the toxic person for an extended period of time.

So, which of these signs of a toxic relationship are present between Catra and Adora, and how persistent are they throughout the five seasons? Catra is obviously the main person perpetrating most of these behaviours. She blames Adora for abandoning her and ruining their friendship despite Adora offering to bring Catra with her. In other words, Catra guilt trips her. She acts as if Adora was in the wrong for wanting to leave the Horde despite it being very understandable why she’d do so. This isn’t just a heat-of-the-moment reaction as well, as she continues to blame Adora for ‘abandoning’ her even after being given multiple chances to join Adora. There’s the more obvious abuse that takes place while they’re enemies, with Catra insulting Adora, physically hurting and trying to murder her - just casual stuff. She also attempts to separate Adora from her friends from the very beginning - trying to isolate her to make her more vulnerable and easy to manipulate. Catra guilt trips Adora and blames her for issues Catra caused; she belittles Adora constantly; and is generally a very manipulative person, not just to Adora but to other characters such as Entrapta who she’s meant to be friends with.

Of course, there is the elephant in the room that needs to be discussed, that being Catra and Adora’s shared trauma—due to Shadow Weaver treating Adora as the golden child who can do no wrong and Catra being the one who gets the blame for every mistake pinned on her. As a result, Adora has a saviour complex and Catra is starved for affection and validation, taking much of her anger out on the ‘perfect’ Adora who always received the favour from Shadow Weaver that Catra wanted. This makes her staying with the Horde more understandable. She wanted to prove herself to Shadow Weaver and perhaps saw Adora being gone as the perfect opportunity to do so. It can also provide an explanation for some of her toxic behaviour later on in the series, as it becomes clear that Catra is simply repeating the abusive behaviour she was subjected to her by her only mother figure as a child. It should not, however, excuse this behaviour completely, because even if her actions are understandable given the circumstances it doesn’t magically make everything she did to Adora okay. She treated Adora terribly and Adora is in her full rights to not forgive Catra if she wants to. But as anyone who has watched the show knows, she does forgive Catra in the end. So one must ask… was Catra’s redemption deserved?

In my opinion, as much as this ship means to me, Catradora is indeed toxic for most of the show. I believe the way Catra’s redemption arc was handled was the main issue. She stays a consistently bad person for all four seasons, showing a lack of a moral compass from the first episode. While the show does a great job making the audience pity her by showing her trauma involving Shadow Weaver, thus giving us insight into why she acts the way she does, it doesn’t necessarily mean she deserves redemption. She doesn’t show much sign that she’ll become good and join the rebellion until season five, where the switch happens very suddenly, and then they’re confessing their love for each other even more suddenly. Personally, if my old friend had been on the opposite side of a war and attempted to kill me multiple times, just to pull a 180 and say they’d always loved me, I think I’d have a hard time believing them. 

If I were to rewrite their relationship to make a redemption arc work, I think dedicating more time to Catra’s redemption arc would be beneficial. This could create more interesting dynamics between the characters as Catra works with the rebellion and slowly gains their trust, building a healthy relationship with Adora and working through their issues, so that by the time they’re getting together they’re both at points in their lives where they’ve healed from their shared trauma and are ready for a relationship. I do acknowledge that to some extent the show did this, but I believe it needed more time to truly redeem Catra as it rushed through her arc too quickly. Making Catra less murdery would also be a good idea in my opinion, since attempting to murder your significant other is a pretty hard thing to come back from. Or Catra could at least show some remorse and regret about it - it would still be bad, don’t get me wrong, but there could be a tragic element to it if Catra felt like she was forced to hurt Adora because of their circumstances and showed a lot of angsty regret while doing so. More signs that Catra still cares for Adora would be good, like in season 1 episode 9 where Catra begrudgingly delivers the sword to Adora and tells her to leave, helping her escape the Horde. More moments like this could show Catra’s love for Adora in a very in-character way and remind the audience that these two were actually very close at one point, thus making their reunion more satisfying. Lastly, after everything Catra has done I don’t think Adora should be required to forgive her. Although, it is a show primarily for children so I understand why they did have her do so as they wanted a happy ending.

Overall, I believe catradora could have been written better. Now that I’ve done research into both sides of this argument, I understand why people argue catradora is a toxic ship and to a certain extent, I agree with them. I don’t think this ship is beyond redemption, and neither is Catra, but Catra’s redemption arc could use some rewriting to make that happen. In other words, Catra should be more like Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, rather than Azula, to who Catra is strikingly similar for most of the series. I will leave it at that. If you know, you know ;)

Thanks for reading :D

[hippo-pot]

American Sign Language media content for receptive skills practice

Made this list because I really could have used it earlier on! My rubric is that it needs to include Deaf people signing, and that SimCom doesn't count (it may be present, but it can't be all there is).

This only includes stuff I've actually seen (or partially seen). Also, I'm including some warnings about what you may *not* want to watch, because again, I really could have used those warnings myself.

Easy (i.e. has subtitles and/or voiceover available, IIRC)

Mostly speaking:

CODA (movie; comedy/drama; on AppleTV+)

Kinderfänger (scary movie. Note that it has a 3.7/10 on IMDb. I personally liked it fwiw. not sure if it's streaming anywhere)

CODA (short film; on Kanopy)

Master of None S2.E6: New York, I Love You (TV show episode, currently on Netflix)

Wild Prairie Rose (drama/romance, currently on Peacock)

Queer Eye S8E4: Protect the Nest (reality TV, on Netflix)

CSI S11E13: The Two Mrs. Grissoms (crime show, Hulu)

ANTM Season 22 (the one with Nyle, obviously. I had to get this from the library on a DVD that, get this, had NO captions available. Not impressed. (The ASL was voiceovered))

CSI NY S3E12: Silent Night (crime show, Hulu). I found this one pretty ableist/audist (but it's hard to explain why without spoiling the whole thing - here's the summary if you're fine with spoilers: https://csi.fandom.com/wiki/Silent_Night) also the camera work sometimes seemed more interested in making the signing look artsy rather than making it legible lol

Sue Thomas, F. B. Eye (Peacock) - some episodes have lots of signing, some have none or close to it. Honestly it's pretty racist (the show came out 2002-2005. A lot of episodes are about terrorism, and they're constantly justifying racial profiling). If you can stomach that in exchange for surprisingly decent Deaf rep, here's a (probably incomplete) list of the ones with at least one non-Sue Deaf character, with a * if there are multiple: The Signing, The Heist*, He Said She Said, Girl Who Signed Wolf, Homeland Security, Bad Hair Day, Into Thin Air*, The Holocaust Survivor*, Elvis is in the Building*, Did She or Didn't She, The Fraternity*, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Troy Story*, Endings and Beginnings*. But yeah, I can't exactly recommend it, just trying to be honest about the pros and cons.

Switched at Birth - I really don't recommend this one either. I understand some people like it, but I have to give my disclaimer that if you watch a couple episodes and think "Well, I didn't like that, but maybe it will get better," lose that hope right now. To me, it only got worse. There is soooo much SimCom (yes, even later in the show when everyone should have learned to sign. Do NOT think there will be more or better signing later on). Daphne's actress has Meniere's disease; in a Reddit AMA, she said, quote, "Technically I am not deaf," so I really question why she was cast as the main Deaf character. Regardless of how she identifies, she is playing an experience she has not had; she isn't a native signer (she started learning in high school, not at age 3 like her character), and when she speaks in the show, she FAKES a "deaf accent". Also, this show is not as lighthearted as it looks, there are some truly disturbing plotlines that just get brushed over. Maybe you love this kind of drama - power to you. I'm just asking that if you watch a couple episodes and don't care for it, quit. Read some episode summaries on the wiki if you need to satisfy your curiosity, but don't hold out hope and watch almost 2 seasons' worth while feeling worse and worse about it l like I did. Moving on:

All or mostly signing:

Deaf U (reality show, on Netflix)

WHAT? (movie; comedy, silent movie; on Prime)

Blue Apple (creepy short film) https://media.gallaudet.edu/media/Blue+Apple+%281994%29/1_wke1swj2 also like. click around on the website. Gallaudet has soooooo much media available (plays, films, etc)

Scarecrow (creepy short film), also a Gallaudet production https://ssl.gallaudet.edu/videolibrary/?embed=16500 tbh there's not a ton of dialogue in this one, so maybe don't watch it if you don't like slow pacing

Don't Shoot the Messenger (raunchy YouTube series about an interpreter)

Barbie in ASL (On Max. It's the movie Barbie, but with a Deaf interpreter in the corner)

PBS also has some stuff with ASL interpretation. I didn't check everything so I don't know if they're all done by Deaf interpreters, but I recognized Jeremy Lee Stone as the interpreter for (at least some of) the Arthur episodes, and Lisa McBee for (at least some of) the Daniel Tiger ones https://pbskids.org/videos/american-sign-language-full-episodes

speaking of Jeremy Lee Stone, his Youtube channel is a great resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9HZ1JdV1Us

as are Nathie Marbury's storytelling videos https://www.youtube.com/@dawnsignpress/search?query=nathie

other kids' stories and resources for kids: https://www.youtube.com/@RMDSCO from Rocky Mountain Deaf School and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhbEjnwOPpyIHotZrGLu68OGeEZlTuvbg from Texas School for the Deaf (some of these are captioned or follow along with a book that they show on screen, but some aren't)

a few nonfiction Youtube series: Daily Moth (general news), Atomic Hands (STEM education), Quantum ASL (STEM education - just a couple longer videos, the rest are basically dictionary entries), BEHEARDDC (prison abolition), Joel West Barish (travel), Rogan Shannon (queer topics), Melmira (interviews)

Sign with Robert (available for free on both Kanopy and Tubi): this is mostly just general ASL teaching, but there are some episodes specifically labeled receptive practice where he tells jokes and stories (25, 26, and 29 - for 26 and 29 they play the stories twice, with captions the second time so you can see what you missed, it's actually super nice haha)

her specific channel doesn't have much, but you can just look up Melanie McKay-Cody, who does research about Indigenous sign languages (she is herself Cherokee). Lots of videos from her all over Youtube

SoCal Stories (interviews with folks including Marlee Matlin, CJ Jones, Bernard Bragg...): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8T937th3Qg&list=PLwR2tgM-4_AYjBRvj3GWqWRjjMiZz_w8u this is part of the Youtube channel Convo Communications, which has tons of other stuff I haven't explored

ASL music videos: this list was curated by a Deaf person so I trust it https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx1wHz1f-8J_xKVdU7DGa5RWIwWzRWNVt

Deafies in Drag (Youtube comedy series)

Reverie (short film, drama. Heavy themes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiFWE6Mtpu0

Perfect Match (short film, drama / sci fi) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxE65yzMgyE

The Witnesses (short film, satire) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u9iQ_hjXDg

4 translations of MLK's I Have a Dream speech: Richard Bailey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H2-3O-NJFg (no captions or voiceover), JC Smith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUmdM965Si8 , Takiyah Harris (rough video quality on this one) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiyG_h1tnZE , Missouri School for the Deaf students https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mmxJByigac

Intermediate

Mostly Speaking:

Sound of Metal (movie; drama; on Prime) (the late-deafened characters are not played by Deaf actors, but there's still a lot of Deaf actors. Most of the signing is mid-movie, and if I remember correctly, some is not subtitled, while some is)

Children of a Lesser God (movie; available on Kanopy). The signing isn't subtitled (it's mostly voice-interpreted by another character) and also it was very hard to understand - I gather it leaned more toward SEE? So that's why it's in intermediate.

Star Trek TNG S2E5: Loud as a Whisper (on Paramount+): no subtitles; most of the signing is voice interpreted, but not all. All the ASL is in the 2nd half but there's still a good amount, I thought

All or mostly signing:

look up Gallaudet Theatre Arts on Youtube. There's actually a variety of levels here (of the two I've watched, Bunnicula has voiceover, but Midsummer Night's Dream doesn't. The audio/video quality isn't great on any of it). I'm listing it as Intermediate because for e.g. Shakespeare you can just look up the script of the play and have it in another tab to check what's going on.

Sign (short film; some sexual content) https://vimeo.com/157890479 I was able to understand most of this, which means it's a loooot easier than the Shakespeare, but yeah, no subtitles, no voiceover, no help

The Deaf Family (YouTube sitcom) (don't be fooled, only the first episode has subtitles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1uuntQOPnw&list=PLx1wHz1f-8J9KzkK5lLO3z0wk64eUzo3Y

Not going to list anything hard because I haven't made it through anything hard, but bonus warning categories:

Doesn't have as much signing as you'd think

(ranked roughly from most signing to least signing)

The Circle, Season 5 (reality show on Netflix. I did really enjoy the Deaf contestant but I definitely wanted more)

Fargo, season 1-ish (show; horror? On Hulu) I only watched a few episodes but Russell was only getting like 5 min screen time per episode and i wasn't enjoying the show otherwise, so it wasn't worth it for me personally

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist S1E9: Zoey's Extraordinary Silence (jukebox musical TV show. On Peacock)

Only Murders in the Building (mystery show on Hulu) - I did enjoy this show, so for me it was worth watching all of it, but if you're not interested, you could save time by only watching the 7 episodes with Theo in them

The Family Stone (I did enjoy the movie though tbh. on Hulu)

Curb Your Enthusiasm S12E3: Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug (TV comedy, on Max) Troy only gets like 5 min of screentime 😭 he's an Academy Award winner...

Queer as Folk S1E4: F*ck Disabled People (on Peacock) (Nyle is in it but I don't think he even ever talks to anyone else who can sign? He's mostly communicating via writing)

Not Worth It

What the Bleep Do We Know: we attempted to watch this "doc" without realizing beforehand that it was all pseudoscience. Honestly, I'm not even sure there was signing in it? I think there was a little

Wonderstruck (2017). There are multiple Deaf actors on the roster. But not one of them gets to sign *anything* as far as I could tell. (One plays a character who hasn't learned to sign, I think at least two were playing hearing people (I do support Deaf actors taking hearing roles, but not if you're gonna take that as an excuse to do the reverse.... which this movie did.....), and some must have had barely any screentime). Two hearing actors get to sign (also the signing doesn't start til like the last 20 min of the movie), and two other hearing actors briefly fingerspell. 👎

Intentionally Didn't Watch (the summary was that bad)

These included Deaf people despite not really wanting them to exist!!!! (think along the lines of forcing ppl to get cochlear implants)

Scrubs S6E16, "My Words of Wisdom" https://scrubs.fandom.com/wiki/My_Words_of_Wisdom someone described this episode to me in a bit more detail than the summary here, and yeah. not good

House S5E22, "House Divided" https://house.fandom.com/wiki/House_Divided legit infuriating

[atmosphericradar]

I recently finished the first volume X Gender by Asuka Miyazaki. The Goodreads reviews for this first manga volume talk about how messy it is from a representation perspective, and how it's probably not a great introduction to gender and sexuality (especially anyone who might need a supportive voice in this regard: e.g. newly-minted trans and non-binary people, or anyone currently exploring their sexuality more than owning it).

My girlfriend found it for me when we were both browsing at a book store. I hadn't heard of the manga before yesterday, though I get the impression after reading Goodreads that there is someone recommending this manga to a general "weird in the gender" audience. I don't think this would have been a healthy read for me back in 2021 when it was first published, but I am not certain of that.

As someone who entered queerness at the end of their 20's, and still has a long way to go in terms of living my truth (publicly and privately), I found X Gender a refreshingly honest perspective. Many people early in their journey out the closet will consume tons of media (social or otherwise) featuring physically attractive, fashionable queer people. It's aspirational, and it often breeds jealousy and self-hatred.

In online spaces like Tumblr, so-called "baby queers" are told that this kind of "beautiful people" media creates unrealistic expectations (true!), but then turn around and produce tons of media featuring emotionally exceptional, unproblematic queer people. The aspiration never goes away, it just becomes a degree in gender studies and intersectional feminism. Physically idealized or mentally idealized, both media landscapes uphold lofty expectations.

X Gender attempts to honestly depict an imperfect human being's life experiences. The main character isn't a beautiful, charismatic androgyne who charms people with their quirks. They aren't a saintly therapist who lives above the gendered anxieties of their culture. They're a nerd in their 30's living with their mom, who is still unpacking their trauma and gender and sexuality. They have uncommon, perhaps unkind views on relationships and families. They burnt social bridges, and have few close friends. They're bitter and anxious and self-centered. They have a fraught relationship with sex and with their own body.

This is not the story of someone who has their life in order (if it was, it would probably center the character of the General). But a lot of queer people online don't have their lives in order either! We live in a messy world, where coming out as LGBTQ commonly makes someone's life very disorderly! The pressure to be presentable, to be desirable by whatever metrics, is intense. I constantly worry that I'm not "being queer correctly", like I need to earn the privilege of being nonbinary. Reading a story about a realistically flawed person - that never once questions their own non-cis gender despite their society and their personal issues - is validating in ways I've as-of-yet rarely experienced.

Ultimately, I agree that this manga isn't for queer kids fresh out of cis-het society. It's probably not for a lot of people! There are almost certainly better English-language texts out there explaining the Japanese queer scene. But this manga does say "anyone can be queer, even someone you might find objectionable" without wavering. And that was important for me to hear.