#and they're both based on the real lives of those two men

[murdermostace]

[yuri-alexseygaybitch]

it sucks ass when they censor/rewrite real people though.

Assuming this is about LGBTQ historical figures:

Imagine that, for whatever reason, 500 years from now humans generally categorize people's pattern of sexual/romantic attraction based on the hair length of the people they're attracted to. There's essentially two types of humans: people attracted to people with short hair, and people attracted to people with long hair. Exceptionally enlightened individuals may recognize someone might be attracted to both, or that maybe they don't define their sexuality by the hair length of their partner(s) at all, but they're few and far between. A person from then might look back on someone from now - say some famous man's pictures of him with his various partners over the years - and be utterly baffled by what they see, because here he is with men with short hair, and men with long hair, and men with no hair at all, so what the hell is going on here? Of course we might just say "there's nothing to be confused about, this man is gay and these are just pictures of him with his different boyfriends over the years", and the future person would say "what the fuck does 'gay' mean? Here in 2523 we categorize people by the hair length of who they want to fuck and nothing else."

The point of this exercise is not to deny that people in different societies separated by vasts gulfs of time and space from our own ever experienced same-sex attraction or had same-sex partners or whatever, but that looking back on those people through the lense of our culturally and temporally specific method of understanding sexuality and gender is an inevitably difficult, bewildering, and oftentimes futile endeavor. If we look back on two historical dudes (or less often ladies) and observe they were really, really close with each other and it was remarked in their time they shared a bedchamber, and we say either "they were just really good friends don't worry about it" or "they were 100% gay yaoi husbandos in love forever and ever", in both cases we're projecting a modern understanding of love, sex and relationships that are likely missing the nuances of how they and their contemporaries actually saw their relationship in the context of the time and place where they lived. Good historians, whether amateur or professional, will endeavor to uncover that nuance and context, and bad ones will attempt to erase it one way or another.

[quitealotofsodapop]

JTTW-era Stone Egg part 2:

referencing this previous post about the Pilgrims reacting to the knowledge that au!Wukong is having a baby and has a missing mate.

Ao Lie is a real bro; he figured out Wukong was a having a kid based on his dragon/horse nose, and decides to support him 100% no matter his choice at the end of the day. The fact that he suspects its an asexually-produced Stone Egg that could kill his new buddy is something Ao Lie is keeping quiet about until Wukong himself is comfortable sharing it.

Ao Lie, after Bajie accuses him of having a crush on Wukong: "Ew no! He most certainly has a mate awaiting his return - I wouldn't dare dishonor a married demon!" Wukong, brightly playing along: "Yeah, piglet! Plus, no one will ever measure up to my Mihou!" Ao Lie, confused whinny: "Excuse me, what?" Wukong, tail curling into a heart: "The strongest, most clever monkey on Flower Fruit Mountain - my equal in all including on the battlefield. <3"

The rest of the gang are pleasantly surprised... and outraged to learn that their pregnant companion has a mate that up and left him while he was pregnant. Whomever this "Macaque" figure is, the Pilgrims gonna have a stern talk with him when they find him.

Except maybe the two former-celestials;

Bajie is just like: "Wait, did you just say this Macaque guy was your equal in battle!?" Wukong, wistful sigh: "Yeah..." Zhu Bajie & Sha Wujing: *share equally terrified looks*

Maybe they'll need to devise an attack strategy before confronting this guy head on. Ao Lie loudly states that he's gonna kick the guy if he sees him first.

Tripitaka meanwhile has to mentally wrap his head around the idea of two men marrying before he can process that *Sun Wukong* is married. The Confuscist / Buddhist attitudes at the time said "Girls have Karma Cooties"; so it was considered normal for men to "prefer other men's company" but it was still super-illegal. Being raised in a sheltered, likely all-male, monastery also adds in extra confusion for the monk. Not to mention his own asexuality.

Tripitaka: "Is it... acceptable for a man to love another man like one would a woman?" Zhu Bajie: "Only if they're into it." Tripitaka: "Wha...?"

Eventually he ends up asking the boddhisattvas and different gods for their opinions;

Tripitaka: "Is it normal amongst those in the Celestial Realm for men to... have thoughts of romance for other men?" Erlang: "Oh diyu, yeah! It's totally normal! We even have Tu'er Shen - he's the rabbit god of homosexual love!" Tripitaka, pleasantly surprised: "Oh! That's interesting - but is it accepted?" Erlang & the Plum Hill Lads: *share a footballer's huddle, whispering intensely* Erlang: "Ehhh... just don't bring it up around my uncle. He's kinda weird about it." Triptiaka, a little heartbroken: "Oh..."

Best advice comes from Guanyin herself ofc;

Guanyin: "I'm am composed of multiple energies, Tang Monk. Although I do not experience romantic feelings like say, Chang'e and Hou Yi, I know for a fact that the buddha does not judge those for whom they love - even if their fellow man do so." Tripitaka: *delighted smile!* Tripitaka, remembering why he asked: *fatherly instincts activate* "I'm going to kill that Liu'er Mihou for breaking my student's heart!"

In the Jttw Stone Egged au where Macaque lives, Tripitaka is the only one to get a solid punch in before Wukong calls the gang off.

Angst and canonical death tw under Read More;

Zhu Bajie ultimately starts out as a huge a-hole, and the Journey makes him a little less of a jerk. One huge change Wukong noticed in his bro's behavior was around the time... he lost Macaque.

Especially in the Slow Boiled au.

Bajie would walk up to Wukong like he did many time when he tried stealing his snacks or to poke fun at him... only to sit down next to the monkey watches the moon together. Both longing.

Zhu Bajie: "You know... I wasn't lying when I said I was cursed to suffer many heartbreaks... I know what it looks like from a mile away." Wukong: *says nothing, hiding face in his arms and knees* Zhu Bajie: "You really loved that guy, huh?" Wukong: *nods, face still hidden* Zhu Bajie, confidently: "...you'll see him again. Maybe not in this lifetime, but you will." Wukong, uncharacteristically quiet: "Thanks..." Zhu Bajie: "No problem."

The pig is noticeably easier on Wukong after that day. And maybe a little more appriciative of the time he had with Culian... he's experienced enough bad love-lifes to figure out how to make things work. Maybe after the Journey is over, he'll give her a call?

He does really hope his Eldest Brother and his mate reunite in the future... even if it means in the Diyu.

[web-spinning]

merc reactions to getting a new recruit but finding out they’re only in their mid-teens ? gender neutral please-

A / N - Ay, it's here. Somehow I managed to finish this faster than I expected. Hope you like it, dear anon!

Also, half of the photos are kind of meme-y, but you know what? It works...Please tell me if it works, I am losing my mind trying to find a good quality comic cut out, but only find those.

Mercs with a recruit in their mid-teens

TW. Ask to tag.

Scout

- he's not much excited, in fact he's a bit scared you might take his place, 

- but after he finds out you're younger than him...he's so happy! 

- he will teach you so many things, 

- how to play basketball, how to get along with the older men, even how to deal with your first crush, 

- since he is barely a few years older than you, he feels like as an young adult it's his priority to make sure you know all this stuff, 

- he's got seven older brothers, all the lessons are probably from them, 

- he really feels like you're just his younger sibling, 

Soldier 

- Jane thinks it's his duty to make sure you know the rules of war, 

- he will show you how to use weapons, maybe even let you touch his own weapons, 

- " But only for a few seconds, I don't want your young, inexperienced civil hands to spoil them! ", 

- he will sit you down in the meeting room of the base, and tell you stories, 

- half of those stories aren't real, but you don't want to make him sad, so you just listen, 

- on the battlefield, he will follow you around to make sure you don't hurt yourself...or use your weapons incorrectly, 

- also..." You do know basic history of your beloved country, don't you, hippie? ", 

Pyro

- this Phoenix adores you, 

- will invite you to tea parties, 

- you will also get a plushie or two from their collection, 

- you're the only person other than Engineer who takes them seriously, that's why they like you so much, 

- their childish personality helps you cope with the fact you've been sorted out as a mercenary at such a young age, 

- always there when you're feeling down, 

Demoman 

- in all honesty, he has mixed feelings about you, 

- he can't invite you to the drinking nights with the other guys, you're just always left behind, 

- in recompense, he tries to teach you how to use the sword in the meantime, 

- you might never use that skill in the battlefield, but at least you have a thing that takes your mind off of the gravel wars, 

- when you're down, you both watch soap operas together, because he's the only one in the whole team who likes them, 

Heavy 

- Misha just avoids you, 

- at first, you think he's just a big, tough guy who dislikes teenagers to look more " deranged ", 

- but finally, one of the men, possibly Medic, explains to you why he dislikes being around you so much, 

- you remind him of his younger self and his sisters. The way he had to fight to protect them, the awful place they lived in for a while...everything comes back to him when he sees young face, 

- you try approaching him about it, but he still remains silent, 

- deep inside, on every mission he keeps a close eye on you, making sure you're safe, 

Engineer 

- Dell is now your step-dad, that's how it works, 

- he needs a few energetic bones to help him with his projects, so you will often stand around and hand him tools when he asks for them, 

- while he's working, he will tell you different stories about the other mercenaries, 

- you ask him to adjust your weapon's, because they're a bit too big for you to handle freely, 

- on warm days, he will take you out for a short walk to make sure you won't go insane, 

- he assures you that you can tell him about anything, and he will help, 

- he does in fact help, especially when it goes with your emotions, 

- he's always there to cheer you up when you're sad, or share a smile with you when you're happy, 

Medic 

- he's so happy with you! I mean, such a fresh canvas to test on, 

- every week he asks you to replace your heart with an Uber-handling one, and every week you refuse, 

- but when he's not in his mad scientist mood, he's always ready to help you with some of the downsides of growing up, 

- he's also very helpful when you're feeling insecure about your body ( all teenagers do that, right? Not only me, right? ), 

- " Oh, don't vorry, zhis vill go away. Zhe average of healthy patients your age look zhe same as you ", 

Sniper

- you never knew his first reaction, because he's rather quiet about it, 

- but after a bit, you learn that he's actually very trustworthy, and big hearted, 

- when you're down or one of the other mercenaries, you go to his camper, 

- you both play board games there, 

- he will most likely take you out fishing or camping during long weekends, 

- you like listening to him talk about his adventures from the bush, but he will leave out the gorey details out, 

- at some point, he just feels like an older, wiser, quiet brother to you, 

Spy

- he's mad. Not at you, at the Administrator for even thinking about hiring you at this age,

- he doesn't see the reason why there must be a new mercenary, so he mostly avoids you,

- until during one of the missions, you save him for getting headshoot point blank,

- he does acknowledge you a bit more after that,

- you're not allowed in his room though, it smells too much like cigarettes in there,

- maybe he seems cold on the outside, but when he sees you struggling with your work, he will always help,

- helping you however makes him remember he couldn’t see this stage of his son’s life…that makes him feel miserable. 

[drbased]

i’m kind of a baby radfem and im learning about being gender critical and i definitely agree with most of it, the only part that i have thoughts about is the nonbinary identity. i believe that a gender non conforming woman and a nonbinary woman can mean the same thing. in that, i believe that you can be a nonbinary *insert sex here* and it basically just means you’re gender nonconforming. and then it’s like well why do we need two different terms to mean the same thing and we definitely don’t, but i think it’s dangerous to conflate being nonbinary with being agender bc it’s not the same thing and it just makes gender rhetoric even more stupid & ridiculous lol. i’ve seen plenty of people identify as nonbinary and still identify with their sex-based gender. i also believe you can be female and see yourself as a woman and still use they/them or even he/him pronouns. what do u think??

(Bear with me on this, this is a long response but I hope you find it illuminating)

People regularly accuse radfems of being nazis/right wingers and I take those accusations incredibly seriously, and as I result I regularly take time to doubt my position. But the thing I keep coming back to is that:

There is no proof, and perhaps there cannot be proof, that gender exists: it is fundamentally metaphysical, spiritual, soul-like, a product of mind-body dualism, the belief that there is some nebulous internal sense of self that happens to share some labels with sex classification but also happens to completely subsume it in modern leftist discourse, despite that

Regardless of whether or not 'gender' is real, it does not form the basis of the male class oppression of women as a class, and the moment you engage with any feminist theory this fact becomes impossible to ignore. There is no true biological backing behind race and yet we are (in theory, anyway) comfortable with being able to identify and codify the oppressor and oppresses classes in that scenario; however, arguments from the mainstream left will vaguely gesture towards sex being 'fluid' as justification for the dissolution of classic feminist arguments. It's important to be suspicious of why this is and who might benefit from it;

To build on point one, due to the fact that gender has no material basis in the real world, the only 'signifiers' for it are ones that already exist as cultural schemas - and these are, naturally, taken from existing sex roles designed to uphold misogyny and, more broadly, patriachy itself. 'Gender fluid' people are at this point infamous for their tik toks of when they're male or female, and the way they demonstrate this is through short hair and comfortable clothes vs long hair and feminine styling.

Occam's razor + feminist analysis will inevitably point towards women 'identifying' with nonbinary, agender etc. simply being women who are uncomfortable with the misogynistic connotations of femaleness, and who naturally wish to disassociate from them. When you see things under that lens, you can immediately notice patterns of behaviour and language that signal the belief system they hold. To 'identify' as anything is fundamentally meaningless, and signals nothing to both yourself and others except perhaps language. As a person recovering from depression, I have been detaching myself from all rigid concepts of classifying myself and instead focussing much more on being who I am in the moment. It it much healthier to be this way (and a lot less stressful, too)

When we call ourselves 'women', this is nothing more a neutral description of our biology. And due to our status as an oppressed class, especially one based on our biology, it is of paramount importance that we retain language that succinctly names us as such. Dworkin states in Pornography that one of the powers that men have is the power of naming. We still live under patriarchy, and the language we use cannot be separated from male ideas and male thought. Men had, and have, no problem naming us as the oppressor class when it benefits them (especially in the case of prostitution and pornography), but as it has become less, let's say' popular to be seen as a man in recent years, we have seen an explosion of transgender rhetoric enter the popular consciousness. Without the ability to recognise ourselves as women, we lose statistics, we lose safe spaces away from the oppressor class, and we lose class consciousness.

As for using 'they/them' and 'he/they' pronouns - well, I'm a straight woman, but I'm aware that there is a certain lesbian tradition of using masculine pronouns. But that's in a very different context to what's being described here. I've already addressed language but let's put a laser-sighted focus on pronouns for a second:

As a culture, we default to 'he' pronouns for a reason. For a long time, we were 'mankind' and everything akin to humanity is given masculine pronouns. Cute little critters are assumed to be male, probably all your soft toys are male, the most basic of doodles are assumed to be male and only allowed to be female once they are given a dress. It should be no surprise that women who want to escape the shackles of femininity want to be called he/him - they want access to the percieved full humanity of men. Meanwhile, the only times we attribute she/her to things other than people are to things like cars, ships, and natural disasters (with the exception of mother nature, of course) - tools of warfare, accessories of masculinity, and symbols of 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'.

There is a study somewhere that shows that when you use 'they/them' as a neutral pronoun, people assume male - especially if you're referencing a prestige profession. If I were to say, I went to the doctor yesterday, they were great - you would automatically assume a male doctor. This is no accident - as already stated, maleness is the default. Women who want to use they/them are dissociating themselves from femaleness but in doing so they are accidentally using language that signifies maleness. This is why feminist analysis is so important, and why 'identifying' as something holds little water in the real world. In an ideal world, perhaps they/them could be genuinely seen as neutral - but we don't live in an ideal world; we live in a world where women are oppressed.

So to answer part of your question, no, I do not believe that 'nonbinary' and 'gender non-conforming' are the same thing; nonbinary is an attempt at classifying someone according to some nebulous, unprovable sense of internal identity that has no real material impact - and any attempt to 'express' this gender are simply taking existing sex roles and mashing them together. Gender nonconforming has a different meaning in radfem circles as it does in transgender ones - TRAs take it to mean that someone is indentifying with a different gender than they were 'assigned' at birth, but radfems simply use it to describe the physical act of being a woman (or man) who doesn't conform to expected sex roles. I am 'gnc' but that's just a neutral descriptor of my dress-sense - and it's a loose descriptor because in many ways I'm definitely not gnc in my behaviour, although I am working on my self-confidence, especially in contexts such as physical fitness and DIY. Gnc is useful shorthand for 'not conforming to sex roles in some major capacity enough to be noticeable by others' - and the only reason it's important, especially for women, is because femininity (our expected behaviour) is designed by the patriarchy to dissociate us from our bodies and keep us decorative, fragile, weak and sexually vulnerable to men.

[xxlovelynovaxx]

Piggybacking off an ask sent to a mutual after they asked for no more asks on the subject, not directly reblogging to try and avoid more of this discourse being directed their way (if said moot wants to identify themself though, feel free to ^^)

Here's the thing: partnering ≠ loving.

When people yell at me in public for holding my partner's hand, it's not for loving her when I don't experience love.

The whole point is that whether or not you love, homophobia affects you. In fact, my homophobic christian classmates in middle school thought that people LOVING other people of the same gender was fine, but ACTING on it was not. This is a widespread attitude among religious homophobes in my state.

What homophobes zero in on is the actions taken by gay people. Being a gay couple, two men holding hands and kissing, two women living and raising a family together.

Biphobia (and other mspec-focused bigotries) is a bit more complicated, because bi people in "straight-passing" relationships still face biphobia - in part, the erasure of their bi identity based on whether they're perceived to be in a "straight" or "gay" relationship. That being said, a bisexual loveless (partnering) aro still would face the same biphobia. I don't have as clear an example of the "actions" focused on here - if anything, I'd say it's more "potential actions" - especially given how many people conflate bi identity and polyamorous identity.

"Liberation wins" doesn't shove out those who face queerphobia not for who they love, but for not loving. It also doesn't force out those who are queer for who they are, not for who they love, but it especially doesn't act like homophobia is based on an internal feeling that no one else can tell if you're feeling and that people who don't feel that don't face that discrimination. "Love wins" leaves them behind for the sake of those society is already more willing to accept because they love.

Additionally, many of us have previously been romance and love favorable, as well as sex favorable. The mild and rare judgment we've faced from the aro community for that is not at all comparable to the shit we've faced from allo society for being aro - arophobia from society has in fact been comparable to homophobia from society, especially given that unlike other allos/cishets, nonqueer society has the power to violently enforce amatonormativity and heteronormativity both.

(I've also found that the supposed aces and aros who don't even wanna see gay people kissing/don't want kink at pride are largely strawmen, and the vast majority of both communities are some of the loudest advocating for kink at pride and allowing public displays of affection. I'm not saying they don't exist, but they are VASTLY in the minority - and there's no denying that at least some of them are sockpuppet accounts by aphobes and te/rfs. On the other hand, plenty of gay, lesbian, bi, pan, and other nonhet people have fiercely advocated against kink at pride and even adopted the conservative attitude that people should "keep it to themselves" - overall in those communities, at least as many as the aros and aces doing the same. So if you're only focusing on the aspec people doing it, that's aphobia.)

I'm honestly more neutral on the idea of "love negativity" existing. I do think it's drowned out by the extremely loud toxic love positivity all the time, everywhere, but underneath that all small amounts of it could exist, without any real power behind them.

Anyway tl;dr when partnering loveless people in non-straight relationships face the exact same discrimination as partnering loving people in equivalent relationships, no, it's not that inner feeling of love that is being discriminated against, but rather the actions or potential actions of engaging with someone else in any way that threatens heteronormativity and nonqueer hegemony.

[variousqueerthings]

Thoughts on Jonny Lee Miller please?

sdfghjhgfdsadfgh FRIEND YOU JUST MADE ME VERY HAPPY

(we need to send asks more!!!!!! in this interwebs tumblr cultúre)

JLM THOTS (JLM thot)

okay so I cannot remember when I started watching Elementary, but that was my first conscious JLM (I had watched Trainspotting, but I was but a babby at the time -- I have seen it... some times since then), and listen. we through around the word ND on this here site, but I think Mr. JLM as Sherlock Holmes is one of the original tumblr ND regents, and still absolutely Peak! this man knew what he was doing!

and then I went on a little JLM tour, and I am here to give you the top movies I saw with him at the time (after which I will do the list of movies I want to watch now): Hackers, Trainspotting + T2, Plunkett and Mcleane (seriously, this movie is underrated!), The Flying Scotsman, Mansfield Park, Regeneration -- also most underrated Mr Knightley in Emma + in a fun, odd little show called Eli Stone (I also watched Mindhunters, Byzantium -- which is some great Gemma Arterton -- The Escapist, Aeon Flux, and Dark Shadows, and I'm not necessarily saying don't watch these... well, maybe don't watch Dark Shadows... but they weren't my favourite. although Byzantium is fascinating. misogynist vampires)

Movies I have yet to see that I want to watch: Dead Man's Walk, Complicity, Love Honour and Obey, and Dracula 2000

MOVIES TO SHORTLY GIVE AN EXTRA SHOUTOUT TO

I'm not going to talk about Hackers (famously dreaming about wearing a latex bodysuit and getting railed by his future irl wife Angeline Jolie) or Trainspotting, but T2 -- is it good? yeah, it's not bad actually. did it need to exist? no, no it didn't. did it enjoy textually pointing out that Renton and Sick Boy have some kinda Sexual Tension? yeah, yeah, yeah! actually kind of feels like the main reason it exists is to go "hmmm do you think Renton and Sick Boy are a bit... youknow?"

also shoutout to Robert Carlyle who's in the Trainspotting films and also co-starred with JLM in their very own homoerotic duo film, which includes Liv Tyler "Plunkett and Macleane" loosely based on the history of two real highway men, and it's. just such a great movie. it's one of my "please it's so fun and so silly and such a product of the 90s! Craig Armstrong did the music!" it's kind of got some polyamory going on?

The Flying Scotsman is about a real amateur cyclist, and it's a pretty by-the-numbers inspirational tale, but I quite like those when they're about real underdogs and Graeme Obree certainly was that. From memory (it's been a few years now) I believe I watched this film and went "ah so that's where some of the early development of Sherlock Holmes mannerisms stems from," so it's also just fun as a study of JLM the actor

Regeneration -- gotta mention this one, because of it being about Siegfried Sassoon. he doesn't play Sassoon, but he's very good in it and generally it's a fascinating piece based on a book that I for some reason have only read the sequels of, and I'd recommend anything about Sassoon, I'm easy like that

I also didn't mention Frankenstein up above, but I watched both versions of it back whenever it was being shown with National Theatre Live and he was fucking stunning in both roles. as Frankenstein he's a little different to how I often picture him (read: JLM is not giving pathetic twink, although he is giving twitchy weirdo), but JLM is so physical throughout, so pitch-perfect in how he's interpreting the role. and as Adam/the creature it's like every bit of tension he's ever been able to control is just unleashed, it's sooooo (argh gotta see if I can find a torrent of that so I can rewatch him)

Now the thing about JLM is that he's often cast as kinda the straight man in a lot of his stuff, but he's... so not.... that man is silly! and you can tell! his physicality is a bouncy little weirdo, and for a good long while his body was that of a bouncy little weirdo -- and then he got fuckn Big 🥵😂 (you can take the man out of the bouncy little weirdo, but you can't take the bouncy little weirdo out of the man...... smthin like that. the more i look at this sentence the more I feel like this is an innuendo, oh well. now it's intentional)

the thing I really like about him is that he seems totally un-self-conscious while playing characters who are often under great scrutiny, either for being considered criminal and/or for being visibly non-neurotypical and/or otherwise non-normative. he's a hacker, he's an addict, he's a creature that was created from the bodies of other men, he's a bipolar cyclist, he's giving us Thee Sherlock Holmes of modern times, stimming, kinky, caring, blunt, overstimulated, relapsing, deeply unconventionally in a relationship with Watson that doesn't attempt to fit them into any mainstream language at any point!

also he has the best grimace of ever. he's so good at looking simply. perturbed. uncomfortable. get me out of this party. when he's 70 or 80 he's going to be the best old man face 🥺🥺🥺

also if I am very very lucky and very very nice to my mum, she'll take me to watch him in his current play in London, wish me luck!

TL;DR underrated character actor JLM, broader than you think he is, the hero of portrayals of weirdos and freaks and outcasts, I think it's wild that he's danced around playing queers this entire time, make him kiss a man stat!

(there's a whole other, very specific analysis of his gender in Hackers and how that relates to a wider feeling about his particular take on masculinity in a lot of my favourite portrayals of his, and also there was a youtube video that i just spent 15mins trying to find on Hackers from a transgender perspective that's mostly correctly-so about Cereal Killer/Matthew Lillard, but touches on the gender-fuckery of JLM and Angelina Jolie)

(okay I wasn't gonna talk about Hackers, but we cannot forget this scene, we simply cannot!)

[themimicbird]

Currently Free Films & Series on YouTube

Version From: March 31, 2024

💋 Disclaimer: I will attempt to update this list as needed. To ensure you're viewing the most up to date list, click the link in my pin post. The following are not listed in any order. Films & Series are added based on YouTube monetary status, genre, content, wardrobe, or having a storyline within the industries/themes related to my blog. Feel free to suggest things to add!

Ballet Shoes (2007)

Adopted by an eccentric explorer, three orphans struggle to fulfill their ambitious dreams of being an actor, pilot, and ballet dancer. Being poor themselves they accept the offer of an free dance education and stage roles. The three sisters attempt to chance their dreams and make enough money to make ends meet.

Penelope (2008)

Born with the snout of a pig, young Penelope Wilhern spends life as a virtual prisoner in her home. Believing that the only way to break the curse is to marry one of her own kind, that of a high status, she meets a number of suitors but all reject her. Two devious men, one with a grudge against the family, hire a man to pose as a suitor, but complications arise when he begins to fall in love with Penelope, and she makes a bid for freedom.

Sparkle (2012)

In the tradition of "dreamgirls" comes this Cinderella based story. Three sisters from Harlem form a singing group and try to make it big which leads them to take a path of romance, tragedy, and finally triumph.

27 Dresses (2008)

Perennial bridesmaid Jane always puts the needs of others before her own, making her the go-to gal whenever someone needs help with wedding plans. So when Jane's younger sister Tess snags the man Jane secretly loves, Jane finds herself questioning her role as a wedding junkie for the first time in her life. Meanwhile, a handsome reporter sees Jane's unusual story as his ticket off the bridal beat.

Boys on the Side (1995)

After breaking up with her girlfriend, a nightclub singer, Jane, answers a personal ad from Robin, a real estate agent with AIDS, seeking a cross-country travel partner. On their journey from New York City to Los Angeles, the two stop by Pittsburgh to pick up Robin's friend Holly, who is trying to escape an abusive relationship. With three distinct personalities, the women must overcome their differences to help one another.

The Magic of Ordinary Days (1995)

Set during World War II, the poignant love story is about an unwed pregnant woman who is sent to a small Colorado town to marry a lonely farmer who agrees to raise her child as his own. Livy Dunne dreams of a career as an archaeologist until she becomes pregnant by a dashing soldier who leaves her behind.

H20 Just Add Water (2009) | 3 Seasons

Teenagers always feel different, but these three Australian girls really are different; they're mermaids! Trying to keep their special powers a secret is hard for Emma, Rikki and Cleo. When they're not in school they're using their magical powers to save sea turtles and rescue those in need. Local bully Zane and popular snob Miriam don't make it easy on the girls to keep their adventures hidden.

That Girl (1969) | 3 Seasons

From the small town of Brewster in upstate New York, Ann Marie has just moved to New York City on her own to pursue an acting career, much to the chagrin of her overprotective parents, Lew and Helen Marie, who see both Ann's chosen career and New York City as no place a young woman should navigate on her own. As Ann goes on one audition after another, she has to decide if any acting role is worth it in the long term of the serious actress she sees herself as being. In living her New York City life, Ann meets Donald Hollinger, a magazine writer, the two who fall for each other. Don is another aspect of New York that Lew in particular doesn't like, as although he knows deep down that Don is a good guy, no man is good enough in Lew's eyes for his daughter.

A Perfect 14 (2020)

Exploring the fascinating world of plus-size modelling and the women involved who are fighting to reshape fashion and the standards of society.

[friends-to-lovers-tournament]

Friends to Lovers Tournament: Round 1, Side A, Match 7

propaganda under the cut!

Sasuke/Mai:

THE MOST FRIENDS TO LOVERS EVER. Mai is the MC of Ikesen which is a dating sim/otome game. Originally from the 21st century, she's accidentally time travelled to the Sengoku Era where she unknowingly rescues Oda Nobunaga from his historical death thus changing the course of history forever. She reunites with a fellow 21st century dweller Sasuke whom she'd briefly met right before the accidental time travel, who is now a ninja. Though they're on opposing sides, they're friends in all the routes as Sasuke promises to protect her and bring her back to the 21st century safely. Regardless of which route you're playing, Sasuke will always be your friend and he's the same smart yet silly goofy guy, making references to 21st century events and slang and memes which have the other warlords scratching their heads in confusion. Sasuke's route is the ultimate friends-to-lovers + slow burn + mutual pining combination, as they both gradually develop feelings for each other, yet it's also kinda frustrating (in a good way) bc Sasuke is SO clueless to her feelings and his own for a good majority of the route while Mai was down horrendous for him. The pay-off in the end is really sweet (i legit cried when sasuke finally confessed to mai lol) and spicy (ikesen is uhh a bit of a mature game), which makes the achingly slow burn really worth it. Also Sasuke's just a really nice fucking guy, like real boyfriend material, no red flags, the perfect golden retriever boyfriend frfr

Fuyupoly:

Submission 1:

they're from the winter troupe of the mankai company, and unlike the other troupes they're all adults. that said, they all have varying degrees of trauma and emotional stuntedness. it takes them some time to fully open up to each other bc they're all very cautious of each other's boundaries and don't want to cross any lines which initially led to some issues in the group's formation. over time they've learned to bridge the gap while still being mindful of hard boundaries. at one point they have a discussion about what exactly their relationship is (gay) cuz they were talking about how the other troupes have clearly defined dynamics (spring=family, summer=besties, autumn=rivals & teammates) but they don't,, and homare deadass says they're "people bound by a common destiny" which in and of itself sounds very Gay (like why are you as a man bound to other men by a common destiny), but it goes even further because homare starts spouting WEDDING VOWS: "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!" THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE GAME AND THE MC EVEN REMARKS "i can already hear wedding bells in the distance..." 

gradually they become closer, in individual sub-units based on who's paired up as co-leads for a play, and as a troupe overall. also two of its members are childhood friends who had a messy 'divorce' in their young adulthood and it took the game breaking its genre to introduce a timeloop for them to finally make up if that means anything to you. one of their troupe songs "precious to us ~bokura no kisetsu" has some pretty beautiful and fruity lines: "The many kindnesses born in me here / Never fail to breathe life into my chest / Even all the pain and bitterness / Have now become dear to me (Ah…Stay with me)", "No matter how many times our season passes / Let us keep living together / Holding our hands, without ever letting go / Let us open up the curtain of tomorrow", "There is no need for words, because once our gazes meet / Joy sparks a light in your eyes", "Our journey, may it be a brilliant one / As our breaths overlap as one"

a lot of their plays has a LOT of homoerotic tension between the two leads too. their first play has tsumugi and tasuku play angels, and it's heavily implied that tasuku's character has an unrequited crush on tsumugi's character. their third play has azuma play a vampire and tasuku play Just Some Guy and it's generally agreed in the fandom to be one of the gayest, if not THE gayest, play A3 has ever written. obviously the vampire thing is very fruity, but there's also how the vampire was longing to bite the human but was holding himself back, and when the vampire left the human in the end, the human was absolutely HEARTBROKEN over it and was swearing they would reunite one day. the stage play of this takes it even further by having the vampire embrace the human from behind and BITE his neck. the fourth play is a watered-down adaptation of Phantom of the Opera where they genderbend Christine into Chris among other things and change the relationship between Chris and the Phantom to one of friendship.... ostensibly so, because there's still a lot of homoerotic undertones in their interactions. i could go on but this should be enough of a sampling taste 

Submission 2:

the writers rlly said "let's take 2 normal guys who are childhood friends and have been into theatre since their school days and have them go through a pre-canon messy divorce, an eccentric poet with a potentially controversial haircut, an amnesiac sleepyhead who can only be awoken with marshmallows but is also somehow extremely athletic despite doing nothing but sleeping and eating marshmallows all day, a man who is so beautiful and mysterious he breaks gender, and a supposed android from a fictional south asian country, and throw them into a blender, oh and for good measure let's throw in some theatre and angst and gay and angst and gay" and the end result was marriage. i mean it took them a lot of awkward fumbling around and conflicts to get there but they got there and thats what matters. ok *technically* in-text they're all rlly good friends and kinda found family BUT they are found family via marriage papers i do not make the rules chief

Submission 3:

The reason why they are so friends-to-lovers to me is because their relationship is founded on quiet and unconditional acceptance of each other—regardless of how flawed they may be or how heavy their burdens and trauma may be. When the troupe first formed (sans Guy who was in another country at the time), they didn’t have any major clashing personalities at the very beginning and generally they were mindful of each other’s boundaries, unlike the other troupes that came before them. However, it’s BECAUSE they were too mindful of said boundaries that it was difficult for them to break down their walls and bond as a team—and there were a LOT of walls to break down, as all of them had varying degrees of emotional baggage and trauma.

In fact, it’s only three plays in that they finally truly start opening up to each other, with Azuma getting the ball rolling by opening up about the deep loneliness that haunted him ever since his childhood. It’s during this conversation that they also discuss what their relationship as a troupe is, because the other troupes have defined their relationship as a team (Spring is family, Summer is best friends, Autumn is rivals & teammates), and Homare goes on to declare that they’re “people bound by a common destiny” and goes on to spew wedding vows: "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!" I mean… it can’t get any more obvious than this, really. They are married.

But anyway, Tsumugi says he wants their relationship to be one where while they respect each other’s need for space, they’ll also be there for each other and share their pains and burdens—or in his words: “supporting each other when our burdens become too heavy to bear on our own”—which I think is really sweet because it carries this idea of quiet, unconditional acceptance; they don’t push each other to share more than they’re comfortable with sharing, but with whatever they ARE comfortable with sharing everyone carries the load and pain because pain is easier to bear when you’re not bearing it alone <3 

A later part of the story focuses on Hisoka, a mysterious amnesiac, being terrified of regaining his memories and facing some “sin” from his past that has led to another character, Chikage, trying to take revenge on him. When he confesses this to the rest of the Winter troupe, Homare asks, “How heavy is this sin you bear?” and Azuma suggests, “Perhaps it’s just heavy enough for the five of us to carry together.” (at this point Guy hasn’t joined yet). The stage play adapts this scene into a song called Key to Memory. The key (pun unintended) part is 1:27 where there’s a back-and-forth between Hisoka and the other Winter troupe members (sans Tasuku because he wasn’t in that particular play)

Hisoka: “I’m scared…”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “It’s okay.”

Hisoka: “My unforgivable sin…”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “Let’s carry it together.”

Hisoka: “I might not be me anymore.”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “It’s all right. We understand and we accept you, so let’s go together.”

And it ends with Hisoka singing: “I was afraid to open the door of my locked memories. But if everyone is here, I believe I can do it.”  In both the game and stage play, Hisoka fully regains his memories and reconciles with Chikage (long story). He tells Fuyupoly he can’t go into detail about his past with Chikage because it’s dangerous but he’ll tell them when the time is right, and they accept this saying that no matter what his past is, they know and love him as their Hisoka which obviously is a very sweet thing for friends to say, but it’s also very Marriage-coded to me.

Later, Guy is introduced as an android from Zahra (a fictional South Asian country) and joins the Winter troupe as a temporary member—because he’s stuck in Japan for the foreseeable future—until they find a permanent member to replace him. The other Winter members have a conversation among themselves and agree that regardless of whether he’s really an android or a human they’ll accept Guy for who he is and help him improve his acting, which again harkens back to the idea of ‘unconditional acceptance’. Eventually it’s revealed that Guy is in fact a human who has forgotten his memories of the past and his emotions. He recovers his memories all at once which shocks his system and causes him to pass out. When he wakes up in his room, he finds the rest of the Winter Troupe asleep around the room—which I believe is symbolic of their whole theme of “quiet acceptance”: they don’t want to push Guy to share beyond what he’s comfortable with, but they’re always there to listen to him and share his load if that’s what he wants. He opens up about the memories he recovered, and they don’t treat him with pity like he’s a lost child, but still extend gentle empathy and understanding. They also emphasise that it genuinely doesn’t matter to them whether he’s human or android because he’s Guy first and foremost. It’s at this point that Guy truly lets himself become part of the Winter troupe/Fuyupoly and not just as a temporary stand-in member, because he’s found a place where he’s found himself again and people who will accept who this “himself” is, whether that be an android devoid of emotions or a human brimming with vivid beautiful emotions.

[Mod note: There’s a LOT more but we’re afraid of crashing the post. I (Deli) summarised it the best I can since I’m familiar with A3, but if you want to read the full thing you can check it out on this google doc)

[bengiyo]

La Pluie Ep 5 Stray Thoughts

Last week, we had an absolutely phenomenal episode in which two well-adjusted characters went on a date after a complicated evening. I loved it with my entire being, and I am excited to see who they become to each other now that they both know they're soulmates. We also met Phat's ex, who I also respect; she brings a valuable perspective to the reality of this world.

This is some sibling shit. Of course he duplicated a key and just expected to stay over.

I love Suar. He and Title play well together. Tai, who has had one (1) date with his soulmate is suddenly wise about love.

I love these brothers. We needed someone for Tai to be honest with, and it's clear these two have always been close.

Of course Patts is waiting for him.

I am obsessed with their building dynamic. Giving Patts his number, asking him to just be real with him, and then assuring him he'll make up for the years of silence? Negotiating levels of comfort in speech. I'm in love with them.

I don't think Tai's memory of that day is necessarily accurate. He is missing context. His parents are clearly devastated in both versions of this we've seen.

I love Ampere so much. Bow is getting all her life.

I'm so fascinated by Lomfon and his role in this. I like that Tai is capable of vibing with someone else, though I don't know if he recognizes Lomfon's attraction.

Ah, I wonder if Lomfon has been interested in Tai for longer than we suspect, based on those comments about an acquaintance in the car.

I'm actually really excited about Lomfon being skeptical of the soulmate dynamic.

I am loving Tai being possessive of Patts! The pinkie touch still belongs to the gays!!!

Oh my. They're at his dad's restaurant.

Tai know he wrong for not telling Patts that he was taking him to meet his dad.

Okay, so Patts is 27. He's waited 7-8 years for Tai? My goodness.

Saengtai's dad is reading queer. This adds all new context we'll need to unpack later about sexuality and gay men fathering children with women they can't perhaps love the way their wives would want.

I want to know how they decided which brothers would live with which parent during the divorce.

Running through the rain? They'll start the next episode on death's doorstep.

Patts said something horny and was like YEAH I SAID IT.

Oh, nice. Now he's seen the goodies. We have things to anticipate for next week!

I'm hoping my read on the dad is correct, because there's something to be said about a gay man forcing himself into a marriage because of the societal expectations that be with his soulmate. Even if he's been a good father, he could never be the husband his wife needed. This show continues to give me so much to think about.

[loominggaia]

What about subcultures in Mogdir, Zareen’s biggest rival and contrasting equal in power?

Mogdir Kingdom is a large territory with many diverse cultures, so I imagine there are a lot of different subcultures within them. Here are a small handful I've come up with so far:

Green Peppers: Red elf luddites who oppose all things high-tech. Many of them have traveled from Zareen Empire or the Damijana Empire to get away from the busy urban lifestyles there. While there are many luddite cultures on Looming Gaia, green peppers are unique because they're specifically trying to get back to their ancient Boanningwad roots.

They study Boanningwad culture and lifestyle, and imitate these things as much as possible in their daily life. You can find green peppers in many places across the world, but the vast majority live in Mogdir Kingdom because of its proximity to the high-tech empires, plus its culture is conducive to their chosen lifestyle.

This group calls themselves "green peppers" because their species has changed from green to red just like the fruit, and they feel they must uproot their lifestyles to return to their green state.

Feathermouths: These are basically the "crazy horse girls" of Mogdir Kingdom, but instead of horses, their passion is in pegasi. Feathermouths can be anyone, but stereotypically they are upper-class fae women, usually elves or gnomes. When they're not riding or caring for their pegasi, they are talking about them non-stop to anyone who will listen. Those who can't afford pegasi of their own like to volunteer at local stables to spend time with them.

They are called "feathermouths" because pegasus wings are known to shed feathers during flight, and these feathers often end up in their jockey's mouth. Can you even call yourself a feathermouth if you haven't swallowed a feather or two?

Bouquets: Many Mogdiri people incorporate plants into their wardrobe, and they have done this since ancient times. But bouquets take this a step further. This is a fashion-based subculture that celebrates flowers in particular. Bouquets wear clothing made from real or fake flowers, in such elaborate designs that it can often look cartoonish.

Their goal is to look like a vase full of beautiful blooms, so they usually don some sort of corset and a skirt, while the upper half of their outfits are bursting with flower motifs, and they may wear flowers in their hair or ornate hats or headwraps. Sometimes their big flowery hats are so large, they struggle to fit through doorways. They are known to attract bees everywhere they go, but the bouquets have a reverence for these insects so they don't mind.

Bouquet subculture began in Mogdir Kingdom but has spread to other lands in modern times, most notably Seelie Court and Matuzu Kingdom. In foreign lands it is more popular with women, but in its homeland of Mogdir Kingdom this style is equally popular with men and women.

Scrungers and Mudleeches: Scrunge and mudcore are two popular "alternative" music genres that were born in Mogdir Kingdom. Scrunge came from Terrian districts in the western Arcadian Forest, while mudcore came from Aquarian districts in Waterwalk. These genres sound very similar to the untrained ear, but their fans insist they couldn't be more different. These fans are called scrungers and mudleeches respectively, and likewise, it can be hard for outsiders to tell them apart because they tend to wear similar fashions, both trying to look as shabby and unapproachable as possible.

Scrungers wear clothing made out of course materials like burlap, in dull, dark colors, and often smear their faces with dirt. They take pride in not washing their hair, so it tends to get stringy or matted. Mogdiri fauns are responsible for inventing this style and music, as a response to their oppression by the local fae. Mogdiri fae at the time pushed a colorful and "fresh" aesthetic inspired by spring blooms and perfectly manicured gardens. Many local fauns did not strive for this aesthetic, as they were satisfied with their more traditional districts in the wilderness. But the fae pushed this lifestyle onto them regardless, and the faun youth responded with scrunge, rebelling against manicured perfection and instead reveling in the uglier sides of nature, like dirt and decay. Likewise, scrunge music has an ugly, abrasive, and feral sound.

Mudcore has a similar history, born as a response from rebellious young sirenes who were sick of their own culture's obsession with vanity. Mudleeches make a point to cut their hair in choppy, asymmetrical styles and leave it uncombed. They wear a lot of mismatched clothes to strain the eyes and thorny accessories as to look unfriendly. Mudcore music sounds quite similar to scrunge, but with a notably "watery" twang to it. The lyrics of both genres emphasize anger towards authority and the status quo.

While scrunge began with fauns and mudcore began with sirenes, both subcultures have spread out to other species in Mogdir Kingdom, and today you can find a diverse range of fans. However, most fans do tend to grow out of it as they age, so it's rare to see adult scrungers or mudleeches. It's primarily a scene for teenagers and young adults.

Fauxseelie: Much like rusties, fauxseelie are obsessed with a foreign culture. But instead of Damijani culture, they are obsessed with Seelie culture. This isn't too surprising, as Mogdir Kingdom and the Seelie Court have been allied many times in the past, and there is a lot of travel and trade happening between these lands. All Mogdiri have been exposed to elements of Seelie culture in one way or another at this point.

But the fauxseelie develop an obsession with all things Seelie, viewing the Seelie Court as a mystical, exotic kingdom full of beauty, elegance, and adventure. There are actually two branches of the fauxseelie subculture: bright fauxseelie, who obsess over Seelie culture, and night fauxseelie, who obsess the Unseelie culture. However, it's also common for this group to have an equal fascination with both courts, and even the continent of Umory-Ond as a whole.

Fauxseelie consume a lot of media from this foreign land, eat its traditional cuisine, prefer to wear fashions that are popular there, and may even put on a fake Seelie accent. To outsiders, fauxseelie are considered just as cringy and weird as rusties, so most of them eventually grow out of this phase as adults. You may find clusters of adult fauxseelie, but they are...not popular, to say the least. They kind of hang out in their own little nerd groups.

That's all I have for now!

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

[queen-of-the-avengers]

CATFA: Part Seven

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.4k

Warnings: canon violence, language, and angst

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

They're using Steve as a face for their brand, and he's doing shows in front of soldiers and civilians to sell bullets. They're not even using the two best weapons they have, and you hate seeing Steve dress up and go on stage every weekend. Steve's been doing this for months, and you can't believe he hasn't stood up for himself. This act has taken you across Europe and into Italy.

"I don't know if I can do this," Steve sighs.

Soldiers are watching the girls perform songs right before Steve is supposed to go out there. You refuse to put on one of those tiny outfits and strut on stage. So, they stuck you backstage to watch.

What a fucking joke.

"They're fucking stupid if this is the best they can come up with," you groan.

"There is nothing to it," the Senator's assistant says. "When you sell a few bonds, those bonds buy bullets, and bullets kill Nazis. You're an American hero."

"It's just not how I pictured getting there."

"You and me both," you sigh.

"The senator's got a lot of pull up on the hill. If you play ball with us, you'll be leading your own platoon in no time. Take the shield," the assistant says as Steve puts on his head mask. 

"Seriously? This is the best they can do?" you ask the assistant.

"I don't make the rules, doll."

"Don't call me that."

Steve walks on stage and every soldier is silent. He's used to performing for kids and families who cheer him on and clap. These soldiers give him nothing.

"How many of you ready to help me sock old Adolf on the jaw?" He gets nothing but silence. "Okay. Uh... I need a volunteer."

"I already volunteered! How do you think I got here?" one of the men shouts, and an echo of laughter follows. "Bring back the girls!" 

"I think they only know one song, but let me... I'll... I'll see what I can do," Steve stutters.

"You do that, sweetheart."

"Nice boots, Tinker Bell!" another man shouts.

Steve awkwardly walks off stage and the girls who performed come on stage again. That gets the attention of every soldier who whistles and cheers for them. Typical men. 

"Don't worry, pal. They'll warm up to you," the Senator's assistant says.

This is a nightmare. You're living in a real-life nightmare that you can't seem to escape. After the show and right before dusk, you find Steve sitting by himself. The clouds rolled in early afternoon and are giving you a light drizzle, but Steve doesn't care if he gets wet. He's depressed because he wants to fight and help others.

"Hey," you say and sit next to him. "I can stop the rain if you want."

"I don't care," he sighs.

"There you two are." You turn to find Peggy approaching you two. "I've looked everywhere for you."

"What are you doing here?" Steve asks.

"Officially, I'm not here at all. That was quite a performance."

"Yeah. I had to improvise a little bit. The crowds I'm used to are usually a lot younger."

"I understand you're 'America's New Hope'?"

"Bond sales take a ten percent bump in every place I visit."

"Is that Senator Brandt I hear?"

"At least he's got me doing this. Phillips would have had to be stuck in the lab."

"I don't get it. He knows what we can do. Why doesn't he just use us?" you sigh.

"You think these are your only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this."

"For the longest time, I dreamed about coming overseas, being on the front lines, and serving my country. I finally get everything I wanted, and I'm wearing tights."

Sirens can be heard in the distance that gets louder the closer they get to base camp. You look over your shoulder and see wounded men on stretchers inside a few cars. If only you could heal others like you can heal yourself.

"They look like they've been through hell," you comment.

"These men more than most," Peggy explains. "Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him, and less than fifty returned. Your audience contained what was left of the one-oh-seventh. The rest were killed or captured."

The second she says the 107th, your heart drops into your stomach. You didn't see your boyfriend in the audience, which means he's on the enemy's territory.

"No, the 107th?" you asked in horror.

"What?"

"Bucky," you say and look at Steve.

You both get up and rush over to the Colonel's tent who is busy with stuffing papers into envelopes.

"Colonel Phillips."

"Well, if it isn't the Star-Spangled Man-With-A-Plan and his secretary. What is your plan today?"

"I need the casualty list from Azzano," Steve orders.

"You do not give me orders, son."

"We need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th," you urge.

"You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won't enjoy," the Colonel points to Peggy.

"Please tell me if he's alive, sir. B-A-R—"

"I can spell!" The Colonel cuts you off. "I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count, but the name does sound familiar. I'm sorry."

No, you refuse to believe the love of your life is dead. You shake your head and back up slowly to keep yourself from strangling the Colonel.

"No, he's not dead."

"What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?" Steve asks.

"Yeah! It's called winning the war."

"If you know where they are, why not at least--"

"They're thirty miles behind the lines through the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We'd lose more men than we'd save, but I don't expect you to understand that because you're a chorus girl."

"I think we understand just fine," you growl.

"Then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you got someplace to be in thirty minutes," the Colonel says before leaving his desk. 

There is a map of the location of the rest of the 107th team. They're not that far from here, and you know you can save them all if you can just get over there. Based on the look Steve gives you, he sees it too. You two leave the tent and head over to yours to pack a bag. You're going to go over there and save everyone, including your boyfriend.

"What do you plan to do?" Peggy asks, following you inside your tent. "Walk to Germany?"

"He won't be walking," you smirk.

If you had to, you'd change into an animal to carry Steve all the way over to Germany.

"You heard the Colonel, your friend is most likely dead."

"No!" you shout and turn to her with an angry look in your eyes. "He's not my friend, he's my boyfriend. He's the love of my life. Until I see a body, I refuse to believe he is dead."

"The Colonel is devising a strategy. If he detects--"

"By the time he's done that, it could be too late!" Steve shouts and finished packing up. "You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?"

"Every word."

"Then you gotta let us go."

It doesn't take a lot to convince Peggy to help you cross the border into Germany. She and Howard Stark can offer you a plane ride into Germany, and get you as close as they possibly can. The Colonel knows nothing of this, and even if he did, you don't care. Once you heard Bucky is in danger, nothing is stopping you from going over there and saving him.

"The Hydra camp is in Krausberg," Peggy says once you four are in the air, "tucked between two mountain ranges. It's a factory of some kind."

"We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep," Howard says from the cockpit.

"Just get us as close as you can," you say. "You two are gonna be in a hell of a lot of trouble at the lab."

"You two won't?" Peggy asks.

"Where we're going, if anybody yells at us we can just shoot them," Steve smiles.

"They will undoubtedly shoot back."

"Well, let's hope it's good for something."

Steve stole the shield, helmet, and uniform he used in his shows to protect himself as well as show everyone just who is going to save them.

"Agent Carter, if we're not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late-night fondue," Howard shouts over the loud noises.

You look at Steve to see what his reaction is to Howard's words. He and Peggy have a thing for each other but you're not going to interfere with their relationship. Steve gets up and puts his parachute on but you remain seated.

"Stark is the best civilian pilot I've ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this airspace. We're lucky to have him."

"So, are you two...? Do you...? Fondue?" Steve asks awkwardly. 

"This is your transponder." Peggy avoids his question and hands over two communicators to you and Steve. "Activate it when you're ready, and the signal will lead us straight to you."

"Are you sure this thing works?"

"It's been tested more than you, ma'am," Howard grins.

Suddenly, the plane is being attacked by bullets from people on the ground. They sensed a foreign aircraft in the air, and with this being a war, they decide to shoot first and ask questions later.

"That's our cue!" you yell.

Steve walks over to the door and opens it, and a rush of wind gets sucked in. You use your aerokinesis to divert the air away from you so you can see what you're doing.

"Get back here! We're taking you all the way in!" Peggy yells.

"As soon as I'm free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!"

"You can't give me orders!"

"The hell I can't! I'm a Captain!" Steve grins and jumps out of the plane.

You're about to follow after him when Peggy stops you.

"Wait, your parachute!"

"I don't need one!" you yell and dive out of the plane.

The wind is nice against your face. Flying is and has always been your favorite thing to do. You can control how fast you go, and you can go as high as the atmosphere will allow you to. Since there is no air in space, you can't fly up there without your space suit on. 

This will never not get old.

You catch up to Steve who looks at you like you're crazy for not having a parachute on. You wave at him and continue flying faster to get to the ground quicker. You get to the ground before Steve does, and you land as gently as a feather. Steve's landing is a bit rockier but he manages not to alert anyone. He clips off his parachute just as you join his side.

"Damn, I can't see a thing. We are close?" Steve whispers.

"Stay here. Let me check."

You transform yourself into a bird and fly high, making sure not to be seen by German soldiers. About three yards from where you were is a road where trucks are being driven into the base. The cars have thick and dark covers on the back of the trucks that could easily hide you and Steve if you were to hijack one. You fly back to Steve and transform back into yourself.

"There's a road with trucks. We can hide in one of them and it'll take us into the base. Come on."

You and Steve run over to the street just as the last truck passed you by. You run towards the back of it and jump inside only to be greeted by two soldiers.

"Fellas," Steve pants.

They go to attack you, but you grab their shoulders and head-butt them as hard as you can. You punch one and fling him out the back of the truck while Steve does the same. No one saw a thing, and you're now inside the facility. The truck backs up to a dock of some sort to get unloaded, but Steve is prepared for this. He hits the soldier who moves the curtain away with his shield, and the soldier goes flying backward.

You two escape the truck and run further into the facility while remaining unseen. There is a bis ass factory where the 107th is being held, no doubt, and in order to get there without being made, Steve jumps on top of the sea containers. You two make your way to one of the back doors and slip inside.

You thought the outside was crawling with soldiers, but the inside has three times as many. There are large machines in lines throughout the factory, so you use those to hide yourselves from Hydra soldiers.

There is a small area where weapons are laid out on top of boxes, but these aren't normal weapons. Each weapon is glowing with blue energy, the same kind the Tesseract emits. You feel a sudden pull to it like you're a moth and they are the flame. Steve grabs a small weapon to see what it is and decides to pocket it.

"What are you doing?" he whispers.

"I'm sorry, but there's something about this light... I can't explain it."

"Come on."

Steve has to physically pull you away to get you to focus, and you two rush into another part of the factory. This part has a bunch of cages with men stuck inside of them. They're from the 107th, and that means Bucky might be here somewhere. A guard is patrolling on top of the cages, and you use your powers without touching him. You heat his body temperature quickly but not enough to kill him. He gets so hot that he passes out right on top of one of the cages, alerting the soldiers in them.

You and Steve run over and grab the keys off the Hydra nut.

"Who are you two supposed to be?" one of them asks.

"I'm... Captain America."

"Lieutenant Y/N."

Steve unlocks all the cages, allowing the soldiers to escape them. You look at every soldier who Steve frees, but Bucky isn't anywhere here. If he's not here, then he has to be somewhere in this factory.

"Is there anybody else? I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes," you ask as you make your way through the crowd.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one's ever come back from it," a soldier informs you.

"Alright," Steve says, capturing the attention of the men. "The tree line is northwest about eighty yards past the gate. Get out fast and give 'em hell. We'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else we find."

"Wait! You know what you're doing?"

"Yeah. I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over two hundred times."

x

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[cultofstan]

Head canon for Jaeger Clade (Part 1):

1. Jaeger is Pan. Since he's based on classic 50's and 60's pop Sci Fi heroes who tended to be womanizers, and since Jeager clearly is accepting of his grandson being gay, it only makes sense Jaeger has loved men before and possibly is open to all expressions of gender. In his mind, the only two things that matter in love are whether you're truthfully and if you're good at getting out of near death situations caused by unforseen 'love' expeditions gone wrong. Also, he's good in bed.

2. Jaeger's a smoker. Obviously Disney would not let one of their characters openly smoke in the modern day, but just take one look at those teeth and tell me if this movie wasn't a Disney property that the creative team wouldn't put a cigar in his mouth.

3. Jaeger is self-taught. I don't know how else to explain it but he gives off the vibes of not really fitting into traditional western education and finding school to being really boring (except gym and history class) so he basically taught himself everything about exploring and how to get started in being a professional explorer. I wouldn't say he was a drop out but he definitely didn't go to college or any secondary education.

4. Once his mandatory school was over Jaeger saved up as much money as possible and basically backpacked across Avalonia. He wanted to get first hand experience of what it's like living without a safety net and just taking the days as they came. When he came back home, he realized becoming a professional exploring really was his calling.

5. During his time backpacking, Jaeger came across of lot of men who reenforced the notion that true men are those who are both physically and mentally strong, so in addition to wanting to be an explorer he also grew a desire to be physically strong by working out so that he could handle anything or anyone who wanted to pick a fight with him. Think of it as a superficial "Survival of the fittest" mindset.

6. Jaeger loves ribs. The juicier the better. He's kinda a kid in that he likes eating ribs in a messy way because he wants the experience of eating ribs to remind him of a younger and simpler time in his life. After he gets back to Avalonia, the first thing he does is invite the Clade family to the local tavern so he can eat all the ribs he wants without realizing he doesn't have any of his old money. Searcher musters up some dough and allows his father this request because, well, they all just saved the world and they're all starving.

7. The reason Jaeger has a hard time shaking hands with his son during the movie is actually because when Searcher was young he was constantly coming up with new handshakes as a way of expressing himself and Jaeger just couldn't keep track of how each one started. At first Jaeger thought it was cute of Searcher but eventually he told him to cut it out since handshakes aren't for 'real' men. When the two reconnect after 25 years, Jaeger approaches the situation as if Searcher is still 15.

8. Jaeger takes cold showers. He's built different. (But if there's warm water available he will definitely appreciate it)

[yokelfelonking]

I think one of the misconceptions both sides in the anarchist debate have is about "warlords" and where they'll come from and how they'll take over and how they'll be resisted; that, once the state is gone, groups of violent criminal thugs will begin to pour out of the woodwork and take control through force (unless stopped by the common citizens voluntarily working together for their own good).

I think this is probably inaccurate. The warlords will be homegrown and take control under the guise of "protecting their volunteerist society".

Let's say that there was a massive revolution, the Deep State was uprooted, and the common citizens decided that they don't need a formal government or elected leaders or a king or anything like that, because almost all interactions between people take place without those. No taxes, no police, no military; all interactions are just people working things out between each other. We've got our volunteerist society based on mutual respect between individuals, not fear of cops or government thugs.

And gangs of criminals do arise...but they're held in check by common citizens defending their own rights and coming to the aid of their neighbors. There's gangs and bandits and cartels, as well as foreign powers coming to try to claim land and tribute, but they're opposed by armed common citizens protecting their rights.

Thing is, organized groups (like gangs) are able to concentrate their force; to effectively oppose that, you need similarly organized and concentrated force. Moreover, not everyone is young and healthy and a good shot. Not everyone's physically up to fighting off bandits and invaders and shit all the time.

So a volunteer militia forms. Let's call them the Liberty Keepers. They're a group of folks - mostly young men - who join voluntarily, bring their own equipment, and do their part to make sure that folks aren't being robbed and coerced by gangs and cartels and shit. They're good people voluntarily protecting their friends and neighbors.

And the Liberty Keepers are very effective. So effective, in fact, that people start donating to them so they can be more effective; to do what they do full-time. All voluntary, of course; it's all charitable donations to a volunteer group that's looking out for their communities.

Well, in any society there's going to be folks with irreconcilable differences, and in such cases it can help to have a third party in the community handle things. And so the Liberty Keepers start being called in to handle disputes; to mediate when two parties claim that the other one is violating their property rights and violating the NAP.

The Liberty Keepers become very popular. They're heroes! They represent the best of our anarchist society: volunteers from within the community doing voluntary work to make sure everyone else can live life free of government coercion. People tell heroic stories about the Liberty Keepers. Kids grow up wanting to be Liberty Keepers.

Turns out, though, that the Liberty Keepers keep tending to side with the folks who donate to them more. Clearly a coincidence; or perhaps, the folks who understand the importance of the Liberty Keepers also have a clearer understanding of anarchist philosophy. Of course the Liberty Keepers would side with them more! They're real anarchists!

Also, certain people start taking priority in the Liberty Keepers. They're not really organizational leaders in the governmental sense; it's just that everyone keeps voluntarily siding with them. They're community leaders. And the folks within the Liberty Keepers who don't side with these leaders...well, people stop voluntarily associating with them. And maybe they start having some bad fortune. Their houses burn down. They go missing. But who can say why? It's a volunteerist society, maybe they just voluntarily left town.

Businesses start giving more and more to the Liberty Keepers - voluntarily, of course. Businesses that don't? They start to lose business as they get badmouthed. "You don't want to support the Liberty Keepers? Why do you hate anarchy? Do you want an oppressive government back, demanding high taxes and sending your kids off to war and telling you what you can and can't do? I'll take my business elsewhere!"

And, much like the folks who opposed the community leaders within the Liberty Keepers, bad things happen to them. Their shit gets stolen, or breaks a lot, or shipments go missing. They get robbed more often. And the Liberty Keepers aren't under any obligation to do anything about it; after all, it's a volunteerist society, and they choose not to. Besides, self-defense is ultimately everyone's personal responsibility.

After a while, every business is giving the Liberty Keepers a cut. The workers find it taken out of their paycheck; the customers find they're paying extra. But the customers can always choose to shop elsewhere, and the employees can always choose to find another place to work...if they can find somewhere else that isn't giving the Liberty Keepers a cut. (Good luck with that!)

People start complaining that the Liberty Keepers are siding with folks who pay them (I'm sorry, voluntarily donate) more...so, to "make things fair" and "ensure there's no coercion in our volunteerist society", the Liberty Keepers just start taking a flat 15% from everybody. And if you don't pay, well, they can't be blamed for what happens to you. (And if you do pay extra, well, they can't stop you from voluntarily giving extra, now can they?)

Eventually someone says that the whole reason the Liberty Keepers were established was because not everyone's equally capable at armed self-defense, and it's impossible for them to make voluntary uncoerced agreements with their heavily armed neighbors intimidating them...so maybe - to ensure that the NAP goes unviolated - the Liberty Keepers should be the only folks allowed to have guns. The Liberty Keepers think this is a great idea. The act of having a gun while not being a Liberty Keeper is declared to be a violation of the NAP and gun ownership is restricted.

Also, the government of the country next door is looking kind of threatening, so in order to prevent our free anarchist society from coming under government sway, the Liberty Keepers are going to need to build roads for mobility purposes and they need updated weapons systems and food and supplies and gasoline and morale-boosting entertainment, so they're going to start collecting more taxes voluntary donations from everyone. Also they're conscripting your son.

This is all necessary to protect our free anarchist society with no taxes or violent coercion by armed government thugs, you understand.

"But that's not how that works!" you cry. "That's not what the NAP is! That's not what volunteerism is! This is a bunch of twisted, bad faith definitions! This isn't an anarchist society!" Yeah, that's my whole fucking point.

Anarchists seem to think that the slow creep of government control can't happen under their system, because there's no government and the people will be ever vigilant. But the people are not ever vigilant, and they have always been vulnerable to sophistry and hypocrisy. Vast numbers of people will always gladly become the very thing they claim to hate in the name of fighting it.

Look at how many people right now are actively supporting political violence, the restriction of free speech, and absolute government control under the guise of "fighting fascism", when those things are exactly what fascism is. People under an anarchist system will fall for the same shit, because people are people. They will gladly give up all freedom and control and a whole bunch of their livelihood to a group of armed elites who make rules for them "so they don't have to have a government".

[scoops404]

why did you write florida man dub

Very long info dump on a fic I'll never flesh out below the cut!

I wrote the majority of this fic coming off the heels of I've Never Fallen from Quite this High when the post-long fic slunk hit me (this is a very real thing and it surprises me every time. After Shine Here To Us was the hardest in recent memory)

For context in this world:

Omegas make up .1% of the population (which is VERY low) but the birth rate of omegas is 10% (though you can't know which you'll be until later in childhood, maybe right before puberty -- basically so they can't take them when they're babies). So, where do those other omegas go? Two places: one, they go into hiding as betas, which is hard to do but since only omegas can smell alphas and other omegas, they're safe as long as they use suppressants. And two, they get taken. This AU would have been pretty dark, with groups of people with authority selling out omegas to underground rings-- police officers, school principals, doctors, people who find out that an unbonded omega is around can make A SHIT TON of money. Bonded omegas only go into heat for their alpha, but unbonded omegas can be induced into heat. Like I said, very dark!! This is not very well known by the way, most people live their lives not knowing about these things. Governments really work hard to cover it up or at least not admit that their own personnel are sometimes complicit in these underground omega rings.

In online spaces, you absolutely don't say you're an omega. There are conspiracy theories (that might be true) of governments reading chat logs of discord, etc, and taking unbonded omegas. However, conversely, calling someone an omega is a very common insult much like other slurs and especially used on men, where it's considered worse to be an omega.

Alphas in this world make up about 10% of the population. The lore here is that alphas are considered meat heads and too aggressive and while it's not *dangerous in society* to be an alpha, they're considered slaves to their instincts and no one really takes them as seriously as they should. Unless they're in government, and then it's a good thing. You can't tell me republicans wouldn't eat that shit up. But regular people are wary of other regular people being alphas. In online spaces, several creators have come out as alphas and then people *only* want to see them doing alpha things and being aggressive, etc. They aren't associated with empathy or kindness or gentleness (which is ALL Dream). So most alphas that actually are in online spaces just pretend to be betas.

For these reasons, both omega and alpha, Dream and George and Sapnap don't know each other's designations, they assume beta, much like most of the people in the world. This is also why Sapnap, even though he lives with Dream, doesn't know Dream is an alpha. He can't smell him and Dream works hard to not be overt about his alphaness.

Anyway back to the fic:

This fic had two major scenes that I was excited about -- one was this part that I wrote (in fact, the doc name was "part i'm excited to write" and I fully thought I would go back and write some build up and world building before George lands in Florida) and the other scene was a TrainwreckTV style podcast (based on the 2021 podcasts where dteam would join, what, like 3 times?) and the conversations would be SOOOO heteronormative dudebro stuff. And I fully wanted them to be discussing omega rights with a horrible slant (you know how straight white men like to discuss things that have no bearing on them and think they're truly *saying* something) with no omega or even someone who knows what they're talking about to correct the misinformation or set them straight. And Dream, as a closeted alpha AND George's bonded alpha, starts bristling. Except George gets there first and since he's bonded to Dream there's no point in those rings grabbing him, he's "used goods" -- he starts going off about the statistics and what actually happens. I think I would give him a childhood friend who presented as omega, disappeared, and then reemerged as being saved from a ring and is absolutely not the same as something to show George personally what happens and give him stakes to not be caught out.

Anyway George schools them on omega rights and ends up coming out as an omega and bonded which, of course, leads Dream to claim to be his alpha because he can't stand for anyone else to be connected to George. This leads to strong forward movement on omega rights and people learning about the seedy underbelly and demands action from governments, etc. Also there might have been some mpreg.

SO that was going to be the fic but I had no idea where it would have ended

I ended up writing Curse and Cure instead because it was much more lighthearted and fun. Sometimes we plot a whole fic out and we end up not writing it, but it's still a good exercise and fun to think about!!

[castiel-ten]

Looking at those responses, while understandable if given in good faith, I would argue that they don't seem as such. Yes, love does take place in many different ways. But it seems as if Mr.Gaiman is giving himself a cop out for not acknowledging them as textually queer in any form. It can textually be a queer love story and be acknowledged in text without using labels, but this is just not true of the show. Largely, the show makes it seems ambiguously on the cusp of something rather than acknowledging them as life partners. This is not a revolutionary act; as there are arguably a lot of shows displaying this ambiguity. You could argue that textually supernatural could be seen as such, although as you said you and I both view this as queerbait. Mr.Gaiman has also made responses before these on twitter in which he plainly stated they could not be queer, gay, or otherwise. It seems that he has disingenuously flipped his view

personally I don't understand how this could be a cop-out for neil when he has so many other "explicitly queer" characters. I just don't understand what he gains here. I also don't think it's fair to judge based on GO1 alone, since it's basically the development of their relationship into being established (for the audience).

also, it is a queer love story. like, it is and I don't understand why we're still on that.

There's a difference between the relationship itself being ambiguous in nature and the existence of an ambiguous relationship. The former is true, the latter is not in Good Omens, in my opinion. Destiel was regularly canonically backtracked and dismissed in and out of text.

This is Neil's preferred definition of queer (by his daughter).

I also think it's important to mention, in regards to "flipping his view," that he did write the show differently than the book very much intentionally. That doesn't somehow make it all wrong. Even if he somehow is ~covering his ass~ I literally don't care, it's still a queer story canonically. Supernatural covered their ass by killing Cas and shutting down fans, kind of a different ballpark here. GO2 will tell us if this truly is "revolutionary" in my opinion.

I honestly can't say that Neil is doing what I deem as best (or that he's completely innocent -- I can't know that), but I don't think there's enough of anything to say this is queerbait. I believe season 2 is where there'll be a line drawn. What side of the line A&C will be, I don't know. I'm hoping for some small narration thing like "and although they didn't give a name to their love, Aziraphale and Crowley lived their happily ever after anyways" literally something so easy and simple as that but nothing more. Anything more would be unnecessary.

I'm gonna address something different here just so I can have it all in one post, nothing at anon here. What I'm most sick of is people trying to "justify" A&C's relationship as if it isn't enough on its own. It is enough. No "they need to kiss" "they need to be say they are agender/nonbinary/aroace." "they're gay!" not if they don't call themselves that. they do not have genders, they get to make the rules. if I see one more "you cast two cis men!" I'm gonna scream. GENDER is NOT presentation. sorry they couldn't get real fucking angels. there are people you think are binary men and they look like you think binary men look like and they are not binary men. those people are real live people and walk amongst you. I sometimes consider myself one of them. There is nothing wrong with a genderless entity presenting as masc because yknow what? he has to present as fucking something and he can choose whatever he likes. it literally has nothing to do with their sexuality if they don't want it to.