#are they straightbaiting

[l0vecrim3]

it’s happening again…

[everyonesannoyedwithme]

kitty and yuri becoming one of the main ships in xo kitty was so shocking because like i know i shipped it from the start but youre telling me netflix also shipped it???? and then DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT???????

[the-woman-upstairs]

Definitely want a second season of XO, Kitty if only for the ensuing hilarity that would come from the two most popular students in school fighting each other over the dorky American transplant who barely passed her classes.

[drbtinglecannon]

See Frieren x Himmel is canonically doomed and that's part of the overall narrative, Frieren will outlive almost everyone she ever meets but she slowly starts to build more and more relationships in spite of that and Himmel was one of the biggest catalysts in her changing in this way

But they also have this "this is how it can still win" vibe to it because Frieren is literally traveling to the afterlife specifically to visit Himmel, and along the way she's changing and very slowly embracing love in all these different forms from the people around her, one of which was from Himmel

So it's doomed but it still feels like they'll definitely have a happy ending too, it's an interesting dynamic

[mwagneto]

rtd having to fight tooth and nail in the 2000s to put anything gay in dr who and in the process making scifi gay enough that now in the 2020s he can just do whatever the fuck he wants. they literally put the doctor flirting with a man IN THE TRAILER i'm gonna pass away

[supersonic-rocket-ship]

I never thought it could be possible to queerbait and straightbait at the same time

[straightbaittournament]

(shaking, through tears) may the best bait win! propaganda under the cut:

mulder and scully:

Infamously treated and teased by showrunners + writers like how a gay couple would be baited and like a gay couple in general, although eventually they do kiss and have a son (although that falls through and they become kind of divorced)

during the entire original run of the show i'm pretty sure chris carter would have said they never had a romantic relationship (they had a baby without ever having had sex!) however in the revival their sort of ambiguous What Are We deal was made a lot more explicit so feel free to veto based on these grounds LITERALLY INVENTED 'SHIPPING'. YOU'RE WELCOME

while i'm... pretty sure they get together eventually (i've only watched a bit of the x-files), from what i've heard they invented the term "shipping" because of people arguing over whether they would/should be romantically involved, so i think they should be included, for fandom history reasons if nothing else

they are a man and a woman who don't get together until ridiculously late but are hilariously devoted to one another, clingy, self-sacrifice-y, and also Forehead Kisses

They’re together but they’re not they love each other but barely know each other

clara and twelve:

their relationship is heavily romantic coded, but is never explicitly confirmed as romantic or not. the queerbait thing of teasing them on socials but never paying them off in canon applies here! also secret love confessions by way of double entendre or omission

they "arent romantic" but obviously they are

They are a man (I guess?) and a woman never get together but physical contact is filmed with such tension, there's jealousy with one member's significant other, "do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference," "I'm changing history to save Clara," "run you clever boy and be a Doctor," "people like you and me, we should say things to one another," "I'll be the judge of time," "If you love me in any way..." okay these all have context but trust me it's Insane

They never get to be together and in their last episode together, Clara presumably confesses her love to him and WE DONT EVEN SEE IT. like immediately after he gets his memory wiped.

[mylonelydreaming]

"He [Rauru] ends up serving as the crucial connection between Link and Zelda, even when thousands of years separate the two. It’s a sad but meaningful role for a character who has become a newly beloved character in Zelda canon."

Nintendo is driving me up the WALL

[andtheirmoonlight]

[wastingyourgum]

New still of Stede and Mary in S01e10 from the BBC's episode guide for Our Flag Means Death

[astrelle]

wow no way

[edwardshundredyearoldspunk]

every couple of years I remember that julie plec made a character tell another character that “he was your first love, I intend to be your last” and then just fucked me personally over forever?? by not having them end up together?? ever??

[atorionsbelt]

the arc delivery of ted lasso’s roy kent:

season 2 vs season 3

[girl4music]

I wouldn’t call the brief romantic interactions Gabrielle has with men “relationships”. With Xena you can get away with that. But not Gabrielle.

Let me put it this way… Xena is a show where they’ll show you a male and a female kissing but not allow them to have a long lasting relationship of any kind and then give you a long lasting relationship between a female and a female but won’t show you the kissing.

You have to pick and choose your wins and your losses. What matters to you more? To see an amazingly substantial, in-depth and forever-evolving dynamic or physical intimacy?

Xena literally invented straightbaiting. The opposite of queerbaiting. Don’t worry. The creators were on the right side of history. Xena and Gabrielle are the central relationship in the show no matter which way you want to interpret it. They’re the beating heart.

There’s no relationship made more of a focus than Xena and Gabrielle’s - be it romantic or platonic.

The Man-Inserts mean nothing. Trust me. If anything, they just show you how much more right Xena and Gabrielle are for each other because the show is always fucking awkward whenever a random male love interest is introduced. It doesn’t feel right.

Simply put it down to intentional straightbaiting cause the only reason they’re there is to appease the straight audience. But this show belongs to the gays/queers. The creators made sure of it.

[aemiron-main]

me watching people get byler doubt from David’s interview (he’s just reinforcing the straightbait and messing with people) like

[tea-earl-grey]

Look. I'm in agreement that j/c should be canon in Prodigy s2. Not just to appease the shippers but because it makes sense as a development for both of their characters and because both of them expressed that they would have been in a relationship in Voyager if it wasn't for their ranks, etc etc. I can't possibly think of a reason they wouldn't get together. However I do have to admit that it would be a little bit funny to continue the most obvious straightbait in the world. For Janeway to look Chakotay in the eyes and say in her usual charged voice, "You've always been a great friend to me." And for Chakotay to look back staring at her lips and say, "You'll always be my Captain." And just completely avoid addressing it.

Or alternatively – the entire season is shown from the Prodigy kids' perspectives (as it should be tbh) and all of them are just extremely uninterested in Janeway and Chakotay's personal lives. They reunite with Chakotay and we see Janeway go to hug him in the background and then the perspective shifts to Murf. Did they kiss? Did they profess their undying love to each other? Idk Murf's eating some more photon torpedoes, that's much more important.