#boyfriends discourse

[flushed-for-the-trolls]

Boyfriends isn’t “Bad LGBTQ+ Rep” It’s perfectly fine. You just don’t like effeminate Queer people. 

They’re not hypersexualized, they’re gay adult men in a committed relationship, gay people have sex, Todd. I’m sorry to have to break it to you.

You’re not helping out gay people, you’re trying to silence abnormalities in favor of appealing to the boring norm. I am not ashamed of wearing leggings, of having a sex drive, of being DIFFERENT.

Research and actually UNDERSTAND the words you throw out before you decide to die on this (quite frankly) pathetic hill.

It’s so sad that you want to white knight so hard that you’re feeding into homophobia. You are helping no one, you’re a pawn for homophobes to use.

[helpmeimblorboing]

I know y'all hate Boyfriends for some unfathomable reason - and I get it, honest I do - the audio version nearly made me kill myself

But honestly this was my first ever exposure to queerness at all, and so this webcomic will always hold a very special place in my heart

I don't know if the allegations against the author are true, but the webcomic is still cute, and if he's racist or antisemitic.... well, I don't think it's leaked into his work

[myfandomrealitea]

"Its so hard picking between X and Y ships!"

You pick between ships?? You only ship one ship per character?? You limit yourself on ships??

[heartoflightning]

i’m still hearing people say that just because they went on a couple dates and kissed twice that it does not make buck and tommy boyfriends

and it just baffles me because, what do you call someone you just sucked face with in a hospital lobby for thirty minutes, then introduced him to your entire family at your sister’s wedding, while the same soot on his face is also on yours?

[jakeperalta]

I have to say that for me none of this has been about expecting taylor to listen to fans about her personal life. no part of me expects her to go "oh look the fans aren't happy about my boyfriend I better break up with him". it all stems from the fact with it happening in the first place. I'm not disappointed that she's doing something I personally don't want (my opinion on her life is unimportant!) I'm disappointed that someone I'm a fan of is acting in a way that totally opposes the values she's previously preached. it's just the sinking feeling that she's showing her true colours and they don't entirely align with what I thought.

[ingravinoveritas]

Mark Gatiss winning Best Actor at the Oliviers instead of David is like expecting a six-course feast and getting three crackers and an olive for dinner instead...

[artistlara]

Redraws of the whiteboards and the doodles of this post

Disclaimer: I'm not updated on what's happening in the fandom since I don't consider myself part of it or check for new stuff anymore, so if I've drawn a mod that has some controversy/discourse around it- please know I don't support it and only did this for redrawing purposes only.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

Sometimes do you ever remember the soupçon of misogyny in the press during the early (and latter) days of Joever and want to bust kneecaps lmao

[fagtainsparklez]

i think. something that a lot of young queer kids who engage in online discourse don’t realize is that none of it matters in the real world. at all. i have been in so many queer spaces with queer people of all ages and never once have i witnessed anyone ever make a fuss about someone’s identity. i’ve seen lesbians who identify as dudes in the same room as the most femme women you’ll ever meet. fagdykes and dykefags and old bisexuals who call themselves half gay or half lesbian because that’s just the terminology they’re used to. and no one cares. no one even acknowledges these things half the time because it’s all just normal. it’s the queer experience. if you do make a fuss, a lot of people aren’t going to debate their right to exist with you. they’re going to ask you to leave, because you’re being a dick. and in my experience, if you do find a place that does care, that regulates and polices identities and labels, there’s a 90% chance you’ve found yourself in some terf-ran bullshit, because exclusionism is and always has been rooted in terf ideology. no one else gains anything from creating walls and strict limits in queerness. no one.

[aruanimess]

ping-ponging wildly between Armin has no ass and Armin has some nice tight buns for Annie to squeeze and/or bite

[imaginesangie]

Fandoms are supposed to be fun. Don’t claim you don’t want drama while making posts about drama and cross-tagging!

I don’t wanna see this kinda negativity I just wanna see boys kiss! The smashing of these two dolls together is fun!

[flushed-for-the-trolls]

Boyfriends Webtoons Discourse

The more I read this ‘controversial’ webtoons, the more I’m convinced that the people that are so offended by it have NEVER even read a single chapter in full.

I understand not liking it, that’s fine, the issues people have with the creator are personal and if you can’t forgive X thing that he did, then that’s with you and I won’t bother arguing, since it has the potential to be personal/hit close to home for some.

But, like, when it comes to the ACTUAL webtoons??? Like, have any of you read the basic introductory chapter?

“It’s not serious!” “It’s cringe!” 

Literally the FIRST BF profile card says “Epic Gamer Skillz” “Tweetch Subs” and “D’ARKNESS LV.” Could it be any more obvious??? Of course it’s not serious, of course it has cringey dialogue, the majority of these chapters have memes in them. The point is that it’s NOT serious, and it NEVER pretended to be in the first place. The damn characters speak like personified Discord Servers. “WTF” “EZ”. In a close follow-up chapter one of the characters literally says “OWO Choco?” Like???

So of course it’s not serious, of course it’s over the top and cheesy, to be over the top and cheesy IS THE POINT. But it seems like no one has actually read the comic, they’ve simply seem a few reactions and out of context clips from the comic and decided they know how everything works... Disregarding the fact that they’ve never read it...

Next is people claiming that the comic “fetishizes gay people”.

First of all. The Author is gay. Second of all, literally who cares? If someone is dumb enough to gather all their opinions of gay people based on a webtoons comic that’s basically a longstanding meme, their opinions never mattered to begin with.

Lastly, I get an icky feeling in my stomach whenever I hear this talking point. I remember feeling it back when I was in the hell that was the MHA fandom.

It was during shipping wars when an eerily similar point was made concerning gay couples. “They’re fetishizing gay people!” “All this shipping is because of the Fujoshis!”

You know who was saying all this? STRAIGHT PEOPLE.

Yes, for whatever reason which is beyond my understanding, when the topic of gay couples is brought up, it’s always Heterosexual people who think they know what’s best for the LGBTQ+ community. They often talk over gay people, and what happens when gay people don’t agree with them? “I bet you’re just a Fujoshi!” They say, unaware that this stranger they’ve never even seen the face of, is, in fact, gay and male. 

So even now, I have to wonder if the people that are declaring this as sexualizing gay people are even gay themselves, if they’re not, do they realize that THE CREATOR is gay himself? Not only that, but as a personal account, I can recall many open and proud LGBTQ+ people (primarily gay) that act like stereotypes. There’s NOTHING wrong with how these characters act, nor those very real people. It’s an insult to these people’s real expressions.

Tell me, would you go up to a gay person and tell them that their form of personal expressions are “wrong”? Who on earth would any of us be to talk down to others like that?

That is also to say that LGBTQ+ people are under NO obligation to act “normal”. We should not be expected to suppress our real forms of expression for the sake of “not letting everyone else down”. If we all had to act normal, if no other depictions of being different were allowed, life would be worthless and meaningless.

This partially off topic tangent is to Segway into the talking point (or implied talking point) that this webtoons is publicizing unflattering stereotypes and is therefore bad.

Firstly. If you think this story is some sort of blow to LGBTQ+ Pride, the problem is with you. There’s nothing wrong with how you express yourself so long as it hurts no one. If you think this makes everyone under the rainbow banner look bad, you should look inward and wonder why you need to gatekeep how others express themselves (and to be clear, yes, I know I am referencing fictional characters with no will or mind of their own, but I believe the general point still stand firm when transferred over to real life).

Two, as I covered, these aren’t mythical stereotypes, there are actual people who live like this, and they’re valid and entitled to living how they see fit.

But you know what? I hear you, in spite of the numerous arguments I’ve made, You still have your objections, but here’s where my secret Uno Reverse Card kicks in.

My final argument.

It’s Refrainbow’s webcomic.

It’s as simple as that. Any content creator is not beholden to their audience and their whims. You can not like the comic, that’s fine, but you’re NOT entitled to changes made at your say-so. People frame their points like they deserve changes made so it can personally appeal to them, but that’s just not the case. If you don’t like the webtoons comic, rewrite it. Make it into something you like, but posting about how all the BFs are going to hell and how you want to run them over with a truck isn’t helping anyone or anything, you’re just being incredibly childish and whiny.

Once again: This is a FREE Webcomic made by a small set of people (I think just two? According to the Webtoons chapter outros at least). This webtoons is not going to revolutionize gay relationships, nor is it reasonable to expect it to. It’s a personal passion project, and it has every right to stay that way and not branch out like so many seem to want it to.

A final few disclaimers.

1. If you’re a straight cis person, just don’t argue. I’m gay, and I’m not about to have a straight person try to talk down to me and tell me I’m wrong, or worse, claim I’m a Fujoshi/Yaoi Loving Fangirl, there’s a reason I stepped away from the MHA fandom ya know.

2. I’m not a dedicated fan of this fic (although I do admit to having a bias, as I enjoy it and find humor in it) or of the author. I personally don’t care about the past controversies, and as I’m not affected by any of them, It’s not my place, duty/obligaton to forgive them on behalf of the people they harmed, that’s not the goal of this conversation. I simply am tired of seeing all this hate, both from arrogant straight people, and this senseless infighting from a section of the LGBTQ+ Community. To me it all seems like trumped up claims that don’t align with the reality of the situation.

Finally: If you like this webtoons, you’re valid. If you don’t like this webtoons, you’re valid, if you harass fans or the creator, you’re invalid, and if you talk over minorities while not being a member of said minority, your opinions, in that situation, are invalid.

[the-path-to-redemption]

Hey, just so you know, if you like He*rtstopper as a BL story but shits on Boyfriends, you’re a loser. 

Boyfriends was made by a POC transman who do not have the privilege Al*ce has to express himself safely, and the webtoon is where he can find supports from fellow queer folks, and for some dumbass reason he’s problematic for his portrayal of queer people. EVEN THOUGH HE’S QUEER. 

You are more than valid to criticize him for the racist things he said in the past, but uplifting He*rtstopper, whose author constantly shit on Japanese BL works despite taking direct inspirations from them and herald her own work as “superior” (it reeks of typical Westerner queer xenophobia ew), while labeling Boyfriends as a “trash representation” (what the fuck does that even mean?) makes you a loser. 

Especially when it was the same people who uplifted He*rtstopper going batshit and forced one of its main actor to publicly out himself. Look at your own asses before throwing rocks. 

[aerithisms]

i think the weirdest 2013 discourse brained doctor who take i've seen is people who came back to watch capaldi era, realised it's good and that they really like the twelveclara dynamic, identify all the things that are compelling about it but then say "moffat doesn't know he did this though." bc they can't budge from the position that he's a hack so they have to convince themselves it's, like, only accidentally good

[sylvies-kablooie]

*grabs your shoulders firmly* the idea that a ship being canon is what makes it worthwhile is laughable. do you think the stucky troops had ANY faith way back in 2016? don't disrespect their sacrifices.

[jakeperalta]

have quite literally never been less excited about a taylor announcement in my life