#can we please get a crumb of representation

[uponasoapboxb]

can’t believe i have to sit here and watch another forced straight ship,,, like genuinely idk if i’m even excited for season 3 i’m sorry to say it jj and pope will always be boyfriends to me and i’m starting to get genuinely upset at the fact that there is no queer representation in this show :/

[piles-of-numbers]

I HAVE OPINIONS!

Season 2 is rushed if you view it as a one-to-one adaptation.

As a fan fiction (which we’ve been told from the start this is basically fan fiction) I am SO HYPED FOR WHAT IS TO COME.

I’ve always though Storm and Siege and Ruin and Rising could have been combined into one book. The Fire Bird reveal I could see coming from the start of book 2. So getting all that out of the way now and leading us into a fun alternate ending with new implications for the two duologies is super interesting to me.

I completely get why people are upset about some early CK scenes. But I think adding them and putting them into a new light is a smart idea. We might not get to the same points of those scenes in this show.

The crows are starting off older. Kaz already had the crow club. Taking over the dregs wasn’t going to happen with the same character implications. He didn’t start under Haskell, so we used the massive fight scene to show how ruthless Kaz is in a fight on his own.

The Kaelish Prince thing was also a great way to demonstrate to new viewers Kazs whole “act like a monster and they’ll believe you” thing. It’s too early to take down Pekka completely, so we get this scene still while putting Rollins in a new power dynamic

The bandaid scene wasn’t the bandaid scene. They hinted at it. We have a base for how much contact Kaz can handle. Inej didn’t even get to talk about how touch is difficult for her too. I think we will get that later

So I forgive them for those things, I’m glad we got to see bits of the story acted as amazing as they did

I think I only have two main complaints

David :( HE IS TRIUMVIRATE HE COULD EXIST WITH SANKTA ALINA IT COULD HAVE BEEN ALINA AND HER TRIUMVIRATE >:(

I’m so worried about Tolya and Inej. Not even for the sake of Kanej. But Tolya is like the one crumb of aroace representation we have and they did the thing where they lingered on their smile a bit and they’re both good actors I saw a thing and went oh no. It’s not a sure thing maybe they will be friends (as they should! I want to see Tolya and Inej interact!) but please please please

So those are my thoughts. I’m so excited give me Alina Villain Arc

[not-a-cheese-thief]

The new trailer for Ted Lasso season 3 and all the speculation that goes with it about who may or may not end up coming out (or just being queer) has me going kind of crazy. I’ve been on this hell-site for so many years on and off, I’ve seen all the queer baiting, all the desperate hoping and tricking yourself into the belief that this little thing might be a sign. I hyper-fixate on shows, especially on the queer-coded characters, and I long for good queer representation. I’ve been through all of this longing and hoping before, and I’m just getting so sick of it.

Whenever I talk to a het person about Ted Lasso and its lack of any queer characters, they either say “there’s not any yet, there’s another season still to come,” or “one of them might be gay, you don’t know.” Neither of these things are good enough. Neither sentiment makes me think “Yeah, that’ll probably be good enough.” For one thing, we’re two seasons in. If you’re two seasons into a show that is clearly conscious of some forms of diversity, but can’t manage to acknowledge the existence of queerness beyond a slur that was used in the first two minutes, and the occasional joke (usually used to make a female character seem more sexy/intriguing), then can there really be much hope for real, honest queer representation and storytelling in the third and final season?

Will they really get round to the very important question of how homophobia fits into the the toxic masculinity locker room culture that Ted first walked into, and how that affected and continues to affect the mental health of those within it? Will they really tell this (or any) story from the point of view of a queer person, and with the care and nuance it deserves? They’ve had poc characters from the start, but even their storytelling of these characters has been controversial and from many people’s perspectives, problematic. 

I know the history of queer television, I know why queer coding became a powerful way of telling only the people in the know “hey, I see you”. But we’ve moved beyond that, and in a TV show like Ted Lasso, where it so clearly aims to  tell a diverse range of stories, from an accepting and curious point of view, the lack of actual, truely represented, honest queerness is jarring. I’m sick of being presented with crumbs, with jokes that anyone who’s not queer wouldn’t even notice, and being treated like it’s a gift.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Ted Lasso, I love all my Richmond himbos and my darling Keeley. I’ll watch season 3 and I’ll obsess. I’ll keep all my little headcanons. But I just can’t stand all this trying to trick myself into believing we’ll actually get a queer storyline, especially not for a main character. I’ve been there before and it hurts. We deserve better. So I’m including a little list, for the darlings who have actually read this whole post, of my current fav shows with actual queer characters and stories, so that while we deal with all this Ted Lasso anxiety, we can also have some comfort LGBTQIA+ tv too. Please add your favourites too.

Brassic:

I have to put this first even though it’s not necessarily the gayest, because I think anyone and everyone who watches Ted Lasso should watch Brassic. Joe Gilgun co-created the show and stars as the main character Vinnie, and while his diagnosis has changed since the show’s beginning (he’s now discovered he has bpd, not bipolar) the show’s depiction of Vinnie as man living with bipolar disorder is phenomenal. As is the way it introduces and tells the stories of its queer characters; most notably Ash, a gay man from a traditional Irish traveller family, who has my heart (but actually there are very few main characters who I'm convinced are really, totally straight). 

There's a moment in the show when Vinnie encounters some ‘casual’ homophobia, and even though he’s not with anyone queer, even though he doesn’t know the person who said it, and he’s got shit he really has to get on with, he has to call it out. It’s a little moment, in a show with a lot more very gay scenes and storylines, but it’s the kind of thing that just feels so important. Brassic is chaotic and crude and probably too much for a lot of people, but it’s loving too. 

9-1-1: Lone Star:

This one might not be the same high quality television as the others; it’s a first responder drama that tends towards the soapy, but god, I love it. I love the way they write their queer characters, I love the way they write the friendships between them, and the ways that most of the characters are some kind of minority and use their shared experiences of being marginalised and discriminated against to support and be there for each other. 

It's also worth noting that Brian Michael Smith, who plays Paul, a trans man, is the first black trans man to be a series regular on American tv, and that queer actors Ronen Rubinstein and Rafael Silva, who play lovers on the show, were recently on the cover of Out magazine, and are both activists in the queer community. 

Sense8:

It’s so wonderfully, beautifully queer. It’s a scifi, made by the Wachowski sisters, that’s a kind of love letter to the LGBT+ community. I don't think any of the main characters are meant to be straight, it’s all so very, very queer. Please do watch it, just, not with your mum you know.

Our Flag Means Death:

Gay pirates. Non-binary pirates. New Zealand accents on characters that are definitely not meant to be from New Zealand. What more could you want?

Vico Ortiz, who is non-binary, apparently cried when they read the script because the writers (three of whom are also non-binary) had taken such care to create space for the non-binary character, Jim. You can honestly feel that care when watching the show.

The Last of Us:

I’m sorry. I’m not a gamer and don’t know anything about the game, but every time I yell at my gamer friend who made me watch the show for making me watch it, they just laugh knowingly and say it's only getting worse. So I’m sorry, but yeah, you should still watch it. 

[cora-writes-things]

WLW media plans <3 early 2023 edition

You may have seen my first edition of this post; now that 2023 has begun in earnest, let’s see where I’m at!

Media I’m currently in the middle of consuming:

The 100 (I know that I said that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to watch this show cuz I’m tired of tragic wlw, but a friend suggested we watch it together, so here I am)

Clear and Muddy Loss of Love (an AMAZING web-novel!!! I can’t stop reading it! Clear and Muddy Loss of Love, original title 泾渭情殇 (Jīng wèi qíng shāng or JWQS), is a Chinese GL web-novel by Please Don’t Laugh (请君莫笑). Read and buy the original here (here’s a guide on how to use JJWXC so you can support the author), and the English translation by melts (@meltesh28 on Tumblr / @meltsmelts on Twitter) can be found here (thank you so much for your hard work, melts!))

Nevertheless (solely for the crumbs of Sol/Ji-wan content, and you know what? It’s been worth it, even if the main male lead, Park Jae-eon, makes me want to throw my laptop across the room. Seriously, JAE-EON SUCKS SO BAD. NA-BI, WHAT ARE YOU DOIIIING. DO-HYEOK IS RIGHT. THERE!!!)

Warrior Nun (I started watching this show both because it has wlw AND because Alba Baptista is so gorgeous that I can’t stop looking at her. So disappointing that it was canceled recently :()

Media I plan to start (or continue) consuming:

A League of Their Own (for the canon wlw AND all the wlw vibes)

Arcane: League of Legends (I’ve seen enough gifs and fanart for Caitlyn/Vi that I ship it and haven’t even watched the show yet)

Batwoman (for the canon wlw AND all the wlw vibes)

Black Lightning (ditto)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS was available on Amazon Prime for a while but is now on Hulu, so I don’t have access to it at the moment)

The Expanse (I’m taking a break from watching the show to read the books, but I’m also consuming a lot of other media at the moment, so I don’t know when I’ll get back to it)

The Half of It (the premise sounds so freaking relatable I can’t wait to feel some type of way about the constant sapphic pining I experienced in high school & didn’t even know about at the time because of comphet yay)

The Handmaiden (I’ve been trying to get into more international media lately, as you can see by some of the other pieces of media in this post, and this movie looks too good to pass up)

Killing Eve (up to the finale but stopping before the end cuz my queer little heart can’t take YET MORE bury your gays in the year of our lord 2023. also the book series. maybe)

The Legend of Korra (once I finish ATLA)

The Owl House (currently waiting for the next episode. Also, I’m still so mad this show was canceled by Disney >:()

Paper Girls (science fiction combined with middle-grade fiction and queer characters? Sign me up!)

Sense8 (for the queer vibes in general)

The Wilds (for the canon wlw AND all the wlw vibes)

Yellowjackets (ditto)

Media I might consume but haven’t decided yet:

Huge shout-out to @femslashrevolution (abbreviated as F.R. in this post from now on) for introducing me to a lot of these pieces of media with active-ish wlw fandoms through their reblogs!

Astrid & Lilly Save the World (I don’t know much about it, but the gifs reblogged by F.R. look promising)

Harlem (I’ve heard mixed reviews about the wlw representation in this show, but there’s also a distinct lack of black queer shows out there, so I’m considering trying it out anyway)

House of the Dragon (partially because I haven’t finished GOT yet, but also because I don’t want my heart to be broken by the tragedy)

I Know What You Did Last Summer (this show doesn’t have the best reviews, but the actresses in it are so pretty that I might watch it anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Kevin Can F*** Himself (seems like an interesting premise, I just don’t know if I’ll personally enjoy the show itself or not)

Legends of Tomorrow (Idk what it’s even about tbh, I’ve just seen a lot of wlw-centric and wlw-adjacent gifs reblogged by F.R.)

Lost Girl (it's included on a lot of rec lists of wlw shows, I just don’t know if I’ll actually find it interesting)

Once Upon A Time (a classic wlw fandom, but Idk if I’ll find it interesting enough to actually watch it)

Orange is the New Black (ditto)

Orphan Black (ditto)

Runaways (ditto)

Supergirl (ditto)

Willow (Idk what it’s even about tbh, I’ve just seen some cute wlw gifs reblogged by F.R. recently, so why not?)

Media I've already finished consuming:

Couple of Mirrors (SO GOOD!!! A (sadly heavily censored, but still very well-done) GL-based Chinese drama that is slated to get a second season depending on the support, so please go watch and support it! It also has a manhua (read the original here and the English summaries here))

First Kill (campy with pretty horrid music choices, but I still enjoyed the watching experience even though the show was kinda bad. Who doesn’t like a little bit of camp every now and again?)

Girlfriend Project Day 1 (cute, short little fake dating GL K-drama that is slated to get a second season if they can raise the funds for it! Watch it here)

More than or Equal to 75 Celsius (≥75°C) (short GL K-drama, very aesthetic, and the actresses are beautiful! Watch it here)

Zero Photography (short spin-off GL Thai drama that features Ink & Pa from the bigger BL series Bad Buddy. Definitely worth the watch!)

Have I missed any must-watch/must-read/must-consume pieces of wlw or wlw-adjacent media that y’all love? Please let me know in the reblogs and give me your recommendations!

[thegaycat]

young royals season 3 wishlist <3

bc i am too excited for s3 and need to collect my thoughts 🥞 ok some of the thoughts are not mine but i agreed and put them on my list anyway :)

and also i 100% wander off topic but its okay ive decided. okay lets go

wille peeling an orange for simon while studying (@littlebabywille said it first)

wille listening to simon singing and playing to the piano (like marcus did in s2ep1 except with consent bc sneaking up on people in their own room is not cool esp if you dont even know them <3<3) (@irenes-diary said that first)

simon singing and wille playing the piano 👀 (@rndm-fandoms)

a third ELIAS song, maybe about true love or something

on the topic of true love, wilmon endgame please??? that will happen right?? she wont keep them apart? if wilmon is not endgame it better still be a happy ending

seeing studenten, august and nils and vincent and the third years graduating epic hillerska style

the queen getting a better understanding of simon and wilhelms relationship

scenes with her and simon, maybe awkward but with possibility of a better relationship in the future??

kristina trying to be a better mom

simon allowing himself to be vunerable and sadfeely, and letting wille comfort him

more rosh and ayub bc i love them <3<3

some erik processing maybe .....

a glimpse of how felice and her mother's relationship is going, how is she taking it that felice is rebelling against her

i wanna know what happened to russeau!! like does august sell it back somehow? does he keep it at Årnäs or maybe at the Hillerska stables? does Sara accept it? bc it is still her horse like emotionally? she must realise that even tho its a (kinda desperate) gift from august the horse will have the best life with her at Hillerska

okay another yr3 wish is for fredrika to realise that stella is in love with her and maybe also realise that it is mutual??? lesbians yes please :)

also more henry development and also him being funny. maybe some more walty crumbs too

summer fits :)

vincent being an asshole because it is so fucking funny like the way he says things <3 he's a bully but its funny it. hes so tired of the rowing team being incompetent. <3

Also someone mentioned his necklace and i dont realistically think we will get a background for that but the little sister hc is very cute and i like it

more of these new queer side characters being queer bc casual representation is always good and nice and makes little bi me very happy

also on the topic of bi, wilhelm remaining unlabelled because i think he is, and also it is so important to show that it is okay to be unlabelled <3 :)

also the choir singing in church again

and wille listening happily and also staring at simon as usual

ooh maybe the spotify extra verse of simons song is written in season 3 👀

i am worried about the police and drugs and sara and the video buttttt maybe all this could bring back micke and also we can see more of the erikson family

how the hell are simon and sara going to live in the same house

linda being a good mom and wille and simon hanging out with her maybe like in s1e6 playing games or just eating dinner or something

just .. wille in simons home

and simon in willes home <3<3

rowing on the actual lake and someone falling into the water bc that would be very funny and i need that actually

some sort of end to august like maybe therapy or jail

most of all i just want simon and wilhelm to actually be a couple and go trough all the shit coming their way together

[tequiilasunriise]

Alright, so I just made a Wenclair post but imma make another one right now because oh my LORD I just saw the fandom breaking reviews, so sit down and grab a snack because it’s rambling time.

I see that many of you are discouraged from the prospect of Wenclair not being canon, this is understandable as I myself am really invested in these two. Hopefully this goes without saying, but NO ONE should hate on the show, the actors, etc etc. I refuse to let such toxicity run through this fandom. Like, this is just reviews for the first season. Please, I really, really don’t want a repeat of the Voltron fandom and cries of queerbaiting (and I wasn’t even remotely near being part of the Voltron fandom! It just got THAT bad that even I knew of its notorious reputation). Again, the show isn’t even out yet. Who’s to say Hunter going ‘fighting for Wenclair’ didn’t mean the course of their relationship in future seasons? We only have information on a first season that isn’t even out yet, so please, calm down on any hate and queerbaiting accusations.

That being said- y’all telling me you’re not buckled down for a slow burn? Wednesday is a character who needs a LOT of time and effort to build trust with on a romantic relationship level, so getting Wenclair all in one season would have been cool or whatever, but it also would’ve been pretty OOC since season one has confirmed only 8 episodes. On the flipside, the payoff of Wenclair’s growing friendship, that blooming trust, the eventual deep bond between them that not even Wednesday herself can deny? Is that not peak sapphic experience? Frenemies to begrudging allies to ‘I find your existence… not the worst’ ‘ppfft, thanks, Addams’ to friends to friends who would murder fer each other to ‘you are the sun that burns and enchants me, I hope this drought lasts a lifetime’. LIKE C’MON??? THE FLAVOR?? Don’t give up on Wenclair just yet y’all. (That being said, the line about droughts should be in a fanfic so imma mark that down fer later.)

And like, I think this next point is the most important thing to note. We all acknowledged our love for Wenclair as a delusion, ever since the beginning we knew we were pulling crumbs and making silly little headcanons. Yes, I would love if Wenclair became canon. Would I stop shipping it if it never does, though? Let’s see, I am a veteran Whiterose shipper of several years. Those two barely had a conversation in the entirety of Volume 8 and I am STILL willing to die on this hill fer them. I am a Lightcannon enjoyer despite the next to NOTHING crumbs in the entirety of their respective existences. Oh, you would not believe how many rarepairs I hold dear in the Pokémon world. The list goes on and on and on. Canon is cool and all but I hoard my random ships like a dragon of ye olde. Just look at what we, the OG Wenclair Warriors, made with just a few trailers and interviews and random instagram comments. The lovely art, the heart wrenching fanfics, the god tier headcanons. I dunno bout yall, but I’m not ready to give that all up just because canon said ‘mmmm no’. If no one got me, ao3 got me.

Trust me, I am well-aware the importance of good representation and I’m not saying you can’t be disappointed over this. What I am saying, however, is that you shouldn’t always let canon 100% dictate how you’re going to consume and enjoy a piece of media. So what if Wenclair isn’t canon? Their dynamic is AMAZING and nothing can take that away from me. There’s still potential and writing room for future seasons, and to that I say buckle down homies, we in it fer a long time and a good time.

[jaskiersbard]

I’m going to be so immeasurably pissed off if Secrets of Dumbledore was the last Fantastic Beasts film because of a multitude of reasons, but especially:

Autistic!Newt: autism is rarely portrayed in the media, and when it is, 99.9% of the time it’s in a negative way or as some kind of saviour p0rn stuff. Newt Scamander is not only a positive (AND CANON!) representation of autism, it’s the only one in a major franchise such as the Wizarding World, and he’s the main hero to boot. Cancelling the remaining films means we don’t get a full franchise with an autistic hero, which would suck so hard. As an autistic person, I really want to see more of Newt and am beyond thankful for how Eddie has clearly done his research and played Newt so beautifully and respectfully.

Newtina: Even putting aside the fact I’m a Newtina shipper, it would be awful if we don’t get the remaining two films to show how Newt and Tina ended up married with great grandkids and living in Dorset in their 120s. Not being funny but all the side couples have had their time to shine: Jacob and Queenie are now married, and Grindelwald/Dumbledore’s blood pact thing is solved, although yes, there’s also the duel but still, it definitely felt like there was closure of some kind to the romantic side of their story in SoD. Newt is the main character and Tina is (supposed to be, fuck you JK/WB) the female lead as well as his canon love interest/future wife. It’s just stupid to tease them in the first movie and not give any kind of closure or progress to their relationship beyond the literal crumbs in the following two films. It’s long past overdue to let Newt and Tina have some focus and to give Jacob/Queenie / other couples a more background role.

Tina Goldstein: What they’ve done with Tina’s character is disgusting. “She’s busy” - fuck off with your lame excuse for her absence in this film. It’s so painfully obvious Katherine was cut because she spoke out about JKR - and if it’s not that, she’s certainly had a huge falling out with JK/WB because she has done zero promotion for SoD beyond turning up at the London premiere specifically just for the fans (as shown by the hours she spent taking photos and signing stuff, which btw I witnessed in person! I was there!), and when she posted a picture of herself at the premiere, she didn’t mention the film, just shouted out her make up and hair people. She’s supposed to be the main female character, and they’ve delegated her to little more than a cameo. As a Tina fan, it really hurts to see because she’s the reason I fell in love with the first film because I saw myself in her character. I want the last two films just so that Warner Bros can give her character the development she deserves because apart from the first film, her only role in CoG and SoD has been reduced to 1) to be mad at Newt, 2) to go after Credence and then have that plot line dropped, and 3) to turn up at a wedding.

Other Characters: I want to see more of Lally because I fucking adore her! She’s probably my favourite female character after Tina! I want more of Theseus, and more of the Scamander brothers relationship! What happened to Nagini? I want to see more Jacob too, more Queenie, more Yusuf, and I even can’t wait to see any new characters that might appear! (They can keep Bunty tho lmfao her and her actress are trash - and yes, I am allowed to say that because I witnessed VY being shit in person so yeah fuck her)

The Beasts: Umm, hello??? Warner Bros are really going to deny us more of Teddy the Niffler??? More of Pickett??? The Baby Nifflers??? I want to see more Mooncalves, more Fwoopers, more magical creatures! The series is literally called “Fantastic Beasts”, can we PLEASE have more beasts???

The Cast: I just love so many of our cast and miss the days where they seemed to be enthusiastic about the franchise - now the only ones who seem excited anymore are Eddie and Mads (and VY but like I said she’s stuck up so f*ck her) I miss seeing Eddie and Katherine on screen together, I miss the Fantastic Foursome of Eddie/Katherine/Dan/Alison on-screen together. I want to see more of Mads as Grindelwald despite the controversy surrounding his casting. I love Callum and Jessica and Jude, and want to see more of them.

[juneviews]

For the drama ask: 7, 12 and 13

7. if you could change the ending of a drama which one would it be?

oof, there's so many! let me choose a drama that I actually loved bc one that I don't is kind of the easy way out lol. I'd change the ending of 3 will be free so ter isn't killed & mae's trauma isn't provoked just so she can rescue the main three characters. I'd have shin kill his father bc it's much more meaningful & powerful this way, and I'd also have him move permanently on the island with mew & neo instead of going back and forth. also mae & ter would leave the country and heal peacefully together :)

12. an actor/actress you want to see in a lead role

what a loaded question! I'll get it out of my system, yes of course I want to see off in a main role in a show that isn't bl, isn't an ensemble cast & is actually good bc all of his non offgun related roles never take off & it's pissing me off lol.

the next obvious choice is mond, but this one I honestly feel even more strongly about bc this man is literally one of the most beautiful men on earth AND talented as fuck & he literally gets nothing but crumbs from gmmtv.

lay talay bc he's kinda dropped off the surface of the earth lately & I think that's a crime, my dream would be for him to join gmmtv even though I doubt they'd give him a main role, but at least I'd get to see more of him :(

give drake a new main bl please, I can't believe he ate the most ever in my tee yet bc the writing of it was shit it flopped & since then he's gotten no other good role ever, like... fucking rude 😠

fluke pusit bc he's literally so fucking good I love him, and if he got a main bl role he'd 100% become huge, I can feel it!

lastly for the actors or we'll be here forever, we have earth pirapat & first, who are both actors I've loved for a long ass time but I've kinda lost some interest for once they became caged into their current ships. I like both ships, especially firstkhao, but I feel like since getting with their ships they've completely lost their identity as individual actors, and in my opinion it's a generalized problem with the new generation of gmmtv ships, but it especially bothers me for first & earth bc I KNOW how amazing they are & feel they could do both ship work AND slay some individual works.

as for the actresses, we all know they're all so fucking underrated & I stan literally every single one of them, but also bc there's much less of them than male actors, they often get main roles more easily, so I don't have as many to mention.

firstly there is jennie, who is always put in side roles but would actually SLAY a good romcom! also it would be incredible representation to have a romance with a trans woman who's not played by a cis actress (*cough* the fallen leaf I'm looking at you *cough*)

then there's ciize who just deserves the spotlight imo. she's adorable, seasoned & a good actress, and I think she'd make for a very new type of female lead in dramas that I'd really love to see!

lastly there's the love of my life, lookjun. technically she got a main lead in the jungle which gives me hope for the future, but it was an ensemble cast show so it doesn't count. I want her in a full show bc I think she's amazing & has the charisma to carry it!!! (also pls she's literally had 3 wlw side ships now GIVE HER A GL!!!)

13. popular actor/actress you feel nothing for 

literally almost all of them LMAO. I'm not a big fan of zee & nunew, I don't really like jimmy from gmmtv for some reason, I don't like mew & gulf AT ALL for obvious reasons & I don't care for mile & apo bc I didn't watch their show. there's many more but those were out of the top of my head.

xxx

participate in the ask game :)

[age-of-moonknight]

hi! hope you're doing well. i got a question for you about the what if with marc's funeral, if that's okay, and please let me know if i'm missing the mark or overstepping in any way. as a jewish guy, seeing a non-jewish funeral kinda felt bad to me. like marc was already buried, no one who loved him or knew him participated in the burial, and yes the heroes wore their gear instead of traditional mourning clothing, but putting a star of david on the tombstone felt like an afterthought. marlene's 'may your memory be a blessing' was nice, seeing gena and the kids and crawly was like yes those are his people! but overall idk the setup and eulogy wasn't working for me. tldr my question is, what's your take on marc's funeral?

Hey! Thanks for stopping by! I guess before I say anything I should preface this by mentioning that I’m honestly just some dude on the internet and I really shouldn’t be considered an authority on anything. I’ve just read an unfortunately large number of comics and while I do dedicate a lot of time to learning as much as I can about anything, I definitely shouldn’t be considered an expert on matters as richly complex and integral to people’s very identities as religion or culture. In other words, I definitely appreciate you starting this conversation, but I really can’t offer anything more than a personal opinion that everyone should just take with a grain of salt.

But!!! thank you for sending this message, because, yeah, I realize that sometimes I can get so swept up in any writer even acknowledging that Marc is Jewish that I forget that, “oh yeah, this could be better and we should be well past the age where we had to hope for even the barest crumbs of representation.”

Accordingly, I fully see where you’re coming from and you’re probably right in that there was more the writer could have done. Even as I write that though, I can already hear the long list of excuses that could be made by devil’s advocates about why Marc’s funeral in What If…? Dark: Moon Knight was presented as it was. Most probably could be pretty easily refuted by anyone that wants better from the comic industry, but, hey, that’s comics: they thrive on intense, impassioned reader discussion and can somehow be ahead of their time in terms of cultural sensitivity AND painfully slow in breaking out of some really poor ways of depicting cultures, races, and religions.

[Putting in a read more because this got a little long (sorry all, mea culpa)]

But yeah, some of those excuses I can imagine include, first among them, space limitations. The creators had one page to depict the funeral in the single issue allotted to telling Marlene’s story of becoming Luminary. People could easily say something offhand and questionable like, “oh yeah, Marc’s mom sat shiva, but it all happened off panel,” but that explanation always feels a little cheap to me, as I know for fact that comic artists can get very creative with how they format a page to include critical information, but, eh, there it is.

Some people in these situations sometimes bring up the point that authors that share a background with the characters they depict can approach matters with a good understanding of what’s appropriate/significant. I can see the validity of that approach, but from the (admittedly brief) research I did, I haven’t found any conclusive statements on the writer’s background at least and I personally would rather not make any assumptions/speculations. (Again, that’s strictly a personal thing, because in my line of work, I come across a lot of bad actors who, from their perspective, “““accuse””” people of being certain races or ethnic backgrounds and I am,,,,very tired). Plus, that’s not necessarily a cure all, at least that’s what I’ve gathered from the heated debates on Bemis’ Moon Knight run that I still stumble upon on occasion.

The next thing that comes to mind, well, I don’t want to sound like I’m entirely absolving the creators since, sure, they probably could have done more, but I’m so used to grappling with the bad hands comic books deal me, that sometimes I propose what I guess could be referred to as Watsonian interpretations??? Like, yeah, this was ultimately written like this because creators are flawed, but I cope by trying to puzzle out in-universe explanations. In this case, I see this as potentially being some sort of hazy, not quite well constructed, reflection of Marc’s complex relationship with his background that characterized his adult life. Elias Spector, who frequently represents Marc’s connection to his past and how he wrestles with really complex questions of religion and identity, is dead by this point of time in both of Marc’s established origins, and while I am sure the organizers of Marc’s funeral, like Marlene and Frenchie, fully and deeply loved him, I’m just not sure if Marc ever communicated to them what they should specifically do for his funeral (fully traditional or as small/nondescript as possible if he even thought he deserved/would get a funeral), as enigmatic and….not always forthcoming in discussing such matters Marc circa Marc Spector: Moon Knight was, so they did their best.

But gosh, even as I write that out, that’s such a load of copium. I’ll admit that my fondness for the comic book genre results in me desperately trying to hammer something worthwhile out of sometimes (or frequently????) mediocre material, so thanks again for sharing your thoughts! You are well and away within your rights to not be satisfied with how the matter was handled and I know I thoroughly appreciate your critical eye. Arguably, it is only by such a capacity for critique that the industry will ever shake off some of its worst aspects that still haunt it and evolve into something really consistently worthwhile.

[confessions-official]

"Aroaces can still be in a relationship!!!"

Well yes but what about us who dont want to be?

People shipping aroace characters and saying that feels like they're saying it as an excuse. Our representation is already few to nonexistent and the ones that exist get into a relationship at the end of the damn show.

Its like they're still unable to comprehend that theres aroaces that just do not want them. And having an aroace representation exists so they (showrunner/ author) can """fix""" us

The tiniest crumbs of bread that are unapologetically arcoace with no desire of relationships gets shipped by everyone in the fandom

Aroace representation is already so few and fat inbetween we fight each other for it and its sad.

And then theres queerplatonic relationships that run so deep.... Gets turned to and/or misrepresented as romantic or sexual. "Theres no POSSIBLE way these 2 are 'just friends'"

Its tiring. Im tired. Please shut up.

 

[killjoy-prince]

what's your opinion on cyberpunk dead boy as a song?

I enjoyed it a lot!! At first, I watched the MV without looking up the lyrics and really liked how it got me like pumped up. The instrumentals goes off hard! Rui's high notes were great, Nene and Emu were perfect as usual, Rin's tuning was great and Tsukasa ate and left no crumbs. I know this is a Rui song but Daisuke Hirose's growl about two minutes and twenty seconds in and his solo part were really fucking good. The vibes felt like something I'd hear in a VBS commission but the groups aren't tied down to one specific type of genre so I was cool with it.

But then, I watched a video with the lyrics and I was like oh bc from what I gathered, the lyrics were about like how songs nowadays are only about being catchy for the views. Nothing is genuine. Nothing is awkward. It's just catchy mediocre noise that gets used on social media. It gets likes and clicks and money but there's nothing beyond what you hear. The priority for making music has been warped to be about those likes and clicks and cash instead of creating for creation's sake. Creating something meaningful. Creators having to resort to making catchy nonsense instead of what they want to make because no one will look twice otherwise.

The robotic voice the plays throught the song (could be a representation of the algorithm or the public) saying "The song can't be used. Please try again." or "The song can't be used. Please listen to pop and hit songs and try again." And the response from the group being "I don't understand!" And "Bullshit!" Because we shouldn't be afraid to make what we wanna make. To have to hide ourselves and not be genuine.

Ngl, was not expecting this from a wxs commission. And I'll be upfront, I have not read this event story yet but hearing this song makes me wonder what the hell happened in it for the producer of this song to make this song to go with it. I know the producers who get commissioned only get a summary of the event to have something to go off on when making the songs so they didnt know everything but I wonder what did they see that had them make a song that can tie in to our current climate.

Sorry for the ramble but tl;dr i like the song a lot. I do like the instrumentals, the vocals are great, especially from Tsukasa and the lyrics were not what I was expecting from a wxs commission but very cool

[wallflowercrow]

Some thoughts on Kanej this season (Spoilers!!)

First of all: I loved Kanej in this season. I understand that a lot of fans didn’t like that so many events from Crooked Kingdom were adpated but I personally see the show as an AU that freely includes scenes from the books. I, personally, can live with that because I think they really got the character dynamics . Kanej is still a slow burn and I love it.

They showed how Kaz tries to come close and then pushes her away. They showed Inej having hopes about them but tries to supress them to not get hurt. They both have their armors up and they will need so much time to figure that out.

That dream sequence with Inej realising that it could not be real… that broke my heart. Because she wanted it to be real so badly. And also, the way Freddy and Amita acted in the „I will have you without armour“ scene… my heart. You saw how much they want each other but can not be together yet.

But Inej knows what she deserves and I love that. It hurts to be pushed away all the time. For me it totally makes sense that she leaves at the end of the season (even if it doesn’t have the huge impact it has in the books, imo) and she will not settle for his crumbs.

However, I didn’t like the Tolya/ Inej moment. Not only because Kanej is the one and only for me but also because I am scared now. Will they ignore Inejs trauma over that? Like, it makes sense that she might enjoy some affection/ attention that Kaz is not able to give her yet. And a Tolya/ Inej dynamic would also be interesting to explore (in a friendship way HAHA) because I think they have a lot in common (and Tolya is an amazing character. Really, I love him). But I don’t want a love triangle, not with Kanej and not with Tolya, who is implied to be aroace in the books. And with Inej having flashbacks because of hugs or scents in the books, I really don’t see her just flirting with a guy she barely knows and everthing is fine and easy about that.

Aside from that I don’t want Inej to be focused on another man right now. The whole point of her going away is to be her own person and about her purpose.  Not her being focused on another possible romance thing (even if it is just flirting / teasing which I think it will be. Because, I mean, who gets in the way of KANEJ?!). Anyway, if they do that I hope they use it as a chance to explore Inejs trauma more deeply and for her to realize that she also has a lot of healing to do. That could be a possibility.

I also don’t want Kaz to be motivated by jealousy. Everthing he does for her is about setting her free, about her happiness.  At the end of the season it is heavily implied he wants to fight for her. Please don’t throw that away and make it about his ego.

Well, we will see what will happen for them (if we get another season and / or a spin-off). I don’t think they will throw away Kanej over that. I am just worried about this being an unnecessary subplot that will not do any justice to the characters. (Not that Tolya wouldn’t treat Inej very well, like he would. But still. I don’t want the Kanej dynamic to be ruined. They just mean too much to me. And I would also be happy about some ace representation.)

(Sorry, for the chaotic thoughts and also, English is not my mother tongue xD But I would love to hear your toughts about that! 😊)

[redundantharpoons]

Some thoughts on ALotO

I still have a couple eps left but ALoTO is already so dear to me because virtually everyone is some form of queer representation and that’s such a thing to cherish.

When I was quite young, the only queer representation on TV was Xena (which don’t get me wrong, it is amazing). Progress has been made in some ways, now people can actually be gay characters instead of doing “water transfers” but so many shows have a token gay character or perhaps a secondary gay character with a small relationship subplot for us gays to latch onto and hope to see in each episode.

I watched the US version of QaF growing up (my stepfather walked in on me when I was maybe 14 watching it in one of the many, many M/M sex scenes and he banned me from watching it [he’s not homophobic, it was just because I was young]) but even then the only WLW plot was crumbs and their plot is incredibly full of overdone tropes. I also watched the much worse show, The L Word, when it came out. But these shows were never, to me, representation. Because the people weren’t relatable, they didn’t seem human, their plots and storylines were either tired and boring or outrageous and out of touch with just us average dykes living our average lives.

The ALotO is so unique to me because it tells many different stories, each one relatable in its own way, each one seeming important and authentic to the show and to the characters and to me.

And I’ve been thinking today about what is so interesting to me about this. It’s that I keep thinking “Is this how The Straights feel? Seeing a show when every relationship looks like one they might find themselves in? When every character reflects some deep aspect of their existence in some way?”

ALotO has really driven home to me how horrendously inadequate “queer representation” has been for so long, how starved we are for true, authentic queer content that reflects relatable people and stories.

But it also scares me, because I worry that non-WLW audiences will, for the most part, thus find nothing relatable in the show and it won’t be a general success despite being huge in the WLW community. Because we, I think, need shows like this to shine and to do well. Please, if you haven’t already seen ALotO, watch it. Talk about it. Give it positive reviews if you feel it deserves them. Please support this wonderful show so that creators see we’re out here and we want more of all types of shows with authentic queerness.

[lovecolibri]

#and I just think if you keep praising a show for feeding you crumbs and telling everyone to shut up and be grateful for what you get

#then the show will just....keep doing the literal least amount possible just because they can

Lolll if I could reblog this 1000 times I would 💯 ppl should start demand BETTER from showrunners. It is not a crime to criticize a show for narrative plot holes!

Remember when Buck/Chim never had a follow up convo after the punch? Yeah, we need those resolutions on screen

Look, I get that shows are never going to be able to please everyone! It's just NOT possible and I think it takes some guts to stick to the story you want to tell. But also, these people are not writing fanfic for free and then getting ragged on. They are being paid to tell a story that people will tune in to see. And sometimes, something will come up with a plotline or actor chemistry that no one was expecting! You hear published authors talk about it all the time that this is where the story wanted to go, and I had other plans, but this was what needed to happen to stay true to the story and characters. (or they admit they had to go back and change something because there wasn't a way to get the resolution they wanted so to change the outcome, they had to change the set up.) But there are a lot of showrunners who are more interested in checking things off their "this is the drama/storylines I want to do" list without taking any of the characters into account and forcing them into fitting the story instead of allowing the characters to drive the plots. And that's what gets to me, is that they can have solid gold in their hands, that they themselves made, and be like, "well I didn't think of it that way first, so now I'm not gonna do it!" like they're 5. And once they know something is happening, some would rather wreck their show/movie/storytelling/characters, rather than continue doing something the audience picked up on that they maybe didn't realize they were doing. (Or, like some media obsessed with spoiler culture does, change everything because people guessed a "twist" from the clues they were given which is...actually the point?!?!)

But to me it's worse when people try to justify it because then the creators KNOW they can get away with it being shitty and people are SO starved for representation and for being right about a thing this time, that they will accept the absolute bare minimum because it's better than nothing. More diversity and representation all around, all the time, always.

Also, this show in particular has been super bad about having things happen on screen because the showrunner clearly thinks those things are not important (see, the two major scenes her boss said she had to include in 4x14 that she didn't think were needed) and has said herself that she struggles to write plots and fill a whole episode. (RIP to the "there isn't enough time to show everything" folks, turns out she just doesn't think things are important to show OR talk about, and adds filler because she doesn't know what else to do!)

[cryoexorcist]

randomly super upset over how underrated and underused chongyun is in the game. the most we ever see of him is in his hangout event. even in festivals he’s a side character rather than anyone you actually get to talk to.

it’s so frustrating to look for fanart and memes and anything of him only to see pages upon pages of chongyun with xingqiu, because there’s so little representation that i think people just settle for what they were given and don’t bother branching out.

with his backstory, there’s so much you can do with chongyun. we could get more information on his family/clan. we could see his relationship with the adepti and how they like the pure yang energy. his relationship/feelings for the fatui even!

hell, i’d even love to see more of his relationship with the traveler! the traveler helped him out in a HUGE way, and their friendship deserves a lot more credit than just some background lore in a hangout.

i got so unreasonably angry during the most recent event, because so many people wanted to see chongyun there. i saw people actually complaining that xingqiu is allowed to have a life outside of chongyun, and. that’s not the actual point? we’re not asking for the pair to be glued at the hip, we’re asking for the devs to actually put chongyun in the game. it feels massively unfair to those of us who enjoy chongyun, we actually want to see myh use the guy for once, for any reason, instead of just giving us crumbs. i mean ffs, he doesn’t even have his own trailer, he was in shenhe’s feature trailer.

let him build relationships with people outside of xingqiu and xiangling. let him actually talk to people, let us actually see what he’s capable of doing. let him grow up and develop an actual personality. let him EXIST.

more chongyun rep, please. it’s annoying and sad and AHHHH.

[springespronge]

I am once again asking you to not ship confirmed or heavily implied aro characters (unless you're aro yourself ofc). Please. Please.