#dave m

[crushed-to-deth]

[nobigneil]

"a vampire and a bear walk into a bar..."

[dailypepsicola]

DAY 10: did you miss me that much :B?

[mullomohiam]

Does this mean anything to you. You beasts

[ichayalovesyou]

Why Do Old-School TV Duos Have SUCH MLM Vibes?!

I think there’s something very specific about the formula and writing style of non-serialized/semi-serialized shows from the 60s to 80s that featured two grown men going on wacky dangerous adventures that makes my gay little literary analysis brain go absolutely off the wall bonkers. I’m trying to figure out why!

I’m writing this on my Trek blog because I don’t think this pattern in people actually shipping these types of relationships the way they do if fandom as we know it wasn’t born via TOS in syndication. That being said! I also think it has to do with the way these shows are designed that makes myself and others OBSESSED with a specific character dynamic that feels (to me) damn near impossible to replicate in modern television. In a way that’s more than just fandom, it’s in the way TV like this was written at the time!

Further explanation under the cut!

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

I think what it usually boils down to is this. There’s a charming protagonist whom without the series could not operate, frequently top billed or the title character! (See: Wild Wild West, Starsky & Hutch) BUT he doesn’t have anyone to play off of! So what do they do pretty much every single time? Give Mr. Idealized Vision of Time-Period Masculinity For Genre a second guy to rhyme with!

See but the other guy has to play opposite but parallel to our hypermasculine protagonist. So what frequently ends up happening is that in order to play off our “normal” guy, even though he’s also a white dude, is that he’s still somehow Other.

They’re always perfect for each other, and they always get into scenarios that would be written, shot and interpreted by conventional audiences as romantic IF either one of those characters were a woman! Especially at the time these shows were made in.

If the one is aggressive, the other is gentle. If the protagonist is violent, his counterpart is intellectual. If the one is stoic, the other is emotional. Which (while one size def doesn’t fit all) usually makes the second guy come off as much more queer-coded (and sometimes other minorities like neurodivergent/disabled etc) than the other because of the traits associated with masculinity vs gayness at the time! Our prime examples in these gifs are Spock, Hutch, Artemus, and also *BJ!

*(M*A*S*H is a bit of a unique case since the show flirts with queerness more openly in ways that people more into the series have explained better than me but I think it still fits the formula I’m discussing.)

Here’s the thing though right? We’ve got two best friends, and the show NEVER really feels right if one of them is missing unless the focus of the story is how A & B operate without each other while trying to find the other one. They stick with and rescue each other unfailingly in scenarios that might destroy a regular friendship.

Hell, there’s often stuff that would emotionally/physically destroy a regular person/character in modern media. But because it’s not serialized they always seem to pull through seemingly through the power of friendship alone or dealing with it off-screen! Emotional consequences? Yuck! (Unless it’s M*A*S*H or Starsky & Hutch, like I said, not monolithic)

Here’s the thing that some people might say throws a wrench into the interpretation I’m discussing. What about the absolutely non-stop parade of conventionally attractive women the main protagonist (and less frequently the supporting man) goes through?

I would reply: how many of those female characters actually emotionally impact our protagonists as characters long term?

The answer is of course, because it’s NOT serialized, almost none! Kirk can watch Edith Keeler get killed by a car accident and still be making eyes at Spock the next episode. Hawkeye can have a “life changing” romance with a Vietnamese humanitarian woman, then share a blanket with BJ next episode like she never existed!

The Doylist explanation of course is not just the fact it wasn’t serialized but also just, constant, blatant 20th century sexism. Which SUCKS!!! As well as not wanting a long term love interest to throw off the character dynamic of our duderagonists. It’s the 20th century tv equivalent of bros before hoes.

However the Watsonian explanation always seems to result in no love interest EVER being more important than what the two protagonists have no matter whether you think they’re queer or not. No attractive woman could make our reputed babe-hound protagonist abandon his buddy. There’s no earnest romance our more queer-coded supporting man doesn’t end (or get ended for him) often for the protagonist’s sake.

Now some of these women are incredibly well written and straight up GOOD matches for our guys. So why wouldn’t they get involved in something long term UNLESS!! They were in love with each other the WHOLE time?

What if protagonist (frequently the babe hound) doesnt know he’s queer, or knows but doesn’t know he’s in love with his bestie, or any number of similar fruity explanations? The supporting man also runs into this explanation but people tend to believe he’s already aware that he’s queer but either also doesn’t know he’s in love or is keeping it to himself because time-period homophobia and/or thinking (probably not unreasonably) that babe hound is straight?

Between the inherent closeness of being narrative foils. The regularly scheduled life or death drama creating sometimes insanely romantic (in the narrative if not a literal sense) drama between the two. The revolving door of weekly women they never seem to get attached to enough to leave one another. The non-serialized nature resulting in sparse personal information/history about the protagonists as a result.

I think between the very NATURE of the way tv shows were written at the time. Plus the way fandom was shaped by a dynamic that has rippled through how media works and is interpreted by fans for decades upon decades. It’s not hard to imagine getting really emotionally invested in the possibility of the protagonists being in love is a fantastic way to enjoy the media!

In conclusion, it’s really fun and easy to go “these bitches gay! Good for them good for them!”

[atomic-chronoscaph]

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - art by Dave Perillo (2013)

[chrisrin]

they're vibing!

[lokiusly]

Loki would’ve definitely gotten a job at the jet ski shop just to get closer to Mobius.

[eggwishing]

yaaayyya

[julianavalds]

"A wiser horse might have turned and run but I wanted to know what strange creatures were here."

SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (2002) dir. Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook

↳ requested by @thesparksbro

[runaa666]

can you please write something that involves sitting on dave's lap 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

I JUST KNOW that dave LOVES having your weight on top of him, while listening to you talk about your day and stroking your back and kissing you from time to time, he likes the feeling of looking up so he can watch you caress his cheek and hair. resting his head on your chest and clinging to you so tight that you can't get rid of his big arms so easily <3<3<3<3

nah cuz THIS dave (around 2000') with THIS request fits perfectly.

i feel like dave would be such a fan of you sitting on his lap, this man would constantly ask you to climb on top of him so he could wrap his big arms around you to be as close to you as possible, while the tip of his nose would wander all over the hollow of your neck and plant little kisses that would make a path to your lips, all this without taking his eyes off you <3

he just loves coming in from a day at the studio and patting his thigh so he can touch and cuddle you all he couldn't in all those hours he was away from home. for him having his girl on top while the two of you talk has become a routine. him circling your waist and you playing with his curls is a dopamine shot straight to his brain. even more so if he ends up with you in bed after his cock has gotten hard from the constant rubbing <33

[elusivehoney]

I.5/VI.6/VIII.5/XII.5 Rimmer's years long fixation with sticking things in Lister's butt.

[dailypepsicola]

DAY 14: hover hand

[wetsocksinbed]

filoni had to kill Tech because if Tech had been there he would have been like “M Count? That’s what Jedi have” and there would have been no Ventress arc. Sacrifices had to be made

[xagave]

I forgor to post the kids so here's beta kids dreamers :]

[jackkennedyirl]

drew. A buncha legacy jack ……and sad/terrified dave+(trap)…..