#heartstopper interview season two

[thequeereview]

Exclusive Interview: Heartstopper director Euros Lyn "we wanted to do something different with season two"

As the second season of hit series Heartstopper based on Alice Oseman’s bestselling graphic novels launches globally on Netflix this week, The Queer Review’s editor James Kleinmann speaks exclusively with its BAFTA-winning director Euros Lyn. In the opening episode, we’re reunited with new boyfriends in the midst of first love, Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor), the morning after Nick has…

[thisfeebleheart]

Exclusive Interview: Heartstopper director Euros Lyn “we wanted to do something different with season two”

[rebelcracker-s]

okay no because i am so fucking TIRED of male content creators using female friendship/"sisterhood" to discredit popular f/f ships??????

obviously this is about wenclair, OF COURSE THIS IS ABOUT WENCLAIR.

in case you weren't aware, wednesday co-creators miles millar and al gough just had an interview where they adressed the potential of wenclair being canon in season 2. millar started talking about the show's central "idea of sisterhood", of "exploring the friendship" in future seasons and not letting their vision get "misdirected by fans."

what the fuck. i know the title of the article linked says they're open to this relationship becoming romantic, but it really doesn't sound like that to me.

it's glaringly obvious that wenclair is FAR more popular than wenxavier and wentyler combined. a general majority of fans agree that the wednesday love triangle was lackluster and unnecessary. if the creators haven't decided on making wenclair canon, they're missing out on a massive opportunity to skyrocket the popularity of the show.

for an example of the popularity that wednesday could reach, let me remind you that the owl house, known for its canon f/f romance, reached second on tumblr's top 22 of 2022, after stranger things. lumity ranked number 7 on the ships list, being the second highest sapphic pairing on that list (the first being a stranger things pairing, of course).

if wednesday's creators committed to wenclair, they could be seeing popularity of that height. but no, they've decided that they want to "explore the friendship" instead.

how could these creators decide that representing "female sisterhood" is more important than sapphic representation, or more importantly, the show's popularity?

female friendships are NOWHERE near that rare that wednesday and enid's platonic relationship needs to be prioritized. if wednesday's creators wanted to show a sibling-esque relationship while also making wednesday and enid's relationship romantic, they could focus on wednesday's relationship with her brother pugsley or with eugene. hell, if they needed a female friendship, they could develop her relationship with bianca or create a new female character for wednesday to bond with.

this is not about female friendships at all. this is blatant homophobia.

there is ample room for female friendships in any piece of media. refusing to include a sapphic relationship because it interferes with the "friendship" or "sisterhood" of two characters (cough, cough, SOMAN CHAINANI) is just a horrible excuse to hide the fact that you're too lazy and homophobic to include sapphic representation.

which begs the question ... why are men in charge of these descisions at all?

men, ESPECIALLY straight men, have no right to be deciding the fates of female characters' sexualities and romance plotlines. they have absolutely no experience with what it means to be a queer woman in modern society. especially with the blatant bias against sapphic representation in media. while heartstopper, they both die at the end, and song of achilles are enjoying immense popularity due to their representation of m/m relationships, shows like the owl house and first kill are being axed just for their f/f representation.

there isn't just a demand for proper sapphic representation. there is a NEED. and it shouldn't be denied just because a man wants to focus on female friendships, something he doesn't know shit about.

[kruemel8]

Euros Lyn talks Heartstopper.

„One of my favourite scenes is the final scene of season two, where Charlie reveals some things about his life, the emotional scars that he bears from the bullying that he endured when he was first outed at school. You get a glimpse of the darkness of his soul, which Charlie has always hidden from Nick. He hides it from the world, he just wants everything to be perfect. Nick desperately wants to fix him because Nick loves him so much and he can’t bear to see the person he loves in pain, but there’s this thing that is just beyond reach. Nick probes and probes to try to get Charlie to open up and the two of them play it so beautifully with so much truth, which I can only imagine they found in their own lives some way, because they seem to know what that feeling is like and they can act it and represent it on screen with such veracity. It really took my breath away.”

[hawksredrobe]

this year i have watched for the first time:

hannibal

killing eve

what we do in the shadows

interview with the vampire show

(all within two months of each other)

and then loki

and i was a fan of good omens and our flag means death and heartstopper before but i watched those season two's as soon as they aired

i have truly collected them all

[shelbbswrites]

I love this whole interview with Joe Locke, but this bit especially.

"Locke is humbled and empowered by the response to the show. He’s particularly pleased that Heartstopper has been able to depict so many versions of queerness over two seasons. The series follows Nick’s path from a “full-on gay crisis” to comfort with his bisexuality, Elle’s joy as a trans girl, and many, many other perspectives on the queer spectrum (with more coming in Season 2).

“Especially at the moment with the huge anti-trans movement that’s pushing forward, it’s so important that we show trans people aren’t dangerous,” Locke said. “They’re just living and their existence doesn’t stop you existing.” 

For Locke, Heartstopper is simply doing its part to change the narrative about young people like himself and his cast members. “There’s this idea that teenagers don’t care,” he said. “But actually, I think that our generation is the most aware generation in a long time when it comes to caring about the issues of the world… because we’re the ones who are going to be cleaning up all the mess.”"

[denimbex1986]

'Doctor Who star Yasmin Finney has opened up about how the sci-fi series helped her “relive the family experience” after coming out as trans.

The 20-year-old actor catapulted to stardom this year after featuring in Heartstopper season two as trans teen Elle and the Doctor Who 60th anniversary opposite David Tennant as Donna Noble’s (Catherine Tate) daughter, Rose Noble.

Finney’s groundbreaking roles have pushed the envelope for trans representation in mainstream media and seen the trans trailblazer infuse her own life experiences into her characters. In “The Star Beast”, for example, a scene where Rose is deadnamed by high school bullies was cited by Finney as triggering her own “PTSD”.

Luckily, the Manchester-raised star has also drawn joy from the filming process. Much like Heartstopper, Doctor Who also holds chosen family at the heart of the show and never was that more clear than during Saturday (9 December) night’s 60th anniversary finale, “The Giggle”.

The dramatic one-hour episode, created by returning showrunner Russell T Davies, featured the highly-anticipated appearance of the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), but in a surprise twist, Tennant’s 14th Doctor also survived and decided to live with Donna and her family.

The end of the episode showed the Doctor sitting around the table with his new adopted family, where he endearingly calls Rose his niece. Finney reflected on why her makeshift Doctor Who family is so important to her in an interview with the Independent on Saturday (9 December).

“[The show] has given me the opportunity to be in a family – a very crazy family, but a family nonetheless,” she said.

“And I kind of lacked that with my family, we kind of parted ways once I transitioned: things got really complicated. So to be able to relive my family experience, especially with these amazing actors – it was a pinch-me moment.”...'

[lady-stardust-incarnate]

Just finished watching the red white and royal blue movie, here are my immediate thoughts:

1. Omg this movie actually made me so emotional, I didn't expect to cry, I don't cry at movies much but this one, for many reasons, really made me feel a lot of things. I can already tell it will be a huge comfort movie for me going forward and this is simply because of the incredible story that Casey Mcquinston created, the directing of Matthew Lopez, and the acting of Taylor Zakhar Perez, Nicolas Galitzine and many more. (If ANYONE wants to say they have no chemistry I will fight you)

2. The way that the relationship between Henry and Alex is shown is incredibly well conveyed and in a way which could be realistic. We see that sweet sweet enemies to lovers but even after they get together it continues to develop and their connection grows stronger into a special bond which we see at the end of the movie (no not the post credit scene, that was a lil silly, nice touch though). Also going off on a slight tangent here, one of my main complaints about heartstopper season 2 was that Nick and Charlie are always kissing/making out, I was worried that this would also be the case for rwrb, but it definately wasn't. I read so many articles on how the intimacy coordinator directed the two actors and how much they themselves researched into the role to really deliver their best performences. It definately paid off. I felt that there was a really nice balance between the really intimate scenes which we see a lot of in the book and sweet tender moments where they really show that these two characters really love each other and aren't just super horny.

3. The sets and the way they filmed the whole thing. yes. The main one I want to comment on is the iconic cake scene, which as I said, I read a lot of interviews, and from those I know that Matthew Lopez had a vision for this scene which he worked really hard to get perfect, and it had a really good turnout (I know I already mentioned it but I love the post credit scene so much). One of my favourite things was Matthew Lopez revealing that the birds eye shot of cake falling onto Alex and Henry was him and another crew member dumping cake into them, this isn't that relevant to my thoughts but I just found that detail hilarious as Lopez said it was a "good way to let off steam." Other than that scene, which for me was a very important part of the film, I don't really know much about the technical side of a production like this, but as a viewer it all came together nicely and the sets were nice.

4. A reason I really connect with this film is the fact that I am a queer teenager who has learned to accept themself, gone through the coming out process (somewhat, we don't talk about extended family). I absolutely love the positive representation that this movie gives to the queer community. For people who have not read the book, it is an incredible story, and for a lot of people it shows for the first time in media that LGBTQ+ people can have their happy ending, it won't be easy to get there but it is worth it in the end. While in reality we see this with queer couples a lot, the community has had to fight for their rights and are still in that process, in countries where it is legal it is still very common to be judged, attacked and even killed for your self expression. So for me this was a very fresh (even though I read the book) story for the community, to show that the battles are worth fighting for your happiness. As I touched on before, I think a reason that this works so well is that the characters are so relatable to the average viewer, despite their positions. The are made to be comedic and actually have banter like you'd expect, it's not uptight and only about the romance and spicy scenes. This is really comforting to so many people out there and it feels very appropriate with the world we live in now. I would say my favourite scene in the entire film was the v&a scene, it's so cute I don't know how else to put it, literally a romance dream. Sorry if that was my worst tangent yet, you can tell I'm passionate on the subject.

5. I just wanted to mention some of the other characters. Like a lot of people I was really disappointed to find out that characters such as June and Liam would not be in the movie, however I think this is made up for by the great portrayal of other characters, my favourite being Nora who, let's be real, is not only Alex and Henry's number 1 shipper, but also just gives the best advice. Everyone in this movie genuinely gave such a great performence and I can only thank the entire team for giving us the adaptation that the book deserves.

6. I'm giving the spicy scenes their own point to mainly say that they aren't even that spicy, I personally don't even see why this film was given an r rating and I believe, as many others have said, that if this film was a straight romcom then it wouldn't be given that rating. Yes you see them with clothes off, there's no dick, you only actually see them having sex once, the others are mainly foreplay, really nothing that explicit.

7. I thought I would also dedicate a point to the travesty that is certain quotes from the book that were not included, "you obtuse fucking asshole." "fucking eyelashes." and "Remus John Lupin is gay as the day is long." (ok they probably couldn't get copyright permission to add that one) "I'm gonna take your pants off now... yes good carry on." "for fucks sake man you just had my dick in your mouth, you can kiss me goodnight." and "what in the rich white people sex dungeon." I know that they probably didn't want the script to be a direct copy of this book but some of these quotes would've been nice, also I like that they atleast mentioned the PowerPoint, despite not having the actual PowerPoint.

I hope you enjoyed my overly formal review/thoughts on the rwrb movie which slowly got more deranged in the hour that I was writing this, I began writing this around 3:20am just after I finished the movie, and it's safe to say, I won't be coming back to this to correct any spelling or punctuation mistakes. Overall I love the film, as typical as it is for a romcom, I love the characters and I really like what they were able to do in the 2 hours of the film. Obviously it's never going to be a perfect adaptation but I loved every second of it nonetheless. It's cheesy, it's romantic, but that's what gives it it's charm and makes me love it so much. I'll be hoping for a series to futher explore the story but that'll probably stay in my delusions.

It is now 4:20am, goodnight (I'm not going to sleep, I'm just not being formal anymore)

[ms-moonlight-inn]

🥨Tag Game Wednesday🥨

Tranqed & tagged by the National Wildlife Association & @juliakayyy, @skylerwinchester, & @jrooc on this fine Wednesday.

name: super productive cutie patootie who's doing laundry on a school night 🤯

age: twice the hypotonus of purple divided by pi

star sign: taurus ♉ (born in the year of the dragon🐉; it's my year, y'all!)

your first language: English/Spanish

second language: Spanish/English (ok, that was snarky of me, I'm bilingual from the cradle)

favourite lip product: I used to use Maybelline Baby Lips tinted lip balm, but have recently stopped using it due to their continued use of palm oil. CoverGirl's tinted lip balm runs a close second. They've updated their policies on palm oil (though it's not perfect). I'm on the lookout for that "perfect" shade with the "perfect" ethical model.

the best food dish you can make without a recipe: Enchiladas & spanish rice. (The basic bitch, low rent version.)

If you drink tea, what kind? I like anything from Stash, especially the sweet n' spicy blend.

If you drink coffee, what roast do you usually get? I love a deep, dark roast. Something full-bodied & complex.

favourite thing to watch on youtube right now: Ugh... here's where I expose myself for the giant nerd that I am. I watch a lot of "facts" and "tutorials." So: plant videos, crochet tutorials, knitting tutorials, yoga videos, guided mantras, macrame/knot tying. Fuck, how embarasing.

favourite thing to watch on youtube in 2012: Oh, back then, it was probably music videos & dumb people narrowly avoiding death & people in other countries doing normal shit.

favourite item of clothing right now: This hoodie from LL Bean. I genuinely get upset when it gets too hot to wear it. It's on sale rn & I'm thinking of getting one in a different color. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Someone stop me!

favourite item of clothing in 2012: More than likely, it was my UC Irvine hoodie.

fandom

three movies you recommend: Green Street Hooligans, Rise of the Guardians, King of Staten Island

your favourite concert: The last one I went to was Foo Fighters, so that one?

have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion? No.

have you ever left a fandom because of the fans? No.

the best tv show you watched last year: Interview with the Vampire was good. Heartstopper was, too. Nothing has gutted me like Shameless.

do you have a fancasting you just can’t let go of? No.

a ship you’ve abandoned: Fangirls don't die, they evolve. No 'ship left behind.

on a scale of 1-10 how willing are you to share your ao3 history? Um, with who, prey tell? (pun intended)

do you have a fandom tattoo? (do you want one?) Not YET. Wifey won't let me get knuckle tats, so I have to get creartive.

what fandom do you wish was bigger? None, they are the exact size they need to be.

has a finale ever ruined a show for you? Swear to god, if we don't get one more season if OFMD. Also, we need a Shameless reunion and/or spinoff. That's all I'ma say about this topic.

have you…

swam in an ocean? Two of 'em.

ever been vegan/vegetarian? No, but I do enjoy going to vegan restaurants with my sister who is lacto-ovo.

gone skinny dipping? Yes, kinda.

gone skiing? No. I have always had shitty knees.

been to a convention? Yes, for work and fun. When I was in the industry, I used to go to health food conventions often. And I've been to NY Comicon twice. I almost went to a tattoo convention this year, but I got lazy. :-)

🥨🥨🥨

Check this shit out, I'm on time with this one! 🦚 I'm tagging @notherenewjersey, @mybrainismelted, @lingy910y, @francesrose3, @sleepyfacetoughguy with no pressure to play, as always. And anyone who wants to play!

[vrodo123]

Hey!

I absolutely adore Heartstopper! I am constantly thinking about it, and my mind makes up all these little stories that I´d like to share. Since I´m new here I don´t really know how this works, but I decided to just jump in and post the beginning of a story I wrote after finishing season 2. So this is set some time after. To the best of my knowledge it doesn´t contain any spoilers for upcoming season(s), since I haven´t read past volume 3. I tried to find out if Alice Oseman is okay with fanfiction about their characters. I didn´t find a definitive answer but the way she talks about fandoms in her interviews suggests to me that they are okay with it. I hope I´m not wrong. I am forever grateful to Alice for creating Heartstopper, and love delving into this universe!

Nick turns up at Charlie´s doorstep in the middle of the night after receiving a worrying text from him. Charlie´s Mom is anything but pleased to see him. Tori is the only one to grasp the seriousness of the situation. MENTION OF SELF HARM

One Night

1

Tori is woken up one night by the doorbell. As she gets up she hears the angry voice of her Mom. She also hears Nick´s voice. She can´t make out what he´s saying, but something in his voice tells her that he is worried sick. Hurriedly she puts on her bathrobe and rushes out of her room. In the hallway she bumps into her dad.

“Do you know what´s going on?” he asks her, eyes darting towards the front door. Tori can see the back of her Mom. Behind her she catches a glimpse of Nick´s ginger hair.

“I´m sorry, Mrs. Spring, I know it´s late, but...”

“It certainly is! And we´ve made it quite clear that there aren´t to be any sleepovers!”

“That´s not why I´m here!! If I could just...”

Nick tries to rush past her, but she is firmly blocking the way.

“Doesn´t sound good” Tori glances at her Dad as she fastens the belt on her bathrobe. “Jane, what´s going on?” her Dad asks, rushing towards the door, Tori in his wake. As he places a hand on Jane´s back he looks past her. Tori catches up with him, deeply concerned. Why would Nick be here this late? It´s not like him, he knows how strict Mom is. Something must have happened. She is shocked when she sees his face. His eyes are puffy, he´s panting heavily and he looks absolutely desperate.

“If I could just see Charlie...” Why is Charlie not already here? Tori wonders, her eyes darting nervously towards the stairs to her brother´s room. He must have heard something. Normally he would be rushing down the stairs if he heard Nick´s voice or just thought that he might be there.

“Nick, I don´t think this is a good time...” her Dad starts, but her Mom cuts him short.

“That´s putting it mildly!! I want you to leave!”

“But...”

“No ´But´!” “Jane, let him talk” her Dad tries. Tori looks at Nick, trying to make sense of it all. When their eyes meet she lets out a small gasp. He´s absolutely terrified. ´Charlie!´ she thinks. “Mom, let him in” she says in a shaky, but firm voice. Nick looks at her, his eyes softening a bit, a glimpse of hope on his face.

Jane darts around to look at Tori, still blocking the entry, her hand on the door, ready to shut it in Nick´s face. “Be quiet, Tori!” “Jane, for heaven´s sake!” Why is she reacting like this? I thought she started to accept him, even like him?

“Nick, what´s going on?” He takes out his phone and shows it to them. The message just reads “I´m sorry”

2

Her Dad stares at the message for a second, then looks at Nick. Tori can see the grave concern on his face slowly beginning to be mirrored by her Dad. Mr. Spring puts both hands on his wife´s shoulders and pulls her out of the way. “Thank you” Nick whispers, rushing past them and bolting up the stairs, taking two at a time. When he reaches Charlie´s door he raises his hand to knock, but stops suddenly. Tori and her Mom and Dad had been following him upstairs, adults arguing, Tori lost in concern and thought. When they reach Nick, she sees him standing there, his hand frozen in midair. His lips are trembling. He tries to muster up the courage to knock, but fails. He´s shivering. Tori steps forward and places a hand reassuringly on his back. She can feel him shaking. He loves him so much she thinks, a wave of gratitude for this boy washing over her. Her whole life she had been looking out for her younger brother, trying to shield him from the world, trying to ease his pain without knowing how. Here was this boy, who suddenly knew how. Who would help her take care of Charlie. Who would never stop caring. In this moment Nick Nelson became family.

With renewed determination he knocks softly. “Char?” Voice low, but firm. He waits a moment, then knocks again, this time louder. “Charlie, it´s me, open up!” Slight panic is creeping into his voice. Tori stares at the door. Any moment now. Any moment he will open the door and fly into his boyfriends arms, like he always does. The door doesn´t move. Tori feels panic welling up inside her. She looks around to see her Dad looking concerned, holding her Mom in his arms. He needs to support her now, since all her anger seems to have turned into shock and dread. Her eyes begin to water. Tori looks back at Nick again, who is now trying to open the door. “Charlie!” Still the door doesn´t move. Now her Dad is rushing to Nick´s side, leaving her Mom standing on her own, tears streaming down her face. Now she´s realized! What was she thinking? Why was she so mad? Her Dad also tries to open the door, while Nick is knocking again, almost hammering at the door now, as if he could make it move by sheer force of will. He stares at it. “Do you have a second key?” he asks, trying to stop his voice from trembling. Her Dad looks at him. “I don´t think so.” Without hesitation, Nick throws himself at the door. Her mom lets out a shocked gasp. The door flies open with a cracking sound of bursting wood. Tori can feel splinters brushing her burning cheeks. Now she can see inside the room, and what she sees is making her stomach turn. Nick rushes into the room towards Charlie, who is sitting in the opposite corner, back turned, completely huddled up, head resting against the wall, looking very small and forlorn. Why did he take down all his pictures?

3

Nick hears the door breaking, but the sound seems far away and muffled. His whole mind is focused on Charlie. He sees him huddled up in the corner of his room, trying to hide from the world. Goddammit Char, what did you do? He feels awful for this wave of anger washing over him. Oh God, please no! He hurries into the room and kneels down behind Charlie. He tenderly touches his back. “Char?” He can feel Charlie´s muscles stiffening beneath his touch, then the trembling starts. Nick carefully puts his arms around him, pulling him away from the wall, holding him close. What am I supposed to do? He can feel Charlie resisting his embrace, trying to shrink away from him, but he holds on to him, pressing his cheek against his. Charlie tries to resist and pull away, but Nick holds him. He just holds him. I´ll hold you forever, I promise! He just holds him close for what seems like an eternity, thoughts rushing through his mind. I can´t – please don´t – stop – help me! Eventually he feels Charlie go limp, falling back against his chest, leaning on him. Now he can hear him sob, softly at first. The trembling intensifies. Nick is still pressing his cheek against his, feeling tears against his skin. He plants a soft kiss on Charlies temple, soft as a caress. The trembling becomes violent, the sobbing intensifies. Charlie grabs Nick´s arm, which he had put around his chest, and pulls it even closer. Don´t let go, his hand seems to say, stay with me!

4

Tori´s heart breaks when she hears her brother sobbing. What the hell happened? Totally bewildered she enters the room, her eyes scanning her brother´s belongings. He put the pictures down. Why would he do that? What catches her eye next makes her skin crawl. The framed picture of Nick and Charlie. On the floor. Glass broken. Blood. Blood on the glass. Blood on the picture. Her brother´s blood. How could you do this to us?

5

Jane is staring into the room in complete shock. Everything seems to have slowed down. The only thing she can see clearly is her son, sobbing in a corner, trying to vanish into the arms of his boyfriend. Why are those not my arms? She looks at her husband, who for some reason stares at the door Nick had broken. He´s probably already thinking about how to fix it she thinks with a sudden ping of hatred. It vanishes as fast as it had appeared, leaving her alone with her shame and her guilt. I did this! I should have done something! But what? Oh my baby, I´m so sorry.

6

Why are you here? Why did you even come? I don´t want you here! I don´t want you to see me like this! But he could feel his body pressing closer to Nick´s, trying to find comfort in his warmth. He could feel his breath against his cheek, like a soft breeze of hope. Why did you come? Why do you always come for me? What am I to you? Why would you even care? Almost against his will he can feel his body relaxing. Please don´t take this from me. It´s all I have.

7

Julio stares in disbelief into his son´s room. Utter helplessness washes over him. He doesn´t know what to do, what to say. Maybe it´s better to say nothing at all.

8

“It´s okay, I´m here” Nick whispers into Charlie´s ear. He holds him tightly in his arms, while he listens to him cry. Now that Charlie seems to have eased up a bit, Nick starts noticing other things again. He feels something warm and sticky creeping through the fabric of his shirt where his arm touches Charlie´s. No you didn´t! he wanted to scream. You promised to tell me! With great effort he stops himself from screaming these words. They could talk about it later, all that mattered now were Charlie´s sobs, his trembling body slouched against his. “Let´s get you into bed” he tries to say lightheartedly, but his voice betrays him, sounding hoarse and worried. He feels sick. Charlie seems to consider this for a while, then slowly turns to Nick. Their eyes lock and Nick can feel all his anger and reservations ebb away, giving way to the enormous love he feels for this boy. Almost timidly he reaches out his hand to touch Charlie´s neck, leaning his forehead against his. “You´re an idiot, Charlie Spring” he whispers softly, putting all the love he feels into these five words. In spite of himself, Charlie lets out a giggle that almost immediately turns into a sob. Nick caresses his cheek and smiles. Then he plants a gentle kiss on his forehead, totally oblivious that Charlie´s parents are still there. “Nick?” “Yeah?” Charlie looks at the floor, struggling for words. Without looking up he bursts out: “I didn´t want you to come!” Nick looks at him in disbelief. He takes in a sharp breath as he tries not to show how much these words hurt him. Then he takes Charlies face in his hands and forces him gently to look at him. “Where else would I be?”

[toddisawarlock]

Interview with the Vampire is important because it sails past all of the half-assed representation. What I mean by that is, I don't want to see characters that flirt, live together, maybe kiss once a season. I want my ravenous murder husbands and their adopted disaster daughter to be the messiest mother fuckers alive all while being queer as fuck.

I love my cozy moments too. I've watched Heartstopper more than once. But that's two white kids in high school and one of them was raised by Olivia Colman. But when queer people, especially the MLM folks, are begging for more representation, we do mean the mess. Being a complete, flawed, messy person in the context of the story being told is a luxury for queer characters.

Because it's that next layer of homophobia, right? Oh we can be gay but we have to be likeable, and not too loud, and not too effeminate, and not too obvious, and only share chaste little pecks on the cheek with people we love. It's that layer of discomfort that needs more pushback. Because it is homophobia.

AMC really said fuck all that hetero noise and gave us bloody, passionate men who FUCK and DRINK BLOOD and love their daughter and are probably terrible for each other (and I need them to be endgame thanks)

But they also put a middle finger up to the idea of Louis and Lestat pining for each other. They get right into intimacy in season 1, episode 1. The prevalence of pining (often not written by queer men) is not inherently a bad thing. In fact, the foundations of MLM stories in mainstream media and fandom were built by women. However, it SHOULD call up questions when a group of people are marginalized by it, because when the desired and most prevalent lens is the yearning, it sends a message that the acceptable thing is to still hold those feelings back.

I'm personally done with stories where characters have to be less queer or hide their feelings or pine, even in contexts where their queerness is accepted, they're just repressed. Because we've heard it before. We'll hear it again. Louis' angst is centered on him not wanting to truly be a vampire and no longer being able to be human. That is the rift between him and Lestat. That and Lestat's a fucking brat who always wants his way but that's babygirl, I'm not sorry about it.

In all of this, I'm grateful. I'm grateful because the more people see queer people as real and complex, the more we're allowed to be real and complex.

And also more folks get to see that Lestat is the worst and you'll be so attached to him. It's inevitable.

[its-all-ineffable]

Fandom Focus #39

So...this is a scary one...

Red, White & Royal Blue - I think they're gonna live in my head forever...and I'm okay with that. I got the special edition of the book at Christmas, with the drawings and extra chapter, and I just love this universe so much!

Heartstopper - Yes, I've rewatched it twice in the last two days. I'm in my feelings, I want season 3 now! I also went on a binge of the comics too. I am living in this world!!

Criminal Minds - Got into this show super recently (on season 15 now) and I love it! Reid and Garcia are my absolute faves but I love the teams found family dynamic and the whole show!

I've also started a Merlin rewatch recently, as well as a rewatch of Interview with the Vampire (2022) with my mum! I am also in a HP phase, kinda, but like, fanon stuff. I've been watching cosplay vids and reading fanfics.

[bobbiedebruyn]

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING!

hello everyone! it's been a while, but I'm finally opening gif requests again. the hiatus is over and it's time to get back to work! some of you might be wondering: "what are the rules?" and "what shows/movies can i request?"... this time it's simple as hell - there are no specific rules, and you don't even have to follow me in order to make a request.

send me an emoji to request...

🍁 (make me choose) - make me choose between two options (characters, ships, seasons, episodes, etc.).

❄ (scene gifset) - send me a show/movie + a particular scene (please specify the episode if you're sending a tv show).

🌻 (ship or character) - send me a character(s) or a ship (platonic or romantic) + any color, format, style, lyric/song, quote, or template that you want.

tv shows/movies can you request:

tv shows: bly manor, bridgerton, buffy the vampire slayer, druck, heartbreak high, heartstopper, nevertheless, normal people, obi-wan kenobi, school spirits, the bear, the summer i turned pretty, warrior nun, willow, xo kitty, yellowjackets, young royals.

movies: fear street trilogy, scream franchise, into the spider-verse, the hunger games franchise, to all the boys series, star wars franchise, aftersun.

blondie!!!

from now on, i'm also taking requests for taylor swift gifs!!!

🚗 (taylor swift) - send me a tour recording of your choice, live performance, music video, interview moment, etc + any color, format, style, lyric/song, quote, or template that you want.

after i finish making your gifset - you will be tagged in it!

[ffsanaaaa]

Game of Thrones latest seasons traumatized me enough that now when talking about my favorite series I rather separate in two different categories, the finished and the unfinished ones. That way I feel less of a fool if one of the series I watch and love and talk so much about it ends up breaking my heart at the end, or if it's dragged so much that it just becomes boring.

So here are my favorite finished series:

Mad Men

Avatar the Last Airbender

Fleabag

She-ra Princess of Power

Big Little Liars

This is Us

Staged

Brooklyn 99

Dead End: Paranormal Park (cancelled😭)

A League of Their Own (cancelled as well 😭)

And here are my favorite unfinished series:

Our Flag Means Death (!!!!!)

Interview with the Vampire

Good Omens

The Last of Us

Heartstopper

House of the Dragon

What we do in the Shadows

Stranger Things

Harley Quinn

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (yeah, ik it hasn't came out yet but I love it already)

A little disclaimer: There's no guarantee that once the series on the unfinished list actually end that they will go to the finished list, at least when talking about the top 10 and specially when talking about top 5. I'm not saying it's impossible and I'm willing to edit the list to add new series to it if I feel that it deserves, it's just that this is a very personal list to me and I'm very attached to the series in it.

Anyway, would love to see other people lists.

Edit: Sex Education use to be in 9th on the unfinished list but now that it's done I replaced by Harley Quinn (but I liked the last season btw)

[wellhalesbells]

TAG SOMEONE YOU WANT TO KNOW AND/OR SOME OF YOUR BESTIES

Tagged by @kikiroo - thank you, my darling!!! *friendly shark bites at you*

Last song: Probably either The Man or Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift. I just spent a week with my sister on vacation and she had just watched the Eras Tour movie so she was getting both of those stuck in my head all the time, and then we'd have to listen to them ofc.

Last movie: It was Host by Rob Savage (or at least it was when I started this, lol). I watched it 'cause I saw something on Insta about the Top 10 Scariest Movies according to what the average resting heart rate is for it. I didn't find it very scary (got me at the end though, woo boy) but I did love it - but then I love things that use the pandemic well and this definitely did imo. Plus it's all structured around (and shot through) a Zoom interface so it's only, like, fifty-seven minutes long because that's all you get when you don't pay for Zoom, haha.

Currently watching: Goosebumps, Last Week Tonight, The Fall of the House of Usher, Two Sentence Horror Stories, Our Flag Means Death and Ghost Files and I am half-assing all of it. I've either only started the first episode or only watched the first episode on all of those. I have no staying power these days. Though I am only one ep behind on Last Week Tonight \o/

Other stuff I watched this year: Unfortunately for you guys, I write fucking everything down and it is now the tenth month of the year. I GOT RECS. Well, Meg 2: The Trench, which is a cinematic masterpiece and I will take no questions on that (unless they're Joming related). (Cognizant of the month) Here are spooky things I watched this year and liked a lot: X, The Black Phone, The Menu, Terrifier and Terrifier 2 (this is definitely only for gore fans though), Bodies Bodies Bodies, Cocaine Bear (also a cinematic masterpiece, also not taking questions), Interview with the Vampire, Wednesday, Severance, Evil, The Last of Us, Over the Garden Wall, Magpie Murders, What We Do in the Shadows, and Shining Vale (haven't started the second season yet!). Also really liked: Paddington, Nimona, Barbie, Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse, Vivo, Derry Girls, The Bear, The Boys, Mythic Quest, Only Murders in the Building (I haven't watched the new season yet though but I expect great things), Reboot, Tuca & Bertie, Los Espookys, Barry, Extraordinary, Crashing (I literally watched it three times in a row - watching Sam and Fred fall in love 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 plus I fucking love Jonathan Bailey - I consistently find him ridiculously charming), Hacks, Avenue 5 (so sad this got canceled when I feel like it just hit its stride), Staged (I've watched it probably six times now), Abbott Elementary, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Ted Lasso, I Think You Should Leave Now (just for that one sketch, you know the one and, if you don't, I am HAPPY to tell you about it!), Unstable (petition for Fred Armisen to be in everything though, right?), Black Mirror, Central Park, Elite (I haven't watched the new season yet!), Reservation Dogs (ditto), The White Lotus, Good Omens, Letterkenny, Minx (what's ditto but for the third time?), Heartstopper, Sasaki and Miyano, and The Other Two.

Shows I dropped/didn’t finish: I'm behind on everything all the time so I'm only going to answer for shows I dropped and I don't think I've dropped any this year?

Currently reading: The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey (about halfway through), House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (I'll be reading this until I die, I think), Cunk on Everything by Philomena Cunk, The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab (nearly finished!), The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon and The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (decided to do a reread of the IwtV series this year since I never actually finished it and only got to book ten and I read it way too long ago to remember anything that's happening if I just picked it up now).

Currently listening to: My calendar alarm telling me to go to my dog's vet appointment.

Currently working on: getting at least a third of the way through My Darling Girl

Also absolutely no pressure tagging @andavs, @callunavulgari, @piratefalls, @clotpolesonly, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[kleinblue52]

The new season of Heartstopper dropped today, just a few weeks after Troye Sivan released Rush and talked about his newfound love of hook-up culture and the joy of sex after a bad breakup.

As an elder gay, let me tell you how amazing that is. On one hand you have an ideal romance between two queer kids who meet when they're 14 and stay together their whole lives (as hinted by Alice Oseman in the comics), on the other hand you have an openly gay artist who celebrates pure queer joy and sexual freedom. You have representation that tells you it's ok to enjoy and experiment with sex and also representation that tells you it's fine if all you want is a fairy tale romance. Or, as Sivan himself has said in interviews, it's also ok to want both! There's not one single shade of gay and everyone should feel free to explore the whole spectrum of love, relationships, sex and romance without fear of judgment.

When I was a gay teen, the only representation options you had, with very few exceptions, were butt of all jokes or dead.