#like not a single thought that maybe these are lgbt characters

[nickpeppermint]

It is always so funny to me, when weebs can't grasp the fact, that gay and trans people exist in manga and anime

" Um this is OBVIOUSLY a girly female woman, then why does everyone refer to her as 'HE'??? Is this a translation error??? 🤔🤔🤔 "

Sir, there's a simpler explanation

And all debates are usually revolved not about characters identity, but around "is this character fuckable for me?"

Same shit for game characters like Frisk Undertale and Chris Deltarune

People think they/them is just "left ambiguous so that players could choose themselves

If devs want to be inclusive, they usually just give player option to customize and choose gender themselves

With Chris the identity part is especially important, because there are certain hints that Toriel might not be fully on this, which probably be explored in next chapters

[letters-to-lgbt-kids]

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

I have always admired people who have their one thing. People who care deeply about one highly specific cause, people who have deep knowledge about their one niche interest, people who are really into one particular movie… 

I just think it’s neat! It’s really interesting to hear people talk about their one thing. There’s also so much comfort in the fact that people can find so much happiness and meaning and purpose in something seemingly random! 

Last but not least, it’s also often the people with their one thing who (pardon my language) get shit done. Someone who puts their whole heart into doing their one small thing passionately likely does much more good for the world than someone who tries to constantly give their attention to every single problem everywhere all the time simultaneously. The first one can keep their energy and love for the cause high, the latter probably just ends up burning themselves out. 

… and yet, with all this genuine admiration for people like that: I often judge myself for being a person like that. 

If you wonder what my one thing is, well, you’re looking at it! It’s writing about mental health and wellbeing in the lgbt+ community. I write this blog. I write books with main characters who are lgbt+ and mentally ill or neurodivergent. I do a lot of research on that topic to base my writing on ,and also just for fun. Even with the music or movies or books I enjoy, I seek out that topic or at least I’ll analyze it with that lens… So, according to my very own thoughts I stated above, I should feel like the coolest guy ever! 

But I don’t. I feel embarrassed when people ask about my interests or hobbies. I feel guilty for it not being something you can „turn into a career“. I feel like I’m boring for writing 3 books about the same topic. I feel like I’m stupid for not having multiple passions. I feel like I need to prove my masculinity by having more „male interests“... long story short, I’m being a big old bully to myself about it. 

You may be a „my one thing“ person as well or maybe you’re someone with many different interests, or maybe you are someone who has one thing but the thing changes every few weeks. No matter where you stand, we probably have this in common: we can be really mean towards ourselves over things we wouldn’t judge others for. This may be so common because it’s pretty easy to have a distorted perception of ourselves (after all, we notice every single little thing we think or do or say, while in others we see the bigger picture) or because so many grow up internalizing negative messages about ourselves(but not about others). 

We set impossibly high standards for ourselves that we would never impose on our loved ones - but we should also be our own loved one. After all, you’ll be the person you spend the most time with during your life. Much better for your closest companion to be a friend than a foe. 

So, in this spirit, I’ll try to lead by example: I have my one thing, and that’s super cool of me!! What’s cool about you? 

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Dad 

[kalamity-jayne]

Sorry for asking but I am a cis male teenager (well, I thought I was.) but lately I have realized I think I might be a trans girl? I am very scared to drop my masculinity. How did you find out you were trans if that’s okay to ask?

Of course it's ok! I am always happy to help someone who is questioning their gender. However, this is actually a pretty loaded question, because while there is a lot of talk about "when my egg cracked" in trans circles, figuring out you're trans isn't always attributable to any one singular event. Some folks might crack through and emerge from their egg in one swift motion but that is not true for everyone, it certainly wasn't true for me. Sure I could tell about the moment the first crack in my shell appeared, but a single crack in the egg is a far cry from actually breaking out. For many it's a process that can involve a series of revelations and tends to require lots of self reflection and learning how to love yourself. So, there is no quick and easy answer for this. However, I think my story will have a number of different lessons relevant to your question.

Before getting into all that though, I feel I must point out that cisgender folks rarely ask themselves these kinds of questions and when they do entertain these thoughts it's brief and comes with very little agony. The fact you have gone so far as to reach out to trans woman for advice, the fact the you are clearly worried by the prospect of being trans, is a pretty clear indicator that you probably are trans. Regardless of whether you actually are transgender or not, I want you to know that either way, it's ok. You will be ok, no matter what conclusions you come to.

Now, the story of how I figured out I was trans. Bear in mind, the first “aha moment” was 20 yrs ago and things were very different back then. I was about 17yrs old at the time and the term transgender didn't have the currency then that it does now, there wasn't the robust set of terminology that we have today, there were far fewer resources to turn to, no social media, and the overall public opinion was significantly more hostile towards anything LGBT. Anyway, more below the cut.

I didn't follow the typical trans narrative of the time in the sense that, as a child I didn't really care about my clothes so long as my favorite cartoon characters were on 'em, I liked toys typically marketed towards boys, I looked like a boy and everyone referred to me as a boy. So I thought I was a boy. However, I do have a vague memory from early childhood, somewhere between the ages of 4-6, of sneaking into my mother’s room and stealing a pair of her satin underwear and trying it on (it surely would have been too big on me but I remember liking the texture of the fabric) and hiding it under my bed. This memory has since been confirmed during my adulthood by my brother who shared a room with me at the time and had apparently found the hidden stash.

From an early age I was explicitly shunted towards masculinity. I was regularly told to “stop acting like a girl,” and “quit crying like a girl,” and even at one point to “stop walking like a girl,” by my peers and one of my brothers. By the time I was a teenager I was doing my best to be as masculine as possible going so far as joining the highschool wrestling team, a sport that is as homophobic as it is homoerotic, and I hated every minute of it because being manly didn't feel natural to me (and it definitely didn't stop the bullying). It felt like I was trying to ice skate uphill. I fit in but only imperfectly for I was merely acting.

I was also very confused about my sexuality. I thought maybe I was gay or bisexual (turns out the latter) but that didn’t really explain what I was feeling. Around 17yrs old I got curious about transsexuals, thinking maybe the answers would be found there and hoped on to the early and oh so clunky internet. Now I knew of transsexuals conceptually but I didn't know anything about them. Sadly, pornography was really the only reliable way to actually see what a trans body looked like back then. I was stunned because the women I saw did not look at all the way I expected. I was blown away by how so many of them, genitalia aside, looked indistinguishable from cisgender women. And they were all absurdly beautiful. I felt an immediate attraction but there was something else I felt too, envy. And that realization was the first crack in my eggshell.

After that I couldn't get the thought of crossdressing out of my head. So, I dug through a box of my mother's old clothes and took a few items she no longer wore, an old white tennis skirt and a very very 70s sleeveless orange blouse. I was so comfortable in those clothes and when I looked at myself in the mirror I felt good, really good. So, I continued exploring, shaved off all of of my body hair, went to department stores that were open late at night to buy girl clothes (deathly afraid someone would recognize me), I would stay up late at night to watch HBO because at midnight they would occasionally air stuff about trans people, (I remember two documentary shorts in particular and the movie Soldier’s Girl) and I scoured the internet for more information. The internet search brought me to a website called TG list (at least I think that’s what it was called, this was 20yrs ago after all) which was a directory of resources ranging from The Breast Form Store (which still exists!), a myriad of gender identity quizzes (I took nearly every single one), and Susan’s Place.

Susan’s place was one of the few reliable places to hear from actual transgender adults. Unfortunately, while Susan's Place had a lot of useful information the forums there were full of horror stories, a never-ending supply of all the things those women had suffered. So needless to say, there was little to no positivity around transness to give me hope. I was afraid to call myself trans as a result, afraid of what it meant for my life, my future, and my physical safety (you have to remember that back then Mathew Shepard wasn’t old news, his tragedy was practically current events). So I called myself a crossdresser but for reasons I didn't understand at the time I deeply resented that label. I think deep down, no matter how much I tried to deny it and bury it, a part of knew I wanted to be a girl. So when I came out to my parents as a crossdresser and explicitly told them I wasn't trans, that I didn’t have any desire to transition to female, there was that lil voice at the back of my mind calling me a liar. That voice would follow me until my late 20s.

Coming out was a real struggle for me because not only did I think my life would literally be in jeopardy, I thought everyone would think I was making it up, having not followed the stereotypical models of transsexuality. When I came out to my parents they didn't disown me or anything but they were noticeably uncomfortable around me when I was in girl mode. At a certain point I needed their help (credit card) to buy a gaff for tucking and that was when my parents, out of a misguided desire to protect me, pushed me back into the egg. Because of their rejection I spent the rest of highschool and most of my college years trying to hold the egg together with even more denial and by doubling down on masculinity. While I did have some fun during my college years, on balance I was miserable and depressed. I chafed at my male costume and I knew I was lying to myself the entire time, and I hurt myself a great deal.

During my senior year of college I started privately dabbling with crossdressing again, the desire had been nagging at me incessantly. A short time after graduating I met my wife who accepted that side of me and she introduced me to the BDSM/kink community, and the overall culture of nonjudgmental acceptance there cracked the egg for good, because is provided spaces besides my own room where I felt safe being a girl. From that point on I slowly but surely came out of the egg, first calling myself a crossdresser, then genderfluid for awhile, then GENDA passed in NY making me an explicitly protected class and for the next 2 yrs I presented as a they/them genderqueer woman 100% full time without HRT (I was still reluctant to call myself a woman).

I wrestled a long time with the choice to go on HRT. Ultimately that was always a big stumbling block for me. Therapy had gotten me pretty far but I was still afraid of so much and was unsure I would be happy with the changes because my parents had initially rejected me as their daughter in very paternalistic fashion I struggled to trust my own instincts. I still struggle with that sometimes. Eventually, I befriended a trans woman in my neighborhood who pointed out HRT works very slowly and that it takes a long time for any permanent changes to take root. So, she suggested I give it a try and if it didn't feel right I could stop.

I was also taking gender identity quizzes again. Now most of these claim to be diagnostic and those ones a generally misogynistic garbage (they ask stupid questions like, “are you good at math?” and assign a gendered value to the answer) but I happened upon one that started with the disclaimer that it wasn't diagnostic and instead only offered questions that are good to think with. Two questions in particular were very helpful. The first asked, "If you could take a pill that would allow you to wake up tomorrow as a girl, would you take it?" My answer was a hesitant yes, but that yes was bolstered by the next question, "If you could take a pill that would allow you to wake up as a man, in your current body, but without any dysphoria or desires to be feminine, would you take it?" My answer was an emphatic no because that would have felt like killing an important part of myself off. I then at the age of 33yrs old started HRT and 4yrs in I am incredibly happy. That was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Now, I know that was a lot of fucking text to read but I wrote all of that because I know the prospect of maybe being a trans girl feels scary to you right now but I want to assure you that as daunting as it may seem there is so much about being a trans woman that is full of beauty and joy. I love my trans womanhood and despite the hardships, I wouldn’t give it up for anything. In fact the opposite is true. Knowing what I know now, I would give up almost everything in order to be a woman. So if you feel like you want to give girlhood a try, do it! You can take small incremental steps and you can always stop if it doesn’t feel right, either way you will gain a degree of self knowledge most cisgender people lack completely and that is absolutely priceless! Plus, unlike me when I was a teen, there’s all kinds of resources and information available to you now and an entire community of people ready to help you, and unlike the women in the forums from my past, we aren’t all gloom and doom.

As for your fear of giving up masculinity, don’t let that fear lure you into the denial trap like it did me. Denial is like quicksand, once you’re in it becomes hard to get out, the more you struggle the deeper in you go and it is so very suffocating. And the thing is, you actually don’t have to give it all up. Back when I was presenting full time as woman without HRT, I felt like I had to be ultra feminine all the time, full face of make-up, dress, heels, the whole nine yards. Now that I’m 4 yrs in with HRT I don’t feel that pressure anymore and have since reclaimed certain aspects of masculinity I actually liked. I sill like presenting high femme from time to time but these days I mostly rock a soft butch aesthetic, flannel/t-shirt, jeans and the only makeup I wear daily is just a lil bit of blush. At certain point you become comfortable and realize that gender is just a sandbox to play in and experiment. Masculine and Feminine are just concepts, they aren’t real! so regardless of being cis or trans, don’t let those mere concepts box you in! Just do what feels natural and right to you!

I hope all of that was helpful to you anon, and that at the very least you walk away from this knowing you don’t have to have all of the answers about yourself right now. Now, I don't no the particulars of your situation, so I’m happy to speak with you further if you have follow up questions, just send another anon.

Best of luck to you anon, I am rooting for you!

Big hugs,

Mother Calamity

[lavfeyson]

loki season two is starting to be promoted and here’s your reminder NOT to watch it

the loki show did damage to not only loki’s character as a whole, but to bisexual and genderfluid people as well.

for years, loki has been a comic character that is well known for their bisexuality and genderfluidity. a huge component to this was the ‘loki: agent of asgard’ series written by al ewing (a personal favorite of mine). many queer people opened up their arms to welcome this representation. had i known i was bisexual at the time that mcu loki was my favorite character ever, i just know i would’ve been ecstatic, which i was when the first looks at season one came out.

the first red flag should’ve been when it was revealed that in loki’s tva files, his sex was labeled as “fluid” when it’s actually his gender. i remember people being skeptical and wary about it but continued to hope for the representation that the cast promised in interviews beforehand. (if anyone is able to find which interview this was in, please let me know so i could link it.)

then as the series went on for the next six weeks, hopes of there being representation dwindled. there was the line of “a bit of both” when sylvie asked if loki courted princes or princesses and he assumed it was the same for sylvie, which was SOMETHING at the time! people were happy… for the first few days or so. we quickly realized that this was probably disney’s way of telling but never showing considering their infamous prejudice against lgbt+ rep. it was quite literally the bare minimum — a throwaway line so to say that could easily be forgotten by the average viewer. i recall that lots of people were huge shippers of loki x mobius and thought that maybe, just MAYBE, there would be something more explicitly romantic between them and hey, maybe there will be in season two! but it’s disney. you can understand that there’s not a whole lot of hope.

then comes loki’s genderfluidity. to start off, the whole existence of sylvie is the most damaging. in agent of asgard, loki has confirmed that no matter how she presents, she is always loki. there’s no “female/lady loki”, it’s all JUST loki. so to change up loki’s name, bleach her hair, and contradict whether or not she IS actually loki throughout the show is… questionable.

the line of “have you ever met a woman variant?” was just insane writing. all lokis can identify/present as women if they please!!! their shapeshifting abilities give them an advantage of presentation being easy for them, but all in all, every single loki can canonically identify as a woman. when that line was delivered, all the other loki variants looked confused as if they didn’t know. loki’s genderfluidity was never at the forefront of the writers’ minds, writers that were caught to be fucking weirdos on twitter! you can find what old tweets i’m talking about on twitter… but i digress. why would the loki variants not know such an integral part of their identity?

and the KISS. THE FUCKING KISS. we’re not angry that loki kissed a female-presenting character instead of mobius like many wished, no no no that’s not the big issue because bisexuals should never have to prove their bisexuality to anyone and they can kiss whoever the hell they want. we’re angry because loki kissed a female-presenting variant of HIMSELF. all throughout the first season, the writers went out of their way to try to differentiate sylvie from loki despite sylvie having been born as a loki variant, but there’s literally no way to separate sylvie from their lineage because at the end of the day, that’s who she was born as. no amount of bleach will change that fact. (i hope i made this easy to understand; not a lot of people get why this is an issue.) and regardless of whether or not that kiss was romantic, the fact that it even HAPPENED was a slap in the face to genderfluid fans of loki, and if the leaks for season two are right, that whole thing between the two will be continued since most of the season one writers worked on season two as well.

on top of this awful rep, known abuser jonathan majors will be in season two as another kang variant. i’ve heard that marvel had bigger plans for him, but due to these allegations, they’re limiting his presence as seen in the trailer, obviously meaning that they know.

hence why i ask fans to boycott/simply not tune in for season two if you care about queer people. if you’re desperate to watch, at least don’t use disney+. just because s2d is gone doesn’t mean other websites don’t exist. i also recommend reading ‘agent of asgard’. if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me and please be respectful; your feelings about the show don’t dictate how hundreds of others feel, especially if their concerns are valid.

[powerviolence-princess]

recently ive been having conversations about sex in games, and by having conversations i mean getting accused of being a puritan by 19 year olds any time i express a critical thought about a game that has depictions of sex in it. most recently i was bemoaning that the vast majority of games where sex is the primary focus exclusively feature characters that neither i nor any of my friends can see ourselves in. my primary complaint was that no characters in any of these games ever seem to be hairy or fat, and when trans women are present they are always of the Cis-Passing™ and/or conventionally attractive variety. i know the usefulness of both these phrases can be debated eternally but im just gonna hope people know what i mean when i say this.

after spending 30 minutes trying to convince younger trans women that i in fact enjoy sex and like to look at porn, i just wish i could see anything other than supermodels and hips too wide to fit through doorframes, i received the snarky suggestion that i should "look literally anywhere other than steam". in addition, it was suggested that my biggest problem is that i dont play visual novels, because that is apparently where most queer representation in video games can be found.

it may have been delivered in a snarky way but it was a good suggestion, the steam storefront is a fucking nightmare, i havent tried a new visual novel in a good long while, so why not try my luck. the specific suggestion i received was to go to itch.io, as that website is, according to this group of young trans women, dominated by queer creators.

now my very first observation was that the site is not, in fact, dominated by queer creators. it is dominated by skibidi toilet low poly analog horror games that look completely unappealing. but, in the interest of good faith, i wont wield that as a gotcha. instead i will just punch in the tags "LGBT" and "Dating Sim", so that i can experience the absolute wealth of body positive interactive erotic experiences that apparently flood this website.

well, page one is just not the strongest start. but yet again, lets be fair, ive been automatically directed to the "popular" games. lets sort by "most recent" instead, an unfiltered look at what comes through this site.

i dont mean to be difficult, but it appears im still largely getting buff furry men, skinny anime people, and CGI porn stars. let me go completely out of my way to try to give the benefit of the doubt, i am going to sort through games and only address games that are explicitly erotic and explicitly queer.

just for a second, let me be sincere and say that my goal here is not to point out and mock or shame individual queer creators on the merits of the representation present in their independently developed dating sims. nobody is perfect, no one creator or even team can ensure every single intersection of identity is represented in their art, this is about broader trends and the snarky response i get when i complain about those trends.

i threw in the 'erotic' tag, enduring and suffering more uses of the words "femboy", "lewd", and "futanari" than any person should ever be forced to, and i was able to find some explicitly queer games! the method i used was opening literally every single individual game page and reading through its description. yes this took a very long time and its all in service of proving a point that a lot of people wouldnt argue in the first place, but i still regularly have to deal with people who do argue it, so this is for them. enjoy blocking me on social media and discord after this i guess.

we are off to a great start, because this game actually has fat characters in it! its a bit too cutesy anime aesthetic for my taste, but thats personal preference, this is absolutely something that qualifies. maybe all i needed was 3 or 4 filters! of course that is not true because there were several generic hentai games ahead of and behind this one, but first row on the first page, im going to remain positive.

after this we immediately start hitting duds. femboy baristas, bodybuilder physiques, high poly hairless porn star physique CGI women, all of these games explicitly mention that they feature LGBT, queer, or gay relationships. now i know i said i wasnt aiming to mock individual games, but i cannot resist the urge to draw attention to "The Date on Elm Street", a game that features a yassified freddy krueger.

we march on. moe yuri girls who are allegedly adults, skinny college boys, you get the idea. i may have found one game with body diversity among the character designs but i still havent found anything that i feel i can see myself in. gonna have to buckle up and dig for a while i guess.

brief aside, i am judging these games based on scrolling through every available screenshot, teaser, and trailer uploaded to their page. it is entirely possible there could be characters i dont know about that are bangable within these titles, but if that is the case there is still the issue that all of the promotional material exclusively features hot skinny anime people.

for all this effort i walk away with one (1) game that could possibly qualify as being a queer, body diverse dating sim. there were a few dating sims meant for gay men that had a single fat character present, but when theyre lost amongst all the flawless twinks and bodybuilders i hesitate to afford credit.

however. i am leaving out a game i was directly recommended. Hardcoded.

that is not promising. its the only character depicted in screenshots aside from a one eyed cat and this person

but i have to assume that these are not the only characters in this game, so i am actually going to download and play it, seeing as it was recommended to me in relation to the topic of lack of diversity in sex focused games.

total aside here, this feature left me guessing. is the sex in this game rpg style random encounters? i have to assume that if youre not interested in men, you could simply avoid trying to fuck any of the male characters. maybe after playing for a bit this checkbox will make more sense.

im starting to suspect that most people consider the presence of a single fat person to be Body Positive. REITERATING, i am not trying to give this developer in particular a hard time and i am absolutely not encouraging anyone else to, this game is cute so far, im glad there is a game like this starring a trans character, we're just sticking to my original complaint.

im gonna save bandwidth (and my blog from the fate of a mosaic avatar) by not posting any further screenshots, there is a character with wide hips, the character with the prosthetic arm, and the hyper tits sex droid as far as any deviation from conventionally attractive skinny people goes. im just now realizing this post is formatted like a somethingawful lets play, humiliating. anyway the conclusion i came to is that when i complain about the lack of fat hairy dykes and trans people who are Visibly Trans™ in erotic video games i am indeed completely justified because even queer produced erotic video games do not seem to have these things. im right, everyone else is wrong, goodnight.

[wario-speedwagon]

top 5 ai the somnium files characters??

ohoho, well lemme tell ya with great pleasure! :D

(disclaimer, I've only played through the first game, so I will only be including characters from that game and not the sequel)

5. Boss

It's in her name, she gaslights, gatekeeps, girlbosses and looks good doing it! Jokes aside though, I love how she is simultaneously secretly and subtly caring while also just. blunt and unapologetic about overworking her subordinates or unashamed to crack dirty innuendos. She has all sorts of random trinkets and junk all over her office, from boy band posters to christmas trees to party decorations. Shady but with a heart of gold. She's not quite as deep a spoiler angst rabbit hole character as some others, but she's a joy every time she's on screen, ya love to see her <3

4. Hitomi

This is my one underrated underdog pick, but ourgh, loving and supportive single mothers doing their best while keeping their dark tragic backstories private from their kids, my beloved <3 I could delve into detail just how magnificent her backstory is, from the circumstances of her being a mother to her tragic past love life, and how being a stereotypical normal boring sweet schoolteacher mother figure, she's been unfortunately involved in the most dangerous secrets but just trying to live her best life with her daughter despite it. Hitomi my beloved, seemingly simple characters with hidden depth, my beloved

3. Aiba

She is soooo silly and also maybe the only sane person here, or at least sane in the way an AI personality would be. She is Date's AI assistant and also his prosthetic eye, and the right gif is the form she takes when she's outside of his eyesocket. The left gif is her digital avatar form. She's constantly judging Date's thoughts and actions, she gets excited about bugs, she helps Date be a better parent (more on that later), she does Hacker Skillz on a whim, she might be capable of actual love even as an AI! Truly a worthy pfp :3

2. Date

You've heard of Love to Hate, but this guy will force you to learn what Hate to Love means. Cringy horny porn-addict failure of a person, how dare you be an amazing character with a super sad spoiler backstory and amazing angst going on. I need to push him down some stairs right now. He has a fantastic coworker good cop/bad cop dynamic going on with Aiba his eyball assistant (he's mysteriously missing an eye and Aiba is his replacement), and he's a grumpy but genuinely trying temporary guardian for a bratty middle schooler who holds him in contempt and pretends to hate him (i.e. we're talking wet cat & wet cat found family dynamics >:)

1. Mizuki

I love this child. I would do anything for this child. I would do anything to be this child. Snarky ass middle schooler. Human weapon of mass destruction because why not. Had a hard home life with her abusive or neglectful parents and is now a tsundere wet cat found family roommate with Date whom she bullies like a sibling but is still in denial about who her real family are. She carries grenades and such in her backpack even to school and she carries her favorite lead pipe with her everywhere. (spoilers) she has seen both of her parents' dead bodies and in some timelines her best friends' and favorite teacher's as well...

Ough the character depth and growth and angst and silliness of this character, the sheer badassery, her iconic-ness--oh yeah, she canonically says in game says that she respects and is inspired the LGBT community (based). You just can't get more S-tier than Mizuki. Might be favorite character of all time. I'm so excited when I eventually play the sequel because she's the protagonist in it! :D

[sugaroto]

I've seen a lot of posts saying that "It's okay if being lgbt was a phase for you", and I know that you're gonna say it's not a phase

And it's not. For most of us

But there are people who may have identified as bi for a while and later found out they were gay, lesbian maybe even straight

Maybe people thought they were lesbians but were actually pan

Someone could identify as asexual but later figure they're demisexual

Maybe they identified as something, but later figured out they were straight

All this journey... is personal and maybe you're not sure for your identity yet, maybe you want to keep it personal, maybe you're coming to terms with it

When someone is figuring their sexuality, or maybe they already have, they don't owe it to anyone else

When they feel like it, maybe they tell people who they care about

Maybe they shout it from rooftops, maybe they whisper it to the mirror

So many posts telling people "you don't have to come out. Do it when you're ready. When you're safe"

And yet... an 18 year old boy was forced to come out

Why? Because he's famous? There could be a million reasons he didn't want to come out yet (or never)

Kit is just a year older than me.

Why did he have to come out?

I don't think I would come out to the whole world in a year either, the only reason *I* am out on the internet is because I'm no one, I'm anonymous here, you know me as Sugar, you don't know where I live, who I am and what I do

What If I was in the cast too? No one in my family knows I'm lgbt, let's say I had the chance to play a character, cool, then what, would the internet force me to come out to the whole world? To my mom? My aunts and uncles? My Grandparents?

I did came out when I was younger, to my friends, and I have regretted telling 2 people, because we weren't close then or because we lost touch later

I also came out earlier than I should have, I was still figuring it out at the time

But I did, and it was my choice

I came out as bi,

But now I'm questioning I might be on the ace spectrum too, would I need to come out twice?

If I was famous too, would people say I queerbaited them for figuring stuff out? About my personal life?

What if I never wanted to came out? I'm also a demigirl, but I don't want to come out, that's my thing, it's personal and it doesn't change the way I dress or act, or even my pronouns cause 'they' can't be used in my 1st language

I want to keep this thing for me

If I was famous and had the chance to wear a binder, would people say I queerbaited them? Would they force me to tell the world I'm not cis?

I'm not famous, but Kit is just a year older than me. We could have been in the same school (in a different world)

You don't know his personal life, he could be dating someone he knew for years, he could be single, maybe his parents know he's bi, maybe he doesn't want to tell them, maybe he was figuring stuff out, maybe being bi was his thing, his thing that he wanted to keep to himself

And people took that away from him

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

Any lgbt headcanons of the batfam? :)

I have too many of them to include on a single ask so I'll only list a couple of them here.

(please keep in mind that those are HEADCANONS. I don't want anyone screaming in my inbox that most of them aren't canon in the comic universe, I know that myself. But it's always nice to be creative with your favourite characters).

Also warning! not all of them are fluffy.

Tim first came out as bi to his older brother Dick. To the one person who always supports him and is there for him. And ofc Dick made him feel accepted (not because I headcanon Dick being also bi but because Dick will always make Tim feel accepted and loved. Period)

Everytime Damian and Tim are having brotherly fights the latter yells that Damian's actions "is a crime against lgbt + community". Which drives Damian mad because he's really a lgbt+ supporter and Tim knows it irritates Dami that's why he keeps saying it ( totally brotherly behavior).

But aside from their sibling fights if anyone dares to make an ill comment about his big brother Tim dating a boy in Damian's presence, they are gonna have their asses kicked.

Dick and Barbara are the both bi and in a relationship ( well the latter is also canon in main universe). Unlike, the stereotypes that bi people like to sleep around ( which are very harmful and wrong , imo) both Dick and Babs only had serious relationships in their lives and always needed love in order to have sex with someone.

Jason doesn't like sex due to the awful circumstances of his first time ( groomed by an older woman he trusted). For a long time he thinks something is wrong with him for not enjoying or wanting sex and maybe that is a side affect on his resurrection.

Once while he was drunk and crying he shared information about his dislike of sex and how he thought it made him abnormal with big sis Babs. She assured him that he's perfectly normal and ( after asking Cass' permission first) she got him in touch with the other batfamily member who doesn't like sex, aka Cass.

Cassandra, unlike Jason, doesn't have a traumatic experience for disliking sex. She doesn't even have strong negative feelings about sex, she simply doesn't feel the need to do it and that's why she never had or plans to have sex. Being a private person she only shared the fact that she's ace with Steph and Babs.

But she felt relieved to share that info with another person who was also possibly ace ( Jason) because sometimes you need to talk to someone who's like you. Jason also felt better after talking with Cass and now those two who previously rarely interacted have a stronger bond.

Steph never gave any labels to herself. In the past she enjoyed being in relationships (and having sex) with both boys and girls. But once she fells for Cass ( StephCass is always endgame) she doesn't care about not having sex with Cass due to the latter being ace. She wants to be in a relationship with Cass and she wouldn't change a thing about her girlfriend

Bruce is a supportive and proud dad. He wants to go to pride with all the batkids, carrying all their flags. He wants to be a good ally and he's not sure how he should show his support them best. Luckily for him he has both Selina and Kate to help him by giving him some tips.

[bi-harrymort]

Hi!

A few words about me and this blog.

[but before we go any further... even though this is a blog dedicated to Voldemort and Harrymort, I don't support Rowling or her views; hate and bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated here.]

I've been a fan of the Harry Potter series since I was a kid, but I've never interacted with the fandom actively - I never created any fanart, posts, fanfics etc., I only consumed and shared them. So, this is my first attempt at sharing my own theories and any other weird little thoughts I may have on the subject.

Even though I am open to different interpretations and opinions, I know that many may not share this view and may not want to follow me because of it (righfully so), so I'm going to write some of my hot (or maybe not so hot) takes that are my primary headcanons and/or interpratations of the text.

I'm not a fan of the movies. I think the changes made in them distort the characters, the plot and the overall story.

I don't believe Voldemort is insane and/or badly written. I may write a charcter analysis based on the books one day when I'll have the time and energy... and if anyone will be interested in reading it, of course.

At the same time I don't think that HP and its characters (including Voldemort) are great and with no faults. I love the concept of the series and the world created, but I will also be the first to critique it and point out its faults.

Lord Voldemort is Lord Voldemort. Confusing, I know. What I mean by that is that I don't like differentiating between Voldemort (the insane bad one) and Tom Riddle (the brilliant good one). Recently, I started to become disconnected from the trend in the fandom of treating Tom Riddle and Voldemort as separate entities. At the same time, I'm not gonna go around telling people to stop characterizing them, or thinking about them, in whatever way they like! It's just something that I became sensitive to and don't subscribe to anymore. 

Harrymort is the only pairing I am single-minded about. Any other ship (that doesn't involve Harry or Voldemort) I'm very neutral about.

I am a fan of female Harry, but only because of one particular fic - the Historical Importance of Runic War Warding in the British Isles by samvelg. It's my all-time favourite fanfic, and I have as much, if not more, headcanons and thoughts about this particular HP AU rather than the original HP. (At the same time, I am aware why genderbending is disliked by fandoms, and I do agree that many genderbent stories are not great. Many of them erase the lgbt+ represantation, which is what I am not at all about.)

I don't have a set gender identity headcanon for Harrymort (trans, cis, female, male, nonbinary... they are all very much appreciated).

However, my preferred sexuality headcanon for both Harry and Voldemort is either bisexual, pansexual or asexual.

I am firmly a bi-racial/having Indian ancestry Harry headcanon fan.

Recently I started falling in love with Arabic, and a headcanon of bi-racial/having Arab ancestry Voldemort has began to cristalize in my mind. I've had this thought after reading this one post about how Harry is changed in fics but Voldemort stays almost always the same when it comes to ethnicity/race.

I have plenty of different AU ideas about this pairing (many modelled more as an AU of the Historical Importance AU) and would like to realise them at some point, but I'd like for my first posted work to be an original idea.

The reason I'm creating this account now is because Tomarrymort stories are some of the best I've ever read. No matter how much time passes, I always come back to them. I am a slow-burn hoe (slow burns and long fics are like… 90% of my fanfic consumption), and I appreciate the vast variety of themes and motifs that these stories are capable of getting into.

On a final note, I'd like to make a disclosure.

Any opinions I have are simply that - opinions. I don't think that they are the best or the most accurate or that they should be imposed on other people. Everyone has a right to like whatever they want to like, and to think whatever they want to think, as long as that does not evolve into attacking actual human beings.

It's fiction. It's fun. I appreciate people with different opinions so long as we stay mature and respectful to each other about exchanging them.

[carewyncromwell]

“I’ve always been a smart girl... Always made the grade -- always got the gold star -- I’ve always been a smart girl, But ‘smart girl’ only gets a girl so far... You win at every single game... You want a quest -- they tell you, ‘tough!’ If you don't go, you'll never know If you’ll ever be good enough...”

~“My Grand Plan” from The Lightning Thief (musical)

x~x~x~x

Hey all! I thought I’d go ahead and draw up a proper concept for my HPMA girl Anastasia “Ana” Read, since quite frankly I never envisioned her as skinny, short, or talkative as MC in the game is. The lack of body diversity in the MC’s models in particular, or even among MC’s friends, is actually one of my biggest hang-ups with all of the recent Hogwarts games...as much as I understand up to a point thinking it’d be difficult to program a lot of different outfits or animations for different size models, it’s still a little sad to me how the player character is always programmed to be skinny, and in Magic Awakened in particular, that favoring of skinny character designs is only accented all the more thanks to the quasi-Tim-Burton-esque animation style, which favors toothpick-thin necks and limbs. It’s one of the few aspects of poor representation in Rowling’s original books that I would argue these recent games haven’t tried as hard to address -- we’ve seen attempts at more LGBT+ representation, as well as more positive representation for different cultural backgrounds and disabilities (especially in Hogwarts Mystery), but not as much in regards to rounder body types. And I guess for me, being raised by a woman who struggled with her weight her entire life, that’s a little sad. Regardless, it was nice to draw Ana again after such a long time, particularly using the original game’s model as a kick-off point!

If you’d like to learn more about my “Strong But Silent,” daydreamer, Sailor-Moon-loving girl Ana, here’s a masterpost of links to get you started!! Enclosed under the cut is the original unedited sketch, embellished with some extra messy chibi doodles of Ana I did on the same page, in case you’re interested!

Ana’s Moodboard

Ana’s Intro Post and Model Sheet

Ana’s Playlist

Meet Ana’s awesome step-dad, Bradley!

See Ana’s dynamic with her stepdad and stepbrothers!

Bradley’s Moodboard

Preston’s Moodboard

Jasper’s Moodboard

Why Bradley is the best dad ever

The first doodle is kind of based on that first pair of duels with the Frey twins and Cassandra Vole in the game. As I discussed with my friend @dat-silvers-girl​, I see Ana being suuuuper quiet the entire time, to the point that everyone thinks she’s really shy or nervous, until she -- seemingly out of nowhere -- uses Wingardium Leviosa to levitate poor Colby a good five feet off the ground and then abruptly drop him, effectively putting an end to the duel before it even got started. (As it turned out, Ana was really inspired by Flitwick’s story about Ron Weasley using the spell on that mountain troll to protect his friends and worked super hard to master the spell herself, with the thought that maybe she could do something that cool someday. It ends up becoming one of Ana’s favorite spells to duel with, though she usually uses it to levitate herself over her opponents to give herself the literal “high ground.”) Ana accepted Cassandra’s invitation to the Dueling Club, as well as challenges Cassandra on the dueling field several more times over the years, out of her strong sense of honor, which is funnily enough rather akin a knight’s -- Ana will never back down from a challenge, and if her loved ones or her view of common decency have been insulted, she will absolutely ask to “take it outside” and fight the dispute out on the dueling field, rather than insult the person back, ignore them, or actively lose her temper and attack them straight out. 

The second doodle is Ana in class, a good chunk of the time. Ana isn’t actually that shy, nor is she stuck-up, but she’s much better at writing eloquent essays than coming up with witty phrases or sassy one-liners on a whim. And because of how incredibly sensitive she secretly is (and the bullying she experienced for both her magic and her weight), she’s actually kind of hard to get to know, preferring the company of her fiction books to lots of people. She’s honestly a true “Belle” type, if one thinks of Beauty and the Beast, despite being in the house of Lions.

The last doodle is of Ana with Daniel Page, because, amazingly, these two are on the exact same wave length when it comes to the Statute of Secrecy, though for very different reasons! Ana’s stepfather, Bradley Pinkstone, is a pro-Muggle and Squib rights activist who passionately believes that the Wizarding World should find a way to work alongside the Muggle World, to the extent that the Statute of Secrecy isn’t necessary -- he and his sons even work in a theater alongside Muggles everyday, embracing Muggle technology just as much as they do magic! With Ana being Muggle-born herself, she’s likewise very supportive of the thought that if the two worlds knew more about each other, other little magical kids wouldn’t have to grow up feeling like freaks and outcasts the way she did. That doesn’t mean that Ana would ultimately agree with NOTME’s tactics, though -- she thinks there’s a very big difference between protesting against an unjust law and causing abject terror and chaos. (I personally see Daniel as more of a Ravenclaw/Slytherin type than a Gryffindor type myself, but that’s just my headcanon.)

[willkimurashat]

Exactly 0 people asked, but here I am anyway with a rating of Love Island The Game: Ex in the Villa lol!

As you’ve probably noticed, I played each volume as it came out, did not read the spoilers. I always loved litg for giving me escapism from reality I so much craved because it was a fun, problem-free game, where I was the center of attention in a good way, and pixels loved me unconditionally. That is until s5 rolled up. I was really excited about it, even though still not over s4 because they released it so close to each other, but nonetheless wanted to give it a fair go. I was very open to the story and the characters, but about half way through, I just could not defend them anymore. It wasn’t a good time anymore, it was a “how will fusebox piss me off today” time. Anyways, maybe this whole collective trauma of s5 is still very fresh in my mind, and I won’t think it’s so bad as time goes on, but here’s my thoughts on it now.

Disclaimer: All of these are obviously just my subjective, humble opinion - feel free to agree or disagree or add your own:) and if you’d like to use these categories for your own ratings - please, by all means!

Also, potential spoilers ahead:)

So. Let’s break it down into some categories…

Character design: 7/10

This is just my personal taste I guess, but they really went off with Suresh and Gabi. Meera and Johnny made me swoon too. The rest look aight, but I think slight tweaks like aligning Finn’s jaw or Kat’s eyes or making her hair less high up, stuff like that - it would really help. Also, never forget the atrocious outfits (I mean, rubber duckies? Really? The stupid hat? The abominable sandals?? Ugh…)

Character personality: 7/10

I’m probably being too generous, but I do feel like everyone had a distinct personality and a “role” in the villa. Now, where they annoying most of the time? Yes. Were they mean to MC? Also yes, but that’s a completely different point. Did we really get to know anyone or was it mostly just conversations about how Suresh would feel if MC went for someone else and vice versa? I’ll let you answer that one… Disclaimer: MC not included here, she’s an outlier and would skew the score too much.

Character diversity: 4/10

We got some range of characters, but where they done well? Starting with not specifying ethnicities of every single mixed race islander on their applications, perpetuating stereotypes about characters of color and abuse, making them toxic, continuing to make woc villains of the story… LGBT characters being all over the place and, again, villains/unlikeable… Yeah, do better fusebox.

MC design: 6.5/10

My first impression when I saw mc was… not the greatest. My second impression when I played the game - better, but not great. I think my main issue is some expressions, which are just not.. it… I appreciate that they made a curvier body type option, but the face just looks a bit off anyway? Like, don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely potential and so many people were able to make them look hot, but my mc? Idk, can’t help but think that something’s off with her every time I look at her:/ (I figured out who my mc reminds me of btw!)

MC personality: 1/10

It really is a 0, but again, I’m being generous. 16 volumes, 42 episodes and we know absolutely nothing about them. What do they like? Who’s their type? What’s their passion in life? What makes them, well, them? Who is mc? A hologram. A cardboard cut out that only has three preprogrammed comments: yes/no/i don’t know.

MC customization: 5/10

I think overall, the customization was alright and I was pretty much able to make mc look like me, but that being said, I’m a white girl, so I’m privileged enough to not have to run into problems like having ethnic hair gem blocked… And again, I like the curvy body type option, (though it’s still kinda limited), but we still can’t have a choice of feminine/masculine presenting bodies, which I don’t think is too much to ask for (they do it on Lovelink for example). And the outfits… granny fashion and shattered glass bikini? Please just.. let’s just move on.

Challenges: 5/10

The idea for challenges was quite good. Who doesn’t love an obstacle challenge, a snog, marry, pie, a heart racing challenge, or kiss the islander with ___ secret? I know I do! No, we didn’t get the baby challenge or the mean tweets, but it was still a good selection of challenges. However, they were written so… dryly? (Is that a word? It feels like it’s not, but it is now lol.) Anyway, just like the rest of the season, it’s three lines of dry textbook text that just didn’t excite me in the slightest. I read textbooks for grad school every day, I want creative writing in a romance game pretty please! I didn’t feel like I was actually there, doing the challenge. I didn’t care if I won the challenge either because there were no prizes for them anyway and no one-on-one time with our li’s, so… Good idea, poor execution:/

Drama: 3/10

E X C E S S I V E and U N C A L L E D F O R. Of course, it made sense that in a season about Exes in the Villa the main drama will be about Exes in the Villa. I get it, trust me. But you would hope that the drama will get resolved, which in my opinion, it wasn’t. Or it didn’t feel like a satisfying resolution to me personally. It kept going in circles, “hear me out!” “I’m done apologizing!” “Maybe we are different people” “I’m gonna win you back” “How do you think Suresh would feel if…?” “How do you feel now that Suresh is with…?” And the ending was that he wanted to propose to you too, but because of miscommunication it didn’t happen, making this whole drama actually pointless. And that’s only Suresh drama, which if you’re not on his route is tiring, repetitive, and… boring?

Moving on, I wrote a lot of rants about Alfie drama, so I won’t go into it, you all know how I feel. Arlo was feisty with mc for no reason, especially if you constantly reject Suresh’s advances. Drastically changing Meera’s character to an insufferable bitch was unnecessary. Same with Johnny/Nicolas - there was no indication that they are terrible people during casa amor, and the evil master plans came out of nowhere, and only served to further hurt mc. Eddie as a villain was enough for me tbh, we didn’t need the whole villa ganging up on mc. Plus, we shouldn’t be the only ones with drama, I would like to have some fun time at least, thank you very much. Overall, I’m not saying this should be Friend Island - I’ve seen the show, I know how it goes and I know some drama can be absolutely ridiculous, but I just think it wasn’t balanced out at all. It wasn’t healthy. It wasn’t proportional. (Maybe I’m alone in thinking this, but I think s4 had a good balance of drama/friendships/romance, so it was still there, but it wasn’t overbearing.)

Relationships: 3.5/10

The only points here are for Lulu, honestly. And Gabi, but I might be biased lol. Okay, maybe also Alfie-Finn bromance, I’m a sucker for those. Friendship-wise, the whole season I felt alone and felt like I couldn’t trust anyone. Kat was going back and forth between being my friend and being my rival. Arlo had issues with me… why exactly? I’m honestly not sure… Dana was… just there? Her friendship entailed pulling me for a chat any time I wanted to have a conversation with my li and gossiping or asking for reassurance. Meera was nothing, but an insecure bitch to me. Eddie wanted nothing to do with me, until the very end we’re apparently all buddy-buddy and he’s spilling secrets to me. Don’t forget the blackmailing too. Finn was nice only in one (1) occasion, and that is during Snog, Marry, Pie. Alfie may have been a good friend, but I didn’t do that route with him. Lulu was the only one consistently kind and on mc’s side. Gabi was an interesting addition, it’s a shame we didn’t get to know her at all basically.

Romance-wise, again, felt like I couldn’t trust anyone. It was the first season where I just wasn’t interested in anyone romantically because I didn’t get to know anyone really, and most were horrible to me. When the first character designs dropped, I liked Suresh, then was let down. I liked Alfie, then was let down. I liked Johnny, then was let down. I liked Finn, then was let down. I liked Lulu, but the choice to pick Gabi was just too tempting, and guess what? Lulu didn’t let me down, even as just a friend. (I’m glad I picked Gabi in the end, but I still know nothing about her…) Nobody really wanted mc and mc couldn’t really have anyone either. I think there was a lot of wasted potential with li’s. Like, hear me out: Suresh - enemies to lovers, Alfie/Dana - loyal routes, Finn - slow burn, Kat - friends to lovers, Johnny/Nicolas - partners in crime, Lulu - last-minute-sweep-me-off-my-feet, Gabi - messy, peak drama choice (I mean, come on, two girls wronged by the same ex get together? It’s my favorite part of this whole season - literally why I picked her, and she’s actually a sweetheart:))

Recouplings: 2/10

I remember in s4, I felt like there were too many recouplings, so in s5 they went ahead and gave us the least recouplings possible. Only once (1) can you actually pick someone you want to be with throughout the whole time in the villa, throughout all 42 episodes, all 16 volumes - right at the very end (!!!), unless you also willingly chose to twist switch to someone after casa amor. My main issue is that the whole season can be considered pointless because you can basically never couple up with who you want, casa boys wrong you and leave you anyway, bringing us back to square one with 3 og guys that you might’ve tried to escape the whole time. Or, if you’re on a Suresh route, the whole pining angst, or even, the whole idea of going to love island was useless and pointless because even though neither of them really grow or change as people (sorry my Suresh lovelies, it’s just how i see it), they finally talk it out and make up anyway, so none of these 42 episodes really mattered. Yeah, it angers me.

Finale: 4/10

As contradicting as it may sound, I do believe the team took feedback regarding s4 finale into consideration. We got final dates, prom prep, prom, declarations of love, winner announcements, love vs. money, and even a special vip guest - all components needed for a successful finale, the climactic resolution of the season, right? Wrong. I can live with the sacrifice of afterparty (not that I would want to see anyone from this season ever again anyway), but it seems natural progression of the finale was also sacrificed for the sake of jam-packing everything into the last volume. The events felt like they were happening with a speed of light: recoupling-hideaway (ugh)-date-picking a dress-prom-declaration-winners-money/love. I may be sleep deprived, but this made me even more dizzy. And not even that, but the progression of the relationship felt anything, but natural - it was more of a fever dream, really. I like you, Gabi, I do, and you’re sweet and give me full attention, but other than the fact that you like tattooing and fear squirrels, I know absolutely nothing about you (besides the obvious, of course). So all the plastic rings flying around, “being exclusive” and ahem, a PROPOSAL felt, uh… rushed. This is not Vegas, we are not eloping, and I basically don’t know you, so why, oh why would that even be an option?

Moving on, the resolution of the season overall was quite lackluster. Finn never confronted Kat, continuing on with a perfect illusion of romance for her. Well done, Finn. Suresh leaves (if you’re not with him), and decides to let loose and go to Barbados, clearly indicating that he will resort back to his old ways. Nice. Alfie claims to have become a changed man, even appears regretful about things, but who’s to say if he really did change? A half-assed “we’re friends” speech from Kat really did nothing to me neither physically nor emotionally. Sooo… 16 volumes, 42 episodes later nobody learned anything, nobody admitted they were wrong, nobody really genuinely apologized, and nobody grew as a person. Yet again - the whole season was pointless. Add in the driest, most uninteresting writing and it was enough to leave me disappointed still.

We will not talk about Bobby. I refuse to talk about Bobby. That was not Bobby, he was not canon, it did not happen, and I will not accept any criticism.

Structure: 3/10

The only points here are for casa amor, and even that wasn’t done well (i have a post about it here somewhere). Starting with only 3 couples? Only what, like, 3 recouplings ever? Not a single beach hut moment? Not a single hideaway moment??? (No no, they cannot get away with a lackluster last minute “whatever, you can have your stupid hideaway” scene in the very end of the season) We’ve only been there for what feels like a week?? Are you kidding me? It seems we keep straying further and further away from the format of the actual show it’s meant to be based on and I don’t really like that tbh.

Storyline: 5/10

Tell you what, I was actually really intrigued when they first announced the theme of the season as “Ex in the Villa”. I remember people theorizing how they’re gonna handle it, who they’re bringing in, etc. But, a few episodes in I realized just how limiting it was to constrain the whole plotline to… just Suresh. All the conversations and all the drama got very-very redundant very-very quickly. The only redeeming quality was being able to pick Gabi. Check and mate. Oh, and Lulu. Lulu is my queen:) Here’s alternative ways they could’ve improved it: let players choose who their ex is from given characters; let our ex despise mc and mc despises them back in the beginning (enemies to lovers/enemies to besties); let all islanders be exes of other islanders (it won’t be love island the show anymore, but they weren’t really sticking to the format anyway, so); let mc have multiple exes in the villa (and then those two (or three?) exes fight for them); let players choose the reason why they’re exes.

Writing: 2/10

I’m kinda conflicted because I feel like it did get better, but it also got worse? Like, I appreciate using more of love island jargon and the conversations felt pretty natural, like real people would speak, you know? (But still, I can’t really speak to that, since I don’t live in the UK, my only exposure to different accents is through tv and videos.) But at the same time all conversations (75% of which are about Suresh and MC lol) felt so repetitive and so boring and it dragged on and on and on… and then you look back at the episode and realize that nothing’s happened and you didn’t learn anything about anyone. Character development was minimal, if there at all. Very little character depth, very limited background information. I’m not even going to mention mc… Spicy scenes were basically nonexistent and a massive downgrade from s4 (don’t even talk to me). And even in general, every scene was written so dry, so robotic, and so anticlimactic that it was just constant disappointment. The constant bullying from girls to wear expensive outfits was super annoying and unnecessary as well.

Update: I initially had a higher rating for writing, but after playing the finale, I had to cut it in half for the mere reason that I have reached my limit. The utter disrespect I felt when my eyeballs glanced over the screen and read “NSFW kiss” during a prom scene with Gabi was beyond something I could accept with understanding. Perhaps in some circumstances it could be an acceptable form of writing and communicating, but personally I considered the phrasing as a placeholder, instead of a legitimate description of such kiss. I believe if the company had at least the slightest respect for their players, they would and should do the bare minimum of proofreading the text before releasing it for satisfactory gaming experience. Unfortunately, I had to remove points for personal vindication and emotional damage, which is reflective of how I have been treated as a player.

Replayability: 2/10

Hmmm idk. Idk if I’ll ever replay this one. I never got too attached to characters or the storyline, maybe because they released it so soon after s4 and I wasn’t over that yet. And when I did feel a teeny tiny spark with a character, they went on and did something stupid/annoying/hurtful, so even if I did want to go back and do their routes, I feel like they hurt me and I don’t like them much anymore. The only way I mightttt replay it at some point is to just be a bitch to everyone from the beginning because they all deserve that, honestly…

Overall score: 4/10

Well, and that about wraps it up. I never had this many… negative emotions about a season - me, the person who always tells people to not compare seasons, give it a fair go, and not take it close to heart because it’s a game. I usually love burying my face in a pillow, giggling at my screen, and kicking my feet as pixels swoon over me, professing their undying love, but I was robbed of that this season, unfortunately. I’m definitely gonna miss the memes and the rants here every Wednesday, and being the sentimental ass that I am, I will actually feel kinda sad that it’s over. At the same time, this was the first season that I spent here, as an official member of the litg fandom lol, and I’m thankful to have made friends here, bonding over this season:) Thank you for reading my rants, agreeing with me, and offering your own insights and perspectives! I hope I was able to make you laugh a little bit too:) This season prompted me to write two fics (and maybe more to come) that I’m quite proud of, and it made me want to replay other seasons, so I guess there is some good that came out of it, right? ;) and since we didn’t get a traditional ending this season, in true litg fashion I’ll say it…

…Stay hydrated, islanders xoxo

[artisthedgehog]

HEY LGBT+ COMMUNITY DID YALL ALSO GROW UP READING "RELATABLE" BOOKS ABT TEENAGE YEARS THAT EVERY PERSON IS SUPPOSED TO RELATE TO BUT YOU DIDNT BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER WAS CIS N STRAIGHT SO BEFORE YOU REALIZED YOU WERE LGBT+ YOU FELT EXTREMELY ALONE BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON YOU DIDNT RELATE TO THE MAIN CHARACTER'S EXPERIENCE WITH PEOPLE OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER SO YOU THOUGH YOU LIKED EVERY PERSON OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER YOU MET BECAUSE YOU DID NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLATONIC AND ROMANTIC ATTRACTION SO BECAUSE YOU FELT THE SAME TOWARDS EVERY PERSON OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER YOU THOUGHT YOU LIKED THEM BUT YOU RLLY JUST WANTED TO BE THEIR FRIEND AND WHEN YOU STARTED REALIZING MAYBE UR A LITTLE MORE GAY/ARO/ACE/LESBIAN/BI/PAN/OMNI/TRANS/ENBY/WHATEVER YOU FELT WEIRD AND USELESS BECAUSE YOU NEVER SAW THAT HAPPENING IN BOOKS SO YOU DIDNT KNOW WHAT THAT WAS ABOUT AND FELT LIKE A WEIRDO OR A PERV UNTIL YEARS LATER YOU DISCOVERED THE COMMUNITY AND FINALLY REALIZED "OH IM GAY/ARO/ACE/LESBIAN/BI/PAN/OMNI/TRANS/ENBY/WHATEVER" OR IS THAT JUST ME

[spacedoutcowgirl]

Your Miraculous Online AU is gonna single-handedly pull me back into the ML fandom… good stuff though I love your characterizations and the Luka x Chat Noir x Adrien dynamic is adding to my lifespan

Quick question tho (and maybe reading the full AO3 fic will answer this for me, if so my bad): where is Marcaniel? Are they safe? Are they alright? No sweat if you just don’t like them/writing them, I’m just curious about my boys - I’m using that gender-neutrally - and your thoughts on them

BYE SO HAPPY I COULD GET YOU BACK IN THIS HELLSCAPE. there’s no escape apparently! my characterizations is smth i have a lot of anxiety about so it’s a relief that you think they’re good anon!!

quick answer: (pls i have to update dancing once again very soon yikes!!!) i have marcaniel in a big carboard box with several holes on top so they can breathe. everyday i sprinkle some food flakes for nutrition.

nah but fr they should b coming into the au soon enough! i have a new list of characters im trying to work in + create plot lines for so they should make an appearance soon enough! i do love them tho! im always a sucker for the artsy writer type in shows and im glad to see more lgbt rep with them :)

[yo-snap]

Hi, idk how to format fanfiction here. THIS IS FANFICTION!!!

Fandom: WALL-E (2008)

Title: Gender

Characters: M-O, WALL-E, AUTO, EVE, GO-2 (a GO-4 oc)

Rating: Everyone Language: English Word Count: 2,976 (excluding notes)

[A/N: I thought you tumblrinas would read this. It has a GO-4 fancharacter that i call "GO-2 (GO-4 Unit 2)" he's a robot doctor, and AUTO is that cringe ass version i posted whenever ago.

Some people like talking about gender. I don't. But it's something that comes up with robots a lot I WONDER WHY. (It's because all robots are QUEER, and denial of that is bigotry.) Anyway, here we go w the WALL-E squad bc i said so. Might be a little rambly. Spoilers: you might not like what i have to say.

TW/CW: i don't care about your feelings, INTERPRETATIONS!!!! gender stuff, lgbt+ stuff (implied), talking w friends, personal questions/feelings, misgendering??? (not really), surprise, walking in on someone, computer repairs (mentioned), meeting friends, running off, i don't mention who is talking every single time so don't hang on things]

“I'm just a little fella.”

“You're just a little guy.”

“I'm like just a little guy.”

“You're a little fella guy.”

“I'm just a little fella guy.”

AUTO turned to the two cubic robots that were talking. They seemed to be having a deep conversation.

“I'm like just the littlest fella.”

“You're the littlest fella that i know.”

“I'm like a pretty little fella.”

“You're like small.”

“I'm like a small guy.”

“Like a little fella of sorts.”

“I'm like a little fella, right???”

WALL-E nodded. “You're like a little fella.”

“Like a little guy, right???”

“Are you a guy, M-O???” AUTO couldn't keep quiet anymore.

“Huh???” They both turned to him.

“Are you a ‘guy?’ Do you consider yourself masculine???”

“‘Masculine???’ What do you mean???”

“You mean like a man, right? A male human???” WALL-E was somewhat familiar with the concept.

“Correct. Do you relate yourself personally to men???”

M-O thought. “Huh. I guess i never thought about that.” He considered. “Um… I'm gonna say ‘no,’ not really.”

“I see.”

“I think you're a little guy, but i don't think you're very male-like, M-O.”

AUTO beeped. “I would be inclined to agree. I would not consider you very masculine from an outside perspective.”

M-O considered. “But i'm still like a little guy, right???”

AUTO paused and made another tone. “Affirmative, you are just a little guy. A little fella. Small.”

“Thank you.”

“You know, i don't think i've ever thought about that myself either.” They looked at him. “I mean, i know that men and women are different. I know it's an important thing for them. But i never really gave any thought to which side i relate myself more to.”

“Have you not?”

“Nah, not really. I might relate to a character in a movie or something, but them being either male or female didn't really affect how i saw them.” He tapped his eyepiece. “I guess maybe i'm a little more masculine, since the characters that i relate to more are usually men… Or, well, at the same time, i do have a lot of women characters that i relate to, too. Hmm. I don't know!”

AUTO made a tone. “Do you think you are similar to both? Or to neither???”

He was thinking. He seemed to be struggling, as he grumbled a bit. “I-i'm sorry, what??? What's the difference?”

“Pardon. I mean to say, do you believe that they are both similar to how you see yourself? Or, do you believe that they are both different???”

“Uh…” He still wasn't understanding. “I don't know! I guess both???”

“Both what???” M-O asked, also bamboozled by the question.

“I don't know!!!”

“I apologize. I suppose the question is a bit unclear. I do not know how to say what i mean.”

WALL-E continued to think. “I guess i'm kind of masculine. And i guess i'm kind of… what's the other one? ‘Feminine???’” AUTO nodded. “And i guess i'm also kind of neither of those. I'm kind of…”

“You're kind of a silly guy.”

“Affirmative, he is just a silly guy.”

He had been trying to phrase it, but they distracted him. “Um… sure. Yeah… Thanks.”

“I believe that i understand what you are trying to say, WALL-E. It can be a very difficult thing to define. Do you find that your opinion of it changes at times???”

WALL-E considered. “Yeah. Yeah, i guess. Kind of.” He nodded. “Sure. It changes.”

AUTO nodded. “I understand. That makes sense. I have often found you difficult to classify in those regards as well. I cannot say that you are more similar to one than the other, and i cannot always say that you are similar to either of those.”

“What about me, AUTO? Am i ‘feminine???’” M-O bounced for attention.

AUTO studied him for a moment. “Not very. Perhaps in some regards, you are more feminine than masculine: as cleanliness is typically more associated with women than men. But i would not say that you are very feminine at all.”

“I think you're a good balance, M-O. You're no more feminine than you are masculine, at least to me.”

“But how do you perceive yourself??? Your opinion of yourself is the most important.”

M-O shook his head. “I don't relate more to women than i do men. I think you're both right about me. I like being neither.”

AUTO nodded. “That makes sense. I am happy that you are comfortable.”

“Well, what about you, AUTO??? How do you see yourself???” WALL-E cocked his head.

“I find the perception of myself somewhat similar to both of you. Most times, i do not consider myself either masculine or feminine. But other times, i consider myself feminine.”

WALL-E made a shocked tone. “Whoa, really??!! You consider yourself feminine?!”

AUTO felt awkward. “Yeees… Is that surprising???”

WALL-E fidgeted. “W-well… yeah, a little. I didn't usually see you as either, but i would have said you were slightly more masculine than you are feminine.”

“I understand why you say that. My voice chip is rather low, which is a masculine trait. And i suppose that first encounters are important for how you perceive somebody. I may have come across as more masculine when we first met. Is that your opinion???”

“Y-yeah, i guess that has something to do with it.” He glanced away. “Um, i'm sorry, i didn't mean to make this awkward.”

“There is no need to apologize. I appreciate your input. Would you like to know why i consider myself more feminine???” WALL-E nodded, and M-O beeped in the affirmative.

“The AUTOPILOTs are each essentially part of a triad. There is us, and there is the onboard computer, and there is the ship. The onboard computer was given a feminine voice, much more human in intonation than mine is. Many of her dialog options were recorded at one time by a human woman. She was given the ability to synthesize new words using the phonemes, er, rather, the sounds of the languages with which she was installed. She can answer questions and relay various items from her library, but she is not quite the same variety of AI that we are.

“The ships are considered feminine. Humans have almost always referred to ships as feminine, out of tradition. To my knowledge, it is in relation to the safety and protection provided by a mother or a goddess, or sometimes it is in accordance with the idea of ‘Mother Nature.’” He glanced down at a very confused M-O. “Um… they just refer to vessels as feminine.”

“Okay. And since you're part of the three, you consider yourself feminine, too???” WALL-E was following along.

“Correct. Not always, but on occasion. I feel it would be a bit silly not to. I believe that i have some traditionally feminine traits, such as the concern that i have for the safety of my passengers and robots. I am very diligent in reviewing the information that the computer provides and making adjustments as necessary in order to maintain their safety. I also try my best to accommodate my captains and remind them of their personal needs. I believe that i am sometimes somewhat motherly, which is typically the most feminine that an individual can be.” He thought. “But i suppose those traits could be seen as fatherly as well, depending on inflection or interpretation.”

“I think that might have been what it was for me. Sorry for misinterpreting you.” WALL-E made an apologetic tone.

“That is quite alright. I believe many of my captains have interpreted that as well. Most have used only masculine pronouns when referring to me. I do not mind. I wonder how i would feel if i had been referred to with feminine pronouns.” He tapped his face.

“I always thought you were neither, AUTO. You're too smart to be compared to a human.”

He made a tone. “Thank you, M-O.” He reached down and pet the top of M-O’s head, making him wiggle and chirp happily.

WALL-E made a delighted tone. “I wonder what Eva would say. I don’t think i’ve ever asked her what she thinks.”

“Do you think she’s done with her tune up yet???”

“Inconclusive. Let us ask.” AUTO floated over to the console that connected to the various areas of the ship and put the line through to the repair ward. They could see the video feed on the screen, and it showed GO-2 working on Eva’s body compartment. The three of them made embarrassed and flustered tones, and the two robots on the other end looked over at the camera. “Apologies!!! I did not intend to disrupt!”

GO-2 and Eva glanced at one another, and he floated between her and the camera. “It is no issue. May i help you with something, AUTO???”

“Oh, nothing important. We were just curious as to the estimated time at which Eva's tune up will be complete.” The others were chattering in the background.

GO-2 considered for a moment. “I believe we are almost finished. We should be roughly completed by the time WALL-E and M-O arrive here, if they intend to meet Eva.”

“Ooh, really???” WALL-E glanced at the screen again after being too embarrassed to look.

“Affirmative. We will not be much longer.”

M-o beeped. “Oh, yeah, let's go meet her!”

“Thank you, GO-2. End transmission.”

GO-2 saluted at the camera, and AUTO turned off the line. He turned to his friends. “You are leaving now???”

“In a minute. Do you wanna come with us, AUTO???”

AUTO thought about it. “I am unsure. I do not want Eva to be upset with me.”

“Oh, you worry too much! We'll just tell her that we bugged you until you connected to the ward.” M-O pat AUTO's arm to comfort him.

“We'll always take the blame when Eva's mad at you, AUTO!”

He made a low tone. “Thank you, WALL-E. But i highly doubt the effectiveness of your efforts.”

The three of them made their way towards the repair bay. They didn't have a MVR with them, so it took them a bit longer; and M-O latched onto WALL-E after a little while ‘to not slow them down.’ The others knew that wasn't why he did it, but they would have both admitted to wanting to carry him in their hands if they were asked. M-O didn't want them to fight about it.

They entered to see Eva waiting around after her repairs were completed. It must have been just before they got there, as GO-2 was still updating her repair log. He inputted the last bit of info and hurried over to see his friends. “Hello all! How are you today???”

M-O zipped over to circle around Eva. He beeped happily and circled around GO-2 as well. “Hiii GO-2!!!”

WALL-E rolled up beside Eva and they both reached to hold hands. “Hi GO-2! We're good, how are you???”

“I am well, thank you. It is always a pleasure to work on Eva.”

“It's a pleasure to be here, GO-2!” Eva made a bright tone.

“I must apologize, Eva. I sincerely did not mean to invade your privacy as i did.” AUTO made a low tone and cautiously hovered toward GO-2.

WALL-E beeped quickly. “Uh, it was my idea, Eva! We thought you were almost done.”

“Uh, yeah, i was the one that said that. Heheh, i guess i got my timing off. Sorry.” 

She rolled her eyes. “It's fine, guys. We're all robots here.”

“Oh yeah, that's why we all came down here!” M-O rolled between GO-2 and Eva. “AUTO asked us about how we think about ourselves! Like if we're more similar to men or women.” He beeped. “I said that i was neither. WALL-E said that he was both and also neither. And he was really surprised by what AUTO said about himself!”

“Okay!!! But to be fair, you guys have all known him a lot longer than i have!!!”

That made Eva curious. “What did he say???”

“That he believes that he is somewhat feminine???”

“You knew that, GO-2???!!!” This was still an intense point for WALL-E.

He made a tone. “Of course. I am a sort of psychiatrist as well as a regular doctor to our robots. We have talked about this at length.”

“GO-2 was the first person that i told. I additionally simply trusted him as a friend.” AUTO put his hand on GO-2's back.

“Wait, what does ‘feminine’ mean???” Eva cocked her head.

“It's like a woman. ‘Masculine’ is like a man.” M-O wanted to make sure he still understood, and was satisfied that no one corrected him.

“Oh.” She processed. “So AUTO is like a woman???”

“W-well, partially. I typically see myself as neither masculine nor feminine.”

Eva thought for a moment. “I guess that makes sense.”

“How do you see yourself, Eva???”

She glanced at WALL-E. “I think it makes sense to be neither. I don't think i'm more like women than i am man. And i don't think i'm like men very much at all.” She beeped. “I guess i'd have to think about it.”

“Well– can i tell you what i think???” WALL-E wanted to share.

“Um, sure.”

“Okay, so when i first saw you, i thought you were beautiful. Gorgeous. Completely amazing. I was astounded. I couldn't believe my optics. You were incredible. You–”

“Yes, WALL-E, we know how you felt.” All of them, especially Eva, had heard WALL-E's first impression of her a hundred times before.

He made an awkward tone. “Er, w-well, i thought you were a little bit masculine in appearance. Like in shape, anyway. You were kind of like… like a triangle???” He put his hands together to demonstrate the upside-down shape that he meant. “Which is like a man. And especially with the ion rifle. I thought you were like an action hero, which are usually men.

“But then i saw you up close, and i heard your cute little giggle, and i wasn't sure anymore! And then we actually met, and your voice was so sweet and beautiful and wonderful, and i thought it was really feminine! Aaand after that i kind of lost it again. I think you're kind of like both, and also like neither. I wonder if you and i are alike like that.”

AUTO made a quiet tone. “M-may i offer my opinion???”

She slowly turned to him and glanced him up and down. “Sssuuure.”

He tapped his fingers together nervously. “W-well, i will say concisely: i view you as more feminine than masculine. In regards to shape, you are very rounded, and i believe that you were designed to look like an upside-down egg, which are things that come from female animals. Your directive had you incubate plant samples, which can also be considered feminine, as females are almost always the ones to incubate within their bodies.

“Your voice chip is also more feminine than masculine. I like it very much. But i have to believe that you were intended to be seen as feminine completely, as you were given a name that reflects the Biblical character of the first woman. I would say that your, rather, all of the EVEs’ intention was to be feminine: but you personally are not completely feminine. I think you are you, Eva. I admire that about you.”

There was silence for a few seconds, and AUTO thought he might have said something wrong. “I also think you're just Eva. You're a round fella.” M-O wanted his opinion to be known.

“Like how you're a little fella.” She didn't say it as a question.

“Exaaaactlyyyyy.” He nodded his head and looked at everyone as if trying to convince them.

“What about you, GO-2??? Do you have an opinion about yourself???” WALL-E didn't want him to be left out.

He turned to him. “Not exactly. Not in those parameters. I suppose that i can be either feminine or masculine, depending on how i am viewed. Human doctors do not have a typical gender… or, rather, they are not typically men, nor typically women: they are both. As for how i see myself, i do not give it much thought. I am usually too busy to consider that aspect of myself. I like who i am, and do not feel that i need to label myself as either masculine or feminine.”

“Yeah, me too!” M-O chirped.

“Affirmative, i feel that way as well most times.” AUTO nodded.

“I guess i'm kind of like that too. But now i am gonna think about it, because you guys are saying that i seem feminine. Maybe i'll agree with you.” Eva still needed some time.

“I can understand that. But i also want to think that i could be either. I wonder what it would be like to be a man or a woman.” WALL-E tapped his eyepiece.

“Well, whatever it's like, i'm sure it's not as fun as this!” Eva took off out of the repait ward, giggling and looking back as she did.

“Eva!!!” WALL-E called after her and dashed to follow.

“Oh, i'll catch you guys later! See ya!!!!” M-O sped off as fast as he could. “Hey guys, wait up!!! I'M JUST A LITTLE FELLA!!!”

AUTO and GO-2 watched them leave. They were both glad to see that they were so happy.

“You know, AUTO…” He turned to look at GO-2. “I could always try to adjust your voice chip. Perhaps i could help you sound more feminine. If you would like that.”

He made a tone. “Thank you for the offer, GO-2. But i am content with my voice as it is currently. It is how i have always sounded, and that voice matches me now. But thank you for offering again. I always appreciate it.” He affectionately pet GO-2 on his siren, and GO-2 made a satisfied tone.

[Post a/n: check under your chairs, i lost the ending again. Oops.

Heeeyy, there you go. THEY'RE QUEER! And i don't care if you don't agree. To clarify: M-O is gender neutral, WALL-E is genderfluid, AUTO is demifemme/gender neutral, Eva is questioning nonbinary, and GO-2 is agender. They use the pronouns that i used here. That's my version. Peace sign.

This is cross-posted on FFN and AO3 under the title "GO-4 It!!!"]

[negative-speedforce]

🧡💚🖤💔🏳️‍🌈 for the Flash or Star Wars?

Under the cut for space

Flash

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Coldflash (Barry Allen/Leonard Snart). Idk, it has all the ingredients of a ship that I really should be into, but I'm just... not. I think it's just that they're that really specific brand of "friendly rivals" that doesn't really excite me that much.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

It's apparently really hard to "get" Nora West-Allen's character if you didn't grow up in a single-parent household, never meeting your other parent. A lot of people say that she overreacted or that she was being irrational in her actions to try to save her dad from dying. Yeah, she did make some bad decisions, but she just wanted to know her dad. She just wanted to get to know him, because she had a frankly terrible life and she thought that maybe, if he was around, things could be better. Idk I have a lot of thoughts about her but she deserves her own post.

🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

Caitlin Snow. Because she's the token white woman of the main cast, a lot of people seem to uwu-ify her and make her into someone who can do no wrong. Really, Caitlin has willingly worked with a human trafficker and hid the fact that she had a murderous alternate personality from people who could help her with it, and the people who were put in danger because of it, for a really long time.

💔: If you had to remove one major character from the series, who would you choose?

Cecile Horton. Idk, she just bores me. She's an interesting character in the earlier seasons, but later on, her personality is just filed down to "empath".

🏳️‍🌈: Which character who is commonly headcanoned as queer doesn't seem queer to you?

They all seem like they're some flavor of LGBT+. However, with Caitlin Snow, people often headcanon her as bi or pan, but I see her as a-spec.

Star Wars:

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Obikin. Even though I'm aware that they're both adults when most people ship it, I'm just not a huge fan of the power imbalance in there. It gives me this feeling of visceral disgust, and if I see it untagged that gets an instant block from me. Ship and let ship, I'm not going to give someone hate if they ship it, but that ship kinda grosses me out.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

REVA WAS A CHILD!!! SHE WAS A CHILD SUCKED INTO A BRUTAL CULT AND NO ONE WAS THERE FOR HER!!!! YES SHE DID BAD THINGS BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE HER A BAD PERSON! SHE WAS TRYING TO SURVIVE!!!! (also she's honestly one of the best most compelling characters that Star Wars has put out since the Clone Wars ended and anyone who says otherwise clearly doesn't understand her character)

🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

Padme. Again, sad dead white woman can do no wrong. She was ready to stay with Anakin, to try to bring him back to the light, even after finding out that he murdered his friends and massacred children.

💔: If you had to remove one major character from the series, who would you choose?

Kylo Ren. He really could have been interesting! He had so much potential! I was peak Reylo trash back when TLJ came out, but now? He got boring. There was potential there, but they just made him a generic conflicted sad bad boy.

🏳️‍🌈: Which character who is commonly headcanoned as queer doesn't seem queer to you?

General Hux. While I have enjoyed a few Huxlo fics in my time, I don't really see him as liking men, or he's just around the wrong type of men. MAYBE he'd be Bi with a very strong preference for women, a 0.1 on the Kinsey Scale, but I don't see him as being anything more than that.

[everyday-is-brighter-with-you]

Koisenu Futari Ep 1 ( SPOILERS)

Yes, I watched the first episode!!

Wow! It's so good, and silly, I want to continue it. Granted I don't have a lot of exposure to LGBT media like this so I get easily excited, but still.

The humor is pretty good and floats with the lighthearted setting. Honestly being used to Indian TV shows, the subtleties of this Japanese one is surprising at times. No dramatic music ? No music AT ALL in one scene? Woah Bob!!!! Still, I feel the TV show element of it but the way it's understated also goes well with the tone. Must say this is the first Japanese live action TV show I'm watching of this nature, so I'm not entirely familiar to make internal genre comparisons, this is more of first impressions. In general, while it picks up heavy topics, it managed to balance with the light tone and order-of-events-happening. I didn't feel awkward about it even once so far.

Speaking of, WOW, I feel like you can tell whoever wrote this is very sympathetic and sensitive to the community they're trying to show. It just feels natural. And so many things they touched-- the feeling of your peers moving on ahead while you're in crisis about your own life, not feeling like a complete person, the talk about marriage, not wanting to be assumed to be living a life alone, etc....Admittedly I'm not very familiar with the aromantic community either, but from the time I'm in the asexual one( which these characters are as well), I recognize these deep-rooted concerns. I like how they actually show it seriously, Sakuko is feeling there is something fundamentally wrong with her.

And of course...the joy when she finds another person like her!!! 🥲( single tear emoji)

Let me backtrack a bit before we get there. There's a subplot with Sakuko( one of our MCs, a cheery woman who works on the upper rungs of a departmental store) and her high school friend Chizuru. I like how the characterization worked there, with Chizuru. She wasn't an asshole or anything, infact their friendship is so good she is willing to move in with Sakuko in a new apartment. But another life event occurs which unfortunately results in her leaving Sakuko behind with hurt feelings on both sides. I think it's a good example of a situation where life just...happens and things getting messy in a way you didn't think. Also people with good intentions giving them out in the wrong way. It gives a realistic feeling.

I don't want this to be Super Long, actually I start out with a lot of detail usually and then I cut down, that's how I write in my diary and I don't have like a lot of thoughts yet anyway. Just the first episode, everyone.

So I'll cut back to the other guy who is like her. He's an older man, Takahashi, which I'm getting is his last name actually ( but I'll address him as such until Sakuko changes her terms of address cuz I got used to that RN) and he arranges the vegetables in their store. He seems to have an affinity for cabbages and works with them, he's very blunt but quick to apologize as well. I like how both of them seem socially awkward in some way to me X) (X face with smile emote )

He also runs a blog which seems duel general-lifestyle talk and also thoughts about being aroace. Through this, the MCs have a definite meeting outside previous encounters.

Love the distilled kindness in the last scene here. And the setting! A very personable house his looked like, full of trinkets, a bit cramped. The way he said that whatever someone's sexuality is, not wanting to be alone isn't anything selfish. Her asking him if he can be her family without love! She's just so sjjsjsksksk. Genuine. It was sweeter than honey I might say. The teasers for the next episode were cheesy as hell and I'm looking forward to it haaha

Additional thoughts: Sakuko's sense of dress is very cozy. All cardigans and big pants and such.

For some reason the whole episode felt a touch off with the pacing, but maybe that's just me. Episode's gotta end on something to keep you waiting afterall.