#the lack of lesbians in tv is a CRIME

[ludcake]

the amc hbo deal is the best thing to happen to me this past month i swear that the sheer cunt combo of watching interview with the vampire back to back with a binge of killing eve is rewiring my brain

the amount of gay messy murderous divorce here is sooooooo good i need to write more of my own the lack of femslash in the world is a crime and it can only be fixed by more toxic lesbianism

please send me recs of more stuff i must consume

[eddiegettingshot]

sorry it is absolutely fucking hilarious to get self-righteous about “buddie shippers” being problematic or whatever because, crucially, “shipper” and “fan” are not actually social categories. forgetting this is why we have men perpetuating actual misogyny against actual women and nb people, why i saw someone saying verbatim that eddie (latino man) doesn’t need to be queer because the show already has henren (black lesbians) to be “queer racial rep,” why i’m seeing people pretend like lesbians and bi women have some kind of hidden structural power, why i’m seeing people come up with insane conspiracy theories about hacking and crimes to defend a white man with a recorded history of racism who was being racist, why people are throwing around whatever fucking accusations they want at any given time because it’s easy to use real problems to make a point, why straight people feel comfortable saying whatever the hell they want to queer people who disagree with them, etc. etc. and, despite seeing a notable absence of people pushing back against behavior like this, i still don’t think these things represent people who Ship Bucktommy, but people who suffer overall from a deep lack of understanding of power and oppression, and who are too ready to say whatever the fuck they want in service of their tv show opinions. but anyway, if that’s how we’re playing it, i guess i will feel ashamed of being associated with Vile Buddie Shippers when people start expressing any amount of shame from being associated with Extremely Misogynistic Bucktommy Enjoyers

[aggravateddurian]

The Alpha Bitch of Dogtown (AU) | Izzy Reyes - the techie

Izzy Reyes, the dishonourably discharged Marine turned Tyger Claws IT girl, turned BARGHEST techie.

She's supposed to have a ton of tattoos, but there's nothing really available that matches her background (former Marine, Barghest techie), and I'm no visual artist (I do film and tv related stuff irl) so maybe there's a modder out there who will accept a commission?

Basic Details:

Date of Birth: 17 March 2050 Place of Birth: Alburquerque, New Mexico, NUSA Sex: F Gender: F (Cis) Orientation: Lesbian Known crimes: Article 134 violation, theft, receiving stolen Federal property, handling stolen Federal property, selling stolen Federal property, illegal protest, assault of a police officer (multiple charges), participation in an organised crime organisation (two charges), participation in a conspiracy against the New United States of America, participation in an attempted assassination against the President of the New United States of America (holy shit that's a lot of crime) Hobbies: Computers, Interactive Braindance games (basically VR gaming), rock-climbing, gun customisation, skydiving

Full story below the Blackwall:

Izzy enlisted in the NUSMC mostly due to lack of any other real opportunity. She came from an unstable home (her mother was gone as often as she was at home) and thought that maybe spending four years as one of Uncle Sam's misguided children wouldn't be so bad...

Then the Unification War broke out and she somehow earned a Silver Star for bravery.

Anyway, she was discharged from the NUSMC for an Article 134 violation: helping out a fellow Marine with building a BD scrolling rig, and BD editing for his OF (or whatever the equivalent of OF is in 2077). When the BARGHEST recruiter learned the reason why Reyes was booted from the Marines, he laughed and then signed her up as a techie, though she was going to sign on as a trigger-puller, the recruiter said they needed techies more.

She plays a major role in V's life in Alpha Bitch of Dogtown, uncovering Mr Hands' conspiracy to take over the district by weakening V's power and destabilising her personal life (he falsified data to convince Judy that V was up to Hansen's old tricks, and she bailed). Get 'im juvie shippers!!!

Personality wise, Izzy is what would happen if you put Judy through Parris Island, put her in an infantry unit for six years and then booted her ass out of the Corps for helping her chooms edit smut.

Naturally, V finds Izzy interesting, and not just because she has a passing resemblance to her ex.

Bonus shot from her days as a Marine, patrolling the desert.

[spindrifters]

unpopular opinion: sirius can be a tank and feminine…at the same time.

idk why there’s ‘discourse’ between the fem/tank sirius factions but i think some people have forgotten these things aren’t mutually exclusive a buff hairy body doesn’t equate to masc and a waifish pretty boy doesn’t equate to submissive/fem…because body type≠personality??

SLAMS AGREE BUTTON.

I... have no idea how my original post got so taken out of context, or how I suddenly got accused of terf whistledog rhetoric. (I!! a trans gnc human!!) I think people saw the phrase 'gender essentialism' in reference to an mlm couple and lost their damn minds. anyway.

I want to talk about my experience at senior prom, back when I was eighteen and identified as a female lesbian and went to prom with my female lesbian girlfriend. both of us wore long prom dresses, and the sheer confusion we caused among the general populace was honestly astoundingly funny. the People simply didn't get it. but who's the man? who's the woman? how does it work when you're both wearing dresses?

I'm bringing this up because the fact of us both wearing long dresses had fuck all to do with our personalities, or our body types, or our relationship dynamic, or our private sexual experience with one another. it was senior prom and we both wanted to wear pretty gowns on that particular night. and yet the lack of clearly defined gender roles (within our very obvious queer relationship) simply did not compute. this was 2011, in a city widely known to be very liberal. it really wasn't that long ago.

queerness looks so many different ways. if one of us had wanted to wear a suit or tux, that would have been more than valid, and it still wouldn't have been acquiescing to gender essentialism. in the real world, acquiescing is impossible, because queerness is inherently about existing outside gender normative identity and roles. but we're not talking about the real world, we're talking about fictional characters, and what I think's gotten lost in this discourse is my initial point, which is actually about media literacy.

fiction feeds mainstream cultural understandings of what queerness looks like. ex: for a long time, most people didn't personally know a transgender person, so they were taking their understanding from film and tv. and what was the messaging there? serial killers (silence of the lambs, psycho), vomit-inducing jokes (ace ventura, the crying game), and sex workers who turn into murder victims (most procedural crime shows ever). and don't come at me saying some of these examples are actually cis men cross-dressing, most filmmakers/audiences at the time didn't know the difference and you'll just be proving my point.

so yes, I want a sirius who's both a tank and femme. I want a sirius who's waifish and femme, too! and guess what? I am all here for a sirius who is waifish, femme, a bottom, and a sub. but it's the automatic equation of body type with traditionally 'female' personality traits/gender roles/sexual roles that is actively harmful, because at the end of the day, it's a media depiction feeding into cultural understandings of gender essentialism within queerness. which doesn't exist in the real world.

you sly dog, you got me monologuing.

[asagi-red-wolf]

Why didn’t AHS: NYC get months of promotion like the other seasons?

Why didn’t AHS: NYC ever get an actual trailer and the teaser trailer was only aired a few WEEKS before it started airing?

Why is AHS: NYC getting this really odd release schedule of airing two episodes a week for five weeks instead of one for ten, and airing at 10 and 11 rather than 10 and, say, 9, to make up for that, for people who can’t stay up past prime time? (working parents for example)

Why did AHS: NYC take a hard left turn away from sensationalism, bizzareness, batshit insanity, and Gays being backgrounded and stereotyped, to an almost jarringly grounded crime serial with an almost 100% queer cast that looks at queerness through- especially for the time period- a realistic and human lens? Why are all the charectors so quiet and down to earth rather than the typical bombasticness that AHS is known for?

Why is this season, in every way, so unlike the others?

Maybe because it’s “too gay”

Like yes AHS has always had queerness as a focus, background or center, but this is the first time when queerness is THE story- it isn’t a flavoring, it isn’t a side story, it isn’t a detail, it’s THE entire focus- and it’s not Gaystreaming- the practice of making gay stories for straight audiences- either, it’s not bombastic or stereotyping or titillating, it’s queer stories based on reality, it’s queer stories based on actual queer experiences and not just what can also be marketed to the cis hets, and it’s also the first time that out of an ensemble cast, there are just zero straight stories, even in Asylum and Cult, where the central charector’s story was heavily involving her lesbianism, there were plenty of other stories going on around it that had just as much focus- if not more- that were entirely straight, but NYC doesn’t have that

It also doesn’t have the inherent weirdness and explosive sensationalism of AHS’s normal seasons- as I mentioned before- it’s just..... realistic? Like even the seasons without supernatural elements to them were just so extreme, it was easy to brush off as fictional, but NYC is toned down to the point that it’s arguably not even horror, but a crime thriller, and that’s a HUGE first for AHS

I wonder if Ryan Murphy did this season without the network’s full support and now they’re stuck with it so they’re just trying to “Get rid of it”, thus the lack of promotion and the minimalized broadcast, they’re airing it the way they would a show with low ratings that they’re trying to dump before the prime season of TV starts

I wonder if, with having two more seasons locked in, Ryan Murphy either insisted on doing this story, or was given carte blanche to do anything he wanted and he said “here” and then the network went “um...” but couldn’t really take it back at that point, so now FX has this Thing they don’t really want or believe in but have to air in some capacity so they’re just doing it in the most minimal way they can

It’s just so strange of these factors to line up if they’re really a coincidence- the type of story and the way it’s being aired/promoted

It’s also worth noting that Ryan Murphy is very driven by current moods/interests/events, that’s why Cult even exists at all, and it doesn’t surprise me that Pose- an equally queer-focused show set in NYC’s gay culture in the 80s/90s, just ended, and the next season of anything he’s able to air is.... also a queer-focused show set in NYC’s gay culture in the 70s/80s... so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s bothered by the current climate related to queerness in this country and/or missing Pose and felt the need to write this story

I’ll be interested to hear, when his contract with FX eventually ends, how much he had to go through to get AHS: NYC to happen

Ofcourse, there’s always the possibility that I’m being too cynical

There’s always a chance that this toned down approach is just a one-off experimental thing like 1984 was- 1984 also being very toned down in comparison to usual

There’s always a chance that the lack of promotion was more to do with a combination of not having the show ready in time to promote it fully and not being 100% sure when it would be done so not sure when it would air, and the show having such a loyal, dedicated fanbase that at this point they didn’t feel the need to advertise alot- I read an article claiming that to be the cause

There’s always a chance that the double release schedule has more to do with the show coming out so late in the year compared to the last few seasons, wich trended much earlier on, and FX wanting it to be fully finished before TV’s winter breaks began, wich at the 10 week schedule, would be pushing the envelope awfully hard, and AHS hasn’t taken a seasonal break in years, likely for good reason

There’s always the chance that none of this is malicious or intentional and I’m just cynical at the ripe old age of 27 because Networks Hate Gays and I’m used to that, and I really hope that’s what it is

But I tend to believe otherwise

[jeanmoreaux]

now here’s my rant:

first off everything you said is sooo real and even though i think i’m more forgiving with the season as a whole than you are, the finale threw it all off and in hindsight ruined a lot of the season for me - it was soooo poorly paced and even felt like it wasn’t cohesive with the rest of the season regardless of how bad the writing has been for all those episodes. it was just bad tv!! normally i am very easy to please when it comes to adaptations bc i think as long as the characters act in line with the book i don’t mind a few plot holes and weird detours and while i think the writing was shitttt in s2 i overall just enjoyed seeing the crows on screen! and nikolai oof! but they were the best parts of a show that should be focused on alina and that’s soooo stupid! i think the actors did great with what they had but it would’ve been amazing to see them with good writing. they completely destroyed alina and mal’s characters and as someone who is a huge fan of how r&r ending it annoys me that they’e go against that…especially bc mal and alina literally just want to vibe on their own away from the government or the grisha. the lAST thing alina would do is run off to fix the government without mal!!! and it’s insanity to me that after all mal went through now he’s just like…..cool with alina hanging out as nikolai’s (consort???? i guess????) when that man has only ever been there to love and protect alina! also we were robbed of white haired alina and i don’t think she should’ve kept her powers and!!!!! I DID NOT WAIT TWO WHOLE SEASONS JUST FOR THEM TO COMPLETELY IGNORE GENYA’S BIGGEST ONE LINER AND TURN IT INTO A THROW AWAY SLUR🤬🤬🤬 really mad they killed david off so early too jesus christ it’s like a tapestry that unravels if you pull one thread

i could just leave this rant standing as it is without adding anything because a resounding yes to all of it. i also don't think i am impossible to please when it comes to adaptations. as long as they stay true to the characters and what the story is about at its core i am pretty much okay. but what sabs2 did goes against so much of what tgt is about, and that's a big part of why this season didn't work for me. i am also really like the r&r ending, so i understand your frustration all too well. what sabs2 did goes against everything the r&r ending is about. it also does such a disservice to mal and alina as individual characters since the resolutions to their individual arcs relies heavily on each other... and yeah especially the way we leave alina is so in conflict with who she is, it's just weird. but even if you remove the tgt context and look at the show as a separate thing, you're left with a story that has godawful pacing and a lack of substantial character work which, like you mentioned, just makes for bad tv in general. so it was just a flop all around—as a show and an adaptation. also, we weren't just robbed of white-haired alina but also ginger, roguish-looking nikolai as sturmhond!!!! such a crime!! and omg about the genya thing. you. are. so. right. THE DISRESPECT! and gosh the david thing is soooo stuipd as well because it means the triumvirate won't work either now because there is literally no one to represent the materialki..... unless they're gonna introduce another character to fill that david-shaped void which would be so dumb i don't even wanna consider it. ALSO something that just registered with me today: they completely glossed over and ignored tamar and nadia's relationship. they did not need to treat their lesbians like THAT. it really is like a tapestry that unravels if you pull one thread.

[falsebooles123]

Car Trouble and a Full Scredule - Diary of a Big Ole Gay - 3/26/23

Hey Whores, I'm back after what feels like a ridicolous long week.

Let Me get into it. Monday morning my second kitchen job cuts my hours because they got a new guy. He seems pretty Chill, Then both the business meetings and date I had planned on monday got reschreduled for the middle of the week. My car has been acting up so I had to deal with the stress of driving a ticking time bomb that I don't know whats wrong with it to work because I need the money. and my scredule changed again friday like a couple hours before work. That was when I set up my second checking and spent a bunch of money because my bills had already came out. It was like 40 bucks but y'know what I deserved to treat myself. Also this was the weekend so not only did we have a shitshow of a friday prime rib night dinner but I also got to finally do a dinner service on the line. The fact that they have a bonified dishwasher now instead of just recreating that thing were your mom passive-aggresively bitches about the dishes because no one else will wash them.

(I'm the mom in this context, also this was the only gif I could find that didn't give people seizures or was literally porn.)

so I had a lot going on. I also watched a bunch of TV and did manage to catch a few films since the last week we did this.

Caged! (1950) dir. John Cromwell

Some people have called this this the Godmother of the Women in Prison movies and you wouldn't be remised to notice its DNA in later films and shows like Orange is the New Black.

I talked about it in a lot more depth on Letterboxd so I'll try my best to summerize.

First the movie is about a young ingenue named marie who is sent to an all-women prison on trumped up charges, the film makes a point to discuss the cruelity from the prison guards, including the trunchbullian Matron Harper, the lack of resources for the prisoners, and how oftentimes this type of uncivil atmosphere and lack of real resources to reintergrate them into society cause most of these women to return or in marie's case enter into a life of crime.

Luckily we have fixed all these issues in the prison system and thats totally not the same issues we have today /s

As I have said this is the Proto-Woman in Prison film, perhaps the ur-WIP movie and thus the question is raised.

What About The Lesbians!!!!????

So first I will say that this film is not textually queer, Marie is not eating kitty the second she gets into lockup but the film I will say has a queer sensibility.

I'm just going to quote my Letterboxd Review.

"and the answer is probably. I've haven't read the book that this is based on so I can't tell you if Kellog talked about it but this is a womens prison honey we can guess. We have to remember that this is in the middle of the haes code and so you couldn't have a character just be like, "hi, I like women". That being said there are a few choice lines that hint at that kind of thing. Kitty mentions that after awhile "You don't even think about men, you just fall out of the habit", a newspaper discusses prison immorrality, which probably is reffering to like gambling and smoking cigerettes but might hint at a more siturational inversion so to speak. 

Outside of these supposed oblique references there is the culteral queerness of it. The aestetic aspect of queer coding. First there is obviosly a lot of butchness about this film. we have just a fuckton of these butch tops in this film from Kitty(Betty Garde), Elvira (Lee Patrick) to the trunchbullian Everlyn Harper (Hope Emerson), to even the prison warden Benton (Agnes Moorehead). they all have this kind of dominant aggression to them. This masculinization. 

And this trope continues, Marie has her head shaved at a crucial part of the film and there is the repeated motif of the women doing rollcall were they have to speak there last names first, Marie Allen, now being called ALLEN, marie. Its literally patronymic. 

On one hand we can absoulutely interpret this trope as a comment on how prison dehumanized women, talking away there individality especially there vanity. The social way that they are able to express themselves. And this is emphasized a lot actually, the gift of lipstick at christmas, the head shaving, the fact that Marie asks for a brush during her mugshot and the guard quips back, "why theres no men here".

And I think its important to recognize that this type of dehumanization is different from mens prisons because our sense of vanity is different. A man can affirm his gender by getting jacked in prison but a women can't affirm herself along traditional feminity the system is designed in a certain way to masculinize that experience. In some small sense the very notion of a womans prison is a queer space outside of its constuct as a gynocentric space. 

(note: prison cosmetology is absolutely a thing and women perform a lot of amazing feats of ingenuity, from like tattoing on eyebrows to making makeup out of magazine ink and deoderant but note that these are ways of subverting a system not a byproduct of that system)

Even if we except the trope of a womans prison as a non-normative gendered space its also important to notice that one of the main conflicts in this film is not just between trunchbully Harper and her cruality against Marie, but also between the power struggle of "Corrupting" Marie by the hands of Evelyn and Kitty, who both want her to join there crime syndicate. Marie at one points says "If I said No to Kitty why would I say yes to you". Both of these characters are maternal in a sense but they also take on a very lesbian coding. Evelyn makes a point to gift the women feminine products for christmas, (makeup and a handmirror). In a straight lens its another commentary on femeninity and Evelyns power in the system through a queer lens its almost courtship. This is the type of thing you could buy your girlfriend as a present. In some ways A Life of Crime and Criminal Gayness are symbolic analogs to each other"

Honestly if you were a fan of Orange is the New Black or just like Butch Crime Donnas then this is a pretty good time. Another one of those "This is honestly not that gay but it was an absolute iconic piece of cinema so thank you" movies.

Tea and Sympathy (1956) dir Vincente Minnelli

This was one of those films that took me like a week to watch.

So I've quoted vito russo like 15 times at this point so let me just summerize the vibe. Basically theres a guy in this movie whose a sissy, he dances, he's in theater, he even sews. Wow, what a faggot. and none of the other boys want him to play in their raindeer games because he threatens there fragile masculinity. What I'm saying is that the first half of this TWO HOUR FILM, is just him being bullied for being a sissy.

I'm also saying this shit was highly triggering as both a cocksucker and a limp-wrist soyboy.

(oh god I just had a truamatic flashback were a church mom and her daughter were mocking me for being a limp-wrist faggot and I didn't understand why they asked me to do the limp wrist gesture. and so i'm just puzzled at this random gesture they wanted me to reinnact while my father is just visable angry sitting besides me. Honestly first fuck them and also my dad might be a homophobic asshole but at least he had the decency to never call me a slur.)

so childhood truama and complicated relationship with my father aside after we get through the very long and insuffrable queer misery porn we get to the actually fun part of the movie where there are HORNY MILFS. HORNY MILFS IN YOUR AREA.

THESE WOMAN WANT TO FUCK! NO CREDIT CARDS! HOOKUPS ONLY! CLICK NOW!!!!

yeah basically this movie is two hours of this guy making moves on his landlords wife while the guy is out hanging out with a bunch of twinks.

as I said in my extremly long write-up on the topic. T&S is absolutely a good film in showcasing what this type of homophobia and toxic masculinity is like and it was controversal for a reason but I also want to recognize that as a queer person this shit was hard to sit through.

so for a bit of fun yet another LB quote.

Because this shit is true to life. It feels very reminescent of my own experiences with homophobia. The kind that is more subtle and exclusionary and so while this is a objectively subversive and provokative film. I'm still going to relegate it to "Things I'm making Straight People watch during pride month while I leave the room". Its a double feature with brokeback mountain. Whats that.... thats four hours of Queer Misery Porn. Well too damn bad. Maybe if you stopped sharing those proto-terf facebook memes we could have watched Cruising or Rocky Horror. Sit Down, Shut Up, and relive my childhood trauma and daddy issues straiggot.

The Strange One (1957) dir. Jack Garfein

One of the weirdest episodes of Haze Him I've ever seen.

Jokes aside The Strange One is basically this drama set at a military academy. Person with a real name. Jocko De Paris, (I'm not making that up), is basically one of those rich assholes who is also criminal insane. He manipulates a group of other cadets into getting a guy expelled for being drunk.

Why did he do this. Well if you believe morissey (yes that Morissey), its because Paris is a little bit of a closet queen.

This film is weirdly homoerotic for no discernable reason. The queerness of the characters have nothing to do with it the director was like I'm going to make a movie with deep ideas about the nature of evil and tyranny and also everyones going to kind want to suck dick.

Another one of those films thats honestly kinda slow but I still think about the visuals.

Everything Else I Watched This Week

oof ok I finished Re: Mind, loved it messy moe drama made no goddamn sense would watch again.

Tried to watch Circus of Fear which is a Rialto Crime Movie but not one of the Krimi Films. Also Really Boring.

Also binged the second season of carole and tuesday. I loved it, the shows not perfect but I had so much fun with it.

I also saw Free Guy which.... was fun. I'm sorry but not every blockbuster is going to be worth adding to the Falseboolesey Hall of Fame. Also its like a second-rate Lego Movie which is without any irony. A modern Classic.

(this is non-negotiable. The lego movie is a deep introspection on the apollian vs dionysian drives, an exploration of childhood and adult perspectives and are fear of the joy of choas. It also may literally be cladestine Agritprop)

I also tried to have a Falsebooles123 Kinema movie night. I watched Grandma's Boy which people mention a lot as the prime example of like the sissy trope but honestly I don't remember anything about the film. I kinda just blanked out.

anyway whores. I have an entire week off starting tomorrow so its going to be a lot of editing, yard work, and doing some prep stuff for april which will be so busy. I'm excited through. I'm also very close to watching all the films I could find in the internet archive so theres that. woot woot.

[thelesbianpoirot]

omg i'm soooo glad you're enjoying scott and bailey. i know the show doesn't really fit the definition of "queerbaiting" as such, but they FEEL like lesbians to me despite the constant scrotes going in and out of their lives. i think it's because they are so normal and look normal and dress normal. there are no fillers or shapewear or high heels or performances of femininity. they're just normal kinda grungey women (who should kiss). it's v refreshing compared to how sexualised and feminised a lot of female characters on tv are (even ones who are meant to be lesbians).

did you ever watch the rookie (or the rookie: feds)? there is a lesbian character who pops up on the rookie and then as the lead in the spin off, and she is squeezed into skin tight cleavage tops and dresses 24/7. she has a full face of make up at all times. her hair is glamorous and silky. she's a lesbian but i felt completely disconnected from her, whereas i do feel connected to scott and bailey (and jill!!!).

can i rec another "wow everyone looks a real human" show to you (sorry, you've got so much to watch already haha). last tango in halifax. it's not a cop show, but bear with me. it's about an old man and an old woman meeting and falling in love (again, bear with me). the reason i'm reccing it to you is their (unrelated) adult daughters who i shipped like i have never shipped anything else in my whole entire life. like it got to the point where i - a lesbian woc - was howling at the tv like "PLEASE break up with your black girlfriend and go marry your white sister in law!!!!" LMFAO. there was so much electricity between them!!! if you watch this after you're done with s&b, you'll notice that one of the daughters is the recurring lesbian from s&b s3 :)

You're right, and the writing is really solid too and the acting is good. But yeah, they look like beautiful women but a real kind of beautiful. And they aren't posing constantly, or being made up when they are supposed to be a mess. Grungey isn't the right word, because they are still feminine and well dressed and thin actresses, but still 10000% percent real. You see age, and lack of padding, and no surgery, and a normal amount of makeup, these women look like they may be your boss, or the lady at the bus stop with you or someone you see buying coffee. For women who have het love affairs I do enjoy them more than the any lesbian character played by a 23 year old straight swimwear model who can't act her way out of a paper bag and is given a story about as complex as "oooh a girl kissed me what do I do?" You're 27 stacy go finger her about it! I quick the rookie early on, the actual cases they went on were fucking stupid, I only got about five episodes in before quitting, I seriously only think this show got greenlit because nathan fillion got a bunch of money from cops to create recruitment propaganda for them. The episode where the tiny women was abusing her massive wrestler husband was pure fantasy. I can imagine they can't write a lesbian character for shit either, or dress her in anyway that says she's for the female audience. I am surprised they didn't let us have any of the women as gay or bi, at least give us gill, but no...Scott and Bailey says you will love these het women and eat these crumps of female solidarity.

Lmao I'll add last tango in halifax to the long list, today I am watching miss marple, so I don't end up marathon all of S&B before my vacation is up, but they love to give them a black girlfriend and give the two characters no chemistry, just boring token rep, so I can see even the sister in law chemistry being more interesting. If you do want to watch a crime show (of course I am predictable) with a interracial lesbian couple, one of my favorites is Pippy and Tara from Rosewood. It's a series cancelled two season in, but they are adorable and I love them. Both really femme but they sell gay to me.

[nightcolorz]

🦚🏳️‍⚧️🌈

Thank you for sending an ask!! Hoping and praying that this time my answers aren’t as long 😅

🦚 - Are there any queer books/shows/etc. that you would suggest?

Oh God, so many. Not going to state the obvious since we’re both Vampire Chronicles + Interview with the vampire focused blogs, lol. I’m going to narrow it down to two

Popular rec: Our Flag Means Death. genuinely everything I could want from a tv show hhhh. Perfect blend of comedy and genuine emotion and angst. This show fucks so hard! But everyone on tumblr’s watched it by now lol, so here’s smth nobody knows about.

Obscure rec: Everything’s going to be ok. I haven’t watched this show in a while but I remember after I did I was so mad about the lack of fandom or online attention haha. Extremely sweet and lighthearted, gives you all the warm and fuzzy feels. I remember the casual rep of lgbt ppl and autistic ppl blew my mind lol, might be the only show I’ve ever seen with multiple (canonical) queer autistic ppl in it.

🏳️‍⚧️ - What Flag do you think has the best color scheme?

Mmm, I’m gonna say the lesbian pride flag, gay man pride flag, and bi-gender pride flag have the nicest color schemes. I like the flags that look like an artist’s color palette.

🌈 - What's a Queer Identity, Experience or a piece of History you feel deserves more recognition? I hyper-fixated on researching the Hays Code for a while, and don’t see it referenced nearly enough when it comes to online debates about what is and isn’t acceptable to be portrayed in media, so imma go with that. If you don’t know the Hays Code was a list enforced from 1934-1968 that restricted what could be portrayed in Hollywood movies based on Catholic moral principles. There’s a lot of banned topics and I’m not going to go into them all, but the general gist of it was violence, profanity, sexuality, and any type of crime should never be portrayed in movies unless non ambiguously condemned. The belief behind it was that media had the power to make people do Bad Things so they need to be very careful in spelling out morals to audiences unless they get ideas. (Fun fact: the Hays code is why in old sitcoms couples often slept in separate beds. That’s how strict it was!) The reason I’m talking about this as “queer history” is bcus queerness of any kind was also forbidden under the Hayes code, “sexual perversions” weren’t allowed. Of course, unless, the queer person was the villain, and punished for their crimes. This is where queer coding originated from, particularly queer coded villains. Queer artists wanted to portray themselves and their communities in their work, and the only way to do that oftentimes was by “coding”. I think looking into the Hays code would be beneficial for some ppl online, bcus I oftentimes see ppl use actual Hays Code talking points on tumblr.com in the year 2023 sincerely and without self awareness and it’s hilarious.

thanks again!! These were fun to answer

[tvguidancecounselor]

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 566: Sara Farizan

October 31 - November 6, 1987

This week Ken welcomes new old friend, award-winning and critically acclaimed author of the young adult novels Here to Stay, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, and the Lambda Literary award winning If You Could Be Mine, which was named one of TIME magazine's 100 Best YA Books of All Time, Dead Flip and My Buddy Killer Croc Sara Farizan.

Ken and Sara discuss matchmaker Meredith Goldstein, how Ken and Sara are essentially the same person, growing up in the Boston suburbs, Christine Else, Karen Duffy, Janeane Garofalo, Christine Lakin, Ken's weird skillset, breaking down barriers, mentioning something that taps into a deep emotional memory bank, 1987, 1992, the love of sci-fi/horror comedy, Gremlins, Monster Squad, Eerie Indiana, the fun of doing research to make historical fiction, writing and making art for your younger self, all the fears and issues young people today have that we didn't, how easy it is to watch listen to or read anything ever made, non heroic characters doing heroic things, a dislike of dark anti-heroes, representation, navigating adults as a kid, child stars sacrificing their childhood so we can have happy ones, Box Brown's book, Halloween, television and the 1992 elections, appreciating Courtney Cox, Misfits of Science, Cagney and Lacey, not being a cop show person, being bad at being a lesbian (media wise), liking character over procedure, Loving Care for Kittens and Cats, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Saturday Morning cartoons, advertising to kids, the wonders of Winterbeast, The Outer Limits in Waltham, The Midnight Hour, Dance Til Dawn, My Sister Sam, Women in Prison, Echoes in Darkness, Family Ties, having a crush on Stacey Keenan, Our House, Patrick Duffy's week, Mercedes McCambridge, family epics, Giant from 1956, Growing Pains, when Sandy died, very special episodes, generating dialog among families, After School Specials, ABC Tuesdays, Crime Story, The Iron Sheik, Perfect Strangers, Iranian immigrants loving WWF Wrestling, the early days of TGIF, Head of the Class, Donna Reed, working at Newbury Comics, Ken being fired from Newbury Comics because nobody liked him, being terrified of a Chucky Doll, Twilight, the wonder of being able to thank people face to face, Killer Croc, complicated fond memories of The Cosby Show, nice comedy and how difficult it is to do, Sledge Hammer, Hulk Hogan's Rock n Wrestling, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Lipstick and Dynamite, Carrie, Rags to Riches, I Married Dora, Jackie Gleason's lack of Emmys, and being fine with butts, even if you're not specifically looking for them. 

Check out this episode!

[jaynedolluk]

BEST TV OF 2022

The BBC blazed through all the 1990s with their Top of the Pops documentary series as well as a Cool Britannia edition of Rock Family Trees, a documentary on the Hacienda club in Manchester and a series on the members of The Rolling Stones.

I watched documentaries on Joan Collins, the life + death of Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors, Nikki Grahame (it was so sad when she died), Mary Whitehouse (infamous UK campaigner on censorship/morals), plus Channel 4 did a brilliant one on trans pioneer/model, April Ashley.

I also watch quite a few documentaries on art – Netflix + BBC both did good ones on Andy Warhol. Sky Arts also tend to do a lot of good stuff – I particularly enjoyed Back to Basquiat and The Black Italian Renaissance. Mary Beard did a series on forbidden art that raised interesting questions about censorship. BBC also did a couple of good limited series, Art that Made Us (that looked at different art throughout UK history) + Sensationalists (that looked at the Young British Artists). It was also good to see the return of Secrets of the Museum.

I watch quite a few history programmes esp. those that look at cultural/social history. BBC2 did a couple of good series w/Big Oil vs. The World (how the oil companies suppressed evidence of climate change) + The Decade The Rich Won. There was also the return for the final parts of Rise of the Nazis plus Simon Schama and Lucy Worsley both returned with new series. Troy Deeny did one about the lack of Black history on the curriculum + Lenny Henry did a good one about Caribbean Britain. Back in Time also returned with one charting the history of a British Asian family in Birmingham. Channel 4 also did a good one called Made in the 80s. I also loved Sky’s show Kingdom of Dreams about the development of haute couture/high fashion into big business.

I loved the series on film noir that Sky Arts did. Plus, BBC did shows on the history of kids’ TV and the Edinburgh fringe.

BBC did an interesting documentary about the history of London’s secret lesbian club, Gateways plus one about AIDS in the 80s which used tapes of people recorded at the time. Channel 4 also did one called Where Have All the Lesbians Gone? Which looked at why so many gay women are reluctant to identify as lesbians.

I do watch some true crime documentaries, but it depends on what they’re about/what sort of mood I’m in. The Ice-Cream Wars on BBC2 was an interesting look at an arson attack that led to murder in Glasgow + the background to it. Secrets of Playboy + Porn King (about Ron Jeremy) were #MeToo moments for the porn business while Scouting for Girls looked at abuse in the fashion industry. Also watched The John Gacy Tapes on Netflix and The Nilsen Files on BBC (which was exceptionally good). I found the documentary on the ‘Bling Ring’ to be surprisingly good (about a group of Hollywood youngsters who burgled celebrities’ homes.)

[niuxita21]

So, I really enjoyed doing an inventory of all the shows I watched in order to select the top 5 last year, so I decided to do it again this year, taking advantage of the fact that I’m going through a bit of a work crisis and have a lot of unintended free time. I also imposed a rule that I could only include new shows I watched this year, otherwise at the very least MSH2 and Evil would be on this list again, and that’s boring. Anyway, once again, I give you my top 5 shows of 2022.

5. Hacks (HBO Max)

It’s no surprise that this show is on here when Wanted, the show it closely reminds me of, topped my list last year. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the whole “older and younger woman are forced to work/hang together for plot reasons and start out bickering but eventually grow fond of each other” should become a trend the way the “group of teenage girls survives a plane crash in the woods/a deserted island” premise seems to have taken off. The relationship between Ava and Deborah is truly what drives the show, and I’m glad the people behind it recognize it to the point of referring to it as a “love story” in some media outlets. However, this show does have a leg up on Chelsea and Lola from Wanted in that 1) Ava is actually bi and 2) her attraction to Deborah has been acknowledged in canon, all of which makes their dynamic VERY interesting. I’m very excited to see where the writers take it in season 3 with the starting point of them working separately for the first time, and I hope this show manages to steer clear of whatever dumpster fire is going on over at HBO Max. *fingers crossed emoji*

4. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

(No illustrations because I still haven’t finished it, boo.)

I know, I didn’t think this would be my type of show what with its 2:1 male to female lead character ratio and complete lack of lesbians (no, Cara Delevingne’s character’s 2-second guest spot doesn’t count), but what hooked me was the unlikely dynamic between Oliver, Charles, and Mabel, which is a weird hybrid between fathers/daughter and BFFs that I really enjoy. That plus the whole murder-mystery aspect was what made it must-see TV for me in the second half of this year. Very excited to see more of my favourite weird, dumb little family getting into EVEN MORE trouble in season 3.

3. Yellowjackets (Showtime)

Again, no surprise this show is here when the other show I dubbed as “Lost with teenage girls” (The Wilds) also made it into my list last year. However, I do think this show is more deserving of that title, purely because of the way it got me staying up late reading all sorts of theories and how haunting some episodes were. Super stoked to be getting at least TWO more seasons of whatever batshit insanity the writers come up with to explain the “how cannibalism” and “why cannibalism” of it all (even if I will forever be bitter by the casting of adult Van and the gross torpedoing of only the hottest married lesbian couple on TV since Stef and Lena *cough*). The sole fact that THAT is the main premise is just... absolutely bonkers, lmao. Your fave gritty, male-dominated, Emmy-bait shows could never.

2. The Mallorca Files 

From being harmlessly entertained by it, to becoming absolute T R A S H for its lead crime-solving duo in the span of a short dance sequence, to the crushing despair upong finding out it had been left incomplete courtesy of the pandemic and might not even get another season, to the soaring excitement of the season 3 announcement, this show put me through a rollercoaster of emotions this year. But now I’m just happy that the COVID-truncated season 2 won’t be the last we see of the hottest crime-fighting pairing this side of the Atlantic. I mean, realistically, it’s just your typical upbeat, Castle-esque crime drama with the standard bickering lead m/f duo, except with the added value of bilingualism (well, sometimes), with honourable mention to the lead actors’ commendable yet adorable efforts to get the Spanish pronounciation right (seriously, I want Elen Ryhs’s pronounciation of “García” as my ringtone. Oof); the gorgeous Mallorca setting, which ALMOST justifies the Airbnbs costing 1000 dollars a night in the summer (not that I’m speaking from experience or anything); and, most importantly, HEIGHT DIFFERENCE. It also pretty much cemented what is clearly my “type” of late when it comes to hettys I will become absolute trash for against my better judgment (namely, tall(er) handsome goofball + hot gringa. See also: Rollins/Carisi and Magnum/Higgins). It’s good to know that, even in my mid-thirties, I still find ways to surprise myself. So yeah, if you know me, you can pretty much guess why such a run-of-the-mill crime drama is so high up on my list. But if you’re into that sort of thing, you should definitely check it out. At the very least, it will put a smile on your face.

1. Mine (Netflix)

A K-drama on my top 5 shows of 2022 list?? It’s more likely than you’d think! I wasn’t interested in K-dramas for a long time because I thought they were all romances and that’s extremely boring to me. However, after a friend of mine introduced me to them via one show that was all about female-bonding with zero romance/love interests, I started to understand the appeal, and this show marks the fourth K-drama that I’ve watched in little over one year. The moment I heard through the grapevine that this show included lesbians, I decided I needed to check it out but, as usual, that ended up being the least interesting part of the show for me given that the actual plot involved none other than one of my FAVOURITE neo-tropes (namely, woman gets attached to a child that is not her own and needs to fight tooth and nail for her right to be their mother), with the added twist of the typical adoptive mom/child/bio mom familial love triangle turning into a Harold-adjacent, two-mom situation AND a trio of complex, three-dimensional leading ladies who, despite maybe not completely liking each other at the best of times, were 100% down for teaming up to bring down trash men. It’s like this show reached into my brain and took notes of EXACTLY what to put in to get me completely obsessed with it. I’m having a hard time dealing with the pesky K-drama custom of shows having only one season because like, what am I supposed to do with my life now???? WHERE will I find another ice queen lesbian character that can threaten to kill a man without breaking a sweat???? Life is pain.

[absolutebl]

So I know the point of your blog is BL but do you think with the increase in BL we'll start seeing more GL? There has historically been decidedly less GL (once you filter out the porn made for straight dudes) and as a queer woman I want more!! Western media doesn't seem to do the same kind of storytelling as Asian BL. Even if Asian BL

aren't always telling queer stories, they are doing romance in a way I haven't seen over here yet (like give me a queer romcom or a queer crime drama Western media! Does it exist)? And I want that for GL.

ASIAN GL

OMG another ask for me to spin into stats. WEEEEEEEEEE!!!! (Thank you!) 

SO

I REALLLLLYYYYYY hope so. I WANT THIS SO BAD. 

I actually love GL as much as BL, but there just isn’t very much of it. Unfortunately, I don’t think we are going to see much in the future either. So sorry to say, but I can explain. I have data! 

But I’ll need to talk about the source materials and why the lack first. 

So ready... here we go... 

History of GL - Popularity Struggles 

So BL comes from Yaoi manga. There is a female version of this, Yuri. Historically, in Japan it is MUCH less popular than Yaoi. 

On the other side of the globe at round the same time (late 90s early 00s) there are lesbian-centered queer indie films from the USA, also historically less popular than the gay stuff. Although both really struggled. (There are series too. One could contrast the ratings and viewer numbers of say, Queer as Folk against The L-Word.) 

Now, let’s look at the romance literature industry because it is a demographic bellwether for romcoms and romantic films, TV, and web series in general. (More on that in the next section.) 

F/F, lesbian, and non-gay queer focused romance novels sell the least within the romance genre. If we divide that genre purely on sales lines, it goes: het, m/m or gay, f/f or lesbian, other forms of queer. 

There are exceptions, especially when popular romance het authors branch into ff. But this is not the norm. 

Sales Demographics for BL 

I’m talking broad brush stroke sales demos here. Please don’t take it personally. This is just following the eyeballs, to the numbers, to revenue generated. The entertainment industry is a commercial industry. It desires to make money first and foremost. 

Yaoi, BL, and gay romance has been historically consumed almost entirely by women of a specific age demographic (25-65). Hollywood will occasionally refer to this demographic as the Apple Pie demo (see Lynda Obst’s book Sleepless in Hollywood.) I personally think this demo is skewing younger right now, but I haven’t tunneled into the data because, frankly, there is no point until we return to normal (this post from 2020). I specialize in predictive analysis and what we have right now is a non-predictive culture state. (It definitely skews younger for BL because of the technological barrier to entry - AKA the general need to consume online or illegally.) 

Anyway, Apple Pie is ALSO the demo that consumes romcoms and romance novels. This is a powerful consumer demographic for material objects (they do most of the shopping for most households in terms of goods) but historically not a very powerful demographic in terms of entertainment. The Apple Pie has a habit of doing pretty much anything else instead of stopping their lives to watch or read. 

When they do get obsessed with a piece of pop culture Apple Pies move mountains, see Twilight. (Which is one of the reasons it’s SO VITAL to have positive representation in these kinds of films, even if only as side characters, Apple Pie is also a powerful voting demographic when it comes to culture change like marriage equality. When I talk about being pro-normalization this is that angle.)

Unfortunately, the Apple Pies are easily distracted and easily placated. Historically they will go along with media that other demographics would rather consume (those demos being children, teens & college age, men age 25-55, and retirees). Teens, college age, and men 25-55 often share similar tastes, they also spend the most on entertainment, and historically dominate the entertainment field’s focus. (See superhero tent pole movies etc...)

Okay so, this means BL is most popular with the Apple Pie demographic. (Particularly over the last year and a half because Apple Pies have been less distracted from pop culture than in prior years. I anticipate watch numbers going down when C19 has been dealt with.) I liken this to the popularity of lesbian porn amongst straight men. There’s fetishization, fantasy, exotic appeal, distancing from an act that one cannot participate in oneself, and whole lot of other psychological things going on here. (No shade. This is a pro sex, pro kink, pro self analysis and self understanding space here.)

BL is also popular with gay and queer identified individuals but there just aren’t as many of us to significantly tilt the scale of watch numbers when pitted against the majority of viewers. Sad but true.

Sales Demographics for GL 

GL/lesbian film watchers and Yuri/lesbian/queer romance readers are ALSO members of the Apple Pie demographic. But, in broad brush strokes the only people who actually regularly consume this kind of pop culture are an even smaller wedge of that demo. They are:   

women/female identified individuals who identify as lesbians, bisexual, or pansexual 

gender non-conforming individuals who identify as queer or within the LGBTQ+ culture 

In other words, GL is not consumed by straight identified women and they make up the vast majority of Apple Pie. Yet the Apple Pie is already one of the hardest demos to market to. So GL watchers are the smallest wedge of an already difficult target wedge. 

So this is a VERY long way of saying that GL doesn’t have the demographics to be profitable. There just isn’t a big enough audience for it to sell well at volume. There’s basically no market. 

Which is not to say we won’t get some GL. It just a long way of saying I don’t see GL ever going the same way as BL. 

I would LOVE to eat these words - as if they were apple pie. But I can’t see how a surge in GL popularity and production, demographically speaking, would be possible in the current social make up of consumers. 

Here endith the market analysis lesson for today. 

All that said...

Some GL that DOES exist 

Couple of Mirrors (Chinese - sad end, censored romance) 

Dear Uranus (Taiwan - cliff hanger ending) 

Friendzone 2: Dangerous Area (Thai - subplot) 

The Handmaiden (Korea) THIS MOVIE IS A MASTERPIECE (it comes from Fingersmith, which is also great, and the same author as Tipping the Velvet which is fantastic) 

Handsome Stewardess (Taiwan - sad ending) 

Hormones 2 (Thai - subplot)

Nevertheless (Korea - subplot) - warning the surrounding het characters are unbearable 

Pair of Love (Taiwan) 

Pearl Next Door (Pinoy) 

Ride or Die (japan) VERY DARK murder lesbians 

Transit Girls (Japan) - stepsisters trope 

Triple - Do You Want? (Korea) - experimental one act where 3 couples (BL, GL, het) each perform the same first love scene with the same dialogue 

Very Complicated (Thai - subplot)

Water Boyy (Thai - subplot) 

Yes or No 1 & 2 (Thai)

Ones I haven’t managed to watch yet or dropped 

Afraid Of (Korea) 

Albino (Japan) 

Between The Seasons (Korea) 

Butterfly (Hong Kong) 

Chasing Sunsets (Pinoy) 

Club Friday The Series 12 (Thai) 

Diary of Tootsies (Thai) 

Girls Love (China) 

He's a Woman, She's a Man (Hong Kong) 

i STORIES (Thai) 

Intimates (Hong Kong)

Jellyfish (Japan)

Joshi-teki Seikatsu (Japan) 

Legend of Yun Qian (China) 

Life is Peachy (Korea) 

Lily Fever (Korea)

Love My Life (Japan) 

Love/Juice (Japan) 

Love Songs Love Stories: Pae Jai (Thai) 

My Dear Friend (Korea) 

On Air (Korea) 

Our Love Story (Korea) 

Out of Breath (Korea) 

The Painter of the Wind (Korea) 

Spider Lilies (Taiwan) 

The Substitute (Taiwan) 

We Are Gamily (Taiwan) 

White Lily (Japan) 

X-LOVE (China) 

GL Trends by Country

Like with BL I’d be wary of the stuff out of Japan and China as it has a tendency to go dark. 

Hong Kong seems particularly interested in exploring cross dressing and gender identity. 

There are more from Korea than I expected and less from Taiwan. Sadly, the Korean stuff is particularly difficult to get hold of internationally. 

The Thai stuff is all over the place but sometimes can be cute and sweet. 

Here’s @heybisexuals Asian WLW Media Masterpost which is full of tasty links and more information.  

This post and list date 2021, GL occurring after this will not appear but MAY be in the comments. 

(source)

[ellavaday]

interrupting my as7 brainrot for a new edition of sandra vs dres2 subtitles, today we have the makeover challenge and feelings bc grandparents get to me ok

for those of you wondering what vene was struggling to say, juriji's mirror message reads 'ce n'est qu'un au revoir les filles! je vous aime, arriba esos chichis', estrella and marina's french translation is perfectly serviceable, the last part in spanish literally means arriba as a cheer-up!/c'mon! and y'all better know what chichi means by now (hint: 🐱)

i am obsessed with the épico (epic) and lésbico (sapphic) comment about the lipsync, this is something i thought might be of interest for all of the juriji and venedita shippers: venedita saying that she always ends up tangled up (very nice way to say making out, subtitles people, hacer un bollo specifically has lesbian hookup connotations) with a friend is a shout out to trans icon didi machiavelli, a really good friend of hers from bcn, didi is a former drag performer and is currently a model (she's also in marina's mv btw, she's the redhead girl) if you look up any of vene's performances prior to 2018 chances are her and didi are making out in a good number of pics and videos, those two are literally what rosalia and tokischa meant with las amigas que se besan son la mejor compañía

i love that all of the top 4 can speak catalan 💞 (in the legislative war against minority languages i am v firmly on the side of the minority languages)

venedita saying she's never been in an after in her life with a straight face hakshsk hay que tener valor

when supremme video message is played, they translate la madre que os parió as mommy dearest but lit. it'd be 'the mother that bore you', you can use it for emphasis or as a swearword depending on context

when getting ready for the mini challenge sharonne says she's turning into the bastard sister of leticia sabater, known for being a tv show host in the 90s, she's now better known for having the dubious honor of giving us songs like this

the a mi no me mandes a callar from supremme deadass sounded like an actual mother here (el verdadero choque cultural es cómo aquí definitivamente no hay temor ni a dios ni a las chanclas voladoras, people just have yelling matches with their parents)

i want vene's dress/trench for the mini challenge (and marina's while we're at it, i love the way it looks with the short red wig)

speaking of vene, la mano virgen would be the virgin hand, it's colloquially a way to mean the hand of an inexperienced person that lacks malice (in the subs it's the bare hand)

marina says that if there's roaches they'll report the set, not that they hate them (which they do and rightfully so, i don't have a phobia to insects but roaches trigger my murder response, nvm the OSHA violation, i'd set that soundstage on fire)

when estrella says she doesn't like boiled eggs, she likes eggs in her face she means balls

venedita and her dildo 💀

when introducing the last member of the 26 of dec foundation, supremme says 'su cara me suena' (your face looks familiar) which is a tv show of imitations

when venedita talks w consuela about how she had more acceptance problems for being an elder gay person than when he was young surprises her but it doesn't surprise me because lgbt culture is very youth based, we have a very short memory as a community and it's rare to see older members being given much of a thought that isn't about seeing them as sexual objects (m*mmy and d*ddy people i'm looking at you specifically)

history lesson w antonia and marina: homosexuality wasn't specifically in the spanish penal code as a crime in the beginning of the xx century (basically bc spain spent the beginning of the xx century changing it constantly between the fights between republicans and monarchists) but it was socially persecuted and understood as part of other crimes (it's pretty much universally known that federico garcía lorca was murdered by the francoist side of the war 'for being both a f*ggot and a communist'), antonia lived through the time in which the law against layabouts and crooks (1954-1970) included homosexuals (and sent them to what were basically concentration forced labour camps to be beat and starved), then the more open mindset of the time changed to include homosexuality in the law on social danger and rehabilitation (1970-1980) that marina talks about, which focused on trying to cure (aka torture) them via electroshock and lobotomies, time in the military was compulsory for all men till the 80s, no prize for guessing what could happen to gay ppl there; i can't stress enough how lucky consuelo and petro were for having a families that actually loved them, sharonne was lucky because her family came around but many people are not that lucky

the talk about how they were born in the time in which they were all called f*ggot not gay reminded me of this ask i got asking me once why did spaniards use the word travesti and the truth is i think that most people grew up hearing the slurs bc they didn't have any other words and tbh i'm glad they've been reclaimed so throughly they don't sound like slurs any more just words (being called a tortillera or a f*ggot by anyone outside of the lgbt community would probably ignite my flight or fight response just the same but being called another technically not offensive word can still sound like a hate crime when said with enough hate)

i can't say if petro did indeed make the infanta elena look good in her wedding or not, but here's the wedding dress (reminds me a little of the wedding dress in the little mermaid).. and infanta or infante is the title of the kids of the current king (elena as the sister of the current king has the title bc they are both the kids of the previous king but her kids don't have the title, only the kids of her brother bc he's the one in the throne)

sharonne makes a riff between aprieto (tough spot) and petro's name bc she's nervous about sewing in front of him, then with the heels she's afraid of petro valverde turning into petro valsuelo (falls to the floor)

marina you weight 100lbs soaking wet, how do you expect your belts to work with antonia?

when trying wigs petro looks like marie antoinette or antonio flores, the singer (and son of lola flores)

when ana is in the workroom sharonne says in the confessionals it inspires respect on her, not that it's exciting, it's more like... humbling?

i can't say i'm surprised venedita didn't bring anything from home because truth is the fact that venedita brought more than nipple covers is already surprising enough but i do love that she was intelligent enough to bring her own fabric for this one (bc the print is too specific to have been a workroom fabric)

on that subject, we saw sharonne draft with petro earlier and the fabric of the final look is also very particular, i think, if anything, she purposefully brought a dress in a classic silhouette that she knew she could alter at a moments notice because classic is both her brand and probably easiest for her to adjust

when marina is explaining the subject of their runway to supremme and ana, dos mujeres de bien 'two women that seem okay' in the subs should be more like two women that are apparently rich (being a persona de bien is more of a social standing thing, up to good and with high standards and the like)

suitably since we all know marina can't sew to save their life, both supremme and ana say no os confiéis after talking to them, the subs translate it as 'believe in yourself' but it should be 'don't be overconfident'

i have no clue on how does that pray antonia say go in english (or if you can tell she's praying with what the subs say) but he is when marina is shaving him

runway time

is it just me or the dress supremme is wearing is very rupaul? something about the shoulder and the fall of the skirt idk (also i love her brunette with the green contacts)

calvo says supremme looks like a freixenet bubble, freixenet is a brand of cava (bubbly wine, essentially spanish champaign) and when he calls her putón (slut) they make a reference to the meme of the valencian neighbors (the woman juriji played in snatch game), and supremme says 'como me conoces, juan' which is a reference to another meme (either belen esteban or from lqsa)

did anyone else think of the atrevete-te-te lyrics of calle 13 when alexis said 14 karats or was that just me?

with estrella and teresa xtravaganza, when they're walking down the runway and ana says they're armed they make a pun compound word between pistol (gun) and polla (dick); the gatillo fácil (trigger-happy) comment is a riff on ser fácil (being easy); two for the road and barbarella though are pretty self explanatory i believe and when estrella says we're pistoleras the subs translate it as cowgirls but it should be gunwomen ((i have to say i agree with ana when she says it's maybe too simple for a semi final, but kudos to estrella bc she made sure teresa looked beautiful... maybe better than estrella herself))

sharonne and sharinne come dressed like jane russell and marilyn monroe in the intro number of gentlemen prefer blondes; supremme calls them sonia and selena and talk about a comeback, sonia and selena were a one hit wonder duo from the early 00s that attempted a come back in the early 10s, poner verde a alguien (to put someone green) means to trash talk someone but it's also an allusion to the fabric they're wearing turning green when you touch it ((trust alexis to notice the detail of the shoes, thanks for that closeup that was indeed a very nice touch))

marina and antonia come in, looking like ursula disney bounders; matar a una zorra para vestir a otra (to kill a fox to dress another one) zorra=slut/bitch; ana calls them la pili y la ligui as a reference to la pili y la mili, twin kid actresses from the 60s (ligui is for lengua 👅), when they take off the wigs what *i* hear is ana pausera, but the subs say ana pau, not a clue about who that is (ana pau is the 18yo niece of anahí from RBD apparently??); when supremme says a palma, Isabel! it's a quote from the tv host encarna sanchez to singer isabel pantoja (or at the very least it's a quote from the comedic duo martes and 13 imitating them in this sketch)

i have nothing for venedita and vinagreta, only that vinagreta means vinagrette (duh); during the critiques, ambrossi says that venedita was iconic with her folder and pen and compared her to aida nizar, a well known personality from big brother

supremme and ambrossi saying thank you to the previous generation of lgbt community and to the members of the foundation in particular got to me (this entire fucking episode got to me oh my god i'm so soft) and then calvo mentions how street walking was for a long time the only thing lgbt people could do to survive (rewatching la veneno tv show recently did not help, i wanted to cry a lot) and then the messages to the younger versions of themselves jfc

here's a funny thing btw, in case you were also in your feelings, please think that last season, when they asked them to bring a baby pic in case they made it this far, arantxa gave production a baby picture of miley cyrus🤣

congratulations venedita for winning her second challenge 🥰

i have to say i didn't love that lipsync between estrella and marina (WHY ARE THEY UNDRESSING AND KICKING OFF THE HEELS WHEN LIPSYNCING 💀) i think marina did it better (barely) but i like marina better and her lipsync style much more than estrella's so that's v likely me being biased, still, imagine lipsyncing a jlo song in front of alexis and doing that. absolutely not.

i did absolutely not see a top 4 happening but 🥰 yay

a shout out to marina who had the sense to immediately smile with their mouth close when they put them in for a closeup in the end bc they had the blacked out tooth idk why but that was just so funny for me svsjshshk

it's probably too early for this but i hope a top 4 means they will do a finale with a tournament lipsync bc last season i didn't love trying to watch the top 3 lipsync all at the same time

[nobigsecrets]

Tagged again, this time by @itwoodbeprefect​​, thank you so much!!

Favorite Color: Blue

Currently Reading: Not much of anything lately. In January, I started rewatching H50 season 1, and along with the rewatch I went all the way back to the last page(s) of the Hawaii 5-0 tag on AO3 and read some of the early fic for the fandom. It’s interesting how the stories have a very differnt feel to them. For one, they were shorter (LJ style; which I sometimes miss). Also, the characterizations were a little more rough (which I appreciate). Funniest thing are the assumptions made by the writers, sometimes spot-on, sometimes completely off the mark (but still kind of reasonable for the status quo of the show at the time). This is one fanfic I bookmarked because it’s hilarious (I read it on the train and got some weird looks because I was laughing so hard):

One Foot on the Third Rail (and One on a Banana Peel) by Taz Rating: T, Words: 3,250 Summary: Danny has an acute reaction to an over the counter cold remedy.

Last Song: Hi Freaks by Tocotronic

Last Series: Tatort Saarbrücken, which is part of the popular German TV series Tatort (=crime scene). It features several police detectives/teams from different German cities, alternating each week. The team from Saarbrücken (a small town in western Germany) is relatively new, clearly aimed at a younger audience and boy, do they mix up the established Tatort universe! Their (as of yet) three episodes are SO GOOD! The chemistry between the two male leads is off the charts, they seriously give McDanno a run for their money, lol. And that includes the pining, the heart-eyes and the question how much trauma can be inflicted by shitty parents. Add to that that they were childhood friends to lovers, two sassy lesbian female co-workers and lots of queer vibes queerbaiting and you’ve even got them trending on tumblr, no joke! (Alas, they only get one episode per year which sucks)

Sweet, Savory, Spicy: Sweet, no questions asked.

Currently Working On: Can’t really get a handle on anything at the moment. I’ve been toying with the idea of a McDanno winter fic for two years at least. I have some parts already written. I thought I could finally connect them. Now it’s already mid-February and I’m sick of winter (or the lack thereof) and it’s just not working out. Then there’s still Steve’s backstory, my WIP of doom. Then I’ve been trying to write a short piece for the above mentioned Tatort over the weekend and it. just. wouldn’t turn out the way I wanted it to.

Tagging @cowandcalf​, @telltaleclerk​, @thekristen999​, @stellagioia​ and anyone else who wants to do this. As always no pressure! :)

[shinelikethunder]

So what is with Hannibal. I mean, I know the basic concept of the series, but what is compelling about it. I ask you this as someone whose tastes are very similar to yours. I also ask you this as someone who has always been morbidly fascinated with cannibalism, but like... survival cannibalism, not "this dude is one sick fuck" cannibalism

Oh god. Uh. How do I even begin to explain what is with Hannibal. The closest analogy I can come up with is “in musical theater terms, take the id appeal of The Phantom of the Opera but make the execution even more Sweeney Todd than any production of Sweeney Todd that’s ever been staged.” That doesn’t do it justice though. It is so many things and all of them are ridiculous:

“Let’s take a series of iconic psychological-thriller novels and adapt them into... a 3-season-long pretentious art film that’s initially forced to masquerade as a network-TV crime procedural!” Which is ludicrous enough. But on top of that, halfway through first season, the “retelling” has already shown its hand as fanfiction: they don’t have the rights to all the source material? Fine, then they will mix, match, remix, embroider, recontextualize, and allude to whatever they want to--it’s a freeform improvisation that’s based in loving, respecting, wanting more of, and also fixing (and occasionally roasting) the canon.

The pretentious art film’s aesthetic goal, which it is utterly relentless about, is to take you on a ride that obliterates the boundaries between hungry, horrified, and horny. Everything is beautiful, especially things that shouldn’t be. Everything looks disturbingly appetizing, even things that aren’t food. Everything is weirdly sexy and alluring. All of this is accomplished without flinching from how horrific the subject matter is. And it’s all intercut with characters having Deep and Thematically Relevant Conversations that sound like a bunch of vampires smoking weed and talking about their feelings. It’s just... a hell of a headspace to get drawn into.

Highly stylized yet unexpectedly earnest and heartfelt meditations on mortality, trauma, and every human’s relationship with their own potential for darkness? The more any particular character looks purely like a victim and a poor wounded bird to others, the more complicated their actual relationship to their own agency and what they've done to survive. There’s a beautiful, thoughtful, heartbreaking subplot about a marriage between two strong and dignified people when one of them falls terminally ill--and it plays out in tandem with Grand Guignol bullshit about, like, an aging serial killer who commemorates his own life’s legacy by digging up all his corpses and hacking them together into a totem pole. It’s batshit. It shouldn’t work, and yet.

It’s so incredibly fucking funny. If you’re into humor of the pitch-black and/or gallows variety. The entire show is a comedy anchored in the dramatic irony of “none of these very serious characters know they’re on a show about Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ Lecter, Notorious Serial Killer Whose Dinner Parties You Should Avoid At All Costs.”

The central relationship is... I don’t even know how to put it. It’s operating in the same “gothic horror and/or romance” territory as, say, most vampire fiction--locating and exploring and ultimately wallowing in the part of the psyche that finds darkness alluring. But it’s very eclectic in what it pulls into that dreamscape, and it manages to sustain an incredible amount of ambivalence between allure and acknowledgement of how awful everything that’s going on really is--between giving in and trying to maintain control over your darkness. And it’s a show where “giving in” means not just acceptance but participation--it’s about falling in love with the monster, but also about people identifying with and potentially becoming monsters themselves.

And also, like, unexpected bonding between weird, fucked-up, lonely people who are used to being looked at but not used to being seen and understood and accepted. And constant power struggles between people who will never settle into a stable dynamic where either of them comes out on top. And weird relationships to vulnerability. And games of manipulation that leave room for, even celebrate, the inherent non-deterministic and unpredictable nature of even the people you know the best.  And, you know, problematic murder queers who appreciate the intimacy of a good stab wound.

If you want to try it out: Watch the first 2 episodes for essential setup/context and to get a feel for how the show works. (And whether the way it does gore and horror is going to be too much. The case-of-the-week in episode 2 is... uh, it’s A Lot.) If you want to continue, awesome! If you want to keep sampling before you commit, here’s a few recs:

Peak dark-comedy romcom episode, minimal spoilers, minimal additional context needed: 1x08 Fromage, aka the human cello.

(Runner-up: 1x07 Sorbet, which is a bit structurally odd and less representative of how the show rolls, but still a fun time.)

Peak “that’s it that’s the show” episode, if you don’t mind spoilers through mid-s2 and are OK rolling with lack of context: 2x08 Su-zakana, aka the nightmare turducken.

Peak id-fic episode, spoilery as fuck and probably akin to an acid trip without context: 3x06 Dolce, in which everyone bleeds real pretty and marinates in Yearning up to their eyeballs, except the murder lesbians, who are the only ones sensible enough to just fuck already

(Runner-up: 2x10 Naka-choko, aka Relationship Status: Both “In Cahoots With” and “It’s A Trap”, aka peak inappropriately horny episode.)