#they're all queer to some extent guys come on

[killva-creates]

I saw the new Mario movie today and funny things happened (but minor spoilers so... no watchy no ready. scoot.)

first, my friend and I got kicked out of a comic store because we were reading

and then the three of us were the only ones in the theater so we could yell shit it was so great I'm not kidding

we all loved toad

"EW HETEROSEXUALITY!" at the peach/Mario meet cute

there was a minor discussion of Luigi being the gay younger brother with anxiety

"Luigi why are you running from the skeleton koopas, you're supposed to love bones!" (I got punched for that)

and then bowser has internalized homophobia

the peaches song

the Luigi as a captive scene was so gay

that weird little flame dude

Donkey Kong is a fucking himbo with daddy issues

Peach = bi bamf

there's something going on between bowser and his wizard friend I'm not kidding (they literally did a role-play scene)

I had to give the characters dnd classes so

Peach is a monk, Toad is a ranger, Bowser is a barbarian, DK is a fighter, Luigi is a paladin, and Mario gives me mild bard vibes (idk it might just be the fact that chris pratt voiced him)

the entire scene with DK and Mario in the ocean was queer coded as fuck

we were squealing about all the video game references the entire time

and then at the scene where Mario and Luigi do the joint power up when they started glowing and shit I was like "ah, the gay straight alliance" and both my friends lost their shit

the amount of gay jokes we all made

and then the end credit scene

and don't forget all the 80's music I fuckin loved

[ditizygirl]

Editblr is a breeding ground for idolatry, ableism, racism and so much more all for a community about putting images together.

I've been here for only a year but I feel like I've seen it all, and the excuses oh my god the excuses. You are all 15-19, you should not have the mental capacity of a 8 year old. Your common sense is non existent and almost all of you guys are so fucking stupid it's pissing me off more than any god can understand. You are old enough to have logical thinking skills, you may have a disorder and it may be a reason but not an excuse.

Alot of you have forgotten the saying "Think Before You Talk" and I've sure as hell done alot of thinking. This is my deep dive into editblr.

Ableism

Typing quirks are a way of personal expression but why do so much of you hate to add plain text. I can understand to extent because plain text hates my head because of how long it can be but I'm not gonna act like a little bitch about it. I'm gonna add my typing quirk or even fonts itself to it.

I'm gonna ask someone to help me, or to do it for me. Stopping making excuses for ableism. Alongside with the typing quirks, your psds are ugly and eyestrainy. Psds also fall under racism because I have no idea why you guys are ignoring the fact some make dark skin characters lighter but in the case of ableism most of them are really bright and makes it hard to see.

Orange and brown? Green and yellow? Blue and brown? Why are you putting colours that can be so much eyesore together? And won't even tag as eyestrain and when someone does ask you only do it for one post.

Romanticization

This one is weird as fuck and I see no one mentioning it. Editblr highkey has a ddlg problem, this "little girl" aesthetic you guys have going on borderlines ddlg alot and its icky. The baby talk typing quirk is disgusting, stop it.

I'm not one to judge how someone copes with their trauma but what I DO judge is how you act when majority says its uncomfortable. Now this section I'm a bit unsure how to phrase it, gotta love dyslexia, but that isn't going to stop me.

There's alot of very uncomfortable romanticization of stalking which I've seen so much of alongside abusive relationships and the justification of these things.

Racism

Really can't escape this one unfortunately. Many of you are like kpop idols, you're too dyslexic towards the difference between appropriation and appreciation. Incase you forgot let me remind you.

You can not gift japanese names. Gifting names is a native practice therefore you can only gift native names. Also I've noticed you weirdos befriending people just to use their cultural names. I can't even say it east asian fetishization because its only Japanese.

Also for the love of God can you guys stop saying nonmem and non women especially when referring to sexualities. It's not hard to simply say "queer attraction to women" and "queer attraction to men".

Coming back to the "gifting" names thing, I think it's interesting how all of you conveniently have a Japanese friend who "gifted" you the name of a cute pink anime girl. Maybe I'll do a post later on how much of a bad liar you guys are.

Closed symbols is also another big problem you all have. No matter how much times you're told you can't use something you always cry "but my friend from xyz culture said it was ok!" One person can't speak for a whole culture. You're nothing but a coloinzer in disguise hiding behind the idea of aesthetic. If you want to know if a symbol is closed just use this site.

Goddess Personas

Yea this one is getting a whole section of its own. Like any people I am uncomfortable with goddess personas, especially being someone with biblical sources. Now the idea that a teenager on the internet is making people call them a goddess is strange isn't it?

In my opinion, they're all annoying, copy and paste, and I think not a lot of people talk about how the really bad ones get. You all love to indulge them, make them think they have power over them. You put them on a pedestal and praise them and get surprised when it all goes to their head?

Stop giving 14 years old power, stop indulging in their habits and letting it go their head. Forcing people to refer to you as their goddess? Their Lord and saviour? Their idol? Someone they must listen to? It creates a power inbalance which always leads to the weirdest of manipulation. Also all the engagekiss copiers are so obvious why would you want to copy the identity of a groomer? It says alot of about yourself if that's what you think is ideal.

Callout Posts

Now, personally, I believe that the only reason a callout post happens is because someone was affected, does it not? Very rarely would a callout post would be a fake one, especially if someone has more then one. If you defend someone who has more than one call out post that's on you and you're gonna end up making one some day I can genuine you that. People don't make them for no reason.

This is all I have to say for now. I hope you guys really consider what I have written here, or not, considering the fact you guys have shown multiple times you lack reading comprehension

@starriesse @dollicous @doveinne @firstgf @kiochisato @lamboll @cherryshh @narcbf @lavendergalactic @npditary @sprinkleoverdose @necroangelz @eskeys

[buddiebeginz]

I was talking to a friend earlier and it got me thinking about something.

B*mmy stans project all of the stuff they do onto us to an extent I've never seen with any other fandom discourse before.

They call us homophobic for not liking B/T or T*mmy. Yet they hate on people for shipping Buddie or seeing Eddie as queer. To the point of harassing people for including Eddie and Buddie in pride posts. Continually harassing the 911news account and even trying to dox a journalist for posting about Buddie.

They call us delusional for having watched two men love and support one another for 6 going on 7 years and for thinking there could be something more than friendship there. Even though Oliver, Ryan, and Tim have all said they see what we see. Yet they've seen Buck kiss a guy twice, have very minimal screen time or development and they headcanon that they're in love and will get married in the coming season.

They say we fetishize Buddie. Yet most of the time when our fandom is discussing our ship we're talking about the emotional connection between them. Or how we want to see them finally be together in a canon romantic relationship or as a full fledged family (with Chris). Or have their first kiss. Meanwhile most of their posts are the kind of sex they headcanon Buck and T*mmy have. Hell after that that dinner scene tons of them changed their urls to something with daddy in it (referencing the out of place daddy kink joke). To be clear there's nothing wrong with headcanons about fictional characters sex lives. But the main reason most of us ship Buddie is not just because they're two hot guys who we want to think about f*cking, it's because we're invested in the story of their life together. The same can't be said for B/T.

They say we feminize Buck for Buddie:

Meanwhile most of their fics/art/headcanons involve T*mmy being the big strong protector rescuing the "damsel in distress" Buck. They constantly talk about how hot it is that T*mmy is this big older "daddy" firefighter who can take care of Buck and guide him in what it means to be in a m|m relationship.

They say we've made Buck's coming out all about Buddie but 1. Eddie and Buck's feelings for him were heavily included in Buck's bi awakening ep. 2. They have made T*mmy synonymous with buck's coming out to the point of saying Buck wouldn't have even realized he liked men without T*mmy. They've even said that if T*mmy and Buck were to break up in s8 that it would ruin Buck's coming out story.

They accuse our fandom of being mean and of harassing the actors including of sending death threats to Lou. Of chasing Lou off of social media and being the one who caused him to stop his cameos. They say we're the reason Oliver chooses not interact with Lou or anything B/T related online. When there has been no proof of any of this. Meanwhile there is proof from their own fandom that Oliver and Ryan have blocked some of them. They have repeatedly tried to pressure Oliver to interact with B/T posts and Lou. They were also leaving comments on the the video of the podcast Ryan did (with Tommy DiDario) where he talked about his s*icide attempt, telling him he should have finished the job.

They call us a cult or BoBs (Buddie or Bust) yet they dress up like Lou and would still be paying for his videos if he was still willing to put them out. They prioritize Lou/T*mmy above any other character on the show. They talk about how T*mmy should get a begins episode. How T*mmy should be a main character. They defend everything T*mmy has ever done including when he was racist and homophobic to Chim and Hen. They harass anyone who has a negative word to say about their ship or Lou or T*mmy much like a cult would protect their leader. They to this day act like everything Lou ever told them in his cameos is the gospel truth.

911 fandom has grown increasingly toxic ever since B/T became a thing and I honestly just can't wait for the day we either find out T*mmy isn't coming back or when his last ep will be. I mean in some ways our fandom won't ever be the same after this. I've seen a lot of ugly sides to people who I had followed for years as Buddie shippers.

It will never not confuse the hell out of me that some people who were big time Buddie shippers for years not only dropped Buddie but turned completely against the ship and our fandom. And all for a ship that is seriously underdeveloped and one that it's clear the show is telling us in flashing neon lights isn't meant to last.

[iheartpeppino]

Heya! Saw your headcanons post.

This is very unoriginal ik but what is Peppino's relationship with the rest of the pizza tower cast like in your headcanon? Like friendship wise? Has he befriended the bosses to an extent or is he still sus of them all XD

I hope you don't mind if I cover more than just the bosses!

Gustavo: I can't decide whether Gustavo has known Peppino for a long time, or if he only just met him during the events of Pizza Tower. Either way, assisting Peppino with Brick's help has been a bonding experience. Gustavo and Peppino are BFFs post-Tower. I see them having a queer-platonic relationship if they don't decide to outright date each other. I can see Gustavo having a hard time understanding Peppino and his emotions until Peppino opens up to him. Gustavo has never been traumatized the way Peppino has... but he has a good heart and wants to help him to the best of his ability. Peppino is grateful to have someone as loyal and kind as Gustavo to keep him anchored, even if he occasionally gets frustrated with his ignorance.

Brick: Peppino hated rats before he met Brick. Post-Tower, however, he's come to appreciate them. Brick is not only very handy in the kitchen (don't tell the health inspector), he's been known to cuddle Peppino when he's anxious to try and comfort him. Brick is a rat, but he's treated more like a house cat who also happens to be able to cook. Peppino likes him well enough.

Mr. Stick: Nothing has changed about Peppino's relationship with Mr. Stick. Stick continues to try and scam more money out of Peppino, or even outright STEAL it. Peppino doesn't fall for any of it or let Mr. Stick get away with it unless he genuinely needs something Stick has. Scott Stick is a greedy asshole who preys on desperate people like Peppino to make a profit. I like him a lot, don't get me wrong, but he's an asshole.

Pepperman: Everyone's favorite artistic pepper made a killing with his art after the Tower fell, and even got to star in a movie with The Noise later when the Tower was rebuilt. Despite his already large ego growing larger as a result, Pepperman knows he owes at least SOME of his newfound popularity to Peppino. Had Peppino never fought him, or destroyed the Tower in the first place, Pepperman would have remained an undiscovered talent, only making art of himself for himself. So whenever Pepperman is around the chef, he's a little nicer to him than he is to everyone else. In fact, he's even asked Peppino to model for him sometime so that he can make art of him. Peppino thinks Pepperman is way too full of himself, but other than that, he's not really a bad guy. Plus his art is actually pretty good quality. However, he's way too anxious to model for him... Peppino doesn't think very highly of himself, insecure about his physical appearance, so he'd feel way too exposed to model for an art project. That doesn't mean he can't change his mind, though...

The Vigilante: While they certainly had their differences at first, The Vigilante realizes now that Pizzaface/Pizzahead had lied to him about Peppino's intentions. Vigi knows now that Peppino is a good person who was just trying to save his already-struggling business. As someone who knows the meaning of hard work and responsibility, tending to his grandpa's farm, Vigi understands why Peppino had acted so desperately and violently, even if it resulted in the Tower's collapse and an initial loss of the farm. It's safe to say Vigi likes Peppino these days, even respects him. Peppino gets along well with Vigi as a result. They're not quite friends... yet... but they're cool with each other.

The Noise: Peppino and The Noise have been rivals for as long as Peppino has been running his pizzeria, and their rivalry has only continued post-Tower. Said rivalry got way more heated after The Noise made a movie based on the events of the Tower, re-writing the story so that The Noise was the hero, and with Fake Peppino being passed off as the actual Peppino. Peppino was pissed and tried to beat The Noise up for this, but The Noise convinced him not to by promising to release a second version of the film where he and Peppino are working together as partners. Peppino agreed to this compromise... only to be insulted yet again when The Noise hired Peppino's nasty brother, Maurice, to play Peppino's role. (Originally, Gustavo had been asked to play himself, but when Gustavo found out Maurice was playing Peppino, he said, "Absolutely not!" The Noise was forced to hire some random guy to play Gustavo.) Needless to say, Peppino and The Noise are NOT getting along very well right now. A shame, since they actually did seem to be getting friendlier BEFORE The Noise decided to make a movie, but the little gremlin fucked that all up completely just for the sake of more money and fame.

Noisette: Peppino used to find Noisette extremely irritating due to her being... well, oblivious. However, they've actually gotten to hang out more since the Tower first fell. She's still irritating, but Peppino tolerates it a lot more now. He's even starting to understand why The Noise is dating her. Truthfully, even if Noisette is oblivious, she isn't malicious or ill-intentioned. She's actually one of the nicest, most loving people Peppino knows... at least when she's not pissed off at The Noise for doing or saying something stupid. Then she's absolutely terrifying... not that he blames her. He doesn't understand what Noisette sees in The Noise, and has even asked her once before. Her answer surprised him: "He makes me laugh!" Peppino asked if that was all. "Do I need any other reason to love someone? It's really all I need to be happy." The Noise is very aware he doesn't deserve Noisette... but he loves her, even if he has trouble admitting it.

Fake Peppino: Well... Fake Peppino has been adjusting relatively well to the outside world after the Tower fell. He made a hideaway not far from Peppino Pizza, a sort of replica of Peppino Pizza 2, constructed from trash and scraps he'd found. Every day, he'd open his trash pizzeria for business, and go about his day as if he was the real Peppino. Making pizza from whatever he could find. Even taking out the trash into the same alleyway the real Peppino took his trash into. It was... awkward for both of them. Then The Noise made his movie where HE got to be the Real Peppino, and... he suddenly had acceptance from literally everyone around him. He had fans! People were asking for his autograph. The actual Real Peppino wasn't thrilled... he wasn't angry, just... kind of helpless, since he figured Fake Peppino deserves to be happy after everything he's been through, so he can't actually get mad without looking like an asshole. He did, however, complain to The Noise. The Noise's second version of his movie clarified that Fake Peppino and Peppino Spaghetti were actually two different people... except now everyone thinks FUCKING MAURICE is Peppino. Fake Peppino can now stand on his own through his newfound popularity as a movie star, with his own identity, rather than borrowing Peppino's. Peppino is begrudgingly happy for his fake, but GOD DAMMIT HE HATES THE NOISE AND MAURICE SO GODDAMN MUCH, HOLY SHIT.

Pizzahead: There is no easy way to say this. Pizzahead has a problem, and it's Peppino-shaped. Pizzahead, once Totino the Pizza Boy, is completely obsessed with Peppino. He stalks him regularly, often in disguise. He's hellbent on replicating Peppino's pizza-making methods and capitalizing on his image so he can be rich and successful like when he was younger. Originally, this stemmed from jealousy. But the more Pizzahead spied on Peppino and went to extreme lengths to replicate his cooking process, the more that obsession blossomed into a full-on crush. Not that Pizzahead will ever admit it. If you ask him about it, he'll deflect and deny it completely. Peppino, meanwhile, HATES Pizzahead after what he tried to do his pizzeria. Pile-driving him into the tower was the most satisfying thing he'd ever done in his entire life. He's vaguely aware he's being watched, but has no idea it's Pizzahead. Peppino is so paranoid, he keeps a revolver in his house behind a glass case. Though chances are, if he does see Pizzahead again, he's simply going to beat the crap out of him the moment he shows his face. (And Pizzahead will LOVE fighting back... fighting Peppino is super FUN for him!!)

[wanderingpen]

Thinking about how much the Owl House means to me and people all over the world.

Thinking about how much Luz Noceda means to all of the neurodivergent kids out there. The ones who are bullied and think they're weird and out of place because they think a little differently. Thinking about how she is always herself, and it has a positive impact on everyone around her. Thinking about how she's dorky and geeky and neurodivergent and perfect. Thinking about how she is so true to herself and to her family and they love her because she is LUZ and no one else is Luz. Thinking about all of the children of color who get to see themselves on the screen fighting bad guys and being amazing and never being ashamed of their skin or culture. Thinking about how everything she is stems from herself and her amazing latina, single, neurodivergent mother. Thinking about how she is bisexual and gets a girlfriend and is happy with said girlfriend for years to come. Thinking about all of the queer kids who get to see two girls kiss and love each other and be dorks together like kids should be able to.

Thinking about how much Hunter means to kids who are abused and hurt and scared. Thinking about how he had a happy ending, thinking about how he's healing even after years of abuse and neglect. Thinking about how he shows people that you can heal, that you don't have to continue the cycle, that you are NOT just your DNA. Thinking about how he loses a friend and grieves and hurts but he's okay in the end. Thinking about how he doesn't fit into the nuclear family idea, thinking about how he has so many parental figures and siblings and friends and he doesn't have to be "Hunter Noceda" or "Hunter Deamonne" or "Hunter Clawethorne" because he is all of them. Thinking about how found family is just as important as blood family, and thinking about how you don't have to put a name to something to know it's there.

Thinking about Eda, and how she is a disabled character who stays disabled even in a world full of magic. Thinking about how she embraces her disability and she's never put down for it within her family, and she's just as amazing and badass as any other character. Thinking about how she's queer and sassy and disabled and hot and perfect and she never lets anything stand in her way. Thinking about how she loves her kids and loves her partner and loves life.

Thinking about how much Raine Whispers means to me as someone who is figuring out their gender identity. Thinking about how they are the person that helped me figure out that I am nonbinary (at least to some extent) and thinking about all of the other nonbinary kids who get to see themselves on screen in a fantastic show as an important character who isn't shown of as the "queer quota" character and then pushed aside. Thinking about how they are nervous and shy and talented and brave and a monsterfucker in love and them being nonbinary is just a part of a whole amazing character. Thinking about how they're middle-aged, showing kids and adults that being queer doesn't disappear when you age. Queer people get to live a full, happy life just like everyone else.

Thinking about Lilith and Gus, and how they're obsessed with things that some people consider "strange", and how no one that loves them ever puts them down for it. Thinking about how Gus is a gifted child, who deals with gifted kid burnout and the others give him the space and kindness to help him deal with that. Thinking about how Lilith makes mistakes, like everyone does, but finds happiness in her sister and in her friends and is forgiven because she never meant to hurt anybody. Thinking about how she doesn't need a love interest to be "whole", and that she finds complete fulfillment in her platonic and familial relationships.

Thinking about Belos, and how they really said no, some people do not deserve your forgiveness. No, sometimes people just hurt others for the sake of hurting them, and you do not have to forgive them just because they apologize. Thinking about how he is not even given the honor of a dignified death, thinking about how he is purely fascist and no one ever tries to humor him or give him another chance.

Thinking about the Collector, and how they just didn't understand. Thinking about how they were scared and hurt and traumatized, and all they needed was someone to help them understand the world around them. Thinking about how, while the show didn't forgive Philip, they did forgive the Collector. Because some people really don't intend to hurt others, even if they accidently do. Thinking about how the Collector decided to put space between himself and the people they hurt, to give everyone the chance to heal and how they still visit because he has friends to turn to now, because even if you accidentally hurt people, there will be those who forgive you. Thinking about how they show that you are loved, even if you make a mistake.

Thinking about how Amity and her siblings learned to be better and escaped their Mother's horrible treatment. Thinking about how Amity didn't immediately forgive her father for being idle in their treatment, but also thinking about how Alador is genuinely TRYING and she is willing to give him a chance. Thinking about how she recognizes that she hurt people and tries so hard to make amends, and thinking about how people are slow to trust her again but she finds people that eventually DO, and thinking about how she loves her human girlfriend and thinking about how she's grown and matured and become her own person outside of her mother's influence.

Thinking about King, about how he loves and misses the father he never got to meet, but that he also loves his mother for adopting him and taking care of him. Thinking about how King shows that you can love both your blood and your adoptive relationships and that just because you have one doesn't mean you can't have the other. Thinking about how he loves his sibling and teases her and fights with his family like families do, but they forgive each other in the end because no one ever really meant it.

Thinking about Willow, and her strength and boundless support for her friends, but also how she isn't an infinite well of hope. Sometimes she needs help too, and that's okay. Thinking about how she is chubby and badass and strong and about how she has a boy head-over-heels for her because she is so loveable and so amazing.

Thinking about how everyone is allowed to make mistakes, allowed to hurt and cry, allowed to be different and be queer and be neurodiverse. Thinking about how much these characters mean to kids around the world, and thinking about how much love and effort the cast and crew put into letting their little world touch so many people's hearts.

Thank you to Dana and the rest of the crew. Thank you for showing kids and adults alike that there are people like them out there and that love and hope is not lost on anyone. Thank you for inviting us into the carnival and taking us on the most amazing, magical ride we have ever been on.

The Owl House will live in my heart, and in the hearts of many for years to come.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Bye-eeeee!!!

[cheonmaneechan]

One of the wonderful things about When They Cry is not only how Ryukishi07 noticably improves as an author and builds upon his themes and ideas from his previous works, but also how each successive work gets more blatantly queer than the last.

Higurashi has quite a bit of plausable deniability on whether its characters are lgbtq. The most obvious ones are Furude Rika and Houjou Satoko for each other, but this can plausibly be denied by someone who doesn't see it without too much of a strech in the original eight episodes. Personally I'd argue that literally the entire main cast of girls are lgbtq of some kind except maybe Hanyuu, but each of those arguments do require interpretation. This is Higurashi from 2002.

Umineko gets more blatant with explicitly queer characters, more often on the magic side but there are some on the human side as well. It's a coinflip on whether Zepar or Furfur is trans (though some clowns will use real life voice actors to try to give a definitive answer). Bernkastel and Lambdadelta are notorious toxic witch lesbians. Furudo Erika and Dlanor are in a less explicit relationship that's a bit dicey at times and coming after Furudo Erika's unpleasant breakup with her boyfriend. Williard seems to be in a relationship with Ushiromiya Lion by the end even as Ushiromiya Lion explicitly states they're unsure of their gender and or don't want to say on the matter and Williard accepts that without hesitation and explicitly states that the audience should too. Ushiromiya Ange has a relationship with Mammon that can be interpreted as romantic as well, and with the open ended ending of her future, one can imagine Ushiromiya Ange as all sorts of sexuality and potentially still in that relationship with Mammon if not closer. And then of course there's Yasuda Sayo or as I'd like to call the queerest and most gender and sexuality character of all time. If I tried to count their potential queer identities, I'd probably miss at least one or two, but they ain't straight and they ain't cis even if their individual personalities might be. There's even more that you could say about the themes of Umineko overall that also tend to involve Yasuda Sayo to some extent, but I'll leave it there. By the latter half of Umineko or the answer arcs, some people reading at the time were wondering basically "Where'd all this gay shit come from?" among other things. Some people couldn't handle it at the time and many still can't, and some are somehow still in denial of Umineko's queerness to this day more than likely. This is Umineko from 2007.

Ciconia even with only one episode out and presumably an eighth of the way done by traditional When They Cry standards manages to be EVEN MORE explicitly queer within said one episode. This time, with no interpretation or any serious level of reading and understanding the text and characters needed, the main protagonists Mitake Miyao and Mitake Meow who share a body are either transgender one way or the other with Mitake Miyao being a boy and Mitake Meow being a girl. To this they're like Yasuda Sayo except they definitely know their sex, and like Ushiromiya Lion they'd rather not say at least yet. Mitake Meow's boyfriend Jayden respects this and that his girlfriend might be trans and that she can tell him and they can work whatever out when she's comfortable about it. There's a whole ass scene or so about this and is impossible to deny. Ciconia also mentions explicitly there being surgery to acquire a penis in the futuristic setting as well, and possibly even artificial wombs if I'm not mistaken too, things that are at the moment still medical hopes and dreams for so many trans people. There's also discussions about the struggles of lgbtq people as well as gay moments mostly among girls but even with a guy as well (not listing them partially because my memory of some of their names is fuzzy, lol). There's a pro yuri nun idol squad even who states that love has no bounds and yuri is the best thing ever essentially, you literally can't get more explicit and in the text than this unless your measure of gayness deems sex to be the epitemy and ideal of gayness at all times. I'm not even sure how you could be a queerphobic When They Cry fan without blatantly ignoring at least one work or malding about it constantly. This is Ciconia from 2019.

This post doesn't say much about Higurashi GouSotsu from 2020 because I haven't watched it myself, but that's pretty explicitly gay too and much more explicit than the original and makes the queer content in the original as well more blunt and obvious. Not necessarily recontexualization so much as a potential fragment that builds upon what was already previously alluded to for nearly two decades by that point.

To people who genuinely think any When They Cry work is definitively and undeniably straight...I really don't know what to tell you lol. Like there's room for intepretation for quite a bit of this including towards a cis or heterosexual explanation at times, but at some point you're just not reading the text very well to think that it's all just cis and straight and that the gays are just delusional somehow, lol.

[haleigh-sloth]

If we can condemn meneta for all of his gross SA and nonconsensual touching then why romanticize toga assaulting ochako? I'm all for togachako rep and gay pining but toga constantly assaults her and has since the beginning and it's specifically read as sexual. So idk how I feel about the double standard of guys assaulting = nasty but girls assaulting = gay happy pride 🏳️‍🌈

When has she assaulted her in a sexual way, ever. Like seriously point it out within the events of the manga, when has this happened.

Toga "assaulting her" is no different than Tomura getting up in Deku's space at the mall. It's an invasion of space. Now if you mean getting physically violent then man, lots of people are being assaulted in this manga. Oh wait, yeah they are. Wild.

I understand that Toga can be read as an allegory for being a suppressed queer person given that she is canonically bi, went through quirk counseling etc. But if we're talking legitimate literal storytelling, she is not that. She is an issue of having to suppress her expressiveness in general because she was born with a societally unacceptable feature ingrained into her. If you're choosing to read everything as literally sexual, that's a you problem.

How Hori draws them--this is where I feel common sense comes in. The author is a freak. He draws weird shit, on multiple occasions he does. It's not new. This is clearly a case of a situation that isn't inherently sexual at all (because, quite literally, it's not) made sexual because the author is a freak. Now, if you actually think this is a situation where Toga is seeking sexual gratification from this, well, jesus christ idk what to tell you that's just your problem because that's not what's happening.

Comparing her to Mineta who is like outright a sexual pervert when her story isn't literally actually about that is just silly and unproductive. And has no grounds because Toga has not ACTUALLY DONE ANYTHING IN CANON that the other villains have not done. They've all violated people via getting physical with them--violent, not sexual.

Now look, the image is absurd because it doesn't NEED TO BE THIS WAY. No Toga's hand didn't need to be drawn on her tit and there didn't need to be a close up of it. But technically and literally speaking, this isn't a sexual situation in canon. They're fighting and Toga is obviously making a move of some sort to further her fight.

Now when you say "Toga assaults her repeatedly", I'm assuming you mean in a sexual way---well that hasn't fucking happened at least once. However we can all agree that he drew Toga and Ochacko in a sketch ONCE where Toga was infringing on her space like, you know, non-consensually. Sorry but any other artwork I can think of with the two of them is either depicting them FIGHTING EACH OTHER or that one where they're like holding each other and it's obviously meant to be fan-service-y, but not the same energy of that one sketch.

I can agree that the panel is just not preferred like....it's unnecessary and clearly meant for the author's own enjoyment and whoever else will like it. But to call this a literal sexual assault I just do not agree with because the intention behind what's happening is just not that. I don't agree with you and honestly I'm not gonna get into this anymore. I respect your discomfort 100% but that's the extent of my agreement with you I'm sorry.

[theguardianace]

AROACE POLYSHO ???? SPILL SPILL SPILL TWLL ME ALL ABOUT IT PLEASE

AROACE POLYSHOW AROACE POLYSHOW THE GREATEST THING OF ALL TIME.

things of note that i think are fun.... nene and rui had major questioning phases pre-wxs about being aroace. i'd imagine nene being really confused why everyone around her seemed so interested in dating and romance and the whole amatanormative feel of dramatic media and such. it's in so many plays, and people get in so many shipping wars/draw suggestive art for games. it's hard to ignore as a theater kid and gamer. she didn't get it and felt isolated. she came across the term aroace online but had a hard time accepting that she might be that, but eventually silently embraced it. rui on the other hand knew full well he was not like other people. he's not the kind of guy who would pick and choose a crush that isn't there. being aroace and a middle/high schooler made him feel even more lonely and alienated from his peers. he agknowledged the fact he was aroace pretty easily, but it took him a lot longer to accept that isn't a bad thing at all.

emu and tsukasa had NO clue they were aroace. did not occur to them at all. emu had to be told it was a thing and she went "huh? OHHH THATS ME !!!! :D". skipped teh entire questioning/am i broken stage and went right to "hehehehehehe". (though other people don't believe her that often. emu is so full of love. how could someone like her not fall in love with other people? she's too young. she hasn't met the right person yet. it's just a phase. her siblings started off as ignorantly aphobic, but then realized the fault of their ways and learned.). my hc for tsukasa is a bit different than other peoples, but i am fully convinced he thought he was bisexual for teh LONGEST time. "guys and girls can both be good looking, so i must be bi! yeah the extent of my feelings is "they're cool" ... what do you mean that's not what a crush is". it was a shocking revelation to him that people actually want to kiss/have sex for real. he's accepted being aroace and actively embraces it, though he still feels connected to teh bi label. he'd like the concept of tertiary attraction and probably label as bi aroace, to honor both.

i like to think that tsukasa accidentally came out first (accidentally meaning he simply forgot to tell them and then was surprised when they were all surprised). emu was like !!!!! omg samsies and nene laughed and came out, too. wxs were the first people rui ever said the words "aromantic asexual" out loud to.

i personally think aroace polyshow never actually labeled themeselves as such, but BOY do tehy act like they're all married. they just care about each other soooooo much. its platonic its queer platonic its romantic its everything all blended together. if its them, they can do anything. with the shared knowledge of being aroace, they all also sort of feel more comfortable being openly affectionate, yknow? there's no risk of misinterpretation of intent- they love each other. they love each other in a way that they cannot describe and most people wouldn't understand. they are tied by their love of shows and their love of each other. emu is really physically affectionate and they all feel safe cuddling with her. rui lightheartedly flirts and half the time i dont think he even realizes he's doing it, the other half he's just trying to be silly. nene excels in the silent acts of love, making sure the stage is clean and there's always a few snacks backstage and honeslty just being there for everyone.

they have game night/sleepover every once in a while, usually during planning stages of shows. there's also a high likelyhood one goes to another's house at least once a week for some reason.

oh also they never do romance plays ever. it was a revelation tehy only came to after coming out. it just... never occured to them to do one. and now that they all know none of them can fall in love they actively try and avoid it. they've re-written fables to be about the power of friendship, or re-imagined the tale to the point romance wouldn't even be on anyone's mind. it's not a theme the audience ever picks up on, but at the same time they do? they don't realize the pattern but nobody ever comes out of a show with that interpretation. their shows are a hit every time, too. ("story" doesn't mean "romance", after all).

wonderlands x showtime isn't a romance. it's a love story.

[hjemne]

Thinking about my queer telenovela Trigun WIP again, and I'm still not sure about to what extent it's a good idea to write Wolfwood as recently having left the church after coming to terms with the fact he's gay, and so has little experience with the queer community. Currently in my plan, Wolfwood starts off not really knowing anything about what it means to be trans and he is still working to unpack the homophobic Christian teachings he's internalised. He ends his years-long relationship with Milly and then meets Vash & it's his confirmation that yes okay he is definitely gay. Wolfwood doesn't know Vash is trans for a while, and Meryl is stressing out during that time because she's worried about how this recently Christian man with a limited understanding of transness might react to the guy he's been crushing on not being cis (Vash, her friend, who's been through enough already and who she wants to look out for). Meryl doesn't really know Wolfwood, and the worry is partly coming out of her habit of catastrophising, and Milly knows Wolfwood very very well and has full faith that he wouldn't be a dick about Vash being trans. But idk if I should cut these scenes because they're Too Much. For plot reasons the girls can't properly communicate with either Wolfwood or vash btw. My point is to show that Meryl is also unlearning stereotypes and her immediate assumptions about people, but I'm not sure if that justifies bringing up the fear of transphobia in a fanfic

Wolfwood finds out when he and Vash are finally about to hook up, and it takes him a moment to work through the initial surprise and confusion before going 'you're literally a man and I'm so attracted to you I think my dick might explode but also I have zero concept of what a trans man is so you might have to gimme some pointers on how this all works.' So basically there's a moment where Wolfwood is processing Vash being trans, and Vash is a little wary of him & how he'll react, but that moment almost immediately passes and then it's a case of Wolfwood being uninformed but very enthusiastic to learn.

I think it's important for me to show a character deconverting and the fact that when you deconvert you have to unlearn and relearn so many different things, but also I'm not sure whether it's a good idea for a plot point to be 'is Wolfwood going to hatecrime Vash?'.

I'd love to get some more perspectives on this. The fic setting and tone is (at the moment) fairly realistic so I don't think this would be a super weird tonal shift. In the fic the world is unfair and harsh but can be beautiful when people love and care for one another. Theres big plot points about how social and economic inequalities impact people & how people react & survive when pushed to the margins of society etc.

More things I'd like to discuss under the cut <33

Id also appreciate advice on how to write about Vash & Knives' transition. In my current plan, they were adopted by Rem and were both fairly erratic as kids bc they had trauma around something relating to Tesla (can't decide what exactly without bringing the tone massively down). Rem fully backs them when they transition (although she & knives get into a fight over him giving himself knives as his legal name) and I want to emphasise how positive the process of transitioning was for them. V+K get closer through it and knives gets a supportive group of friends which is particularly important because he's the more unstable one. But then there's tension between knives and rem because rem isn't the no 1 fan of some of his new friends (legato + elendira) and knives gets increasingly volatile as he refuses to process his trauma and his worst habits are enabled.

I think I want to say that Knives then causes an accident which kills Rem and injures Vash, but idk whether he does this deliberately, fully accidentally, or because he's experiencing a mental health crisis. Any thoughts about how to handle this would be super useful 🙏 Otherwise I might say that there was a car crash / other random accident, and that this was the tipping point because Knives can't handle being the only one to walk away without a scratch. Either way, Knives then disappears and Vash is trying to track him down and help him when Vash & Wolfwood meet in the main plot timeline.

The main plot is around Wolfwood trying to find Livio despite him having been declared dead after he ran away from their orphanage a few days after Wolfwood was kicked out and was never seen again (&so WW blames himself for Livios disappearance). WW eventually finds LR, who has been living under the name Razlo and avoided being found BC they actually ran away because their birth parent was released from prison and they FREAKED at being forced to go live with them again. LR has been forced into incredibly shit and precarious work because they have no legal identity or protection which is being taken advantage of by chapel. WW and LR bond and WW convinces and helps them to get away from chapel & get themselves un-declared dead. LR has met both Vash and Knives at various points (helped Vash w his t shot in a diner bathroom. this is also how he and Meryl met) and eventually Vash bumps back into WW, and they find Knives with LR's help, and everyone's happy. Milly and Meryl have gotten together during all this, and all 6/7(?) of them move in together because I make the rules and want them to be happy. Knives (& razlo tbh) gets the support and stability he's needed and is doing much better. Wolfwood gets to live with his bff Milly but can be out and proud. He probably proposes to Vash within the year. Vash & Wolfwood both have their brothers back and a family again. LR get official legal status again and change their last name to Razlo to separate them fully from their birth family. Milly and Meryl are the sweetest couple known to mankind and Meryl is welcomed into Milly's big Christian family. Will knives and LR get together? Haven't decided. But I think they would get on super well. And probably hook up. Also it's very important that you know that Wolfwood used to be a youth pastor in a church while with miss Melanie (who raised him in a Christian orphanage). Melanie cries when she sees LR again, and gives Wolfwood away when he and Vash get married.

[merlinsleftit]

controversial hp opinions bcs i love to offend ppl <3

i really don't get the genz hp fandom. im a genz myself but the sudden liking for these new slytherin characters like who tf is mattheo riddle? and ppl are romanticizing these characters like stfu bro 😭😭 they're gonna treat u like shit if u fr date them and loving tom riddle? LIKE Y'ALL OUT OF UR FUCKING MIND? he would've slaughtered u the moment he would get a hold of u. its not fucking enemies to lovers shit and the new marauders fandom is so weird like why all of their personalities circulate around the fact they're all queer. CMON THEY'RE MORE THAN JUST THAT. i personally do not ship wolfstar but i like it and i dont have a problem w the ppl who ship them. there are no obvious hints of them being together in the canon but to some extent they do make sense. the ship which i can't stand is, jegulus. just so know, james would've HATED YALL for shipping him w regulus. ur telling me that the guy who pined over lily for years, would go for a guy who comes from such an abusive family of his BEST FRIEND sirius. he would've never in his life would do that to sirius or lily. not to the mention how they don't give lily or tonks any personality besides them being a surrogate for wolfstar and jegulus. LILY IS THE REASON WHY THIS SERIES EXIST and the sudden love for peter pettigrew and barty crouch JR?? y'all must be tweaking like these mfs would've given y'all up to voldy just to spare their lives to him be fr😭😭

[james-vi-stan-blog]

why do I feel like the previous anon was a dig at me for asking questions about the kind of people James and George were😃I could be wrong though.

my only thing about why I’m hoping all of them in the show will show their flaws or how much of a bad person they can be is because I know it’ll be so much easier for people to understand or even sympathize with George simply because Nicholas is playing him. I’ve probably mentioned this before but I fully believe it has something to do with looks.

Nicholas is incredibly attractive so a lot of people feel more inclined or gravitate towards his character to feel sympathy, maybe defend, or ‘babygirl’ George even through problematic issues he’s had (that might be in the show but idk what they’ll include) but compared to Tony portraying James? I don’t think he’s going to get that same energy or thought process because his character might be criticized more simply because some people don’t find Tony/James attractive. I’ve seen this happen many times and it’s just odd people haven’t picked up on that.

I’m not saying people aren’t allowed to make up their own opinions about how they perceive the the characters or force my opinions onto others. I honestly can say that I feel sympathy for George and James (even Mary) but I think a lot of people aren’t going to realize how much looks would come into play when their formulating their opinions about the characters.

I’m sorry if I’m not making any sense, I have a hard time writing my thoughts! also I’m not trying to start anything so I hope this doesn’t come across as rude or anything😭

-✨

I don't think asking "good or bad" type questions is necessarily pointless… after all, people do have vices and virtues, and they can make good, bad, or downright evil decisions. I think we can even evaluate relative badness to some extent (like the 5th Earl of Bothwell, there's a phenomenally shitty person). Rather, it's a binary vision of good and bad guys that's toxic for the study of history. I think it's also limiting for media. If you (general you, not you, ✨) are going into Mary & George just looking to be entertained, there's no need to have several essays cited that George Villiers Is A Good Person™ Actually before you've even sat down. Not every story is meant to be didactical. What is about to unfold in front of you could be a villain's tale, some complex shade of tragedy, etc.

But to the main thrust of your ask, honestly… I too worry about this. The halo effect and lookism are well-documented phenomena (known and understood even in the period itself… I mean… why was short, stuttering, shy Baby Charles so invested in his iconography, but to depict himself as strong, masculine, handsome, and therefore virtuous and deserving to rule!!!) and also applies to media depictions of historical figures. It's totally a real thing that when a historical figure gets played by a popular actor, people will tend to be softer on that character, not even purely due to "beauty = goodness", but also because the pleasure of the visual spectacle inclines us to excuse what we're seeing. (Actually, even outside the appearance of the actors, people tend enormously to excuse the actions of a protagonist. It's just sort of an effect of the medium.)

That said, I believe the vast majority of people who say "I support George's rights and George's wrongs!" are just being silly and having fun and are perfectly capable of rationally judging what they're watching. You guys are great, please have a great time, tell your friends about the show so that more people learn about James VI and the Villiers family!!

But yeah, rarely there's… I don't go on Shitter but saw a screenshot of someone saying they hoped Somerset/Buckingham would be the main ship because Laurie Davidson is hotter and they don't want to watch an "ugly" (??) "old man fuck" and that just disheartened and disgusted me. You know, gayness doesn't exist to be hot and entertaining. Queer stories serve more purposes than fetish fuel for oglers. And this story is about real people who actually existed…

Also, I've got thoughts about people who think it's wrong and disgusting for James to have fallen in love with handsome George Villiers but also vociferously and openly thirst over Nicholas Galitzine and want to see him naked in queer roles. 😑

Anyway I'm happy to see these figures in almost any interpretation but I really hope George Villiers will be allowed to be magnificently terrible because… c'mon… it's George Villiers. The icon. The legend. The Duke of Buckingham himself. I feel like watering down his character would be cheating him of the glory he's due.

[runin-reads]

Prongsfoot sex! Specifically, how do you think it happens the first time? What happens? Who tops? Who cries

And how differently does it go in a WW with period-typical homophobia etc vs the more open society commonly found in fanon? I personally think that a James who hasn’t absorbed heteronormativity/the importance of continuing the family line would be much more open to attention from both sexes, seeing it as part of his popular guy/big man on campus lifestyle and continuing after they leave school, but I’m curious as to what you think and if you see it affecting his relationship with Sirius. I do think a lot of it is James being unsure if he can accept the full weight/enormity of Sirius’ feelings, so that would still be an obstacle even if being gay/bi wasn’t. Thoughts?

I also think James bottoming and really enjoying it would be an extra crisis of masculinity in either case, but that may be just me

how does it happen the first time?

If we're talking penetrative sex, it's certainly not a spur of the moment thing, at least when they properly do it. I head canon prongsfoot as the type to sexually fool around with each other before James got with Lily. They have no problem with oral sex, handjobs and the likes but when it comes to actual penetration? they learn the hard way that it can't be done sporadically, not if they want it to feel good. James would top because he sees bottoming as an inherently effeminate/queer action and not at all in line with the image he has of himself. He sees himself as "straight" so it makes sense for him to top, right? Sirius would be fine with bottoming since, a that point, he's used to being the black sheep of his family. He's consequently more accepting of his queerness and far more tolerant of an act that guys would otherwise see as emasculating. Also James likes putting on a brave face and I think bottoming would be too vulnerable for his liking.

If the WW was accepting of queerness, I still think prongsfoot could experience some conflict. I agree with you when you said James is unsure if he can embrace the sheer intensity of Sirius' love. They're so young and he isn't introspective enough to comprehend the full extent of Sirius' feelings. There's also that fear of vulnerability that I firmly believe he'll always have regardless of the WW's attitudes towards queerness. James' patronus is a stag; elusive, beautiful, prey that's prone to running away from any threats. Whereas Sirius is a dog: loyal, protective and predatory. I think it's just in their nature for one to run and the other to give chase. (maybe it turns them on haha)

[apprenticestanheight]

Kind of similar to that last platonic request but could you do something where apprentice reader comes out as transmasc to the other apprentices? Thank you!

Coming out to the various apprentices hcs

Hi!! This has been sitting in my inbox for more than a month, which I am SO SORRY ABOUT! Stuff has been all over the place and trying to find work in the past week or so has been a freaking NIGHTMARE so a lot is on my plate in the mental area right now but realistically that's not much of an excuse so again, I am so sorry it's taken me this long!

I'm not the greatest at writing coming out scenes (I can't think of one of my characters who, even if they've been in a straight presenting relationship, has not been queer in some way since I started writing, which makes that sentence ironic) but I did my best with the several I've written/explained here! As is evident by the title, I wrote this out as headcanons, which I hope is okay! Also didn't include logan (watched like, an hour of jigsaw?? maybe?? hated it. hated him. respectfully) which I hope is all right.

Fic type- this is very fluffy!

warnings- none other than the fact that this wasn’t edited before posting (oops)

ALLLLLLL RIGHT!!

You probably just like--I feel like coming out to them individually is the way to go because if you do it with all of them present it'll kind of be like--it'll--something will feel a little bit off because there's some animosity between Amanda and Mark and their reactions will have some variation. Plus, it's just easier anyway because, while you are with them individually a lot of the time, the four of you are together very, very rarely, and typically only when John asks you all to be somewhere at the same time.

So you come out to Amanda first and she takes it REALLY, REALLY WELL!!

The first thing that she does is offer you one of the guys sweaters she keeps in the back of her closet--they're baggy, warm and typically what she'll wear in winter because jersey gets cold during the season.

She also asks you what your preferred name and pronouns are and then takes to them like she's snapped her fingers and your birth name and previous pronouns have left her memory. She is really, really sweet about it and so understanding--as far as the apprentices go, I feel like she reacts the best and handles it the best because she IS queer and has queer friends so she gets it to an extent.

Lawrence and Amandas reactions are similar! He mentions he has a couple of shirts and sweaters and stuff that he doesn't really wear anymore and offers them to you while also asking if you want coffee or tea because you decided to come out while he was just at home (you're working in--idk,, pharmaceuticals?? and so you work close by anyway and Lawrence also wants your opinion on trap stuff so hey! Your meeting has two purposes!)

and then he asks you what your preferred name and pronouns are and takes to them pretty quickly! Once you've left with coffee in a to-go mug and several shirts, sweatpants, hoodies and cardigans and just--clothes that Lawrence doesn't wear anymore that either already fit or can be altered so that they do, Lawrence practices so that he makes sure not to fuck it up because he knows that you're having told him about how you identify is really important and a really special kind of thing and the idea of messing up by calling you the name you used to go by or using the pronouns that make you dysphoric makes him feel terrible right out the gate.

Hoffman has the attitude of someone who's like,, super chill about that kind of thing! again, queer himself (you cannot tell me that he and strahm were not fucking on the DL. I refuse to believe otherwise) and very understanding about how difficult coming out can be.

He asks you what your preferred name and pronouns are and takes to them fairly quickly! He messes up like, once?? twice maybe before he's like "I need to practice using the name and pronouns because fucking it up is not needed--dysphoria seems like it sucks and I don't want him to be dysphoric because of me." so then he practices it mentally while he's working and kind of like,, under his breath while he sets traps up and has it down within that week.

Also gets you a checkerboard cake that has three layers and has the trans flag colors because he feels bad about the times he messed your pronouns up. You absolutely devoured that cake after a really tough day and it was delicious (he got strahm to bake it because as much as I love him, I do not think he could bake a cake without burning it)

All in all, their reactions are different but they do love you and they make sure that you know that.

[buddiebeginz]

you know, the way people are acting like Tommy is the second coming of gay Jesus is actually making me hate him as a character. (Which isn't fair but it's how I'm feeling.) They're acting like he's this well established character when he's had what six episodes across the run of the show. For me it just shows, despite what they've said for years, it was never about telling a good love story. It was never about getting to see a slow burn done with two queer characters where they and the relationship was treated with the same care as the hetero slow burns. It very much feels like it's exactly what M/M shippers have been accused of for years, just wanting to watch two guys kiss.

I don't personally hate Tommy but I have issues with him both from how he was in previous seasons and some stuff he's done since he's been back. The show has this problem where it thinks that if a character has been gone for a bit and they come back and everyone is cool with them then it's fine. They did it with Taylor and also kind of did it with Buck and Chim's parents to some extent. They never really hold characters accountable for their actions. Like with Taylor we should have gotten some kind of scene when she and Buck were together where she says to him or to Bobby hey I'm sorry I was so focused on getting the story that I didn't care about saving your life. But we never had that.

Similarly with Tommy I think we should have gotten a scene with him and Chim and Hen where he said look I was struggling back then I'm sorry I was a dick. And I know they basically made it seem like he made friends with them all before he left the 118 but it would just be nice if 911 would have their characters acknowledge mistreatment more.

I honestly feel like the show and fandom try and hold Buck and Eddie to higher standards than they do to everyone else. Like I can't tell you the amount of posts I saw after Chim punched Buck where people were defending Chim yet we never a scene with Chim apologizing. Also I've seen tons of posts about how wrong Buck was on the basketball court or how wrong Eddie was in the grocery store but they never go as hard at other characters when they mess up. And back to Tommy I've only seen a handful of people even call out what he did on the date. Making that joke about closets when he knew Buck was on his first date with a guy and not out and just really panicking in that moment. I just found it really crass of him on top of him just kind of ditching Buck like he should have at least made sure he got home alright.

I'm happy that we finally got Buck's bi awakening storyline and I'm okay with that being with T*mmy even if I'm not crazy about him. My biggest issue is with B/T shippers and how insufferable some of them have been. Talking about how Buddie doesn't matter and how B/T should be endgame when they've barely known one another makes me want to scream. And it's mostly coming from former Buddie shippers.

And you're right some of these people are really proving the whole fetishizing queer couples argument correct (and I'm not saying this about everyone who likes B/T) but I think for some they just like that it's two hot guys making out and it doesn't really matter who it is. Which I hate to even say that because any time I've liked any queer couple I've had people say that stuff to me when it's always been because I've been invested in the storyline. But there isn't even any storyline yet to be invested in with B/T they kissed once and went on 1 1/2 dates and some people are talking about them getting married at some point >_<

Sorry for the long rant anon. Thanks for the message btw. ❤️Message anytime.

[idridian]

I would love to hear about your crime=queer reading of The Hoodlum Priest!

the simple answer is that it's exactly what it says on the tin: i watch the film and pretend like the way the ex-convicts - and, to some extent, father clark, as the only person who is willing to engage with them on their own terms - are treated is a metaphor for the way queer people were treated by society in that era. namely they're outcasts, denied work and housing and legal representation, treated with extreme prejudice, existing on the edges of society and othered by 'squares' (non-criminals). the entire plot centres around clark's attempts to carve a safe space for convicts in this world - the halfway house where they're among people who share their experiences and have an actual support network

(and like. obviously this film isn't actually doing queer subtext. it's very straightforward about its message re: crime and rehabilitation and death penalty and what have you. but it just so happens that all the struggles that the ex-convicts go through are ALSO things that apply to queer people)

then of course we have the main thing that makes me eat queer drywall about hoodlum priest, which is the entire dynamic of the relationship between father clark and billy. it's... a lot

pretty sure this was more a limitation of them not being allowed to have anybody say swearwords (bc it's the 1960s and they would have gone directly to movie jail for it), but i have to mention this because it made me do the most hilarious double take when i watched the film. so basically the criminals all talk kinda weird, and when billy and his friend pio first visit clark, he grills them about their (really bad and not well thought out) plan for a heist, to the point where billy gets pissed and runs off. at which point pio turns to clark and goes "you queered it. you queered it; what'd you do that for?" and listen, i KNOW they mean it in the sense of "you messed with him/annoyed him" but COME ONNNNNN

there's the obvious one, of course: "preach to me, daddy," billy says snarkily, with his shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, while in a crowded elevator with clark standing directly behind him. what a normal and heterosexual thing to do

in turn, clark affectionately calls billy "little guy" throughout the film. it's kind of adorable right until the point where it becomes THE MOST HEARTWRENCHING THING IN THE UNIVERSE

"little guy" is a nickname he seems to use for all the young ex-convicts who come to him for help. as evidenced by the fact that he also calls pio that when he and billy first visit. and by this i mean that clark opens the door for them with his shirt partially unbuttoned, not in his Priest Outfit, and goes "heya, little guy~" in the MOST suggestive tone possible i stg. like the vibe of it is straight up that he thought pio was there for a quick dicking

after the aforementioned Preach To Me, Daddy incident, clark takes billy under his wing and helps him find proper work. the first step to this is taking billy clothes shopping and buying him a nice shirt. sugar daddy behaviour

also jsyk billy pulls his old shirt off to try on the new one in the middle of the store with clark right there and watching. again, a very normal and heterosexual thing to do. zero qualms about undressing in front of another man (side effect of two years in prison, perhaps. but also prisons are kind of notorious for homosexual activity, aren't they)

i'm not sure how to categorise the watermelon thing. it's very odd and whimsical. but i'm putting it up for consideration. fellas, is it gay to break open a watermelon on the fuckin pavement and eat it while crouching next to another man and you're both smiling like goofballs?

every single (antagonistic) character in this film spends a significant amount of their screentime side-eyeing the clark/billy situation SO incredibly hard. at the fundraising party for the halfway house, the reporter guy whose name i refuse to remember runs into billy and comments "ah, so you're the one father clark has on display today, huh?" (and then proceeds to write an article trying to ruin clark's reputation by insinuating really bad shit about him based on his association with the criminals he tries to help)

mario, the brother of the guy who owns the produce market billy gets a job at thanks to clark, calls him "priest boy" at one point. correction: multiple times, actually! again the implication that there's something to their relationship that others consider strange/suspicious. mario also just generally spends all of his screentime making billy's life difficult - he's the one who accuses billy of stealing stuff which leads to him getting fired and kickstarts the downward spiral the plot goes into

billy theoretically has a heterosexual love interest (a woman whose name i'm not sure we are ever told in the film, but who i think is called either helen or ellen if i remember imdb correctly), who could in fact provide him with an alibi for when the theft at the produce market happened because he says he was with her at the time. and then he... refuses to give her name and address when they want to confirm it with her. you can read this as him being cagey and defensive bc he doesn't trust 'squares' and just wants to be left alone. OR you can interpret it as him having been with someone else that night (and if they question helen/ellen, they'll figure that out)

the finale is incredibly sad and upsetting, yes. but also billy is almost entirely naked, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily and clark is constantly VERY, VERY CLOSE to and touching him

"father? too tight" - again, sad and upsetting and i am screaming & crying about it. still very horny when taken out of context though

(on that note btw, it's genuinely insane how much this film invites us to look at billy's body. he's constantly exerting himself, sweaty or in various states of undress. "on display", as the reporter guy would say)

anyway, that's the gist of the 'crime = queer' reading. thanks for coming to my ted talk

[branzinos]

The ending of Sarah Z's new video essay about queerbaiting articulated so much of what I feel about fandom's need for things to be canon to be legitimate that I really needed to transcribe a copy of it here:

The more I think about the concept of queerbaiting, the more I think we should just retire it. When we come to the point where the term has come to encapsulate like, 500 things – real people being closeted, real people being bisexual, censored gay relationships in TV, ships people like that aren't canon, the actual use of queerness as a marketing tactic with the intent to decieve a queer audience, etc. – I think the term has ceased to be useful. [...]

I think the deeper root of this issue is this concept of "representation". A lot of young people, my age and even younger, teenagers and whatnot, have really grown attached to the phrase "queer rep": "Is this Marvel character good gay rep?", "I want to support this lesbian singer because I want more lesbian rep in media", "I don't like this character because they're bad bisexual rep."

I do think it is very good and natural to want to see people who are like us. I don't think I need to make a case here for the myriad reasons it's good to see prominent gay people in real life and in fiction. But I do think we've lost the plot a bit when we talk about these things only in terms of how well they "represent us". What we're looking to, in the vast majority of cases, are for our own lives to be reflected back to us by large corporations and the art they produce, or by celebrities. And I think that's never going to happen, because we're looking in the wrong places.

When we assume that for a story to be given value it needs widescale legitimacy, we're assigning too much importance to corporate entities to determine what is meaningful.

So, for instance, we've come to believe that a fictional relationship being recognised as "canon" somehow elevates it above all the rich interpretations and personal resonances readers can draw from it.

Like, think about people hassling Neil Gaiman for decades about whether the guys in Good Omens are gay or not. Why do we need this answer to make the readings we do legitimate? Why would some official stamp of canonisation from an author hold more weight than the myriad connections audiences have made with the work?

Is the middle-upper-class gay couple in, say, Modern Family, a more meaningful queer story than queer readings derived from other stories [in other media] by fans simply because it's canon? Why do we let corporate or authorial validations dictate the value of our personal connections to art? [...]

I'm not saying these stories aren't valuable, or that they don't reflect queer life to some extent, but in the end we're going to be disappointed if we keep looking to massive media outlets and rich celebrities for meaningful reflections of our lived experience. There is such a massive wealth of queer art out there that I think does something more meaningful than be "queer representation". Instead, they are queer stories: indie webcomics, smaller scale novels, games, things made by individuals that reflect their own lived experience without corporate oversight or any particular need to be palatable to a whole audience so that it can be used as marketing material.

In my opinion, there does not exist any hypothetical Marvel movie with a bisexual woman character that could meaningfully "represent" me in the same way independent art not made to be distributed by like, Amazon, would. That's not to say the latter shouldn't exist, or has no value whatsoever, but should celebrities and large-scale corporate art be the sole yardstick we look to in order to tell our stories? I don't think so. And I think this whole notion of desperately looking for validity through celebrities confirming their sexualities and TV networks deeming gay couples "canon" is somewhat misguided.

Beyond the harm that the queerbaiting narrative can do to closeted people, I think it reflects that we're looking to the wrong people to give our experiences value.

Sarah Z: I Was Wrong About Queerbaiting