#wrestling is just gay bullying

[peppermintmochafem]

Would you let me play with some of the other pets in here, if they'd also like that? I'm sure you could match me with another puppy and we could playfight, get some of that energy out. You could watch and make sure it doesn't go too far. If you wouldn't encourage that, I mean.

Awww what are a good reminder that you are just entertainment for me to use and enjoy 🥰

[transform4u]

Hey there,

I’m just your regular gay nerd in the Midwest. I like video games and anime and DnD with my boyfriend and my friends. But I have one big problem. My older brother won the genetic lottery. He and I are total opposites. He’s been with almost the whole cheerleader squad, he’s QB of the football team at college, and he’s like my total opposite, like 6’3” and total douche, mad gainz, Zyzz, the whole package. And he’s the biggest bully at school. And I’m his favorite target because I’m gay. He’s made my life a living hell since we were kids. And it’s really messed up my self esteem.

I saw a shooting star the other day and I jokingly made a wish. “I wish I’d always had a big brother who was less of an asshole to me.”

But things have been weird ever since. My clothes don’t fit right… and my boyfriend has been getting on my nerves… and I keep having weird dreams about the girls I know… and my memory has been foggy lately… can you tell me what’s happening to me?

As you hear the ping from your phone, a brief flicker of excitement warms you. Your boyfriend’s text—“Hey Babe! Can’t wait to spend all night with you and catch up on Drag Race”—promises a cozy night in. You try to muster a smile, but it quickly falters into a sneer.

Frustration simmers beneath the surface. You toss your phone down onto the bed, the soft thud punctuating your irritation. As you lie back, a dull throb begins to form behind your eyes. It’s as though your thoughts are being churned in a blender; memories and snippets of conversations collide in a disjointed mess. The once-clear lines of what you thought you knew about your boyfriend blur and blend into a jumbled haze. Your mind races, trying to piece together why the thought of spending the evening together now feels more like a chore than a treat. The buzzing in your brain grows louder, drowning out clarity and replacing it with a swirling, chaotic fog.

The rhythmic thud of weights and the grunts from your brother in the other room cut through the fog of your headache. His voice, raised and animated as he talks to one of his friends on the phone "Yeah, this babe had this killer rack", you hear him shout. Each grunt and shout seems to reverberate through your skull, amplifying the throbbing pain. The sounds become a chaotic backdrop to your mental disarray.

As you stumble towards your brother's room, irritation prickling at the edges of your thoughts, the rhythmic thud of weights and the grunts of exertion drift through the walls. But oddly, he's not there. Just his room. The room itself, a cacophony of sweaty shirts, half-empty beer cans, and scattered wrestling trophies, greets you with an overpowering stench of stale beer and iron. His bed, a messy heap of tangled sheets, seems to swallow you whole as you flop onto it, your weak frame sinking into the unmade mattress. Your body, still reeling from the sudden, hot flush of irritation, feels embarrassingly inadequate against the backdrop of his imposing physicality.

You can almost sense the oppressive weight of his presence even in his absence. His room is a shrine to muscle-bound glory: posters of athletes flaunting their chiseled physiques and babes in provocative poses decorate the walls, god he was such a douchebag. You lie back and feel your twig-like limbs growing heavy and listless, your slightly puggy belly pressing against the mattress as if to escape the weight of your frustration. The room’s air is thick with the scent of weights and iron, a reminder of the Herculean effort he pours into his relentless workout regimen.

Each twitch of your muscles seems to resonate with the clang of metal and the brash grunts you overheard. A deep, acrid smell of weights and iron fills the air, a constant reminder of the physical effort he pours into maintaining his massive frame. But as the heat continues to pulse through you, something strange begins to happen. Your body, previously soft and unremarkable, starts to undergo a transformation. You feel a tingling sensation, as if every fiber of your being is coming to life. Your weak muscles, once thin and flaccid, begin to contract and swell, each twitch becoming more pronounced.

Your arms and legs, though still slender, start to gain definition. The previously smooth contours of your limbs become more defined, subtle hints of muscle beginning to emerge where there was only softness before. Your biceps, though not yet bulging like your brother’s, start to show a newfound firmness, and your thighs, while still far from his tree-trunk thickness, gain a bit more shape and strength. Your belly, too, begins to firm up, the slight pouch slowly being replaced by a tighter, more sculpted outline.

With every passing moment, your muscles continue to grow, each contraction adding a layer of density and definition. The process is slow and uneven, but there’s a palpable sense of change, as if your body is awakening to a new level of physicality. You imagine your abs, though still far from a classic six-pack, starting to take shape, a faint semblance of definition appearing where there was once only softness. Your chest, too, starts to fill out, becoming slightly more prominent as the heat and effort push your muscles into growth.

You can see them swell, veins emerging and snaking beneath the surface as the muscles become denser and more defined. The once feeble arms are now thickening, the biceps growing to resemble those of a football star, each muscle group clearly delineated and brimming with newfound strength.

As the changes ripple through your upper body, your chest begins to expand. The once soft and unremarkable pecs start to thicken and harden, pushing out against your shirt in a display of solid muscle. The transformation is swift and dramatic, the chest broadening to create a powerful, impressive profile. Each movement causes the muscles to flex and ripple, creating a robust and commanding appearance.

The once clear, coherent thoughts in your mind begin to swirl and dissolve, turning into a haze of confusion and self-obsession. Your memories and emotions start to slip away, replaced by an overwhelming tide of egotistical vanity. The heat coursing through you seems to act as a catalyst, melting away the remnants of your previous self and reshaping your psyche into something entirely different.

Your mind, once filled with the sweet, mundane details of your life, now becomes a void where only the loud, brash echoes of self-importance resonate. The warmth that once ignited frustration now fuels a burgeoning arrogance, and with each passing second, your previous attachments and interests become increasingly distant memories. The affection you once held for your boyfriend fades like a long-forgotten dream, replaced by a sole focus on yourself. The tender moments, the shared laughter, and the quiet companionship dissolve, leaving behind only a blank, self-centered slate.

Your thoughts, once a gentle brook babbling with the sweet, mundane details of your life, now roar like a torrent, carrying away all in its path. The calm, peaceful waters are churned into a frothy, foamy mess as your mind becomes a maelstrom of self-importance. Gone are the quiet moments of contemplation, replaced by a deafening din of your own ego's loud, brash echoes.

Frustration, once a gentle warmth that sparked your passions, now fuels a burgeoning arrogance, as your mind becomes consumed by an insatiable hunger for more. The tender flames of love and affection, once a beacon of warmth in the darkness, flicker and die, snuffed out by the rising tide of self-centeredness. Your boyfriend, once the safe haven of your heart, fades like a long-forgotten dream, replaced by a cold, blank slate.

Your former boyfriend, once the love of your life, is now a distant memory, a reminder of a time when you were weak and foolish. The thought of being gay disgusts you, and you can't help but wonder how you ever fell for it. Your mind is filled with thoughts of big tits, pussy, and fucking whatever dumb blonde bitch you can find. The idea of two men embracing, holding hands, or kissing makes your stomach turn.

Your hatred for your former boyfriend grows with each passing day. You can't stand the thought of him, the way he looked, the way he sounded, the way he smelled. Everything about him repulses you, and you can't help but think of him as a loser, a pathetic excuse for a man. Your mind is consumed by thoughts of how much you hate him, how much you despise him, how much you wish he would just disappear. The thought of him makes you angry, makes you want to scream, makes you want to hurt him.

Your interests, once a kaleidoscope of color and vibrancy, now become a dull, monochromatic landscape. The music that once brought you joy becomes a cacophony of discord, the laughter of your friends a mocking echo. The world, once a rich tapestry of wonder and discovery, is reduced to a dull, grey expanse, with only one focus: yourself.

And so, your mind becomes a void, a hollow shell of what once was. The self-centeredness grows, fueled by a sole focus on your own desires. You are no longer the loving, caring person you once were, but a loud, brash, egostical, fuckboi douchebag, driven solely by a desire for sex, exercise, and partying with your bros. The world moves on, but you remain stuck, lost in your own ego's void, unable to feel anything but the echoes of self-importance that resonate within your mind.

The nerdy hobbies that once filled your time—your passion for obscure comics, your enthusiasm for DnD games, the countless hours spent diving into intricate fantasy worlds—disappear into the ether. They are swiftly overshadowed by a newfound obsession with football, gym routines, and social validation. The intricate lore of your favorite fantasy series is replaced by a singular obsession with game stats, player performance, and the glory of touchdowns. Your once cherished quiet evenings are now replaced by raucous parties and boisterous gatherings where you are the undisputed center of attention. As you imagine fucking some chick, your mind gets caught up in thoughts of your muscles. You're vainly beginning to flex them, trying to imagine how hot they must be to this chick. The muscles bulge and swell under your skin, tempting you to squeeze them all day. Your mind fantasizes about her touching, caressing, and gripping them as she rides on top of you. You imagine her moaning and screaming as you pound into her, feeling her juices dripping down your chest. The thought of her hands on your abs, feeling the ridges and grooves, makes you shiver with pleasure. You can almost feel her fingers tracing the lines of your biceps, feeling the power and strength that lies beneath your skin. Your thoughts take a stroll down memory lane, floating back to your days spent hanging with your brother, twin brother in the gym. He was always by your side, making fun of pathetic losers, screaming at the other guys in the gym and doing absurd workouts. You can only think about your muscles these days, especially when some chick catches your eye. When you look down at yourself, you like what you see. What a stunning, attractive collection of muscle. Your look in the mirror makes your insides blaze - damn you could have whatever dumb slut you want. You can't help but flex your muscles again, feeling the power and strength that lies beneath your skin. You're in love with yourself, and it's a beautiful thing. Your phone buzzes, "Hey, Dick! Let's hit the gym and make our way to Murphy's you know those sluts worship at the feet of the Addam bois," With that, your fate is sealed. You're nothing but an obnoxious, douchebag fuckboi. A mind that lives and breathes for one thing, and one thing alone - getting laid and working out. Every day, every hour, every minute, you think about sex. You crave it, you need it, you want it. You're a slave to your desires, and right now, your desire is for those two girls.

You know what's best in life? Being able to walk into a crowded gym and knowing that people can't help but look at you. Knowing that your muscles are so huge that they're almost gawking. Knowing that when you flex, they squint and cover their eyes. Knowing that the looks on their faces say 'I'm so much of a fuckboi' and that's something no one can ever take from you.

You walk down the hallway, heading straight for the gym, where you know your twin brother is waiting for you, ready to get down and dirty with those girls. Your mind is running like a wild animal, preparing for the fun, waiting for the moment you storm into Murphy's, making those girls scream, your mind is a fuckboi, and there is no better place than a gym, where it thrives.

You walk into the gym, your huge and muscular body drawing all eyes to you. You feel a sense of pride and vanity as you make your way to the weightlifting area, your loud footsteps echoing through the empty gym. Everyone looks your way, their eyes catching sight of your massive muscled body. You're a sight to behold, with your bulging biceps and triceps straining against your skin as you move.

You approach your gym bag, taking out two protein shakes and starting to drink them. As you take a big swig, you let out a loud and obnoxious buuuuuurp, the sound echoing through the gym. Your bro, who's standing nearby, looks over at you and chuckles. "That one was a good one, bro!" he says, shaking his head in amusement. You grin, feeling proud of your impressive physique.

You and your bro start to flex in the mirror, admiring your muscles. You hit the mirror with your pecs, making your eyes light up with excitement and a big smile on your face. "Who else wants to see these gains?" you say, running your hand over your thick muscles. Your bro shakes his head, laughing at you and pointing at your body in the mirror. "I mean, you've got some big guts," he says, stopping for a moment, waiting for you to react before he continues. "Especially your gut, looking at that, I reckon it's got its own ecosystem going on."

You continue to flex and admire your body, feeling proud of your hard work in the gym. You start to down another protein shake, letting out another loud gaseous fart PFFFFRRRP. Your bro looks over at you, chuckling. "You're really milking these gains, bro," he says, shaking his head in amusement. You grin, feeling proud of your impressive physique.

You and your bro start to catcall some of the women in the gym, admiring their big tits and toned bodies. You point out a group of girls with big breasts, flexing your muscles as you stare at them. "Whoa, look at those," you whisper to your bro, pointing at the group of girls. Your bro nods, chuckling, and you continue to admire the women, feeling proud of your attractive physique.

[therainscene]

I think I might have figured out what the Mind Flayer really is.

This theory has been percolating in my brain for a while now; it hasn't really finished baking yet but I wanted to get the gist of it down before The First Shadow debuts.

Let’s begin at the Hawkins National Lab, 6th November 1983. For the second time in her young life, El faces terrifying and deeply traumatic circumstances which cause her powers to lash out and rip a gash in the fabric of reality.

Meanwhile, across town, Will is doing what every queer 12 year-old has done and finds an excuse to spend an extra moment alone with his crush.

His little gay heart is as aflutter as the garage lights.

(Strange, that. The lights, I mean -- considering that he's on the other side of town from the lab. Do you suppose the Demogorgon trekked all the way to Mike's house and quietly followed him home again?)

Will heads home, lost in thought as he cycles past the lab. Is he thinking about how sweet his new X-Men #134 is gonna be? Or is he thinking about something even sweeter? The lights flutter again.

And something in front of him notices.

Will has always been noticeable: his clothes, his mannerisms, his interests -- they've always attracted the attentions of bullies. Now something new -- or maybe something that was always there and is only now making itself known -- has attracted the attentions of a monster.

He runs home, he calls for help, but he's alone, there's no escape. He races to the shed and loads a gun like his father taught him -- but it's not in his nature to be violent. He freezes, petrified.

The lights surge as his terror wrestles control of his powers and uses them to puncture an escape route in the fabric of reality.

Why were we so quick to believe that the Demogorgon -- a minion of the guy whose whole thing is his inability to open gates -- was able to open its own temporary portals in S1 and then never again?

Will could plausibly have been responsible for every temporary portal in S1: he’s at the Byers house when the Demogorgon pushes through its walls; he's on the run to Castle Byers when Nancy stumbles across that portal in the woods; and he's plugged in to one of Vecna's vines during the finale -- something we see Vecna plug himself into when he remotely opens gates in S4.

There’s one exception though.

Barb likely slipped through a gate in Steve's pool, but how could Will have opened that one when he was in his bedroom at the time, talking to his mother through the lights?

Let me ask you this: isn't it interesting that of all the injuries Barb could have obtained in her passage to the Upside Down, she got a nosebleed?

I think powers are more common than we’ve been led to believe, and gates are a last-ditch self-defense mechanism for anyone with powers.

This is why the four curse victims’ deaths opened a gate: Vecna pushed them to their breaking point to artificially trigger the self-defense response. Those headaches and nosebleeds weren't caused by Vecna directly, but by their own powers acting up as they inched towards oblivion.

[Shoutout to @givehimthemedicine's underrated powers and blood theory for the idea of Vecna's Curse being the overcharging of his victims' own powers.]

It was already pretty obvious that Vecna's Curse is a metaphor for suicide, and this theory reinforces it: every kid who gets targeted by the horrors of Hawkins for being "different" tries to find some way to escape.

Willel's misfortune is that their powers are considerably more easily manifested than the average person's. Byler tells the story of visible vs invisible queerness, but that's just a reflection of the larger theme at play in the show: the visible and invisible ways kids are othered and abused.

Max's trauma was a quiet thing that came from within and festered until it was almost too late to save her... but Willel's trauma manifests as a giant monster that openly hunts them down.

And I'm being literal when I say the Mind Flayer is a manifestation of their trauma.

We know that Vecna fashioned the Mind Flayer from a cloud of black particles he found in the Upside Down, but where did that cloud come from? The Upside Down is a mysterious enough place that it's easy to assume the Shadow is native to that realm... but what if it isn't?

The Mind Flayer is heavily associated with repression -- Will gradually lost his memories while he was possessed, and El lost her powers when the sliver of Flesh Flayer wormed its way into her leg.

But Will has mysteriously been without powers ever since leaving the Upside Down, and we've seen El lose memories too: her memories of surviving the lab massacre, in which she didn't simply escape by opening up a gate, but by disintegrating her attacker into black particles.

The Mind Flayer doesn't cause repression -- it is repression.

There must have been countless generations worth of traumatized children who took the extra step El did and sent their abusers -- or at least their memories of abuse -- into that hidden realm beyond the gate.

(There's also the possibility that Mr. Time-is-Just-a-Social-Construct is stuck in a time loop of some sort -- maybe the massacre has repeated hundreds of times, and Dimension X is a timeless graveyard of El's attempts to repress her trauma. This would explain why Henry seems to have both disintegrated and survived: we were watching at least two different iterations of the massacre all along.)

Whichever way you slice it, it's a perfect fit: the tool Vecna uses to perpetuate the cycle of abuse isn't some bizarro alien from an alternate dimension, but a direct consequence of the cycle itself.

The Mind Flayer tells us that escape alone doesn't work as a long-term solution: it might help you survive the initial abuse, but if you don't address the effect it had on you...

...it will come back to wreck havok.

[Edit: Click here for post-TFS thoughts on this theory]

[actualhumantrashcan]

I can understand a silly workplace comedy about pirates not being everyone’s jam but I really can’t understand the amount of queer people I see hating on ofmd.

like for one thing most of the debates turn into gatekeeping queerness (which I think has a lot more to do with the ages of the main couples than actual concerns about authentic representation but that’s another post) and the rest are just hateful because it doesn’t directly name or label it’s queer characters but like why do we need that at this point?? listen I love heartstopper with all my heart but it is exhausting to watch them explain queer identities sometimes (even though I do think it’s super useful for younger audiences I’m just not the target demographic!) and ofmd is an explicit, violent, adult show that doesn’t NEED to explain it’s character’s identities.

queer people past their 30’s are usually very well aware of their queerness and have had (hopefully) plenty of time to go through the arc of discovering that. so why would we need to see Stede or Lucius or Ed going through turmoil because they’re attracted to men when they have already come to terms with that at this point in their lives?? i for one find it so fucking refreshing to watch a show where the characters being queer is not their main arc, they just ARE queer and life is still happening to and around them. maybe that’s just the millennial gay in me talking, but it gets emotionally exhaustive to watch show after show where the queer character’s arc is overcoming homophobia. yes obviously homophobia still exists and yes obviously if ofmd was trying to be historically accurate these characters would be living in a very dangerous time to be queer but it isn’t trying to be accurate!! it’s trying to be fun and diverse and kind!!

and also, they aren’t pretending homophobia doesn’t exist!! it’s just addressed in a different way. Stede was emotionally abused by his father for his entire life for being “soft” and then was chased down by his homophobic childhood bullies, one of which explicitly told him that he “defiled” the great pirate Blackbeard by simply falling in love with the man behind that name. Meanwhile Ed was forced into the world of piracy at a young age and developed the entire persona of Blackbeard (who fits the toxic, violent masculine stereotype of the time) to hide the fact that he’s actually an incredibly sensitive and deeply queer man! and is told multiple times by male figures in his life that sex with other men is fine but it is absolutely unacceptable to be in love with a man. both of their arcs contain homophobic rhetoric that is still present in society today, but its never presented as a problem that they have to wrestle with. they don’t have to come to terms with what it means to love each other, they just have to overcome some trials that go along with the complicated lives they both lead as a pirate and former aristocrat. the homophobia in ofmd is woven into the backstory of each and every character, it shapes them into the people they are at the beginning of the show when all of their walls are up and they are performing the “pirate” roles they are supposed to play. and then we get to see them grow and realize that they are in a safe space, part of a community not just on the ship itself but in the life of piracy (which in the show is pretty much explicitly an allegory for queer lifestyles.)

anyway, I could rant about this all day but just truly why do we have to tear people down for enjoying something? why do we have to find reasons to hate something so obviously created with sensitivity to it’s queer audience and with so much queer joy? if historically inaccurate gay pirates going on silly adventures and falling in love are not your thing, fine! but perhaps just let people enjoy things and find your own things to enjoy.

[bluecollarmcandtf]

Revenge at the Frat House

"On your knees!" I pointed my mind control ray at the Co-Presidents of the frat. Their eyes glazed over and their legs buckled to the floor. I knew these jocks were finally mine.

The Alpha Tau Beta house was a giant mess, but it was easy to find on Frat Row. I crossed the overgrown lawn nervously, carrying my science experiment up to the front door.

This fraternity was well known for being intolerant. They'd berated me countless times at the university, but these idiots had no idea who they were beating up. Sure, I'm gay, but I was studying neuroscience, and this device was my crowning achievement. Hunter and Josh were my first test subjects.

I didn't honestly think it would work so well. The two athletes dropped quickly to their knees when I commanded. Their eyes fluttered lazily as they wobbled on the hardwood. It definitely looked like they were ready to be reprogrammed.

"What's going on..." the blonde jock groaned.

Hunter was the school's basketball star. Everybody fawned over his perfect smile. Nearly every advertisement for the school had the guy on it, wearing a sleeveless jersey that showed off his impressive wingspan.

Now, his muscular arms dangle limply at his side, twitching occasionally.

"What's going on is revenge!" I cried, "Remember me? You led your pack of fraternity goons over and had them rough me up because I had a rainbow flag on."

"Oh yeah... " he replied dumbly.

"Well things are different now," I continued, "You won't target any gay dude again!"

"I won't..." he automatically agreed.

"It was crazy that you were ever such a homophobe. After all, you're gay yourself."

"I am...?" his blank face furrowed in confusion.

"Oh yeah," I pushed the suggestion further, "You love men. You're the gayest guy on campus. Nothing makes you happier than flirting with all dudes you can."

"I'm the gayest man on campus..." the fraternity jock agreed with a cheesy smile. He seemed happy to find a new calling in life.

I know he meant it. My device was designed to embed these suggestions into his mind, body, and personality. Hunter was a full-on fruitcake, now. It wouldn't be long before he was coming onto his fraternity brothers or getting an erection with his teammates in the shower. As far as he knew, he had always loved men, and he couldn't wait to flaunt his attraction loudly.

"And you," I turned to Josh.

The second frat bro was slumped onto the floor with his jaw hanging open. He looked half asleep with the drool hanging off his chin.

"Me..." Josh slurred.

This guy was on the wrestling team, and while he wasn't the leader of the bullies like Hunter, he was almost always the first to get physical. I still remember the feeling of his beefy arms around my neck as he taught me his lesson. Now it was my turn to teach him a lesson.

"Josh, you're not gay like your buddy, but you are a wimp," I explain.

"I'm a wimp...?" he mumbles deliriously.

"Yup! Sure, you're strong and athletic, but you're a total pushover."

"I'm a pushover..." he let the words sink in.

"Literally every male you come across will intimidate you. And anyone that intimidates you can boss you around. It doesn't matter if they're older, younger, weaker, or stronger. They get to use you as they want, but you don't mind. Your body is just a tool to be used."

"I'm a tool..." Josh agreed.

"In fact, your mouth is the most useful thing about you," I added, "I mean think about all the things you can use it for. If your bro's shoes are dirty, you can lick them clean for him. Maybe he's sweaty after a work out; just offer to suck the sweat out of his pits. Heck, maybe he's too lazy to walk to the bathroom; your mouth is perfect for that too. There are so many ways to put that face hole to use."

"My mouth is a tool..." his lips fumbled the words but there was conviction in his eyes.

Josh was fully convinced of his extremely submissive personality. He was already normalizing different situations in his head where another dude would use him as they wanted, and it felt completely natural.

"Alright, I'm going to wake you two up," I decided.

Thumping them on the forehead with my mind control device, I snapped the fraternity jocks out of their subconscious state.

"Woah," Hunter winced, "What's going on?"

The basketball star caught his bearings, noticing me as I stood over him. Hunter had never looked at me with anything other than animosity, but in that moment, he licked his lips and batted his eyes. I could tell he liked what he saw.

"Well, hello handsome," the stud purred as he checked me out.

Hunter rose from the ground and sidled up to me, planting his massive palms on my waist as he stared down into my eyes. I knew he was displaying his most charming smile.

"Anything I can do for you, daddy?" he snickered mischievously.

"I'm not interested, at the moment," I said.

"Playing hard to get?" Hunter scoffed in disappointment and turned away with a sigh, "Josh, get over here!"

The burly wrestler flinched as his buddy called to him. Josh was still on the floor, trying to make his bulky frame as small as possible in the presence of real men. He'd only been able to cast nervous glances at our shoes as we stood over him, but he quickly scurried over to Hunter when he was called.

"Come on," Hunter growled at Josh, "Let me show this guy what I can do with my tongue. I'll see if he isn't interested then!"

Hunter quickly grabbed the back of his fraternity brother's head and pulled him up into a slobbery kiss. Josh barely had time to react, but he wasn't in a position to pull away. The pair of homophobic jerks made out with each other, with Hunter moaning loudly and Josh trying to keep up.

I enjoyed the scene. Hopefully, the rest of the fraternity would be back from that party soon. I wanted to see them walk in on their Co-Presidents making out in the living room.

Now that I knew my technology worked, I was planning to convert the rest of the brothers. They needed to understand Hunter and Josh's new roles in the frat house.

Soon, they would all be bullying Hunter for how gay he'd become, and they'd be using Josh in any way that amused them. I'd definitely gotten the revenge I wanted.

[octuscle]

hey dude, I’m not a writer, but a bro sent me this request and I think the chronivac team can help him out

I’m a 21 year old gay geek who lives in a very loving but nerdy family. My dad is a geek who has been taking me to gaming conventions since I was little. Me and all my brothers take after him. I love my family, but I’ve always wondered what it would have been like growing up with a jock family. Could I have been the jock I fantasize about being if I had more masculine influences in my life?

March 10th, 2024

I never thought my family would turn into a bunch of fitness fanatics, but here we are. Mom, Dad, even my little brothers, they're all obsessed with this new super athletic lifestyle. Protein shakes, chicken breasts, and hours at the gym have become the norm in our household.

I used to be content with my telescope and chessboard, but now I find myself being dragged to the gym and force-fed protein shakes. It's like my family has become a cult, and I'm the reluctant follower. I'm not sure how I feel about all of this.

March 25th, 2024

I can't believe how quickly things have changed. Just a few weeks ago, I was the nerdy kid who spent his days studying the stars and playing chess. Now, I'm a typical high school jock, hanging out with the popular crowd and making fun of anyone who doesn't fit in.

I've traded my telescope for dumbbells and my chessboard for a football. And the worst part? I'm starting to enjoy it. I feel powerful and invincible, like I can do anything. But I'm also starting to notice a mean streak in myself that I never knew existed.

April 10th, 2024

I've become a bully. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it's true. I'm the one pushing kids into lockers and stealing their lunch money now. And the worst part? I'm not even sorry about it.

I've also developed this gross habit of forcing kids to smell the stench from my sweaty armpit after football practice. It's like I get some sick pleasure out of humiliating others. What has happened to me?

April 30th, 2024

Yo, dude, like, physically, I'm a whole new person now. Went from a scrawny little dude to a 280-pound muscle beast. My clothes are bursting at the seams, and I gotta turn sideways to squeeze through doors. But hey, ain't complaining - diggin' all the stares I'm getting. And guess what? Bagged a wrestling scholarship to a college out in the Midwest. Me, the dude who used to daydream about space and stuff, gonna be slammin' in the ring for a college team. It's bonkers, but man, I'm totally stoked about it.

May 20th, 2024

Yo, OMG, peeps! I am legit ecstatic right now, like I never in a million years thought I'd be uttering those words, but BOOM, it's straight facts, fam! E'en though I've gone through some major transformations, like morphing into this 280-pound jacked AF bodybuilder who lowkey bullies nerds, I am L-I-V-I-N-G my best life and am beyond stoked about it! I've finally discovered where I belong in this crazy world, and that's under them bright lights on the wrestling mat, ready to throw down and slam some bodies, chug some protein shakes, and maybe, just maybe, dial back on the bully vibes a smidge. Here's to the next epic chapter in my saga, AKA living my dream and taking names! #OnTopOfTheWorld #LivingMyTruth #BodySlamsAndBulkingBro

[s-rosie]

Tig childhood hcssss

if you have any tips or comments on how i can get better that will be appreciated. i hope you like these

xander used to do gymnastics, he is still really flexible and now just does random back handsprings

jameson was OBSESSED with gravity falls and even bought the journal #3 with invisible ink and he solved most of the mysteries as he watched them (sry i said this in another post but it fit)

grayson, used to call people gay as an insult in middle school (he later apologized because hes just like that)

nash once fell off a horse without a helmet when he was like 14 and hit his head so hard he passed out, now he makes everyone wear a helmet when riding

avery would run around the house with her mom and sing songs with hair brushes as microphones (she has videos and libby showed them to the group(they found them absolutely adorable))

max would challenge everyone to arm wrestling competitions on her desk and would win almost every time

libby was bullied for being sweet and innocent (she tried not to let it get to her, but it always did)

thea would make everyone do the group project for her and she would just talk to friends the whole time

xander once brought a contraption in he made for show and tell and caught the school on fire

i think it’s basically cannon that grayson had an emo phase when he was like 12 and his brothers blackmail him with the pictures

jameson was obsessed with dinosaurs and he knows every fact you can ever ask him about them

nash once convinced tobias fhat he could train a wild stallion, so he got one for nash to train and the horse bucked into his chest and he almost broke his ribs (ik they would most likely be broken, but hes ok for the sake of this hc)

jameson fell down from the treehouse and had a bruise the size of Oklahoma on his ass for the next 3 weeks (i saw something similar to this but i forget who posted it, so pls let me know so i can @ them)

avery once miss clicked on a sketchy game site and it took her to a porn site and she is forever traumatized

max once kicked a guy in the balls for making fun of avery

libby, would pass out cupcakes on her birthday, and everyone would make fun of her until they tried them then they would worship the ground she walked on bc they tasted so good

sry this is shorter then my others, i couldn’t think of anything else. pls give me recommendations because i need some ideas. i hope you enjoyed them!!!

[nakanotamu]

good day madam, i am a hungry lesbian in need of your gayest wresting moments. can you spare me a cup of gay?

Anon you have come to the right person. Everything's been leading up to this. This is what it's all been for. This will probably be long.

Anon I got so excited about this I even solicited my friends for THEIR gayest moments so I'll do those first. You were recommended:

Mahiro Kiryu briefly getting a takarazuka gimmick in TJPW's Hyper Misao produced show HYPE

Giulia vs Konami from the 5 Star GP 2021, which was described as "the first match I remember watching and going OH MY GOD KONAMI AND GIULIA ARE FUCKING", and their feud did later give us a promo where Konami was like "Hey Giulia, you know how I bully you and you like it?" and Giulia was like "Ahaha, yeah?" and Konami was like "Well that's basically our entire relationship, so there you go." She did have examples.

pretty much anything with Raku/Pom Harajuku/Yuki Aino in TJPW, who my friends have lovingly dubbed the Pomycule

Okay enough from them though. You didn't ask them, you asked me and I asked them. Now for the me. I think it's important to note as well, anon, that not all of the gay shit in wrestling happens in a match, or even in the ring. Sometimes it's just shit on social media, a lot of the time it happens at press conferences, you must maintain constant vigilance. Anyway.

Whatever the fuck Syuri and Utami have going on, which I wrote about here.

There was the time Himeka kissed Syuri last year

There was Komomo enjoying getting beat up by Saki Kashima a Little Too Much, which I wrote about here.

There was the exchange between Utami and Syuri at the press conference for Stardom Gold Rush last year

There was Tam Nakano starting an entire faction to, in her own words, surround herself with women with big boobs (their focus has since shifted)

There was AliKaba, the tag team of Giulia and Syuri, which was basically just one long enactment of gay longing from Giulia

There was the time Giulia posted this picture with the caption ^-^ and then deleted it

There was the time FWC, the tag team of Hazuki and Koguma, spent 5 hours in the bath together (sadly they just talked about that I don't have pictures)

another time FWC both got matching bruises at the same time, and then later confirmed that yes they got them together. In the bath again

There were both Cosmic Rules matches at Stardom in Showcase 1 & 2 which I unfortunately don't have any great screenshots of but I'm positive were inspired by lesbian porn

There are constant small exchanges like this that don't even have a lot of context they just happen all the time

There was the time Hikari Noa had a hardcore match against Nao Kakuta and after they did this

There was the time Mina Shirakawa spat on Saya Kamitani and then licked her face

There was this shit in Act Wres Girlz, which for the record kind of depressingly does not do gay stories super frequently but has legitimately I think the highest percentage of out wrestlers I've seen in any company

There was the brief Tam Syuri feud which shockingly somehow did not involve anyone kissing but had the vibe that they were kissing mentally the entire time

There was every single exchange Tam and Natsupoi had before they realized they were still in love with each other but ESPECIALLY their cage match

And, for my money, the gay moment that lives the largest and dearest and most bittersweet in my mind was when Tam and Unagi had their singles match as part of the 5 Star GP last year, which was, unknown to us at the time, something of a farewell tour for Unagi before she went freelance, where afterwards they hugged in the ring for two minutes and then kissed.

I'm gonna cut myself off there but trust me I could go on and on and on for way too long but that's why I think you should watch for yourself. Wrestling is always moving and new gay stuff is always happening. In conclusion,

[wrestlingarsenal]

Great chests in these vintage magazine spreads, I must say.

So much of my fascination with pro wrestling magazines during my horny teen years was the sheer abundance of shirtless studs on nearly every page. It's like I had hit the beefcake lottery! Even the advertisements were for workouts that would give you a big Tarzan physique so you could beat up your bullies (while shirtless) and get the girl.

Sure, I enjoyed seeing the wrestling holds, the displays of aggression and suffering in these magazines, but the beefcake poses, the massive pectorals, were often plenty to send me over the edge.

So this should've verified to me that I'm gay, right? Because I was turned on at the sight of powerful, masculine bodies. Yes and no -- I didn't want to kiss or have sex with them (or any other dudes, honestly) -- that seemed off-putting to me. Maybe it was just my innocence, but I much preferred seeing men wearing trunks or speedos rather than full frontal, junk-exposed nudity.

I wanted to just marvel at their upper bodies and arms and backs, to experience the dizzying arousal, to swoon over at their glorious physiques. I might imagine them putting me in a tight Bearhug to experience their power, but that was the extent of any physical contact I craved. So I'm not sure if that counts as "homosexual" because I wasn't directly thinking about sex.

[angelphonia]

Okay, I've been binge watching the Stop!!Hibari-kun anime and I've got some thoughts I need to let out.

Firstly, watching the anime makes me appreciate the Manga a hundred times more. Sure, the Manga had its problems, mostly the racism and the casual homophobia jokes and transphobia, but you could save stuff from it, like that even though there were homophobic jokes there was a gay woman who wasn't mocked because of her attraction to Hibari, or that despite the transphobia Hibari was never outright shown as being wrong by being herself.

Now, the anime does a lot of things I dislike. Firstly they make Kosaku's reactions be way more negative than in the Manga. While yes, he reacts negatively he is also seen blushing a lot when Hibari flirts with him. I may need to read the Manga for fourth time, but I also don't remember Kosaku constantly mentioning Hibari is a "guy" everytime she did anything.

There is a lot much more racism in the anime. There were problems with this in the Manga but it just feels way more present in the anime.

This one doesn't bother me too much, but I'm pretty sure the chapters do not align with the Manga, but again, this doesn't bother me.

I also noticed way more incest jokes, I don't care about them. Also the Seiji chapter where he falls in love with one of Hibari's bullies when she's 15 and Seiji is around 25/30 is very questionable. Again, this is a work of fiction so while I was like "why isn't this seen wrong?" I wasn't really uncomfortable. I do gotta say that in the Manga when the Japanese mob grown manchild son asked for Hibari's hand in marriage, it was inmediatly said he was 28 and Hibari was super taken aback. This doesn't happen in the anime, his age is NEVER mentioned. I can't quite remember, but I am sure Hibari also doesn't go on a date with him.

Oof, but here we go with the thing that has bothered me the most. The REALLY bad erasure of Jun's story. They absolutely took away her lesbianism, making it seem as if she was only interested in Hibari because of her volleyball abilities. They also totally changed the episode and made Jun be deeply ashamed of her family, that while in the Manga she was a bit embarassed it wasn't a main focus. In the Anime it was, even making her leave the volleyball club, which is crazy to me. Oh, and I'm NOT forgetting that they made Hibari enjoy getting gropped in the bus, when in the Manga she was clearly just disgusted by it.

I haven't finished it yet, may edit this post with more complains. Positive things? I'm sure Seiji and Sabu didn't have names in the Manga, so now they have identities. They try and give them more backstory, even adding an eye scar to Sabu, which was appreciated. Hibari's voice is absolutely the cutest. I liked the wrestling episode. Oh, the episode with Hibari's mother and her father was a delight, she didn't express this much emotion in the Manga, so actually seeing how she feels was great, and her end interaction with her father was adorable.

Can't remember anything more rn. As a side note, I've developed a little crush on Sabu and I'm gonna draw him. Hope you enjoyed my rambling!

EDIT:

Remembered the Honda thing. In the Anime he almost reaches his 1000 girls flirted with, but with one it is half a girl. In the Manga this was because he looked at a 5 year old by accident and she fell in love, while in the anime they made it so he flirted with a new half. For those who don't know, new half is an old Japanese term for transgender people, mostly trans women who were post op. In the subtitles this is translated as crossdresser, which I don't like. This isn't the first time this term is mentioned, in the spartan son episode, he calls Hibari a new half, which Kosaku tells him to not do. In another chapter there is a trans woman, and she refers to herself as New half, which again is incorrectly translated to crossdresser for some reason.

Even then there was some sort of minimal knowledge of trans people, not only with this, but in the Manga the addition of Genkijirou being a canonical trans man in hormones. Eguchi was aware and while his first idea was to make Hibari a feminine man, it obviously end up with her being a trans woman.

[guywrestlingaddiction]

That Wrestling Moment: Standing up to your Bully - Madman v Hammer (nrwrestling.com)

How do you take down a bully?  Perhaps you bide your time, let him get over confident, and wait for him to make a mistake before striking?  In this match we see the guy we love to hate, madman Mitch Styles get his own comeuppance.  

Madmen v Hammer (nrwrestling.com)

SPOILER ALERT: I highly recommend viewing this match in its entirety before reading this post.

The Backstory

Madman Mitch Styles was tearing a path through nrwrestling.  He took down everyone in his path.  Now the guy is a rotten bully no doubt but that tall, tanned, muscled body, and most of all, that attitude of his made it hard to peel my eyes away from watching him terrorize the other wrestlers.  

The Action

The wrestling begins as you would expect with the Madman living up to his reputation.  The guy has been terrorizing all the young bucks at NRW and the sexy, do-gooding Hammer might be the next to fall victim to his bullying.  Within a few minutes our hero is trapped in the corner and subjected to a barrage of blows from the bully.  

Madman is not only a heel but a true force to reckon with.  The guy is crazy but nonetheless absolutely captivating. 

I could go on in detail about the 'action' but really it's all just a one-sided slug-fest from a bully pounding away on poor Hammer.  The redeeming factor is that we the audience are treated with that golden sexy body relentlessly beating away at our hero.  You have to give it to Madman, he goes. all. in.

At some point you may question what is going on with Hammer?  The guy is a fit stud and needs to process whatever he's going through fast so he can fight back.  You can't take it from a bully forever.  Bully's are never satisfied. Bully's are never able to stop themselves; they need to be stopped.

The Moment 

It all seemed like the logical conclusion.  Bully's need someone to stand up to them and our moment is of course when Hammer does just that.  The final moments of our match is when Hammer has had enough of our bully.   Is it believable? Well, that's really up to you to decide.  But what we can all agree on is how gratifying it is to watch our obnoxious but deeply sexy bully receive all that payback.  

So what have we learned today?  We see that a match doesn't have to be too real to be satisfying.  This is wrestling after all, and gay wrestling means you never have to apologize, especially not to someone bullying you.

[mariacallous]

(New York Jewish Week) – When Michael Witkes arrived at his bar mitzvah party, he knew he couldn’t enter to a musical theater song, his preferred genre, because he was already being bullied for being too effeminate and flamboyant. So, he simply told the DJ to just pick any song that matched the vibe of a bar mitzvah entrance.

The DJ picked “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross. 

“This day that is supposed to be completely celebratory became this kind of tragic, camp event, where I had to wrestle with getting bullied because of this,” Witkes said. “I was just trying to become a man, a Jewish adult, and then I was suddenly getting outed at my bar mitzvah.”

Eighteen years later, Witkes, 31, is a professional drag queen in New York City, performing as “Pink Pancake.” This week, he will revisit that troubling coming-of-age moment in his first ever one-woman drag show, “Today You Are a Man!” at The Tank NYC.

“I take that moment of tragedy and I flip it on its head and I turn it into this play about self discovery and coming into your authenticity as a queer person and as a Jew,” Witkes told the New York Jewish Week.

Witkes first began developing the show, which runs for 50 minutes, two years ago as a four-minute lip sync for a “Hanukkah in July” drag performance. Since then, he’s partnered with director and queer Jewish art and events curator Stuart B Meyers to flesh out a full-length performance. 

“The show gives an earnest portrayal of the horror of that experience, how awful it was, and is, to be bullied for being gay and femme, yet also lifts and celebrates the story of who Michael has become through drag,” Meyers told the New York Jewish Week. “So what’s really interesting is that the piece is about his bar mitzvah of the past, but in a big way, it’s also a bar mitzvah in and of itself, because it’s a celebration of his own very Jewish process of coming into this next chapter as Pink Pancake.” 

Ahead of the show, the New York Jewish Week caught up with Witkes about what it was like to make the show and revisit his bar mitzvah experience. 

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What would you tell your 13-year-old self about how far you’ve come?

It’s funny because I think if I told my 13-year-old self, “Hey, you’re now a drag queen in New York, and you’re making a living pursuing this queer art form,” I think that my 13-year-old self would be horrified. This might be my biggest fear at the time, realized. 

First, I would give my 13-year-old self a giant hug. I think I would say, “You are wonderful as you are and just let your inner star shine. At the time, I did everything I could to make myself smaller and to try to hide the fact that I was gay, even though I was just naturally more feminine and flamboyant growing up. I did everything I could to hide that, with my clothes, with the way I walked around. Everything was a performance. I would just say, “Hey, baby, breathe, let it all out. It’s gonna be okay. Own who you are.”

What does it mean to you to have your first full-length one-woman show center on a Jewish narrative?

I grew up in a pretty Jewish suburb of Philadelphia, on the Main Line. I feel like growing up, I kind of took my Judaism for granted. In seventh grade, there was a bar or bat mitzvah every single weekend. Judaism was so prevalent that it wasn’t a huge part of my identity. 

But now we’re in a time where there is this rise in antisemitism and you can feel it. In my other gigs, I have made some self-deprecating jokes in the mic about being Jewish — as Jews do with Jewish humor. Before it was just a part of my act, but now I have this inner voice in the back of my head saying “Is it safe to say this? Is it safe to make these jokes? Is it safe to be openly Jewish?” Since coming out and embracing myself fully, I’ve been really proud to be queer. Now I feel like the show is helping me be more proudly Jewish. It’s been wonderful working with Stuart Meyers, who has done a lot of queer Jewish work and queer Jewish art, because he’s kind of pushed me to embrace my Judaism even more and pull things out in the show in relation to my Jewish identity even more, so it’s been really exciting. We have to continue to be visible and proud and continue to advocate for ourselves and everyone that is marginalized in the global majority.

Do you feel like making this show has helped you process the trauma from your bar mitzvah party and given you a second chance at celebrating?

That is the structure of the show in a way, where I have the chance to do it all over again. It’s a queering of this Jewish rite of passage. The whole show, in a way, is like a redo of my own bar mitzvah, but now I’m in drag as a woman — but I’m not a woman, and I’m also very gender-queer. It’s a beautiful way to explore what it means to be a man and to explore your gender identity and sexuality. 

This has definitely helped me process my bar mitzvah and re-own this moment that was kind of tragic. In general, my bar mitzvah was a wonderful event — this moment just clouded it. I think that wounds can continue to heal and come back and they can surprise you like, “Oh, I thought I got over that.” So revisiting this moment has definitely brought some things up to the surface that I’m able to now heal from. 

I rewatched the video of my service many, many times while putting the show together. I had a wonderful support system in my parents, but I don’t think I fully realized that at the time because I felt so alone and othered in school. So it’s really healing to be able to look back and listen to the speeches that my parents made at my bar mitzvah. Watching myself in the video, I look awkward and I don’t like that my parents are saying nice things about me and I’m probably not fully paying attention and kind of dissociating because it’s uncomfortable. But to look back now — my parents are so sweet. My dad said that he appreciated how sensitive I was and how gentle I was. These are things that I was bullied for, because they’re not “masculine.” But at my bar mitzvah, he was saying you’re a man because of all of these things. That’s just so beautiful. 

I’m excited to bring it to an audience. I’m sure that healing will happen even more when it’s in front of a live audience and I’m hoping that the same thing will happen for them as well. I hope bringing the specificity of this event to my show will allow people to bring the specificity of their own moments growing up Jewish or growing up queer and find healing and celebration.

What else can people expect at the show?

There are going to be too many costumes in a short amount of time. I’m really excited for all of these wacky costumes I’m bringing. It’s going to be heartfelt, it’s going to be drag. It’s a full production and I’m so excited to finally bring this to life after sitting on it for all this time. It combines drag lip sync with multimedia — video projections of my bar mitzvah and lots of other very fun, funny things. Of course, I have two backup dancers — it’s a one-woman show, but it’s a one-woman drag show, so that means that you need to have two backup dancers. It’s a fully realized show with a plot and a beginning, middle and end.

“Today You Are a Man!,” is playing at The Tank NYC (312 W. 36th St.) Jan 18-20 at 9:30 p.m. and Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $15.

[janerogan]

hey do you wanna, like, be in a kind of bully/bullied dynamic where you call me and my dog fags at every opportunity you get and I fancy your girlfriend but then I gain superhuman strength when I become a werewolf allowing me to beat your wrestling captain ass to the ground whilst asking you why u wanna fuck me so bad it makes you homophobic then I throw you to the ground so hard it whacks the internalised homophobia right outta your body allowing you to have a beautiful coming out scene in which I tell you bro back up I'm literally cursed and you say I know:( me too:( it's so hard being gay and not being able to talk about it:( and I go um no dude I'm literally cursed with the mark of the beast? Then you set me up with your ex girlfriend and as I'm walking away with her I turn around and say you coming yeah? And you look at me with hope in your eyes and say yeah, course I am and we walk off into the night together. Just a thought.

[serfergs]

Jaehee: a good distraction -- until she wasn't

As I read the first part of LITBC, I found it interesting to analyze Jaehee and the narrator’s relationship and ask the question: what did they get out of their friendship and was it healthy? Without saying it explicitly, the first several pages describe the narrator as profoundly lonely before he met Jaehee. He tried socializing with other people in his major but found them intolerable (same). And it seemed he used nightly hook-ups in place of genuine friendship and intimacy.

“The only thing that mattered was I existed with someone, there in those dark streets of the city, and that was why I was wrestling tongues with a stranger” (p. 3).

Then Jaehee entered his life. Suddenly he had someone to connect with over more than just sex. She wasn’t judgmental about his life as a gay man. They both had a lot of casual sex. They both engaged in (excessive) drinking. They both had a similar flippant approach to university and their studies. Much like in Only Friends, they lived as if their actions had little consequences and laughed about it.

Through out the first part we also get little snippets of the narrator’s mental health, seemingly mentioned as a passing thought, almost callously: “[k3 and I] both had low self-esteem, regularly felt suicidal compulsions, were bullied as kids...”. I wonder did he ever talk about these things with Jaehee? How vulnerable were they with each other? Did he ever talk about his desires for a committed relationship? Did he even allow himself to acknowledge those desires and dreams? Or was it all too much so he needed Jaehee to be...Jaehee.

A great distraction – until she wasn’t. Because Jaehee, as much as she cared about and for the narrator, she did not understand him as a gay man. She tells her fiancée “So, oppa, he’s basically a girl. It’s just like I’m living with Jieun”. I think this line is telling because if she really saw the narrator as a gay man and considered all the struggles that come from that in society, she would have thought better than to out him. She lacked this understanding, this self awareness because although she didn't judge the narrator she also didn't really see his queerness. "An excess of self awareness is a disease in itself." Oof as a genderqueer 30 year old with generalized anxiety; I FELT THAT. And this is where the deep disappointment lay – it likely wasn't as easy to move on from and laugh off like the dicks at the clinic calling him slurs. Because this wasn't just some asshole in the street that didn't understand him. It was his best friend. Queer people need to be in community with other queer people because sometimes it isn't just enough to have people that don't judge you. You need to have people that understand you as a queer person.

I think this exhibits the emotional and intimate limits their friendship had. They could go out drinking, shoot the shit about guys, and care for each other in the small things; but the narrator needs a companion not for the sake of distraction, but for emotional support and healing. This isn’t to disparage Jaehee and the friendship they shared. It was important and necessary connection, but ultimately also became enabling and co-dependent. The narrator’s focus on Jaehee mirrors the last text K3 sent him

If obsession isn’t love, I have never loved.

I hope in part two, the narrator can find someone not to obsess over or distract from, but to deeply understand him in a way Jaehee couldn’t.

*note* I feel a little silly referring to the speaker as "the narrator", but I'm not sure he is named in the chapter? did I miss something or does he not have a name?

[bidisaster-peanut-romano]

but i think that what really gets me about bully is just how casually and painfully realistically queer it happens to be

like, bully isn't a queer game, at all. in fact, it was meant to be a rockstar, white cishet teenage boy game. ableism, misogyny and whatnot really aren't missing

many many characters have been raised in their life and shaped by the creators around the gender roles and stereotypes even, say with the jocks, and all the homophobia that comes with the all-male, tough masculine aspect and yet the physical closeness of football

but then you have all these characters who are all different shades and experiences of queerness. jimmy himself is the protagonist on whom the player can project their own way of living their own sentimental life but is mostly written as being openly and confidently bisexual, and kirby is into boys but buried so deep into the closet that even just being seen with trent is enough to make him run away, and justin adores the jocks so much and also admits thinking sometimes that he's not interested in girls and has a passion for greek sculpture, and cornelius defies all gender roles by identifying both on stage and in relationships with juliet and can also be seen by other students holding hands with boys, and troy tries so hard to force himself to stop thinking about guys and seems to have a crush on russell, and derby and bif are rumored and suggested to be together but anything that happens does away from strangers' eyes, and peanut has this attraction for both johnny and lola but they both are tied together and with him with so many layers of complicated dynamics that make the attraction confusing, and gord is graceful to the point of almost stereotypically effeminate and yet so natural and unapologetic about it, and juri says a lot that he's so sure about girls liking strong and muscular boys but also casually asks his interlocutor if they ever wondered what it would be like to be of the opposite sex, and (if he was included in the final game) bob is openly gay and mentions the casual homoeroticism of wrestling and sports, and trent is flirty and bisexual and an aspiring actor implied to be into musical, and these are just some of the canon things that come first to my mind

it's about the way being a queer teen in a homophobic society can be so confusing and lived in so many different ways and how being queer affects each and every person differently and how none of these characters are solely defined by their queerness and yet it does affect their character and personality and how it all feels so real about it

[aerodaltonimperial]

THE HORRORS! (26452 words) by argle_fraster, Vamp Chapters: 4/? Fandom: All Elite Wrestling Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Donovan Danhausen/Hook, Darby Allin/Jungle Boy | Jack Perry Characters: Donovan Danhausen, Hook (Professional Wrestling), Darby Allin, Jungle Boy | Jack Perry Additional Tags: Kayfabe Compliant, Just Normal Innocent Men, One Bed Trope but Make it Cursed, Aggressive Pining, Getting Together, Alexa Play Nelly's "Hot in Herrrrrrr", Even the Shadow Realm Bullies Jack Perry, Sexual Tension in a Goth Phase, Humping of the Mild Variety, Haunting, the Haunting is Not Even a Metaphor for their Gay Thoughts but it Kind of Is, Extremely Petty Narrators, POV Multiple, From the Authors Who Brought you "The Price I'd Pay for You", Comes Something Much Better and Significantly Worse Summary: Nothing bad ever happens on the 13th floor.

IT'S UPDATE DAY. Vamp is out of town, so I'm doing the tumblr update. And this update comes with a little relationship chart, since all our players are finally in motion. Enjoy. This might be one of my favorite chapters, but honestly, I think I say that every chapter. Also this chapter was almost 8k. How.

FUN FACTS:

The masterdoc for this is at 153 pages.

I remain convinced this is the greatest thing we've ever written.

We got an idea the other day for one of the later plot points that was so amazing I think we both stopped breathing for like, at least thirty minutes.

I tried to open this doc at work the other day and couldn't do it without laughing, which is a problem because we're in cubicles.

Since last time we had a running "fuck" audit, I thought it would be fun to do one here. Currently the fuck count is at 243, which is 1.58 per page. .... honestly this seems low, but it definitely varies by whose POV is active.

Anywhooooooo enjoy.