#you can TELL the wlws created this show

[grapejuicegay]

the astrology gays of it all is targeted directly at me actually

[eddiediazismyhusband]

(Please don't apologize. You may call it pessimism but I see it as realism and I truly appreciate it. I've seen people SO excited to see the cast back this week and all the excitement about the new season, optimism for canon buddie, what hair/tattoos/wardrobe might look like. And I feel bad because I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. But I cannot be bothered about whether Oliver will keep his fluffy hair or have any new tattoos or Ryan's mustache because I don't want another season of boring, repetitious storylines that don't do anything to the characters, especially those of color (thinking of the cartel and Mara right now)

I'm hopeful that because season 8 will be a full 18 episodes things won't have to be as rushed or thrown together at the last minute as season 7. But yeah, please don't apologize for your opinions because you're not the only one thinking similar thoughts <3)

im moreso apologetic because i dont WANT to be a debbie downer but its like…. ive been burned by shows (this one included) far too many times to be super optimistic and excited over things that could very potentially not be good for us… like i’ve said, most of the people i know with that mustache are awful human beings and when you add in the fact that gerrard also has a mustache like that AND that tim has been showing so little care for eddie as a character/care for poc characters as a whole it doesn’t seem far fetched to me that tim could very easily commit one of the most egregious acts of character death by veering eddie so far off the natural path simply to create cheap drama

like im so glad we seem to be getting fluffy hair buck… unfortunately fluffy hair buck doesn’t negate the fact that he’s currently in a relationship with a racist and that they’re ignoring 6 years of subtext built between he and eddie to try and further reiterate their “totally platonic dude bro” relationship, on top of giving eddie a look that exudes macho straight republican man…

(and don’t get me started on the fucking cartel plot or the mara plot bc what the actual fuck is wrong with tim minear 💀💀)

i just want them to stop dragging their feet on buddie while seemingly writing everything else as this whirlwind of convoluted messy nonsense drama plots and actually decided if they’re gonna commit to just ship/queerbaiting or to the subtext and plot theyve infused into the story since eddie’s literal first episode.

like personal feelings aside for the mustache, i think we’re giving the writers too much faith in portrayal of queer characters to actually say that it’s eddie “embracing queer culture” simply bc it looks like eddie mercury… we’re talking about the same writers who gave the main wlw couple a cheating plotline, have boiled down buck’s sexuality to just sex, and have relied on playing into stereotypes of mlm/wlw side characters rather thsn actually putting time and thought into it… like it’d be one thing to say “it’s a nod to freddie mercury” if the show has actually shown any kind of care beyond using sexuality plotlines for cheap drama (henren) but the reality is that they haven’t shown us that we can trust them in that way yet.

and who knows maybe it IS a nod to freddie mercury, but we don’t know for sure and im not going to set myself uo to be disappointed yet again when its just as likely to be s nod to them making eddie an antagonistic character with gerrard… yeah, that plot wouldn’t make sense for eddie as a character but neither did the vertigo plot so who’s to say tim wouldn’t go for it?

at the end of the day, i am just not looking forward to s8. nothing yet has given me any inclination to actually watch it until we are shown that they are making strides to actually tell a meaningful story that doesn’t rely on minorities for tokenism plots or putting them through needless pain again. yes this show is a drama, but there are other ways you can create drama (hell it’s a show about first responders) than putting poc characters through the fucking wringer time and time again, profiting off their pain, while simultaneously telling lowkey racist stories that involve the fucking cartel coming out of nowhere to burn down a LA fire captain’s house???

so yeah, i’m just not feeling great about it. i also don’t wanna rain on anyone’s parade but i don’t wanna get my own hopes up when i would just be setting myself up to be let down yet again by these writers

[girl4music]

You guys have no idea how happy it makes me to see so many people discovering and rediscovering Xena.

When I tell you that I have been watching this show since I was 5 years old and - at the age I am now - I believe that it’s the most incredible thing that I have ever watched in my life… I mean it so very sincerely.

With a burning conviction. Like no joke guys…

I have just watched and completely fallen in love with what I think is probably the second greatest TV show for genuine WLW representation in it - Wynonna Earp - but I can still say that Xena is still leagues ahead in ways that shouldn’t have ever been possible for it to be in the times that it was created and aired on TV in.

What they did with Xena was so remarkable that I honestly believe that it can never be done again.

It existed in a time and place that allowed for it just the once and then you’d never ever see anything as groundbreaking (an EPIC WLW love story) as what it was ever again. It is so special. Not just for that but for many other reasons… but specifically because of that.

Xena is many things but it’s regarded as THE OG WLW show. The first, and in a lot of ways, only main characters WLW love story from episode 1 to the last.

And the reason why it was able to achieve it?

It was never canon. But please - don’t let that put you off because I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t matter.

And even - in a way - actually really helps it be better representation than anything canon ever will be.

Even better representation than WayHaught. And I’ve seen for myself what that WLW couple does but I will always have in the back of my mind each time I watch their scenes or engage in any talk about them, that Wynonna Earp WOULD NOT if Xena didn’t do it first.

And that’s kinda a catchphrase we Xenites have when it comes to this. “Xena did it first!”. You can even buy the merch t-shirt that has that caption all over it. 😄

But yeah, I’m telling you. When you start your watch of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess” - or if you already have, just wait it out. Don’t anticipate it straight away. Slow burn is the key thing with Xena and Gabrielle. And believe me - it makes watching them hella fucking worth it!

[yanderes-galore]

Madness combat Romantic concept

Fem!White Hank and Fem!Darling, who is 2bdamned's clone.

This idea has been in my head for almost a year, but now I have decided to request it.

2bdamned created her as as a backup plan in case he dies(and so that the reader can then get him out of purgatory).

But, she run away from Status Quo and her creator, as 2bdamned did with AAHW.

And during her wanderings, she met Wank, which is Hank's clone, of course.

Now it's 2 female clones against the whole of Nevada.

Oh... this is actually a neat thought- Here you go! Gotta love some more WLW content.... 💜 Like in the request, you are indeed both clones. Sorry for the wait! I started this months ago and only continued it recently.

Hank = Original Hank

Hank = White Hank

Some older White Hank content

Yandere! Fem! White Hank with Fem! 2BDamned Clone! Darling

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession, Violence, Murder, Blood, Stalking, Overprotective/Possessive behavior, Clone shenanigans, Clingy behavior, Delusional behavior, Dubious/Implied forced relationship.

I like to think you ran off as some sort of rebellious phase from your creator, 2B.

Although... since he did something similar, you probably were just following something instinctual deep within you.

You aren't an exact clone, hence the different gender, but you are made from his DNA nonetheless.

When you ran away you worked on making yourself look different from your creator.

You wanted to be your own person... so you began living your life surviving in Nevada.

Which eventually makes you catch sight of White Hank... another rogue clone, but from Hank.

It's funny how you two were brought together.

It was similar to your creators.

Hank probably first thought you were a threat.

You panicked for a moment when Hank tackled you,

Although... it seems the memories of both of you made you hesitate.

Hank probably had a flash of 2B in her mind, causing her to back off in confusion.

You probably had a flashback of Hank which caused you to pause.

As clones, you have some memories of your creators due to the DNA.

So... despite the blood covering Hank's clothes from her previous scuffle, she tries to be friendly instead.

I like to imagine the obsession starts due to her memories.

Deep in her she knows she should be fond of you/trust you.

Yet due to Hank's DNA, she's also incredibly violent and unpredictable.

So she acts very similar to a yandere Hank due to her being a clone.

You have a body guard who stalks and slaughters anyone who gets too close.

She doesn't stay completely out of the way like Hank.

There's times it seems like she's left you, only to show up later.

She probably doesn't leave your side much as you're essentially the female versions of Hank and 2B.

You have medical knowledge like 2B and patch her up when she needs it.

You also have some combat skills.

I imagine she's naturally clingy with you due to the "parent" DNA you both have.

Befriending Hank seems to be a good idea in your eyes.

After all, she's a skilled killer like Hank.

Even if she seems a bit obsessive about you.

You see her as an ally and bodyguard.

Meanwhile, she probably sees you as some sort of romantic interest... it's hard to tell.

I say it's hard to tell since she seems awfully focused on violence.

Although... in the downtime, she sticks close.

You could be resting and while she keeps watch she pulls you against her.

Just two girl clones surviving the badlands of Nevada together.

One just so happens to be violently obsessed with the other.

I imagine 2B is trying to track you, only to groan in annoyance when he catches footage of you with another failed clone.

Failed because Hank was never all that... obedient.

Hank wasn't either, he should really alter the way he does things....

Hank wouldn't let you go back to 2B.

Far as she's concerned, you're finders keepers.

If you ran away from 2B, there's no need to send you back.

You can stay with her.

To Hank, you're girlfriends at this point.

As time ticks on, she only seems to grow closer.

She'd probably throw hands with the original 2B and Hank to keep you to herself.

If you said you weren't interested in a romantic relationship with Hank, she probably wouldn't believe you.

In her eyes you two are already dating.

Why are you fighting it?

Are you being influenced by someone?

Is your old creator making you say such a thing?

That's okay... you can ignore such an order!

Even if you try to run from her, she'll follow.

No need to kidnap if she's around you all the time... watching... waiting.

You'll see you two are meant to be...

Even if she has to execute all who say otherwise.

[englishstrawbie]

Station 19 7x07

If you've known me for a while, you'll know how much I've wanted the show to pick up the Maya/Mason relationship again. Especially since season 3 and Maya's acknowledgement of their father's abuse. I never expected it to go like this, to see Mason so full of hate and prejudice. It hurts my heart, but jeez those scenes were so good. Danielle's acting choices - her movements, her jumpiness, her voice intonation. All of it was so good.

It's interesting how Maya thinks she knows Mason, yet he didn't know about her bisexuality. I feel like there's always been a belief (or wish?) that Mason and Maya were close, that he knew things about her that she kept secret from her parents.

All that trauma we've seen Maya process, all that fear that she is or will turn into her father - and it's happened to Mason. Ugh. 💔 The writers did such a great job with their dialogue.

"I can agree to disagree about everything except my humanity, Mason. I am just trying to exist and your brothers hate me for it." ... how much have we all felt that at times? 😭

"Because you are poisoning this country and you shouldn't be allowed to do that, you shouldn't be allowed to have kids." ... f*ck you, Mason. 🤬

That moment when Maya allows herself to see him for who he is and realise that she can't save him broke my heart, but I'm also glad that she finally is able to let go of the burden that she's been carrying for all these years.

"You're not allowed to touch the beautiful life that I've created, because you'll ruin it. I have love that we never knew existed as kids and I wanted you to have that too, but you don't want it. And I won't risk losing it." ... That last goodbye, it felt like it could be forever, and you could feel all of Maya's sadness as she walked away.

It seems that Maya didn't tell Carina about her plan to see Mason before, but she'd obviously spoken to Carina afterwards, since she already knew about it when Maya got home. I wish we'd had more of a conversation between them. The conversation with Beckett was much needed for her - not with Beckett, but her need to process and hear someone to tell her that she did the right thing. It's not new that we see Maya and Carina processing life stuff with other people, and not each other. But the fact that it was with Beckett, of all people? That he's the one who saw her sadness and vulnerability? When there's never been any accountability for what happened last season? Don't get me started. 🤦🏼‍♀️

The 10pm time slot is really working out for the wlw couple, huh? I actually thought the scene was lovely, but I totally understand the frustration about why it was so vanilla compared to the straight couples. Was this the scene they called "spicy"? The less people pay attention to that David guy, the better IMO.

I'm glad they picked up on Carina's lawsuit. I love how we saw Carina empathetic and realistic about what happened, but also compassionate towards the mom who is so clearly struggling. It goes to the heart of who she is to still want to help her and the child, despite everything. I wish there was the time (and desire) for the writers to continue this storyline, to see the outcome - I'm doubtful, but who knows.

Also, I loved the double dose of seeing Carina on Grey's too! She was kick ass in that surgery scene and I love to see it. 😍

On another note, what's with all the Amazon Prime advertisements this season?

[thatdogmagic]

The "NSFW = Easy Mode" Post

We all know this post. We all know this complaint. NSFW artists have faced it the entire time we've spent drawing.

Aside from being hugely denigrating towards a very legitimate craft, there are multiple fallacies involved in the argument.

Let's start off with the most obvious, the very real phenomena of getting visible traction on social media sites. Namely, to say that, LIKES/RTS DO NOT TRANSLATE TO FINANCIAL STABILITY. Working your ass off does. NSFW artists who make it their livelihood churn out an absurd amount of work to stay relevant, constantly have to work outside of comfort zones, and face steep competition.

Next, the argument presumes that all NSFW is created equal. It's not. For example: mlm, that is to say, men loving men, will earn you much more traction than wlw, women loving women, and mlm involving trans bodies will earn you much less traction than the cis standard. Additionally, your audience for any of those things is NEVER guaranteed.

It places porn an erotica on the same footing, which is also enormously wrongheaded. Porn has an almost singular focus on secondary sex characteristics, and will rush straight to the point at every given opportunity; erotica is holistic, and doesn't even really have to show genitalia in order to hit its mark, if it's written and framed correctly.

To be clear: both of these things take an enormous amount of skill. It is not something you just learn to do overnight. Good, illustrated porn requires an understanding of action, anatomy, perspective, and all sorts of other technical skills that are often beyond even very adept artists.

With erotica, technical prowess is less of a focus. It's more on character art, scene setting, and story (be it implied by imagery or written in). I don't need to explain the level of expertise this requires, not the least of which is being a good writer, which is fully beyond a lot of peoples' grasp. It's a whole different skill, and being good at erotica is tough for even industry professionals. Many are embarrassingly bad at it.

The other bullet points, I outlined in a Twitter rant, but here they are:

NSFW artists face logistical hurdles SFW artists don't. Namely: we don't know when the site we're posting on will ban NSFW content.

We can be randomly banned/shadowbanned from a site whose rules are not especially clear (Tumblr), and whose filters are garbage. We can also have our work deboosted and effectively removed from circulation because we didn't label a nipple appropriately (Tumblr still thinks a female-presenting nipple is 100% sexual).

We can have our funding cut at random, for seemingly arbitrary reasons.

We face a host of degrading comments and overfamiliar clients.

NSFW artists working commissions have to take on work they're not personally very interested in. This takes way more work and fortitude than anyone is willing to admit. If you're commissioned for a fetish you don't like, you still have to make it look hot for the person who commissioned you. If you don't think that takes extra effort, IDK what to tell you.

We are constantly subjected to arrogant shitbags saying they can just jump in and make bank, because Site Number Went Up that one time.

Bottom line is the 'I should just do furry porn I guess' joke is not a joke. It's not funny. It's just you showing your ass, and insulting your friends/colleagues, who do very hard work for very little reward.

[silviawordsworth]

A comprehensive reason as to why I, as a teenage girl, think the marauders fandom is heaven on earth. (+ a few faults)

In simple terms, its a pit of representation. The characters, even the ones mentioned more than just a name drop, have very little known information about them. Like yes, we know remus lupin marries tonks and we know james marries lily, but besides that? They were teenagers at hogwarts, its fun to play around with the dynamics of them.

And its also a passion project. The marauders is by no means an actual thing. Sure, theyre side characters in hp. But the marauders fandom is created solely on headcanons and fanon info. Its almost like if i were to pull finnick and annie from thg and develop them with such depth that it contextualises things that couldve been explained better in the actual books.

And not only that, but it shows creativity. Its like weve all taken these characters, aged them down to make them more relatable, and projected our own teenage experiences onto them in a way that jk could never as she wrote them as an adult and likely has never experienced the struggles of the lgbtq teens nowadays

The lgbtq is also a good point to bring up. Nowhere anywhere else on the internet will you find a fandom so full of lgbtq characters solely bc 'it doesnt sell'. The marauders is a prime example of how marketing realistic teenagers to teenagers is not unprofitable.

Mental health is also a big thing that needs to be explored more in media. And not as the main plot, but as something that just exists. Its done well in the marauders fandom.

Usually when watching a show or reading a book, you think these characters arent that realistic. In their world, sure. But its hard to relate to characters who link nothing to you. The marauders, though wizards, are teenagers in school. They are relatable.

Also the ability to create everything out of nothing. I adore pandora rosier and regulus black but in canon they are never even shown in the movies besides reg.

The poc inclusivity, the non skinny inclusivity, etc etc.

However! There are issues.

The marauders fandom is primarily girls, yet this fandom is an excellent example of the preference that male characters get. Like, i love regulus. But pray tell why jegulus gets more hype than pretty much any wlw ships combined? And why do i see so much of lily being a surrogate or her dying and james and reg getting harry? If youre gonna cut lily out of james life for him to be w reg, atleast find another way for them to have a kid. Lily is more than her uterus and a plot device for a kid.

And theres also sm arguments over headcanons. Like, if i were to say i hc james potter as straight, i would get attacked in todays fandom. It just gets a bit strange sometimes when people disregard canon at all. I get the seperation of canon from fanon is definitely inevitable in this fandom, but i dislike when people push their hcs as canon when its literally contradicted by canon.

I love the marauders fandom i do, and i love the way the characters are developed enough to be interesting to everyone, and not just babied down enough to be advertised to kids. Theres so much you can do when you dont have to worry about pr.

Anyways, thanks for listening to my rant. Please feel free to reblog w any questions or comments, il respond to everyone x

[shybunny]

more nun stuff PLEASE love. maybe she wakes up to the devil fucking her or maybe fucking another nun

🔞 this post contains erotic writing intended for adults. do not interact with this post if you are a minor/under eighteen

😇 nuns, wlw, masturbation, groping, fingering, innocence, corruption 🤔 shame, mildish dubcon

There’s another nun in the convent who you think of as your particular friend. You spend more time with her than any of the other women, frequently working together and often confiding in each other.

Right now the two of you are happily working and talking in the kitchen. You watch her surreptitiously as she kneads the bread dough. She’s such a pretty little thing, always cheerful and smiling, with generous curves that even her shapeless habit can’t hide. As she rolls out the dough, learning over the kitchen counter, her breasts swing back and forth beneath the rough wool of her tunic. You’re mesmerized by the sight, but you jerk your gaze away, flustered, when she turns to you with a smile.

Later that night you lie in bed and abuse yourself. You commit this shameful act every night now, imagining any number of lewd and shameful things, but tonight you're thinking of your friend, thinking of her ample breasts swinging back and forth over the kitchen counter, thinking of her hands kneading the thick dough and imagining them on your chest.

The next day you do another long set of chores with her. You try to keep your eyes from her bosom, but by the end of the day, your pussy is buzzing with need, and all you want to do is go back to your room and rub that aching wetness between your legs.

Your friend walks you back to your plain little cell. She hesitates at the door, and looks shyly at the ground as she speaks.

“Would you mind if I asked your advice on something, Sister?”

“Of course,” you tell her, surprised.

“Well… It’s just that I’ve been experiencing a lot of… discomfort lately, in my… between my…” She’s still staring down at the ground, tongue-tied and blushing. You feel your own face getting hot when you realize what she means.

“Oh,” you say, voice cracking nervously.

"Lately it's been getting so swollen and wet all the time... I can barely keep my mind on my work." She looks back up at you with her big worried eyes. “I just don’t know what it means. You don’t think I could be ill, do you?”

She doesn’t know what it means? Could she truly be that innocent? You can’t respond for a moment, because you’re vividly imagining her plump wet privates, and your own privates start to throb in response. You know you should put a stop to this conversation, but she looks so worried and confused.

You noisily clear your throat. “It happens to me too sometimes… But there are things you can do to relieve your discomfort.”

“Really?” she says, looking suddenly hopeful. “Will you show me what to do?” She catches your hand and presses closer to you, excited, inadvertently pressing her plump breasts into your arm. Oh God… They’re so much softer than you imagined. And she’s looking up at you with such a sweet, trusting expression.

Against your better judgment, you let her follow you into your cell. You shouldn’t be doing this; you’re making her complicit in your sin. But she’s still looking at you with those big, trusting eyes, relying on you to help her in her hour of need. How can you say no to her?

You sit down on your thin mattress, scoot back and spread your knees to create a space between your thighs. You gesture her over gingerly, patting the mattress so that she sits between your legs, looking over her shoulder at you, shyly but with affectionate attention and interest. Good lord… You look away from her sweet face and concentrate on slowly pulling up the fabric of her skirts, then reaching down and carefully feeling the lips of her pussy. She lets out a little “Oh…” of surprise as you gently explore her folds. You swallow convulsively. She’s already so swollen and wet… You’ve never done this to anyone else, but you try to imagine how you do it to yourself. How you tease yourself, lightly massaging your fingers over the soft folds, stroking the sensitive edges and dipping between them to feel the growing wetness. You feel her breathing get faster as you tease her like this, and she leans back against your chest.

Unable to resist the temptation, you slide your other hand onto her chest and heft one of her plump breasts, soft and moldable even through the layers of fabric. You can't help it, you start kneading and groping her breast, and she moans gently in your arms.

“Tell me if you want me to stop…” you whisper.

“No, please,” she begs, breathless, “please keep going, it’s just what I need. It feels so good—” She gasps as you start to rub her faster. She lets her head loll back against your shoulder, her eyes squeezed gently shut and her pretty lips parted on a little moan as you rub her swollen pussy. She moans sweetly and undulates her hips as you bring her closer and closer to release, rubbing her harder and faster and fondling her breasts more eagerly until she bites back a little cry and starts cumming against your fingers, writhing in your arms, breasts heaving under your hand.

With an effort of will, you remove your hand from her bosom, and pull your other hand out from between her legs. She’s still leaning back against you, panting.

“Oh…” she says, breathless. “That was so… so wonderful… I feel so much better… Thank you…” She looks up at you with her sweet face all dreamy, and you wonder if she would mind very much if you kissed her. But before you can broach the subject, she stands herself up, swaying a bit as she rights her skirts. She grins at you, thanking you again, but she really should be getting off the bed now.

Feeling terribly embarrassed, you walk her to the door of your cell. You’re about to let her go when she turns in the doorway and looks back up at you. “Um…” she says, blushing, “if I get like this again… will you help me the next time too?”

[mrcowboydeanwinchester]

i'm telling you this with absolute sincerity if you are a woman in fandom and you only ever consume or create mlm content and all your blorbos are men i just beg you to take some time to get invested in the women in your story. read some femslash. watch an episode of the show and decide to focus wholly on the women characters. as someone who refused to read wlw fics for years and was obsessed with a long list of men i can tell you that my understanding of my own womanhood and womanhood as a whole got so much broader and deeper and more fulfilling when i let myself consume women-focused content and get obsessed with women characters. like also it doesn't have to be that deep but maybe it can change you fundamentally and you can learn about your own sexuality and feminisms and gender. and also women

[binary-not-found]

I loved Kate telling Lucy that her boss thinks she's a guy, it's not just being honest with her, it's the fact that she's trying to protect her, because she doesn't know how he's going to react when she introduces a woman as her partner, so of course she's doing it to warn her, to look out for her And I can't ignore the fact that Lucy's reaction was to say that her name is not masculine 😅

I've never done this before

We don't have to do this today

No, I want to do it, it's just hard for me

You won't be alone, I'll be right there with ya

Always

I got the idea that this is the first time in Kate's life that anyone has ever said something like that to her, that no one has ever taken the time before to know her, to love her, to be there for her and Lucy did, like she was showing her a new world she didn't know, that's why every little thing is a big step for her, like I was telling you, not wanting to be seen in public in the past wasn't just about the job, it was about her, about how she feels being with someone, she's getting to know Lucy and getting to know herself, she said it herself she was embarrassed of herself, that she may be awkward or weird, that maybe in her mind she feels like she gives importance to the wrong things, but Lucy takes care of her, she is there for her and goes at her pace, she waits for her to feel safe, the way she tells her that they don't have to do it that day is a sign that she is respecting her pace, the way Kate wants to do things, and that, besides being good communication speaks to the love and respect they have for each other

This is my girlfriend, Lucy Tara Look at the nervousness on her face as she waits for the reaction

This scene is just hilarious because Lucy is literally just reacting the best she can, the nervousness she clearly also felt betrayed her and she just acted on instinct, and my poor baby Kate almost had a heart attack watching her girlfriend punch her boss

Happiness looks so good on them 😍

This whole story of Lucy meeting Kate's team and the boss knowing they're together is so important to them as a couple, and I'm so grateful and fulfilled that they show it to us, because they could have just mentioned in some upcoming episode that Lucy already knows Kate's team, but no, they let us see it! Live it with them! We are getting to know them and connecting with them, separately and as a couple, and that's something we don't see much, in the shows they usually make a wlw couple, ignore them for two seasons and suddenly they are already getting married, but here we are seeing Lucy talking about the relationship, Kate talking about the relationship and them talking to each other!

That's it for today, I hope you liked it, I had some trouble deciding what to say as I don't want to create conflict because I may come up with personal opinions that need to stay in my head and sometimes I fail to know which ones they are. But hey, let me know what you think, I love reading your tags ���

3/3 episode 2 🐉

[chirpsythismorning]

I feel like a big part of the reason Anti Bylers are so aggressive is because this is the first time in mainstream media where there's a chance that the main couple of the show may end up being mlm.

Not only is there a likelihood that the main couple will be gay, it will come after years of these fans assuming that the cliche, safe straight ship was going to sail from start to finish.

If you look at the "predictions" these individuals have for season 5, which honestly have less to do with narrative direction and more to do with what they want, you'll always catch a certain undertone to what they're saying:

"The heterosexual, white male audience is the default for media. We will allow the wlw ship, so long as it has limited screen time. We will accept Will surviving, and even allow him to have an acceptance arc. But you will not receive queer rep at the expense of a ship that we are nostalgic for. The straight male audience is the one that matters, and we will be represented by the main couple in the show."

My favorite is when they’re asked what they hope for Mike and El in s5, only to list off qualities of Mike and Will’s dynamic. I legit saw someone say that they hoped they finally took the time to talk through their problems (oh so you’re admitting they never do..) and that we’ll actually get to see them be a team…

Like, do you hear yourselves?

I would actually like to read off their play by play of how they imagine s5 going down. Not just their wishes but like what they literally imagine happening over the course of the season, episode by episode.

And I’m talking the confident milkvans ones that are like super hostile about it. I wanna see what they hypothesize will happen in early s5 related to Mike and El… I don’t think I could keep it together if it is anything along the lines of them instantly making up and being happy for the rest of the season… 😳🤣

They just don’t realize how dumb that sounds.

S4 created conflict and hasn’t settled it. It was considered the beginning of the end, meaning those parts are going to fit perfectly together. If Mike and El were lacking romantically more than ever before in s4, don’t expect that to change much…

And gentle reminder that rewatch value is everything. If milkvans have to skip 3 eps in s1 bc they’re not together or fighting, skip all of s2 bc they’re separated, skip most of s3 bc they broke up in the second episode, skip most of s4 bc they separated in the third episode…. What does that fucking tell you?? They are not being prioritized for rewatch value, that’s what. Whereas byler is. (Bylers also are capable of watching milkvan scenes religiously… I can’t say the same about milkvans being capable of handling more than one second of rewatching a byler scene. And it’s bc they know if they watch it the mental gymnastics they gotta go through to convince themselves nothing romantic is going on is near impossible…)

Byler endgame is going to make the rewatch for the entire series hit, while milkvans, even with a hypothetical endgame would probably watch s1 and s5 and say the rest doesn’t matter. Do they think that’s how the show is supposed to be watched?

With one season left, they should have been hoping that monologue wasn’t in s4, but instead s5. Bc now how can those two one up that? They simply can’t. It was put there to show that they’ll never progress beyond this point. Nothing will ever top it. This is as good as it gets and yet, they still lost. What should that tell you?

What are they gonna just repeat that monologue in s5, but have mike say it 20x and THIS TIME it works?? Yay? Like there’s literally nothing satisfying about that in the least.

Can’t say I wish bad for ppl that simply like Mike and El and are bummed that they’re starting to lose hope. That as a basic idea is like whatever. I don’t like seeing ppl sad. Even if I told off a milkvan directly, seeing them like feeling depressed afterwards, does make me feel bad.

But when it comes to the hostile ones, people literally resorting to harassing directly with complete strangers unprompted and threatening to dox, over people merely theorizing? Like?? Was it ever that serious?

If we’re so delusional and we’re just setting ourselves up for disappointment, why not wait to say I told you so when it’s all said and done, if you’re so sure? Why dedicate so much of your time trying to discourage people on the other side? Unless it somehow qualms doubts you have?…

What makes this whole situation such bullshit, is that if this were a queerbait situation, you still shouldn’t be out here being hurtful like literally spouting off how you can’t wait for people to experience getting queerbaited? Like it’s fucking weird? The prominence of queerbaiting is literally referring to show runners taking advantage of fans, making them think it’ll happen, even encouraging it, and then ripping it away, usually ending in a bury your gays situation. That is the norm in the industry and it’s only now within the last few years starting to change in mainstream.

The hypocrisy of it all, is that they think we should just accept what they believe is the only possibility, queer-bait. But you know if the roles were reversed, which they inevitably will be when s5 drops, they’re going to be playing the victim, saying nonsense like if queerbaiting is bad then so is straightbating!! and it’s just going to be so out of touch and pathetic.

It’s not the same. Whatsoever. And the fact that they can’t see that, that one result is lazy writing and one is epic subversion, and are literally making a mockery out of the situation, convinced they’re right bc they have history on their side and gays should just be used to never getting their way and THATS okay to them?

Like it’s almost painful to watch. Especially knowing the 180 they’re gonna pull when they end up in the situation they convinced themselves we were gonna be in.

[festeringfae]

Thinking about the time my boss asked me if there was more jealousy in lesbian social circles because [internalized misogyny reasons] and how I actually had to catch my breath from laughing before I could answer her.

And she still tried to confirmation-bias her way around my answer because I used a single anecdote to try & explain the general community vibe (the Valentine's Day my friend flew out and slept over to see a show with me despite the fact that we used to have a mutual crush on each other and her current gf knew this and was, I believe, hanging with her OWN ex that weekend).

Like, I get not wanting to accept that heterosexual nonsense dynamics are entirely optional, but the fact of the matter is, basically every wlw in community with other wlw is aware they have multiple friends who would theoretically be dtf but u just don't pursue that avenue because we can create & enforce our own boundaries.

And maybe that's why cishets are so weird about "can men and women truly ever be 'just friends?'" Because the actual answer is "yes, if men used the slightest amount of self-restraint toward mild impulses and/or were genuinely self-reflective," but that's a conclusion that points to a lot of other truths many people don't want to consider.

(terfs et al will appropriate shit regardless of if i tell them to fuck off, that's how fascism works, but to be clear: obviously there are men who have to be carefully self-restrained around certain women, particularly in the context of US American anti-Blackness. I'm talking about dynamics where gender is identified by the individual parties involved as the primary mitigating factor for lack of platonic intimacy [in the non-sexual context of the word "intimacy.] In plainer language, I'm talking about how a straight South Asian sex worker was the only one who backed me, a white lesbian, up when our class was having this discussion, because when she said her straight dude friends brought her takeout while she literally had her tits out and they weren't attracted to her, everyone else adamantly disbelieved her, even though they knew nothing more about him than you do reading this post).

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

They Should Have Never Given You the Word “Queerbait”

It’s been 5 years and I’m still thinking about this, so now I am going to vent a bit. I hate when there is a Black female protagonist who is queer coded and seemingly in a slow burn setting, and the viewers flag it as queerbait and disengage.

I feel like I have seen so many shows where people can take a character who is never even suggestively queer and nit pick even the smallest glimmers to validate reading them as such and they will be able to ship and create and support all of the ways this is a queer character and trust the writers to possibly give more. 

But, when there are Black women in these areas, it falls down as soon as they aren’t given overt displays of wlw actions. I said its been 5 years, because I’m specifically thinking about Kiss Me First, but I also want to hit on Crazyhead, while I’m here because I feel like it got paid the same treatment in this regard. And both of those shows had such good writing, and as a Black queer woman WITH mental illness, both of these characters spoke to me and seeing them have potential for love stories for wlw stories was so rewarding, only to see the journey get bashed and the shows get cancelled. 

So. Let me talk a minute. Starting with Kiss Me First.  If you haven’t already watched it, you probably aren’t going to, so I’m not sparing potential “spoilers,” as I’ve said, its been 5 years.

Kiss Me First centers around this dynamic of an orphan, Leila, who recently lost her mom and is getting attached to a woman, Tess, that she met in this computer universe, who she also has befriended irl. Leila and Tess start off with some mystery, as you can’t tell what Tess’ intentions are for this woman, but you see very early on that Leila doesn’t necessarily trust people that are in Tess’ life. When Leila realizes that the person who Tess seems to care about the most is a dangerous and manipulative person, she does everything that she can to protect her.

The criticisms of the show were that people were “queerbaited” with the relationship between them because of the romantic and sexual relationships that these characters had with men and not with each other...

This is what is frustrating to me: So much of this series is realistic, INCLUDING the story arcs where these women are in relationships with men that don’t really serve them best. Real life queer people frequently have relationships with partners that they don’t really belong with before finding the love that they had been seeking. But, the moment it happens in media, especially with a Black woman, it is unbearable for audiences. They gotta see her eating box, or it ain’t real.

And it’s aggravating, because there is this fairy tale happening in which Leila literally is on a quest to save Tess. She knows that this guy is dangerous and her entire goal becomes making sure she rescues Tess from him. He lifts Tess on a pedestal and makes her feel like she is the most important person, but he is actually an abuser and preying upon this group that idolizes him, so Leila spends episodes working to get Tess out of his grasp.

In the end, they aren’t IN a queer relationship, but she has absolutely freed Tess and Tess is helping her to escape being framed by the enemy. They are “friends,” but if you have a queer eye, and are not racist, you’d be able to see that this is and was the entire time a fucking love story between these two women! If anything, they tossed in some dudes for the straights to pay attention. I’m livid every time somebody suggests that Kiss Me First is queerbait. To you, but not my Black, gay, bipolar ass. I loved it. I wanted to see them flourish. I wanted to be given the payoff, yes. But, I loved being able to see a beautiful love story between two fucked up people who were side by side at the end.

This happened in Crazyhead, as well.

Raquel is a target for an apocalypse and do you know how Amy saved her and the world? By telling her she loved her and giving her a kiss that brought her back from the brink of destruction...

Now... I will admit, the writers did a “no homo” type thing at the end... but the homo in me seen the homo in thee, so I wasn’t bothered by that. 

I just think that it is an unfair measurement, to expect everything to be served up for you in order to support representation, and not being able to detect subtext or to envision the potential coding shows a huge amount of privilege. I adore the fact that so much queer content as of late gets spoonfed to you, but I also enjoy a slow burn, and it’s not right that Black queer women rarely get one because you give up if there’s not an automatic tonguing and huge declarations. And in the cases of these two shows, there were very clear expressions of love and several moments of intimacy, but I guess they needed to trib for true love. 

Anyways, I love Kiss Me First and Crazyhead, and I consider them representation FOR ME. 

[praetorqueenreyna]

Man, I fucking love creating surveys just to ignore the results and criticism because they don’t match my personal opinions and biases! Don’t you? Oh wait, I don’t need to ask, I can see from the many dismissals of valid criticisms in your posts that you do too! Fuck yeah!

You're feeling SO good about this, aren't you. You really showed me, the lesbophobic hate witch haunting the ACOTAR fandom. So fine, I guess I WILL keep having the same conversation. Also btw, taking my survey multiple times to suggest "any wlw ship" and accusing me of homophobia is not the slay you think it is.

Not to absolutely BLOW your mind, but the ships listed in the survey are the most popular ships in the fandom. If I tried to include every single rarepair, each question would have 100 options, and the survey would be unusable. And, also not to freak you out too much, but the core demographic of this fandom is straight women, who prefer straight ships.

Here are the stats so far for the "favorite ship" question.

20% is Feysand, 18.5% is Nessian, 13.3% is Elucien, and the pink and light blue on the left are Neris and Elriel.

You see that lil highlighted section at the top? The pink one? That's Emorie. One person has voted for it as their favorite ship. It's slightly more common as a second and third favorite ship (about 10 people have voted for it in each category). And that's for THE most popular wlw ship. There have been maybe one or two suggestions for other wlw ships, each with only 1 vote. So maybe my "personal bias" that this fandom is heterosexual and only ships the straight ships has been somewhat validated. To add wlw ships to this list that nobody is going to pick would be virtue signaling, just as you feeling righteously angry at ME over this fandom ignoring wlw ships is useless virtue signalling.

I'm in the main ACOTAR tag almost every day. I see the content that is being made. This fandom does not make content for wlw ships. I'm not exactly sure how that's MY fault. I'm not adding ships to "be inclusive," I'm doing it to collect accurate data for this fandom.

Hmm, well, nobody can say I don't do my research. Let's check out AO3 for those super popular wlw ships!

Weird. Well why I don't I check out YOUR AO3, @ablogofsapphicpanic? Surely you have been churning out wlw fics left and right, since you've seen fit to throw such a stink about this.

Oop, what's this? Only the straight canon ships? Thus confirming everything that I've been saying? Weird.

Also btw, when you take the survey, it tells me what time each submission was entered, so I can tell that the ones bitching about wlw ships and claiming I hate women submitted 2 minutes apart are from you. Anyway, have fun in the "other" category with the tamlin stans!

[thecollectionsof]

i'm doing this late because i pinky promised myself that i wasn't allowed to do this until my work for the week was done. but now it is !!!!! i'm free !!!!!! thank you lovely @rialitysworld and @sweetlikesunflowersandhoney for tagging me i love you :)

💖A WLW ship that's your go to for when you need to read some shameless smut

goodecox!! between predictable and beloved @aqpippin and the literary masterpieces she creates it is definitely The Ship to me :)

❤️ Tropes in WLW fics/media that give you life

i love and adore the mutual pining/idiots to lovers/friends to lovers sweetness that i think crygi fics encapsulate so well but also. soulmate aus. hanahaki aus. any fun interesting concept like that is always super fun :)

🧡 A song that heals your feels about that angsty WLW ship of yours

okay i'm cheating becuse it's not a song but every time i reread mar's hanahaki au i have to go watch lemyanka videos or at least go through their tag so i'm not sad anymore. but i have to read it so much it's so GOOD

💛 A WLW writer that deserves their time in the sun (author spotlight)

showing the judges versatility i'm not gonna only say loml @gggoode even though we know that is always and forever my answer. i can and will tell you anything and everything about every fic posted because AGH. and also AHHHHHH <3

@sexynetra - i know y'all know rawnsyf BUT if you haven't read the crygi olympics au it's SO cute they're SO in love. and the amandawn??? incredible you gotta read it

@sweetlikesunflowersandhoney - the way she writes makes me fall in love with the world and i mean that. like her writing makes me want to love the world and love myself more, i swear it's her superpower. she has magical words :)

💚 A picture of one of your fave WLW ships in nature, or in their natural habitat

🩵 Recommend a WLW fic that you think more people should read

okay has everyone read the uk2 gbbo au by @junosjukebox because i saw a uk2 video the other day and was gripped by the sudden and Very Strong need to read it again and it's currently waiting for me as one of my tabs for when i have reading fics hours later :) it's incredible and actually got me to watch uk2 you NEED to read it (it's a must)

💙 Three colours that remind you of your WLW OTP

orange, purple, and pink! (for crygi <3)

💜 Thoughts on soulmates in fiction

good ones. great ones. i can definitely see how it could make me uncomfy if it isn't written well, but the soulmate aus i've read here are lovely and amazing and make it seem so beautiful <3

a few examples of the incredible soulmate aus here: (mar's halldoll) (til forever falls apart) (this gottlux) (crygi where it's also smut) (the florist crystal famous nicky model gigi one that makes me want to scream in the best way possible)

okay i'm gonna tag @sexynetra @aqpippin @adoordelano @myhusbandharryhamilton and @lemyankajuiced :)

[ihopesocomic]

[Wall of possible spelling errors, my pride related]

I think the reason why people include homophonia, biphobia, acephobia etc. in content that's supposed to be about LGBT characters is to convey a form of empowerment.

Like "despite their homophobic parents X was finally able to come out and get with Z, and they've found friends that accept them" in that example it's showing preserverance it's creating a sense of hope for LGBT people still in the closet.

But then there's cases with TOO much homophobia in LGBT content, yes there are ofc sad stories that aren't supposed to end well and people watch them at their own risk. BUT this isn't the case for our lovely example MY PRIDE (I know it's referencing a lion pride but something's telling me it meant LGBTQ pride too)

I know the wlw romance isn't the 'main story' per say of My Pride, but it's the part most people talk about/ got advertised and it still takes up a large chunck of the plot.

But you see the problem is most of that plot chunk is taken up by everyone crapping on our LGBT characters. I cannot find a single supportive moment in this show where it's like "hey nothing it's okay to find other lionesses hot". The characters that are supposed to representing us get nothing but crap after crap, so any sense of empowerment they were trying to convey is killed because there's no satisfying end.

But that's just my take on it.

You are absolutely right, it was never a point of conflict for either of the characters. Like. Ever. The only time homophobia was ever a "problem" was when Proudmane said something all the way in episode 7, and even then there was no consequences for it. I will however argue against Hover or Nothing being treated badly for being gay in any capacity tho. Nothing was always ridiculed for being physically disabled. And Hover was sort of antagonized for being prideless, but that was never a personal conflict for her. And the way the two of them got together told me their love was only forbidden because Hover wasn't in the pride, not because they were the same sex. There was no context clues for homophobia being a thing and I presented plenty of times they could've included it in our review. Hell even Powerstrike was like "We don't kill our gays anymore" like what was the point then? Oh there wasn't one. You just happened to be taken over by the one Pride Law fanatic on the entire continent. Because "drama" I guess.

Just to point out to others tho, no one here argued against the existence of queerphobia in media. It has its purposes, like people recounting their own experiences, and making meaningful social commentary on it, but in most cases I've seen its about telling cishet people to not be queerphobic. Which. Sure one could argue that's a good use for it. I don't feel that way about it tho. More often than not, queerphobia exists in media that doesn't actually give a fuck about it and is just used because it's "expected" to be there, regardless of context, tone, messaging, etc.

Or my favorite argument in the case of My Pride is "it's irresponsible to not include it". Like that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. MP can't even take responsibility of its own trigger warnings, and they want to be judgmental about media that chooses to not include queerphobia? What, are people gonna /forget/ that queerphobia exists? Should people be told "Fuck you, that's reality, bitch" when they don't really wanna see it everywhere they look, cuz they already do? Give me a break. Maybe deconstruct why you think the existence of a queer person justifies the inclusion of discrimination. You can ask this same question about anyone tbh.

People just quite frankly don't know what to do with homophobia in fantasy, they just think it makes for decent plot elements, and to that I say "you're boring" and "Maybe take a creative writing course." It's especially egregious in MP because the homophobia in MP is as shoehorned in as the queer romance. (And Moonstrike's existence just creates a whole mess of questions the show has no intensions of ever answering.)

Like maybe the show didn't include any previous mention of homophobia within prides because it was never intended to be there in the first place. That would be MY guess. It would make sense since Nothing and Hover's failed Romeo and Juliet plotline is abandoned about as quickly as they get together, and served about as much purpose as genderbending the mouse in live-action Cinderella.

We've said this before, MP was stronger with the initial plotline, and including homophobia just made it unnecessarily complicated and stupid, especially since there was quite literally no consequences for it. Call me old fashioned, but discrimination in writing should have a point. - Cat