While I understand that people are disappointed about the backstory re: Kazuki’s wife and blame the writing for making her yet another bland, soulless side character who fades into the background without leaving so much as a strong imprint on us, the audience, I have been thinking about it and even though it can be because of poor writing, falling into clichés that make the story progress easily without delving too much into things… I can also see why Karin described her sister as “happy” and “she loved flowers”. At the end of the day, when we experience loss, all that remains are the memories we have of that person. If we do not move on, or until we move on, like Kazuki, those memories will be rooted in grief. And, don’t get me wrong, the grief will always be there! But with time and conscious effort, it will get easier. Karin has moved on, and she remembers her sister the way someone who wishes to be happy without her does.

At the end of the day, isn’t those things the sort of things people say during wakes and funerals? She was always so happy and full of life. She loved flowers and long walks on the beach. She lived for her family and friends. She was always nice to people. Sure, they’re things people say about those who are no longer with us, that do not really have much depth to it. I’m not denying the lack of profoundness in those statements. But, at the end of the day, it’s the trivial, menial things that get said about those who left us. And I think it’s important to remember that.

I'd make a longer post (and maybe one day I will) but since Lore Olympus, the story that introduced me to webtoons is coming to an end I'd like to say something:

I can't believe it is considered problematic. It has to be one of the sweetest, fluffiest, simplest stories I have read (hence why I still like it, it's a relaxing read before bed) and somehow it got too "kinky" for mainstream. It's laughable.

Everytime I dare to click on their tag or look for the # on Twitter or FB I see people clutching their pearls as if Lore Olympus were brainwashing teenagers into marrying a non existent God of the dead and have babies with him. What the hell?

The fact that people think LO is too dark makes me laugh. A single episode of Rick&Morty, BoJack Horseman or HQS has way more explicit content and dialogue. In fact!!! If it were up to me LO would have gotten genuinely kinky!!! All it does is have some surface spicy tropes that get sugar coated to not make puritans awkward and tbh that's sad. LO and the author get terribly hated anyway for daring to portray the most common female fantasy.

And this all makes me laugh but also mad because you'd think LO at least has some genuine dark themes but no? At most we have Persephone's trauma due to Apollo's abuse and yet that topic is treated as a therapy pamphlet because people couldn't handle an imperfect victim. Hades is a wife guy who shows little to no anger. Hera was re written to be sort of a feminist so that people stopped being annoying about women having emotions.

LO is a sweet, simple story with tiny spicy things here and there that were eventually pushed aside because people couldn't handle it. I wonder how Rachel feels about this, because at the beginning the story was extremely spicy and the only crime was being published in a platform as webtoon, full of people who can't differentiate reality from fiction.

Is LO a masterpiece? Idk! I enjoy the story, it's very self indulgent for me, but I won't go and analyze every detail to see how it should be labeled as it's not meant to be a perfect media. It's meant to be an entertaining, nice story of romance and it does that job very well. This need to demand perfect writing while also crucifying authors over "dark" themes is ridiculous and contradictory.

And I keep wondering, if these people loathe LO so much, why dedicate all that time to the infinte posts they make about how they would have told the story? And all those re tellings are boring! It's always "So Persephone and Hades won't ever kiss here because she's a lesbian. Also he doesn't appear at all. And Demeter isn't an abusive mom! Oh and everyone is ugly because gods shouldn't be beautiful! And Apollo isn't evil he's uwu baby. And no toxic relationships here, Zeus is a good husband!"

Sweet Gaia, you guys wouldn't handle Saint Seiya having Athena in the body of a teenage girl with big tits and who's constantly in the edge of breaking her virginity vows. These attitude screams of jealousy and puritanism and both are disgusting.

TLDR: LO being too problematic for people is both funny and annoying. I wished it actually were as kinky and dark as people insist it is. I'd pay for a toxic romance, but that being said, I LOVE it very much as it is and it's nice to have a re telling that, while not pretending to be loyal to mythology, didn't went for a route of sanitizing all the myths. I hope that once it ends haters will move on and let real fans and the author alone. 🙏

I feel like there's this kind of... Schrodinger's Aang problem, both in the show and the fandom, that gets to me because Aang is simultaneously presented to be so wide beyond his years, yet the argument that he's a twelve year old kid is trotted out constantly to defend and absolve him of any possible wrongdoing. He's supposedly wise and worldly enough at twelve to preach to Katara about forgiving her mother's killer, but he's also twelve and therefore too young to understand not, yknow, kissing Katara without her consent or blaming a fictional portrayal of her on her. (Obviously both things are examples of Aang just blowing past Katara's emotional and physical boundaries, I don't think it's talked about much how Katara never actually asks Aang for any advice about going to confront Yon Rha, he just comes out swinging, but the show and KA/wider fandom don't treat it that way). Do you think if Aang was written to be even a little older, say Katara's age, this would happen so much, even if the writing stayed the same? Defense of the EiP kiss, for eg, is already awful, but often relies on the "he's just twelve so its 'not that bad'" excuse.

I do think if Aang were older, or more physically imposing, people would recognize these things as Aang disrespecting Katara's boundaries, yes. We have this image that men who behave that way look a certain way and are threatening to women in ways that are easily identifiable. For example, the stereotype of the big angry man or the scary rapist hiding in the bushes, when in reality, most assaults are committed by someone the person already knows, a friend or a boyfriend. Just look at the "Nice Guy" belief and the way it manifests itself in KA vs Zutara discourse. Zuko is the scary bad boy who isn't good for Katara and probably an abuser, while Aang can't possibly hurt Katara because he's "just a kid" and "so nice." The problem is that this kind of rhetoric is entirely manipulative and incredibly coercive, and Aang hurts Katara by the very premise that he's so innocent and wise that she's not allowed to feel hurt by him, and if she does, it must be because there is something wrong with her. That idea, that Katara just doesn't know what is actually good for her and what she wants, and needs Aang to tell her, is implicitly presented in the show both in Ember Island Players and The Southern Raiders. And both episodes use Zuko as the underlying threat that is leading Katara away from good guy Aang.

I reblog so much of Aphblr, I felt the need to share this headcanon of mine (or well, my personal take on Travis from Phoenix Drop High.)

At one point, I had "remade" the characters. Kind of like, reassigning them vibes. Nothing major. It was something I kept in my head or made (Pinterest) boards, and this one document for.

And during these, I headcanoned Travis as trans. Specifically; ftm. I had looked at his wiki, discovered he 'apparently' was originally going to be a girl, and it stuck.

He quickly became my favorite character in my little imagined 'rewrite' besides Aaron and Aphmau. (They were all weird high schoolers being edgy, but mostly themselves, and Aaron and Aphmau resonated the most.)

However, I'd constantly get these imagined thoughts of a nervous Travis experiencing dysphoria, struggling to make friends because he -- didn't want someone to mistake him as a girl. He wanted friends that he felt safe with, that treated him properly, when he was still adjusting.

My idea was, his father was accepting, but they had a deal for him not to transition until he was eighteen. So, he was extremely pre-T and very feminine/flamboyant despite his attempts to man up (under Dante's influence and the gentle pushes from Aphmau.)

I imagined him finding out Katelyn is bisexual, and feeling like he might have a chance with her. But also having an extreme anxiousness that she wouldn't see him as a man, considering she is attracted to women.

I can imagine him not knowing how to tie a tie, and it still being awkward for him to ask his father -- so he asks Dante. Dante takes him under his wing, and it establishes their close relationship and why Travis picks up so much from him. (Although, in this remake, it was Aphmau that helped Travis be more confident around people.)

I imagined Travis using the staff bathrooms to change, and only telling a select few people. Though, he often finds himself mistaken for a girl anyway.

I never decided what his "dead name" would be, in this headcanoned universe of mine because -- it didn't matter? Travis is Travis.

I imagined the moment he opened up to Dante, Aphmau, and a few other friends about his dysphoria and what he struggles with -- really strengthened their bonds.

I'd probably use this as an excuse for him to grow closer to Katelyn due to her acceptance, even if a relationship between them wouldn't work. (Right people, wrong time, for them in high school. But also, all these characters deserved to go out with people, date different people, before settling on each other for life. But, that's not a major fault, it's just something I'd like.)

I don't know, all these posts on here about people's rewrites really brings me joy, and -- allows me to think of my own that I never committed to. Of course, I am working on a world similar to MCD and Mystreet right now, but it is not a rewrite. It's something I did to appreciate the kind of fantasy MCD showed, with some tastes and twists of my own.

...Maybe I'll share the characters from it, one day. :)

Although, more on Travis. This headcanoned version of him was a major Kirby fan. He would often read the fan fiction Aphmau wrote, and get flustered by some of risque themes she would add. And Aphmau would just wiggle her eye brows at him, and they'd both crack up.

(As, this version of PDH Aphmau is a content creator in universe, and a lot less... Innocent? More well-rounded with hobbies and style. She's one of those, 'my mom would kill me if she found out I put make up on at school,' kind of kiddos.)

Maybe I'll write posts about the rest of them, and share more, if people are interested.

While I'm quite happy that for once after Haruka's voting, Kazui's voting changed from forgiven to guilty, which makes things interesting, I honesty think that a guilty vote will not be beneficial at all.

Before actually telling why I personally vote him innocent I want to state that I don't really have an intention to force other people to vote him innocent. This project was done to make everyone vote however they want and I wish to keep it that way. I'm writing this mostly for myself and simply because I want to share my opinion.

I understand why people vote him guilty as his lies made Hinako to realize that she waisted many years of her life, which is truly unfair for her. Not to say how Japan views divorce and treats divorced women.

Also Japan pressures many people to marry as early as possible.

Women especially are a victim of this system. So Hinako's situation is overall very sad.

Men are also pressured into marrying though, so Kazui probably seen an opportunity to settle and have a good life with Hinako, thinking that maybe he'll eventually fall in love with her.

Does it excuse his actions?

No, it doesn't.

I just want to point out that mostly I'm neutral about his case. If I had to vote strictly based on his murder alone, I would simply not vote. I consider them both victims of this system.

The reasons why I vote him innocent though is because he might be helpful in trial 3 and I think that he'll have a character growth.

1.While in his first trial we forgiven his lie, his "fictional" situation and feelings, now, Kazui had showed us more about himself, not really his 100% true self, but still it's more than in trial 1. Basically, by voting guilty, we tell him that he should have continued lying and to live miserable.

I dislike lies and I want him to be more honest with others and himself. I can't see how a guilty verdict might help him on this case. I feel like people don't understand that a guilty verdict doesn't necessarily mean that they will have a massive character growth?? Every prisoner is different and just because for one character a guilty verdict might have helped him doesn't mean that it will apply to everyone. Shidou is a good example, because by voting him innocent I think it was one of the best decisions in trial 1. And again: it's an innocent verdict that helped him, not a guilty one.

2. While we are at Shidou, I want to bring up my second point. The new timeline conversation made me realize how much Kazui is actually needed. Shidou is too worried about the injured prisoners, especially Mahiru, so he doesn't really have time for anything else...

Shidou was voted innocent. Depending on the future votes and the actual votes his job will still be needed, that's for sure. Haruka and Muu were already voted guilty. While I'm not so worried about Muu when it comes to injures (her mental health will be deteriorated for sure...), Haruka is already thinking of how to hurt himself. Even if he'll be restrained, it's not like he would not find a solution to decrease his health. (starvation could be possible). And here I'm talking just for already guilty voted prisoners in this trial. Mahiru and Fuuta will still need some medical treatment, it's not like the damage already done will magically disappear. So Shidou will still be pretty much busy.

But where do I want to go with this? There has to be someone who can keep an eye on the situation and act if it's necessarily. Shidou can't do it, so who else could if not Kazui?

Haruka and Muu, as I stated before, will be the ones that will probably need the most help at the moment.

Fuuta and Mahiru, maybe they could help somehow, at least to lift the mood, but I doubt that considering their injuries and deteriorated mental health(as I said before a forgiven verdict will not completely erase the damage already done). Not sure if they can do very much.

Yuno, as smart and calm she is, would pretty much not want to bother with the situation in prison. However I think she will continue to be a good friend to Mahiru, and help if it's truly necessarily.

Amane is already in a bad mental state, I don't think I have to explain myself.

Mikoto, for him I'm not sure, maybe with an innocent verdict he might actually lift the mood, help Shidou or Kazui(if voted innocent)? But that's pretty much speculation, so it's nothing sure. Mikoto, in his door art looks scared, and has his own worries. (kind of the same situation with Mahiru and Fuuta)

Kotoko it's already isolated in Milgram prison. We haven't heard from her in Milgram timeline post for so long... Also, many people want to vote her guilty this trial. I honestly don't think it would change, even if Milgram reveals something that will put her in a more sympathetic light.

So overall, the only option that we have is Kazui. Milgram trial 3 will sure be awful, I'm 100% sure that they will somehow add more problems and will make everything much worse. If not for Kazui possible character growth, I want to vote him innocent in hopes that the situation in prison will be a little better.

Of course these are just my thoughts , which I wanted to share, so if anyone disagrees it's fine, I would really like to hear the reasons!!

Credits

Sasuke, I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now. I used to think analyzing people’s reactions to the Uchiha genocide was fascinating. I would say to myself “wow, people treat this like it was some kind of ‘both sides were wrong’ type of thing but I’m sure if it was happening in front of them, they would think differently.” WELL. Now a genocide is happening in front of us and people are REACTING THE SAME WAY. “Oh it’s not a genocide, you are being dramatic.” “They deserved it because they’re all evil.” “Is**** has a right to defend itself against terrorists!” Holy moly… Literally word for word. I feel so naive to have believed in humanity as much as i did.

I feel you, my friend. I never talk about these things because I think it might be upsetting if an anime blog starts talking about real life genocides in between joke posts and memes. I also don't like to parallel fictional and real life crimes for fear that people will find it frivolous and offensive. So please, everyone reading this, know that this is not by any means my intention, and that I am not trying to use real life massacres to justify my take in this fandom or anything, I am just answering a friend here.

I don't know what to say, really, I lost all hope in humanity long ago too. But, it baffles me that I keep seeing people around me repeating the bullshit you describe. And it baffles me mostly because I see this coming too from good people that have nothing to win out of this infamy. Now you are thinking that "good people" would never find excuses to turn a blind eye to a genocide, but I can ensure you they are no monsters, they really aren't. They are not indifferent to human suffering, I saw them committed with other causes, I know they wouldn't hurt a fly, so what is wrong with them?

I am no psychologist so, forgive me if I say something dumb. But I think the thing is, reality is just to damn painful. You just can't accept it like that. A genocide, complete and atrocious extermination of a whole group of people, just because? Just based on hate and lies? Just to steal their land? And you are comfortable at your home, safe just out of sheer luck, because you were born in the right moment in the right place. Two very agonizing realities arise when you become aware of this. The first one is that you, citizen of the so-called "free world", convinced during your whole life that you have the voice and the power in your very democratic country, are practically impotent; unable to do anything or to help anyone, unable to even get your government to officially condemn the genocide, let alone to get them to stop sending weapons to the perpetrator. The second one is that you are only safe until your annihilation can be of purpose to the geopolitical interests of some dominant global power.

So, I believe blaming the victim is a defence mechanism to help us convince ourselves that bad things happen for a reason and that we could never be subjected to such cruelty. Similar to when we blame poor starving people for their bad choices, or when we blame women for being raped because, you know, they were dressed like that, they drank or whatever. We want to believe that we know better, that we are safe because we are clever and not because we are lucky, because that would mean our luck could end one day and we could be susceptible to monstrosities any time. And I guess that is unbearable.

And then, of course, we have the media bringing us those excuses. Thoroughly. Picturing the victims as terrorists for defending themselves and the aggressor as a victim with legit reasons to commit a genocide. It is extremely well-thought and intentional, from the language they use to the things that they decide to tell or not. They know very well how to manipulate people and how to redirect their feelings and empathy to fit the goals and interests of the very rich people behind mass media. Many people speak only one language, never left their homes, never met a foreigner. They have access only to mainstream tv channels and newspapers, and they will never believe anything different from what they consider "official". And you would expect something more from educated people, but even the school curriculum is designed to shape your mind in a particular way that fits the political interests of your nation.

And going back to fiction, of course, I understand that people have a right to enjoy whatever they want and like any character they want and this is no reason to judge their morality. But, indeed, like you, I also find parallels between the excuses people give to overlook or justify fictional massacres and the real ones. I guess fiction mirrors reality and this is why, sometimes, we live this fandom a bit to viscerally. Because when you see someone justifying a fictional genocide you imagine them doing the same in reality and, well. As you say, we don't really need to imagine that at all, it is happening.

What Happens at Girl's Night Stays at Girl's Night {b.f/n.t/s.o}

pairing: Robert 'Bob' Floyd/Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace/Samantha 'Cosmo' Ortiz. Past!Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace/Samantha 'Cosmo' Ortiz. kinda insinuated future!Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw/Samantha 'Cosmo' Ortiz

[a/n] alright, this was supposed to go up yesterday but I had such a bad migraine that the idea of looking at a screen was death. I have come to the conclusion that I am going to just post both versions. This is the OC version since I have to go through and reformat some sentences to make it more accessible for everyone.

That being said the oc in here is Samantha "Cosmo" Ortiz, she is a top gun graduate and actual stealth pilot. She grew up with a single dad, who is a USMC vet, in the Bronx after her mother decided that being a mom wasn't for her. She got her callsign from punching another aviator so hard they knocked out, or "saw stars" and the callsign cosmo was born. It's not really mentioned until the very end but she has been friends with Rooster for years, and both act much closer than friends but refuse to do anything about it citing that they are "just friends" and just close..... some real idiots to lovers going on.

I am pretty sure that is all that you really need to know for this, the reader version should be out soon if you don't want to have to change the details in your mind. Love ya'll- Ani<3

p.s- i added in the headcanon that rhett abbot was bob's older brother(so he would be Rhett Floyd) and that they had matching tattoos, no I will not explain myself

Warnings: Minors fuck off- I will end you 18+ only I don't know how to write a threesome, dirty talk, oral (f&m receiving) unprotected p in v sex (this is fiction wrap it before you tap it) kinda ooc in some parts, dirty talk, face sitting, I said bob fucks and ran with it. Not beta-ed we die like real men here

“Girl's Night” is something that Cosmo and phoenix had along with any other female pilots when they needed a break from the never-ending pissing contest that is the navy. After the uranium mission, there was an exception to the “no boys allowed at girls' night” and that exception was none other than Robert “Bob” Floyd, the soft-spoken southern sweetheart. He was quickly taken in by the duo as an honorary member of “The Girls” and whenever they had a tough week the three would go to a bar (that wasn’t the hard deck- they wanted to get away from the navy) and just have a good time. Phoenix and Cosmo learned that after a few drinks Mr. Stealth pilot turned into a completely different person. His southern accent is much more present, he suddenly is a dancer pulling the two onto the dance floor and he talks much, MUCH, more. Talking about growing up on his family’s ranch, his dipshit older brother that rides bulls. It was a completely different part of bob that neither of them has known about, they also found out he knew how to line dance, Phoenix and Bob were naturals while Cosmo, who grew up in the Bronx was just trying not to fall on her ass. 

The two women weren’t better than bob sobriety-wise, Cosmo has had one too many margaritas and she felt like she was floating, not just from the alcohol but from being around two of the people she loves the most. Cosmo and Phoenix had a long history, they were in the academy and top gun at the same time, always vying for first place they had a playful relationship. They would never tell anyone (with exceptions) that they had a sort of… friends with benefits situation for years, after being around navy men for so long you know how much of animals they were, they would sleep with a girl and all you heard the next day was them talking about it- rating how good they were, comparing them to other women, treating them like slabs of meat- it was disgusting. But you still need to burn off steam even as a woman, maybe even more for the amount of bullshit the men put you through. 

Moonlight peaked through the blinds of the empty room, cutting through the silence of the night were hushed moans and harsh pants of breath. Natasha laid against the cheap basic issue sheets body covered in sweat and her hair was undone cascading across the pillow. One hand was gripping the pillow behind her while the other was entangled in Samantha’s light brown hair. Sam was settled between Natasha’s thighs, her hands having to hold her legs apart as her hips jump at every movement of Sam’s mouth against her pussy. They had Bering going at it for a while- the shine on sams mouth was testimony to that, she could spend the rest of her life between her legs hearing Natasha whine and try so hard to be quiet. 

Speaking of being quiet Samantha moved to suck on her clit making Natasha almost scream out in pleasure as she came who knows how many times now. She brought her hand up to bite down on it to muffle herself 

“Aw sweetheart, you gotta stay quiet- your noises are for me- not them” Samantha rasps removing her fingers from Natasha’s wearing hole causing her to whimper. Sam started trailing kisses up from her inner thighs, up Natasha’s stomach and sternum stopping to suckle on her breasts leaving light bites and bruises. The continuing up to Natasha’s lips, the kiss was messy, Natasha moaned tasting herself on Samantha’s lips. She wanted to return the favor but her body felt like a million tons- her bones absolute jello. 

Samantha knew that and was completely fine- she got off just as much as Nat watching her squirm and lost in pleasure. Natasha tried to move and roll her over but Sam stopped her 

“Hey hey hey, it’s ok- just rest” she softly caressed her cheeks as she looked confused “but-“ “I’m fine sweetheart- next time” she kissed her cheek and stood up grabbing a towel to clean up before finding her clothes and sneak back to her room. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow starshine,” Natasha said- her brain finally catching up

“‘Course firebird” Sam winks, fully dressed while slowly opening up the door to sneak out before early patrol catches her. 

It was almost the last call when the trio decided to leave, they all went to bob’s house, he was the only one with off-base housing that was closest to the bar they were at. None of them could drive so one cramped and overpriced Uber the three stumbled to bob’s front door Cosmo almost ate shit on a small step to his porch but caught herself, but that didn’t stop phoenix from wrapping her arms around her muttering- more like slurring something about not letting her pretty little ass fall, to which bob without looking back while trying to unlock his door with little success “there is nothing little about that ass- it is gorgeous” he finally unlocks the door and leans against it to open the door, almost falling himself before turning and making sure the two get in- not missing the large blush that was spread over the two girls face- especially cosmo she was beat red. Bob closes the door after they get in and locks it before walking around the back of the couch that separated the entryway to the living room. Both girls were laying on the couch, cosmo was laying on top of Phoenix as she traced circles on her hips, bob walked over and laid on top of them resting his head right below cosmos' breasts his forehead pressing against the bottom of them pushing them up and teetering on the brink of spilling out of the bra and tight white shirt that she had worn. Phoenix moved her hand to card through bobs messy hair, slightly tugging at the strands as she hits knots. Her hand gets caught on a particularly large one as she tugs he lets out a groan his hands coming up to grip Natasha’s hips and waist his hips moved on their own accord grinding down against Samantha’s plush thighs that had been squeezed into the jeans that she had on. 

The air shifted and Bob looks up at the two women all three had the same fire lit in their eyes 

“Do it again” he all but growls against Samantha’s breasts as Natasha pulls at his hair- more deliberately and he groans again moving to bury his head in Sam’s breasts. Natasha shifts up to slide out from under Sam moving to kneel on the ground next to bob and Cosmo. 

“That was really hot,” Cosmo says grinding her hips against bob. 

“Yeah- who knew Bobby was like this” phoenix tried to tease- but Bob wasn’t having it, he popped his head up Turing to the side a hand shot out pulling Phoenix’s lips to his effectively shutting her up. She moaned into the kiss as he shifted off of Cosmo following Phoenix onto the floor, their lips barely parting enough to get air. 

Natasha grabbed his glasses pulling them off his face and throwing them to the side, both on their knees Nat grabbed onto his hips pulling his body as close as possible, her breasts squished against his toned chest. Bob���s hands roamed under her shirt pushing it up higher over her breast and she helped pull her arms out of the sleeves before disconnecting their lips to toss her shirt off. Bob took that time to reach behind him grabbing onto the back of his shirt and pulling it off in one go. He never worked out without a shirt off or when they played dogfight football-which is a disgrace as he was beautiful, nicely toned but not so over the top ripped like some of the other men, but what was the most surprising was the tattoo that sat on his peck, it was a silhouette of a man riding a bull. Natasha reached behind her to unclip her bra letting it fall to the growing pile of clothes, Bob pulled her back in, this time kissing down the collum of her throat lighting biting her at the conjunction of her neck and shoulder, then moving down to her chest, one hand coming up to knead the tender breast while he takes the other into his mouth. 

While the two of them were making out Cosmo got to watch the show, she had one hand down the front of her jeans rubbing herself through the cotton of her panties. She let out a whimper that made Natasha look over and hold her hand out “get your pretty ass over here” that’s all it took for Samantha to slide onto the floor to crawl over to the duo, her breasts still almost falling out of her top. Natasha tugs at her shirt as a sign to pull it off, Samantha obliges crossing her arms over her front grabbing at the ends of the shirt, and pulling it off, truly showcasing her large breasts, cosmo would say they were a blessing and a curse- sports bra’s were her best friend and main defense against both men and the forces of gravity when it came to her breasts. Natasha tries to say something but is cut off by her loud moan as bob lightly bites down on her nipple. He lets the boob out of his mouth with a pop before looking at the art that is in front of him, his best friends the most gorgeous women on the face of this earth, is absolutely in shambles already….. and they barely have gotten started. Bob moves to give Samantha some attention his hands roaming all over her body, starting at her waist, moving down over her hips, and getting to her ass he takes what can be described as a handful of it, giving it a squeeze before slapping it, making Samantha jump at the action letting out a whine. He reaches behind her with one hand disconnecting her bra and pulling it off before throwing it to the side, he starts doing a similar thing to cosmo that he did to Phoenix fondling one of her breasts while he bites and sucks on the other, with his free hand he slides his hand to the top of Natasha’s pants, undoing them he slides his hand

undoing them he slides his hand down the front moaning against Samantha when his slightly calloused fingers came in contact with Natasha’s slick folds, he pulls back looking at the two of them once again “I've gone died and this is heaven” he croaks out.

Samantha laughs, it was light and airy as she runs her hands down his chest trailing wet kisses as she goes. Her hands made quick work of his belt and jeans yanking them down as far as she could as bob continues his motions with his other hand, his thumb rubbing against Natasha’s clit while his middle finger pushes into her weeping hole. She shudders, leaning back to pull her pants and underwear off then leaning back on her elbows.

Cosmo continued her wet kisses over his hip bones leaving some dark hickeys as a reminder, then starts to mouth his cock through his underwear causing his breath to hitch. He looks down at Cosmo who is resting on her elbows and knees, ass up in the air as she teases him.

“Gah-Please” he all but whimpers bucking his hips against her mouth. He slipped another finger into Natasha’s pussy pumping in and out aiming for the spongey spot, he knows he found it when her back arched and moans

“Is that it-“ he keeps aiming for the same movement and she nods, her eyes screwed shut as she reaches her first climax of the night. “Yeah it is sweetness, oh fu-“ He was so focused on Natasha that he didn’t even notice Cosmo pulling down his briefs until he feels her take the bulbous head of his dick into her mouth sucking on just the tip before taking it out and licking up the shaft pressing her tongue flat against the vein that runs up his dick. Once she gets back to the tip she takes him back into her mouth, this time sinking as far as she could; he was bigger than anyone she had been with, both fairly long and girth as all hell, her jaw ached as it stretched around him. Before she could try and use her free hand to wrap around what hadn’t fit he bucks up into her mouth making her gag.

“Fuck- she sucks dick so well” Natasha moans at the sight of her closets friend sucking her other friend off

“That she does- shit-“ Bob digs his hand into Samantha’s hair before starting to move her head up and down his cock.

Tears well in Samantha’s eyes as she focuses on sucking him off as he controls the pace, Her free hand comes up to massage his balls.

He feels himself start to get close then pulls cosmo off of his dick making her whimper, he shuts her up quickly “No no honey, if I am cuming it's in one of your pussies, got it-“ the fire behind his eyes has both of them nodding. “Good” Bob pulls off his pants along with cosmo, who was absolutely soaked, he could see the glistening on the inside of her thighs. He got an idea and tapped Natasha’s leg pulling his hand away from her

“Com’ere, I want you to sit on my face” Natasha almost came just from his words, he lays back on the floor as Natasha moves to put her thighs on either side of his face, she was facing Samantha, reaching out for her, she grabs the sides of Samanthas face pulling her into a messy kiss moaning into her mouth as bob pulls her against his mouth licking up and down Natasha's cunt circling her clit before thrusting his tongue back into her core. Samantha and Natasha continue to make out while sam grinds her bare cunt against bob’s dick, her juices mixing with the precum that leaked out of the head of his dick, Bob's groans are muffled and the sounds coming from all three of them are truly lewd, the slick sounds of Samantha and bob, and the whimpers and screams of pleasure muffled from Natasha as she starts to feel the knot start to tighten in her lower stomach. Sam pulled away from Nat letting Natasha’s noises echo in the room.

Cosmo finally takes bobs dick in her hand now slick and lines it up with her entrance. She starts to lower herself down and lets out an almost pornographic moan at the stretch, she had to pause letting herself get used to just how big he was. She soon sunk down farther, rolling her hips down until she sat flush against him. Bob grunts out still licking and sucking on Natasha's clit, one hand gripping onto her thigh and the other returning to thrusting into her. Her moans grow higher in pitch and more frequent as she reaches her peak. Sam starts rolling her hips her breaths were short like they were being pushed out of her chest every time she sunk back onto his cock, it felt like he was in her stomach.

As Natasha starts to come down from her second orgasm, her legs were already twitching she pulled away swinging her leg over to rest her back against the couch watching Sam place her hands behind her griping bob’s thighs as she bounces on his lap. Both of them start to get close, bob sits up moving Samantha to shift on his lap. Her legs were now untucked laying out on either side of his waist, one arm wrapping around her back and grabbing onto the back of her neck pulling her forehead to rest against his as he plants his feet more- now thrusting up into her but still rolling his hips in time with her’s. He looks down and you couldn’t see where one person ended and the other began, but he did notice something- every time he thrust in a little bump formed above her pubic area- he really was in so deep you could see the head of his cock. That lit a new fire in him.

“Shit- Darlin, so tight you can see me up in your stomach- so fucking perfect.” Samantha whines, the only thing coming out of her mouth a high-pitched “Ah. Ah. Ah” in time with each of bob’s thrusts. She hurries her head into the space between his neck and shoulder and her hand's grip onto his shoulders as the knot at the base of her stomach tightens, her cunt clenches up and bob bites down on her shoulder “You're squeezing me so good baby- so good, you gonna cum for me? Yeah… yeah you are- fuck such a good girl princess” his voice is so low and gravelly it was all she needed as her nails dig into his skin scratching the skin of his back, the knot snaps and she yells out as her pussy contracts as much as it could stretched around him. He didn’t slow down- he did the opposite pushing her back onto her back grabbing onto the backs of Samantha's knees bending her almost in half and starts pounding into her core. This whole time Natasha’s hand trailed between her legs as she started to rub her clit again.

Not allowed time from the first climax Samantha hits her second orgasm, this time it felt different as she soaks his dick, pubic area, and upper thighs. The only sound was the wet slapping of skin on skin, Samantha’s squeals of overstimulation, and bob’s grunts as he reaches his climax pushing in as deep as he can as he cums, his body shuddering as he coats her insides filling her to the brim. He stills, not pulling out for a second letting his breathing calm down before finally pulling out and watching his cum start to leak out of cosmo’s hole. He wipes up what leaks out before pushing it back inside of her. Samantha squeals still coming down from the endorphins swimming in her brain.

Natasha scoots closer, placing soft kisses over Samantha's flushed skin, what she didn’t notice was that bob was still hard, how- god only knows he just gave both of them two mind-blowing orgasms each and he still wants to go. His hand runs up the back of Natasha’s thighs fingers running through her still soaked folds and she moans “Fuck bob” and lays down resting her head on cosmo’s stomach on her knees- basically presenting herself for him. A deep laugh rumbles from his chest as bob grips Natasha’s hips sliding into her in one stroke. He wasn’t going as slow, right from the gate he sets a powerful pace, hips snapping against hers. Natasha made eye contact with Samantha as bobby pounded into her. The fucked out expression on both of their faces just made it all the more hotter. Nat spreads Samantha's thighs once more looking at her abused pussy, all red and puffy and dripping with bob’s cum.

Bob watched as Natasha started licking a stripe up Samantha's core licking and sucking up all of her nectar and his cum that was spilling out of her hole. He moaned speeding up his thrusts as both women moan. The grip he has on nat’s hips is sure to cause bruising but they all were marked up, he was still sensitive from his last orgasm and he felt himself already start to get closer to the edge, he reaches around and starts playing with Natasha’s clit, her moans grow higher and higher pitch as she is pushed over the edge for the third time, this time she did something she had never done- she squirted just like cosmo had done earlier. Her hips moved on their own accord and bob wasn’t able to hold back once nat clenched up on him, he pushed in as deep as he could, pushing her further into the floor grunting as the rope of cum coated Natasha’s insides. Cosmo came for the third time watching the two of them come undone coating Natasha's face in her release.

The three of them lay there soaked in sweat panting on the floor as the sun started to rise over the horizon. They truly fucked all night long. After what seemed like forever bob gets up and with little issue picks both women up and walks through the small house to his bedroom laying them down and climbing in bed along with them. They easily curl up against each other pulling the blankets over their bodies and drifting off to sleep.

It was well into the late morning or early afternoon when they started to wake up, Cosmo was the first- head pounding and the rest of her body felt like she was ejected out of her jet. She looks around her surroundings and notices the other two people in bed with her- and their lack of clothes reminds her very quickly of the events of last night, causing a blush to form over her features. Luckily she can slip out of bed grabbing a shirt that is definitely bob’s and walks out into the rest of the house with the plan of making breakfast and some coffee for the other two, but before that she showers through bob’s medicine cabinet for some pain killers and leaves the bottle on the night table with a full glass of water.

Once the other two wake up making the same connections of the events of the night before, they both take the painkillers that cosmo had left out and walked out to the kitchen, following the smell of coffee and breakfast, no one mentions what happened because……

What happens at girl's night, stays at girl's night.

Two days later.

The daggers set up a last-minute beach day and dogfight football. It was nothing out of the ordinary, everyone running across the sand, taking breaks to sit and drink beer. Until about halfway through the third game cosmo got pushed into a wave by Coyote soaking the shirt she was wearing. The fabric now clinging to her body she pulls the sopping piece of fabric off of her tossing it to the side. Completely forgetting about the bruises, hickeys, and marks that covered her chest, waist, and hips. She didn’t even notice until the boys (sans Rooster and Bob) started making a commotion letting out wolf whistles and praises

“Aye- yo what do we got here” “Someone had a fun past few days” “YEA get it, Cosmo!”

Her face heated up a little but she just shrugged it off rolling her eyes from under her Roosters sunglasses “Hey hey- not my fault I’m getting laid and your not boys” she laughs and then everyone focuses back on the game. Yet if you were to have looked closely you would have seen sweet little ole bob go as red as a tomato the second he saw her take off the shirt….. and a certain morning bird clenches his jaw and fists- eyes trailing over the lustful marks then back to the glasses, his glasses sitting on her face. It took everything in him not to finally make a move on his best friend that he has been in love with for longer than he would like to admit. But he does know- there is no way he is gonna let someone else touch his Stardust-

Thinking about... elves and dwarves. Plus, gender.

Post-Tolkein, post-D&D depictions of elves and dwarves in popular fantasy stories have an interesting contrast. They almost always come in a pair, typically with an established cultural rivalry to boot, which makes sense. Though both long-lived non-human humanoids with great skill for combat and craftsmanship, they're opposites in a lot of ways: short and squat vs tall and skinny, subterranean industrialists vs arboreal ecologists, gruff and direct vs gentle and patronizing... and one is typically very strongly masculine, the other very strongly feminine.

It's common for both dwarves and elves to be given very little sexual dimorphism. Curiously, though, it's usually only the elves who get described with words like "androgynous." Mentions of the limited dimorphism of dwarves usually only come about through jokes about bearded ladies. Where are the dwarf women? Not in the Hobbit or LOTR. Not in Snow White, I don't recall in Narnia. Some movies don't mention dwarf women in the first place, leaving it open that they may be off-screen or just may not exist. But still, think of how many male elves you've seen on-screen. Compare that to zero female dwarves. Isn't it odd?

Even a lot of video games and TTRPGs that do include female dwarves often pull back significantly from the supposed androgyny of dwarves, giving them roughly the same dimorphism as humans (with the downside of making female dwarves hard to tell apart from a curvier halfling). They usually let elves keep their feminine androgyny, though. The feminine elf men are fine, they're often sex symbols even, but masculine dwarf women are consigned to be off-screen or de-masculinized. Why are they not worthy of depiction?

It's like... the androgynous elf man is still allowed masculinity, his maleness can't be revoked. Some viewers might see him as less-than a more masculine hero, but his femininity also makes other viewers see him as more sexually desirable or available, so it balances out. The feminine elf man is still a man, if not the manliest. The feminine elf woman and masculine dwarf man present no questioning. The masculine dwarf woman, though, is hardly worth even being depicted.

There's some horrible implicit misogyny that says that a woman who is perceived as masculine has no place, saying: "The dwarf woman can't or shouldn't compete with the dwarf men for cool action shit because a man would be better, and her masculinity makes her undesirable as a woman." But we hunger for the taboo, or at least flirt with it, so we throw in a joke about bearded ladies. "A woman who needs to shave, how ludicrous!" and then everything moves on. Even the elf women are allowed to do some cool action shit, as if they've "earned" some agency by over-performing femininity. Dwarf women don't even get to exist.

I feel for the dwarven bearded ladies. A woman deemed tainted by masculinity isn't allowed to exist in a cis-hetero-patriarchal society. You're not a man, but you're too ugly to be a real girl. You're forced into the shadows, acknowledged only for jokes or derision. Presumably the hidden dwarf women still exist, still labour and laugh and love in dwarven communities, but out of sight. Out of mind. "Maybe," they say, "you can do the work of a real girl, just not as well. We'll let you, just as long as you remember where you stand, and you don't shame us by existing too much in public." That's the fate of the masculine woman, the clocky broad: You get to be treated like a woman for all the bad stuff, but your very existence will be denied if it might benefit you, with the rare sole degrading exception of the bearded-lady circus act.

In short: There should be more dwarven women, unapologetically as masculine and bearded as advertised. But we won't get that in fiction unless society can change to accept the lesser-than women that already exist. Misogyny (+lesbophobia, misogynoir, transmisogyny, intersexism and other very relevant intersections) is still a powerful force preventing that. Be nice to a bearded lady today. Or a lady who recently shaved. Give them both 100 dollars. Do anything, IDK.

was tagged to answer @callivich's questions by @jrooc and @lingy910y! thank you thank you 🙏 also i got rambly and nsfw please forgive me.

What’s a fic you’ve read more than once? we drag ourselves hand over hand by jesuisgourde. i read it for the first time pretty recently and i've read it at least five or six times since. there's untagged major character death, okay? there’s uncertainty and hope and grief and anger. it is well written and feels authentic. there’s also sweetness and family and love. it is Fucking Sad. it is painful. but it’s so worth it! no one needs to know how many times i've read the taming of mickey milkovich by @whatthebodygraspsnot it's between me and god. but if you’re into upset mickey acting out and ian being rough and sweet all at the same time and setting things straight and hot bjs, you should also read it. and i have only indecent things to say about and i'm your warm receiver by @metalheadmickey FAVE. i think i commented something about secondhand subspace and i am not kidding. it does things to me.

also cooperative gameplay by grayola. i've only read it twice but i'm new here and it's long so it feels like a thing.

What’s a gifset you always have to reblog? you may have noticed i will always reblog mickey's brown sweater. haters are WRONG. and the 5x10 dugouts scene because bloody kisses are hot and i love fictional violence. and also that scene in the hallway with that fucking purple robe. i can't remember the episode but it’s the scene where ian looks like he's gonna devour mickey and mickey is just having the time of his life.

What’s a headcanon you can’t stop thinking about? thinking about mickey and the gallaghers all the time. mickey and carl are besties and they do the dumbest, shadiest shit together. i think they like exploding things and playing with fire and pulling off semi-dangerous pranks. they love to shoot together (ian isn't allowed to come because he's better than they are). they have the same taste in video games and they are insufferably competitive. they're both the biggest softies with animals (the whole cat thing in s1 never happened in this house). actually they're both just huge softies in general. like they're all family oriented but i think lip tried to impose his will cause he thinks he knows best and will try to Teach Lessons. and debbie struggles sometimes because her siblings have been assholes to her at times and i think she might want to reciprocate sometimes. and ian is torn between finally prioritizing himself and mickey sometimes. but i think carl and mickey are just no questions asked generous and showing tf up regardless of how they feel about a situation because that's what family does. and also they are chaos uncles and don't even try to hide it. they're giving the kids sweets at all hours and toy guns and encouraging rough play. when the kids are teens they're the ones giving them their first beers and telling them they're overpaying for weed. they're gonna be on speeddial to pick them up from parties and the police station. i also think that when carl leaves policing (because just no) and ian finds what makes him happy, carl joins mickey in security. mickey and debbie are legit close friends. mickey doesn't like to talk to mandy about his relationship b/c she always takes ian's side or makes assumptions about mickey because of their past. but debbie is a great sounding board and i think mickey is good for her too. they're honest with each other in a very matter-of-fact way. mickey appreciates having someone besides ian really consider him. debbie likes being treated like a capable adult. and mickey respects her and takes an interest in her job. and they both feel strongly about self-advocating, ie not taking any shit. whatever weirdness the gallaghers had about debbie's sexuality mickey DOES NOT. i think they go out to gay bars together sans ian and have beers. and mickey will tease debbie about her taste in women but also be her wingman. he’s surprisingly good at it and can actually pick out good matches for her. they tag team planning family events and eventually rope in tammi. they make the holidays so nice and fun and start new traditions.

What’s a fanart you love looking at? literally anything from @darthvaders-wife. i went to patreon for her uncensored kinktober stuff but her notting hill comic is so good i cry. also really enjoying @gallavichonly's style esp their mickey. the energy is just perfect! and i think about @harukanaaaa's baby ian often. he's so precious.

What’s something you’ve discovered since entering this fandom? A new trope you love? A different analysis of the show? Something else? 🐙. shameless gave me so many Disappointments and Sorrows that it's taken my fandom consumption to new lows. in a good way! gallavich's canon development is so goddamn tragic that fic writers can put them in any hurt/comfort/sick/angsty/death situation and i will enjoy it and ask for more.

What’s an underrated trope or concept you’d like to see more of? mickey's floopy hair and million layers and cutoff shirts and his whole Deal immediately read so queer to me. it may just be me. i want his aesthetic. anyway i love gnc/trans mickey. also aging, hairier, and/or chubby husbands. i love cam's abs and noel's tiny waist as much as the next guy but sometimes i want ian and mickey's bodies to be as soft as their hearts. they're so horny for each other i just think they'd both be into there being more flesh to grab and bite. and i want graying hair and wrinkles and glasses and sex that's maybe less acrobatic but just gets nastier and more intimate. also i need ian 'i love smells' gallagher to drag his face through mickey's sweaty armpits more often and give mickey chest hair cause ian loves rubbing against that too. and i want mickey pulling on ian's beard and playing with his leg hair. idk i'm just thinking about their soft bellies and sweat-matted happy trails rubbing together. look i'm a little worked up about them and perpetually horny. someone should stop me because i am embarrassing!! also we need more fisting. as much as we love ian's hands, mickey loves them more and he is not scared. put one inside him.

What’s a plot hole you wish had been answered or resolved? why didn't we get them dealing with 3x06? what happened to yevgeny? was he mickey's or not? and regardless, how did mickey and ian deal with losing him? why'd they do svet so dirty? she just wanted stability and family and honestly i think svet+gallavich and svet+kev and v were both promising dynamics. hated the way they wrote fiona out. and then never mentioned her? i wanted more gallagher siblings screen time and i specifically mean ian, debbie, carl, and liam. i still don't understand what happened with the house. carl's money paid for it but in fiona's name. then she gave it to debbie? lip couldn't have sold it no matter who sided with him so what was the point of that storyline? also s10-11 were all over the place tonally.

I am about to embark upon reading Jane Eyre for the first time. Do you have any opinions/knowledge to share about the book? all I know about it is something-something-colonialism, something-something-locked his wife in an attic. So I'm curious what other people think about it.

AHHHHHHHH. Ahem. I am delighted to be asked this question. I have numerous opinions, and some knowledge. Colonialism and the attic are of course part of it, but there is A Lot Going On Here. I shall attempt to be brief. I shall almost certainly fail. Here we go.

I think both Jane Eyre as a novel and Jane Eyre as a character are really great. And I think Charlotte Brontë is doing fascinating things in the novel with how she examines gender, religion, vocation, class, and -- not least -- colonialism. In fact, I’d be very comfortable saying that the novel is attuned to the structural sins of colonialism (and, for that matter, patriarchy. And, not least, organized Christianity) in ways that many adaptations have not been. Colonialism + Jane Eyre would be a whole essay (it is, in fact, a whole subfield) so I’m going to focus on Jane herself here.

Jane herself (who can certainly, I think, be read as both bisexual and biracial, or either) is one of the most satisfying fictional women I know. Her sense of self and her sense of ethics are at the steely core of this novel. To quote her own words, she is poor, plain, obscure, and little... and she is also extremely intelligent and extremely passionate. I firmly believe that she and Rochester have the kinkiest sex of any couple in 19th-century English literature. And yes, that includes John Thornton and Margaret Hale. Jane is, from a very early age, full of blazing anger against all systems of oppression, and has a very clear-eyed refusal to pretend that injustice is anything other than it is. Several decades before Huck Finn, she tells a clergyman to his face that by his standards, she probably is going to his hell, and she doesn’t care. I love her so so much. She is intelligent and wise, and also keenly aware of her unusual, almost liminal social status. She’s been raised in a household of the gentry, but treated there as a servant. At her boarding school, she was raised from a pupil to an instructor. And now, with her skills in art and history and languages, she’s a governess: not of the housekeeper’s station nor of her master’s. Jane is a very solitary little figure, until she meets the man who says to her “here is my equal and my likeness.” Hot damn, I would also marry anyone who said that to me, even if I were not a 19th-century governess, but I also believe it is important that Jane has time to be independent, to be on her own, to make a full and useful life in which she is “not unhappy” (sob) before she comes back to a life that is not only full but rich: in which she can say of her husband “we are flesh of each other’s flesh and bone of each other’s bone,” in which she can be happy in her friends and her home and her own household as a place of the kindness and generosity and joy that she was starved of for so long.

That was a run-on sentence, but you take, I trust, my point. I have not said much about Edward Fairfax Rochester, broody misanthropic problematic science nerd, but I have a whole mini-essay on him here. There is also some really interesting stuff going on with Romanticism and spirituality and religion, and also nature. The book in its first edition was condemned as irreligious, and Charlotte Brontë had to defend it in the second: “Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last.” Go OFF Charlotte. Anyway... I hope you love the book. It’s one of my favorites.

The problem plaguing cishet romance and the biggest advantage queer romance has over it: A sociology of literature analysis on the history and prevalence of the romance genre

I've gotten some feedback where people have expressed that they thought they didn't like romances but later found out they liked queer romances. I thought it would be fun to go over some inherent differences between cishet and queer relationships in fiction and how they came to be. I've chosen to use cishet instead of straight because I want to make it clear that these things don't necessarily apply if someone in a straight romance is confirmed not to be straight, and they definitely don't apply if one or both are trans.

As usual, I hope you enjoy this.

So, what is the biggest problem with cishet romances? Its ubiquity. The type of relationships depicted in those stories wouldn't be half as problematic if they weren't so prevalent. It'd be one thing if a few stories had some questionable, to say the least, relationships portrayed positively. After all, countless stories have some questionable things in them that go unnoticed by the narrative, but that doesn't mean that people who like those stories can't tell that those things aren't commonplace. Nor does it have to mean that there’s any harm in those people believing those things were accurately portrayed. The times this becomes a problem is when the portrayal of something questionable becomes so widespread that people start to think that it's odd for them not to have this thing in their lives or when a popular work inaccurately portrays something that's already poorly understood and highly stigmatized. This, inversely, is also the main argument against setting requirements for one specific story since one story isn't going to change the world, no matter how popular. Storytelling is one of the most collective forms of expression there is, so what really matters is how much effect it has on other storytellers. Not to mention the role fandoms have in normalizing queer identities as someone who has previously been sheltered learns about different people’s experiences through a common interest.

So, how did cishet become so prevalent? Well, for starters, there used to be a time when a man and a woman getting together was seen as a societal obligation, and whether or not the people involved even liked each other wasn't a concern to anyone. There was also some method to their madness, as this sort of arrangement worked quite well for the societal structure at the time. It made sense to create stories where the justification for someone getting together is that they're a boy and a girl because that was the main requirement in the eyes of society. If anything, the stories often portrayed people choosing to marry someone for their personality, which many historians would say wasn't something people did. At least not typically. Though, who's to say? It's a lot easier to find out what people in the past did than why. The bottom line is that cishet relationships were so prevalent in stories because they were stupidly prevalent within society.

Then there’s the way a lot of cishet relationships are depicted in fiction. It tends to imply what a desired relationship should be like, which at best creates unreasonable expectations and sometimes straight up encourages girls and young women to seek out traits in men that ain’t healthy. Some of the most prominent of these are anger issues, controlling behaviors, and possessiveness. This, too, used to serve a function. How good of function that was is debatable, but the point still stands. Portraying these traits as manageable, at the very least, was a way to prepare girls to be married away to someone who might not treat them the best. Stories managed to do this by reassuring them they could tame their new husbands. The whole “I can fix him” mentality evolved from this. Telling someone repeatedly that they can fix someone by making them fall in love with them tends to make them believe it. This somewhat common delusion results from centuries upon centuries of multi-generational gaslighting. Long ago, believing this could be seen as a form of copium since girls at the time usually didn’t have much of a say in who they got promised away to and were stuck with that person until one of them kicked the bucket. Nowadays, in all the places where girls and women, or those perceived as such, ain’t forced into relationships, this mentality causes nothing but trouble. It should go without saying that if someone doesn’t treat others well, they are not relationship material.  

However, it’s worth noting that this has become less of an issue in recent years as there has been a decline in romance in pop culture, particularly in movies. There’s also been a rise in queer romances in more wide-reaching stories, and male/female relationships have gotten healthier depictions. Although a lot of those consist of people who are not straight, so they’re technically queer relationships too. The only place those outdated ideas consistently persist is in stories targeted toward people who are already used to those kinds of depictions.

Speaking of queer relationships, when it comes to fiction, they tend to avoid these issues. So, why is that? Well, for starters, despite what some bigots might say, it’s a lot harder to avoid being exposed to straight attraction than gay attraction. Many commercials are, in particular, needlessly straight. Also, there isn’t a precedent for two people of the same gender or anyone who isn’t perceived as a man and a woman to be obligated to get together. This leads to authors being less likely to either write or be asked to write a queer romance for the sake of it, which means that the romances in stories that feature queer relationships tend to be more deliberate. Then there’s the casual sexism that’s often brushed off in cishet romance that will more than likely come off as odd if it appeared in a romance between two people of the same gender. For example, it’s not too uncommon for one of the main characters in cishet romances to have had some unfortunate encounters with someone of a different gender, and the character does that thing where they think everyone within a group is the same. Try having a female character think that all women cheat without guaranteeing that it’s going to give someone pause. Unfortunately, internalized misogyny is very much a thing, but the point is that it’s not something people are just going to shrug off.

When it comes to how healthy queer relationships are depicted, it varies greatly from story to story, but when these relationships are extremely toxic, it’s rarely done by accident. There might be some cases where people who have internalized that guys show affection by easily getting angry and being controlling and possessive could see a man being abusive to another man and not see a problem with it. The stories themselves rarely seem to depict a toxic relationship as anything other than a toxic one.

Lastly, the main characters in queer romances rarely seem to be reluctant to spend time together. That’s not to say they always like these others from the get-go, but that one of them is more likely to contemplate murder than think about how they’ll have to be in the other’s vicinity for an extended period of time. If one or more of them has something against the other, it also tends to last only as long as it takes for them to get to know each other. These characters quickly grow fond of each other compared to their cishet counterparts. Forget about spending half a novel for one of them to find out they were wrong about the other; it usually takes a couple of conversations at maximum before they start to enjoy each other’s company. It’s not clear why this is, but it is hilarious to think about.

i read the last chapter and it was AMAZING! i love these characters so much. YULE BALL DID NOT COME TO PLAY. it did have me slightly owrried, and u can choose to not answer this, but should we be worried about daphne causing issues between hermione and draco?

Hey, thank you! I'm so glad you liked it!

So, the shortest answer is, I can't tell you that without spoiling the fun. The slightly less short answer is — actually, hang on, I'm going to give you the less short answer under a cut.

Okay, cool, spoiler liability waived. The less short answer is: yeah, probably! I mean, at the risk of being too cheeky, there have to be problems for there to be a story, right?

Long answer, though, because I think I get what you mean: there's this really old cliché where girls in fiction can only be friends if there's no possibility of them being romantic rivals — like, if one or both of them is taken, or if one is the sister of the other's love interest, or if they have different sexual orientations — and it goes hand-in-hand with the classic conflict of "girls are catty to each other because they like the same boy," which is a pretty tired trope, and doesn't terribly interest me. At least, I'm interested in taking it a level deeper than "women be crazy," because usually, when women are romantic rivals, the actual tension isn't even about the man at all, it's about the way women are perceived in perpetual competition for male validation and are encouraged to treat romance as The Defining Quest of female existence.

It's also not how I see Hermione, necessarily. Does she get jealous? Sure, man. Absolutely. She's a teenager. Does she get catty? Yeah, sometimes! Does she have a little bit of difficulty connecting with other women, especially women who are more feminine or less academically oriented than she is? Totally! Is that probably due to some internalized misogyny that she may even be aware of and yet still can't overcome? I think so!! And most of all, I think exploring those ideas is more interesting than yet another story where two girls hate each other for no reason except that they're competing for a boy's attention. Hermione is irritated by Daphne, but on some level, she understands that neither Daphne nor Draco is the reason she's feeling badly; or, rather, they are, but it's not something they're doing on purpose. One of the big things Hermione's taking away from the Yule Ball experience was the realization that if she doesn't ask for what she wants, she can't expect to get it, and that means she's going to have to put on her big girl boots and get better at expressing her desires. We see this in how her attitude towards Draco changes drastically from the start to the end of the chapter — mostly because (a) she had a good night and realized the date thing Wasn't That Deep, but also (b) she might've realized that he does care for her — he dances with her, he helps her to bed — and, crucially, so does Daphne! Who spends Chapter 43 trying to metaphorically windmill her arms and throw out every signal she can, like: Hey, we're not rivals! I know I kind of fucked this up, but I really want to be your friend here, I swear!

At the end of the day, Daphne is a new initiate to a cliquey friendgroup, and she's the first person to join the Gryffindor Four who has a significant amount in common with Draco. Moreover, Draco hasn't really brought anyone into the friendgroup before — he's always been a satellite to the main three, heavily leaning toward Hermione's end (it's kind of hard to imagine that he'd be friends with Harry or Ron if Hermione hadn't been first). So, naturally, she's the most sensitive to it when she feels that balance shifting, and he becomes a more central locus in the group, especially since Daphne shares things with Draco that none of the other Gryffindors do (and that Hermione, in particular, very much does not). Draco doesn't really care about that — I think it's fairly obvious that Draco's feelings for Daphne are totally platonic, even brotherly, if anything — but Hermione is attentive to it, and it plays into her insecurities. So, yeah, it does cause issues, but not the kinds of issues that make everyone act insufferable and OOC. (In my opinion, anyway. You'll have every right to judge for yourself, and I hope you end up agreeing with me.)

btw, as the anon who talked about nonverbal assistive devices regarding kaie (saying this because i saw someone else sharing my words :') thank you very much), i will say that i believe that nagi also falls under the category of person who cannot be ignored even by non-autistic people. i have not met a single fan who did not find something "off" about nagi. whether they celebrated it or found it a reason to consider her a weirdo or even annoying, and whether or not they recognised it as "autistic", it seems pretty much everyone who plays the game DETECTS NAGI'S NEURODIVERGENCE in a similar fashion to kaie's. nagi is another AMAZING example of neurodivergence in fiction: autistic characters are typically MALE rather than FEMALE, and female autistic characters are almost ALWAYS shown as either "hyper-competent beyond typical means" (the genius hacker stereotype, for instance) or as "bumbling ineffectual losers" (most 'fangirl' type characters). in almost all cases their autistic traits are used to moeify them, make them "larger than life" (again re: geniuses) in ways that most irl autistic people cannot do, and/or render the helpelss and dependent on a (typically male) player through traits such as anxiety or not understanding social cues.

nagi is an amazing example of an autistic version who GETS TO KEEP HER SPECIAL INTEREST and even has her dedication to her special interest being something that HELPS HER BECAUSE SHE HAS A SPECIAL INTEREST, NOT IN SPITE OF IT, with her special interest helping OTHERS as well. instead of not understanding social cues, she is the MOST EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT IN THE GROUP (as autistic people often are, especially girls and women, when they have had to cope their whole lives) yet still is unable to avoid "appearing autistic" to others, as seen in her dialogue and even in her battle lines, where she gets half the cast (rindo, beat, and sho) to comment on her screeching. she often has on the "wrong expression" during cutscenes, appearing troubled at happy times or sneering at sad times. and all of these are treated as aspects of herself rather than something that she needs to fix or improve.

her autistic traits are shown to both harm her (her hyperempathy makes her nearly drown in the "ocean of despair" of feelings during W3, or her difficulty in dealing with unannounced change made her melt down during her introduction, or how the social network talks about other EleStra fans who being her aura overwhelming and intimidating) and also help her (her dedication to EleStra repeatedly allowed her to compartmentalise her feelings in ways that i have done MANY times to deal with later at a time when it would be personally safer to melt down, and even fret is amazed at her ability to help others through saying the right thing -- good and bad to hyperempathy!).

furthermore, nagi is a main character present throughout the game. she isn't a mega genius. she doesn't do anything that a "typical person" cannot do. her autistic traits contribute to her powers (i.e. Dive is EASILY an extension of her hyperempathy) but 'autism is not her superpower', rather her autistic traits are simply part of her, informing her abilities in the way that all the other characters' traits inform their abilities instead of that being the "point" of her character. she just gets to exist and be autistic and that's really cool.

i can't tell you how incredible it is to have a "wacky" character with tons of autistic traits who is also the most emotionally mature in part because of these "wacky" traits.

i love both kaie and nagi to death. but i had to pick nagi for this one.

anon, i love you so much. the person who shared your words on the poll was me on my main, and even though i ended up voting kaie, this is exactly why i've wanted her to win since the start and why she's my #1 seed, even of the top 4. i've been trying to keep my personal opinions off this blog but it's the final round and there's genuinely no losing here. both options are incredible and important and represent and under-represented group of autistic people. genuinely the best final matchup we could have gotten, i think.

At least, Cersei is the one to refuse to go public with their incestous relationship and isn’t out there proposing to marry Myrcella to Tommen, unlike Saint Jaime who call his sister ‘queen of whores’, treat her as his property, and victim-blame her (I tell you, he [Robert] loves me not/And whose fault is that, sweet sister ?), and never spare a thought for Tysha (or Bran for that matter), but thats normal, its because he’s a feminist and teenage girl-coded. No wonder he has some sympathy for Criston Cole, lmao. Do people genuinely believes Jaime is a victim of patriarchy and that his gender doesn’t favor him over Cersei ?? Insane. Can’t wait for him to die. It’s 2023, Jaime isn’t Adam and Cersei isn’t Eve, dude is a misogynistic, racist and hyperprivileged white man and his father’s golden boy. Funny how you all talk like Green/Criston’s stans when it comes to Cersei and Jaime.

*EDITED POST* (9/21/23)

Probably from this recent post that itself has 3 links to other posts where I talk about Cersei as a character.

Um...when did I ever either imply or directly say that Jaime was "a victim of patriarchy and that his gender doesn’t favor him over Cersei"? Or express that he was better than his sister, morally? Or express that Cersei deserved to die more than he did?

Perhaps you have that impression because I never talked about Jaime exclusively once, or you're just going off of what you recently read and horribly misinterpreted the purpose and argument of that post. If the latter, I advise you to reread. If the first, I don't write about Jaime much simply because he doesn't interest me as much as Cersei or Tyrion, no one asked me my thoughts about him, and I'm not thinking of him apart from his relationship with Cersei or Tyrion. His knighthood and masculinity are...not "easy", but direct enough for me to not dwell as much as his other siblings' issues. (look to this post by blankwhiteshield about Jaime) I generally care more about women, children, and other marginalized people in fiction, even when I do sympathize with some white cis straight men some of the time.

I mean pre-Brienne Jaime. That's just how GRRm wrote his arc.

For me, blankwhiteshield's posts about Jaime HERE and HERE both suffice to give me a picture of who Jaime is bc they fill in some blanks I had in my pre-existing assessment of Jaime. Which actually wasn't favorable, anon. I find Jaime to actually be very annoying, and no, I do not think that he is Cersei's victim. He is deluded in some ways as much as her and is not a good person because of the abuse and emotional neglect they all get from Tywin/Westerosi society. I actually should have, since again, there were blanks. You can take a look at those links as well.

Look, Cersei is evil & abusive AS WELL AS a victim of domestic abuse woman & of misogyny since childhood. These are not mutually exclusive nor does it NOT mean that her domestic abuse only and directly caused her power-hungriness and need to control if not every, most aspect of her life and those she sees will help her get or maintain control and a good image of herself. Neither the abuse nor misogyny against her erases the fact that she develops hatred towards women, going so far as to violently and sexually objectify them like w/Taena. (Her using what she's observed men do to affirm power and copying it). Or that she pinched her baby brother's penis at a very young age, showing her classist and blase willingness to target children/one of the most vulnerable groups for her own sense of control over her husband, family, etc., and political power. She is also very willing to sacrifice/risk the entire city for her own control of power, similar to Aerys II. Cersei is complicated and there is nuance to her character, but she is unmistakably evil simultaneously. What I like about her or what I find compelling about her (if you haven't read the post about it) is that I can understand her motivations, and relate in some ways, and from practically babyhood she's been trying to be essentially "good enough" and perfect through external, social values of competency BUT also as someone has said: her need for perfection and power and total love comes across as pure in its own sort of twisted way. Her emotions are so intense and uncontrolled and she remains totally unaware of her loneliness that she comes across as childlike.

I also find it very funny how you're criticizing show!Rhaenyra for wanting to marry Jace to Helaena (I presume, you don't specify but that is the closest betrothal to the one you make b/t Myrcella and Tommen) when you say: "At least, Cersei is the one to refuse to go public with their incestous relationship and isn’t out there proposing to marry Myrcella to Tommen". Because while this would have done nothing to assuage Alicent--which was what Rhaenyra was trying to do--it was also not that bad of a deal for Helaena or Jace themselves. I personally dislike it bc, again, we're erasing Rhaenyra's relationship w/Laena and how she ever made it so that Jace married Laena's daughter...but I digress. OR you probably were referring to Jaime expressing the desire to go public with their relationship, that conversation? Again, what does this have to do with my argument in the post I recently posted and that I assume you're responding to?

In my understanding this tiktok video (https ://vt.tiktok.com/ZSLt7AAgE/) literally is how will grayson treat other women that's not emory scott, including his initial stages of escort-fuck buddy-friendship thing with alex, and his character as a man and his relationship turns me off so bad, that i rooted less for him each time he appeared on page as i lose my respect towards how he treats women in general. Like we knew Michael and Damon were shit, but they both ADMITTED to it, but Will was always labelled as "amazing" and all good things, but his character was like THAT? Nah. The same goes with alex when she used others to hurt aydin, idk i find men, women, MCs & FMCs like them so icky, so i especially hate reading about fictional characters with these traits. What i hate about alex was that she could've been like emmy where she would've beenjust jealous n her head, and not humiliate or touch her physically to put her down, but alex literally just proves the stereotype of fighting over a dumb guy with an innocent woman. I disliked that banks and rika fight in hideaway for the same reason too. I can understand where they came from, but i fucking hated it. I hate it even more when other female reader cheered them on for it. I hated the will/damon/aydin jealousy scenes with a passion too. In fact, I would usually avoid these scenes in romance books if i can, because authors spent so much time wasting their talents on scenes of characters being jealous for other LIs, than building ACTUAL happiness & chemistry between them. I couldn't avoid this trope for this book especially, because i was never warned that the trope "other men/women drama" with a touch of "treating non-Love Interest like shit" trope were so fucking bad in Nightfall, it just ruins everything about Will for me.

Personally though, i'm not a big fan of both alex and will, and even though i know you're not very fond of alex too, i think based on one of your older asks about willalex's relationship, you described your understanding of alex's place in will's life differently than i would have. I don't have any problems with differing opinions though. I feel like you saw and put a lot more importance of alex's presence in will's life more than i did, or even will did. It's interesting how we interpret characters, because while i can agree with some of your interpretations of them, i have a very opposite opinion with the others. I also always thought it was kinda sad that for someone who was "close" to will, alex was the one who always "seems" to care more about will, than the other way around. But it's not like her care matters so much, because it still doesn't change will for the better, he only just got less lonely, but was still very self-destructive. For me, even though i knew that alex was a friend and family to will, and is automatically important to him for that, i never saw any hint that she was THAT important to Will personally, even off-page, like how you described in that willalex friendship post. Idk, maybe it's just me.

Because just like damon who had an exception towards winter, will too had an exception towards emmy, where he used everything he can as long as they're not emmy. So his relationship with alex too wasnt always sincere or deep, they only bonded through shallow things which then after one or two years of casual friendship, made them mirrors of each other's pain (or so they thought, they're shallow people, i can't always take their observations seriously), so i cant see why people fawn or get mad over their relationship too much. The fact that will couldn't get any friends outside of the horsemen if they're not their friends' girls, escorts, people he can pay with money, or people of similar status with him, even with all his status and privilege, already tells a lot about his classist and shallow personility. I kinda understand though being friends with people of the same class, since it's easier to get along with people who gets you immidiately without feeling like you're being judge for it, but still. The more that i think about this side of him too, the lesser i like him.

Idk, and that's the thing, when i read nightfall, i couldn't enjoy willemmy's story, because willemmy was busy destroying themselves and each other, then continue to go back to being jealous of the other, while always letting others intervene their relationship. Even when they had time alone, they always had to involve some third parties in their relationship, which pisses me off so much. It's one thing when people kept on meddling in their relationship, but it's another thing for them to drag others in it, just because they were immature, couldnt handle their feelings like mature adults. Their problems had existed way before alex and aydin got between them. We get the gist already if emory was a stronger woman, so i'm not gonna talk about her, but will. Ah, will, that useless fuck of a character, a character who no one calls him out for his shit. Now, If Will Grayson was a stronger man, Alex Palmer will never be able to slap Emory Scott. The only reason why his friends can treat emmy like shit was because Will lead them by example, just like how the horsemen initially didnt respect rik because michael humiliate him by example. Weak men are truly a fucking disease. Will humiliated and set a standard to how emmy deserves to be treated first, in front of stranger, classmates, and friends, i can't always blame others to not intervene or when emmy had to fight alone, because will grayson, when it matters, never really stood up for emmy. Even in high school he only did when it was for petty shit. The same thing happened when he humiliated her in front of everyone in the train, and letting emmy being insulted again by alex before that orgy. Idk, it's such a cruel thing, he was just as mean as emmy, but it was always overlooked by others. Will grayson is such a turn off for me fr, i can never see myself being attracted to a man or a book boyfriend like him tbh. Damon would never let anyone treats Winter like that, not even her own sister, even though HE was worse for her at first, and this comes from a damon hater alright. Nightfall made me so disappointed of will, i almost skipped nightfall's epilogue and his pov in firenight, if not for emmy's crumbs. All of that drama and pain because he was a pussy.

I hink i really agree with one of your older damon slander asks that said something about hating to read about whiny incompetent male characters, and it's probably not just because of my moral or personality, but also because we had enough of these men in reality! I dont want to escape reality only to find men like the horsemen in stories i read. Will grayson could've been like christian from the made series, but no, he was the walmart version of him.

Idk idc, will grayson didnt do it for me. Anyway, if you want a morally better and ACTUAL loyal pining of ACTUAL mean girl x sunshine amazing characters, i recommend you and your followers The Losers series by Harley Laroux. It's devil's night, but fucking amazing. It's reverse harem though, so if you're not into it then maybe you can just skip it. The main character jessica, was everything that pd wished rika or alex were and would be. Literally. Jessica was THE it girl, and she embraced it. This series was about going over the edge too, and be true to yourself, and just exploring topics of kinks, shame, vulnerability, love, friendships, identity, career, desire, etc. and everything amazing i could think of. Thats all.

I tried to find the tiktok but the link didn’t go anywhere/said the video was unavailable. If you manage to find it again, or one similar, feel free to send it through.

I mean, it’s easy to sit here and say I wish the series had been done differently. There’s plenty I would change in the development of the characters, but there’s only so much I can do before I overhaul everything and start with something new. In that case, wouldn’t I just be using PDs framework/bones to build my own story? But then, aren’t a lot of the series/books in this genre (especially on KU) just made from the same bones? Built on the same or very similar idea? It’s true that there’s nothing new under the sun, but where does inspiration end and stealing begin?

This is all just to say I understand where you’re coming from.

Taking Will out of the super special box I’ve placed him in, examining him without rose-colored glasses, Will’s nothing. Less than nothing, really. He’s not good, he’s not kind, he’s not all that funny. Adding to that, all of these characters, with a few exceptions, are underdeveloped and inconsistent. I wanted more from the mysteries that PD posed, and I wanted more from the “bad guys for a good reason” vibe. What we got was a bunch of immature and messy characters acting like they knew what they were doing, but in reality really proved that privilege can give you a lot of blind spots. DN could have been done better. I’ve never denied that.

If you hate when authors use jealousy as motivation this much, then I can see why you were frustrated reading the series. For a group of people who were about freely experiencing the world with no limitations, and openly shared their S.O.s with their friends occasionally, they sure were jealous a lot. But you know… people get jealous. People also react out of anger and do stupid stuff for reasons that I can’t understand. So I won’t say that Alex should have been like Emmy because Emmy’s reaction was one that I could understand and relate to. Because there are real people who have reacted like Alex. What I didn’t like is that PD framed it as though Emmy was wrong and Alex was right. The reality is that neither of them should have been framed as the superior one. Emmy wasn’t perfect, I just understood her better.

I can see why Will was ruined for you. Like I’ve said before, by the end of NF I was ready to scrap the whole series, save for the past scenes where I agree with the portrayal of his character, and wipe my hands clean.

I feel like you saw and put a lot more importance of alex's presence in will's life more than i did, or even will did.

Honestly, I never saw Alex as important until Nightfall tried to convince us she was. But since that’s the narrative it served us, I tried to examine from that perspective. Why is Alex here? Why is she even relevant? The easy answer is that PD pushed that narrative. But removing that, just analyzing what the story is, and what are we left with? Making it make sense is what I'm trying to do.

I also always thought it was kinda sad that for someone who was "close" to will, alex was the one who always "seems" to care more about will, than the other way around. But it's not like her care matters so much, because it still doesn't change will for the better, he only just got less lonely, but was still very self-destructive.

What I thought was fascinating about this point is that you’re right, but also…

As noted at the end of KS, Will only started improving when Damon returned and his friends started helping him get off drugs. They got him clean, but not sober. I think that’s what finally motivated him to go to BC, because he started realizing he had nothing to offer his friends anymore. On top of that, was he going to rely on them to keep him clean? He couldn’t. He needed to learn to do that on his own. First real grown-up decision he made. Of course, he then became the worst version of himself, too scared to return to a place that offered all his vices so freely because he couldn't trust himself, and too stunted to try. He did the physical work, but none of the emotional or mental work. Alex never helped him with any of that.

She comforted him. She made him think everything he was doing was okay. Maybe she tried to encourage him, but I don’t think she ever pushed him to be better like Emmy would have. Emmy would have demanded better (at least the Emmy that lives in my head, but I think the book version is at least closer to that then Alex ever was). I truly think if Emmy had returned to Thunder Bay by the time Will was released from prison, he would either have never gotten that bad or she would and forced him to get better earlier.

But Emmy wasn’t there. Alex was, and who know why Alex did anything. Was it her character? Was it her flaws? Did she not know what to do for him because she’s literally 19 and life suddenly hands her a client who’s been to prison and has trauma surrounding that, and is angry, and is numbing his pain with vices, but that she can occasionally see a glimmer of something more in? I don’t know. Maybe it was just excellent sex, and even she says that’s what she’s usually thinking about. She says he puts in the work. Either way, because of the way this story was told, it’s up to the reader to make up their own mind. No one is more correct than anyone else, least of all me. I read way too much into this anyway. It’s really not that deep.

The fact that will couldn't get any friends outside of the horsemen if they're not their friends' girls, escorts, people he can pay with money, or people of similar status with him, even with all his status and privilege, already tells a lot about his classist and shallow personility. I kinda understand though being friends with people of the same class

I mean… I’m not sure about this opinion. We see these guys host parties in nearly every book. It’s safe to say they have friends outside each other. And if you want to say all those friendships are shallow because they’re built on who has money and what people can offer each other, that’s fine. I won’t argue that point, though I’d disagree with it. But it’s obvious that these relationships are the most important to them, and since we only see a very narrow time frame of the series, we don’t get a lot of development of outside plot.

Even when they had time alone, they always had to involve some third parties in their relationship, which pisses me off so much.

This is partly why I say I would have preferred if NF had taken place in Thunder Bay like the others or was not the end of the series. The force proximity and limited cast really make it difficult to determine what is Will and Emmy, and what is the situation forcing them to act this way. Not giving either an escape route to see what decisions they’d make without the pressure is frustrating. There is a way to keep this plot and make the series work.

Now, If Will Grayson was a stronger man, Alex Palmer will never be able to slap Emory Scott. The only reason why his friends can treat emmy like shit was because Will lead them by example, just like how the horsemen initially didnt respect rik because michael humiliate him by example.

This is a fair point. I’ve been thinking a lot about friend group dynamics, especially in fours (gee, wonder why), and I realized something that frustrates me about the way the horsemen are set up. I’m gonna segue into something else, so if you want to skip the next few paragraphs, that’s fine.

Michael is set up as the leader, Kai the brains, Damon the passion, and Will the heart. In recent posts, I’ve called Michael the brain, and Kai the heart. Because that’s what makes sense to me in terms of the roles they feel. A leader needs to lead with something, right. It can be courage, it can be heart, it can be logic, but it needs to be something. Just calling Michael a leader because he makes the call doesn’t mean anything. What is he leading with.

But Michael is framed as logical and decisive, so I place him as the brain. Kai is supposed to be compassionate and wise, the voice of reason in the group, which PD calls the brains, but I call the heart. Damon can remain the passion. But that leaves Will with nothing.

Will, in my head, is supposed to be the glue that holds them together. He’s supposed to be the one they go to when they need encouragement, to see things from a better perspective. The one that fixes them, not the other way around.

If that’s the case, he totally fails in his role. He’s so weakened by his various traumas and heartbreak, he can’t fulfill that role. And that’s irritating because it takes the entire series for him to come out of that and then it ends. We never actually get to see Will as he was supposed to be. That’s what pisses me off. So, you’re right. He’s useless.

Back to your point, I think also would have preferred to see a stronger Will. A character who is so happy all the time, the glue that holds the team together, the one they go to when they need to be built back up, and all of a sudden the only thing that makes him so angry he goes over the edge appears in front of him again? To the point he becomes unhinged and starts wilding out? That could have been interesting.

And it’s interesting because we do see a bit of what you were talking about with Will setting the standard when Damon was trashing her at the cove, before they went to beat martin. He straight forwardly, in all seriousness, tells Damon to stop. Will can feel that way about her, but no one else. Somewhere along the way, Will lost that thought. Where’d it go? I don’t know.

Anyway. What can you do?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I hope I understood what you were saying and responded fairly. I know I come off as totally pro-Will Grayson, Will Grayson can do no wrong, but that's not the case. I do see the characters clearly (for the most part). Not only that, but I want them to be better. So I make it so.

I was just aimlessly scrolling through tumblr and came across a post saying " XZ is straight but WY is not* . This assumption was made because apparently: gay ppl know these things. So does that mean I'm now straight because I believe they're both part of the community in some way? 😃. Also if you're assuming WY is gay based on his words, then by that logic Xz past actions put him in close proximity to that.

We all assume based on perception, however to outright dismiss the possibilities on either side just seems absurd to me.

Hi Anon,

I apologize in advance for what's going to be a bit of an annoyed rant about 'gaydar'.

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

Both of them are obviously 'not straight', because they're in a relationship. Beyond that it's anyone's guess. I personally don't see any evidence of DD being into women. I talked about that in various previous posts, starting here. I think GG is likely bi, given their banter in the BTS.

The Tumblr post might have been referring to an exchange GG had with a gay acquaintance on Weibo where the guy said he thought GG was straight. Just so everyone knows: Gay people do not have 'special magic powers' to read each other's minds, which is what a lot of straight people seem to think (and even some gays).

This is especially true when someone is in the closet and actively trying to hide their sexuality. Men who attract hordes of women like GG does are doubly able to fly under the radar. There is a reason why gay people often do a lot of hand-wringing over whether the person they're attracted to 'plays for their team'.

And let's not forget the whole aspect of bi erasure that GG's friend might have been engaging in, whether or not he intended to.

I want everyone to please understand, because I get a lot of asks about gaydar:

GAYDAR IS A MYTH

And before anyone sends me a bunch of dubious studies claiming it's 60% accurate, those numbers actually prove that gaydar isn't real.

I actually get pissed off when people talk about gaydar and try to make it out to be some sort of real thing. It's not. All gaydar is for the most part, is garden variety gender role stereotyping being cast into some sort of 'folksy queer intuition' branding to make it seem less offensive. Gender presentation, mannerisms and vocal intonations can't tell us about someone's gender or sexuality.

It might sometimes be fun to joke around about certain stereotypical things as being 'very gay', and for the most part I find that harmless and sometimes make those jokes myself, but 'gaydar' can actually be harmful and misleading.

While most of us joking around about stereotypes understand that a flowy blouse or a tight mesh shirt aren't actually gay, a lot of people treat gaydar as science and genuinely believe it's real. I think we need to be cautious about what we claim, and circumspect about how we use 'gaydar'. It is one of those 'for entertainment purposes only' concepts, and should never be treated as hard evidence of anything.

So a gay person who happens to know GG in college will only know about GG, what GG wants him to know.

GG is even more expressive of queer Pride than DD, so I always find it funny when someone refers to him as straight. Whether gay or bi, he's clearly not straight.

And contrary to what a shocking number of BXG believe, straight guys don't fall in love with men and date/marry them.

(BTW, I'm not saying we should never use the term 'gaydar'. It can be fun, and an easy shorthand in certain contexts. I'm just saying we should always be cautious about how we use the term so that A] we're not hurting others and B] we're not misleading others. It's one of those fun but potentially harmful toys that should be taken away from us when we are irresponsible about how how we play with it.)