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blackbird-brewster · 19 days

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Meta: Jemily Queerbaiting

With the huge influx of posts saying 'Jemily is gonna be canon', I really appreciated seeing this post because OP was completely correct. I didn't want to write an entire dissertation as a reply, so I'm making my own post with my personal opinion on this. (All sources are noted in footnotes)

Before I began this rant, for anyone who thinks this is anti-Jemily. It is not. I have shipped Jemily for 18 friggin years and that's never going to change. This post is specifically my thoughts about queer baiting.

First off, I need to note that the showrunners (and the cast members who use social media) KNOW what a huge queer following this show has and that's why we got pansexual Tara Lewis in S16 [1]. Which, in itself, was SOOOOOOO important!!! Our first canonically queer main in SIXTEEN seasons was a middle-aged Black woman!!! That's phenomenal. (The fact it was horrible rep, because they instantly ruined her relationships once her queerness served it's plot point is a whole other post entirely)

In my opinion, the 'big Jemily moment' Paget posted about on Twitter [2] (and AJ hinted at during a recent IG live) is simply queerbaiting to get people to watch S17. I know a lot of you are newer to the fandom and I love your enthusiasm, I really do, ship and let ship, but listen, let's be real, Jemily is not going to be made canon. The showrunners aren't going to suddenly say (after 17 seasons) 'Surprise, Jemily is endgame'. This show has never cared about queer rep and now that CBS/Paramount have already ticked their queer rep box with Tara, they won't be in any rush to add any other characters to it.

Please buckle in, I've got a lot of thoughts on this matter --

What is Queerbaiting?

If you aren't aware of what queerbaiting is, here's a good definition:

Historically, queerbaiting has carried two meanings: the first is an act of aggressive heterosexuality to shut down queer subtext on screen while still teasing and catering to the queer audience in advertising, public relations, and fan engagement strategies; the second is an existing homoerotic tension between two characters played up on screen while met with derision by the professionals behind the scenes. [3]

The Medium article quoted here is from 2017, a time when parasocial relationships were really starting to take over social media. In 2024, actors are now only a mention or tag away online, they have direct conversations with fans, and this process has allowed for an even deeper form of queerbaiting.

Oftentimes online, actors are asked directly about certain ships and while some ignore these questions (usually to avoid breaking their contracts or other repercussions), others (looking at you, Paget) choose to instead tease fans about queer ships. She's done this for years upon years and if I've learned anything in the past twenty-years of existing in fandom spaces it's this -- don't hold your breath. In it's original meaning, for something to be deemed as queerbaiting there had to be malicious, or at least, purposeful intent to string queer fans along by teasing them with suggestive content about the ship in question, while knowing this ship will never come to fruition in canon.

The thing to remember is, Paget and AJ aren't the only ones who know about Jemily shippers -- the network and showrunners are well aware of this ship too. When networks/showrunners figure out they have a strong sapphic fanbase, they love to use that to their advantage to get more viewers and higher ratings. Queerbaiting is a goldmine to keep fans watching long running shows, look at Rizzoli and Isles, Supergirl, and OUAT for examples of this.

Jemily and Queerbaiting:

Ever since Emily joined the BAU in S2 (2006), there have always been fans who ship JJ/Emily (shoutout to the old LJ forums!). Way before celebs were just a tweet away from fans, back when all our fics began with disclaimers so we wouldn't get sued by networks, we went to great lengths to keep our fanworks far removed from actors/showrunners attention.

As far as Jemily goes, this reply from Paget in a 2009 interview with TVGuide.com [4] (which has now been deleted from their site unfortunately, but there are quotes on Tumblr still [4.a]) confirmed some fans' worst fear -- the actors had found our fanworks online.

TVGuide.com: Of course, a band of fans want her to hook up with Hotch.

Brewster: I know! I didn't realize that fans make these videos on YouTube? A.J. Cook sent me a hilarious one that made it look like Prentiss and J.J. were having a secret lesbian affair. You know, when Hotch was blown up in the SUV, we shot this scene where he's in the hospital and I'm standing next to him, looking at his bleeding ear. Our director came in and said, "Paget, you're looking at Hotch like you're in love with him. It looks really weird." So now, every day, Thomas [Gibson] and I flutter our eyelids at each other.

This was the first time I recall anyone acknowledging Jemily shippers publicly and at the time (Jan 2009), the show was still in Season Four (just before CBS fired both AJ and Paget [5]). Paget genuinely said it's 'hilarious' that fans shipped JJ/Emily. Even now, I'll see people say 'We know Paget and AJ have seen Jemily fanvids, so they obviously ship it too' -- but those same people rarely acknowledge the full context of the original answer. Paget not only thought JJ/Emily were 'hilarious', but then she doubled down and turned her reply back to how she and Thomas liked to play up the chemistry between Emily/Hotch.

While no one can say for sure which video it was that AJ sent Paget, just knowing they were watching JJ/Emily fanvids sent a bit of a shockwave through the femslash side of the fandom. To some it felt like an invasion of privacy, fanworks are by fans for fans -- knowing the cast were poking around in fandom spaces added an extra layer of worry around what we fans were posting online. Fifteen years ago, it used to be quite taboo for actors to outwardly discuss shipping or other fanon for whatever show they were in, and we fans were usually comfortably removed from the actors altogether.

Of course, now it's the norm for fans and actors/showrunners to co-exist online and interact with one another. This connection has opened new ways for shows to queerbait their fans. Pretty much every show has some form of social media account now and there is no doubt that the people running those accounts keep up with the most popular ships and hashtags. Not to mention that actors are constantly barraged with questions about whether they ship their character with x,y,z, or whether they think a ship should be made canon, etc. These interactions only serve to benefit the shows themselves, because whether the conversation is for or against a certain ship, it's all just free publicity (Why do you think CM now has a TikTok account?)

Every time AJ or Paget say anything about Jemily, the queer side of the fandom loses their minds. But this has been going on for YEARS now and every single time, it turns out to be nothing but social media hype and queerbaiting. Remember this AJ post? [6] Or what about the notorious reply by Paget to a fan, where she talks about how she and AJ held hands under the table 'for the shippers' [7] I've seen this cycle over and over again, so perhaps I am cynical, but I'm not getting my hopes up that Jemily will ever seriously be canon.

It's widely known now, after both Kirsten [8] and Paget [9] have talked about it, that there was an early idea where Prentiss was supposed to be queer, but that was ultimately scraped before it ever made it on screen. For context, please remember, this show has been airing for nearly twenty years. It began in 2005, during the highly conservative Bush administration. Queer people didn't have rights in the US, we couldn't get married, we were rarely protected under discrimination laws, and we could even be fired for simply being queer (in some states). Diverse queer representation on screen was extremely limited to things like 'The L Word' and 'Queer as Folk' (both aired on Showtime, so they were behind a paywall. And as far as tLw goes, that show was extremely male-gaze focused and is horrible in nearly all regards if you try to rewatch it now). As far as prime time shows went, queer rep was even more rare. Which is why Emily wasn't queer from the get-go.

Yes, things have changed since 2006 in terms of queer rep on TV. We have a myriad of queer identities represented in TV and film nowadays, which is why I think it's so easy for newer fans to say 'lf she was supposed to be gay anyway, they should just make Emily queer in canon!' I know this is what fuels most fans' demands for Emily being confirmed queer, and I get it, I DO. I would be all for it! However, I do not, in one hundred years, actually believe that is going to happen after they already canonically queer confirmed Tara in S16. The fact we even got ONE queer character is ground-breaking for this show.

It's also worth noting, that in the time between Paget's departure in 2012 and her return in 2016, she became very active on Twitter. This was when more and more fans began asking her about Jemily and after Kirsten's AfterEllen interview, fans also pushed for Paget to address the possibility of Emily being gay. 'Pushed' is actually an understatement for some of the outright harassment she would receive. (AJ received some of this harassment too, but less so because she doesn't use social media ass often) Back then, neither of them replied to these things directly. Yet, no matter what either woman posted, the replies were full of Jemily stans begging for her acknowledgement. (Did you know 'stan' is literally a term coined for stalker fans?) I remember one time AJ's friend was missing and she posted info on her IG about it, you know what the replies were? People asking her about Jemily. It was genuinely sickening.

Within this context, it was no surprise to fans when Emily came back in S12 , she and JJ's friendship was seemingly erased. The two women were rarely on screen together in the late seasons, plus the writers saw fit to even give Emily not only one (Mark in London, but two, on-screen boyfriends for the first time in the entire series. I personally do not think these changes to Emily's character were coincidence, I saw the hellscape of what people would say to AJ and Paget online and I fully believe that upon Paget's return to the show, the showrunners purposely tried to distance JJ and Emily to dissuade the more abusive side of the fanbase.

Can I prove that, no. But it is the only reason I can think of as to why Emily S12+ seemingly didn't care about JJ anymore, despite their deep and meaningful friendship. I mean, they both CROSSED THE WORLD to go rescue each other in prior canon -- but when Emily comes back, they acted like they barely knew each other. This was even more prevalent in S16, when JJ's main storylines all revolved around Will, and Emily barely looked at JJ in the entirety of ten episodes. (Remember how Prentiss didn't even hug JJ after bomb, but she did go hug Luke?)

So, do Paget and AJ earnestly ship Jemily, or are they continuing the long tradition of queerbaiting us? Who fucking knows, not me. But based on the history of this fandom, I think I can make a safe bet. (Interestingly, if you search all of Paget's twitter for the word 'Jemily' [10] she only has 3 direct tweets mentioning the ship. I don't think it's a coincidence that two are within the past few months since they started filming S17 (the other one was a RT of Kirsten (who tagged something Jemily)

This is all to say --

Just because Paget and AJ have publicly talked about Jemily,, this doesn't mean it's ever going to happen on screen. And you know what, THAT'S OKAY!! There has been this constant outcry (after Tara became queer confirmed) of 'Do Emily next' or 'Why wasn't it Emily with a girlfriend!?' and 'Jemily needs to be canon in S17!' -- as if people believe their ships aren't worth anything unless they are canon.

That couldn't be further from the truth! Fandom is built on headcanons and fan interpretations and rare pairs and all types of shippers. Your ship does NOT need to be canon for you to enjoy it. I will ship Jemily forever, no matter what. I don't think there will be some magical queer plot in S17, at best, we might actually get to see Emily/JJ on screen together again and after the train wreck that was S16 -- I'll take whatever I can get.

And hey -- if I am completely wrong, if Erica Messer pulls a Korrasami out of her hat, I will be ecstatic. I will be happy to be proved wrong, but at the same time, I'm not going to lose sleep over it and I'm DEFINITELY not going to go hound the actors about it on social media.

Sources:

[1] 2022 Digital Spy article about the importance of Tara's coming out

[2] 04/18/24 Paget Tweet

[3] 2017 Queerbaiting article from medium.com

[4] 2009 Broken TVGuide link

[4.a] Tumblr quote from the above TVGuide Interview

[5] 2010 Kirsten interview screenrant.com

[6] 2019 AJ Instagram Post

[7] 2020 Paget video on Twitter (via @karasluthqr)

[8] 2015 Kirsten interview AfterEllen.com

[9] 2016 Paget Interview CriminalMindsFans.com

[10] @PagetPaget search 'Jemily'

#criminal minds #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau #paget brewster #aj cook #cm commentary #queerbaiting #cm meta #criminal minds evolution #cm evolution #my writing #long post

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kukuandkookie · 1 month

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People keep claiming Chinese BL manhua really only have stories featuring toxic male leads, so I offered to give recommendations with green flags... Someone finally said yes, so here's what I typed up in response!:

I Ship My Rival x Me:

One of my personal favourites!

Based on the hilarious novel, commonly known as I Ship My Adversary x Me and also has an audio drama adaptation on MaoEr FM. Basically a story about two actors who are seen as complete rivals by everyone except the actors themselves, which annoys the main character (Wei Yanzi) enough that when he discovers there are actual fans who ship them instead of pit them against one another, he’s so excited he sort of starts shipping them too (in like, an abstract, theoretical manner lmao). This of course causes shenanigans as he actually gets to know the person who people ship him with/pit him against, Gu Yiliang.

Gu Yiliang is a true sweetheart and the greenest of green flags. He’s a complete puppy and I love him. And this means, naturally, the only misunderstandings in this story are of the hilarious kind (you’ll know what I mean if you read it lol). 😂

This one actually used to be available officially in English on the Bilibili manhua’s international app before it got shut down, but it recently got picked up by Seven Seas, the company behind a lot of official English translations of danmei (Chinese BL)!

Touch Your World:

A literally colour-blind boy (as in, he cannot see colour at all and only sees things in black and white) discovers someone who he can see colour on. This person is a designer who has suffered past betrayal and trauma that has caused him to shut himself up and grow much more on edge, but this chance meeting draws both parties out of their shells.

Pixiu’s Eatery, No Way Out:

Not a green flag top in the traditional sense, but here we meet the mythical Pixiu: an ancient Chinese mythical creature who now runs a restaurant. While he’s a penny-pincher with a temper and he doesn’t get along with his love interest at first (a ghost named Wen Xi who he finds suspicious due to Wen Xi’s ties to a past rival of his named Taotie), Pixiu and Wen Xi eventually grow, quite naturally—and hilariously!—into a found family.

The Wife Is First:

Based on a novel of pretty much the same name (and is written by the same author as the popular manhua and donghua, No Doubt in Us (a heterosexual body-swap romance, which also has a subtle gay side ship)). Here we meet Jing Shao just as he’s about to lose everything: once a royal and a powerful general, he has been betrayed by all those around him…except the husband he has never treated well.

As such, when we first meet him, we actually witness his—and his husband’s—deaths. But then he awakens and finds himself back in time to the night right after he was forced to wed this husband of his, and Jing Shao vows to treat him well from now on because he stuck with him through thick and thin despite everything.

Don’t Say You Love Me:

A high school romance with a supernatural twist: Lin Yutong was confessed to by his best friend, Qin Weiyun, at their graduation party. When he drunkenly freaked out and ran away, Qin Weiyun was hit by a car during the chase…

Devastated by his loss, Lin Yutong quickly wakes up to find himself back at the start of his high school journey, right before he meets Qin Weiyun… And this time, he wants to keep Qin Weiyun safe.

But his overly familiar attitude at first gets the wary Qin Weiyun a tad suspicious, because he’s actually quite an aloof person.

The author and artist of this one is also behind another popular manhua titled Your Dream Is Delicious, which is about a demon named Yi Kui who discovers he enjoys eating the nightmares of Lin You. This eventually leads to them—you guessed it—falling in love.

It’s Not That I Want to Wear Women’s Clothing:

Our main character is hired to crossdress to help this CEO get over his gynophobia (fear of touching women) without him knowing. Naturally, this leads to an awkward romantic journey of both identities of our main character getting close to this CEO…who at first glance seems like the typical cold and aloof CEO type, except he’s actually quite a sweetheart.

Salt Friend:

A slice-of-life high school story about the “school bully” named Tong Yang who’s actually a crybaby and the aloof person named Xiao Zhen who discovers him crying. While the two don’t seem like they’d get along at first glance, this quickly becomes a friends-to-lovers story that navigates family drama alongside the romance.

How’d I Get a Heroine’s Script?:

A transmigration story with a twist. Chao Yi is wheelchair-bound but finds himself eventually as a young lord in what is basically a palace drama (court politics, intrigue, family drama, all that good stuff). His System, Qin Que, tasks him with wooing the difficult 7th prince, Gu Yunheng, who smiles on the surface but is quite cold in actuality.

Despite the two getting off on the wrong foot—mostly because Gu Yunheng is really hard to get close to—they soon end up as unlikely allies…especially since there’s a lot of secrets, such as regarding the death of the body Chao Yi’s occupying, the scheming princes, and even Gu Yunheng himself.

See You My King:

Zhang Li, a student interested in what is basically ancient Egypt, goes on an expedition to the ruined civilization and nearly loses his life. Except at the same time, he discovers an ancient tomb with a statue that actually comes to life and saves him…

And this statue even follows him home. This statue is sweet and loving despite its inability to speak, and Zhang Li grows attached to it (or him)… But then the statue falls apart and Zhang Li is devastated.

In wishing for a miracle to bring them back together, the statue’s stone heart sends Zhang Li back in time…to when this ancient civilization is still present. And that’s how he discovers his stone statue is the “tyrant king” of this region, and as cruel as he seems at first glance, both this king and Zhang Li eventually grow close and unfold the different sides to one another that makes them inseparable in the face of all kinds of threats.

Trapping the Foxy Doctor:

A doctor and a psychiatrist meet…except it doesn’t seem like a perfect love story at first glance. Not because the doctor is traditionally foxy (seductive and/or cunning), but because he’s so silly and on-the-nose that he initially kind of rubs the psychiatrist the wrong way. Except, of course, with the kind of sunny sincerity displayed by our doctor Zhi Banyi, you can’t resist him for long…

And the psychiatrist, Lin Li, is himself quite a polite soul despite his complex upbringing. As such, the two end up together through a series of cases where they have to collaborate and help clients, with a lot of shenanigans sprinkled in between (including the fact Lin Li has a side-job live-streaming as a woman—and “she” just so happens to be Zhi Banyi’s favourite streamer lol).

Pirouette Into My Heart aka Salad Days:

You know the “he was a skater boy and she did ballet” kind of set-up? Well here we have a boxer and a ballet dancer…and hey, “can I make it any more obvious”?

This one is basically a feel-good story of the century. It’s childhood friends to lovers, and it’s soft and cuddly and encouraging, as we follow the main character, Jiang Shen, in achieving his ballet dreams. And on every step of the way, he’s accompanied by the boxer Bai Jinyi, who’s also chasing his own dreams.

The draw of this one is that while there’s obviously conflict to drive the plot along, it’s ultimately a comforting story, so you get all warm and squishy inside reading it. Bai Jinyi and Jiang Shen are very supportive of one another, as is everyone around them.

There’s even extras at the very end that swap the classes of the two main characters, which makes for a similarly compelling AU. 🤭

Beryl and Sapphire:

Not always BL but often is. What do I mean by that? Well it’s a story that can switch to any universe even as the characters stay the same, and some worlds are just one-off gags while some are whole story arcs. The original manhua features stick figures, so if you really want to experience this one, I’d recommend the donghua. The first season also cleverly shows the main characters as actors in the OP, which explains all the world-switching pretty easily haha.

Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin:

Unfortunately I’m not sure the manhua for this one is still ongoing, but the original novel (all about transmigration and hopping multiple worlds) 100% features a green flag top.

The Guy Inside Me:

I know the title sounds sexual lol but it’s actually a joke about how it’s a body-swap story. 😆

The original Chinese title is “This Question Is Too Difficult”) and of course, the author also wrote Fake Slackers, which has two very smart students act like terrible ones due to not wanting trouble.

Falling to Where I Belong:

The thing about this one is that the top is 100% a total green flag... It's the main character that's more of a red flag, in the sense he at first only asks the top out to humiliate him due to a misunderstanding.

But it's still a heartfelt story filled with regret and growth, and I did really like the portrayal of Cheng Feichi. Personally I think the manhua humanizes him a bit more than the novel since we didn't really get his POV in the novel that often, but I did hope for even more emotion in the ending... Still, it was a satisfying read, and while I would like to comfort the main character, Zhen Yeming, over his regrets, I really want to just give all the good things to Cheng Feichi, who definitely deserves it after everything he went through.

More Than Brothers:

For the "non-freaks" out there, they're not actual brothers, don’t worry; not adopted brothers either. Just a guy who saw his younger friend as his bro…until this friend disappeared from his life and apparently got into a bad crowd… Except in reality he is being harassed and is struggling to leave his abusive family.

The Protagonist Just Wants to Fall in Love:

Kind of a classic in the transmigration genre, except now we get multiple worlds in multiple arcs. Our protagonists are Systems on their final mission, aiming to become human by the end of it, and their task is to guide their protagonists away from the path of "darkening" (essentially corruption).

And each and every one of these systems do so by getting their protagonist to fall in love with them lol.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite arc so far—in the manhua at least!—is the historical one between the advisor and the emperor, but the third—and currently ongoing as the time of me writing this—world between two university students who started getting close during military training and by playing games is also quite cute.

And okay, man I could really keep going, especially with the manhua that are based on novels, but this post is already really long asjakfl. It was, in fact, so fucking long YouTube wouldn't even let me post it at first until I cut it down AMFKGSJDFGS.

But I still want to at least give a shout out to some of the manhua with pretty healthy, green flag tops/gongs!:

Like Han Yuan, despite the characters not getting along at first and Yu Han being rather aloof to the spoiled Luo Linyuan, is still quite sweet at its core. Lovely Allergen is as well, even with their "brotherly" relationship being the forefront of the conflict between Song Yu and Yue Zishi.

Another kind I wanted to bring up is the ones where their worlds or stories are dark, but the characters aren't necessarily. Like The Film Emperor, He Insisted on Being My Patron has a very green flag gong (he's such a puppy!), but he and the main character are up against the reddest of red flags of a villain LMDFKGSJFD.

It's also not a manhua I think people who want green flag leads would necessarily enjoy, given that beyond being "darker," it also goes into the territory of fan service-y and "problematic" nsfw content, but again, the male lead is really quite sweet to the main character despite the shitty situation they're in.

And I thought of Bu Chonghua from Tunhai aka Swallowing the Seas (another one based on a novel), since the main character there, Wu Yu, comes to see Bu Chonghua as so good and just that he pushes him away because he feels like he can't dirty such a man with his own darkness, both in his past and personality. It's a trope I really enjoy.

I'll briefly mention some ⚠️ spoilers ⚠️but the reason I wanted to highlight it is because: the latest chapter of the manhua has Bu Chonghua overhear Wu Yu saying he likes Bu Chonghua, and this is after Wu Yu disappeared and Bu Chonghua is worried he skipped town for good. He follows Wu Yu, all while wondering if the like Wu Yu holds for him is the same as his liking of Wu Yu, and when Wu Yu is about to be gravely injured in an underground fighting ring, Bu Chonghua steps in to save him... The chapter ends with Wu Yu holding him back pleading with him to stop because it's not worth dirtying his hands with such a man as his opponent, and that's such a delicious flavour of angst because like...Wu Yu thinks it's fine for he himself to fight against such a person, but he doesn't want Bu Chonghua to. ;-;

Oops. I didn't mean for this to become a deeper ramble of Tunhai KMSGFKGHSJ. It's just interesting to me since Tunhai and its prequel, Poyun aka Breaking Through the Clouds, may not have what the people who prefer green flag tops want in terms of content, but its tops are technically not that much of a red flag either.

Which also get us to the kind of stories where plot can also sort of outweigh whether a top/gong is a green flag or not. Like No Arguing With Mr. Mo has two characters who struggle greatly in their relationship, with the question of "are they in love?" being an overarching issue for them, meaning it's not exactly healthy, and prevents them from being fully either green or red flags.

I also didn't bring up a lot of historical/xianxia manhua, which I'm sure some people may disagree with... Like the leads in Tianbao Fuyao Lu are arguably quite good, and while I haven't read Dinghai Fusheng Lu yet, I assume it's in a similar boat as something set in the same world.

And then there's the ones that develop into green flags... Like Mo Ran starts off awful, yes, but he does become much better later on!! But I don't think that's what those people after green flags want to hear lol. Plus I'd argue Erha is best experienced in novel (or audio drama) form over the manhua anyway—the manhua feels more like something made for established fans in my opinion.

Regardless, I hope this shows that with so many listed above, many manhua actually feature male leads who really do care for their love interests in a healthy, respectful way, whether they're 100% green flags or they develop into green flags or they're not even complete green flags. ^^

Edit: Oh I forgot to link my full list of danmei/baihe manhua recs HMSKFJSKS. I currently don’t have any summaries, tags, or content warnings in this list though, but there’s quite the range of stories!:

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neonscandal · 4 months

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This ask about ships was a lot of fun to do so I figured I'd round it out with two more of my favorite ships: MatchaBlossom & SatoSugu. 👇🏾

Explain this. Heterosexually.

MatchaBlossom

Gives nose/forehead kisses - Joe and Kaoru is swift to bat him away but, in actuality, he eats up the attention.

Gets jealous the most - Kaoru, demonstrably, is always annoyed at the bitches, bros and non-binary hoes making heart eyes at Joe and hanging off his biceps. Joe might pretend not to notice but he, too, has a hawk eye for any attention shown toward Kaoru and is especially off kilter any time Adam is around or mentioned.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive - Cherry, quite begrudgingly, and with a slew of mean little nicknames much to Joe's dismay. Joe is absolutely handsy and needy when drunk but also incredibly heavy. So, even though Kaoru acts like he's in a huff about it, he's also a little delighted. Inversely, Kaoru trusts Carla to get him home after a night at the bar. Home, of course, being wherever Joe is (even if that's Sia La Luce during normal business hours) and always shows up out of the blue, unannounced and very demanding until he passes out. Joe tends to his every whim even if he knows Kaoru won't be awake by the time whatever complex dish he requested is finally ready.

Takes care of on sick days - Since Kaoru is usually too weak to be mean when he's sick, Joe revels in the opportunity to baby and tease him. When Joe's sick, it's a bit of a different story. Regimented medicine disbursal clocked by Carla and tailored to Joe's physical condition and, even if he's making a stink about the ordeal ("all those muscles and you still can't take care of yourself" 🙄), Kaoru's hiding a little smile.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day - Joe and he pays dearly for it.

Gives unprompted massages - Joe because Kaoru always gets princess treatment. Also, Kaoru would never want to give Joe a big head about his body so he only indulges if asked.

Drives/rides shotgun - For all his bluster, Joe is the passenger princess to Kaoru's anal retentive driving. He likes reclining, hands behind his head, open shirt fluttering against his skin with the windows down. He also loves hanging out of the passenger side when pulling up beside the kids skateboarding. Just really heavy golden retriever vibes.

Brings the other lunch at work - Joe would if he could but Kaoru makes excuses about him being too "undignified" for his place of work (he literally doesn't want any prying eyes on his handsome partner). Plus Kaoru makes it a point to drop into Sia La Luce on the daily, anyway.

Has the better parental relationship - Both. Kaoru is polite and successful and, even during his rebellious youth was still tactful and studious. Joe's parents are non-traditional and extremely supportive, they pushed him to go to Italy to study cuisine, after all. Kaoru is welcomed enthusiastically with open arms in the Nanjo homestead. Joe is similarly received but, since the Sakurayashiki's are a lot more reserved, their displays of acceptance are a lot more conservative. He subsequently feels like he has to walk on eggshells. Kaoru knows he doesn't have to but doesn't correct him since he finds the situation entertaining.

Tries to start role-playing in bed - Joe and it does not go well. Kaoru gets flustered at the mention and he spends a significant time in the dog house. After a much extended breather, Kaoru initiates it, still flustered, and, though Joe appreciates the effort, realizes he wasn't missing out on anything.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer - Kaoru. You cannot tell me someone that uptight is not incredibly embarrassing once alcohol is introduced into the equation. Kaoru gives very strong Yuuri Katsuki from "Yuri on Ice" vibes (if you know, you know).

Still cries watching Titanic - Kaoru and Joe takes the opportunity to cuddle and coo over him. Such comforts are not needed, of course, but Kaoru isn't going to correct him. It's a rare moment he lets himself be vulnerable so he laps up the softness.

Firmly believes in couples costumes - Joe and Kaoru hates it. To the point where he makes serious efforts to thwart the execution. Not a perfect example, since Kaoru wouldn't be caught dead in this, but one year Joe would pitch something like Red Hot Chili Peppers so he could effectively be shirtless for Halloween and Kaoru shows up in a Chili Pepper 🌶️ costume. (RHCP are problematic so, sorry for the mention but I was spacing on another double entendre).

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas - Kaoru and quite smugly, might I add. But Joe doesn't have the same discerning tastes as Kaoru so he's none the wiser. He's just like "Wow, Kaoru, thanks for the shirt/cologne/shoes!" without realizing how expensive they are. Kaoru knows this but still loves seeing Joe in expensive things. It's his little secret.

Makes the other eat breakfast - Joe. Kaoru doesn't need forcing by any means but Joe's always going to be the one in the kitchen, it's one of his many love languages. Kaoru might deign to roll his eyes, even while eating the best thing he's ever had, but Joe knows he's done a good job when Cherry is quiet (which he always is) while eating. Though he puts on quite the show at Sia La Luce.

Remembers anniversaries - Kaoru but he waits for Joe to mention them. He'll never be caught being the more vulnerable or affectionate one but he is, undoubtedly, both. It's why Joe lays on the princess treatment so thick, he knows Kaoru wouldn't ask. Demand in some cases, sure, but when it really matters he wouldn't let himself.

Brings up having kids - Neither. Kaoru has such rich auntie vibes and they're both really happy with the riffraff they pick up along the way. Why change a good thing?

SatoSugu

Gives nose/forehead kisses - Gojo and usually just to be a little shit. It doesn't mean neither enjoy it but Gojo definitely punctuates it with a little "heh".

Gets jealous the most - Geto but barely. Gojo isn't completely oblivious to the attention he gets but he's so down bad for Geto it doesn't matter. He'll entertain the attention for convenience (like making a smooth exit from Riko's school without people asking questions) but otherwise goes on about his day. As such, Geto's jealousy is usually more of an annoyance. He's a good looking dude, fawn over him, too, monkeys!

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive - Gojo is an insufferable lightweight so, fortunately, he doesn't drink often. Instead, he's pontificating aloud the wonders of the world *ahem* Digimon *ahem* or the philosophies of ancient shogun era historical figures while Geto and Shoko are drinking like fish. Then he delivers all participating parties home safely. Note, I did not say drive. He is either abusing his authority with Ijichi to come get them or, provided they don't seem like they'll puke, abusing his teleportation technique. Either way, Shoko crashes with them, obviously.

Takes care of on sick days - Gojo is insufferable on the rare occasions he gets sick and Geto absolutely spoils him. Inversely, when Geto is sick, Gojo does the same but is just... totally clueless. Medicine? Why not candy! Chills? I will warm you up with my body! Both are idiots and refrain from seeking professional advice (reversed curse technique treatment or actual medical assistance from Shoko).

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day - Gojo. And Geto lets him. Gojo spent a long time not able to give into childish whims and Geto creates a safe space for him to be silly and over the top and petulant when needed. But he can only laugh at so many sea cucumber jokes (jk, the limit does not exist, he's just as bad a simp for Gojo).

Gives unprompted massages - Gojo. Gojo is so incredibly touchy feely though its all reserved for Geto. Before they were a thing, he wasn't even aware of how frequently he'd be draped over Geto's shoulders or leaning on him while engrossed in conversation. It should have been alarming to the Limitless user but Geto's space was always his and vice versa.

Drives/rides shotgun - Geto. Gojo cannot be trusted behind the wheel of a car. Some days, Geto wonders how Yaga trusts him with the future of jujutsu society (even though he knows Gojo takes the responsibility seriously... as seriously as he can).

Brings the other lunch at work - Geto. Gojo would be on an Elf diet of chocolate, puddings, parfaits and candy if Geto didn't. Gojo gives Geto candy every time he eats a curse, though, so it's kind of the same... It is not the same.

Has the better parental relationship - Neither. Gojo's parents didn't parent him and Geto's parents were obligatory but not affectionate. They both seek family elsewhere and were lucky to find it with one another (and Shoko, damnit!).

Tries to start role-playing in bed - Gojo but nothing sexy. Literally, mans spends so much time thinking about historical figures and Jump series' that its more of a "What if" situation that Geto rolls his eyes at everytime. It's not role play, it's more like supposing what kind of person X was in intimate environments that will just pop into Gojo's head as they themselves are engaging in something intimate. Geto knows, at that point, that the moment has turned into a conversation and just indulges in Gojo's outlandish hypotheses with a silly little smile.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer - Gojo. The man is unhinged and an incredible lightweight. It's larger than life limbs everywhere and he sings.

Still cries watching Titanic - Neither but it sparks a lot of surprising convos.

Firmly believes in couples costumes - Gojo which Geto always indulges. The ideas don't even have to be good but, if Gojo lights up when he says it, he's locked in.

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas - Gojo. Be so for real right now. Geto is always bashful about accepting. He has no concept of the cost just knows Gojo is absurdly rich and knows no limits when it comes to him so he imagines its an egregious amount. He is correct.

Makes the other eat breakfast - Gojo is not one to sleep much so, surprisingly, he's the one pressing Geto for breakfast. Nevermind that it's something decadently sweet but it's the fact that he wakes up to big, glowing blue eyes and waffles topped with ice cream and syrups Gojo waited in line for while he languished in bed. Nutrition aside, Geto follows up with a more balanced lunch for both of them (see above).

Remembers anniversaries - Geto. He's the romantic. It's not that Gojo doesn't remember or appreciate anniversaries. He's just got so many programs running in that head of his that he's always too early or too late. Geto keeps him grounded in time, for which he is grateful, and Gojo spoils him accordingly.

Brings up having kids - Neither. Haven't they kidnapped enough?

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leportraitducadavre · 8 months

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I don't know if you've written about it already, and if so you can just redirect me if you'd like, but there's obviously a lot of gay undertones to Naruto and Sasuke's relationship, and all the suggestive illustrations. How much of it do you think was consciously intentional by Kishimoto?

I'm sorry but what "clear undertones" are you referring to? Why does the friendship between two males have to be represented in a particular (usually Westernized) way so that it's not confused with romantic interest? It's prototyping homosexual romantic relationships so that they are labeled within a standard that the reader identifies them with.

It's perfectly fine to ship SNS if that's the desire of those who consume the manga, but to justify that choice on the premise that "Kishimoto planned it because there are clear indications of what I consider a homosexual romantic relationship to be" is dangerous (encapsulating homosexual relationships inside one specific dynamic diminishes the relevance of romantic LGTB+ bonds that do not develop on the same premise), and fetishizes same-gender relationships.

Kishimoto wrote similarly premised relationships throughout the manga, highlighting the relevance of having a "rivalry" between two people within shinobi culture, in that sense, Sasuke and Naruto are no different from other characters.

At the same time, this idea of a "romance clearly planned by the author" usually also hides the shipper's ideology that romantic love is intrinsically superior to any other kind, nullifying the relevance of other bonds that do not fall into this category. Sasuke is constantly relying on his love for his family to carry on throughout the manga, yet that bond is diminished by many SNS fans in order to give more relevance to his bond with Naruto. His friendship with the main character is also of incredible importance, yet somehow Sasuke considering Naruto his best friend isn't as relevant as him seeing him as a romantic partner, as that kind of bond is, to them, superior.

There is a huge market for queer products to enjoy within Japanese media and that is a much better place to explore such dynamics, as they are specifically designed to address such a demand. Seeking queer representation within products aimed at a largely cis-male, heteronormative audience encapsulates LGBT+ relationships under toxic and/or heteronormative codes and behaviors by stripping them of their self-identity and fetishizing their interactions in the process (here).

Furthermore, I've seen people questioning Kishimoto's own sexuality because "he's clearly a closeted gay as he wrote SNS" which destroys their whole stance as "LGTB+ supporters" because not only did they decide to publicly question the sexuality and "out" an author based on his fictional work, but also decided to lock same-gender relationships into a single dynamism, where the idea of "romance" is encapsulated in a largely antagonistic relationship with obsessive undertones. We call that "toxic" when it's a heterosexual relationship, so why wouldn't it be for a homosexual couple?

What exactly is different about that dynamic that allows an LGBT+ couple to explore the kind of bond that we consider toxic and unbalanced within a heterosexual relationship? Usually, many of these issues fall back on an internalized misogyny where, because women are usually inferior both physically and mentally to men, they cannot develop this kind of union in the same way that men can. The relationship remains equally toxic and dangerous for both parties, but because they now don't find a concrete visualization of this imbalance (because, again, they perceive women as inherently inferior to men), they do not regard it in this way.

As I've said, shipping SNS it's alright, I personally can't see any romantic dynamic to get behind in the manga (which is, again, a personal preference of mine as I don't think Kishimoto cared much for those types of bonds), finding queer subtext in media is a common practice and was born out of the need for representation of a minority within a highly repressive society; but to see it as the only valid reading of a product and justify the lack of canonization of the couple under the premise of "social homophobia" within a community that the shipper usually does not know anything about (such as Japan) is a dangerous and senseless practice. Even more so considering the well-known and mainstream Japanese Yaoi market that exists and could use more support.

I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude to you in any manner, but your ask allowed me to explore a difficult and important topic that I tried to address very carefully because I think that people got completely desensitized with and, in their attempt to become a "supporter", they fetishized LGTB+ relationships.

#anti sns #anti sasunarusasu #anti sns fandom #anti shipping #western visualization of queer relationships #feminism #misoginy #lgbtq

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natequarter · 1 month

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🏳️‍🌈 and 💛

🏳️‍🌈: Which character who is commonly headcanoned as queer doesn't seem queer to you?

pat. i think he's an unironically supportive, slightly embarrassing but always there for you ally - but i also think he's incredibly heterosexual. now, julian, there's a biphobic bisexual...

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

the captain/havers... i am aware i have very little moral high ground here as the local rarepair haver who is totally making things up, but i don't like it! there's just no substance to it to me, nothing to care about, not just as a ship but as a dynamic full stop. havers is barely a character. mind you, i also don't like pat/the captain or kitty/thomas, so it is possible i'm just a killjoy, or that i'm annoyed robin/mary (the only other actually more or less canonical ship here, mind you) gets ignored so much because it's really cute :(( then again the only people i'll ship thomas with are isabelle (affectionate) or the captain and julian (derogatory) so maybe i just have weird taste

(link)

#asks #bbc ghosts

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davekat-sucks · 25 days

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Alright DK-sucks, strap in tight because I’m about to start backing up a trash truck of opinions on your blog. I owe you an apology, and possibly a dollar or two for this, but here goes.

People who’ve got a weird obsession with having some sort of moral high-ground for EXCLUSIVELY shipping queer ships (to the point where they have to butcher the source material so they can have a typically het ship be.. not het) are really odd to me.

Why does it matter? Can you not just appreciate them as they are? I get headcannons and everything, but if it’s to the point where you HAVE to headcanon (I.e,) the guy as non-binary so that he can date the girl without it being ‘a bland boring heterosexual relationship’ so you can feel secure and not invalidated on your OWN sexuality .. eughhhh that’s real icky!! Maybe that’s to do with you?

Apply this to Arasol, for instance, a ship that I really like!! Honestly in any variation to be perfectly honest, but I see so much.. SO MUCH Tfem Sollux/Aradia and I just.. where did you pull that from? Sollux seems pretty Male/typically masculine to me, but I just don’t get why people see that.

Unless

A lot of you are projecting. BAD.

So. For this morals in fiction blab i raise you June Egbert. There’s no basis in canon for her. She’s a Toblerone wish, sure! Great! She’s not a canon basis? She’s secondary to John? You know, THE MAIN CHARACTER?

People acting like June is the Only Correct Interpretation of John as if she’s not only unplanned, a huge story shift, maybe an 8th canon, and NOT the intent behind the MC. If the only reason for her to be canon is so the large mass of trans people in the HS fandom feel validated, then we’ve really gone to shit. Invalidating the VERY CANON MC because you want rep? Jeez man. I’ve been in the fandom for about 2 months and while I do love June, I really really hate having to act like she is the canon MC. I love John I really do. What did they do to you my dude <\3

Anyway, moral of the story, if you have to shift an character’s canon gender/sexuality and force it onto others to feel safe in your own skin, maybe that’s got a fair bit more to do with you than you think!

This essay was a mess, but god I hope some of y’all get the point. Thank you and goodnight . ⭐️

Very well said, Anon. I love it.

#homestuck #homestuck fandom #June Egbert #Arasol

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quillkiller · 10 months

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"Damn it, Neil. The name is Nuwanda."

I want to talk about the queer coded symbolism and mise-en-scene in Dead Poets Society, and now you're probably thinking 'yes we all ship neil and todd' and yes that's true, but not what i mean.

Nuwanda is a trans woman! Let's get into it.

(i apogolize if my use of pronouns are confusing. i refer to nuwanda as he/him when he's at welton because the boy atmosphere and his part in that creates such a deep meaning to his experience as a person slowly figuring out through poetry that he might be a trans woman. especially in this tight knit friend group consisting of "boys with emotions". that's why i use she/her pronouns when talking about her getting closer and closer to figuring herself out) (also this is my own interpretation of the film so i can do what i want)

First off! When Charlie announces that he's changing his name to Nuwanda, no one questions him. The laddies adapt to it immediately and start calling him Nuwanda, for the simple reason that he asked them to.

Second, Nuwanda invited two girls to the cave and literally all he did was borrow their lipstick and change his name? Nuwanda said he wanted to learn about and read poetry because he 'wanted to make women swoon' but in reality he was a woman who gravitated towards learning about femininity, wanting to compensate for the fact that he actually identifies with womanhood.

For a character saying he wanted to woo women, he shows absolutely no interest in women what so ever. I genuinely think the writing shows such a complex relationship between gender and internalised transphobia/compulsory heterosexuality.

(I personally do believe that Nuwanda is heterosexual, but i believe he's a heterosexual trans woman and he's in the process of figuring that out through poetry and that's so beautiful!!!!)

All the boys hate Welton and they continuously joke about getting themselves expelled, but no one actually means it. Nuwanda was the only one actually risking his place at Welton and he did it writing an article saying that women should be accepted into welton. He risked his place at Welton and for what? Because 'he wanted a girlfriend'?

No! He was the only one who actually risked his place at Welton because he doesn't belong but he desperately wants to, and if women were to be accepted into Welton, Nuwanda will be too. He would rather get expelled, and did in the end, because that's a woman trying to save her own fucking life. Nuwanda really said 'accept women into Welton or i walk'.

There's also a scene where they're all in class, just walking around, literally, on Professor Keating demands, and it holds so much power for the reading of Nuwanda being a trans woman. Professor Keating says they all need to 'walk their own path' and to not follow the paths already made. Everyone starts walking and they all do it differently, except for Nuwanda. Nuwanda stays behind and says "I'm exercising my right not to walk" and Professor Keating looks at him proudly.

All the boys start walking whereas Nuwanda stays behind, distancing himself from making his own path as a man. Nuwanda was exercising his right not to participate in walking through life as a man. it's such a wonderful wonderful wonderful scene and i love her so much.

There's also the way Nuwanda dresses. Nuwanda starts changing his style throughout the film and you cannot tell me he conforms to the societal norms of a boy his age, at welton, meant to get into an ivy league school after graduation. He's slowly experimenting with his gender expression throughout the film, being fascinated by lipstick, changing his hair, trying on different hats, etc. It' so subtle but at the same time it's so big.

There's also the scene where Nuwanda gets punished by the headmaster. The punishment is a spanking and he has to lean over the headmasters desk and pull down his pants, and the headmaster is behind him. There's a clear power imbalance between the headmaster and Nuwanda, almost as if Nuwanda is the woman in that scene while a man abuses him the way he would abuse a woman. The punishment is inherently a feminization of his character, making him lean over and strip him off his power and being at the mercy of a man. The scene draws from female trauma and the power of men, while projecting it onto Nuwanda's character, creating more symbolism as to why Nuwanda is a trans woman.

Another scene, the coach comes into the changing rooms and yells:

"Let's go boys, hussle up in here! That means you Dalton!"

Dalton, Nuwanda, is standing in front of the mirror and combing his hair. None of the other boys do, they all tussle and fix their hair with their hands and then they're good. Nuwanda cares about how he looks and the coach is telling him, specifically, that he needs to man up.

These are the main reasons i believe Nuwanda left Welton and finally could start living her life as a woman. Especially considering the end of the film, Neils fate and how it represents the importance of being yourself and finding your own voice. There's so much in the subtext that indicate a queer and/or trans reading of the film. In the mise-en-scene, in the manuscript, symbolism, etc.

(Image of Nuwanda, showing his chest covered in lipstick, a feminine gender expression. He's removing his tie, which literally ties him to the man people want him to be.)

#i've never posted anything like this #flexing my bachelor's degree in film science fr fr #anyway!#dead poets society #dps #nuwanda #charles dalton #film review #it's not a very formal film review #but a film review nonetheless #also english is not my first language so sorry

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captainkirkk · 2 years

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✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes.

Heartstopper

look now, the sky is gold by kissmeinnewyork

“Your mum’s been texting me.”

Charlie can just about make out Nick’s bemused expression over his shitty student halls wifi connection. “She’s been doing what?”

In the days after Nick goes to university, Sarah Nelson looks after Charlie like he's her own.

(A story about found family, empty nests, house keys and Nick, Charlie and Sarah).

The Owl House

on the mantle by unexpectedchair

Part 1 of ceramics

He had to stop that train of thought. He would not be bursting into tears today, or ever, thank you very much.

Deep breaths. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

"It's settled, then," he and Luz perked up upon Darius raising his voice slightly, "The little prince will be staying with me."

The room went dead silent.

"What?" Hunter whispered.

Our Flag Means Death

put me back together by ShowMeAHero

Stede can’t help crying out in pain, in the next beat, finally giving in when an instinctive sound comes up. It’s loud, and the crew goes dead silent around him.

Stede doesn’t even notice. He’s just trying to breathe, skin tugging painfully, when a door bangs open at the opposite end of the ship.

“What the fuck was that?” Ed demands from afar, voice heard easily over the crash of the sea around them. “Was that Stede? Where the fuck is he?”

“Oh, no,” Lucius says quietly.

“If you jump overboard, babe, I swear I’ll come back for you,” Black Pete promises him.

or: lucius accidentally gives stede a flesh wound, and ed loses his mind like they're not all pirates.

SVSSS

Can't we just skip to the end? by chaoticgoodlawyer

Part 1 of I Just Wanna Be Yours

When it was all said and done, Shen Qingqiu comforted himself that the end of the plot meant that, surely, all major events were out of the way. They were firmly in HEA territory and he could relax a little. Right? Right.

A year and a half into his marriage to the protagonist, he cursed himself for a fool when he woke next to a Luo Binghe from ten years in the past.

Meanwhile, a recently transmigrated Shen Yuan struggled to retain what little face he had when confronted with an overgrown, disturbingly gorgeous demon lord claiming to be his husband. Which is impossible, because he’s straight, the most hetero heterosexual to exist. System? A little help here??

How To Stop Being Strung Along By A Guy & Get What You Deserve: 5 Steps to a Serious Relationship! by x_los

'Madam Meiyin said: “Milord’s fated lover pays very little attention to others. But the moment they come to care about someone, they will care with their entire heart and soul.”'

Shen Yuan transmigrates into Proud Immortal Demon Way with a firmly-tied red string of fate. It takes Luo Binghe roughly two hours to notice this.

Clone Wars

Iviin’hiibi te Tuur by whitchry9

Obi Wan has never resented the seizures he's experienced, not exactly, but he wasn't particularly fond of them either.

(And then they save the galaxy.)

sight unseen by smilebackwards

Part 3 of first choice

No one—not Rex, not Wolffe, not one captain under Cody’s direct command—will show Cody so much as a grainy holo of his general’s face.

Strangers Like Me by K_R_Closson

When Obi-Wan chose to fight for the Young, he left behind the only life he'd ever known, and the only dream he had ever wanted. On Melida/Daan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Child of No Clan, finds purpose and finds family, and begins a journey which will change the shape of his life and the galaxy in ways he'll never fully understand.

Or, the one where Obi-Wan is adopted by True Mandalorians off Melida/Daan. Featuring: teenage shenanigans, pet strill, Force teleportation, first love, and found family.

#happy saturday everyone #i have a day off in the first time in forever #so i figured i should get this up #weekly fic round up #fic recs #my posts #ofmd recs #svsss recs #toh recs #sw recs #misc recs

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frodo-with-glasses · 2 years

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PSA for new followers!

Just wanted to set some expectations for this chapter! There are almost TWICE as many of you now as there were when I finished Two Towers (thank you so much!!), and with so many new faces, I felt it was only fair to get you all up to speed on how things work around here. Buckle up, folks, ‘cause you’re about to see a LOT of Frodo and Sam.

What there WILL be on this blog:

Memes

Unexpected angst

Drawings of exactly what happens in the book

Terrible haircuts (because Frodo and Sam haven’t seen a barber in literal months)

Clever shot composition to protect Frodo’s decency despite him walking around in his birthday suit

What there will NOT be on this blog:

Anybody’s lad bits

Romantic tension

As always, those who ship SamFro can feel free to interact with this blog—it’s not like I could stop you anyway 🤣🤣—but I reserve the right to include a disclaimer on all my art that such is not my intention, and I politely ask that all of you lovely people recognize and respect that, and don’t claim that you understand the meaning behind my art better than I do.

This chapter is one of my favorites in the book, but I also understand that it has a LOT of content that could easily be misconstrued. That’s why I’m making this disclaimer now. I’m sure you all understand. 💚

Further FAQs and inquiries will be answered under the cut. Have a great day!

Q: Why don’t you ship SamFro?

A: Answered in detail here. TL;DR: I see my own friendships reflected in Frodo and Sam, and I treasure a platonic relationship as strong as theirs is.

Q: But they cuddle while Frodo is naked! What’s your heterosexual explanation for that?

A: When Lady Glasses was but a young little monocle, she and her sister used to take baths together in The Big Tub, because it saved time and water (and in a lower income family, water = money). I’ll say this very plainly: Nakedness does not always equal sexuality. There are many instances when it means something very different, such as vulnerability or innocence or practicality or simply “orcs took all my clothes and all I’ve got left is my skin”. In addition: Being comfortable seeing someone’s naked body does not always mean you did—or want to—have sex with them. Sometimes it can mean quite the opposite: that you are uninterested, and therefore very blasé. If you think that uncovering parts of the human body that are normally concealed always correlates to sex, I shudder to imagine what you think of a surgical theatre.

Q: What will happen if I tag your posts as “SamFro”?

A: Nothing you can prove 💚

#blog maintenance #samwise gamgee #frodo baggins #lord of the rings #lotr #my art #my writing #fig tree au

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steavia · 3 days

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lydia know she's different from other girls long before she discovers her identity; a lot of that can be put on her undiagnosed autism, for sure, but there's something else. when puberty hits, she's been in a group home for about half a decade by then. it's at that point that the gears start turning in her young mind.

the girls her age get crushes on the boys at school. lydia doesn't. she gets asked who she likes around the age of twelve, and she gets flustered, giving out responses like i'm too young to know, or i don't have time for boys. she watches the few friends she had or even girls she admired distantly become wrapped up in boy craziness. she falls behind, & the gap between herself and other girls only grows.

she gets her first crush long after most of her heterosexual peers have gone through at least a couple boyfriends. at sixteen, one of the only girls who's been nice to her in the group home becomes more than just a friend in her mind; she's fallen for her. lydia denies this for months, says she just really admires her. it's more than admiration. she realizes this and keeps quiet—asidr from ruining her already unpleasant reputation among the other girls at the home, she risks something worse: ruining her friendship with her feelings. by the time she works up the nerves to confess her feelings, her crush is already aging out of the system and lydia is left behind.

as lydia grows up and gets into college, she is once again alone, once again finding women attractive only to find out they have boyfriends. there are many nights she cries herself to sleep, mourning the life she could've had if she was only like other people — or, a more subconscuous wish, that other people were like her. she dives into schoolwork to keep her mind off of the loneliness. she learns about business, about the arts, about literature. when one of her classes mentions the poet sappho, she feels an ache in her chest. people remember sappho, even in another life... will anyone remember lydia, though?

somewhere along the line, she gets a scholarship from a man named gus fring. this leads to opportunities for a job straight out of school at madrigal electromotive. lydia compartmentalizes, a lot of the time, & puts her soul into her job. it no longer hurts her heart when she hears other women mention their boyfriends or husbands. there's a known distinction there that they'll never be like her, that she'll never be like them.

all along the way, with each promotion, she gets a little closer to her boss. fring is kind to her with no ulterior motives. he 'sees things' in people—sees their potential, sees lydia's. when fring offers her an opportunity to make more money than she ever dreamed over shipping some illegal goods, she takes it even. she's been scared of being discovered for a while now, for other reasons—why is this any different?

her connection to gus is what leads to her becoming more confident in her identity; in time, gus tells her that someone in the cartel murdered someone very important to him. lydia doesn't press, but she knows that he never flirted with her nor did he mention women. he lives a solitary life bent on revenge for his lover, & even if lydia isn't in the same situation per se, she sees him. she sees herself in him. & that lonely void in her heart becomes a bit smaller through that friendship.

#( headcanon. )#felt sad and gay so here's my sad and gay little headcanon lol

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reflections-in-a-critical-eye · 2 years

Note

Are there any bangtan performances that have caught your eye as having potentially queer interpretations outside of the obvious mma black swan choreo?

I've always found Jungkook and Jimin's Adult Ceremony piece as being super gay lmao but if not for the amusing behind the scenes

Adult Ceremony is such a good case study because we have the performance and the rehearsal in behind the scenes and the acts have different meanings, at least in my interpretation.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I will once again go back to Chuyun Oh's article ''Unmasking Queerness: Blurring and Solidifying Queer Lines through K-Pop Cross-Dressing''. I really recommend this article for anyone who is interested, you can find it online. Oh analizes two performanaces by male K-Pop idols, one in which they use humor to reinforce heterosexuality and heteronormativity and a second one that manages to blur the lines by using subversion.The original performances are made by girl groups and the boys are trying to imitate that. Despite Adult Ceremony not involving cross-dressing, I think I can use the author's analysis because she makes some really good points that can be applied to this particular situation.

Oh starts by contextualizing how queer Asian identity is understood saying ''focusing on liminal features of queerness decolonizes Asian queer aesthetics by unmasking Western-centered gay subjects. Queer is often understood as a Eurocentric concept with the implication that the non-Western subject should follow Western models''. I only have to look at shipping spaces and 90% of the bloggers and twitter users are guilty of doing this because they can't get rid of their Western bias and lens through which they try to understand Asian queer aesthetics.

Going back to using humor to reinforce heterosexuality, we can see that in BTS as well, especially back when they had to pretend to kiss each other, or they were dressed up in women's clothes. They always ended up laughing, breaking the fourth wall so to speak, in order to remind the audience that they're just playing for entertainment, it's nothing serious, this is not them as men, because they are ''real men''. Chuyun Oh goes back to theater and the theories about presentational (Brecht) and representational acting (Stanislavksi) to frame these types of performances.

A presentational acting style is a technique in which the actor maintains a distance from the roles they play, it creates an alienation effect. I could say that this applies to some acts of fanservice, but to get to the point of this actual ask, I think what Jimin did in the rehearsal for Adult Ceremony was presentational acting. He couldn't get into the ''role'', and the role was that he as a man had to dance on a song and choreography in which the movements were gendered and specifically female for the most part (although for JM and JK's performance they did add some Michael Jackson inspired moves for a short bit if I recall) and the original message was that of a woman offering herself to a man that had waited for her to become of legal age so they can finally have sex. Jimin was shy and always breaking out of his role, while Jungkook was playful, but despite that, I didn't see him using humor to deflect from what he was actually doing. It's also important to remember that Jungkook, when he dances girl group choreos, he doesn't turn to parody in order to reinforce that he's still a man. If the movements are feminine, he will move his body the exact same way. What Jungkook does is representational acting, the technique in which the actor immerses themselves into the role they play.

This representational acting happens during the actual performance because none of them break that fourth wall. Jimin and Jungkook are not imitating the women who dance, but they embody on stage their femininity as men. Wearing masculine fitting black costumes doesn't erase that. They also have a part of themselves that can be considered more androgynous in appearance. (As I said, one part of themselves, I didn't label any of them as androgynous men in general, this is important to note).

You said ''this piece is super gay'', but I would rather say it's a queer performance because it plays with gender presentation and blurs the lines between socially established genders and it creates a space for queer expression, a ''third realm, a space of possibility in gender construction''. I would like to end this with a last quote from the article because it sums up what performances like Adult Ceremony and Black Swan can be interpreted as, without using some very narrow, Western-centric concepts that require definitive identities:

''The ambivalent construction of homoerotic role-play signals that anyone can act, feel, and be queer without the danger of directly being marked as gay or homosexual. Such ambiguity has potential to liberate individuals and to allow alternative sexual identities moving away from stereotypes of homosexuality embedded in Western culture''.

I believe that narrow mindedness, a Western perspective of gender and sexual identity and being art and media illiterate, stops this fandom from being able to talk about Adult Ceremony or Black Swan as being queer performances, as they believe that by saying this, it automatically adds a certain label to these two men and assuming their homosexuality (as we all know, assuming straightness is completely fine apparently). It's ignorance because assuming men could be queer is not wrong and second, they are not able to separate someone's possible sexual identity from the art they are doing. If those two are connected, fine. It usually is in a lot of cases, but in this particular situations when someone's sexual identity becomes a blank canvas because of the industry, then I say that once again, it's fine to just focus on the art and if the art can be interpreted as queer, then so be it. We can look at them as artists and the art they're making without automatically making statements about them as private individuals.

#bmt asks #adult ceremony #jimin #jungkook #jikook #jikook adult ceremony #kpop #kpop queer performances

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vifandom · 1 year

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Renfield

My dumb little gay brain has hyper fixated on this upcoming vampire film so I wanted to talk about it. Really long post under the cut, so read on at your own risk 👍👍👍

So Renfield is this movie about Dracula’s minion, Renfield, and I got really excited about it when I saw the trailer. I’ll probably still go see the movie, the aesthetic is cool and I like the colors, but based on that trailer, I had an understanding of the plot that did not pan out. Maybe I’m wrong and the advertisement was misleading, but as I’m aware of it, the plot goes like this:

Renfield is your average guy, save for one thing: he works for the narcissistic Lord of Evil, Dracula, who I think serves as a literal representation of his low self-esteem and self-worth. To help alleviate this problem, he goes to a toxic relationship counseling group, who see his panicked rambling about his boss’s powers as hyperbole. His job is to bring Dracula people to eat, and, in exchange, (by eating spiders??? I think???) he gains superhuman strength and agility. But Dracula treats him terribly, and he’s looking to get out of their bargain. He, at some point, saves a bunch of people, and teams up with a police officer lady to an unknown degree. I assume the movie will end with him defeating Dracula, symbolizing him overcoming his mental struggles and finding peace.

Now, I thought this movie was gay. Perhaps that’s my gaggles (gay goggles) talking, but given that he goes to relationship counseling, the bizarre intimacy shown in the promotional material, as well as my inkling that it would have its romantic/sexual undertones addressed narratively if either Dracula or Renfield was a woman, I think it’s justified. So my first thought was, “Cool! Gay vampire action movie with Nick Cage!” And then I thought, “Oh, not gay vampire action movie with Awkwafina.” And some of my initial enthusiasm dipped. But I figured, “I can’t’ve been the only one who caught on to these subtleties, right?” So, to the Internet I went.

Come to find out, almost everyone saw the very homoerotic subtext between the dominating evil fancy man and his submissive good-hearted henchperson.

Of course, some certain corners of the Internet, such as Pinterest, Tumblr, and Ao3 are perhaps a bit hardwired to see two men in close proximity and diagnose them with gay, but I think that says more about how writers write these characters, and less about how the fans see them. Since straight relationships are largely unappealing (read: unhealthy and possessive) as portrayed in modern media, and a majority of characters with speaking lines and interactions are male, gay pairings are an essential part of the shipping conversation. The top ten pairings in Ao3 fanfiction are all between two guys, for Pete’s sake.

So why aren’t canonical gay relationships more common? The obvious answer is, obviously, the aggressive heterosexuality of Hollywood, action movies in particular. Sometimes it seems like hetero romance is a quota to fill, as if while making these movies, they thought, “We have to make these to opposite-gendered characters kiss,” with very little reasoning or logic behind it. And even if a straight romance is given buildup and payoff, it seems that many writers are uninterested in actually writing about two people in love, beyond the falling in. (The Thor movies are actually a great example of this, as the relationship between Jane Foster and Thor in the first movie is a pretty well-written one. But then they’ve broken up in the second film, Jane isn’t in the third one, and then she dies.) Indiana Jones has three different love interests for three straight movies, Maverick gets back with Penny in Top Gun 2 for literally no good reason, and Endgame ends with Captain America having gone back and inadvertently removed Peggy’s agency to get his romantic ending. In my opinion, straight romances are largely superficial, not impacting plot or characters in meaningful enough ways to be included.

And that’s, I think, at the heart of why I can’t stand romantic subplots in action movies. Their superficially and toxic insanity. I can count on two hands the amount of movies with enjoyable and well-progressed romantic subplots. (Howl’s Moving Castle, Shrek, and Tangled come to mind, though that might be my animation bias showing.) It feels tacked on. Cheap. Unimportant. It’s hard to get invested into when the characters are so… not interesting. And when it’s not boring me to tears, it’s making me question the sanity of whoever signed off on it.

For an excellent comparison, look at the 1999 and 2017 Mummy movies. In the ‘99 film, Rick and Evie’s romance couldn’t be removed without substantial changes to the narrative. They positively drive each other’s development. Rick by feeding into Evie’s more outgoing and adventurous tendencies, and Evie by driving Rick to be more open and compassionate. They’re totally focused on each other, and time is given to developing their relationship naturally. It also provides a good foil against the villain, Imhotep, who was destroyed not once, but twice by his obsession with Anck-su-Namun.

But the 2017 version has one of the most heterosexual stories I’ve ever seen in an action film. The protagonist, Nick, has two love interests, the paranoid researcher Jennifer, and the mummy herself, Ahmanet. He’s linked to Ahmanet through some psychic BS, and she wants to marry him. But he also has a past with Jennifer, and ends up sacrificing himself for her. But instead of these relationships serving as juxtaposition, one driven by genuine caring passion, and the other driven by desire and selfishness, one just keeps getting in the way of the other. At the end, neither are developed or compelling. Too much time is spent with Nick bemoaning his ties to Ahmanet to grow into his relationship with Jennifer, and too much time is spent with Nick angsting out with Jennifer to elaborate on his relationship with Ahmanet. And they’re all such boring characters that you can’t even really bring yourself to care.

So, along comes Renfield. A film with the perfect opportunity to structure most, if not all, of its story around a romantic relationship, albeit a failing one. It felt (and still feels) incredibly What We Do In The Shadows, given the poppy neon lighting, dry-humored dialogue, timeless atmosphere, and campy characters. And, above everything else, a lot of very gay subtext. (Of course, What We Do In The Shadows is a lot more overt with the character’s obviously not-straight sexualities.) Because while the common Internet users seem to look at this movie and say, “they’re gay,” the more official, widespread Internet journalists and film critics seem to look at this movie and talk only about how cool it is that not-so-subtle meme king Nicolas Cage is playing a classy-classic tuxedo vampire. (And, don’t get me wrong, I love that too.) Is it the gaggles rearing their homo heads again? Is this just something we’ve read into too deeply?

I don’t think so. Any millennial/ gen-Z consumer of vampire media, excluding maybe the die-hard Edward versus Jacob Twilight fans, is familiar with the homoeroticism that comes with the genre. Carmilla, widely considered the very first vampire novel, is literally about a lesbian romance! The sexual tension between Jonathan Harker and the Count in the first few chapter of Dracula is wild. So much vampire media is queercoded, if not outright gay, so I think assuming a 2023 “modern monster tale” would address or lean into these expectations is reasonable.

(As a side note, whatever Renfield and Dracula’s relationship is, it’s a toxic one. If my assumption is correct and Dracula represents Renfield’s internalized insecurities, that’s a pretty bad basis for a romance. The promo material has made it very clear that Renfield is unhappy with how he is treated by his boss. His journey in the movie is about getting away from that.

Online fandom culture has an unfortunate habit of romanticizing (fetishizing) gay men in toxic relationships. Look no further than the enthusiastic Killing Stalking fan base, who think a psychopathic, unfeeling murderer and an emotionally unstable, abandonment-issue-riddled nervous wreck should be together romantically. Oh, and the murderer kept the nervous wreck locked in his house for months, physically, emotionally, and sexually abusing him, while feeding into his Stockholm-Syndrome mentality. Such a relationship is similar to Dracula and Renfield’s. A lot of this culture stems from teen girls, which I am, and I don’t want to feed into that.)

If Renfield is gay, it has an interesting opportunity to write an extremely interesting queer romance about a gay dude breaking away from his abusive old boss, and perhaps finding new love and comfort in his sexuality. I would suggest the police officer, but, on top of the fact that she would bring it back to the realm of heteronormativity, she’s unfunny and annoying. (Although, her name is Rebecca Quincy, and Quincy P. Morris is the name of the bisexual Texas cowboy himbo from the original Dracula novel.) Oh, well. She’ll probably be his love interest anyway.

It’s possible that I’m just wrong and Renfield will have all this “good queer writing” that I didn’t expect, and this whole essay will be null and void. (I seriously doubt it.) Honestly, though, I’m really just using Renfield as thinly- veiled window dressing for other romantic- adjacent topics that I’ve wanted to organize my thoughts on for a while.

Thanks if you read all this way. Lemme know what your thoughts on stuff like this is.

#long reads #long post #essay #in this essay i will #queer stuff #gay #renfield #renfield movie #queerbaiting #maybe #movie essay #film essay #movie analysis #film analysis #lets hope this doesn’t turn out to be a completely irrelevant essay lmao #my stuff

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veryferaldistributions · 1 year

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3. For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?

Fish Hooks: Mr. Baldwin (duh!).

I enjoy the challenge of this character. Mainly because his struggle in my stories is that he’s pregnant and about to be a dad and instead of being excited about it, he doesn’t really know what to feel. So I got to write his journey as he goes through the different emotions that he has about this process.

I also really enjoy writing the version of Ms. Lips I have in my work. She’s a much gentler, more emotionally-intelligent, and wittier character than the show’s version. She’s a much better partner for Baldwin, and he deserves good things! I also really loved exploring how she’d feel about becoming a mom to someone else’s kids.

I also just loved making Coach Salmons even gayer than he was on the show. (He flirts with Baldwin to annoy him.)

Penny Dreadful: Victor Frankenstein.

Granted, my fic features only him and Caliban, but I really enjoyed taking his paternal joy that he showered on Proteus, and exploring what might happen if he showed Caliban that same kindness. I loved getting to write him so soft, and have this AU where Caliban’s re-birth is something wonderful and celebrated instead of being a traumatic nightmare for both of them.

MamaBoy: Ditto. (No, seriously, that’s his name.)

I’m not certain how many people have seen this movie, but basically Ditto is the wingman of the main character, Kelly (who is also a boy, just for clarification). He is one of the WEIRDEST characters I’ve seen in anything ever. He wears the gaudiest clothing, is so nerdy and ADHD and socially awkward, yet somehow is best friends with the most popular guy in school and is BURSTING with self-confidence. (And is also played by Sinjin from “Victorious.”)

He is also a genuinely supportive, kind hearted friend who is in a heterosexual-marriage with his BFF. And flirts with him constantly. (But I couldn’t end up shipping them! I like them better as friends, tbh! Possibly the first/only time that’s happened to me.)

He is the perfect “Leah” to Kelly’s “Juno.” I love him, and loved writing him. (This movie is not good, btw, but Ditto IS.)

Good Omens: I’m sorry, this one is a copout, because I loved writing both Aziraphale AND Crowley too much to pick between them. I enjoyed writing Zira’s fussy, fretting, and uptight dialogue, but then also Crowley’s more laid-back relaxed parts. I also enjoyed just writing them very domestic and warm-fuzzy, then to have them kinda thrown into a panic when this baby (a girl) gets dumped on their doorstep…who happens to be the second coming of Jesus. 😂

The Neighbors: Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

For two reasons. First reason is the dialogue pattern of the aliens in this show. It was a fun challenge to stay in character with them without feeling like I was completely copying from the show. (For instance, they use their full names like a first name, or their pet-name for their significant other is just “husband” or “wife.”)

Second reason is that this fic focused on the cliffhanger ending of the show, where we find out the leader of the aliens, Larry Bird (Jackie’s husband) is pregnant with his third child, and then he and his family stay behind on earth when their whole colony goes back to their home planet. (The show got canceled after season two, so the plot was never resolved.)

It was fun to focus on a woman/man mpreg story, specifically when writing about Jackie’s envy of her husband’s ability to carry the children, she feels like he has this special relationship with them. So in this rare moment of kindness from Larry (he’s kind of an ass in the show), he helps her connect with their baby.

Re-Animator: (Do I even need to say it?) Herbert West.

I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed writing Herbert. He is an enigma all his own. I’ve mainly enjoy writing him because:

1. He is VERY autistic.

2. I get to do another Frankenstein story. (I’ve also done original work that mimics Frankenstein.)

3. This is my first time writing a trans character.

I am autistic, so I’ve enjoyed using him as my first exploration of writing an autistic character (even though some of my original characters have autistic tendencies). He’s just got this quirky yet dark sense of humor, but he’s also a workaholic “reagent” addict, and he’s completely full of himself. But he’s also, at least in my fic/Combs’ headcanon, asexual. Which is nice, because I am greysexual, so I don’t feel forced to write sex scenes in this fic! 😄

He’s also a MAJOR asshole! But that’s part of the fun of writing him; he says everything I could if I had no filter or common courtesy.

Also, yes, in my fic (and MANY others) Herbert is a trans man. This is admittedly hard for me to know if I get right, because I am not a trans man myself (I am, however, genderqueer/questioning) and while his transness is not the central focus of the story, it does play a big role in it. So it’s been interesting to walk this tightrope of investing some story in this side of the character, while also keeping Herbert, well, Herbert.

Equally hard tightrope is writing him as much of an ass as in the movies, while also trying to show enough of a reason for Dan Cain to want to be married to him. 😂

#30 days of fanfic #fish hooks #mpreg #penny dreadful #the neighbors #good omens #reanimator #mamaboy #fanfic #fanfiction #mpreg fanfiction #cw mpreg

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