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jemmo · 1 year

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ive had this ramble bubbling under the surface since watching the first 2 eps of t8s, but talking to @heesulovebot and @bengiyo ‘s posts have finally managed to organise my thoughts, about why this feels so queer and un-bl, and i think it’s because, even though unspoken, the characters recognise this as queer too. i can think of so many countless bl’s where things don’t start out gay, be it enemies to lovers or friends to lovers or characters not knowing what their feelings are or ignoring them or rejecting them, no matter what it is, it’s like the gayness is slowly eeked out. but this show, in the simplest way, makes it gay from the start, by showing us the beginnings of a relationship, a meeting and a first introduction and a getting to know each other, that is really very basic. one of the things i hear a lot when people dismiss same sex chemistry in shows unless it’s stated, like when people are arguing for the inferred same sex relationship, is “if this was a man and a woman, would you think it’s romantic?”, and so often an answer is yes bc we’re still stuck in this mindset of seeing opposite sex interactions as inherently romantic, while same sex interactions as inherently friendly. you can take any number of jihyun’s and jaewon’s interactions, their first exchange outside the bar, exchanging names, jaewon wanting to go to the restaurant to see jihyun, jihyun joining the club to get closer to jaewon, the sharing earbuds, the buying food, the keeping him out the smoke, the list goes on of big to tiny details that if it were a man and a woman, anyone would read it as romantic, and yet no one in the show yet recognises it as that or voices it. and that’s what is so good and so queer about this story. bc queerness can often hide in plain sight, as long as the two at the center of it recognise it as what it is. they know this isn’t just friendly, and yet they can use this veil of male friendship to disguise all the blatant flirting they do. THAT. IS SO. QUEER. heck, how many times are queer relationships referred to as some take on a ‘special friendship’. its how we hide in plain sight. it’s how we can brush hands and shower together and sit together round a camp fire at night with music being sung and look fondly into each other’s eyes and yet no one else in that circle is none the wiser. its how we, as an audience, know this is queer, not bc of the label put on the show, but bc of how our characters act. whether they know how they feel or not at this point, the way they act, and how those actions portray those feelings, let’s us in. queer media is kind of like a secret language like that, a whole thing you have to know how to speak so that you can understand the intricacies of what’s being said. and untangling and decoding the meaning of the word friend is one of those things specific to the queer experience, which makes the use of it here absolute genius.

#i finally wrote a thing #I’ve been waiting for the brainrot to boil over #and tonight is the tipping point apparently #I am just so stuck on this show it’s ridiculous #like I had to write this to stop myself from watching those 2 eps for the 6th time bc I’m that insane #and I don’t think my rambles can even do justice to the wonderful way this show is crafted #and I honestly can’t even figure out how they create and communicate this vibe that’s so identifyibly queer and yet nothing is screaming at #you in the face hey this is queer #like I’m just shook #the eighth sense

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eddieheart · 3 months

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Brokeback Mountain

I re-wrote the ending to brokeback mountain because I hate myself

- Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist fall in love on a lonely old mountain. It's a whirlwind romance that grips them by the soul.

- By the end of the summer when they're asked to leave neither can bare to separate, so they don't.

- (at the beginning you don't see Ennis with a car but further on you do, so I'll just assume he had a car but lived in town) So they sell one of their cars (the worse one of the two) and get the little beginnings of a nest egg

- At first they're just driving around aimlessly, not putting down roots anywhere. While working at a ranch they hear some of the guys talking about going to Alberta to work on the oil rigs

- Jack is immediately all for it, Ennis isn't sure, but after a while they decide to go. It's really good pay, in a similar place to where they are now and they can avoid the draft. (Win win)

- (in Alberta, 1970, a roughneck would be payed approximately 27,000 dollars a year, in today's money that's about 212,000)

- They eventually make enough to buy an apartment together, which passes fine enough under the guise of two bachelor roommates, who can't afford a place of their own.

- Eventually they hear about club 70 and Flashback (both gay bars founded around 1970) in Edmonton, only about 45 minutes from where they live

- It soon becomes a common place for them to hang out.

- While at the club they discover 'Carousel Capers' (newsletter of club carousel) a monthly newsletter for gay people that had started in 1969.

- They also discover GATE (gay alliance towards equality) that started in 1971-72. The alliance had an actual building which included a drop in center and a resource center. They provided peer counselling and speaker referrals all while still fighting for gay rights.

- It takes a long time but eventually they even visit the center.

-It's during one of these visits that they meet Margret 'Peggy' Walters and Winnifred 'Fred' Murphy, a lesbian couple in the same area

- They both share their woes about living as a gay couple in the area and how at a certain point it's hard to pretend to be just roommates

- They all become fast friends and continue to meet up regularly. While having coffee one day Peggy shares a thought, marriage, marriages actually. Those of Ennis and herself as well as Jack and Fred, for tax purposes and also convenience.

- It's during the spring that they get married and it's summer when they take a 'honeymoon' at Brokeback mountain.

- The girls love the solitude and everyone keeps their distance during the stay.

- The second day of their drip, when the sun gets real low, a mix of amber, crimson and violet, the sky peppered with ghosts of stars that Ennis falls to his knees before the love of his life and pulls out a small gold ring.

"I don't say much, and I don't know much either, but what I do know, is that I love you Jack Twist, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

- Jack let's out a brash fit of laughter, running off for no more than a minute. He jogs back to where Ennis is sitting and collapses to his knees, sliding towards him, a ring in hand. All the overwhelming fear and anxiety Ennis had been feeling quickly fell away.

- Jack stared deeply into the eyes of the man he's sure he wants to spend the rest of his life with, putting a free hand on the other man's cheek as he speaks.

"Ennis Del Mar, I- I just can't quit you, and I don't want to neither. I've spent every day since we've left thanking whatever god that'll listen for you, cus you- you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. So, Mr. Del Mar, wanna get hitched?"

- They end up laugh crying and falling into each other, both making slapdash moves for other's ring and pushing them onto they're fingers.

- One day while working on the rigs, Jack gets into an accident. Work normally last 16-20 hours a day, and they work almost every day, sometimes 7 days a week. Because of this, Jack in his sleep deprived and overworked state, passes out, hitting his head on piece of metal machinery.

- Ennis is rightfully terrified and it takes a few days for Jack to actually wake up. When he does, Ennis decides that they are never going back to the rigs.

- They merge what little nest eggs they've saved up with the girls and buy a ranch.

(The price per acre in 1988 was 374, and they bought 500 acres)

- There's a little house on the property which they all refurbish together. It's technically two smaller houses merged together, each with they're own mailboxes. One says Ennis + Peggy (for Jack and Ennis) and the other says Jack + Fred (for Peggy and Fred)

- Each couple had their own side of the house, but they all spend most of their time together like one big family.

- Because they have so much land, they don't have to worry about anybody seeing anything they aren't suppose to, so they don't have to keep behind closed doors anymore.

- Fred learns to weld and becomes a trades woman, While Peggy prefers to say home, take care of the house and cook. Ennis and Jack get a herd of sheep, some cattle and a few horses.

- Now that they have the money Jack even gets himself a roping horse, a young mare named Sunny that he trains himself.

- The house and barn are near constantly filled with music, the radio is always playing. It's partly because Jack read something about animals being happier when they listened to music and partly because Ennis doesn't have the heart to tell him he's wrong.

- After a while when they're all good and ready, Peggy and Fred propose having children. So not long after that, Ennis and Jack get jiggy with a plastic cup and Peggy and Fred get real familiar with a turkey baster.

- Jack desperately wants a little boy and has for quite a long time, Ennis is the more apprehensive of the two, but as soon as the older man gets a glimpse of his little baby girl all his worries melt away.

- It's then that they're all renamed, Ennis becomes Daddy, Jack becomes Popa, Peggy is Moma and Fred is Mom. They all wear their titles with pride.

- Peggy had two girls each a year apart and Fred has a little brown eyed boy.

- As it turns out, it's quite difficult for four people to decide on baby names. But after a first 10 months of deliberation, and another year for their third they decide on Alison, Jackson Robert and Marie.

- After having the babies Peggy starts to work in town to help raise some more funds for the kids and Ennis and Jack become the best stay at home dads you've ever seen.

- Ennis actually learns to cook and Jack is a diaper master, though he'll never admit it to anyone else.

- Though the old clubs are closed by now and the paper long gone, GATE (which was renamed to GLCCE, the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre of Edmonton) is still around. They all decide they can spare the extra money for a ranch hand and post an add at the center, hiring a young boy named Henry.

- Though they somehow end up with two hands because of Henry's codependent relationship with his girlfriend Danny.

- At first the guys are shocked that they hired a gay boy who turns out to have a girlfriend. But soon after, Danny the spitfire (as she's renamed) educated not only the boys but Peg and Fred too, on bisexuality, genderfluidity and what it means to be transgender.

- They all get very up to date on gay culture. (They haven't been getting out much since the kids... and the sheep)

- Each of the kids learns how to ride horses at four, but all of them have already (and continue to) gone on rides with their dads.

- Buts it's their youngest Marie that really takes a shine to it, horseback riding with such ease it's as though she's just walking.

- Eventually Marie even gets her own little colt, which she names boots, and starts training to barrel race (and to rope just like her popa)

- Their first trip as a family is to Brokeback mountain. Ennis and Jack sneak away in the night, watching the sunset and basking in the joy of their lives.

"Lookit how far we've come. I really love you Jack."

"And I really love you."

- On the last day they take one big picture as a family. The kids get it framed for their anniversary, it still hangs in their dads' room.

- Though they came to love Henry and Danny they eventually left the ranch. At the ages of 23 and 22 respectively the pair got married, the blended family being invited of course. They come empty handed, seemingly without a gift, but they're harbouring a splendid little secret.

- After returning from their honeymoon, they all meet up again at the shared house for dinner and their wedding present is finally given.

"Are you gonna tell them or am I?" Peggy asks with a smirk.

"So, I know y'all are grown now, but Ennis and I- and Fred and Peg," Jack adds after a side glance from the girls. "We made you a little something."

- The four of them, plus the kids, lead the newlyweds through the property and about ten acres in they peep a little dirt road. The road in turn is connected to the Main Street (on the opposite side of the property) and to a sweet little bungalow.

- Upon realizing the house is for them they both burst into tears and become (officially) member of the family.

- Marie goes on to become a rodeo star, a trick riding, barrel racing, calf roping badass. A true rodeo Queen.

- Jackie Jr. graduates early and gets a job as a mechanic in town and occasionally joins his younger sister at the rodeo, as a roping duo. At first he'd been interested in bull and bronk riding but after a long and stern conversation with both his dads about the dangers he decided against it.

- Alison turns out to be the wild card of the family, deciding to go to school to become a doctor. (Never did Ennis, or Jack or that matter, think that he could make a kid that intelligent, but fuck if she wasn't a smart cookie)

- Though he's a man of few words, Ennis gives heartfelt and genuine goodbyes to each of their children. Jack as well, tucking his head into the side of his now (really freaking tall) kids, hiding his tears in bursts of 'I love yous' and 'I'll miss yous".

- Now that they're all empty nesters the house feels a little too lonely, a bit quieter too, even though the radio is still always playing. So Jack and Ennis decide to start fostering, (though technically on paper it’s Ennis and Peggy and Jack and Fred)

- They take in the kids that no one wants, the belligerent teens, the abandoned toddlers, homeless kids, the reckless boys and the defiant girls. Kids that have no other options.

- They end up with 6 year old Toby, 14 Christin and 16 year old Randy and they love every minute of it.

- Jackie Jr. is the first to get married. His wife is a sweet young thing named Stella, she comes from a hard working family and desperately loves their son. They build and move into another house on the property, not too far from Henry and Danny.

- Allison finished her schooling at a big fancy, (as Ennis puts it, "smart kid school") and now lives in the city, she's had a few boyfriends, and girlfriends, over the years but still hasn't settled down.

- Ennis gets a little nervous every now and then, about Allison and if she feels as lonely as he did when he was a young kid. Jack always pulls him back though.

"Just because she isn't married doesn't mean she ain’t happy, I mean, think about us, about Peg n' Freddy, when we were kids we was happy, unmarried and very happy just being with each other."

"Allie knows she's loved, we tell her all the time, she knows her family will always be on her side, no matter what."

- Danny and Henry adopt a little boy named Tommy. (Ennis thinks the fact that all their names ending in 'y' is weird but only ever says anything to Jack)

- Marie is the next to get hitched, her and her partner Randi, whose full name they still don't know.

- Jackie Jr. and Stella have their first kid, a little girl, Ennis Jr. (Both her granddads cry when they hear the name)

-That fall Peggy has a stroke and can't work in town anymore. Now she stays home with the boys (and the kiddos). At first it's really hard for all of them, she can't do what she used to be able to, things Peggy had mastered are now nearly impossible. But over time they all become accustomed to the new normal.

- All the kids come home when they hear about moma. Allison quits her job in the city and becomes a family doctor in town, she says it's because she doesn't like the fast paced nature of the big city and prefers to be closer to her home anyway.

- Marie comes back from her rodeo tour but only stays a few weeks (at the request of her mother) and soon gets back to travelling.

- Jackie Jr. is blessed with a set of twin girls, Winona (Winny) and Pauline.

- Marie gets pregnant and has a baby girl, Jacklin (aka. Jack the third, or Jack Jr. Jr.)

- Needless to say the house is loud again, constantly bustling. Little kids running wild, their foster kids are grown, but Toby stays in the family house. He loves taking care of the kids, so he starts taking night courses at the community college for childcare.

- Every once and while someone will come in (just out of the blue, with no warning, like it should be) and find the two men laying together, gently holding onto each other, radio playing softly in the background.

- As an anniversary present the kids arrange a trip to Brokeback, they take the whole family. Jack and Ennis fall asleep holding each other in the place they fell in love, the sounds of their children and grandchildren running around in the distance.

- They get a surprise about a week later when a new framed photo joins the other on their bedroom wall, this time with their grandkids too.

- Jack falls down the stairs. He nearly breaks his hip and Ennis decides to get a stair lift. At first Jack refuses to use it, but eventually folds one day. Ennis sits in the chair calling Jack over, he pulls the other man onto his lap and distracts him with a chaste kiss as he pushes the down button. Jack doesn't fight him over the 'stairs chair' anymore.

- Gay marriage gets legalized, they find out by watching the local news like they do every night. Ennis bursts into tears, looks over at Peggy and says 'I want a divorce' before turning back to Jack with a smile.

- They get married in the summer, on their anniversary. The kids walk them down the isle, Jack III brings the rings and both cry when reading their vows.

- They go to bed that night, staring into each others eyes, holding their husband, they're husbands now. Jack curls onto the bigger man's chest and they both stare at the pictures on the wall, where it all started, Brokeback mountain, the radio playing softly in the background.

———

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