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hawkinsglasscloset · 1 month

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Sappho Punch | Bottoms x Stranger Things AU

Chapter 1: All is Fair in Love and War

Word count: 2k

Warning: strong language, mention of SA, mention of violence and blood.

A/n: So my obsession with the movie Bottoms and my obsession with the show Stranger Things came together to create this baby. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments are greatly appreciated :3

Fall came, but the weather was still pretty summer-like. There was a soft breeze and a sky sprinkled with stars, making that night the perfect night to finally talk to the girl of your dreams. The only issue was... maybe the girl of your dreams was also the girl of your best friend's dreams.

Hazel and Robin had been friends since third grade, they bonded over being tomboys and eventually their friendship grew deeper, but never into a relationship. They simply could not see each other in that way, not to mention they both were more into femmes, which led them down a long road of falling in love with straight girly girls.

They usually went for the opposite type, it definitely made things easier when it came to relationships (or the lack thereof, in their case since they were both virgins), they never fought over a girl in all their years of friendship.

Robin was more into petite redheads and blondes who could sing or play some instrument. Meanwhile, Hazel liked brunettes or girls with colorful hair, taller than her and on the chubbier side.

Unfortunately, as there's a first time for everything, this time they were both in love with the same girl. She wasn't exactly Robin's usual type, neither was she Hazel's usual type.

Men usually say bros before hoes, straight girls say chicks before dicks, what do gay girls say? Chicks before clits? Well, something of the sort was decided between the two friends. They were definitely NOT gonna fight over some girl.

And if she ever happened to show interest in any of them... the other would have to gracefully accept it and move on with no hard feelings. All is fair in love and war, but losing someone who has been in your life before you could even do long division was a price they were not willing to pay for coochie.

"If you don't say hi, I'm gonna say hi," Robin said with a nonchalant shrug.

"She's definitely straight! What are you even thinking?" Hazel cried nervously as she fidgeted with a big roll of tickets and waited for her cotton candy.

"She's British! Maybe that's how British people are... straight looking," Robin shook her friend by the shoulders.

"I don't think so, I think in Britain they're even gayer looking than usual," Hazel took the cotton candy and shoved part of it in her mouth. "Look! PJ and Josie!"

The unpopular, supposedly untalented, lesbian crew of Rockbridge Falls was almost all there after the two arrived, Sylvie was the only one missing, but... nobody really wanted Sylvie around (except for her stepdad, of course).

"What happened to your arm?" Hazel asked, seeing that Josie had a cast on.

"She ate shit," PJ laughed.

"She ate literal shit? What the fuck?" Hazel chuckled. "Did you get beat up again? Were you jumped? Was it spy camp? Did you go to juvie?"

"Yeah, we went to juvie," PJ sarcastically sneered.

"OH MY GOD, IT WAS JUVIE?" Hazel gasped just as Jeff, their golden boy from the football team was introduced in the most ridiculous fashion, making all the girls scream and beg him to fertilize their eggs.

"Why are people so obsessed with him?" Robin mumbled. "He has a round jawline... like a girl."

"I don't get why girls like boys like that. They're like dogs or pigs or... what's the grossest animal?" PJ huffed while the Viking players passed by them without caring if they bumped into someone.

"The human being, no animals are gross" a soft voice answered her question.

"Naomi!" Robin nearly screamed.

"Where?" Hazel turned and squealed when she was met with the girl she'd been dreaming of for about a year since she moved from London with her mother.

Naomi was the British straight girl in question. She was tall, taller than both Hazel and Robin (who was already quite tall), but in a delicate way. Her many curves were perfectly hugged by her bellbottom jeans and a crop top that said vegan women taste better.

She had long jet-black hair and pale skin which gave her a Snow White quality that made both Hazel and Robin lose their minds.

"Hey, mate," Naomi smiled, as her cheerleader friends, Isabel and Brittany joined her.

While PJ and Josie fumbled to talk to the other two, Hazel and Robin stared at Naomi without knowing what to say. It was like she always stole all the words from their brains.

"I see you're vegan," Robin pointed at the shirt.

"Yeah, I don't like to take part in any kind of animal exploitation," Naomi sweetly replied. "They are friends, not food."

"Did you know Hazel worked all summer on her uncle's farm? In the slaughterhouse!"

"Shut up!" Hazel hissed and then put a smile back on. "I didn't... I worked at the National Meat Association."

"That's well bad," Naomi frowned.

"I know, right? I don't even eat meat-"

"Yeah you do, your favorite food is steak," Robin said before being elbowed right in the boob by her friend.

"Meat is murder... I just needed a job," Hazel tried to save face.

"If you don't mind me asking, how much do you get paid there?" Naomi tilted her head.

"Fifteen bucks an hour, it's pretty good," it really wasn't, not for handling guts and blood for hours and coming home every day looking like the final girl from a slasher film.

"Say what, if you're interested, the golf course I work at needs new caddies, they pay twenty quid an hour plus tips. The old guys usually tip well if you laugh at their bad jokes."

"Wait, seriously? And I'd get to work with- with you?" Hazel's eyes lit up, not even caring if the old men in question happened to be pervs or not.

"Yeah, kinda. I drive around serving drinks, we'd see each other all the time."

"Yes, please! I'd love that! The job, I'd love that job!"

"I'll give you my manager's number tomorrow and you can give her a call to apply, you have the right build for it," Naomi said, eyeing the cotton candy. "Can I get a little bit?"

"O-of course! Take all of it!" Hazel handed her the remaining of her treat.

"C-could I get a job?" Robin asked timidly.

"I thought you worked at the video store, you don't like it there?" Hazel quirked an eyebrow at her friend.

Before Robin could answer, PJ and Josie stormed out, snatching the big roll of tickets from Hazel and giving it to Brittany.

"Hey, no, steady on," Naomi took the big roll of tickets back from her teammate. "These are Hazel's."

"She knows my name," Hazel whispered to herself.

"But the little Dutch boy gave it to us," Brittany protested without any heat behind her words, as usual.

"Don't be a twat, go buy your own," Naomi handed the roll back to Hazel and followed her friends to the nearest ride. "Have fun!"

"Don't you work at the video store?" Robin repeated in a mocking tone once they were alone. "Fuck you, Hazel! Eat a bag of uncircumcised veiny dicks!"

"You did way worse! You told her I eat steak!"

"You do!"

"I can stop."

"Isn't your mom throwing a barbecue tomorrow?"

"I can stop... after tomorrow. Anything for love!"

The next morning, when school finally started, Jeff showed up in crutches. He looked completely fine with the exception of a nasty black eye, which left PJ and Josie puzzled.

Yes, they had technically driven into him the night before, but the car barely touched his leg, how the hell did he get hurt like that? He refused to explain anything more than the fact that he was supposedly run over.

That's what they tried to explain to Principal Meyers, but he wasn't having it, he had to protect their perfect quarterback... to escape expulsion then, Josie made up a story.

She said they were just practicing for their self-defense club, to help the girls be prepared to face Huntington players that might want to hurt them, which had already started to happen.

"I can't believe they're letting you guys start a fight club," Hazel chuckled as she ate her lunch next to Josie and PJ on the bleachers.

"No, they're not, we are not!" Josie shook her head, too scared to even think about it.

"Of course we are! Did you see the way Brittany and Isabel were looking at us?" PJ countered.

"Wait... girls were looking at you because they thought you ran over Jeff?" Hazel asked, her interest piqued.

"Hell yeah! Nothing makes a girl wetter than displays of power and strength," PJ nodded. "If we get this fight club going, we can get whatever girl we want. We just have to learn how to fight..."

"You guys probably fought girls in juvie."

"We were lying about that, obviously!"

"About juvie? Why would you lie to me?" Hazel asked, unintentionally looking like a mistreated puppy.

"You assumed, I just didn't correct you," PJ rolled her eyes. "We just need to teach girls how to not get punched in the face, easy, and they drop their panties!"

"Hey, hey guys! Did you hear?" Robin ran towards the trio suddenly. "Huntington shot up our books so the library is out of order again this year!"

"No, actually... we're discussing creating a fight club to teach the girls self-defense," Hazel squinted, her blue eyes hurting from the sun hitting her face. "We can start with taekwondo, which I got covered."

"Wait, why are we even doing this? This sounds dumb," Robin started eating the sandwich her mother packed in a plastic grocery store bag.

"We teach a bunch of girls how to defend themselves against the evil Huntington killers. They are grateful to us, we build a community, we bond, we share, we connect," PJ explained while gesturing with her hands and her hips. "We're punching each other, adrenaline is flowing, next thing we know Brittany is kissing me on the mouth!"

"I take it back..." Robin shared a look with Hazel. "We definitely need a fight club. Hazel, bring Stella-Rebecca! She'll attract the cheerleaders."

"You know Stella-Rebecca?" Josie sat up, starting to consider the idea.

"We're family friends," Hazel shrugged.

It was true, but before even thinking of Stella-Rebecca, Hazel and Robin had bigger priorities.

"Naomi will be so impressed, she'll need to bring an extra pair of underwear to practice every week, cause she'll soak through the first!" Robin cheered quietly. She was usually shy and nervous, but they had a real shot this time, she couldn't throw it away.

"Shhh..." Hazel held a finger in front of her lips when she heard Naomi's voice coming from the principal's office.

"I'm really sorry," she said. "But he tried to grope me."

"He's a boy, Naomi! He doesn't know any better!" Principal Meyers argued. "We won't make any of this public because it would hurt Jeff's image, but you can't just punch someone for their natural instincts.

"Naomi gave Jeff the black eye!" Hazel whispered.

"Shit... it won't be as easy as we thought to impress her with our sexy fighting skills," Robin mumbled, but then she smiled. "But on the other hand, she has sexy fighting skills!"

Hazel nodded, understanding right away and as soon as the principal's office door opened, Naomi was stopped by both girls.

"Hey! Don't you think there's a lack of female solidarity at this school?" Robin asked, trying to sound casual.

"Um... what?" Naomi narrowed her eyes.

"You know, that Huntington player who fucked that girl's face up, we should do something about it," Hazel suggested, almost as if she just had that idea on the spot. "Hey, why don't you come over to our self-defense club after class?"

"Self-defense club?" Naomi breathed.

"Yeah, like a fight club! You can beat up people in the name of feminism!" Robin nodded excitedly.

"Today at 3:15," Hazel added.

"Okay, I guess it sounds nice. I'll be there," Naomi smiled as she walked away. "See you guys later!"

"May the best tomboy win?" Robin held out her hand.

"Oh, I will," Hazel teased, shaking her friend's hand.

Tag List: @mrprettywhenhecries @elliethesuperfruitlover

#bottoms movie #bottoms 2023 #bottoms fanfic #hazel callahan #hazel callahan x oc #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #crossover #au #robin buckley #robin buckley x oc #oc x canon #fanfic

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lazarus---rising · 8 months

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Really wanna someday find and be a part of an edtm production i could give scott so much transmasc swag . i could make wtfwt 10x gayer and depending on when/if i like actually get the role i could give him forearm crutches let castiel be in evil dead the musical petition

#iwould be such a good scott for real

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nompy · 1 year

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I thought this man was perfect. but he keeps saying things like he wishes he was gay or that he would ask a bartender out if he was gay. and then he tells me he loves flirting with twinks. he said when he was in college he had an experimental phase and his family was surprising ok with him potentially being gay. and he loves gay baiting. he was talking to our friend who is very close to him and IS gay and is in a relationship with someone he thinks is great. and he was saying that he feels like he can present himself how he feels comfortable around them. not me. he lied and said he was comfy talking around me but the next day he said no he didn't use the voice around me. he said it was just gayer and he only used it when he was drunk. he said that he wants to go dancing at a gay bar and go grinding on ppl. and I know he loves attention. I don't know if he's entirely cis. and I don't know how I feel about that. I feel awful. it makes my heart race thinking about it. he says that he loves sassy gay characters. I don't think I'm homophobic but what is this feeling. I don't care for twinks. I don't like seeing men get together like that. how can I handle him potentially being bisexual or even not cis. he likes femboys and large muscular women. I am neither of those things I am a very small petite and feminine girl. I feel myself spiraling and I want to talk to him but I don't want to have a hard conversation right now. it makes me feel so uncomfortable I don't know how I'd feel about him potentially being into guys like that. I just can't be a man like that. he has body dysmorphia for sure and I know he's felt like he would be better as a girl at some point in his life. I'm like shaking think about it all and I hate it.

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wolf-2099 · 4 years

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TINY BUG.... DRINKING SOUP....

#dragon's ramblings #🦗#I LOVE HIM this whole petite clover thing was cute too he make soup...#i was gonna say somethig gayer but i got distracted by tiny

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iclaimedtobethebetterbard · 2 years

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petition for thomas sanders to record covers of the songs from the ts holiday concert last year but in character

to be specific, those songs are, in order:

patton: walking in a winter wonderland

roman: once upon a december (from anastasia)

janus: santa baby (concluding with the spoken sentence “santa was the original sugar daddy” which did scar me for life a little bit but it was also very funny)

roman again: no one else (from natasha, pierre & the great comet of 1812)

virgil: sally’s song (from the nightmare before christmas)

remus: grandma got run over by a reindeer

logan: white wine in the sun (by tim minchin. also this is the most logan song i have ever heard in my life oh my god)

patton again: have yourself a merry little christmas (i would like to point out that patton is the Only side who understood the “nice christmas song” assignment)

anyway i would really really love having covers thomas did of these songs. especially in character but even just him singing normally.

benefits of this happening would be:

it would make me very happy

my sanders sides christmas playlist on spotify would be a lot cooler

probably it would make a bit of money for thomas through like spotify or whatever so if u need the incentive sir there is that

sanders sides would trend on tumblr like it does every time thomas so much as sneezes

almost every single one of these songs would immediately get much much much gayer bc a lot of them feature male love interests

this happening would lend more weight to my future petition for mr sanders to record songs off the sides’ playlists in character but shhh that’s a secret lol

the sides singing is always a good thing

there would definitely be really good fanart inspired by this

there are no downsides to this situation. it is a win-win for everyone and i am genius brain. :)

anyway who’s with me??

@thatsthat24

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #thatsthat24 #roman sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #logan sanders #remus sanders #patton sanders #ts roman #ts virgil #ts janus #ts logan #ts remus #ts patton #ts holiday concert #peregrin said a thing

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insufferable-know-it-all-blog · 4 years

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A Ranking of the Gayest American Girl Dolls

When it comes to lesbian subtext in the American Girl series, there's so much to unpack. Today I'll be discussing the 6 girls I deem the gayest.

Honorable Mentions

Felicity

Tomboy and horse girl. Has a companion doll. She hates learning etiquette. The Jiggy Nye redemption arc in her series is better than Snape's redemption arc, in my opinion. You may think she’s gayer than an honorable mention, but I think her traits read as “see this is a good and interesting colonist! She’s not like other girls uwu” as opposed to gayness. I am open to debate on the matter.

Addy

Her stories are much higher stakes than most of the other dolls', so the most time we have for subtext comes in her short stories and in her relationship with her friend Sarah. For example:

An enemies-to-lovers fic where Addy and Harriet are grown up could be veeeery interesting though.

Certified WLW (women-loving women)

6. Molly

Molly's lesbianism is more quantifiable than some of the other dolls. Some contributing factors are:

- bad at math

- lots of internalized self-loathing

- obsessed with her teacher Miss Campbell/daydreams about how pretty she is/snoops into her love life

- her OUTFITS

5. Josefina

Josefina Montoya is a Historical Doll (now called BeForever) from 1824 living in what would later become New Mexico. She's a soft girl with aspirations of becoming a healer. She's scared of goats and has a cool aunt, Tía Dolores.

Much of her stories revolve around adjusting to life after the death of her mother, and her relationship with Tía Dolores.

I don't want to gloss over this: there's a lot of discussion (in the stories and in the historical information at the back of each book) of colonialism and America's treatment of the west and those who live there.

There's also a fair amount of domestic tasks, playing music, and admiring flowers.

tldr; Josefina was the original cottagecore lesbian

4. Julie

If Molly's gayness isn't quite subtext, Julie's is canon. She's so lesbian-coded by way of lesbian stereotypes that I'm surprised a pride flag doesn't come with her accessories.

Julie petitions to join the boys basketball team, becomes an environmental activist, runs for student body president, and attends a Presidential debate. Her mom also has some very gay vibes, being a recently-divorced woman starting a career by opening a resale shop.

Julie lives in 1970s San Francisco and uses her privilege to lift up the voices of others and hold those in power accountable. Julie and her pet rabbit said gay rights.

3. Lindsey

Lindsey is the first Girl of the Year, released in 2001. She was also the first Jewish American Girl Doll. The title of the second chapter of her book is "What a Mess!" A mood. She’s not as well known so I’m going to fill you in a little bit more than with other dolls.

Lindsey is a flaming ball of chaos that ruins everything important to her family (according to herself.) Her story kicks off with her being disgusted to learn that her school is holding a "pet parade," which entails dressing pets up in human clothes and parading them around. She prepares a speech for her class to tell them off, but her teacher shuts her down. Lindsey doesn't take this well. She snatches an iguana and climbs up a tree in protest.

She plays the trumpet in her school band. One day she asks her band teacher if he has a girlfriend and she's very sad to learn he's single. How can he be happy without a woman to take care of him? Projecting much?

Lindsey also befriends a girl who is often bullied in school, cries in the bathroom (a gay ritual), and is told by her uncle, while dancing at her brother's bar mitzvah (post-Matzo ball food fight) that she is not a worm, and despite her chaos, is very loved.

Lindsey knows what she values and will throw food at your face or climb up a tree if you disrespect her. She also craves validation because she feels like a failure due to her unconventional approach to life. A lesbian icon in the making.

2. Kit

Kit spends six books telling you to fuck off with your gender roles, thank you very much. There's a lot of focus on Kit's life as a reporter and what her growing up during the depression will mean for her future expression of identity.

One part of her books that highlights Kit's relationship with gender roles and heteronormativity is when Ruthie reads fairy tales because she likes princesses, but Kit reads Robin Hood because she likes how he steals from the rich to give to the poor and tricks a sheriff. While Kit could become a case of "I'm not like other girls," I think this is avoided by her close friendship with Ruthie. She doesn't necessarily look down on traditional women's roles, she simply has other ambitions.

So yes, this part of her story is important, but what really sells it for me is her longing for adventure and her passion for baseball and Amelia Earhart.

Also? Her bomb outfits.

At one point, Kit gets anxious and hides under her porch. A lesbian oasis.

Kit is a practical and clever young lady with a bright future ahead of her. Keep up the great work, you icon.

1. Samantha

I have read, with my own two eyes, people calling Samantha a homophobe. Please.... I am so tired. Do not underestimate her like that. Let's dive in to the biggest lesbian of the bunch: Samantha Parkington.

Okay so first of all her series begins with her falling out of a tree and sassing her sexist Grandmary. From there, she grows close to Cornelia, her Uncle's girlfriend, who is involved in the fight for women's rights in the city. Samantha is heavily influenced by her and through the books, develops many of the same opinions.

When an Irish girl (Nellie) moves in next door to become a servant to Eddie Ryland's family, Samantha befriends her and teaches her to read. She never speaks down to Nellie or looks at herself as a savior, she just acts on what she thinks is right. The "Looking Back" sections of Samantha's books cover topics like social progress for women, the wealth gap, the treatment of servants, and the disparity in education between classes.

While Samantha follows in Cornelia's path, she also forms her own ideas. For instance: Samantha wins an essay contest with her essay on progress in American factories, and why America is excellent for such progress. When she shows Nellie her winning essay, Nellie tells her that it doesn't represent the truth of factories. Samantha sets out to uncover the truth about child labor that many Proud Americans have kept hidden. She decides she can't read her winning essay, so she changes it and calls out those who condone unfair labor in factories.

Samantha respects every person she comes across and always sees herself as an equal, not a superior. (Except her asshole neighbor, Eddie Ryland. He can choke!) Like Julie, Samantha uses her privilege to bring accountability to oppressors and fight for what's right.

Samantha loves women and won't rest until they all live safe, healthy, and happy lives. She questions the status-quo. She seeks revenge on the men who have made girls' lives hell. And she really loves her Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia. And climbing trees.

I imagine Samantha growing up and moving to New York City, hanging out in lesbian-owned speakeasies, and becoming a Mae West stan.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about American Girl subtext on twitter! If you enjoyed this article, please share it with a friend or two! Thank you for supporting an independent writer and American Girl stan.

#american girl #*

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agentnatasharomanov · 5 years

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You are absolutely right, I'm so sorry about my mistake. Endg*me isn't canon. In fact, I want to start a petition to rewrite Endg*me. Let's let Tony see Morgan grow up, let Natasha lead the all of the female Avengers, let Steve stay with Bucky 'till the end of the line, let Bucky eat a goddamn plum on screen, and make it gayer. Give Carol a girlfriend? Sure why not?! LETS REWRITE! ENDGAME!

i'm sorry these were all very good points but let bucky eat a goddamn plum on screen was what caught my attention and i'm laugH bc i'm imagining him biting into it and its just ,,, maybe 30 seconds of asmr lmao

but also the rewrite ,,, i think some fanfic writers are still writing fix-its and there are definitely some out there already so. but there can never be too many fix-its though!

#oof i forgot to address 'give carol a gf' bc fuck yeaH give her a gf bc that bitch be gay as fUck #uGH but seriously everything that u mentioned was 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼#its what we dESERVE #anon #v.answers

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dreadhaus-literature · 4 years

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“Gun in My Hand.”

Bunny had a good idea, use the song you’re listening to, to write, and given we’ve been reading Civil War...well it just seems fitting.

“Why did love put a gun in my hand? Why did love put a knife in my heart? Why did love open up my scars?

Was it for redemption? Was it for revenge? Was it for the thrill of pushing my heart to the edge? Why did love, why did love put a gun in my hand?”

At the time, it had seemed like the only, inevitable outcome, but looking back on it...well, hindsight’s always 20/20, isn’t it?

The Cloak of Levitation, known more commonly simply as Stephen Strange’s cloak, fluttered around Monica’s petite shoulders, the tips of it’s collar gently touching her cheeks and temple like butterfly kisses, seeking to reassure her and keep her safe and warm while a group of Haushold members met their very deserved and just punishment for subjecting Monica to their terrible in-fighting.

The first two to face the dreaded “big shirt” were the catalyst of the fighting, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. And a big shirt it had to be indeed, what with Steve’s broad shoulders and Tony’s broader ego.

“Sweetheart, angel, light of my life,” Tony paused, shifting one shoulder before turning his dark head incredulously to Steve. “Did you fucking grow overnight? Why is there suddenly less material?”

“Stop complaining--and language,” Steve muttered, trying and failing miserably to get a little extra leverage in the shirt already stretched to it’s limits.

Tony’s staring only increased before he blinked, slowly, and turned back to Monica. “Babygirl does Daddy really have to do this? I already apologized to you, quite skillfully if I might add, between your thighs--”

There was a slight ripping sound as Steve reeled back to stare at Tony, now. “That’s inappropriate, Tony! You’re going to embarrass her!”

“Oh get off your high horse, Captain Man, don’t act like you don’t do the same thing--”

“I don’t embarrass her by telling everyone!” Steve also didn’t have it in him to embarrass Monica or speak publicly about his love life with his wife.

Monica blinked and looked up at Stephen. “Captain Man?”

Stephen made a show of restraint by not rolling his eyes. “Tony thinks he’s being clever calling Steve a mixture of his and Clark’s superhero name.”

“Because I am,” Tony snided.

“And it isn’t because you’re jealous how fast he and Clark bonded?” Stephen countered.

“Bruce is, I’m not, I could care less.” Tony answered so fast even the cloak turned, steering Monica’s petite shoulders as it went. “...Stop staring at me, Wonder Curtains--Stephen get your moving drapes away from me. But leave Monica.”

“Oh, we are most certainly leaving.” Stephen swept his arm around the small of Monica’s back, turning her from the two Avenger leaders to the next pair subjected to the Big Shirt--Namor and T’Challa.

“Empress~” Namor all but purred, his charming smile made a little more nefarious by that widow’s peak. “You are, as always, a vision.”

“My queen.” T’Challa bowed his dark head out of loving respect.

Monica had to give it to them, they managed to hold onto their refinement even wearing an over-sized shirt, both their heads in the same hole, shoulders brushing together with every movement they made.

“How has it been?” Monica asked, which was the true purpose of these rounds, to see how they were all getting along. She hadn’t even needed to ask Tony and Steve, they answered the unasked question by fighting the second they opened their mouths--but Stephen had warned her that T’Challa and Namor, being royalty, didn’t often resort to squabbling like, say, Tony and Steve. Their fighting was more subtle and she’d have to be on the lookout for it.

“Oh, who could possibly complain sharing such close quarters with the legendary ruler of Wakanda?” Namor’s question sounded genuine, flattering, but Monica was keen to him and had almost immediately picked up the underhandedness that laced his regal tone like cyanide.

T’Challa also was not buying it. “Namor has been stabbing me.”

“What?!” Monica nearly squealed, moving to lift the shirt to see what T’Challa was talking about--what she revealed beneath the fabric was Namor holding a hermit crab in one hand, and the little sea creature was going to town pinching, poking, and stabbing T’Challa with it’s tiny claws right in the Black Panther’s side.

“He’s being dramatic, it hasn’t even broken the skin.” Namor snapped.

“It’s shredding my clothes.”

“You’re welcome, that shirt is tacky.”

“Namor, give Monica the crab.” Stephen was mildly perturbed to have to utter such a ridiculous sentence.

Monica held out her hand and Namor did as Stephen asked--if only because he got to touch Monica in the process. Long, elegant fingers skimmed hers as Namor handed her what was essentially one of her little subjects, the crab scuttling around her palm, clacking away excitedly before scurrying up her arm to sit on her shoulder.

“T-Thank you,” Monica straightened up after replacing the shirt back down. “You boys behave, or you’ll be stuck here longer than Tony and Steve.”

The latter pair were still arguably audibly nearby, and Namor and T’Challa both turned to stare at them with refined sighs, but given their own history...they were probably heading for the same fate.

The next pair in the Big Shirt were Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom, known to most as Dr. Doom. Their rivalry was the oldest in the room, though Namor and T’Challa were a close second--and this was apparent the moment Monica got within earshot.

“For the last time, Victor, I’m not thinning myself to make the shirt bigger. I told Monica I wouldn’t use my abilities and I meant it.”

“Yes but my wife would not want me uncomfortable, Reed, so do as I say.”

Reed’s sigh was cut short as he lifted his head, his older features softening into a smile that almost made Monica forget his awful tunnel vision that led to so much pain and suffering by the rest of his family--almost, because Johnny, Sue, and Ben were standing nearby, and all it took was seeing them to remind Monica why she was doing this.

“Sweetheart,” Sue’s motherly voice was warm and affectionate as she opened her arms for Monica, giving the smaller woman a hug that included a kiss to the top of her head.

“How are they doing?”

“Well they haven’t killed each other,” Johnny’s handsome grin moved into Monica’s line of sight as he stole a few kisses from her cheek before the cloak furiously flapped him away. “Ack, Stephen your cloak doesn’t share very well.”

“None of us do.” Stephen replied.

“That’s not true, I share Dick with Peter.”

“That sentence came out gayer than you wanted it to.” Ben grunted, those massive arms folded over his chest.

Johnny turned to flip him off. “It was exactly as gay as I wanted it to be, shut the hell up Boulder Butt.”

“Do you have another Big Shirt?” Sue asked teasingly, winking down at Monica as Johnny and Ben immediately started to protest being stuck in a shirt together.

“I sure do! Just say the word, Mommy.” Monica giggled, warmed when Sue pressed another kiss to her forehead.

“I’m really trying, sweetheart.” Reed’s voice and tone was genuine, and the hopeful smile he gave Monica sealed the deal. “I want you to know how sorry I am, so I’ll stay as long as I need to.”

“Doom does not apologize for his actions.” Victor started, before...shifting his iron shoulders, those villainous eyes nailing Monica to the spot as he turned to her. “...Yet if you’ve found any of my behavior...unjust, Wife, we can discuss it in private.”

“Hey, no, Doom has to apologize just like Reed does!” Johnny interjected.

“I will apologize to my wife, none of you idiots deserve to hear contrition from Doom.”

Monica was grateful she couldn’t blush, as the deference Victor was showing her was obviously special and something he just did not show anyone else. “I-I appreciate it, Doom, but you...you do have to apologize like Reed does or you two have to stay like this.”

Victor was quiet for a long moment, eying his beloved wife, before he squared his shoulders. “Doom will apologize after Johnathon apologizes.”

Johnny nearly burst into flames on the spot--as it were, flames were racing up his arms and spine in a desperate attempt to keep up with his temper. “Why in the hell should I apologize to you?!”

“My wife is likely this upset because you allowed yourself to be beaten to a pulp on a street corner. Once that has been rectified, Doom will apologize.”

“I’m going to light that stupid hooded cape of yours on fire--”

“I think they need a bit more time, angel.” Stephen’s scarred, but warm hand found the small of Monica’s back as he ushered her away from the growing squabble. “There’s one more person we need to check on.”

It didn’t surprise Monica that there were so many people in Big Shirts, and it also didn’t surprise her that she didn’t remember who this last pairing was.

“Naaaaate, come on!! Everyone else is doing it!”

“No.”

It shouldn’t have surprised her that Wade and Nathan were nearby, Wade trying and failing to get Nathan in a Big Shirt with him.

“Mommi said--”

“What babygirl said was that you shouldn’t have tried to fucking shoot me.” Nathan corrected. “And you wouldn’t have wound up with a face full of tranq darts.”

“If you get in this shirt with me, you’ll find up with a face full of--“

Stephen cleared his throat purposefully, but to Monica’s surprise kept them walking past Nathan and Wade. So they weren’t the last pair?

Oh. He didn’t say pair, he said person.

That dawned on Monica the moment she saw Maria Hill, sitting by herself, taking up one half of a Big Shirt. The former Director of SHIELD looked a little sad, if Monica had to be honest, and the expression changed only slightly when she looked up.

“Monica,” Stephen gently urged her forward. “Maria would like to talk to you.”

Maria cleared her throat, meeting Monica’s gaze with a look that could only be described as determined. “I know you haven’t seen me at my best, lately. And I wish I could tell you I’m better than what you saw, but...words don’t mean a damn thing. Actions do. And I thought at first maybe I could ask Dot or the Furies to vouch for me, maybe make it a little easier to earn your love and respect but Fury Sr. told me I wouldn’t have liked that. That it would mean more if I could show you who I am and you could find it in you to love me that way.” Maria took a moment to swallow, and she averted her gaze. “So...for tonight, would you sit here, with me, while you read? Give me a chance to show you that even if I fuck up, make mistakes, that I deserve a spot in your heart, too.”

Monica could feel the cloak around her seeming to perk up and look at her, to see what she would say, but Maria was looking at her again.

“Please.” Maria held up the other end of the shirt, and for a moment, Monica could see her fingers tremble. She was nervous. “Just give me a chance.”

Sometimes the fingers that pull the trigger get scared, too, and just need a hand to hold.

#{collection} : once a week #{theme} : for monica

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rabbithole86 · 5 years

Text

WHAT TAYLOR SWIFT'S ALLYSHIP MEANS TO HER FANS — AND THE LGBTQ+ FANDOM

By Carson Mlnarik xxxx

I learned about the gospel of Taylor Swift through my mom, whose car stereo was permanently tuned to country radio. Her first single, “Tim McGraw,” sparked something in me, and I was immediately obsessed — to the point where my family was calling Taylor “Carson’s girlfriend” within weeks. I was 11 years old; it would be six years before I told anyone that I was gay. And it would take even longer — and for Taylor herself to proclaim, “You can want who you want / Boys and boys and girls and girls” — for my family to learn that I didn’t want to date Taylor Swift, I wanted to be like Taylor Swift.

As I became more accepting of my sexuality, it helped that Taylor was growing into an LGBTQ+ ally. And as the years went by, her music, frankly, got gayer.

When she debuted in 2006, Taylor was my middle school confessional queen. She always knew what it was like to be an outsider at the lunch table (“The Outside”) or to dramatically pine after someone who wasn’t into you (“Teardrops on My Guitar”). And while anthems like “Fearless” and “Speak Now” encouraged listeners to live their truths, I was only beginning to realize my truths: namely, that the fixation on male friendships that took up 113 percent of my brain was most definitely a manifestation of some same-sex attraction. I took note, but stayed closeted, especially given that I was navigating my own identity in conservative Arizona.

The fact that Taylor got her start in country music is not lost on me, either; the genre’s current focus on Christian faith, heteronormative imagery, and popularity in states that often vote red (no relation to the album) have garnered it a reputation as the “Republican genre.” You’d be hard-pressed to find mainstream country music by out LGBTQ+ artists, and, until recently, little solidarity with the community by its biggest stars. Thanks to open allyship from artists like Kacey Musgraves and Luke Bryan, that’s changing, but for the most part, they’re still the exception.

Taylor was always an icon in my eyes but it wasn’t until she went pop that her allyship seemed to take form. While “icon” status is a term some people seem to apply like chapstick, “ally” involves putting in a certain kind of work. Taylor had never come out against the community but was an unlikely ally nonetheless, especially considering she came from country and scrubbed a potentially homophobic line from her discography early on. Her first solidly pop entry, however, found her empoweredenough to shout out the community and even arguably earned her gay Twitter’s respect. The Reputation era found her taking on a more active ally role: it was then, ahead of the 2018 midterms, that she finally stated her pro-gay rights stance, encouraged fans to vote, gave a Pride Month speech on tour, and made pro-LGBTQ donations.

“I’ve always seen her as someone who’s really accepting of everyone,” Gia, a fan who identifies as bisexual and lives in Scotland, told MTV News. But even she has noticed an uptick in active and affirmative allyship, from both Taylor and her fans.

In the LGBTQ+ community, having an “active ally” — a friend, co-worker, or acquaintance who not only believes in equality but does so visibly with empathy, patience, and recognition of privilege — can make a huge difference. Allies not only promote acceptance in the greater community but can also be sources of information and help. In schools with gay-straight alliances, 91 percent of LGBTQ+ students in the club felt supported enough to further advocate for other social or political issues, andworkplaces that have openly supportive senior staff or a company culture of acceptance help employees feel more comfortable in being professionally out.

“Within the last year, I’ve seen a lot more pride [within the Taylor fandom], especially when I attended the Rep Tour and saw other [people] with pride flags,” Gia added.

Gia said she truly realized the extent of LGBTQ+-identifying individuals in the fandom after seeing hashtags like #LGBTQSwifties and #GayForTay. Stan Twitter and Tumblr bios boast rainbow emojis and pride flags, which aren’t necessarily decisions that Taylor had any part in making, but still affirm that there isn’t just space in the fandom for LGBTQ+ fans — we’re welcome here, too.

Jeremy, a Twitter user who identifies as bisexual, has been a fan of Taylor’s since 2006. While he is “definitely happy that she has been more explicit with her stances,” he says her message of “self-love and [embracing] that self loudly and passionately” has always been a source of comfort for him.

“She always inspires us to be proud of who we are, and to ignore those who tell us to be different,” he told MTV News.

For me, that pride took a while to establish, and even longer to give voice to. Still, Taylor was there for me every step of the way: In my junior year of high school, she released a mixed-genre foray into pop that gave us bops like “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “22,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and I didn’t just enjoy the Redalbum, I felt it. The emotional LP provided inspiration as I became student body president and big man on campus, but kept my sexuality a complete secret. It would become a source of comfort after I came out to close friends and family but lacked the confidence to do so on a larger scale. It would even become a guide to love and heartbreak after I got — and then broke up with — my first boyfriend.

He left me with bitter parting words: "I’ll never be able to listen to another Taylor Swift song without thinking of you.” I may get that inscribed on my tombstone.

As I started my freshman year of college, I was tired of feeling splintered about my identity. I started introducing myself as gay and going out on dates with guys, with the newly-released 1989 as my companion. While Taylor’s pop departure alienated some people, I found lyrics like, “I got this music in my mind / sayin’ it’s gonna be alright,” take on new weight in the midst of finding myself. If Taylor could start anew, so could I. Besides, what gay doesn’t love a good bop?

We make connections to music based on what we’re experiencing when we’re listening for the first time. Even if it’s beyond what the songwriter intended, their work can often become shorthand for certain times, places, and feelings — it’s chemical. It’s a phenomenon Taylor has even penned about, and while her lyrics, for the most part, describe heterosexual relationships, they do so in such a raw and confessional manner that it never mattered to me. Whether she was calling a boy out by name on her albums or scorning her bullies at the Grammys, there was an echoing theme of never hiding your feelings.

And through her vulnerability and openness, the singer has nurtured a fandom of people like myself who not only unite to feel seen and validated by her music but see and validate each other.

For Grace, who lives in Tennessee and has had a stan account since 2017, having a network of allies and openly LGBTQ+ people in the Taylor fandom has helped her in her own self-acceptance.

“I think a big part of it was just seeing how open other people were about their own sexuality and everyone was super supportive and loving towards them,” she said. “It’s not something that I had ever really seen much of before and it made me feel comfortable enough to accept myself and be open about it. I’m not sure I would be as secure in myself as I am now without it.”

When Taylor donated $113,000 to the Tennessee Equality Project to fight against the state’s “Slate of Hate” legislation, Grace felt directly moved. “I cried at the fact that someone I have admired for so many years of my life was fighting for me directly,” she said.

Arthur, a bisexual trans man from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said he grew up seeing a lot of “bigoted people in the fandom,” but since Taylor has become a more active ally, he has seen a huge shift. An activist since age 14, he started following Taylor around 2012 in her Red era and knew when she eventually spoke up, things would start to change.

“LGBTQ fans are gaining space, as [are] fans of color, which is so great to see,” he said. “Taylor being more politically engaged helped [make] this change happen.”

Taylor has not only made her stance clear but continues to affirm it. She kicked off Pride Month this year by creating a petition for the Senate to pass the Equality Act, a sweeping policy that would protect LGBTQ people against sexuality-based discrimination. She also shared a letter she wrote to her state senator urging them to pass the bill and encouraged fans to do the same.

“While we have so much to celebrate, we also have a great distance to go before everyone in this country is truly treated equally,” she tweeted.

Taylor is hardly the first pop star to encourage their fans to get political. But as discussions arise around Pride becoming branded and straight people co-opt events, she’s proving to be a pretty good model of what it means to be an active ally in this political climate.

That’s not to say we’re there yet. We’ve still got a long way to go, and Taylor’s even acknowledged it. But as a former purveyor of yee-haw music and a current pop queen, she’s doing what she’s always done best for many of her gay fans: helping us feel seen and heard.

#taylor swift #gaylor swift #mtv #pride month #pride

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borderlandscast · 5 years

Text

starwarscast rythian

this au is essentially rythian playing himself in a dnd game set in star wars, pre clone wars. everyone else is also playing themselves. the last post i did was listing the current cast’s characters and their species, plus a sneak peek into nilesy and rythian’s stats.

below is all my cleaned up and compressed notes on rythian’s timeline, trivia and backstory.

rythian:

honorable mention of this rythian goes here because i rarely return to this au (i blame all the ‘canon’ worldbuilding we’re finally getting on rythian’s species, now decades after the original books were published) and i’m still fond of him.

hold up your thumb and index finger. now put them together so there’s the a gap but they’re not touching. that’s how much less gayer he is than blcast rythian.

long haired; keeps it well maintained with lush products bc he’s kind of vain about it. has it in a french braid that runs down his back. if he ever suggested cutting it, a petition would go around to stop him. he still has the pale/grey stripe running down the middle of his hair.

he still can’t cook. if anything, he’s even worse at it. whether or not he deliberately plays it up is a running joke. it’s a mystery how he survived as zoeya’s padawan. zoeya jokes about watering him whenever others ask. he doesn’t appreciate it.

rythian’s full name is in the archives, and he never uses it. he goes by a much shortened version (thanks to the circumstances by which he arrived at the temple, and zoeya’s help). keep reading for why.

the slightest mention of a holocron (sith or jedi) or lost knowledge is the fastest way to summon him from across a room. he’s one of the best artifact hunters and puzzle solvers.

his main job in the jedi temple is a librarian, and he has a reputation as a strict but helpful master. don’t run any of the texts, and you’ll keep staying on his good side.

he’s actually younger than he looks; he became a master in his late teens, and zoeya had to make a solid case about him taking the exams to become a master that young. it distanced him from a lot of his peers.

now that he’s older, he gives slightly less of a f*ck, and is fairly outspoken as a grey jedi since he sometimes uses fairly questionable means to accomplish his goals (something zylus takes after him in that regard).

lightsaber is purple. he’s never been prouder. he uses the same style as obi-wan, but has a decent grounding in other styles to throw someone off if he ends up in a duel.

his species is exceedingly rare. to give you an idea of how rare, he’s the only chiss residing within the bounds of known, explored space; his species exists in a difficult to navigate, well isolated patch. it also causes him some minor grief whenever he leaves the temple, since most think he’s just a freak, mutant or a hybrid pantoran.

even funnier is that he’s the only jedi of said species, but is not the only force sensitive of his kind (go read timothy zahn’s latest triology, it’s got some good tidbits at last about how his species views and treats their force sensitive individuals). i know there was a canon chiss jedi padawan but the old star wars canon is a mess i’m not touching with a ten foot pole, or else rythian would have died of happiness to meet another one of his species even if neither of them know anything about them.

his arc revolves around gaining acceptance that sometimes things happen even if we don’t want them to, and that not all answers sought out will give happiness, including the truth.

his backstory was that his parents (a happily married trio, consisting of a fleet commander, a governor and a scientist) made the decision to give him away as a baby due to two events: restless political climate nearly resulting in baby rythian’s death from assasination, and his ridiculous force sensitivity, which immediately marks him for a risky career as a hyperspace navigator once he’s old enough to walk and talk. they don’t hold family ties once they start this career, so.

not wanting to risk their child’s life, his parents sneakily flag down a passing jedi ship carrying one jedi master zoeya (who is a sentient, old af tree, known as ‘neti’). she is very surprised that she is now in charge of an unknown alien infant but understands that for reasons unknown, he is now in her care. for who knows how long.

rythian spends his childhood at jedi temple. he matures way faster than the other kids, and excels in his studies. apparently, that’s normal for his kind, but it’s abnormal to others. it’s made even worse because nobody knows what species he is. he befriends a kel dor named will strife, another padawan after strife stops a couple of older teens from hassling rythian.

zoeya officially takes rythian as her padawan. she also secretly gives him an ecrypted disc containing a basic dictionary and guide to chiss language, the only link rythian has to his parents (aside from the hand stitched blanket and baby clothes). rythian never knows zoeya gives him the disc since it’s left on his bed. it’s the only knowledge he never contributes to the jedi temple’s extensive archives.

stuff happens to zoeya; rythian loses her as a master due to her past trauma catching up. he learns that he’s her third padawan (the second being lomadia, who is still alive); her first died hundreds of years ago, and zoeya’s memories keep overlapping so she’s confusing him for them. she leaves the order after her memory’s adjusted so she can start fresh as a civilian. the last thing she says to him before she goes for treatment are a string of numbers, and a single, nonsensical name. rythian is advised that it’s best not to find her or risk a relapse.

will strife voluntarily leaves the order as well due to pressing circumstances; i.e., a fabricated scandal with him and a well known politician (played by lalnable). rythian gradually accepts that everyone he knows and cares for will eventually leave him. he still maintains strife as a contact after strife takes up a career as a traveling merchant.

rythian takes a teen zylus as a padawan and resolves to do better than zoeya, as a mentor and parental figure. he did bring baby zylus to the temple after all. he keeps an eye on zylus as zylus grows up, occasionally nudging zylus to stay focused.

that said, rythian had his nose in a book during the candidate lightsaber matches, thus narrowly missing zylus leaving. zylus dropped by the libaray on his last day at the temple, which was where rythian found him and dragged him of to get him approved as his official padawan.

zylus successfully graduates, and to rythian’s great relief, he stays to work on the archives with him as a fellow holocron hunter and decrypter.

and then the chosen one, nilesy, arrives at the temple in search of how to best temper his newfound force sensitivity. in tow is ravs, a sith. rythian volunteers to be the sith watchdog, and nilesy’s trainer, and it’s not just because this is his golden chance to hit up a sith for secret forbidden lore or anything.

unfortunately, ravs has no interest in helping rythian unlock sith holocrons; he advises that his fellow sith buddy, daltos, might be of help but he has no idea where said buddy is. this greatly annoys rythian (unbeknowst, several months later, zylus has the honor of said first meeting).

ravs constantly hides in rythian’s room from jedi padawan nanosounds, who is eager to test her formidable lightsaber skills on a sith. rythian eventually gets used to ravs randomly chilling in his room.

he and ravs have a thing. zylus is completely oblivious to it, and nilesy pretends that he’s not aware of it.

rythian decides to go on holiday, which immediately sparks suspicion from everyone because everyone has to literally pry rythian from the archives on a daily basis. ravs secretly tails him, and sees rythian about to board a chiss ship.

afraid of losing him forever, ravs butts in, and discovers that rythain is meeting his parents, who also react to ravs like he’s a threat. rythian persuades his parents that ravs means no harm, and gets ravs permission to board as well.

rythian tries to reconcile with his parents’ decision to ‘abandon’ him, and their aloof attitudes after finally reuniting with them as an adult. he has no memories of them, to their disappointment. he eventually discovers in one of his parent’s offices, a hidden compartment containing two photos of him as a child and padawan.

he confronts his parents, and finds out that zoeya met his parents in secret one more time to deliver these photos. reassured that they’d made the right decision, they ask her to pass on a message: if ry’thia’nuruodo wishes to learn of his heritage, meet us at these coordinates on this day. we shall return yearly, without fail, until we are unable to. this was zoeya’s message, which she’d passed onto him, albeit incomplete.

rythian also has to contend with helping ravs make a good first impression; his parents don’t speak basic (or pretend not to, wanting to test if rythian retained his knowledge of his species’ language), and ravs can’t speak their language. they don’t approve of him having a relationship with ravs since he’s an alien and they don’t know what he’s capable of, but eventually concede that ravs will do since nobody else can match their son’s capabilities.

as for the issue of who exactly rythian’s family members are? i don’t know anything about chiss society so this entirely headcanon. their society is very rigid, and is based on doing your job correctly and loyalty to their houses (ie, family branches). all chiss tend to be fairly straight faced, calm and composed and intelligent individuals. rythian is an exception, which is why he doesn’t initially understand why his parents are so cold to him at first, but clues in eventually that they’re exceedingly subtle about their affection and praises (and insults, too).

his biological father is ry’aratalla’nuruodo (aratalla for short), cedef fleet commander. rythian takes after him in sense of humor, looks and height but inherited all his teeth from his other biological parent, sev’adira’csapla. very level headed, accomodating, quiet and grounded; rythian is a little intimidated by him, and assumes his dad has the final say in everything. this is utterly wrong and his dad is whipped by the other two parents.

sev’adira’csapla (vadirac, or adira) is a colony governor and ship provisions officer. nonbinary, goes by they/them. has a mean, petty and haughty personality, can also be called a tsundere. unfortunately, rythian gets his vanity and dramatic flair from them. he doesn’t get along with them, and the two spend a fair amount of time insulting each other (which adira actually enjoys).

radar’isoto’inrokini (isoto for short, a triple wordplay on ‘risotto’, ‘radar’ and ‘isotope’). rythian’s ‘mother’, in a sense. rythain gets his curiosity and love of knowledge from her. she’s like zoeya; full of optimistism, disarmingly charming, frightening when angered and is actually one of the sharpest minds around. she’s a exceptional mixture of physicist, linguist, biologist, geologist and chemist, being the chief scientific officer serving on the same ship as rythian’s dad. she gets along with ravs a little too well, and takes on the giant task of learning basic so she can communicate with him.

rythian leaves with ravs, having learned a great deal about chiss. he’s supposed to be a big secret since his parents spread a rumor that he died from ‘weak constitution’. he and ravs are to keep everything they learned and visited a secret.

rythian, nilesy and zylus learn of a secret mission to assassinate the sith who’ve been more or less friendly towards nilesy: minty, ravs and daltos. minty escapes, but ravs and daltos aren’t so lucky, resulting in nilesy, rythian and zylus interfering. the three let ravs and daltos escape, causing the three jedi’s standing to plummet within the temple. don’t worry, it doesn’t stay that way for long.

right after the above happens, the clone wars occur. rythian doesn’t meet ravs for months; ravs ghosts him. they end up reuniting on a mission much later when ravs frees him from a seperatist jail at the risk of compromising his cover. it’s a very emotional reunion. ravs is in hiding since he suspects a bigger conspiracy, and has been compiling clues and evidence. he and rythian agreed to meet up and share what they know.

rythian assists nilesy in further training his powers. unfortunately, without ravs counterpoint, there is no balance for nilesy. nilesy is confined to the temple since he can’t take part in any of the life threatening missions.

rythian takes ‘tom’ (angor) as his clone officer. tom assists him in piecing together transmissions and intelligence to send off. ravs passes him information every now and then. rythian is a dad to a clone trooper, okay.

order 66 occurs at the climax of the clone wars. the temple is under siege by a traitor jedi and the clones. rythian and any jedi on the scene attempt to escape. rythian almost dies when tom fails a will check to stop himself from shooting rythian due to order 66. nilesy and ravs pool together their resources and wills to save him.

when all hope is lost, nilesy ascends as a ‘chosen one’, bringing a fragile balance to himself since he failed the galaxy. through his connection in the force, he learns that the other chosen one (thanks, skywalker) went off the deep end. nilesy unlocks the secret of mortis, and drags the survivors of temple massacre inside before closing the rift.

rythian recovers, forgives tom, and stays on as nilesy’s teacher, having successfully saved several important texts and holocrons from the archives prior to leaving the temple.

nilesy wishes to join the rebels once he hears news of them.

i got this far before having to stop due to real life circumstances interfering, and felt that this was a safe stopping point as well.

#borderlandscast: extras #borderlandscast: star wars #long post

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susan-gampre · 4 years

Photo

The picture was one passed around among the whores, a murmur of excitement arising among them as they whispered their praise and attraction toward the appealing subject.

A small fuss arose as the women and some of the gayer gentleman (whom adamantly pressed that they had a chance because the subjects ‘boyish charm’ gave off a vibe) began to verbally squabble over who should get a chance with the gentleman if he should ever cross into SiS territory. A chance to coerce him into being their client.

“Me, he looks like he prefers cougars who like it rough,” came forth a purr from Sheila, an older woman with salt-peppered black hair and a charming smile to add to the appeal already applied by way of her comely appearance and moderate chest to hip ratio.

“I’m certain he’d be afraid of breaking your hips old lady,” came forth the playful quip of a younger woman, earning her a sneer from Sheila.

“No, it should be me,” the firm tone of a muscular gentleman, which would lead to him boldly plucking the picture out of a wide eyed Esmes hand. The petite, curly brunette haired woman was but a mouse in comparison to the mountain of a man; his entire beefy and broad chest was on display, muscles accented by the gleam of sweat from previously having been working out before the excited find by Esme caused a ruckus to lure him in.

“Pray tell, why you Barty?” Sheila grits out sourly, having ‘lost’ good few handsome clients to Bart’s swagger and dominate charm.

“He looks like he prefers bears,” Barty offers an impish smile, his trimmed brows wiggling before his free hand caresses and strokes his thick though groomed beard.

It wasnt until the Madam entered the room that they all brought attention to their antics, all of the women and men pausing mid chatter to stare up toward the Madam like deers in the headlights. With narrowed eyes the maiden hesitates, reviewing each face individually - just marveling the look of guilt they all carried. Instantly her eyes zone in on the picture put on full display by Barty holding it up.

Instantly Susan felt like a mother walking in on her kids doing shit they werent suppose to be.

“Whats that?” Susan challenges, earning sheepish glances in response at first before Esme would nervously tuck a strand of curly hair behind her partially pointed ear.

The woman’s quiet and feminine voice would acknowledge, “A picture I found, Madam… I’m.. Not quite sure who it is, but I brought it back here incase anyone forgot it. No one here recognizes him, so we’ve been debating who should get to keep the photo, and try to pursue him as a client.”

At first Susan wanted to feel surprised by how truthful Esme was. But what could she expect, the woman was loyal and kind hearted… A most unusual kind of soul among the other hardened and wounded whores. While Esme had her hardships they never affected her positivity, she remained a good person through it all.

With a wiggle of her finger the Madam beckons for the photo, in which Barty begrudgingly delivers to the womans smaller hand. With a quick glance at the man’s photo would Susan then bring her eyes up to review all the expectantly staring workers– before her eyes land on the curly, dark haired woman with kind brown eyes.

“Esme,” Susan acknowledges, offering said half-elf the photo, “He’s yours to pursue,” the other whores grumble in discontent, but no one challenged Susan’s word, “He looks like he prefers only good people in his life. And you’re probably right up his alley, being the same age. Take the chance, he seems like he’d make a decent friend.”

@dardillien-ward

Susan; First

Esme; Second

Sheila; Third

Barty; Last

#so hard to format this bitch #they needa make submission editing easier 🙄#submission

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ts1989fanatic · 5 years

Text

'SHE ALWAYS INSPIRES US TO BE PROUD OF WHO WE ARE, AND TO IGNORE THOSE WHO TELL US TO BE DIFFERENT'

MTV NEWS STAFF

2h ago

By Carson Mlnarik

As I became more accepting of my sexuality, it helped that Taylor was growing into an LGBTQ+ ally. And as the years went by, her music, frankly, got gayer.

Taylor was always an icon in my eyes but it wasn’t until she went pop that her allyship seemed to take form. While “icon” status is a term some people seem to apply like chapstick, “ally” involves putting in a certain kind of work. Taylor had never come out against the community but was an unlikely ally nonetheless, especially considering she came from country and scrubbed a potentially homophobic line from her discography early on. Her first solidly pop entry, however, found her empowered enough to shout out the community and even arguably earned her gay Twitter’s respect. The Reputation era found her taking on a more active ally role: it was then, ahead of the 2018 midterms, that she finally stated her pro-gay rights stance, encouraged fans to vote, gave a Pride Month speech on tour, and made pro-LGBTQ donations.

In the LGBTQ+ community, having an “active ally” — a friend, co-worker, or acquaintance who not only believes in equality but does so visibly with empathy, patience, and recognition of privilege — can make a huge difference. Allies not only promote acceptance in the greater community but can also be sources of information and help. In schools with gay-straight alliances, 91 percent of LGBTQ+ students in the club felt supported enough to further advocate for other social or political issues, and workplaces that have openly supportive senior staff or a company culture of acceptance help employees feel more comfortable in being professionally out.

“Within the last year, I’ve seen a lot more pride [within the Taylor fandom], especially when I attended the Rep Tour and saw other [people] with pride flags,” Gia added.

“She always inspires us to be proud of who we are, and to ignore those who tell us to be different,” he told MTV News.

For me, that pride took a while to establish, and even longer to give voice to. Still, Taylor was there for me every step of the way: In my junior year of high school, she released a mixed-genre foray into pop that gave us bops like “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “22,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and I didn’t just enjoy the Red album, I felt it. The emotional LP provided inspiration as I became student body president and big man on campus, but kept my sexuality a complete secret. It would become a source of comfort after I came out to close friends and family but lacked the confidence to do so on a larger scale. It would even become a guide to love and heartbreak after I got — and then broke up with — my first boyfriend.

He left me with bitter parting words: "I’ll never be able to listen to another Taylor Swift song without thinking of you.” I may get that inscribed on my tombstone.

And through her vulnerability and openness, the singer has nurtured a fandom of people like myself who not only unite to feel seen and validated by her music but see and validate each other.

For Grace, who lives in Tennessee and has had a stan account since 2017, having a network of allies and openly LGBTQ+ people in the Taylor fandom has helped her in her own self-acceptance.

“LGBTQ fans are gaining space, as [are] fans of color, which is so great to see,” he said. “Taylor being more politically engaged helped [make] this change happen.”

“While we have so much to celebrate, we also have a great distance to go before everyone in this country is truly treated equally,” she tweeted.

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lightsandlostbells · 5 years

Text

Skam Italia season 2, episode 3 reaction

Thanks to the people who read and left comments on my previous recaps, especially the one for episode 2! I appreciated hearing from you ❤️

I wrote some stuff about this episode. I don’t have much of a preamble, except the usual: I make comparisons to the original show because I’m interested in the remakes as adaptations, I don’t have 100% positive things to say, if you want to just enjoy the season and not see criticisms, avoid this.

Episode 3

Clip 1 - Dudes being dudes

Martino is sitting on a couch overlooking the city, for … reasons. I don’t know why he came here specifically to brood. Is this his special place? Is this a boy squad hangout? It’s certainly got a nice view.

So the other boys made it to Emma’s, it was just that Martino skipped out. Then they have less reason to be mad at him, to be honest; yeah, it sucks that he blew them off, but they made it to the party.

Elia throws a ball at Martino when Martino is clearly not paying attention. Dickhead!

Dudes, he didn’t even lie to you? He ignored you. Which is not great but if a friend ignored me when we had plans, I would be worried something happened to them. Of course the thing that happened to Martino was an attractive boy feeding him garbage noodles, but still.

Martino finally lies to the boys in a more active way, spinning them a story about fighting with his mother and getting anxious, which is certainly believable knowing his home situation and is likely drawn from his real experience. In the original, Isak also uses his mom as an excuse, although he lies less blatantly than Martino does. Isak lies more than Martino overall, I think, but in that case, he sort of vaguely alluded to there being “stress” with his mom, without going into details, and Jonas was able to pick up on what he meant without Isak having to say more, and Mahdi was able to pick up that there was something more serious going on even if he didn’t know the exact situation. This time, Martino’s lie is more fleshed-out, and Giovanni is vocally supportive and claps Martino on the shoulder. (I guess it’s possible that he knows Martino is lying and is covering for him, but he’s playing it pretty sincere. He knows Martino’s family life is difficult so he probably buys it.)

This is why I had to laugh at some comments I read that were like “Giovanni is able to read Martino when Jonas couldn’t read Isak.” Lmao, no. There are plenty of times when Jonas could pick up on Isak’s mood and situation without it needing to be spelled out to him.

Anyway, after the situation is ironed out, we get an anecdote about Elia’s lack of success with the Argentinian girl, telling the story of ... putting Luca in a suitcase? He is petite. Martino laughs with the boys and all seems okay for now. The dynamic has been restored.

Again, all the chasing of the Argentinian will have been for nothing as she is a lesbian.

Elia kicks a ball at Martino as punishment, because Boys Will Be Boys. Then again, I’m sure Martino prefers balls flying at him to having to arrange another party with the girls.

Clip 2 - Gay test

Martino arrives home with some food. The fridge looks pretty empty, so I guess they aren’t keeping on top of groceries. Or this is Martino taking care of it because his mom can’t.

Then his mom enters, and he says he’s going to cook for her. So he’s being nice to her, which is sweet. Mom is too tired and needs to lie down after a long meeting.

It seemed like Isak’s mom had schizophrenia or schizotypal disorder, correct? She had delusions and was actively sending him Biblical texts that were confusing. But we haven’t see any of those from Martino’s mom - I don’t think there’s been any hints that she’s been seeing things or believing in things that aren’t real. So far it seems like she’s dealing with depression, mainly. Apparently she is holding down a job. (I’m wondering what the reasoning was behind this change, and honestly, I suspect that they didn’t want to deal with depicting stuff like psychosis on screen, now that the mother character is visible rather than existing via text message.)

I’m curious how this relationship between Martino and his mom will play out, because a) we have not seen a single clue that she might not accept his sexuality - I mean it’s definitely possible that it will come up, but there are no warning signs like how Isak’s mom sent him hellfire and brimstone texts, so is there supposed to be anxiety there on his part? b) he’s clearly not estranged from her the way Isak was with his mom - so what’s the climax of that relationship going to be? It was a big moment when Isak came out to his mom because it was not just her accepting him for being gay, but sealing a rift in that relationship overall. Of course I’m sure it will be lovely when Martino comes out to his mom, but his sexuality doesn’t feel like a huge issue separating them so far. There are obvious issues in this relationship, but he’s also trying to reach out to her and make dinner, they’re capable of some connection even though they’re also heavily struggling and Martino often seems frustrated and wants to get away from it all.

Martino is chilling and eating dinner. He sends a message to Emma, saying that things were stressful and he’ll tell her about it, he heard her party was great, etc. He’s very friendly and natural. Not coming on in a performative way, not seeming regretful or like he doesn’t want to have this conversation. And Emma texts him back in what seems like a not too much of a confrontational way? She calls him an asshole but it makes Martino laugh, he’s not stressed about it. Also, putting the “asshole” in parentheses makes it seem softer, not like a serious insult but a humorous aside. I don’t know if that holds for Italian, though.

Okay … are they seriously leading into the Gay Test clip like this? Really? Really? Look, I get that Martino and Isak are different characters, but why is so much tension being sucked out of the narrative?

Isak was lying in bed at 3 am staring at the ceiling, miserable, dealing with insomnia, and reading Bible texts from his mom, and he went and did the gay test out of desperation. He really, really had hit a low point and wanted to work out the issues gnawing at his brain. And it sucked because he had gotten his hopes up for Even, but Even was apparently taken (by a girl) and Isak thought he was reading too much into it. That much Martino can identify with. But Martino has absolutely not shown the same level of inner struggle as Isak. I mean, this clip is taking place at a reasonable hour, he seems in a reasonable mood, just eating and watching TV, laughing at Emma’s message. His mom’s condition earlier was not great but it wasn’t terrible. This doesn’t seem like a low point.

Again, Martino isn’t Isak, but then you have to ask why is he getting Isak’s scenes? For every single clip that has been adapted from Isak to Martino, you have to consider: what’s the point of this scene in Martino’s journey, and why was it recreated rather than deleted or altered to fit his particular characterization or story? It’s not unfair to ask these questions, and it’s not unfair to question whether this scene fits the narrative they’ve been building, or discuss how changing the details of a scene affects the tone and purpose. I’m not saying this clip has no place in Martino’s story, or that you can’t tone it down somewhat, but it’s just weird how the setup for a clip like this one gets dialed down, because the setup is a huge part of its emotional effect, and presenting it more casually makes it feel far less necessary to the story.

Martino looks at Emma’s picture with some fondness and types in “how to get turned on by a girl if you’re gay.” I guess I can rationalize this as Emma being friendly and cute and wouldn’t it be so much easier if Martino could just go out with her instead of wanting to be with Niccolò? But yeah, the internalized homophobia has not landed.

Martino starts with how to get turned on by girls if you’re gay, rather than googling to see whether he’s gay or how not to be gay or something else. (Isak took the gay test first and then googled that bit about getting turned on by girls. Though I don’t think Isak actually was unsure about being gay or not - like. He knew.)

Here’s the thing - this is a horrible thing for a gay kid to look up regardless, instructions on how to be straight are always shit. But because Martino seems like he’s in a pretty stable (even good or amused) mood prior to this, because of the way we lead into the scene, this search seems more like …. really fucking misguided, rather someone dealing with a lot of pain. Like this isn’t something Martino is pressuring himself to do because he’s feeling like shit, it’s an idle web search.

An idle search that takes him to a gay test! Not the same as the one Isak took, though. I think the questions do lean on stereotypes on what gay men like/do, though it’s less obvious than Isak’s quiz? What kind of cuisine you like, for example - answering like vegetarian/vegan food would probably make you “gayer” than liking Italian or Mexican food, because vegetables are for weaklings and meat is for men men men men manly men. There is a moment where Martino appears to debate and says that he sees a vagina rather than a snail in an ambiguous image, so I guess that’s him trying to make his answers appear straighter.

The quiz says Martino is exclusively heterosexual. Martino does not seem too impressed with that result.

Lmao, that ridiculous cartoon of the Kinsey scale.

Clip 3 - Martino makes up with Emma

The boys are playing table football. Martino and Giovanni are on a team against Elia and Luca and they lose, so they must crawl under the table. Martino has to endure some creative punishments in this episode, doesn’t he? All at the hands of Elia.

I’m not terribly judgmental about character wardrobes or anything like that, especially since I don’t know what the fuck is trendy for The Youths in various countries, but is there a reason Martino wears so many shirts buttoned up all the way to his neck? Is that supposed to be an example of his repression, or is that just his personal style? I’m serious.

Martino sees Emma and goes up to her. She does not seem happy to see him, sooo … I guess she really was mad at him? His reaction to her texts seemed amused, so I assumed he read them as her not being 100% serious? Okay, guess not.

Isak was very, verrrry slick when he did this part with Norwegian Emma. It was all part of his heterosexual facade, it was a performance he had done many times, and there was a noticeable contrast between how he had acted with Even in the last episode (shy, vulnerable, gradually becoming more open and unguarded, silly, comfortable). In fact, you could even see a huge difference with him seconds before with Vilde, when he was flustered and unable to get out of hosting the party even though he absolutely doesn’t want to, and how he sees Emma and takes a moment to consider and re-calibrate, so that he’s in fuckboy mode when he talks to Emma. It’s so artificial that it’s alarming and builds up dread. Martino seems newer to this. He’s a lot more genial; he’s cute but his attitude is honestly not that far off from what we see of him in other contexts. Sure, he’s flirting with a girl, but there’s so little sign of discomfort, or any indication that he has to switch into a “mode” to flirt with a girl, that it again lowers the level of narrative tension and inner conflict. He pretty much went from hanging with the guys -> seeing Emma -> going over and talking to Emma seemingly effortlessly, not showing that there was any kind of debate in his mind about what he should do, or psyching himself up to speak to her. He just does it.

Again ... I’m sort of like, what is the point of having Martino take a gay test and make move on Emma when there are so few indicators that this is causing any sort of stress for him? I mean, I think they want us to read stress into the situation, but the way the scenes are being staged, they’re drastically minimizing that effect.

Emma gets a text from the radio group, asking for a bluetooth mic for the party on Friday. Emma wants to go and wants Martino to go with her. He seems happy, Emma seems happy, she’s no longer mad. For now.

Giovanni seems proud of Martino for making a move on her, though we don’t hear him say anything.

If they wanted some actual narrative tension in this scene other than what was in the original clip, then they could have had the boys spot Emma and ask Martino if he was going to go apologize or talk to her, putting him in an awkward spot where he felt like he had to, and where we could see some heteronormative pressure at work with the boys egging him on, feeling like he couldn’t say no.

Clip 4 - Boys watching girls in the gym

This fucking scene. First of all, I heard that the actress playing the Argentinian is apparently like 14 or 15 in real life?????? Is that fucking true?? Can someone please confirm that? Because if that’s true, that’s creepy as fuck. It means we have all these 21- to 26- year-old actors cast in a show celebrated for casting actual teens, except for this one girl who’s getting objectified and perved on by the male characters (played by actors in their 20s) Great! Fuck off!

Even if that’s not the case ... blech. I can’t fault Skam Italia entirely for male gaze here, because this scene exists in the original and showcases girls’ bodies. And well … male gaze is the point of this scene. But I will point out that the original scene did not show any stationary close-ups of a girl’s ass. Gross.

The straight dudes drool over the girls. Luca’s filming it because of course he is, Boys Will Be Boys. Nothing weird about a guy filming girls without their consent!

There’s like … one shot of Martino looking mildly not into it, so uh, maaaaybe they should have emphasized that more? Just a thought. Isak looked completely out of it, bored out of his mind, very clear in his body language and facial expression. Plus the boys are watching a sports game, them watching and cheering has a different context (rather than just applauding hot girls for being hot, more or less). Martino is even shown cheering, so this is at least somewhat engaging to him, even if not because the girls are hot.

I mean, the point of this scene was to demonstrate Isak’s lack of interest in the girls compared to his friends. This scene is filmed in a way more straight-forward cheesecake-y way, like Bessegato didn’t get that the original wasn’t celebrating those lithe female bodies and actually had a purpose in establishing the main character’s mindset.

I saw an idea that maybe they should have been watching a men’s sports team with like, sweaty shirtless dudes, and have the camera compare the neutral/bored reactions of the other boys to Martino clearly thirsting, and I like that twist on the scene. Especially if the comment about the dance teacher being too gay (or whatever it would be) comes as a result of trying to make up for checking out the dudes, hoping his friends didn’t notice, or even just checking himself for letting himself stare when he’s supposed to be attempting heterosexuality at this point in the narrative.

The gym teacher comes up and is like, hmmm, so you just happen to like volleyball, huh? He roasts them a bit, which makes him my new favorite character.

He pats Giovanni on the stomach and is like, you’re flabby, you gotta get in shape because girls like fit guys. It’s a friendly casual interaction and Giovanni is amused.

So the gym teacher is gay, as it turns out from dialogue. Which is pretty cool! The boys know him and his boyfriend.

Then Martino is like, you should press charges against him, he comes up here and touches your belly. Giovanni is like, WTF.

There is a persistent, horrific stereotype about gay men being sexual predators and pedophiles, which is awful. Completely. It’s a great idea to dismantle that belief and to educate the audience. But Martino’s comment doesn’t have much to do with his personal journey. We have not seem him struggle with being seen as a creep, or thinking gay men are predatory, or anything. I guess there’s when he thinks Filippo might be trying to pick him up? But overall, not a concern of his. If there’s something I forgot, let me know. Isak’s comment about the dance teacher flowed directly from the gay test (and his internalized homophobia) which was all about judging gay stereotypes and non-masculine behavior.

Now I do think you could say that’s why he’s reluctant to sleep in the same bed as Giovanni, and has some kind of reaction to hugging him, but the problem is that this reaction is conflated with his actual unrequited romantic feelings for Giovanni - like there are multiple reasons why Martino might react that way and not want to sleep in the same bed as him, and not all of them have to do with a fear of being seen as predatory. Sometimes it’s about getting distance from a crush who doesn’t like you back, or even just being afraid to give away his crush/sexuality without it specifically being about interpreted as predatory. But OK, I will accept this explanation even if I think they could have expressed this more clearly - maybe it would’ve been illustrated better if Martino also didn’t want to touch Elia or Luca, two guys he isn’t shown to be attracted to. In any case, they should have drawn a clear link between the gay test or whatever Martino found online (like instead of the gay test, they showed him looking at some kind of website or forum or social media where guys talked about feeling uncomfortable with gay men touching them, or thinking gay guys are pervs/molesters, or something relevant to this conversation) since that was the impetus for Isak/Martino saying dumb shit in this scene. It also would have been amazing to build up Martino’s insecurity about touching his friends as part of his anxiety over coming out, especially how that manifests in a more physically affectionate culture, and then to have his comment about the teacher clearly be a form of massive projection.

There actually WAS a conversation in season 1 at the cabin, where Elia made a joke about Martino not getting any ideas and touching him, and Martino saying that he was the last person he’d have sex with. That would have been very good to include in this season, or a similar moment, to build into Martino’s mindset and where he pulled out that comment. Because it doesn’t surprise me that he would have that idea about a gay dude being predatory, since it’s unfortunately a commonplace stereotype, but because this is a fictional narrative, you need to build up those themes and ideas.

To heap on some more unpopular opinions, I didn’t feel like Giovanni demonstrated himself as a Woke King after this scene, not that he said anything wrong, but that what he said didn’t seem to have much to do with his core values and more with personal relationships. It’s hard to explain, but it relies more on this one gay dude being an OK person rather than challenging a stereotype at its core. Giovanni is defending him because Mr. Boccia is okay and didn’t do anything wrong, rather than because he thinks gay men should not be labeled as predators just for touching their students. Like Jonas wasn’t all, “Who, the dance instructor? Fred? I know him, he’s my cousin’s boyfriend. He’s cool, he bought me some beer one time.” He was like, “Why are you dissing people for being gay? Are you just pointing out people are gay? WTF?” That cuts to the heart of Isak’s problem rather than singling out one counterexample. Giovanni doesn’t have to be a perfectly educated mouthpiece, either, I just wanted to explain the difference in how I viewed him and Jonas in these scenes. I mean, I’m sure he’ll be kind and supportive once Martino comes out to him. However, it’s less an indicator of Giovanni having some core non-homophobic principles and more like he’s fine with this one particular guy who is gay. Hopefully that makes sense.

But to be more positive, on that note, I think it is good that there’s at least one gay man who Giovanni is OK with and seems to like and respect, and that Martino can see that. There are obviously differences between how teenagers view gay peers vs gay teachers, because the adult would be “safe” and wouldn’t/shouldn’t be pursuing him, whereas teenage boys might think their friends have gay cooties and are coming on to them, but Giovanni isn’t a total 100% homophobe based on this encounter. (I don’t think Giovanni will have a problem with Martino being gay at all, to be clear, just speaking hypothetically.)

Niccolò comes up, obviously. The look he gives to Martino is good. Tension, wahoo!

He gives Martino back his earbuds and says he left them on the bus. I’m legit baffled that the boys are so suspicious of this? Martino took the bus to go home from school, after he left the boy squad, so he could have left the earbuds on the bus then. Or him being like “I was on the bus with my mom” - not that unreasonable? All he told them was that he had a fight with his mom, he didn’t say where that fight happened (Isak was wearing the hat when they left school so it made no sense to say he left it in the cafeteria, and Jonas realized this). I guess Martino and Niccolò were just acting weird enough to notice?

Giovanni sized up Niccolò so he probably suspects shit is up.

Luca gets bonked on the head by the volleyball, and the gym teacher is delighted. More of this guy, please? I like him. I wouldn’t mind if Martino has a heart to heart with him instead of the doctor. Except Martino has not been shown to have insomnia so either he’ll develop it midway through the season or the meeting will be about something else.

Clip 5 - '80s party

The girl squad is doing karaoke. Emma is singing along. Martino is sitting there not having a good time, staring blankly at something. Not singing.

He does have a pair of very small sunglasses. I don’t think Martino tried at all with the theme except for those sunglasses. Those look just like his regular clothes.

Martino and Emma talk about music briefly, and it turns out Emma likes the same kind of music Martino does - she mentions Apparat, and there was an Apparat poster-art-thing in Martino’s room. So unlike Isak and Emma, who outside of sexual orientation were also just like … not on the same page as people, Martino and Emma seem like they could fit together, were it not for the little fact that Martino is gay. I’m not sure there’s been a big indication that Italian Emma is that bad (until like a minute or two from now, with her comment about gay people). They could have played this moment a little more so Martino’s reaction is more wistful, like … oh, here’s this beautiful girl who shares some of my interests. If I were just into girls, this would be so easy.

Martino sneaks a glance over Emma as Niccolò walks in. Niccolò looks like he dressed up for the theme, at least? No version of Even is not going to dress up for a costume party. Not on my watch.

I don’t recognize his burgers shirt, is that a reference to something and I’m just blanking?

Lmao Martino just launches at Emma the second Niccolò turns around to look at him, he’s ridiculous.

I do like the part where she’s like either you’re underestimating me or you’re shy, and when she asks him if he’s shy, that’s when he kisses her. Even though he didn’t hear a word she said.

Niccolò comes over right away and places himself right between Martino and Emma, so there’s at least one way he has out-desperated Even. He slings an arm around both of them. Bold!

“Elio” is not a reference to Call Me By Your Name (well, I guess it could be that, too) but to Elio Germano, an actor - I looked up that guy and I can kind of see the resemblance? Not a big one, but in some pictures, I get it.

Martino, stop being a buzzkill and go sing a shitty song with Niccolò. The point of karaoke is to make an ass of yourself, no one cares.

In response to Martino not wanting to do karaoke, Niccolò asks, “Are you afraid of showing your hidden homosexuality?” - yeeeeeah, I’m kind of like, WTF, why did he mention it there? If Martino is closeted, then why bring it up when they’re not alone? Since Niccolò has a strong suspicion that he is gay, isn’t he just putting Martino on the spot? But Martino seems unfazed, I guess.

Now we have the famous educational moment where Niccolò calls out Emma for generalizing. Niccolò takes his arms away from Martino and Emma when he’s getting serious.

The focus of this scene is more on Niccolò and Emma than how Martino reacts. In Skam, this scene was really fucking important for Isak because Isak had ideas about how Gay People were supposed to be. That they were all a certain thing. That “gay” had a definition besides being attracted to only the same gender - that’s why he complains about why the dance teacher has to be so gay. The dance guy isn’t “so gay” because he’s showing attraction to men, but because he’s displaying a set of mannerisms associated with gay men. (I mean, it’s completely beside the point, but “so gay” dance teacher could have turned out to be banging half the dance chicks since Isak’s statement is based purely on stereotypes.) The gay test he took earlier in the week fed into these notions that Isak had because it was based entirely on generalizations. Not only is that how gay men act, but it’s how other people see men if you like certain things and act a certain way; if you act like that, they assume you are gay, and if you’re gay, they assume you act like that. So Isak hearing about how wrong it is to generalize, especially from Even, the guy he likes, is really goddamn important. It’s Even is throwing him a lifeline. Gay people are not all one thing and we shouldn’t think about them in stereotypes, even when they’re “nice” ones. That’s why the focus of that scene has a lot to do with Isak’s rapt attention, because this scene plays a specific counterpart to how we saw Isak behave that week.

However, this scene here? It’s a nice lesson for the audience to hear, but what does it have to do with Martino’s mindset that they’ve set up in this episode? At this point, Martino has not been shown to have any of these beliefs about gay men, as far as I can recall. The most is him wondering why gay people always assume everyone is gay in the scene with Filippo, but that has little to do with mannerisms. Not only that, they explicitly changed the dialogue in the dance chicks/volleyball scene to be different - it’s not Martino being like “Does that gym teacher have to be so gay?” It’s him basically accusing the gym teacher of being a pervert for touching a high school boy in a friendly way. Sooo … why didn’t they change this dialogue to reflect that? This is a clunky version of how it might play out, but what if, after Niccolò sits down and has his arm around Martino, and makes his latent homosexuality comment, Emma made a joke like, “Haha, you better not get too close, Niccolò!” And Niccolò was like, “What’s that all about?” Emma could say something like, “You know, because he’ll try to make a move on you,” and Niccolò replied, “Errrr, just because a gay dude gets close to another guy doesn’t make it inappropriate.” Then that would actually tie in to an earlier scene. But that’s obviously not the only way it could have played out. My point is, why didn’t they follow through this scene with something consistent to Martino’s story thus far?

Then again, this whole thread during the episode feels inconsistent. It’s easy to follow the story logic with Isak: takes a gay test revolving around generalizations about gay men’s personalities -> tries to distance himself from those generalizations about gay men’s personalities -> hears that it’s wrong to make generalizations about gay people’s personalities. Martino this week: takes a gay test with some generalizations (I think they were present but not as blatant as in the test Isak took?) -> makes a comment about the gym teacher basically calling him a molester -> hears that it is wrong to make generalizations about gay people’s personalities. I guess he learns not to generalize gay men as molesters? But really, vastly different, it’s not very cohesive, and Martino was not shown to be very affected by Niccolò’s dialogue. So again ... why is it here?

Also, there’s something kind of … weird about Niccolò lecturing Emma on making generalizations, because Niccolò just did the same thing, sort of? He joked that Martino didn’t want to do karaoke because he was afraid of showing his latent homosexuality, the generalization being that karaoke is a thing that gay guys do. And I get that it’s a tongue-in-cheek comment, ha ha Martino, get over yourself (and a loaded statement about his own suspicions about Martino), buuut is there a reason why, on the surface, Niccolò can make a joke about what gay people like or do or are (ha ha, liking karaoke is a sign of homosexuality!) but then Emma can make another statement generalizing about gay people and he’s like … excuse me? Yes, obviously there is a difference between them in that Emma is a straight girl (from what we know) and Niccolò is a guy who likes guys (although I’m going to assume he’s pan like Even for now), and I’m not defending what she said, but it’s a sloppy juxtaposition to have in the same scene. One’s more “neutral” and one’s “positive” but they’re both generalizations.

One thing you could get from this scene is that Niccolò has feelings about defending gay people and may be not straight himself … which should be blindingly obvious at this point.

Then Niccolò is like, “I know pretty boring gays,” which is kind of funny in the sense that he’s teasing Martino, but also, still putting Martino on the spot. Martino is nowhere near as receptive to that comment as the latent homosexuality one. I guess Niccolò just went too far.

Emma thinks this topic is boring and has Martino go dance with her. At least they show Niccolò sitting alone looking dejected when they get up, which is a dead giveaway, but a nice little moment.

People dance. This red light is very striking and all but the downside is that it’s hard to see Martino’s face (or most faces in the crowd). That might have worked if they wanted to inject some ambiguity into the scene, like did Niccolò look over to Martino while kissing his girlfriend, or was that unintentional? Is Martino imagining it? But it’s pretty clear they want it to be straightforward, so I wish we could have seen their emotions more clearly. (I feel like the lighting on this show is often a disservice to the actors, but that’s something to talk about at another juncture.)

I do like the song, though (“Self Control” by Raf) and the lyrics seem pretty fitting, about losing self control to someone. Martino is kissing Emma but can’t control himself from looking over to Niccolò. There’s also the comparison between the day and the night, perhaps related to how Martino is living for the “night” aka these moments he gets to be in Niccolò’s vicinity. Also it’s an ‘80s song, so it’s appropriate to the theme of the party, obviously.

Eva does seem to notice Martino making out with Emma and isn’t totally cool with that, like I think she’s going WTF in her head? I know his secret? Does not compute???

Federica is also sad because Martino is kissing another girl. Aww, poor girl. She came so close, or so she thought! Don’t worry, hopefully Kasper is coming.

Fede sees Silvia’s phone ringing. It’s Silvia’s mom, so they put the music on pause as Silvia talks to her mom. Silvia is adorable when she greets her mom, lol.

There’s a part where Silvia tells her mom she’s with Fede and Eva, which I thought was interesting as it excluded Sana. So maybe her parents have an issue with Sana (or rather, Silvia having a Muslim friend)? Eva looks at Sana after that, but it might just be “holy shit what’s happening?” rather than “why didn’t she mention you?”

I’m too lazy to check but is that one girl with the glasses standing behind Eva and Sana one of the theater kids from the first season?

I do like seeing Eva go into action mode and tell people what to do! What a boss.

There’s the blue haired girl from the earlier clips again, dressed like Madonna. WHOOOO ARE YOU, WHO WHO, WHO WHO (no really who is this girl)

The sudden cleanup is the means of getting Martino and Niccolò alone together, to take out the trash.

Is Niccolò dressed as Marty McFly? Did he read my post?? (don’t take that too seriously, lmao) Or is that another character/celebrity? Or just generic ‘80s style?

Their chemistry in this scene is the strongest it’s been yet. Them just standing there before the conversation starts is a really good moment. (Surprise, having a smidge of tension and some variety in their interaction does a lot for their dynamic!)

Niccolò has the nickname “Colino” based on something from middle school, so he and Maddalena go back a while. They got together when they were 16, and supposedly they’re like siblings. So it seems like they might have a foundation of friendship, and could go back to being pals after they break up, maybe? Or perhaps they’re just growing too different for that, even.

Niccolò is like JUST SO YOU KNOW WE’RE LIKE SIBLINGS. WE HAVEN’T HAD SEX IN TWO MONTHS. I mean, I get what he’s trying to say, but “I haven’t had sex with my sister in two months” is not a thing I would expect to hear from people with normal sibling relationships.

Also, two months would be the beginning of school, no? When he saw Martino?

The motive behind Niccolò’s story about Maddalena’s medical condition is very different from Even’s. Isak was very closed off and not really having it when Even started talking to him about dating Sonja for years and not being able to break up with her. He was shutting him out. That’s why Even started spinning that story about her aluminum leg, to get a reaction out of Isak and to find an opening. Martino, on the other hand, is very receptive to Niccolò from the beginning of this conversation, smiling and laughing, giving eye contact. Even when Niccolò mentions Maddalena, it’s not like Martino totally shuts down; he seems amused or perhaps reassured when Niccolò says they haven’t been having sex. So Niccolò making up this shit about his girlfriend comes across as a lot more random. Like he’s doing it just to fuck with Martino for a laugh. And he keeps going even when Martino tells him he’s full of shit (this scene goes on for about two minutes, twice the length of Even’s story). It’s not inherently wrong to change to tone of the scene, but it does make it much less fraught because there aren’t as many stakes with this conversation. They’re already more or less on the same page, or at least Martino is willing to be.

Even also had so much more vulnerability when talking about this, like … we actually saw that he felt hurt or upset talking about how he couldn’t dump Sonja. Niccolò felt so much more casual and matter of fact, which is fine, but it all feels at odds with his probable situation, because so far we’ve seen he really wants Martino and is putting himself out there. He’s not subtle. Here he’s just like, yeah, can’t dump her!

I do think that there’s some of the same subtext here as in the OG, with Sonja’s fake leg standing in for Even’s bipolar disorder; Maddalena’s hairy condition is meant to be Niccolò’s mental illness. Now she keeps it under control, she’s getting experimental treatment, etc. All things that could apply to Niccolò, perhaps.

It’d be something if Maddalena was in med school because Niccolò’s mental illness made her want to help others, or research bipolar disorder, or something like that. It’s different from Sonja seemingly being bored with her life (and perhaps channeling her energies into taking care of Even), but a nice adaptation. Even if Niccolò wasn’t her motivating factor for going to med school, it’s a potentially interesting way to show that she feels the need to “fix” people.

Skam Italia keeps doing this thing where they pull back the damn camera in a scene, away from the characters, far enough or from an angle so we can’t really see their faces (and in a way that doesn’t reveal anything compelling about their body language). They do it here and it isn’t the most egregious example, but having seen it happen in later episodes, I’m more alert to it, and a lot of times it undercuts the emotions of a scene - again, a disservice to the actors. There are some times where it really took me out, to be discussed when they pop up. I guess they do it just to add some contrast to the closeups of the characters? And I’m all for more contrast, but that’s not really what I wanted, lmao.

The pinky touching moment is great! It’s a thing that’s theirs rather than Evak’s (I guess it might be subbing in for the great hole in the sock moment from the script, but it’s still different). They’re smiling and looking at each other as they lean again, very unlike Isak and Even (when Isak couldn’t even look at Even) but it is consistent with the general vibe of their relationship so far. (Although it is kinda ehhhh that they just ... dropped all of the tension from inside the party, Niccolò’s comments on the couch, staring at each other across the room while kissing girls, and then went back to the comfortable friendly vibe almost immediately, as if none of that mattered too much in the narrative.)

Ohhhhh my God they’re interrupted by the WHOLE PARTY running out and like, that is amazing. Instead of Noora it’s fucking eeeeeverybody.

Although they’re smiling at each other as they run off and it’s cute and all but WHERE IS THE TENSION. Even from the perspective of them being friendlier and more smiley at each other, 1) they almost got caught by other people, and not just anyone, but people they know, including their girlfriends (well, Niccolò’s girlfriend and Martino’s date) and people who could talk or gossip about them, so why does this not cause any kind of alarm 2) this has changed things. They almost kissed. Show that it was some kind of big deal, like even something as small as Martino lingering a moment behind the rest of them, needing a moment to process what just happened, taking a deep breath? Smiling to himself, if you want to keep it lighter? What’s the actual difference in tone or Martino’s reaction in this scene to something like the boy squad running from the police in episode 1? Except he actually seemed concerned about getting caught by the police.

General Comments/Social Media

Emma and Martino have way more of a rapport in their texts than Isak and Emma did. She actually seems to have a sense of humor.

She says she’s found his look-a-like, and Martino is like, “Don’t say Ron Weasley,” and ahaha THAT one I do not see at all. At least not if we’re talking Rupert Grint/movie Ron. I could maaaaaybe see movie Fred and George, though. Maybe. If I squint.

Martino was also open about going to Silvia’s party, which makes sense, but also he didn’t have to hide it like Isak did. Isak was just lying all over the place in his season.

Martino also names the Luca/Silvia ship “Lulvia.” I don’t know if that will actually happen. If it does, I think it’ll be like a random Chris/Kasper-esque makeout at the end of the season.

Tbh my favorite thing from this episode might have been Silvia searching for her cat before the party on Instagram. I crave that sweet sweet Margot content.

I’ve seen all the episodes aired so far, and there are some elements that I think have been handled decently, others not so much. Later episodes have some parts that I like better. Unfortunately, this episode showcased of the weaknesses of this season, which would be, in a nutshell: lack of tension, weak depiction of internal conflict, lack of focus for Martino’s POV and character trajectory.

I know I sound cranky and overly negative in this recap. Part of it is that I’m somewhat exasperated because I feel like this episode showed that to a degree, Bessegato doesn’t like … either get what Isak’s struggle was about, or he doesn’t have a clear vision for Martino’s struggle, or he does but the storytelling is not tight enough to make every scene count. Isak and Martino don’t have to have the exact same internal conflicts, but there needs to be some consistency, and so far Martino’s arc is a weird mix of stuff that doesn’t always fit what we see of him, but is there because it happened to Isak. Either just do a straight-up close recreation of Isak’s struggle, or figure out exactly what Martino’s different conflict is and write a more focused story guided by that.

The other part is that there’s ~problematic stuff in this show that’s getting on my nerves, and constantly hearing that people need to suck it up because IT’S REALISTIC is wearing down my patience. I don’t expect characters to be perfect. The original Skam characters are not perfect. The remake characters are not perfect. But there’s a difference between (for example) racism and sexism that are included intentionally as part of a narrative to make a point, and racism and sexism that seem to be unintentional and go unremarked. And when racism and sexism repeatedly go unremarked, it starts to feel like the show is normalizing it.

Particularly about the boy squad’s behavior, including videotaping Argentina and the later catfishing, because there has been a lot of debate recently about that ... I would love for there to be a point to all of that? It would be great if their creepy-ass behavior was called out later in the season, and if this turned out to have been a point about toxic masculinity and shitty straight boy behavior. If it was all building up to something, awesome, I will give Skamit the respect it’s due. But right now? I don’t get why I should give the show the benefit of the doubt. It’s already shown its ass on racism, and there have been scenes that have jumped out at me in terms of male gaze, some of the more blatant feminism in S1 was watered down from what I remember, etc. So I can’t actually assume that the boy squad will totally be called out in the end.

Honestly, if you’d asked me to guess what some of the potential weaknesses of this season could be, I would not have guessed a lack of tension.

I believe part of the objective was to show a gay teenager in Italy falling in love with a boy and not having it be the end of the world. And that is absolutely a noble goal, and something many Italian teens can benefit from. But I have to say - I never thought Isak’s season was like, emotional torture porn just because it had conflict? It balanced the fluffy romantic content with the angsty sad stuff and was better for it. The fluff was more valuable because we saw what a triumph it was compared to the angst, and the angst was more valuable because we saw exactly how much we were losing when the fluff was gone. Isak’s severe internal struggle made every little bit of character growth that much more powerful. I’m not saying the story has to be an emotional roller coaster from clip to clip, but yes, stakes matter, especially when you’re doling out a story in 3-5 minute increments every day or two.

I do think they’ve somewhat increased tension in this episode, some of it with the boy squad, and some of it with Martino’s mom not being great, but there’s also the matter of internal conflict that is supposed to be fueling many of these scenes, and that’s where it’s falling flat. Skam’s a character-focused show - I mean, each season is about living in a different character’s head - so frankly, they should be milking the f u c k out of his inner struggles.

I’ll also say I definitely didn’t have this problem with S1 of Skam Italia. I thought Eva’s story set up her clear struggles from the beginning and kept some tension going throughout the season. She and Martino have different problems, certainly, but it’s not a case of Skam Italia being “softer” overall.

I've heard counterarguments in the tags about the lack of tension, suggesting that there is tension inherent in the story due to it being about a gay teenage in Italy, but respectfully, I can’t agree with that? Then this storyline makes even less sense, like if the level of tension due to homophobia in Italy is so great that it’s embedded that deeply, how do you explain Martino’s unfazed or casual reactions to events, such as almost being caught kissing Niccolò (multiple times, if you include later episodes)? It feels contradictory. But overall, it’s a constructed fictional narrative; some of the responsibility does fall on the show itself to establish its stakes.

Anyway, if there is cultural context I missed, feel free to let me know!

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#skamit reactions #skam italia reactions

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fighterfortheforgotten · 6 years

Text

PINOF Through the Ages

ah, November, that special time of year between halloween and christmas where i can buy “fun sized” (read “thumb sized”) chocolate bars and tinsel in the same aisle at walmart…

it’s also that time of year where members of the phandom, young and old, come together and collectively binge watch all the PINOF videos in preparation for the newest installment, as we wait with bated breath for what fresh hell we’re gonna be hit with this year.

today, i would like to share with you my observations of PINOF Through The Years, as we embark on the fucking trip that is sure to be PINOF 9…

Phil is not on fire (25 October 2009)

- can you IMAGINE what the hell Phil’s parents and/or brother must’ve thought when they were filming that/saw it for the first time?! Phil brings home this random kid he found in a train station and they start giggling like actual 12 year olds and wandering round the house talking about The Shining, using the exercise equipment Phil has probably never stepped foot on in his life, and drawing on their faces in sharpie? i can fucking HEAR Kath saying “Phil…honey…are you on the drugs?” and Martyn cackling like a lunatic in the background at his brother and his weird friend….

- Dan is trying so. damn. hard. not to laugh throughout the entire video.

- Speaking of Dan, even back then he was a sassy, cocky lil shit… “every animal makes that noise with you…” “wow Phil, i bet they’re all so glad they can see the diagram…” “no, okay, Phil has really crappy GHDs that don’t even work…they don’t even work…they are Poundland GHDs.”

- everyone always talks about The Tackle™ at the end of the video, but not NEARLY enough people talk about the lil smirk Phil gives the camera just before it…like, seriously?! that’s a “haha, here goes nothing!” kinda smirk. thats a “lol watch this!” kinda smirk. thats a “give the people what they want” kinda smirk…im just sayin’…

Phil is not on fire 2 (29 May 2010)

- okay, first of all, Dan…sweetheart…did you borrow that cardigan from your mum?

- Dan: “if you could choose which surname you had, what would be your decision?” Phil: “…umm…” *almost imperceptible but still definitely there jumpcut* Phil: “Striker!”….yeah, yeah, yeah, alright, everyone knows that Phil really said “yours” in an incredibly sheepish and embarrassed voice to Dan that made him go “awwww!….you’re cutting that out…”, but lets appreciate the editing skills it took to make the cut so completely (almost) seamless….

- oh. my. GOD! there is an ENTIRE post JUST about the microwave moment, but i have to reiterate it again for those who have recently entered this hellscape: imagine you are Phil Lester, a 23 year old adult with an ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEGREE, and in comes this adorable 18 year old twink trying to tell you that “microwave” is a fucking onomatopoeia! if i was Phil, THIS would be the moment i’d never let Dan live down. fuck “hello internet”, if he ever pissed me off i’d just be like “yeah, well, at least i know microwave isn’t a fucking onomatopoeia…” and walk away. argument done, you win every time.

- and that being said, again, lets appreciate how much we can learn from the facial expressions of Philip Michael Lester. in that moment, the look he gives Dan is pure “are you fucking serious…?” it is incredulity in a nutshell. it is shock and fondness and “oh my god you are such a twat…”. if there were a dictionary of facial expressions, Phil’s face at the moment Dan says fucking microwave is his favourite onomatopoeia would be the one next to the definition of “wtf?”

Phil is not on fire 3 (1 November 2011)

- 2011 was, by far, the WORST year for Dan and Phil’s hair. tragic. absolutely tragic…

- wow, Dan was right, every animal DOES make the same noise to Phil, including horrific genetic hybrids of land and sea mammals…

- Dan’s ability to almost unhinge his jaw is terrifying…and i’m sure has played a part in lots of phanfic that i’m definitely not going to look for ever…

- okay, seriously guys?! the word is vagina. say it with me: vagina. come on! all together now! it’s not a *awkward silence and weird hand gesture*, it’s not a “birth area", it’s just a vagina…for someone who knows so much about placenta, it strikes me as odd that Dan can’t say the word vagina out loud…

- i’ve never heard anyone giggle as much as Dan does in this video…

Phil is not on fire 4 (12 September 2012)

- the hair is better this year…slightly…

- whoever decided that those face mask things were a good idea needs to be buried alive…the way they look when they move is so horrifying, it gives me nightmares.

- the “gu-hoy!” noise Dan makes in this video (ts 3:21 if you’re at all interested) is my text alert on my phone and it makes me panic every time i watch it because im like “wtf is someone texting me for at 11:53 pm?!” but then i realize it’s just the video and that i’m actually still very alone and have no friends…

- (bloopers bonus!) petition to have 2012 be known in the phandom as, ‘The Year Dan Was Finally Comfortable With The Word Vagina’. that’s all it was guys! he learned a new word and just wanted to show how broad his vocabulary had become!

Phil is not on fire 5 (22 November 2013)

- and right off the bat we’re affronted again by the fact that Dan and Phil have zero concept of how female anatomy works….

- this is probably the most uneventful pinof in the entire series.

Phil is not on fire 6 (6 November 2014)

- to return to the hair discourse, i firmly maintain that 2014 was the best year for their haircuts/styles.

- Phil has no concept of what a sassy face is…

- #StopPhil201X needs to just be a recurring thing every year…

- that poor, poor snake…

- petition for Dan to sing the national anthem at every tour stop in 2018

- the idea of Dan trying to carry on the legacy of Phil Is Not On Fire after Phil’s death is so damn heartbreaking to me…i need a minute

- my lil demon soul is convinced that Phil was doing *something* to Dan’s neck when they both tried to fit through that sweater…i mean, look at his face when he laughs and says “stop". seriously?!

- something about Dan with his fringe swapped, on the wrong side of the bed, and wearing Phil’s shirt makes me feel almost uncomfortable, but in a way that i’m not entirely sure how to process…

- (bloopers bonus!) to reiterate! every animal does, in fact, make the same noise to Phil. this has now been confirmed 3 times.

- (bloopers bonus!) the amount of pleasure Phil is able to derive from any mention of Hello Internet warms the deepest recesses of my soul like the light of the sun after a 1000 year winter.

Phil is not on fire 7 (29 November 2015)

- uh, excuse me? do not drag my country in such a way. Canada is indeed real. it’s where maple syrup comes from. as someone who enjoys the simplicity of a good pancake, i expected better from you Mr. Philip.

- i feel so bad for their neighbours during the stress mushroom tug of war…like, can you imagine what those poor people must’ve thought of them? i’d love to interview their neighbours one day…better yet, their neighbours should write a book: “I Lived Next To YouTubers For 5 Years: The Adventure" and just have it be a chronicle of every weird thing they ever witnessed/encountered.

- with every passing year, Dan’s knowledge of fanfiction tropes and writing styles becomes increasingly disturbing…hide the smut everyone Daniel Howell is coming for it.

- Phil! with the puns! honestly Dan, how do you put up with this man?

- (bloopers bonus!) the way dans voice changes when he grabs Phils underwear and is just ENTHRALLED with the fact that he’s colour coordinates his boxers to his bedsheets is probably the single most disgusting thing i have ever witnessed in my entire life…i mean, i love it, but why are you SO EXTRA?!

Phil is not on fire 8 (29 November 2016)

- NOTHING in the animal or cutlery kingdoms should be born or created in the way Phil describes the birthing process of a spork!

- okay. OKAY! i love the fringes, i really do. i’m a fringe fan from way back, but the hair pushed back thing they get going on sometimes? i can get on board with that.

- aaaannd at 1:57 into pinof 8, the little game i like to play called “Phan or Viktuuri" had all of its lines blurred so far beyond recognition i’m not even sure which universe i’m living in anymore.

- the PSA for “staying hydrated"…such a harmless, and beautiful message about health and self care that the phandom managed to turn into a sex meme…but no one is surprised by that now, are they?

- i need to know why that stock photo exists in the first place…also, why the hell was Phil wearing sandals in November?

- (bloopers bonus!) Phil: “phil is not on fire 8! this time its…what the tagline?” the phandom: “…gayer than ever?” Dan: “full of regrets.” the phandom: “…i mean I GUESS!!!”

- (bloopers bonus!) everything about this blooper reel just confirms even more solidly that Dan is the biggest Phil fan in the world. i’m not gonna wax poetic about the compliments or the comparisons to sunshine or anything else, because at this point is it really necessary? no. i thought not.

and there we have it. just in time for PINOF 9 to be released, a full (and much more in depth than intended) recap of the saga thus far…wake me up when Gamingmas starts, cuz after this video comes out, i’m gonna need a solid week of sleep

#pinof 9 #dan and phil #phandom #daniel howell #phil lester #amazingphil #pinof8 #pinof 7 #pinof 6 #pinof 5 #pinof 4 #pinof 3 #pinof 2 #pinof 1 #pinof #phil is not on fire #danisnotonfire #2017 in the phandom #my own special brand of shitpost

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