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fashionablylala · 1 month

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Fashion Week isn't for the Weak!

What's twice a year and has a bob? That's right, it's fashion week y'all! It's the most hectic time of year for anyone in the fashion industry. From designers, influencers, celebrities, and even people like myself, journalists! This season highlights the fall/winter collections from some of the biggest names in the world, and introduces a few newcomers. Take a stroll down the runway with me as I break down the most memorable moments surrounding Black talent!

First off we have New York, home of Timberland boots and of course my favourite music genre, hip hop. Usually I really love NYFW because some of my favourite designer showcase there, but honestly this season bored me.

Thom Browne had celebrities like Janet Jackson, Queen Latifah, Alton Mason etc dressed head to toe in their brand for the FW24 show.

Along with some gorgeous campaign images all shot by Black photography duo AB+DM (Ahmad Barber and Donté Maurice). I love it when Black creatives are given the opportunity to thrive in their skills on a big platform; their photography is immaculate. Each celebrity was well put together, the styling was perfection.

I very recently learned that Luar was founded by Raul Lopez, a Brooklyn based designer originally from the Dominican Republic. The collection wasn't really my vibe so I'll just be quiet on that subject lol. No shade. In other news, we saw Beyoncé attending his show in support of her nephew Juelz, who debuted on the runway modelling for the brand. Miss Renaissance wore a full silver outfit (of course lol) by Gaurav Gupta. I hated the way it was styled personally, especially with the Luar bag. The handbag felt forced and probably was to some degree, as she was sitting front row as an invited guest that meant she had to wear something from the brand. Her team could have done a better job pairing the accessory with another outfit or choosing a different bag altogether. Also I'm very much over the cowboy hat, but I know she's currently promoting her new country music so I wasn't surprised. I wouldn't call Beyoncé a fashion girlie, but considering she's the biggest star in the world I hope that her glam squad would do a better job. Fix it Jesus.

Beyoncé wearing Gaurav Gupta Couture and Luar bag

LaQuan Smith is probably my most anticipated designer from NYFW, but this season I didn't even see his collection on my feed. I had to search for it, which is unusual for me as it's usually posted all over my timeline with everyone gagging and hyperventilating. I then realised why it was barely posted when I finally saw his collection, because it left me feeling uninspired. It wasn't innovative or exciting, just kind of regular and something that's been done before. This is a fabulous gay Black man who usually CLEARS every time, but this season left me confused. Where was the innovation? Where was the hoochie mama flavour? What was the extra razzle dazzle? It was barely there. It felt like an lazy afterthought and I'm even sad to say that about one of my favourite Black designers. If I compare FW24 to his previous collections you will see exactly what I mean. For example the FW22 collection was opulent, sexy, and vibrant. LaQuan is a true innovator who doesn't follow trends, because he sets them hunny! So I'm not sure what happened this season, but I blame Elon Musk. Somehow it's always his fault, don't question me lmao. I just know that my fav can produce better designs, but I won't let this low key mid collection put me off. I guess we all have bad days right? It wasn't ugly by any means, it just kept the hoochie mama flavour and unusual designs to a minimum. And my beloved friend and fashion partner in crime, keeps telling me that it's now a dying theme to make room for quiet luxury, which had me heartbroken. On a nicer note, the music on the runway however was GREAT! I loved that he used “The Player's Club” snippet as the intro, it's such a classic movie and a staple in Black culture. I would listen to that entire mix daily! It was a beautiful blend of Curtis Mayfield, Baby Tate, Nicki Minaj, Sadé, Missy Elliott and more. Plus with a piano performance by Babyface, who sang Two Occasions by The Deele. That was a very nice touch! I'm gonna need LaQuan to put it on Spotify asap so I can pop my puss 😜

LaQuan Smith FW24

LaQuan Smith FW23

While I was sad that I couldn't get an invite to see my favourite London based designers showcase their talent, I was quickly relieved when I saw what went down the runway. I would have sold my left arm to be at some LFW shows this season, but my disappointment followed from NYFW as I felt unimpressed by the usual showstoppers. Despite that, I quickly felt better once I spotted UK grime legend Skepta at the Burberry show wearing a BLOODY GORGEOUS fur teal coat by the brand. Every time I see that man at fashion week or on a red carpet he looks extremely good. I don't think he gets enough credit for his drip and we need to change that.

Anna Wintour and Skepta at the Burberry show

As I previously mentioned we also occasionally see newcomers during fashion week, and that brings me to introduce Tolu Coker. She's a British Nigerian designer who graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2017, and hasn't taken her foot off the accelerator since! Tolu first showcased her FW19 collection at London fashion week, and she's worked with the likes of Stefflon Don, Burna Boy, Adwoa Aboah and more amazing names.

Her collections are always nothing short of fabulous and full of life. Tolu even had a collab with UGG for the footwear of her FW24 collection, which was definitely a BIG FLEX lol. Making it to Vogue Runway is already a great achievement, but to have a popular loved brand like UGG supporting your collection is very cool. UGG has also been known to collab with Telfar, another incredible Black owned brand. And I'm starting to see a pattern here and I love that for us 🥰

MFW

As we move into Milan, the first collection that comes to mind is Diesel. They had all the Black folks walking hunny! It was like a family reunion lol. We saw names like Alton Mason to Leomie Anderson and so many more! And of course everyone was killing it because that's what we do! 💅🏾 The clothes were fun but still practical, which is expected from Diesel. Leomie had on a gorgeous pink and orange number that was oozing with IT GWORL ENERGY. It was overall a great show. I'm a sucker for a fur coat especially if it's an usual colour, and Diesel was nothing short of that. Besides the weird music announcement thingy lol I have no notes.

Gucci finally produced something I liked after years of mediocre BS designs, but I'm still not buying clothing from a racist brand. I think a lot of people have forgotten why the household name was being boycotted some years ago, so here's a quick reminder…

Y'all can still give them your coins if you want to but I'm not a damn EEDIAT fool. You only need to insult me once. Thank you. Next.

It's now time for Paris! Some of you might know the city for their wonderful pastries, but I know it for some of the most popular fashion houses in the world! Supermodel Anok Yai, didn't walk for Mugler despite her recently being chosen as the face for the brand, and I definitely missed her presence! 😭 However our favourite curvy models Precious Lee and Paloma Elsesser did. I wasn't too excited by the outfits they were wearing, it felt like they gave them the safe options. I see this happening far too often with plus size models and it's frankly getting extremely tiring. It's rare to have bigger bodies on the runway at all, but if we do they're completely covered up. Plus size models are barely visible, we only get 1 or maybe 2 if we're lucky on the runway at a time, because yay tokenism! 🥲

Model and gamer, Paris HK said it perfectly. Bigger bodies deserve so much better. I say this at least 10 times a year smh.

Moving onto better news, my other fav Balmain, was brilliant… but I'm never surprised by that. Olivier Rousteing has been the creative director since 2011, and he's a Black French designer who always knows how to bring life back into the runway. His recent custom looks haven't been giving the same energy and I'm not sure why, but his collections are never a disappointment! He puts his foot in that sh** EVERY TIME! His FW24 show was gorgeous, however he could have came a little harder! His core ideas were based on heritage and his hometown, Bordeaux. His take was elegant and giving grown woman, which makes sense because some designs were inspired by his mother's wardrobe too. We saw lots of different ways he incorporated fruits and shells into perfect pieces of walking art. A few designs felt a tad bit unfinished, and I wasn't a fan of him pairing slouchy Chino style trousers with the corsets. However for the most part Olivier absolutely delivered. I liked his bags too which usually go under the radar. There was so much to enjoy with this collection. Olivier is a brilliant designer, and I always look forward to what he brings to fashion week because he rarely ever disappoints!

Watch the FW24 show here via YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/live/chUl7Gdr41E?si=qpHNziXA66_cOHhr

Off-White also has a Black creative director by the name of Ibrahim Kamara, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of Dazed. I completely loved his collection! Butterflies, pastels, fur, dice, lime green… and everything that makes me happy 😊 it had a New York edge to it and felt like an obvious nod to hip-hop and overall Black culture. It was a nice combination of basketball bags and the matching sneakers, and not to mention the hoochie mama designs, which y'all know that I love! His collection was giving “girly but keep it gangster” and that's definitely a bit of me. At first Ibrahim seemed like he lacked the confidence to really go for it when he debuted his very first collection for Off-White SS23. For those that don't know, he took over as CD when the incredibly talented, Virgil Abloh suddenly passed away in November 2021. Tbh I wasn't moved by Ib’s first collection but since then he's found his footing bit by bit. This season I definitely enjoyed the menswear a lot more than the womenswear unfortunately, which is crazy because the potential was totally there but it seemed like Kamara wanted to keep the girls more edgy. Models like Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn were spotted walking in the show, of course they came to f**k sh** up as per usual!

Off-White FW24

My girlfriend in my head aka Precious Lee, walked for the show wearing a trench coat that completely covered her up 🙃 yet again, why do designers always hire plus size models and cover them in excessive amounts of fabric? It's childish, like grow up! I wanna see her titties bouncing like a basketball on a court. Stop playing with me. It's always the same stupidness and as a plus size baddie myself, it truly jars me. The same thing happened last fw season and it needs to stop.

I want to see girls like Precious Lee wearing sexy bodycon dresses or figure hugging clothes that show off her shape, because that's more realistic. That's how I look when I'm wearing my favourite clothes and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. All bodies deserve to be seen regardless of their proportions. Have you seen her body?!?! Why hire someone as delicious as Precious if they're just gonna drape loads of pointless material to hide her magnificent curves??? Don't piss me off.

Precious Lee for Off-White FW24

Precious Lee for Off-White FW23

On a happier note, Halle Bailey and Willow Smith were spotted in front row. It was a nice moment that everyone seemed excited for, including me! I hope we can see a duo from them one day, because not only do they compliment eachother visually but musically that would be an iconic link up.

So fashion week this season was a bit chaotic as always, but in some ways quite impressive. I must always ask though, when will the day come when we see a Black woman occupying the role of creative director of a huge fashion house??? We've seen Pharrell takeover at Louis Vuitton for menswear and several other Black men are in that chair for Balmain, Off-White etc …so when will Black women get the opportunity? Moschino is one of my favourite brands of all time, but their recent decision to hire another white man has left a bad taste in my mouth. They've never had a Black CD and haven't had a female one in over 20 years! I think it's time for a change. Where's Gabriella KJ at? 👀 Or even the CEO of Black owned luxury fashion brand, Hanifa? It's 2024 and Black women are the ones who are buying fashion items THE MOST, but are leading in the big fashion roles THE LEAST. It burns me to my core y'all. It's hard to love fashion whilst witnessing this sh** to be completely honest with you. The only thing that keeps me smiling is seeing people like Tolu Coker being praised, and seeing more Black models on the runway. A win is still a win! So I will take those wins and skip all the way to the very last topic…

Here is my best and the worst of FW24!

BEST:

Susan Liang

Chen Peng

Balmain

Schiaparelli

Richard Quinn

Wiederhoeft

Harris Reed

Diesel

Tolu Coker

Stella McCartney

WORST:

Alexander McQueen

Moschino

Vivienne Westwood

Balenciaga

Louis Vuitton

Miu Miu

Loewe

Blumarine

Well I hope I was able to teach you something about fashion week that you never knew, or maybe you just enjoyed having a little kiki with me 😊 Whichever it was, I wish you all a beautiful start to Spring! And I hope you have your pastel outfits ready, because being afraid of colour is silly. Life is too short to only wear Black, and if it feels like I'm talking to you then I probably am... Fight me 🥰🥰🥰 Plus everybody knows that baby pink looks pretty on darker skin 😉

xoxo LaLa

#fashion #fashion week #beyonce #gucci #chanel

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beldaroot · 3 years

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omg thank u for that bi richie list. i know majority of people either love/like gay richie, think it’s okay, or don’t care, but i need to get this off my chest even if it’s unpopular: i don’t fuck w gay richie AT ALL, i hate it sm honestly.

to me, it’s a painful reminder of what was ripped away from eddie and the missed opportunities w richie’s bi coding they could’ve used from the novel. i see gay richie and i go “that could’ve been eddie if the scriptwriters had possessed at least one brain cell. eddie deserved that” and my bitterness goes through the ROOF. it drives me crazy that andy literally admitted gay richie is a direct result of robbing eddie cause richie wasn’t angsty enough??? how did they miss the self loathing over his adhd, hiding behind masks, the fact that richie’s the only one who sees himself as the monster. hello??? and w/out eddie to rob from, they just think richie’s str8, cause bi people??? what’s that???? and we’re left w what’s essentially a watered down version of eddie’s gay coding in richie, when we could’ve had something so rich w both of their different queer stories in tact. ugh it’s rlly damn depressing that bi richie used to be everywhere and now it’s almost nonexistent :(

plus if u look at past scripts, u can easily see the writers have an annoying obsession w moving around important character traits/roles. mike and stan are the other ones who fall victim to it, two guesses as to why. starting w the dumpster fire that is the 2010 script, richie is gay and has the bj leper scene instead of eddie, mike and stan are out of the entire narrative, bill stays in derry as the librarian instead of mike. the 2015 script, stan is bill’s pet goldfish while richie is now jewish and still possesses eddie’s gay coding on top of that. and then ofc, u get to chap 1 and ben is the historian while mike gets paid dust. sickening. at least during that time u could fall back on the fandom, who was willing to restore what was taken away and add depth by looking towards the book. but that’s not the case anymore. and the story is finished in the movies so there’s less incentive to read or know the novel. the way everything played out is just so unfortunate.

ok, get that off your chest!! sorry this took so long to reply, i wanted to answer this appropriately because i feel a lot of your frustrations and can totally understand your opinions even if they are considered “unpopular” by fandom.

as someone who has read gay richie fics and enjoyed them i will say that i will always prefer bisexual richie. richie, in my mind, will always be bi because the bi subtext for him in the novel is so apparent. i know people think that we should be happy with any sort of gay representation in media, especially in the horror genre, since it's so rare, but it really does feel like people are just settling for the bare minimum. i mean, what good is gay rep if it isn't authentic to the original source, was robbed from and mixed with another character, and perpetrates stereotypes that gay men will always be either repressed, sad, dead, or never find happiness with who they love? this type of gay rep might have passed in the 80s, but in 2019? yeah, no let’s move on.

i don't get how people still defend andy when he has explicitly stated that he didn't think richie had “enough” going on, so he just took from eddie. he pretty much said that richie was too simple as a character on his own, basically ignoring all the bi coding and all the incredible individualized characterization he has! maybe if richie was actually written well in the movie i wouldn't be complaining as much, but he was really reduced to sad, repressed gay who isn't ambitious enough to write his own jokes and will abandon his friends for his own selfish needs, WHICH IS LITERALLY THE OPPOSITE OF BOOK RICHIE?! and don’t get me started on how badly eddie was written, oof. eddieway... i hate how those bad and often switched characterizations bleed into fandom works because i’ll read a reddie fic and be like “that's... not richie” or “that's not eddie” or “why is richie doing that bc that's eddie's issue.” it’s just sad :(

and taking eddie's gay coding and giving it to richie is such a disservice to BOTH of them. i've said it before, but their sexualities and stories are connected and intertwined but they are NOT interchangeable! they are unique to the specific character. eddie’s sexuality cannot be removed from his storyline; it is absolutely vital to understand him as a character. the fears richie face and his personality and actions as a whole, imo, only make sense if he is bisexual.

andy & co really thought they were being so big brained by making richie canonically gay and adding minor subtext about eddie’s sexuality when all they did was tarnish characterizations for a gay plot line that wasn’t even coherent. and what's the most frustrating is that andy obviously thought both eddie and richie were gay and in love but he just did such a bad job actually showing that!! if so many people came out of the movie thinking it was a one-sided romance, or were confused about r+e at the end, or the only true confirmation we have that “richie is gay” is from interviews done after the movie came out, then that's an issue and it's your fault you can't tell a story properly! i hated how fans previously said the story only seems bad because wb made him edit the gay stuff out, because that still doesn't explain how badly richie or eddie were written in the movie. it's bad gay rep objectively, and i know we’ll make fun of it as a joke or whatever, but it's actually so disappointing and very concerning that people are willing to settle and accept it.

also, i've said it before, the book is not very good and has a shit ton of issues in it. i'm not asking people to read it if they don't want to or even like it if they do. but when book readers say the book had better characterizations since the movies did them so dirty, it isn't an attack, it’s just a fact? we've come to cherish certain characterizations from the book and we wish it was adapted properly and our characters were given justice. i find it so funny how movie stans were like “so you're going to defend sk's writing then?” and like..... no one is doing that, lol we literally hate that man (unlike your fave andy who is literally obsessed with him and made two movies that were practically bad fanfic of an already bad book lmao).

and like you pointed out in the other scripts, it's like every writer did not comprehend the individual issues of each loser so they just thought it would be best to mix them around. it's really bizarre, especially when you see the racial implications and other forms of discrimination present in these god awful characterizations. i mean i know it's a big book and obviously you can't adapt every part of it, but it's so weird how when you're reading these scripts or watching these movies it feels like it's nothing like the book? it's totally fine if the writers want to make changes, modernize it, etc., but it's disappointing that these drastic changes make the losers not even seem like the losers! and you're right, after it 2017 we were willing to go back to the book as a source to fill in the parts that the movie missed, but i feel since it 2019 came out, people are less inclined to do that and think the movie is the only valid form of canon because it has actual gay rep. no canon is perfect so we've always picked and mixed together what aspects of canon we liked, but i feel like nowadays it ch2 will always be the main form people derive from and i think that's the most unfortunate thing about this whole situation :(

#again sorry for the delay in this answer #none of this is coherent any way too i'm sorry it was just me ranting #but anon i agree with you - ch2 and events afterwards are unfortunate #these characters deserved better as individuals and as a collective #and i'll never not be bitter about it!!#anyway the losers belong to me only and i don't trust anyone else with them!!!#if you disagree with any of this pls talk to a wall lol i don't have energy for discourse #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #the losers #it #Anonymous

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emptymasks · 3 years

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I wish people would stop leaping on Tom for the fact that he's cis and start leaping on Marvel for the fact that they and Disney literally do fuck all for actual representation, drag their heels and then try to claim brownie points on the bare ass minimum.

Like when they were like 'oh we have an explicitly canon gay character for the first time in Endgame' and it was literally that one dude in Steve's support group who, for exactly 6 seconds, spoke about his boyfriend and then we never saw him again.

Tom being cis wouldn't be an issue if they were actually providing the representation they claim to be. Its an actors job to be able to portray and display characteristics and qualities. Their acting should amaze us with the fact that they're not X quality.

Marvel and Disney are the issue

Sorry have I put any blame on Tom? Don't think I have. I have in fact said you can't say in this particular case it's bad he's a cis actor playing a genderfluid character because the character was made genderfluid movies after Tom was already playing Loki.

Disney and Marvel at the top are who are to blame overall yes, for the big representation issues. For example, not allowing them to show any more or better representation of bisexuality or genderfluidity.

However.

The things they chose to include instead are the responsibility of Michael Waldron (writer), Kate Heron (director) and I would say in part Tom Hiddleston as he was the executive producer and got a lot of say on what was included in the show. Just because I like Tom, just because we like Tom, doesn't mean we get to say he had nothing to do with anything and can't have made any mistakes.

The lines of dialogue that are fluidphobic in the show were unnecessary to include and they could have easily just not included those lines. That has nothing to do with what Disney would have and wouldn't have allowed. Disney wouldn't have allowed a better line yes, however they could have just not included the line at all. The Loki creative team made the decision to keep those lines in, and to write those lines in the first place.

Do I think it is okay to send abuse to Tom and the Loki creative team? No. Do I think they weren't allowed to do better representation because Disney wouldn't have allowed it? Yes. Do I think the answer then was to do bad and offensive representation instead of no representation? No.

If we criticise Michael and Kate then we have to criticise Tom too, he doesn't get a free pass because we think he's nice and pretty. Does this make Tom or the rest of the team evil? No. It just means they don't know anything about real genderfluid people and didn't do any research or talk to any real genderfluid people when writing the show.

I understand the point of 'oh but Disney wouldn't' have allowed anything better' because that is true, however Disney didn't force them to write actively fluidphobic and transphobic words. The Loki team could have chosen to not to write those things. Mickey Mouse didn't make them write those lines. And those lines weren't necessary to the story.

I'm just tired and I'd really love someone from the team to address the concerns of genderfluid fans. But they won't, because I doubt they've even heard us because we're so drowned out, and people are more likely to notice homophobia and transphobia than fluidphobia because they don't know what fluidphobia looks like, and sadly there's a lot of the LGBT+ community that doesn't think genderfluid is a real identity.

#answeredasks #anon #loki discourse

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bemtevis · 3 years

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So I saw a bunch of Matthew asks and I have some thoughts. One of the things that annoys me the most about Matthew is what he could have been. Matthew could have been a complex character with an interesting arc showing him recovering from his alcoholism growing from his past, forgiving Alastair and also apologizing for the things that he did at the academy, and ending the series in a way better place than he starts. However instead CC just said 'ah yes another Jace/Will clone in a love triangle, and give him basically no development between coi and cot. He doesn't change at all, unless you count being 12 times worse in coi, and I'm betting that cot will end with matthew somehow magically being cured of Alcoholism and Matthew being basically the same character. Honestly if CC did give him more of an arc (I know that cot isn't out yet and that she might still give him a satisfying ending, but I'm 99% sure that cot won't be satisfying and that Matthews character will be handled badly) and showed him changing and becoming a better person than I wouldn't mind how Matthew acts at the academy and during chog, and coi, like he can be a shitty guy at first if he changed and grew as a character across tlh, however that does not seem to be happening. It honestly makes me upset the amount of wasted potential with Matthew, and basically the other queer characters in tlh. Like at this point CC is basically just using the queer characters to get representation brownie points. None of the queer characters have a role in the plot, unless you count a few pages of fight scenes or them helping the main characters for a few pages, before disappearing again, because appearly you can't have more than 5 pages of queer people a book. Also none of them really seem to have much thought put into them. It seems like well writing tlh CC was thinking 'ah yes i will put a shit ton of queer rep in this series,' and then just took five seconds each to come up with actually characters. Like, Matthew = Alcoholic Jace. Thomas = Nice Guy. Anna = Heartbreaker Lesbian who wears suits. Like it honestly hurts to think of what tlh could have been and what all the characters could have been. Sorry for how ridiculously long this is.

Ok, I'm breaking this into two points first. Thank you for the ask and don't worry about it being long, I loved answering it :3

What Matthew could have been:

I know right! I don't think I would ever like him even if his arc was well done, he just doesn't seem like the character I could love. Buuuut that wouldn't have stopped me from admiring his character development or from being happy he's healed. It was never gonna happen tho 😔

He's gradually getting worst with each book, it's confirmed he's gonna make a move on Cordelia in Paris. Can't wait to find out whatever bullshit he has prepared for us /s

CC will probably pull the ‘Love cures mental illness’ trope on Matthew, and I shouldn't have to clarify on how ableist that is *sigh* did we expect more?

I spoke a bit about his supposed arc in CHOT here :D

Wasted potential of the queer characters:

I know right!! She and her stans brag about the amount of queer characters in TLH, which isn't even that high. It doesn't have to be, just stop congratulating yourself for the bare minimum!

None of them have any weight on the plot, they're just there as a supportive cast and they barely do that! Do you ever just stop and think about the unimportance of Thomas' trial? About what even was Matthew's role in CHOI? About how most of the main cast has never even talked to Kamala? They mean less than nothing to the story.

Oh, speaking of annoying tropes, you forgot!

Alastair: CC's misinterpretation of what a mean gay is.

Kamala: Heartbreaker Lesbian's side bitch.

Matthew's potential novella:

Tbh I'd rather him having a novella than having to read about him in the trilogy. I can just not read it, you know? And it makes sense for CC to write it, but JFC, if that happens, I am gonna attempt putting an entire spoon inside my own ear. I feel like that'd be better for my health, therapeutic even /j

#mutuals #thecrimsonsorceress #answered #negativity tag #matthew shut up challenge #ask to tag #anti cc #tw queerphobia #tw ableism mention #tw swearing

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buddha-in-disguise · 4 years

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Oh boy, another long post today. But this is who I am 😂 And well, another person decided to make asinine comments about Supercorp fans on their Twitter account about how Supercorp fans are mostly young and White, so ... here we go.

Yesterday I mentioned The 100, and how Clexa is still something spoken about today for LGBTQ people. Even those who weren't around it as it went on, a lot of you will of at least heard of it, know it has caused a shift in LGBTQ fandoms, even if you don't know details.

I was actually a little late into The 100, mostly because it wasn't easy to watch episodes at the time in the UK. Unfortunately that timing meant I had barely got into the fandom before they went straight into the kill your gays trope.

The thing Clexa did was twofold. Firstly, although not the 1st time it had happened, it was the 1st time real and very much needed discussion over TV's decisions to 'Bury your Gays,' went on. It also showed as a collective LGBTQ fandom force (other than perhaps Xena), it was powerful. We initiated change because of it.

Are Supercorp that powerful? You know what, I think they just might be getting there. After all, media are now beginning to write much more about the issues Supercorp is raising.

Mo Ryan changed LGBTQ fandom in her reporting of Clexa. She still is changing things on how the TV industry works (her reporting on sexual harassment in the TV industry alone is incredible. If you don't follow her on Twitter I highly recommend you do).

Here are facts taken from GLAAD (you can see the full report here: https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/GLAAD%20WHERE%20WE%20ARE%20ON%20TV%202019%202020.pdf

The main takeaways are this.

GLAAD and Harris Poll’s Accelerating Acceptance study shows that 20 percent of Americans 18 to 34 – a key demographic for networks to court, as well as the rough age range where several characters fall – identify as LGBTQ.

As such, GLAAD recommendation is TV produce shows to reflect that percentage. In other words, 20% of characters cast are LGBTQ.

Sadly that figure is still roughly 50% below that recommendation. See pic.

Here is the other key takeaway, and is why Supergirl, by giving us Supercorp, wouldn't be just performative in its LGBTQ representation but groundbreaking.

'At a time when viewers have more options for entertainment than ever before, Hollywood must include lead LGBTQ characters whose stories are told with nuance and depth that reflect the real world that audiences know if they want to retain and grow their audiences.'

'... must include LEAD LGBTQ characters.'

Hello! Waves in Supercorp! Right here! Also canon to some of the comic. Hellooooo.

Also important is the last segment: '... whose stories are told with nuance and depth that reflect the real world that audiences know if they want to retain and grow their audiences.'

Sadly, as it stands with Season 5, Supergirl have not even given the canon LGBTQ rep nuance or depth in the storylines. If anything, it was the worst season ever. Less than 10 minutes of just Dansen? Only one Nia episode of depth. Having LGBTQ characters, if you don't utilise them, is performative. Supergirl have been just that. Especially as Kelly is Black, so double performative by them. Sheesh.

Supergirl have two stark choices now.

They ignore Supercorp and will forever vilified by LGBTQ audiences on how they queerbaited. And I mean forever! We aren't a small fandom, and LGBTQ fandom memories are long. Hell, just this week Xena was all over my timeline as it celebrated it being 25 years since it was shown.

Or Supergirl can take on GLAAD's recommendation, grasp Supercorp with both hands, really give Dansen, Kelly, Alex and Nia good solid LGBTQ storylines and be forever praised (even if some lingering resentment might surface on treatment of the LGBTQ fans and rep) for doing so. 25 years worth potentially.

They literally have nothing to lose. Last season alone proved that ignoring Lena and Kara on any level, trying to enforce unwanted men into storylines, tanked viewing figures.

The moment Lena and Kara reconciled, social media went crazy - and for the first time in ages, trended - Twitter picked it up on their moments. Media outlets loved it. Viewing figures improved.

Yet, despite all this, despite all the fans I know, despite us constantly acknowledging that some fans go too far, despite the fandom being a huge, diverse group, with a vast age range, we continually get vilified.

And for what?

Wanting what heterosexual fans get given ad nauseam?

Why, other than internalised homophobia (& yes, that can exist even if someone identifies LGBTQ), do people object?

All we want is the bare minimum that heterosexual cis people get given each and every day a thousand times over.

If you can't accept my comments, or even understand what GLAAD recommends is still falling way short, and that without LGBTQ fans voices amplifying the messages, we would have nothing, you're part of the problem.

If we sit quietly by, simpering in a corner we get nothing. This isn't a gay agenda. It is simply asking for equality, & it doesn't cost you anything.

Well, I've never sat by quietly simpering in the corner. So that is why I've written another long assed post.

/end

Unedited, so apologies for any mistakes.

#supergirl #kara danvers #lgbtq #katie mcgrath #melissa benoist #supercorp #chyler leigh #lena luthor #alex danvers #azie tesfai #kelly olsen #nia nal #nicole maines #kara zor el #kara x lena

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hackedmotionsensors · 5 years

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wait, when did gneil say "he draws the line at calling aziraphale and crowley" gay? didn't he just recently tweet that "interpreting them as gay is completely valid, no need for the whole 'but the purity of male friendships!~" song and dance"? given that crowley and aziraphale are kinda supposed to be based on gaiman and terry pratchett and their friendship though, i completely get why gaiman wouldn't want to take the step of making the ship actual canon tho. maybe, if terry was still alive...

I’m pretty sure that original post was a joke and if you really have a question about it you should ask the person who wrote the original post and not me as all i did was reblog it.

So here’s basically whats happening.

Before the tv series came out if asked about Crowley and Az his go to was the usual straight writer answer of “Well I think that’s fine if you see it but I didn’t intend to write it that way. They’re just ~*~*~*~BROTHERS~*~*~~” or just friends. or since they’re angels (this one was recent btw) they don’t have a sexuality the way humans do.

Which is ridiculous because the whole point of their story is that they’ve “gone native” their whole saving grace(hah) and their whole reason for doing the things that they do is that they are so HUMAN-LIKE in EVERY WAY. Both Az and Crowley are HUMAN in their behavior. In their compassion for Adam and Eve, in their enjoyment of human culture, in the fact that they dance, in that inherently they have free will and imagination which demons and angels don’t.

So they’re human-like in EVERY RESPECT except they can’t, by the author’s choosing, have a romantic relationship.

Which okay whatever if this was still the books.

Now lets jump to now. Amazon creates this show. Neil is the main writer for it. He has already had years of people telling him how much Crowley and Az’s relationship mean to them. YEARS of this. But he still refuses to change anything in regards to his stance other than if you say “Oh this really inspired me. Oh my parents finally understand how i feel when I’m gay. Oh its so great to see two men really love each other and a whole episode dedicated to how much they love each other”

Except that their gay relationship is still played as a joke to outsiders. Or its still “He’s my best friend”-ing it. So yeah maybe Neil is saying this as he’s writing it as oh this makes me sad because I miss Terry so very much. AND THAT’S FINE.

But at the same time he’s taking credit for writing a gay romance that isn’t allowed to actually show them being gay.

The actors, the editors, THE SOUND DESIGNERS (somebody to love? cmon), LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE INVOLVED is performing this as a romance. As a very british Gay romance. Except that the main writer won’t change the text enough to let them ACTUALLY go there.

So that’s why its a problem. The reason its a problem is because he’s taking pats on the back for something he didn’t ACTUALLY deliver on. Everyone else CLEARLY fought tooth and nail to get us there but as the head writer for the show and one of the creators of the book not allowing us to have this LAST LITTLE BIT, but still keeping the completely pointless Anathema/Newt fuck fest, is credit where credit isn’t deserved. (you can see a similar thing happening in American Gods where the Gay Djinn character is maybe a page or two in the books and then entirely forgotten where Bryan Fuller was like guess who’s a new main character)

All this being said the show is absolutely wonderful and even if Neil Gaiman won’t outright give us what EVERYONE ELSE IS GIVING US, fucking michael apparently based a lot of his depiction of Aziraphale from fandom views of him[supposedly. i heard that from a friend on twitter so I don’t have a verification on that but god all the other interviews where he’s blatantly saying Az loves Crowley are a pretty good indicator as that being a true statement],

ALL OF THIS BEING SAID the show is wonderful. Its an amazing love affair even if we can’t get that last little LAST LITTLE BIT that would be just perfect.

I don’t have any real beef with Neil tbh. Even with all this. But its just a case of a dude doing the very VERRYRYYYYYYY bare minimum and getting treated like he hung the gay flag on the moon.

#Anonymous

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rosyandraw · 2 years

Note

If this is to invasive or makes you uncomfortable don’t answer

But I’m curious how did you know you were Bi?

Hey lovely! DW I'm a balls out person so I don't think there's any question I wouldn't answer haha!

I'm not really sure. Like, I don't remember a specific moment and I didn't have a crisis about it. It's just always kind of been a fact?

I was teenager in the 00s and the counter-culture at the time was emo and scene and all that good stuff. Part of it (as with a lot of counter-culture music scenes) was this anything goes attitude where experimentation was encouraged?

Almost as a fuck you to the standard at the time where gay was a word used synonymously with shit. Like "that's so gay" meaning that's whack. Or shit. Or weird. You know?

So I was kissing girls as much as I was kissing boys but I don't think it really hit me until a conversation when I was about 16ish with some of my friends.

We were just talking about sex and who we fancied and I realised they mostly just messed around with girls to be cool, or because it got them attention from boys, or as part of the scene we were in. But for me kissing girls felt the same as kissing boys. And when I daydreamed or had my own private little fantasies it was girls as much as it was guys.

So I just kind of went oh it's different for me- so whilst Bisexual was the new cool thing it resonated with me and it made sense. But I was lucky in that I'd never felt the need to explain myself. It just kind of was.

I do sometimes think part of it was a lot to do with my sexual experiences prior to all that?

I won’t go into detail but looking back now I think I found girls safer? And I wonder a lot about the way I gravitated to women and the way those sexual experiences went in comparison to men and what it means to look back on it now, knowing what I like and what I do.

But yeah, I digress, sorry! It’s not like that for everyone. My friend is 31 and only realised about two years ago that she’s bisexual or maybe gay and hadn’t noticed because heteronormativity and this horrible standard for men where we basically grew up expecting the bare fucking minimum (coupled with being told to expect not to be happy all the time in marriage/romance) and it led a lot of people to not even consider it.

But yeah, it just felt right. I felt the same way kissing girls and boys. I thought about sex with both. I’m lucky I think, because it was never much of a question for me and it was always just part of who I am.

Sorry if that wasn’t very helpful, or if it was boring! But thanks for asking, it was interesting to think about.

#personal #asks #this was fun to answer #and obv it got long because when have I ever used one word when I could use ten

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henry-hart · 6 years

Text

"The Spy and the Kid...Spy Kid?" - Chapter 1

God that title is so lame lsdksdklks. I suck at titles, so I apologize for that. I try to be witty, and this is what happens. Also, this fic is pretty serious, so maybe a silly title doesn't fit the mood...oh well.

Dedicated to: @sunbeameyes @ramune-ray @up-the-tube @youngbloodthekilljoy @writing-excuses @an-anxious-gay-mess @kiwikwami

Summary: Jasper's cousin, Elizabeth, is in town for spring break, but Henry suspects trouble when she arrives just as a new, unnamed villain begins terrorizing Swellview.

Fandom: Henry Danger

A/N: Okay, I know introducing a distant relative for one specific plot and making them relevant by saying, "Hey, this is so-and-so. We used to be tight as kids!" is weak (I always hated when tv shows did that only to have the character appear for one episode), but here I am, doing it anyway. Guess I'm a hypocrite. Sue me. lolol I needed a new character that I could somehow relate to the characters we already know, so Jasper has a cousin from out of state. *shrugs* I hope you like this! The idea came to me in a dream (lol), and I thought it was interesting and decided to go with it. Also in my fic Henry can drive because he's like seventeen, so, you know. And I've headcanoned that Piper is secretly intelligent because I like the idea of her being in advanced classes and whatnot but being incredibly hush-hush about it (she did go to the gizmo show, after all). Enjoy! xoxoxo

————————

"Okay, that was the bell." Ms. Shapen snapped. "Get out of my face--all of you!"

Henry rolled his eyes; his teacher's sour attitude was nothing out of the ordinary. He collected his notebook and pens and everything else he had been using and put them in his book bag, sending a quick nod to Jasper as they both got out of their seats. They met Charlotte by the door, and the three of them left the classroom in the direction of their lockers.

"Man, Ms. Shapen really went heavy with the homework today." Jasper sighed, grabbing both his book bag straps as he walked. He was already thinking about how late he was going to be up finishing all that they had been given. Of course, he was already going to stay up late, but now it was going to be because of the inconvenience that is homework.

"Yeah," Henry grimaced. "I guess her date didn't go so well yesterday."

Charlotte stopped walking. "Or she's tired of having to deal with lazy students," she shot. She didn't think her teacher's love life or lack thereof was of any concern to them. The homework load they were assigned for tonight wasn't even that extensive; Henry and Jasper just liked doing the bare minimum.

Henry held his hands up in surrender and looked at Jasper with a "what's with her" look. Jasper shrugged and walked over to his locker. Henry and Charlotte walked to theirs as well.

Henry swung his backpack around and was pulling out notebooks he wouldn't need tonight when Jasper, who was done with his locker, leaned against the one next to Henry's. Henry noticed Jasper was trying for nonchalance, but subtlety had never been Jasper's strong-suit.

"What's going on?" Henry jested.

"You have a guest bedroom in your house, right?" Jasper wondered, but his tone told Henry that he wasn't really asking.

"I do." Henry clarified, his eyes narrowed apprehensively.

Jasper nodded. "I thought so." He played with one of the straps of his book bag. "Say, since that room is free and meant for guests, do you think my cousin could stay there over spring break?"

Henry stopped thumbing through his pre-calculus textbook and looked at Jasper, eyes wide at the onslaught of implications in that question. "What?"

"I need somewhere for my cousin to stay." Jasper explained, his eyes pleading. "My parents don't allow guests--not even family--and Charlotte won't let anyone even remotely related to me stay at her house after that incident."

Henry shuddered at the memory of Jasper's last girlfriend. He looked at Jasper's wide eyes and groaned. "I don't know, man. Last time I let someone's relative stay at my house, you, my little sister, and most of Swellview almost lost their teeth." He shuddered again, remembering that whole odd situation involving stealing teeth and the elderly. It wasn't something he enjoyed thinking about.

"Yeah but she's not like that." he pleaded. "Please, Henry. I haven't seen her since we were kids."

Henry paused. "Wait, you said she?"

Jasper nodded his head. "Her name's Elizabeth."

This changed things. "Is she cute?" Henry asked, a slight smirk on his face.

Jasper only shrugged; who was he to say whether his cousin was attractive or not? "I guess--if you're into that sort of thing."

Henry considered this for a moment, but he stopped himself. He wouldn't let that happen again--not after Noelle and the teeth and just, no. He would do this for Jasper to spend time with family. Nothing else.

"Alright, man. Sure, she can stay at my house." He shut his locker. "My mom loves having people over anyway." It was true; his mother loved being able to be, well, a mother to people.

Jasper jumped up and down and pulled Henry into a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Henry! You have no idea how much this means to me!"

Henry coughed, unable to breathe properly with Jasper squeezing him so tightly. "I have a pretty good idea." He groaned.

Jasper realized Henry couldn't breathe and let him go. "Do you mind picking her up from the airport too? I would, but I don't have a car."

Henry straightened his shirt out. "Sure. When does her flight arrive?"

"Today. Around seven."

"Wh--Today?" Henry sputtered. "It's Thursday. We have school tomorrow."

"I know," Jasper placated. "Her school gets out for spring break earlier than ours does." He finished with another pleading, wide-eyed look.

There wasn't much Henry could do now; he'd already agreed. "Yeah, fine. I'll just pick her up after work, I guess." Jasper jumped to give Henry another bone-crushing hug, but Henry held his hands up. "That's okay."

Jasper backed off, but he couldn't stop the wide smile on his face. Henry had made him so happy. He was going to see his cousin today.

Jasper remembered how much fun they had as kids; it was nice to know there was someone like him--someone else who was normal--in his family. Those weekends when Lizzie would visit Jasper were some of the best of his life. It had been years since he had seen her, and he could hardly contain himself from bursting with happiness now that it was only a matter of hours before he was going to be reunited with his favorite family member.

Charlotte walked up to the boys then. "Did he agree to do it?"

Jasper nodded vigorously. "He did."

Charlotte could see how happy Jasper was, and it made her smile. She looked at Henry apologetically. "Sorry about the ambush. I don't care how much Jasper says she's nice. I can't. Not after--" she trailed off, but they all knew.

There was a moment of silence as they all remembered her.

"Okay, let's get to work, shall we?" Henry announced, ready to be out of the school.

"Let's," Charlotte agreed. "Are you driving?"

Henry shook his head, avoiding his friend's eyes. "No, Piper has the car."

Jasper and Charlotte groaned in unison.

"Why would your parents let her drive the car when you have a legal license?" Jasper complained. He feared for his life every time he even got near Piper when she was behind the wheel of a car.

"You know how Piper is. No one lets her do anything. She just does it." Henry argued, throwing his hands up.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. She didn't like driver Piper either, but she knew there wasn't anything she could do about it. Like Henry said, Piper just does things. "Fine, but you're riding shotgun." She pointed a stern finger at Henry.

Henry accepted the punishment as penance for being the older brother, and the gang walked out of the school to meet the girl who was currently laying on the horn.

__________

"Do you see them?" Kid Danger asked Captain Man.

They were currently scouring Swellview Park for two criminals by the names of Donnie and Hyde, a couple who got their kicks by stealing money, jewelry, and even sometimes home entertainment centers. They were petty thieves as far as Henry and Ray--Captain Man and Kid Danger--were concerned. It never took more than an hour to track them down. Captain Man and Kid Danger had busted them a few times, but like all the other criminals in Swellview seem to be capable of doing, they had broken out of jail and were on a crime-spree.

But something about tonight seemed off to Kid Danger.

Maybe it was the fact that Donnie and Clyde hadn't even stolen anything.

Or, better yet, that they had called the Captain Man hotline.

It was some taunting video message that had said there was something big about to go down. The thieves stressed that Captain Man and Kid Danger wouldn't want to miss it, and they should come to Swellview Park immediately. That was all the video said.

Everything about the situation was bizarre to Kid Danger, but he pushed past it. They were criminals who had broken out of jail; they needed to be caught.

"No, I don't." Captain Man responded with a frown. He too had noticed that this wasn't going down like their usual gig. He had the nagging suspicion in the back of his mind that he and Kid Danger were missing a bigger, important piece of the puzzle.

Kid Danger stopped searching to let his mind sift through all that wasn't making sense. He sat down hard on one of the park benches. "Okay, this is weird, right?"

Captain Man chewed on his bottom lip. "Yeah, it's definitely weird." He scratched the back of his neck. "Donnie and Clyde calling us? What was that about?"

"Right?" Kid Danger agreed. He gestured to the empty park. "I mean, why lead us to the park if no one is even here?"

Captain Man didn't sit down. He was too anxious to sit. He paced back and forth nervously, trying to shake the feeling that he and Kid Danger were being set up for something. "I don't know." He spoke finally. "And I don't like not knowing."

Kid Danger dragged a hand through his hair. "Do you think they've moved on from stealing? Why break out of jail now. Is there some big plan? Are they working for someone?" He had to stop himself. "God, one question just makes five more."

Captain Man held a hand out. "Why don't we just stay on alert. They wanted us here. Obviously something is supposed to happen, so just be prepared for anything."

Kid Danger nodded and stood up from the bench, thinking it best to be standing if something did happen. Suddenly he felt something prick his neck.

"Ah, what the--" he slapped a hand to his neck and pulled it away, expecting to see a squished mosquito, but there was nothing there.

Captain Man rushed over to Kid Danger. "What is it? Are you alright?" He demanded. The waiting made him a bit high strung.

Kid Danger waved him off. "Yeah, I think a bug bit me or something." He wasn't completely certain though. He wasn't certain of anything today.

Captain Man jumped slightly then, slapping a hand to his neck just as Kid Danger had. "I think the same bug just bit me too."

They looked at each other, both thinking the exact same thing; too many weird things were happening today for this to be purely coincidence.

As if they didn't have enough to worry about.

They didn't have time to ponder it long. Suddenly, a noise sounded from the other end of the park.

"What was that?" Kid Danger whispered, moving into a fighting stance.

Captain Man did the same. "Get ready, Kid."

Donnie and Clyde walked out from behind the park's information kiosk then, smirking at Captain Man and Kid Danger. They were wearing their usual uniform: all black leather.

"So, I see you two decided to join us after all," Donnie drawled, taking slow steps in the direction of the superheroes.

"What do you two want?" Captain Man snapped, not liking that they seemed to know something he didn't. He didn't like the disadvantage that put him at.

Donnie looked back to Clyde with his arms spread out innocently. "We just want to talk." They walked closer.

"To talk?" Kid Danger scoffed. "That's why you brought us all here? To talk."

Donnie put a finger on the tip of his nose, "And the Kid gets one hundred points!" He mocked, walking closer still.

Kid Danger rolled his eyes. He didn't feel like wasting any more time on these clowns. He looked at Captain Man, an understanding passing between them. "Then let's talk." He snarled, and he and Captain Man lunged for the two men.

The two superheroes were too focused on Donnie and Clyde to realize that four more men were creeping up behind them. Normally, this would've been something the two of them picked up on immediately--especially Kid Danger with his super fast reflexes--but the two had been on such high alert waiting for Donnie and Clyde that they didn't leave room to think about much else.

Two men grabbed Captain Man while a third stood close in case the two weren't enough. Only one of the large men was needed to hold Kid Danger.

Clyde spoke up then. "You two seem to forget the most important thing about being a criminal." He gestured to the four burly men, "Henchmen! You don't ever actually have to do anything. They do everything for you!"

Captain Man fought against the two men who were holding him back, but his super power was not super strength. He couldn't break free. Kid Danger also couldn't get away from the henchman.

"It's not like you two to let anyone else in on your little schemes." Captain Man grunted, hoping to distract Donnie and Clyde. He still fought the arms around him despite the obvious futility. "What's with the extra muscle?"

Donnie and Clyde smiled at each other.

"It's one of the many perks of joining a cause." Donnie cooed, staring lovingly at Clyde.

"What cause?" Kid Danger growled. He too was still trying to break free. He twisted to reach his laser, hoping to use it on the brute holding him back, but the henchman had Kid Danger's arms pinned behind him. Too much movement sent pain radiating up to his shoulders.

Donnie and Clyde were telling the truth when they said they wanted to talk. They had been sent to the park to do so. Confident that Captain Man and Kid Danger were thoroughly indisposed, they both sat down on a park bench.

Clyde took a deep breath like he was preparing to tell a bed time story. "You see, Cap and Kiddo, breaking out of jail is no easy feat--especially for two petty thieves such as ourselves."

Donnie shook his head. "That's right. It's rather difficult, but with the right help, it's a--" he motioned all around them. "Well, it's a regular walk in the park!" He and Clyde erupted into a fight of laughter.

Captain Man looked over to Kid Danger, and they shared mutual expressions of annoyance.

"Will you two just get to the point?" Captain Man snapped. He was tired of being in the dark, tired of having these big--and quite frankly smelly--men holding him back, and he was tired of being dragged around by these two thieves. "What help are you talking about?"

Clyde clucked disapprovingly at Captain Man. "He doesn't like our witty banter, my love." He whispered to Donnie, but it was one of those obnoxious whispers that is meant to be heard by everyone. "Straight to the point, I see. Well, if you must know, Donnie and I have recently come upon a very lucrative business offer."

Donnie nodded. "Very lucrative." He gestured to his outfit. "This is genuine leather, you know."

Henry rolled his eyes. His patience was wearing thin. "I'm very happy for you two. Really."

Clyde waved him off. "What do they know of fashion? I mean, seriously. Red and blue block colors? What is this--a pre-school color test?"

The couple went into another one of their laughter spells, but Donnie quickly regained his composure.

"We digress." He stated, shaking his body as if to refocus. "We have called you here, on this lovely afternoon, to inform you that big things are at play."

"Things we can't disclose just yet," Clyde added, holding a finger up to stop his partner from revealing too much. "But rest assured, you two will be center stage for it all."

If Captain Man and Kid Danger had been confused before, they were completely lost now. Donnie and Clyde had explained nothing. All they did was give the superheroes half of the information, and it was the half that made more questions instead of answering the ones they already had.

Devices on Donnie and Clyde's belts beeped then, and they both jumped up from their seat.

"Ah, that would be our boss." Donnie said. "Duty calls, I'm afraid." He sighed almost as if he were sad to go. "We had to make sure our players are all in play, though, didn't we?"

"We'll be seeing you." Clyde promised with a secretive wink. They started to walk away, but Clyde turned back to address Captain Man and Kid Danger. "How's the neck by the way?" His gave a chilling smile that further proved he knew much that they didn't. "Ta-ta for now." He waved, and the pair walked away.

It made Captain Man and Kid Danger seethe to see the two criminals strutting away without a care in the world. They struggled against the men holding them back, but it was still to no avail.

The men couldn't hold the two forever though; they did have orders.

The large man holding Kid Danger suddenly let him go. Once free, Kid Danger immediately turned around to attack the big man, but the henchman had been expecting that. He sent heavy fist flying at Kid Danger's face.

"Kid!" Captain Man yelled when his sidekick fell motionless to the ground.

His henchman let Captain Man go then, confident that he wouldn't try to attack all four at once when Kid Danger was lying hurt on the ground. They were right.

Captain Man sent threatening glares in their direction, but he let them walk away. He ran over to Kid Danger, crouching down to make sure the kid was alright.

Kid Danger began to stir.

"Kid," Captain Man breathed, relieved to see him moving so quickly. "Are you alright?"

Kid Danger sat up with a groan and dropped his head into his hand. "That guy could really pack a punch."

Captain Man gave a dry laugh. "I know."

He looked around the park for the henchmen. "Where'd they go? You didn't fight all of them, did you?"

Captain Man shook his head. "No, I didn't." He side-eyed Kid Danger. "Though the lack of confidence is bit insulting." He helped his sidekick to his feet. "I let them get away so I could check on you."

Kid Danger nodded. He didn't blame Captain Man. Everything that had happened since they received that video call had been so unsettling; the only sure thing they had was each other.

Kid Danger swayed a bit on his feet, still a little disoriented, and Captain Man kept a hand on his arm to steady him. "I have so many questions." The sidekick admitted shakily.

Captain Man sighed deeply. "All I have is questions." He gave Kid Danger a light push. "Let's head back to the Man Cave and try to see if we can figure things out there. I'm tired of being in this park."

Kid Danger agreed. He almost felt sick to his stomach thinking about all that had happened--though some of that might have to do with the blow he took to the face. What unsettled him the most, what made him feel like the ground had been ripped out from under his feet, was the promise that bigger things--things revolving around the two of them--were to come.

What could that mean?

__________

"Are you okay?" Charlotte asked as soon as Henry and Ray made it down the tubes and had changed back into their regular clothes. She rushed to Henry's side to make sure he wasn't severely injured from the punch. "We saw everything." She turned back to Schwoz who was nodding grimly.

"Define okay." Henry muttered. He gently pushed away Charlotte's helping hands, assuring her that he was fine. "You guys heard what they said then, yeah?"

Charlotte nodded. "What does it mean?"

Ray shook his head, his jaw clenched. "We don't know."

The four of them were silent for a moment.

"What did they mean about your necks?" Schwoz asked then, a terrible thought beginning to form in his head.

Henry felt his neck where it had stung like a bug bite. "Ray and I felt like a bug bite us or something, but it was all too weird, you know? All that happens, and then the same bug bites us both? It's hard to believe that was just coincidence."

Charlotte knitted her eyebrows together. "So, what? Something stung you that wasn't a bug?" She could admit that the events that unfolded all seemed to be happening according to some underlying plan, but what was Henry implying? The bugs were in on it too? That seemed a bit too far fetched for her, a girl of rational thought.

"I know it sounds crazy, but what about what Clyde said? He asked us how our necks were. How could he have known about that?" Henry turned to Ray for support. "They weren't even there when it happened."

Charlotte held her hands up to try and calm her quickly spiraling friend. "I'm not saying your wrong, okay? All I'm saying is that we don't have enough information to be making any kind of conclusions just yet."

Henry used her gentle tone to help calm himself. If he wasn't careful, he would spiral into a panic attack. He took a few deep breaths in and out, centering himself.

Ray walked over to the control panel to bring up the video feed from their suits. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, but he figured maybe there was something there that they had missed. Ray couldn't rely on what he and Henry remembered in the moment; they weren't firing on all pistons then. They had been pretty shaken up before Donnie and Clyde ever showed up. No, he needed to review the information with new eyes--repeatedly.

Schwoz, all the while, remained silent, his premonition quickly looking more and more like a reality. He kept this realization to himself; he was worried what the information would do to his friends who were already under incredible stress. He would figure this one out on his own, and he wouldn't go to Ray or Henry about it unless absolutely necessary. Schwoz feared that outcome though; if there wasn't anything he could do about what he knew, then there was no hope.

Henry and Charlotte joined Ray in front of the video screen.

Ray was playing the part of the recording where Donnie and Clyde warned of big things in the near future. Ray paused the video. He was silent before slamming his fist on the table, making Charlotte jump.

"Who could they be working for?" He demanded to no one in particular. He got up from his seat, fearing that if he didn't get up and move or do something, his anger would find some destructive way out. "Why not just get us there? Why all the chit-chat and the secrets and the mind games?" He looked at Donnie and Clyde's faces on the screen. "I hope they know we're coming for them."

Charlotte watched Ray. She was worried. The only other time she had seen Ray so worked up was when Drex came back. This could only mean bad things for the team, and that realization didn't sit well with Charlotte.

Henry's eyes were glued to the screen. He heard their voices bouncing around in his head on a constant loop. Over and over again he heard them joke about what the future had in store for Captain Man and Kid Danger. Over and over again they laughed and taunted him.

His phone buzzed in his back pocket, jolting him back to reality; Jasper was calling him.

"Yeah," he answered, not tearing his eyes away from the screen.

"Henry, why are you still at Junk 'n Stuff?" Jasper demanded, his tone harsh.

Henry was so focused on what had happened that Junk 'n Stuff and Jasper and his normal life seemed to exist in another world entirely. It took him a few seconds to remember what Junk 'n Stuff even was.

"Because I work here," he responded absently.

"You seriously don't know what I'm talking about?"

Henry almost laughed aloud at the irony. He wanted to snap at Jasper for making him play along with whatever it was Jasper was on about because it seemed so miniscule to what he had just experienced, but that wouldn't be fair. Jasper didn't know that Henry was near to having a nervous break down.

"No, man, I don't." He sighed, finally looking away from the screen. Jasper's anger at Henry seemed to pull him away from his problem.

"Are you sure? Is there nothing--or no one--coming to mind?" Jasper's tone made it obvious he was more than angry at Henry.

"Okay," Henry stopped him, rubbing a hand over his tired eyes. "This could obviously go on for awhile, so will you just tell me whatever it is that has you freaking out?"

"Elizabeth, Henry. You were supposed to be picking my cousin up an hour ago." Jasper fumed.

Henry's jaw fell open. Crap. It had totally slipped his mind. He had forgotten all about picking her up from the airport--though with good reason. Up until just then, Henry had forgotten she existed. He felt ten times worse when he remembered it was now raining.

"Oh God, Jasper, I'm sorry. I completely forgot about Elizabeth." He drug a heavy hand down his face. He wasn't sure how much more he could take today. Charlotte looked up at him sympathetically.

"Don't apologize to me." Jasper snorted. "Elizabeth is the one who's been standing in the rain for an hour." Henry could tell he was going to have to spend awhile making this up to Jasper, but he couldn't worry about that now; his plate was already full.

He grabbed his jacket, put it on with one hand seeing how he was holding his phone with the other, and found his book bag where his car keys were. "Okay, I'm on my way now. Tell her I'll be there in fifteen minutes tops."

Henry couldn't see him, but Jasper was shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm sure she won't mind waiting fifteen minutes more. It's not like she's cold and wet or anything."

Henry closed his eyes. "Jasper, I said I was sorry. Ray and I were fighting some criminals, and I got sidetracked. What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing," Jasper sighed. "Just--Just go pick Liz up."

"I am." Henry reiterated.

"Yeah, now." Jasper muttered.

"Jasp--" Henry's phone beeped. "--per."

He slid his phone back into his back pocket. He didn't bother saying bye to anyone in the Man Cave; he knew it wouldn't have mattered. Ray was finding some way to vent his anger. Schwoz had disappeared to God knows where--he went to work on his theory in private--and Charlotte was watching the video feed again. None of them would've heard him anyway

He got in the elevator and pressed the button to go up.

Henry hoped that whoever Liz was, she was a lot more understanding than Jasper had been and that she wouldn't be too harsh on Henry for forgetting her.

He wasn't sure how much more emotional stress he could handle before he shut down completely.

__________

"Again, I am so sorry about--" Henry gestured to both his and Liz's soaked clothes and wet hair. "Well, everything."

Elizabeth chuckled. "Don't sweat it. I needed to wash my hair anyway."

Henry smiled, relieved to find that Elizabeth was the forgiving type. He had felt horrible when he pulled up to the airport and found her completely drenched and alone. She didn't even have an umbrella. Fortunately for Henry, she wasn't one for public ridicule or holding grudges; she had merely thanked Henry for picking her up and helping her with her bags.

She didn't know it, but Elizabeth had helped Henry cope with today's stress. She had been kind and forgiving and level-headed in the midst of chaos, and that was Henry's life line.

Henry opened his front door, letting Elizabeth walk in front of him while he grabbed her bags. She hadn't brought much--just one small suitcase and an even smaller carry-on.

"This is my house." Henry stated once he was inside and had shut the door. He put Elizabeth's bags at the foot of the stairs. "There's a guest bedroom upstairs."

She nodded. "Cool deal." She looked around the living room of the Hart house and whistled appreciatively. "Nice digs you got here."

"Thanks," Henry noticed she was rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "Hey, do you want a towel or a dry shirt or something?"

Elizabeth felt goosebumps break out over her exposed legs and arms. "Yes, please," she urged.

"Alright, I'll go get that." He looked into the kitchen where Piper was sitting at the table on her phone. He was wary of introducing Elizabeth to his little sister, but he also knew it would be rude not to. "That's my little sister Piper, if you want to go talk to her." He started to go up the stairs, but he turned back to his guest. "Be careful, though. Her bark is just as bad as her bite."

"Oh?" Elizabeth inquired, turning to look at the little girl too absorbed in her phone to notice that a stranger had even walked into her house. "I'm sure I'll be just fine."

Henry wasn't so sure, but he admired her confidence and left to change and get her a towel.

Elizabeth looked around the house again, admiring how homey it all felt. She was cold from being wet, but the Hart house seemed to have a warm glow to it that made that cold not so bad. She liked it.

She made her way into the kitchen, stopping near where Piper was sitting.

"Hey," she said.

Piper, hearing a voice she didn't recognize, jumped suddenly and turned to see who was currently in her house.

She sized the wet girl up. "Who are you?"

Elizabeth took Piper's tone into account with the warning Henry had given her. "I'm Elizabeth, Jasper's cousin." She held a hand out. "You can call me Liz, though."

Piper looked at her hand but didn't extend one in return. "I'm Piper, but you can call me Piper." She went back to her phone.

Liz smiled, liking this little girl's spunk.

She looked over the papers and books laid out in front of Piper. "What're you doing?"

Piper didn't even look up from her phone. "Homework," she snapped.

Liz ignored Piper's attitude. She held back a retort about how it looked to her more like Piper was avoiding it rather than doing it. "What kind of homework?"

Piper gripped her phone a little tighter. She didn't like all these questions--especially by some girl she had just met. Piper didn't even know what this "Liz" was doing in her house, dripping water all over the floor.

She set her phone down, narrowing her eyes at the stranger. "What exactly are you doing in my house?"

Liz was once again unmoved by Piper's brashness (this infuriated Piper who was so used to being feared). "Henry and your parents are letting me stay here while I'm in town visiting Jasper and my Aunt and Uncle."

Piper was hacked off no one had asked her if she was okay with a house guest--especially one related to Jasper--but she let it slide. "Why don't you just stay at Jasper's then?"

Liz picked up one of Piper's papers and studied it. "My cousin's parents are...strange, for lack of a better word. They don't allow guests. Your brother's probably never even been to Jasper's house before." She grabbed a few more of Piper's homework papers. "Do you want help with this?"

Piper was fuming over the fact that she now had no way to easily get rid of this girl, but Liz's offer to help her with her homework derailed her.

"What?" She asked.

Liz held the papers out to Piper. "Do you want help with your physics homework?"

Piper raised an eyebrow. "How do you know physics? My brother isn't even taking physics."

Liz smirked. "I think the better question is how do you know physics?" She grabbed the textbook and looked to Piper with her eyebrows raised. "So, are we doing this or what?"

Piper narrowed her eyes at Liz but accepted her offer of help anyway. Maybe this "Liz" wasn't so bad.

They had finished over half of Piper's physics homework--which she had stopped doing because she didn't understand it and had no one to help her--when the watch on Liz's left wrist beeped.

Piper cocked her head to the side. "My brother has a watch that beeps just like that."

Liz looked down to her watch and quickly smacked a hand over it, hoping to block the noise. She smiled to cover the strange reaction. "I have to make a phone call. Is there anywhere I can go for privacy?"

Piper thought she was acting strange all of a sudden--and that it was weird that someone else had a watch like Henry's--but she pointed to the front door. "My brother makes all his phone calls on the front porch."

Liz nodded, easily composing herself. "Then I'll go on the back porch."

"But it's raining," Piper pointed out.

"Can't get any more wet than I already am." Liz shrugged and got up from her seat to walk out to the back porch.

Piper thought this girl was definitely strange, but she had helped her with her homework when no one else could, and for that she was grateful.

Liz walked away from the windows and checked to make sure no one was around to see or hear her before she pressed a button on the side of her watch.

A life-size hologram of a man dressed in a freshly pressed black suit projected out of her watch and onto the ground in front of her. Liz straightened her posture as she addressed the man.

"Sir," she greeted.

The man had no expression. "You're late." He stated.

Liz cringed ever so slightly. "I know, and I apologize. There were...complications upon my arrival."

The man quirked one eyebrow--the only movement on his face besides his mouth. "Complications? I hope nothing went wrong." When he said hoped, what he really meant was that there better not have been anything wrong.

"No, sir," Liz quickly assured. She wouldn't let her boss believe she was incompetent. "Everything is fine. I just arrived at my host family's house."

The man nodded, "And what of the two superheroes?"

"To be determined." She answered. She knew he was looking for more information, but she had none to give. Closer inspection would be needed. "I could only see so much of the video feed while waiting at the airport."

"Then I expect you'll continue with the task entrusted to you." He paused to let the warning in his voice take effect. "Big things are ahead. All players must be in place."

"Yes, sir. I understand." She held her hand up to salute him one more time. "Dunlop out."

With a nod, the hologram of the man in the suit folded up and disappeared back into Liz' watch.

Once her boss was gone, Liz visibly relaxed. She even let her shoulders sag. She was tired from her long flight from California, and meetings with the boss always sucked whatever energy she had right up.

She only just realized she was standing in the rain.

She straightened her soaked clothes up, plastered on a fake smile, and prepared to walk back into civilian life, all the while thinking of those two superheroes whose roles in the near future would be crucial.

__________

Henry expected to come downstairs and have to pull Piper off of Liz, but when he made it to the kitchen, he found Piper alone at the table.

"What did you do to her?" He asked immediately, expecting Piper to say she scared the girl all the way back to wherever she had come from.

Piper looked away from her phone and to her brother with a furrowed brow. "Who?"

"Elizabeth, Jasper's cousin." Henry groaned loudly. Piper had definitely chased her away. Now what would he tell Jasper? As if he needed another thing to worry about. He looked around the house and found that her bags were still there.

Oh God, did Piper kill her?

"It's Liz."

Henry snapped his attention back to Piper. "What?"

Piper sighed and set her phone down. "Her name is Elizabeth, but you can call her Liz." She held up her completed homework. "And she helped me with my homework."

Henry didn't know what to say. Did Piper actually like someone? Someone related to Jasper, of all people?

"So, you like her?" Henry hesitated, not believing it be true.

Piper shrugged. "I don't know about like. I've only known her for five minutes." She collected her homework and got up from the table. "She's not entirely horrible."

Henry smiled, and it felt like a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders. Finally, something had gone right today.

"You have no idea what that means to me." He breathed. Piper gave him a weird look, not understanding the emotional turmoil Henry had experienced. Henry, the smile still on his face, looked around the kitchen. "Where is Elizabeth--I mean Liz?"

Piper pointed to the back porch. "She had to make a phone call."

Henry looked out the window and saw it was still raining. "On the back porch? In the rain? Why?"

"I don't know, Henry. Why do you make your calls on the front porch?"

"Touche," Henry conceded, though Piper didn't know he went on the front porch for privacy to keep his secret identity just that. Why Liz went on the back porch was strange to him, but he also knew it wasn't his business.

Piper had all her stuff collected in her arms and was on her way upstairs when she stopped. "She has a funny watch like yours, though."

"What?"

"Her watch," Piper explained. "It beeps like yours." She turned and continued up the stairs.

Henry thought that was definitely strange, but he was not going to let himself look too far into it. He wasn't going to ruin the one thing that had gone right today. He wasn't going to go looking for problems where there wasn't one.

Liz walked into the house then, more wet than before, but with a wide smile on her face. "Sorry about ducking out for a minute there." She apologized. "I had to call my mom and let her know I made it in okay." She looked at her wet clothes. "Well, mostly okay."

Henry laughed, running a hand through his own wet hair. "Sorry again for that. You wouldn't believe the day I had at work." He sighed, glad that the Liz situation had worked out, in the very least.

"Tell me about it." Liz muttered. "Are those for me?" She pointed to towel and clothes in Henry's hand.

Henry looked down at the stuff in his hands. "Oh, yeah. I got you a towel and one of my old hoodies." She raised her eyebrows at the hoodie. Henry laughed uneasily. "No, I don't mean--I just figured you had your own clothes, but maybe you were cold. If you don't want it, I'll under--"

"It's great, really." Liz smiled, accepting the hoodie. "Thank you, not just for this--" She lifted the towel and hoodie. "Thank you for letting me stay at your house. It means a lot to me to be able to see Jasper."

Henry shook his head. "It's no big deal, honest. My mom loves having people to take care of." He thought of Jasper. "You should probably call Jasper though. He was pretty mad at me for leaving you in the rain."

Liz nodded. "Yeah, I'll do that--but dry clothes first."

Henry smiled. "The guest bedroom is up the stairs, first door on the right. The bathroom is right across the hall."

She smiled and left him to go up the stairs.

Henry watched her go thinking that Jasper was right; she was pretty. Of course, that's as far as Henry let that thought go. Her arrival had been the most uncomplicated thing he had faced today; he was not going to muck that up by trying to start some pointless relationship that would only last the length of spring break. He could handle being her friend, nothing more.

And Henry had a feeling she was going to be a great friend to have.

Liz walked up the stairs thinking about how sweet Henry was. Cute too--not that she was interested. She wasn't one to go trying to date anyone she even remotely found attractive. She was content having attractive people as just friends. Nothing wrong with that--except she wasn't here to make friends. She was here to make sure everything went according to plan.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, thinking her boss could deal with her making some time for her favorite cousin.

__________

A/N Part 2: Phew, that was long, but I enjoyed writing it, you better believe. It's a complete 180 from my last fic (lolol). None of my children are having a good time this go round. Oops. I like this kind of stuff though. The suspense. The mystery. The bigger the stakes, the better. What did you guys think of Donnie and Clyde?(see what I did with that one? hd likes to play on popular things, so I joined in. Ert and Bernie anyone?). I loved creating their dialogue. It was so fun! What about their boss and this big plan for CM and KD??? What about Liz? Love her? Hate her? Don't know yet? Don't care? lol How do you think she fits into all of this? Let me know what you think!!! xoxoxo

#a;lkjsdkjg'#i did it #i started my next fic #i have no idea how long this will be #we're just gonna enjoy the ride as it goes #lol #tell me your thoughts #mine #henry danger fanfiic #henry danger #fanfic #em writes

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addershade · 4 years

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A Semi-Stuctured Rant on Antishipping, Fujoshi Culture and the monetization of Homosexuality in Japanese and American Media

Antishippers are homophobic and it's bothering me. But also so are fujoshis and that bothers me too

Part One: Antishippers

Where there sails a ship ship so to the antishippers let fly their flags. A common argument I see painted on the bows of their warships is 'This character hasnt been stated as gay yet don't ship them with them.'

This is such a problematic sentence I don't even know where to begin. The fact that people view the default state of sexuality as 'straight until declared gay' creates the stigma that being homosexual is in some way deviant or taboo.

As an example: nobody has a problem with Todoroki being shipped with Momo despite them having minimal character interaction and very little shared dialogue in the show. Yet because they have been seen together in one (1) episode it has even been assumed canon on the same level as Izuku and Ochako which it quite simply is not.

Compare this to Bakugo and Kirishima who have several scenes together, most in even more intimate settings than Todoroki and Momo (study date, walking home at sunset together, the money scene, the rescue, I could go on) yet since the creator has not OUTRIGHT stated that either of these two are gay they have been assumed straight. Antishippers never go after TodoMomo in the same way they do KiriBaku.

I've seen people go as far as to say it would never happen, the creator would never do something so radical as to include one (1) gay couple. Despite the already pretty strong LGBTQ+ presence in the show with characters like Tiger, Big Sis Magne and Toga. These three have their own problems (an issue for another time) but they are there and that's a big step forward that people like to forget about.

Also, is the concept of 'we don't get good gay representation in the media so we write our own' really such a hard thing to grasp? Because it shouldn't be. Gay representation in media is scarce and even if its there it might not be handled sensitively (cough cough banana fish cough) and people naturally would want to go out of their way to provide it for themselves. Because representation is important. Straight, cis, white men really wouldn't understand because they are represented in literally everything all the time so I geuss they can't really fathom not being able look at the main character and go 'it me.' Which is why they put up such a fuss about every single time a woman is cast as the lead role. In anything. But I digress.

My point is basically this: Characters with undefined sexualities are obviously going to draw people in and be used as a comfortable, familiar and interesting starting point to create someone you can resonate with on a deeper level. Especially if there's nothing contradicting your head canon. And even if there is, who cares? There's plenty of straight characters already, representation is not pie and also they aren't real people so thats an extra helping of 'it shouldn't bother you.'

Oh I forgot to mention this rant only extends to fictional character antishippers because I think shipping real people is icky and shouldn't happen regardless of sexuality.

Part Two: Fujoshi Culture

Yes there are straight gals and guys that fetishise it (the male version is a fudanshi at least get it right people) and that's gross and unforgivable please stop doing it.

I would argue however this epidemic is caused by the fact that media, eastern and western alike, refuses to normalise gay relationships. Which means they see it as this sick fetish thing and call it 'sinning.' The literal terms fudanshi and fujoshi are derogatory and paint enjoying 'yaoi' as a guilty pleasure, something to be ashamed of and ridiculed.

And I'd bet my bottom dollar that Japan would want to keep it that way because it does work to sell their mangas.

Nagisa really sums up the whole issue in 50 percent off here's the clip:

https://youtu.be/c_xwtbrXbZM

youtube

Part Three: Western Focus

I just want to point out how half hearted and overly subtle these relationships have to be, like you're sneaking it past the republicans like the producers dirty little secret.

Good examples from both sides are Bubbeline, KoraSami, All of Voltron and Literally Any Gay Man In Anime Except Yuri on Ice. Although Yuri on Ice is still pretty coy about admitting that their characters are in a gay relationship.

KoraSami, Bubbeline and Shiro x Shiro's flashback buddy are all western depictions. Being gay in western media is much less commercialised and much less marketable, which is why the main issue with all of these were the writers pushing for something that was then only really confirmed either in: a very heavily fought for kiss last episode or the love story told entirely in (two bros chilling in a hot tub style) flashbacks where said love interest dies in the same episode. None of these are good representation and I don't think I have to spell out why.

Anyway this is another video that sums it up better than I can

https://youtu.be/TOj4WfQPNlk

youtube

Part 4: The Bad, The Worse and the Ugly

tw: s*xual a*sault mentioned (part 5 is safe)

I'll be quick

Anime like Banana Fish and Black Butler really like to perpetuate the stereotype that gay men are only gay because they have been r*ped by sick, twisted older men.

As a gay man who has been s*xually a*ssulted in the way that they like to pretend defined my sexuality I can say that this is insulting, triggering and Never. Ever. Handled. Properly. Anime has some issues with sexuality as a whole but it really takes the cake when characters like Ash are abused in real time in the anime and then it's used to 'justify' their promiscuity with men moving forward.

Banana Fish in no way handles the sexual assault tactfully, no matter what people have said to me.

This is an extract I agree with heavily from a pretty well written article (Banana Fish spoilers) :

I mentioned earlier the finale sent an awful message to new viewers. Ash’s story was about survival so for him to easily give up, in the end, sent a horrible message to survivors of sexual violence because it not only told them a moment of vulnerability would get them killed, but the only way survivors could find any peace was through death. The fact that Ash gave up, told survivors they could never escape from their traumas and despite all their efforts, they would never be able to heal from their abusive circumstances.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thatnerdyboliviane.com/2019/01/21/banana-fish-a-bittersweet-experience/amp/

'Kill your gays' is a bad trope in any case but really was an especially poor choice here.

Part 5: Sex Sells and Gay Sex Advertises

I've mentioned above how manga and anime likes to package gay relationships into problematic little bundles and sell it to straight women as a curiosity or oddity. But I really think that it needs to be talked about more. Things shouldn't be more interesting to you just because they're gay, and fetishising minorities is never okay in any context.

I think it's important to note that really the attitudes in both Western and Japanese media are actually the exact same. That being, Gay people are 'others' and should at all costs be hidden away into corners. The only real difference is that Japan is known for selling that kind of content, lumping it in the same category as tentacle hentai and... I don't know any other categories but the point stands. Whereas western media tends to just sequester it into a corner and hope it gets past censorship boards and Karen's. Money is at the forefront of both of these descisions.

It's a real problem that both sides of the anime culture are so problematic. One side is way too into it and the other can't begin to process it.

Here's a video by the same person that covers basically the same ground that's concerning me so much.

https://youtu.be/t3FKlqDocQ4

youtube

Part 6: In conclusion

I feel like this is something that is worth being angry about. I'm just sick of how being gay is treated at the moment in anime, tv and film, and how it's being received by straight audiences. The LGBTQ+ community barely seems to get a real say half of the time because people are too busy being head over heels that the author confirmed in an interview that a character is bi or gay but never follows through with it in universe. Or when you try and create content for yourself and get criticised like you were supposed to be happy about what little representation you get in mainstream media. Like shows do the bare minimum and then we're supposed to be happy about it. But I ain't. And I don't think many other people are either.

TLDR:

Gay people being treated like a taboo little secret on both sides of the issue is insulting and gross and never leads to anything good.

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37h4n0l · 7 years

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1) Don't worry, I (aka the anon who started it all) don't think your reply came off as hostile at all. It's just so tiring when you want to get some things that bother you off your chest and then the obligatory 'but not all xyz do this or that' happens. Yes, I do know that, but it's a generalization. Not all, but enough to make you think it may even be the better part of the fandom. That being said, I agree with all your points against YOI. OK, so the victuuri relationship may be a cute and

(Rest under the cut) (I also hope no one will lynch me for being lazy and putting this out without doing anything about censoring shipnames but I’ll spam it with all the possible anti tags, fear not)

fluffy one that makes you feel good and warm inside or whatever, but is there really a need to write essays analyzing every single gesture or facial expression and then feel proud of your analytical skills, as if you've just discovered a new planet? No, there is not. It's not that deep; it's actually as straightforward a show as it can be. The bashing of otayuri and pliroy is one thing and it has more to do with the general moral poilce anti trend that is spreading everywhere, so I wouldn't attribute it solely to the YOI fandom. Now on the other hand, the bashing of pliroy just because it's contradictory to otayuri, one of the holy doublet of YOI ships, is something that bothers me personally. It's almost as if shipping anything that directly contradicts victuuri/otayuri is a blasphemy in this fandom and generally looked down upon. I've actually seen someone outright ask why would anyone ship pliroy when otayuri exists/is canon/is clearly a better and more healthy option for Yuri etc. So, this and the constant victuuri/otayuri wank, while all the other characters/smaller ships are mostly a background noise to it; it really seems to me as if 5 fanarts out of 10 on my dashboard would feature victuuri, 4 would feature otayuri and there's only one left for other pairings (one-track-mindedness at its finest). And there's of course the fact that most YOI fans seriously think that victuuri is the first canon gay couple in the history of anime, that the anime itself is revolutionary and progressive, that victuuri is a prefect representation, that YOI is the actual anime of the year, because popularity doesn't lie, and if you dare to disagree with all of those, then you're clearly homophobic and whatnot. Plus, there's the invading of the tags unrelated to YOI (not even for the purpose of recommending other titles but to say something along the lines of 'if shit like xyz got a second season, then YOI deserves at least seven' - actually seen something like that with my own eyes) or hijacking of the serious topics (like the oppression of sexual minorities) and making them all about YOI. And that's just the top of the list of what the YOI fandom is guilty of. But hey, it's alright, because it's 'not all' YOI fans. Siigh. Sorry it got so long, but ugh. Sometimes I wish someone would just delete YOI from existence so that we would be spared of all this saltiness. As for 91d, you're probably right about everything but still, I'll never be able to understand why anyone would just voluntarily turn off their thought processes and comprehension skills just because of some personal biases, especially when it comes to a show such as 91d, that requires at least the bare minimum of thinking and analyzing. But whatever, I guess people nowadays are just too used to having everything spelled out to them and handed on a silver plattter (ex. they should've had it explicitly stated on-screen that Avilio and Nero didn't hate each other).

This goes for all the ‘not all’ arguments; the important thing is, as you said, how widespread a behaviour is statistically within a community, but also whether the other members acknowledge that it’s happening or not. I know it’s easy to take it personally when you hear someone complain about a fandom you’re in, but at that point it really only depends on wording (which is deliberately harsh when someone is just venting, it’s just the way it is).

About meta; yeah, I find a lot of it superfluous as well, as I’ve said before. And by this I don’t mean it should be eliminated from the face of the planet, just that I don’t personally put the 2934892348th detailed explanation on why vn and yk love each other so much in the same ‘tier’ as, say, speculations about the second season or character parallelisms and stuff like that. It’s shipperwankery in the end and I don’t think me making fun of it harms anyone? The only thing I worry about is that it’s hard to separate banter from an actual serious opinion from time to time (could be about how I express myself? Probably yes). No, for the record, I don’t want to exterminate anyone who makes extensive posts about vn’s lustful glare. It’s just... There’s too much of it. Way too much. By the way, the ring controversy and the reaches made there will never not be funny, sorry not sorry.

A bit of a tangent on the otayuri-pliroy conflict; it always seemed so weird to me how similar the two ships are aesthetically? (Considering people keep confusing the two on fanart, I’d say that’s a major fuckup in terms of JJ’s and Otabek’s character design, but that might just be me). I keep getting the impression that they wanted the pliroy bait to go somewhere but then changed their mind for whatever reason and created otayuri as kind of a ‘tamer substitute’. But this is besides the point; it all brings me back to my personal beef with this tendency of positing ‘sugary sweet’ as the only acceptable standard for a relationship because... people are more sensitive nowadays? I can only guess. Viktuuri and otayuri got tied together for some reason, it’s like they come in a package and everyone who ships one has to run with the other as well.

I grieve for the background characters and smaller ships as well, anon. Just imagine the sheer crack potential; and instead, everything gets pushed in the back in favour of the same things over and over. The things that could’ve been: victurio (the underage ship that tumblr will fucking lynch me for), emil/michele, sara/mila, georgi/yurio (yes I do love my crack), chris/victor, chris/that guy we saw in his room, yuuri’s sister/literally anyone (because I like her) and the list could go on and on. But this is not even always about the ship itself; it’s the dynamics, those are what popularizes things. Even when there are ships in other fandoms that have been popular for a longer time, there’s a tendency on tumblr to make them very mild and fluffy. I’m not saying there’s anything we can do about this, nor that something should be done about it, all I’m in opposition to is people who claim it’s the ‘right’ way to do shipping because it’s ‘healthier’ or something, as you put it.

Because popularity doesn’t lie

Thank you, this is exactly how I’d word it as well. The crux of this issue isn’t yoi being objectively good or bad, it’s whether popularity implies that something is good, or not. Or what ‘good’ even means in this context. My personal (salty) opinion is that there are anime that could be enjoyed just as much as (if not more than) yoi if only they got more exposure. I’m not talking about 91d either because I’ve already explained in detail what the problem with advertising it was in the previous post. And yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re talking about that certain addition to the Chechnya post. I can see it was well-intentioned but it was... well... a little bit out of place, to put it in euphemisms? ‘Too soon’, as they say? But, in the end, I’m sort of glad that yoi exists because if not anything else, it can be considered a massive social experiment, an example of fandom behaviour. And if it made some people happy, then I wish them all the best. The fixation with it will go away with time too, eventually.

#anti yoi #anti viktuuri #anti vikturi #anti victuuri #anti victuri #anti yuri on ice #anti otayuri #not really anti otayuri but im tagging it for safety #rambles #thank you anon #Anonymous

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