#i for one love how it made western media girls gay

[hotpinkrathian]

I am so upset (not) at LoK for making women muscular I will never get over it 😤

Also, the audacity to say the LoK women are less sexy than the ATLA women is WILD considering the Atla girls are minors

#legend of korra #kyalin #lin beifong #korrasami #avatar the last airbender #atla #kuvira #lok #korra #asami #suyin #kya #pema #izumi #more bad lok takes #i for one love how it made western media girls gay #avatar: tlok #katara #suki #toph #azula #ty lee #mai

[bl-recs-and-reviews]

Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance? What makes them better? I did not mean anything negative, and I know everyone have their own like and dislike but I want to know your thoughts....

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/tv series) romances better than western MLM romances?

Cool question! My answer is very similar to @wen-kexing-apologist but I'll try to bring a little more of my own personal thoughts to it

check out wen's post if you're curious about it tho, it is very well explained

I love BL more than het romance because of a number of very different reasons. But to put it simple, BL gives me the type of romance I want to see. Or at least it is the closest to the one I want to see.

First of all, as a woman I get very easily annoyed by female characters in media. Because they tend to be written very poorly. Especially in the genres of media that I like. There is a lot less misoginy thanks to that. I am very exigent with how women should appear and I have very little patience. In BL, the number of female characters is very small so I can easily ignore them if I don't like them. The relationships we see are between "equals". There is no difference because of their gender, and a lot less expecation by the society that surrounds them in how they are supposed to behave when in a relationship. Another point is that it breaks "the norm". Making a same gender relationship story still feels fresh, because there is so much that can be explored that has already been made a thousand times over in het romances. Give me supernatural stuff, horror, thrillers, fantasy, war, everything! Also, with a less present sexism more conversations can be made around societal expectations that don't have that man vs woman barrier. Another point is that I like to see men feel. I want to see men showing more expressions and feelings than they're usually allowed in mainstream western media. I want to see how men would have those conversations between them. In the end, to me BL romances are better because they are free-er, in a way.

Regarding your second question, to me it's the way they approach romance. It is a valued genre like any other (instead of a girl thing), and it put value in creating characters that stay true to themselves while falling in love with someone. It might be creepy, it might be weird, it might be toxic, it might be unusual, but they are not limited by convention. In the west there's a lot of worry about what can or can't be shown on media because of how morally good or bad it is. Lest we romanticize things that make people misbehave. However, to me. it is not the responsability of media to teach people about morals. It is fiction, it is made to entertain, and to make people think. Not to teach or to show a perfect society. Characters that start lecturing you on something that has nothing to do with them as characters, or with the plot just for the sake of proving that they are part of "the good guys" bore me to no end. Especially in romance.

Romance is about love. And love is a weird feeling that can surge anywhere. And that's what I find interesting about it. Give me the biggest weridos, the creeps. The villans that have to learnabout empathy but that also have a thing or two to teach about how cruel humanity can be. The sunshines fascinated by monsters. The creepy weirdos being entangled with creepier weridos. Asia dares to go there and shows the parts of it that are beautiful as beautiful. The west will go there to scare you or teach you about toxicity. And yeah, why not once in a while? But I want war criminals, not selfless heroes. I recommed you read stuff like MADK, Hikari Shinda Natsu, etc

But if we go from romance in general to BL, western mainstream mlm has a tendency to follow a flow of tropes we've been seeing for the last 20 years, and barely dares to step out of there. Gay men in western media are promiscuous, cheat on each other all the time, and develop toxic relationships and a constant will they won't they that gets tiring very fast. For the west, gay men can only have one type of romance (this is a broad generalization, there's a lot of cool mlm in western media but it generally does not belong to the mainstream). Asian mlm uses gay men in many more interesting ways. The stories they explore (as I was saying before) are much more appealing to my personal taste and give more variety to the type of men experiencing romance in them. (This is also a generalization because every Asian country does things differently and there's a lot more nuance if we were to get into it)

#snow asks #about bl #snow thoughts

[charismaofobedience]

can you pls tell me more about tsubaki aoyagi..

Explodes in rondo oshi. Yes i can <333

I think first of all we have to take note of how tsubaki is heavily implied and almost confirmed tbh to be raised catholic. while we know she studied with rika when she was tiny so she didn't study in the christian school, we also have confirmation that she DID frequent a church alongside Miyu fairly frequently and was part of the choir, hell, Miyu herself called her big sister tsubaki in the past so with this we already have the confirmation of one thing::: judging by the other raised catholic girls in the series (lyrical lily, esora), tsubaki was infected with the gay disaster virus at a young age.

However, this also brings us the fact that she WAS part of the choir. "Why was?" Well you see, rondo unit story 1 confirms to us that tsubaki somewhat left the choir some time ago and now comes alone to the church to sing. As events go on, she eventually gets comfortable and sometimes join the choir alone to help too, but she didn't fully join them. We also learn that Tsubaki used to take voice training classes because she enjoyed singing and would like to work with that in the future, however, her teacher told her that her voice wasn't cut to that and she wouldn't get that fair and, disheartened by that, Tsubaki quit singing for a LONG time... Until one day aoi heard her singing all alone in a church, entered and asked her to join her dj unit. This goes on and on for a decently long time since tsubaki was still afraid of singing and thought she'd make rondo fail because "she isn't a good singer", but she also slowly grows more and more confident on herself and her singing as she stays w rondo!!!

However. This girl is still an absolute disaster (probably the biggest one in d4dj after saori). Tsubaki is bad at basically anything related to housekeeping: cooking, cleaning... It's one of the main things she struggles with, SPECIALLY cooking. If you want an idea, on the valentine's day rondo event tsubaki had to go ask for help to hiiro because she wanted to make (not buy) chocolates for "someone special..." Which just made hiiro giggle because she knew it was aoi. We learn that Tsubaki was able to make them with hiiro's help, because when she tried doing it on her own, she burned the chocolate. Tsubaki is also an incredibly heavy sleeper even if she usually stays up late watching western movies (which brings us the knowledge that tsubaki DOES enjoy western media and, as such, since she's emo we can conclude this girl absolutely could be into american emo bands) (and i mean, rondo does has a fully english cover with tsubaki singing, so) which causes her to fall asleep during her uni classes and the others (usually hiiro) giving her canned coffees and calling our her poor sleep patterns. A lot of the time she oversleeps, too, making so that rondo meetings have to be at the evening or at night since she will be late otherwise and with them usually having to call her to wake her up. She's pathetic and also i love her.

Now let's talk about her relationship with Rika. The two did meet initially at school, which Rika confirms that Tsubaki was a VERY quiet and shy kid, a nervous wreck, and that because of this Rika, always bright and popular, decided to befriend her specially so she could help Tsubaki. However, after some time, Rika noticed she started to distance herself (implied to be after her singing tutor told her she wouldn't get very far) and Rika felt powerless, like she couldn't do anything, and that's where rika decided she would always be willing to help others like tsubaki and not let them go. Rika tells us that at the merm4id christmas story that this is one of the reasons as to why she always tries her best to make others smile, because she doesn't want anyone to get all lonely and with no friends like tsubaki was when they were small and growing up. However, recently the two reconnected and are besties again, with Rika still annoying (lovingly) the hell out of Tsubaki who insists she doesn't like Rika that much, but it's clear how important both are to each other: tsubaki being the one who gave rika's being a purpose to help others and always be true to herself and rika being the one who always was there for tsubaki, the one who gave her a boost to, when she was ready, let herself open up to friends and relationships again.

And then we get to the girls themselves. Aoi and Tsubaki... God. First of all we have to acknowledge that their feelings ARE mutual and it's heavily implied in many stories (rondo maid, rondo phantom thief, aoi and haruna relations) and, considering d4 already has a canonical lesbian couple, who knows. Aoi and Tsubaki also gave each other a purpose and basically saved each other, with aoi giving tsubaki a chance to sing again after insisting on it for so long, assuring her but not pressuring that it's okay for her not to be perfect because her voice is still beautiful and she needs tsubakis voice on rondo and tsubaki allowing aoi to be herself, being the only one who saw aoi past this handsome facade: because she knows the real, clumsy aoi, the one who's scared of bugs, the one who is an airhead and gets lost on conversations, the one who doesn't want to be recognized only for her appearance as a "handsome girl", because for her aoi isn't only handsome or cute, for tsubaki, aoi is pretty, beautiful. (Sorry i re-read the haruna aoi relations event yesterday and i think im still feeling things over tsubakis phrases)

Both are extremely important to each other and hiiro has canonically described them as soulmates, both because they balance each other, but also because they allow the other to be true to themselves. While tsubaki seemed to be a instant crush however, we can see aois crush slowly forming through the stories and it's just so vkcnkdnckjd. Rika herself has thanked Aoi for making Tsubaki smile again (shuffle event story) and they make me insane. However, one is an airhead and whenever she tries to confess something gets in the way and the other is a nervous mess who never truly gets the courage to be honest and, even when she does, the flirt goes over aois head. It's the world's silliest dumb mutual pining ever and they're so in love it makes me crazy.

Also Marika has literally canonically joked about the two marrying but that's another thing.

And even if she is a disaster, tsubaki is still a cool, caring friend to the others. She will always be the one telling haruna about the real aoi, the one who will be there to call nagisa out when she's being too impulsive with her ideas, the one who allows aoi to be herself, the moon to rika's bright sun, the tutor and caring figure to miyu. Tsubaki may be a mess, but she is still someone kind and caring behind the stern gaze, someone who wishes to help others and become close to them, no matter how nervous of doing so she may be.

She's silly.

#d4dj #tsubaki aoyagi #♡𑁬࿔ chii asks #♡𑁬࿔ aurelia asks! #theres also the everliving tsubaki is a trans woman headcanon which btw true because i said so. she literally did voice training cmon......

[sneezemonster15]

I feel like at most sns might just be ambiguous instead of full blown romantic or brotherly. It's in the middle and it has enough moments for both sides to see them as whichever way they please. Like the moment in the final fight where naruto tells sasuke he's wrong when sasuke asked if they were like brothers is anime only, so it serves as fanservice. After that, and in the manga they have sasuke understanding what naruto meant as brother meaning he returns the feeling too cuz now he finally understands. So the fans can take whatever they like out of it since it's possible to see it as both

No. You are wrong.

Only those who don't understand how homophobia and closeted homosexuality works would think of it like that. And those who don't understand storytelling and visual language. Heteronormativity and homophobia makes it even worse.

By ambiguous, you mean that people suspect they are gay and in love but go with the safe choice because it's shounen or they aren't canon and SNS wasn't made explicit?

Well they couldn't have been canon, what about shounen genre and censorship don't you understand?

I know they are romantic because I understand what Kishi did, and anyone who understands storytelling, visual language, and tropes used in gay media, at least the sincere ones where creators have written realistic and nuanced gay and closeted gay characters living in a conservative society would know for a fact that SNS is romantic. Or even if you were just honest with yourself, and sensitive and open minded. I have seen those fans here as well.

Kishi was subtle but not that subtle. When I watched Naruto the first time, I suspected from the start that they were romantic and by the end of vote 1, I was sure. And it actually heightened my Shippuden watching experience even more because I was able to correctly expect and anticipate what Kishi was going to do regarding SNS and that's what happened broadly. I knew Naruto wouldn't ever give up on Sasuke no matter what, because he loves him. And Sasuke would not really be able to kill Naruto because he loves him too, he tries to kill him with all his might, but they are always nuanced in both vote 1 and 2, nuanced for a reason. And I was right. So I didn't have to experience anything like those fans who thought Pein arc was where Shippuden should have ended and the rest was just retcon (😒) or dudebros who thought Naruto broke character by begging the raikage for Sasuke's pardon. I knew they would reconcile and won't end up killing each other. Because their relationship operates on love, not hate or rivalry.

It would be damn stupid of fans to think SNS is brotherly or ambiguous when Naruto explicitly says they aren't brothers and Sasuke implies it clearly as well. What good is your comprehension if you can't even understand plain text? Lol.

Seriously, please watch other gay media. See how closeted homosexuality is portrayed in media.

Why do you even think Kishi chose to hammer on the whole 'Are we brothers or friends or more?' to begin with? Throughout the manga? Why this deliberate constant harping on friends and brothers and comrades again and again? What do you think it's just accidental?

Just for fun? It has no meaning, no significance? Kishi is just blowing shit out his ass? He doesn't mean anything by it? Just wasting precious and costly panel space?

Lol. It's very meaningful.

This is actually a very common trope in gay media and narratives.

Thinking of romantic love as brotherhood is pretty common in gay coming of age media, both Asian and western. Naruto only 'WONDERS' if Sasuke is like a brother, he doesn't say it with confidence. He doesn't have a frame of reference to understand his tingly and romantic feelings for another boy when he thinks that men are supposed to like girls. But at the end, in chapter 698, when Sasuke becomes annoyed and insists Naruto explain what he means by 'friends', Naruto haltingly admits that it's not something he can explain. If he thought they were brothers, don't you think he would have just said it? When have you ever seen two men this shy or reticent about their brotherly feelings for each other? Give me one example, just one. Lol.

This lack of frame of reference regarding gay media is a detractor for Naruto fans. If you don't know what you are looking at, you wouldn't know why it's important. Which is why several instances in the manga that denote romantic love between the two go totally unregistered by most fans. Also heteronormativity. If these instances and moments happened between a het couple, they would have no problem noticing them. But just because it's between two boys, you think it's not romantic.

This is why you think SNS is ambiguous or brotherly. Because you don't see or understand what Kishi did and how he did it. Well that's why I am here and so are so many other credible SNS blogs. Go learn.

#sns #ask #naruto #uzumaki naruto #sasuke #uchiha sasuke #sasunaru #narusasu

[captnjacksparrow]

Is it true that Kishi’s wife is similar to Sakura. And I am thinking what if Kishi is gay but he hides it and he doesn’t love his wife so he wrote Sakura based on her

But it seems that he dismissed that theory later in another interview. Also if Sakura was Kishi's wife then why couldn't he make N/aruS@ku as endgame??? I mean Kishi knew that he was going to pair up Hinata with Naruto right from Pain Arc... If that's the case, why make Sakura to confess fakely and then dismiss their bond entirely for the rest of the Manga???

So, this Sakura was based on his Wife is just a theory. He never explicitly mentioned it... He infact, made Minato to say Sakura resembles a bit like Sakura in order to spite NH.

As for Kishi being Gay.... ***Giggling***

In Chinese novels, there is this genre called Harem which is usually written by Male Writers. They are veeeery popular among dudebros over there.

Those type of Genres usually goes like this... Like How a Poor UwU innocent boy who was abandoned, rejected and ostracized by the bullies has risen up to seize the position of power and in the process how he wins over inordinate number of Gals’ hearts because of... Yooo!!!! Toxic Masculinity.... 

And If you want a close to Western Equivalent of such Genre... Take James Bond movies. He is cool, rich, has gadgets and gets to bang a sexy femme fatale WITHOUT FAIL in every one of his movies. 

To give you a picture,

ALT

Pic from Scum Villain Self Saving System - Anime.

This is how your typical Harem novel Protagonist looks like. Sitting on a Throne, looking down on someone, surrounded by bimbos who wear skimpy costumes. He got Fuck load of Spiritual Power and lots of Gals.... It’s everything a guy ever wants in his (wet) dreams and these type of genre fuels Male Power and Sexual Fantasy. The Protagonists are usually termed as “Stallion”. And if you want to know more about this, Check this hilarious Reddit thread here. [[’Papapa’ means euphemism for Sex in Chinese]]

So, it’s A Typical Media for dudes to self-insert. 

This kind of thing exists in our Naruto Manga too.

Jiraiya was seen surrounded by Girls.

Here, Filippo, the guy from Mario Manga was drawn very similar Stallion pose. 

My boy Charasuke too....

And that’s why Naruto created Harem No Jutsu in order to knock out Men.

Because Men are horny for these stuffs and Naruto used their desire against them to knock them out.

But What Kishimoto really did in Naruto???

He ended up drawing Naked Sasuke, Naked Sai and these bunch of Naked men... 

+

Add the fact that, Naruto is Kishi’s Self-Insert character and Naruto practiced Naked men more than Rasengan

+

Sexualization of Sasuke and sometimes Sai.... 

+

Made Sexualized Sasuke to seductively hug Naruto (as Kishimoto).

+

Made Sasuke look alike Sai to describe about Naruto’s Man Part several times.

+

Sakura and Hinata not being sexualized which is contrast to every other Mangakas who drew women characters in a Horny way.

Sigh.....

I mean, Instead of Giving “Stallion” contents for Dudebros by sensualizing girls & oozing out Masculinity just like how 99% of media does to women characters... He ended up Giving Yaoi contents for Girls as well as for Guys who are into men by making Sasuke to parade with his open chest for 100 Chapters & this Reverse Harem no Jutsu.. And he was regularly indulging them for 600+ Chapters... 

LOL... I don’t know if Kish is a Gay and I am not going to indulge myself in it... But his taste and way of writing all points to him being one.

#kishimoto #narusasu #sasunaru #sns #nsn

[remythologise]

You mentioned C-Dramas / K-Dramas that scratch that homophobic gay drama itch and, well, I'm shamefully a sucker for those tropes. Could you share which of those mirror that type of media?

LITERALLY SO SO SO SO SO GLAD YOU ASKED. ABSOLUTELY BLESSED ASK ANON THANK YOU.

Will say that it’s really not exactly the same vibe because you will get a SHARP CONCENTRATED DOSE of even more homoerotic shenanigans in the following shows, they are much more intentional (to varying degrees, although I feel undeniably so in every instance) than the western instances BUT it will scratch that itch because none of these shows have “canon” gay romance. This is very hard to explain properly because some of it is very canon, just censored. But I will use my old terminology — it is unmarketable gay media. To me. Despite at least four of these being created and marketed TO appeal to fujo trash like myself… it is unmarketable gay media TO ME!!! Sorry you’ll just have to take my advice that Vibes on censored gay dramas are Tremendous.

I will say because literally all of these dramas have the central relationship ‘censored’ in various ways do not go in expecting a Happy Gay Ending, though most (not all.) of these do have about as happy an ending as they could under the But-Not-TOO-Gay Circumstances. (Much like. Supernatural or House M.D. Shall we say. Journey not the destination…) ALL of the following shows are on Netflix, though it’s probably a better viewing experience with the subs to watch on Viki.

IMO you should also watch the shows in the following order. Also I could harp on about these shows for YEARS but I tried to keep it brief (I could talk more.)

THE DEVIL JUDGE — girl I love this show so much I don’t know what to do with myself. It is SUCH camp fun everyone is so gay in it (despite the canon het romance). I don’t even KNOW how to adequately describe this show it’s literally What If There Was A Dystopian Korea (Basically The Same Korea) And They Made A Reality TV Show For The High Court But Also It’s Mostly A Gay Gothic Romance Complete With Old British Mansion. 11/10 had such a fun time. THIS SHOW IS SO UNDERRATED ON THIS WEBSITE COMPARED TO—

BEYOND EVIL — VERY similar in cat-and-mouse homoerotic vibes to the Devil Judge but Up To Eleven on the cat-and-mouse thing. Literally was awarded best drama and actor award of that year. It’s not just a gay show, it’s also a VERY good show! A detective from a small town and a detective from the city get paired up to Solve A String Of Murders. Both of them think the other is suspicious/untrustworthy. 12/10 would yell ‘KISS’ at my TV until my voice was hoarse again.

THE UNTAMED — someone on anon told me to watch this show in like 2019 and it took me THREEEE YEARRRSSSS to watch it. I really struggled to adapt to the CDrama tone/format at the beginning but I’m SOOOO glad I did. You really have to get into it and flow with it but once you’re in you’re IN you are LOCKED into What If Game of Thrones Was Camp and Gay and Actually Good. SUCH good writing, character, relationship and world building. I laughed, I cried, 13/10 this show has been popular enough that you have all heard of it!

WORD OF HONOR — So you watched the Untamed and this was the thing everyone was recommending to watch next but wasn’t ‘as good’ as the Untamed. Well. Wasn’t as good TO YOU. I’M HAVING A BALL ON THIS BITCH! Literally of all these shows this one is my favourite PURELY because I love these stupid flirting assholes so much. Shut up. Sorry this post is incoherent. The plot is not as good as the Untamed but the banter/relationship is even more in focus and just chef’s kiss dynamic to ME. So 14/10 gay it probably was the biggest reason gay-vibes drama is now banned in China. Girl I am not literally not joking. All the danmei is in unreleased development hell. Help.

GUARDIAN — For the true die-hards (not on Netflix/Viki and got purged from the legal internet but can be found. In places.) SO YOU WATCHED WORD OF HONOR AND YOU’RE LIKE GOD THAT ENDING RIPPED OUT MY ASSHOLE EMOTIONALLY WHAT IF I FOUND AN ENDING THAT WAS QUALITATIVELY WORSE. DO I HAVE ANOTHER PRIEST (AUTHOR OF WORD OF HONOR) ADAPTATION FOR YOU. Production values ZERO acting values MIDDLING gay values FUN AND SEXY. This show is literally what if Torchwood was better and worse at the same time. The reason the string of danmei adaptions started I believe, because this one was so popular. I haven’t watched all of this yet I’m savouring it. Don’t look at me.

HEAVEN’S OFFICIAL BLESSING — not quite the same vibes as what you’re going for with this ask (not a live action; very much an anime and not finished yet) but would be remiss not to mention the VERY PRETTY AND GREAT adaptation of the series by the same author of the Untamed. Also on Netflix.

#PLEASE IF THERE’S A SHOW LIKE THIS I’VE MISSED OUT THERE.... LET ME KNOW.... #kira for ts #I’m not proof reading this I have to be awake for work in six hours HELP #imo all of the shows that were originally danmei are better in their adapted tv form than the original books… to me #I could also like. add more to this list if we wanted to add in anime. probably. but we shouldn’t #also not QUITE the same vibe #I’m so passionate about all of these shows but ESPECIALLY the devil judge and word of honor bc I love them and they are underappreciated #compared to heavyweights untamed and beyond evil #most of these shows don’t need content warnings if you’re fine with house m.d. or supernatural you’re fine with whatever these throw at you #ask #anonymous

[sir-klauz]

Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

I am pretty bad at describing things and how I feel about stuff unless it’s in the moment due to my ADHD but I’ll try do them justice with as much about why I like them, if I can! If I struggle I’ll just post the book description in quotations!

1. Howl’s Moving Castle

When I watched this it opened up my love for anime and manga that still continues to this day. Both the book and movie are fantastic. I adore Howl. Sophie is hilarious.

2. Requiem of the Rose King

Important heart manga, and I’d advise reading the manga first as the anime sadly missed out so much key information about what was supposed to be happening, I’m not exactly sure why honestly aside from perhaps censorship? Lots of people complained and the studio didn’t care at all, and said they’re not going to listen to westerners complaining or something like ok nobody watch their animes then in that case.

The story is based around Richard the 3rd, of York and the plot is about how he was actually intersex and gay he later realised once he could finally reveal his body to a lover, and approaches the trial living as this, LGBTQIA+ individuals can face, with their own dysphoria, discrimination, bullying, and struggles to be intimate due to feelings about our body being seen. The secret lust and public hatred for us. And about how he threw everything away to become king.

3. The Umbrella Academy

Partly inspired my own initial interest in taking my comic drawings seriously and become a comic book artist, Gerard Way is my favourite comic book creator. The stories are so interesting and imaginative, I like this and Killjoys.

4. Dear Door

Angels, demons, devil, unicorns, quiteeeee intense and 18+

A police officer who recently lost his wife becomes a portal to Hell that Cain, a part of Satan, can use to jump between worlds. I’m not gonna spoil how. 😝

5. Therapy Game

My favourite grumpy photographer qween and dummy red head vet. A guy got broken up with by his gf, gets drunk, ends up in a gay bar and sleeps with Minato, our other main character. Waking up he gets told what happened and eventually takes responsibility and realises he’s very much queer.

I just really enjoy all the mangas, I own nearly all of them now!

6. Kamisama Hajimemashita

Been a favourite anime since like… 2015??? Possibly, maybe 2013 but I’m not super sure. A human girl gets made the new god of a shrine because she’s homeless and the actual god doesn’t want to be there anymore. Arriving she realises a fox spirit familiar lives there and cares for the shrine, a grumpy one at that who misses his old master a lot. Their funny little story starts here.

7. Joou to Shitateya

“It is said that if you wear the suits from that store situated at the antique street, SHIDA, you will achieve success. During a break in his work, interior designer Jouno Oumi visits the store and meets a frightening and blunt man. He is the legendary tailor, Shida. Seeing the appearance of Shida who takes pride in his work, Oumi begins to feel a longing for the man, and an attraction starts to form... This is a love story between an obstinate interior designer and a hard-faced man.”

So. Good.

8. Fundari, Kettari, Aishitari

He’s just so hot that’s pretty much it ngl haha, and the jewellery he wears?? Yeah. I like guys who wear jewellery if you hadn’t noticed..Howl..

9. Under The Green Light

An orphan sculptor wants to sculpt Jins body, will it be easy to convince him?

“In a grim world stained with dirty money and betrayal, Mathew steels his nerves as he approaches the executive of the Shinhae Faction, Jin Cheong-woo, and gives him a new ambition... “However, there are conditions: First, you must obey my words unconditionally.””

I like the incorporation of queer artists and the like characters being included in manga, I can relate to the story more and I also enjoy doing the things they do. If it’s romance it can be quite sensual too.

10. Ten Count

This one is special as it addresses an example of what living with severe OCD can be like, and being able to have a romantic relationship at all due to physical contact setting it off more. I have less severe OCD but on bad days I’ve scrubbed my hands raw, to name one thing. It meant a lot to experience a character with something I go through, and not only neurotypical able bodied characters.

#ask box #manga #anime #manga list #manga reader #manga recommendation #anime list #anime and manga #anime rec list #anime recommendation #manga rec list

[timetraveltiddy]

alright I'm gonna go on a slightly petty sub4hibi rant that will probably only make sense to like 2 people here but has been sitting in my head for a while (if you haven't read it then. some spoilers ahead!)

posting here instead of twitter 'cause I know some friends and people that follow me there (but not here) that really like the ship I'm about to...definitely not hate on but maybe be a bit critical of and though I know perfectly well those in question can take criticism and the like perfectly fine nobody really wants to randomly have crit, or even just opinions they don't agree with of their faves thrown at them (so if any of you ever see this post in the future I promise that's the only reason why)

ANYWAY sca-di went on the usual art reblog and it made me think about how I'm a little bit bitter at the popularity of Takuji/Kimika. It's a ship I myself like, I think it's definitely interesting and I support it, but to put it plainly I mostly like it for its impact on Kimika's character more than anything else. Her ending and the way she talks to Takuji about her insecurities is great and it gives a lot of insight into her character, plus it's nice to see her sort of get brief bit of happiness in a bittersweet ending. However I still prefer Kimika/Zakuro by a LONG shot and it makes me sad that it doesn't get as much attention

I've gone on a bit about Kimika's relations to Takuji and especially Zakuro so I can see why it's more popular from a narrative perspective. Many of us love the grimdark shit because it's a hell of a lot more interesting and compared to happy sunshiney things, and well...EoS definitely ends on a much happier note than the main narrative does for Kimika. I love a good angsty narrative myself but what I like even better is a complex relationship between two women who have great chemistry together and BOY did this story deliver well on that. But anyway in general I would think most readers of this VN are chasing some of the more philosophical and dramatic components than a happy gay ending. Plus, by proxy of being Tomosane's brother Mamiya is relevant for the whole story, as opposed to poor Zakuro who loses relevance to the latter events fairly early in (most) routes. Why wouldn't a ship involving him get more attention?

And herein I touch upon a bit less hypothetical criticism and more my personal thoughts on the matter. I don't really have the authority to say anything on the matter between the differences between Western and Eastern fandom approaches to the VN but regardless...I see soooo much fanart of Kimika with Takuji and so little of her with Zakuro. It exists, but I could probably count the amount I've seen on one hand (and one of those was drawn for me by a friend!). And it makes me a little sad because I love them so much. Like I said, people aren't reading the story for the gay parts (and if they are, they're braver than any US marine tbh) but it saddens me that one might pass over this ship because they got a happy ending in a single route.

And like...not to be that guy but you can't always disconnect your biases from what you consume. In this case, I'm referring to what appears to be a VERY heterosexual Western fandom. Which is kind of funny to me, considering that the narrative engages in some very interesting choices that aren't tackled too often in m/f stories (but often enough in hentai and other media I suppose). Especially since the game literally starts and ends with homoeroticism if you go back to Down the Rabbit Hole 1 after you finish the game. Regardless, the narrative as a whole really shies away from making any of these yuri relationships lasting or being meaningful (aside from Yuki/Zakuro, arguably). None of them are connected to the main plot and Kimika/Zakuro has zero chance of happening in the canon endings. And then of course there's the constant casual stereotypes ("but we're both girls!" and Yuki's dad, though funnily enough I think it's kinda nice that nobody questioned his sexuality or where Yuki came from) and the constant use of the f slur. All of which may make those who are still sort of uncomfortable with gay content feel "soothed" in a way and still enjoy it. Not to say you can't be an ally and still love the gay ships in this VN but given the intensity of the subject matter, you've gotta have a mind and stomach made of STEEL to get through a good portion of it, ESPECIALLY if you're gay. And unless you're already into VNs and/or enjoy this kind of intense subject matter then it's probably hard as FUCK to get past IMOI.

ALL of this to say that I feel like a big part of the reason there's so little attention to the gay ships is that there's simply...no gay fandom. At least visibly. I was of course being facetious when I mentioned in my post the other day about the fandom being only me and 4 other gay people but I personally haven't seen a lot of discussion of the Gay elements from those who aren't part of the LGBTQ community. I'm sure it happens in places that aren't so public or easily accessible but aside from little pockets on twitter I'm under the impression that there's not a hell of a lot of us who talk about it openly. And it's not hard to see why; take a look at the reactions to this satirical post by @girlwhodeceivesfate! Some are more open than others but those top comments say something about those who bothered to open the post. And many seem annoyed that anyone could possibly have a queer focus.

This went off topic from the specifics very quickly but anyway...of course shipping isn't the main purpose of any of these narratives but I'll be real with y'all. Even though I liked the main story enough Kimika and her relationship with Zakuro were the things I liked most about this VN, so. Longwinded point is that I get why there's not a lot of content for them compared to the other ship but it still disappoints me.

it's past 5:30am and I need to simmer the fuck down so if anyone actually made it through this all the way to the end, well done! you've made it through my messy unedited sleepy ramblings

#it's shiny time #ship hate #like not actually but I don't want anyone to feel bad about their ships ya know

[deada55]

I worry that writing all this out might actually make me lose steam on this project, but I've been thinking really hard about ladyklok and reality tv. I also love women.

I preface these headcanons by saying that I've thought a lot about these names, and there's one that's really undecided. Honestly I took a little bit of a Naoko Takeuchi approach and made them after my favorite types of girls, and I tried to diversify while maintaining a similarity to Da Boys.

We got Natalie (it was this or Shannon. idk why. Shannon. she'd be a fucking terrifying shannon) Explosion. I entertained the thought for five minutes that she'd sound like Morgan Lander. She's not built, but you know those women with straight, square, beautiful shoulders and big boobs and big arms? Rugby girls? Yeah. Her weight fluctuates, as does Nathan's, and so do their own attitudes towards it (Because You CAN be Bad-Ass And Also Have Body Issues They Are Not Mutually Exclusive.) Another odd factoid is that their hair would actually change the most in length and style for tours compared to everyone else. She's bi and demi and nb (she/they) and lowkey a girlboss, with the least yassified connotation possible. It's hard getting a band full of amazing, hurt women to keep from feeding into each other's drama and crying 24/7. "Unprofessional" is the new "gay." Bc alt wxmen are so Gay.

Stina. Stina Skwigelf. Unsexy name to the American, but she's been a big PR driver while the band was fighting the media during their come-up. Lots and lots of public sightings with different famous and ordinary dudes helped stir up controversy and raise record interest, but she's only so much of a trollop as she thinks men can actually deliver on what they claim, so not as often as she'd like. She's almost six feet tall. Absolutely gangly, but she has a natural pose to her that's *chef's kiss.* You know Surfeta fucked her self-image up. You know how she looks at herself in the mirror, but there's nothing more empowering than a pleather bikini top and matching pants. She's proud of herself. She's talented and beautiful. Cis, heteroflexible. Natalie has hit it. Pickles watched.

Ok. I really am struggling with what to call Toka/Trana/Aslaug, but. It's hard growing up Like That, and it's harder when you're not prepared to be like what we expect from modern, Western women. She's incredibly bubbly and playful, her fight/flight/freeze/fawn reaction is to fawn and fawn so hard. Knows how to make soap with lye. Horrible fingernails. No hair has ever left her body: she doesn't think about it, and waxing fucking hurts! Sincerely doesn't want to wear a bra, please. The fashion sense is just L. L. Bean everything but Worse. Small figured but 5'8", has an interesting posture, BIG feet. She/her, bi, a simp, maybe grey-ace. Prone to incredible "lashing out" and attention seeking behavior (ever watched Bad Girls Club? Ever heard of Ripsi? That's this girl.), but she doesn't really mean it against anyone when it happens. Still, leads to huge escalations with...

Tamara (Tammy) Murderface. I love it when she's got the Cool Curly Lesbian Shaved Sides but it's honestly too good to be true. We're repressing being a lesbian so hard that our hair looks like dogfaced "Believe" Cher-hair doing a Roseanne cosplay. We wear gold hoops, though, because they're cute as fuck and make us feel like a real somebody. She's a total pear shape (and we DO buy them with the cellulite yes ma'am), but that doesn't stop F-cups. Her and Natalie battle it out, but it gets tricky since Murderface has smaller ribs but wears the wrong size bra (like Natalie does any better when they're not just custom.) RIP this poor, poor lesbian. She thinks she's straight and "I just get bi when I'm drunk, you fuckin' lesbos!" Trana/Aslaug/Toka kissed her once and she thought she was going to Simply Die, So Blessed They're besties. Murderface simply struggles, but Natalie has conflict avoidance down to an anxious science. They're Not going to go there. They keep separate dressing rooms for a reason. Except for Aslaug/Trana/Toka. She's in Murderface's or Stina's. Sometimes Natalie's. Always on MySpace.

Pickles. Oh, Pickles. Aging really, really well. Beautiful hair, great performance quality, super cool... She had Toka/Trana drooling for a week. One time her and Natalie fist-fought and it was legitimately incredible how it made their friendship fully develop. She'll outdrink you, but that's not new or surprising. She/her, but anything works. Probably pan. huge feminine lean. Also you know she has gauges. She's pierced. Everywhere. She looks so fucking cool. Stare at her forever. Stina could never. Pickles had a centerfold back in the day, but her talent is indisputable. It simply wasn't a media issue. She might be divorced.

#sorry im femming out. absolutely. #and a lil high #ladyklok

[arielleej]

Why I’m crying over Bumbleby

I was originally thinking about doing this on Twitter but after spending several hours browsing both it and Tumblr I came to the conclusion that Tumblr is just better for long-form content. Plus a huge number of the RWBY content creators (be they artists, fanfiction authors, or otherwise) that I follow or whose work I consume are here anyway, so I figure they must know something I don’t.

Anyway I wanted to talk about why I was so emotionally affected by Bumbleby finally getting their moment, and why as a member of the single most over-represented demographic in “western” media (i.e. a Caucasian cishet male) that I found it mattering to me.

For most of my life I’ve been bombarded by cishet romances in media. And like, that’s fine, but they start to lose any kind of meaning if they’re in literally everything you consume. I think the last one that I really felt emotionally connected to was Yennefer and Geralt in Witcher 3. Coming into that game with no prior experience left me with no biases towards any of the potential love interests, and their journey to reconciliation while trying to find their missing kid was something I found truly special.

Other than that one, most of the relationships I really felt connected to in media I’ve consumed have been gay. I think - and I have no idea if I’m right about this or not - that the reason for this is gay romances have to try so much harder to be valid and real than straight ones do. The lengths the characters go through to show how much they care for each other is just mesmerizing.

That’s the kind of love I want to have in my own life.

The first example of this to me was Femshep/Liara in Mass Effect. When I finished Mass 3 for the first time I was a depressed, sobbing, mess. I spent almost an entire weekend in my bed crying. I recognize that a lot of the lines Shepard uses are similar no matter what relationship you choose to pursue, but something about Jennifer Hale and Ali Hillis’ line delivery was incredible. I suspect that no small part of my attachment was a result of Liara being the only character you can have a relationship with spanning all three games.

A more recent example was Bill and Frank from The Last of Us on HBO. We were only given one episode (a long one, granted) but was enough to get me hook, line, and sinker. Doing domestic shit like secretly planting strawberries as a surprise gift, or establishing a trade network through some friends made on the radio (or online, to use a current day analogue) is what I live for. As for the ending, I would’ve done exactly the same in Bill’s place. 

Which brings us back to Blake and Yang.

I’ll be the first to admit that it took me until V6 to figure it out. Specifically it took Arryn Troche (https://twitter.com/dontyoudarryn) pointing out in their V6 reactions that the interactions between Blake and Yang are clearly romantic in nature. Specifically the scene where Yang is dropping Blake off to go sabotage the radar tower, and Yang says “Go” in the softest voice fucking imaginable. After that point, it all made sense.

Yang trying her hardest to coax Blake out from behind the anti-social defenses she had built up in V1/V2. Yang being the one to knock Blake out of her self-destructive spiral in V2. How heartbroken Yang was when Blake didn’t believe her story about the match with Mercury. Yang stepping in to protect Blake from Adam without a moment’s hesitation.

And then in V4 (and subsequently the comics) Yang is utterly heartbroken because this girl that she felt something for - even if it’s clear she didn’t know what it was exactly - just vanished after the most traumatic event of her life. Again it wasn’t until after V6 that I realized “A part of me is gone and it’s never coming back” was not only talking about her arm, but also the fact that Blake took her heart when she ran.

It’s pretty clear from the comics and V4/V5 that Blake realized what Yang meant to her while she was in Menagerie. But Yang wasn’t there and in order to get back to Yang to fight for her again, she first needed to fight for herself and what she believed in. She fights to win her parent’s love again (easy), she fights to convince the people to help her stop Adam (medium), and she fights to redeem one of her oldest and closest friends (hard). Only then is she able to take on the most difficult challenge in V6 - fighting for her future with Yang.

By the time we get to V7/8 it’s pretty clear that Blake knows how Yang feels about her, even if Yang doesn’t understand it herself. She laughs at every stupid joke Yang makes, makes a fool of herself dancing just so she can spend time with her, and spends time putting on makeup - all to try and coax Yang into giving a voice to their feelings. Honestly one of their best scenes is in V7 discussing how to talk to Robyn. They initially disagree on the approach but talk it out, and Yang is the one to come up with the solution based on Blake’s feelings.

It’s obvious to us as the audience that Yang is a total goner for Blake, and that’s even more true in V8 when they disagree about the best way to help Mantle and in the aftermath the thing that Yang is concerned about the most is if she somehow hurt Blake’s feelings.

Which brings us to V9C6.

To me the most beautiful thing about that scene is how all Blake did was give Yang the safety to talk about her feelings, and immediately validate them once they were given voice. Blake knew what she wanted and never doubted for a second what Yang wanted, even if Yang doubted herself. 

Just like Yang said, Blake never gave up on them.

That’s the kind of shit that makes me cry.

#bumbleby #rwby vol9 #rwbyv9 spoilers #rwby spoilers #shouting into the void

[impulsea]

What are you feelings on the live-action remake? I'm afraid that they had changed Ariel's personality too much either to make her a "Karen parents- approved good role model" for girls or to make her fit the mold of current Western feminism idea of "girl power" in media.

Hi there! Thanks so much for the question, friend. Unfortunately, I have deeply negative feelings about the live-action remake and I've decided I'm not going to be watching or supporting it. Now, I don't want any part of that to be interpreted as my not being supportive of Hal*e's casting or the fact that they diversified the role of Ariel. I'm happy a woman of color was given an opportunity to show her talent, and I have no doubt Hal*e has more to offer to a production than any of the live action princesses before her (N*omi, E*e, and Lil*y, especially, were disappointing to me. In fact, Lily is part of the reason I've given up on live actions entirely, what she did to the character of Cinderella makes me nauseous to even think about). However, so many elements of the production are deeply problematic, and when you couple that with how much I disliked the past live action remakes (again, with Lily J*mes being the main culprit), I don't want to watch something I love so much be distorted into something else for the tenth time.

For starters, I dislike Li*n Manuel. His lyrics do nothing  for me and his artistic touch is irritating, so I don't want it anywhere near Howard Ashamn's beautiful music. Secondly, the LGBTQIA+ erasure. We've seen Disney increasingly "sanitize" any LGBTQIA+ elements from their production and we even see less inclusive talent working on these projects. I also feel spoken down to, as someone who belongs to that community, with how many times they've tried to market "the first gay character" in whatever property, and not only does it never end up being an openly gay character, but always some one-eyed monster or someone like Le Fou in the live action remake where his sexuality isn't even confirmed or even something like the homophobic jokes that were made in the live action A*addin. It doesn't make any sense to me, because Disney has no issue getting political and getting even aggressive with their beliefs, especially as it pertains to feminism, but it seems they're determined to erase all the progressive our community made in the 90's. The casting of Melissa McCarthy as Ursula is one such instance. I also don't think you can have a straight man, like Lin, interpret such a historically queer property.

Furthermore, there's been a LOT to do about the beliefs of the casting team which are problematic, to put it mindly. Evidently, a lot of Erics were turned down because they weren’t white (a lot of hispanic men, especially, were turned down) and when you see how their first choice was Harry Styl*s and then it ended up being another white, British, light-eyed person...they didn't even cast a person of color for Ariel's father. I just...I don't know, a lot of it makes me uneasy and I think will age very poorly, but I genuinely and sincerely hope this is a launching pad for Hal*e and the negativity and poor decision making of the other elements of the film won't affect her. As I said previously, she's way more talented and deserving of a tiara than the previous live action princesses, so I'm sure she'll do great.

#- message in a bottle < #ask #anonymous

[sherlockholmesmypiratesociopath]

TV shows I watched and how I felt/did i remember

Rick and Morty ##like the show hate the fandom

The Nanny ##she rasied me, comfort

IT Crowd ##love this

Drinky Crow Show ##better when I was a teen

Kath and Kim ##nostalgia for free

Kung Star King ##grossed me out a bit would have loved it if I was a teen

Last Week Tonight ##my adopted dad

Bob's Burgers ##so nice

Godless ##girl help I almost ended up obsessed with westerners over this and my gay lady book

NCIS ##what you get when you hang out with your dad

Late Show with Stephen Colber and the Late Show wiyh Seth Myer ##how else can I get my news

Freud ##okay

Bojack Horseman ##did you know they make other shows and none of them have ever gotten close

Cunk on Earth ##fine

Only you ##not remembered well

Queen Charlotte ##i am Bridgerton trash, and it made me cry

Puss in Boots In Creative Story ## love me some Shrek no matter what

Farzar ##it was a show

Friends from College ##it was way better than it should've been

Mythbusters ##rasied me a bit

Milf Manner ##haunts me in bad ways and funny bad

Chopped ##comfort show

The Ultimatum ##bad

Mulligan ##waaayyy better than it should've been and wow there are women as people in a comdey show?

Chout ##okay don't remember

The Loney Tunes show ##the best, can i get 3000 seasons now please

New Loney Tunes ##it looney tunes so fine

How I Met Your Mother ##epsiodes are so good at the start of the series

Interview with a Vampire ##i dont like Anne Rice but I love this, please sir i need some more

Looney Tunes Wabbit ##so glad it was only one moment

Kitchen Nightmares ##gotta have my comfort reality show

Chowder ## need me some of my weird little show

Courage the Cowardly Dog ##rasied me, when I was forced to move into middle of no where planned on bringing my dog but he died, he was fonna be my courage, now I am without him

The Golden Girls ##she is my bestie, I need to watch to make the happy emotions

Frasier ##Niles is still my boy but I laugh at him more now

Scott Pilgrim strikes back ##fav scott Pilgrim media

Carol and the End of the World ##it sucks and waste of time

Saturday Morning All Star Hits ##enjoyable but so forgettable

#personal #long post

[richardsondavis]

I despise LGBT themed stories. It just icks me out. No way around it.

I've read some yaoi, yuri and other LGBT themed short comics from Line Webtoon and Pinterest and it still infuriates me.

There's this smugness emanating from those stories.

And I've been thinking about Jonathan Kent. I tried to entertain the idea that he'd be gay over Damian Wayne. Sounds good right?

I thought about it harder. And I found the idea utterly dumb and it isn't to my favor.

I'd say woke but I despise that term as it doesn't do the justice of defining what needs to be defined.

I found the addition of Jon Kent being bisexual as nothing more than modern day parading that the ones behind that story are good people.

But I am so certain it cannot be as obnoxious as the gay lesbian shit I see on Pinterest. OH.MY. FUCKING.GOD!!!!!!!!

So there's this series of comics. One panel comic which gets appended to this poster of comparing girls from different walks of life.

The comic portrays those women, from different walks of life as in a relationship in an effort to shove it to the man, as I interpret the reason for the artwork.

If ArchWarhammer was ever a comic, that'd be him. FYI, ArchWarhammer is an anti-progressive, pro-gatekeeping smug asshole and the fact that I think of him with the one panel comic is very telling. Both of them are smugness set to the highest degree.

Fucking bleeding hell on a stick! It lacks nuance! There we go! It lacks nuance.

Why'd they gotta go full gay on us? Jon Kent is an example. Taken that I have not yet read it and I intend to, on god's name I will. As soon as I find that issue. Pretty easy.

But lack of nuance. That's it. The Critical Drinker defines "wokeness" in the context of modern entertainment as a lack of nuance and I agree.

Arcane. Vi and Caitlyn. To me, if I was never into the lore of League and was very busy in collecting photos and artworks online of League where I also came to some artworks and stories that portrayed Vi and Caitlyn as lovers, I might've been turned off by it. I thought about that and I came to the conclusion that some of the lesbian romance artworks I've seen of the duo were never ArchWarhammer levels of smugness. It was sweet and was very lovey-dovey. A time before I realized that the one panel comics of women from different walks of life were smug and obnoxious.

I was not surprised when they showed that Vi had feelings for Caitlyn but it was done so subtly that someone who's not receptive would miss it. However, I am receptive and I thank destiny for introducing me to the concept of Vi x Caitlyn before I realized how much of the LGBT themed media was obnoxious.

There was this scene in The Critical Drinker's video about the definition of wokeness where he makes an observation as to how most LGBT romance in the Western media landscape as hopeful romance that sees the best of everyone while the straight romance was fucking toxic as fuck. No nuance at all.

There's this romance webtoon I've read called Under the Oak Tree. Was advertised to me via Instagram way back when and I am so fucking glad I read it. It was one of the best romance stories I have read so far. I always put Last Game as the top romance of all time for me, Last Game was a manga, shoujo that recently is getting adapted to a webtoon by someone else other than Line. Interesting tidbit there and Last Game was the one that made me blast Susan Egan's I won't say I'm in love. Fucking cried during the climax of that manga but Under the Oak Tree has supplanted Last Game as the best romance story I have read and I am glad to have read it. That story has nuance and great character building.

Nuance.

Maybe it's not the LGBT themes that I despise. Perhaps it's how the stories were executed. Perhaps I may be becoming homophobic due to bad storytelling. Imagine that. I still stand by my statement though. Until LGBT stories can become written less obnoxiously then I shall not be availing them nor will I be actively seeking them.

Funny thing is, the best comic I've seen on Tumblr so far was this yaoi comic about Twitter and Tumblr. It was the shit, man. I love that shit. It's the only dynamic where I will refuse to have it be a straight romance. It was just written so damn well. I'll see if I can post it in a reblog.

#lgbt #pride #lgbt stories #pride stories #opinion #rant #possibly homophobic #storytelling #bad storytelling of LGBT themes fuels my homophobia #better stories please

[juneviews]

Dear Axelle,

I was rewatching episode 4 again (in preparation for the episode today) and I noticed in part 3 (timestamp 0:59) something which I think we should talk about more. In this, Black (White) & Gram’s fellow student (I didn’t hear her name mentioned) says: “Well, well. I’m just a trans ex-girlfriend you forgot about.” And maybe I am reading too much into this. But the implication that a trans woman could have dated a generally considered very handsome cis man, without anyone batting an eye…that felt kind of groundbreaking significant to me. (⚠️ Note that, like many BL fans, I’m completely dependent on English subtitles, so if there’s another way to interpret this line, I am not aware of this, but I would like to know!)

Or this might come across as a testament of my own narrowmindedness; in which, I am sorry because I don’t mean it like that at all! It’s not that trans women shouldn’t date -> they should get all the love they deserve. 💕 But a.) for trans women to be portrayed in a (happy) relationship is rare and b.) for them to get “the main prize” if you like (forgive me the cringe language but I couldn’t find a better phrase to express that according to general beauty standards, Gram would probably be considered the most handsome of the bunch 😳), that is especially hard to come by. (I’ll let you be the judge of how often this occurs in Asian media.)

Anyways, watch me read way too much into one line… 🤦‍♀️ But I just wondered what your expert opinion was. And whatever the comment meant, I already grew attached to the character. She’s such a boss (honorary)! 🥰 Not me once again growing attached to a mediocre side character we probably won’t get to see again… 😬

Happy Not Me Day! 🥳

~ anoffymous 📴

hi off anon! okay so I do completely get your sentiment on that sentence bc it made me really happy as well, bc sadly while trans women are much more represented in thai series than western ones, the extent of their representation always stops at being the overly flirty (and often represented as predatory) side character who gets handsy with the hot main character... I have a full video on it & how harmful & disgusting this trope is, even though I focused more on effeminate gay men (who are always paired with trans women in thai dramas) bc I will make a full video on trans representation one day. so ANYWAYS, that sentence is really interesting & so far the presence of two trans side characters in not me is really not a coincidence considering p'nuchie is a trans woman herself & extremely woke about lgbtq+ issues in general. so even though I don't see having a relationship with a hot cis man as a "prize" of any sort, I do love the implication that she's gram ex-girlfriend bc it changes from trans women being used as props & frankly jokes in most thai dramas. the only other trans character I've seen have a dating life in the HUNDREDS of thai dramas I've watched is mae from 3 will be free, which is not surprising bc p'jojo is also one of the rare directors who's very inclusive of other lgbtq+ members & not just masculine mlm ones.

finally, her character says "faen katoey" so trans girlfriend which was a bit weird bc it was translated to "trans ex-girlfriend" which should've been "faen kao katoey." so maybe she just said girlfriend as in, gram flirts a lot with her like a girlfriend but isn't really serious about it bc he's also courting another girl, which she talks about right after. but tbh I would need a thai person to tell me what they understood from this line bc I'm not sure I've fully gotten it as well. as for gram being the most conventionally attractive of the bunch, that might be going by western standards but sadly being the least light-skin of the group (though it is to be noted that sadly mond's skin has been quite lightened over the years already), he will not be considered the beauty standard in thailand, but sean or yok will. I have a full video on colorism coming very soon where I talk about it in more details but sadly beauty in thailand = being white-skinned... I’m not saying mond is not considered beautiful even in thailand, I just think calling him the thai beauty standard is sadly wrong. y’all know though that I consider mond the most beautiful man on earth so yeah :///

xxx

#answers #not me #not me the series #men being the prize in a relationship?? that's just what patriarchy wants you to believe lmaoooooo

[therealrainbowmadness]

From the dark ages of queer representation to its renaissance

There is a quote credited to Sir Francis Bacon that says, "In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present". I don't know if this quote is actually his, but what I know is that this phrase proved to be true in the hardest year for queer representation in media. Of course, I am talking about 2016. In that year, it became clear how some tropes in media were used to "bury your gays". According to The Hollywood Reporter, until that year 146 lesbian or bisexual characters were killed off in their respective shows, while only 18 couples experienced a happy ending. This discussion gained momentum when Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) was killed from CW's The 100, after sharing a love scene with Clarke (Eliza Taylor), which was quite traumatic for the queer community after losing many other beloved characters that year. By that point, people already knew Debnam-Carey would have to leave the CW sci-fi drama to star on The Walking Dead spin-off, Fear The Walking Dead with a much bigger role. But the way that the writers decided to deal with her departure left all of us with a bitter taste, reinforcing the idea already so ingrained in our minds that we don't deserve a happy ending. Killing her after an intimate scene just made things that much worse, and the bad repercussion led to Lexa coming back for the season finale (and ultimately in the series finale that aired in 2020).

But as I started saying, our light shines brighter in the dark. And in this hour of darkness, the queer community came together in a movement that significantly changed representation in media in the years to come. And it not only resulted in projects to support LGBTQIA+ youth, such as The Trevor Project, but also in a queer fan event that would bring together writers, producers, actors, and fans, called ClexaCon. Such an event by itself marks a huge change in the way that the industry sees the queer community, recognizing it as a huge market with great potential if they are able to listen to its demands. And a steppingstone for that change was Wynonna Earp, which first aired in 2016. Emily Andras, the showrunner who was already loved for her work in the Canadian show Lost Girl, was also behind this western dramedy. And when she stepped into the stage of her first ClexaCon, she decided to make a commitment that they wouldn't kill off queer characters (a commitment that she made for that season, but that remained true for the whole series running).

It is understandable why the fans made such a massive effort to save the show from an early demise after season 3. With billboards even in Times Square, they showed their support to the show and specifically to WayHaught, the couple formed by Waverly Earp (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) and Nicole Haught (Kat Barrel). And thank the goddess they did, because season 4 was filled with the best kind of WayHaught content, including one of the sexiest and most intimate love scenes that I've ever seen anywhere, and the most beautiful wedding. The WayHaught wedding is a reflex of what I called the queer renaissance, which is a phenomenon related to the rising number of queer characters and queer weddings recently, especially between 2020 and 2021. To mention some of the ladies who tightened the knot, besides Waverly and Nicole, we also had Mazikeen and Eve from Lucifer, Grace and Thunder from Black Lightning, Sara and Ava from DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Carina and Maya from Station 19.

But a cloud of worry is coming with the end of many of these beloved shows. Lucifer aired its sixth and final season in 2021, and so did Wynonna Earp, with its fourth season. Other shows that either ended or are coming to their last season are Black Lightning (Grace and Thunder), The Bold Type (Kat and Adena), Supergirl (Alex and Kelly), Brooklyn99 (Rosa), Atypical (Casey and Izzie), Genera+ion (Riley and Greta), Dickinson (Emily and Sue), Motherland Fort Salem (Raelle and Scylla) and Killing Eve (Eve and Villanelle). The future of others, such as The L Word: Generation Q, hangs on the balance as the network hasn't renewed the show for another season just yet. The same goes for Legends of Tomorrow, which is airing its seventh season. It feels like, after a light breeze of advance, we are still bound to be left in a vacuum of representation.

But the future is brighter than the past, indeed. While shows like Grey's Anatomy, and its spin-off Station 19, still are beacons for representation after 18 seasons, new shows are claiming their space. Gentleman Jack and Vigil, both starring Surrane Jones, are good examples of that. Sex Education 4th season is already confirmed, and we will continue to expect great things from newcomers, such as the adaptation for TV of the acclaimed game The Last of Us, starring Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal. In the game, Bella's character Ellie is queer. Although it appears that the adaptation of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo will no longer be produced by FreeForm, it is still said that the adaptation will happen somewhere else. And we can always expect new shows to appear and knock our socks off. This means that the progress that we all made in the past few years was just the beginning. And while we will miss some of these characters dearly, I don't believe that we will be left alone to deal with their absence. This change of mentality in media started from a small but vocal group, and it created a revolution. A revolution that showed the power of seeing yourself on a screen, how that creates acceptance for all to live all kinds of love.

#lgbt #lgbt community #queer #representation #lexa #clexa #marina #villaneve #emisue #cazzie

[thealexchen]

i’ve actually read both of the articles that you mentioned earlier! I could see where both of them were coming from at varying points, though shannon liao’s struck me as a tad harsh, as someone who felt very seen by Alex, particularly with regard to her asian-american identity, and the cultural details and familial attitudes you see displayed throughout the game (especially in episode 5.) I could see why others would like them to be more overt, but they’re still present & relevant as is, imo.

I'm happy you read and enjoyed them! Well, since we’re on the subject, I might as well give my fuller thoughts about all this. This answer got horrendously long, so I'm putting it under a read more. I really wanted to talk about this more fully, so thank you for sending this ask!

I definitely see Robert's point in his article. Alex didn’t need to be Asian for the story of True Colors to be told, but it’s still meaningful that she is so that Asian fans and fans of color can look up to her and feel represented. The Chens buck a lot of stereotypes too: Mrs. Chen was not a “tiger mom” and her kids and husband remember her fondly. Mr. Chen doesn’t push Alex and Gabe to excel in school, and in fact neither Alex nor Gabe went to college, but they still had happy futures. Alex isn’t the best friend or the Asian schoolgirl or the dragon lady or the Asian nerd. But at the same time, when Robert says "Alex never really talks about her thoughts on Chinese culture,” that’s like— well, what’s wrong with talking about it? Why not talk about it more explicitly? The words “Asian” and “Chinese” and “Vietnamese” aren’t even used in the game when "gay" and "lesbian" were, and that's a little disappointing.

I figured people would figure out Alex was at least Chinese because of her last name, but I saw some streamers unsure of what Alex’s ethnicity even was (“Alex is… Chinese, right?”). That was disappointing because Asians tend to be treated as a monolith when we’re so internally diverse. Also, it’s completely possible to miss that Alex and Gabe are also half-Vietnamese. Their mother’s name is Giang “Wendy” Chen, a Vietnamese name, but that’s only in the credits. There’s far less Vietnamese (and Southeast Asian) rep than Chinese, so I wish that had been made more explicit.

In Life is Strange 2, Sean and Daniel’s struggles (personal and institutional) were centered around their identity as half-Mexican boys. True Colors almost seemed to be going in the opposite direction in that Alex’s Asian heritage never really becomes plot-relevant, but Alex and Gabe’s background comes into focus in the last chapter.

Part of Shannon’s critique was that because Alex’s parents aren’t in the picture, the game can’t explore Asian culture through a familial lens. There is some truth to that: for children of immigrants in particular, their parents are their strongest (and sometimes only) link to their race and culture. I thought a big missed opportunity was exploring Alex’s possible sense of isolation and struggle to reconnect with her Asian heritage after being separated from her family.

After growing up with two Asian parents, eating Asian food, celebrating Asian holidays, likely speaking Asian languages, etc. it would have likely been disorienting and lonely for Alex to suddenly be raised by non-Asian foster parents and lose all those traditions all at once. Possible comments like “I really miss Mom’s pho” or “Do you know how difficult it is to find hoisin sauce in the stores around here?” could have inferred more at that specific kind of loss and isolation in Haven Springs. The game touches upon this very briefly when you look at Gabe’s shrine, and Alex does comment “I don’t even know if I’m doing this right… but I felt like I had to do something.” In this way, I find it especially poignant that she still held onto cultural traditions after so long.

But I still thought Shannon’s critique was overly harsh. The little details really do add up, like in Alex’s childhood home, and meant a lot to me too. And most importantly, there was representation behind the scenes too: Alex was voiced by two(!) Asian American women and the lead writer, Felice Kuan, is Chinese. I think Alex naming her mouse Shu-shu was my favorite detail. Because it’s the one detail you can’t miss. Every streamer remembers Shu-Shu’s name and loves how cute she is and they can probably infer it’s a Chinese term. It just is so visible and empowering in that way and my heart felt warm every time I heard someone say “Aw! Shu-shu!"

But that doesn't mean Alex's Asian heritage didn't matter at all. I really appreciated that Alex's backstory still mattered because she came from a poor, working-class immigrant family. Her life circumstances were used for drama, but none of Alex's suffering was racially motivated and that felt tastefully done. I’m gonna paraphrase a comment I saw on alliebeemac’s playthrough of episode 5: "It's no coincidence that both Alex and Ryan lost their mothers at a young age, but because Ryan's father was a military veteran and had a high-paying job as a Typhon foreman, he got to keep his childhood whereas Alex's entire world was torn apart... And if you want to look at it even more metaphorically, the white patriarch Jed was able to preserve his own image as a hero and 'good old boy' of Haven by literally sacrificing an immigrant family to the mines with the expectation that nobody would come looking for them. Whether you're an immigrant or whether you're a foster child, the system is saying 'we don't care about you.'"

And at the end, Alex tells Jed, "You want to look away and pretend the men you hurt weren't people. But I won't let you.” It's a deliberate stand against Jed (a white man)’s dehumanization of poor laborers, including her Chinese immigrant father. Jed isn't explicitly portrayed as a racist, but his actions come from a privileged, and subsequently racist and classist place. For me, it worked better than LiS2's portrayal of racism because it was subtler and more personal. Alex stands up against Jed out of a personal sense of justice for her brother (and her father).

Do I wish we had more? Yeah, absolutely. I wish Alex got to actually speak Mandarin or Vietnamese in the game because that's so rare in games, even though I knew that would be unrealistic because Erika Mori is Japanese. I wish the character artists had at least made a version of Alex and Gabe’s models without shoes, because it just didn’t look right to see them wear shoes in the house (especially in bed??) and even LiS2 had Sean and Daniel in their socks in some scenes. I wish Alex and Gabe talked more about their family while Gabe was still alive and Alex could have had that comfort of someone who misses the food and customs they used to celebrate. But like I said, one piece of media isn’t gonna please everyone. And Asian representation in particular is so tricky because not only is there not enough of it, but Asian Americans are so diverse and come from so many different backgrounds. Children of immigrants are going to feel more connected to their Asian heritage than third or fourth gen kids or mixed race kids for example. Everyone is going to have a different definition of “Asian culture” and “accurate representation.”

But on a meta-level, it really means so much to simply have an Asian face on the box of a major Western game ❤️ Like even just seeing the way Alex's eyes crinkle when she smiles or how other characters find her attractive (like Steph’s note during the LARP preferring Alex’s natural black hair), it feels so affirming. It’s incredible to see an Asian girl be called the hero of her own story, to see her succeed and fail and cry and laugh and fall in love and kiss another woman and be comfortable in her bisexuality. It acknowledges that the queer community includes Asians, that Asian girls can also be curvy, that Asian girls can and do struggle with mental health. And like Erika Mori said, Alex is a fully-realized character and that’s what makes her so compelling, first and foremost. She also has a strong moral compass and dreams and fears and is such an incredible role model for people of all backgrounds, and that’s what makes her identity as a queer woman of color so much more meaningful.

#life is strange true colors #listc #asian representation #answered asks #anon #alex chen #gabe chen #chen sibs #life is strange #true colors #true colours #lis: tc #life is strange 3 #my post