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usaigi · 1 year

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Is Matt Murdock Homophobic?

Short answer: Doubt it.

Long answer: I seriously doubt, just because he’s Catholic/was raised in a highly Catholic environment (a Catholic orphanage) doesn’t mean he’s homophobic. Being Catholic does not automatically equal being homophobic.

And if we’re being completely honest, I won’t consider Matt to be “extremely” Catholic in the way the fandom seems to think about him. Matt attending mass on Sunday, going to confession, and having a relationship with his priest just makes him a churchgoer. Which I guess makes him more devote than a lot of other Catholics but the way some of the fandom talk about him makes it seems like he’s having a crisis of faith every other Tuesday.

I've seen this topic come up in fanfiction and in fandom in general so I’d like to offer a liberal queer Catholic perspective on being queer.

Is being gay a sin in Catholicism?

Having same-sex attraction is not a sin in Catholicism. However, having sex outside of marriage is a sin. And since the church only recognizes heterosexual marriages, it essentially does make being gay a sin. The whole “being gay isn’t a sin but if you act upon it is” which is... ugh.

We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity. Being homosexual is not a crime. It is not a crime. 'Yes, but it is a sin.' Fine, but first let us distinguish between a sin and a crime. It is not the first time that I speak of homosexuality and of homosexual persons. And I wanted to clarify that it is not a crime, in order to stress that criminalization is neither good nor just. When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin. Of course, one must also consider the circumstances, which may decrease or eliminate fault. As you can see, I was repeating something in general. I should have said, 'It is a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage.' This is to speak of 'the matter' of sin, but we know well that Catholic morality not only takes into consideration the matter, but also evaluates freedom and intention; and this, for every kind of sin. And I would tell whoever wants to criminalize homosexuality that they are wrong. - Pope Francis 2023

HOWEVER: We have not seen Matt Murdock having religious objections/feel guilty for having premarital sex. Birth control is also not accepted in Catholicism but I seriously doubt Matt’s not wrapping it. I’m sure I don’t need to cite one of the million jokes about him being a manwhore, we all know it. Do we really think Matt would be such a hypocrite to think someone is a sinner for being LGBT when he himself has had how many girlfriends? Not to mention he was also born and raised in New York City and his need for justice is one of his primary character traits. Do you really think Matt learned about the Stonewall Riot(his own city’s history), the AIDs epidemic, the general mistreatment and discrimination of LGBT people and would really support it? BFFR.

Matt Murdock is a lot of things, mainly a self-loathing idiot in desperate need a therapy, but he’s not a bigot.

I’m going to link this post by the lovely @ceterisparibus116 about Matt’s "religious guilt" and what I think is fandom’s general misunderstanding of Matt’s Catholic guilt.

What about internalized homophobia?

In my own fics I’ve written Matt as bi/pan (hooking up with Moon Knight) (also that one Ziwe meme) and as a trans guy who pre-transition thought he was a lesbian/sapphic. (If you read it I’ll love you forever). Mattfoggy is the biggest ship in the fandom so it's only normal to have this discussion.

Sure, maybe Matt wouldn’t judge other people for being gay and having sex outside of Catholic-recognized marriage but would he judged himself? How can Matt still consider himself Catholic and queer?

A misconception I think a lot of people have about Catholicism is that we must all follow the church’s teaching and that everything the Pope says is infallible. Which is silly and simply not true. Pope Benedict XVI once stated that: "The Pope is not an oracle; he is infallible in very rare situations, as we know." Pope John XXIII also once said: "I am only infallible if I speak infallibly but I shall never do that, so I am not infallible."

First of all, the church is not a monolith institution. Second of all, not all Catholic teaching is infallible, “no church teaching is automatically free from error, because the church is composed of human beings. God alone is a priori free from error in detail and in every case.” (Infallible? An Inquiry by Hans Küng). Very few things are infallible statement. The Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Assumption of Mary are infallible statements. But as far as I know, “being gay is a sin” is not.

Conscience, actually, takes priority over church teaching. Pope Francis said “that priests must inform Catholic consciences ‘but not replace them.’ And he stressed the distinction between one’s conscience—where God reveals himself—and one’s ego that thinks it can do as it pleases.” (x)

In extolling conscience the Catechism quotes from another Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes. It states: "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. “For a man has in his heart a law inscribed by God . . . His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary,” the document goes on, “There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.” In summary, it is possible for a good Catholic in good faith to act contrary to the teachings of the church. - Patsy McGarry

If Matt prayed, asked for guidance and his conscience said that being (trans, gay, bi, however you headcanon him) is not sinful, he can, in good faith, oppose the church. And yes, he’d be welcomed to take the Eucharist. Eucharist is not a reward that only the most faithful free-on-sin living saints. It’s a source of healing and for those striving to live in the Gospel.

In terms of the church, as I said, it’s not a monolith and people can and do disagree in current teaching. Here’s Cardinal McElroy calling for the ‘radical inclusion’ of LGBT, women and others in the Catholic Church. Here’s a letter by 6,000 nuns standing in solidarity with Trans community.

This is just my headcanon, but I don’t think Father Lantom is homophobic. I’d like to think he’s one of the priest calling for reform and acceptance of LGBT people. I also like to think Sister Maggie was one of the nuns that signed that letter. If Matt came to him asking for support, I honestly think Father Lantom would give him that.

Would everyone in his community accept him? No, probably not and that’s unfortunate. But there are those in the community don’t accept the young single mom or the recovering alcoholic. Religious gatekeeping is a problem and I don’t want to pretend it isn’t, but it’s not the only truth. I dislike the idea that being queer and Catholic are mutually exclusive. Or that Matt would leave his religion for being queer. To be honest, as a queer Catholic I find it pretty disrespectful. I would love to read more fics where Matt realize he’s queer and struggles with it but it’s so incredibly annoying when the fic concludes with Matt leaving his faith. We’re Catholic for God not for a church. There are other queer Catholic Matt could hypothetically find community with.

And I get it, a lot of people are coming from a place of religious trauma and are writing fanfic to express it. I'm sorry for anyone who was hurt by the church, religion or toxic family. The church has and continues to do a lot of harm, both on the individual and global level. If anyone wants a rant about colonization of Latin America, I’m your girl. I just dislike this black-and-white mindset that Matt is either Catholic or gay.

If anyone has questions, I can try to answer. I’m not a theology expert, I’m just a virgo and a fanfic writer.

#daredevil #daredevil born again #matt murdock #mattfoggy #fratt #foggy nelson #karen page #charlie cox #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #usaigi meta #usaigi speaks

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skye-huntress · 5 months

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I’m in Love with the Villainess Reaction

Episode 9

Before we get started, I wanted to say something first. I’ve been curious for a while what the reaction to Lene’s secret would be and I’ve made an interesting observation. Most of the comments condemning her and her relationship sounded way too similar to the comments I’d seen condemning homosexuality. As for me, upon some self-reflection, I decided that if I had someone like Lene in my life, it’d be far worse thinking they couldn’t come to me for help because they felt I would judge them.

Can’t forget that even with only a High attribute, Claire has her own OP attack spell.

Yes, Rae has absolute faith in Claire’s capabilities.

Noo, Prince Thane’s hair! You monster! What’s that? He’s bleeding? Poison? Eh, I’m sure he’ll walk it off.

That’s still pretty impressive to use knowledge from a game to counteract a real poison.

Nur Empire crumbs. It’ll probably be a few years more before the manga gets there.

The Commoner Movement might have lost its steam with the reveal of the conspiracy, but that doesn’t mean any of the underlying issues are resolved. What happened with Dede’s sentence is still an excellent example of certain nobles’ sense of privilege and superiority over commoners.

So, here’s the thing a lot of people didn’t understand about the potential motivations and consequences of Lambert and Lene’s actions. They were committing an act of treason against the crown, who generally take extreme measures to punish such things. Right or wrong, the entire family will be judged and punished for their crimes, regardless of their awareness or involvement. That’s why simply threatening a single family member isn’t a strong enough motivation on its own to betray the crown. Family is important, but who would doom the entire family for a single member?

I love it when they’re on their same wavelength, plotting together. We don’t get too much of that this early in the series.

We heard you loud and clear, Claire, you find Rae very attractive in formal wear.

Fun fact, Rae prefers wearing pants over skirts and dresses. Even Claire has a hard time trying to get Rae into a dress.

Look at those knights in full armour. And now I’m thinking about a certain fight scene later in the books. Those who’ve read them know what I’m talking about.

All hail, King Vegeta!

You gotta admit, even though it was obvious what they were going to ask, at least for the audience, it’s still a ballsy move. Like I said, treason is punished so harshly, even those whose only “crime” is being related to the actual criminals are executed.

Ah, Salas, the Prime Minister. Another character who I should avoid talking about.

Wow, look at Thane, the least favoured for the throne, sounding very much like a king right now.

Oh, these two are couple goals.

You know, we never learned what happened to the rest of the Aurousseau’s, just what Lene and Lambert got up to on their own.

Don’t think I didn’t notice what you slipped in in that flashback montage.

Quite the optimistic and hopeful parting. It’s not like Lene can visit, unless something extreme happened in the Bauer Kingdom, like a revolution or some- oh wait…

She’s almost here. And wow, they just revealed it in the promo that she was Claire’s first love (the charming “prince” little Claire mentioned in that flashback). Sure, she thought she was a boy, but Thane also had some pretty feminine features, enough to pull off a maid outfit. And who can forgot how Claire was convinced to go along with that cafe idea. Just saying, there’s a pattern here and it’s saying quite clearly that there ain’t no way this girl is straight.

#i’m in love with the villainess #i'm in love with the villainess

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sadaveniren · 1 year

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People who are coming into my ask box talking about exploiting children as if gay men (and women) haven’t been having and using their own biological kids to closet themselves since the dawn of time.

NOTE I’m not saying it’s okay to “exploit children” but it’s ONE OF THE WAYS GAY PEOPLE SURVIVE. THEY HAVE KIDS WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX TO SHOW THEY ARE NOT GAY! Gay people put themselves through forms of corrective rape to try and protect their closet. And so Louis having a kid play actor (obviously we can’t know what the kids knows or doesn’t know but my personal thought is the kid is told he’s an ACTOR) is just a different flavor of that.

And we can get into the entire argument about the exploitation of child actors at a separate time (WHICH WOULDNT BE ON LOUIS IN THIS CASE MIND YOU THIS WOULD BE ON THE KIDS ACTUAL PARENTS WHO ARE PUTTING HIM UP AS AN ACTOR!)

Basically what I’m saying is regardless of what we the fans think or feel Louis’ closet and BG are not OUR problems. They aren’t OUR decisions. They are a product of Louis’ closet and we do not know the behind the scenes reasons these things might still be going on. And also to look at BG in isolation of the last two or so years in terms of Louis “choosing this” completely ignores the fact he DIDNT choose it. He fought against playing dad for SO LONG. If he is still doing there is a reason and that reason might just be it is the most simplistic way to maintain his closet - WHICH IS HE CHOICE.

Walk quickly with me through this hypothetical situation where Louis ends BG AND maintains his closet. BG has been something that has been an internet meme since the beginning. If BG ends the likelihood of Louis being able to maintain his closet without doing something ELSE heterosexual would be near impossible (elounor engagement anyone?) because a lot of his interactions with Eleanor (and women in general) would be scrutinized.

His only other - non ramped up stunt - option would literally be to disappear for a couple years, to let it all die down and hope that things ease up and so by the time he came back nothing was talked about. Maybe going MIA for a couple years isn’t something he wants to do!

You are allowed to be upset that things aren’t ending but a lot of the arguments and talk I see and get sent makes Louis a villain when he’s just trying to survive in the music industry as a gay man. His documentary just got banned in Malaysia for (among other things) pride flags - which he didn’t cut out! Him AND Harry have both performed in countries where homosexuality is criminalized and sneaking pride flags in was an act of extreme courage.

Being closeted is OKAY. It has to be because being secretly gay and alive is better than being openly gay and dead. So please remember… gay people do stuff we may not agree with to protect their closet. Having a child actor spend 3 hours a day acting is really not that serious of a crime. He could have an ACTUAL CHILD who he ACTUALLY was showing off and making money off of ala… oh idk the Kardashians… Beyonce or plenty of other celebrities who make their child part of their brand. It’s not like he’s out here using Freddie to make an adidasxFreddie collab. He is literally just… pretending to have a son that he showed in his documentary because HES CLOSETED. And if he didn’t include him in the documentary that’s meant to show off his life - coupled with the fact he just broke up with Eleanor - would make fans start digging and low tier media would pick it up - just like they did in 2016 with BG.

Just. Please. Critical thinking. Compassion for closeted people. Learn to separate your emotions from choices other people make.

#Harry literally made a whole movie where his character tries to have kids to pretend to be straight #like!!!#please look at the whole picture #both queer culturally and also just… Louis history #in which Sada wanted to make a short post and instead went on a rant #and no this hasn’t come from any one post I just #had a feeling the girlies and theirlies were out here fighting #because it never ends

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aknightonthetown · 1 year

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1) Like how this continues showing how Utterson is “boring but loveable” in that he is just such a great rock for more lively people. He won’t have interesting conversation but after a hectic party sometimes you just need a peaceful silence with a man who will never judge you for it. He (typically) will not try and actively help but sometimes it feels good to air out your worries to a man who will not hold it against you. This also serves to show how he is subverting his self created Social Role because of his Need to find out what the hell is going on with Hyde. He actively takes charge of the after dinner talk (presumably not too out of place considering Jekyll doesn’t act like it’s really wrong) and uses it to try and pester details out of Jekyll. Because as much as Utterson is the main flag-bearer for Social Responsibility in this novel, he is still a PERSON and needs to make sure one of his Best Friends is ok. 2) Also love how everyone is picking up on (what seems at least to a modern eye) very blatant gay undertones to everything here. Utterson’s need to protect and care for Jekyll seems just a smidge too personal to be completely professional OR “just friendly concern”. One of the main theories for Hyde is that he is a Gay Lover of Jekyll, and if that is the theory Utterson is going with his behaviour reads a lot like a mixture of concern for a crush dating someone who seems Awful, and a bit of jealousy that HYDE is the one dating Jekyll. It’s obviously hard to tell how much of these are intentional and how much are just a modern reader taking old fashioned signs of Friendship in a much more intimate way, but it is still a fun reading and adds to the “Social Responsibility VS Primal Need” theme. After all this is a time when Homosexuality was still a Criminal Offense, so the idea of various characters in this novel being attracted to each other (or suspecting they are attracted to each other) but never directly addressing it because it would be Socially Improper (and Criminal) works themeatically. 3) Going on a bit of a spoiler talk (not directly spoling the book but discussing this chapter in relation to THE TWIST! I figure most people already know the twist but if you don’t, DON’T CLICK KEEP READING!)

When I first read this book this whole chapter intrigued me mainly because it paints Jekyll as NOT “the good half” of Jekyll and Hyde. He is instead just a WHOLE being, capable of being a rude dick (calling Lanyon a Pedant behind his back for disagreeing with him scientifically, trying to weasel his way out of having to answer to Utterson in any way he can, seemingly being aware of himself as Hyde but choosing to keep going) and an actual decent friend (being careful to not ask Utterson to LIKE Hyde but just to look after him if Jekyll ever disappears, seemingly does actually Trust Utterson, seemingly doesn’t hold the fact he lied to him as Hyde against him). This isn’t the story about a “Good” scientist falling prey to an outcome of an experiment he couldn’t predict. And that was just absolutely fascinating given how the story has been adapted seemingly ever since.

#jekyll and hyde weekly

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stolen-glass-bottle · 2 years

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Owl House Characters as Things My Friends Have Said because this is how I’m choosing to cops with the last episode

Collector: It’s the government, they’ve come for your cheese!

Luz: Wear a Kermit the frog t-shirt!

Hunter: I don’t have a Kermit the frog t-shirt. Why would I have a Kermit the frog t-shirt?

Luz: Because I have a Kermit the frog t-shirt!

Hunter: Of course you do

Luz, gripping his shoulders: I will buy you a Kermit the frog t-shirt

Hunter: You don’t have to spend money on me

Luz, intensely: No, I want you to have a Kermit the frog t-shirt!

Darius: So, I had a dream last night-

Eda: I had a dream about this dick! Ha!

Darius: …

Willow: We’ll punch them straight in the dick!

Gus: And if they don’t have one, we’ll give them one!

Willow: And THEN we’ll punch them in the dick!

Pre-redemption Hunter: I’m gonna hire my uncle to kill all of you!

Mattholemule: You wanna be an alpha male? Disrespect women and inconvenience children!

Hunter, with a straight face: Satan ate my ass and left no crumbs, and now I want to kill myself.

King: Frogs can swim tho!

Luz: Chlorine, King

King: Well rip the frogs, I’m built different

Basically Dana @ Disney: Homosexuality is gay!

Luz: My girlfriend is milkphobic

Gus: What??

Luz: Milkphobic!

Willow: What is milkphobic???

Luz: You know… when you can’t have milk?

Vee: LACTOSE INTOLERANT???

Luz: Oh yeah that

Hunter: What if I coughed up my lung?

Amity: Coughs up lung cutely

Hunter: There’s a bird!

Willow: There’s a lot of birds

Hunter: Oh yeah!

Willow: We’re at a park Hunt

King, trying to give a pep talk: Have some milk. That milk is fearless, and so are you!

Luz: That’s not the analogy I thought that was gonna be, but the analogy we needed!

Hunter: Drowning isn’t fun

Hunter: It’s lodged itself in my head like a bad piece of cheese

Gus: You know, the perfect analogy

Vee: The urge to be a squirrel, blissful life, sitting and eating, no thoughts

Gus, trying to put his human knowledge into any conversation: You know what they should do? Scoliosis week!

Eda: I’m practicing for my milf era

Hunter, intensely to the group: There are two wolves inside you; one is a husky, the other is a chihuahua, and you don’t know which one is the restrained one.

Hunter: If I put my hand in a stapler, do you think they would send me to a mental hospital, or just send me home?”

Season 3 Luz: Mental hospital. Unless you can somehow make it look like an accident.

Willow: Please do not do that!

Gus: Amity, tell Hunter she should not put his hand in a stapler!

Amity: I don’t think you should put your hand in a stapler, but there’s nothing stopping you, so if you do, have fun, I’m not paying your medical bills.

Gus: Frickity frack is a state of being

Dairus: They’re torturing me! They’re making fun of me!

Raine: No we’re not!

Eda: Yes we are!

Hunter: My gender is quirked up white boy busting it down sexual style

Darius: I am disowning you

Eda: You’re gonna pass out, and I’m gonna draw a dick on your face

Willow: The feminine urge to kick Boscha🥰

Amity: I don’t care if it’s cringey! I read cringey romances when they were straight and I’ll read them if they’re gay!

Belos: The gay witches are tormenting my mind!

Collector: This just in! You will die!

Amity @ Odalia: I’m not gonna help you assault my girlfriend!

King: There’s this constant urge inside me to commit arson

Luz @ Belos: He can shove nickels up his ass

Caleb: Weather update! My brother started a cult.

Belos: Homosexuals? In my neighborhood’s tennis court? Disgusting.

Collector @ Belos: I don’t hate you because you’re the emperor, I hate you because you’re a bitch!

Raine, about Eda: She’s MY favorite war criminal!!

Darius @ Hunter: YOU CANT GO TO THE MARKET IN A SUADE JACKET AND FUCKING SWEATPANTS

“Cool Aunt Lilith” trying to be hip: I am, as the kids say, flummoxed

Hunter: I don’t know what I am…but I know that my ill…is mental

Gus: Doing a lot better after the Kidz Bop concert last night! Very inspirational!

#toh season three spoilers #toh #the owl house #lumity #huntlow #raeda #dadrius #toh Luz #toh Hunter #toh amity #toh willow #toh belos #toh caleb #guys what do you mean the show is sad theyre literally all just hanging out

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ellie--rambles · 25 days

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I do see how I misunderstood your original post, apologies. However, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re assigning motives and connections where there are none. Angus says very clearly what he’s packing and why, his motives are explicitly laid out and doesn’t offer any sort of clue that he might not be telling the truth. He doesn’t make any mention of the draft before, during, or after this scene— in the case of the restaurant scene, he says that he’ll be sent to Vietnam as a result of attending Fork Union, not because he was drafted.

If you want to talk about draft dodgers, that’s cool and a very good and worthy thing to discuss as far as American politics go, but this movie is not about a boy who is actively trying to dodge the draft. He’s 17, he’s not at risk of being drafted until at least his 18th birthday, so he wouldn’t be preemptively preparing for something like this— what good could wearing a swimsuit like that on vacation do in terms of being drafted? He’d have to wear it to his assessment; just owning that piece of clothing isn’t enough proof that he intended to use it for that purpose. Also, as far as draft dodging techniques go, there are ways that were much easier for someone like Angus to do; a big, popular choice was going to college, or faking a medical condition— hell, with the trauma history to his shoulder, he might not even be eligible for the draft in the first place, depending on how it healed and what functionality he’s capable of (which, to be fair, in the film, it seems like he makes a speedy recovery).

Anyway, my point is, claiming to be gay to avoid the draft, whether true or not, was a very extreme choice, and there were things he could have done that would be easier and less damaging. In 1970, when the bulk of this movie takes place, homosexuality was still classified as a psychiatric disorder. People were hospitalized and criminalized for being gay. In America, it was still classified as a mental illness up until 1973, began being decriminalized in 1961, and wasn’t until 2003 where all the laws left that were anti-gay began to be invalidated (of course, recently, we’ve seen discriminatory laws being put back into place, but I digress). There was a very big stigma around being gay back then, and, if Angus showed up to his drafting station and claimed to be gay, he wouldn’t be sent to Vietnam, but he also likely would not be going home to Boston either.

Again, it’s great to discuss the ethics of the draft and dodging it, but this movie doesn’t talk about it because that’s not what this movie is about. Angus dodging the draft is not brought up, because this movie is not the story of a troubled boy who is dodging the draft, along with other hardships in his life.

If you want to watch a movie about the draft/dodging the draft, I suggest The Boys Who Said NO! (2020, dir. judith ehrlich) which, while not fiction, does paint a very good picture of what the environment and conversation around draft dodging was at the time, and gives a tidy little retrospective of the implications of these actions.

First off, you sound like that person who sent that weird essay to maia crimew. Second off, please take a film studies or film analysis course. Just because the film isn't ACTIVELY about something doesn't mean it's not a theme. Third, Angus is a junior who repeated a grade. Fourth, (this list is out of order with your ask) gay men fully could not join the military. It wasn't just if they were drafted. It's also very silly to me that you're acting like you know a lot about Vietnam drafting but using dodging instead of resisting. I'm a queer woman who has studied prep schools during the Vietnam era very intensely. Just because something wasn't popular doesn't mean it didn't happen. I am a film student, the curtains are never just blue. The filmmaker's intention ultimately doesn't matter. There is an underlying theme of Vietnam War fears throughout that movie and I literally just identified one. Grow up <3

#the holdovers #vietnam war #this is so funny to me #im not actually pissed just bewildered #like if you're gonna yap at least dont be anonymous #coward bitch lol #angus tully

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gimmeurtmi · 4 months

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Hey lils!! Hope you’re doing well. I have a really random question that I’ve been thinking about, but when an artist or idol you look up to does something bad, should you feel guilty for enjoying their music? Like I know they’re bad people and that’s a whole other process to come to terms with. But should you still feel guilty for enjoying their music? Also does it make you a bad person for having supported them in the past before all of that came out? Like should you have seen the signs or are you a bad person too?

i love random questions!! but i feel like with everything that’s going on recently it’s not so random and is very relevant to us <3

firstly, other peoples opinions aren’t really a reflection on you. and you aren’t a mind reader so you can’t expect yourself to know what people are thinking all along. if for example their music was objectifying women then we wouldn’t be surprised if we found out they did something disrespectful to a woman. maybe in that case the “signs were there” but an artist and their personal lives are two separate things in my opinion.

also this can only ever be applied on current active artists i think. if i’m reading a book from a few dozen years ago i don’t really know what this artist did or if they were a criminal unless it would be relevant to the art piece (example, oscar wilde who famously wrote many poems in jail and about jail. wilde was jailed for being homosexual so he wasn’t a criminal but he did make art about jail).

if the art itself is hurtful to you, to others, then it’s one thing. but still in that case—it is art. it’s maybe studied even, and ignoring it because it’s bad isn’t always possible.

for example, i’m a film student and during history of cinema we watched birth of a nation which is believed by many to be the foundations of cinema as we know it today. i’m not gonna infodump too much djsn but simply put it’s horrendously racist and is now believed to be the “inspiration” for the kkk in america. obviously, this is horrible and we shouldn’t be spending our time enjoying d. w. griffith because that’s the kind of art he made and what he inspired. but as a film student we had to watch it because you can’t ignore how it is historically part of the foundation of cinema. this is true. but in class we called out every racist element of his work and still had to watch it and point out his artistry. this doesn’t make us bad people since we did enjoy his art in a cinematic capacity and gave criticism and condemnation where they were due.

if they are an active artist and they’ve said something on live you don’t agree with or some scandal came out then in my opinion it depends. i would be entirely heartbroken if the kids did something that i thought was bad but i don’t know if realistically i could give up their music. it would be very very hard for me to do. maybe it would be easier overtime to fall out of love with them and then i would stop enjoying their music but right away with a simple snap of my fingers it would be incredibly hard.

i’ll give another example (sorry this is getting so long djdjd) but i’m also a fan of formula one where they’re mainly white privileged rich dudes who are in their very specific bubble. sometimes they do things that are just…. ew. but there was one driver i supported and he was playing games on stream and said a slur. to me, that was it and i no longer supported him. it was easy to do so because what they did was very very wrong and bigoted. but in the case where one of my drivers said an offensive word and was violent towards another driver i was kinda like “well he’s dumb” and still supported him. if my friends said that word i’d give them a talk and if my friends tried to solve something with violence i’d stop them.

but these artists aren’t our friends as much as we love them and want them to be. we have no control over their actions and their personal lives. so either way you aren’t a bad person. and if the art itself isn’t bad and hurtful then there’s in my opinion nothing wrong with still enjoying the music as long as what they’ve done is something “small”. if it’s something thats unlawful or dangerous it might be harder to still enjoy them. and art is meant to be enjoyed. if you can’t enjoy it bc of what they did that is your own and you can move on. if the art still inspires you, comforts you, makes you laugh and it is not spoiled for you then enjoy it. you can enjoy it because art transcends the person that made it.

i think death of the author applies to all art forms and we can definitely separate the artists from the art <3

#ask #anon #sorry this is such a long answer djdjs #i want to work in art management so this question is something i’ve debated many times with ppl #long post

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trothplighted · 2 years

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You’ve talked more than once about homophobia in the WRITING of the books rather than the characters being homophobic. Can you explain what you mean? Specifically, how is the writing of ootp and dh homophobic towards Sirius and Albus?

Yeah, I can, absolutely.

Obviously, when you have a character who’s either confirmed to be queer or is coded as queer, and the narrative itself goes out of its way to say “this person is morally suspect and unstable, this person isn’t good for children to be around, this person associates with bad and disreputable people, this person might mean well but actually they’re bad”, that’s homophobic writing, and that’s very much where my textual analysis with these two starts. You can definitely have queer characters who are messy and dangerous and bad! Not every queer villain is a bigoted stereotype, not every dead gay is an example of burying the gays.

But the question has to be asked - why are certain writing decisions made? Why does the author make the choice to portray Albus and Sirius the way that she does? And that’s where I begin to see homophobia.

In the same book where Albus is revealed to have a same-sex lover, suddenly he’s also morally grey and he associated with a fascist and he’s accused of having raised Harry like a lamb for slaughter. He’s not just Albus Dumbledore the kind and wise and loving and funny character from before, he’s gay, and he’s also complicated and bad. That is not accidental. That is a conscious choice that JKR made. She purposefully wrote a situation where the only canonically queer heroic character is also a former fascist sympathizer, and handled his complexity in such a way that people are still bashing him fifteen years later. By doing this, by linking his homosexuality with his bad politics and his character flaws, and not giving him any more love interests later on, and by having him spend the rest of his life guilty and hating himself, she’s creating a situation where the story of Albus’s life is “never fall in love if you’re gay because it’ll wreck your family and it’ll destroy the lives of those you love and your lover will be a horrible person”.

That’s homophobic. Plain and simple. Yes, I love Grindeldore and I love Albus and Gellert and I will keep shipping them no matter what, but one of the biggest reasons I’m doing that is because she’s told this story that says people like me who love others of the same gender are doomed to this tragedy. I reject her characterization of Gellert as toxic and evil and manipulative because making him all of those things is in and of itself a homophobic act. No, not every queer villain is a stereotype or a bigoted caricature, but when your only queer relationship is defined by these things? I call bullshit.

Sirius’s character assassination is also in that vein. In book three he’s kind and loving to Harry and offers him a home. In book four, he’s attentive, he’s a good support, he’s communicating with Harry’s other parental figure (Dumbledore), he’s telling Harry to be smart and be careful and not to take risks. He tells the trio that good men are people that don’t treat those beneath them poorly, and he speaks out against blood purity.

And then in book five - the first book written after Wolfstar became a prominent ship and dominated fan discussion of Sirius and the Marauders - he’s shoved into his abusive home, he’s belittled for no reason by Molly, he’s punished for trying to be honest with the kids, he’s shown associating with Mundungus the petty criminal, and there’s an ongoing theme of him not being safe for Harry to be around. Molly accuses him of replacing James with Harry, which is really homophobic to say to a queercoded character, and suddenly he’s no longer being the solid, wise, reasonable adult he was less than a year ago. He starts being racist toward Kreacher out of nowhere, to the point that he’s blamed for being so racist it killed him.

Again, this was Jo’s choice. His character changes for no reason except authorial decision, but as before, why was that decision made? It’s inconsistent with who he was beforehand, and it feels very pointedly about his failure to be good enough for Molly, who’s a cishet housewife. Sure, we’re given some in-universe reasoning, but all the coding in the text says “I’ve decided this man isn’t safe for children because he’s Different and Weird and so I’m going to make him dangerous.”

That’s also homophobia. It doesn’t ultimately matter what the reasons given by other characters for things are - even if we’re accepting them, it’s like with Albus. They come into existence in the book where the coding and queer-friendly interpretation becomes most relevant. She’s associating being a bad person with being homosexual. And there are no truly good heavily queercoded characters! Remus is straightwashed and then flakes out on his family anyway! It matters that this association exists because since nobody who isn’t like this gets to be queer, we’re left with a world where everyone who is is problematic.

That’s why I say that the writing itself is homophobic. There are ways to get around this, but you can’t ignore it, and it’s the thing I find myself angriest at Jo for doing.

#replies #grindeldore #wolfstar

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tarobytez · 3 years

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disability in the Six Of Crows Duology; an analysis of Kaz Brekker, Wylan Van Eck, and the fandom’s treatment of them.

****Note: I originally wrote this for a tiktok series, which im still going to do, but i wanted to post here as well bc tumblr is major contributor to what im going to talk about

CW: ableism, filicide, abuse

In the Six of Crows duology, Leigh Bardugo delicately subverts and melds harmful disability tropes into her narrative, unpacking them in a way that I, as a disabled person, found immensely refreshing and…. just brilliant.

But what did you all do with that? Well, you fucked it up. Instead of critically looking at the characters, y’all just chose to be ableist.

For the next few videos paragraphs im going to unpack disability theory (largely the stuff surrounding media, for obvious reasons) and how it relates to Six Of Crows and the characterization of Kaz Brekker and Wylan Van Eck, then how, despite their brilliant writing, y’all completely overlooked the actual text and continuously revert them to ableist cariactures.

Disclaimer: 1. Shocker - i am disabled. I have also extensively researched disability theory and am very active in the disabled community. Basically, I know my shit. 2. im going to be mad in these videos this analysis. Because the way y’all have been acting has been going on for a long ass time and im fuckin sick of it. I don’t give a shit about non-disabled feelings, die mad

Firstly, I’m going to discuss Kaz, his play on the stereotypical “mean cripple” trope and how Bardugo subverts it, his cane, and disabled rage. Then, I am going to discuss Wylan, the “inspiration porn” stereotype, caregivers / parents, and the social model of disability. Finally, I will then explain the problems in the fandom from my perspective as a disabled person, largely when it comes to wylan, bc yall cant leave that boy tf alone.

Kaz Brekker

Think of a character who uses a cane (obviously not Kaz). Now, are they evil, dubiously moral, or just an asshole in general? Because nearly example I can think of is: whether it be Lots’O from Toy Story, Lucius Malfoy, or even Scrooge and Mr.Gold from Once Upon A Time all have canes (the last two even having their canes appear less and less as they become better people)

The mean/evil cripple trope is far more common than you would think. Villains with different bodies are confined to the role of “evil”. To quote TV Tropes, who I think did a brilliant job on explaining it “The first is rooted in eugenics-based ideas linking disability or other physical deformities with a "natural" predisposition towards madness, criminality, vice, etc. The Rule of Symbolism is often at work here, since a "crippled" body can be used to represent a "crippled" soul — and indeed, a disabled villain is usually put in contrast to a morally upright and physically "perfect" hero. Whether consciously on the part of the writer or not, this can reinforce cultural ideas of disability making a person inherently inferior or negative, much in the same way the Sissy Villain or Depraved Homosexual trope associate sexual and gender nonconformity with evil. ”

Our introduction to Kaz affirms this notion of him being bad or morally bankrupt, with “Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason”, etc. This mythologized version of himself, the “bastard of the barrel” actively fed into this misconception. But, as we the audience are privy to his inner thoughts, know that he is just a teenager like every other Crow. He is complex, his disability isn’t this tragic backstory, he just fell off a roof. It’s not his main motivation, nor does he curse revenge for making him a cripple - it is just another part of who he is.

His cane (though the shows version fills me with rage but-) is an extension of Kaz - he fights with it, but it has a purpose. Another common thing in media is for canes to be simply accessories, but while Kaz’ cane is fashionable, it has purpose.

The quote “There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken.” is so fucking powerful. Kaz does not want nor need a cure - its said in Crooked Kingdom that his leg could most likely be healed, but he chooses not to. Abled-bodied people tend to dismiss this thought as Kaz being stubborn but it shows a reality of acceptance of his disability that is just, so refreshing.

In chapter 22 of SOC, we see disabled rage done right - when he is called a cripple by the Fjerdan inmate, Kaz is pissed - the important detail being that he is pissed at the Fjerdan, at society for ableism, not blaming it on being disabled or wishing he could be normal. He takes action, dislocating the asshole’s shoulder and proving to him, and to a lesser extent, himself, that he is just as capable as anyone else, not in spite of, but because he is disabled. And that is the point of Kaz, harking back to the line that “there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken”.

I cried on numerous occasions while reading the SOC duology, but the parts I highlighted in this section especially so. I, as many other disabled people do, have had a long and tumultuous relationship with our disability/es, and for many still struggle. But Kaz Brekker gave me an empowered disabled character who accepts themselves, and that means the world to me.

Keeping that in mind, I hope you can understand why it hurts so much to disabled people when you either erase Kaz’s disability (whether through cosplay or fanfiction), or portray him as a “broken boy uwu”, especially implying that he would want a cure. That flies in the face of canon and is inherently fucking ableist. (if u think im mad wait until the next section)

Next, we have Wylan.

Oh fucking boy.

I love Wylan so fucking much, and y’all just do not seem to understand his character? Like at all? Since this is disability-centric, I’m not going to discuss how the intersection of his queerness also contributes to these issues, but trust me when I say it’s a contributing factor to what i'm going to say.

Wylan, motherfucking Van Eck. If you ableist pricks don’t take ur fucking hands off him right now im going to fight you. I see Wylan as a subversion another, and in my opinion more insidious stereotype pf disabled people - inspiration porn.

Cara Liebowitz in a 2015 article on the blog The Body Is Not An Apology explains in greater detail how inspiration porn is impactful in real life, but media is a major contributing factor to this reality. The technical definition is “the portrayal of people with disabilities as inspirational solely or in part on the basis of their disability” - but that does not cover it fully.

Inspiration porn does lasting damage on the disabled community as it implies that disability is a negative that you need to “overcome” or “triumph” instead of something one can feel proud of. It exploits disabled people for the development of non-disabled people, and in media often the white male protagonist. Framing disability as inherently negative perpetuates ideals of eugenics and cures - see Autism $peaks’ “I Am Autism” ad. Inspiration porn is also incredibly patronizing as it implies that we cannot take care of ourselves, or do things like non-disabled people do. Because i stg some of you tend to think that we just sit around all day wishing we weren’t disabled.

Another important theory ideal that is necessary when thinking about Wylan is the experience of feeling like a burden simply for needing help or accommodations. This is especially true when it comes to familial relationships, and internalized ableism.

The rhetoric that Wylan’s father drilled into his head, that he is “defective”, “a mistake”, and “needs to be corrected”, that he (Jan) was “cursed with a moron for a child” is a long held belief that disabled people hear relentlessly. And while many see Van Eck’s attempted murder of Wylan as “preposturous” and overall something that you would never think happens today - filicide (a parent murdering their child) is more common than you would like to believe. Without even mentioning the countless and often unreported deaths of disabled people due to lack of / insufficient / neglectful medical care, in a study on children who died from the result of household abuse, 40 of 42 of them (95%) were diagnosed with disabilities. Van Eck is not some caricature of ableist ideals - he is a real reflection on how many people and family members view disability.

Circling back to how Wylan unpacks the inspiration porn trope - he is 3 dimensional, he is not only used to develop the other characters, he is just *chefs kiss* Leigh, imo, put so much love and care into the creation of Wylan and his story and character growth that is representative of a larger feeling in the disabled community.

That being said, what you non-disabled motherfuckers have done to him.

The “haha Wylan can’t read” jokes aren’t and were not funny. Y’all literally boiled down everything Wylan is to him being dyslexic. And it’s like,,,, the only thing you can say about him. You ignore every other part of him other than his disability, and then mock him for it. There’s so much you can say about Wylan - simping for Jesper, being band kid and playing the fuckin flute, literally anything else. But no, you just chose to mock his disability, excellent fucking job!

Next up on “ableds stfu” - infantilization! y’all are so fucking condescending to Wylan, and treat him like a fucking toddler. And while partly it is due to his sexuality i think a larger portion is him being disabled. Its in the same vein of people who think that Wylan and Jesper are romantically one sided, and that Jesper only kind of liked Wylan, despite the canon evidence of him loving Wylan just as much. You all view him as a “smol bean”, who needs protecting, and care, when Wylan is the opposite of that. He is a fucking demolitions expert who suggested waking up sleeping men to kill them - what about that says “uwu”. You are treating Wylan as a burden to Jesper and the other Crows when he is an immensely valuable, fully autonomous disabled person - you all just view him as damaged.

And before I get a comment saying that “uhhh Wylan isn’t real why do you care” while Wylan may not be real, how you all view him and treat him has real fucking impacts and informs how you treat people like me. If someone called me an “uwu baby boy” they’d get a fist square in the fucking jaw. Fiction informs how we perceive the world and y’all are making it super fucking clear how you see disabled people.

Finally, I wanted to talk about how the social model of disability is portrayed through Wylan. For those who are unaware, the social model of disability contrasts the medical model, that views the disability itself as the problem, that needs to be cured, whereas the social model essentially boils down to creating an accommodating society, where disability acceptance and pride is the goal. And we see this with Wylan - he is able to manage his father’s estate, with Jesper’s assistance to help him read documents. And this is not out of pity or charity, but an act of love. It is not portrayed as this almighty act for Jesper to play saviour, just a given, which is incredibly important to show, especially for someone who has been abused by family for his disability like Wylan, that he is accepted.

Yet, I still see people hold up Jesper on a pedestal for “putting up with” Wylan, as if loving a disabled person deserves a fucking pat on the back. It’s genuinely exhausting trying to engage with a work I love so much with a fandom that thinks so little of me and my community. It fucking shows.

Overall, Leigh Bardugo as a disabled person wrote two incredibly meticulous and empowered disabled characters, and due to either lack of reading comprehension, ableism, or a quirky mix of both, the fandom has ignored canon and the experiences of disabled people for…. shits and giggles i guess. And yes, there are issues with the Grishaverse and disability representation - while I haven’t finished them yet so I do not have an opinion on it, people have been discussing issues in the KOS duology with ableist ideals. This mini series was no way indicative of the entire disabled experience, nor does it represent my entire view on the representation as a whole. These things need to be met critically in our community, and talked about with disabled voices at the forefront. For example, the limited perspective we get of Wylan and Kaz being both white men, does not account for a large portion of the disabled community and the intersection of multiple identities.

All-in-all, Critique media, but do not forget to also critique fandom spaces. Alternatively, just shut the fuck up :)

happy fucking disability pride month, ig

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sapphicmsmarvel · 2 years

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JJ: Mad At God

song: Mad At God by Sarah Saint James

masterlist

criminal minds masterlist

This is personal because I've never felt that I belonged in my extended family because of religion and standards I was held to. I am not talking bad about people who believe in God, I’m simply stating what I experienced within a religious extended family.

What I am talking bad about: judgmental people.

If you’re worried about being offended, don’t read.

It was a series of religious crimes in Alabama, so you were having to talk to priests every time you had to interview someone.

Some were nice, others judged you for your very obvious “not christian or catholic” vibes. You had visible tattoos, swore like a sailor and didn’t beat around the bush.

You also had a wedding ring on your finger that a woman gave you.

So you were a bit closed off to them. Nice, but wary.

It was fine until a cop walked up to where you were looking through case files.

“So why do you avoid all the priests you talk to here?” “Why do you annoy all the agents?” You said without checking yourself.

But he laughed, “what does your husband do with that sassy mouth?”

“My wife doesn’t have jurisdiction over what I say.” Was all you said, giving him a frosty look.

“Your wife?” He asked. “You have a wife?”

JJ must’ve sensed your irritation from across the room, cause she walked over. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“L/N says she's got a wife.” He enunciated. “Is that a problem?” JJ said.

The thing with JJ, she didn’t care if someone talked shit about her. It’s when they messed with her wife that she had a problem.

He shrugged, “it’s just weird, being married to a woman.”

“Oh, so what? Are you sexist and gay? is that it?” JJ acted like a lightbulb popped above her head.

“What? No!” He shouted. “I am not a homosexual!”

“But you said it was weird being married to a woman, so we assumed….” JJ looked at you and you nodded innocently.

“Unless they’re non-binary? Maybe?” JJ supplied.

“Maybe this cop is pansexual!” You said as if you’ve cracked the code.

“I’m sorry but this isn’t your business.” He said, his tomato shaped face turning red.

“But you wanted to know so much about my relationship, I thought you’d want the same treatment.” You hissed.

Before he could say anything, Hotch called everyone for a conference on the case. The entire time, the cop gave you and JJ dirty looks. Hotch of course, noticed.

He pulled you and JJ aside, after explaining the situation he said he’d handle it.

Later that day you saw Hotch drilling into the cop. You couldn’t make out what he was saying but you knew the cop was staring you down. You and JJ were eating chinese food over case files. You were just trying to be a normal married couple that wasn’t investigating murders.

The cop never made a side eye or comment again on the entire case.

That didn’t stop priests from looking at you weird. You avoided conversing with the priests as much as possible.

Morgan felt the same way as you. You stuck by him while everyone else dealt with them.

“You know, it’s not their fault what you two went through.” Rossi said, stepping up to you both as you leaned against the SUV waiting for everyone to be done.

“Don’t speak on something you don't understand.” You said, kind, but icy.

“You’re right, I can never understand what the two of you went through. I don’t even know your story, Y/N.” He set a fatherly hand on your shoulder. “But I do know that people are dying.” “I will still take a bullet for them if necessary.” You hissed, insulted. “I know how to do my job. I know damn well how to protect people. You are overstepping and while you may be my superior, my boundaries come first.”

And with that you walked away and into the chapel. Anything to get away from his gaze. It was a Christian chapel.

Luckily, the main room was empty, you put your hands on a pew and leaned against it. You sighed. You never felt like you belonged in a church. The scrutiny, living a life for someone else, for a being you weren’t even sure existed. You could feel eyes on you.

“Agent L/N.” You jumped at the sudden male voice.

You turned to see Father Joseph. “Father.” You greeted.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not Christian, Father, you do not need to comfort me as if I am.” Your voice was void of emotion.

“What are you then?”

“Tired.”

He laughed, “aren’t we all?” He leaned next to you on the pew. “What’s your religion Y/N?”

“If I said witchcraft, would you burn me at the stake?”

“All are welcome here.” He said simply as if there was no other way.

You realized you were being harsh with him. It wasn’t his fault for what you dealt with back home. Regret curdled in your belly like sour milk. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“Am I allowed to swear?” While you may not have the same views, he had earned your respect by treating you as if you were equals. “You may do whatever.” He shrugged.

“I’m sorry for being a sarcastic bitch.”

He smiled. “You were only protecting yourself.”

You ‘hmphed’ in agreement.

“When was the last time you were in a church Agent Y/N?” “My grandparents' funeral when I was nineteen.”

“So last year?” He nudged your shoulder.

You snorted. “Flattering. It was thirteen years ago.”

“How’d you feel?” “Like a fake.” You said quietly.

“Why?”

“Because I was a gay woman who believed in witchcraft and things that are considered demonic. I didn’t know any of the hymns, the gestures to do, I couldn’t even tell you the basic lines you say in church.” You said fiddling with your rings.

“You are not a fake just because you are gay or believe in spooky things. You were there to grieve loved ones. God does not judge that.”

“Some of his followers do.” “While I cannot speak for them, I can say that any members of the LGBTQ+ community are welcome in my church and are a part of my community.”

“I gathered that. You were the first priest to look me in the eyes this whole case.”

He nodded solemnly, “and for that, I am sorry.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you got back to the precinct, you apologized to Rossi, who of course, was understanding.

You were going over case files, when you felt arms wrap around your waist. Based on the scent of roses and peonies, you knew it was your beloved. You sighed and rested against her, your eyes shutting as your head found it’s rightful place in the crook of her neck.

“What’s up?” You said, “we’re gonna get stares.” “I don’t give a fuck. Nobody’s comfort comes before my wifes.” She said, her arms gripped you tighter.

You sighed, “I love you so fucking much.”

“And I love you.” She kissed the side of your head.

You took advantage of the empty room and turned in her arms. Your arms went around her neck and hers held your hips. Your foreheads rested against each other.

“Rossi told you?”

“He gave me the oh so subtle hint of ‘go check on your wife’.”

You hummed. “I don’t think you want to take marriage advice from Rossi.” “Hey. I’ve been married twice.”

“And you’ll never need to be married again if I have something to say about it. Unless you want to renew our vows when we have more kids.” She pulled back and you whined at the loss of contact. She gave you a smile that told you that she was about to say hell no to something.

“I am not carrying another baby.”

“Who said you were carrying our future child?” She looked surprised, a soft smile gracing her features, “you wanna carry our baby?”

“Or babies.” You said, “I’ve always wanted a big family. I love Henry and Michael as if they’re my own-”

“They are your own.”

You held your finger up, “I do not want to discredit Will. Now, listen.” You rested your finger over her lips and she rolled her eyes lovingly.

“I want more kids. Adopting, fostering, artificial insemination, anything. I want to carry a child.”

She nipped at your fingertip. “I would be honored to have more kids with you.’ You grinned, looking at her in a way that had her knees weakening and toes curling. “Yay.” you said softly as you clutched her cheeks and pulled her into a kiss.

You were very mad at God, but if God is there, he led you to her.

#Jennifer Jareau #jennifer jareau x reader #jennifer jareau x you #jennifer jareau x y/n #jj #jj criminal minds #jj x reader #jj x you #jj x y/n

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creweemmaeec11 · 3 years

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Villain X Hero Writing Prompt- Today is the Villain's birthday but due to a bad memory accosiated with it (and because the villain is kinda lonely) they dont celebrate. The villain has a battle with the hero with the hero merging victorious, kidnapping the villain. The villain thinks they've been kidnapped for information however the hero made made dinner and got a meaningful gift for the villain. Have fun with this prompt!

I love this concept. Villains being surprised with pleasantries is everything♡ I know I didn't quite get to the present part, but it felt like the right place to cut it off. I also just realized I kinda forgot about the "for information" part, oops. also I'm so sorry this took so long!

As if their day couldn't suck any more than it already did, the villain had to go and top it off with losing in a fight with the city's hero.

Could this day get *any* worse?

They were handcuffed in the back of the hero's police car, driving through the city, towards the city jail, just like they had so many times before.

The villain had escaped jail multiple times, so this wasn't much more than a large inconvenience for them, at least it would have been, had it happened on *any* other day.

The criminal in question had gone out to avoid sitting at home alone with their thoughts today. Having to sit alone with their thoughts in a jail cell was an even worse option.

Letting out a deep sigh, they flopped back against the seat. Miserable. They just felt miserable. It felt like they couldn't even see colour in the world around them anymore.

"You're much quieter than usual," the hero commented as they drove, "Is something wrong?

"Excuse me‽"

"You're usually more talkative. These drives have never been this quiet before,"

"What do you care?" The villain muttered as they turned to look out the window.

That's when the villain suddenly realized something.

"Wait, we aren't going the right way," the villain blurted out, sitting up straighter suddenly.

The hero in the front seat gave a laugh under their breath, "you only just noticed?"

"This isn't the way to the station or city jail,"

"That would be because we aren't going to the station or city jail,"

The villain felt their throat tighten.

"Where are we going?" The villain asked, trying and failing to sound demanding. There were notes of slight fear. Nerves.

In the rearview mirror, the villain saw the hero glance at them, before their gaze fell back to the road ahead.

They didn't say anything.

"Hero..." the villain tried, "Where are you taking me...?"

"You'll see," was the hummed response.

A feeling of dread settled in their stomach.

Looking out the window, the car was already on the outskirts of the city.

Suddenly the radio was flicked on.

The villain swallowed nervously.

What a day to go out on, of all the 365 to choose from in a year.

After driving for close to half an hour, they were well outside the city and into the surrounding woods, pulling up to what looked like a small cabin.

It wasn't that the villain exactly *blamed* the hero for what they were about to do. Clearly, they'd pushed the other too far, or maybe the hero had finally grown tired of their game of cat and mouse.

This just wasn't how the villain imagined themselves leaving this mortal coil. It was always in a blaze of glory, last stand type of thing.

Still, they couldn't find it in themselves to fight back. Not today. Perhaps it was fate, to be taken out on the same day it all began. Poetic, if not ironic.

The hero got out of the car, straightening themselves and stretching for a moment before turning and opening the back door.

"Are you coming?" The hero asked, before surprisingly taking a step back away from the door so the villain could get out on their own. Not like it mattered, the hero probably knew there was nowhere to run out here now.

"Do I have a choice?" The villain muttered under their breath, looking at the ground.

The hero had the *audacity* to look *surprised* at that. As if they were shocked the villain wasn't jumping with excitement to get this over with.

"Well, I mean... no... I guess... I'd like to think I'm not forcing you but..."

The villain sighed, before swinging their feet out and standing up. Luckily, they'd been cuffed in the front this time, which- now that they thought about it, was also abnormal- but it made it easier to get out of the car on their own.

Still, they felt the hero put a hand under their arm to help steady them -as if polite bedside manner would change anything, only for the villain to shrug them off.

"I'm assuming there's nothing I can say to talk you *out* of doing this, is there?"

"What?" The hero asked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Ya know, pull the whole 'you don't have to do this, I'll be better, I swear' kind of thing?"

"Excuse me-?"

"I mean-" the villain continued. They were rambling now. Maybe the fear was finally fully starting to kick in. The desperation, because they really *didn't* want this. There was no way they'd allow themselves to beg, but- "it would be a lie either way, I guess, despite the fact I probably shouldn't have said that I'm assuming you'd already know anyway, so-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," the hero said, placing a hand on the villain's shoulder gently, snapping them out of their spiralling thoughts, "What in the world do you think I brought you out here for?"

The villain rolled their eyes, "At least make it quick, will you? And stop acting oblivious or like I forced your hand. At least own up to what your about to do,"

The other's eyes widened as the final piece clicked into place, "You think-! I'm not gonna kill you-!" They cried in what could have been mistaken for horror.

The criminal furrowed their brows.

"I brought you here to *show* you something, silly!" The hero explained, before stepping forward and unclipping the handcuffs off the villain's wrists.

Said villain's eyes widened, "what‽"

The hero nodded, smiling, "I have a surprise for you,"

"What?!" They asked again.

The hero only nodded excitedly before turning the villain by the shoulders and giving them a gentle push towards the door, "Go on! Look inside!"

The villain glanced at the hero uncertainty before stepping forward toward the cabin.

When they opened the door, they froze on the spot.

It wasn't anything crazy.... the inside looked like any other cabin. Table, chairs, small kitchen and living area with a couch and tv. Warm glowing lights and-

A banner hung from the ceiling that read in large letters "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

The villain spun around so fast they nearly gave themself whiplash, turning to the hero that had sense come up behind them.

They jumped back slightly, words and air catching in their throat as they gawked at the hero like they'd grown 3 more heads.

Said hero laughed lightheartedly, "Surprise!"

"What..."

It was like that had become the only word in their vocabulary.

"I know it isn't decorated much, but I didn't think you'd like the cliche ribbons and streamers and party hats," they made some jazzhand-like gesture, "I was also going to blindfold you but I didn't think you'd let me do that either,"

The villain could only stare, like their brain couldn't process the words they were hearing.

"I also made dinner, and a cake! Oh! I also have a gift for you too!"

The villain didn't move.

"Oh, and one last thing, I gave up and the fun cliche stuff just for you so I'm gonna make you suck it up and accept a birthday hug,"

"Why..." the villain managed, "why would you..."

"Why not?"

"I don't deserve this, I don't-" their voice cracked.

"Hey," the hero said softly, taking a step forward, "I heard you didn't celebrate, and I couldn't just let that happen. Everyone deserves to have a good birthday,"

The villain couldn't find any words, but the single tear that managed to quickly slip out and down their cheek did all the speaking for them.

The hero gave a small, sympathetic smile before opening their arms.

Nobody moved for a moment, before the villain caved, stepping forward and looking at the ground. They didn't reciprocate, keeping their own arms close to their chest, but allowed the hero to wrap theirs around them.

They'd never realized just how much taller the hero was until they were basically burying their face into the heros collar.

The villain couldn't even bring themselves to care at the moment, because they suddenly felt so safe, which was bizarre, considering how they felt on the way, but here they were.

"I still don't think I deserve this. Especially from you," the villain muttered from where their head was still tucked down against the hero's chest.

"I don't think your qualified for that kind of thinking, considering what you thought you deserved on the way here, which I'm almost offended by, by the way,"

The hero was rewarded with a small laugh.

"So, come on," the hero said before suddenly pulling back. They reached up, gently using their thumb to brush away the tear track on the villains face, "no tears," They reached down, grabbing the villains hand to gently tug them further inside "let's make some better birthday memories,"

MASTER TAGLIST <- click here to join

@llamaly @why-am-i-on-this-website-anyway @larinzz @sharraus @asrasmysoulmate @kaiwewi @akawrites000 @sunflower1000 @aroacewitchyacademic @aquarellesirene @lbelle0527 @trappedgoose-in-a-writblr-room @freefallingup13 @enemies-to-idiots-to-lovers @homosexual-having-tea @friiday-thirteenth @chocomarsgalaxy @ravenshadow17 @daydreamed-snippets @stankyt0es @jinx1365 @rainy-knights-of-villany @fromtheo-withlove @maybe-a-cat42 @the-sky-writes @watercolorfreckles @noirewaves @digitalart-tw @itsleighlove @chibicelloking @distractedlydistracted @kitsunesakii @daedae127 @wish1bone1

#writing #snippet #ficlet #short story #snippets #my writing #my work #creative writing #Crewes writing #writers on tumblr #writblr #Hero x villain #villain x hero #Heros and villains #heroes and villains #hero x villain snippet #Hero x villain fluff

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rebel-in-white · 3 years

Text

Sam Wilson’s Feelings Towards Bucky Barnes

In this meta, I’m arguing that Sam Wilson, as he is portrayed in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, has romantic feelings for Bucky Barnes. Before you think I’m overreaching and reading too much into this show, read on and think about the evidence I’m going to present. Could a simple friendship explain the differences in Sam’s interactions with other characters versus his interactions with Bucky?

Disclaimer: I’m not saying that Disney is going to show us a homosexual couple. Honestly, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m not accusing anyone of queerbaiting either. I don’t want to enter into that argument. I just believe that Sam Wilson is a man in love with another man.

Sam’s Demeanor with Bucky:

In episode 1, we have a delightful scene between Sam and Torres, who seems to genuinely admire Sam. After taking a video of Sam speaking Arabic, the impressed Torres makes a few light comments. Sam responds with a smile but maintains a serious demeanor and cracks minimal jokes. He doesn’t relax or drop his guard. Compare that to his drastic change in attitude in episode 2. After only spending 3 minutes with Bucky, he’s talking about wizards and sorcerers and something about hats.

And he’s always joking around with Bucky. He doesn’t let himself do that with other characters on the show, not even his own sister. This shows that with Bucky, Sam feels like he can relax more. For some reason, he feels safe with Bucky to show his true self.

Sam checks on him, constantly

In episode 1, we find out that Sam has texted Bucky post blip several times. Enough times that Bucky’s therapist, Dr. Raynor, uses that to gauge how well Bucky is connecting with other people. She admonishes him for ignoring Sam’s texts. In episode 3, we find out that Sam hasn’t given Sharon the same treatment. He hasn’t texted or called her, despite the fact that she had placed her career on the line for him, Steve, and Bucky. His only concern was Bucky and to see how he was doing.

Not only did he text Bucky, but Sam is periodically checking on his state of mind and well being, showing genuine concern and care.

“You good?”

“What’s going on in that Cyborg brain of yours?”

Again, we don’t see him check on other characters like this. Bucky gets special treatment.

Sam lets Bucky do what he wants

The keyword here is lets. Sam lets Bucky do whatever the f*ck he wants to do because he’s weak in the face of Bucky’s desires and demands. Sam can be very stubborn, he’s just subtle with it. In the show, he refuses to give up on the boat, refuses to give into his sister’s demands, and tries to think of solutions for this problem. That bank scene not only hints at the consequences of the blip and other social issues, but it highlights Sam’s intelligence and determination. When he wants something, he will work hard to get it. That’s why he survived so long as Steve’s partner-in-crime when they were on the run. And he still hasn’t given up on the boat.

Yet, we see this intelligent, stubborn man cave into Bucky over and over again. First, Bucky wants to come with him on the mission in episode 2. Sam says no, but Bucky is sitting with him on the plane in the next scene. If Sam truly didn’t want Bucky to come, he wouldn’t have let him come. He isn’t a pushover- he gave up Steve’s shield because he couldn’t stand the idea of being the new Captain America. Some other examples: Sam lets Bucky go in to see Zemo alone and goes along with his plan to use Zemo’s connections to find out more about the super-soldier serum.

Sam keeps touching Bucky’s metal arm

He’s touched Bucky’s metal arm a total of three times. The first time, after rolling in the flowers, he lets his hand rest on it. This is almost a comforting gesture, one that is entirely unnecessary, but the camera lingers on the touch for a few seconds. Next, in the therapy scene, he pointedly slaps Bucky’s vibranium arm. In episode 3, Sam protectively grabs Bucky when he sees that the danger has increased in the bar. The touch helps snap Bucky out of his Winter Soldier mode.

This shows a fascination with what makes Bucky different and dangerous, which could be the type of people Sam’s attracted to sexually. Let’s not forget that Sam had expressed physical attraction towards Black Widow, who is the embodiment of sensuality and danger. Sam Wilson has a type, and Bucky fits it.

Sam calls Bucky “Buck”

It’s the nickname Steve had for Bucky, and it’s interesting that Sam seems a little bothered when Bucky says he couldn’t use it.

“Why not? It’s what Steve called you?”

“Steve knew me longer. And Steve had a plan.”

Sam rolls his shoulders, a gesture of discomfort. He says, “I have a plan.” Almost like he wanted to say, now, can I call you “Buck,” too? It’s also very illuminating to hear this nickname when Sam’s afraid for Bucky’s life in episode 3:

[Gunshots]

“Buck!” Sam yells.

The nickname shows a deeper level of intimacy between Sam and Bucky, something that Sam wants. That’s why he uses it, remarks on Steve having used it, and continues to use it.

Sam lets himself argue with Bucky

Again, the keyword here is lets. Sam is a very controlled person. I’ve read numerous posts about all the things that Sam has to deal with - blip, institutionalized racism, Captain America’s mantle, that mantle being given to a lesser suited individual, losing his boat, losing his friends, and losing the connection with his family. Yet, Sam holds himself together very well. He doesn’t break dangerous criminals out of prison (looking at you Bucky), and he tries to follow his values in a world that is making less and less sense to him.

Yet, with Bucky Barnes, he allows himself the freedom to argue with him. They argue in episode 2 numerous times, but I’m going to focus on the argument in episode 3. I loved that random back-and-forth in the middle of a fight scene. I cannot picture Sam doing something like that with Steve, and he definitely wouldn’t argue like that with anyone else. With Bucky, we see Sam let his guard down to bicker and voice his immediate feelings and thoughts. We don’t see this happen with anyone else! He’s usually more guarded with his true thoughts and emotions.

What does Bucky feel?

Unfortunately, I don’t see clear evidence that Bucky reciprocates his feelings. There’s evidence that some feelings are forming (I have high hopes for the pulling Sam’s hand closer to his chest scene!), and the genuine bond is there. As of now, Sam’s feelings run deeper. It’s understandable because Bucky is a man in transition. He doesn’t know who he is, and we can see that struggle in some small details here and there: for example, when Sam wedges his thigh between his in the therapy scene, Bucky places his hands over his crotch in an insecure position. Sam, on the other hand, is relaxed and secure in his identity. Bucky is still struggling to adjust to the modern world when he’s a 1940s man at heart. Plus, there’s Steve. According to Sharon, Bucky was “Mr. America” (LOL). He needs more time to solidify himself and his feelings.

Where did these feelings come from?

Sexual attraction (sexy and dangerous is Sam’s type)

Bucky is probably the only person in his life who makes sense. Everything else is so different and difficult.

He was Steve’s close friend, and Sam loved and respected Steve.

Bucky ignites his protective instincts. Bucky emphasizes this when he says that Sam gave up so much for him. (Interesting that Bucky doesn’t mention Steve, who wanted to save his best friend and helped to convince his current friend to help him do that.)

Perhaps, Bucky reminds him of Riley (would love to see a Riley flashback)

He feels a connection to the loneliness he sees in Bucky. Despite the people in his life and his natural charisma, Sam strikes me as a solitary figure.

Ultimately, we still know very little about Sam and Bucky, and we have three episodes left of the show, so many things can change! Hopefully, the change will be good for this ship.

I hope you enjoyed this meta. Thank you for reading!

#sambucky #samandbucky #bucky barnes #sam wilson #tfatws #the falcon and the winter soldier #meta #essay #the falcon and the winter soldier meta

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shortkingvi · 3 years

Note

No, no, tell us more about your thoughts on tyzula

alright,,,, i feel like this was a long time coming with how much i talk about my deep love for azula and her character arc so i'm gonna write a pretty lengthy analysis/discussion here about it all,,,,,,,, i'll put in it a read more so people don't have to scroll past a super long post if they aren't interested, so click below if you DO wanna read it

right SO, in order to understand the crux of why tyzula is so compelling and such a complex ship to understand, we have to understand azula as a character first

to preface, i should clarify that i'm not the kind of person who enjoys the "people are born evil" narrative because it's pessimistic, cheap, and in my opinion, not realistic. i think that characters can progress past the point of redemption, sure, but i don't think that any person is inherently meant to end up a monster

azula is a character who has never received unconditional love. the only reference to positivity in her childhood that we get is ozai's praise of her as the better firebender. this, however, is conditional love to the fullest; growing up knowing your value to your parent is intrinsically tied into what you can accomplish makes you highly defensive of losing your ability and disappointing, because then, what do you have? maybe this is the gifted kid in me speaking, but being identified as "special" at a young age is SO damaging in so many ways

azula only knows love in the form of praise for her abilities, not for her as a person. her mother certainly had no unconditional love for her in the way she did zuko, in azula's mind at least. azula herself says that her mother thought she was a monster; now, we can argue until the hippo cows come home whether or not ursa ACTUALLY thought this but it doesn't change the fact that this is how azula PERCEIVED it. she watched zuko receive love from their mother and their uncle while all she ever received was praise for what she could do, not who she was. she also received praise from her father and admonishment from her mother, so it's natural she would be inclined to follow her father's - horrible - advice rather than her mother's

anyways, now that we've established azula's lack of understanding of unconditional love, let's talk about ty lee. ty lee is the first one to give azula a taste of what love is. now, again, much of this is borne out of manipulation on azula's part BUT this is mainly because azula only knows how to receive approval through actions and not character. for ozai, she molds herself into what he'll approve of; for ty lee, she molds HER into something that won't be swayed by azula's flaws

nonetheless, we see some real azula peek through when she's with ty lee. during the ember island episode, we get a pretty sincere apology from azula to ty lee that feels VERY out of character for someone who never apologizes for anything. we see azula's dependence upon ty lee as, on the surface, something related to ty lee's abilities. however, it does seem strange that azula chose a non-bending circus girl as one of the members of her elite, inside squad (no i'm not arguing ty lee isn't strong or powerful, i think she's actually one of the most powerful characters in the show re: chi blocking, but azula probably wouldn't think this immediately)

INSTEAD, azula chooses ty lee because she TRUSTS her. trust is how love manifests when you aren't taught how to love in the first place. ozai, the only person azula thinks cares about her, puts his trust in azula to carry out his orders so she, in turn, does the same as an expression of care and love. because that's what she thinks love is! love to her is "i trust you to do this for me when i can't" and not "i trust you to do this for me because you WANT to"

because azula doesn't GET to want. she only gets to DO

so, now, let's get into the betrayal, turning, rebellion, whatever you want to call it, at boiling rock

IF azula only ever expresses real compassion for ty lee, and we've established that trust seems to be the way azula expresses this compassion most of the time, a betrayal would be the worst possible thing for her to face. she's already dealing with mai turning on her and choosing zuko, although i'd argue this was always in the back of her mind considering mai and zuko's relationship. what she ISN'T expecting, however, is ty lee. ty lee, who she trusted explicitly, turning on her and choosing the other side. because in azula's mind, she's not sure what she's done wrong! she's carried out orders perfectly, she's the strongest, she's the logical option at this point in terms of who will win the war

and still, ty lee turns on her

so now we have an azula who's lost the one person she cared about most (if we're going on the context clues of the show), and it breaks her. breakdown azula sends away all her advisors and protectors out of fear that they'll betray her because she's already been betrayed by the one person closest to her, so what's stopping all of them from doing the same?

her hallucination is important in understanding tyzula too; her mother talks about her use of fear to control people and azula replies with "trust is for fools, fear is the only reliable option." funny how hallucination ursa never mentions trust here and yet azula talks about it, huh? because trust is equal to love in her mind and she just lost any semblance of love she had left in her life the moment ty lee left her. i could write a whole other thing about the symbolic hair cutting here, but i'll save that for another time probably because this is already getting long and it'll turn into a whole discussion about hair in the avatar universe

ANYWAYS, this is all essentially why i love tyzula so much. we have a girl who doesn't understand and has never felt real, unconditional love losing a person who DID love her deeply but couldn't trust that her actions were good

we have azula, who was raised in a restrictive environment where her abilities were the only things keeping her from being physically abused (because she was regularly being emotionally abused if we're being honest), trying to grapple with understanding what GOOD even looks like

it's worth it to mention that azula was raised in a highly homophobic environment as well; it's not coincidental that bryke specifically confirm it is the fire nation who criminalized homosexuality. azula's internal homophobia, compounded with her inability to understand love, makes tyzula this tragic mish mash of almost, maybe, but also never

in any other world, tyzula happens a million times over; ty lee and azula are childhood friends who grow up, lose contact, come back together, and break free of their oppressive environment that neither of them are truly suited for (azula mentally and ty lee emotionally)

in the world we're given, however, this is everything they CAN'T be. and that's what makes them so fantastic

i love azula, i think about azula a lot, i RELATE to azula, my heart breaks for what she could have been if she weren't a product of her environment. but, more than anything, i'm just so heartbroken by azula getting SO close to understanding what love is but coming just short because the one way she expresses love, through trust, is the one thing she feels ty lee breaks

and isn't that the tragedy of it all?

#sorry anon this is SO long sxvsxgsdysvdg and turned more into an azula meta than a tyzula love fest #but their tragedy and toxicity is what makes them so fascinating #because they have all the makings of an epic wlw pairing but azula is just SO broken she gets in her own way #also totally unrelated but while i was writing this i was thinking about how azula's descent into madness #is what game of thrones tried and failed to do with daenerys #and now i kinda wanna write an azula dany meta thing too dvasyvdsadahsdvasdj #anyways yeah this is why i love them #asks #anon #tyzula

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pandabunfics · 3 years

Text

I Followed the Plan

Disclaimer: This is FICTION, so everything written is a work of fiction and not real, everything in this does not reflect on him as a person in real life.

Sangyeon x Male Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,068

Requested by: @taehyungkim4

Life with Sangyeon has been an interesting one, working alongside him through a project was just the beginning, now the both of you have been in a steady relationship, a non platonic relationship, for almost 8 months. Naturally however, Korean society and Korean people generally don’t accept most homosexual relationships, not to mention with their idol, as much as I love Sangyeon, although I’m yet to tell him that out loud, it’s hard being very secretive, it’s not something I’m used to.

You stand in the kitchen doing the dishes, you always used doing the dishes as an opportunity to escape from the group that is Sangyeon and his members.

“BABE!” Sangyeon shouts from the kitchen doorway.

“Yeah...yeah what?”

“You weren’t answering me, something the matter?”

“Um, no nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“No….we’ve been together for a while now, it’s dawning on me how hard it is to be so secretive about all this. It’s taking a slight toll on me.”

Sangyeon walks up behind you, turning you around by the waist, you lean back against the sink, “Is there anything I can do? Anything at all to make this better?” Sangyeon wraps his arms around your waist pulling you into a little hug, giving you a little pout to add.

“Being in an out in the open relationship isn’t an option, so maybe a date?”

“A date? Where were you thinking?”

“Busan? I’ve heard a few idols have gone there for dates.”

“Umm…Sure.” Sangyeon hesitates.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to, I want to be able to give you that kind of out in the open relationship, or at least as much as I can.”

“Thank you Sanggie.” Sangyeon leans closer giving you a quick kiss, after a moment he grabs a glass of water before returning to the living room with his members.

You return to doing the dishes and begin wondering, 'I hope this date is enough for me, maybe dating an idol is as hard as I was told, maybe I’m in over my head…..just maybe.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking quickly alongside Sangyeon you both hurry through the train station, “Come on.” Sangyeon gestures towards his left, “This way.” Sangyeon says, you nod in response, following Sangyeon you both get on the train packed with people.

Throughout the train ride you look towards Sangyeon a few times, he’s completely bundled up, even wearing sunglasses and a mask, as are you, ‘I wonder if anyone will catch us, it feels like we’re criminals.’ You think to yourself.

Eventually you reach your stop, it’s almost 8pm, the amount of people about now is growing less as you walk through streets, “Where are we going?” You ask Sangyeon.

“Somewhere kind of private.”

“How private?”

“Very.”

“Okay.” Sangyeon stops walking almost as soon as you answered, you look up to see a restaurant sign, “Private.” You say to yourself.

“It was either this or a clearing I found, but I thought you’d take that the wrong way, so I chose this place instead.” Sangyeon grabs your hands pulling you into the restaurant, as you enter the realisation sets in, it’s almost empty and the few people who are here, seem to be all the same sex, might be coincidence.

“Table for two?” The waitress asks, “Yes.” Sangyeon replies.

The waitress gestures for us to follow, she shows us our table and we take a seat at the table as she walks away.

This place is cool but something seems wrong, like it seems almost too good to be true or, something bad is- something is just not right.

“You seem quiet, is something wrong?” Sangyeon pats your hand bringing your attention back to the room.

You try and shake off your feeling, “No, it’s all good, thank you for bringing me here, this place seems...nice.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After eating and sitting at the table and talking for a little bit with a couple of drinks, Sangyeon begins getting a little touchy, “Sangyeon I think you’re a little tipsy.”

“I’m not tipsy, I just want to be affectionate with you.”

You smile to yourself and stand up from the table, “Let’s get home.”

“Oh alright.”

You grab Sangyeon’s hand and lead him to the entrance, you pay for the food and take his hand again as you walk out with him.

When you are on the street Sangyeon stays by your side, suddenly your get pulled into a small alcove by the restaurant, “Sangyeon what are you doing?”

“What? No one’s watching, it’s almost 9:30pm, there’s very few people out here and I want to give you your out in the open relationship.” He immediately finishes his sentence by kissing you, he puts his hand on the back of your neck, his other hand wrapped around your waist, you don’t put up a fight, you just allow yourself to melt into the kiss.

After some time, very suddenly, Sangyeon pulls back, “What? Sangyeon? What’s wrong?” You shake him a little hoping to get a response, “SANGYEON!”

“Yeah, yeah I heard you.” He’s keeps looking across the street at nothing.

“Did you see something?”

“No, I thought I did, but no.”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course I am, I have you, my protective little boyfriend.”

“Who you calling little?”

Sangyeon just laughs at you, he slips out of the alcove and holds out his hand waiting for you to take it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You wake up to your blaring alarm, “AGH.” Sangyeon rolls over trying to ignore it, you pull yourself free from the tangle of limbs in the bed and tap your phone until your alarm turns off.

“It’s my day off, why is your alarm still on?”

“Just because it’s OUR day off, doesn’t mean we can spend it in bed all day.” You get up and stand beside the bed, much to the protests of Sangyeon.

“Why not?” Sangyeon whines.

“Because.” You pull the duvet off Sangyeon, leaving with only a pillow and his boxers covering him, “We need to do things today and you know that.”

“Ugh fiiiine.” Sangyeon sits up throwing a pillow at you and rushing past you to the bathroom locking it behind him, you just roll your eyes and get to making the bed and tidying up your apartment for the time being.

Sangyeon comes out of the bathroom half dressed in just tracksuit pants, “Put some clothes on.” You tell him averting your eyes from his body.

“Why are you acting like you have never seen me fully naked?”

“I don’t know.”

“Awwww, it’s so cute how you get so flustered over such small things.” Sangyeon pats your head as he walks past you to your bed, picking up his shirt off the floor from the night before, you just take a minute to admire his back muscles before you leave the room. Entering the kitchen you pick up your phone, sit at the table and begin to eat the breakfast you had just prepared for yourself.

Scrolling through twitter seeing people obsessing over something about Taemin as they do, you then see a title that makes your heart drop ‘THE BOYZ Sangyeon found kissing a man!?’

You just sit there wide eyed putting your phone down on the table, Sangyeon walks in cheery, not immediately noticing you hunched up on the seat, still in shock.

When he finally notices, “Hey, what’s up?” Sangyeon sits down opposite you, you look up at him and just slide your phone across the table saying, letting out a painful exhale in anticipation of him reading the news article, as he reads his expression goes through multiple changes, shock, horror, terror, fear, sadness, “I’m so sorry Y/N”

“What?”

“I thought we were safe last night. And look, now we’re- Oh my god, this is all my fault.” Sangyeon gets up and begins to pace around the kitchen thinking to himself, you try and compose yourself for a moment, “This is just as much my fault as it is yours.”

“But it wa-“

“It was my idea to go out and on top of that, I’m in this relationship too, so when something happens, it’s also my fault.” You walk over to Sangyeon, wrapping your arms around his ribs, hugging him.

Sangyeon grips on to you letting out a few tears, “Sangyeon? Oh my god, honey.” You grab Sangyeon’s face and just look in his eyes, he smiles at you as he always does.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because I have you, even though this is the worst thing that could possibly happen to me, us, I still have you, and no one can take that away from me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“A fan posted this image on Wednesday at 9:36PM on multiple social media platforms, allowing it to be seen by as many people as possible.” The man in the chair turns around to face both you and Sangyeon sitting there.

He continues, “Do you understand how much of an effect this will have on your reputation as an idol, not to mention on us as a company? We cannot allow this kind of behaviour to go on, however….despite this, I am not removing you nor am I terminating you contract.”

Sangyeon, eyes wide looks up at the man, “Wait- what? I’m still in THE BOYZ, I’m still in the company?”

“That is correct however, YOU will be the one to deal with this mess, you will be the one to clear it all up, am I understood?”

“Yes sir.” Sangyeon slouches back in relief, he seems almost annoyed though, Sangyeon and you both get up and bow to the man before walking to the door, “I hope you understand that you will need to make a public comment about the false accusations of your sexuality and the full situation.”

“Yes Sir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe you got caught." Jacob says resting his hand on Sangyeon’s shoulder.

“I know. You two have always been pretty careful.” Kevin adds.

“What’s going to happen?” Eric says sitting beside you on the floor.

“I don’t know, I have to do a live and explain the whole thing.” Sangyeon says leaning back on the couch, clutching at his face, rubbing eyes.

Eric and Kevin look at each other quickly before Eric pipes up, “Y/N come with me, I need to talk to you.”

“Uh sure.” You follow Eric into the dorm’s kitchen, seeing the rest of his members in there, Eric closes the door behind, “Eric what’s going on?”

“We just want to ask you something about Sangyeon.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sangyeon sits in the seat behind the table and in front of the camera, looking pressured he takes a deep breath before nodding to one of the managers overlooking the live, you sit off to the side being able to watch him make the announcement.

The manager turns on the VLive, Sangyeon introduces himself as expected, “As some of you may have seen recently, some things, have been said- about me and...another person.” Sangyeon quickly looks at you, you give a reassuring smile, he smiles back, “As some of you have seen, some things were said about me, a picture of me and someone else has been circulating, and I wanted to just say…….that’s my boyfriend and I love him.” The managers eyes widen and all of them panic and try to end the live as fast as possible, Sangyeon stands up with an aura of pride around him.

“What’s wrong with you?!” The manager yells at Sangyeon, “I was told to explain the situation, I did just that.”

The manager stands there in complete confusion unable to pull together a response, Sangyeon grabs your hand pulling you out of the room and down the hall, “Sangyeon what the hell have you done?”

“I followed the plan.”

“What plan?”

“Kevin’s plan.”

“For me? You did all this for me? What about the other members? Their reputation, your reputation, your career-”

“Babe, who do you think told me to do it?”

“I love you.” You slap your hands over you mouth in immediate shock.

Sangyeon just smiles at you…..as he always does, “I love you too.”

Rules

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helisol · 3 years

Text

dude im not sure you will get it after reading this either, but you Can read it now

okay so first of all do not expect me to adhere to rules of grammar or Proper capitalisation, I am writing from the heart

so it’s been said before by other people but if Quark and Odo didnt look like the aliens that they are but instead like two regular prettybois the fandom would do cartwheels over their dynamic and Not call them a crack ship. because really, their dynamic fucking SLAPS and I’m here to tell you Why.

their surface-level dynamic is “Respected and Talented Security Chief and Cunning Immoral Businessman who are in Love but pretend not to be” and that's just an off-brand version of enemies to lovers! which is excellent and for some people that’s all you really need to get invested in a ship.

but some people look at it and go “Hm, no, that’s not enough. I mean, they work as friends but it doesn’t really have to be romantic.” and to that I say you are Absolutely Valid, not everything has to be romantic.

it just so happens that these two fuckers have one of the most compelling romance stories ever, and it’d be a shame not to explore it.

so before I dive into the internalised homophobia and repression, I’d like to take a moment to talk about Quark as a character.

because if you have brainworms like me you can kind of see that its an honest to god greek tragedy.

this guy comes from a race of people where being kind, ethical and fair is considered Abnormal and Horrifying. and I’m not gonna call Quark out of all people kind, ethical or fair but,,,

you ever notice how he’s A Much Better Person Than Pretty Much All Other Ferengi?

dont get me wrong, Quark is still a bastard, but every once in a while his True Character shines through. and I say True Character because guys,,, the way he behaves around other people is an Act. he’s pretending to be something he’s not.

he has to try so hard to be a good ferengi it’s honestly painful to watch at times. because he is a SHIT ferengi!

he loves his friends- because that's what the ds9 crew are. they’re his friends! and it makes him miserable because that's not! normal! for a ferengi!

let’s compare Quark and Rom for a second.

Quark reeks of self loathing because a lot of the time he just Doesn’t act like a ferengi is supposed to, and this drives a lot of conflict in the show. he knows how a ferengi should act, it’s just that he can’t!! fucking!! do it!! but he still tries and tries to fit into that mold, which straight up ruins his life on multiple occasions.

Rom is also not a Model Ferengi, but he lives without hating himself. and it’s mostly because he doesn’t care about how a ferengi Should act, he’s loved and cared for even when everybody knows that he’s a shit ferengi! because his non-ferengi-ness works to his benefit. it encourages and highlights his abilities as an engineer. the success and love he finds make it easy for him to be content with his true self. Unlike Quark, who doesn’t get unconditional love from anyone.

its so!! tragic!! because you can see what Quark is really like!! his true self!! he’s a nice guy who cares for people!

its right there all the time and it's so blatantly obvious. especially in episodes like “Body Parts”, “Bar Association”, “The Way Of The Warrior” and “Ferengi Love Songs”

his own wiki page literally calls him “a compassionate and generous man by ferengi standards” which pretty much translates to “not really a good ferengi”.

anyway so Quark is a tragic figure or whatever but we’re actually here for the REPRESSED! HOMOSEXUAL! TENDENCIES! that he and Odo both exhibit.

with characters like garak you don’t really need to have brainrot to pick up on those tendencies, because that was something andrew robinson chose to do, on purpose.

and to be fair, Quark wasn’t intended to be Any kind of representation, not even by the actor. I’m just pointing out that he Does look and act and talk like a little gayman.

I will admit that he is Painfully Straight in the text of the show, but on a meta level he’s just. a dude who has a serious case of repressing his real personality. and taking it a step further- he also represses his feelings towards another man.

and that man is Odo.

a few things on him:

Odo is literally desperate to be a person. unlike Quark, who at least has the comfort of belonging to a society of people with a set of rules and expectations, Odo has never met anyone or anything like him in all his years of life.

like, we all know Odo basically grew up in a lab, right?

with people who didn’t know anything about him. who he was so unalike that they literally called him “Nothing”

but he still learned to look and talk and act like them (because if he didn’t he’d feel *pain* which is very fucked up by the way?)

so we know for a fact that Odo wants to be recognised as a person- which is why he tries really hard to conform to the ideals of the society that raised him. instead of exploring his nature as a shape shifter he maintains a humanoid form, picks up a job and creates an entire personality around what he wants to be seen as. but not what he really is.

and that's the thing that causes all the conflict between Quark and Odo. the type of person odo wants to be seen as is the polar opposite of whatever the fuck quark wants to be seen as.

In the same way that Quark acts like a Normal Ferengi, Odo acts like a Normal Security Officer. and in a cruel twist of fate, the Ferengi happens to be the antithesis of the Security Officer.

If you only look at them as the things they act like, and not the things they are, you might say they’re way too different to like each other, right?

but,,, if you think about the fact that they’re both putting on this act,,, this performance of idealised versions of themselves,,, you can see that they are The Same. They Are Both Gay Repressed Loser Aliens Who Try To Act Like Things That They Aren’t!

Imagine you’re Odo.

Imagine that you’re Nothing, because you’re not like anything anyone has ever seen- and because you are Nothing you don’t fall in love with anyone for years and years. since who could love something that isn’t like them at all?

But then one day this Thing shows up in your path and you just hate it. Because it’s not like anything *you* have ever seen. It’s disorderly and looks grotesque and it’s criminal to boot.

It’s all the things you learned would make a “Bad Person” It’s everything you aspire not to be, because if you were any of those things you would BE PUNISHED.

But the trouble is, eventually he’s not an “it” anymore, he’s “Quark” and you see him every day of your miserable little life because you live on the same damn station in space and it’s hard to avoid each other.

He also happens to be one of the only things in your life that are constant. He will never leave because he is stubborn and greedy and you just *hate him so much* that you’re convinced he must be doing all of it to spite you. And yet you also can’t seem to leave him alone.

So Odo Must Hate Quark. everything else is a non sequitur for him. he can’t not hate Quark.

because Quark is, and i’m sincerely sorry to apply christian fucking imagery to this, The Forbidden Fruit.

If he liked quark he’d admit some kind of moral failing. it would be the end of his act. but on the other hand...it might be a good thing, because at least he could have quark.

but Odo can never go through with biting into this apple because the consequences are horrifying to him. he could never have quark because, according to his performance, he would Never like quark to begin with.

and here’s a take for you: Odo's Brand Of Internalised Homophobia Doesn't Stem From Heteronormativity. It Stems From The Fact That He Was Kind Of Assigned Asexual At Birth.

and the show sort of alludes to this, for real! not just subtext! canon! except the writers used the wrong person.

because instead of Odo having these Forbidden Feelings for Quark he has them for,,, Kira.

but since this is My Quodo Manifesto you’ll understand that i am 100% willing to just toss that part of canon out the airlock.

so Odo does canonically have that mindset of “no one could ever love me” for decades he repressed any and all feelings of love to avoid getting hurt. in the show he breaks this cycle of repression when he takes a chance and enters a relationship with Kira. yay?

but we all know that aint it chief. and part of the reason why That Ship Ain’t It is the fact that Quark is Right There. and he is simply the more interesting choice for odo.

he and Odo literally share the same problem and have weird intertwined character arcs! they are both dreadfully afraid of not conforming to the ideal versions of themselves, so they reject everything that could challenge their Performance!

on some fucked up level they hate each other *and* themselves individually. and this hatred makes them reject parts of their real identities for the sake of protecting their image. which. yknow. in gay people. is internalised homophobia!

so you can see that they’re both repressing A Lot even if you view them as Friends, but the most important thing in this kind of romantic dynamic is usually,,, when the characters *stop* repressing.

and the thing is. the thing that Kills Me with these two. They Never Get That Moment. Thats Why You Need The Brainrot To See Them As Romantic.

The Ascent gives us an example of what happens when they both take their act too far. I mean, who could forget “Fascist!” and “Fraud!” That is what odo thinks of quark’s performance and vice versa, but we don’t really hear them adress the fact that they *are* playing these roles to a ridiculous extent.

We also never get an example of what would happen if they dropped their act instead of over-performing it. or rather we don’t get to see both of them drop it.

And the reason why we never get that moment is because there’s this one key difference between Quark and Odo.

Quark knows that he’s constantly repressing his true nature and his feelings for odo. We pretty much hear him say so in the iconic root beer scene in Way Of The Warrior. he knows that he’s not a good ferengi but he keeps up his act.

So quark is aware enough to feel that sweet sweet self loathing. But Odo isnt self loathing as much as he is just self sabotaging.

and this subtle difference between them is why, at the very end of the show, we get “That man loves me, can’t you see? It was written all over his back!”

this moment is quark dropping his act and asking odo to do the same. he wants to hear a genuine Goodbye from him because they have known each other for Decades and they are Friends. but odo is so unable to express the feelings he’s been repressing all these years. that he self sabotages again and just walks away.

even though this is like. very anticlimactic. considering I just spent 2000 words talking about how Odo and Quark are Most Certainly Gay For Each Other.

The fact that their ending is so Weird is the reason why quodo is so engaging and appealing to me? especially post-canon quodo.

like, the amount of “what if’s” this ship has are Astounding.

What if either of them had dropped their act a little sooner? What if they both did, for just a moment, and it was the straw that breaks the camels back?

What if Odo comes back after a few years? What if Quark comes to get him?

What if, in that moment in the finale where Quark drops his act, Odo had returned the gesture? What if Gag-Reel Quodo Kiss.gif Real?

with the depth that I read into their relationship, those what ifs are really fun to think about.

anyway its 1 am and i’m not an english major so literary analysis is not like, my strong suit. plus most of this was written in a late night screaming session with a friend who has the exact same opinions as me. i just think aliens hot and in love. thats all.

#the SOUND of my HEAD hitting my DESK with TERMINAL VELOCITY #quodo #star trek

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