#literally every other character in this game I'm like "you're a queer but I'm not picky about which one.'

[lo-sulci]

What are heaven will be mine & coquette dragoon?

oh my goodness, thank you for asking!! the short answer: they are incredibly good visual novels that I highly recommend, especially if you're a fan of mecha, sci-fi, great world building, yuri, and generally just amazing art created by transfems

long answer:

heaven will be mine (aside from being where I got my url) is the second VN made by worst girls games, best known for their first outing, we know the devil (also an absolutely amazing game). hwbm tends to ask a bit more from the reader than its predecessor- while wktd almost exclusively featured three characters and dealt with rather plainly stated themes of alienation, loneliness, and religious trauma, hwbm presents a setting cloaked in metaphor where human will literally shapes the universe and psychic mech pilots read spacetime like a narrative.

the cast is bigger, with the three routes allowing insight into each of the three main girls in addition to members of the factions they belong to, all in service of a beautiful story about queer people connecting with each other and finding/making their place in a world that would want to deny them their happiness (and a lot of other things, but I'm simplifying some here). begging to be replayed over and over, i've had different characters and details stick out every time ive played through the game, while also gaining a deeper understanding of and appreciation for hwbm's characters and setting. I've loved hwbm and wktd for years and expect I will for years and years to come, which, incidentally, is why I got a pair of tattoos based on these games LMAO. in other words: they're fucking fantastic and hit like few other things out there, imo

coquette dragoon is one of those other things, because holy shit does it excel at hitting incredibly specific and relatable emotional beats that are liable to absolutely tear you apart. created by ivy burgeroise, who (by her own fantastic description) makes art for sad perverts, coquette takes place during a seemingly endless war between the lilac fleet and the duchy of lucia, two spacefaring societies inhabited by animal people who have very differing opinions on magic.

focusing (so far) on xiomara rosales of the lilac and lady honey rose of the duchy, coquette explores painfully human stories from both sides of the war. (to that point, I'd be remiss if I didn't advise you to look out for the content warnings- coquette gets into some very heavy stuff and speaks about it very frankly and honestly, which is to its credit imo but i also understand that that is not something that everyone is in a space to deal with.) more than anything else, I feel, coquette is a work that puts words to feelings that you'd never before been able to describe, and, through the vulnerability of its author in making something so emotionally honest, makes me want to be more openly and happily myself. all of this in a story that examines war, exploitation, and the societal structures that prop them up, among many, many, many other things. I could keep talking in circles gushing about it, because I am so so obsessed with what's been released so far and so indescribably excited to see how it progresses in the future, but to keep myself from going on for too too long i'll cap this off with a tweet about coquette that i frequently think of and is one of the best recommendations I can offer:

OH and also coquette has wibbleburger, which, as we all know, is your favorite

#(the joke is that wibbleburger's slogan is ''it's your favorite'' i am not arbitrarily deciding what is or isn't your favorite) #anyways. i dont know how else to say this but theyre both absurdly good and make me cry a bunch #heaven will be mine #hwbm #coquette dragoon

[neolxzr]

imo there’s a difference between “queer coding” and very specifically playing to both sides whether or not the writers/artists/directors intended to make a character queer or not. I think that for enstars specifically, with the new valkyrie event, while people are happy that some characters such as shu and mika in the new event are being shown expressing their love for each other and their views on their sexuality and expression, people are frustrated that it is not explicitly said because of the company’s need to not confirm a character as queer in order to not alienate (homophobic!) fans. Because at the end of the day in happyele’s eyes, if that homophobic fan spends a lot of money on the game then they’re worth pandering to (shrug emoji) And I mean some people also just don’t like shumika

anon i understand where you're coming from but i think you are wildly missing the point in my original post

my point is EXACTLY that if you need the characters to walk up to the screen and say "i'm gay" or "i'm [insert some 21st century-friendly label]" or "this is my boyfriend" for it to count as queer media in your eyes than i think you need to do some reexamining about what exactly your views on queer media as a whole are

plus, they DO do this. they explicitly talk about queer themes out loud many many times in enstars. shu says to mika that they should, together, create the happiness that his grandfather was never allowed to have, after they spent the entire story detailing shu's grandfather's queer romance story. they probably kissed in hermitage, and the lyrics to acanthe talk about them kissing. rinne proposes to niki in every other story they appear in together. he told him to do a striptease during nightclub. tori has very explicitly gay feelings for eichi. arashi narukami exists. eichi, while talking to arashi in pretty mission, says "people like us," confirming himself to also be some form of queer. kuro calls keito an old word for spouse or husband. and SO many more examples. this is not "queer coding" or subtext, its just text.

in any case, authorial intent is generally of no interest when it comes to examining media. the conversation of what the author could have meant by something is wildly less interesting than the conversation about the ways in which the audience can interpret it. what the writers intended should have little to no place in the discussion. what we should be talking about is what the thing itself is saying, both implicitly and explicitly.

expanding your view on what exactly can be seen as "queer media" can only do you good. and it would do so much good to not give a shit about the possibility that homophobic people will also like the thing and interpret it as not queer. that is literally not my problem whatsoever, and it shouldn't be yours either.

what it seems like to me is that no matter what pieces of queer media will always be criticized in some capacity. if they're not explicitly queer enough, they're just bait and have no merit. if they are explicit, then they're promoting stereotypes, or its rainbow capitalism, or it's fetishization. there is no winning. the standards for queer media are absolutely absurd, but they don't HAVE to be. you don't have to look at a piece of media through this kind of silly cynical lens if you don't want to.

the discussion about a work loses so much interesting and important nuance when you try to shove it into a box of "good representation" or "bad evil queerbait." thats just really really boring way to view stories

#cryn answers #anon #enstars #i hope this clarifies my point more #also im not going to turn anon off but come on out dont be shy we can have a conversation face to face #media analysis

[themswritinwords]

ALSO I'm once again going to be a panelist, presenter, and moderator at the LTUE Symposium in February!

LTUE is one of the most affordable writers'/creatives' conferences out there (extra discounts for if you're a student) while still giving you a massive bang for your buck. They have eight different 'tracks' for presentations and panels (writing, world building, art, TMA, academics, books, gaming, and professional development), but you can attend literally whichever sessions, panels, or presentations you want, so you can mix and match interests and professional goals.

It's super educational and I highly recommend it to anyone trying to go pro with their creative works, but it's also fun. Like obscene amounts of fun. It's all the best of a convention while also providing genuine professional opportunities. People come in cosplay, Sunday Best, and/or street clothes; I was on a panel last year next to an author with electric purple hair and a real silver fairy tiara whilst I was wearing a t-shirt with a sunglasses possum on it, and the guy on the other side of us was in a full suit and bowtie. There was a life-size Springtrap cosplay out in the main lobby. I pitched for the first time ever to 3 actual literary agents and got 3 requests. I got personal career advice from a 25+ year industry pro. A 12 year old with a "future author" pin asked me questions on my presentation and took notes, and so did an octogenarian in rainbow suspenders. I was taught how to write a professional query letter-- that has a 16% positive response rate, where standard is ~10%-- by a former lawyer in a pirate hat.

It's good vibes only, man.

But you'll also find professional agents, editors, artists, authors, directors, game devs and so on. It's a huge geek-fest that puts people at all levels of the professional world on equal footing. They've even got gaming events and filking circles.

In short, it's networking, fun, hyperfocus material, and professional-level education in equal measure.

I seriously can't say enough good things about it (and not just because I'm involved). There's something for every type of creator/creative out there, 11/10 highly recommend.

Anyway, here's what I'll be up to as a guest during all three days under the read more. (tl;dr conclusion, if you plan to attend and want to meet up, message me!)

Thursday

Original presentation (academics track): Folklore of the American South. An overview of myths, monsters, and old wives' tales from the rich storytelling heritage of the Southern States. AKA I finally have a platform to yell about my cultural heritage and by golly am I gonna yell about it! 10 am (yes it's a bit early, but I swear it'll be worth it! Y'all know you wanna hear about the Rougarou the destiny-determining powers of cornbread!)

Friday

Panelist: Shellshocked: Writing PTSD. Injecting realism into and dispelling myths surrounding characters with PTSD. AKA how flashbacks do and do not work, how to avoid making your character a caricature, and how to be sensitive so you don't use peoples' actual lived experiences as a sensationalist, reductionist cash grab. 10 am.

Panelist: Life After Coming Out. How to feature queer characters in more than just coming-out plots. AKA OwnVoices is not an excuse to exclude the reality of queer people in your built universes; don't write a story that's not yours to tell, but for the love of all things holy there's more stories to tell about queer folks than just The Big Realization! 11 am. (whew mercy, they gonna have me hoofin it all across that hotel RIP my ankles and my asthma)

Panelist: Fat Doesn't Mean Unfit. What it says on the tin. AKA a bunch of chubby folks are gonna demolish your fatphobia and why that's an important and good thing. Also I have a degree in health so I will be demolishing that fatphobia scientifically. 5 pm.

Saturday

Moderator: Dining Throughout History. A panel about how food, meals, and feeding communities did and did not work throughout history. AKA ancient Romans absolutely DID have takeout on the regular, and you're not a failure for not making 3 square meals a day at home with all-fresh all-natural ingredients. I mean, your characters aren't failures.... Yeah. That. 9 am.

Panelist: Nonnormative Relationships and You. The whats, whys, and hows of all the different non-romantic/nonsexual relationships your characters can find themselves in. AKA no shade to the romance crowd, but can we please stop forcing characters to kiss just because they're in physical or emotional proximity??? 11 am.

Moderator/Facilitator: Do-It-Yourself Medical Care: Hands-On First Aid. Come learn how to effectively injure and care for your characters by actually doing it! The caring part, not the injury part. We do not condone irl violence in the Marriott and as mod I will be obligated to fight you if you attempt to injure another participant. I can tell you right now as a both a stress crying asthmatic and the parent of a toddler with professional experience handling and subduing dangerous animals, it will be highly embarrassing for everyone involved. I seriously cannot tell you how excited I am for this one! It's me and four other authors who are also trained in medicine/health, so we're working hard to make this an informative and relevant experiential learning opportunity. They're only giving us 45 minutes, unfortunately, but we're already coordinating to try and pack in the most opportunities and most interesting exercises possible. It's gonna be so fun!! 1 pm, do not be late, we can only fit so many people and training dummies into the room!

Moderator: A Brighter Future: Solarpunk Fiction. A panel discussing the Solarpunk genre, why it's relevant, the ways conflict and worldbuilding would be different in a Solarpunk setting, etc. AKA a bunch of neohippies walked into a bar professional panel and decided to rant about sustainable living. 3 pm.

The rest of the time I'll be flitting around attending panels and presentations, checking out the art show and vendors room, socializing/networking, generally vibing, and maybe getting in a few pitch sessions. If you want to meet up, shoot me a message! I'm always open to Friending, and I know all the good places to grab lunch.

#writing #writing conferences #irl #ltue #ltue 2024 #creative writing #writeblr

[rrcenic]

HI NIC I'M GOING TO GO WILD WITH THE QUESTIONS so feel free to skip this in case it's overwhelming or anything! favorite books? favorite music genre, song, and artists? favorite season and month? do you prefer cats or dogs (or neither, or both!) what are your hobbies? what's your favorite show? what is your least favorite show because it didn't meet your expectations? who is your favorite character in every fandom you're in? what headcanons do you have for your favorite characters? CAN I HEAR MORE ABOUT YOUR LOTF OC IF YOU HAVE MORE CONTENT OF HIM? (sorry i just adore him!)

KUNI ILY THANK YOU SO MUCH

favorite books: lord of the flies, les mis, good omens, enders game, and the house on the cerulean sea

favorite music genre: i like indie soft punk, anarchist early 2000s rock, and musical theatre!!

favorite artists: i adore green day, death cab for cutie, queen, aaron tveit, ben platt, mccafferty, marina, lincoln, cavetown, ricky montgomery, and penelope scott!

favorite songs: good old fashioned lover boy, riptide, trees, be nice to me, lotta true crime, american idiot, basket case, my heart is buried in venice, line without a hook, boys will be bugs, paul, twin size mattress, drink with me, stars, are you satisfied, i will follow you into the dark, the village, and so many more!!!

favorite season: late fall/early winter

cats or dogs: dogs i guess!! i love both but i’ve always been more of a dog guy

hobbies: art!! drawing, painting, sculpting, writing, singing, acting, etc

favorite show: GOOD OMENS!!! i also enjoy our flag means death, the umbrella academy, and the simpsons

least favorite show: not a tv show, but south pacific (the movie/musical). the ending is so wild and sudden and poorly done!

favorite characters for each fandom: aziraphale (good omens), simon (lord of the flies), grantaire (les mis), alai (enders game), lucius (ofmd), five hargreeves (umbrella academy)

character headcanons:

lotf:

simon survived his wounds on the island, and was secretly cared for by roger (not really “cared” for, just “kept alive”). however, he is left partially paralyzed in one leg and has chronic pain because of it. when they return to civilization, he uses a mobility aid

the choir doubles as their schools honorary gsa

jack is openly trans and jokingly blames transphobia whenever he doesn’t get his way. this infuriates piggy

simons guilty pleasure is fast food. he has strong opinions about what makes a good french fry

maurice makes british jokes and sam has to gently remind him that they are all in fact british

good omens:

crowley has trouble seeing because of his snake eyes. he misses the stars dearly. once, aziraphale brought him to an observatory on the top of a mountain and crowley cried because the stars were just bright enough for him to see

crowley also gets excited whenever humans discover new telescopes or ways to take pictures of other galaxies because it means people are getting closer to seeing more of his creations

aziraphale invented macadamia nuts (reasons: they’re buttery and soft and light and are really nice to bite and i like them)

les mis:

grantaire makes music. 3 am guitar recordings and random voice memos of lyric ideas. most are about enjolras

as a smart person and a victim of police brutality, valjean is a firm acab believer. he likes giving large anonymous locations to the les amis

marius is the token straight friend, even though he himself is a trans man. there’s such a lack of cishet folks in their friend group that the token straight is literally queer

enjolras is terribly allergic to cats but pets grantaires pet cat anyway. he suffers constantly

other hcs about my lotf oc: he likes swimming but hates the feeling of dried salt water on his body, he likes to paint his nails, he chews his hair and nails when he’s nervous (someone needs to introduce this boy to oral stim toys), and his favorite color is baby blue!

again, thank you so much for the asks!!! <333

#nic answers #kunfire #lord #good omens #les mis

[annamarabella-grumble]

mass effect replay thoughts, episode 11

episode 1 / episode 2 / episode 3 / episode 4 / episode 5 / episode 6 / episode 7 / episode 8 / episode 9 / episode 10

haven't updated these in a while! we're almost at the end of mass effect 3 now lmao. thoughts on mass effect 2 for the meantime?

we killed mordin solus in cold blood; did the math and everything--i enjoy padok wiks' company a LOT more. christ, he's weird. i like him

i'm never fucking playing arrival again, i swear on wrex's bollocks. a tiny room and five pyros??? NO THANK YOU

speaking of, if grandpa hackett doesn't stop calling me on my damn bananaphone the minute i enter a system where he's committed another war crime....... THIS PHONE IS FOR BANANERGENCIES ONLY

during every playthrough of me2 i successfully repress the memory of that damn reaper skeleton. it punches me in the face every time

the amount of times during me2 that chat was like "oh yeah that's an old bug," including for bugs i'd not encountered on my own before???????

now what about mass effect 3?

meeting anderson again: I HEAR YOU'RE AN ADMIRAL NOW, FATHER! GOOD FOR YOU!

that lil pat of shep's tummy after months under house arrest. father pls (i love their dynamic so much)

as always, we're fetching garrus first, as is proper and correct. we're not romancing him in this one, and i love how so few of their lines actually change. they're not together, but they adore and rely on each other. there's no shepard without vakarian, ain't ever gonna change

you know whom i do not adore? kai leng. god, i hate that railroady flippy bitch

he's not scary, he's not even interesting, he's just a plot device. BORING

which reminds me (sob): shep's fully ready to jump thane's bones in the atrium of a hospital. down, girl

speaking of: we're in love with traynor now, she's delightful. we played sweaty chess

speaking of speaking of: every stream we have a ten-minute section where we talk about how literally everything about mass effect would be better if everyone was queer

yesterday we played omega dlc and my GOD. the belligerent sexual tension, cut it with a knife. bioware are cowards for not just letting aria and nyreen fuck nasty on the floor of any of the dozen elevators we were on. shep can watch, she'd like it

(if you also like it, listen to "temper temper" by black pistol fire)

the section with the adjutants prowling around in the dark is my favourite thing in the world, it's so well done

"ask the ghosts if honour matters" is a raw af line

i can't believe that mr vega asks if we can adopt that husk head and then it ends up in my cabin anyway

also can't believe how married messers vega and cortez are I LOVE THEM SO MUCH YOUR HONOUR

steeb :'((

i've been having a rough time and i think a hug from jimmy vega would fix me. just compress me, bro

LEGIOOOOON :'((((

oh my god when grunt does the thing and you think he's gone and then he comes stumbling out of the cave and collapses

love how shep is like A LIL HELP HERE and garrus comes swaggering up leisurely to collect his krogan son (we're not dating but we're definitely co-parenting)

ADAMS IS SO HAPPY HIS ENGINEER DAUGHTER TALI IS BACK

i love tali's character arc

WE CURED THE GENOPHAGE BITCHES

dalatrass can go and sulk for all eternity, don't give a shit. wrex did the right thing

oh lookie here, ashley magically isn't racist anymore! hate how there's no discussion of that in the game. the writers just quietly retconned that shit when it could've been a genuine example of growth--something the other members of the og crew all got lmao.

fuck cerberus

FUCK CERBERUS

can't wait to blow up all the reapers

#mass effect #meta #grumble has thoughts #video games #mass effect legendary edition

[daincrediblegg]

Two questions: top 5 things that the Inexperienced Jared Observer should watch him in

Which Terror ep would you rate as Thee best and why?

OOOH HO HO AND I SHALL ANSWER WITH GUSTO Ok. Barring the obvious three choices (i.e. Foundation, The Terror, and Chernobyl, which are really the biggest powerhouses of Jared's acting abilities to date, and then the tier two shows: Carnival Row, Mad Men (it is a very good show overall but if you're there just for jared it takes a while to get to him and it takes a LONG time to get over him), and The Crown), these are my recommendations:

Certain Women His part in this movie is very short, but honestly. it really shows how much this man can do with such a little character, really proving the "no small parts only small actors" adage that folks like to throw around. I still think about him a lot. really showed such a range with so little and it baffles me to this day. Also it's an anthologized narrative and his part and also Lily Gladstone's role in it (her first film role ever btw) as being a horse lesbian with Kristen Stewart really makes it worth the watch a lot more than some of the other bit part things I've seen him in.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows I genuinely think he's my favorite Moriarty of all time. Full stop. he's just such a wicked delight, and it will forever make me curse Guy Ritchie for only giving him bit parts in some of his other films. absolutely criminal.

The Devil's Violinist @prismatica-the-strange and I absolutely did not go into this film expecting it to be as good as it is. we thought it was gonna be a flop. that Jared Harris was gonna play the devil and we'd have a laugh and that would be that. Incorrect. Turns out the guy playing Paganini is actually a bonafide child prodigy violinist and he blows a LOT of the musician biopic performances out of the water because he REALLY DO BE PLAYING THAT VIOLIN LIKE THAT. Oh and also Jared plays his manager who is literally the devil and he has a pincer beard. and he's a sarcastic little shit and he's just a delight.

Two of Us This was genuinely the first film that made Jared a lifelong stand-out name to me at age fourteen. iykyk. He also fulfilled every McLennon shipper's dreams with this movie by kissing Aidan Quinn full on the lips. So if you want an explanation of why he queer codes a lot of his roles, this is it.

It's really hard to choose between The Beast Must Die, The Quiet Ones, and the 2015 Poltergeist remake, so I suppose I'm gonna go with The Beast Must Die because he's a saucy little asshole and he absolutely looks the prettiest in that. But that's the bitch of it with : this man has made a career of making himself a highlight no matter what kind of bit part you throw at him, so like honestly anything in his filmography is worth watching. But yeah he's so pretty in the beast must die. That's all I got. As for the second question... man why can't I choose all of em? why??? 😭😭😭 I can't pit all these bad bitch episodes against each other at any given moment in time man. I love this show too much. I simply cannot choose. it's all so good. I would like to say it's ep 5 for the way jared acts drunkenly (best drunken performance I've ever seen in my entire life), but then I think about him on the gunwale with blanky talking about the reindeer and laughing and how much Jared literally changed from the script to make that moment so goddamn endearing and human. but then I also remember the moment blanky leaves him like??? DUDE. I can't. I cannot choose. my favorite episode is the whole show.

#ask games #jared harris

[invinciblerodent]

Hey! Agree that erasure sucks big time. As a lesbian, I very often see that devs make every character in a game bi, with no lesbian rep at all. That puts me in a difficult situation when I want to respect bi people but also want to have rep of my own. :(

Though I admit, I can kind of read a bit of a tongue-in-cheek comment into this message (which could just be me feeling defensive in general over this topic, I'm fully aware that I am and definitely mean no ill will towards you), but I'll take you at face value on this and assume you meant no ill will either lol.

Honestly, I'll definitely always agree that there need to be more canonically queer characters and experiences portrayed of every orientation and gender, only I'd definitely argue that bisexuality specifically is kind of in a unique position where it's... it's so often used purely as a game mechanic that, despite its theoretical existence in a narrative, it can often, and to many players, not even be interpretable as any sort of real representation either. Especially with how many games, past and present, kind of conceal their characters' queerness behind the players' intentions to seek it out (basically treating them as "straight until proven gay"), which often implies monosexuality (at the lack of a better term) in the text regardless of the existence of another mechanic, even if the character could technically be considered bisexual.

There is a very clear difference in my mind (and in the minds of -as far as I can tell- the majority of other bisexual players) between characters being canonically bi, and them being mechanically bi, in that in that the latter case, you can often play and engage with, or even romance characters without ever needing to acknowledge them as anything other than monosexual (again, lacking a better concise term) in a way that happens to coincide with your PC's sexuality. They can be seen as gay if you're the same sex, and as straight if you're not. But in BG3 specifically, even though the dialogue with the player themselves doesn't really seem to address the companions' sexuality head-on (you can't, like, walk up to Wyll and ask him "so, hey man, what's, like, your.... whole deal, or whatever?", you have to listen to him and connect the dots), it IS really nice, and a nice change of pace that this is not a thing. That no queer content is hidden behind "the gay button", that you aren't limited to being exposed to their queerness while in a romance with them, and that you cannot, literally cannot, play the game in a way that would make the world less queer, or make it seem like the characters are merely adapting to the gender of the player character.

Because they all hit on-, or express attraction to at least a few others regardless of gender, without it immediately implying anything beyond them all just... being attracted to people of different genders.

I watched this slightly older video essay by verilybitchie just a little while ago that went into this exact thing in a lot more detail, and I honestly recommend it to everyone. Since the video is two years old now, she of course doesn't address BG3 specifically (I'd love to hear her thoughts on it though! the end note where she talks about how excited she is for what might be coming next really warmed my heart!), but otherwise it's a good runthrough of my thoughts and experiences on- and with the issue as well.

(And, to be honest.... as a side note, romancing a bi character is.... still respectful, if you play your own character as monosexual? Like I do that all the time too, so that part of your message... kind of confused me?

Like... the only way romancing, say, Karlach for example as a woman can be considered in any way disrespectful to us bi people, is if you play that in an angle that erases her bisexuality, simply because she happens to be in a same-sex romance in your game. But that's less an issue of representation in the game itself imo, and more just... this strictly theoretical player themselves being at least a little bit biphobic and erasing her sexuality based on the gender of her partner, even if that isn't their intention.)

#squirrel speaks #about queer shit yaaaaay

[cacowhistle]

crosses one game off my list. stares at the dozens of others beneath it. big sigh. anyways heres some games i highly recommend:

a short hike: in their words, "a little exploration game about hiking up a mountain." it rewards exploration. i went into it thinking it'd be like, a twenty minute experience? i played for at least an hour or two. very cute, very low stakes emotionally. i really enjoyed the graphics and characters :]

co-open: this game is genuinely the cutest fuckign thing i've ever played. you're a kid going to the store on your own for the first time. lotta queer characters. so much to explore. at first you're like "woah store" and then you somehow end up in the vents and then you're on the roof?? there is so much to this game. i love it. it's so cute. maybe an hour or two or three in playtime.

everhood: i will admit. i have not finished this game. however. it is so stylish. the graphics are so bright. the characters are WILD. the music goes SO HARD. the combat and gameplay is entirely centered around the music. they describe it as a "psychedelic musical bullet hell" and tbh that is literally it. the puzzles aren't too hard. i haven't finished it only because it feels, to me, like it doesn't really... tell you where to go? i get lost very easily if i'm not being funneled in a particular direction when it comes to these kinds of games, ones that aren't necessarily meant to be open-world. that being said. everhood goes fucking hard. play it. it slaps. i need to finish it. i keep fuckign thinking about it its that good.

dredge: this isn't like, an obscure indie pick. but dredge is so good. the story left me wanting a little more, but the gameplay is fun, the graphics are gorgeous (the style is so nice), there are some real good scares, and tbh there is nothing better than a good fishing game. it mixes exploration and inventory management really well! and i thoroughly enjoyed exploring every inch of the game and completing all the side quests i could. also theres a dog and you can pet it.

eronoctosis: put yourself together: this game is about being TRANS and DYSPHORIA and SEX!!!! it's a two-player game but it's free!! (there's a paid dlc you can get too but the base game is free) (the paid dlc includes sexual content, the base game does not). eronoctosis was really fun. my boyfriend and i were so bad at it at first (hi babe if ur reading this. we should get the dlc i wanna play this with u again). but once we got into the swing of things it was honestly really fun. the scares are REALLY good even when you know what you're doing. really makes you dread going around corners <3

two little bonuses are inbento and sudocats. it's literally just. a puzzle game. and sudoku. but in my defense. both games include cats. which makes them cute. very nice little experiences :]

#girl help i have too many games not enough oh my god tags canceled theres a cat outside #hes orange #and small #and sniffing around in the grass in the driveway #holy shit #HES ITCHING HIMSELF ON THE BUSHES #BABY BOY #i love him what the fuck #ok he left where was i #i still gotta play heartbound off omori little nightmares little misfortune pinstripe fuckin uhhhhh #indivisible.... gotta finish spiritfarer... wandersong and underhero. maybe replay transistor. celeste and inmost!!! #lots of games not enough time....... thats ok. ill get 2 em all eventually :]

[blackbird-brewster]

Friday Fic Rec (Special Edition)

Fic rec ask game

(Taken from @illegalcerebral)

I saw a thing earlier lamenting the fact that people don't make lists of fic recs any more so for Motivation Monday I've decided to start a game so we can spread some love! So make a new post and compile a list of the following fics:

An ongoing multi chapter fic you are excited to get updates for right now

turn the world to gold by sunshineandguns

(Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily)

I am so in love with this one! Cannot wait to see how it ends. IT's just such good and agnsty Jemily

(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don't Want to be Right by ambiguousem

(Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily)

If I could unhinge my jaw and eat a fic like it was a meal to be consumed, this fic would UNDOUBTEDLY taste like all of my fave comfort foods individually and simultaneously. I literally don't know how to explain my love for this angstt fest.

A completed multichapter fic that you can binge read

Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) by w00t4ewan (me)

(Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily, JJ/Tara, Tara/Emily)

Yeah, I'm hyping my own work bc this is what I'm currently reading to my partner (I read out loud to them every night) and it's been such a joy for me to read it for the first time (since writing it). We constantly lament that there's not a TV series of this AU bc GOD THERE SHOULD BE ITS SUCH A ROM-COM

A oneshot you think everyone should read

Steps by Phoenix_Falls

(Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily)

DID YOU KNOW: This is the highest read Non-Smut Jemily fic!? IT IS!!! AND YOU SHOULD READ IT BC THE FLUFF IS UPSETTING

A fic you have re-read more than once

Dreams, Schemes and In-Between by Phoenix_Falls

(Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily, Derek/Penelope)

One of my FAVVVEEEESSSSS. I have read it so many times over the years bc it's so light-hearted and the entire fic is four idiots trying to get each other to fall in love. It's an entire fic about best friends being Meddlers

A fic you first read over a year ago that you want to spotlight

I Want to Believe by Trancer

(Criminal Minds/X-Files, Emily/JJ)

It's an X-Files Jemily AU. AND YOU WILL LOVE IT

A fic that introduced you to a new ship/character/fandom

With a Little Help From My Friends by phoenix_falls

(Criminal Minds, Emily & Luke )

THIS FRIENDSHIP!! Luke needs to be protecc at all costs and this really turned me on to the idea of Luke and Emily being bffs and gay idiots together. I love it!!!

A fic you'd recommend to someone new to your fandom

Depends on why they're here! I exclusively write/consume Criminal Minds femslash so here's my recs based on the assumption you just watched CM for the first time and said "THESE WOMEN ARE VERY QUEER!!!"

"Oh my GOD JJ and Emily are SO GAY TOGETHER?!?"

Start Here: [Take My Hand and Show Me the Way] by mjduncan

"UHHHHHH Tara Lewis just met Emily and THEY REALLY EYE FUCKED EACH OTHER RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY SALAD!!!"

Start Here: [Caution to the the Wind] by thelarkascending

"Do you ever think about the way JJ and Tara look at each other? Like that one overly specific moment when [JJ looks at Tara] (when Tara has her hand on JJ's shoulder) and JJ's eyes basically say OH FuCk I HAvE It SOOO BaDDD FOR TARA LEWIS!!!"

Start Here: [Here is Home] or [Between You & Me] by w00t4ewan

A fic you would recommend to the person who tagged you in this game.

I wasn't tagged and I don't even know if you (@illegalcerebral ) really read a lot of femslash BUT based on your likes in my notes and your icon, here's a lil something as a treat

Pray by w00t4ewan

Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily (Past JJ/Elle)

This is basically a JJ origin story coming off the back of Elle leaving the BAU and JJ trying to get over being in love and feeling betrayed that Elle left so abruptly

Optional: Wildcard choice of a fic

Unwinding by PepperSpicedLatte

This is just a REALLY well-written Je T'Emily threesome that always gets me FLUSTERED bc holy shit it's so so so good

Tag You're It (If you want to play!):

@gaelic-symphony || @cargopantsprentiss || @carasynthiart || @pagetvaleriebrewster || @doctor-whothefuckknows || @puddlejumper9

#tara lewis #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau #jemily #criminal minds #temily #Jara #cm fanfiction #cm fic recs #friday fic rec

[icannotgetoverbirds]

Please for the love of god infodump at me

Twitch moderator applications are live here!

It Takes A Village

Writing Sideblog

I go by Byrd for short. I'm an intersex autistic trans man, I use it/he pronouns (unless it's funnier or gayer not to), I'm plural, and I'm over 18. I'm also an ex-mormon. Do not fucking proselytize any fucking religion at me. You will be blocked.

I mostly reblog about random shit, but sometimes I'll make original posts and/or respond with my take on a situation - those should be mostly tagged as #byrd chirps.

My exmo tag is #byrd is an exmo. Sometimes, my moot @twiggyfrogblog sends me birds, sometimes other people do too, so if you're looking for fantastic bird posts, the tags #byrd's birds and #ty twiggy! should take you there. Ask games are tagged #byrd's ask games. Transparent gifs are tagged as both #transparent gif and #transparent gifs.

I also have some new tags - #byrd's silly art, which is for my artwork (currently just me tracing photographs to try and wrap my head around concepts like shapes and shading), and #byrd's writing, which is how I tag any posts about my writing.

I am currently writing a fanfic - I've started to try and tag that as #stt and #byrd's silly little fanfic - once someone finds the fic on AO3, I'll put a link in here.

Some of my posts/reblogs contain triggering/heavy/nsfw topics. I do my best to tag these, but I'm not perfect. Let me know if I miss anything. I don't generally tag swearing, and I do use the word queer as a self-identifier unapologetically.

I have a few sideblogs - some of which are currently inactive. I won't link them here - see if you can find them!

I'm friends with Kea, a writer who distributes his work under a pseudonym, and I have his permission to post his writing. Here is my favorite of his, The Model and The Letter.

Lots of links below the cut, including resources and ask games.

Current ask games:

Not Like The Other Ask Games™

Who Am I To You?

Gentle Cottagecore

Iconic Tumblr Post

Vibe Check

Why Do You Tolerate Me

What am I the patron saint of?

Colors

Character Opinion Bingo

what 3 fictional characters do you associate with me

?????

Another Character Opinion Bingo

????? 2 electric boogaloo

Another Colors

Pokemon types

Literally anything (I make no promises of answers, however)

❤

send me a shitty summary of my blog?

want me to pick a sentence from one of my WIPs to share?

the blorbo blingus (character ask game)

litcherally just ask me anything about my ocs

who am i to you?

toss me a gender, why dontcha

polyamory asks

squishmallow character ask game

In addition, I really enjoy helping to name things like fictional characters and whatnot. I have a method that I use that creates original names with meaning - it's not foolproof, but I've come up with some great names through it.

If you need help naming someone/something, feel free to send in an ask at least giving me a few words you'd like associated with the thing - more information is better, though! There's no cost, either - it's a fun exercise in creativity on my end. These will be tagged as #byrd's name game.

DNI is in my bio.

Other links -

Resources:

My ex-terf/ex-radfem blog

Everything you know about obesity is a lie (tw minor healthism in the article)

Body Neutral/Positive Recipes Base Post (feel free to contribute!)

Body Neutral/Positive Recipes Main Thread

Free Online ASL Lessons

Planned Parenthood's sex ed tab

help getting out of medical debt for usamericans

Masterlist of Native/Indigenous products

Good picrews for fat people

literally every animorphs book for free

Alternative search engines

The distinction between hating men and being a feminist and why it's so important

Pi-Hole

Piracy Subreddit

Drawing Tips Masterpost

Visual Snow Syndrome

If you need a smile:

Get a random birb

No Notes Bungus

Handmade ball python plushies

Good news: COVID-19 edition

The world's cutest alligator

Good news: Climate Change edition

A Different Aftermath

An important reminder

an absolutely buckwild idea i had

Tumblr writers

The Model and The Letter by Kea (if it gets 420k notes by the end of the year I'll read Animorphs and maybe write an essay about it)

Kea's Chapbooks on Ao3

Tumbleweed by Kea

Tumblr's Folk Tales

Misc:

The origins of parafonian

Kissinger Death Tontine

#pinned post #kea #resources #parafonian #exmo #byrd is an exmo #im feeling very exmo in this chilis tonight #exmormon #ex mormon #exlds #ex lds #ex religious #apostate #apostake #avian apostate :> #byrd's ask games #byrd chirps #tw o word

[susandsnell]

1, 6, 24 😉 xx

eeee, thank you so much ditty!!!! you're an absolute gem, hope this solstice thursday is treating you well!! <3

choose violence ask game 🔥

1. the character everyone gets wrong? pick a Batman Rogue. any rogue. literally any of them, and they will be Flanderized to hell and back over one to two traits they may not even have canonically possessed for two to three decades. I readily and wholeheartedly admit that this is not entirely the fault of fandom, and is at least partly owing to the broader problem with having long-running comics universes, because there is such a huge variance in characterization (and quality of said characterization thanks to the overabundance of edgelord and bigoted comics/comic media writers), in the gravity of their actions and where they land on the moral spectrum, and even in motivation that it is nigh impossible to even say what getting said character 'right' means unless the person is talking about a specific iteration (ex.: someone writing fic or making headcanons about specifically Paul Dano's Riddler from The Batman 2022, who has a very particular voice/ethos/motive distinct from your other Riddlers, though there are core shared traits). But of this bunch, i'd have to say my poor Ivy gets it the worst. I'm truly glad she's evolved beyond being just another Temptress of Men Who Hates Them But Also Needs Their Validation Through Constant Sex (although done right she's still a great femme fatale wasting their time and catfishing them for eco-terrorism purposes), and of course as a canon queer character she means the world to me, but as is the case with every popular female character, she's either Holding The Braincell (aka everyone's mom, and I don't mean in the kink way), or Irredeemable. A lot of this does arise from how poor the execution of modern canon Harlivy has been because of respectability politics, but reducing her to Snarky Husky Voiced Plant Lady Rolling Her Eyes At Harley's Antics, making her have her shit way too together (she's always sent to Arkham!), making her the one-sided babysitter/healer of Harley's problems (and by extension, the problems of any other woman), making her a snarky queer auntie to the Batkids (vomit, it's as cringe as the rest of mainstream Batfam fanon), making her have way too much emotional intelligence to the point of counselling others (she's not even one of the psychologist rogues!), having her whole existence revolve around Harley....it's exhausting. (And again, unfortunately something the writers are fucking up in canon constantly, too.)

Fandom as a whole is allergic to women having flaws that impact the narrative concretely without demonizing them for it (when the dudes doing the same and worse are adored and worshipped for it), doubly so if she's BIPOC or queer (because again, double the respectability politics), so they flatten out those flaws and it's like, is she even a villain anymore with her own motivations and ethos, or is she a big tiddy witch gf from a paywalled phone app dating sim? Let her be as complex and angry and jagged and hypocritical as the other male rogues, my god!! (Sidenote that I'm not against retooling characters' designs/presentations/tactics anew entirely for a new universe iteration, especially if it refreshes the narrative, so long as they're interesting and true to some spirit of the character. In other words, masc Ivy's are fine and more than welcome lol.)

6. Which ship fans are the most annoying?

Oh, you really want me to swing my bat at the hornet's nest with this one, huh? While the cheat answer for this is "all of them if you spend enough time in any given ship fandom", I'm the most frequently exhausted by migratory Good Girl Fixing Bad Boy fandom. Fuck it, I'll name names with periods. The Zutar.a/Reyl.o/Darkli.na/Dae.myra et cetera fandom. The ships themselves, I can take or leave (though my main gripe is frequently their execution is just boring). There's no moral objections on my part, to be clear. I'd be hypocritical to take that tack considering my own tastes in markedly more fucked-up shit and like, hello, I cut my teeth in Phantom of the Opera fandom since I was 12 and love gothic romances, so like, glass houses. My issue comes in where these types without fail are consistently smug about the potent feminism inherent to ships they specifically in fanon interpret in the most boring, gender essentialist, wattpad daddy-dom-size-difference kink ho-hum ways imaginable because...it makes them horny, and woman horny about traditional gender roles equals feminism somehow. If it stopped there, I'd've never developed such an animosity, but no no. They make arguments about how much more feminist it is than the (often canon) hero/heroine ships because Feminism Is When Woman Is Treated Like Property By The Man I Find Attractive. They act like cishet romances, usually between two white characters, is the most marginalized thing imaginable and whinge that artists/studios/creators are "too cowardly" to "include romance" if it doesn't go canon in the way they like, as if more marginalized romance stories aren't fighting tooth and nail just to get off the ground. And on that note, the bigotry I have witnessed firsthand in these circles is just appalling; this is a fandom-wide issue and certainly not exclusive to any one shipping community, but the amount of times I have seen them come off as just frothing at the mouth to be homophobic should a slash shipper not bend the knee to the Great Potent Feminism of their ships, and the amount of times the mask as come off is just. Whew. It's okay to just be horny. It really is. One does not have to make a Social Issue Thing about it.

24. Topic that brings up the most rancid discourse? Weird corollary to the above question, and kind of an overbroad answer so I apologize, but Appropriate Amount Of Condonation Versus Condemnation of both characters, and works of fiction as a whole. I feel like the purity culture discourse has gotten so toxic it's gone completely 0 or 100 "if you watch something where something bad happens You Yourself Are Guilty Of This Thing" or "nothing fictional has any impact whatsoever", when my take is a more nuanced idea of media normalizing and reinforcing certain biases, but also, it's not real lmao. If the work itself espouses certain troubling viewpoints it's unsurprising if the audience takes that on (ex: Frank Miller perpetuating racism and misogyny through his writings), but people are such whining babies about so much as glimpsing any kind of Problematic Media (especially miserable if you're a horror fan) that I understand how the knee-jerk defensiveness arose. On the other hand, the baby got thrown out with the bathwater, including by opportunistic bigots who want to shut down any and all critical discussion of social issues present in or surrounding their interests, lest it Spoil Their Fun (and to silence people over whom they're privileged), to the point that any critique from a moral standpoint is immediately branded as Purity Culture with no regard to nuance or the context of the perspective of the person making the critique. So for example, you have people who throw hissy fits about Catra from She-Ra getting a redemption arc and you have people who thoughtfully point out how the writing of certain tropes in a given work perpetuate transmisogyny, and they're all thrown in the same basket and it's exhausting. No space for nuance, you're either Pro or Anti, and to quote Sarah Z's excellent video on this issue, I for one am a tax-paying adult woman.

#thank you SO much for giving me the opportunity to bitch #hope you're doing wonderful!!! <3 #ask night

[some-pers0n]

For the ask game: 1, 8, 10, 14, 23

Oh boy quite a lot. Let's do it.

1 - The Character Everyone Gets Wrong

For Wof no joke it's gotta be Qibli. So many people write him off as a goofy silly guy who thinks a lot and is really smart when honestly he's a massive overthinker with horrible social anxiety and uses a cocky and confident persona to a) cope and b) try to make friends. He's not a joke-spewing machine that can't read the room and stop when somebody is in distress.

For TF2 it's probably Saxton Hale. Yeah he's funny and cool, but he's not really a good boss like. at all. Not even a good person before the comics. He was characterized as a guy who liked hunting endangered animals and selling terrible and cheap weapons to keep the Gravel War going. It's 500% more funny when he's got jokes about how unions and workers rights are a nasty thorn in his side.

8 - Common Fandom Opinion Everyone is Wrong About

[Insert character] being a Mary Sue. Typically it's Glory or Moon. Glory is a victim of poor character writing and favouritism on Tui's part and Moon's entre character is reduced to a plot device. Those aren't Mary Sues but just poorly written characters in ways different than a Sue. Plus I also just Hate the term and would rather people like...elaborate more on what they say as opposed to using vague buzzwords.

For TF2 it's probably that Engie is boring, both in gameplay and lore. For starters, put on the Gunslinger and Rescue Ranger and stop turtling in the same spots every round. Secondly, Engie's personality is one of the most fascinating due to it kinda being a little cover up. Not even to mention his whole family. So cool and interesting....

10 - Worst Part of Fanon

Hmmmm,,,flanderization is always terrible. I hate it especially with Qinter stuff since a good chunk of it horribly misses the mark of who Qibli and Winter (and even by extension Moon) are and what makes them click. Their whole this is that they have a persona and I feel Qinter as a whole should be based on them putting aside their exaggerated personalities and finding solidarity and comfort within being around each other as their pure selves. This and also the infantalization of characters like Whiteout. All my homes hate that.

Same thing can be said for TF2. Me and my homies hate Nazi Medic. Medic likes his coworkers, he just is a bit silly like that.

14 - One Thing you See in Fics all the Time

For WoF, it's gotta be swearing. I literally don't know why it kinda irks me, but it feels weird when you're writing something serious and straight-forward while the dragon characters say the fuck word. Nothing against it, I just...I dunno.

For TF2 it's always the goddamn shoe-horned in racism/queerphobia. Please man I don't need you to get up on your soap box and tell me that the 60s wasn't good for queers and people of colour I'm trying to read Old Man Yaoi. It's especially annoying when certain characters (ex: Soldier) only exist to really fulfill the role of being the person who make it "period accurate" by including 12 extremely harmful and horrible slurs in every sentence they speak.

23 - Ship You've Unwillingly Come Around To

For WoF: Cleril somehow. The "Cleril is good :)" -> "Peril is toxic and this relationship will never work" -> "Cleril is good :)" pipeline is real. Peril HAS been getting help and is vastly improving. She is doing so incredibly well. She uses Clay as a moral compass, but she's aware of that and trying to change. It's not that bad of a ship ngl.

For TF2: Jagerbombs (Demo/Medic). I'm God's strongest aro/ace Medic enjoyer so I like them best as friends, but honestly they're just great together. Literally written up like 19k words of these morons. Never would've thought in a million years I'd do it (especially considering how I'm the No. 4 Science Party person ever) but they're just wonderful. Honestly like them better than HeavyMed– *gets shot*

#ask

[izukuwus]

It's fun seeing you talk about hyperfixations, so what are your favorite non-HM / RF farm sims? :3c

*breaks fingers* you've activated my trap card

okay SO! I'm actually still developing a favorite because there's so many in the genre to pick from and they're all so unique! so I'm just going to ramble about non-bokumono and bokumono-adjacent farm sims that I think are good and worth bringing up!

Stardew Valley is the obvious one everyone jumps to. It's a solid harvest moon clone--not in a derogatory way, I mean it was literally created to be a clone of an earlier harvest moon game, and it does that job extremely well and then proceeds to build on the formula in a way that clearly resonated with a lot of people. It is not, however, my favorite. Don't look at my play time on steam. I am slightly burned on it due to how many people slap the label "stardew valley but [core aesthetic]" on every fucking farm sim because they're Guy Who's Only Played Stardew Valley, Playing His Second Farm Sim. BUT it IS really just a great farm sim with solid mechanics.

Graveyard Keeper gets a mention here because, while it doesn't quite match up tonally with the rest of the genre and is only sort of even IN the genre, if you like farm sims as a whole, chances are great that you'll like Graveyard Keeper, as it scratches the same gameplay loop itch that you'll get from any good farm sim. This is a game that was recommended to me by no less than seven people when I was looking for a new farm sim to play, and for good reason! Loosely, you get Issekai'd into another world to be that world's graveyard keeper, and spend the game trying to get back home. Not a farm sim in the truest sense, still worth mentioning here.

Coral Island. Ohhhh my god Coral Island. It's still in the creation stages and being polished, but holy SHIT the vibes are immaculate. Nature and environmentalism-focused farm sim with one of the most diverse casts I've gotten the pleasure of seeing in a farm sim. The characters are beautiful, the concept is gorgeous, and the focus is not just on farming and community, but on cleaning up the environment and taking care of the world we live in. Kind of like another farm sim, I think, but I'm blanking on which one I'm thinking of right now?

PUMPKIN DAYS is absolutely worth mentioning here. It's a super super charming proper farm sim. I wouldn't recommend it to people new to the genre, but rather to genre vets who are already sure they like the core gameplay of farm sims. Much like Coral Island, Pumpkin Days has a MASSIVELY diverse cast. There's three towns you can live in on the island the game is set on, each with their own characters. While it's hard to definitively point to any one character as a specific breed of queer, it's actually the only farm sim I can name where you can be truly poly! Also extremely nice, there's a town on the island called Spoonie Island that's a lovely little community of variously disabled and neurodivergent characters. The reason I wouldn't recommend this as a starter farm sim is one thing: tank controls. This game has tank controls. This is the most interesting decision I've ever seen in a farm sim. Once you settle in with them, it works and I hardly noticed the difference anymore after about 20 hours of gameplay, but if you're a newcomer to the genre? You'll want to start with a game that controls like 74% of other games in the genre. (This is also why I don't recommend Island of Happiness or Sunshine Islands to newcomers to the genre. Touch screen movement is another you get used to but should not start with.)

Another not-technically-a-true-farm-sim game I absolutely fucking NEED to bring up here is Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin. It's developed by XSEED games, which you'll note is an American subsidiary of Marvelous, the company that makes the bokumono games. They're really fucking good at farm sims. Sakuna is not technically a farm sim--there's a set plotline, the game is much more combat-oriented, and there's no dating system, but this game is still very much about community, and one of the main mechanics is farming rice to grow your strength as a harvest goddess. This game is SO fucking technical with the farming aspect, in the best fucking way. In learning more about how to properly grow the rice, I actually ended up looking into actual fucking real life rice disorders and being able to translate that into in-game mechanics to be able to treat them. I still get advertisements for farming equipment and fertilizers from how much research I've done. I only got 100 hours out of this game, but I chalk that more up to the plot and progression having a more definite end than, say, Rune Factory 4 and its endless dungeons in the endgame. If there were more plot to work through and more progression to gain, I would easily get another 300 out of it.

This post is starting to get long (it's like I'm talking about farm sims or something) so this'll be my final mentions here: My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock. Again, not true farm sims in that you're not technically a farmer. Absolutely a farm sim. In these games, you're a Builder who comes to a town (Portia or Sandrock, depending on the game [wow]) and works to build up the community. It took some adjusting to settle in to the art style, but once I did, holy shit these games are fun. These are also more combat-oriented and DEFINITELY less farming-oriented--while you can grow crops and have animals, it's absolutely an afterthought to gathering materials to build things for people. You can get married in these ones, unlike Sakuna or Graveyard Keeper, and it's definitely the closest to true farm sim out of the "kind of but not really but definitely in the genre but also not really" category. My Time at Sandrock sees a full release in September, and I am SOOOO excited. I haven't been playing it as much because I literally have So Much Of Everything to get done while working full time and obsessing over my boys, but any game I've talked about here is well worth it.

OH MY GOD I DIDN'T MENTION ATOMICROPS. Atomicrops counts. It has the farming sim tag on steam so it counts. Okay so like imagine the apocalypse. Now imagine running a farm after the nuclear apocalypse. Much much more combat oriented. This one's a roguelike. You can and should get married in this one. Hands down the best farm sim to recover from dental surgery to. I associate this game with the taste of mashed potatoes.

Okokok I'm pretty sure I'm having an allergic reaction so I'll stop digging through non-bokumono farm sims for now BUT THANK YOU SM FOR ASKING I LITERALLY LOVE TALKING ABOUT FARM SIMS WHEN I WAS A KID MY MOM ALMOST TOOK ME TO THERAPY BECAUSE I PLAYED HARVEST MOON FOR LIKE 18 HOURS STRAIGHT AND FORGOT TO SLEEP

#answered asks #anon #bokumono

[cowboylikedean]

hey question from someone who’s not very involved in the fandom: i’ve seen ppl use the term ‘gaylor’ a lot, particularly in a derogatory manner. i’m wondering if ‘gaylor’ means, like, anyone who thinks taylor is queer/believes she’s had relationships w women, or if it’s like a specific subset of the fandom with a specific set of beliefs that act a certain way that ppl don’t like?

It's highly contextual, anon.

Basically, it's both. More accurately it's people who believe in conspiracy theories that Taylor is queer and/or her relationships with men are lies, and those who excuse them.

Taylor has publicly stated she's straight. Before then, I said it was anyone's game to think she could be bi, because she'd never self-identified any way and had publicly expressed interest in men (and, therefore, not a lesbian). However, since she self identified in 2019, any run around to insist that she's queer holds serious suspect as being disrespectful. As a rule, it is disrespectful to assume you know someone's sexuality better than they do. I feel pretty strongly about that.....

Gaylors range from newbies on tiktok who don't know any better to people who have been here for 10 years, but the central thing that holds them together is a false idea that Taylor's public "persona" is a lie and personally, she's a different person.

A lot of them believe in kaylor and other queer relationships (which, again, I also have believed in my time! Just not in the romantic or sexual sense since Taylor said she's straight!!) and that if you don't think so (aka if you believe Taylor when she says she's straight, or at the least - respect her right to self identify without second guessing - which is a thing all people, especially queer, should have the right to), you're homophobic. They have a number of dogwhistles they use to prove it.

My favorite of which is James is a girl. There are other variations of "queer people can see themselves in the music," but James is special. See, there's literally no narrative reason to think James is a girl. The only narrative reason to suggest James is a boy is that he's a moron, and the song and narrative feel straight. They have no little queer things like other songs the gaylors have used to "prove" their insane theories. Dress, for instance, has the element of hiding in plain sight, which is an experience queer people - especially queer women - know all too well. betty displays nothing that connects to the queer experience. It literally doesn't sound gay. Like if it makes you feel good to think that James is a girl, go ahead! I like the idea that Inez is August! I'm not going to tell you how to read this fictional story. But like... there is nothing in the story that is exceptionally queer.

But in summer of 2020, if you even so much as suggested that James was a boy, you had anons all over you. There were thousands of posts made by every idiot and their mother about how "queer people can read this music however they want" and "it's homophobic to say that Taylor couldn't write about two girls" and "it's disgustingly homophobic to say that queer people shouldn't see themselves in Taylor's work" and "Taylor writing about queer things isn't the worst thing in the world!" And the crazy thing is, literally none of this was ever disagreed with! I'm sure there are some one off homophobes in this fandom, but they are laughably small. The vast majority, by a WIDE margin of people never said anything like that and wouldn't say anything like that. All they said is that Taylor intended James to be a boy, which she did. If you wanna read it otherwise, no one is stopping you. No one said that queer people couldn't see themselves in James and Betty's story, no one said that Taylor couldn't write about queer characters, no one said that it would ruin the story to see it as queer, no one said that Taylor writing about queer stories would be bad in any way. They just said that James felt like a boy to them... Or that Taylor said James was a boy, and so, regardless of how you like to read the story, that's what she intended.

The reason this felt like such an attack that the gaylors had to misrepresent the statements they were arguing against is because what they were actually saying is that Betty and James proved that Taylor is gay. So if you thought James was a boy, or you thought Taylor intended James to be a boy, regardless of whether or not that's how you read it, then she didn't release the song because she's gay. And that's what they thought was homophobic. To them, anything that doesn't say "Taylor is gay" is homophobic.

And that's why I said "and the people who excuse them." Because not all gaylors directly believe Taylor is a lesbian and Joe was a beard, but they all buy into the dogwhistles and the bullying... And so they contribute and give those who do believe in conspiracies their cover. Furthermore, the more time someone spends in that space, the more credence they give to the conspiracies.

Does all that make sense?

#ask #gaylors

[dykemisspiggy]

a wlw remake of leap year would be sO GOOD I must ask what other wlw remakes are you considering

Hiii!!! You have just given me an opportunity to ramble about my two favourite things combined (rom coms and being gay) so strap in you're getting the manifesto lol

Penelope (2006)

It just makes sense

The themes are literally self acceptance and self love!!!

It's my wlw remakes I get to choose who's gay

French Kiss (1995)

Not a lot of people know this one and the actual film is not great but the bones are there!!

In this one a woman travels to France to confront her fiancé who has left her for a woman he met there

She meets a French guy when she gets there who is going to help her get her man back but then they fall in love (oversimplified but yeah)

NOW IMAGINE IF THEY WERE BOTH WOMEN*

Like???? Woman* helps other woman* to understand how she can make him love her again, falls in love with her instead - transcendant

Also it could be drastically improved by casting a French actor to play the love interest (Kevin Kline ily but your French is just a bit too American)

Falling Inn Love

Another absolutely trash rom com - American woman gets cheated on and loses her job, drunkenly enters a contest to win an inn in New Zealand, wins, finds it needs a lot of work, falls in love with small town NZ and also the hunky handyman helping her fix the place up.

We as queers deserve trash rom coms

Also this one would be incredibly easy to flip, all you have to do is change handyman to not a man and we're good

OPPORTUNITY TO SEE BUTCH LADY* USE MUSCLES

You've Got Mail (1998)/Shop Around the Corner (1940)

These are 2 for 1 because the former was inspired by the latter

This one is an obvious candidate for a wlw remake imo

Maybe I'm just a slut for a slow(ish) burn, love being right under your nose, and rivals to lovers but there's just something so beautiful about watching two people choose to love each other. Now imagine if they were wlw 🤯

The Wedding Planner (2001)

Again an absolutely trash film but we deserve mindless mush goddammit

I just think this had the possibility to be a better film given a few tweaks

First of which being the removal of the white saviour elements

I always loved the way this movie dealt with the bride and groom's break up, it's a very mature conversation in which they both decide they're getting married for all the wrong reasons and value each other much more as friends which would be nice to see in a wlw context

As I'm envisioning this narrative between 2 wlw of colour this would probably be done best by someone who is not me

Just Wright (2010)

This is another one which would best be made by someone else

But with how much we've been enjoying watching the women's euros and the commonwealth games (women doing amazing things 😳) I think we're due a sports wlw rom com

This movie is gorgeous tho, I recommend romance fans to watch it if you haven't already

First Daughter (2004)/Chasing Liberty (2004)

These are together because they are the same movie

WLW DESERVE TURN YOUR BRAIN IN AT THE DOOR ENTERTAINMENT

I reckon in the wake of Happiest Season, this would be the easiest to get made

The premise is not too challenging to the more conservative of the world but just subversive enough for the studios to feel rebellious

It's a wlw brain-rotting movie for people who don't like Christmas

Opportunity to see women* in suits what more could you want?

Sorry it took me so long to get round to this but I saw your ask and my brain promptly deleted every film I had ever seen in my life 😂

*None of the characters necessarily have to be women, the time has come for non-binary romantic leads.

#thank you so much for the ask!! #afoxnamedmulder

[troglobite]

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okay wait holy shit i think roy might actually be queer.

um.

UM!!!!!!

going back and rewatching t/d l/sso truly has been like [mind blown] over here

i can finally take everything keeley says abt rebecca SERIOUSLY instead of "yeah yeah, straight women are like that sometimes"

and EVERY OTHER QUEER MOMENT has me like I AM LOOKING. RESPECTFULLY. 👀

and legitimately like.

what the fuck.

okay so s2 e5 is rainbow

which.

rainbow. first of all.

i even remember being like "ohhhh rainbow? 👀" when it first came out and then watching it i was like "oh okay. it's abt the rolling stones song and higgins' wife. nvm"

and here's how convinced i was that this show was just gonna be fucking straight.

the whole episode pulls from a MILLION romcoms, they talk abt and quote them REPEATEDLY.

MAINLY ted and roy.

and then she's like a rainbow plays when roy QUOTES YET ANOTHER ROMCOM and leaves the studio to go to the richmond game bc he's seen that he has an effect on the players as a coach, and it's what he wants.

and ALSO they just got done talking abt a 17 year old, which is how old roy was when he started, which is ALSO how old he was when TRENT CRIMM, independent, wrote a SCATHING article abt him that he then carried around in his wallet for 20 fucking years

until they hashed it out in a fucking locker room shower

WHICH.

ANYWAY!!!!!!

then roy has to do the romcom "run to them at the airport!!!" thing but it's him getting to the stadium and it's very cute

but part of it

involves him

getting on a rickshaw

that is COVERED

IN RAINBOW DECORATIONS

AND STRAIGHT UP

A RAINBOW FLAG

now, roy LOVES keeley and thought she was gorgeous.

but as we all know.

that don't mean you're not fucking queer, bro.

i dare say, i am compelled to believe that roy could ACTUALLY be bisexual.

listen, i literally--

like LISTEN.

normally i watch shows with my Literary Analysis and Film Theory glasses on. i'm not an Expert, but i KNOW how to do critical analysis of media. i have fun doing it!

but i just.....didn't. with ted lasso.

bc it seemed. to me, at first. like a show. that would just sort of. hand you things.

that it "wasn't that deep" even if its intent and meaning were quite insightful or kind or touching or well done.

but now i'm like

oh my fucking god WAIT

bc now all these characters are confirmed queer

and i cannot express to you--ANY OTHER SHOW!!! AND I WOULD'VE BEEN CALLING IT FROM THE GET GO WHO WAS QUEER AND WHO WASN'T!!!

this show threw me off my fucking game COMPLETELY.

and now i'm like oh my fucking god how did i overlook a LITERAL RAINBOW FEST PLAYING W A LOVE SONG OVER ROY RETURNING TO RICHMOND AND GETTING TO TED AND THEY EXCHANGE MORE ROMCOM LOVE CONFESSION QUOTES?!?!?!

i'm literally sitting here like

okay yeah, no, i get it, i thought it was a joke.

ted makes SO many jokes, i never took these ones seriously. i just thought, the show is being silly.

but!!!

BUT!!!!!

also--

the show breaks the fourth wall and plays w media and formatting on INTERESTING episodes.

first of s2 we have the cartoon dog bc dani can't sleep knowing that he killed earl.

and THEN we have here in s2 e5 the fourth wall break w the couple in the crowd (WHICH ALSO FEATURED A QUEER COUPLE IN THE CROWD! TWO MEN!!!) talking abt how their love story was stolen for the plot of titanic and they've been in litigation for decades. lol

and then in s3 we have amsterdam, where the formatting and fourth wall break is for ted's "trip"

and i just

IT IS INTERESTING

like holy fucking shit.

i'm almost now prepared for colin to say something to the team, or someone else to out him, OR trent to casually come out or something, and for roy to React A Certain Way. leave the room bc he's uncomfortable or something. and it turns out he's queer.

i would also, again, FULLY BELIEVE that he was into jamie.

i mean i gotta be honest, i'd be prepared and would believe roy somehow ending up w rebecca or ted. like that'd be WILD, but i'd believe it.

but now they're REALLY setting him up w jamie and it's sweet! regardless of where that goes, i really enjoy them together. jamie's growth as a character is my favorite, and he'd be leaving roy in the dust if he wasn't forcibly dragging his old ass with him. lol

i'm just sort of blown the fuck away by all of it.

and this episode also featured ted talking abt romcommunism--things will end up exactly as they should be in the end, even if you didn't expect it, want it, or think you needed it.

and then they hint--for like, the ONLY time--that ted and rebecca are the ones talking on bantr, bc they're misdirecting SO HARD abt sam, and it's just like. 👀

it's so fucking fascinating. this show is OBSESSED w subverting expectations and tropes. going left when you think it'll go right. giving you the logical conclusion that you didn't know was out there.

and ted and rebecca? it's too fucking obvious. i just. fundamentally don't believe it (and also i'm still laughing at sassy describing what ted is like in bed and rebecca being viscerally disgusted and spitting out the biscuits that he gave her lol)

and i'm just. FASCINATED! BC IDK WHERE THINGS ARE GONNA GO! I REALLY DON'T! AND I LOVE THAT!

i LOVE seeing the crumbs they've left for me to follow and STILL not knowing what we're walking towards! that's so fun and deft and lovely!

and i'm just really fucking stoked and excited to see that the queerness HAS been there the whole time. it has. and i didn't miss it, i was just given it in a context that made me believe it wasn't real.

but it IS and that's just so fucking cool.

i sound so silly--but like, never at any point was there extreme homophobia or heteronormativity. it's just that i just....given the context and world of the show? i didn't expect. i didn't think. and so many things felt like they remained in the realm of JOKES.

like ALSO in this episode is ted going OVERBOARD complimenting nate wearing his suit to the match. he goes NUTS saying how HOT nate looks.

....and also says "if you want to cut to the truth you get a tailor" or something like that.

which. ALSO FORESHADOWS NATE'S DOWNFALL?????

THE FUCK, MAN.

HOLY SHIT.

okay anyway i would fully believe a queer roy and EVEN POSSIBLY A QUEER TED.

i'm losing it.

i have been burned SO MANY TIMES that upon going back and watching and allowing myself to think and analyze and engage and HOPE now that there's proof that it's not all fruitless--i'm like !!!! SKY'S THE LIMIT!!!!

i mean for fuck's sake, HIGGINS could be queer. they heavily hinted at Some Strangeness for him in amsterdam, as well--which turned out different. but he was a PUNK as a youth! tell me higgins didn't at least TRY making out w some guys in his time. a man that deeply in love w his wife of 29 years? no way he's 100% straight and/or always has been. lol

esp when their song...rainbow........

i'm just.

really endeared and excited and my brain is buzzing but idk what to make of any of it.

apart from:

holy shit, are they saying roy is queer?????

and i love it and i'm EXCITED.

also i didn't say it but i REALLY appreciated how roy and jamie talking in amsterdam included roy just saying "i think keeley has a girlfriend" and jamie just going "well okay let's go look at some windmills, then"

no judgment, no disgust, no sexualizing her, no shock

it was treated as simply as it would've been if it was

"i think keeley has a boyfriend"

it was abt her MOVING ON, not the fact that she's bi.

that was just--a given.

WHICH IT IS!!! SHE DOESN'T HIDE IT!!!!

and i'm just

[falls over]

FUCK ME, MAN. THIS IS WILD.

i can't get over this

it's like rewriting and rewiring my fucking brain

i STILL can't wrap my head around the fact that trent crimm is CONFIRMED gay and didn't out colin for exactly the reasons we all thought

we weren't projecting when we said the look on trent's face when he sees colin and michael is that of a queer elder going "oh my fucking god" at that kind of thing. RECOGNITION OF THE SELF. OF THE STRUGGLE. OF ALL OF IT.

and also i LOVE that it sounds like trent came out RECENTLY! his daughter is YOUNG! i'm just. loving that. i LOVE IT.

my great uncle came out past the age of FIFTY, w a wife (who's also likely queer, i'm just saying--....her lifelong "friend"? 👀 who she immediately moved in with? 👀) and they had three kids together.

like, it happens!!! THAT'S LIFE, BABY!

and i just really appreciate that.

idfk man, there's so much humanity and nuance and reality and just. all of it. in these characters.

and it's all so silly and over the top and also REAL. LIKE REAL. and honest and true, and it's not all sunshine and roses.

it's such an incredibly fine line they're walking between realism and silliness where ppl talk the way they do. and it's just....honestly amazing.

bc we have so many queer ppl now. keeley, colin, trent, even will. and now we have POSSIBLY EVEN MORE????

i'm literally astounded and i'm just HAPPY.

bc so many ppl who just. need to see this kind of thing. watch this show. idfk, man.

anyway.

it's not the most profound queer rep in the world. it's just really making my day, each week & w each ep of the rewatch. lol