#on top of the fact that i think everyone in all the books are queer in some way

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 4 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Harrowhark

I'm pretty sure you've already got plenty of submissions for her so I'll just say she was raised in what is basically a cult (technically a nunnery but let's be real) dedicated to keeping the body of the thing that will kill God behind the rock. One of their prayers is actually "I pray the rock is never rolled away". Harrow is extremely devout as penance for her earlier heretical actions in the tomb as a child (spoiler!) so the Catholic guilt really comes through

imagine being a catholic nun and you meet god, but it turns out he’s a twitch streamer from new zealand who became god because everything got a little bit out of hand. and just before you met him you gave yourself a diy grief-fuelled lobotomy with the help of your best frenemy. imagine how insane you’d be. now multiply that insanity by nine. that’s the fictional love of my life right there.

she meets god. she’s not inspired

she’s number one practitioner of space Catholicism. The locked tomb is chock full of Christian (catholic) imagery themes metaphors etc. just look at her she’s got a bone rosary

They're Catholicism with extra bones. Everyone is a nun. They have what is basically a rosary made from knuckle bones. They technically worship the same God as everyone else, but they're waaaay more focused on The Body in the Tomb (Mary) and we get a moment where we find out that while everyone else prays the equivilent of The Lords Prayer, they're doing the equivilent of Hail Mary. And they paint their faces with skulls.

She thinks leaving dry bread in a drawer is taking care of someone. She's in love with a 10,000 year old corpse (the same one they worship). She spent ALL NIGHT digging with her bare hands to make sure a field had bones every 5 feet so she could fight her girlfriend - I mean, greatest enemy. Spoiler territory: She's been puppeting her parents corpses since she was 8 years old. Instead of grieving her dead girlfriend, she gives herself a lobotomy. She makes soup with bone in it so she can use the bone IN THEIR STOMACH to try and kill them.

The author is/was Catholic and the entire series had heavy Catholic overtones. https://www.tor.com/2020/08/19/gideon-the-ninth-young-pope-and-the-new-pope-are-building-a-queer-catholic-speculative-fiction-canon/ A good breakdown of how it's Catholic

Anti-propaganda (spoilers)

I love the Locked Tomb series but Harrowhark has daddy issues with God, had a childhood crush on God's cryogenic partner, and is in love with God's daughter, not to mention that she's essentially a bone-bender. The religion on her home planet exists in a way that is technically against the will of the canon in-universe God, even. All of this to say, Harrowhark is heretical at minimum if not an outright witch. Terrible Catholic. Burn her.

Ronan Lynch

Uhh fun fact he saw the devil flash his father once, and that's one of the reasons he goes to church on Sundays <3

context for this scene from book 2: ronan is in church with his older brother declan, younger brother matthew, and ghost friend noah "Joseph Kavinsky isn’t someone I want you being around,” Declan added. “Don’t snort. I’m serious.” Ronan merely invested a look with as much contempt as he could muster. A lady reached over the top of Noah to pat Matthew’s head fondly before continuing down the aisle. She didn’t seem to care that he was fifteen, which was all right, because he didn’t, either. Both Ronan and Declan observed this interaction with the pleased expressions of parents watching their prodigy at work. Declan repeated, “Like, actually dangerous.” Sometimes, Declan seemed to think that being a year older gave him special knowledge of the seedier side of Henrietta. What he meant was, did Ronan know that Kavinsky was a cokehead. In his ear, Noah whispered, “Is crack the same thing as speed?” Ronan didn’t answer. He didn’t think it was a very church-appropriate conversation. “I know you think you’re a punk,” Declan said. “But you aren’t nearly as bad ass as you think you are.” “Oh, go to hell,” Ronan snapped, just as the altar boys broached the rear doors. “Guys,” Matthew pleaded. “Be holy.”

Gay Catholic streetracing farmer. Consumed by catholic guilt NOT because of the gay thing but because he can Create things in a way he thinks should be only God's business. Will literally roll up to mass on sunday morning still drunk and bloody.

THIS GOTH KID IS LITERALLY GOD. This is a god trapped in the body of a Catholic teen and if he ever stopped feeling Catholic guilt he’d end the world!!. How is your confession every week that you creating a whole new being? Babygirl the God is coming from inside the house

eldritch entity from beyond the mortal plane wants to be a Real Human Boy, becomes a real (ish!) human (ish!) boy, goes to mass every sunday

Gay boy got his crush an apartment above his church so he could have his two favorite things in one place

gay. I'm not caught up the the series but I went through the tag when the latest book came out and I remember seeing a quote that said he worried if his boyfriend would make it to heaven when he dies because of his agnostic tendencies.

Kid is like a dream warlock who creates psychic horrors and never goes to confession because why would he? and he’s gay

There are no words

basically ronan's powers are inherited from his dead father niall and it means he can bring anything from a dream into real life. so he's got this whole crisis about whether he is a living piece of blasphemy because men are not meant to have the powers of gods or whether he literally is god. which is not acceptable to him for a number of reasons but mostly because he hates himself. his love interest's name is adam and adam lives in a small apartment above a church which the book says focuses the objects of his worship neatly into one building. I love them both dearly. also, this entire page makes me feel like I'm going insane. Ronan Lynch believed in heaven and hell. Once, he’d seen the devil. It had been a low, late morning at the Barns when the sun had burned off the mist and then burned off the chill and then burned the edges off the ground until everything shimmered with heat. It never got hot in those protected fields, but that morning, the air sweated with it. Ronan had never seen cattle pant before. All of the cows heaved and stuck their tongues out as they frothed with the heat. His mother sent Ronan to put them in the shade of the cattle barn. Ronan had gone to the searing metal gate, and as he did, he’d glimpsed his father, already in the barn. Four yards away from him had stood a red man. He was not truly red, but the burned orange of a fire ant. And he was not truly a man, because of the horns and the hooves. Ronan remembered the alienness of the creature, how real it had been. Every costume in the world had gotten it wrong; every drawing in every comic book. They’d all forgotten that the devil was an animal. Looking at the red man, Ronan had been struck by the intricacy of the body, how many miraculous pieces moved smoothly in harmony, no different than his own. Niall Lynch had had a gun in hand — the Lynches had an enormous number of guns of all sizes — and just as Ronan had opened the gate, his father had shot the thing about thirteen times in the head. With a shake of its horns, the unharmed devil had presented its genitalia to Niall Lynch before bounding off. It was an image that had yet to leave Ronan. And so Ronan became a reverse evangelist. The truth burst and grew inside him, and it was laid upon him to share it with no one. No one was meant to see hell before they get there. No one should have to live with the devil. So many homilies on faith were ruined once you no longer required it for belief.

Our boy CHOOSES not to receive the Eucharist because he doesn’t believe he is worthy. The spiritual insight, the devotion, the fact that this teenager is worried he may have a mortal sin weighing on his soul…this boy isn’t just going through the motions, he’s putting work into this.

#polls #r4 #cct polls #tumblr tournament #tumblr bracket #tumblr polls #harrowhawk #harrowhark nonasigmus #tlt #the locked tomb #Ronan Lynch #the raven cycle #raven cycle

[anincompletelist]

rwrb fic recs! :D

I wanted to take the time to compile a few fics that have massively helped me over the last tough few months and never fail to bring a smile to my face (after the angst, of course)! thank you to everyone who takes the time to write for this lovely fandom, please keep it up! your words are so important and often change lives even when you don't realize it. I hope you're all doing well, and enjoy! <3

(please message me if for any reason you would like to be un-tagged!)

in no particular order:

he looks up grinning like the devil | @coffeecatsme | E | 38k

Henry can’t help it—he lets out a laugh and shakes his head. Beta Sigma Chi being a safe space is about as likely as the Republicans championing queer rights. “Right, and who’s this new president that somehow managed to turn around an entire fraternity?”

Pez winces. She hesitates at first, but then she must decide on something because her chin juts out. “Well,” she says slowly. “It’s Alexander Claremont-Diaz.”

Henry laughs so hard he almost falls off his seat.

Or, Henry Fox learns to fall in love with everything that is Alexander Claremont-Diaz, even if he insists on calling Henry "dude".

--

A Sporting Chance | @clottedcreamfudge | E | 126k

"Marry Henry - destination wedding. Combine all of our names so paperwork is a fucking nightmare." Henry stares at him and Pez rolls the dice, and-

"Congratulations to Alex and Henry Claremont-Diaz-Fox-Mountchristen," he says with a bright grin, and Alex punches the air and makes a 'whooping' noise. "Your wedding is attended by the Beckhams, the President, and several key members of congress. Henry is very gentle on your wedding night." Henry is going to fucking kill Pez.   "Fucking sweet," Alex says, because Henry is apparently the only one here trying not to have a coronary about all of this.

***

It had just been a party game, except now Henry is in way over his head.

--

a degree of fate | (locked) | lockedinmybody | E | 34k

Against the wishes of the palace, Henry decides to go back to university for a graduate's degree in Literature. And when you want to lay low, what's a better place than Austin University? It's not Henry's fault that Alex Claremont-Diaz is also there. Something must be his fault though, because despite having never met before and Henry only knowing him as the son of the Former President of America, Alex Claremont-Diaz clearly hates him. It's going to be a long two years.

--

the poem you make of me | @omgcmere | E | 91k

After being discovered on Instagram as a teenager, Alex Diaz is thriving as a social media influencer and model who just landed a high profile, high fashion contract with Calvin Klein. Alex can get any girl he wants, and he’s loving it. Meanwhile, British poet Henry Fox has just arrived in L.A. to kick off a North American tour promoting his new, steamy book of gay erotic poetry, and he’s attracting a lot of attention.

Bad blood is immediately sparked between them when Henry blows Alex off at their first meeting. Several tabloid rumors and an Instagram tantrum later, Alex and Henry are reluctantly thrust together to make nice, resulting in a grudging friendship and a magnetism between them that Alex can't explain. Why is Henry's poetry making Alex feel like this? And just what is it about Henry Fox that gets to him so much?

--

Mr. BodyPillow | @inexplicablymine | T+ | 21k

Two boys cuddling on a couch right on top of each other because they are in fact very gay™.

Inviting over a complete stranger for cuddles because you are touch starved might be the worst idea Henry has ever had, or the best.

--

More Amour | surveycorpsjean | E | 45k

Alex discovers something in Henry's closet that changes everything.

--

we've been here forever (here's the frozen proof) | @onward--upward | T+ | 12k

Objectively, I am aware that you – a stranger – cannot tell me my own sexuality any better than I can, however... Can you, please? Tell me? It’s 4am and I have been thinking about this for hours, and I can’t sleep.

Warmest regards, ACD *** It’s four in the morning, and Alex Claremont-Diaz has managed to follow a research spiral straight down into a personal crisis. It isn’t the first time.

--

Oblivion | milowren | NR | 31k | please CHECK TAGS & NOTES prior to reading!

What if the moment in the hospital wasn’t a false alarm and the publicity surrounding the forced bromance between Alex and Henry had the adverse effect of them being kidnapped together?

--

But I love him, whether or no. | @leaves-of-laurelin | E | 77k

Henry moves to New York City to help Pez with the opening of his new bar in the East Village. The location—fortunately for business, but unfortunately for Henry’s sanity—is directly across the street from a fire station. The sound of sirens is bad, Alex the gorgeous firefighter is worse. But when Alex helps Henry avoid a near catastrophe the night of the bar’s opening, the two form a tentative friendship that starts to develop into something more.

--

we might just get away with it | (locked) | smc_27 | E | 21k

Alex is a model. Henry is a journalist, and a bit of an asshole. Alex wants him anyway, even when it doesn’t feel good.

--

Hashtag Soulmates | @everwitch-magiks | E | 44k

Alex is perfect and handsome, the golden boy, everybody’s secret crush. So there is absolutely no way that he is the reader who screeches in caps lock every time that Henry posts as much as a drabble. There’s no way. Except Alex just closed his browser fast as fucking lightning, but not before Henry had gotten a good glimpse of the page Alex had open: AO3. ‘Don't Stop Me Now’, Henry’s current wip. The one that Henry literally just updated.

Sweet Jesus. Could it really be?

--

the rubble or our sins | weather_stained | E | 14k

As the Emperor's grandson, Henry despises the gladiator games and resents being forced to attend them — that is, until he sees Alexander fight. 

It's a romance doomed from the very beginning, as Henry's family is already pressuring him into joining the army and finding a wife, but he falls hard for Alex nonetheless. Will Henry find a way to be with him, or will he spend the rest of his life looking back on their time together?

--

that's all for now! I'd like to do this again very soon since there are so many new fics being posted that deserve love as well.

please let me know if there are any issues with the links, if you'd like to be un-tagged, or if you'd like to come and scream about these with me!

another good place for recs is @rwrbficrecs !

if you enjoy any of these (or any fic at all) please know - as someone who writes them as well - every single comment and kudos goes such a long way. it's not necessary, but it's always so much appreciated. <3

thank you for reading, and I hope everyone is having a lovely day/night! :D

-- anincompletelist / sarah

#rwrb fic recs #rwrb fic #red white and royal blue #fic recs #rwrb fanfiction #my fic recs

[mulderscully]

been thinking about some peoples complaints about how the movie handled alex's coming out as opposed to the book.

part of me understands because the movie did sort of neuter this as well as the depth of henry's mental illness, but at the same time i understand why. the movie is already two hours long and tbh if they wanted to do a fully faithful adaptation (which imo is not necessary) it maybe should've been a mini series.

and aside from taking out liam, tbh i still think that all happened just wasn't shown, and the fact that this is why alex has always known he's "lowkey into dudes" i feel like people don't fully grasp what alex goes through in that time after new years in the movie.

not every bisexual person has the same experience, but i can relate to alex pretty well both in the book and in the movie in terms of his sexuality cause they actually are pretty similar.

a lot of times when you're bisexual you just feel like everyone feels this way. you sort of feel like being straight is what being bisexual is, because the idea that others do not experience attraction to the same and different genders sounds... fake. like. i'm not even joking when i say i have a hard time believing straight people exist. i fully, of course, believe gay people exist, but people being straight and not queer at all makes me ??? sometimes, even now that i have identified as bi for over ten years.

then, there is a pretty big difference between knowing you experience same gender attraction from time to time and actively identifying as a bisexual person, as a queer person, a member of the lgbtq community.

bisexuals, to this day, are made to feel like we do not belong by both heterosexual people and our own community (which is why ellen telling alex the b in lgbtq is not a silent letter realllly matters) so sometimes you really do just shut out that part of yourself and choose to see yourself as straight because it's not worth fighting all the biphobia that you face, but it's still a part of you that you are shutting out and repressing, which is what alex was doing with henry the entire time and where his alleged dislike of him comes from in the first place. henry hates how much he loves alex so he's mean to him, alex doesn't understand why henry is mean to him because he wants henry to like him because he ALSO has feelings for him and those things clash.

during the time that henry ghosts him alex has time to evaluate himself, his feelings and his identity. he has the time to say "this is not something that i am going to ignore about myself anymore" and it may not be as magnified as it is for henry because they're in different positions in terms of support systems, it's still powerful.

when he comes out to henry, you can tell he is getting used to thinking of himself as bisexual but you can also tell that he is nervous to say the word, because telling someone you're bi is ALWAYS terrifying because you don't know what they might say to it. on top of that, you can feel that it is important to him to say it, to tell henry who he is now that he understands it.

being bisexual and identifying that way, and that being part of who you are and carrying it in your heart is a different thing than being like "yeah, whatever i'll make out with someone at a party" even if the latter is still a valid way to be queer. and sometimes you just look back and realize that [x] experience was NEVER straight.

and the best part of the movie to me is henry's complete acceptance of this. henry never ever questions alex's attraction to him, he never questions if alex will be able to stay committed to him, if he will leave him for a woman, if he's confused, or any of the things that STILL happen in media with bisexual characters as leads and as a bisexual person that has been one of the most freeing things to watch.

so yes, alex's bisexuality is still very important and handled as such in the film, in my personal bisexual opinion.

#rwrb #alex claremont diaz #firstprince #red white and royal blue #i feel like if liam had been in the movie it would've distracted some ppl from firstprince too ngl #i know how fandoms work lol #and this movie is a love story abt two characters not some love triangle

[novelconcepts]

Another year, another absurd amount of books read (296, because if I wasn't reading or writing this year, my brain was on fire). I was asked again for my top books of the year, so here we go: 2023's top 10, in no particular order.

This was the first book I read of the year--literally, vacated the hangout with my wife and sibling-in-laws to sit on their couch upstairs and eat through it. Do you love The Fall of the House of Usher, but wish for a nonbinary protagonist and a lot more mushrooms? This is the book for you! (T. Kingfisher is fucking rad, I made a concerted effort to only list ONE of her books on here, but honorable mention goes to The Twisted Ones for fucking me upppp.)

A gay, post-apocolyptic Pinocchio retelling involving copious robots, found family elements, and a cool-ass treehouse. Klune always hits for me with his unrepentant queer family dynamics and sense of humor. Honorable mention to the first two in the Green Creek series (although that's got a lot more...adult elements in among the werewolves, you've been warned).

I thiiiink I found this through The Homo Schedule podcast (PSA: if you missed out on Jasmin Savoy Brown and Liv Hewson doing a podcast together, now you know better), and it wrecked my shit. Tons of trigger warnings, as this is a memoir about abuse within a queer relationship, but it's so beautifully written. I personally suggest listening to the audiobook first, then standing anxiously behind someone at a book warehouse sale, hoping they'll set down the only paperback copy so you can swipe it.

A fantastical-historical reimagining in which the KKK is filled with literal monsters, and Black women are resistance fighters armed to take them out. Visceral and intense, and truly an excellent horror story.

Just. Such a soft time travel story about a daughter and her father and cherishing the time you get with loved ones. I was thoroughly unprepared for how lovely I found this one. It's very kind.

Spooky house, take-no-shit redhead, protective sibling elements, bisexual recluse with a sword who really just needs a nap. I haven't found a Harrow book yet I haven't slapped five stars on. She's so good at character and atmosphere, and I'm always surprised at how fast her stories race by.

The whole Daevabad trilogy (of which this is the first book) is just magical. A girl from the mortal world finds herself embroiled with the centuries-long prejudices and wars of djinn in a fantastical city. It's one of the rare stories of its kind that does have a love triangle, but doesn't feel like a love triangle; it's far less interested in the insufferable "who gets picked" than it is in the actual horrors these people are both perpetrating and coping with. It's an intoxicating ride.

Fuck You, TERFS: the book. Given that fact, there's obviously quite a lot of transphobia to deal with, but it's very clear that those people are wrong, and it's a super-engaging (and super-oh-god-what-comes-next) witchy time populated with queer, protective, interesting characters I'm excited to see again in the follow-up.

Have you ever wanted a haunted house story with visceral imagery and a rather lovely twist? Gailey has you covered. As much as I enjoyed The Echo Wife, I think I actually loved this one more, and it makes me so excited to see what else they've got up their sleeve.

One of my final reads for the year, when I was just churning through hardcovers at the speed of sound. I love this book. I recognize it won't be for everyone, but it takes so much of what I love about IT (one of my all-time favorite books, despite its flaws) and twists it through the lens of an author who escaped the Mormon church. It's horrific, it's fantastically abstract in places, it explores childhood and memory, imagination and abuse, and almost every character is queer. It's a great "I simply cannot sleep until I've finished" read.

#long post #book recs #t kingfisher #tj klune #carmen maria machado #p djeli clark #emma straub #alix e harrow #s.a. chakraborty #juno dawson #sarah gailey #kiersten white #plenty of others could go on this list as well but i figured i'd keep it to ten this time around #still can't believe i read just shy of 300 books in a year #bonus shoutout to the animorphs series all of which is out on audiobook now (the main books anyway) #and which honestly really do hold up well

[clonerightsagenda]

Kat's Top Books of 2023

Was inspired by someone else's post to do a Kat's top 5 books of the year post culling from my #recently reads. I read a lot this year and encountered a lot of great titles, but these ones were particularly memorable:

Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde. Interconnected short stories following the lives of queer misfits and outcasts in Nigeria. I have a passage saved on my phone. I read this back in January so I don't remember the contents as much as the feelings it evoked, but it was beautiful and haunting.

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones. Read My Heart is a Chainsaw first if you haven't already. The books pit Jade Daniels, a young woman with a trauma she's refusing to face head on but instead buries in an obsession with the moral logic of slasher films, against irl slashers who keep coming to town. Bonus points for wired jaw representation, aka my future.

Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan. Set during the Sri Lankan civil war following a young Tamil woman who's caught in the middle as loved ones join the Tigers. It starts with a striking passage that you think means one thing and then comes back later in a way you don't expect that's a huge gut punch.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. A high fantasy story that is also a diaspora story as the characters' scattered descendants watch history play out. Dips into everyone's thoughts to create a chorus POV that's really effective. Note - incredibly gruesome. Organs, lovingly described, etc.

The Golem of Brooklyn by Adam Mansbach. A stoned art teacher accidentally creates a golem who decides his mission is to stop an upcoming alt right rally. Explores the interactions between the old world and the new and the weight of historical trauma - every golem shares the same ancestral memory. Carries its tensions to the very last page and leaves the reader to supply the answers.

(Honorable mention to System Collapse which didn't make it into the #recently read posts, but I had a great time!)

Nonfiction shoutout to A City on Mars which sourced so many delightful space facts and gave me a lot to think about re: SF worldbuilding that is at all grounded in reality. Plus it was really funny.

[bengiyo]

I hit post limit so I can write this in the tags or comments of the post. But I just wanted to say as someone who was feeling very salty about the cut scenes your ask about TV background info and audience feedback helped a lot. I didn't realize that kind of audience feedback and editing was so common. That said do you think the story would have been better with no brainded pairs? Despite the fact that I believe that Sand and Ray would have not been this well acted by anyone else do you think having no brainded pairs would have allowed to stay true to their original vision? And do you think that would have made the story better.

Feeding the audience is just good business sense. Charles on Brooklyn Nine-Nine is way different from how he was in Season 1 because his creepy vibe didn't test well with audiences. Most NBC shows are actually super fucking mean in their first season before softening because it's too much.

Do you think the story would have been better with no brainded pairs?

Emphatically YES. I like First and Khaotung. I think they're both very talented. I enjoy their friendship. I think they're both extremely detailed actors who communicate well and can build emotions off of each other easily.

That being said... They are not the only good actors that exist.

There are lots of talented people at GMMTV who I think could have done this storyline better. I was talking with @lurkingshan and we both think that the rehab plotline was added to shelter the image of FK for viewers. Ray calls Sand a whore constantly whenever he gets mad. Their dynamic is truly flawed in a way I don't think can work. I would rather Sand have stayed an embarrassing simp and we call him on it than this grand romance that it's turning into about how Sand's love pushed through the haze over Ray.

It's similar with Top and Mew. Force and Book are best friends. WE all know this. I actually think the longevity of their friendship is working against Top and Mew here because I don't think audiences are enjoying the games being played between the two, and I unfortunately think they leaned hard on Force's harshness early in a way that audiences bought into because of Mew's gamified responses that has made it impossible to take him seriously.

Neo and Mark are really goddamn good. Mark is probably the best supporting actor we've ever seen at GMMTV, and it's not a surprise that he was first with Nadao Bangkok. We can engage with their performances directly. We're less concerned about Neo and Mark and can focus on Boston and Nick.

...do you think having no branded pairs would have allowed to stay true to their original vision? And do you think that would have made the story better.

YES. We recently learned that Ninew led the workshops on Love in the Air and Wedding Plan. Ninew and Jojo are good at helping actors get into the zone for the work. I think this show would have been way better if we were caught up in the BL-of-it-all and focused on this as a group of queer people independent of whether or not we're worrying over whether a ship will be intact by the end of the story.

This team is really good. I like the work we've gotten from everyone, but I stand by my belief that this show would be better with all supporting actors who didn't need to perform ship once the show was over.

#answered #only friends the series #only friends meta

[askamnesiamoonjumper]

part two of this:

🎆mjs-hideout Follow

everyone say hello at my bushcat :) her name is Maple.

🎆mjs-hideout Follow

Thank you for all the kind replies! ^^ to celebrate I’m letting Maple share some words of wisdom:

6)nvd .,c-%@#0”sxmlkp. d

Truly inspiring.

804 notes

🩻 thesnatcher Follow

you all should send my sister anonymous hate it would be funny

🩻 thesnatcher Follow

NOT ME YOU FOOLS

#MY PLAN IS BACKFIRING

5045 notes

⌛️ahatintimekeeper Follow

I dont think that snatcher realizes that people just pecking hate him

#hatchat

5 notes

🌠corgiquest5fan Follow

YOOOO CHAT I GOT SO MUCH CORGI MERCH FROM THE SHOPS IN NYAKUZA TODAY ILL POST IT L8TER BUT THIS IS SO RAD HOLY SHIT DUDE IM SO EXCITED!!1!

15 notes

anonymous asked: Um you do realize putting “Domesticated the Snatcher” in your bio is hella creepy right? Like it’s weird as fuck to dehumanize an already demonized species like ghosts are people too. You’re already disrespecting the dead with that but it’s especially weird seeing as he’s literally an actual murderer on top of that? Like taking away the ghost thing that’s even creepy to say about a fucking serial killer as well. Like. What the fuck man. Actually what is wrong with you??

🌷identifying-flowers-in-posts Follow

6360 notes

🐇 bunnything-official Follow

“what’s your gender” ermmmm im silly?

6490 notes

🎆mjs-hideout Follow

Godssss if I have to see one more post about the lost prince of subcon I’m going to break the moon again /j

🎆mjs-hideout Follow

like not just posts talking about him but ones that are just blatantly wrong or infactual but I can’t be too mad because no one knows what really happened hardly but STILL. thank stars I killed him by transitioning but STOP PUTTING HISTORY ARTICLES ABOUT HIM ON MY DASH!! PLEASE!!!!

407 notes

Anonymous asked: WAIT WHAT?????? Amy did you???? Know the lost Prince of Subcon?????? Also what’s the context of the transition thing? What????

🎆mjs-hideout Follow

go talk to @ thesnatcher about it because I don’t care about that guy anymore (referring to the prince, not snatcher, love u ^^🩵❤️(i want to trap him in the horizon sometimes))

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anonymous asked: YOUR SISTER IS THE FUCKING SUBCON PRINCE WHAT THE FUCK???????????????????????

🩻 thesnatcher Follow

oh gods what happened why are we talking about this GET OUT OF MY ASKS.

5800 notes

anonymous asked: Amy why did you say to talk to your brother and not you?????

🎆mjs-hideout Follow

…because he’s the prince too…? I thought everyone knew this??

🩻 thesnatcher Follow

MOON YOU DID NOT JUST OUT ME TO ALL YOUR FOLLOWERS WHAT THE HELL

🎆mjs-hideout Follow

WHAT HUH I THOUGHT THAT WAS A KNOWN FACT? IS IT NOT? 9045 notes

🏞️ doyoulovethecoloroftheskyline Follow

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🐇bunnything-official Follow

STOPPPP MY BOSSES DO NOT WANT ME TO HELP THEM MAKE A HORROR DOCUMENTARY ABOUT SNATCHER OH MY CLOTHHHHHHHH BYEEEEEEE

anyway happy day for subcon history fans i guess :p, so sad no one knows i was the one who cracked moonies egg but wat ever *kicks rock and walks away with head lowered + tail dragging behind meoh stitch i just reread the top half of the post for a microsecond i lived in a world where my bosses didnt pitch that idea to me it was so beautiful

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💠 Jermeow Follow

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🎆mjs-hideout Follow

shady-sunburntdeactivated03122017 is both my best friend (wrote pretty accurate books on subcon history and spirits :)) and my worst enemy (wrote books on subcon history ft my deadname being everywhere in it)(I mean I suppose it is also my brothers name but it’s NOT MINE OK he can keep it)

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🌷identifying-flowers-in-posts Follow

Sorry we made your queer platonic ghost partner match with me. Yeah he took on my flower motifs and I took on his thorn motifs. Yeah we match to show our relationship. He’s chilled out now he’s not evil anymore but he’s still a massive bitch. Yeah. Yeah he’s biace too. Yeah, sorry. #about thorns #subconsnatcher

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#long post #unreality #fakeblr #aau #ahit

[rjalker]

people really need to stop recommending books based purely on the fact that they're "Queer representation" of some kind.

Not only does it do a disservice to the story itself, because I guarentee you the author wanted their story to be remembered for more than having "x characters" and nothing more...

...but if you're going around blithely reccomending tons of random strangers read something like the Xenogenesis trilogy by Octavia E. Butler based purely on the fact that some of the characters use it/its pronouns...

that's.

I'm sorry but that is just so negligent. That's the only word I can think to describe it. Xenogenesis is an adult science fiction story meant to be read by adults who are ready to have an incredibly serious conversation about slavery, eugenics, rape, genocide, and how consent literally cannot exist when you are a slave, and what that means for you and everyone around you.

It's not a fun casual adventure story anyone and everyone should be picking up without knowing what they're getting into. You have no idea how many people you're casually recommending this series to are victims of rape who are going to be triggered by scenes in this series, and you're not giving them any warning!

It's already bad enough for people to be flattening stories down into whether or not they have "X characters" but to not warn people about genuinely triggering content in the books you're flattening this way?? Why would you do that?

Please don't fucking do that. If you know a series deals with triggering topics then you need to warn people about that any time you recommend people read it. The Xenogenesis series requires trigger warnings for rape at the very least, and a whole lot more on top of that too, but that's the bare minimum.

Stop recommending people read things just because "characters use x pronouns in it" or "it has nonbinary characters" or "it has a lesbian in it" without any relevant warnings about triggering content it also contains.

At least the person who did this did specify that the it/its users in Xenogenesis are all aliens, but like, that's the least of things people need to be aware of before reading this trilogy.

Reccommend media by actually summarizing it. There's almost always an official summary you can find somewhere. Warn people about any topics that might be triggering that the content contains.

And, since I see this happen the most: for the love of fuck do not lie to people about Queer characters being in a series, or refuse to explain to people that the Queer characters that do exist are just the same old stereotypes we've all seen a million times, with nothing to balance them out and make them actually progressive.

That is going to accomplish nothing except alienating people who've been tricked into reading something that's not actually what they were told it was. You are not going to get anyone to enjoy a series by betraying them by lying about nonexistant or at best shallow, stereotypical, bioessentialist 'representation'.

The Animorphs does not have a single canon Queer character.

The Murderbot Diaries is just the exact same nonbinary robot stereotype that was old in the 90s, with no important human nonbinary characters at all despite there being seven whole books at this point. There are exactly 2 human characters who use neopronouns, but they're the epitome of "token characters". They appear for a combined total of maybe 10 pages, have no importance to the plot, and get shoved offscreen as quickly as possible, never to be seen again. All of the robots use it/its pronouns because they don't have genitals and Martha Wells is transmisic and loves biological essentliasm, and still very clearly equates sex with gender with pronouns. Despite the protagonist using it/its pronouns, no one ever asks anyone else for their pronouns, everyone just magically knows, because, again, biological essentialism. Also known as the exact opposite of representation for trans people.

The Xenogenesis trilogy does not have a single canon Queer character in it. All of the characters who use it/its pronouns are part of the third reproductive sex for the alien species.

Start recommending series based on what the plot is actually about, or what good things they have going for them, not just because they have characters who use XYZ pronouns or are the literal stereotype of a nonbinary robot.

#Xenogenesis #sigh #pride #LGBT #MOGAI #Queer #trans #transgender #trans characters #nonbinary characters #representation #media analysis #sorta #Queer characters #lesbian characters #gay characters #bi characters #The Murderbot Diaries #The Animorphs #Animorphs stans LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE fucking lying and telling everyone there's canon Queer characters in the series

[mormonbooks]

Stripling Warrior

4/5 STARS

Summary: This collection of comics (3 issues and an Annual) has the worlds first ever Gay Mormon Superhero! In fact, it has a lot of different Queer and Mormon (or Mormon-adjacent) characters, all fighting against injustice.

The main character, Sam Shepherd, gets visited by an Angel soon after marrying his husband Jase. The Angel (Abish from the Book of Mormon) calls him to be The Hand of God and punish sinners. He fights homophobes, misguided missionaries, and Cain himself, alongside his companion, Fe, who also received powers from Abish.

Read at your own risk: This book is has a complex approach to mormonism, as well as deceptions of queer sex (Not explicit but pretty nsfw). I think it's a lot of fun, and is an honest portrayal of queer mormon experiences, with fun fantastical versions of Mormon beliefs (Like a Holy Ghost Force Field).

Overall, I enjoyed it! I've been dying for a Mormon Superhero, and queer mormon superheroes are even better. I would love to see more stories with Sam, Fe, Jase, Shonda, and Riley in the future.

Spoilers and Review Breakdown Under the Cut

1. Well written - 3.5 Stars.

Overall, I think the writing is done well. Some of it is cheesy, and there are a couple of deus ex machina's but it feels like it fits in the genre and with what the comic is trying to do.

2. Fun level - 4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed it! I read the whole thing in one sitting and it was engaging and exciting and it made me laugh.

3. Complex faith - 3.5 Stars

This one is complicated to answer. This definitely feels like media aimed at ex-mormons. Most of the characters are Ex (or "Jack") Mormons, and don't have high regard for the church as an organization. They do believe in Angels and Heavenly Mother (cause that's where their power comes from) but the church officials (like mission presidents) are shown as villains. It's a very irreverent story. And there's a part in the last issue where Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father are pitted against each other that I didn't really like.

The only exception is Riley, an asexual missionary who states his firm testimony a couple of times. He is one of the heroes, but still firmly believes in the gospel.

I like it because it has characters from all over the spectrum of mormonism (from actively serving a mission to "my parents were mormon but we don't really talk about it" and everything in between), which I think is cool, but it's also definitely got an exmo bias.

4. Homophobia scale - 5 stars

it's so gay!!!!! They have a character for each letter of LGBTA, it's delightful.

It is also NSFW. Nothing explicit (?) but characters are often naked, and the two married couples are shown being intimate quite a few times. I don't normally love stories like that, but for a comic that is about the sacredness of queer intimacy, I understand why it's included.

5. Mormon weird - 5 stars

SOOO much mormon weird. Abish is an angel. The heroes have Liahona Guides. The big villains are Cain and Ammon. It's so much fun.

6. Diversity of characters - 4 stars!

The main character and his husband are both white guys, but Fe is latina, her wife is black (and trans!), and Riley is a POC.

7. Other problematic stuff - 3 stars

I love this comic but I don't think it's for everyone. On top of being irreverent and nsfw, it also incorporates some indigenous american culture into the mythos in ways I'm not sure about. This is going to happen with anything that talks about Nephites and Lamanites, but mostly I don't know why Ammon has a pet Quetzalcoatl. 🤷

But, like I said, I did enjoy it. I think there's a lot of potential in these characters and I would love to see more stories with them

#mormon representation #mormon #lds #book review #Stripling Warrior #brian andersen #james neish #exmo #gay mormon superhero #queer mormon #sam shepherd #fe fernandez

[palfriendpatine66]

My dream is that you one day will write boiling rwrb au

Also I need to know all of your thoughts about the film

RED WHITE AND ROYAL BLUE MY BELOVED!!!!

In summary: I absolutely love it and have so many thoughts. But also I don’t see myself writing an obikin au for it. (Not to worry, I speak autocorrect 😉) Read more below the break

I adore rwrb. It’s my new comfort movie. I’ve watched it three times and I read the book after my first viewing.

The first time I watched in I could NOT believe how gay it was. Honestly I am still twirling my hair and kicking my feet that we get to have a rom com that is just SO!gay. I want more! And I’m really hoping that it’s popularity means we’ll get it

*side note for any of my younger followers: this makes me feel so old. But as a teen in the 2000s there wasn’t a lot of queer media readily available and what was definitely wasn’t showing or marketed toward teens. What I was aware of was adult dramas surrounding HIV/AIDS. Glee and Modern Family didn’t come out until I graduated. Stories like this would have been a game changer

Anyways: back to rwrb. I LOVE that it gets to unabashedly be everything that it is. Is it corny as hell? Yes! Is it tropey and over the top? Yes! Does it read like a fanfic? Yes! Is it fantastic that it gets to be all of these things that every!single! hetero romance/romcom gets to be while basically leading a pride parade through everyone’s Amazon Prime account? YES!!!

A short list of my favorite things about rwrb in no particular order:

All the star wars references in the book. They are nerds and they are my kind of people

Get Low is also my drunk jam. Yes I am the target audience. Yes I am ok with this

There’s a female president and vice president (girl power!)

The sex scene might just be the sweetest, most intimate thing I have witnessed with my own two eyes? It was so tender and so real

There was zero attempt made to pretend that they weren’t just copying the royal family and the fact that the movie leaned into it so hard is absolutely hilarious to me.

They’re also a biracial couple and they don’t shy away from Alex’s experiences as the son of an immigrant to the US (the book does more here)

The key stays on during sex, just hanging there bonking him in the face. 10/10. Hilarious. Kills me.

They do not shy away from gay sex happening and the boys are horny for each other. Like, we don’t just see them kiss once. Again, I’m old, but YES!!!!

I’m cutting myself off here but I could very much go on.

As for the possibility of an obikin au: I’m not going to lie, I thought about it. But I don’t think I see that happening from me.

The first reason is mostly how I write obikin. I don’t write same age aus because I can’t personally separate out their age gap and power dynamic from the other aspects of their canon relationship. I just don’t know how to make them work as peers. (Note: nothing against same age aus, I’ve read many that I’ve adored. I just can’t wrap my head around it to make it happen myself).

Secondly, I kind of don’t want to touch it? I realize I’m basically the queen of looking at a movie and thinking YES, but make it obikin! But I just went on a rant about how this movie/story feels special in that 1) it’s already queer and 2) is allowed to unapologetically be itself. And I don’t know that I want to change that

(Would I read a RWRB obikin au? Absolutely)

#your pal goes on a loving rant #help I’m old #rwrb #red white and royal blue

[sixstepsaway]

So this tweet popped up on my Twitter yesterday and I just...want to talk about it more than my quote tweets had space for.

Firstly, the replies to this tweet seem to list every relationship on TV ever, which cements in my mind that "abusive TV relationships" truly and utterly depend on the viewer, rather than the actual TV relationship.

Secondly, some people are listing things like Hannibal and Will, and if you think that's an 'idolized relationship', idk what to tell you. Others are listing the Doctor and Rose, the Doctor and Clara, the Doctor and Martha, which... I can't say those relationships are perfectly healthy, but abusive? Come on.

Most of the couples listed in the reply to this tweet are couples that are interesting. They're dramatic and have unrealistic highs and lows. That's the appeal of them. People have listed Chuck and Blair, which I do not think the majority of people who enjoy that relationship want to emulate. Maybe someone wants "someone who loves me as much as Chuck loves Blair" but that's a long way from idolizing the entire relationship.

Besides, this doesn't even dip into the crux of what I want to say here, and that is that all of this is fiction.

First and foremost you have the fact that unless your Main Plot is something entirely removed from the relationship, most TV (or book, or movie, or whatever else) relationships will involve drama, and most drama requires elements that people will dub abusive.

Obivously there's a difference between "A raped B and then they got married later on 😍" (one of the examples in the replies, in fact; General Hospital?) and "C and D had a big fight but got over it later", but narratives are driven by conflict and drama.

On top of that, most people write fanfiction in their mind whether they realize it or not. If you say to someone, "Hey, what do you think X would do if someone hurt Y?" and they shrug and reply, "Probably go ape and kill everyone to save her?" they've just written fanfic. So have you. Most people have a preconceived notion of how characters would be in certain situations, of how they would treat other characters or, in the case of self-shippers and similar, themselves.

I think this is where a lot of the confusion lies, really. Let's use Dany and Drogo as an example.

People in the replies take issue to people 'idolizing' their relationship (which seems to mean: dressing up as them for Halloween or writing 100k of fanfiction about them, not anything deeper than that), but we didn't see a lot of their relationship on screen. What we saw was Drogo raping Dany (something that didn't quite happen that way in the book), and then Dany taking control of the situation, and then an episode or two later Dany seemed to be in love with him (I do not like how they changed their relationship for the show but kept her ending up in love with him, to be clear) and he seemed very adoring and proud of her, especially in the heart-eating scene.

When her brother threatened her and their child, he killed him to protect her. He put her first, turned her into a Khaleesi, gave her strength and freedom. These were all things we saw on screen.

However, the human mind does not like blank spaces, we automatically fill in the gaps. Most people's idea of Dany and Drogo's relationship probably involves a subconscious image of him curled around her with his hand on her baby bump, of him supporting her on the nights she missed her brother, of him learning to show kindness and love towards her and so on.

This leads to people who didn't like the relationship they got on screen, who filled in the blanks with something bad and toxic, to believe these people are 'idolizing abusive relationships'.

On top of that, for a lot of people (women and queer people especially) these relationships are a power fantasy.

They don't want someone like Drogo (and, sometimes, they imagine themselves as Drogo, protecting their Dany from her brother, being a protective warrior type etc), but that doesn't mean it isn't a power fantasy.

When men watch John Wick or Breaking Bad, people do not rush to condemn them for clearly wanting to go on murder sprees and cook meth. We all know that it's a power fantasy, that it's just something that exists inside of their minds to enjoy, much like every work of fiction.

As soon as women and/or queer people have their own power fantasies, fantasies of big strong scary guys who attack and kill and hurt everyone around them but never lay a hand on them, it's always essay material. It's always time to talk about how stupid they are,

On top of that, there's this thing that writers - almost always the male ones - do, where they make a male character that women and/or queer people latch onto and see as excellent and boyfriend material and a romantic power fantasy, and then when they have that male character turn on the woman in his life and hurt her they turn around and go, "haha stupid women! Don't you know that men who hurt people will ultimately hurt you as well? Gotcha! lol you're so dumb!" as though they are not the ones who wrote the character as doing that. Yes, we know that violent men ultimately turn on the people closest to them, we are not stupid. That's the point of a power fantasy - a world where you have power and that does not happen.

It's just really weird to me how things like this get turned into A Thing, where clearly someone is doing something wrong and romanticizing something bad.

I suppose it comes back around once more to the tale as old as time: Women* shouldn't read books, they're too stupid to differentiate between fiction and reality and can't be trusted with their own hysterical minds.

It's pathetic and it's frustrating and if I didn't see so damn much of this absolute bullshit of this idea that people who enjoy fiction - especially those of us who enjoy it so much it engulfs our lives to some degree - must be less trustworthy when it comes to knowing fiction isn't reality than those Morally Pure Souls who enjoy it less and Aren't Freaks About It, and so clearly know the difference.

Let people enjoy their power fantasies in peace, without turning it into essays on how bad it is to idolize a relationship between a woman with three dragon children and the leader of a wandering desert tribe in a fantasy land that doesn't exist.

#fiction #tv #fandom discourse #purity culture

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb: Sparks fly when a lovelorn romance novelist and a divorce lawyer who has sworn off relationships agree to cohost a podcast series offering dating advice to viewers, in Truly, Madly, Deeply, the next steamy queer rom-com from Lambda Literary Award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur.

As a bestselling romance novelist, everyone thinks Truly Livingston is an expert on happily-ever-afters. She’s even signed on to record a podcast sharing relationship advice. Little do they know she feels like an imposter—her parents just announced they’re separating, she caught her fiancé cheating, and her entire view on love has been shaken to the core. Truly hopes the podcast will distract her... until she meets her cohost.

Her first impression of Colin McCory is...hot. But then he opens his extremely kissable mouth. Colin’s view on love just pisses Truly off, even if he does have an annoyingly attractive face. Bickering with a cynical divorce lawyer is the last thing she needs—so she walks out, with no plans to return.

A few days later, Truly is surprised when Colin tracks her down, asking for a fresh start. Truly can’t deny the little thrill she gets from Colin begging, so she reluctantly agrees. As they go from enemies to friends to something else entirely, Truly discovers they have more in common than she ever imagined, including their shared queerness. He’s a genuinely good guy—charming, sweet, and equally as unlucky in love as herself—and there’s something about Colin that drives Truly a little wild. When their attraction reaches a fever pitch, Truly is happy for the first time in years. Yet she can’t help but wonder... is Colin truly, madly, deeply in love with her? Or is it all too good to be true?

Review:

When a historical romance author finds her fiancee cheating on her and immediately goes on a dating podcast... the last thing she expects is to fall for the very snarky (slightly bratty) divorce lawyer. Truly Livingston is a bestselling romance novelist. She's believed to be an expert on happily-ever-afters... except when she walks in on her (ex) fiancee cheating on her, it has her rethinking love. Then she ends up on a dating podcast to give love advice and comes face to face with a gorgeous guy who just happens to be a divorce lawyer and immediately gets under her skin on the podcast. To top it off, Truly finds out that her parents, the people who were the blueprint to why she believes in true love, tell her they are separating. Truly finds her belief in love shaken to the core... and meeting Colin McCory, the one guy who manages to get under her skin yet can't leave her mind, is definitely going to shake up her world. For some reason, bickering with Colin is fun, and when he asks for a fresh start on his sister's podcast after their confrontational first episode together...it begins to turn into something more as they bond over their queerness, their belief in romance, sharing weird facts with each other, and sending each other texts all throughout the day. From coffee shop dates to running into each other at the grocery store, Truly and Colin can't seem to stay away from one another. Yet can Colin convince Truly that she shouldn't close her heart off to love, and can he convince her that he's the one for her? This was a sweet and deeply romantic read, I adored Colin so much. No matter how hard Truly pushed him away, he always supported her and stayed by her side. Colin and Truly were so adorable together and I loved reading their romance. This book was a fun rom com and I loved how both characters were bisexuals. My all time favorite quote from the book that had me tearing up was when Colin and Truly were talking about being Bi and Colin tells her "My point, before I got off on a personal tangent, was that there’s no such thing as being queer enough. Action and attraction are two different things. You could go the rest of your life never dating a woman and it wouldn’t change a thing.” It's a beautiful book and I would absolutely recommend it!

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #book #lgbtq books #bisexual book #truly madly deeply

[retrieve-the-kraken]

Heartstopper season 2 play-by-play analysis

Question: what is the absolute worst? Is it:

a) dating,

b) coming out,

c) parties, or

d) all of the above…

The answer (for me) is d. And this episode has all of the above, and it was like watching a nightmare… (I went on a few dates, all of them painful, but I don’t know if that’s just the nature of dating or if it’s because I’m acespec; also parties to me make absolutely no sense; also I tried coming out multiple times and it’s been the worst anxiety I’ve experienced, each time).

But let’s see how these things go for our lovely group.

EPISODE 3 - PROMISE

- I love that they did the “I know you and Charlie are really good mates” and Otis and Sai giving him the looks, and a kissing montage playing in Nick’s head with the huge letters GOOD MATES across it. Perfection.

- Coach Singh’s whole body language after walking in on Nick and Charlie kissing. And her being protective of Nick after realizing that he’s queer. “You don’t owe them that information”. It’s so reassuring for Nick to have another queer person, a queer adult, know, and for her to tell her that he doesn’t have to live with that pressure, that it’s difficult and it won’t always go well, but it’s not an obligation.

- Nick and Charlie being cozy in the library. Two of my favorite things. More of that please.

- I can’t tell you the giddiness I felt when I saw the Pride display and saw that there was an ACE book top and center. Also I’m so happy that we got so much James, and how fucking giddy he is about hanging out with Isaac. Two little bookworms matching each other’s energies.

- I love how Tao became the worst date by trying to be the best date, following the worst online advice, changing his appearance, and being so tense about everything being perfect, that he forgot about just being himself, which is precisely what Elle likes about him.

- All Charlie and Nick needed to get through their exams and coursework was to think about Paris, and being together in Paris.

- Every time Harry appears, he usually puts an arm around someone, like grabbing them, which, as Tao rightfully pointed out last season, is a hyper-masculine way of saying “I didn’t get hugged much as a child”. So imposing and annoying. Go to therapy, Harry. Stop invading people’s spaces, Harry. (I know the other boys do it too, like Otis did to Charlie in the first episode, and to Nick in this one, but the attitude behind it is completely different. But still, boys, stop just grabbing people like that, it’s so annoying.)

- “But I love you because of how annoying you are” is one of the sweetest things you will ever hear, and I felt so bad for Tara because of how Darcy reacted, literally running away from her feelings. Poor Darcy too. I think I can relate to the automatic reaction of running away from my feelings, running away from anything that was me having to be vulnerable. It gets better, and I love that in the end it’s just practice. The more you talk about your feelings, the better you become at it.

- New favorite ship unlocked: the teachers! “Are you also regretting signing up for this?” Don’t worry, you won’t regret it at all by the end of it…

- James being all giddy asking Isaac to the party, I’m sorry but he’s adorable, and therefore I’m kinda sad about how things turn out, but I hope we get more James in the future.

- The comedic performance of Mr. Ajayi failing to get everyone’s attention in a gentle manner and Mr. Farouk having to go “QUIET!” Which in itself is so funny. (Fun fact: a teacher in Northern Ireland actually won the Guinness Book of World Records for the loudest shout, and it was her shouting “quiet” at 121 decibels, about the same as a jet engine. Mr Farouk might not be as loud, but the way he does it definitely works.)

- Darcy’s “oh dear, oh nooo” and Charlie and Nick exchanging excited looks when they’re told that boys and girls can’t share rooms is so cute. “I know, heartbreaking, isn’t it?” Mr Farouk says with a raised eyebrow.

- Poor Imogen… she needs more girlfriends.

- Tao’s new aesthetic, as much as they made him try to look out of character, just… works… love the whole outfit, the whole vibe. He looks like he’d be in a Wes Anderson film, so it’s very appropriate that they’re going to one.

- And Darcy going “oh duuuuh”, just the worst‼ And Charlie shouting “your hair’s amazing!”

- I love the stark contrast between Tara’s outfit and Tori’s outfit, and I love them both.

- “Look after him or you die”. Aw Tori, being a good older sister. I want more Nick and Tori interactions.

- The comically large popcorns. “I hope you didn’t cut it for me”. Tao’s little laugh but then his look of terrible realization. Then his terrible attempts at being flirty. And then his whole rant about “they’re kids, so it’s obviously not going to last long term”, big foreshadowing.

- Sahar’s makeup and jacket, so cute. Metallic blue eyeshadow. The makeup game in this season is top notch.

- What is up with those boys pulling Charlie away? Seriously, what is this masculine impulse of throwing your arm around someone's shoulder, even when you don't know them???

- And what is up with Sai’s reaction to Nick saying “I need to talk to you guys”? This is a lot like the party in the first season, when Nick realizes that he’s not really the partying type, and he just wants to hang out with Charlie and talk. Here he just wants to talk to his friends and tell them something, but it is like the worst moment to do it, and he’s already feeling ill about the idea of doing it, and he’s really not the big loud party type of guy.

- Tao being so pent up about this one date going wrong. They’re both kids, like the protagonists in Moonrise Kingdom, and they really thought that it would work out from the beginning, and they’re upset that it didn’t, and that it must mean that it will never work.

- “I’m fundamentally unlikeable”. “I liked the old Tao”.

- Tori is so mean in that instant, but we get that it hinges on her fear of Charlie being hurt again, being bullied again.

- After a second viewing, the only overblown comment going around Nick’s head is Tori going “you’re bisexual, so you’re going to cheat on my brother?” (I know that the media tends to have a terrible habit of portraying bisexual characters as promiscuous, which is why Nick is such a lovely change, so I would get why this is insinuated here. But… not from Tori, and so far in the show, at least from my perspective, there hasn’t been anyone insinuating that Nick’s bisexuality makes him unreliable or promiscuous, but especially not Tori. Unless this has to do with a deleted scene... In any case, I expected him to think of her as accusing him of letting Charlie get hurt or something). But all the other things he hears in his head are spot on.

- Charlie coming in hot and shoving Harry away, because he probably still feels bad about not helping Nick when he was confronted with his brother.

- That one-on-one scene between Joe and Olivia is peak perfect Charlie-Sara interaction. More please.

- Also, is it me, or does Sara wear a lot of yellow? She's sunshine personified. (it's curious that, one of the few times we don't see Sara in yellow, is in season 1 when she's wearing blue when Nick is telling her about the date with Imogen, and she says "don't worry, the right girl will come along", and it might just confirm my theory that light blue represents heteronormativity, but coming from a person who turns out to be supportive).

- Nick and Charlie being all cozy, and Nick tiredly saying that he enjoyed Charlie telling Harry to piss off. And Charlie’s whole talk about that weird obligation we feel to come out to friends and family the moment you realize you’re not straight. I think it’s so lovely that the comic and the show emphasize this so much, because so often in media it’s become a whole thing about how you’re supposed to come out, and for it to be this big announcement, as if otherwise you're lying to everyone if you don't, and as if everything is going to be alright from now on as soon as you come out, and as if not coming out means that you’re afraid and a coward. And I love how much this season works through that, with Coach Singh and Charlie and Sara telling Nick that he doesn’t owe it to anyone. This whole season was perfect because of that.

This episode is brought to you by Date Dread™, Coming Out Anxiety™ and Party Fear™ (not just a Raleigh Ritchie song with which I identify way too much...)

#heartstopper #heartstopper season 2 #heartstopper tv #heartstopper netflix #heartstopper analysis #heartstopper play-by-play analysis #nick and charlie #nick x charlie

[marzipanandminutiae]

I'm curious if you've read Tipping The Velvet by Sarah Waters. It's a queer historical fiction set in the late 1880s,early 1890s in England. I just finished the audiobook and was really delighted by how the main character's queerness (her relationship to sexuality, gender, and presentation) didn't try to fit into a modern mold. My own research into queer subculture in the past was focused on the 1700s, so I'd be curious to hear if you've got any thoughts on the book!

I have, and I. Really didn't like it. But that probably had more to do with when in my life I read it

I was newly out to myself, 14, in 2007, and that was the first sapphic novel I managed to get hold of. It scared the hell out of me. Because I had almost no frame of reference for what being a queer woman meant besides stereotypes- I knew about modern coming-out stories centered on androgynous girls and women, and that was it. I thought, okay, this is historical fiction BY a gay woman. This is my world! Surely this will help me make sense of this new thing I've discovered about myself, that the world seems to hate.

As a baby gay teen who had also just realized that, wait, maybe I DID like presenting feminine after all, I was really not at a good place to read a novel where almost all of the sapphic characters featured are butch and the main character goes through some truly tawdry and/or awful things as the result of her sexuality. (I definitely wasn't ready to think about sex, with anyone.) It made me think this was what this was what being a lesbian HAD to mean. I freaked out, shoved it in the top of my closet, and didn't face the fact that I exclusively liked women for another 6 years (told everyone, and myself, that I was bi).

Obviously there's nothing wrong with having orgies or being masc-presenting, but it was the thought that I would become a totally different person if I was gay that scared me so badly. So I haven't picked it up since.

Someday I may reread it, from a more settled and secure place in my own identity. I'm sure it's a great book- like I said, it just wasn't right for me at that point in my life.

#ask #anon #queer literature #cobalt-knave

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Paul's story about sleeping with John many times "top-to-tail, like kids do"

Here's a great post that compiles many quotes from Paul in which he refutes that John could have been gay by saying he slept with John many times in the same bed: "[W]e slept in the same bed in hotel rooms. We topped and tailed it like kids do, you know, when you’re growing up.” And therefore, Paul would have known if John had had any queer tendencies.

The post has many interesting takes on these quotes by different people, and I agree with many points made, mainly that Paul believes he is defending John's honor by refusing to allow so-called journalists (the hacks who write books about Lennon with zero first-hand information, and speculate wildly about Lennon's sex life now that John isn't here to weigh in on the truth or falsehood of such claims one way or another) to have the last word on something so personal and intimate about John as his sexual orientation. My thinking along these lines is that Paul believes if John had wanted the world to know he was queer/bisexual, then John would have said so, put it on the record himself, and since John did not do that, then no one, absolutely no one, not Paul and certainly not the hacks, should be allowed to say so. Paul's idea, I'm guessing, is that the only story that should stand about John and every single thing about him and his life is John's story and anyone else who counters John's story of himself needs to be shut down and dismissed out of hand. Paul, who was phenomenally close to John for years, puts himself in the position of someone who can add interesting detail and texture to John's stories, and someone who can reject out-of-hand "false claims" made by profit-seeking hacks about John, but he will never characterize John in any way that goes against the ways that John characterized himself, while he was alive.

But Paul is clever -- very. And he has a particular way of lying, which is to be extremely direct in answering a question and tell about 70% to 90% truth. I remember the way that when Paul was accused of growing marijuana plants in Scotland, he looks right at the camera and says something like, Fans send us all sorts of seeds and we plant them, "and six of them came up illegal." In this case, Paul's attempt at lying, or not even lying but claiming innocence, is hilarious b/c it's clear he and Linda were growing pot, and it's so ballsy and funny that he feigns ignorance about a mere handful of seeds -- only six seeds, mind you! -- just happening, without their knowledge, to be marijuana! But I believe that actually is what happened: a fan sent Paul and Linda some marijuana seeds and they planted them. Paul isn't not telling the truth, he's telling the truth in a way that disguises and disavows the truth. He's answering an accusation by saying the accusation is wrong, not because he didn't do it or it never happened, but because it did happen, and here's the way it happened and it isn't how the accuser thinks it happened. But if you think about what Paul is actually saying, it's actually a confirmation that it did happen pretty much the way everyone said it did: Paul and Linda did grow weed on their farm.

So, back to the topping-and-tailing story that Paul tells about him and John "as kids" as a way of refuting John's queerness. The thing is, if Paul and John were more or less together, romantically and sexually, "as kids," i.e., before they got really famous as The Beatles in their early 20s, then plenty of people saw that. Plenty of people have eyewitness evidence and information -- not, perhaps, of Paul and John snogging or having intercourse (let's remember, physical acts of that kind were *illegal* in the UK until 1967) -- but plenty of people knew, for a FACT, that John and Paul slept in the same bed, NOT ONCE BUT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. CONSTANTLY. The aunt and uncle who hosted them at their pub for a week -- they knew the boys were sharing a twin bed. Literally anyone in Hamburg might have seen them in the same bed at some point. On the road as the Beatles, the most common config was for John and Paul to share a room. There were so many ppl who might have made the credible argument that John and Paul were queer simply on the basis of their certainty and firsthand knowledge that John and Paul shared a bed many many times.

So, what does Paul do, given that he knows these potential witnesses are out there, and his imperative to deny John's queerness b/c John is not here to revise his own story of his own sexual orientation? (and yes I'm aware Paul has many other motives for keeping his romantic/sexual relationship with John out of the public official story of them -- privacy, for one, but for another, preserving his own reputation as 100% straight and preserving The Beatles' reputation as a non-controversial band that literally everyone, even the bigots that the Beatles always hated, can love -- a band that people discover and fall in love with as tiny children, a band that's appropriate for tiny children to love, which, in Paul's mind, with the prejudices he grew up with, many prejudices that still persist today, a band whose primary songwriters/singers are queer or bisexual will be tarred as a band that is inappropriate for children to listen to b/c of the whole idiotic "queer content grooms kids to be queer" belief system).

Okay, so, again, what does Paul do, given he knows these potential witnesses to his and John's youthful romance, are out there, and his imperative to deny John's queerness? HE HIMSELF TELLS THE STORY. He tells the story before anyone else can. He tells us straight up (so to speak, haha). He says "WE SLEPT TOGETHER LOTS OF TIMES IN THE SAME BED." It's direct, and true (the only part that isn't true is the top-and-tail part but they probably did do that a few times, early on, as a way of denying to themselves that they wanted to be physical with each other). And it's the EXACT kind of thing that John is being accused of, and Paul uses it to DENY that accusation. THIS, people of the world, is how Paul lies. He lies by saying the truth and saying it simultaneously casually and firmly, and says it in a way that makes it seem as if he's undermined the argument being made. Even though, with just a little sideways turn of perspective, he's clearly confirmed it.

In fact, now that I think about it, Paul actually doesn't lie at all, not even a bit. Because he says, "IF John were gay, I WOULD HAVE known, because I SLEPT WITH HIM SO OFTEN." It's the conditional tense. Paul leaves it to US, the audience, the public, to assume that the condition was never met (that John never hit on Paul so therefore John must not have been gay). But...what if the condition was met? What if the condition was fulfilled, many times? Constantly? What if Paul means, I slept with John often, so if he were gay, I would know, because he would have made a move on me, and he DID, and so I do know.

Paul lies by telling the truth. He denies John's queerness and his own and McLennon by giving us the stories that absolutely confirm it, that anyone who knew them from ages 15 to 21 could verify with legit information. He simultaneously undermines the evidence of their queerness as evidence of their queerness by handing it to us on a silver platter, but with a label that reads, "This is my evidence that nothing queer happened, between me and John or between John and anyone." He's smart and funny, is Paul. Just like his and John's lyrics, not everything is what it seems, and yet it is also completely obvious and evident what they are saying to anyone willing to hear them.

#mclennon #paul mccartney #john lennon #the beatles