#we love representation in media

[jack-the-sol]

Han Yerry Doxtader / Tewahangarahken in TURИ

Sachem of Oriska, He Who Takes Up the Snow Shoe, War Chief of the Oneida

#“It's better when it's made of metal!” #Han Yerry Doxtader #Han Yerry #Tewahangarahken #turn amc #gifs #my gifs #gifset #benjamin tallmadge #caleb brewster #oneida #haudenosaunee #we love representation in media #and its GOOD representation! #period drama #turn: washington's spies

[heymacy]

IAN GALLAGHER + his journey with bipolar disorder

╰┈➤ “At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of." - Carrie Fisher

#happy world bipolar day to all my bp babies #(more thoughts at the end of the tags) #shameless #shamelessnet #shamelessedit #ian gallagher #cameron monaghan #*macygifs #bipolar disorder #hello pals how are we doin #i made this gif set in july of 2023 and never posted it because 1) i was terrified to share it and potentially see Bad Takes in the tags #and 2) because my hyperfixation was waning. and while both of those things are still mostly true (the fixation comes and goes) #i feel like it's really important to share as ian's bipolar storyline was not only so vital to his character it was a bit of representation #that isn't often given to the disorder and those (like myself) who live with it every single day #world bipolar day is a day where we can both celebrate ourselves and our resilience and also raise awareness of the reality of the disorder #which is both terrifying and beautiful at its core. this disease is not a death sentence or a sentence to an unfulfilled and miserable life #while there are challenges galore when it comes to balancing life with this disorder it IS possible to live a full and productive life #and i think it's really important to have representation of that in media - and while shameless dropped the ball on a LOT of storylines #over the years THIS is the one they really fucking nailed and i am incredibly grateful #i first started watching shameless while in the midst of a major depressive episode and i was later (finally) diagnosed during an extended #hypo/manic episode - this show and ian's storyline got me through so much and made me feel so seen and validated in my struggles #world bipolar day is also vincent van gogh's birthday (happy birthday buddy) who was posthumously diagnosed with bipolar disorder #and who experienced both depressive and hypo/manic episodes during his lifetime (and was regularly institutionalized) #it takes a lot of help and support to keep us going. it takes the support of our family and friends and *most* of all #it takes patience and kindness and understanding - which is so so so easy to give if you are willing to love and listen #so please. be willing. listen to our stories. be patient with us. show us love without conditions. support us in any way you can. #we are worth it #i promise #anyway. that's really all i wanted to say. happy world bipolar day to those who celebrate (me) and may all of us living with this disorder #go on to live happy fulfilling beautiful magical lives

[oreolesbian]

something fulfilling in watching two projects (stranger things, thor: love & thunder) hype up their “queer content” as if they’re doing something groundbreaking by doing the same bullshit we’ve seen w/ poorly done queer rep for ages

meanwhile projects like our flag means death, a league of their own, heartstopper, first kill, the owl house, etc. (all in the same year as the other two projects, may i add) perfectly demonstrate how behind those projects are when it comes to rep. how dumb they look for even attempting the dumb “up-for-interpretation”, token queer character shit.

showing how simple it is to, if you are marketing for a queer audience, not to treat us like shit. showing queer people in casual lights, showing our stories in multiple genres for multiple ages, showing multiple queer characters across a spectrum of identities, whether that be sexuality, gender, race, etc.

all it shows me is that i won’t settle for the bullshit queerbaiting. not anymore.

#bit of a ramble #but i feel this deeply #seeing these large queer ensemble shows popping up all in the same year makes me so happy for the content we get from here and to the future #yes i’m thinking fondly on the tlou show 🥹 #lgbtq rep #representation in media #stranger things critical #thor love and thunder #mcu critical #ofmd #a league of their own #heartstopper #first kill #the owl house

[civilization-illstayrighthere]

do you ever think about how johnny silverhand served in the second central american conflict and deserted and came back home to a public that was openly and viciously blaming deserters for the dissolution of the united states instead of the gang of four and corporations that led to the country’s demise and so he released a solo album called sins of your brothers that detailed the horrific treatment of soldiers from being given hard psychoactive drugs to untested military-grade chrome that caused cyberpsychosis and with its release swayed the public opinion into realizing that the veterans themselves and especially the deserters were not to blame and then johnny dies in the tower and then fifty years later in sixth street territory especially you can overhear night city NPCs talk about how much they hate the deserters of the unification war and that everything johnny sang and fought and died for was all for nothing or are you normal.

#johnny silverhand #cp 2077 #cyberpunk 2077 #cbp2077 #cbp 2077 #cp2077 #cyberpunk 2020 #come. take my hand. we are going to analyze the lore of cyberpunk together. #listen. i love fandom. i love to ship things too! but sometimes i wish. we could go a little deeper. you know. #dont u wanna lie in your bed kicking your legs #thinking about the Vietnam parallels and the rise of the traumatized soldier figure in that wake in media from the late 80s onward #wouldnt you like to have a lively back and forth debate about how silverhand as representation of that figure #has changed in the face of the gulf wars and more recent conflicts and— #wait why are you walking away come back

[gottagobackintime]

I find it fascinating to witness the straight audience of any media not being able to pick up what the makers of the movie/show puts down.

It’s like when people reacted to the “You wear fine things well” scene in Our Flag Means Death with “aw, they’re such good friends” whereas the queer audience went “omg, this is happening”. We all had access to the same scene, we’d all watched the build up to that scene but the straight audience wrongly read it as friends/straight whereas the queer audience had suspected they were building up to a romance but this was the confirmation. Even the creator of the show was baffled that people were surprised that Ed and Stede fell in love. Because he thought they had made it obvious.

And as I said, we, the queer audience picked up on it. And I feel like the same thing is happening with Ted Lasso. Do I know that Ted and Trent will get together? No, I am unfortunately not a writer on Ted Lasso. But you can’t deny that there are clues pointing to it. But the straight audience barely pick up the fact that Ted and Trent like each other, be that in a platonic way or romantic way. I’ve seen several reactions to the last episode of season 2 and ONE of them included the scene where Ted reacts to Trent not being in the press room. All of them severely cut down the scene in the parking lot. One of the scenes most of us Ted/Trent truthers point to as a huge piece of evidence for it going canon. The parallel of them meeting in an empty parking lot, just like Ted and his ex-wife and Roy and Keeley. But because Ted and Trent are both men it couldn’t possibly mean anything. And Ted has an ex-wife and a kid so he can’t possibly be into men, as if there is no such thing as being bisexual. “But I’m pretty sure Trent has a family, he has a kid right?” So? He could be divorced, we also have no idea if his daughter has another dad or a mum. And the same thing applies to him, it doesn’t mean he can’t be into men (take also into account all of James Lance’s interviews, and his choice of shirt in one of them, friend of Dorothy anyone? He's the captain of this ship, we're just along for the ride tbh.)

Then we have the wonderful “I’m so not homophobic, in fact, you are homophobic because you think Ted is gay just because he likes musicals and has ‘feminine’ traits” um no… it’s the fact that he kind of acts in a way that an ally wouldn't. Yeah, he called himself an ally in that one episode. But every single person who is now out as queer who at one point considered themselves an ally because "I’m not one of them but I sure think they're neat" raise a hand 🖐️ (been there, done that. Was very into queer things before I realised I myself am one of them). What it always comes down to is "it's pandering", "it's tokenism" (having the main character on the show be queer wouldn't be fucking tokenism), "not everything has to be gay", "why can't men just be friends, there is a severe lack of male friendships on tv". And like the last one makes me go??? There are a MILLION friendships between men on TV. There are even multiple friendships between men in Ted Lasso. Beard and Ted, Ted and Higgins, Ted and Roy, the himbos and so on. Having Ted and Trent become a couple wouldn't really change anything because there are still friendships between men. They also claim that Ted is needed as the "straight without toxic masculinity" representation. As if Beard isn't right there. The man who has no problem going to an immersive show about the menstrual cycle. Has no problem with shrieking when he's surprised and so on.

I also like that if we'd get Ted and Trent together, we'd get two middle aged queer dads. Which isn't that common. It's not even super common to see people realising they're queer late in life on TV, and yet it happens every day. Because let's face it, most queer men on TV kind of look like Colin, and I don't mean that as a bad thing. And I'm looking forward to his storyline. But it's also nice seeing middle aged or old people finding themselves and being allowed to be who they are (see Ed and Stede from OFMD). Also would enjoy seeing people lose their minds when they realise they've been fooled this entire time. It'll be like Black Sails all over again.

I do not have any doubts about the fact that, had Trent or Ted been a woman and they saw Trent give up his career because of Ted's influence, they sure as hell wouldn't protest people thinking they'd become a couple. But because it's two men it's just delusional for some reason (homophobia).

What I'm saying is, it's clear that the straight audience has a hard time picking up subtext and clues that the makers are planting. Because they've never had to do that. Because they are always clearly represented. They don't have to look for minor side characters and hope that they might be queer. Because the main character is straight and most of the supporting cast too. When you've grown up with a lack of representation or with representation that is meant to be subtext, you'll learn to pick up on it. And you do look at media differently. I just wish that the straight audience could listen to us for once, without getting defensive and dancing around the fact that they are uncomfortable relating to a character that turned out to be queer.

#tedependent #ted lasso #trent crimm #there are so many times where I'm watching something and I go... hold on that is... is that a queer character... yes it must be #and then they do something small that confirms it and I'm like I fucking knew it! #I have 0 gaydar in real life but when it comes to media I tend to pick up on it #I wish that all straight people would learn about the way queer people have been represented throughout history #so that they might be able to understand why we have to look for subtext even today #hell we got ''representation'' in star wars and beauty and the beast and it was blink and you'll miss it #and they wonder why we have to make everything gay?? #because we want to be represented in a show that isn't strictly about being queer #yes it's nice with a ''everyone is queer'' kind of show #but it's also nice to be seen in a mainstream show that is loved by not just a queer audience but also a straight audience #nicole watches stuff

[guardian-angle22]

Brian Michael Smith (with Ronen Rubinstein & Rafael Silva) receiving the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2023 for 911: Lone Star

#911 lone star cast #brian michael smith #ronen rubinstein #rafael silva #glaad awards 2023 #representation matters #trans representation matters especially rn #this feels incredibly important and relevant as we all freak out about the tarlos wedding about to happen #'we're gonna use our ART' is exactly what the tarlos wedding is #using art and representation in media to show that people just like tk carlos and paul are out there and we exist and we matter #also i just fucking love these dudes #this entire speech was excellent. brian knocked it out of the park. #rafael and ronen cheering him on the whole time. rafael clapping. ronen multiple times saying 'that's right baby' #LGBTQIA+ solidarity baby - i love to see it #my gifs

[twpsyn-who]

This is going to be my last Eurovision guys. It was nice being part of this fandom for so long (only 2 or 3 years on tumblr, but much more IRL), but to me Eurovision died this year.

Croatia, Netherlands, Ireland - you guys are my winners too, together with Switzerland. Thank you for making this Eurovision something worth watching.

And thank to Switzerland, Ireland and Lithuania (and anyone I might've missed) for showing the nonbinary flag and for giving us the nb representation we need. It was huge, especially for me, to find out not only one artist but TWO were nonbinary.

It was a shitty year with an even shittier Eurovision, but the little things like this made it worth paying some attention to it.

Love you all

#The joy I felt when I found out they were nb was HUGE #Because yes. We as society began to have more representation in media for different types of sexuality and for different ethnicity and for #Different types of bodies. And it might not be much now but is there and is growing little by little #So finally seeing trans and nb representation is... Wow. Because it means we're slowly starting to include it too #And I love that for us #Idk man is 2am I'm tired I just want to sleep #eurovision 2024 #esc 2024 #eurovision

[azacello]

no bc they rlly got me with that “do you remember what he did to you? I was there” bc up to this point no one has been genuine about the abuse. They’ve used it in power plays, in weird psychosexual soliloquies, everytime someone else’s experience of abuse has been brought up it’s been transactional. Say sorry because you neglected Connor, feel an emotion because you hit Roman. But stewy… man! It was just this one last Hail Mary to get Kendal OUT. And the only way kendal knew how to respond to probably the only non-transactional ‘normal people’ exposition of abuse was trying to get his own transaction to go through while offering nothing in return because stewy showed his hand and Kendall knew he wanted Nothing but Him.

#succession #kenstewy #yeah. #I get why they took that line out #it doesn’t feel like succession at all #not the right vocabulary not the right tone not the right jargon #but it would have been So great had they kept it in #just this one genuine plea that doesn’t even sound like it should be in the show #before as we all know hell breaks loose tomorrow #just this ONE time #and it didn’t work #the fact that this was in some fucking variety ? idk which magazine interview #this is what happens when you give Middle Easterns representation actually #they rock ur world #here is a secret I appreciated succession like I appreciate any good media #e.g the first 3 seasons of breaking bad #sort of an undeniably well made thing #but they put an Iranian on screen and he gave an unhinged interview and now…. #crazy thing is I’m not even saying any of this with the homoerotic subtext we all love #the kids to adult childhood friends trope where they witnessed each other’s abuse and now they want to run the fucking world #that.

[just-existing-as-you-do-blog]

VastGenderCrisisVASTGENDERCRISISVASTGENDERCRISIS V A S T G E N D E R C R I S I S

#im very excited about this #we didn't girlboy too close to the sun today fellas #me when representation #you NEVER see this in media thats why i love minecraft roleplays so much #AHHHHHHHH #bound smp #sky bound smp

[lyxthen]

I like it when old people have romance plots in media. Divorced parent gets a new partner and their child loves them. Widow re-marries and finds happiness with their new spouse. Old gays finally able to have their dream wedding and live their lives openly. Elders finding love in a nursing home found-family style. Just. People older than 30 falling in love and having fulfilling relationships is what I mean. Because all I see ever is divorce plots and grief and loneliness because apparently you can only ever be happy and have fun as a teen/young adult. The moment you hit a certain age you stop being elegible for the role rom-com protagonist. It's a little discouraging tbh. I want to see that change.

#What I mean to say is. We need more shows like Grace and Frankie. There I said it. #A while ago I watched a few episodes out of order because my mom really likes it and she was binging it #And I wasn't really paying that much attention to it #But I thought it was sweet. Like genuinely. These people are having struggles with their relationships yes. #They have children. Grandchildren. They have struggles. #But it's still a rom-com. It's all lighthearted and focused of the unlikely friendship of these women #After having their lives shaken by the revelation that their life partners are actually gay #And also there's Jewish representation. Idk if it's good. But listen. #I'm just happy old people got their well-deserved silly plot with silly overly convoluted love triangles and online dating #AND ITS ALL SO UPBEAT!! #Anyway #queer #Also queerplatonic relationships pog #Media #romance #Tehanu is a good book also. If you even care #It's not a comedy #But it's still very sweet. Everyone here is really sad and traumatized but they love each other so much. They had enough adventures #It's time to settle down. Adopt a child. Have a low-stakes plot. Falling in love. Found family.

[mishkakagehishka]

Idc anymore i think i'm a good enough writer that i can say that when i noticed the pattern in what exactly makes a book "good" on booktok (and, bc of that, what makes it popular and top bestseller lists), it feels almost demeaning and denigrating to the entire craft. Idk if i should blame the way tiktok-esque social media has utterly rotted everyone's ability to concentrate and read more than three sentences, but literally none of those books are objectively good.

(Yes, yes, art is subjective. HOWEVER. Art is subjective when you look at style, at themes, at motifs, at plots and characters. Art is still a craft, it still requires skill. I've seen beyond the tiktok quotes of these books. Not even their editors are good given the amount of typos/spelling mistakes. That is not something that you should find in a traditionally published book.)

You look at these books, and you know the only reason for their existence is to make money. I cannot and will not accept that as art.

(I'm on Tumblr, of course I have to explain every point. Artists who make money off their art =/= people who only create art meant to be profitable. There is a difference between an artist who hopes to monetise doing what they love, who creates what they wish to see more of and who happens to then create something that other people wish to see more of, and a person who looks at what's trending and decides that making an unholy frankenstein's monster of a book that mashes all those trending tropes and motifs together would get them rich quick. The fact that a lot of these booktok books become popular because of nepotism is just the cherry on top. It's soulless.)

And to finally say what I wanted to say, it's because none of these books have any deeper message or even artistic value to them. You will find a few out of context quotes or paragraphs, ones written specifically so they'd look deep and beautiful when taken out of context, so that people would post them, so that people would buy the books. Entire books written just so those few lines could become viral and make cash. It cannot even be compared to a hook line writers would post to get people interested in their works, because in booktok's case, those are the only lines of quality and in the context itself, they are often out of place and forced.

I just hate booktok, i hate what modern social media has done to art. It's all created to be quickly consumed, for the few ☆aesthetic☆ glances, and then discarded. Just to make more money for those who are already nepo babies. As if artists needed more obstacles to jump over.

#of course historically it's always been the same #people with free time to create (rich powerful) created #very rarely did you see someone from a humble bg make it as an artist #which is why killing maiming everyone saying Shakespeare was actually a rich guy btw #but like it makes me angry personally #before you call me just jealous - i don't have any wish to monetise my art #my career ambitions lie in a different field (tho adjacent i suppose since i'm a linguist) #i'm saying it makes me angry for other writers who want to make money doing what they love most #it's always been hard. you've always had to have connections or fight tooth and nail for a chance at being published #why? because of how SUBJECTIVE it is #but at least if your skills distinct you and if you bring a truly unique concept you'd have better chances #then modern social media rolled around and no longer can we just publish and disappear no no #WE have to market our works. on twitter on instagram on podcasts on the radio and tv it's up to the authors #i already found that demeaning enough as an introvert #but now it's not even that. publishers no longer look for unique and distinct #they found out booktok is the real cash cow. they look for colleen hoovers who publish fifty books a year #all of poor quality but with enough aesthetic lines that they can easily be marketed thru #the youth who uses AO3 tags and ''omg it's so girlboss!'' and ''it has representation! (not really it's always piss poor rep)'' to market #it to others. who take the same line over and over and go ''omg... this is so deep'' but the lines never look good in context

[darubyprincx]

figured we'd get a horse in this race, so here's our hermitsona! his name's Six and he bounces around Hermitcraft and the Empires writing for the odd newspaper and posting dystopian fanfiction aus about a strange country called America on a planet called Earth. he likes cats, birds, a good cup of iced coffee, chocolate chip cookies, and has a million resources and nowhere to put them.

as a dual resident of both the Dwarven Castle and the Ancient Capital, he overhears a lot of strange tales and will tell them to anyone who'll listen- as long as you lend him your ears and a few hours!

#ray's tag #hermitcitizen #hermitsona #photo unavailable because we do not have a design for this guy and do not want to make one right now #also for all intents and purposes he is a singlet god bless <3 #i love representation in media. dont u agree

[dingustripas]

Someone reblogged my post about old gays basically saying they wanted to see old lesbians. I agree with this, we need more lesbian representation so here’s an itemized list of some movies/shows with cannon lesbian couples. That being said, the reason there is a lack of lesbian representation in media is because women’s bodies are constantly sexualized. Lesbianism is constantly sexualized and fetishized in films and in society.

Heartstopper

Willow

She-Ra and The Princess of Power (Netflix series)

Killing Eve

First Kill

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

DC Legends of Tomorrow

How to get Away with Murder

Warrior Nun

Gentleman Jack

Ratched

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Jessica Jones

Ammonite

Harley Quinn (HBO Animated series)

The Walking Dead

One Day at a Time

Two of Us

Lovecraft country

The Fosters

Wentworth

Bound (1996)

Chucky

NOPE (I'm aware there isn't a lesbian couple but the sister, Emerald Haywood, is a black lesbian which is fucking rare for media to represent. So the movie is going on the list, sue me)

Thelma

Carol

Tell it to the Bees

Wynonna Earp

The Owl House

Black Lighting

#sapphic #lesbian pride #gay girls #girls who like girls #women who love women #wlw #wlw love #women loving women #sapphic love #wlw movies #wlw fiction #so gay lmao #old gays #movies #Lesbianism #Older lesbians are important too #we need more POC queer representation in media #people of color #queer people of color #queer representation #queer community #stop fetishizing lesbians #tv shows #heartstopper #black lighting #the owl house #the walking dead #Chucky #bound (1996) #everything everywhere all at once

[watchmakermori]

I know the reason male shepard couldn't romance kaiden in the first game is because of homophobia but in-universe it is so funny that it's only an option in the final game. because it means, canonically, that kaiden waited until the entire galaxy was being decimated by giant fucking death robots to have his bisexual awakening. king shit

#mass effect #kaiden alenko #kaiden is the cringe fail bisexual representation we all need and deserve #not enough cringe fail bisexuals in media. i love a suave bisexual but give me something to relate to for god's sake

[boundinparchment]

i will admit: I’m still frothing at the mouth but I just have no thoughts than wishing we knew how to build arguments to constructively improve fandom instead of resulting in drama. But drama is fun and no one gets paid for this shit, etc etc.

fandom history should be something everyone pokes their head into regarding reader fics. the entire genre and anything from second POV was shit on for decades; you didn’t make reader inserts in certain fandoms, you made OCs because those were more acceptable. Purges were done not only to remove porn but anything that didn’t meet an arbitrary standard. Some fics are lost to time to until a platform comes back properly (here’s hoping Luna makes a comeback one day).

this genre wouldn’t exist if not for the people dedicated to longfic reader inserts. The people who gave a reader character agency and a backstory and a personality in order to create a scenario. Maybe you relate. Maybe you don’t. But the writer wants to tell a story and we’re giving you a front row seat.

there should be room for discussion about growth and how the genre can improve and how writers can be better informed. it’s important to recognize your own internal bias or the bias you might be inflicting thinking that’ll garner attention. tag your stuff and label it appropriately, research what you don’t understand, and be willing to learn.

Coming from fandoms where the above purges and hate happened and no one made reader inserts because it was forbidden or at the very least, frowned upon? Shocking. To this day, it’s still a learning curve.

It’s a fun way to tell a story and that’s all anyone is trying to do.

#yes there are inherent problems with reader fics when it comes to race and body and culture #people literally out here making content for themselves and others and creating the representation that media doesn’t provide and I love th #and I love that in the sense of: we have a platform to do that; people want to share that part of themselves; different perspectives shared #and we need More of That #and we need less of people spitting and looking down and telling us how to write #How we shouldn’t do X Y and Z because it’s a reader character who needs to be relatable #I’m tapping the sign that says ‘don’t like don’t read you have the agency to leave’ #and I think there’s such room for growth if people embraced the potential of the genre and stopped policing it #and let people play in the sandbox #Mao you said it best and I’m leaving it at that because I just…yeah this genre and its writers ARE THE BACKBONE

[lovekenney]

#i love jennifer tilly #and wlw representation #exept tiff and nica arent really wlw representation #jennifer tilly x women #tiff and nica #NOT tiff and chucky #this is a bad joke cause nica is technically chucky. #we need more of tilly kissing girls in the media