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this was so good

wow wow i clapped multiples while listening

Maaan. I wanna write more f/f / femships but I’m bi (or pan or poly, who cares) and I don’t want to just rely on stereotypes. (So I’m gonna totally steal your assertive hacker lesbian plot :P )

Exciting! Sign me up 💸

excuse me, with all the respect in the world, you're gorgeous. k bye

patreon.com/ObviouslyQueer

I can't really comment on the lesbian representation as I'm not a lesbian (though I am bi), but as someone who is AuDHD... They played up her character way too much in S4, to the point where she felt like a neurodivergent stereotype. What happened to the social cues she had in S3? What happened to her knowing so many languages? What happened to her being cool, and to her character trying to get Steve to focus on the task at hand, rather than it being the other way around? I relate way more to her character in S3 than in 4. Her character was a lot more nuanced, and I appreciate those subtle little neurodivergent hints, rather than her just being a representation checklist. I related to her being so deadpan, and focusing so intensely on something that she forgets about her other responsibilities (i.e. learning Russian rather than working). I don't relate to the "haha I talk fast and make forced jokes every five seconds, I'm so quirky" thing. Maybe some people do, but I just don't. The number one rule to a well-written character is to show, not tell. In S3, you get an insight into her neurodivergence. In S4, it's her entire character and all she goes on about.

I feel like a big part of this is stereotypes as well as bad writing and too little media to chose from. When straightness becomes a default state, it can be portrayed in so many different ways that appeal to different ppl. But when you other certain groups, their identity becomes the gimmick. and so their orientation becomes genre. So all that happens is very little representation because queerness in media is not part of the default. Wich is wild considering that queerness has risen to about 40% with more legalization and protections in past years. But still we act like queerness is some special fringe thing. That's like pretending women on the planet are a rare phenomenon. When we all know it's obviously wrong. But bigotry has finished the job of erasure, stigma to make ppl hide their "deviance" and also brainwashing ppl to believe in a false reality. One upheld by bigotry and social fears of being part of the "wrong" group of people. There is simply too little media representation because queerness is seen as nothing but a controversial subgenre in media production. And so anyone making something in that genre is pressured to do it right. So they play it safe in some ways. Desexualization, removal of tension and also themes of bigotry and in the end, we are left with a world so alien, it alienates people more Ironically enough. Bigotry and bad relationships become the taboo. but in this choice it creates a alienating experience that is so far away from our own, that it feels more bigoted. It erases our struggle while still othering us into a fake world we cannot ever access ourselves. Especially in non fantasy settings. Then we also fight over scraps like rabid dogs that didn't eat in 10 days. Hoping we maybe get one or 2 series that focus on queerness in a month if not 5 or more. We shouldn't have to fight over respresentation. We should become part of the norm. We won't be fully represented until most media recognizes us as part of this world in their fictional versions of our world. Heteronormativity needs to perish. And we, the whole queer community, need to be able to chose between more than 2 shows a year. So writers can be good, bad and also amazing. So there is little pressure to make things perfect. So there is no need to sanitize or alienate. We are not a fringe subgenre. we are almost half of the human population. It's about time they start acting like we are. And especially regarding Sapphic presentation, We need to not hyperfocus only on male characters. Wich is probably partially due to female characters being poorly written background characters in a lot of media wich is bad for female representation. But young fandom members learn that female stories don't matter. that female characters don't matter. That they are only support and that their relationships are therefor hollow. This is ofc not true at all. We need to stop obsessing over male characters cause women's lives are not less than. Especially when theirs include a female partner. Sapphic relationships are not a phase with a man as the end goal. Sapphic relationships are not dull and fundamentally ace. Sapphic relationships are vastly varied because they are HUMAN EXPERIENCES. And human beings cannot be dumbed down to a single genre. We are so much more than that.

Why no sex? CHARLIE IS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD.

This video was amazing. You are iconic.

Great video, im so excited to see what they do in S5. I hope Will has a happy ending. If he isnt being tormented by the upside down, he's being tormented by unrequited love. He deserves a break at the end of all this

My favourite ship at the moment (Grace and Persephone from stray gods) definitely does fit the "aggressive" category, game spoilers regarding their relationship below the first proper interaction is basically Persephone challenges Grace to a musical battle and you (as Grace) can choose to react with equal fight, try to play to the audience (which includes a lot of flirty banter), make her soften up by showing some empathy/appealing to her emotions or a combination of the three options (honestly the complexity on the flowchart for her song is insane, it has 17 different endings), the sexual tension is definitely there as well just listen to Challenging a Queen, especially the blue version, and her romance song and a lot of the flirting lines and even non flirt lines (to the point where my friend who was planning to romance a different character decided to go back and pick Persephone instead because they had too much chemistry to resist), she's super complex as well and honestly she's a total sweetheart once Grace gets through her walls + there's the whole "I murdered my husbands at least twice and became a mob boss/cult leader at one point" thing which is amazing (and the irony of her old name being Chastity is even funnier given her attitude and look), I do like that they didn't just go big mean angry lesbian with the smaller sweet innocent bisexual which it so easily could've been, you can obviously foster that type of relationship with certain trait and dialogue choices but Grace can be almost as mean and feisty if you really lean into the red/kickass playstyle even culminating in Persephone's "I would submit to you alone" line in the romance song reprise (that's the version on the Spotify red album but she does have two other versions you can get that essentially boil down to "thank you for showing me how to move on without the thing I was seeking out, I like that you tell me when I'm wrong" and "thank you for helping me regain what was stolen from me, I'm healing and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us" respectively), there's also the messiness of Persephone lying/stretching the truth because she couldn't risk Grace refusing to help her (like almost everyone else in her life did) and the messy "do I like you because of you or because you're all that's left of my ex girlfriend?" dilemma, it's got the power dynamics like Established God/New God or God/Mortal and sometimes Queen/not a queen (which can go both ways technically), but they are genuinely super sweet together too and as a line from Grace said Persephone went from hating her to agreeing to help her prove her innocence to standing with Grace under the threat of potential execution and obviously the past and new trauma exists so the ship has plenty of opportunity for angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, smut and pretty much any other genres as well

I originally came here to gain insight into what makes these books appealing to you, but my feelings haven't changed: I still don’t enjoy them. I struggle to see the positive aspects you’ve highlighted. It’s important to me to express that I believe differing opinions should be respected and valued in discussions like this. After all, everyone's perspective is shaped by their individual experiences, and it's perfectly acceptable to have contrasting views. For some of us one star was what these book deserve, why is so hard for you to accepted, why you all feel so offended..

I’m 24 now but when I was 15/16 none of my friends had had sex. People started having their first sexual experiences around 17/18 and some even later, most of them were months or even over a year into our first relationships. We spoke about it at younger ages and had sexual desires but none of us were ready. We also weren’t drinking excessively or doing drugs! Teens that don’t do all of that do exist, I was one of them and there are still those people now. There are no shows for teens these days, especially queer teens, that DON’T show explicit sexual content, drinking and drug use. I think heartstopper is an amazing show for teens!

This was a very informative and Interesting Video, thanks. As a Lesbian myself, I only ever notice half of the m/m over f/f phenomenon. I only ever read f/f, so the only place I notice m/m dominance is on Tumblr, despite how well trimmed you can get your social media experience with it, given the follow and reblog system. I helped me understand a lot better how this social dynamic works.

I never hear its unnecessary in 95% of American movies with a male Lead character always smooching and sleeping with the female co star. Always. Bruh who cares. Its unnecessary to see insect kiss and sex scenes where is the complaint on that. 🤮

It's probably why Agatha and Rio are such a loved ship right now. Not only are they canon, but canon in a way that made people wonder if a Marvel show would go as far as making a lesbian ship (a lesbian ship with the main character of the show as part of it, which is so very rare) canon. They're also very flawed characters, who have somewhat of a broken relationship because of a dark shared past and because of the hurt they inflicted upon each other - yet, it seems like they can't get enough of each other, even as they're fighting and insulting and teasing each other throughout the show. I think their story could probably have been written even better, but their resounding success among Marvel fandoms (or just fandom in general) is a sign we're already on the right track. That's typically a ship I was forced to take an interest in, because I don't watch Marvel shows (I don't care about this universe and 90% kinda seems like garbage made for fast money for big corporations not really caring about making good cinema), but the uproar around this ship was so loud on twitter, tumblr, and TH-cam that I couldn't escape it. The last time I saw anything like it, it was probably with Supercorp, and before Clexa and especially Lexa's death.

What do you think about Cosima and Delphine in Orphan Black? They are kinda their own thing in the f/f panorama. They don't really fit anywhere, in my opinion, but I love them ❤️

Thank you for this video. You put into words something I wondered about for some time. Basically, f/f pairings are less numerous and have fewer fanfictions than other m/m or m/f ships for various reasons, but the f/f shippers are way more passionate about their ships. We carry our ships in our heart for a long time, usually, and we can deep dive into each character's dynamic to explore every single aspect of a character or their pairing. m/m ships, on the other hand, may sometimes be a craving, a punctual pic in statistics, but very few ships will survive or stay in their shippers' hearts for long. Your example with Rhaenicent and Lucemond truly illustrates this, it kinda made me feel better about the number of Lucemond fics on AO3 😂

I'm so glad I found someone who understands us as much as you do.

I think they are not interested in lesbian representation but rather they made this Vickie and Robin ship to compare with Byler, and if you realize every gay series on Netflix has been cancelled, say Byler is canon and they show it in season 5 the duffers will have screwed everyone, no heterosexual viewer would have anything to do and you say they would really just be dumbfounded, mileven definitely has no way back, the end of season 4 leaves a door open, I wouldn't say queerbaiting is a very depressive way of seeing everything stranger things when Things are very clear, it's just that the straight people who watch this program don't want to accept it, and let's be honest, it wouldn't matter if it had already been said on the screen, people would still think it's shit and they wouldn't even take it into account.

A great analysis. I was looking to see if anyone had already mentioned Rhaenicent in some video essay and here I am. For me, in most cases, an LGBT ship always improves a series. Even more so if one of the parts is played by a real LGBT person! It's a shame that a vast percentage of the series' fans seem to have some kind of homophobia and can't see this.

OMG this was a video I needed to see, you analyzed rhaenicent perfectly! You are wonderful!

Will's sexuality is so NOT obvious in season 4. My (straight) brother thought he was in love with Eleven. ELEVEN! After watching the whole season 4... I had to explain him the queer subtext 🙂

To me, the van scene in season 4 felt like Will having a proper send off to his crush on Mike, choosing to forfeit his feelings and move on. Mike's awkwardness to Will feels like a subtle depiction of homophobia though I think Mike has grown up in a conservative household and its not his own thoughts. I think he course corrects when he exhibits these behaviors too. Mike also just wants his best friend back and is uncomfortable with the idea that Will isn't acting like a best friend because of his crush, where the issue isn't Will's crush but their change in relationship. Mike's failure to say I love you could be explained by (1) the fact that his parent's relationship isn't the best example of love therefore he isn't clear what a loving relationship is like, (2) he is afraid to say "I love you" to Eleven because she is in constant danger and it would make it 100x more difficult to lose the one you love, or (3) Mike is also having his own identity crisis and has imposter syndrome when he keeps comparing himself to El and feels like he isn't worthy of saying I love you. I would prefer if Will was given a love interest in season 5, if it is Mike or another character but I doubt this will happen due to no new cast members being introduced that are Will's age. I also don't want a coming out scene just because I feel these depictions in straight shows are more for the straight audience than for us. I prefer a kiss to explicitly show his sexuality. ALL THIS BEING SAID, I do think the color coding is indeed queer coding for byler (the yellow+blue=green matching wardrobe like couples costumes) and the mirroring of other couples in the posters or in the end scene of season 4 is suspect. Those two examples are what stand out to me as a queer viewer; however, every other example used to "prove" byler, like the music, iconography, etc, is mostly for Will only. I don't ship Mileven so maybe thats why many other people would rather see Blyer too, but I think thats commentary on how poor the chemistry is between Mike and El.

I know I’m coming here late but I just wanted to say that as someone who is on the asexual spectrum I really appreciate shows that don’t prioritize the sex lives of its characters! I know hearstopper is meant to be a “perfect” queer story but it sits well in my mind this way. Don’t want to hate but wanted to share my thoughts!

As a closeted 11 year old i was still able to tell from the start that there was something with alicent and rhaenyra

What also really isn't helping f/f ships is how toxic most of it's fandoms are.

So that's why it's hard to find MLM subplots that isn't the focus and just happens to be part of a fantasy or sci-fi story? Seriously, it's baffling how that's so different from WLW stories

Girl, are you russian?

i came back to this video after melinoe x eris from hades 2 overtook my brain

I adore a good lesbian enemies-to-lovers story, but it feels like a lot of the people who try to write these stories don't actually understand what that means. They're more like... "misunderstandings to lovers" or "women on opposite sides/factions and who assume they have to be enemies when they are in fact perfectly and easily compatible when they actually get to know each other, to lovers". I don't even particularly crave taboo or toxic/problematic dynamics, I just gotta have that *tension* of morally opposed or otherwise incompatible characters, working through their differences in a way that leads to a true understanding. maybe they roll around in the dirt a bit too, in a few contexts. that's the stuff I'm gay for

I feel like Sproull calling not having sex “well-behaved” implies that having (gay) sex is therefore badly-behaved. Verily echoes this with her comment about them not drinking or swearing means they’re getting into heaven. Why would they want these characters to engage in “bad” behavior? Isn’t getting into heaven good? And goes doing gay stuff mean you won’t get in to heaven? That seems to be what they’re implying with those terms, even if they didn’t mean to. And that feels strange coming from a gay man and a bisexual woman, and makes me wonder how they see their own queerness.

If people want to see teen shows with queer characters who engage in sexual activities they should watch something like skins or shameless (although funnily enough Shameless e. g. was partly criticized because of that...although the problem there is that Ian, who was I think 15 in the beginning of a show, had a sexual relationship to his 30-something boss; so that's a whole other topic). Heartstopper is just made for a younger audience, as well as Glee e. g. which is also rather unsexual I'd say.

Unfortunately I didn't finish the saga because it was never entirely translated into Italian, only the first two. I loved the story and the events, the mystery, I discovered the ley lines and other things, loved it all. But. The characters never gave me anything, I only continued because I liked the setting. I hated Adam, I don't even know a word to describe it, every time he opened his mouth I felt like rolling my eyes, my expression was always be like 🙄😒😤, or "please stop talking. I understand the situation but COME OOON". Always complaining, despising(? What is the English word for a disgusted hatred?) the help of his own friends (they want to help you, they don't think they're better than you, come ooon). I hated Adam, I hate it to this day, every time he comes to my mind. Fortunately a publishing house has taken over the saga and is about to translate and publish the entire saga. I will buy it and try it again. Anyway, besides my hatred for Adam, I remember that I found some parts a bit confusing, some parts funny, so yeah, this is my unwanted opinion. I hope my English is understandable, although I understand it well, my writing and my speaking are leaking.