˗ˏˋsyd´ˎ˗

sean, max and chloe chillin at the diner- looking at each others work

Victoria and steph babysit daniel and chris, hijinks ensues

kate and alex having a jam session (idk what you call it)

My thing is, if Will hadn't had a love interest, this queer rep is GOOD. Like they not only mentioned internalized shame and fear of homophobia, but also fear of your loved ones being allies but just being overly worried about you, feelings of lack of connection with your peers as they relate to each other on straightness. Those are SPECIFIC things.

What I mean is that at all other points, this seems well intended. Like they did their research, they seem to have had their consultants and shit. Done the work. Shawn Levy is on this for Christ's sake, he puts queer plots in everything he does and does them WELL. He is well intended in desire to represent romances between queer people specifically.

At every turn, they seem like they genuinely want this self acceptance and coming out arc to make queer people feel GOOD. To HELP them.

But holding off for the finale is also a very queer-baity thing to do. Keep the viewership until that very last episode. And well-intended to help queer people and queerbait that prioritizes money over queer suffering do not coexist.

This might sound weird but good intentions + queerbait vibes = canon queer rep.

I said recently, sometimes all slow burns look like queerbait simply because we haven't seen them ever follow through before.

The confusing thing to me is they commented on how trauma bonds shouldn't be romanticized as a romantic basis and outgrowing them until they hold you back, they talked about very specific queer experiences in a way that other shows do not represent, they depicted queer joy as empowering, they depicted queerness as innocent when relating to childhood - spitting in the face of the idea that it is "dirty" for children.

And then they held off on Byler. In a way that if they do not do, cannot have been well-intentioned based on their pacing and marketing choices.

Idk. The well-intentioned is outweighing those signs to me, and like I said, of the two, those signs are the only ones with an alternate explanation.

Yes,

there is a place where someone loves you

Both before and after

They learn what you are.

ok firstly will. in what is a slice of toast, eggs, strawberries and two oatmeal cookies (? hash browns?? whatever it is there’s a plate of it between him and mike) Beautiful. nutritious and nourishing. the strawberries quickly make it a 10/10. it is so wonderful to know he is a Fruit lover. very on brand

one can only wonder what the fuck kind of substance is in that bowl. my first thought was oatmeal and I am going to stick with it because oatmeal is the best food in the world and I expect no less from the princess. he appears to be quarrelling with jonathan over it or the maple syrup.

speaking of. it is safe to assume jonathan is having pancakes because of the maple syrup. unless you are a sick fuck and have it with eggs. moving on.

nancy is having a wonderful glass of orange juice. Love to see it. drink up girl 🧃🧃

holly has two pancakes on her plate which is delectable but she gets a few points taken off for being preoccupied 👎👎 tsk tsk. surely somewhere in that book must mention that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

mike is not looking much brighter. a sad piece of bacon and virtually nothing else. Looking with my eyes -> 👀👀👀👀 duffers u wanna address mike’s relationship with food in s5 SO BAD. Not to mention what is only the start of his crippling coffee addiction. he looks more like his father every day. I pray for him

joyce and her lovely plate of eggs and strawberries and toast 🩷🩷🩷🩷 like mother like son

inspired by @therealscraft's fanart i had to take a breather when i saw it

au by @elmushterri had an absolute grip on me omfg