#ship teasing

hi, so I’ve been seeing a lot of buddie posts with the term “queerbaiting” inside, and I feel like saying that it isn’t queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a very serious word to use and I don’t think it should be thrown around.

so, first of all, what is queerbaiting? Sarah Z made a pretty good video explaining what it is.

TL;DW (tho I strongly recommend you watch to educate yourself), a general definition of queerbaiting is that it is a deliberate attempt to hint at a queer relationship through editing, dialogue, editing, irl declarations without ever intending to actually portray the queer. It is usually done because creators want to attract the queer fanbase and gain more money without ever facing the possible backlash from homophobes and country bans and so on

classic queerbaiting examples include 🎉sherlock🎉 In the show, there's s o m u c h subtext (uh go look at some meta if you can't see where) hinting at johnlock. But the creators (mofftiss :'D) just make fun of it. It's played off as a joke where a lot of characters often mistake sherlock and john as a couple, john screams "i'M nOt gAy!!!" at them (yes dear we know you're bi, contrary to popular belief, you're not just a myth), people laugh at the "no homo bro" and the show moves on.

so, 911 is definitely not queerbaiting. It has good LGBTQ+ representation. 911 isn't queerbaiting because it already pOrTrAyS tHe QuEeR!! Quite loudly, I'd say. For example: Hen and Karen, Michael and David, TK and Carlos (technically in lone star but still-)

And these characters are the main ish characters. They have episodes and plot lines dedicated to them, and they aren't discarded once the show has a ✨badge of progressiveness✨. It's not like they went "boom you're gay"ed (cough Rowling cough) on the characters just to get support from the queer fanbase

911 portrays real challenges the queer community faces (unlike movies that only have straight gay teens <- go watch). So it's definitely safe to say that 911 doesn't queerbait at all.

okay, then what's up with the buddie relationship subtext?? Here's a pretty good article on the difference between "queerbaiting" and "ship teasing". TL;DR (again, do go read when you have the time, it's short), ship teasing is basically hinting at a relationship but not delivering it (yet?)

All queerbaiting is ship teasing but not all ship teasing is queerbaiting. The difference in between is that queerbaiting tends to focus and hint more on the sexuality part, instead of the romantic potential. Basically, not all queer subtext is queerbaiting. I really like the conclusion paragraph of the above article and it kinda says what I've been thinking. So I'm gonna quote it here:

Queer representation isn't as simple as characters kissing. It's about nuanced and diverse representations of LGBTQ lives. It's superficial to say queer rep is invalid if characters don't end up dating and it's even more superficial to say that if a queer relationship doesn't meet an individual's standards, then it's queerbaiting. This term is necessary for discussion of queer rep -- but please use it correctly.

I'm not saying "oh all hail fox, it's just ship teasing". Ship teasing could be done right and would be a fun little game to play with the audience if it's a slow burn.

But ship teasing could also hurt. A lot. If buddie isn't canon or endgame, all the subtext and the hinting will just feel like the creators are laughing and making fun of us. Well, I guess all we can do now is pray and hope lmaooo. At least give us bi!buck and maybe buck and josh🥺🥺

in conclusion: 911 isn't queerbaiting, please stop calling it that and make a prayer circle for slow burn buddie

Dear nonny,

well, they had crazy travelling before… Littlefinger just jumped around in Westeros as did Varys, but it was rather to highlight the political intrigue and not to do some last minute saving, so I guess people complained about that, but not too much, while episode 6 of last season had so many plot holes that it was really annoying. I mean the ancient Greeks made fun of that “deus ex machina”-move to somehow redirect a plot where it is supposed to go for a reason. It was a bad move in ancient Greek drama and it is still a bad move today….

If you’re invested in a story, minor flaws do not really bug you that much. I was never angry about Littlefinger’s travelling jet pack. Not really. I thought it was a bit lazy, but I cut the writers some slack because they had to cut the personell of ASOIAF somewhere. And to they highlighted Littelfinger as one of the main machinators of Westeros.

But the plot holes were really blatant in the Wight Hunt, I mean the red shirts who conveniently died even before we got to know them. Gendry running like Flash from the Incredibles, Da€nerys arriving after what felt like just an hour (I mean they could have let them stay on that rock for at least one night????), Benjen ex machina, the fact, that the Wights fear water and then they get chains and pull a dead dragon out of the water…. And I wasn’t even invested enough to overlook it! I mean the BotB had some plot holes as well, but I was invested so I didn’t really mind, that we didn’t know if Sansa knew the Vale was coming or not (I  just wish they had explained later…., but of course they needed to tease Starkbowl….).

As for Jon€rys in ASOIAF, I do think we will have that as well. In the books Jon thinks about the military advantage a dragon would bring at the wall. We have a hint that Da€nerys will fight the Wights north of the Wall at some point (but that she’ll abandon that fight afterwards) in her last chapter in ADWD. We won’t get a Wight Hunt I’m sure, but we’ll get Jon and Da€nerys meeting and we’ll get a brief alliance and we’ll get Jon€rys sex as well.

I always hoped it wouldn’t happen (they are my NOTP after all), but ‘accidental incest’ is in Jon’s arc and is one of the most important tropes connected to a secret parentage. And it would be just like GRRM to not have Jon fall in love - like it usually happens with accidental incest - but to have him commit accidental incest for other reasons like getting the dragons. I think in the books these chapters will be Da€nerys’ POV, so that the reader will be led to believe that Jon might be in love as well. And I’m sure it will be done very well.

As for DarkDany, I do think we had plenty of DarkDany in season 7 already, people just tend to overlook it because at the end Da€nerys got to be with the “good guy” - which they take to mean that she won’t have a fall arc. I actually think that they have done a rather good job of characterizing Da€nerys from book to screen. On the surface she seems heroic and it is only when you think about her actions - and try not to listen to the deceiving glorious music - that you realise her actions are problematic. She actually tells her men in Dothraki that Jon is to be detained on the island, but they didn’t give subtitles for that. Smart move! I really think they did manage to transport the PoV and its pitfalls to screen.

The only problem is that by the time TWOW and ADOS come out, people will know about the outcome in a general way. So, even if it is absolutely different than in the show - which I don’t think it will be, apart from the fact that of course some people might die differently - people would still know about what Jon€rys is supposed to be, an epic love story or an epic red herring. And with that in mind you can still enjoy the books but you are unlikely to be duped into believing a love story, when you know it’s won’t be there in the end.

So, if Political Jon turns out to be the right theory and/or Jon€rys is doomed - of which I am quite confident - , the show will certainly be the best the ship has. I mean they had the leaks for season 7 and could look forward to bo@tbang, they had the Jon€rys scenes in season 7 (somehow, don’t ask me why, adding up to the ‘romance of the century’), and now they have cocksure confidence that we’ll get six hours of Jon€rys love birds in season 8. And yes I am certain that the GoT writers play with fandom expectations. They have very clear false plot lines they tease in between seasons, and from their perspective the ongoing ship war is good. It means that the show is discussed, that there is hype and interest. I think they do lead the general audience by their noses. They teased Dark Sansa after season 4, Dead Jon after season 5, Starkbowl after season 6, and each and every time the fake plots did not play out. I honestly believe that it is no coincidence that the first new footage was a Jonsa hug while the first article on EW was focussed on Jon€rys. They know what they are doing and it really makes me wonder if season 7 leaks were done on purpose. How many would have believed the ‘romance’ if they had not known that we bo@tbang was due for episode 7?

So, yes, the show has given them more than the books will ever give, but that to me is more due to the publication situation than to the fact, that we won’t have Jon€rys in the books. Unfortunately I think we’ll get it, only we won’t feel the impact of it in the same way we would have felt without the show going beyond the existent books. So sadly, we’ll never know how readers would have reacted to Jon€rys in the books told from Da€nerys’ PoV. This snow has been trod upon. The trail of the beast is there (Pun intended). Neither audience nor readers can unsee or unlearn it.

*Being led by their noses, Rebecca and Emily are coming down for dinner*

Emily: Mmm, something smells tasty!

Rebecca: Well I suppose we deserve a break, Emily, that was rather a good rehearsal. We can continue with the second act tomorrow.

*Samantha and Nellie are coming out of the den and are passing by as Rebecca and Emily reach the bottom of the staircase*

Nellie: Look, Samantha, I'm not saying you shouldn't protest injustice, but...well, I'm not sure I entirely believe your motive this time.

Samantha: What do you...

*Emily stumbles on the stairs as one of her loose sandals falls off in mid-step and her bare foot misses the stair. She is caught by Nellie*

Nellie: Whoa Emmy! Are you okay?

Emily: *Blushing at her own clumsiness, as she straightens up and recovers her footwear* Yes, um, I'm fine, thank you.

Samantha: So, um...how's the play rehearsals going, Rebecca? *Samantha fiddles with a strand of hair that's escaped from her ponytail*

Rebecca: It's going rather well actually, thank you. Emily's got all the signs of a star in the making!

Emily: Oh, I'm not that good really...

Rebecca: And very modest too. I'm surprised you didn't want to perform as well, Sam?

Samantha: Who, me? *blushes and looks away* Oh, I'm not a very good singer...

Nellie: Really? *looks rather sceptically at Samantha* I've heard you singing Samantha, you have a lovely voice!

Samantha: Well, maybe alone in my room...

Rebecca: I'd love to hear you sing sometime, maybe? *Samantha's eyes get rather big*

Samantha: Uhh, I think we should be getting along to dinner now? *Samantha heads off to the dining room, followed by Rebecca, with Emily and Nellie trailing behind them*

Emily: Aww, how sweet...

Nellie: What's sweet, Emily?

Emily: Why, Samantha's crush on Rebecca of course!

Nellie: What? She doesn't...I mean, you think she... *Nellie looks a little...downcast. She smiles weakly when Emily glances over at her though*

.

.

Part 1

Hanzo hangs out with a lot of girls, Hana notes to herself.

First it was Mei. She spotted him chatting with the climatologist over breakfast in complete Mandarin. Hana, herself, only knew a handful of phrases in the language, none of which were used in at all in the conversation.

(She later asked him what they were talking about, but he only told her that they were talking about the weather.)

(Hana still isn’t sure what’s supposed to be funny about that.)

The second was Satya, their conversation was vaguely english, at best. She still couldn’t understand a lick of what they talking about, all she could decipher was numbers and manipulation of hard light to make shapes. Both clued her into thinking they were talking about math to which she quickly vacated the room.

(Hanzo actually confirmed this and had even offered to help tutor her on her trig homework. Never did she ever think that geometry could seem so simple.)

The last girl she took notice of was Zarya. On occasions the two seemed to alternate in being each other’s spotter. Either that or they were just sitting on the benches, taking five from their workout sessions and just talking to each other. Hana’s own routine being very lackadaisical meant she rarely ever saw the archer down there, and she never really paid special attention. Gym time was strictly gym time, although she once overheard Zarya say “chicken legs”, followed by Hanzo’s distinct chuckle almost caused her to drop a weight on her foot.

“You forgot McCree-san.”

Hana turns to Genji, to whom she had been talking to more the better acquainted she became with his older brother. She frowns slightly at his comment.

“They only hang out at the shooting range, with like, everyone else, save Jamie and Winston.” she shifts slightly in her seat.

The pair were currently sitting in one of the smaller dining areas on one of Overwatch’s many bases around the globe. The cyborg had been bugging her about wanting to try kimchi; when she asked why, he simply responded with how ramen used to be his favorite food but no longer tasted the same. Apparently he wanted to take the opportunity of being surrounded by different cultures to try new foods.

(Upon hearing that, Hana had suggested different recipes, but Genji seemed dead set on trying kimchi.)

(“Kimchi isn’t a meal, you know, it’s a side dish.”)

(“Then we’ll just make a meal to serve it with, c’mon, I don’t want to eat by myself.”)

(“…Fine, let’s do this.”)

“During the evenings when we aren’t expected to prepare for a mission in the morning, and you don’t invite Hanzo to one of your streams, McCree-san takes us out to ‘hole-in-the-walls’, as he puts it.” His scarred features appear content, sitting across from her and sharing a meal, “Sometimes the restaurants are really nice and fancy, the Indian ones are aniki’s favourite, always loved his food full of spices. I’m more of a steak person myself, though. It’s a good thing McCree-san isn’t a picky eater, so he knows lots of good places that serve lots of good food.”

They fall into a comfortable silence, broken only by the sounds of the boiling pot between them and their eating.

“So your brother’s not gay then, right?” Hana’s initial thought to Genji’s reaction would have been something synonymous with surprise, like choking or something. Him calmly chewing and then swallowing his chunk of food wound up surprising her.

His expression did, at least, change from content to thoughtful. “I couldn’t tell when we were younger. Although Hanzo having a bunch of girls for friends is nothing new to me, I actually remember landing a lot of dates because of him.

“I had always thought that he was just being loyal to the girl father had promised him to, but being older and looking back on those memories now, I’m starting to think aniki was- is- genuinely disinterested in dating.”

Hana blinked, “Is your brother asexual?”

“It’s a possibility, I’ve never asked. I’m not too sure if he’s aware of it himself or if he just doesn’t care. Both are just as likely.”

Another silence settled between the two, more thoughtful this time, as the inner wheels of Hana’s mind began turning.

I hate how people love to dismiss all ship teasing as fanservice when the serie gives ship teasing for same sex ships. Or when people only consider legit ship teasing of the straight ships, while calling all the ship teasing from a same sex ship a fanservice. That's too much blatant discrimination.

(from @blackjackgabbiani) “Somebody please explain to me how “queerbaiting” is any different than “shipteasing”. 

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