#will growls

task: add a song for each letter of your username and tag as many people as there are letters

w - waiting room by fugazi

i - i do not want this by nine inch nails

l - l’adieu by alcest

l - love in memory by park byeong hoon

g - godshit by psychopomps

r - reckoner by radiohead

a - asphole by pigface

h - hello zepp + overture by charlie clouser

a - aslan from the banana fish ost

m - mr. self destruct by nine inch nails

s - so many tears by 2pac

d - dunwich by electric wizard

o - outcast stomp by g.l.o.s.s.

g - get down, make love by nine inch nails

this is mostly but not exclusively about what i’ve seen from parts of the house fandom. in the case of house, people will hear about the show because of hilson and start watching it while consuming hilson content based on the later seasons. this gives them preconceived notions of what certain “hilson” scenes or plotlines are about before they watch them, many of which are taken wildly out of context. what this does is creates a fandom culture that’s extremely single-minded; anyone who interprets a scene differently is a “#hilson denier” and people are quick to assume homophobia on the parts of both writers and fans.

additionally, when people go into the show expecting it to be gay, they usually come out of it with two simultaneous viewpoints: 1) that it is gay and cannot be interpreted any other way, and 2) that it’s queerbaiting. neither are true. house is queer-coded and i think people who deny that should probably examine why, but that doesn’t necessarily make “house and wilson gay” the only correct interpretation. it’s fiction. there is no correct interpretation. (i don’t feel like going into the difference between queerbaiting and queer-coding right now so for my thoughts on that see this post).

and don’t get me wrong, i love hilson! but i don’t agree with much of the fandom’s portrayal of them. the gay jokes, for example, don’t “prove” anything to me except that house and wilson are friends. anyone who’s been around straight guys for more than 0.5 seconds can attest to the fact that gay jokes are a sort of.. bonding ritual. i’ve seen people argue that wilson’s “that smugness of yours is an attractive quality” line is proof hilson is canon, even though i think it’s pretty clearly sarcastic both in and out of context. and i recognize that most of the active fandom— especially on tumblr— is neurodivergent tweens who might have a harder time picking up on jokes like that. there’s nothing wrong with that! but when those misunderstandings become widespread, yeah, it’s a problem. media literacy is a necessary skill to learn and recognizing sarcasm is (as tedious as it can be) a part of that.

what does suggest a queer relationship between house and wilson for me isn’t their words, it’s their actions. house lies. wilson lies. it’s illogical to apply that to every interaction between them except their jokes. but house’s reaction to figuring out amber was “female him”? house almost killing himself to save amber because wilson loved her? house wanting to choose death over wilson hating him? the direct parallel between cuddy’s cancer scare (during which house relapses on vicodin) and wilson’s diagnosis (during which house gives up the last of it)? house metaphorically killing himself to have a few more months with wilson? THOSE are “hilson moments.”

also, i think it’s worth noting how tv and queer representation (or lack thereof) has changed since the early naughts when house was first airing. my mom, who is queer and was a fan of house while it was airing, doesn’t think hilson exists either textually or subtextually. i don’t agree with her, but i also come from a different generation and i view media differently.

idk. this was rambly and i didn’t get my point across like i’d intended but this is my piece.

☆

tldr: there are plenty of reasons to ship hilson outside of the show’s homophobic jokes and media literacy is vital to creating a healthy fandom ecosystem. it’s okay to interpret a ship differently but it’s not okay to accuse writers or fans of unfounded homophobia.

disclaimer: i think shipping culture is an important part of fandom and this is not a denunciation of hilson or anyone who ships it, merely a critique of a vocal minority of fans.