25% Is Better Than 0%. Trying A Little Is Better Than Not Trying At All. Eating A Protein Bar Is Better

One of my favourite things about heartstopper is just how explicit it is that being closeted isn’t bad. Ben isn’t awful to Charlie because he’s closeted, he’s awful to Charlie because he’s cruel and insecure. And everybody tells Nick at every opportunity that he shouldn’t have to come out if he doesn’t want to, especially Charlie because he knows how hard it is to be out and he cares more about Nick being safe and happy than being open about their relationship

The closest anyone gets to telling him to come out is during the conversation he has with Tao. And even that’s just him saying that Charlie deserves more than to be the guy he kisses sometimes on the downlow, but it’s fine if he can’t give him more than that and that Charlie would never make him come out if he isn’t ready. He isn’t telling him to come out, he’s telling him to consider what Charlie would be feeling. And it feels more like he’s telling him to make it official than to actually come out, it was Nick’s decision to come out because he wanted to make it official

I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen a queer story be this kind to closeted people before. They aren’t treated like cowards or liars or burdens, they’re treated like people in situations where they may not feel comfortable/safe enough to come out. Because in a lot of cases, that’s what they are. And they’re treated with as much kindness and understanding as they deserve and I just love that

emperor kuzco was clearly gay

Heartstopper is different because it takes pleasure seriously

Since I watched Heartstopper, I've been trying to figure out what about it made it feel so different from other stories similar to it. When you just describe the plot of it, it sounds like something straight (har har) out of Glee or Sex Education or Elite or SKAM or Skins or Degrassi, or...you get my point.

But it felt so different to me, and I realized yesterday what it was. Hearstopper takes the pleasures of queer romance and eroticism as seriously as it takes the pains of it. By which I mean, it gives an incredible amount of screen time to the excitement of it, the thrill of it, the visceral good feelings of it. Pleasure drives Heartstopper, in a way that is still incredibly unusual in mainstream queer media.

In most other stories like this, the pain and the angst and the ambivalence and the negative social ramifications of the premise take up like 90-95% of the screen time. The pleasure aspect typically exists as minimally as possible to catalyze all the negative or difficult parts that are the 'real' story. And while Heartstopper doesn't shy away from those things, it gives a roughly equal amount of narrative and screen time to the two leads getting a lot of pleasure out of their relationship, too. The amount of time the show invests in showing Nick and Charlie enjoying each other romantically -- throughout the story, not just at the very end -- is just absolutely decadent (and I mean that 100% positively).

The first kiss is a perfect example. In any other TV version of this story, the boys would have kissed that first time for less than 2 seconds, and then IMMEDIATELY been interrupted by the other boys. Instead, Heartstopper lets them kiss once, take a breath, and then have a second, very extended kiss enhanced by animated embellishments designed to emphasize just how incredibly enjoyable this is for them...before finally disrupting it again with Plot™.

And the amazing thing is, from a pure narrative standpoint, you don't need the second kiss. It's completely unnecessary to the plot. You could completely eliminate it and the plot would hold together exactly the same. The second kiss is there exclusively to emphasize the intense pleasure of this experience for them. That's all it does.

Heartstopper is serious about foregrounding pleasure, and how important pleasure is in all of this. Which frankly, is a thing you usually only ever see in romance novels and fanfic.

***

One of the reasons I was hesitant to watch this show initially is because I have limited tolerance for coming out stories that are so focused on the unappealing parts of the experience. It's not that those things don't MATTER. But there is such a cultural allergy to making the pleasures of the experience a serious focus, particularly (yes I'm going to say it) the sexual pleasures of it.

Hearstopper, blissfully, refuses to shy away from pleasure, and from making it important.

It's not just that my tolerance for queer pain in media is limited (although admittedly that's true). I also grow so weary of popular culture treating queerness as mostly a political identity upon which we simply moralize about tolerance, and engage in self congratulatory yarns about ~being yourself~ and loving yourself. It's not that I think any of those things is BAD. But a) I've seen that story many times before and b) there's an ENORMOUS piece of this experience that we're still mostly skirting around the edges of because we're still very chickenshit about it, to be perfectly frank.

We, as a culture, are still scared as fuck to really say, very bluntly: queerness feels fucking good.

In the midst of this, Heartstopper does something wondrous. It says to the audience, in no uncertain terms: Queerness feels fucking good...so, let's spend some time actually talking about THAT for a while.

My recommendation no one asked for:

The taste of Țuică

By fluxweed

R: Explicit

It’s quite one thing for your best mate to casually tell you about all the sex his boyfriend wants to have. It’s altogether another to have him bring up the time you snogged him in a shitty Central London park.

Draco Malfoy/ Harry Potter/ Ron Weasley

Hi.

I wrote my first fic for the drarry fandom.

It is going to be a very long one. It is a time travel rewrite. Very Au and slow burn.

Draco is transported into the past, into his 11 year old body. But he isn't only carrying mental scars from the war he went through, but his body shows his battles he fought. How will he handle all that knowledge of the future?

I'm excited and would love if you could give it a go

Travels Throught Time

Here is a little excerpt of the first chapter:

With a sign he stands up and opens the door. And sure enough he stands in the hallways of Malfoy Manor. Something is still off, didn't mother just take all of the portraits down. But all around he was greeted with old Malfoy Lords and Lady's.

He walks over to the bathroom, this one at least was just how he remembers it. Over at the sink he turns the water on and splashed his face, he needs to get rid of that nagging feeling at the back of his head. He cups water in his hands and drinks a few sips.

His eyes travel to the mirror over the sink and he screams.

He screams until hands shake him and brake eye contact between him and his reflection.

Read more on AO3 - Travels Throught Time

The first nine chapters are already posted.

So I just saw a tik tok about this and I agree a 100%. I know we all laugh and joke about the "am I gay?" quiz Nick takes but what stood out for me about that scene was the fact that Nick was crying, not because he might be gay but because of all the articles he saw.

Finding out you're queer and it being immediately followed by articles about conversion therapy, suicide rates amongst queer youth and hate crimes is so overwhelming in so many levels.

He realized what is unfortunately linked to the queer experience and I believe he also got a better understanding of what Charlie had gone through.

This scene was so impactful for me and I was sobbing because of the sad reality of what being queer involves.

Okay so I may have named a star DRARRY so now we can seriously say that it’s written in the stars.

And one of the reasons why it's been so praised, particularly by the LGBTQ+ community, is because it reflects the community in such a positive way, through such a positive lens, which isn't done enough. [transcribed interview here]