It's All About That Homoerotic Subtext

[edgy-sparknotes]

sebastian: *slides paper across the table* I need you to break this person's leg

viola:

viola: This is a portrait of you

sebastian: antonio wants me to try Zumba

[edgy-sparknotes]

sebastian: Crushes are the worst.

antonia: Yeah. Whenever I'm near someone I have a crush on, I start acting stupid.

sebastian: You're always acting stupid.

antonio: Yeah, don't think about that too hard.

[edgy-sparknotes]

no because that puts Gatsby’s whole quest for wealth and the ‘perfect’ wife, his anger at not receiving an inheritance from his mentor, the whole white supremacy rant which Tom Buchanan goes off on, not to mention Daisy’s hesitance to marrying Gatsby and how no one actually mourns him when he gets murdered, and the Buchanans can just walk away without consequences… IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE

[edgy-sparknotes]

@pathless-wood not really, a lot of classic american literature excludes poc, even when talking about class, or cariacturizes and stigmatizes us, so it’s not all that strange that op found it interesting that this piece of literature that had previously excluded them now applied to their experiences

[incorrect--shakespeare-quotes]

Friar Lawrence: God, give me patience.

Romeo: I think you mean 'give me strength'.

Friar Lawrence: If God gave me strength, you'd be dead.

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

a thought: it’s never worth engaging with people who don’t care about the truth, and who don’t care about you.

people who demand you subscribe to their point of view/can’t live with your free will, and people who insult you and call you names in an argument carte blanche, are two such people.

I had a conversation today and it’s like a microcosm of the country right now. for everyone who values truth and a good life: don’t engage with people who don’t value the truth and don’t value you. no matter what they call you.

because they don’t care. they pretend to be discussing “important topics”, but their real game is called “ideological tyranny”. it means no disagreement, nothing individual. obey or perish. and if they can’t win by slander, they try to win by force, because they can never win by reason, nor do they use reason themselves, in their arguments.

so my advice to you, dear people: don’t play. not on the internet, and not in real life. :)

[vespaaurinkos]

…. I called you racist for saying that a symbol of a people who underwent a hundred years of genocide based on real people ho underwent hundreds of years of genocide was ‘overt nationalism’

in the other conversation you didn’t actually give any reason? I explained why i disagreed in a calm, polite, manner and asked that you weren’t so rude about other opinions and you decided to take that as me attacking you.

you’re not a martyr here, you’re just someone who said dumb things on the internet and got mad when people responded negatively. that’s not being the victim, that’s being immature.

[edgy-sparknotes]

Damn, that was weird.

(a) you were right

(b) there are no WRONG interpretations. One can always ask for more proof to back up an interpretation but WRONG is a bit of a lazy label.

(c) if a person is intellectually lazy they shouldnt wade into a debate till they're ready to listen, assimilate, then add to the discourse.

exactly like it’s lit there are no wrong interpretations, and if you didn’t want to engage in a conversation just? don’t interact with the post? especially in such a rude way???

[edgy-sparknotes]

Sorry you had to deal with that person op, hope they get better 😔

eh, I’ll survive :) all they did was make themselves look like an entitled jerk

[edgy-sparknotes]

no because that puts Gatsby’s whole quest for wealth and the ‘perfect’ wife, his anger at not receiving an inheritance from his mentor, the whole white supremacy rant which Tom Buchanan goes off on, not to mention Daisy’s hesitance to marrying Gatsby and how no one actually mourns him when he gets murdered, and the Buchanans can just walk away without consequences… IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

No Daisy was hesitant to marry Gatsby because Gatsby acted like a freaking nutjob The entire freaking Book.

The real interracial romance-slander is in To Kill A Mockingbird, where a young poor white lady and a young poor black man fall into “romance”…then suddenly, he’s on trial and because of her abusive father is saying…nevermind. Read the book. Told through the perspective of the lawyer’s daughter, Scout, who defends the young man in court.

[edgy-sparknotes]

they can both be about racism and prejudices against interracial romances, that’s the beauty of literature

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

hey on the flip side you can just walk away and let me interpret it differently and in your words, that’s the “beauty of literature”, yes I read your tags yes I COMPLETELY think you’re wrong no I don’t hate you yes I will still say no to this faulty interpretation of gatsby and yet despite all these things I am not picking a fight and we can coexist in this wild world have a nice day.

[edgy-sparknotes]

wasn’t picking a fight, just saying you could disagree but not be rude lmao

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

you could just stop being upset someone thinks your wrong forcefully and yet you continue. 🤡

[edgy-sparknotes]

you literally started this discussion? how am I the clown for responding to what I thought was intellectual discourse?

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

it’s not a discussion, you’re just wrong.

you’re free to think you’re not, or I’m wild, or whatever.

I reblogged the post to my own blog. I didn’t DM you. I just know you’re wrong.

the idea that the op ideologically owns the post and must respond, on this website, which is built on a unique model in which individuals may or may not reblog posts for their own use and benefit with their own personal additions whether or not the original poster is aware, is absolutely crazy. tumblr’s platform is specifically built for blog integration. not for “ideological approval” on the contributions to a post.

if you don’t like what I’m saying, don’t respond and let the thread “die”. it’s not a conversation. it’s a tumblr post. I already know you don’t agree because you made the post which I disagreed with. I’m not reblogging for your benefit or for your approval, or to hurt your feelings, which I did, apparently.

delete the post and block me then. this wasn’t about you.

[edgy-sparknotes]

stopped reading after ‘it’s not a discussion, you’re just wrong’ so

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

so are you the racist now because you’re brushing off the actual conversation now that you begged for it due to the fact you BELIEVE im white or what

@staff heres an anti european racist in the tags

dude if you’re gonna stop just STOP. i’ll do it for you oh my word!

[edgy-sparknotes]

the ‘actual conversation’ is about how the reading of tkam as an interracial romance paints mayella as a victim, when in reality the book is a critique of white womanhood which shows us that she is just as complicit in tom’s murder as her father and the other townsfolk. you chose to make it about me ‘picking a fight’

i assumed you were white because your take was just viscerally that of a white-centric feminist, and going by your reaction, i do not think i was wrong. you choosing to go to such lengths to act as though you commenting on a post about poc in classic american literature and then having people respond to said comment was ‘picking a fight’, only further backs this up.

you can be defensive all you want, but you’re not in the right here, you’re kinda just being a jerk

[edgy-sparknotes]

no because that puts Gatsby’s whole quest for wealth and the ‘perfect’ wife, his anger at not receiving an inheritance from his mentor, the whole white supremacy rant which Tom Buchanan goes off on, not to mention Daisy’s hesitance to marrying Gatsby and how no one actually mourns him when he gets murdered, and the Buchanans can just walk away without consequences… IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

No Daisy was hesitant to marry Gatsby because Gatsby acted like a freaking nutjob The entire freaking Book.

The real interracial romance-slander is in To Kill A Mockingbird, where a young poor white lady and a young poor black man fall into “romance”…then suddenly, he’s on trial and because of her abusive father is saying…nevermind. Read the book. Told through the perspective of the lawyer’s daughter, Scout, who defends the young man in court.

[edgy-sparknotes]

they can both be about racism and prejudices against interracial romances, that’s the beauty of literature

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

hey on the flip side you can just walk away and let me interpret it differently and in your words, that’s the “beauty of literature”, yes I read your tags yes I COMPLETELY think you’re wrong no I don’t hate you yes I will still say no to this faulty interpretation of gatsby and yet despite all these things I am not picking a fight and we can coexist in this wild world have a nice day.

[edgy-sparknotes]

wasn’t picking a fight, just saying you could disagree but not be rude lmao

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

you could just stop being upset someone thinks your wrong forcefully and yet you continue. 🤡

[edgy-sparknotes]

you literally started this discussion? how am I the clown for responding to what I thought was intellectual discourse?

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

it’s not a discussion, you’re just wrong.

you’re free to think you’re not, or I’m wild, or whatever.

I reblogged the post to my own blog. I didn’t DM you. I just know you’re wrong.

the idea that the op ideologically owns the post and must respond, on this website, which is built on a unique model in which individuals may or may not reblog posts for their own use and benefit with their own personal additions whether or not the original poster is aware, is absolutely crazy. tumblr’s platform is specifically built for blog integration. not for “ideological approval” on the contributions to a post.

if you don’t like what I’m saying, don’t respond and let the thread “die”. it’s not a conversation. it’s a tumblr post. I already know you don’t agree because you made the post which I disagreed with. I’m not reblogging for your benefit or for your approval, or to hurt your feelings, which I did, apparently.

delete the post and block me then. this wasn’t about you.

[edgy-sparknotes]

stopped reading after ‘it’s not a discussion, you’re just wrong’ so

[edgy-sparknotes]

no because that puts Gatsby’s whole quest for wealth and the ‘perfect’ wife, his anger at not receiving an inheritance from his mentor, the whole white supremacy rant which Tom Buchanan goes off on, not to mention Daisy’s hesitance to marrying Gatsby and how no one actually mourns him when he gets murdered, and the Buchanans can just walk away without consequences… IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

No Daisy was hesitant to marry Gatsby because Gatsby acted like a freaking nutjob The entire freaking Book.

The real interracial romance-slander is in To Kill A Mockingbird, where a young poor white lady and a young poor black man fall into “romance”…then suddenly, he’s on trial and because of her abusive father is saying…nevermind. Read the book. Told through the perspective of the lawyer’s daughter, Scout, who defends the young man in court.

[edgy-sparknotes]

they can both be about racism and prejudices against interracial romances, that’s the beauty of literature

[smell-your-sweat--wizard-penis]

[edgy-sparknotes]

[edgy-sparknotes]

no because that puts Gatsby’s whole quest for wealth and the ‘perfect’ wife, his anger at not receiving an inheritance from his mentor, the whole white supremacy rant which Tom Buchanan goes off on, not to mention Daisy’s hesitance to marrying Gatsby and how no one actually mourns him when he gets murdered, and the Buchanans can just walk away without consequences… IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

No Daisy was hesitant to marry Gatsby because Gatsby acted like a freaking nutjob The entire freaking Book.

The real interracial romance-slander is in To Kill A Mockingbird, where a young poor white lady and a young poor black man fall into “romance”…then suddenly, he’s on trial and because of her abusive father is saying…nevermind. Read the book. Told through the perspective of the lawyer’s daughter, Scout, who defends the young man in court.

[edgy-sparknotes]

they can both be about racism and prejudices against interracial romances, that’s the beauty of literature

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

hey on the flip side you can just walk away and let me interpret it differently and in your words, that’s the “beauty of literature”, yes I read your tags yes I COMPLETELY think you’re wrong no I don’t hate you yes I will still say no to this faulty interpretation of gatsby and yet despite all these things I am not picking a fight and we can coexist in this wild world have a nice day.

[edgy-sparknotes]

wasn’t picking a fight, just saying you could disagree but not be rude lmao

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

you could just stop being upset someone thinks your wrong forcefully and yet you continue. 🤡

[edgy-sparknotes]

you literally started this discussion? how am I the clown for responding to what I thought was intellectual discourse?

[edgy-sparknotes]

no because that puts Gatsby’s whole quest for wealth and the ‘perfect’ wife, his anger at not receiving an inheritance from his mentor, the whole white supremacy rant which Tom Buchanan goes off on, not to mention Daisy’s hesitance to marrying Gatsby and how no one actually mourns him when he gets murdered, and the Buchanans can just walk away without consequences… IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

No Daisy was hesitant to marry Gatsby because Gatsby acted like a freaking nutjob The entire freaking Book.

The real interracial romance-slander is in To Kill A Mockingbird, where a young poor white lady and a young poor black man fall into “romance”…then suddenly, he’s on trial and because of her abusive father is saying…nevermind. Read the book. Told through the perspective of the lawyer’s daughter, Scout, who defends the young man in court.

[edgy-sparknotes]

they can both be about racism and prejudices against interracial romances, that’s the beauty of literature

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

hey on the flip side you can just walk away and let me interpret it differently and in your words, that’s the “beauty of literature”, yes I read your tags yes I COMPLETELY think you’re wrong no I don’t hate you yes I will still say no to this faulty interpretation of gatsby and yet despite all these things I am not picking a fight and we can coexist in this wild world have a nice day.

[edgy-sparknotes]

wasn’t picking a fight, just saying you could disagree but not be rude lmao

[edgy-sparknotes]

Hi! I'm trying to start an incorrect shakespeare quotes blog, and I was wondering if I could reblog some of your quotes to fill out my queue while I'm getting started?

sure, g’head!

- MOD A

[edgy-sparknotes]

no because that puts Gatsby’s whole quest for wealth and the ‘perfect’ wife, his anger at not receiving an inheritance from his mentor, the whole white supremacy rant which Tom Buchanan goes off on, not to mention Daisy’s hesitance to marrying Gatsby and how no one actually mourns him when he gets murdered, and the Buchanans can just walk away without consequences… IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE

[thereturnofthecat-deactivated20]

No Daisy was hesitant to marry Gatsby because Gatsby acted like a freaking nutjob The entire freaking Book.

The real interracial romance-slander is in To Kill A Mockingbird, where a young poor white lady and a young poor black man fall into “romance”…then suddenly, he’s on trial and because of her abusive father is saying…nevermind. Read the book. Told through the perspective of the lawyer’s daughter, Scout, who defends the young man in court.

[edgy-sparknotes]

they can both be about racism and prejudices against interracial romances, that’s the beauty of literature

[vespaaurinkos]

so, Sonnet 18, huh?

This sonnet always stood out to me. Not just because it’s gay as hell (shakespeare sweetie, you’re doing great), but because it kind of breaks this pattern I’ve noticed.

See, modern media likes to paint Shakespeare as this tragic romantic soul, whose focused on creating everlasting art and immortalising beauty, and while that’s partly true, Shakespeare was actually mainly just a mega-bitch.

A lot of his most famous works poke fun at/defy the norms of society of the time. Plays like Twelfth Night, which completely blurred gender lines and was pretty fucking gay (especially since women were often played by men at the time) or Sonnet 130, which is SERIOUSLY FUCKING FEMINIST and can best be summarised by that one John Mulaney quote: “My wife is a bitch and I love Her so much”

But Sonnet 18??? Seems sincere and romantic and just??? So genuine??? Which is SERIOUSLY out of character for him. Believe me when I say, our boy Will was THAT BITCH, so I though it was weird. A sonnet where Shakespeare isn’t actively (albeit subtextually) dissing society or the subject??? INCONVIENCABLE!

and then it occured to me. Maybe Shakespeare IS poking fun at the subject, we just can’t see it, because it’s some kind of inside joke???

Picture it: You’re Shakespeare’s boyfriend, and you’re smart, educated and generally cool. But, because you’re dating WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, all people notice about you is how pretty you are. So you’re complaining to your boyfriend, about how it sucks to be known as ‘Shakespeare’s Boyfriend’ and you can’t wait till you’re old and ugly and people will forget all about your beauty and see you as more than Shakespeare’s ex. Of course, you underestimated your boyfriends evilness. And he writes this sonnet, and it’s beautiful, really it is, tender and sweet, about how he’ll always see you as beautiful despite whatever relationship troubles they go thorugh or old age. And then you realise. Someday, some poor english student is going to have to read this, and you will forever be remembered, as Shakespeare mysterious, unnamed but hot boyfriend.

Shakespeare: So what did you think-???

Shakespeare’s Boyfriend: I want a fucking divorce

THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK!

[edgy-sparknotes]

yt people are really out here like ‘ohhhh having poc in period dramas is UNREALISTIC, there weren’t poc in ye olde england!’ as if othello does not exist

[nerd-geek-solidarity]

#also it’s heavily implied throughout twelfth night that viola and Sebastian aren’t white like idk what to tell ya

Wait, it was? I totally missed that, could u say where?

[edgy-sparknotes]

Ok, so I have like 3 big points of evidence for this:

A big part of twelfth night and it’s varying interpretations is that Viola/Cesario is clearly an outsider in Illyria, which is part of the Balkan peninsula. It’s a way of making light of the miscommunications between the main characters, a ‘oh they do things differently where they’re from’ of sorts. 

Additionally the balkan peninsula borders Turkey and North Africa, and since Viola and Sebastian were in a shipwreck, it would make sense that they were travelling upwards from Asia or Africa.

There’s also the queer subtext of Twelfth Night to take into consideration. While most of the christian world was fairly homo/transphobic, many Asian, African and American cultures accepted homosexuality and had specific trans and non-binary genders. It’d make a lot more sense for Viola and Sebastian to casually cross dress (and for Sebastian to become romantically involved with Antonio) if their culture was more accepting then that of Illyria and Europe in general. 

Since Shakespeare was himself bisexual, it’s not implausible that he would’ve implied this to specifically further the gay agenda of the play. So while it was a ‘haha funny cross-dressing’ joke to the white straight people of the audience, the queer/poc audience members would recognize these elements and see it as a further note that this story was meant for them

[edwardprendick1896]

if anyone wants to read more on this

[edgy-sparknotes]

yt people are really out here like ‘ohhhh having poc in period dramas is UNREALISTIC, there weren’t poc in ye olde england!’ as if othello does not exist

[nerd-geek-solidarity]

#also it’s heavily implied throughout twelfth night that viola and Sebastian aren’t white like idk what to tell ya

Wait, it was? I totally missed that, could u say where?

[edgy-sparknotes]

Ok, so I have like 3 big points of evidence for this:

A big part of twelfth night and it’s varying interpretations is that Viola/Cesario is clearly an outsider in Illyria, which is part of the Balkan peninsula. It’s a way of making light of the miscommunications between the main characters, a ‘oh they do things differently where they’re from’ of sorts. 

Additionally the balkan peninsula borders Turkey and North Africa, and since Viola and Sebastian were in a shipwreck, it would make sense that they were travelling upwards from Asia or Africa.

There’s also the queer subtext of Twelfth Night to take into consideration. While most of the christian world was fairly homo/transphobic, many Asian, African and American cultures accepted homosexuality and had specific trans and non-binary genders. It’d make a lot more sense for Viola and Sebastian to casually cross dress (and for Sebastian to become romantically involved with Antonio) if their culture was more accepting then that of Illyria and Europe in general. 

Since Shakespeare was himself bisexual, it’s not implausible that he would’ve implied this to specifically further the gay agenda of the play. So while it was a ‘haha funny cross-dressing’ joke to the white straight people of the audience, the queer/poc audience members would recognize these elements and see it as a further note that this story was meant for them

[estellaestella]

“…Shakespeare was himself bisexual…” - this just hit me like a ton of pillows. Why yes! Of course! Never thought of this before but yeah I’m onboard with this. As well as all the other points. (In fact people saying poc simply werent *there* bugs me like crazy.)

[edgy-sparknotes]

One of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets, Sonnet 18, is a love poem about a man! Obviously, we cannot accurately label the sexuality of a 17th century playwright, but by modern definitions Shakespeare does seem to be somewhat bisexual