[janployshompoos]

Can you tuck your hair a bit, Jan? Exactly! That’s cute.

ENEMIES WITH BENEFITS | BEHIND THE SCENES

[jada-blr]

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[jada-blr]

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[aeternamantes]

Carol falling for it and thinking she and Zosia had something unique and special was devastating but it really exemplifies how effective the hive's manipulation is. Zosia was a complete stranger to her but they successfully made her feel special and chosen by targeting her weak spots. Now imagine if Helen hadn't died, and had said "we love him the same as you" about Manousos to her. Imagine Laxmi's son or husband telling her they love Carol as much as her. It would be impossible to register, mind breaking even, but it would be true, because the hive is *not* Laxmi's son, or Carol's wife. It has their memories, not their feelings, and it never can. The hive simply relies on the uninfected filling in the gaps of emotion it can't genuinely express.

[jada-blr]

They did share something unique and special; they experienced a relationship of their own—much like the other unaffected and their infected families. But, objectively, they are all of equal standing. There is no manipulation because there is no harm, as that would contradict their nature. The hive does not intend for Carol to feel “special and chosen”; it wishes to make her as happy as she can possibly be outside of the hive. They’re not “targeting weak spots”; they’re comforting her.

[c0smicjellyfish]

Watching Manousos try and talk some sense into Carol is absolutely heartbreaking. He's saying all the things she already said! She spent the first part of the show desperately trying to make someone understand. No one saw her way. Then, slowly, the hive got under her skin. The hive systematically broke her down into a dependent shell of herself. She compromised all her principles. Talking with Manousos like talking with a version of her that never entered this abusive relationship. A narrative mirror she has to look at and be forced to remember what she believes. She resists his attempts to reason with the reality of her situation, as victims usually do. Carol pushes away the person who is being direct with her, the only person left on earth who can understand her, for a hivemind that wishes to assimilate her. What also strikes me as interesting is that Manousos seems to pretty quickly piece together exactly what's happening here. He sees Helen's tombstone. He talks with "Zosia". He is smart. He can tell this is some sort of abusive relationship where the hive is feigning personhood to gain her submission. He tells her "Do you want to save the world, or do you want to get the girl?" He is firm, and direct. She won't hear it. It was so hard to watch how accurate it is to watch someone in an abusive relationship try and be reasoned with and then push away the person trying to help them.

[jada-blr]

The hive did not “systematically break her down into a dependent shell of herself”—that reads as malicious, deliberate, and calculated. They would not be able to do what they did with that in mind, as their actions were reactionary, not punitive, because they cannot harm living beings. The friction you’re seeing is that of two parties—one of one and one of many—who are unwilling to compromise when it comes to preserving their existence; it’s not abusive, it’s preservative. Carol did not compromise all of her principles; she grew in understanding and became more sympathetic. If Carol and Manousos share anything outside of wanting to save humanity, it would be their close-mindedness—they both tried to solve a problem before bothering to understand what it is they were dealing with.

In regard to your comment on the hive “feigning personhood to gain her submission,” that was a request made by Carol that it acquiesced to, despite being semantically incorrect.

[quantumshade]

one thing about pluribus that’s so endlessly interesting is how much the hivemind lies and manipulates through omission. like obviously there’s carol figuring things out twice because zosia won’t answer her but also kusimayu’s Joining has been haunting me for the same reason. like did they tell her that once she Joined and the hive got what they wanted, they’d pack up and abandon her village? leave the animals to die? leave behind her whole world? i don’t think so. they wore the faces and personalities of her family and friends so that she wouldn’t ask those questions. they promised she’d be with her loved ones again and gave her no reason to doubt that. it’s fucking chilling i really really feel for her.

[jada-blr]

The hive can neither lie nor manipulate. It can omit things, but considering the sum total of the world’s information that it omits, that omission is less significant than you’re making it. Additionally, how can you fault the hive for wanting to preserve itself when Carol shares that same need?

Did the hive inform the village girl of what would no longer matter to her once she joined the hive—why would it? The individual does not take precedence over the collective.

They kept her family around as she knew them to put her at ease, as it would make her happy to do so—not to dissuade her from asking questions. She simply didn’t ask questions, nor was she receptive to Carol’s questioning, because she had already decided she wanted to join her family.

[whoreiorcats]

The hive allowing Carol to slowly be driven to suicidality so that she’ll come crawling back to her out of abject loneliness and emotional starvation and at no point do they tell her someone is looking for her. Someone believes in her. He’s putting his life on the line for her. She is his only hope. They let her believe she’s really alone for a month. Totally alone. Universally hated. But she’s not, but what she doesn’t know can’t hurt them!

[jada-blr]

You’re reading malicious intent where there was none. Carol being driven to suicidality was but one possibility among many—an unintended consequence. Carol was actively harming them: drugging one—causing her to have a heart attack—and forcing them to aid in their own demise. They had to leave. Otherwise, she would continue to harm them, and they would let her, as it’s in their nature to never act against living beings. In her “aloneness,” she was never really alone; she could always contact them if she ever needed something. When she needed the hive to return, they did.

[jada-blr]

[jada-blr]

It’s rather unfair how much the fandom demonizes Alin and goes as far as to imply their relationship is unsalvageable.

Alin loves and adores Jane—it’s undeniable. They’d have virtually no problems if it weren’t for others trying to sabotage them for their own selfish gain. Alin reacts to the external problems they’re faced with the same way Jane does—only their reactions differ. Though it’s worth noting that most of the problems they have come from Alin’s side (e.g., her father, mother, ex, coworker). She has to process all of that while also considering her girlfriend’s feelings—it’s a lot, but she always comes through.

Where others think Alin is ungrateful and inconsiderate of Jane’s efforts and feelings, it’s a matter of perspective. For instance, Jane wanted to surprise Alin with an interview—with the intention of showing Alin she’s valuable for such and such reasons. Alin took that as Jane pitying her—throwing a dog a bone—when she wouldn’t have gotten the job otherwise. That’s Alin projecting her insecurities onto Jane. Something Jane is also guilty of, with regard to her abandonment issues, and how she projected onto Alin when she accused her of cheating. Like Jane, Alin understood that she was reacting to something that’s long since troubled her—a broken promise in which Alin abandoned her in their youth. But I digress. Was Alin wrong to do that? Yes. Did she recognize the wrong on her part? Yes. But you know what? She’s human, and like anyone, she has her vices.

Though it could also be said that Jane could’ve communicated that she was the one Alin was interviewing—knowing her insecurities—instead of surprising her.

I say this to say: Y’all are treating a multifaceted, nuanced story like it’s black or white/good or bad. These are two women: with their own issues coming together to find a safe place within each other. Hence, the name.

Edit: I sympathize a great deal with Lena—who poured her heart into this character—and wants so desperately for Alin to be understood, not villainized, for her imperfections. The fact of the matter is, every good actor believes the story they’re telling, and a jab at the character can feel unmistakably close to a jab at the actor—from the actor’s perspective.

[uppoompat]

So, back to my first question. Do you like me?

CLAIREBELL (2025)

[luhthor]

Family 👩🏻‍❤️‍👩🏼👶🏼

[supercorpsblog]

Titanic AU Supercorp

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[jada-blr]

I’ve never watched the show, and now I never will. “I never knew I was a lesbian… I’m married with three kids…”—because of a show. I understand it was said in jest, but at the same time, I’m like, “How fucking dare you?” Now you see us? Where were you when so many of our shows were canceled, our characters killed off, or written into tragic endings—leaving many of us with the impression that we can never be happy, or that our sexual orientation is the entirety of who we are? Left and right, people who aren’t lesbians—straight men, bisexuals, straight women—appropriate us, and always to our detriment. To step into our space for shits and giggles while being ignorant of what we’ve been dealing with—beyond fictional characters—is comparable to an elitist who, because they watched Shameless, begin speaking to the poor as though they can relate.

It’s giving the same energy as when Love on the Spectrum came out and was mostly praised by people who aren’t autistic. Meanwhile, the show infantilized its cast, and many autistic people—especially those who are higher functioning—found it problematic and felt it didn’t represent their experience. It was clearly geared toward a non-autistic audience.

And rightfully so, autistics felt like: “Where was all this love for us when we were bullied our whole lives? When we had to mask our autism just to fit in?”

[jada-blr]

There are more pretenders than actual lesbians, which is why, when it comes time to express our unique experience, we’re the outliers. We live in a time where same-sex relationships are widely accepted and/or tolerated, and unless you’re being threatened with harm or death, no amount of denial or pressure would lead you to have sex with a man—multiple times, at that—or engage in oral sex—and only then realize you’re a lesbian. To speak of something that, from a lesbian’s perspective, is so invasive and violating as some minor step toward finding yourself is baffling. I don’t want to hear that the patriarchy made you think sex was meant to be this displeasurable, so you kept going. I don’t want to hear you were pressured to be heterosexual, and that’s all you saw growing up. I don’t want to hear you were in denial or in the closet. I don’t want to hear that, as a woman, you were socialized to be more agreeable, to the point where you’d have sexual relations despite your repulsion. These are excuses, none of which a lesbian would make.

Some people prefer things to be ambiguous and complicated so there’s no definitive right that binds them. Some people prefer a kinder, more understanding approach when it comes to the pressures women face, even if it means sacrificing reason. But for me, clarity and truth matter more.

[lgb-without-t-deactivated202509]

[krystaljungs]

AFFAIR รักเล่นกล episode 04, dir. Pantip Vibultham (2024)

[humaninpogresss77]

How?

No seriously how the heck do you want me to go back to Hollywood with the level of hypocrisy those shows are made and to get cancelled right away when I have ALL THESE Thai GL shows?

And most of them for free on YouTube?

Weirdly enough people think that because they are on YouTube the shows are web shows and try to make them less(when first Carmila is one of the most iconic sapphic projects ever done) and they are not.

The shows are for Thailand main tv networks and they just add them on YouTube for free to get the international fandoms(like me) the opportunity to watch them.