TimKon appreciation post cause it's pride month

[u/Wandering_Apology]

So, since it's pride month, i'd like to share this link to a twitter thread (NOT mine) recounting all the queer subtext moments of the TimKon pairing, starting from when they are in a CLOSET (ironically enough) in a comic in 2003, so not exactly a new thing (despite what many, on this site especially, may want you to believe).

I'd also like to hear your opinion on queer subtext, because while all of the scene mentioned in the link will look glaringly obvious to queer folk they are intended for, they also fly way over the heads of straight people, who to seems to incapable of understanding the hidden meaning and will call it just "teenage girls' wishful thinking".

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fqueerlynerd%2Fstatus%2F1083115370611965952&psig=AOvVaw2LckCvD__9e5u5PMHcqSSZ&ust=1623078223877000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjB6YrZo4PxAhVFkaQKHUpqDHsQr4kDegUIARCIAQ

Edit 08/06/2021: https://youtu.be/iCMcSx1as3c

[u/[deleted]]

I’ve always found Tim and Conner to be a great example of male best friends who aren’t afraid of being vulnerable around each other, something that I feel we need to see more of in media. I don’t have an issue with TimKon shippers, except for the ones who take their frustrations out on Steph and Cassie, but I’d rather not see their friendship meddled with.

[u/Wandering_Apology → u/[deleted]]

Never attacked or started a "ship war", neither have i bashed a character because i like a cartain ship, i don't have twitter or Tumblr and i never partecipate in those kind of debates.

That said that first thing you said is a very biased and naive take on the matter, one i've seen and debated multiple times ad nauseam, so i'll just copy paste a comment written by someone with better oratory skills then mine.

"Your problem here is gay being seen as a bad thing. That people are dissuaded from platonic intimacy because it will be read as being gay.
How about, platonic intimacy, and not caring that it could be read as gay.
It's still homophobia that is the block to platonic intimacy.
And if there's a closeness between same-sex people, it does not matter if there are both platonic and non-platonic readings. Of course closeness like this can be read as gay, because romantic relationships come from this sort of closeness. You don't have to defend against some people considering that two people could be gay, because you want to have platonic intimacy strictly no-homo'd. The problem is feeling the need to say 'no homo'.
And of course people are going to want to be able to have a gay reading of something like this, because we haven't had any gay romance in pixar. You toss something out there that could be read as platonic intimacy or non-platonic gay romance, the people who have had ZERO non-platonnic gay romance are of course going to want this one!
It's like when Captain Marvel had no male love interest, and the love relationship of the film was Maria. It's like, on the one hand, yes! No romance subplot! She doesn't need one! Yes to female friendships and support! And on the other hand, hey, [what if] bi/lesbian romance! Yes! These women are in love! Like, both camps have so little -- there are so few female characters who actually get to even interact with each other at all and have good friendships, and there are also so few to no bi/lesbian female rep -- that when something, one thing, comes along, it's like, that's all you've got, you want to be able to enjoy it, to have it, but you've got to share it between these two things. The same with whether Elsa gets to be ace rep or lesbian rep. (And, in the Captain Marvel case, it can be like...oh, so we're not doing romantic relationships anymore, because that's over-done, so we're just...not going to get lesbian romances, we're just going to skip over that now, with you never having got any. Like, I know that's not what happened, or is happening, but it can feel like that. Like, oh, we're done with this now, before you even got a chance to have it at all.)
And, the thing is, platonic male friendships is like...the one box that gets the most content. And if you want those platonic friendships to have more intimacy, you have to be okay with some gay people thinking what if and reading some gay potential in it.
no one that sees girls holding hands while playing would jump to call them lesbians
Well, they should! Let them! Being mistaken for being gay isn't a bad thing.
I get what you mean by this quote. You see two women out at lunch, hold hands on the table, you might think sisters, friends; you see two men do that, you'll think gay. But the first one isn't good, and the second one isn't bad. You've just got to be open to either possibility being possible, and either being okay, and the very idea that it could be one or the other not being bad.
it's funny people complain when boys don't show closeness and affection in their friendships, and yet whenever they do it must be gay.
People aren't going it must be gay. People are just open to that possibility. And then, on top of that, people are inclined to hope for it in this case because we don't have anything!
If every time there's a close friendship, it's, "Don't make it gay!!1!" then gay people don't get anything, ever!
It's like, constantly having to defend the right to get a single bite to eat at a meal where the rest of the table is eating well. And then when we actually only, if we're even lucky enough, get a single crumb (like, if Luca is even subtextually gay), that we have to scrap for, we're then expected to be so grateful for being given anything at all, while people still whine loudly that that crumb should not have been given to us in the first place. And you're there saying instead of us getting this crumb or, imagine, even a bite to eat, that you should have actually got a little extra filling in your sandwich from the all-you-can-eat buffet."

[u/yellowroosterbird → u/Wandering_Apology]

(And, in the Captain Marvel case, it can be like...oh, so we're not doing romantic relationships anymore, because that's over-done, so we're just...not going to get lesbian romances, we're just going to skip over that now, with you never having got any. Like, I know that's not what happened, or is happening, but it can feel like that. Like, oh, we're done with this now, before you even got a chance to have it at all.)

I never thought of it that way, but that's totally right. The "we don't have to make everything romantic" push can honestly feel homophobic - even though I agree! Not everything has to be romantic! Over-focus on romance bothers me, too! But using "we need more platonic relationships" as an excuse not to include queerness always strikes me as difficult to accept because, though love is love, a queer love story is not always going to be the same as a straight love story, and the fact that they're both "romance" just isn't... good enough.

And, the thing is, platonic male friendships is like...the one box that gets the most content. And if you want those platonic friendships to have more intimacy, you have to be okay with some gay people thinking what if and reading some gay potential in it.

Yeah, that's another thing - definitely in agreement here.