Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 27 – Your thoughts on the ending
I have a lot of feelings about “We Will Survive!” I mean, it gave us some quality quotes that I’ll never forget - most of them from Michael, Brian and Justin of course. It also made me cry and swear and mourn for like weeks. It wasn’t even the fact it was the end either – it was everything that happened during 5.13.
Brian and Justin call off their wedding – Now, if I’m being completely honest I’m not even really upset about that. I don’t think Brian and Justin were ready to get married. Call me crazy, but I want their wedding to be on their own terms: Not encouraged by a bomb or something equally traumatic. Granted, that whole ‘sacrifice’ thing was bullshit. God they’re so stupid sometimes. So maybe I’m a little bitter about it lol.
Justin leaves for New York – Okay, I saw that coming. Or at least, I hoped New York would be brought up again because of how often it was mentioned in season one. I love the idea of Justin going to New York and making it big because he’s an incredibly talented artist. However, just because Justin decided to go to New York doesn’t mean they broke up. Yeah, they suck at the distance thing, but they’ve changed and I’m a firm believer Brian and Justin could make it work. [Headcanon – Justin comes back to Pittsburg after 18-24 months. He and Brian officially move into Britin and start wearing their wedding rings.]
Mel, Lindsay and the kids leave for Canada – This sucked ass. I was more pissed off about this than I was when Brian and Justin canceled their wedding. Not only does Brian ‘lose’ Justin, but Gus as well. How messed up is that? By leaving, they just let those homophobic assholes win. I get wanting to protect your kids and everything, but it kills me on the inside of the thought that Brian and Gus won’t have easy access to each other: Michael and J.R. as well. [Headcanon – Mel and Lindsay bring the kids back after a few years of missing everyone and realizing Canada will never be home. Gus stays weekends with Brian and Justin – J.R. the same with Michael and Ben.]
The last scene – I get chills every time I watch Babylon come back to life as Brian and Michael dance. Granted I really, really would’ve liked to see Justin in the crowd. I just feel like he should’ve been there with everyone celebrating and dancing. Still, seeing Ted and Blake smiling, Emmett dancing, and Ben and Michael kissing just really gets me right in the heart. Brian dancing by himself, coming back to life because he’ll always be young and always be beautiful, was such a moving moment. I’m about to cry just thinking about it.
The ending leaves us with the typical “To be continued…” feeling and it hurts. To me it felt like my lungs were collapsing and my chest was constricting. So yeah, maybe it wasn’t the best way to end the series, but damn if it didn’t make us feel all the emotions. And that’s what a good show should do. It should make you upset and happy at the same time. It should make you cry and curse ‘til you’re blue in the face.
With that in mind, “We Will Survive!” did its job, quite well I might add and I loved every heartbreaking, chest-constricting, sob-inducing moment of it.
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 26 - Tell your QaF story (First watch, how much it means to you, etc…)
Honestly there isn’t much to tell.
I’d been seeing QaF gifs on Tumblr ever since I joined about two years ago. They never really caught my attention until last November when my friends Katie and Libby were watching QaF and live blogging. Soon it was all over my dash so I had to see what the fuss was about and I’m damn glad I did.
Watching the first episode was torture because I kept pausing every time Justin said something silly and embarrassing. I’m surprised I didn’t wake the house with how much I was giggling and shifting around my bed like a fool. I feel in love with Justin fast and easily, Brian too funny enough.
It took me about four days to get to 5.13 and it damn near killed me, even though I knew it was coming.
I don’t think it needs saying, but I love Queer as Folk. I love the characters, the cast, the fandom… all of it. I love that it makes me laugh and makes me cry like all good shows do. I love how passionate it makes me and how it brings out my muse so I can write. I love that it’s made me closer to my personal Brian Kinney because I’d be lost with out her.
I just love Queer as Folk and everything it stands for and every door it opened for television today.
It’s like Peter said, “They came for the queer, but they stayed for the folk.”
:’3
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 25 – An unpopular opinion regarding the show
In most of my fandoms, I know what constitutes as an ‘unpopular’ opinion. With the QaF fandom however, I’m not exactly sure what one would be.
I’m fairly certain I can say everyone hates Chris Hobbs, so that’s definitely not an unpopular opinion.
I’ve seen a handful of people who didn’t like the Emmett/Ted romance. I, for one, did. I also like Blake, whom not everyone does and I more or less, liked the way the show ended. (I’ve seen quite a bit of anger about that too)
Considering the amount of hate towards Mikey, I think that my unpopular opinion would be that I don’t hate him – if anything I identify with Michael.
Does he mess up? Yes. So does everyone else in the show, so I see no reason to hate him so much. Put yourself in his shoes for a second why don’t you? I mean to be so in love with your best friend and want more only to be denied constantly and watch someone else stroll in and basically take your best friend’s heart without lifting a finger.
That’d piss anyone off. And Michael ends up liking Justin in the end. They become friends so it all works out. He and Brian also tidy up their friendship so it’s less messy and codependent. He gets the whole family deal with Ben and Michael also goes through this huge character development throughout the series.
So yeah, I love Michael Novotny.
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 24 - You favorite QaF cast member
So, can we just take a minute to curse Randy Harrison for being so gorram attractive? It’s absolutely unfair.
Okay, minute’s over so now it’s time for me to gush and fangirl and say nothing but lovely and nice things about Randy. He’s funny and talented and seems like a very genuine person. The fact his true love is the theater just gets me. What I wouldn’t give to see him preform on stage. I’m pretty sure I could die happy afterwards.
Randy strikes me as a very passionate person and I’m sure that comes across more strongly while he’s in the moment. As Justin Taylor he blew me away. I can only imagine what he’s like in other roles when he’s in his element on stage.
I have an intense amount of respect for Randy after hearing how the writers/producers of QaF acted poorly and used their positions of power to make Randy’s time on set hell. In the beginning it upset me when I witnessed Randy’s less than cheerful attitude towards his time on QaF. However, after hearing more details about his disputes with the writers I totally sided with Randy.
To sum it up, Randy is a truly amazing person and I wish him all the happiness and success in the years to come.
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 23 – Your favorite QaF mother
If you had asked me this when I started watching Queer as Folk, I would have said Debbie Novotny, hands down. However, after having time to really think about it, I have to say that Jennifer Taylor is my favorite QaF mother.
I think what makes her my favorite is how much she changes throughout the series. She’s very much the typical WASP in the beginning: Not willing to confront husband and reluctant to admit her son is gay until she can’t refuse it any more. She swore very little and held herself in such a way that indicated a polite upbringing surrounded by rules of what was acceptable and what was not.
But, Jennifer never tried to force Justin to be anything but himself no matter the difficulties they encountered. Every occasion she had to show Justin she still loved him she took it.
We see Jennifer open up and blossom into this strong and supportive woman who loves her son no matter what. She divorces Craig, he was such an asshole anyway and when he hit Justin I wanted to kill him. She marches in the Pride parade and helps spread the word about how terrible Prop 14 was. She becomes friends with Debbie and, like Justin, integrates herself into the family.
I think what I love most is how Jennifer grows to care about Brian. Hell, she even tells him “For what it’s worth, I just want you to know that I’m sorry that I’m not gonna be your Mother-in-law,” when Brian tells her Justin turned down his marriage proposal.
Jennifer’s transformation is one of my favorite things in the series and I really wish we could’ve seen more of her.
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 22 – Your thoughts on Brian and Mikey’s relationship
First, I feel the need to say that I have a friendship very similar to that of Brian and Michael’s.
Secondly, I love their relationship. I love it how Michael can see past Brian’s petty bullshit and how Brian can calm Michael down when shit’s hitting the fan. I love how fiercely loyal Michael is to Brian and how affectionate Brian is to Michael. Most importantly, I love how their relationship changes throughout the series.
Now, their relationship isn’t healthy by any means. Hell, I don’t think Brian’s capable of having a ‘healthy’ relationship with anyone. Really, I should be calling it a friendship because they never have, and never will, go beyond being friends. No matter how much Michael wanted it in the beginning, he realizes Brian could never love him in that way and that was best… for everyone.
The thing is, Brian and Michael could never be anything but friends. They’d break and crumble and fall apart to the point where they couldn’t fix it, if they’d crossed that line into couple-hood.
They’re a wee bit codependent in the start of the series if I’m being truthful and I really like how that tampers off towards the end. Their friendship will never be the same because of everything they had gone through and I honestly believe that it needed to change.
Did their friendship piss me off sometimes? Yeah, it did more in the beginning when Justin was trying to fit himself into Brian’s life. Did I jump up and down and fangirl when Michael accepted Justin as a friend? You bet your sweet ass I did.
Sometimes Brian hurts Michael, and sometimes Michael hurts Brian. However, what’s a strong friendship – a relationship of any type for that matter – without a little pain? Regardless of what happens, they kiss and make up (literally) and that works for them. Hell, it works for me too.
They support each other, they fight with each other, they love each other… I mean how can you hate a friendship like theirs when it’s so powerful and emotional?
The point is, Michael will be there to get Brian though tough times and vice versa. Brian will always love Michael and Michael will always love Brian. They’re Brian and Mikey for fuck’s sake!
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 21 - A plot-line that should never have happened
The Pink Posse, hands down was the worst way to handle the violence towards homosexuals seen in the show. Also, it was pretty pointless.
I mean, there were issues about his bashing that Justin wasn’t able to deal with: His rage in particular. In 2.15, Justin mentions how everyone acts like the bashing never happened so he had no problem talking about it (because he wanted to) through Rage’s plot-line. So am I angry that we got to see Justin cope and grow and work through the leftover emotions from what Hobbs did? Absolutely not. If anything, I wanted to see more people, not just Justin, deal with what happened at his prom.
However, I hated Cody. He was the gay equivalent of every homophobic asshole who thinks it’s their job to ‘protect’ themselves from homosexuals. In theory, his idea wasn’t terrible – I mean, yeah the gay community should unite in times of trouble to protect themselves, but not to the degree where they provoke others and get violent.
Cody took it entirely too far, and I was really upset that Justin followed along.
Never mind the fact Justin’s involvement with the Pink Posse endangered him as well as worried Daphne and Brian. It even reflected in his work for Rage, thus concerning Michael.
Then there’s Justin’s confrontation of Chris Hobbs, who I loathe with everything I have. Honestly, I would’ve pistol whipped that bitch a few times before walking away. However, just because I think Hobbs is a worthless piece of shit and deserved to shit his pants in fear, doesn’t mean I’m okay with what Justin did. He ultimately became what he was trying to protect people from.
So while I’m glad Justin was able to put more of his feeling towards the bashing behind him, I wish it would’ve been handled way differently.
OH YEAH, AND JUSTIN SHAVED OFF HIS HAIR. THAT MIGHT POSSIBLY BE THE REAL CAUSE FOR MY HATRED OF THE PINK POSSE BULLSHIT.
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 20 - Your favorite and least favorite ships (that didn’t happen)
Favorite - Brian/Emmett
Okay, so this little ship is pretty well known in the fandom actually, for those who’ve heard about the pre-series novels. I need more Kinneycutt in my life to be quite honest, because damn. Oh, I did read this very nice threesome with Brian/Justin/Emmett actually… but I’m getting off track. We see a bit of their friendship, not as much as I’d like, but it’s technically canon (book) that they slept together so yeah.
Least favorite - Brian/Michael
This actually might be the ship that annoys me the most. They really can’t be anything but friends. It just wouldn’t work and to be honest they both deserve better than each other. Brian’s better off with Justin and Michael’s better off with Ben. I love their friendship, don’t get me wrong, it’s probably my favorite besides Justin and Daphne’s, but that’s all it is: Friendship.
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 19 - A QaF character that is most like you and/or which character would you date? (regardless of sexual orientation)
Between our passion for comic books & superheroes to our loyalty (faulty though it may be sometimes) to our friends, I’m proud to say that Michael and I are very alike. Like Michael, I know what it’s like to be in love with your best friend and feel overwhelming jealousy when someone else comes into the picture and takes our friend’s heart. It may not bring the best out of us, but if anything we’re reminded how human we are due to how we’re slaves to our emotions. Michael has a lot of love for his family/friends and it’s his desire to help them that helps me connect to him.
So the thing is, I couldn’t date Brian - I’d strangle him. I couldn’t date Justin either - we’d make much better friends. Ben however, well I’d date that hunk in a hot second. Ever since he walked into the Red Cape, I was smitten, just like Michael. He’s easy-going, which would help offset my tendency to stress out, and he’s very kind. Like everyone, he makes some mistakes (steroids, the almost-affair) but he bounces back. Ben is definitely someone I’d want holding me when my life fell to pieces. Plus, look at him! He’s sculpted like a Greek God *sigh*
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 18 - You least favorite female character
Joan Kinney is pretty much everything I hate all wrapped up into one person. She’s a neglectful mother who shoves her religious beliefs down her children’s throats.
Even if she hadn’t told Brian he was going to hell for being gay, I’d still dislike her. People who justify their fear/hatred of others with religion make me sick.
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 17 - Your least favorite male character
I don’t even have to explain why I hate Chris Hobbs.
He’s a homophobic asshole with repressed homosexual urges who took a baseball bat to Justin’s head. He robbed Justin of not only, the greatest night of his life, but also Justin’s confidence and ability to draw using full use of his right hand.
I’ve never hated a character as strongly as I hate Hobbs and I certainly wouldn’t have had a problem pistol whipping the little bitch a couple of times before walking away.
Queer as Folk 30 Day Challenge
Day 16 - A character you wish had never left/died
Vic: Heterosexual love. You see Justin, they aren’t that different from us.
