queer love in Western supremacy-- outline

I've been thinking about the soulmate stories I've followed: Merlin and Arthur, Quentin and Eliot, Tom and Greg (kinda) and Dan and Phil. All couples of white men because society allows these people to be main characters while others are shunned. I think every human is a human being and I love that these soulmate stories exist... and I wish more were allowed to exist especially between queer people of color (like myself*).

As someone who actually studied metaphysics in college (nerd) I see the meta moment of it all-- true love stories with traumatic tones of homophobia that repress, but not fully, the love that's allowed to exist.

Each couple is going to get their own post (thorough analysis) but I want to lay out the four I'll focus on for now.

1. Merlin and Arthur from the BBC TV series Merlin (2008-2012): established cosmic soulmates, internal homophobia representation via Arthur, external homophobia representation via Uther & Camelot society, major metaphor of magic symbolic of queerness, and establishing a very long line between Britain and toxic monarchy
   1. The meta moment: Why couldn't Arthur say "I love you" to Merlin when he was dying in his arms? Why couldn't we have seen the kingdom of Albion, led by Merlin and Arthur, in action?
2. Quentin and Eliot from the SYFY TV series The Magicians (2015-2020): cosmic soulmates, internal homophobia representation via Eliot, external homophobia represented by other characters, reflection on Western fantasy's focus on white male stories
   1. Season 3 Episode 5, the story of the Mosaic and the Time Key, was life-changing for me. Always this kind of soulmate, fantastic love was between man and woman: Tristan and Isolde, Guinevere and Lancelot, Guinevere and Arthur. The whole point of The Magicians was to unlock/advance 21st century fantasy canon, because the white male stories were all they had and they knew it-- Fillory and Further by Christopher Plover continuing that long legacy in that universe. 
   2. The meta moment: Before The Magicians, I'd never seen soulmate romantic sexual love between two men done so perfectly and it was successfully one of the greatest love stories of all time, but it was completely RUINED by the homophobic sentiment of our society, shattered by the Kill Our Gays phenomenon. I hate this current embodiment, iteration of Western civilization.
3. Tom and Greg from the HBO Max TV series Succession (2018-2023): toxically drawn together by their "outsider" social status compared to the Roys, internalized homophobia representation via Tom and Greg, external homophobia representation via Logan and bigger society, the conflation of money sex and love via language (fucking)
   1. I've written a lot on my Succession blog about them already but I think I'll have more to say soon. 
   2. The meta moment: Succession is already very meta because there's no difference between their world and our world. One things I'd like to mention is how the sexual assault allegations against Nicholas Braun were swept under the rug by HBO Max the way Tom & Greg swept the crimes of Waystar Royco under the rug. 
4. Dan and Phil: I am going to try to speak as sensitively as possible because they are real people unlike the first three couples. Dan and Phil are two pioneering YouTubers (Phil from 2006, Dan from 2009), entertainers, internet/social media famous figures, content creators, and author/artists. In regards to themes I've mentioned above, Dan's story is an example of internalized homophobia and the D&P career arc is both an example of internal and external homophobia. To outsiders (I'm not going to speculate about their feelings cuz I have no way to actually know), they seem like soulmates due to the length of their relationship, how they complement each other, the story of how they met, and evidenced by their interactions in their videos. There is also a big capitalist element that reflects Succession (because after all, Succession is a media portrayal of our world). 

Even though it might seem like I'm connecting four couples because they're white males it's really more than that. It speaks to a universal, queer love that will never be fully suppressed by the white supremacist, queerphobic, misogynist, capitalist society of Western civilization. These stories individually and together are about the power of love. As cheesy as it sounds, the evidence of love is undeniable.