Friends Gay/Lesbian storylines then vs now

"You get to be the baby's father, everyone knows who you are and who am I? There's Father's day, there's Mother's Day. There's no lesbian lover day!" Susan Bunch

"Everyday is lesbian lover day." Ross Geller

Then....

When Friends aired up until it's end there was always sort of a taboo around being gay, especially when it came to the guys being in any way intimate with one another even something as simple as a hug. 

Ross was ridiculed and mocked about the fact that he neither knew his wife was gay nor saw that their relationship would soon rapidly end after having a threesome with one of Carol's girl friends. I don't think the fact that Carol is a lesbian phased him, either way he was going to be hurt as she was leaving him for someone else and so begins the saga of divorces Ross will endure. Susan also kind of mocked Ross in the sense that she wanted Carol and Ross' child when attempting to suggest that her surname should be part of the child's name rather than Ross'. Now I can understand the baby having Susan's surname if there is no present father figure involved, however since she did in fact destroy their marriage she should not then try to dictate such an important factor of Ross and Carol's baby life. Ross may not be a live in parent (obviously not through his choice) but he is still a full time Dad and very much wants to be involved in the upbringing of his first born child. Somehow Ross and Susan were able to put their differences aside and co parent along with Carol always making sure all three agreed on Ben's upbringing.

Then again it was also sort of respected as Carol and Susan did get "married" (it wasn't legal back then) but they had a ceremony with their friends and family where they professed their undying love to one another, exchanged rings and vowed to be together always. The beauty of it was neither of them was going through a phase, neither of them cheated, nor did they break up. They appeared to be in a healthy monogamous relationship well from what we saw of their relationship. We heard about Susan as a storyline mainly based around Ross and his relationship breaking down, we hear about Susan and Carol when he admits to Joey and Chandler that the threesome didn't go very well as both

women kept pushing him away. They resurface again when Carol announces that she is pregnant and keeping the baby, obviously she's around for "9 months" for the pregnancy, then they're in and out of the series with rather small scenes as i'm not sure you can call them story lines. The only downfall of Susan and Carol's wedding is the fact that everyone of the wedding guests were lesbians. Yes the couple is a lesbian couple but they would have straight friends too not just gay ones. As well as the fact that yes they would have stereotypical lesbian friends but also lipstick lesbian friends.
Now.......
If Susan and Carol's love story was to be represented now it would be more like Lena and Stef's relationship in 'The Fosters' where Lena does not try to replace Brandon's father but instead is just another mother to him. Sharing the responsibility, love and reassurance of the other parents. Brandon seems to assure Lena in his own subtle ways that she is just as much his parent/Mom as his biological parents. Besides coming from a multicultural family they seem to all accept that blood doesn't make you family but instead the bond, love, compassion and what's in your heart does instead.

"For the record I love having two Moms." Brandon Foster

"Let us keep the apartment and…" Rachel  

"As a thank you, Rachel and I will kiss for one minute." Monica  

[Time lapse. The guys are entering their apartment.]  

"Totally worth it!" Chandler

"That was one good minute!" Joey

Then.....
Rachel and Monica had many questionable moments which looking back now I think was purely for laughs or maybe was just seen as acceptable as they were both heterosexual women who were constantly in relationships or eyeing up men. The kisses, cuddles and what could be seen as intimate moments are that but just between the best of friends. Females are constantly cuddling, dancing, embracing one another it's a part of their make-up and we don't see anything wrong with it. However sometimes girls will use  it for their own personal gain for instance when Rachel and Monica kissed for a minute for Joey and Chandler as a thanks for letting them keep their apartment. Although the difference is when Friends came out females rarely made out with one another just for the sake of getting a men's attention. 
Now......
Whereas now unfortunately they do for instance in 'Faking It' when Karma convinces her and her best friend Amy should continue the charade of being lesbians who are very much in love all for her crush Liam Booker. It seems the more committed Karma seems to Amy and vice versa the more interested Liam is in turning the lipstick lesbian as he puts it.

Star Wars Sketching Chronicles R2D2, C3Po, Darth Vader, Yoda, Bb8 and a Storm Trooper

"The force within"

Hollyoaks Sarah and Zoe Vs Sarah and Lydia

Sarah and Zoe started out as the best of friends along with Nancy. One weekend they all head away for a photo shoot for Sarah, so Zoe can see an old flame/teacher and Nancy is along for the ride. Sarah and Zoe were never meant to be more than a couple drunken fumbles.
The beauty of it was that even though they both enjoyed it at the time and then went to admit to one another that they enjoyed being intimate with one another after having being outed, Zoe was adamant that she was not gay and that neither was Sarah. Zoe was more than willing to forget the intimate night they shared and just go back to normal with her boyfriend Mike.

Whilst Sarah is in some sort of limbo as she can't work out why it happened, how it happened and most importantly what it means as she never been interested in a female romantically let alone slept with one when she was drunk.
In my personal opinion it was not a night of questioning either of their sexualities or pursuing a relationship after, it was all about the here and now. In that specific moment it was all about engulfing the sparks and passion that was rapidly passing between them after sharing a quick drunken but meaningful kiss. The questioning
oneself and guilt comes after the rendezvous, Sarah instantly feels like it was a huge mistake especially as it was with her Dad's girlfriend and she's not gay, she doesn't think of girls in that way and she especially doesn't sleep with them no matter how much alcohol she has drunk. Zoe however just puts it down to them having drunk far too much and it just happened/ teenage experimentation, something that happened and they can now forget. This seems to only further infuriate Sarah as she doesn't know how they are meant to face Mike, especially as their friendship is now in

tatters as all Sarah can muster towards Zoe is disdain, anger and dirty looks. It's rather a complexing relationship now as Sarah is now left thinking am I gay, bi-sexual or is it just a thing with Zoe? With Sarah I don't think it's a sexuality thing but more a person thing and then she gets rather attached far too quickly which tends to be the downfall in her relationships.
Her first relationship with Rhys was exciting, her first love and he was obsessed with her image
which as a young teenage girl is exciting and means the world to them however Sarah soon started to slack at swimming which was meant to be her goal in life and her grades weren't doing too well. Sarah's Mum intervened to the point where she go him drunk and seduced him so that she could ward him off her daughter for good.

With her second love Craig there was many things wrong with the relationship but her constantly needing his reassurance and his company blinded her from the fact that she was not his true love as he was in love with his best friend John-Paul. The fact that they seemed to be the ideal couple from their looks and supposed chemistry, when things were good between the two they were loves young dream. However when Craig was snapping at Sarah as he was conflicted about his feelings for his girlfriend and his best friend the two were the worst match.
Or Sarah may just be oblivious to the fact that she is indeed bisexual and because just liking, loving, dating, sleeping with guys was the norm and what her friends was doing she went along with it and ignored the fact that she also has the same feelings for females. That would kind of go with the theory as to why Sarah was instantly angry after her night with Zoe. It was hard enough to find out that her fiancee at the time was bi-sexual and now she herself turns out to be bi-sexual and has also slept with her best friend and may have feelings for her.

Sarah and Lydia always seemed like complete opposites from day one. They didn't see eye to eye when they first met as Lydia was lead to believe that Sarah was bullying her younger sister at dance class when truth be told Persephone was a horrible child. The attraction between the two was always a mutual thing which even surprised Sarah in the beginning and definitely scared her. Sarah soon gave into her attraction and admits to Lydia how she feels. The two begin a relationship that seems perfect at the start but then Lydia shows her true colours her possessive, jealous, controlling, stalkerish behaviour. The two constantly get into arguments but somehow always seem to get through them and seem to be happy with one another. Sarah seems to be oblivious to how unhealthy the relationship is, others are able to see it and try to warn her in the forms of Lydia's ex girlfriend Charlotte and Sarah's best friend Zoe. Lydia convinces Sarah that they are merely trying to split them up and ignores all the signs that should be making her run in the opposite direction. The two finally split up and we are shown the full extent of Lydia's crazy side, you are soon informed of how disturbed she is. She doesn't take rejection well and will go to any extremes to get what she wants. After Sarah breaks up with Lydia due to having caught her kissing her ex girlfriend Charlotte, Sarah and Zoe go on a camping trip/skydiving with a few others from the village, thinking being away in the countryside with no outside contact as all mobile phones are confiscated that it will be a laugh. Sarah and Zoe seem to be having a laugh and enjoying being in the countryside when Lydia shows up outta nowhere scaring all the campers as they weren't expecting her. The camp leader agrees that Lydia can stay. Lydia couldn't stay in the village any longer as she is adamant that Sarah and Zoe are away getting romantically involved again. Lydia tries warning Zoe

away from Sarah again claiming that after their one night of passion and being confused about how she felt Sarah attempted to commit suicide. Which was obviously a lie and she was actually describing what happened between her and Charlotte after they broke up. Sarah and Zoe get drunk and having had fallen into some murky/muddy water Sarah tells Zoe she needs to take off her wet clothing, half way through helping her take off her clothes Sarah tries to encourage Zoe that they can repeat their night of passion again. Zoe keeps pushing her away letting her know that she's not interested and that it's not what she

wants. Sarah also goes on to tell Zoe that she's the only girl that she ever loved, it's only about her and no one else. This wouldn't be an issue except that Lydia is outside the tent and has heard everything Sarah has said and this sends a whole new sense of rage through her. With Lydia thinking erratically she goes to where the parachutes and sabotages one of them thinking that it will be Zoe's. Issue is when they go to skydive the next day all the parachutes are on the ground meaning that Lydia doesn't know who will get the faulty one until it's too late. Sarah dies at the hands of her ex girlfriend due to jealously and bitterness.

Star Wars Sketching Chronicles C3Po

Star Wars Sketching Chronicles R2D2

The Fosters Jude & Connor (Spoilers Alert)

Jude and Connor quickly became friends when Jude joined the school where one his Foster Mother's Lena was working. The two quickly became inseparable being each others partners for projects/field trips, sleepovers, hangouts etc. The two have a falling out when some of the boys in their year start to tease Jude and intend on beating him up for wearing nail varnish whilst a somewhat scared Connor just watches the whole thing. Connor soon shows his solidarity and that he should have stood up for Jude by wearing blue nail varnish on his nails the next day at school. Feelings soon getting confusing for the two when Maddie invites Jude to the Movies whilst Connor is at his house. Jude seems not to mind and sees it as a friends hangout whilst Connor seems somewhat jealous. Connor soon states that he likes Maddie and that he would like to ask her out. The two fall out for a brief period which is around the time that Jude is gonna be officially adopted to which Connor states he no longer wants to come as he clearly isn't a good friend. To which Jude then has a discussion with his Mom Lena about being gay. Jude messages Connor and he comes to the see his best friend be adopted finally by his two loving Moms. Connor's Dad soon comes into the picture and takes both Connor and Jude to the batting cages for a nice day out, Jude is intimidated by the ball that is flying at him, initially her steps back when the first ball flies at him which any clever person would do, the second time he accidentally lets go of the bat. Jude

is encouraged by Connor's Dad whist with Connor he's constantly assuring him that he can do better and what exactly he expects from him.The twos amount of time spent together is soon restricted after the Batting Cages incident when Connor's Dad feels that Jude might be gay and doesn't want his son interacting with someone who could be potentially gay. Even though he has already spent a fair amount of time in a house with a same sex parents. Connor being somewhat naive and honest tells Jude the reason they can no longer hangout as much which he thinks will be fine but Jude is a rather sensitive soul and gets upset by Connors admission. Connor soon sneaks out as he wants to hangout with Jude, Maddie and Chelsea, when Brandon decides it's a good idea to have friends over whilst his Moms are away for the weekend. The night turns out to the four of them playing spin the bottle with an app on Maddie's cell phone however when it lands on Jude and Connor kissing, Connor is all for it playing it off like it's nothing whilst Jude is saying it's dumb and he doesn't want to. All the while the viewing audience and Jude know he wants to. The two stop talking for a while and Connor finally confides in Lena and breaks down as he misses his best friend.

Lena: "Did something happen?"
Connor: "My dad thinks Jude is gay. That's why I can't spend the night at your house anymore."
Lena: "I see. Did he say that to Jude?"
Connor: "No, but I did."
Lena: "You told Jude you thought he was gay?"
Connor: "No, I told him my dad did. I couldn't stand up to him, and I think that really hurt Jude's feelings. I'm sorry. I wish he'd talk to me again."
(Connor begins to cry and Lena gets up and begins comforting him)
Lena: "It's okay. It's okay. It's alright. You're not your father. Jude knows that. And he's gonna speak to you again. You know, I think we all need to just give him some space. To figure out all this stuff he's feeling inside."
Connor: "S-So, it's-it's not my fault?"
Lena: "No sweetie, it's not."

Connor is soon mad at Jude when he tells his Mom/assistant principal that he thinks Connor is getting hit at home. The truth is Connor is getting spanked at home but the black eye he is currently sporting is from trying to run away from the spanking and not down to physical violence. Personally I think jude did the right thing, not everyone can speak up about being verbally or physically bullied and abused at home. He may have got in wrong in this circumstance but at least he was brave enough to stand up for one of his best friends. The two are soon in trouble again when Connor's Dad find out that during a camping trip Connor shared a tent with Jude unsupervised.  Connor's Dad claims to not be homophobic but instead claims he just wants his son to enjoy his childhood and not grow up so fast. Especially after he finds out the boys had girls in the tents and they were kissing. Truth is Connor and Jude were alone in the tent experimenting with one another. Which there is nothing wrong with, it's just kind of inappropiate, they were able to get away with it as they're the same sex so would always be allowed to share a tent, had it have been a male and female who had snuck into a tent to make out there would have been serious consequences. As it is the boys only didn't get in trouble as they never told the whole/real story.