#but the whole 'woman of color is a lesbian' thing is used ALL THE TIME to explain why women of color don't deserve romantic love from men

[bookishfeylin]

do you think rhysand is a brown man? i feel like sjm did such a terrible job of trying to make him into a representation that it's better off if he's white. his culture is constantly represented as savages and barbarians and misogynistic and he's pining over a white woman while looking down over his own people 🗿

So big disclaimer here that I'm Black, not brown, and that I might get things wrong! If I'm corrected by a brown person in the comments or reblogs please defer to them, and I may edit this as necessary. That being said...

it's really a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. If Rhysand is NOT a brown man, and is, in fact, white (as some stans happily draw him) then his whole court REEKS of cultural appropriation. We got henna tattoos, stolen from middle eastern/south asian/north African/east african culture:

And we got bedlah aka the middle eastern belly dancer's outfit, complete with "harem pants" (probably the outfit that inspired Princess Jasmine's clothing in Aladdin):

But Mrs. Maas clearly wants us to view him as a person of color, at least in later books (and by extension, Illyrians as POC), and he, Cassian, Azriel, and the other Illyrians are described as having brown skin. So if Rhysand IS a brown man, then that's... almost worse. First is the fact that Sarah J Maas couldn't actually decide what specific culture the Illyrians were based off of, because the middle east is not a monolith! South Asia is not a monolith! I've seen some guesses that Rhysand and Co are Persian, others speculating he's Indian... and there's a BIG difference between those two cultures. You can't claim to provide representation if no one even knows what specific culture/ethnicity is being represented.

And second is the fact that Sarah J Maas really decided it would be a good idea to make her most prominent group of POC in this story a WILDLY sexist culture that mutilate their own women and are looked down on by the 'civilized' (read: mostly white) High Fae for being violent warriors. She really said that she was going to have a culture (Illyria) entirely of POC and make them sexist, violent, and cruel, and have them be called brutes and animalistic by white people. In what UNIVERSE is that ok? In what UNIVERSE is that good representation???

And thirdly is, as you said and as I mentioned in this post, the batboys are men of color who find their own women "plain" and pedestalize white women (Feyre, Nesta, and Elain) as the beauty standard. As I brought out in that post, the idea that white and lighter skinned women are better, prettier, and more valuable than darker skinned women of color is a real world issue with dangerous consequences, and it's disgusting that in a book series Sarah J Maas has declared is "feminist," she decided to promote the idea that white women are better than the rest of us. Hell- how many women of color are in ACOTAR? And how many of them are allowed to have a male love interest? Are allowed to be seen as beautiful, desirable, and worthy of protection and romance?

In conclusion: it's racist either way. I, for one, only view book one as canon due to this series becoming nothing but a pile of retcons and nonsensical worldbuilding afterwards, so I do view Rhysand as white in that book, especially with his "moon white" skin. But in the series as a whole? I think Sarah wants us to view the bat boys as men of color, due to the aforementioned cultural details and her giving them brown skin, but she handles it horribly all around. So for the intents and purposes of your question: from ACOMAF and beyond, Rhysand is a brown man. Illyrians are people of color. And it's one of the most racist portrayals of people of color that I've seen in a hot minute. Sexist, animalistic brutes are not representation, and brown people deserve better.

#regarding women of color allowed to have a male love interest- that was not shade at Emerie for being a lesbian #but the whole 'woman of color is a lesbian' thing is used ALL THE TIME to explain why women of color don't deserve romantic love from men #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #sjm critical #acotar analysis #racism #Anon #ask #Illyrian discourse #anti sjm

[collegetennisoriginstory]

So, I was romancing Sam on every playthrough but decided to branch out finally, and now I have a tier list; ‼️Potential spoilers‼️

Tobin: By far my favorite RO. I typically don't like the archetype of "brooding ro and their charming ro counterpart" It just doesn't interest me as someone who has seen a lot of het romances employ this trope. But giving Tobin the chance they deserve and finding that I like how they respond to my MC's own flirtatious nature and then discovering how they feel about my MC being the same gender, just adds an extra layer of interest for me that I appreciated. They're kind, considerate, and very thoughtful of their friends. Very quickly blew the rest of the competition out of the water for me. I think their mindset when it comes to tennis explains why they're not the no.1 Seed despite being the captain of the team, and it honestly surprised me. I think the full weight of their route is explored best when MC is similarly looking to go pro as it parallels Rayyan nicely. Their kidness is the space they give you is born from experience and the fear of doing to MC what was done to them and I just eat that stuff up. Also it is very rare to have a black RO who is treated with any level of depth, and I just 🥹love that we Tobin.

Rayyan: In a surprise twist, Rayyan gets the second spot for similar reasons as Tobin. I think the enemies to friends to lovers(partners) arc that is presented in their story is intriguing. Like Sam, they have a level of history with the MC that makes them familiar when heading into the new space, so I made it a habit to stay near them when at all possible. Rayyan isn't particularly cold, or as cold as ppl might assume, I think they have a very good balance of being a sort of quiet and reserved person that still manages to be personable. I feel that playing like I do, my MC might've come off as flippant to them, which only adds to the anxiety that they feel going into this season. Their struggle of being visually Arab in a world and country that sees non whiteness as punishable is very felt. It's really special to me that the two most prominent ROs are dark skinned people of color. Sorry for being biased, but even when I wasn’t actively romancing them, they got major points for that.

Sam: My baby gets the third spot and I think that's fair. What i adored about Sam is the pining of a friends to lovers story. I never make the first move with Sam, despite playing very flirty, bc I see my MC with not having to put up a front with Sam. So the things they do or say that signify to others that my MC is looking for something physical aren't used with Sam; they believe MCs closeness with them is strictly platonic while my MC believes that Sam has been lightly rejecting this whole time. Just something about those missed connections get to me. (Also, the varcity jackets!? So cute) Now, Sam loses points due to being away at another university for a majority of the story thys far. Which made me wonder if placing them in a new environment with MC might change things for them. Everything IS different now; so, who is to say that their relationship hasn't run its course? Juicy, but due to lack of presence, I'll keep them at 3rd.

G: They're French. Automatically, a point is taken off. They're also very sexy as a woman (my MC is a they/them lesbian) so I felt that, to remain true to character, I would have to ignore that and see what G has going on. Ngl, they do sort of play out like a romance novel character in the most obvious way so far 😭 no hate though. I just couldn't not think about "Oh, you sexy French student." Whenever they said anything. Smoldering looks from across the room at a crowded college party, like okay 400 days of summer <3. I think they're rather perfect for players who are looking for some steam outside of the locker room. They have the same issue as Sam, as in, they're not present in the locker room. They're not our teammate, so we don't really get the same level of relationship building with them as u would a Rayyan or Tobin. And I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily. I feel that speaks to the amount of work put in to make the team feel real and not just thrown together characters. Once I started to romance my teammates, I found it hard to flirt with anyone else, as I felt that they just didn't understand my MC on the same level.

Felix: ngl, they'd have to get security to get me off them, I have this burning rage in my heart whenever they show up. "🤼‍♂️ This is for Tobin, Cakepop‼️" I am sure there is indeed depth to them as a character, I am sure it hurts to hear someone say "I can not love you the way you want me to." And we are only human, we don't always behave the way we want to. But Felix makes my nipple itch they just remind me of men who just hold this anger for their exes unreasonably. I think there is an interesting parallel to be found in a Tobin route MC and Felix. I just don't have the language to put it together bc I will never romance them and I don't think I ever will, personally just can't bring myself to do so. They are what I felt Rayyan would be, and I'm fine with meeting them with hostility.

All in all, I'm glad I branched out to see what the other ROs were like it's definitely a testament to ur hard work and is greatly appreciated. I will continue to be messy and kiss Tobin, Rayyan, and Sam because I am toxic aim to be a learning experience, not a lover 🫶🏽

Oh my god~ It was so interesting to see your gradual evolution / journey through pursuing the different ROs.

I think it's really interesting in particular to see how Tobin's character is sort of 'hidden' beneath multiple layers, and you have to really work at unpeeling those layers, and it's really rewarding as a writer to see that route 'give' readers so much unexpected joy.

And, of course — I have a soft spot for stoic / unexpressive, overly-competitive, serious characters who are secretly just a giant sap. For Rayyan in particular, I think their drive to excel at tennis is counter-balanced against their loyalty, their ride-or-die-ness with the people they love. I love the extra bit of psychoanalysis that you did regarding Rayyan's anxiety about MC not taking tennis seriously, which is fine on its own, but really becomes an issue if they're partnered.

Sam having less 'screen-time' than the others is totally fair, and I think (or hope) will be made up for by the sheer amount of history they share.

As for the whole "French sexy" stereotype, I actually do think this is a crucial part of G's arc. The idea that perhaps they both see each other as 'archetypes' at the start (the jock-fling during one's exchange year, the sexy french exchange student), and then as they start understanding each other as real people, and then as they start (possibly) falling in love with each other (with all the eccentricities, all the imperfections), the relationship takes on more depth and dimension.

Finally, thank you so much for taking the time to explore all these different routes, and I'm so glad that doing so was rewarding for you :) I absolutely loved reading this message, so thank you also for sharing! It's always so fun listening to how different MCs, or different MC choices, and just different readers in general — have different takes on the ROs!

#college tennis: origin story #if #ct:os #interactive fiction #asks #rayyan #sam #tobin #g

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Semifinals

Sakura Haruno

Her husband is gay and her author doesn't know how to write women. So many people say she's the worst but she. DESERVES. BETTER!!! Save her from this franchise.

My baby girl my bestie my best friend. She committed the crime of um being written by kishimoto who both doesn’t know how to write women and somehow writes men in the gayest way possible specifically naruto and sasuke. Like the thing is naruto and sasuke ARE gay and also she gets so much hate for the crime of kishimoto writing her one dimensionally in love with sasuke. I know her personally she is a butch lesbian to me just trust me she’s in love with Ino and has a lesbian thing going on with Karin okay just trust me. My everything. She needs to divorce the loveless lavender marriage she’s in 

What is there to say, even? The OG Threat to my 90s anime brain, the only woman I've ever hated with such a passion she made me turn away from the color pink. I used to write fics with my friend where she got left behind on purpose so our OCs could join the Naruto and Sasuke team instead. I loathed this bitch until I was 16 and realized the author simply couldnt write women and decided it was time to make peace with Sakura. It is not her fault she's vaguely written and obsessive over Sasuke. She deserves better. Sasuke and Naruto still should be together and Sakura shouldnt be with Sasuke but I no longer believe this because I hate Sakura, it is because I love her. She deserves a spouse who will actually put in the time to treat her like the hero she is.

Casca

She is part of a weird fucked up love triangle with two dudes. All three of them are honestly kind of terrible for each other but she gets shoved aside in favor of the two dudes in most fics and is not allowed to grow past the toxic relationships of her past. Also she’s a cis woman who dresses pretty masculinely (because she’s in a mercenary band) so she gets type casted as the mean lesbian friend, when she’s straight in canon

I've seen more than one Yaoi Shipper say that Casca should have died during this one big canon event as opposed to being assaulted by one of the people in the Yaoi Ship, which of course conveniently would remove her from the narrative and as an obstacle to said Yaoi Ship. Aside from that specifically, though, I think it's particularly cruel to imply that being killed is a better outcome than being a victim of SA, and is an example of the contempt fandom on the whole has for female characters who act traumatized - particularly when both male characters in the ship have similar trauma and its never implied they should have died rather than be assaulted.

She's an incredibly interesting character in her own right with really good dynamics and parallels to Griffith and Guts, and the way those three play off of each other is integral to the story, but most of what I've seen completely ignores her in favor of focusing on only Griffith and Guts

#poll #round 5 #sakura haruno #naruto #casca berserk #casca #berserk

[cowboyjen68]

hi jen!! i wanted to let you know how much your advice means to me as a young butch as well as ask you for some advice.

i live in a tight-knit community and go to a small school. because my school is so small, we are allowed to attend prom all four years of high school. i didn't go my freshman and sophomore year despite my friends encouragement. last year i got asked by a girl as well and i turned her down. im in my junior year now and i still don't want to go. the thing is that there's this girl (who i like) who wants me to go. i feel like she likes me too and i don't want to disappoint her.

my avoidance to prom has to do with the whole dressing up fancy deal. ive avoided the first two years because i am uncomfortable wearing dresses and am worried about what people would think of me if i wore not-a-dress. the area where i live isn't super homophobic, but i know plenty of people that are. some people i know and care about are a little bit homophobic too. im worried about what people would think of me if i dressed unconventionally like that. people talk, as im sure you know. im worried about being discredited or belittled for my sexuality. i know some other queer teens, but it feels like such a jump to show up to prom in a suit. especially since im not explicitly out to many people yet and am generally cautious/apprehensive.

im considering wearing a dress to prom so i can show up with this girl, even though i know ill be uncomfortable. shes a nice girl and would probably encourage me to wear what i want if she knew how i felt, same with my friends.

i don't know if it's worth it though. i am scared of what people will think about me. im a year and a half away from college and living my best, queerest life. i could just wait. but i also don't want to regret not going and missing out on those classic teen experiences.

my heads swimming and id love your input!! i really admire you and want to be like you someday. thanks <3

I remember high school. I too went to a small rural school back in the 1980's. IT is not as easy as some people say. Those of us older often forget that high school is bascially a "closed" society that we are stuck in for all for years so every decision seems to hold weight. Doing something out of step with the "status quo" can have consequences we have to deal with for whatever is left of our 4 years.

SO older lesbians telling youngers to "do what you want" or "just be yourself" or "you have it so much easier than I (we) did" is not only unhelpful it can be detrimental at best and dangerous at worst. Some of my generation look back to high school through the lens of time and experience that think we "would have been more brave" and that NOW young lesbians have the freedom to do as they please because public sentiment and laws have turned in our favor. High school is just not that different now and laws and adult reactions do not apply.

SO here is my advice. Go with your crush. But ask her to go with you to pick an outfit. You do not have to wear a dress. It is wholly acceptable for women to wear suits. You don't have to wear a generic man's tux or suit, they are often ill fitting and boxy anyway, especially on women. GO to a tux or suit shop that sells women's styles and fit. You don't have to do the man's style with the tie and suit coat. A pair of black slacks, a white button down, can be pleated (woman's style) or not and a nice black vest without a tie is perfectly nice formal wear for a high school prom. To dress it up you can wear a colored vest either solid or with a pattern.

Any decent place that sells or rents formal wear will have women cut suits. Rental is not cheap but it is worth spending your hard earn bucks to look fabulous and feel confident. Check in your local suit shops, even department stores like JC Penneys or similar. Many offer women's suits and even have a list of local tailors that can do a fitting.

You might have to compromise a bit on what you would really like to wear but I think giving a little on the outfit and still having a style you feel okay in will be a small price to pay to spend a wonderful night out with her.

#butch #lesbian #dating #fashion #prom #high school

[rose-thorn]

tma!sanders sides au bc i’ve been brainrotting over this for the past several days

(@wobblystrawberry helped a lot with this [hiiii])

Remus:

- The Corruption

- the bastard that made me start this whole thing (wanted to make The Stinky Trash Bastard Man, Stinky Trash Bastard Man Squared and it sorta just went from there)

- known as The Duke of The Crawling Rot

- raided the magnus institute with Jane Prentiss (where he meets Logan, they probably start dating sometime in the AU) (both Remus and Prentiss wore raggedy red dresses and Roman got pissy about Remus stealing his color)

- dating Janus and living with him + Annabelle Cane (more on her later)

Roman:

- The Desolation

- known as The Prince of Total Desolation/The Prince of Devastation

- was The Lightless Flame’s attempt to salvage the idea of having a Messiah and all the work that was put into that (a failed attempt at that)

- a lot of “he hurts everyone close to him because of the intensity of his love for them (“also he can’t touch anyone without burning them alive)” going on with him

- him and Jude Perry are lesbian/gay hostility (also Jude pretty much HATES Roman because he’s quite literally the “replacement” for the woman she loved) but sometimes have their moments of coexistence

- him and Virgil have something going on but it isn’t clear to anyone (including me) what exactly it is

speaking of…

Virgil:

- The Dark

- it was close between The Dark and The End but ultimately I went for The Dark

- ascended to Avatar-hood earliest out of everyone else (at like something between 14-17 idk)

- much more on the human-ish end of the spectrum (main thing is his eyes, i’ll drop the design soon i promise)

- Janus (who’ll i get to next) was like a mentor/older sibling figure for him, and tried to get him to become an avatar of The Web (is still trying to do so) which is why 1) Virgil is still closely tied to spiders, and 2) mostly why Virgil Does Not Like Janus

- Virgil still has a pet tarantula that Janus had given him, he’s tried to muster up the will to kill her or get rid of her more times than he can count now, to cut off his ties with The Web, but he just can’t bring himself to do it

- him and gerry (who i’ve decided doesn’t die in this au and instead becomes a fully realized Beholding Avatar) are close friends and most of their interactions go something like:

“You fell in love with the fucking personification of insanity and lies" "big talk for a guy with a crush on the biggest bitch of a fancy dumpster fire" "fuck you" "fuck you" "so you're trying to tell me you didn't name yourself after gerard way?" "i didnt" "bullshit, i bet you heard 'mama' and immediately took his name" (gerry’s trans in this, i make the rules)

- Virgil used to be friends with Julia Montauk before someone got jealous and tipped her off that Virgil’s an avatar (they get less toxic later i promise okay?)

- also he’s sorta friends with oliver banks, they have these “oh hey, it’s you” acquaintances and sometimes sit down to catch up like:

“how’s it going with your vast boyfriend? (mike crew)” “oh yeah a Hunter cop shot him he had to pretend to be dead while Buried for a bit but he’s doing better now, tea?” “how’s your bf in the red?” “my what.” “y’know the Lightless Flame’s Messiah 2.0?” “MOTHERFUCKING ROMAN??”

Janus:

- The Web

- okay yes The Spiral is literally the fear of deception, and yes Janus is literally called “Deceit” but this fits him better imo

- he/she Janus because fuck it

- as i said, tried to get Virgil to become a Web Avatar, still trying, how well this is working out for her is up for debate

- he is pulling all the strings possible to keep Virgil far away from The People’s Church of The Divine Host as possible (whether this is out of genuine care and fear for how being in a literal cult would affect Virgil’s wellbeing or a want to keep Virgil’s connection to The Dark as possible… that’s also up for debate)

- has severe scarring on the entire right side of her face, how did that happen? basically, Mary Keay wanted to test to make sure the Leitner skin book was real, so she hired janus (who also brought Virgil, and that’s how gerry and Virgil met) to help with that, long story short, she then backstabbed him and tried to skin him alive. janus got away but let’s just say she’s pretty damn lucky Virgil was there to get him to a hospital

- dating Remus (and eventually Logan) and lives with Remus + Annabelle Cane

- Speaking of Annabelle Cane, one day while Remus and Janus were just cuddling on the couch, Annabelle just walked in, said “We’re a colony now”, and set up in the spare bedroom s5 style and Janus + Remus were just like “oh-kay?” and went on with their day

- if you’ve ever seen that one “passive aggressive roommate” song on youtube, that’s Janus and Annabelle. both are the passive aggressive roommate.

- spider limbs from his back as well as the several hands thing because why the hell not, it works

Patton:

- The Eye

- mainly the being judged/having your secrets exposed aspects (because in sander sides he is literally the judge over thomas’ morality, his job is to watch over thomas’ actions and tell him whether or not he’s a good person)

- certain people make eye contact with with him and Know that he Knows all the bad things they’ve done, and feel the compulsion to spill their guts, once they start, they cannot stop no matter how hard they try

- after the fact, his victims find a teddy bear sitting on their bed that always seems to be Watching them no matter where they go

- works at The Magnus Institute, where he meets Logan, who, during his transition to becoming an avatar, was one of his biggest supports, since he was going through the same thing, they start dating after a while, and by the time of the Prentiss + Remus attack, they’re engaged (they both fully ascend only a few months after their wedding)

- [insert patton having a moral crisis because he doesn’t want to be a monster that feeds off of people’s fear but he has to and part of him likes it wow this is reminding me of a certain other Beholding Avatar]

- idk how it happens but he still becomes a father figure for Virgil somehow, i’ll figure out specifics eventually

Logan:

- The Vast

- while i absolutely love Beholding!Logan hear me out. the fear of insignificance works so well here.

- he started working at The Magnus Institute a year or two before Patton (and five or six years before the Prentiss + Remus attack)

- i cannot overstate how everyone in the au thinks he’s Beholding: Jon thinks he’s Beholding, Gertrude thought he was Beholding, Gerry, who canonically has an ability to tell if people are marked by an avatar and who, for the purposes of this au is an avatar of The Eye, thinks he’s Beholding, motherfucking Elias/Jonah thinks he’s Beholding, Virgil, Janus, Annabelle, everyone thinks he’s Beholding EXCEPT Remus, who just knows for some reason (at one point when Patton and Logan got engaged Remus was like “damn patton you’re so committed to the eye, wouldn’t have figured you’d marry a vast avatar.” “a what”)

- to be fair, he was like 0.5 seconds away from becoming an Eye Avatar then BOOM BITCH VAST JUMPSCARE (The Eye is immensely bitter) and is partially Eye-aligned

- when Patton and Logan started dating, Logan just kinda assumed that Patton knew he was a Vast avatar

- after Patton learns, the convo goes something like “but- you work with the institute? how are you an avatar of the vast?” “i still need to eat, patton, and rent in central london is not cheap.”“huh.”

- Logan has a tie that Patton got him after learning he was a Vast avatar, the tie has a blue sky that fades into a deeper blue at the top, has some clouds and birds scattered around, and has a colorful sunset at the bottom, he wore that to their wedding and every day after

- there is healthy communication between all parties when Logan starts dating Remus and Janus as well

- probably levitates elias/jonah over the edge of a building for threatening/traumatizing Patton at some point, Elias had no clue that Logan was a Vast avatar until that moment (self-made blind spot, like the one he had around Martin being a threat)

- Jon and Logan would be friends. they just would.

- Logan’s probably the one who convinces Virgil to go to therapy

that’s most of what i have right now, i will probably continue to talk about these bastards + post the designs

#you have no clue how much effort it is taking not to say that patton just got logan ‘’you like the color of the sky? which one’’ #because it would be so fucking funny #these fuckers are living in my head rent free #sander sides #sasi #tss #tma #tma au #sanders sides au #logan sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #patton sanders #intruloceit #intrulogical #logicality #prinxiety #terminal velocity (kinda)

[north-noire]

north!! i hope ur doing well!! im really interested and curious abt jennifer emily shes seems very giving in tough love but i hope i request some hcs or sketches im already in love with her i love her i love her id do anything for her

I've been doing well the best I could, but thanks for asking! It's been an exhausting time for me, but I'm getting by :] Here's a colored sketch of her, as you requested! Still working on her reference so she'll take a bit (same to the others as well), but I hope this suffices!

Thank you for being interested in my grumpy gal, and for the lovely ask! I'll try my best to explain my headcanons and that kind of thing for her! And honestly same, I would just do whatever she wanted so that I don't get on her bad side lmao.

Plus I really like the idea of Henry having an older sister - originally she wasn't really in the story, but I really liked the idea of an outsider from the Freddy's drama finding out what kind of thing Henry got himself into, and I thought Jennifer suited that role nicely.

Jennifer Emily in my AU - she's a very tough love and blunt kind of woman (Henry unintentionally got his bluntness from her partially), preferring to just be straightforward rather than sugarcoating everything. She just prefers having things done first before she deals with the ungodly things called emotions - she can be a bit brash and can get easily irritable, but she means well, she just says what's on her mind sometimes, so she can sound pretty harsh and brutal. And sadly, she's not really the best at consoling someone or helping them get through their emotions, but she tries her best to console in a different way.

She's a car mechanic, but genuinely has an interest in racing cars (even got racer's jackets and photos of race tracks/racing tournaments she had watched - she's a racing fan, damn she would've loved the Cars movie lmao) and custom car stuff (I imagine her car is like modified a bit to look like a race car for the aesthetic - probably would've collected sports car toys and the like) and that kind of thing - she really wanted to be a racer someday, but alas, that's simply just a child's dream, but she's happy enough to be someone who fixes something she loves as a living, but she was definitely frustrated with the whole misogynistic remarks she gets for just being a car mechanic. Also she doesn't Henry to repair his own car and would rather find him and his run-down car in the middle of nowhere than get him to try and repair it on his own. Another thing, it's never explicitly said in the story/treated as a big deal at all, but my Jennifer is a lesbian woman, and Henry doesn't really care and loves her all the same regardless (and honestly he's not even surprised mostly because he sort of knew she dated women before). She never really found luck finding love though, but she tries her best to go by her life regardless.

Back when Henry and William were just new friends back in college years, she highly disliked William - Henry always argued back/stood up for William, but she just never really liked him. Her personality would always clash with William's, and she really doesn't like how wishy-washy William can be and how much he puts on a show for people, and how much he can be a "people-pleaser" in her perspective. The British accent also made her feel like he was being pretentious and posh individual. Of course, years down the line, Jennifer just sort of got used and just kept her dislike for William all to herself/to Henry, but Henry sometimes alludes to it sometimes in a light-hearted manner.

She also lives alone, with her dog (A Doberman, they're very sweet) :] She never really saw herself as someone who can take care of kids, let alone know how to deal with them, so she's honestly living the best life she could! It's honestly why she doesn't mind Henry coming over every once in a while, she doesn't like to admit it but she gets a little lonely there by herself sometimes.

Sorry for another long post, but I really hope I've explained her stuff well! Thanks for the ask as well it was really fun answering this question!

#lmao I love that all the Emilys has something they're passionate about/would yap about for ages if you ask them about it #she's very fun to write! glad I wrote her in this AU #hidden hands au #north-noire asks #jennifer emily #jen emily #aunt jen #fnaf jen emily #fnaf aunt jen #fnaf jennifer emily #fnaf au #my art

[bcacstuff]

So you’re long term single. I’m long term single, too. But do you want a Hollywood leading man career? Do you play games, including pretending to be with your co-star for years, to get your dream career? Do you have a heavyweight PR person to plan your pap walk and PDA for public consumption? Well, I don’t.

You know Anon, I wrote already a long answer, but just removed it all as I wasn't even half way of what I perhaps would like to express in my answer to you. I deleted it, since, what's the point, how many words do I need to write. You're gonna see things just like you want, from your point of view, from your own experiences, and your cultural background, or whatever ingredients you can think of that makes you form your opinion. And I'm doing exactly the same.

I know your message derives from yesterdays discussion about the 'gay theory' (for lack of a better description). I left some comments on there, as I was triggered by how 'the lack of a gf/lover' was 'interesting'.

It's the biased presumptions, the part you show as well in your message to me, by implying he plays games, pretended to be with his co-star for years to get his dream career. The heavyweight PR person planning pap walks. I don't share that view particularly.

I know, in the same thread I got told, I'm a 'late comer' [to the fandom]. I'm not quite sure how that makes my perception of things less worthy, or was it to belittle me or my view or opinion? I don't know. Actually, I was in the process to write another comment and then just thought, oh why, what's the point here. I didn't sent it. I just read how some of the posters claimed they're not there to prove anything, and people can have their own opinions, yet they were quite engaged in the whole thread referring to all kind of 'proof' that imho is based on pure confirmation bias. There, I used that term once again. Anyway, I could do the same, and what would it matter, what do we all achieve? A lot of time wasted on a subject that nobody ever will have factual proof for, and even if there was, it would be denied and 'explained' by the ones whom's narrative it doesn't fit.

It's quite easy Anon, I showed and wrote about it a number of times, to just put a narrative based on confirmation bias out there and make it cannon in this fandom. One word, one sentence can go a long way. That's for what I write, but that's also for his actions and words (or for that matter, his co-stars as well). How a bar of Irish soap can lead to many receipts, explanations, accusations, all depending on what fraction of the fandom explains it. If you come to think of it, it is quite hilarious and ridiculous at the same time, and maybe even a bit sad.

Same with the 'PR planned pap walks'. Yes, he does get 'papped' where that word to me means, he get photographed by paparazzi. You know, the name they call photographers that make their living to get pictures of celebs and get paid for it by magazines or online stock images distributors. It's a job. Thing is, each fraction in this fandom has their own view and explanation for it. One part says, he needs to be seen with a woman to sell his [insert whatever to sell or promote here]. Another part says, it's to hide his real marriage with CB. Yet another part knows she's a beard and in fact lesbian.... Need I go on? Yes, I go on with the biggest majority of the fandom, the ones that see a nice pic of him, discuss the shirt or the color of socks.... They're totally oblivious of all the narratives and they don't even follow whom he's with. And they're not interested in that at all. They sometimes get a bit overboard when he posts a pic with a certain beer brand. So, for who exactly are these so called 'pap walks' planned? Are they planned? I don't know, and frankly I don't care because what does it prove? Does it prove he's gay? Does it prove he's married to his co-star? Does it prove he's a womanizer? It gets him some attention and that's it 🤷‍♀️

Then there is this other thing, the 'being single part' in your message. If you are a long term single, you most likely had your own share of gossip around you as a person. Cause that's what happens. It's amazing, but actually also sad, how people still can't let go the medieval part that being in a steady relationship is not always the ultimate way of living. The sad part is, how they make up stories about you. If you go out for a drink or a coffee or have a bite with a good friend, oh... she must be... right, no I must be nothing, I was just having a good time with a friend. Or you work closely together with someone, who becomes your friend, and you are seen a lot of times together... oh they must be... no, it's someone whom I like and love to work with, we have some common interests and we like to hang out together as well from time to time. Just some examples, there are many more. And what did I do to make people gossip but just have a good time with somebody? They never say it to your face, but you know what they are talking about behind your back. And yes, of course the being gay part, or in my case lesbian part, is talked about as well. Not to your face, no they are just too cowardly to ask you, or are they just afraid of the answer that makes all their fun of talking about you a moot point? What do people expect from singles? That they sit on the couch waiting for the love of my life to ring my doorbell? That they spent their time on dating apps to find the ever loving partner who brings you your breakfast on bed? Oh the things I could tell, I could write a book about it, and it would make a pretty good tv show perhaps.

Anyway, at some point you stop reacting on those ridiculous things they say about you. You shrug and move on. You know for yourself, there is just nothing wrong with being single, it's just another way of life. If it shows one thing it is that a lot of people pretend to be open minded for different opinions, ways of life and respective of another persons life and choices. Yet, they show at the same time their narrow minded suspicion and biased views.

And if there's one thing I learned from this fandom, it's that there are a lot of weird people in it, of which Sam is not the weirdest but quite boring compared to them. Take the Twitter account currently pretending she's traveling with her imaginary bf the SS tour. Or that shipper who rather flips coins and trust her guts, while a marriage certificate is totally fake. Now that's weird in my book! But okay, it's a way of life I guess. To each their own.

Sigh, and all in all it still became quite a long answer. And all in all I know people will say you're [insert any criticism] because [insert any reason]. And I... I shrug and will just move on.

[itsclydebitches]

On the topic of the Curious Cat: As an enby, I don't know how to feel about the fact that the first major characters in RWBY who were canonically enby were a) animals from a whole different world b) killed off in the same volume that introduced them.

Actually, no, I do know how I feel about that.

Little: A mouse who has, by their own admission, no purpose in life and thus swears to help the group on their quest... except they don't. No time is spent developing Little or demonstrating how they're beneficial as an ally. They're squashed to death by the villain during a pseudo-suicide scene and then magically reappear as a totally different person, which is presented as a good thing. They're left behind by the story, presumably never to be seen again.

Curious: A cat who is first presented as an annoyance that the group doesn't want to deal with, then as an outright villain who has been manipulating them this whole time. The story refuses to engage with the ways in which their situation is both relatable and sympathetic, instead having them suddenly gain the power of possession/physical transformation for a lackluster fight scene. They're torn apart by the illusion of another villain that only existed for one episode and, for obvious reasons, will likely never be seen again.

Yeah. I wonder why fans, particularly enby fans, would be unhappy with this representation...

You know, I've brought this up before but I think it's really important to keep in mind that RWBY is an ongoing series. Any representation that's introduced to the canon is, for a significant length of time, the only representation we have and that severely colors our feelings towards the show as a whole. Lately there have been some angry posts about people calling Blake/Yang queerbaiting and they're right, by definition it can't possibly be queerbaiting because they were made canon... but we thought it might be for several years. That's the criticism. The later you're introduced to RWBY and the more you have to binge watch, the less likely you are to understand the issue with these portrayals—especially with a fandom that will talk up what you have to look forward to if you just keep watching to X Volume. Why would I be upset with a stalker, villain lesbian when Saphron and Terra are so cute and just around the corner? Why would I think trans rep is an issue when Mae is arriving in Volume 7? How can anyone possibly claim that the queer rep is bad when the flagship, main character couple kissed on screen and I've already seen the beautiful, romantic GIFs of the moment? Putting aside other issues here (how long queer characters last, the lack of rep for men, etc.) fans ignore the staggeringly long time we were not only waiting for rep, but then waiting for what many would consider positive rep. For years all we had was a lesbian who wanted to kill the parents of the woman who didn't return her affections (notably with the implication that Blake was might be straight...) and a super duper minor character who isn't actually gay because they wanted to kill him off. For years all we had was Coco leering at women behind her sunglasses in the novels, or the hint of gay side-characters in other teams, while Blake and Yang continued a multi-Volume will-they-won't-they dance. For years we've had queer character appear for a few episodes only—the cute couple, the trans activist—before disappearing from the story because they're not important enough to make a core part of the tale. The fact that we have Blake/Yang now doesn't erase those feelings leading up to their canonization.

Now here we are again. "How can you be unhappy with the nonbinary rep?" someone might ask in a few years time, if RWBY continues and we've gotten another cute, minor, short-lived character who uses they/them pronouns. Well, it's because in 2023 everyone was waiting to see if the show would even return and in that uncertainty all we had for rep were two literal animals who were horrifically killed by the story and then left behind, one a full-fledged villain whose death we're meant to celebrate. I'm all for a diversity of representation—I'm by no means saying all your queer characters have to be heroes, or even decent people. I love me a queer villain—but when that's all you've currently got in a show that's struggled both with its rep on screen and its treatment of queer employees... it doesn't feel great.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[bumblingest-bee]

hi i’m sorry what the FUCK is the mermaid hamilton rpf what hello

oh my GOD where do i start. this whole incident is my roman empire. i think about it constantly. now the thing is the mermaid rpf isn't even the biggest part of the drama. the big thing was the hivliving scandal. so buckle up and keep your arms inside the vehicle at all times bc this is going to be a ride.

back in like 2016 when the hamilton fandom was at its peak, there was a popular fanfiction author in the fandom named israa. she was kind of known for harassing other people in the fandom and being annoying and self-righteous, but she was mostly known for having written a fic called "to scale the blue sky," which was (and im so sorry you have to read these words) a high school au fic set in the 1980s in which alexander hamilton contracts hiv.

now you may be thinking "why did nobody point out that was deranged on so many levels?" well 1. because it was the hamilton fandom in 2016, and 2. because israa was an activist for hiv+ people and also ran a decently well-known blog called hivliving where she talked about her own experiences as a lesbian woman of color and sex trafficking survivor living with hiv in india.

here's the thing. israa was not actually any of those things. she was secretly a wealthy white teenage college student named alix who very much did not have hiv. she had made up at least two other fake identities (her alleged wife, and her co-mod of hivliving respectively) to basically dodge any criticism of the fact that she was WRITING FANFICTION ABOUT THE HIV CRISIS. oh yeah, and she was receiving donations from her followers to allegedly cover for medical expenses. this wasn't just insane fandom drama, she was literally scamming people out of money.

so NOW you might be wondering "wait, wasn't this meant to be about cannibal mermaid rpf?" well, that's where digoxin-purpurea comes in. they noticed that the money transfer service that "israa" was using to get donations didn't work in india, where israa/alix claimed to be living. from there they unraveled this whole web of lies and confronted alix in tumblr dms, who eventually broke down and admitted to everything (but not before trying to get out of it with more increasingly outlandish excuses). and then digoxin-purpurea, who could have been the hero of the whole story, ruined it by publicly doxxing alix and generally turning out to be kind of a dick.

so the cherry on top of this utterly batshit flaming garbage pile that somehow manages to perfectly encapsulate what being in the hamilton fandom was like in 2016? digoxin-purpurea then got exposed for having written fucking. cannibal mermaid rpf about the cast of hamilton. hence the reference i made in the tags of that other post. and now you have to live with this knowledge forever. im so sorry.

#ask #bee posts nonsense #fandom history #theatre #it has been SO long since this happened so i might have got some details wrong #god that was a time and i do not miss it one bit

[pansy-byke]

Who wants to see some neat stuff I found poking around the Bi Women Quarterly archives

"Bistory at the Lesbian Herstory Archives"

"I talked with Joan about the principles behind the LHA and her vision of its future. She said that the LHA is dedicated first and foremost to being a lesbian space.

When I asked her what she meant by "lesbian" she offered "any woman who has at some time in her life loved another woman" She also remarked that she would rather err on theside of inclusivity than be too exclusive, which explains the large collection of materials relevant to both lesbians and gay men(such as the Gay Community News), feminist materials, and a small but growing collection of materials on bisexuality. For Joan, the mission of the LHA is "to preserve the multiplicity of lesbian presentations." There is something of interest here for any woman who identifies herself as a dyke, a feminist, a mother, a butch or a femme, a prostitute, a worker in a traditional or a non-traditional occupation, a practitioner of S&M, a woman of color, a Jew, a witch, a teenager or an olderwoman, a closeted woman or an activist, a bisexual, an artist, and the list goes on. The sheer amount and variety of the stuff is testimony to the diversity of the lesbian experience and the vitality of lesbian communities"

A poem "Here I Am" by latina bi dyke Laura Perez

"we dream a world

which bridges the barriers,

i, this

bi-coastal, bisexual

dyke of color

have living proof

the distance is

not so great"

Here's the whole thing go check it out

I also found a bi femme and trans lesbian butch couple- and my freakin heart I wish them the most wonderful things wherever they ended up in life

"How I Learned to Love My Femme Self, Butch Dykes, and Transgender Warriors" by Liz Nania

"Laurie honored my bisexuality and I honored her proud trans butchness. We often felt like poster girls for Bi-Trans Unity. She stood up for me to her separatist-lesbian friends who were disapproving of her dating a bi woman; I stood up for her when I heard trans-phobic remarks- We both know bisexuals and transgendered people are truly natural allies and need to celebrate and further develop our bonds i the community"

And here's a lesbian identified bisexual talking about assumptions

"Dont Assume Anything" by Amy Wyeth.

"They say, "Don't Assume Anything" and "Question Au- thority." No one, including gays, bis and hetero- sexuals, should assume anything about someone's sexual preference based only on the way that person looks. Everyone should question the notions defined or perpetuated by those in positions of authority (e.g. the media, certain powerful icons/members of gay culture, and cer- tain dangerous bigots) as to what a lesbian or bisexual woman looks like. Not all of us feel we are well represented by such narrow definitions."

Just goes to show how timeless the bi witticism of Assume Nothing! really is. I highly recommend just perusing through the archives or even the current isues there's loads of interesting history

#just tossing stuff i did on twitter here so it doesn't get lost forever when it dies lol #bi history #queer history #lesbian history #bi women quarterly #butch femme #butch/femme #butch #femme #trans history #lesbian herstory archives #bi lesbian #bi dyke #bi femme

[coochiequeens]

Women in Germany are fighting back against gender id and creating women only spaces.

Aswith many feminist events nowadays, the 2022 Women’s Rights Conference in Berlin was held at a privately-booked location. I didn’t know beforehand who else was invited, except for the other members of the local collective. It was all extremely confidential. For obvious reasons, I can't give too many details, but in the end, one thing is clear: feminists in Germany are steadily building a brand new movement.

On a cloudy Friday afternoon in early December, I trudged along a stretch of damp sidewalk. Dusk was settling, and everything was cold. Suddenly, a taxi pulled up ahead. Bright red brake lights glowed in the evening mist. A pair of white-haired women left the cab with their bags and walked into a nearby driveway. It was then that I knew this was the place.

We said our hellos in the main hall where the air was warm and dry. Then a friend at the front desk greeted us in two languages; she’d volunteered to translate from German to English for the entire weekend. She gave us name tags, room keys, and instructions on when and where to meet later for dinner. Organizers busily shuffled supplies to different rooms and hung colorful posters on the wall in preparation of the next days’ workshops. Soon the hall was filled with surprised and joyous reunions. Not much later, the final women arrived, and we all enjoyed our first hot meal together.

That night, the organizing team officially welcomed us all to the conference. We were 60 women, aged 23 to 85, and mostly German-speaking. I was huddled around a translator with two Turkish feminists, one Swedish feminist, and the English feminist Julia Long. Women from Germany's Feminist Party (Die Feministische Partei) were present, along with a member of the German Green Party (Die Grünen), plus many founding members of the first Lesbian Action Center (Lesbisches Aktion Zentrum) in West Berlin. A few of the Flying Lesbianswere there, too!

Here were the women who had built women-only bars and bookshops in Germany in the time of the second wave. They’d translated whole libraries of feminist texts from English and French. Some of them even smuggled those texts and their own magazines into East Berlin when the wall still stood. Here, too, were the young women who survived medical transition, who defied modern misogyny and chose to come home to themselves.

"Here were the women who had built women-only bars and bookshops in Germany in the time of the second wave."

In their welcoming speeches, four organizers gave their thanks to the fifth – or rather, the first: Monne Kühn. Over months of meetings and late-night phone calls, it was Monne's driving force keeping the team focused and alert. “Look, I'm going to do this,” she'd said bluntly in June, “and if you want to help, you can.” One look around the room, and it was clear their hard work was worth the fuss. Monne then invited women in the audience to stand when she named their organizations, to rounds of applause.

Then the oldest woman was invited to speak. She was born before World War II. As a child, she survived the Nazi regime. Through the Cold War, she witnessed Germany’s occupation and division. She watched the wall go up in Berlin, and three decades later, she saw it come down. With a calm fury, she told the crowd that she never expected - in her long lifetime - to see the insidious misogyny we are seeing today. And she's seen some things. She rejected the dehumanization of women as mere “uterus bearers,” joking that “menstruator” doesn’t even apply to her anymore. Finally, she urged women to take action against Germany's planned self-ID law, which threatens the autonomy of all women and girls across the country.

The next day began with Julia Long illustrating the importance of language in this fight. She challenged us to recognize the tricks that wordplay pulls on our perceptions. Namely, calling a wristwatch a “trans-table” doesn’t mean you can then serve dinner on it. After her presentation, we formed groups to discuss the effects of language on our sex-based rights. We later reconvened and shared the observations and concepts developed by each group. This plenary was followed by a delicious lunch, and then speeches from international speakers.

Feminists from Sweden, Scotland, France, the UK, and Germany took the floor. They shared the latest news about self-ID from their respective countries, governments, and feminist movements. We then brought their ideas into new discussion groups focused on building German-specific strategies. What actions can we take in public? How can we affect legislation? Where should we exercise our free speech rights? One group encouraged monthly demonstrations and public discussions. Another group suggested taking action with joy, for this creates feminist magnetism.

After such a jam-packed Saturday, we embraced the evening with champagne and lively conversation. One of the organizers welcomed us into a dimly lit room for a performance of spoken word poetry. Then our very own DJane helped us find our groove with a late night disco. Before going to bed, I visited the film crew, who’d asked for volunteers to give their impressions of the gathering so far. I met Julia Long in the hallway, and we started chatting about incredible and inspirational women we’d met at different events over the years. We agreed that this German feminist conference, with all its action-oriented workshops and discussions between like-minded women, was simply exhilarating to witness.

Sunday began with lots and lots of coffee. With my second cup, I began to wonder: just how many women did the organizers and attendees inspire over the years? With their lifetimes of feminist work, how many women’s lives did they touch? How many more women will benefit because of this very conference?

After breakfast, the final groups presented their strategic ideas and announced that several women had already taken responsibility for initiating specific projects and actions. Then everyone in attendance agreed to unanimously sign a resolution in support of the FrauenAktionsBündnis Appel, a call to action by over 25 women’s groups across the country to oppose the erasure of sex in policy and legislation.

I hope this record of a lovely feminist weekend inspires other women elsewhere to join together. Let each of our gatherings serve as markers on the road to liberation. When we look back, we can see just how long and far we’ve traveled. But sometimes along this road, we happen to be traveling in excellent company. As we march on, let this testament stand: our collective power, when channeled together, can ignite great flames of resistance.

4W provides a platform for over 70 feminist writers in countries spanning the globe. This work is made possible thanks to our paid monthly subscribers. Join today to support our work!

#Berlin #Germany #2022 Women’s Rights Conference #Germany's Feminist Party (Die Feministische Partei) #German Green Party (Die Grünen) #Lesbian Action Center (Lesbisches Aktion Zentrum) #Flying Lesbians #FrauenAktionsBündnis Appel

[angelosearch]

Favorite's meme!

I've been tagged by @cynic-view-ahead and so I must!!

I am really bad at picking favorites so the addendum to all of this is that these are my favorites as of right now, all time favorites is a whole different ball game.

Favorite painter: I actually don't know many painters by name, but I do really like Jane Wilson. Her impressionist landscapes are so beautiful, atmospheric, airy, sometimes haunting. But also, I love that she is an American woman doing big landscapes because the wall-sized landscape paintings in the US have always been dominated by men and she subverts that.

Favorite poet/writer: This is such a big question but I'm just going to say Tamsyn Muir and be done with it. I love The Locked Tomb Series! If I was going to try and describe the series I would say... a murder mystery in a post-apocalyptic society involving swashbuckling Necromancer lesbians... in space.

Favorite band: Hmmm, even just narrowing this one to right now only is hard! I've been listening to The Last Dinner Party, Mother Mother, and Cavetown on repeat lately. I am seeing Cold War Kids on Wednesday and The Rocket Summer (I went SUPER HARD for this band in high school) on the 17th. ABBA and Death Cab for Cutie are on permanent rotation!!

Bonus: A fictional band that will be featured in an upcoming chapter of Chaos Theory - Wimbly Donner and the Soldiers. There's three sentences about this band in my fic and I have two pages of headcanon about them.

Favorite meal & drink: I am very mood/situation dependent on my food choices. I am not picky in the sense that there's food I won't eat, but the vibe has to right for every meal. There is only one thing I can eat under any circumstance or time of day and back-to-back and that is a huge bowl of popcorn. Specifically, popcorn stovetop-popped using canola oil and white kernels. I top it only with salt. It was the first thing I could cook for myself and the only thing I could have for dinner for a while so my brain has just adapted to crave it 24/7. I like it warm, burnt, even stale. My favorite drink to pair it with is a smooth iced Americano. That sounds weird but the bitterness of the coffee highlights the sweet and saltiness of the popcorn!

Favorite outfit aesthetic/style: My favorite outfit is my causal Squall outfit (the Squoutfit)! But my style usually consists of bright colors, sequins/shiny things (Cher-core), busy patterns, and tons of accessories. I like playing with layering and trying to make myself look taller. I am a bigger person who is not always on good terms with my body but ironically I really like wearing crop tops. I just can't expose my biceps.

Favorite singer: Today it is Xana. I am OBSESSED with the song "Better Kind of Best Friend." Normally I do not listen to songs on a constant repeat but I'm probably pushing on listening to this one 30 times in the last 12 hours.

Favorite item you own: You mean other than my copy of Final Fantasy VIII? Hmm, it's a tough one. I just got a hot dog bookmark. And someone else gave me a glasses-cleaning cloth that looks like a hot dog. And then there is my hot dog sculpture. Probably one of those perfectly normal things to own.

Favorite perfume: I don't really do perfume these days because my husband is allergic but I have this mint and cinnamon soap that I absolutely adore. When it comes to fragrances, I generally like notes of lemon balm, flowers, cedar wood, rosemary, or vanilla, but I am very picky about how these scents are presented.

Tagging people I didn't get in my other tag game this evening: @gardengalwrites @redfoxline @sevlinop @thewillroar @mathiwrites

#tag game #favorites

[kdinjenzen]

Imma be real with you, chief, I've never heard of Fiona Thyme before you posted your ask (actually, I forgot she existed, it's been ages since I've watched RWBY, but I digress) But I also feel like you're using intra-community examples of "This is why my point has more weight to it" when the community itself is relatively small (at least compared to other fandoms)

Am I saying that trans people in shows/media of any sorts get less recognition? No, not at all. (Hell, I was on the "Marco is Trans" bus when THAT ship first sailed. Which was. A ride.) But If you say "A small amount of people in this small fandom are the only ones who draw this character :/" and compare them to someone with a more popular character (not that you have) in a more popular fandom, then, like I said, I feel like you're being a bit disingenuous, or at the very least maybe being a bit presumptive, is all

Call me naïve, call me hopeful, call me whatever you want, but I do feel as if there's more to it than that

I give you an example of a show that has a canon trans character who has multiple scenes of plot importance, I tell you how she was treated by the “community that watches that show as a whole” in comparison to another character with less screen time who is cis.

And then you bring up expecting proper (or any) trans rep from Disney. A company that has actively cancelled shows that attempted to have gay or lesbian relationships. By citing a headcanon from the fandom that was stomped on my Disney as if it was a small bug.

I’m just going to say this: I’m a real trans woman who has spent her entire working life in the entertainment industry, I’ve been treated like absolute garbage by people who love to cheer about “support the gay folks” online a lot, I’ve been harassed, threatened, sexually and physically assaulted, and talked over and pushed down by so many people.

So let me put it bluntly.

If I’m wrong about this.

Why do we not see more art of trans women? Of trans people in general? Of people of color? And why don’t we see almost any that allows them to be viewed as beautiful? Or handsome? Or to be admired?

Because, comparatively, we see almost none at all.

I’m not drawing conclusions based on circumstantial evidence from -one situation-, I’m telling you that these spaces that claim to be inclusive and inviting… aren’t, and the proof is right in front of you and everyone else and it’s as obvious as the Sun at noon.

Because here’s the funny part… I brought up May as a -secondary point- in that post. A post that has existed for months. And May was all that was focused on to -disprove- my cry for one simple thing:

Trans characters, and poc characters, getting the same level of “this character is beautiful” art that their cishet white counterparts get.

Because people who resemble those characters deserve to feel like they are beautiful, because they ARE beautiful.

And yet… here we are.

[blood-and-poetry]

Hot take I'm seeing quite a few posts confused over why Deadloch isn't trending or much more popular on tumblr because "tumblr is so gay and so feminist". And I am sorry to say this but tumblr isn't the "lesbian website" or the "feminist website". Tumblr loves men just as much as the rest of society does, its user base just loves them in a very online way which makes it look a bit different at times. It has always been this way, starting with shipping every two white dudes in close proximity to each other, over worshipping old male Hollywood actors to downright MRA and anti-feminist talking points in the recent past in "progressive leftist" spaces on here. All done in very uwu political correct tumblr speak of course.

And it's really that simple. Media with two (often times white) guys standing close to each other will always be more popular on here than anything women- or lesbian centric, no matter how many theoretical tumblr approval boxes said media ticks. There is a reason why lesbian shows get canceled left and right. Even if lesbian shows are trending for one or two days there is just no genuine interest from a majority of people (on tumblr and anywhere else). Men overall are rarely interested if it isn't made with the male gaze in mind or focusses on men, straight women aren't interested, even many bi women (don't come at me I am bi) aren't interested because they don't see other women (and often times themselves) as complete and potentially interesting people/characters (how often I've seen women on here saying something along the lines of "my favourite characters are all men but it's just because these characters are so good! Pure coincidence. I would definitely love a female character but I just have never found one I am that obsessed with. Not my fault, they are all written in a bad/boring way").

Doesn't matter how often the word "queer" is thrown around here, all of this has always been the same and it won't change. Which is.. fine? I have never expected it to be something else. A website that isn't specifically designed for lesbians but only attracts lesbians would be magical. But a website thats designed for nerdy people and especially women of that kind will attract.. nerdy people/women. Consisting of the same groups of people that exist in real life, including lots of women attracted to men. I have my little bubble here in which I mainly see lesbian content but the things on my dashboard rarely reflect what's trending or the content of popular posts.

I am not bitter about this because it has never been different (here or anywhere else) but I am surprised that people are still thinking that this website would worship a lesbian-lead and female-centric show when it would be entirely out of character for tumblr as a whole to do so. I mean maybe this is all about the show being australian. Maybe people don't like Australia. I also get that crime shows aren't THAT popular either but I guarantee you, if Dulcie and Eddie were dudes this show would be trending so hard.

Deadloch is a fantastic show. It looks amazing, has fantastic humor, the drama is great, the plot is great, there is a good message behind everything and the show also sprinkles in some of tumblrs top ten greatest political correct catch phrases. The main two characters are played by lesbians, another actress from the main cast is bisexual. One of the main characters is a lesbian and there are several other lesbian characters in the show. The other main character is a woman of color (who SHOULD be same sex attracted but sadly seemingly is not which makes me cry). Almost all important characters are women. Amazingly written by the way. There are plenty of women of color, indigenous women especially, playing important roles. All female characters are complex and nuanced people and their suffering isn't used for shock value or to push forward the plot. The two main female characters are both over 40 years old! What the show doesn't have is the same two decent looking men standing in close proximity to each other. And there really isn't any arguing against my little rant here because the only thing I accept as proving me wrong is a lot of people watching Deadloch or overall more women centric and lesbian centric stuff :) Thank you :)

#mp

[sailorblossoms]

Not to be a downer, I'm minding my business when the recommended posts in tumblr dot com shows me this stuff (this is a vent blog) (sort of) but seeing Simon being paired with Alex from RWRB as fellow bisexuals instantly activates my fight or flight instinct. I get wanting representation, but... you have an explicitly bisexual character who goes through an arc to embrace that identity, you have him explicitly telling you, directly and indirectly, that he has had Bisexual Feelings and so this label fits him best, and then you have Simon Snow. A character whose instinct is to be put off by being considered bi, who upon serious consideration of what bisexuality means, gives valid reasons to say no. Can't speak for everyone but as a bi person this... kinda annoys me (his reaction alone is enough for me to never want to call him bi again haha)

I've said this before with more words and more politely than this, but what gets me is that reading Simon as bi requires you to straight up ignore (or miss) half of what he tells you. Not one to be against multiple readings and interpretations, but this right here requires missing or ignoring context and words and timing and comparisons and the way entire scenes are constructed. To a certain extent I can kinda see how a casual reader might read CO alone and assume (emphasis on assume) Simon must've liked Agatha like that at the beginning (romantically, sexually) if he even dated her in the first place, but after reading the whole trilogy? (I also don't think these books are fully appreciated if you read them casually, I get new things with each new read! but I understand some of us prefer to be normal about media. Not me though!). After spending so much time thinking about Simon and Agatha and all the things they communicate and the ways they say it (easy examples: they both choose the most unromantic, uncomfortable and/or mechanical, and sometimes honestly kinda gross ways to describe physical closeness to each other, like "spit that tastes different from your own" as the only thing it's said about kissing, or "sweat that makes skin stick all together and dampen t-shirts" instead of saying they were ~embracing each other~ or some shit. It's dry and undesirable – nothing romantic or sexual is coloring these descriptions, and they are different from, for example, Simon thinking Baz smells bad but "wild horses couldn't drag him away from him," or Baz thinking that Simon's morning breath stinks but he doesn't mind because it's Simon).

I used to not mind bi Simon headcanons, but nowadays it simply activates my fight or flight, because I can no longer help but see bi Simon as synonymous with the belief that he was sexually attracted to Agatha, and that to me is a "yikes," a "fuck no" and perhaps even a "what are we even doing here, this was addressed, we can read." Again, I can only speak for myself: anything involving those two to say "bisexuality" is simply a no from me. I don't want these, thank you. (Although I have never seen Agatha being hc as bi, she's always either in the ace spectrum or a lesbian, and to those I raise: these characters are mirrors). The other examples of just missing or ignoring half of what Simon says: the ren faire. Simon says he's "not mad about seeing cleavage" and that has been used to say dude is a woman liker. But that ignores how he says just in the previous sentence, while looking at boobs "I still haven't figured out what my deal is, but is in this moment, while I'm looking at boobs, that I consider that if I was ever attracted to women, those days might be over. [Still looking at boobs] perhaps I never liked women in the first place, perhaps I'm a Baz-sexual, which means I'm considering in this moment, while I'm [I cannot stress this enough] still looking at boobs, that I might only experience sexual attraction towards Baz." Call me crazy, but as a boobie-liker, the idea of a dude looking at boobs and thinking about how "perhaps he's no longer or maybe never was into women in the first place, maybe he's just into this one guy" is not the thought process of someone who's actually into boobs. I actually wrote a post about the ways boobs are portrayed in the ren faire somewhere, and Simon spends the whole time not noticing boobs that are in his fucking face, with writing choices like him going a little green at the same time that boobs are almost in contact with his person, and how he is thinking this with boobs that he sees at a comfortable distance. He's cool with cleavage, but he's not interested like that, especially because he never fucking notices outside of this particular place where is impossible not to, and even then he doesn't even notice when they're in his face! (Compare that with how Baz showing chest goes with "good enough to eat" which is indicative of wanting to do something about it, of a reaction linked to hunger). Or how, and I've said this many times, his "inanimate objects are attracted to Agatha" is some good ol' overcompensation, it comes in a moment where he's bullshitting (he tells Baz he doesn't like him; he was thinking just how much he likes him like 20 minutes or so before this conversation) to avoid processing, and how he's telling on his ass by using things that do not experience emotions or have the ability to choose in this example (the was no processing or feelings with Agatha)

In short: good ol' Simon is not bi, and saying the girl is cute or that he's cool with cleavage doesn't really contradict that. A gay person could say that. Baz notices beautiful and gorgeous girls, and it doesn't mean shit other than he has eyes. (I'm not accusing anyone of this, and I haven't seen anything that gives me this impression, but thinking about it, I also kinda resent the implication that being cool with women showing skin can only mean horniness. Surely we can be cool with showing skin regardless of whether or not we want to fuck) Fandom spaces putting Simon in "bi characters" lists is... whatever I guess, but since he's canonically unlabeled, honestly? it can be a disservice to the series. Recommending this as "has a bi character as the main" is misleading! You're setting this up for people walking away from it pissed! I've actually seen people tearing this appart because they are approaching it with certain expectations (and maybe also just not really paying attention to details) instead of engaging with it on its own terms. I mean, imagine being recommended something or being led to believe "it has bi rep" and then when the word actually comes up the character is like "whaaaa? hell no, take it away!" Probably wouldn't react too positively to that one, would you

#simon snow #simon snow trilogy #carry on #awtwb

[straightfromthetorturedpoetsdept]

I'm obsessed with the fact that she sampled king of my heart for maroon. First of all, let's talk about how fucking optimistic of a move that is because maroon is depressing as shit.

Like. Okay. Maroon is about Karlie Kloss, we all know that by now. Let's talk about the themes that keep showing up in Taylor's work as a result of that relationships lessons and her current one with Joe.

Like, king of my heart is about Joe alwyn. I can't see any gaylor connection to it besides reading the line "cause all the boys with their expensive cars" as a lesbian confession of comphet but that's a reach and a half. I don't think this line necessarily means anything other than all the other men I've dated were very rich and famous and that clouded their morals but you're not famous/rich and you make me feel real. Like, there is a heterosexual explanation for this line and I think the heterosexual explanation is more in line with the rest of reputation and her relationship with Joe than anything else.

Midnights is an interesting album because while I do think it's very Joe centric, it does unravel a healthy dose of gay trauma especially in the context of the Karlie relationship. For example, Labyrinth is about falling in love after losing Karlie see lines like "you know how much I hate that everybody expects me to bounce back, just like that" in context with "it hits different this time, because it's you," as well as "I'll be getting over you my whole life."

I think the choice of using maroon as the color of choice to describe their relationship, in contrast with calling the relationship with Jake a basic red is very very intriguing. First of all, I am living for the Jake slander and especially comparing him to a woman in which he has lost the competition. Like, im pretty sure Jake is a sexist pig and it makes me happy that in the taylor cinematic universe taylor gave the complex red shade and meaning to a woman over him. Because yes, the relationship with Jake was painful but that's because he was being an abusive groomer not because they were equals in love.

Karlie and Taylor, though, they were in love once upon a time. They were equals, and they were friends and their love was deeper because of it. It was a heartbreak unlike anything taylor had ever felt because she had always picked a safe male option or she was being groomed and manipulated by older men, and she was unprepared for how deeply being betrayed by a WOMAN would feel like. 💔 anyways, maroon is a devastating song but using king of my heart is such an interesting sample choice.

Like, obviously, you can take it to mean that I'm wrong about king of my heart being about Joe alwyn but I dont think that's the case here. I think the reason she sampled king of my heart is because she did move on from that hurt, she did learn to cope with the trauma of that relationship and she is so much happier than she ever was in that relationship with Karlie. Not only because of the betrayal but let's not act like Karlie doesn't also have an ED and they weren't feeding into each other's bad habits while they were dating. Taylor was her skinniest in that relationship, for a reason, and that reason being Karlie made her ED worse. For so many reasons, Taylor is reflecting back on that love she thought was going to be the one golden thing in her life as just another burnmark left by a fire red love but ultimately being okay with that, because it led her to the best relationship she's ever had and the most pure one as well.

That's why King of my heart is sampled, because she was able to move on from the devastation that permeates maroon and she WAS able to love again. She knows now, no matter what happens, she is strong enough to lose anyone and anything. She is enough. She doesn't need anyone else to make her whole anymore, Joe never saved her. He just loved her in all the bad lights and good lights of who she is, he saw her as moonstone the first time they met and he's made her feel like that every single day ever since and that's just so fucking beautiful. I'm amazed at her brilliance and her mind. I love that she's made all these different connections that just spell out life lessons for her readers.

I love maroon so much, I love midnights so much.

#taylor swift #midnights #maroon #gaylor #personal #kaylor