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bemtevis · 3 years

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Cassandra Clare's LGBTQ+ Rep

I'm here, I'm queer and I am angry. I'm also: not the LGBTQ+ community's spokesperson, and people are going to have different experiences with different characters. I'm just here to talk about mine.

Bisexuality:

We are often seen as flirty and even promiscuous people. Of course there's nothing wrong with being those things, but it's different when a straight author portrays most of her character like that.

• Matthew Fairchild (TLH), who's seen making out with both men and women by James.

• Magnus Bane (TMI), who flirts with everyone, including his love interest who was a 17 year old at the time.

• Mark Blackthorn (TDA) is safe, I'd say. My only problem with him is that his relationship with Kieran and Cristina is called a “hot faerie threesome”, since people like to see polyamory as promiscuous, but I'm not poly and that's not what we're talking about.

• Even Helen Blackthorn (TMI) and Kieran Kingson (TDA) are mentioned to have that kind of reputation. Hers in TEC, his by Mark in their short story, iirc.

Acespec:

People in the acespec (and in the aspec in general) are usually seen as two things: 1. childish and 2. emotionless.

• Julian Blackthorn (TDA) is demisexual. Many times, he's described as cold and ruthless, and while that might make sense with his character and backstory, there were many other characters that could've been in the acespec if not him.

• Raphael Santiago (TMI) is aroace. It's the same problem with Julian: he does care about his friends and all, but he's still portrayed as emotionless and cold. Also he dies, so there's that. I guess if you can't have a romantic plotline, you're not relevant enough.

• This is less about the author and more about the fandom. Grace Blackthorn and Christopher Lightwood (TLH) are two characters I've seen headcanoned as aro/ace– I don't think with him that would be a problem if many of those people also didn't like to infantilize him. Grace is a more complicated topic, and since I'm not aro I'll not be touching on.

Genderqueer:

Ok, it's important to notice that I'm still questioning, but from the little I know of my identity, I'm not happy with CC's rep either.

• Diana Wrayburn (TDA) is a trans woman. She's sidelined, cast aside, and most of her role is to be the protagonists' mentor. No, that's literally her role. She does have a storyline for herself though, so I can't complain about that. I'm also not a (binary) trans woman, so anyone feel free to correct me.

• Anna Lightwood (TLH) is a lesbian non-binary woman. She's a heartbreaker (read: she treats women like shit and canonically objectifies them), and CC's view of wlw as predators is really showing. We're still supposed to believe she's a queen of feminism, I guess.

WLW:

This is more of a complain on how CC sidelines her wlw couples but gives her straight couples way more page time and fetishizes mlm, but that's not what we're talking about.

• Aline Penhallow and Helen (TMI) show up in like,, three chapters in their main saga before being exiled.

• Ariadne Bridgestock (TLH) who spends the majority of the first book in a coma, so her love interest can cry some white tears I guess. Also she's pretty much villanized for protecting herself, and now has to crawl to win her white love interest's affection.

• Ariadne and Anna (TLH) have little to no pagetime. CC seems eager to mention that they ~are gonna make out in a closet~ which after that snippet was leaked, just seems like a desperate atempt to not seem lesbophobic. Also everything I've mentioned above, in their individual parts.

I can't really think of anything else, so anyone feel free to add anything if you want to.

#luna has opinions #anti cc #anti cassandra clare #long post #negativity tag #just breathe anna

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i-did · 3 years

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hi hello i couldn't sleep last night so i was scrolling thru all ur asks and stuff and ur opinions and analyses are so interesting!!! and then afterwards i was thinking about what u were saying about mlm smut and i'd also been thinking about such things a little bit recently bc like.....at a certain point it becomes quite clear that the vast majority of smut-writing is just imitation. like there's the sex noise verb list and all and the whole general mechanics of the sex and those things just .... replicate over and over. and the whole thing w people writing mlm vs wlw smut regardless of their own sexual orientation..... like i feel like a big part of that is just a self-perpetuating thing. like if u have not had sex and u r getting all ur (pleasure-related) sex ed from fandom (even if u do watch porn, that doesn't rlly tell u how to describe stuff? idk) regardless of What fandom , the majority is going to be mlm smut. which is itself majority imitation of other mlm smut, imitating and imitating back to whoever knows what the first smut fanfic was etc. there's just way More to mimic than there is on the women side of things. which then becomes a self-perpetuating thing, bc the mimicry continues and generates more and more. and---if there are fundamental misunderstandings of anatomy involved---those self-perpetuate as well. and maybe even exaggerate. and yeah. does this all make sense? idk i was just thinking about it. like all the stereotypes and stuff continue bc writers are getting their inspo from other writers rather than their own brains. or something. idk!!!!! it's just all... divorced from reality? bc words. or something!! i hope u get what i'm trying to say. just thoughts i've been thinking. anyway i think ur thoughts are cool. and ur writing. ok bye have a good day!!

Okay yeah this is kinda messy but hope u see this, uhh yeah I think you're right about the echo chamber effect fr about stuff. I think it's a mix of projecting too sometimes. talk more under the cut and also link to a video essay since I love video essays.

Here’s a video that sort of touches on this topic:

“Gay fanfiction” by Sarah Z. (has CC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8E_C00dKwI

This video begins to talk about fetishization at the end, but also… not really. The words “gay fanfiction” is used as a catchall, when really gay fanfiction is largely mlm written by non-mlm.

Fandom is a largely women's space dominated by the female gaze in a media industry world that is dominated by men and the male gaze. I'm really glad women have this space to explore creativity and queerness, and I don't expect the female gaze to go away, but I am still ultimately bummed out I can’t read most fanfic or interact with most fandom spaces without having fetishization in my face.

So about 80% of fandom is women, and most of those women aren't straight, but 90% of those women prefer mlm ships. Why don’t they prefer wlw ships? Well definitely part of it is the fact that queerbaiting is centered around white straight men, and then there is also the fact that women tend not to be written as well charcter wise. But the fact still remains that you get jerjean getting priority over Layla and Alvarez who are in canon just as much and are a canon wlw couple who actually interact as well as Alvarez could likely be a woc because of her Hispanic last name. Korasami doesn’t get nearly as much hype as zuko and saka, despite the fact that they are 2 fully dimensional characters who canonly kiss and hold hands, something the creators fought for and ended up having to sacrifice another reboot for.

I do believe the fandom echo-chamber is largely responsible for… a lot of things, like you're saying. But what's interesting is that the complaints I've heard about visual porn from non mlm in the fandom space is that they can’t get off to it because its for the male gaze and misogynistic usually. But they also don't seem to notice how the mlm smut circles has the female gaze and is also… almost always mlm. If it was a pure anatomical not knowing thing, I get that, but I also think that leads to the question of “then why the male body for porn, and not your own? The one you know and are familiar with?”

I know some people want to get outside of their own body for porn and don’t want to think of their own anatomy at all, but overall I'm still uncomfortable. If an anglo said “well I watch porn of only Mexicans so I don't self insert” I'm gonna be like … hhhh in a similar way. I understand people “like what they like” but I wish they also noticed said patterns in the first place. I understand the t4t tumblr porn circle, and how it's different from cis people who only watch trans porn.

I actually wished that instead of fandom focusing on mlm ships where some asshole guy hits on bottom troupe charcter for top troupe character to save, was instead… a wlw character experiencing said shitty getting hit on and other wlw swooping in. what's interesting is fandom writes a lot about misogynistic experiences without often realizing it. Ive read fanfic where guys get called sluts for sleeping with people or called bitch for speaking their mind, these arent things men usually experience, but rather women. Fandom has a lot of internalized misogyny and also queerphobia imo. Women characters often get pushed to the sidelines and men become the canvas for female fans to project onto.

There is this natural inclination to mlm. When people are talking about “gay shipping” or “gay books” or “gay feels” or even just “gay” mlm is what’s largely in mind. I honestly am kinda saddened by this because if gay fanfiction was really solely about writing more to feel represented, then you would see a lot of bi and ace and lesbian rep, but this isn't the case. Queer women are seriously underrepresented, and I want to hear their stories and read them in fanfiction as well as published. 50% of lgbt literature is mlm, and of that its largely written by women. Becky Albertalli, Rainbow Rowell, Maggie Stiefvater, are the YA big names and are all women writing mlm. Red white and royal blue is written by Casey McQuiston and Captive prince (which is not YA) is written by C. S. Pacat, who is non-binary, but is also TME and not mlm. These are all the big names in mlm lit, behind them is some gay men, but honestly their stories aren't preferred, they're not the right “flavor” for the consumers usually, who are largely women. In general YA consumers and authors are women, but I wish that they… just wrote about women too. I think there is a certain… snowball effect to the overrepresentation of mlm representing the whole LGBT community that leads to fetishization, as well as misogyny playing a factor in: less women characters being written well to write fanfic on, when they are written well they're taken less seriously or the audience struggles to relate to them, they're less marketable then men.

Idk I never feel “seen” or “represented” by any of the books above, which don't address boyhood and manhood and queerness intersecting really, and AFTG doesn’t either. I relate to AFTG as a trauma victim who has experienced a lot of what many of the characters go through and have gone through in the EC as well as them just overall being very well written characters, but I don't relate to it as a mlm really. I've never seen like.. gay voice or being straight passing or femphobia or how boyhood can be affected from a young age by those around you sensing you're ‘other’ or if you didn't experience this you feel outside the mlm community. Let alone sub cultures like bear and leather and pup, at most you see the word “he's such a twink” in fandom which... i fr hate non mlm using that word because it's usually used to replace the f-slur essentially, used derogatorily or to call him “such a bottom” and stuff like that. It’s like a joke or an insult.

Long story short, idk mang this was a ramble and I think I'm coning down with something. I wanna see more queer women rep and women authors writing about being a queer woman too. I think it's a complex web of fetishization and a bit of forbidden love yaoi culture (or it used to be in the BOYXBOY days) as well as misogyny on an industry level, creator level, as well as reader/consumer and fandom level. I don’t think it’s inherently wrong to explore other peoples stories and what we read has to be segregated, “only mlm are allowed to read and write mlm, only wlw are allowed to read and write wlw,” but I also think author’s intent and audience and background is telling, as well as overall statistics. Like about an hour ago I was looking for cookbooks in spanish or in english, and I was looking for some mexican food cook books, but I had to look for them using words in spanish because otherwise what came up was a bunch of “fiesta party, easy as uno dos tres authentic cooking!” and I was like… hm. Since I could tell they were marketing to anglos. (also the author’s last names were like michelle smith, james cooper, and this could be for a variety of reasons, but I trust Hispanic names more tbh and deadass would look at the authors pictures and if they had other books in Spanish or what their specialties were.)

anyways. not sure how to end this. uhm if anyone has any book recs (my to read list is like 500 books tho no joke) preferably not YA white mlm written by a white lady, hopefully queer women written by queer woman, LMK, I need more wlw and queer women stories on my list. I have a decent amount but always looking for more. I kinda wanna link my goodreads or my storygraph but I also don't want to get doxxed and it has my legal name on it so.

Also, I'm dyslexic and using spell check but if there's like some wild typos my b.

#ask #fandom politics #fandom culture #fandom psychology #mailob

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milarebloom · 3 years

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Happy Ace Week!

Iniciating my blog diary during Ace Week felt right to me, since one of the main reasons why I decided to create it was to talk about my ace experiences.

I found out about my asexuality almost 3 years ago and I love how much I've learned about the spectrum and myself during this time.

Remember ou are valid no matter what people say, aphobes, gatekeepers or whatever. The only one who knows what you're feeling and can tell if you belong in the community or if you are in fact ace is yourself and if you consider yourself part of it and no one can say otherwise.

You're not broken, you're not missing out on anything, you don't need to be "fixed" by the right person, and you're not less loved (considering any type of love here). You're amazing and a wonderful person!

If you don't use split attraction model, you're valid

If you're aroace, you're valid

If you're aceallo, you're valid

If you're demiace, you're valid

If you're greyace, you're valid

If you're m-spec ace, you're valid

If you're trans ace, you're valid

If you're non-binary ace, you're valid

If you're mlm ace, you're valid

If you're wlw ace, you're valid

If you're het ace, you're valid

If you're oriented aroace, you're valid

If you're aceflux, you're valid

If you're somewhere on the acespec and rather not use the term asexual, you're valid

If you're quoisexual, you're valid

If you're abrosexual, you're valid

If you feel tertiary attraction, you're valid

If you're aegosexual, you're valid

If you're freysexual, you're valid

If you're cupiosexual, you're valid

If you're akoisexual, you're valid

If you're in the closet, you're valid

If you're questioning, you're valid

and there's so much more in this gigantic spectrum who are also super valid. I just love so much all the possibilities and different people that this spectrum embraces, all the divergent people and experiences, it's incredible!

#ace week #ace positivity #asexual #ace #ace pride #asexual week #ace allo #allo ace #aroace #aspec #acespec #ace spectrum #aceflux #asexual spectrum #gray asexual #ace spec #ace visibility #asexuality #ace visibility week

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radiosandrecordings · 3 years

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Do you ever see a character in fandom that's basically fanonly considered to be your identity and feel bad for not having that same headcanon? I feel like I'm supposed to agree since that's my label and it's the fandom designated character for my identity so I'm supposed to relate to them for some reason and people would be mad I don't share the headcanon. I'm not sure if I made any sense sorry.

Well addressing the question genuinely, no, I've never had that. Because bi/pan, ace, non-binary is a bit of a wordy combination (ESPECIALLY if you put grayromantic in) so I've never seen it represented before stumbling across TMA, falling in love with it, and watching as it turns out my new favourite character is coincidentally 2/3 of that canon and the other 1/3 common HC, and then occasionally seeing the 4th crop up (Charlie's art my beloved)

Non-literally, I think I understand what you mean in that you didn't have those immediate thoughts about the character and prefer what conclusion you actually came to from the text itself? I wouldn't say they're majority HCs but I don't like biromantic bisexual Sasha (I see her aro bisexual), I don't like gay Jonah because that's the antithesis of his character to me, and I don't like trans Tim... not even for any reason I just don't vibe with it for some reason but it's whatever.

I don't want to invalidate that you feel weird about not agreeing that a character has your identity, but I do feel like you're over-thinking it a little? You obviously wouldn't have bigoted roots in not agreeing, it's your own identity you're talking about, but forming your own ideas aside of the text fandom aside is part of critical thinking and a good thing, so as long as you're not like, saying Jon isn't Some Form Of M-Spec and ace, Martin isn't mlm, Melanie wlw and Georgie m-spec and Tim is bisexual then it's whatever! I doubt people would give you shit for it but if you do, you're the one in the right because popular HC isn't something you need to incorporate just because it's common.

And about the "supposed to relate to them for some reason" part, I think the only place you'd have to worry about that is if you're prioritising fan content over the actual canon where this extra non-canonical detail is being added in, so if you don't relate to them in the actual text then you just... Don't and you don't have to try and shoehorn "But if I look at it THIS WAY-" in if you don't want to! I didn't see non-binary Jon when I first listened but as other people started to add fuel to it I've grown to love it, and while I don't necessarily see it in canon it's a fun space to play in as a fan thing and less a thing I can actually SEE in canon, but I have really enjoyed the small amount of "critically examining Jon as non-binary through canon's lens" I have done because he's a very fun one to do that with because of all the performance and also inhumanity aspects.

#My Post #Asks #edited because i said m-spec for tim before remembering specifically bisexual has been stated by RQ for him iirc

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wearequeer-andwearehere · 3 years

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The ace and Demiro probably lesbian here. According to my parents it's cause I've been bullied by guys and that would cause me to distrust them (that ignores 3 things which is the fact that girls also bullied me, the fact that the only person who broke my trust by using me for grades was a girl and the fact that I wouldn't mind being friends with guys but that's not important) they also say that I seemed to be attracted to a guy from the same scout troupe as me but I was just excited to have a friend? And like the only time I actually thought about dating a guy was when I was like 12, have never felt attraction in my life and didn't know I could date girls. So uhh yeah I guess if I look at it my parents might be wrong there. (The one time I told my mom that i'm pretty sure i'm attracted to girls she forgot so... yeah)

I just wish that wasn't so confusing.

Tbh since you’ve been bullied by both girls and guys and you wouldn’t mind being friends with a guy, so you have no reason to distrust guys any more than girls, and your daydreams are still about girls, it seems pretty possible that you’re lesbian.

Also the whole guy from your scout troupe thing low-key sounds like your parents were just being heteronormative little shits, since you’re saying you didn’t even like him that way and were just excited to have a friend.

You thinking about dating a guy when never feeling attraction does seem like heteronormativity and amatonormativity influencing you as a kid, and since as you’ve said youve never felt attracted to a guy, I doubt it meant anything—it was most likely heteronormativity.

Ohh yikes, that’s really shitty of your mom, she doesn’t sound like the greatest parent, I’m sorry *hugs*

But yeah, it does seem like your parents are wrong—you don’t have any more reason to distrust guys than girls, and all your past experiences with guys involving romance seem to be influenced by heteronormativity.

If you’re still not sure whether or not you’re attracted to men, you can always call yourself sapphic!

Sapphic (click for link to wiki page) also known as woman loving woman (WLW), refers to a woman, woman-aligned and/or non-binary person, who is attracted to women, exclusively or not. They may or may not be attracted to other genders as well. This attraction does not need to be exclusive, as the label is used as a way to unify all women or women-aligned people who love other women.

So yeah, if you’re not sure if you’re bi or pan or lesbian, you can always use the label sapphic as an umbrella term! Or, you could just use queer as an umbrella term as well!

And yeah, it’s extremely confusing. I spent forever questioning my orientation, and it was pretty shitty, believe me. I can still remember those months back in middle school when I spent hours just thinking and thinking and thinking, scared of what I would find out, wondering what I was.

But let me tell you this.

It’s going to be okay.

Trust me.

It took me a long time, but now I know what I am, and I’ve found a wonderful community. I’m happy with my label and I made it. I know who I am.

And trust me, anon, one day, you’ll get there to. Whether it’s next week or next year, you’ll figure it out eventually—or maybe you won’t, and you’ll be content with umbrella terms, which is just as valid—and you’ll be happy and know who you are.

It can seem confusing, but you’ll get through this, whether you end up finding a label or just saying “fuck it” and not labelling yourself at all, you’ll get through this.

Lmk if you wanna talk more, you can send me another ask or DM me on my main blog @quillsink if you want!

#ask #anon #helping out a questioning person

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ply-space-archived · 4 years

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since tumblr blessed us with pinned posts i figured it would be appropriate to write a kind of overview of this blog

What is this blog?

This blog is intended to connect, uplift, and celebrate polysexuals and polyromantics. It is NOT a discourse blog, but a blog for positivity, art, and conversation.

the ply flag

What is polysexuality/polyromanticism?

Polysexuals and polyromantics are attracted to multiple genders, but not necessarily all. Polysexuality and polyromanticism are NOT the same thing as polyamory.

How is that different from being bi?

A ply person could be attracted to one binary gender and nonbinary genders, but not the other binary gender, and thus not feel like bi describes them. But a ply person could also fully qualify to identify as bi, but choose not to - honestly, picking one mspec label over another often comes down to taste. There are also ply people who do identify as bi simultaneously - such as myself!

Why is it abbreviated to ply?

The abbreviation 'poly' is already used by polynesians to refer to themselves (polyamorous is shortened to polyam)

What's multisexual/multiromantic/mspec?

The multi spectrum is an umbrella term that unites all people who are attracted to more than one gender, such as bi, pan, ply, and omni people. This blog stands for mspec solidarity and supports non-ply mspecs. We do NOT approve of infighting.

the mspec flag

Alternatively, mspec people are sometimes called pluralian

Pluralian: someone who embraces their attraction to multiple genders fully

the pluralian flag

What's monosexism?

Monosexism is the oppression of mspec people on the basis of being attracted to multiple genders (e.g. biphobia, panphobia).

Can i be ply if i'm bi/gay/ace/aro/polyam/other identity?

Of course! You can be ply and any other queer identity at the same time. No one can stop you. (Yes, this is me saying i support mspec lesbians)

Can i be ply if i'm not same gender attracted?

You absolutely can, in fact many people who previously identified as straight start identifying as ply out of respect for their nonbinary partners.

Can i be ply if i'm cis/not nonbinary?

The owner of this blog is cis, so, sure.

Can i follow if i'm not ply/not sure if i am ply?

Yes! All allies and questioning people are welcome.

What does this blog stand for?

Radical inclusion and queer liberation ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

the queer chevron

Can i ask a dumb question?/I don't mean to be rude, but i'm wondering...

This blog is a safe space to express any of your thoughts and questions about polysexuality/polyromanticism, as long as it's done in good faith. Trolls and bullies will get blocked

Is it safe for minors to follow?

This blog is sfw, but does contain occasional swearing and discussions of heavy themes. The owner is an adult if that's something that makes you uncomfortable.

Can i suggest a post?

Go ahead.

Can i dm you?

Yes. I try to answer quickly, although different time zones make it a little difficult

You reblogged from someone who fits your dni, what's up with that?

This was likely an accident. Please report it to me so i can decide if i should take down the post

🗡️ Dni: TERFs, SWERFs, transphobes, biphobes, panphobes, nbphobes, transmeds, queerphobes, aphobes, SAM gatekeepers, anti-MOGAI, anti-mspec lesbians, exclusionists and assimilationists of any kind, racists, islamophobes, antisemites, cop apologists, ableists, fatphobes, kink critical types, proponents of cringe and cancel culture, and people looking to start fandom discourse.

Posts made by this blog or reblogged from @gardeninthevoid under #og post

Other tags to look out for:

signal boost

solidarity - posts about identities other than ply

polysexual / polyromantic - posts specifically for people who are one but not another

mspec / mspec solidarity / bi pan solidarity - posts about other mspec identities and unity between us

ply women / ply men / ply nbs / wlw / wlnb / mlm / mlnb / nblw / nblm / nblnb

non sga - posts for ply people who aren't attracted to their own gender

mspec lesbian

diamoric

omni / abro - posts highlighting omnisexuality, omniromanticism, abrosexuality, and abroromanticism, which are often forgotten about

You might wanna block if you don't want to deal with negativity: #tw exclusionism, #tw negativity, #tw terfs

YOU'RE ALL VALID AND I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH 🌷

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teenslib · 3 years

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IT’S FINALLY DONE! Every year, the Rainbow Book List Committee has more books to review, because literature is slowing getting queerer, and children’s and YA lit are at the forefront of that change. This year, our committee of 13 people had to review nearly 500 eligible titles, and 130 (well, 129) were good enough and queer enough to make the list. There were so many terrific books that we got a special dispensation to create TWO Top Ten lists--the first time the committee has done so! The Top Tens are below, and please visit the link above for the full list.

I’m proud of our committee’s focus on diversity--along lines of race, ethnicity, queer identity, and even genre. At least half of the Top Ten Books for Young Readers and seven of the Top Ten for Teen Readers are about characters of color, and most of those were written by authors of color. We also tried to feature as many different letters of the alphabet soup as possible. I’ve noted the racial and LGBTQIA+ rep for the books that I’ve read.

Here are the Top Ten Books for Young Readers:

Ana on the Edge by Sass, A.J. Ages 8 to 12. Sports Fiction/Figure Skating. MC is nonbinary and Jewish-Chinese-American. Ana is a champion figure-skater. She hates her new princess-themed program, but how can she tell her mother that, when it cost so much money? And why does it bother her so much, anyway? When she finds the word ‘nonbinary,’ she realizes why the program doesn’t fit, but she still has a lot of work to do repairing relationships that have suffered in the meantime.

The Deep & Dark Blue by Smith, Niki. Ages 8 to 12. Fantasy. One of 2 MCs is a trans girl, all characters appear to be Southeast Asian. A pair of twins flee after a political coup that puts their lives at risk. They decide to disguise themselves as Hanna and Grayce, two girls living in the Communion of the Blue, an order of weaving women who spin magic like wool. What one twin doesn’t know is that, for the other, being Grayce isn’t a disguise. This is a beautiful story about self-discovery, acceptance, and affirmation.

Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring by Burgess, Matthew and Josh Cochran (Illustrator). Ages 6 to 14. Biography. MC is a white gay man. This colorful picture-book biography traces the life and art of Keith Haring.

The Every Body Book: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families by Simon, Rachel E. and Noah Grigni (Illustrator). Ages 8 to 12. Nonfiction/Health. Various identities and races included. Filled with self-affirming information, The Every Body Book uses inclusive language, illustrations, and facts to cover a number of important topics for young people including consent, relationships, gender, sex, puberty, and hormones.

King and the Dragonflies by Callender, Kacen. Ages 8 to 12. Realistic Fiction. MC is a gay black boy, his best friend is a gay white boy. King’s family–especially his father–have strong opinions about what it means to be a Black man, and they don’t allow for being gay. But King admires his friend Sandy for escaping an abusive home and living his truth no matter what. If King comes out, too, can his father learn to change?

Magic Fish by Nguyen, Trung Le. Ages 12 and up. Realistic Fiction/Fantasy. MC is a gay Vietnamese-American boy. A young Vietnamese-American boy literally can’t find the words to tell his parents that he’s gay, but cross-cultural fairytales help bridge the language barrier in this beautifully-illustrated graphic novel.

My Maddy by Pitman, Gayle E. and Violet Tobacco (Illustrator). Ages 4-8. Realistic Fiction. MC’s parent is nonbinary, MC and her parent are white. My Maddy is a heartwarming story about a young girl and her parent. Readers learn that not all parents are boys or girls; some parents are just themselves. In this young girl’s case, that parent is her Maddy, a loving, caring parent who lives outside the gender binary.

My Rainbow by Neal, DeShanna, Trinity Neal, and Art Twink (Illustrator). Ages 4-8. Realistic Fiction. MC is an autistic black trans girl. Autistic trans girl Trinity wants to have long hair, but growing it out is too itchy! None of the wigs in the store are quite right, so Mom makes Trinity a special rainbow wig.

Our Subway Baby by Mercurio, Peter and Leo Espinosa (Illustrator). Ages 4 to 8. Adoption Non-fiction. MCs are white gay men, the baby they adopt is Black. Loving illustrations help tell the story of how an infant abandoned in a NYC subway station was adopted by the man who found him and his partner.

Snapdragon by Leyh, Kat. Snapdragon. Ages 10 to 14. Fantasy. Haven’t read this one yet, so I can’t comment on its representation. Snap gets to know the town witch and discovers that she may in fact have real magic and a secret connection to Snap’s family’s past.

And here are the Top Ten Books for Teen Readers:

All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by Johnson, George M. Ages 14 to 18. Memoir. Author/MC is a gay Black man. “Memoir-manifesto” is a well-chosen label for this book, which relates stories from the author’s childhood and young adulthood and contextualizes them within a queer Black experience. Although the author’s family is loving and supportive, pervasive heteronormativity, queerphobia, and anti-Black racism threaten his mental, emotional, and physical safety.

Camp by Rosen, L.C. Ages 14 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC and his love interest are gay Jewish boys. For Randy, going away to Camp Outland is a breath of fresh air, a time to be exactly who Randy can’t always be at school. But this year will be different. This year, Randy won’t be the flamboyant theater kid, this year Randy will be exactly the type of bro Hudson would want to date. Changing a thing or too will be necessary for Randy to succeed, even if that means leaving some friends behind.

Cemetery Boys by Thomas, Aiden. Ages 13 and up. Paranormal/Romance. MC is a trans Latino, his love interest is a gay Latino. Yadriel accidentally summons the wrong ghost in an attempt to prove himself a real brujo to his family who struggle to accept his gender identity. Though he thinks he is summoning the ghost of his cousin, he actually summons the ghost of Julian Diaz, and finds himself with not one, but two, mysterious deaths to investigate.

Circus Rose by Cornwell, Betsy. Ages 12 and up. Fantasy. One MC is white and one is mixed-race, one is a lesbian and one is questioning. Ivory and Rosie are twins and half-sisters, born to a bearded woman who refused to choose between her lovers, and raised in their mother’s circus. After a long foreign tour, they come home to find themselves under attack by religious zealots. As tragedy follows tragedy, will Ivory be able to save her circus family?

Elatsoe by Little Badger, Darcie and Rovina Cai (Illustrator). Ages 12 and up. Mystery. MC is an aro/ace Lipan Apache girl. In this OwnVoices novel, Elatsoe is on a mission to discover who killed her beloved cousin, and why. If not for her cousin, then she is doing this for her people, the Indigenous Lipan Apache tribe. Elatsoe has the ability to raise ghosts from the dead, a tradition that has been passed down through generations. On this journey it will take vulnerability, wit, and the legends of her people for Elatsoe to understand all that is hidden in the small town of Willowbee.

I’ll Be the One by Lee, Lyla. Ages 13 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC is a bi Korean-American girl, her love interest is a bi Korean boy. Skye Shin dreams of becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and a reality TV competition may just be her chance. To win, she’ll have to deal with fatphobic beauty standards, fierce competition, and intense media scrutiny–as well as unexpected attraction to one of her competitors.

Miss Meteor by Mejia, Tehlor Kay and Anna-Marie McLemore. Ages 14 and up. Magical Realism. (I haven’t read this one, but I think both MCs are WLW Latinas.) Lita is a star – literally. After falling to earth several years ago, she’s now living life as a teenage girl. When the annual Miss Meteor pageant rolls around, Lita decides to enter – but will her ex-best friend Chicky be willing to help her? Will the pageant help her forget about the past and imagine a new future? Lita learns that winning isn’t about being perfect, it’s about showing your true self to the world – even the parts that no one else understands.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Johnson, Leah. Ages 12 and up. Realistic Fiction. MC is a black WLW (woman-loving-woman). In this affectionate rom-com, Liz Lighty finds herself an unlikely candidate for prom queen at her affluent suburban school. Shy, awkward, Black, and low-income, Liz has never felt like she belonged, and she can’t wait to leave for her dream college. But when her scholarship falls through, it seems her last resort is to win prom queen, and the scholarship money that comes with it. Liz’s plan is complicated when new girl Mack decides to run for prom queen also…and ends up running away with Liz’s heart.

War Girls by Onyebuchi, Tochi. Ages 12 and up. Science Fiction/Afro-Futurism. Both MCs are Nigerian, one is a WLW. In a not-so-distant future, climate change and nuclear disasters have made much of the earth unlivable. In the midst of war in Nigeria, two sisters, Onyii and Ify, are torn apart and face two very different futures. As their lives progress through years of untold violence and political unrest, battles with deadly mechs and cyborg soldiers outfitted with artificial limbs and organs, they are brought together again and again and must come to terms with how the war has impacted their lives.

When We Were Magic by Gailey, Sarah. Ages 14 and up. Contemporary Fantasy. MC is a white bi/questioning girl with gay dads, her friends are racially, ethnically, and queerily diverse. This firecracker of a novel follows a group of friends who attempt to correct the accidental murder of a classmate. When We Were Magic combines magic, friendship, and awkward moments to create a captivating story. Each character brings their own uniqueness to the strong group of friends, but despite their differences, their loyalty remains. Author Sarah Gailey has written another page turning novel, with the quirky strange content to boot.

#Rainbow Book List #LGBT literature #queer books #queer YA #queer children's books #Book Recommendations #we need diverse books

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dctvgen · 4 years

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🌈 LGBTQ+ Pride Month is happening once again! 🌈

Start of event: June 1st 2020

End of event: June 30th 2020

This event is for gen content of DCTV characters of any orientation or identity that fits under the umbrella of LGBTQ+. They can be in canon, or it can be headcanons! Anything is welcome.

And this year, we’re also happy to have people rec or submit links to suitable fanworks that already exist - they don’t have to be newly created for the event.

A reminder that this is a gen-focused event. We define gen as where the main focus isn’t on sexual or romantic relationships. For example, character, friendship, familial or team-based fanworks. That said, gen can still apply if the romantic/sexual pairings aren't the main focus, like with a family fic where the pairing is in the background.

When we say DCTV characters we mean any characters from the Arrowverse or from any other TV shows which feature DC characters. We have a long, but not exhaustive, list of shows in our FAQ here.

Posting guidelines:

Tag your post appropriately - be mindful of potentially triggery content

Keep any NSFW content (e.g. violence or dark themes) behind a cut

Mention in notes if there is a background non-gen relationship

Credit any collaborators and betas

Also tag with #DCTVGenPrideMonth (must be within the first five tags)

Mention @dctvgen in your post so that we are notified of it

If you’re an AO3 user we would love for you to submit any fanworks to our AO3 collection for the event; DCTVGen_PrideMonth. You can use this link here to post new fanworks directly to the collection.

If you would like to post to Dreamwidth for the event, you will need to join our community here. Please follow guidelines 1-4 from above for any Dreamwidth posts as well.

Any questions that aren’t answered either here or by the FAQ, don’t hesitate to send us an ask on tumblr, or comment on our Dreamwidth community, or email us at the address listed at the bottom of our FAQ. We’re also over on the DC Event Server discord - you can join that here.

Prompts:

All prompts are optional, but we have a few for you!

Happy endings

Acceptance

Not just a phase

wlw / mlm solidarity

transman / transwoman / non-binary solidarity

Gender euphoria / dysphoria

What’s in a name

Firsts and lasts

No gender, no problem

The A team

Ace up your sleeve

Netflix and actually chilling

No romo

Going to Pride

Wave your flag

Queer found family

Coming out support

Blurring binaries

None of the above

Screw toxic masculinity

Fuck gender roles

Under the radar

If you’d like, reblog this post and spread the word! We can’t wait to see what you all create or rec to us!

#dctv #arrowverse #DC Fandom Events #LGBTQ+ characters #DCTVGenPrideMonth #modpost

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breadthief · 4 years

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So, WOW.

I did not expect to get over 1,100 responses to my “hehe what do my fellow wuhluhwuhs think of rwby” survey, but here we are! I’m honored and the statistics nerd in me is absolutely giddy, so here’s responses with 10x the scope of our last writeup, 150+ responses! And remember that we’re still plugging so if you haven’t yet take the survey here!

Demographic

As of 1,100+ votes:

44.7% of survey takers identify as Lesbian 37.8% as Bisexual 11.8% as Pansexual 16.1% as Asexual 3.4% as Aromantic

When it comes to umbrella terms, 13.1% use the umbrella term sapphic, 23.2% use WLW, and 22.1% use Queer

(Note that this is a “select all that apply” question, so one may, for example, hit “bisexual, aromantic, and wlw”; percentages do not necessarily take away from each other.)

As of 1,100+ votes,

81.3% respondents identify simply as a Woman 19.8% identify as Non-binary

When it comes to non-binary identities, 5.9% identify as genderfluid, 3.9% identify as a demigirl, and 3.3% identify as genderqueer.

Out of the people that consider themselves binary women,

79.5% responded that they are Cisgender 9% responded that they are Transgender 11.6% do not wish to disclose whether they are cis or trans

___

Characters (Opinions)

So, which characters are popular in the RWBY wlw community? Which characters aren’t?

Here’s where results start differing from our last writeup! Just like fandometics +n and -n will indicate how many spots someone moved. Bold will be used if anyone new enters a list.

(Note: Respondents were allowed to choose up to 5 favorites)

As of 1,100+ votes...

Top 10 most popular female characters

1. Yang Xiao Long (61.7%) 2. Blake Belladonna (48%) 3. Weiss Schnee (44.1%) 4. Ruby Rose (25.5%) 5. Pyrrha Nikos (17.5%) 6. Nora Valkyrie (13.2%) 7. Penny Polendina (12.8%) +1 8. Neo (11.3%) +1 9. Winter Schnee (8.7%) 10. Ilia Amitola (7.8) -4

Top 10 most popular male characters

1. Qrow Branwen (58.4%) 2. Lie Ren (39.2%) 3. Sun Wukong (29.5) +2 4. Jaune Arc (26.3%) 5. Oscar Pine (25.9%) -2 6. Ghira Belladonna (12.4%) 7. Roman Torchwick (11.5%) 8. Marrow Amin (11.3%) +2 9. Clover Ebi (11.2%) 10. James Ironwood (10.4%) -1

We also polled which characters wlw hate!

Top 5 most hated female characters

1. Cinder Fall (50.2%) 2. Salem (27.1%) 3. Raven Branwen (20.9) +1 4. Glynda Goodwitch (17%) -1 5. Neon Katt (16.1%) -1

Top 5 most hated male characters 1. Adam Taurus (71.3%) 2. Jacques Schnee (66.4%) 3. Tyrian Callows (23.6%) 4. Leonardo Lionheart (17%) 5. Arthur Watts & Jaune Arc (12.9% each) -1 but only for Jaune

We also asked which characters wlw personally relate to or project onto the most.

Top 10 most relatable female characters to wlw

1. Blake Belladonna (47.3%) +1 2. Yang Xiao Long (45.5%) -1 3. Ruby Rose (33.9%) 4. Weiss Schnee (30.4%) 5. Ilia Amitola (14.1%) 6. Pyrrha Nikos (10.3%) +1 7. Penny Polendina (10%) +1 8. Nora Valkyrie (9.6%) -2 9. Winter Schnee (7.3%) 10. Velvet Scarlatina (4.9%) -2

Top 5 most relatable male characters to wlw (Note: there was a large vote disparsity between the two!)

1. Jaune Arc (36.8%) 2. Qrow Branwen (34.6%) 3. Lie Ren (29%) +1 4. Oscar Pine (26.9%) -1 5. Sun Wukong (17.7%)

Characters (Headcanons)

Next, we asked for peoples’ sexuality headcanons. We asked people to select every character they thought of strictly as X sexuality.

I did include characters whose sexuality has been confirmed, like Ilia, mostly because I copy-pasted the character lists and I made this at midnight. Whoops - but it is fun to see her topping the “most lesbian” list.

These will be phrased as “most [sexuality] character”, because it’s fun.

Top 10 most lesbian characters, as voted by wlw

1. Ilia Amitola (87.3%) 2. Coco Adel (80.8%) 3. Robyn Hill (72.1%) +1 4. Yang Xiao Long (66.1%) -1 5. Fiona Thyme (50.5%) 6. Weiss Schnee (38.7%) 7. Velvet Scarlatina (35.2%) +1 8. Winter Schnee (34%) -1 9. Emerald Sustrai (29%) 10. May Marigold (25.7%)

Top 10 most bisexual female characters

1. Blake Belladonna (92.9%) 2. Raven Branwen (51.4%) 3. Summer Rose (41.5%) 4. Pyrrha Nikos (35%) 5. Weiss Schnee (31.4%) +2 6. Velvet Scarlatina (32.7%) -1 7. Nora Valkyrie (25.6%) -1 8. Emerald Sustrai (20.8%) +1 9. Ruby Rose (19.4%) 10. Winter Schnee and Kali Belladonna (19.3%) -2 but only for Kali

Top 10 most pansexual female characters

1. Nora Valkyrie (36.7%) 2. Neon Katt (32.3%) 3. Yang Xiao Long (25.5%) +1 4. Pyrrha Nikos (23.7%) -1 5. Penny Polendina (24.5%) +1 6. Ruby Rose (20%) -1 7. Neo (16.3%) 8. Summer Rose (16.1%) 9. May Marigold (10.8%) 10. Velvet Scarlatina (9.9%)

Top 10 most ace and/or aro female characters

1. Ruby Rose (70.2%) 2. Penny Polendina (47.3%) 3. Neo (23.2%) 4. Glynda Goodwitch (11.8%) +1 5. Maria Calavera (10.8%) -1 6. Cinder Fall (9.3%) 7. Winter Schnee (8.5%) +3 8. Sienna Khan (5.8%) -1 9. Weiss Schnee (4.3%) -1 10. Salem (4.7%)

Ships

As of 1,100+ responses:

What is your favorite ship? (You can only pick one!)

Bumbleby (Blake/Yang) - 57% Whiterose (Weiss/Ruby) - 13.8% Fair Game (Qrow/Clover) - 5.6% Nuts and Dolts (Ruby/Penny) -3.9% Freezerburn (Yang/Weiss) - 2.6% Renora (Ren/Nora) - 1.9% Ladybug (Ruby/Blake) - 1.6% Monochrome (Weiss/Blake) - 1.4% Rosegarden (Ruby/Oscar) - 1.1% Arkos (Jaune/Pyrrha) - 1%

I don’t have space to write all the ones that got less than 1%, so they won’t be in this report.

Top 10 wlw ships, as rated by wlw:

(This is another category where up to 5 answers are permissible!)

1. Bumbleby (89.6%) 2. Whiterose (60.8%) 3. Crosshares [Coco/Velvet] (58%) +1 4. Nuts and Dolts (57.2%) -1 5. Springthyme [Robyn/Fiona] (35.8%) 6. Freezerburn [Yang/Weiss] (29.8%) +1 7. Rosebird [Raven/Summer] (23.9%) +1 8. Schneewood Forest [Robyn/Winter] (18.2%) +1 9. Schneekos [Weiss/Pyrrha] (16.4%) -3 10. Arcotta [Sapphron/Terra] (16.1%)

Top 5 mlm ships

1. Fair Game [Qrow/Clover] (85.4%) 2. Seamonkeys [Sun/Neptune] (64.9%) 3. Ironqrow [Ironwood/Qrow] (40.5%) 4. Martial Arcs [Jaune/Ren] (15.2%) 5. Rich Farmers [Oscar/Whitley] (14.4%)

Top 5 m/f ships

1. Renora (87.5%) 2. Arkos (66.8%) 3. Rosegarden [Ruby/Oscar] (11.8%) +2 4. Emercury [Emerald/Mercury] (10.4%) 5. Gelato [Neo/Torchwick] (9.8%) -1

Next, we polled on likelihood vs. personal want. In this next section, up to 5 choices were permissible.

Top 10 “most likely to be canon” ships, as voted by wlw

1. Bumbleby (97.9%) 2. Renora (91%) 3. Fair Game (54.3%) 4. Rosegarden (32.8%) +2 5. Crosshares (29.5%) -1 6. Springthyme (29%) -1 7. Whiterose (18.3%) 8. Dreadnought [Salem/Ozpin], reconciled (15.6%) 9. Nuts and Dolts (13.3%) 10. Phoenix [Taiyang/Raven], reconciled (9%)

Top 10 “most wanted to be canon” ships

1. Bumbleby (88.3%) 2. Renora (70.8%) 3. Fair Game (59.6%) 4. Whiterose (42.6%) +1 5. Crosshares (31.7%) -1 6. Springthyme (34.9%) 7. Nuts and Dolts (31.2%) 8. Seamonkeys (13.7%) 9. Rosegarden (8.9%) 10. Phoenix, reconciled (7%)

And finally, beware of ship hate - the top 5 most hated ships by wlw

1. Taura/donna (83.4%) 2. Black/sun (33.1%) 3. Iceberg [Weiss/Neptune] (28.5%) +1 4. Rosegarden (28%) -1 5. White Knight [Weiss/Jaune] (27.2%)

Representation

88.3% of wlw polled think RWBY has good wlw representation in general

49.6% would praise RWBY’s lesbian representation

53.7% would praise their bisexual representation

40.8% would praise their trans representation

34.5% would praise their general mlm representation

21.4% would praise their representation of gay men specifically

21.7% would praise their ace/aro representation

Comments on what they could improve on generally include mlm representation, ace/aro rep, and more trans rep

Thank you so much for partaking in this survey! I’ll post updated results when we hit another milestone... let’s see how far we can go!

#rwby #(jeb bush voice) please clap #rwby wlw survey

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hpwlwbigbang · 4 years

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Rules

All stories must feature a romantic/partnership relationship between two or more characters who are not canonically men. The primary ship should comprise characters from the original seven books. We welcome ace characters, poly ships, and trans or non-binary interpretations of characters, but the intention of this fest is to celebrate wlw pairings, and to encourage the creation of longer, richer stories that these ships don’t often get. If you have a question or concern about this rule, you are welcome to contact the mods, but please respect the intentions of the fest.

The format we are using will be writer sign-ups first, and artist sign-ups later, after writers have completed a 50% check-in and provided a summary of their story. Moderators will be pairing up artists with writers, however if an artist and a writer know they want to work together and would like to sign up as a team, that is fine.

You must be 18+ to sign up as a writer or artist for HP WLW Big Bang. This does not mean your fic/art needs to be E rated, only that artists and authors must be 18 or older to sign up. Hype readers of all ages are welcome, provided they engage only with fics and art rated T or lower.

Yes, we will have Hype Readers again this year! We know that wlw ships tend to get less attention than other ships. In an effort to provide a way for people to participate without writing or making art, and to make sure that our lovely creators get a good response, we are keeping the position of hype reader. If you are interested in being a hype reader, you can sign up at the beginning of June, and pledge to read and comment on at least two stories and corresponding art from the fest.

Schedule and Requirements

For writers: Minimum word count is 25,000 words.

Writer timeline: 7 Feb - 29 Feb: writer sign-ups 30 March: 25% check-in 21 April: 50% check-in and summary due 24 April: writer and artist matches will be sent out by this date 15 May: 80% check-in 31 May: deadline for submitting fic 21 June: posting begins

For artists: Minimum art requirement is 2 pieces of art that are more developed than a sketch.

Artist timeline: 1 April - 14 April: artist sign-ups (based on writers’ 50% check-in and summary) 24 April: writer and artist matches will be sent out by this date 15 May: 50% check in 7 June: deadline for submitting art 21 June: posting begins

Check-ins: The check-in dates listed in the timeline are the date by which you MUST have sent us your work in progress/completed piece. We will send out reminder e-mails a week in advance of the check-in date, and if we have not heard from you by midnight EST on the date of the check-in, we will assume you are dropping the fest. Please note that we are always happy to work with creators to sort out extensions provided creators get in touch to request them BEFORE deadlines have passed. Because this is a matching fest, and the nature of a Big Bang results in the mod workload getting heavier closer to posting, it is imperative that all participants follow the check-in schedule. If we don’t hear from you by a check-in or extension date, especially for final submissions, we will have to make alternate plans, which are very time sensitive — we will not have time to follow-up with you or hound you via e-mail.

Collaboration and communication

Because the purpose of this fest is to create written works that are minimum 25k, accompanied by 2 pieces of art, communication is extremely important. We don’t want any writers or artists to be left in a lurch, without a story or art to go with their creation. Moderators will communicate with participants via e-mail. If we require a response, that will be clearly indicated in the subject header. If you do not reply to one of these emails within two days you will be assumed to be dropping the fest.

Please remember that artist/author matches will be sent out by 24 April. Once you have received your match, you will be expected to get in touch with your collaborator within 2 days. Please also be respectful of your collaborator by responding to their messages in a timely manner.

If you know you’re going to have unreliable internet access etc. at some point during the fest, please let mods and your collaborators know IN ADVANCE so that we can plan accordingly.

A final note: Please communicate with moderators if you encounter any issues, think you will need an extension, are having trouble finding an alpha or beta reader, etc. We want to help support you and make sure you are successful, but we can’t do that if we don’t know what’s going on. You can email us at [email protected].

Postscript: Want to squee with other HP WLW enthusiasts about the fest and our favourite wlw ships of the HP verse in general? Come hang out with us on the discord server.

And thanks again to @banana-ge-ge and @showknight for the fest banners! (Are you digging these bamf Ravenclaws that showknight drew as much as we are?!)

Be sure to follow the fest if you aren’t already for further updates, reminders, and mod-posts!

#hpwlwbb #hpwlwbb2020

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imaginebeatles · 4 years

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Hello, I'm a homo-romantic ace whose been having a lot of weird conversations lately about who belongs in the LGBT umbrella. I think anyone who is ace has the space if they want it because it is a little understood sexual orientation that experiences a lot of corrective reactions. But lately people have been arguing to me that only aces with non-hetero rom orientations and/or folk who are non cisgender have access to the space. I was wondering the following things:

2/2 what’s your take on asexuality belonging to the LGBT term, the LGBT community and the LGBT complex (cuz I think it’s gotten more complex as a functioning being)? Does asexuality belong in a tertiary space like BDSM which crosses over with queer (and shares similarities) but is not fully within it? Thanks for sharing about your thesis, every time it pops up on my dash I feel very excited. It’s been awhile since I engaged in queer theory and I am loving your work! No pressure to answer tho!

Okay, so…. this is a very contentious topic, but I have a lot of thoughts on this, especially since I’ve started doing research for my thesis. I’ve read some articles on asexuality and the queer community so… here we go. I’ve put it under the cut, so people can easily scroll past it if they’re not interested.

(I would also like to first say that I will be use the word “queer” here. I know some people are uncomfortable with that because its past use as a slur, however, because it is an actual academic term that is used by everyone writing about these issues, and especially within queer theory, I will be using that word too. I use the word to talk about all non-normative identities/practices related to gender and sexuality, which includes the LGBTQ+ community, but is more extensive than that, including any letters not part of that acronym. Queer is also a (political and academic) practice, not just an identity. This already possibly shows where my answer to your question is going…)

Firstly, I want to say that I understand why some people within the LGBTQ+ community might be uncomfortable about letting asexual people into that community. There is a difficult relationship between asexuality and queer identities. Some people in the field of asexuality studies have begun to write on this (I’ll list them down one or two down below). Within queer politics, historically but also now, there is a heavy focus on sex. Because queer people have struggled against oppression based on their sexual habits, not having sex is generally viewed as conservative or as a form of assimilation. For wlw this is further true because for a long time healthy sexual behaviour (aka having sex at all) was seen as impossible between two women, because both women would be sexually passive. Not having sex is not radical. This is why hetero-romantic aces are often dismissed as being “straight anyway”. Non-normative sexual practices (like cruising) are an important part of the queer community (academic work within queer studies in especially the 1990s and 2000s shows this too, wherein theoretical and political potential is mined from non-normative sex acts, including bare-backing because of its relation to the HIV crisis in the 80s).

It therefore makes sense that queer people (especially gay men and women, but also others) are uncomfortable with asexuality’s focus on not having sex, and as such asexuality is often seen as being “sex negative” instead of “sex positive” and thus bad. At least, politically.

I, however, and other academics, do think asexuality is queer, if you define queer as being non-normative in relation to hetero-normativity). Asexuality is seen as non-normative in our current hyper-sexual society and sex is seen as a vital part of heterosexuality too (you have to reproduce and women are meant to be sexually available to men at all times). Asexual people are discriminated against because they refuse sex, which society sees as natural. While the struggles of asexual people are different from those of gay people, bi and trans people (and other identities) also have their own struggles against which they fight. This does not diminish their struggles.

Acephobia is based on ableist ideas: if you don’t want sex, there must be something wrong with you either mentally or physically, because sex is naturally and everyone should want it and have it (often). Asexuality is often dismissed and not seen as “real”. There must be something that inhibits you from having sex, whether that is physiological, hormonal, or having to do with trauma, or maybe just because you are not “hot enough to get a boyfriend”, which reminds me of how for a long time lesbians were seen as being men-hating ugly women (and feminists). This view leads to asexuality being pathologized (as homosexuality used to be). There have been numerous ways in which low sexual desire or a lack of sexual fantasies has been sees as a disorder in the psychoanalytic tradition. Attempts to “fix” asexual people are made through things like therapy or hormone treatment (or stuff like viagra or other such things), but also through corrective rape, either in a medical contexts under the idea that sexuality needs to be “awakened” within the patient, or in the private sphere at the end of a partner or friend. Research has also shown that people see asexual people as less human, more machine-like. They admit feeling uncomfortable with asexual people, and that they may discriminate against them, such as refusing them rent.

Asexual people have their own political issues to work through, just as any other identity within the LGBTQ+ community. However, each of these issues and more are related to the fight against hetero-normativity. Another example is that asexual people, especially those who are also aromantic, can help critique the way society privileges heterosexual romantic couplehood, especially married heterosexual couples. Asexual and aromantic people often privilege non-romantic and non-sexual relationship, such as friendships or family, allowing us to re-evaluate these other relationships and open up new forms of queer relating, which will also be appealing to other queer people, who often form their own social group or families and whose relationship and friendships are often in some way “queer”.

On top of that, it is important to realise that there is a lot of overlap between asexual people and other queer identities. However, queer asexual people constantly remark on how they do not feel safe or represented by the queer or LGBTQ+ community, even those who “welcome” queer aces, but not hetero-romantic aces. The queer and LGBTQ+ community are heavily sexualized spaced, which makes aces feel unwelcome, but also leaves many non-asexual queer people to complain about the lack of safe spaces for queer people that aren’t about clubbing, such as the lack of queer cafes or library. The queer community (and LGBTQ+ community) is itself deeply entrenched in compulsory sexuality, just like hetero-normative society, making aces feel like they don’t belong to either community.

If an asexual person if gay, or bi, or non-binary, or trans, or queer, or whatever, it is the LGBTQ+ and queer communities that should provide them a safe space and fight for them. Their asexuality informs their experience as homo-romantic or trans or anything else, and cannot be separated from that part of their identity. These are not separate issues. If we want to protect trans kids or gay kids or any other member of the queer/LGBTQ+ community, these communities need to be inclusive of asexuality and provide spaces where these kids are safe and can talk freely about their experiences and the challenges they face. These will undoubtedly also be informed by their asexual identity.

We are stronger politically when we fight together. We fight the same cause. Asexual people do not ask other LGBTQ+ or queer people to not be sexual. They only ask that they are included and that their own issues are being taken seriously.

On top of that, asexuality intersects with a lot of other queer issues. For trans folks, for example, the focus on sex in society and romantic relationships may leave them uncomfortable because of their body dysphoria and may thus run into similar issues as sex-repulsed aces. Stone butch women may find common ground with asexuality too, because of the focus on penetrative sex in society. The hypersexualisation of gay men may find that they experience similar issues as asexual people who feel they are being (hyper)sexualised despite not being sexual. There is a lot of overlap, and these issues need to be addressed. We can help each other and offer new perspectives that will help us fight for the same rights.

On top of that, on a more abstract level, can also be valuable for queer politics in the way that it undermines our current understanding of sexual identity. The way we now think about sexuality was constructed by straight people with the aim of pathologizing and thus actively discriminate against and eliminate perverted sexuality. This started with homosexuality with Freud, and quickly began to expand. If you want to know more about this, Foucault’s History of Sexuality is a good place to start. This allowed for sexual object choice to be used to group specific people together and make them into a specific type or “species”, as Foucault calls it. Our conception of sexuality, then, was constructed to uphold heterosexuality as the norm, making heterosexuality (that is the opposite sex as the sexual object choice) out to be the natural and normal and healthy form of sexuality.

Asexuality undermines this construction. Asexuality not only shows that there are different forms of attraction, which do not need to be connected to each other in a one-on-one relation, but also shows that sexual attraction is not the only or even the most important basis for attraction. Asexuality is not explainable in our current system and forces people to consider their sexual preferences. What do I like in sex? What kind of sex? What kind of sensuality? And with whom? If I like having sex with men, but only being sensual with women, what does that mean? Asexuality asks us what we prefer, putting the focus on preference rather than something biological or innate that makes us feel desire towards one gender and not the other.

This is not to say that asexuality makes sexual identity into an arbitrary choice. Rather, it shows that you cannot divide people into identity categories based on sexual object choice shows that attempting to do so is just as silly as doing so based on if you like tea or coffee. Or ketchup or mustard. On top of that, it allows for sexuality to be seen as fluid, not that it changes, but that it is not fixed. Maybe you like ketchup for a long time, and then no anymore. Or maybe you are briefly in the mood only for this specific type of mustard but not the others. Focusing on preference allows us to undermine the whole construct on which hetero-normativity is predicated. Making identities such as heterosexual or homosexual or bisexual or pansexual almost meaningless or nonsensical. If we want to do away with hetero-normativity completely, this is a crucial step to take. It allows us to focus on sexuality as a social construct, rather than something that must be biologically explained.

TL;DR: I understand why some LGBTQ+ people are uncomfortable with the idea of bringing asexual into the community. However, I think ultimately we are fightening the same cause despite our own specific issues that we face. We have a similar stake in queer politics and queer academia. Asexuality can offer the queer or LGBTQ+ community a lot, and being inclusive to asexuality is crucial if we want to protect queer kids. As such there is a lot that both communities can offer each other.

This goes for both queer aces and hetero-romantic aces. Hetero-romantic aces also benefit and often have a stake in dismantling hetero-normativity because they are asexual. Hetero-romantic aces also face discrimination under hetero-normativity. Because of this, asexuality at large ought to be included. Excluding hetero-romantic aces from the queer community or LGBTQ+ community shows a misunderstanding of asexuality and its political issues and seems not so much inclusive of asexual issues, but rather inclusive of those issues that relate ONLY to the other part of their identity. For queer aces, however, these two are not separate issues. If you want to be inclusive to queer aces, you have to be inclusive towards asexuality in general.

Asexuality, then, should be fully within the queer community, not be treated as a separate but overlapping thing like BDSM. Asexuality, when taken seriously, will affect all spaces of the queer community for the better, while still allowing for sex-positive politics.

Reading suggestions:

Michel Foucault, History of Sexuality.

Megan Milks, “Stunted Growth: Asexual Politics and the Rhetoric of Sexual Liberation.” In Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives, edited by Karli June Cerankowski and Megan Milks.

Erica Chu, “Radical Identity Politics: Asexuality and Contemporary Articulations of Identity.” In Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives, edited by Karli June Cerankowski and Megan Milks.

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skylights422 · 4 years

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@ace-and-aro-wlw-positivity created a Q&A for aspec authors/writers, and as an aspec author, I am excited to participate and answer as many of their questions as I can. Under a cut since it became really outrageously long.

1. What was your inspiration for your character(s)? Are they modeled on yourself, a person that you know, or a character that’s already been established?

Typically I’d say my characters are a mix of general inspiration from other stories/characters and then bits and pieces taken from myself. I try not to make any of them like a clone of myself or another character, try to mix it up, possibly with mixed success but that is the goal.

2. How much, if any, has your character(s) changed since they were first created? What caused this change?

Oh wow, okay I have characters I still use from grade school and middle school, and those characters have changed/grown a lot. Most notoriously (to me) though are my two fellas Euphranor and Kadri. I created them while daydreaming in middle school while watching those science videos in class about how I could make a more parody-like version of said videos, Kadri being the energetic and comically sadistic teacher and Euphranor being the constantly irritated and foul-tempered student. The core of their designs and personalities haven’t totally changed (Euph is still a hot-head and Kadri still likes to troll him), but they’ve become far more nuanced as characters as their story become more involved and serious. They’ve also become softer characters, with Euph having a Heart of Gold and Kadri being a bit morally grey but generally compassionate and friendly. I think the cause of this change and others comes from a mix of things, for one I simply got older and what I wanted out my characters changed a bit. But also I think it’s because I spent so much time with those characters in my head that I couldn’t help but develop them more fully, which in turn made me want to give them a good story. Also, everyone is definitely more queer now then how they started, largely because I became more aware and comfortable with my own queer identity and spent more time in queer spaces (though with Euph I actually just realized he had to be gay because I every het relationship I envisioned for him fell totally flat and yet imagining him as having crushes on guys just seemed to work better/make more sense, and that was an earlier decision).

4. Do you intend on publishing your story one day? Why, or why not?

I definitely do! I have many, many stories I want to publish, as books or comics or tv shows or films. I’ve always wanted to publish some of writing since it’s one of my main passions and have always taken inspiration from the stories I consumed. I just love writing and would want to be able to do it as my main career, the key will just be figuring out how to focus on one project long enough to finish it. xD

5. Surprise fact! Give a random fact about your character(s), whether it’s their favorite color, food, or even song!

Euphranor loves to sing! He hums to calm himself down and even full on sings to vent his feelings sometimes. Kadri loves literature and video games, and blackberry pie is his favorite food.

6. Admit it, you have a folder on your computer of the various types of picrews you’ve created for your character(s). Would you mind posting a few (or five)?

*VIBRATES* MY TIME HAS COME. I absolutely have way too many picrews of my fellas so I won’t post them all, just two each for the core four of my main novel project. First, Euphranor:

(yes he is a Hufflepuff)

Kadri:

(also since I dragged the Hogwarts houses into this Kadri is Ravenclaw)

Ena:

(I put her in Gryffindor)

And finally, Fiera:

(Right now I have her in Slytherin. She could also be in Ravenclaw though)

7. Time to get serious for a bit. There’s been heavy debate on having non-human characters identify as ace, aro, non-binary, etc., but never actual humans. As someone who’s aspec, how would you explain to someone who’s allo why this can be and is seen as hurtful?

I mean, as a sci-fi fan I definitely love if the non-human characters are queer coded, but it’s definitely important to include human representation as well, and I think there are a few simple reasons for that. One is that queer people are, in fact, humans, and therefore our stories deserve to be told as they are in reality as well as how they could be in fiction. The other is only writing us as inhuman implies you consider our identities as fictitious or too strange for a human to have, and queer people already have to deal with other forms of erasure and invalidation in real life. (Also, not everyone is a fan of sci-fi/fantasy, and they should still be able to read stories where they can see themselves)

8. It’s a sad reality that many stories in mainstream media don’t have characters that are aspec, not to mention without resorting to harmful stereotypes. Besides there being nothing wrong with IDing as aspec, why did you choose to have your character ID as such? What would you tell other authors who’re interested in writing characters that are aspec, but are afraid of offending the community?

I have a huge list of aspec characters, which definitely started happening more once I was aware of my own asexuality (and later, aromanticism), since I realized that I could make my own aro and ace characters and then just went wild with it lol. It’s also easier for me to write since I can actually draw from personal experience somewhat for it. Beyond representation having aro and ace characters also allows you to explore more facets of human emotions/the human experience, so that’s always fun.

As for how I would advise allies looking to write a-spec characters, my main advice would be to remember that we are an incredibly diverse group of people, and so while no one a-spec character will resonate with every a-spec reader, an a-spec character written in good faith will definitely speak to some of us. Write them as an character first, and when it comes to things like how their attraction does or doesn’t work and what they want out of relationships, figure out what works best for them. Really, if you’re concerned your character would be offensive in some way you can always make a post asking about it, many of us are happy to offer constructive advice and appreciate that someone is wanting to put in the effort to write about our experiences. Reading or listening to anecdotes from an array of a-spec people is also a good way of getting ideas of how to portray us, and there are various resources for that (the tags, AUREA collects anecdotes from arospec individuals, and probably more than I can think of offhand)

9. If you’re comfortable with sharing, what is your characters’ identity? Do they use any microlabels? Does theirs reflect your own?

Unsurprisingly I have many characters who are aroace (Fiera is one of them), and Ena is bisexual and gray-aromantic. Kadri was originally supposed to just be bi/pan but has become increasingly aspec, will they end up gray-aro as well as grey-ace? Will they end up as a pan oriented aroace? I don’t know yet, but they sure are a pan a-spec. My most recent project has exclusively aro-spec protagonists, Valentine is aroace, Cedar is demiromantic, Raelene is cupioromantic, and then Clematis and Hadyn are presently just Aro and might stay that way. My aroace characters are often styled after my own aroace experiences, while other a-spec characters aren’t as much.

11. Why do you think that not just representation is important, but GOOD representation? Can you offer any examples?

Well, I think there are a few ways to make ‘good rep’. There is the ‘this character helps bring awareness/educate about the community’ and then there’s ‘this character just resonates with certain a-spec people a lot’, and the main reason I think it’s important is because rep should be for the people they’re representing. So if rep hurts the community or totally fails to be relatable to anyone who’s actually a-spec, then it missed the whole point and is doing just as much to leave the community feeling left in the dust as no rep. Of course things do get complicated when the community is divided on whether the rep is good or not, which I imagine will be a common occurrence, and many examples of rep probably fall into the grey area between Good and Bad, but generally people should aim to tell stories that will help more than hinder the people you are telling your story about. (Although I also think that the long term end goal is to get to the point where there is enough representation that it doesn’t matter if some of it is ‘bad’ or not, since I feel like that is the true state of normalization, but that is sadly not yet the case)

12. What’s the genre of your most recent story? Do you always write in this genre? If so, what other works do you have? If not, why did you pick it?

My most recent story (with Valentine) is fantasy, inspired by shoujo style anime series like Cardcaptor Sakura, while Euph’s story is more dystopian urban fantasy? His exact genre has shifted around a lot and will probably continue to do so. In general, most of my works are fantasy in some way or another. A few are more sci-fi or horror based, but definitely the majority are fantasy whether that be magical girl type stories, urban fantasy, superheroes, or dark fantasy.

14. What’s a brief biography of your character? Is their history, personality, and/or looks similar to your own?

I’m going to go with Fiera here. The short version of her backstory is that she and her older brother were born to neglectful parents, and while their grandmother was attentive emotionally she also lived far away. Her brother discovered magic, long thought forgotten, but killed himself shortly after, leaving Fiera alone and confused. She then made a point to dedicate herself to studying the theory and history of magic in the hope that she may someday understand why her brother would take his own life so suddenly like that. She has a down to earth personality and is very observant, and has a great deal of ambition and focus for tasks. She naturally has a more lighthearted and curious personality, but has become more somber since the death of her brother. While she always struggled with sustaining personal relationships, it’s only recently she started using her power of observation to be more manipulative and always keep a cool, pleasant demeanor. She has a love for fashion and sewing, as well as an interest in chemistry.

She isn’t really based on me at all backstory or appearance wise, and only slightly takes after me personality wise. Our main similarity is that we both can be quietly observant and don’t tend to get outwardly angry very often, and that we are both aroace. But I am nowhere near as focused as her, am terrible at lies/manipulation, and have different interests. I’m also way more prone to energetic rants and blunt statements than she is.

15. What are the themes of your story? Is it a lighthearted adventure, or are we talking deep, ocean-sized levels of angst? Why, or why not, did you choose them?

The tone of Euph’s story is kind of all over the place due to how often I’ve tweaked it, but there are certainly oceans of angst for all the protagonists. There’s just also decided remnants of the wacky humor from when the story was predominantly a comedy, and a lot more scenes of the characters just relaxing or goofing off than might be typical in a high tension drama adventure. My story with Valentine is generally much more lighthearted, though there will be some deeper moments for character development (and also because I want it to have a slightly gothic vibe, just Because)

16. How long have you been writing? Has your style changed from when you first began to now? What are some tips you’d give to those who’re interested in writing a story of their own, be it professionally or as a hobby?

I’ve been writing in some capacity just about as long as I can remember, and so my style has definitely taken various shifts depending on how old I was and what I was taking as my main inspiration at the time. Sometimes I went for more sarcastic and whimsical narration regardless of the events happening of the story, sometimes I went for a more quick modern-ish style, sometimes I would focus more or less on descriptions or dialogue. I don’t really know where I’m at right now though.

What I would advise to anyone wanting to sit down and write is to be patient and kind with yourself. Nine times out of ten what sounds epic in your head will come out at first as clunky and all over the place. But that is pretty much the whole purpose of first drafts; the clunky first draft crawls so the second draft may walk so the third draft may walk a little faster so the final draft may run. The other thing I would advise is to absolutely experiment, and see what works best for you. There is every kind of writing advice out there imaginable, much of it contradictory, so really you just have to mess around with styles and perspective and dialogue and see what happens, which stuff you liked and which stuff you didn’t.

17. What’s your process for writing? Do you plan your story out first, write whatever you want then edit later, or both? How might this help others?

My writing process is pretty much a mishmash of writing whatever comes to me, then planning, then writing, then using a bunch of character building exercises to have fun but make no progress in the plot, then neglect the project for months, then write some more or maybe plan. I don’t know how much this would help others, though I have found when I set goals with deadlines and some external pressure (nanowrimo, reward system implanted by friends, etc) I am far more productive, so perhaps that is something others could try if they struggle with staying on track?

18. Your book’s become quite popular, easily reaching the New York Times Bookseller list, and now, you’ve been picked to lead a writing workshop. It goes swimmingly, and afterward, someone comes and tells you that your book not only inspired them to write a story of their own, but also helped them discover and accept their identity. What’s your reaction?

Mostly I would just be flabbergasted, but also extremely pleased and honored to have been able to provide any kind of help or assistance to my readers.And I would feel very happy for the person, since that sort of inspiration is great to come by.

19. Are there any published stories out there that feature aspec characters that you also read? Do you have any suggestions?

Unfortunately not that I can think of! I am peripherally aware of some ace characters, but they aren’t in stories I personally consume. I hope to find more though!

20. Just for fun, write down a paragraph of your most recent writing. It can be an action-packed scene, some witty dialogue, or a colorful description that you really enjoyed. (Be sure to properly tag any possible triggers!)

Well, my most recent finished work would be the clunky first draft of my novel. So, here’s a silly conversation that entertained me to write:

Once they had bought the food, they went back to the park to eat.

“You know, Fiera, I have come to a realization.” Kadri said.

“Oh? What’s that?” Fiera asked.

“Store snacks are not as filling as restaurant food, nor as refined, but they are decidedly addictive.” he said, munching on Twizzlers.

“Yep. That’s what makes them store snacks. Plus, I couldn’t get any really nice stuff. I’m not made of money.” Fiera explained.

“Which brings me to my next question, how exactly are you financing our meals? You don’t seem to work a job of any kind.” Kadri said. Fiera was almost surprised that he knew about jobs, but decided not to ask about it.

“You’re right, I don’t. But my parents leave me about sixty bucks a week so that they can do what they want without me starving to death in their absence. After yesterday and just now, I’m down to like eight bucks, and the next payment comes in three days, so after this stash goes it's dollar store snacks only.” Fiera explained.

“I see. Fascinating. And these drinks you bought us, why are they vitamin drinks?” Kadri said,looking over a vitamin water curiously.

“Because we definitely aren’t going to get any vitamins from chips and candy.” Fiera said simply.

“There is logic to that, I suppose.” he said. There was silence for a few moments.

“Um… Kadri?” Fiera said after a while.

“Yes, Fiera?” Kadri said.

“You know you can’t eat a whole bag of Twizzlers in one go, right?” Fiera said.

“I don’t see why not. If it is not going to give me the nutrients I need, it may as well provide me with the maximum level of pleasure it is capable of.” Kadri said.

“Yeah, but you’ll get sick. And we have limited supplies.” Fiera countered. Kadri looked at the bag of Twizzlers in alarm.

“These are poisonous in large doses!?” he exclaimed.

“What? No, not poisonous, they just make you sick because they’re candy. All candy does that if you keep eating it.” Fiera said.

“Commoners lead dangerous lives, it would seem. I shall never forget this betrayal.” He said to the bag of Twizzlers, putting it down and taking the vitamin water instead.

#Arospec Awareness Week #aromantic #writing #non-fandom #asaw2020

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i-did · 4 years

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If you dont mind me asking, I'm really curious about your opinion of kevaaron as its growing increasingly popular. From the perspective of pairing a (bi?) guy with someone who is homophobic in canon. Often times it seems like Aaron overcoming his homophobia is rushed so that him and Kevin can get together.

Hey! So this is actually a very interesting ask because it shows how prevalent fanon is, that even you anon have stated that Kevin is bi and aaron is homophobic.

Aaron's homophobia is complicated but in my opinion there, especially considering it is 2006 and he is a straight guy. He definitely shows signs of being the "I'm not homophobic just don't shove it in my face/do stuff like that so public" type of homophobia. He is often HC as ace, sometimes ace/aro to combat this flaw and make him more likeable in a similar way people do with Kevin's homophobia.

Thats right! Kevin is probably homophobic! He never says a slur like seth, but going off of context he is about the level of homophobic as aaron, but in a much more dismissive rather than disgusted way. He says "it would be best for neil to remain heterosexual" (not a direct quote but you get the idea) this line is often used as evidence that kevin is bi in a similar way that Aaron's discomfort is used as evidence for him being ace. This type of dismissal and belief that being queer is a choice, is harmful. I've been told by a family member to stay in the closet because my life would be easier, and thats by someone who doesn't think its a choice.

Ace aaron isn't nearly the level of fanon as Kevin is bi is. But the other common HC of kevin is that he's ace/aro as well.

Again, as always, people can headcanon and interpret and interact with canon however they want. I think its just good to notice the line between fanon and canon. Fanon is inherently self indulgent.

I like to keep Aaron straight and homophobic because I think its important to show, and how people who are homophobic aren't secretly gay/bi the whole time trope. Also, ace people can be homophobic. Anyone can be homophobic. Its mostly straight people, but lesbians, bi non-binary people, ace women, gay men etc can be homophobic. Each group of queer person experiences homophobia uniquely, lesbiphobia is not the same as mlm homophobia, which is often based in femphobia, misdirected trans misogyny, and misogyny. And in fandom/media mlm homophobia takes on a whole entire form of fetishization (which isn't always inherently sexual).

Now! For my opinion on kevaaron.

I dont like it lol.

People can like what they like but personally if I don't like something I filter the tag and I have kevaaron filtered because I don't want to see it.

I think there is over emphasis on mlm ships with no chemistry over wlw ships that are arguably with more chemistry.

Overcoming your internalized homophobia is a real thing a lot of gay men have to face. And its hard, its really hard. And its not a thing to be rushed. A lot of peoples first gay relationship is really unhealthy because of this, dating someone who is closeted or freshly out, or being closeted or freshly out yourself is taxing.

Aaron and Kevin have less chemistry than renee and dan, (nora originally mentioned wanting them to maybe have something between them)

Most ships with aaron in my opinion seem to be based in the fact that it would be so cute for this short grumpy boy to be with someone so much taller, it also seems like a work around a lot of times with andrews trauma because you have his twin there.

Ships with aaron and matt are kind of funny to me because about all they share is a history with drugs. That's about it. Aaron is grumpy and matt is... actually not as sunny as fandom depicts him he's a lot more chill and less bubbly in canon but eh thats not really based in anything bad besides simplifying characters for fics and fandom.

I've never read a kevaaron fic but I wouldn't be surprised if they are rushed feeling like you said.

I still have internalized homophobia lol, and I've been out for 6 years now. its not an easy thing to undo.

Again I will state fandom is inherently self indulgent, I just also think that the core messages of the canon shouldn't be ignored and that people shouldn't say x charcters doesn't even have that flaw in canon. Characters are always multi faceted and complex if they're well written. They don't always have to be likeable. That's what makes them good, makes them foxes.

Its okay to like a character who is homophobic in canon and HC what you want, i have so many ideas for seth who I love, but I also want to make sure I dont fall into the "psych he wasn't a real homophobe-he was queer the whole time!" Trope because it inherently blames gay people for the homophobia they experience by making it a inter community issue where gay people just need to learn to not hate themselves, and "hahaha wouldn't it be so funny if this homophobe was gay, that'll show him" as if being gay and hating yourself and others is... a good thing to wish on others and the gay community. The truth is some, in fact most, homophobes are straight people.

That being said I have a headcanon that kevin is bisexual, aromatic, but is with thea his whole life despite neither of them not being very happy but content enough, he never realizes hes aro or bisexual, and it follows basically Nora's EC after that. And aaron is straight and haloy with kaitlyn but sometimes wonders if he held on so tightly and married her just because he already put in all that effort and not to prove his brother right when breaking up with her, but thats only when he's depressed otherwise he's happy and chillin.

There is a very low number of openly bi men compared to openly bi women "how many men would be bisexual if we let them" is a cool quote from tumblr, and an accurate one.

My headcanon isn't a happy one but in my opinion fits with canon pretty well which is why I like it. A lot of people don't ever fully find out who they are. That's the reality, and my fandoms elf indulgences are me giving myself more realistically canon "content" in my opinion. Thats how I self indulge but not everyone has to.

People who like kevaaron or aaron and matt, do you show the same support for renesion? For dan and renee, dan allison ? If not, why? They have the same level of chemistry, if not more.

Just some questions to wonder why you ship the things you do and why the bar for mlm chemistry is so much lower than it is for wlw chemistry.

#aftg #all for the game #ask #aaron minyard #matt boyd #kevin day #fandom politics #fandom psychology #mailob #fig writes

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