ALE(xia): Average Lesbian Experience — Alexia Putellas x Reader
Warnings: lesbophobia, having trouble accepting oneself, angst.
Word count: 1326
Summary: A lie almost breaks your friendship.
A/N: Two things; Both Alexia and Reader are 21 years old, so this is set in 2015. Also, in Spain you use the word tía as a way of saying sis, same thing as tio and the word dude in English.
“C'mon Ale! Don't be a coward!“
She smiled at you, shaking her head. “I'm not going there, tía.”
You approached her, reaching for her hand, as you tried to convince her to get into the sea. It was a sunny and warm day in Barcelona. You were all wet from crashing against the waves, as Alexia had been looking at you, laughing when you were surprised by a wave that would push you, making you swallow some water.
Alexia shook her head again.
“Ale...Please?” Alexia dragged you by your left arm, pulling you into her as she began tickling you. Her hands touching the bare skin of your stomach send shivers throughout your body.
Your playful game was interrupted by two boys around your age.
“You both seem to be enjoying the beach. Wanna have some good company?”
The boys were particularly looking at you.
Alexia felt anger filling every part of her body. She was aware of how in love she was with you, and she also knew that she had to pretend not to be, as she didn't want to scare you.
She accepted herself but couldn't help but feel gross at the thought of her loving you.
She looked at the two boys, who were asking for your number, and compared herself to them. Was she better for you than them? «Without any doubt» she thought. You denied both of their requests.
With a timid smile forming on her face, she felt victorious, even if she apparently didn't have any reason to be.
What Alexia didn't know is that you've been in love with her since high school.
Always admiring her from afar, even when she was the closest to you.
You had to learn how to not react to the physical attention she showed you.
When you saw the two boys getting interested in her and began to ask her questions like her age, where she lived, and finally asking for her number, you wanted nothing but to punch them in the face.
It wasn't envy; you didn't mind Alexia getting attention from people. It was a deeper feeling.
Alexia looked at you, but your eyes were fixated on the two boys, who were smiling and checking Alexia out, looking throughout her body, making you want to throw up.
“I'm not interested either; I'm sorry.”
Those words brought you to life, and you finally looked at her.
“I have a boyfriend.”
Your world fell apart right after hearing those words come out of her mouth.
The boys finally got a no for an answer and left.
You didn't realize they did, though.
“Are you alright? It's okay; they had already left.”
You couldn't look at Alexia properly.
The girl who had your heart had given hers to another person.
Your mind was so loud, despite you being so quiet. Not a word left your mouth after hearing Alexia's statement.
“You're worrying me. Please, answer me!”
You couldn't hold it anymore and eventually broke down crying.
Alexia hugged you, and you enjoyed your time in her embrace, knowing it'd be the closest you'd be to her.
“Did they scare you that much?“
Still no words.
“If you don't answer me, I'm going to call someone.”
Someone.
You don't know why, but that word triggered you to the point where you snapped.
“Someone? Like your boyfriend?”
Alexia laughed, and that broke your heart into more pieces, if that was even possible. Alexia thought you were teasing her, as she didn't think you had believed her to have a boyfriend, when it was just an excuse to get out of that previous situation.
“Alexia, I have to go home. I'm late.” You stood up quickly, as you couldn't bear the embarrassment you felt about yourself anymore.
Alexia grabbed you by your right arm, but you harshly shook her arm off you.
You heard her whine, and it was enough for you to stop and approach her.
No pain was worse than the slightest hurt to Alexia.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you gone mad?”
Alexia was hurting, but because of your actions, not because of a silly shake. You had changed the way you behaved towards her when, not even ten minutes ago, you were laughing and begging her to get into the sea with you.
She couldn't understand the way you were behaving.
“Listen, if it's because of the boys, I'm sorry that they've asked me out too, but I swear I didn't—”
“God, Alexia, why can't you see it? It's not because of those boys; it's because of a boy. Your boyfriend. When were you going to tell me that you were with someone?” Alexia tried to speak, but you didn't let her, as you kept ranting.
“You want to know why I'm like this? Because I'm in love with you. I thought I was okay with only being your friend, but when you said you had a boyfriend, I wanted to die. Yeah, it's that dramatic because I've loved you since high school in a way friends aren't supposed to love each other. I'm sorry if this hurts you, but I can't do this anymore. I can't pretend to be okay now that I know someone else is in your life. Because, as dumb as it sounds, I had a tiny hope of you being in love with me.”
Alexia jumped into your arms, not letting you pull out of the hug. “Please, let's stay like this for a few seconds. Please. Please.” and you gave up on the idea of getting out of her embrace and enjoying her warmth.
Alexia looked at you. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she didn't seem sad but relieved.
“I don't have a boyfriend. I don't even like boys, silly. I like girls, especially one who's looking at me quite confused right now.”
You were shocked. Too much information in such a short time. “If I told them I had a boyfriend, it's because I knew they were going to back off. Men respect other men. If I told them I was a lesbian, they'd probably insist on going on a date with me because many of them believe that lesbians haven't found the right man. It's quite sad, but it's what they believe.”
You've been there too, so you get what Alexia means. Even if Spain were one of the most LGBT-friendly countries on earth, no one would be 100% safe, far less as a lesbian.
“So, you like me?” You said this as you looked down at your hands, needing confirmation of Alexia's feelings towards you.
“Yes. I've liked you since we met in high school, but I never said anything. I was scared of losing you, so I had to learn how to put my feelings aside. You didn't notice how in love I was—I am with you. But it hasn't been an easy task, especially when people would come at you and ask you out, like those boys before, but you always rejected them, no matter if they were boys or girls, so I was scared of being rejected too.”
“Why do you think I rejected them?” you asked, laughing.
“I know. Now I know...” Alexia laughed too.
“Maybe you should try now.”
“Not here.”
-
Alexia brought you to your old high school.
It was closed as it was mid-July.
“I should've done this here five years ago, but now that we both know how we feel, I wanted to ask you if you would give me the privilege of being your girlfriend.”
You smiled, and before jumping into her arms, you accepted.
Memories of you and Alexia in high school came to your mind.
Gossiping in class, drawing on each other's hands, helping each other with studies.
The love you two shared was always there; it just needed a little time and another place to flourish, and now that you were adults, you weren't scared anymore.
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hey i’m sorry to bother you but what are some warning signs that someone is a terf? i would very much like to be out as gender-fluid at my small town southern school (surprisingly supportive) but the school nurse had that “fallen sisters” book on her desk :( i don’t want to put myself in danger and i don’t know if she was reading it because she’s a terf or because she was curious about what was in it. thank you for your time!
Quick note: a lot of transphobes are not TERFs; they don't subscribe to the movement of radical feminism. But especially right now TERF ideas have become more widespread, since a lot of transphobic people turned to TERF speakers and authors for support. But that's also because a lot of TERF ideas meld very nicely with traditional patriarchal ideas (like the idea that the gender binary is required for safety of women). Things like "trans men are manipulated girls suffering from misogyny!" has gotten really popular recently, but in the past your average transphobe would probably be thinking more along the lines of "huh what a freaky dyke" than assuming it's the patriarchy's fault trans men exist.
Anyways! That's all to say that someone might use transphobic or radical feminist rhetoric without being a radical feminist themselves. Here are some things to watch out for:
Use of "female" and "male"; in medical contexts I tend to give people more grace, but if she's really insistent on sex language that's a red flag.
Highly concerned with pushing womanhood on students AFAB; if they're a TERF this is less likely to look like "pink and bows" and more likely focus on Female Power, uteri and menstruation, and identity with womanhood as a feminist act itself. Comments like "remember you can dress/act however you want and still be a woman!" can be well-meaning but they can also be a subtle way of trying to prevent GNC students from thinking about transitioning.
Fearmongering about the effects of HRT (especially T); educating about all possible effects is important, but if she focuses on negative effects, treats them as horrifying or more dangerous/common then they actually are, that's a red flag. Especially when it's tied to reproductive ability. Same when it comes to surgeries.
If she believes ROGD (rapid onset gender dysphoria) is a real thing, she's transphobic. If she doesn't use that term she might talk about transness/transmasculinity being a social contagion or trend, something young girls are pressured into (esp. by misogyny/lesbophobia), even if this is dressed up with "obviously SOME trans people are real but there's just too many now!!"
Of course, any kind of weirdness around trans people in locker rooms/bathrooms is a major red flag
If she does end up being transphobic, since you mentioned your school is supportive you might be able to tell the admins about that and have them back you up. If there are other trans people at your school, definitely ask them if they've noticed any transphobic behavior from her (you can ask cis folks too although they may be less aware of what subtler transphobia sounds like)
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Thought I'd post about the latest lesbophobic hate crime since it's looking like a lot of powerful people are trying to make this go away:
In Hong Kong on the 2nd June a lesbian couple were brutally stabbed to death by a man in a shopping centre. The couple, 26yo Fang Xiaotong and 22yo Liu Jixi, who had recently moved in together and were on their way to dinner with Liu's family, were accosted by the 39yo man.
Fang Xiaotong (left) and Liu Jixi (right)
The man snuck up on them from behind and began repeatedly stabbing Fang Xiaotong with a 12 inch long sashimi knife. Liu Jixi tried to intervene, repeatedly tackling, hitting and kicking the man and trying to drag Fang's bloodied body away from him. He would slash at her with the knife and then return to stabbing Fang's prone body. The footage is extremely disturbing. Both Fang and Liu died from their injuries.
Following the attack the man stood over Fang's body as she bled out and just waited calmly for police to arrive. During this time a random man picked up a stool and stood in the murderer's proximity, so naturally he's being proclaimed the hero of the situation instead of Liu Jixi who literally threw herself at the knife over and over again trying to save her girlfriend.
Initially local Chinese media outlets reported Fang Xiaotong and Liu Jixi as a couple (see these archived links for evidence, it's in Chinese but Google translate will help you). However Chinese authorities have now released statements that they were 'just friends' and so all evidence of their relationship is currently being scrubbed from the media. Western media has followed the lead and in the very few stories on the case the lesbian couple are always referred to as 'friends'.
Additionally the police seem to be trying to garner sympathy for the murderer by framing him as mentally ill (lol who cares) and that the attack was just random and not a lesbophobic hate crime (which if you watch the footage, that is absolutely not the case, out of the whole crowd of people he picked the butch lesbian and just kept laying into her and only her, this was definitely a targeted hate crime).
So in conclusion; as is often the case with lesbophobic hate crimes this is being made to disappear. However in this instance there is plenty of evidence and footage of what really happened. Authorities are urging people not to watch or share the footage because it's disturbing, and that's exactly why you should watch and share it. This is the disturbing reality for most lesbians around the world. It adds insult to injury when these types of lesbophobic hate crimes are covered up, watered down and made more palatable (i.e. non-existent) to the heterosexual masses.
The deliberate erasure of lesbophobia is why we have a LGBTQIA2SSP++ movement that thinks the letters are arranged in order of societal privilege. They have to erase the experiences of lesbians to maintain their fantasy world, and we gotta start making it harder for them to do that by shoving reality in their face. Even if that reality is gruesome.
(as an aside the TRA movement is already getting their meat hooks into this bc Fang Xiaotong's English name is Daniel, but it's common for Chinese butch lesbians to choose a male English name, and it's not necessarily an indication of 'trans', especially when all of Fang's friends and relatives know her as a lesbian woman, but TRAs gotta narrate the lesbophobia out of this somehow🤷♀️)
In any case, I think it's important to share the truth of this hate crime and the lesbian couple who were targeted. The footage of Fang Xiaotong and Liu Jixi's murders is difficult but important to watch, if only to see how this man specifically targeted Fang Xiaotong and to witness Liu Jixi's bravery in trying to save her girlfriend when no one else would.
You can see the footage of this hate crime here (at least before some heterosexual gets it scrubbed from Twitter). Do be warned though, this ain't no dude getting misgendered at a cafe, this is what an actual hate crime looks like.
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