#like! how do you bring that up!! especially to a non queer individual

[mocksyoucondescendingly]

rrrrrrrrr hell feeling

#not hell feeling. weird feeling badness… #i don’t know how to be polyamorous #i dont think i quite get how i can achieve that kind of relationship with others #like! how do you bring that up!! especially to a non queer individual #sure okay i’m in love with this one guy. and i think an open/poly relationship would be a good fit for us #but thats not really on the table atm. but it’s still smth holding me down #and then there’s this gorgeous woman.but she’s like. cishet. and she’s already got some young children #and im like. i want to enter a partnership with you. but i don’t know how to explain my feelings #because they’ll always belong to him. but they also belong to her. and… #idk. if it’s this easy for these two people to tumble into my life and mess me up inside #then there will probably be more before i’m even 50 #and then i start feeling so conflicted

[titus-androgynous-87]

I am baffled that this fucking crusty ass rat lookin white boy named fucking WILDER isn’t the worst one on Couple to Throuple

I hated him the moment I laid eyes on him. I hated his fucking rat face. I hated his bottle blonde mullet. I hated his crusty mustache. And when his partner Corey started talking about him having crossed boundaries before, I -really- hated him

I’m only on episode 6 or 7 I think, and he has actually surprised me. He and their additional partner, Denyse, have been really good about taking things at Corey’s pace. And making sure to reassure Corey that going slow and setting boundaries isn’t ruining their dynamic

Wilder actually said, out loud “You not voicing your concerns WILL ruin the night, because then you’ll be uncomfortable and we won’t know. That’s how boundaries get crossed”

Wilder and Corey are also the only couple who have stuck with the same partner through the entire process. All the other couples have swapped at least once. Which is fine, and the point of the show. But it feels really superficial and gross when the couples talk about their temporary partners like they are objects for their pleasure and convenience.

Wilder and Corey at least seem to understand that polyamory goes beyond the physical. Though I do giggle because it seems like Denyse is way more into Corey than Wilder. And Corey is way more into Denyse. And Wilder seems content being their third wheel

Real “this is my girlfriend, Corey, and her girlfriend, Denyse” energy. But they seem to understand that polyamorous relationships, especially closed triads like this, don’t have to be 100% equitable all the time. People are naturally going to have deeper connections with some folks and not others. Doesn’t mean they don’t all care for one another. Nobody can post anything on SM until after the reunion, which is understandable. But I’d be interested to know if they’re still a triad (closed or open) or if they’ve all gone their separate ways

I’m really just here for Maximo and Ash at this point, because they’re the queer energy this show needs. And you could instantly see how relaxed the singles were around both of them

Both are non-binary, pan, and have experience with polyamory, though individually and not as a couple (which is how I think this show should have been structured to begin with)

They’re messy and silly and a touch toxic, but who isn’t on this show?

The ones I -really- fucking despise are the swinger couple looking to just have threesomes

Fucking humiliating their additional partners for not wanting to immediately get physically intimate, let alone fuck, within the first hour of meeting. Treating additional partners like playthings to be shelved when they’re bored and picked back up at their convenience. Mocking additional partners for setting boundaries and voicing concerns. Mocking additional partners for having feelings and thoughts and hopes and dreams. The, frankly, disgusting dynamic of centering Dylan as the UltraSigmaAlphaBro with two women hanging off him. I hope his dick falls off from all the steroids. And his wife Lauren is no better

They never should have been cast

Ashmal and Rehman are MESSY. And totally using their partner Johnathan to triangulate their pre-existing issues. These two need locked in a room until they actually discuss their issues

Ashmal has never taken Rehman to meet his family. Hasn’t spoken with his family about Rehman, nothing. And they keep bringing thirds in to ignore the real problems

Messy, under the covers handjobs don’t solve rifts in your relationship, yall. A two legged table cannot stand

And I have no fucking clue why Brittne and Sean are here. They don’t seem into each other, let alone an additional partner. They’re constantly running away from criticisms and difficult discussions. They ignore their partners and shut down their concerns. Brittne made it absolutely clear she is to be the queen bee of the group, to be catered to

Which isn’t how a healthy duo works. Let alone a triad

Idk this show has a LOT of flaws. But if they do a second season, I think the singles should have all the agency and focus, not the couples. Gimme a group of like 15 poly/pan/fluid folks and let me watch them form their own polycules

Because if I have to listen to another straight man giggle about threesomes, I’m gonna go into my back yard and eat dirt until the rage stops

I really wish Becca, one of the more prominent singles, had warned the rest of the group about Dylan and Lauren just looking to be swingers. That would have added so much more interest for me

Like how are the singles going to approach them about their toxic and gross behavior? Will the couple grow and learn and change when confronted with this? (No but we’d have fun watching them flounder and cry that no one wants to fuck them, let alone go home with them)

#it’s so fucking tragic #but I can’t stop watching #Couple to Throuple #peacock

[mycochaotix]

My “real”nonbinary friends and fam, please read this and tell me your thoughts!!! —r/nonbinary user commented:

“I feel that Blair White and others like her are calling out bad behavior and demanding personal accountability. We all can live our lives as we see fit, but demanding nullification of sexual orientation in relation to one's gender or having a melt down over misgender pronouns without self realization about how we present ourselves is narcissistic and provides our detectors against the lgbt+ community with reason to vilify us.

Non-binary people are not the problem, to be clear. It's people who believe being non-binary qualifies them for special victimhood status and who go on public forums to decry society's ills for not recognizing their non-binary lifestyle on sight that creates this negativity.

If you know you are emotionally mature enough to get through your day and live your truth without being angry someone isn't into you or that the days your presentation may lean one way or the other on the gender spectrum and gracefully correct and move on, you know you aren't the problem.”

- they were downvoted many times when I saw rhe comment, so I asked chatgpt why and replied to them:

“Asked ChatGPT why your comment is being downvoted, it said: “This comment appears to express a negative view towards individuals, particularly non-binary people, who assert their gender identity and seek recognition. The use of terms like "meltdown" and the implication that asserting ‘one's gender identity is narcissistic’ may be perceived as dismissive or transphobic by some. “ 🤷🏽”

- they responded to my comment with:

“I mean, if you like feel that someone crying over a stranger at a fast food restaurant calling them "Ma'am" while taking their order on Tik Tok is good representation, we're at an impasse. That's not real life and it doesn't represent real non-binary people.

Edit: More importantly, if we ourselves do not call out bad behavior in our own community and ensure that negative representation isn't the only viewable commodity, we're practically committing self harm.”

- i replied with:

“Up until this comment, I havent made a personal belief claim about your comments. Just saw you being downvoted and wanted to understand why :) hence why I asked chatgpt.

Honestly, your comment reflects that you seem to be trying to police or gatekeep what anyone gets offended by. Why does that matter. Most non binary people i know are too concerned about being hate crimed to actually get offended at a mcdonalds worker incorrectly assuming their gender… much less asserting their correct pronouns when being misgendered.

Your use of “real non binary people” is quite problematic tbh. I think you may have an insulated understanding of Queer people thats influencing your perspective in an unhelpful way. Im a real non binary person and I disagree with your perspective and characterization of non binary people. Your edit is something im not comfortable addressing specifically tbh, I process it as problematic and not worth pursuing as you seem set in your beliefs.

Your feelings, and mine, and whatever queer scapegoat you are bringing up from tiktok, all matter and are valid. You dont know the trauma history of the person who is offended at being misgendered. To be misgendered is uncomfortable, especially for trans folkx and especially for those who are aware of the insane, incessant gender norms, mores and expectations on us at all times.

Calling out bad behavior is fine, but looking at situations empathetically, and from as many perspectives as you can, is going to aid you on identifying behavior thats could be a meaningful change to call out , and behavior that you just dont like and want to stop someone from doing because of your discomfort.”

—

Queer, and specifically: Transfam, please tell me if im far off here … or what yall think!

-mcx

———

update:

#trans #nonbinary #real nonbinary people #whatever that means #queer #lgbt #lgbtqia #lgbtiqa2s #mycology #magic mushies #microbiology #mold #60s psychedelia #lgbtqia2s #lgbtqia2s+ #myc #enby #agab #gender #gender affirming care #gender identification #gender expression #gender euphoria

[waitmyturtles]

Hi,

I am writing in context of my comment to your recent KP rewatch post. I have only just started to look at your older posts, and I must thank you very much for actually being the first place where I find proper in depth-criticism of Only Friends. As I mentioned, the show is very dear to me, and when it aired I only saw a lot of ranting and 'Boston is being punished for being poly' commentary, which being poly myself, I just couldn't see at all, as I never perceived Boston as poly rep. Also thank you for bringing Jojo's comments on Boston onto your blog, because I was not aware of those, and they recontextualize the anger of many people a lot for me. But maybe a main reason why I didn't even think about something like that is because I perceived the show absolutely not as a morality piece but as a depiction of a questionable queer friends group and their antics. I always saw the title as ironic, as the cast never gave found family vibes style friends group to me, but instead always showed how deeply problematic they all are.

There is much more I want to say here, and maybe I should make a proper meta post of my own once I have read more of your (partially also reblogged) posts on the matter.

For now I just want to add that I don't see any of the main cast as without major flaws, and I am hoping for a second season that is as messy as the first (messy not as in bad, but continuing to play to the characters' flaws and work with that), as the current stable situation doesn't seem to me like something that will remain. And all that I say as someone who usually doesn't like messy.

To end my rambling, thank you very much again for making your blog such a goldmine of excellent discussion, and insightful meta. I love it.

Thanks so much for the compliments, I appreciate it, @the-iron-queen!

Very interesting to hear that folks were interpreting Boston as poly. Yeah, no. I did not ever go there in my interpretations of him. The polyamory that I’ve seen in Thai shows is limited to the second season of Gay OK Bangkok (Aof’s and Nong Big’s triad) and 3 Will Be Free.

I saw Boston instead as simply having casual sex, and being judged for it. I’d posit that he was judged both by the characters within the show, and — and I say this with a fair amount of seething bias — by the creative team of the show itself. To the point you made about Jojo’s own quotes of calling Boston a slut, I think the character of Boston was likely written with judgement of casual sex in mind. (Which, wtf.)

My review of Theory of Love covers my strong distaste for judgements against casual sex, in part because I subjectively and personally think that judgements against casual sex offer judgy individuals false states of moral superiority that ultimately ring as hypocritical and disingenuous to me — especially if and when those judgy individuals jump at the opportunity to have casual sex themselves. In regards to Only Friends, what I felt was truly disingenuous about the whole show was its original marketing on being a progressive show about casual sex, depicted by actors who seemed to be ready to leave the confines of their branded ships. We got QUITE the opposite instead — the ships shipped together in a seeming condemnation of casual sex outside of monogamous relationships. The way Boston was condemned and left behind by his friends and Nick just seemed kinda unnecessarily brutal.

But this is me taking into account not just what the show internally is saying, but how I also think the show was conceived of and created externally. Den Panuwat, OF’s screenwriter, also had monogamous relationships as end goals in his more recent show of Playboyy, and I’m watching his first screenwriting work now in War of Y, and I’m not terribly impressed by his art. I do agree the “friends” of Only Friends end up in a non-committal and arguably “messy” place, but other than being judgmental dicks, I don’t know what their motivation was to be disloyal assholes in the first place — the show never told me that. It was all just kinda meh in the end.

@the-iron-queen: I’d recommend watching both seasons of Gay OK Bangkok, 3 Will Be Free, and Theory of Love for much more sophisticated conversations about sex from Thailand. I don’t know why more recent Thai BLs are just putzing out on this topic lately, but there’s a short history of really good shows that delve into this, and if I’m not mistaken, I think a few Japanese BLs are also treading well in this territory right now that I need to catch up on. I hope my back catalogue of Old GMMTV Challenge posts keeps you entertained, good luck!

#thanks for the ask! #only friends #only friends 😐😬😐😬 #theory of love my beloved

[hungerofhadarr]

Me and my close friends have had this talk before bc it comes up every so often but sometimes . Some of you . Like to use your queer identity like a bargaining chip or as a shield against criticism . Can’ t bring up any possible discussion that could be constructive without someone ( usually . Not always but very commonly white ) brining up their queerness to almost try and kill the conversation . That this cannot apply to you because you’ re queer in some manner . How can you be bigoted ? You experience oppression . And … yes . You do . No one is denying that fact .

But to use your identity as a weapon , to hold out this piece of you to try and silence others , especially ones within your own community , you understand what you’ re doing . You have to . From every white queer listing the countries they are “ banned in “, playing make believe that they would ever visit any one place and imagining the harm they would experience at the hands of ( 9 times out of 10 ) non white individuals . From every gay man saying that they don’ t care for women in media , not because they are misogynistic , but because they’ re not attracted to them so they cannot find a reason to care .

From every non - trans queer saying they cannot be transphobic , they’re queer , so how could they ? From every tme queer saying they cannot be transmisogynistic , they’ re trans , so how could they ? From every endosex person saying that they cannot be interphobic , we’ re all different anyways , it’ s all fake , so how could they be ? From every person pushing back on learning , on understanding , on criticism , and using their identity as the shield . The catch-all . The end of a discussion

And it doesn’ t stop in queer only discussions . Many times have I found myself trying to be silenced in discussions of racism because … people don’ t want to talk about it . It’ s uncomfortable for them , to possibly face the fact they’ re being harmful or having someone discuss the things they do with clear distaste . Most of these reactions are not born of ignorance , but of a hate at the pushing of their own comforts . They know what they are doing . And they can use their queer identity , proof of oppression , to tell me to shut up . In a passive aggressive manner , of course . But it’ s still the same message .

How can I hurt others ? I get hurt too ! But you’ ve never unlearned anything . You’ ve never understood what is hurting others . You’ ve never took a step back and tried to see the world from outside of your own lens . You’ ve never wanted to challenge your own comfort even for a second , and you’ ve decided hurting people is easier . Hurting people is good , because it upholds you . And you’ re the only one that matters

#personal #hi guys …. #wrote this last night then put it in drafts . I think I will post this now

[cipheramnesia]

Can you talk about Thelma (2017)?

Thelma is too much for one ask, but I can try. I'm fairly confident there are some specific religious and cultural touchstones I'm not familiar enough to unpack for starters, and the movie itself is so dense with possible readings that I could approach it from at least three separate angles. It's like... where exactly do I start at this?

Just on the most surface level, we're looking at an X-Men situation with the sudden introduction a superhuman ability in someone's life is used to parallel a wide array of different experiences of systemic oppression - I think mainly patriarchal, sexual, and religious but these are all wrapped together in much the same was as they tend to be in individual lives.

What personally gets my heart aflutter over Thelma are its queer elements. Not that these can be neatly separated from the others, but the way it plays with a level of ambiguity in the attraction between the protagonist and her love interest feels especially true to the queer experience of wondering if we're experiencing kind of real mutual attraction, or if we're only seeing things in our imagination - the way queerness is treated as something taboo, even when it's socially permissible, makes finding personal connections a delicate process of hope and guessing. It transforms the relationship elements of the movie seen through that specific lens, including moments where our protagonist is struggling so hard against herself that she tries to make her own sexuality vanish.

But it doesn't operate exclusively as a queer movie, and that's part of why there's just... just so much stuff to try and work through here. I feel like a huge amount of the underlying text of the movie rests on how her capabilities horrify her parents and prompt them to find ways to suppress them, to keep her under control. Additionally, the way she works her way through the medical system as they find themselves at a loss to discern any easy answers to her symptoms. And for that matter, the notion that her supernatural abilities are themselves something wrong with her is also rife with meaning to any disenfranchised group, not just queers or women or non-xians.

I suppose it's a little weird to discuss what I think the movie is about without bringing up... what the movie is about, but there's not a large amount that happens precisely. Or more directly the plot, unadorned, is not particularly complicated. Although I expect if you're hanging around this blog, you might be really interested to learn about a movie which is all about a young woman developing supernatural powers to control reality, and eventually breaking free from her oppressive (albeit loving) xian parents.

Not to sound pretentious, if this was made in the USA, it would be quite a bit more spectacle and flash. Thelma the movie and protagonist both are quiet revolutions, tense with knowing something extraordinary is happening, but not knowing how much will survive it. Some of it put me in mind of Dario Argento, even if it's not quite as flamboyant, there's an emotional intensity and an obsessive focus to the camera work that feels familiar. The colors are not quite as bright and primary as Argento's work, but they feel dense and saturated in the same way. If a movie like X-Men captures the explosive emotions and anger of learning you're different in some way society does not accept, Thelma captures its alternate quite despair and seething rage.

But this all really just gets maybe a little under the surface. I would happily translate the family losing a son to their daughters power as metaphoric to how some families treat their trans children. The ambiguity of the ending, the significance of the birds and snakes as metaphors, the use of symbolic reflections all need greater exploration to the point where this film has a fair thesis worth of material contained within. It's a rare, special, and complicated movie which I would hope everyone takes the time to see (with the exception of people with serious medical concerns over flashing lights, it has A LOT of those). Thelma is about making the decision to burn bright while everyone around you sits with quietly folded hands.

#thelma 2017 #thelma 2018 #horror movies #queer horror #Joachim Trier

[abarbaricyalp]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💜

Hi! What a fun challenge. For someone who routinely despairs not being able to write, I'm apparently actually quite fond of my little stories, lol. In no particular order:

We Live Such Fragile Lives

High school, fake dating AU

I am still working on it! 😭 Despite writing at a glacial speed, I really love this story. I love bringing up old high school emotions and tapping back into being a teenager when every single emotion was the biggest emotion you'd ever felt. This is the slowest I've ever taken a relationship in any story and the ANGST is just so wonderful to work with. I love the dual pining. But I just have so much fun with the setting and their extracurriculars and friends and teachers and all the silly situations they get themselves into. The world is literally so big and open for them.

A Time For Dancing

A Footloose AU

I wrote this fic in about two afternoons one weekend after listening to the song on the way to work. I had so much fun writing about a repressed small town and the big world right beyond it that all of the characters are growing into. I adored the whole cast and each individual relationship, especially Sam and Riley. I also really liked writing about Gideon as this kind of ghost haunting Sam's narrative-- the connection Sam feels to his brother for both being queer and a little bit of betrayal at being left behind, as well as Gideon being this cautionary tale that Sam can't/won't quite reconcile as wholly good or wholly bad. I feel like the writing is fairly strong in this one (no one tell me if it isn't) and I just really like rereading it.

Of Kings and Monsters

Prince!Sam and Prisoner/Rescuer!Bucky

This may not be fair to include/recommend because really why I like this story is the rest of it in my head lol. I just think it's a (literally) steamy short with a fun dynamic between Sam and Bucky. The world is so rich (to me) and I just love the idea of it.

These Ghosts That Haunt Christmas

A Hallmark-esque Christmas fic

Man, I just really love the concept behind this one. I wanted to include more to the scavenger hunt, but I love the bits I did write anyway. I love the growth of Sam and Bucky's relationship with each other but also separately. I really enjoyed playing with their repressed history. I also love the literal ghost in the story. The fact that they're haunting themselves by keeping Steve so close and [spoilers] to move on they absolutely cannot have the last letter. I wrote the fic over the Christmas break and it always smells like hot chocolate to me, haha. It's just cozy. And now I'm kind of obsessed with thinking of hallmark fics.

I Found Something in the Woods Somewhere

A creature/horror fic about monsters and an evil forest and the good man who sees both as they are

It was difficult to pick just one of my creature fics but this is the one that I'm proudest of. I love the world and atmosphere, as well as what a 'monster' is within it. I have a handful of fics that I would expand (or scrub names off and do something more with) and this is at the top of the list

And two non-Sambucky stories because I couldn't not mention them 🫣

No Force Greater Than

A Stucky/Cap Quartet high school au

I love this fic and feel like it kind of got the short end of the stick with how the posting for the event went :/ I love that it's a Cap Quartet fic and I love the personalities for each of the characters. This is another one where working with the characters shared histories was really fun. I just think it's a fun read and love Sam and Nat in this one.

My Heart on the Gas

Blue/Gansey racer au

I love their relationship in this story and I love all the car/racing stuff. I think they're so sexy and in love with each other and life. I also had a FANTASTIC time working with the artist and beta reader, so I'm just thankful for the whole process of working on this bang fic. Fun fact, this is my only M/F story on my page. There's not a part of this story that I want to rework. I just love it and I'm so proud of it.

Everyone should also go check out everything from Cobrafantasies !

#sambucky #about me #writing #i answer things #sambucky fic rec

[sorcerous-caress]

Semi-related to the bob debacle I really hate pepole that label the companions as ayersexual/tavsexual they are all queer individuals! That shouldn’t be erased and ignored but it especially egregiously for poor Bob who canonically has male love interest.

Especially when it's people who never paid attention to his dialogue or done his romance who claim that bobtarion isn't queer with a clear preference for men.

People can't deal with bi/pan characters fr. They either claim he never liked men bc they didn't see it, so it must have never happened! So he is straight in their views.

Or people who ignore the word "preference" and instead run to the hills with the rest of the sentence, claiming he is strickly gay and any bobtarion ships with women and non-men are homophobic.

I'm literally bi with clear preference for men, yet I've mostly dated women. Being bi with preference isn't hetro/gay with extra spice.

Like I genuinely believe that even in a world where playersexual wasn't the norm, bobtarion would still be queer and like all genders.

The playersexual thing started as a good thing in games, especially with their accidental inclusiveity by making everyone and their grandma bi or pan. But now people are using it as a cheap excuse to erease character's queerness?

Saying the company is just pandering to the audience and not actually being inclusive so you should definitely believe their headcanon when they tell you this character is straight/gay and ignore the canon.

Like fuck dude why are you walking backwards? Even if that theory was correct, why erease the accidental queer representation??? Why force this biphobia on something because the company may not have had the purest intentions.

Also just so we are clear, Larian doesn't do playersexual, not until Divinity 2 and Baldur's Gate 3. All their old games besides it had a romance restriction based on gender.

So I genuinely believe they actually meant it in a queer way when they made the characters attracted to all genders. Because they never did it before in any other Baldur's Gate game! They had no reason or expectation to do it now. They're not in it just for the money either because Baldur's Gate was a cult classic rather than a known title like Assassin's creed. The game in early access flew under the radar for so many years! And all characters were queer since day fucking one!

And each character expresses some of their queerness in their own way. The most vocal about it is bobtarion, so it's so fucking wild to me how people go "actually it's problematic of you to assume he is queer just bc he is flamboyant" my brother in christ what plane of existence do you live on? Did we play the same game?? When did him being flamboyant or feminine ever come up in this conversation of his queerness? I swear half these people didn't even bother playing the game, and the other half never did his romance.

No one is "headcanoning" bobtarion as bi and queer bc we saw a hint of eyeliner on his upperlid. We literally know he is queer bc he metaphorically is screaming it at the top of his lungs during all of the acts. He literally flirts with Wyll and Gale during Act 1 so many times.

Shadowheart hits on Karlach! Which is besides the point, but I felt like bringing it up because she too gets treated as "fanon lesbian but canon hetro" character when she is so fucking bi/pan in canon.

People are so used to companies never including queer characters that they are ereasing actual queer representation by lumping it as merely "playersexual pandering" and belitting their queerness by claiming it's just headcanons when it is in the fucking game in canon.

#♡bob #♡bob slander

[9w1ft]

hi, i'm the anon who asked about twinning.

thank you so much for your answer :)

i used to get very excited whenever i saw koincidences. but after seeing so many swifties - particularly fellow gaylors bash on koincidences and claim that those are diluting everything this fandom is doing, it ruined that excitement for me and thus my skepticism grew.

but you are right, there's a rich background to the frequent twinning and the argument i sent would be ignorant of so much context and many factors.

even if they can feel silly at times, i just feel glad i can get excited over koincidences and have fun again and not take things too seriously over here.

have a great one 9w1!

i understand where you’re coming from! and i know the kind comments you are talking about.

which in a way are perspectives i can usually respect if i put myself in these peoples shoes. when you don’t see it get it or believe it, i think it’s incredibly natural to feel this way.

the thing for me is that, taylor is the one that continues to sing about one love in particular, and i believe they’re still together so.. the kaylor story is something that is both fascinating to think about and enjoyable to talk about, plus, taylor is the one singing about the singularly complex story of her life and love!

i think non-kaylors often confuse a lot of kaylor blogging with the notion that we are all out on a mission to prove it to them personally. but it’s like.. whenever i point something out, it’s just about the thrill of the moment of recognition of what i think is the love story of our time. and about sharing in the moment with others who see it the same way. it’s our culture! every part of the fandom has theirs.

separate from that, the part where you said people say kaylors dilute everything this fandom is doing really got to me.

because i think this is like… ugh it’s like at the very crux of the message of this album. just this notion that.. how can i articulate this properly… it’s this idea that gaylorism is about the potential of taylor coming out and the social impact that might have and so by focusing on the queer interpretations of her songs and bringing non gaylor people to an understanding of things we are doing important work. and that… that kaylors wilding out makes the gaylor cause look bad. is that close to being right? am i making all of this up off the top of my head?

because i think that this tiptoes close to focusing taylor’s queerness around the idea of how it can benefit the causes of her fans. and while i think that taylor could impact society positively, i don’t think that its advisable to place any expectations on her.

because i think one of the key messages of this album is taylor saying time and again not to put her on a pedestal. that first and foremost she wants to protect her love above all. she say, she’s the problem, she’s too soft for all of it, you wouldn’t listen to her if you knew who was talking or where she was walking… she did a whole music video scene about her children that co-opt her story and bicker over it when they don’t get a prize at the end. these people keep getting frustrated when taylor is not queer in the way they see optimal (ex: her handling of betty or of lavender haze) and while i don’t really agree with how taylor handled either example situation empirically, i can also understand why she might have done these things given how i view her individually: someone with a controversial calamitous catastrophic love, with complexities that bar her from acting a certain way, but are worth it to her to protect. i think people expect so much of her, especially on our side (the greater our side) of the fandom, but we never consider whether what we are doing or asking of her is appealing at all to taylor. i think taylor tells us an answer so clearly in sweet nothing, for example. i hope people take a real moment with this album to think about what she’s saying, instead of ragging on the kaylor pool party like they invented the concept.

#thank you for the follow up anon! i hope you don’t mind i went on a tangent 🥴

[bokuwaamdalla]

Coloring Pan Flag

Hii! I'm here to do an informative post with all about the Coloring Pan flag!

What's Coloring Pan flag?

The Coloring Pan flag is a pan flag that I made with the intention of being a alternative pan flag, free for use!

First, I have to make it clear that the Coloring Pan flag is a redesing of other alternative pan flag.

This pan flag was made by a discord user and posted on the MOGAI Wiki, however, it has no meaning. As I really like their, I decided to make a redesing of the flag, now with meaning.

The name of the flag is Coloring Pan, making reference to the fact that we build our own community together, as if we were all "coloring" their!

My flag is inspired by some other queer flag! The middle symbol is inspired by the androgynous flag, to also represent gender expressions.

My flag is here to represent all pan people, both pan trans people and pan aroace people, pan non-white people, pan people who use xenogenders, pan neurodivergent people, pan polyamorous people, etc.

My goal with the flag is not to force anyone to use it, or to stop using the old flag, but to bring more representation to the pan community.

What's happend with the old flag?

So there are some polemics surrounding the creator and his flag. Some are false, like them being racist and trans exclusionist, but some are true, like them supporting lesbian and gay mspec and including them in the flag. I particularly support mspec lesbians and gays too, so, this doesn't matter to me.

Although, I simply hate the meaning of the flag. Like, girls, enbys, and boys? That's a binaristic meaning, it doesn't represent the pan community at all, enby people are too diverse, you can't treat us as a "third gender". Not to mention that the pan movement is linked to the trans movement, what does this flag represent?

Making it clear that there is nothing problematic about the old flag, I just really don't like the meaning, that's why I'm making this flag.

Meanings

Actually, the Coloring Pan flag has more than one meaning: the Attraction Meaning and the Community Meaning.

◃ Attraction Meaning

Orange - To represent attraction to all genders, and the pan people who use the label because of it!

Yellow - To represent m-spec attraction in general, which to be clear, is not attraction to all genders necessarily, but attraction to more than one gender.

Black - Attraction. Attraction in general, regardless of how many genders you are or are not attracted to, what kind of attraction are we talking about, be it romantic, sexual, aesthetic, alterous, queerplatonic, sensual, platonic, etc. Feel attraction whether or not you have a preference, whether or not you are SAM. All of you are valid, we make a label and not the label that makes us!

Green - Attraction to more than one gender, but not all. This includes pan lesbian, pan poly, pan gay, pan neptunic, pan uranic, etc. Anyone who is not attracted to all genders.

Lilac - Attraction to a single gender. For pan people who are attracted to only one gender, and yes, they are as valid as any pan person!

◃ Community Meaning

Orange - Union, to remind us that alone we wouldn't get where we are. We are a community after all, we need each other.

Yellow - Trans Rights, to represent the connection between the trans and pan community. And of course, also to give visibility to trans people, especially in these times that our lives are being threatened. Trans Rights are Human Rights!

Black - Community is very important in my view. It's representing the entire pan community, and the entire union around it. Black is being used to represent the "coming together of all colors" when it comes to paint pigments, exactly as if after "coloring" the pan community, we would all end up mixing our paints and thus forming black.

Green - Pan History and Movement, to represent our history and movement, our belong and respect for them. Without our past, we would be nothing.

Lilac - Individuality, because although we are united, each of us is unique, and it is these differences that make us such a diverse community.

◃ Symbol Meaning

I changed the symbol, now is dyed roses instead of the circle.

Dyed roses are a very old queer symbol, they are usually dyed in the colors of Gilbert Baker's Rainbow flags, however, on my flag I put them in the colors of the original symbol.

Another reference is that roses are also a trans symbol, that is, it also makes reference to the connection between the pan community and the trans community.

The inkblots also make reference to the name of the flag, the roses are "coloring".

Blue - Here to represent masculine gender expressions, regardless of the person's gender identity. A person can identify with the feminine gender but still have masculine gender expression, that doesn't make it any less valid!

Purple - To represent all people who are androgynous! This color was taken from the androgynous flag!

White - To represent any other type of gender expression, as if it were a "blank canvas" that the person will "coloring"!

Pink - To represent people with feminine gender expression, and to show that gender expression is not the same thing as gender identity. A person can identify with the masculine gender and still express themselves in a feminine way!

Other Ver.

First, I want to say that the first version of Coloring Pan did not have the dyed roses as a symbol, but rather a circle divided into four parts, as you can see below.

This version can still be used as a variant, although it is no longer the main version.

There are other versions of the Coloring Pan flag, some for simple aesthetic, others to bring more representation to other groups.

These are other ways that symbols can be. You'll find the post with the flags here.

Here we have variations to represent intersex, enby, trans, neurodivergent and polyamorous people!

Here are some to represent bipoc people, and there are also other variations! 1 and 2.

FAQ

This part will be to answer questions about the Coloring Pan flag. If you don't find the answer to your question, put it in the comments and I will answer it.

"I am pan-lesbian/pan-gay, can I use this flag?"

Of course, as I said, I support mspec lesbian and mspec gay, so I won't invalidate or exclude you.

“Can aro/ace pan people use this flag?”

Sure! Even, I'm aroace!

“I don’t like the flag. I don’t want to use it.”

Ok, if you don't like it, don't use it, I'm not forcing anyone to use my flag.

"I see you being anti mspec lesbian and gay in another post"

Yes, I was once an exclusionist person, and I regret it a lot. I'm currently a rad inclusionist, including labeling myself pan omni gaybian. Although my flag was once made with exclusionist ideals, this no longer reflects anything on the current meaning of the flag in any way. I will not exclude anyone from using my flag anymore.

(I really don't know what to place here, please send me asks)

#coloring pan #mogai #pan flag #queer #pansexuality #pansexual #pan #panromantic #BokuwaAmDalla #coloring pan flag #lgbt #lgbtquiapn #lgbtq #lgbtqia

[iholdhandswithcosmicentities]

Mizuki and Ambiguity

i know first hand just how important queer rep is in media, especially in japanese media where its even more rare than it is in the west. transmasc rep is after all, virtually non-existent in almost any media... i know how desperate people can get for that rep as well, with how much shipping and headcanons have burrowed their home within the online queer community.

HOWEVER, the way people have been going about the representation that mizuki brings to project sekai is...incredibly questionable. it’s very clear that the whole thing is run by a bunch of teenagers on tiktok and twitter, and that’s quite the opposite of a compliment. They’re clawing at this rep with their bare, grubby little chronically-online fingers, and by doing so COMPLETELY dodging the whole point of mizuki as a character.

mizuki’s gender being unknown is 100% a marketing tactic, almost purely for the debate and excitement that comes with it. they want us to argue about it, they want us to think up ideas for what mizuki’s secret could be. and this is exactly why only gender-neutral language is used for mizuki, and while their only canon pronoun is ‘boku’, they/them is used to replace this neutral language, since the language structure wouldn’t make sense in english without pronouns (any translations of she/her in the english version are mistranslations, some people assume that certain characters misgender mizuki on accident or that mizuki uses they/she pronouns, but this isn’t true) because using he or she would completely ruin the secret from the start. this also causes people to assume mizuki is canonically non-binary, which is also not true. or well, we don’t know. mizuki uses they/them because their gender is unknown, not because they canonically use they/them pronouns.

japanese media has a knack for making accidentally (or sometimes purposely, idk) queer-coded characters without actually making them queer. this is seen most commonly with ‘trap’ characters, which are essentially biological boys, who identify as boys, but who look or appear to be a girl. sometimes a gender-related issue is hinted, but other times it’s just them choosing how they present themselves. this can cause a lot of confusion with exactly who is meant to be queer-coded and who isn’t, especially because some of these characters don’t exactly correct people when they misgender them (Ex. chihiro fujisaki and luka urushibara who are often headcanoned as transfem/MTF do this) and some people get REALLY MAD if you just stick with calling them boys. coding is super finicky in this sense, especially with how fluid and confusing gender tends to be even in real life. these characters could be transfem as much as they could be boys who don’t mind being called girls, an enby who uses all pronouns, or basically any form of individual outside of the stereotypical binary, whether they’re actually queer or not.

and now we come full circle back to mizuki akiyama from project sekai. a character who initially looks like a girl, but has no gendered language used on them, has multiple events focusing them dealing with a mysterious identity related issue that is never outright explained, and some ‘secret’ that they keep from the rest of their groupmates. from backstory cutscenes, which have them appearing more masculine in presentation, its pretty safe to assume that they’re biologically male. this is a widely agreed fact, but the issue arises with their gender identity. the most common headcanon is that mizuki is transfem, either non-binary or MTF, and canonically uses they/them pronouns. the existence of non-binary characters who aren’t some aliens or robots is already VERY rare in anime, even more so than gender-conforming trans characters are; it is highly unlikely that they’d have a transfem character who chooses to use they/them, as the concept of gender ≠ pronouns is fairly new to the public in general. In fact, I’ve only ever seen this ONCE in any form of media, in a manga called Love Me for Who I Am, which is an explicitly queer story surrounding multiple trans characters, including the main love interest, who is transfem, biologically male and presenting completely feminine, AND uses they/them pronouns, insisting multiple times that they don’t feel like they fit either side of the gender binary.

japanese media kind of dances around the idea of trans people, but dips into it just enough for there to be somewhat well-known trans characters in multiple mainstream anime, games or manga. grell from black butler, magne from my hero academia, arashi from ensemble stars, alluka from hunter x hunter etc. now this representation isn’t really good by any means, a lot of it played for a gag type thing or just not really developed, and all of them are misgendered at some point by other characters. so while its not very good representation, transfem rep does very well exist in anime. the common thing to happen with this characters is one of two things. 1. they or others close to them refer to them by their preferred pronouns from the beginning, and we only find out they’re trans because of separate characters misgendering them at some point. or 2. they start out pre-transition and we witness them do some form of ‘coming out’.

mizuki is a very special case, because they don’t actually fit into either of these categories. 1. mizuki isn’t referred to by any pronouns from the beginning (even in their backstory scenes, no gendered-language is used) and 2. if mizuki is trans, they would’ve started out post-transition and in the closet. i’m sure this has happened somewhere but i truthfully have never seen it.

while it is, again, definitely a marketing tactic, i do believe that mizuki does have a purpose. project sekai is a silly little rhythm game, but it goes over a lot of serious topics that surround teenage life. like any other character in project sekai, mizuki is supposed to be relatable. nightcord as a whole is a huuuge progressive step for representation of mental health, which is also a very taboo thing in japan, they even canonically use discord of all things. nightcord represents the mentally ill part of teenagehood, the rep for kids with anxiety, depression, or any other disorders. the part that mizuki plays is for people who are outcasted from society for being different in the way they present. mizuki is for the people who think matching is overrated, mizuki is for the people who can express who they are with the way they dress because they can’t do it with words, mizuki is for the transfems, the transmascs, the enbies, mizuki is for the boys who like dresses and the girls who like suits, mizuki is for the people that refuse to look how society insists they should look.

mizuki’s gender really doesn’t matter that much. whether they end up a girl or a boy or anything in between. like any piece of media, anything can have multiple interpretations from many different, funky little human brains. because that’s the thing with the unknown, is that people will always try to fill that space up with something. and if your conclusion is that mizuki is non-binary? awesome! you think mizuki is MTF? that’s lovely! you think they’re a boy who simply likes being cute? that’s great also! even if you think mizuki is transmasc, feeling masculine on the inside doesn’t always mean being masculine on the outside too! they, he, she? all fine!

mizuki is just mizuki, and i think that’s a wonderful sentiment on its own.

#mizuki project sekai #akiyama mizuki #project sekai #lgbtq representation #transfem #transmasc #nonbinary #genderqueer #transgender #anime #pronouns

[antiterf]

(Prefacing this to say that I'm not trying to convince you to move from neutral to pro transandrophobia- i think you being neutral is ur right and I can definitely understand why you are neutral. Just wanted to state my own perspective as a trans man, esp. As a trans man of color. Feel free to delete if necessary!)

I'm personally pro transandrophobia as a term because just as Trans Women have unique experiences due to their intersection of being Women and being Trans, and Black Trans Women experience a particularly unique blend of issues due to being Women who are Trans and black, Trans men also face a unique set of issues. Of course these issues can vary depending on where Trans men live, what their race is, how well they pass (as BS as passing is as a concept)and other factors, but so too might a Trans Woman's experience of transmisogyny/transmisogynoir vary based on similar criteria. Until recently, I've felt that there has been a major lack in information/discussion of transmasc specific issues, especially as a black Trans man. I've always felt like the specific intersection of transness and agab of transmasculinity causes unique issues combining misogyny and transphobia that isn't the same as transmisogyny. On top of that, Trans men of color like myself have the added issue of racism, adding to the bigotry stew we face. imho there just hasn't been adequate language to describe these issues until the introduction of transmisandry followed by the (more apt imo) term transandrophobia. I feel like this term adds to the toolkit we need to break down the systemic and societal issues we face. Ofc this is just my personal perspective, but I feel like the transphobia, misogyny, racism, and homophobia I face varies greatly from the same issues others face due to my identity, and I feel like discussing transandrophobia helps Bring light to how differently Trans men may be affected by these issues.

I'm not sure if I'm making sense, and apologies if my thoughts are all over the place, but hopefully this adds a perspective that others can see and take into account in the conversation surrounding transandrophobia...

I felt the same with lack of discussion around the issues trans men face. And I've thought about how I can make many shallow excuses, but overall I think I simply don't know enough about what's going on to speak on it.

I'm only 21, and what you get from everyday interaction with other trans people in activist spaces when learning about 20+ years ago in written history is limited if not non existent. Much of it focuses on a broad view that would be put through the individual lens of the historian or the person recording it, and there aren't many of those people. Basically, I can't relate to what I've learned of queer history back to this because the most queer history we have with trans men is "look, a trans man, or a possible one" and nothing about theories or activism from other trans people. This also applies heavily to trans women. So what we end up with is a cisnormative lens of what gender and how one gender is oppressive against the other, without much solidly believed theory from actual trans people.

This is part of what transandrophobia does. Its taking the issues of being men and having masculinity, but not as what we expect in a cisgender world, and the struggles that come with it. This can possibly applied to men in other minorities, like Black men or in my case disabled men, but much of that I've seen is surface level ("oh, look how masculinity hurts these groups in different ways" rather than "so how about we theorize how we see structural gendered oppression through this"), and that would be my responsibility to find out more for comparison about how this can work out.

I think transandrophobia has potential to finally take "but what about men?" And actually make it productive in the examination of gender rather than anti feminist nonsense. But what it seems to do as of currently is focus on the inner LGBTQ+ community more than anything, especially trans women for some fucking reason (transmisogyny, blaming them for hypervisibility), rather than the cisnormative societies that mainly hurt us.

Like, the other day in the gay trans men being called fujoshis post, someone added these tags. I never mentioned trans women once. I've always focused more on the experiences of trans men because I am one, but the fact that I talk about it now and shade is thrown at trans women is incredibly worrying.

And what I said there is probably inaccurate because right now it's so new and there hasn't been a common ground established. Everyone that is loud about it, either for or against, are automatically biased and will show extreme negatives with each group. I don't know how the community is doing as a whole, what's going on as a whole, and do it reliably. That coupled with a lack of history doesn't sit well.

And I kind of wrote that rant because its really not because I don't see the use of transandrophobia, and I think it can be important especially with trans moc or honestly any of us who have intersecting minority statuses. I genuinely hope it can carry on to be critically looked at and discussed. But right now it's just chaos and please don't compare it to transmisogyny because thats on the basis of intersectionality, and transandrophobia would not fit under that same concept.

If something clicks from the research I do either in school or my free time I'll definitely talk about it.

#notaterftip #not sarcasm #whatsintheinbox

[suckerpunch-wrestlinggirls]

SUCKER PUCNCH -Pretty Devils [Wrestling Girls Vol. II]

Avid Queer Reader rated it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After loving the first volume I requested an ARC of this second installment coming out in March to the author and she was so kind to send me one in exchange for an honest review.

I read this entire book in one night. No shit. I got the email with the ARC last night at 10 PM, started reading right away... and next thing I new it was 5 AM. And my heart was singing.

I thought I loved the first book because of how true and genuine the love in it is, in all its forms... I wasn't emotionally ready to be completely blown away by Pretty Devils. The real superpower of this author is the heart she can put in each and every of her characters, even the ones who aren't really prominent in the story. That's what truly brings everything to life, what makes you smile and tear up as you read about this bunch of "queer disaster idiots" and their life at the Beatcave.

I wasn't particularly impressed at first by the main character because, after the lovely POC romance we got in the first book, we're now presented with... a lot of whiteness. BUT! It only takes a couple of chapters to grow fond of Liv and her struggles with life and the world. It's never stated anywhere that she's neurodivergent (autistic, I assume?) because, as many neurodivergent people in real life, she never got a disognosis: her mother just calls her stupid and Liv herself believes it's simply a learning disability. So bonus points for the white MFC. Liv is also poor and struggling to make ends meet every month because of her mother's drinking and gambling problems, but she never whines like a martyr and I really appreciated her tough fragility.

On the other side of the spectrum, quite literally, we have Raisa, who is gorgeous and strong and has never had to struggle for anything, coming from a loving, wealthy family. Raisa is presented, at first, as your sterotypical goth: brooding, quiet, maybe even slightly curt (I was swooning the very moment she was introduced), an Ice Queen clad in leather who likes to mind her own business and keep to herself.

No spoilers as to how they meet and how their relastionship begins and develops, but let me say this: we see both these characters bloom page after page right before out eyes. Liv, from the small, frightened kitten she was in the beginning, slowly starts learning to trust people and let her real self come out in the safe and friendly environment of the Beatcave. The dark ice coating Raisa's character starts melting away as she sends more and more time with Liv and I promise you you'll love every bit of their evolution as individuals and as a couple. Liv and Raisa and both far from perfect and they do a lot of things wrong (mostly because Liv has a hard time dealing with emotions and distressing events), but the patience and understanding and deep affection binding them together are stronger than anything else.

Now, subplots I ADORED:

- Roxie and Fiona. These two are show stealers: lesbian couple goals and the most beautiful Gay Moms energy you'll ever find. Watching them together really warms your heart.

- Blu. Blair fucking Lucas, ladies and gentlemen, is a GEM. When she first appeared I groaned to myself: "Oh, here's the gratuitously mean girl whose only prupose is to make the protagonist's life a nightmare." I was wrong. Oooh, boy, so wrong! There's so much to her to discover in between the lines. ILUSM, Blu.

- Mum and her girlfriend + Dad and his boyfriend (I know it sounds funny, but... just read these books, it'll make sense). I sense BIG poly vibes with them and I LOVE it. The poly representation in fiction is so rare, especially non problematic, healthy polyamory, and I think it's so refreshing to see it such a positive, loving portrayal, even if barely hinted at. Maybe it's all just in my brain, but... a win is a win. *wink*

To summarise this endless, delighted rambling of a review, here's what you'll find in this book:

- REALISTIC NEURODIVERGENCY REPRESENTATION - SLOW BURN *CHEF'S KISS* (you can literally see L&R fall in love and will call them idiots A LOT) - PLENTY OF (devastatingly beautiful) FOUND FAMILY FEELS - STRONG WOMEN AND SOFT MEN - POSITIVE STRAIGHT CHARACTERS (who also are idiots in love but won't say it) - POOR GIRL DATING RICH GIRL BUT WANTING TO BE THE ONE WHO DOES THE SPOILING (seriously, though, this alone should earn this book an extra star.) - SO. MUCH. LOVE. (I want to be a part of this bunch of dorks. Where do I apply?)

Go read these books RIGHT NOW. Your queer heart will thank you.

#sapphic romance #sapphic books #wlw romance #queer romance #lgbt romance #sports romance #queer books #wlw books #lgbt books #liv 4 brutality #liv for brutality #l4b #liv4brutality #livforbrutality

[moscarific]

Yuletide Letter 2023!

Dear Exceptional Human,

I am beyond delighted that you’re writing for me! I’m a gold star Yuletide participant: I’ve signed up every year, and written at least one story every year, since the challenge began. That’s great news for you, because over the years, I’ve learned that the best Yuletide gifts are the ones that weren’t quite what I had expected, and also that gifts are satisfying and joyful for me as long as it’s clear that the author put effort and care into them. Basically, as long as you avoid my Do Not Wants and run spell check, I’m going to be over the moon with excitement at whatever you write for me.

My biggest non-obvious DNW is babyfic. No pregnancy, no babies, no little kids. I’m also a grumpy Jew, so I’d prefer not to receive stories with strong Christmas themes. The “five things” format is not my favorite. Please don’t center your story around ships that I did not ask for.

While questions of gender and sexuality are baked into several of my requests this year, I am not looking for issuefic centered around negotiating those identities. I’d rather read about queer and/or BIPOC folks doing stuff in the world. Should you bring up how race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and body type figure into doing stuff? Yes, please. Should the entire fic be a Socratic dialogue about how marginalization impacts the characters’ lives? Not my first choice.

But I like a lot more things than I dislike! I usually read my Yuletide gift(s) while riding the L down to Chinatown for my family’s annual dim sum feast, so please give me something to make me smile, laugh out loud at, or feel uncomfortably aroused by on public transportation. Porn is optional, obviously, but: oral sex, eroticized hands, exhibitionism, shower sex, gender play. I like experimental structures and styles, as well as more standard ones, and I am fine with whatever POV and tense you choose. If you are the kind of person who does multimedia or interactive fiction, or just clever footnotes, I am all for that. I love worldbuilding, whether it’s adding detail to a sprawling superhero universe or fleshing out the local color of a small American town. I like stories that stick close to canon or present interesting “what if” canon divergences, and I also like superhero and In Space AUs.

I've been on a bit of a hiatus from fandom lately, but when I'm not, I tend to write the fic I want to see in the world. You’ll get a good sense of me by browsing my AO3 account. My AO3 bookmarks are a recs list, and therefore a great way to see what kinds of fic appeal to me and make me happy.

Here are the individual requests from my sign-up, with a little more detail added here and there. 

Some Like It Hot (1959 movie): Jerry "Daphne"

Every time I watch this movie, I'm more aware of Daphne being some kind of non-binary or genderqueer, and I would love a story that expands on that in some way. Tell about what happens to Daphne after the film - does he attempt to live as a woman, go back to presenting as a man, or find a period-consistent way to exist somewhere between the two? How does his marriage to Osgood work out? I will swoon for detailed historical accuracy, especially about 20th century queer subculture, jazz, or resort culture. Or go to another extreme, and retell the film's story In Space. I'm not sure it's possible to be as briskly and effortlessly funny as this movie, but I'd prefer a story that stays close to its silly, madcap tone. I have a sort of time-displaced horniness for young Jack Lemmon, so do with that what you will. Note that I'm using "he/him" for Daphne, because that's what he uses in the film, but feel free to use other pronouns if they fit your vision of the character better.

DNW: Stories centered around pregnancy, babies, or raising children. Strong Christmas/winter holiday themes. Prolonged despair, depression, self-harm, or suicide.  Extensive, graphic descriptions of homophobic violence or sexual violence. Phonetic representations of accents or “broken English” used for comedy (I’m especially sensitive to this when it comes to native Spanish speakers).

Poker Face (TV 2023): Charlie Cale

Charlie Cale immediately became one of my favorite TV detectives ever, and what I want from fic is simply more of her, solving mysteries in her quirky way. Basically, I want casefic, however you want to define that. Set the story in your hometown and bring it to life for me, or highlight a subculture you know a lot about. Or give me drag queens, figure skaters, or an academic conference, the weird cultures that are close to my heart. Crossovers with other fandoms are welcome, especially if they feature Charlie inserted into other media, solving a murder in that universe. (Poker Face in Discworld? Poker face on Deep Space Nine?) Keep the show's dry wit and down-to-earth tone as much as you can, and feel free to play with time and tell the story out of order, as the show often does. Explore how Charlie's lie detector powers and her talent for crime-solving have affected her, and how these abilities work in her head. What I'm looking for is a lost episode of Poker Face - either one that could be an actual episode of the show, or something improbable but fun.

DNW: Stories centered around pregnancy, babies, or raising children. Strong Christmas/winter holiday themes. Extensive, graphic descriptions of homophobic, transphobic, racist, or sexual violence. Phonetic representations of accents or “broken English” used for comedy (I’m especially sensitive to this when it comes to native Spanish speakers). Copaganda - depictions of the police as exceptionally noble or heroic, above the law, or justified in violence or manipulation. I'm not interested in more than passing references to romantic relationships for Charlie.

Gen V (TV 2023): Jordan Li

I'm in new fannish glow for this show, and I'll be excited to read anything that develops Jordan's character. They're an officious asshole, and I love them in their prickly, self-righteous, antihero messiness. In fact, one story I would love to read is Jordan doing something horrific, intentionally or by accident, and dealing with the consequences of that villain turn. I'm also very into all of Jordan's romantic and sexual relationships, the ones shown onscreen (primarily Marie) and the ones implied or suggested (Luke, Professor Brink). How do Jordan's ability and gender identity interact with their relationships? I'd like to learn more about Jordan's experiences at God U. before the show begins, or about what they're like many years into the future. Gen V is full of gratuitous gore and sex, so feel free to pile on the gross-out and grindcore elements if they're fun for you. If not, I'm happy to read about Jordan in a quieter moment. There's a lot of worldbuilding to be done in this universe, so another option is to use Jordan as the narrator or center point for exploring the world more broadly.

DNW: Stories centered around pregnancy, babies, or raising children - this includes stories about Jordan's childhood, and especially stories that make more than passing mention of childhood abuse or narcissistic parenting. Strong Christmas/winter holiday themes. Extensive, graphic descriptions of homophobic, transphobic, racist, or sexual violence. Some degree of sexual coersion and manipulation (dubious consent) is fine in this fandom, but no overtly non-consensual sex. Misgendering characters or using pronouns other than those established in canon.

#yuletide #yuletide 2023 #yuletide letter

[maybemockingbird]

Making A Webcomic!

Hello! My name is Al, I am an author and the Webcomics and Manga Editor for Comic Book Yeti!  I’m in the process of writing a new supernatural slice-of-life webcomic script and am looking for an artist to work with to bring it to life!  I am looking at HiveWorks as a hosting site and doing it in a traditional, non-scrolling format.

Who I am: Again, my name is Al (she/they), I am a queer and disabled author, the Webcomics and Manga Editor for Comic Book Yeti, and a hardcore slice of life nerd.  I have had two successful Kickstarter campaigns in the last seven months, have written almost a hundred in-depth reviews on manga and webcomics/webtoon titles, and have had over fifteen short stories published in various lit mags and e-zines since last fall.  I also currently have an ongoing slice-of-life meets soft sc-fi web novel on Patreon.

I specialize in massive space operas and tiny disturbances.  I write stories about ghosts, grief, isolation, queerness, eco-horror, space exploration, and the human condition.  I’m the resident BL expert at CBY and love writing about weird, otherworldly romance.

What I need: Someone who is willing to work with me on this and stick with it for the long haul!  Someone who is passionate about webcomics and unique storytelling.  I am up for black and white with a pop of color so we don’t overload ourselves with an intense series, someone who can (or is willing to learn how to) draw cars, handsome/cute men, business suits, and can really capture the essence of a slow burn romance story!  I’d also love to work with someone in the LGBTQ+ community.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a story that focuses on a lot of religious aspects.  It deals with heaven, hell, priests, devils, and the like.  I am an incredibly open person and I expect you to be, too.  I will not tolerate any hate or trash talking of ANY religion, especially as a religious LGBTQ+ individual, so you need to be open minded and accepting.

I’d love to see portfolios and chat with some potential collaborators!  Sadly, it won't be a paying thing - it’ll be for the passion of the story - but I’m hopeful it’ll take off and we can do some merch, a Patreon, and a future Kickstarter!  I’m an incredibly busy person so I only want authentic artists who are willing to work with me and make this a team effort, someone with experience and a creative mindset, so if that sounds like you hit up the comments and head to my website here to fill out the “Contact Me” form so we can chat properly, that way I know you’ve read everything!

Let’s make some magic!

#webcomic #webtoon #bl webtoon #bl webcomic #comics #indie comics #boys love #comic art #artists on tumblr #queer artwork #illustrator #graphic novel

[sorryicantquitequeeryou]

Why can't people stop thinking LGBTQ+ just means non-hetero sex??? It's way more than sex! A majority of the time it isn't even about sex! It's about love, self expression, and identity!

Currently in Marysville Washington, the Marysville school district is having a conflict over LGBTQ+ clubs.

One elementary school was planning on starting an LGBTQ+ safe space club for one day a week before school that students could go to. Some parents were not happy with this and wanted to get rid of the club all together, claiming that elementary school students are "too young to think or learn about sexuality". Even though it's normalized for kids to have crushes in elementary school, and many students may have queer parents, family members, or friends as "reasons" to join the club instead.

Some parents thought a good solution to the club issue would be a permission slip. Students of all ages, elementary through highschool, would have to get a parent signature to join their club of choice. Immediately high schoolers spoke up, saying that they are old enough to decide for themselves what clubs to join and where to spend their time. Hearing this, the district is thinking of enacting the club permission slips, for individual clubs, for elementary and middle school.

Why do I bring this up? Because this will make it so many kids can't attend these clubs that are there to help them.

Why would elementary school students need a LGBTQ+ club? You say they're too young to think about sexuality, but what about romantically? Kids look at love, not sex. Girl likes girl, boy likes boy, boy is girl, girl is boy, this person is not boy or girl- ok. Kids are accepting. They have crushes, and wonder if it's really okay that they feel the way they do. They know people that they want to support. Whether it's that they have queer parents, family members, or other people in their lives. A safe space should need no permission slip.

I don't even know where to start with the middle school matter. I'm very passionate about this. Safe spaces are a must, especially for LGBTQ+ youth.

Parents don't always listen to their kids. Parents have their own prejudices and ideas of how life should be that can hold people back or even make them feel bad for thinking or feeling certain ways.

We need safe spaces to grow and explore. To learn who we are and what we believe in. Everyone deserves a safe space.

#Marysville Washington school district #lgbtq+ #safe space #gsa club #lgbtq+ clubs #school club